#[[ he got to kiss his Master again...sort of xD ]]

[countlessrealities]

Send 🌿 to accidentally get caught under the mistletoe with my muse || No longer accepting.

@mcltiples sent: 🌿 { Your Weird Rick from Rick V-79 }

While decorating the living room for their little Christmas time, Rick had made sure to check off the list all the clichéd he had found online. In movies and TV shows, the brighter and more stuffed with frills a house was, the more it was considered festive, and he had been aiming to reproduce that effect, and then some more.

He had gotten a bit of everything: stars, comets, pine cones, a tons of different baubles, small adornments shaped like gifts, Christmas trees and Santa-related objects, Christmas stockings, candles. Then meters of string lights of different shapes and colours, garlands and wreath, holly and poinsettia. And, of course, among the other greeneries, mistletoe, since it was one of the classics...even if he had completely forgotten the particular tradition linked to it.

His research on the festivity had been superficial, aimed to recreate the appearances without truly digging into the deeper meanings. He couldn't have cared less about those. This was all a fun game for him, a little show to put on for his personal enjoyment and nothing else.

Though, when he bumped into his alternate underneath one of mistletoe bundles later that afternoon and found himself being stared at expectantly, he did wonder if, perhaps, it would have been best to look a little more into the symbols he had spread all over the room.

Bright blue eyes bounced between the plant and the other man a few times, as a crease formed between his brows. There was something itching in the back of his mind, telling him that he should know what this was all about, but it still took him several seconds to retrieve that piece of information.

Oh. Oh. He had brought this upon himself, hadn't he? So, all he could do now was to go along with it and play it cool.

"Naughty, naughty kitten. Look at you, ambushing me! So shameless," he teased, acting as if it hadn't just taken him an embarrassingly long time to put the pieces together. And, of course, he was going to blame it all on his companion. "And so greedy. That's not very Christmas-y of you, is it?"

He flashed a sly smirk at his alternate, but he took a step closer, leaving just an inch between their bodies. One of his hands came to cup the side of his alternate's face, firmly but also almost affectionately.

"But since you've been so good today and gotten me such a nice present, I'll indulge in your antics.~"

With that, he leant in, as to bring their mouths together, but at the last moment he stuck his tongue out instead, running it all over the other's lips. Like a cat or a dog giving their friend an affectionate lick.

"Now, run along, my pet. We still have plenty of movies to go through!"

[freddleafton12345-blog]

Nsfw thought about doing it with the fiercest warrior of the Echidna tribe (female reader!)

I firmly believe Knuckles will worship your entire being. Even the ground you walk on. He's definitely the type of man who will kiss every inch of your skin. Breasts, tummy, thighs, he wants you to know how much he cares for you.

Though the 1st few tries you guys had with sex were sort of awkward. You felt scared that he might go too rough and accidentally hurt you, so you made up an excuse as to why he couldn't claim you. He bought it.

Then it happened again. And again. And again.

Finally the poor thing asked if you feared becoming his mate. You felt bad for hurting his feelings so you told him the truth that you feared his strength.

"My love.." he began, gently taking your small hands in his. "No force on earth could ever make me even think of hurting you. You are a goddess sent from the heavens themselves. I will make sure you are worshipped, loved, and satisfied for as long as you want."

And that's all it took for you to feel more eager to go all the way

~~~~~

- he tends to focus on your pleasure. Not his own. However he would like to release as much of his seed as he can into you, so he KNOWS your truly his

- he's got tons, and I mean TONS of stamina. He can probably go for 10 rounds before he needs a break

- he's always asking "is this okay, my love?" "My dear, are you sure you want me to go faster/harder?" He wants to make sure you aren't hurt!

- bites. He claims his mark will let others know you're taken, and already claimed. Expect to wake up in the morning with hickeys everywhere on your body (Tom and Maddie didn't notice because you put on makeup to hide the marks, much to Knuckles dismay XD)

- he loves it when you scream his name and grab his quills as he eats you out. You're like the best feast he ever got to taste. Your screams let him know he's doing his most valuable mission, aka, pleasing you till you're satisfied. (Tho the 1st time you screamed in pleasure, he thought he hurt you and stopped immediately 😭)

- he doesn't know much about how humans have many different positions. He's usually got you in a mating press, or he's on his knees, eating you out. He'll be open to other positions if you bring it up. He wants to learn as much as he can so he can properly treat you like the queen you are!

- when you 1st sucked him off he was honestly baffled. You sure had guts to be the one who started engaging in such activities with the last member of the Echidna's. It turned him on, but he won't admit that XD

- he doesn't get super loud. He typically let's out soft grunts and growls, and his tail wags a bit when he's nearing his release

- I think he probably has struggled in the past with heat seasons/ruts, because he never had a mate in the tribe. So when he experiences these issues, he holds back unless you DEMAND he go all out with you

- he doesn't really care if you make expressions from the pleasure. If it's an indication he's making his queen feel good, then he's happy

- Knuckles is the master of aftercare. He gets you anything you want, and his fur is nice and soft. So yes, he's an excellent cuddle buddy!

- if you happen to have a small happy trail/hair down near your vagina, he doesn't care. He just thinks it makes you more intriguing

- if you're on the chubby side, great! Means you'll be the prime candidate for his aftercare snuggles!

- say you've even got stretch marks. He thinks they're interesting. If you're sensitive about them, he won't talk about it further, as to not upset you

- overall he's always focusing on what makes you feel good, because you're his beloved mate, who will soon become his queen♡

PLZ REBLOG IF U WANT!))

[lemmilemura]

Dating Simon headcanons

If you know me, you know I literally made this account because Tumblr was the only soure of Simon screencaps etc I had. And, since I am writing what I believe to be the first ever Simon x reader fic on the entire internet over on AO3, I thought I’d feed you all some more. So, here’s some headcanons of what I think it’d be like to date Simon. Might also include NSFW if I feel like it/if anything comes to mind, but it will be marked with 🍋(real original, I know) so you can skip it if you want to. It is also currently 2 hours past when I’m supposed to go to bed and I haven’t gotten proper, 8 hours of sleep in like a month so yeah, apologies if there’s any grammar mistakes or anything similar.

They’re all kept gender neutral, and reader is referred to as ’you’.

Specifically book Simon, since book and show are pretty different I now realize

Emjoy.

TELL HIM YOU LOVE HIM AND HE WILL MELT

Ok, sorry, I’ll calm down

But seriously, we know this kid hasn’t really gotten that much love or compassion from others, and probably was never even in a real relationship before you, so whenever you express that you genuinely like him and want to be with him, he kind of schort-circuits

He’s also kind of worried you’re only with him to get info on others, and once you’ve got enough you’ll leave him, and that it’s all a cruel joke

But, again, if you reassure him that no, you’re not just here for info and you do infact love him, he’ll slowly learn to not listen to the voice in his head, it will take a while tho, so get ready

Of course, since it’s Simon, if anyone ever messes with you, in any way shape or form, be that at school, online, strangers in public, whatever, he will have them on display on AboutThat the next morning, or even within a couple of hours, front and center. He doesn’t really care who it is, but if they mess with you, they mess with him too

🍋 Now we all know Simon likes to feel all high and mighty, untouchable, right? So, might I suggest, that Simon would probably enjoy power play? Of course he’s always the one with power, and I feel he’d get a reeeeeeal kick out of getting to use you however we wants (with your consent of course, he might be an ass who kinda ruins peoples lives but he’s not a monster). If you’re into it too then even better! Though he’d never push you too far, he doesn’t want to hurt and maybe even lose you! Call him something like Sir, Mister, Master or anything of the like and wheeeeeew you’ll be in for a ride. Most of the time literally xD

Simon is definitely terrified of losing you, I mean you’re one of, if not the, first people to really care for him. He’s always worried that he’ll say or do something wrong and that you’ll leave him. :( please do reassure him you won’t leave, it will probably end up with him crying, though.

At school, of course, he’s all cocky and confident, but I feel with you, in private, be that at yours or his place, he’d stop being so braggy, and actually be quite touchy and affectionate and quiet. I can imagine you two just sitting on whoever’s house you’re currently in’s bed, both sort of doing your own thing, but still leaning on another, maybe occasionally saying a few words, but mostly keeping quiet. Sometimes the Tv will be on in the background, playing whatever channel was last on, sometimes it’ll just be music, or maybe even nothing, only the sounds of both of you clicking away at laptops, phones, the sound of pages in a book turning, whatever.

I think we can all agree that Simon is probably pretty touch-starved, I mean lookatem! At school he’d probably not be that touchy, maybe just holding your hand or his arm around your waist, just small things people easily miss. He’d probably not be the biggest fan of PDA, but also probably would’t hate it. Sure he’s give you a quick kiss or two, but you wouldn’t get into full on makeout sessions in the middle of school. He hates when others do it, so he also won’t.

In private, however, it’s as if he’s superglued to you, always touching you in some way. Leaning on you when you’re both working, holding you when you watch Tv together, you sitting on his lap when he’s at his desk, whatever. He’s always hesitant to let go because his brain tells him that if he lets go, he’ll never get to hold you again, that you’ll disappear.

Maybe, just maybe, you’d even be enough for him to scrap his plan, to not actually kill himself. I doubt he just one random day decided to do it, he must have started planning ahead years before. And it will take a while for him to decide that no, he doesn’t want to do it anymore, because he has you. I feel the day it’s all officially cancelled, he’d probably sit down on his bed or desk and just, take it all in for a bit. Never had he felt this safe and happy with someone before, so much so that he doesn’t want to kill himself anymore. He definitely cries.

I feel you’d eventually find out. Maybe you do by accident, maybe he tells you, doesn’t really matter. Either way, a lot of crying happens. You crying because he wanted to kill himself, then because you are the reason he didn’t and then him crying because of all the emotions and how new this all is for him.

NEW

So we all probably know the song 'Teenage Dirtbag' right? Well, I just heard it on tiktok, the end part where she also sings to be precise, and I dunno why but I just thought of Simon and his S/O. Like he never thought they'd ever even acknowledge him, and when they do he's just like "Wot". I dunno, my brain just does stuff sometimes.

In conclusion: I fucking love Simon, I want him to be happy, healthy and loved and I will gladly give him that love. <33

If anything else pops into mind, I will add it, I’ll mark it too so you’ll see what’s new!

[teenandbeyond]

Hi, may I request an NSFW for senku ishigami x fem reader, where senku and reader are married. y/n loves him SO much but she thinks that she'll just annoy him if she'd start making physical contact (like hugging and giving him little kisses) so she gets nervous, while on the other hand, senku is desperately hiding how he loves her, and how horny he gets around her. like he's so good at hiding it, but when he gets back and y/n's isn't home, he'd pleasure himself to sleep until he's satisfied with thoughts about her, it became a habit and he started doing it ALOT. One day she caught him in that state and he explains everything and... you know what's next. If it's too long or detailed then you don't need to do it!

Senku x Fem.Reader

I think I can make it work just fine! It's not too detailed or anything, even if it was, I like a good challenge every once in a while! P.s. Gives me good practice for my Senku fic I'm writing, flesh out his personality in a romantic setting, you know? Edit: The fic is now out! xD Check it out on Quotev or Wattpad, it's called Incalculable!

Want more from me? →→Masterlist←←

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Kiss me More (Dr.Stone)

Warning(s): Slight angst, NSFW, Fluff, Aged-up character, (Just made it pre-stone world because I was unsure if you wanted pre or post stone world)

The married life with Senku isn't all paradise, both of you are desperate, but think you're the only one. But the misunderstanding gets canceled out when you catch him in a compromising position.

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You slowly open your eyes, immediately hearing the clacking of keyboard keys. You sighed, turning your face into your pillow.

"Mornin', honey."

"Morning, did I wake you?" he glanced at your figure.

You shook your head, before turning to face him, "No. Woke up on my own...time is it, Senku?"

"5:30--Damn idiots, they did this all wrong."

"So we've still got a little time before work, good."

You yawned with a small stretch, slowly sitting up.

"Why in the world did you take the morning shift, again? You're not a morning person."

You smiled, "I wanted to wake up with you, silly."

His cheeks tinted pink, "That's irrational if you can't even stop yawning."

You shifted over to see what he was working on, consciously stopping yourself from almost leaning against him.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Fixing these idiots' mistakes before I leave. Terrible at making the correct notes."

You giggled, "Well, good thing they have you."

"They would be 10 billion percent doomed if I wasn't there. I need a new team."

"I've been telling you that for a while."

"Until I get the promotion coming up, I'm stuck with it. If I get it, that is."

You bit your lip to stop yourself from kissing his cheek.

"I know you'll get it. You're the best scientist in that department. And if they don't give it to you because they're crazy...Well, I'm proud of you, either way, Senku."

He watched as you shuffled out of the bed, moving to your shared wardrobe to find your outfit for work.

You smiled as you went through your sorted clothes, mentally thanking Senku for taking the time for you.

Being so distracted being a work fashionista, you didn't notice the clacking of keys stop.

He couldn't help the fond smile that stretched onto his face as your brows slowly started to furrow, mumbling to yourself about the weather and such.

He glanced down to the band on his finger, caressing it with his thumb. He remembered when people tried to tell him that marrying you was a mistake, that he couldn't handle having a wife.

"Best mistake I ever made," he whispered.

He sighed out.

"Senku. What's wrong?"

He straightened his face, moving his hands back to his laptop, "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

He internally cursed at himself when you frowned, he hadn't realized how sharp his tone was until the words passed his lips.

"All right, well...I'm gonna get in the shower first."

After you shut the master bedroom bathroom, he decided he should prepare for his shower, too.

He grabbed his stack of clothes he'd gotten ready the night before.

Then he heard the shower start, he could hear you groan from the feeling of the warm water.

His eyelashes fluttered, he felt tempted to go in there and produce more of those sounds, but...

He sighed placing the clothes on the edge of the bed.

Senku quickly grabbed his distraction, the notes, so he could try to forget that she was in the shower, naked, wet...

"Stop it, Senku, now isn't the time," he scolded himself.

While you stood under the showerhead, you looked at the pretty ring on your finger. You smiled, you didn't regret marrying him, not one bit, you loved your dreamy scientist...it's just...

You're an affection monster!

You wanted to hug him, kiss him, make lo-

Ahem.

But...you didn't want to annoy him with such things, when you had first met you quickly learned he wasn't a fan of your hugs so you stopped.

Which made you curious sometimes, you loved him dearly, but did he? Did he want those things with you? What made him want to marry you in the first place?

You sighed, stopping the water.

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This is like a weekly ritual for him for the past year or so.

Go to work, come back...

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, you come home later, overtime.

...And when you aren't home...Senku's true self is revealed.

The thoughts from that morning came back, the shower.

You being naked, hot, wet.

"Fuck~"

He imagined if he'd listened to his urges and walked in on you.

Your silhouette--he'd seen it before when he'd forgotten his phone on the sink one day.

Opening the shower door, surprising you and...

He let out a shaky moan, as his hand moved a little more.

...took you right there.

Leaving so many marks-- those men at your job who thinks he doesn't know they look--there's no mistake your his.

Touching every inch of you, ravishing you.

Faster.

Hearing you cry out for him.

And faster until...

"Mm~"

His breaths were shaky before he finally settled, he cleaned up before going to sleep thinking of you.

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Today was a good day for you.

You got off early, and it was Friday!

You'd be able to spend more time with Senku.

You decided you were going to surprise him, maybe drag him out to go do something social with you. Get some air outside of work and home.

You quietly walked in, after unlocking the door, just in case he was napping. He had told you one day he'll nap after he gets home from work when you checked up on him.

You didn't blame him since you got home late anyway, you had a long shift and took overtime 3 days a week.

"S-"

"[Name]~"

You raised a brow, he sounded kind of weird.

Oh no! Was he hurt? Not feeling well?

You barged in.

"Sen...ku...?"

Your face got hot as Senku scrambled to cover himself and have some dignity.

"I-I'm--It's not what it..." he sighed.

"What's going on?"

His face reddened, looking away at a random wall.

"I just...I didn't know how to ask you," he let out a breath, holding his face in a hand with a lopsided smile, "When we first met...I...pretended I didn't like your touch, but, I crave it at his point. But I made you think I didn't...and I couldn't tell you that I wanted it more than anything."

"Hmm. So you wouldn't mind if I kissed you? Is that what you're saying?"

"Yeah...Wait, why are y-"

Before he could finish, you'd leaned a knee on the bed and brushed your nose against his.

Both of your faces were hot, the heat spreading through your bodies.

"Good. Kiss me."

Your lips met, and the kiss was a little unsure--I mean, the last time you'd kissed was at your wedding almost three years ago for a few seconds--, but as it got more desperate, you found a rhythm.

Senku didn't know where to put his shaky hands, he couldn't believe this was real. You sat on his lap to make it easier.

You whispered against his lips, "You're my husband, remember? Touch me wherever you want, silly."

His hands immediately slid up your waist, your shirt riding up a little.

"Take it off for me, Senku?"

He didn't hesitate.

He paused, in awe of you.

"What is it? Do I look-"

"You look...beautiful..."

"So beautiful," he muttered against your jaw, kissing lower, "I want to see just how much more beautiful you can get," he sighed against your neck, trailing down, and down.

"Take these off for me, will you, [Name]?"

You hurriedly kicked off your pants.

He chuckled at your small struggle, "Don't laugh, that's mean Senku!"

He grinned, before you could process it, you were under him.

"I can get meaner, trust me."

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You whimpered as Senku pistoled into you.

Senku let out a shaky groan, "Damn, you feel better than I could ever imagine."

"Y-you, too--Ah~" your nails dug into his back a little.

He was close, but he didn't want to stop. He'd do this forever if it was scientifically possible.

The sounds your body made, made it that much more erotic.

He'd used his knowledge of the human anatomy to his advantage...a few times, each time you gave him a response he enjoyed. It caused you to be sensitive now. But he hadn't gotten his release yet.

And he got it when you squeezed just right.

"Fuc-Ugh~"

His hips jerked involuntarily, his body did its natural instinct, fill you as much as it can.

He slowly pulled out laying on his back, he closed his eyes.

They snapped back open when he felt warmth slowly suck him in again.

"W-What-?"

"Making me release so many times...I think I should give you a little payback, right?"

He watched as you eventually made it to the hilt, he was both extremely sensitive and aroused all at once.

"I-I...Ahhh~"

You started a very slow rhythm.

He tossed his head back, "You-You--brat."

"Mhm. I can be, yes."

"Fuck, I'm sensitive, you little minx," he growled out.

"It'll be a reminder next time, expect punishment in return."

He gripped the sheets tightly.

You smirked, "Hm...feels like there might be a round two for you."

[ahufflepuffhobbit]

Okay Robyn I have spun for you…Hair Brushing/Braiding and Huddling for Warmth. So do with that what you will 😂

Oh, this was the perfect one to get me started XD Thank you, Sunny!

~*~*~*~*

Bilbo huddled in his jacket, trying to force himself to stop shivering. The rocking of Bard’s barge helped with that somewhat, as it was difficult for him to shiver when he was concentrating on remaining upright, but still. He was sitting at the front of the barge, next to empty barrels - some of which they had ridden in- and they provided absolutely no warmth. He was finding it difficult to not curse himself for his escape plan, even if it <i>had</i> worked. 

“Master Baggins,” Thorin’s deep, lovely voice washed over him and he cursed his escape plan again. His feelings for Thorin were bothersome at the best of times, and he didn’t relish looking like a drowned rat in front of Thorin, who always appeared perfect, even if dirty. “Come here, please.” 

“Haven’t I told you to call me Bilbo?” he grumbled in response as he got up and went to the space Thorin indicated at his side. Any smart comments disappeared immediately as Thorin wrapped his arm around him as soon as he sat down, and he was pulled against Thorin’s side. 

“You have,” Thorin replied quietly. “Habits break hard, and I am too concerned about you falling ill. I only wish we had a change of clothes, but the Man has promised us those when we get to his home.” 

Bilbo blinked and tried to push down the butterflies that were in his belly. Thorin was just keeping him warm to preserve the quest. The plan for the Arkenstone would need to change if his burglar died from a cold; it wasn’t because Thorin wanted to be close to him. Bilbo let himself get comfortable, though. He wasn’t going to complain, even if it wasn’t as romantic as he would like. Thorin was holding him, and he was warm and lovely, and his fingers were playing with Bilbo’s hair-

“I thought-” Bilbo let out a small cough to gather his wits. Thorin’s fingers in his curls were quite distracting. “I thought hair was important to you all? Balin said that there were all sorts of protocols and rules… One of them being that only kin and lovers can touch a dwarf’s hair?”

Thorin let out a soft hum and continued to gently touch Bilbo’s hair. “I was just thinking there should be a braid here.” Now, Bilbo didn’t know everything about braids - he had only had one conversation with Balin - but he was sure that there was some significance to that spot behind his right ear. “You see, Bilbo… You have the rules about hair correct, but I believe that it should also apply to potential lovers, as well.” 

Bilbo’s eyes snapped to Thorin’s face. His speech had sounded smooth, nonchalant, but Thorin’s cheeks were red underneath his beard. “If you would have me,” Thorin added, his voice soft and hesitant. 

Bilbo’s heart was pounding in his chest. He didn’t feel like he could actually speak, but he was already nodding his head vigorously with a large smile. 

He heard Thorin let out a shaky sigh of relief as he quickly and deftly put a short braid behind Bilbo’s ear. He explained what the braid looked like and how it signified courting, and he tied it off with a bead from his pocket. It didn’t take long, of course; Bilbo’s hair was short compared to the dwarrow. As soon as it was finished, Bilbo felt Thorin’s lips against his temple. 

Well! Bilbo turned his head quickly and captured Thorin’s lips with his own. It was a short kiss, mainly due to the rest of the Company letting out a loud and relieved cheer. Bilbo pulled away reluctantly. “There will be more later, I promise.” 

“I will be holding you to that, Burglar,” Thorin replied as he pulled him close once more. The only difference was the comforting weight behind Bilbo’s ear, and the way Thorin pressed his face against Bilbo’s neck, as though he couldn’t bear to have more space between them.

~*~*~*~

Ao3 here

Send me a combination to play with! Can be other ships besides Bagginshield, but that is my wheelhouse.

[redrosesartcabin]

So yeah, I wrote the thing based on an anon message for @itsme-star

I made it a Barley x (female) reader (based on my self insert character) fanfic ‘cause I had to be a little self indulgent lmao

I hope you enjoy it! It turned out longer than I had planned xD

——————————————————

The double-decker couch

Barley x (female) reader fanfiction

———

Around three months ago:

Y/n’s boyfriend, Barley Lightfoot, had knocked on her window… with small stones… in the middle of the night:

At first her ear just twitched and the noise had mashed with the dream she was having, but the more the noise repeated, the more her consciousness felt pulled into the physical realm again, and with a groan, she had to face the reality that the noise would not stop until she got up (she already had a suspicion as to who was causing the noise).

With a heavy sigh, y/n forced herself from under her comfortable blanket, before ripping the window open.

‘Of course it’s him’, she thought, looking down at Barley as he waved his hands up at her, somehow wide awake.

‘How much energy can a person have?’, she asked herself, before she motioned with her hands, that she’d come outside.

“What in the world are you doing here?”, she asked as she arrived, whisper-yelling at him.

“Well you know how it is my lady: sometimes one just drives around at night after finishing a campaign of quests of yore and sees the poster of a double-decker bus and then one might think: ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if one could have a couch after that structure?’ After having had thought about a new couch for a while and ‘wouldn’t it be cool, if one might be able to build that with their girlfriend?’”

“I can’t say I relate, though I am impressed by one having the idea”, she said, deliberately accentuating the word ‘one’, as she couldn’t now but smile at her beautiful dork, “And I have to say I love the idea, though I still have to decide whether it was worth waking me up at three a.m… but for now I’ll just say yes, because I love you too much to be mad at you for this”

“I know: I’m irresistible”, he winked, pulling her closer to him and engaging her in a sickeningly romantic kiss.

“As nice as this is, I would still like to catch up on some sleep. We’ll write later and you tell when we should start building”

“I actually thought… you know… that maybe now-”

“Don’t push it”

“Right”

Now:

It hadn’t been easy. First they had to scavenge several junkyards for old couches (because let’s be real: They were both poor college students and buying material or new couches just was too expensive), who weren’t completely busted. Then they had to figure out how to build the thing.

After studying art for a while, where y/n had to do a bunch of installation projects, she had gotten significantly better at building things with woods and such, though she still wasn’t an expert. And whilst Barley also got crafty from time to time, he also wasn’t a master.

But somehow, after sweat, and even a couple of tears after y/n once got her hand stuck under one of the couches, they had finished it: The double decker couch.

“This-”, Barley said, pointing his finger at it, “This is beautiful”.

It was a yellow and a green couch, connected through metal poles and stabilized with old wood planks with two ladders placed on top of it and just enough space between the couches, so that one could sit up straight. It sort of looked like a bunk bed, but with couches.

“It is. It really is”, y/n agreed, looking at her bandaged hand, “totally worth busting my hand”

“Totally worth going through every junkyard in the city”, Barley added.

“Totally worth being awake once for 48 hours”, she added as well.

“This should be awarded some kind of price… maybe I’d also just be happy for some money for a wellness weekend ‘cause my back could really need a nice massage”, Barley groaned, touching the small of his back.

“Hard agree”

They stayed standing there for a while, looking at it, before y/n occurred a question that should’ve occurred to her much sooner.

“So-uhm-”, she started, “what do we actually do with it now?”, she asked

“Sit on it of course. You sit below and I above so I can feed you grapes like you’re a roman emperor”, Barley explained matter of factly.

“That sounds lovely darling but that’s not what I mean”

“What seems to be the issue then?”he asked, a little frustrated. What could she possibly have to say now? After so much hard work?

“I mean… where do we put it?”, she asked with a sincere expression which immediately washed away his annoyance, “because it certainly won’t stay in my parents basement”, she stated.

“It’s certainly more worthy than this old, dusty room with your family's junk. And also because this place is crawling with bugs that I will have to remove every time because you’ll just screech and run away until it magically disappears”

“Hey!”, y/n interjected

“It's true!”

“Ok yeah fair enough, though seriously- where? I also can bet’ya we can’t put it anywhere in our homes either. It probably barely fit under the ceiling”

“Yeah no”

A moment of contemplative silence spread across them.

After a while, Barleys thoughts wandered to the night where he had gotten the idea. He thought about his beloved car-

‘OH. MY. GOD. That’s it!’, he thought to himself.

“I got it!”, he then yelled excitedly, his face contorted into one of the most adorable expressions y/n had ever seen anyone wear. No matter what it would be: She couldn’t but say yes to that smile.

Still she asked, “What’ya got?”

“You know how I got my idea from a poster with a double-decker bus?”, he asked her, still smiling like he had won the lottery

“Yes?”

“And you know how I have a van, right?”

“No”, she answered sarcastically, “I know absolutely nothing about your most prized possession of a van that you called Guenivere the second after you sacrificed your first Guenivere when on a quest-”

“Ok I got the gist”, he chuckled, “but ok hear this: Since I have this wonderful van, this wonderful BIG van-”

“Wait a minute: You really want to put the couch in-”, she interrupted as she realized what he was saying, but got immediately interrupted back as he realized she had caught on

“Yes! I absolutely am”

“Dear lord… but ok I have no better idea, let’s do it”

“YES”

“Barley I am telling you, this is NOT working”, y/n huffed as she let her side of the construction gently land on the ground once again.

“Come on, just one more time!”, Barley pleaded.

“You’ve been saying ‘just one more time’ for an hour!”, she argued, “there is no way around: this just doesn’t fit inside the van. You underestimated Guenivere”

“Hey! There is no underestimating Guenivere! It’s not her fault”, he pouted.

“Ok ok ok... Sorry Gueni”, y/n said, giving the car a sincere pat on one of the back doors. She has gotten used to treating the car similar to a pet, “but seriously: We’ve been trying this at every angle, and as cool as Guenivere is, she can’t magically shapeshift”

“Magically shapeshift”, Barely repeated her last words, suddenly deep in thought, before an “ohhhh”, sound escaped him, “wait here my lady, I’ll be back in a sec”

“O...k”, she said, a little confused.

Five minutes later, she saw Ian storm out of his house, his hands clenched around his magic staff, with Barley closely behind him. “WHAT'S THE EMERGENCY?”Ian yelled as he came to a hold, which caused his brother to almost crash into him.

“I need you to make Guenivere big enough so that our self made double-decker couch fits into her”, Barely explained, breathing as though he had just run from death.

For a moment nobody said anything to that before Ian and y/n both shouted

“WHAT?”,at the same time.

“So much for an emergency”, Ian also mumbled, a little annoyed at his brother's antics.

“I mean: If she’s too small, then we can just make her bigger, right?”

“Technically yes but I think you didn’t consider a very small, tiny detail”, Ian commented.

“And what would that be?”, Barley asked irritated, not understanding what the issue was.

“You are aware as a supposed magic expert, that I can’t only enlarge the trunk, right? I would have to make the entire car big, and that would lead-”

“-to the entire street being filled with the car”, y/n finished the thought, apologetically laying her hand on Barleys shoulder, “I’m sorry my love. It was a nice thought”

“Dang it”, Barley breathed out, “I was looking forward to make my own uber-van-couch-double-decker-business”

“Hm”, y/n simply hummed. She had known from the beginning it would probably go south, but his enthusiasm had given her hope.

“Sorry Barley”, Ian said quietly, now feeling bad for having been so harsh beforehand , before slowly heading inside again.

Y/n and Barely sat down on the edge of Guenivere’s trunk, tired and disappointed that it all hadn’t turned out like they wanted as they looked at their creation.

Y/n leaned against Barley’s shoulder, lovingly rubbing her cheek against him like a cat (she loved doing that).

After a while Barley decided he had enough of sulking, standing up to go to the front to put on some good old metal (which luckily she enjoyed too).

As he however returned to the trunk, he noticed some ropes laying around.

He had used ropes last time to tie up some of the material he had bought for their project, so they wouldn’t move around- what if though…

“Ok I’ve had enough”, Barley decided, “I WILL have my double-decker-couch-van for more people to ride with me and my buddies and if its the last thing I’m gonna do!”

“Barley, what are you-”, y/n wanted to ask, but as she saw him pick up the ropes from the trunk floor, she understood, “- Are you sure this will work out?”

“Nope”, he answered truthfully, “but I will surely try!”

She was still skeptical, but at the same time she would try anything with him, and if it meant helping him tie a double-decker-couch to the roof of his van.

“If you believe it can be done, I will too”, she smiled, giving him a quick peck on his cheek, “let’s do this!”

It was eight p.m. The sun was almost behind the horizon and the streetlamps threw dodgy looking lights in the middle of the street and kept the corners dark.

But the elven couple, who stood in front of a yellow van with a double-decker couch tied to its roof, couldn't help but see what they had accomplished: Which was accomplishing what, at least the female elf, had thought was impossible… yet again.

“I can’t believe that worked”, Y/n mumbled.

“Told ya”, Barley hushed back.

“Should we drive around? See if anyone is crazy enough to go on a drive?”, she asked.

“You bet we are. And tomorrow… and whenever we can. I’ll be the driver and you the tourist guide.. or maybe some kinda sturdess, after all you’re good lookin’”

“Oh hush”, she giggled, visibly blushing

“And-”, he continued, though not without giving her a good wink after his compliment, “then we’re gonna show the dear people of this town another perspective to life”

“That we can promise”, she laughed, “that we sure can”

[rebeccccccaaa]

𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝑒, 𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓉

________________________________

𝐵𝓊𝒸𝓀𝓎 𝐵𝒶𝓇𝓃𝑒𝓈 𝓍 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇

𝓇𝑒𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒹: imagine-all-the-fandoms said:

Hey you 💕 I’m so in love with your imagines, you’re a great writer! I hope it’s okay to send smth in as well ☺️ a Bucky one for where you’re crushing each other and head to a mission together in the snowy mountains where you get trapped by a storm in a cute cabin. First he’s all shy around you but in the end it’s all cute as he makes a little fire and shares his clothes to keep you warm which also leads to cuddling and finally sharing a kiss and even some loving smut when you finally admit your feelings ?

𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: Smut, 18+, Fluff, friends to lovers, shy Bucky, fluff, did I mention fluff? Plant stuff? you’re kinda like that bitch from sky high lol

𝒜𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇’𝓈 𝒩𝑜𝓉𝑒: this is too cute and I had so much writing this, i feel it radiates like huge cottage core energy but in the snow XD anyways hope you like it bug and thanks for the request!!

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You were walking from the greenhouse/garden room holding a small plant when you bumped into a much larger figure, accidentally dropping said plant.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” the voice said.

“It’s ok. I’m sorr-” you stopped.

The person was Bucky and under his big black boot was your little baby plant that you were taking to your room to nurse. You stared at him with a shocked and upset look on your face and Bucky stepped back to see the poor plant squished on the floor. 

Wanda was a bystander and rushed over to help clean up. She used her powers and mended the plant pot back together but the poor bud was still wilted. 

“Are you guys ok?” Wanda asked, handing you the pot with the wilted plant. 

“You squished my plant,” you said monotonously.

“I’m sorry,” Bucky said, panicked.

You playfully shook your head in disappointment trying your hardest to burst into giggles. It was ok because it’s what you do. You did… plant stuff. You weren’t exactly sure what your abilities were but you did know that you worked with plants very well.

You looked down at the bud and softly blew. Sage green magic circled the plant and life went back into the little sprout. Bucky’s panicked expression softened as he watched you use your magic. The way you smiled when the plant came back to life. That proud smile you had on made him smile too.

“There. All better,” you looked back Bucky. 

“All better,” he repeated with a smile.

“Hey, Y/n. Bucky,” Steve called you from down the hall.

“What’s up?”

“Fury needs you two in the conference room, says he’s got a mission for you two,” Steve walked away after he informed you both.

“Lead the way darling,” Bucky gestured his hand forward.

“Ah, you’re here. Why do you have a plant in your hand?”

“Bucky squished my flower under his boot,” you said.

“It was an accident,” Bucky mumbled.

“Moving on. I have a mission for you both in the alps. Some thugs are trading alien plant life so I need you,” he pointed to you, “to collect some samples for Tony and Bruce and Bucky will be there to protect you. If any plants die or get frozen you know what to do.”

You were plenty capable to handle yourself but you’ve never had to do so in the snow. You generally stuck to warmer and sunnier places when it came to missions. Bucky was pretty used to the snow so he knows to survive better in case you get stuck; but that won’t happen obviously.

“Wheels up in 30.”

You got to hide out and you were sort of struggling considering you had maybe seven layers of clothes on. You felt like a big puffy marshmallow waddling your way to the crime scene. The mission was somewhat successful, Bucky had really done all the work fighting and you just ran around tying up bad guys with vines and holding little seedlings in your pockets.

All was going until it didn’t. The wind picked up quickly and snow started thrashing around you and the others. You were fighting on the side of a hill, well Bucky was. You were still running around trying not to get shot. There was rumbling and the ground shook under you. You looked at Bucky who had taken down someone and his face held fear and concern. 

“Run!” he yelled.

“Where!” you started running anyhow.

“Follow me, doll!” 

You tried your best to run through heavy snow and with many many layers of clothes on you but it was becoming a struggle. Especially running against the wind made it a challenge on its own. Bucky was far ahead of you but thankfully turned back to grab your hand effectively dragging you alongside him running from the tumbling snow chasing after you. 

“Think you get us above ground? Maybe a tree? Rock platforms?” Bucky shouted, still running with his arm up to prevent snow and ice from getting in his eyes.

“The snow���s too thick and the wind is too strong,” you shouted back.

“I’m sorry,” you shouted shakily.

Before Bucky could respond the snowfall did a hiccup before finally settling within feet of you and Bucky. You two were exhausted and if you had to run any further, you’d probably be consumed by snow because you barely had any energy left in you to keep running.  

The wind was still harsh and the snow fell rapidly making it almost impossible to see even 5 feet in front of you. 

“We should find shelter,” Bucky said close to your face. Your nose was nearly numb from the cold and the warmth from Bucky’s proximity made it almost feel like it was burning. 

“I’m just following you,” you said with tired eyes.

After what felt like hours of walking you were practically dragging your feet and legs across the thick snow. The blankets of snow  glistened beautiful and sparkled under the sun. despite the sun now being out the weather was still almost unbearably cold. Your body still shook from the chill.

“You know, I’ve never liked winter. It was always so plain and boring with all the snow. And it’s so fucking cold; I’d rather be laying in the sun in a meadow. But this,” you circled your arms and twirled, “This is beautiful.”

“You what’s even more beautiful?” Bucky held your hand.

“What?” you said shyly.

“That cabin up ahead,” he smirked, and you smacked his chest.

“Well then, come on. I’m still freezing my butt off, and surely the seedlings in my pocket are frozen too,” you started treading the snow, grunting every step.

You got inside after a few tugs because the lock was practically frozen shut. The cabin was seemingly abandoned, else the hosts would certainly be surprised. Nonetheless, Bucky searched the house for anything to give you warmth. You stood in the living room area of the cabin awaiting instructions from Bucky since he seemed to know what he was doing. 

“Hey, doll. It looks like this place’s got two fireplaces. One here and in the master bedroom. Take your pick.”

“How long will be here?” you asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve hardly got any signal to send an alert.”

“That means we’ll probably spend the night. We should use the bedroom.”

“You can use the bedroom. I set a fire in the fireplace there, and then I’ll set one up out here for me when you’re taken care of,” he said.

“I thought we were sharing the room,” you mumbled, feeling embarrassed. See you had this little, itty, bitty, tiny crush on the fellow. But how could you not? He was perfect! You certainly weren’t going to waste the opportunity to share a bed with the guy if you ‘had to’. 

“Let’s get you taken care of,” he smiled softly.

You walked to the back room where the master bedroom was and it was beautiful. The bed was disassembled, the mattress was leaning to the side on the wall and the bed frame was taken apart. Bucky moved the bedframe to the side and flopped the mattress down to the floor. 

“Let me check for any blankets in this place,” Bucky ran off. 

You looked around and walked into the connected bathroom. To your absolute surprise there were small plants, unfortunately dead, and pots filled with dried out and chalky dirt. You could work with that. 

You picked them up and took them to the bed. You sat on the mattress and placed the pots in front of you on the floor at your feet. You pulled out the frozen seedlings and plants and placed each one in their own pot. 

That same sage green magic circled your hands and traveled to the pots where the dirt grew damp and the seedlings grew into buds. You smiled to yourself before looking up, eyes meeting Bucky’s who watched you with a grin on his face.

“It’s amazing what you do,” he said holding a bunch of blankets.

“It’s nothing.”

“No-” he was interrupted from the branches of the trees right outside the room baniging against the window hard. 

“Oh no. storm’s picking up again,” Bucky mumbled.

“Are we gonna be ok?” you asked.

“”We’ll be fine. Now are you hurt?”

“Just cold,” you whispered.

“Ok if you feel uncomfortable let me know and I’ll leave you ok?” you nodded.

“I need you to take your layers off until you reach your thermal.”

You zipped down your snow jacket that was incredibly wet from all the snow from outside. Next was a layer of your snow pants after you took your snow boots off, which were also wet; both the pants and boots.

Bucky helped you with the rest of your layers under you simply wore a thermal and your undergarments underneath. Your body was shaking still and the fire still wasn’t on yet. 

“Here are all the blankets I could find. Warm yourself up while I turn on the fireplace,” Bucky walked outside to gather some stumps of wood that were conveniently stacked next to the front door. He came back with a rock and banged it against his metal hand to create sparks which thankfully successfully lit the fire. 

“Are you feeling ok?” he asked shyly.

“Sort of, but the fire’s going so I think I’ll feel better very soon,” you responded.

Bucky was about to leave you and make his own fire in the living room when you stopped him.

“Buck, you don’t have to leave,” you said.

“Thought I’d give you some privacy,” he responded.

“I don’t need privacy, besides the fire’s already made. Just stay here,” you scooted on the bed for him to sit.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Come sit,” you smiled and patted the spot next to you.

He sat with you very closely and you feel his body heat radiating off his body like a heater. He asked if it was ok if he got rid of wet clothes too and you let him. When he took his last layer off he accidentally lifted his thermal shirt with it exposing his lower stomach. The muscle of his abdominals surprised you and you couldn’t help but oogle.

Bucky’s cheeks grew red and not from the cold. You two sat in silence. Your body was still trembling slightly and bucky wanted to help you. He just didn’t know if you;d be comfortable with the particular survival tactic. 

“I don’t want to upset you or make you uncomfortable but body heat and skin to skin contact is the most effective way to warm the body.

“Bucky, are you making a move on me?” you giggled.

“Uh no- sorry I, uh I-”

“I’m just teasing,” you smiled.

“I want to help you,” he whispered.

“Ok.”

Bucky moved away slightly and reached for the bottom of your shirt hesitantly looking to you for permission of which you granted. Your arms came up and the thermal slowly peeled off of your cold body. You were simply left in a bra and your arms covered yourself in coldness and also slight insecurity. 

Bucky also took his thermal off and tossed it to the side. Your eyes trained on his torso littered with little scars and bruises that made you want to reach out and hold him. He leaned back on the mattress and lifted his hips to remove his thermal pants and then looked back to you to make sure you were still ok.

You stood up and quickly discarded your pants as well as seeing Bucky turn his away from seeing you undress; which made your heart warm at his manners. When you were done you sat back down much closer to Bucky this time.

His arms wrapped around you and both your legs hitched over his thighs as you curled into him. His body was so hot, figuratively and literally. Your body instantly warmed up against his hardened muscles. You stayed this way while the fire burned and Bucky told you stories about him and Steve back in the 40s before everything happened. 

There was a moment of silence that settled between you and you looked into Bucky’s eyes. His hand came up and softly brushed the air from your face. You leaned into hand and smiled faintly to him and he smiled back. 

Bukcy leaned his forehead down to press against your and you could feel the tip of his equally cold nose on yours. You looked at each other waiting for the other to say something, anything.

“Are you going to kiss me?” you whispered.

“Do you want me to kiss you?” he whispered back.

“Please.”

Bucky lips attached to yours ever so gently. Your body practically melted against him, chills raising on your skin but not from the cold. His hands caressed the skin of your stomach and ribs and you moved straddled his thighs.

You felt growing wet from the way he held you tenderly against him. You started grinding yourself against his crotch feeling his dick getting hard pressing up against your core. Small moans and breathy sighs emitted from you and Bucky and his hands roamed to your ass. 

Bucky’s lips went to neck and you threw your head back for him and threaded your fingers through his hair. Bucky nipped and bit down on the skin before soothing it over with his tongue and dragged it down to your collarbone. 

You reached around and unclipped your bra and Bucky tossed over to the pile of clothes you had discarded beforehand. Bucky looked down at your chest for a second but averted his eyes to prevent you from being uncomfortable. 

His hands however kneaded the flesh of your breasts; insanely warm against your skin. 

“You’re so pretty, darling,” Bucky whispered in your ear making you shudder.

He flipped you over; the blanket fell to the side making your nipples harden from the chilly air. He stood up to remove his boxers and ran his hands up your legs sensually playing with the hem of your panties you still had on. 

He looked at you with gentle eyes before you nodded eagerly for him to take them off. After he did he crawled up body before settling between your hips. His cock was settled against your pussy and it practically throbbed, aching for more. 

He pumped his cock with his hand a few times leaning down to capture your lips with his. When he slid inside, you moaned loudly taking a hold of his shoulders with your hands. Bucky was huge! Nothing like any of your past lovers, not that you really many. 

“Hold on, hold on. I just need a second,” you told Bucky. 

He leaned down and pressed kisses all over your face; your hands cupping his face and jaw giggling. You looked into eyes once again and nodded letting him know that it was alright to move again. 

Bucky was in absolute heaven right now.

Your walls felt so soft and velvety as he easily thrusted in and out of you. A thin layer of sweat formed on his forehead. His hand reached down your arm and he intertwined his fingers with yours resting by your head. 

Bucky had been dreaming of this moment longer than he’d like to admit. He never considered himself to be a shy person; and definitely not jealous either. But when he met you, he always stuttered and stumbled over his feet and words barely getting a working sentence out of his mouth. 

Whenever Steve or Sam spoke to you, and generally flirted a lot of the time, he envied them for being so relaxed around you. He’d wanted to ask you on a proper date and take you home to worship you like you deserve; wake up next to you and make love all over again. But he couldn’t say hi without turning bright red.

But here you were, a dream come true, squirming, whining and moaning beautifully under him. 

“You are so gorgeous, baby. God, I can’t believe you're here,” Bucky kissed you. 

“Oh, Bucky you feel so good,” you moaned.

“Fuck, baby you’re taking me so well,” he praised.

You both moaned feeling your orgasm approaching rapidly. Your legs wrapped around Bucky’s torso driving him deeper in making you practically scream in pleasure. Bucky’s hips snapped in and out of you wildly desperate for that release he knows is going to be the best he’s ever had. 

When the coil in the pit of your stomach burst your back arched into Bucky and his face buried into your neck as he practically growled in pleasure. 

“Fuck that was amazing,” he kissed your neck and chuckled.

“Why are you always so shy around me? We probably could’ve done this way sooner,” you patted his back. 

“I, uh-”

“There you go stuttering again,” you giggled.

“I’m sorry. Y/n, I really like you and I have since I’ve met you. I don’t know why I feel so brain dead whenever I’m around you. I used to have no problem asking a pretty dame on a date, but when I met you, I couldn’t even say hi let alone ‘Hey wanna go on a date because I think you’re the most beautiful angel I’ve ever met in my goddamn life?’ It felt impossible,” Bucky sat up and sat you on his legs still wrapped in the blanket. 

“Bucky, I- oh,” you gasped.

“What?” you pointed to the wooden floor of the cabin. There were small buds and patches of grass coming through the cracks of the floorboards. There were also vines and branches covering the walls coming from the floor as well.

“Oh! Did I do that?” you looked back at him and he nodded.

“Oopsies,” you giggled.

“What if we had sex in the garden?” Bucky asked.

“Oh my gosh, Bucky!” you laughed.

“What?” a smile grew on his face watching you laugh in pure delight.

“You’re so silly,” you shook your head before yawning.

“Come on, doll. Let’s go sleep and we’ll see what’s gonna happen after the storm passes,” Bucky kissed you goodnight and you fell asleep comfortably in his arms.

___________________________________________

@mathletemadison 

ᴛᴀɢʟɪsᴛ:

ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴɴᴀ ʙᴇ ᴀᴅᴅᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴍʏ ᴘᴇʀᴍᴀɴᴇɴᴛ ᴛᴀɢʟɪsᴛ ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇ ᴍᴇ! ;)

[kintatsujo]

LoZ AU- The Courage of Running Away Part THIRTY

Previous Post Is HERE

This is the last outline post!  But like I said before I’m probably gonna take a run at NaNo with this story this year because of how thoroughly it got out of hand lmao and probably will keep doing smaller art posts and shit at this point.

And again there’s already ideas for a sequel in the works, although that’ll probably trickle in MUCH more slowly for the time being.

Next week I’m probably going to take a break from Tumblr altogether bc of Real Life Stuff and the fact that this project turned So Big.  Maybe.  Possibly.  Don’t take me at my word lmao

This is a text heavy post and I apologize but there was a lot to cover; each section is separated by headers.

Content warning for mention of hanging used as a metaphor.  

#AU August

#LoZ AU: The Courage of Running Away

Astramorus’s Sentencing 

Astramorus is stripped of his rank within Hylia's Church, although he's allowed to keep his home at the sky commune since he and Catena had shared it since before her death and Zelda isn't cruel. She assigns him a Shiekah escort-and-therapist on Impa's recommendation, someone he's not allowed to leave the Sky Temple Commune without until further notice, and Astramorus tells her it's generally much more generous than he expected even considering the help he'd offered.

Link doesn’t go home with him, at Astramorus's insistence.

"Listen to me, Link," he says, touching Link's face gently. "For all that I'd LIKE to undo the last twelve years of our lives, do it better, you're still healing from everything I did wrong."

"Uncle Seren was-" Link starts.

"Giving me the rope with which to hang myself," Astramorus finishes. "I still took it in hand, son. We both need a little distance to start, you to heal and me to sort my own head."

Link frowns at him. "You need to heal too," he says. "You wouldn't have taken that rope if Mama had been here to stop you."

"Probably not," Astramorus agrees. "But that's why her Majesty is assigning someone to follow me around, isn't it?"

[Image Description: Link throws his arms around Astramorus, to his father’s surprise.  When Astramorus hugs him back, looking like he’s ready to collapse into the hug, Link opens one eye and tells him sternly, “Take CARE of yourself, Father, or we’re gonna have WORDS.”  “Mhm,” Astramorus mumbles. End ID.]

(Hilda, it should be noted, tells Astramorus and Link that they’re both welcome to visit Lorule Castle at any time, trying to hide her eagerness until finally admitting; “You both know what having Serenumbra in your head is like.”  And Astramorus and Link agree with that and promise to meet there in a few months, once they’ve had that time to sort themselves out.)

As for Serenumbra, for now Eltani decides to let him “enjoy” some solitude in the Gerudo City prison while she deliberates more thoroughly on what to do with him.  He did quite a lot, after all.

What to do About Ghirahim

Eltani and Zelda Sr discuss what to do about Ghirahim more privately, with Aldway, Impa, and Vaba (Eltani's oldest advisor) there to offer input.

"You say he froze upon being presented with the mere image of his old master," Aldway says. "I'm not sure I trust that."

"It wasn't like-" Zelda starts, then starts over. "He was like a frightened child, darling." She pauses, reevaluates. "Or like a dog expecting to be beaten."

"Like Link?" Aldway asks mildly.

She shakes her head. "Much worse than even that, my dear."

"Even knowing he's half mortal he has trouble stilling his tongue towards me," Eltani notes. "Faced with his former master, he was struck silent."

Vaba speaks up. "You say that Serenumbra called the thing he summoned a god's nightmare, correct?"

"The boy Link saw a figure he couldn't hope to live up to. Your Majesty saw a figure from history you've tried to avoid being since you were her age. Whose nightmare was Demise? Dinravi didn't know his face, and you tell us Ghirahim stepped in the way. Dinravi only faced a copy of Ghirahim's master because he was reflected from Ghirahim's half human heart."

They decide to let him stay.

What Dinravi Would Like to do About Ghirahim

And in the meantime Dinravi and Ghirahim are having their own discussion somewhere else in the castle, partly because Eltani asked Dinravi to keep Ghirahim away from where they're discussing and partly because of course they are, it's been a lot, the last day and a half or so, between Ghirahim saving Dinravi from assassination and Dinravi punching Nightmare Demise in the face. And finding out that Ghirahim is definitely around half human now, there's also that.

There's a bit of an awkward silence, at first. It's so, so much. Ghirahim is stealing a lot of glances and Dinravi seems to be collecting himself.

And then Dinravi asks: "Can I kiss you?"

Ghirahim stares at him for a moment, eyes wide, mouth small in surprise, bright red, and then he smiles a little and looks away and says "You still don't... my prince, you don't need to ask PERMISSION to do whatever you PLEASE with me."

Dinravi goes quiet. "... Is that how it was with him? Demise?" he asks. His face is gentle and open, nonjudgmental, but Ghirahim sputters.

"Of course it was," he says, "is there a problem with that?"

Dinravi studies him. "Apparently there is," he says. "Because you're shaking."

Ghirahim jolts in horror and stares at his hands, which are indeed trembling, almost as badly as at the sight of Nightmare Demise, and he screams: "DAMN this frail useless human body!!"

Dinravi takes a step backwards, watching him, and says, "Ghirahim." And at getting his attention, he asks, "Does this mean that you came to me, tried to seduce me into conquest... Knowing that might mean you, too?"

Ghirahim stares at him for a breath, vulnerable, then looks away, frowning. "Of course I did," he says.

Dinravi sighs. "Of course you did," he echoes.

"I was FORGED for this," Ghirahim says helplessly. "To serve Master Demise, or the one who inherits from Him. Whatever that might mean."

"Ghirahim," Dinravi says gently. "You're almost half human now. I believed in your choice before, when we were thinking you entirely demon, but... Being human means getting to choose."

Ghirahim is adrift and he looks at the floor, the ceiling, out the window, and finally back at Dinravi, trying to find solid ground.

His voice is small. "Please kiss me?" he asks. Dinravi smiles and steps forward, leaning into him, brushing his lips tenderly with his own. Ghirahim whimpers and surges forward, and Dinravi puts his arms around him and steadies his stance, chuckling, soothing him, kisses him again. Ghirahim gasps as his knees buckle and he slides downward, almost ragdoll as Dinravi catches him again.

"Are you okay?!" Dinravi asks, holding him against his chest.

"I'm fine," Ghirahim whispers, hanging on for dear life. "C-can- Can we take this somewhere your MOM won't stumble on us, or worse one of the BRATS running around the castle? I'm about to become very embarrassing if we keep this up." He gives Dinravi a significant stare, face crimson. "Maybe with a bed?"

Dinravi's eyebrows shoot up. ".... Would you like me to carry you?" he finally asks.

"I think you're going to have to," Ghirahim admits.

We're going to give them some privacy. XD

[Image Description: Dinravi is tilting Ghirahim into a kiss, the sun setting through the window behind them.  Ghirahim’s eyes are open but he’s pliant in Dinravi’s arms, one hand curled against his chest.  Dinravi is smiling, eyes closed and his grip gentle but rather thoroughly in control of the situation.  End ID.]

Back At the Sky Commune

Maurice and the other priests/monks at the Sky Temple Commune had some word of what was going on by the time Astramorus returns, and Maurice has more or less been put in charge now, in recognition of his years of service and care of the commune’s day to day.

He’s a bit annoyed at Astramorus about the whole thing, if he’s honest, which he is, but he also does care about his former superior, and once Astramorus has settled back in and the Sheikah escort is being shown around he approaches him in his quarters, finding him by the window thrown open, chin resting in his hand, looking out of place in the kind of civilian clothing Astramorus has barely worn his entire life.

“So what are you going to do with yourself, Astramorus, once the Queen’s man has decided you’ve moped around here enough?” he asks.  Maurice is kind but he’s also gruff.  Birds don’t tend to care about your word choices, and Maurice spends much more time with pigeons and cuccos and loftwings than with people.

Astramorus shrugs, not turning from the view of the blue sky.  “Honestly Maurice, I was raised by Hylia’s Church.  Mayhap I’ll find something else, but.  Well, it was kind of the Queen to let me keep these quarters for more reasons than memory of my wife.”

Maurice bristles his mustache, and then he says, “You know... she stripped your rank.  There’s nothing about your sentence as I read it that says you can’t start over from the beginning.”

Astramorus finally turns to him, and Maurice is struck by how... well, how much happier the other man looks.  He’s lost nearly everything, and yet it’s like a great millstone’s off his neck.  And Astramorus smiles:

[Image Description: “Maybe,” Astramorus says, smiling against his hand.  He looks relaxed and happy, and maybe like he’s considering it seriously.  The sun shines on him gently.  End ID.]

What Now, Link?

And perhaps at the same time, now that he’s said his goodbyes and everything’s settled down, Marla finds Link sitting on a balcony rail of Hyrule Castle, looking out at Castle Town and looking pretty peaceful himself.

She comes up behind him and folds her arms against the rail, smiling up at him.

“So, Link, we finally got your father to listen to you,” she says, and she’s thinking of that conversation at the Shrine of the Furious God when she says it.  “What now?”

Link shrugs.  “I suppose I’ll stay here for a little while,” he says.  He wants to see Gray recovered, and to spend more time with the Royal Family, and it’d be nice, if he’s honest, to rest a while himself.  “The Queen says my mother’s family are probably still running around the continent somewhere, so I might look for them after that.”  Adventuring runs in the family, apparently, because Zelda Sr. only has some idea of where his grandparents have gotten off to, only some idea of where to find his mother’s younger siblings.

“Sounds like a plan,” Marla says.  She looks out at Hyrule Castle Town for a quiet moment, enjoying the sound of Link breathing.

“Do you think,” she says, “That we could take a few weeks to check back at Windfish Isle?  I have this horrible suspicion that the Mayor has filled Tonbo and my house with fishing nets and I’d like to let him know to find someone else to live there before the walls take on a permanent stink.”

We’re staying with you so we should let them know goes unspoken, but Marla has known for a while she’s tying herself to Link for the rest of his life the same way she’s tied herself to Tonbo for the rest of his life, and the world’s a bit wider than it was when she and Tonbo left with Link, and if Link’s going to be in the wide world, Marla and Tonbo should be too.

And Link knows what she means.  Because family means the people you don’t need so much courage around.

He smiles.  “Yeah,” he says.  “We can do that.”

[Image Description: Link and Marla.  Link is sitting on the balcony rail while Marla is leaning on it.  They’re giving one another fond smiles.  The sun shines on them gently, giving the image a slightly faded look.  End ID.]

[silvysartfulness]

The line about tantric meditation in the last chapter made me wonder - what actually is the each of characters level of sexual education/experience? CQL canon naturally only provides very little on that topic..

Warning, this got kind of long.

I have consciously kept my thoughts on these topics rather vague within the story itself, because – as you say – there is very little said in canon about it, and it's one of those topics where people tend to have vastly differing ideas and tastes.

But I can muse a bit about my headcanons in Roadtrip-verse!

Starting with Xue Yang, who is the only character whose sexual activities are mentioned at all in canon:

Of course that could be sheer bravado, but as we know, Xue Yang ”doesn't like to exaggerate when he speaks”, so...

Xue Yang fucks. Pretty much anything and anyone he wants. I hc him as pretty much pan with a gay preference – sex is like candy to him, different sorts of people just variations in flavour. One of those pleasant things you go get when you get cravings. If the other people involved are happy participants, that's nice. If not, it's often even nicer! Pain, receiving or dealing - or both - is a great rush!

Sex is 100% purely physical for him. It feels good. It doesn't mean anything.

I think even with Xiao Xingchen - though he does desire him, madly at times - it's less the sex he misses, more the casual familiar touches, the connection. The sort of bond he's never had with anyone before. Of course he wants Xiao Xingchen! But as long as he has him there, the rest... can wait.

He can be patient, for sweet things...

Then for the daoshi!

There is a lot of myth surrounding those odd, kinky sex-magic obsessed Daoists in ancient Chinese lore! While those practices were certainly not a part of all the Daoist factions (many being downright chaste and puritanical) and the stances on it changed a lot over time, there is still a lot of fun potential to dig into there! The whole concept of Daoist sex magic isn't some new thing invented by modern fandom; it was gossiped about and caricaturized even in ancient times.

At the core of Daoism is the pursuit of the superiority of the natural order, the most original state of the world. That includes things like bodies, and sex, and so they are in their primal form embraced rather than pushed away as something base and embarrassing.

Verse 55 of the Dao De Jing says (exact wording varies a lot depending on translation):

He who is in harmony with the Tao is like a newborn child. Its bones are soft, its muscles are weak, but its grip is powerful. It doesn't know about the union of male and female, yet its penis can stand erect, so intense is its vital power.

The Master's power is like this. He lets all things come and go effortlessly, without desire. He never expects results; thus he is never disappointed. He is never disappointed; thus his spirit never grows old.

Hence my take on that tantric meditation Xiao Xingchen refers to. To achieve that state of arousal without desire, to just exist in that vitality.

Of course there's also the concept (oft-utilized in fandom) of dual cultivation – to let the forces of yin and yang weave together through sex, creating jing energy that can be absorbed to nurture ones cultivation and golden core. That's the other thing Xiao Xingchen blurrily thinks on in that same segment, how within his original cultural framework, that was what sex, that kind of physical union, was about. A means of strengthening spirituality.

Sex with Chengmei turned out to be something very different. In the original sense of Daoist sexual cultivation, it was an important point not to ejaculate, fearing that losing semen equated to losing life force, going against the concept of cultivation aiming for longevity and immortality.

But as it turns out, it feels good to come. Really, really good.

And after everything that's happened, by the time they settle down in Yi City, he has more or less given up on those once-aspirations, of longevity and immortality and spiritual purity. Less stars, more dust, and down here among earthly matters, he embraces this other way sex can work. As nothing but pleasure, the joining with another person, something that gives joy.

And so he is very conflicted in that scene with Song Lan, because now that he has his companionship back, he feels that he should, must hold onto his old ideals, his once legendary cultivation. The purely spiritual. But he is also something very, very human, touch starved, love-starved.

Hopefully he will be able to find a balance in that, going forward. They didn't do too shabby in that little rented, room, after all, so I'm sure he'll find ways to make it work. ♥

And then Song Lan, finally.

While there are certainly elements of sheer mysophobia - the distaste for any kind of uncleanliness - to him, I also hc him as touch-averse for its own sake. Placing him firmly in the ace/grey bracket.

While I hc him as hailing from a different branch of Daoism compared to Xiao Xingchen, there is that same basic understanding of sexual principles – as a vital life-force, it's something valuable that can be used spiritually to strengthen your own energies and cultivation.

The tantric meditation, I can see, was something entirely platonic that he and Xiao Xingchen may have done before. Just meditating into a state of physical arousal, free from desire for sex or climax, as a way of purifying and strengthening energies, like any other kind of meditation.

In my own private headcanons, completely without basis in any canon fact, I envision that he has had a few extremely conservative sexual encounters in his youth, with female fellow daoshi/cultivators, to attempt dual cultivation.

It worked, technically. It wasn't pleasant. The discomfort of such closeness and touch wasn't worth the energies gained.

So he tried it a couple of times, and then decided sex wasn't for him.

And now, suddenly, he's gotten back a Xingchen who – aside from the charming new laughter and endearing mischief – has also become something... Well. Frankly. Very horny.

It's a bit bewildering to deal with.

But he does love him, endlessly. He learned to endure holding hands, to be able to communicate – it was surprisingly easy. A part of him wanting to hold onto him, to make sure he would never lose him again.

He learned to endure holding him close. It was a bit harder, but still – the comfort, affection, being able to tell how much it meant to Xingchen made it worth it. It's still not something he would seek out for his own sake, but something he loves being able to give.

Kisses... Kisses are strange. On the one hand, he loves them, the concreteness of being able to express all the love he feels for Xingchen, so much love that he fears he could burst with it sometimes. On the other, the closeness, the touch... It's overwhelming, even repulsive at times. He struggles with it.

And then this, this territory they appear to be heading into... He has very mixed feelings about it. It's Xingchen, and he loves Xingchen. It's touch, and closeness, and things dirty and he abhors that. Some small, strange part of him seems to want it, even aside from it making Xingchen happy, which is very bewildering. Another wants nothing to do with any of it.

He is very torn. None of this is easy.

And that’s pretty much it, as things stand right now!

This got long. XD

Hopefully most of this comes through in the writing itself. And we are finally approaching the arc where proper sexytimes will actually become part of the story!

Thank you for asking!

[project-paranoia]

Live Watch: S.C.I. Mystery Episode One

I enjoy camp because I've always enjoyed analysis and examination.  I enjoy looking at something from all sides, testing it with my fingertips. When I was a child I would sit for hours just looking at something until I had it all held in my mind and I felt like I understood it.  Camp necessitates that understanding the way that imitation and - good - parody requires it.  To quote Susan Sontag - who articulated what camp is so well - Camp is "a sensibility that revels in artifice, stylisation, theatricalisation, irony, playfulness, and exaggeration rather than content."  Because of this camp takes on head to head gender, sexuality, expectations, any sort of defined norm and sequins it up then shakes it down until understanding comes out.  When understanding something there are three major ways to work your investigation - what it is, what it's imitation is - the close but not quite, and what it isn't.  Camp handles all three, to quote again: "Camp sees everything in quotation marks. It's not a lamp, but a 'lamp; not a woman, but a 'woman.'"

Why are we talking about camp?  Because SCI Mystery is some of the best kind of camp outside of drag or screaming about wire hangers.  It deals a lot with mental illness in a way that would destroy a serious show, but in this one "mental illness" is a metaphor for being marginalised and a way to talk about the mouse and cat in the room.  This show is about being queer.  About being gay loudly and quietly, about resisting specific labels and needing them, about the threat of a cure and the blessing of acceptance.  All the messy realities of queer life as varied as queer people. Like Lil Nas X's Montero, you can appreciate the effort without being comfortable with it. While the show's allegory of mental illness when many queer people are still told they are ill is done well and there is reason to the choices and tone, things are said which can be hard to hear.  Knowing they're there because they're hard to hear and have been heard doesn't help everyone.

With all that said, it's also a fun, silly bl drama.  Don't let the analysis scare you off.  While the information about camp can be something to be aware of, all this show requires to be enjoyed is a willingness to be amused and spooked in turns.

You know the drill, spoilers below!

* I have memorised the youku sound, I have a triggered response with it. Not all triggers are bad, this one reminds me of Guardian

* Welcome to episode one where we just leap in!  But don't worry, one of them has a cute earring and they are colour coordinated.

* Watching from youtube the episode is 38 minutes long while most of the others are 45.  Attach whatever emotion you want to that fact.

* The exposition is handily delivered by asking a question which tells us some things, thank you show, I appreciate it

* First episode and he's already giving his partner an in case I don't come back letter to be opened if he dies

*  Wait for me!~  Go!~~

* Slow walk with dramatic music: 1 (don't make this a drinking game You Will Expire) this time with bonus almost looking back

* I've seen a similar shot on Hawaii Five O

* Don't explain what's happening, just knock everything over with a jump kick in some absolutely spotless white tennies

* Running with dramatic music with bonus looking back: Does it count?  We have yet to hear back from the judges

* They leap into the water with an explosion behind them, we are less than 2 minutes in and I love that for them

* At first I thought the boats were making a big heart before I remembered that I am very silly and they are not doing that

* This one is going to be long

* I can see his pockets through his trousers, why are his trousers so thin?

* It's not kissing to dramatic music in the surf if it's CPR

* Each story line has its own intro and that's very sexy of them

* Slow walk/dramatic music: 2-6

* These people are totally goofy and and yet the Seriousness

* Two Weeks Ago!

* The police school bus has arrived to shoo away the crows circling around Dr. Zhan staring (dramatically) at the body

* Sport scar policeman dresses even more unprofessionally than Zhao Yunlan who at least looks like a detective who was jumped by so many criminals he just gave up wearing a suit and went for jeans. Chief Bai's clothes are so thin, I'm under constant anxiety someone is going to tear them off.

* Also several of the cast pictures on MyDramaList look like the pictures your auntie insists taking to send to your other aunties and I love that for them

* Triple axil spin from the victim, the judges are loving it - this is the camp I'm here for

* The dramatic slo mo and music budget for this show was so big, just as it should be

* He's mad because he's angy

*  Master Psychiatrist can tell all about the killer from crouching by the body, it's a trope and this is one of the few places I like it because it serves the show instead of the show serving it

* When you're almost boyfriend is going away for reasons and it's not your decision but you can't go with him because of your job so you're just low key bitter about it

*  "You can't control me"

* The pettiness between these two

* Professional women who worked hard to get where they are still are constantly obsessed with boys according to most cdramas

*The male posturing in those three second has accidentally circled back around to being gay in the way those bro shows accidentally do and I love that

* I live for this 80s-90s police chief perm

* The Pettiness

* I always tend to like doctor characters, I don't know why.  Even when they aren't my favourites I like them.

* She's kind of adorable, I like her (I've seen a lot of this show and every time I say I like someone it ends badly ;-; )

* "the victems"

* If you love Creative English, this is the show for you!

* Chief Bai's crew is trying so hard to get them back together

* Dr. Zhan is so good at psychology he can tell what someone looks like from some tire tracks - this trope is used all the time in crime shows, but they push it a little farther in SCI and it really helps the viewer know what the rules for the show are

* The scene in the psychiatrist's office hearkens back to queer coded villains and the way they're treated in old black and white horror cinema - but done so artfully it's almost invisible.  It's incredibly well done, and the awareness of tropes and types all throughout the series is tremendously successful as much as it's campy fun.

* There's also the trope of someone who manipulates someone into feeling like they've been "purified" and then weaponises them against the "filthy". And of course the fact that the killer's blade is a mirror - that he's killing in others what he sees in himself. This trope hasn't just been queer-coded but has been applied to any sort of physical or mental disorder. Thesis have been written about this trope and the anxiety attached to it. I can't write them better and this is long enough, it's just a small part of the excellent handling of the themes showing up in this genre and I wanted to point it out because it deserves appreciation for the skill and knowledge in the writing.  

* The whole you need evidence vs you're saying psychoanalysis isn't trustworthy feels very much like a coded angry exes discussion

* I love the establishing shots, so good

* He kind of deserved that door to the face, what was he even doing

* Police violence in crime shows is supposed to be a release for the viewer, but many countries have issues with police violence so it hits wrong.  Here it's far more performative in a way that at least has some awareness

* The weirdest phone call, you call someone to tell them something important and they say two things to you and hang up

* The tongue thing, why always the tongue thing?

* When a serial killer tries to compliment you by calling you a carnivore and you shut down the whole alpha male supposition by calling yourself a vegetarian

* At this point I've written almost fifteen hundred words and taken almost two hours to watch 23 minutes

* This is my life, these are my choices

* Dutch Angles

* You could make this conversation about being gay, I have had this conversation about homosexuality before

* Unfortunately while I had it I was on the bus trapped in a window seat

* The conversation didn't end with me saying something cool and everyone clapping

* They just got off the bus to go to work

* The banality of evil, yo

* Her shorts are Incredibly Short, good for her

* "arrest the perp behind my back" that's his job, broheim

* He doesn't ask why she checked behind their ears

* DUN dun dun!

* Slo mo file drop, and of course the file is blood stained and aged

* Chalk Art of Doom

* Chinese word play!

* Caught almost putting his coat over his crush, embarrassing XD

* Backstory!

*  I love all the little character details, I could quote lines I think are funny all day but that would start getting silly

* Bai Yu Tong is marked as clean and having OCD but we don't see what's apparently a huge character trait at all other than the all white, do love that he's good at cooking

* Dr. Zhan: Brilliant!  Genius!  Cannot feed himself.

* Dr. Gong has indifference level 100% which is true and also I love that for him

* I love that Wang Shao part of the team because he's good at making friends, I love that for him

* Poor Zhao Fu: scared of ghosts and dumb and sweet?  At least he has an 8 pack

* Jiang Lin is very tropey except the mention of her nearsightedness

* Ma Han's height 1.7m and legs 1.8m is hilarious and I love it

* I stopped recording the slo mo walks, but if you were drinking along with them you might be dead so I really appreciate you taking time out of your afterlife to continue reading.  We appreciate all our ghost readers

* And that's the first episode!  Thanks for making it to the end!

[adenei]

Hermione doing everything to seduce Ron but fails miserably. A hilarious Valentine's day fic. XD.

Hi anon! At first you had me stumped, but the idea started to unfold, and I enjoyed writing this one in the end. Please enjoy their first Valentine’s Day together

Warning: Implied Smut, but no actual Smut. 

**************************

Valentine’s Surprises

She’d read the books. She’d gotten special permission from the Headmistress. Hermione was fully prepared to give Ron the best Valentine’s Day surprise. This was the first Valentine’s Day that they were actually together and could celebrate properly, and she’d have to make it extra special because she probably wouldn’t get to see him for his birthday since it fell during the week this year.

It’d been six weeks since they’d seen each other over Christmas hols, and this whole long distance thing was getting old pretty quick for Hermione. She looked in the mirror and observed herself. Demelza had helped with her makeup, and she’d managed to tame her hair down a bit using Sleakeazy’s. It had a nice waviness to it, and was pulled back into a side plait.  She smiled as she stared down at her overnight bag. Massage oil, sexy red lingerie and a silk robe, the fuzzy throw blanket that was wrapped in decorative paper, rose petals and bath bombs...and a change of clothes for class tomorrow.  

If Hermione had planned everything out properly, Ron would be in for the surprise of his life. She knew he and Harry always went to the Burrow for Sunday dinner, normally arriving at four and getting back around seven. It was 4:30 now, and Hermione was heading to Professor McGonagall’s office, where she was planning to floo to Grimmauld Place. She had two and a half hours to bake biscuits, and set things up before setting herself up in his bed for him to come home and find her. 

Upon arriving at the Headmistress’ office, she was reminded that she needed to return at 8:30 the following morning, and Hermione profusely thanked her again for allowing her to leave. She stepped into the fireplace and in a few short moments found herself in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. The boys had really done a fantastic job updating the home, making it brighter and more welcoming. 

Hermione set her bag down and began summoning the ingredients she needed to bake his favorite biscuits. Molly had shared the recipe. She only bothered with checking the ingredients because ‘if you could read, you could cook,’ right? Hermione quickly set to work preparing all the ingredients per the directions until she hit step seven. 

Wait...how was she even supposed to do that? She understood mixing the dry and the wet ingredients together normally, but there was a spell written, and having never read any magical cookbooks, Hermione was at a loss for what to do. She began panicking, looking around the kitchen for some sort of ‘how to’ book to help her through this. Of course the boys didn’t have one! She was opening and closing every cupboard she could find as she became more and more frantic. Then, she opened one particular cupboard, and a memory flashed before her eyes. 

Would it work? She had no idea, but she had to try. She was desperate for this night to go perfectly. “Kreacher?” she asked softly. At first nothing happened, but then a loud POP echoed through the kitchen and Kreacher stood before her. 

“Hello, Miss. What is you doing in Masters Potter and Weasley’s home?”

“Oh, thank goodness it worked!” Hermione said with a rush of relief. “I’m here to surprise Ron tonight, Kreacher. It was my intention to bake his favorite biscuits, but I’m afraid I- I don’t know how to get past step seven. Could you help me?”

Hermione was crestfallen. She wanted to do this all herself. She didn’t want to have to ask for help, but she couldn’t leave a half attempted recipe out for Ron to see when he got back.

“Yes, Miss. Where is the recipe?” Hermione pointed to the counter.

“Thank you, Kreacher! Do you mind if I watch?” Hermione tried to hide the disappointment in herself.

Kreacher gave a grumbled sigh and a curt nod as he set to work. Hermione should have known that the elf would use nonverbal magic on the recipe, so it was partially a waste of time to watch him work. He made quick work of the rest of the steps, and magically placed perfectly round balls on the baking sheet. “Miss forgot to turn on the oven.” He took care of it. “Would you like me to take care of the rest?”

“No, no, thank you Kreacher, I can take it from here. Thank you again!” Hermione said as Kreacher fell into a low bow and then disapparated out of sight. Hermione figured she had about fifteen minutes before the oven was heated to temperature, so she grabbed her bag and set to work upstairs. Somehow it was already after six. 

Hermione opened her bag and pulled out the bag of rose petals when she got to Ron’s room. She scattered them on the floor and over his bed,placing the package on the end of the bed and the massage oil on his nightstand. Satisfied with her work, she went back downstairs to find the oven was ready and she placed the cookies in the oven. Mrs. Weasley’s note said they needed to be baked for exactly ten minutes. Hmm, I wonder why so exact? Hermione thought. 

She set a timer for herself as she went back upstairs to draw the bath water and change into the lingerie and robe, keeping an eye on the timer. She’d gotten the top on, but was struggling with the bottoms when she got the minute warning. Giving up on them for now, she threw the silk robe around her and turned the water off, casting a quick warming charm over it as she hurried downstairs.

Hermione opened the oven door just as the timer went off and pulled them out. They looked perfect on top, but the bottoms were tinged a bit dark. It’s okay, at least you didn’t burn them! She turned the oven off and transferred the cookies to a cooling rack. Hermione magically washed the cookie sheet and double checked the recipe once more. Ugh, not another charm! She realized Mrs. Weasley had one more charm to set the cookies with at the end. I’m sure it’ll be fine without it, she thought because she did not want to call Kreacher back again. 

Hermione left the cookies to cool, and hurried back upstairs to figure out the mess of straps that were the bottom half of her outfit. It took a good ten minutes to get everything situated properly, and she checked herself in the bathroom mirror. She smiled softly and hoped she’d drive him mad with desire upon discovering her like this. Hermione didn’t often care what she looked like, and she wasn’t exactly one for seduction, but she wanted to do this for Ron. 

She checked to make sure the warming charm was still intact on the tub, and dropped one of the bath bombs in. Then, Hermione hurried into Ron’s adjoining bedroom, shut the door, and hung up the robe. She carefully climbed under his covers. Now, we wait.

************************

Harry and Ron finally flooed home from the Burrow just before 7:30. Ron knew they were later than normal, but it wasn’t like he had anything better to do on Valentine’s Day. He cursed again because he should be able to spend it with Hermione, but she was at bloody Hogwarts. Harry had invited Neville and Seamus over around 8:00 since they all might as well be alone together on this particular holiday. 

“Uh, Ron,” he heard Harry say. “You didn’t bake biscuits before we left, did you?” Ron looked over and saw, were those his favorite biscuits? He didn’t even realize the sweet scent until Harry had said something.

“Er, no, mate..that’s odd,” Ron said. Harry made to pick one up, but having been poisoned before, Ron stopped him. “Harry, no! Better check with Kreacher first. We don’t have any bezoars lying around.”

Harry called Kreacher who appeared with a POP. “Kreacher, did you bake these while we were gone?”

“I helped, but it wasn’t me,” Kreacher croaked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ron asked him.

“Surprise...doesn’t know how to bake with magic,” Kreacher muttered as he shook his head.

“Kreacher, is someone else here?” Harry asked as Ron did the homenum revelio spell. Kreacher nodded as the spell did in fact reveal a third person.

Ron looked back down at the cookies, which were his favorite. He looked at Harry, who said, “You don’t think…” 

“If it is, you’re on your own with Nev and Seamus,” Ron said as he sprinted up the stairs. His bedroom door was shut, and he definitely hadn’t left it that way earlier. He opened the door to see Hermione, scantily dressed and laying in his bed. His heart damn near stopped. “Bloody hell…” was all he could manage.

“It’s about time!” Hermione couldn’t help herself. She’d been waiting over a half hour and was starting to get nervous that he wasn’t coming home.

Ron shut the door and cast a quick lock and silencing charm on the door. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he said as he met her on the bed and wasted no time in pulling her in for a passionate kiss.

“Wanted to surprise you,” she said.

“Reckon it worked. You’re bloody gorgeous, you know that?” Ron couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was stunning. He’d never seen her in lingerie before, only dreamed of it. He was basking in the glory of having her here, when he saw the look of disappointment on her face. It was subtle, but it was there. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s- it’s nothing,” she said as she looked away.

“Tell me, ‘Mione. Please?” Ron reached out and touched her chin, directing her face back to meet his.

“It’s just, everything I planned has gone wrong! I couldn’t even bake your favorite cookies! I needed Kreacher’s help and I still missed that there was a spell at the very end, so they’re probably ruined. I planned for you to be home around 7, so the bath water is probably cold, and I couldn’t go anywhere to check because I didn’t want anyone seeing me in this. I probably should have just told you McGonagall let me off for the night. Then you would have known and we could have had more time.”

Ron chuckled. “Hermione, we have the whole night ahead of us, and I'm so glad you’re here. And it’s a good thing you didn’t leave the room in this because I want you in this all to myself, though I’m about two seconds from ripping it off you,” Ron gave her a dark, wanting look then. Six weeks was way too long.

He always knew how to instantly make her feel better. “I was hoping you’d say that,” she said, giving her best seductive smile. Ron was on her in an instant, hands exploring her body and relishing in the feel of her against him. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” she said against his lips.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, love,” Ron returned, becoming lost in the sexiness of his girlfriend.

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-yigas]

Bathtub sex. That's it that's the request. (okay also let me tell you again how much I'm enjoying your writing. The latest one had me squealing at the sweetness of Sooga caring for his master but also... like, talk about depth when it comes to Kohga?? Of course he wants to be strong. And he IS strong, and it's hard to be vulnerable and... ahh you're so good at writing this sort of thing) So yeah, bathtub hanky-panky plz XD

Thank you for the kind words, really! Means so much to me! As for your request, you can ABSOLUTELY have some bathtub fun times! I’ve written them in the tub before, but I have NOT done hanky panky, and shame on me for that.

“I still can’t believe you let me do this.”

Kohga and Sooga were in Kohga’s bath, and both were in the middle of undoing their hair from their classic yiga styling. Kohga chuckled as he fluffed it up in his hands.

“What? Be in my bathroom?”

“Yes. Many of us find it a rather sacred place, and it means a lot, that you deem me worthy of this.”

“‘Worthy’ this and ‘worthy’ that with you. I like you, and you look good naked, it ain’t that deep.”

He held Sooga’s face in his hand, lightly squeezing his chin.

“BUT. It’s sweet, in a way, knowing it means something to you. It’s why I got you a little something.”

Kohga let go of his face, in order to dig into the cabinet. From it, he pulled out a yellow candle, giving it to Sooga.

“This is...for me?”

“Yeah, your favorite is those electric Safflina , right? Saw this candle at the market yesterday, figured you’d really like it.”

“Oh. That’s...very kind of you to remember. Thank you.”

“God you’re smiling that big, dumb smile of yours. Just light it and get in the tub with me.”

Kohga always waved off any sort of praise from Sooga like that. Such simple gestures were nothing to Kohga, but they were everything to Sooga. Sooga lit the candle (along with god knows how many others Kohga liked to have around), before joining him in the tub. There was something so indulgent about Kohga’s tub. Full of flowers, steam, and fragrances, it was like a spa. And what else did a spa have? A handsome guy there to give just the best spa treatment. Aka, Sooga, massaging his scalp in his favorite shampoo.

“Master Kohga, please stop squirming, you know it needs to sit for a moment.”

“Wouldn’t squirm if you’d stop touchin’ my damn ears!”

“...Your ears are cute, I never get to see them.”

Kohga grumbled something about Sooga being a sap, before he begrudgingly let Sooga continue. Sooga, ever since he was allowed in the bath, assumed full responsibility of making sure Kohga was clean. It was annoying, but it was cute, and less work on his end. Plus...it felt nice, having those big, nice hands roaming his frame. It was nice, how careful he was with him. And how there wasn’t a single spot he wouldn’t clean. From his back, to his arms...right to his legs. Kohga leaned up against Sooga, and stopped his hand as soon as it went between his legs. He didn’t wash there TOO much, for ‘honors sake’ as he put it, but why would he have Sooga half ass something with him? Just wasn’t right.

“You know Sooga, you really should take more care of me, if I let you do this.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m saying you need to really clean me here. If YOU’RE gonna do it, do it right.”

Kohga saw the wheels turning in his big, dumb head, and it took him SO long to process what he meant.

“Ah. I see. I suppose I have been slacking, Master Kohga. Please, do forgive me.”

He wrapped an arm around Kohga, before using his other hand to start to lightly stroke Master Kohga’s cock. He was always so slow at first. It was cute, but god dammit Kohga liked his shit right out of the gate. He was going to complain about it, before Sooga leaned down, and pressed his lips against Kohga’s, It was soft, smooth kiss, and it kinda made Kohga forget that Sooga’s hand could be going MUCH faster. Kohga chuckled once they parted, cupping the side of his face.

“Now THIS is way more like it. You know, I like a LOT of things about you, but my favorite thing has gotta be those hands of yours. Though, the hair is a damn close second.”

He wasn’t gonna be the only one getting something out of their little bathtime. He watched Sooga slightly melt as Kohga dug his fingers through his hair, giving it just an ever so slight pull. Sooga chuckled, clearly not expecting Kohga to get frisky in return.

“I like many things about you as well. Your way with words, your nice hair, your ever so skilled hands…”

Sooga’s thoughts drifted off as Kohga pulled him into another kiss, chuckling into it. Sooga lightly squeezed at his balls, before returning to stroking his nice, thick cock. It was borderline romantic, how he was treating Kohga. Not his usual cup of tea, but...Kohga liked Sooga. A lot. Kohga chuckled, lightly shaking his head as Sooga gave him such a loving set of puppy dog eyes.

“Ha. You love me. Idiot. You got the biggest, fattest crush on me.”

“I do, I really, really do.”

Sooga chuckled, quickening his pace on his hand just a little bit. He knew his Master liked it fast, but Sooga MUCH preferred it when they took things slow. It was cute, watching his Master slowly unravel in his hands. He pressed his lips against his bare shoulder, sighing at the soft, aromatic skin.

“Even eight pack Sidon?”

“I do like you. I like you so very much, I can’t imagine myself really liking anyone but you.”

“Even him.”

“Even the Goron Sweetheart, Daruk?”

“That’s you, Master Kohga.”

Kohga looked up at him, as if he was offended. So what if he was stroking his cock in a nice and hot bath? Didn’t mean he could talk shit.

“Excuse me, I can’t be the only one here who thinks Gorons are hot as hell.”

“You must be, because quite frankly, I don’t. Daruk is...sweet, and rather simple. Not my type.”

“It’s mine. Makes sense why I like you. Especially when you tie that with the pretty hair, I like the pretty hair.”

Sooga took his turn to huf, burying his face in the crook of his Master’s neck, speeding up his palm just a little.

“...who has the better hair?”

“Don’t tell me you’re getting into a pissing contest with DARUK of all people.”

“I am not. It’s just a question.”

Kohga laughed, sort of finding it hard to think as Sooga’s hand was starting to speed up still. THIS was way more like it.

“Look, I like YOU, what does it matter?”

“It doesn’t answer my question.”

“You jealous dog.”

Kohga chuckled, leaning up to peck at his neck. He sighed as he relaxed in Sooga’s arms, starting to feel that build up in his gut. He let Sooga look at him in eagerness, before he finally relented.

“You BOTH have pretty hair. But trust me, I like yours a lot better. He’s the sorta ‘dumb blonde’ type. While it’s cute, I like yours a lot better. Super soft and long. I like YOU a lot more, Sooga.”

“Good. While I have no qualms with you being in bed with others...I dislike the idea that you’d like them better than me.”

Jealous little Sooga, muttering his bitterness right into Kohga’s ear as his hand started to very quickly pump his cock, making him squirm in his grip. Kohga laughed, digging his fingers in his hair, and giving it a nice, good pull.

“It’s like food, Sooga. I like Tabantha bakes, but no way would I take them over my bananas. I don’t like anyone more than you.”

“I don’t know, I see how often you look at Rhoam’s rear end.”

“Listen, dude’s got some thunder cheeks, I can’t stop that.”

They both shared a snicker at that. While they were somewhat kidding, Kohga DID think Rhoam was such a dilf.

“You’re such a unique man, Master Kohga. I know I personally couldn’t love anyone more than you. No one. No one is prettier than you, no one is as sweet as you, no one plagues my thoughts like you do. There isn’t anyone in the world more hunky than you.”

Kohga didn’t need much else. Aside from the fact that his palm was working so fast against him, those sweet, honest words were enough to make Kohga cum, clinging onto Sooga’s arm as he did just that. He laid against Sooga as he sighed in relief, though it didn’t last long, given the fact that Sooga started to decorate his face in kisses. Kohga laughed, pushing his face away.

“Sooga come ON! You just made me cum, can you give me two seconds before you get all mushy gushy on me?”

“No. Because I love you so much, I want to be the only one in your thoughts. Not Daruk, not anyone.”

“Even Link?”

“...”

Sooga suddenly got out of the bath, covering himself in a towel. Kohga cocked his head from the tub.

“Where are you going?”

“I have a knight to neuter.”

“Sooga, come on, enough joking, that’s-wait why do you have your sword? Sooga? SOOGA NO-”

[ironhoshi]

My dumb ass meant 16 XD still QuinObi cuz they babie

Well, in that case-

16. one person pouting, only to have it removed by a kiss from the other person. ---

It wasn’t like he expected his Master to make a big deal of it, nor anyone really, but a simple happy life day would have been nice. Obi-Wan was rather used to lackluster life days, as he should be; since Jedi didn’t really embrace such things. The day he was born was merely another day. Another day of shoving some grey stuff around on his plate while he glanced glumly out at the rest of the dining hall. Most of his friends were out on missions of their own and he was, once again, grounded with Master Jinn. They may have caused chaos yet again according to the Council. He saw things differently and it all could have logically been explained if his Master hadn’t argued. 

Master Jinn loved to argue.

He sighed as he rested his chin on his fist. He supposed there were worse ways to spend today, in fact, he had spent previous ones far worse. Obi-Wan wasn’t even sure why he was dwelling on something so useless. There were reports left to write since Qui-Gon certainly wasn’t going to remember and he had a decent amount of clothes to mend. With that plan in mind, he forced himself to finish the food before getting up from the table. A nice cup of tea and doing the various tasks while in his room would at least be better than just sulking in the dining room. The plate was set in the collection bin and he couldn’t help pulling a face. Where was his Master anyway? The unkind thought that Jinn was playing sabacc and drinking with his friends flitted through his mind. If his Master wanted to catch up with his friends then he wasn’t going to fault him. He would merely pout while he wondered if there were still any sticky buns left in the cabinets back in the apartment he shared with Qui-Gon. They were both partial to the sweet tuber ones which meant it was unlikely any of that particular flavor was gone. The hallway was empty as he walked, boots echoing against the floor, and he missed the normal sound of younglings rushing about. 

He was just about to the apartment door when he had to admit defeat. Obi-Wan acknowledged he was pouting because he hadn’t wanted this day to be just another day. His pout only grew as he typed in the unlock code for the door. There probably weren’t even any sticky buns left in the cabinet with his luck. The door hissed open to reveal Quinlan Vos. There was no warning as his friend grabbed the front of his robes to yank him inside the apartment nor was there a warning before he found himself being kissed. Well, it certainly was hard to pout when Quin was paying him that sort of attention. He grinned into the kiss and gladly threw his arms around the other’s neck. 

“Congrats at making it another year,” Quinlan whispered against his lips and Obi-Wan felt warmth spread through his body. He pressed into the kiss before finally pulling back to study his friend’s face. 

“I thought you were on a mission?” “Got done early, thought I’d surprise my second- wait, no- third favorite person.” Obi-Wan snorted and rolled his eyes. “Glad to know I am moving up on the list, last we talked I was fifth favorite. I am not even going to ask.” “Probably for the best. Now come on, I know just how I want to celebrate today,” Quinlan informed him with a dramatic eye waggle. A laugh escaped him and then he was leaning his forehead against his friend’s shoulder as their laughter mixed together around them. 

“You are, as always, the worst.”

[kamenriderlogik27]

FINALLY BACK IN SABER!!!

PrFor the past... two months?.... I’ve been taking a break from watching Saber. Mostly due to personal reasons but also because I hate it when a very dumb and small misunderstanding (especially when the cause is from a new outsider character that totally has evil intentions. looking at you Sabela +-+) ruins such good friendships and bonds. Anyway, I decided to get back into it ‘cause I was SUPER curious at what was going on AND and kinda had a feeling that the misunderstanding situation was about to end soon. and omgosh I’m so glad I took a break! If I had gone through with watching each ep every week, I would have gone crazy with stress! There’s so much going on!!! yet I’m also glad that Toei FINALLY calmed us down with the pacing! I’m gonna try to talk about everything regarding episode 16 up to 25 so please bare with me. I think I might end up talking about the Zi-o VS Decade and Zenkaiger stuff too after this post~

1. When I say that I hate it when a stupid misunderstanding causes friends to turn on each other, I mean it. I absolutely hate it when a story goes down this path. especially after an episode that basically sealed a strong bond between all the characters. But... honestly, after watching it in Saber.... it has a sort of beauty to it, if that makes any sense. Kind of like Mono No Aware. I honestly feel like this situation really fit well with the plot and we got to see our swordsmen struggle with their own logic and feelings. Especially Rintaro. Poor baby didn’t know what to do, and yet still believed in Touma. Omgosh that rooftop scene with him and Mei! <3 That was probably one of the best scenes this series ever produced! I also loved how we got to see Touma personally struggle about the whole situation instead of just being mad at his friends for attacking him and not trusting him. Which is what I originally thought would happen tbh which is why I was scared to watch this batch of episodes. I’m so glad I was wrong!!! 

2. Yuri! I honestly believe that Yuri is such a great addition to the cast! He’s logical, curious, and yet has a good open mind about things. Instead of going with what he USED to know, he’s willing to listen and learn from Touma. Which I really like! Plus, the comic relief he adds is so awesome! Every episode so far I’m also looking forward to what Yuri will do just out of his own curiosity or blunt attitude. 

3. speaking of attitude, I feel like Touma is showing more personality now than compared to the first few episodes. Which is a huge relief! He was starting off as a kind of boring main rider and seemed flat. He’s still got ways to go, but I think his personality is getting better. Plus, I’m really interested in his past. If Luna is really the one that got him into reading, then is he really from Wonderworld like we’re told? Just who is he really? Is his last name really Kamiyama? What happened to him after he lost his memories? Did he get adopted? There has to be a reason why Rekka and the wonder ridebooks keep chosing him. ugh! I’m so curious!!!!! 

4. I can’t remember her name right now, so I’ll just call her Sabela. But omgosh I don’t know whether to hate her or pity her. I feel like she can work as an awesome villain, but just like other posts I’ve seen, it’d be such a shame if she ended up like Yaiba Yua. And, I honestly don’t want her to randomly become a hero like Amatsu Gai. Toei please just keep her as an awesome villain! 

5. Rintaro and Mei! omgosh Toei BETTER get them a kiss scene or something because they’re TOTALLY falling in love and I wanna see a proper kiss scene!! If Takamichi Cristalia can kiss a pink ranger, the the secondary rider can kiss the main rider girl!! No joke though, sometimes I can’t help but feel like Touma has feelings for Mei..... which I know probably is just me overthinking, but that’d be a really interesting addition to the plot. Has there ever been a love triangle between the main rider, secondary rider and main rider girl before? hmm.... 

6. Primitive Dragon!!!!!!! holy crap!!!!!!! I don’t know if I’ve ever said this before, but I FRICKIN’ LOVE BERSERK FORMS!!!!!!! I don’t know why, but the idea of the main character obtaining a power that choses him and yet he has no way of controlling said power, just interests the heck out of me! I feel like Touma REALLY needed one too! Like I said before, his character has been really flat from the start, so when he obtained this strange, ancient power that he can’t control at all, so much more is added to his character! Fear of the unknown, fear of being the one that hurts his friends, an intent to find out what’s behind the power, curiosity of why it chose him. Just so much can be added! I haven’t been this excited since Metal Cluster hopper was introduced! XD 

7. The master of logos... or master logos? is it? he kind of gives off final boss vibes. But he could also be the sort of ‘misunderstood guy that’s just trying to do good things in a very... seemingly evil way’. if that makes any sense. I’m really looking forward to his involvement with everything. Especially if he’s like, Touma’s long-lost-brother or uncle. Low-key hoping that he’s related to Touma. (like I said, I REALLY wanna know more about Touma’s past)

8. Ren like always is being a brat. But I did like how he’s actually giving what Ogami said to him some thought. Ever since watching his episode of the swordsmen biographies, I honestly thought that Ren might just end up going off with Dissast and betraying everyone. But now, especially with Kento’s return, I feel like Ren might learn and mature a bit. Heck, he might even start looking up to Touma for all we know. (that’s just a theory) 

9. Storious so far is my favorite of the three Megido. I don’t know if it’s because he’s played by Robin or what, but I’m always looking forward to his scenes. The Megido also make me curious about their backstories. Just why are they looking for more power? why do they want to rewrite the world? I’m so excited to learn more about them!    

10. And finally!!! Kento’s back!!!!!! I know that he must be under some kind of influence via Kurayami ( or not considering what he’s had to go through) and probably isn’t all THAT back. but still! he’s back! Now Toei, put him back in the opening and ending credits! I had already theorized that he’d be the new Caliber, but now that I see it, I just want him to be Espada again. Poor baby. Though, considering that Sabela is the one that took Kurayami, does this mean that he’s under her influence and working for her? hmmm.... This is gonna get interesting~ 

[yumenosakiimagines]

Mémoire Antique

Authors note: Ahhhh Im so nervous about posting this! I re-read Human Comedy last night and I was really inspired for some reason, but I still struggle to create for myself, so I don’t think it’s as good as it could’ve been. It’s an angsty Shu x producer! reader drabble that got a bit lengthy XD As a lil warning, this does contain some spoilers to Valkyrie’s current situation so be aware of that when reading! They’re not a 100% accurate though lol. As always, please do let me know your thoughts!

It felt like my heart was about to jump out of my chest as I stared at the computer screen, looking past the little blue icon to check my reflection for the millionth time in the span of five minutes. Mika, sitting next to me in the small living room of the apartment he had recently just rented, let out a little chuckle.

“You look pretty as always, (y/n)-nee. Don’t worry about it.”

I was about to object to that when finally, after what felt like an eternity, Shu’s face appeared on the screen. He looked slightly confused, he was never good with technology after all; he was terrible at using his smartphone even, no matter how many times Mika-chin, Kiryuu-san or even myself tried teaching him. It was sort of charming, in his own weird way. How could such a capable and refined man be so bad at something so trivial?

“Oshi-san!” Mika exclaimed excitedly, eyes sparkling like a little kid. It was our first time calling him since he’d left for Paris, and just hearing Itsuki’s voice was enough for me to feel like crying. After producing for Valkyrie for a whole year, the summer spent without him had been one of the loneliest of my life. It had been hard for Mika as well; hell, he surely had it harder than myself. Starting with the new school year, he’d carry the weight of Shu’s legacy on his slim shoulders. From that moment on, it’d be his turn to nurture Valkyrie with all of his might, and my support as a back up. Shu had entrusted me with that; I’d have to watch over Mika, encouraging him to keep going, lending him my shoulder to rest if he was tired, helping him up if he fell. Without Itsuki there with us, who was supposed to do that for me, though? I didn’t know.

My relationship with Shu was… far from the typical idol/ producer bond. I never thought too deep into it, but in retrospective, we could’ve easily passed as lovers. It was never official, and we never put a label on whatever that was, but the kisses we shared quietly before performances, the words of encouragement murmured as we dried each other’s tears, or the way we’d hold each other in the solitude of the handicrafts club room after hours were undeniable.

“Kagehira, why don’t you bring (l/n) something to drink?”

“E-eh? Right now?”

“No, next week. Right now, of course.”

I nodded at Mika’s questioning look, and he was soon out through the door.

“You still can’t call me by my name in front of him.” I smiled, looking directly at him for the first time. Ah, it made my chest hurt. He looked nothing short of stunning, as usual. Even if I couldn’t say it out loud, my whole body, heart and soul ached for him.

His eyes looked softer, kinder than ever as he smiled back at me. It was a small and gentle smile that made him look like some sort of angel. But most importantly, he seemed happy.

“I’ve missed you, (y/n).” His voice was merely a murmur.

“I’ve missed you too, Shu. Are you having fun in Paris?”

“I am. It’s like the whole city breathes art. I can’t wait for Kagehira and you to see-”

He cut himself midsentence, clenching his jaw when he noticed his mistake. Ah, that’s right, for us mere mortals, Heaven was not a given.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about, Shu. We’ll see each other again sooner or later.” I tried to assure him, but my voice ended up cracking halfway through.

“Don’t let Kagehira see you cry.” In typical Shu fashion, it sounded almost like an order when he said it, even though I knew it was just his awkward attempt at comforting me. I hummed to acknowledge his words, unsure of how my voice would come out. I knew it pained him to see me in such estate, and in the back of my mind, I felt incredibly guilty.

“H-how am I supposed to fill the hole you left behind, Shu? I can’t even hold a candle to you.” “Don’t say such foolish things. You’ve always been much more fitting for that role than me. You’re more of a human than I am. I spent so many years acting like the master of puppets when I’m nothing more than an empty shell… But I’m here to change that. And maybe when I find myself… we’ll be able to make an ‘us’.”

The tears that had been threatening to spill since Mika left overflowed my eyes and it was like a dam had burst. They kept coming despite my efforts to wipe them off my cheeks, seemingly never-ending. The thought of a formal relationship with Shu was both exciting and terrifying. “I don’t know what to do without you here. I feel so lost.” I confessed.

“I know how you feel. Missing each other, longing for each other’s warmth is not wrong. Don’t let it consume you; consume it instead and use it as fuel to create. Create beautiful works of art and help those who feel like you.”

“I’m sorry, I promised I wouldn’t cry but…” “Sorry it took so long! I still don’t really have anything on my fridge so I had to run to the convenience store.” Mika barged through the door, panting lightly with a grocery bag on his hands, shoes still on and all. “Eh? (Y/n)-nee? Are you crying?” “I’m just really happy, that’s it.” I did my best effort to smile. Well, it wasn’t completely a lie.

“Tch, your hair is a mess. Carry yourself with more dignity, Kagehira!”

“E-eek! Yes, Oshi-san!” Mika squealed, a faint blush tinting his pale cheeks. I was sure he was happy though, since he was suddenly reminded of happier days.

We chatted the afternoon away, talking until the golden rays of sunset started leaking through the blinds. If I closed my eyes, it almost felt like I had gone back in time to the months we’d spent together, to the peaceful afternoons in the atelier, the happiest moments of my youth. Part of me wished to stay in that frame, eternally frozen in a happy memory, almost like a painting. But, as Shu would say, conformity is an artist’s worst enemy, so I’d have to move forward. I’d have to learn, grow and cultivate myself to reach him. Someday, I’d stand next to him again, as an equal, and maybe even a partner this time. And he’d be waiting for me until then.

[koorinohebi]

I am curious: how would you describe Kiomi's relationship with Jiraiya? And with Koji Kashin? What you've shared about them so far seems very interesting and I must know more!

Thank you for dropping by and asking about my life blood for Kiomi! xD

Kiomi's relationship with Jiraiya is by far one of my most favorite things (it ties with Sarutobi Arai, another OC whom she formed a really strong bond with over the years, to the point where they are like sisters).

A little tidbit before I begin; to be perfectly honest, with the amount of stuff I dish out that's Jiraiya related, one couldn't have guessed that he was one of the characters that I absolutely HATED back in the day. Whatever admiration I have for Jiraiya mostly stemmed from Kiomi. 

Now, where do I start...

JIRAIYA

I have 3 verses for Kiomi's interactions with Jiraiya. One follows the anime/manga, one is my main verse for her which follows my RP with the Jiraiya she came to know as her sensei, and then one verse with which I've started a long long time ago (and still ongoing with @ambitiousparagon​). Since the most fleshed out is her main verse, I'll be talking about that. 

Truthfully, Kiomi's relationship with Jiraiya is supposed to border on platonic going to enemies. However, fate has a funny way of letting the stars align.

The initial plot for this was Kiomi's desperation to prove herself useful to Orochimaru that she agreed to not only get intel on Konoha, but also take down one of the 2 remaining Sannins. A suicide mission, I know. Since Tsunade had value to Orochimaru as a healer, and someone whom he believed he could still EVENTUALLY sway to his side, her lord instead sent her after the most rumbunctios one of them all. He wasn't going to tell her how to do it. Since she’s so eager to prove herself, he allowed her to plan everything. Which she did, starting with pretending to be a defector from Otogakure. Kiomi had plotted with a few of the Otonins to help her out, set an attack, do as much damage as she could while she escaped to Konoha with pretty valid info (about Sasuke, and maybe a few plans here and there) to try and earn their trust. And while she was accepted, Konoha wasn't so stupid as to simply believe a previous underling of Orochimaru. SO. In order to prevent her from doing any sort of damage, and at the same time to keep her under surveillance, Tsunade had assigned Kiomi as a "student" to Jiraiya who had just returned from one of his reconnaissance missions. And with Jiraiya being a person who doesn't stay long in the village, it seemed like a good course of action to take, one which also worked to Kiomi's advantage because it brought her closer to her goal.

Their student-teacher setup starts out very platonic. Kiomi has always been quite the curious kid. She does her best to learn whatever it was that she could. With her arrangement of being a student, it allowed her to work closely with Jiraiya who, well...being Jiraiya, mostly had his nose stuck in a hot spring somewhere. This made her wonder if this was some kind of weakness that she could exploit when the time was right so she kept a close watch. She'd been warned about his lecherous ways, but since she was a teenage kid who didnt really see herself much of anything, she could care less about his reputation. In fact, there are times when she would wonder if his so called "research" was worth all the broken ribs and bones. Often times she would also use Jiraiya’s love for women and sake as motivation to head to a new village for whatever work they need to do.

Eventually though, the more they traveled the more they kept ending up in trouble's very welcoming arms. And these were the moments when a bond of trust formed between the two. Kiomi had been very open about her principle of not caring about other people's live. Who died and who didn't. After all, she was groomed to be a tool. Her mentor, however, was not having any of that nonsense. Jiraiya instills in her repeatedly the value of human life. True enough that taking one was easy, but preserving it along with learning how to understand one another despite all the differences was the goal of being a shinobi. He also pretty much treats her like an actual human being rather than just someone expendable, which sparked Kiomi's curiosity all the more. Because while Orochimaru had been kind (manipulative), Jiraiya was a very warm individual who didnt seem like his kindness had any strings attached. He also allows her to just bloom into her own person, encouraging her to rediscover herself as more than just a Shinobi, but as a living breathing human being. More than being a mentor on jutsus and other skills, what endeared Jiraiya to Kiomi was how much values and lessons about life she learned from him. To the point where she could no longer push through with her mission of assassinating him, and instead permanently defecting to Konoha. It also helps that Jiraiya hinted that he knew about her supposed betrayal. Where one would have normally sentenced her to execution because she was the enemy, the Toad Sage believed in her, and it was that benevolence that ultimately defeated her.

So it went from platonic to an eventual slow burn of becoming a ship. Which was all accidental, because apparently, due to all the trouble they got into, and due to always having each other's back, the sage developed his own brand of protectiveness over the girl and vice versa. That ended with him being half in denial and half in acceptance of what he was feeling, despite knowing it was probably wrong. He doesn't act upon it though as their bond as Master and Student was what was most important. At the same time, Kiomi who is as dense as a rock had no idea about what exactly it is that she feels. But when she realizes what it is, she tries to avoid it at all cost, as being Master and Student was also more important to her. Every once in a while though, a little bit of their feelings slip through. Mostly when one of them is half dead. (And they get into so much trouble that at the end of a specific arc, one of them is either REALLY injured, or near death, and in one occasion actually died.) There are also times when it just slips on its own from either side, due to careless words, or perhaps impulsive actions that creates a bit of awkward situations.

Here is an example of when Kiomi gives in a little to her own feelings.

===

What am I doing?

She couldn't sleep. She ended up shifting for a while there, turning to look up at the stars that Jiraiya had been so keen on seeing. Everything was pitch black which made her, for a moment, appreciate the little specs of light that seemed to glisten in the vast distance of space. Pretty. However, beautiful as they may, they gave her no comfort. The moon that had so graciously lent them its light was now hiding behind the midnight clouds, shying away from her sight. I can't sleep. At this rate, there would be no rest for her for the entire night.

That was when she felt just a slight shift beside her. Curiously, she took her first glance of him after that short period of silence. A soft sigh passed through her lips. At least, one of them was getting some sleep after a long day of training and misunderstandings. Still, from the looks of how his face was contorting, his slumber didn't seem all too pleasant. I'll check just a little.

And so, she sat up, silently and cautiously moving close enough so that she ever so slightly hovered over him. He didn't look like he was having a good time at all. See, this is why bed was the better choice. The mental note was made. Maybe she should wake him up, just in case he was having a nightmare. In that moment wherein she wanted to call for him, no words came out. Instead, a free hand moved on its own in an effort to touch his face. But they stopped. Just inches away from his cheek. Kiomi remembered the way that he had caressed her own (when he seemed under a delusional trance), but she had no courage to do the same. Even when her mouth moved to speak, only soundless words came out. And even those, she couldn't even finish. Again, she bit her lip inwardly. She didn't have the right to say them. After all, the expression on his face from earlier...the one that enthralled her to the point where she couldn't think straight, wasn't even meant for her.

So instead, her hands retreated to a few strands of hair that was long enough for her to take. Gently, just pressed her lips against them before finally relenting, retreating back to her own spot. And apparently just in time, since a few moments after that, she felt him move. Heard him speak. She had to hold her breath for a moment. Again, pretend to sleep. Closed her eyes.

What...am I doing?

===

In this main verse (where Jiraiya survives through the 4th Shinobi War), we've gotten to a point where they've admitted to what they feel (above is a prelude to said revelation), BUT! More than the awkward lovers they end up as, what's most important first and foremost is their relationship as teacher and student. It’s always the main element, everything else is basically secondary. Their relationship whether it's platonic or romantic, has always been one of learning.

And as proof to that, here is a scenario wherein Kiomi and Jiraiya were having a small lecture on the workings of the heart-- affections vs. unconditional love. She, out of curiosity, blurted out the question, "Isn't it frustrating if you can't touch the person that you love...?". To which the answer came as such:

===

"Hold that thought." He replied as she spoke the last of her words, wanting to take the time to address the prior question which was awkwardly blurted out on her behalf earlier. "It's very frustrating, yes, but...if you can't touch a person's heart with sincere feelings first, then no amount of hugs, kisses, or anything else can fill the void inside of you. There were many things that kept the woman that I loved and I apart. War. Misunderstanding. My own personal faults, but I find that I would've given anything within reason, even not being allowed to touch her in ways that would've held significant meaning for us both, just to be accepted as someone that she loved and was genuinely in love with."

Indeed, he had harbored those feelings for someone else. The unrequited love of the century, in fact, but what was worse in his mind was to succumb to the despair of not being accepted, was giving up on the prospect of being loved or in love at all. This was the man who believed that a ninja's worth was measured in his determination not to give up on their mission. So come what may, this brief skirmish of feelings with Kiomi had strengthened his resolve to maintain that belief system all the more no matter what the outcome between them would be.

"The better question is, why are you alright with hiding so much from yourself?" A contrast sharper than the edge of the most menacing blade, the internal conflict that she was experiencing was the true focus of his next words. "In other words, you won't get anywhere in life if all you do is hide from what you feel for anything." There were no exceptions going to be made, because this was suddenly about far more than mere affection or literary prowess. It was the central issue of Kiomi's very being which needed addressing in its own due time. Jiraiya felt that in the moment, it was his duty to plant the seeds which might otherwise allow her to consider the best options about how to confront and move past so daunting a thing. And there, without ever needing to say a word, his argument was given it's apex example. It didn't matter what realizing the truth of that matter cost if she could manage to pull it off. No price would be too high to pay, even their sacred bond, if it meant that she could grow past the limitation of inhibition which had placed a virtual strangle hold on her heart and mind.

===

Obviously talking about Tsunade in the first part. She feels an irrational bout of jealousy over a person who didn't even choose him, and feels her own emotions to be ugly. It's definitely a different type of envy compared to when she's jealous of Sasuke being Orochimaru's choice for a vessel.

And Jiraiya here made a really good point. The more she hides from what she feels, the more she doesn't get anywhere, which is why in verses where he is dead, Kiomi is left with an overwhelming regret of never having the chance, let alone courage to admit to her feelings and confess. Because she knows that he loves Tsunade, she is prepared for any sort of rejection (and knows that it'll even probably legitimately make her cry all the tears she can cry). If she had just allowed herself that little bit of honesty, then she probably wouldn't be stuck in the mud, unable to move forward in the years to come.

Ultimately though, Jiraiya's happiness is what's important to her. Which is why after the war, Kiomi works closely with both Otogakure and Konoha in order to protect the place and people that her mentor loved and died fighting for.

At the end of it all, I believe that for these three verses, the finality of her relationship with him is one of absolute trust and loyalty. Whether or not her feelings are reciprocated, she has already accepted the fact that Jiraiya ignites a flame within her, not necessarily one brought about by romance, but in the trust that he puts in her. He never was the type to give answers directly. It wasnt a mind game, but Jiraiya's brand of teaching encourages a belief in one's self to find an answer that the student can believe in, something in which he too comes to have faith in.

Kashin Koji’s route comes in a separate post.