#Greeter thinks flowers are pretty
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Hiya,My name is Kylee and i have a question for the 3 of you
What's your opinion on flowers
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wardenparker · 9 months ago
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CONGRATS on 2.5k!! You deserve every follow! ❤️ For the co-writer (along with @absurdthirst) of the Whiskey fic that made brain go BRRRRR and got me into reading/writing our fave corndog, how about our Agent with the prompts: "Should we make it official?" and/or "Put me down!" Have fun!
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Agent Jack 'Whiskey' Daniels. 2,300 words. "Put me down!"/"Should we make it official?" (Sequel to: "Wait! Please don't go!"/"There is no 'us'." ) Co-written with @absurdthirst
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When Jack hits the door, heads turn. The sharp, confident gait of a man on a mission who will not be stopped just shimmers in the air around him. Eyes sharp and narrowed, they scan the floor, looking for someone. For you.
“Can I help you, sir?” It’s the weekend, so a greeter is stationed at the door of the upscale retail store, to help direct customers through the maze of shelves and displays. It is the middle of the city so there are plenty of different kinds who come in every day, but this is definitely the first cowboy that’s ever set foot inside the Lexington Avenue Sephora.
Jack says your name and throws the woman a charming grin. “She’s helped me before so I’m hoping to see her again.” He lies, knowing that you won’t talk to him otherwise.
"Sure! Of course." The new girl smiles warmly, blushing a little as she's easily taken in by the charm that drips off of Jack like dew drops. "She's in fragrances today. All the way at the back of the store."
“Thank you kindly.” He tips his hat like a gentleman and starts for the back of the store. The past two weeks have been miserable. He’s drank, he’s raged, he’s blamed you for expecting too much. Then, when you rejected the bouquet of flowers he had sent to your parent’s house after misusing Statesman resources to find where you were, he had come to a hard truth. He had done you wrong. He hadn’t spoken from heart, not made himself uncomfortable for the sake of growth. Holding onto the fear of losing you if he loved you had caused him to lose you. And no surprise, he had loved you, because he is miserable without your voice in his ear, your fragrance on his sheets and your love in his heart. Now, he’s here to get you back.
You're there in the last aisle, helping a young lady find a specific gift she came looking for, in the uniform dress that you hate but tolerate for the sake of your new job. It doesn't pay well enough and it doesn't distract you enough to dull the constant aching hurt inside you after having walked out of Jack's place, but that's why you had started it the second after arriving back at your parents' place. To try to forget him. It isn't working. Not at all.
"I'll be right wit—" The figure looming a few feet away was only a shadow. It's the second you look up that your mouth runs dry and you feel sick to your stomach all over again. "I'm not sure I can help you, sir," you manage, hating the way your heart wings with so much hope. Hope that he wouldn't be here unless he had come for a good goddamn reason. But you have to stay strong. "You might want to try elsewhere."
“But sugar—” Jack drawls, grinning in pure relief at seeing your pretty face again somewhere else than in his dreams or the photos that haunt his walls. “You’re the only one who can help me.”
“Then you’ll have to wait.” Jack’s appearance has thrown you off completely, but you manage to finish up with your customer and take a deep breath — even hide your shaking hands behind your back — before you look at him again. “You came to my work?” Your voice is incredulous. Quiet. “It had better because you’re out of cologne.”
“You blocked my number and your daddy— well, I didn’t think you’d want there to be a brawl on your parent’s front lawn.” He huffs, annoyed that the old man had waved a hammer at him. He knows he could disarm him, but that would make you even madder at him.
“Ginger helped you find me?” You guess with disappointment. But Ginger is his friend. You can’t blame her for being on his side. “I left Jack. And I did it on purpose. Hell, we didn’t even have enough of a relationship to call it a breakup.”
“We had a relationship.” Jack snorts. “We have one still, this ain’t over, sugar.” He promises, “Not by a long shot.”
"We can't do this here." If he wants to have it out all over again, the least he can do is pay you the courtesy of not getting you in trouble at work. This is definitely going to get you in trouble. "I'm not going to lose my job because you can't take no for an answer."
“I love you, sugar.” Jack breaths out, finally saying the words he’s needed to for a long time. The words you deserve.
If there had been anything in your hands, you would have dropped it immediately. As it is, you feel like crumbling – falling down on the spot or running to him – something utterly undignified that would definitely get you written up at minimum. Your eyes mist and your shaking hands tangle around each other, but you can't break down on the sales floor. And beyond that? As much as you want to believe him, to let the anger and the heartache drip away so you can just go home to him where you want to be? It seems completely unbelievable to you that you walking out his door was somehow the magic tonic he needed to learn those damn words.
"My manager is watching," you murmur to him, glancing past him to the petite ice queen several yard away who has zeroed in on an employee not forcing product on every single person in the store. "We can't—it's not—you have to go, Jack."
“I’m not leaving.” He frowns, tossing the overly made-up manager a single look before focusing on you. “Did you not hear what I said?” He asks. “I love you, sugar. I need you.”
"I heard you." The water pressing at the back of your eyes is proof of that, and the way your voice cracks, but you can feel your manager's eyes drilling into your face and that gaze is angry. "I heard you. And we will talk about this, but I can't afford to lose this job and that might happen if you don't go."
“You don’t need this job.” Jack reminds you. You hadn’t had it when you left, so it’s not like you’ve been here for years.
"I have bills to pay," you remind him, rolling that tick in your jaw backward a little and swallowing the bitter pill that you decided to take all on your own. The undefined thing you had going with Jack had come with a big allowance, but it wasn't a sugar situation. That would have at least been a title. "Therefore, I need to keep my job. And the girl who just got hired can get sent out the door just as easily."
“You don’t need to worry about that.” He shakes his head and reaches for your hand. “Come on, sugar.”
“Why, Jack?” You have to keep your voice down as you snatch your hand back, but it’s still a hiss. “So I can be your stay-at-home friend-with-benefits again?”
Jack has many, many faults and one of them is impatience. His jaw clenches and he knows that he needs to get you alone to talk to you, others starting to warily gaze your way. Instead of answering you, Jack drops his shoulder and scoops you up like it’s nothing.
“Oh my fucking god, Jack!” The screech it earns from you is nearly instant, knowing that you have absolutely just lost your job over his stunt and not really knowing what in the hell he plans to do now. “Put me down! Right now!” He’s stronger than you and you don’t stand a chance of wriggling free in the dress you’re wearing. It will be up over your head if you even try.
“Nope.” His gait is just as determined as he passes by your manager, her jaw on the floor. “She quits.” He tells her and continues on to the door and outside.
“JACK!” Your shit is still in your locker and that’s going to be a black mark on your resume, but right now all you can do is beat your fists on his back and shoulder in protest. “What the hell are you doing? Put me down!”
By his Bronco, Jack finally relents, bending down and setting you on your feet. “Now, we can talk.”
Huffing and puffing like you’re about to summon a personal tornado, you don’t even hear him for all the blood pounding in your ears. “What the fuck was that?! Do you know how embarrassed I’m going to be when I have to go back in there and get my purse?”
“It’ll be the last time you go in there.” He predicts and he smirks at you. “And you’ll be flustered too badly to even think about what those crusted old biddies think.”
It’s a reasonable threat, considering how good he is at flustering you. The whole reason you’ve been so upset is because you do love Jack and you wanted this to work out. But standing out there on the street pressed between him and his Bronco? You feel like you’re about to be sold a familiar looking head of cattle after your own just happened to go missing.
“So what’s the play here?” You work very hard to keep your tone skeptical. “You tell me how much you need me so that I’ll come back to you and then nothing really changes? As usual?” He did say the words, but you’re so scared to believe them. To believe him. There’s a chance he doesn’t mean it and that terrifies you.
His eyes narrow, aware that he deserves that little barb but he shakes his head. “No. That’s not what’s going to happen, baby girl.” He huffs. “You are going to go get your purse and then I’m taking you home, where you belong. And I’m going to make you scream my name before you fall asleep on my chest as we plan.”
That all sounds…ridiculously good, actually. It would be a relief to go back to him. To not have to miss him anymore and feel like your heart has been split in two. But all you do is raise one eyebrow in a show of disbelief. “Plan what, exactly?”
“You’re marrying me sugar, today, tomorrow, or the next day.” He growls, smashing his lips against yours and moaning in relief when you melt against him. Pulling away to caress your cheek. “What do you say, baby girl? Should we make it official?”
“Do you…really mean it?” Months of telling him that you wanted to know where you stood with him — wanted commitment from him — only to be sidelined or waylaid or otherwise put off for just a little while longer, they all melt away in the face of the biggest offer of commitment he could possibly make.
“Gotta ring in my pocket.” He confesses, leaning in and brushing your nose with his. “Sugar, I’ve been such a damn fool.” He murmurs. “I thought I could avoid losing you if I didn’t admit I love you. And I just hurt you, something I never wanted to do.”
“That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense cowboy.” It makes Jack Sense, which is not much at all, but still your arms twine around his waist right there on the sidewalk. “But I’m just gonna brush past how long it took you to show up at the party and embrace the fact you’re here at all. Because I didn’t want to leave. I miss the hell out of you.”
“I’m a damaged soul, sugar.” He admits softly. “But I want to be better, I want to give you everything.” He sighs and leans in to kiss you again. “Come home?”
“Everyone is damaged somehow, cowboy.” Melting measurably more with another press of his lips to yours, you lean into the solid wall of Jack’s body completely. “We just have to talk about things from now on, so we don’t get more damage along the way. Okay?”
“Whatever it takes, baby girl.” Jack promises, wrapping his arms around you and holding tight. “I’m never letting you go.”
You’ve cried so much these last few weeks, it’s almost startling to realize that the tears in your eyes now are happy ones. Ecstatic. Overjoyed at having your Jack back in your life, and for the right reasons. If you were separated by more than a few inches it would have been a lunge to kiss him again, but as it is you wrap up in him and hold on tight. “You really have that ring? Because I’m gonna flash it everywhere when I go back into that damn place to get my purse, and then you’re gonna take me home. Our home.”
“I sure do, baby girl.” He has to take one hand out from around you and it almost kills him, but he wants to prove how serious he is. Pulling a small black velvet box from his sports coat. “Tell me what you think. If you don’t like it, we can go pick out any ring you want.”
"How could I not like it?" It's from him and that's all that matters. But the second he pops the little velvet box open, the tears in your eyes spill over and your heart is in your throat. "Baby...it's...it's...I love it. I love you." It's beautiful, and it's real, and he means it.
Leaving was the hardest thing you ever had to do, but if it was the kick in the pants that you both needed to know that the love you have is real? Then it was worth a little ache.
______
Master Tags: @pixiedurango @chattychell @winter-fox-queen @lady-himbo @artsymaddie @princess76179 @paintballkid711 @missminkylove @pedrosbrat @ew-erin @sarahjkl82-blog @sharkbait77 @justanotherblonde23 @lv7867 @recklesswit @mylittlesenaar @f0rever15elf @gallowsjoker @steeevienicks @athalien @sherala007 @skvatnavle @thatpinkshirt @jaime1110 @girlimjusttryingtoreadfanfics @goodgriefitsawildworld @greeneyedblondie44 @littlemousedroid @harriedandharassed @churchill356 @ajathegreats-blog @haylzcyon   @beardsanddetectives @kirsteng42 @ladykatakuri @adancedivasmom @madiebear @tanzthompson @emilianamason @bigsdinger @xocalliexo @pedr0swh0r3 @avaleineandafryingpan @charlyrmv @avidreader73 @iceclaw101 @loveslide @elegantduckturtle @becsworld @julesonrecord @its-nebuleuse @itsrubberbisquit @mikeyswifie @guelyury @lizzie-cakes @for-a-longlongtime @vabeachazn @purplerain04 @weho2kcmo @madnessofadaydreamer
My Masterlist!
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parramourne · 3 months ago
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❝Welcome to Camellia.❞
Offering a greeting to the new face. Though this was not one of his regular duties, as gate greeter was a position of its own unrelated to the Primrose, when he had the free time what's a little help for friends? Taking a shift here and there so they can go off and enjoy themselves within the bounds of the flower.
❝This is your first time here isn't it? I don't think I've seen your face before, and I've got a really good memory for pretty faces.❞
@aequitaas.
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pumpkinpot · 3 years ago
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MHA at a CON or FEST
Hi, so over the last couple day I have been going to the local Fan-con in my state and I was curious while there what some of the MHA characters would be like as panel or meet and greet guests and you as a vendor. 
Hawks- He is a fan favorite. For him I’d imagine the tickets to meet him would sell out almost immediately and if someone was lucky to catch one late, it would likely be from a peddler outside the stadium. He is so good with his fans very professional in his hero costume, taking pictures and signing things. (he kind of has to be.) As sort of a subliminal messaging thing, he’d keep some of your merch just strewn on his table, like it was just left there and would send feathers to you periodically throughout the day to let you know he’s thinking about you, or has some major tea about a crazed fan. You’ll know which depending on the frantic-ness of the delivery. 
Mirkou- She is so unashamed about her nerdiness. You cannot convince me you two don’t ren and, "women with swords" is her aesthetic. So don’t expect her in her hero costume. Not the one she actually works in at least. Her meet and greet costume is a modified knight-core version with chainmail and leather. She had a special bit of her armor etched with a little symbol of your two’s design. like a crest of your love... lol... nerds.... Preferably she can see your table from where she is, so she can point you out as her (royal title). “for I am their knight, and they are my Queen/King” is what she says all Stokely. Don’t expect to much professionalism from her, she’s too excited.  
Aizawa- How TF someone got him to do a meet and greet is beyond me, but he’s not happy about it. Its too loud, too crowded and he’s often asking himself why this big of an event is important to hero work and if its safe to have so many heroes in one place. (its a pretty big target.) But he’s amiable enough. He does it mostly because some of his students are there and so are you. At first he’s rather fitful, but when a little kid hands him a picture of a kitten drawn by them he softens. Its a complete coincidence he became the children's favorite. Parents wondering why their child chose a homely gremlin over Hawks. When he has any time free he’s watching you wow people with your own products just in awe of your passion, but behind that is a small excitement building for the epic sleep that yall are having tonight after such an involved day. 
Bakugou- You cannot convince me he isn’t into this. For a couple reasons. One he gets to show off a little bit. I feel like the Bakugou that would get big enough to have a meet and greet is not the “I’m better than everyone,” guy we’re used to, but he does like the idea of seeing what kinds of people flock to him. It’s def not what he expected. Book nerds, and introverts. If you’d have told him that was his fan base, he’d have laughed in your face, but now that he’s seeing it with his own eyes the pieces start to click. its very “every Hufflepuff needs a Slytherin” vibe. (though I don’t think Bakugou is a Slytherin, different post different time.) He actually begins to enjoy the time. Its not as loud as the other panels despite the doubled mass at his stand. When he has any time away from the greet table he’s with you, checking out the food truck district. of course their is a radius so he’s not swarmed, but he does tip the staff really really well.
Midoryia- Despite going to so many cons for Allmight stuff when faced with his own booth, and seeing his own fan art, Midoryia becomes very, very overwhelmed. This results in a lot of check ins with you and sloppy smiled pictures. It’s not that he tries to be awkward, but people constantly telling him how much they love him makes him wonder if he ever became so overbearing to his mentor. After a while you make some arrangements to move your booth into veiw of his and after that, his demeanor completely changes. Not having to stare at the art booth with only his face in various mediums staring back at him, but you with your passion sprawled out across a table and your friendly smile. It gives him courage to relax a little. Overall he’ll only do those kinds of events if you are there. If you’re not public with your relationship, how long will it take the public to realize you’re always so close?
Ochako- Baby girl is eating it up! Not because of the crowd per say, but because of the smiles. She’s had to use her quirk to save lives so many times, I could see her floating peoples hair and floating up to make funny faces behind people in photos. Her and some of the other hero's decided to get in on a corner of the meet and greets together so they can interact with fans together. (photobombing each others pics and such.) When she has the time she’ll sneak off to you with a churro in each hand with a social battery check in and a mandatory water check. If you’re feeling drained she’ll ask one of her assistants to watch your booth while she floats you both somewhere to watch the crowd from above.  
Mina- She is too hype for the occasion. Her and Ochako def got a space near each other. She goes above and beyond for her fans, decorating her whole booth in flower vines and twinkle lights. she did it for the gram for sure. She is great with her people and loves to ask them actual questions when they meet her. “how are you really babydoll?”, “tell me about your day.” and is the queen of complements. when she’s on break she’s with you hyping up your booth to anyone within hearing distance. “hey! have you all seen how amazing my love is?!” she def is out here to do the most in the best way.
Kirishima- Baby boy is nervous. He’ll never admit it if not forced, but he’s never been to an event like this, as a guest or greeter and the sheer magnitude of it all is.. daunting. It isn’t until he sits down and actually people watches the line of fans ready to meet him does he calm down. specifically a little boy with foam hands of his signature fist to fist in hardened mode. (Like the Thanos gauntlet you can buy at walmart) The kid was so excited to meet his favorite “shark” and it was that day that Kiri saw how far that comparison (him to a shark) actually went. He overall realizes his fan base is mostly made up of people like him. People who didn’t feel like they had the right bits in their bones to fit into society. He loved being that oddball for them. At lunch he sneaks away with you to eat junky foods hidden in an empty stage room or somewhere secluded. He’s got so many stories about so many cool people and keeps a copy of the pictures of his favorite fans for himself. to remind him why he does what he does. 
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gotham-ruaidh · 3 years ago
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Little Bit Better Than I Used To Be
This story takes place during the summer of 1987. It’s the time of the Cold War, and heavy metal, and Just Say No.
Ten chapters, each with a specific song as its soundtrack.
I’m so excited to finally share it with you.
Catch up: Chapter 1 (Starry Eyes) || Chapter 2 (Save Our Souls) || Also posted at AO3
—-
Chapter 3: Dancing On Glass
I've been through hell // And I'm never goin' back // To dancing on glass // Going way too fast...
Need one more rush // Then I know, I know I'll stop // One extra push // Last trip to the top...
Soundtrack: “Dancing On Glass,” Mötley Crüe, 1987 [click here to listen]
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Three P.M.
Group.
Claire’s hands wrapped around the hard sides of the plastic chair, holding herself upright, watching about two dozen fellow patients? inmates? addicts? shuffle into the room.
Two people stood at the door – greeting others as they entered, handing out small packets of tissues and bottles of Coke.
Today’s facilitator – a middle-aged, bearded man – stood to one side, chatting with a few people.
“Hey!”
Claire startled – and turned to her right to see Jamie slide into the chair beside her.
“How’s it going today? Day two, right?”
She nodded. “Met with my therapist this morning.”
“That’s great! Who’ve you got?”
“Gillian.”
Jamie cracked open a bottle. “Oh, she’s great. Been here a long time. She’s married to the director – did you know that?”
Claire’s eyebrows raised. “No, but that’s really interesting.”
Jamie gulped about half the bottle in one shot. “Yeah. We owe everything to them.”
“Yeah, well. I got assigned to dinner set-up duty.”
He beamed. “Great! I’ve been on that rotation for the last few weeks. I’ll show you all the ropes.”
“Few weeks? How long have you been here, if you don’t mind me asking?”
He set down his Coke. “I don’t. And I’ve been here eight weeks. The best eight weeks of my fucked-up life.”
“Don’t say that,” she chided. “Surely everything can’t be so terrible.”
He stared at her for a long moment.
“It can be, if you were the reason why a sold-out European tour couldn’t happen, and it cost your backers and buddies tens of millions of dollars, and it pissed off countless thousands of fans.”
Now the greeters took their seats within the circle.
“Couldn’t, or didn’t?” Claire hoped her words were gentle, but when her head split with pain like this she could never tell. “And what do you mean by ‘tour’?”
His eyes narrowed. “Couldn’t. My manager said I’d come back from Europe in a body bag. He’s a bloodsucker but he had enough sense to not kill the golden goose.” He finished his Coke in one long gulp – flexing the tattoos swirling on his forearm and elbow. “And I’m a professional musician – in case you couldn’t guess from the way I look.”
“I see.”
He grinned. “How about that – someone who doesn’t recognize me.”
She folded her hands in her lap, closing her eyes against the pain, so desperately wanting to disappear. “I guess between medical school, and being a surgeon, and my ex-husband…and the pills…there are a lot of things I haven’t paid attention to.”
“Hey.” Softly he reached out to touch her knee – and she looked up at him.
“I’m not making fun of you, Claire. It’s just…I don’t know. Refreshing.”
She smiled tightly.
The facilitator clapped his hands. “Everyone – are we ready?”
People around the circle nodded, and the man sat down in the last empty chair.
“Great. Well, hi everyone. For those of you who don’t know me – I’m Murtagh. Been clean for just about eleven years now. Before that I spent a small fortune that I didn’t have – ”
“ – on enough blow to kill an elephant,” Jamie and several others chorused.
Murtagh smiled. “Wiseasses. Now – today’s topic is: clarity.”
“Can you be more specific?” A heavyset, bearded man across the circle piped up.
“You mean – provide more clarity?” Geneva snickered from somewhere near Jamie.
“Easy,” Murtagh interjected. “And yes, Rupert, of course. What I mean is: something I hear a lot from people here is that being away from substances gives them clarity for the first time in years. Clarity of thoughts – meaning, you’re logical and rational. Clarity of judgment – meaning, you feel like you are empowered to make good decisions. And overall, clarity to step away from all the bullshit that the substances made you do, or made it easier for you to do, and say – damn, what the hell was I doing?”
Across the circle, Rupert nodded. “OK. Oh – hi everyone, I’m Rupert, and I’m an alcoholic. Yeah – I can definitely relate. I wanted to not have clarity, so that I didn’t have to think about how much I was screwing up my job, and my marriage.”
“Good,” Murtagh praised. “And now that you can’t avoid it – how do you feel?”
Rupert stroked his thick beard. “Like shit. I love Scarlet so much, and I fucked it all up. I understand that now.”
“I feel the same way,” Jamie added. “Hi, I'm Jamie, and I'm an alcoholic, too. I drank because I’ve always felt so responsible for everything going on in my band – because I’m the guy that brought us together, and I’m the guy who writes the songs, and I’m the guy who’s across the table from the record company executives, advocating on our behalf.” He bounced a long, thin, jean-clad leg rapidly up and down. “I felt like I was being used, and that I was the only one who cared. I felt that really clearly. So I drank to…to avoid that clarity.”
Claire carefully watched the others around the circle. What Jamie was sharing could make any one of them a quick buck – all it would take was one phone call to a tabloid. But everyone was listening raptly – clearly thinking about parallels in their own lives – and it began to dawn on her that Jamie had one thing she didn’t have much of for herself: respect.
“And then when I drank, I’d just get really mean,” he continued. “I’d say things to rile up my drummer. I had a fling with my manager’s girlfriend, just to fuck with him. And yeah, I’d destroy hotel rooms.”
“Your reaction was to want to hurt people,” Murtagh said gently. “You had had clarity – clarity that you were shouldering too much, for too many people – and you reacted by wanting to push them away.”
“Yeah.” Claire spoke without thinking. “Um – hi everyone, I’m Claire, and I’m addicted to pills. Halcions, mostly.”
“Oh, those are the best,” a woman to Claire’s left remarked.
“Hey – no positive talk,” Murtagh interjected. “You know better than that, Letitia.”
Letitia huffed.
Murtagh turned back to face Claire. “Tell us more, Claire, if you’re comfortable?”
Now that she’d started, she couldn’t stop. “I was – am – a trauma surgeon for an emergency room. I love it – I love the adrenaline of it, and of course being able to help people on the worst day of their lives. I love being able to heal people. But…but it’s pretty heavy stuff. People die, no matter how hard you try to save them. People wake up and they’re not happy that they don’t have a leg anymore – and I say, would you rather be dead?”
“And you wanted to get away from that?” Jamie asked gently.
She closed her eyes. “I had to have clarity to do my job properly – it’s hard to describe, but it’s like having a laser focus on what’s in front of you. Getting in the zone. Shutting out everything else. And then when it’s all done – I would crash. The whole world would come rushing back, and I’d be covered in someone else’s blood and barely able to sit down before I had to work on the next person. That was so, so hard to deal with.”
“I understand.” Claire opened her eyes – it was an older man speaking right next to Jamie. “Hi everyone – I’m Ned, I’m a lawyer and crack addict, and there are a lot of jokes I’m sure you could make based on that.”
Claire managed a small smile.
“I’m a defense attorney – I’m that guy you see on TV arguing in a courtroom and presenting to a jury. I totally get what Claire said, because I needed to have that kind of really focused clarity, too. It was kind of like acting – I had to remember my argument, and I had to present it to the jury, and I had to pick up on cues from them to see how well I was doing. And then afterward I’d just crash. But I still had to have energy to prep for the next day, and that’s where Miss Crack came in.”
“So what I’m hearing is that clarity is something you already had – and then you turn to substances to get away from it.” Murtagh folded his arms. “Because it’s hard to flip that ‘off’ switch. And then eventually, the substances change from being something to take a vacation from that clarity, to completely blocking out that clarity altogether.”
“Exactly.” It was easier for Claire to focus on Murtagh than the sea of faces surrounding her. “And it’s a deliberate choice. I’m sure, Ned and Rupert and Jamie, that you deliberately sought out something to prevent that clarity. I know I did – I wrote the prescriptions for the pills that I consumed.”
Rupert nodded. “The bottle didn’t pick itself up and pour the liquor down my throat. And you’re right, Claire – at first, at least, it was a conscious decision. Until it became something I had to depend on.”
“I think that there are ways for this to happen more positively.” A woman seated beside Rupert quietly spoke. “Oh – hi, everyone, I’m Marsali, and I’m an alcoholic. What I mean is, there are ways to flip that ‘off’ switch that aren’t so…destructive. You can go for a run. Listen to music. Cook a meal. Watch a movie. Make love to your significant other.”
Murtagh nodded. “Marsali brings up a good point here. I’ll repeat something that I’ve already told many of you before, because it bears repeating. Substance addiction is addiction, first and foremost. All of us are here because our brains are hard-wired for addiction. We can’t change that. But we can change what it is that we’re addicted to.”
“Like what?” Letitia had calmed down a bit, but clearly she was skeptical.
“Whatever works for you,” Murtagh shrugged. “Jiu Jitsu. Flower Arranging. Reading. Playing the drums. Writing. Riding motorcycles. Not all addictions are bad – we just need to find the addictions that help us, and don’t hurt us or the people around us.”
Everyone’s heads nodded in agreement, quietly reflecting.
“So – that’s my homework assignment for all of you.” Murtagh pulled a small spiral notebook from his pocket, flipped to a fresh page, and began scribbling in it. “To think about the thing that you can become positively addicted to. Something you already enjoy, or something you’ve never done before. But I hope that even just thinking about it will give you focus. Improve your clarity.”
“Got it,” Ned said quietly.
Murtagh flipped back to an earlier page in his notebook. “Now – I have here my notes from the last time I facilitated Group. OK if I start going around and asking people for follow-up thoughts to those? Rupert?”
Rupert nodded, and began to speak.
“Facilitators take turns hosting Group every fourth day.” Claire started a bit, but held steady as Jamie leaned in close, spoke quietly into her ear. “We talk about things, and we’re assigned homework, and then the next time the facilitator is back we talk about it.”
“Thanks,” Claire murmured.
Jamie didn’t pull away. “If you ever just want to talk…”
She swallowed. “Thanks. I do. I just – it’s a lot to process.”
“It is. But you’ll get there. Talk more at our dinner prep.”
With that he pulled back, and a low buzz settled somewhere between Claire’s ears as the people around her chimed in to the conversation.
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jasmindoodles · 4 years ago
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“I’m not just another number”
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Pairing: Arc trooper Fives x oc
Word count: 4.7k
Warning: None
A/N: This chapter was recently been updated, so some things have changed but its still mostly the same idea. Big thanks to my friend Alexa for helping me, couldn’t have done it without her!
Chapter: 1 | 2 |
Chp. 1- A sight to behold
Fives really didn’t have any expectations for his first mission after being promoted to arc trooper, but this certainly wasn’t it. He was on a diplomatic mission of all things. He was to accompany General Skywalker and General Kenobi. Along with him Commander Cody, Captain Rex, and Echo were also requested to come along. This was a very special mission personally requested by Senator Amidala herself. They were asked to go to a planet called “Toralu” who was interested in discussing a possible alliance. He definitely wasn’t going to complain about coming here though. On his travels he had heard rumors and whispers of Toralu’s wild, lush, and mountainous landscape. It was said to be one of the most breath-taking planets in its system.
As the dropship approached the surface of the planet the side doors opened.
Suddenly As the ship turned a ray of warm orange light seeped through the door.
“Gosh my eyes! Of course, I have to be standing right next to the door.” Fives though as he quickly raised his hand to shield his eyes. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the light, he lowered his hand to finally reveal the planet below.
“The rumors really don’t have anything on this planet” Fives admitted to himself as he gazed out the ship.
Below stood a planet with never ending golden sands and glimmering turquoise waters. From the sands bust forth black rock cliffs caped in deep green brush, flowing into low dense valleys. The Landscape was dotted with exotic Flora and flowers as far as the eye could see. The planet just screamed warmth and life. From its thick forests, delicate flowers, to its tranquil seas.  As his glimpse of the shores disappeared, he instead turned his attention to their white circular landing pad.
Alright men get ready were dropping shortly, stated Rex. Fives started gathering all his gear together.
Once the ship landed fives exited the ship in line. As he stepped down off the ship and scanned his surroundings, he immediately landed on the magnificent palace. There in the mountains stood a palace that beamed golden rays as if manifesting the sun itself. It seemingly melded and became one with the earth as vines flowed and intertwined with its many archways. The outside of The Place had wing-like glass archways that wrapped around the entirety of the building. From there rose sharp curved towers that resembled tongues of golden fire, reaching as if to touch the heavens. These towers encircled a dome of shimmering glass holding high the queen’s royal crest.
“Fives can you get your head out of the clouds and stop gawking at the planet. Hurry up and get on line, we don’t have all day” shouted Rex. Swiftly Exiting the ship behind the generals, they were immediately stopped and meet with greeters and other servants.
“Hello welcome honored quest, we are so pleased to have you on Toralu! Please take these gifts, as they are directly from the queen” stated the head Greeter. In the greeter’s hand lay a Flower clip. The flower had a crown of fuchsia petals blending into the bell-shaped purple petals below. It slowly draped down with short fuchsia vines holding little buds at the end. Please wear them when you’re in the palace as they signify that you all are special guests of the queen. If you need anything, please show this clip to any servant and your needs will be swiftly taken care of. All the servants quickly bowed and held out the flower clips to each person.
“Well at least the locals are friendly” Fives though to himself.
As they are handed the gifts, He just looks at Echo mildly amused, shrugging at one another not knowing what to do with the gifts they’ve been handed. Quickly he scrambles to find a place to clip it on him. He clips it on his belt and follows the generals down the walkway.
The group is escorted by a few of the servants down a long path that eventually leads to the palace. As the entrance slowly came into view, they noticed how heavily guarded it is. The doors were made of heavy gold being at least 3 times any human’s size. The entrance truly looked impenetrable. Once they approached the generals moved to the side to speak to one of the queen’s greeters privately. After a few moments passed General Skywalker quickly motioned for them to follow him. They followed him down a crescent shaped hallway with tall arch’s All the ceilings and adjacent archways were delicately painted with gold and elaborate paintings decorated the walls. Finally, they had reached the end of their walk as they came to stop at an impressive and imposing throne room. As they entered the first thing, they noticed an intricately crafted marble floor which led to a set of tall stairs. The stairs skillfully lead their eyes up to a large throne which sat perfectly Infront of a plethora of floor to ceiling windows.
Suddenly he noticed there were three people talking to one another off to the side, a man and two ladies. One of the women had her back to them, so he couldn’t see any of her features. Something about her though just captivated all his attention. He felt like he couldn’t look away even if he wanted to.
From behind he could see she was dressed in a long floor length dress that softly swayed as she moved. The Dress was a delicate mint that slowly faded down to a bright fuchsia. The gown was also adorned with golden shoulder plates that wrapped around the back of her neck making a high collar. Her shoulder plates connected to puffy sheer sleeves that tightened around her forearms. The rest of her was hidden from his view because of her long flowing brown hair, which she had half pinned up in an elaborate headpiece.
As the greeter made their presence known to her, she turned around to greet her guests. When he finally laid eyes on her, she completely took his breath away. There were so many rumors about how breathtaking the planet was, but they had never mentioned how the people were even more so. As she gracefully walked closer, he saw how elaborately she was dressed. It finally hit him.
“Oh my Goodness she’s the queen”! Queen Kira Luana! Fives though.
With her now In full view he could soak in everything about her. She had piercing mint eyes that were calculating and gentle. He also noticed how she had multiple thin golden markings. One that curved from the top of her cheekbones down to the corners of her lips, and another that started at the bottom of her lower lip and traveled under her chin. With her gown fully in view he noticed the dress’s heart shaped neckline trimmed with gold. She also wore a gold-plated corset belt, complementing her hourglass figure. The dress fanned out into two flowing front slits giving view to her clothed legs. Her hair swayed delicately as she walked closer and making his heart race faster and faster as she grew near.
She greeted the generals first, her smooth and silky voice sending shivers down his spine. Then she turned her attention to him and his fellow clones, giving them a sweet smile. Seeing just her smile made his heart flutter and him feel knees feel weak,
‘Get a hold of yourself Fives!’ he thought scoldingly.
She asks the generals in a gentle voice “Would your troops be so kind as to remove their helmets, please? I would like to see the rest of my guests' faces.”
‘Oh no!’ He thinks.
General Skywalker tilted his head back with a smirk and a small chuckle saying “Well boys you heard the queen, remove the helmets”
As he removed his helmet, he can feel himself start to blush, making him feel more flustered.
‘It’s not like I’ve never seen a pretty girl before! What is up with me! Come on get yourself together Fives!’ He thinks to himself. She’s different though. She is the most beautiful person he’d ever laid his eyes upon. She wasn’t your typical pretty face you would meet at 79s, she is a queen. Fives stared to get the strange feeling that someone was looking at him intently. As he looked to his left, he was immediately meet with a scolding gaze from Echo. That look firmly told him to get himself together and straighten up. The queen started to speak grabbing everyone’s attention, diffusing the growing tension between Five’s and Echo.
“Oh my, who knew there were such handsome faces hidden underneath those helmets” she said as she walked past them examining them.
Any semblance of composure that Fives had gained went out the window at her words. What she said left him even more of a flustered mess then before. Kira swiftly turned back towards the General’s to discuss details about their stay on Toralu. Out of nowhere, Fives suddenly felt Echo jab his elbow into his side causing him to jump and be abruptly brought out of his daze.
Two servants then walked into the throne room and once they finished talking stepped in front of the General’s.
“Generals’ if you would please allow us, we would like to show you and your warriors to your respective rooms” said the servant’s.
“Of course, Thank you, please lead the way” Obi One said as he gestured forward. After walking down more arched golden hallways they reached their destination. They stopped in front of two side by side doors.
“These will be the rooms you’ll be staying in.”
“Generals, you both will be staying in the left room and your men will stay in the right room beside yours. I’ll show you the room inside, Kamikara will show your men their room.” The two servant’s then ushered them separately.
As the clones walked in the room, they all gawked at how lavish it was. It had high arched ceilings, windows with a view, and best of all white plush beds with mountains of pillows. Fives immediately turned around and asked the servant ‘This can’t be our room, are you sure you’ve got the right place?”  
“Oh most certainly, only the best for the Queen’s quests” Kamikara said confidently.
“Now there are fresh clean clothes on the beds for you to change into if you so wish. Also, the refresher is on the right and a gentle reminder that the queen would like to have all of your presences at dinner at 19:00”.
“Wait, does the Queen actually want us to dine with her and the generals?” Fives blurted out.  
The servant girl looked taken aback and momentarily confused but then answered, “Why yes of course, it’s customary to feast with all the guests here on Toralu.”
Fives then said with a confused look on his face “But we’re just soldiers, we’re not meant to dine with a queen.”
“To the queen it matters not what rank you are, she views everyone as her equal and wants to make everyone feel welcomed. Unless you want to upset her by not coming to dine with her?”
Cody jumped in immediately “Don’t mind my friend here, we’re just not used to being the ones invited to dine. I assure you we’ll be ready for dinner at the proper time”
Kamikara’s slight frown quickly became a large bubbly smile at Cody’s words. “Perfect! I’ll come by a few minutes before to escort you all to the dining room. In the meantime, you can relax in your room or feel free to walk around the palace, even roam around the city as well, if you so please. If you need anything, use the intercom by the door and a servant will come, there are also servants all around the palace if you are in need of assistance. Now before I take my leave, do any of you have any questions or in need of something?”
Everyone was in shock by what she had said, but then he heard Rex clear his throat and say “No, thank you ma’am, um we’re fine.”
Ok great! Well, I hope you enjoy your stay here. Kamikara said as she left the room.
Fives scoffed “Wow! I can’t believe this room is for us. Hey Cody, Rex, does this usually happen in these types of missions? You know, where we're treated like normal people.”
Cody chuckled, “Enjoy it while you can Fives.” Echo playfully shoving him in the process.
Cody started walking to the door with Rex not far behind “We’re going to go speak with the generals. You boys enjoy yourselves in the meantime.” Cody mockingly said.
Fives curiously raised his eyebrow at them as they left. Eventually though he turned and looked at Echo shrugging it off guessing whatever it was they were going to talk about, he didn’t need to know.
“You heard the captain.”
Fives made a mad dash for the bed playfully shoving Echo out of the way in the process. Once Fives reached the bed he fell back on the soft plush bed. Relishing in how soft the bed was he buried himself in the mounds of pillows. Echo just shook his head and sighed as he walked towards the refresher. Once fives heard the door shut, he sat up and thought “Well if I want to explore the room, now is the time”. As he got up and walked around the room, he noticed a large balcony thru a frosted glass door. As he opened the door to the balcony, his face was hit by a warm gentle breeze. The wind carried the sweet smell of exotic flowers and the salty bite of the sea.
“Man, I just can’t get enough of this smell” Five’s though as he took in a large deep breath.
He felt the tension leave his neck and shoulders as all his senses took in the flora and beach that laid in his view. Behind him he heard Echo open the door to the refresher, slowing walking back in the room. Fives walked towards the door and leaned on its frame. “Echo you have got to see this view it’s amazing!”
“Ok, well if you would move your big butt out of the door then maybe I would!” Echo said with a playful smirk.
Just as Echo reached the door Cody opened the Front door with Rex in tow. Immediately Echo and Fives stopped and straightened up getting in line. “What are our orders Commander?”
There are none for right now, the generals are going to speak with the Queen, so I suggest you both should take this opportunity to rest up.”
“Yes sir!” Both Echo and Fives then relaxed and moved over to sitting down on their beds.
Echo quickly got comfortable lounging back on his bed. “Finally, I’m going to get a chance to read up on my data pad.”
Fives just shook his head while saying under his breath “Echo I think you were left in your growth chat too long.”
Fives slowly laid down on the soft bed. “Honestly it feels so strange laying on something so comfy. I don’t know, maybe I’m just too used to our rocks for beds.” As he got comfortable his eyes slowly grew heavier and heavier, until eventually Fives was fast asleep.
Fives bolted up from his sleep in a panic, sweat slowly dripping down his brow. ‘ It was just a nightmare” fives panted. “Gosh what time is it.” Taking a quick glance at the clock he noticed almost 2 hours had passed by, fortunately there was still plenty of time before dinner. Scanning the room he looked over to where Echo should be on his bed, but it was empty. Cody and Rex were nowhere to be seen. “I wonder if I should comm them?”As he reached to grab his comm fives thought, “ Wait… they may be in negotiations with the general’s and queen, best not bother them.” As fives pondered it hit him. “I know I’ll bother Echo!” he grabbed his comm an dialed.
“Hey Echo, where are you?”
“Oh, I’m in the art gallery.”
“Art gallery?”
“Yeah, I wanted to learn more about the culture of Toralu and there just so happened to be a gallery in the palace. It’s got so much interesting art and it's full of fascinating cultural pieces, ooooh wow like this unique plant life ....” Echo’s voice trailed off as something grabbed his attention and distracted him from the conversation. As Fives stood there waiting for Echo to regain his focus he rolled his eyes, growing in his frustration.
“Echo! Just tell me how to get to you?!” he impatiently shouted.
“Oh that’s easy, when you leave the room take a left down the hall, then walk a little and take a right and to your left there should be a large fountain, it’s right on the other side of it.”
“Finally! Ok, I’m coming to you.”  
If he remembered right, there were supposed to be two servants alongside two guards on either side of the hallway. Coming out of the room he looked left and right, and just as he thought there were two servants alongside two guards on either side of the hallway. He turned left out of his door and respectfully nodded at the guards and servant’s as he walked past them. After some time of walking down the hallway, fives started to notice what looked like two entrances on the right.
“That can’t be right! Echo never mentioned two entrances.”
Running his hands through his hair in frustration fives sarcastically huffed “This is just great!
Finally calming down fives leaned back against the wall pushing his head back, “Ok think, what should I do? I could comm Echo but who knows how long it would take to get an answer out of him. Or I could just go for it since I do have a fifty-fifty chance.”
Running his hand over his temples and through his hair he reluctantly came to the conclusion “I’m just going to go for it and choose the closest entrance. What’s the worst that could happen anyways?
Walking down the hall for a few minutes fives let out a long frustrated sigh “This is taking way too long, I should have reached the fountain already.”
“It’s got to be just around the corner, this place can’t be that big” thinking to himself in denial.
After walking for what seemed like forever, he saw a grand entrance at the end of the hallway. Getting closer he noticed the entry archway had massive marble pillars covered in vines sprinkled with small purple flowers. Past the archway laid a well-manicured courtyard and a magnificent view of the ocean. Taking in the elegant scenery fives thought,
“Echo never said anything about this place but maybe the gallery entrance is somewhere around here?” As he scoured for anything that looked like the entrance to the art gallery, he suddenly heard voices. Being curious he followed the voices and straight away stumbled upon the queen and her advisers. 
Panic sets in and he rushes back to the hallway hiding behind the wall, he peaks around the corner and sees she’s turned opposite to him, talking with her advisers. ‘Why am I so nervous?! Also why am I hiding?’ Thinking to himself, he notices another entrance on the other side of the opening and looks back where the queen was. She was still distracted talking, so he took his chance and tried his best to look inconspicuous but just a few steps in and the queen noticed. 
“Excuse me!” Fives winced and stopped dead in his tracks.
“You’re one of general Skywalker’s troopers, correct?” Going into autopilot Fives turns around while straightening himself answering “Yes sir. Arc trooper Fives at your service.” 
Fives relaxed enough to lay his gaze upon the one asking the question and  there in front of him stood in all her beauty, Queen Kira Luana. Making his breathing hitch and sending his heart racing.
She smiles at him sweetly and starts walking towards him. ‘By the force she’s beautiful!’ He thinks to himself, clenching his fist tighter as she gets closer. He keeps his eyes looking straight forward for fear that if he looked directly at her he would crack.
She stops in front of him and asks in a very gentle and smooth voice “are you lost Fives?” He can feel lightning crawling up his spine at her saying his name so gentle, making him weak at the knees. So in tranced by her words he almost doesn’t answer her, stuttering for a response he clears his throat “Um n-no your highness, I-I was uhh going to the visitors art gallery! Haha” ‘Wow! Really Fives!? That sounded so stupid!’
She smiles endearingly up at him humming. ‘Oh my force! Stop it woman!! Are you trying to give me a heart attack’
“Well if you’re going to the visitors art gallery you’re going in the complete opposite way.” Now she’s just smirking at him. Embarrassed now, he tries to act confident “I knew that, I just wanted to take a detour is all, considering how beautiful this palace is.” Smiling like a buffoon.
Raising an eyebrow at him she says in response “You have no idea where you are, do you?
Realizing he’s been figured out, sighs “Forgive me your highness, I think I might’ve taken the wrong turn, if you could just point me in the direction of the gallery and I’ll be out of your way.” Says defeatedly.
She looks pass him down the hallway and says “I could” then looks back at him “But first I have a favor to ask of you.” Looking back at him.
Confused he stutters to ask “uhh umm what w-would that favor be, your highness?” Trying to give a dashing smile but failing in the process.
At that she smiles again at him “ Would you mind walking with me to the gardens?”
He raises his eyebrows not knowing to respond,” uhhh-“ before he can answer she cuts him off saying “ If you don’t want to, that is fine I understand, you are probably tired and would like to rest.” Looking a little disappointed. He immediately jumps to says “N-No! I-I w-would love too! It would be an honor!” At that she instantly perked up, smiling once again. Before they start walking she turns back to her advisers and dismisses them. Turning back to Fives she grabs his arm, making him blush to the point where he has to turn his head the other way so she wouldn’t notice.
As they walk in unison Fives sorta starts to calm his heartbeat, until the queen starts talking. “I hope your rooms are to your liking, I’ve never had clones stay at my palace before, so I wasn’t exactly sure what you all would like.” Fives almost choked on his own saliva at what he was hearing, but quickly composed himself. “Trust me it is more than fine. Thank you, your highness. You didn’t have to do that for us clones, we’re used to far less.” Ending his statement with a nervous laugh.
“That’s... Disheartening to hear, you and your men are what’s holding up the Republic’s side of the war alongside the Jedi. Surely you should be recognized for your hard work, right? You all are putting your lives on the line and should be treated with the highest regard; although I know war is not a very accommodating situation. ” Looking at him with concern.
“That’s very kind of you to think that of us, your highness. But we are just another weapon of the Republic, we’re meant to be expendable. Me and my brothers aren’t even considered living beings to some.” He looks away as he says that, clenching his jaw.
Kira looking upset at his words “But that is not true! How could someone or anybody for that matter look at you and think you are not a living being? It’s outrageous!!” Fives response “Maybe it’s because others don’t understand or just don’t know, some look down upon us because we are genetically made instead of naturally born, like the rest of the galaxy.”
Thinking on what he says the queen takes a deep breath and exhales as she begins again “ I’m sorry about that, truly I am. No one or thing should be treated like that. Me and my people, we are taught to value all living beings whether they are born through the will of the force or genetically made. Know that even though my planet is neutral and does not participate in this war, you and your brothers are valued in my eyes and in the eyes of my people.” Fives a bit shocked goes on “ Thank you, your highness. That means a lot coming from someone such as yourself.”
“ All who meet you should be thanking you and your brothers for your sacrifices” bringing her hand to her chin in a thinking pose, she responds “ and I thank you for telling me this, I’ll have to take it into consideration for when I make my decision.”
“Pardon?” he was a bit confused at her words. She looks back at him “ oh do not worry, just know you have opened my eyes to a world unbeknownst to me, I thank you for that.” Looking forward again.
“If I may ask your highness, how do you treat your soldiers?”
“Well for one, we do not call them soldiers, we call them Makakoin warriors and they are treated with the highest respect. They’re specially chosen and put into training from a very young age. From the Makakoin warriors only a few are selected to actually be the queen's royal bodyguards. It requires even harsher training that not everyone can withstand. The ones who become warriors are given one of the highest honors and in return they honor and benefit their families. It’s quite different from the Republic who mass-produce soldiers and from what you told me, see you as nothing but weapons. I mean no offense by that.”
That last part makes him chuckle a little “ None taken, us clones are  just the republics means to an end. Many beings view us as disposable instruments of war but a few appreciate and value us for who we are. What you speak of though has many similarities to how our Jedi are selected.   
“Exactly! Our training and beliefs are very similar to the Jedi and we greatly respect their methods of training.'' 
“Now, it’s my turn to ask a question” She looked at him with mischief in her eyes, which made simultaneously excited and nervous. “Oh dear, please your majesty have mercy on me.” Saying it in a playful way which made her giggle and that made him blush again but also feel pride in knowing he was the cause for that lovely sound, he 
had to bite his bottom lip to keep himself from smiling like a giddy little boy. “Hmm you’ve peaked my interest Fives.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.” as they keep on with their conversation he becomes more relaxed and has this weird fuzzy feeling inside.
___________
Meanwhile echo was starting to get a bit concerned that he hasn’t seen Fives yet. ‘He should have been there by now!’ Echo thinks while he’s looking around the gallery. As he does so a servant notices him and asks if everything is ok. “Yes, I’m just looking for my brother.” He goes to exit the gallery in an attempt to find his mischievous brother. ‘Ugh he probably got lost, the fool! Frustrated, he goes down to the fountain to see if by some chance he’s there, but sadly he wasn’t. He goes to com him but he doesn’t answer “oh come on Fives answer me!” But no response. So he coms Rex to see if by some miracle Fives was with him.
“What is it, Echo?”
“Sir, is Fives with you?”
“No. I thought he was with you. Please don’t tell me he’s run off somewhere unsupervised.”
Echo can hear the dread in his voice “Well, uhh about that sir...”
“I don’t want to hear it, just go find him and come back to the room.”
“Yes sir, Roger that!”
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dansnaturepictures · 3 years ago
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Rutland Water third blog: 21/08/21-Egleton Nature reserve, part 1 of 2: Ospreys, Great White Egrets, my first Yellow-legged Gull of the year and a lot else 
Today we completed our trip by coming into Egleton nature reserve at Rutland Water. We had a phenomenal day again seeing one of the longest and most varied lists of birds I ever recall seeing particularly in a summer and possibly ever as we went to all but four of the hides it felt brilliant walking between them and clocking up so many after getting into every hide at Lyndon nature reserve the other side of the water yesterday too. It means I think we have over the years been to every hide at the two stretches of this fantastic nature reserve now. And it was all the more rewarding given going to reserves where you go into the fairly confined hides with other people was something not possible for so long due to the pandemic. We have well and truly had our fill of going into hides again now which is great. We saw so many birds we would expect of this area today and other welcome additions were just ones that felt quite random and encompassed so many family groups which was fantastic.
After a lovely time in the hotel we set off for Egleton and took in the two charming and fantastic villages I love seeing Rockingham and Caldecott as well as some others this morning and I got the chance to take my obligatory photos of them taking the first in this photoset featuring the characteristic for this time of year brown fields before getting into Rockingham and second picture in this photoset in Caldecott. We then came into Egleton nature reserve and coming here for the Bird Fair on this weekend for so many years it was bizarre not being stewarded in to a field by the amazing fluorescently dressed volunteers going towards the visitor centre, but instead going into the car park an area I’ve probably never looked at here before. There were quirky moments initially though with farm animals being moved around including the sheep that roamed the fields here and yesterday at Lyndon always key parts of this rural landscape and ponies. I took the third picture in this photoset at the woodland hide by the centre. 
We then set about visiting every hide north of the visitor centre. I took the fourth and fifth pictures in this photoset early in. In the early hides Osprey and Great White Egret dominated proceedings with brilliant views of them particularly an Osprey as it soared like a barn door spectacularly over the water. Sweet brown Sand Martins and the noisy Common Terns which were a huge star today were seen well at this point too.
At the sandpiper hide young birds and waders dominated initially, with a fairly grown up humbug Great Crested Grebe chick looking great and another Mute Swan family with cygnets after yesterday I had not seen many cygnets this year as a whole so it’s felt good to catch up with them whilst away this weekend. Then a fresh clean plumaged Greenshank scuttled about on the shore of a shingle island on the lagoon it was great to see this star of the Bird Fair for us in the past I took the ninth picture in this photoset of a Greenshank at a hide further around the lagoon later on. Then spectacularly an Osprey flew in, mobbed by some of the Common Terns that were swirling around everywhere today which was interesting to see quite a big bird for any other to take on and it eventually made its way onto the Osprey post. We enjoyed some cracking views of this exceptional raptor at this hide and the next one along the Dunlin hide and I cherished this supreme species so much. Some of our best views of the whole trip of the principal species of it and some of the best chances for photos of one this weekend.
This lagoon also is the best spot at Rutland Water I feel to spot a charming and prominent landmark which I liked checking out a lot at Lyndon yesterday which looms in the distance in all weathers the stately house Burley-on-the-Hill. A familiar sight whenever we come to Rutland and it was great to take it in and take photos of it as well as put it in landscapes too like with the sixth picture I took today in this photoset. 
We reached the Dunlin hide and on the way in had a brilliant few moments for birds seeing a stunning Spotted Flycatcher in trees with a pretty charm of Goldfinches. An exceptional and strong species to see, the first I ever saw was at Lyndon when up for the Bird Fair in 2009 our second fair and this is the first I have see at Rutland Water since. It’s the third I’ve seen this year which I am very pleased with. A Redshank flew over to in front of the hide and it transpired when in here that it was one of a pair of Spotted Redshanks. A monumental sweet plumaged bird to see I’d never seen these anywhere but the coast before and never at Rutland Water before so this was very special.
In this hide also we were very fortunate as we were with a year tick yesterday at Lyndon that some very kind fellow watchers picked out a Yellow-legged Gull with a group of Great Black-backed Gulls and let us look at it in their telescope. I was over the moon to spot the striking yellowness of its legs and greyness of its back for a little bit. A brilliant bird to see as I hadn’t seen one since January 2019 at Blashford Lakes, last year breaking a five year chain of me seeing them in years since 2015 with four years running at Blashford. But there are only two places I have ever ticked and indeed even seen this bird as the first we saw was in Bird Fair 2015 during a celebrity cruise on the Rutland Belle with David Lindo the urban birder. It was fantastic to record another year tick for the trip getting one each day to take my year list to a figure I am so pleased with 175 with two I was not guaranteed to see this year. We were very thankful to the kind people some of many we saw this weekend. I also found out when home our first ever Yellow-legged Gull was exactly six years prior to Saturday another great moment! 
On the way from this hide to the Plover hide at the other end of the lagoon and before getting into Dunlin hide we had a foray into the insect and flower world with rich meadows like the bit shown in the seventh picture in this photoset attracting a Small Tortoiseshell one of the butterflies of the moment with so many about. We saw so many of these today as well showing nice continuity with some last weekend a big butterfly weekend we had I loved seeing their exotic red glow. We also saw on the wooded areas by the hides pretty female Common Darters and Common Blue damselflies. These strong bits of meadow habitat is one of my favourite bits of the reserve. So many beautiful and special wildflowers I saw here and all around the reserve today included; field scabious, viper’s-bugloss, bird’s-foot trefoil, yarrow, cow parsnip, carrot, self-heal, agrimony, hemp-Agrimony, buttercup, bellflower, thistle, teasel, black-mullein, the recently learnt by me pineappleweed, bindweed, ragwort, wood avens and Herb-Robert in the woods and great willowherb and rosebay willowherb next to each other by a path.
It was interesting to note today there was a lot more leaves of autumnal colour especially the birches which can be the first to go with their yellow colours but some other trees like red dogwood and others with red too than at home. I enjoyed other more towards autumnal sights today such as berries on trees and enjoyed trees generally a lot again yesterday and today.
At the Plover hide it was amazing to get another view of the Osprey flying and still. I saw another of my favourite birds flying into a great position to view and as heard just before and yesterday too as a beautiful Green Woodpecker darted across the lagoon. From this lovely hide we witnessed one of few wasps seen this weekend meet a perilous end at the hands of two spiders with a web around something I have seen before. There were loads of Lapwings here which was great to see and that other Greenshank seen well too. And I was thrilled to see our first of a few Egyptian Geese of the trip today here one of four new birds when we first visited the Bird Fair in 2008 like Osprey and they weren’t common Hampshire back then so it’s always a fond memory seeing these and was great to get them seen this trip I took the eighth picture in this photoset of them. 
Visiting the remainder of the hides north of the visitor centre with Common Terns noisily wheeling overhead on the path and from the hides and we had some of our best moments of the trip. Firstly at one of the hides the scrape it overlooked was covered in waders. A strong group of Snipe, Green Sandpipers a bird I have relied on this reserve to see in past years seeing a few well with an interesting moment when a Lapwing came up behind one with them both creating reflections in the water/mud as I was taking a photo a picture I tweeted on Dans_Pictures, the first Avocet I’d ever seen at Rutland Water alongside Ringed Plovers two more I am more used to seeing on the coast seen today and three intricately marked scrumptious Ruffs at the water’s edge added a further injection of variety into today and our trip I got the tenth picture in this photoset of one of these. The Ruffs meant a lot as one quarter of the four life ticks we got in our first ever Bird Fair too. This hide also presented a stunning view of a Great White Egret probably one of the best, most intimate and best photo opportunities I got of this incredibly numerous ghostly white star of the trip and place. I was able to get a DSLR with big lens shot of this one I often need the greeter zoom of my bridge camera to capture them so this made a change. There were some more of my favourite birds around in the form of sweet brown/grey female and ruby headed male Pochards.
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sariasprincy-writes · 5 years ago
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Hollow Point 32
One // Two // Three // Four // Five // Six // Seven // Eight // Nine // Ten // Eleven // Twelve // Thirteen // Fourteen // Fifteen // Sixteen // Seventeen // Eighteen // Nineteen // Twenty // Twenty-One // Twenty-Two // Twenty-Three // Twenty-Four // Twenty-Five // Twenty-Six // Twenty-Seven // Twenty-Eight // Twenty-Nine // Thirty // Thirty-One // Thirty-Two (here) 
Chapter Thirty-Two The lies we write in blood
The instant Sakura shifted her car into park, her phone rang. Her brow ached curiously when Ino’s name flashed across the dashboard. She hadn’t been expecting her call, but Sakura answered nonetheless, using the control on her steering wheel.
“What’s up?”
“Hey, I know you’re about to head into a meeting but I saw something today that I know you’d wanna hear about.”
“And what might that be?”
“A large shipment that was supposed to go to the Akatsuki warehouse Tenten’s men are handling was diverted,” Ino said.
Immediately Sakura’s suspicions and interest pique. “Diverted and went where?”
“Newark.”
“Let me guess,” Sakura said flatly, the wheels in her head already turning. “To the warehouse where Tobirama’s men were ambushed.”
On the other end of the line, Ino hummed. “The very one.”
“Hashirama said that he had dealt with that a while ago,” Sakura said, her voice nearly a growl. But her annoyance wasn’t directed at Ino. Rather at Hashirama himself.
“Apparently not.”
Sakura took a moment to take a deep breath and calm down before she returned her concerns to the matter at hand. “Has Tenten said anything about a lack of shipments?”
“Not to me, she hasn’t,” Ino told her. “And to be honest, I’m not particularly sure why Madara chose that warehouse. It’s on the border of town.”
“Perhaps to have them all in one place?”
“Perhaps, but it makes me wonder if he discovered you took over that second warehouse,” Ino said. Then she added, “But I found something else that might help you. The shipments were sent by a man named Killer Bee.”
A frown crossed Sakura’s lips when the name sparked no memory. “And who is that?”
“He’s a major arms dealer for Akatsuki from what I’ve gathered. Perhaps their biggest.”
“And?”
“And,” Ino said, like what she said next held more worth than all the gold in the world. And they did. “He was very good friend of someone you knew.”
They ended the call soon after that. Sakura’s mind raced with the information Ino had given her. Sakura wouldn’t have much time, but if she could pull her strings exactly right, she might be able to screw Madara over in a way that would hurt him indefinitely. She would just have to move fast enough.
But before that, Sakura needed to talk to Tenten first.
Cutting the engine to her car, Sakura headed down the city block. She made her way towards a club with a line out the door and nearly halfway down the street. Sakura found Tenten in her office. Up the stairs guarded by two tough-looking men. They let her through with a single nod.
“Tsunade,” the brunette greeted with a pleasant smile.
Lee sat in the corner, polishing a Taurus handgun that looked like it had seen some action as of late, but he looked up upon her entrance and greeted her with a bright smile. Sakura returned it with a considerate nod before she lowered herself down in the chair across from the other woman.
“Thanks for meeting me on such short notice,” Tenten said.
“Of course. What can I do for you?”
The brunette got right down to business. “There’s been some shifts in the Underground. It looks like Akatsuki has been stretching out their reach, finding allies in every corner they can. They’re not backing down.”
“No,” Sakura agreed. “And I didn’t expect them too. Akatsuki knows that I’ll be challenging them. And if they’re any smart, which they’ve proven time over that they are, they know it’ll take nothing short of an army to shut me down.”
“Which is becoming quite the pain in the ass,” Tenten told her, a small bite to her tone.
Sakura simply smiled as Tenten grabbed the pack of cigarettes on her desk and withdrew one. She bit the end between her teeth as she flicked her lighter to life, holding the flame to the end of her smoke until it smoldered red.
Sakura allowed Tenten a moment to get her nicotine fix before she asked evenly. “Tell me, how is everything going at the warehouse?”
Tenten inhaled deeply and blew a breath of grey towards the ceiling before she answered, “It’s been running smooth. My men have kept things in order.”
“Any new shipments lately?”
“Not too many. Just a few here and there. Overall, it’s been pretty quiet,” Tenten said.
A moment of silence passed. Then, like waves washing over the sand, understanding fell over her expression. Because if Akatsuki was getting ready for a major assault, things wouldn’t be quiet.
“Fuck, how could I be such an idiot?”
Sakura bite back her urge to frown. She wanted to snap at Tenten for her oversight, but Sakura knew now that the brunette had realized her mistake, she would work tirelessly to correct it. It not only was a dangerous error but a stark embarrassment.
“Akatsuki is aware the warehouse has been taken,” Sakura said out loud so there could be no mistaking. “They’re looking to build their assault elsewhere.”
“How could they know?” Lee asked.
Kisame, was Sakura’s first thought. She didn’t know if the slip was his fault and frankly, right now it didn’t matter. She needed to get the situation under control. Everything else could wait until later.
“I don’t know,” Sakura said, not sparing him a glance. “Obviously someone let something slip, but that’s not our primary concern at the moment.”
“What do you want me to do?” Tenten asked, her tone a little meek. As if she were still embarrassed by her grave oversight.
Sakura shook her head. “Nothing yet. There’s something I have to do before I can figure out how we move forward.”
She didn’t have to glance at the brunette to know that her answer didn’t quite please her, but Tenten didn’t argue. Instead, she stubbed out her cigarette on the corner of her desk and stood just as Sakura did.
“I’ll fix this,” Tenten promised.
Sakura shook her head. “It’s too late. We need to move on. I’ll let you know soon what I need.”
With that, Sakura made ready to leave. Only before she could make it even two steps, Tenten stopped her. “One other thing, Tsunade. I have that order you asked for.”
Pausing, Sakura turned to glance back at Tenten. “Already? That was quick.”
Tenten simply smiled, relieved that she could at least do this one thing right. “You said you needed it fast.”
The brunette jerked her chin towards Lee, who was already on his feet and making his way towards the closet in the corner. He disappeared inside for a minute before he returned with a black box. Inside was a single Glock. 9mm and as black as the midnight sky. And exactly what Sakura needed.
xx
If there was one thing Sakura avoided, it was children. They were young and bubbly and still learning about the world and all it had to offer. They had their entire lives laid out before them with the chance of a bright, happy future. And that was something Sakura didn’t want to be responsible for destroying.
Tonight, however, she found it unavoidable. Especially when the place Sakura found herself was the inside of an elementary.
The school was decorated for the night’s occasion. Flickering fairy lights and white flowers lined the entrance of the stone building. Inside, silk cloths hung from the ceilings and covered the counters where parents could purchase snacks and drinks. All to make for one magical night at the ballet. A show that the five- and six-year-olds were likely more excited for than the parents themselves.
It might be just a performance put on by children, but the adults were dressed as if they were attending the New York City Ballet, most wearing expensive evening gowns and designer suits. They chatted in small groups with crystal glasses of champagne in hand.
Sakura fit in seamlessly in her flowing, gold, lace dress. She slipped through the crowd easily, her intentions set solely on her goal.
As it turned out, Killer Bee was not a difficult man to find. He stood out like a sore thumb with his slicked back, bleach blond hair and broad, stocky figure. He was seated alone, his attention captured by one of the pamphlets the greeters at the door were handing out. It made it easier to appear casual when he wasn’t observing.
With an elegance that had been drilled into her, Sakura grasped the long skirt of her dress with one hand, her small clutch and her own pamphlet in the other, before she maneuvered around the other attendees.
“Is this seat taken?” Sakura asked, already lowering herself down beside him.
Killer Bee glanced up and gazed at her, his eyes raking down her form carefully before he gave a small shake of his head. “No.”
Smiling, Sakura made herself comfortable before she opened her pamphlet and gave it a onceover. For appearance’s sake.
“This should be quite the performance,” she said after a moment. “The kids have worked so hard.”
“So, they have,” Bee agreed. “My niece has been going on about it for weeks now.”
“How darling.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Bee glance at her. He seemed to study her a moment before asking, “Which one is yours?”
His tone had suddenly turned a little stiff, a little sharp. Immediately Sakura knew he had recognized her. She closed her pamphlet and raised her eyes to meet his, her gaze cool. “I think you know,” she murmured.
A frown settled upon his hard features. “You’re Tsunade.”
“So I am.”
“You have quite the pair coming here,” he said, his entire presence suddenly unwelcoming.
It only made Sakura smile. “I have many things, but a ‘pair’ is not one.”
His stern expression didn’t shift. “I know what you want and I’m not interested. You may feel free to threaten me, but I promise you, you cannot shake me.”
“That I don’t doubt,” she agreed pleasantly. “Which is why it’s a good thing I have no threats. I simply want to talk.”
“Your relationship with my company says otherwise,” Killer Bee said. He lowered his voice slightly as a couple passed, but his gaze never left hers.
Sakura waited until the passing parents were out of range before she continued, “Perhaps. Still, it’s worth a try.”
When Bee simply stared at her, she added with an easy tone, “It’s come to my attention recently that you are a friend of Naruto’s.”
There was a small shift in Bee’s expression. Minimal, slight. So minute that she would have missed it had she not been watching. She had to bite back her smirk. It seemed Ino’s information was spot on.
“What of it?” he asked after a small pause.
Sakura simply smiled comfortingly at his defensive tone. He was almost too easy to read. “I came to extend my condolences.”
Bee stared at her a long moment before understanding passed behind his expression. “He’s dead.”
She nodded, a somber look falling over her face.
To her surprise, Bee sat back in his chair before he ran a hand over his hair, pressing his flat locks even flatter against his head. A look of what appeared to be sadness crossed his expression, but it was gone as quick as it had come.
“To be honest, I’m not surprised,” Bee eventually said. “Kid always had a bit of a soft heart. Too bad. I liked him. He was always sending gifts to my niece.”
“I was fortunate enough to get to know Naruto in the months before his death. He was a good guy like that,” Sakura murmured quietly.
She made a point of leaving out the part where he was also a not-so-good guy. With the whole moving and trading arms for her and all. He died in a way fit for how he had lived.
Then she fixed Bee with an unwavering stare. “He’d still be here though, if it wasn’t for your company.”
When Bee glanced at her, there was a look of confusion on his face. “What are you talking about?”
“Your leader had him taken care of.”
“For what reason?”
“Honestly, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she told him.
Which wasn’t technically a lie. Just not even remotely the whole truth.
“That’s the problem with your company,” Sakura continued. “They don’t care what they have to do to get what they want. Maybe next time, it won’t be Naruto that’s in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe it’ll be you.”
“They wouldn’t. I’m too important to them,” Bee said with the utmost confidence.
Sakura merely turned her gaze to the stage as the overhead lights began to dim. Her next words a mere whisper for only him to hear: “But your niece isn’t.”
xx
That night, there were no stars out. They were hidden. Polluted by the light from the city. Still, Sakura stood on the sidewalk with her head tilted back as she stared up at the sky, searching for any tiny glimmer as if it may give her some answers.
When they didn’t, she returned her gaze back down. She eyed the street around her, taking in the couples that walked hand-in-hand as they headed to dinner or perhaps back home. They all appeared so happy, so content.
Sakura missed that feeling. The briefest thought of calling Itachi crossed her mind, but she dismissed it as quickly as it had come. There was something else she had to do tonight. Someone else she had to see.
Slipping her hand into the pocket of her jacket, Sakura retrieved the phone there. It was a burner, her own purposely left in her apartment. Hashirama picked up on the third ring.
“Sorry for the late call,” Sakura greeted with more pleasantness than she felt. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
On the other end of the line, Hashirama gave a brief pause. “Sakura? I didn’t recognize your number.”
“New phone,” she told him. “My other one took a bit of a swim. Are you busy?”
Hashirama gave a small huff. Of amusement or annoyance, she didn’t know. “At three in the morning? Yes, but what can I do for you?” he asked.
She got right to the point. “We need to talk. I just got news on Madara’s movements that I think you’ll want to hear about.”
“And what might that be?”
Sakura didn’t immediately answer. Instead her gaze wandered over the shadows across the street. As if she were expecting Madara to be lurking just out of sight. For the first time, she felt a little nervous. Normally Kakashi had her back. But tonight, she knew he was across town. Watching the warehouse in Newark. Exactly where she had asked him to be.
“I can’t tell you over the phone,” Sakura eventually said. “Madara’s been watching me again.”
There was a small pause before Hashirama released a long sigh. “Meet me at my warehouse along the river in an hour.”
Then he hung up.
And she did. And hour before sunrise, Sakura arrived at Hashirama’s property. She had been there only once before nearly a year ago, but it hadn’t changed much in the time. She followed the parking lot around the side of an office building until she came to the warehouse behind it.
Near the entrance, Hashirama’s car sat running. His part-driver, part-bodyguard jumped out upon her approach and opened the back door for her. She smiled her thanks at him before she slipped inside.
Hashirama was busy on his phone when the door shut behind her. Sakura simply waited patiently, crossing one leg over the other. Beneath her, the leather seat was smooth and soft. A complete contrast to the hard, clunky gun strapped to her hip. The one Tenten had given her earlier that day.
After a minute, Hashirama finally darkened the screen and looked up. He said nothing for a minute, taking in the men’s shirt she was wearing. She had tucked the ends into her jeans to hide the bagginess but it still hung on her form.
Hashirama said nothing about it. Not that he needed to. His judgement was written all over his expression.
“You said you had information,” he finally began.
Sakura nodded, unfazed by the disapproval in his gaze. “I do. Madara is moving again. My sources say it’s somewhere in the south.”
“Do you know where?”
“Not yet,” she lied. “My bigger concern is that there seems to be more allies helping Akatsuki. Do you know how they’re gaining such a following so quickly?”
That news made Hashirama frown. “Madara is very persuasive and Izuna is violent. And they both have money. It would not be difficult for them to find more men.”
“So how do we stop them?”
“Simple,” he said. “You cut off their finances and therefore their means to gather more men.”
Sakura shot him a flat look. “Madara’s not an idiot, and as much as I claim Izuna is, he isn’t either. Their accounts are going to have the highest level of security and safeguards. It’s not like we can just call the police and have them freeze their assets.”
“I said the solution was simple, not easy,” Hashirama chided. Then his expression relaxed. “But if we can figure out a way to do that, then we will weaken their attack.”
Sakura hummed her agreement but didn’t reply.
Hashirama only allowed the silence to envelope them a moment before he spoke again, “If Madara is planning to strike from a new location, we need to focus our concerns on that at the moment. Your last reports were calculating a massive assault, which means that we will need to attack before Akatsuki does. Catch them off guard while they’re still organizing.”
“I agreed,” she said.
“Then we need to talk to our informants in the Underground to see if they’ve heard where Madara might have moved his operation.”
Sakura nodded but remained quiet as she considered her conversation with Ino earlier that day. She also thought about how Hashirama had so easily tossed Tobirama aside. Like his brother was nothing more than a clingy child when he had killed for Hashirama, and nearly been killed himself.
“Do you remember the warehouse in Newark?” Sakura asked quietly. “The one where Tobirama’s men were ambushed?”
A look of confusion passed over Hashirama expression. “What of it?”
“You said you took over the assault. Did you burn it to the ground?”
She had expected Hashirama to lie and say he had. Because that was what he had promised Tobirama after he had nearly been killed.
To her surprise, Hashirama shook his head. “No, but my men hunted down every man that was there that night and took them out. The warehouse is still there, but I guarantee it is empty.”
Like a light turning on, it suddenly occurred to Sakura that Hashirama had always planned on betraying his brother. Perhaps he had even known Tobirama would be ambushed that night and had hoped he would be killed. It would have been easier than an outright betrayal. The thought nearly made her sick. For Hashirama had always played the part of a caring brother. Both to Tobirama and to everyone around him.
Taking a slow breath, Sakura reigned in her emotions. She was quiet a moment as she chose her next words carefully.
“And if the warehouse isn’t empty?” she eventually asked.
A thoughtful look passed over Hashirama’s face. “You think Madara relocated Akatsuki’s stores there? It would be a smart move on his part. We should confirm they’re there. Once we do, we can prepare to strike.”
“I’m already prepared,” Sakura told him. “My guns are all accounted and Tobirama’s men are on standby.”
Just as she expected, Hashirama went suddenly still. His expression remained the same but his eyes hardened. It seemed as if the very world outside the car paused as well. “I believe we already discussed this,” he said evenly, sternly.
Sakura remained unfazed. “We did,” she agreed. “And while I appreciate your input, I have decided that it is best to keep my plan as I had originally arranged it.”
Hashirama didn’t immediately reply, but his upset was apparent in the way his mouth suddenly tightened into a firm line. He was angry with her. Beyond angry. “You are much too arrogant for your age. You forget that I am the one who saved you rom that orphanage.”
She resisted the urge to childishly roll her eyes. “How could I? You remind me every chance you get.”
“And yet you’re still an ungrateful whore,” he said, pointedly eyeing her oversized shirt again.
It was then that she realized he thought she was sleeping with Tobirama again. His incorrect presumption nearly made her laugh but she bit it back. Instead she shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
By him and by others, but it still left a sour taste in her mouth. Her easy expression melted away as those familiar feelings of resentment began to stir. She had pushed them down for so long, compressed them and kept them hidden that she could barely contain them any longer. But she did. Because she had to. At least until her job was finished.
“You think you saved me,” Sakura told him, her tone one of cold indifference. “But really you condemned me. You sealed my fate that day you chose me. And your own.”
And like a light had been turned on, Hashirama’s expression shifted. Only a faint look of understanding passing behind his eyes. “Tsunade didn’t teach you her trade,” he said quietly, almost as if to himself. “She trained you to be an assassin. To kill me.”
What happened next only took a matter on seconds. Hashirama reached for his gun a split second too late. He wasn’t even given the chance to unholster it before Sakura withdrew her own weapon and fired a single shot. The bullet ripped through his knuckles. Blood splattered against the leather seats as he choked back a sound of pain.
Outside the car, Hashirama’s bodyguard reacted to the gunfire. Sakura barely spared him a glance as she fired two shots through the window, both striking him center mass. He hit the ground with an audible thump.  
Smoke rose from the barrel of Sakura’s gun as she redirected it at Hashirama, her expression void as if she were watching a dull movie unfold before her.
“You shouldn’t have betrayed Tsunade,” Sakura told him matter-of-factly.
Across the way, Hashirama gripped his mangled hand, thick blood clots and bits of tissue coating his flesh. What Sakura could only describe as hate filled his eyes.
“Tsunade was weak,” he spat. “She got what she deserved. I should have never brought you to her.”
Sakura shrugged nonchalantly. “Perhaps, but I’m not here to be Jury or Judge.”
“Just Executioner,” he retorted. “Tobirama will never forgive you. He’ll kill you for this.”
Hashirama was grasping at straws now, desperate to save his own life. Sakura knew he would never lower himself to begging – he was much too proud for that – but he would do everything he could to coerce her otherwise.
“What Tobirama doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Sakura told him.
A sneer crossed Hashirama’s face then. Sakura pulled the trigger the same instant he made to lunge for her. Gracelessly, he slumped back into his seat, a thick trail of blood slipping down the center of his forehead where the bullet at entered.
Sakura stared into Hashirama’s lifeless eyes for only a few moments, refusing to allow herself to feel. It surprised her at how easy it was. She felt no regret or relief with his death. Hashirama had been her assignment from the start. And she had completed it.
xx
It had been a warm summer night the night Tsunade had given Sakura her mission. Sakura had been sitting in the dining room, disassembling and reassembling a new 9mm when Tsunade had turned her back on the setting sun to observe her actions.
She had a glass of vodka in one hand, a cigarette between her fingers, which wasn’t unusual. What was unusual was the fact that it was still Tsunade’s first glass. By the end of dinner, she was normally well into her third.
“You’ve been studying the documents I gave you?” Tsunade asked.
Sakura looked up from the dismantled weapon to nod. “Yes.”
“And what can you infer from them?”
“That given Hashirama’s current status, he’s going to look to expand his territory in New York within the coming years. His brother, Tobirama, is helping him for now but Hashirama’s going to need to side with more allies to ensure that he can keep reaching without the threat of spreading himself too thin,” Sakura answered.
Tsunade was quiet even after Sakura finished. She took a long drag off her cigarette, her eyes never leaving Sakura from where she sat at the table, before she stubbed the smoke out on the railing and crossed the room.
Sakura remained quiet as Tsunade lowered herself into the chair beside her, her haze eyes only briefly looking away to peer at the pieces of gun laid out upon the table.
“Finish it,” Tsunade ordered.
In only a matter of seconds, Sakura rebuilt the weapon she had just taken apart, magazine loaded with a bullet in the chamber. The start of a smile crossed Tsunade’s face.
“You’re ready,” she said.
When Sakura shook her head in confusion, Tsunade told her, “In the coming years, Hashirama is going to need help expanding his territory, just as you said. When that time comes, I want you to offer your services. You’re to get close to him. Make him trust you, make him want to bring you closer. And when he is completely reliant upon you, you’re going to kill him.”
Sakura only stared back in confusion. “I don’t understand. You’re family.”
Tsunade barked out a loud before she took a long sip from her glass. “Perhaps in name, but you of all people should know that family is not who you are born into.”
Sakura didn’t reply to that as she dropped her gaze, but Tsunade continued nonetheless.
“That man has taken advantage of me for years,” she murmured, more to herself than to Sakura. “I can’t kill him outright, which is why I’ve taught you everything I can. You will do this for me.”
xx
All of Tsunade’s training had suddenly made sense that day. Why she had taught Sakura her trade, how to lie, how to work the Underground, how to fight. How to murder. Sakura’s entire life had all been leading up to this.
And now it was over.
The weight of her mission had been pressing down on her for nearly six years. Sakura thought she would feel free, but now that she was sitting here, Hashirama’s corpse growing colder with each passing minute, she knew she was just getting started.
After all, if the next part of her plan was to work, she would need to frame Madara for the murder.
to be continued…
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princessgracekelly1956 · 6 years ago
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ABOVE: Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco are offered a 4½ pound rainbow trout by Roy Hodges, of Hamilton, N.Y., at Philadelphia Travel and Vacation Show. Princess had hooked a fish in pool at the show, but it got away.
Princess Opens Travel Show 
Throngs Hail Grace, Rainier 
By DONALD A. McDONOUGH and LEONARD J. McADAMS 
The Philadelphia Inquirer - April 20 1963.
The royal couple of Monaco Prince Rainier and Princess Grace, celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary here Friday with a day on the town and they enjoyed it as much as any couple that manages to get out of the house for a few hours without the children. 
They received the cheers of thousands in a motorcade from City Hall to Convention Hall to formally open the Philadelphia Travel and Vacation Show.
Mayor James H. J. Tate gave them a print of Old Philadelphia, little girls gave Princess Grace flowers, and the entourage even did a little fishing in a pool in the basement of the hall. 
Princess Grace hooked a big trout and lifted it halfway out of the pool when the fish - probably nearsighted - jumped off the hook.
But this was hardly the highlight of the day for the stately and gracious blonde from East Falls who became a princess. It came probably when the Prince publicly apologized in the Mayor's Reception Room for depriving Philadelphia "of your loveliest citizen. 
Crowds had formed early at the northeast corner of City Hall awaiting the arrival of the royal couple for the city's official welcoming ceremonies. 
By 10:30 A. M. some 1000 unofficial greeters were on hand. They cheered and clapped as Princess Grace stepped from the car accompanied by Prince Rainier, her mother, Mrs. John B. Kelly, Sr., and her brother, John B. Jr. The children, Prince Albert, 5, and Princess Caroline, 6, had been left at home. 
City Representative Fredric R. Mann took the party in tow and led it via elevator to the second floor where an honor guard of police lined the hallway to the Mayor's office. 
Princess Grace wore a two-piece red wool suit, designed by Philippe Venet, a flowered blouse, navy pumps and handbag and a blue hat. For jewelry there were a gold pin and gold earrings. As counterfoil, Prince Rainier wore a dark pin-striped suit with a white handkerchief in the breast pocket. 
Mrs Kelly was clad in beige  with brown bag and shoes and a tigerskin hat. Mrs. Tate, who with her husband, Mayor Tate, greeted the party first in the Mayor's office, completed the fashion ensemble with a blue suit, yellow scarf and hat. 
From the office, Mayor Tate and Princess Grace led a procession to the front of the Mayor's Reception Room. The party sat at the right of the speaker's stand flanked by flags of the United States and Monaco. Some 200 persons were in the room, including members of Philadelphia’s consular corps, judges, councilmen and city officials.
TATE EXTENDS WELCOME 
Mayor Tate in his official greeting made note of the wedding anniversary and extended a welcome to Prince Rainier and his wife, "a native daughter." 
In response, the Prince said "A little more than seven years ago I came here for the first time to your city. It was not as an official guest and it was not to attend any official function. For me it was much more important than that. I had decided to deprive you of your loveliest citizen. 
"Having now been forgiven I hope, Mr. Mayor, we are proud and pleased for the warm and wonderful welcome we have received. In these moments the memory of a great Philadelphian, John B. Kelly, remains with us and he would be proud that his son, John, is following in his tradition.”
HEADS TRAVEL SHOW 
John B. Kelly, Jr.. is head of the Philadelphia Travel and Vacation Show which will run through Sunday, April 28. 
The "warm and wonderful welcome" continued as crowds lined a 12-car motorcade route down Broad St. to Walnut to 34th to Convention Hall. They clapped, they waved, they cheered and whistled. 
At Convention Hall, Princess Grace, on the arm of Mayor Tate, made her way through a throng of some 300 persons on the steps to cut the blue ribbon formally opening the show. 
CRUSH TAXES POLICE 
Then the crowd surged around the royal couple and with flashbulbs popping and police attempting to open a way through the crush for a time it looked like a movie mob scene at an ancient Roman temple. 
Ten minutes later they entered Convention Hall but still found difficulty in moving with throngs jammed in the five aisles along which the exhibition booths were lined. 
The Princess was given a bouquet by Marcia Freedland, 6, of Philadelphia. Preceded. followed and flanked by photographers they made their way slowly along the booths, accepting samples here and there. 
SALAMI FAUX PAS 
One booth attendant handed them slices of salami. Some of the party started munching when Jack Kelly exclaimed: 'Oh, gosh, today's Friday. I forgot." 
"It didn't count." Mayor Tate said. "They didn't think about it." The royal couple are Roman Catholics and a Church law forbids eating of meat on Fridays.
Several times spontaneous bursts of applause came from the crowds in the gallery. 
Princess Grace remarked to her husband: "This is where they play professional basket ball." 
POINT TO MURAL 
At the Monaco exhibit, the royal couple pointed out points of interest on a large mural to Mayor and Mrs. Tate. Princess Grace said the mural had been made especially for the show. 
"You are a very pretty girl," the Princess told Evelyn McCombs, 7, of York, Pa., who presented her with another bouquet. 
At the fish pool downstairs the party tried its hand with hook and rod. The Princess and other women in the throng screamed when she hooked a trout, then screamed again when it threw the hook and flopped back into the pool. 
"Do you give up, Gracie?" asked her brother, Jack. 
"Yes, Jack, I give up," she replied.
The party then left for a 12:45 P.M. luncheon for the immediate family in the rare-book room of the University of Pennsylvania. University president Dr. Gaylord P. Harnwell and Mrs. Harnwell were hosts.
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midnightluck · 6 years ago
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a very expensive vase (the trouble twins remix)
Marco taps his pencil on his desk and watches the clock, just like every other student in the class. Unlike them, however, he’s really hoping that it will somehow slow down.
No such luck, unfortunately, and the teacher is writing their assignment on the board. Two minutes left until school is over, and Marco dreads that final bell. He used to love it, but ever since a few weeks ago, it’s taken to signalling the start of his own private hell.
It rings anyway. He takes his time putting his notebook away and standing up, letting his classmates stream out of the room round him. There’s only so much he can delay, though, so he slings his bag over his shoulder and starts for the door.
It’s really a pretty campus, he thinks absently. Carefully manicured greenery out every window, high ceilings, pristine floors--it looks more like a mansion than a school.
If it were a mansion, the hallway he’s heading for would be the bedrooms, and he drops that metaphor the second he realizes it. It’s bad enough he’s even in this club without taking it anywhere else.
He slips past the fancy gilt sign with “Just a moment” written on it and heads for the third door on the left. He gives himself a single moment, with his hand on the knob, to close his eyes, breathe, and dread, then he cracks it open, slips inside, and opens his eyes.
Blue.
There’s blue everywhere, on the walls and the floor, which is odd because he’s fairly certain this room was yellow last week. There’s piles of blue satin and lace everywhere, and the effect is actually very nice, like waves. In fact, exactly like waves, Marco notices, taking it in; the whole room looks remarkably like an ocean.
“Marco!” someone shouts, and then something heavy and soft is dropped on his head, temporarily blinding him. “You’re late!”
“Sorry,” he says reflexively, reaching up and retrieving an oversized tricorn hat with blue and yellow feathers in it.
“Teacher kept you back?” a familiar voice asks, and he catches a heavy purple coat with his face.
“Or a pretty girl?” asks another as he fights his way free of it.
“No,” he says, shaking out the coat, “I just didn’t want to come.”
And there in front of him, is the reason. Blond and black, mischief and merriment, and both grinning at him. “Come on,” Sabo says, spreading his arms. “Welcome to the Grand Line! We’re gonna have fun this week!”
Marco looks at Sabo’s blue coat, knee high boots and ragged cravat. “Pirates, yoi?”
“You’ll love it,” Ace assures him, and he’s wearing--well. Not much at all.
Marco turns his eyes back to the purple greatcoat. “Pirates,” he sighs, and pushes between the two to head to the wardrobe room.
“Wear those lace-up sandals!” Sabo calls after him, and he wonders if he can get away with bare feet because he’s seen the heels on those things. Surely there’s something else.
There’s chaos in the back half of the wardrobe room, and Luffy pokes his head around a shelf, something oddly striped over half his head. “Hey, it’s Pineapple! Hey, Zoro, look, he came back!”
Another garment of dubious design goes fluttering over his head, and then he disappears back around the shelf. “Get back here and be careful taking that off,” comes the cool voice he knows is their treasurer’s. “If you tear it again, you’re buying the replacement. And Zoro, Marco came back! Pay up on our bet!”
“Namiiiii~” Luffy says, and Marco tunes them out as he ignores the pile clearly left out for him and goes through the racks. Purple’s not so bad, and there’s some blue capris he remembers from his first week here; that won’t clash, will it? Still, it looks more try-hard surfer bum than pirate, so he wanders to the accessory area and plucks halfheartedly at the containers and shelves until he finds a blue scarf. He doesn’t think about who it’s from, only ties it around his waist and tucks the top in.
The fabric, whatever it is, is light and slick and cool against his skin, and he doesn’t think about that either. He just keeps poking until he finds a pretty gold loop belt, and then tries to layer it over the scarf.
It’s too short, because of course it is. Everyone in this club is thin and lithe and tall and pretty, and it’s clearly not made for real people. He just tucks it in around half his waist, and calls it good enough.
He stands in front of the full length mirror, trying to guess what they’ll send him back for this time, and a grunt makes him look up in enough time to catch the silver mess coming at his face. At least, he thinks it’s silver. He hopes it is, because he does not put it past this group to have white gold or worse, platinum.
Whatever it’s made of, it’s too big to be a bracelet, and he glances up the way it came from. Zoro’s there, leaning against the wall, in greens that match his hair and only slightly more clothes than Ace. "Balance," he says, gestures vaguely.
"Balance," Marco repeats, and then his eye catches on the chain belt on one hip and he nods. You can get away with asymmetry, sure, but not unbalance, and he hates that he knows that now.
He hates that he’s here, dressing up and getting ready to put on a mask to cater to the whims of rich boys with nothing better to do than play around, but--
Well, whatever. He leans over and slips it up his calf until it sticks, just under the hem, and then looks in the mirror again. Yeah, sure, that’ll do.
He looks back to Zoro to be sure, and he’s got his eyebrows up.
“What?” Marco asks, only half defensively. Zoro’s pretty all right, most of the time.
“Nothing,” Zoro says, pushing away from the wall and walking off.
Most of the time, Marco decides, does not include now. Whatever, it’s good enough.
He heads back out into the main room and the chaos there. “Places!” Chopper shouts, waving his little arms. “Everybody, places! We’re open in three!”
Marco wanders over to the staging wall, staring blankly at the small wooden tables that almost look like they’re made of ship wood or crates. Still elegant, of course, but with just the right touch of rustic to lend to the sea-going atmosphere. A set-up like this clearly wasn’t cheap, and it was just for the sake for playing pretend pirates.
Speaking of, was that a bit of salt in the air? Franky was really getting creative with the sets, wasn’t he?
Chopper’s keeping a countdown going and Marco steps into his place, behind and to the right of the trouble twins. Sabo’s whispering harshly, jabbing a finger into Ace’s chest, and Marco fixes his eyes on the doorway and tries to avoid listening in.
“--all about you,” Sabo is saying, and then there’s a short scuffing noise.
“Maybe it should be,” Ace says back, and Sabo makes the most disbelieving noise Marco’s ever heard--and he has a lot of younger siblings.
“You’re just jealous--” Sabo says, and Chopper makes a loud noise and yells about one minute left.
“So what if I am?” Ace snaps back, and Marco’s eyes drift towards them.
“Of whom, Ace?” Sabo asks, and then Luffy comes bounding over.
“I’m a pirate!” he shouts, one hand on his ever-present straw hat. “I’m gonna be the best pirate ever! King of the pirates!”
Ace catches him when he jumps, and laughs as he sets Luffy back down, smile in place like nothing ever happened. “You certainly are,” he says, and scoots over to let Luffy have the middle of the formation.
“Thirteen seconds!” Chopper shouts, twirling in panicked little circles. “Places! Where’s Sanji?!”
“Here,” Nami says, shoving Sanji out of the wardrobe room. “Get to work! And Zoro, don’t forget my money!”
Zoro scowls and slides down to sit beside Luffy, leaning back on what looks suspiciously like actual sword scabbards. Marco counts three of them, probably because Zoro can. He really hates this rich-people school sometimes.
“We’re open!” Chopper shouts, and then dives forward to sit on Zoro’s outstretched leg. “Everybody smile!”
And they do. The door swings open, to gasps and chatter, and it’s only been two weeks but Marco knows, now, how to tip his chin and let his eyelids droop and chant “Welcome!” in perfect unison.
“Ooh, pirates!” someone says, clapping their hands, and the chaos begins.
Marco knows his role by now; he knows how to take the client’s hand and bow over it (but not kiss it) and welcome them softly and hand them off to their tables. He’s still the greeter here because this is their definition of both watching and training. Luckily, Marco’s always been a fast study.
Luffy’s the center of attention at his table as he bounces and talks about all the adventures he wants to go on, and, more importantly, all the meats he could try as a pirate. Zoro’s behind him, as usual, and Marco’s not at all worried about that table getting out of control.
Sanji spins past him with a tray full of delicate cups and petit-fours. He’s crowing about the beauty of flowers, and Marco tries not to look at the filigree metal towers of delicate sweets swaying precariously.
“Right this way, Princess,” he says instead, cutting his eyes back to...oh, Mary? Maria? Malina? Something with “ma”, certainly. She’s enough of a regular that he should know her name, but he knows her preference instead and that’s more important.
It’s a complicated dance, getting everyone set up at proper tables, because there’s a balance between small, intimate groups and making sure their guests get the best match. Here comes Belia, for example, and she prefers to sit at Luffy’s table, but Luffy already has three girls--he can seat her to the side and ask her to wait, but it’s too early for turnover, but Chopper’s got a free place and he’s hyper today, so maybe--
He’s already bowing over the next guest’s hand and murmuring, “welcome, princess,” as he calculates places, when he glances up to see which host their eyes are on and freezes.
He stares up, and Haruta who absolutely does not go to this school looks back, smile growing at the same speed as the dread in his stomach. Oh shit, oh shit, this is not good--
Sanji swirls past him and subtly kicks the back of his knee, and he grits his teeth and barely manages to turn the collapse into an awkward kind of dip that might be mistaken for a bow if you’d never actually seen one.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, standing up, and glances around; Haruta’s next to Whitey Bay, the second year pre-med daughter of the pharmaceutical zaibatsu, likes purples and camomile tea and--
And suddenly, out of nowhere, Sabo is right beside him. "Now, now," he says, taking Haruta's other hand. "That's not how you treat a lady, Marco," and he looks Haruta over and adds, "or a guest. What's your type?" he asks, leaning in and lowering his eyelids. "How can we please you today?"
Haruta, Marco notices, looks absolutely delighted, and is probably about to request Marco, he can just tell, so he cuts his eyes to the side and says, “Miss Bay, as I recall, you do quite enjoy the company of our resident doctor, don't you? Please, just this way.”
He offers her his arm and she takes it, letting him lead her over to Trafalgar’s table. He hands her down into her chair and leans in to murmur, “if there’s anything we can do to make your stay more pleasant, just say the word, yoi,” because scripts are scripts and guests are always the first priority.
She smiles at him and her dimples are adorable. He bows once more and steps back, turning at the last moment and cutting his eyes back towards her just once more. She smiles coyly, and he offers a tiny smile back before he’s finally free to look around again.
Sabo’s leaning in towards Haruta, still standing in the middle of the room, and Marco...doesn’t know what to do. He needs to resume his place as greeter, but he does not want to go back over there.
At just that moment, Sabo throws back his head and laughs, his perfect staged “real” laugh. It has all the hallmarks of proper amusement except it’s also attractive enough that Marco knows he practiced in a mirror, because Sabo’s real laugh is an ugly affair, full of flushed cheeks and awkward snorting noises.
Still, he doesn’t let go of Haruta’s hand; he just steps backwards and leads them both over to the large “ship deck” where Ace is holding court. He pulls out a chair and hands Haruta down into it, and Marco cuts his eyes away and gets back to greeting.
He makes it through the next two hours, somehow, by avoiding Sabo’s and Ace’s tables as much as he can. No one even notices because it’s not like it’s unusual behaviour for him, not really. He always tries to stay away from their tables while they’re working if he can.
Haruta leaves a bit before they close without any prodding from Marco, which is terrifying. He lets the last guest drag their fingers away from his hand with obvious reluctance, and he watches her leave, making sure his small smile is in place and his head is tilted just so. Body language may be subconscious, but, as Sanji says, it works.
Then the last girl’s gone, out through the door, and Chopper closes it and everyone sags in place. “Wow,” Ace says, running a hand through his carefully-styled hair. “That was worse than normal.”
“Everyone likes pirates,” Luffy says cheerfully. “Sailing! Meat! Freedom!”
“Mmm,” Sabo says and stretches, popping his spine. “Well? Are we in the black?”
“You know we are,” Nami says, counting a stack of cash. “Theme days always make bank. Hmm, this is a good start.”
“Start?” Marco repeats, eying the pile of bills stacked neatly across an entire table.
“Sure,” Nami says. “Looks like...hmm, you only have a few hundred thousand belli left on your debt.”
“But that’s--that’s what I started with, yoi!”
“Yeah, but now it’s 300 belli less.”
“Three--”
A hand lands on his shoulder. “Go home,” Zoro advises. “You’re not going to win this fight.”
And he’s not, Marco knows--no one wins a fight against Nami when money is on the line. His shoulders sag and he sighs, loud and long and depressed.
No one stops him as he heads back into the dressing room, but he rushes through getting changed anyway because--
“You did good today,” Ace says, and Marco whirls to find him leaning against the wall just inside the door.
Marco nods, swallows, and then eventually says, “Thanks, yoi.”
“You’re a fast learner, and a natural, too. We’ll have to get you on tables soon; the competent older brother type is always in demand.”
“I’m not--” Marco starts, but, well, no, he kinda is, isn’t he? Still, tables are a whole new level of fresh hell he is absolutely unprepared for.
“Hey,” Ace says, pushing off the wall to take a step towards him “Look, I know you think this club is dumb--”
“I don’t--” Marco says, even though he absolutely does.
“--and shallow--”
“It’s not--”
“--and that we’re contemptible and taking advantage of both the girls and ourselves--”
“I…”
“--but the thing is,” Ace says, taking another step, and the shadow in his eyes makes Marco shut up. “The thing is, is this is important. Maybe not to you, but to us, to me, to Sabo--there’s a reason that we do this. A lot of reasons, and...well.” He stops, and his eyes skitter away from Marco’s, who stares back. “Just--you can hate this if you want to. You can hate us if you need to. But at least...try to respect why we do it, yeah? Sabo--” and he cuts off and shuts up, standing there with clenched fists and red cheeks, and takes a second to just breathe. “We deserve that much, at least. Don't we?”
Well, and maybe they did, and maybe Marco has been judgemental, and maybe he hasn’t thought to try understanding them and this club and this school and this whole nightmare, but that’s because, “You’re blackmailing me to be here, yoi.”
Ace stares at him, then his eyes close and his hands go loose and his mouth crooks up. “Yeah,” he says softly. “Yeah, okay. I can see why you’d think that. Okay. That’s--that’s fine.” And he turns and walks away.
Marco stares after him. This club makes no damn sense, he swears--this club and this school and these boys and the thing in his chest that feels oddly like guilt. It doesn't make sense and he doesn’t like any of it.
But he can’t just stand here in the dressing room half-changed all day, so he finishes putting his shirt on, makes sure his tie is just the right kind of crooked--the kind he perfected by watching Law--and that his hair is the right level of wild fluff that looks barely tamed. Not that it takes much work.
Then he can leave this place and go home and lose himself in homework and family chaos and forget about this confusing place until tomorrow, at the very least.
He thinks it’ll work, too, but his hopes are dashed the second he steps out the front gate and finds Haruta and Whitey waiting for him.
He pins Haruta with laser eyes. “Why,” he says flatly, and his brother giggles and covers his mouth demurely, for all the world like any of the girls they serve.
“You should be grateful,” Whitey says, eyes dancing. “To have the privilege of escorting two such lovely young ladies home.”
“It’ll do wonders for your reputation,” Haruta says, and gloms onto his arm before he even offers it.
And shit, it will, won’t it? Everyone knows what club he’s a part of, and he can’t be anything less than perfectly gallant, not where people can see. His reputation is the club’s reputation.
So he grits his teeth and allows himself one short sharp “fine,” before he slides the elbow Haruta’s grabbed out and bows to Whitey. “Milady,” he says, and offers his other hand. “Please allow me to escort you home.”
Sighs and coos erupt around him and he fixes his face and waits until Whitey slides her fingers over his. Reputation, he reminds himself, then straightens up, turns Whitey out, and heads off towards home, head high.
“You really are good at this,” Whitey remarks as they walk. “And, apparently, good at keeping it secret.”
“You’re the only other Whitebeard who attends this school, and you don’t live at home anymore” Marco points out. “Besides. They know I’ve joined a club.”
“Yeah, but not which club,” Haruta says, dropping his arm and flouncing around to walk backwards. “You didn’t mention that.”
Thankfully, Whitey lives both close to the school and on the way home, so there’s no major detour, and even more thankfully, Haruta walks the rest of the way in silence. Marco counts his blessings and uses the time to make a to-do list. He still has to organize dinner and get started on the readings and there’s the math worksheet, and if they really are doing a cowboy theme next, he needs to brush up on his English--
And then they arrive and Marco realizes that maybe he ought to have paid more attention to Haruta after all. A quiet Haruta is not a good Haruta, and there’s a gleam in his eyes and evil in his smile when Marco opens the door and steps aside on instinct.
Haruta minces away through the front door ahead of him and calls out, “Hey, everyone! I just had the most fantastic afternoon!”
“Really?” comes Izo’s voice. “Oh, that uniform looks nice on you!”
“You’re such a brat, yoi,” Marco gripes, stopping to take off his shoes and line them up neatly.
“That’s not what you called me earlier!” Haruta carols back. “Hey, make some tea for us, Marco!”
“What I am, your servant?” he says, but he moves towards the kitchen anyway, because--well, because.
“Not a servant,” Haruta says, sitting daintily at the kitchen table next to Izo and watching him with gleaming eyes. “Consider it practice.”
“I don’t need practice,” Marco grumbles, getting himself a cup of water. His brothers can get their own tea.
“How about, if you don’t, then I’ll tell everyone exactly what club you’ve joined?”
“You know what club it is?” Izo asks, sitting up straight.
Ah, no. Okay, that--that’s not happening. “Two sugars, yoi?
Haruta grins, equal parts mischief and triumph. “Good boy.”
“Hey, no fair!” Izo says, leaning in. “What club is it? Tell!”
Marco gets out the teapot and sighs. This is his life now, apparently.
Well, Haruta’s right about one thing. It is good practice.
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chelledoggo · 6 years ago
Text
Softwald [an Epic MickeyxAU fanfiction] - Chapter 3: A Talk Over Tea
Oswald is warmly welcomed into his temporary new home. He and the Soft Couple get to know each other better over some tea and refreshments. He reluctantly begins to open up about what’s on his mind.
chapter 3 of my Softwald AU backstory fic~
no content warnings
Oswald headed down the stairs. Luckily an overnight duffle bag was enough to pack what he'd need for the next few days: some pairs of blue shorts and some toiletries.
Ortensia was waiting downstairs by the mirror. She'd just got done explaining to the kids that their daddy would be going “on vacation” for a few days.
Yeah, thought Oswald. A vacation from sanity, maybe.
“All set, honey-bunny?” Ortensia asked with a smile.
“As I'll ever be,” Oswald sighed in reply.
Ortensia hugged him and patted him on the shoulders.
“Now remember, the point of this is to relax, so don't worry about me and the kids. Just think nice, happy, relaxin' thoughts, okay?”
Oswald mumbled in agreement, and Ortensia gave him a kiss to send him off.
“See you in a few days, honey!” she chimed.
Oswald put on a convincing smile for her and the kids.
“Bye, sweetie. Bye kids. I'll be home before you know it.”
He waved back at his family, and then took a deep breath before stepping through the mirror.
He stepped back into the same cozy pastel living area from before, except now it was being lit by candles, and some soft classical music played on a home stereo.
What, am I walking into a spa or somethin'? Oswald thought to himself. I know he was gonna help me relax, but this is kinda overkill.
“Hey, Oswald,” a voice whispered nearby.
Oswald looked and saw Softwald and his wife (whom Oswald mentally decided to refer to as “Softensia” from now on) standing in the doorway to another room. They were both smiling warmly, like two greeters at a luxury retreat welcoming a VIP guest.
“Please, come right this way,” Softensia whispered. “We've got some nice, relaxin' peppermint tea on the kettle for you.”
“...Alright, then,” Oswald smiled hesitantly and walked into the next room.
A very fancy afternoon tea setup was laid out. There were tiny sandwiches, scones, and sweets lovingly arranged on the table, along with a fresh bouquet of some sparkling native flowers.
Oswald surveyed the spread skeptically.
They're not gonna poison my tea or somethin', are they? he thought. These folks are way too serene. It's kinda weirdin' me out...But Ortensia seems to think they're on the up-and-up. She's always been a pretty good judge of character...for better or worse.
Oswald took a seat at the table and waited for tea to be served.
Hmm...Those cupcakes look good, Oswald thought. Hope they didn't put anythin' 'special' in them...although it would explain a lot, I suppose.
Softwald walked in with a pot of hot tea and poured it in each cup. Oswald had to admit, it smelled pretty nice, although he'd always been more of a coffee guy.
After the three of them sat down, Oswald spoke up.
“I hope this doesn't sound rude,” he began. “But there's something I've been meanin' to ask you two. Why do you whisper all the time? Is there someone else asleep in the house?”
Softwald smiled. “It's alright. Actually, this is the only way we're able to talk. If we raise our voices too much above a whisper, it hurts our throats.”
Softensia closed her eyes and added. “It doesn't bother us, though. In fact, there's somethin' kind of relaxin' about it, y'know? We've always really liked peace and quiet, so I guess it's fittin' that we always whisper.”
“...Should I whisper, too?” Oswald asked, suddenly becoming aware that he might be breaking the quietude.
“It's alright,” Softwald assured him. “You don't have to if you don't want to.”
“Oh...Alright, then...” Oswald still kept his voice to at least a murmur, just out of consideration. He took a sip of his tea. He was pleasantly surprised at how nice it tasted. Sweet, but not overpowering.
“This is really good,” Oswald complimented. “Where did you get it?”
“Oh,” Softensia replied. “We actually make our tea ourselves. We have a garden out back where we grow our herbs and veggies.”
“That's nice,” Oswald remarked. “Gotta be a little bit nicer than getting them at the supermarket.”
“So, Oswald,” Softwald began. “I'd really like to learn more about you. Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?”
What is this guy, a shrink? Oswald thought to himself. Nevertheless, he politely put on a smile.
He proceeded to give the soft couple a brief summary of his current life in Wasteland. How he has a position as the leader, and raises 420 children with his wife. He talked a bit about his friends, his hobbies, his old cartoons, and his brother Mickey. He specifically avoided sharing too many negative details, however, as he was still a bit afraid to open up about his feelings.
Despite this, the next words out of Softwald's mouth wrote Oswald into an emotional corner.
“Things seem to be going pretty well for you,” Softwald said with a smile. His expression quickly turned into one of calm concern. “You still seem pretty stressed, though. Is there something bothering you? Your wife seems pretty concerned, and I'd really like to help you as much as I can.”
Oswald looked down nervously and stirred his tea a bit.
“It's alright,” Softwald assured him. “You can tell me what's on your mind. I won't judge you. I promise.”
Oswald sighed in submission.
“Alright, fine,” he began...
He then told Softwald about his rough past. How he'd been a star, but was quickly forgotten. About the Thinner Disaster and the events of the Blot Wars, including what had happened to his wife. About his resentment and reconciliation with his brother. It became easier and easier to be honest about his past as he continued speaking. He felt himself on the verge of tears a few times, but quickly pulled himself back and put on a brave face.
“...And now...I mean...Everything in Wasteland is great right now. I'm still in touch with Mickey, and he's been telling me people in the real world are starting to remember me again. But somehow...I dunno...I still feel uneasy. I still think about the past a lot, even though I know it's done and over with. And sometimes...I wonder if I even have any worth anymore.”
There was a moment of silence. Softwald and Softensia looked at Oswald with empathetic attentiveness.
“...Heh...Sorry,” Oswald chuckled. “Things got...a little bit too real there, huh?”
“Oh, no no no,” Softwald replied. “I'm really glad you told us all of this. It'll make it a lot easier for me to help you out.”
Oswald looked down, still feeling ashamed.
“Oswald,” Softwald continued. “Your emotions are perfectly valid. You've been through a lot in your life. It's understandable you'd feel this way. What's important now is we find some positive ways to help you heal.”
Oswald scoffed sadly. “Hm...You mean all that new-agey meditation stuff? Just sitting around and humming all day? Is that supposed to cure me?”
“Well...no,” Softwald replied honestly. “It's not a 'cure' by any means. But, if it's something that ends up working well with you, it can be a good coping mechanism. Whenever you start to feel unsure, you can always find ways to center and calm yourself so you can re-approach those feelings with a clearer mind. It's more of an 'aid' than a cure. Finding healthy coping mechanisms is an important step on your healing journey.”
'Healing journey?' Oswald thought to himself. Now he's some sort of hippie guru life coach or something? Well...I suppose it can't hurt. Anything to make Ortensia feel better.
“Alright,” Oswald nodded. “I guess I'm game for anything.”
Softwald's face was practically glowing with joy at the sound of Oswald's words.
“That's great to hear,” he whispered. “I really look forward to helping you out.”
The trio finished their tea and food while engaging in lighter conversation. When they were finished, Softwald and Softensia escorted Oswald to the guest room he'd be staying in.
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the-bees-cheese · 2 years ago
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Hi, I'm the piss baby anon! you might remember me from asks such as the ballet genius anon, the fire saviour anon, the chicken pacifier anon, the justin bieber anon, the one about a greeter lady anon, the grandma diaries anon, the anxiety anon and the one about my cousins anon! first, I love you. second, do you have any wild baby stories about yourself? do you know how to make paper flowers? how was your name chosen? what should i do if i'm in love with my best friend? i told my therapist i think i have adhd and i think she didn't take me seriously, what should i do? should i stop talking to you as anon and just talk to you directly?
all of those are you!???? incredible!!!!!!
awwww thanks ☺️
i honestly don’t have many wild baby stories, other than the fact that at birth, i had the biggest head ever recorded at the hospital i was born at, and as of last december i still do!!!
i do know how to make paper flowers! i don’t have a tutorial handy but i can find the link if you’d like
i can’t tell you the reason my real name was chosen because i would dox myself, but fiona was still given to me by my parents because my mum was a huge fan of fiona apple when i was born, and my dad thought it was pretty so he didn’t mind :) and yes i am exceptionally pretentious about it, but what would you expect from someone named after fiona apple???
if you’re in love with your best friend, i would tell them. i would know because i actually used to be in love with my best friend and i told her and it went fine. if they like you back, sweet! if they’re really your friend and they don’t like you back, you’ll be able to move on from it and become closer friends because of it.
GET A NEW THERAPIST!!! never ever ever ever stick around with a therapist who won’t take your questions and concerns seriously, that is a massive red flag
and if you’re comfortable with that, you should definitely just talk to me off anon!!! i’d love to meet you :)
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sharktoraptor · 6 years ago
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Survivor Daemons
Here’s a whole bunch of blabber that no one asked for about my Dbd daemon AU, featuring the reasoning behind the forms of the survivor’s daemons and a little about their personalities. Why? Because I can and I felt like typing a whole bunch of stuff that no one will read
There are a lot of additional rules and complications for daemons in trials, and I’m probably going to make a separate post both for that and for the Killer’s daemons (or... current lack thereof), because this got VERY long.
And before we get started, here’s a plug for my currently abandoned fic playing with this concept. Ima get back to it at some point.
First off, I had some limits for survivor forms. Their daemons have to be small, and easy to carry around in a trial. Most of them ended up being birds, with a couple of exceptions. Also, only a couple of the names mean anything- I got almost all of them from a fantasy name generator and just picked one that sounded nice.
Dwight and Zefrita
Zefrita (Zeffie) is a mourning dove, and I chose her form for a couple of reasons. Mourning doves are entirely defenseless against their predators (except for natural camouflage) and are therefore very flighty, anxious birds. They are also known for forming close, lifelong pair-bonds, and since Dwight’s perks are all about teamwork and literal bonds between survivors, that seemed to resonate with him.
Zefrita is a very quiet daemon, and only talks to the other survivor’s daemons (and Dwight, of course). While Dwight stammers and hesitates a lot when he’s flustered or anxious, Zefrita only talks when they have enough conviction about something that she can articulate it clearly. So, it’s a pretty big deal if she says something important- it usually means that it is.
Meg and Skiflit
Skiflit (Skif) is a northern goshawk. I used this analysis to come up with his form, mostly because of the interpretations of loyalty, determination/being goal-driven, and assertiveness, which I all think fit with Meg- or at least, my version of Meg, who’s caring but a bit of a hothead.
Skif talks about as much as Meg does, which is quite a lot, especially in fireside arguments. He’s also the most likely to get physical with the other daemons, whether aggressively or for support/comfort.
Jake and Dancha
Dancha (Dawn) is a raccoon, which I just love for Jake for so many reasons and I was so happy that the form analysis worked out. It really boils down to what he said in the actual fic- they’re highly adaptable/resourceful, conflict-avoidant, and independent animals. Their also curious but in a killed-the-cat sort of way, which seems true to Jake’s character to me.
Dawn tends to let Jake do most of the talking, and really only interacts with the original four survivors daemons, sometimes including Nea and Laurie’s daes if she feels up to it. She and Jake are pretty slow to trust, and even though they feel perfectly comfortable around all the survivors (though they clash with Ace) Dawn keeps her interactions to a minimum to stay in her comfort zone. They don’t have much of any comfort left, after all.
Claudette and Laefertes
Laefertes (Laef) is a barn owl, and I actually think I named him after Laertes from Hamlet for some reason? I think I just had the name stuck in my head, no significance to it. The two traits that really stuck out to me for his form were barn owls having a surprising amount of foresight in caching their extra food and their egg care habits, and the analysis I read also listed owls as being very perceptive, for obvious reasons, which fits well with Claudette’s Empathy (perk and trait) to me.
Claudette and Laef are kind of the greeters of the group, so when someone new shows up at the campfire they do all the explaining and “welcome to a Bad Time” talk. Claudette tends to say more comforting things than hard truths, and Laef compliments her by being the opposite- almost anything out of his mouth is what needs to be said, not necessarily what people want to hear.
Nea and Bayonai
Bayonai (Bayo) is a Siamese cat and listen I have a lot of reasons for it. He’s a cat for obvious reasons- Baker literally describes Nea as catlike in the journal entry- as well as cats being generally friendly, but independent for the most part. Siamese cats in particular are known for being loud attention seekers like no other, and we know that Nea was the epitome of Rebellious Teen (tm) in her day. They also tend to be curious (again, in a killed-the-cat sort of way).
Bayo is my favorite daemon of the bunch, probably because I started writing him first. He and Nea are less counterparts of one another than they are the same person divided into two parts. Bayo has a little more of their caution, but he’s like the friend who is saying “this is a terrible idea, oh my god” while filming it. They have street smarts more than school smarts, but Bayo has a little bit of an edge on Nea when it comes to critical thinking.
Laurie and Aurelio
Aurelio (Ori, which accidentally means they’re Laurie and Ori) is a European robin. His name comes from the Latin word for golden. His form was really hard to find, mostly because the original survivors have just a few canon character traits, whereas Laurie Strode has a whole franchise worth of characterization to sort through. I ended up just using Halloween I and II for my form finding. I used this analysis for Aurelio and I don’t have much to say about it, other than I was relieved to finally find a form that fit.
Aurelio and Laurie are Survivors (tm) in the truest sense of the word, so in my ‘verse they’re kind of dry and cynical. Aurelio tends not to talk very much, and when he does he often says things that are too dark for the conversation he’s contributing to, and is reprimanded by Laurie. They had a perfectly normal human-daemon bond before Myers, but it changed after, and they were never the same.
Ace and Kesina
Kesina (Kess or occasionally Kesi) is an American bullfrog. She’s the only reptile form among the survivors. I’m honestly not even going to say anything else about her form, just link to the analysis because IMO it’s so Ace it hurts. Laid-back is the main trait that I like that I don’t see listed as a major point in the analysis, but frogs are chill as fuck.
Kesina says all the sarcastic and biting things that Ace doesn’t, but in a dismissively calm way that gets a rise out of whoever she’s said it to. Not that he wouldn’t, it’s just funnier if she calls Jake a dumbass in Argentine Spanish than if he does. She and Ace talk to each other almost exclusively in that dialect when they’re being snarky or sarcastic, even if they’re doing the “what do you want to have for dinner!?” routine, because no one can understand what they’re saying and it pisses everyone else off.
Bill and Portril
Portril (no nickname) is a summer tanager, a kind of smallish songbird. Frankly there’s not very much personality lore for Bill out there, even in what Left 4 Dead stuff I tried to dig up, so I went with my personal HC’s for him- grumpy and quiet but altruistic and perceptive old man. Here’s the analysis if anyone is actually reading this, but this is more for my own benefit let’s be real. There’s not a ton of real solid behavior for summer tanagers, but I liked what this person wrote so I went with it.
Bill is quiet and Portril is quieter. Bill contributes a few sentences to the conversation at the campfire every now and then, but the majority of the survivors have never heard Portril say a word.
Feng and Maeslin
Maeslin (Maes) is a numbat (google it), and tbh I should have picked a Chinese-sounding name for him, but I’m too attached to Feng having a daemon she calls Mace to change it. I’d never heard of a numbat before form finding for Feng, but I love how well the weird little things fit with her character. Numbats are specialized eaters and ONLY eat termites. They have to eat 20,000 of the things a day to stay alive. What I get out of that is that the are specialized/single-focus type people, like Feng and her gaming, and work really fucking hard to be good/keep at it.
I haven’t done a lot of thinking about Maes’ personality. I think he and Feng are a Chaotic Neutral disaster duo. He’s a very mobile daemon and tends to climb all over Feng, never staying in one place for too long- it’s a habit he learned very quickly to not bring into trials.
David and Ezriana
Ezriana (Ez) is a magnificent frigatebird and it’s SUCH a shame that she’s not male, because the main reason I picked that form for David is because of the absolute pompous showoffs that male frigatebirds are with that throat pouch of theirs. Frigatebirds are also known for being opportunistically aggressive and basically getting into fights with other species of coastal birds to steal their catches. There’s some more, non-fighty traits that made me decide on frigatebird for Ezriana, but those are really the two main reasons I picked it.
Ezriana is kinda the “kick his ass baby I got yo flower” of the pair, and she always tends to kind of stay out of the thick of it, circling overhead and yelling out insults and encouragement. Her actual personality is pretty laid back when not in conflict mode, and she’s pretty good for conversation around the campfire. Her way of talking is a little more... coherent.. than David, who’s excitable and can get a little carried away.
Quentin and Nynta
Nynta (Nyn, pronounced Nihn) is an earwig. Earwigs are tough little insects and are very adaptable and actually protect their eggs and then care for their young, showing a lot of duty and dedication. I think that fits with what I managed to gather of Quentin’s role in NoES 2010, which I haven’t actually watched. Additionally, fitting into the daemonverse, earwigs are very small, and Quentin keeps Nynta in a lanyard, so that Freddy and no one else has any possible access to touching her.
Nynta never talks, period. No one knows what her and Quentin’s relationship is like, taking into consideration Laurie and Aurelio’s slightly trauma-damaged bond, but everyone knows that Nynta probably doesn’t trust anyone. They’ve never seen her outside of her clear plastic lanyard, which locks from the inside with a one digit combination that only Nynta can open. I imagine she probably settled during the events of NoES 2010.
Tapp and Soliel
Soliel (Sol) is a Florida scrub jay. Scrub jays are committed birds, both to their mates and their territory, and keen and clever observers of what happens in their area and to their things (food caches and stuff). These to me seem like good traits to match a detective’s personality. These birds are also highly specialized to their environment, though, and are unadaptable- that combination of traits makes sense, because Tapp became borderline obsessed with the Saw case in his lore.
Soliel is as focused as her human is, and accepts facts and information readily. Being older than most of the others, she tends not to talk too much unless they’re having an interesting discussion, rather than a time-killing or social conversation.
Kate and Torelian
Torelian (Tori) is a fennec fox. Fennec foxes are super extroverted and sociable animals, and tough critters that are well adapted for going long periods of time without commodities, but not without other people around them. Kate traveled a lot for her music career, but she seems to me like a caring and outgoing person that really connected with her fans. He also matches her aesthetic, and is a cute/attractive form- perfect for a performer’s daemon.
Torelian is as much of a performer as Kate. He can’t play and instrument, but they can sing duets and are, of course, completely in sync at all times. It’s great for cheering up the campfire after rough trials and moments of (extra) hopelessness. He’s a good ear to talk to and offers wholesome advice.
Adam and Samia
Samia (no nickname) is a northern cardinal. I chose the form this morning and frankly I’m tired of resummarizing bird analyses at this point, so here ya go.
I’ve done no character exploration for Samia yet, might edit this when/if I come up with some more for her. Most of the daemons outside the first five or six I’ve done more developing here than otherwise, so we’ll see!
If you got this far you’re my new favorite human, and thank you for listening to my impassioned rambling about my two current hyperfixations mashed into one <3
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solarcal · 3 years ago
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i was originally gonna post both my main characters at the same time but the second one is taking a while to write out and its getting rlly long so here just the first one :D @wolfstar-flatsky​
my boy Silas :DDD Silas is the first character i made and the one i literally built my other characters, story, and world around lmao
so tell me your thoughts on Silas :3 i wanna make sure it all makes sense ya know?
Name: Silas (pronounced Sil-us) last names dont rlly exist but sometimes families will chose a bird as the family symbol, Silas’s family is a raven
Pronouns: Xe/Xem/Xir
Age: early 20s? like 20-23 ish?
Height: on the taller side, close to max height, xe took a couple of resize potions and got lucky
Weight: uh doesnt rlly exist lol
Birth date: born during bloom so xirs family said xe was “born with the flowers”
Eye color: green, they were a bright vibrant green but have since dulled to a flat dark green (xe rarely takes off xirs mask so you’ll never see it)
Scars/Handicaps: Physical-has a burn scar on xirs left hand, its on the back of the hand near the wrist and spreads down xirs arm; xe has a couple of other minor scars, one small curved one on xirs back, left side by xirs hip/side, another on xirs right thigh Mental-kinda watched xir family die in front of xem and blames xemself for that because xe believes xir could have done more to stop it and if xe only didnt listen the other researcher(havent named them yet but they’re the evil guy with the corrupted manta), bc of this xe also refuses to use mantas or go too close to them Emotional-bc of the whole, ya know, family dying thing, xe is scared to get close to people out of fear that theyll get hurt too but xe cant forget what xirs “mom” taught xem so xe still helps moths and people in need but keeps them at an arms distance and doesnt let them stay
Outfit: mainly wears spirit cosmetics to make travel easier; tinkering chimesmith hair, anubis mask, usually wears the troupe greeters rhythm pants with the phoenix cape but xirs other usual ones are fire prophet samurai pants and jelly whisperers cargo pants along with air prophet cape, peeping postman cape, dancing performer cape and sneezing geographer cape, depends on how xe feels and the situation, xe also always wears a copper leaf pendant on a necklace cause xirs younger sibling before she died and a satchel to carry xirs stuff in
This is Silas’s usual outfit, made with @sykloni​ really lovely sky picrew :3
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Family: (none of them have names yet shush) “mama”-non binary they/them, mom-she/her, older brother-he/ze, younger sister-she/fae
Enemies: the researcher in Gaia; as well as Sah(male valley elder) for reasons neither of them like to discuss or think about
Greatest Fear: losing people like xe lost xirs family, scared of getting betrayed again or watching people die
Strongest character traits: deeply loyal, once xe makes a promise, xe would rather die than break it, quite literally ride or die with xem; xe also believes in being as kind as possible, xe refuses to be taken advantage of but xe will help those who need it and avoids being mean or rude for no reason
Weakest character traits: refuses to let people get close and is automatically distrustful of vets, absolutely refuses to travel with them unless absolutely necessary
Sense of humor: doesnt have one any more, when xe was younger xirs younger sister used to make terrible puns that xe’d laugh at and xirs mama would make terrible dad jokes, as he gets better xe starts to laugh again, at the little things Avim does and says
Philosophy of life (Include how it came to be): xirs mama taught him that xe must always help those in trouble and to be kind to moth and butterflies, they were so young and didnt know as much as xem
Favorite colors: red but it hurts to see it so when people ask xe lies and says green
Pastimes: just wandering the land, xe’s got no real goal, xe is just drawing maps to fill the time and visiting pretty areas, it never makes xem feel anything though so xe doesnt stay long
Tattoos: circling the side of xirs right rib cage of a crown of poppies and roses surrounding a raven, around xirs left ankle is an anklet of leaves with butterflies flying nearby or landed on the leaves
Important Possessions: just the copper leaf necklace because its one of the few things xe has left from xirs family that doesnt hurt as much to see plus xirs younger sister gave it to xem to remind xem they are the wind and the sun and Megabird will return them to xem one day no matter what happens and that in this life and the following ones, xirs family will always love xem
Masks?: xe pretends to not be affected by things when it really hurts or to not want/crave things when xe does, xe has a bad habit of denying xemself things out of fear or self hate, commonly sabotaging the happiness xe can achieve
Affection?: its hard for xem to do that anymore, very awkward but like, letting people get physically close and hug xem, hold xirs hand, letting someone sleep near xem is a hugeeeee thing due xirs nightmares and the trust that comes with sleeping by someone
How do they want to be seen by others?: if xe was given the chance, xe would hide away and never see anyone ever again, xe just wants to wait til the end and return to xirs family but xe would lose xirs mind waiting around like that so xe takes to wandering
How do they see themselves?: deeply broken and incapable of being helped, xe sees xemself as like a tree branch on the forest ground, picked up by those one hikes, useful for a short time but not the best, abandoned when finished or a better one comes along, separated from its tree and useless, helpless on the floor
How are they actually seen by others?: vet sky kids find xem odd/intimidating but they leave xem be, moths and butterflies occasionally finds xem scary but quickly get over it when they see the Anubis mask, equating that to Prophecy guide and feeling safe
Quick judgments or careful deliberation?: depends, often they take time to consider but sometimes its spur of the moment things that he does and later goes oh god now i got this moth with me welp
Reaction to praise?: at the being xe just brushes it off and doesnt believe Avim, none of xirs previous moths stuck around this long so when they said thanks xe was kinda like yeah sure and moves on, not rlly thinking about it, assuming its the same reflex as saying goodbye to someone, but later when xe and Avim get closer and he praises Silias, oh boy this poor guy has no idea how to respond, at first he denies it or ignores it but when Avim continues to praise xem or insists on the compliment when Silias denies it, xe will eventually begrudgingly accept it and later turn the compliment over in xirs head, trying to find a reason Avim would say that or looking for a hidden insult, as Silias grows to trust Avim more, xe starts to believe him
Reaction to criticism?: oh u poor sweet summer child, Silias will absolutely internalize that, xe wils either do xirs best to fix or if xe cant/wont xe will feel terribly guilty and hate xemself for it
Biggest secrets?: the corrupted manta and the death of xirs family
Last time they cried?: when xirs family died, xe cried for days before growing numb and apathetic to keep xemself safe
What will they stand up for?: pretty much anything, xe has the view of being okay with hated/getting hurt so if xe sees anything bad u fucking bet xe is intervening
What was your character like as a baby? As a child?: xe very a pretty average moth, got adopted quick by xirs family and was generally just very happy and into facts and experiments which is why xe went into research
What smells remind them of their childhood?: bro bro,,, xe cant visit sanct anymore, both for manta reasons and the smell of the flowers and the ocean and such there reminds xem too much of xirs family
How do they respond to a threat?: depends on the situation, if theres someone xe’s protected, xe will place xemself between the person and the threat or tell the person to get somewhere safe, if xe is alone, probably get ready for a fight/argument
Are they most likely to fight with their fists or their tongue?: again, depends, if xe can de-escalate it or talk it out, xe’ll do that but xe is also ready to fight
How do they perceive strangers?: xe tends to ignore them, unless they need help or something, xe just wants to quietly pass through
What is their favorite animal?: it was mantas but now its birds
Which animal do they dislike the most?: was crabs now mantas
Favorite food: cookies! warm freshly baked cookies is one of the few things that can make xem show emotion in the beginning
and thats basically everything! dear god this is long oh boy, i should finish with my second main character Avim soon so ye :D
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cheollies · 7 years ago
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Flower Boy Cafe!Soonyoung
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requested by: anon who wanted this au
he’s the epitome of the line ‘my name is Soonyoung but you can call me soon.’
All the other guys roll their eyes because they have to listen to that line five hundred times a day
is a greeter/host
he really likes meeting people when they first come in, and he loves seating them because sometimes the waiters make bets on who gets the most customers
and Soonyoung gets the power to determine who wins and loses when he seats customers
Occasionally, when it’s busy, he’ll bring food out to tables or bust some tables
Soonyoung can be considered a very popular worker as people really do love his small eyes and squishiness of his cheeks
and he never misses a moment to show off his dance skills and literally the whole room turns into a screaming frenzy when he takes off his work tie
Soonyoung applied for the job when he saw the help wanted sign and people were like ‘really? You wanna work there?’
But Soonyoung is smiling so brightly ‘it’s so cool!!! why wouldn’t you want to work there!!’
yeah he really loves his job
he doesn’t even mind taking extra shifts because
One: he gets more money
and two: he loves working with his coworkers
his favorite working buddies are either Wonwoo or Seokmin
He loves working with Seokmin because one time they tried to slide milkshakes down the counter like bartenders too with glasses but it slid off the counter and broke and milkshake got everywhere
He likes Wonwoo too because he often imitates Wonwoo and then from the other side of the room he hears Wonwoo imitating him and suddenly the girls are laughing over the imitation war between Wonwoo and Soonyoung
Soonyoung is just so free spirited and cute that every girl just wants to scoop him up and shower him with love and affection
Even the guys can’t deny that they don’t think he’s sort of cute and good looking
and his work ethic is soo good too, he’s always on time and ready for work and he rarely takes days off unless it’s for emergencies so it’s safe to say that everyone loves Soonyoung
on his little waist apron, he has pins of cute animated hamsters because a customer said how much he looked like a hamster so now he embraces it
sometimes he carries a cute little hamster plush in the pocket of his apron and it sticks out so cutely that girl’s hearts are literally melting when they see it
he also names it ‘Hoshi’ and everytime he tells a customer that they always go ‘OH MY GOD THAT’S SO CUTE’
Also is one of the most extra workers when it comes to theme days
like if it’s prince day, expect Soonyoung to walk through the door in an expensive suit with bedazzles and an actual crown above his head
or possibly it’s beach day, he’s gonna be the shameless one to pretend to take off his shirt while girls literally die screaming
He met you through school
you two were paired together for a small project and had to meet up outside of class to work on it
and yeah, you may have developed the tiniest crush on the boy since well, he’s cute and how could you not notice the dude who literally asks questions every ten minutes
and Soonyoung, well to be honest he didn’t really notice you until you two were paired together
and he felt so bad because he didn’t know who you were but when he looked around the room as everyone got up to move to their partners
he sees you from the first row stand up, and in his head he’s screaming ‘oh my god oh my god what if they’re my partner. No that can’t happen, god isn’t that nice to me. Oh shit she’s coming my way. PRETTY GIRL IS COMING MY WAY. IS THIS FATE. AM I DREAMING’
‘Hi, Soonyoung right? We’re partners.’
and he’s so smitten that he’s not even listening to what you’re saying cause he’s just staring at your pretty eyelashes and you’re cute nose 
‘So Friday’s good to meet up’
Soonyoung kind of lets out a very happy sigh ‘yeah’ he says in those happy sigh voices before it hits him ‘oh shoot! I can’t, I have work until three. but I work at a cafe, we can do the project there after my shift.’
you agree to it but it really surprised you when you got there at 2:45
you thought this was a normal cafe, like one where there aren’t screaming girls and boys pulling cheesy lines at you
it’s very much a culture shock when you step through the doors and you’re greeted with the sound of girls screeching over a man performing all sorts of cute gestures and words
Soonyoung greets you at the door with a large smile plastered over his lips, and when he sees you, he falls back into that puppy love feeling where his eyes are just so filled with happiness
‘you work here?’ is the first thing that comes out of your mouth when Soonyoung takes a seat in front of you.
‘yeah, isn’t it fun? I love it here.’
‘So you just serve people and give them compliments and stuff’
Soonyoung laughs, ‘it’s a lot more than that, it’s making the customer feel like they’re wanted.’
‘How so?’
‘Well.’ Soonyoung takes your hand, interlacing it with his, ‘like this, or’ he stands from his seat, leaning over the table coming to a close proximity with your face, you can feel his breath on your cheek as he moves your hair behind your ears, ‘like this. and maybe i’d say, why would such a beautiful girl want to hide her face with her hair’
your heart is racing, your cheeks are red and even the tips of your ears are burning. You couldn’t even say a word when Soonyoung sat back down in his seat and when you looked away, you were greeted with other girls staring in envy
Soonyoung on the other hand was literally shaking in his seat, he couldn’t believe he had just done that to a girl is kind of has a crush on let alone his own classmate who he has to work on a project with for next two weeks
‘I have to go to the bathroom’ you excuse yourself quickly and Soonyoung is left alone at the table
‘Smooth~~’ coos Seungkwan and Seokmin as they approach him
‘Shut up’ Soonyoung is internally screaming, ‘this is the most embarrassing thing i’ve ever done’
‘more embarrassing than when you accidentally ripped Jihoon’s shirt and revealed his body to all the customers’
‘Either comfort me or leave’
Soonyoung plans to forget everything that happened. For the next two weeks that you two meet up, there were awkward smiles and blushes and Soonyoung can’t help but believe that that first encounter was engraved in your mind
and well yeah it was, but it didn’t stop you from getting the most massive crush on the guy who loved chomping on your snacks and then apologizing because he realizes that there’s only one left
or the way he gets so proud of himself for finishing a part of the project that his eyes disappear with his smile and his cheeks raise up so high you think it would reach the sky
and there was indeed more than one occasion when you ended up biting your pencil too hard watching him work across from you
on the day before the project was due, the day before you and Soonyoung no longer needed to meet each other outside of class (a very sad day for the both of you)
you two decided to meet once more to ‘finalize the project’. You two really just wanted to see each other
you meet Soonyoung at the cafe once more after his shift and you’ve become such a regular those past two weeks that all the staff has already learned your name and Mingyu is already preparing the drink you always order
now this was the defining day, all the guys were prepping Soonyoung to finally ask you out cause ‘y/n is so cool that she needs to stay in the family so you’re gonna have to date her’
and so he’s sitting in the chair, all hyped up and ready to scream ‘PLEASE GO ON A DATE WITH ME’ when all of a sudden
‘oh you have something on your face’ You stood from your seat, leaving over the table, bring your face closer to his with your hand stretched out
Literally everyone in the cafe stopped whatever they were doing to watch cause ‘damn this is a good drama’
You’re inches away from Soonyoung who feels like his heart is going to burst and before he knows it
‘Please go out with me.’ he says it in more of a very scared tone
You’re tilting your head with such doe eyes in front of him that he starts to blush a lot
The whole room is quiet besides the music playing and when you let out a ‘yeah, okay’
All the boys scream and everyone’s puzzled at what just happened
and that’s how you ended up dating the boy
He’s so excited to be with you, he’s always excited when he’s with you, he just becomes more active and alive whenever you step into the room
Always has the cheekiest smile when he’s in front of you, he’s like a little kid who just never wants to be away from you
Even when you’re sitting at the counter and he’s suppose to be working but he just stays in front of you, smiling brightly as you tell him about your day
He likes to do that thing where he orders a milkshake and he shares it with you by putting two straws in there and he just love drinking it and getting to stare at your face
Constantly hugging you in the cafe, all the girls get kind of jealous cause when you step in the room, all of his attention is just put on you and he forgets that he’s suppose to be tending to the customers
‘Soonyoung you’re suppose to pay attention to the customers’
‘But i wanna be with you’
‘Soonyoung’
‘How about I give you a private session’
‘SOONYOUNG!’
He only laughs and dodges your hits as he leaves to seat new customers.
He loves his job a lot, but he’s grown more to love you a lot. And he’s always joking that maybe he should quit his job to spend more time with you. But there’s so many perks of seeing you walk through the door of the cafe, and one is, he falls more and more in love with you.
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cts2008 · 4 years ago
Text
aging
 For all the men who think they aren't old!
A Man's Age According to Home Depot You are in the middle of some home projects: putting in a new fence, painting the porch, planting some flowers and fixing a broken door lock. You are hot and sweaty, covered with dirt, lawn clippings and paint. You have your old work clothes on. You know the outfit -- shorts with a hole in the crotch, an old T-shirt with a stain from who-knows-what, and an old pair of tennis shoes. Right in the middle of these tasks you realize that you need to run to Home Depot for supplies. Depending on your age you might do the following: In your 20s: Stop what you are doing. Shave, take a shower, blow dry your hair, brush your teeth, floss and put on clean clothes. Check yourself in the mirror and flex. Add a dab of your favorite cologne because, you never know, you just might meet some hot chick while standing in the checkout line. And yes, you went to school with the pretty girl running the register. In your 30s: Stop what you are doing, put on clean shorts and shirt. Change your shoes. You married the hot chick so no need for much else. Wash your hands and comb your hair. Check yourself in the mirror. Still got it! Add a shot of your favorite cologne to cover the smell. The cute girl running the register is the kid sister of someone you went to school with. In your 40s: Stop what you are doing. Put on a sweatshirt that is long enough to cover the hole in the crotch of your shorts. Put on different shoes and a hat. Wash your hands. Your bottle of Brut is almost empty, so don't waste any of it on a trip to Home Depot. Check yourself in the mirror and do more sucking in than flexing. The hot young thing running the register is your daughter's age and you feel weird about thinking she's spicy. In your 50s: Stop what you are doing. Put on a hat. Wipe the dirt off your hands onto your shirt. Change shoes because you don't want to get dog crap in your new sports car. Check yourself in the mirror and swear not to wear that shirt anymore because it makes you look fat. The cutie running the register smiles when she sees you coming and you think you still have it. Then you remember -- the hat you have on is from Bubba's Bait & Beer Bar and it says, 'I Got Worms ' In your 60s: Stop what you are doing. No need for a hat any more. Hose the dog crap off your shoes. The mirror was shattered when you were in your 50s. You hope you have underwear on so nothing hangs out the hole in your pants. The girl running the register may be cute but you don't have your glasses on, so you're not sure. In your 70s: Stop what you are doing. Wait to go to Home Depot until you call the drug store to have your prescriptions ready for pick too and check your grocery list for a quick stop there. Got to save trips! Don't even notice the dog crap on your shoes. The young thing at the register stares at you and you realize your balls are hanging out the hole in your crotch... who cares. In your 80s: Stop what you are doing. Start again. Then stop again. Now you remember you need to go to Home Depot. You go to Wal-Mart instead. You went to school with the old lady greeter. You wander around trying to remember what you are looking for. Then you fart out loud and turn around thinking someone called your name. In your 90s & beyond: What's a home deep hoe? Something for my garden? Where am I? Who am I? Why am I reading this? Did I send it? Did you? Who farted? Everyone should laugh at least once a day. I think this should do it for today
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