#(And she's so cheerfully stubborn neither of them can get rid of her)

[more-than-a-princess]

also hope you know that scoob and I are both greatly amused whenever we see references to Sonia being a jinra shipper (which is so valid)

This is super belated between finishing costume things before the convention and catching up on thread replies after the convention, but I'm glad you enjoy them! I know they exist in separate universes but if there was any overlap, she would be certain that they'd suit each other well.

Even if they could both use some fun, adventure, and excitement in their lives: at the end of the day, she could see them supporting and understanding each other.

Support and understanding that includes a lot of verbal barbs at one another (or more accurately, Eira towards Jin most of the time?), but support and understanding nevertheless.

And besides: she'll be that friend who keeps life fun for them. Check out some haunted places! Travel somewhere new! Try a new hobby! Have even more stories that begin with 'that time we almost died/got arrested/embarrassed ourselves horribly!'

Jin wouldn't let them get arrested right? Right??

In any case, she'd be heartbroken if she didn't get an invitation to the wedding. Royal duties are put on pause to celebrate Jin and Eira, always.

And of course: she'll ask to meet any and all cats. At least Sonia comes bearing toys, treats, and fluffy cat beds so luxurious, they'll wish they came in human sizes. She can and will pamper all of their offspring, animal or otherwise.

@orderbourne

[achillestiel]

the parent trap only works if you’re identical | part five (if this get’s any longer I’m putting it on ao3)

Tag List: @littlerachelbee @imthedoctorlove @deancas-handprint @castiel-loves-dean @wanderermatthews @thelahatiel @priscillahc @mridzyp @multi-fandom-dark-lord @thefantasyfiend @harmonyhelms @imlivingliferightnow ​ @kara-merlin @still-clowning-in-this-house @never-forever-more @continuezmesfilserrants @2musiclover2 @castiels-bitch @stjimmie @cmths5

“Well thank you for dinner but we should probably be heading out.” Dean said towards the end of one of, if not the most, awkward dinner of his life.

“Dad what about dessert?”

“Claire, we need to get going. It’s a long drive back to Kansas.” Dean said, sighing internally because he knew getting Claire out the damn house was going to be hard. 

“Dean, don't be ridiculous. You’ve been driving for most of the day.” Cas said. “We have the spare bedroom-”

“That’s my room!” Gabriel interrupted. 

“It’s not your room Gabriel. It’s the guest room. You have your own house with your own bedroom.” Cas said, giving Gabriel the bitchiest look Dean had ever seen. That was saying a lot seeing as he’d grown up with Sam. “Dean, why don’t you and Claire stay here for the night? Claire can sleep in Jack’s room and you can sleep in the guest room.” Cas suggested. Claire and Jack grinned at each other and Dean just knew they'd stay up half the night whispering to each other. Or plotting. Most likely plotting.  

No. Nope, Absolutely not going to happen in a million goddamn years. 

“Cas, we can just grab a motel if I get tired.” 

“Dad, I’m not staying in a motel if we can stay here.” Claire said stubbornly. “Plus Jack and I were already planning on making waffles in the morning!” Oh, Jesus Christ. These kids were going to be the death of Dean. And damn if both Claire and Jack weren’t giving him the puppy dog eyes. 

 “Fine. Fine. But we’re heading out in the morning Claire, I mean it.”

“After waffles.” Claire and Jack said in unison. When the hell did those two learn how to do that?

“Excellent, now that’s all sorted I’m going to head home as Winchester’s stolen my room. All the wine is gone anyways.” Gabriel asked, slapping his hand on his thighs as he got out of his seat

“See you in the morning Uncle Gabriel.” Claire said with a grin as Gabriel patted her on the head, ruffled Jack’s hair and gave both Dean and Cas pointed looks.  

“Good night Gabriel.” Cas said, giving his brother a stern look Dean didn’t understand. 

“Same to you bro. Good to see you Winchester, try not to keep this madam a stranger.” Gabriel said, nodding towards Claire.

“I’ll try.” Dean said, mainly to placate Gabriel. Gabriel gave them all a salute before heading out. “Nice to see Gabriel hasn’t changed at all.” Dean said once Gabriel had left. 

“No, he’s still the same annoying ass he’s always been.” Cas said. 

“I like him! He’s invited us to Thanksgiving this year.” Claire said. Yeah that’s not happening. Dean thought. 

“I’m going to teach Claire my secret yam recipe.” Jack said cheerfully. 

“Ah yes, Jack Novak’s secret yam recipe. Involving two whole bags of miniature marshmallows and a ruined casserole dish.” Cas said, shaking his head but giving Jack a fond look. 

“Sounds about as successful as when Claire tried to make apple pie on for Father’s Day.”

“What did you set on fire that time?” Jack asked Claire. Claire could stick her tongue out all she wanted but there were still scorch marks in their kitchen. 

“Yes well, Jack why don’t you and Claire clear up while Dean and I have a quick chat. After that, you can show Claire where she’s sleeping for the night. You two can watch a movie in your room.”

“Cool, how’d you feel about The Avengers?”

“Black Widow is a badass.” Claire said. “Rock, paper, scissors for who washes and who dries?” she then asked. 

“Oh Jesus.” Dean muttered as Cas motioned for him to follow him. Instead of going into the warm looking living room, Cas took Dean upstairs and into a spacious guest room. The walls were painted a deep, honey colour that matched the wooden furniture perfectly. Unlike Dean’s guest room, which was really a junk room, it was immaculately clean. Dean was about to make a quip about the cleanliness of the room before he stopped. In the corner of the room was the very turntable he had brought Cas for the first Christmas they had been together. Without saying a word, Dean walked over and glanced at the records neatly stored in their storage box. Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac and even the rare Otis Reading record that Dean had found at a vinyl fair. Cas had kept all of them. For a fleeting moment, Dean wondered if the note he’d hidden in the Bob Dylan record was still there. A hastily scribbled note saying I wasn't born to lose you. Oh, the irony. 

-

Cas watched with cautious eyes as Dean ran a hand over the box of records. Each one Dean had carefully picked out for Cas in another life. He had battled over getting rid of them for years. Gabriel had always said it was strange to keep hold of them but Cas could have never parted with them. When Jack was a toddler Cas had played all of them for him, smiling to himself at how Knocking On Heaven’s Door would always send Jack to sleep. 

“I think we need to have a talk.” Cas said, trying to ease the tension that had enveloped the room. 

“Um yeah.” Dean said with a cough as he straightened up, looking away from the records. “Cause apparently I’m cancelling my Thanksgiving plans with Sam to spend the day with my ex-brother-in-law, eating my body weight in mini marshmallows.” Dean said. “Cas...what are we going to do about this?”

“And by this you mean…”

“The kids. There’s no way Claire’s going to just go back to how it was before. Plus, Jack is an awesome kid. There’s no way I want to go back to how it was before. I mean, maybe Jack could stay with me during the summer?”

“And what? I get Claire during Easter? Christmas?” Cas asked, laughing at the absurdity of the situation. “We came up with this arrangement so the kids could live a normal life. What’s going to happen next, I have them for one year and you have them for the other? That won’t work.”

“No shit Cas but...did you see those two at dinner? They’ve only known each other for a few weeks but it’s clear they adore each other. Claire’s gonna be an even bigger pain in my ass after this. I don’t want to break my...our daughter’s heart when we separate them again and I’m sure you dont want that for Jack.”

“Of course I don’t! What do you honestly suggest then because not only did we come to this agreement to have the kids lead normal lives but it was also so we didn’t have to see each other.” Cas said because even though neither of them would say it, they both knew that seeing each other again would end in a huge fight and a lot of sex. 

"Then why did you ask me to stay?" Dean asked. Good question Dean, very good question. 

"Because it's late and you can't drive throughout the night when you've been driving all day." Cas said. Liar a small voice inside Cas said. As much as he annoys you, you still love him. 

"Oh." Dean said in a small voice. 

"Why? What do you expect me to say?"

"Nothing...forget it." Dean said. “You know, now that we’re here and I’ll probably never be here again. About that day you packed, why'd you do it? Why did you just hop on a train and leave?”

“Dean.” Cas groaned. “We were so young. We both had tempers, we said stupid things so I packed. Got on the train and you didn't come after me.”

“I wanted to but I didn’t think you’d want me to follow.” Dean said in a small voice. “Dammit Cas, you just had to send Jack to the exact same camp as Claire didn’t you? ”

“We haven’t spoken in twelve years, how on earth was I supposed to know where you were sending Claire for the summer? It might shock you to hear this but I can’t read your damn mind Dean. I didn’t send Jack there because a little voice in my head said ‘Oh Dean is sending Claire to this camp! Send Jack so he can meet the twin sister he never knew he had.’” Cas said.  "You are so infuriating, you know that right?”

"I'm infuriating?” Dean asked, looking highly offended. “What about the time you recorded over my Star Trek episode with a documentary on the life of Tomas Jefferson?"

"You have the whole series on DVD! Why did you need to record it off the SyFy channel?"

"You know why! It was the Trouble With Tribbles episode and that was on the DVD that Sam scratched when I let him borrow it!" Dean shot back. 

"Well, you set fire to the patio furniture! Don't even say you didn't because Eileen told me it was you and Sam the next morning." Cas said.

"You scratched the Impala!"

"That wasn't me, it was Gabriel. I lied and said it was me because he was already on his last warning from when he spilt red wine on the couch." 

"Yeah well, you did break my Captain Kirk mug." 

"No Dean, the asinine way you stacked kitchen items broke your Captain Kirk mug." 

"Yeah well, you...you…" Dean said and something inside Cas just broke. This man, this irritating and stubborn man had been the love of his life, his husband and the man he wanted to spend this rest of his life with. Twelve years hadn’t changed a damn thing. 

"Oh for god sake Dean, shut up." Cas said and even though he knew this was the worst plan in the world, even worse than his non-identical twins switching places, Cas pulled Dean in close, their lips crashing against one another. Oh god, it was like going home after a long trip. Cas knew this, knew it better than breathing. Cas still loved Dean more than anyone else in the history of the universe. 

"Cas this is the dumbest-" Dean tried to say between kisses. Frantic kisses that set Cas’ skin ablaze.

"Just shut up and take off your pants." Cas said before his brain could come up with a million reasons why this was a stupid idea. 

“What?”

“Dean, shut up and take off your pants.” Cas said before crashing their lips together again in a kiss that was more like a battle for dominance than anything else. 

“I can’t take off my pants if you keep kissing me.” Dean said as he pulled away and Cas just groaned because this man drove him so insane but all Cas wanted to do was kiss every inch of his body. "This is the worst idea ever."

"Worse than when you let Jo pierce your lip?" Cas asked. He could still the slight scar on Dean’s bottom lip. 

"That was not as bad as the time you wanted to make your own honey." 

"One bee flew in the house Dean, one."

"Bees don't belong in a house Cas, they belong in a beehive."

"Are you really trying to start an argument when we're about to have sex?" Cas asked. Thankfully Dean shook his head. "Good, now take off your clothes and get on the bed."

-

With The Avengers to mask the sound, Claire and Jack sat in Jack’s room as they called their Uncle Sam. After a few rings, he accepted the video call. Grinning at the pair of them with a warm smile.

"Hey kids...man it's weird seeing you two together. How's it going?" Sam asked. 

"Awesome. We made chilli and got them to sit in the same room." Claire said. 

Well, that's something Eileen signed. So what's the plan? 

Plan?

Yeah, the plan. You two are definitely up to something because Claire's involved. 

Why do you always think I'm up to something? Claire asked. 

Intuition

"Past experience." Sam intoned. "Where’re your dads now?”

“Guest room we think, we heard shouting in there about ten minutes ago.”Jack said. “Something about tribbles.”

“Is he still on about that?” Sam groaned. Just out of view on the screen, Eileen signed something to Sam. He groaned and signed back. 

“Hey! Winchester family rule, no covert signing.” Claire said. Sam looked back at her with a classic Uncle Sam Bitchy Face. “What did you say?”

“Ugh.” Sam said. “Fine, your aunt said that if they’re fighting there’s good chance they’ll end up having sex.”

“Ew! Gross!” Jack and Claire said at the same time. “Those are our dads.” Claire said, wrinkling her nose. 

“Yeah? And how do you think you two were made?”

“With a turkey baster and a very patient surrogate.” Claire shot back. “Wait...if they do...you know...do gross stuff, does that mean they’ll get back together?”

Going from past experience, no. They’ll just fight and make noises that, according to your uncle, only dogs can hear.

“That’s really gross Aunt Eileen.” Jack said. “As far as a plan goes, we don’t really have one. Come on, we’re twelve. We need help and Uncle Gabriel has gone home.”

“Good, his plan would have been awful.” Sam said. “Look kids, I know damn well that Dean still loves Cas and judging from what you’ve told us, Cas probably still loves Dean. Just let them fight it out, turn whatever movie you’re watching way up and see how things are in the morning. I know these two idiots pretty well, you can’t force them into anything.”

“We can’t play the long game here Uncle Sam. Dad’s making us leave in the morning.”

“After waffles.”

“Yeah, after waffles I’ll be shoved in the car and grounded until graduate.” Claire said. The four of them sat in silence for a moment before Eileen’s face lit up. 

Ok I have a plan but if it backfires then you do not get it from me. Claire, do you remember how to disable the battery on the Impala? 

“Yeah, I remember...oh...no car means not having to leave.” Claire said with a grin. “Aunt Eileen, you are a genius and never let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“I want no part in this part of the plan.” Sam said hastily. 

“Too late Uncle Sam, welcome to Team Parent Trap.” Jack said happily.     

[emospritelet]

Heatstroke - chapter 3

These prompts arrived within minutes of each other XD

I’m open to more embarrassing and awkward prompts for these babies!

[AO3]

x

Realising that the woman who had thrown a drink over him and then disparaged the size of his manhood in the middle of Granny’s Diner was now his next door neighbour was not how Mr Gold had wanted to start his day. 

The previous evening had started badly and finished even worse. After completing his rounds he had gone home in a foul mood, trying not to remember the derisive way she had spoken of him to Miss Lucas, or the look in her eyes as she had glanced up and down his body. A toxic relationship and an acrimonious divorce years earlier had left his self-confidence battered, almost non-existent. He had worked hard to build it back up, or at least to wall himself off from others to keep them from knowing the truth. Most days he could pretend that he didn’t hate himself. Today was not one of those days.

He had gleaned from listening to her conversation with Miss Lucas that she was staying in Storybrooke. At first he had thought that perhaps she meant that she had a room at the inn. There was very little property in Storybrooke that he didn’t own, and he certainly couldn’t recall agreeing to any new tenancies. Perhaps her stay would be short-lived; what was there in Storybrooke for a young woman to do, after all? She would have more luck in Boston if she was seeking work. Whatever it was she did when she wasn’t talking about his unimpressive cock.

The following morning, he glanced out of his bedroom window and was surprised to see her in the backyard of the small house next to his, a yoga mat spread out on the grass. She was working through some poses, stretching and twisting, hands raised to the sky before folding forwards and wrapping her arms around her legs. The pose made the lilac pants she was wearing hug her buttocks, and Gold found that he was staring. He shook his head, twitching the curtain back across and going to get dressed. So. He had a new neighbour. A neighbour that had not only seen him naked but had laughed and gossiped about it in the diner. Wonderful.

The house next door to his was one of the few he didn’t own; he had been trying to convince Regina Mills to sell it to him for years, but she had refused, no doubt because she knew it would annoy him. He wondered how much she knew of the tenant, and whether this was all part of an elaborate plot to piss him off. If so, he wasn’t about to admit that it was working.

Tugging the knot in his tie straight, he looked himself over in the mirror and nodded curtly before heading downstairs. It was a coffee-for-breakfast type of morning. Two cups, and he could head to the shop and make a start on inventory. He needed to restock in a few areas, and switch some of the pieces between his home and the shop. That would take up most of the day.

He was just pouring his first cup of coffee when the phone rang, the noise shrill in the still morning. Gold frowned to himself, but as he saw who was calling he broke into a smile.

“Neal,” he said. “How are you?”

“Morning Pops.” His son sounded a little harassed. “Sorry to catch you so early.”

“No problem. I’ve been up since six, you know me.”

“Yeah. Listen, Emma asked me to call and I figured I’d do it before work sucked my soul out of my body and left me for dead. We’re thinking of paying you a visit. Maybe next weekend?”

“Sounds good.” Gold tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder and headed for the lounge. “You’re always welcome, you know that.”

“Great! We’re just waiting for Henry to get rid of the latest cold he’s managed to pick up. Friday okay?”

“I look forward to it,” said Gold, with a broad smile, entering the lounge. “Maybe we can—”

He broke off as he saw something in the middle of the patterned rug. Something that had certainly not been there when he was drinking his whisky the previous evening. A scrap of fuchsia lace, one end just touching the leg of one of the chairs.

“Dad?” said Neal. “You there?”

“Yes yes,” said Gold vaguely. “I’m here.”

“You were saying something?” prompted Neal.

Gold put down the cup of coffee, bending to pick up the scrap of lace, his eyes widening. It was a pair of panties, if one could call them that. Little more than a triangle of pink lace with strings at the side. He held it up in bewilderment, his mind whirling.

“Dad?”

Gold shook his head, tossing the underwear onto the couch.

“Yes - uh - Friday,” he said quickly. “We can go to Granny’s if you like. I know how much you and Emma like the ribs.”

“Sounds awesome.”

“Right.” Gold found that his eyes were straying to the panties. “Uh - see you then. Love you, son. Give my love to Emma and Henry.”

“Sure thing. Love you too.”

Gold hung up, putting the phone on the coffee table and turning his attention back to the underwear. He had a sneaking suspicion that they belonged to his new neighbour. An image of her bending over in her yoga pose wearing nothing but the pink thong leapt cheerfully into his mind, and he shoved it away before it could cause too much mischief. 

He went to check the doors at the front and back of the house, frowning to himself when he found them both locked. This was getting more curious by the minute. Perhaps she thought it an amusing prank to break in and leave her underwear around the place, but he couldn’t see how she had done it without using a key, and he knew where every copy of the keys to his house were kept. He was tempted to march around to her house and demand an explanation, but he suspected that getting a rise out of him was what she wanted. She’d probably film the thing and post it on one of those stupid apps to giggle over with Miss Lucas.

Mouth flattening, he scooped up the underwear and put it in one of the drawers of his bureau. If she wanted to leave her panties around the place, he wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of letting her know it was pissing him off. She’d get bored eventually.

x

He made sure to check all the locks before he left for work, and spent a fairly enjoyable day buried in the back room of the shop, going through his stock, deciding what to display and updating his records. It was a quiet day; only two customers attended the shop and given that rent day was done, he had no tenants coming in to pay rent. He found that he enjoyed the solitude. Not that that was anything new.

By lunchtime he was hungry, and went to the diner to buy a sandwich. Miss Lucas greeted him pleasantly, as though she hadn’t been giggling with her new friend about him only the previous evening. For a moment he was tempted to ask about the woman, to at least find out her name and reason for being in Storybrooke, but pride was making him stubborn, and he bit back the question before he could ask it.

By the time he got home the sun was setting in a blaze of gold, pleasantly warm on his shoulders as he walked up the steps of his house. Locking the door behind him, he shrugged out of his jacket and hung it up, and glanced around as he heard a tinkling noise from the kitchen. Gold frowned, listening intently. There was nothing further, and he moved as quietly as he could, edging towards the kitchen, cane grasped tightly in his hand and ready to be used as a weapon if needed.

The kitchen was empty, and a quick glance around showed that nothing had been moved. Shaking his head, Gold went to fill the kettle with water for tea. He carried a cup through to the lounge when it was made, and stopped in the doorway, eyes narrowing at what was looking up at him from the rug.

Today’s offering was white, the underwear dropped casually in the middle of the rug, as though their owner had undressed quickly. As though she had been ravished in the middle of his lounge. Gold put down his tea, using the cane to hook through the waistband of the panties. They were small, with a mesh triangle at the back and a lace waistband and front with a tiny satin bow in the middle. Whoever owned the panties was petite, which ruled out a number of possible candidates in the town. Gold’s suspicions still tended towards his new neighbour, but he currently had no proof. Nor a motive. Nor an explanation for how she was getting into his house. 

Growling under his breath, he shoved them in the bureau drawer with the other pair and stomped back through to the kitchen, where he stopped dead. A black cat was sitting in the middle of the floor, staring at him with jade-green eyes. It was a handsome creature, its fur shining, long tail wound around its feet and a blue collar with a bell around its neck. On the floor beside it was another lace thong, this one a pretty powder blue, and Gold looked from the cat to the panties to the cat flap in the kitchen door, realisation dawning. He grounded the cane between his feet, fixing the cat with as stern a look as he could manage.

“So,” he said. “This is your doing, is it?”

The cat let out a faint miaow, pink mouth showing sharp white teeth.

“You do realise that these are neither my colour nor my style, hmm?” added Gold. “Perhaps you should take them home.”

The cat mewed again, getting to its feet and stepping forward to wind around his shins. Gold bit back a grin.

“No point trying to get into my good books,” he said. “I have to think of a way to get this underwear back without crossing paths with its owner. Unless you’ve got any bright ideas, go on home.”

The cat was purring, butting its head against his legs, and Gold bent to scratch its ears, receiving a nuzzle in response. He picked up the panties while he was at it, stuffing them into his pocket, and the cat trotted off to the cat flap, tail flicking as he disappeared through it. Gold shook his head. At least he knew who the intruder was now. He just needed to return the underwear.

[galaxy-parchment]

Vampire AU

1 : 2 : 3 : 4 : 5 : 6  : 7 : 8 : 9 : 10 (you are here) : 11 : 12 : 13 : 14 : 15 (coming soon)

Woops guess who forgot to link chapter 9 to all the other chapters. I hope the sheer length of this mostly explains why it took a while to write mostly because of the whole trying not to directly plagiarise the comic but also I’ve been really busy with thankfully good things like weddings and birthdays and award ceremonies and all that fun stuff.

Of all the things Lanyon expected while he was checking on why nobody had shown up the Bethnal Green for the cleanup, Henry being covered in blood and losing control of everyone in the building wasn’t in his list of possibilities. Thankfully Henry didn’t seem to be in any sort of pain but rather was staring at the chaos of lodgers running up the main staircase.

His shirt was completely covered in blood and not going out to feed since the Moreau incident certainly wasn’t helping that annoyingly ravenous feeling he was getting in the back of his mind. God, he really should have gone out yesterday. He took his mind off of it by instead looking at Henry’s face, which had much less blood on it and turned to the ground with a very worried look etched into his features.

“Henry?”

“What?” his head perked up, drawing him out of whatever thought he was lost to, he turned and noticed who it was, “Robert! What are you doing here? I thought you were helping out in Bethnal Green today?”

“I was, but the lodgers that were supposed to be helping out today never showed up, also you’re bleeding” Robert said, carefully avoiding looking down and doing anything out of turn.

Henry quickly glanced down at himself and met Robert’s eyes just as quickly, “Don’t worry, it’s not my blood” despite the apparent reassurance Robert was getting, Henry still looked quite nervous.

“Is… is that meant to make me less worried? Have you been getting enough sleep?” he reached up and felt Henry’s forehead, which was cold rather than feverishly hot like he’d expected it to be.

Henry glanced up at the hand on his head with a look of panic. He quickly pulled his hand down and laughed nervously “I’m fine, Robert, just a little off schedule but I have it under control!” a knife suddenly appeared under Henry’s chin.

“Doctor Jaaaaaay…” came the calm voice of Rachel from Henry’s right hand side “Where is Master Hyde?” she yelled abruptly. Robert was lost as Rachel bickered with Henry but struggled his way back to listening to avoid looking down at the blood that was soaked into Henry’s vest. The first word he caught was ‘Hyde’ and his eyes widened in alarm.

“What’s all this about Mr Hyde? You’re not still in contact with that scoundrel are you?” he interrogated. He quickly found himself bombarding Henry with questions about that criminal. Why on earth would he still be on speaking terms with Hyde? He was not only a criminal but he’d been outed as a vampire. As much as it pained him to say, he hoped that Henry would be reasonable enough to stay far away from affairs with vampires if he could help it. He hoped there wasn’t any foul play in all of this.

A small metallic beetle suddenly zoomed into the room and halted in front of Henry, surprising all three of them as it blurted out a robotic voice that Robert just made out to be “Transmission for Dr Henry Jekyll”

Before Robert and Rachel could process what was happening Henry was suddenly out the door and off to find the lodgers that he explained were out in Survey. Robert and Rachel simply stared for a moment before the former uttered “What just happened?”. 

Robert decided he may just have to take matters into his own hands.

-

Jekyll rushed to his room to get the bloodstained clothes off of him as soon as possible and tossed them into a bag and away from his sight. He touched a finger to his teeth to check them. Thankfully, most likely because he’d fed last night, his fangs were barely longer than usual and Jekyll took the blessing in stride. Now he had to keep himself covered for the trip to find Bryson and his crew.

He took out a top hat with a wider brim than most, flipped his collar up despite how unflattering it was to his jawline, picked up a parasol and put on gloves so that he only needed to cover his face while he was out to avoid suspicion.

He spotted the balloon a mile off and walked as fast as a gentlemanly stroll would allow him, careful to keep to the edges of the path where it was shadier. Eventually he made it to the crash site and grimaced at the ladder leading up to where the group was waiting. To his annoyance, Helsby was waving for him up to climb the ladder, so he didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Jekyll huffed, closed and tucked his umbrella under his elbow and looked down and awkwardly climbed the ladder, nearly burning himself on a spot of sunlight on his way up. He clambered up onto the elevated ground that the balloon was resting in and tidied himself up before looking to the men and giant octopus in the basket.

“So what have you been up to on this fine adventure, gentlemen?”

Bryson looked into the distance dramatically and went on a convoluted tangent about how dangerous and mysterious their latest ‘journey through the cosmos’ was. After a few minutes of monologuing Jekyll grew bored and clasped his hands together cheerfully.

“I see! So what you’re saying is you got lost!”

“If you must put it into unscientific terms,” Bryson deadpanned.

“Not to worry, I’ll have a team out here to extricate your dirigible as soon as they’ve extricated themselves from Frankenstein’s clutches”

Bryson’s eyes widened, “Frankenstein’s awake? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”, neither he nor Helsby wasted a moment climbing out of the basket and sprinting back down the path Jekyll had just traversed, the accompanying octopus monster dragging itself along in tow at an alarming pace.

Jekyll stared defeatedly as the last of the lodgers were swept up in Frankenstein’s spell. Somewhere in the back of his mind Hyde stirred. Jekyll could feel the smug grin on him from whatever shadow he lurked in.

“Oh, poor Henry! After all you’ve done for the lodgers they abandon you for some clown with a famous name! I guess no matter how hard you try to hide all of those ghastly vampiric tendencies, the can still see how much of a monster you are, fangs or no!” he cackled, revealing himself in the shade of the nearest tree. Jekyll climbed back down the ladder as he spoke and reopened the umbrella, taking his time in making his way back.

“Why can’t you just stop existing for a week? You don’t normally hang around while I’m in control, what makes this different? You’ve already been to Blackfog for a night, as agreed.”

Hyde let out a growl of anger, “What? So you can just stop worrying about me forever? How convenient for you to just let me disappear forever!”

“You know that’s not true!”

“Right, because who else is going to do the sloppy murder you need to do to stay alive? Face it, Henry, if we weren’t a vampire then you’d probably have tried to get rid of me ages ago!” Hyde fumed, his shadowy form becoming less defined, “and for the record, you’re lucky that bartender knows not to mess with a vampire, that was by far the shoddiest luring I’ve ever seen and you’re lucky you found some depressed bastard that was probably baiting himself to get killed”

“I really don’t need to deal with this right now,” Jekyll groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose and eager to avoid talking about last night, “if you’re going to hang around, you could at least help me get a handle on this Frankenstein problem.”

“Go to hell, traitor!”

“Don’t be like that! Frankenstein is our childhood idol, I need a way to win her over, but I can’t do that so long as she has this stubborn idea that I’m some kind of imposter scientist.”

“She’s not too far off, when was the last time you actually did any experiments? These days you’re just worried about making sure nobody figures out you got turned so that you can get them to throw money at your beloved Society.”

Jekyll looked up in realisation, “Huh… I think you might be onto something… I’ve been so caught up in keeping the Society afloat and focusing on hiding all of my secrets that I haven’t had time to follow my own scientific pursuits! Sure I’ve occasionally tried to make a cure but never anything I could be open about, of course Frankenstein would think I’m a fake!”

A confused look formed on Hyde’s face, “Uh- yes she… why are you agreeing with me? Where is this going?”

Before Hyde knew what was happening, Jekyll started out on a tangent about everything he remembered about alchemy and the various plants surrounding them and was adamant that he’d found just what he needed. Much to Hyde’s chagrin his insistence that Jekyll was simply blabbering and had no hope of ever winning over Frankenstein were ignored in favour of Jekyll returning to his enthusiastically wild scientific endeavours and explaining his plan all the way home until eventually he had to shut up to avoid suspicion from the sudden presence of other people who wouldn't take well to listening to Jekyll talking to thin air about the tiny flowers he had clasped in his hand.

[frywen-babbles]

Sounds of Silence pt4

A/N: TW: Mentions of abuse

“But why do I have to…” Mitsuhide tried to protest when he was pushed out of the car.

“We need a distraction. Unlike Hanbei, I trust you can do something if he gets aggressive.”

“I knew I had a reason why I hate you…” Hanbei mumbled from the driver’s seat, unable to see the glare Mitsunari shot him.

They had waited for hours for her or her boyfriend to leave the house, but neither of them did. The day was already starting to turn to evening and all of their patience was running thin.

Mitsunari watched as Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi walked to the front door of the house and rang the doorbell. He and Inuchiyo sneaked to the back, peeking through the windows to see if they could find her.

She was sitting in the kitchen, flipping through a magazine, her eyes flickering every now and then towards the door. She was wearing leggings and a hoodie and she had a scarf around her neck, so Mitsunari couldn’t see if she was injured. But at least there wasn’t any bruises on her face. Mitsunari waved to get her attention, but she didn’t notice him.

“We could knock on the window?” Inuchiyo suggested.

“I’m not even going to tell you how utterly idiotic that plan is,” Mitsunari replied, pulling out his phone.

[19:03:20] << ManjuDreamer >> Look out of the window.

She immediately glanced at her phone and her eyes shot to the window.

[19:03:19:03:39] << ManjuDreamer >> If you want to leave come to the backdoor asap.

[19:03:52] << ManjuDreamer >> Hideyoshi is distracting your boyfriend with a friend.

She nodded once and sneaked out of the kitchen. Mitsunari walked to the backdoor and to his surprise she was already there, only slippers in her feet, a small backbag in her hands.

[19:04:40] << bookshy >> hurry

He nodded to her and grasped her hand. They ran to the corner of the house, where they could see Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi at the door.

“Yeah, I think that’s all the info we need for now! Thank you for your time!” Hideyoshi said cheerfully and they heard the door slam shut. Mitsunari tightened his grasp on her hand and took off running towards the car. He opened the door and pushed her inside, climbing in after her. He pulled her down to lie on the seat, her head landing on his lap.

“Drive!” Mitsunari snapped to Hanbei, who immediately took off.

“H-hey!” Inuchiyo barely managed to sit down in the front seat, his door still open. He reached to slam the door shut. “You could have waited for me to sit down…”

“You’ll live,” Hanbei shot back, taking a sharp turn which nearly sent Inuchiyo off of his seat. “Fasten your seatbelt, I’m not paying your fine if we get pulled over.”

Mitsunari put his hand down and suddenly realised where her head was. He momentarily caught Hanbei’s eyes, which made him painfully aware of her proximity, of her hair against his palm, of the heat of her skin against his thigh. He turned his head aside, a blush burning hot on his face.

[19:16:32] << bookshy >> whr r we going [19:16:36] << ManjuDreamer >> A friend’s house. [19:16:53] <<ManjuDreamer >> He promised you can stay in one of their guest rooms for a while. [19:16:59] << bookshy >> u sure hes ok w/ that [19:17:08] << ManjuDreamer >> He suggested it himself. [19:17:36] << ManjuDreamer >> We need to lose your phone. [19:17:36] << bookshy >> NO! [19:17:37] << bookshy >> how am i sppsd to talk to ppl thn? [19:17:38] << bookshy >> i wont let u [19:17:46] << ManjuDreamer >> He tracks your phone, doesn’t he? [19:17:58] << ManjuDreamer >> That’s how he found you last time. [19:18:00] << bookshy >> i still need my phone [19:18:02] << bookshy >> i cant just toss it [19:18:08] << ManjuDreamer >> I’ll get you a new one [19:18:10] << bookshy >> u cant do that!

Mitsunari glanced up from his phone to the road ahead, before he dug through his bag for some pen and paper.

“Hanbei, pull over somewhere. We need to get rid of her phone.”

[19:18:27] << ManjuDreamer >> Write down all the important numbers you need. [19:18:40] << bookshy >> i need my phone

Despite her complaints, she took the offered stationery and scribbled down some numbers before she looked at him, holding tight on her phone.

“You sign, right?” Mitsunari asked, each sign slow and deliberate. She just stared at him, not replying. Her jaw tightened for a moment before her expression turned blank, her eyes searching his face. Finally, she nodded.

[19:22:04] << bookshy >> i can read lips but i dont alws get evrthng right [19:22:10] << bookshy >> i dont want to rely on it [19:22:12] << bookshy >> txtng is better [19:23:06] << bookshy >> i need my phone [19:23:22] << bookshy >> plz [19:23:31] << bookshy >> please

Her cool mask broke, anguish leaking into her features. Her brows furrowed and her jaw tensed and Mitsunari had no idea why she kept staring at him. Her stare made him feel self-conscious and he could feel his face starting to burn up again. He ripped his eyes from hers, opting to stare at his phone screen instead, a small frown between his brows he desperately tried to keep away.

[19:24:46] << ManjuDreamer >> We’ll get you a new phone ASAP [19:25:07] << ManjuDreamer >> I can’t let him find you. [19:25:29] << bookshy >> why r u doing this

Mitsunari took a deep breath, his fingers ghosting over the phone screen trying to come up with something. Why didn’t she understand what he was trying to do? She had accepted his help this far, why wouldn’t she do this? He could help her but she was being so stubborn for no reason at all!

“Mitsunari.” Hanbei’s voice startled him awake from his thoughts and he saw they had stopped at a gas station.

[19:27:45] << ManjuDreamer >> I want you to be safe.

She looked at her phone. Slowly, she removed the cover of her phone, several large bills dropping on her lap and finally, reluctantly handed the phone to him. Mitsunari stepped out of the car and unceremoniously dropped her phone on the ground, driving his heel several times through the screen until it was shattered and the phone bent beyond repair. He then tossed it in the nearby trash bin and sat back in the car.

Her head fell back into his lap, but this time she wasn’t looking up at him. Instead, she was staring ahead, but Mitsunari wasn’t sure if she was staring out of the car or into nothingness.

***

Mitsunari felt bad leaving her. He was sure Oichi would take good care of her, but she had looked so bewildered by her surroundings and the kindness that was shown to her, he felt absolutely horrible. She had held onto the back of his hoodie so tight he nearly had to pry her fingers open so he could leave.

Why did he feel such guilt? She was safe now, he shouldn’t feel guilty, right? Oichi was with her, she shouldn’t feel lonely. Didn’t girls want to talk to other girls about their problems?

He stepped into his apartment and closed the door with a heavy sigh, pressing his forehead against it. He should… he needed to study… But the image of her kept popping on his mind every time he tried to think anything else. He turned around and leant against the door, kicking his shoes into the corner.

“Mitsunari? You’re back already?” Hideyoshi’s voice startled him, but a frown quickly replaced his surprise.

“Yeah. I have to study for tomorrow…”

“Oh… just… go to see her as soon as you can, okay?”

“Um, yeah…” Mitsunari slinked to his room, shutting the door firmly behind him.

What was he doing? Every time he tried to concentrate all he could think about was how she had made sure no-one else saw and signed ‘don’t leave’. He was so going to fail the test tomorrow… and it would affect the final grade too…

***

He had been so distracted the whole day even that bake-crazy dullard with questionable taste in books AND men had asked him what was wrong. He stared at the door of the Oda residence debating if he should knock now or wait until he had cleared out his head when the security guard let him out of his misery and opened the door for him.

It couldn’t be helped then… He made his way to the wing where he knew her room was but stopped right outside. Was he supposed to knock? Wait until she came out? But what if she wanted to just stay in her room? Just open the door and wish she wasn’t naked just then? Oh gods, did he just imagine her naked?

“Mitsunari?” He heard Oichi’s voice behind him. He felt his face flush with embarrassment. He turned around, annoyed at being found out standing in the middle of the hallway like an idiot in the middle of the most embarrassing train of thought.

“What?”

“Aren’t you cheerful today, grumpy face. My friend wanted to know if you’re okay when I told her you’re supposed to come here,” Oichi said, lifting an eyebrow.

“Nosy dullards like her should stay out other’s business.”

“Uh huh.” Oichi dismissed his snark before she turned serious. “She was crying last night. I thought I’d go talk to her, but I didn’t know if she’d appreciate me going into her room. I left some chocolate for her in the kitchen.” She held a small break and smiled. “I have a gift for her I think she might appreciate. Come find me when you feel like it!”

And with that, she was gone. Mitsunari still felt awkward but knocked on her door anyway before stepping inside. She was inside, watching television, but her eyes flickered immediately to him. Momentarily, she looked surprised. But then she jumped up and ran to him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

Mitsunari had no idea what to do. Was he supposed to hug her back? Or just stand there being hugged or… He felt his face burning embarrassingly hot. His first thought was to push her away, but he knew he shouldn’t do that though. So, he opted to pat her back awkwardly until she let go and took a step back.

“Manju-boy, you came…” she said with slow deliberate signs, a faint smile on her lips.

“Yes… Wait, why am I manju-boy?”

“I can call you a fox too, you're sly enough to be one.” She poked her tongue out a smile on her face. “No, wait, I have even better one!” She practically gleamed with delight, bouncing on her heels, “You can be frowny face! I like that!”

“I am not frowning!”

“You so are!” She laughed. Mitsunari was mesmerized. Her laugh was so pure, so full of joy he couldn’t do anything but smile with her. Suddenly she smacked her hand over her mouth, her smile dying from her lips, her expression turning guarded. “Sorry.”

“Why do you apologise?”

“You heard my laugh. It’s ugly.” Everything in her posture seemed to shrink back, to apologise.

Her voice had been so full of unguarded joy, how could anyone call it ugly? He had no idea what he was supposed to say, how was he supposed to react. Hideyoshi was so much better at stuff like this. But he wasn’t here now and Mitsunari couldn’t ask him for advice. She turned away from him, her shoulders slouched, but he quickly reached to touch her shoulder.

“I liked it.”

I like you, his brain screamed at him. Screamed so hard he felt his face flush again. Great, like this wasn’t mortifying enough, now his face had to keep betraying his emotions. He wanted to hide, but hiding behind his hands was probably even more embarrassing than the blush on his cheeks.

“You don’t have to lie. It’s okay.”

I’m not lying, he wanted to shout. He wanted to shake her and make her listen to reason. But that wouldn’t probably be helpful in the slightest.

“Uh…” he said aloud, but continued to sign, “O-i-chi said she has something for you.” Didn’t gifts cheer girls up? Fuck, how could he be so bad at this…

"I couldn't possibly accept anything more from her! She's already letting me stay here!" She looked distressed even at the idea.

"...She said something about cho-co-la-te too..." he tried. It was a slow effort, the sign for chocolate escaping his mind completely.

"Chocolate?" she asked with the proper sign surprised before a smile lit her face again. "I'd kill for some chocolate right now!" She almost stepped towards the door, but stopped again and turned towards him, her expression serious. "Manju-boy, is this... was this the right thing to do? What if you get into trouble? What if your friends get into trouble?"

"Wait! Why would we get into trouble? You are free to go where you like, don't you?"

"But..." She started to protest, but Mitsunari waved her quiet.

"I want you to be safe. You called me to get help. Did you not?" She nodded as a response but didn't say anything. "I chose to help. So did Hi-de-yo-shi and the others. You can stay here until you find a place to stay."

"...What about work? I need to work tomorrow..."

"We call and tell you are sick."

"No!" She shook her head firmly, "I need the money! I can't afford to stay away! I need to get a new phone and money for a deposit for a new place and money for the rent and food and clothes!"

"I'll loan you the money!"

"Don't be stupid! I know you study on a scholarship! I've seen you tutor kids at the library so you can get your bills paid! This-" She waved around the large guest room they were in, "is not how neither of us lives! Will ever live! You can't afford to lend me anything!" Her hands were flying so fast from one sign to another it was hard for him to follow what she was saying but the angry frown in her face didn't leave much to interpret on her opinion of his suggestion.

A part of him wanted to beg, to grovel in front of her just to let him help. But a bigger, more prideful part of him just let out an angry huff. "Why are you so stubborn?"

"Why am I-?! You're the stubborn one!"

"Fine!" Mitsunari turned around and stalked out of the room. He heard her follow him but he didn't turn to look until they reached the kitchen.

His irritation vanished as soon as it had appeared when he felt her grasp the back of his shirt. He glanced at her when she offered a stiff bow at Oichi, who was looking at them with an amused smile.

"I just happened to switch phones a while back and I don't need this anymore. I thought you might want to have it." Oichi spoke slowly and pushed the shiny scratchless phone on the table towards her. She reached for the phone at first but pulled her hand back, glancing uncertainly at him. He nodded and she took the phone in her hands. It took only a moment for her eyes to widen, and she tried to shove the phone back to Oichi, shaking her head.

"No, it's yours now." Oichi lift her hand in denial and shook her head. "Oh! We need to get you a phone plan. And some other stuff too, you didn't bring much, did you." Oichi stood up and turned her back at them. She, however, pulled his sleeve, a panicked look on her face.

"Tell her I just need somewhere to do laundry!"

"Oichi, wait, she said she just needs to do some laundry." Mitsunari tried to interrupt Oichi, but she just laughed.

"Nonsense! It'll be fun, come on!"

Before they knew what hit them, Oichi had dragged both of them out shopping, a few grim looking bodyguards trailing behind them. One phone operator shop and some cosmetics shopping later they were in a clothing store where one glance at the price tags told Mitsunari he would have to get a way (way) better paying job if he ever wanted to shop there.

@masamunesmistress @you-mass-effect-my-dragon-age @dreamfar628 (nooo tumblr won’t let me tag you ;A; @han-pan

[fallen-gravity]

Fire and Water

Fandom: Moana

Category: Gen

Word Count: 4,247

Summary: When Moana is too drained to be out exploring on the sea, she and Maui instead settle for second best: Storytelling

Notes: I should literally never be allowed to listen to the Moana soundtrack ever. Every time I listen to Where You Are I seem to get like 15 different ideas for a gross, platonic fluffy story. This is the one that stuck out to me the most last night. All that came to me was a quote, something Moana would say to Maui, and I absolutely 100% found myself needing to write something out for it.

“Hey I know I promised I would take the canoe out with you but it’s been a long day why don’t we just sit around a fire and tell stories instead and we can go tomorrow”

The version of how Maui stole fire that I used can be found here. 

Moana's head is pounding. As she emerges from the fale tele, she brings her hands to her temples and rubs in a slow circle, hoping it'll help rid of the awful headache all of the negotiating and arguing she just did caused her.

When she turns her attention to her surroundings, the first thing she notices is that it's dark out. That meeting had taken hours. It was only meant to be a quick, in and out meeting with a few Chiefs from neighboring islands to discuss trade. But then, before she even knew what was happening, an ugly fight broke out, and the meeting quickly ascended until the focus was turned to getting everyone to stop. Both parties were stubborn, neither willing to compromise for the other, and it took everything in Moana to get them to calm and talk things over.

The second thing Moana notices is that there is no fire burning throughout the village. No spark of fire, no signs of groups gathered around them. No sounds of laughter filling the air as friends and families gather to tell stories.

A relaxing campfire, Moana thinks, is exactly what she needs right now. She starts towards the forest to gather wood, but the light flapping of bird wings above her stops in her tracks. She looks up just in time to see Maui swoop down from the sky and land in his human form beside her.

"Man, and I thought that thing was never going to end!" He says cheerfully, and nudges her lightly in the side. "I didn’t know what was going on in there, but it sure didn't sound pretty" he says, nudges her in the side again. "Good thing you were there though, huh? Nobody can manipulate someone into doing what they want like you can"

"Hey!" Moana yelps, and despite her exhaustion she punches him in the arm. "I didn't manipulate anyone into doing anything" she says, and crosses her arms. "All I did was convince a few arguing Chiefs to see the better of their ways and make up with each other"

Maui raises an eyebrow at her at that, and then he shrugs. "There's more than one way to say the same thing, Curly. Just because you say you convinced someone to do something doesn't mean you didn't manipulate them"

She punches him in the arm again. "Shut up" she says for her lack of a better argument, and he laughs.  He then steps away from his place at her side to stand in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"So," he says, changing the subject. "Now that that disaster's out of the way, you ready to go?" He asks, excitement flaring in his expression, and Moana blinks at him in confusion.

"What?" She asks, and he goes to laugh again, she can see it clear on his face, but then he seems to realize that she's actually confused.

"Your promise" he says, and realization hits Moana at his words so suddenly she nearly gasps at his words.

She'd completely forgotten. A few days ago, when her duties as Chief were just starting to get to her, Maui had asked if she wanted to go take their canoe out to go exploring. As much as she was itching to be out on the sea, exploring unknown lands and realms with her best friend at her side, she had to deny his offer. It was much harder on her than she thought, so she made a promise to him that once this particular meeting was over, she would take the canoe out with him without a second thought. But she had made that promise days ago, when she thought the sun would still be shining in the sky long after this meeting, but now that the meeting had taken much more out of her than she expected, and nothing greets her in the sky now but the twinkle of the stars, Moana wants nothing more than to wait it out here for her pounding headache to go away.

Not to mention she was really sort of looking forward to that campfire.

She frowns, turns her gaze away from Maui's. "I'm sorry" she says, and shakes her head. "I don't think I can" she says. “That meeting really took a lot out of me, Maui, I’m sorry” she says, and runs a hand through her hair. “I know I promised, but I don’t think I can” she says, and returns her gaze to him. She expects him to be upset, or disappointed, but her exhaustion must really be showing on her, because he actually kind of looks concerned.

“It’s-It’s okay, Moana” he says, frowning, and removes his hand from her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.” He says, and shrugs. “We could always go tomorrow” He says, the mischievous glint returning to his eyes. “Much easier to discover new lands in sunlight than in the pitch black anyway, right?” He says, and she smiles. At his understanding of her.

“You know, actually” she says as an idea comes to her. “While I have you,” Moana says, and this time she’s the one to nudge him in the side. “I was just about to start a fire. How about we just sit around it and tell stories for now?” She shrugs. “I mean, I know it’s not the same as being out on the water” she says, and absentmindedly turns her gaze towards the beach. “But it’ll give us something to do to hold us over until we can, right?” She asks, and laughs quietly. “It always worked on me when I was younger” She shrugs sheepishly.

Maui considers her for a minute, and then shrugs. “I don’t see why not” he says, and she beams.

“Great!” she says, and gestures with her head towards the forest. “Help me gather some wood? I was just gonna gather some myself,” she says, and shrugs. “But I think it’d probably take a lot less time if I had someone help me”

--

They emerge from the forest minutes later, both with arms full of wood. Moana had said they would only need a small gathering of dry sticks and leaves, but Maui insisted on carrying entire logs, claiming her “pathetic pile of sticks” would take longer to light and less time to burn, so Moana let him gather as many as he thought they needed if he promised to carry them all back himself.

Once they make their way to the area Moana often came with her parents for a fire, she drops her pile. Maui, arms full enough to make it hard to see what’s in front of him follows suit, dropping his pile right on top of hers with a frustrated grunt.

“You-” he says, and points an accusing finger at her. “Are horrible” his voice strains in an over exaggerated exhaustion Moana knows he does not really feel, and she rolls her eyes at him.

“Hey. You were the one insisted on using such heavy wood. Carrying it yourself was the least you could do” she says, and he glares at her. “Besides,” she says, and smirks, crossing her arms. “I thought you pulled up islands. I thought this kind of weight would be nothing to you” She says, and kneels down to start working on getting the fire going. Maui just glares at her.

“Yes,” he says. “But it’s not like I necessarily had someone with me who was perfectly capable of carrying some of the weight herself” he says, and Moana scoffs.

“You think I’d be strong enough to help pull up an island?” she says, pretends to sound touched. “Why thank you. That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me” she says, voice heavy with sarcasm, and Maui crosses his arms. She then goes to work on adjusting the wood Maui ever so graciously placed onto the ground, and tosses some dry grass over it to hopefully help get the fire started faster.

Seeing that she’s apparently done arguing, Maui sends a quick behind him to make sure there’s a secure log behind him before he sits. Moana rolls her eyes, and reaches for the two stones she needs to really get the fire started. She slams them together, and they make a satisfying crack, but no sparks emerge from them. Twisting her face in determination, she tries again, cracking them together from a different angle, and she watches with a grin as sparks sprinkle down and land right onto the dry grass, catching on fire immediately.

Grinning, she turns to Maui. “Ta da!” she singsongs, gesturing wildly towards the fire, and he rolls his eyes, an amused smile evident on his face. Moana picks up one of the sticks from the pile she hadn’t thrown into the fire, and she begins to poke at some of the wood to adjust their position as she takes her seat beside Maui.

“So,” he starts, and rests his arm on top of her head and leans slightly as he glances down at her. She returns his glance with a glare, and he laughs. “What kind of stories are you talking about?” He says, and she rolls her eyes.

“Oh, I don’t know-” she says, and prods him in the side. “Why don’t you start with the ones about yourself?” She tries for sarcasm, she really does, but she can’t help the hints of excitement that creep their way into her tone. Sure, she’d heard most of his stories tons of times before, but she’d never been able to hear them from his point of view. Sure, she knows his side of the story about Te Fiti by heart, and he’d covered a few of them briefly, but she’s never really had the time to just sit down and ask him for his side for any of them. “I’ll tell you one about myself if you tell me one of yours” she says, and Maui laughs.

“Alright, Curly, seems fair enough to me” he says, rolling his eyes. “Take your pick” he says, and even though Moana can’t see she can assume he’s probably gesturing towards his spread of tattoos. She rolls her eyes as she begins to poke at their campfire again, but then a thought occurs to her.

“Oh,” she says, out loud, and turns to him. “How about the one where you stole fire?” She asks, and turns to him. Maui glances first toward the campfire, and then to Moana, and he rolls his eyes.

“Why am I not surprised?” He asks, more to himself than to her, and then he grins. “Alright-” he says, this time to her. “I like you, Curly, so I’m gonna let you in on a little secret” He says, and pauses to dart his eyes from side to side, like he’s trying to make sure nobody’s eavesdropping. “The versions you’ve heard, most of them say I was the one who brought fire to this realm, right?” He asks, and Moana blinks curiously at the question.

“I guess so” she says, and shrugs. “Why?” she asks, and he laughs.

“Believe it or not, none of those versions are actually true” he says, and Moana just stares at him for a second, trying to find some indication in his expression that he’s joking, but finds none.

“But if you didn’t,” Moana says, her face scrunching in confusion. “Then who did? What really happened?” she asks, and he laughs.

“Hah, I had actually been asking myself the same thing” he says, and shakes his head. “Thousands of years ago, I was staying in this village just like Motunui, right?” he starts, gesturing with his head towards the village now illuminating with fires of its own. “It was pretty late, so I had this fire going myself” he says, and scratches at his head. “I? I think I had lit because I wanted to cook something. I don’t remember” he says, and shakes his head.

“Anyway, as I’m watching this fire going, I start to wonder where it came from. What really caused fire” he says, and Moana snorts a laugh at the thought that Maui would be so fascinated by something like fire.

“What did you do?” She asks, and Maui laughs kind of sheepishly at her question.

“So I waited for everyone in the village to go to sleep, right? And then I, uh,” he pauses to shrug at her. “...might have extinguished all the fires in the village after that. Made it impossible for them to get any more” he says.

“Maui!” Moana yelps, and punches him in the arm. “What good did you think that would do?”

“I’m getting there, Curly, I’m getting there” he says, and shakes his head in good humor. “The next morning, everyone in the village started freaking out, because without fire they couldn’t cook or provide for their families, so I graciously stepped in and offered to go retrieve it from Mahuika myself” he says, and Moana rolls her eyes at the way he stresses on graciously.

“Hush” he says, somehow reading her thoughts, and continues. “So I go to Mahuika, and I ask her if I could take some back for the humans, right?” He says, and Moana waves her hands around.

“You mean you fought her for it, right?” She asks, amusement clear in her voice, but Maui only blinks in confusion for a moment before he laughs again.

“Actually, Mahuika kind of liked me. She was close with some of the gods that raised me, right? So I walk in and I ask for some of hers, and she happily gives up one of her fingernails for me to take back for you guys”

“And...That’s it?” Moana asks, and Maui turns to her, grinning.

“You know me better than anyone, Moana, what do you think?” He asks laughingly, and Moana sighs exaggeratedly, burying her face in her hands.

“Maui, if you say-”

“But even that wasn’t enough for me” He finishes her sentence, and she groans.

“Oh my gods, Maui” she sighs, but can’t help the amusement in her voice. She elbows him in the side.

“What?” he asks. “All I wanted to know was what would happen if she lost all of her fire, too-” he says, and Moana shakes her head at him.

“Maui, I swear to the gods” She says, and she’s trying so hard not to laugh out loud that she’s physically shaking.

“So I extinguished that one, and went back and told her I’d dropped it. She gave me another one, and I kept leaving and coming up with all of these excuses so she’d give me a new one”

“How long did it take for her to figure out you were just tricking her?” Moana asks.

“All the way down to her last toenail, believe it or not. I came in asking for more, and that’s when she realized. So instead of giving it to me,” he pauses, turns to Moana again.

“She threw it at you?”

“She tried to. Missed me and hit the forest outside her cave where she lived. If I remember correctly, it spread to the Mahoe, the Tōtara, the Patete, and the Kaikōmako trees” He says, counting on them out on his fingers.

“So, Chosen One,” he finishes, turning his attention back to her. “As honored as I am that your people continuously give me credit for stealing fire, that’s not the true story. Once these trees burned, I took some of the dry wood back and taught them how to create fire themselves” He nods towards their campfire, and down towards the flints Moana had used to start it. “For that?” He says, and turns to her with a big grin on his face. “You’re welcome!” he calls, and Moana rolls her eyes as she reaches down to throw more sticks into the fire to increase its size.

“Wow” Moana whispers, and turns to him. “I can’t believe you’re an even bigger nerd than I thought you were” she says, and punches him in the arm. Maui crosses his arms and glares at her.

“But you can’t tell anyone I told you this version, okay?” he asks, and she snorts a laugh.

“Oh no, I wouldn’t dare” she says, and rolls her eyes. “Gotta protect my brother’s reputation and all. Can’t have anyone thinking he’s a nerd or anything” She snorts again, and punches him in the arm.

“Thank you for having such a deep understanding of me” Maui deadpans, and turns to her. “Alright,” he says, and folds his arms. “Your turn. You have any interesting stories?” He asks, and Moana rolls her eyes.

“Well obviously not compared to yours” She says, and looks around her surroundings in hopes that they’ll give her another idea. On instinct, her eyes trail towards the ocean, and she smiles.

“Oh!” She says, and elbows him. “Have I ever told you about the time the ocean chose me?” She asks, and Maui snorts a laugh.

“Kid, wasn’t I with you for that one?”

“What?” she asks, and then shakes her head. “No,” she says, and punches him in the arm again. “I meant the first time. When it chose me. As a toddler” She says, and the way Maui’s eyebrow raises up at toddler obviously means she hasn’t.

Oh. That explains a lot.

“Well,” she starts. “It all really started in the fale tele. I was about, two or three I think?” She says, and shakes her head. “My gramma had just finished telling me and the other kids a story” She rolls her eyes and turns to him. “I thought it was pretty cool, y’know, the story of how you stole the heart-”

“Naturally” Maui cuts in smugly, and Moana rolls her eyes at him before she continues.

“-But all these other kids started freaking out. They started screaming and freaking out, and my father had to come in and intervene. It didn’t exactly go over very well. Anyway, as my dad’s trying and failing to get a stampede of children off of him, I notice this little glisten out of the corner of my eye.”

“You followed it” Maui guesses, and Moana nods.

“And before I knew it, I found myself on the beach. I’d never been down to the ocean before, so I can imagine you can guess how excited I was”

“I dunno,” he says, and smirks at her. “Remind me the next time you’re anywhere near the water so I can get a better picture next time you tell this story”

“Hush. Anyway, as I’m walking down the beach, I turn to the ocean, and all of a sudden I see this really pretty pink conch shell being pushed up towards the shore” she says, and she thinks she can make out Maui glancing back towards the mountain peak.

“You mean like the one you put on your dad’s stone?” He asks, and she shakes her head, partly in amusement, and partly in nostalgia.

“I’d like to think it’s the same shell, actually” she says, and tucks some of her hair behind her ear. “So I’m about to reach for the shell, when all of a sudden I hear this squawking behind me. I turn around, and I see these birds preventing a baby turtle from making its way back to the sea. Each time it tried to take a step towards the sea, a bird would try to swoop down and take it. So I abandoned the shell, even though it was really pretty,” she exaggerates, and this time it’s Maui’s turn to laugh at her unnecessary exaggeration. “-and I go to help the baby turtle. I pulled one of the leaves from the bushes and I held it over the turtle as I helped it all the way back to the sea.”

“And the birds?” Maui asks.

“Oh, the birds definitely still tried to attack it when I was helping it. Each time a bird tried to attack it I’d just scare it off before I kept going. It wasn’t easy, but I did eventually get the turtle all the way back to the sea”.

“Huh” Maui says, almost sounding impressed, and sits back on his hands a little bit. “And is that it? Did you just assume the ocean chose you because of that?” He asks, and she raises an eyebrow at him.

“I don’t know” she says, nudges him in the side. “You know me better than almost anyone, Maui, what do you think?” she asks, and he shakes his head in amusement.

“There’s gotta be more” he mock-whispers, and Moana can’t help but laugh at that.

“There’s always more” she fills in, and Maui snorts a laugh at that. “Anyway, after I helped that baby turtle, I could’ve sworn that for the briefest of seconds that the entire ocean just kind of lit up.” She shrugs. “It was pretty early in the morning, so I couldn’t tell for sure. But then it started rumbling, and before I knew it the ocean was parting for me. Right in front of me where I left it was the shell. As I went to pick it up, I saw another shell right in the water’s path, so I grabbed for it, and the ocean parted and let me take the second one too”

“This kept going on for a while. I’d pick up a shell, spot another one, and go after that one as well. But then when I turned, the ocean was all around me, and when I looked to my side I saw that little turtle I’d helped swimming by with its mother. After that, the ocean raised its head up to look at me, and then it lowered itself down so I could say hello” She laughs. “After that it uh, started playing with my hair” she says, and begins to fidget with her hair. “And then I noticed something floating towards me, and when I looked up at the water all I saw was this pulsing green stone floating towards me-”

“You didn’t-” Maui says, and the shock in his voice has Moana laughing again.

“-And I picked it up. I had no idea what it was, of course. All I saw in it was some pretty green stone” She tucks more of her hair behind her ear. “But then before the ocean could do anything else, like give me some sort of-” she pauses to elbow him in the ribs “watered down explanation of what it was-” Maui groans in irritation, and Moana can’t help but giggle at the sound. “-My dad starts calling me from the village. The ocean sees this, completely panics, and before I know it I’m floating on a piece of driftwood back to shore. I dropped Te Fiti’s heart as soon as I stumbled off of it, but before I had time to look for it, my dad came over and grabbed me to bring me back to the village.”

“Woah, hold on. You dropped it?” Maui asks.

“Yep!” Moana says, sheepishly beginning to run her hands through her hair. “Chosen to bring it back to Te Fiti herself and I lost track of it the first day it was given to me” She snorts a laugh. “Maybe the reason the legends said I had to bring you along was to make sure I wouldn’t lose it” she says, and scooches closer to him. She leans her head against his shoulder and pouts up at him. “Don’t tell anyone I said that was the real reason, though” she says, and Maui laughs.

“Nah, can’t have people going around saying anything bad about Te Fiti’s favorite mortal” He says, and at favorite mortal he lifts the arm she had been leaning against and uses it to pull her into a headlock. “Te Fiti would smite me personally for it” he says, and with his free arm gives her the roughest noogie Moana’s experienced in her entire life. Moana screeches in complaint, but there’s a smile on her face as she forcibly yanks herself away from him. She punches him in the arm for that, and he laughs.

A comfortable bit of silence passes between them for a few moments after that, and Moana turns her attention to watch the crackling of the fire as it slowly begins to die out. But then out of the corner of her eye, she sees Maui shift next to her.

“How are you feeling?” He asks her, and she turns to look at him. Though he’s still got that mischievous smile plastered to his face, Moana can make out small bits of concern lingering in his expression.

Behind him, in the distance, Moana can make out the sun beginning to rise, just barely beginning to peek its way over the horizon. Next to her, the fire crackles reassuringly, and the scent of the smoke rising from it fills her with a sense of comfort.

There is no more of her pounding headache from last night. There is no more of her exhaustion, save for the kind that comes with staying up all night. Her stress from the ugly results of last night’s meeting is long gone, tossed into the wind as soon as she and Maui began to talk of their life stories.

Moana lets out a quiet sigh, and she returns her attention to him, smiling.

“Much better”