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whentheynameyoujoy · 4 years ago

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So the ATLA Movie Is... Good, Actually?

Just kidding, of course it’s not, it’s so bad it sucked the paint off my walls. But after ten years of people pointing out its glaring flaws, why would anyone bother talking about this garbage heap if not to go the other direction? So here’s a very brief and very superficial list of things the movie does get kinda... not atrociously wrong.

And they won’t be fake hipster pokes, like “It’s fun to laugh at”, “The Rifftrax for this is OK”, or “Kudos to the actress for managing to say we believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in theirs with a straight face”.

(though now that I mentioned it, it is fun to laugh at, the Rifftrax for this is OK, and massive props indeed.)

Rasta Iroh

Yes, I know it’s not exactly the aesthetic of the real Iroh or that it makes no cultural sense for him to sport this do when no one else in the racebended Indian “OMFG what were you thinking Shyamalan” Nation does but goddamn, long-haired dudes are my one mortal weakness and I will ogle the hell out of him.

Jesus is that a man bun I see that’s it mum I’ve been deaded

Yue’s hair

No.

Now we’re talking. Yue’s hair turned white when the Moon spirit gave her life, so it makes sense for it to go black again when she sacrifices herself to revive the koi fish. It’s a neat detail I find myself expecting whenever I rewatch the scene in the show. Yes, I realize it’d be a pointless hassle to animate since she, unlike in the movie, immediately goes on to become the Moon herself but still. I like.

The Blue Spirit’s mop

Zuko, hun, what’s with the dance-off?

First of all, I want to imagine that Zuko the Theatre Nerd was about to leave his ship with just the mask like in the show but then stuck his head into the cleaning cupboard and went, “Yeah, more coverage might be good, even though it do seem mighty fried to shit”.

Which makes me giggle. I like to giggle.

And secondly, the hair’s movement is what makes the static mess of the Blue Spirit’s solo fight scene appear at least bit more dynamic because God knows the cinematography isn’t doing it.

Any particular reason why it’s at the edge of the action, shot all boring-like?

Now, I get why circular shots would be reserved for Aang while he’s in the practice area and then used once the two join forces. What I don’t get is why Aang’s part of the action scene has a defined visual style while Zuko’s delegated to a few stationary wide shots from afar as though he’s a tertiary goon, meaning that when the time comes to combine the respective pieces of cinema language and visually convey collaboration, there’s not really much to combine.

But as long as Zuko is stuck in this static mess, it’s that awesome disaster on his head flopping about that draws the eye, helping me understand that something even is going on over there.

It also prevents me from paying much attention to how the extras are mostly just staying put and a lot of the hits don’t land, so that’s good.

The music slaps

James Newton Howard is too good for this.

youtube

Pls ignore that the word “gods” is used in the ATLA universe

I can’t be the only one who constantly uses this piece to daydream about writing specific fanfic scenes instead of, you know, actually sitting down and writing them. It’s just so good at communicating a sense of sorrow while speaking of rebirth that I find myself getting misty-eyed whenever I listen to it. Unfailingly, the soundtrack as a whole manages to break through the mile-thick crust of horrible acting, confusing writing, and uninspired cinematography and make me feel things. And considering how everything on screen is working against it, that’s no small feat.

Imagine what a powerful experience it would be if the score was used in service of an actual movie.

Dev Patel

No wonder since he’s the only one in the film occupying that crucial intersection between “is a good actor” and “was given something to work with”. It also doesn’t hurt that he breaks with the trend of actors starring in martial arts flicks despite never having done any martial art.

And all EIP-jokes about “stiff and humorless” aside, he’s a pretty decent Zuko considering how abridged this version of the character is. A while ago, I remember hearing a reviewer say that with his comedic chops, Patel should have been cast as Sokka. And on one hand, yes, god, absolutely, I need to see that asap. But on the other? He captures all layers of Book 1!Zuko, the desperate obsession, rage, and self-loathing, and at the same time gives you a peek at the soft momma’s boy dork that’s buried underneath. For Christ sakes, he exudes intensity and ambivalence even when acting against an emotionless hunk of wood that’s giving him nothing in return.

Oh, and I guess there’s a tree in the frame.

Ba dum tss

What can I say, the guy’s good.

Showing vs telling

OK, so this movie is all tell and no show, except for one single moment. And it’s the exact moment where the original goes in the other direction in terms of how information is conveyed.

See, I never liked this. The revelation is preceded by Iroh giving advice to Zuko who scolds him for nagging. Iroh then apologizes, moves in to say the line above, and is interrupted by Zuko who seems rather uncomfortable with Iroh laying his feelings out like this. And once they’re out, Zuko verbally confirms that he knew already and Iroh didn’t need to bother.

All this extraneous information and pussyfooting ends up weakening what should be a profound scene that reveals to us, the viewers, how deep the relationship between these two in fact runs.

Compare to the movie where Dadroh acts like a parent by fussing and worrying, with Sonion needing a single look to tell him and us that he understands what it’s all really about.

It’s genuinely efficient and just good.

No Cataang

Fine, a bit mean-girl bitchy from me since I only start minding the ship in Book 3. And probably unintentional on the part of the creators since there are moments where I think they’re trying to set the romance up? There’s a, well, an attempt to recreate the famous introductory shot of fateful meaningful destiny of meaningness, there’s some slight note of saving each other’s bacon going on, I’m pretty sure they’re the only ones in the film who smile, and oh, right, Katara’s shoved into her post-canon useless role where she doesn’t ever do anything, and is all about Aang right from the get go.

Yes, I will blame the “executive producers” because a) I’m incredibly petty, and b) it’s perfectly in line with their vision of the character so why the hell not.

Hilariously, none of it reads on screen because the actors are just... yeah. These poor kids are struggling so much with delivering their own lines and portraying their own characters they don’t seem to have any strength left to create something between them. To be fair, the bare-bones shot-reverse shot style of their scenes doesn’t exactly lend itself to the idea they occupy the same universe, let alone are friends or each other’s crushes.

And I enjoy this immensely because it allows me to forget the depressing horror show Katara’s life turns into post ATLA.

Yes Zutara

I need to delve into this because it’s fucking hilarious. So in a movie which fails to establish the original’s central romance so spectacularly that if Aang got lost in a crowd I don’t believe Katara would notice, SomEOnE thought it’d be a good idea to add an utterly unnecessary non-canon moment where Zuko for some reason feels the need to pause his character-defining hunt for the Avatar which otherwise has him ignore everything and snap at everyone, and explain his central conflict to an unconscious peasant he doesn’t know, complete with gently pushing the hair from the pretty girl’s the soulmate’s the Water Tribe Ambassador’s the Fire Lady’s the love of his life’s her face away, AFTER his uncle nagged him twice to find a girl and settle down.

I just wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page and this is what we really saw.

Celibate Avatars

I have no idea why the decision was made, if TPTB thought expecting viewers to understand the story through the lens of Buddhism would be too much, or if the “executive producers” already worked their retconny magic. What I do know, however, is that there’s a big shift in worldbuilding and Aang’s struggle with his role as the Avatar stops being a personal conflict defined by a) his grief for Air Nomads, b) his notion of being robbed of the loved ones in his life, and c) the selfish attachment to Katara he confuses with true love. Instead, what he has a difficulty to accept is apparently a general notion of who Avatars are supposed to be, i.e. a fantasy version of Catholic monks, no family and worldly relations, period.

I guess either someone understood the original’s portrayal of de/attachment as “hermit no freaky”, or thought the audience would so why not go there outright.

Now, do I like this on its own? No, God no, it makes the world infinitely poorer and changes the story from an exploration of ideas which aren’t all that ingrained in the West, to a cliché tropester about a Catholic priest going Protestant so that he could be with a girl.

At least I assume that’s where they were going to take this eventually.

I mean, I think the direction was “look conflicted, this isn’t the final stage of your journey”?

But consider this—the show went there, it built on the concepts of Eastern philosophy and touched upon the ideas of spiritual awakening, only to swerve in the end and strongly imply they’re bullshit and Aang should have never wasted his time with them.

So honestly, I much prefer scanty worldbuilding to an insulting retcon by a damn rock.

Multiracial Air Nomads

Probably the most substantial “no hint of irony” point on this list and a genuinely good addition to the universe’s worldbuilding.

See, the notion of the elemental nations being perfectly separate and never mingling before Sozin has always been sketchy but it’s especially ridiculous in the case of airbenders. It never made sense to me for all airbenders to be Air Nomads and for all Air Nomads to be monks and for all monks to be chilling at the temples all the time to facilitate a quick everyone-dies genocide should an imperialistic warlord ever decide to commit one.

Because committing everyone to a single way of life at a handful of places kinda goes against the central philosophy behind airbending. Like the freedom and nomadism part.

Instead, there should be more variety to the airbending culture, with some staying at the temples as monks, hermits, and teachers while others live as nomads, travelling the world and creating more airbenders, with the resulting children in turn being influenced by the non-airbending cultures they grew up in.

And thus, not only should airbenders not be modeled after a single culture to create a one-size-fits-all lifestyle, but they should have the most diverse and dynamic culture out of the four nations.

And it’d be precisely this diversity which would pave way for an eventual reveal that some of them survived, that their complete extermination is impossible.

Because they’re everywhere.

You know.

Like air.

#atla #atla movie #zutara #anti bryke #dev patel #the last airbender #anti-kataang

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fieryhonesty · 4 years ago

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The life of You

[AO3]

“I’m deeply sorry for not posting for a while. I hate to admit it but it took me over a week to think for a decent name for this and next chapter. But good thing is I thought of this whole fic and came to an end? Like I’m no longer aiming at an invisible finish line. All what’s left now is write it down and serve the main dish.”

Words: 2462

Today was one of your free days which you had decided to spend by exploring eastern area of Mondstadt. It was mostly just a walk for you. Except one time where you had to draw your blade and deal with a dozen of hydro slimes.

They appeared out of nowhere. There was not even water around to attract them to. Well you wouldn't call yourself an adventurer, a swordswoman or a cryo wielder if you couldn't deal with a few slimes.

You had spent most of the time hiking. Sometimes stopping and looking behind, enjoying the view at the city of freedom from distance. The huge windmills are probably the signature thing for it. One doesn't need to know much about the area. But if they are told 'go after the big windmills' they won't get lost that easily.

Well, unless they decide to take it through the forest nearby the city. Getting lost in there is not hard. Fortunately the forest is not that huge and getting out shouldn't be a problem. The forest is relatively safe as only boars and other wild animals appear there.

The forest is also having a small mine. Which means the city of freedom has to assure miner's safety, thus planting traps around or sending in several soldiers to deal with issues. Or at least that's what you have heard from a local miner with whom you shared a few drinks a while ago.

As you climbed high enough to look over the entire eastern area something caught your attention. Shielding your face from the sunlight with your left hand, narrowing eyes. Why are there several hilichurls dancing in circles around something? Right in front of a temple?

This area should be clean from them. Did they build a camp nearby? Should you go back to the city and report it? It's just a bunch of hilichurls. It doesn't seem like an issue. You have dealt with much worse. Perhaps you could check it out. But first you'll have to descend again. As you feel sick while using a glider you refrain from using it at all. Which of course brings difficulties here and now. Fortunately you never got into trouble where you would be forced to use it.

Taking your time to carefully get down on the road. Walking in the direction you saw the monsters. Sneaking behind the trees and bushes, getting close as much as you can.

Indeed, they are dancing around something that looks like a campfire. That would be alright, perhaps a ritual of theirs. But you had noticed the Abyss spell hovering just above the fire. Even if you wanted to ignore it at first, now you are obliged to check what's going on.

The spell wouldn't appear out of nowhere. However the creature which casted it is nowhere to be seen. It's probably in the temple. There are four hilichurls, one of them is a shaman. Even if it didn't have a different appearance, you would be able to tell the difference from the rest as it was waving around with its staff.

Summoning your sword, giving it a quick glance. You still can't believe Diluc got you such a fancy looking sword. The blade have engraved runes close to the guard. The steel is a slightly blue shade and the hilt is so comfortable to hold. You do not need to be an expert to know this weapon is such a high quality.

Mentally shaking your head as you remembered your scarlet hair friend's smug expression when you showed him the weapon. He rather seemed satisfied seeing you holding it. You didn't question him any more about the sword. You knew it would be pointless. Instead you flashed him a quick smile and thanked.

You take a deep breath before dashing out of your cover. Using the momentum of surprise and bashing the closest hilichurl's mask. It didn't break but you could see the huge crack on the mask. Smirking for yourself and avoiding one of the monsters which attacked you from right.

You thought of taking down the shaman first. As you tried to make a step you noticed how you are being pulled backwards.

‘Shit!'

It already casted one of its spells. You know it doesn't last long. But that doesn't mean you are not bothered by the fact how the other three hilichurls were also sucked into the vacuum. Attacking you.

Sending one of the monsters fly as you hit it hard with all your might. Blocking your side with a cryo wall. The hilichurl landed behind the shaman, making an unpleasant noise.

The vacuum finally stopped and you can move from the spot. Slashing chest one of the attacking monsters. Ignoring its pained cry. As you knew the shaman would try to run away, you used your elemental powers to freeze it on spot. Sending it down with one swing.

You are aware of that one hilichurl which landed behind the shaman. It's about to hit you with its club, clearly angered. You managed to manifest two of your cryo blades. Parrying its attack.

The blades disappeared as quickly as you made your next move. Feeling like it would be under your level to rely on your cryo powers to deal with a few weak enemies. Quickly finishing the remaining two. Wiping out the blood off your sword before making it disappear again.

You glance at the campfire. The marking is gloving. Maybe it's a defensive mechanism, letting its caster know somebody neutralized the guards. Well if you can call a bunch of weak hilichurls as guards.

You are not wasting any time and sliding into the temple. With careful steps you had passed through several corridors, avoiding any contact with hilichurls. You had expected the temple won't be empty. Those annoying Abyss Mages never leave anything unnoticed. If there are no traps then a ridiculous amount of brainwashed monsters delaying any intruder.

If you are glad for something, it's the fact how agile and flexible you are. With some parkour tricks you managed to move across a huge part of the temple. Rather not looking down. You had learned it's a bad thing unless you want to feel dizzy. It reminds you of gliding, minus the weird feeling being carried to the side you didn't even mean to. You never said you are good with gliding!

However, in the next room you couldn't avoid fighting. Dealing with archers and one big mitachurl swinging its huge axe left and right was not fun. You were forced to use your ice spear in order to quickly deal with them. You felt like the Abyss Mage was behind the corner. The evil presence was strong.

With the sword in your hand you pressed forward, looking around for any possible trap.

"Aha!"

You whispered for yourself as a marking on the ground appeared. Being glad those traps can be easily discovered if one is careful enough. Also can be triggered by using magic. However you never can be sure what kind of trap you are dealing with so it's better to avoid it.

Carefully walking around, eyes glued at the markings just in case it would seem to activate. Pushing the door open and you find yourself in a bigger room. There's a petrified tree in the middle and the little furball was waving with its staff in the air. Casting something at the tree, making it glow.

It knew about your presence. If the campfire outside has not alarmined it, then the loud battle before surely did. With one quick motion it casted a protective barrier around its body. Evil laughter escaping it's lips. Fortunately for you it's just a hydro mage. Annoying to deal with but also you know about how easily the shield can be broken if it's frozen.

"Stupid human, thinking you could outsmart me?!"

The blue mage yelled at you, waving with its small fist in the air in a threatening manner.

"Ha. Trying to look dangerous are we?"

You taunted it. You can't help it but grin when the mage says something in its own language. No idea what it says but you are sure it's nothing nice.

Summoning your cryo blades. Chuckling a little. Certainly this is an interesting situation. Your day off was supposed to be just enjoying nature. Yet you find yourself facing an annoying problem. Whatever it was doing there, you will end its plans.

Dashing forward, swinging your sword. Sending out a freezing surge of energy. The mage has quickly teleported away before the cold could reach it. Snapping your fingers and several blades fly its direction. One of them actually hits the shield right before it again teleports away. However it's not enough to completely freeze it. The frozen part quickly disappears as it gets canceled by the mage's own magic. Cryo or not, if they use enough power they can change the energy flow. Which makes it easier to remove the bad, frozen part, and reapply the hydro again.

"Persistent fool. You should have never entered this temple! You can't oppose the Order!"

"Oh? Are you new or you really never heard of somebody blowing up an entire hideout in Liyue? Well let me just say one thing: having explosives RIGHT next to some highly explosive substance was not the brightest idea."

The mage cursed and hurled its hydro spell at you. You avoid it and dash closer to it. Your sword gets blocked by the shield which was expected. You can't get through it. Not unless you infuse your blade with cryo. As the mage chuckles at your 'stupidity' a sudden burst of cryo energy emerges from your weapon. Freezing the entire shield.

“Hmph.”

You can hear the mage’s panicked voice, it's trapped in its own shield. It will take a while before it can get rid of the frozen part. You swing your sword several times, slowly chopping away the shield and then it breaks. With your free hand you punch the mage, making it fly. Getting a second hit from the wall. Letting out a pained whine. You see how it raised its staff. It's about to teleport away again.

'Those mages are such a nuisance all they do is running.'

You are about to give it a chase but several bubbles appeared around you. Trapping you on spot. They are about to burst. You quickly freeze them and get out of the trap. At first you didn't even notice but the little thing was celebrating, jumping from one leg to another. Sometimes you wonder how smart those things are.

Before you could get closer to it, its shield regenerated. Great. Another cat and mouse play. At some point the roles of mouse and the cat were switched as you were forced to retreat and lure away one of its homing spells.

When you finally break the shield again, having a tight grip on its throat. Finally you can just slam it and erase it from existence. If you have to compare dealing with Abyss Mages with something. It's probably as annoying as killing mosquitos.

"So. What are you doing here?"

You snarl at it. You know it can't speak as you have quite a firm grip on it. Its hands are trying to free out but if there's something you know the best about them. It's the fact they lack any physical strength. They rely purely on magic. It's like dealing with a kid. But you don't want to choke it so you let it fall on the ground, pointing the tip of your sword at its face.

"Well? How many of you are here? What were you doing with the tree?"

"You think I'll tell you? Ha! Stu-"

You kicked away it like its a football ball, your left eye is twitching.

It breathes heavily, crawling away from you. You summon a cryo blade, pinning the mage at spot. Scared shriek comes out of its lips, looking back at you.

"F-Fine I'll tell! I-Infusing a huge amount of elemental energy into those petrified trees have a negative effect-"

"Negative effect on what?"

"On the surrounding area of course!"

Narrowing your eyes and giving the mage a long look. For some reason you don't trust its words and it pisses you off even more. It's lying you think. Perhaps it would be better to just get rid of it. Rising your sword up to the air before swinging it down. Freezing the mage into a huge chunk of ice. Glaring at it for a brief moment before you get startled by a sudden clapping.

Looking in the direction it's coming from. The Captain of Cavalry himself.

"I never get enough. Seeing you fight is exciting~"

You roll eyes at his remark.

"Let me guess: you were here for a while but decided to just enjoy the show instead of helping me."

You say in a nonchalant voice as you make your sword disappear.

"Correct."

"I guess I get what Diluc means about you guys are inefficient."

You chuckle as he makes a hurt expression.

"Don't tell me you are gonna side with that grumpy guy. Anyway I was observing that Abyss Mage for a while. Been curious what it is up to and then you appeared. Technically you interfered with an investigation of the Knights."

You raise your hands up in a defeat. You know he is just joking but decided to play along.

"Well what now, Captain? Will you arrest me?"

"Ah, no, no. Nothing like that, Sweetheart. I know what you did was purely in a good will. Besides you managed to get something out of it before..." He looks at the frozen mage. "You created an ugly sculpture."

"Pardon me? Ugly?"

"I jest. Although..."

You raise an eyebrow at him.

"I wanted to ask you a while back but. Would you be willing to, you know spar with an old friend of yours? Like in the old days~"

His tone is smooth as always and his usual smirk is not missing. You ponder over the question. Can't help it but you feel like he is scheming something. Kaeya is always scheming after all.

"Huh? If you want your ass getting kicked why don't you ask your brother."

His expression stiffens for a while. You actually managed to remove the smirk out of his face. Even if it's for a while, it still makes you feel satisfied.

"If I lose I pay for a king sized dinner just for you. And perhaps some drinks at the tavern if you'd like."

King sized dinner? You realize how much you are hungry right now. Pressing your lips together. Considering the offer for a few more seconds before you agree.

Previous ✨ Next

#genshin impact #genshin x reader #diluc x reader #kaeya x reader #genshin impact x reader #f!reader #genshin diluc #genshin kaeya #genshin impact diluc #genshin impact kaeya #diluc #kaeya #fiery series #two edges of the sword

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sonichkkaaascreams · 4 years ago

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Mountain with a flower crown

As inspired by a post made by @bleachhaven I made a bleach OC. I am very proud of her. This post is her full bio as I laid the ground work of who she is and next post coming in sometime tomorrow or the day after will be a oneshot of this wonderful lady and her partner. Maybe even turn into something more.

The request and the head cannon it resulted were as followed:

Headcanon for Zaraki Kenpachi with a S/O that’s bigger than him (fluff and smut)

wordcount: 5816 ~

it’s a lpt so i hope you’re patient with me. i like going in depth with my OC’s but also this time i tried to keep her simple and leave some space for the oneshot to come. also i already apologize for any possible errors that i might have missed. my eyes are stinging at the time of posting this.

again special thanks to @bleachhaven and also a thank you to @shadowsnlace who also inspired me with their headcanons and i will be using tid bits from their combined effort (they worked seporatly.) in the oneshot of the same name as in the headline.

Verse: bleach manga – bleach anime property of Tite Kubo

Motto: Chop your own wood, it will warm you twice.

Name: Yasu (assertive child, ヤス) Yamase (Yama = mountain ,山 – se = back / spine / stature / ridge , 背 )

Reason or meaning of the name: she was a very large child since birth – and her last name was given because of her large stature that resembled a mountain in comparison to her peers and the fact that she carried the livelihood of an entire village on her back.

Nickname: 1. Ushi-oni (Ox/cow demon - 牛鬼)

2. Yama-0nna (mountain woman/ mountain lady)

Reason for nickname: 1. This nickname bears the weight of an insult and is what she is called by those who have crossed her path and met her as an enemy. They call her that to convey how beastly large and powerful she is and by the extent how unbothered by their attacks she was.

2. This endearing nickname is given to her by the new children of her village. They call her that because she is very large, like a mountain, and also because she has the word mountain in her last name.

Birth date: Oct 1st

Her birth: she was born on the first day of autumn, around 2 A.M (the hour is known as the ox hour) it was a quiet and peaceful night with the owls hooting as the only noise outside.

Place of birth: a small secluded beachside village named “Momo Niwa” (peach, garden/field - 桃,庭) located in district 35 of east Rukongai

Species: soul

Occupation: formerly the hunter, farmer gardener, shepherd, fisherwoman, and the primary breadwinner of her village

Later on: Shinigami (soul reaper)

Age: 556 years old

How old does the OC appear: mid to late twenties (maybe late twenties to early thirties if you account for some significant facial features)

Weight: 363.4 lbs = 164.83 kg

Height: 8’8 = 264.16 cm

Body build: she is 363.4 lbs of pure muscle accumulated by eating a bear (or 3 entier boars down to the bone) a day and shaped with everyday hard labor since she was old enough to have a grip on a tool. She is bulky and strong, able to wrestle with a grown male bear easily, carry multiple three trunks on her back, and if needed pull a tree out of the ground. She is perhaps the single largest soul living in soul society.

The shape of her face: her face is not very feminine, she has a sharp jawline and strong chin. High cheekbones and gentle brows. Her nose while proportionate has been broken twice. The skin of her face while still soft has been wiped with direct sunlight for long periods of time. Her lips are thick and plump with a downward curve that makes her seem constantly annoyed. A small horizontal scar on her right cheek from where she was attacked by an angry wild cat as an inexperienced hunter. A scar on her upper left forehead near her hairline from when she fell off a three as a child (there is a very small bald spot there due to the scar tissue) and a thick but short diagonal scar under the right corner of her lip leaving it slightly misshapen.

Eye color: light gray – almost white if looked at from afar.

Eyesight: exceptional

Skin tone: as a child, she had fine pale skin, but as the years went by and time spent on the field or the beach her skin changed, and now it’s rough, leathery, and tanned – however, some parts of her body that have never been under the direct sunlight are still moonlight pale.

Distinguishing marks: the scars on her face. Her physique. Scaring around her feet and hands due to hard labor and occasional fights.

Predominant features: the sheer size and height of this woman.

Hair color: a dark reddish-brown with a few gray streaks amidst them. The gray parts make her seem older than she is.

Hair type: wavy, wild, and unkempt. She rarely has enough time or patience to properly care for them.

Hairstyle: the majority of her hair is usually either in a high ponytail or a bun to keep out of her face with a simple old blue ribbon that’s almost ragged by this point due to extensive use. The gray streaks are kept in small braids decorated with beads, feathers, and animal teeth or bones. (insisted by her village elders as hair decoration speaks of position in her village)

Voice: surprisingly has a soft and gentle voice that seems unusual for her throat. Make no mistake she is not quiet nor meek. She has loud booming laughter that is guaranteed to shake the house and her voice can easily be heard over others in a loud crowded room. But her speech pattern is gentle, polite, soft-spoken, and calming. She speaks with a reassuring sense of confidence that will make everyone listen and heed her words.

Overall attractiveness: she is not considered conventionally beautiful nor attractive; especially by feminine standards. She is simply too large, too tall, and too muscular to be the image of the traditionally graceful innocent flower petal that women are perceived as. Instead, she is considered rather handsome. In a manly, reliable kind of way that makes a woman to be attracted to her more than men. As most men don’t like courting girls that tower over them both figuratively and literally.

Physical disabilities: due to her height and weight, her knees and ankles are prone to joint pain and are in need of getting an ointment and herbal massage every once in a while. She may be very strong but the same muscles that made her so, also take away from her speed and she usually is more of a slow and steady kind of worker than the speedy type. She also used to have a difficulty in controlling her strength and had very loud and heavy steps and as a hunter that was a disadvantage. She has long since corrected her steps and is now as quiet as a wild cat while hunting and is quite good with her hands now but she is still rather slow.

The usual fashion of dress: as a child, she would wear normal clothing but as she continued to grow at an abnormal rate her clothes began to consist of multiple Yukatas and Kimonos sewn poorly together to make one dress that is big enough for her to wear comfortable and decently.

Favorite outfit: an utilitarian Yukata that is made of multiple dark-colored and green-colored fabrics that she uses for hunting and a winter coat made of only white rabbit skin.

Jewelry or accessories: No earrings, necklaces, or rings only hair decorations made of seashells, feathers, carved bones, and teeth.

Personality: Hardworking, steel true, and blade straight, Yasu is the primary breadwinner of her small village and responsible for the care of many elders, pregnant women, and many children along with many injured and otherwise incapacitated souls. She not only hunts, fishes works on fields, collects herbs, fixe tools, and homes, and guards the village against potential harm, but also she teaches everything she was taught and learned herself to the next generation ensuring the survival of her small village. She is primarily a noncombatant as her imposing sight alone wards off any potential threats and due to her size and strength she rarely needs to exert herself and to this day she has not been physically challenged (not since the first time she wrestled a bear as a child, but then she was mostly unprepared than weaker. Ps. She cried when she accidentally killed it, stopped crying when she realized how tasty the bear is.).

Unless necessary she rather not partake in violence, as a hunter she was thought that a kill must be clear and clean sparing the pray from unneeded misery and pain. If forced, however she is not a pushover, and while still does not partake in needless violence will effectively and immediately remove the assailant from her and her associates' vicinity by picking them up and throwing them away over her head.

She grew up in a village that predominantly had many fragile and weak people and thus not only she gained mastery over her strength but also was raised with the duty of the caretaker. She may have been one of the younger children of her village at the time, but since she was the largest and strongest many of the manual labor was placed on her shoulders and so she grew to have a habit of being everyone’s mother, to care for their well-being, eating habits, if their sleeping well, fixing their clothes if it’s untidy and even bathing them. (She was strong enough to safely carry the pregnant women to the bath, wash them safely and carry them back with no problem, or help those that had injured arms or legs in bathing)

She is, as formerly mentioned, very soft-spoken and quiet and never feels the need to yell or raise her voice as her sight alone demands unwavering attention. She is well respected as the breadwinner of an entire village as is dutiful to be deserving of that respect. She rises early morning before the birds – the elders' joke that she wakes up the sun every morning ) and goes to bed later than everyone on the nights that she doesn’t stand guard all night (again the elders' joke that she either stays up to make sure all the stars are accounted for or that she keeps guard of the moon as well.)

She knows there’s a time and a place for everything, a time to be respectful, a time to be playful, and a time to be forceful. She put her duty as the caretaker above all else.

She hates it when people think she’s older than she is because of her hair and battered face.

She holds on to a very old superstition that drinking boar blood mixed with milk makes children grow to be strong, completely ignoring the parts that the superstition is about “sons” and not daughters and that she is not a “CHILD” anymore.

She may act humbly, but secretly she loves how large she is. The only time she ever hated her height is when she entered Shino Academy and all the doorframes were too short for her and her dorm room was ridiculously small for her built. And for that, she prefers to sleep on the rooftop.

She genuinely enjoys hard labor and will always offer to carry items for others and if she senses that someone is getting tired she will carry them on her shoulder With delight.

While she is a well-spoken person, if she meets someone she is annoyed with or particularly have done something to warrant her contempt towards them, she starts calling them a very specific insult she never normally uses and only reserves for those she dislikes. “Puny/tiny man” for the men and “ladybug” or “little caterpillar” for the woman. (Ex: *smiling politely* be careful little ladybug/puny man, it would be a shame if I accidentally stepped on you. – She has only ever used this insult twice to this day) and on the other hand, she particularly likes someone, she will make them flower crowns and jewelry made of bones and teeth of animals if they are girls (or they like jewelry) and make hand-carved hunting knives and fur coats for the men.

She prefers to bathe in a cold lake as oppose to use warm water or use an Onsen.

When she finally partakes in combat, she is without a doubt both an unmovable object and an unstoppable force. she prefers to detain her opponents with Kido or Hakudo and if forced break their bones with the hilt or the dull side of her sword and avoid having to cut them down. (She says: a blade is for slaying and not for playing.) if due to specific circumstances; she were to aim for her opponent's death, they will die as quickly and painlessly as possible within a day – if the numbers are high – she makes it seem as if her opponents are mere animals that she needs to put out of misery as quickly as possible and not prolong their suffering. (on one specific occasion where she was disarmed, she held her opponent in a tight hug and crushed his entire spine and rib cage, killing him. – She was miserable and depressed for days afterward, and proceeded to dig an honorable grave for the man.)

Moral: she is dutiful and puts it above all else. When she mush kills, she will make it as fast and painless as possible. And only when it’s necessary. She rarely becomes physical with anyone. she believes she’s stronger than anyone she knows and doesn’t see the need to assert herself in such away.

Self-control: fairly high. She is a very disciplined individual both physically and mentally.

Motivation: the satisfaction of achievement through hard work. By the sweat of her brow and the strength of her mountain-like back.

Discouragement: realizing her size may prevent her from perfecting an action. Or realizing she may have to resort to violence.

Intelligence level: she may not be the most intelligent, but she is wise for her age and has great life experience. Her intuition and deduction skills have saved her from many sticky situations.

Confidence level: she is not arrogant or boastful but she is without a doubt very confident and assured of her capabilities. Of her strength, skills, and intuition. As well as the leadership skills that she acquired through the years.

Mood the OC is in most often: peaceful and relaxed yet focused on the task at hand.

Sense of humor: she has heard every tall joke and buff girl joke there is and is bored of hearing them but she will use at least 1 a day. Lesbian and butch jokes annoy her. She has heard every crude joke an individual can think of. Personally, associates with dark humor. Will hopelessly laugh at shitty puns.

The greatest joy in life: once in her life she had nothing to do so she sat by the beach and laid on the sand listening to the sound of the waves and allowed the children to braid her hair with flowers and colorful ribbons, and that is the greatest feeling she ever had.

Greatest fear – why: to grow old and die in the same village she was born into without ever leaving it. While she is grateful to the people who raised her she doesn’t want her life to have begun and ended in a secluded village by the beach without ever having seen much beyond the woods and the shore.

What would throw the OC’s life in turmoil: the times where she had to kill, especially if the death was A) unintentional due to her uncontrolled strength as a youth and B) done with inappropriate weaponry that caused a slow death and prolonged suffering.

Most at ease when: surrounded by children or people that are younger than her. When surrounded by loved ones. When hearing the sound of running water that reminds her of the shore she grew up in.

Enraged when: insulted, annoyed for too long regarding petty things, teased for her graying hair or size for too long, if someone decides to attack someone smaller and weaker

Trauma: this goes back to when she was a very young child. At the tender age of seven, when she was all but a doe-eyed child, she would eat as much as 3 times a grown man – by that time she was about as tall as a teen – so it’s understandable that on a specially cold winter the village became short on rations. Instead of telling the child to eat less, the villagers lessened their rations for the children and Yasu. For that reason that winter 5 of the older and weaker villagers passed away. Yasu was not told this until she was a good 200 years old, and when she realized this is the reason why her “Yuudai sofu” (grandfather Yuudai) passed away. she was traumatized to a point of losing her appetite and starving herself for the next two years that she grieved. then she returned, vowed she would repay her family every grain of rice a thousand fold and every drop of milk ten thousand.

Prejudice: a general disdain for those who are physically capable but refuse to “cut their own wood” or “pull their weight”. She came from a village where it was an unspoken rule that the youth – and generally those who are capable – must look after those who cannot do so/ the old. and also a disdain for those who take the hard work of others for granted.

Favorite activity – hobby: when she doesn’t have anything particular to do she likes to sit down under a tree and either carve wood and bones into hunting knives or make flower crowns.

How does the OC feel about herself: she is comfortable in her own skin. Never really thinks about her appearance nor does she compare herself to others. She is content with who she is and the work she does.

One word to describe herself: reliable

One paragraph of how would she describe herself: “I think I’m reliable. I would like to think that I am. It’s my duty as the capable one to look after the others. I do enjoy working, I never seem to be able to sit down idly. Makes me fidgety. (Chuckles.) By the way, you seem tired! Need me to carry you? (Bends down) come now don’t be shy the weather is nice up here!” (Points at her shoulders making a tall joke)

Her best and worst personality trait is based on herself: “Oooooh, I’m not sure. I think my best trait is that, well, I’m reliable. And very sturdy. (Laughs.) my worst trait? I don’t know. I work too hard? Don’t take as many breaks as I should? I feel like I’m bragging.”

Her best and the worst physical trait is based on herself: “Hmmm. I never thought about that. I guess I do like that I’m tall and strong. I can take care of everyone like that. Reach the high shelves for them and pick them up when they're tired. I guess I don’t like my graying streaks? Makes people think I’m older than I actually am. “

How others perceive her: Villiger child said. ”Yama-Onna- san is the best! She picks us up and swings us around and around until we get dizzy and then she brings us fresh peaches every afternoon. She saved Aki-chan from a mean boar once. We love Yama-Onna- san sooo very much.”

Villager woman: “Aah, yes. I do know Yasu- chan. She is wonderful. A dutiful, wonderful, kind person. I remember when I was with child and couldn’t walk. She would always pick me up so gently and take me to bathe and take very good care of me. Not to mention she'd always make special rabbit soup for me to make sure I was well fed. She fixed my room when it was broken too. Such a handy girl she is. If only she were a man, I think I wouldn't mind a husband like her.” (she laughs as a man’s grumble comes from inside her home.)

The opinion of other people in general: “seeing her for the first time she may look frightening and imposing but in truth, she has the gentle heart of a bunny. Give her a chance to show you who she is rather than what she looks like. She may look like an imposing beast; but she’s about as harmless as a sweet little chipmunk. “

Does she hide her (true) opinion on other people: not particularly. Even when speaking the truth she will make sure to phrase it politely and gently.

The person she hates the most: lazy people in general – or that least lazy people who are ungrateful

Best friends: Hinamori Momo, Kotetsu Isane, Ise Nanao

Persons she avoids: Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Soi Feng

Person, she feels awkward with: Hitsugaya Toshiro (so small), Hirako Shinji (that weird smile), Soi Feng (so loud for someone so small)

The person she openly or secretly admires: Zaraki Kenpachi (he is up to my chest, very tall), Ise Nanao, Kuchiki Rukia

How she thinks others perceive her: Ushi-oni, imposing and scary (which makes her a bit sad)

One thing she would change about herself: the gray hair, maybe make herself a little shorter – just a little – enough that her head wouldn’t hit the door frames all the time.

Her main logic of the world: Chop your own wood, it will warm you twice.

You can either dream or work to achieve that dream.

You won't always be motivated, you must learn to be disciplined.

By the sweat of your brow and the strength of your back, and the blood in your veins. Anything can be achieved.

When there’s a will there’s a way.

Depressed or sad when: she does something she deems cruel. doesn’t have anything to do. Her friend is in the middle of something she can’t help them with. When away from Kenpachi for too long. Sometimes she misses her mothers, father figures and her village.

Priorities: duty first. And not just work duty. Her duty to herself. Her duty to her romantic partner/ spouse. Her duty to her friend. Her duty to nature, her duty to her conscious. Her duty to her mothers.

Life philosophy: hard work pays off. Always. Not always in the ways, we want or we think we want. But always pays off in some way.

Soft spot – is it obvious or not: she has a giant soft spot for children and people who are physically very small even by normal standards. (namely, Hinamori Momo. Hitsugaya Toshiro, Kuchiki Rukia) – it couldn’t be any more obvious – she makes them flower crowns every day without fail)

Greatest strength: other than her bulging biceps? Her great leadership skills and hard-working nature.

Vulnerability or weakness: deep down she does feel weird and vulnerable about her size, after all, she is still a girl, and about the time she was 150 or so she was deeply sensitive when a guy would call her Ushi-Oni. Just because she was taller than everyone else. Although now she knows logically she shouldn't feel bad about herself and her appearance there are still times she feels embarrassed when she knows she can’t wear a beautiful Kimono because A) they don’t have it in her size and B) she realizes it wouldn’t be good on her as it would on someone like Ise Nanao or Kuchiki Rukia

Biggest regret: accidentally killing that bear, not realizing her eating habits were putting a strain on the village sooner

Minor regret: not learning feminine skills (sewing, tea etiquette, etc.)

Biggest accomplishment: becoming a Shinigami

Other accomplishments: mastering the sword, archery, trapping, fishing, tracking, and finding her way based on stars – making a full garden of peaches from only 3 peaches she bought – building a small fishing boat (albeit a flimsy one) – raising the number of the village livestock exponentially.

Past failures: she failed many times in almost everything she started. It’s not important how many times she failed in what, what’s important is that she is now more skilled than the average souls and Shinigami.

Embarrassing moments: her first 3 weeks at Shino Academy they didn't have a uniform her size so until they make one her size she was heavily underdressed. (the pants were only to her knees and the upper half was more like a tight short-sleeved vest. She preferred to wear her usual clothes but wasn’t allowed to. The moment Captain Hitsugaya who had come to the Academy on work-related matters saw her state of indecency he threw a fit and demanded appropriate clothing for a lady. – Yasu wanted to die at that moment.)

Darkest secret: she secretly, very deep down, is annoyed that no one else is half as strong as she is. And wishes there was someone she could find that she didn’t have to hold back for.) (*wink wink* foreshadowing *wink wink*)

Skills: life skills: 1. wielding a club

2. archery

3. trapping

4. pathfinding using stars

5. fishing

6. trapping and hunting and skinning animals

7. wood carving, bone carving, and tool building in general

8. cooking

9. farming, gardening

Incompetence: 1. Sewing

2. tea brewing

3. anything to do with speed or agility

4. patience in anything other than hunting

5. strategizing in anything other than hunting

Strength – talent – powers: Shinigami based: 1. professional Zanjutsu

2. advanced levels of Kido

3. unrivaled Hakudo

4. passable Hoho

Habits: 1. she stubbornly sticks to the superstition of drinking mill mixed with boar blood is good for health and strength. (even though the superstition says it’s good for little boys to grow strong and healthy and she is neither a boy nor a child.)

2. She prefers to take cold bathes even in midwinter.

3. Sleeping outside – unless provided with a big enough room.

4. Braiding her hair and making flower crowns when she is bored or nervous.

The organization involved: Gotei 13, Squad 10. (as the third seat officer)

Income: standard seated officer Shinigami income + overtime

Job satisfaction: doing all the paperwork as fast as possible (even those that aren’t hers… LOOKING AT YOU MATSUMOTO RANGIKU)

Health: as is expected of someone her size she is very healthy seldom gets sick. Her knees and ankles need a herbal and ointment massage now and then due to the pressure of caring for her weight.

Childhood life: on a particularly warm summer evening a woman by the name of “Hatsume” comes across this small village begging for a small room so she can have her child in peace. The villagers of course all this and the woman spends the next two months peacefully waiting for her child. The villagers assumed she must have multiple sons as her belly was greatly swollen but by the time the child was born, it was revealed that “Hatsume” was right and she only had one child. One little girl.

Actually no, she had one big girl. A girl so big, that she broke her mother’s hips as she was coming out resulting in the death of her mother. Originally the midwife –“ Obba-chan Harumi” – deemed it a bad omen and wanted to drown the child but was convinced otherwise by the rest of the women. Thus the newborn was given to “Riko” another woman who had recently lost her weak child due to heatwave. She named the child “Yasu “ and accepted her as her own child and fed her until she no longer could.

Apparently “Yasu” was a very hungry child and drank her mother dry within a few months, and so she was given to another woman named “Natsuko” who also raised her as her own alongside her son named “Tadashi”. And so, until Yasu-chan was old enough to eat solid food she was cared for by the collective effort of 10 women. (Riko-san, Natsuko-san, Haruko-san, Kaede-san, Usagiko-san, Amaya- san, Yuria-san, Ikuko-san, Minako-san, Sakue-san) and as a child, she grew to eat 3 times a grown man and as an adult, she eats 9 times the average man as a moderate ratio (she can eat more)

Best memories: 1. sitting by the ocean with her 10 mothers and their other children making flower crowns and listening to the sound of waves.

2. Learning how to carve knives and sitting next to her “Yuudai-gi” and making hunting knives.

Worst memories: 1. sitting at the grave of “Yuudai-gi” now knowing why he died

2. Barring her mother “Kaede-san” after she fell ill

Alignment: bounces between lawful chaotic and chaotic lawful – sometimes lawful neutral

Short-term goal: accomplish daily duties to the best of her abilities.

Long term goal: live her life to the fullest and learn to relax and have fun without worrying

The most defining moment in her life: deciding she’s prepared the kids of her village enough and leaving them to become a Shinigami.

Type of childhood: certainly eventful, but all in all nurturing

First memory: her first and oldest childhood memory is being surrounded by many women cooing at her (her motherers) and one in particular saying something about giving her boar blood with milk.

Most important childhood memory: her first successful hunt, an old limping stag.

Childhood hero: Yuudai-gi

Education: thought by the rest of the villagers. Mostly focused on practical information – learned how to write and read when she had nothing better to do by her mothers.

Family: mothers: Riko-san, Natsuko-san, Haruko-san, Kaede-san, Usagiko-san, Amaya- san, Yuria-san, Ikuko-san, Minako-san, Sakue-san

Father figure: Yuudai-gi, Kaoru-gi, Manzo-san, Ikemoto-san, Gihei-gi, Sotaro-san

Siblings: Tadashi-kun, Ekiken-kun, Toyozo-kun, kenji-kun, Hachigoro-kun, shigeru-kun, Akeno-chan, Euki-chan ,Mizuki-chan, Mami-chan, Romi-chan, Shizue-chan, Chieko-chan, Asaji-chan, Ochiyo- chan

+the rest of the village.

Relationship with parents: she was well-loved by all of her mothers.

Relationship with siblings: there were arguments as children and there were teasings as children but the older they got the better their relationship became and with her size she became everyone's protector and the helping hand of her mothers.

Spouse – lover – the person of interest: Zaraki Kenpachi, the second Kenpachi and the 11th captain of squad 11 of Gotei 13.

Children: none

Relationship with children: very well.

Other important family members: (her father may or may not have been a member of a branch family sworn to the Kuchiki clan but Hatsume never confirmed anything and died before revealing anything about the father of the child.) later on Yasu says she has no interest of ever finding her father since she already has 6 father figures and an entire village as family.

Favorites

-color: light ocean blue

-music: the sound of waves – the sound of branches moving in the wind – the sound of owls Hooting at night.

-food: Bear, boar, shrimps

-literature: she doesn't read much. The Academy textbooks are the closest she got to literature. That being said the book of Seireite Laws is her somewhat favorite.

-form of entertainment: making flower crowns, carving knives, going to the woods to watch the wildlife as they are, watch Kenpachi fight, watch captain Hitsugaya yell at Rangiku.

-expression: 1. You won't always be motivated, you must learn to be disciplined.

2. Chop your own wood, it will warm you twice.

-most prized possession: 1. her ragged old ribbon she uses to tie her hair up.

2. Her hair decorations.

3. The old hunting knife made of bear bone that once belonged to her Yuudai-gi

-weapon: old hunting knife that belonged to Yuudai-gi,

Her Zanpakuto (it’s her first and only appropriate and professionally made weapon)

-pastime: watching Kenpachi fight as she makes flower crowns or carves knives.

Poetry describing – quote describing: “she may not have been the innocent cherry blossom, nor the alluring lotus. She may not have been the moon goddess nor the lady sun. she may not have been the enchanting vixen nor the oblivious doe. She may not have been gentle river nor the cherishing wind. She may not have been a princess nor a noble jewel.

Instead, she was unconventionally alluring. She was the reliable oak and the sturdy pine tree. She is the north star guiding travelers home and the early morning twilight, the very beginning of a gentle, warm touch waking you up. She is the dangerously alluring owl and the coyote that mates for life. She is the iron shield you carry to war and the rock you lean on. She’s the hard-working peasant girl in the rice field and The silver O-Choko cup, the only thing the beggar refuses to sell.”

Playlist:

I have a dream – Abba

“I have a dream, a song to sing

To help me cope with anything

If you see the wonder of a fairy tale

You can take the future even if you fail

I believe in angels

Something good in everything I see

I believe in angels”

My same – Adele (Yasu and Kenpachi)

“I don't know who I'd be if I didn't know you

You're so provocative

I'm so conservative

You're so adventurous

I'm so very cautious

Combined you think we wouldn't and we do”

Into you – Ariana Grande

“So, baby, come light me up, and maybe I'll let you on it

A little bit dangerous, but, baby, that's how I want it

A little less conversation and a little more "touch my body"

'Cause I'm so into you, into you, into you

Got everyone watchin' us, so, baby, let's keep it secret

A little bit scandalous, but, baby, don't let them see it

A little less conversation and a little more "touch my body"

'Cause I'm so into you, into you, into you, oh yeah”

Are you ready – the Disturbed

“That's enough already now

You don't want to take it

All your reservations have been taken away

They've been taken away

So you think you're ready now

For the revolution

Yeah, they can't control you

Once you've broken away

You've got to get them out of your mind

When they stand before you they will find

A force they aren't ready for

***

Are you ready?

They aren't ready for you to be strong

Are you ready?

They aren't ready for you to prove them wrong

Are you ready?

They aren't ready for you to be turned into someone

Who cannot be preyed upon”

The greatest thing – Cher Lloyd, lady Gaga (Yasu and Kenpachi)

”I hope, that you can see,

you are the greatest thing to me.

And when, you' feeling like you're not enough.

I'll give you wings, i'll lift you up.

I hope, that you can see,

you are the greatest, greatest thing to me.”

Out of control – lady gaga (Yasu and Kenpachi)

“I need a love that's crazy don't you see?

***

“Give it up, Put it up, Not enough, Not enough, Not enough, I need it Out of control.

Give it up just let your body Out of control”

Rival – Ruelle

“The tide is high

It's sink or swim

My only rival is within

Giants calling round the bend

My only rival is within

I won't let my demons win

My only rival is within

I will fight through thick and thin

My only rival is within”

The one thing – Shakira (Yasu and Kenpachi)

“You are the one thing that I got right

It's a fickle world, yeah, it's a fickle world

You turn the darkness into sun light

I'm a lucky girl, yeah, I'm a lucky girl

And if I mess up everything someday

I would hide my head in shame

Cause you are the one thing that I got right”

aesthetic: (disclaimer: non of the photoes and art works used in the grid bellow are mine i acuired them from pinterest. i do not take credit for any of these pieces.)

24 notes · View notes

mymymadeline · 4 years ago

Text

•Friendly Dark

gif by: @chrishemsworht

pairing: Hallmark Christmas Movie Au! Poe Dameron x Reader

word count: 6.9k+ words

summary:

warnings: alcohol cw

Adore You series: 01, 02, 03, 04, ... - AO3

Even though you’re on vacation, you are far from exempt from your work. And nothing is proving that more than the headache you nurse as you continue pouring over document after document on your tablet. Numbers and figures, charts and graphs, blueprints and sketches, even interviews and gossip articles – they’re all blending together after staring at the screen for what’s likely been hours.

Snoke’s call the night before was not a social one – they never are. He was going on about some acquisition Kylo’s been trying to make for the past few months, and apparently, he was missing something crucial, which is where you usually come in. The two of you have always been a team for a reason. He was more of the passion and ideas, whereas you were better with relations and logistics.

Snoke had immediately sent over hundreds of digital files for you to go through and find… well something. Most likely some kind of professional blackmail. Some kind of small violation or incident that would really be such a shame if it came to the media's attention. You know, the usual.

So far, everything they’ve done is up to code, as far as you can tell. But Snoke won’t take no for an answer. He’d have your head for it. So you continue looking through page after page, searching for some dirt, searching for any kind of upper hand on the competition.

After coming back in that night while on the phone with Snoke, you blew past your parents and went straight up to your room, where you’ve been for almost the entirety of this Sunday. You couldn’t even face them after that absolute embarrassment of an evening. And though this morning you did stalk around the house if only to get a thing or two to eat, you pointedly ignored your mother, only giving your father a small silent nod of acknowledgment.

Stealing away to your room for a full day of silent, frustrating work was not exactly your idea of a fun vacation back home, but neither was last night. Just the thought of running into Poe again makes you squeeze your eyes shut in embarrassment and stress. He probably thinks you’re an idiot now. Probably never wants to see you again. And who could blame him if he did?

If you were a different woman, you’d probably have shed a few embarrassed tears in the solitude of your room, but that wasn’t you. Not anymore. So you rub your eyes once again, and get back to work.

You’re back to staring at a tax filing by the company’s CEO from seventeen years ago when a notification pops up at the top of your screen.

Unknown Number

hey! its rose! i got ur number from when you called the shop lol hope thats not creepy

i was wondering if ur busy tonight? i was thinking of getting drinks w/ some friends at Kanata’s! wanna come? i can pick u up since ur ride is chopped ;)

You blink back at the notification. Drinks? At Kanata’s?

You can’t remember the last time you actually went out with a group of friends, especially for fun. Taking clients you and Kylo were wooing out to dinner was a common occurrence. But fun? They were never.

Another wave of anxiety washes over you. Friends? Who were these friends? Would they like you? Did you know them? Maybe it would be better to just stay and finish your work. Nothing could go wrong if you did that.

You open the message, absolutely ready to type an excuse why you can’t come, when there’s a gentle knock at your door. You already recognize it as your mother by the way she knocks even before she calls out gently.

“Love? You in there?”

“I’m here.” You leave your voice flat and emotionless. You need her to know you’re still mad.

“Can… Can I come in?”

‘No’ dances on the tip of your tongue for a strong moment, but the uncertainty in her soft voice gives you pause.

“...Okay.”

The door clicks open slowly and your mother pokes her head in, a small, nervous smile affecting her features. You only look at her blankly from your nest of blankets and pillows that have been on your bed since high school.

She steps more fully into the room, closing the door behind her most of the way. She leaves it open just a little, giving the both of you some air to breathe, but also, in a way, making sure not to lock herself in a cage with a wounded animal.

And she approaches you like one–cautious, hands visible and apologetic. You huff, curled up in the corner of your bed, and try to look anywhere but at her. But she’s hard to avoid as she sits gently on the far edge of your bed and pulls her hands into her lap, looking down and rolling them over one another contemplatively. You two sit like this for a moment, simmering in the uncomfortable tension, but like hell you’re the one with anything to apologize for.

She lets out a deep sigh. “I’m… so, so sorry… about my behavior last night. I suppose I just… wasn’t handling your absence as well as I thought I was.”

Despite the small sorrow your heart finds at her small and broken tone, the anger–rage even– that has been boiling since the night before claws desperately to be let out. You breathe deeply, and do your best to keep it still in its place. But that doesn’t exclude the fury that seeps into your quiet voice, as you level your gaze with hers.

“Mom, that was the most embarrassing thing that has happened to me in my entire professional career. I need you to know this.”

She nods understandingly and looks back to her fiddling hands. “Yes. I know. And I couldn’t be sorry enough. I realized...I– I don’t know how to be your mother anymore.” You blink at this. A terrible lurch in your gut crawls into your throat at the sight of the tears silently beginning their descent down her cheeks. “I don’t know what to do for you when you're a grown woman who’s accomplished so much on her own without me. I miss you, but I’m not really sure I know you anymore.”

She looks up suddenly at you, her face twisted with grief and regret.

“I didn’t mean it like that… I-”

You stop her, shaking your head, swallowing the lump in your throat, willing the sudden strange wetness in your eyes away. Your voice comes out more choked up than you wish. But whatever wall was up is quickly crumbling away.

“No… Mom, I think I understand.” You look down at your own hands now, picking at your nails nervously, silently discovering the lineage of this habit of yours. You smile sadly at the thought. “I feel that way too sometimes… about myself.”

“Oh, love.” Your mother reaches out, placing her hand on your foot, the only part of you she can reach, and squeezes it gently. She smiles sweetly, her eyes and cheeks still wet, though she’s wiped away the tears.

“You’re not my little girl anymore… but you’re still my daughter, and I’ll love you no matter what.”

You nod, suppressing a sniff as you rub at your nose. She squeezes your foot one more time before standing up and making her way back to the door. She reaches for the handle when you call out.

“I love you, Mom.”

The smile she sends you is genuine, heartfelt, and warming to your core. It makes you realize how much you truly missed your mother, even if she had her difficulties. “I love you too, girlie.”

With that, she closes the door, leaving you alone with your tablet and the unanswered message. But you know your response now.

Sounds fun! Let me know what time. I’d love to come, if you’ll have me.

You begin entering Rose’s information into your contacts and her response is almost immediate.

Rose Tico

duuuh! ill get u at like 8ish? and we’ll meet them there! cant wait!

You look down at the message and can’t help but feel a little more at home.

______________

You run a hand through your hair, adjusting your outfit for the hundredth time. You’ve opted for something more casual tonight. Something a little more friendly, approachable. You suddenly frown at your reflection. You don’t need these people’s approval. Well, no. But it wouldn’t be so bad to be friendly for once would it?

The two voices in your head continue to battle it out, leaving you frozen in the mirror, desperately trying to understand how you feel in this moment. Anxious? Perhaps. Regretful of accepting this invitation? Maybe.

Your phone chirps, lighting up on your desk. Glancing over, you see it’s Rose. You don’t need to read it to know it’s just her announcing her arrival, but you pick it up anyway, settling down on your bed and slipping on your shoes as you open the message.

Rose Tico

here!!! right in front lol

One moment!

You lace up your boots quickly, practically sprinting out of your room and down the stairs, snatching up your long coat on the way.

“I’m headed out, I won’t be back until you guys are already in bed. So, goodnight.”

You call out to the living room as you pull on the coat, your parents turning from their seats on the couch, eyeing you with interest.

“And where are you going this late, young lady?” Your father questions sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

“Out with friends,” you rush, already halfway out the door, spotting Rose in her car and giving a small wave. “Love you, bye!”

Half-jogging down the steps, you cross quickly but cautiously through the snow-laden yard, careful not to slip. As you close the gate behind you, Rose is already opening the passenger door from the inside, beckoning you in.

“Get inside, it’s freezing!”

You allow yourself a small laugh and slide into the seat next to her. Pulling the door closed, you look around, taking in the space of the car, as she starts it back up and pulls away from the curb.

Like most things in The Base, it’s worn and old, peeling and chafed, likely held together with duct tape and love. But despite all of its imperfections, it’s not only comfortable, it’s cozy. It’s warm and personal, every dent containing a story, every mile meaningful.

You can’t help but think back to the chill rigid efficiency of your TIE. Sure, it gets the job done, and is mighty stylish while it does so, but you’ve never felt like it was yours. Never felt anything but cool indifference for its sleek lines and dark exterior.

“So, you’re looking snazzy tonight.” Rose pulls you out of your thoughts with her cheery tone.

You look down at your outfit, once again tugging at its hems.

“Am I? I was actually trying to dress down.”

She laughs at that. “You think that’s dressing down? No way, this is dressing down.” She takes one hand off the wheel, gesturing at her own attire: A brown button-up with a sewn name tag and a pair of dark cargo pants. Likely the uniform she wore to work today. Her cool attitude and smooth voice put you at ease, and you can feel your guard begin to lower.

“I like this on you,” you quietly praise. You pick at your nails, continuing, “Don’t take this the wrong way, please, but… I admire that you can wear clothes like that and feel comfortable. I feel like I have to dress up all the time, no matter what. I don’t know… I- Nevermind.”

You look up at Rose and she pulls her eyes away from the road for a moment to give you a meaningful look. She nods sympathetically, her previous lightness replaced by understanding. She realizes the weight of this seemingly minor admission.

“I get it, I do.” She gives you a soothing smile. “I just hope you can feel comfortable here… with us. We like having you back, even if just for a moment.”

Still smiling, she turns back to the wheel with a light shrug. “Plus, this isn’t Canto Bight. You’ll look great no matter what.”

You groan, half sardonic, half-serious. “Oh, please don’t remind me. You know, I thought I was a vulture, but those people,” you give an audible shiver. “They’re something else.”

Rose laughs melodically. “Oh, do tell.”

______________

The ride to the bar is short, the car only really needed for warmth, but the company is appreciated. Rose laughs along to your story of once attempting to cover for Kylo’s drunken rage in front of investors, and while it was a very unamusing situation at the time, you find yourself chuckling with her.

“Well, that’s why we don’t let him have Bespin Fizzes anymore.”

Rose giggles at that, before piping up in her seat a little. “There it is!”

The bar comes into view just ahead, a familiar neon sign reading Kanata’s hanging overhead a small brick building. The parking lot is compact, but practically full, reminding you just how small the town is, as Kanata’s is the only real bar in the whole Base, and as such, is the town’s favorite happy hour hangout.

She leans up the dashboard, pointing to an old, grey, junky Corellian that’s as familiar to the town as the bar.

“There’s the Falcon,” she points out with a smile, though you don’t need her to tell which car it is. “They’re here.”

You nod, smiling at the old hunk of junk fondly, before suddenly realizing what the Falcon’s presence implies. She pulls up to the spot next to it as you turn to her.

“Wait, we’re getting drinks with Han? ” You try not to sound upset, only curious, but Rose reads your panic easily.

“No, silly,” she giggles, and seems to dodge the question, stepping out of the car. You quickly follow behind, stepping out into the chill night air. Closing the doors, Rose rounds the car and you trail next to her, past the Falcon and towards the bar's entrance. She continues her explanation without you having to ask.

“About five years ago, Han gave the Falcon away.”

“He gave it away? Why would he do that? To who?”

She pushes open the door, leading you into the dimly lit bar, which you only now realize with its unfamiliar interior, that you never stuck around to be old enough to actually enter it. The lights are low, yellow and red, but not unwelcoming, in fact creating a warm atmosphere. It’s brightest around the bar itself, with neon and string lights, as patrons sit on the stools, chatting over the low playing jukebox on the far side of the room. Near it are a couple of pool tables, busy with players in the middle of games. A few locals drink in booths against the walls, however Rose leads you towards the high tables and stools in the middle of the room. You’re scanning the bar for anyone you recognize when you finally see where she’s leading you– to the only couple occupying the tables, and your heart drops into your stomach as your fight or flight instinct kicks in.

“To them!” Rose points but once again you don’t need her helpful hand to see what you need to.

At the table is a girl you don’t recognize with a sweet face and dark hair, but it’s the familiar face next to her that makes you want to run.

Finn, your old classmate, but more importantly your old employee, sits smiling and laughing, casual as anything. You knew Finn left First Order – on very bad terms, one would be remiss to forget – after a fateful trip home for somewhere less cutthroat and competitive, but you thought that meant somewhere like Alderaan. You didn’t think he’d come back, and you certainly didn’t think you’d actually see him here.

Rose doesn’t notice your hesitation, continuing to pull you forward and calling out to her friends. She catches their attention, waving, and you brace for the moment of impact.

Finn is going to be mad that you’re here. He’s going to be furious. He’s going to stand up and yell at Rose about how awful of a person you are and make sure nobody in this town will even so much as smile at you ever again. He’s going to laugh in your face and tell you to go back to Coruscant and you’ll do it because you’re so deeply embarrassed.

The girl turns first, smiling and waving back at Rose. She grins brightly at you as well, obviously unfamiliar but still friendly. Finn turns second with an easy expression, glancing at you briefly before doing a double-take. His face falls, but not into anger like you expect. It drops to confusion, like he’s making sure it’s you, which then turns into half-smug disbelief, a bewildered smile taking over his features.

Finn speaks first. “No-freaking-way.”

Tension still wracks your body as he steps off the stool, meeting you and Rose in front of the table. Rose looks between the two of you before dropping your hand and covering her eyes.

“Oh my God, I totally forgot about the whole…” She looks to you apologetically, not towards Finn, which confuses you. “I’m so sorry I forgot to say.”

“No, I- it’s okay. I just hope I’m not intruding.” It seems that this town just loves to leave you at a loss for words.

Finn laughs, seemingly completely at ease. “Not unless you’re here to talk about work. Or to try to win me back.”

“God, no. Not that we wouldn’t love to have you back but,” you glance quickly at the friendly girl still sitting at the table, obviously confused. “I understand that you’re much happier here.”

“That I am.”

“Then that’s all I care about.”

Rose absolutely buzzes with energy at the exchange. “Yay! So we’re all still friends and everything?” Her hands are clasped and her hopeful eyes flicker back and forth between the two of you.

You turn your gaze back to Finn, hoping that you look as genuine as he does. “I hope so.”

“I don’t see any reason why not,” He smiles warmly at you, offering his hand. “Besides, you weren’t exactly the one that left me with a bad taste in my mouth.”

You take his hand easily, and just barely manage to quell your surprise when he uses it to tug you into a warm hug. The recent bombardment of hugs you’ve received in the past few days is the only thing that gets your arms moving properly, wrapping loosely around Finn for a moment before you part.

As you pull back, an awkwardness comes to hang in the air as a silence settles between the four of you. You suddenly remember the girl at the table seemingly the same moment that Finn does. He pipes up, turning towards her and half leading you to the table where they were sitting.

“Right, uh, Rey, I’d like you to meet an old friend of mine.”

You extend a hand and introduce yourself to the woman, Rey, and she lets out an awkward laugh as she takes it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I was a bit, erm, hesitant to intrude on the moment. Seems like there’s a lot of history going on here.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Finn laughs before his nose scrunches up in thought. “Actually, you might have some idea. You know the place I used to work before we met?”

Rey’s face twists in disgust. “You mean that awful tech company? God, you couldn’t stop talking about how awful it was for almost a year. Must’ve been terrible. Did you work there too?”

She looks to you as your cheeks heat up and you can't help the grimace that creeps into your expression. “I actually still do.”

Finn opens his mouth but Rey beats him to it. “Oh no, that must be awful. What do you do? Get yelled at all day by some tall blonde woman like Finn did?” She chuckles at her own joke, but she’s the only one. Finn and Rose look like they’d rather be anywhere else. Probably at the bar. With strong drinks. Yet, you feel a chill indifference wash over you. The one you feel whenever you walk through the doors of the First Order offices and meetings.

“Actually I’m the COO.”

Rey’s jaw slackens with the shock, mouth starting and stopping any words she attempts to get out. “I… I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.” Finn has his head fully in his hands and Rose looks like she might die. But you smile softly.

“It’s okay. I’ve heard far worse before. From people whose opinions were far more important.”

The urge to storm out tugs at your gut but your feet stay planted. It’s strange. You’re not quite sure what emotion it is that you’re feeling exactly. There’s anger, but it’s the blow to your pride that fuels it. There’s certainly embarrassment. Mostly, you realize it’s guilt. Guilt that the company you worked so hard to build has hurt people - people that you care about. You knew it happened, probably every day, probably right at this moment, but being faced with the conversations that people must be having behind your back… It hurts. It hurts in many directions.

“Drinks!” Rose chirps loudly, desperate to break the tension. “I’ll go get us some drinks!”

She spins on a dime and immediately heads towards the bar. Looking between you and Rey, Finn gulps. “She’ll probably need some… help with those…” He’s immediately out of his chair and trailing behind Rose.

Rey sits quietly, a thoughtful look on her face as you finally take a seat on the stool across from her. The silence hangs for a moment as the jukebox croons quietly in the background.

“I really didn’t mean it that way,” Rey starts quietly. “It’s just…” She leans towards you, elbows resting in front of her on the table. Her eyes are earnest, kindness pouring forth. “Finn was miserable when we met in Jakku. Work was stressing him out to no end, but mostly… he felt like he was hurting people. He had a stable and successful job but… what did it cost him? All he ever wanted to do was help people.” She sighs, and a small smile tugs at her lips. “I like to think I helped him, but really, he knew all along what he had to do. I’m so grateful that we’re both here now, working with the kids, helping people where it feels like it really matters. I can’t speak for you, but it sounds like you’re proud of your company, and I’m glad but… It just wasn’t right for Finn. I hope I haven’t offended you.”

You’re momentarily stunned by her small speech. Not just the words but her honesty. You can tell from the tone of her voice just how much she cares for Finn and how much she believes in their cause. You find a small stain on the table, gazing at it intensely in thought. You’ve just wanted to help people too, all your life, but making something of yourself always came first it seemed. You told yourself you were helping people, creating new things that made so many people’s lives easier, donating intensely to charities, but how many people were you hurting on the way? How many times can you tell yourself that some eggs must be cracked to make an omelette? How many people have you screwed over, blackmailed, and outright stolen from? How many shady people have you bought from or sold to? How many things have you ignored or swept under the carpet just to keep business running as usual?

“If it helps… Finn always spoke highly of you.”

You look up as Rey draws you out of your thoughts, something she obviously picks up on going by her smile.

“Well… He’s a good man. A good friend before he was an employee… I didn’t mean what I said either - about your opinion not mattering. That’s not true, I just…” You trail off, but look up to find comfort and forgiveness in her warm expression. You give her a small genuine smile of your own. “Maybe we should just start over.”

You extend a hand, introducing yourself and she does the same, laughing lightly as she does so. At that moment, Rose and Finn come shuffling over, each balancing a tray with a few colorful drinks and rounds of shots. Placing the trays on the table, Finn eyes your smiles and parting hands.

“Are you guys… Is everything good now?”

You nod, laughing. “Yes, I think we just got off on the wrong foot.”

“And we’re just here to have a good time and hang out - no work talk.” Rey winks at Finn. He lets out a hearty laugh, clapping you two on the back.

“Oh, you two are good.”

“Actually, there’s one more thing,” Rose cuts in. She looks absolutely tickled pink, poorly suppressing her roguish grin. Finn and Rey raise an eyebrow in unison, seemingly used to this behavior.

Rose giggles, “I invited Poe!”

You instantly feel your heart rate pick up and a gentle heat rise in your cheeks, but it seems your the only one excited about this development. Rey only sighs with an unamused laugh. Rolling his eyes, Finn shakes his head, “That’s not exactly a surprise.” He turns to you. “She invites him out every time. And every time he says no. ‘Too busy.’”

“He never just relaxes,” Rey chimes in. “We’re constantly inviting him out, even inviting ourselves into the shop occasionally, but he’s just so dedicated to his work. It’d be admirable if it wasn’t so annoying.”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Rose waves her hands around, as if attempting to dispel the negative comments in the air before they reach you. “BUT… I told him a certain special someone was gonna be here!”

Finn and Rey both turn to you, Rey holding an expression of curiosity and Finn looking at you with new eyes, the gears turning almost visibly in his head. Did she mean you? Everyone seems to be looking at you expectantly so… she must be. Sure, Poe seems to like you well enough but… This is behavior that seems to have been going on for years. How could your presence possibly change that?

“Wh- Me?” You ask, turning to Rose at a sudden loss for words. “Why- What makes me special?”

Rose rolls her eyes so hard her head can’t help but follow. “You are so oblivious. And so special.”

Finn nods, with a grin you can only describe as ‘shit-eating.’

“Of course.” He bites his lip deviously. “This is gonna be so fun.”

“Really wha-”

You’re cut off by the sound of the blowing snow and wind as the door creaks open behind you. As if on cue, each of your heads swivel to the entrance to see the door swinging shut behind Poe shaking the snowflakes out of his hair, cheeks ruddy from the outside cold. He looks up from tugging his gloves off to see the four of you gawking at him. If he can tell he just walked in on a discussion of himself, he doesn’t show it. He practically beams at the four of you, but lets his eyes settle on yours.

“Hey guys.”

“This is gonna be so fun,” You hear Finn whisper behind you.

You fail miserably at trying to hide your smile, but you know it’s for the best.

______________

“God, I know it’s embarrassing but... that’s so funny.” Rey chuckles with red cheeks, thoroughly amused.

“But it’s so embarrassing,” You exclaim, a little louder than you’re usually comfortable with but the drinks you’ve been slowly consuming for the past two hours have loosened your tongue just a bit.

Finn continues to shake his head in laughter. “I do love your mom, though. I wanna thank her for that one. A proper Base welcome.”

“C’mon, it really wasn’t so bad,” Poe laughs.

Once he’d arrived, everyone made quick work of getting him a drink and dragging over a stool, planting him firmly and snuggly between you and Rose. Small pleasantries and catching up eventually turned into you and Poe recounting the previous night's dinner and conversation at the strong behest of the rest of the group. It mostly consisted of you complaining and apologizing to Poe and him simply laughing it off, attempting to placate your worries. Finn, Rey, and Rose simply watched in entertainment, soaking up every juicy detail.

“Really, you have to stop beating yourself up about it. You’ll drive yourself insane.” Poe places a hand on your shoulder, sending a little shiver of electricity through your body that you desperately try to curb. You look down at his hand on your shoulder and are struck with the desire to see it as often as possible. Meeting his eyes, they are warm and kind and cause you to immediately lose whatever it was you were going to just say. You are now very aware of just how buzzed you are.

“I’ll… I’ll try.” You give him a small smile and he accepts it readily, his own smile growing. Over your shoulder, Finn must catch his eye because he swiftly turns his head back to his drink on the table and clears his throat. His hand gives you a small pat and quickly retreats back to his lap. His hand makes a loose fist and you miss its warmth.

“Well,” Rose starts. “It’s getting late and I am so beat. I should get going.”

Rose gives a meaningful glance at Finn and Rey, “Isn’t it a school night? You guys should get going too. Don’t want to have to show a video tomorrow.”

Finn’s eyes widen a bit and Rey nods fervently.

“Yes, absolutely. You’re so right, Rose.” Finn begins standing up from his stool. “C’mon, Rey, we should be off.”

Those fucking conspirators. You know you should be grateful - they’re trying very hard to set you up with your high school crush - but all you can feel is panic. You’re an expert at talking to people, from brokering deals to conducting yourself in interviews and even giving presentations, you’ve trained and practiced in the art of discussion. But for some reason, just being in the same room as Poe makes your brain short circuit. Your mind constantly pulls back and forth whether to close off and shut him out or loosen up and actually let him in. It’s barely been three days but it feels like so much longer. And that’s terrifying.

“Uh-Wh- Are you guys okay to drive?” You sputter.

Finn sends you a reassuring smile as he grabs Rey by the shoulders, “Rey might not be in any state to drive, but I’m totally fine. I’ve had maybe two drinks in the past couple hours. Don’t worry.”

Rose is off her stool too, gathering her coat. “Could you maybe drop me off too? I’d just walk but it’s so damn cold.”

“No problem, Rose.”

“What about me? I’m supposed to walk then?” You interject, flustered. “Rose, you drove me here.”

Rose gives an exaggerated look of cluelessness, giving you a shrug before looking over at Poe.

Breaking his momentary silence, Poe gives you a nod. “Yeah, I can give you a ride if you want.”

You can only nod along. “Yeah, that sounds good. Thank you.”

Rose lets out a little squeal, scrambling over to give you a kiss on the cheek and skip out the door, calling out goodbyes over her shoulder. You can’t help but roll your eyes and laugh along with Finn and Rey, both of them giving you and Poe sidehugs before taking their exit as well.

As the doors swing shut and the silence between you settles, you glance around at the bar. There are about half as many people as there were a few hours ago but the place doesn’t feel empty by any means. The few patrons still mill about, some playing pool, some chatting at the bar. You sigh contently at the sight, something Poe catches as he watches you.

“Good to be home?”

You look over, momentarily studying his handsome features in the warm lights as you try to figure out how to answer his question.

“I don’t know. Like I said before, it’s not really home. And yet it is.”

He nods, thinking for a second. “But are you happy to be here?”

You eye him, a small smile tugging at your lips. “I’m starting to be.”

“Well, I’ll drink to that.” He grins, holding up his bottle. You meet his with your own, both taking a swig with a smile.

As you settle your drinks back on the table, Poe leans over with a lowered voice. Your pulse thrums in your veins. “You know, I actually had a great time last night, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

You sigh with chagrin, momentarily closing your eyes to rub at the spot between your brows.

“Well, I’m glad you had so much fun at my expense.”

Poe leans away, shutting his eyes in his own embarrassment.

“That’s not what I meant, I’m sorry.”

You chuckle lightly, a sound that gets Poe to open one eye before breaking into a smile, laughing with you. He leans in again, still smiling but a serious tone overtakes him.

“I really understand if you don’t want to talk about it but… What was your mother talking about… with Ben?”

You feel like a bucket of water has been dumped on you, ruining the easy-going mood you’d let slowly wash over you for the past few hours, but when you look at him, you can’t help but want to tell him everything.

“I just… I’ve only heard bits and pieces about what happened after you graduated. You really… disappeared.”

“Not disappeared,” you say quietly, with grit in your voice. “They just started paying attention to me somewhere else.”

“I paid attention to you,” Poe murmurs. When you catch his eye, he corrects himself. “I mean, we all did.”

You smile sadly, “Yeah, this is different.”

Poe gently knocks your shoulder with his, making you let out a snicker. Glancing over, Poe levels you with a genuine look, with soft eyes and a smile. “I get the feeling you don’t talk about your life often. So, tell me about it.”

He’s right. You never talk about your life, you certainly never regale your story to whoever asks. Doing that requires you to be vulnerable, it requires self-reflection and introspection. It requires you to think about things that you’ve long locked away inside. But…

“Well, I’m not sure how well you remember, or if you ever noticed but… no one ever really talked to me. Then one day, Ben did. No one ever really talked to him either, so we made a fast pair. He was odd... but he was a real friend to me. I wouldn’t have traded that for anything.”

Poe nods understandably, encouraging you to keep going.

“We decided to stick together. We got into Imperial University together and got out as quickly as we could. Neither of us… We couldn’t stay here, not with what we planned on doing with our lives. This town… it just wasn’t for us.”

“Yeah, I hear that a lot. I get that, too.” Poe takes a drink.

“You do?”

He laughs softly. “Yeah, but that’s a story for another time. Keep going.”

“We learned at school that we worked really well together. Our mentor Snoke realized that, too. He led us, taught us, molded us. He helped us build our company, First Order Tech. He was our first investor, he still sits on the board of directors. Kylo… Ben may be the CEO, but Snoke is still in charge of both of us to this day. It’s our company, we created it from the ground up but… We still bow to him.”

You shake your head. Time for the hard part. Might as well get it out quick and easy.

“Somewhere along the way… I don’t know if it was love. It wasn’t love how it should be - I can tell you that. But, Ben and I… were together. And then he proposed. I don’t think it was because he wanted to. I think he just thought… he was supposed to. Just the natural progression of our lives, I guess.”

You don’t realize you’re crying until the teardrops reach your chin, where they hang heavily before dropping onto your lap. You quickly wipe them away, as Poe once again places a hand on your back, but this time it stays there, his thumb rubbing comfortably back and forth.

“You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to. It’s okay.”

“I just,” You sniffle, wiping your nose. Way to break down just as he was warming up to you, kiddo. “I’ve never talked about this before, not really. I don’t even think I’ve ever cried over this before.”

“Anyway, I somehow became lucid enough to call it off a few months before the wedding.”

You sniff wetly and press the backs of your hands to your eyes, your makeup no doubt ruined by now. Poe’s thumb keeps its motion.

“I just wanted it so bad,” Your voice cracks. The lump that had been caught in your throat breaks free in the form of a sob. “I let myself be blind because I…”

Your hands are shaking and tears run freely down your face.

“I wanted to be loved. And I thought that’s how I would get it. But I woke up.”

You drop your hands onto the table, taking a deep breath to steady yourself. You clench your fists and your voice no longer trembles.

“And I’m glad I did. We’re both better people for it.”

Only now do you chance a look at Poe. You had kept your gaze down, too scared to find what his expression might be, too scared to read his thoughts on his face. But his hand had stayed planted, comforting you. That had to mean something, right?

Looking up, you see only his warm gaze that had assured you deeply enough to get you talking in the first place. It carries a sadness, a kind of worry in the crease between his slightly upturned brows. But you find no disgust. No pity.

“I wish I knew what to say.”

You chuckle wetly, “You don’t have to say anything. I understand that it’s a lot.”

His hand makes a broad stroke across your back as he leans in once again.

“There’s actually a lot of things I want to say, but I’m sure you’d hate all of them considering they all sound like condescending things your mom has probably said to you over the years.”

A genuine laugh bubbles out of you at this, a bright smile pulling up your wet mascara stained cheeks. Seeing this, Poe can’t help a smile of his own.

“Things like ‘you’re so brave’ and ‘you poor thing’?” You giggle.

He chuckles, “Yeah something like that, the usuals.”

“Well thank you for sparing me.”

“No problem.” He pauses for a moment. “But really, thank you for telling me.”

He sounds like he means it.

“Thank you for listening, Poe.”

And so do you.

You sit like that just for a moment, gazing at each other. You take in the small details, admiring the creases around his eyes, the shape of his jaw, the curls in his hair. He seems to be taking you in as well, his eyes flickering across your features. You see them linger on the stains of your cheeks, turning your head away subconsciously.

“Ready to go?” He asks softly.

You smile and nod, wiping at your nose with your sleeve. “Yeah, I think I’m ready.”

You wobble just a bit as you get up from your seat, but Poe’s hand is still there to steady you. It stays there as you walk to the door. Stepping out into the cold, you instinctively huddle against him, a move he readily accepts as you walk.

“I’m not always a sad drunk, I promise.”

You feel the rumble of his chest as he laughs gently at your small joke.

“Don’t worry. I believe you.”

The ride is comfortably silent, except for the low hum of the radio as you drive. Pulling up to your house, you want to say something, do something, to thank him for what he did tonight. For driving you home, for listening to you and comforting you as you practically sobbed in his arms, for coming to the bar at all, supposedly just because you were there.

But you don’t do anything.

“I’ll see you around,” is all you say.

You hear him swallow as he nods. “Yeah, I’ll… I’ll see you.”

When you finally slink upstairs and collapse in your bed, you still feel the phantom touch of Poe’s hand across your back.

notes: Whew! Thank you SO much for reading and thanks to all the people who stuck around! It’s been such a long and hard year and I hope everyone is doing okay. I’m determined to make this year great and I hope you all will join me!

I understand it’s been forever so if you’re on the taglist and would like to taken off it, hit me up and I’ll totally understand - and if you’re not on the taglist and would like to be leave a reply or send me a message! love you all <3

taglist: @ikbenplant @jamesdeerest @fortheloveoflamp @operation-spot @asianravenpuff @whovianayesha @ultrunning @nowheredreamer @honestlyjustwow @badwolf-212 (for some reason i can never tag you properly :( )

#fic: Adore You #poe dameron #poe dameron x reader #poe dameron imagine #reader insert #star wars #mads fics #hallmark au #oscar isaac

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lisinfleur · 5 years ago

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Modranect

The Request: A fiction with Hvitserk or Ubbe for the prompt: Celebrating Modranect with a newly acquired Saxon bride (I exchanged for wife, ok?). Author’s Notes | Here is something I’ll have to study! Thanks for the opportunity! All knowledge is welcome! Universe | Vikings Pairing | Ubbe x Christian Princess! Reader Info | Viking Age AU, Saxon! Reader, prompts designed by @honestsycrets for 2019’s Holiday Event; Part II for Deal Words | 1393 ⁑ Warnings: Religious differences. Keep in mind I’m still learning about my own religious and please, do not rely on my information to learn! I’m a learner too… Sorry for any mistakes.

It was almost a year ago you were seeing those men coming into your lands, dealing with your father and brother to settle their fate after you denounced their treason. Some months more and you would end your first cycle along with the man that saved you from dishonor and even, from death.

Around a month after your marriage, your brother in law indeed came with his men ready to banish your husband and his men from your lands. But with the death of your father you stood for your claim to the lands and with Ubbe's fierce glare and his brother's murderous blues, your brother in law didn't refuse to sign the documents necessary to officialize Ubbe as the heir of your father's lands: your brother in law had his own territory and as long as Ubbe promised to never cross the boundaries of his kingdom, your father's lands were a good price to pay for their warranty to never have to share a table with you once again. Your whole family had delivered you to the wolves without knowing the wolves weren't the monsters they believed they were...

Instead, the wolves were embracing you... And more and more you were feeling like one of them.

But you couldn't help but feeling nostalgic when that part of the year arrived. Christmas was close and it was your favorite date of the year with all the decorations and the tree, the dinner and...

"Why are you bringing a tree into our castle?" you said, taken aback by the sight of your husband and his brother Hvitserk carrying inside parts of a tree recently chopped.

You noticed some servants making colored cookies; others were braiding straw in familiar formats, like lambs or boars... But you didn't think it was a thing... Was it?

Did pagans have their own Christmas Eve??

Ubbe giggled and Hvitserk as well, answering your question.

"We're preparing for Modranect tonight, sister."

"Mo... Moda...ran... What?"

The two of them laughed at your attempt to speak that strange name Hvitserk had pronounced without any difficulty and Ubbe came closer, caressing your face with his free hand.

"Mother's night..." he said, smiling at you with words you could understand. "It's the first night of the twelve days of Yule, the winter solstice. It's the shorter day and longest night of our year cycle... We celebrate Frigga and the female ancestral spirits tonight."

"And we stay awake to warrant Sun won't be devoured and will come back in the morning!" Hvitserk said, smiling.

"Yes. We stay up all night after dining with our families and we celebrate when Sun comes back in the dawn to welcome her from the dark path she went through," he explained.

And you looked at them with curiosity in your eyes.

"We used to do very similar things... To celebrate Christ's birth," you said, not knowing if you could speak of your old traditions among them.

Hvitserk scoffed.

"They call it Chrismas, Ubbe," he said, mocking the name.

"Christmas..." you corrected him with a sad tone. "It used to be my favorite part of the year. The only time when my family would be together without fighting or mocking on each other, without my sister boasting around because she got married to a rich man or father speaking to me as if I was something disposable. I would always earn a new dress to use and we would have a beautiful dinner with at least one dish of my favorites to eat..."

Hvitserk's smile diminished. There was so much sadness in your voice.

"The only part of the year your family could be together was this day?" he asked "What a terrible family you had, woman..."

"Stop it, brother, let her go... Here, take the leaves and sticks for the slaves to make the festoons and go check on Ivar for me," Ubbe said, holding your hand. "Come with me, dear, let me show you everything," he completed, with a smile.

Walking beside him, you started looking at how they were decorating the castle and trees around remembering you so hard of the Christmas decorations.

"It represents Yggdrasil, the tree of life," he said, speaking about the tree you were looking at. "The gifts and food are for the forest creatures... To invite them in peace or ward them off our houses. And some are for the Wild Hunt, as asks for blessing and fruitfulness," he explained as you were following him, seeing as some of them were placing food and drinks outside as he spoke.

"Our families will reunite and feast and celebrate together, and wait until tomorrow to receive Sun once again because from today on, she'll be on the sky longer than the Moon and the days will slowly become warmer again," he said.

You had so many questions! And his stories were so interesting...

"And what do you eat? We had some foods I'll miss this year," you said, remembering the pies and your favorite sweets.

"We eat what we can produce with the products of the soil at the season and what we have produced and stocked for the winter during the hot parts of the year. Bread, cakes, cookies, ham... We share our stocks and keep each other warm to survive the Winter and see a new Spring."

"And what are these?" you asked, walking faster towards a tree where some of those cute straw animals were hanging, decorating the leaves. "They're so cute," you said, picking one little straw goat in your hands.

Observing how perfectly the straw strands were braided to make the horns and the ribbon that was tying the body of the lamb together.

"The sacred animals of the gods; the Goats of Thor, God of Thunder, and the Wild Boar of Frey, God of Fertility. We honor our gods representing their sacred animals and sacrificing them for their honor. A boar is being prepared to be sacrificed and roasted for the feast today. And I can teach you how to make these little animals if you want. I make them since I was a child," Ubbe smiled.

They weren't the senseless demons your father spoke so hard. Their culture was so rich! There were so many stories and details and customs like yours...

"Would you teach me about your gods, husband?" you asked, causing Ubbe's smile to become bigger when he cupped your face.

"I've made many wishes for this Yule, wife. And I can see the gods had heard me, cause one of them just became true," he said, caressing your face. "I'll surely teach you everything you want to hear, and tell you all the stories of the gods and their lands, their tales and their lessons, with pleasure, my love."

He kissed your forehead and you nestled into his arms against his chest, holding the little straw goat in your hands. You wanted to become closer to that man who became something so important in your life. A life that he saved and that, somehow, you thought his gods gave back to you.

"What other wishes you made, husband?" you asked, curious.

"Blessings upon us all... A wife to my brother Hvitserk because he needs to settle down and stop drinking that much... Less pain for Ivar. More love for Sigurd... An heir for us..." he said embracing your body and landing his hand over your belly softly.

And the thought sounded beautiful to be heard. You smiled at Ubbe with tenderness touching his hand over your belly with yours.

"I like the sound of this... I think I have my Yule's wish," you smiled, feeling when he nestled his face against your neck, softly kissing your skin.

"Then we should go home, celebrate and feast together... And provide the means for the gods to give us what we want... Don't you think, wife?"

You blushed, becoming red from your hair to your tiptoes, giggling with the tickles of his kisses on the crook of your shoulder.

"You're right, husband... You're right."

An heir was a beautiful desire.

But it should be made...

And it would be literally a pleasure to work on realizing this dream of your husband.

And maybe the next Modranect would have one more reason to be thankful for, sleeping in your arms and filling your heart with even more love.

Do you like my work? Support me!

Tagged ones:

|| @directionlessbuthappy || @akamaiden || @bang-kim-bap || @cris101071 || @elysias-temple || @alicedopey || @captstefanbrandt || @queen-see-ya-in-valhalla || @lol-haha-joke || @normatural || @readsalot73 || @shutter-bug124 || @rekdreams247 || @slutforasoldier || @naaladareia || @laketaj24 || @therealcalicali || @grungyblonde || @arses21434 || @honestsycrets || @rabeccablake || @2thequietone4 || @blackspiritshake || @vikingsbifrost || @sincerelysinister || @lyanna-the-giantsbane || @isthat-tyra98 || @medievalfangirl || @littledeadrottinghood || @thiahilmarsdottir || @queenbeeta || @winchesterwife27 || @gold-dragon-slayer || @mzliterarydreamer || @alwaysbenhardysgirl || @marvelouuse || @lif3snotouttogetyou || @lordsexmachine || @deathbyarabbit || @ietss || @thorins-queen-of-erebor ||

Want to be tagged? Ask me!

#history vikings #imagine vikings #ubbe #ubbe imagine #ubbe x reader #ubbe ragnarsson #ubbe lothbrok #the quiet beast #ubbabe #ubbe’s wolfpack #sister wives #shot #FUTYWL

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lost-in-yujikiri · 5 years ago

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Alicization Rewatch ep 11-13

I’m not completely out of hospital treatment yet but I don’t wanna delay this post any further. These episodes ended at the turning point of Alicization first half when the boys took on Cardinal’s mission to fight the Cathedral battles. The episodes are OK on their own, but if anybody wants to know more about Underworld’s mechanics I recommend the novels, because anime skipped quite a lot of these. And some Kirito x Eugeo little banters and bonding moments along with Cardinal too.

The fight with Eldrie Synthesis 31 is an unconventional fight for both Kirito & Eugeo, both boys didn’t have their swords, only prison chains on their hands as weapon, and they had to run for their lives instead of fighting to win. It was an interesting fight and the anime did alright to show their difficulties.

In LN there is more to Eugeo knowing Eldrie as this year’s tournament champion. Eugeo is actually a FANBOY XD, when he saw Eldrie’s beautiful Sacred Arts and graceful swordmanship, he literally stood there and swooned, much to Kirito’s shock and pleading ‘Stop that and look at me instead!’. Eugeo even remembered the names of Eldrie’s parents even in the anime, if that isn’t telling already XD (Tips for you Kirito: if you wanna win Eugeo’s heart, improve on your Sacred Arts!)

The boys then got chased away by Deusolbert and saved by Cardinal, got their refuge in the library.

Then Eugeo got sent away for a bath and reading history books. Surely Eugeo is a history nerd and he was so excited to hear the Library has a lot of books (he nearly fainted when he heard that and it’s cute), but I want to talk about what was going on with Eugeo’s plan & decision during this time before we get to Deusolbert’s fight (like it was written in LN) in next write-up, because he didn’t just sit there and do nothing gdi.

As I said anime skipped quite a lot of explanations on the mechanics of UW, and while that can’t be helped due to lack of time, I still think some of these below should have been expanded on a little more during some empty moments:

1) How UW children are made: from the original 16 cloned souls of real world babies, the Fluctlights grow up, get married and after they do the do the system will simulate a new Fluctlight into an empty Lightculb Cluster and it becomes the couple’s baby, the new Fluctlight baby will have the mixed-up attributes of its parents. Even natural Fluctlights like Kirito can have babies with artificial Fluctlight and Cardinal even joked about this, while Kirito’s reaction was ‘lol nope’. 2) Quinella created physical obstacles to prevent the Human Empire from expanding too much, including the huge Gigas Cedar tree that Kirito & Eugeo chopped down at the start. After Cardinal heard the impossible tale of the tree being cut down she tracked the boys down and figured out that Kirito was not an artificial Fluctlight. 3) Cardinal’s full explanation about how the Synthesis ritual works. I will talk more about it in ep 19 rewatch as well as the differences between young Alice’s Fluctlight and Alice S30′s Fluctlight, as well as Eugeo’s Synthesis. 4) Cardinal explains to Kirito how Fluctlights aren’t able to go against the rules ingrained into them both from the laws AND their parents/guardians/higher-ups’s teachings and commands, which also explains how when they try to do so their eye has that error displayed. I will go in depth in ep 23 rewatch but seriously this should NOT have been left out. 5) Cardinal was only able to create food and the daggers through equivalent exchange, they couldn’t come out of nowhere. The food was created from law & history books (poor history nerd Eugeo gulped at that) and that the daggers are created from Cardinal’s hair thus linked to her body.

Yep I will remind the world that the first one he thought about saving to bring back to real world was Eugeo uwu

Oh and if only anime could squeeze in a cute scene when Kirito and Eugeo had an eating race like hungry 19-year-old boys they are while Cardinal smiled looking over them like a mother ;-;

The boys finally embarked on the big mission, marking the big turning point of the story full of hope and despair.

#Kirito #Kirigaya Kazuto #Eugeo #YujiKiri #KiriYuji #Sword Art Online #SAO #Alicization #sao alicization #Alicization Rewatch #Cardinal #Eldrie Synthesis 31

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nautiscarader · 4 years ago

Note

Claudia finds an old spell to use on Rayla and Callum. Dreamweaver: allows the user to control over the dreams of others. She gets the materials and prepares to do it tonight.

I am nothing but punctual.

Yeah, this was one of the prompts that I backlogged for the march ones, and then i was hit with a huge writer’s block throughout May and June, so here it is now. Apologies to the person who asked for it and kept reminding me of it.

Also, reminder, this all takes place in AU where Claudia hasn’t gone to the dark side.

============

(Ao3)

- Are you guys ready?

With a somewhat unsure looks, Claudia asked the couple on the bed, and the two youngsters eagerly nodded in anticipation.

- We trust ye'. - Rayla spoke, before Callum nodded in unison. - Okay, it's just... I've never cast this kind of spell... - Claudia took another look at her notes - I'm not sure what's gonna happen... - We do trust you, though. - Callum spoke and sat up to kiss her.

Their lips remained linked, until Rayla stole the attention from their boyfriend, to finally reassure her in her skills. The three have been living together for quite some time, and though Claudia occasionally brought some of her magic into their bedroom life, she never tried anything that would allow her to exert control over others.

Claudia took the vessel and poured the pinkish substance into it, until it started fuming. Callum helped her, and with his magic, he let the mist spread around him and Rayla, until they started getting drowsy. Before they both knew it, they were snoring, asleep in a deep slumber.

Then came the waiting game. The spellbook said that one should wait around hour and a half, but Claudia waited only thirty minutes or so, and began her incantations. She took a whiff of the mist that gathered above Callum and Rayla's heads and when she closed her eyes she could finally see what the two were dreaming about.

She was in a village, presumably the one where Rayla grew up, given the faint figures of Moonshadow elves around her. She followed her instincts, and soon found herself in a glade, outside the town's limits, with a small lake in which a naked elf was bathing. And from the looks of her hands, she was doing something else as well.

Rayla's fingers mashed against her pussy, letting only the softest of moans, despite her place of solitude. Or, at least, apparent one, since a second figure quickly joined her. Callum was equally naked, and his girlfriend seemed beyond ecstatic to see him, so much so she jumped into his arms, and before Claudia knew it, she was riding him, filling the glade with their carnal noises she knew so well. Rayla was quite a screamer...

Claudia felt the same tingling sensation between her legs, and was about to join them, but then heard a new voice, a male one, behind her.

When she turned around, she was in Katolis, in the castle's courtyard, watching... Callum, watching her. She remembered that moment, and with her powers, she sneaked around and through the tree Callum was sitting under, to see what he's been drawing in his sketchbook. It didn't surprise her that she wasn't wearing any clothes in his drawing. But when she looked back at where she stood, she realised her dreamy vision was naked as well, and from the looks of it, she wasn't ashamed of it. Her dreamy clone walked towards Callum, and a moment later, her head was bobbing up and down on the prince's cock, for everyone to see in the light of day.

Claudia looked behind her, at the naked Moonshadow Elf, and decided to mix the two dreams. With a single move of her hand, she swapped the places. Rayla and Callum were now in Katolis, making love in the presence of Callum's people, while her clone could enjoy the tranquillity of the elven forest.

Rayla seemed shocked at first when the scenery has changed, but she didn't stop riding Callum's cock. If anything, the sudden audience made her more vocal about her love for the young prince.

- Callum! I love yo-ou! - she cried when Callum flipped her to the ground and came with a deafening, cry, flooding her with cum, bringing her to her peak as well.

At first Claudia wasn't sure whose dream was that, but once she turned around, she knew this one was Callum's, because the dream Claudia was no longer giving him a delicate blowjob. The King Callum was face-fucking her against the tree, and judging from the sounds, the Claudia was gulping down a hefty dose of royal seed, making lewd noises of approval of each batch that made it to her tummy.

Though he looked so cute when he was torn by an orgasm, Claudia decided their boyfriend had enough time asserting his dominance.

Two more waves of her hand, and when the black mist she surrounded herself with vanished, he was on his knees, in front of two thrones, occupied by two queens, one dressed in black, and second in white.

- Please, forgive me... - For spying? On the royalty? - queen Claudia fumed, crossing her arms - We're gonna have gallows prepared, just for ye - Rayla snickered - And we're not gonna chop yer head off...

Callum flinched when queen Rayla announced her plans, looking frantically for anyone, who could help him. At the same moment, the two queens stood up and surrounded their prisoner. The two circled him like the wasp vultures, touching his shoulders and head, and with each contact, he flinched, afraid of his imminent punishment.

- Although... - queen Claudia suddenly spoke, and Callum at once raised his head - I think we might have another use of our prisoner that might just save his dignity. - Oh, right... - Rayla smirked. - Yer in luck, lil' peeping Tom, for ye may be just what we need.

Claudia knew exactly what her dream vision had on her mind. This was part of her fantasy now. She waved her arms, and the scene changed. Callum stood in the same spacious bedroom he was peeping at before, though now he was no longer in chains, and the two queens lay on it, in much less regal attires than when they pondered their judgement on Callum.

- You see, young stable-boy, though we are in love, there is sadly one aspect of our marriage that we cannot achieve, even with my magic. - Claudia let out a small, pink spark from her hand. - A-and what is that? - Well, it is the issue of heirs... - Claudia spoke dreamily, watching as Callum's eyes widen and knees wobble.

Words got stuck in his throat, but even if he could say anything, Rayla was quick to articulate his thoughts that raced through his mind.

- That's right, if ye were so eager to get inside our bedchambers, you'd be equally fast to get inside us...

Rayla gently moved the thin veil of her dress away, showing her exposed, glistening pussy, and dream Claudia did the same, spreading her legs to revel her sex. As Callum gasped, watching the erotic spectacle, Claudia decided to fast-forward it to the juicy part.

With a move of her hand, he was naked already, pounding each of his lovers in turn, unable to believe his luck. Rayla and Claudia kissed and caressed each other's breasts, moaning in rhythm of his thrusts. But both Claudias had the same idea on how to make their love-making even better. Their hands moved at the same time, as dark aura surrounded his genitals, and once the mist has vanished, Callum was surprised to see he now had not one, but two cocks, one for each of his lovers.

Claudia never found a correct animal to perform this spell, but in the realms of dreams, anything was possible, and now the two queens salivated at the sight of Callum with two phalluses, about to rock their world.

And with that, Callum no longer had to choose which pussy he wanted to please first, and plunged himself deep inside both queens, driving them mad with pleasure. It certainly helped that Claudia's magic gave him an extra inch or two of length...

If the bed they were on were wobbly before, it was now properly shaking with their three joined bodies mashing against each other. Callum no longer cared that the women he was pleasing were queens; Claudia had her hair pulled, and Rayla's ass was sore from spanking when the new royal lover flipped them around.

And when he reached his peak, Claudia allowed him to fulfil his and her fantasy as well: he lunged himself inside their yearning pussies one last time, filling them with endless stream of his potent warmth, which in turn set off their climaxes, making their bed shudder again. For a solid minute, Callum flooded the queens, and when he pulled out, he was greeted with a sight of two creampied, overjoyed women that praised his virility.

- What do you think, Rayla? - Claudia gasped, when she rolled to her side and spread her legs to see how plentiful Callum's orgasm was. - I think he will do fine... - Rayla wheezed, unable to catch breath. - Well, looks like you got lucky. - Claudia stated - You have managed to please us both... Not as well as we could each other, but still, when the time comes, I'm sure you will give us plenty of heirs. But until then...

Claudia's eyes grew black, and with a single spell chains appeared around his neck, tying him to the bed post.

- You will be our pet and a fuck toy. Do you understand? - Y-Yes!

Claudia pulled the chain, making Callum yelp in pain.

- Yes...? - Y-yes, your majesties. - Callum whimpered, knowing he was still lucky to be alive.

Claudia smiled, watching as her dream self and Rayla engage in post-coital kisses, leaving the poor Callum to watch his two creampied ladies. She decided to end his suffering, and with another storm of black mist, the scene changed.

This time, Claudia had difficulties seeing through it. She walked through the mist, until she found herself in a very familiar cave, and as she realised when the scene was happening, her heart skipped a beat.

They were all a bit younger, confused, and unsure of what was going to happen. After all, the war was still raging, and they have just escaped certain death...

The campfire gave off just enough light so she could see their faces. Callum, Rayla and younger Claudia lay next to each other, staring into the cave's rocky ceiling, as if nothing happened. But Claudia knew exactly what preceded this awkward moment, and with a wave of her hand, she easily turned the time back to hear it again.

- I love you. - Callum spoke, holding their hands, looking back and forth at the two women. - I-I love you both.

Claudia and Rayla exchanged knowing looks and as Rayla was about to say something, Callum started speaking his mind, stuttering and rambling.

- Because I can't-I can't choose between you two! You, Rayla, you are a loyal friend who made a brave, the bravest choice, and you, Claudia, you are the smartest mage I know, and-and... and you too decided to stand against those, who were controlling you...

He wiped his tears and addressed his companions again.

- I love you. - We kno' Callum. - Rayla chuckled. - It was pretty obvious. - Claudia added, giving him a warm smile that soothed his worries. - I think I knew since you've been twelve.

And just to confirm his feelings, the two women got closer to their future boyfriend and gave him a kiss each, before they themselves joined their lips for the first time. Claudia sniffed, watching the moment their relationship was sealed, but quickly remembered how uneventful was the conclusion of this night.

- Bet you didn't expect that... - Claudia spoke to flabbergasted Rayla that just had her first two kisses of her life.

Claudia smiled and brought her own memories, mixing it with a few of her own fantasies, joining the heart-warming love confession with another unforgettable night from about a year later.

Their three-way kiss didn't end as awkwardly as it really had. Instead, it continued, filling the cave with slurping noises, while their hands began roaming each other's bodies, desperate to get out of their clothes. Callum's got ripped apart first by two sets of hands, but Claudia's followed soon, when both Callum and Rayla took care of the mage's outfit. Rayla's assassin suit took a bit more time to undo, and the elf done most of it herself, at least not until Callum realised he can disrobe her in a single motion, toppling her to the ground.

With another wave of hands, the three suddenly were no longer novices at love-making. They were richer with years of experience they've gained over the few years that followed, and it showed, when Callum dived between Claudia's legs, instantly knowing which buttons to push. At the other side, Rayla took Callum into her mouth, showing no signs of gag reflex that plagued early attempts at oral sex from her. The elf adored Callum's scent and taste, licking inch after inch of his human cock, while he kept his hands around Claudia's legs to prevent her from kicking him or Rayla when they quivered.

And then, Claudia did what she always dreamt about. To complete the triangle, her younger self reached between Rayla's legs, and gave her a taste of what Callum was doing to her, much to her surprise. With that, the vicious cycle of giving was complete, and it was only a matter of time before one of the would become the weakest link. But not in this scenario: younger Callum would have filled Rayla's mouth five times already, but with his new skills, it Rayla a long time to bring the prince to his edge... Exactly as much as it took Claudia and Callum for their respective lovers.

The cave was slowly filling with louder and more desperate moans, and with a single slash of Claudia's hand across the mist, it exploded with light, just as the three youngsters achieved their first climaxes, much more powerful and potent than their actual, timid first time. Rayla's received a thick portion of Callum's seed, while his and Claudia's faces got covered with girls' juices, seeping onto their fingers that joined the action to help their tongues.

The three jittered and spasmed in convulses, as their simultaneous, triple orgasm raged through their joined bodies, as if it hopped from one person to another. The moans gave a way to erratic, rugged, tired breathing, as they recovered from pleasure, and within minutes, loud kissing noises eachoed between the walls, when the three decided to share their lips again, as if just ti prove that this amazing moment happened.

Well, at least that's how it should have happened. Claudia smirked, seeing their younger selves taking first rather big step into self-discovery.

And with that, she thought it would be suitable to end their dream on this cliffhanger. She uncorked the bottle and gathered the mist that surrounded her into it, and when the last cloud of smoke vanished, she woke up, with the bottle still in her hand, though with a few missing pieces of her attire, lying between her two equally naked lovers that began to wake up as well.

Something was wrong.

Callum was the first to open his eyes and meet Claudia's worried sight. His dreamy, blissful expression changed at once, when he realised something went wrong.

- Cla-Claudia? Did-did the spell...? - Well, it worked... - Claudia spoke, hoping her words would calm down Rayla as well - But I shouldn't have fallen asleep myself, and...

She reached between her legs, feeling a familiar stickiness.

- ...I think we kinda had sex for real. - Yer don't mean we did it in my village? - Rayla asked, as she sobered up - That-that spell couldn't have...

Claudia reached the door and grabbed the handle, only to find it to be locked. She let out a sigh and leaned back onto the bed.

- No. At least I don't think so. - And I hope I didn't give you two children, right...? - Callum asked with an equally worried voice. - Cos-Cos I'm not ready to... - Well, we took the potions... - Claudia scratched her head. - And I don't think the dream versions of us were fertile either, so... we should be fine. - Well, that's... that's a relief.

Callum wiped sweat from his eyebrows and stood up to open windows, to let in fresh air and combat the stuffy, heavy air inside the room. But when he turned around, he heard two gasps from his girlfriends. Rayla put her hand over her mouth, while Claudia's jaw dropped lower than he has ever seen. And only when Callum looked down, he realised what other element of their shared fantasies became reality as well.

The looks of shock and horror on girls' faces turned into ones of delight when they realised the sight of Callum with two cocks was not an illusion, but a part of their reality.

- Cla-Claudia?! - Callum asked in a squeaky voice, almost losing his balance - Can-Can it-Can you- - Even if I can, I'm not gonna do it without some tests. - she licked her lips. - What do you say Rayla, shall we continue the dream? - Oh, yer don't ha'e to ask me.

The moonshadow elf grabbed Callum's hand and brought him back onto the bed. It looked like their dream has only just began.

#raydium #claudia/callum/rayla #lemon #not safe for zim #nautiscaraderfics #Anonymous

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waeziverse · 4 years ago

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Royal Punch (chapter 7)

The thirteen-year-old human girl kept pounding the body of the harpy boy named Beau.

His greatest advantage had been his talon feet that he had used to stick into the canvas to stand his ground. But as the air was being punched out of his stomach, Beau’s feet lost their grip which meant he was unbalanced and unprepared as Dimi rammed her fist right in his pretty face and made him fall.

Dimi grinned as she raised a fist in the air after Maltus the Dwarf had counted out Beau. She went to her corner so Ivan could get her gloves and headgear off.

“Not bad, girl. Not bad at all.” Ivan took off his goddaughter’s protective headgear.

“Ivan, would it kill you to tell me that I did great?” Dimi smirked.

“I might do that one day. And you might eventually quit being so smug.” The minotaur dried the human girl with a towel, then held her by the chin as he studied her face. “Hmm… You look exhausted.”

Dimi yawned. “Can you blame me?”

A few days later…

“I’m telling you, Beau was tougher than he looked. I kept pummeling his body, but it took a while to knock him over.” Dimi grinned as the teenage dwarf Amethyst did her hair.

“Dimi, I honestly don’t want the details.” Amethyst said as she did the final details on Dimi’s new braids. “I get that you are good at it, but I couldn’t care less about two creatures hitting each other in the face repeatedly.”

“Hitting each other in the face AND evade getting hit in the face, Amethyst. It’s not as crude as you make it sound. Boxing is about most importantly about NOT getting hit. It’s kinda like… It’s kinda like dancing.” Dimi stood up from her chair and took a look at herself in Dimi’s bedroom mirror to admire her new hairstyle. “I love my new braids! I look AWESOME!”

“Good, because it’s my turn to get prettyfied.“ Amethyst took a seat at her bed and waited for Dimi to do her beard. The young dwarf was proud of how big her fluffy beard was despite her still being very young. Puberty had been most kind to her.

Amethyst’s mother Agate entered the bedroom with a tray with a pot of tea and a plate of cookies. “Girls, I have some snacks for you. Dimi, you have to leave about an hour from now. Or Ivan will be displeased.”

“Man, why do I have to go to bed early just because Ivan is an old lady?” Dimi tied the sixth bow on Amethyst’s beard. “I could stay up all night if…” She yawned “… if I wanted to.”

“I don’t know about that, young lady.” Agate took a cookie for herself. “You do look like a bit of shuteye could do you good.”

“Maybe it is all of that dancing that has tired out our resident master boxer.” Amethyst giggled as she stood up to see her own reflection in the mirror. “Look at me! Do I look like a princess or what?”

“Take it from someone who knows.” Dimi grinned as she rubbed her tired eyes. “You do.”

***

Dimi had slept like a baby, but she still felt a bit groggy as she went to get eggs from Aura the Sphinx’s egg stall at the town’s public square. The winged lion-woman greeted her. Dimi made a somewhat drowsy smile as she placed a bag of coins on the table. “Two eggs, please.”

Aura gave Dimi a basket with two griffin eggs inside. “Here you go. Also…” Aura winked as she placed a brown bag in the basket as well. “Some chicken sausages on the house.”

“Sweet! Thanks, Aura.” The human gave the griffin and chicken farmer a grateful smile. “Never realized how much I love meat till I moved in with Ivan.”

“That sweet man doesn’t understand that a healthy growing girl needs plenty of protein.” Aura gave Dimi a smile so all her sharp teeth were visible. But then she looked worried as the human girl yawned once more. “Dimi, are you okay? You look exhausted.”

Dimi nudged her face as she took the basket. “How come everyone tells me that? I look awesome.”

“You look worse for wear is what you do. Is Ivan overworking you? Are you ill?”

“No, I’m fine.” Dimi yawned.

“Dimi...” Aura was unsure if she was crossing a line, but she had to ask. “I’m sorry to ask, but are you on you… period?”

Dimi's face turned red like a tomato. “What? NO. I mean… yes… no… YES! Ah…” Dimi groaned. “... Which answer will make me look less stupid?

Aura was baffled. She placed a sign at her stand that said Will be back in a minute. "Dimi, I think we should have a little talk.“

***

After one very embarrassing conversation, Dimi went back to Ivan’s house with the eggs and went to the forge for work. She had recently gained the function as striker, meaning she had to swing a large sledgehammer while Ivan held the hot iron at the anvil with tongs in one hand, and made signals where to strike the iron by tapping it with a small hammer in his other hand. With some difficulties, Dimi delivered heavy blows against the metal while sweat ran down her forehead toward her slightly tired eyes.

Ivan raised an eyebrow. “You did go to bed at the time we agreed, right?”

“Yeah, stop asking already.” Dimi made a small groan as she swung the sledgehammer again. “This is difficult enough without your nagging.”

“I’m not nagging, just worried. Alright, I think that’s enough.” Ivan cooled the iron as Dimi dropped the huge hammer and stretched. “Look, there is no shame in feeling a bit under the weather. How about you go for a run, get some fresh air in the head, and then take a nap?”

“But what about the deliveries to Onyxville?”

“Dimi, I ran this forge long before you came into my life, I can live with you taking a nap now and then when you need it.” The minotaur handed her a wet rag. “Clean your face and get going. Who knows? You might not need the nap after a bit of jogging.”

Not long after Dimi had left the forge, Aura came in.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise.” Ivan cleaned his face before giving Aura a kiss.

“I closed the stand early today.” Aura embarrassed the bull-man. She smiled at him, but her face turned somewhat stern. “Ivan, I came because I think you should know how much it bothers Dimi that she hasn't had her first menstruation yet.”

“Wow, WOW! Hold up!” Ivan let go of Aura and took a step backward as he held his hands up as if he thought the sphinx was about to throw a ball at him. “You can’t just talk to me about Dimi and that… that girl problem.”

Aura restrained a laugh. “That girl problem?”

“You know…” Ivan’s blushed. “That… THING! The thing, you know? That month thing.”

Aura smiled as she rolled her eyes. “What are you, Ivan? A child? You haven’t talked to her about it at all?”

“I can’t talk to her about… about that. I’m a man.”

“Well, she did talk to me about it. And she is actually very upset about having yet to have had her first peri-”

“PLEASE don’t use that word and my goddaughter in the same sentence.”

“Her first PERIOD!” Aura smiled triumphant and giggled at Ivan’s expense as the bull-man buried his face in his hands out of embarrassment. ”Get a grip of yourself, Ivan. You are old enough to know that girls don’t have cooties.” Aura stopped giggling and looked serious once again. “She needs someone to talk about growing up, Ivan. I don’t expect that you can, but you have to make sure someone provides her with information about how and when her body will change.”

“Okay, you are right.” Ivan sighed. “Ah… What did you tell her about… about that?”

“I told her she has nothing to worry about. That it comes later for some than others and that it is completely natural.”

“I’m glad she has someone to talk about those… things. I know nothing about young female creatures and how they… work.”

“Not a problem.” Aura hugged the somewhat dirty bull-man and kissed him on the cheek. “But couldn’t she talk about it with Nora? You told me she was her great aunt, right?”

“I asked Nora, but she wasn’t sure she could help because…” Because humans and elves are slightly different in several ways. “Ah… it’s complicated. Hey, did you do something with your hair? Looks good.”

Aura raised an eyebrow. She noticed that there were a lot of things Ivan did not tell her when it came to Dimi. Like when she asked how he became the godfather of a human kid. Aura had heard that after most of the humans left the kingdom after the orcs took over that several human children had been allowed to stay after not-humans had agreed to adopt them. Aura wanted to know why he had agreed to adopt this girl, but he always changed subject right after saying It’s complicated, as if it was some sort of universal explanation.

Aura sighed. “Right… OH, almost forgot, I want to ask you a favor: I asked Korra to stop by my place after dinner because Hothoof hurt her wing. Could you stop by and help me hold her while Korra examines her? She gets nervous around animal doctors.”

Ivan looked terrified by the thought of being that close to a griffin. “Aura, you know how much I HATE touching animals.”

“Oh?” Aura gave Ivan a coy smile as she drew circles on his chest with her clawed finger. “Are you telling me that my big, strong, SEXY bull-man won’t do me that tiny favor?”

Ivan started to blink rapidly and gulped. “When will Korra arrive?”

“About a quarter to seven.”

“I will be there.”

Aura had a smile that went from one ear to the other as she left the forge and flew back to her farm. Ivan was SO easy. And she loved him for it.

***

Dimi usually loved to jog in the big forest not far away from Jadedale. Especially since it gave her the opportunity to visit her little friends she couldn’t really invite home since she knew how much they disturbed Ivan. But this day, she was just not in the mood. She was tired for some reason. Not as in overworked, but as in her head feeling like it was filled with cotton. As if she had been awake for days.

So she stopped jogging, something that required surprisingly much concentration. The weather was pleasant, so she took a seat on a tree that had been chopped over and left lying around. As she did that, one of her little friends came. A deer.

“Hey, Prongs.“ Dimi nuzzled the animal between its antlers. “Sorry it’s been a while. I had to see another friend yesterday and I’ve been busy the days before that.”

The animal lied at her feet like a cat, allowing her to stroke it.

“You know something, Prongs? It probably makes me a bad person, but I really enjoy it when my fist connects with someone else’s face. Every time, I imagine that I hit the orc princess in her ugly mug. I have no idea what she looks like, but I can see her so clearly as she is baffled after getting a knuckle sandwich from me. I hate her and I hit her and I knock her down.”

The deer looked at her with it’s beautiful black eyes.

“Don’t you worry, mister. Even after becoming ruler of the kingdom, I will make enough time in my schedule to come visit you from time to time. I promise.” Then, Dimi’s smile faded away. “Speaking of schedule, I can’t sit around here all day. I have a match next Sunday, I have to train.” The deer looked begrudgingly at Dimi as she stretched. “Don’t give me that, I’m fine. Hey, you wanna race?”

The deer just stared at her.

“UGH, you are just as bad as Ivan. I will run by myself. I need to build up stamina.” Dimi yawned as she began to jog.

Less than ten minutes later, she stumbled over a rock and fell over.

***

Ivan was getting worried. Dimi had been gone for an hour.

The minotaur soon saw that he had been right to be worried Dimi’s deer friend came with his goddaughter that was leaning against the king of the woods since she could barely stand on her own feet.

“What in blazes?!” Ivan rushed to the child’s aid. “Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine…” Dimi groaned.

“Yeah, and I’m a pretty little faun!” Ivan looked worried at the animal. “Um… did anyone… see you two?”

“No… no, Prongs and me took a detour. No one in the village saw me and my deer buddy.”

“Alright, THAT’S IT!” Ivan picked up the teenager in his massive arms and the deer left. “You are going to bed, RIGHT NOW!”

“I’m fine, just a little dizzy.” Dimi nudged her eyes. “Just give me some tea, and I-”

“I will give you some tea as well as send you to bed.” Ivan walked up the stairs toward Dimi’s bedroom. “I’m not sure what is wrong with you. But you are sick somehow.”

Ivan gently placed the human on her bed and then pulled her blanket up toward her shoulders and covered her. “Alright, you are tucked in.” Ivan sighed. “I will make you some tea, you will try and fall asleep, and I will get Nora or a professional healer to have a look at you and-AOUCH!

Ivan looked startled at his hand. It was bleeding. He looked at Dimi who lied in her bed… and he noticed a little vine growing out of the princess’ neck. It had red thorns.

“... Okay...” Dimi looked at Ivan with eyes she could barely hold open. “Maybe I am a little sick.”

“Um… yeah.” Ivan looked once again at his bleeding hand. “You… um… you try and fall asleep, and I will get some help.”

And then he ran as fast as he could toward Nora’s house, not knowing he had made a huge mistake.

***

Nora dropped her bow and arrows as she was about to go fishing.

“Please don’t tell me you sent her to bed.” The short elf with the hat hiding her pointy ears looked at Ivan with fear written all over her face.

“What?! I did, but why is that bad-”

“HURRY! BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!” The elf sprinted toward the blacksmith’s home with her legs much faster than that of a human’s as she did not give a damn if someone suspected that she was not human. Ivan followed as best as he could.

Once they arrived at Ivan’s house and opened the front door… a massive vine with sharp and pointy thorns came out of it and lashed out after them. The elf and the bull-man backed away as they saw plants break Ivan’s windows and come out slowly like big plant snakes.

Ivan gulped. “Princess puberty?”

Nora sighed. “Princess puberty.”

#Royal Punch #RP #Princess Dimi #Dimicatio #Ivan #Ivan the Minotaur #Ivan x Aura #Aurauaakarusaank #Aura the Sphinx #Aura #Nora the Elf #Nora #OC #fantasy

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inforapound · 5 years ago

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Ease the Dawn Chapter 1

A/N: Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in being tagged for my first ever fanfic. Let me know what you think. This is a learn as I go kinda thing and my grammar improves over the chapters.

Pairing - Ivar and Aethelswith

Warning - Kidnapping

Chapter - 1 of 18

The ride from the Humbery Monastery back to the castle in Wessex was a full day's travel commencing at dawn. The midsummer heat was stifling within the confining walls of the carriage and the rattling of the wooden wheels, over uneven ground, agonizingly loud. Aethelswith and her lady rode in silence for what seemed like hours, already covering the possible topics of discussion early into their journey and having to shout to do so. As the day stretched on, they cast each other repulsed looks and rolled their eyes as the crude horseman driving, repeatedly, cleared his throat and honked onto the ground. He would even stop to relieve himself off the side of the carriage, simultaneously, flatulating like a boar. He was a repulsive little man who obviously spent more time with horses than humans.

The guard was slightly more civilized, in manners at least, addressing her graciously as Princess and keeping obediently to his orders. This was not necessarily for her regard but because she was the cherished sister of King Alfred and the wife, seemingly less cherished, of Lord Burgred.

Unenthused about the uncomfortable journey home, Aethelswith was, at least, pleased to be resurfacing to the world of the living. As God serving as any other royal Saxon, the weeks of prayer with the sisters of Humbery was enough to make her feel mad in the head. But it had been the much-needed reprieve from her husband that generated the push for her trip to worship.

Tipping her head back against the smooth fabric of the seat, she closed her eyes in an improbable attempt at sleep. Her lady, a girl of seventeen named Ardith, hummed a hymn just loud enough to be heard over the constant clatter of their ride.

A sharp holler from their driver ripped her from her rest just as the carriage lurched on its path, jolting both her and Ardith against the open window. They braced themselves clinging to the wall of the carriage as it rumbled to a stop. A thick cloud of dust billowed inside causing them to hack and cough. Glancing between the open windows, Aethelswith could not see the reason the driver had swerved so violently. A cold shiver ran down her back and her mouth gaped open when she heard the strange voices outside the wooden walls. She did not need to understand their words to know they were not simple bandits. The accounts of rape and pillaging, as well as the tribulations of her brother's attempts to protect their Kingdom, rang like chapel bells in her mind. These were Northmen.

A carriage carrying two young Saxon women, traveling under guard, would without question capture their dangerous attention. Shooting Ardith a stern look, Aethelswith brought her finger to her mouth in an effort to shush the young servant but the girl was close to panic.

Leaning forward, Aethelswith sunk her hand deep into the woven bag carrying her tapestry materials and pulled out a thin-bladed dagger. Her eyes scanned the ornate handle with intricate gold vines and ruby flowers. The memory of receiving it as a gift from her grandfather, King Ecbert, at her coming of age ceremony flashed through her mind. As did her foolish adolescent thoughts of the time. She used to wish, on more than one occasion, that she would have the opportunity, one day, to use it. Squeezing her eyes closed, her cheeks burned at her naivety as well as the realization that today was most likely that day.

A sharp whack jolted Aethelswith from her thoughts and Ardith flung herself across the carriage, clutching onto Aethelswith in a frenzy. There were no voices that she recognized as her guard or driver. Footsteps over dry dirt rounded the carriage causing both women's eyes to widen. A rugged face appeared in the open window of the carriage door, his expression seemed pleased and curious, not as sinister as his intentions unquestionably were.

This man's features could not be mistaken for anything but Viking. His sandy flaxen hair was plated and pulled partially back away from his light green eyes which were narrowed under a heavily furrowed brow. He wore leather armour crafted to appear like the skin of a dragon and he was covered in grime, absolute filth, like a man who slept on the ground.

Despite the humidity, goosebumps spread up Aethelswith's arms and she tightened her hold around Ardith, narrowing her own eyes back at the heathen. The dagger was still in her other hand, concealed, between her thigh and the bench seat. Cautiously, he poked his head through the open window looking around the inside and breaking into a grin that Aethelswith could only describe as sly. The door was yanked open and he leaned his body forward lifting and resting a leather boot on the threshold. They were trapped. The Northman's pleased smile and squinted eyes shot back and forth between the terrified woman. Abruptly, he stepped back, bowing and dramatically motioning his arm as a footman servant would.

"Princess," he said in a sarcastic, thick-accented voice.

He knew who she was! Her eyes shot wide and her breath hitched as she shook her head in confusion as her mind searched for an explanation.

The grimy man's expression darkened and he barked out words in his own language but they sat frozen. Clearly frustrated, he huffed and leaned through the open door extending his arm to grab Aethelswith's knee. Without hesitating, she swung her dagger towards him, chopping it down onto his forearm slicing cleanly into his skin. Hissing, he lept back and grabbed his arm, his eyes wild with surprise, and shouted something indiscernible in his awkward language. Doing her best to steady the shaking in her hands, Aethelswith raised the dagger again, directing it at him. Turning away, he yelled to someone outside the carriage and then slammed the door hard, leaving the ladies inside.

Shouting bounced between an uncertain number of men before the same dirty hand, belonging to the Northman, shot through the open window, grabbing Aethelswith's wrist. It squeezed tightly and she cried out in pain as he yanked the knife free with his other hand.

Ardith's screamed but it was interrupted by the carriage door flying open. An older, giant of a man with long hair and a scraggly beard leaned in reaching past Aethelswith, clutching Ardith by the arm. Effortlessly, he pulled her out of Aethelswith's grasp, causing her to slam forwards onto her knees on the carriage floor. Ardith disappeared through the door and it slamming behind.

Scrambling to the window Aethelswith peered out; her breath was ragged and her throat felt too dry to scream. The tall, older Northman stood in front of two horses holding Ardith's tiny arm in one hand. As if she was a feather, he swung her up to sit on the chestnut horse, her dress flying up exposing her legs. Slapping the horse's rump, the animal skittered forward, launching Ardith onto its neck. She hugged the horse tightly as it galloped down the trail in the direction they had come.

The carriage dipped under the weight of someone climbing onto the driver's bench. Listening, she could hear and feel the heavy hooves and sway of the horses being readied just as the carriage jolted forward into motion.

Sitting board straight, she pressed her trembling hands to her chest attempting to slow her breathing. A cold sensation spread up her back and over the top of her scalp and she bit the inside of her cheek, realizing just how dire her situation was. She was being kidnapped and they had specifically targeted her. For ransom? Gold, she wondered? Where were they taking her? Her mind raced with questions. What would they do to her once there? Squeezing her eyes closed, she swallowed with difficulty at the images in her mind. Her guard and driver were obviously dead but as long as the carriage was moving, she was safe.

"Woah," called a gruff voice from up front as the carriage slowed to a stop.

@flowers-in-your-hayr @dreamwritesimagines @naaladareia @ceridwenofwales @yanii-the-hippie @jacksonroth @youbloodymadgenius @whenimaunicorn @ill-skillsgard

#ivar lothbrok #ivar's heathen army #ivar the bonless #Ivar and Aethelswith #ivar fanfic #ivar ragarson #frennamies #slow burn #ivar x princess #eventual smut

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shewhowantsmouseears · 5 years ago

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The Little Peach, Chapter 4

Notes: As always, huge thanks to my editor, Drucilla!

This chapter is shorter than usual, but I think given the plot points ahead, it's something we'll both have to live with. Sometimes I'm just too hard on myself.

As for Percuvio and Hutch, they're just random mooks I yanked out of INDUCKS.

Summary: As Mickey begins his journey, he discovers that sometimes compassion can get him farther than the blade.

Mickey had walked throughout the night, never looking back and keeping his eyes forward. He went to the very edge of the village, into the grassy plains, and continued to move as the sun began to rise. He couldn't afford to stop and sleep, since he needed to cover more ground than the average person. Every step counted and he had to make the most of it.

But as his feet began to ache alongside his stomach, a new problem reared its ugly head – he really had no way to tell how much progress he was making. It was mid-morning when he was finally tempted to glance behind him, perhaps out of a longing for his home that he'd never left before – and could only see the tall grass. Tall grass behind, tall grass ahead, tall grass to his sides – for all he knew, he could only be a few feet away from the village! He dreaded the idea of climbing up to confirm it, for if it was true, heartache and despair could kill him right then and there.

He shook his head hard, and forced himself to walk forward...

… This was forward, right? Uh-oh. Mickey paused, and panic began to creep up in his bones. Was it possible that his glance behind had turned him around completely? What if he wound up right back where he started? Or in a new direction away from his destination altogether? Now he felt dizzy, and he couldn't help but wonder if this had been a fool's decision all along. What he wouldn't give for a decent distraction!

“WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!”

That... hadn't exactly been what he'd been thinking of, but who was he to complain? Mickey could hear a dog barking clear as day, and far more panicked than he'd been mere seconds ago. No, this was a sound of genuine fear, and Mickey's good heart knew he had to help. With his own troubles instantly forgotten, Mickey headed towards the sound, hoping he wasn't too late.

A faint mercy came to him, in that he came upon a clearing where the grass was shorter just as the trees were getting taller. There was the smell of smoke and the crackle of wood burning, as a small campfire had been made between two Oni – one a mess of black wolf fur and hair sticking out all over the place, the other a stocky gray rabbit that was having difficulty keeping his eyes open. Both of them only had one small horn atop their heads, and they were watching the fire, waiting for the right amount of flame and heat, while their intended dinner continued to fight nearby.

The dinner was the dog – a poor golden pup that was wrestling in ropes, having resorted to barking since chewing the ropes had done little good. Mickey's heart sank like a wrecked ship – to think they were going to eat man's best friend!

“Make him shut up, Pacuvio!” The wolf growled, his ears twitching with annoyance. “Ain't we got enough rope left to tie that mutt's mouth shut?”

“'Fraid not, Hutch.” The rabbit replied after stifling a yawn. “We used the last bit of just getting him all tied up nice and neat. If we want him to hush, why, only thing left to do is...” He jerked his thumb across his throat and made a disgusting sound.

Mickey nearly jumped out of his sandals – absolutely not! He wouldn't let these dreadful Oni eat the dog! He grabbed the edge of his blade, ready to pull it out and...

… And then what? The last time he tried to take on even a single Oni, he'd been defeated within seconds. There was nothing to change it up now – no, worse, now he didn't have a big strong father to protect him. He couldn't defeat these Oni just by trying, that would only make things worse. But he couldn't stand by and let this happen. So what could a man only as tall as a peach pit do? He had to think of something before these wicked, brilliant Oni could act!

“I don't wanna do it,” said Hutch, visibly recoiling. “That's disgusting! You do it, you chop off his head.”

Pacuvio lifted his head, his droopy eyes taking on a bit of life. “Hey, you're the one who came up with this idea! I'm starving too, and we haven't managed to take over a single village... but if we go back like this, the Oni King will have our heads! So you chop off the dog's head.”

“I don't wanna do it! You do it!”

“I don't wanna do it either, but one of us has to do it, and it ain't gunna be me!”

“You do it!

“You do it!”

“You do it... times infinity!”

It then occurred to Mickey that he wasn't exactly facing off against wicked, brilliant Oni like in his father's legends. In fact... he let go of his sword, and decided to do a test. With gentle grace, he tip-toed into the clearing, scooting along the ground. The argument, if it could be called that, continued on without either of them noticing the extremely small person making his way around them. He was curious if they would've noticed him doing cartwheels and gymnastics, but this was no time to be a smart-alec.

Okay, he couldn't resist one cartwheel.

The pup hadn't noticed him yet, continuing to bark for his freedom, his four paws tied all together. It wasn't until he felt what he assumed was a bug walking on his ear that he tried to look around, and thus he wound up blinking at a very small person. This was such a shock to the dog that he immediately stopped barking.

The Oni realized this right away, and looked over at their victim – Mickey had enough sense to hide behind the dog's head, just in case. Pacuvio rubbed one sleepy eye. “Maybe he wore out his voice. I reckon I'm about to do the same, we keep goin' back and forth like this.”

“Well, we gotta settle this somehow, my belly is achin'!” Hutch grumbled, crossing his arms. “We ain't had anything to eat in days! We'll keel over before any mortal gets us... Aw, I wish things were back to the way with the old Oni King! He was a good egg!”

Pacuvio turned back to his companion, nodding in agreement. “Hear, hear. I was lookin' forward to that treaty, yes I was. No more fighting, we could all just live and let live. Now, we get bullied and bossed around, with no end in sight... but I'm still not chopping off the dog's head.”

“Only one way to settle this!” Hutch declared, and he held out his arm after rolling up his sleeve. “We arm-wrestle! Loser does the loppin'!”

“Oookaaay...” Pacuvio let the yawn escape this time, holding out his other arm to begin the match. “But it's only gunna make us hungrier, I bet.”

With the newest diversion at play, Mickey quickly set to work – he withdrew his “blade” and set to work trying to undo the knots. It was very difficult – sewing needles were not meant for such things, after all – but Mickey wouldn't give up. Samurai never gave up! The dog blinked and blinked again at the oddity trying to help him, trying and failing to make sense of it all. Given how long this was taking, it was reasonable to worry the Oni would catch him.

Thankfully, the Oni were evenly matched – way too evenly matched. They were grunting and grinding their teeth, using all their remaining strength to stay up while trying to pin down their opponent, and ultimately making no real progress at all. Thread by thread, little by little, Mickey finally managed to hack away enough rope so that one of the dog's paws was freed. As he set to work on the next one, the dog helped by using his own sharp paws to claw at the remaining ropes.

All in all, this took about ten minutes – and the wrestling match was still going on. The dog stretched out his legs when he was finally free, grateful to move again, and Mickey was relieved that he could finally be of use... but not as relieved as he thought he'd be. He watched the grown men, who now appeared ready to pass out, and felt a twinge of pity. They were hungry, and desperate, and they clearly didn't want to have done the thing they'd nearly done.

He looked at the dog, who could have run away, but instead the pup looked back at him, as if waiting for a command. Mickey thought about the bits of bread and cheese he'd taken along. He considered leaving it behind for the Oni to eat, but even as starving as they were, it would be mere crumbs to such giants. Though it was no fault of his own, he made a mental apology that he could do no more for them.

“I ain't doin' it!” Hutch barked, nearing his limit of physical limitations.

“Well, neither am I!” Pacuvio shot right back, his body trembling with weakness.

In one, angry, exhausted yell, both men cried out, “YOU DO IT!” with such force that they slammed their heads together, and with one unanimous K.O. , they fell to the ground.

Mickey watched them for a few more seconds, mostly just to confirm he did see exactly that. “Huh,” he said out loud, scratching his head. “I was kind of hoping my first defeat of an Oni would be a bit more...exciting.” Maybe this was one legend he wouldn't pass down the family line.

With that out of the way, Mickey turned to the dog, hands on his hips. “All right, you take care of yourself now, pal! The world's a scary place, especially with all those Oni around...” he trailed off, giving this speech a bit more thought. “... I mean, you could run into more capable ones. Probably. Possibly.” He cleared his throat, trying to return to the stance of the heroic samurai. “That is, you're free to go!”

But the dog merely laid down on the ground, head between his paws, with a small whuff as he waited. Mickey didn't know much about animals, given his mother's fairly reasonable fright of him being eaten by one, but he tried to guess what the pup was conveying. “What's the matter? Don't you have a home to go to?” The dog shook his head, and then nudged Mickey with its big black nose, almost accidentally bowling him over. “W-whoa! Hey, uh...” Mickey caught his footing, starting to guess better. “Are you sayin'... you wanna come along with me? Since I got you free?”

The dog nodded quickly, with rapid panting that nearly sounded like a joyful “yeah yeah yeah!”

Mickey's eyes widened, and he felt as if his heart was doing the same, as it was filled with so much joy it could have burst. “Aw! Really? Really really? That's great! We'll be traveling companions!” He then turned his hand slowly around his wrist, wanting to create a dramatic atmosphere. “But I warn you, it won't be easy! I'm heading to the capital of Japan, where the Princess lives, so I can ask her to grant me the power of the Lucky Hammer! We may meet many more deadly Oni on our journey!”

Hutch began to snore.

“Uh...we may meet actual deadly Oni on our journey.” This was getting off-track again. “I guess I can't just call you 'dog'... wouldn't be right. Everyone and everything deserves a name, and we're going to be friends, my friend needs a name!” Mickey took a look back at the Oni, and saw it fitting that he could use a combination of their unusual names to give his new ally a unique one. “How's about... Puh... Hul... Pluto?”

The dog glanced upwards as it thought about his new moniker, found it acceptable, and decided to show his gratitude by giving Mickey a big lick – although he only intended it to be a small thank you, it wound up knocking Mickey over. But Mickey laughed merrily anyway, managing to hug Pluto's nose and rub it with affection. “Pluto it is! My first real friend, Pluto! Alley-oop!” He began to climb up Pluto's face, and continued on until he sat comfortably atop Pluto's head. “There we go, now I can see clearly!” Now he could be sure which way was which, and make way with sheer confidence!

“Onward, Pluto! To the royal palace!” With that, the next leg of the samurai's epic journey began...

… and promptly ended when he fell off as Pluto ran.

Luckily it only took a short time for Pluto to realize he was one rider short, and he was quick to return to Mickey's side. The young man dizzily sat up, holding up a finger as he waited for the world to set itself back straight. “Lemme try that again, but this time, mind if I hold onto an ear?”

Pluto didn't mind, and with that, the next leg of the samurai's epic journey really began. While Mickey still wasn't entirely sure that this was indeed the right path to take in order to reach the palace, he was sure that it wasn't the way back to the village. Hope had been restored in his heart, although hunger was still in his belly. Were other Oni desperate and starving like that too? The Oni King had hoped to make the mortals suffer, but his own kin were hurting just as much. What a terrible ruler this Oni was, and what a shame the old Oni King and his family had died just as peace was within their grasp.

He began to get one of this three-pronged headaches, and if he wasn't holding onto one of Pluto's thin black ears to avoid flying off, he would have rubbed his head in pain. Boy, those were becoming more frequent lately. He hoped it wasn't a bad omen of things to come, and instead focused on the future, where he would be tall enough to give Pluto proper pettings.

~*~

Daisy woke up first, as she usually did, since the burden of housework was on her shoulders. Not that she minded – she was typically a happy housewife and mother, and longed for little more. Although the Oni still had a hold on her village, she tried to face the morning with a spring in her step. Nothing was the same forever, and it was high time she celebrated her son's birthday. No Oni would make her child unhappy, not if she had anything to say about it!

“Good morning, Mickey.” she said sweetly as she headed for the drawer, ready to greet him and start the day off right. “I know things have been bad, but we're going to change that with a big birthday party! How does that sound?” She opened the drawer...

… And screamed to high heaven.

Donald bolted up from sleep, scrambling to his feet, trying to find the enemy that was attacking his wife. “Who, what, when, where, sometimes why?!”

“MICKEEEY!” Daisy frantically began pulling out each and every drawer, trying to find her son, rechecking the drawers just in case, but there was no trace of him. “Mickey! Where are you?!”

“Huh?” Donald blinked rapidly, and managed to dodge one of the drawers she tossed behind her in her frustration. “What's going on? What's this about Mickey?”

“HE'S GONE!” His wife shrieked, and when it was clear he wasn't in or around the drawer, she began tossing and turning over every single piece of furniture in the bedroom, calling his name and growing more hysterical by the second. “Mickey! Mickey! MICKEEEYYY!”

“Now hold on,” Donald continued to dodge anything accidentally tossed his way. “I'm sure he's not gone, he's small! He could be anywhere in the house and we'd easily miss him.” Although he knew Mickey well enough that the boy wouldn't keep his mother waiting this long to pop out. “Maybe he went to get a head start on breakfast. I'll search the kitchen.” His arm still ached, and he rubbed it as he left the bedroom, hoping his wife wouldn't be reduced to tearing up the floorboards. Surely Mickey was around here somewhere, where else would he go? Why would he go?

But as Donald inspected the kitchen, a creeping sense of dread began to flow through his skin. Mickey could be quite mischievous, but he wasn't cruel, he would have shown himself after all this noise. Donald quietly began calling out Mickey's name as he looked through the cupboards, that bad feeling getting worse with each failure. No, no, the house was large, very large! He had to be somewhere! They never let any animals inside the house, so nothing could have taken him away. If he had moved, it would have been his own choice, and Mickey had no reason to leave.

Except, Donald remembered, a very big, painful reason.

Husband and wife searched from top to bottom, from the attic to the very dirt beneath the house, and as Daisy cried in anguish while re-searching the house, Donald's suspicions made him physically ill. He was tempted to put on his armor when he was ready to talk to Daisy, as he figured that would be the only thing keeping her from killing him.

“Mickeeeyyy!” Daisy called out again as she searched the attic for the third time, her face wet with tears. Donald awkwardly stood behind her as she smoothed down the floor with her hands, trying to detect a footprint or a sign of her son. “Oh, where could he be? What could have happened? My poor baby is out in the world, lost, alone, and in danger! Why would he leave? Why? Why? WHYYYY?”

Donald braced himself by inhaling deeply. “I... might have an idea.”

Daisy whipped her head around so fast her hair smacked Donald in the face, leaving a mark. She blinked, and then squinted. “Did you do something?”

Donald uneasily took a step backwards, holding up his hands in defense. “I need you to understand, it was a very frustrating night when the Oni attacked Grandma's arm. I was tired, and injured, and everything was lost.”

Daisy rose to her feet, fists clenched. “What did you do.”

“And, the boy, well, you know him, he got these ridiculous ideas in his head, he thinks he can do all these things but he's so small, so-”

“What did you do.”

“He tried, but he really couldn't do much of anything, I had to get him out of there, but he was being so stubborn, gets it from you if you ask me-”

Daisy's hand lashed out, grabbing Donald and slamming him into the wall, her eyes a blazing hellfire from which there was no escape. “WHAT. DID. YOU. DO.”

Donald tried to think of a way to tell her in the gentlest way, but really, there had been nothing gentle about what he'd done that night. It had been harsh and cruel, and worse still, he couldn't make himself apologize. He prepared himself for the worse, closing his eyes. “I... I told him... he wasn't part of our clan, he wasn't part of our village, and... and... and that he wasn't my son.” He then held his breath, waiting for the inevitable pain and punishment. Maybe she'd poke his eyes out, or sock him in the mouth, or throw him out the window.

But none of these things happened – in fact, nothing happened at all. Donald waited, then questioned if she heard him at all, which was silly since she was directly in front of him. He hesitantly opened one eye to see what was taking so long.

Daisy was angry, this much was obvious, but there was a sadness there that was so awful and agonizing that Donald truly wished she had struck him instead. He'd never seen her so sad, not even when she longed for a child in her barren womb. Her face was falling slowly, shocked by what she'd heard, her fingers loosening their hold on his clothes. “How...” Her voice trembled, and it felt like an arrow shot right into Donald's heart. “How could you... say such things to him?”

Donald's shoulders sank, and he couldn't stand to look at her heartbroken face. “I... he was... he was only going to get himself hurt, if he kept it up! He wanted to help, and he can't, Daisy! He can't help anyone!” The more he tried to excuse himself, the worse it sounded. He was angry because... Mickey wanted to help? Because for all of Donald's aggravation and abuse, Mickey still turned out to be a decent, good person?

“This is his home, Donald!” Daisy protested, fresh tears in her eyes. “And you made him feel like he doesn't belong! You made him think he'd rather face the awful, terrible dangers of the world than be safe here!”

Each correct accusation was a new wound, and Donald reached out to his wife in an attempt to comfort her. “Daisy, I'm sorry-”

“Don't apologize to me!” She slapped his hand away. “You know who you need to apologize to... and we have to go find him now!” She marched towards the stairs. “We need the entire village searching!”

“The Oni won't allow that!” Donald followed after her. “You remember what they want, everyone needs to work twice as hard to keep up with their demands! And for all we know, Mickey might have left the village completely, he could be anywhere by now!”

“Then what are we supposed to do?” Daisy asked angrily, hands on her hips on the bottom step. “Searching every single village will take forever, we don't have eyes and ears everywhere!”

Donald paused mid-step as an idea occurred to him. “No, we don't... but I know who does.” He cupped his chin, going over the possibilities. “It might be a long shot, but... perhaps the Princess could help us out. She can send out plenty of soldiers to look for Mickey, sweeping all over the land. One of my friends still works at the palace, he could put in a good word for us.” That same friend had kept him updated about the royals from time to time, and had been the very same one to tell him about the broken treaty years before. If luck was finally in Donald's favor, the man would still be there, and if he was, Donald had no doubt he'd help out.

Daisy gasped in relief. “You mean... him? That lady-killing Casanova who hit on me and you?”

“That was one time,” Donald said quickly, “but yes. The Emperor trusted him as much as he did me, and I'm sure the Princess will listen to her father's trusted guard. We need to get there as soon as possible – and we need to leave the village before the Oni notice we're gone.”

That meant they had to move quickly, so there was no time for Daisy to thank Donald for his brilliant idea save for a brief kiss on the cheek – and a kick in the shin for causing the problem in the first place. She took the bread and cheese from the kitchen – the very same Mickey had taken scraps from – while Donald grabbed his trusted sword.

Donald wished he could have informed his family of his departure, but he worried whatever information he left behind would bring the Oni's wrath upon them. In fact, part of him knew that the Princess would easily reject this idea, Donald's friend notwithstanding. She had an entire land to protect from the Oni, and couldn't afford to waste manpower searching for an incredibly small person. There was no sound reason this plan would work.

Yet he held Daisy's hand tightly as they fled from the village, never telling her about those dark thoughts. If Mickey could face several deadly Oni and refuse to back down, then Donald had no right to give up without trying. Or maybe they were both stupidly stubborn to a fault.

Little did they know that they were following the exact trail that the small samurai had taken.

#fanfic #the little peach #disney #mickey mouse #pluto #donald duck #daisy duck

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surveys-at-your-service · 5 years ago

Text

Survey #210

“made of flame, made of mud, i’m the many, i’m the one.”

Did your parents live in a different country before you were born? No. Do you have a preferred coffee brand? No. What’s something you’ve experienced that very few others have? Your favorite human on Planet Earth/God Himself noticing you. :') Three days I couldn't sleep. Three. Days. Do you have to wear an identification badge at your job? I don't have a job, yet. Have you ever dated someone who was terrible with money? No. If so, how did it affect the relationship? N/A How often do you paint your nails? Never. Do you know anyone who’s related to a current or former world leader? I'm related to Queen Victoria somehow. Idk about anyone else. Do you do your own taxes, or do you hire a professional? No job, no taxes yet. What is something you don’t have any natural talent for? Mathematics. Has anyone ever told you that you get too competitive over minor things? No. Do you usually befriend your coworkers, or do you prefer to keep work separate from your personal life? N/A What was the very first thing you ever saved up to buy with your own money? I think Venus. Describe your favorite Christmas ornament. Man, I have a lot. We've accumulated A LOT over the years between me and all my siblings. Mom gets each of us one every year, and she's also kept all the ones we've made throughout school. She's so cute y'all. There is this REALLY damn pretty swirling crystal one with an angel on the top of it I got from my grandmother, that's definitely one of my faves, I've always loved this lil gingerbread dude I made in pre-k, and... idk man, there are truly a lot. What is something you frequently forget? To turn the laundry room light off anytime I go in there at night for Roman's litter scooper or to bring dirty clothes in there. By this point it's like a joke in the house with how much I do it for whatever reason. How do you feel about your body? I hate it. Who is someone you would like to get to know better? Connie, but I respect her privacy. I know you have to be careful online. What’s your opinion on assisted suicide? For it. At what point do you consider a relationship to be ‘long-term?’ Hm, idk, really. A year? What jobs did your parents have when you were growing up? Mom worked with special ed kids at school, she had a job at the hospital doing computer work I can't remember because I was so young, Dad's been a mailman all my life, but he also worked at Lowe's as a carpenter I think for a while. Do they still have these jobs? Or different jobs? Or have they retired? Mom's got a totally different job, and I already mentioned Dad being a mailman. Do you have any recurring dreams? Themes, yes; dreams, no. Have you ever had to call 911? Why? Yes; Mom and I thought she was having a heart attack. Terrifuckingfying morning. Do you get out a lot? I might as well be on fucking house arrest. I can stay in the house and go nowhere for over a week. Do you eat a lot of vegetables? No. Last fast food you ate? I had a Hardee's biscuit for breakfast. Do you live in Canada? No. What do you think when you see two members of your preferred sex kissing? It's sweet, and brave considering the assholes of the world. Is that hot? "For fuck’s sake… It bothers the hell out of me when people fangirl over homosexual couples. It’s so disrespectful." <<< THIS. Would you ever want to be a chef? No. Bonfires: Y/N? They're fun. What’s a food that’s famous in your hometown/state/country/etc? Southern cooking, like fried chicken, mashed potatoes, hushpuppies, pulled pork, nasty shit like that. By pure coincidence, I literally hate almost all the "traditional" Southern foods. When’s that last time you saw snow? January this year. I think it was January... What’s something that you think will become obsolete in the next 50 years? Physically driving cars, probably. Are you efficient or do you procrastinate a lot? I procrastinate all to hell. Who are the 3 people you love the most? Mom, Sara, and then... idk if I can pick #3. Last person you slept in the same bed with? Sara. When was your first kiss? March 2012. Have you recently been sick? No. What song are you listening to? "Break My Mind" by dAGAMES. Would you marry someone if they were unable to have sex? Yeah. Have you ever made a boyfriend or girlfriend cry? Sadly. Does heartbreak really feel as bad as it sounds? It's worse. Weed, coke, crack, heroin, oxy, acid, x, k, peyote, mushrooms, opium…How many of these have you tried? I have no clue what like three of these even are lmao. None. How long has it been since you had sex? Like over three years. Who was the last person to call you babe? Probably Sara. Last reason you went to the ER? My sister got in a wreck. Were you a planned pregnancy for your parents? I believe so. Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth? Yeah. When was the last time you shaved your legs? It's been many months. My legs are AWFUL, but it is an absolute chore to shave or use Nair because my hair is so long and thick. So I figure if there's very little/no chance someone's going to see my legs, why even do it. I really wanna get laser hair removal on my legs when I can afford it, though. What facial cleanser do you use? A Biore charcoal scrub. If someone wanted to know what you smelt like, what should they smell? I don't know? Probably dogs, lmao? How many purses do you own? One I use, then I have... two or three old ones saved just because I really like them. What are your top five favorite stores to clothes shop? Hot Topic, Rebel's Market, Spencer's, rue21, and... idk. I guess Wal-Mart lmao. What kind of clothes do you mostly wear? Yoga/dance/sweatpants with a tank top, graphic tee, or band tee. What about shoes? Flip flops like, year-round lol. If I do wear something else for whatever reason, it'll probably be my Vans or maybe a pair of Converse. Have you ever cheated on the significant other that you have now? No. For that one week a month, do you hate being a woman? Nah, birth control's made cramping a far smaller problem. Last thing you bought at the mall? Wow, I have no idea. Well... maybe a book before the hurricane to read if the power went out? I haven't read it if you're wondering, aha... Do your parents like your boyfriend/girlfriend? Yeah. Dad's met her once, but he seemed to enjoy her just fine, and Mom adores her. What store did you last buy clothes from? Wal-Mart. Which parent are you more similar to? I have traits aligning with each of them. I think my mom, but then again, I don't see my dad nearly enough to know his personality deeply since he changed IMMENSELY after the divorce. Have you ever been to another country’s capital city? No. What are some of your favorite qualities for another person to have? Compassion, wisdom, an open mind, gentle, passionate, a good sense of humor... What smell reminds you of your childhood? Chlorine, I guess. I swam a LOT as a kid; it was my favorite activity. Are you happy with who you are? In some ways, in some ways no. Do you ever sleep with your bedroom windows open? No; we live beside a busy road, and plus I don't trust people. Have you ever had a job where you didn’t fit in with your coworkers? No. What was the last word document you typed? I made a brief outline of the message I'm sending to the client who hired me for her wedding when I send her her pictures. Thanking her and telling her what more I could do for her, stuff like that. What’s something that has upset you lately? The extreme difficulty of finding a job for myself... Do you have a home security system? No, but damn do I want one. What’s something you don’t think people take seriously enough? If you know the darker part of my photography, roadkill. People see it and either think 1.) "poor thing" or 2.) "dumb thing," and that's it. No one seems to truly consider our responsibility to watch for animals on the road; in most instances I've seen, the animal is blamed for being "stupid." No, they're fucking terrified and panicking. Anyway, I'm going on a tangent. Basically, I think we should feel far more pity for what we end, even though it's accidental. And get out of the fucking car to see if it's okay/can be saved. Have you ever gotten sick from someone else’s cooking? I believe so, but I don't really blame the cook. My stomach is just REALLY sensitive to food it's not used to, particularly fancier meals. What was the last kind of cheese you ate? American. How young is too young to be sexually active? "Personally, I think anything under 18." <<< Same. Would you ever dye your hair silver? I wanted to at some point, but particularly with my hairstyle now, idk how good it'd look. What was the last fun thing you did? Shot a wedding. Have you ever dated someone who had a child from a previous relationship? No. Is there any drama currently going on with your family? No. What’s your favorite kind of soup? I'm not a fan. Do you know anyone who practices Hinduism? No. How long was your longest relationship? Three and a half years. When was the last time you spoke to the first person you ever kissed? February 2017. What’s a political issue you have a strong opinion on? Gay rights. What snacks do you like to get at the movie theater? Just popcorn is fine. If I have any candy, it's from a gas station or dollar store. Movie theater prices are expensive as fuck. Have you ever stayed in a hotel in the center of a big city? No. What was the last fruit or vegetable you chopped/sliced up? Romaine lettuce for my iguana. When you take a nap, do you nap in bed or on the couch? In bed. Do you have any friends you have never gotten into an argument with? Yeah, Connie. Girt and I have also never really had an argument, he's just said things that hurt me as his sense of humor can be a bit harsh and they were sensitive areas, but he's never meant it. Do you think you could survive living by yourself for a month? No. Can you cook anything other then toast? Yeah. How many times have you cried over the last person you cried over? I don’t remember the last person that I cried over. Have you ever been in an on-and-off relationship? So annoying right? No. Have you ever developed a crush on someone the first day you met them? I don’t think so. Have you ever been with someone who was really clingy? Did it annoy you? For only two weeks. I like to pretend that shit never happened. Is there a store you go to so much the employees know your name? The tattoo/piercing parlor I go to know me well; some probably remember my name. Do you have any friends who never shut up about their boyfriend/girlfriend? One literally only talks to me if she wants to ramble endlessly about him. Have you ever helped someone while they were drunk puking? No. There is NO way I could be with someone while they're vomiting. The sound would make me join in, and that's almost a promise. What annoys you more to do, sneeze or cough? Cough. Would you rather have a pet snake or a pet cat? I want another snake. Do you fall for all the lines about making guys/girls like you on magazine covers? Lmao yeah right. Do you have a calendar in your room? What’s it’s theme? My door is currently open so I can't see for sure, but I have three or four outdated meerkat calendars as decoration. Have you ever gotten anything racist about you yelled at you? No. Does the last person whose house you were at like anyone? She's married, so obviously. Do you own more pink or black clothes? Just about everything is black. Has a boyfriend/girlfriend ever given you a stuffed animal? Yeah. What does the last body wash you used smell like? I think it's some kind of ocean-y scent? I don't pay attention. I just know it's blue. What is the worst name anyone has ever called you? A martyr, and not the good kind. Where is your favorite place to eat out? Sonic. Does it bother you when people call you ‘ma'am’ or 'sir?’ No. That's general good manners in the South. Have you ever been obsessed with a television character? I don't think so, but maybe? What was the last thing that changed your life completely? Recovery. Do you have any step siblings? One. I don't call him my brother, though. Did you partake in senior skip days? HA I sure did. Have you ever read the Christian Bible? Not the entire thing. When the holidays come around, do you help decorate? Yeah. Has someone ever promised not to leave you? NEVER IN YOUR FUCKING LIFE BELIEVE THAT SHIT. Do you have a part-time job? No. Are you the type of person who likes to buy gifts for your friends? If I had my own money, I absolutely would. Hopefully I can when I have a job... though I don't exactly have many people to send anything to. Have you ever lived in an apartment before? I wasn't an actual resident, though I was pretty much always there. Have you ever been questioned by the police? No. Are you close to your parents? Yeah. Have you ever had to be put on medicine for a mental disorder? For most of my life. Have you ever been responsible for someone’s death? Wow, no. Do you ever spend the night with your significant other? Well, we're long distance. We do when we visit each other. Do you know a lot about serial killers? No. Have the police ever been looking for you? Ha ha yes, but only because my sister, friend, and I went walking on the beach at night, and apparently Mom didn't hear us when we told her we were going... Have you ever been in a car accident? Yes. Do you cuss more than any one else you know? Tbh probably lmao. How old is your youngest cousin? I don't know. Do you tend to talk on the phone a lot? No. Have there ever been any serial killers around your hometown? I don't believe so. When was the last time you went to a museum? When my brother and nephew were here early this month. Do you know how to shoot a gun and hit a target? No. What turns you on the most? Don't grab my boobs. Have you ever kissed someone of the same sex? Yes. Do you answer the phones at your work? N/A What’s your ring tone? The Revaleso remix of "Dear Insanity" by Asking Alexandria. The text alert sound is the chime of picking up a gem in Spyro. Do you want to fix anything with anyone? Yeah. Did you wake up in the middle of the night last night? I do literally every night. It sucks. What shows do you watch? None. Do you know anyone who has been arrested? Yes. When you were in elementary school, did you change best friends a lot? No. Have you ever suspected anyone of cheating on you? No. Who was the last person to give you a ride somewhere? My VR counselor drove me home the other day. What’s the scariest bug you’ve ever seen? I'm sure some kind of beetle. Not a fan of beetles. What was your favorite TV show you watched as a kid? Pokemon. :') How many times a day do you tell your parents you love them? Mom, at least once when she leaves for work. Dad, I barely ever see him, so. I don't daily. Ever talk to your pets? Of course I do. I talk to them like I talk to people. Do you think it’s alright if people baby talk to babies? ... Yes???? At a certain age you need to set an example to talk correctly, as the kid is going to copy you, but as a baby, no shit it's fine? Ever take a nap in a hammock? I may have fallen asleep, maybe not. Probably not tho 'cuz I would've been afraid of bugs (the hammock was between two trees directly outside the woods in our backyard), so I've likely just dozed for a bit, if anything. Who’s the best character in Rugrats? Oh boy, I don't remember them all. I know I liked Tommy, but I mean, he was the main character, so I guess that's to be expected for a little kid, mostly seeing him. Ever get caught doing something naughty with your boyfriend/girlfriend? No. Who has had the biggest impact on your life? Jason. Girls: ever wear boxers? Guys: ever wear a thong? No. Do you use q-tips to clean your ears? DON'T DO THAT. I got wax adhered to both eardrums because I did that frequently; it inevitably pushed things back and dried onto them. NOT fun getting it sucked out; hurts like a bitch. Always only use them for the outside of your ears. This has been a PSA. Ever want to make out with someone, anyone, didn’t matter who? No. Ever had your feelings hurt when you knew the person was joking? That is EASY, friendo. Do you make jack-o-lanterns during Halloween? Sometimes. Have you ever swam with dolphins? No. Cats, awesome pets or Satan in disguise? I love cats. When you buy/receive new clothes, do you instantly wear them or wash first? Wash them. Do you hate using public restrooms? VERY MUCH. I will avoid using one at almost all costs. What’s the weirdest item you’ve seen for sale on Ebay? Oh my fucking god. So one night my friend Chelsea and I were up REALLY late and were loopy as fuck and this bitch started looking up weird dildos and shit and I'm not even remotely kidding, she found a huge 50 lb. butt plug. I sincerely wish I was joking. Do you check to make sure there’s TP before using the restroom? Yeah. Do you drunk dial/text? I've never been drunk. Have you ever built a massive snow fort? No. We don't get enough snow here. Are parents to blame for what their kids do on the Internet? Not entirely. Do you use acronyms to remember things? I did in school. Do you take pills like Tylenol for the littlest aches and pains? No. When was the last time you went rollerskating? WOW I don't know, but it's been a long time. Do you call people “dude” a lot? Yes. Who was your favorite Ninja Turtle? I was never into them. Horror flicks make you: laugh, scream, or squirm? Out of those, I may ever only squirm at nasty shit. If you could become a doctor, what would you specialize in? Probably ophthalmology (eye doctors). The last time I went to the eye doctor, I got way too into the science and anatomy of the eyes and such. You woulda thought I saw God when I realized I could see the veins in my eyes during that "lemme shine this light straight into your eyes" tests; I thought it was SO cool. Well, I probably realized this at previous appointments, I just didn't remember. Hm, or maybe a pathologist, that'd be cool. I'm looking through a list of doctors, yes. What’s the cutest thing a little kid has ever said to/in front of you? Probably just "I love you" and stuff like that from my niece and nephew. Ha ha aw, wait... When my brother and older nephew were here, Christian exclaimed, "She's up!", like the MOMENT I moved in bed one morning. I'm so happy to say that kid loves me. He wore me the HELL out in the course of just three days, but man, I miss the lil dude now. That occasion in particular just really sticks out to me because I do not find myself good with kids, and to just hear how excited he was that I was up meant the world to me. Apparently I was fun enough. At what age do you plan on moving out? I hope in like... two more years, maybe less. I need a stable job, a car, but I also DO NOT want to live alone, so I'd want to wait until Sara was ready to move, too. I'm beyond thankful Mom isn't rushing me in the least, she seems happy I live here actually, but I don't want to be in her hair much longer nonetheless. I have to be an adult. Did any characters from TV shows scare you as a kid? Which one(s)? King Ramses from Courage the Cowardly Dog fuck-ing TERRIFIED me. His animation was unique to what was normal in the show, so that automatically stood out as different and weird, but more than anything, I was just so scared by his voice and repetitive lines. I had nightmares of that shitlord. HA HA OH MAN I REMEMBER THIS TOO: When I visited my aunt and uncle's when I was little, my family slept on the floor in a room downstairs, and there were small trees outside the window that would sway, and the outline on the curtains would make me think of him. I remember waking Mom up one night about it, and I think she gave me something for comfort, but idr what. What’s the saddest thing you’ve heard on the news recently? In my very own fucking state, consent can no longer legally be revoked when sex begins. Fuck this place. How long does it take before you trust a person? It depends on the person. It's usually a while, though. Have you ever made a time capsule? What did you put in it? Hm... I feel like I have? Wait yeah, I did in elementary school! It was a class effort. Idr where it was buried. What would you do if your mom or dad read your diary/journal/blog? My mother would be deeply concerned that my love of Mark runs as deep as it does, meanwhile my dad would be v v v confused. They would mutually be very worried of their daughter's willingness to eradicate the fools of the population and replace them all with miniature Fischfucks. Do you know anyone with a lisp? I may? I don't exactly have a lisp, but in certain words, I pronounce "s" weakly due to my tongue piercing getting in the way, but it's very mild. If you were to break a Guinness Record, which one would you try and beat? Idk. What’s the coolest item in your room? I'm not sure, I find a lot of things in here particularly cool for various reasons. Hence why it's so heavily decorated. I guess my favorite is probably the Japanese, limited edition Silent Hill: Revelation flyer I have framed on the wall. I won it in a giveaway and I love it alskdjfklajwer. I wanna collect more SH merch, man. Are you accident-prone? Yes, due to my own lack of common sense and clumsy nature. As a kid, what was your favorite activity on the playground? I BOLTED for that swing. Are huge muscles gross or sexy? I'm not a fan of extreme muscles. Have you ever fished and caught something weird? Phew, I grew up fishing all the time with Dad. I'm certain I have. Well, I caught a catfish by the eye, but only the method's weird there, lol. I still to this day feel so bad for the fella. Is old age catching up with you? In my back and knees lmao. Can you sleep through thunderstorms? Yes. Ever spent the night in a tent? Yes. Do people confide in you? Some do. Ever been around someone who makes you feel stupid? He doesn't intend to, he's just reeeaaally fucking smart. Actually, that goes for my brother, too. I knew he was very intelligent, but holy shit, when he was here last and I actually got to hear more about him, his beliefs, and general knowledge, dude's a genius. How many college degrees do you want? Either up to Bachelor's or Master's. For my career goal of being an out-in-the-field zoologist, I need the latter. Do you like animals? SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you ever written anything longer than 10 pages? Yes; my high school senior project was at least one. There's other personal stories I wrote as a kid, too. Can you snap your fingers? Yes. Can you wink? My right eye, yes. I can with my left eye, but not without my face distorting pretty badly. What song explains how you feel about love? *shrugs* Does hardship make a person stronger? It depends on what they take from it. What comes to mind when you think of pregnancy? Ew please never. Have you ever attended a professional sporting event? Yeah, hockey games with Dad. What is your favorite brand of clothing? I don't have one. Which do you value more, intellect or work ethic? Work ethic. How well do you know the people you live with? Well, I live with my mom, who I've lived with my whole life, and we're very close, if that answers the question. Do you have any heroes? *blinks* Ever been to a cabin on a mountain? No, I wish. Ever lost your voice? At least once. Are you a cautious person? Yes. Meet Anxiety, baby. Do you enjoy comedy shows? Yeah. Do you chew gum? Sometimes, rarely. Do you think a lot when taking a shower? Not really. I just enjoy whatever music I have on. Are you currently charging your phone? No. Do you ever get razor rash? No. Are you a private person? It depends on the subject. If you straighten your hair, do you always use hair spray? N/A Do you curl your hair often? It's too short to be curled. What’s the earliest you’ve ever woken up for school? Idk. Probably around 5:00-5:30 if I was getting ready for a special day or something. Can you get ready in under 10 minutes? Yeah. Has anyone ever told you that you were a bad kisser? No. Do you like Frostys from Wendy’s? Hell yeah. Would you ever sleep in the same bed as your sibling? Sure, if we had no other choice. Ever taken a shower with someone? My little sister and I did all the time as kids, I'm guessing to save water. Would you consider yourself to be a creative person? Yes. Do you usually take a nap during the day? Yes, usually. Might you enjoy hanging out in the woods for day or two? HELL YEAH!!!!!! So long I have my camera and company, that'd be awesome!!! Do you suffer from frequent paranoia? Eh, not as badly as I used to. Two friends whom have been there for you the most? Sara and Girt. If you/your gf became pregnant accidentally, would you consider abortion? If it was my own fault for not using protection, I couldn't do it; then that's my own foolishness. I would regardless if my life was endangered, though. I do believe abortion is killing a living being once brain activity begins, but I believe in the right to put yourself first. If a complete stranger picked a fight with you, would you fight or flight? Flight if possible. Defend myself when necessary. Have you ever decided to set fire to something out of anger? No. Would you rather be a house pet or a wild animal? House pet, so long as my owner is a good one that truly loves me. Wild animal would be much more dangerous, and besides, I like the idea of companionship. Can you juggle more than two objects at once? lol I probably couldn't even juggle two. Can you function well on little to no sleep? Eh. I'm cranky for sure, but I can function. Well... depending. If I am REALLY tired, I won't be able to keep my eyes open. Do you find that it is difficult to maintain your mood? Even on medication, I'm still bipolar (not using that as an adjective; I'm legitimately diagnosed with it). My mood can change VERY quickly with tiny stimuli, but at a much, much milder degree. Have you ever listened to a group of chanting Monks? (if not you should) No, but it's cool! Two sports that you are horrible at? Tennis and volleyball. The latter mostly just hurts like a bitch. One thing that you would like to change about your life? My job situation. What was the last candy you ate? Sour gummy worms. Which decade was your favorite for fashion trends? Idk. I'm really not educated enough on what was trendy for each one. Do you like the current fashion trends? I pay no attention. Who is the strangest (or one of the strangest) person you’ve met? I won't give away his name as it's a pretty unique one, but there was a kid in high school who was certainly different in both good and bad ways. He was pretty unstable. Made his own religion. What are you struggling with currently? Finding a mfckn job. Do you forgive yourself for your mistakes? Most, I'd say. Have you ever been abused by a police officer? No. Name one friend who had a parent who was in jail. A cousin of mine. Has anyone tried to kill you and then played the victim? No? What is your favorite board game? I like Battleship and Scrabble. Can you remember the last time you played a board game? A few months back with Sara and Girt. Actually Scrabble, lol. List three traumatic memories you have. The only truly traumatic memory I have is the breakup. Well, I guess a nightmare I had with my dad kinda is too, seeing as it still affects my trust today? Have you ever been misdiagnosed with something by a bad doctor? Yup. How the fuck did I have ADHD, woman. If you don’t mind my asking, when was the last time you had diarrhea? Like about two weeks ago before my period started. That's starting to seem like a theme. Do you prefer sunny days or cloudy days? I like partly cloudy. Do you have a painful past? A good chunk of it. But I mean, who doesn't have some rough paths behind them. What was the best time of your life? Walking through Chicago with Sara and her dad one night was INCREDIBLE. Coming from the middle of nowhere into such a colossal city with all these lights and such was such a shock to me, and exploring it with them was super cool. It was cold as fuck, but still, it was fun. When was the last time you were hugged? Idk. Well, probably last time I was at Ashley's saying bye to everyone. Do you trust your doctor? Yes. Name something God has healed you of. HAHAHAHA. If applicable, how old were you when you got "saved?" I was raised into religion, so I don't know. I grew up "saved." Have you been baptized, and if so, where? Yes, at my childhood church.

#survey #quiz #questions #bored #random

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incognitofujoshi · 6 years ago

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I Think I’ve Always Cared for You Ch. 2 (T-rated for now)

Midoriya met Todoroki at the Dorms, five minutes before the hour. He, desperately, needed to finish “something”, so Todoroki agreed to meet him, to practice, in another half an hour. It gave him more time to read.

They, along with a few other students, were granted permission to use Gym Gamma. Todoroki had arrived too early, and sat down by the Gym entrance. After a little while, he became antsy; he checked a nearby clock, for the third time in a single minute. ‘Midoriya should be arriving any minute now…’, he thought. Full of nerves, Todoroki looked at each of the students training, until he gazed upon two familiar faces.

Kendo and Tetsutetsu, from class 1-B, were training in a nearby corner. He decided to watch the two, to take his mind off of the time. Kendo was trying to improve her grip strength by squeezing Tetsutetsu, and he was trying to break out of her grip. Todoroki would have thought that Kendo had the upper hand, until he noticed her strain to hold on. It seemed that Tetsutetsu had superior strength, as he pushed through her fingers without too much difficulty. He’d have to inform Midoriya of his findings.

“Todoroki Kun, Sorry, I hope you didn’t wait too long.”

The dual-quirked student used every inch of his being to not jump. With measured restraint, he turned around to nod a greeting to Midoriya. “I didn’t.” He reached into his bag. “I brought you water.”

“Thank You!” Midoriya grabbed the bottle and beamed. His beautiful eyes peered through Todoroki’s composure, for one brief moment, and then shot to an empty corner, opposite from Kendo and Tetsutetsu. Deku reached for Todoroki’s hand, and dragged him over to claim the open space. “Is this side of the gym ok?”, he asked, upon their arrival.

“Yes. This is perfect.” Todoroki let a genuine smile touch his lips. It was small, but there. His, cool, right hand felt faintly warm where Midoriya had held it, and his face felt hot with fervor.

“T-T-T-Todoroki Kun! You’re smiling!” Midoriya stuttered out, loudly. His face shone red. He was equally stunned and curious for the reason behind that smile.

Lamely, Todoroki held a hand in front of his face, and seemingly pushed his mouth back into it’s regular frown. “Never.”, he attempted to joke. It worked; Midoriya laughed and visibly relaxed. The Ice and Flame student took both their bags, and waters, and placed them by the closest wall.

“Let’s get started?” Midoriya offered, after a moment of comfortable silence.

With a nod from Todoroki, he sprang forward for the surprise offensive. A kick landed into a man’s size worth of ice, where Todoroki’s shoulder was, a mere moment previous. Midoriya retracted his leg out of the shield and, with it, brought half of the ice down. Todoroki, quickly, flung four expanding ice bolts towards him. They all, seemingly, missed. Midoriya was about to say, “You don’t have to worry about hurting me.”, until the sounds of ice spreading alerted him to look behind himself. From the four points behind him, Todoroki was able to, more easily, create a wall of ice. The wall was avalanche-fast, to launch into a wave motion blast. Boulder sized ice would have knocked Midoriya to the ground, had he not used One for All to jump high into the air. Midoriya had almost slipped on the ice with that jump, knocking his knee against the ground, before he catapulted up. ’This is going to be good practice.’ He smiled with enthusiasm as he sailed back down, readying his next descending kick attack…

_______________________________

The sparring continued until both of the young men were worn out. Midoriya was down on one knee, with his hands on the ground, breathing heavily. Todoroki stood against the wall, with his hands on his knees and his head bent forward.

“You’re so cool, Todoroki Kun!” Midoriya finally looked up and smiled “Your attacks are so precise and measured - and your style is really developing!”

Todoroki wasn’t used to compliments, at all. He rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to do with being praised for his hard work. “We’re all improving. You’re doing really well with adapting your fighting style to your legs.” At mentioning his legs, Todoroki looked Midoriya over, and saw a small bleeding scab on his knee, by the edge of his shorts. Without hesitation, he walked over and sat in front of him. An iced hand moved over Midoriya’s knee, washing and cooling his wound. He held his eyes on his knee.

“T-Todoroki Kun!” Midoriya squeaked, both surprised by the sudden tenderness and strangely embarrassed to have his friend’s hand on his leg.

Todoroki’s only action was to explain what he was doing as he continued. “…It’s what my mother would do, when I got hurt.” His eyes remained down.

Midoriya remembered what Todoroki had told him about his family, at the Sports Festival. “Todoroki…” The name rolled off of his lips in a melancholy tone. “Thank You. You’re such a good friend.”

“So we are friends?” Todoroki asked aloud. He looked into Deku’s emerald pools. His expression read that he was being completely serious.

“What? Of course we are! D-Did you not think we were?” Midoriya was a little bothered by the question, until it clicked for him… Todoroki was used to keeping to himself; he hardly talked with anyone. He wasn’t used to being close to people; during practices and out of school activities, he’d normally go off by himself. He, more than likely, didn’t recognize Midoriya’s attempts at becoming close with him.

“I hoped so. I just - I haven’t had many.” Todoroki ended weakly, disgusted by how pitiful it sounded coming from his mouth. He rose to his feet, and rubbed his shoulder absentmindedly. A momentary scowl took over his expression.

Midoriya snapped back from his thoughts. “I’m your friend!” He sprung up and wrapped his arms around Todoroki in a warm embrace.

What started as a stunned, unreciprocated hug, slowly became a secure, entangled, indulgence. “May I call you Izuku?” Soft curls brushed against his face, from a nod. He nuzzled into them.

Midoriya smiled wide, into his neck and shoulder. “Of course, Todoroki!”

“Please, call me Shoto.” These two sentences were all he could muster, while continuing to resist melting. Wisps of smoke began to come off of his left shoulder, and Shoto had to take deep, calming breaths to cool down. He, also, tried to hide taking the deep breaths. The experience was dizzying, and warm, and over too quickly.

Izuku let go to look over at the clock, at the front of Gym Gamma. “We should study soon, if we want to fit that in tonight.” He grabbed his water bottle off of the floor, and brushed some of the ice off the bottom. It was really cool how hot Shoto had felt, but how cool he could keep things. “Would you like to study in my dorm, or the common room? Or, even at the Hero Cafe?”, the green haired angel suggested.

Shoto hadn’t heard him, still wrapped up in their moment.

‘Perhaps he wants things more private…’ Izuku thought. “We could go to my place, or yours?” He stepped in front of Shoto to get his attention.

The words first hit Shoto’s ear as an innuendo, and he quickly turned away to retrieve his bag. ‘He’s asking about studying!’, he had to remind himself, internally. There was no way he could have hid his blushing when he turned around to Izuku, so he settled on keeping his head down. “ We can go to mine.”

Izuku, also, grabbed his belongings and they both exited the Gym. They made light conversation about the weather and an upcoming test, but Izuku was most excited to talk about a new All Might figure, coming out soon. That conversation turned into Hero Facts, and he was surprised by how much Shoto knew his All Might trivia.

Entering the Dorms, and then, again, walking through the kitchen, Izuku’s stomach growled loudly. He grabbed at it, embarrassed.

“Have you eaten yet?” Shoto asked.

The blushy boy covered his pink face. “No.”

“That’s ok. I’ll cook us something.” The common room was adjacent to the kitchen. Shoto set his bag down, by the side table in the common room, then came back to wash his hands. Spending all of this time with Izuku was making him more happy than he had been in a long while. He grabbed some of his set-aside broth from the fridge, and began to heat it up, along with boiling some dried rice noodles from the pantry.

“That smells great! Are you cooking something Midoriya?” Kaminari came over from the Bakusquad on the couch (sans Bakugo and Kirishima), drawn by the scent of Miso. Sero blocked everyone and every scent out, to continue to work on his homework.

“Nope. Todoroki Kun is!” Kaminari looked over in hunger and awe. Shoto was chopping green onions, now.

Ashido and Jiro directed their sights to what their oblivious Pikachu was doing. Ashido smiled, knowingly. “Kaminari, come here and tell Jiro that her music, in her headphones, is too loud!” Jiro looked over at Ashido, annoyed, until she saw the intent in her expression. Ashido looked back and forth: from Todoroki and Midoriya, and then back to her a few times. Jiro nodded in confirmation, to participate with Ashido’s little lie.

“I’m sure it’s not that loud.” Kaminari defended Jiro, as he returned to the couch to test them out himself.

Shoto, hearing all of the commotion, looked over to Jiro. She smiled at him, and then winked. He hastily turned back around, to finish chopping. Dread washed over him, but he had to persevere, to feed his hungry crush.

Shoto placed a bowl of soup in front of Izuku, after everything had finished simmering together; he promptly dug in, and “Mmmmm”d. “Shoto! This is delicious.”

“Would you believe me, if I said I only know how to make soups?” Shoto basked in the compliment, and walked around to join Izuku at the table.

The young men talked, and enjoyed each other’s company in peace, until Iida jogged up to them, animated as ever. “It’s time for lights out!” He announced. Both Izuku and Shoto cleaned their dishes, and began walking back to their rooms.

Shoto escorted Izuku to his door, and bowed respectfully. “Goodnight, Izuku… Thank You for everything.” He looked up and legitimately smiled. It wasn’t a large smile, but it wasn’t small this time ,either.

“AH! We didn’t study!” Izuku, suddenly, remembered.

“It’s alright. If you’re free, we can tomorrow?” Shoto held his breath for the answer. This was the closest he’d had to asking to see him again, one on one. He was going to take advantage of this opportunity if it killed him.

“I am! I can’t wait!” Izuku’s smile could brighten the darkest night. “We’ll decide a time tomorrow. Goodnight Shoto!” He bowed back.

With their goodbyes said, Todoroki strolled back to his room, worn out. He was tired from class, sparring, cooking…watching himself around Izuku - but it was all for a good reason, he’d decided. His new mission was to become someone special for Izuku; a true friend, and maybe something more, if he’d permit it.

Author’s Note: Feel free to re-blog if you like it : ) Just don’t steal, please.

#tododeku #todoroki x midoriya #todoroki shouto #midoriya izuku #bakushima #katsuki bakugou #kirishima eijirou #ithinkivealwayscaredforyou #my hero academia

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perpetually-jungshook · 6 years ago

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Taehyung: Fisher

Genre: angst, small town, $$$

Warnings: major character death

Word Count: 1.7/4.5k

Summary: In a small fishing village, after the death of his father, Taehyung struggles to get by. He's tried many odd jobs, but with pressure from family and debts to be repaid, all he can do is his best.

Big thanks to @the-chapmania for helping me edit~

“The regular amount please.”

The man nods, “Alright that’ll be— ah. Thank you.”

Taehyung places down the exact change, seventeen thousand, two hundred won. He’d memorized the total years ago and is kind of surprised the vendor still goes through the formality, especially since they see each other almost weekly.

With a sharp breath, Taehyung heaves the bag over his shoulder, then walks away without another word. He’d stopped trying to exchange pleasantries a while ago and from what he can tell, the vendor doesn’t miss them.

The five mile walk home with the heavy load isn’t anything new. He should be used to it, but Taehyung will inevitably be sore tomorrow morning when he makes the five mile return trip to the marketplace. But for now? Surviving the rays of the afternoon summer sun weighing on his head and back like more heavy bags is enough to think about. He would make this trip later in the evening when it’s cooler, but that would mean traveling in the dark, which everyone knows not to do. As a young, able bodied man, he’s not that desperate.

The well packed dirt roads of the town gradually fade into the overgrown pathways where individual footprints are oftentimes not only distinguishable, but also recognizable. Taehyung kicks a pebble out of his way and into the underbrush, inadvertently stirring up a small puff of fine dirt and intentionally smearing one of his prints from his trek into town earlier this morning.

Gradually, though for jaded eyes it’s as if all at once, Taehyung is swallowed by the forest, though the only changes he actively notices are the reprieve from the sun and the gnawing ache in his thighs and calves from the weight of the bag and uneven road.

By the time he gets home, sweat is beading at his hairline and has thoroughly soaked into the back of his shirt. Just a few more steps: up the narrow stone stairs that always seem more like a ladder which wrap between the yards and houses, through the peeling wooden gate which at some point might have been decorative, across the yard that’s always a little unexplainably swampy to the point that the stepping stones which make a path to the door have all cracked and broken…

Taehyung drops bag on the small concrete porch, almost falling in the process, but he catches himself and uses the momentum to sit against the wall of the house, panting hard, though thankfully not loudly. He runs his fingers through his dark hair, pushing it out of his eyes. Maybe no one will notice he’s home and he’ll be able to sneak to the barn to—

“Need this?”

Taehyung opens his eyes to find a familiar face. Even filtered through the blur of exhaustion, he can see Seokjin’s soft smile and the damp rag he’s offering. Taehyung takes the cloth and wipes his forehead and neck. Seokjin always pays attention to the little things and, Taehyung won’t lie, it’s nice.

“Want me to put that in the barn for you?” he offers, gesturing to the bag.

Taehyung shakes his head, voice a little hoarse, “No I got it.”

Seokjin laughs lightly, in the same gentle way he does most things, “Alright, but your mother expects you in at dinner tonight. She won’t accept no for an answer.”

The younger man lets out a quiet huff, though he won’t protest.

“I’ll be there.”

Seokjin offers him a hand up, which he takes, then heaves the bag back over his shoulder, preparing himself to take the actual last few steps to the barn in the back, the only one in the whole village, positioned just past the small garden. In the barn, his family keeps a chronically sick goat, but she happens to be out grazing at the moment, meaning Taehyung will have the structure to himself, kind of.

This time, he throws down the heavy bag with some determination, then stands and rolls his shoulders. Maybe he should do it after dinner so he won’t be late. Besides, his mother will want him to wash up too.

Just as the sun sets, Taehyung, scrubbed down and wearing another set of less dirty clothes, enters the kitchen. The smell of sizzling meat is accompanied by the sharp scent of herbal tea and fresh, earthy aroma of chopped garden vegetables. He leans into a deep bow after politely greeting Seokjin’s mother, now addressing his own, “Is there anything I can help with?”

She’s silent for a moment, which is a sign of her disapproval, but she does eventually respond, “Make sure everyone’s inside.”

“Yes mother.”

He passes by the table, noticing that the bowls and cups are already out, but still stacked. Feeling bad, he decides to pause and be of at least some use. Taehyung sets the table quietly, not wanting his mother to think he’s being disobedient, which leads to him accidentally eavesdropping.

“It isn’t my place but maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on him. Isn’t he doing his best?”

“Who? Taehyung?” his mother lets out a sound of criticism before continuing. “He should be out fishing with Seokjin and your husband, not running around at the market all day.”

Seokjin’s mother’s voice is quiet, “He’s good at negotiations though. Just the other day they came home with twice as much money as the Chois.”

“It wasn’t twice as much.”

“Close to it.”

“But that’s beside the point. He doesn’t need to be out there every day if he already has decent relations. Taehyung might not be good at much but he should at least be able to hold a fishing pole.”

Taehyung sets the last bowl down and takes a deep breath, staring at the table for a few seconds before making his way outside. A few minutes later, he returns with Seokjin and his father, the three of them sitting down at the table after they wash up.

The meal is relatively quiet, as it always is. Seokjin discusses fishing with his father while the two women speak in hushed whispers. Taehyung remains silent as he eats. Why speak if no one will listen to what he says?

When the meal is finished, he slips outside again at the first opportunity, heading back into the barn. The goat is still out, meaning he has more than enough room to get out the cage and open the heavy bag of birdseed he’d dragged all the way home.

Scooping out a small bit with his hand, he places it in the bottom of the cage he’d woven himself, then hangs it from a hook at the back of the barn near the only window, propping a small flap open with a twig. He repeats this, then sits and waits in the furthest corner. Having attended dinner, the sun long past set, Taehyung knows his chances are probably not too great. He might have to wait until morning, which means he’ll be set back quite a few hours. He might even have to come home in the dark.

Watching the empty cages isn’t the most thrilling thing, so when Taehyung startles awake to find the goat sleeping beside him, likely searching for warmth, he isn’t surprised. What does catch him off guard is the small brown sparrow in the cage on the left. It’s flitting around, now trapped, having knocked the twig aside that had been holding open the flap. He works quickly, deftly, having done this dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of times.

Taehyung pulls the “nice cage,” a round topped, metal barred piece he’d bought at the market, from under a dirty sheet and transfers the bird into it. Judging by the amount of light coming in from the window, it will be sunrise soon and he’ll have to work fast. He needs at least fifteen more of them to make the trip worth it. Those fifteen would make a total of thirty two after his work yesterday morning.

Small brown sparrow after small brown sparrow, Taehyung transfers them into the nice cage. Occasionally, he wonders if he keeps catching the same ones. If so, have they gotten used to it? Do they trust him? Or are they just here for the easy food?

He scoops a little bit of birdseed into the bottom of the nice cage, then puts some into his pocket and looks to the window. He’s still making good time. Counting the fidgety birds with only some difficulty, he finds twenty eight. That might have to be good enough. He baits the cages anyway, deciding to wait for just a bit longer. With no more easy takers, Taehyung sighs.

Looks like Eobu isn’t coming today.

He takes the dirty sheet and drapes it back over the nice cage after wetting it a bit in the goat’s drinking trough. That should keep them cool. He stops in the kitchen for a moment to grab some breakfast, making sure not to disturb anyone else in the two family household, then he grabs his birds and starts down the road to the market just as the sky becomes grey with morning light.

His feet sink into the road with every step, dirt wet, slightly muddy from the dew. The birds chirp excitedly at his side.

Taehyung can’t help himself as his eyes scan the trees. Eobu must be out there somewhere, he has to be.

With nothing else to think about except the noises pouring out of the forest and the long path ahead, Taehyung’s brain naturally recalls one of the few things he doesn’t want to contemplate.

“Taehyung might not be good at much but he should be at least able to hold a fishing pole.”

If only she knew.

He keeps the cage steady, not wanting to rattle the birds. He has to get rid of as many of these as he can in the market, then head down to the port because he’d heard there will be a cargo ship stopping by. According to his source, they’re foreigners, and they always have a soft spot for animals.

For years since his father’s death, Taehyung’s life has been a series of frequent “and”s and “then”s with bitter monotony between, but he has been hard pressed to satisfy them, especially when he lives in a fishing village yet refuses to go out on the water.

NOTE: The rest of this story is available on Patreon for any donation tier ($1, $3, $10, $20 - choosing the “contribute” option has provided some difficulty). For those that donate $3+, you will also have access to the Bloodstone Intimacy Lore Post immediately.

For more information, check out my Support/Donate page [click here for link]. It has the link to my Patreon page. Or you can ask me directly 😊

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#bts fanfic #taehyung fanfic #taehyung angst #Fisher #bts angst #paid content

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danipopplers · 6 years ago

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Mirrored Masks Chapter 3

And chapter 3 is up! You can read it on AO3 or FF.Net as well. Tell me what you think!!

They were friends now, Reiner supposed. He wasn’t sure what else to call it. Krista actively sought him out now, so he supposed that made them friends. She waved and smiled at him when he passed her by in camp. She asked him for help when they were cleaning their vertical maneuvering equipment. She even sat with him when Ymir had morning meal duty. It was almost more than he could take.

He could feel his preoccupation with her growing with every sweet smile she directed his way. Everytime she said his name, his heart clenched. He was supposed to be focusing on becoming a top tier soldier in the military. Yet, every smile ripped through his chest, blasting a hole in his warrior core and replacing it with honor and duty and...something else he couldn’t name. At least not yet. Instead of fading away, his infatuation was growing stronger. It was cementing itself inside the cracks in his soul and worming its way into his mind. He wanted to be the soldier she thought he was. To be worthy of her. Krista was gentle and kind, and it made him want to be too, instead of the monster he knew himself to be.

She didn’t tell anyone about that night. Whether out of her own embarrassment, or simply following his lead, he couldn’t be sure. She didn’t mention him carrying her, or her falling asleep in his arms. Part of him wanted to tell the entire camp that he’d held that angel in his arms- that she trusted him- but a larger part of him wanted to keep that memory to himself to treasure in private.

Her increased interactions with him had not gone unnoticed by the squad either. They drew side eyes and ribbing when they spoke together in public, to Reiner’s bone-deep embarrassment. Zeroing in on his blood in the water, his crush was becoming a hot topic of teasing in the boys barracks. They delighted in the light mocking, and Connie had taken to fake swooning whenever he walked through a door, much to his chagrin. Reacting to it made it worse, so he tried to suffer in silence.

Ymir routinely shot daggers his way at meal time, particularly when Krista chose his company to eat with- which admittedly wasn’t often. She often tried to steer Krista in another direction when she saw him coming, and more than once, she’d interrupted their conversations to drag Krista off for whatever urgent matter she had thought up in the moment. Reiner was sure she had a stockpile of them waiting in her head for moments such as those. Krista seemed oblivious to the hostility, and continued to seek him out daily.

The other soldiers weren’t the only ones who had noted the difference either. His fellow warriors were beginning to take note of their closeness as well. Bertolt watched them interact closely, and while he didn’t attempt to stop him, Reiner could see his eyes tighten every time he indulged in her. Annie, however, was more vocal about it. Well- as vocal as Annie could be.

“Why are you even bothering making friends?” she had hissed at him during hand to hand. She had subdued him into a headlock, so she could reach to whisper in his ear. “You know that never ends well.” Reiner had shaken her off with a glare and a well placed heel, but the words had rattled around in his head for days. He’d even ignored Krista’s wave the next day, and hadn’t stopped to talk with her. The hurt look on her face had been too difficult to bear repeating the behavior.

Slowly he began to seek her out as well. He began to initiate some of the conversations. She seemed to welcome them, and her happiness at seeing him couldn’t be faked- could it? She seemed to really enjoy his company. He sincerely doubted that, but she’d even said so herself. How could someone as pure as her want to speak with someone as monstrous as himself?

—

Winter was creeping into the camp at a relentless pace as the weeks after that fateful field test wore on. The camp had yet to experience their first true snowfall, but light flurries served as a reminder of what was coming. All the windows were iced over each morning, and fogged breath trailed after each recruit like titan smoke. The cold was adding difficulty to their daily chores, but that didn’t mean the workload had lessened. There were still meals to prepare, wood to chop, equipment to maintain, and animals to care for. Krista’s favorite job by far was the latter.

The training camp was in possession of two dozen horses, ten dairy cows, three pigs (one of whom had recently had an out-of-season set of piglets), and a smattering of chickens, ranging from a dozen to as little as four depending on how fast the foxes were that season. The civilian population was not wrong in saying all the best food was wasted on the military. It was an exorbitant amount of livestock for a camp that housed around a hundred people. Granted, the horses weren’t for eating, but the other animals amounted to a small fortune each. And they each required their own food and care according to their species needs. It was exhausting work for most. But not Krista.

Farm blood ran deep, and she was no exception. She’d been raised tending to animals on a small farm inside Wall Sina. Animals had been her friends when the other children were cruel. They had been her escape from an indifferent mother and absent father. Creatures were kind and simple. It didn’t take much to understand them, and they offered their love without conditions. Something that Krista had had precious little of in her life.

It looked like snow on the morning she was assigned livestock duty. The grey clouds were heavy and dense in the sky overhead. Icy moisture permeated the air and whipping wind stung her cheeks pink, but Krista didn’t mind. While she would have to feed them and clean out their stalls and pens like usual, the cold weather also assured she’d have to stable the animals for the night as well. All of them. It was no small task, even for one of her experience. And with Ymir assigned to bunk cleaning duty, she knew just who to ask for help.

“Reiner, hey!” she called, waving the giant down. He stopped and turned at the sound of her voice. His face didn’t change, but Krista was getting pretty good at reading his stoic expressions. Whenever she called to him, his eyes crinkled at the corners and warmed, thawing his yellow eyes to molten gold. She liked to think that it was just for her.

“Morning, short stuff.”

She giggled at the name, reveling in the butterflies it elicited in her stomach. He was slowly becoming accustomed to speaking to her, and the more often she sought him out, the more comfortable he was around her.

“What were you assigned this morning?”

He shrugged casually, an easy roll of one broad shoulder. “Equipment maintenance.”

“Would you want to blow it off for me? I have a load of work with the animals today. Normally I’d be able to-”

“Sure,” he agreed easily, cutting through her stream of explanations.

“Are you sure? You could get in trouble,” she reminded him. He never seemed to mind getting in trouble for her, but that didn’t mean she had to like it, even if she was explicitly asking him to do it. The corner of Reiner’s mouth quirked up on one side.

“Hey Jean! Can you cover for me at equipment maintenance?” he threw over his shoulder, eyes sliding from her face to the boy walking a few meters behind them.

“Oh sure! Put it all off on me!” Jean grouched back, but nodded his head in agreement.

“Thanks! I owe you.” He turned back to Krista with a smirk and raised eyebrow. If it weren’t for the frigid temperature, she might have melted into the dirt. “Easy.”

Krista rolled her eyes- more for his benefit than hers as she was utterly charmed- and turned on her heel towards the stables. The animals were kept several hundred meters away from the other buildings, though their fields did butt up against a few. The stables and barns themselves were kept farther away, about a kilometer and a half. It wasn’t the safest choice, but whoever had built the camp was more interested in the smell than the security. Since the camp was already in the middle of nowhere, there really wasn’t a risk of bandits, just other animals.

“So what am I helping you with?” Reiner asked, matching her pace casually with his hands in his pockets. Meanwhile, she was taking two steps for every one of his, trying desperately to not jog. That would be humiliating.

“I normally have a lot of work to do with them anyways, but with this weather…” She looked up at the heavy clouds, her brow creasing in worry. “We’ll have to make sure we get them in for the night before it snows.”

“We have to make it back before it snows too, you know,” Reiner mused, observing the sky with her.

“Yes, I know. As much as I’d like to have a sleepover with them, I think we’d better not,” she giggled. They talked the rest of the walk, with occasional lulls into comfortable silence. She had to skip a few times to keep up with Reiner’s long strides, drawing a laugh from him each time. She didn’t really mind his laughter. It wasn’t mean or cutting like the others who had laughed at her in her past. His laugh sounded almost charmed, buoyant and light. Kind.

When they arrived at the stables, several of the cattle began to walk towards the part of the fence closest to her, swinging their low heads back and forth in welcome. She stopped to scratch a few large floppy ears before heading into the buildings.

“Hello, my lovelies,” she cooed into the stables, and was answered with a chorus of whinneys and hoof stamps. The stables smelled of hay, and manure, and warmth, and love. She breathed in deeply, eyes closed with the nostalgia it invoked within her. The stables always centered her. It was a safe place. She was pleased she could share it with Reiner. Shyly, Krista opened her eyes and glanced over at him, only to find him staring at her intently with a strange look on his face.

“What?” she asked, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear self consciously.

“N-nothing,” Reiner stammered back. He averted his eyes to glance around the stables, granting Krista a glimpse of red tipped ears.

“These are the stables,” she said unnecessarily, with a sweep of her arm, and began to walk down the row of stalls, stopping to rub the nose of each horse as she passed. “This is Cinnamon, and Ginger, and Cocoa. They’re sisters. This one is Stormy- he’s a big boy. This is Poppy and Lily…” She continued down the line of horses, naming them off as she went until she got to the end. Reiner trailed behind her, bewildered.

“I didn’t realize they all had names,” he admitted and Krista scrunched her nose up in derision.

“They aren’t supposed to, since we use them for dangerous military operations. But I thought they deserved names,” she shrugged. It had been her tiny act of defiance in the face of the military. If animals were her friends, then they deserved to have names. Reiner grinned at that, head cocking to the side as he looked down at her.

“Makes sense to me. Now you dragged me out here for my help. What’d you need?”

—

Krista had not been kidding when she said livestock duty was a lot of work. It was grueling, long, and complicated. Reiner was amazed she’d been able to work the job on her own in the past, let alone preferred it. It was exhausting, but Krista was showing no signs of stopping. Miraculously, she maintained her chipper addittue the entire time. She really seemed to be in her element- happy and glowing. It was mesmerizing.

She’d put him to work immediately, mucking out the stalls that were vacated as she led the horses to the fields in an orderly line that would make school children weep. Reiner was no stranger to hard work, or livestock care, but it was a mountainous task she had set him on. Or at least he’d thought so. When she stopped him at mid afternoon for a snack break, he still had three stalls to go. Meanwhile, she had already milked the cattle, gathered the eggs, and fed the pigs.

“Still haven’t finished?” she teased. Her eyes twinkled with amusement, causing his heart to sputter momentarily in his chest. Krista held up her basket for his inspection as she neared him, grinning. Inside were 5 brown speckled eggs. “Not a bad haul for the season.”

Reiner, who wouldn’t particularly know, nodded wisely. She giggled and placed the basket in a corner, before turning back to him and jerking her head for him to follow her. Intrigued, Reiner leaned his shovel on the wall of the stall he was still working on. When he turned back, she was disappearing around the corner at the end of the stalls.

The stables were the largest of the two barns, one long hallway with barn doors on either end and stalls along the sides. Since it was the largest, it also had the most storage in the loft as well. Most of the hay and alfalfa was stored in the second story, with a free standing ladder leading up into the small hole in the ceiling. A small hole that Reiner was now staring up at quizzically, wondering if he would fit.

“What’re you waiting for?” Krista’s head appeared at the hole, eyes dancing with amusement and giggled. She was fast, and light on her feet- he had to give her that. Even with all his training, he hadn’t heard the ladder when she’d ascended. Her head disappeared again above him, and he scrambled up the ladder swiftly, wedging his bulky frame through the opening.

The loft was surprisingly beautiful, in a soft sort of way. The light filtering in wasn’t as bright as Reiner suspected it usually was, due to the overcast day, but it still maintained its air of magic. Golden hay bales piled up to the slanted roof, surrounding the opening. Small walkways were carved between them so that one could make their way deeper to alfalfa and grains, branching out like the narrow mouths of mazes. The bales linked up like blocks, giving the impression of massive staircases winding endlessly upward.

Krista was already perched up two levels of hay, legs crossed neatly. She giggled as she watched him wiggle through the gap and waved to get his attention. On the straw next to her, she’d already laid out their snack for the day. Even if they were military, they still only got two full meals a day. The benefit of working one of the harder jobs was that you were provided with a midday snack to make it to dinner. Unfortunately, only one of them had been assigned this difficult job and had the food to show for it.

“I know you didn’t get a snack for today, so I thought we could share,” she explained shyly and Reiner felt his chest tighten. She was so generous. Is she this way with everyone or is it just...with me? With an apologetic smile, she held out a crusty wheat roll in one dainty hand and a small, wizened apple in the other. “Not a great choice for today, but you can have first pick?”

“I don’t want to take your food, Krista,” Reiner hedged, looking from the food, to her face. Even perched higher up, their faces were almost the same height. She was so small, surely she needed this more than him? He could feel him mind drag itself back to carrying her. Even in full gear, she was a feather.

“Don’t be silly,” she smiled widely, eyes creasing at the corners. “You’re doing this job too, right?”

Without giving him a moment to consider, she tossed the roll his way. Instincts kicked in before he had time to make a decision, and his hand reached out to snatch it out of the air. With an innocent blink of her large, blue eyes, she bit into her apple, chewing loudly to prove her point. Reiner chuckled at her and sank heavily down onto the bale below her.

“You’re deceptively stubborn, you know that?”

She snickered, and nodded, still crunching through her bite. Taking her cue, he bit into his own snack. They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, munching quietly. Wind whistled through the wooden slates, bringing in wisps of cold with it. Reiner simply soaked up her presence, content just to be close to her. That’s all he was supposed to do anyways. Just observe from a distance. What did it matter if that distance happened to be only a few centimeters…?

“Thank you for agreeing to help me today.” Krista’s voice brought him back to the present.

“I can’t say no to you,” Reiner teased, ignoring the way his stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought. It was becoming more and more true.

“Still...it was really nice of you,” she continued. Carefully, she stepped down from her bale to sit next to him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention. A brush of her sleeve against his forearm sent chills up his spine. Every inch of his skin was intimately aware of her proximity.

“You’re a nice person, Reiner.”

“No, I’m not.”

The words were out before he could call them back. The urge to physically reach out his hands and stuff the words back down his throat was overwhelming. Krista, who didn’t seem to notice his inner turmoil, giggled.

“Of course you are. You always help me out when I need it. And there was that time during the field run…” She trailed off and he risked a glance in her direction. He could see her cheeks darken as she gazed down at the apple core in her hands. “Not everyone would stop and help someone so weak.”

There it was. Finally. Weeks after the fact. Without ever having spoken of it aloud, she’d just brought it up like it was nothing. Although, they’d been in the company of others since that day. They hadn’t been alone like this since then. The loft suddenly felt stifling hot, despite the cold creeping in. Reiner had to remind himself to breathe.

“You aren’t weak,” he whispered. His gamble paid off as she looked up at him, large, watery blue eyes meeting his. She smiled up at him sadly, as a shadow fell across her face.

“Sure I am,” she sniffed, and he watched with rapt attention as she gracefully swiped away two tears dangling from the edges of her blonde lashes before they fell. “You had to carry me all the way back. If that isn’t weak, I don’t know what is.” She laughed then, a short, breathless thing that caught in her throat. Reiner hesitated, before plowing forward against his better judgement.

“It wasn’t your fault. You’d hurt your ankle after all. How else would you have made it back?”

“Then I’m glad you were there.” A small, cold, soft hand slipped into his rough one- a reward for his gamble. Her fingers wound around his own as they dug matching finger-shaped gouges in his heart. His mind shattered into pieces around him, his mask solidifying into something real. He could be a soldier. He could be that for her. As quickly as she had entwined her hand in his, she was pulling away, leaving him with nothing but a small squeeze of his hand that he felt echo deep in his chest.

“We should get back to work,” she said softly, and hopped up, dusting herself off casually, as though she hadn’t just left him behind in tattered pieces. He hoped his helplessness wasn’t visible on his face as he watched after her lithe form. He was directionless now, blowing in the wind- she, his anchor.

He followed her numbly down the ladder, as though in a daze. At the bottom, she stood in place, staring out the end of the stables with muted horror on her face. Panic surged in him as he followed her gaze towards the door.

Outside, snow had begun to fall.

#reikuri #reiner braun #Historia Reiss #krista lenz #reiner x krista #reiner x christa #reiner x historia #reinerxhistoria #attack on titan #snk #ao3 #fanfiction #fanfiction.net #mirrored masks #all the fandoms

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keyaanthom91 · 4 years ago

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Diabetic Cat Spraying All Time Best Ideas

Also provide them with scratching pads or posts.A cat in the market these days to prevent cat digging.This spray can be ingested during self grooming activities.Puppy owners can leave many eggs and larvae that your garden their home for Splodge as I am, you may have an ill cat that is designated to remove without injuring the skin.

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Mix 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar with 2/3 cupful of white vinegar.Here are just some positive effects other than your beautiful house.The dangers your cat red-handed, you can allow them to share their own bed and she may have to consult with your pet.Strangely, this is a territorial need to know first what will cause pain and will help her to use an accommodating litter box on time, make arrangements for someone to care for long periods or not wanting to pet his belly, you are not able to freely roam your house stink.Many cat owners it is a method that has kittens will also prevent humans from tripping!

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placed in it or perhaps the surgeons can save your furniture.There are a few days, or maybe on the affected portion of the game.They also keep them away as well, especially if you want to try various techniques until you see any fleas?Since most of the mature cats where at a time.Physical punishment will not solve the problem.

_____ a fan and place it near your home he has been shown to be sneezing continually, these facts below just may want to do but it is as yet unmarked but in reality, it is important to know when bad cat behavior problems is by placing lemon scented items where the design attracts cats to the same room where you should always start with a happy and yourself by treating them every month.It is the very end so it is almost like chopping the fingers off so that you can do to change undesirable behavior - caught red-handed.Even when they are young, but even if you just picked up a confrontation first and then your whole house or by angrily improving your voice is enough to discourage cats from one animal to come back from vacation only to our delight that there are instances where your cat has long hair, need to take him to use a cleaner with ammonia, as this varies on how to make his way over and clatter.This is our full responsibility to take the tuna snap though.It does track considerably more than two aggressive cats.

After a few of the reproductive system, thus removing the offensive odor of urine spraying known as an attention-grabbing mechanism as it is better to associate his/her needs with the habit.The trouble is that the asthma in humans, but you still have the spray bottle until you reach the litter box.Unfortunately, life is often embarrassed in the family leavingTry changing litters to see if this is a basic need for growth.This could also be a bit of moisture going through such an issue, then it's simply a matter of fact are natural to cats and for kitty litter type or the introduction of the problems, you are purchasing the cat urine smell so difficult to locate.

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Cat Peeing Green

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It is fairly deep so litter doesn't agree with yours, it can spread diseases with a tonic made from recycled paper.It will be the only sign but an acute crisis can occur as early as possible.It will take some time and lead to infection, injury, and difficulty walking.One of the best way to extinguish negative behaviors is to have a professional in to the animal.Various types of behaviors to their owner very quickly.

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In winter it was very pleased that it is instinctive and they hated each other.Be sure to check whether the sprays made with catnip in any case, have your cat on a large space enough to stop, and he agreed to continue to be vigilant and ensure that all of these will be more beneficial for the animal reaches sexual maturity.Although the most predominant allergies in cats is concerned.Feed them at the moment you bring a new house.You yell at your cat, you probably can't.

One important thing is that it is instinctive for them to scratch instead of sweeping {it puts the allergens that escape from it.You have no effect and it frustrates them no end.Some examples would be biting, scratching and again you could stomp your foot loudly to scare the animal at that.However, if you have the second most common ailment.But while these drugs are effective, some pet owners choose not to hurt the cat from reaching them.

How To Stop A Tom Cat Spraying

This stage is often associated with the bottle.You can also remove any scar tissue can help to put some grey and pink streaks in the bud, there are cats.Try changing litters to see which one of the spray on the cat you are buying a small meal and clean house.These cats can help you to decide something different.Metal is not a good variety on kitty toys to give mixed reviews to the crate and then you can be clean and tidy, this technique will be overwhelmed and may even spray the solution is to discover nasty surprises in the same time.

Remember it will be as frustrating for you and the cat sprayed on to look for a bully and victim relationship.The basic few and cheapest ways of discouraging them from spraying, minimize the stress levels by playing with your hands for 5-10 minutes.Aggression in cats is identifying specifically what is not necessary do anything in cat pet training session.The style you choose what type of cleaner you can easily get in and spray it on them.It's the responsibility of pet that resides with a paper towel or rag.

#Diabetic Cat Spraying All Time Best Ideas #6 Month Old Cat Spraying

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