#Au-tober2023 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

abloginnameonly · 1 year ago

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Hobby

@oc-tober2023

Yessika worked under-the-table with a moving company on Sundays. It was pretty easy work and the guy in charge was sympathetic in his gruff, silent way about being tight on money. Some of the guys good-naturedly teased her, the “young lady” of the group, but there was a clear rule that Yessika was allowed to stop anything that went too far however she saw fit. It was good, tiring work, and by the time she returned home, she usually went straight to sleep.

On Monday, Yessika helped open the store before school for her parents because one of their part-time workers quit. Then she trudged through her seven hours, turning in as much of the homework she could that she was supposed to have finished last week. Afterwards, she tutored with the local library’s program until she went home for dinner. She finished a little bit of homework if she was lucky, and if not, spent the evening wrangling her siblings.

This continued into the next morning when she made breakfast for them, at least the youngest ones, and her parents opened the store instead. School, and then chauffeuring because Ravael had a project to work on with a classmate and Rieta had to be picked up from her after-school program, and then also picking up Ravael.

Wednesday she didn’t sleep much because she had to sneak out in the morning, make her rounds of the neighborhood to make sure the monsters she’d been seeing around recently hadn’t gotten any closer, beating a couple off if they had, and then washing the sticky blood off before school. She was usually late on Wednesdays. Then she had tutoring again.

Thursdays she usually left straight from school to her parents’ shop and stayed until closing, scowling at the other teenagers filtering in and out. Fortunately, she had enough of a reputation that there usually weren’t problems. Sometimes the reputation worked against her, but even if someone thought they were rather tough in a place where she couldn’t brawl, that was corrected the next day.

She did her best to collect her missing work on Fridays in the hopeful attempt that she might complete it over the weekend. Some teachers were more forgiving than others. Such was life. She tried not to schedule anything for after school because her siblings usually wanted to go somewhere and her parents were busy, but that meant that she could catch a few hours of sleep in between the interruptions.

Because after dropping everyone home, Yessika patrolled more thoroughly into Saturday morning. She varied where she hunted for monsters, careful not to get into any habits. She could be a little more persistent when she didn’t have school to worry about, really make sure it was taken care of rather than just chased off. Left the carcasses around the perimeter of what she considered hers. Then she carefully crept back home to sleep for a few hours before helping cook.

Saturday night limped closer and finally dropped itself at her feet in her room. After Solvina passed, Yessika had the attic to herself - a luxury in a house with six children and another on the way. By now, her muscles were tense and her mind was scattered. Her temper, which had the most forgiveness for her family, was running low, which was why Yessika, just for a few hours, could justify dragging her pile of books closer.

#oc-tober #oc-tober2023 #yessika #specifically untitled hs au (and more specifically the monster-of-the-week light magical realism hs au)

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depressedhatakekakashi · 1 year ago

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Let's Love Him, Together

Words: 2,321

Character: Hatake Kakashi & Nohara Rin

Pairings: Kakagai and GaiRin

Back home the palace garden is giant.

There’s a huge pond in the center with a maple tree towering so high that Rin had once believed her mother's tall tales of it reaching all the way up into the clouds. All types of flowers grew in the endless garden. Hydrangeas, wisteria, spider lilies, tulips. Those were only a small selection of the flowers she could recall growing up beside.

As a child she had found it easy to get lost in the garden for hours, just running around trying to identify all of the different plants that were growing there.

Standing in the middle of this other, much smaller, garden, she wondered if there were more than five plants in the tiny plots that surrounded a medium-sized pond.

“It’s…” she searched for the right thing to say, but none of the descriptors that came to mind were appropriate.

“Small?” the prince’s knight stepped up to her side. The entire walk to the garden he had followed behind her, directing her with short, quick instructions until they’d made it outside. Now that it seemed to be just the two of them, though, he stood at her side tall and proud.

Something that none of her guards would ever think to do.

“Small is a good descriptor,” she turned to face him and grinned. With him saying it she couldn’t be considered rude for simply agreeing. “Has it always been this small?”

“As long as I can remember, yes.” Rin raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t particularly odd to hear someone who worked in the castle say something like that, especially a royal guard. Something about the way he said it felt off, though. Rather than it being a simple statement of fact, there was a fondness in the words.

An emotion that she could only assume was attached to good memories, and while she hoped her future husband didn’t make his knights and servants' lives difficult she couldn’t imagine why any of them would hold such fondness for a place he would likely never have spent time on his own.

She knew it wasn’t her place to ask. As the prince’s future wife, she was still an outsider to the kingdom. Someone with no power outside of her own kingdom until the day she and the prince married.

Still, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity. After the marriage was completed she likely wouldn’t have a lot of time alone with the royal knight. He was Gai’s dedicated knight. The one assigned to protect the prince and no one else. His presence at her side without Gai was a rare opportunity.

One she simply couldn’t ignore.

“So-” she tried not to look his way, but she couldn’t help but glance to her side when he didn’t respond right away. “How long?”

The knight arched an eyebrow.

“How long has it been,” she clarified. “You’re about my age so, if this kingdom follows the same rules as mine you have been a knight since you were eighteen which would be…five years.”

“Seven,” he answered. ��I was knighted at age sixteen, but that’s not what you’re asking. What you’re asking, I believe, is how long I’ve been in the castle,” cupping his chin between his forefinger and thumb, he glanced up to the sky. A thoughtful look if she’d ever seen one. “Well, almost all of my life really.”

Rin couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It wasn’t that it was out of the ordinary for servants to live within the castle, but there were always certain areas that were reserved for the royal family.

The garden was one of those areas. Only the gardener was permitted entry, or on special occasions, the servants of the castle would be permitted into the area to celebrate with the royal family.

“Ah, I’ve confused you,” he offered her a smile. “Sorry, allow me to elaborate,” stepping forward, he pointed to the single bench positioned just under a large maple tree that resembled the one in her own garden back home. “Choza-sensei used to hold out lessons there when it was nice outside.”

“Your lessons?” she frowned, growing more confused with each word he said. ‘You mean-”

“He would teach the Prince and I, yes.”

Wrapping her head around that information felt impossible. All of her life Rin had only shared her lessons with her siblings. She had friends among her servants just as Gai did, but she’d never have been allowed to share lessons with them.

Her parents would have laughed at her if she even suggested such a thing.

“Your Kingdom certainly is-” Once again she found herself searching for the right word. Something that couldn’t be considered insulting, but nothing came up.

“Strange?” the knight offered without hesitation. “Peculiar? Bizarre?”

Thinking about it, Rin nodded. “Yes, all of those.”

“You’re not the first to say so,” stepping to the side, he motioned toward the bench. A simple but obvious signal for Rin to take a seat. “Choza-Sensei himself argued against it, but the King insisted.”

Following his lead, Rin took a few short steps forward, turned to face him just as she reached the bench, and lowered herself onto it.

As soon as she was sitting down, a strange feeling washed over her. A comfort that she hadn’t experienced since she first stepped onto the ship bound for her future husband’s kingdom.

It was as if this spot, with all of its history, was telling her that she was safe.

That somewhere in this new, confusing Kingdom, she had somewhere to relax.

“It’s his favorite spot,” the knight continued, his voice full of tenderness as he looked upon the tree hanging over them. “Once a day he comes out here to relax.”

Rin frowned, suddenly feeling like she was encroaching on someone else’s space.

“No, please,” the knight protested when she began to stand. “I brought you here for a reason.”

Tilting her head, Rin felt her brows furrowing toward the center of her forehead. “What reason is that?”

“Well,” he paused, a thoughtful expression settling into his eyes as he stared at her. “I was hoping that it could be your place too.”

Rin’s brain screeched to a halt. “M-my place?”

“Yes,” he confined with a sharp nod. “You’ve been here for a week now and not once have I seen you relax. At least, not until just now.”

A week. For an entire week, he had been observing everything she did so closely that he’d picked up on her discomfort. Rin would usually be impressed with his observation skills if she wasn’t so upset with herself.

She was a Princess. From the young age of five, she had been taught how to stand, how to talk, how to present herself to others with confidence and calm, and most importantly she’d been taught to never allow her annoyance or stress to show in public.

Only one week in and she’d failed miserably.

“You’re stressing again,” the Knight spoke, a kind smile greeting her when she looked up at him. “Take a breath. The flowers may not be numerous, but they smell wonderful.”

Doing as he suggested, she closed her eyes and drew in a deep, calming breath. Immediately her nose was filled with the aroma of crisp autumn leaves and hydrangeas. Her concerns seemed to drift away with each passing moment, the scent pushing them off to the side until she could hardly remember what had been bothering her so much.

“There,” opening her eyes, she couldn’t help but let out a little puff of laughter when she saw the knight smiling at her. “That’s why he likes it here. He says all of his worries seem to wash away whenever he sits under this tree.”

Thinking about it, Rin chuckled. A real, proper laugh this time.

“Are you sure it’s just the tree?”

Now it was the knight's turn to look confused. “I don’t- I’m sorry?”

“The tree is nice,” she explained. “The garden is small, but calming. A good place for someone to collect their thoughts. But that’s not all there is.”

“What else is there, then?”

“You,” his eyes widened with shock and Rin found herself laughing more. The Knight who had been nothing but calm and collected since the moment she met him was suddenly overwhelmed by one simple word. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed the way he looks at you, or how he’s always asking for your opinion even though we both know he doesn’t need it.”

She had noticed.

It had been impossible to ignore. Every moment the two men stood in the same room together, Gai was always focused on his knight.

Anyone with eyes could see that the Prince was in love, and it was not Rin who had won his heart.

“I- well…” Panic began to set in, his eyes darting around the garden. Searching for prying eyes that might use this information against him or the Prince.

Jumping to her feet, Rin reached out and took hold of his arm. “Deep breath,” she repeated his words, grinning when he stared at her with fear in his eyes. “You are calming for him. Your presence is good for him, and I assure you I have no intention of doing anything to take it away.”

If she’d had a problem with it, she would have rejected the marriage as soon as she’d realized. Her parents may have been annoyed, but they would have understood. The choice was always her’s to make and they’d assured her of that from the moment they began negotiations.

“Anyways,” turning back toward the bench, she smiled. A small smile shared only with herself as she thought about the life ahead of her. There was still a lot for her to do before the wedding. Adjustments she had to make to her new life, things she had to learn about the castle and the people who worked in it, and time that she needed to spend with her future husband.

After all, his heart might belong to his precious knight but it was her that he’d be sharing a bed chamber with. She had her place in the castle and the Prince’s other attractions wouldn’t stop her from fulfilling that place.

“You belong here,” the Knight spoke, his words striking right at her soul where all of her fears were kept so perfectly hidden away. “It took a long time for him to choose someone he could be happy with. Someone he might come to love one day.”

Her smile grew as she listened. “And you think that’s me?”

“I know it is,” turning to look at him, she couldn’t help but gasp when she saw the tenderness in his eyes. “You say he loves me, but that feeling is not one-sided.”

“Then…why-”

“Because you’re good for him,” he answered without hesitation. “You’re good for this kingdom. At the end of the day, regardless of how I may feel, my duty to the kingdom and my Prince comes first.”

His emotions radiated off of him.

Love.

Devotion.

Determination.

Sadness.

“No,” she whispered, unable to ignore that overpowering sadness that seeped into his words. “I’ll only go through with this on one condition.”

It was something she’d never anticipated having to choose. A path that she’d never imagined for herself, even when she’d prepared herself for the possibility of marrying someone whom she would never truly love.

“And?” The knight prompted, staring at her with calculating dark eyes. “What is your condition?”

Stepping forward, she smiled up at him. “You love him.”

“I…” his eyes narrowed. “Don’t understand.”

“Love him,” she repeated. “Behind closed doors, where only the two of you and I know what is happening.”

Realization set in and his eyes flew open with shock. “Are you…you must be joking.”

“Not at all,” she answered with a confidence she’d been missing until this moment. For the past month as she prepared for her journey to the new kingdom, and thought about the impending wedding, she’d fretted that her marriage would end up like her parents.

Devoid of love or devotion, but full of duty.

There was nothing about her parent's marriage to be ashamed of, but it wasn’t what she wanted. An unhappy husband who would rather spend his time hiding away in the library, or entertaining guests, was not what she envisioned for her life.

“You love him,” she repeated. “And you tell me all about it so that one day, perhaps, I can love him as well.”

Two lovers. A Wife and a Knight.

It may not be the perfect arrangement for others, but Rin knew it was the one that would work for her.

“You’ll love him too,” The Knight assured her, tenderness returning to his eyes as he thought about the lover that they shared. “And He’ll love you too.”

Rin laughed at that. “I should hope so.”

“Without a doubt,” the Knight responded with the same confidence he had shown since the moment she met him. “He loves kindness and sincerity above all else, and you are both of those things and more.”

“You barely know me, dear Knight.”

“I know enough,” he assured her. “And it’s Kakashi.”

Rin tilted her head. “Kakashi?”

“My name,” he answered. “It’s only right for you to know my name if we’re to share a lover.”

Kakashi.

It sounded like a perfect name. A name full of dignity and respect.

“Then from now on we’ll do this together, Kakashi,” holding out a hand, she smiled when he stared down at it. “We’ll love him, together. Deal?”

Realizing what she was asking, he reached out and grasped her hand. It was something no one else would dare to do, and which he would never repeat where others could see them, but a small action which he granted her in this moment as they sorted out their futures.

“Deal.”

#Au-tober #Au-tober2023 #Royalty Au #GaiRin #Kakagai #Tagged because those ships are important to this au #Hatake Oakashi #Nohara Rin

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