Kirah

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

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Location: School
Skills: Enhanced Reflexes (Passive); Enhanced Durability
Magic item: N/A
Fit check, and Letterman jacket

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The day before school

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The day before school, found Andy packing up her bag. She had more clothes and things than she had ever had before in her life. She ran her fingers over the duffle bag. Even this was new. Her clothes were new. She had so much stuff. Andy carefully packed her school bag. She put Jamie’s deck of cards in there. It felt good to have that again. She rubbed her hand over the spot where it pressed against the backpack’s fabric.

For all the new things she had, she had also found so much she had thought lost forever. She had been texting, and on calls with members of the MU, and in some cases talking to them face-to-face. Having four of them living next door helped a lot with that latter one. So much had changed in just the last month. And going farther back even more had changed. Andy felt like it had been a bit of a whirlwind.

Andy paused on the sea glass mosaic that Sabine had given her. She smiled, appreciating it. Andy appreciated all the gifts her friends had given her. The strange rock that Leah had made, the coffee from Vicky, the necklace from Percy. Her life was so full. Andy held back tears that burned at her eyes. Her life was so full and she was happy. Looking at the mosaic she wondered how long it would last. Her heart twisted. Fear pulsed through her.

Damn. She had made it through the whole break without feeling like the world would pull the rug out from under her at any moment. Part of Andy figured that was because she had had something so terrible happen right before break started that the universe thought she deserved a break. It had been since Thanksgiving that she had been in a near death experience. Something she wouldn’t be able to survive if it happened again.

She started pacing. Slowly Andy’s hands traced where old scars would be. Since the final battle of Genosha she hadn’t had any physical scars. They all had gone away, including her piercings, which she had replaced as soon as she had the chance. She ran her thumb over the crook of her elbow. The oldest scar had been there.

Back before she had powers she had been playing tag, and climbed on... something. She frowned. What had it been? Andy could sort of picture it in her head, but couldn’t put a name to it. There had been something sharp on it and her arm had gotten cut up. She hadn’t gone to the ER and hadn’t gotten stitches, but she probably should have. The scar had been vicious looking.

After that her scars had all been little incidental things. A broken nose, her fists, both from fighting. That had all been healed. Wiped away as if none of it had happened. Now she wasn’t sure if she could scar. She had fallen from a height that should have killed her. She had taken swipes from Gideon’s sword during practice, and still nothing. No external sign of anything that had happened to her. It was all erased.

From her school bag, Andy removed the deck of cards, she pulled the cards out of the worn box. The deck had once been gorgeous, but now it was so worn it wouldn’t be good for a game of anything. She knew each card and how they felt, despite it having been months since she had had them in her hands. It was soothing. She shuffled the deck over and over, playing with the cards, using the magician tricks that Jammie had taught her.

This was proof. Proof that Jammie and Ash had lived. Proof that she had lived with them and learned at their sides. Learned how to fight, learned how to do magic card tricks, and learned how to love and be loved. She gave up fighting her tears. She sat down on the floor and cried.

Andy cried for the life she had had. Cried for those lost to her forever. Cried at what could have been. She cried long enough that she wasn’t sure how long it took, but the daylight was dimmed as the sun set. After washing her face and getting a glass of water, she hugged Magento and went back to packing. She felt better, still scared of the future, but better.

Later Gideon came over and they hung out watching movies together. Andy giving elaborate commentary about the history of the films. Andy talked about her feelings from the day. About how scared she was, even now and still. How she felt like part of her past had been erased and taken from her when her scars had been healed after the Battle of Genosha. But she had hope in what was remembered. She also talked about something she had only spoken with Magneto about after he had told her what happened to Genosha after she had left. She talked about how she had struggled with coming to terms with claiming Genoshan and how much harder that was after learning about what happened after she left. How a piece of her was blaming her for it, if she hadn’t left, maybe she could have helped.

Andy told all of this to Gideon, never expecting her to return the sharing. But hoping that by doing it like this, sharing her emotions, it would help teach Gideon how to do that. They crashed out kind of late that night.

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The first day of school

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Andy and Gideon hitched a ride to L.A. with the K-G Household. Casper gave her a small bag full of sexual health items. She went bright red, her ears in particular. In the bag was also a cookie from Ben. Both were sweet gestures and Andy thanked them embarrassed.

Magneto had joined them. This was the first time she was on campus with him. She was happy he decided to go too. It felt more personal than a goodbye hug at home. She would have been fine with that, but that he came with her felt so good.

She noticed the ice skating and friendship bracelets. As she looked around she planned to unpack her skates, and check out the rink, she also decided to make friendship bracelets for Gideon and America.

Once she had her dorm assignment she had parted ways with them. Hell yeah! Andy was now rooming with Gideon. She hadn’t even gotten that lucky with Zari. She was a little surprised, but with how many people had left the Academy she wasn’t surprised at the new room assignments.

She partially unpacked her bag, setting the mosaic on her nightstand. When she finished that she asked Gideon, ”I’ll finish unpacking later. Ready to head down to the carnival? If they have the sword club thing set up again, wanna spar?”

Andy made sure she had the ice skates from Sabine with her, she was not going to give up the opportunity to be on the ice again. The fact that Sabine had gotten her a pass for the ice rink nearby had been super sweet too. She planned to take advantage of that. Part of her thought about trying to combine sword fighting and ice skating. She’d discover Hockey soon enough and that would be basically the same thing.

Before leaving the room she considered which jacket to grab. She touched the one from Ash gently, but ended up taking the letterman style one. The others might be wearing theirs. There was something symbolic about not wearing the jacket with metal studded spikes. Andy did consider that as she and Gideon headed down to the carnival.

Gideon had already finished unpacking - she didn’t have much in the way of possessions, everything she owned fitting into a duffel bag that she had dumped unceremoniously on the bed, before her fingers twitched, her body stiffened, and she changed her course, neatly unpacking it and putting everything in its place with military precision. Her week’s worth of clothes were folded and placed in the dresser, her sword maintenance kit placed in the drawers of the desk, her bed made with sheets tucked in appropriately, and the sword placed down on top of it - before she hesitated once more, and slung it over her back. She didn’t like going places without it. It felt like a part of herself was missing, like she’d left behind a limb.

She did a wolf whistle, her eyebrows wiggling as she checked out Andy. “Hot damn, you look like an asshole - but in the hottest way possible,” she praised, tempted to keep Andy all to herself for a little while longer. But Gideon loved the carnival. She loved all the physical contests, all the ways to test her strength. “Hell yeah, man!! We’re doing that! I’m going to text everyone I know and challenge them to a duel. Have ourselves a sword tournament.”

Andy winked and flicked her collar, ”You love to see it.” Andy bounced on the balls of her feet a little. ”Ohh, yes!”

Andy had noticed the strange shift in demeanor. It wasn’t simple, it was a weird shift. As they walked out of the dorms Andy had to ask, ”Did you go to a military school or something?”

“Nope!” Gideon tilted her head, a little confused as to why Andy had asked. “Did you? I do gotta say, I love a gal in uniform - so if you have pics of you in your ROTC blues, I wanna see.”

”No, I went to... A really terrible school. If I went to one. That’s not why I was asking. You did a weird thing. At first you threw your bag down, and then you went all military precision on setting up. I didn’t expect you to unpack yet. We have time for that later when we have the Carnival to go to.”

“Oh, but if I have a messy bed, I’ll have the shit beaten out of me by Sis- sorry, never mind, ignore that I said that. Just a brain misfire. Just random words. Do you think they’ll have any good food? The food trucks were killer last time!”

”You have a sister?” Andy asked without thinking about it. She had been trying to not pry on Gideon’s life, and let her come to her when she was ready. ”I only knew about your brother.”

“No?” Gideon looked genuinely confused. “Just me and my bro. Well. Our dad kinda fucked his way around, so maybe I do, idk.”

”Then who or why is someone beating you for having a messy bed? That’s wild.”

Gideon pretended she didn’t hear Andy, as she pressed the button for the elevator down from the sixth floor.

”Gideon, wait, what is going on?” Andy asked, her voice heavy with concern. Shooting way past her promise to not press.

“We’re going to the festival, duh. I could see the snow they’ve got set up from the room, I’m going to kick your ass in a snowball fight, just you wait.”

Andy stood there confused, but closed her mouth. She wanted to help Gideon, damn, why wouldn’t she let her? ”Okay, we’ll see about that,” she tried to say teasingly, but knew her voice fell a little flat.

They took the elevator down and were soon out among their schoolmates. Andy looked around, unsure what to do first, or who to speak to. She pushed the panicky feeling of impending doom away, by taking Gideon’s hand and heading for the friendship bracelet stand.

Strange Academy: Journey into Mystery

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Location: Primary Artificer Laboratory
Grimoire: Fae Magic
Skills:

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”Mild discomfort,” Finley said, a little sarcasm toning their voice. They did not like the feeling one bit. They could feel the blood binding. It pulled at them. As soon as that object was no longer necessary they would make sure to break the magic.

”Are we done then?” Finley was ready to leave this room. They wanted time alone with Dysphoria. They wanted to leave the uncomfortable draw of the thing the group had made. Finley had only tasted Rohan’s ‘blood.’ Uncertain if it was something they could even work with. Even while tasting it they had shoved the power, and memories aside, only tasting for compatibility. However, it had tried to hurt them. Tried to consume, and if not for Dysphoria it may have won.

For the others Finley had no need to taste their blood, they were standard human witches of one breed or another. They had not been concerned about not being able to manipulate the blood. It also had the bonus of showing that Finley respected their privacy.

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Location: Room 12
Grimoire: Transform self
Skills:

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Connie, still a bird, fluttered around and eventually landed on Jake’s shoulder. She ruffled her feathers. It wasn’t clear which part of what Croan said caused her irritated bird noises that followed. Very likely it was all of what he said, or that he had yet again mispronounced her name.

Suddenly a whole lot about Jake seemed to make more sense for Connie. Jake had no memories, that explained why he couldn’t read. However, her attention was still on Coran, as she lifted off of Jake’s shoulder and shifted back to her human form in a fluid motion. The error of the previous night seemingly forgotten. Perhaps it was because she was moving between her more customary forms, humanity slipping over her easily.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, her heart pounded from the vision she had seen. Connie was not normally a seer. She did not have visions. Her magic was in the body. It was healing and changing. This though, she could not deny what she had seen. Connie hated it. Hated knowing that. Before that moment she hadn’t trusted Croan, and now anything resembling respect she had for him as a practitioner burned away, like his cottage, like the lives he sacrificed to his thirst for knowledge and power. Never in her life had she had such a desire to turn someone to stone as much as she did in that moment.

Her attention shifted to the statue, Connie considered once again attempting the stupidest thing she could think to do. If she reached out and touched it, skin to stone, and willed it, could her magic change it. However, the parade of people sacrificed at the feet of Croan and his liege for the sake of this seemingly impossible task held her hand. She would not touch it, she would not allow her magic to flow into it. Not until she knew the cost and consequences of such actions.

”Are we excused then?” Her tone is harsh when speaking with Croan. ”The sigils we see continue in the top down view of the statue as well,” she told Barty in a clipped tone, though not harsh. She gathered her things, making a quick note.

”Jake, let me know when you wish to go over those notes. I will assist you.” Her tone warmed a little when speaking to Jake. ”Barty, you’re welcome to join us, but it may be best for us to discuss once we’ve all gone over it and have thoughts about it, rather than discussing while reading it.” This time her voice was not as clipped, her annoyance and anger cooling a little.

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

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Location: School
Skills:
Magic Item: N/A

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Jan. 13, evening

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Ben waved goodbye one last time and shut the door, locking it. He turned around and Matt was standing at the end of the entrance, arms crossed.

”Living room.” Matt’s voice was stern. Ben’s heart sank. Damn. They had not gotten away with it. He sighed heavily and followed Matt into the living room. Matt sat down in the chair and gestured for Ben to sit on the couch.

”Alright, how long have you and Chase been dating?” Ben sank into the couch.

”Uh, a couple of days.” Technically a lie, it had been basically ten days. Matt sighed heavily. Ben winced.

”Ground rules going forward. First, your bedroom door will be open if Chase is over. Second, please for the love of God don’t have sex. Third, he will be coming in through the front door. He will not be jumping through the shadows to sneak in. I was a teen once. I get it. I do. Though my experience was very different then yours, it is not so different that I don’t know exactly what you're thinking and feeling. I promised your mother the day you were born that I’d be there for you. That if anything happened I’d make sure you were okay. We knew you’d get powers eventually. And your father’s family is not equipped to deal with it.”

”Not that they even tried,” Ben said sullenly.

”I know that hurts. When we are rejected for something we cannot change about ourselves it hurts a lot. But you are my family. You are blood of my blood and I love you more than you’ll understand. Not until you have children of your own, which I hope is someday very far into the future.” Ben opened his mouth to interrupt, but Matt held up his hand. ”I know that it is not something that will happen in the type of relationship you are in. I just mean in general. You’re fourteen. You’re not ready for that sort of responsibility. I want you to be safe. I want you to have as normal a childhood as possible. That’s why your parents weren’t ready for you to go through Terrengensis. They wanted you to enjoy being a kid before anything like responsibility was put on your shoulders.”

“You saw after the Contest all the things that your friend Danni and the others went through. Imagine if you had been there with them. The reporters would have dug into your past just as much, they would have found out about your parents and they would have asked. I need you to be aware that this kind of life is not fun or safe nor is it easy. God it isn’t easy.” Matt paused in his speech and rubbed at his face with his hands.

”Sorry, I’ve gotten off topic. You don’t need me on a soapbox. Just be honest with me. Don’t do something you’ll regret. He seems like a good kid, and he seems to like you a lot. That’ll get him far in my book. I know you’ll probably have to get hurt by a relationship. It happens, and it sucks even more when it is your first love. So please be careful. And if you need to talk, come to me, alright.”

Ben nodded. He knew about Matt’s past, but maybe he didn’t know everything. Matt wasn’t in a relationship. Ben knew there had been some, but Matt didn’t talk about them. He chewed his lip.

”You’re not mad?”

”I’m furious. I feel like you lied to me. That you went on the trip and didn’t tell me the truth. I could tell that the two of you were interested in each other, but I didn’t think either of you would go that quickly into a relationship. I honestly thought you were a little too hurt. That’s on me. I should have insisted at least one of us adults went with you. But I also know what it is like to be a teen and feeling stifled. So I didn’t. I’m not going to take that out on you though. Instead, you’re going to promise you won’t do something like that again, and that you’ll follow the rules.”

Ben winced. He could follow two of them. He’d have to text Chase and let him know they had not gotten away with it, and what the rules were. However, he had already failed at rule two. Matt saw the facial expression and rubbed at his face again. He stood up and paced for a moment. Ben pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around his knees.

”Go to your room. Chase isn’t to come over tomorrow. I know you start school Monday and I can’t stop you two from hanging out there, but you’re going to have at least tomorrow apart.” Ben stood and hurried to his room. He carefully shut his door and flopped on to his bed. He grabbed his phone and texted Chase.

@Chase

Wellllllp.... Cat’s out of the bag. He knows.

Ben didn’t know if he was shaking because he was freaked out, or if he was honestly just relieved he wouldn’t have to try to keep up the secret.

Sometime later, before Ben fell asleep, there was a knock on his door.

”Come in.”

”Congratulations on your first relationship. Good night.”

”Thanks, and good night Uncle Matt.”

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The day before school

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Ben was packing. He didn’t really know what to take, other than his bugs. He was not leaving those behind. Some of them required special attention, like Titan. His door was open and Matt knocked on the door frame.

”Hey, kiddo, uh have you had the talk?”

”What?”

”You know the sex talk?”

”Oh my god, Uncle Matt, please do not. Yes. I’ve had the talk. It’s fine. I know how to be safe. Jesus.”

”Good, good, just checking. I’m not thrilled about you having sex this young. I’m pretty certain your mum would be pissed at me.” Matt left Ben alone. Ben lay face down on his bed. What the hell? He was going to die of embarrassment.

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The first day of school

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Matt drove Ben to school. Matt still had a motorcycle, and that was his preferred method of transportation when alone. However, he did have a car. For Matt those thoughts reminded him of other old co-workers. For Ben it just meant he hated everything. He felt sick to his stomach and desperately wanted to climb out the window. His uncle had allowed him to roll down his window, but that was the best he could do for now. Matt was considering what cars he could buy to replace this one. It had to be something with room. As he had that thought he came to the realization that if he got a van and if Ben joined a team he could be the sports dad. That sent a little thrill of parental joy through him. Matt knew most likely Ben would set up a skate club with Chase.

At the school, Matt had collected paperwork and took Ben to his room. It was necessary to have his help since Ben had one of his terrariums. Ben was not thrilled about his room assignment. If only because it was not with Chase. He had had his hopes held too high. Or maybe Matt had called the school to specifically make sure they wouldn’t be roommates. That seemed like something he would do to discourage them. The student he did room with was his Uncle’s friend’s kid. Ben did not care if Percy didn’t like insects. He set up the terrarium on his side of the room, in a spot where they’d get natural light still. Matt helped him unpack and then after a quick hug left.

Ben swung by the bathrooms, checking out the space. His heart sank when he saw the tiny shower space. He was not taking showers there. He’d have to use the gym showers, provided they had them. That would get annoying quick, but it would be better than trying to fight the coiling pit of fear that boiled over just looking at the tiny space. He felt like throwing up even knowing he wasn’t about to climb into the shower.

Ben left the dorm hall and headed outside for the carnival. He looked for Danni and Chase.

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

The text logs of Danni, Ben and Chase. AKA: The Round Table

JAN 7th

Ben: okay
Ben: Danni, this is kind of ... Idk
Ben: anyway, use this group chat instead
Ben: We’ll chat here while we’re driving
Ben: i’ll read the texts to Chase, and if he wants to say something I’ll do something like
Ben: (Chase) is saying something
Ben: make sense?

Danni: 😁🥳🎉😁🥳🎉
Danni: EXCITING!
Danni: Hello! Hi! How go?!
Danni: Things sounded a little spicy last night
Danni: Did Chase get my messages?
Danni: He didn’t respond
Danni: So mean
Danni: So rude
Danni: I shall wither away!
Danni: But heyyyyyyyyy
Danni: I love group chats!
Danni: So much easier :D
Danni: Wait
Danni: The car?
Danni: U norms send bug photos first.
Danni: Wild
Danni: No buggies?
Danni: I started looking forward to the buggies
Danni: Hm
Danni: I know what Ben looks for on the trip
Danni: What's Chase looking for?
Danni: He never responded to my Scorpia comment BTW
Danni: le gasp
Danni: (Thats my French gasp btw)
Danni: Oh sheet
Danni: I could have been making jokes in French too
Danni: Laaaame
Danni: But we should all do a watch party
Danni: You’all love a Danni watch party
Danni: Once (not really, I love watching parties) in a life time experience guaranteed!
Danni: So how y’all doing?

Ben: yeah, car, unfortunately
Ben: not everyone has a teleporter on hand
Ben: things are good
Ben: we had to talk about a couple of things though
Ben: and idk if we’ll get bugs today
Ben: the pass is snowed in
Ben: so we’re deciding what we want to do
Ben: (Chase) Wait you have someone that teleports? Dude next trip LONDON!! Think the drinking age there is like 16 or some shit idk.

Dabbi: OoooO
Danni: Talking things through
Danni: Das good tho!
Danni: Love the good vibe boyfs!
Danni: OMG Yaaas! Ben and I were already talking bout London!
Danni: Yeah, drinking is kinda off limits in mu family
Danni: Papa had a lotta addictions so uh
Danni: Pls no
Danni: Its a thing
Danni: Buuuuuy
Danni: Ben and I were talking about that!
Danni: Cause he wanted to do a photoshoot
Danni: And I was gunna dress him up as an explorer
Danni: and we were gunna go to bug places
Danni: And get cool buggie exploration photos!
Danni: Then he can take us all over!
Danni: And yeah, duh
Danni: Pa can portal us anywhere
Danni: The whole fam goes on vacations all over!
Danni: And lemme tell.you
Danni: There is this little coffee shop in Italy we go to when schedules line up
Danni: But THEN
Danni: We pop over to France for a little croissant treat 😀
Danni: It's so fun!
Danni: And now, when she isn't fighting people who can make you think they're not real
Danni: America can open up the multiverse!!!!
Danni: Ben did you show Chase the multiverse photos!!!
Danni: Omg Chase
Danni: You don't wanna Aurora Foil?
Danni: But you skaaaate
Danni: Ben wants to aurora foil
Danni: Come on
Danni: I could get cool couple photoooos
Danni: Like, skating side by side
Danni: And dedinately not going into my portfolio
Danni: plssssssssss
Danni: Pretty pls with a cherry on top

Ben: (Chase) Fuck, my bad man. Didn't realize that. No drinking then, just some hot food spots and some good grinding. Won't lie, Ben in an explorers outfit sounds very cute. Whats uh, Aurora Foil?
Ben: yes, we’ll skate, yes we’ll photoshoot
Ben: lol

Danni: Muwhahahahahaha
Danni: It's gunna be fuuun!!
Danni: I gotta get ur sizes Chase so u maaaatch!
Danni: Omg, guys
Danni: I had a absi mess yesterday
Danni: It was awwwful
Danni: Fiiiinally got Leah ij that cooking video
Danni: Doin’ our thing
Danni: We put three of the hottest peppers in the world
Danni: Just an easy stir fry tho
Danni: Kinda gauge the cookingness of eaxh ither u know?
Danni: We're bonding
Danni; Its amazing
Danni: And then
Danni: Leah reminded me we didnt turn the cameras on
Dann: 😭😭😭
Danni: The food was good, the whole point ruuuined
Danni: Tho!
Danni: April and I got our move down!
Danni: Likez we were in rough shape after Pop's training but it wooooooorks
Danni: (Photo of Danni in an ice skating rink)
Danni: Training made me wanna skate today
Danni: So viola
Danni: Skating!
Danni: Not a board but I can do this!

Chase: My size for what?
Chase: Three of the hottest peppers? For Ben that's like…all three bell peppers. But thats ok, we're working on my little Cuddle Bugs tolerance to spice.

Ben: rude
Ben: your not wrong
Ben: but still 😝
Ben: ooh ice skating
Ben: was the stir fry at least good?

Danni: Omg, so goood!
Danni: I loved it
Danni: Leah loved it
Danni: 10/10 would make again
Danni: Your size for clothes, shoes etc
Danni: If we're matching, it all has to fit
Danni: Oooo
Danni: Good nick name for Benny Boi
Danni: You two looked so cozy!
Danni: Snug as a bug in a rug
Danni: (Photo of Danni curled around Amelie in his pillow and blanket nest)
Danni: This was who I was snuggling with!!!
Danni: Dragon cuddles are the best!!

Ben: great
Ben: between the two of you I’m going to get called every nickname possible
Ben: Amelie <3
Ben: you’ve seen basically all the other photos
Ben: wait I haven’t sent you the stamp ones
Ben: Attachment 1: photo of Ben and Chase at Death Valley, Ben has the date and park symbol stamped on his cheek
Ben: Attachment 2: photo of Ben and Chase at Sequoia, Ben has the date and park symbol stamped on his cheek
Ben: Attachment 3: photo of Ben and Chase at Yosemite, Ben has the date and park symbol stamped on his cheek
Ben: We couldn’t get to the Lassen park museum/office place because of the snow 😩
Ben: but maybe after the snow melts and the pass opens back up
Ben: Instead we’re doing [yet to be determined]

Chase: We are not matching. What?
Chase: We can do…complimentary clothing though. Hows that?
Chase: [Attachment - Image of Chase and Ben cuddling in bed, Chase is shirtless and pressing a kiss to Ben's cheek.]
Chase: You already know who my cuddle buddy for last night was

Danni: Omg so cute!
Danni: Those stamp photos are so fuuun!
Danni: Omg
Danni: Chase
Danni: We should come up with like
Danni: tons of nicknames
Danni: And we just rotate them
Danni: It'll be so fun!
Danni: Snow is Laaaaaaaaaaaaame
Danni: We can't match?!?!
Danni: I love doing matching outfits tho
Danni: 😵‍💫😢🥺🥺🥺
Danni: Oh, I tots changed that photo to ur contact pic btw
Danni: Its so cuuuute
Danni: Yeeeesh
Danni: What is there 2 do out there BTW
Danni: Like
Danni: Isn't it sups far away from everything
Danni: Wild
Danni: Couldn't be me
Danni: Ugh
Danni: We'll do a cuddle piles the three of us
Danni: I love cuddle piles
Danni: We should tots my goats
Danni: OMG SHE-RA WATCH PARTY
Danni: And I can cook
Danni: And make Hot Chocolate!
Danni: Santa brought me the Hot Chocolate recipe
Danni: Omg, we can wear cute onesie!
Danni: Plssssssssss

Chase: Oh D, mind making us some Huevos Rancheros someday? This city is lame and had no good Mexican around but I'm trying to show Ben some good food.
Chase: ↪️REPLY What's there to do? I mean I'm chill as long as I have Ben as my company. He's plenty entertaining.
Chase: Miss me with that onesie thanks.

Ben: i have regrets
Ben: your both gonna team up against me now 😵‍💫
Ben: please 🙏 don't make it spicy 😫
Ben: hmm I think cuddle piles will be okay as long as im not at the bottom and can move...
Ben: most of what there is to do is enjoy being out doors
Ben: the landscapes are terrific
Ben: even if it is literally snowing 🌨

Danni: Ooooh huevos rancheros!!!
Danni: Yeeeeees
Danni: I can make urs less spicy, bb Bennie
Danni: Tho
Danni: I make my own hot sauce soooooo
Danni: You'll be missing ouuuuut
Danni: No onsie?!
Danni: Beeeeeeeeeeeeeen
Danni: Give him puppy dog eyes
Danni: Beg him to wear one!
Danni: We can get…
Danni: A bat
Danni: or a cat!
Danni: Or like
Danni: A panda
Danni: Omg, Ben
Danni: Chase would look so good as a panda!
Danni: Why you regret?!
Danni: We're great!
Danni: I just like cuddle piles and pillow forts and cozy stuff so w/e y'all want
Danni: Idk
Danni: I def don't sit still well lololol
Danni: Haven't u figured out what 2 do today yet??
Danni: Oh, oh, oh
Danni: Make a snowman
Danni: Or snowball fight
Danni: Or
Danni: Hm
Danni: Snow Angels
Danni: Snow tubing
Danni: Ice skating

Chase: ↪️REPLY - Don't make it less spicy. He needs to gain a tolerance.
Chase: No onesie, they aren't comfortable for me. I'll wear sweatpants and a panda hoodie as a compromise?
Chase: Just…careful with the cuddles man. My bfs claustrophobic. So like…no?

Ben: nooooooo toooo spicy. I didn't even like those chips 😓
Ben: [heart reacted message: Just…careful with the cuddles man. My bfs claustrophobic. So like…no?]
Ben: we will find something to do :)
Ben: we decided to drive to the next stop

Danni: I will… leave the bottle on the table :)
Danni: Oh, ye I know!
Danni: Ben taught me that word!
Danni: I also have issues with small spaces!
Danni: :D
Danni: So I'll be extra careful with Bennie!
Danni: Yeesh, so much driiiiiiving
Danni: Wait, what chips did you eat??

Chase: Creek Sweet n Spicy.
Chase: He's weak ❤️ (Endearingly)
Chase: is typing

Ben: they were not sweet
Ben: only pain

Danni: Bennie
Danni: Bennie Boi
Danni: BB Benni Boi
Danni: Those are like
Danni: Bottom spicy levels
Danni: Like
Danni: On a scale of 1 - 10
Danni: .05
Danni: Its okay
Danni: I'm here to fix this
Danni: U don't eat a Kingston-Grey's food
Danni: Without enjoying spice
Danni: So we'll getcha there!
Danni: Chaaaaase
Danni: Whats ur address?
Danni: I'll pop a bottle of my hot sauce 2 ur house!
Danni: It'll be delicious!
Danni: Oooo
Danni: Yeees
Danni: I luv the panda sleep shirt!
Danni: Deeef
Danni: !!!
Danni: Its all of us!
Danni: !!!
Danni: Okay, okay, okay
Danni: Most important question
Danni: Ever
Danni: Best & Worst Popcorn flavors
Danni: Go!

Chase: …
Chase: I only like Theatre popcorn with theater butter…

Ben: i just like lightly salted.
Ben: ive not tried much else other than theater popcorn
Ben: but i don't care too much for the butter tbh

Chase: The butter is the best part. Add chocolate in it and it's the best thing since sliced bread. Salty, sweet, what's not to love?
Chase: What about you D-man?

Danni: Pink Gin Popcorn is awful
Danni: My favorite is def caramel corn from the three flavor bucket
Danni: the one with cheddar and plain ones
Danni: Its kinda gross
Danni: In a yummy way!
Danni: Oooooo
Danni: Choco butter popcorn is so gooood
Danni: Theater pops is good
Danni: Whats the drink of choice tho

Ben: coke 💯
Ben: if they have ot cherry coke
Ben: cheese popcorn?????

Chase: See? This is why he is my King. Cherry coke is the right choice unless Blue Razz ICEE is available.

Ben: im gonna regret this
Ben: what is that?

Danni: What is what??
Danni: And yeeees
Danni: Cheddar popcorn!
Danni: Its popcorn + cheddar cheese!
Danni. So goooood
Danni: Idk, ngl Imma kinda a sprite boi
Danni: Its just so refreshing
Danni: And with how heavy popcorn butter is
Danni: It's like
Danni: The perfext balance
Danni: Tho Blue Icee is def the best one
Danni: The rest are kinda
Danni: 😒
Danni: Ya know?
Danni: But ya know the best snack?
Danni: The ones u sneak in
Danni: Current record
Danni: 82 beignets
Danni: I'm aiming for 100 next time
Danni: Huehuehuehuehuehuehue

Chase: How do you?
Chase: How did you?
Chase: 82?!
Chase: Fuck man, that's impressive.

Ben: what is a blue iccee??
Ben: beignets are the best!!
Ben: also that is TOOOOO many
Ben: I eat like four and feel like that’s too much!

Danni: We'll just have to go to the movies
Danni: The you can see my secret techniques
Danni: And it doesn't include the bottomless bag!
Danni: Well.its blue and tastes like blue
Danni: And its a reaaaaally
Danni: Reaaaaally
Danni: Ice-y drink! (Huehuehuehuehuehue)
Danni: They churn it like butter
Danni: And it comes out really silky for like
Danni: 13 minutes
Danni: And then poof
Danni: Crunchy blue drink!
Danni: stains your mouth all blue too!

Ben: unhinged
Ben: I’m down for the movies
Ben: What is bottomless bag?

Chase: Mind if I show him ICEEs before then? Might hit up a sev at some point for gas and I could get us some there.
Chase: …unless you want to be a part of it…
Chase: Then…I could wait. That's cool.
Chase: A bottomless bag is when a top is holding their bottoms purse i think.

Danni: Get the iceeeeees!
Danni: Idk why u gotta wait for me lol
Danni: So good
Danni: u'll love the sugary goooooodness
Danni: What
Danni: Oh!
Danni: Pa gave us bottomless bags one year!
Danni: I can fit like… 75% of my closet in one!
Danni: And its like
Danni: Suitcase sized
Danni: So super portable!
Danni: Makes outfit changing when plans change the best!
Danni: Oooooo
Danni: U should do a red/blue/purple icee photo
Danni: It'd be so cuuuuute
Danni: We could make in ur profile pictures!!!!!
Danni: One has blue, one has red, and like ur banners are purple!!!!

Ben: I am somehow more confused than I was before I asked.
Ben: i still don’t know what a bottomless bag is
Ben: chase, as funny as that is, i don’t think that’s what Danni means
Ben: what banners?

Chase: Clearly Danni didnt find it funny 💔 🥲
Chase: No idea what he's on about though but maybe of this storm clears we can get some ICEEs tomorrow on our way up.
Chase: Clearly Danni doesn't want to be a part of it 😜

Danni: Bottomless = Bigger on the inside!
Danni: And on SM obvi!
Danni: Ya know
Danno: Prof pic is the little one
Danni: Banner is the biiiiig one!
Danni: Silly gooses!
Danni: idk what it meant sooooo
Danni: I liek being included
Danni: But u seemed so saaaaad
Danni: If I made u wait!
Danni: its ur trip & u goes had fun b4 we're all in school
Danni: And we can always get Icees when u come back too!
Danni: Im so exciiiiiited to introduce you to every1!
Danni: they're gunna love u both
Danni: And I'll show u all the fun places round campus
Danni: And the best training room
Danni: And the best place to hang on the roof
Danni: And the tree
Danni: Im so exciiiiiited!

Ben: danni sooo there was a storm
Ben: we had to stop at a hotel
Ben: but
Ben: the only one open was this ski lodge
Ben: [Attachment: photo of the exterior of a ski lodge, snow is coming down enough that it is hard to see beyond it, the lodge is massive, rambling over the mountain side]
Ben: and unfortunately it was very popular
Ben: so there was only room we could book
Ben: [Attachment: photo of a large suite sitting room, including a stairway up to an unseen area, the window in the back shows the snow has not slowed down]

Chase: Oh are we just gonna move past the tree thing? OK cool.
Chase: I'm…not so sure they'll like me.
Chase: Benny Boi sure, they'll love him
Chase: Who wouldn't?
Chase: [Attachment: photo of Ben playing with bugs at one of the previous parks.]
Chase: I mean look at him!

Danni: Wheeelp, I guess I see ur point.
Danni: Ben is sups adorbs, 100%!
Danni: The tree is def sups cool!
Danni: Its haunted!
Danni: Extra fun and spooky!
Danni: So I gotta show you the tree!
Danni: Oooooo
Danni: That's so nice!!!!!
Danni: Thats gunna be a great staaaay!
Danni: The hot tub probs is amazing!
Danni: especially if its super cold and/or outside
Danni: Yeeeeees
Danni: U gotta have a soak for meeeeeeee

Ben: the main pool is heated too
Ben: [Attachment- photo of a large spa solarium there is a long narrow pool that stretches from one end to the other near the windows]

Chase: Tree sounds chill 😎
Chase: Gonna leave my phone in the room to charge
Chase: But I'll definitely be soaking enough for all of us dont worry.

Danni: Ooooooo
Danni: Okay
Danni: Have fuuuuuun
Danni: Do the swimming
Danni: Do the soaking
Danni: Do a little dance!

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

The text log of Benjamin Moss & Danni Kingston

DEC 17th - Near Miss 2

Danni: It's ya boi, Danni <3

• Attachment 1 - Danni smiling with a victory pose.
• Attachment 2 - Danni blowing a kiss at the camera.
• Attachment 3 - Danni furiously mixing something in a bowl, frosting across one cheek.

Danni: Idk which one ya want as my contact pic!
Danni: Send me a pic back 4 mine!

Ben changes the contact picture to the victory pose.

Ben: hey! I had fun hanging out, sorry my uncle is a wet blanket.

• Attachment 1 - A selfie of Ben with a moth sitting on his hand.
• Attachment 2 - Ben on his skate board, taken by someone else.
• Attachment 3 - Ben hanging from something concrete, several feet off the ground, taken by someone else.

Danni: Oooo good ones, good ones.
Danni: Idk which to pick.
Danni: Hm, I think the third one.
Danni: Done!
Danni: Mr. Park core!

Ben: I love parkour. Have you ever done it?

Danni: Nooo
Danni: I like to flyyyyyy
Danni: I did gymnastics for a bit
Danni: But I was doing acting and cooking aaaand gymnastics aaaaaaaaaaaaand dance
Danni: So I dropped it tbh
Danni: I still do yoga tho!
Danni: Gotta stay flexi for all my fans!
Danni: And so I can dodge.

Ben: What about skateboarding?
Ben: I could teach you sometime? Parkour is a lot harder to get into. But you can fly so that’s like cheating when it comes to the sport.
Ben: I can’t cook or any of that other stuff
Ben: well I probably could do gymnastics since it is a lot of the same stuff as parkour
Ben: so you’d probably be okay it

Danni: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Danni: YOU WOULD THUNK
Danni: THAT I COULD DO THIS
Danni: WITH ALL MY SKILLS
Danni: BUT
Danni: PICTURE THIS BB
Danni: A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD DANNI
Danni: CUTE AF
Danni: DANCER AND COOK AND SUPERHERO EXTRAIR
Danni: SETTING THINGS ON FIRE
Danni: GOT ON A SKATEBIARD
Danni: AND THN FOUND OUT THAT CONRETE SHOULD NOT HIT YOUR HEAD
Danni: I never tried again 🫠🫠🫠

Ben: Okay I don’t blame you for that.
Ben: but what if I was there?
Ben: to help?
Ben: To catch you?
Ben: you can fly? Are you going to eat pavement again?

Danni: I couldn't always fly.
Danni: That's only in the last year or so.
Danni: Only if you promise to let me hold onto you.
Danni: And promise not to laugh at me.

Ben: you can totally hold onto me! I’ll keep you safe 🙂
Ben: cross my heart! I won’t laugh

Danni: 🥰😇😊🤩🤩
Danni: My life is in your hands then!
DEC 25th - Christmas Day

Ben: merry Christmas! Idk what your fam does for it. Hope you have a good day :)

Danni: OMG, MY SIS WOKE ME UP AT 6AM!!!!!! LIKE, TF?! PLS SEND COFFEE!
Danni: BH is pretty fire today -
[*]Attachment - Danni in his pj's, a little ruffled and sleepy looking, hair all disheveled and sitting in his nest of pillows and blankets, Amélie on her back and snoozing in his lap
Danni: O remind me to tell you what I got for the rents today!!!!
Danni: OMG, yes Merry Christmas!! Tell your Uncle I say hi and I still wanna come over to cook 4 you! <3

Ben: lol, we drink tea here like civilized people.
Attachment - Ben in pj's with a bow stuck to his head.
Ben: had church last night, I'm tired too. But I woke up at 7 am :p
Ben: I got Matt a book about some military history he likes. He got me a new deck. It is decent, but not the same brand I'm used to
Ben: also what does BH mean?

Danni: Anything before 9 is a crime!!
Danni: Heart reacted to “Attachment”
Danni: Omg, that's so cute!
Danni: It's your new contact pic btw
Danni: We def won the kids of the year award.
Danni: We cleaned up a whole island of magic aids.
Danni: Pops actually sobbed.
Danni: I think when we're outta school, the rents might try to rebuild Genosha.
Danni: Pops is kinda obsessing over it.
Danni: brb, Papa is panicking lololol
Danni: He summoned a Christmas ghost! Imma touch it.
Danni: ABORT, ABORT IT IS NOT A CHRISTMAS GHOST, NOT A CHRISTMAS GHDKSBEHSGSJNTNRNSJS
Danni: The ghost is gone now 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠

Ben: Laugh emoted “It's your new contact pic btw”
Ben: Is touching ghosts something you normally do? Why is there a ghost?
Ben: I’m so confused? What island? Do you mean Genosha? You cleaned it so it is safe again? I’ve heard of Genosha but it wasn’t ever really anything we talked about. My uncle talks about the moon normally.
Ben: I told him you want to come over and cook and he said you could if you want before school starts, but you’re welcome over after school starts on the weekend or something too.
Ben: He is weirdly very happy I’ve got a friend. He seems smug. butthead

Danni: Okay, ghost was only [i]slightly[i] stabby so we gucci!
Danni: Papa can summon ghosts!
Danni: Most of the time, they're nice.
Danni: But sometimes they're not.
Danni: This one was the stabbing kind!
Danni: Yeah! When we made the big glowy guy!
Danni: We did 2 things!
Danni: One - Clean Genosha.
Danni: It's was sup dangy so we fixed that for Christmas!
Danni: Two - I gave everyone on the team a hug!
Danni: It was fun!
Danni: And then I wanted to die.
Danni: So I said no more magic for Danni!
Danni: Okay, bet!
Danni: Imma make my gnocchi soup!
Dannie: When are you free?
Danni: When am I free?
Danni: Uh
Danni: Mmmm
Danni: How about Jan 5?
Danni: When did I get busy?
Danni: Are you happy you made a friend 🥺🥺🥺

Ben: Dude that giant glowy thing was crazy!
Ben: I did not expect you to join it. I didn’t even realize you could until you did!
Ben: You cleaned Genosha from new orleans?
Ben: glad you didn’t die, id be sad and without a friend... that yes, I am happy I met :3
Ben: Matt said Jan 5th works!

Danni: No, yeah
Danni: I was sups easy!
Danni: 🥰🤩😜😍🤩🥰
Danni: Yay!
Danni: Peeeerf!!!! I’ll let the rents know!!!!

Ben: sweet looking forward to it!
DEC 26th - Ben meets Chase & Marlena

Ben: okay your right. I met two people at the skate park.

Danni: HDVSJEBHDUSUSISJNS
Danni: OMG, for real?! I said it, right?! Total movie moment!
Danni: Group pics or it didn't happen! *grabby hands*

Ben: We already parted ways. Later I guess. I wasn’t texting around them we were skating and chatting.

Danni: 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Ben: Sorry! I’ll get a pic next time I see them. They both like skating a bunch and we plan on going more. I swear.
Ben: Also they are both going to go school with us, so you’ll def meet them.
Ben: Chase and I are talking about going on a camping trip.
Ben: I’ve never even camped before. What do I do for that?
Ben: The other person, is Marlena. She’s got tk and is sick as hell with her board. Like I bet she was good before she got powers but now she can do insane tricks.

Danni: Ooooh!
Danni: They sound fun!
Danni: You have to let me meet them then!
Danni: Its the winter carnival too!
Danni: I can hang with you!
Danni: Cause Dee and Spicy are proba gunna be couple.
Danni: Rillie might be hanging off someone's arm.
Dannie: Beanie and Leah's be doing couple stuff.
Danni: Oh! I can bring Andy
Danni: Huh, she might be with America.
Danni: If they're done with Mother and all that.
Danni: Huh
Danni: Whelp, guess you're stuck with me and maybe Andy!

Ben: A carnival sounds fun!
Ben: Yeah! I’ll introduce you at the carnival/school!
Ben: who is andy? Mother?

Danni: Yaaaaas! More friends!
Danni: I love friends <3
Danni: Andy did all the electric stuff in the contest!
Danni: Mother is… idk some sort of entity that Young Avengers have to deal with.
Danni: I was more worried about hugging everyone than diving into that mess, yikes.

Ben: Oh yeah I remember her
Ben: she seems intense???
Ben: okay, nothing i have to worry about hten

Danni: Naaaaaah
Danni: Nth ya need to care bout.
Danni: They know ta ask if they need help!
Danni: Andy's a sweety. Just a little behind the times
Danni: 🤣🤣💤💤⏰️⏰️🤣🤣

Ben: *sigh of relief!*
Ben: I am not hero material.
Ben: I’m barely material
Ben: alright, willing to hang and meet Andy then

Danni: You are!
Danni: Everyone is hero material.
Danni: They just have to put in the work!
Danni: Yay!!! Looking forward to it!!!! 🎉🪅🎉🪅

Ben: ehhhh we’ll see about that

DEC 28th - Danni’s multiverse photoshoot

Danni: [Photos of America and Andy surfing through the sky and Andy falling]
Danni: [Photos of Danni and Eli surfing on the aurora]
Danni: Heeeeeeeeey
Danni: Looks what I diiiid
Danni: I skated!
Danni: Well
Danni: Eli def did most of the skating
Danni: But it counts!

Ben: bloody hell that looks cool!
Ben: where?
Ben: how?
Ben: wait... is the one falling okay???

Danni: (Selfie of Andy and Danni in the snow after the fall making snow angels)
Danni: Yes!
Danni: Apparently Andy can take a beating!
Danni: I freaked too when she hit the ground.
Danni: Deeeef thought ‘merica or me could catch her
Danni: Spoiler - we could not
Danni: Buuut its in a different dimension!
Danni: Did a dimensional photoshoot
Danni: And American brought us here for the winter part
Danni: I have so many pictures across a bunch of them!
Danni: We did beaches, we did a real fancy place (idr what they called it), super fun
Danni: Bit they got thisz rod that os a board and you fly in the sky!

Ben: good, glad she's okay
Ben: andy is the lighting one?
Ben: no wonder she did so good in the contest
Ben: though she didn't even get hit often
Ben: that sounds like a ton of fun 😁
Ben: keep sending photos! I wanna see everything

Danni: ooooh
Danni: (Photo of Eli and Danni, wearing orange and white speedos)
Danni: hehehehe
Danni: I got Eli to match with me
Danni: america fgo Eli to wear it
Danni: She snuck it into his luggage
Danni: (Photo of America and Andy playing in green water)
Danni: the ocean was green Af man, safe tho!
Danni: V. warm water
Danni: Like real nice, real comfy
Danni: (Photo of Danni on Eli’s shoulders, grappling Andy on America’s)
Danni: I…
Danni: I am not a stronk
Danni: I lost right after that
Danni: (Photo of Danni spiking a volleyball from 30ft in the air)
Danni: We did win that round of volleyball but uuuuh
Danni: It was determined flying was banned
Danni: 🙂🫣🥲

Ben: that looks like a blast!
Ben: yeahhhh flying feels like cheating lol
Ben: especially if the others can't fly
Ben: anybody going against the person who broke America's leg is probably gonna lose if that's her default

Danni: Its noooot!
Danni: Andy's a sweet pea!
Danni: Breaking a leg is not the norm
Danni: I proooomise
Danni: (Photo of the four of them in Letterman jackets)
Danni: This was a pretty place!
Danni: Their leaves were super, super pretty!
Danni: (Photo of Danni and Andy doing Victory poses on Eli and America's shoulders)

Ben: glad to hear that lol
Ben: i wouldn’t want my leg broken
Ben: not that I have any intention of fighting andy
Ben: or anyone from your team
Ben: they all intimidate me 🙂
Ben: wicked cool! All of it!

Danni: (Photo of The Multiverse Squad, done in their punk and goth outfits)
Danni: I was v. Proud of the makeup in these shots
Danni: God, I love a good punk look
Danni: Like the goth is nice
Danni: but punk?
Danni: Stick a fork in me
Danni: I'm done

Ben: you all look great
Ben: in general that looks fun
Ben: maybe someday we can do something similar?

Danni: You wanna do a photoshoot with me?!
Danni: 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
Danni: I'm so down
Danni: I already have so many ideas for us
Danni:And O can do some lookin into London styles
Danni: Omg omg omg yeeeees

Ben: sure!
Ben: auper down!
Ben: if we go to London too I can show you the best spots

Danni: Omg, yaaaaas
Danni: Whats ur fav place in London?
Danni: Omg - I need to get you in an expedition outfit and we need bugs for a photoshoot
Danni: Is there a bug museum in London?
Danni: Are there bug museums?
Danni: Hm
Danni: I gotta look into that
Danni: You'd look adorable
Danni: I'll have to get matching outfit
Danni: Idk what that would be
Danni: I'll ask Papa, he can do it
Danni: Do you have tall boots????
Danni: Whats ur shoe size?

Ben: there are natural history museums
Ben: those have sections about bugs
Ben: there are also live bugs at zoos and special places
Ben: lol sure if you want to do that
Ben: no i don't
Ben: size 8 (kirah is guessing at shoe size)

Danni: Great!
Danni: That's how we start!
Danni: And we'll get you those cool tall explorer boots
Danni: Hm - maybe I'll also do exploration
Danni: Maybe the damsel
Danni: Idk yet!
Danni: But we xan get photos of you with the bugs
Danni: And the bugs can be on you!
Danni: ooooh
Danni: Maybe u can get them to fly around ypu
Danni: It'll never such a cool shot!

Ben: I’m sure I can get the bugs to fly around, that’s easy
Ben: we can figure it out
Ben: I’m excited!

Danni: Saaaaame
Danni: You gotta take me on all the touristy stuff
Danni: And then the not touristy stuff, u know?
Danni: Like, the super secret local stuff that tourists dont know
Danni: Cause I wanna know!

Ben: Absolutely!
Between christmas and Jan 1st

Ben: Chase and I are planning on going camping but it might conflict with our plans 🙁😭

Danni: Wait, wha???
Danni: But we made plans???
Danni: Are you canceling?
Danni: On me?!
Danni: 😱😱🤢🤢🤮🤮😵😵💀💀👻👻

Ben: I’M SORRY! zo/ 🙏
Ben: don’t call it canceling
Ben: call it rain check?
Ben: unless you’re available before new years?
Ben: it’s been so hard to convince my uncle to let me go
Ben: but because the holiday is over he is cracking I can see it
Ben: He started giving me rules which basically means it’ll happen
Ben: I just don’t know what day we’ll leave yet

Danni: 😡😤😡😤😡😤😡😤😡
Danni: 😵‍💫😭😢😭😱🥺🥺😢😭
Danni: 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
Danni: Um.
Danni: k.

Ben: Ahhhhhhhh
Ben: Please don’t hate me!
Ben: I know this is like a pet peeve of yours
Ben: How about this
Ben: In exchange for every day I’m gone with chase, I promise you a day of whatever you want to do?
Ben: I mean literally whatever
Ben: I don’t care if you want to go to a spider museum where there is only spiders and they crawl on you
Ben: I mean I do care, please don’t ask that of me, but I will if you’ll forgive me

Danni:...
Danni:....
Danni:......
Danni: And I get to cash them in whenever?
Danni: Do I have to cash them in all at the same time?
Danni: How many days?

Ben: you can cash them whenever, anytime.
Ben: as many days as I have for camping with chase.
Ben: I expect it’ll be like 10

Danni: …
Danni: ….
Danni: …..
Danni: Anything I want?
Danni: So if I want to spend all day shopping, you'll come?
Danni: If I want to spend all day sitting inside and reading, you'll do it?
Danni: If I want to hop six countries in a day just for snacks, you'll come?
Danni: Miss me with those museums.
Danni: Snooze fest.

Ben: yes anything
Ben: shopping, sure
Ben: I don’t sit still well, but sure
Ben: okay, that sounds fun I’m 100% in for that, especially if we hit up london
Ben: I can introduce you to the best food from home 🙂

Danni: Hm.
Danni: I guess that's fine.
Danni: Still not happy but
Danni: We're picking a new date right now.
Danni And you're not allowed to cancel again.
Danni: You're forgiven once we have the date.
Danni: When are you coming back?
Danni: And I don't sit still either
Danni: Makes me kinda achey
Danni: 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠
Danni: Unless Im sleeping
Danni: I love sleeping!

Ben: I like ready so honestly it is fine, I just don’t like sitting still lol
Ben: matt says I have to be back the friday before school starts
Ben: matt says he needs time to have a search party if i don’t come back
Ben: as if i’m not giving him daily updates of where I am 🙄
Ben: so we can do that weekend??

Danni: Omg that sounds like my Pops.
Danni: We have these family bracelets
Danni: Super cute, has the family like symbol right?
Danni: Like alerts the rents when we're in danger
Danni: So we're getting tracked all the time
Danni: which like fine, cause I travel everywhere whenever I want
Danni: But I get it
Danni: How about… the 13th?
Danni: Gives you a whole day to chill?
Danni: And then you can have some hearty gnocchi soup!
Danni: v. Rejuvenating
Danni: Imma make little cards
Danni: They're gunna be my coupons :)

Ben: I guess my phone location isn't any different
Ben: the 13th works for us!
Ben: looking forward to it
Ben: omg that's hilarious 😂 love it

Danni: 🎉🪅🥳🥰
JAN. 2nd - Ben and Chase leave for bug hunting

Ben: I convinced Matt! Chase and I are going to go camping!

Danni: Yaaas queen! Live ya life!
Danni: Wait, what's the fit?
Danni: WAIT WAIT DON'T FORGET THE BEAR CHALK!

Ben: Is this okay? I don’t know what to wear camping?
Attachment 1 - photo of Ben, wearing jeans and a t-shirt with an unbuttoned button up layered over
Ben: WHT IS BEAR CHALK?

Danni: The chalk
Danni: To keep the bears away!
Danni: I heard they can't cross chalk circles.
Danni: So like, draw one on the ground and stand inside!
Danni: Heart emoted “Attachment 1”
Danni: Or sick the bugs on them.
Danni: There is gunna be lots of bugs.
Danni: Probably.
Danni: Tbh, idk cause we always stay in cabins.
Danni: Or lodges.
Danni: Wait, what lodge are you staying in?

Ben: I think we have a tent?
Ben: I do not think that is how bears work....
Ben: Do you think if I swarm a bear with bugs it’ll go away?
Ben: are there bees in a forest?
Ben: we are going to more than one national park so we aren’t staying anywhere

Danni: ☠️☠️☠️☠️💀💀💀💀
Danni: Tent?
Danni: Like
Danni: One the ground???
Danni: Couldn't be me.
Danni: Isn't that what bees do?
Danni: When bears want honey?
Danni: It should work???
Danni: Idk bout bees tbh
Danni: Bring chalk just in case!!!

Ben: Fine I’ll pack chalk... if i can find any
Ben: Matt says there is no such thing as bear chalk, he said there is bear mace. We don’t have any.
Ben: I’ll pick some up at the park, they’ve got to sell it right? If it is an issue.
Ben: I’ve never stayed in a tent before. I’ve never camped at all. I’m kind of excited.

Danni: Your Uncle is on thin ice.
Danni: Bear chalk is def a thing.
Danni: I saw it on TV!
Danni: But I don't know about tents.
Danni: We always stay in AC when we are outside.
Danni: Only Pops can handle the heat like that
Danni: Or the cold.
Danni: Or anything really.

Ben: LOL I’ll tell him
Ben: it is the middle of winter, how hot can it be? Or cold? It is california how cold does it get here?
Ben: how do you have AC outside? Or do you just mean like at hotels?
Ben: cant your ... max (?) teleport? Do you actually stay places?

Danni: Yeah, Pa can port us all over!
Danni: But, yeah we stay in places.
Danni: We got to skin lodges
Danni: Hotels
Danni: Adorable cottages in the woods
Danni: Cause like, what if we wanna do more than just that?
Danni: Why port home when you want ta feel that sweet, sweet experieance, ya know?

Ben: But your own bed?
Ben: I’ve never skied, i could probably snowboard smae muscles!
Ben: you know the difference between a cottage in the woods and a cabin in the woods is a serial killer right?

Danni: Why would someone kill ceral? Seems wierd.
Danni: Jk, Jk!
Danni: I'm just being silly!
Danni: I would feel so bad for a serial killer.
Danni: Once, Pa took the kids on a vacation without telling anyone.
Danni: Middle of the mountains.
Danni: No cell signal (brutal AF btw)
Danni: Baaarely electricity.
Danni: Fireplace.
Danni: Beautiful shots.
Danni: Pops found us.
Danni: Three days, broke in, held Pa at gun point before he realized it was Pa.
Danni: I think if we ran into a serial killer
Danni: I'd probably just laugh, tbh.
Danni: Oh! Snowboarding looks scary, tbh.
Danni: Like, just a single board? Spooooked.

Ben: Why didn’t your Pa tell anyone?
Ben: That alone seems insane
Ben: I mean my parents never took me alone
Ben: okay maybe to like grandparents places
Ben: i don’t think my dads parents liked my mom a lot, but the died when I was little sooooo 🤷
Ben: my mom’s parents liked my dad
Ben: After you learn skateboarding snowboarding will be easy!

Danni: 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️🤔🤔🤔😶‍🌫️
Danni: Idk tbh
Danni: Sups last minute?
Danni: Just wanted ta hang with the kids?
Danni: Idk man
Danni: Im just here for a good time
Danni: Says the skateboarding champ
Danni: Soooooo easy
Danni: Not face in the snow
Danni: Def not that
Danni: You gotta let me hold onto ya
Danni: and not laugh.
Danni: Def don’t laugh!

Ben: you did the foil thing
Ben: in the air!
Ben: you can handle a little snow 😀
Ben: You’ve got the balance for it
Ben: Also def not a champ lol
Ben: I do alright

Danni: No, no
Danni: I tried the foil thing
Danni: I tipped it out of the lights
Danni: And I had to fly down and grab it
Danni: 😭😭😭😭😭
Danni: Plus Andy and Eli spooked my a little
Danni: I was reaaally highly
Danni: They don't fly so if they slipped
Danni: I have noodle arms Ben, nooodle arms
Danni: How am I supposed to catch people and fly them down?!
Danni: Okay, actually not that noodly.
Danni: I'm just used to being near Leah
Danni: They made her out of mountains and tree trunks btw
Danni: True fact

Ben: Attachment - [photo of Ben in front of a sinclair dino]
Ben: You’ll be *fine*
Ben: a little snow never hurt anyone
Ben: pavement is way harder
Ben: it hurts a lot more to hit pavement
Ben: you wouldn’t be flying
Ben: alright, well I’ve never even snowboarded so i don’t actually know
Ben: but it cant be worse

Danni: Aw, so cute!
Danni: What's the dino's name?
Danni: And I've fallen in snow!
Danni: I ski, I haaave to have fallen
Danni: And hitting pavement
Danni: Feels a lot like Leah punching you in training
Danni: And smyou knahsowhskwbahsjsns
Danni: ajshushajajahahshshs
Danni: dhaijahsisbshsbasaa
Danni: Attachment - Amélie looking smug where her head was poking out of Danni's shirt Danni clearly on the ground
Danni: Amélie decided it was loving her hour
Danni: 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Ben: Sinclair? Idk 🤷‍♂️
Ben: snow is better than pavement I've got the scars to prove it
Ben: omg she so stinking cute
Ben: okay so chase was a bit jealous I was texting you during our trip but I talked with him about it.
Ben: he wants us three to have dinner together sometime to get to know each other
Ben: is that okay?
Ben: i told him after school starts.

Danni: Yeah, she is 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Danni: Chase was jelly?
Danni: 😏😏😏😏
Danni: But def down!
Danni: Idk if you can tell but
Danni: I like making friends!
Danni: The more the merrier!
Danni: 🥳🥳🥳🥳
Danni: Wait
Danni: Aren’t I meeting him on day 1???
Danni: The carnival?

Ben: yeah I'll introduce you then
Ben: but like just the three of us hanging out.
Ben: he seems interested in wanting to try your cooking??
Ben: do you want to di that?

Danni: Benni Boi.
Danni: Buggie Ben.
Danni: Bb Boi Ben
Danni: I
Danni: love
Danni: cooking
Danni: You whisper my name three times in front of the stove
Danni: BAM
Danni: I'm there.
Danni: I was not joking about making lunch for ypu
Danni: Just lmk when!
Danni: Just don't ask me to bake
Danni: I will blow up the kitchen
Danni: Well known fact
Danni: And cleaning
Danni: I do hate washing dishes
Danni: 🥰🥰🥰🥰

Ben: eww dishes
Ben: maybe chase will do the dishes
Ben: we'll figure it out

Danni: 🎉🪅🥳🎉🪅🥳
Danni: Yes, get him to do them!
JAN. 3rd - Danni gets a piercing

Danni: Attachment 1 - [i]Danni wearing a crop top and cargo pants, a new piercing in his belly button.[i]
Danni - Look who got some new steeeeeeel.

Ben: OMG that is awesome!
Ben: Where did you go fot that?

Danni: Papa's tat shop!
Danni: Pops healed it so no redness! No swelling!
Danni: It's great!
Danni: My first piercing!
Danni: Thinking about getting more but Pops was stressi about this one.

Ben: Oh shit that’s cool!
Ben: having parents that can heal you of anything has to be the best
Ben: i bet you never got sick, ever
Ben: so even though he could heal it right away he was stressed? Crazy

Danni: Oh Pops is super stressy bout safety.
Danni: Doesn't matter what it is.
Danni: And nope!
Danni: No colds, no flu, no nothing!
Danni: Broke my arm once.
Danni: Pops fixed it in less than a minute.
Danni: Got yelled at for an hour though.
Danni: Especially when Appa started tag teaming.
Danni: Uuuuuuhh, naggy.
Danni: Love them tho!
Danni: Pops'll help anyone out if they're hurt tho.
Danni: So like lmk if you're hurt
Danni: I can get ya to him!
Danni: He runs a clinic for everyone.
Danni: Doesn't turn anyone away, flatscan, mutant, alien, etc.
Danni: Even some not so good people.
Danni: But he doesn't let us see them!
Danni: So unfair.

Ben: hope he doesn’t turn aliens away :p
Ben: that’s cool though, like my dad, trying to help in different ways
Ben: how did you break your arm?
Ben: i broke mine on my board once, and then i broke my foot when I was first learning parkour

Danni: You broke your foot?!
Danni: And you didn't have no one to help?!
Danni: How did you handle that?!
Danni: That must have been terrible?!
Danni: I was trying to be Sea-Hawk and set our cardboard boat on fire and then jumped out!
Danni: Didn't realize I was jumping out a window.
Danni: From upstairs.
Danni: 😁

Ben: My mates called my mum
Ben: She came to pick me up and take me to a hospital
Ben: i passed out. For like a minute. It hurt so much
Ben: that’s not too bad, it is the landing that matters, which i guess you messed up
Ben: ic an show you how to land right

Danni: Pls
Danni: Now that Im flying more
Danni: Pops wants to start training on falls
Danni: Its gonna be brutal
Danni: But if I get early tip, maybe I can get off easier
Danni: Pls send help

Ben: I will help!
Ben: I’m good at taking falls.
Ben: it is all about how you let the impact flow through you.

Danni: Yeeeees. We can do training after school!
Danni: At least when I don't have a tutor.
Danni: And club.
Danni: And videos.
Danni: Maybe I'll skip the tutor.
Danni: No, I'll get yelled at.
Danni: Do you have your training schedule yet?
Danni: Probs not.
Danni: We can link up our training schedule at some point

Ben: lol I have no idea!
Ben: I signed up for classes, but i don’t know the schedule really
Ben: Attachment - [photo of class schedule:
Traditional
1 - Algebra
2 - English
3 - Computers
4 - Environmental Science
Superheroics
1- Alien Civilizations
2- Combat 101
3- History of Superpowers
4- Practical Emergency Medicine]
Ben: do we have classes together?

Danni: Uuuuhh
Danni: UUUUUHH
Danni: Def know my schedule
Danni: 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣
Danni: Listen I forget it like immediately
Danni: Dee normally carries it around
Danni: And just reminds me where to go
Danni: I get distracted v. Easy
Danni: Uuuuuuh
Danni: Attachment - photo of class schedule:
Traditional
1 - Stage Craft
2 - Intro to Film Studies
3 - Psychology
4 - Art History
Superheroics
1- Crisis & Disaster Management
2- Combat 301
3- Crime Scene Investigation
4- Elemental Manipulation
Danni: Found it!
Danni: Noooooo
Danni: Dang
Danni; Guess you're gonna have to hangout after class!
Danni: So terrible for you lol
Danni: Oooh are you thinking about joining any clubs?

Ben: damn really?
Ben: no classes togehter
Ben: that sucks
Ben: i guess that makes sense
Ben: i am a freshman
Ben: wait
Ben: how old are you?
Ben: im 14
Ben: when is your bday?
Ben: Sept. 10
Ben: is there an entomology club?
Ben: if not
Ben: what club are you in?

Danni: 🫠😭😵‍💫
Danni: 17 - July 19th
Danni: Summer bb right here!
Danni: idk
Danni: What is that?
Danni: Entmology
Danni: Sounds sciency!
Danni: Home Ec!
Danni: I do cooking there!
Danni: My ex likes to sew so he still chills around.
Danni: The girls and us all sit around gossiping!
Danni: So fun, 10/10 would recommend!
Danni: I'll let you know when I'm going to club - you can come over and get dinner.
Danni: Home cooked meal is better than the dining hall any day!
Danni: Tho, I smuggled in an electric stove to the dorm too hehe he.
Danni: I make lunch for Rillie and Dee sometimes
Danni: So hit me up!

Ben: [shock emoji to message ‘17 - July 19th’]
Ben: I’ll save it in my calandear I will 100% forget if I don’t
Ben: the study of bugs! Lol
Ben: ehhhh idk about home ec
Ben: i’ll think about it
Ben: what are the other clubs? If you know

Danni: Wow, not even cumin round for my cooking (hehe, cumin get it? Like the spice?)
Danni: Uh, there are all the sports balls clubs
Danni: AV
Danni: Uh, Pride
Danni: Some political ones that I avoid
Danni: I think a film club???
Danni: Some of my film friends go
Danni: I think there is a DND one?
Danni: Which was confusing because people call Dee and me D&D so I got confused all the time
Danni: I can send you a link?
Danni: I think the school site has them
Danni: Link - Margaret Institute Clubs
Danni: Like which one you join!
Danni: I'll come visit sometime!
Danni: Wait, why shocked?!
Danni: OMG do I look old????
Danni: 😭😵‍💫😭😱😱💀

Ben: i thought you were my age!
Ben: I'll look when I'm back
Ben: ..maybe pride? Idk
Ben: I've never played dnd

Danni: Omg, D&D is do fun!
Danni: Time consuming 😭😭😭
Danni: Played with the fam
Danni: I'd say lets do a game but
Danni: Time ya know
Danni: Aw, you thought I was 14?
Danni: Means I'll b young 4ever!

Ben: yeah lol 😆

JAN 4th - mid afternoon

Ben: Attachment- several photos of the view from beetle rock in Sequoia National park

Danni: OMG OMG OMG
Danni: These are soooo good!
Danni: There are so many treeeeees!
Danni: Looks cold tho
Danni: How are the bugs?
Danni: Do bugs like cold?

Ben: a lot of bugs are sort of hibernating right now
Ben: that is def not the right way to explain it
Ben: but they aren’t very active
Ben: Most beetles are
Ben: there are ton of beetles here!
Ben: Attachment - several photos of various insects on his hand
Ben: it is very cold
Ben: we got a hotel because we could not sleep outside in the snow lol
Ben: this has been such a fun trip though! I’m having so much fun 🙂

Danni: Omg, they're on you?!
Danni: That's wild.
Danni: Omg, bugs hibernate?
Danni: Damn, I wanna be a bug.
Danni: All curled up
Danni: Snug in a rug
Danni: Sleeping for the season
Danni: See? Gotta have the glamping experience
Danni: But yay fun!
Danni: Whats the best part so far??????? Tell me!

Ben: I knew I shouldn’t have said hibernate
Ben: that isn’t what is really happening
Ben: it has more to do with their life cycle
Ben: it is why mosquitos aren’t as common during the winter/cold months
Ben: I don’t know if a hotel is considered glamping lol, but it has been nice
Ben: this might be stupid, but I’ve just enjoyed spending time with chase
Ben: he’s cool and thoughtful like this whole trip is cool af
Ben: Idk otherwise i’d say it is the insects
Ben: ive gotten to see some ive never seen before
Ben: and he got me a little tank so I rescued one, he lost his wing
Ben: Attachment - photo of a beetle in a little tank with some grass and sticks

Danni: Oooo!
Danni: What's the beetle's name?
Danni: Wait
Danni: They don't hibernate?!
Danni: Nooooo
Danni: You cant take thia away from me!
Danni: And yeah
Danni: I getcha
Danni: I love spending time with friends!
Danni: And look at you
Danni: All grown up
Danni: Making friends with people
Danni: At the skate park
Danni: Like a movie!
Danni: See! I knew ya coul d do it!

Ben: lol thx
Ben: it is like a movie
Ben: a little weird
Ben: but cool right?
Ben: no name yet
Ben: any ideas?

Danni: Def!
Danni: I wanna live in a movie
Danni: Like
Danni: All the cool stuff
Danni: and the spooky stuff
Danni: It'd be super fun!
Danni: I think
Danni: Titan
Danni: Clicky
Danni: Herbert
Danni: Once
Danni: One of those!

Ben: I like titan!
Ben: that’s a good name
Ben: though herbert is too tbh damn
Ben: hmmm
Ben: yeah i’ll go titan
Ben: weird q?

Danni: It a normie q tho

Ben: idk what that means
Ben: i was just wondering if you knew what claustrophobia is?

Danni: uuuuuh
Danni: UUUUUH
Danni: an intense, irrational fear of being in enclosed spaces, leading to anxiety and panic attacks
Danni: I know, I know
Danni: I'm so smart
Danni: Don't look at the search tab
Danni: :)
Danni: I do now!
Danni: why, what up?

Ben: [laugh reacted message: Don't look at the search tab]
Ben: okay
Ben: so...
Ben: i think i have that?

Danni: Oh!
Danni: You think…
Danni: Wait
Danni: Like you found out?
Danni: omg!!!!!
Danni: R u okay?
Danni: like
Danni: How didnyou find that's out?

Ben: im fine
Ben: i just had a weird episode
Ben: chase and I talked about it
Ben: and from the list of things that bother me
Ben: it sort of makes sense i guess
Ben: like i don’t like being the car
Ben: there is like this hmm
Ben: pit that opens up
Ben: and i feel like i’m going to be swallowed
Ben: or crushed
Ben: idk
Ben: but it goes as far back as i can remember
Ben: it is weird idk

Danni: Yeah
Danni: That makes sense!
Danni: I mean tbh small places are spooky
Danni: Like, I woke up in a jar once
Danni: Immediately set everything on fire
Danni: It felt like it was like
Danni: Crushing me, ya know?
Danni: Real hard to breath!
Danni: Def why I made the rents gimme the big room
Danni: And keep my bedroom dor open
Danni: Ooooh or if you get in like a storage closet
Danni: Nad the door shuts behind you
Danni: Lemme tell you
Danni: I cried for like
Danni: 3 hours
Danni: I slept in my rents bed flr daaaays cause of the nightmares
Danni: Thnx God I was only 12 - no fire yet!

Ben: You woke up in a jar?????
Ben: was that a dream?
Ben: or like really really?
Ben: and yeah i get it
Ben: ew closets lol

Danni: On no
Danni: That was real.
Danni: When Cadie went cray cray
Danni: And tried ta murder us!
Danni: In video gaaaames
Danni: I woke up in the jar
Danni: And it was def spooky
Danni: But I was brave and only cried for five minutes!
Danni: I am also terrified of snakes
Danni: Like
Danni: I will scream
Danni: And cry
Danni: And give up on life
Danni: I know people like ‘em
Danni: But if one ever touches me
Danni: Three things will happen:
Danni: I will.scream
Danni: I will peel.off all my skin
Danni: I will set everything around me on fire
Danni: Tbh, the first time I ever remember going to a zoo
Danni: I freaked out so bad I passed out
Danni: When they took us to the snakes
Danni: Like, no never pls

Ben: cadie?????
Ben: someone tried to kill you???
Ben: you cannot just glaze over that at all
Ben: snakes are fine imo, but i prefer insects.
Ben: no issue with insects right?
Ben: spiders don’t count, those are ick!

Danni: Oh yeah!
Danni: We went to train
Danni: Cadie hacked the training room
Danni: Logged in to the v-rooms
Danni: And he turned it into death games!
Danni: So we super lost (and died)
Danni: And then timey-wimey stuff
Danni: And we won!
Danni: I mean buggies are kinda chill?
Danni: Like pls not my room
Danni: They stay outside, I stay inside
Danni: And we can vibe!
Danni: like they're pretty (some)
Danni: But I dont wanna share my facial stuff ya know?

Ben: that is bloody wild!
Ben: you died????
Ben: wahhhat???
Ben: oka, but they’ll be in my room?
Ben: i have some buddies I care for like titan
Ben: you won’t have to share space with them
Ben: i’ll keep them at bay for you 🙂

Danni: My hero!!
Danni: 🥳🎉🥰😍
Danni: Idk tbh, tho
Danni: Different timeline?
Danni: Who are ur buggies?
Danni: Did ya name them?
Danni: Or they just vibings w/ u

Ben: lol
Ben: oh okay, sure that makes sense
Ben: I’ll send you some photos later of them
Ben: ive got a few
Ben: they all have their own habitats
Ben: yeah they are named
Ben: theyre all at home tho

Danni: Laaaaame
Danni: Why don't you carry them around?
Danni: I carry Amélie around
Danni: Mostly cause she screams when I dont
Danni: Do bugs not scream when you leave them?

Ben: bugs aren't as needy lol
Ben: if they do... no one else hears it but me

Dann:😱😱😱
Danni: So spooky
Danni: 10/10 real good movie line
Danni: No one will hear you scream but me
Danni: And then evil laugh
Danni: 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Ben: lol
Ben: id never be mean to bugs though
Ben: they don't deserve it
Ben: 🥺 don't hurt the bugs

Danni: Why would I hurt the bugs?!
Danni: Can bugs scream?
Danni: Ooooo, we should get ice cream actually
Danni: I'll bring hirtcha ice cream when I come over to cook!!!
Danni: Wait - you liek ice cream right?

Ben: who doesn't like ice cream???
Ben: yes bring ice cream 💯

Danni: 😍🎉🥳🎉😍🎉🥳

JAN 6th

Ben: attachment: photos of a water fall, and more insects

Danni: Oooo
Danni: Did you go under the waterfall?
Danni: Maybe there is a secret caaaave
Danni: And secret adventure!
Danni: You know
Danni: Didn't realize how many types of bugs there are until now
Danni: Or how different that all looked?
Danni: Def through someone got a cookie cutter and said this is bug
Danni: Made a bazillion of them lolololol

Ben: insects make up most of the creatures on the planet
Ben: mammals are like 14%
Ben: and insects are basically everything else
Ben: (this is a reduction of a fact it is way more nuanced than that)
Ben: even individuals look different within a species
Ben: and not def didn't go into the almost frozen water
Ben: the fact that the water is flowing and not ice is only because it isn't actually freezing
Ben: the water though is wayyy to cold
Ben: unless you're one of those weirdos who likes to be ice cold water
Ben: no thank you

Danni: OMG its cold there
Danni: Its not cold here
Danni: Its like…. 71
Danni: So I guess that means
Danni: Yeah, water is probs cold
Danni: Miss me with that noise
Danni: No tanks
Danni: Love me the sun
Danni: Love me the heat
Danni: I do not want to freeeeeze
Danni: Why are there so maaaaaany?
Danni: Teach me the mystery of the bazillion bugs
Danni: Actually
Danni: Wanna see something kinda funny?
Danni: (Picture of April and Danni, flushed and sweaty with Danni pressing a bruise to the icy floor. April is clearly trying not to laugh)
Danni: Absolutely bit it yesterday in training
Danni: Working on a combo move with Rillie
Danni: THIS WAS THE SECOND TIME SHE WIPED ME OUT
Danni: THE ADICY
Danni: But it was fun
Danni: Do you ice skate?
Danni: Omg, do bugs ice skate?
Danni: Can we make then little booties?!

Ben: oof! Did you Pops (did i get that right? James) did he heal you?
Ben: i guess water beats fire lol
Ben: ive gone a few times
Ben: my uncle is really into hockey
Ben: been playing it for a million years
Ben: so he takes me to practice and I can skate during laps and stuff
Ben: i am not good
Ben: i don't think they do????
Ben: most bugs don't like the cold that much
Ben: I'll happily teach you about insects!!
Ben: you can try to make the booties lol 😆
Ben: I've got to see this now

Danni: Ye, thats Pops!
Danni: And course he did.
Danni: He's v. Intense bout that stuff
Danni: Use to be check in before bed, check in during breaki, check in when he passed us
Danni: We should go ice skating g some time!
Danni: I am also not good lolololl
Danni: I get cold reaaaaaaaaal fast
Danni: Beeeet
Danni: Gotta make the booties
Danni: You teach them to skate!
Danni: whats the best bug for this????????

Ben: your folks are very protective
Ben: Yes! We should!
Ben: at least we both arent good
Ben: aren’t you like your own personal heater?
Ben: how do you get cold???
Ben: hmmm. Maybe a water strider
Ben: Link to wiki: water strider

Danni: >.>
Danni: <.<
Danni: Benni Boi
Danni: Bb Bug
Danni: Thats a lot a reading
Danni: I can't read all that at once!
Danni: I need picture books - thats so looooong
Danni: Do you have a water strider.
Danni: Do you know where to get one?
Danni: How big are their little feetsies?
Danni: And sups easy.
Danni: I cant use fire if Im on ice
Danni: I might melt it!!!!
Danni: And that would ruin eeeeeeeeveything
Danni: Its fine, I'll just cliiiiing
Danni: I'll be like a barnifal

Ben: YOU SAID YOU LIKE TO READ!? Lol
Ben: Sighhhhhhh
Ben: No I don’t have one, but I do know where to get them
Ben: tiny tiny feet, little nubs at the end of long legs
Ben: helps them with water tension
Ben: something you should learn if you wanna beat April 🙂
Ben: Also, something I want to tell you.
Ben: attachment: photo of Ben and Chase holding each other in front of the waterfall
Ben: chase asked me out
Ben: i said yes

Danni: Why would I wanna beat Ri
Danni: WOSHSJSSAHSUEYE6SNSKSN
Danni: SAUNNA BOI?!
Danni: CHASE IS SAUNNA BOI?!
Danni: WOW YOUR BOYFRIEND IS A PUNK
Danni: AND OWES ME A SAUNA HANGOUT
Danni: You two are cute, 10/10, you can't get rid of me just remember XOXOX
Danni: BUT YOU BETTER TELL HIM HE OWES ME A SAUNA TRIP

Ben: Sauna boi?
Ben: i met him at a skate park...well not actually i met him at the contest first
Ben: i’ll tell him
Ben: thanks
Ben: yeah i told him we were friends and I wouldn’t ruin that. He agreed the three of us can hang out. We won’t leave you behind okay.

Danni: OMG ITS TOTALLY A MOVIE
Danni: Hehehehehehee
Danni: Love at first sight at the skatepark
Danni: You're welxome
Danni: I take thanks in chocolate and friendship :)
Danni: Omg
Danni: U-haul much?!?!
Danni: And you couldn't
Danni: You'd miss me too much, I know
Danni: I'm everyone's favorite part of life
Danni: Colors are brighter when Im around
Danni: Music is a little louder
Danni: Life's a lot funner
Danni: Funer? Funner? More fun?
Danni: Idk one of those is right
Danni: Oh perf, we can all go the sauna!
Danni: Are you a sauna guy?
Danni: Bugs I dont think are sauna people

Ben: lol! You are fun, life is more fun with you around
Ben: i guess it kind of is like a movie, it feels weird
Ben: ive never bene to a sauna
Ben: there is a type of bug for everything
Ben: but im not a bug

Danni: (Screenshot of Ben's Contact Name: BBB🎉🥳🤩)
Danni: That means Baby Boi Bug
Danni: Srry but you are cutie bug, I dont make the rules!
Danni: Why it feel wierd?!
Danni: Dee and Spicy were like all over each other in like 3 seconds
Danni: But saunas are lit life
Danni: Like, gimme somw steam and a hot room and perf
Danni: Ya know
Danni: I always thought a movie life would be burning
Danni: Like there isn't anything after ya know?
Danni: Like, maybe they have the after credits. Ut then boom - all dark.

Ben: *sigh* still not actually a bug
Ben: idk it is like surreal?
Ben: i’m down to try a suana
Ben: i don’t know if we are aware of the end of the movie
Ben: it just rolls into the next one

Danni: Yeeeees
Danni: Twooo people for the sauna!
Danni: We can all hang!
Danni: Oooh, what if this is all a movie that is just never ending????
Danni: Oh
Danni: I dont like that
Danni: Let's pretend I never said that!
Danni: Soooooo
Danni: Have you ever been to France?

Ben: lol
Ben: sounds fun
Ben: yeah I've been a few times on family trips

Danni: Oooooh same, dame, same
Danni: Okay, lightning 20 questions -
Danni: Favorite place to visit, go!

Ben: in France or in general?
Ben: there is this farm that makes clotted cream, has for like three generations
Ben: in general the skate park
Ben: what is something you want to do before you graduate?

Danni: I wanna drop a water balloon on Prof Coulsey's head!
Danni: It's like, a perfect target!
Danni: Muwhahahahaha!
Danni: What's your favorite bug?

Ben: unhinged
Ben: sounds fun 😁
Ben: impossible question!
Ben: i have more favorites
Ben: (lady bugs)
Ben: what's your favorite meal to cook?

Danni: Oh! Rn, def Marry Me Gnocchi
Danni: But it changes!
Danni: I wuv makin like
Danni: Soups & Gumbo
Danni: Jamabalya & Southern Comfies!
Danni: Whats ur fav song?

Ben: Those all sound delicious!
Ben: hmm
Ben: (Kirah doesn’t know music well enough to answer this, but this is a London based House band that Ben will talk about and link the song for)

Danni: OooooO
Danni: If you leik that, I think you'll like
Danni: Link - “The Cruise” by Nicholas Wanderungen
Danni: Link - “Aerodynamic” by Daft Punk
Danni: Link - “Don't You Worry Child” by Swedish House Mafia
Danni: Link - “Sun & Moon” by Above & Beyond
Danni: Listen and lmk!!!

Ben: okay :)
Ben: i’m in charge of the music so I’ll play it
Ben: (Kirah assumes ben likes it and will tell danni as such)
Ben: Oh! My turn!
Ben: Favorite app on your phone?

Danni: Ooooooo thats a spixy one
Danni: Probs maybe def VSCO
Danni: A little photo edit app
Danni: Soooo easy to use!
Danni: And lots and lots of ops!
Danni: Like def hard at 1st but
Danni: Now? So easy.
Danni: Okay, okay
Danni: Favorite movie?

Ben: i generally like action movies
Ben: hmm I think terminator
Ben: I know it is old
Ben: but i like how despite everything they try
Ben: of that makes sense
Ben: On vacation, are you the hardcore R&R type or the person who has a full itinerary for every day?

Danni: 🫣🫣🫣
Danni: Don't kill me please
Danni: I
Danni: Haven't heard of that movie
Danni: We can watch it sometime!
Danni: oooooooo
Danni: So tots depends
Danni: Like, the beach yes
Danni: I wanna wake up late
Danni: Wanna have breaki in bed
Danni: Wanna sun tan and get massages
Danni: Skiing? Im on the slope all day, no questions asked
Danni: City?
Danni: Have I been there?
Danni: Relaxing
Danni: Strolling
Danni: New city?
Danni: I wanna see everything
Danni: New food
Danni: New events
Danni: New sights
Danni: New clothes
Danni: Twice daily outfit changes are mandatory
Danni: If you could see one wonder of the world before the world ended, which one and why?

Ben: we can def watch together sometime
Ben: I only know it because my dad
Ben: it was his favorite movie
Ben: I'll warn you
Ben: it is very twisty has time travel and stuff
Ben: you like a busy day, noted lol
Ben: i think maybe the great wall of China
Ben: it has some cool history and probably some interesting insects
Ben: What’s your go-to karaoke song

Danni: Oh yeah!
Danni: Its real big!
Danni: There were some real uh
Danni: Slipper spots
Danni: Don't go in winter
Danni: I almost tumbled down
Danni: v.spooky!
Danni: OMG
Danni: I love karoke!!!
Danni: Bubble Pop Electric by Gwenni
Danni: An absie bop
Danni: I gotta show ya
Danni: I did a whole routine to it once
Danni: Smashed that
Danni: I'll show you sometime!!!!!
Danni: What would you wanna explore: Space or the Ocean?

Ben: sounds fun!
Ben: not a lot of insects in space
Ben: so ocean
Ben: Who’s your favorite author

Danni: ?!?!?????!!
Danni: SJABSKDVWSBSJ
DANNI: Bugs?!
Danni: In the ocean?!
Danni: no
Danni: They cant breath tho?!?!?!
Danni: How are they there?!
Danni: I need answers!!!
Danni: Just FYI
Danni: You cant judge me and my audiobooks
Danni: Rn, def Rick Rordan.
Danni: Listening to Perxy Jackson series
Danni: I keep forgetting people's names so I keep have taken listen to previous books
Danni: 😭😱😭😱😭😱😭😱
Danni: If you could get 1 tattoo
Danni: What would you get?

Ben: yeah... like some typed of parasitic lice that live on fish
Ben: they get their oxygen from when the fish surface
Ben: idk if they are *true* insects
Ben: I'll only know if they answer when I try to talk to them
Ben: oh! I've read Percy Jackson!
Ben: hmm probably a beetle 🪲 one of the irradecent ones
Ben: What’s your favorite piece of random trivia?

Danni: 😱😱😱
Danni: That's so spooky
Danni: OoooO Shiny Beetle
Danni: Love
Danni: Papa has a guy who does real fun tats!
Danni: So hmu if ya wanna get one!
Danni: Hmmmmmmmm
Danni: According to the creator
Danni: Double Trouble rehabilitates the Horde Clones and makes a theater troupe with them!
Danni: In my favorite show 🥳🥳🥳
Danni: If you could name a star, what would you name it and why?

Ben: I don’t know what show you’re talking about?
Ben: ... Chelsea
Ben: Do you volunteer anywhere?

Danni: >.>
Danni: <.<
Danni: Chelsea???
Danni: Whyyyyyyyyyy
Danni: You can't skip out on a queeeeestion
Danni: No, I don't
Danni: I donate to charity tho!
Danni: And some of our contest stuff went to charity!!!
Danni: Oh, oh, oh
Danni: Whats your favorite mon-skatinf way to hang out with friends?
Danni: Btw, She-Ra fantastic. We binge it all the time.
Danni: We'll watch it!

Ben: mum
Ben: donating is good
Ben: i used to help at this garden near our home
Ben: before I had powers, i still helped with the bugs
Ben: parkour lol
Ben: or just going out to movies and eating
Ben: Are you competitive?

Danni: <3
Danni: Thats so sweet tho
Danni: oooo tru tru
Danni: So u've always been (hehe Ben) a buggy boi
Danni: Moooovies! Yeeeeeees!
Danni: I leik winning :)
Danni: Especially against the siblings
Danni: like, def fun first but winning makes the fun better!
Danni: Ooooooo
Danni: OOOOOOOOOO
Danni: If u were invisible for a day
Danni: what would u do?

Ben: if i were back home
Ben: before everything
Ben: i’d probably pull pranks on my friends
Ben: Idk here
Ben: Do you believe in monogamy?

Danni: Omg, Dee loves pranking
Danni: He took over a bunch of lockers first year
Danni: And made them bang around
Danni: During Halloween
Danni: It was hilarious
Danni: Uuuuh
Danni: UUUUUUH
Danni: one sec
Danni: Okay
Danni: I now know what that means
Danni: Cause I totally always knew
Danni: But like, yes?
Danni: Some peeps just want one person
Danni: Some peeps want more than one person
Danni: It all depends on the peeps, ya know?
Danni: Like, I know I'm down for one or more than one cause I love lots!!!
Danni: And everyone should have some Danni!
Danni: But like, Dee is def not like that
Danni: He wants his boyo and just his boyo and thats chill!
Danni: So, TLDR, I do but I'm not!
Danni: If you could live on one planet, which one would it be?

Ben: lol
Ben: I don’t know for myself... i’m used to monogamous relationships
Ben: but Chase said he’s open to poly
Ben: so maybe?
Ben: Other than earth?
Ben: NOT THE MOON!
Ben: hmm, maybe mars?
Ben: but really i don’t think i’d want to live off earth i like it here
Ben: Who’s a famous person you would definitely lose your cool around if you saw them on the street?

Danni: Like my Pops says
Danni: You dont gotta have it all figured out now
Danni: We're still kiddos after all!
Danni: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Danni: Yeah, same tho
Danni: Earth is good
Danni: And warm
Danni: And safe(?)
Danni: Debatable
Danni: Oooh who would make me lose my cool
Danni: Tbh, I am v. excitable
Danni: So most celebrities
Danni: But I think its probably
Danni: Hm
Danni: This haaaaaaaard
Danni: Kate Moss
Danni: Super unique fashion model
Danni: Love it so much
Danni: I'd probs cry
Danni: Ooooooo who was your first celebrity crush?

Ben: never heard of her before
Ben: okay, don’t laugh
Ben: but I really liked prince george
Ben: god i never told anyone that
Ben: Are you similar to your siblings?

Danni: You should check her out
Danni: Love her stuff!
Danni: gasp
Danni: Secret Ben lore?
Danni: Muwhahahaha
Danni: What evil shall I do with it
Danni: Ummmmm
Danni: I mean
Danni: We're siblings, so yes and no
Danni: Like, Dee gets into crazy stuff like me 2
Danni: But he's waaaaaaay quieter bout it than me
Danni: And Rillie is deeeeef more like Dee most the time
Danni: Less she's on the upswing, then she matches me
Danni: And if she's on a down swing, then she's someone toooooots different
Danni: Im def more outgoing than them.
Danni: What do u consider the most annoying character trait?

Ben: 😛
Ben: hmm
Ben: maybe people who lie?
Ben: like there is no reason to
Ben: i get, sort of, protecting feelings, but in the long run it’ll be worse right?
Ben: idk
Ben: all my lies i told have kind of bitten me back
Ben: what’s your favorite thing to do with them?

Danni: Omg, mood
Danni: Honestly, its just so much to keep track of
Danni: I talk lots
Danni: Imagine if lied
Danni: omg like, how would I keep anything straight
Danni: I mean, like, I cant cause 🏳️‍🌈
Danni: lololololol
Danni: Oh, def just hanging
Danni: Like, don't get me wrong
Danni: Goin out and about is fun
Danni: But I def just like it when its just the three of us
Danni: Dancing
Danni: Playing video games
Danni: Shopping
Danni: Cuddle pile
Danni: Actually, def cuddle piles
Danni: I just love cuddle piles in general tbh
Danni: I am v. Touchy lol
Danni: If I don't get to touch someone, I could die you know
Danni: Hm, what is your favorite board game? We play a lot of them lololol

Ben: that sounds nice
Ben: i don’t have any siblings so idk what that would be like
Ben: I don’t play a lot of board games tbh
Ben: I don’t like competitive games that much
Ben: played monopoly once and hated it
Ben: What’s your favorite childhood memory?

Danni: Awwwwww
Danni: You gotta come over some time
Danni: Its chaos
Danni: Glorious, glorious chaos
Danni: Ooooo I bet I could find some!
Danni: There are some where you get to see the sights and experiences of countries!
Danni: Its super cute!
Danni: Hmmmmmmmmmm
Danni: Oh gosh
Danni: Thats a hard one
Danni: Hmmmmmmmmmm
Danni: I think
Danni: My favoritist memory
Danni: So, when I was a little thingy
Danni: Papa performed at shows
Danni: Pops worked at a mechanics
Danni: So when Pa and Appa were busy, I would play backstage
Danni: With the stage crew and stuff
Danni: And then I'd get reaaaaal sleepy
Danni: And then I'd get carried home
Danni: And when Im having a bad day
Danni: Or like, Im having a hard time falling asleep
Danni: Sometimes I remember that smell of like
Danni: Car oil and grease and metal
Danni: Cause like, that was before we had all the fancy stuff and the magic house and the French Quarter and
Danni: Just makes me feel safe when I'm all sad or super lonely
Danni: So weird memory, just a smell but ya know
Danni: Different strokes like Papa says!
Danni: Hmmmmm
Danni: Oooh favorite energy drink?

Ben: i get it
Ben: sounds nice
Ben: hmm, i think just rockstar, they have a coffee flavored one that is good
Ben: how has your break been?

Danni: Rockstar? Hmmm
Danni: Nice, nice
Danni: Oh it's been fun!
Danni: I've been texting you during most of it!
Danni: OMG
Danni: I didn't tell you!
Danni: Attachment - Photo of Danni in his pj's, showing off his dragon slippers and a book on dragon rearing. Amélie is trying to chew on the corner.
Danni: Dee and Pops got me dragon stuff for Christmas!!
Danni: Isnt it cute????
Danni: How bout you?!
Danni: I know, I know
Danni: Super cute trip with the boyf
Danni: But what else :D

Ben: those are some great gifts!
Ben: break has been good
Ben: i’m glad we got to do this trip
Ben: he’s been really thoughtful about the whole thing
Ben: we have been having fun
Ben: the bugs have been super cool
Ben: i’ve sent you most of those pictures, but I have more
Ben: otherwise not a lot
Ben: I think we’re getting close to our hotel for lassen park
Ben: ttyl okay 🙂

Danni: Okkiiiiiiies
Danni: Ttyl!
Danni: Says hi to Chase for me!
Danni: Have fun!!!

Ben: Will do!
Ben: attachment: a selfie of chase shirtless, in a towel, laying in a hotel bed with his hands in a peace sign and a very unimpressed look
Ben: hi

Danni: (Photo of Danni, holding up a finger heart and winking, clearly out at dinner and dressed punk casual)
Danni: Heyyyyyyyyy bb
Danni: When u hittin’ me up sauna boi?
Danni: Ben, give your boyf my number!
Danni: He owes me a text!
Danni: And a hang out!

Ben: I told him. I’ll send you his contact info in a bit.

Danni: Ooookies!!!!
Danni: Hope everything is okayyyy

Ben: attachment: [Chase's contact info, the name is saved as “my knight”]
Ben: idk. He seems upset idk why

Danni: My knight?
Danni: Thats so cuuuuuute tho
Danni: What me to annoy him?
Danni: Danni texts make everyone feel better!
Danni: Imma add him as sauna boi tho
Danni: Gotta earn that cute nickname

Ben: it is a thing we started doing
Ben: I'll tell you the story later
Ben: maybe... wait a bit.
Ben: he is thinking about something and I don't want to bother him yet

Danni: ooooo
Danni: Whelp, lemme know!
Danni: I'm good at chilling people out!
Danni: So you lemme know and I'll tag in!
Danni: 😁😁😁

JAN 7th

Danni: Heyyyyyyyy
Danni: Everything good?
Danni: I texted your boyf!
Danni: He sent me (1) one reply
Danni: And it was long
Danni: Like texting Spicy tbh

Ben: yeah, hold on!
New chat group started [The text log of Ben, Danni & Chase]

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

The text log of Andy & Gideon & America

DEC 17th

Andy: I had fun last night <3 let me know if either of you are down to hang out during the break. Technically I'm grounded this weekend, but I'm free after (except for Hanukkah stuff)

America: yes, def will!!! We got that photoshoot to do!!!!

Gideon: 💦💦💦
Gideon: attached a thirst trap

Andy: [Heart react to image]
Andy: Damn I’m going to have to match some energy!

DEC. 25th - Christmas Day

Andy: Merry christmas!

America: Feliz Navidad!!!

Gideon: Here comes 🎅🏽Santa Claus,🎅🏽 here comes 🎅🏽Santa Claus,🎅🏽 right down 👩🏽👸🏽slutty girl lane!👩🏽👸🏽 ❌🚫❌🚫STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!❌🚫❌🚫 Is your 👨🏻👨🏻daddy👨🏻👨🏻 not giving you enough 💦💦💦gifts?💦💦💦 Hold up,🙅🏽🙅🏽🙅🏽 ho! It's 💦💦gift giving💦💦 ❄️💦❄️SEASON!❄️💦❄️
click to read more

Andy: OMG
Andy: [laugh reacted to Here comes 🎅🏽Santa Claus,🎅🏽 here comes...]

America: i need eye belach lollllll

Gideon: 👿👿👿 ill bleach ur eyes

Andy: Don’t bleach your eyes!
Andy: it is the brain that gets bleached
Andy: take it out and give it a nice little massage while you’re at it.

America: too late

Andy: rip your eyesight
Andy: you won’t be able to see the beautiful views during our photo shoot
Andy: you won’t be able to see all the awesome pictures of me

Gideon: more 4 meeeeeeeee

America: regjkbngrejkgbkjrgbesgkjibsrkjgbe

Andy: i’m gonna go.... See you later <3

America: i wont see u, im blind now

Andy: that’s a you problem
Andy: can’t stop me if you can’t see me

JAN 12th - concurrent with “Grounded and Bored”

Andy: Hey, April just mentioned Prom and I haven’t thought about that at all. Are we doing that?

Gideon: 💃💃💃

America: sorry just saw this, the mother is being a fucking cunt. im going with kate and cassie but if you wanna come to senior prom too you def should and we can hang!!!

Andy: Oof! Good luck. Let me know if you need help
Andy: Okay going to your prom! I think it’d be fun for team eclesoir (how the hell is that spelt) to do a friends night for jr. prom.
Andy: Though I will be lazy and it will be the same dress.

Andy: Oh god... uh... do either of you have outfit plans for prom? I *might* go to paris I guess to shop for mine. What is my life?????

Gideon: i was just gonna wear the tux i wore the last 2 yrs i went.

America: i think its spelled team eggplant!!!
America: but omg youre going to paris? Rich girl behavior!!
America: idk what im wearing, kate wants us to coordinate so ill let her deal with it

Gideon: wait where iz paris

Gideon: guz seriously where iz paris

Andy: that is def not how it is spelled!
Andy: ...Europe?
Andy: Attached - [photo of the planet with france circled]
Andy: it is the capitol of that country.
Andy: Alright, If I wear black i’tll be fine...black goes with everything

Gideon: oh ok
Gideon: wait
Gideon: wheres europe
Gideon: i just see fance there

America: black goes great with my DICK jk jk jk unless…

Andy: France is part of Europe... Europe is the continent
Andy: 😜@ america

Gideon: oh
Gideon: whats a continent
Gideon: isnt that a bfast
Gideon: can u eat franc3???

America: 😊😊😊
America: gideon i see y u keep failing school
America: also u can eat andy lol

Andy: OMG
Andy: how have they not just kicked you out at this point?
Andy: yessss you may 🙂

Gideon: idk
Gideon: im not psychic
Gideon: im just here to fight bitches

America: ok but u didnt even get 2 do that
America: like u didnt get to fight bitches bc u failed
America: idk how u even managed that tbh
America: ur wild

Gideon: fuck

Andy: seriously WE ALL HAD PASSES
Andy: FOR THE WHOLE SEMESTER
Andy: How did you fail?

Gideon: how am i supposed 2 kow that

America: WHO ELSE WOULD KNOW THAT???

Gideon: coulsmith

Andy: Coulson?

Gideon: itz spelled coulsmith andi
Gideon: u should kow that

America: im screenshotting this fyi

Andy: Please do
Andy: can it be put in the year book?
Andy: I dont know how that works

Gideon: do u mean the calendr

Andy: 😮
Andy: I cannot.
Andy: I’m going to focus on hanging out with April. Otherwise I'm going to fall into the damn water laughing.

America: [a selfie of America having crashed into some trees while flying]
America: learn from my mistakes

Gideon: ur hanging out with part of the calendr???

Gideon: wait do u mean the blonde girl
Gideon: the psycho 1

Andy: rude don’t be mean to my friends
Andy: Attachment - [selfie of Andy and April together in the water]

Gideon: would

Andy: *sigh*

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

---

---

The side gate to the back yard of Magento's house was propped open, waiting for a particular someone to make an appearance. It was a sunny day, warm, and humid despite the fact it was technically winter. Andy stood under the shade of a tree, soaking in the warmth that felt more like California than Louisiana. Except for the humidity. She was used to dry climates. Not the ever pervasive moisture of the south.

She waited, her date would arrive soon. Andy had prepared a small picnic, and because the date was with Gideon, her sword, a gift from Lady Nimue, was on the blanket too.

It wasn’t too hard for Gideon to make the trip back to New Orleans, with the number of teleporters in their social circles. America had been kind enough to take the two seconds to drop her off at Andy’s place. Her sword was slung over her back, her hair tousled in a carefully constructed mess, and her ever present black shades concealed her eyes. She wore a loose fitting black tank top and gray sweats, her biceps on display for all the world to see.

“Sup?”

Gideon rounded the corner of the fence, coming in through the gate, a grocery bag filled with Gatorade and protein bars in one hand, and a bouquet of roses in the other.

Andy’s face lit up with delight as Gideon came into the back yard. ”Hey,” She gestured to the blanket laid out near her feet. ”You can put food there. I made us some sandwiches too.” The flowers she took and smelled deeply. Holding them she realized this was the first time anyone had ever given her roses.

”Thank you,” she said, her smile soft and happy. ”I can put these in a vase real quick.”

“You made sandwiches? Hell yeah!!” Gideon beamed. She didn’t know how to cook. At all. Even something as simple as putting meat and toppings between two pieces of bread confounded her. The only thing she knew how to make was a protein shake, and she had mercifully decided not to bring one for Andy today, figuring she might prefer the taste of the bars. “Gotcha, take your time. Imma get warmed up,” she said, as she set the food down, took her sword off of her back and set it aside, and immediately went into doing push-ups.

Andy appreciatively watched Gideon for a moment before going inside to find a vase she could put the flowers in. She brought it back out with her, placing it near the picnic that was set up.

She joined in warming up, and some light stretches, stretching was better for after, but it was good to get blood flowing.

Andy, normally taciturn, fell into a comfortable silence. Maybe that's why she enjoyed the presence of others who would fill the silence with little effort from her. She had never given it much thought.

Gideon cycled from push-ups into sit-ups and then lastly into squats, moving into her usual stretching routine when she was done. Her blood was flowing comfortably, her body warm and a little buzzed, as she unsheathed her sword, giving it a few slashes. “You ready to show me what you’re made of, Lensherr?” she taunted.

Andy grinned, picked up her sword. ”I considered making a joke about being made of steel, but I realized how weird that would be.”

Andy laughed and took a fighting stance. She almost automatically went into her boxing stance, but shifted from it into a sword fighting stance.

”Ready.”

“Ready!!” Gideon grinned.

She had no intention of taking it easy on Andy. That wasn’t the way anyone learned. Her own teachers had hit her with a stick to adjust her grip, demanded push ups for every loss. Pain was the only way she knew how to learn. So she wasn’t going to hold back. Not one bit.

Their blades clashed against each other, Gideon’s sword large and strong, but its bulk made her movements slower - whereas Andy’s slighter blade allowed for a more nimble strategy, as Andy dodged attacks, blocking them only to change her position, causing Gideon’s sword to carry its momentum forward, sending her off balance. This dance went on and on until they found themselves locked in a grudge - surely a victory for Gideon, as she pressed more and more down onto Andy, with Andy’s hands above her head, her muscles straining. But with a simple twist and light footwork, Andy sidestepped out of the grudge, her sword swirling around Gideon’s until her blade was held to the other girl’s throat.

“Fucking hell, Lensherr. That was hot as shit.”

Andy was breathing heavily. She was used to a lot of foot work and exercise. Though she felt she had let some of it drop off over the last semester. She had been so focused on the Contest, that she had not worked out in the way she had before... everything.

She smiled, gave a slight nod, and lowered her sword. Andy took a couple of steps back. ”I am pleased that you weren’t trying to hold back. That was intense. I don’t think if I didn’t have my boxing background I could have kept up with you.”

Andy then stepped back to the blanket and grabbed one of the gatorade that Gideon had brought with her. She took a few deep drinks of it. ”Also, I think I lost some of my fear of getting hurt. After I fell while doing the foil thing with America I did some testing. I’m damn hard to hurt now. I don’t know what changed.”

“Oh yeah?” Gideon tilted her head, as she grabbed one of the gatorades as well. She knocked it back, downing it all in one gulp. She recapped it and tossed it back into the bag, before reaching down for a fresh one. “Isn’t that, like, kinda the whole deal of being a mutant? You can do shit and you don’t know why?”

She swallowed half of this one, before closing it. “Did you wanna go again or nah? You know me, I bounce back fast.”

Andy nodded, ”That is true. I just didn’t know it changed like that. At least last time my powers changed it was because I was cursed.” She shrugged, and drank half of what was left in her Gatorade.

”Again,” she nodded again, closed her Gatorade, and dropped it on the blanket. She adjusted her sword and took a fighting stance again.

Gideon raised an eyebrow. “You’re not cursed again, right? Or I guess you don’t really know if you’re cursed.” She didn’t know her sword was cursed, for instance, as Gideon picked up her two-hander and sank into her fighting stance.

Andy shrugged. She didn't know. She did doubt it. But that was a problem for another day. Andy went on the attack, her quick motions matching against Gideon's far more powerful ones. In a wrestling match Gideon would win every time. The sword fight only was a question of if Andy wore out faster.

This match went on. It was difficult. They'd trade blows, back off and trade again. Andy was already a little worn out from the previous match, but so was Gideon. They pushed each other to their limits, neither willing to give up easily.

”Draw? Andy asked, her whole body shaking as she held her sword aloft. There was a fifty-fifty on who would win. Andy could move faster, but was she fast enough right now to beat Gideon’s raw strength?

Gideon was panting, her sword locked against Andy’s in a grudge, but not one with an easy exit. “Draws end in kisses, you know,” she taunted, not giving up - still pressing her weight down, and not yielding a single inch. Ordinarily, she would have demanded a fight to the floor - but this, this could be a different sort of ending.

Andy’s arms shook a little, she grinned, ”Guess you’ll have to give me a kiss then.”

“Oh yeah?” Gideon grinned, her tongue poking out slightly between her teeth. “I guess it’s what you deserve, then.” She took a step closer, still not breaking the grudge, as she kissed Andy, her tongue slipping into her mouth.

Andy tried to keep her arms holding the sword up steady, but as she melted into the kiss she couldn’t. Her arms had already been tired, and with the kiss she lost control. She didn’t care, she dropped her sword and pulled Gideon in for a deeper kiss.

“I think that means you forfeit,” Gideon growled into the kiss. She kept one hand on her sword, refusing to drop her most prized possession to the ground, as the other migrated to Andy’s waist, before migrating further down to grab her ass.

”This round,” Andy growled back. ”I'll get you next time.” After a few moments of kissing, and grab ass, Andy pulled away. ”Hungry?”

“I could eat,” Gideon nodded, her eyes darting downwards.

”Not that kind of lunch, at least not outside.” Andy laughed. ”We would go to my room for that.”

“Waste of a good picnic blanket, but alright,” she sighed, before putting her sword carefully away, and flopping down onto the blanket, pulling Andy down there with her. “So what are we having then?”

”Eep!” Andy exclaimed, landing half on Gideon. ”I made sandwiches. A couple of types. Wasn't sure what you liked.” Andy didn't make any moves to open the basket.

Gideon wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly. “I kinda eat anything,” she shrugged slightly. “Except for soup. Always worried there’s gonna be a finger or something floating around in there.”

”Soup? Finger? Why? How?” Andy asked, concerned. Was this something that had happened to Gideon? Or one of those unfounded fears?

“It happens more often than you’d think.” Gideon didn’t elaborate, as she let go of Andy and started looking through the sandwich options.

Andy sat up, sitting criss-cross applesauce, and picked up one of the sandwiches. They were wrapped in butcher paper and labeled in her messy handwriting.
”Veggies, meat, and condiments of various types.” she held up the one she had pulled out for herself.

”Salami, sprouts, tomato, mayo and mustard on whole wheat bread. I call them soggy sandwiches even though they aren't.”

The soup conversation was just horrifying enough that Andy didn't want to dig. She let that drop and kept it in mind to never make soup for Gideon.

Gideon squinted, before putting a hand over her eyes to shield them from the light, and lifting up her glasses so she could read a little better. She immediately regretted her choice, however, yelping a bit in pain before letting the shades go back into position. “Damn. Sun’s spicy today.” It was not, in fact, very bright out.

“Umm…. I’ll take this one!” she grabbed one at random, having no hope of knowing what was in it. She ripped the paper open and took a big bite. “Holy shit this is good!!!”

Andy took a bite of hers and considered how to ask what she wanted to. ”How... uh god, Gideon, how did you fail last semester? We all had guaranteed A's. With that, I know you're a super senior and if I didn't already feel sometimes like I was way older than my classmates that'd be weird, but considering time travel I'd be 34 and I don't want to consider that even less.” She paused, Andy struggled with reading. Had her whole life. She had recently agreed to let Percy tutor her. ”Is there a way I can help?”

Gideon stopped mid bite for a moment, confused. “Didn’t we already talk about this?” she frowned.

Andy considered letting it go. Gideon had given her an out. She adjusted her seating position.

”You always dodge the question. You haven't answered. I've asked and you've avoided. Why are you still in school? How haven't you graduated?” Andy felt bad for pressing. She knew sometimes secrets were easier to keep than share. But secrets also festered and became dangerous between... lovers.

She sighed, and set the sandwich down. And then, Gideon pulled out her phone, swiping through until she clicked on an app, and slid the phone across the blanket to Andy. It was an app that converted speech into text and text into speech. “There, you happy now?” she snapped, her voice harsher than she meant it. “I don’t know how to read!”

Andy winced slightly at Gideon’s tone. Guilt chewed at her as she looked at the app. She felt her face warm up. ”I’m sorry for pushing, but... I kind of understand where you’re coming from. I’m dyslexic, well not officially. But I’ve looked at the symptoms and it matches up pretty well for what I deal with.” She paused and chewed on her lip, thinking. ”Can I help?”

Gideon looked away. She knew that Andy was being nice, and she just wanted to be supportive. She knew that the right thing to do was to say yes, that this was something they could bond and connect over. But she had spent so long being so guarded, so long repressing every emotion, it was hard to break that habit. She just wanted to kiss hot girls and fight people with her sick ass sword. Why couldn’t life be that simple? Why did she have to have failing grades and a dead brother?

“Can’t we just have fun on our date?” Gideon murmured, pulling her knees to her chest. “I’m fine. They said if I fail this semester, I’m kicked out. So either way, I guess I graduate.”

”I’ll let it drop for now,” Andy agreed. ”However, I’d like to help you study, maybe we can get you C’s.” Andy struggled with studying, but maybe she could make it fun somehow for Gideon. Relate it back to stuff that she enjoyed. Andy got up and sat down so she was shoulder to shoulder with Gideon.

”If there was one thing I’ve learned about being in a relationship it’s that you have to communicate and support each other. As fun as making out, and,” she cleared her throat. ”And other things are with you. I’d like for it to be more than just sex. Is that okay? Is that what you want?” If not Andy could deal with a short term relationship that was just sex and fun. She could choose to not get attached, or at least try not to. She needed something fun.

Gideon wanted nothing more than to die in this moment. She wasn’t good at this - wasn’t good at talking about feelings or communicating. She didn’t know how to handle feelings, how to do anything except for bury them. If she talked about them with Andy, then she had to be honest about them - had to be honest about how she felt. And there were so many things she wasn’t ready to face, so many things she couldn’t handle. She wanted to just make a stupid joke and go back to fighting - or find some way to dip before things could get too serious, get too real.

“Andy, I…” she huffed slightly, trying to force the words out. “I’m here for you, I’m super down to support you, I’m in your corner, okay? I just…”

She fell silent again, and hidden by the shades, her eyes had started to well up with tears. “There’s so much fucked up shit in my life, and if I stop running from it, it’ll all catch up to me.” Her voice cracked. “It’ll catch me.”

Andy held out her hand for Gideon. ”You don’t have to tell me right now. I appreciate that you will be there for me. And you need to know I will be there for you. I’ll be here. When you’re ready to talk about it. When you need help. You have my sword.”

She didn’t move for a moment, before she took one of her hands off of her knees, and put it in Andy’s. “What if I’m never ready to talk about it?” she asked. “I can’t promise you I ever will be.”

”Then I’ll be here anyway. When your past comes back to haunt you. God knows if my mom ever gets out of her little prison I’m going to be dealing major shit. If you’re willing to stand by me for her, I can handle whatever you throw at me.” She squeezed Gideon’s hand. ”I will say, from very recent experience that loads like that are a lot easier to carry with friends. So if you ever do want to talk, please do. The world is a whole lot less scary than it was a couple of months ago for me, and that’s with just a few people willing to help carry the load. I was so overwhelmed, and scared. God I was so scared of everything. In a way I still am scared. All the time. But now that I know people have my back no matter what happens, I’m less afraid of how much it will hurt. Because I know there will come a day that I have to do that impossible fight.”

Gideon sniffled a bit, before she nodded. She returned the squeeze. “It’d be kinda sick to kill your mom,” she agreed.

Andy laughed. ”I don’t think she can be killed, at least not in any meaningful way. Every fight will be just another delay. Every time I win against her it will be more time the world is safe. I had kind of hoped to rehabilitate her, but it felt like the opposite was happening. Like she was sinking her teeth more and more into me.” Andy shook her head, shaking away the feelings and thoughts about her mother.

”So, promise? Promise that when your past comes knocking you’ll let me help?” Andy reached over with her free hand, holding up her pinky.

Gideon hesitated for a moment, before nodding. She reached out and hooked her pinky around Andy’s. There was still so much she wasn’t ready to talk about, so many things that she hadn’t told her… She’d never even mentioned the killer nuns to anyone before… but maybe she could start with something small. She sniffled. “Let’s break my brother out of the insane asylum, then. Over spring break.”

”Okay,” Andy said, simply. She hated CAGE, she would help Gideon get her brother. They definitely had sex after the sandwiches were eaten.

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

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Andy was in fact getting a little stir crazy. She had gone on a multi-universe photo spree with America, Danni and Eli. In general though, living in New Orleans meant she didn’t have as much time with most of the others as she would have liked. She had gone Christmas shopping with Sabine and Leah. Percy and Dorian had come over for Hanukkah. But this winter break was long.

She decided to see if any of the Kingston-Grey household was available to hang out. A part of her hoped it would be April. The two hadn’t really talked... ever. Even though they had been on the same starting team Andy felt like she barely knew April. Dorian and Danni were fantastic and if she wanted to be swept into the riptide that was their friendship that’d be fine to hang out with them.

Andy knocked on the door, and told the door knocker who she was and looking for. She sent a text to Gideon.

@Gideon

”Going to hang out with one (or more) of the K-G’s today, if you don’t hear from me in twelve hours send a rescue party lol”

Andy received a reply a fraction of a second later -

@Andy

10/4 my mistress of darkness

Similarly, April was also starting to suffer from a bad case of cabin fever. She’d been grounded for all of winter break - an incredibly lenient grounding that let her go where she wished in New Orleans, but still a grounding. And as much as she loved her family and spending time with them, she was starting to feel a little twitchy and ready for a bit of a change of pace. She hadn’t yet come up with a plan for what she wanted to do, however, when the door knocker informed her that Andy was here to see her.

She couldn’t help but be surprised. She’d thought for a second that it might have been a mistake, that Andy was there to see one of the dads - or maybe Dorian. She made her way to the front door and opened it up, more than a little bit intrigued. Maybe Andy had left something here and didn’t think anyone else was home? Maybe Nimue had sent a cryptic message to the other members of the Huntresses and April just hadn’t received it yet, and Andy wanted to talk about it?

“Hi, Andy!” April greeted, a large smile on her face as she opened the door. “What’s up - did you need something?” The smile was more genuine than any she’d given during the school year, but it wasn’t the only aspect of her appearance that had changed. Her hair had been cut short and styled into a mohawk. She wore a brown overcoat, cropped button up shirt, and baggy white pants.
”Nice hair, very punk rock of you,.” Andy complimented April. ”So, I was getting a little stir crazy and thought that, well, we don’t really hang out much. I’d like to get to know you better. I thought maybe you’d be down to go do something. I have no idea what. I just want to get out of the house.”

April’s face flushed. “Really? You like it? Thanks!! Danni did it, actually! Well, the dads fixed it up a bit later, but not too much!” She ran a hand through her hair. She loved doing that lately, even if it messed up with the product a little bit. There was just something so satisfying about how short it was now, and every time she caught a glance in the mirror, she couldn’t help but squeal a bit in delight. “I’m so down!” She stepped out of the house, shut the door behind her, and shot off a quick text in the family group chat that she was hanging out with Andy. “I was feeling antsy too, tbh, so this is iconic timing. Have you been to the Riverwalk Outlets? It’s got a sick view, some fun shopping options - very much your classic mall sort of vibes. And it’s not too far from here, we can walk - oooh or have you ever been to Jackson Square? They’ve got the absolute coolest art there - maybe we’ll go on our way back, if I don’t get to see the water I am going to sc-reaaaam. So how’ve you been? Besides being bored?”

”Really and truly. It looks awesome. Do you think you’ll dye it? Or just leave it blonde? I think you could rock purple hair, or blue. As for Riverwalk and Jackson Square, I haven’t been to either. That sounds perfect, honestly. I just need some fresh air so some shopping and sight seeing sounds like a great idea.” Andy started walking, mostly letting April lead the way since she didn’t know exactly where they were going. She hadn’t explored the city as much as she would have liked.

”I’ve gotten to do a few things this break. It has been fun, but I didn’t realize how long the break was. Going back to school in mid January is wild. I remember we used to go back to school on like the first Monday after the New Year. I know we’re going back soon, but it still feels like it has been ages. I kind of miss it.”

“I don’t know, I haven’t thought about dying it - I’ve been kind of…” She paused, biting her lip for a moment. She’d only really told family members so far. But she knew that she’d need to tell everyone at school eventually - her current plan was to text in the group chat on the first day back, giving her a little more time to figure things out before announcing hello, I am this thing now!. “...having a bit of a gender moment,” she settled on. “Been trying a bunch of stuff out, so I might try adding some color! I think some blue streaks could be fun, or maybe the tips? Have you ever dyed your hair? You’d probs have to bleach it first, right?”

She nodded, leading the two of them through the streets of the quarter. It was maybe a twenty minute walk at most from their block to the Riverwalk. “Yeah, it’s definitely wild - but after the contest and everything, I was dying for a break,” she giggled. “Is it school you miss or just Gideon and America?” she then teased, her tongue sticking out slightly between her teeth as she grinned. “Do you drink coffee, btw? I assume you do. We can get some at the Riverwalk, or I can show you the best spot right by home for when you need a pick me up.”

”Well if you want to try different pronouns or names today let me know and I can use them for you to test.” Andy smiled brightly.

”Fun fact this is dyed. I'm naturally a dark blonde. I don't like it so I dye it black. Happy to help if you want to test any colors. There are temp dyes you could try. Those wash out after a few washings. Or if you want something natural looking henna is the go to. I just always use cheap box dye though cause it was easy to get ahold of. I understand needing a bit of a break.
Everything was very overwhelming. And yes I miss America and Gideon.” She stuck her tongue out back at April. ”We've been texting, but not the same. I have gotten to see them a bit at least. Ohh coffee I'm addicted. My biggest vice. I made a thermos that is everfilling so I always have some hot and fresh on hand. Please show me the best spots. I haven't gotten to explore New Orleans as much as I would like so it'll be nice to have a local help me out. I know you're adopted but I don't know how long you've lived here.”

April gasped. “It’s dyed?? It looks so good! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with roots either, I had no idea! How long have you been dying it black for? Is the cheap dye bad for your hair? I know I’ve heard horror stories about hair falling out and stuff - if you want nicer dye, I’m sure Pa could get it for you - he gets a lot of stuff for Erik,” she then opened the door to the neighborhood coffee shop, stepping aside to allow Andy to go in first. It was tiny and cramped, with fresh pastries in the glass display, and a small crew of baristas behind the counter. It didn’t look like much, but every seat was taken, and the line was half a dozen people deep. “I think temp dye could be really fun! Less commitment, y’know. Oh and hmm. I don’t know yet about names, I think April is fine for now but I might want to try on some other options in the future - I thought about maybe going by my old middle name, Rain - or Rainie could be cute? But I’m not sure. Pronouns… is it weird that it’s still kind of scary to think about? But… if you wanted to try she/they, I think that’s an okay place to start!”

”The roots come through often. But because it is a dark enough blonde to almost be brown most people don't notice. It's like this dirty dishwasher blonde. The dye probably does do damage. But I haven't noticed it yet. I've been dying it for years. We can totally find some temp stuff while we are out today. And I can help you with it.”

Andy glanced around the place taking it in before she moved toward the end of the line. She looked at what people were eating and tried to see what looked the best. She'd grab a pastry and some hot mocha or a Cafe Borgia if they had it.

”Ooh I like Rainie. That's a fun name. Nice and neutral too, but evokes you in a pleasant way. What do you want to order? I'm thinking one of those fritters and a mocha.” Andy had an idea. She needed to know what April wanted so she could order and say ‘they want x.’ It'd give April a taste of the pronoun. She remembered an old way for new Trans people to test a name too and that was to order drinks under the name they were testing out. This was the perfect opportunity.

Mentally, April added into their itinerary that they needed to hit up a drug store for some hair dye. It’d be fun to play around with some if nothing else, and if she hated it, it was only temporary. Plus, she trusted her brother would be able to fix it if anything really bad happened. “That sounds really fun!! Do you wanna spend the night? Make it into a sleepover sort of vibe?” she suggested. She was having a lot of fun so far talking with Andy and she was more than happy to keep the vibes going.

“Aww, thanks! I think part of it is like - I’ve always been April, so it would feel a little weird trying out another name. I’ve asked my dads to send me suggestions if they have any, they named my brothers but I was eight when they adopted me, so,” she shrugged slightly, before eyeing the case and deciding what she wanted. “Hmm. Probs a white chocolate peppermint mocha - I’m a little basic sometimes - and ooo… those molasses cookies look really good, too.” It was winter and it just felt right. “You’ll love the fritters, they’re so good here. Literally to die for.”

”Sure!” Andy accepted the invitation to sleep over. She had, of course, slept over during the Contest. It hadn’t been necessary, but it had been fun. She liked the idea of being there again. It felt like home.

”I understand the hesitance.” Andy paused for a moment considering. ”When I was little I wasn’t sure if Andy was my name. I was found so little and I didn’t talk much so I didn’t even know how they knew that it was my name. I got a fake ID at one point with the name Andrea on it. The name was close enough to Andy to be easy to claim it as a nickname, that was sort of the point, but it felt weird. Like a jacket that didn’t fit. I only used it a couple of times to get into a club in Rochester. I still have it, though it is very expired now. I don’t know how I got away with it at the time I was like 14, 15. How someone thought I was over 18 is beyond me.” She shook her head laughing a little.

”Molasses cookies are amazing. Also, not basic. Think about it. If you took that drink back to the 1400’s the peasants would accuse you of witchcraft.”

April’s heart fell slightly as Andy told her her story. “Do you like being Andy?” she asked. The line was beginning to clear - they’d be up next to place their orders. Luckily for them, the Kingston-Grays had helped out in the French Quarter enough that they drank for free at this shop. “I can’t imagine you as anything other than an Andy - maybe a Thundering Champion,” she teased gently.

She giggled a bit at Andy’s witchcraft analogy. It was something she’d been thinking about. Their old coach, Nimue, was the Lady of the Lake - every spell she cast was connected to water. And in the fight with the Hex Girls, she’d been awed with the way they combined elemental powers with magic. She was curious about what she could do, if she tried to combine her magic with her control over water. She’d tried scrying once with Nimue during training - but what else could she do? “Well, my Pa is a witch. So I guess they’d be right - assuming being a witch is, like, inherited. Dorian is kinda witchy.”

Andy gave April a flat look at the Thundering Champion joke, but it quickly dissolved into a smile. ”Yeah, I’m definitely Andy. I can’t imagine a different name. And since I met my mother it seems it is my name. I must have been able to tell my rescuers that much. I don’t remember it though,” she shrugs a little.

”Same. I have gotten okay at a few of the spells too. I should have used it more during the Contest, but honestly I am so used to fighting with my lighting that it felt weird to use the magic.

When Andy was finally at the front of the line she started to order. ”I’ll have a Cafe Borgia,” it was available, the heavens smiled down upon her. ”An apple fritter. They’ll have,” Andy hooked her thumb over her shoulder indicating April. ”The white chocolate peppermint mocha and a molasses cookie please.”

April couldn’t stop the huge smile from appearing on her face. It hadn’t occurred to her that Andy would use the pronoun so soon. And they liked it. More than liked it. They loved it. They wiggled their toes in their boots, resisting the urge to jump up and down for a moment. A they. Maybe they wanted to be a they. They pulled out their phone, and shot off a text message to their family -

@Too Many Queers

andy suggested i try out some pronouns today while we’re out and i really like being a they!!! can we try they at home? 💖💖💖

Their phone then started aggressively buzzing as messages came in - keyboard smashing from Danni, and love and support from the dads. They couldn’t resist doing a little hop. “I really really really liked that,” April confessed, once the order was placed. “Like that felt incredible? Is that how pronouns are supposed to feel? Like she always feels so… ugh, y’know?”

Andy had caught the first look of glee on April’s face. Gender euphoria. She had heard some of the other fosters talking about it back in San Francisco, and she was happy to see it on April’s face.

”I honestly don't know from personal experience. What I do know though is if it hurts, or feels uncomfortable it isn’t for you. The fact that it did feel so good is a great sign. Don’t be afraid to try other pronouns too. Some people use ones that are from other languages. Or if you’re daring you can try he. Everyone is different. I know I am comfortable with she/her. I don’t get giddy from it but that is probably because I’ve never felt like it was wrong. I’m glad you like it. I’ll use they for you from now on unless you say otherwise.”

Andy stood off to the side waiting for their drinks and food. ”Gender is weird and complicated and super personal. Sometimes it even changes as you get older and you become more settled in who you want to be. Just like who you are attracted to and how you feel that attraction. Your understanding will change too. It’s been years since I really did any discussion on the subject so keep in mind all my stuff is like twenty years out of date at this point.”

April nodded, listening to Andy attentively. They didn’t know if they were ready to try out he just yet - it seemed almost stressful. And they felt really good so far. They were content to just keep on trying out they, and if it stopped feeling as good, then maybe they’d switch to another one - or even a neopronoun. Their drinks came out a moment later, along with the food in pastry bags. April passed Andy’s drink over to her, before grabbing their own and taking a sip, sighing contentedly. “Y’know, sometimes I forget you’re secretly an old lady,” April stuck their tongue out. “So. You obvi knew my parents. Got any crazy stories about them? The more embarrassing, the better. What was it like in the Underground? And the island?”

Andy laughed at the old lady comment. ”I sometimes realize how much time difference there is from when I was born and when the rest of you were born. Like I met Danni when he was an infant. I wasn't there when he was adopted but I met him shortly after. As for stories, hmm. I wasn't with the MU for a super long time before the island. Like twenty-four hours. It was kind of a whirlwind of bad things happening. I will say though Casper did tell me to punch my prom date in the dick. He also claimed to be the god of waffles. I think that was all in the same conversation too. James was, well, not too different from how he is now. Solid, quiet, caring. I hid in his room the first day. He came in and chatted with me in this quiet caring way. Ben I barely knew. I think I met him like twice and that was mostly during the final battle. Max I didn't know well before the island, but once we were there he sort of took me under his wing. He got me a house warming gift because I moved pretty quickly into Magneto’s. That was kind of him.”

It was a little weird how important those in the MU had become for Andy when she had barely known them to be honest.

“Did they used to be cool? Or were they always lame dads? Sounds like at least Pa and Pops were already dad material. And Appa was a ghost for most of it, right?” April laughed slightly. They knew how much their Papa loved waffles. It wasn’t surprising to hear that he’d proclaimed himself the god of them. On the subject of prom, though, their eyes lit up again as they motioned for Andy to follow them, continuing on to the Riverwalk. “You are going to go to prom, right? Well, junior prom. I’ve already started looking at stuff that might be fun to wear to it - I decided absolutely not a dress. I’m kinda thinking some sort of a tux, but that feels a little basic, y’know? So I want to go for something a little more elevated… I’m thinking I want to practice my ice control a little more, maybe suspend like ice crystals from my ears or something all night. Mutant fashion and all. Do you have ideas yet?”

”Casper came off as cool,” she shrugged and followed April toward Riverwalk. ”I honestly haven't given it much thought. I figure I’ll go with America and Gideon to their prom but we haven’t talked about it. Guess I should send them a message about that.” Andy sent a quick text to the group chat with the three of them [see The Text Log of Andy & Gideon & America].

”As for outfit, hmm, I think I would love to wear a proper prom dress. I’ll probably do the same dress for both if I go to both. It has to be black though. Oh my god, do people still do dresses made of duct tape? I remember that being a big thing for a while.”

“Wait, people did that?” April screeched. “Like taped onto their skin? That had to be so painful! But a black dress - a black dress sounds good. Did you want to go prom dress shopping with some of us? There’s this fashion house in Paris that our family goes to, I bet we could get you something there. Unless you wanted to go with America and Gideon to get something.”

”Oh god no!” Andy yelled back, thankful they were outside. ”Like duct tape wallets. Hold on I’ll show you.” She pulled out her phone and did a quick search for duct tape dresses. Once she had some results she showed it to April. ”See, they'd like layer it.”

She hummed in response to going to Paris. Her immediate response was ‘impossible, too expensive’ and then she remembered she still had a sizable chunk of money even after the Christmas shopping trip, and her investment and savings things she had done. It was weird to just have an allowance basically.

”Hmm, I’ll see what they are thinking about wearing, but that sounds fun. I’ve never been to Paris. I’ve never even been out of the country, except to Genosha... and technically all the times I’ve left the universe. But I don’t know if those count.” Andy sent the group chat with her girlfriends a text.

“Ooo, actually… That’s kinda sick. I love that,” April studied the photo. They’d been playing a lot with the sort of things they wore lately, gravitating somewhat towards things that were both retro and oversized. But the slight shine of the duct tape was interesting, as was the texture. It didn’t look comfortable at all, but they could see the appeal to it. “I mean, I think leaving this universe counts as leaving the country - unless you just went to another universe’s version of America, but even then… that feels different enough, y’know?”

They then grinned, as the water came into view. There was a patio area of sorts outside the Riverwalk Outlet that ran for a while, in addition to an actual trail right up on the water. For a moment, April closed their eyes and just breathed in the air, feeling a little calmer. There was something to the feeling of connection to a large body of water, something that brought stability to them that no other sensation really could. If they’d been by themself, they would have jumped into it, soaking it in and breathing it like it was air. “We can walk right up by the water, or we can hop on up to the outlet and start shopping. Up to you!”

Andy turned her phone from ringing to a vibrate, as texts started coming in from her girlfriends. ”Maybe I should have waited...now I have to explain what the heck Paris and France and Europe is.” Andy mumbled under her breath, but she was smiling. She wasn’t actually annoyed.

She looked up at the water and snapped a photo of it. She liked the water. She missed the ocean.

”When I was a kid I lived near the ocean. It was the Pacific, but I loved it. I’d go to Half-moon bay all the time. I almost drowned in that ocean, didn’t care. I still loved being in it and around it. Let’s go down to it.”

April paused for a moment. “You wanna go in it?” they offered. The last people they’d brought into the water with them had been Leah and Sabine, back when things had been different between them all. They’d promised then it would be a secret place, one where they could be safe from any threat posed by Leah’s father. “I can take us down, bubble you so you can breathe and all still.”

”Yes, please.” Andy started for the way down to the water. She hadn’t been in an ocean in so long. Sure, this didn’t seem to be ‘swimming’ and that was okay. She didn’t need to do that. She just wanted to enjoy it all. She hadn’t gotten water powers, but she had loved the water since she was little. For a long time she told herself that it was because her family had been sailors, or she was part mermaid, or a dozen other things that orphaned kids tell themselves when they don’t know who they are. Now that she had answers...

She looked at her phone again. ”What the fuck Gideon? How do they even let you stay at the school?” Andy rubbed her temple. She shook her head, responded to the texts that had been buzzing in and slid her phone back into her pocket. ”Sorry. I think I understand now why Gideon never graduated. What I don’t understand is how she still attends the school.”

April had been about to sprint to the water, their heart beat syncing slowly so that way every other beat matched the gentle pulse of the waves lapping at the shore. They had one foot off the ground as they spun around, staring at Andy with wide eyes as she claimed she’d solved one of the great mysteries of Margaret Carter. “Okay, spill. I gotta know. Coulson said we all got A’s for the semester - what did she do??? Did she hack into the computer system and change her grades to F’s??? Did Coulson forget she was part of the Arcade stuff??? I know sometimes people forget Gideon’s around because she’s always like - obsessively cleaning her sword and shit and she’s a super senior - like a senior who was held back, not one with powers, although she’s that too so she’s a super super senior but… what the fuck happened there???”

”Well that is to say, I don’t know the exact reason, but,” her phone buzzed again. Andy sighed and took it out. ”She doesn’t know Europe is a continent and just called Coulson, Coulsmith.” She laughed. ”The doubling down on that.” Andy’s laugh was so intense that she had to put her hands on her knees. This was just too ridiculous. She started coughing from the laughter. Andy showed her phone to April. On the screen was a photo of America crashed into a tree.

”I’m sorry. I know it is rude of me to be on my phone right now since I’m hanging out with you. But, this is just too funny.”

“Pshh, it’s fine - if I was annoyed, I would tell you,” April brushed off, as she studied the photo on the phone - and the laughter was quickly infectious. She had to reprocess everything Andy had just told them. Gideon didn’t know Coulson’s real name or that Europe was a continent - and evidently, America had died from laughing too, crashing straight into a tree. It wasn’t long until the giggles were forcing their way out of April too, bringing tears to their eyes. “What the actual fuck, Gideon…” April shook their head.

“I don’t know which one is worse - like you’ve been at this school for five years now and you don’t know his name, but clearly you’ve heard it because you’re half right?? Or the fact that she’s been on this planet presumably her entire life and doesn’t know what Europe is??” She didn’t know how Andy could date someone so head empty. Gideon had to be incredibly talented with kissing or something.

Andy sighed a little relieved. She didn’t want to upset April, especially not the first time they were hanging out just the two of them. “Like I said, I think it makes sense now.” She shook her head a little exasperated. ”Hold on, mind taking a photo with me?”

“Yeah, let’s do it!! Or…. do you want to take it when we’re in the water? I can keep us from getting wet, and it’ll be a killer backdrop. You should see the photoshoot Danni, Dori, and I did freshman year. We got some of those mermaid tails you can wear, and with Danni’s flames under the water… chef’s kiss. Some of our best work.” They couldn’t help but beam. They’d never spoken much to Andy, despite having originally been assigned to the same team - and they were surprised by how easy Andy was to talk to. They should have been hanging out much sooner than midway through the school year - but at least they were talking now.

“Oh, that’s a fun idea!” Andy’s eyes lit up with excitement. “I did a photo shoot with Danni, America and Eli a bit ago. That was chaos. Danni is demanding during those. But it was fun too. I’m sure he told you all about it.” Andy started walking toward the water line.

April giggled. “Yeah, he gets really into them - but it’s always so fun - and so worth it!” they agreed. Once the pair of them hit the water line, April extended their hands out, taking a deep breath. It took a moment for them to connect with the pulse of the waves, but slowly, the water began to part - a small opening that they could walk into, almost like a tiny little cave in the water. Once Andy was safely inside the pocket, April closed it behind them, a bubble of air maintained as they walked down and down, the light around them dimming as small creatures and life came into view. “Isn’t this so fucking cool? We’re in the Mississippi river!” They then wrinkled their nose, as some debris came by. “We’ll grab that on our way back up - people keep putting their stupid fastfood wrappers in here, it’s so annoying.”

Andy looked around with wonder as they entered the water. It was neat. She had done some of the zoo things where you go in the water in a plastic bubble, when she was little, but this was way cooler. She reached up, not quite touching the water.

“Yeah, sounds like a good plan.” Andy wrinkled her nose at the debris. Some things never changed. She held up the phone for a selfie with April. Once that was done she sent it into the chat and then put her phone on silent mode.

“Before starting dating them I basically never paid attention to my phone. That is tempting to go back to.”

“You’re from, like, before phones were really a thing, right?” April asked. “What was that like? How’d you know where your friends were or how to get places? Or if the new restaurant in town is any good? And when you were just lying in bed, what did you do… did you just lie there?”

“I’m not that old.” Andy laughed. “We had phones, but I was a poor foster kid, or a runaway. I didn’t have money for a phone really, not until I was living with the Drummonds, shortly before I met your dads. That was the first phone I ever owned. Before that I didn’t lay in bed much. I’d watch t.v. or play some video games. One of the first foster homes I was in had a Wii. I watched a lot of movies. Or I played outside. I also didn’t have a ton of friends, really I didn’t have any friends. So I didn’t talk with them. And I didn’t have a lot of freedom to move around on my own when I didn’t have a phone. If I did go somewhere we would use this thing called a computer.” Andy said the last part while waving her hands in the air and using a silly voice.

April snorted slightly. “Well, you have friends now,” they grinned. “Even if you hail from when dinosaurs roamed the earth.”

Andy laughed. “Yes, I rode them into battle. And I’m glad to have friends now.” Andy bumped into April lightly grinning.

The rest of the day April and Andy hung out. They went shopping for a bit, grabbing some school related things and a couple outfits for days they would have out of uniform. After that they grabbed some food. The options in New Orleans French Quarter were varied enough they both were stuffed silly. Then after grabbing a box of temporary hair dye the pair of them went back to the Kingston-Grey household. There Andy helped April dye their hair. They then played WhaleFall, the ocean themed board game Andy had given April for Christmas. The rest of the evening they chatted getting to know each other better.

Château de La Lune

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2:45 PM - Friday, July 18th, 2025 - Château de La Lune, France

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@PatientBean@TheMaster99@KazAlkemi@Trainerblue192@kittyluna45@KTostada

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La Lune Family

Elenore La Lune
Richard La Lune
Agatha La Lune
George La Lune
Beatrice La Lune
Lawrence La Lune
Nathan La Lune
Elizabeth La Lune
Gabrielle La Lune
Jeanne La Lune
Lena La Lune

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Elenore could be found in the ballroom; she was almost done with the decorations for the evening. The place is decorated in summery colors of light aquas, lavender, sunny yellows, bright corals, and lush greens. There were large bouquets of white flowers, with green sprigs of ferns. There was a small stage set up, a microphone, and a music setup. It did not appear there would be a live band playing. It was possible that it was planned, or the weather had prevented anyone from coming to the island. There were fairy lights strung around arches in front of each of the doors in and out of the room. Several high tables were placed around the room, leaving room in the center for dancing. Overall, the decorations were beautiful, it wasn’t over the top, but subtle and charming.

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Ralph

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Location: Château de La Lune
Skills: N/A

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”Fifteen,” Ralph agreed. He went into his room and changed out of his wet clothes. He didn’t think he had time to shower; he also shared his bathroom with Brendan and wasn’t certain if he would need it. So he just quickly used the toilet and cleaned up a bit before changing into dry and clean clothing. He didn’t think getting into the party clothes made sense yet. So he went for something more informal.

He waited in the hall for Rhi. Once they joined him, he headed for the bar. Ralph wasn’t exactly sure where they would find the older man, but the family seemed to gather in the bar area. Richard wasn’t in there, but it wasn’t hard to find him as he was sitting in the next room, the library.

The library and the bar were off from each other. The library further led into the center of the building, the ballroom. The library had a spiral staircase reaching up to the second floor. This second floor was not accessible. A lock on the door at the top of the stairs.

Interesting. The room had floor-to-ceiling shelving and a few places to sit and read in comfortable light. There was a large fireplace, currently unlit, at one end of the room. Richard sat near it, possibly just a habit for the colder days when the fire would be lit. His head came up from the book he was reading when the pair of them entered.

”Hello, Richard, I’m Ralph, this is Rhi. I was wondering if we could talk with you for a little bit.”

Richard gestured to the chair across from him. He lifted a glass of what might have been scotch and raised it to them, taking a sip. “Please, do. Welcome to our home,” he said genially.

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

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Andy had helped decorate. She had never decorated for Hanukkah before. She hadn’t celebrated it before this year. All the families she had ever lived with had been Christmas families. A part of her was relieved. She didn’t feel like a Christmas person. Not when the last gift she had been given for Christmas had been the Drummonds adopting her. The paperwork had never been filed. She carried their name anyway. They had been her family for two years. It hurt to think about them, and Christmas made her think about them. Hanukkah didn’t. Hanukkah was a new holiday with a new family. She could make memories that didn’t hurt.

Magneto had spent the days teaching her. She was doing her best to soak it all in, and working on learning Hebrew. Reading was hard no matter the language, but for once she didn’t feel like scratching her eyeballs out when she tried to read.

Today was the last day of Hanukkah. Magneto was hosting a large gathering. Lots of mutants and lots of Jewish people. Andy felt a little awkward about it since she was just starting to practice it and basically everyone that would be here had been born into it. But she had thrown herself into it. She wanted to do the right things and say things the right way. She had seen the guest list and knew that Percy was coming.

Andy didn’t know Percy very well. They had a class together and had fought together in the Contest, but the team had been cobbled together at the last minute so they had never practiced together. He was also one of the youngest of the group. She knew he was dating Dorian, and had been there when Dorian had found the photo of Andy on Genosha. He had never said anything about it. Andy sort of hoped that Dorian would come to the party too. That would add a bit of a buffer between them. She didn’t want to avoid Percy, but wasn’t sure how to be friends with him. They had barely spoken to each other all year.

She didn’t have time to worry about it. People started to arrive and Andy greeted them as they came in.

Percy had just finished texting his mother that he had arrived safely in New Orleans. He had spent most of the nights of Hannukah celebrating with his mame and her extended family. He had missed the first three nights due to his time in rehab, but having transitioned from the inpatient portion to the outpatient component, he was now free to spend the holidays as he pleased. It helped that he had gone through a bit of a growth spurt with his teleports upon leaving CAGE, meaning that rather than wait for a flight to New Orleans, he had been able to travel somewhat instantaneously.

He was somewhat nervous as he approached the door to Magneto’s house. He wasn’t particularly certain why he had been invited, although he suspected Dorian had something to do with it. In his hands, he held a small casserole dish, covered up in tinfoil. His mame had insisted that he couldn’t show up to Hanukkah empty handed, and as much as he loved latkes, he hadn’t wanted to grate pounds of potatoes by hand that day. So instead, he had followed her instructions to make matzo crack - matzo crackers layered with chocolate and toffee, and sprinkled with salt. He hadn’t known if anyone was allergic to peanuts, so he left those aside.

He took a breath, checking to ensure that he looked presentable - he was wearing a fishermen’s sweater and dark slacks - and he knocked thrice on the door.

Andy opened the door, she had a presentable smile on her face, the one plastered and ready for whoever was on the other side. Once she realized it was Percy it grew.

”Hey Percy. Come on in. The kitchen is to the right through there. You can put the dish down anywhere you can find space for it.” There were several people already gathered, but they were older and talking among themselves. For as much as Andy saw herself as separate from her classmates because of the time difference in birth, she did not see herself as fitting in with the adults. The only adults she felt she fit in with were the ones from Genosha. Those were family.

”How’s your winter break been so far?”

Percy nodded, stepping inside and pausing for a moment. He saw that shoes had been placed off to the side of the entrance way, so he knelt down, setting the dish aside, and untied his shoes. He set them aside neatly, before picking up the dish and standing back up. He went into the kitchen as instructed, and set the container down on a free spot. Almost immediately, he spotted latkes, and his heart skipped a beat in anticipation. He really hoped they would be good. He’d be devastated otherwise.

At Andy’s question, he grimaced slightly. His winter break had been… eventful. The trip to Asgard and Jotunheim had been fun and exciting - his time in rehab, not so much. “Long,” he decided on. “How about yours? Are you and Gideon and America still together?”

”Yeah,” Andy smiled, surprised that Percy was aware of that. It had mostly happened at the Contest Celebration and he had been distracted because of that one new guy.

”We have a date planned. Gideon doesn’t text much, but mostly uses [snapchat/Marco polo]. I kind of like that over texts. You can see the person as they talk so you get facial and tonal information, and also I don’t have to try to read the jumble of a mess that texting is. I literally do not understand Danni when he texts me about 95% of the time. There are more numbers than full words.”

”I assume you and Dorian are still together otherwise I’d probably have heard about it...just through the walls.” She joked. ”Do the two of you have any dates planned, or anything?”

Percy was a little surprised - and curious - about this other service. He was very old fashioned when it came to communication, sending actual letters to his mothers, and then texts styled like letters to everyone else. But receiving facial and tonal information… albeit, he still struggled when it came to that interpretation, it was interesting. He might have to give it a try. “Could you show me some time?” Percy asked, before nodding vehemently at Andy’s assessment. “I realized that my powers have started to interpret Danni’s texting as its own unique language,” he shared. He didn’t know how to use emojis really, except for when it came to receiving messages from Danni - and sending ones back in response. Then it felt intrinsic, innate. But it was easily the hardest language he had ever operated in.

He blushed slightly at Andy’s mention of Dorian. “We’re going to a ski lodge soon - just the two of us.” His eyes lit up slightly, and he couldn’t help but smile. He was very much looking forward to the trip. He still needed to figure out winter clothes, as he had grown up his entire life in California, and he’d never even really seen snow before this winter, but he could manage. It was a problem he had been procrastinating but he still had time.

”Oh! A ski trip sounds fun. I skied when I lived in Colorado. It’ll be one of the greatest work outs you ever do. You’ll be super sore after.” Andy paused, ”Wait, have you skied before? Don’t want to tell you about it if you have done it. I know there are some places not far from here, but when I lived in California I lived in San Francisco so I never saw snow then. Not till I lived in Colorado.” She was glad the conversation went to a topic that she felt comfortable with. She could talk about snow. Andy had caught how excited he was about the trip so she figured it would be a good topic.

Percy shook his head slightly. He wasn’t an incredibly athletic person. He wouldn’t have picked skiing himself - it was mostly the prospect of spending some time alone with Dorian that excited him. “I’d never seen snow before this winter,” he explained. “My mame is from New York, but we always went to visit her family when it was warmer.”

”Okay, one of the most important things you should know is to wear sunscreen. It seems dumb, but the snow reflects the sun and you can get the worst sunburn. Make sure you drink water and you have to stretch before and after skiing. Trust me. The before is important so you don’t mess up any of your muscles, and the after is good because you’ll recover faster. No offense but you don’t seem like the work out type.” She had never seen Percy while she was training. She suspected the heaviest thing he picked up was books. Though she had seen him carrying around the team when pulling rescues.

”When you teleport, do you keep the movement you had before teleporting? I realized I’ve never seen you moving and teleporting at the same time? And I suddenly imagined you doing that to avoid a tree.

Percy’s eyes widened a bit, as Andy started to info dump on him - but then he nodded, taking the information to heart. He hadn’t considered that he would need sunscreen at the ski lodge. Snow seemed like the opposite of summer and sun to him. As for the issues about muscles, he didn’t foresee much of a problem here - he didn’t really have any muscles. “I don’t know if I will actually ski. I might just read at the lodge while Dorian skis,” he admitted. “Hmm. I’m not sure. I would imagine that I would maintain the movement.” He hadn’t done very many tests with it. Most of his practice with controlling his teleports had been stationary, with a few exceptions that were… somewhat difficult to recall the finer details of.

”Hmm, probably best to not test that while on skis then. Unless you do it in a safe spot. Probably good to know for battlefield maneuvering though.” Andy smiled. Her mind off thinking about all the ways the teleport could be used if his movement was sustained, or even more interestingly if it wasn’t.

”And that’s fair. Do you know how to make hot chocolate? I bet if you make it for Dorian while he is skiing he’d appreciate the hot cup when he gets back. It feels really good to drink something hot when you’re half frozen from being in the snow.”

Percy nodded again. He’d gone through a bit of a growth spurt with his teleports, so to a certain extent his powers felt brand new. Weeks ago, he hadn’t been able to teleport across campus - and now, he was able to go across the country. The largest change he’d noticed was that he was starving all of the time - the calories his powers were burning had increased exponentially. There were a lot of things that he needed to test, and even more things that he needed to relearn.

“Erm, yes. I do.” And then, a sudden wave of doubt hit him. He’d always made hot chocolate by using a mix and some microwaved milk. Did Andy mean something fancier than that - making it from scratch? Did Dorian expect that from him, if he wasn’t going to be skiing himself? “From a mix, I mean. I don’t - I don’t really know how to cook or bake,” he admitted. He only knew how to make a few family recipes - hence the matzo crack he had brought.

”That’s fine as long as you aren’t making coffee.” Andy hoped she was right. ”Dorian will appreciate the thought. He can be a bit... epicurean at times.” A new word. Andy had committed to learning a new word a day and that had been a recent one. She wasn’t sure if she said it right.

”But if you add a bit extra to it, it is hard to tell. I’ll be honest, I'm not good at cooking or baking either. Jamie had been teaching me some, he was a great cook.” Her heart panged a little and her smile faded. Andy cleared her throat.

”Just use the mix and add a little cinnamon and nutmeg to it. That’ll make it great. And maybe he’ll make a Cafe Borgia for you.”

Percy nodded again. Coffee was something he knew how to make. He had been drinking coffee since he was small, and while his standards had been somewhat high before he’d begun dating Dorian, they had only risen since then. It helped that Dorian was able to import the beans directly - and that he had access to high quality equipment in his dorm room. Percy had been thoroughly spoiled. Of course, his attention was more piqued by the word Andy had used. Epicurean.

“I didn’t know you knew about Epicurus.” He leaned forward slightly, his eyes sparkling again. He had already been surprised with Leah’s interest in mythology and here was Andy, referring to Greek philosophers! “Have you read On Nature? It’s on my reading list for the new year. I’ve only read references to it so far, so I’m excited to dig in on the primary text. It’s a shame we don’t have more of his writings still. I could lend you my copy once I am done, if you would like?”

Panic shot through Andy. She did not know who Epicurus was. She also struggled to read. Percy was leagues ahead of her when it came to reading. She regretted using the word and now she was going to have to explain.

”Oh, does it not mean... someone who has high standards for food? Like a food snob? The book I am using to learn new words had it. I didn’t realize it was after someone.” The book in question, 1100 Words You Should Know, was sitting on her bed.

”Honestly, I’m... I don’t read really well. I don’t even know the book you’re talking about.”

Percy’s face fell. “Oh…” He was silent for a moment, as the thrill slowly left him. He had already been so hopeful, so ready to have intellectual discussions and debates about Epicurus with one of his peers. Talking about Greek philosophers with Dorian never really lasted - he was far too sexy when doing it, and Percy wasn’t able to help himself. And while he could always have these scholarly debates with his mame, it wasn’t quite the same as with a peer.

But then, he frowned slightly. Andy said she didn’t read well. He couldn’t imagine a world without reading - literature was his first love. Andy didn’t deserve that. “Can I help you?” he then proposed. “There are audio books, if the issue is reading the text. And if the issue is the words themselves, you can select books appropriate to your reading level and train up to higher levels. You’ll learn more if you’re interested in what you are reading, I think. I could read something with you.”

Relief flooded through Andy. ”I think I’m dyslexic.” She admitted. Andy had been looking into it since Thanksgiving and was now pretty convinced that that was what was wrong with her. ”I haven’t really done audiobooks yet. But I’ve been trying to read better. Here follow me.” The guests coming in had lulled down. She led Percy to her room. On her bed was the 1100 words to know book, a bookmark about a third of the way through it. The Lightning Thief its bookmark at about half way through, was on her nightstand.

”I never really realized what was wrong. I just couldn’t read well. I’m working on the vocabulary thing,” she gestured to the vocab book. ”But finding books that interest me has been tough. I like the Percy Jackson stuff, it feels a little... young for me. But because of those books I learned about dyslexia and I looked it up. But otherwise I don’t even know where to start.” She took a slow breath and then started talking again.

”I know you don’t know a lot about me. But before coming here. I hadn’t attended the same school for a whole year since I was eight. This isn’t the longest I’ve been at a school, but it is getting there. I barely was at any school longer than two years. And after... After I ran away from Colorado I went to New York and I didn’t go back to school. I was home schooled a bit during that time, but I struggled a lot. I just don’t have the education. Hell I was surprised they didn’t put me in more remedial classes.”

Percy followed Andy back to her room, and he picked up the books with interest. He always had a soft spot for the Percy Jackson series - he shared a name with the title character, after all. The earlier works were more cohesive than the later ones, and the continuity issues in the Sun and the Star had driven him mad, but… He could understand Andy seeing herself in them. Nico di Angelo had been a large part of his gay awakening.

He frowned again as Andy described her lack of education. Education had been such a priority for his mothers, he’d had to attend Hebrew school on the weekend. He couldn’t imagine the absence of it - and the more he thought about it, the more it upset him. He knew Margaret Carter was focused on making heroes not scholars, but they had so clearly failed Andy. He gripped the books a little tighter.

He didn’t know how to help someone with dyslexia read, but he knew he could find out. “I can’t believe the school isn’t helping you. It’s the point of a school. To educate people!” he set the books down and started pacing. “The way I see it, we have several options. The first is to ask Sabine if she can give you memories of the education you missed. This is the easy path, but lacks in integrity. Hmm. No. It won’t do. If we are going to do something, we are going to do it properly. The second is to make the school do their goddamn job and teach you. We would need to show a united front with your guidance counselor, possibly threaten that you are going to leave for Xavier’s - they won’t want to lose a contest champion. But they have failed you so utterly I would not give them a second chance. The third option is we devise a curriculum ourselves and work through it after classes. Hmm. We would need to call in assistance, as I have treatment for now. But once that concludes, my time can be yours.” He then stopped pacing, and took out his phone, sending off a text rapidly.

Mame (translated from Yiddish)

Dear Mame,

I have a friend who has been utterly failed by the disaster that is the current education system. She is dyslexic and at an eighth grade reading level, possibly lower. Would it be possible to receive copies of the supplemental education plan you had crafted for me? I would like to adapt them for her.

Love,
Percy

Andy was a little surprised at how vehement Percy was. He was so upset at how much the school had failed him. ”Nemo always gave me extra time,” she said. Nemo had been the only teacher who seemed to be aware of Andy’s problem. The only one who had done anything to help her.

”Thank you, Percy. I do not want to do it the easy way. And if I changed schools I’d probably come here to Strange, since they do magic and my magic studies are... not very cohesive yet. Baby steps I guess.” She shrugged. ”Also, it’d be kind of weird, because could Sabine even give me memories like that? All my knowledge would be her knowledge. Right?” Andy wasn’t sure how that would work, but she wanted to learn it herself. She was happy to have help, but wanted to do the work.

Andy did not miss that Percy had said something about treatment. She decided to not pry. She had just opened herself up to him, but he was a much more closed system. Andy would let him tell her, or she’d piece it together eventually. She didn’t need to know, not unless he wanted to talk about it.

Percy grimaced slightly as Andy brought up Nemo. He didn’t want to speak ill of the dead, but he had never liked the time travel studies professor. He hadn’t shed a tear when they learned the news of his passing. But it seemed he was the only one who held that opinion. And he was not keen to learn who Margaret Carter would dig up to be his replacement.

“I don’t know if she could transfer them permanently, but essentially yes. You would have a copy of her knowledge, for better or for worse. It would likely not be without flaws. But I agree. This way is better.” He then started to pace again, only to pause as he realized what else Andy had said. “Would you leave for Strange Academy? They’d accept you. They’d have to.”

Andy wrinkled her nose. ”No, I think it is better to work for it.” She considered what Percy was asking. Would she leave AA to go to another school? Max taught at Strange Academy, but so did Agatha and that old witch made her nervous.

”Percy, I am from Genosha. I am seventeen years out of date. I spent the last four months trying to figure out this world and the people in it. Dorian and Danni and the rest of the team are basically the only people I know, except people from Genosha. I don’t want to transfer. I would have to figure out how to make friends all over again and I wouldn’t have Dorian dragging me into those friendships. It’d be a nightmare. I just got my feet under me, and that is with Zari leaving me like that.” She paused, knowing that Percy and Zari were friends too. ”If you think forcing the school’s hand is necessary and me threatening to leave to go to Strange Academy is what will do it, then alright, but I don’t want to.” She had seen Percy’s face, she didn’t know his relationship with Nemo but she sort of wished that Nemo was still around. He probably would have helped back her if she went to Coulson.

Percy nodded. He knew of Andy’s history with Genosha - none of the sordid details, but the rough scope of it all. He’d been there with Dorian when they had found the photograph of her and Zari at the museum - one where they hadn’t visibly aged a day. He bit his lip for a moment, considering what to say to her. They hadn’t really spoken about Zari and the others who had left so abruptly. She had supposedly been his friend, but Percy could not remember the last time he had a meaningful conversation with her - the last time he felt that friendship was made of more than the friendship between their parents. “I imagine she was just as good a girlfriend to you as she was a friend,” he said softly. “You seem happier now.”

“But I don’t think we need to force the school’s hand. Primarily because I doubt they would stick to a new routine for long. No, if you will let me tutor you, I will.” He then paused for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing. “We might as well be strangers to each other. I understand if you do not want my help.”

Andy let out a soft sigh at Percy’s comment. ”It isn’t just that that changed.” She shifted uncomfortably. A lot of what had changed had been giving Selene to Max and taking that weight off of her shoulders.

”But I do feel a bit freer. I’m sorry she wasn’t a good friend for you. She told me about you and then we never hung out. I expected the three of us would, it just never happened.” Andy cleared her throat. ”I would appreciate it if you would tutor and help me, Percy. That would mean a lot to me. You’re probably one of the smartest people I know.”

He smiled somewhat bitterly. It was a topic he did not want to dwell on much more. Some things were better left in the past. He would rather look towards the future - to think more on how he could help Andy to make up for lost time. “We can start after school in… I believe my treatment schedule shouldn’t interfere by mid February. Until then, I can meet with you on weekends. I’ve messaged my mame if she has some resources we can use - she used to give me supplemental exercises for my schoolwork.”

At her compliment, however, Percy shook his head. A few months ago, he would have accepted it, and readily told her how right her observation was. “Mm. The secret to intelligence is being stubborn,” he argued. “And I’ve been told I’m a stubborn ass.”

Andy shifted, the mention of treatment again, was he okay? She bit her lip wondering if she should broach the subject. Andy decided not to.

”The weekends are fine.” She thought that it wasn’t just being stubborn, but it was access. Something she hadn’t had a lot of.

”We should head back out now. Dad’ll be wondering where I am if too many people show up without me answering the door.” She smiled and headed back out. ”Thank you again. I didn’t know what to do really. I saw the vocab book at a book kiosk but that is only going to help so much.”

He shook his head, a sly smile gracing his face. “Don’t thank me yet. You’ll need to learn Hebrew, too.”

---

Dorian had been waiting outside the door for a few minutes now. He had a long dark coat on, beige turtleneck, black pants, and knee high leather boots. His hair was well coiffed, a small baby curl near his sideburns, and light pink blush that mimicked a fair skinned person in cold weather, coloring his cheeks and the tip of his nose with frosty highlights and shiny lip gloss. Snow lightly dusted his hair and clothing, having just come from his house that was always enchanted to have snowfall inside during Christmas times. Dorian looked to his left and right, standing nervously before he knocked again.

”’ello?”

Dorian looked down at his offered gift of food for the party. Would they like his Walnut Rugelach? Would they think he hadn't tried hard enough? Or worse, made them bad. Danni had been helping him try and perfect the recipe, teaching him methods to make them even though at times it seemed he just wanted to make them for him. But Dorian had insisted he had to make them himself. Around his arm was the strap to a bag that held gifts.

Andy heard the knock at the door and winced. She hoped she hadn’t missed someone. Or at least that it hadn’t been too long. She dashed to the door and opened it. The fake smile broke into a big genuine smile.

”Dorian!” Andy pulled him into an awkward hug around the items he held. ”Food goes into the kitchen, find any open counter space.” She pointed in the direction of the kitchen. There was an assortment of people gathered there chattering. They had overflown into other rooms. It wasn’t a massive party, but Andy couldn’t have identified more than half the people there.

”Percy is here. We were just chatting.” Andy was a bit embarrassed to explain what they had been talking about since she hadn’t told Dorian about her issues with reading yet. He was bound to find out though. ”He’s going to start tutoring me.”

Percy appeared behind Andy a moment later, and he didn’t need blush to have his cheeks flush the moment he set eyes on Dorian. He had become so accustomed to seeing his boyfriend every day at school, and even then he was still routinely mesmerized by him. He was silent for a moment, his eyes sweeping over Dorian’s form from top to bottom. With the snow dusting his hair, he wanted nothing more than to run his hands through it, to gently tug on each and every curl…

He cleared his throat slightly, trying not to be so easily flustered. It hadn’t been that long since they’d last seen each other, even if it felt like 300 years, right down to the day. “Happy Hanukkah,” Percy said softly.

Dorian hugged Andy back enthusiastically. Normally he would have attempted to float the dish and bags away to give her a proper hug, but he was worried he'd mess it all up and have nothing to give them. ”Perce, did you rope Andy into one of your discussions about Whoreowhodawatty from Ancient Grease, Andy you don't ‘ave to placate ‘im really im so sorry.” He added as he stepped in and realized shoes were neatly placed beside the door. His boots took long enough to get in, getting out would require help if he wanted to do it before food was dropped off. ”Sorry, didn't realize no shoes. Uh, Perce mind takin’ t'is to t'e kitchen for me? I'll meet you t'ere after these boots are off.”

”Not quite.” Andy laughed. ”I think I'm dyslexic. Also, my education prior to coming here was weak. I expect I'll probably learn some things about Greece. That isn't the reason for him tutoring me.”

”Happy Hanukkah. Have you had a good winter break so far?”

For a split second, Percy felt embarrassed. He had been really excited to talk with Andy about Epicurus. Did people find it annoying when he wanted to talk about Greek philosophers…? Did Dorian dislike it? But the gnawing shame was quickly replaced with annoyance, as he realized that his boyfriend was butchering the words on purpose. It irritated him to no end when Dorian did that. Especially for words that he used that sounded similar - the meaning became totally distorted thanks to Percy’s powers and he had to make a conscious effort to focus on what Dorian had said, only to be upset all over again.

He clenched his jaw. “It’s Herodotus,” Percy corrected, before he took the container from Dorian and headed to the kitchen.

Once Percy had left, Dorian placed the gifts onto the floor and knelt down to begin undoing his shoes. ” ‘e is so easy to rile up sometimes. I made some Walnut Rugelach, ‘eard t'at its meant to represent the oil for t'e lights. I ‘ope t'ats ok?” He undid one shoe before standing up and decidedly just phasing out of the second one. ”Dyslexia huh? I never really understood ‘ow t'at worked out…but my breaks been good so far. Been doin' some readin’ , exercising, been more on my socials now t'at I get t'e chance to be. Chat ‘as been crazy wit’ t'e fact t'at im datin’ Percy. T'ey knew somet'in was up when some of my dorm streams ‘ad uh…odd backgrounds. T'ese snoops spot a speck of dust from a mile away if it proves t'ier t'eories. What about you?”

”Basically the letters jumble up and it sometimes takes me way too long to figure out what it actually means.” Andy shrugged. She had always struggled with reading and wouldn't have been able to put it into words until recently. ”Break has been good so far. I've been here mostly.” Andy had gone out a bit but she was just enjoying being home. She still had her date with Gideon coming up.

”Also don't be mean to him, he is trying to find something to talk about. Okay. So socials. I have a Snikt! And it blew up with followers but I haven't even posted anything. I don’t know how they found me.” She also had the super hero chat thing but she hadn't logged into since day one. She was a little afraid of what she'd find there now.

”How are people supposed to manage all of this?” she felt like she needed a PR person just to deal with the wild amount of semi-stalking that had started. If she had known that was going to happen she wouldn't have fought in the dang contest.

”Its easier to manage if you started before you knew.” Dorian laughed. ”Green screens, fake backgrounds, whole fake rooms sometimes, never use your real name or give any indication where you may live, anyt'in’ t’at'll dox you really. Even t'en t'e biggest fans may catch somet'in you missed and suddenly its a whole t'in. People noticed I didn’t wear my gamin’ sweater two streams in a row, I tried to play it off but every one found out I ‘ad a boyfriend t'en. Question t'en was, who?” He began to make his way over towards the Kitchen. ”And I'm just teasin’ ‘im. ‘onestly I love when ‘e talks to me about Greek ‘eroes and myths. Even if we ‘ave differin’ opinions on some of t'em.”

In the kitchen, Percy had done his best to make room for the Rugelach - and had taken some time to sneak a latke quickly. If they were all gone before he’d have a chance to grab one, he genuinely may have cried. He overheard the very end of Dorian’s conversation, and he was facing away from the kitchen entrance, smiling slightly.

”Well I haven't posted anything still.” She pulled her phone out and opened Snikt! Her profile was empty, no photo, but they username was Andy123456. The follower count had hit 10k.

”At least no one can comment, but I have a stupid amount of DMs I haven't even read any of them.”

The food in the kitchen smelled great. Andy's stomach rumbled. She glanced around and saw people had plates of food. She had probably missed something but at least it meant she could grab some food too.

”I'm going to get a plate. You should too.” She grabbed a plate, it was metal, and filled with bits from everything. She didn't know most of the dishes, but she was willing to try.

”First mistake was leavin’ your DMs open. We'll make it so only close friends can message you, t’at'll cut down on ‘ow much traffic you get.” Dorian made his way around the corner and kissed Percy on the cheek as he grabbed himself a plate. The food looked amazing, and smelled even better. He ensured to grab at least one of everything, including his own dish to guarantee it came out alright.

Percy tilted his face so that way as Dorian went in to kiss him on the cheek, he got his lips instead. He then got himself a plate - he’d been eating more calories since his time in CAGE, and he grabbed a separate smaller plate just for the sour cream and applesauce. “The secret is to have someone else deal with it all for you,” he advised Andy. “Dorian handles mine. I’m not sure what he posts on it,” he then added with a shrug. He was about to get himself some of the brisket and a jelly doughnut when he paused, eyeing Andy’s and Dorian’s plates.

“Unacceptable,” he shook his head, putting his plates down. “Your latke to sour cream - or applesauce - ratio is atrocious.” He then spooned more onto Dorian’s plate, before waiting for a moment to see if Andy would also let him fix hers.

Andy laughed and nodded at the offer of more sour cream.
”I didn’t even know that was a setting. Do I hire someone for that? I don't think either of my girlfriends do social media.” She frowned. Did America? Gideon didn't seem like the type. Though Andy did know she had Grindher. ”Well America might because she already has a couple years of winning the Contest.”

She bit into some food and melted a little. It was delicious. She was very excited to eat all of this new stuff.

Dorian scooped the sour cream off his plate and onto Andy's before Percy could give her more. ”No its jist a settin’ I'll get it all set up after if you want me to. Maybe even show you how to make some edits.” He pulled his phone out and pulled up Percy’s account, scrolling to an edit he'd made of them with Percy being Hades and Dorian Persephone. Percy's images were ones pulled from throughout the year, times Dorian was able to catch him unaware of the camera in dark or broody looks, especially when reading. Dorians were more curtailed, blushed cheeks that accentuated his eyes, plum colored backgrounds and pomegranate seeds, the red of which were used to stain his lips a natural purple pink. All of it playing to a love song about the two gods. ”Good right? Doubt Percy's actually looked at ‘is account to see t'is one.”

Percy huffed slightly as Dorian removed the sour cream - it was a key and vital component of the latke experience! But his protests immediately died as Dorian pulled out his phone, scrolling through what he had posted to Percy’s account. He hadn’t looked at the account very often. Its entire creation had been Dorian’s suggestion, and while he had used it at first to look at photos and videos of Dorian before the two of them had started dating, he received the content he was looking for directly now. The explosion of interest in their lives on social media following the contest had made it seem overwhelming as well.

“That’s what you’ve been posting?” he asked, a little stunned. “… Can I see that again?”

Andy whistled at the video.

”That’s good.” She was surprised. Andy hadn't spent a lot of time on Snikt! But some of the edits she had seen had been impressive. Basically what she would have considered professional quality.

”Please fix it.” Andy asked Dorian. She didn’t use the app because of how frustrating the incoming messages had become. Andy had been tempted to delete the account. She wondered if it was too late.

Dorian had caught sight of Andy's ‘account’ ”We're skimmin’ t'e inbox, seein’ if anyt'in of import is t'ere t'en nukin’ t'e account and startin' new. T'at means a better ‘andle t'at is more t'is timeline.” He teased. He closed his phone and lifted Percy's jaw up with one finger. ”Drool over t'e food not me, im starvin’ right now.”

Percy rolled his eyes at Dorian, and shifted his posture slightly. “I’m not drooling,” he protested. “I just wanted to double check your work for misconceptions,” he protested. “Fair warning on the handle - he made my gaming account Whoredotus.”

”That's got to be better than Andy123456.” Andy shrugged.

”Anything good in the DMs?”

DELETE. DELETE. DELETE. Oh? ”Actually youre DMs aren't ‘alf bad. Tons of praise, lots of nice comments, some offers for sponsorships, collabs, fights?” Dorian did have to delete a message that said ‘Break me like one of your French girls.’ ”Also Andy gets to ‘ave a cool ‘andle Perce. Somet'in t'at matches ‘er style while givin’ anonymity.” He pressed a Latka to his lips, taking a small bite of it as he thought. A few chews later ”🌩Rhapsody🌩”

Percy had already finished his own latkes, and Dorian had been teasing him earlier, so… he took a quick step forward, going to bite the latke out from Dorian’s grip - only for his boyfriend to phase out of the way, leaving Percy to pass through harmlessly. He huffed slightly. “Rhapsody? Do you sing?” he asked Andy.

”Not really. Like I can, but I wouldn't go on stage for it except karaoke.”

She hadn't expected a nice DM box, which was why she had never really opened it. Andy remembered to never read the comments because that was a dangerous place.

”Wait did you make a new account or just change the name?”

”Making a new account. Keep this one as a fake basically, already shut off t'e ability to get more DMs. T'ough you're not far off about t'e singin’ bit Perce. I was tryin’ to t'ink of names for ‘er account, somet'in to do wit’ lightnin’ or fightin’ and originally t'ought Queen of Lightnin’ or Lightnin’ Queen. But t'at is bot’ bad and too on t'e nose. But it reminded me of t'is ‘it song from Andy's time! Pa sings it all t'e time, its by a retro band named Queen, called Bohemian Rhapsody, and in t'at song t'ey sing ‘T'underbolts and lightnin’ very very frightenin’ ‘ Hence, Rhapsody. I know, I'm a genius.” Dorian said before taking a bite from his Latka in admiration to his own self. ”Also t'ese are delicious, Perce why dont you ever make me these?”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “Do you want me to cook for you?”

”If it's t'is, t'en yes.”

Andy snorted at their exchange. ”Better him than me. I can technically cook. But it is the bare essentials of food. Jamie was teaching me.” she frowned, this was the second time she had mentioned him.

”Okay you do realize that Queen is from the 1980s. I wasn't alive yet. I was born in 2004. I'm younger than Google. Gen Z not X or boomer.”

“You’re two years older than Taylor’s debut album. Hmm,” he was about to ask Andy what that was like, growing up in the Swiftie golden age, but he remembered Dorian’s comment about his urge to infodump so he held his tongue.

Andy couldn’t help but to wince and groan. She did not like pop music and Taylor Swift had been the goddess of pop music growing up. It was everywhere. She hated it. She had fortunately, living with the Drummonds, been able to avoid all of that as they were into punk rock, a lot of Irish punk at that. Andy had adored that type of music. It wasn’t until Gideon had told her that Eva and Harry were also pop stars. She had known Harry since the MU days, and Eva was like... an aunt now. She was going to have to learn to put up with some of it to an extent.

”You were born closer to t'e 80's t'an now, besides I read t'at it was super popular in your time.” Dorian huffed. He'd noticed the slip up of a name, a frown, and immediate change of subject. But he wasn't about to press for it, after all it must've been someone from a time before all this, someone she couldn't go back to see. ”So t'at makes it what? 21 years before she became a massive flop?” Dorian teased.

Andy opened her mouth to contest Dorian’s math, but as she did Andy realized he was right. There was about 24 years between her birth and 1989. And she’d be 34 if she had gone the normal slow route. “Wait, she flopped?” Andy redirected. “What happened?”

Percy saw red. He was a diehard Swiftie, and yes, he did prefer her works pre the Life of a Showgirl - he could even stomach the Tortured Poets Society. But his boyfriend calling Taylor a massive flop was still unacceptable. “She’s allowed a bad album! With her output, it’s bound to happen! And Travis Kelce wasn’t doing her any favors as a muse - and not to forget, the sudden reemergence of conservatism and the existential threat of Sabrina Carpenter it’s no wonder that album was terrible! She was doing her best!”

”Huuuuuge flop Andy. Which was embarrassin’ given some of t'e shader t'ings she did pre t'at album t'at re-emerged when t'at album came out. Honnêtement, I t'ink she fell for t'e pressure of competition t'at she didn't ‘ave before. A new Supreme rose wit' Sabrina while t'e faux Showgirl tried to be someone she was not.” Dorian shrugged before finally trying the Latke with some applesauce, audibly enjoying the new flavour combination.

Andy didn’t know who Sabrina Carpenter was. She made an assumption that she was another pop star and left it there. A part of Andy was pleased that Taylor had fallen off her pedestal. She kept that to herself as well.

”Alright then. I'll stick with my punk rock,” she shrugged. There was always a risk of nazis but punks hated them so kicked them out... violently of their spaces.

”Anyway. How about we go sit down. Instead of standing blocking the latkas?” She grabbed another one adding it to her plate.

Percy wanted to protest and defend Taylor - but that era was a bad look. It wasn’t one he could even defend against. He listened to albums from Debut to Midnights, and nothing beyond them. It was heartbreaking to see how badly things had turned out for his favorite pop star. And he imagined Dorian was trying to egg him on, so he huffed and nodded at Andy’s suggestion. He grabbed a few more latkes as well, before waiting for those two to lead the way to where they’d be sitting.

”Ooooo wait, I know a but of Punk Rock, like T'e Mighty Mighty CrabJoys.” Dorian said as he began to hum the lyrics their theme as he danced a bit behind Andy, swiping a latke off his boyfriend's plate instead of grabbing one for himself. ”Oh and Iggy Pop. Which you'd t'ink would be pop?”

Percy shot Dorian a glare.

Andy gave Dorian a flat look. ”I am talking about bands like Agent Orange, which while a terrible name, has great music.” Andy found a spot where all three of them could sit, and she could keep an eye on the door.

”How did we end up talking about music like this? You were freeing me from the chaos that is a public Snikt! account.”

“Hm. Dorian suggested an account for you named after a song you weren’t a contemporary to, leading us to discuss music,” Percy summarized. He took a seat next to Andy.

”Whats wit’ t'at look? Are t'ey not punk?” Dorian crossed his arms, sitting next to Percy as he dropped his Latke that he stole back onto Percy's plate.

”Thank you, Percy. Iggy Pop, yes. The Mighty Crabjoys are a fake band from a dumb movie. I'm going to make you a mixtape.” Andy hadn't made one since Ash had taught her how. Both ways on a CD burner and the way Ash had grown up doing it with a cassette tape recording from the radio. But she'd make a CD for Dorian with some good music on it.

“Do people still make mix tapes?” Percy asked. He put the stolen latke back on Dorian’s plate, along with a second one. He then rested his left hand on Dorian’s knee.

Dorian actually quite liked that movie, he'd even scoured the internet for a real vintage shirt from that era that said ‘Punk is Cool’ on it with a small emblem in the hem of it. Granted he never went ‘full punk’ in the sense of how Andy dressed, but he'd wanted to a few times. ”Most people just make Playlist but I'm sure I can get a CD to work just fine. Oooo or if you want a cassette tape! T'en I can ‘ave my pa make me a walkin'man wit' matchin’ ‘eadphones. It'll be a whole vibe!” He grabbed the latke Percy put back onto his plate, taking a bite and smiling before leaning in more on Percy.

”Is Spotify still around?” Andy wondered if she could still access her account she had used back when living with the Drummonds. That had all the best music.

”Huh, I wonder if that old email still exists” she murmured to herself.

”Play list, mix tape whatever you want to call it. I'll make you one so you can listen to some good punk rock.” Andy chewed on some of her food.

”So tell me about your ski trip you've got planned.” She smiled brightly.

Percy nodded slightly. He hadn’t been one to make playlists, usually listening to a single album at a time. He’d taken a break from Taylor lately, and had been shifting into Harry Simmons. His curiosity had been piqued when they ran into the pop star during the contest, and he found himself really enjoying some of Simmons’ earlier work. “Erm, Dorian knows more of the details than I do. I’m not quite sure where exactly we’re going,” he admitted. His boyfriend had done most of the planning for the trip - whereas Percy’s free time had been consumed with family commitments and rehab.

”Well…it was gonna be a surprise, but I guess I can tell you a little bit about it. We are ‘ended to t'e ‘imalaya's. T'ere's a wonderful resort t'ere oh and Tigers! Bagel Tigers!!!! And Blue Goats, or sheep, or somet'in’ t'at goes baaaa.”

Andy raised an eyebrow. Was there skiing there? Her only knowledge of the Himalayas was where mount Everest was. She could be wrong about that.

”Do you mean Bengal Tigers?” She was certain he didn't mean bagel as that was a type of food.

“Are you hungry, sweetheart?” Percy asked. “There are some bagels in the kitchen, I can go grab you some?”

”Oh is it Bengal? T'at's weird. Why would t'ey call t'em t'at? Eit'er way t’ey're sooo cute! I wanna pet one while we are t'ere.”

”I don’t know why they are called that. Also, those bagels are the bomb. There is a whole set up for it with fish and stuff.” She had never had bagels and lox before. But now that she had she was going to have that whenever it was the option.

”Is petting them allowed?”

Percy then blinked. He’d been so focused on the bagel vs bengal of it all, he hadn’t really processed properly what Dorian had said. They were going to the Himalayas? They were going to the Himalayas! He tried to bite back a grin, but he couldn’t help it, beaming from ear to ear. “I don’t think a rule against petting the tigers would stop him,” he said with a slight chuckle. “He’s too persistent.” He scooched a little closer to Dorian, and tapped his arm twice, a subtle request for him to put his arm around him.

”I Love a good bagel spread! Oh and schmere! I'll ‘ave to snag some in a bit. T'ere's t'is great bodega in New York, always makes my favorite bagel, t'ough t'e breakfast sammie I like is in a different part of New York which feels a bit like cheatin’ but t'is was I also get to pet twice as many Bodega cats!” Dorian frowned for a moment, his eyes wandering around the room as he realized that in all the excitement of the Contest and Christmas break, he hadn't had a chance to go and see Goose. He felt as Percy tapped him, putting his arm around him almost instinctively as he tried to figure out how he'd make it up to that wonderful fluff ball. ”It's just a small pet, can't be too bad right? I'm not ‘urtin’ t'e tiger.”

Andy tilted her head. She was midway into a bite. Was Dorain joking? Or did he not know what a tiger was?

”Dorian, I have to know... Do you know how big a tiger is?” She had never seen a bengal tiger in person. She had been to a zoo. Andy doubted that Max hadn’t ever taken them to a zoo at least... right? Or did he have some moral reason not to? She could understand that. But suddenly Andy was very concerned that Dorian was going to try to pet a very wild creature. He’d probably be fine, just phase out and all would be good, but she still didn't think it was a good decision. Even if he wouldn’t suffer any apparent consequences.

”Oh yeah! T'ey're t'is big roughly.” Dorian approximated the size of an actual tiger's height. ”T'ey ‘ad some in t'e San Fran Zoo, I t'ink in Disney World too? But I've only seen t'em be'ind glass or cages and I wanna see one up close and no bars. Just t'em and me in t'e wild. Why do you ask?”

Andy let out a small sigh of relief.
”I don't think the wild ones will let you pet them. If you've never been scratched by a cat you might not realize how dangerous they can be. People have been killed by large cats. And these are some of the largest if not the largest cats. The ones in zoos are trained and used to people. The ones on the wild might just want to eat you. Also are probably protected by the government.”

Ordinarily, Percy would have sided with Andy on this one, and dismiss the desire to pet a wild tiger as stupid. However, it wasn’t just anyone who had this urge. It was Dorian. Sweet, beautiful, stupid Dorian. So instead of ridiculing him, Percy sat there in thought for a moment. “What if you approach the tiger while phased?” he suggested. “Minimal risk of injury, and you can get as close as you like. Hmm. Can you possess animals, Dorian? Could you become the tiger?”

Dorian couldn't help but laugh at their concern. Sure Tigers were large creatures, dangerous even, but he'd managed to win over another feline far more dangerous than a tiger. ”Guys, I t'ink if I can get Goose to love me I can get a tiger to do t'e same. And Goose is way scarier t'an any ol tiger. ‘is scratches lead to permanent damage and ‘is bite can swallow a tiger whole. I'm not worried about an oversized ‘ouse cat. And yes Perce, Animals are able to be possessed by me, t'ough I usually prefer not to.”

“Do you mean… a goose or something named Goose?” Percy asked, frowning slightly. He knew that geese could be pretty vicious, but he didn’t imagine they were any more terrifying than a tiger. “Emus are far more horrifying than geese. Did you know that Australia waged a war against them in the 1930s and ostensibly lost?”

”Not a goose, The Goose. ‘e's an alien species t'at is also just t'e most adorable t'ing! Oh wait ‘old on!.” Dorian pulled out his phone and showed his new phone background. He always had last Christmas's image of him and Goose together as his wallpaper this time of year, usually changing it when he took the new one until the new year.

Andy leaned forward to look at the image. She too had been confused. And the cat looked familiar. She thought she might have seen a photo or something of the cat before. But couldn't be sure. She was not surprised about the cat actually being an alien. Aliens were common enough. Technically she had until recently been dating one.

”Well if you get away with it, let me know.” Andy shrugged. If Dorian was able to pet a tiger, more power to him..

Percy studied the photo for a moment. It was just… a cat? Was the cat particularly violent? He frowned. Surely a better point of reference for a tiger would have been Amour or Amelie? He supposed it was an alien but… it was a cat. Was he missing something? “Dorian… that’s just a cat,” he asserted.

Dorian rolled his eyes. ”No, common misconception. Goose is a Flerkin. ‘e's a race of alien's wit’ extradimensional stomachs t'at shoot out tendrils and claws t'at decay matter or somet'in’.”

“What happened to the photo of us?” he pouted slightly.

”What?”

“Your phone’s background used to be us.”

”Perce, I changed it every ‘oliday season. T'is is Goose from last year, I…couldn't see ‘im t'is year so I guess i wont ‘ave an up to date pic for next year…but, it's kind of like a tradition. “

Andy leaned back in her chair and let the tiff pass around her. She could feel the jealousy from Percy. He did not like to share. He did not like to be ignored. She considered these traits of Percy’s and tried to fit them into how she would deal with him going forward. Andy already knew not to touch Percy. Now she filed these new tidbits away. Joining them with the rest of the picture she had of him. Still obviously incomplete, but a little more detailed from today than she had known of him a day ago. Her phone background was the most basic one that came with it.

Percy sulked slightly, and took another bite of latke. He liked being the background on Dorian’s phone. It was silly to be jealous of a cat, he knew, but… he was a little bit jealous of a cat.

Silence fell over the three, over the photo of a cat. Dorian decided on how to break it, he hovered his phone up and above the three at a flattering angle as he snapped a picture of all three. ”Time to make memories.”

Andy smiled as the photo was snapped. It was her usual smile, not the bright one that came spontaneously. This was the easy smile that she used most of the time.

”I don’t think photos are necessary to make memories. But they are good to look back upon.” She thought of a photo album that didn’t have a picture of her in it, but contained so many people and bits of her past jumbled all together. That album had broken her heart a little. To know that these people had thought she was dead and that there had been no proof of her life among them had been painful. She had cried. Dorian hadn’t understood why at the time.

”Thank you for sharing your photos with me,” she added suddenly. Her smile grew a little, but was sadder than before.

Percy had gotten somewhat better at smiling for photos. He didn’t enjoy taking them, feeling a little on edge whenever a camera was brought out. But the people in his life now enjoyed taking them, giving him opportunities to practice forcing his face into a smile. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy Andy and Dorian’s company or that he was unhappy - yes, he was a little jealous of a cat, but it wasn’t a huge deal. He just hated photos of himself. If anything, he felt a little self conscious, too. He hadn’t meant to shut down the conversation. He smiled for the photo as Dorian took it.

Dorian looked at the picture, smiling. He then realized what Amdy had meant, how that album, or well pancakes, had made her cry that night. ”Now I can finally add t'e elusive Andy into my photo album! You'll need to sign it of course once I print it out. I t'ink…I t'ink I'm finally findin’ what I've been lookin’ for.”

”Sure thing,” Andy said. ”Ohh, I should get a photo with your dad’s. Dang, should have gotten one with Val too.” She had left barely any evidence of her passing through the world. It was good to know that there was proof of her now.

”Speaking of old photos though. Do you want that one that the two of you found? I don’t really want to carry it around still.” It felt a little weird to keep it. Dorian had his book of photos.

”If you don't want it, I'd love to add it to my book! And we can get one with Val soon I'm sure, just gotta ask em to come back down for a little photo op, or we go up to t'em. Neit'er is very ‘ard to do.”

”Yes, that’d be nice.” Andy smiled. A little relieved. The photo was of her and Zari on Genosha, some day before the final one. Andy wasn’t exactly sure when the photo had been taken. She didn’t even remember it being taken.

”I’d love to spend more time with Val too. For me it hasn’t been that long since I met everyone, or even since I saw them last. But that whole group, they are why I am alive. I owe them more than I gave them in the end. It’d be nice to show that appreciation.” She had gotten a holiday gift for Val, technically it was for Eva too, but she didn’t know Eva very well.

”Is it just me, or is it weird Val and Eva got together? Val doesn’t seem like the type to marry a literal pop star.”

Percy did not know these people. This seemed to be a conversation between Dorian and Andy. So he pulled out his phone and opened up AO3, navigating to his bookmarks and resuming a plot heavy Achilles/Patroclus Song of Achilles omegaverse longfic he had been reading.

Dorian shrugged. ”I mean it makes sense to me. ‘er brot'er is a pop star too, and t'ey spend a lot of time toget'er given…stuff. So she met anot'er Pop Star, t'ey liked each ot'er, and next t'in’ i know I'm walkin’ down t'e aisle given t'em a ring. I was so nervous I felt like t'e sweat from my ‘ands would make t'e ring fall and vanish away. Luckily I ‘adn't ‘ad my powers yet so I couldn't phase it away.”

Andy laughed. ”I guess that’s fair. It is just funny to me that someone who disappears like Val does would end up with an actual pop icon. I forget that Harry is one too. So it makes sense once you look at it that way.” She gave a little shrug.

”Gideon had me listen to all of her albums. I won’t say I enjoyed it, she’s not my style. But she’s good.” Andy could respect someone talented.

”She is a bit more of Percy's speed I guess. So is ‘arry if ‘e ever gave ‘im a try.” Dorian grumbled out the last bit. ”T'ough I guess now I'll ‘ave a whole new genre of music to listen to once you give me t'e mixtape. So excited for t'at!”

Percy glanced up from his phone, hearing his name. “Who’s more my speed?” he asked.

”Eva Moore,” Andy told Percy. She smiled at Dorian. ”Alright, I’m stuffed. Let’s do something.”

“Who?” Percy slipped his phone away.

”I'll show you ‘er later. You'll like ‘er.” Dorian polished off his plate before looking towards Andy and Percy. ”What's t'ere to do on Hanukkah?” He knew different families did different things, traditions, during each holiday. But had no idea what might happen for these.

”I know there are games, but I don’t know them yet. We’ve been busy and I haven’t had time to learn them yet.”

Percy groaned slightly. He had been afraid this would happen. His last friend had been much the same way, wanting to learn the games you played on Hanukkah. “They’re not fun games, but I will teach you if you wish,” he conceded. “I can show you how to play dreidel.”

”Well, we can learn, and then laugh about how un-fun the game is,” Andy shrugged. ”There is a few sets over there, let me grab the box.” Andy went over to a cabinet and pulled out a metal box with several of the dreidels.

Dorian watched as Andy began to bring over a box of what looked like tops. He wondered if this was anything like Beyblades, but he didn't want to voice that thought out loud.

As Andy went over to get the dreidels, Percy collected their plates and returned to the kitchen, setting them aside. He’d spotted the familiar candy earlier, and approached the bowl of chocolate gelt. He took out thirty pieces - enough for each of them to start with ten pieces, and not so many that the game could drag on forever. He returned to where they had been sitting, and distributed ten of the candy coins to Dorian, and another ten to Andy. “There are four sides to the dreidel, each with a Hebrew letter on them,” he began to instruct.

He picked up a dreidel and showed the first side. “This side is nun - it means nisht or nothing. If you spin and land on this one, you do nothing.” He then turned the dreidel. “This one is gimel - it means gantz or everything. You take everything that is in the pot. The next side is hey - it means halb or half. You take half of what is in the pot. If it’s an odd number, we round up. And the last side is shin - meaning shtel or put in. You put a piece of gelt in the pot.”

“We each start off with ten gelt. At the beginning of the round, we each then put one piece of our gelt into the pot. Whenever the pot is empty - or just has one piece - everyone will put a piece of gelt into the pot. The first person then spins the dreidel and follows the instructions for the side it lands on. Once they resolve that, play moves to the next person, and we continue on. If at any point you are completely out of gelt, you are out of the game. The objective is to win it all. Any questions?”

”Nope, that’s straightforward enough.” Andy slid one of her gelt into the center of the table. ”Oh, let me do a practice spin real quick. I haven’t used a top since I was like five.” Andy twisted the dreidel and it spun perfectly for a moment before toppling over and landing on nun. ”Alright, perfect. I can do this. Ready?”

”Wait wait let me try!” Dorian grabbed the dreidel and attempted to spin it, having it somehow just immediately topple over with a thunk. ”Wha– no…Andy ‘ow'd you do t'at?”

Percy tricked not to snicker.

Andy did not try to not laugh. She laughed. ”Like this.” she repeated what she had done previously but slower for Dorian to watch.

Dorian tried to mimic Andy's movements, but it just wouldn't take. Sure, it spun a little this time, but it still virtually fell after three rotations. He huffed, tackling this problem the only way he knew how. ”OK driedel, it's time for you to let it rip!” He wrapped telekinetic energy around the dreidels top, like an invisible string that he then pulled on to make it start to spin. And it worked. ”It is a beyblade” He whispered out loud.

“It’s a… what?” Percy tilted his head, confused. He was about to protest too that it was cheating to use telekinesis, but he couldn’t actually think of a rule against it.

Andy giggled. ”Only if you pit it against another one.” Tilted her head thinking of how to explain bayblades.

”Uh, spinning tops that hit each other til one stops spinning,” Andy said with a shrug.

”Is pittin’ t'em against each ot'er Kosher?”

Percy couldn’t really visualize what Andy and Dorian meant. He stared at his boyfriend for a moment, before deciding that he didn’t actually need to explain what Kosher meant. He put one of his gelt in the pot, indicated for Andy and Dorian to do the same, and he spun the dreidel. It spun and spun and spun, before landing on gimel. Percy took the three gelt from the middle. “I take everything. And now that the pot is empty, we all contribute again,” he added, as he tossed in a single gelt.

Andy did not know the answer to that question and decided to not answer. Andy slid another gelt in and waited for Dorain to do so too. Then spun the dreidel. The nun came up.
”Do we add another gelt or does Dorian just spin it now?

“You only need to add gelt when you roll shin or the pot has one or fewer pieces left in it. Right now there’s three pieces again, and you rolled nun, so you are fine.”

Dorian placed a piece of gelt atop his thumb and forefinger and flicked it up into the air and down into the pot. ”Let it rip.” He whispered as he made the top spin, waiting for it stop until it finally landed on…nisht. ”Perce is cheatin’”

“I’m not the one using their powers to spin a dreidel. And if I were cheating, what would you do about it?” He raised an eyebrow, before going to take his turn. The dreidel spun and spun, almost landing on nun before it finally settled on shin. He tossed a gelt in, bringing his count to eleven.

Andy raised an eyebrow at the teasing but didn't say anything about it. She spun the dreidel and it landed on gimel she pulled everything in the pile toward herself leaving one coin for the next pot. She now had 12 pieces.

”This sort of reminds me of that terrible card game War. Have either of you ever played it?”

Dorian raised an eyebrow at Percy's goad. What would he do? Financially ruin him in a game of dreidel that's what. Thankfully Erik had had metallic dreidels for them to play with, no doubt making it easier for him to spin as well. A little shift here and Percy pays more, a smaller shift there and Andy gets it all. It was simple. ”War gets intense t'ough.” He threw another coin into the pot before going to roll. Another Nun, he groaned.

Percy shook his head. He hadn’t played very many card games. He used to be really into Magic the Gathering, but he hadn’t touched it in a while. He didn’t really have anyone to play with, so his G’raha Tia Commander deck was gathering dust. He tossed in a gelt, refilling the pot after Andy’s victory, and he spun the dreidel again - and again, it landed on shin. A little annoying to happen twice in a row, but he didn’t think anything of it - there were only four options, after all. He tossed in another gelt. He now only had nine.

Andy spun the dreidel and it landed on nun. ”It is a terrible game at as soon as the cards are dealt the rng is over and who wins is determined. Basically with a deck of cards two people pull the top card of their half face up. Whichever number is higher wins and takes both cards adding it to the bottom of their deck. This goes on until one person wins. It takes forever, and is kind of boring.”

”T'at's because you probably aren't playin’ wit' an enchanted deck.” Dorian spun the dreidel, getting what he had now deemed the ‘gimme’ side as he pulled the pot towards him. ”T'e cards we use are all RNG. The number and suit constantly shift until t'ey are flipped over.”

“Hm, your luck seems to have turned,” Percy noted, as he tossed a gelt in to the center, bringing him to eight. He didn’t mind that he was losing - if it meant the game ended faster, he would gladly throw every chocolate coin back inside. And his own luck seemed to agree with him, as the dreidel landed on shin again. He threw another gelt in. And then he paused. There was something he needed to tell Andy about. He’d been waiting until Dorian was here. “I met Gideon’s brother.”

Andy slid another coin in, making her amount 10. She spun the dreidel and ‘nun’ came up, she leaned back and titled her head at Percy's comment.

”Gideon told me she had a brother, but that he was dead. She didn't mention there was a living brother. Where did you meet him?” Andy would have to tell Gideon. This was probably someone lying, but Andy wanted to make sure she had all the details before she told Gideon. If she had a sibling she had presumed dead and wasn't she would want to know. She would also want to know if someone was pretending to be her sibling even if it was just to punch them in the face until they stopped.

“At…” Percy cut himself off. He took a breath for a moment. He picked a spot on the wall to stare at, to memorize as he spoke. “I met him when I was at CAGE for rehab a little over a week ago.” He swallowed slightly, his nerves temporarily skyrocketing, as a faint blue shimmer appeared around his hands. He had told himself he didn’t care if Andy knew. He had told himself that. He didn’t care. It was fine. Gideon deserved to know her brother was alive. He had told August he would help him and this was part of it.

Andy paused, she watched Percy, then gave a small nod. ”What is his name? Not that I think you would lie to me. I just want to verify with Gideon. If I tell her this, it changes a whole lot for her.”

Andy did not dig deeper into Percy’s situation. Addiction was awful and she didn't want to pick on him for it. He didn't deserve, no one did, to be picked on for such things.

“August Pearlman,” Percy said, recalling all of his antics - and the very real fear he had glimpsed. “He’s… he’s very much like Gideon.”

Andy nodded again. ”Yeah, that's his name. Alright. I'll tell her, in person.” Should she wait for school to start? Or tell her during their upcoming planned date? Or should she call and tell her right now? The last didn't feel right. This was an in-person conversation. So right now was out of the question. She felt a little light headed suddenly. If this was Gideon’s brother what had really happened?

”Wait? Tall lanky guy? Licks people? Talks to ‘imself? T'at August?” Dorian asked, finally speaking up after having already peeled and eaten 4 gelt coins while the pair spoke.

Percy nodded. He grimaced slightly. “Erm, excuse me. I need to use the restroom.” He got up off of the couch they’d been sitting on, and headed towards the restroom he’d spotted earlier. He needed a moment to breathe. Admitting that he had been in rehab had not been easy, even if it had been the right thing to do - and the noise of the party was starting to grate on his nerves.

”Wait do you know him too?” Andy asked Dorian after Percy left the table. She was fairly certain their game was over. She had seen Dorian eat at least one of his chocolate coins. She picked up one of hers and ate it.

”Kind of? I met ‘im when I visited April one time. ‘e uh…licked ‘er. ‘e seemed well enough…I guess? It's ‘ard to tell especially in CAGE. I felt so on edge t'ere I dont remember a lot…sorry.”

Andy chewed on her lip a little thinking. ”That’s a weird thing to do to people. Seems a little... invasion of personal space. Should I ask April about him? Or just tell Gideon? I don’t know how to tell someone that their dead brother is possibly not dead.”

Dorian chewed on another coin, trying to think more on what to say. ”Mon ami, you've got me. I don't know any which way in where you tell someone t'at. Maybe, I mean did Gideon say ‘ow ‘e died? It may ‘elp if it isn't somet'in’ crazy like natural causes.”

”He didn’t die of natural causes,” Andy admitted. ”It’s weird, he died... Hmm, I don’t know if I should say. Gideon isn’t the most share-y type person and this isn’t my story to tell.” Andy cut herself off. She didn’t want to spread stories that weren’t hers to tell.

”Wha-? No! Now you ‘ave to tell! You can't be a tease like t'at please? Besides ‘ow am I suppose to ‘elp you when I don't even ‘ave a full story to work wit’.”

Andy shifted, a little uncomfortable. She would prefer to have this conversation in private if she was going to tell Dorian. ”Can I ask Gideon if I can tell you?” She lay her head down on the table. ”Wait, that’s dumb. If I ask that she’s going to ask why. God what the hell?”

”T'at…I cant ‘elp wit’. Sorry”

”It is fine, she’s supposed to come by later. We’ll just go to my room and chat there. I think we should come up with a reason why we know this other than Percy meeting him. If you met him too, can we say that? I don’t want Percy to be more uncomfortable than necessary.” She didn’t want to lie, but this would technically be true, without outing why Percy met August. Andy lifted her head and leaned back in her chair again.

”Yeah, I'm ok wit’ t'at if it makes you feel better to tell ‘er t'at.” Dorian realized that meant that he wasn't going to find out the brotherly lore. Laaame.

A moment later, Percy reappeared from the restroom, and he eyed the state of the pile of gelt. “I see the game was abandoned, then?” He took a seat down next to Dorian again, tapping his arm again twice.

”Thanks.” Andy looked up at Percy as he rejoined them, ”Yeah, sorry. The chocolate is better than the game I think.” She tried to give him a reassuring smile.

”But you know what's better t'an gelt? (But not the mystery of a dead brother) presents!” Dorian beamed looking towards the two.

“I told you the game was bad,” Percy reminded them. On the subject of presents though, he tensed up slightly. He had brought gifts for both of them, yes, but he didn’t know if they would like them. He had very little idea what Andy would like. “I’ll go grab them,” he then dematerialized, and reappeared a second later with two presents in hand.

”Oh, let me grab yours. It’s in my room. I’ll be right back.” Andy stood up and dashed to her room.

Dorian just sat there, alone, for the briefest of moments as Andy raced off to grab her gifts and Percy his. In that moment, Dorian scooted all the gelt to himself and opened up a few, shoveling them in his mouth as he used his powers to float another latke over.

“Do you actually like gelt?” Percy asked as they waited for Andy to return, somewhat surprised.

Dorian took a bite of the latke, still some chocolate in his mouth. He waited to swallow before speaking. ”Its like, sweet and salty if you mix Latke and Gelt. So not bad.”

“… I’m not kissing you with a latke-gelt mouth.” The chocolate and potato combination wasn’t the problem - it was the metallic taste the gelt wrapper left behind, combined with a cheap, poor quality chocolate.

”Your loss.” Dorian said as he stuck his tongue out.

Andy was half jogging when she came back from her room carrying two packages. One was wrapped in Christmas themed paper, the other in Hanukkah paper. She handed the Christmas one to Dorian and the Hanukkah one to Percy.

”Happy holidays. I don’t know if you’ll like it or not Percy, or you might already have it. I don’t know. If you do, feel free to tell me.”

Percy had no idea at all what Andy would have given him. He handed a present back to Andy, and then the other to Dorian. He’d already given him a Christmas present - a song he’d composed for him on the piano. He had struggled a bit to find another gift that felt appropriate for him. He hoped both of them would like them. He opened up the present from Andy, and immediately, he recognized the book. He already had a copy of it - not this exact edition, though. But most of the books he owned, he had at least three copies of.

“I don’t have this,” it wasn’t technically a lie. “Thank you very much.”

Andy sighed, a little relieved that Percy didn’t have the book. She smiled and opened her gifts. First the one from Percy. It was a Star of David pendant. She didn’t have one yet. Andy had been a little nervous about it. Unsure of what order to take steps in. But this was a gift. It didn’t feel inappropriate.

”Thank you, Percy. This means a lot.” She put the necklace on. Then turned to the small package from Dorian. She froze. The old weathered deck of cards that was revealed from the packaging was something she had thought lost. She couldn’t even remember the exact last moment she had held or seen the cards. Andy was certain she had gotten it back after being frozen, but she didn’t remember where she had left the cards after that.

Her eyes burned as she looked at the deck. She opened it. The cards were weathered. They’d be terrible in any sort of game where someone didn’t want Andy to cheat. She knew them all. Could tell them apart. She shuffled them. Her hand movements were smooth, practiced, nearly perfect. She moved cards with intention. One staying exactly where she wanted it no matter how much she moved the others.

”Thank you, Dorian. These cards were Jamie Drummond’s. He taught me how to fight, and he taught me a couple of magic tricks.” She slid the cards back into their box. ”How?” She asked, her voice quiet, staring at the deck. The box was primarily green with an Irish knot looping over it.

Dorian looked at what Andy had gotten Percy, smiling knowing full well he owned three others of the same variety but happy his boyfriend was being nice about it and lying. When Andy opened hers, he wasn't sure how well she'd like it. ”Oh…it was sort of a secret until well…Christmas. But, remember back at t'e Contest? When Billy, Danni, and I merged. T'ere was t'is…power inside of ‘im and I wanted to do some good wit’ it before we dissolved back to ourselves. I told Danni we should bring back Genosha, make it how it once was, and well…we did. Took t'e rents t'ere for Christmas and while I was t'e I saw t'e retro deck and t'ought…you may want it back.”

”How did you even know it was mine? I left it, god where? Magneto’s place? I was there like a month. Unless the [gift from Max that we never decided] was there too? I really only left with the clothes on my back when I got there. When I left with Zari, the pillow followed me because it is magical. Pixie made it for me at Magneto’s request because I had the worst nightmares.” Andy was rambling. She held the deck of cards like they were breakable, close to her body. Magneto and her had talked about what happened to Genosha. How they had to leave, why they had to flee. Danni and Dorian had fixed it. They had fixed her home. Andy had struggled with that identity. Didn’t feel that she deserved it. She wasn’t born there like Danni. She hadn’t been conscious during its construction. But she had defended it, twice. She had lost people she had known and bled there. It was her home. She was Genoshan.

”I was lucky I even had these. I left the Drummonds’ in a hurry. It was on fire and we were being attacked. I literally had my jacket and the few possessions I had on me.” The tears that had burned at her eyes spilled and she wiped at them.

”Sorry. Crying... again. I just realized how much of the last year for me was running with what I had on me. I haven’t had stuff in so long.”

”Eriks place was a little ‘and to miss. ‘E may be in Louisiana now but ‘e sure as ‘eck ‘as same taste in decor. Metal. Somet'in’ just I don't know…spoke to me about ‘em. Like when you go antiquin’ and you see somet'in’ t'at doesn't appear old it appears well loved, faded sure, but loved. So I took a gamble and snagged t'e cards up.” Dorian was fidgeting with the wrapping paper of the gifts on his lap as he spoke, nervous but excited.

”Thank you, really. This means a lot to me.” Andy stood up and hugged Dorian real quick. ”Okay, sorry, open your presents.”

Dorian opened up Andy's gift and screamed. ”No way!!! T'is is so cool! Oh we ‘ave to do anot'er movie night soon now! Where do we even start? I mean obviously we can do –” He'd realized he hadn't opened Percy's gift yet, tearing it open to reveal a thoughtfully crafted coupon book. ”Awe Perce! You shouldn't ‘ave! I'm gonna cash em in dont you worry. Even if its finals week.”

Percy smiled slightly, seeing how thoughtful Dorian’s gift to Andy had been - it had been the perfect thing to get her, to restore something she’d lost. He didn’t fixate on the fact that the Entity had been brought up again, when his boyfriend had merged with his old crush. No, he definitely didn’t feel a pang of jealousy go through him at that. Not at all. Not one bit. He was just happy that she had a nice Hanukkah gift - and that his guess about the pendant had seemed correct.

Andy had crushed it too as it came to Dorian - as was evident from the scream. He couldn’t help but feel a little bit self conscious. Was his gift good enough? He rolled his eyes at Dorian’s reaction. “Oh, I’m so very worried.”

”Glad you like it.” Andy did look genuinely relieved. She was sure Dorian would appreciate the box set. But she didn’t know for sure if he had all of the movies already or what.

”We def need to watch them. Percy, do you like horror movies?”

Dorian began to flip through the coupon book again. ”T'ere may be a coupon ‘ere t'at says ‘e ‘as to watch one anyways.”

Percy did enjoy horror - although his preferred medium was in a book, as it was for most things. He’d seen one or two when Dorian put on a horror movie, but he’d found his boyfriend a bit too distracting for him to fully focus on the movie. “I haven’t seen very many. I like Stephen King, though. And the classics - Frankenstein, Dracula, Carmilla, and so on.”

”Have you seen the original Nosferatu. It is a classic horror film. Also, super important role in the history of film. When it came out it was not far enough away from Dracula and they got in trouble. So it was ordered destroyed. But people kept copies of it and pirated it anyway. It’s one of those, the people refuse to be censored sort of things.”

He shook his head. “Is that in the collection?” he asked, looking at Dorian’s gift. He could appreciate a struggle against censorship - the most important books were the banned ones, after all. “Could we watch it?” He was a little jumpy when it came to horror in film form, but in a group setting he figured it couldn’t be that bad - people would probably be talking the entire time and ruining the suspense anyway.

Dorian phased the plastic wrapping off of the movie collection and began to search the titles within. Pulling out Nosferatu.”Bingo. Maybe we can watch it tonight when Gideon gets ‘ere? T'ink Erik would mind?”

”Perfect. That should be fine. If I get called away for something you’ll be fine. I’ve seen it before. It’s also chill cause it is a silent film. There’s not any of the usual jump scares.” Andy pulled out her phone to see if she had a message from Gideon about her arrival time.

@Andy

am outside

Percy nodded, a little relieved to hear that there weren’t any jump scares. He was a little concerned it would cause him to reflexively teleport all the way back to California. He noticed Andy take out her phone, but any possible subtext of the choice was lost on him. So instead he opened up the present Dorian had given to him, revealing a pendant necklace. He gasped slightly, recognizing what it was immediately. “This is a pen,” he said, his voice thick with giddy glee as he tugged on the pendant, revealing it was indeed a writing implement. He looked at Dorian. “Will you put it on me?”

Dorian giggled. ”Sure.” It was a genuine antique, and he was worried he may damage the clasp if he fiddled with it too hard. So instead, Dorian grasped the back edges of the necklace and made himself and it phase briefly as he wrapped it around Percy before bringing it back into solidity. ”It’s like you were made for it.”

”Speak of the devil, Gideon is here. I’m going to get the door for her.” She looked over at the necklace. ”How is that a pen?”

Percy blushed deeply, as he decided he was never going to take the necklace off. He immediately went back on his earlier rule of not kissing Dorian with latke-gelt mouth, giving his boyfriend a soft kiss. “Merci beaucoup,” he whispered. “Je l’aime. Je t’aime.” He then pulled away, before putting his fingers around the pendant and tugging, the pen coming away. He showed it to Andy. “It’s effectively a cap, here, on the necklace.” He then put it back on.

”Huh, neat. Be right back.” Andy went to the front door and opened it. She grinned at Gideon.

”Hey, welcome in.” Andy waved Gideon in and then hugged her. ”Percy, Dorian and I were talking about watching Nosferatu you interested?”

Gideon gave Andy a hug back, before tilting her head slightly. “What’s that?” The movies she watched were in two categories: gay and gayer. And sports. She loved a good underdog movie, preferably about female boxers. And while she dressed in black and occasionally painted her face to look like the visage of a skull, it was more for the aesthetic than for actually being goth. She was a jock at heart.

”Classic horror. Basically the first Dracula film.” Andy pulled her the rest of the way in and shut the door. She held Gideon’s hand as they walked back to the table where Dorian and Percy were.

”We just did gifts. I still have yours.”

Gideon nodded. “My gift, uh, you can’t show them,” she said, her usual cool persona faltering for a moment. She held a bag in front of her, black with rainbow tissue paper concealing its contents. She then nodded at Percy and Dorian, and went in for a bro hug. “Sup!”

Dorian bro hugged her back. ”Sup.”

“Dude, have you been working out? Your biceps look a little bigger,” she praised, before going in for one with Percy.

Percy tried to teleport in time, but it was no use. He froze.

“And you seem smaller. Sick!”

”Gotta keep up wit’ t'e sword trainin’ cant rely on my powers all t'e time you know?” Dorian flexed his arm for Gideon before using his powers to set her a plate of food and bring it over. He stole a latke off it. ”Gotta carbo-bulk.”

“Why haven’t we fucking fought, man?” Gideon tapped the two hander she kept slung over her shoulder. “Can we fight now? I haven’t been to temple in a minute, is that allowed?” She looked at Andy, as if asking for permission. “Have you ever fought to the floor?”

”I think as long as we do it outside.” Andy thought back to the first time she had trained with Magneto. It had been inside but there hadn't been guests. He did sort of look down on the contest though.

She peaked into the bag and smiled. ”I can put this in my room and grab your gift. Then we can decide which to do first. Movie or spar. As for fighting to the floor, I don't know. I've done a lot of fighting so maybe.”

“If we can’t fight to the floor, can we fuck to the floor? Me and you, obvi. Sorry Dorian, but I’m not into twinks, even ones packing muscle like you.”

Andy got very red in the face and she nodded. ”Just us, no uh... witnesses. Unless it is America. And I just realized how weird that sounds.”

Gideon pumped her fist into the air. “Hell yeah!!”

”Im not big on to t'e floor anyways. I prefer makin’ my opponents forfeit once t'ey realize t'ey're outmatched. Also I don't t'ink Andy would be ‘appy if I killed ‘er girlfriend.”

”Do not kill my girlfriends. Either of them.” Andy stood up and gestured the others to follow her. She stopped in her bedroom, placing the unopened present from Gideon on her nightstand. And the deck of cards next to it. She had put on the necklace. She picked up a wrapped box and handed it to Gideon.

”I honestly wasn't sure exactly what to get you, but I hope this is something you'll use.”

“Pffft, you can’t kill me. I’m immortal, bro. But fine, be a lame coward,” Gideon sighed. “My brother would’ve fought me to the floor, y’know.”

Percy was a little sad he wasn’t going to get to watch Dorian sword fight. Despite not knowing how to use a sword himself, he really admired watching his boyfriend train with one. He used to play with wooden swords with his best friend when they were younger, just hacking away at each other in the random parks they’d find their ways to in the area. He missed that. And Gideon wasn’t the only one who’d noticed improvements to Dorian’s physique. “You could spar without going to the floor… it would be good training for both of you…”

Gideon shrugged, before ripping open the present from Andy - and she screamed. “LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOO!!! THE THIRSTING BLADE IS GONNA LOVE THIS!!!!” She wrapped Andy in a huge hug, spinning her around before putting a kiss on her jawline. It was a sword care set!! She’d lost hers!! She needed one desperately!!

”Fine. Pops is on standby, Andy can get ‘im if it gets bad. We fight to t'e floor, no deat’ as you can't die so only until one of us is unconscious.” Dorian decided to remove the turtleneck as it would impede his movements, leaving him in a simple white tank top as he unsheathed his sword.

Andy wanted to say something when Gideon mentioned her brother, but Percy told Dorian to fight and Gideon opened the gift. Thank god she liked it. Andy smiled and kissed Gideon back.

”Back yard.” Andy reminded them and led them out to the back yard area. She hadn’t spent much time there. Magneto liked sitting on the front porch so when they were outside it was usually there. She’d tell Gideon about the chance her brother was alive later.

Dorian and Gideon stood on opposite sides of the yard, Gideon with her bastard sword and Dorian with his longsword. He quickly closed the gap as Gideon attempted to block with their blade, Dorian's own sliding down the flat of it and leaving a small cut on Gideon’s cheek. She seemed to…smile? Dorian went to back up, give some distance, but in that moment Gideon took advantage. She locked her leg behind Dorian's, making him begin to fall and as Dorian caught himself with telekinesis, she baseball swung her sword against his skull and knocked him out.

“THREE STRIKES, YOU’RE OUT!” Gideon screamed. She didn’t actually know how baseball worked.

Percy immediately went on over to Dorian, freaking out as he dropped. He knelt down in the ground next to him, trying to assess if he was breathing okay, if there were any wounds or blood from the contact. Meanwhile, Gideon was running laps around Dorian, holding her sword above her head like a gladiator. “YOU CAN’T BEAT ME, BITCH!!!! I’M THE FUCKING KING OF SWORDS!!!!”

Andy watched the fight. She was impressed. She needed to do more sword practice. Lady Nimue had given her one. Andy checked that Dorian was going to be okay, and gave him a thumbs up.

”Okay, so that was super hot. My room?” She asked Gideon with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes! Fucking absolutely!” Gideon stared at Andy for a moment, before doing the chest-slam-jump at her that football players enjoyed doing. “Sorry losers, better luck next time!” she then called out to Percy and Dorian, before eagerly heading inside. She knew where Andy’s room was.

Andy laughed, “See you guys later.” She followed Gideon back to her room. Two things on her mind. First she did want to spend some time... making out with Gideon. Then she was going to tell her about August.

Once they were into the room, Gideon set her sword down on the bed carefully, and then turned to Andy. She put one hand on each of Andy’s thighs, hoisting her up into the air so that way her legs could be wrapped around her, and pressed the two of them up against the wall. “Mm, you taste like… batteries?” Gideon asked, a little confused as she kissed Andy the way she always did - leading with tongue. Once she was certain Andy had a secure grip on her, she took one hand off of her thigh, sneaking it underneath her shirt and letting her nails brush up gently on her back - and a slight growl escaped her throat. “Fuck, I missed you.”

Andy wrapped her arms around Gideon to steady herself, not that it was needed much. Gideon was impressively strong. She tilted her head trying to figure out why she would taste like batteries. She gasped at the touch of Gideon’s nails on her back.

“I had latkes, and gelt. Not together. But the gelt was the last thing I ate. I missed you too.” Andy slid one of her hands into Gideon’s hair, tugging at it gently.

“I have been thinking about seeing you again since the last time I saw you.”

“Mm, harder, princess,” Gideon instructed, as Andy started to pull on her hair. “Must be the gelt.” She then started trailing kisses from her lips, to her cheeks, to her jawline, to her neck. “Hickey okay?” she then asked.

”Probably. I’ve definitely had better chocolate.” Andy pulled harder on Gideon’s hair, she nodded at the question.

”Yes.” There was enough time before school started, and also she didn’t really care. If any of her friends saw it she’d shrug. And if anyone else saw it she really didn’t care about their opinion.

Gideon gasped slightly at the tug, taking quick little breaths as she sucked on Andy’s neck, leaving little bites behind as she went. “Need everyone to know what I’ve done to you,” she muttered, before pressing her hips even harder into Andy.

Andy giggled a little, ”Yes.” She liked this, liked being touched, and loved. She moaned as Gideon pressed against her.

An appropriate amount of time later, Gideon took Andy away from the wall, laying her down onto the bed next to the sword. The two of them were covered in sweat, their hair disshelved, but Gideon was on cloud nine. She’d gotten to fight Dorian and Andy to the fucking floor. “Happy Hanukkah, gorgeous,” she murmured into Andy’s ear. “When’s movie time?”

”Happy Hanukkah,” Andy had a shit eating grin on her face, she moved so that Gideon had space. ”I’ll text Dorian in a bit and ask when he is free. I have something potentially very important to tell you first though. Your brother, August, you mentioned him.”

“What about Auggie?” Gideon asked, unconcerned. “Is he in a doll?”

”Oh god no. Uh, Dorian said he thinks he met him. Well he met someone claiming to be your brother.” That was the truth. August may have told Percy that he was Gideon’s brother, but Dorian had met him.

“Well, that’s fucking weird,” she said, shrugging slightly. “I didn’t know corpses could talk.”

”He is at CAGE. Apparently alive, and licking people.” Andy gently rubbed Gideon’s back. She wasn’t surprised that Gideon wasn’t reacting intensely. Gideon tended to be fairly nonchalant.

Gideon paused. He was licking people? Her brother had always loved to lick people. It was his way of saying hello. She didn’t know how to feel about this. Even in a world of superheroes and monsters, her life was simple, easy, straightforward. She fought people with her giant ass sword. She fucked hot girls like Andy. That was it. She didn’t have brothers who were secretly dead and now licking people as an undead.

“Is he a zombie then? I thought zombies bit people.”

”Uh, honestly, I don’t know. If you want you can ask follow up questions of Dorian, and Percy. Or if you want we can go to CAGE and visit him?”

“Nah!” Gideon put her sunglasses back on, getting up out of the bed and going to find her pants from where they’d been abandoned. “I think I’m good.” Her brother wasn’t alive. He was dead. It was simple. Easy, really. She didn’t - she didn’t need anything complicated in her life. “Wanna text them about the movie now?” She grabbed her sword and put it back on her back, and then shimmied back into her pants.

Andy grabbed her phone and sent Dorian a text.

@Dorian

”Sooo Gideon doesn’t seem to care? Also when do you want to watch the movie, we are ready.”