#At least she offered to help occasionally AND did her work (tho i did steal it towards the end but i voluntarily did it so. Doesnt count)

[eudico-my-beloved]

I fucking hate my culinary class table group soooo bad i should be allowed to hit them with carrots i think

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Nightwing #80 Review

woot woot i’ve kept it up for three issues lets gooo. i liked this issue more than the last one. there’s a lot of fanon dick characterization peppered in, but not so much that it puts me off entirely. also, i’m getting increasingly concerned about bitewing. but i did like tim in this one, very nice

look at all the blue and purple and pink. honestly at this point, i’m a broken record but come on come on come onnnnnnn. the blue and pink is very pretty though. this cover’s a bit offputting at first, and a bit spiraly, which i’m sure was the intended effect.

this is a genuine concern of mine. dick’s a vigilante, and he doesn’t have the same sprawling network and resources that bruce does. (even if he is a billionaire now, he hasn’t amassed the same collection of crime-fighting equipment that bruce has.) 

i’m not sure if he’ll be able to take care of bitewing. damian’s got plenty of pets, but alfred used to take care of them, and now bruce plus the rest of the batfam is taking care of them. as far as we know, babs only drops by occasionally, and the same goes for dick’s family and friends. will dick be able to give bitewing the love and time and affection that a traumatized puppy like her needs? i really hope so.

she does look adorable in this panel tho.

dick. richard. richie. baby. why are you shirtless.

you have scars upon scars. probably chemical burns. bullet wounds. weird fucking squiggly lines from knives that only psychos with blade fetishes use. no normal person has the body that you do. and you don’t think that showing up shirtless in front of the police is going to raise suspicion? you don’t think that the people accusing you of murder are going to look at someone who looks like they’re a fucking mob enforcer and go hmm that’s a bit suspicious?

put on a SHIRT jesus CHRIST it’s like you’re not even trying to hide your identity.

look at this pompous little princess demanding only the highest quality head pets i’d burn down latvia for her. (no offense latvians it was the first country that popped into my head.)

pretty boy pretty boy pretty boy pretty boy-

no seriously kudos to the artist here. his expression is so human i wanna cry. dick, right now, is sheepishly asking a question. he knows he’s not going to get into any real trouble, he knows that he’ll be able to talk his way out of or somehow maneuver his way off this mess. but he’ll play nice for the police, so he’s asking a friend for a favour, part self-condescendingly and part oh-well-what-can-you-do.

and his expression reflects that. rather than a stoic expressionless face most male comic characters have when asking someone for something (or all the time really), rather than the weird desperate supposedly “seductive” face that most female comic characters plus dick grayson have when asking someone for something (or all the time really), he’s making a face that i pulled like yesterday. or the day before that. it’s kind of silly, kind of casual, very much human. i like it.

thank god. proper (in character) acknowledgement for officer grayson. yea, fuck cops in general, but i like that they included this line.

obviously, he’s not talking about the actual criminals, he’s talking about the police force itself. the bpd was too corrupt, and dick realized that he wasn’t helping. not only does one clean cop not make a dent in an overall dirty force, but dick was putting his allies in danger too. not only that, but it wasn’t good for dick’s mental health either. he was spreading himself too thin, and surrounding himself with some of the worst of crime 24/7 did a number on him. dick’s got a history of self-sacrificing tendencies, and i’m just glad he’s not a cop anymore.

dick has a gotham rogues mug. they make gotham rogue mugs, and dick has one.

what kinda city looks at it’s frankly horrible crime history and long list of certifiably insane serial killers who are all still alive and actively committing war crimes and goes “oooooh yea imma put that on a coffee mug!” gotham, that’s who.

this isn’t important i just like how all of bitewing’s barks are blue

back straight, hand on his hip, cheerful smile on his face as he says he’s being accused for murder. love that for him.

they couldn’t have said “yea it’s complicated” in a better way even if they put the words “yea it’s complicated” right there on the page in bold red letters. literally all the love to the artists.

dick please. you’re KILLING ME what the actual fuck IS THAT???? WHY DO YOU HAVE A MUG OF THAT???

anyway nightwing collects novelty mugs confirmed.

this paneling is so beautiful. 

tim’s the focus, but he’s not the first thing you see. he’s placed in a way that forces the reader to drag their eyes all the way up the page in order to reach him. it us know just how high up tim is carelessly crouching, especially close to the ledge of the building too. i cannot think of a single better way to introduce a character, and this character in particular: you instantly know this is a version of tim with plenty of experience and training, is comfortable in his body and knows his limits, but still hangs onto that civilian awe of being in a high place and overlooking a brightly lit city.

absolute classic robin. i love it. 

this isn’t even that important but it made me happy. this is how you train surf.

you don’t crouch or bend over when you get to a tunnel, which is oddly enough what most people think (at least from my experience). you bend backward. that not only 100% ensures that you’ll make sure you’re low enough to make it through the tunnel (because you can see the top of the tunnel, unlike when you crouch or bend), but it also makes it easier to get up: all you have to do is push up with your arms into a bent stance, and you’ll be in a ready, moving position. from a bend or a crouch, getting up is more awkward and more slow.

on a meta level, i like that this creative team knows what they’re doing when it comes to the small, almost unimportant stuff like that, because it makes the action more real. (as real as you can get with a guy running around stealing hearts.)

on a in-universe level, it once again drives home both dick and tim’s experience and professional level skill.

regardless of who you side with in the “should tim drake be robin again?” debate, you gotta admit that tim’s rebirth robin suit is r a d as fuck. if i’m not mistaken, this is the same one he was wearing in 2019 young justice for a little bit? it’s cute and hella cool i like it.

remember what i said about human expressions? doesn’t happen as often to tim bc he’s a Child, but it’s still nice to note when someone humanizes him, too. (that’s why i love the duckboy panel so much lol.)

me, at first: that’s not a “good call” dick that’s just common sense

me, now: sprinkled throughout the entire comic we can see dick bending to tim’s instructions if only briefly, joking with him to keep the mood light while still maintaining a serious mood and retaining control over this particular outing. this implies that dick’s doing it intentionally, purposefully leaving places in his sentences blank and offering affirmations, in order to encourage tim and train him in things bruce might not necessarily touch on, such as social chameleoning and misdirection techniques and love/affirmation from a family member. dick is not only a loving and supportive big brother, but he never stops training his younger brother in better vigilante tecnhiques because he wants tim to be better than him. in this essay i will-

d o g g o

also bitewing is getting so many head pats today i’m living for it

look at him, standing on a telephone wire with ease. nice flex, dick.

also look at how he’s silhouetted. the moon’s full bright, bright enough that the sky around dick is light, too. (at least. i’m like 99% sure that’s the moon.) not like most batman comics, where it’s sometimes hard to distinguish bruce from the background, which is entirely on purpose.

gotham is a dark gritty city, and so is bruce. the two of them are one. bludhaven may be a bit of a mess, but it’s being portrayed in all these different shades of blue and purple and pink, that are all light enough that dick stands out from the background. he hasn’t been swallowed up by the city, and chances are that he won’t ever be. also, the colouring helps establish bludhaven as a city too. there’s still hope for it. the light colouring means that it’s not going to sink into a pit as deep as the one bruce wove gotham into. the whole point of this nightwing arc in particular is to turn bludhaven into a better place, and it’s (most likely) letting us know early on that dick is going to accomplish that. he’ll struggle, but he’ll do it.

so dick??? dick designed his escrima sticks with a situation like this in mind? he created his signature and most iconic weapon (other than his chatty mouth), with a built in feature that turns his escrima sticks into tim’s signature and most iconic weapon???? just so that if he and tim ever got into a situation where tim didn’t have his staff, dick could make sure tim had the thing that would give him an edge over anyone he was fighting??? he’s such a big brother oh my goddd.

also tim’s smirk in this is just *chef kiss.* a staff is something he can work with, a staff is something he wields like an extension of his arm, a staff is means that someone’s about to get their ass kicked because tim’s about to beat the shit outta them.

this is my new phone background.

they really made sure we remembered that hey, those first few months when bruce was grieving too much to be any sort of a mentor to tim and was still unwilling to properly train him to be robin out of fear that he would end up like jason, dick was the one who stepped up (once he got over himself and his own fears and hangups with bruce) and trained tim to be robin, trained him how to fight and flip and fuckin fly out there, all while changing his own style a bit to be the more experienced one in the partnership while still trusting said partner to hold their own, so dick and tim have a very unique and cohesive fighting style that makes it hell for anyone who fights them together, didn’t they?

[jujutsu-headcanons]

Gojo Satoru general headcanons

Let's get one thing clear: this man is absolutely chaotic. He is always full of energy. His energy levels never reach below 50%. He is loud and proud, always running, and never takes a minute to relax.

Do not give him Monster. Shoko did that once and it took her forever to get him off the ceiling. Also, avoid caffeine. Shoko replaces his normal coffee with decaf and he still hasn't noticed the difference. Keep it that way.

He was the class clown when he was younger. He wasn't exactly a trouble maker, but he may as well be. I cannot word that sentence and I am sorry. Next.

All of his teachers assumed he never listened in class, so they always called in him when they thought he wasn't paying attention. It still shocked them every time he rattled off the correct answer.

Not only did he answer the question correctly, but he could also explain his reasoning behind the answer, and if it was multiple choice, explain why the other answers were wrong. 

This tall man child would march up to the board and absolutely fill it to the brim with work, turn around, drop the chalk-like a mic drop and walk back to his desk with the smuggest look on his face.

That doesn't mean he did the work tho

Idk how schools in japan work but we all know schools in America only care about the amount of work you do and not what you actually know so we'll use that for the sake of the headcanon: he had straight D's bc he never turned in his work

Despite not doing the work snd goofing off, teachers actually really liked him

A lot of people liked him and he was super popular, but he still felt alone

Fake friends, you know how that works, he didn't meet any real friends until he became a shaman

Clean freak. This dude actually makes his bed. He scrubs his bathroom twice a week. His desk can get cluttered but he straightens up once a week. He's not exactly a germaphobe because

He cannot respect your personal space and that's actually canon but let me take it a step further 

He's a slapper. Especially when he laughs. It doesn't hurt, it's playful dw. He hugs you from behind especially when he's cold. He picks you up and carries you around. He will grab your wrist, arm, or hand and lead you around even if you're following him. He lays his legs across you or lays across your lap. Puts his head on your shoulder. Platonic cuddling between friends is mandatory. He's just so hands-on it's ridiculous.

Unless you explicitly tell him you're uncomfortable he won't stop

Don't worry, if you aren't in that type of relationship, your no-no square is safe. Except, if you seem chill, he will slap your ass regardless of friendship status. His ass is also slappable. You can't tell me Geto and Gojo didn't run around slapping each other asses, okay

He was weird and scrawny as a child. He didn't start beefing out until he started training to be a shaman and he's still kinda smaller than most beefy boys

He can pick you up and throw you around easily. He carried around a 170 pound Yuji like a sack of potatoes and can easily carry around three times that weight

It's amazing he's so tiny because you remember 2014 Shane Dawson making all of those wack ass desserts that was just s pile of chaos wrapped in chocolate?

He can eat every last bite of one of those monstrosities without getting a stomach ache, gaining weight, or dying basically

He knows bc Yuji dared him to do it

He has really cold hands and feet

He sounds old. Let me elaborate. He's constantly cracking his joints. They also creak when he moves. He complains about body pains like he's 80 y/o

He also shares wisdom with the kids as if he's actually 80 y/o

It's irrelevant advice that doesn't make sense but is also useful. Megumi can't count the number of times he's asked Gojo for feedback on his technique but had been told to remember to chew 40 times or never go to bed angry

Starts off sentences with "now son" and "when I was your age"

He uses his blindfold as a headband when he wants his hair out of his face. He also uses headbands as... Headbands... When he wants to wear sunglasses but get his hair out of his face

He owns so many pairs of sunglasses but he always wears the same pair

He's only bought a handful of them himself, most of them are gifts

No one knows what to get him for Christmas or his birthday bc he has everything, so they resort to sunglasses

His favorite pair is a pair that Shoko and Geto bought him as a gag. He thought they were dead serious, though, so he wore them around for a month

They were heart-shaped, rose-tinted glasses

Can you believe this man doesn't use any gel or anything to keep his hair spiky with the blindfold on? It just naturally defies gravity when the blindfold is on

Tell this man he's pretty because he already knows. He's narcissistic but not the cringy kind

Photogenic as hell. Takes great pictures from any angle. 

He gives everyone a different story as to why he covers his eyes. Sometimes he says it's because his eyes are too pretty and are a distraction. Sometimes he says it's because the sunglasses/bandages/blindfold look cooler than his eyes. Sometimes he says it's to protect the six eyes from seeing things he doesn't want to see. The world may never know

He's tried covering his whole face before, but he thinks he's too pretty for that. He at least wants one of his many amazing features to be shown at all times.

So about his driver's license;

He knows how to drive. He can be a good driver. When he wants to be. He just doesn't have a driver's license.

Now he TELLS people he just never got around to getting one, however, there's a rumor he lost it due to too many parking tickets

It's amazing the only tickets he's ever gotten have been from that and once he got caught without a seatbelt; he would have gotten out of that one if he hadn't been flirting with the police officer so bad

This doesn't stop Gojo from driving places though

He steals Ijichi's car a LOT and Ijichi DOESN'T KNOW HOW like??? The windows are never broken and it doesn't look hotwired-

Gojo has a key

You're not even supposed to be able to duplicate car keys but Gojo did 

Also; none of the first-year trio knows he doesn't have a driver's license, though that much should be painfully obvious

He whips around corners, speeds up at yellow lights, goes "watch this" and does a donut, it's just a mess

The poor students have to sit in the backseat too. Just imagine Megumi with all three seatbelts around him like that one meme.

He thrives off of Nobara and Yuji screaming from the backseat, and he can see Megumi being smooshed because he thought the middle seat was the safest through the rearview mirror

Which he doesn't even need because of the six eyes

Despite being such a reckless driver, he knows when danger will happen, so he's never once gotten in a wreck

He blasts the radio, which makes up for the driving.

Has a habit of getting in a car and ending up in the McDonalds drive-thru

Steals other people's fries and keeps the fullest one for himself.

He was rebellious as a kid and teenager, but hey, at least his juvie record is sealed 

He's been detained and in the back of a cop car many times, but the reason was never really bad enough for him to be arrested. Mostly he's just being mouthy. And the time he got caught spray painting on the side of a building. And that one time he and Getou hopped the fence to get into the local pool. And that other time-

It got worse after Getou wasn't around to get him out of trouble. Suddenly, breaking the rules wasn't fun anymore and he mellowed out. 

Tried alcohol and cigarettes before he was legal. Decided neither was his thing, however, he did start drinking occasionally when he was legal.

He's a fucking chaotic drunk. Oh my god he's absolutely feral

Most bars in the vicinity know him by name and they sigh whenever he walks in

Shoko is his emergency contact. She hates it

Shoko has to drag drunk Gojo home at least twice a month and is not happy about it

Once she left him in an alley. He made it home okay so she guesses it's fine

Once he got so drunk he spilled beer on his sock. The thought the fastest way to dry them was by sticking them in the microwave. Forgot about it until someone asked, "Who the fuck is cooking socks???"

I feel it important he was in the break room of the local grocery store and no one knows how he got there

As he was escorted out he stole a grocery cart and rode away in it while singing Don't Threaten Me (With A Good Time) by Panic! At The Disco

He has no alcohol tolerance at all what so ever

He will literally just stare at you and giggle

It's funny he's really flirty but also doesn't seal the deal. Literally, every woman in that bar is willing to get in his bed but he declines every offer. No one knows why

Its because he respects women

He helps his students break the rules as long as they're within reason. Once night Yuji was really hungry and after having a temper tantrum he couldn't order Uber eats bc the school is supposed to be secret Gojo helped sneak him out to get food. Who needs curfew anyway.

The shirts in his closet range from like twenty bucks to the iconic rich bitch shirt the kids ruined in that one chapter we all know the one 

He still wears that by the way, he calls it "art" 

When he was younger, Megumi drew a picture of Gojo being eaten by his shadow dogs. Gojo found it and now it's framed in his room.

He keeps up with current trends and memes like no one's business. This is how he bonds with his kids.

Don't call him old, but also, he'll tell you to respect your elders it's a mess

He has a lot of games on his phone. You can usually find him holding his phone sideways playing some RPG game he probably spent too much money on 

He did hop on the Pokemon Go hype train but after becoming overpowered he got bored

This happens to a lot of games. He pays way too much money, gets to be the strongest in the server, and gets bored

He likes games where you can kill other people's troops and likes to watch as they lose all their power

I canon him as being borderline sadistic

This is why he's Sakata Gintoki reincarnated

White hair, sweet tooth, black leather clothes, dad vibes, never takes anything seriously bc when he does he's scary as fuck, the works.

He is Sakata Gintoki

He liked Gintama growing up. He watched a lot of iconic shows as they aired. He considers himself an og

He's hella bilingual

Because he's the strongest he goes overseas for missions a lot. Because of this he speaks a lot of languages and knows a lot about international cuisine 

He takes pictures of himself eating disgusting foods like snails. He never likes them but he loves the idea of Nobara gagging back in japan

Has paperwork sitting untouched on his desk from three months ago that he will not touch for at least another three months

Does the crossword puzzles in the newspaper every week

Uses humor as a coping mechanism and it honestly just became a personality

Constantly popping his joints. I'm sorry if you find this gross I too find it gross.

Probably brought home every stray animal he ever met ever until he was at least like 22 y/o

Tags: @wasabito @kittaliapenn

[whatifxwereyou]

The Oncoming Storm Part 19: Chou

Liu Kang x Reader and Kung Lao x Reader (gonna do both, two paths!)

Heyo, it's that time. Update time! One more Lao chapter after this. I'm ready for more DRAMA tho, delicious drama. Hope you're all doing well! I'm going to be out of town from the 9-15 but you shouldn't notice my absence since I'm preparing stuff to post before then bwahaha. NEW stories soon? Yes. Lots of planning so far. Much love. Sorry this is all over the place LOL. Kung Lao makin you even more confused, my lawd. Update on Tuesday!

Part 18 Part 20 Chapter Index

You returned to the stone path where you found tables had been setup to share with the other guests. Food had been setup nearby buffet style for a fee. You paid, grabbed your plates, and then took your seats amongst the others in attendance. With the exception of a handful of friends on a trip, they were all couples. A woman with short-cropped hair and dark eyes waved at Kung Lao excitedly. Her significant other offered a smile, then turned back to his food, hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Oh, great, Kung Lao had made friends that morning.

“We saved you a seat!” She said once you were within earshot.

“She saved us a seat, Kung Lao.” You spoke just for him to hear, faking a smile.

“That was nice.” He urged his free arm around your shoulder and you sighed. Fake date or affection. Probably fake date. Were you winning? What were the rules to this game? Kung Lao sat down and made room for you to sit between him and the stranger. “Y/N, this is Sayuri and her boyfriend Kioshi. This is my girlfriend, Y/N.” It sounded awkward. Good. This was going great.

“Nice to meet you.” You bowed your head politely but couldn’t have felt more forced. Sayuri didn’t seem to notice. You could smell plum wine in her glass. It was extremely potent. If Chen were there, she would have spiked your drink, you were certain. Thank god for small favors. The good news was that Kung Lao could talk about anything to anyone and so you didn’t have to. They talked and you thought about other things while pushing your food around on your plate. It looked good. Really good. But you weren’t very hungry.

Your thoughts lingered on that kiss. It had escalated so damn quickly and you’d lost track of everything else. Just when you thought you had things figured out, Kung Lao had thrown you for a loop. You weren’t sure you’d ever forget how much you’d felt like a flower, petals slowly opening up just for him. Ugh. You couldn’t think about it. Focus, Y/N, focus. Kung Lao was animatedly recalling some adventure he’d gotten into in China with Liu Kang. Occasionally he patted your shoulder or nudged you and mentioned you which you returned in kind or smiled to acknowledge. Had to play the part, you supposed.

From what you could tell, hiding places would be in short supply. Much of the caldera was empty and flat. You supposed that behind the entrance gate would work. You could make short work of those walls between the two of you. That would work and it was a much better thing to focus on than the deep ache inside of you when you thought about Kung Lao’s kiss and calling you his girlfriend. How were you going to erase the guilt of breaking into a Buddhist Temple and desecrating it? You didn’t feel good about it at all. Maybe the truth would still work.

It wasn’t like you had a choice at this point. Whatever was in that well you had to get so you would do what it took. Ugh, you were going to end up being arrested at this rate.

Then, Kung Lao was stealing a pepper off your plate with his chopsticks. “Hey!” You scolded him and Sayuri giggled next to you.

“That’s what you get for not paying attention to my stories.” He ate the pepper with a grin. Even the way he ate was attractive. How incredibly unfair.

“Listen, you talk a lot, Kung Lao.” You batted your eyelashes at him playfully and the others at the table laughed. Kung Lao was going to make a snide remark, but you picked up one of the pork buns from your plate and shoved it right into his mouth. He coughed and gagged on it and you couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous he was. He took a bite of the bun and then set the rest of it on his plate but was smiling. “See. You talk too much. Going to choke on your food.”

“Jokes on you. I was going to steal that next.” Kung Lao took another purposeful bite out of it. Sayuri tapped your shoulder, cheeks red with drink and then she bowed politely. You had forgotten that most of the people there likely didn’t speak Chinese. You were kind of thankful for the language barrier.

“How long have you two been dating? Kioshi and I have been together for six months. This is our first big getaway together.” Sayuri smiled brightly and nudged Kioshi who slipped an arm around her proudly. Then he whispered something to her in Japanese before getting up and leaving her alone with you. She was sweet enough but you did not know how to answer that question. You and Kung Lao had not discussed any details about your cover. This was exactly why you hated lying. It was too messy. To keep up with the lie you had to keep lying and so things fell apart so easily. You had not thought this through.

“I… umm…”

Much to your surprise, Kung Lao slipped his arm around your waist and urged you to scoot closer to him. It took every single muscle in your body not to swat at him like you usually did. “We go way back.” He sounded natural. Effortless. “I’ve known her since she was… this high?” He used his other hand to gesture just above the height of the low table. He’d been awfully ready with that response.

“Oh, that’s so sweet! Childhood sweethearts? Did you know that you’d end up together even back then?”

“Umm…” You really were terrible at this but Kung Lao wasn’t. It made you wonder how much of this was actually a lie to him.

“We were like ten when we first started hanging out so I was just a dumb kid who didn’t understand any of that. I knew that I liked her but didn’t know what to do about it.” He shrugged and leaned close to your cheek as if to give you a kiss there and you leaned away and scrunched up your face so much that he instead laughed and buried his head against your shoulder.

“That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.” Sayuri giggled into her glass of plum wine. You turned to look at Kung Lao. He lifted his head and his eyes flitted back to yours.

“You’re terrible at this.”

“I am so terrible at this.” You were grateful for the language barrier more than ever.

Kioshi returned with a tray that held a familiar liquor bottle and small equally familiar glasses for sake. Your stomach dropped. “Drinks all around! New friends and the Autumn Festival.” He began to place the glasses in front of each of the guests.

“Oh, no, no…” You bowed and pushed the small cup away in rejection. “No alcohol for me tonight.” This was starting to feel more and more like an actual date you’d gone on with Kung Lao without even realizing it. It was hitting all the notes. Cute trip to a foreign place. Cute meal. Intimate conversation. You’d even made out a little. This was not supposed to be a pleasure trip. Also, and more importantly, you were not dating Kung Lao.

And you had kissed Liu Kang, so this was too complicated. No liquor! You could hear Chen in the back of your mind, telling you to drink, telling you to lower your inhibitions and just pick right up where you’d left off in the shrine.

“That’s probably for the best.” Kung Lao pushed his cup away too.

“Come on. Just one? For luck!” Sayuri pouted, pushing your cups back toward you.

“She won’t let it go until you do.” Kioshi chimed in. The rest of the occupants at the table were taking the cups gratefully with a bow as they were filled. It suddenly felt rude to turn down the drink so you took your cup back with a sigh. You supposed one drink would be fine. Then again, with the blood thinning problem, who knew? You’d be fine, you coached yourself. Kung Lao gave you a nervous look as though he were thinking the same thing. You were suddenly aware of how little you’d eaten. You picked up the last pork bun on your plate and ate it as quickly as you could. There. No more empty stomach.

Sayuri lifted her cup and the rest of the table did the same. So did you. The sake was hot and you took a sip of it and winced. Kung Lao downed his in one fast motion. He then set his cup aside, upside down so that no one would refill it. You were grateful for that. The last thing you needed was to be drunk while desecrating a Buddhist Temple. He continued his chatter amongst the others while you sipped until the sake was gone. Then you placed your cup next to his upside down. The sun had gone down, and the lanterns glowed a brilliant orange, illuminating the temple in warm light. You turned on the bench to face away from the table. Your cheeks were warm and the annoying overthinking had briefly stopped. At least it hadn’t taken you from zero to drunk.

Kung Lao turned to sit with you and with him, came the rest of the couples at the table. They gathered around in front of you and sat on the stone while swapping stories and histories. Some were schoolteachers, others were businessmen. Each came from an interesting and diverse background. You didn’t weigh in much. Your Japanese was just not good enough to keep up. The hum of conversation and the warmth of the sake were enough to make you sleepy.

“What about you, Kung Lao? What do you two do?” A stranger across the way asked. You didn’t remember introducing yourselves to these other people but you supposed that Kung Lao had captivated everyone’s attention. You had been more focused on why you were really there for the night. Kung Lao searched for the words to explain what it was he did. It was the first time that evening where he had struggled to come up with a lie. You decided to help him out with a little bit of truth.

“He’s a martial artist.” You patted him on the back and he forced a smile. You had done so purposely pretty hard. “And I teach martial arts.” You had. That wasn’t a lie. Immediately, people were gushing over you. “I just teach. He’s quite good.” You smiled at him, redirecting all of the attention back onto him. Sayuri leapt to her feet, wobbling with drink, excited.

“Oh! Oh! Show us something cool!” She grabbed your hand as though you had known each other far longer than an hour.

“No, no.” You laughed politely. “The sake went right to my head. I’ll pass.” You bowed. Much to your surprise, Kung Lao leaned closer to you.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine” You assured him. “But you should show off a little. You’re good at that.”

“I planned to. I need a partner but if you’re not feeling up to it.” He made another playful kissy face and you shoved him away, inciting more laughter. Kung Lao stood up, fingers brushing over the brim of his hat before he pulled it off and offered it to you to hold. You slipped it on top of your head instead. He patted the top of it. “I need a partner since Y/N won’t help me.” He spoke in Japanese as he walked into the sand below the stone path.

“Go! Kioshi!” Sayuri pushed her boyfriend to his feet but he looked incredibly nervous even if he did as he was asked. Kioshi bowed to Kung Lao after joining him in the sand.

“Now come at me.” He instructed and Kioshi did just that. Kung Lao grabbed his arm, twisted him back and then flipped him onto the sand, inciting a gasp from the crowd. But even as the man nearly struck the ground, Kung Lao crouched and stopped his momentum then helped him to his feet. Everyone applauded, and you offered him a slow, unimpressed clap. Kung Lao showed Kioshi how to do a few other moves then countered them. Poor Kioshi. He just wanted to impress Sayuri. You caught Kung Lao looking to you every so often and tried not to apply that exact thought to you. He knew you thought he was good. Right? He wasn’t showing off for you was he? Fake date or affection? You had no idea but you were pretty sure you were losing this game.

If he wanted to show off, you’d make him work. “Do a flip!” You yelled and Kung Lao looked to you as if to admonish you for putting him on the spot. Everyone else was chanting do a flip and you pointed to them as if he had no choice now. He rubbed his palms together then leapt back onto the stone walkway. He stepped to the edge of the stone and then instead of walking off, he flipped through the air, legs high above him before landing as if it were nothing at all. He really was a delight to watch. When he turned back around, he blew you a kiss and then pointed an accusatory finger at you. You covered your face with your hands as your cheeks turned red and Sayuri whistled almost directly in your ear.

This was a pretend date, you reminded yourself.

A pretend and very convincing date with Kung Lao.

It had felt so natural that you had to continuously remind yourself that it was pretend. Your face hurt from smiling and was red since he kept flirting with you even when he was just showing off something he had practiced his whole life. The crowd took over with simple requests and so he was preoccupied for a time and it gave you peace to recover from your embarrassment and for the sake to run its course.

When he was finished, the crowd politely applauded and thanked him for humoring them. You applauded with them and when he sat back down next to you, he sighed contentedly. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. The group had taken to talking amongst themselves again. Some discussed that the last bus would be coming to get them in the next hour or so.

Kung Lao turned to you and pulled up the hat on your head and tugged the strap free before gently tucking it beneath your chin. It was way looser on you and he tugged it with a smile to urge you a little closer. You averted your eyes but couldn’t hide your delight. “So, how’d I do? You didn’t seem too impressed.”

“You’re great Kung Lao, but you already knew that.”

“I know. I just wanted to hear it from you.” He took the hat from you and then slipped it back on his head. “Cute hat. I think I’ll steal it.” You watched the others chat and then Kung Lao stood and offered you his hand. “One last walk by the water?”

“Sure, I guess.” You sighed and took his hand before getting up. You were supposed to be discreet so that no one would notice you were missing when you hid. So much for that. Perhaps you would say goodbye in a moment and then find somewhere to hide until everyone else left. That would work. Kung Lao leapt off the stone path and offered you help down which you took. Then you let go of his hand walked closer to the water. Kung Lao didn’t follow you immediately, but you could feel his eyes following you.

Then he jogged to catch up with you. “Y/N?” You turned to face him, and he stopped in front of you. He took a purposeful step closer to you, denying you personal space. You were forced to tilt your gaze up to meet his.

“Yes?” You asked skeptically. He rested one hand on your hip, and you cocked a curious eyebrow as if to dare him to keep going. You would ten thousand percent pin his ass into the sand if you had to. He tilted your chin up and examined your face before letting his fingers brush down your jaw and over the side of your neck. His eyes followed the trail of his fingertips and you stiffened up but didn’t back down. He leaned ever closer and you very bravely, at least you thought it was brave, refused to turn away, even when his lips drew ever closer.

“…you’ve got something in your teeth,” he whispered with a grin. You laughed and smacked his hand away from your neck and then stepped back and pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“I am going to knock you on your ass and throw you into that toxic lake if you keep that up.” You threatened, walking away from him.

“Well, that’s rude!” He caught up to you and so you shoved at him again with a laugh and kept walking while he stumbled in the sand. You heard him get closer again and so you turned to warn him that you were going to follow through on your threat but he grabbed your arm, pulled you close, and without any warning or pretense, his lips pressed against yours. He was still laughing and you could feel the reverberations of the sweet sound moving through your lips, down your throat and sending shivers down your spine.

It made you smile and as if they had a mind of their own, your lips betrayed you and kissed him back. He held you tight to steady you in the sand and then pushed a stray hair from your face, then urged you to tilt your head even further back as he opened his mouth wider to deepen the kiss, taking each moment greedily for his own. His lips still tasted like the damn pork bun that you’d shoved in his mouth and that made you laugh.

His arm slipped around you and his hand met the small of your back and pulled you tight against him. His warm body pressed against yours woke you from the romantic reverie he’d slipped you into.

“Nope,” you muttered against his lips and then pulled back, leaning away from him since his arm held you captive.

“Oh?” Eyes half-lidded, Kung Lao seemed confused as to why you’d stopped him. Your stomach dropped. That look in his eyes was killing you, something more than romance, closer to lust. Your stomach was doing flips again. Affection or fake date? This one was easy. “Sorry.” He very suddenly realized that it may have been inappropriate and pursed his lips while he searched for the inevitable elusive lie that he would feed you as an excuse for his behavior. “Got carried away.” That was not so much a lie this time.

“Sure you did. Because of all the people that we’ve lied to, right? Had to act the part of doting boyfriend? You came up with our origin story very quickly, by the way.”

“Oh?” He was again at a loss for words, very unlike him. He turned to look at where the others were still gathered on the stone path by the tables. “Oh! Yeah. The act. That thing. Right.”

“Wow,” you whispered but your brain was screaming. No words. Just screams. The panic was real. This was a mess. A huge mess. How had you slipped so naturally into these roles? There were no other words for it than a total and complete fucking mess. He let you go and then went on talking like nothing had happened. He tried to lead you along the sand again.

What were they going to do? What were you going to do? You couldn’t date them both! You had already kissed them both and felt terribly guilty about it. You even felt a little slutty which was never a word you would have used to describe yourself as much as Chen wished that you would.

Maybe slutty was too harsh a word. Your lips, at the very least, were very slutty.

Kung Lao was listing off potential places that you could hide while you waited for the monks to end their night. He’d managed to go back to being his normal self. You couldn’t turn that off so quickly. The rollercoaster was back and there was a huge drop just ahead. You had nothing to say, no input even when he asked you for it. You kept walking alongside him instead, the screaming in your head now mixed with chaotic laughter at the improbability of the situation. You had to make a choice eventually. But both of them were so different and your connection to them was even more so. You had to stop thinking about it. There was no solving this now.

“Did I make it weird?” His words finally slipped through all the screaming which stopped very suddenly.

“What? With your bad jokes and all the showing off?” You instantly found refuge in sarcasm. Oh god, you were so alike in some ways. Kung Lao cocked an eyebrow as if to say you knew exactly what he was referring to. “Oh. Oh, yeah, that kissing me thing you keep doing.”

“Yeah, that’s the one. That’s the thing.”

You huffed. Where to start? Most important of the things bothering you, you supposed. The truth. “I kissed Liu.” You were surprised by how confident you’d sounded. You hadn’t actually said it out loud before. “And I wanted to kiss him.”

Kung Lao did not seem surprised by this revelation. In fact, he seemed very unsurprised. “And did you want to kiss me?”

You stuttered because that was not the response that you’d expected. Wait. Did he already know? Were Liu Kang and Kung Lao gossiping about you? The screaming was back but this time it was angry. You pinched the bridge of your nose and then grunted in frustration and made to walk away. Kung Lao grabbed your arm to stop you.

“Did you?”

“Yeah, I suppose that I did.” Getting those words out was like pulling teeth. You didn’t know what anything meant. Everything was chaos and nothing mattered. “I can’t kiss you both.”

“I mean you did so you obviously can.”

“You know what I mean!”

“Do I?”

“It has to stop.”

“For you? Or for me? Or for Liu? You’re being very vague, Y/N.”

“Are you being purposely frustrating? For all of us, Lao.” You tapped his chest with each word and he laughed. “You have no idea how this is eating me up! I’m so confused. My heart hurts. No more. No more of it.” You weren’t sure how you were going to stand by this declaration when they just went for it so freely but damnit, you were frustrated.

“I guess that’s fair. Only sort of though. How come you get to decide? I’m part of this too.”

“Kung Lao, I swear.”

“Okay! Okay.” He avoided your gaze and his eyes were darting to the side. He was lying? About what?

“What? What’s that look?”

“Uh… ah… what look?”

“I thought you were a good liar, Lao! What’s going on with you?”

“I uh… nothing?” He looked so beyond guilty that you laughed in disbelief.

“Kung Lao? What did you do?”

“That list is way too long to go over right now. We’d be here all week and we have things to do.” He turned away.

“You’re hiding something.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Y/N.”

“Why aren’t you mad, Lao? Aren’t you mad that I kissed your best friend? Hell, I kissed your brother and then also kissed you? Shouldn’t you be pissed? Why am I the one that’s angry?” Your voice was very high-pitched and he laughed at you again.

“What’s the point of being angry? I knew that you and Liu were getting close. Everyone knows. You’re obvious. I’m not stupid, Y/N. I just also decided not to give up.” He sighed but still avoided your eyes and kept checking to see if you were buying it or not. What the actual hell?

“I don’t know what you’re lying about or why you’re lying but I know that you’re lying, Lao. And I know that it’s something important.”

“We have so much to do, Y/N. You’re being crazy. Maybe I will stop kissing you.” He teased and you smacked his arm and gasped. He wasn’t taking you seriously! You took calming deep breaths. Now what were you supposed to do? That hadn’t gone at allhow you’d expected it to. It hadn’t helped you get any closer to a decision. It had only further confused you!

“Of course you will. Because I told you to stop.” You mocked him and he looped his arm with yours. “Let’s go say goodbye to these strangers before I really do push you into the lake and just yell about what a big liar you are.”

“As much as I would love to see that, it’s probably the wrong time to make a display of ourselves.”

“Says the man who has done nothing but make a display of himself all damn day.”

“You didn’t seem to be complaining. You didn’t even try to stop me.”

“No one can stop you, Kung Lao. You’ve made that incredibly clear.” You walked with him back to where the others were gathered. Kung Lao was then his usual charming self, chatting and telling the others that you had to go and had called a taxi to pick you up. You did your absolute best not to roll your eyes but you were seething. Why had you thought telling him would change anything? You supposed that you’d expected him to be angry that you had kissed him after also kissing Liu and would tell you to make a choice. But he hadn’t. Why? Was he afraid that you would choose Liu over him? He didn’t seem afraid of what came next like you were. In fact, he seemed like he wanted to drag this out. You were uncomfortable but you decided, in a breath, to let it go.

Whatever he was hiding would be revealed eventually and when it did, you would call him out on it and gladly. And you would kiss whoever you damn well pleased. For now, you just had to keep your head on straight and focus on the task at hand.

He’d kissed you like it was no big deal. The audacity of this man!

You waved at the others and together you walked to where you’d met the bus. Then you snuck around the gate surrounding the shrine and found a place hidden behind a series of rocks to wait and hide. It was what made the most sense. There was nowhere else to hide without being spotted with so many guests still remaining. As far as you had seen, there were no security cameras.

“You still mad?” He whispered after an hour had passed.

“Confused. Not mad.”

“Don’t be confused, Y/N.”

“Okay. Still a little mad. Almost snapped at you again.”

He chuckled and you pouted. He urged his arm around your shoulder and hugged you close. You were still a little mad but his hugs did feel nice. Comforting even. You were so drained. You hadn’t been prepared for the emotional toll this was taking on you. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t even know what you’re sorry for so don’t waste your breath.” You swatted his arm and he swatted your hand back. “I’m confused. That’s all.”

“Clearly. Look, I’m not mad at you. I don’t like that you kissed Liu but you’re figuring things out. That’s fine.”

“But Liu…”

“I can’t say that Liu won’t be mad about it but I mean, maybe that will make him seem less appealing.” He grinned and you groaned in annoyance and smacked his arm again. “It’ll all work out, Y/N.”

“It’ll all work out, Y/N.” You mimicked him and he laughed again. “I can’t believe that I have to sit stewing over this next to you, with your arms around me while we wait to break in there. God, I need something to punch.”

“This has been fun.” Kung Lao decided while trying not to laugh. Fun? You huffed again and then leaned your head back against the stone and closed your eyes. You had to stop the racing thoughts and find a way to be okay with what had just happened. Time would help, you decided.

And it did.

You fell asleep.

[shsldepressedlesbian]

no one asked but here danganronpa fantasy au that was made in my early days of the fandom and is thus outdated and was made with mostly only the drv3 cast in mind. i updated it a little for the public tho haa

Plot: ok so basically kaede is a princess and she befriends this shapeshifter named shuichi and sorta assigns him as her advisor and their best friends. then two weeks before her crowning she gets kidnapped and shuichi goes off to look for her in time for her to be queen. and he meets the rest of the cast and finds her and everyone is happy

Kaede: Princess. Is very skilled in many different musical types, but piano is her main. Kidnapped from her palace. Shuichi's best friend.

Shuichi: Shapeshifter(he tries to keep this a secret). Orphaned as a child and stumbled into the castle's gardens, where he met Kaede. Searching for her after her disappearance so she can become queen in time.

Kaito: A wannabe adventurer who offers to accompany Shuichi on the road to find Kaede. Also wishes to one day be able to take his adventuring to the sky. Use to be the assistant of an astronomer, before leaving to make his own fortune. Says he's heard rumors about someone who has a map to where the gang who kidnapped Kaede resides. Ryoma was one of his former idols.

Kokichi: A thief and a leader of a gang of bandits. After ending up getting caught while trying to steal from their wagon, he offers to join them and help find Kaede(with plans to rob them and steal their wagon and horses, but only ends up growing closer to them and reconsidering stealing from them cause "huh that prize for finding the queen is a lot more than what these losers probably have").

Maki: An assassin for hire who runs into the trio by random. Also it just so happens that her next target is Kokichi. Kaito saves Kokichi's ass and Shuichi offers to outpay the bounty on Kokichi's head-wait did someone seriously offer that much Kokichi what the hell did you do to piss someone off that much-he then offers that if Maki were to travel with the three of them for a short while, then they could stop by the Akamatsu kingdom and she could get her gold. Maki just wants to kill Kokichi and go, but Kaito begins insisting she comes with them("cmon just cause your an assassin doesnt mean you have to be edgy all the time")and this does really annoy Maki, but eh fine she'll come with them for a day or two, but if she doesn't that money she'll go back to her original plan. And thus the four is complete.

Kiyo: A traveling anthropologist who is secretly a vampire. In his wishes to continue traveling after his turning, he wears much clothing to protect him from the sun, which gives him a creepy appearance. He runs into the four after someone ends up "accidentally" letting the horses go, and offers to give them a ride to meet Rantaro he can guide him to the town. Then mysteriously disappears after dropping a few facts about certain cultures. Even then he appears randomly ever so often. He also has an interest in seances and always observes specialists in the subjects when the chance arrives. His horse, who he's nicknamed "Shiso", is very precious to him, as it is the child of his now deceased older sister's former horse. He also occasionally travels with Rantaro.

Rantaro: A true adventurer who has been through so many dangerous encounters he has become very chill when facing danger. He knows a lot of things about the wild and creature's preferences, though he isn't a walking fact machine. Meets the four and agrees to guide them after hearing they've met Kiyo. Is also looking for his sisters, who have disappeared whilst traveling with him.

Angie: A siren who can change into human when on land. Is very dedicated to the siren sea god. She attempts to use her voice to lure the trio into her cult(of course, doing so would require them to get into the water and drown), but is interrupted by Tenko who scares her off.

Himiko: A young witch who also deems herself a mage. She is severely underestimated due to her lazy nature and size. She gets gravely annoyed when people accuse her of being a fake, and wishes for everyone to see herself as a mage. She calls Tenko her familiar who she turned into a human(the ways of how are not mentioned). When the three arrive, she uses her cauldron to help them locate where the person-who-has-the-map is(she couldn't make out what they looked like or who they were, but hey, she got the town at least).

Tenko: A girl who had once been training to be a knight put was put under a warlock's curse that turned her into a frog, unless she had a true love's kiss. Frog Tenko fell in love almost immediately when she first saw Himiko, and began following her, hoping to one day be able to see if she could break the curse. Himiko first thought of the frog as annoying, but then it began helping her out, and she grew weirdly attached to it, then decided to craft a familiarbond with her, which required at least a kiss on the head. Surprise surprise, Himiko broke Tenko's curse. And Tenko also kept the perks of being a familiar. Tenko has a very obvious crush on Himiko that she denies to have, but is very loyal to her and has promised to protect her and stay by her side until their last days. Due to being a familiar, she has limited magic that can become more powerful the more closer she is to Himiko- and Himiko can also channel magic through her. Tenko, due to a warlock having been the one who put the curse on her and her old teacher feeding her biased views, has a dislike for males, and only rescued the trio because she hated seeing Angie succeeding, and only brought them to Himiko after Shuichi offered to pay a good amount of gold to see her.

Ryoma: A former adventurer, who is now an outlaw since he joined the gang who stole Kaede. However, he also betrayed this gang a long while ago, and so now he is both hunted down by the gang and guards of most kingdoms. He resides hidden away, though by now he has no desire to continue living. He is also the one to have the map to the gang's hideaway, and is the one to give it to Kaito.

Kirumi: The secret former queen of the Tojo kingdom, who ran away after being forced into a loveless marriage. She now works as one of Kaede's best maids, and offers advice. She also tries to track down where Kaede could be held unbeknownst to Shuichi, and is the one to save the four.

Kiibo: A walking build of gears with a touch of magic, he was formerly Miu's first attempt at a walking person. Then, the very next day, almost by magic, he acquired a personality of his own, the ability to speak, and was basically a human- well, sure, he was still made of wood, iron, and gears, but that doesn't change anything, right? He resides in a village with his inventor, who is Miu, as mentioned before. He wishes to one day be able to leave the village and go on his own journey, but for now, he lives peacefully, trying to be seen as just the same as any other normal human.

Miu: An inventor and an idol in her village. She is the reason her village may be the most technologically advanced in the kingdom. She makes plenty of money off of her inventions. Of course, if people were to actually meet her, they would find that she really doesn't act like the inventor people think she is. She lives in her 'lab' in the center of her village, with her companion Kiibo. Has a deep running rivalry with Kokichi, and was actually the one who paid Maki to track him down and kill him.

Gonta: Half human, half beast, all around gentleman. He was abandoned in a forest and was raised by animals and monsters. He has since moved into a village that was much more welcome to him. He wishes to one day become a knight, in order to prove his gentlemenness.

Tsumugi: A very plain and simple tailor whose clothes are much more appealing to look at then herself. Or, at least, that is what people think she is. In reality, she is the leader of the gang who kidnapped Kaede, and wishes for nothing but wealth. She uses her clothing shop as a cover and extra way to make gold, and at the end she kidnaps the four, only to be foiled.

Other Characters:

Makoto: A friendly baker who happens to get sucked into adventures from time to time. Has a curse/gift of both bad luck and good luck. Also married to Kyoko(and maybe Prince Togami).

Kyoko: A very well respected investigator who is rumored to be able to take any case. An enemy of thieving gangs. Married to Makoto(and maybe Prince Togami).

Byakuya: A snobby prince who is due to take his kingdom's throne. However, he refuses to get married until he is crowned(there is a rumor that he is engaged in a poly relationship with the investigator Kyoko and her husband. neither of them have confirmed nor denied this).

Toko/Genocider Syo: A half demon writer who's demon side is a serial killer by the name of Genocider Syo. Use to serve Byakuya and had an intense infatuation for him, before meeting Komaru and going on an adventure with her(more explained in Komaru's section), and eventually falling in love with her, eventually quitting her old job to become a writer.

Aoi: A friendly mermaid with an intense craving for human treats. Is dating Sakura.

Sakura: The head knight of a certain kingdom. Very just. Is dating Aoi.

Celeste: A vampire who gambles for money and blood. Has her own mansion of vampire butlers.

Kiyotaka: A traveling ranger whose duty is to right all the wrongs of this world. May or may not possess some sort of supernatural powers. Also may or may not be in a romantic relationship with Mondo.

Mondo: A feared bandit(who is also a werewolf)who is the leader of his own gang, with black horses being their symbol(and also their form of transportation). Use to challenge Kiyotaka often and considered him a rival, but now their quite close "bros"(who may or may not have romantic feelings for each other).

Chihiro: A shy potionbrewer. They sell things such as the healing potions they make, though their quick to give for free to people who need it. However, isn't gullible. Surprisingly on good terms with Mondo and Kiyotaka, being that they once rescued Mondo and nursed him back to health.

Hagakure: A(very limited)psychic who has probably sold his soul to a demon for money. Is in way too much debt with too many bandit gangs. His friends wonder how he's still alive. Either way, he travels around telling fortunes to make money.

Leon: An archer who wishes to be anything but an archer. He has a wish of becoming a bard, as far as that wish may be. Has been rescued from siren attacks too many times to count.

Sayaka: A siren who doesn't have the same mentality as the other sirens, and doesn't actually believe in or pray to the sea god. However, she still has a mavolvent side, and enjoys luring men to their doom. But it is possible to befriend her. She and Makoto have known each other since childhood and are very close friends.

Hifumi: A traveling scribe with an interest in drawings of fictional woman. Has been rumored to be an assistant of Celeste.

Junko: The head queen of the chaotic level demons. Wishes for nothing but to break despair to everyone. Grew up with Mukuro as sisters, but isn't actually related to her by blood.

Mukuro: A shapeshifter who takes many forms. Has been a knight in many armies and is very skilled with weapons. She and Junko were both abandoned orphans who ended growing up with each other as sisters. Is also Junko's 'eyes upstairs'. Has managed to grow attached to Makoto after observing him, and often ends up rescuing him without his knowledge.

Hajime: A demon hunter who is half demon himself(his half demon side being nicknamed Izuru Kamukura, and being a skillful level of demon). Only kills demons who he considers actual threats. Surprisingly drinking barmates with Fuyuhiko and Kazuchi. Is currently reluctantly allowing Nagito to stay with him(may or may not actually have romantic feelings for him). Use to be in love with Chiaki, until she peacefully rejected him.

Nagito: A demon who many believe to be in the chaotic level, but is actually just a lowly luck demon(a very severe luck demon to be exact). Brings despair wherever he goes, though he yearns for nothing but the hope to bring him to the end. Grew very quickly attached to Hajime after observing him for a few days after he spared him, and believes that he will be the hope that will eventually kill him- but as annoying as he may be, Hajime doesn't wish to kill him off. Very self-degrading.

Chiaki: A very sleepy and peaceful witch, who people come to for advice. She enjoys controlling stick figures in video game styles. Close childhood friend of Hajime.

Kazuchi: An inventor who dreams of one day being accepted as the private inventor to Princess Sonia, his everlasting crush. His inventions are amazing, but underlooked. He sold his soul to a demon once in order to make his brown hair pink and to have his sight back so he didn't have to wear glasses. Lucky for him, Hajime then slayed that demon, and now he considers the both of them soulfriends(hajime has his regrets). He spends more time with Gundham, who he battles for Sonia's affections, rather then trying to chill with Sonia herself(though to be fair she doesnt let him get that close).

Gundham: A demon who can bend the will of animals to his own use, aided by his destructive Four Dark Devas of Destruction. His name is feared across the land, and he wishes for nothing but to instill fear into the hearts of many. Until he met Princess Sonia, who he spends an awful lot of time with and seems to have a soft spot for her. He can be found making his plans to destroy villages, hanging out with Sonia, or arguing with Kazuchi.

Sonia: A princess who is invested in learning about demons and summonings. Often travels around in order to observe such things, and a ritual was actually where she met Gundham, who she became close friends with.

Fuyuhiko: The leader of one of the most powerful gangs in the continent. Lost his eye in a barfight. Though he's usually a mean and rough guy, he has a soft spot for his 'allies'(mainly Kazuchi and Hajime)and his personal bodyguard, Peko. He thinks of Peko as more than a tool, and wants her to see that.

Peko: Once upon a time, a group of humans with super senses made an arrangement with the gang that Fuyuhiko now runs. The gang would help them out and leave them alone while supplying them with some money every month, and they would give to them one of their own young to each of the current gang leader's children. Peko was given to Fuyuhiko when she was just a baby. The two grew up alongside each other, but never as equals. She was trained to be nothing but a weapon. A protector. Because of this, she has grown awfully monotone. But, she has a soft spot for fluffy animals, though they do not have a soft spot for her.

Mikan: A fallen angel who fell when she met Junko, the so called leader of the powerful side of demons, and became infatuated by her. Now serves alongside Junko, in a not very healthy relationship. Hopefully she'll break free one day...

Ibuki: A half beast who can transform from a colorful gem dragon to a more humanlike form. She's very rambunctious and causes disaster without meaning to. Loud and vocal.

Twogami: A double agent shapeshifter who goes by many identities, so many in fact that they don't even actually know who they themselves are. However, they have a strong sense of leadership and is a surprisingly nice guy. Actually takes Byakuya's role for amount of times so the original Byakuya can sneak out and meet with Makoto and Kyoko.

Mahiru: An explorer who likes to take pictures of every place she sees. Also is known to help people out whenever she passes through a village. Met Hiyoko when the short girl defended her from a bar creep. Has a friend from home that she occasionally travels with by the name of Sato.

Hiyoko: A dancer who travels a lot, going from bar to bar. She doesn't really like it, considering how many 'creeps' are there, but it makes money for her and her dad, who she cares about a lot. Defended Mahiru from a creep and grew attached to her, and insists that she come visit her whenever she happens through a town that Hiyoko is performing in. May have some feelings for her, but whether their one-sided or not is still to be seen.

Akane: A harpy who is almost always hungry, and can usually be found hunting for meat. A little dimwitted and has a sense of recklessness. Close allies with Nekomaru.

Nekomaru: A half beast who can turn into a stone beast. Is very good at pumping people up, and is also very loud. Close allies with Akane.

Teruteru: A chef who runs a popular restaurant with his mother. A little perverted and almost definitely has summoned a Succubus for a one night stand before.

[kusunogatari]

[ ObiRyū October | Day Thirteen: Drug Issues ] [ @abyssaldespair ] [ Uchiha Obito, Suigin Ryū, Hoshigaki Kisame ] [ Drugs, vomit, vulgarity ] [ Verse: Make Ends Meet ] [ Previous || Next ]

It’s not like she isn’t used to it. Every day at work, Ryū typically sees at least one person suffering from substance abuse. Their city runs rampant with opiod addiction, let alone everything else being peddled. So the fact that Obito was a user didn’t really surprise her in the least. If anything, his is one of the most understandable cases she knows. The car accident that disfigured him left him in painful shambles. Of course he’d been prescribed something that strong for the damage.

And then, well...clearly things got out of hand, as they are wont to do.

So far, Ryū hasn’t really confronted him about it. There was their brief discussion of his addiction a few weeks after they’d gotten together, but...well, it had been rather inconclusive. Obito hadn’t agreed to go to any sort of detox or rehab at the time. And she doubts he will any time soon. His way of life just...doesn’t really have room for it, she supposes.

For the most part, she leaves the subject alone. He functions...fairly well. There are times where he goes a bit beyond managing his pain and instead gets himself high as a kite. But that’s not always just the oxycodone, either. Ryū has always been the sort to see substance use as each person’s personal choice. It’s their body and their decisions. But...well, part of her still worries about the effects it all has on his health. She loves him, after all...and she’d rather not lose him.

Overall he still seems to be in decent health. A stable weight, no seizures, and only the occasional nausea and headaches when he goes overboard. And Ryū knows well that pushing for rehabilitation when it’s unwanted can cause a bit of...tension.

But eventually she knows they’ll probably have to have that conversation again.

Sitting and watching a movie one evening after work, Ryū startles as the door flies open. Obito staggers in, clearly out of it and not even closing it behind him. Before she can ask what’s going on, he takes up the little garbage can by her front door and vomits into it.

Ryū can’t help a cringe.

Once he’s done heaving up his guts, Obito pants and wipes at his chin. “...sorry…”

She just watches him, seeing him go rinse out his mouth in the bathroom. “...again?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just…” She sighs, legs drawn up to her chest as she sits in the corner of the couch. “...you know I worry about you when you get like this.”

“I’m fine.”

No response.

Obito leaves the bathroom, standing in the doorway for a moment. “Would you rather I be all twisted and locked up in pain?”

“Of course not! But it’s not just the oxy, either...you know that…”

His jaw sets. “Didn’t know this was suddenly such a problem.”

“I just worry about you, Obito. Human bodies aren’t meant to take this stuff in. Highs feel good, but...a lot of this stuff is hurting you in the long run. And I don’t want you hurt, I lo-”

“Sorry that I have shit in my life I like to leave behind on occasion,” he mutters. “Not everyone has stable jobs and nice apartments and -”

“Hey! That’s not fair! I’ve got my share of problems. Just because I don’t handle them like -!”

“Forget it,” Obito cuts in. “I’ve got a headache and don’t feel like having a fuckin’ argument with you about this. If you’re gonna preach, I’m out.”

“Obito, I’m not trying to -?” There’s a flinch as he slams the door shut behind her. In the pervading silence, she heaves a heavy sigh, trying to ignore a frustrated sting in her eyes.

Well that was a disaster.

Part of her knows he’s just aggravated because he doesn’t feel well. But she also has to wonder if she’s being too pushy. This is only the second time she’s really brought it up. It’s not like she’s judging him for it! She’s the last person to do something like that. As someone both medically versed and so stupidly empathetic, she realizes how hard something like addiction is to handle. It’s not a sin like so many paint it. It’s a medical condition. One that can be treated. One she’d like to see him treated for, so many he could stop feeling so miserable whenever the drugs make him sick.

No longer in the mood for her movie, she just shuts the whole thing off, remaining curled on the couch. Then a thought strikes her, and picks up her cell.

Hey, Kisame? You got a minute?

What’s up little boss lady?

...Tobi was here. High and sick and...grumpy.

Oh...I take it he wasn’t very polite?

No...I was trying to talk to him about it and he just...blew up.

Not easy talking to him when he’s like that, that’s for sure.

If you see him...could you just...say something?

What do you mean?

I wasn’t trying to...make him feel bad. Or shame him. I’m just worried.

I think he knows that. But yeah, I’ll pass that along. Tobi, he’s got a lot going on. It’s a crutch.

Yeah, I know. But it’s one that’s slowly eating at him, too. And I don’t want to lose him…

Well, I don’t think that’s going to happen. But I’ll try and talk to him.

Thank you...you’re very sweet, Kisame.

You’re gonna make me blush!

Smiling a bit to herself, Ryū puts aside her phone and sighs, trying to think of what else to do. She has work in the morning, and still hasn’t had dinner yet. But she doesn’t have much of an appetite anymore. Worry over what Obito might be up to now - being sick and ticked off - means her stomach is too knotted up to want to eat. Instead, she just makes herself a cup of tea before preparing for bed.

The next morning, Obito wakes with a groan. He ended up sleeping on his apartment floor, rising with a ringing headache. Fighting back the urge to be sick, he scrambles around to get his bearings. A check of his phone shows a message. Figuring it must be Ryū, he scowls and opens it to find...no, it’s not her. It’s Kisame.

You up to meet?

Dark brows furrow. He needs to meet? About what? Racking his brain doesn’t bring forth anything he can think of that would be of concern.

Sure. Usual place?

A minute of silence, and then, Sure. Half an hour?

Can do.

Rubbing a hand down his face, Obito makes and downs a cup of coffee before quickly changing clothes. With that, he heads out. Reaching the docks he typically meets Kisame at, he idles agitatedly, wanting a smoke but not having anything on him.

“Hey, boss.”

Obito glances over his shoulder. “Hey.”

“You look like shit. No offense.”

“None taken. I feel like shit.”

Coming up to stand beside his employer, Kisame heaves a heavy sigh. “Heard you had a rough time of it last night.”

“What?”

“Boss lady was worried and sent me a text.”

That earns a scowl. “She trying to get you to preach to me too?”

“Boss...lemme ask you something.” After a pause to make sure he won’t be interrupted, Kisame begins with, “...how long have you been alone?”

“What?”

“Just answer the question.”

Obito mulls that over, still a bit pissed off. “...I’m never alone.”

“Bullshit. You know what I mean.”

“Tch…” Realizing he’s not going to avoid this, Obito mulls that over. There was his wreck...then Rin’s suicide. Then he fell out with Kakashi, and...fell in with Zetsu. From there, it was a blur of meeting and building his current gang. Drugs, murder, stealing...always with his cohorts.

...but that’s not what Kisame means, is it?

How long was he seeking out sex, and ending up disappointed when they left? How many one night stands, how many rough nights when partners went wrong, how many spent alone and feeling like he’d never fill that gaping, bleeding hole in his chest?

Shoulders hunch forward, not wanting to admit the truth. “...a long time.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“And how long have you been with Ryū?”

There’s a glance. He knows well enough by now Kisame only calls her that when he’s being serious. Like when she was… “...about six months.”

“Now, I want you to do something. I want you to think back over all that time alone. And I want you to think about the last six months. What’s the difference?”

Well that’s not even a question. “What are you getting at?”

“What I’m getting at is that you’ve changed since you met her. Maybe not everyone sees it, but...I do. I remember seeing that lonely, miserable, hard glint in your eye. You didn’t care about what happened to you. You cared about money and the rush, and...not much else. And that was fine. It was you, and only you. You did what you were doing because you didn’t have anything else. But that’s not true anymore, is it?”

Obito doesn’t reply, jaw set.

“...you dragged her into this,” Kisame goes on, tone a bit softer. “And she’s put up with a hell of a lot for a civilian. You remember all those times she’s saved your ass? Sat up with you when your doses went bad? When your brain was on the fritz? She loves you. So yeah, she’s gonna be a little worried about you. You already risk a lot in your work. Maybe she just wants you to consider where you can cut down on some of those risks. Cuz before? If you’d’ve died? Let’s face it, we might mourn you a bit, but...it’s our work. We’d move on. In the grand scheme of things, no one would miss you. But now there’s someone who’d be devastated if she lost you. Doesn’t that make you even a little concerned about the mortality rate of your job and habits?”

...no response.

“...I’m not saying you have to change yourself for a lady, boss,” the underling offers gently. “You’re you, and she’s her. You met and clicked because of that. But...I don’t think she wants you to change, either. She just wants to be with you as long as she can. So of course she’s going to worry. She’s been good with you. Good for you. Just...think about that. And try not to mistake her concern for you as a want to change you, eh?”

Obito still doesn’t have any words, just sighing heavily as Kisame claps a hand on his shoulder, offering a farewell. Dark eyes stare out over the water. It’s an overcast day, fog clinging to the surface.

...this life is all he’s known for so long. He can’t change himself overnight. He doesn’t even really want to. It’s all a blur, a cycle of highs and lows, rushes and dissociations. Those highs are what he’s chased for a long time now. Something to make him feel.

...but…

“…I look at you…or I touch you, see you, smell you…and I get that same feeling. My heart races, and my skin feels warm…I feel alive. I feel alive when I’m with you…!”

...is he happy? Has he been happy? What does that even mean, anymore? He’s thought, for a long time now, that risk and reward - the satisfaction of a hunt, or a job - make him happy. They give him that same euphoria as a high.

...but there’s always the crash…

“And I…I love that. I love you. I love you so much that sometimes, it…it scares me. What if you leave? What if I lose you? What if all I have left is the thrills of work? What if they fade? What if I never feel again? What if –?”

In a way, she’s the same. He’s content, and relaxed, and dare he say happy when he’s with her. But then he has to leave. Then the color drains, he’s left back in the grey...and he has to find something else to bring it back.

“…I love you, too. I love you so much…and I worry about you. About your work, and your medicine, and…things like this. I want to help you. And I’ll do all I can. But…I’m not your cure, Obito. I’m a person. I’m glad that I make you happy, but I’m not a replacement for other things you need. I think…it would do you well to talk to someone. Someone who knows more about all of…this than I do. I think it would help you.”

Bringing his hands up to his face, Obito grinds the heels of his palms against his eyes. He doesn’t know what to think, what to do…!

“She loves you.”

“I don’t want you hurt, I lo-”

“Ngh, damn it!” Turning away from the docks, he stalks back toward the warehouses along the shore. He’s getting frustrated, and when he’s frustrated he can’t think. He wants something to take the edge off, something to -

...no. That’s not going to solve this. And maybe he can’t solve it now. This is a hell of a lot more complicated than a few minutes of thinking and then making a split-second decision.

...and maybe Kisame is right. Maybe this isn’t wholly about him anymore.

Resting his forehead against the cool metal siding of a building, he tries to think. Then he takes a few steps, determined to go to her apartment, and just -

...he should text her first.

Taking out his cell, he tries to think of how to begin. He was a bit of a dick last night...ignoring that might just make her angry. But...then again, she’s yet to ever get angry at him. Exasperated? Yes. Frustrated? Definitely. But not angry.

...never angry…

Thumbs idle over the screen for a long moment before he just...takes the plunge.

I know I fucked up, but...can we talk?

Of course, she’s currently at work right now, so...he hardly expects a swift reply. Which is why he jumps so bad when his phone vibrates a few seconds later.

I was hoping you’d say that. I’ll be home by 5:30 - I can bring takeout?

For some reason...the reply punches him in the gut. No snark, no sarcasm, no passive aggressive throwback to his behavior. Just her ever-present patience.

Obito’s jaw clenches, willing back the sting in his eyes.

...that sounds great.

One step at a time.

     OOF this one gave me all sorts of feels OTL This verse (which is the same as The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful) deals with a lot of heavy subjects. Been a while since Meg and I have dove back into it! I miss it, even the heavy stuff. ��    I guess this one mostly speaks for itself...? My brain's a lil fried so extrapolating isn't in my skill set at the moment xD Meg's convinced Obito isn't quite ready to make that rehab plunge, so...I left it open-ended. Beyond that...idk? lol      Anywho, that's all for today! Thanks for reading~

[jestbee]

June 21: Ships that pass in the night (Chapter One)

[shadowyin-yang]

pre-school/kindergarten AU? idk

Send Me Prompts! 

Every time I thought I finished this I end up adding something new to it. = ~= Also, it took me so long to realize Fenders wasn’t even attached to this prompt. 

Verse: Modern-AU with magic (tho surprisingly I don’t think any magic was used in this)

Misc info: Pre-Fenders / implied some depression / OC Kid / long-term pining / (past) unhealthy expression of said-pining / I know with how our culture is it sounds like I’m trying to shoehorn a moral in. No, there is no moral. / I had this whole idea for “the other side” of the story from Fen’s POV. but that’ll only double the length of this. 

It was ruined. Mother said to not bring it to school in case it got dirty. And now it laid there on the ground, covered in mud, and missing an arm. Poor Mr. Meow. The plush was kicked around and stepped on and Anders couldn’t do anything to stop it. The boy did the only thing he knew how to do and started crying. 

He knew he had to be in trouble. This was all his fault. What if he couldn’t hold Mr. Meow anymore when he goes to sleep? He never should’ve brought his best friend to school. It was too late now. 

Surprisingly, his mother wasn’t as angry as he thought she’d be. She promised “we’ll get you a new one” but that didn’t matter. It wasn’t going be Mr. Meow. 

Anders couldn’t help but think about Mr. Meow for the rest of the week. Going to bed at night was scary, but his parents wouldn’t let him sleep in their bed anymore. He got apologies from the boys who hurt Mr. Meow but Anders knew they didn’t mean it. Everyone knew that adults just make you do it. It was difficult going through the school without Mr. Meow. He didn’t seem to have an appetite. Eating lunch wasn’t supposed to be difficult was it? Anders at least tried. He was told that trying was all that mattered. 

Anders slammed his hand around until it eventually hit his target and the annoying blaring sound stopped. He groaned to himself before forcing himself to sit up. After rubbing his eyes he immediately smiled upon seeing Pounce curled up beside him. He gave his cat a light pat he started shifting to get himself out of bed. Anders immediately stepped onto a pizza box. Oh Maker, this apartment needed to be cleaned. It took one glance at the clock before Anders decided he’d have to pick up clothes and put away books another time. 

Anders made sure to keep himself on a schedule. Well, as close as he could get to one after being woken up at 2:30 in the afternoon. Maybe he should take up on Hawke’s advice on sleeping like a ‘normal’ person……nah. 

By 3:28 pm, Anders expertly parked his bike beside the medal fence, not bothering to lock it up (as no one would steal this squeaky piece of junk). He rushed into the building and pulled an apron off the hook by the entrance. By 3:30, his bag was shoved into a cubby hole, his apron on, and he stepped into the colorful playroom.

“Anders!” Merrill exclaimed from her seat with a book in her hands. The children all circled around her on the storytime mat. The children mimicked her hand waving and enthusiasm upon seeing him. 

Anders waved back. “Hi everyone! Don’t mind me. Go back to the nice story!” After the initial hellos passed, everyone’s attention went back to Merrill. And so Anders started picking up some of the toys. Trucks, dolls, fake food and utensils, books, and he shoved anything smaller into his apron’s pockets. He took his time, but had become rather efficient at collecting items and moving them all back to the correct containers on a timely manner. Unfortunately, the work didn't stop him from yawning occasionally. Maker, maybe he should’ve stopped for some coffee on the way over. 

3:45 and the day was over (for the kids anyway). 

Parents and caretakers started coming in to pick up their children. Anders stayed by the large window as he put away the big building blocks into their (bigger) toy chest. The view let him see the people coming in and out of the building. He wished he didn’t have to do this, but he must, or risk a confrontation that he rather not have. 

The Maker decided to be funny at that moment and that’s when it when it happened: He saw him. Hair was white as snow, markings that traveled all over the body, a handsome face, and perfect voice…oh how Anders hated how attractive he was to look at while simultaneously hating this man! The number of times this jerk of an elf made his days in school a living hell was a reason added to his regret for coming back to Kirkwal! Maybe he should return to school and get a Masters or something…

Still, if Anders was good at anything, it was avoiding this specific elf. Hawke still tried to get the pair to be in the same room as each other ever since Anders returned, but Anders has expertly avoided such a situation for months. He refused to cave no matter how much Hawke tried to paint the elf in a better light: “Just let him apologize to you, Anders,” “He really wants to get off on the right foot with you,” “Can you be willing to have an online conversation instead then?”, “Please give him a chance, Anders,” “Oh Makers breath Anders, you can’t avoid him forever!”

Maybe Hawke was right, mostly in the department of his ability to not avoid another person forever (especially if they’re in the same circle of friends). It already almost happened a few times ever since he got this job. 

“Uh, Merrill, can you be here for another 10 more minutes?!” he swiftly rushed up to the elven woman as she was starting to leave the room. 

“Oh, well, I don’t know if I can really-”

“Merrill, please! I’ll owe you! I swear!” he put his hands together and pleaded. 

Merrill, unexpectedly, looked down in thought. Anders mentally cursed. He sensed an answer he didn’t want to hear coming…

“Oh, I suppose another 10 minutes shouldn’t-”

“N-No! It’s fine,” Anders cut her off and waved his hands in front of him. “I can handle this. I’m a grown up! You go do your thing.” She always covered for him whenever he asked in the past. Letting her go on time for once in her life was the least he should be doing to make up for all those past 10 minutes she helped him with. 

With that response, Merrill beamed up at him. “Thank you, Anders!” she turned to skip away. At the door, she let out an audible. “Hello, Fenris!” 

Anders froze and turned to look around the room. Was there anything new to clean up? Wait, there was no need to panic! He’s in a room with children! Surely even Fenris won’t make an ass of himself in front of children and passing adults would he? Okay, sure, Hawke has mentioned a lot how Fenris is not as tensed up or as snappy as he used to be about mages. But still! Hawke wasn’t the one that was picked on! 

“Anders?” Fenris questioned upon walking in through the door. 

Anders turned around, trying to pretend he definitely did not know the other was coming. “…Fenris.” he tried replying as casually as possible and leaned on the craft counter. Said-counter being the only thing between himself and Fenris. Luckily, Fenris didn’t make an attempt to go around it. 

Fenris still raised a brow though. He looked away briefly towards the remaining children. “Hati!” he called out. A young elven boy with strawberry blond hair perked up from his puzzle. He got up to start collecting his belongings. Fenris returned his attention to Anders. “It must be my lucky day. I have always missed you whenever I come here.”

“Yeah, that’s some bad luck,” Anders replied as he folded his arms. “You know. Sometimes I’m late. Lucky me that Merrill doesn’t fire me but I try?” 

With a backpack on, Hati only stared at Anders in confusion as he approached. “What? But I see you go into the toy closet sometimes when I leave.” Hati reminded as took Fenris’s hand. 

“Oh? Mr. Anders likes to hide in closets?” Fenris questioned. Anders caught a light smirk when the question was asked. 

“N-Not at all! I was just looking for things! Toys are everywhere you know?” Anders tried to wave off, hoping Fenris doesn’t bring up the inconsistency. 

Fenris only blinked and continued staring with a straight face. Okay, so maybe he totally knows that Anders was avoiding him. “I suppose that is possible.” Fenris stated. Yeah. He, he totally knows. “Well Anders, I shall not keep you from your duties any longer. But now that I finally caught you during a shift…” Fenris dug around in his satchel briefly before pulling out a red apple and holding it out for Anders. “For Hati’s caretaker.” 

Anders took the apple and looked at it curiously. “…Merrill?”

Fenris’s face scrunched up. “You!”

Oh. Anders wanted to ask why. He wasn’t even a teacher. He doesn’t handle the children for long periods of time (he was pretty sure he wasn’t even legally allowed to be by himself). Sure, maybe not everyone knew he wasn’t a teacher, but still. Why does he get an apple and not Merrill? While questioning it, Anders continued to inspect the item, wondering if Fenris somehow got a worm in there. 

“…you do not remember.” Fenris stated quietly. Anders looked back at the other. He could’ve sworn Fenris sounded genuinely hurt by that.  

“What am I supposed to remember?” 

Fenris shook his head and offered a soft smile. “It is nothing. It…does not matter now.”

“What? Come on, you can’t just imply it means something and then not tell me.” Anders started to toss the apple up and down. It felt real at least. And it did look fresh. 

“I could…or…” 

Anders stopped his tossing and looked back at Fenris in worry. Oh no, can the apple explode or something? 

“I could tell you next time I see you.” 

Anders pouted. “Oh now you’re just up to something.” Well that’s disappointing. Though Fenris surprisingly didn’t sound very malicious about it for once. 

“Yes. I am up to something,” Fenris replied dryly, “That something being I wish to see you next time. I, however, will have see whether or not you cease hiding in the toy closet.” 

Anders wasn’t sure how to wiggle himself out of that. He could not tell if Fenris was giving a smile or a smirk though. But he didn’t stare long enough to tell. 

“Come, Hati. I have taken up enough of Mr. Anders’s time.”

“Bye Mr. Anders,” Hati waved as Fenris gently led him out. Anders waved back with a smile. He immediately dropped his hand when Fenris looked back towards him. 

When Hawke first informed Anders about Fenris wanting to see him again, Anders thought the whole thing would’ve been romantic (after all, who wouldn’t want to hear the hottest person in all of Kirkwall wanted to see you?) if their history throughout school wasn’t so damn awful. He didn’t expect Hawke to be persistent about it though. Usually, Hawke just let things be as they are. 

Avoiding Fenris did have its downside though. It often left Anders to be a bit lonely as he would end up staying home alone with his video games and books. Well that’s not too bad. Though Anders reasoned it was better than facing Fenris.  

Anders almost wanted to ask Hawke what was up with the apple he was given, but decided against it. He, begrudgingly, tried to dig up any memories in school that involved an apple. Did Fenris throw one at him once or something? A ball, mud, another ball, a stick…nope! No apples came to mind. Oh well. 

After finishing up at the Day Care, Anders took a bite of the apple before getting on his bike. Tasted normal enough. Tasted really good actually. With a shrug, Anders went on to his next job, apple forgotten. 

“Here Mr. Anders,” the young elf, Hati, went up to him the moment Anders walked in the next day. The boy held up a red apple. “It’s from Daddy.” 

Anders froze in midst tying of his apron and stared. It wasn’t his business but he didn’t recall being told from anyone that Fenris was with child. Were they related or was Fenris just a father figure? He shook his head of those thoughts and knelt down to accept the gift. 

“Well, that’s, um…very nice of him. Did he tell you why?” 

“Oh, Daddy says-” Hati’s hands went up to his mouth in surprise, “I can’t! It’s a secret!” with that, Hati giggled to himself. 

“Oh, is it a good secret?” 

Hati nodded excitedly. “Daddy likes you! He says you are smart and you will find out all by yourself!” Anders wasn’t so sure about that. Were they both talking about Fenris here? 

Anders let Hati return to storytime and he pocketed the apple in the apron. 

Fenris arrived by 3:50. Anders didn’t even have time to go over to the window to watch for him. Ugh, maybe he should just get this whole thing over with; just hear what the elf had to say and just go back to your life. Simple as that.

Anders still rushed over to the craft counter though, still much preferred having something big and long between himself and the elf. For safety reasons. They still had social media, so Anders wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t know Fenris doesn’t go working out with Hawke every week (while Anders sits at home with boxes of pizza). 

“Hello Anders.” Fenris greeted with a small nod his way. 

“…Hi,” Anders replied, once again, leaning against the counter and awkwardly trying to find something on it to occupy his hands. He settled on trying to make something out of construction paper. 

“Hati!” Fenris called out for the boy before turning his attention back to Anders. “You look more tired today.” Fenris noted out loud. 

“Oh, you know. It was just…a rough night.” Yeah, anxious thoughts of why he was given an apple. Now he was going to go to bed wondering why he got another one from Hati, who apparently refers to Fenris as ‘Daddy’ and Anders was not sure what that entailed. “It’s fine! I can just…pick up coffee after work.” 

“That is unfortunate.”

“Oh yeah, very…” Anders ended up with a paper airplane in his hands. Oh Maker, just end this moment before they get an awkward silence. 

“Did you by chance remembered anything…about the apple…?”

Anders looked over to Fenris, who surprisingly was looking away from him, almost like he was…embarrassed? Shy? Anders wasn’t sure if he could pinpoint it. He doesn’t often see Fenris in either embarrassed or shy to know for sure. He saw Hati come up to them and took Fenris’s hand again. 

“Um…no. I…haven’t. I’m sorry.” 

Fenris sighed. “It is alright…” Before Anders could say any more, perhaps suggest that he should just be told, but Fenris finally lifted his head again. It was a strange moment for him…Anders wondered if he ever really looked back into the other’s eyes. “Anders. I know we…have not had the greatest relationship…in the past.” 

Anders had to resist scoffing. 

“I have no excuse, and I know it might be…years too late. Regardless…” Anders blinked back a look of surprise when he watched Fenris’s hand tighten around Hati’s. “So…I apologize for everything. You do not need to forgive me. But…it would mean a lot to me if we could…talk again.” 

Anders found he could only stare dumbfounded. There was so much he could dismiss, so many questions he could ask only for nothing to come out. As if understanding exactly what he needed right now, Fenris and Hati said a swift goodbye and promptly left. 

Anders went about the rest of the day in thought. Unsure if it mattered that Fenris apologized, or if it mattered if they could be on talking terms…well, of course it mattered. If it didn’t, the apology wouldn’t have thrown his entire world upside-down. 

Maker, when was the last time they even spoke (minus yesterday)? Anders hated that actually remembered: It was the summer after graduation, on Facebook of all places. They had a fight: Mage this, mage that; Tranquil this and that. Anders never went back online after that. At least, not until he was safely away from Kirkwall. 

He went to Ferelden for furthering his education, and in less than a week away from home, he suddenly had reasons to go back online. There were parties to plan with Sigrun, homework to discuss with Nate, and relationship talks with Hawke’s own cousin. Anders still stayed in touch with his Kirkwall friends - most of them any way. He and Fenris never spoke. Though Anders also never removed the other from his friends list. No, he just hid the other from the feed. He wondered if Fenris did the same. But the way Fenris looked at him the last couple of days only made Anders wondered if Fenris saw something different in him. Did he see everything Anders posted about on his social media? The relationship status changes, the rallies he had gone to, the photos he took, photos taken of him, him getting Ser Pounce, the rants, and all the times he’d post something and then delete it later. How much of all that has Fenris seen? 

No, this was ridiculous. This was all just anxious thinking. Anders knew he didn’t have the most exciting life. Unless you found the fight for mage rights or relationship statuses changing being a form of entertainment. Maybe it was simply that Fenris changed. 

But none of this explained the apples. 

This led to Anders sitting at home, on his laptop, at 3 am in the morning. He stared at Facebook and wondered if he should start stalking Fenris’s page. 

No. That’s wrong. This is none of his business. 

Despite telling himself that for the past 10 minutes, Anders still hasn’t budged from the site. 

“Just the last few days” he reasoned. Okay, just a little bit then. 

Fenris’s profile photo was really cute. Dammit. Hati’s smiling face took up most of the photo, but Anders could see Fenris’s arm around the boy. His cover photo was of a nice graphical image of a wolf. He wondered if Fenris designed it himself…

Anders sighed and started scrolling through the page. Fenris didn’t seem to post very much as all the activity seemed to mostly be from the past couple of days. 

Fenris: Hati says he wants a cat and name him Skoll. I would assume this was the mage’s influence if it was any other name but Skoll. 

Hawke: GET HIM A DOG! :DD

Fenris: No. 

Anders chuckled. He admitted he has spoken about cats a lot to the kids. Out of all the kids, Hati seemed one of the most interested in hearing about his amazing Ser Pounce-a-lot! 

Isabela: I heard you finally saw Anders ;)

Fenris: I have. 

Isabela: And??? >:[

Fenris: And what?

Isabela: You know what! >:U What happened?! 

Fenris: I gave him a gift. He was working. I was was not planning to take up his time. Unlike some, I am not that rude. 

Hawke: Why don’t you ever give me a gift when I return from trips?

Fenris: You don’t need them. 

Hawke: :( meanieface

Anders only stared in confusion. What was that supposed to mean? Did he need an apple? Or was that just a simple jab at Hawke? 

The next post down made Anders’s heart stop. There was a photo…of an old looking, worn, cat plush…with one of its arms sloppily sewn back on. Hati was in the photo too. He laid on the floor, having a staring contest with the old toy. 

Fenris didn’t include a comment with the photo. 

Anders wanted to go hide back in the toy closet again. He didn’t want to confront Fenris about it, nor Hati. Though it must be a bit immature to act like this over it. These past couple of days have been ridiculous! Sure, life wasn’t perfect. Living with a cat in a crappy apartment with inconsistent sleep and lack of social life kind of sucked. But at least he got used to it! Fenris just had to come in and throw a wrench in that routine! 

So when Fenris walked in, Anders found himself behind the craft counter again. For protections sake. “Why do you have my old toy?” Anders blurted out before he could stop himself. Oh Maker, why?!

Fenris, however, didn’t seem fazed at the question. “I…held onto it. Well, I held onto it, then forgot I did until I found it again.”

“…Okay but why hold onto it to begin with?” It was old. Dirty. Broken. If he wanted to give it to Hati, surely Fenris could probably have found a toy for cheap and still be better looking and in better condition than that old thing. 

Fenris rubbed his neck in discomfort. “I…originally meant to fix it and return it. Then I considered getting a replacement. But…you do not just simply find an old toy anywhere. When I found it again you also were not…here. So I could not ask what you wanted.” 

“I…see…” Maker, was that really the only thing he could get out from his throat!? Anders could not believe it. He had practically forgotten most of his youth and just like that, it all came flooding back to him. 

The apple. Anders blinked a few times. Was his memory deceiving him? 

In mid-thought, Anders watched as Fenris presented a new apple for him. “I…apologize for keeping this information from you. I did not wish to ruin our conversation with…painful reminders. I did not think it would make for a good impression.”

Anders stared at the fruit. For some reason he felt he didn’t deserve it, while feeling a want to have it. It was a gift. It was his. Fenris remembered and thought of him. Fenris may even know him better than Anders knew himself. It only made Anders feel a bit awful about the whole ordeal. After all, he knew nothing about Fenris. Nothing. Despite that, Fenris still wanted to reach out to him and mend wounds that he caused years ago. Mending that Anders wasn’t even sure he really deserved. 

Maybe…maybe he could try. Maybe they could get to know each other again. Maybe they’ve simply misunderstood each other all this time…

He wanted to keep thinking about it. There were a lot of factors to consider after all. But he found his body moving despite that. Anders put his hands over the apple with a whispered. “It’s okay…I forgive you.” 

Anders found he still could not finish some of his lunch. A couple of days he even ‘forgets’ to bring it. Nothing was appetizing when you didn’t have something to make you feel protected. He didn’t speak to the kids at his lunch table, as they seemingly grew bored of him from being sad too long.

Anders blinked in surprise when a juicy red apple was placed before him. He looked up to see the gifter running off to the hallway. At least, Anders guessed it was the gifter. Not many other kids were running off like that, especially during lunchtime. Anders picked up the apple and followed. He didn’t need to go far as just from standing by the door he easily spotted one kid sitting down on the floor against the wall. Anders slowly went down the corridor to him. 

It hasn’t been long since school started, and he wasn’t familiar with everyone’s names yet. He still recognized this kid, an elf, as one of the boys who picked on Mr. Meow. So why was he given an apple by him? Maybe it was a mistake. “I think you dropped this.” Anders held the apple before him until the other boy looked up. He didn’t look long as his gaze went back back down to the ground, as if ashamed.

“…its for you…” he muttered quietly, still not looking at Anders.

Anders only stared back in confusion. Why was he given food? Out of all the kids in his class, even he can see the elf boy before him didn’t have a lot of it. He’s seen other kids sometimes even share their own lunch.

“…I’m not hungry,” Anders eventually answered. He had a feeling maybe the elf boy was though.

“I can’t take it.” the other boy replied matter of factly.

“Why not?”

“It’s a gift. So it’s yours now.”

Anders looked at the apple, again, confused. But what if he didn’t want it? Can you give gifts back? “It’s a gift…?” he asked. It wasn’t his birthday after all.

The other boy went quiet again and returned to staring at the floor. Anders didn’t say anything but he sat before the other. The elf didn’t seem to like it when you looked down at him. Anders tried to present the apple again but the attention wasn’t given to it.

Finally, the other boy started speaking again. “I’m sorry about your toy…”

Anders froze up. This was about Mr. Meow?

“I didn’t mean to make you sad. I wanted you to stop being sad…”

For some reason, Anders felt something good inside him. He didn’t know what it meant but it was a good feeling and that was all that mattered.

Anders offered the apple again. “Can we share it?” 

The look Anders got was of surprise, but even he could see the eager yes in those green eyes before the words were even said. 

He never got a new Mr. Meow, but things seemed okay now even without him.