fandoms 1-5
1.
Title: Pancake Day in Jita
Fandom: EVE Online
Rating: K+
Word Count: 434
Summary: A Capsuleer forgets to buy pancakes for her friend.
"Where's my pancakes?"
Looking up from the second hand mining laser she was inspecting for flaws, Xoria turned to face the smaller, younger-looking woman who purposefully strode over to her, brandishing a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other. Hovering just above each shoulder was a small utility drone. One was holding a tray with a coffee, the other was clenching and releasing its metal claw as though dying to use it on someone's face.
"Xinae!" exclaimed Xoria, putting on a smile she knew was obviously fake while she tried not to show her sudden intense desire to be somewhere else, preferably somewhere the other woman couldn't find her, like possibly a wormhole if she was lucky and the entrance collapsed behind her.
"Well?" demanded Xinae.
"I was meaning to tell you sooner, but I'm afraid there were slight delays. Definitely working on it, though. Yup, first priority, " Xoria hoped she wasn't sweating. She took out her communicator and typed in as quickly as she could with shaking hands, - Guys, I forgot it was pancake day, Xinae's here, what the hell do I do? -
"What are you doing?"
"Looking on the contracts...?"
"For pancakes?"
"I'm looking for the best deal."
"They're pancakes, Xoria, how much do you expect them to cost?" said Xinae, slowly but dangerously, the drones' eyes flashing as she walked even closer, "I hope you're looking for some kind of unique, rare pancakes to make up for the delay. Because it's starting to look like you forgot. And that you just left Jita without them. It's going to be very hard to go back for them in time. Pancake day is only once a year, you know, and we younger Capsuleers have fragile hearts that easily break if the magic of the season is ruined for us," from somewhere on the gantries above, a laser sight appeared over Xoria's heart, "Your comms is beeping. Answer it. Maybe it's the pancake delivery man."
It was Komachi, - I'm on it. Wait there. Delay her. 2 jumps out. -
- I don't have that much time. -
Five seconds passed before the reply, - Okay, contracted to you. Look in hangar. You owe me. -
Xoria sighed and relayed the information to Xinae. The drones relaxed. Owing Komachi was slightly less dangerous than disappointing Xinae. She wondered how her friend had somehow obtained pancakes five minutes before Pancake Day finished, in the middle of Jita, during a wardec. At least, she hoped it was actual pancakes and not a Barghest registered under the name 'Pancakes' or something.
2.
Title: After All You're My Wonder Wall
Fandom: Ys Seven
Rating: T
warnings: spoilers
pairings: AdolXDogi
Word Count: 303
Summary: After helping Adol escape the arena, Dogi helps Adol tend his wounds and blames himself for letting the adventurer get hurt.
Dogi traced the pattern of Adol's scars over his lithe body. Too many for his age. The fire-haired boy was putting on his tough-adventurer act but the ex-bandit could tell he was secretly in pain by the tautness in his muscles and the way he flinched slightly whenever Dogi applied the herbal paste he had made out of Roda leaves. It was one of the many survival skills he had learnt out of necessity over the years of adventuring with Adol. Learning wasn't really his thing but he didn't mind, if it meant he could keep Adol alive or keep himself healthy so he could continue to be useful.
Except that he had failed. He had slipped up for one second, turned his back on the person he had vowed to guard with his life, and Adol had been arrested, interrogated and thrown into the arena to be executed. Dogi had managed to turn up in time to save the day - busting through a solid stone wall in the process - but he had only managed it because Adol had somehow managed to stave off the arena beast without armour or proper weapons, hadn't gotten there in time to stop him being badly hurt, maybe his beautiful pale skin scarred for life, and had secretly been turned on by seeing him fight while stripped to the waist.
Adol was always in trouble. You never turned your back on him. That was the rule. But you needed a wall to protect you, and Dogi could only be a wallcrusher.
As Adol yawned and stretched, accidentally opening several of his wounds, then walked out while declaring that he was rested now and ready to head out of town, Dogi remembered that an adventurer would never let themselves be confined behind a wall for long.
3.
Title: Twisted Unicorn
Fandom: Xenoblade Chronicles X
Rating: T
warnings: mild language and drunkenness
Word Count: 368
summary: Irina, Frye and Yelv convince a very drunk Doug to tell them the totally true story behind the Harrier Division's logo.
"... And it was only when H.B. put his glasses back on that he realised it was a tree!" finished Irina, before throwing her head back and erupting into raucous laughter. Frye and Yelv joined in. Doug took another swig from his drink and gave his old friend a sceptical look.
"Oh yeah? Come off it, how would you even find out something like that? It'd be a trade secret, and you're an Interceptor."
"Payment for escorting a team of Pathfinders," she said, "It's a long story. They found this rare squirrel, see..."
"Now you're definitely just making things up. Curators would grab the squirrel first!"
"Oh yeah?" she leaned forward precariously on her chair and tried to jab Doug in the chest with a finger, "Well, why don't you tell us a story? I know... tell us why the Harrier logo is a wonky unicorn!"
"There's a perfectly plausible reason!" he said, grabbing another beer, "Way back in the mists of time, when BLADE had only just been formed..."
"Just get to the good bit!" Irina threw a coaster at him.
"Okay, so, Boze was leading this squad of five Harriers in Skells up to Sylvalum. An enormous, and I mean ENORMOUS Progen that could fly and throw lightning bolts from its horn. I think we called it Jeb the Majestic... er... Fantasy? Anyway, this thing had us pinned down, then Boze, he takes a flying leap off a cliff, screams 'KATSUUUU!' and plunges his sword into the creatures' head."
"And he missed and dented its horn instead?"
"To be fair on him, the wind was picking up. Anyway, its horn was broken enough that it couldn't use its weird powers, so it retreated, flew off into one of the big Spheres and was never seen again."
"Bullshit," said Frye, "The Pathfinder's one was more plausible!"
"Okay then, ask me something else about the time period, so I can prove I'm not making this up."
"Why was the old division name Avalanche?"
"Ah, yeah, that..." Doug frowned, "Well, you see, there was this Tyrant. There wasn't really anything else like it, so we don't have a name for its species. But this one was called Avalanche Abaasy..."
4.
Title: Love Letter
Fandom: Gemfire
Rating: T
pairings: GweynXAnise
Word Count: 418
Summary: Gweyn and Anise secretly plot against everyone.
"May I ask what are you doing, Lady Gweyn?" asked Erven. His daughter carefully shuffled her most recent half-penned letter into a pile of paperwork so dense that even her father wouldn't want to look at it.
"Negotiating," she told him, smiling pleasantly and trying not to show on her face that, on days like this, when he kept putting his nose in her business and forgetting that she was technically the Princess now, she felt the most like pushing him off a bridge.
"Well, if it's another letter to Anise, you won't get anything out of her. She's Prince Terian's sister. Loyal to the core, those Tates," he told her, "Just some advice from a veteran."
"Indeed, all information is appreciated," she told him, "Did you not have spies returned from Ashlan reporting back to you?"
"So I did. Aren't I growing forgetful," he said, "You know I always like seeing my daughter staying safe and solving problems through means other than violence in these dark times!"
Old coot, thought Gweyn as Erven left the room, I bet this attitude of yours is why the province I entrusted to you can't hold a Fifth Unit mercenary contract for longer than a month. She growled to herself and retrieved both her letter in progress and the one she was replying to.
My beloved Gweyn, it said, I'm so pleased for you, that your idiot father has finally admitted that he's no age to be keeping the throne when he might drop dead tomorrow. My brother remains in charge, but I need him to be at the moment, while I control the trade routes through the wealthiest provinces. He understands war, and we are still beset on all sides. I promise you that I have not given up on my dream of a world where all this madness stops, where the whole Island will not be set on fire over some girl who was openly seen holding the stolen crown in one hand and a dagger in the other, and yet everyone treats her like a saint! I do not wish my brother to ever suffer, though, he is a good man despite his flaws. That is why I have forged some paperwork 'accidentally' banishing him due to the minor clerical error of signing his name on the wrong line. I hope only to need to use it near the end of Ishmeria's reunification.
I promise we will be together soon.
yours forever,
Anise
5.
Title: Space Caterpillar Cat '85
Fandom: Space Harrier
Rating: K+
Word Count: 336
Summary: The bonus stage after Stage 4 is fun but not when you're worrying about your favourite mech back home.
Space Harrier didn't know what those things were called, so he made up his own name for them. Roughly the size of a train and about as fast once it reached top speed. Feline-looking face. Soft, silky white fur. Long, thin, many-legged body. A friendly temperament. Only ate trees. Tended to suddenly hurtle past you in a straight line, demolishing all vegetation in its path and only occasionally rolling from side to side to catch more trees with its powerful jaws. If you strapped your weapon to your back and didn't make any aggressive moves, but jumped onto its back and clung on for your dear life as it went past, it would chirrup in confusion but carry on with what it was doing, giving you a wild ride, allowing you a comparatively peaceful break for five seconds, as the huge thing had no predators, before it decided to suddenly throw you off so that you had to grab your gun again and try to apply enough thrust to counteract your flight.
To Space Harrier's mind, they were kind of cute, especially compared to some of the things he saw out and about these days. He had hitched a lift on one of them again to try and get closer to the machine centre where they were making those mechs. A small squad of them had just gone rogue and ambushed him, not long after he had been forced to fight a floating two-headed dragon. The dragon didn't bother him, they were always trying to kill him, but the mech needed investigating. After all, it was the same model of mech as his own, the one waiting for him back home, also the one that was sent out to recover him if he took more than the three shots his energy shields could withstand (he had to pay for more and he was stingy). That mech was his friend, and it had only recently been repaired.
He hoped the Space Caterpillar Cat had been fast enough.
Title: Pancake Day in Jita
Fandom: EVE Online
Rating: K+
Word Count: 434
Summary: A Capsuleer forgets to buy pancakes for her friend.
"Where's my pancakes?"
Looking up from the second hand mining laser she was inspecting for flaws, Xoria turned to face the smaller, younger-looking woman who purposefully strode over to her, brandishing a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other. Hovering just above each shoulder was a small utility drone. One was holding a tray with a coffee, the other was clenching and releasing its metal claw as though dying to use it on someone's face.
"Xinae!" exclaimed Xoria, putting on a smile she knew was obviously fake while she tried not to show her sudden intense desire to be somewhere else, preferably somewhere the other woman couldn't find her, like possibly a wormhole if she was lucky and the entrance collapsed behind her.
"Well?" demanded Xinae.
"I was meaning to tell you sooner, but I'm afraid there were slight delays. Definitely working on it, though. Yup, first priority, " Xoria hoped she wasn't sweating. She took out her communicator and typed in as quickly as she could with shaking hands, - Guys, I forgot it was pancake day, Xinae's here, what the hell do I do? -
"What are you doing?"
"Looking on the contracts...?"
"For pancakes?"
"I'm looking for the best deal."
"They're pancakes, Xoria, how much do you expect them to cost?" said Xinae, slowly but dangerously, the drones' eyes flashing as she walked even closer, "I hope you're looking for some kind of unique, rare pancakes to make up for the delay. Because it's starting to look like you forgot. And that you just left Jita without them. It's going to be very hard to go back for them in time. Pancake day is only once a year, you know, and we younger Capsuleers have fragile hearts that easily break if the magic of the season is ruined for us," from somewhere on the gantries above, a laser sight appeared over Xoria's heart, "Your comms is beeping. Answer it. Maybe it's the pancake delivery man."
It was Komachi, - I'm on it. Wait there. Delay her. 2 jumps out. -
- I don't have that much time. -
Five seconds passed before the reply, - Okay, contracted to you. Look in hangar. You owe me. -
Xoria sighed and relayed the information to Xinae. The drones relaxed. Owing Komachi was slightly less dangerous than disappointing Xinae. She wondered how her friend had somehow obtained pancakes five minutes before Pancake Day finished, in the middle of Jita, during a wardec. At least, she hoped it was actual pancakes and not a Barghest registered under the name 'Pancakes' or something.
2.
Title: After All You're My Wonder Wall
Fandom: Ys Seven
Rating: T
warnings: spoilers
pairings: AdolXDogi
Word Count: 303
Summary: After helping Adol escape the arena, Dogi helps Adol tend his wounds and blames himself for letting the adventurer get hurt.
Dogi traced the pattern of Adol's scars over his lithe body. Too many for his age. The fire-haired boy was putting on his tough-adventurer act but the ex-bandit could tell he was secretly in pain by the tautness in his muscles and the way he flinched slightly whenever Dogi applied the herbal paste he had made out of Roda leaves. It was one of the many survival skills he had learnt out of necessity over the years of adventuring with Adol. Learning wasn't really his thing but he didn't mind, if it meant he could keep Adol alive or keep himself healthy so he could continue to be useful.
Except that he had failed. He had slipped up for one second, turned his back on the person he had vowed to guard with his life, and Adol had been arrested, interrogated and thrown into the arena to be executed. Dogi had managed to turn up in time to save the day - busting through a solid stone wall in the process - but he had only managed it because Adol had somehow managed to stave off the arena beast without armour or proper weapons, hadn't gotten there in time to stop him being badly hurt, maybe his beautiful pale skin scarred for life, and had secretly been turned on by seeing him fight while stripped to the waist.
Adol was always in trouble. You never turned your back on him. That was the rule. But you needed a wall to protect you, and Dogi could only be a wallcrusher.
As Adol yawned and stretched, accidentally opening several of his wounds, then walked out while declaring that he was rested now and ready to head out of town, Dogi remembered that an adventurer would never let themselves be confined behind a wall for long.
3.
Title: Twisted Unicorn
Fandom: Xenoblade Chronicles X
Rating: T
warnings: mild language and drunkenness
Word Count: 368
summary: Irina, Frye and Yelv convince a very drunk Doug to tell them the totally true story behind the Harrier Division's logo.
"... And it was only when H.B. put his glasses back on that he realised it was a tree!" finished Irina, before throwing her head back and erupting into raucous laughter. Frye and Yelv joined in. Doug took another swig from his drink and gave his old friend a sceptical look.
"Oh yeah? Come off it, how would you even find out something like that? It'd be a trade secret, and you're an Interceptor."
"Payment for escorting a team of Pathfinders," she said, "It's a long story. They found this rare squirrel, see..."
"Now you're definitely just making things up. Curators would grab the squirrel first!"
"Oh yeah?" she leaned forward precariously on her chair and tried to jab Doug in the chest with a finger, "Well, why don't you tell us a story? I know... tell us why the Harrier logo is a wonky unicorn!"
"There's a perfectly plausible reason!" he said, grabbing another beer, "Way back in the mists of time, when BLADE had only just been formed..."
"Just get to the good bit!" Irina threw a coaster at him.
"Okay, so, Boze was leading this squad of five Harriers in Skells up to Sylvalum. An enormous, and I mean ENORMOUS Progen that could fly and throw lightning bolts from its horn. I think we called it Jeb the Majestic... er... Fantasy? Anyway, this thing had us pinned down, then Boze, he takes a flying leap off a cliff, screams 'KATSUUUU!' and plunges his sword into the creatures' head."
"And he missed and dented its horn instead?"
"To be fair on him, the wind was picking up. Anyway, its horn was broken enough that it couldn't use its weird powers, so it retreated, flew off into one of the big Spheres and was never seen again."
"Bullshit," said Frye, "The Pathfinder's one was more plausible!"
"Okay then, ask me something else about the time period, so I can prove I'm not making this up."
"Why was the old division name Avalanche?"
"Ah, yeah, that..." Doug frowned, "Well, you see, there was this Tyrant. There wasn't really anything else like it, so we don't have a name for its species. But this one was called Avalanche Abaasy..."
4.
Title: Love Letter
Fandom: Gemfire
Rating: T
pairings: GweynXAnise
Word Count: 418
Summary: Gweyn and Anise secretly plot against everyone.
"May I ask what are you doing, Lady Gweyn?" asked Erven. His daughter carefully shuffled her most recent half-penned letter into a pile of paperwork so dense that even her father wouldn't want to look at it.
"Negotiating," she told him, smiling pleasantly and trying not to show on her face that, on days like this, when he kept putting his nose in her business and forgetting that she was technically the Princess now, she felt the most like pushing him off a bridge.
"Well, if it's another letter to Anise, you won't get anything out of her. She's Prince Terian's sister. Loyal to the core, those Tates," he told her, "Just some advice from a veteran."
"Indeed, all information is appreciated," she told him, "Did you not have spies returned from Ashlan reporting back to you?"
"So I did. Aren't I growing forgetful," he said, "You know I always like seeing my daughter staying safe and solving problems through means other than violence in these dark times!"
Old coot, thought Gweyn as Erven left the room, I bet this attitude of yours is why the province I entrusted to you can't hold a Fifth Unit mercenary contract for longer than a month. She growled to herself and retrieved both her letter in progress and the one she was replying to.
My beloved Gweyn, it said, I'm so pleased for you, that your idiot father has finally admitted that he's no age to be keeping the throne when he might drop dead tomorrow. My brother remains in charge, but I need him to be at the moment, while I control the trade routes through the wealthiest provinces. He understands war, and we are still beset on all sides. I promise you that I have not given up on my dream of a world where all this madness stops, where the whole Island will not be set on fire over some girl who was openly seen holding the stolen crown in one hand and a dagger in the other, and yet everyone treats her like a saint! I do not wish my brother to ever suffer, though, he is a good man despite his flaws. That is why I have forged some paperwork 'accidentally' banishing him due to the minor clerical error of signing his name on the wrong line. I hope only to need to use it near the end of Ishmeria's reunification.
I promise we will be together soon.
yours forever,
Anise
5.
Title: Space Caterpillar Cat '85
Fandom: Space Harrier
Rating: K+
Word Count: 336
Summary: The bonus stage after Stage 4 is fun but not when you're worrying about your favourite mech back home.
Space Harrier didn't know what those things were called, so he made up his own name for them. Roughly the size of a train and about as fast once it reached top speed. Feline-looking face. Soft, silky white fur. Long, thin, many-legged body. A friendly temperament. Only ate trees. Tended to suddenly hurtle past you in a straight line, demolishing all vegetation in its path and only occasionally rolling from side to side to catch more trees with its powerful jaws. If you strapped your weapon to your back and didn't make any aggressive moves, but jumped onto its back and clung on for your dear life as it went past, it would chirrup in confusion but carry on with what it was doing, giving you a wild ride, allowing you a comparatively peaceful break for five seconds, as the huge thing had no predators, before it decided to suddenly throw you off so that you had to grab your gun again and try to apply enough thrust to counteract your flight.
To Space Harrier's mind, they were kind of cute, especially compared to some of the things he saw out and about these days. He had hitched a lift on one of them again to try and get closer to the machine centre where they were making those mechs. A small squad of them had just gone rogue and ambushed him, not long after he had been forced to fight a floating two-headed dragon. The dragon didn't bother him, they were always trying to kill him, but the mech needed investigating. After all, it was the same model of mech as his own, the one waiting for him back home, also the one that was sent out to recover him if he took more than the three shots his energy shields could withstand (he had to pay for more and he was stingy). That mech was his friend, and it had only recently been repaired.
He hoped the Space Caterpillar Cat had been fast enough.