Ann's like "We wont get wasted, Indy babe! Come on, it'll be fun! They'll all think you're so cool after you show them your skills!"
Gotta push sorry bestie lol
indy will firmly say no if it's a work day/night- sorry ann, but responsibility comes first. it's one thing to hang with friends and have fun, but it's different if it interfere with work.
he understands that ann means no harm, but indigo knows his limits and boundaries quite well, and will shut ann down if she tries again. they're still friends- of course!- but indy doesn't cave to peer pressure unless it matches up with something he already wants to do.
now announcing my newest fanfic, based on a roleplay event i had with my friend & mutual @gonorrhea-mama!
The Art Exhibit Crime, now on Ao3!!
(https://archiveofourown.org/works/82558491)
the original roleplay event can be found in my The Art Exhibition Crime [RP EVENT] tag on my blog, but this fic is more polished! and nicer! :]
or you could read it under the cut, right here!! :D
---
Faera Vantris thought that things were going rather well for an event like this. His previous art exhibitions had suffered from a lack of funding and people, but with his new clients backing him up, things were going great!
Until a human woman drunkenly stumbled into him, looking like she was going to fall. Faera caught her easily- he hadn't been going to the gym multiple times a week for nothing, after all- and checked if she could stand.
"Ma'am, are you okay?"
She stared up at him, her eyes glazed over.
"Damn, I've been caught by a hunk…"
Faera beamed at the compliment, but felt concerned over her avoidance of his question.
(This lovely lady wasn't anywhere near sober, and she seemed to be alone in the moment. Maybe she got to the event with friends, and got separated from them in the crowded- and borrowed- ballroom?)
"...Are you alright?"
The woman, instead of answering, prodded his bicep. "You've got grrrreat pecs," she slurred. And then her eyes closed, as she relaxed into unconsciousness.
(Oh, no.)
Faera yelped, then looked around. He obviously didn't know any of this lady's friends, given that he didn't know her… And Faera didn't know anyone at the party who had any healing magic specialties… So he took her to a side room and gently leaned her against a wall.
Then he called Phaze.
- - -
It took a few minutes for Phaze to arrive- most likely teleporting to the event, and finding Faera through the crowd.
"Stand back," Phaze said, readying his healing magic. Having been on the receiving end of his galvanic healing magic before, Faera stepped back. Phaze took the unconscious woman's hand, his magic glowing bright green.
With a ZZZZAP!, the woman jolted awake, looking around frantically. Phaze quickly let go of her hand, backing up to give her space to process the situation. Faera offered her a hand to stand up. She warily took it, eyeing him and Phaze.
"Oh my goodness, thank gods you're okay! I was worried about you, Miss...! Whoever you are! You fell on me and passed out!!" Faera exclaimed.
Phaze nodded. "I was asked to see if I could heal you, and I did. You were... most likely drugged by someone here." The woman and Faera both looked shocked at this turn of events, but she nodded.
Faera tried to wrangle his expression from "furious" to "a normal amount of concerned," tamping down his rage.
(How DARE someone harm an innocent woman? And at his art exhibition?! This wouldn't stand. The culprit would pay for their crimes, tonight!!)
"That is outrageously awful behavior!!! But... I guess not everyone has good intentions at a nice public event…" Faera sighed, looking back over at the beautiful lady… No doubt that she was most likely confused by the situation. He should explain himself first.
"Hi, you must be wondering who we are. I'm Faera- I made that statue over there, and those ones there, and those works of pottery in the main room. You fell into my arms and slurred something about my muscles before falling unconscious." Faera pointed to Phaze. "This is my life-partner, Phaze. He... doesn't work here, but he DOES have amazing healing magic."
Phaze nodded. "As of tonight, I'll be working temporary security. Whoever drugged you is a hazard to everyone, so try and keep an eye out for anyone who might've- or might continue to try to- put substances in your drink. Especially anyone charismatic or charming." He stirred the air with a pinky finger, probably miming putting it in a glass.
Phaze continued with, "I've heard that stirring your glass is a pretty good way to tell if your drink has been tampered with. Even if you can't trust your sense of taste or smell, powders and liquids usually don't dissolve or completely mix right away- there tends to be residue."
"I was roofied? At a fucking art gallery?? This is just embarrassing." The woman mumbled, looking caught between embarrassment and anger. Her eyes flick upward, and Faera followed her gaze to the nearby surveillance camera on the ceiling.
"Who has access to the cameras in this place?" She said, much more clearly than before. Her gaze was sharp, but she seemed to soften a bit as she looked between the men.
Faera focused. This was a serious matter, after all. He'd have to chastise the guards to pay more attention, especially with someone so slippery and cunning.
Phaze, by comparison, seemed to relax… His healing had worked, after all, so Faera understood his demeanor. Phaze cracked his knuckles, looking off into the semi-distant crowd.
Answering the lady's query, Faera said, "The security guards for this place... Here, I'll show you the way-" Phaze stopped him, though, gently grabbing his arm before he could leave.
"Hold on," Phaze said. Faera gave him his full attention for a moment- Phaze was much more naturally observant than him, and usually noticed details Faera would glance over or miss.
"Do you remember who you were interacting with before things got blurry? Like, did they have any defining features? Come up to you and try and talk your ear off? Think of themself as very charming, even if you weren't interested?"
Faera was confused at his line of questioning towards the lady. "...Huh? What does that have to do with this?"
"It could definitely be a motive, if you- madam- weren't interested. Or maybe the culprit had already planned something devious, and came here to do it... Especially if it undermined a local celebrity." Phaze nodded towards Faera, and he suddenly understood the situation's stakes.
"...So that I would be blamed if anything happened...?"
"Exactly. But that's just a theory."
Phaze continued explaining his train of thought. "I feel like I have an idea of the type of person who would do this... And to do this to someone so observant, that means they've DEFINITELY gotten away with it before. This is highly dangerous... And the work of someone who doesn't want to be in the spotlight."
Phaze turned to the woman, facing her. "Any more details would be nice, if you could remember them. If not, that's alright too."
She looked thoughtful, taking a minute before answering.
"Quite a few people approached me here today. but only a couple of them tried to hit on me." She pointed out who she said she could remember in the crowd.
"Thank you. Your answers have been very helpful." Phaze nodded at Faera, who joined the woman in her quest to go to the security footage room.
…She then tried to sweet-talk the guards into showing her the footage, which… Didn't work. The guards were unimpressed. Faera got their attention, giving them a clear and concise explanation as to why they both needed to see the footage.
The footage showed a human man drugging the woman's drink, slipping in a powder that unnaturally dissolved the very second it hit the liquid. There was also a few people that bumped into her, which was what caused her to be distracted enough for the culprit to drug her. It all happened in a manner of seconds, so he seemed… Practiced.
(What a vile vermin of a man, to do something like that…)
"That bastard…" Faera mumbled to himself, controlling his flames to keep them from magically rising from his arms.
The guards then started looking at what was happening now. A tall skeleton monster man dressed very casually was confronting a much smaller human man, breaking up a group of four…
- - -
Meanwhile, Phaze walked up to a small group of socialites, looking very entertained by a human man's grandiose story, given how he was gesticulating...
And stood right behind him, placing him in shadow.
This was most likely where the criminal would be, given how fast-acting that potent drug was. Most likely a powder, and afflicting others if Phaze didn't stop the culprit in time.
Phaze was absolutely confident that he'd baited the right hook. All he had to do was wait for the line to jump…
"Pardon me, sirs, madams, and other gracious company. I have a few questions, if you don't mind," Phaze said casually.
They all looked various degrees of confused, concerned, and annoyed. The group of four agreed to answer, though, and the man that Phaze towers over looks the most annoyed out of all of them.
Phaze could almost read his mind from how obvious the man's expression was: "Can't this guy see that he was in the middle of something? What a rude jerk."
Hah!
Phaze was about to see if the criminal would crack under pressure. If he was correct in his assumption that they didn't like being caught, they'd hate to be called out in front of anyone…
Much less a crowd full of people.
"Would any of you happen to know about whom at this event failed to court a lovely lady, and, upon their failure, attempted to drug her into compliance?"
While the others started whispering amongst themselves in a concerned way, the human man said absolutely nothing. However, he started sweating profusely, and his hands shook, and they did not steady when he straightened out his shirt collar.
(Phaze, at his full height, was damn near 7 feet tall, with a wingspan at least twice as large. He also happened to be a full-fanged skeleton, and part dragon. He was quite intimidating when he wanted to be.)
(And right now, Phaze knew that he was wearing the toothy grin of a cat who'd caught a mouse.)
The man suddenly tried to bolt in a random direction. He didn't even make it ten feet away before being magically lifted up above the crowd, away from any furniture or potential objects that could help him escape. He was trapped in a translucent green bubble of solid magic.
The human criminal almost immediately gave up trying to escape after that.
The crowd bursted into noise and speculation, and Phaze found a cordless microphone that Faera used earlier for announcing the start of the art gallery event. One of his hands glowed green, maintaining the human culprit's air jail, and the other holds the mic.
"Excuse me, everyone. It seems that there is a drink-drugging criminal in our midst- a very practiced one, at that! But, unfortunately, he's no longer welcome at the party, nor the gallery. Despite the fact that the danger has passed, I'd still advise everyone to drink responsibly, and if there's any further issues…"
Phaze's grin became maniacally wide, his face scrunching in almost evil glee.
"I'd be DELIGHTED to handle it."
The man temporarily trapped in the magical bubble made various faces of anger, fear, fury, nervousness, and embarrassment...
Which turned to despair when the cops showed up almost an hour later, and he tried to speak, but no sound got through.
- - -
Faera stared at the monitors, shell-shocked. The woman stared too, seeming once again angry and embarrassed. Her hands shook for a few minutes, then stilled as she closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. Then she looked up at Faera.
It appeared to him that she was no longer ruthlessly focused on her mission to find the culprit, and thus she gazed at his face for the first time, seeing him as a person instead of a side-helper in her quest for the truth and vengeance.
"Thank you for showing this to me. I appreciate all your help, Faera."
"I'm just glad you're okay, miss... Uh, whatever your name is. Sorry, I've been introduced to a lot of people tonight, and then there was that whole fiasco... That I forgot your name... And there might be accomplices… But it's probably fine, I shouldn't worry so much…"
Faera smiled, trying his best not to seem nervous… But he'd swear he saw something flickering out of the corner of his eyesight. He put it out of his mind for now, focusing on the lady.
"I'm realizing I don't remember introducing myself. My name is Ann. As for there being accomplices, I'm certainly not surprised." Ann said, looking grateful.
"If there's anything I can do for you to make up for this, I'd gladly-"
Faera startled as Phaze's ringtone filled the almost-silent room.
"Pardon me, Ann, I have to take this."
Faera answered the call and put it on speaker.
"Hello-?" Faera started to say, but was interrupted almost immediately.
"We've got more trouble. This coward had monster accomplices- that's how he got the drug. There's a lizard monster and an electric elemental, so be careful-"
Phaze's voice fizzled out to tinny static, thencut out entirely.
"...Hello? Phaze? Are you still there…?"
Lights started flickering within the security room, the monitors blinking out. A new light source started approaching the room, with a skittering sound coming from the same direction.
"...Prepare yourself. They're coming towards us. Probably trying to erase the evidence, since they assisted that human criminal."
"Why are the lights flickering? Is that them?"
"Yes, most likely."
"Oh, for fuck's sake. Seriously…?"
Faera's eyelights glanced to the door.
"Ann, look out-!!"
After Faera shouted his warning, the lights completely flickered off. The guards in the room collapsed, as if they'd be tasered. Luckily Faera's flames burst into life on the top of his head and arms in time to save them all from almost complete darkness, and lit the room in flickering purple, orange, and pink hues.
Ann kicked away a lizard monster into a wall, and it twitched, stunned. The electrical elemental monster, however, is not so easily deterred, lunging for Ann as she braced for impact-
KA-ZAP!!
Faera grunted as an electrical attack hit him. He felt fine, but there was a small electrical burn on his arm where the magical bullet hit.
Faera tried to hit to hit the elemental with a small fireball, but it didn't do much damage. He tried again, but still no dice. Faera tried his poison attacks next, but the monster swiftly dodged any hits Faera attempted to get on them.
(Holding back on his full power as to not kill this person- especially for a crime like this- was taking almost all of Faera's concentration. What to do, what to do…)
When Faera glanced over at where Ann was, he saw the lizard monster fully unconscious with a knife through one of their eyesockets, dust pooling onto the floor.
Faera grimaced when he saw the dust.
(Ah, shit, that was definitely going to have to be explained as self-defense to the police (because it technically was, but still). The electrical monster tried to follow a fleeing Ann out, but Faera swiftly blocked the entrance with his body. This allowed Ann time and space to leave the room, and she ran quite fast for a human.
…At least she'd be out of danger.
For now, Faera would try to find a weak point int the elemental's defenses, despite his magical disadvantage.
- - -
In the meantime, the smartest thing to do for Ann was to go find Phaze and the cops. She told them what was happening, and the cops asked her to stay at the entrance for questioning and her own safety.
But Phaze cut in with just one, a grim look on his face.
"...Where's Faera?"
Having already explained the situation, Ann kept her answer short- no need to waste words.
"In the security room fighting that electric elemental. He needs you."
(She saw Phaze's badassery in the cameras. She knew he'd stop that electric tank better than she could, and she's not risking her life for a stranger when she has a daughter waiting for mama to pick her up. Nope, not today!)
Phaze nodded. It looked like he appreciated Ann's short answer and rational response to trying to stay out of danger. He's got this. Phaze teleports away. A few of the cops ask ann where the electrical room is and start on their way there, while the other cop stays with ann as a (hopefully) preventative measure.
- - -
Phaze teleports just outside of the security room, taking the electric elemental by surprise (since he was directly behind them) and slapping them in the back of the head.
The elemental growled in surprise and annoyance- probably thinking something like "Ow, that slap hurt!"...
Then they started to collapse and fall unconscious.
Phaze's eyelights blazed a bright green as he did, forcibly tiring out the criminal so they couldn't get up.
"Everything in order, my love?" Phaze asked, his face worried.
Faera hugged Phaze, holding onto him tightly. Phaze held onto him right back, resting his head on Faera's shoulder.
"I'm... electrical-burnt, but otherwise okay. I didn't want to kill them, so I took some attacks…" Faera trailed off, letting go of Phaze and rubbing at his arm-bones.
"Right. What about them?"
The lizard monster didn't stir- they were definitely fully unconscious, dust motes, err... Dusting a pile on their nice shirt and the floor.
"Ann stabbed them when they lunged at her, then went to find you."
"...Ann?"
"The lady who the culprits drugged with their begrudgingly excellent sleight-of-hand tricks. And the lady who stabbed the lizard monster after stunning them."
"Oooh, Ann.... I'm definitely going to forget that."
Faera rolled his eyelights, but smiled wearily. Phaze returned it.
- - -
After that, the police handcuffed the criminals (with magic-suppressing cuffs), and asked the trio (Phaze, Faera, and Ann) a few questions before leaving with the culprits. Phaze healed Faera's wounds, then addressed Ann. Faera turned his attention to her as well, paying attention.
"Are you alright, uhhh.... lady?"
Faera nudged his arm. Phaze smiled sheepishly, but didn't say anything else.
"Ann, if you need anything- absolutely anything- it's on me. I definitely owe you a favor for this happening on my watch."
"I'll… Consider it," Ann said cautiously.
"Oh, and if you need a bodyguard- or want one- I can contact a few people," Faera continued. "But if you just want to get back to the party, or- understandably- go home, I get that too."
Ann nodded, leaving the crowd.
"I… Should probably call Electrodendra, huh?" Faera said, a few minutes after Ann left.
"Yeah, you should." Phaze slipped his hand into Faera's, free hands holding onto each other.
I have no idea what rats said to me in my last ask bro
i got you!
basically. little rosie befriended berlin (one of kay's characters & butch's son). rosie knows berlin's family is mafia- or some kiddo explanation of it- but since it's a secret, she probably wouldn't tell ann or rust about it.
unless that secret was somehow discovered by either you or rust (or your extended family in the fell bros, the horror bros, and the horrorfell bros), berlin just kinda seems like a charming lil fella! just like his (mysterious) father!
