#I feel like I do the smallest steps of the most basic things wrong and it feels So bad

[visdiefje]

AUGH I hate doing things while anyone is at home here. I feel like the stupidest most incapable most insecure being alive

[p-oisn]

let's get positive ! (⁠ʃ⁠ƪ⁠＾⁠3⁠＾⁠）

(the content below the cut contains mentions of sensitive topics such as implied su*cide & sh so pls scroll if you're uncomfortable w those !)

this is a long rant about life basically .. 💩💩

i was going to make a post like this sometime later anyways bc i felt .. like a nice person ... but i made it a bit earlier than i expected bc i saw a post from oomf that really made me think .. so here u go

this comes from my own PERSONAL experiences and this is js my point of view yk !!! im no expert on any topic HSHSJ this is js the way i cope plz dont come for me in my asks ... i am aware that it isn't the same for everyone but , i hope this message can be helpful to some extent </3

if you feel like like life is leading nowhere n you feel like giving up I PROMISE it will get better bc i felt the same for two whole years n i will say that i have improved a LOT since . yes , it took me longer than i expected but i didn't give up and you shouldn't either ! it was hard n there were times i felt like i wasn't making any progress / improvement but in the end , it still got better

be kinder (to yourself, first) ☆

i think the first step to loving yourself is to forgive yourself .. its okay to try over n over again , you're still human n i think ppl tend to forget that often bc they're so tough on theirselves . let's not forget that your body is actively trying it's best to keep u alive , your WBCs for example ! (let's appreciate these little guys for trying their best 🎉🎉) your body too , deserves to be loved back , for fighting so hard just for YOU! so pls don't hurt yourself in any way </3

appreciate yourself for achieving even the smallest of tasks because even if it wasn't something big , YOU DID IT ANYWAYS ! every small achievement of yours deserves to be appreciated . even if it's momentary happiness , appreciate yourself while it lasts . i understand that sometimes even small things could be such a hassle but you can always reward yourself later ! i personally like to buy donuts everytime i finish something (this could come in handy when you're really craving something if you get what im saying ..)

It's okay if you're going at a slower pace than other people , what matters in the end is that you get it done ! everyone is not the same so it's unfair to put yourself down for such things .. also applies to comparing yourself to someone because in the end you'll still be you .. even if you don't like it .. that makes you unique ofcourse , there's only one of you in this world so embrace yourself for that !! you're one of a kind (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)

oh, but, life's the same, it's boring ... ☆

yes , a lot of days could end up being the exact same because like , there are 365 days in a year so you can except most of them to be similar .. but as a new year starts , ofc many things change without you even noticing it , you grow older ofcourse , and you could be starting a new year in school , you meet new people and so on ! if you compare your life from a year ago or even a few months ago to now , you'll surely notice a few differences atleast so .. life is not reaaaaally the same right .... everyday is a new experience ! literally anything and i mean anything could happen the next day , you could even win the lottery who knows 🤫

when i felt like everyday was the same , i tried changing my patterns .. (my current favourite thing to do is go on a walk ! sometimes i take my dog w me , it's super fun) i would do small things that i dont usually do like sketch ! or i attempt cooking something new .. but obviously there were a LOT of days where i did nothing , sometimes even weeks , and that's okay ! we all deserve days where we do nothing ESPECIALLY if you're someone who is working or js in school / college everyday .. you deserve that break

i think a big factor is being unproductive ? don't get me wrong , i still am my same unproductive self at times unfortunately , n sometimes they do get so bad that they lead to a terrible burnout .. n i went through a rly bad burnout not long ago n trust me you do not want to get this far :( how do i deal with this ? (let's take studying as an example here) well i always start off with small portions , even if it's just a page or two . n then i slowly keep increasing the amount of pages i read .. n yes ofc , i understand how brutal burnouts can get sometimes n that's why it's important to not overwhelm yourself by attempting to finish a big portion of your studies in one go .. just take it easy , let the information marinate in your head for a bit before you move on to the next topic .. so basically what im trying to say here is don't overwhelm yourself with big tasks especially when you're already burntout

friends .. they're great ☆

the thing that honestly improved my life by a mile is getting good friends .. I've had my fair share of bad friend groups so trust me when I say this , it's better to be alone than with people who drain you mentally because . you deserve someone who treats you the way you actually want to be treated .

"but it's hard to make friends" i completely get this because i am a very shy person myself </3 but i think you could start by trying to make friends online ! its easy to find someone with similar interests on the internet .. so when you feel down atleast you know that there's someone on the other side of the world who cares for you ..

but this doesn't change the fact that solitude is AMAZING too (tbh i could go on for a really long time on how i love being by myself but this is already getting super lengthy ...) you can be your own friend too ! (okay see now this seems insane but if it makes you happy WHO CARES AMIRITE) i personally enjoy my own company like omg .. she can get a good laugh out of me sometimes ... you can do whatever you want when you're alone ! you can dance to your favourite playlist or experiment with a bunch of stuff ! if you get bored you can watch your favourite movie or consume your favourite piece of media that no one gets like you 🤫 so , as much as making friends sounds great , let's appreciate solitude too !!

ah, life can be beautiful sometimes? ☆

one of the biggest reasons i go on walks almost regularly is to remind myself how beautiful the world can be sometimes .. (atp half of this is me convincing you all to go on walks) i live in a beautiful neighbourhood n there are a lot of different flowers and fruits that grow here and that makes me really happy . going on early morning walks especially is soo fun , the world is so quiet then and you can even watch the sunrise 🥹

another thing is buying myself things i like ... especially clothes ... if you think you would look good in something then js go ahead and buy it ! don't mind what other people think because like ... YOU are wearing it and if people around you have a problem with that then i think they should close their damn eyes and not look at you if it bothers them that much 🤦 you deserve to feel confident and comfortable in your own skin , you deserve to dress the way you want to ! so if you feel like dressing a particular way would make you feel better .. GO FOR IT !!! this applies to other things you like, maybe accessories, merch or stationary that look cute .. it's okay even if people judge you for your style because in the end they're the ones who are boring and miserable because they spend soo much time hating on others 😒

life is soo much more fun when you take care of yourself trust me ... you deserve to be taken care of !! so spoil yourself once in a while i promise it's okay as long as it makes you happy <3

to sum it all up .. yes , good times don't last forever but so don't bad times , and you and i both can get through a bad day because life is still going on (⁠*⁠˘⁠︶⁠˘⁠*⁠)⁠.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ bad times too , will pass . so please believe in yourself and hold on !! i love you

again, this is all how*I* like to cheer myself up so pls don't take anything here in a bad way 😖 all of this was made with good intentions and im so sorry if i still ended up hurting anyone in any way ..

[kybelles]

egeria lives au | the final part

read on ao3

~

Damen is unconscious by the time Queen Egeria finds them in the king’s chambers.

Laurent isn’t religious by any means, not at all, but a part of him sincerely prayed for Damen to see his mother one last time before he succumbed into his temporary sleep.

Laurent has to believe it’s temporary. He’s already dangling his feet over a river of insanity and even the smallest push can result in his drowning.

There is a barely subdued terror in Nikandros’s low voice. “What do we do now?”

Despite his infamous reputation, Laurent isn’t presumptuous enough to assume the question is directed at him, not when the queen of Akielos is in the room. That’s why his intense gaze doesn’t leave the bed where Paschal is tending Damen’s wound.

It’s only after the silence becomes thick enough to be cut with a knife Laurent looks at the dowager queen and immediately feels a shiver run down his spine.

From the moment he saw her for the first time, he thought Egeria of Akielos looked eerily youthful despite being in her sixties. This impression didn’t disappear even after he was exposed to her presence more frequently (despite her displeasure) and in his most vain moments, Laurent allowed himself to think Damen was only going to look more handsome as he aged if he took after his mother. (Not that Laurent was going to be at his side to witness it first handed.)

(He always felt like he got punched in the stomach whenever he remembered this small detail.)

Now though… Now, Egeria looks as if she has aged twenty years in twenty minutes. If Laurent thought his own gaze was intense mere moments ago, it was nothing compared to the feverish desperation in her hazel eyes as she watched his son lie pale in his bed.

Someone touches his elbow lightly, a contact so brief that Laurent could think he imagined it.

Nikandros still looks every bit of the soldier he is but it’s clear he is shaken. His chest is rising and falling with agitated breaths.

“Basilinna.” he says to Egeria, desperation leaking into his careful voice.

Egeria doesn’t respond. Laurent isn’t sure she even comprehends anything but Damen.

Nikandros's heavy eyes turn to him this time.

Laurent blinks. All of a sudden, he notices his own condition. His chiton is soaked with Damen’s blood. His unwashed hair is heavy with grime. He only needs to look under his fingernails to see how dirty he is. His stomach is basically digesting itself due to the lack of nutrition he was given the last couple of days.

The man he loves is fighting for his life just a few steps away.

Yet, he cannot have the luxury of falling apart. Not yet.

“Secure the palace,” he orders Nikandros. Once he opens his mouth, the rest follows. “Many will attempt to flee now that my uncle and Kastor failed. Do not let them. Put every one of them into the dungeons, noble or commoner. Find Jord and tell him to send enough men to maintain order in the streets. The last thing I want to deal with right now is a riot. Declare a curfew for at least three days. See that everyone’s basic needs are met meanwhile.”

Laurent licks his dry lips and waits for Queen Egeria to voice her objections. Tell him his input is unnecessary, that he is overstepping.

Nothing.

She’s as still and silent as a statue.

Nikandros only says, “Yes.” before he turns around and marches out of Damen’s room.

-

And so, Laurent’s seven days of hell begins.

-

If he thought Egeria would abandon her somber silence soon enough, he is quickly proven wrong.

It’s not as if she’s gone entirely mute, but she speaks as if she has a daily quota she must spend carefully. Laurent didn’t expect them to have the same easy friendship he formed with Makedon but he refuses to believe it’s pure delusion when he says things have been better between them after the okton.

She invited him to her table that afternoon. She praised his skill and wanted to know if there were similar games in Vere. He talked and talked and smiled and praised her back; hungry for her approval in a way he didn’t allow himself to admit it before.

All the while Damen watched them with a big smile on his face, dimple on display.

Laurent feels like a thousand years have passed since that day.

The first night, after hours of tireless work, Paschal informs them with a tight face that he did all he could and now all they can do is to wait.

“He lost so much blood,” he admits quietly. “But he is a strong man.”

Egeria doesn’t say anything. The only indication that she heard him is the frequent blinking of her eyes, as if she’s pushing her tears back.

Once Paschal leaves, Laurent hovers uselessly by Damen’s bed. His gaze wanders on Damen’s sickly pale complexion and vehemently, he decides this color doesn’t suit his love at all. He’s going to spend the rest of his life making sure he won’t see Damen like this ever again after he wakes up.

He looks at Egeria again and opens his mouth to say something, anything. The queen beats him to it though. “Go wash please.”

It’s only three words and they’re not even said viciously. Yet Laurent recoils like he’s been punched and takes a small step back. He suddenly feels mortified by his lack of hygiene.

He hates Egeria at that moment, just a little, for having the ability to make him feel this way. But the woman doesn’t seem to sense his inner turmoil in the slightest as she only has eyes for her son.

Laurent takes one last lingering look at Damen and flees.

-

On the third night of Laurent’s lover’s deep sleep; Nikandros enters the chamber, looking more solemn than usual.

“Basilinna,” he starts. Laurent gets the impression he’s controlling his mimics carefully to not grimace. “What are we to do with Kastor’s body?”

Laurent assumes she’s going to ignore him the way she ignores everything but Damen these days but Egeria lifts her chin a little higher instead. She asks, calm and collected, “Is he really gone then?”

Laurent began to feel a tiny bit better ever since he scrubbed his skin raw and donned his laces again, but now he feels the uneasiness churn his stomach. Realistically, he knows the woman can’t possibly nourish very positive emotions towards the dead bastard but he also knows how one can be so sentimental and stupid when it comes to family.

To Nikandros’s credit, he doesn’t even glance at Laurent when he answers. “He is, Egeria-exalted.”

Egeria nods absently as if she hadn’t expected differently. “Monstrous boy,” she murmurs, eyes so, so far away. “Instaitable boy. Foolish boy. My boy.”

She suddenly leans her head against her palm like she’s exhausted. Her eyes close and she speaks no more.

The silence remains for a long, painful moment before Laurent breaks it.

“Preserve his body. Damianos can decide what to do with him once he wakes up.”

-

A couple of subjects that needed to be dealt with immediately forces Laurent away from Damen’s bedside on the fifth day for the large portion of the day, so his steps are hurried and impatient when he makes his way back in the evening. However, the sight that greets him upon his return stops him in his tracks.

Nikandros is watching from afar as Egeria carefully sews on something. Laurent’s surprise doubles down when he takes a closer look and sees it is indeed a cloth doll between the queen’s hands. Still, he feels the need to whisper at Nikandros. “What is she doing?”

Nikandros’s face is clouded with fatigue. “Stitching a doll.”

Laurent feels one of his eyebrows twitch. “That I see. What is the purpose?”

Nikandros is silent for a moment. “The queen miscarried so many babes,” he explains silently and too late Laurent realizes the direction this is heading. “They say, each time one of them died, she made a little doll for their memory. Perhaps she…” His voice dies down.

The anger Laurent suddenly feels is so suffocating that he feels trouble breathing.

The audacity. The assumption Damen will not–

In two large steps he paces the room and stops right next to her. His abrupt appearance seems to startle Egeria a bit as she lifts her head and their eyes meet.

It’s the height of summer in Ios and yet Damen’s fireplace is lit. Blood loss and the lack of movement make one cold, Paschal explained his reasoning.

Laurent doesn’t feel cold right now. He feels as if he’s being boiled alive.

In one single movement he snatches the doll out of the queen’s hands and throws it into the fire. “This ridiculousness ends now,” he spats at her. “I’ve had it with your dramatics.”

He’s not surprised in the slightest when Egeria springs into her feet a second later and strikes him across the face with all her strength. Laurent hardly takes notice of the blow.

“You.” she snarls, so much hate dripping from one word.

“Me.” he snarls back just as enraged. “You can beat me black and blue for all I care but I will not let you mourn him while he still breathes. I will not!”

Laurent takes a deep breath and prepares himself for Egeria’s next blow.

But suddenly, the woman’s entire face crumbles and she falls onto her knees. Her crying is so silent that Laurent doesn’t even register it at first.

Dumbfounded, he makes eye contact with Nikandros, who’s still standing frozen at where Laurent left him. He’s looking at Egeria like this is the first time he is seeing her.

It takes Laurent a few, long heartbeats to comprehend and when he does, he hurriedly drops onto his knees as well.

“My dearest lady,” he says shakily. “A little faith. I’m begging you.”

Through his blurry vision, he hesitantly reaches for her hands.

Egeria doesn’t push him.

-

“It’s ludicrous,” the queen whispers at midnight of the seventh day.

Damen woke up for the first time that day, albeit only for a handful of seconds. Still, it was enough for Egeria and Laurent to watch him like a hawk all day.

Egeria is carding her fingers through Damen’s curls while Laurent is grasping at his hands, squeezing occasionally. Despite their gentle urging, Damen remains asleep.

“What’s ludicrous, basilinna?” Laurent whispers once it becomes clear Egeria won’t continue.

“That I–” She stops and starts over, as if she can’t get her thoughts in order. “I don’t know if you are aware but Damen was an early babe. The only one I could carry a whole term and it was this squishy, red faced, tiny creature. I was also gravely sick and the physicians assumed none of us were going to be alive for much. Damen proved them all wrong.”

A burst of affection blooms inside of him so strongly that he lifts Damen’s limp hand and presses a kiss on it. “He certainly did.”

Egeria smiled faintly. “Even back then I knew he was destined for many great things. I knew he would go on his own path and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Not that I ever wanted to stop him. I knew he was going to grow up to be capable.” She gently tugs on one of Damen’s curls. “Yet now I have the silliest urge to wish he was still a babe in my belly again so I could protect him from the outside world. So he wouldn’t be hurt anymore.”

Laurent is silent for a moment as he plays with Damen’s hands. His eyes drink up Damen’s handsome face for a while before he gently sighs. “I’m afraid I’d miss him too much, my lady.”

-

On the morning of the eighth day, he wakes up to the prettiest brown eyes and a dimpled smile.

Damen says, “Hello, sweetheart.”

[gay-jesus-probably]

Okay hang on, what type of bear are we talking about here though, because that's very relevant to the question. The fact that it specifically says one bear is the only reason why bear is even a reasonable option imo, because if multiple bears are in play, one of them might be a cub, and that makes things a thousand times more likely to get dangerous. But just one means there's definitely no cub (or if there is a cub, the mama bear isn't present, so it's still fine), so we can negotiate the bear terms. There's a lot of flavours of bear though, so let's just consider the North American trio, since those are the ones I actually know about.

Black bear is the best option, they're the smallest (about 6 feet tall when standing on their hind legs, so roughly people sized), and their startle response is to run away and climb a tree; they're actually fairly timid, you're fine. I mean, don't surprise it anyways, they will attack if they feel threatened, but you're fine. Make lots of noise so it can avoid you, and hike out of that forest, no problem. I mean yeah, black bears are statistically the cause of most bear attacks, but like... their habitat covers most of the continent, while grizzlies are just in the rocky mountains, and polar bears stick to the tundra. So there's waaaay more chances for humans to encounter black bears, which means there's more chances for those encounters to go wrong. So you're more likely to find a black bear normally, BUT they're the least likely to get violent, so if you've gotta be in the woods with a bear, you want it to be that one.

If it's a grizzly... maybe ask some questions about the man option before you commit. Grizzlies are bigger (about 7-8 feet tall), stronger, more territorial, and their startle response is to charge the thing that surprised them. If you pick the grizzly, the second your boots hit the ground, start belting out a song at the top of your lungs and don't stop singing until you're out of that forest, because dear lord you do NOT want to surprise that bear. You let it know exactly where you are, and trust that it's not interested in starting a fight today. They don't go after people unprovoked, but like... there's considerably less room for error than with a black bear. If a black bear swats you, you're getting knocked down. If a grizzly swats you, it's taking your head off. So if it's a grizzly, 50/50 on man or bear, honestly, that's your call. It's more likely for things to go south with the man, but you've also got a fair chance of kicking his ass instead. A grizzly isn't as likely to decide you need a vibe check, but if it DOES, you're screwed. So both options make sense.

But if you're getting tossed out there with just a polar bear, you take the man option, no other questions needed. I don't care if the man option turns out to be getting duct taped to the goddamn Zodiac Killer, he cannot possibly be more of a threat than a polar bear. Blacks and grizzlies are omnivores, and stick to their specific diets, they're not really interested in people. Polar bears are carnivores. Opportunistic carnivores. They will not hesitate to hunt humans if a good chance arrives. If you're at a research base up north and you step outside for a smoke at about the same time every day, eventually a polar bear is gonna see you doing it, notice the pattern, and your first warning will be when you open the door to find a polar bear waiting for you. They're bigger than the grizzly, they're smart, they're vicious, and they'll eat literally any meat they can get their paws on, especially with global warming ravaging their habitat. The main reason they don't normally hunt humans is just because their habitat rarely overlaps with humans. They absolutely will not hesitate to pick off any lone human they find, so you never volunteer to be a lone human in the same area as a polar bear.

In summary, black bear? Take the bear, use basic safety precautions and you're fine. Grizzly? Consider the man, there's pros and cons either way, your choice, but be extra careful if you pick the bear. Polar bear? Always take the man. He probably doesn't want to kill and eat you, and even if he does, he's not gonna be nearly as good at it as the polar bear, so you're still safer. Man all the way.

There's a whole bunch of TikTok drama at the moment after someone posted a video asking "would you rather be alone in the woods with a bear or a strange man?"

And the men are *very upset* that nearly every woman replied with "....obviously a bear."

It's honestly wild (I think some of these guys think that bears are movie monsters, craving human flesh).

But it boils down to this- they want you to expect the worst from the bear and the best from the stranger, and they are deeply offended that this isn't the case. 🤷

[rebelsofshield]

Star Wars: The Bad Batch: “The Crossing”  - Review

A slower, quieter episode of The Bad Batch succeeds in bringing some much needed humanity and intimacy to the series’ main cast.

The Bad Batch are tasked with retrieving the volatile but valuable substance, ipsium, from Cid’s newly purchased mine. However, things go awry after a stranger steals the Marauder leaving the team stranded on a hostile world. Together, the team must find a way to escape, but must do so without the help of one of their brothers.

At first glance, “The Crossing” appeared to be the series returning to its wheel spinning ways. Although we occasionally get a standout like “Tribe,” The Bad Batch’s standalone missions often make for some of the series’ least interesting episodes. As I’ve said before, without the weight given by larger events occurring in the series/franchise mythology or inventive action set pieces these more routine episodes often struggle to hold my attention. This is not to say that episodic television is inherently less interesting in serialized stories. I love being able to pick up an episode of Star Trek or Rebels regardless of when it falls in the franchise’s timeline. What makes these shows work where The Bad Batch still tends to struggle is that even in their most self-contained outings good episodic TV finds a way to make things personal for our characters. But the wonderful thing is, that personal edge actually arrives in “The Crossing.” It takes a second to poke through its dull as hell episodic plot, but this week’s installment makes for one of the series’ most personal installments.

It starts as a general feeling of awkwardness. The Batch have trouble delegating even the most simple duties and their general rhythm feels off. They make mistakes that would normally not have happened. Small tasks become big challenges. And slowly it becomes clear that Echo’s absence has unbalanced how the squad functions. This is a team that is stumbling on a basic level because a core member of their unit has stepped away.

Part of what makes Matt Michnovetz’s script work so well is that Omega seems to be the only one that is able to admit that Echo’s absence is why everything is going wrong. Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker all slip into roles that are familiar to  their programming to cope, but Omega has no special skill to fall back on. What has made her special has always been the affection and loyalty that she holds to her fellow squadmates. So of course, Omega is going to be the one that finally says what’s on every other clone’s mind. She misses Echo. And the squad doesn’t make sense without him.

In a way it’s nice to have The Bad Batch even acknowledge this shakeup. So often these sorts of ensemble change outs will happen in a television series without giving the remaining cast time to react emotionally to what has happened. Sure, Echo may not be dead, but he was a mainstay in this small family unit for quite some time. His absence is felt in even the smallest of ways.

“The Crossing” is at its best when it contrasts how our team are all processing this transition. To Omega, the hole left by Echo is unbearable, but others like Tech experience this hurt differently. Tech processes his own sadness through logic that gives him comfort. Echo has made a choice to undertake a different mission and the Batch was able to function fine before he arrived in the first place. His brother isn’t dead, simply doing something else, and he can look to the past for reassurance that he and his squad will be okay. To Omega though, Tech’s matter of fact and technical way of processing this change feels cold and uncaring. It leads to one of the first episode of The Bad Batch that actually feels driven by conflict between characters. Two siblings are processing the same life altering event in different ways and have to reconcile this while also addressing a larger problem at hand. For as much as Omega may insist that she and her squadmates are a family “The Crossing” is one of the first times in quite a while where they actually feel like one. These quiet moments of Tech and Omega discussing their emotions and trying to understand one another are great and testament once again to the fantastic voice work by Dee Bradley Baker and Michelle Ang.

On a different note, it does seem like things with Cid are coming to a breaking point. Our grumpy old lizard can only screw over our team so many times before they call it quits and take their talents elsewhere. Maybe next week’s episode, which presumably will address many of the lingering plot points left over from “The Crossing,” is when we see this relationship break down for good.

Score: B+

[watchmegetobsessed]

Crash Course - Bucky Barnes

a/n: this one? im in LOVE with this fic and im not even ashamed of it. there is just something about the MC helping him get used to living in the new century and im a sucker for it. so please enjoy this fluffy piece!

pairing: Bucky X Reader

word count: 3.6k

summary: Bucky is a regular at the café where you work at and seeing him struggling with technology, you offer to help him, teaching him the basics while you are both thinking about taking it a little further than just a crash course.

masterlist

The time between the morning rush and lunch time is always quiet, the café is almost completely empty, that’s why Bucky prefers to go out during that time, tuck himself away in the corner of the small but cozy place, a black coffee steaming on the wooden table in front of him, his laptop or a book or his phone reserving his attention, whatever he decides to put his energy into that day.

Today has been a rainy day, therefore the morning was a lot quieter than usually, not many likes to make an extra trip for a coffee in the pouring rain, so you’ve been enjoying the calmness, the soft jazz music playing through the speakers as you are putting away the freshly washed cups behind the counter. As if he has an appointment, Bucky walks into the café with a laptop under his arm, his cap hiding part of his face, but you can still see the shy smile on his lips as he closes the door behind him, the little bell chiming for a second time at his arrival.

“Welcome back, the usual?” you ask as he heads to his spot.

“Yes please,” he nods, shooting you a thankful smile.

You try to ignore the little butterflies in your stomach at the sight of the man, it’s almost ridiculous how you still get nervous when you see him, even though he has been showing up every day at the same time for the past about two months. You just can’t help it, there’s just something in those ocean eyes and perfect manner he always treats you with, something you don’t often get these days. Not many take the time to ask about your day or wish you a good one after you hand them their coffee, but Bucky is different. The same question falls from his lips every time you appear at his table with his order.

“How has your day been going?” he asks when you place the cup next to his laptop that’s loading.

“Pretty quiet, the rain keeps people away,” you chuckle, hoping your blush is not as apparent as it feels. “What about yours?”

“Just the same as usual,” he smiles softly and you nod, though you have no idea what’s usual for him. He might be friendly and quite welcoming when he is sitting at the café, he often chats with you about anything and everything, yet still, you know near nothing about him and his life outside of this place. It’s clear he is the kind of person that prefers to keep things to himself, but sometimes you are so desperate for just the smallest crumb of information about him. With the lack of details, you often find yourself making up things about him, like what his favorite dish is, where he likes to shop, what shows he watches on the TV. You might be entirely wrong about all of these, but it’s all you have.

Moving back behind the counter you busy yourself with cleaning it off as Bucky’s attention shifts to the screen in front of him. There are only two more customers in there and they are quite locked away in their own world as well, a college student working on some kind of assignment on her second espresso and an old lady solving Sudoku at the table near the window, sipping on a nice latte.

You can’t help but glance in his direction every now and then as you move the muffins around on the counter. He seems deeply focused, eyebrows knitted together as he is clicking away on the computer. From the looks of it, he is solving some kind of enigma, but when you walk past his table you see that he has an email open on the screen, his cursor moving around kind of aimlessly.

“Not finding the right words?” you ask, stopping to clean the table next to his that was previously occupied by a young couple. His eyes snap up to you before he huffs shaking his head.

“No, I’m just… terribly bad at IT stuff and I’m supposed to “CC” someone on this email,” he explains, using his fingers to air-quote as he glances back at the screen. “But if I’m being honest I don’t even know what it means,” he admits with a nervous chuckle.

You find it amusing, even cute that he is like an old man with these stuff. You’ve seen him struggling to type in a text message before on his flip phone that’s from the last century for sure and now this.

Placing the tray of cups down on the table you move over to him, taking the free chair next to him as you reach for the laptop, but you stop before touching it.

“May I…?”

“Go ahead,” he gestures with a nod.

You turn the device towards yourself as you click a few times, bringing up the option to send a copy of the email to another receiver.

“CC means that more people get the same email. You can put their addresses here. But you can also BCC people, in that case, the original receiver won’t see if the email was sent to others as well,” you explain patiently. Bucky tries his best to focus on the screen and what you’re saying, rather than the way your lips are moving and how badly he wants to taste them.

You haven’t been the only one feeling flustered and like a giddy teenager and Bucky didn’t choose this café as his usual spot for nothing. He spotted you the first time he stumbled in and the way you smiled brightly at everyone and the sweet chiming of your laughter made him want to come back the moment he stepped out that day. So he returned the next day and then the next day again… and now he couldn’t even imagine a day without seeing your eyes light up when he walks in while he can only hope you are just as happy to see him as he is to see you.

You help him send his email and you cheer in victory once it’s done and sent.

“See? It’s not as hard as it seems,” you smile at him gently, patting his arm that’s covered by a hoodie and your eyes fall onto his gloved hands on the tabletop.

“Yeah, I just have a lot of catching up to do from the past seven decades,” he mumbles under his breath, though he immediately regrets not keeping his mouth shut.

Your eyes flicker to his hand once again, then up to meet his gaze and he knows he just outed himself. He is expecting the usual: disgust, disappointment, even fear. That’s how most people react when they find out who he really is. But as he stares back at you, scared like a little kitten, you just smile back at him softly.

It’s not that you haven’t heard of the Avengers, because it’s impossible not to know who they are. You were just not expecting one of them to become a regular at your working place. The few times you saw him on TV he had long hair and his face was covered with a mask, so you’re not surprised you didn’t put the picture together. But knowing now who he is, you don’t see him in a worse lighting. If anything, you feel a little sad that he had to go through so much in his extremely long life.

“Well, feel free to ask any more questions. I’m not an IT guy, but I can help you with everyday stuff,” you tell him and he is in awe at your very normal, very sweet reaction. All he can do is nod as you stand from the table and grab the tray you abandoned not long ago, moving back behind the counter.

When you glance up your gaze meets his as he is still staring at you, nervous, a little anxious, but definitely relieved by your smooth reaction to finding out his identity. You shoot him a bright smile before moving to the table of the old lady who asks for another latte and as Bucky follows your frame move across the room he can’t help the small smile that tugs on his lips.

Your offer doesn’t stay unused. In fact, Bucky shows up at the café the next few days with a handful of questions for you, genuine ones, and a few he already knows the answer to, but wants to hear you explain them anyway. And you help him with anything, sitting at his table whenever you have a few free minutes between customers. He asks you about the internet, social media, online data bases and sources, going through a list from the little notebook he always keeps with himself.

The times spent with him are your favorite part of the day. You always look forward to whatever issue Bucky is going to bring up, fearing that one day he might run out of questions, but that just never comes. And you don’t know it, but your little sessions are the highlights of his days as well, listening to your smooth voice as you explain even the smallest things to him with so much patience, he is convinced you should become a teacher.

He thinks about asking you out every day, the question is always on the tip of his tongue.

What are you doing tonight? Would you want to go out with me? Do you want to grab a bite with me after your shift?

However he just never gets to actually say the words out loud. He is growing impatient with himself, he used to have no problem with asking girls out, but seven decades and another life as a brain-washed assassin later, this task feels way too impossible.

You’ve been telling him to get a smartphone for the past couple of days and though he seemed adamant, one day he shows up with a brand new one, still in the box.

“Oh my God, is that what I think it is?” you tease him with a dramatic gasp. Chuckling to himself he nods as he places the box to the counter while you are making the order of one of the customers. Today has been a little busier than usually, probably because of the special offer of 10% off from the new Cuban coffee beans your boss ordered in.

“I need a teacher to show me the ropes though.”

“Oh, Bucky, I would love to, but today is a bit crowded,” you pout as you put the lid onto the paper cup and hand it over to the customer, another one already walking in, eyeing the offer written on the black board behind you.

He didn’t even think you wouldn’t say yes, it never occurred to him that the timing might not be the best. You see as his smile slowly disappears from his scruffy face and your heart breaks seeing him like this.

“Yeah, sorry. Don’t want to keep you up,” he mumbles feeling defeated, but before he could grab the box from the counter, you put your hand on it, your fingers brushing against his gloved one, the tiny touch making both of you flustered.

“But how about after work?” you suggest and his eyes immediately light up. Spending time with you without any customers interrupting? That sounds like heaven to him.

“Y-you sure? If you have something to do, I—“

“Nothing to do,” you smile at him. You grab a napkin from the counter and a pan from near the cash register, quickly scribbling down your address before handing it over to him. “I’ll be home by seven,” you inform him as he glances down at your handwriting, noting how well it fits your personality. He then looks back at you nodding, as if he was just handed the best Christmas present ever.

“I’ll be there,” he smiles gratefully before stepping away from the counter and letting you work.

 Five minutes after seven, Bucky is standing at your front door with a bag of Chinese food in his hands as he is trying to build up the courage to ring your doorbell. He found out that you live just a few corners away from the café, so he found your address easily.

“Come on, dude. Don’t be such a loser,” he mumbles to himself as he circles his shoulders before finally pushing the button. A short, buzzing sound is heard from the other side of the door and he stares at the 6B sign in front of you as he hears footsteps from inside. A few moments later the door swings open and there you are, still wearing the same clothes from earlier, a bright smile adorning your face as you beam at your guest.

“Come on in!” you gesture for him as he steps into the small apartment. “Tried to clean up a bit, but if I’m being honest I’m starting to grow out this place,” you chuckle as you push a box out of the way. It’s a small studio apartment with everything cramped into one space except the bathroom. You have a double bed pushed up against the wall in the corner, a small sofa with your wardrobe next to it, a TV, a tiny coffee table, a bookshelf and a dresser, a little dining table near the kitchen with three chairs and a pantry right next to the fridge that stands where the hardwood floor changes into checkered tiles. It really is a tiny space that holds a lot of stuff, but all the gadgets and clutter makes it cozy, lived-in, a place that’s so much like you that he feels like he is peeking inside your head as he walks farther inside.

“I brought dinner,” he shyly holds the bag up as you lock the door.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have!” you smile at him gratefully, because you didn’t really have time to buy anything on your way home since you had to make a quick trip to the post office after your shift, leaving you no spare time before his arrival.

“It’s the least I can do for all the help,” he smiles as you take the bag from him and bring it to the designated living room area of the place. Bucky joins you on the sofa and he thanks all higher powers your place is so small that you only have a loveseat, giving him the chance to sit close to you. Your thigh brushes against his as you hand him a box and make yourself comfortable as well, starting your feast while he asks you about your day, listening to your every word intently.

When the food is gone and you’ve grabbed two beers for the two of you, he pulls out the phone that’s the reason behind his visit. He bought a simple one, not at all one of the latest versions and it’s going to be the perfect model for him to learn the ropes on.

You help him put his SIM card into the new phone and then you set his account up before finally gaining access to the phone. You start with the basic features, showing him how to make a call or send a text before moving onto the different apps and possibilities while he listens to you as if you were talking about rocket science, but in a way, it feels like that for him.

“And here you can switch to the front camera,” you explain as you push the button and suddenly, the two of you come into picture on the screen. “Perfect for taking selfies,” you add with a chuckle.

“Oh, selfies. I’m not too good with those,” he huffs shaking his head.

“Because you probably haven’t found your angle!” you smirk. “Everyone has a good angle.”

“You think so?” you knits his eyebrows together.

“Mhm, look!”

Opening the contacts you go to yours, choosing the option to add a picture that will show up on the screen when you call him, and open the camera to take one instead of choosing from the empty gallery. Holding up the phone you position it so your good angle is in the picture before snapping the photo and saving it as your caller ID.

“See?” you smile at him before handing the device back to him. He just nods, even though he can only think about how all your angles are perfect to him and that now he has a picture of you in his phone. “Let’s take one together!” you beam and moving closer to him you take the phone once again, holding it up in front of you, trying to fit both of you into the frame.

Bucky tries his best to focus on the picture, but he can’t ignore how close you are to him, he can smell your shampoo and your cheek is almost pressed against his as you smile into the camera. The corners of his mouth curl up as his eyes fix at your reflection on the screen before you snap the photo. Opening up the camera roll you take a better look at it and it’s probably your favorite photo that has ever been taken of you. Mostly because he is in it as well, smiling so sweetly.

“It’s a good one,” you say and as you turn your head to the side you realize how close you really are to him.

“Yeah?” he breathes out, definitely aware of just the few inches separating the two of you.

“I-if you had an Instagram I would tell you to post it…” you stutter as your eyes flicker down to his lips, the urge to lean in and kiss him growing with each passing second.

Feeling a little dizzy, one of your hands fall to his lower arm, the one that’s made out of metal and your gaze drops to where you are touching him, a panic filled look flashing through his eyes.

He thinks that this is where the moment is ruined, where you realize the monster he really is and decide you don’t want anything to do with him. He almost starts to apologize for God knows what reason when you reach out and your fingers start to work on the straps of his gloves. It takes a few moments for him to realize what you are doing, and he tries to pull his hand back, but you grab it stopping him from doing it.

“It’s alright,” you smile at him softly, your eyes meeting his as you finish what you started and pull the glove off his hand revealing the metal underneath the leather. Then you move onto his other hand and do the same, dropping the pair of gloves to the floor as you take both his hands in yours, thumbs running across his knuckles, feeling the difference between his own hand and the artificial one.

You see his jaw flexing at the touch and reaching up you cup his cheek in your palm, making him to look you in the eyes. The strong and confident man you see sometimes is gone now, fear and hesitation taking over his expression as your other hand keeps holding his vibranium one.

“I’m sorry,” it falls from his lips as he closes his eyes for a second.

“For what exactly?” you ask with a soft chuckle. “There’s nothing wrong with you. You don’t have to hide yourself around me.”

“You don’t find it… scary?”

“Not at all,” you assure him. “You can’t be held accountable for what happened to you. Anyone who thinks differently is just an ignorant asshole,” you add grinning and it finally breaks his fearful expression, planting a smile on his handsome face.

Keeping your hand on his cheek you lean closer, your nose touching his but you stop before your lips could meet, giving him the chance to pull back. But he never does. Instead, he closes the gap between the two of you, pressing his lips against yours, finally making the fantasy you both have been daydreaming about reality. He starts off slowly, savoring each other gently, getting accustomed to the feeling, but it doesn’t take long before the kiss grows hungrier and your tongues meet in the middle.

Your hands rest at the base of his neck while his find your waist, pulling you closer until you swing a leg over him, sitting on his lap as you smile against his lips. His kisses feel delicate and soft yet very passionate at the same time, you love the dynamic you create, tugging and biting each other playfully, it feels like kissing him is the sole purpose of your life.

When it gets hard for you to breathe you pull back, eyes opening and finding his flushed face as he stares back at you with bright, joyous eyes, his lips slightly swollen, already making you want to go back to where you were just a moment ago.

“Who knew selfies could be so much fun,” he jokes making you laugh, his heart fluttering in his chest at the sound that’s so dear to him.

“I’m glad you liked my crash course on smart phones,” you grin down at him, your fingers tracing the sharp line of his jaw. “Do you have any more questions?”

Smirking his hand, his flesh one, moves up your back as he presses you closer, your lips almost touching his.

“Oh, I’ve got plenty,” he chuckles before kissing you again eagerly.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

[howtofightwrite]

Cat Weight and Why Understanding Reality is Important for Writers

When you say “lighter than house cat” what kind of cat do you mean exactly? Because just based on my cats it could be anything from 1kg to 4kg and that kind of makes a difference…

I think I’ve always specified weight before making that comparison in the past. For most domestic cat breeds, 10lbs is the average, healthy, adult weight. Somewhat obviously this will vary, with some breeds being potentially much smaller, and obviously, juveniles will be much smaller (and lighter) than their parents. The extreme edge of this are Siamese, which have some of the smallest kittens among domestic cat breeds, but then grow to be only slightly smaller than most other domestic cats. I’m not sure where you’re finding a 2.2lb adult cat, though that could certainly be an outlier.

The thing is, if we were talking about swords, yeah, that 4kg cat will be heavier than most greatswords. That 1kg cat will be heavier than most sabers, foils, and rapiers, with some other sword variants being slightly heavier.

I feel like a broken record sometimes on this topic. We have a lot of fantasy literature which looks at swords and thinks, “that must be really heavy, so it can hit really hard,” but, that’s not how you use the weapon. It doesn’t matter if it’s a “massive” greatsword or a rapier, swords are precision cutting tools. They are not long axes. They are not sharpened hammers.

Additionally, while a fight will be fairly brief, battles can easily last all day. It’s not a question of whether you can use a weapon once or twice, it’s something you need to be able to do for hours at a time. Swinging around a massive 40lb chunk of steel may be a great workout, but you’re not going to be able to do that for hours without rest, no matter how well conditioned you are.

This gets into another fantasy element. You have fantasy heroes that are outright superhuman swinging around these comically oversized (and more often over weighted) weapons. In some cases, this is technically fine, as the wielder is overtly superhuman, and in others it’s an error by the author.

As I’ve said in the past, there’s nothing inherently wrong with a fictional character having an impractically heavy weapon… if there’s a point to it. If it’s an indication that the character really is superhuman, and we’re supposed to understand that? Cool. If the weapon says something about their personality? That’s fine, it’s a legitimate venue of characterization.

Usually, we prioritize realism, because as the author, you have the choice of when you want to step away from reality to fit your story. However, it is important that you, as the writer, be aware when you’ve done so. You want to make these decisions as informed choices, not something you accidentally stumbled into because you’ve seen it before, and thought, “that’s how it is.” This can become a real problem for writers when they take elements of characterization from a story that inspired them and accidentally graft them into their work.

Another common example is the idea of weapon hyperfocus, where you have characters that only use one specific weapon, and are basically defenseless without it. It doesn’t make any sense from a realistic perspective. It’s not how people are trained. It’s now how these skills work. But, it can be a very significant statement about how your character views the world.

Similarly, in real history, soldiers would carry multiple weapons. That’s the real world, but even in emulating that, you’re informing your audience that your characters are more flexible, and better able to handle a variety of situations.

It’s up to you what you want to do with your characters, but the information is here so you can make that decision. So you don’t think that your character couldn’t wield a sword because they’re not a ‘roided up wall of meat, or don’t accidentally think that all melee weapons are comically heavy and massive, because they weren’t.

-Starke

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Cat Weight and Why Understanding Reality is Important for Writers was originally published on How to Fight Write.

[sokkascroptop]

traitor. (sokka x f!reader) pt 26

part 1 | part 25

a/n: no matter how long you have been here, just know i'm extremely grateful for anyone who's read this fic. now here's the latest chapter.

Sometimes it felt like the days dragged on. Each and every hour was laid out just like the day before–the week before. It made time seem endless, even though Y/N knew it definitely was not. Sozin’s Comet was getting closer and closer each day. Y/N didn’t know if it was the anticipation for that long fated day or if it was some buried fire bender gene in her body, warning her of something to come. She could feel it deep within her bones. She woke up earlier and earlier each day, no matter how late her night ended up. And each day the sun greeted her with warm yellow light that made the air a little easier to breathe.

As they moved further south and into Fire Nation territory, Zuko made mention of Ember Island as a place to hide out. The island–or chain of islands, really–were close enough to Caldera City that it would be a good place for them to lay low and wait, as well as uninhabited by enough people that they could lay low.

Y/N thought it was a little risky to be living in the Fire Lord’s Ember Island house, but Zuko was probably right, this was going to be the last place anyone would look for them. Maybe Y/N was just unsettled about being back, so close to Caldera City, or maybe it was being back on Ember Island for the first time since she was 9.

Somewhere between the temple and the beach house, Y/N tired of training. It just added to the monotony, and so she just…stopped. Instead, she spent her days on the beach, sometimes alone–often with the others though–playing in the tide pools and skim-boarding on the sand. And sometimes, if she felt like she didn’t have enough time on her own to recharge, she’d leave in the night, either through her window or the front door to take a walk on the beach in the moonlight. Only to come back and wake up a few hours later, ready for sunrise.

Today was no different, though the sun was already peeking over the horizon and into her room when her eyes peeled open.

The wooden floors creaked under Y/N’s feet as she crept out of her room silently.

Each board was smooth under her bare toes, not well-worn by many little feet running across them year after year but made that way before they were even built into the house, for no doubt a hefty fee. The beach house was… cold, to say the least. It just felt like each pore of the house seeped something uninviting, reminding them that they shouldn’t be there. It wasn’t just Y/N who felt it, they all spent as little time as possible in the house.

She padded into the kitchen and struck their flint to start a fire under the stove–mostly unneeded since Zuko had joined their group–but wholly necessary when he wasn’t around to be their fire-starter. Y/N didn’t mind doing it this way, it felt nice being able to do something with her own hands for once instead of relying on the others to make clean water or heat up the food. She boiled just enough water for one cup of tea before heading out to the courtyard where she knew at least two of her friends would be awake.

Y/N didn’t like feeling optimistic. It was a terrifying feeling. There was so much riding on their success; she didn’t want to spend so much energy on hoping only to have it all dashed away if things didn’t go their way. It would be too heartbreaking. But watching Aang, she could. They weren’t even sparring and she could see the power behind every blast of fire. And she had hope for their future. She had to; she wasn’t going to lose her friends.

“You’re doing that one wrong,” Y/N said from the shadows on the porch. She held her warm cup to her chest, the breeze blowing in from the ocean was keeping the courtyard chilly until the sun could rise high enough to heat the island.

Aang didn’t seem too surprised to hear her voice. “Doing what wrong?” He asked, confused.

Zuko frowned up at Y/N from his seat on the steps but nodded to Aang. “She’s right, you have to dip further down so when you come up the fire creates more of an arc.”

Aang pushed through a few more poses before Zuko stood up and joined him. Y/N stole his seat and pulled her legs up to cross them. She watched as they moved in tandem, working though the most basic of firebending forms all the way up to a few advanced ones. Memories flooded Y/N’s head so fast it made her dizzy. She remembered sitting just like she was now, watching her two brothers work through their forms when she was younger. On chilly mornings, much like today, she would wrap herself in a blanket nest and sip on tea that was much too sweet as they worked well into mid morning. In a sudden rush of affection she realized she was doing much of the same thing, just years and years later.

Aang had learned fast. That was good. She set down her empty cup as the two boys headed back to her, both sweaty from their training. “Good job, Aang! You’re doing great!”

Aang beamed with pride. “Thanks, Y/N!

“Don’t be so encouraging, he’s still got a lot to learn,” Zuko grumbled, taking a seat on the ground next to her.

Y/N pouted. “He needs encouragement. That’s how he learns.” Y/N learned that from watching the differences between Katara teaching styles and Toph’s teaching styles.

“Speaking of firebending,” Aang kicked his feet against the edge of the steps and looked around like he was avoiding something. “How did you know about the firebending forms?”

Zuko leaned back on his hands. “I’d like to know that too.”

Y/N smiled softly. “I watched my brothers for years, religiously learning all the forms and practicing them on my own. I wanted to be just like them. I guess I still remember them.”

Aang frowned. “It’s not like you couldn’t bend on purpose.”

Y/N was surprised to see Aang look so sad. “I know.” She shrugged and looked away feeling her cheeks redden with both boys staring at her. “I just wanted to be normal so people would stop paying attention to me for the wrong reasons.” She mumbled.

“It made you a better sword fighter,” Zuko said suddenly.

“What?” Y/N asked.

“The discipline and movements. You do the same when you’re fighting.”

“I’ve never noticed, but you’re right, Zuko!” Aang exclaimed.

The thought made Y/N smile. “That was nice of you.”

Zuko rolled his eyes but let the smallest hint of a smile grace his lips.

She looked back to Aang, who still looked a bit hesitant. “Don’t worry about me. How about we go swimming? Before the others wake up!”

Aang perked up immediately. “That sounds great! Let’s go, Zuko!”

Y/N and Aang stood, both looking down at Zuko, who just stared at the ground between his feet. She could already hear him saying no, telling them that he needed to train more or meditate and didn’t have time to run off and play games.

Y/N opened her mouth to tell Aang that the two of them could still go but Zuko spoke up before her. “Yeah, okay.”

Sometimes even on those long, dragging days, it was the little things that made everything better; like playing in the surf with two of your friends.

---

That evening though, Y/N was back where she had started the day, and had decided that everyone in her group of friends, save for maybe Zuko, talked way too much. She craved those moments alone where she just had her thoughts to occupy her. Especially when she had a lot on her mind.

Y/N didn’t want to admit she felt stuck inside with Aang and Katara while everyone else was outside enjoying the evening, but she also felt guilty in turning down their request to help make dinner to just wander around on the beach until sunset. She didn’t help out much with making meals, and she felt obligated to help when she could.

So she was there, sitting on the dinner table, lotus style with a knife and a cutting board and a basket of carrots in need of chopping at her side.

“What else can I do, Katara?” Aang dumped some of the vegetables he was cutting into the stew Katara was currently stirring over the stove.

“Hmm, can you go out and get some more water to make the rice?” Aang grinned and nodded, before running out of the house towards the side of the house where there was a small barrel of collected water.

Y/N smiled to herself at the interaction and continued cutting carrots for Katara, trying not to let her mind wander, but it was hard with the monotonous work and the bad spot she was sitting in.

Just in front of her was the window where she had watched Zuko and Aang train while she made tea that morning, now it showed Zuko and Sokka doing their own training.

Y/N was struggling with more than just feeling like she didn’t belong on the Island. She didn’t know what she was going to say to Sokka, or if she was even going to say anything about her feelings at all. Without the constant traveling and the safety of a hideout, she was able to just stop and let those feelings and thoughts she had been holding back with a dam of fear wash over her.

It was all really confusing for Y/N. And hard to admit.

She didn’t want to face the awkward conversation of asking whether he could always be there for her. She didn’t want to beg him to never leave because she was so insecure. She was so afraid of losing everything and everyone that she was going to do just that because she was afraid of opening up.

What would happen if she never told Sokka she loved him back? Did she even love him back? What did love feel like?

Love with Azula felt like fire, sometimes it burned painfully, but in the good times it filled her with a warmth like never before. Zuko’s friendship felt the same, but it was less like sitting too close to the fire and more like sitting just in the right place where it didn’t dry out your eyes but didn’t make goosebumps grow on your arms. Sokka always felt like a cool breeze, one where you lift your face up to the sky and smile because it always feels like relief. But that’s not what Y/N is used to. How does she know if it’s love if it doesn’t hurt a little bit? How does she know that it's real if she doesn’t have to give all of herself until she is worn to nothing to make it work?

It wasn’t that she was afraid to care for him, she had made it clear that she did. It was just easier on her heart to keep him at a distance for now until she figured they were inevitably part ways. That’s how Y/N saw this all ending. Separated across oceans, back to where they came from, whatever the outcome of the war. Y/N wanted to dream of the possibilities and opportunities where they could be together in the long run, but those were just that, dreams for another lifetime. People from the Water Tribe didn’t marry people from the Fire Nation.

Everything that she learned over the last few months was that nothing was ever set in stone, so why should she and Sokka be.

Y/N stared out the window, pondering when it would all fall apart and sliced downwards on a carrot, but met nothing but the cutting board. She looked down where the knife was closer to her finger than to the carrots. She let out a little inward gasp.

“What?” Katara turned around and asked.

Y/N’s eyes widened. “Nothing.” She motioned to the cutting board. “Do you want these smaller?”

Katara eyed Y/N and then looked to the cutting board. “They’re fine. But pay more attention, I don’t know how to reattach fingers yet.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

Y/N’s eyes didn’t leave the wooden cutting board and her fingers until the others came bustling into the kitchen, all talking at once.

Y/N for the most part ignored everyone, until Sokka reached over and snatched one of the slices of carrots.

Y/N nudged his arm. “Can you wait?! I thought you didn’t like vegetables!”

“Aang got me to like carrots!” Sokka retorted, before quickly reaching around Y/N to grab another and popping it into his mouth.

“Why would you be sitting on the table that we have to eat off of?” Suki wrinkled her nose.

“Uh! Katara said I could!” Y/N stuck her tongue out.

Katara whipped around, hands on her hips. “I never said you could, I just didn’t say you couldn’t.” Katara turned back to stirring the stew before muttering under her breath, “Not like telling you no would have made a difference anyways.”

“Hey!” Y/N picked up a carrot and launched it at the back of Katara’s head.

Aang walked back inside carrying a bucket of water, to a kitchen full of chaos. Vegetables were being thrown across the room at one another, as laughter rang out. Sokka, Zuko and Y/N were sprawled on one side of the kitchen behind and under the table; with Suki, Katara and Toph only edging from behind the safety of the kitchen doorway to throw something.

For the first time in a long time, Y/N could hear the exasperation of a 112 year old monk in Aang’s usually cheerful voice.“Uh, guys, what are we supposed to eat for dinner now?”

---

Y/N was dozing against the headboard of her bed that night, when she heard the knock at her door. At first she thought she imagined it, that is until she heard a voice on the other side of the doorway. “Y/N, are you awake?”

Y/N slid out of bed and cracked open the door. She smiled and leaned against the doorjamb, a familiar feeling in her chest.

“Are you afraid that there are ghosts here too?”

Sokka grinned and nodded. “In this house? Absolutely. But I’m not here for that.”

“Oh?” Y/N raised an eyebrow.

“Come outside with me.”

Y/N chuckled. “Why?”

“Please, just come on. No questions.”

Y/N sighed and reached for an old silk robe she found in one of the closets, but her smile never left her face.

To be fair to Sokka, there wasn’t much to surprise Y/N with on an island she grew up on. But that night, the sky momentarily took her breath away.

Sometimes the simplest things were the most beautiful.

“I thought we could come out here; look at the stars a bit. I used to like doing that at home. Though it’s different. The constellations aren’t the same where I’m from.”

“I guess I’ll just have to teach you some.”

Together they laid side by side on the roof, and Y/N pointed out her favorites. The dragon, the jack-rabbit...

After Y/N had told Sokka the story of the Red Queen, some ancient fable of a powerful Fire Lady that was always one of Y/N’s favorites, they both grew quiet, Y/N asked the question that had been brewing on her mind. She worried that whatever she said would mess up the peaceful night they had been having. It felt like she was intruding on a secret that she wasn’t supposed to know.

“Hey, Sokka,” Y/N asked.

“Hmmm,” She looked over and Sokka looked about half asleep already. Maybe this would be good timing.

“Who’s Yue?”

Sokka’s eyes shot open and he sat up quickly. “What?”

Y/N could feel her face flush. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to know.

“Yue.” The word sounded flat and foreign on her tongue. Maybe that wasn’t how you actually pronounced it? Some of the Water Tribe names and words were hard for Y/N’s mouth to form. If she could, she flushed deeper. “I heard you talking about them when I was hurt. I was in and out of it, so I don’t remember much, but I remember the name.”

Sokka suddenly looked very sad. Which was… odd because Y/N just thought that Yue was a Water Tribe spirit much like the Fire Nation had Agni.

“She’s the moon spirit,” Sokka whispered, his eyes cast down on his wringing hands.

Y/N eyes were wide. Why was he acting like this? “Oh. I figured she was a spirit or something. It sounded like you were praying to her, or something.”

“Yeah,” Sokka choked out. “Something like that.”

That’s when Y/N noticed there were drips of water on Sokka’s hands. Tears.

“Sokka?” Y/N said softly. She reached forward and–yup those were tears, dripping on their hands.

“She was a girl I met at the Northern Water Tribe when we first started traveling.”

“I thought she was…”

“She is.” For the first time, Sokka looked up. The pain in his eyes was unimaginable. “But she was still a girl when I met her.”

Sokka launched into a story that sounded more fantasy than real, but the look on his face, the sadness in his features, Y/N knew he was telling the truth.

“She was blessed by the moon spirit when she was born, it was the only reason she was alive. But when we were in the Northern Water Tribe—Zhao, a Fire Nation commander killed the moon spirit and all the water benders lost their bending, forever.” Sokka shivered. “It was scary, the moon was gone in the sky and we were helpless to fight the Fire Nation. It would have changed the tide of the war.

But she was selfless. She knew that she was the only hope for her tribe—for the world—and she sacrificed herself to save all of us. So now she’s the moon spirit…I guess. I don’t know, she’ll always be Yue to me.” Sokka’s voice trailed off with a sniffle. Y/N didn’t know how to respond.

Sokka sent a longing glance upward. The moon was just past full, waning in the far distance but still bright and round in the sky. “I think–I think she heard me that night. And she knew how much you meant to me, even then. And she saved you because…” Now it was Sokka’s turn to flush. “I don’t think I could live without you.”

Those words made Y/N’s chest burn. Her arms and legs tingled in relief as if all the tension in her body began to melt away. Y/N reached out, wiping a stray tear off of Sokka’s cheek. “Me either,” she replied instantly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

“’m not. Sad, really. I miss her, but it’s easier to always know where she is. She didn’t have a lot of choice in her life, but this was something she had control over. If she hadn’t become the moon spirit, the war would have ended right there. So her sacrifice meant that, you know, Zuko is our friend now and Aang has a chance at beating the Firelord and you have a place in all our lives. She made all of this possible.”

“Sounds like we have a lot more to be thankful to her for than just saving little old me then, huh?”

“You would have liked her.”

Y/N nodded and peered at the moon above them. “I do like her.”

No one else needed to know that after the two of them went inside and off to bed, that Y/N hung halfway out her window to get one last look at the moon. Y/N swore as her eyes closed and sleep overtook her that the moon shone a little brighter. Maybe that’s how the moon said thank you. Y/N’d never tell anyone that she whispered a small thank you too, to the girl who lived among the stars.

a/n: don't be shy, come talk to me in my askbox and tell me if you liked it

taglist: @myexgirlfriendisthemoon @reclusive-chicken-nugget @astroninaaa @aangsupremacy @beifongsss @crownofcryptids @welovediaaxx @littlefluu @lozzybowe @thebluelcdy @teenbiology @13-09-01 @riespage @davnwillcome @creation-magician @lunariasilver @francesciak @thia-aep @aphrcditeee @solarsuki @my--shitty--art @lovingcupcake51002 @loganrwebb @celia-not-cecilia @treestarrrrrrrr @izzieserra @salsasadd @nataliahaslosthershit @awkwardnesshabitat @lanie103  @im-the-galactic-starfish @charlotteisabella  @sugamonster22  @calumsfringe @whatsuphoesandbros @i-love-superhero @justasukisimp @grouchiest-hufflepuff  @euphoricmads @ivetoldamillionlies @fanficsformyperusal @mikxyu @ladylizzieofdarbyshire @someonekeepstakingmyusernames @earthtokace @justamessandahalf @perfectlyfadingmusic @atlafanforlife @iris-suoh @chilifrylizard2

[bostonbashers]

Hear me out.. How do mercs behave around a person they have a huge crush on?! :D

AAAAAA this one is so cute, i’m in love!! 🤩❤️

-

Scout:

literally a fucking DORK around you. tries to impress you constantly with anything and everything he has, ranging from his skill set to his appearance to his personal belongings and much more.

always finds excuses to spend time with you and it can be the most asanine ones in existence. oh? you have free time tomorrow? let’s go take a run down the street. you miss your puppy that got lost when you were a kid? let’s go to the ends of the earth to find it.

made you borrow his jacket/shirt once because he accidentally spilled a drink all over your shirt. once he saw you in it, he nearly died and didn’t want it back. takes it back anyway due to his pride and though he seems outwardly okay with it, he secretly doesn’t wash the clothing for a long while.

his flirtatious behavior around other people goes down immensely. scout becomes strictly loyal to you once his crush grows stronger and can’t bear the thought of talking with someone else, even if you don’t like him back. it just doesn’t sit with him right.

Soldier:

soldier is much softer and kinder around you. he restrains himself from using any harsh words that could hurt your feelings and tries to slow down on your training.

shows you his pets!! one of his prized possessions that he won’t allow anyone else to touch, like ever. he trusts you to love and take care of them the same way he does.

everyone has to respect you. if they even give you a slight problem, he’ll get on their case about it and probably give them hell before they could even mutter out an apology. you deserve respect and he’s gonna make sure you get nothing less.

lots of supportive comments from him! even if it’s something small, he’ll grin at you proudly and yell out a, “good job, cupcake! you did great!” while giving you a strong pat in the back or an approving nod.

Pyro:

pyro is usually sweet and kind with a certain crowd and tries to do the best they can for others, but with their crush? it’s a whole different story. they’re absolutely head over heels for them.

like a lovesick puppy; they will follow you wherever they go with a skip in their step. like, i mean they’ll follow you everywhere. “no, pyro you can’t follow me to the bathroom-!” they don’t really listen but patiently wait outside anyway.

one of the many mercs who won’t hesitate to show affection and sees nothing wrong in it. runs up to them and holds their hand firmly with a happy hum, hugs them more than usual, and just straight up gives you all their attention.

Demoman:

oh boy, if tavish has a crush on you, he’ll show it when he’s absolutely wasted. demo will literally smother you with affection regardless of where you both are and literally latch onto you every second he gets a chance to.

lots of drunk ramblings; he’ll lay his head on your shoulder or lap while he mindlessly slurs about how amazing you are, what his favorite thing is about you, and so much more.

it’s pretty obvious at that point demo likes you so you admit your liking to him pretty quick and it’s funny how shocked he gets. “ya knew i liked ya?!” yes, demo, they did.

when he’s sober, he’s much more shy with it and controls his actions a lot more. apologizes for his behavior while drunk. tavish exhibits more gentleman behavior, from opening doors to making you a decent dinner and just basically ensuring your comfortability.

Heavy:

heavy is very mature and will accept his feelings pretty quick compared to the others. it’s a 50/50 chance with him; if they feel the same, that’s great! if they don’t, then.. he’d have no choice but to move on. that’s how life works.

once he does accept it, be expecting a lot of mother hen behavior; he literally watches your every move to make sure you’re safe and healthy. even if you are, he goes out of his way to give you things whenever he knows you’re around; a homemade meal, a blanket, probably some candy. your smile is already more than enough to make up for the little things he does for you. 

no one will ever dare to hurt you around heavy (or just in general, really). he senses danger and issues pretty quickly, so it’s easy for him to detect any bad intentions. he’s like that scary bodyguard who looms behind you, glaring at anyone who radiates rancid vibes to scare them away.

Medic:

probably takes a while to accept or realize it cause he’s always so preoccupied in his lab, being busy and all. but once he does realize it, it’s sort of foreign to him at first, so of course, he goes to heavy to speak about his emotions. after being told it was a crush, he pays attention to you a lot more than usual, sometimes even without him noticing.

he gets all giddy when you’re around and although it’s not the jumpy, squealing giddy, it’s certainly one shown through happy greetings and continuous conversations that seem to be never ending. (you don’t mind though)

makes up random appointments and checkups for the smallest things just to see you and gets very, very excited whenever you decide to come to visit him without his knowledge. nearly drops everything just to attend to you.

he talks to archimedes so much about you that his precious pet basically knows who you are based off his owners reactions and automatically flies to you whenever you enter his lab. that bird is a lot smarter than you think. they get along with you pretty well and medic melts whenever he sees you talk to his birds like he does and play with them.

Sniper:

bless his heart, the poor man will literally faint around his crush. just the sight of them flusters him to his core, and don’t even get me started on their little habits and that godforsaken smile. [hes literally almost died when they grinned at him]

he’s already so reserved and quiet as he is, but around them, it’s even worse. he’s always so scared he’s gonna scare them away or say something stupid, but he eventually lets go of the fear and tries to muster up the courage to talk to you.

once he does, he spends a lot of his time with you, often inviting you out to drive around with him or just simply sit outside and enjoy the breeze. he talks a lot more than usual and though he doesn’t completely open up about his past just yet, he does indirectly hint that he trusts you more than anyone in his life.

lots of sleepless nights when he realizes he’s in love. he does everything to take you off his mind but all fails in the end and he’s kept wide awake thinking about what you two could be. from then on, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep his cool around you and silently begs you’ll confess one day or he’ll lose it.

Engineer:

sweetheart mode: activated. like it’s not a big switch up, since he’s naturally a gentleman but it’s noticeable enough. you’ll notice that your nicknames will start slowly forming to more romantic ones and how he blushes with a smile everytime it leaves his lips.

the other mercs can tell when dell has a crush; he blushes a lot more than usual and they catch him smiling more than once by himself. they realize it when you approach him and he automatically fixes himself to look presentable without a second breath. his voice also changes to a much happier and giddy tone, it’s so cute!

stares at you from a distance a lot or whenever you’re distracted with something. half of the time he doesn’t even realize he’s doing so but once he catches himself, he blushes and looks away, silently telling himself to quit it. often you’ll catch him staring at you, but you ignore it for his sake and laugh to yourself when he smiles back and waves shyly.

Spy:

takes a long while before he actually accepts the crush, seeing that he’s a very secretive and reserved person but once he does, you best believe you’ll be spoiled and loved by this man. lots of gentleman behavior!! opening doors, buying you gifts, giving you his coat, and all that fancy stuff.

teases you a lot more than he should; he enjoys your reactions. he’ll lean in close enough where your fingers brush slightly, tilt your chin up when he talks to you and makes intense eye contact while doing so. whenever he gets too close or the moment gets too tense, he backs away with a smirk and pretends as if nothing happens.

he listens to you and anything you have on your mind. his door is literally open for you 24/7 and even if you come knocking at 3 am, he’ll let you in and listen to what you have to say. you think he’s not listening cause he’s very unresponsive but when you’re finished and about to leave, he gives really good advice and tells you quietly that he’s there for you in an indirect way. depending how close he is to you, he’ll let out an experience or two about him to put you at comfort and as thanks for confiding in him. he then walks you back to your room with a simple nod and goodnight.

[storiesforallfandoms]

hearing it all ~ spencer reid;criminal minds

word count: 1655

request: no

description: after being shot and left in critical condition, she hears her colleague admit his feelings for her

pairing: spencer reid x female!reader

warnings: swearing, mentions of violence

masterlist (one, two)

Spencer had to keep reminding himself that they had no idea they were sending (Y/N) to the unsub’s house as he rushed to the hospital. They thought he was just a witness, not a suspect. They had no idea he was the one they were looking for, that they were sending (Y/N) into a dangerous place without backup or any warning.

Someone should’ve went with her, he thought. I should’ve went with her. She shouldn’t have been alone.

They were working a case and (Y/N) volunteered to go talk to someone they believed was a witness. She had been gone for a short period of time when Garcia alerted the team that the “witness” had actually matched the profile they had placed on the unsub, down to the T, and he was likely the person they were looking for.

Hotch immediately tried to get in contact with (Y/N). Her phone rang for a while before going to voicemail. He immediately called her back and she answered after a few rings.

“Hey, sorry I’m at the witness’ house now,” she answered. “What’s going on? Do you have a match?”

“(Y/N), I need you to act calm and act as though I’m telling you something important about the case.”

“Okay.”

“(Y/N), are you in the house?”

“Yes.”

“Is the witness near?”

“Not at the moment.”

“I need you to get out of there if you can. He isn’t just a witness, he’s an unsub.”

There was a moment of silence on (Y/N)’s end and Spencer found himself holding his breath as he waited for her response.

“Yes sir. I will be back in just a moment.”

“Keep your phone on until you’ve reached the car. Try to stay calm. Don’t give him any indications that you know,” Hotch told her.

“Yes sir.”

There was a muffled voice in the background that they couldn’t quite make out what was said. (Y/N)’s voice was more clear as she responded, “No thank you! I have to go actually, that was our unit chief. Sorry to have bothered you, but someone else will probably be by later to - ”

A shot rang out, causing Spencer, Hotch, and Garcia to jump.

“(Y/N)?” Hotch said. “(Y/N), can you hear me? (Y/N)!”

The line went dead. Hotch immediately called Morgan and Prentiss, who had already been on their way to the unsub’s house. Everything seemed to blur for Spencer. His heart was racing in fear. Every second that ticked by seemed like an hour.

Finally, Hotch turned back to him and Garcia. “Morgan and Prentiss made it on time. (Y/N) is on the way to the hospital.”

That’s how Spencer found himself rushing to the hospital to check on (Y/N). Prentiss was waiting as he walked in, and stood to greet him.

“The doctors are with her now,” she answered his unasked question. “She lost a lot of blood, but we got there in time.”

Spencer nodded, although he didn’t exactly feel confident. He needed to see (Y/N) for himself, to know from his own eyes.

They waited together for a long time. Spencer watched the time tick away on a nearby clock, his unease growing with every second that passed.

He and Prentiss were out of their chairs quickly when the doctor tending to (Y/N) came from the ICU. “Are you the agents that were with Agent (Y/L/N) when she came in?”

“I was,” Prentiss confirmed. “How is she?”

“She’s still down, but she’s stable,” the doctor explained. “She lost a lot of blood, but we were able to stitch up the wound in time. She needs her rest, but if one of you would like to stay with her until she wakes up we would greatly encourage it.”

“Can we see her?” Spencer asked.

“You can. She’s in the first room on your right.”

Spencer was moving before the doctor had finished talking. He rounded the corner and stopped when his eyes landed on (Y/N). She looked so pale, any color in her face almost completely gone. He could’ve mistaken her for a corpse if he didn’t know she was okay.

He went to her side and sat in the chair next to her bed. He took one of her cold hands between his own and held it tightly.

“You really care for her, don’t you?” Prentiss asked, stood in the hospital room doorway.

“More than she’ll ever know,” Spencer responded.

“Reid, why haven’t you ever told her how you feel?”

Spencer shook his head. “It’s not that easy, Emily. We work together, and I know that basically means nothing now, but it’s still something I worry about. If she doesn’t have the same feelings for me that jeopardizes our work partnership.”

“You don’t think she’d have the same feelings?”

“That’s the thing, I tend to have even the smallest inkling on most things, but for this I have no idea.”

Prentiss put a hand on Spencer’s shoulder and he managed to tear his gaze from (Y/N) to look at her. “You’ll never know if you don’t try.”

He didn’t have a response to that. Instead, he turned his attention back to (Y/N), wishing he could believe what Prentiss was saying.

~~~~~~

(Y/N) was out for only a day. Spencer opted to stay with her the whole time as her parents lived out of town. He tried his hardest to stay awake so he could make sure she was okay, but his eyes grew heavy and he eventually fell asleep.

He was awoken by the feeling of a hand gently caressing his face and a soft voice saying his name. He lifted his head to see (Y/N)’s eyes looking back into his own.

“You’re awake,” he said, smiling up at her. “How are you feeling?”

“In pain,” she admitted. “Was the unsub caught?”

“Yeah, Morgan got him. (Y/N), I’m so sorry we sent you there alone.”

“You guys had no idea, and I offered to go alone. Don’t beat yourself up over it. I’m fine, aren’t I?”

Spencer nodded, grateful that she was okay.

He noticed then that he was still holding her hand, but now their hands were laced together. He pulled his hand away, with a little resistance from (Y/N). She furrowed her brows together in confusion at this.

“Sorry,” Spencer mumbled.

“Why are you sorry?” she asked.

“It was inappropriate of me to hold you hand like that. I was just worried about you, I wasn’t thinking straight - ”

“Spencer, you can hold my hand. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s an innocent gesture.”

Spencer sat back in his seat, longing to reach out and take (Y/N)’s hand again, but he knew it was wrong.

“Is it because you have feelings for me?”

His head shot up so quick that he almost felt dizzy. “Wh-what?”

She smiled slightly at him. “I heard you and Prentiss talking when you first came in. I’ve been in and out of consciousness for the past 24 hours, and that just happened to be one of the times I was conscious.”

Spencer’s face turned a light shade of pink as he tried to think of something to say. It was obviously too late to try and come up with some sort of excuse or tell (Y/N) that she had been dreaming. There had to be some way to get out of it, he knew there had to be.

“Were you ever going to tell me?” she asked before he could say anything. “If I hadn’t heard you, would you have told me when I woke up?”

He shrugged. “I don’t think so. I was honestly too afraid of what your reaction might’ve been.”

“What if it would’ve been a good reaction?”

Spencer looked back at his hands. “I didn’t want to seem too optimistic.”

There was a brief moment of silence before (Y/N) said, “Spencer, look at me.” He lifted his head to look into her eyes. “You downplay yourself so much. I wish you could see how amazing of a person you are and that any girl would be lucky to have you as theirs, even me.”

He smiled at this. “I think anyone would be lucky to call you theirs.”

“Well...do you think luck is on our side?”

“What do you mean?”

(Y/N) nearly rolled her eyes as she sighed and tried to sit up. Spencer quickly stood from his chair and helped her to sit up. She cupped his face in her hands and brought him closer until their lips collided. The gesture took Spencer by surprise and, without thinking, he pulled away.

“I’m sorry,” (Y/N) said, a concerned look on her face. “I...I just thought - ”

He cut her off by pressing his lips against hers again. He ran his hands through her hair as her soft hands held his face in place against hers.

Someone clearing their throat brought the two of them out of their moment. They turned to see (Y/N)’s doctor stood at the door, a knowing smile on his face. “(Y/N), it’s good to see that you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“Like I was shot,” (Y/N) responded. “Other than that, pretty good.”

The doctor chuckled and entered the room. “I’d just like to go over some things with you and make sure everything is alright before we make the decision as to letting you go.”

“I’m gonna go call Hotch and let him know you’re awake,” Spencer told her.

(Y/N) smiled up at him in a dreamy way that Spencer could get used to seeing. “Come back right after?”

“Of course.”

He gave her hand a slight squeeze before walking out into the hallway, a bigger smile on his face and a bit of a pep in his step.

[luimagines]

They react to you having a breakdown Part 2

Masterlist

Part 1

Part 2 will include Time, Twilight, Wind and Four.

Content until the cut!

Time

Time... had an off feeling.

There was a charged energy in the group but he couldn’t pin point where it was coming from or how to break it.

It was just this looming mass of some metaphorical dark cloud over some of the group. There was a tense atmosphere and it was enough to make him uncomfortable- enough to make him feel like he was walking on eggshells.

As the group traveled, it grew in intensity and he was sure he was approaching the source of the tension.

It was you.

Weirdly.

Time was immediately concerned. He knew you to be the most calm and mild tempered of the group and typically in a good mood. If something was bothering you, it must have been beyond important and he wanted to help in whatever way he could.

He tried to maneuver what he could around the boys and single you out, taking you aside and staying at your side for a trail.

The mood of the boys lifted somewhat but Time could feel the intensity of your emotion now that he was right beside you. He moved the both of you to the back of the group and let the boys move ahead without the two of you.

Time had stopped and placed a hand on your shoulder, stopping you as well. “Are you well? What seems to be the problem?”

Your head fell, as if it was only being held by a string that had just been cut. “I’m fine.”

You, in fact, not fine.

Your voice was the smallest Time had ever heard, it was not as strong as you were trying to convey and it sounded only seconds from breaking entirely.

Time takes in a control and long breath.

“What did I say about the lying?” Time gently turns you around so that you’re face to face with him and places his other hand on your other shoulder.

“Only do it if you can pull it off.” Your voice cracks.

Time hums a bit, trying to not laugh too much at your answer. That is not what he said about lying. But he’ll let you have this one.

“Not quite.” Time dips down a bit so he can look in the eyes a little more properly. “If you have any grievances, now’s the time to get it off your chest. I won’t tell the others.”

You sniffle and try to continue to hold yourself together. But it’s in vain.

Within seconds you crumble and all but throw yourself into his arms, wrapping your around his torso with a vice like grip. Your sobs are quiet to even Time’s ears but the strength you use against him and to pull in your breaths is enough to tell him that perhaps you’ve hurting for a while.

He hugs you back without hesitation and places his head on top of yours while you cry.

Twilight makes a come back as Wolfie but Time’s quick to shoo him away.

The last thing you need an audience.

But it’s ok. He’s got you. Let it out. He’ll hold you until you’re done.

Twilight

Wolfie was patrolling the perimeter during his night shift when he sees you storm away from the camp. You’re breathing heavily and there’s an iron grip on your fists.

He pauses and watches you from the shadows.

You take a long breath and press the heels of your hands into your eyes. You stay in that position for a moment before he hears you whine and fall to your knees.

He pads over to you quietly and steps on a twig or two to let you know he’s near.

You don’t react, so now he knows you’re in a state.

He whines quietly and pokes your hands with his nose. You sniffle loudly and pull your hands away. “...Wolfie”

Oh. 

Oh. 

Wolfie doesn’t know how he can fix this.

He gulps slightly and pushes your hands even further away with his nose. You pet him absentmindedly and gulp in a breath.

Twilight doesn’t like seeing you in pain but he has no idea what might have caused this. Nightmare? Bad memories? He was sure you were asleep earlier.

“I don’t know what to do Wolfie.” Your voice cracks and you break down into sobs. You’re not even trying to be quiet or hold back anymore. Twilight doesn’t know what exactly you’re talking about. You were fine ealier... But he supposes that this is merely an accumulation of built up emotions.

Twilight forces himself into your personal space and presses himself against the crook of your neck.

You’re quick to hug him with as much force as you can manage and sob into his fur.

Twilight feel his heart bleed for you and lets you hold him. You run your fingers through his fur and press your head into his with as much force as you need as you cry.

Twilight almost wants to transform back to him you properly but he holds back. He doubts that Twilight would get as much as an reaction as Wolfie would and he seen enough of Wild’s episodes that this is something only an animal would be able to properly fill the role for.

He stays in that position for what feels like hours and it takes him a second to realize that you cried yourself back to sleep.

He transform back to his human form on the spot and picks you up in his arms. You’re light and the tear steaks hit him differently than he thought it would when he gets back to the fire light. 

He gently puts you back on your bed roll and pulls your blanket up to your shoulders. Twilight makes quick work of tucking you in and makes sure that you’re still warm even if you were to shift in your sleep.

He stands up with a sigh and dusts his pants off.

He looks around the camp.

I’ll stay, he thinks to himself. 

The perimeter was secure anyway, he’s not sure if anyone else will wake up tonight and need a shoulder to cry on.

Wind

Wind was busy exploring the immediate area around the camp since Time said they were allowed to.

Which basically means that two thirds of the group split up and scattered.

He had a laugh on his breath as he dashed through the various trees and tried to not get too lost. Wind didn’t want to be too far from the group but he also found that there was too much just in the horizon that was calling to him.

That is... until he thought he heard something.

Wind instantly stops in his tracks and strains to hear through the environmental noises around him.

No, yeah, he wasn’t hearing things. Someone is nearby and crying

Where though?

Wind is a little, ok very concerned by the sounds. So he crept through the foliage towards it. He knew that Wild had told him of some Yiga people who tried to lure him by crying and getting him to ask them what’s wrong....and he didn’t feel very equipped to deal with them right now.

He crept closer and held his breath.

Only to gasp when he saw that it was you who was crying.

He bit his lip and thought about what to do. It was obvious that you came all this way to be alone and not be seen. But it didn’t sit right with him to leave alone now that he’s seen you. He knows that he’s a bad actor and there’s no way that he’d be able to pretend that he didn’t see anything.

He steps on a twig.

Your head shoots up and you manage to look directly at him.

“Oh.” You gulp and begin to wipe your eyes as fast as you can, as if that would change what he’s seen and get rid of the evidence. “Wind... I didn’t see you there. Does Time need something? Do we need to head back?”

He looks behind him in case anyone else is nearby. When he sees no one, he takes a step towards you instead and takes a seat next to you. “Not to my knowledge, no. What’s wrong?”

“It’s not-” You take a breath. It’s shaky and you can’t seem to complete the sentence before you curl into yourself again and let a whine. 

Wind feels awkward. He can see how tense you are from trying to hold yourself back, and he knows it’s because he’s there. He wants to let it all out and feel better but he’ll awful if he leaves you now.

Wind gathers his courage and maneuvers so that he’s kneeling in front of you. He puts his hand son your shoulder and pushes you upwards. You let him with a saddened but curious expression. There’s more tears on your cheeks and Wind nearly wants to cry from the sight of it alone.

He shoves his way forward and hugs you as hard as he can. It’s quiet between the both of you for a hot minute before Wind dips his head into the crook of your neck. “...It’s ok to cry... I won’t tell anyone.”

It breaks the dam and you hug him back. Not as hard as he’d be willing to let you or as hard as he thinks you want to, but he’ll take it.

His shoulder instantly begins to dampen and he holds you through it.

He doesn’t know what caused this and he doubts you’ll share it with him, but at least he can let you know that he’s there for you.

Four

Four has been walking by your side for a while and he’s been the edge the entire time.

He doesn’t know why he’s so uncomfortable and for a moment he thinks he’s imagining things. You’ve always been a source of comfort and a great conversationalist, there’s rarely a moment of silence when you’re around and it’s something he feels well acquainted with.

But now you’re silent.

Four wants to ask you something, anything, to make sure that you’re ok and that you’re not upset with him. But he doesn’t know where to start or how to not make it awkward.

“Hey.” Four says your name and pulls on your sleeve gently to get your attention. “What’s up? You ok?”

You nod and smile.

It doesn’t reach your eyes.

“You don’t look like you’re ok.” Four gulps and grabs your hand before you can start moving away.

He can see your jaw flex for a second before you shrug and look away from him. you shake him off slightly and begin to walk away. “Stop looking then.”

“No, no, no, you’re not getting away from me that easily. But seriously, what’s wrong?” Four begins to chase after you. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“It’s nothing Four. I’ll be fine. Drop it.” 

Well he doesn’t like that at all.

He only filled with concern and spite and he’s determined to be a decent friend even if it kills him in the end.

“Well... If you ever want to talk about it...” Four trails off and shrugs in return, keeping your pace with ease. 

“I don’t think I could if I wanted to.” You mutter to yourself. He’s sure that he wasn’t supposed to hear that but it’s too late.

Four leans over to look at your face through your hair over your eyes. “I’m here if you need me.”

“Thanks Smithy, I know.” 

You both continue to walk in silence for moment longer before he sees that your pace is slowing down considerably. You’re beginning to curl in yourself and grip your belt tightly.

Four is concerned even more now and places his hand on your back. He’s at a lost for words at what’s happening to you. You don’t seem to be hurt physically given how long you’ve already been traveling but now he knows he’s right.

Something’s wrong.

“What’s wrong?”

“So much.” You choke up and fall to your knees. Four collapses with you and bring you against his chest. He’s quick to hold you tight as you descend in loud and unrestrained despair. Four can’t get any more words out of you even if your emotions are laid bare for both him and the heavens to witness.

He’s glad that the other’s aren’t around at the moment but someone’s going to come check on you eventually. Whether it’s one of the two pairs behind you or someone turns back to investigate the amount of nose you’re making.

It’s not looking good either way for a lack of audience but Four’s not inclined to rush you. It’s not good to rush these things.

So he lets you cry against him and he run his fingers through your hair, rubbing circles on your back at the same time to try and calm you.

It’s fine. You need a moment.

You’ll get your moment. Four will make sure of it. 

If anyone asks, they’ll answer to him and you can avoid people for as long as you need. 

[justhockeythings-blog1]

Who said I’m out of your league?

A/N: I wasn’t sure how to end this one so let me know what you all think! Feed back is greatly appreciated! Also I totally had to use this gif, his confidence is unmatched lol

Request:  Can you please do a William Nylander imagine where you meet the team for the first time and they tease him about you being out of his league or something. Thanks!

For the entirety of your six month relationship, you had always assumed that Willy was out of your league. He was a professional hockey player, the Swedish-Canadian version of Thor, not to mention that his personality could impress even the strictest mother on the planet. You were, for all intents and purposes, average. You had a normal job, normal friends, you considered your looks to be normal, and you had a normal, by your own standards, upbringing. Your personality was probably the one thing you were confident could hold a flame to Willy’s but even then, he had the ability to be so selfless at times you wondered if you were dating an angel. 

Willy on the other hand thought that you were the most amazing thing to ever walk this planet and he took every single opportunity to tell you just that. You did something different with your hair? “Wow babe, you look amazing.” You wore new clothes that you just got? “Damn baby you should model for that company.” There was never a shortage of compliments that came from him about you. 

Which was probably why you didn’t feel as nervous as you should about meeting his teammates for the first time. You knew that Willy loved you, there was never a doubt in your mind, so you figured even if today went horribly wrong in every aspect you still had that going for you. You also had heard wonderful things about his teammates, from Willy himself but also the fans. It wasn’t like you hadn’t interacted with them in some capacity, they had heard your voice over the phone or briefly over the headset when Willy joined them for video games. You were pretty sure Willy had talked about you to them, at least in some capacity, so really you should be set up for an easy meeting with all of them. 

That’s what you tried to tell yourself anyways, the closer you got to the bar you were meeting the team at the more you felt your hands beginning to sweat. You rubbed them on your jeans for the fifth time, reaching over to lace your fingers with Willy’s as he drove. You thought you were holding your nerves fairly well, you had assured Willy before you left that this was going to be a walk in the park.

Boy were you beginning to eat your words.

“What’s got you so worked up?” He teased, pulling his eyes away from the road momentarily before he returned them to focus on where he was going. “You’re never nervous.”

That was a lie. In fact Willy had seen you nervous on numerous occasions, including the first time you two had ever met. He would be lying if he said he didn’t find it cute. You had a number of nervous ticks that he had picked up on over the last few months. You would bounce your leg while waiting for an event that was causing your nerves to spike or you would bite your lip when deep in thought, as if planning out every option. Your cheeks would heat up, creeping up your neck, when someone called you out on any and you would wave your hand in the air as if physically brushing the nerves away momentarily.

 Right now you were expressing all of those ticks, right down to the heat climbing up your neck as you tried to wave your free hand absentmindedly, brushing his words out of the air. It caused Willy to smile, he knew you better than you thought he did. He brought your hand up to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it before he focused back on the road again. You would never admit it to him, you liked to be a neutral front but he had seen your nerves spike randomly in the days leading up to today. You had grilled him about his teammates a few times, wanting to make sure you at least had the basics of their names, girlfriends who may or may not be there. It had made Willy laugh, comparing it to you taking notes as if you were about to write a paper on the leafs player. 

“You can hide it all you want, but you’re nervous.” He called you out again and you gave him a sharp look, sticking your tongue out at him childishly. 

“I’m not nervous, I’m just…” You trailed off, tossing around a number of emotions in your head before you settled on the one. “Worried. These guys are your teammates and your best friends. I know it shouldn’t be that big of a deal, because you love me and that’s important but it’s going to make things awkward if they don’t like me.” 

You turned to look at him, letting your words settle in the car as Willy parked, your stomach dropping to your feet as you realized you were there. Everything felt so much more real now that you were looking at the sign of the bar, peering in the front window you could see Zach and Rasmus, already surrounded by other players. 

“Hey..” Willy’s soft voice pulled your eyes away from the window and back to him. “It’s going to be okay. They’re going to love you, I mean it’s not like I haven’t hyped you up. Just be yourself, if you’re uncomfortable after like an hour then we can go, okay?” He assured you, giving your hand another kiss.

“Okay, let’s go.” You smiled a little, grabbing your purse and climbing out, stopping in front of the car to wait for him before you both made your way inside. Your stomach flipping once more as he held the door for you, following you inside and guiding you over to the table.

“About time, we were wondering if you got lost on your way.” Zach teased, causing Willy to roll his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. I get lost one time and you never let me live it down.” Willy laughed, pulling out a chair for you to sit down in before taking one at your side. “This is Y/N. Y/N, this is Zach, Rasmus, Auston…”

You followed his finger as he pointed to each player who was there, as well as their own guests, mentally trying to commit them all to memory. You were pretty good when it came to names and faces, but the nerves weren’t helping, you could almost feel your hands shaking a little. 

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you all.” You waved a little, smiling softly as conversation picked up, Willy holding your hand under the table. 

~

It was as though you had known these people your whole life, you fell into conversation easily, answering questions about your job, hobbies, and your family. Willy kept a close eye on you the entire time, making sure that you weren’t getting overwhelmed by the amount of people who were trying to get to know you all at once. He smiled a little as he watched you engage in a conversation with Mitch about puppies and which breed was superior. He hadn’t been worried about you meeting the guys, he knew you would get along well and they would probably end up liking you more than him. 

In his mind it was impossible to not like, you were the sweetest person he had ever crossed paths with, with the exception of maybe his mom. You were constantly doing what you could to help others, taking care of him in the smallest ways like putting his laundry away after a road trip, making his favorite dinner after a rough game, or making sure he followed the trainer’s instructions even if he tried to avoid them. Not to mention that you seemed to make friends everywhere the two of you went, you just had the type of energy that drew people to you. 

“Hey, I’m going to grab another drink with the girls, did you want anything?” You asked, pulling him out of his thoughts as you stood up and he smiled a little. “Sure, surprise me.” 

He gave your hand one more squeeze as he watched you branch away from him with some of the girls, making your way up to the bar to order your drinks. It was like a proud parent watching their kid go off to school for the first time, it was a sign to Willy that you really were comfortable around his friends now. 

“Dude, she is so out of your league.” Mitch snorted, taking a sip of his drink as he watched Willy look after you with that same lost puppy dog expression you had been describing about your own dog only moments ago. 

Willy felt his cheeks heat up as he tried to hide his face in the last remnants of his drink, he should have known the second they had him alone they would say something to him.

“I mean seriously, she’s like a walking angel. How did you land her?” Zach asked, joining in on the chirping of their young teammate. Everyone was happy that Willy had found someone who seemed to match his energy, knowing that the blonde deserved the best. 

“It’s my undeniable charm boys, maybe you should try it sometime.” He smirked a little, firing back at his teammates as they all erupted into chuckles around him. 

“Well if she ever wants a real man, let her know I’m always around.” Rasmus teased, reaching over to mess up Willy’s hair playfully as Willy smacked his hands away. 

“She wants a man not a man child.” Willy fired back before he felt a hand on his shoulder, another drink being placed in front of him. “Got your usual!” 

He smiled as he saw you sitting back down beside him, shooting a look to the boys to behave, he didn’t mind their chirping but he didn’t know how you would take it seeing as how this was your first time meeting them and while it was going well, he didn’t want it to ruin anything.

~

The rest of the afternoon continued in a similar manner, the conversation flowed easily, and any time you stepped away from the group Willy was hit with another round of chirping about how you were out of his league. It was all in good fun and by the end of the afternoon you had begun to pick up on some of the chirping that carried over into the normal conversation, firing back at the boys with a smirk. 

“I mean, at least Willy knows what he’s doing, when was the last time a girl came back to you after a night?” You shot back at Auston innocently, sipping your drink as Willy and the boys burst into a loud round of laughter, accepting the high fives and the fist bump from Auston. 

“On that note, I think we better get going, gotta get my girl home and away from you hooligans.” Willy smiled, throwing his tip money on the table as he helped you up and you waved your goodbyes to the group. 

“Bye Y/N! You know where to find us if you ever want an upgrade!” You heard the boys called, laughing as you and Willy made your way back out to the car. The ride home was nice, you were buzzing as you filled Willy in on the conversations he hadn’t been a part of. This continued when you got home too, jabbering away as you made your way upstairs, stripping out of your jeans and sweater, tugging a pair of his sweatpants from the drawer as he sat on the bed, staring at you. 

“Damn you are so out of my league.” He muttered to himself, smiling as he watched you glow in relief of his friends approving of you. 

“What? Who said I was out of your league?” You frowned a little, setting yourself between his legs and playing with his hair as you looked down at him, his hands resting on your sweatpant clad hips. 

“Just the guys chirping at me, don’t worry about it but they do have a point. I am dating a literal angel.” He smiled as he could tell that the heat was rising up your neck to your cheeks again, in an attempt to hide your blush you shook your head. These were the things you usually thought about Willy, not things you were used to him saying about you. 

“Oh please, have you looked in the mirror Nylander?” You hummed, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips so he couldn’t argue against you. “Maybe we aren’t out of each other’s leagues but just in a league all our own.” 

He smiled against your lips, giving your hips a gentle squeeze. “That’s a pretty elite league to be in, I must’ve gotten called up when I started dating you.”

“You’re running my compromise!” You laughed and pushed his shoulder, hardly enough to budge him. “Now, I had fun today but can we get pizza or something and just chill? My social battery is drained.” 

He smiled and stood up, now towering over you gave him the advantage to press a kiss to your forehead. 

“Your wish is my command, Princess.”

[seungkwan-s]

second chances | thirteen

previous | next

pairing; lee heeseung x female reader, ft second lead jay park x female reader

warnings; one mention of blood from a papercut

genre; a little angst, some comedy and fluff

word count; 1.5k

taglist; @staysstrays @iminchaosnow @preciousdeerchild @fylithia @wooyoung-a @katyasrussianaccent @geminirules @lix-freckle3 @bluejayjay @blossomnct @shrutiajit @itsyaapollochild @witheeseung @seungstarss @meiinumaki @dreamyeyes26 @punneysushi01 @gtfovi @hrrhmay @soobnny @zhaixiaowen @leagreenly @grassbutneo @aurumness @minkyunheewon @milkycloudtyg @youreverydayzebra @liliansun @itsamemarioo (can’t tag)

a/n: yo this is the moment everyone has been waiting for. this was way longer than i intended it to be. i'll have the texts and stuff back in the next chapters ♡

as you step back into the cafe, the warm air and the smell of a freshly made cup of coffee hits you. you sigh, catching the attention of ryujin who's leaning against the coffee machine picking at her fingernails.

"y/n, are you okay. what happened?" you put your face into your hands, taking a deep breath and before you can say anything, the door opens and in walks heeseung, jake and sunghoon—the three boys soaked from the rain.

"do none of you own an umbrella?" sunoo blurts out, "i literally have two with me, do you want one?"

you see jake shaking his head, and mouthing a "no, thank you" to sunoo.

your mind is clouded with thoughts of the conversation you shared with jay earlier, was this related to that day when he asked you how you'd feel if you two were soulmates? or are you already overthinking this?

ryujin can sense something isn't right with you, she's noticed immediately that you're not your usual happy self; all smiles and laughter and you haven't greeted the boys as you normally do, in fact, you haven't even looked their way since they came in.

how are you supposed to start things over with heeseung? do you hold off for now until jay gets over you or do you just focus on working things out with heeseung and leave jay to sort things out himself? no matter what option you go for, you're going to hurt someone...

"y/n, what's going on?" ryujin puts her arms around you and leans her head on your shoulder, "i don't like seeing you sad, who am i kicking for hurting my favourite person?"

you shake your head, looking around the café before turning to her, "jay told me he's in love with me, and he reacted quite badly when i told him i didn't feel the same. and it's now put me in a position where if i start a friendship again with heeseung, it's gonna hurt jay. but if i hold off on things for now, i'm gonna hurt heeseung and i don't want to hurt anyone, and i feel like whatever option i choose, i'm gonna be made out to be the bad guy,"

"i'm sorry, y/n but you can't help how you feel. if you don't feel anything for jay, you can't force yourself to feel feelings plus the fact—and i really hate to say it, but non-soulmate relationships aren't destined to work out. they always fail, you read so much about them on the news, on social media. if you want my honest opinion, i think you should do what makes you happy. and i know there is absolutely nothing wrong with you working things out with heeseung. he is your soulmate after all. just give jay some space, he'll be okay,"

you let out a sigh of relief, you know she's right. you're only rebuilding the friendship you once had with heeseung, you're not just going to jump into a relationship, these things take time, and with time, hopefully you and jay can be friends again. you just hope he's okay...

~

a yelp from the back end of the cafe pulls you from your thoughts, "oh heeseung, you idiot, a papercut, really?"

"oh calm down, jake, it's just a bit of blood,"

"dude, you need a band aid, hold on—y/n! we need you," ryujin passes you the first aid box before whispering a "good luck" as you take it out of her hands. you're kinda wishing you didn't know first aid because not only do you now have to talk to heeseung, you have to touch him as well. baby steps first, you thought but no, destiny wants to throw you in the deep end.

you slide into the seat next to heeseung and place the first aid box on the table in front of you, "who's injured themselves now, hm?"

"your soulmate is an idiot, y/n, who cuts themselves on paper?"

"you'd be surprised at how many papercuts i've had to tend to in here, jake, especially with how thick people's books are and the amount of studying that goes on in here. they're the smallest of cuts and can hurt a lot but it's nothing serious," you pull out one of the alcohol wipe packets including the small box of band aids.

heeseung puts his hand out willingly and you're thankful you didn't need to ask, as the nerves are already creeping up on you. the last time you were this close to him was when you two were kids and it pains you a little. you really missed him...

"how did you learn first aid?" ah. you chuckle, thank god he initiated the conversation because you didn't know how the hell to.

"i took a course online, riki's always injuring himself, he's clumsy and because our mom and dad are always away working, i thought i might as well take up a skill that's going to be useful—that and cooking,"

he winces a little at the contact of the alcohol wipe and the cut on his finger, "don't be a wuss, hee," ...and there it is, the nickname you gave him when you two were kids. heeseung ignores that tiny little feeling in his stomach, he doesn't know whether it's guilt because he stopped talking to you or if he really missed the nickname you gave him. either way, he feels awful about how he's let this go on for so long.

"y/n, i'm sorry," you pause, you look down at his hand as it's now holding onto yours. the contact making you feel warm.

"it's okay, heeseung, we were kids—kids fall out over silly things, we can start over, it's fine," now you're rambling and trying to not look at him, fear you won't be able to look away.

"y/n, please, look at me," you can hear the sadness in his voice, you know he means his apology but you're not angry at him at all. if you did something to hurt him when you were kids, you owe him an apology. you raise your head and look at him, and it's a weird feeling you feel. maybe it's because the last time you looked into his eyes like this was that day you fell off your first bike and he tried to put a band aid on your knee and you were so thankful that he was there to help you.

"i'm so sorry, for ignoring you for basically most of our lives, it was over something so silly and i hate that i let this go on for so long, and i hope you can give me another chance to make things right between us. as each year passed, i just felt awful but i didn't know how to talk to you anymore, i thought you hated me. to be honest, it made it easier for me if i just pretended i didn't like you," his voice lowers to a whisper as you now hold his hand ever so gently.

"hee, i don't hate you, i never hated you, i just wondered what i did wrong. i wondered what i did that was so bad that you just pretended like i never existed. i won't lie, it hurt a lot but i- i missed you and i want us to be friends again but i need to know what i did so i can apologise,"

he lets out a sigh and runs his fingers through his hair, he's looking everywhere just not at you, "it's so stupid but do you remember when we were painting together? we were out in your garden and you were painting the sunset and i was doing a rainbow. i had it finished and you knocked over your jar of blue paint and it spilled all over my paper. i got so mad at you that i thought you did it on purpose because i told you it was a present for someone but instead of telling you the rainbow was for you, i just left you there alone, went home and that's why i stopped talking to you,"

"that's why you stopped talking to her, heeseung, oh my god, YOU GUYS WERE FIVE YEARS OLD!!??" jake snapped, slamming his hand on the table. heeseung turned to glare at him but the feeling of your fingers caressing his hand brought his attention back to you and his face softened.

"that was an accident, hee, i would never have intentionally ruined something of yours. i'm sorry i ruined your painting, and i'm sorry i made you think it was out of jealousy," you look up at him and he gives you a smile, "it's fine, i'll just paint you another one,"

"you don't need to paint me another one, hee,"

"i don't need to but i'm gonna do it anyway," he sends you a wink and you just about crumble to the floor.

~

as the clock hits 10pm and the lights go out in the cafe, you stand outside in the cold air waiting for the uber to come and pick the three of you up to take you home.

"so, y/n, how did it go with heeseung?" sunoo asks you, his arm linked with yours.

"it went really good, actually. better than i thought but i'm still nervous,"

"nerves are normal, my love, the two of you are going to be fine, just invite me to your wedding, okay?" you playfully slap ryujin, "shut up,"

[amateur-deductions]

Observation, Assumptions, and Biases

Note: This post is based on another post I made years ago and later deleted, I thought it could still be useful, so I updated it and here it is

I’m sure most of you have already read a lot of posts about observation, and are now thinking “God, not this again”. but I’ll try to make this one as different as possible, let’s go through the basics quickly.

Observation is the first step in the deductive process, and its purpose is to gather as much information about the subject being observed as you possibly can. It doesn't just consist of looking at something, but using all your senses, (yes, sometimes even smell and taste). Now most people tell you to focus on getting all the small details about everything and don’t get me wrong, this is very important and you should try to acknowledge any small detail you can find, but the important part of observation is realising that the smallest details are just as important as the big obvious ones

/B U T H O W ?

I know the frustration of being told to observe and not knowing what to look for, I’ve been there myself. The answer to that question is everything, and this is what people don’t tell you. Observing is as simple as noting qualities about a subject, the more details you can find, the more qualities you can point out, “clay” you have to build your “bricks”.

There’s nothing specific you gotta be looking for, this is just observation, this is just getting the clay for your bricks, and it’s as simple as thinking “what can I see?” (or smell or touch, etc.), it just consists of raw information. For example, statements like "the man has a red tie" or "the tie has a small coffee stain" both count as perfectly good observations, and that’s all you have to do while in the observing stage. 

My advice would be, don’t overcomplicate it, you have to observe, just do that, no conclusions, no deductions, nothing, just observing, just gathering data. But obviously, you’re not a computer, you can’t store unlimited amounts of observations and information all in 30 or 40 seconds. If you try to observe and take note of everything you can possibly see or smell or touch, etc. About a subject, you’ll end up very confused, and probably exhausted (unless you’re writing them down). So my advice is this: take it step by step, object by object, if you’re looking at a tie, stick with the tie, if you feel you can move to another section without getting mixed up and remembering all the things you took note of, then go ahead, but don’t mix more than 3 or 4 sections, this will come later on in the process of deduction. You should take it bit by bit

/A S S U M P T I O N S

When we observe we must remain impartial, there's no room for baseless assumptions or jumping to conclusions automatically, this may be quite dangerous as it they, more often than not, are wrong. Unfortunately, the human brain makes rushed connections all the time, it's almost impossible to stop it from forming assumptions, after all an assumption is simply an idea, and you can’t kill an idea, you can, however, disprove it. When faced with an assumption, don’t try to forget about it, it only makes you think about it more, like telling you not to think of a pink elephant. Instead try to look for evidence that points towards or away from said assumption, if the evidence doesn’t point towards it, just discard it, and mark it as incorrect.

An important thing to note about assumptions is that just like what we call "hunches", they're simply your brain making some kind of connection between something you’re seeing and a piece of information you already have. This means that while they can be dangerous if taken as fact without a validation process, the fact that your brain made a connection between two things might still be worth exploring as an idea, why did you come to said assumption? what triggered? is it wrong, and if so, why? could some other element of it lead you down a correct path? all things to keep in mind, but always with the intent to find evidence that proves your ideas, and if you fail to do this, discarding them

/B I A S E S

The nightmare of every deductionist, a bias is basically your emotions and opinions playing a part in the logical process. While there is a part of deduction that requires emotion, the logical aspect of it must be kept away from these.

The way to approach biases is similar to assumptions since you need to check the reasoning behind every conclusion you reach to see if your deduction or observation is being affected by a bias. If a purely logical train of thought cannot be followed from evidence to conclusion, in other words, if at any point there's an emotional or illogical explanation for an observation in your train of thought, the process is being affected by biases and should be discarded.

Following the example of the tie, if you think the tie is ugly you're forming an opinion. You have to check the facts: do people seem to have negative reactions when noticing or talking about the tie specifically? if you can read that on people (for example, through the use of micro expressions in specific situations), and it seems to be an existing trend, then you can integrate that as a fact, but if it's simply your opinion it has no value in deduction

And that's it for this very simple but quite essential topic, as always if anyone has any questions or comments feel free to send them over and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

Happy Observing!

-DV

[popurikat]

Trying to make sense of parts of Future (Mystery Skulls)

Since my last analysis went so well I thought I’d make this post as well, especially because Future really did confuse me and I know others might be lost as well; so lets discuss this together! It will be lengthy as I am basically spewing my thoughts out right on the videos immediate release date (there will be a read more option after my first thought to avoid long positng). Well first things first, I wanna address that I've been curious about what kind of spirit Arthur's arm could be (since I am not too well acquainted with any canon on its background part at least) and I think I have concluded that the closest thing to it could be is a Tenome; which is a Yochai that possesses a man's body and moves the eyes to the palms. "found lurking in cemeteries, hands outstretched, as if he has only recently lost his vision and is searching for something. Get close enough, and you’ll find out in quick succession that a) he’s not blind, but looking with eyes embedded in his hands, and b) what he’s looking for is a snack." (fyi, most of my mythos information is coming from Wiki just as a heads up)

And sure enough he found a great source for his hunger. Something he has been EYEING since the start. Which now leads me to my next points on the video...

At first watch I was convinced that each strand found on Mystery’s heart represented a singular soul bond, I thought that blue was for Vivi, Green was for the hand, pink for Lewis, purple for Shiro, Yellow for Lance, Orange for Arthur, and black and white were unknown. Which, didn’t settle right for me. SO I went in and re-watched the clip a couple more times and saw this:

Vivi’s (blue created after she got hurt) and Shiro’s (white created after she died) strands were connected to the strands located next to them. A start and an end. Mystery’s promise to Vivi to stay at her side for generations as he was spared upon prior defeat of Mushi. And then of course we have the promise of power and sustenance for Shrio as they held a symbiotic relationship for most of their lives that was only severed due to an interference. These double strands of fate are especially clearer in the scene with Shiro in Future. As the black strand gets clearer the more she gets injured or emotionally hurt, it eventually leads to the leak of the white strand on her death. Meaning; Black/white=Shiro; Purple/Pink=Lewis; Blue/Green: Vivi; and Orange/Yellow: Arthur. And why am I inclined to believe Lewis and Arthur are apart of Mystery’s heart? Well that's because those two were the only ones fully streaming before Vivi’s and Shiro’s appeared. We know that Arthur lost an arm to Mystery and discovered his identity (ergo losing most of his trust in him) insinuating both strands to arise early on of his color scheme, as well as with Lewis’ death occurring under the protection of Mystery when they were grouped and having his soul go restless/ in pain. It wouldn’t make sense to add family members or side characters not included in the mainline story to this grouping unless they would play an important role in the finale, which isn’t likely since we have only one more video left as Ben stated it was going to be a 5 video series. I am also inclined to believe each person has two strands because of Kitsune lore: “ Kitsune keep their promises and strive to repay any favor. Occasionally a kitsune attaches itself to a person or household. They follow their word of honor. They become self-destructive if they break a promise, and when someone else breaks a promise, they become deadly enemies.” Plus, It would make sense as to why in this short battle Mystery sprouted his last 3 tails when it came to Vivi and Shiro and how their connections affect his power. (more on this in a bit) But, furthermore; if anyone else notices, the Band-Aids on the heart are also remotely located on the sections of Vivi’s and Shiro’s strands specifically because for both, Mystery has vowed to protect them and has failed. 

Now then lets talk about a few things on Mystery’s ultimate form shall we? The final form of a Kitsune, its celestial form as shown here is called a Tenko. (yes I am aware of the Kumiho, but that is a fully evil, flesh eating, 9 tailed fox that specialize in illusions and well Mystery has never been portrayed as human). The Tenko makes even more sense when taken into consideration that Mystery’s third eye (typically a form of wisdom connected to overpowering the mortality of ones self) opens. So how was this done in such a short amount of time? “Kitsune do not accept aid from those who are not willing. they do not ask for help, and as such, most aid must come from another's initiative. Kitsune are emotional and very vengeful. Kitsune will lose their temper at the slightest provocation. Once someone has earned a kitsune's enmity, the kitsune will begin enacting revenge that can become quite extreme. On the other hand, those who have earned a kitsune's trust and loyalty will see a friendship that can last through many trials. Freedom is very important to the kitsune. They do not accept being forced into something they do not wish, and do not like being bound or trapped. Doing so weakens the kitsune.” Mystery as we know is very much controlled by his emotions, going head first into things constantly based on reaction and his inability to control his power under distress. His tails arose in the fight sequence every time he fulfilled his oath AND used 100% of his form/power. Therefore, his tails grew because he wasn’t holding back anymore, not his grievances, not his appearance, nor his hesitance in his evident distress of being bound to two entities that both required his aid.  My last note on these images comes from a tumblr user’s reverse audio clipping (https://nebulous-rain.tumblr.com/post/633555549749952512/ok-so-yknow-that-one-reversed-part-of-future). The rewind of the clip of Mystery’s transformation plays “When I’m With You”, which yes, cool a possible Easter egg to the next song! BUT what is this song about? Let me just bring up the first line of the song: “You got me hanging by a THREAD...I wish I could turn back time...I wish I could rewind life...” and before the chorus “I’m gonna make it right”. We know that this can refer to rectifying the wrongs of Lewis’ death, but more accurately to do so we need to defeat the evil inside this mutt that is pulling the strings of this whole fiasco. And this might just be the intro portion of the next mystery skulls mind you as we’ve also gotten many false starts with the previous two videos where hellbent used “every note” and future used “enemies” alongside the main song. BUT WE HAVE TWO YEARS ANYWAY, WHY BABBLE ON ABOUT THIS. LETS MOVE ON!

Hearts in this series have not been just for identifying the dead or for aesthetic purposes, they are the life force of each powerful legend. I am actually surprised to see Shiro have a heart as she started off as a creation from Mystery and therefore her lifeforce is just his blood and without it she is nothing. I am curious about her color pallet though, her heart is purple and pink. Lewis’ is gold/yellow with touches of orange. And Mystery’s is just red, but it has a mix of everyone’s essence within it to keep it tied and whole. Shiro’s could be colored this way in reference to Lewis’ aid to help find her creator; which would explain why Mystery surrounds himself by color as he required outside help and how Lewis’ heart is yellow in reference to how recently Arthur helped him remember his friends/hidden memories. One thing we have learned about hearts is that they can be broken repeatedly and can be ripped apart from the body, but they can be repaired too through resolution/hope. Lewis restored his heart in hellbent by using Vivi’s flower petals and finding hope that he will get revenge, only for his heart to be repaired again through Arthur’s touch. Shiro may have withered away, but her heart is essentially not broken, she’d need Mystery to restore it as it was flung into space (and that again relies on Mystery finding his sanity and finding it in himself to even bring her back). And as for Mystery himself, he’s gonna need the whole gang to reach out to him to extract the parasite within and restore balance. I really want to know more about the heart properties and how they give their users their powers as well Vivi is able to summon her strength through a material connection (bat) that function in its own way as the vessel a heart does since its connecting her to her ancestry.

NOW to finalize, I offer you two queries:

WHO IS ARTHURS HAND REACHING FOR!? I know it seems like Mystery, but that would be counter productive for the hand demon if he has Arthur interfering with his control. Is it still after Lewis as we’ve seen previous times where his arm acts up only in Lewis’ presence and when specifically other “magic” is at play? If so, is the goal to ward off Lewis and Vivi from defeating Mystery? Is Arthur gonna use the arm to find his own power as we’ve seen when he is able to momentarily cease control of it he kinda ruins anything electrical he touches and well, electricity is currently running rampant in there.

and lastly, I am really curious how touch sensitive hearts are, We know that even the smallest of brushes can detect memory/links to the person holding it (as seen with how Shiro managed to get soul flowers in hellbent), but the fact that Lewis was so in touch with the feeling of Arthur EVEN THOUGH ARTHUR GRABBED HIS HEART THROUGH HIS METAL HAND MIND YOU!, that he still managed to feel the disturbance instantly. So my question is, is the touch sensitivity reliant on how close someone is to someone? I would like to say yes cause when Shiro touched his heart he didn’t react instantly, he felt her rummaging his memories and was awoken, but he didn’t kick her butt by fully reforming until after she had long since stepped on his heart and then forced the memory of Mystery to arise. But yeah, its a nice little detail.

Either way, thanks for reading! Feel free to add on, comment, or even dm me about more Mystery Skulls information and theories! Love to hear them!

[honeybeezx]

Armor - Oberyn Martell x Reader x Ellaria Sand - Part 1

Author’s Note: Hey everyone! So this is the first fic I’ve ever posted on tumblr, low key kinda scary😄 But this man and his paramour have been on my mind for the longest. This is a self insert fic, but I don’t really use “Y/N”. Hope you enjoy and any feedback would be great!

Summary: You are an assassin hired by Tyrion to act as extra security alongside Bronn. He brings you back to King’s Landing just as the boy king Jeoffry Baratheon plans to marry the cunning Margaery Tyrell. But with all the guests roaming around, you begin to wonder who is a friend and who is a foe. No one makes you wonder more than the famed prince from Dorne and his captivating paramour.

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: mentions of murder, allusions to sex

—————

You never knew anything in the seven kingdoms could make you feel so small. It wasn’t as if you’d ever let it show. You held your head high, walking alongside Tyrion as both of you entered the great hall of the throne room, Bronn on the opposite side of your employer. The Red Keep was even bigger than you had imagined it to be. The throne room was the tallest room you had ever seen. Against the dark ceiling the columns looked as if they stretched up into the night sky.

Every eye in the palace was on the three of you, and you felt no one’s eyes more than Cersei’s. You held her gaze. A woman who lived in luxury her whole life did not frighten you. She may have influence, but you had experience, strength, freedom, and skill with your bow that you were now acutely aware was strapped to your back. Having the protection of Tyrion’s influence and connections and Bronn’s strength and skill with a sword brought a sense of comfort, allowing you to remain calm under such scrutinizing gaze.

“Brother.” Cersei greeted with a soft smile that failed to hide all the vileness in her heart. “You come with friends.”

“Oh no, more like bodyguards. We have so many enemies now a days sister, I like to know I’m protected.” Tyrion smirked, leaving Bronn chuckling. You, on the other hand, would not let your intimidating demeanor fade, remaining as stoic and unyielding as the stone columns that held up the palace you wished to see fall. “May I introduce Bronn, Lord of Highgarden and-“

“Yes, I know all about the Silver Hawk from the North. I wonder if you are half as good as they say you are.” She mocked, her tone anything but genuinely curious. “I am told that you can hit your target 200 meters away and steal their breath before they even know what hit them.” If you didn’t know any better you’d think she was impressed, even if she did look at you as if you were the lowest creature she ever beheld.

“Perhaps I will have an opportunity to display my skills while I am here, your grace.” You’ll see first hand when my arrow is aimed just above your crooked neck.

“Perhaps.” She replied, feigning as much sweetness as a ferrel cat.

The both of you narrowed your eyes at each other. There was no outright exchange of harsh words or petty language, but the furious tension between the two of you was enough to fill the entire hall with uncomfortable silence. You hoped your unyielding gaze scared her. You wondered how many people actually defied her, you wondered how long it would take to get under her skin.

“Yes, well.” Tyrion interrupted, knowing you were bubbling with anger. Cersei was too, and although you allowed her to see your own emotions, it please you a bit to know you could anger her just as easy. You hated Lannisters almost more than anything, but you also knew Cersei’s time would come. She would pay for her crimes, fate would decide her end. You knew that fate had not brought you here to slay the queen regent, as much as you despised her. “As much as I love chatting with you sister, I simply wanted our arrival to be known. We have much unpacking to do and much to discuss.”

“Be careful, little brother.” She warned. “Your guard has little reserve and it seems your little silver hawk has a silver tongue as well. You would be wise to remember that people have been killed for that and less.”

“I’ll be sure to keep very close watch over them.” Tyrion retorted sarcastically before turning on his heal and exiting the great hall. You and Bronn followed, the later unable to contain his amusement.

“I’d say that went well!” He quipped, smiling at both you and your employer.

“She didn’t call to chop off our heads, that is some relief.” Tyrion noted. “But you both must be careful, especially you.” His scrutinizing gaze met yours.

“What? You expected me to just let her try and hold some dominate power over me? Just because she is draped in finest jewels in the seven realms and hides behind the her father’s influence does not mean I will tremble like a child before her.”

Tyrion sighed. “You must, for now, hold your tongue. Your wit does you credit, that’s why I like you, but you must check yourself. My sister is more dangerous than you can imagine. Don’t tremble, but don’t overstep either.” You remembered that Tyrion had been playing the game his whole life, he was basically born into it. He knew his sister better than anyone, and that meant he knew how to get around her better than anyone. You made a note to observe exactly what made Cersei tick, what made her preen under her usually reserved demeanor.

Despite the warm tones of the palace, you felt as though you were walking on ice. One wrong step and you were dead under a frozen tundra. You didn’t like this at all. Tyrion promised your freedom would not be at risk, yet you felt the freedom to speak your mind, the freedom to do as you pleased slip from you more and more. You were being watched here, you weren’t stupid. Every move had to be calculated, every word like honey laced with poison. The faster the boy king could marry, the less people there were for you to worry about. It made you uncomfortable not knowing who was an ally and who was a foe. The one thing you could appreciate about Cersei was that you always knew where you stood with her.

“I will try to remain civil if she approaches me, otherwise I will avoid your sister to the best of my abilities. But she would be wise not to challenge my reserve.” I huffed, earning a laugh from Bronn.

“Your reserve, little hawk, will be undone, whether it be from your words or your arrows.” He teased. You gave him a shove and he stumbled a bit, but not much. The last thing you needed was the oaf calling you “little”.

“The sooner we are out of this horrid place the better.” You huffed.

“I agree,” Tyrion agreed, nodding in understanding, “but don’t hold your breath. There is so much to be done before my nephew’s wedding and I will be relying on both of you to help me. While I am arranging more intimate details with my family, you two will be protecting me, but also doing some side tasks that I will not have time for. Bronn, for the most part you will be either at my side or Shae’s. If the palace discovers her they will use her against me. She can’t be found.”

Shae, Tyrion’s lover of sorts. You had grown close to her on your travels. You were wary at first. Your job was to protect Tyrion, naturally, you were cautious of anyone who might try to hurt him, to get close to him only for information or power. But it was a tough business, out spying a spy, and all your instincts told you to trust Shae. She had not left any of you astray thus far, and though the couple had not named their relationship, you could tell Tyrion and Shae cared immensely for each other. But Tyrion was right, she could be used as a pawn against him, especially if Cersei found out.

There was a sort of kinship between you and Shae. You were both strong, clever women, and she had tended to the few wounds you found yourself with on your travels. She seemed like a sister, and you were grateful for the company and friendship she provided.

“As for our favorite archer, you will be assisting some guests, getting information. I want to know the people attending this wedding, I want to ensure that this wedding goes smoothly. The Tyrell’s are a powerful ally, we cannot lose them.”

You nodded in understanding. Tyrion hired you to protect him, yes, but archery was not your only strength. You could be quiet, and you could listen as well as you could speak. You knew he would ask that of you with all the guests roaming around. You were curious to know what King’s Landing was really like, and even more interested in knowing the people who came here. “Ask it of me and it will be done.”

“Aye.” Bronn agreed.

“You are the most trusted of friends.” Tyrion gave the smallest of smiles. You were hesitant to even be in his service when the lord found you and offered you a job, afraid of losing your freedom. You knew the Lannisters, you knew their foul and power-hungry disposition. Being in their service seemed to you signing your life away. You were surprised to find he did not wish to take such things from you. He hired both you and Bronn to protect him, yes, but he would do the same for you both. You were an odd sort of family, but a family nonetheless. “Get settled and rested for the evening, we’ve had a long journey. We will reconvene later to discuss further plans.”

You nodded and left to your new chamber, one just across from Bronn and down the hall from Tyrion.

The trio was still not aware of the Red Viper slithering about the halls.

——————

Days passed with little to do. You hadn’t seen much of Tyrion. Since your arrival at King’s Landing your employer had become hand to his nephew king and married the pretty Stark girl you later learned was named Sansa. Still, you found ways to spend your time, keeping eyes and ears open for any useful information. You were particularly interested in Joffrey. It was astounding how a little boy could hold so much power, so much evil. You figured he inherited his terror from his mother.

Sansa was an interesting girl as well. Your heart broke for her. She was nothing if not resilient, staying loyal to her betrothed if only to keep herself alive. She was smart, you learned, but not useful when attempting to gather information. She did not deny her loyalty to Joffrey, even to those she liked. You were grateful that Tyrion stepped in to propose to the poor girl, if only to save her from the tyrant king. Both you and Shae kept close eyes on her. She was as smart and clever as Shae and yourself. You had a sneaking suspicion that she could be a close ally, if only your little family could get her away from the palace.

But today was different. Today you left your quarters to explore the palace a bit. You wanted to know what sort of battleground you were working with. It seemed surprising that a palace that was so heavily targeted was so...open. It seemed like light could illuminate any room. Even the gloomy and foreboding throne room could not escape a few beams of sunlight. If you didn’t despise every Lannister crawling about the palace, you had a mind to stay. The palace was only under the allusion of being warm and charming, the people who inhabited it ruined any chance of it being a lovely place. You noticed that the open windows and balconies made perfect outlooks should you need to eliminate a threat with one of your silver arrows.

But for now, the open windows became your place of peace as you ate a bowl of berries, just watching the rest of the sunrise. You saw the sun just barely grace the city with its light before you were called into Tyrion’s chambers. You arrived promptly, Bronn stumbling in a few minutes after you. You rolled your eyes at his lack of punctuality, which only earned you a playful nudge from the Lord of Highgarden.

“Behave you two. I swear I am dealing with children.” Shae huffed, but you could tell behind her sharp features was an air of mischief. Still, you straightened up and diverted your full attention to Tyrion.

“Well, much has happened. Prince Oberyn has arrived in The Capital. I visited him yesterday morning and he made it very clear that he wants to kill any Lannister that he sets his sights on. My father apparently ordered the death of his sister and her children. Our goal, for now, is to keep him happy, to keep him entertained. Bronn, your job will be to appear inconspicuous as you keep a watchful eye over my quarters, make sure no one goes in or out.” He ordered.

Shae huffed. “I’m perfectly capable of handling myself thank you.” She huffed.

“No one disputes that my dear.” Tyrion chuckled. You remember watching Shae stab a man she did not want for laying a finger on her. “I’m not worried about you. But my sister and my king nephew are very powerful. They will know how to use you against me.” He explained. Shae still was not pleased with the idea, but she relented.

“As for our hawk,” he turned to you and gave you a list with names you did not recognize, “you will present these girls to Prince Oberyn in my place. You will tell him that royal duties as the king’s new hand have prevented me from revisiting him, but you hope he enjoys the whores as a welcoming gift to King’s Landing.”

“Excuse me?!” You snapped your eyes narrowing in on your employer. “I am not a squire whose job is to bring in girls for spoiled princes!”

“Do not think of it as that.” Tyrion poured himself a glass of wine, knowing that he should chose his next words very carefully. He could feel your eyes burning into him. “Consider it a diplomatic mission. Besides, the prince wishes to meet you. The legends of the Silver Hawk have reached so far as Dorne and he is eager to make your acquaintance. This is the perfect opportunity for the both of you.”

You still weren’t pleased. “So I am now to serve as entertainment for the prince of Dorne.” You sighed and shook your head. “I am only staying long enough to bring him the girls, then I’m leaving.”

“Fine,” Tyrion relented. “But you will be cordial to the prince. Don’t be deceived by his charming words, he stabbed one of my cousins for a few unkind, brutish remarks. I don’t want to know what he’ll do when he hears your fire-laced words.” If it weren’t such a serious situation, Tyrion might have been amused to hear you use your wit against a prince, but the prince’s history with the Lannisters was anything but a joke.

“I’m sure she can handle herself. Hawks have talons after all.” Shae teased, but squeezed your arm affectionately. You offered a kind smile, but you still loathed this plan.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Tyrion rubbed his temple like the very thought of you getting into trouble was enough to send him over the edge.

You relented and chuckled a little before placing a hand on your friend’s shoulder. “I will be on my best behavior, but only because you will worry yourself ill.” You teased. “It can’t be too bad if I just deliver your message and leave. I better get going though. Can’t leave a prince waiting.” You snorted. As if you cared what a prince thought.

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Oberyn Martell lied in his temporary bed at the brothel, Ellaria Sand at his right, a blond haired boy on his left. He was the picture of lustful bliss, his golden chest glistened as the small rays of light entered the sinful den. But the prince was quiet deep in thought as he started out into the empty space before them. All the pleasure the brothel had to offer could not break his focus.

“Your thoughts are too loud, my prince.” Ellaria chided as she placed a kiss to his chest. “Tell me.”

Even then, Oberyn still could not break his thoughts of you, but he ran a hand through his paramour’s raven curls in acknowledgment. “I think I found our third partner.”

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