#Adult Fan Fiction

[dread-red-queen]

Title: Crimson Feathers (Formally Tenderness) Rating: E ( coz It's Spicy) Fandom: Dragon Age: The Veilgaurd Summary: The world was safe from the gods, Lucanis had returned to Traviso to take his place as 1st Talon and Altara De Riva remained at his side, Tevintor was on the road to recovery but the Venatori still remained a threat clinging to what little power they have left, Spite has become so much more than a Demon in Lucanis's Head, as there relationship and bond grew so did Spite, When he had been forced on Lucanis, Zara had intended for Spite to grow and hatch, Lucanis was meant to die but that plan had failed, now as Spite continues to grow stronger they worry what that might mean, was Lucanis's life in danger? what plans did the Venatori have for Tevintor? and can they be stopped.

Status: Completed

------------------------------Chapter List----------------------------------

Chapter 1 - Trauma Chapter 2 - Spite to the rescue Chapter 3 - To Be Or Not To Be Chapter 4 - Possibilities Chapter 5 - Injury Chapter 6 - Recovery Chapter 7 - The Hunt Chapter 8 - Home Chapter 9 - Wedding Bells Chapter 10 - Consummation Chapter 11 - So Much For A Honeymoon Chapter 12 - A traitor in our midst Chapter 13 - A Murder Of Crows Chapter 14 - Setting Traps Chapter 15 - Vengeance And Despair Chapter 16 - Pain And Hope Chapter 17 - Bonds Chapter 18 - Family Chapter 19 - Epilogue

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Thought I would make a Fan Fiction master post/Chapter List for Crimson Feathers - I will update this List as new Chapters are uploaded.

I'm really happy with how the story is now that I finished the reshuffle with Touch. I think my idea to have two overarching plots between two fics was over ambitious, I'm happy with the plot now that its all in one fic. Touch can stay as my fun Smut one-shot prompt fic. Crimson feathers now has a real plot XD

[gothamite-rambler]

Jason (crossing his arms with attitude): What are you going to do? I refuse to apologize.

Bruce stared at Jason in shock, and in his anger, he made a decision that every parent dreads.

Bruce (stern tone): You are grounded!

Jason (this is a whole adult, defiant): You can't ground me!

Bruce (firmly): Grounded!

Jason (shouting, confused): But I don't even live here!

Bruce turned Jason around and pointed to the stairs leading to his old room. Jason was too stunned to respond.

Bruce (stern, but calm): Tonight. Your room. Grounded!

Jason (stammering): I- I- Wait- This isn't fair!

Bruce (scolding parent voice): I'm very disappointed in you. Now go to your room. I'm only doing this because I care for you. Grounded.

Jason (face turning red with anger and sadness): This is some bullshit!

Jason stomped upstairs and slammed the door to his old room. The sound of random items being tossed around echoed through the house.

Bruce (indifferent): He'll work it out of his system. I'm going to bed.

Dick (looking at Tim, then Bruce as he heads upstairs): Did you just ground a 23-year-old?

Tim (surprised): And did it work?

Bruce: You forget I'm Batman.

[phantom248]

Have been trying really hard to work out the logistics of a crossover fanfic between Fangs of Fortune and My Journey To You in which Zhuo Yichen and Gong Yuanzhi replace each other in their worlds at the most inconvenient times and there are so many scene stuck in my hand but there is one that is not getting out of my mind:

Zhuo Yichen (masqurading as didi cause Gong Shangjue was not going to let everyone know his didi gets replaced by another version): awkwardly but politely trying to smile at everyone in the banquet, using all the correct terms, not throwing pot shots and being respectful to everyone

Everyone: (shuddering in fright) what is he planning????

Gong Shangjue excusing early and dragging him away: what was that??

Zhuo Yichen: you told me to not cause any trouble and bug anyone!

Gong Shangjue (feeling a headache): next time, bug as many people as you can

In the other world:

Gong Yuanzhi to Chongwu camp: you rats think you are better than me??? I am the worst person in this place! How dare you try to take my position??

Chongwu Camp: run its that madman!

Wen Xiao: proudly standing behind to see the feral chihuahua she gets to dote over as an aunt whenever he replaces Xiao Zhuo is burning everything Chingwu Camp had rebuilt many times over past years. Because of the same feral chihuahua.

She feels very proud. She may not have raised him but she certainly... contributed to some of it.

(And yes, Chongwu camp gets disbanded so many times they are not the biggest threat by the end, their leader poisoned too many times. Biggest threat is Gong Yuanzhi without his Gege leashing him. He is the final boss.)

Edit: part 2

Part 3

Part 4

[xanderscollection]

"Growing up is realising a (random ship) you loved is actually weird and bad"

Yeah? Is it? Great, I love it even more. The worse it is the Better.

[fabled-lady-twilla]

How it feels being a ShigaDeku shipper in this fandom. Why is everyone so mean? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[steamedlotusroot]

as a native chinese, i feel like some of yall are taking the gods in lego monkie kid a bit too seriously. i understand why it feels iffy to ship / make silly content of deities that people worship irl (eg. nezha, sun wukong) but it’s a phenomenon on chinese social media too. c-netizens ship the fictionalized versions of these gods, which the gods of lego monkie kid are. they aren’t the actual gods people worship; they’re slightly tweaked versions of the book characters, just like any other chinese adaptation or retelling of jttw (and such stories like fsyy) also, no, nezha isn’t a child, in lmk or jttw or sometimes irl. just because he’s often depicted in child form doesn’t make him an immortal child. eros / cupid is often depicted as a winged baby, and he has a wife and kids. it’s basically the same thing here. nothing in lmk suggests that nezha is a child (his voice, his appearance, his personality etc. all imply he is an adult), and while he’s described as youthful in jttw, he’s already 1700+ years old by then and gods can shapeshift. people only think he’s an immortal baby because that’s a popular depiction of him, since one of his prominent myths is set during his childhood. but as long as you’re talking about the god nezha (fictionalized or the religious figure) and not the human child nezha, then that’s an adult [edit: the last sentence couldve been worded better. i would summarize it as “immortal youth nezha is a valid depiction and is popularized by mythology, but adult god nezha exists too and they are NOT mutually exclusive”]

[thefawnfallacy]

You don’t have to like sebaciel or the many undertones it presents in the series but it’s actually getting to the point where insistent ignorance of the sexual nature Ciel is presented in can be dangerous. Fiction does not exist on a 1:1 scale with reality but just using this fictitious scenario of Ciel being sexualised (by Yana herself) while having a panic/asthma attack and it being called “not actually sexual” or sebaciel fans being called “delusional” when pointing out the erotic nature of, not just this, but the many instances in which the viewer is meant to see Ciel in a sensual manner, is concerning.

You should be able to identify a sexual situation, even if it’s a situation in which the things happening are not inherently sexual. One of the main components of grooming is that is does not start out sexual, there’s a buildup to that in which the groundwork has already been laid. I’ll say it again, you should be able to identify when something sexual is happening without it being inherently sexual.

Yes, Ciel is repeatedly sexualised canonically, it is not being used to mock shippers, he simply exists in a very erotic manner in many situations using a variety of different ways to depict it, most commonly being flower language. No, you are not “morally correct” for not enjoying it, you just find it uncomfortable or triggering and that’s fine. Yes, you should be able to see that he’s being sexualised because he’s fake and if you cannot see it then there’s a chance of not being able to see this in real life, whether it be a friend, a child in your care, or even yourself.

Not being able to identify the sexual nature a character can be presented in is not a good thing. It doesn’t mean you “aren’t a porn addict”, it doesn’t mean you “aren’t a bad person” and it certainly doesn’t mean you are “not a pedophile, like those shippers are”. It means you cannot spot the difference between a bad fake relationship and a bad real relationship.

Stop giving a damn about fictional characters and start giving a damn about yourself.

[hellcatinnc]

How the Men Of Love And Deepspace Would Be On Being Dating Apps

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Warning This includes: SFW(Read Tags Before Continuing)

Tags: sfw, dating apps, smart phone, dating profiles, fluff, boy next door, friends to lovers, romantic

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Yes I know about Caleb but this is for all the fans of his still and how I think he would be in this...

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Zayne

So because he works long hours it leaves him little time for mixers or speed dating however he feels it would be nice to have someone to talk to over dinner. He puts up a profile online and its clear and precise and to the point. It will read something like "Looking For Part Time Companion" Then he would make sure to mention part time because he is married to his career. Yes he would like more than that maybe one day but he is just thinking logical. His idea is lets meet, talk about things, and see where we go from there but he knows she would have to be pretty special to make him think about committing 100% into a relationship.

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Rafayel

His profile would be flashy and look artistic enough to grab any creative persons attention. Anyways not like he would have much in common with someone who couldn't understand how he makes his paints and colors pop in his paintings. He would have a flirty appeal to it even though he has never even been in bed with a woman let alone do anything more than that. However his profile would read something cheesy and romantic to make you feel like you need him in your life even if you really don't. He might even end it with talking bout his love of fish, the fact he has fire magic, and that he would make a great husband to protect, love, cook for, and cherish for the rest of her life, as long as they promise to never leave him. Yes he would have a bit of a baby girl moment and show off how needy and clingy he is but this is what we love about this man anyways.

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Xavier

He will sit and look at his phone and stare for what seems like forever. He has no clue how to tell anyone about himself because he really doesn't much like talking about himself. Someone would have to help him because even though he is much older than he looks he can't be worried with trivial things. He will try but if he can't get it he moves on to the next thing. Anyways worrying about wanderers is more important to him. Even if he does get on there you can expect him to respond messages but he won't be the first to message anyone.

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Caleb

He is the boy next door and he would make sure to make it clear he is that traditional boy next door. He would go out of his way to make sure his profile showed his loyalty, honesty, and how he will go the extra mile for the woman he falls in love with. He would comment on his witty personality and how he wants someone he can be himself with and joke and laugh. He would let you know he is a protector who is looking for a friend to grow into a long lasting relationship with.

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[dykedvonte]

Benny would be thrilled by Nick Valentine. Like I know the concept of synths and replacing people would initially shock him but I don’t think for long.

He’s not a technology guy by any means but he certainly appreciates it and understands what it can do. He’d be pro-synth and synths at people for purely pragmatic reason at first but seeing some noir detective would have him thinking of all the ways he could improve on his plan if he had that tech for Yes-Man.

If Yes-Man could pass as human he’d have no reason to hide him and could even have him buddy up with the rest of the Chairmen! Even if he’s found out and House wants him and especially synth Yes-Man out their is a loyalty to them that is only made stronger that Yes-Man looks like them now. It’s also such a complex thing for Yes-Man too now to struggle with “humanity” in a new context and his teacher tragic being Benny Fucking Gecko.

[sing-me-under]

I have a lot of opinions on fanon Tim. I am a fanon!Tim Drake anti. I’ve never been an anti of anything before, but I am very anti fanon!Tim Drake. He’s basically just a Mary Sue, but it’s worse because Tim Drake is a real canon character who is SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING. What the fuck did y’all do to him. Why can’t you just project your childhood trauma on a self insert like the rest of the internet. Look at him! You could replace him with a single packing peanut, and I couldn’t even tell the difference!

[fijiwater33]

Damianya week 2024

Day 6: War

CLACK CLACK the sound Anya’s pistol made as she ducked for cover and taking out the second to last opposing forces member with a paint round.

‘Crap it’s just me and her remaining!’ Anya heard from the thoughts of her masked opponent.

It was a joint exercise between WISE and Ostanian spec ops in an effort to keep up profiency against partisan insurgents in urban warfare. What had started as 5 vs 5 now dwindled to Anya and her opponents squad captain.

‘Even with reading his mind this last guy is annoying.’ Anya thought.

Now Anya was prideful as an agent of WISE, so even if this was an exercise she will not fail. Taking the stilleto blade from her side pocket she throws it with bullet like speed slightly to the side from where the opponent was.

THUNK!

Taking the bait he looks in shock over where the blade was now stuck in; giving Anya the opportunity to close in on his position. Now less than 10 feet away Anya rushes him, but the masked man was able to regain their composure quickly.

Now with a pistol facing each other they could say they were at a stalemate.

‘No way it can’t be! Anya?!’

Now that she was up close this man had the prettiest eyelashes she had seen in her life.

“Wait a second!” Anya suddenly said out loud as she swiftly ripped his mask off.

“Syon-Boy! What are you doing here?” She interrogated still pointing the pistol at him.

“Really you’re gonna call me that in front of everyone! And I could ask you the same question!” He spat back at her while lowering his gun.

“Hey what are you two doing?” An older woman yelled out, as she walked into the training room.

“Hey aren’t you Anya’s grandmother?” Damian asked innocently.

Anya could now feel daggers being glared right at her from Sylvia as she approached the two.

Swapping her sudden dread to continue questioning her ex boyfriend.

“Hey you need to answer me what are you doing on a spec ops team? I thought you going to college for history?”

“Ahem” Sylvia tried to interrupt.

“I did!…. At the military academy.” He answered without distraction.

Anya just looked at him with a cocked eyebrow

“Hey I’m not rich anymore.” He defended. “Now what about you? I thought you were studying to be a psychiatrist in Westalis?”

“Ahem” Sylvia said louder now and visibly annoyed.

“I still am. WISE is just paying for it while I help them out. And it’s paying off since I PSYCHED you out earlier. She said showing off her signature smug smile.

“You got lucky and it still ended in a draw!”

“Captain Watkins is not going to hear the end of this. Sylvia sighed in defeat as the two rivals bickered like children.

[dread-red-queen]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62834083/chapters/160877197

Title: As The Crow Fly's. Rating: E (Adult) Fandom: Dragon Age: The Veilgaurd Pairing: Lucanis/Rook/Spite Lucanis/Spite Rook/Spite Emmrich/OC Illario/OC Timeline: Sequel to Crimson Feathers Status: On going Summary: Things had settled down, Lucanis has solidified his position as 1st Talon of the Antivan Crows with Spite and Altara as his left and Right hands, now that the crows where accepting more contracts and Spite had become a fully fledged crow Lucanis hires a Healer, feeling an in house physician would be a good idea, he needed someone he could trust, someone discreet who would not treat Spite like an experiment, Dr Frances was just the man for the job, discreet, patient and kind he had an excellent bedside manner and was one of the only Healers Spite would allow anywhere near him. he was a good man and with permission from Spite and the help of Emmrich Volkarin, they learn more about Spite and how he came to possess a Body and perhaps the two mages grow closer in the process.

Amika Cantori is a flirt who isn't afraid to go after what she wants, after her humiliating attempt at flirting with Spite she tries to move on, looking for a distraction and happens to meet Illario Dellamorte, she has heard tales of him mostly cautionary, but she find's him intriguing he is as much of a flirt as she is and there is an instant attraction but is that all there is between them?

[gothamite-rambler]

Nightwing (prodding his father's arm with his shoe): Batman? Batman? Hey, Batman?!

Batman (lying on the dirt ground in pain): What?!

Nightwing: You're clearly too… um, sore to drive. I'm going to take you home.

Batman (weakly raising his arm): You… can't drive the Batmobile! You're not equipped.

Nightwing: I’ve driven it before, you had me drive it when I was fourteen. Then I would take it for a joyride around Gotham when I was a teenager.

Batman: You what—? Oh, I felt a pop in my spine.

Nightwing (shrugging with a smile): I did a lot of things as a pre-teen and then when I got my license I really enjoyed taking the car for a spin. Did you know about the time I tried heroin? Never did that again. Still not sure how Roy got addicted, I had to go to the hospital. The doctor was nice that night. Oh, and then there was the time I snuck Kori into the pool house? Well when we first started dating and then again when we got back together. Fun times. Oh and then there was the time I used the Batmobile to take Jason out for ice cream. He was just a little kid back then!

Batman: He was fourteen! Why are you telling me all of this?

Nightwing helped prop up his father on his back and began to walk him to the Batmobile.

Nightwing: Because you’re too sore to stand up and scold me. Besides, I was a teenager; I did teenager stuff.

Batman: Trying heroin isn't "teen stuff"!

Nightwing: Alfred told me you smoked weed while traveling to Germany at seventeen.

Batman sighed, clearly annoyed.

Batman: The keys are in one of my pockets. If you can just get me into the passenger seat, I’ll pull them out myself.

Nightwing: Awesome! Ice cream is on me.

Batman (begrudgingly): I want rocky road.

Nightwing: I knew you'd say that.

[letstalkshipping]

hey guys... I'm having a bit of trouble in my latest fandom.

I'm watching the beginning of Daredevil Season 3 where Matt is depressed, disillusioned, denying God and suicidal. And here's the thing... a few years ago... THIS WAS MY DRUG. I LOVED angst and turmoil and sadness and the dark side of life and depression and all of that. I was a melancholy girl through and through and I would probably have loved to see this. But now... I'm no longer an 'angsty teen' so to speak, and while I do still appreciate all that stuff immensely and love to see my favourite characters mentally and physically battered, I can't really feel the same appreciation as I once would have for this, and instead it just makes me feel like crying. It also doesn't help that it is right at the start of a new season. There has been nothing to break the fall into Season 3 before this being thrust into the storyline, and there was no hints of its approach to prepare the viewer and make them more sympathetic to it. I'd love to hear if any Daredevil fans also struggled with this!

[god-i-hope-so]

Pretty tired of seeing adult characters being infantilized. Do it in fics and your hcs if you want to, but stop treating them as if adults shouldn't show emotions and be vulnerable, especially men, and then complain that them acting like actual adults is OOC. So many young people are unable to see a grown man show his tears, his frustrations (other than by punching walls and people), or any emotion, really, without being reduced to a little fragile thing that has to be protected.

When I see Buck and his raw nature, and how he's so often infantilized (and I don't mean in a fun way, because of course he's a cutie), it removes his adulthood and his growth from the narrative and, yes, encourages ageism in real life. Buck is 32. He's an adult man with emotions he doesn't always hide and it doesn't make him act younger. Same goes for any man on the show, especially those who fans find cute.

Yes, Buck is flirting with Tommy and makes sexual innuendos as an adult who knows what he's doing. And no, it's not OOC, you just deaged and sanitized him so much in your head that him acting like he's been acting on the show since season 1 is shocking you for no reason except your own doings in your head. And even if he's just expressing his desire with a funny choice of words and phrasing, he's not a little kitty trying to be saucy. It's a grown man feeling sexual desire and attraction for another person. It's very simple, but also very normal for an allosexual person. We've seen him do that for 6 seasons, and he'll keep on doing it until the end. It's Buck.

[mynamesaplant]

Friendship Smells like Pizza and Laundry Detergent

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Just a little short story about @critterbitter's hc of Emmet, Ingo, and Elesa. Please go take a look at Critter's work, it is beautiful in every sense of the word.

Japanese is not my native language, so if I've made any errors please let me know. Also, I'm sorry for the phonetic spelling for Clay in advance.

Don't like to read on Tumblr? Read it here on AO3.

Enjoy!~

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Tonight was the night.

Elesa was coming over for a sleep over.

Drayden would have found it amusing that his nephews were running all around his house preparing for their friend’s arrival, but they were quite particular about how they wanted the house to look, and it was turning his house upside down. Already the linen cupboard and beds were ransacked for every sheet, blanket, comforter, and pillow that he owned. All around him, the boys meticulously constructed a pillow fort, and it took every ounce of willpower in his body to ask them not to make such a mess of his living room.

He sucked it up. They were excited their friend was coming over – their only friend.

Listening to Ingo’s meandering request to have their friend over for a sleep over, Drayden could tell this meant a lot to them. Even Emmet, who was hard pressed to pipe up his opinions to him was bobbing his head along in time with his brother’s speech and offered stilted yeps to emphasize his brother’s points, eyes glittering with such hope that it physically pained the Dragon master to say no.

“Verrrrry good!”

Emmet chirped, crawling out by the tv, which also had a sheet over it. They had tried to put a quilt over it and Drayden pointedly told them no. Although not the newest model by a long shot (he hadn’t been able to be as frivolous with his money since his nephews had been dumped come to live with him), he didn’t want to risk the television falling over and breaking, or worse injuring one of the kids. Emmet and Ingo were exceedingly careful with everything in the house, they treated everything like glass with a steady mantra of ‘safety first’ that he was sure would be seared into his brain for the remainder of his days.

With this one exception, the twins frequently kept to themselves and their own possessions, either roaming his property, Anville Town, or in the woods just outside town. This brief and altogether understandable lapse of judgement Drayden could overlook – just this once.

“Ingo, are the snacks secured?”

“Affirmative!”

Ingo moved into his periphery with an armload of bags, ducking beneath the patchwork fort to deposit them, and the other was bouncing on the balls of his feet, working out his excitement through movement. Drayden watched this all go down from his armchair that he had dragged out of the way for them to build, steely eyes glancing over the top of his drooping newspaper every so often. The boys surveyed their work, beaming in their own ways at the admittedly impressive arrangement.

“Please try not to spill anything on to the carpet.”

Their uncle rumbled and they both assured him that that would not happen. They had already planned for any accidents by retrieving a towel and handheld vacuum to clean up any messes that were inadvertently created.

“We shan’t.”

Ingo promised and Drayden grumbled something unintelligible behind the rag, staring at the same article he’d been reading about the delays for the new rail lines out of Nimbasa. Something about permits and a minor scandal with the head of transportation using Pokémon laborers that weren’t native to Unova.

Warm weight settled against his legs and Drayden lowered the paper to his lap, narrowly avoiding Emmet and Ingo as they stared up at him. He braces himself because he knows this look – although it was not presented in this double whammy form – and it usually came with an out of the ordinary request.

“Yes?”

“We would like to request three pizzas tonight because we are not sure if Elesa will like the toppings we like.”

Drayden had to bite his tongue because nobody liked the toppings the twins liked. Most children didn’t like white pizza with broccoli or Alolan style – but Emmet and Ingo did.

“You’re not going to eat three pizzas worth of pizza. It’s bad for you.” Not to mention all the junk food that they bought in preparation for the sleepover. They’re kids Drayden, he told himself, they’re excited and their eyes are literally bigger than their stomachs in this case.

Compromise.

“I’ll get you some personal pizzas. How does that sound?”

They looked positively ecstatic.

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The bedraggled looking man who escorted his young daughter to his door had a glassy look to his eyes, waving to his daughter as she offered Drayden a polite bow and foreign greeting to Drayden before tearing over to Emmet and Ingo. Her Blitzle tottered in after her cautiously with a red backpack draped over the Pokémon’s back. If Drayden had to guess from the flared nostrils and the darting eyes, the small equine creature could smell the Druddigon lurking in his room on the second floor and was nervous. His Druddigon was too well trained to attack, but smaller Pokémon tended to get nervous around most dragons.

“Thank you for having my daughter over.”

Drayden had almost forgotten the man was there, so small and quiet as to be completely unnoticeable. His voice was flat, almost toneless, which reminded Drayden of Emmet, who had a hard time conveying his emotion through his words unlike his brother. This man sounded exhausted.

“Sure…”

There was an uncomfortable pause as the man blinked at him, Drayden almost thought he wouldn’t supply his name – instead, just pass out in his doorway.

“Rin Kamitsure.”

“Drayden Gray.”

Rin’s torso was already bending forward, clearly a reflex he had developed from a lifetime of practice before he jerked to a stop. His arm lurched up, perfectly straight to the point of looking uncomfortable, holding out his hand and staring expectantly for Drayden to take it.

The handshake was cold, absolutely nothing friendly to the stiff fingers, and went on for far too long, neither of them seemed capable of breaking the shake first.

“さようならお父さん.”

Rin’s daughter’s voice sounded flinty, almost as though she was annoyed that he was still there. If her father noticed the chill to her voice, he didn’t acknowledge it, although Drayden guessed he most certainly did not from the slow way he let go of the Dragon master’s hand.

“Bye Ellie.”

He nodded to Drayden and trudged back up the walkway and down the street. When he turned around to face the children, Emmet and Ingo were thumbing through some books while the girl scribbled feverishly on a whiteboard. With her tongue stuck between her teeth, she was scribbling symbols that were unfamiliar to Drayden with careful strokes of the marker before her hands moved in a flurry before her. That he recognized as sign. The boys had been practicing together. This girl must have been the reason.

The signing was actually helping his nephews a lot, each had their own unique challenges with how they communicated with the world around them, and signing was helping them bring a different option for verbalizing their thoughts and feelings. Emmet in particular was fast to pick it up, his lack of inflection was made up for by his expressive features, which helped emphasis his signing. Ingo’s language was emotional from the word go, but his face was like stone, that’s where his gesticulations and other body language helped him articulate his sign better.

Drayden never could read either unless they told him how they felt. It also didn’t help that the brothers were so in sync with one another that they often left their uncle metaphorically scrambling to catch up to understand them.

“Oh! Elesa, you must meet our uncle.” Ingo insisted, ushering her over to him where she bowed again. Her face scrunched and she glanced toward his nephews, Emmet silently mouthing the words ‘hello sir’ while Ingo announced that this was their goof friend Elesa. “She moved here recently with her father from Sinnoh.”

“Hello… sir?”

She said slowly, watching Emmet mouth the words one more time, before looking up at Drayden. Most children found him intimidating between his stature and inscrutable expression, but this little girl looked him in the eye with nothing short of fierce determination. She refused to be intimidated. That made him smile.

“Nice to meet you.”

Ingo frantically flipped through the pages of the book still in his hand and squinted at the page – dear Reshiram, was Ingo going to need glasses soon? Yet another thing to add to the ever-growing list of things he didn’t sign up for but found himself doing. The text was inches from his nose,

“はじめまして.”

It must have been a translation into Kantonese and Elesa gingerly corrected his pronunciation. Drayden had prepared to get virtually no sleep tonight because the kids would be loud, but it appeared he had nothing to worry about.

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Their uncle said he would be in his study if they needed anything after ordering their pizzas for the kids and Bouffalant burger for himself. He handed Ingo some money to tip the driver and reiterated to be careful with any food and drinks on the carpet.

Ingo offered him a smile, something that made Drayden’s heart warm a little because that did not always sync up properly with his eyes to make the expression seem so genuine. He truly wished he felt that way more often, but that kernel of resentment he felt for Kaita and Lucielle – especially Kaita. His sister all but dumped her sons on him, their parents too elderly to look after them and Lucielle’s father rendered incapable of care due to dementia.

His burgeoning career nearly came to a screeching halt when Emmet and Ingo were unceremoniously dropped into his life, Drayden was lucky he had such good friends like Clay and Lenora who offered him endless support and advice.

------

“s’not their fault, ye can’t blame ‘em fer what their mas did.”

Clay had told him, taking a long pull on his cigar just as Drayden stamped out his half-smoked cigarette. A habit he had only recently picked up and was not trying too hard to quit. The clove scented smoke soothed his nerves like nothing else could these days.

“Be patient. Kids like them can have a hard time expressing themselves.”

Lenora advised when Drayden came to her with the twins’ charts, panicked because he wasn’t sure he would be able to sufficiently take care of children like Emmet and Ingo. Audiobook and podcast recommendations always arrived in his emails when he felt the weight of the situation suffocating him.

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He was glad he listened to her because they had bloomed into such wonderful boys.

Although that bitterness was still rooted in his heart, he did his very best to never expose it to Emmet and Ingo, because they had done nothing to earn his ire. It shamed Drayden to no end that sometimes it did come out in the form of hands-off parenting, in his absence where his nephews needed a parent (one which he was never quite prepared to be).

Drayden did the unthinkable and lightly tousled Ingo’s hair, reminding him to get the door when the delivery driver came, and to give the driver their tip. When he removed his hands, Ingo’s eyes were round and shining, his mouth was slightly open as he looked up at his uncle. His nephew managed a nod, lifting his hands to pat his hair, and slowly made his way back to his brother and their friend.

About thirty minutes later their pizzas arrived and all three kids pelted toward the door, lurking just over Ingo’s shoulder like hungry Sharpedo in anticipation. A chorus of ‘thank yous’ sent the delivery driver on her way, grinning a little at the kids as the door closed. With the personal pizzas divvied up properly, the trio clambered into the fort and settled in for the preselected documentary.

Tynamo and Blitzle were under there, already snoozing as the kids ate and watched the screen transfixed with the visuals. Emmet and Ingo had selected a documentary about Unova, selecting Kantonese subtitles for Elesa so she didn’t have to rely on the audio. Although it wasn’t their preference – that was reserved for trains and professional battling – the boys chose this documentary to help acquaint Elesa to the unfamiliar region she found herself in. She didn’t really seem to have an interest in Unova at all, so they wanted to change that.

To them, Unova was the most beautiful place in the whole world, but admittedly, they hadn’t been to many places. Galar sounded amazing, but Emmet and Ingo had to acknowledge that they were biased because there were just so many trains there – so it had to be amazing, right?

They had come to love Unova through the pictures and trinkets that their mothers sent to them. Glass paperweights that contained stylized Frillish suspended in a permanent bubble from Humilau. Frayed ticket stubs from the sports arenas in Nimbasa. Luminous crystals that refracted a thousand tiny rainbows, and still contained a little bit of static hidden in their crystalline depths, from Chargestone Cavern. Pressed flowers and leaves that still smelled as fresh as the day they were picked from Pinwheel Forest. Vibrant, but uncomfortable t-shirts advertising the famous Casteliacone alongside the stand’s Vanilluxe mascot, Mochi.

But their most prized possession? Two slightly tarnished, golden subway tokens with a stamp of the front of Gear Station on one side and the NTA symbol on the other. The transit system operated on automated cards and scanners and digital tickets nowadays, but these? These things were ancient. Mom had found them and sent them back with burgundy lipstick smudged at the bottom by their names.

Found in an antique shop a few blocks from the station. A set soon to follow, my loves.

The train set had never come, so Emmet and Ingo learned to be satisfied with the tokens.

“エモンガ?”

Elesa jerked forward with her eyes wide while she gesticulated at the screen with a ferocity that made the Pokémon wake with a start. Blitzle nickered softly, stretching his neck to rest on Elesa’s knee and nuzzling her skirt until her hand came to stroke his flank absently. Tynamo flitted over to Emmet, tucking himself into the loose collar of his trainer’s sweater and buzzing Emmet with a faint electrical charge.

A pair of Emolga were skittering across the screen; chittering and squeaking while they darted through the trees of Lostlorn Forest without a care in the world at the humans filming them. The next shot cut to two males with their hackles raised and massive incisors displayed in their yawning maws, the smaller one was getting bullied out of the other male’s territory. Another shot took the documentary to a whole tree hollow full of feathery down, fur, leaves, and dry grass with small, glittering black Emolga eyes blinking back at the lens.

Elesa covered her mouth to stifle a little noise of adoration, unwittingly leaning forward with undisguised interest at the flying squirrels that plagued the whole of Unova. Emolga were few and far between in Anville Town compared to the rest of the region, they were more at home in the trees, which their hometown lacked to accommodate the rail yard and its acres of track.

“I… love…”

Elesa said the words slowly, feeling how the Galarian syllables felt in her mouth. It sounded like such a mouth full compared to 好きだ. The name of the Pokémon sat fresh in her mind as she watched them on the screen, so carefree and happy that it made her smile softly with a fondness she thought she only held for Pachirisu.

“エモンガ. Eh- what… is エモンガ?”

Emmet and Ingo exchanged looks, although they didn’t understand Kantonese, and they were at times hard pressed to understand other people’s thoughts and feelings, Elesa was telegraphing all they needed to know with how her blue eyes stared with longing at the screen.

“Emolga.”

Emmet said slowly and watched Elesa incline her head, acknowledging that she had heard him but not looking his way.

“Emolga…”

She repeated the word, drawing out each sound as she heard it from Emmet’s lips. They sat in silence for a moment, the documentary had moved on to Venipedes and their natural instinct to curl up when in danger.

“They’re delightful little scamps.”

Ingo finally said, putting down his slice of pizza on a neat square of paper towel and scratching his cheek, hesitating on even bringing it up when Emmet piped up.

“Mom has one. Her name is Daisy. She likes to groom mom’s Stoutland’s coat. Brutus likes that verrrrry much.”

Ingo pursed his lips, balling his hands up in his lap, waiting for the question that inevitably came up when anyone heard about their mothers. Uncle Drayden rarely spoke about them, only passing off the mail that one or both had sent to their sons. People were curious to say the least when Drayden suddenly had two boys in his home and when their guardian didn’t satisfy their curiosity, it meant Emmet and Ingo were often asked directly.

“Where are your mothers?”

Emmet would stare at the ground, twisting the hem of his shirt in his hands, and Ingo would go unusually quiet, fumbling for words because he didn’t know what to say. Their mothers dropped them off here one day and they hadn’t seen them since, plenty of letters and trinkets, but never their mothers.

They didn’t know why. They tried to be good kids. They tried to be the best kids. They got good grades. They never caused trouble. They always did their chores and took care of the Pokémon.

It must not have been enough for them to stay.

Emmet shifted on the spot, tapping his nails against the plastic cup to fill the silence, and wordlessly murmuring something under his breath. Ingo knew it was the train schedules in and out of the rail yard. Emmet recited them when he said or did something that he didn’t realize was uncomfortable.

If Elesa noticed the weird pause, she didn’t mention anything, but she did say,

“I… want… one. Emolga.”

The moment of tension passed, and the twins felt like they could breathe again. They didn’t know that Elesa felt those same things about parents and had just as hard of a time putting those feelings into words. For now, they didn’t have to talk about it. They didn’t have to do anything, but sit back, eat pizza, and go to sleep late into the night in a castle of blankets that smelled like fresh laundry detergent.

“Have no fear! We will locate a nest and you can catch as many Emolga as you want.”

“Yep yep! A whole team!”

Elesa caught maybe every other word, but her mouth curled and her eyes crinkled at the excited murmurings of her two friends.