#Also: “She is too young to date dammit” Twilight

[sister-cna-reader]

I just thought of a story idea, Loid spies in Anya to see how she is doing int her studies. And he see’s Bill putting flowers in her desk. And then Damian giving her peanuts in her bag, and loid goes undercover to hear Bill saying he likes Anya and Damian being confused around Anya. Loid is now in conflicted, he is happy that plan A is working but doesnt like the idea of two boys are after his daughter. And Anya can read his mind and is confused about everything.

Loid sits his 13-year-old daughter on the couch and does his best to make it not seem like an interrogation.

But his dutiful daughter can read minds and Anya really, really doesn't want the topic to go where she's sure it's gonna go.

"I know you are growing up and sometimes there are big feelings that are hard to understand," the psychiatrist starts.

Anya- who doesn't even know why the two boys are acting this way to her- cuts him off.

[everettv]

Day 3: Surprises

@spamanoweek

    The season changing always gets to Lovino. It bothers him, for some reason, when the summer melts into the fall. What bothers him more is the lack of transition. One morning, the heat is intolerable before the sun even rises, and the next, there’s a chill in the air and the leaves are orange. Lovino hates that. He also hates the sudden rise in pumpkin spice, well, everything and the scarves. It all just means winter is coming faster.

    What he wouldn’t give to go back to the summer, to the relative peace when he can just work in his garden and sell the produce at the farmer’s market for a living. The little cottage he had inherited from his grandfather provides the perfect space to live, and with little cost to him. His paintings don’t sell too poorly either. Lovino gathers up the most recent order of his produce and carries it into town.

    Lovino passes by the local coffee shop, one he had never actually visited in the past but heard it was good from the cute girl at the grocery. He sighs softly as he looks at the sign. Maybe he could try something from them, and who knows, if it’s bad he can just use it to paint. He’s been meaning to try that. He drops of the produce before heading back and inside the coffee shop. Lovino swears his heart almost stops when he sees the cute barista, and he hadn’t already been spotted by the young man, he would have just turned and ran as fast as possible.

    But he had already been spotted and the smile breaking across his face couldn’t have been wider if he tried. “Lovino Vargas? When did you come back to town?” He asks, taking off his apron and coming around the counter to hug him. “I’m so glad I get to see you again!” Antonio is now hugging him, and god he smells like that cursed pumpkin spice, but he also smells like churros and coffee. Lovino pushes him off, glaring furiously.

    “I came back a few years ago, when my nonno died.” He huffs, looking at the ground, cheeks glowing red. “I haven’t seen you since we were kids. That was a long time ago.” Lovino sighs and rubs his eye, staring at Antonio. “You’ve really grown up, Antonio.” He whispers, seeing a flash of seventh grade Antonio in this new one. He strokes his cheek lightly, wondering how he could have changed, and look so beautiful now, when Lovino stagnated shortly after he left. He grew taller and that’s it.

    The way Antonio is staring at him is making him a bit uncomfortable. Almost like Lovino is a sunset and the lingering light of day is creating a masterpiece. Antonio snaps out of it when he feels Lovino’s hand on his cheek. He smiles brightly, leaning into the soft fingertips. “Really? I didn’t think I changed much. You certainly haven’t. You’re as beautiful as the day we met, I couldn’t ask for anything else.” Lovino tugs his hand away when it looks like Antonio is going to kiss his knuckles.

    He can’t believe that Antonio is back after all these years, that he is seeing him. “Antonio, I can’t do this, I can’t… I can’t date you. You don’t know anything about me, you don’t want this. You’ll just get hurt.” He turns and leaves the coffee shop quickly. The smell of rain hits him, and he’s more than glad to feel the first cool droplets on his hot face. It quickly turns into a downpour as he runs home, soaking him through and through.

    After that shock, he doesn’t leave  his house for a few days, not wanting to run into Antonio again. He harvests a few pumpkins and sets them in the back of his car, then goes back for the rest of the produce. It’s his last harvest of anything but pumpkin and corn for the rest of the year. He sighs sadly, looking at his tomato plants. He always wishes he has more. Perhaps, next spring, he can make a whole other section of his garden for them.

    He helps bring the produce into the store, then tries to leave. The cashier catches his attention and starts to talk to him, and he never was one to turn down speaking to cute young ladies. She checks her phone, then waves him off with a smile. Lovino sighs softly and shrugs, before getting in his car and going home. When he pulls into the driveway, it’s impossible for him to miss that there is something going on in the backyard.

    He jogs back there, and his mouth dries instantly when he sees the display made especially for him. A full backyard of roses around a stained glass table that definitely wasn’t there when he left. A beautiful dinner is spread across the table, and Antonio is standing there, casual against all of the rest. He’s wearing a t shirt and slacks, and the contrast makes Lovino laugh a little bit. Fairy lights twinkle in the twilight.

    “Hey, Lovi. I know you said you couldn’t do this… but I’m so in love with you, I can’t imagine losing you after all the time apart. I’d be stupid to let you go again. So I’m asking you know, Lovino Vargas, to go out with me.” He leads him to the table and smiles at him, pulling out his chair for him. “You can still say no, we can have this dinner and then we’ll just be friends, if that’s what you want.”

    Lovino just stares, sitting down and looking at the roast beef in front of him. He looks back up at Antonio. “I… Of course I’ll go out with you. Dammit, how could I say no now?” He asks, tears in his eyes.

[byakuyanya-purinsesu]

“Take a Look at Those Vocals.” {feat. @driftingjazzbard}

“Kiss me

Out of the bearded barley

Nightly

Beside the green, green grass…”

In her line of work, it pays to be a romantic.  Unfortunately that does mean getting a little dreamy from time to time..she can’t help it.  And she didn’t think anyone was watching.

“Swing, swing

Swing the spinning step

You wear those shoes

And I will

Wear that dress…”

That’s what she thought. But oh how wrong she turned out to be.

The royals were returning from an excursion to a port town where they could acquire a fortitude of weapons, armor and valuable items. While no set date was in mind, they felt like a big battle would be ahead of them. Whether it be sooner or later, it was best to be prepared. It was on their carriage ride when they caught the sounds of someone singing nearby.

Stopping the horse, they paused for a moment and stepped down onto solid ground, silently agreeing to find out who this voice belonged to… and peeking around from behind a tree after tip-toeing to it in the least conspicuous manner possible, they found its owner.

“Wow, she’s quite the looker huh?”

“And singer as well… here I thought there was only one songstress roaming these lands…”

The whole scene was terribly fairy tale, with Erin all starry eyed and playing her own accompaniment.  She’d have considered it cliche if she knew it was going on at the time.

“Ohhhh

Kiss me

Beneath the milky twilight

Lead me

Out on the moonlit floor

Lift your open hand

Strike up the band

And make the fireflies dance

Silver moon’s sparkling”

“So kiss me.”

She was also going to be incredibly embarrassed, likely soon.

As she continued on, the princes found themselves becoming more and more entranced in the song she had to sing… going so far as to bob their heads to the rhythm. After that last lyric came some applause as the dark knight made their presence known.

“Well, I can’t say we know each other to allow such intimacy but thank you for the offer.”

“Ignoring his attempt at flirting, you’re still quite talented… where did you learn your moves? And how to sing like that?”

“Uh hi.  Didn’t someone teach you it’s bad manners to stare at people?”  Or, you know, listen to them daydreaming from behind a tree, allowing them to completely and fully humiliate themselves?

She was more than a little embarrassed but it was a compliment.  They’d liked her singing, which was good, she worked hard at that.

“Er, my big sister taught me, and the man she’d eventually marry taught me how to play some instruments…the rest I sort of picked up here and there.  Who are you, and uh, how long were you watching?”

“Yeah, Leo. That’s rude and intrusive. How dare you do such a thing!” The longer-haired male teased, putting on the most smug face he could muster. His naturally high Skill allowed for a flawless execution of course.

“Yes, well…” Shaking his head and ignoring his Hoshidan counterpart, the blond answered her question while attempting to retain his dignity.

“I’m Prince Leo of Nohr… my less than reputable associate here is Prince Takumi of Hoshido and we were just passing by… no more than a couple of minutes passed when we found you.”

She sort of started to feel bad for the little blonde one, that was some high grade sarcasm he apparently wasn’t equipped to deal with.    And they hadn’t done any harm, nor were they giving her crap for singing love songs behind a bush, so…hey.

“Yeah well…a little warning next time maybe?”

Oh.  Dammit, they were royalty.  Erin, as a habit, avoided royalty.  For a pretty woman traveling alone, such associations tended to end in mysterious disappearances if taken up carelessly.  They didn’t seem like bad sorts, they hadn’t gotten into her personal space or used the song as an invitation.  Even so, she couldn’t help a little wariness.  It was how she was still alive.

“My name is Erin, bard.  It’s a pleasure to meet your Highnesses I’m sure.”

“Erin…” he repeated for clarity, letting the sounds flow out of his mouth and resound in his ears before continuing. “The feeling’s mutual.”

“But we’re not in a castle or anything so don’t sweat the formalities.” Takumi casually remarked with a shrug, waving his hand to motion sweeping the matter aside. “You from around here, Erin?”

…He was young, wasn’t he.  At least the blonde one was.  He talked as if he was listening to himself to check if it was impressive enough.  The other one seemed not to take himself as seriously, or seriously in a less formal way at least.

“I try to err on the side of caution when it comes to royalty, but if you say so.”  Insisting on plain names could be good or it could be really bad.  She stood up, strapping her guitar safely to the enormous pack she traveled with.

“No, I don’t live around here myself.  I’m a traveling bard, you see.  Some bards retell old stories, I occasionally go find some new ones.”

“A bard, huh…” The archer turned to his companion who stood with his arms folded behind his back, giving him a silent nod. Seemed like Takumi would be taking the lead for this little dialogue exchange. Here’s hoping he didn’t muck anything up.

“You’re cautious of us, and I’m sure you have your reasons… but what would you say if we offered you a job to perform not for us but for our people?”

So apparently only one of them could converse at a time?  That was…a little weird.  Or, given the small amount of crap they were giving one another, it was to avoid bickering.  Who knew?

“I’m cautious of most royalty as a rule.  In a lot of places they aren’t very nice, and I’m very pretty and would be easy to disappear.”  Her siblings might miss her eventually, but they wouldn’t know where to start looking for her either.  Better to keep cautious and make sure she didn’t disappear.

Their people?  Like…nations?  “Er…well I’m…not sure I’m good enough for a whole national performance…”

“Huh? What do you mean, ‘national’? It’s not gonna be for a huge gathering of people or anything of that nature. I was talking more like, for a smaller group of soldiers…”

“Quite.” Leo chimed in, hoping to take the pressure off the bard’s shoulders… even if just a tiny bit. “It’d be to build morale. In exchange, you’d be paid for your services of course.”

Well he was the one who said ‘their people’ like that, and they were princes…but soldiers?  Like armies?  She’d wandered into a battleground, hadn’t she?  Dammit.  You’d have thought someone would mention that when she asked for local news, but no it’s all about Margerie running off with some priest and Clint’s cow straying…she loved small towns, but never for long periods of time.

Well…she did do this to help people, soothe their emotions.

“I’d be happy to, just for a meal and a safe place to sleep though.  And perhaps directions away from whatever battlefield you’re headed toward.”

“Sounds like a deal to me. But you’re gonna get paid anyway, and you’re gonna accept it. No ifs or buts about it!” Takumi asserted, crossing his arms and shaking his head to prevent any further argument. Turning around, he saw Leo already holding the door open to the passenger’s carriage and inviting her.

“For today, you ride with us. Let’s go.”

Stubborn, wasn’t he?  Royalty.  There was a reason she typically avoided them.  But he was insisting on paying her which was kind of nice.

“As your highness insists.”  Such a bossy way of having manners.  Apparently the little Prince Charming one was still entranced by her face or something.

She entered the carriage as he’d commanded.  Erin wasn’t a big fan of commands, but she’d agreed to do this and he was raised to it, it wasn’t really his fault.  “So, Hoshido and Nohr have finally cut their decades-spanning pissing match?”

Exchanging glances, the boys blinked; neither having expected the woman to have that kind of vernacular. She wasn’t wrong though.

Straightening himself, the dark knight cleared his throat and tried to answer as best he could without divulging too much. “Suffice it to say… the situation’s changed, and it requires us to cooperate, or else our kingdoms as we know them will succumb to ruin.”

Erin was pretty, but she was fairly crass sometimes.  At least she’d probably divested the little blonde one of his crush.

“I’m pretty sure everyone else in the world was aware of that.  You were always heading toward mutual destruction until someone got the sense to make peace.”  Not to mention all the surrounding nations just thought of them as ridiculous.

“Huh…” While Leo wasn’t the most keen on such speak about his kingdom, Takumi just propped his elbow on his side of the carriage and rested his cheek in his palm, more bemused than anything else.

“Speaks an open mind without fear of consequence… I like this woman. Erin, right? Where do we find more like you?”

“Well…if you were going to do anything to me, we’re in your carriage.  You’d have done it already, presumably.  And I always hear Hoshidens talking about how noble their nobility is, and Nohr has been whispering how their new crop of princes and princesses might put a stop to all the madness going on there.”

She stopped short of mentioning that would have to be after the current source of said madness had died.  She could be crass, but she could never be said to be heartless or insensitive.  Whatever cruelties she’d heard of the current king of Nohr, he was the young prince Leo’s father.

“But yes, Erin is my name, and I have three sisters, but one’s married, one isn’t interested in men, and one’s awful so I’m afraid you’re out of luck there.”

“Strike one, two and three. Guess we’re out.” Takumi answered with a crossing of his arms, childish pout following afterward.

“I think what Prince Takumi was alluding to is someone who’d dare hold such a tone with the likes of royalty such as us. Many in your position who’d rather have their tongues cut out than attempt to talk back to us. Such bravado… it’s commendable and foolhardy at the same time, depending on the circumstance.”

“I’m sure they would.  For a lot of bards, earning a permanent position with someone like you or your companion here would be their ultimate goal, after all, so they’d suck up.  I’m not interested in any kind of court position though.”

It might be foolhardy certainly, but if one of them was romantic enough to come out of the brush after listening to a girl play and try to play the charming prince, he probably wasn’t going to hurt her, and she’d rather have her tongue cut out by one of the men than bow and scrape.

If any of the pair was to be feared, it was the Nohrian royalty after all, given the nation’s reputation, and he was the one who’d gone all romantic.  Easy enough to believe the rumors that the royal children weren’t that bad after hearing that.

“Yes… I’m well aware. It’s… more of an annoyance than anything. Being introduced to many who would do just about everything to earn my favor… either for a seat of power or a hand in marriage. Quite bothersome, really.”

Takumi, being more in tune with the common man than actual royalty blinked incredulously. “Sometimes I don’t think you know just how good we have it…”

“No, no, I can get that.  When you’re in a position like yours, you can’t tell who’s being honest with you or not.  Whether or not someone’s being kind or polite because that’s truly how they are or because they want an in with royalty.  And it sounds like it’d be impossible to find a nice lover, looks are already enough to start people lying about themselves, let alone power and status and such.”

Everyone had problems, and saying someone wasn’t allowed feel bad about the problems their situation brought was just kind of ridiculous.  Yes they were privileged, but their lives weren’t perfect and they shouldn’t be expected to act as such.

“I… guess so.” crossing his arms and humming in thought, he let his body teeter off to the side so that his shoulder would brush up his armrest in the carriage. Peering up and out of the window, he suddenly sat back up and saw that their campgrounds were in sight. With a smile he looked over to their guest and smiled.

“Looks like we’re here… you ready to see what the combination of Hoshido and Nohr can accomplish?”

Frankly if she had to pick a royally cranky guy it’d be Ponytail over there, but she kept that tidbit to herself.  They were alright, and much more…normal than she’d anticipated.  Friendly and open.  It was almost odd.

“I think everyone in the region’s been ready to see that for quite awhile.” The nations had bickered like children for as long as anyone could remember.

Even so seeing an army…well.  For the most part she didn’t do stage fright, but playing for an amassed army was a little intimidating.