#// They're currently hanging out in the center but will go outside later.

[candyredappledragon]

part 1

“C’mon Kiki hurry up! You don’t want to be late do you?” Carmine yelled outside.

“I’m coming, I’m coming. Geez.” Kieran mumbled, fidgeting with his jacket as he got out of the house.

Carmine raised an eyebrow. “Well, aren’t you excited to see your friend Florian?”

“Y-yes.. But he also has other friends joining him.” 

“Right. You invited them too, you know.”

Kieran scratched the back of his head in a nervous manner. “..yeah. I’m just worried if they don’t like me.”

“Seriously? Kiki, come on be more confident in yourself. You are my little adorable nerdy brother. How can they not like you?” Carmine teased.

“Aw c’mon sis...”

Carmine's eyes caught a glimpse of a group of teens walking over to their home. She waved at them in greeting then flinched as she saw one of them charging up to them. 

Nemona was so excited to meet Florian’s friends and of course was interested in battling Kieran. The teens behind her started catching up to her realizing it too late as Nemona was starting to talk the Kitakami siblings' ears off.

-

“Ah sorry about Nemona.” Florian laughed. “I totally forgot about her wanting to battle people. I’ve been so used to it.”

“I haven’t. That girl just has infinite energy for battles.” Penny muttered, tapping away on her phone.

“There is no escape to it unfortunately.” Arven sighed then looked over at Kieran giving him a look. “Just so you know I’m Florian’s bestest friend.”

“Seriously, when did you get to decide that?” Penny rolled her eyes.

“O-oh okay?” Kieran said in confusion then jumped back in surprise as Nemona got close to Kieran's face without him knowing.

“So I heard you were a champion at Blueberry Academy. We should battle! I’ll meet you over at the community center!” The girl ran off in a hurried fashion.

“Nemona please- and she’s gone. Sorry Kiki, that's totally on me. I shouldn’t have told her that.” Florian said, shaking his head.

“N-No it’s fine. Uhm I don’t mind battling her anyway.” Kieran reassured. 

Florian looked at him then gave him a grin. “I believe in you, Kiki!”

Kieran felt his face a bit hot. “Thank you.. I will try my best.”

He started his way over to the community center. ‘I haven’t trained with my Pokemon for a while. This is going to be a bit tough.’

Nemona's eyes lit up as she saw Kieran running over to the community center. She pumped up her fists in the air in an excited manner. 

“Let us have a fruitful battle!” Nemona sent out her Pokemon.

Oh no. Kieran gulped in a nervous manner. His team is not built for singles. This is going to be rough.

-

It was a neck and neck battle but Nemona won in the end. Which he was fine with and the battle was pretty fun! It felt like all his worries washed away during the battle. It was exhilarating and her cheerful demeanor pumped him up too.

“That was so fun!!” Nemona shouted in excitement across the battlefield then started walking up to Kieran. “We have to battle again. I need to see what Pokemon to use. for the next one”

“C’mon Nemona give the dude a break.” Penny said with a sigh, walking up to the two. Followed by the others behind her.

“You know.. I’m the best trainer in Kitakami.” Carmine said smugly, placing her hand on her chest proudly.

Kieran rolled his eyes at that. “Sis I don’t think-” “No way! Really? We have to battle now!” Nemona said excitedly.

“H-how about we rest for a bit. It’s been kind of a long trip getting here anyway. Let’s head inside the community center to relax.” Florian suggested, making his way over to the building. The group nodded and followed suit.

-

Zero crew, Florian and Carmine are available for asks! [ For now. ]

[jensownzoo]

Houseplant roundup - all the houseplants that I've picked up for free either in the alley next to the dumpsters or in the green waste dumpsters over the past 4 years. (Except for any aloe shown...I bought one plant and it loves making babies so they're all over the house)

I haven't identified all of them and some of them are still recovering from trauma, neglect, disease, or infestation but they're getting better.

Snake plant. This one had a few droopy leaves and just needed water.

Philodendron. This one had one leaf left. Just required potting up with new soil and water. The second smaller one just popped up later so maybe this was multi-plant arrangement once?

Dieffenbachia (with very tiny leaves) that needed potting up and watering. I'm thinking it might need something else, maybe dividing or root care because it's been a few years and still just puts out tiny leaves. Also a ponytail palm I just picked up today that looks fine, just gave it a bit of water. And above is a purple heart that I actually made from cuttings from the original plant that I currently have outdoors in a pot (overwinters inside). I'm going to pot it up and move it to a hanging basket upstairs to get more light. They get super dark purple in high light unlike this one. Not pictured is the haworthia in the white pot also up top that I didn't realize didn't make it into the pic.

Nice big jade plant in the back - just needed potting up and water. A flowering vine that I've seen on sale at home depot as a tropical annual and I've noted the name but it doesn't stick. It's like a mandevilla but smaller scale. Got this one in the fall when someone tossed it. It was afflicted badly by spider mites over the winter but has since recovered and exploded with growth. I need to pot this one up again and give it something taller to climb. And hanging we have a big healthy pothos plus two rooted cuttings that I had pruned off for being yellow when I first got the neglected, actively dying plant, but as it was pothos, stuck them in water because why not. I'll probably take some deliberate cuttings soon now that the plant has recovered and quadrupled in size.

I think this one is a majesty palm? It's the huge ones commonly sold in stores anyway. All it's fronds were brown and crispy when I got it but it still had two green leaf spikes in the center, so I did the standard pot up and water and it's gorgeous and huge and happy now. I kept it outside last summer but it's pot is just too heavy to keep dragging it up and down the stairs for seasonal rotation.

Fiddle head fig had brown swathes on nearly all it's leaves so I pruned them off, potted it up, and kept it outside until it got too cold. By that time it had new healthy leaves and had recovered from whatever disease or deficiency it was suffering from. I don't know the next one but it has a light purple stripe along the leaf. I thought it was dead for 6 months after the last live leaf fell, but I was too lazy to dump the pot over the winter and it got new growth this spring so I'm glad I didn't! I'll probably add a different plant in the pot with it to provide an 'understory' since it's like a tall, thin sparkler. And then we have a type of yucca palm. It used to sit on that radiator but got too tall and completely blocked the window. It's less happy now so it's getting moved to replace that one philodendron as that's a south-facing window. I've had this one the longest and I honestly don't remember what shape it was in originally.

Monstera with one large leaf. Was severely pot bound. Now that it's adjusted, I may pull it out, mess with the roots some more, and pot it up again. I just need more potting soil atm. The aluminum foil is to keep one of the cats from peeing in it until it gets a little more soil coverage. Little unidentified palm in front that was mostly dead in a gallon size pot. Downsized to this smaller pot after I pulled all the dead bits out. I think it had maybe 3 stems remaining so it has recovered nicely. I keep forgetting what the plant hiding behind the monstera's stake is, but it just needed it's dead bottom leaves removed and water. Then two philodendrons. I think. The pale green one is still giving me fits. I have had issues keeping leaves on the main stem, the growth at the base is relatively new. The pale color seems to be part of the variety and it gets leaf scorch ridiculously easily yet yearns for sun. I keep moving it around the house trying to find it's happy place, but it's a work in progress. I think the second dark green plant just needs more sun so it's getting moved upstairs once I clear a spot.

Random succulent (cat planter) that came from one of those multi-variety planters in which all the other varieties were dead from dehydration.

And another random succulent that has done spectacularly. Some of it's leaf spikes are THREE FEET long. They're mostly round in cross-section (unlike aloe). I kinda want to repot it and move it to give it more room, but it's doing so well where it is.

And that's it except for roughly 20 aloe plants of various sizes. My home is greening up nicely and all it's costing me is some TLC and potting soil.

[p0ssyart]

i have brainrot from my own ocs read below for backstory on kurumi because they're sweet and broken.

has a handful of crafting hobbies, currently into cross stitching and some of their stuff is hanging up around the house. favorite content genre is video game horror, like games that go meta and use that as part of their plot, also mild gore is good.

autism and adhd, has a chewy necklace on almost always and carries a stim toy around to be safe. struggles with ptsd, depression/anxiety, dissociation, and insomnia.

doesn't speak the best english, knows much more chinese (sinnoh language) than they know english, is learning kanto sign on top of english and the family is learning chinese best they can. calls jessie and james by their names but they dont mind it, its just easier for kurumi to use instead of parental names.

their best friend is a pokemon named mazie (galar corsola); named because the texture of its coral looks like a maze. spends most of their time with pokemon, they bring their switch or a sketchbook or a book outside and just sit on the tree while pokemon roam around and interact with them, mazie is always with them.

warning for child abuse/neglect, mentions of alcoholism, and cptsd

kurumi has scars from their birth parents and when james saw those scars, he actually threw up because they were scars from a belt and its all over their back.

they're missing the tip of their left ring finger because their father cut it off at some point not sure why or how

hates showers because they were punished with extremely hot/cold water showers, they had a panic attack when jessie showed them how the shower worked because they thought she was going to make them get in.

their dad drank a lot, both parents smoked heavily so some of kurumi's clothes still smell vaguely of cigarettes but james washed those clothes so intensely they barely smell anymore. their parents would also put cigs out on their clothes or skin as warnings so they've got a bunch of little circle scars on their forearms and stuff.

their mom was worse than their dad, she was a lot louder and quicker to act out, but their dad had the tendency to explode with anger and those always resulted in physical damage of some kind.

learned to care for themselves at a very young age, had to figure out how to feed and bathe themselves because nobody else taught them (jessie and james have to do some extra teaching for certain hygeine and self care things because they just never were taught how to).

either growlie or meowth ""stand guard"" for kurumi when they're having paranoia at night, which doesn't happen as often as it used to but its not rare. on really bad nights, they go into jessie and james' bed with mazie and sometimes they wake one of them up because they're stuck in a thought loop.

had tried to run away a couple times but never could get the courage to leave the town, so they'd spend nights outside and only with mazie because they would rather sleep on a cold bench than be at home. they'd be found by morning and taken back home, usually by their mother as she actually paid attention to kurumi's actions, their dad was forgetful and shitty as hell when he remembered they were around. one night an officer jenny found them sleeping on a playground at a park and when the cope woke them up to take them home, they had a full meltdown because they were too scared to go back home and the jenny was like yeah i'm not taking you home, but i'm definitely going to talk to your parents and then kurumi ended up at an adoption center that week.

few months later and they were adopted by jessie and james, they dealt with a bit of bullying from other kids for being mostly nonverbal and ""weird"", some workers weren't that nice either but it wasn't something that stuck with then as hard as the way their parents treated them.

[mageofseven]

Part two of this Anon's ask! Part one with the Brothers can be found here.

Diavolo:

The prince was trying to balance the pen on top of his nose. He had been in his office for hours as he went through paperwork and the man was losing his focus.

Beep.

Yes! A distraction! The demon let his pen fall to the desk as he picked up his phone.

'Ddddd I love you 🥰'

The prince grinned.

'I love you too, my Queen! 😘' He texted back then added. 'What are you up to?'

'Wiiinne.'

Ah so that explains it. They're drinking the wine he got them for their birthday.

'Aw. You opened it without me. Aren't you naughty?'

'😔'

'What's that face for, my dear?'

'Youre t9o busyy to spend tim e wth me 😢'

The prince frowned and rose from his desk.

'Where are you? I'm coming now.'

'Ou r room.'

The prince left the room and headed down the hall to his bedroom. He stepped inside and saw his Queen sitting on the couch by the fire place, wine glass and bottle on the low table in front of them. They were sitting with their knees to their chest and staring into the fire.

Diavolo approached the couch and sat next to them.

"I'm sorry, my dear." He said softly, pulling them into his embrace. "I know I've been working a lot lately."

"It's fine..." They mumbled.

"My Queen, you're not being honest with me." He told them, pushing some hair out of their eyes and behind their ear.

"It's just...lonely." They admitted softly. "I know I have my friends to spend time with, but it's not the same. I miss you."

The prince leaned in and kissed their forehead.

"I'm truly sorry, MC." The demon apologized. "I've been putting some extra work on my plate so Lucifer will allow himself more sleep. I know it must have been a hard couple weeks for you though."

The man did this occasionally. He knew how his friend was and knew that simply asking him to sleep more wasn't enough. Even if it was extra stressful for the prince, he wanted to do what he could for his friend so he didn't have to always worry for Lucifer's health.

"No... no, I know it's harder for you; you're the one doing the work." The human laid their head on their boyfriend's chest and closed their eyes.

"I'll be fine so no worrying about me." He kissed them on the top of their head. "How about we go out to eat Friday night? I should have my work done by then."

"Okay." The human yawned.

Diavolo smiled at them.

"Okay, time to sleep. Up you go." The man stood up and carried them towards the bed, covering them up, and giving them one last kiss on the head. "Good night, my Queen."

The demon listened as his love's breath slowed as they fell asleep before he turned and left the room. As much as he wanted to lay with his human and hold them close, he now had a new purpose to his work. After all, now he had to make sure the majority of his work was done before Friday. For his Queen's sake.

Barbatos:

Barbatos was in the kitchen, making a snack for his lord and his sweet human. Lord Diavolo had invited them over for a drink so the two had been sitting outside in the garden, watching the sunset while they had some wine. The butler had no qualms with this; he knew that both his love and his master were trustworthy. That and it was part of his job to come and go so he could spend time with them as well, even if he himself was not joining in on the drinking.

The butler took the finished dish back to the garden, only to discover the table to be vacant now. Raising an eyebrow, the man sat the dish on the table.

"Perfect timing!" The prince was suddenly behind him. "Barbatos, help me find MC!"

The smaller demon raised an eyebrow.

"Is my dear alright, milord?"

"Oh yes." Diavolo grinned. "We are simply playing a human game. Hide and Seek, as they call it."

A children's game? The butler remembered his human telling him about different activities they did as a child and that was one of them.

"I see." Barbatos nodded. "I shall help you then."

He and his master split up, searching the different rooms in the castle. The demon was suddenly concerned for MC; there were a lot of rooms in this castle that are dangerous for the average demon to enter and far more than deadly for a human like them.

He started checking the rooms he most dearly wished that his love would steer clear of.

Ding.

The butler pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket. It was them.

'Barbie cmoe hide wtih me~'

Ah. Perfect timing.

'As you wish, my dear. Where are you?'

'Nnnope. You gtta say you lvoe me fust.'

The demon cracked a smile, a genuine one. Oh that human. I suppose the alcohol is making them a bit bold.

'I love you, my dear. Now tell me where I can find you?'

'Awwwwaww. I love yu t9o 😘'

His smile grew a bit more.

'This is awfully cute, my dear, but I still need to know your whereabouts.'

'The balroon~'

The ballroom? What an odd choice.

'I'm on my way, dear.'

The butler made his way to the ballroom and found his love laying on the floor in the center of the room.

"Do you require any help getting up?" He asked the human, who giggled in response.

"Nooo. Just lay down with me."

"I'm afraid I cannot--"

The human sat up and started tugging on his hand. They were really cute in this state.

"As you wish, my love." And so he laid on the floor next to them. "Now, may I ask why you chose this room to hide from my lord? There's nowhere to conceal yourself here."

MC grinned.

"That's point. He wouldn't think to look for me here."

"Ah, I see." The butler nodded. "You did well, my dear."

They giggled and snuggled up to his chest.

The two laid like that there for a while, enjoying the closeness. Eventually, the echo of the doors opening made it to their ears and they looked over to find Diavolo entering the ballroom.

"My, you two look like you are enjoying yourselves." He grinned.

"My lord--" He went to get up, but was halted by Diavolo's lifted hand.

"No, relax. Please enjoy the rest of the evening however you wish."

Barbatos let his master's words hang in the air for a moment before responding.

"Alright. Thank you, milord."

Solomon:

Asmodeus invited the sorcerer over for some drinks. In all honesty, he had planned on declining since he was close to a break through in his current magical project and didn't want to break away from it. However, the demon had let him know that MC agreed to join him and Solomon had to admit, he was curious about how that would work out. He had never actually seen his little Minx drink before.

This should be interesting, he thought to himself before telling Asmo that he'd be there later that night. When the time came, the three of them were sitting in Asmo's room, drinking and chatting together. The three laid together in a comfy pile on the bed. The sorcerer had to admit, it was a fun night. Asmo got a little handsy, but nothing that the couple wasn't comfortable with; the Avatar of Lust knew their boundaries after all.

At one point, MC had left to go grab something from their room. Fifteen minutes had gone by however and they still hadn't returned. Excusing himself from Asmo, the man went to MC's room to look for them, but it was empty. Strange. He took out his phone.

'MC, where have you gone to?'

A couple moments later, he got a reply.

'Seccret'

'Ah so you're hiding then.' He texted back, smiling. 'I see you're feeling playful.'

The man started searching the house, even knocking on Leviathan's door to ask if he's seen you. When he came up empty handed, the human man could only frown.

He took out his phone again.

'Little Minx, please tell me where you're hiding.'

'Nno'

He pursed his lips as he read that.

'Is something wrong?'

He didn't get a reply for a few minutes. When it did come, the man froze at the words.

'Soli, do yuo love mme?'

The man took a minute to respond.

'What brought this on?'

Nothing. He texted them again.

'MC, please talk to me.'

'I lvoe you, btu yuo makke me sadd 😔'

Something in the sorcerer deflated when he read those words. It took him a while to move past them, but when he did, he was ready to take action.

'Let's talk about this face to face. Where are you?'

'My romm'

Their room? Did they sneak back in there while he was preoccupied? Regardless, he headed back in the direction of MC's room and peeked back inside. This time, he saw light shining through their closet door. Solomon raised an eyebrow at this, but approached the closet.

"MC, will you please leave the closet?" He asked, but recieved no reply, causing him to sigh and quietly open the door.

He found them sitting on the floor, phone in hand, but face hidden in their arms. Solomon paused, not sure about the best course of action here. He eventually kneeled down in front of them and started stroking their hair.

"MC, talk to me." He said softly.

The other human sniffled.

"I was having fun." They told him. "I was having fun with you guys and enjoying myself, but then suddenly I wasn't and bad thoughts rushed in and I couldn't handle it."

"You should of told me earlier." Solomon scooted closer to them and pulled them in for a hug. "I'm right here for you. There's no need to hide away in a dark closet."

"But... I don't wanna be a burden to you." They lifted their head to look up at their boyfriend.

"Relying on me doesn't make you a burden; it shows that I am doing my job right as a boyfriend." He looked into the distance. "Though I suppose if you think such things than I haven't been doing my job properly."

"No! I didn't mean--"

The sorcerer brought his lips to hers, silencing their protests. When they broke away, he looked down into their eyes.

"You asked me earlier if I loved you... the truth is, I am not a man who finds honesty to be an easy thing, especially when it comes to my feelings. However... I cannot deny how much I care for you. I may not say it enough during our time together, but just know that I truly love and cherish you, even in moments when it seems like all I want is to get a rise out of you. Please know this."

MC started wiping their eyes.

"Do... do you mean that?"

"Yes, little Minx." He smiled down at them. "Now please try to remember this for tomorrow. It was difficult for me to admit this one time; I'd rather not have to repeat myself."

The two sat in the closet for a little longer, the boyfriend's embrace slowly wearing away at all of MC's insecurities.

Simeon:

It was at Mammon's birthday party. The brothers had really gone all out for the second brother and though some people were surprised at this, the angel was not. As complicated as the brothers and their relationships to one another are, he knew that they each cared deeply about the others, with Mammon included, of course.

The party was still at House of Lamentation, but they provided so many food and drink options and invited many people; himself and his fellow Purgatory residents (though he made Luke go home after a while when some of the guests were being...a bit much), some work friends of Mammon's from his modeling agency, and some other demons from RAD that the angel vaguely knew.

At first, Simeon hadn't planned on staying long, but Solomon insisted that he should use this as an opportunity to have fun then whispered that the angel just might get some secret alone time with his little Lamb if he were to wait till others had drank enough to forget their absence. Solomon was the only one who knew about him and MC's relationship.

Angel and human relationships are seen as taboo in the Celestial realm. It always has been, but his Father has been a lot stricter with the Rule since the incident with Lilith. This is why he tried so desperately to keep the human at arms length.... it was all in vain though. He loved MC dearly and his little Lamb loved him back. He felt like there was no going back once he knew this. Still, they had to be careful, had to keep it all a secret from others. The two never meant for Solomon to find out, but the angel had to admit, it was almost inevitable. His human friend was commonly with him and he was a very observant man. Simeon wasn't fully sure if he was trustworthy or not, but he gave the man credit for keeping the secret this long.

So there the angel was, standing on the side lines of the the Avatar of Greed's birthday party, only occasionally chatting with others who came up to him, and watched those around them drink into oblivion.

Bing.

The man pulled his phone out of his pocket.

'I LVOE you swet angellly mn 🥰'

Simeon raised his eyebrows. It seems that his Feather has been drinking with the others. Simeon himself was not a drinker. It's not a Celestial rule for angels or anything; he just simply is not a fan of alcohol and rarely partakes in it. Because of this, the angel never stopped to think whether it was the same for MC or not.

'I love you too, my little Lamb. Where are you right now?'

'T he roff.'

His eyes widened.

'The roof, my Feather?'

'Yeess'

The angel quickly (but as inconspicuously as he could) headed towards the front door. Once he was outside, he transformed and flew above House of Lamentation, scanning its roof. He found his human laying on the segment of roof above their room.

He flew down next to them.

"My Lamb, I don't believe this is a safe place for you, especially if you've been drinking."

"I'm fine..." MC merely shook their headed. "I do this all the time."

The angel pursed his lips, but didn't say anything as they patted the space next to them. Getting the hint, he sat down next to them and stretched a wing out to cover them and hopefully shield them from the wind a bit.

"The stars look really pretty in the Devildom, don't they?" The human said softly, staring up at the night sky. "The stars are so much more colorful here than in the Human realm."

The angel followed their gaze and nodded.

"Yes, it's a beautiful sight." He agreed, staring up at the deep specs of color.

Strangely enough, each star was a dark shade of the colors associated with the Brothers. Or maybe it wasn't so strange? The Devildom has always had Avatars of the Seven Great Sins, long before the seven brothers were even born. He remembered learning that in his Devildom History class during his first year at RAD though they never mentioned anything about them having connections to the stars.

"Though... I wish I could show you the night sky of the Celestial realm some day." He added.

"I mean... can you?" They asked, not breaking their line of sight from the sky.

Simeon frowned.

"No... I don't think it'd be worth the risk." The angel answered reluctantly. "I'd rather you not be any near the Celestial realm ever again."

Before the two were dating, MC and Solomon once visited himself and Luke up in the Celestial realm and had a meal. His Lamb had only gotten to see a small glimpse of the beauty that is his home. There's so much more that he wished to show them however and now... he likely never will. He feared the gaze of Michael falling upon them, of the older angel seeing them and figuring out their relationship. Michael cared about him, but just like he supported the death of Lilith for her human endeavors, surely he would also support whatever punishment their Father would choose for him and maybe MC?

"Oh..." MC lowered their head. "Well, what's it like then? The Celestial night sky?"

Simeon paused a minute, letting himself collect his words.

"It's... here in the Devildom, the days give just enough light to navigate the world, but the night is as dark as the void." He began. "In the Celestial realm, everything is bright and uplifting during the day and the nights don't so much get dark, but rather, the light gets dimmer, more gentle, and the pastel stars are seen through the clouds above."

"You get to live in a world like that?" They turned their head to meet his eyes. "It sounds so beautiful. We have nothing like that in the human world. Do you have any moons though?"

"No, just the stars and the sun our Father made for us." He answered. "The Devildom moons seem so big and foreboding to me however. I don't know if we are missing out much in that regard."

"The moon in my realm isn't like these three though." His Feather gestured to the orbs in the sky. "Ours is not as big and... I guess you could say it provides a gentle light for night time. I think it's because it reflects some of our sun's rays, but I can't remember for sure."

"It must be quite the sight, my Lamb." The angel gave them a soft smile.

"Could... could you come see it with me?"

His smile fell.

"I'm... I'm not sure." He admitted. "I don't think I could come up a secure enough excuse to ask for such clearance."

The human didn't say a thing, just pushed their knees up to their chest. Simeon used his wing to push them close to him and brought his hand to their chin. He had them face him before leaning in and giving them a gentle kiss.

"I love you... but this is all we'll ever get, isn't it?" They asked softly.

Simeon rested his chin on top of their head and stroked their hair.

"I love you too, my little Lamb." He told them. "And I... I do not what the future holds for us, but I will give my all to make it a happy one."

~

Masterlist

[awakendreamersworld]

And here's the final chapter! Let's Stay Together

It was late at night and Doria was sleeping after a long, hard, busy day. Maria got up and packed her personal items into a crab shell bag and set a note on the her bed and started sneaking out out her home, but before she left, she decided to bring Alberto's record player along so they could listen to music together. Before heading above depth, she took one last look at her home and smiled, "I promise I'll be safe." She said and started swimming above depth out of the kingdom towards the current. Maria went inside the current and started swimming through it back to Italian Riviera, where Alberto was.

Alberto woke up the next morning quickly running down stairs and running up to Giulia before she headed out to take care of fish deliveries with Luca. "Hey Giulia, mind if I speak to you for a sec?" He asked grabbing Giulia's arm and heading back upstairs to her room, "What is it, Alberto?" She asked "I wanna get Maria something really special. Like something that means a promise or that we'll stay together no matter what happens!" Alberto said, "Like... and engagement ring?" Giulia said "YES!... What's an engagement ring?" Alberto asked "Its a ring indicating that the person wearing it is engaged to be married, its like a promise to stay together forever." Giulia explained, "Yes, that's perfect!" Alberto shouted "Where can I get one?" "I know someone in town that sells jewelry, maybe they can help you get one." Giulia said, "Perfect! Let's go!" Alberto said grabbing Giulia's arm again and racing downstairs to her bike and hopped on, "We'll be right back, guys! C'mon, Giulia!" Alberto said and Giulia quickly hopped on her bike and started riding up the hill the the person that sells jewelry. Giulia parked her bike by the door and went infront a building with a tent outside on top and a window with jewelry separated in boxes at the bottom, "Ciao, Mr. Miguel, my friend here would like to buy an engagement ring." Giulia said, "What kind?" Mr. Miguel asked, he was bald with scars on his face and a muscular chin and wore an eyepatch over his left eye and was wearing a avocado green shirt with white shorts on and slip on brown shoes. "Well? Which one do you prefer, Alberto? Giulia asked "Hmm, do you have any ocean-like ones?" Alberto asked, "Ohh, I have plenty, Amico. Be right back." He said disappearing into his store. A few minutes later, he came back with a medium sized box of rings, some were silver with ocean blue diamonds on them and some were gold with sapphire blue diamonds on them. There were so many to choose from, they were really pretty too, Alberto had no idea which one to choose, he put his hand inside the box and started moving some of the rings around so he can see what else was underneath them. At the very bottom, he found a ring that Maria might like, Alberto grabbed it and took it out the box, "That's my goddess of the sea ring. You want to buy?" Mr. Miguel asked, Alberto nodded and Giulia gave Mr. Miguel the money to pay for the ring, "Let me get a beautiful box you can put the ring in!" Mr. Miguel said and once again, vanished into his dark home to scavenger around for the perfect box for a perfect ring.

A few miles off the coast, Maria swam up to the surface to see if she was heading the right way, she looked and saw the two islands, one separated and one bigger than it with buildings on it. Yep, this was the place. Maria took a deep breathe and swam towards the island with the town while still holding Alberto's record player with the magical singing lady. Maria's shadow hovered past Luca who was putting his fish herd away, Luca looked up and saw Maria and started swimming towards her. "MARIA!" He yelled excitedly hugging her, "Hehe, hey Luca! Sorry I was gone for so long, my aunt kept worrying about my scars and was trying to keep me home until they were 'ok' on her side." Maria said "Its so good to see you again! Alberto's been missing you, like REALLY missing you." Luca said, "Oh, uhh, well, I'm here now! Where is he?" Maria asked "He's with Giulia, they went to get something I think." Luca said, "Ok, c'mon!" Maria said and started swimming to town with Luca.

Once on shore, Maria headed towards Giulia's home and went inside. Massimo was in the kitchen preparing some food, "Hi Massimo!" Maria said, "Welcome back, Maria. How's your wounds?" He asked, "They're all healed and well!" Said Maria, "That's good, you must be hungry after a long trip back. Please, sit and eat." Massimo said. Maria sat down at the table setting her stuff and Alberto's record player down on the ground and began to eat her pasta. Once finished, Maria went to the tree to decorate it to surprise Alberto. She put seashells around the edges of the wooden bed and set down the record player right in the center, she thought it was perfect and that Alberto was gonna like it. Maria started climbing through the window into Giulia's bedroom and began heading downstairs. Luca went outside and saw Giulia and Alberto heading their way back, he panicked and quickly ran to Massimo. "Alberto's back! Quick, take him with you to catch fish!" Luca said, "But Maria's here. He would want to see her first." Massimo said "Its a surprise! Maria doesn't want to spoil it!" Luca said and Massimo headed outside to Giulia and Alberto setting down the bike, "just in time, Alberto. Come, we have some more fish to catch." He said. Alberto put the boxed ring in his pocket and followed Massimo to the docks and jumped onto the boat and started heading out to the open water. Giulia went inside and saw Maria standing next to Luca, "Maria! Your back!" Giulia shouted in excitement and hugged her, "Hehe, its good to see you too, Giulia! Where's Alberto? Luca told me he was with you." Maria asked, "Oh, he's with my Papa hunting for some fish." Giulia said then looked down at Maria's dress, it had ripped holes from the shark bite and was stained with blood, but Giulia seemed more worried about the dress then Maria's wounds. "Aye, Maria! Your dress! C'mon, lets head back to the tailor. He'll make you a new one." Giulia said grabbing Maria's hand and heading outside to her bike as they hop on and started heading back to the tailor. They hopped off the bike and placed it near the entrance and headed inside, "Ciao, Chipo! We're back!" Giulia said, "Welcome back, Mia- DIO MIO! What happened, Amica!?" He said looking at Maria's ripped bloody dress, "She was attacked by a shark, but she's ok now." Giulia said "Sorry about the dress, do you think you can make a new one?" She asked. "Of course! Anything for a friend! And you need to be careful out in the waters. It may look pretty, but there's all kinds of predators down there!" Chipo said to Maria, "I'll be sure to be more careful next time." Maria said following him to the back so he can make a new dress for her.

Doria woke up and headed to Maria's room to wake her up for school, but her room was empty. There was a note on her bed, she picked it up and it read: 'Dear aunt Doria, I left early, by the time you read this I'm already at Italian Riviera with Alberto! Relax, I'm fine :).' Doria shook her head and smiled then set the note down and put on her crab gear, grabbed her weapons, and headed outside to go start her job on protecting her kingdom.

Massimo started pulling the net up when he noticed Alberto looking inside a small box. "Is that for Maria?" He asked, "Yeah, its an engagement ring! I'm gonna ask her to stay with me." Alberto said and showed the ring to Massimo "I'm sure she'll love it." Massimo said smiling, "I think so too!" Alberto said closing the box and putting it back in his pocket. They continued pulling the net up with another load of fish and started heading back to shore. After waiting a few moments, Maria came out wearing a 1950's light blue rockabilly polka dot Audrey retro vacation summer dress. "Whoa, you look amazing!" Giulia said "Thanks, you think Alberto will like it?" Maria asked "Of course he will!" Giulia said while heading back outside "Thanks, Chipo!" Giulia said waving goodbye to the tailor "Bye, Giulia! Come back soon! And be careful!" He said and Maria and Giulia hopped on the bike and headed back home.

Alberto and Massimo went inside and set the net full of fish down in the corner, "I'll prepare dinner, you go on upstairs to your friend." Massimo said. Alberto went upstairs to Giulia's room and went through the window to the tree, when he was in the tree, he saw his magical singing lady gift he got for Maria and there were seashells around the edges. His eyes widened open to think that Maria was here, Maria headed upstairs with Giulia and the window was open, Maria climbed through the window to see Alberto checking out her decorations. "Do you like it?" Maria said and Alberto turned around and saw her wearing a new beautiful light blue polka dot vacation summer dress, "Whoa, nice dress! Sorry about your old one..." He said "That's okay! Sorry for being gone for so long..." Maria said "... You know how protective my aunt is." "Yeah, I remember..." He said remembering her warning that if he's not careful with protecting Maria, she's coming after him. "Luca told me that you and Giulia went and got something, what was it?" Maria asked, "Oh, right!" Alberto said and grabbed Maria's hand and they both sat down on the wooden board next to the record player.

"Maria, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for 'kinda' faking being in love with you. I just wanted to hang out with you to forget my jealousy of my best friend Luca, he's been hanging out with Giulia all the time and it made me feel isolated. But then meeting you and realizing how much fun I had with you made me realize how much you mean to me, how happy I am with you." Said Alberto,

"Me too! Back at home, I was kind of this kid who breaks the rules and wrecks everything... I even ruined Emily's friendship with her long-time friends. I was just... an outsider... I thought that's how my life was gonna be, just a reckless kid who never learns. But then, I met you! You made me feel like myself again! And I haven't felt like myself in a while, but you helped change that! You showed me that staying with you I'm free to be myself and do whatever I want! And I thank you for that. And when you went after me down into the Midnight Zone, I thought I didn't deserve the rescue since I've done very little to earn it, especially from you." Maria said and smiled "And I'm happy to be with you too."

"Then let's make it official, to stay together forever!" Alberto said pulling out a small, royal blue box and opening it revealing a sterling silver ring with a mermaid on it. "This is a goddess of the sea engagement ring I got from Giulia's jewelry seller friend." He said putting it on Maria's ring finger and holding both of her hands. "Maria, will you stay and live here with me in Portorroso?" Alberto asked, "Yes, of course!" Maria said and hugged Alberto. "Ok... Silencio Bruno..." He said sighing, "what're you doing?" Maria asked "I saw human couples do this, and honestly, its nerve-racking." Alberto said blushing "What?" Maria said. Alberto took a really deep breathe "Silencio Bruno!" He said and quickly kissed Maria on the lips. Maria was surprised, but went with it and kissed back while hugging Alberto, "Ti Amo!" Alberto said ((I love you)), Maria giggled and spoke in her siren language, "Lu fow, that means 'I love you' in Murine Siren language." She said smiling. Alberto smiled back, "Anyways, wanna get some ice cream? My treat!" "Hehe, sure!" Maria said and they stood up and hopped down from the tree and opened the wooden gate to go and get some strawberry ice cream while holding hands.

When they got their ice creams, they went and sat over by the water at the docks and watched the sunset, "I'm really happy to be staying here with you, Alberto." Said Maria, "Me too." Alberto said, "Ah, how nice of you two fish freaks to enjoy a relaxing sunset pretending to be 'normal' when your not." Ercole said walking up to them. Alberto sighed, "Do you mind going someplace else?" "Do YOU mind taking a bath once in a while?" Ercole said while pushing Alberto into the water and he transformed back into a sea monster, Ercole started laughing, "Talk about swimming with the fishes!" Maria then went down to help Alberto up and dragged Ercole down into the water and he was all soaking wet and screaming, "'Talk about swimming with the fishes,' huh?" Maria copied and she and Alberto started laughing. Ercole started getting out of the water, "You will pay for this!" He said and ran off. "I wanted to go for a swim anyways, what about you?" Maria asked Alberto "Yeah, me too. Race to my island? I still have stuff there I want to show you." He said, "Sure." Maria said and they both dove underwater and started swimming towards Alberto's island, Alberto showed Maria all the human stuff he collected and Maria was impressed with the stuff he had. They brought the record player with the magical singing lady and played it, Alberto took Maria's hand and started dancing with her.

"What are you doing?" She asked

"Its called dancing! I basically invented it." Said Alberto twirling Maria

Maria giggled, "How do I do this?"

"Just let the music control your body and it makes you dance." Alberto said

Maria started spinning and skipping like it was a ballet as Alberto watched in amazement. He then grabbed her hand again and they both started dancing with each other spinning, skipping and twirling.

After a few hours of showing Maria all the cool human stuff, they swam back home and ate some pasta. They went back up to Giulia's room and climbed through her window to the tree and layed down together looking at the starry night sky. "This was the best day ever." Maria said happily, "I know, right? And are you sure that you aunt isn't gonna come here and take you back?" Alberto asked nervous that her aunt would return to check if he's taking care of Maria or else, "Don't worry, I left her a note this time. I'm sure she won't come back here." Maria said snuggling closer to Alberto "That's a relief." He said and kissed Maria's head "Goodnight, Maria." He said "Goodnight, Alberto." Maria said and they both dozed off into a deep sleep with Alberto's right arm wrapped around Maria and Maria's head laying on Alberto's chest while hugging him.

Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9

[fullmarvelheart]

Manhattan Incident

Pairing: Avengers x Enhanced!OFC

Word Count: 2,162

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of traumatic past, insomnia, passing out(..?)

A/N: Welcome to Chapter 1! I hope you all enjoy the story as well as the characters! Image is not my own. All rights go to the original creator.

Series Masterlist

I roll over and stare at my ceiling for what feels like the millionth time this night. Sleepless nights like this are not uncommon for me, unfortunately. Too many memories swirl in my head, bad memories at that.

The bright red numbers on the clock read 3:30am. I groan as I drag my hands across my face in frustration. Knowing that I'd just keep getting annoyed at myself, I tiredly throw the covers off my body and decide to go on an early morning run to relax my mind. 

When I step out into the crisp night, it feels as if a bucket of cold water has been thrown on me and I instantly feel awake.

I smile to myself as I lock the door behind me and stuff my key in the pocket of my leggings. It's a miracle I even found leggings with pockets! The cold air feels refreshing compared to my hot and stuffy bedroom. It helps ease my overactive mind.

The sound of my pounding footsteps on the pavement is music to my ears as I just focus only on that. It's extremely more pleasant that the hustle and bustle of cars and people that plague the New York  streets during the day.

I feel the energy flowing into each building and through each living thing as I pass by, though I try my best to ignore it.

The streets of Brooklyn are eerily silent besides the few garbage cans being rummaged through by raccoons or even some people. The few people that were still up stare at me, but I don't stop, I can't stop.

The slower I run, the more the memories start to return, the more the pain returns, the louder my thoughts get. I push my body harder, faster, to almost inhuman like speeds. I try to hold myself back as I feel my muscles screaming for a break. Though, the want to not hold back at all and run even faster than normally possible is strong, but my mind fights me on that. It fights me on both of those things.

Keep running!

No, don't! Stop!

Blend in, don't go faster!

Run faster! As fast as you know you can!

It's frustrating, and painful.

I begin to focus on my surroundings and realize I have no idea where I am. I slow to a stop before hunching over, ignoring the dull throbbing in my head that's beginning to form, hands on my knees in order to catch my breath. I could easily replenish my strength but I can't, I won't. Not after everything. Not while there is still a risk. I had finally found a place to settle, I'm not going to ruin that now.

I let out a loud sigh into the quiet night as I straighten up. My hand moves behind my head and allows my dirty-blond colored locks to fall out of the ponytail it was in. I begin to redo it when I hear a low rumble. I freeze, thinking I was encountering an earthquake, but the ground isn't trembling and it doesn't sound... natural. Small strands of my now loose blond hair brush across my face as the breeze gently tosses it around. The sound grows steadily louder and I begin the look around when I see it in the sky.

It looks like a star, about to collide with Earth. As it gets closer, I can't find the will to move away. It strikes, causing me to stumble to the ground. I raise up my hands to create an energy field around me for protection and notice nothing hits it. Lowering my hands, and ignoring the messy strands of hair across my face, I notice there's a some sort of bright beam.

"It almost looks like a rainbow." I whisper to myself as I stand and feel the raw power pulse within it.

The light suddenly fades, the blackness of the late night returning almost instantly. When my eyes grow accustomed to the dark, I notice a figure, shakily pushing themselves off the ground. They're no human, I'm certain of that. They radiate more power than anything I've ever felt in my life on Earth. It's weak, but still very much there. I can only stare at this person, my feet frozen to the ground.

When they stand up, their head falls back before they drag their hands down their face. By their side profile, I can tell it's a man. A man with what appears to be a cape, groaning in the middle of the street. He looks tall, strong, and has wavy long hair. I'm... intrigued by his sudden presence here, of all places.

Suddenly a bright golden light, with a bit of a greenish tint erupts from the center of his chest and cascades over his whole body. The cape disappears. I quietly gasp in awe. The power, I can feel it, I can feel it's uniqueness. However, the gasp wasn't quiet enough.

His head snaps towards me and I can see his fist clenching in the dark. Still, I stand there frozen.

But then I feel a presence behind me, a weak one of the man's.

A shadow maybe... I muse to myself.

He walks faster, with a purpose. He extends his arms creating two small but sharp daggers. He's still a bit away from me but I don't give him the chance to come much closer. Draining the power of the shadow behind me, and using what little strength I have from lack of sleep, I send an energy ball at him that glows a brilliant light blue before it knocks the man back several feet.

He lands with a thud and I don't give him the chance to attack again. Using the power lines running underneath the street, I teleport back to my room in my small home.

"Damn it!" I curse, flopping down on the bed, exhaustion weighing on my bones.

It's alright, I just need to lay low now... No one is up at this hour. No one saw... Hopefully they won't find me... 

.

.

.

A few hours later and I had finished eating breakfast. Turning on the early morning news, I drink my cup of coffee on the couch, relishing in the taste that touches my tongue and the warmth that flows down my throat. I lazily glance at the clock then look back at the TV.

Wait...

I look back over at the clock hanging on my wall and my eyes shoot open in alarm.

Crap! I'm going to be late for work!

I chug the rest of my drink, annoyed at the fact I can't savor it as I planned. Grabbing my keys and my purse, I dash outside. Let's just say I am pushing "on-time" when I get there. I throw open the door to the little café I work at and hurriedly weave my way through the customers.

"Eh, look who made it." One of my co-workers, Anna, says sarcastically. "Hey, everyone!" She calls back to our other co-workers. "Saddie's here!" I chuckle with her as this happens every-so-often... maybe like every other work day... yeah... I punch in and grab my apron before hurriedly tying it as I walk towards the front of the store.

She's still giggling to herself as I pull my hair back.

"Shut up Anna, I was on time." I say with a small smile.

"Barely." She chuckles.

I was about to reply when I happened to glance at the TV. I gasp, staggering back with a hand over my month. Everything else around me fades. On the news is an image of a Q-Ship flying over Manhattan, one of Thanos' many ships. Then the people running in a panic outside draws my attention.

Damn, why is it always New York?

"Everybody run!" Anna screams, causing a panic. I find myself running too, but towards the danger.

I push myself through the people, moving them slightly out of my way with my ability, but not significantly enough for them to tell. I look up towards the ship that I can now see for myself. Iron Man's suit flies over the horizon of panic and I grow suddenly nervous. I can't believe I'm going to do this... Without any warning, someone forcibly shoves my shoulder, causing me to lose balance. Before I hit the ground, strong arms wrap around me and drag me to the side of crazed people.

"Watch where you're going, mortal. Anyone of them would have trampled you. You're lucky I was there." An accented voice says dangerously close to my ear while slightly laced with amusement and what sounds like terror.

I feel it before I even look at him, the energy... it's the same as the man's... the one from last night.

I snap my head in the direction of his voice and come face to face with bright emerald green eyes. I push myself away with a force I don't usually use on normal humans.

But he's far from human.

He goes flying into the wall, then looks back at me, stunned as I regain my footing, before realization crosses his face. I don't take time to look at him more but instead continue towards the chaos, forcefully ripping off my apron in the process. I run into the middle of the street to find one of Thanos' Children I recognize as the bastard Ebony Maw, disappearing on his whirlwind of debris chasing after a red flying blur.

I feel for a current running under the city and use that to teleport closer to Maw. Running after them is easier said than done. Debris and abandoned cars create an obstacle course for me to weave around. Instead of doing that, I continually teleport near him. It's faster but still tiring to do.

I eventually notice Spider-Man swinging to reach the same red blur. Maw tries to catch the red mass using light posts and eventually snags it, though a man falls out. I gasp in horror, freezing, watching him fall when Spider-Man swings between the buildings keeping the other man from falling. Too many males in this fight... geez... You all need some estrogen!

I stop, only a couple hundred feet away when feel the hum of energy that surges through the ship. The transport beam activates, sucking the man in the air while the Sider-Man tries desperately to hold him back. Maw starts to use his powers to lift up the post Spider-Man is clinging onto. Snapping out of my observational trance, I conjure an energy ball and aim it at Maw. He doesn't notice until it's too late. He flies backwards from the force of the collision, but manages to remain conscious, to my annoyance. Using his powers to prevent his fall, he straightens up and turns to me with that haunting smirk of his.

Objects begin to fly at me and I create as many energy shields as I can, blocking their path. I create a bubble around myself before draining the currents underneath me to send out a shockwave. The flying objects are pushed away or are obliterated, windows are blown in and shatter, cars fly out of the street and into the buildings, stone and brick crack and crumble from the force. Maw goes flying back also, unable to block my ability.

Feeling slightly drained, I fall to my knee. I look up to see Maw picking himself up from the ground. He sends me a snarl before jumping into the beam as well.

Panic floods my system as he disappears and the beam stops. I groan as I push myself to my feet and begin to run after them, convincing myself I could still help them from here. An idea comes to me and I come to a stop before focusing on the feel of the Q-Ship. It's energy is so powerful, I'm terrified. I haven't practiced with my powers lately, I barely have enough energy to do this after what I've already done. I have no idea if this will even work. But I have to help, somehow... I have to try!

I have to help to make up for that day. The day that I couldn't save her. The day I lost the other half of me. The day my twin was ripped away from this life. And I have to make up for everything since, in someway.

I reach out to the power source, and begin to drain the ship. My hands shake as I do so, the energy feels too heavy. I should have gotten closer. But the ship begins to move, I-I c-can't...

More power is pushed through the ship, enough to move it through the atmosphere. It's getting farther... too far.

The world begins to spin and I collapse. Though, I feel someone's arms holding onto me, preventing me from hitting the hard pavement below.

Then the world goes black.

Chapter 2

[beomgyushighlights]

Circus {H.K}

Day 3 (X)

"all eyes on me in the center of the ring just like a circus"

in which the first words Nari's soulmate says to her are "free britney"

or

in which two idols find their soulmates in each other after thirteen days of little comments without knowing who the other was

-a short story soulmate au-

©beomgyushighlights 2021

do not translate or repost without permission

(can also be found on wattpad and ao3 under the same username)

masterlist

   "Once more, I'll get it this time." Nari promises, frustratedly, getting back into starting position. The band is currently recording a performance for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Nari, however, is not content with any of her dancing.

   "Nari, take a break, get water, cool down. We can go again once you've calmed down." Osamu says. She lets out a sigh of frustration and walks off. She puts her airpods in and turns her music as loud as it goes and blasts her playlist of songs that hype her up. After three songs, she stands back up, ready to kill the performance.

"You got this!" Jimmy encourages. "Hell yeah, we do." She smiles and gives him a fist bump, her more significantly improved. After one more full shot, they all watch the video to see what they could improve.

   "Hell yeah! I didn't mess up!" Nari cheers. "That's the one." Osamu smiles. "That's a wrap!" Jimmy yells. Having already filmed the interview, the five band members head back to the extremely large bighit building. On the way home, Nari gets a phone call.

   "Nari!" The person greets. "Chaewon!" She greets back. "Guess what!" She says. "Let me guess, you finally planned your wedding?" Nari asks. It's silent for a few moments. "No... It's better than that though!" Chaewon exclaims. "You guys eloped, no ceremony?" Nari asks. "No, I'm pregnant!" She finally says.

   "What!? That's amazing! How far along are you?" Nari asks. "Four months!" Chaewon replies. "So, do you know if Im going to be an aunt to a girl or boy?" Nari asks. "We do know, it's a girl!" Chaewon says. "I'm so excited!" Nari squeals, catching the attention of a passerby.

Hyejin automatically falls back as they approach the building, stepping behind Nari and placing a hand on her back as she's occupied with her phone and not paying attention to her surroundings. Security holds the crowd back as the five walk inside. "When's your due date?" She asks. Chaewon recites the date the doctor told her.

   "Wow, that's so amazing. I'm so happy for you and Haru. I have to go though, we have to practice the dance for our new single that's coming out soon." She says. "Thats fine! I'll be waiting for the single! Good luck, I know you and the others will do great. I love you!" She says. "I love you too, bye!" Nari says, waiting for a bye in response before hanging up.

   The five band members head to the room where they begin prepping for practice. "Grrah we go wild." Nari sings, quite loudly. "Wolfgang!" Someone yells running down the hall. Recognizing the voice and the weight of the steps, Nari runs to the door and looks both ways, again not seeing her soulmate.

   "Was that your soulmate again?" Eun asks. "Yeah, missed them again." Nari frowns. "It's okay, you'll meet them soon. Have you figured out what the number means?" Yejun asks. "Yeah, it's days. It was XII when they said 'free Britney', XI yesterday, and now it says X." She says.

   "What about you other three? Do you guys know how long?" Osamu asks. "Six months." Yejun answers. "One year." Eun replies. "Six months as well." Hyejin says. Osamu hums and makes mental notes so he can use it to cheer the members up if they get sad. The five begin practice for their new single dropping in three months.

After a while they take a lunch break. "I'll pick it up, but let's call and order because an idol was over there yesterday and they were almost mobbed." Nari says. "Okay." Osamu agrees, calling the restaurant across the street. Fifteen minutes later they call back saying it's ready.

   Nari walks downstairs, mask and hat on as well as a large coat. She crosses the street and walks inside, bumping into someone. "Sorry." She apologizes, bowing slightly before continuing to the counter. Her goal is to spend less than five minutes outside of the building, It's already been two.

   "Order for Atsumu." She says, using the name Osamu uses for orders that have to be called out loud. He picked it after watching an anime where a charcter named Osamu had a twin named Atsumu. He thought it was creative and funny if he used it as his fake name.

   The person at the counter passes the food over after grabbing it off the rack. "Here you go, have a nice day." The person says. "Thank you, you too." She bows, grabbing the food. She dashed across the street and badges into the building. Less than five minutes spent outside of the building, goal achieved.

   She rushes up the stairs, knowing that everyone's hungry. She places the food on the small table and Yejun passes it out, making sure each of their band mates gets their food. After eating they let their food settle while they discuss what they can do to improve their performance.

   "Yejun, when Nari says her lines in the chorus you were a little far over, try coming a little closer." Eun suggests. They nod and commit that piece of information to memory.

   "Nari, I know that we don't have mics or screaming fans here but we will when we perform on the stage, I think it would be extremely beneficial if you started singing a little louder now that way you already do it off instinct." Osamu says. "Yessir." Nari says.

   "For the last move, how does the footwork go again?" Hyejin asks. "Ten more minutes and I'll show you before we start practice again." Eun says. "Okay." She says. "What was the call on the way back about?" Yejun asks Nari.

   "Oh! My sister, Chaewon, is having a baby in five months, a little girl." She says. "That's great! Did she and Haru plan their wedding yet?" Hyejin asks. "No, she bought a planning book and she sent me pictures, it's about half filled out. They just don't have a date, venue, or dress yet. Knowing Chaewon, they won't have the wedding until the baby is like two years old though." Nari says.

   "Wow, how are she and Haru doing? They moved to Jeonju, right?" Eun asks. "Yes, they moved last week and Chaewon says that everything is going good so far, they're almost fully unpacked." Nari answers. "Okay, back to practice, we can talk more about Chaewon later." Osamu says.

[orionnquartzwater]

In a local witches group on my personal FB page, an admin I look up to asked us what our current altars looked like at the moment to spark up a discussion. I had an offhand picture of recently showing and explaining my faith to a friend of mine, but as I began to reflect on the items, my reply grew longer and longer until Facebook just gave up on allowing me to post it. Still wanting to share, I figured I would host my answer here.

This is my current set-up. Please excuse some of the mess, I'm currently in the process of clearing out the old for the new calender year. I don't work at my altar very often at the moment as life has been a little hectic, but it's right above my fireplace in my living room! ♡

PHOTO DESCRIPTION WITH DETAILS AND PERSONAL HISTORIES BEHIND THE OBJECTS PICTURED: On white shelf above the fireplace in my living room is my altar, lit by a ceiling light that brings the eye to the center of the image where a wall-hanging of the elemental symbols I hand-crafted in branches and black twine covers a large portion of the white wall in the back. In the middle on the top of the hanging decor is a clear hand-crafted witch ball I made several years back when my coven was still meeting and I was teaching some of the history behind them and what they are today filled with many different herbs and a large cinnamon stick. Several natural pieces of twine hang from some of the twigs that make up the elemental symbols, used for tying and drying herb bunches above my altar, currently sitting empty. On both sides framing the mantle on the wall, there two metallic swirling candle holders, one of which has a recently gifted antique bell from my once-ignorant and oppressive grandmother about what my faith truly had meant to me on twine hanging from it. In the dead center of the altar, a large glass candle holder sits containing a layered orange and red candle, burned most of the way down with ash on the insise of the glass as it hasn't been in use for some time. Currently displayed on top of the candle is my own hand-crafted wand that sits perfectly balanced in my hand with the natural curve of the branch. It felt made for my hand as I whittled the top down and used copper and quartz to charge it, wrapping the handle and charging the energy forward with the small point I've had for years until I found why I had clung to it.

Two alabaster statuette busts of the Greek deities Artemis (to the left), and Apollo (to the right) also frame the large glass candleholder. The statues are of the deities who I worked faithfully worked with to recieve my service dog Andromeda, and thank constantly trying to honor, as everything in my life had said I couldn't receive her from time to money to circumstance to lack of outside help, even though everything else about it was said that it was truly meant for me, and I believe to this day it was due to them watching me working tirelessly to do everything on my end including my rituals and asking for their assistance that they granted me a medically healing (Apollo's side) & faithful canine (Artemis's side). I had the statues shipped to me from Greece, and the golden accents on the alabaster textiles and laurel on them are probably my favorite part of them. They're one of my most prized possessions. The two godly siblings face each other with their heads cast in different directions. Behind Artemis, slightly to her right is a black and white painting I did of the forested coast and night sky with a prominent moon bouncing off the waves and a comet in the stars above (Ironically, my dog Andromeda (Andi) was listed as Comit in the breeders list as well, something I hadn't even considered when painting and adding it to my altar). To Artemis' left is a small antler chew we took from my service dog when she was too big to use it safely any longer, as well as a small clay torso of the human form I crafted some time ago. In front of the mini painting is where I currently sit a chakra bracelet gifted to me years ago, and sitting in front of those not too far from the edge is an incense holder depicting a skeleton with roses around it as a memento mori, a circle of life as the ash falls and the incense is burned. To the left of that are some pieces of geodes and petrified woods I have that my grandmother also gifted me, two unused candles in front of those, and a petrified wood piece laying flat that holds two tiny pinecones connected by a stem and two coins for abundance beside a ceramic acorn bowl holding many gemstones collected through the years, including the labradorite my grandmother also gifted me when I was a small child and found myself connecting to the stone as I connected to the faith alone on my own. To the left of that is a tall decorative triple goddess wooden box box my dad's girlfriend bought for me, a small black and white moon phase & elemental symbol zentangle art piece sitting above it that I drew in pen in high school, and in front of them on the altar is an antique taxidermied dog-paw letter opener made of Mother of Pearl, dating the beloved Print's death as Sept 15th, 1867 that I use for directing energy, connecting to the love we hold for those in our lives, and also with connecting to the centuries past in my own hands.

To Apollo's right sits a massive pinecone, and behind him somewhat obscured is a small wax burner currently holding the remnants of the ritual work I had been using to call forth my service dog to me as a variety of herbs, green wax for abundance and coins. To the right of that are a variety of candles, currently perching a bird's nest that had fallen out of and was sitting abandoned from the tree in front of my apartments two years ago that would have been tossed by maintainence or mowed over but found a renewed life in my practice after it sat abandoned for some time. Beside that is a squared lantern of black metal framinh with frosted glass and metallic fir tree silhouettes. Also the right of that, leaning over the edge of the mantle from a small end table not pictured is a twig broom with the bristles up. (On the very edge of the mantle also sits a large bottle of hand-sanitizer constantly in use as I live with a hospital worker, and both cleanliness and healthcare are just as important in our faith, lest we forget to take care of ourselves with the modern knowledge passed down to us now, nor forget to do our part wherever we go.)

— I haven't had the mind to do much traditional work, even here, and this doesn't include the dresser I plan on doing a fuller altar for so I can have a place to be alone, in my space, and wholly enter the circle once more as I haven't been able to do that in a very, very long time, but this one houses most of my items of power, is displayed prominently, and is curated to allow me to remember to honor my faith more and never stop working on it, taking time to stand in front of it and reflect on me, my faith, where I came from and where I'm going as well as spending a moment with the deities I honor. After my birthday later this year growing up in a household of agnostics and the faith and discomfort of my oppressive grandparents, I'll actually have been in the faith for more than half my life as I was only 11 when I stumbled into it alone, celebrated my first Imbolc all by myself by making crafts out of ribbons and buying and lighting candles, meditating reading books. I ran around with my bell wand shaking it at nature to reawaken it for spring, and I knew I would always be in the faith, and want to raise a future family in it, and grow a community of like-minded folks. I'm still always learning, and it makes me equally immensely proud and insanely humbled when I can teach others what I've learned since the faith found me. I can actually remember crying to my grandma about whether or not magic(k) could truly exist in the world and she told me if I believed in it, it DID at that age, and the feelings of finding power in my faith after growing up so alone have been unlike any other. Finding other witches was one of the most impactful moments of my life, especially growing up in a heavily Christian town of just over 1,000. Nothing has made me ever feel more fulfilled than people who know me and know I have been in the faith since childhood coming up to me to timidly ask them to teach them some things and where they could start to learn more, asking questions and finding me with a million resources for them, only to come back at a later date and truly thank me for helping them find their path to deity, to nature, to being one with the energies around us and finding power in their experiences and newfound budding faith and community. I've since found a true passion for anthropology and folklore, and I never feel more whole than working with others who share that with me. I think that my coven was one of the best things I experienced in high school, a mix of young witches learning and finding our paths and bringing our passions to life with each other and what we knew over good food, good friends and good faith wasn't something I got to experience often until then.

I'm still hoping to one day build an establishment where witches and aspiring witches can come, talk, read, ask for recommendations, be taught by local witches, take community crafting classes with history lessons, and be able to continue to provide that feeling to other folks. One of the people I ended up mentoring after they were asking me questions and for book recommendations, for clarifications and good conversation, also reaffirmed my childhood last name of faith that came to me by expressing their gratitude of my mentorship referring to me as "a willow tree I was providing wisdom, knowledge and needed shade to the growing saplings around them," and I actually broke down crying as Willow was the last name I ended up with as child, and Willowtree was the last name I had settled on after my transition. I hate the feeling of buying myself mass-produced items used for making a quick buck off a community rather than fostering the Craft, and the power that's within our tools created by hand or when they're gifted by people who impacted us with the knowledge of what they mean and the things they hold are just so much different than not knowing the ethical conditions of who made the materials, or the companies behind them pandering for money, and it's a bit of a passion project as my physical health keeps me from being able to work much on my own. I often wish I could go back and tell a young me how much I would learn and do, how many amazing people I would meet, and communities I would find, even in the areas directly around me. I think I would have been amazed. After writing all of this, I looked back and realized that my current set-up is actually doing it's EXACT job right now. As I described the objects and what they meant to me when I got them, I got caught up in it the same way I do IRL when I pass by and take a moment to think about what my faith holds for me, where I'm coming from and where I really want to take things from here. I guess it's REALLY just that effective on me that even trying to answer a question about it off-hand in a post really ends up in me really taking a minute to address who I am and the power it all holds to me, especially standing where I stand today.

Blessed Be! I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

— 12.9.2020