Attack of the 50ft Kacchan (Giant Katsuki crackfic)
A villain attack during a routine mission causes Katsuki and Mt. Lady to swap quirks for a day. Disaster ensues.
AKA: the author's barely-disguised fetish, taken seriously and with way too much effort.
BKDK fic in which trans Katsuki suffers an accidental miscarriage on top of everything else during the final battle, and the consequences of that, both bad and good.
Silence Suzuka, training abroad in the United States, encounters a horsegirl unlike anyone or anything she's ever seen.
(An exploration of how wild horses would translate into the world of Uma Musume and how Suzuka would react to them)
Read on AO3 | Read on Ellipsus
graceless lady
you know who I am
you know I can't let you
slide through my hands
from “Wild Horses” by The Rolling Stones
(Honorable mention: the 90s cover by The Sundays, which I heard first growing up. It's hauntingly beautiful.)
Silence Suzuka sits alone at her desk in a modest hotel room, trying (and failing) to write a letter to her best friend back in Japan.
Dear Spe-chan,
It might be a bit odd that I'm writing to you like this when we usually exchange video calls, but the timezone differences between here and Japan have been tiring for me. Night time here in general has become a little difficult for me. I often find myself restless, and yet listless, tossing and turning in bed, or sitting up and staring out at the stars in the night sky…
Suzuka stops mid-writing to lean back, taking a breath and blinking away a slight moisture in her eyes. She's getting carried away. There was no need to ramble on and on about her troubled sleep to Special Week so early on in this letter - at least, not without explaining the strange events that started it in the first place.
She crumples the letter and tosses it into a garbage bin by her desk, starting anew with a new sheet of blank paper.
Dear Spe-chan,
I hope you're doing well. My training for the American racing circuit has been fruitful so far, especially as I and Trainer-san immerse ourselves in the many different cultures here. It's so much more varied than I'd imagined! I wish I could show you more besides the pictures and souvenirs. There's really nothing quite like experiencing it all in person…
Suzuka pauses, bothering the back-end of her pen with her teeth. Now she was rambling on about a different subject, still avoiding the topic she'd wanted to write about in the first place…
She sits back and closes her eyes for a moment, taking a breath to calm herself. She's been battling a quiet frantic-ness that's been bubbling up in her chest, an unsettled feeling that's stuck itself there ever since that strange day in the Rocky Mountains, more than a week ago now…
She opens her eyes to look again upon her second unfinished letter. She sighs. There just wasn't an easy way to put the events of that day into words, much less in a letter to Special Week. Would she even understand, if Suzuka told her about it? Could she even begin to grasp the complexity of the strange, sad feelings Suzuka experienced that day?
Suzuka thinks, and thinks, spinning her pen in her left hand and staring at the half-finished letter for minutes on end. Then she ponders her hotel window, the dark night outside, the time blinking blearily on the digital alarm clock by her bed. It's already past midnight. She'd have trouble sleeping even if she weren't trying to write a letter right now. She's been even more restless than usual tonight, and she thought finally trying to put her thoughts to paper would help…
After long moments of contemplation, she decides to try one more time. She tosses the second letter into the garbage, alongside all pretenses of writing a letter at all. She will just… write about what happened. She doesn't need to send it to anyone. It doesn't even have to be sensible, or formatted - she just has to get the words out.
She starts simply:
Trainer-san and I were on a trip with our translator through the Rocky Mountain areas in the northern part of the country. After a long week of endurance training, we decided to take an extended weekend to relax and enjoy the scenery at our guide's request…
-
“Amazing,” Suzuka murmured, watching the sun rising over the rolling plains and hills through her phone's camera. She attempts a few photos and even a video to capture the moment, but she frowns at the results - none of them fully capture the majesty of this place in-person. She decides to pocket her phone and enjoy this scenery as it is, alongside the cool breeze, the calling of birds, the distant rustling of grasses. If she wasn't already sore from training and hadn't been strictly forbidden from doing anything but relaxing right now, she would love to run here.
She turns back to her Trainer, standing nearby and wrapped in conversation with their guide and English translator, Mr. Tanaka.
“…rich history in this area, especially in regards to the indigenous tribes that used to populate this region. They'd follow the herds of Bison all across the plains here,” he was saying now, with one arm outstretched to gesture across the whole of the landscape. Trainer-san was following his gaze and nodding sagely.
Suzuka looks at them and chuckles softly. Her current Trainer was a fellow Japanese native like her, but apparently had a deep fascination with American history and culture beyond its racing scene. It's no surprise to her now that he was adamant on seeking out his friend Tanaka-san to be their guide here, being a mixed-race translator born in Japan but raised mostly in America. He has an impressive, intimate wealth of knowledge of this country.
He's almost the opposite of Grass-chan, she thinks to herself, her friend and rival who was, conversely, American-born but raised in Japan.
“-Eagles were an important animal in their culture as well," Tanaka was saying now, pointing skyward at a distant bird-shaped blot in the sky that had just passed over them. Suzuka follows it towards the horizon. “There might be an ancient ancestor that inspired their legend of the Thunderbird, whose wings were so huge they could cover the sky, and created peals of thunder when they flapped-”
Wah!
There is a peal of sound suddenly, but it isn't thunder, far from it - it is a tiny sound, far away and muffled. Suzuka's sensitive ears twitch toward its direction.
Waahh!
There it is again. She wasn't just hearing things.
"Did you hear that?" She asks her companions.
Trainer-san and Tanaka stop their conversation about birds and turn to her, confused.
"Hear what? The eagles?" Tanaka asks. "I haven't heard any calls-"
"No, not that," Suzuka says, shaking her head.
Waahhh!
"There it is again!" she exclaims, turning away and looking into the surrounding brush, trying to pinpoint its location.
"I don't hear anything," Trainer-san says.
"Me neither," Tanaka replies, but by now Suzuka was tuning them out to focus completely on the strange sound.
It repeats again, and now she can tell that it is a cry of some kind, spacing itself out between the breaths of something, or someone, who was in distress.
At this thought, her instincts rise up into a quiet panic in her chest and an itching in her legs, and before she can really think about it, she's running off the dirt path surrounding their RV, down the rocks and into the tall grasses below, following the sound.
“Suzuka!” her Trainer and guide call after her, but she has already left them far behind.
-
The rough terrain was painful on her sore muscles and casual shoes, but Suzuka endures it - as she moved forward, tracking the sound, it became more and more clear that it was not only a cry, but a baby's cry. She needs to hurry.
After navigating the rocks and dirt and sinking into the lengthening grasses, the sound feels much closer. She slows down to a brisk walk as she negotiates the blades of grass now surrounding her. Then she stops, as the sound becomes very close - she thinks she sees a section of grass that moves on its own, the blades askew from something at their base. The cry fades as she pushes towards it, and for a moment, she's afraid she's lost it - then she reaches a little clearing in the brush, and what she sees on the ground leaves her mouth agape with surprise.
It is indeed a baby - a baby horsegirl.
She is very small, with nothing but a cloth diaper to wear and a small blanket wrapped around the rest of her. There's mud stains on her skin and grass stuck in the small tufts of hair on her head and tail. She was staring wide-eyed at Suzuka, her cries and movements having stopped as she drew closer.
Suzuka stares, confused at the tiny girl and her strange circumstance. Her mind races with questions - how did an infant horsegirl get here? Why? Was she forgotten by a travelling family? Or worse - abandoned? And why so little protective clothing? Why-
She shook her head free of these thoughts, before her emotions got the better of her. She made a move to gently reach out to the infant. Her companions would surely help the little girl. They could clean her and get her some much needed food and water, return her to the nearest town and open an investigation with the police-
A sudden shout interrupts her thoughts, and she freezes her outstretched arm. It's not the baby - it is an adult feminine voice, speaking in unfamiliar words, nearly right in front of Suzuka. She looks up and meets, to her shock, the eyes of another horsegirl - an adult, emerging from the long grass behind the child.
Suzuka is stunned. She is unlike anyone she has ever seen, human or otherwise. The horsewoman wears simple, hand-sewn clothes made of furs and skins, hand-carved knives on a rope belt around her waist, a spear slung across her back, a handmade basket on her shoulders. But what is most striking is her face - fierce eyes shining out from a worn, dirtied face, framed by dark, braided hair. Her furred ears press back against her head with tension, and her frazzled tail swishes behind her.
She seems wild and strange, but not feral. There is a careful consideration to her dress, practicality and pragmaticism. An unmistakable intelligence in her eyes as she glances between Suzuka and the child at her feet. Her brow furrows in concentration and confusion, as if she were just as perplexed at Suzuka's appearance as Suzuka was at her.
It only lasts mere moments. Then, the horsewoman mutters something in that language Suzuka doesn't recognize, not even as English, and she quickly bends down and scoops up the infant into her arms. She backs away, keeping her eyes on Suzuka, until she is a shadow vanishing into the surrounding brush.
Suzuka stood there, stunned, for an unknown length of time. She had so many thoughts and questions swimming though her mind, a torrent with nothing solid to grasp onto.
Eventually, she vaguely registered the voices of her trainer and guide finally catching up to her, their footsteps through the brush behind her, then their gentle, unsure hands on her shoulders as they asked her what happened. Her mouth dry, she stammered through an explanation of what she had seen, gestured uselessly at the empty clearing before her.
"A baby- baby horsegirl, right there- She was crying, all alone, and dirty… Then an adult horsegirl came - her mother, maybe - but she was- She was- I don't know, I've never seen anyone like her…"
“Oh-!" Tanaka-san exclaimed suddenly. “She must've been a member of one of the native horsegirl tribes here. Her baby must've accidentally fallen from her papoose while they were running by, and she happened to run into you while retrieving her.”
Suzuka felt her tail stand on end. “Native… tribes?”
Tanaka chuckles nervously. “Ah- Are you not familiar with native horsegirl populations back in Japan?"
Trainer-san shook his head. “Not that we know of - if they exist there, they're most likely isolated far from civilization.”
Tanaka nods, frowning. “Mm, yes. Makes sense for a small island country. I think I've heard of small tribes still living up in the northern mountains, but you folks aren't from there.”
Suzuka stammered, looking between the two men with bewilderment. “Wh- What…?”
Tanaka spreads his hands in apology. “My apologies, Ms. Suzuka. Let me explain while we head back.”
As they slowly made their way back to the RV, he spoke:
"There are many legally recognized and protected tribes of Native American horsegirls in this country. Some are completely isolated from modern civilization and rarely make contact with us, like the one you met. They are direct descendants of the natives who lived alongside native humans hundreds of years ago, and who interacted with our colonial ancestors later on."
“We've had a… troubled history with natives in the past in this country, so nowadays we take great care to preserve and protect any remaining tribal populations here. After all, some of their ancestors are the progenitors of many modern horsegirls both here and abroad, like you, Ms. Suzuka."
Suzuka had nodded quietly at all this, silently overwhelmed by all this information. Even Trainer-san was surprised, saying, "Interesting! I knew a little about Native American humans, but not so much about Native American horsegirls. Any idea why they separate themselves from modern society?"
Tanaka shrugs at him, half-smiling. “We don't know, and we don't need to know. They have values and traditions going back hundreds of years that are deeply important to them. If they have no interest in compromising those values to integrate with modern society, we can only respect that. Especially after what our ancestors did to them in the past…” Tanaka sighs as he trails off, falling into an unspoken sadness. Trainer-san seemed to catch onto his nodding and murmuring in agreement. Suzuka knew little of American history, but the seriousness of the implications made her not want to ask further.
She was very quiet for the rest of that day.
-
Suzuka's sleep was fitful that night in the RV, between the roughness of the road and her brain buzzing with questions. Eventually she had no choice but to surrender to her insomnia; she got up, poured herself some coffee in the kitchenette, and made her way to the vehicle's passenger seat to keep Tanaka-san company as he drove. Trainer-san slept soundly in the cots behind them.
Neither of them were very talkative. Mostly, Tanaka pointed out some notable landmarks as they drove past, at least what could be seen in the dim morning light, and Suzuka would hum with acknowledgment between sips of her drink.
Then, after the sunrise fully emerged, casting the fields beside them in golden light, Tanaka perked up suddenly and started pointed excitedly at something out the window.
"Whoa, look- Look, Suzuka! The horsegirls are running!"
That makes Suzuka bolt up, ramrod straight, then lean over to follow his hand. And there they were - a crowd of horsegirls running through the distant plains, all dressed like the horsewoman Suzuka encountered the day before, their dark hair and handmade garments blotting out the molten sun behind them.
She stares out, transfixed again as Tanaka lists off more facts about them - something about following the seasons and the herds they hunted - but her attention was elsewhere.
She strained her eyes, glancing between the tribe members until she sees her again - that horsewoman from yesterday. Her silhouette was distinguished by her papoose strapped to her back, her daughter safely in tow as she ran alongside her tribe. Even from this great distance, Suzuka can tell that the horsewoman and her daughter were both smiling.
All the horsewomen were. They all threw their heads back with laughter, their hair whipping wildly, their faces shining with sweat, their bare feet darkened with dirt.
That child will only know life out here, Suzuka realizes. It is all she will ever know. She will run with her mother and her tribe out here in the green-brown grasses of the plains, beneath the open sky and stars. She will never feel the heaviness of cleated shoes, the hardness of streets and sidewalks, the exhausting rigors of endless training. She will always run freely, unfettered by the weight of expectations or industry. Her and her people lived in the wide-open scenery that Suzuka has spent most of her life forever chasing, only catching glimpses of at the forefront of a blistering race, or in her memories as a child in the countryside.
They live with that privilege, that blessing, every day of their lives. And that- that must be why they chose not to walk alongside humans into the modern age, unlike their brethren so long ago. Because, despite the many benefits modern humans and their societies have graced upon the world, for these horsegirls, none of those things would ever replace the freedom they enjoy out here in the plains.
And Suzuka, constrained by modernity, will only ever have the smallest, most fleeting of glimpses of it. For a moment, she feels crushed by a deep, painful sadness, and feels tears well in her eyes and splash onto her covered coffee cup.
Tanaka-san was too focused to notice, between driving the RV, watching the horsegirls and blabbing excitedly about them. Suzuka wasn't sure if he'd really understand her feelings anyway. She quietly calmed herself, dried her tears on her sleeves, then sat back in her seat while she listened to him, letting everything fade away into numbness.
-
Back in the present, Suzuka sets her pen down to wipe away the wetness in her eyes again. She has long since given up all pretenses of this letter being addressed to Spe-chan - she found herself reliving her encounter with the wild American horsegirls in writing and the feelings it inspired, then stopped when she became too overcome with emotion and exhaustion to continue. She has no idea if Spe would understand any of this either - maybe if she explained it verbally in a video call another time? Who knows. At the very least, Suzuka finally feels tired enough to sleep for the first time in a long while. Perhaps she needed this.
As Suzuka turns off her hotel room's lights and crawls into bed, she finds herself gazing out her window at the night sky. That sadness falls upon her again - Tanaka-san had mentioned how the light pollution of the cities obscures the true splendor of the night sky, and she sees it for herself now.
Out on the American plains, the night skies had been glittering with stars. A beautiful smattering of light above your head, the vastness of space stretching out forever onwards all around you. A light that those tribeswomen were no doubt enjoying somewhere out on the plains right at this very moment. Here in the city, the stars are so faint, they are pinpricks swallowed up by the dark sky like a dark cloth covering a lamp.
For Suzuka and other modern horsegirls, that is all they will ever know - forever chasing after those faint glimpses of light that their ancestors enjoyed freely.
Perhaps that is the price they have paid for modernity.
and wild horses
couldn't drag me away
wild, wild horses
we'll ride them someday
For info on American Wild Horse preservation and how to donate to their cause, visit their website here:
Join the movement to protect America's wild horses and burros. Advocate for humane, in-the-wild conservation to ensure these majestic animal
A short and sweet thing to celebrate MHA ending with semi-canon bakudeku. I lowkey shipped them way back when Season 1 of the anime aired, but stayed quiet and eventually fell off the series because of all the shipping wars. Not to brag but I FUCKING CALLED IT BAYBEEEEEE
This started as a small drabble just about bkdk having an awkward first kiss/makeout during the Anime Sunset scene, but then I expanded it to explore the theory that he somehow got a tiny ember of One For All and that was the reason he saw that vision of All Might when he died, helped him come back to life and let him magically keep finding Izuku to help him at key moments of the final battle.
As to how he got it - kissing Izuku, duh.
They do a bit more than kissing but it's not detailed, I'm just kind of a fan of the "we might die tomorrow so let's make out/have sex right now" trope.
I'm still slowly catching up on the manga/anime so I skimmed over canon events, sorry in advance if I got anything wrong.
Wanted to finish this ages ago, was gonna be a fic, friendships fell apart, I forgot, no one cares anyway, yadda yadda.
AA/Narumitsu Love Potion AU Outline
Very loosely based on the movie Strange Magic
-Opens with Mia and Maya as children being told a fairy tale about Love Potions by their mother.
OR: Maya recounting this fairy tale to Phoenix sometime during AA1, either out of boredom or because of an episode of Steel Samurai she was watching that mentioned some kind of magical Love-themed item. Phoenix is strangely prickly about it, as he usually is when the subject of Love Potions is brought up. Maya thinks he’s just being a stick in the mud with no romantic imagination.
This fairy tale summarizes the events of the film Strange Magic and justifies the existence of Primrose petals in the real world, and how they can be brewed into Love Potions. They are usually found in remote, less developed areas, like the Fey village and Eagle Mountain.
+ Love Potions are semi-magical concoctions that recreate intense feelings of infatuation for hours at a time with regular dosage. There is no known cure besides waiting for the effects to wear off – or, according to Maya, “real love – if you fall in love for real, they won’t work at all.”
Legally, they are recognized as an illegal form of psychoactive, nonlethal poison. Love Potions and Primrose petals are implied to be coveted black market items.
–
- A summary of the events of AA1, introducing Phoenix, Miles, Maya, and their relationships with each other. Puts focus on the complicated relationship between Phoenix and Miles, especially during Turnabout Goodbyes and Rise from the Ashes.
- They seemed to be on the verge of reviving their childhood friendship, despite the years of separation and trauma. But by the end of these stressful cases, a rift forms between them again, leading to Miles’ sudden departure.
+ Maybe: this part features the first mention of Love Potions being used to manipulate people during Rise from the Ashes.
As Phoenix and Ema look into how and why Gant is keeping Lana under his thumb, Phoenix has a strange thought, and searches their desks for bottled fluids of some kind. He finds nothing of the sort, and he lets out a frustrated sigh. Ema asks him what he was looking for, but Phoenix blows her off, saying it was nothing. He tries to shake off the cold, sick feeling in his gut that had formed as he thought of this theory.
–
- Summary of AA2’s events, focusing on Miles’ departure and the devastating effect it had on Phoenix. Phoenix tries not to dwell on his feelings and focus on helping his clients, but it’s hard on him.
- Gumshoe and Franziska mentioning Miles are sore spots for Phoenix, but he is dodgy about it, as usual.
- Leads into Goodbye My Turnabout and the sudden return of Miles. Phoenix is justifiably angry with him, and Miles is slightly bewildered, then ashamed at this reaction. They eventually set aside their personal feelings to work on the case at hand and rescue Maya.
–
- A summary of the Engarde case so far, leading into Phoenix and Miles now investigating Adrien’s office/quarters for evidence that will help indict Engarde. Phoenix finds a cup of coffee left behind on her desk and notices something strange about it. Giving into impulse, he takes it and smells it, sensing something familiar enough to send a chill down his spine, and a sick feeling into his stomach.
He states his surprise out loud, getting Miles’ attention. When Miles asks, Phoenix says he might have a crazy theory right now. He thinks Adrien is being poisoned – specifically with Love Potion.
Miles is momentarily shocked – Phoenix explains his theory by talking about her strangely obsessive, dependent behavior about Engarde and how she defends/defended him. Engarde might be keeping her in his thrall with more than just his manipulative charms. Phoenix knows this is a wild theory, but he can’t explain how or why he knows about this right now and just asks for Miles’ trust on this. They need to hand the coffee to Gumshoe and the police for lab testing.
Miles processes this, and to Phoenix’s surprise, he not only accepts this theory, but takes the coffee for himself, stating there is no need for police involvement, Miles can test this theory here and now. Then, to Phoenix’s utter shock, he sips the coffee.
After tasting it, Miles scowls and confirms that yes, there is Love Potion in Adrien’s coffee. At Phoenix’s shocked expression, Miles tells him to relax – Miles says he is immune to Love Potions. Phoenix is only further confused by this, so Miles shakes his head and mimics what Phoenix said earlier – there’s no time to explain how or why, he only needs Phoenix to trust him right now.
Phoenix processes this, then nods and agrees. They can both talk about this later – rescuing Maya and getting Engarde in jail is the highest priority right now. They set off to take the coffee to Gumshoe.
+ Aside: as they continue this investigation, Miles feels strangely flustered and concerned around Phoenix for a while after this event, but he ignores this, blaming it on a random bout of sickness probably brought on from his immunity/aversion to Love Potion. (In reality this is an effect of the Potion he drank from the coffee, slightly amplifying his existing feelings for Phoenix).
–
- Summary of the ending of Goodbye My Turnabout, with Maya safe and reunited with Pearl, and Phoenix and Miles reconciling.
After reconciling with Franziska and seeing her off at the airport, Miles returns to Phoenix’s office, surprising him. Maya and Pearl have already retired to bed for the evening, so Phoenix meets him alone, correctly guessing that Miles is here for that “talk” they owe each other. Miles confirms this.
The two settle in and awkwardly begin talking about how and why they both know about Love Potions.
Phoenix says that unfortunately, he was a lot like Adrien, once upon a time. Which includes being poisoned with doses of Love Potion, specifically via his cold medication by his murderous college girlfriend, “Dollie”. He avoids specifics because this is a painful subject for him.
He talks in broad strokes about how “Dollie” used Love Potion to make him head over heels in love with her, manipulating him into unknowingly holding important evidence for her, then take the fall when he was framed for a murder she committed. It was only through Mia’s dogged determination to defend his innocence and uncover the truth that he was shown the extent that he had been manipulated. (He pointedly casts a sad, but proud glance at Mia’s former office around them). It’s clear it was a very difficult and traumatizing time in Phoenix’s life, and to this day there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding it.
Miles is appropriately shocked and disgusted by this, and gives his sympathies. He can’t imagine the pain Phoenix went through, though he supposed he can at least empathize with being betrayed by someone you once trusted.
Phoenix carefully guesses he is talking about Manfred von Karma. Miles nods solemnly, his brows furrowed. He speaks broadly about his time as Manfred’s ward, how much he had respected and trusted the man without realizing that most of the time, Miles was nothing more than a target of abuse and twisted revenge for Manfred.
And when Phoenix asks, yes, it seems Manfred treated his own daughter Franziska similarly poorly. Miles is visibly tense about it, after seeing the results of that pain in her crying face just earlier that day.
But, Miles continues, at least there were some times when Manfred seemed to make an effort to be a decent guardian, however feeble the efforts were. During Miles’ youth, when he was still studying to become a prosecutor, Manfred sometimes brought him to social gatherings within the world of law to encourage him to socialize with his peers – especially those of the opposite sex.
...Mostly those of the opposite sex. (Miles looks visibly uncomfortable about this, and even Phoenix cringes a little). Yes, unfortunately, Manfred and his equally-conservative colleagues attempted to set up Miles with their daughters / female wards in arranged dates, hoping they would strike up a relationship. These only resulted in forced meetings that were mostly boring, awkward and in Miles’ eyes, a complete waste of time.
But, Miles adds, looking even more uncomfortable by the second, there was more to it than that. Painfully, he recounts an evening where Manfred took him aside just before the start of one of these arranged dates and discreetly gave him a bottle filled with a strange liquid, and instructed him to add its contents to his own drinks. He claimed it would make him more… ‘agreeable’ to the lady, more comfortable.
Phoenix, after a moment, guesses if that was a Love Potion. Miles nods somberly. Manfred was apparently so ashamed of Miles’ lack of romantic interest in these young women, and so desperate to save face with his colleagues, that he had (illegally) procured a bottle of the stuff to give to Miles and instruct him to, essentially, poison himself to make him fall in love with one of these young women.
“...But you’re immune, you said,” Phoenix says, and Miles confirms with a grave nod. He painfully recounts that no matter how many times he dosed himself, or how much he poured into his drinks, he didn’t feel any kind of heightened affection or fondness for any of the women, not even enough to fake it. At most the only kind of reaction he got out of the stuff was dizziness in his head and a sick feeling in his stomach, likely side effects from the large doses.
Needless to say, even Manfred had to give up on these efforts. Eventually he quietly stopped inviting Miles to these dates, or to any social gatherings at all, instructing him to focus solely on his studies, since it seemed like the only thing he would be useful at.
When Manfred did attend gatherings after that, he only brought Franziska with him, telling Miles to watch over the manor in their absence and keep it tidy. Manfred had a maid in his employ. Miles wasn’t needed for something like that.
Miles sighs deeply as he finishes his story, and Phoenix stews over this silently, eventually extending his sympathies. Though he still finds it a bit strange that someone could just be completely immune to a Love Potion.
Miles shrugs sadly, saying that he’s figured he is simply incapable of falling in love at all. Phoenix is sad about this, but attempts to comfort Miles, saying that there’s nothing wrong or broken about him even if he can’t feel love. Aromantics exist, after all. And they have just as fulfilling relationship with friends – at least, Phoenix still considers Miles a good friend.
Miles is touched by this, that Phoenix still considers him a good friend even after the hurt he caused with his sudden sabbatical. Phoenix flusters, saying yeah, guess he just can’t stay mad at him. He still treasures their friendship, especially after all they’ve been through.
Miles is the one to start flustering now, and he coughs and pointedly changes the subject. The point is, it seems they’ve both had bad experiences with Love Potions, manipulated and heartbroken in different ways, and it’s likely that many other people have been hurt in similar ways by their existence. They’re already an illegal substance, but they should take greater pains to crack down on criminals who keep getting their hands on them.
Phoenix, eagerly following the change of subject to escape the awkwardness, agrees wholeheartedly. Love is a silly thing in general anyway, especially if it can be so easily manipulated by weird magical drugs. They mutually agree to work harder to be more wary of Love Potions and one day, stamp them out of the world altogether. Miles concurs, and they shake on it, ending the night on a good note.
- Miles decides to go back home shortly after this, but not before Phoenix awkwardly asks him if he’ll be very busy now that he’s back. He wanted to properly catch up with Miles in a more casual setting sometime. Miles awkwardly says he’s still figuring things out, and has even been considering traveling again, since he found it quite agreeable on his sabbatical and could learn a lot from international legal systems… But for now, yes, he could arrange to join Phoenix for a casual outing or two. He owes it to him, after all.
Phoenix flusters again, but is happy and grateful, and they exchange phone numbers to stay in contact. They share warm goodbyes and goodnights, and Miles steps out the door and into the night.
+ Despite all their cynicism, Phoenix and Miles, ironically, are unaware of the feelings developing between them.
–
- AA3’s events are summarized, with more focus put on the offscreen relationship between Phoenix and Miles during this time. They’ve spent several months keeping in contact through calls and text, occasionally joining each other for lunches/dinners to talk and catch up. Shortly before the start of AA3’s first case (in the present timeline), Miles left the country to study international legal systems like he hinted at before. Phoenix is okay with this and happy for Miles as he takes control of the direction of his life, and it’s implied that he’s still staying in contact with him via texting.
- Somewhere in case 3-2 or 3-3, Love Potions come up again, either used in a minor way or simply mentioned in passing. Phoenix is set on edge even more than usual, between Godot’s seemingly-baseless hatred for him and the uncomfortable themes of lovers, betrayal and poison that keep coming up in these cases. Phoenix thinks of Miles and holds fast to the promise they made about stamping out all Love Potions.
- Case 3-5 begins
- Hospital scene. Phoenix is moved by Miles visiting him so suddenly. He gives Miles his badge and has him defend Iris.
- After Phoenix recovers, they investigate together. Primroses grow on the mountain. Nick hates the sight of them and Miles does too. They wonder if love potions are being used to influence the case.
Eventually – Dahlia, via possessing Iris/Maya, reveals she has been trying to poison everyone with Love Potion, but for some reason it hasn’t had any effects on Phoenix or Miles.
+Hasn't worked on Godot either because his love, Mia, is dead and Godot is too careful about his coffee to be poisoned again.
- Dahlia is defeated, Iris is saved, and both she and Godot go to jail.
Later, they wonder about the poisonings. Maya says the only way to be immune to love potion is to fall in love for real. So Phoenix and Miles have fallen in love already with someone. But who?
They are deeply confused until they look at each other and begin to wonder. Phoenix feels absolute trust in miles, and Miles feels the same for Phoenix. They fluster and dodge the issue
- Later, before Miles goes back to Europe, he meets with Phoenix privately. Miles says he is leaving again but would not be opposed to dinner together before he goes. Phoenix agrees, it’d be nice to unwind and rekindle their childhood friendship. Internally he wonders if they’ll explore something more between them as well, after remembering the Love Potion incidents.
Both silently think that maybe love isn’t so bad after all.
the werewolf still experiences urges and changes in behavior, but because the moon isn't illuminated, there's no moonlight to draw power from, so they can't physically transform. they're essentially wolves trapped in human bodies, or at the very least, humans who are extremely moody, restless, and have an intense craving for flesh and blood.
it's pretty uncomfortable. (and is a pretty good analogue for PMS, as if werewolves and menstrual cycles weren't similar enough already lol)
Thanks so much for all the positive tags and comments on my omegaverse post! ;_;
This month has been rough for me so far, and will probably continue to be, so... it helps. Thank you.
A recent reblog asked if my interpretation can be freely used for their writing - yes it can! Feel free to use any of my ideas in your work! I'm just spitballing into the void anyway lol.
If you do use it, you can credit or tag me in it but it's not required. I'd just like to see what you come up with! 🐺💖
