a/n: the one where Thyme +gang get selected by the cat-distribution-system
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It was raining again on the docks. This morning, clouds decorated the sky like stray cotton wisps. Thyme only brought their coat because Yusei had "a hunch" the nice weather wouldn't last. By lunch, there were larger blankets of white and grey covering the sky. Warm air started to feel brisk against any exposed skin. Now, in the dead of night with a heavy downpour only illuminated by hazy streetlights, Thyme pulled their raincoat tight against their chest. Puddles splashed with hurried steps seeking shelter.
The garage wasn't far from their workplace, so Thyme often opted to walk rather than ride. Especially when it's supposed to be an easier day on the schedule. What wasn't on the schedule was the rain, nevertheless how heavy it torrented down. Usually they enjoyed stormy nights- the feeling of water typically being a constant comfort. But this rain stung on impact, even through their coat. Thyme doubted the strength of their psychic abilities would ease the burden.
Without the coat, they imagined it could be worse. Some sort of thanks to Yusei would be acknowledged on their return... after warming up and getting dry clothes.
Rain had lightened, albeit only slightly, by the time Thyme made it to the garage. Motion lights activated by the bay door entrance, announcing their arrival. They squinted their eyes- the harsh sudden contrast almost giving them a migraine. Thyme fumbled with their keys before unlocking the door. Light, wet clothes, and the heavy droning of water on metal pushed their mind on the brink of overstimulation. They barely registered the motion that quickly brushed past their legs.
But it was a surprise nonetheless. Thyme screamed, flicked on the overhead lights, and grabbed the nearest weapon-adjacent tool. Intruder?! Monster?!
Quick footsteps echoed above them. Yusei jumped the bottom stair's railing, immediately at Thyme's side and grabbing a nearby hammer. Crow slid down the railings, drawing both his disc and a knife. Six eyes landed on the culprit-
A sopping wet cat. Sensing danger, it scurried underneath the workbench pressed against the back wall. Orange and white fur stuck to a stray spring jutting out from the baseboard edge.
"...Thyme, I know you're not a fan of things that go bump in the night, but aiming a wrench at a poor cat?" Crow attempted to make light of the situation. Pinpricks of adrenaline from the rush dissipated across his entire body.
"Says the man with a disc and a fucking switchblade." Words more pointed than they meant. Thyme rubbed a hand over their chest. Fingers remained tense around the wrench in their other hand. Their heartbeat pounded against their ribs...echoed in their ears. "I'm... I'm sorry..."
"It's okay." Yusei's words gentle, careful. Yes, it's just a cat, but Thyme's still fragile when it comes to danger and unsuspecting surprises. Over the years, they've both learned how to talk each other back from the edge of panic attacks. "You're shivering."
Clenched teeth and embarrassed and cold and soaked and stressed and overstimulated and- "I'm fine."
Yusei replaced his hammer on the desk and slowly pulled the wrench from their hand. "I think you'd be more comfortable in your flannel. And possibly your sweatpants."
Thyme hesitated, thinking over his words and taking notice of their still rain-soaked clothes. "...You may be right."
"Crow'll catch our little intruder and we'll lock all the doors, okay?"
"Wha-" Crow attempted to protest, but Yusei shot a glare at him. "Fiiiine."
Without further objection, Crow knelt down by the workbench. Yusei locked the doors and then followed Thyme up the stairs. Trails of remnant rainwater on their clothes marked where they stepped.
-------
Despite the comfort of dry clothes and sleep, Thyme awoke in the early morning- just before sunlight peeked over the horizon. It was a typical occurrence at this point. All of the Signers- at least the ones rooming in the garage- seemed to struggle with insomnia. Speaking of which...
Yusei was turned away, doom scrolling on his phone. The brightness was turned all the way down, at least.
"Good morning." Barely a whisper as they sat up in bed.
The phone was immediately off. Blankets shifted as he turned to face them. "Good morning." Hand came up to cover their own in between their bodies. "How're you feeling?"
"...I feel like shit for being scared by a stray cat... it was raining so hard and probably just wanted shelter..."
He sat up, giving their hand a gentle squeeze. "Well, if Crow managed to coax it out, maybe we can still give it shelter."
"Here?"
"Why not? We have the space. Surely Luna, Akiza, or even Jack have extra pillows and fabrics lying around somewhere. We could make it a cozy little home."
---
The garage was a mess. And this was coming from borderline machine-hoarders.
Yusei and Thyme found Crow hunched over in the corner of the kitchen. The orange haired man hummed and fidgeted around as if a metaphorical tornado hadn't torn up the floor below. Orange specks dotted random spots on the furniture- his hair or the cat's?
Thyme knocked on the table to announce their awakening. "Whatcha doing?"
Crow stood up way too quickly, holding something heavy away from their field of view. "Being a good host!"
"To what?"
"THIS! MY SON BOY!" Crow spun around and held last night's intruder up for the others to see. The orange cat was larger, with big pleading eyes and a little tongue poking out its mouth. "I AM THE GREATEST FATHER FIGURE. I SUCCESSFULLY DRIED HIM AND FED HIM AND EARNED HIS TRUST!"
Yusei tilted his head, "Did you...sleep at all?"
"Couldn't! Was catching my new boy."
"You could've at least napped!"
"Oh, like any if us actually properly sleep, bucko."
Thyme extended a hand, pausing just before the cat's nose. It sniffed their skin before rubbing up against their touch. Soft purrs accompanied the action.
Crow smiled. "Aw! You're already family! See, nothing scary at all."
Yusei mimicked Thyme's action, also getting purrs from the cat. He couldn't help but tease at Crow's chosen words. "If this is Son, what'll our roles be?"
"I call dibs on drunk uncle privileges!"
Thyme glanced up at his wide, excited eyes. "What about the self-imposed father figure title?"
"And lately you only drink for Shitty Movie Night-"
"SOMEONE has to teach this kitty tax evasion during family reunions and i KNOW it won't be you assholes." Crow cradled the cat gently in his arms, which pulled it away from the others. Calloused hands gently scratched behind its ears. It purred with the motion. "Drunk Uncle is a state of mind. And definitely counts as a father figure. See? He already loves me~"
"He loves all of us-"
"AS A PROPER FAMILY SHOULD!" Crow cut the man off.
"Yeah." Thyme returned their attention to the cat. Any further thoughts on the matter dissapated.
A yawn escaped his mouth. Crow set Son Boy down on the table, where the cat simply loafed. His hands reached up to rest on Yusei's shoulders. Crow fully leaned all his weight into the action. "Yusei, I simply must sleep. Your concern has penatrated my cold dead heart. It's up to you, and only you oh destined hero, to get cat supplies from the pet store."
Yusei pointed out the window, "Maybe when there's sunlight out?"
"Ah, the curse of time... the bitch that binds us all."
"Hey!"
"You're not a curse, friend!"
---
In the hours that passed, multiple things occured simultaneously:
1) Crow snores like a drunk uncle. The title is his.
2) Thyme didn't leave the cat's side. The cat didn't want to leave theirs, either. Luckily they had off work today.
3) Yusei made the mistake of sending cat pictures to the groupchat. Luna and Akiza are going nuts over it.
4) Cat was renamed like 4 times until they found something that stuck. Or rather, the gang had 4 names that the cat seemed to answer to: Sol, Sunny, Sunbee and Son Boy.
By morning proper, Thyme and Sunbee were curled up in the couch fast asleep. Chests rose and fell in tranquil steady rhythm. Sunlight, which was brighter today thanks to last night's rainstorm, cast in from the kitchen window. It didn't quite hit their faces. Yusei snuck another quick picture before grabbing his keys and heading out the door.
Surely the pet store had better food for the creature. Whatever Crow managed to feed it, it likely wasn't nutritional.
The boy was hunched over his bike, clearly trying to focus on delicate wiring. "Forget what- Kalin's deadline?"
"What? No-"
"Thyme, If we don't have these bikes ready then Securities will snatch us up along with the other gangs." Crow finally straightened his posture. A faint pop emit from his back. "I don't want to switch to Kalin's Plan B. It usually involves me getting my shit rocked."
That made them laugh. "No, no. I mean did you forget what today is."
"July seve- OH." Eyes wide with recognition.
Their head nodded, "Jack and I already have decorations in place. You're task is to lure Yusei back."
"Why not you? Or Kalin?"
"He knows me too well. He'll immediately be suspicious." A wink, "And Kalin is getting the final pieces together."
---
All lights were off in Base. Kalin, Thyme, and Jack hid behind various delapidated furniture. In just a moment....
The door opened. "Crow why are the lights-"
"SURPRISE!"
Yusei jumped back as the rest of the team jumped out. Crow flicked on the lights and blew a party horn across Yusei's face. Jack and Thyme pulled confetti poppers. Kalin lit a candle on a cupcake on the center table.
"Happy birthday, brother." Jack pat the birthday boy's shoulder.
"Happy birthday, Yusei." Kalin gave a warm smile. Shadows from the candle danced across his face.
"I got you good, didn't I?" Crow's mischevious grin was unhideable. "Though Thyme did have to remind me, heh."
"How could you forget?" A playful nudge of his shoulder as Thyme stepped closer. "Happy Birthday, love. We all pitched in and got you this."
Outstretched hands revealed a small, carefully wrapped box. Gloved hands accepted the gift, gently opening it to avoid damage.
A CPU chip. It looked like it would fit his bike-
Yusei wiped a stray tear from his face. "Guys..."
"Ah! Did we get the wrong one?" Kalin scratched his head. "Thyme did all this research to get it legit and-"
"N-no. I'm not sad." Yusei smiled and wiped another tear away. "This is... I love all of you."
"Hah! Birthday boy said the L word!" Crow hugged him, "We love you too, bro."
----------
"Why the glum face?" Akiza shuffled her deck with precision at the desk. "You look more emo than usual, Thyme."
"Today is July 7th, right?" Thyme clicked their pen repeatedly.
"Yeah? Need a new calendar or what?"
They crossed their arms. "Today is... something is today."
The redhead finished shuffling, finally adding her cards to her backpack. "Nothing is on our schedule. Nor has Sayer relayed anything to us for Arcadia's advancements. Maybe your amnesia is slowly going away?"
"Since when have you cared about my past?"
"Can a woman not be complex in nature? Can I not have multiple differently faceted feelings of concern for my roommate?"
"Damn, alright. Sorry." Thyme began to bite at their nails. "It's... really bothering me. Something is today..."
Akiza sighed, "It'll eventually return to you, Thyme. Don't go getting a migraine on me, now."
---
Yusei lay on the rooftop above the new base. Silent stars whisked across the vast sky. Faint voices from the busier bars in Satellite melted into the white noise of the night.
Had it already been a year?
"Yusei?"
The quiet voice snapped him from his thoughts. He sat up, turning to find Rally a few paces away. "What brings you up here?"
Rally moved to sit beside him. "Um... well... today is July 7th, right?"
"Mhm." He had an idea of where this was going.
"Well, um... happy birthday, Yusei." He held up a knit scarf. "I went to Martha and she helped me finish it."
The scarf had a striped design. Blue, red, orange, purple, and white alternating along the length. Respectively colored tassles decorated the ends. "...Thank you, Rally."
"I'm sorry not everyone is around..." His eyes avoided Yusei's saddened gaze. "But ya'know... it does get cold at night. Wrap this around you and it can be like a hug. From who you need most."
----------
The clock on the stove read 02:05.
Yusei stood in the kitchen holding a mug of tea. Insomnia had struck him, again. Will this ever stop?
He'd looked forward to sleeping in today.... guess not.
Gentle hands snaked their way around his waist. He didn't flinch- he knew who they belonged to.
"Good morning, birthday boy." Thyme rest their chin on his shoulder. "Insomnia get you, too?"
A hum for a response. He tilted his head to lean against theirs. Heartbeats synced up in the few breaths of silence.
"Well, at least I can wish you happy birthday first." Quiet whisper as they planted a kiss to his cheek.
"Jack beat you to it." Yusei pulled out his phone. The text on screen showed a message received at 00:10.
"Bastard must've set a timer." Thyme tightened their hug. "I get first in-person wish, then." Another kiss.
"Of course, love." A tender smile spread across his face. "...I missed this."
Fingers traced the exposed skin under his shirt. "I missed you."
Yusei set the mug down. His own hands settled overtop Thyme's. "Are you planning anything today?"
Thyme thought a moment, "Nothing over the top. Today's more about rest. You've been working too hard lately."
"So have you."
"But my birthday isn't for another few months." Thyme pulled away, making him turn around to face them. "Just one day. Let's relax and do the bare minimum until dinnertime."
"What's for dinner?"
"Kalin, Crow, Jack, and Akiza are bringing over all your favorite foods for Drunk Shitty Movie Night."
"Can we make white ru-"
"Yes. Akiza's in charge of bringing the supplies."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
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(Under the wire bc im working tonight but hbd yusei!!)
Yusei, head physicist of NDC. Hero. Expert duelist. Like, really important to every aspect of NDC.
This is his partner, Thyme, who cannot stop getting arrested for smuggling/Robin Hood type antics. They've kept their job at the docks for so long bc literally no one else knows how to do it
Kaledia tuned each string of the Spider's Lyre. Icy notes cut through the stangant air of death. Corpses piled high, severed limbs strewn about in haphazard disarray. Rain torrented down against the rooftop.
The dead had invited her in from the storm. They had been good, honest people. They had shared their home and warmth and food and-
Maybe in another life, she wasn't plagued by urges. Maybe in the place beyond her fragmented mind, she had simply played music to tavern crowds. Maybe once.... all her voice could do was sing melodies. None of this magic and mind control and puppetry and-
Pianissimo chords decorated this place of silence. She finally stood to her feet. Shattered glassware and scattered food contents lined the table. Blood soaked into the toppled sugar jar.
Kaledia Myst may have once been sweet. But now nothing remains that could purify these hands.
Be it blood or syrup, it still sticks and stains everything it touches.
--------
Rho ground herbal blends with her mortar and pestle. She was careful, meticulate, not letting any spillage of this blend taint her other creations. Heated water patiently waited for their turn in her kitchen.
She tolerated what she could. She waited on the outskirts of villages, watching for the right time. The right place. The right season for harvesting each ingredient.
Druid factions either roam or stay tied to an enclave. No matter the group, teachings of the AllFather state they are to protect nature and her inhabitants. Isolationist centrism serves no one but the offenders.
Table is set. Leaders of the local druidic factions and villages sat in her tent. Voices rose over tastes of tea and carefully placed charcuterie. Arguements escalated to the point of weapons. It seems even with peaceful, meticulous arrangements, those in power cannot see reason.
She crossed her legs, sipping from her teacup. One by one, her guests' legs gave out. One by one, chest pain gripped their hearts. One by one, their diaphragms lost voluntary control.
A simple flick of her wrist summoned familiars to help tidy up. She carried extra dishes to the sink, humming softly as she scrubbed off the blood.
Of course Rhododendron Avri is still sweet. Her sugar masks the poison.
--------
Mardea stood atop a skyscraper, observing the fires burning the city below.
Heroes had spouted nonsense in her ears. Fight evil. Uphold law. Save people. Blah blah blah blah blah. She couldn't believe she had ever been their student.
UA was nothing more than pompous Hero Has-Beens riding the coattails of their past fame. All the money and resources spent to fuel selfish egos instead of funding humanitarian efforts.... what a waste.
None could train her to control her quirk. She had done it all on her own. None had any guidance to offer when the literal weight of reality rested on her shoulders. She had to train until exhaustion to avoid combustion. None tried to assist her in reuniting with her family- just the opposite, in fact. She tracked her brother down independently. Who was really the Villain here?
She looked down at her hands- the power of energy manipulation coarsing through them. Three fingers decorated with rings... all collected from those aspirations of heroic change...
A class ring. A simple silver band. A garnet and sapphire positioned in a gentle embrace.
The Public had deemed her "Worldbreaker." Her classmates had tried to have her see the "heroic" side. Her love dared to stand with her.
Mardea Lin shrugged, dropping her hands. None of it mattered anymore. Sugar and salt look the same, after all.
--------
Thyme walked along the coastline- board long abandoned by the road. Their shoes left prints in the sand only to be swallowed in the next wave from the ocean.
Did... their life before have any moments of peace? Any notes of gentle sweetness?
Before joining Arcadia, everything was a blur. Anytime they tried to remember... it felt like electricity too painful to endure. They would have day-long migraines if they pushed too hard.
He always found them. Always brought them back. Maybe they would be harder to find if they didn't choose the same beach every time. The smog just barely covered the island on the horizon-
The car ride back was always silent. Their migraine felt stronger in the backseat- like anticipatory suppression from powers beyond shadows. Why can't they remember? Where did they come from?
Sultry reassurance from his mouth. Always encouraging them to let it remain forgotten. Tales of a poor, violent past that he saved them from.
Was it real? Was it really best left forgotten? They had to trust him- who else knew of their past?
Thyme Uchiumi's hands desperately searched to grab the truth, only to ever find aspartame in its place.
--------
Aria Evelyn has never been sweet.
One could consider the facade she puts on for contracts "sweet," but it was still a facade. Her real heart lay encased in ice too thick for anything to penetrate. It's been years since anyone was able to break through- and they'd died terrible deaths. She still had nightmares.
Golden eyes stared at reflections warped by ice. The back wall of Dawnstar's Sanctuary remained encased despite her New Family's efforts. Years of abandonment led to such a state. Maybe the jester would twist it into a metaphor of her current wellbeing. The thief and khajit would offer semblances of pity. Her fellow vampire might respect her enough to give space. The Dragonborn and her genius pirate wife would find ways to distract her from herself.
None of them were here, so it's useless to spin up conjecture. Even under her careful stare, this ice appeared to shift and warp. The reflection staring back she knew, but could no longer claim.
Silver eyes, teeth unfanged, long crimson hair tied in a braid... Her before the Gate Crisis. Her before everything she held dear was ripped away. Selfish desires of madmen always were unpredictable.
Reuniting with the spectre rubbed salt in old wounds. He had no excuses to offer. He knew he couldn't make up for all the lost time. Some nights she selfishly wished she could speak to the former emperor, not this spectre. At least he hadn't abandoned her that day.
Hm. Maybe crumbs of sugar flavored her past. Aria was once sweet... only for two people in centuries now long buried.
