#Also I like to think in the one where Naru is winking that maybe Naru is showing Umino something

[arikitari-josei-osaka-naru]

Nephrite / Naru Art I made, set in the 30th century in Crystal Tokyo after Nephrite has reincarnated (they are both in their 20s). I'm undecisive whether this is part of the same continuity as 512TR(ans) and most of my other NephNaru works, so you can interpret it how you wish (whether this Naru is cisgender or a transwoman, etc). There are also NSFW versions (for adults only) on my Bluesky account that show more of these scenes... though in this case you can't really see the naughtiest bits due to the pose, there's still more nudity than I'm willing to risk on tumblr, alas XD Also, this week is the LGBTQ Week event- this art is not for that event, but please check out that event anyway, there's a lot of beautiful art by other people! I hope to contribute a piece or two to it soon myself, with other pairings.

[mochiable]

— how you met nct dream.

anon request: hello! i don’t know if you take this type of request but i would love a scenario on how you meet nct dream ot7 if it’s possible, thank you!

warning: one swear word

wc: 1.5k

₊˚✧┆𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞

you had been watching that cute boy on the badminton court playing with his friends ever since you had started working in the gym and you couldn't help but become more and more interested in him with each passing day. the noises he made when he hit the shuttlecock, the whimpers that came from his pink fluffy lips when he missed the expected shot and the way he frowned and puckered his mouth when his partner missed were some of your favourite things about going to work. yet you had never been able to strike up a conversation. never until this day, when his friends decided to take a break and go watch the football match, while he preferred to stay and practice a bit more.

"you're good," you complimented him once you approached him and threw him a bottle of water, which he managed to catch on the fly. "thank you," he replied flashing you a shy smile, causing his cheekbones to bulge. "where did you learn all that?" you asked sitting down on the bench at the side of the court. he turned to look at you nervously, setting the bottle down once he had taken a sip. "my father... well... he taught me, i guess," he replied, averting his gaze to anywhere on the court except your eyes. "and what do you like best about it?" you questioned him, watching the feather he was playing with bounce on the ground. "ahhh, i... i like badminton, i mean... i like it a lot, like... the... the... the rackets are really nice," he replied trying to find the right words, looking even more tender than ever and causing a smile to form on your lips. but just then his friends arrived, so you stood up and approached him. "nice to meet you, mark," you bowed your head and he copied you, failing to hide the blush on his cheeks.

₊˚✧┆𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗝𝗨𝗡

you snorted once more when the card of the hotel you were staying at wouldn't open the door. you had just taken a dip in the pool and were starting to get cold from wearing only a t-shirt over your swimsuit. you had already used every curse word the dictionary had and still the door wouldn't open. until suddenly you heard a click and it did, so you hurriedly tried to enter. however, something a little softer than the door blocked your way, making you bump into it or, rather, into someone.

“can i help you with something?” the boy smiled kindly as two others a little taller than him appeared from behind. you frowned, looking at the number painted on the door and then looking at the number written on your card. it was then that you realised your mistake, “shit! sorry, sorry. i've got the wrong room,” you apologised, trying to hide your embarrassment and nervousness. “is your room next door?” he asked leaning the side of his body against the door frame, to which you nodded, “i hope to see you again then,” he spoke, as the other two boys who hadn't moved yet tried to hide their laughter. you smiled still a little self-consciously and turned around with the intention of getting out of there. “nice outfit, by the way.”

₊˚✧┆𝗝𝗘𝗡𝗢

you were taking the dog for a walk in the park as you usually did, but this day was a bit different. you let the dog loose, trusting him completely, although you regretted it after a second when you saw how he ran away from you, starting to chase a boy riding his bike. you ran after him, calling his name and wishing you were born with more stamina, because your lungs weren’t strong enough for that. the boy slowed down when he noticed the animal running after him, who didn't think twice before jumping on top of him and knocking him off his bike, licking his face while getting petted. when you managed to get to where they were, you apologised repeatedly, getting several "don't worry" from the boy, smiling with amusement at your furry friend.

“i hope your dog doesn't attack me again,” he laughed softly, hopping on his bike and riding off, reassuring you that there would definitely be a next time.

₊˚✧┆𝗛𝗔𝗘𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡

in the summer you worked in a flower shop, you didn't get paid much but it was enough to pay for your studies. that day, your boss sent you to the most famous dance company in your city to deliver a bouquet with yellow sunflowers, something strange you had to admit.

leaving the lift you bumped into a handsome guy who apologized for not having noticed and almost destroying those beautiful flowers. as an apology he offered to guide you to your destination and you, a bit shy, accepted shyly. you could notice the look of confusion when you pointed out where you should deliver the sunflowers and, when you entered the room, he didn't hesitate to speak.

“so the flowers are for me, you’re the one sending them?” he approached them to smell their soft, fresh scent and then looked at you with a twinkle in his eye. you shook your head slightly, watching an amused pout form on his handsome face, “how bad, i would’ve wished to receive such a gift from someone so pretty.”

₊˚✧┆𝗝𝗔𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗡

Songpa Naru Park was perhaps your favourite place to spend the afternoon when you didn't have too much to do. coming here, watching the almond blossoms swaying in the wind, listening to the swallows singing and watching families having a good time were your favourite images. you couldn't miss the photographs, you were nobody without your camera and your snapshots.

at that moment, watching the black and white ducks arguing over which part of the lake belonged to each of them, you felt a flash in your right profile, which made you startle and your camera, which was in your lap, rush to the ground. however, a big hand prevented that horrible disaster.

“forgive me,” the stranger apologised, “i didn't mean to,” he showed you his perfect white teeth as he returned the camera to your lap. “did you take a picture of me?” you asked looking in his direction, remembering that bright light. he looked at you with regret and put his hand to the back of his neck, scratching it nervously, “sorry about that too.” you gave him a tight-lipped smile and lifted your shoulders, “don't worry, it's all right,” you replied turning your gaze back to the lake, “it’s beautiful, isn't it?” you asked, watching him out of the corner of your eye. “yes, very pretty,” he replied, looking at your picture on his camera, which brought another smile to your face, a bigger one this time.

₊˚✧┆𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗡𝗟𝗘

you were definitely lost. maybe if you hadn't listened to your brother, you would now be at the restaurant where your parents were waiting for you. but obviously, he didn't want to use the gps as he had "memorised the way". and this is when he forced you to roll down the car window and ask some stranger for help.

“excuse me, could you tell me where Las Torres restaurant is?” you asked a handsome guy, wearing a loose summer brown shirt. he smiled at you and asked for your phone so he could write it down for you, which you readily agreed to. “here you go. i’ve drawn you the official route, but also a small detour that will get you there faster,” he explained, handing you back the phone through the window. after thanking him and saying goodbye, he gave you a smile with a wink, which caused a slight blush to appear on your cheeks. you soon learned the reason for this gesture. he hadn't asked for your mobile phone just to guide you, but to write down his number as well.

₊˚✧┆𝗝𝗜𝗦𝗨𝗡𝗚

you were having dinner with a friend at one of your favourite restaurants, celebrating the end of the school year and another year of your friendship. however, you weren't paying full attention to your friend, as you were busier watching the boy who hadn't stopped looking at you all night and who, when you looked back at him, looked away, blushing slightly. halfway through dinner you could notice his friend saying something in his ear, looking in your direction, and how the boy's eyes widened while he began to shake his head. but suddenly, the other boy stood up and, ignoring his friend's prayers, approached you with a mischievous smile on his face.

“good evening,” he greeted, interrupting your conversation and resting his hands on the table, “you've caught my friend's eye, but he's too shy and cowardly to come and ask for your number himself, so i’m here to make his dreams come true,” he addressed you with confidence and amusement, pointing to the sweet boy who was now covering his face with the tablecloth. you finally decided to write down your number on the napkin and your heart skipped a beat as the boy smiled shyly at you after receiving the piece of paper with your number written on it.

©️  MOCHIABLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

requests are open!

main masterlist | nct masterlist

a/n: this is my very first multiple scenario and i have to admit i’m very nervous about it. i’d really appreciate it if you could provide me with some feedback and tell what do you think of it! hope you liked it, love you<3

[vulcan-highblood]

You Belong With (someone better than) Me

Fandom: Naruto

Rating: T

Pairing: Umino Iruka / Hatake Kakashi

Chapters: 1/3

Summary: Exasperated with the ever-increasing number of well-meaning but annoying busybodies who seem to think he needs a man in his life, Iruka finally breaks down and asks Kakashi to be his fake-boyfriend in order to keep the wannabe-matchmakers off his back. 

The only problem is, Kakashi turns out to be a much better boyfriend than Iruka anticipated.

Read it on AO3

[For @the-umino-hours 1-year anniversary prompt: Fake Dating/Marriage]

Chapter 1: Will You Be My (Fake) Boyfriend? Please Check _Yes or _No

“That’s all from me,” Iruka lifted his eyes from the grade report he’d finished reading off, wrapping up his fifth student feedback report of the night. “Did you have any other questions about your daughter’s progress, Nakamura-san?” Iruka asked, gently closing the folder of Kanade’s information and handing it across the desk to her mother, who accepted it with both hands. 

“I did have one question,” she said, “It’s not about Kanade, but…” she tucked the folder into her bag and dug around for a moment before withdrawing a small photograph. “I wanted to tell you about the nice young man in this picture. He’s my cousin, Kotaro. A weaponsmith.” She wiggled her eyebrows conspiratorially. “He’s got a strong back and a lot of stamina, if you know what I mean.”

Iruka knew exactly what she meant. Face heating, he accepted the photo, sparing a quick glance down at it. He’d seen the man - Kotaro, apparently - around the village. He was tall and muscular, with wide shoulders and soft eyes. A rather unfortunate bit of facial hair, but Iruka wasn’t one to hold that against someone. Everyone had their idiosyncrasies. “I’m sure he’s very nice,” Iruka said weakly, tucking the picture into one of the drawers in his teaching desk. 

“Oh he is,” Nakamura-san insisted, leaning forward. “His contact information is on the back of the photo. If you’re interested.”

I’m very much not, but I suppose I appreciate the sentiment? Iruka thought tiredly, forcing a smile. “Thank you for your consideration,” he said. “As for Kanade-chan…?”

“Oh, she loves your class, and she’s been improving steadily, as you noted,” Nakamura-san said, finally taking her cue to leave. “Thank you for everything you do for her, Iruka-sensei.”

“Of course,” Iruka said, rising also and bowing politely. “It’s my honor to do so.” He held the bow as she crossed the room.

“Oh,” Nakamura-san paused at the door, “Just so you know, Kotaro’s usually only free on Sundays.” She turned and winked at Iruka. “But for you, I’m sure he could make an exception.”

“Ah,” Iruka said awkwardly, bowing again to avoid eye contact, “Yes. Thank you for the information.”

As soon as she was gone, Iruka flopped back into his chair and groaned loudly, covering his face with his hands. He still had another three days of parent-teacher conferences to look forward to, and that was his ninth proposition-by-proxy this week. What was it about being a single male teacher that made all of the village busybodies come out in droves? It didn’t make sense. Iruka wasn’t particularly clever or talented, and he certainly didn’t have much in the way of disposable income. So why had it come to this? He yanked open the desk drawer, staring forlornly down at the small mountain of photos residing there. He didn’t have the heart to throw any of them away, but at this point he was starting to run out of room for actual teaching aids in the drawer. Clearly, something had to be done about the situation. But what? 

Start dating? With what free time? Iruka was barely making ends meet with his punishing schedule as it was, he didn’t have time to date anyone. That’s why he was still single! He barely had time to take Naruto out for ramen between his missions, and woe to any man who thought Iruka would prioritize a date over spending time with the growing boy. 

But this was starting to get ridiculous, Iruka thought, shutting the drawer a bit more forcefully than was strictly necessary. No one had been so invested in his personal life when he’d been running missions. He paused, considering that for a moment, and decided that yes, it wasn’t just rosy hindsight. While his friends had given him some grief about being the perpetually single third-wheel, he hadn’t really been close enough to anyone else in the village to warrant that level of attention. So maybe it was more a problem of visibility? Iruka was almost always in the village these days - teaching, working the mission desk, taking Naruto for ramen… yes, the real problem here was that people were entirely too familiar with Iruka, so he bore the brunt of Konoha villagers’ well-meaning but excruciating attempts at matchmaking.

But how to get it to stop? He couldn’t even bear to throw out the useless photos, so telling them to their face that he didn’t have time for their matchmaking was out of the question. But he had equally little time to devote to deterring them! What he needed was something that would require very little effort, but would have significant enough visibility and impact to be both noted and respected by the villagers.

Packing up his supplies, Iruka considered his options. He could buy a fake engagement ring, but people were bound to start asking around about his mysterious fiancée. Worse yet, if it ever got out that the ring was a fake, he’d be back to square one, but instead of giggling it would be pitying stares and sympathetic hand-pats that accompanied the photos. It wasn’t that Iruka couldn’t get a date, and a fake ring might give the mistaken impression that Iruka thought he couldn’t get anyone without faking it. The issue here wasn’t a failure to get a date, but rather a lack of willingness to pursue the option. 

Could he get a fake boyfriend? Iruka immediately dismissed the idea. For one thing, he couldn’t afford an escort. And if anyone found out the boyfriend was fake, he’d be in the exact same position as he would be in with the fake ring - pity and hand-pats. No thank you.

Grumbling under his breath, Iruka gave the classroom a once-over, plucking a stray shuriken out of the wall and wiping the blackboards down one more time before letting himself out and shutting the door. He glanced at the hall clock and winced. It was late. By the time he managed to cook something, it would be too late to digest it properly. Besides, he had homework assignments to grade, and if he spent an hour or more buying ingredients and making an actual meal, he wouldn’t be getting to sleep until midnight. Then he would be getting up at six, rushing through breakfast and back at the Academy by seven to prep for classes. Ugh. 

Iruka decided he’d rather sleep an extra hour than go to the effort of preparing a healthy meal (especially since his healthy meals always ended up tasting terrible), so he headed in the direction of the nearest shop that offered carry-out meals. He picked up something with vegetables and a lean protein to feel like he was at least wasting money on healthy pre-prepared food. It was cheaper to cook his own, but at what cost? Iruka needed his sleep, especially with several more days of parent-teacher conferences looming in his future.

As he was waiting for his meal, he happened to glance outside and caught sight of Kakashi wandering by. Iruka immediately perked up, realizing that if the jonin-sensei was around then Naruto was probably somewhere in the village, too. Iruka hopped from one foot to the other, more anxious for his food to be ready. He really didn’t have time to go looking for Naruto tonight, but he wanted to see the boy. Maybe if he put off grading for one night, he could visit the kid. He could catch up on grading over the weekend. 

“Here’s your order, Iruka-sensei,” said Fujita-san, passing Iruka a wrapped bundle of delicious-smelling food. “Have a nice night.”

“Thank you!” Iruka beamed, rushing out into the night. By some stroke of luck, Kakashi was still out there. “Oh! Kakashi-san!” he called, hurrying over.

Kakashi, nose stuck in his usual reading material, lifted his head slowly, turning to Iruka. “Ah, Iruka-sensei. To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

“Oh,” Iruka felt his cheeks heat as he realized how rude it probably seemed to jump straight to asking where’s Naruto? “Are you back from your mission?”

“Mm,” Kakashi made a noise of assent. “The kids did well.” 

“Oh, good! I’m glad to hear it. And you’re all fine?” Iruka looked Kakashi over, but he wasn’t really the sort to look injured, even if he was. Elite jonin like Kakashi didn’t get to that status by broadcasting their injuries. 

“Nary a scratch between us,” Kakashi said. “We just got back. I think Naruto might be looking for you, actually.” 

“Oh!” Iruka glanced down at his dinner. “I only bought enough for one person,” he frowned, then turned back to Kakashi and said, “Have you eaten yet?” 

Kakashi’s visible eye widened in surprise. “No,” he said slowly, “I haven’t.”

“Here,” Iruka pressed his dinner into Kakashi’s chest, “You take this, Naruto and I will find something for the two of us.”

Kakashi glanced down at the dinner, then back up to Iruka before carefully accepting the wrapped meal. “...thank you?” 

“Thank you,” Iruka countered. “Have a good evening, Kakashi-san.” Then, before the jonin could formulate a reply, he scampered off. 

~~*~~

The next morning Iruka dragged himself out of bed early so he could throw rice in a pot and toss some dry sardines in a pot of water. He managed to scrounge up some cabbage that had seen better days, chopped up some tofu, and was just throwing them into the fish-water when Naruto wandered into the kitchen, scrubbing his eyes and yawning loudly. 

“Morning, Iruka-sensei,” Naruto said, a bit too loudly for six in the morning, “Sorry I fell asleep here again last night. I was planning on going home, I promise.”

“I don’t mind if you sleep over, Naruto. That’s what the guest futon is for,” Iruka reassured him. “Are you hungry?”

“You’re cooking?” Naruto grinned widely. “What are you making?”

Iruka gestured at the simmering pot and then turned to dig in his fridge for the miso. He pulled it out and scooped up a large spoonful, gazed at it consideringly, and put about a third back. “Miso soup, rice, and I’ve got eggs in the fridge,” he said. “Nothing too fancy, I’m afraid.”

“Sounds great!” Naruto exclaimed. “Kakashi-sensei brings me breakfast like that sometimes. But he usually makes fish and vegetables too.”

Well good for him, Iruka thought, half sincere, half snide. I’m glad one of us knows how to cook.   He tasted the miso soup consideringly. It might have too much miso. Or not enough. Or was he supposed to take it off the heat before adding the miso? He didn’t remember. The rice pot wasn’t steaming anymore, and Iruka lifted the lid only to smell the distinct odor of scalding rice. “Oh!” he yelped, turning off the burner and staring at the rice, wondering if it had cooked through this time or if he would once more be having al dente rice for breakfast. He grabbed the spoon he’d used to taste the miso soup and took a small bite of rice. It tasted slightly burnt, but seemed soft enough. A little on the firm side, but certainly not the worst rice he’d ever made. 

Behind him, Naruto giggled. “Did you burn the rice again, Iruka-sensei?”

“That’s enough out of you,” Iruka groused. “I’ve told you before, the smoke adds flavor!” he scooped a large portion into a rice bowl, setting it down in front of Naruto before dishing up a second bowl for himself. Quite a bit of rice was stuck to the bottom of the pot. Lovely. He’d leave the pot to soak while he was at work, hopefully it would be washable by the time he got home. 

“Make sure you eat the cabbage, too,” Iruka warned, setting a bowl miso in front of Naruto. He moved back across the kitchen, plucking two small styrofoam containers and two eggs from his fridge. “And eat your natto, it’s good for you,” he added, plunking the little box down and setting the egg down beside it.

“You really need a new rice cooker, Iruka-sensei,” Naruto observed, ignoring the natto and cracking the egg over his rice, pouring a bit of soy sauce over it before vigorously stirring it in.

Iruka sighed, popping open his natto container and removing the thin paper covering the beans. He used his chopsticks to stir the fermented beans around before piling them atop his rice and cracking his own egg over them. “I’ll get one eventually. But this works fine, for now.”

“At least rice cookers don’t burn the rice,” Naruto pointed out. “I think that’s probably worth it, right?” 

Iruka shrugged. Rice cookers could get pretty spendy, and the ones at the secondhand shop had appeared to be on their last legs. He was saving up, of course, but he had other priorities. He could handle a bit of burnt rice. “You really should eat the natto,” he encouraged. 

“I tried it once, Iruka-sensei. I think it almost killed me,” Naruto said too-seriously. “I’m just not cut out for healthy food, I think.”

Iruka laughed before he could help it. “Oh, fine,” he shook his head. “Next time, then.” It was something of a joke between them by now - Iruka would give him natto, Naruto wouldn’t eat it, and the natto would go back into the fridge.  

The two of them ate in comfortable silence, and Naruto wordlessly gathered up the dishes, putting them in the sink before running some hot water. Iruka felt his eyebrows climb in surprise. “Oh?” he said, “What’s this?”

“You made breakfast, so I’ll wash the dishes,” Naruto declared. “Kakashi-sensei always makes me wash the dishes when he brings me food, so I’ve gotten pretty good at it,” he added, beaming with pride. 

“That’s very kind of you,” Iruka said, “I guess I’ll go get my things, then.” He hadn’t bothered unpacking his teaching satchel, but he still double-checked it to make sure he had everything he needed. That done, he wandered back into the kitchen, spotting Naruto attacking the rice pot.

“Oh, just let that one soak, I’ll get to it tonight,” he told Naruto. 

“Okay,” Naruto agreed cheerfully, setting it in the sink and following him to the door. They left together, Naruto not-so-surreptitiously sniffing his shirt. 

“If you feel you have to do a smell check, you should probably just shower and change,” Iruka chided. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Naruto waved him off. “It’s fine.” 

Iruka considered pressing the issue, but in the end, he decided it wasn’t worth the shouting. “Have a good day of training,” he said as Naruto drew to a halt at the corner of the street. 

Naruto beamed back at Iruka.  “You too, Iruka-sensei!”

Iruka waved him off with a smile, before picking up his pace and heading for the Academy. He had another long day ahead of him, and running late wasn’t going to make it any easier to get through.

~~*~~

“Thank you for always taking care of our boy,” Tsutsuji-san said, heading for the door, “And remember what I said about my friend Hiei,” she added with a small titter. “He’d definitely be interested.”

“Of course, Tsutsuji-san,” Iruka managed to say in a strangled voice, “Thank you for your consideration.”

“Oh you’re very welcome, Iruka-sensei,” Tsutsuji-san said. “Have a nice evening.”

“You too,” Iruka replied. As soon as she was gone he shoved the third photo of the night into his desk drawer. This had gone so far beyond ridiculous he wasn’t sure what word he could even use to describe it. Scowling, he straightened up the classroom, shoved some homework assignments in his bag, and matched out of the Academy in a huff. He had to find something to make this stop!

“Yo, Iruka-sensei,” Kakashi called as he exited. The jonin was leaning casually against the Academy gates, age-inappropriate reading material in hand. Kakashi glanced up fully as Iruka approached, his eye widening as he took in Iruka’s appearance. “Rough day?” he asked, pushing off the gate and transitioning to a more vertical slouch. 

“You could say that,” Iruka sighed, then frowned in confusion. “Forgive my rudeness, Kakashi-san, but why are you here?” 

“Maa, I wanted to ask you if you had time to grab dinner sometime. Since you gave me dinner yesterday, I thought I might return the favor,” Kakashi explained. 

“Dinner?” Iruka repeated, frowning. “What, like tonight?” 

“Whenever you have time,” Kakashi clarified. 

“Oh. Uh. Sure, I’ll get back to you on that…” Iruka turned to leave, then paused, an idea forming in his mind. “Say, Kakashi-san?” 

“Yes?” Kakashi was still standing there with a vague expression on his face.

Iruka glanced around nervously to make sure no local busybodies were watching, then leaned in. “How would you feel about making that dinner a monthly arrangement? I’ll pay, of course!”

Kakashi’s eyebrow lifted in response. “Mind if I ask why?”

Iruka glanced around again. “Do you mind if we talk it over somewhere else?”

“Like over dinner?” Kakashi suggested, sounding faintly amused.

“Somewhere private,” Iruka specified. 

“Dinner at my place,” Kakashi amended.

“At your place?” Iruka echoed faintly.

“It’s pretty private,” Kakashi assured him. “Just me and the ninken.” 

“Okay,” Iruka agreed. “When?”

“We can go now,” Kakashi suggested. “I have all the ingredients at home already, we just need to eat them.” 

“You bought enough for two?” Iruka asked faintly, not sure how this conversation had gone from maybe a dinner sometime to a home-cooked meal at the copy-nin’s house.

“I usually take some leftovers to Naruto,” Kakashi explained. “He never eats vegetables when left to his own devices.” 

Iruka laughed at that. “True enough,” he noted with amusement. 

“So it’s decided. You can tell me more about whatever it is you can’t discuss publicly over dinner,” Kakashi gazed at Iruka for confirmation.

“Sure,” Iruka agreed, mentally apologizing to his future self for the pile of grading he’d be doing this weekend. “Sounds great.”

Nodding, Kakashi turned and began wandering off, heading into the village. It was at this point Iruka realized he had no idea where Kakashi’s house was. Well. If Kakashi was going to agree to Iruka’s harebrained scheme, perhaps it was a good idea to know where the man lived.

It didn’t take them long to reach their destination. It turned out Kakashi had a modest one-bedroom apartment with a wide living room and a cozy kitchen and dining area. Kakashi pulled out a small induction burner, setting it on the table, carrying over a large pot a moment later. It was packed full of vegetables, tofu, shirataki noodles and beef. “Hope you like sukiyaki,” Kakashi said, pouring a thick sweet dashi broth over the ingredients.

“Are you kidding? I haven’t had beef for two weeks!” Iruka exclaimed, probably more excited than he should have been, but beef was expensive and he was starving. “This looks amazing, Kakashi-san!”

Kakashi scrubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly, a blush rising on his visible cheek. “Maa, sensei, it's just a bit of chopping vegetables.”

“Yeah, well, considering I don’t even do that half the time, I’m impressed!” Iruka grinned at Kakashi, unable to contain his excitement. 

Kakashi set a small bowl in front of him with an egg, then carried over a steaming bowl of rice for each of them before settling down at the other table setting. “So,” he began, cracking his own egg into the bowl and lightly scrambling it, “What did you want to ask about that you couldn’t bring up in public?” 

“Well,” Iruka began, cracking his own egg, “Lately I keep having well-meaning people trying to set me up on dates, and honestly it’s starting to get on my nerves.” 

Kakashi hummed sympathetically to show he was listening, then adjusted the temperature on the burner to bring up the temperature of the sukiyaki broth. 

“So I was thinking,” Iruka continued, picking up the provided chopsticks and attacking the egg with a bit more ferocity than was probably warranted, “Maybe I should just… pretend to date someone? Just to stop the nagging.”

Kakashi turned from the sukiyaki to gaze at Iruka. “Oh? Were you planning to ask me out on a fake date, then?”

“Here’s the thing,” Iruka said, finally setting down his chopsticks to look Kakashi in the eye, “I have no time for dating. It’s why I’m not dating anyone currently. So I really don’t have the energy to spare for faking it, either.”

“Hmm,” Kakashi made a thoughtful noise. “Sounds difficult.”

“It is,” Iruka agreed. “And then, you offered dinner, and I thought maybe…” He tried to think of how to explain his thoughts in a nice (or at least nice-ish?) manner. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but… if I were going to only go on sporadic dates with someone, it would have to be someone who’s… also sporadic?” He grimaced, realizing that maybe this wasn’t the most diplomatic approach. 

“Ah,” Kakashi said, digging into the sukiyaki with his chopsticks, checking the doneness of the meat. “So you don’t want to go on dates, but you still want to pretend you’re dating.”

“Exactly,” Iruka exclaimed, pointing at Kakashi excitedly. “I need someone… low effort? Who wouldn’t care if we only went out, say, once a month. Or less, even. Less than that would be ideal.”

“I see,” Kakashi grabbed Iruka’s plate, plopping some beef on it. “Here,” he handed it back before serving himself as well. “So you want us to go on fake dates, but not very often. What am I getting from this arrangement?”

“Oh,” Iruka realized he’d not really thought that far ahead. “Well. I’m really busy, so I can’t offer much. I can, uh… buy you dinner once a month? Or maybe less than once a month?” Iruka offered, smiling weakly as he dipped the beef into his raw egg before dropping it onto his rice and shoveling it into his mouth. Oh. The rice was perfectly tender, the broth was just the right balance of sweet and salty, and the thinly sliced beef was melting with marbled fat. “Oh wow,” he moaned. “Maybe you don’t need to eat out, this is so good.”  

Kakashi snorted in amusement. His own beef had vanished, though his mask was still in place. 

Iruka averted his gaze out of courtesy before continuing. “So. Uh. What do you want from me, then?”

“Eh,” Kakashi said, serving himself some of the vegetables. “I don’t really need anything. But this sounds interesting, so I’ll do it.”

“You’ll pretend to be my boyfriend and you don’t want anything in return?” Iruka asked, surprised to have gotten Kakashi to agree so quickly. He’d thought the jonin would at least ask for something from him, but Kakashi seemed remarkably easy to please. Then again, that had been the whole reason Iruka had asked him in the first place - he wanted someone low-effort. 

“If I think of something, I’ll let you know,” Kakashi said. “Now eat, the sukiyaki’s not going to finish itself.”

~~*~~

It wasn’t until Iruka got home late in the evening that he realized he and Kakashi had never decided when their first official “date” was to take place. Oh well, he thought, dumping the pile of grading out on his kotatsu with a heavy sigh, surely they’d be able to discuss it soon enough. For now, he had homework to grade.

“Oh, hey Iruka-sensei!” Naruto called from the kitchen. “Welcome home!” he poked his head out to gaze at Iruka curiously. “You were out late.”

Urk. “Yes,” Iruka answered awkwardly, “I was having dinner with Kakashi-san.”

“Oh really?” Naruto asked, wandering out of the kitchen and into the living room. “Why didn’t you invite me?”

“It was rather last-minute,” Iruka admitted. 

“Oh,” Naruto said. “Okay. Cool.”

“Why are you here?” Iruka finally asked. 

“I came to wash the pot from this morning,” Naruto replied, “and then I ate some of the food in your fridge, so I had to wash my plate after that. Did you know you don’t have any instant ramen in your kitchen?”

“Yes,” Iruka replied with an amused snort. “There’s a reason for that. It’s not healthy.”

“It’s a lot easier than cooking, though,” Naruto grumbled. “So what did you have for dinner with Kakashi-sensei?”

“We had sukiyaki,” Iruka replied, settling down on a cushion and pulling out one of the homework papers. “Did you eat the rest of the rice from this morning?”

Naruto laughed. “No, actually I just ate some fried eggs.”

“That’s not enough for dinner!” Iruka protested. “You should have eaten more than that.”

“It’s fine,” Naruto assured him, “I had a big lunch.”

Iruka gave him a look, but Naruto didn’t flinch, so he must have meant it. “All right,” Iruka finally said, “But if you get hungry…”

“I know, I know, I just have to tell you.” Naruto flopped down on the other side of the kotatsu, wrinkling his nose as he eyed the homework spread across the table. “Oh, this stuff? Gross.”

“Hey, that’s my occupation you’re calling gross,” Iruka protested, setting his pen down momentarily to shoot a scowl in Naruto’s direction.

“Yeah, but homework sucks,” Naruto said. “I bet you didn’t like it when you were a kid, either.”

“Immaterial,” Iruka replied, “It’s important to make sure all the students understand the coursework and have a firm grasp on what we’re learning in class.”

“Oh sure, but important doesn’t mean it’s not boring,” Naruto shot back, grinning and ducking under Iruka’s half-hearted swipe at him. 

“If you’re just going to be a pest…” Iruka warned.

“I’ll be good!” Naruto promised, lifting his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I just… didn’t want to be alone tonight.”

“You’re always welcome to stay with me,” Iruka said, lifting his eyes to make sure Naruto saw he was serious. “You know that, right?”

“I do,” Naruto admitted, shuffling around so that most of his body was hidden under the kotatsu quilt, tucking it up under his chin and grinning at Iruka. “It’s just nice to hear it, sometimes.”

Iruka smiled. “Then I’ll say it as many times as you need.”

~~*~~

The next morning Iruka dragged himself out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen. Rather than make rice, he had a vague inkling that maybe toast and soup would be good enough for the day. He dug some corn potage out of the fridge and had it heating on the stove, shoving the toast in the toaster. He scrounged through the fridge, finding a few tomatoes which he sliced up and sprinkled with a little salt and pepper. He dished up the sliced tomatoes, tossed the toast onto plates, and poured two bowls of the corn soup just as Naruto wandered into the kitchen. 

“Toast for breakfast, huh?” Naruto commented sleepily. “And tomatoes?” 

“And corn soup,” Iruka added. “I just heated it up on the stove.”

“Looks great,” Naruto commented, sitting down at the table and clapping his hands together. “Let’s eat.”

“Let‘s eat,” Iruka echoed, then dug in. The tomatoes were… oversalted. But still mostly edible if you ate them with the toast. The soup was fine, at least. 

“Thanks for the meal!” Naruto exclaimed after practically inhaling his breakfast. “I’ll wash the dishes.” 

“Thanks for the meal,” Iruka mumbled as he finished his own breakfast, then wandered back into the living room to pack his school bag. 

He and Naruto left together not too long after that, parting ways at the same corner as yesterday. Iruka trudged the rest of the way to the Academy, already exhausted. Just one more day of parent-teacher conferences, he reminded himself. Then he had a whole weekend… of double shifts at the mission desk. And all the grading he hadn’t finished yet. Iruka groaned. 

“Yo, Iruka-sensei!” 

Iruka blinked, not sure he was seeing things right. “Kakashi-san?” he said, spotting the jonin casually leaning against the Academy gates, drawing confused looks from passing staff members.

“Please, it’s just Kakashi,” he said, moving away from the gate and walking over to Iruka. “We’re dating, after all.”

“Right,” Iruka said, feeling off-center and a bit confused. “Did we… have something scheduled?”

“Nope!” Kakashi replied cheerily, then lifted a thermos. “But you looked tired after last night’s dinner, so I thought I’d bring you some of my favorite coffee.”

Iruka hadn’t gotten around to the grocery store to buy more of his own coffee, and the swill in the teacher’s lounge could double as paint-thinner. Coffee sounded marvelous, though he still felt a little confused . He stared at the thermos in Kakashi’s grasp, struggling to formulate a response. “But...why?”

Kakashi pressed the thermos into his hands. “Just a thoughtful gesture from your boyfriend, that’s all.”

“I can’t accept this,” Iruka protested, his hands closing around the thermos anyway. “I already told you, I don’t have a lot of time - ”

“It’s fine,” Kakashi assured him, taking a step back and lifting his hands. “I already made the coffee, so you might as well drink it.”

“True…” Iruka glanced down at the thermos with a sigh. He decided that he could accept this one gesture, so long as he impressed upon Kakashi that this sort of behavior couldn’t become a habitual thing. Iruka just didn’t have the energy to reciprocate, and he didn’t want it to look like Kakashi was putting all the work into the relationship. “Thank you,” he said, lifting his head to face the jonin, “I appre - ”

Kakashi was gone.

Sighing exasperatedly, Iruka waved the thermos in the air. “I appreciate it!” he shouted, just in case the man was still hanging around. He supposed that popping in with random gifts and then vanishing was to be expected when ‘dating’ someone as eccentric as Kakashi. He still felt bad, though. He’d specifically asked Kakashi to do this because he hadn’t wanted to go to much effort. If Kakashi was going to do his best to sell the relationship, it would look pretty bad if Iruka wasn’t doing his best, too.

With a groan, Iruka stared down at the thermos of coffee. This was going to be more work than he’d bargained for.

[itsuki-minamy]

“OTSUKAI CAKE”

* Mini Episodes KFCN (List of Chapters) * Projects & Chapters

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

"I'm home! Cake!"

Neko entered the room with a paper bag from a pastry shop on her head.

"Uh, so good that you came back safely. It was hard work."

Kuro stopped cooking and faced Neko.

He was a little worried about letting this girl take over the assignment, but apparently everything went well. He thinks it's something to try and quit.

"Then, I'll pick up the receipt and change it before I forget it. It's a matter of time until the final report."

Then Neko bowed her head and,

"Receipt?"

"I think I got it at accounting time. I got so much paperwork."

Neko bends her neck almost at a right angle,

"Accounting?"

"Huh, you by no means stole it from the store. Plus, it's packed properly, right? Well, if you look closely, it's in a bag with a cake box. So where's the receipt?"

"I see, it's creepy..."

"With this paper, the change... they should have returned a small amount of money, what happened?"

"What do not you understand?"

Neko stretched out her chest and looked at Kuro's face.

"As you told me, I gave the money to the store staff and got the cake. Better the cake than getting the money."

"Well, yes... that kind of understanding. The change is... no, it's fine for today. I'll explain later."

"If you're satisfied, eat the cake. And Shiro?"

"He hasn't returned from shopping yet... and the cake is for after dinner. Put it away."

At that moment, the sound of the front door opening was heard, followed by Isana Yashiro's voice.

"I'm home! I bought a cake."

"What?"

A few minutes later, Kuro was confused in front of the two paper boxes in the chabudai.

An orthodox strawberry cake and a large cake that can be cut and eaten by about eight people.

There are two whole cakes for Kuro's birthday celebration.

Neko told him to "find the right one", so it was to be expected that he would buy something bigger than necessary. Well, he thought it would be nice to eat it two or three times.

He has doubled.

"A cake of this size... I wouldn't buy it without thinking."

He's not going to blame the boy at all, but because of his personality, he worries when things show unexpected changes, so he ended up asking the other person.

"You must have been in charge of 'ingredients (other than cake)'."

"No, I sorry."

The boy scratched his head.

"In the unlikely event that Neko drops money on the way or drops the cake on the way home, Kuro will be disappointed... If you think, just in case..."

"Why don't you trust this girl more?"

That said, Kuro himself was worried about that kind of thing, so he couldn't help but understand his feelings. But the problem is...

"Did you think about the possibility that there could be two cakes?"

"Well if that happens, big cakes will line up in this chabudai."

"They are lined up right now."

"It feels like a big party and I thought it was wonderful."

"It's wonderful! Let's eat!"

"What is the party? I wonder if three people will eat this amount of cake."

"That's why."

The boy spread both hands in front of his chest.

"Let's call the classmates and share the celebration."

"Ah? Hm, I see."

When he thought about it and laughed, he suddenly took an attitude like opening his chest. He wasn't used to this breathing yet, but Isana Yashiro's proposal was a blind spot for Kuro and it was also convincing.

"If it's Yukizome, you could call her. It's a sudden story, but why don't you call her?"

The front door bell rang as Kuro took out the PDA.

When he opened the door, Kukuri Yukizome, who he was just talking about, was in the bedroom hallway. Behind them are classmates Sumika Inaba and Sota Mishina.

"Kuro-kun, today is your birthday, right? Congratulations!"

"Hey, Mishina. The gift."

"Ah!"

At Inaba's urging, Mishina gave him a paper bag from a pastry shop.

"I did it big so everyone could eat a lot!"

She has increased the number of cakes.

And…

"Ah, did you already have a cake? I should have confirmed it correctly."

In front of the three full cakes, Yukizome shows her forehead.

"I received the consideration. Thank you all."

As he bowed deeply, Kuro pondered again.

(I would like my hometown teacher Ichigen Miwa to eat this cake, but this kind of raw food will not be accepted by courier. After that, would I like to take it with my own hands and go home?)

There the bell rang again.

What appeared at the front door...

"Hey, how are you, Kuro?"

"Ichigen-sama? And…"

Kuroh Yatogami's teacher, Ichigen Miwa, and behind him, a tall person.

"Hello, Kuro-chan."

"Mishakuji Yukari?!"

When Kuro unwittingly stood up, Yukari smiled with a slight bow and a sharp smile.

"What are you planning to do? With such a wide stance."

"Neither of you guys should fight, because today is Kuro's celebration."

Miwa said that softly.

"Uh... please tell this boy that."

Yukari lifted the paper bag that he was holding and winked at him.

"I bought a cake, Kuro-chan."

(Cake! Another cake?)

When he coughed into his heart, his consciousness quickly woke up.

(Oh, is this a dream?)

A dry winter breeze hit his cheeks.

After the "Gakuenjima Incident", Kuro and Neko began a journey to find clues about the missing master, Isana Yashiro. First, they visited the grave of Miwa Ichigen in Kuro's hometown and the residents, where they spent the end of the year parties at Kuro's house and returned to Tokyo at the beginning of the new year to the present.

It happened that the cold weather was not so strong for the last few days, Kuro and Neko, who are used to the outdoor life, were camping in a corner of the park.

(If I dream like that, I may be starting to get tired. I'll have to establish a base around here soon.)

The room that was the setting for his dream was a room in the Ashinaka High School student dormitory. It exploded during the incident and now they can't get in, but... he woke up for a few days, and it seems like it was unexpectedly big for him.

Also, the people who came out in the dreams, "classmates" from Ashinaka High School, brother and nemesis Mishakuji Yukari, the late teacher Miwa Ichigen, and right now "Silver King" Isana Yashiro. Those people for whom he felt affection are not in front of them now.

Only one remains.

"Hmm..."

A piece of blanket fluttered next to Kuro, she rubbed her eyes and Neko lifted half her body.

"Rice?"

"No, I haven't cooked food yet. Well, it's my birthday today. Do you want to eat cake?"

"Cake!"

A few hours later.

"You, this is..."

Kuro was completely disappointed in front of two large paper boxes placed on a park bench. Neko who jumped up and said, "Let me buy the cake!", came back with two whole cakes.

"Because... it seemed like I could buy two with a lot of money..."

"I wish I had one for each person..."

"Maybe tomorrow is my birthday...!"

When Kuro raised his face, Neko took a step back.

"Oh... are you angry?"

There was no money to spend on this. He thought about how much they both eat. Even if he left it, there was no place to keep it. Are they going to walk around with a cake that they are about to eat?

He wondered if he could give her two lectures, but... surprisingly, he only escaped a bitter smile from his mouth.

"So... what I saw this morning was a dream."

As he kept Neko waiting and made tea with simple camping gear, Kuro coughed.

"Fufu... Today is a great party."

After that, the heartburn feast lasted for two days, but he felt the area around his shoulders have become lighter.

His wandering journey will continue for a time.

[keyofjetwolf]

Bonus Question Answers! (anime heat 1)

I asked a silly question! You gave me incredible answers. SO VERY MANY INCREDIBLE ANSWERS. Now, I present my favourites! 

If your answer is listed below, you’ve earned an entry in a random draw to win a GIFTENING liveblog OF YOUR CHOICE

—

Q: If you could drop any of the Senshi into another anime, who would you put where, and what happens next?

*  Just dropping Minako into Literally Any Anime and watch her try to fuck the hottest character(s) as chaotically as possible is always my idea of a good time. -- @commas-and-ampersands [Honestly, isn’t it a good time for all of us? Especially Minako.]

*  Probably any of them (but most likely Minako or Michiru) into Revolutionary Girl Utena for SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER and SPOILER SPOILER Doc SPOILER SPOILER reasons -- @dancinginredshoes  [FANTASTIC ANSWER THE DETAIL WAS DIVINE]

*  Mako would do very well as a character in Sweetness and Lightning. Befriend Kotori and Tsumugi and help them cook but sometimes having to suddenly jump out for 'half hour tops, be back soon, keep the heat down, don't let it burn' and leave our heroes alone to cook. They'd manage and receive another victory in cooking and then Mako would join them again and praise them on how they did such a good job. Inuzuka-sensei would be convinced that her 'stepping out' is a tactic to let them gain confidence in cooking. Little does he know she's a genuine Magic Girl. If Tsumugi accidentally found out she'd be over the moon but easily bribed to keep quiet on this most important secret of a Magic Girl.-- Daphne of the Lustrous Waters [Mako in Sweetness & Lightning was a popular -- and very correct -- choice, but your attention to detail set this above and beyond. Too good, too pure.]

*  I would absolutely put Haruka into the Ouran High School Host Club anime, and I will try to elaborate without undue spoilers. I would LOVE to see Haruka take those rich boys down a peg. As a gender nonconforming woman with a working class background who can A) navigate rich people nonsense via exposure through Michiru and B) take any of them in a fight (and I do mean ANY of them, Ouran fans, don't @me), Haruka would be a delightful addition. Watching Michiru or Rei would be a great second choice -- @goosebytrade  [The sum total of my knowledge of this anime is the opening theme by PGSM Naru, and something about smashing a vase. Still, I found that I, too, wanted all of these things, thank you.]

* Hotaru is my baby and she deserves a better life, I want to scoop her up and put her somewhere that she can make FRIENDS HER OWN AGE who won't mind that she's a baby goth. I will send her to magic school in Little Witch Academia, where she will become a quiet girl with huge amounts of power that she doesn't like to use for anything other than healing (her absolute weakest attack knocks down walls, it gets worse from there) and everyone wants to be teammates with. The other option is shipping her off to Princess Tutu land, but while having Ahiru's friends dragging her around with them would make her less lonely, I'm not sure it would make her life *better*! She'd probably make a good ballerina though, if she didn't get magically turned into a luna moth.  -- idleflower  [A better life for Hotaru! I also want this for her. Also, Hotaru being a tiny ballet luna moth is inspired.]

*  Jetty I love you and your bonus questions, but if I'm not mistaken you have not watched many anime which makes thinking of an answer to this that you will also fully understand a bit harder then you might think, that being said if Haruka was in Utena it would be very interesting. Haruka would very much like to be a prince like Utena, but I think she would have zero patience with Touga and his bulshit. With any of the men in the student concil's bulshit really  -- Lott  [I love all this, but laughed INTENSELY at your callout.]

*  Haruka in Fushigi Yuugi. I desperately want to read more of that. -- @madegeeky​  [CORRECT AND ACCURATE WE ALL WANT AND DESERVE MORE OF THIS]

*  I would love to see Rei in any generic popular shonen and see her wreck shit --Omni  [nodding, tears in eyes]

*  Haruka in Yuri on Ice. I just like the idea of her looking amazing and Right in a mens figure skating costume and then taking one step onto the ice and....well.  --Skirto  [Wonderful setup to the perfect conclusion, full marks.]

*  I reach for the Senshi Displacer 3000, knobs winking in tandem with the soft purr of machinery. There are a hundred knobs, a thousand, a hundred thousand, there are knobs spilling out across the floor as I am momentarily overcome by the infinite amount of Senshi on a limitless plane of existence. I shake my head. No. I know who my pick is. She deserves this. The knobs retreat, leaving behind only one. Or was there ever only one? This universe is fickle like that; I don't think about it for too long. I reach for the softly glowing dark red button, but my hand is stopped with a gentle but firm chop from a gloved hand. Pluto looks at me sternly and shakes her head. She still feels duty-bound to the door, I get that, but still I plead. "Are you sure, Setsuna? Don't you want like, a tiny break? To hang out with a tiny adorable kitten?" She wavers a little. After all, Chi IS an adorable kitten looking for a Sweet Home. Eventually she shakes her head. She already knows one Cutest Kitten in the World, and she has her sacred duty to the kingdom. I sigh in understanding, defeated. Maybe I'll see how well that Gundam anime does with Rei at the helm... -- @rhiorhino  [Glorious, start to finish. Loved the story, can’t wait for the sequel.]

—

I’ll be drawing for the bonus liveblog around the start of THE GIFTENING 2020 (currently looking to be Monday, 11 January 2021). Each bonus question is another chance to earn an entry, so keep those answers coming! I CAN ABSOLUTELY AND SHAMELESSLY BE BOUGHT.

[writesailingdreams]

Hey! Long time no chat! I just saw your tags on kaizoku-ni-naru's post about depiction vs. framing of queer characters in One Piece. Just curious on where you fell on the subject. I found the delineation between depiction and framing useful but was curious whether you agreed that a character could be represented badly yet still be presented positively

Yo!

Where I fell on the subject? I thought it seemed reasonable enough to reblog, and I didn’t initially think much beyond “cool meta.”

I DID super agree about the bad representation of the Momoiro okama. While I don’t think masculine coded—hairy legs, strong jawlines—folk in dresses and heavy makeup is necessarily bad representation, the way they were visually depicted was very Yikes! And atrocious. (See: post time-skip comparative scenes between them and Hancock winking; sense of being repulsive and dangerous while fighting off the marines. Bleh!)

As for the second part of your question... I’m not actually sure. The way I see it, bad framing is somewhat analogous to stereotyping, and that’s something to avoid as much as possible. So, can any bad representation be presented positively?

I feel like I can imagine feeling it’s possible, if a story, through action or dialogue or visual staging, implies a character is someone good, admirable, worthy of respect. So, the argument would follow, if a story codes a character as good, then even if the representation isn’t great, the character (and maybe the stereotypic traits/bad representation) are seen less negatively.

But!! Isn’t using bad representation (or stereotypical shorthand) just perpetuating stereotypes and consequently other kinds of aggression against people? So, having sat down and thought about it, I do wonder if it’s possible if you dig into the undercurrent social context.

Overall, I’ve really only found the Momoiro okama to be depicted/represented badly. But I’m not well versed in Japanese queer coding to be able to recognize bad or good representation in Bon Clay or Ivankov. (I’m also not super great at noticing story tropes, let alone stereotypes, without being told about them or learning about them myself.)

As to gender specifically (as that was in my tags), I feel I could keep running through thoughts and adding and revising, but here’s some thoughts I had thinking about all this:

I do think it’s neat (and interesting) that Yamato and Kiku are the first two gender-diverse queer characters to be depicted right off as allies. Bon Clay was introduced as a villain, while Ivankov was indifferent about helping (from what I remember). So that’s unique.

I also feel Kiku is the most...gender compliant, in terms of depiction. She’s depicted at the start as a woman in appearance, with the exception of her size, and continues to be (flashback notwithstanding).

Not that Yamato doesn’t identify as a man at his introduction, but he’s not designed to abide to a certain physical depiction of what a man is supposed to look like. (And that’s a whole other spiel on why he’s been such an emotional punch in the face for me)

What were your thoughts or what did you think?

[samesongxox]

Savior: Chapter 3 (A Crack in the Stone)

Summary: (Hellboy 2019) AKA Turning a New Leaf AKA Good Samaritans Need Love Too. The B.P.R.D is tasked to infiltrate a black market creature trafficking ring led by a powerful warlock. Hellboy rescues Phyrra who is found being held hostage, a slave for her magic. He must protect her as she is hunted by her master and his gang of monsters. (AU where Broom isn’t dead/Abe wasn’t found)

It will be rated M, it will include violence, swearing, smuttiness, all the good things in life.

Disclaimer: Hellboy belongs to Dark Horse Comics/Mike Mignola, I don’t own anything except the AU and my OC’s.

The second the chopper landed, Phyrra was ambushed by agents. Binx the Pixie chimed in clear outrage as Phyrra was shoved around. Hellboy felt the same ire. The awaiting crew were less than gentle in their handling of her, even taking the extra precaution of cuffing her slender wrists to the gurney; the order wasn't given, but the nurses were taking no chances.

"Hey! Where you taking her?!" Hellboy grabbed at the male nurse who had his hand in a tight grip on Phyrra's shoulders, he could see the knuckles were white. What the hell were they told about her?

"She's passed out guys, could you be a little more gentle?" Hellboy attempted to keep the anger out of his voice, but still the question was posed as more of a demand. The nurse looked at Hellboy with bewilderment, however he did drop his hand from her shoulder, taking the metal bars on the sides as they began to move the comatose girl.

"Calm down son, they still need to take certain provisions." The Professor arrived unheard looking like the cat that caught the canary, this had turned out to be a very successful mission.

B.P.R.D headquarters was a large, subterranean operation; new tunnels being drilled everyday. When he had received the word from the Major about finding the cache of creatures, Trevor had never been so glad of it then when he saw the trucks pulling up, crate after crate of abused souls being dispersed with care to their temporary residences.

What he didn't expect was what came out of the chopper with his son. Trevor was only able to catch glances at the limp body with a womanly figure, surrounded by B.P.R.D members and Hellboy. His said boy hovered over the girl like a worried mother, Trevor was bemused at the sight.

Giving half his attention, the Professor listened as Ben gave him the report, the agents left behind in the skirmish managed to escape with little injury, most fortunate operation indeed. Trevor walked closer to have a better look at what was captivating everyone's attention.

Trevor immediately noticed her ears sifting through her long platinum hair as she was being transported.

An elven woman, how interesting.

Long ago, he had had the honor of dining with King Baldor in a rare show of peacekeeping between the humans and elves. Those elves in comparison to the one in front of him might of shared the pale complexion, but that was where the resemblance ended. They had not had her markings, nor her large obvious ears.

So a different race altogether, most fascinating indeed.

There was also the matter of the Pixie that flew aggressively around the girl, buzzing at the staff like an irritated bee. The Professor knew of the Pixie folk's loyalties, so was surprised to see the creatures attachment as it nestled itself in the crook of the girls neck, an undeniable protector of the Elf.

"Alright big guy, let the nice people do their jobs," Alice played peacekeeper, gently leading Hellboy towards the Professor and Ben, catching the forlorn expression her friend had at the sight of Phyrra being carted away. They were still at work but Hellboy's mind seemed to be on anything but the job.

"Well son, it is nice to see you finally bring a girl home." Hellboy glared at his father. Everyone was having too much fun at his expense.

"It's not what it looks like at all," Hellboy bluffed, this was unbearable. "Why the hell were they manhandling her like that? She's just a girl!"

"A girl that you found uncaged, we don't know if she's friend or foe"

"Bullshit! She didn't hurt any of us back there!"

"That's true Hellboy, but she can't trust her just yet. There was no other in a room as she was?"

"Well we didn't really have the time to find out. I stumbled onto her, she was passed out so I checked to make sure she wasn't dead. Then Alice found me."

"What of the warlock? The owner, Elias?" Hellboy opened his mouth to say he was dealt with, but then remembered the possessed way he had remained startlingly coherent while his body was no more than chum. No, he couldn't confirm the magical man was deceased. He told his father such and watched as he developed a quizzical expression.

"Yes, well we shall start interviewing our new occupancies. I'm sure something will turn up about their warden,"

"Alright guys, let's get her down to Med!"

At hearing that, Hellboy watched helpless as Phyrra was loaded into the elevator. She looked dead, unmoving and ghostly pale. The golden tattoos stood out even more against her pallor skin.

The doors closed, Hellboy's eyes turned down, he tried not to feel dismay at her being taken away from him. He had no right to feel that, he thought petulant as a child.

"You ever see anything like her dad?"

"Not sure Hellboy, let me go to the library and check out a few volumes that could help," the Professor spared a glance at his battered son.

"Please go down and see the doctor, you look like hell."

The Professor held the image of the book he wanted to look at first in his head, he felt the tickling sensation of remembrance, he felt as if he had read something in a text that could provide some answers.

Trevor left the trio still walking towards the entrances, Alice looked to Hellboy, a guilty countenance

"I apologize HB, it's just the way she clung to you made it seem like something else had happened before I came. You know I'm just having a bit of fun. I'd say this was a big win for us. Go Team!" Hellboy cracked a smirk at Alice holding her fist up, he bumped it only semi-begrudgingly, Alice gave Ben her usual enthusiastic salute.

"Well I think I shall head on over to my room, that place was muggy as a sauna. Make sure you tell me when she wakes up." Alice winked and the two men watched as the medium sauntered away, Ben turned towards Hellboy with what to an onlooker could be a displeased face, Hellboy could see the corner of his mouth turn up.

"I'll go down and begin to oversee the cataloguing. Feel free to join me once you deal with...This." The man whose job never seemed done gestured to Hellboy's overall terrible appearance, and hung a left at the elevators.

Hellboy entered the trolley, pushing the level for the infirmary without pause, that was where they were taking her. Finally alone, Hellboy sighed out in fatigue.

What was he doing? He was becoming too invested in Phyrra too suddenly, Hellboy stood there watching the floors ding by and attempted to reason with himself. He cared about her well-being for the moment, she was unlike anything Hellboy had encountered, and he prided himself on the crazy stories he told. This was going to be one of the ones he remembered for a long time.

In one day, he had seen a Centaur, fought a Warlock, won, rescued an Elf with a Pixie sidekick, and stole the Warlocks entire inventory of creatures he was trafficking in an auction house. It was an odyssey of a tale, one he would love recounting to anyone who would listen at the bar. His mouth felt particularly parched at that moment, he wished for his wounds to be dealt with quickly, he needed a beer or maybe a baker's dozen.

The elevator doors dinged open and Hellboy was once again a witness to a chaotic scene.

Phyrra was wide awake, holding Agent Hurse hostage. Pale arms wrapped around the larger man's neck. Hellboy could see him struggle in the little womans hold, face red with exertion, she was choking him. Hurse was a tank, the fact that she was incapacitating him with little effort stunned Hellboy.

Both of them were standing on a table, Hurse's feet scrambling to gain purchase on the surface. Hellboy never again wanted to hear her wild, furious voice boom in the small waiting type room. The nurses and doctors looked on in confused horror at the dangerous elf.

"Glenn- awaui! Im anír- i naru er!"

Ignoring the shouts from the people, Hellboy ran into the room, he pushed the panicking orderlies aside.

"Phyrra!"

Her eyes snapped to his and Hellboy gasped, her look pinning him to the spot. Her eyes held such fear in the crystal depths of them Hellboy felt breathless, the eyes glistened with unshed tears. Once he caught her sight, Hurse was immediately dropped. Hellboy vaguely heard him hacking in desperate breaths, the orderlies rushed to him, keeping their distance from the Elf that leapt off the table, in a breakneck speed running to Hellboy.

Hellboy heaved in distress as Phyrra flew into him, knocking her arms against his broken ribs in a desperate attempt to hug herself to him. Phyrra was insistent, molding her body to Hellboy's in a bold caress. Hellboy's ears hummed, she kept repeating something in a frenzy: Naru er.

Hellboy looked to all the staff, their baffling attention not helping calm her down, Hellboy shielded Phyrra from the crowd, raising a placating hand.

"Alright.. Just everyone relax," He tried to sound more in control than he felt. "What happened?"

"One second she was out cold, next she had me." Hurse rasped, pulling at his tie to relieve the pressure. Already Hellboy could see the bruises appearing on his skin and winced, Phyrra really did a number on the guy.

"You gonna be okay? Sorry about this," Hurse was one of the good ones, it would royally suck if he quit over this. Luckily the agent seemed to nod in acceptance, it was his mistake, the cuffs should never have come off.

The crowd parted as an elderly woman in a long doctors coat stepped into sight.

"Hellboy, I think you better bring her here." She gestured to an exam room, Hellboy thankfully accepted the doctors invitation, basically dragging Phyrra away from the prying, frightened eyes of the faculty.

"Show is over people, back to it!"

Hellboy liked Dr. Sorah. At this moment he could bow to her. For someone who sustained damage very often, it was a professional relationship that had to exist. She was reserved woman, a precise, intense, no nonsense taking kind of broad, Hellboy got along with her great. Her bedside manner was exceptional, she had a warmth about her, a damn fine doc.

"Quite the girl you have there Hellboy," he chuckled at the doc's statement.

"What can I say? I'm irresistible," Hellboy quipped with self-deprecation as he guided Phyrra to sit down on the cot beside him, murmuring to her it would be okay. He pried her fingers from his biceps, placing them in her lap. 

He felt quite vulnerable doing this with the doc's eagle eyes on him.

Phyrra remained silent through the whole examine. It seemed as long as she was with Hellboy, the girls temperament was sweet as sugar. She looked on with mysterious intent in her orbs as Sorah divulged Hellboy of his jacket, tossing the destroyed, blood soaked garment in the corner, she ignored Hellboy's protest.

"It's ruined Hellboy, I'll buy you another one for Christmas. I'll be right back, I gotta get the brace for your ribs."

Sorah sparred one more look to the mute elf. She watched as Hellboy sat on heavily on the cot beside him, and was spectacularly awkward looking as Phyrra grabbed at him, crawling boldly into his lap, eyes on the doctor the whole time.

The doctor couldn't be certain, but she was almost positive the way she was being looked at translated to: He's mine bitch. She shook her head as she walked out, having a good private joke at the half-demons expense.

Phyrra and Hellboy were once again alone together.

Well Hellboy thought, before he forgot about Binx, who flew out of the hiding spot Phyrra's robes pocket had provided, speaking her language in a most animated fashion.

"Binx!" Hellboy inhaled sharply at the dazzling smile that spread over Phyrra's lips. The Pixie flew into her owners hands and Hellboy watched as Phyrra laughed gaily, bringing the Pixie up to her face, she nuzzled her cheek against the Pixie. Hellboy felt unwanted jealousy at the moment between Binx and Phyrra, again he had to check himself for these foolish knee jerk reactions.

"Look Binx, is it? I don't speak fae so you're not gonna get anything out of me, but if you can understand me, I want you to know both of you are safe here," Hellboy felt pretty dumb talking to this Pixie, but whether she heard him or not, she seemed placated by Phyrra's attentions, she flapped her slight gossamer wings over to the corner of the pillow, settling herself comfortably, and all of Phyrra's attentions were on Hellboy.

She was being real clingy, Hellboy couldn't find himself bothered however. He was the one who carried her out of what could be described as nothing more than her prison. She was attached to him in an unknown place, full of people who were trying to poke at her in a vocabulary she didn't understand. Hellboy could recognize her panic.

They lapsed into a quiet consideration, as neither of them could actually converse. Hellboy was becoming uncomfortable in the position he was in. He could feel the broken rib poking most unpleasantly in his side, he hissed in irritation, silent in his willing the doc to hurry up. Phyrra pulled away at the sound. She inspected him as if seeing him for the first time, and Hellboy remained hypnotized once again by the sapphires.

"Cin thi- negr." Hellboy stiffened as she ran her fingers across the sizeable gash on his arm, her touch light and cooling across the heat of the wound.

It was quite sensual.

Hellboy sweltered at the way his thoughts were heading, as he realized the provocative way she was pressing herself against him. This was becoming too intimate a position, he attempted to pull away from her. Her eyes sparked with disappointment, pulling his arm back with the same strength he had seen her exert with Hurse, made even more pronounced by Hellboy's struggle to win, he was sure he was stronger than the human man. Phyrra had brawn, despite her slender appearance. She fixed him a look that spoke of her lack of intention to let him go.

"Dab- nin." Hellboy was startled, to say the least, when the swirls on her fingers began to gleam, moving up to her arms as the swirls began to rise above her skin, like ribbon they floated through the air and Hellboy was transfixed as they began braiding themselves across his injured skin.

He shuddered at the odd sensation, it was baking him from the inside. He felt as if the strands themselves were writhing inside the wound on his arm, somehow fusing to his ribs beneath his skin.

The pain was not too much though, in fact, it seemed like nothing he ever felt getting stitched up before; even stranger was the panting he was unaware of himself doing, whatever spell she was weaving on him pumping through him.

As nimble as the tresses of gold had flown over him, the enchantment was complete and the ribbons returned home, slowly Phyrra ran her fingers once again over the patch of skin on his arm, and Hellboy with glazed eyes looked down to see her running fingers over the smooth skin, not even a scar left behind. Hellboy woke up from the trance, running his hand down his stomach, feeling for the cracked rib, nothing. He took a long, deep breath happily; he was mended completely.

Using the sorcery drained her, no doubt. As Hellboy felt her become laxed in his arms, dropping her hand to his shoulder, her breaths deepening, slowing down as she fell into a deep sleep.

"You rest Phyrra, I'll be here when you wake up." Why he made that promise to himself in the quiet room, Hellboy didn't know; but if he wasn't intrigued by the elven girl before, the way he healed her gave him all the more questions. He had one answer nevertheless, why Elias wanted her in the first place, what had caused him such agony in the idea of her being taken away.

Hellboy thought back to the moment Elias had asked her to 'heal' him. She could of, but given the opportunity, she had been nothing but frightened of him. Not frightened of the hulking, demonic monster that she had woken up to.

He didn't want to, but the feeling of it gave him a jolt of happiness.

It wasn't often people looked at him with such… Need as Phyrra had, that was the only way he could describe it; he was half-man after all, and he did have a woman in his arms that seemed to enjoy being there. Even though it was all a lie, Hellboy couldn't stop himself from living the fantasy for a brief moment. This was an entirely different setting. She was in her right mind, this gorgeous creature was in his arms because she wanted him, not wanting to be protected by him.

Hellboy chastised himself before reality became too painful, he was so fucking pathetic.

Fantasizing like some lovestruck idiot over this girl who was going through something traumatic at the moment, she was only using him as some sort of anchor, he had to face the fact that she would come to her senses eventually.

Phyrra, even in her sleep, grasped desperately at his hands as he laid her back in the cot, Hellboy had to focus on the important things. Hellboy had the impression Elias was going to want her back, if only to inflict punishment on his runaway.

He'll have her back over my dead body.

Posted himself up in the semi comfortable chair beside the cot, at least it's got a cushion, Hellboy's thoughts drifted, he felt the drowsiness settling on him. The half-demon had been through a lot in the last four hours or so, he could shut his eyes for a few minutes. She would be safe for awhile.

fin

A/N: So thoughts, comments, testimonials anybody?

Translations:

1) "Glenn- awaui! Im anír- i naru er!" Go away! I want the red one!

2) "Cin thi- negr." You appear hurt.

3) "Dab- nin." Allow me.

[pastpassages]

Been thinking a lot about utapri lately and something that I think is really cool is that it feels like each character's music tends to fit into a different genre. I'm not super familiar with idol shows but I didn't feel that as much with love live when I was playing it, and bang dream sort of does that but I feel like the magnitude is different too; bang dream is managing 5 genres (one for each band) while utapri manages a relatively distinct sound for 11 different characters! (I'm not including heavens only because I haven't heard their solo songs yet.) And it was annoying me that I couldn’t put it into words so I spent the past couple of days trying to match up each character with a different genre or artist/song that I think has the same feel! 

Starting with Quartet Night:

Reiji’s songs have this pop-jazz fusion to them, like in Kiss wa Wink de, you can hear a lot of the jazziness in Dekiai Temptation as well. And after looking around a lot, I feel like that's really similar to Michael Jackson actually, especially Billie Jean and The Way You Make Me Feel.  

Camus I had a lot of trouble figuring out, but eventually I settled on describing it as synthpop. Zettai Reido Emotion is a good example of it. I think Eurythmics is a good comparison point for his stuff. 

(Also if you stretch it, I feel like you could possibly compare Junketsu naru ai Aspiration to Lady Gaga circa the fame monster, especially Bad Romance. But that could be my imagination.)

Ai I had trouble with too, because I really like that sort of soft electronic sound his songs have (when they aren’t primarily piano and vocals like in Winter Blossom), especially Futari no Monogram and A.I., but I don’t listen to it enough to really know what it’s called! Some googling produced “dub techno,” which seems to fit pretty well. It also reminds me of early-ish supercell stuff. Here’s a mix video with a bunch of dub techno songs:

Ranmaru was probably the easiest out of QN because I listen to a lot of rock. It did take me a bit to really put into words that his stuff tends to lean towards metal though, I kept looking at like The Clash and stuff. So Bright Road and Not Bad are what I mainly went off of for comparison, and eventually I settled on his sound being similar to Heart. 

I feel like Halestorm is a good comparison as well:

Now onto Starish! Tumblr won’t let me embed any more videos so I’ll just hyperlink them:

Tokiya was actually where I started thinking about this! Nanairo no Compass always made me feel like I was listening to a 90s love ballad. Like listen to that, then listen to I Swear by All 4 One, they’re so similar. The rest of his stuff, especially Hoshikuzu Shall we Dance is pretty jazzy/big band-esque. Kind of reminds me of Sing Sing Sing by Benny Goodman (chances are you’ve heard it before, it gets around as a representative of big band stuff I think). 

Natsuki was also pretty clearly rock, but a little harder to pin down. I think it kind of sounds like Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now and I Want to Break Free, but Twisted Sister is in there as well I think. Especially Orion de Shout Out is closer to Twisted Sister and Yell is closer to Queen (though Queen definitely has a slower tempo to their stuff). I generally figure glam rock goes well with his sound. Also sidenote check out Granrodeo if you haven’t, Natsuki’s va is the lead vocalist and their stuff is really good! 

The best descriptor I can think of for Syo’s sound is shonen anime opening. It kind of changes from song to song, like Subete Wo Uta Ni has some kind of chiptune-like elements, and True Wing’s opening reminds me of early aughts rock. I think Ready Steady Go by L’arc-en-Ciel and Monogram by Nico Touches the Walls are pretty similar! There’s also The Day by Porno Graffiti (yes that is their actual name) if you want something more recent.

So with Otoya I knew it was pop rock but there’s a lot of pop rock out there so that’s not super helpful! And I was trying to figure out why it kind of reminded me of middle school and then I realized that he sounds like The Jonas Brothers, who I listened to obsessively back then. Trust My Dream and Nijiro Overdrive are the best examples I think.

Ren also has a really jazzy sound! There is a lot of jazz in utapri. But his stuff is much more Latin jazz than what I normally listen to. Dear...Burning My Lady (I cannot get over that name oh my god) and Orange Rhapsody are good examples. Tito Puente’s Ran Kan Kan is what I was comparing it to. (And Suavemente.) Of course Red Hot Love Minds is much more rock, and Freedom is just synths everywhere it seems like, so this isn’t like true across the board. 

So if Syo gives me shonen anime vibes, Masato gives off shojo anime op vibes I feel like. Blue Prism Heart and Fiction by Sumika sound really similar to me! Though it also sounds like Sugar Song and Bitter Step, so maybe it’s more that Masato has a kind of jpop sound. But there’s also an element of like the kind of stuff I hear with Wagakki Band, that fusion of japanese and western music, especially in Koizakura. 

As far as Cecil goes, it feels like a lot of his songs are like Owl City! In some songs like Happiness the composers throw in some Arabic sounding stuff, and I’m not familiar enough with Arabic music to really make judgments on how similar it is to Arabic pop, which is where I was thinking it might go based on that. But Hoshi no Fantasia and Vanilla Twilight have really similar vibes to them, and in general Cecil’s song have that same ambient magical feeling that Owl City has. 

And that’s all! Honestly this was really fun, I found some new stuff to listen to when I was looking up all this. I’m curious what other people think, if there’s anything that utapri music reminds them of?

[thisurlplease]

Naru Runs into a Wall, College, etc.

Given that it’s a short chapter, I’ve been taking quite a while to translate chapter 14, but I’m nearly done (about 5 pages left). Anyway, I wanted to share some things. This chapter reveals a bit about Naru and Lin’s background. Mori-san dishes the details, though I’m having a bit of a difficult time figuring out what she’s saying (translating is so hard, why did I ever start?).

˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚

Passage:

“Is Lin-san’s home also in England? Not Hong Kong?”

“That’s right. Lin’s family is part of the group that fled Hong Kong. Originally, the clan lived in England and it seems only Lin’s household remained in Hong Kong. Since the family over there is obstinate.”

“Obstinate?”

“They hate the Japanese, and they also hate the British.”

Hmm. I heard he hated the Japanese, but does that mean he hates the British? I wonder if he’s bearing a grudge over the Opium Wars. ...Either way, it’s unfortunate that Lin-san always winds up going to countries he hates.

“London, then?”

...When all is said and done, though, I don’t know many of the names of the other cities in England.

“Lin’s family lives there. Lin himself lives in Cambridge, though.”

I don’t know where that is or what kind of place it is.

“Isn’t ‘SPR’ in London?”

Bou-san cut in and Mori-san nodded.

“Yes, the main office is in London. The lab is in Cambridge. Lin was a researcher at the lab and a graduate student at Cambridge, so that’s why.”

“Really? ...So then, Naru, too?”

“Right. His father is a professor at Cambridge.”

Oh, I see. Cambridge is where Cambridge University is, maybe?

“How was Naru handling school while in Japan? Leave of absence?”

“Right.”

“High school student?”

“University student. Of course, he went through the admission procedures, but he’s never gone.”

“Cambridge, perhaps?”

Cambridge University is a school where incredibly smart people go. I know that much.

“That’s right. Trinity College. Wittgenstein's junior.”

“Huh?”

“Cambridge University is a generic name for over thirty colleges.”

“Hoowee. At seventeen? I guess he really is smart...”

Mori-san tilted her head slightly.

“Over there, they go to college from about the age of seventeen.”

“But he’s been in Japan the whole time, right? What about the entrance exam?”

“Ah, it was certainly a little earlier than usual to have qualified for admission to the university. He had already qualified when he arrived in Japan.”

“Is it similar to the University Entrance Qualification Exam?”

“Something like that. It seems there’s nothing like the entrance exam in Japan. He has three A Level qualification exams and achievements as a researcher, so I think he was exempted.”

“I see. As expected, he’s intelligent.”

That doesn’t surprise me. Uh-huh.

However, Mori-san laughed.

“Basically, he just wants to research what he likes as soon as possible. As you might expect, he was studying hard before the qualification exams. While reading a textbook, he was walking through the lab corridor and ran into a wall.”

…bbbbbft.

“N-no way!”

Mori-san winked mischievously.

“What I said is a secret.”

“Okay.”

Naru ran into a wall! *giggle*

“It‘s amazing he didn’t demolish the wall in anger.”

“I don’t think he noticed at the time. Because he apologized to the wall.”

“Straight-faced?”

“Straight-faced.”

It’s no use. That’s comical.

Soooo, Naru hasn’t been to college yet, but was admitted to Trinity College of Cambridge University. There was this line I had trouble with, “He has three A level qualification exams and achievements as a researcher, so I think he was exempted.” Part of the line in Japanese is:

資格試験でAレベルが三つある

Which seems more like, “There are three A Levels on the qualification exam,” but I don’t think that’s how the GCE A Levels work and it doesn’t seem to make sense with the sentence. According to Wikipedia, “A Levels are generally worked towards over two years and split into two parts, with one part studied in each year,” and “... A Level marks are obtained from exams taken in the second year.” Apparently, the number of A Levels taken varies, but is generally around three or four. So that’s why I just translated it as I did, but I don’t know. And then maybe they made an exception about his age?

Also, it seems like Lin was a graduate student, but might not be anymore. He’s at the age where he should have graduated already, so unless he decided to go for a doctorate, he’s currently out of school. I’m not exactly sure how the different colleges of Cambridge work, but according to THIS translation of Ono-sensei’s doujinshi (self-published works), Naru’s father taught at Queen’s College, and Lin took one of his classes, so it might be safe to infer that Lin went to Queen’s College. It’s unclear whether he went to Cambridge as an undergraduate, but I’ve read that those living in Hong Kong mostly go abroad for higher education and they do take A Levels in Hong Kong, so he probably went to college in England at that time. Although, it is revealed in the sequel novels that Lin studied abroad in Japan for two years. It’s a bit mysterious what Lin’s degree might be (he has too many talents >_<), but he used to be/ kind of still is a part of the technical division of the lab (more on that later) and Professor Davis teaches law (and parapsychology?) classes. So maybe he has some kind of mixed degree in Electrical Engineering and Parapsychology. Japan would be a good place to study abroad for either. Taoism had a lot of influence in Japan and a lot of teachings that were lost in China remained in Japan. But who knows!

Anyway, it’s pretty funny that Naru ran into a wall and apologized. He’s such a nerd ♡ ♡ ♡

[venatohru]

Thursday’s Child 17. Fly away home

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / ao3

Home is people. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there any more.” ― Robin Hobb, Fool's Fate

Ren sat up in bed, his back pressed against the cool, reinforced steel wall. He was too tired to flow-walk. He’d thought to meditate in the calm darkness of the quarters but the atmosphere dripped with Hux’s irritation. His anger brought to mind a swarm of Geonosians – the short, clipped sounds of their language, the hum of their wings as the hive moved as one. There was an order to it, but an outsider was unlikely to perceive that order.

Ren was an outsider.

Hux shifted beside him, draping an arm over Millicent. Ren had discovered the fluffy, orange creature in Hux’s quarters a few days ago, and now it seemed she refused to leave his side. Her intelligent green eyes briefly flickered towards him, as if sensing her presence in his thoughts. Exasperated, Ren prodded Hux with his elbow.

“At least put more effort into it if you’re going to pretend to be asleep.”

“I was sleeping,” Hux snapped, quickly retracting his arm. “Before you woke me with all your tossing and turning.”

“No.” Ren knew he would have to tread carefully. “You have something on your mind.”

“Of course you’ve been mind-reading. I don’t know why I’d expect-”

“I haven’t,” he said firmly, making sure to meet Hux’s gaze. “Even if I couldn’t…feel it, your body language is hardly subtle.” He knew that Hux was being deliberately obtuse – he was well aware that it was impossible for even the most skilled knight to remain undetected during a mind-probe, whether their target was force-sensitive or not.

He shut his eyes and tried to focus on Millicent’s presence as he waited, either for a reply or for Hux to drift off to sleep. Ren had encountered many animals as a child, and more still as a young man, but this one must have been a rare creature. Her fur was soft, but her mind was sharp. She delighted in giving and receiving affection, yet also in the thrill of the hunt…and of the kill. Curious, since she did not need to hunt – her food was provided for her, in delicious, bite-sized chunks. Ren decided he liked this animal after all.

Hux did not reply, nor did he sleep.

Lucy woke when Caleb started coughing. She rolled out of bed, shivering as she shed her blanket and her bare feet touched the floor. The room was cold and dark, just like the rest of the ship, and she almost swore when she stubbed her toe. Instead, she merely bit her lip while her fingers swept over the desk in search of Caleb’s inhaler. When she found it, she slipped back into the warmth of the bed to hand it to him.

“Thanks, sunshine,” he said between puffs. She’d always thought the inhaler made a weird sound when he used it. “Sorry I woke you again.”

“It’s okay. I’m not really tired.” She stifled a yawn. It wasn’t his fault his breathing was worse on a morning.

“Sure you’re not,” he muttered, mussing her hair. “Well, you can always take a nap before your friend DeeDee visits.” She groaned.

“I don’t take naps. I’m eight.”

“So?” Caleb chuckled softly, carefully untangling her curls with his fingers. “Naps aren’t just for kids.”

“Maybe I’ll just drink loads of caf instead. Seems to work for you.”

“Eight is a little young for caf, sunshine. Besides, don’t think I haven’t seen the faces you’ve pulled when you’ve tried it.” Now it was her turn to laugh as she remembered sipping her mam’s caf, rich and bitter, so bitter, trying hard not to spit it out. Mam had winked at Caleb and Narue, and then flashed her that told-you-so smile. Lucy had been annoyed at the time – she’d only been six – but now the memory made her smile.

It also made her miss her mam.

“Can we comm Mam later?” she asked.

“Sure. I miss her too. We can tell her all about my dinner with the pig in a suit.” At that, Lucy lost it, descending into a fit of giggles. “Actually, we probably shouldn’t really say that in case we’re being monitored, but…” Lucy knew what he was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing.

Fuck it.

Bill had not expected to run into his wife quite so soon. Naturally, Lilith had found the whole affair hilarious when they’d turned up to see her sitting at the bar, wearing an elegant black dress and a pair of red heels with straps that wound around her calves. She was everything he remembered, and more.

“What’s a fine lady like you doing drinking on her own in a place like this?”

“Oh, William. The galaxy really is too small. And you brought a friend? How lovely.” She turned to Lilith with a grin. “Hmm, this doesn’t bode well at all – this one looks like she has more than a couple of brain cells to rub together. Won’t take her long to realise she can do better.”

“Maybe I already have,” Lilith replied, casting an appreciative glance in Rosy’s direction. You didn’t tell me what a lovely wife you had, Kera. Rosy sipped her drink, a look of amusement playing across her features.

“Yes, well, we’re here on business, actually,” he snapped, glaring at Lilith. She didn’t seem to notice, too caught up in the new, unfamiliar surroundings. He didn’t know where she’d come from before she was serving on the Finalizer, but he doubted it was filled with flashy neon lights and jovial laughter.

“And you’re conducting that business at the bar?”

“Yes.” Rosy shrugged, fidgeting with the straw in her glass. He recalled Lucy doing the same thing with her juice in the cantina.

“None of my business,” she said. “Just so long as you don’t cause any trouble on my ship.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, sweetheart.” Rosy rolled her eyes as she finished her drink. When she excused herself, he considered inviting himself to her quarters later – that is, before he was distracted by the other red-haired woman approaching the bar.

The observation deck was empty when Brendol arrived. He was tired and wheezing after the walk from his personal quarters, but he needed to see it. It seemed an age since Starkiller Base, since they’d first left the Unknown Regions to reclaim what was rightfully theirs, but now the Finalizer loomed over the familiar, rainy planet.

Arkanis.

Home.