#I’m not going to start posting regularly just yet but yeah

[perplexingly]

Elisabeth das Musical from Rudolf’s point of view

[heresthestorymorningglory]

Would've Could've Should've

A/N: Hi Babes! :D So uhh….me again with the never say never....this one's a love I've had for...20 odd years and comes clad in yellow spandex....

Another one that was meant to live in the WIP and has taken on a life of its own...

I didn't tell @ken-dom this one was being shared, so she's probably gonna lose it....Sorry xD love you big much.

She’s still been mad encouraging and I love her dearly for it. Without her none of these would exist much like everything I've written over the last year and a half.

As always, this NSFW 18+ (Not yet but like...it's getting there ok?)

I wasn't gonna share it today, but with the digital DP&W release I felt I should and @coggedcorset aggressively encouraged as they do <3

Y'all should know by now I rarely post one shots…..so yeah, this will be multiple parts….I’m just not sure on the final tally yet.

Enjoy my loves! <3 

You sighed glancing down the length of the bar; Logan sat there, like he did every other night of the week. Silent and unmoving, save for occasionally reaching for the half empty bottle sat on the bar top. 

Usually he minded his own business, and no one else paid him any mind…usually…the bar wasn’t particularly busy tonight, and you were bored. 

You made your way down the bar on the opposite side, stopping where he sat. He glanced up, his brown eyes meeting yours for a brief second before they dropped again to examine a particularly interesting knick in the polished wood of the bar. 

“You should eat something” 

“No” he spoke into the bartop and you rolled your eyes

“Mmm good, just going to destroy your liver twice as fast tonight, got it” 

You reached for the near empty bottle and his hand snapped out with lightning speed, the hint of his metal claws poking out between his knuckles; his fingers warm against the back of your hand…too warm thanks to the copious amounts of alcohol running through his system. 

“Leave it” he nearly growled. 

“What are you going to do, cut off my fingers?” you rolled your eyes pulling the bottle out of his reach. “You’re done” 

He snorted with a laugh “Am I?” claws retracting back under his skin 

You ignored him, dropping the bottle back in the well “The spare bed is still made up upstairs if you’re interested” 

“Are you giving me an option?” he quipped as you walked around the other end of the bar, going to lock the door and flip the sign to ‘CLOSED’ 

“Sure,” you smiled sweetly and he cocked an eyebrow “The couch is a little small, but I guess curled up on the floor is an option too” 

He barked a laugh, louder than necessary, but given how much he had had to drink you were shocked he was coherent at all. 

You flipped off the lights and the bar was cloaked in darkness, moonlight streaming in through the door and windows, giving you enough light to navigate back to where Logan still sat. 

He sat up straighter as you came to stand over his shoulder, but made no move to stand. You wrapped an arm around his torso, draping a muscled arm around your shoulders as you heaved him to his feet; this hadn’t been the first time and sadly you didn’t think it would be the last either. The two of you had gotten into a bit of a routine since you had started working here regularly. He leaned heavily against your comparatively tiny frame as you grabbed his worn brown leather jacket with your free hand, draping it over your arm as you lead him to the narrow staircase, minding his feet, knowing full well that one stumble in his clunky work boots would send you both crashing to the bar floor and he was significantly harder to pick up from there. 

“I swear you only make me do this on night’s I wear heels” you muttered, using the wall to support yourself in the almost too narrow stairwell as you pulled him up with you.

“I can walk” he slurred 

Despite his declaration, his weight leaned heavier against you and as if to prove your point, he misjudged the next step, toe catching on the lip of the step, sending him careening forward, forcing you to catch yourself against the wall, fingernails digging into the flesh of his hip to keep him from smashing his perfectly straight teeth on the stairs. 

He grunted, catching himself on the wall on the other side without much success and you sighed as he righted himself. 

“You were saying?” 

“Shut up” he muttered as you reached the landing, wrenching the heavy wood door open that led to your tiny apartment. 

“You should really fix that” he mumbled as you dragged him into the dark room before flipping on the light and kicking the door closed with your foot

“I’ll get right on it” you sighed, finally letting go of the grip you’d had around his waist, causing him to stumble slightly as you reached to pull your heels off. “You know where your bed is” you yawned, draping his jacket over the nearest chair.

“My bed?” he repeated to the back of your head as you made your way to the bathroom. 

You turned only enough to look over your shoulder at him standing on surprisingly steady feet, the first three or four buttons of his plaid shirt undone and you had to force yourself to meet his eye. 

He’s drunk the little voice in the back of your mind whispered It would be unethical 

You snorted at your own inner monologue before answering him “Well, no one else spends as many nights here” 

This seemed to be answer enough for him as he sat with a heavy thump on the couch, bending to untie his boots before kicking them off, leaving them haphazardly strewn on the living room floor. 

You made your way down to the bathroom, closing the door most of the way behind you as you ran the hot water to wash your face and change. 

When you reemerged, you  found Logan sitting on the edge of the spare bed, leaned against the headboard, snoring softly. 

You giggled softly and seriously considered leaving him there, but thought better of it. 

“Logan,” you whispered, touching his arm gently, careful to keep clear of his hands. Nearly being impaled once when you startled him awake the first time he had spent the night was enough.

He hadn’t even stirred at your touch. 

You sighed “Any other night and you’d almost take my head off” you muttered

You grunted bending to lift his legs up on the bed and he mumbled something in his sleep as he shifted to make himself more comfortable. Pulling the comforter up around his shoulders you turned off the small lamp next to the bed, nearly jumping out of your skin hearing a slurred “Thanks” from where he laid.

“Just don’t puke on my bed” 

You heard him scoff with a laugh as you made your way to your own bed, drifting off to sleep almost as quickly as he had. 

***

You turned over in your sleep with a heavy sigh through your nose; a heaviness pressing on your mid-section. You blinked sleep from your eyes as you took a deep breath as you turned over, you jumped slightly when your nose nearly brushed against Logan’s as he slept. 

Your shoulders sagged as you sighed a second time, his arm still heavy across your middle as you studied his face in the dark. His face was weathered…not that you blamed him, you knew he’d been through the ringer before he ever graced a stool at the bar. Some he talked about, most he didn’t…you assumed. He was handsome still though, ruggedly so. You watched as his forehead creased with worry; he was dreaming. 

He dreamt a lot, or more accurately had nightmares a lot. You wondered if he thought the drinking helped; they seemed to be worse on the night’s he drank heavier…you had tried pointing that out once and nearly lost a limb because of it. Logan wasn’t the most…level headed man; although you could say with absolute certainty that he wouldn’t ever hurt you…anymore.

You turned over to the best of your ability, still trapped under the dead weight of his arm. He hadn’t even noticed, just carried on mumbling incoherently in his sleep, jerking slightly. You reached with a hand to brush your thumb gently across his cheek and his features softened instantly as he relaxed under your touch. 

“Shhh” you cooed, feeling his fingers twitch slightly against the small of your back “It’s okay, you’re safe” you whispered, his arm instinctively squeezing tighter, pulling you closer. 

It was that exact moment that it occurred to you  that Logan was no longer wearing a shirt….or pants…

You pressed your lips together in a hard line, wanting nothing more than to shake him awake and immediately demand an explanation, but you didn’t. This hadn't been the first time you had woken up with Logan next to you…. although it was a first for him to be sparsely clothed. 

Instead, and in spite of yourself, you settled more comfortably against him, tucking your head under his chin and closed your eyes, letting the heat radiating from him lull you back to sleep.

***

The sun streamed in through the window far too early, and you cursed yourself for not remembering to close the curtains the night before. 

You tried to roll over on your back and were met with a wall of resistance. Very warm resistance. 

You shifted with a scoff, reaching to shove him. 

“God, get off me, you're so hot” you whined, trying in vain to move away. 

A grunt of response over your shoulder as Logan stirred awake. “Fuck” he growled, shielding his eyes from the light against your shoulder. 

“That's what you get for drinking half the bar” you quipped, immediately gasping with surprise as his teeth found purchase in that same shoulder and you twisted away, turning to face him. 

“Don’t bite me you weirdo” 

He smirked sleepily with a shrug “Didn't seem to mind it much last time”

“Last time doesn't count” you muttered and he snorted with a laugh

“Just because you say it doesn't count doesn't mean it didn't happen”

“Shut up” you snapped, attempting to pull yourself up out of bed, and failing; Logan's strong arm keeping you pinned against his chest. “You were drunk” 

“If memory serves, so were you” he whispered 

“Yeah well,” you shrugged against him “That’s the thing about memories isn’t it?” 

He sighed against your neck, his warm breath causing your skin to ripple with goosebumps

You closed your eyes and sighed as his fingertips toyed lazily with the fabric of your t-shirt “Logan” you breathed and he hummed questioningly against the hollow behind your ear

“Don’t,” you sighed heavily “W-we can’t” 

Another hum as you turned your head and the tip of his nose dragged along the line of your jaw.

“Logan…” you repeated; noses nearly touching at this point 

“Why not?” he whispered, lips brushing against yours as he spoke 

You could feel your whole body flush with heat as you swallowed hard; mustering up enough willpower to push him back gently by the shoulders; his brown eyes searching your face. 

“Because we said we wouldn’t, remember?” your voice was soft, but the words were shaky, you were on the verge of cracking and you had no doubt he knew it. You needed to move, needed to get out from under the delicious weight of his torso, needed to put space between you….

You cleared your throat and wriggled out from under his arm, throwing the blanket back as you clumsily got to your feet. 

“C’mon,” he coaxed, propped on an arm “We’re both adults” 

“Yes, exactly” you nodded in agreement as you turned away, pushing your hair back off your face “Adults who make informed sober decisions” 

“I prefer your drunken decisions” 

“You would” you scoffed “Get out of my bed”

“That’s not what you said last-”

“Will you shut up about last time?!”  You snapped

“You’re bitchy in the morning” he mumbled climbing out of the bed on the other side. 

“That’s rich coming from you” you rolled your eyes in spite of facing away from him as you pulled on a pair of jeans from the night before.

You came around the end of the bed, pushing around him as you pulled open the drawer to your dresser, digging for a clean shirt before looking up at him “Turn around” 

He scrunched his nose slightly “Why?”

“What do you think this is, a peep show?” 

“Nothing I haven’t seen before” 

“Oh my god” you rolled your eyes again and Logan just shrugged

“Well it isn’t” 

You sighed, not really having time to argue, you pulled your t-shirt over your head, dropping it on the floor at your feet. You looked up at Logan and he wasn’t looking back, you had been ready to give him shit until you noticed his eyes were fixed on your collarbone, and the ugly scar that disappeared under your bra strap. You pulled the clean shirt on, the scar covered underneath…at least most of the way; half an inch or so still poked out from under the deep v of your shirt. Logan’s eyes hadn’t moved. 

“It’s fine” you spoke softly, snapping him from his thoughts and he met your eye. His usual grumpy scowl was more of a pout. “It’s fine” you repeated 

He just grunted in response and you made to move around him to finish getting ready. “Everyone knows I shouldn’t be allowed around sharp objects” you joked with a gasp as he grabbed your wrist as you walked by, stopping you from going any further and turning you to face him. He towered over you, the man was unnaturally large…you often wondered how you managed to haul him up here multiple nights a week by yourself. 

He hadn’t pulled you against him, but he stood close…too close. 

The hand not holding your wrist slowly reached to push back the collar of your shirt, exposing more of your scar. Your free hand reached to close over his, keeping it in place. 

The room was quiet for a beat before you spoke again, neither of you moved. 

“That’s not why” you whispered; you were looking at him, but he was looking at the jagged raised skin across your collarbone. 

You curled your fingers around his hand still resting against your chest. “I figured you would have forgotten” your voice still soft 

His eyes met yours then, no hint of humor in his features. 

“It’s fine,” you smiled gently “I lived” 

“Barely” he finally spoke 

“Well that’s what I get for trying to wake Edward Scissorhands from a nightmare” 

He just glared 

“Come on grump,” you changed the subject turning toward the door “Put some clothes on, you owe me breakfast” 

“Owe you?” he repeated, letting you walk away 

“Yeah,” you nodded, turning to look over your shoulder as you stood in the doorway “And I know most places have a pretty lax dress code, but I don’t think yellow boxer briefs are gonna cut it” 

***

Despite having gone your separate ways after breakfast, Logan found his way back to his favourite bar stool by nine thirty. You watched him reach over the bar top and grab the bowl of peanuts you kept tucked underneath for when he inevitably showed his face. He had changed, you noticed, swapping the red flannel he’d had on this morning for a blue one. 

You handed the guy across from you his change as he blatantly looked down the front of your top and you fought the urge to deck him as he dropped a twenty on the bartop. 

“So..uh,” he started and you would bet it took every ounce of strength he had in him to meet your gaze “What time do you get off?” 

You laughed lightly taking the money off the bar and shook your head “No thanks” 

“What?” he pressed, “You got like a boyfriend or something?” 

“Or something” you smiled politely 

“Well he’s not here is he?” the guy tried again 

“Well,” you shrugged, scrunching your nose and glanced down the bar before looking back to him. 

“That guy?” his face twisting in disapproval as he looked down the bar at Logan who was finishing off his first round of peanuts. “You know who that is don’t you?” 

You raised your eyebrows, straightening your stance 

“He-”

“You can leave now” you cut him off “Thank you” 

“But-” he looked from you down to Logan and back at you 

“What can I say,” you smiled “I like ‘em sloppy” 

The guy opened his mouth to say something more and thought better of it, closing it again. 

“Wise choice” you rolled your eyes before turning on your heel and making your way down to the end of the bar where Logan sat. 

“Fancy meeting you here” you smiled setting his usual glass in front of him and refilling the empty bowl 

He took the glass, nearly draining it before putting it back down “You changed” 

You laughed lightly with a shrug, handing him the whiskey bottle. “This outfit gets me better tips” 

He looked up with a raised eyebrow as you gently tossed the twenty you’d just been given on the bar in front of him. “Doesn’t have pockets though, hold on to that for me, would you?” 

“What do I look like, a bank?” he grumbled 

“No,” you smirked “But I owe you” 

His eyes narrowed again as he studied your face “You’re giving me your tip money?” 

“No,” you said again 

“But you owe me?” he asked, lines in his forehead deepening 

You giggled, walking around the bar, intentionally walking too close to where he sat, brushing against his broad shoulder. You knew you were flirting with disaster, but you had started to regret not taking him up on his offer this morning….against your better judgment…and getting under Logan’s skin was so easy, sober or not. 

“Stop it” he warned 

You stopped mid stride, chest purposefully pressed against his shoulder. “What?” 

He glared and you smirked “You're so easy to rile” you teased, messing up his hair  “I thought it was nothing you haven't seen before”

“You wanna play this game?” He narrowed his eyes 

“Who's playing?” You leaned to whisper next to his ear. 

He growled and you giggled before walking away to make your rounds.

[bqstqnbruin]

Christmas Crashing

I'm taking a break from my regularly scheduled Swayman programming for a different fic where I'm actually not mean with the ending????? Who would have thought I could do that

ANYWAY this is for @wyattjohnston's winter fic exchange, and I got to write for the absolutely amazing @laurenairay! We're ignoring that it's more than the week after Christmas but oh well

Also shoutout to @nicohischier for letting me yell about this and reading this while I scared her ily

Warnings: swearing, mentions of alcohol, I actually gave you a happy ending?????

WC:8890

Flashbacks are in italics

______________________________________

“What are you saying?”

“That I’m done.”

“That we’re done,” he clarifies for her.

She can feel her chest start to tighten, a lump forming in her throat. “Yeah.” 

Mimi hangs up without letting him get in another word, telling herself that she didn’t want to let him listen to the first sob that came out of her. She couldn’t read the text that he had sent trying to make sense of what just happened, telling her that he loved her and knew she loved him, that he wanted to figure this out and get through whatever was going on.

________________________

“You should totally post this photo,” Stella tells her, her mouth hanging open while she stared at Mimi’s phone screen. 

“Are you sure?” Mimi leans over her friend's shoulder, trying to look at Stella’s handiwork. Mimi was facing the arena, the back of the jersey her mom got her for Christmas a couple of years ago on full display as she looked back over her shoulder, her ponytail covering part of Hischier’s name. 

“Babe, you look so hot.” Stella opens up Mimi’s account, drafting up a post for her roommate. 

Mimi tries to snatch the phone from her before she could do anything, her taller friend holding the phone over her head while people around them filter into the arena, probably thinking these two girls outside were acting ridiculous. They were, but that wasn’t going to stop Mimi. 

Stella manages to get the picture posted, despite Mimi saying she wasn’t sure. “You look hot, shut up and let everyone see it.”

“You’re the worst.” 

“And you love me anyway.” 

They go into the game, Mimi ignoring the notifications that were coming up on her screen from Instagram despite the ego boost she denied they gave her. She could have spent the entire game on her phone, just scrolling through notifications and making her head bigger than it should be. 

“So?” Stella asks after the first period when the two of them head to the concourse to get food. “Was I right?”

Mimi had her phone in her hand, showing Stella her screen and scrolling for what seemed like forever to the end of the notifications she had yet to open. “Fine.”

“Tell me I was right,” Stella gloats.

Mimi rolls her eyes. “This kind of shit is why I broke up with Sofia, if you remember.”

“You broke up with her because she was an awful girlfriend in general, not because she was right more often than you were.” Mimi ignores her, continuing to scroll through the notifications while Stella looks over her shoulder. “Wait, woah, go back.”

Mimi scrolls back down, waiting for Stella to tell her to stop. “There’s no way.”

Stella starts jumping up and down, trying not to bring too much attention to them this time. “Did he comment on your photo?”

“Did you tag him in the photo?” 

Stella smirks. “There’s no harm in trying.” 

“I can’t believe you.” 

“What does it say?”

“No.” 

“It has to say more than just, ‘no.’”

“No, I mean,” Mimi says, moving up in the line. “I’m not gonna read it here.”

“Why not?” Stella whines.

“What if he thinks the picture is weird to tag him in? I don’t want to see that while he’s literally on the ice,” she says in a hushed voice. 

“What if he doesn’t?”

“I don’t want to read it.” 

The game ends, Stella somehow gaining full control over Mimi’s phone as the two of them head out to a bar after a quick pit stop at home to change, despite Mimi’s protest for wanting to stay home and read her book instead. Her bed was right there, after all. 

“Go do your thing,” Stella says, heading off to find a table for the two of them while Mimi tries to secure drinks. 

“Hey,” Mimi approaches one guy, pulling out a trick that she got from one of her books. “Buy me a drink if I beat you at tic-tac-toe.”

The guy looks perplexed, agreeing while his friends root him on, Mimi grabbing a napkin from the bar counter and pulling a pen out of her bag. She normally won, considering the fact that the guys were normally too drunk by the time she got to them to think straight enough to play the game. 

This time was no different. She won easily. 

“What do you want?” the guy asks, his friends making fun of him for losing and putting him in a foul mood. 

“Vodka Sour,” she asks for Stella’s drink.

She gets the drink and leaves before he can say or do anything else, heading back to Stella with her drink in hand. 

“Free?”

“Free,” she confirms, seeing her phone in Stella’s hands. “What are you doing?”

Stella smirks, a facial expression that makes her nervous. “Nothing.”

Mimi nods. “I’m gonna try and find another guy.” 

She heads back to the bar, scanning for another person she could get a drink from. She sees a guy talking to a friend, looking nervous. He looked sweet. Maybe she could actually talk to him and bring his friend over for Stella, too.

“Want to play tic-tac-toe?” she asks him, the guy looking like a deer in headlights. “Winner buys drinks?”

“I’ll play,” she hears behind her, the two guys eyes getting wide as they stare at the person. “Mimi, right?”

“Nico?” 

He smiles at her, taking a step closer and reaching over her shoulder to grab a napkin. He brushes against her, sending a shock through her body. “Let’s play.” 

________________________

Mimi gets to baggage claim, trying her best to ignore the fact that she was supposed to be here with Nico, not by herself, as she gets home for Christmas. He wasn’t even going to be with her for that long because of his schedule, but it was supposed to be something, at least. He knew Christmas was her favorite holiday, her favorite time of year, and instead of being with her like he was supposed to be, he was back in New Jersey. 

“Emilia,” she hears her mom calling her name, way louder than she needed to be since there were only about five other people around the carousel, the airport surprisingly empty considering it was December 23rd. Her mother came running up to her, practically tackling her into the bags that were starting to roll around as her father sighed, grabbing Mimi’s bag. 

“Where’s Gram?” Mimi asks. Every single time she came home, without fail, no matter what time of day it was, her grandmother was always there to see her when she got off the plane.

“She’s with Uncle Sam in New York for this Christmas, remember?” Mimi nods, not remembering the conversation her mother goes on to claim they had weeks ago. It was weird that her grandmother wasn’t there. “Where’s Nico?”

Mimi hesitates, another thing that was wrong. She hadn’t told her parents yet. She didn’t know how to. “His practice schedule changed at the last minute, so he had to stay back. He’s going to let me know later if he’s going to be able to come out here.”

Her father nods, incredibly indifferent. Despite how much he seemed to adore Nico, he would rather have less people around the house so he didn’t get overstimulated when he was cooking. More people meant more food he had to keep track of. 

Her mother on the other hand. “Oh, no. He’s not coming? But we haven’t seen him in so long. What if we Facetime him, tell him we can pay for the ticket for him to come. Where’s your phone?”

Mimi swats off her mother’s hand, trying to follow her dad out to their car so she could go home and go to sleep. “Mother, money is not the problem, I promise. He can’t help his practice schedule,” she lies. 

Her mother continues to fret, walking to the car going on and on about how she wished she had known so she didn’t spend all the extra time preparing for Mimi’s boyfriend to come home with her. Mimi lets out a sigh, climbing into the backseat as her father loads her bags into the trunk.

________________________

“Where are we going?” Mimi asks, climbing into Nico’s passenger seat once his car pulls to a stop in front of her building.

He smirks, leaning across the center console, giving her a kiss, one hand on the wheel with another cupping her face. “It’s a surprise.” 

“That’s what someone would say before they dump the body,” Mimi jokes as Nico pulls away from the curb.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Mimi,” Nico groans, Mimi noticing the smile on his face regardless of his tone. They had been dating for about a month now, spending more time with him than she spent with Stella despite the fact they lived together. It wasn’t her fault; she couldn’t say no to him when he asked her to do something, no matter what it was. 

Mimi shrugs, a teasing look on her face. “Think about it, it would be perfect to take me to some far off location to commit a felony when I have no idea where we’re going.” 

“Stella has your location.”

“You could steal my phone.”

Nico rolls his eyes. “Mimi, I’m not going to hurt you.” 

“Then where are we going?”

“Can’t I surprise you? Please?” he begs, his tone turning a little more serious. 

She sighs, staring out the window as he drives away from the city in an attempt to hide the smile on her face. “I guess.” 

The snow on the ground became more pristine the longer he drove, untouched and perfect as they got away from the more densely populated area they lived in. The trees lining the streets made her wish she lived out here, giving that illusion of serenity that you couldn’t get in the city. 

Nico pulled off the road to follow a gravel path, lined with a wooden fence on either side, just barely wide enough for the car to fit down. 

“This is definitely the perfect place for a murder,” Mimi jokes.

“Jeez,” Nico sighs. “We’re doing something fun.” 

Mimi sees the sign in front of her as Nico starts to slow down, a Christmas tree farm in front of them. She looks at Nico, who was already staring at her with a smile on his face. “So?”

“We’re getting a tree?” Mimi said, feeling herself getting giddy as she unbuckled her seatbelt, practically jumping out of the car.

Nico joins her, taking his hand in hers and leading her closer to the plethora of trees in front of them. “You said you used to love going with your dad and cutting down the perfect tree when you were younger. These are pre-cut, but I figured you could help me pick out the perfect one for my place.”

________________________

“You already have the tree up?” Mimi asks, her heart dropping when she walks into her parents house, seeing what was supposed to be a tradition between her and her dad already there. They never got the tree this early. And they certainly never had it already decorated with lights.

“Mimi,” her mother starts as she beelines for the tree.

“It’s not even real.” Her mouth hangs open as she examines the fake, plastic monstrosity before her, the lights on the tree because it came prelit. “You got a fake tree.”

“Donohue retired.” Mimi stared at her dad, the sad look in his eyes mirroring her own. “There was nowhere to get a real tree this year.”

Mimi nods, knowing it was stupid to get upset over something so trivial, that feeling that something . “We still have all our ornaments, right?”

Her mother comes over to her, putting her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “You think we could get rid of those?”

________________________

“What are you doing today?” Nico’s voice comes through Mimi’s phone. 

“Nothing.”

“Now you’re not.” Mimi could hear his smile. “I’m picking you up in five minutes.”

Mimi hangs up without another word, rushing to get ready for him. 

He knocks on her door moments later, coat in hand with plastic bags full of stuff there with him. “Hi,” he says, using his free hand to pull her in for a kiss.

“Hi.” She looks at the bags in his hands, trying to suss out why he had craft supplies with him. “What’s all this?”

“Well,” he starts, pushing past her and heading for her kitchen table, placing the bags down and starting to clear the surface off. “After we got my tree, I realized I don’t have anything to put on it.”

Mimi watches him taking out everything from the bags; paint, markers, stencils, scissors, paper, pipe cleaners; it looked like he raided the store purge style for everything you could possibly think of. “And?”

He organizes everything into piles in front of them, gesturing to his haul. “I thought we could make some ornaments together.” 

Mimi laughs, her heart fluttering as Nico beams at her. “How good are you at arts and crafts?”

Nico smirks. “Horrible. You?”

“Awful.”

“Then this will be fun.”

________________________

“Hey, what time is Celeste getting here?” Mimi asks as she hangs up one her ‘Baby’s First Christmas’ Ornament as high as she could, something she has done every year since she could walk. Her sister was supposed to be getting in before she did if her memory served her correctly. 

Her parents exchange looks behind her back, thinking Mimi didn’t catch them. “She got snowed in.” 

“What?” she asks, nearly dropping the ornament her great-grandmother made. “So when is she going to get here?”

“The snow isn’t supposed to clear until tomorrow.”

“So she should be able to get here tomorrow, then?” 

“Maybe.” 

“Maybe?” Mimi screams. This was an overreaction on her part, but it was now the third thing that had been wrong with this Christmas, on top of Nico breaking up with her right before she was getting on the plane. “Celeste has to come to Christmas. Where else will she go?”

“She would be with Quinn and his family, I would assume,” her mother says, referring to her sister’s fiance.

Mimi just nods, knowing there was nothing she could do to control it. That didn’t mean she couldn’t still feel upset about it. 

The rest of the day feels like a blur, a weird emptiness knowing her sister wasn’t going to be showing up like she was supposed to, her grandmother was spending Christmas on the other side of the country, and the tree wasn’t real like it had been for as long as she could remember.

That and she kept checking her phone, expecting a text from Nico to show up on her screen, despite the fact that he hadn’t texted her in weeks. 

“Hey, Emilia,” her dad pulls her out of her trance, standing in front of her with the car keys. “Want to run out and grab some things with me?

________________________

“Stop bouncing your leg, you’re shaking the car,” Nico reaches over and presses down on Mimi’s thigh, trying to get her to stop.

“Sorry,” she mumbles, sinking further into his passenger seat. She looks out the window, snow everywhere, less and less cars on the road as they get to the cabin Nico’s friends rented out for the weekend. They had a rare break between games without so much as a practice (according to Nico, this was unheard of), so some of his friends took the opportunity to get away from home for a while and just relax somewhere else.

It looked like Nico was driving her into her death.

It was worse, actually. She had to meet new people and interact with them without anywhere to retreat.

“Our room is the only one on the top floor if they get to be too much,” Nico says, reading her mind. “They’re going to love you.”

They had just had the ‘what are we conversation,’ where Nico let her know that he considered her to be his girlfriend a while ago. Apparently, Nico’s entire team had been referring to Mimi as Nico’s girlfriend for the last month. It was time to actually meet them, and Mimi felt like she would rather run out into the wilderness and disappear with the bears. 

Mimi lets out a deep breath as he turns down the road the GPS told him to turn down. This couldn’t be that bad, could it?

As soon Nico pulled up in front of the cabin, the car seemed to be surrounded by his teammates, screaming about god only knows what and opening every door despite not needing to.

“You said you were bringing the beer,” Luke whines. 

“I did,” Nico deadpans. “You’re barely old enough to drink, calm down.”

“Luke, go back inside,”Jack says, reaching up and trying to mess with Luke’s hair. Luke stomps back inside, Mimi hearing him muttering something about being treated like a child. “He’ll be fine.” 

“I told you not to bring him,” Nico says, handing his teammate the aforementioned case of beer. “He’s too young.”

“Ok, Dad,” he says, Nico rolling his eyes. “You know as well as I do that I couldn’t leave him home when all of us were here.”

Nico hands Mimi her bag from the trunk once she gets out of the car, taking her hand in his and leading her into the cabin. “That’s Jack and Luke.”

Mimi nods, recognizing them from long before she and Nico even started dating. Nico, for some reason, had a habit of forgetting that she actually knew the sport and the team well enough, growing up with her dad being a fan of them since they were in Kansas City and passing it onto her as they relocated to Devner, then to East Rutherford. She probably knew more about the Devils as a franchise because of her father than Nico did as captain. 

They get inside, the heat hitting Mimi’s face. The inside of the cabin was beautiful, the walls entirely made of wood with light fixtures that looked like oil lamps attached to the walls. Thankfully, there were no dead animals stuck to the walls as she had feared, but a huge TV mounted in front of the couches, playing none other than an NHL game on the screen. 

“There’s Dawson, Jesper, and Nate,” Nico points, the three guys waving to them. 

Mimi pulls Nico aside. “I thought you said they were bringing their partners, too.” 

Nico blinks at her. “None of them are seeing anyone.”

“So it’s just you, me, and your teammates?”

Nico nods. “Yeah, of course.”

Mimi nods slowly, biting the inside of her cheek. “I think I’m going to head up to our room.”

Mimi layed on the bed she and Nico were going to share in the cabin, trying to read while Nico and his teammates were screaming downstairs, clearly already drunk despite them only being there for two hours. This wasn’t how the weekend was supposed to go. She was supposed to meet his teammates and their partners as Nico had told her, so she wouldn’t be alone with the guys.

It’s not that she didn’t think she would have fun, it’s just not what she was expecting. 

She hears a knock on the door as she stares up at the ceiling, her book laying facedown, open, on her chest. She was making no progress. Nico pokes his head in before she can say anything. “Can we talk?”

Mimi nods, sitting up and marking her place in her book. 

“You’re mad at me.” Nico sits down on the bed by her feet. 

She sighs. “I’m not mad.”

“But you aren’t happy with me.” 

“I’m annoyed that you didn’t tell me what I was getting into this weekend.”

“What can I do to make it up to you?” Nico pleaded with her. The look on his face made her chest ache, knowing that he actually wanted to do that. 

Mimi exhales. “Give me,” she hesitates. “Like an hour?”

“Ok.” Nico nods. She stares at him for a second, neither of them moving while the sound of his teammates laughter rings through the house. “Are you not going to go back down?”

“Not without you.” 

“I’m just going to sit here and read,” she tells him, giving him a suspicious look. 

Nico nods again, shifting to rest his back against the headboard, his arm raised for her to cuddle right into. “That’s fine.” 

The two fell into a comfortable silence, Mimi feeling Nico’s eyes on her while she read her book. They stayed that way for two hours, just enough time for Mimi to think of herself as the character in the book falling in love with the man she was going to spend her life with. 

________________________

The two of them drive in silence, Mimi not really caring where they were going. She keeps resisting the urge to check her phone, knowing that she would see her background instead of any notification she would actually care about. 

“So, kid,” her father starts, pulling into the grocery store parking lot. “Nico isn’t coming, is he?”

Mimi looks out the window, pursing her lips and shaking her head. “No.”

“Are you two alright?”

“No.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

He parks the car, sitting there for a moment. “Ok. Let’s go in.” 

“What are we doing here, anyway?” The two of them walk through the aisles, her dad pushing a carriage with the loudest wheel possible. He had a talent for picking out the most rickety one every time, somehow not caring and not getting annoyed as he shopped.

He starts pulling things from the shelves, ingredients Mimi recognized as being for her favorite ricotta cookies, the recipe that had been passed down through her family from her great-great-grandparents. “Mom thought it would be fun to make these again this year.”

Mimi smiles, looking at his cart to see what he still needed that she could grab. The last thing he needed, the most important ingredient, was the ricotta. She heads over to the cheese, scouring the case for the right one.

“Any luck?” her father appears behind her, seeing the frown on her face. She shakes her head, staring at the case. They had to have the ricotta. They couldn’t make ricotta cookies without it. Her father flags down an employee.

They shrug, shoving their hands in their jean pockets. “If it’s not out here, we must be out. The trucks haven’t been coming in with everything lately.” 

Mimi looks at her dad as the employee stalks away. “What do we do?”

Her dad shrugs, staring at the cart. “We can check another store later, but I guess we can’t make them tonight.”

________________________

The first snowfall of the year happened abnormally early; in October, actually. The last time Mimi remembered an October snowstorm was around 2010, when she was eleven. That resulted in most of her life getting shut down for the week, but at least she didn’t have to go to school.

Mimi remembered staying in while her father cleared the driveway, her and Celeste sitting at the door near the back porch and staring towards the sky while the snow fell toward them, pretending that they were being transported to a different winter wonderland that wasn’t their backyard. Their mother would make mac and cheese and turn on a movie for Celeste while Mimi curled up on the couch, cuddling with her mother while she read whatever book she could get her hands on. The hot chocolate always came later, with extra marshmallows. 

As she got older, it meant no school, then no work, but always snuggling on the couch under her warmest blanket, a movie playing in the background while she read with a mug of hot chocolate next to her. 

She sits down on her couch, getting ready to spend the day not moving when someone is buzzing her apartment to come up, a text from Nico letting her know it was him.

“What are you doing here?” she asks when she opens her door. 

He smiles at her, making her heart skip a beat as he bends down to kiss her. “Practice and the game got cancelled tonight, I thought I would stop by since your location said you were home.” 

“Oh,” she lets out, cringing at the disappointment that she heard come through her voice. She watched Nico’s smile falter.

“Do you want me to go?”

Mimi looked out the window, watching the snow fall even harder than it had just mere minutes ago, Nico already covered in snow as it was. “No, no, it’s not safe for you.”

Nico nods, unsure what to do. 

“I was just about to read my book,” Mimi says, taking his hand and leading him in. 

“Oh.” He sounded disappointed. “I thought we could just kinda,” his voice trailed off, his eyes flicking back and forth between her and the hallway leading to her bedroom. “But that’s fine. You can read your book.” 

“I do this every snow day,” Mimi tries not to whine, sitting down on her couch and clutching her book. 

Nico exhales, nodding. “That’s fine,” he repeats, clearing his throat. “What else do you do?” 

Nico sits down next to her, Mimi pulling her book closer to her chest. “I just,” she starts, feeling her heartbeat rising for no reason that she could think of. 

“Hey, hey,” Nico coos, gently bringing her into his chest. He kissed the top of her head, one hand rubbing her back while the other rested on her lap. “I can leave. If you don’t want me here, I will leave. If it’s not safe to go I will just sit in the hallway.”

Mimi lets out a strangled laugh, picturing him playing games on his phone while he posted up outside her door, probably staying there until one of her neighbors ventured out of their place and called someone to come take away the man sitting outside an apartment he didn’t live in. “I put on a movie in the background and then just sit with my blanket and read it.” 

“Can I join you?”

“You want to watch the movie or do you want a book?” Nico shifts, getting up and heading down the hall to her room. “That’s not an answer,” she calls after him.

He comes back, waving a book in his hands. “I’ll read and then if I get bored, I’ll fall back on the movie.”

Mimi stares at the book he picked, her heart swelling in her chest. “That’s my favorite book.”

“I know. That’s why I want to read it again.” 

________________________

Mimi and her father finally get home, the one missing ingredient for some reason impossible to find and the remaining groceries unable to be left in the car for much longer without ruining them, too. 

“I’ll head out in the morning again and see if I can find it,” her dad tries to reassure her when he pulls into the driveway. 

She heads inside to her old room. Every little thing has gone wrong so far, it seemed, but why should it bother her? She was going to be with her family at Christmas, something she hadn’t really been able to do the last few years because of work. Her sister might not be here,or her grandmother, or her boyfriend, but still with her parents.

Her ex-boyfriend.

Staring at the walls of the room she grew up in, seeing the posters from the musicals that she was in when she was in middle school and high school taped above her bed, the game-day posters from the games she went to with her dad as a child surrounding her closet, the awards she won for various random clubs and activities she did in order to go to college where she did above her bookcase. 

Mimi thinks back to her packing job, trying to remember what books she brought with her for the trip. She had the one she read while she was in the airport and on the plane, but she finished that right before her plane landed, putting that back in her bag and spending the rest of the time in the air logging the book rather than starting another one. Did she even bring another one?

She remembers plugging in her e-reader before she started packing, but did she ever unplug it and pack it? She texts Stella to check and unplug it so she doesn’t murder her prized possession while away. 

“Mom,” Mimi yells, not waiting for any acknowledgement. “What books do you have?”

“Check our bedroom,” she hears, heading to the bookcase that’s against the wall. 

“I’ve read all of these,” she yells back, trying not to let a whining tone come through her voice. And she actually had. Most of her parents were her old books that she had read that she gave to them, or that she bought separate copies of for them. The books her parents got on their own somehow found their way into Mimi’s hands, leaving her with nothing. 

Her mom appears in the doorway, a concerned look on her face while she watches her daughter stare defeated at the books. She checks her watch, grabbing her wallet from her closet. “Take my library card and check out what you want. They’re still open for another hour or so.” Mimi takes the card and stares at it. She wasn’t even sure if this was allowed. Wasn’t it some sort of fraud to use someone else’s library card? “I have a book on hold, I’ll call them and let them know they can give it to you. Go.”

Mimi gets pushed out the door and handed the keys, faster than she can even process what was going on. 

She hadn’t been inside her hometown library since she was in high school, everything still exactly the same except for the self check out computers they added for when the librarians were busy. They had set up a holiday book display, Mimi beelining there in hopes of finding anything that could potentially put her in a better mood. 

Mimi picks up a book with two girls on the cover, some sapphic holiday romance that had been on her radar since October when someone she followed on social media had posted about it. 

“Emilia?” She snaps away from the book to see a guy standing in front of her, someone who she swore looked familiar but couldn’t, for the life of her, remember why she knew him. “Niall Walsh.”

The guy she went to junior prom with. Shit, he looked good. “Of course, how are you?” she asks him, trying to sound enthusiastic about seeing him. She just needed to get books and go home.

“Good, good. You’re still out in New Jersey?”

They fall into a stupid conversation, Mimi trying to back away and find more books for her stay. She needed at least three to survive the holiday. 

“A bunch of us are heading to the green later to skate, you should join us,” Niall offers, starting to list off people from high school Mimi hadn’t kept in touch with.

“That sounds so nice, but I’ve gotta help my mom with stuff for the holidays.” 

Niall finally says goodbye with his books in hand, letting her know that she was still welcome to join if she had the time.

She didn’t want to go ice skating. It made her think of Nico. 

________________________

“For fucks sake,” Mimi huffs, kicking the door open. “Next time we want to move, we’re not doing it in the middle of winter, and we aren’t doing it in the middle of your season.”

Nico laughs, getting up from the couch and grabbing the box from her. They had been together for over a year, finally making the decision to move in together. “Both of our leases were up and you would hate moving in the summer, too.”

“I’m somehow sweating and freezing. This is awful.” 

“How many more boxes are in your car?”

“All my books.” 

“There’s no way you fit all of those in your car.”

Mimi makes a face, taking Nico’s hand and dragging him back downstairs. “Stella might also be there with her car full of my books.”

Nico sighs with a lazy smile on his face, puts his arm around her and pulls her close as they walk outside and kisses the side of her head. “That’s my girl.”

“You have too many fucking books,” Stella mutters, opening her trunk. “I nearly died because I couldn’t see out my windows.”

“You were probably fine,” Nico deadpans, checking his phone. “Jack and Luke said they’ll be here in an hour with the truck.” 

“You’re meeting them back at our place?”

“My place.”

“Your place.” The two stare at each other, the gravity of Mimi moving out just about to hit them.

Nico clears his throat, hoping to distract them long enough that they can have their moment inside rather than out on the street. “Let’s get these books inside before it gets dark out.”

The girls unload the cars, boxes upon boxes of books being brought up to the new apartment and placed haphazardly throughout the space. 

“Where are all of these going, anyway?” Stella huffs, setting down a book that Mimi had labelled as ‘Fantasy,’ meaning that all of her biggest books were stuffed in there.

“We have the second bedroom that we’re turning into a reading space,” Nico says. 

Stella nods. “Well,” she straightens her back, all of them feeling the pain of moving too many boxes. “I’m going to go back and meet the idiots for the rest.” She leaves before the girls can say anything else to each other, both of them avoiding the fact that they wouldn’t be living together anymore after nearly seven years. They were so close to having a common law marriage.

Mimi looks at Nico, staring at all the boxes scattered around them. “We have to unpack these.” 

Nico smiles at her. “I have a better idea.” 

Mimi eyes him curiously, watching him head to one of the closets that she still wasn’t sure held, Nico pulling things out. “Ice skates?” she asks, staring at the two pairs in his hands.

“There’s a pond that’s frozen over behind the building, we can take a break before it gets dark.” 

“We’ve never gone skating before,” Mimi points out. “You don’t even know if I can.”

Nico hands her the pair meant for her, taking her hand and grabbing his keys as they head out. “You’re probably better than me.”

“Obviously. You’re pretty shit at skating, aren’t you?” she teases him.

Nico laughs. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

________________________

“Did you leave any books for other people?” her dad teases her when she comes back through the door.

“There’s still all the books written by Republicans.”

“Do they know how to write books?”

Mimi hears her mother scold him for that one, trying to stifle her own laugh so she isn’t scolded as well. “I have enough books for the time that I’m here. I think. Don’t worry.” 

Mimi heads up to her room, flopping down on her bed with a book open in her hand. She didn’t need anyone else to be here for it to be Christmas for her. She could just be with her parents and whatever other family they had coming over this year. 

She reads her book, a group of friends going to one of their parents' houses for the holidays because none of them have anywhere else to do until they realize that two of them were not only together previously, but one had left the other at the altar. 

Mimi sits up straight on her bed, shutting the book as fast as she could. She had to stop going into books blind. Every time, without fail, they reminded her of the things that were going wrong in her life.

________________________

“When do we have to leave?” Nico asks, his arms wrapped around Mimi as they lay in bed, the snow falling outside and coating the window, his bare chest against hers. 

Mimi hums, turning herself to nestle into his shoulder. She didn’t want to leave this moment. “Our flight is at noon.” 

Mimi was heading home for Thanksgiving this year, bringing Nico home with her for the first time. Her parents had met him before, but this was her whole family now. They had been dating for two years at this point, living together for almost a year, and at this point, they both decided it was time to meet her family.

It was terrifying. 

“Ugh, shit,” Nico groans, letting go of her and getting out of bed. “I need to shower, then.” 

Mimi lays in their bed for a few moments, trying to fathom taking a boy home with her. Not just any boy, but the one she lived with, the one she loved.

One of the phones on the nightstand makes some noise, Mimi hearing the shower starting in the bathroom. She reaches over for the one lit up, not sure whose she was grabbing. 

Her mom’s first name came up as the contact sending a message.

“Nico, my mom is texting you.” 

She hears something fall in the shower. “You can just leave it,” he yells back, a weird tone in his voice.

Why would her mom be texting him? Normally, she texted both of them in a group chat that included her father, Celeste, and Quinn, regardless of who she actually needed to talk to. Her mom never even texted her separately, even on her birthday. 

Mimi knew Nico’s passcode. She could just open his phone and look at what they were talking about. 

But why would she do that? Mimi shook her head, putting the phone back on the nightstand and started to get ready, pushing the thought of Nico and her mom talking about something that she couldn’t know about from her mind every time it popped up. 

They had to focus on finishing up the last of their packing and getting to the airport, which they had less than an hour to get to, at this point. 

“Babe, hurry up,” she yells, throwing the last things they needed in their bags, Nico still in the bathroom fucking around. “We need to leave, like, five minutes ago.” 

“I’m good, I’m ready,” he says, emerging from the bathroom, his hair still soaked. “And we have plenty of time before we need to leave.” He grabs his phone, Mimi seeing him open the text from her mom and a smile growing on his face. 

________________________

Mimi finishes one book and quickly moves onto the next, losing track of time. The last thing she remembered, the SecUnit was freaking out about dying and not saving its humans. 

Next thing she knows, it’s three am, her lights are still on, her book is still in her hand miraculously with her page saved by her finger, and something was making noise downstairs. Actually, someone.

Mimi practically launches herself out of bed, finding the kitchen lights on and her sister checking the fridge. “What the fuck?” she breathes out, grabbing Celeste into a hug. 

“Hi, to you, too,” Celeste laughs, Quinn in the background going through cabinets. “We need food.” 

“I thought your flight couldn’t come in?”

“Quinn here drove us.”

“From Vancouver?”

Quinn shrugs, the normal sullen look on his face made even worse from the exhaustion of the long drive. “Celeste had to get here.”

“Yeah,” she says, taking Mimi’s hand and leading her to the kitchen table. “How are you?” She had called her sister almost immediately after it happened to tell her. 

“Good.” Celeste gives her that look that tells her she knows it’s a lie. “Fine.” Another look. Mimi sighs, letting out the words she hadn’t said out loud to anyone. “I miss him.” 

________________________

Her family loved Nico. 

Her little cousins flocked to him, her aunts and uncles raved about how easy he was to talk to. Celeste nearly drooled over him despite Quinn standing right next to him and her having seen him plenty of times on TV. Her parents, Mimi was sure, wished he was their actually child. They would trade Mimi for three mini cans of soda and a bag of corn chips if it meant Nico was their son. 

Mimi was watching Nico play with her youngest cousin, Vivianna, as she showed Nico all the dolls she brought with her and told him about all of them in that high-pitched toddler babble she was probably going to have grown out of by Christmas. Her chest ached at the sight of his smile at Vivianna, finding herself daydreaming about him with their own kid one day. 

“Hey,” her mom pulls her out of her trance. “Can you go grab my phone on my nightstand? It has the recipe for the mac and cheese and I need to take out the turkey in a second.”

“Got it.” 

She heads upstairs to her parents room, finding the phone, an unread message notification from Nico from a couple of hours ago on the screen. She was looking for the recipe, not the messages. It was saved in her mother’s notes app, and that was all she needed to look for. 

But her mom told her to get her phone. She could see the messages and then just ‘unread’ the one Nico had sent her. 

No. That was crazy. What was she even worried about? Her mom and Nico haven’t some sort of illicit affair? That would never happen. 

She shakes her head of the thought. She was going crazy over nothing. Mimi unlocks her mothers phone, expecting to find her home screen with all her apps, her notes app in the bottom left hand corner of the main dock. 

Instead it opened right to Nico’s messages. 

Mimi couldn’t help herself. She scrolls up to the last few messages, her mom for some reason either not replying to him or deleting all of her messages to him, leaving only what Nico sent. 

It was links upon links of engagement rings. 

And she hated every single one of them.

“Mimi,” her mother yells up the stairs. “Did you find my phone?”

Shit. “Yeah,” she sets the message back to being unread and pulls up the notes app just as her mom appears in the doorway. “Here, sorry. I grabbed Dad’s phone instead.”

Her mother eyes her suspiciously, looking at the other nightstand where the other phone sat. “No problem, let’s head back down stairs. Nico was looking for you.”

Nico. 

________________________

“I think you should call him,” Celeste says, ignoring the fact that Quinn was falling asleep in the chair next to her. Actually, Mimi was sure that he was already asleep.

Mimi shakes her head. “He wanted to propose, to get married, to spend our lives together and he didn’t even know what kind of ring I liked? He doesn’t know me.”

“You’re an idiot,” Celeste sighs.

“You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“No, I’m supposed to call you out when you’re being a fucking dumbass.” 

“What did I do wrong here?”

“Mimi, the ring is not important.” Celeste reaches across the table and takes her sister's hands. “You love Nico and he loves you. You guys talked about getting married, didn’t you? The ring can be changed, but if you wait too long, it might not be Nico who gives it to you.”

Before Mimi can respond, Quinn stirs and startles the sisters, shifting on the table. He sits up, his forehead bright red from where he was resting. “Can we go to bed?” he mumbles, his eyes still closed.

Celeste helps get him out of the chair. “Yeah, babe.” She leads him out of the kitchen, leaving Mimi sitting there by herself. “Maybe think about calling him tomorrow? Tell him what you saw on our mother’s phone and tell him you’re an idiot?”

Mimi laughed at her sister’s bluntness. She had been wanting to call Nico for the last few weeks since she broke up with him. Worst of all, she did it while he was on a road trip and took a bag of things out and back to Stella’s place. She never went and got all her things, all her books. 

She heads up to her room, her phone flashing 4:00 am. She had to get to sleep if she wanted to be ready for whatever chaos her family brought with them when they got to their house the next afternoon. 

________________________

Mimi was shaking, walking down the street with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder, heading to Stella’s.

Nico was away on a west coast road trip for over a week already, scheduled to come back the next day. She had been keeping him at arm's length since Thanksgiving, since the text messages to her mother. Everything felt weird, between them and Nico had no idea why. Mimi couldn’t talk to him.

Her phone was in her hand, Nico’s number typed from memory ready to call, all she had to do was press the green button. They had talked earlier that morning, when he woke up, but she couldn’t say anything to him. 

She goes for it, knowing that she had to say something to him as to why she wasn’t at their apartment when he got home. 

“Hey, babe,” he answers groggily after a couple of rings. Mimi takes the phone away from her ear, trying to figure out the time difference. He was at the end of his pre-game nap, just waking up. “What’s up?”

“I’m going to Stella’s.”

“Oh, ok,” she hears him say, the ruffling of sheets as he sits up. He yawns, Mimi able to picture him stretching as he does so. “Are you guys doing a girl’s night?”

“No, um, I’m going to move back in with her.” Nico doesn’t say anything, Mimi standing outside her old building, checking to see if the call dropped.

Nico finally clears his throat. “You’re what?”

Mimi could feel the tears coming, trying to hold them back. As soon as she started to cry, she knew he would hear it in her voice. “I can’t do this anymore, Nico.” 

“What are you saying?” She hears him getting out of bed, shuffling around the hotel room. He was frantic, things falling over, Nico bumping into things, probably in a panic. 

Mimi hesitates. “That I’m done.”

He stops. “That we’re done,” he clarifies for her.

She can feel her chest start to tighten, a lump forming in her throat. “Yeah.” 

Mimi hangs up without letting him get in another word, telling herself that she didn’t want to let him listen to the first sob that came out of her. She couldn’t read the text that he had sent trying to make sense of what just happened, telling her that he loved her and knew she loved him, that he wanted to figure this out and get through whatever was going on.

Stella appears outside, holding the door open for her just as Mimi bursts into tears, bringing her friend in for a hug. 

“What happened?” 

Mimi can’t get a word out between her crying, feeling ridiculous for doing this on the street. Stella tries to console her, dragging her in the building. “You’re gonna be ok. Stay as long as you need. You’re heading to your parents in a few days, anyway.” 

________________________

Mimi woke up to her mother standing over her like she was back in high school and had snoozed her alarm one too many times. “It’s almost noon, are you going to get up?”

“Ugh,” Mimi lets out, swearing in her mind. She jolts out of bed, trying to find all the clothes she had planned to wear that never managed to get unpacked from her bag. 

“Everyone gets here in an hour.”

“I know, Mom.” Mimi nearly falls over trying to get her pants on, her mother just standing there watching.

“Anything from Nico?”

Mimi stops, her pajama top in one hand, the sweater she was planning on wearing in the other as she looks at the smirk her mom had on her face. “I just woke up and haven’t looked at my phone yet, I’m not sure.”

Her mother nods. “Just let us know if someone needs to go pick him up at the airport.” She leaves without another word. 

Mimi shakes it off, whatever weirdness her mother gave off probably just from the normal anxiety that came with hosting their family for Christmas Eve. Both sides of the family showed up, which meant the most chaos possible for their family. She heads downstairs, going through the motions of helping her father get the food ready, setting the tables, trying to find the bag of toys that had somehow completely disappeared since Thanksgiving that they kept for the little ones.

The doorbell rings, Mimi hearing one of her aunts call that she was letting herself in as she always did, a container of gingerbread cookies with her to hand off to Mimi. The rest of the family starts to filter in, the entire house filled with talking, laughing, screaming, and everyone in a good mood.

Except for Mimi. 

“You didn’t call him, did you?” Celeste pulls her aside. 

Mimi shakes her head, taking out her phone since she knew Celeste would make her call him now anyway. She types in his number, pressing the call button without hesitating.

“It went right to voicemail.” Mimi knew the color drained from her face, her heart dropping to her stomach. Did he block her? 

She tries to pull up his location, the last time his phone registering one being at Newark Airport around the same time Celeste got home. He couldn’t be travelling for hockey.

Celeste bites her lip, a concerned look on her face. “He’s probably just busy. His phone is off.”

“What if I can’t get him back?” Mimi felt like crying, again. She really fucked this up.

Celeste pulls her in for a hug. “Then we figure it out.” 

The sisters are interrupted by one of their father’s brothers, yelling something about Quinn being too quiet for the family and how he was sure they would break him out of his shell. Celeste immediately leaves to try to save her boyfriend, Mimi laughing at the image of the poor boy panicking over the anxiety that their family could cause. 

The doorbell rings, the rest of the family too loud for anyone but Mimi, who had happened to wander by the door on her way to the kitchen, to hear. She was sure everyone was already there, her mother not mentioning that anyone was going to be late.

She checks through the small window at the top, the angle of the glass distorting any good view of the person she could have. All Mimi could see was brown hair pacing back and forth on the front porch. 

Mimi opens the door. “Nico?” Her heart swells as he stops pacing, pulling her in for a hug as she shuts the door, not wanting her family to hear any of their conversation. “What are you doing here?”

He pulls away from her slightly to look at her, his one hand still on her waist and he brushes her hair off her face with the other, tucking it behind her cheek. “You’ve been avoiding my calls, and my texts. Stella, Celeste, and Quinn have all called me or Jack or Luke trying to figure out what happened.”

She sighs, wanting to bury herself in his chest and forget everything ever happened. “I saw the rings you sent my mom.”

“And?”

“I hated them.”

“I knew you would.” 

“What?”

Nico laughs, pulling her back into his chest. “I sent those to your mom because I knew at some point, your mom would ask you to pull up something on her phone for her, and I don’t want you knowing what you’re going to get when I do ask you.”

“When you do?”

“When I do ask you, it’ll be perfect for you.” 

Mimi doesn’t say anything, pulling him in for a kiss instead. She could feel him smile against her lips, his hands tightening around her waist. 

“I do have this for you, though,” Nico pulls away, reaching into his pocket. He pulls out a small ring box. “It’s what I’m going to put your ring in.”

Mimi raises her eyebrow at him as he encourages her to open it. “What’s on the lining?” Nico smiles, Mimi staring at the lines and marks. “Holy shit.” Her eyes grow wide when the realization hits her.

“It’s our tic-tac-toe game from the night we met.”

Mimi hugs him, nuzzling his face against his shoulder, feeling his heartbeat as he holds her tight. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Hey, there you are,” Celeste interrupts, the door open with their entire family standing there watching. Mimi felt her face get hot as they all gave the two of them knowing looks.  “Look who crashed Christmas.” 

[iovebarca]

Back To Friends? - Pau Cubarsi

Authors note: I know i havent posted in a while and i honestly haven't been on this app at all mainly cause of this dumb situationship i had, but i dont want to get into too much details haha. I'm defo not going back to regularly posting cause my creativity is really low but i want to try and be active more often :)

WC: 1000+

warnings: incorrect grammar (probably), my first language isn't english so if you notice any mistakes please tell me, fluff!

The sunlight was merciless, streaming through the thin curtains of your room and landing squarely on the bed. It chased away the comforting shadows of the night, and with them, any chance of pretending this wasn’t real. You blinked against the brightness, a dull ache blooming in your chest as you shifted beneath the covers.

The other side of the bed was cold. Empty. You turned your head and saw him: Pau, sitting on the edge, his back to you, one hand gripping the edge of the mattress and the other scrubbing through his hair. His shirt lay crumpled at his feet, and he hadn’t put it back on yet, like he couldn’t bring himself to move beyond this moment—but couldn’t stay in it, either.

You hesitated, your throat dry, before you broke the silence. “Pau?”

He stiffened, his shoulders tightening. “Yeah?” His voice was low, like he was bracing for something. He still didn’t turn to look at you.

You pushed yourself up to sit against the headboard, clutching the sheet to your chest. “Are you okay?”

He let out a short, humorless laugh, his head tilting forward. “Am I okay?” he repeated, more to himself than to you. Finally, he bent down, snatched his shirt from the floor, and began pulling it on. “I should go. I have training.”

“Training doesn’t start for hours,” you said quietly, watching as he avoided your gaze. The way he moved, so deliberately, so carefully, like he was trying to hold himself together—it stung.

He slung his bag over his shoulder and stood, still facing the door. “Yeah, well... I need to clear my head.”

“Pau, wait.” Your voice cracked, and you hated how vulnerable you sounded. But you couldn’t let him walk out like this, like you hadn’t just spent the most intimate night of your life together. “Are we just... not going to talk about this?”

He stopped mid-step, his hand hovering near the doorframe. Slowly, he turned back to you, and the look on his face made your stomach twist. It was a mess of guilt, hesitation, and something deeper—something he was trying so hard to hide.

“What’s there to talk about?” he asked softly. “It was... a mistake.”

The words hung in the air, sharp and cold, and they hit you like a slap. You stared at him, trying to process what he’d just said. “A mistake?” you repeated, your voice barely above a whisper.

He looked away, unable to meet your eyes. “We’re friends,” he said, like he was convincing himself more than you. “We can’t... This can’t happen again.”

Your chest tightened, anger bubbling beneath the hurt. “Right. So that’s it? You’re just going to pretend last night didn’t happen? Pretend I don’t mean anything to you?”

“That’s not what I—” He stopped himself, running a hand through his hair. He looked so torn, so conflicted, and for a brief moment, you saw the truth in his eyes before he looked away again. “This isn’t fair to either of us.”

You laughed bitterly, shaking your head. “What’s not fair is you deciding this for both of us. I was there too, Pau. I know what I felt. And I don’t believe for one second that it didn’t mean anything to you.”

He froze, his jaw clenching. The room was so quiet, you could hear the steady tick of the clock on the wall. Seconds passed, dragging on like hours, and then he finally spoke.

“I’m scared,” he admitted, his voice barely more than a whisper.

You blinked, caught off guard. “Scared of what?”

“Of losing you,” he said, his eyes finally meeting yours. They were filled with so much emotion, it nearly took your breath away. “Of ruining everything we have. If we try this and it doesn’t work... I don’t know how to go back to being just your friend.”

The vulnerability in his voice broke something inside you. For all his confidence on the field, here he was—Pau Cubarsí, standing in your room, looking like he’d just handed you his heart and was waiting for you to crush it.

“And if we don’t try?” you asked, your voice soft but firm. “If you walk out that door and we pretend this never happened... do you really think things will go back to normal?”

He didn’t answer, his silence speaking volumes.

You stood, the sheet falling from your shoulders as you stepped closer to him. “Pau,” you said gently, “you’re not the only one who’s scared. But I’d rather take the chance than spend the rest of my life wondering what we could’ve had.”

His eyes searched yours, desperate and uncertain. For a moment, you thought he might turn and leave anyway, the fear too much for him to bear. But then, slowly, he let his bag drop to the floor. His hands were trembling as he reached for you, his fingers brushing against your cheek.

“I’m in love with you,” he whispered, the words tumbling out like a confession he’d been holding onto for far too long. “I’ve been in love with you for so long, and I didn’t know how to tell you. Last night... It wasn’t a mistake. It could never be a mistake.”

Your breath caught, tears welling in your eyes. “I love you too.”

He let out a shaky laugh, relief washing over his face. And then he was pulling you into his arms, holding you like he never wanted to let go. His lips found yours, and the kiss was everything—soft, tentative, but filled with all the emotion he’d kept bottled up for so long.

When you finally pulled back, you rested your forehead against his, both of you smiling through the tears. “No more running away,” you said, your voice steady.

“No more running,” he promised, his hands still holding you close.

[queenofallimagines]

Can you do Blue Lock Sae x female reader x Rin? The brothers are fighting for her love.

A/N: I SURE THE FUCK CAN!! The itoshi effect is hating them both and then post backstory explanation coming to like them both a lot😔

TAGLIST: @priv-rose

Sae & Rin itoshi:

- okay so boom

- Had another OC though of being like a counselor at blue lock bc none of them boys is right in the head😭

- You have previous connections to Sae bc you were a counselor for another team he was on and his manager liked you so he would schedule private sessions

- Ended up in you leaving bc he’s so frustrating but alas fate has other plans

- You show up to the U-20 match bc DUH

- Anri doesn’t have any money to hire a manager also so you’re taking over that role

- Sorry😔

- Anyway rin comes to respect you for dragging him by his eyelashes about his trauma

- “So are we gunna start with hating yourself and thinking you’re not good enough to prove a point to your shitty brother OR are we working on your material conditions that stem from that today?”

- “…..off yourself”

- Like he can’t say shit back bc you got em!

- Comes in often enough now that he doesn’t schedule sessions he just shows up to spill the tea

- (Isagi and bachira are the same. the spies on the inside that tell you how the others are doing)

- He comes in and flops down in the chair

- “I’m not looking forward to seeing him. Why the fuck did they call HIM to help the team? His ass should have stayed in Spain!”

- “Oh I hear ya, I’m not looking forward to even making eye contact with his ass either. I’m counting on yall to win.”

- “The game-“

- “I want yall to crush him. I have my own personal beef with him.”

- “…….im not asking how.”

- You’re being restrained from jumping over the divider during the game to go swing on Sae

- Like did you see that?? THE AUDACITY

- DID NOBODY ELSE IN THE WHOLE STADIUM HEAR THAT SHIT??

- Yeah I would have swing on his ass right when the final whistle blew

- Better than me for him to get that mess out his mouth about isagi

- Would have stood up and clocked his ass

- When they’re all jumping all over each other celebrating you can feel the bad vibes coming from rin

- It’s suffocating

- You run to the locker rooms to catch him and bump into sae(accompanied by shidou)

- “……”

- Glaring at his ass

- Give him the dirtiest look ever

- And then turn to Ryusei smiling like you saw a puppy

- “Hey Ryu! Wonderful performance you put on today. You definitely stole the show.”

- Like lmao just ignore him pls

- After saving rin from going off the deep end; bc baby I’m so sorry that an ugly ass bitch would say something like that to you

- Their two week vacation starts

- Rin is surprised to see you in not work clothes chilling like a regular person

- Ends up hanging out with you a lot bc you’re the only one who he can speak freely to

- Unfortunately his brother is also back in the country

- Running into Sae while hanging out with his brother was NOT on your vacation bingo card but here we are

- “You’re here?”

- “I could really say the same to you. You haven’t gotten citizenship to stay your ass over there yet?”

- Flashback✨ y’all had a casual thing back in the day because when he’s not closed off he can be pretty fun to be around

- Then he let a white man get in his feelings and refused to talk about them and lashed out on you

- So he just kinda got these feelings and nothing to do with them

- Didn’t think he’d ever see you again to be honest so now stuff that he buried ages ago is in his face

- Can’t tell you sorry. Doesn’t know how.

- Sees you smiling and doting on rin how you used to him and can’t help but get jealous

- Makes sure to approach you when rin isn’t around

- You go to the kitchen to get water boom he’s there too now

- “Jesus Christ do you ever announce yourself?”

- “You’re in MY house”

- “Is it your house if you only show up one a year?”

- Can’t help but start arguments when he just wants to talk regularly

- Rin already picking up what his brother is trying to lay down and he’s not having it

- He’s already developed a crush on you like you CANT leave

- Gets nervous bc if your past with sae that he might snatch you up too

- Not letting his brother take something else away from him

- So all of a sudden he’s a lot more touchy with you

- Trust me inside he’s screaming and throwing up bc he’s never done this before but he will try

- You can feel his stiff ass hand around your waist😭

- Poor baby

- The silent itoshi beef isn’t missed by you but you don’t know that they’re competing off the pitch too

- “You sure you don’t want to go do something? Like we watched horror movies in your room all day yesterday, I had errands to run-“

- “Well I wanted to start the final destination franchise so you gotta watch all 5 of them there’s a new one coming out”

- “Yeah in 2025! That’s like 3 years away!”

- “Shhhh, the movie starting🙄”

- Hoards you all to himself in his room because you’re surrounded by HIM and less chances for Sae to sneak up on you in public and steal you away or join your date outing together

- Thinks you look cute wrapped in his blankets and tries not to blush when you cling to him

- “I swear to god-“

- “My bad forgot there’s a jumpscare here I’ll warn you about the next one promise.”

- He won’t

- Sae rolling his eyes to the back of his head bc you just always in the house now and Rin hanging off you like a sad puppy

- Sae is more strategic where rin is impulsive

- So he’s the type to do shit from the past that he knew would make your heart flutter and run will be blunt and impulsive with his actions

- Sae will touch your lower back as he comes up behind you to grab a class from the cub board and hand it to you

- Sae will bring you home your favorite snack when he knows rin wont see him give it to you

- Rin will grab your hand in public and not let go to make sure you don’t get lost on a crowd

- Rin will clumsily press his lips to your forehead when you are most distracted

- Both are very annoying

- And after a good WEEK of getting mixed signals from both of them you’re ready to stay your ass at home for the rest of the vacation before it’s back to work

- Monday morning Rin invites you on a morning run

- Which you obviously say fuck NO to bc the sun ain’t even up

- But he shows up to your front door at the asscrack of dawn telling you to get dressed you have no say in the matter unfortunately

- The jog isn’t so bad and he has the decency to buy you breakfast afterwards so that’s nice

- Decent conversation surprisingly

- When he drops you off back at your home he kisses you before literally sprinting off

- He was working up the nerve to do that all morning

- Can’t even say thanks or whatever yet before he presses his body close to you and lifts your head to slot his lips against yours

- Puts all his feelings into that kiss before managing to get out “bye” before his throat completely closes up

- And then sprints off before you can even blink

- Clown

- Giggling and kicking his feet when he gets home

- Sae is packing for his trip back to Spain at the end of the week

- When he catches you leaving his house after another Rin spontaneous all day movie marathon

- Offers to drive you home because it’s dark and he remembers the address

- Didn’t really offer so much as grab his Keys complaining about how you know better than to be outside this late

- Sir 🫤🫤

- The ride is kinda tense until he forces a conversation

- Unsurprisingly e vividly remembers all the right buttons to press to see that smile he’s been dying to see

- Don’t even notice he took the long way back to your home

- Puts his new number in your phone and tells you to stop being stubborn and answer when he texts you

- He’s a gentleman before all else so he walks you right to your front door

- Man barely hears a word you said before pulling you closer by your neck pressing his lips to yours

- Remembers you like the back of his hand the way his lips fit so familiar with yours

- Ends up with your arms around his neck and your back pressed into the front door

- Clearly wanting to come inside he pulls away because he’s fond of the chase🙄😒

- Wishes you a good night before kissing your forehead and going back to his car

- both of them have laid their cards out on the table

- Just up to you to make a choice I’m afraid

[dancingtotuyo]

Build You the World

Joel Miller X Reader

Rating: PG-13 (Language)

Warnings: fluffiness, just fluff

Summary: Joel was stupid. Saying sorry the only way he knows how, Joel built you something.

Pre- Outbreak/ No outbreak because I want them to live a happy undisturbed life together.

Notes: We take a break from our regularly scheduled Narcos/Javier Peña content to give you this teeth rotting fluff piece about Joel Miller. Cross posted on AO3

Words: 1286

Series Master List | Author Master list

Joel sucked in a breath. Supplies scattered on the floor around him. The industrial fan blew the hot Texas air into his hotter garage. Sarah rode her bike around the driveway, purple fairy wings strapped to her back. She chatted on and on, no doubt caught up in a make believe land. He needed to take the training wheels off her bike. Maybe tomorrow he would have time.

Joel’s gaze drifted back over the supplies he’d bought at the hardware store this morning. Sarah had asked what he was making as her little legs struggled to keep up with his long strides. She’d noticed the unusual components he gathered. These weren’t for a job or the back porch he’d been working on all summer.

“Secret project” he’d winked at her and thankfully, she’d accepted it.

He hadn’t been able to sleep last night. He’d handled the whole situation badly. It was 2 am before Joel gave up the tireless pursuit of sleep and drawn up the plans. He currently wondered if he’d bitten off more than he could chew. He was a contractor. He did big projects like framing houses and decks. His fine carpentry skills left a lot to be desired.

Joel pushed those thoughts from his head. He could do this. He wanted to do this.

One lunch break, two first aid breaks, (a splinter in his thumb and a skinned knee for Sarah) and a nap (Sarah’s) later, Joel had all the pieces shaped and sanded. He couldn’t help but admire his handy work. Sure it was a simple design and yeah, it wasn’t assembled yet, but he’d made this. He just prayed it all fit.

Sarah colored at his workbench. She’d woken up not long ago and was still quiet from her nap. “Daddy, what are you making?”

“Top secret, baby girl.” He winked at her, pulling the wood glue and clamps from the cabinet.

She sighed in exasperation turning back to her coloring book. Joel hummed along to the classic rock station. His tshirt clung to his body wet with sweat. At 5:30, the temperature was just beginning its slow descent. He started to assemble to the first side, praying he’d made all the slots the correct size. That had been the most tedious part, ensuring it would all lock together properly.

“Daddy, I’m hungry. Are we going to have dinner soon?”

“Soon, I want to get this first side put together first.”

Sarah sighed, her hair floating up and then falling back over her eyes. Joel chuckled, kissing her forehead. “Why don’t you go grab a cheese stick to tide you over?”

“Okay.” She slid off the stool, running inside.

It slid together with relative ease. Only a few profanities dropped from his mouth when he dropped something or spilled the glue everywhere.

He was jerryrigging the clamps when Sarah squealed, darting out of the garage. He glanced up, just able to make out the blue sedan that pulled in behind his pickup. Your blue sedan.

Nerves coursed through him. He reached for his beer. It was warm and flat now, barely touched. Sharp power tools and alcohol don’t mix well. He ignored the taste, taking another gulp. After last night, fear and shame filled him.

Sarah held your hand, talking a mile a minute as if you didn’t kiss her Goodnight last night. You laughed at something she said, but he heard the way it doesn’t quite reach. The first thing he noticed were the dark bags under your eyes and the red rings around them. Guilt flooded him. You need sleep more than ever right now. He felt the exhaustion radiating off of you.

You attempted to make yourself more presentable before gathering the courage to come over. The shower helped, your hair still damp and curling. The mascara kept running so you left it.

 You round the corner with Sarah. Joel can hardly look at you. To be fair, you don’t really want to look at him either. You don’t want a repeat of last night but you can’t ignore the situation at hand either.

You finally call up the courage to look at him. You’d grown proud of yourself for learning the ins and outs of Joel Miller in the two years you’d known him. You could read him like the bedtime stories you read to Sarah, silly voices and all, but right now the pages of him blurred. Maybe that was just the tears you fought back.

“Sarah, do you want to grab your fairy wings to show-“

“Yes!” Sarah didn’t allow her father to finish. She was gone through the door in a flash of dark curls.

“She’s been excited to show you. Can’t believe she wasn’t wearin’ ‘em.” His Texas drawl popped out sending shivers down your spine. He forced a smile.

You wanted to return it, but other things pressed your mind. You weren’t good at diversion.

“Joel.” Your lip quivered and you hated yourself for it. You felt out of control right now.

He sighed. “Come here.” He cocked his head back stepping further into the garage.

The fan pushed air through your hair and skirt granting mellow relief to the heat.

 “I’ve been working on this.” He swallowed presenting his scattered workspace. He read all nerves but there was the briefest sense of pride too.

Pieces of carefully shaped and sanded wood laid about in piles. You caught sight of what he’d put together. “Porch railing?”

You failed to see the connection. Not to mention it looked too tall and narrow to be for the back deck. And what was with the arch? Was he trying to build a trellis? He’d been talking about putting in some raised beds for you and Sarah.

Was this some kind of joke? An “I’m sorry?” It hardly accounted for one.

“No, it’s a-“ he sighed, running a hand through his curls. He needed a haircut. You had planned to take the clippers to it last night until things went awry.

He picked his notebook up off the work bench. The leather bound one you got him for Christmas. You were convinced he didn’t use it. It sat on his nightstand and you were sure if you’d picked it up, you would see a dust outline. He handed it to you.

You could tell he hadn’t used it much but that didn’t really matter. Your breath caught, all else forgotten the moment your eyes landed on the page. It was rough, dotted with measurements and notes, but it was clear as day all the same.

Tears built up for a whole new reason.

“I stayed up all night working through the design. It's nothing extravagant, but it’ll be sturdy… and safe.” He stuttered.

You traced the design with your finger. All the doubts from the past 24 hours, gone just like that. “You designed a crib?”

“It’s cherry wood. I know that’s your favorite.”

“You designed a crib for our baby?” You stepped into his bubble. You couldn’t believe it. Of everything you anticipated tonight, this was not on the list.

“Baby, I’m so sorry for last night. I was a jackass-“

“Joel Miller, Shut up! You’re building this?”

You looked at him like he hung the fucking galaxy, and his heart settled. He knew the two of you would be okay.

 “Yes.”

 You kissed him, arms thrown over his shoulders, tears streaming down your face as the nightmare turned  into a dream.

You would hear his apology out in full later, lord knows you deserved it after last night, but right now, you just wanted to celebrate. Celebrate him, your love, and the little bundle of joy to join the three of you in 7 short months.

[suniloli]

BOILING POINT p1

12 Dec 2023

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x fem!reader (and a bit of Rick Grimes x fem!reader if you so interpret it that way)

Word Count: 1.76K

Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendo

Setting: Prison

Summary: Your tumultuous relationship with Daryl has come to a head. You try to internalise why things have changed between you two. Will things go back to the way they were?

Author Note: This one sort of came to me out of the blue. Wanted to change it up a bit and challenge myself…was also thinking of starting a series, but I’m pretty sure I won't be able to keep up with regular posting etc because I procrastinate a fair bit. Anyways, there’s a lot of dialogue, and not a lot of Daryl x reader interaction yet. Hope the progression of things makes sense!  - Sól

“What the fuck’s wrong with you?”

“Nothin’! You’re just a good fer nothin’ bitch!” 

“How DARE you!” You screamed back at Daryl. “Get the FUCK out of my face!”

“FINE!” He spat as he stalked towards the prison’s gates. 

“What a prick…” you angrily rumbled. You could feel your blood reaching its boiling point. Your body felt like a furnace.

Clenching your fists, you resorted to murmuring not-so-nice things while pacing the prison yard. “He’s such a fuckin’ asshole…always like this…what the fuck….”

In the distance, you could hear Daryl’s motorbike roaring to life, a bit of a venomous back and forth between Daryl and whoever had to cop his attitude at the gate, and he was off on the run without you. Hearing his bike only fuelled your anger. 

“Why’s it always like this?” Glen asked Maggie with a hint of annoyance. “I mean, they’re assholes to each other all the time now…”

Maggie furrowed her brow, pondering the situation. “What happened between them? Y/N hasn’t shared anything about it…”

Putting his arm around her shoulders and squeezing them, Glenn gently kissed her cheek. 

“She probably doesn’t even know what’s going on herself…I mean, they used to get on like a house on fire!” Glenn exclaimed. Adjusting his rifle against the watch tower’s railing, he waved his arm in the air and pointed at you in the distance. “And look at her now…a literal walking ball of flames.”

Maggie sighed. Grasping the hand on her shoulder, she leaned her head against her husband. 

“I just hate seeing her in pain like this….she’s hurting…” Maggie said sadly. “I always thought there was something between them...makes me want to smack some sense into Daryl”.

“Yeah, same” Glenn commented, his gaze following you walking towards the prison. “Guess she’s cooled off a bit…wonder when Mr Cranky's gonna be back...”

All eyes were on you as you stalked back through the courtyard and prison. You knew they all probably heard your public spat, but you ignored their judgment and made a beeline for your cell. 

Once there, you threw your bag into the corner with a loud, muffled bang and sat on the edge of the bed with your head in your hands. 

Realising how bad the state of your relationship with Daryl had become, the waterworks opened and you started to sob. 

So many thoughts were running through your mind. The argument itself was so ridiculous! You accidentally knocked his crossbow off the bike seat and the string snapped. It was easily fixable! You were going to apologise, but you turned around only to be faced with Daryl's expression twisted in anger and something else unreadable. 

“Are you fuckin’ stupid?” Daryl growled. Taken aback, you were immediately riled up. 

“Uh, excuse me?” 

He dropped his eyes to the crossbow on the ground. As he bent down to snatch it up, you took a step towards him, gesticulating wildly. 

“Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? You on your period or something?” You snarked. 

“Always screwin’ around ain’t ya!” He yelled back. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You retorted. There was something else in his eyes at that moment.

“Jus’ shut up woman!” Daryl gnashed. The rest is history.

He was callous with you regularly now. The two of you were constantly in some sort of argument. If not, he was staring you down from across the way. Everything he said was cutting you into two, and you felt ashamed that you were affected by it. 

Admittedly, you weren’t being so nice back, but who was Daryl to speak to you like that? How dare he! 

You wanted it to go back to the way it was. The tension between the both of you had reached its peak. On multiple occasions, you tried talking with Daryl about his unreasonableness, but every time he would cut you off, leave, or divert the conversation altogether. 

You hated his stubbornness. You hated his unwillingness to listen. It seemed as if Daryl was content with having things never go back to how they were. And that is what made you feel upset. 

It was unknown why he was treating you with such disdain. It was wanting to know why he never smiled that little smile at you, brushed your hands with his anymore, or why he never gave your waist a friendly little pinch. He was being so unfair. 

What was wrong with him? You were starting to think that there was something wrong with you…

You could feel tears pooling in your hands and snot in your sinuses. Giving a couple of rich, flavourful sniffles, you lay down on the bed with your legs hanging off. Somehow, even with the crying-induced headache that you now bore, sleep found you. 

You woke abruptly to the early evening sunlight filtering into your cell. Headache much worse than before, you carefully brought yourself up onto your elbows and realised that you had gone to bed with your gear on. Moving to your side and dragging your leg up onto the mattress, you wiped your swollen eyes of any sleep and yawned. 

This wasn’t how today was supposed to go. 

You wondered if they’d give you shit for not going on that supply run. 

You wondered if Daryl had gone to retrieve what you needed from it. 

You wondered if he was back yet. 

Trying not to let any thoughts of him bubble to the surface, you slowly got up from the bed and noticed a small plate of something on your makeshift bedside table. You were so discombobulated that you didn't even notice that someone had left you dinner. 

Carefully balancing the plate on your left hand, you fully pulled the curtain across the doorway and decided to eat in the beautiful evening sun. 

Settling into the grass and watching the sun set below the horizon, a blanket of peace wrapped around your shoulders. Savouring the rich gamey flavour of what tasted like freshly prepared venison, you observed the oranges and yellows mingle with each other in the sky. The soft chill of the breeze helped soothe the puffiness of your face. You looked around and saw some of the  kids kicking around a soccer ball. Their laughter and boisterousness made you smile. 

“Mind if I join you?”

You turned around to find Rick smiling at you. 

“Yeah, of course,” You grinned back. He settled in the space next to you and leaned back. It was quiet for a few minutes. It seemed Rick was observing the beauty around him at that moment too. 

“You know, I never thought we’d be this lucky…” Rick started. He was still looking towards the open field and the activity there. “It still amazes me. After everything we’ve been through”. 

“I know…it’s so beautiful to see kids be kids again” you replied. “Speaking of, where’s Judith, that little cutie?” 

“Beth’s with her now. You know, Daryl’s very good with her — ”

“Seriously?” You sassed. “Are you trying to talk him up?”

Rick laughed. “Nah, ‘course not…” Rick looked away from you sheepishly and picked at his gun holster. “Just tryna’ see if you're still mad at him…”

“Well, now that you’ve reminded me, yeah. I am” you stated. He puffed some air from his nose, placed his hand on your knee, and squeezed it gently. 

“You know, it’s not only affecting you two. Everyone feels uneasy. I think it would be better for both of you if you trusted someone enough to share what’s going on. If you trusted me enough…” 

You paused to look at him. There was pure concern in his eyes. Feeling the weight of his gaze, you looked down at the hand on your knee. You gently placed your hand atop his and pondered for a moment. 

“You know, back at the farm, I remember this one time Daryl and I came across a stash of alcohol from the main house...”

Rick hummed. 

“And…that night we probably had one too many…”

Rick gave you a quizzical look. “And?”

“Uh…” You tapped your other finger against your lap. “We ended up behind the barn somehow, and then he kissed me…” you murmured. The memory confuses you. “But then he pulled back abruptly and left…I don’t remember much else. I’ve never told anyone about it.” You looked away. It was embarrassing to say out loud. 

Rick removed his hand from yours. Stretching his legs out, he leaned on one of his hands and turned to fully face you. 

“Y/N…”

“And I don’t even know if he remembers because he’s never said anything about it…I mean, who cares now right? We treat each other like shit.”

“Hey,” Rick said. He placed his other hand on your shoulder to attract your attention. “I remember how it used to be between you two, even at the quarry. If he decided to pussy out, then he’s the one who messed up, not you” he smirked. 

You considered his words. “I just don’t understand how we went from being so close to being at each other’s throats. He hates me now…”

“He doesn’t hate you…I think he’s just going through a lot with Merle being gone, and dealing with all the change that’s happenin’…”

“That’s such bullshit…” you muttered. 

Rick moved closer to you and wrapped his arm around yours. You leaned your head on his shoulder. 

“Well, luckily I’ve got this handsome cowboy to distract me” you snickered. Rick gave you a hearty laugh and kissed the top of your head. 

“Don’t think your boyfriend would appreciate that…you know, you don’t see the way he looks at you sometimes.”

“I don’t know who you’re looking at Rick, but that’s not Daryl at all…definitely not now.”

“I think there’s more goin’ on than you think…just trust me. If it never works out, this handsome cowboy’s a couple of cells away” he joked. 

“Cute, Rick” you smirked. You hugged his side and thanked him. The sky was now littered with stars, and moonlight shone across the courtyard. It was beautiful. 

As you bid each other farewell, the peace was disrupted by the resounding slam of the prison door, the harsh sound of metal reverberating across the field. Squinting for just a couple of seconds, you accepted the fact that the night sky didn’t offer a clear view that far away. Sharing a glance, you both brushed it off and parted ways. 

However, you couldn’t shake the feeling that you saw something orange glowing on the ground before it snuffed out.

Part 2 / Part 3

*I DO NOT give permission for my work to be used/adapted/copied in any way.*

[aheckinmess]

Morosis [Bakugo] (Fluff)

(One-Shot 3/? in a collection of My Hero Academia Reader one-shots posted regularly once a month - sometimes more.)

Read on AO3.

Tags: Katsuki Bakugo x Reader, Katsuki Bakugo, Mina Ashido, Kirishima Eijiro, Toru Hagakure, Ochaco Uraraka, Asui Tsuyu, Momo Yaoyorozu, Class 1-A, Mostly Fluff with a Dash of Angst, Romantic Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Katsuki Bakugo-centric, Katsuki Bakugo Swears a Lot, Pining Katsuki Bakugo, Katsuki Bakugo is a Dork, Reader-Insert, Reader Has a Quirk, Reader Goes to the Mall, With All of Class 1-A, It's Wholesome and Sweet, and Then There's Bakugo

Word Count: 967 words

Summary: While hanging out with Class 1-A at the mall, you and Bakugo end up standing beside each other, and he has a comment about a manga that you start arguing about with him.

Author's Note: I wrote this because someone on Quotev requested I write Bakugo x Reader, but it was inspired by this post on Tumblr. Hope you enjoy!

Morosis: (n.) the stupidest of stupidities

When the girls from 1-A invite you to the mall with them, you don’t expect it to turn into such a big affair. Whispered words and presented plans travel around until the entirety of 1-A walks together through the large building.

This arrangement both thrills and bothers you. While it’s true that being with the whole class allows you to send unassuming glances in Bakugo’s direction, it is equally true that Bakugo is, well, an asshole.

But dammit if he isn’t your type.

“(Name), where do you want to go first?” Mina rambles, her head twisting this way and that, eyes glowing as she settles into her element. “Ooo! We should go to Sephora first! They’ve released some new brands that look like they might work with my complexion!” 

“Sure, we can hit up make-up first. I want to check out some video games and the bookstore at some point, though.” You beam.

“Oh, yes! I have a list of books I need to search for.” Momo agrees.

You take note that Ochaco and Tsu linger behind, so you slow your pace so that you’re in the back with them. It’s important to you to keep surveillance on the group as a whole, always keeping a watch out for danger. 

“Were you wanting to look for a specific game, ribbit?” Tsu asks, side-stepping a toddler squealing happily towards a photo booth. 

“I’ve been meaning to look and see if the sequel to Dazzling Designer has come out yet. I’ve got 300 hours logged on the first game, and I wasn’t disappointed when I saw the trailer for the sequel.” 

“My favorite is Amphibious Adventures.”

“That fits.” You laugh, picking up a lip tint tester and swatching the color on the inside of your wrist. You crinkle your nose and then set it aside. 

“I like more casual games, ribbit. They don’t stress me out as much.”

“I can understand that.” You continue searching for a shade to your liking. “Do you like dating simulators, then?”

“Some of them. Others just aren’t made well.�� Tsu shrugs.

 You carry on like this for some time, everyone helping each other find what they want or engaging in idle chatter while you ponder where Bakugo might have gone with his posse. He gives me sports store vibes. The image of Bakugo in a plaid shirt and mountain climbing gear suddenly plagues your mind and you smile to yourself.

Well, you thought it was to yourself.

“Ooo, whatcha thinkin’ about?” You jump at the sound of Toru’s voice. “Oops! Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”

“No, you’re fine.” You chuckle, tucking your hair behind your ear as you move on. “Did you find anything you liked, Toru?” 

“Nah. It’s hard to find much since I’m invisible.” As you start walking towards the door to wait on the others to finish up.

“Oh, yeah, that has to be frustrating.” You empathize.

You’re careful to keep control of your wandering thoughts afterwards, feeling successful since you dodged her question. But when you all start walking again, you can’t stop your eyes from searching for the Bakusquad. You think you catch sight of Kirishima’s red hair, but are promptly redirected when Momo gets giddy and guides the lot of you into the bookstore.

 The beautiful sight of colorful spines and the entrancing smell of leather bound pages calls to you like a siren song. Within seconds, everyone loses themselves to the luxury of lexicon around them, going in their own direction.

You head towards the manga first, hoping to find an affordable copy from your favorite series. You get distracted a few times with other titles that you’ve been interested in, but when you make it to your initial goal, Bakugo stands in front of the shelf.

You tense at first, but clear your throat and stand next to him, scouring the shelves for what you want. Even though he doesn’t say a word, you feel the heat of his presence beside you. Damn, if he wasn’t such an asshole, I’d ask him out. Since he’s minding his own business, you mind yours. However, when you reach for the book you want, Bakugo breaks the silence.

“Hmph. You read Music House?” He asks. Do his eyes soften?

“U-Uh, yeah.” You reply, shocked that he’s talking to you. Maybe he’s not as bad as he seems.

“Good manga, but I bet your favorite character is Hikaru, isn’t it?”

I take it all back. You frown at his comment.

“What’s wrong with Hikaru?”

 “Tch. Knew it.” Bakugo smirks, looking over the selection and grabbing a volume that’s several copies ahead of you in the series. “The only chicks that like Hikaru are the ones that don’t know a man when they see one.”

“Oh, yeah? Well who’s your favorite character, huh? I bet it’s Vesper!” 

“Duh, she’s a badass and not a weak extra like Hikaru!”

“But Vesper likes Hikaru…and Hikaru isn’t weak!” You growl out, stepping closer to him with a pointed finger on his chest. “In fact, he reminds me of you!”

“Me? That weak bastard reminds you of me? Are you calling me weak?!” He hisses, getting in your face.

“I told you, Hikaru’s not weak!” You ground out before shoving him one good time. “You’re not weak, Bakugo, you’re just oblivious. You wanna kiss me so bad, it makes you look stupid!”

  You don’t know why you said it, but when his hand grips your jaw and rough lips assault yours, you’re not complaining. Your eyes flutter and when you sway a bit when he pulls away, dazed as you look at him.

“Now who looks stupid?” He says with a cheeky grin and flushed cheeks.

And he leaves you dumbfounded in the aisle.

[ameliaunquacksford]

The Tailor's Apprentice | Chapter 2

Summary: Tav is late on her first day and Astarion is already doubting the apprenticeship. He sticks it out anyway and has her take inventory, but she discovers a missing shipment of very expensive fabrics. Could it be an accident when Astarion has so many enemies, and one big competitor?

-Astarion x (female) Tav, post canon

-Also posted on Ao3

-Click here for Chapter 1

1.5k words

The shop opened five minutes ago and Tav wasn't here yet. A shame, because Astarion was quite looking forward to seeing her.

He spent another night slaving in the boutique, and by the time he finally got as far as he could in his orders, the sun had already risen and he wasn’t able to go home. So he spent the next two hours trancing then getting ready in the storage room. During that time he caught himself thinking of Tav, the scent of her blood, her pure admiration for the craft, for him. Why did she have to be late?

The door flew open and the bell violently jingled, and Tav stood panting at the door, cheeks flushed, the delicious smell of her blood wafting across the room. For a few moments she stood catching her breath, before slowly walking to the front desk, gaze trained on the dark hardwood floor, before she quietly spoke, “Sorry Astarion…”

He sighed, running his hand through his hair, a million thoughts running through his head. How reliable can she really be if she’s late on the first day, not even bothering with an excuse?

“Don’t let it happen again,” he said firmly, and he watched as she physically deflated at his tone. This wasn’t a good start, but he did feel a little bad. Just a little.

“I suppose we should get started then, darling?” He couldn’t help the drawl on ‘darling’, despite trying to sound more cheerful and friendly. Unfortunately, friendly wasn’t really his thing. Could he be flirtatious? Obviously. Sarcastic? Absolutely. But nice? A mystery. 

“Yeah,” she blushed. At least his accidental seductive tone had her look a little less flat. 

“First thing’s first darling,” he said, grabbing a small notebook and paper and strolling from behind the desk to in front of Tav, “You’re going to be taking inventory. We just received a few shipments this morning,”

“Ah, right…” She looked quite disappointed. She could at least try to hide it.

“Sorry darling, I would teach you something more useful for this trade, but I’m too busy today. I’ve quite a few fittings,”

She nodded in understanding, “No, it’s alright, I get it,”

“Do you know how to take inventory, darling?”

“Just record what’s there, right?”

“Exactly,” he handed her the notebook and paper, “This is a list of what’s been delivered. Record what’s there in this notebook. If something is missing, tell me. I’ve moved the deliveries to the storage room on the right there. I’ll see you later darling,”

Her eyebrows squirmed together, she lifted her hands in front of her and held them in L shapes, and Astarion realised she doesn’t know her lefts and rights. Does she know much of anything?

——————————————————————————————————

It’s nice, he realised, not having to worry about taking stock today. It was the part he hated most about this business. He obviously knew when starting the business that it wouldn’t be easy, that there would be complications, keeping count of businessy things. He never realised just how much logistics and counting were involved until he finally committed. 

He really only started the boutique because he had nothing to do. First he was slaving away to his master, then he was going on all sorts of misadventures and saving the sitting, and then he had everything he could ever want; freedom, revenge, money.

Well, mostly everything. He still couldn’t see his reflection, or walk in the sun, or regularly drink the blood of thinking creatures. But his life was significantly better.

And he was bored. A nice big mansion is only big when it’s filled with people. Otherwise, it’s just lonely. 

All of his companions went their own ways, and while he appreciated their company on their journey, and even considered them his friends (ugh), he was just… Never as close with them as they were to each other. So he was left alone in Baldur’s Gate.

His boredom was his own fault. He could’ve helped the thousands of spawn in the Underdark. Would’ve given him a purpose. He could’ve offered to go with one of his ex-companions, but would they have said yes?

He liked fashion. He liked sewing. He was pretty good at it. Why not open a boutique? That’s much easier than looking after 7000 vampire spawn, especially when a significant amount of those spawn are his victims.

And of course it was easier. But it was still so much more difficult than he ever thought.

He started with hope, his boutique lavish and luxurious, polished floors and furniture, royal blue wallpaper with a golden pattern. Lots of flattering lighting to make up for the lack of windows. If he weren’t already rich, he’d have gone out of business after a tenday. His taste was too expensive for a newly opened small business.

It was why Figaro thought he was a fraud trying to steal his business. Maybe he was, at one point, but he had long given up by the time all the new customers started randomly pouring in. 

Astarion wondered if Figaro knew of his newfound success, and how he’d react. Would he be jealous? Angry? Happy to have some friendly competition? Perhaps he’d want to collaborate on a collection together. Astarion did save him from a Bhaal cultist, after all, maybe Figaro would be happy for him, unless he assumed Astarion somehow stole his customers after all these years.

Before he could wonder anymore, Figaro stormed into Astarion’s working room, and he immediately knew the answer. 

“Astarion Acunin!” he bellowed, his fists raving in the air, his face red with anger.

Astarion was busy, to be frank. He was making a marvelous wedding dress that would be covered in all sorts of embellishments that he’d have to do by hand, and the bride was coming in for a fitting later. But his back ached from being hunched over the train, and his hand cramped from hours of embroidering. A break would be nice.

“Yes, darling?” Astarion smirked. 

Figaro stomped toward him, pointing an accusatory finger, “Tell me why that for the past tenday I’ve been getting less and less customers, and when I wander the streets, I watch in horror as people adorn themselves with- with-” he struggled to find the right word, “Garbage!”

“Garbage, darling? What parts of the city are you wandering? Where I go, everyone is dressed marvelously,” Astarion rubbed his chin in mock-contemplation, and before Figaro could start raving again, he gasped loudly. “You don’t think your sister’s business exploded in popularity, do you? That would explain why you’re getting less customers, my dear Figaro! You must do something!”

Figaro seethed, his small stature barely containing his anger “Everyone has been speaking of your business for days now! My old customers, ‘trying something new’, something more fashion-forward! You of all people!”

Astarion was a little offended at that.

“Figaro, darling, you know I’ve admired your fashion in the past. It is your suits I’ve adorned before starting this boutique. Have I tried stealing your customers in the past? Of course, that’s just business, darling. But I can assure you, this new boom is just as much of a surprise for me as it is for you,”

Figaro seemed to calm down slightly at that.

“It’s not my fault the fashions have changed and you’ve stayed outdated, darling. I suppose I’m just ahead of my time. Now you’ll just have to keep up,” he smirked, seeing the rage bubble up in Figaro once more. But Figaro contained himself this time, for the most part.

“Astarion… You may have the customers now, but they’ll come back to me. They’ll realise how ridiculous they look in your garb , how my fashion is the best fashion in the lower city, nay, the whole of Baldur’s Gate, and they’ll look back on this time in embarrassment and shame at the horrors they adorned and called clothing! Just you wait, Acunin!” he proclaimed, pride filling his chest.

“Remember the time I saved you from a Bhaal cultist?”

Figaro stormed off and Astarion chuckled to himself, sufficiently entertained for the day. 

He was alone for another few minutes, his attention solely absorbed on the dress before him, until he heard a small ‘ahem’ coming from the door, he turned around and saw Tav’s nervous face. How long has she been standing there?

“Um.. Astarion?” She was fidgeting with the ring on her finger, her eyes darting around the room, looking at anything but him.

“What’s wrong, darling?”

“There’s… There’s a shipment missing…” she said quietly, her voice shaking a little.

“A shipment is missing? Which one?” This could be bad. The majority of the shipments were expensive, and some took tendays to arrive. But there were a few smaller shipments of ribbons and small sewing supplies. He could afford to lose those.

“The brocaded silks…” 

The most expensive one. Shit.

Astarion shot up, quickly moving toward Tav. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Y-es, I tripled checked! They're not there," she stuttered, curling up under his gaze.

The thing is, Astarion spent last night in the storage room, and he made sure  that the brocaded silks arrived specifically. He needed them for his a project for one of his most important clients. How could they have gone missing?

Realisation dawns upon him. Figaro.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

After skipping an entire week, I’ll try to write replies regularly again! I still might skip days here and there because of deadlines, but I’ll do my best to write at least a couple of short ones when I’m busy.

There are A LOT of messages in our askbox right now, so uhh yeah unfortunately I won’t be able to give you the gift of replying to every single one by the end of the year… but still, thank you for sending those. Even when it takes months to reply, we love getting them and love reading them a lot. Every single one of them! >:C

Let’s see how many shorter ones I can reply today! Alright, so our menu for today is: some asks about me not posting + a follow-up on that Ortho posting Anon convo, all of the asks related to our recently posted drawings and some random and miscellaneous ones.

Anonymous asked:

Why have your replies been goe for so long? I hope you're doing okay! ❤️

Everything is okay, Anon, no worries! <3 Sorry for the wait.

Like I already said, I’ve been busy, both with commissions and with another very exciting thing – a Mob/Idia event on pictSQUARE! It’s going to be our first JP online event, and we’re a little nervous, so we took our sweet time preparing; it’s happening over this weekend.  I drew a 12-pages long doujin that we even managed to get translated to JP… It was such a new and fun experience.

I am not sure if I am allowed to post things I drew for the event, but if I am, we will definitely be posting both JP and EN versions at some point in the future.

And also that darn Cater card that made us drop everything and just draw it for like 3-4 days in a row.

Yeah sorry I ended up rumbling a little bit lol I also feel like I needed a short break from daily replies, but I think I am back. I missed talking to you all.

Anonymous asked:

yeah, don't worry (if you even are worrying)

can't speak for everyone but i just kinda assumed you were busy, you're normally very and i mean very diligent when doing replies

really doesn't matter if you miss a few days or more, it's only tumblr asks after all and i think everyone knows you aren't ignoring anyone

This was my face when I read that you called me diligent, Anon –

 Heh, I’m diligent.

In all seriousness though, thank you so much for understanding and waiting. I wish I had extra hours in my day and my brain was capable of staying fresh and active for longer, so I could reply to everyone faster…

Anonymous asked:

To the other ortho anon, you’re so right. That the thing though this was a YouTube comment about some drama the world doesnt even know I support ortho ships yet. It’s just hello I’m Ace and touchy/picky about nsfw so being called a creep is just the most ironic thing it’s honestly laughable. But I’m thinking maybe it’s time I start posting my sloppy little doodles and sketches and maybe then I’ll take my anon mask off.

P.S. I’m sorry your tumblr has become a chatroom now, Ryu

-💜🌹

I am sorry for posting it so late, I hope that other other Ortho Anon sees it…! I should’ve posted it sooner, but oh well :(

Anyways… I hope you feel comfortable posting your doodles and sketches, Anon. These people are deliberately erasing the line between reality and fiction, and making it everyone else’s problem.

Alright, now asks related to drawings and whatnot! Starting with the ones about Cater…

Anonymous asked:

BREAKING NEWS: First proper Cater drawing ever!

Cater fans are no longer starving!

I KNOW RIGHT!! INSANE! Cater fans are the strongest soldiers, I can’t believe it took us so long to draw him. He had to get a card that was so dope and so hype… to be fair though, that card is insane, we really did drop everything to draw it LOL

I can’t promise anything, but I have an inkling you’ll get fed with Cater slightly more often than never…

Anonymous asked:

Do you have any nsfw of Cater? I feel like I don't see him much

(this ask was sent before the recent Cater drawing was posted)

Unfortunately, we don’t; I feel like he is one character I draw the least out of everyone. I have more Leonas than Caters, and I like Cater much more than Leona :( Like I’ve already said, maybe there will be more Caters in the future, but I can’t promise anything.

blackbutlerfandomnerddomain asked:

CATER'S TIME TO SHIIIIIIIINE!!!! Do you have thoughts/headcanons of Cater's dream? Do you think he dreams of a harem of sorts?

Anonymous asked:

Is it just me or does Caters version of the Heartslabyul courtroom kinda look like a club of some kind?

CATER’S TIME TO SHINE INDEED!!! <3

Unfortunately, I can’t say anything about Cater’s dream for now though because I don’t really have much context yet. But it’s kind of funny; would that mean he’d have a harem of fellow Caters? That’s self love. That’s admirable.

And it really does have clubby vibes, it feels very Las Vegas or Miami… maybe it’s also because of the cards, makes it feels like a casino, but a funky obnoxious one lol

Anonymous asked:

Heh sorry Riddle. Looks like you've been replaced! I love the angst

(this one and a bunch of next ones are about this drawing)

Poor Riddle! Or rather… poor mob, he didn’t even want to get kabedon’d by Floyd, and now he is getting punished for that lol

Teen angst!!

Anonymous asked:

oh, these bitches all so jealous

Exactly :( So petty and so childish…

Anonymous asked:

Omg jealous Riddle 👀

But he might use school rules as an excuse- lol

Of course, he’ll absolutely do it lol Stop acting inappropriately, Floyd and that random Mob! Or he’ll get your heads!

thestarlightfae asked:

Does Floyd enjoy making Riddle jealous?

For the most part! But I also don’t think he always does it on purpose: I think Floyd is just very free in how he acts and doesn’t want to be tied to one person. Riddle, however, thinks that if you are doing something like that with someone, it automatically means that you are supposed to be loyal to each other all the time. So a lot of times it’s just a miscommunication and differences in values…

…but every now and then, making Riddle jealous on purpose is so much fun~ He gets so aggressive and dangerous and angry! And if you point out that he is just being jealous because he wants Floyd all for himself, he gets even more angry and defensive; such a tsundere.

But also, sometimes Floyd gets annoyed with jealous Riddle. He loves it when Riddle is mad, but the implications that he is supposed to do what Riddle tells him to are irritating.

Anonymous asked:

Bro I need to find a fanfic of Floyd cheating on Riddle. I NEED ITTT

It probably exists somewhere… or at least it should!

Anonymous asked:

I agree with Jade! Scaring people is fun! The funny noises they make! They're funny faces! ...I might be a bit of a sadist.

(this one is about this drawing)

Damn, maybe Jade should’ve started a “scaring people by suddenly hugging them lover’s club” instead of his one… there would be more people lol

Anonymous asked:

HOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAZZUUUUUUUL

(this one is about this drawing)

HEHEHEHE YESSSSS

Good reaction, very good one.

Anonymous asked:

Do those tentacles do something, if you know what I mean... Wink wink, nudge nudge 😉

Those tentacles can do anything, Anon… Azul is very dexterous down there~

Anonymous asked:

Is the color of Azul's skin cause she's a cephalopod or because of the lighting?

It’s just the lighting, Anon! We considered making her more gray though, but what we ended up with felt better.

Anonymous asked:

Not Malleus being a goth icon.

(this one and a couple of next ones are related to this drawing)

It suits him too well, right? I feel like he isn’t even trying to look gothy, this is just how he normally looks…

Anonymous asked:

GLASSES IDIA! YEAH!

I know in my heart of hearts that boy can't see for shit

HEHEHEHE YESSS for some reason I can’t stop giving him round glasses lol It’s Azul’s influence!

Idia having bad eyesight would be cute… but maybe he’s just a whore and wears it for aesthetics lol He wants to look like a nerd.

Anonymous asked:

Is Malleus Idias bitch repellent?

This is such a good way to put it, Anon. Yes, I think this is exactly it.

Anonymous asked:

That reverse au is going to fuck me up, I just know it and I'm living for it, and even If you never do anything it ever again its now in my brain and im already thinking about routes it can go

(this is about this drawing)

Thank you so much, Anon!! Yessss, this is such a cool idea, and we keep coming back to it ever since that ask lol It might take a while, but I will absolutely draw more for it because I really want to set up the way we picture how this story could go. This version of Ortho and this version of his and Idia’s tragedy is so juicy.

I am very happy you like it.

Anonymous asked:

MASOCHIST SILVER??? He's blushing while Sebek is biting him... 😳

(this one is about this drawing)

Hehe, I guess it was one passionate bite… or maybe they were kissing just before Sebek bit him. Or maybe they were about to kiss! Or maybe he really is a masochist…

Anonymous asked:

Is it wrong i love to see sebek biting silver and leaving his mark all over him and of course silver enjoying it more so if sebek is screwing him as he bites him

It absolutely isn’t wrong, Anon, in fact it’s very right and correct.

SebeSil sex without a lot of biting isn’t SebeSil sex! That croc can’t stop chewing on Silver, and Silver loves it even if he hisses because of pain sometimes <3

Anonymous asked:

Behold! A man! Wonderful!

And this is why I shouldn’t take breaks, I sat there looking at this ask for 5 minutes before I remembered that it was likely related to this drawing LOL

Thank you, Anon! I draw men too sometimes!

Anonymous asked:

TWST is branching out!

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-three-maidens-in-twisted-wonderland-jia-hadid/1146643327?ean=9798330649471

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/captains-heart-in-twisted-wonderland-heausaff-wellet/1146509418?ean=9798330525447

(I know this is random but I saw these and they made me laugh and I hope they could make someone else chuckle at least too)

Omg! The lore thickens! The canon expands!!

Anonymous asked:

you lucky now is ddd and not nnn

Omg Anon… have fun Destroying your Dick this December… 💪

[adorkablenerd]

How To Defeat MC

(Or how to Defeat The Great Mammon p.2 lol)

Bruh I haven’t posted any fics in so long, I’m so sorry y’all 😭 I’m trying to get back into the habit of writing again tho!  I hope y’all like it and I’m also gonna put the link to the first one of these right below this!

1st part

Mammon x MC (Gender neutral)

Words: 1372

MC couldn’t help but feel like Mammon was plotting something.  They had been a bit on edge ever since Mammon declared he would get his revenge on them.  That was over a week ago, and he hadn’t made any attempts yet. It’s not like MC had avoided him either, as they had still been hanging out regularly.  MC couldn’t tell when he was going to attack, but they started wishing he would just get it over with.  This was all they could think about as they were sitting on the couch next to the demon, watching a movie in his room.  

“Oi, MC!”  They jumped hearing Mammon's voice call out to them.  They realized that they had been spacing out for a good few minutes and didn’t even hear the first couple times he said their name.

“Y-Yeah?”  They looked over to the demon on the other side of the couch.

“Could you pass the popcorn, it’s on your side.”  MC looked down to the popcorn bag next to their leg on the floor.

“Oh, sure. Here.”  They handed it to him and tried to focus on the movie, but couldn’t help but get lost in their thoughts again.  They almost jumped again when Mammon’s hand touched their forehead, pressing themselves to the back of the couch in surprise when they realized how close he was.  

“Are you feeling okay?  Your face seems kinda red and you’ve been acting so jumpy lately?”  The genuine concern in his voice made them feel a bit bad for making him worry.

“Don’t worry Mams, I’m fine, just… thinking about the essay we have due next week.”  They hoped that was believable enough, and by look on the demon’s face, it seemed to be.

“Aaah I see, I wouldn’t worry though, you always ace those, you’ll be fine!”  He smiled and gave them a pat on the head.  MC closed their eyes and leaned into the hand, warm and comforting as always.  What they weren’t expecting was the demon’s other hand to randomly trace under their chin, making them move away from the touch with a quiet squeak.

“M-Mammon?!”  He smirked at their reaction, moving on top of them to pin them onto the couch.

“You didn’t think I forgot about my promise, did ya?”  MC could already feel the giggles building up in their chest, of course they didn't forget, it’s all they had been thinking about for the past week.

“I figured all that waitin’ you made me do, I should return the favor.  That’s the real reason you’ve been so jumpy around me, right?”  As he spoke from his spot sat on top of their thighs, he hovered one hand over their tummy, the other pinning both of their hands down by their wrists, smirking down at them.  Sometimes it was easy to forget how strong he was, since he was always so gentle with them, but even now he was making sure his grip wasn't too tight.  

“If you knew, thehen why did you bother to ask?”  A small laugh couldn’t help but slip out as they tried to keep some composure, though the little they had was already crumbling.  

“Honestly, just wanted to see what you’d say, I wonder if you would’ve just asked for it if I waited a bit longer?  Guess you’re lucky The Great Mammon is super generous and won’t make you wait any longer.”  

“You just couldn’t wait any more yourself, cohould you?”  This time the laugh wasn’t just out of anticipation, but at the demon himself, always trying to play so cool, but usually just ending up looking too cute for his own good.  Just like now, face slightly flushed, knowing you had seen right through him.  

“Grr just stop talking and laugh already!”  He released their hands and quickly started squeezing their sides, causing them to let out a quick shriek and break into loud giggles.

“Nahahaha Mahahams plehehease!” Even with their hands free, there wasn’t much they could do, settling for holding onto his wrists, despite it doing nothing to deter the demon.

“Please what? Please keep going? Please keep tickling you? I think I can do that for ya.”  He smirked down at them, keeping his hands at their sides, but now scribbling his nails around the area.

“Yohohou knohow thahat’s nahat whahat I meheheant!”  MC felt their face heating up at the teasing and couldn’t help but squirm side to side, trying to dodge his fingers, but failing miserably.  

“Oooh, I’m sorry. You meant please tickle your tummy, didn’t ya?”  He moved his hands to their stomach, still using his nails to lightly scratch all over. 

“Nohohoho Mahahamon!” Mc could barely get out any words through their laughter.  They knew the demon could be merciless from seeing him wreck his brothers, but this was their first time being on the receiving end of one of his attacks, though they couldn’t say it wasn’t deserved.  

“Oh? Still not the right spot? How about your ribs?  Your underarms? Your neck?”  He quickly jumped from spot to spot, pinching their ribs, then spidering under their arms, and now tracing all around their neck.

“Eehehe yohohou’re soho mehehean.”  Both knew that that was a lie, and that if MC ever wanted it to stop, they could make him easily.  They also knew that it wasn’t necessary anyways, and that if asked or if they seemed uncomfortable, Mammon would stop on his own, but neither wanted it to end yet.

“You haven’t seen mean yet, human~”  MC felt a small shiver go down their spine at his tone.  They felt his hands moving down to their hips, one of their worst spots, at the same time his head lowered to their neck.  They closed their eyes, trying to prepare themselves.  After a bit, they realized he hadn’t moved at all, and peeked their eyes open just a bit.  They were greeted by Mammon’s grinning face right in front of theirs.

“Gotcha~”  That was the only warning they got before both of his hands squeezed at their hips and he began blowing raspberries into the side of their neck.  They let out a shriek and quickly broke down into high pitched laughter.

“NAHAHA W-WAHAHAHAIT!  MAHAHAMOHOHON!”  It was hard to think with how much it tickled, but they still couldn’t bring themself to say stop yet.  Mammon stopped the raspberries to allow a little relief and so that he could speak.

“Wait? Wait for what? I thought you’d be sick of waitin’ by now, or does it just tickle too much for ya’?”  MC felt like their face was on fire, it was unfair for him to be this good at both tickling and teasing.  

“SH-SHUHUHUT UHUHUP!”  Despite how bad it was, of course MC had to instigate it even more, it was just too fun to mess with the demon.  

“Tch, how rude, someone clearly wants more tickle tickle tickles then~”  He put his head back into their neck, this time lightly nibbling at the skin.  MC couldn’t help but let out a couple snorts at how tickly the action was.

“OHOKAHAHAY OKAHAHAY, IHI’M SAHAHARRY!”  Mammon took that as the sign to stop, instantly pulling his hands and head away and moving to be next to them rather than on top.

“That’ll teach ya’ to challenge The Great Mammon, remember this next time you plan on attacking me, human.”  Despite his prideful tone, he was keeping a careful eye on how MC was doing, making sure he didn’t go too far and ready to get them whatever they may need.  MC curled into his side, residual giggles still slipping out.

“Ahand you called mehe evil.”  They let out a yawn, feeling the exhaustion kicking in, and started drifting off to sleep, head in Mammon’s lap.

“Y’know, you’re pretty cute like this, all tickled out, I might have to do it more often.”  He smiled down at them, starting to feel pretty sleepy himself.  

“I wouldn’t mind, as long as I get to tickle you too.”  Hearing this, Mammon felt himself getting flustered again, but both were too tired to really care about what they were saying.

“I guess that’d be alright.”  They both had good dreams that night.

[luffysprincess]

Hi I saw the post from a fellow moot! So I wanted to participate <3

3 things I love about myself:

I think I have a beautiful body (I sound super vain, but it's taken a lot to get to this point) 2. I love my sense of fashion. I consider it timeless as I go for a retro vintage look or a rock n' roller. It's always between the two. 3. My ability to persevere. I struggle a lot sometimes, but I know I'll never give up.

3 Things about My Self Ship (it's Loid Forger/Twilight): 1. we met outside of a tailor shop. 2. I fainted at a party and he took care of me 3. He asked for my hand in marriage on our first official date. In his words "when you know, you know". I said yes.

He is technically still my fiance, but we might elope. Hehehe.

Thank you again for this fun game <3

a/n: loid’s dialogue is bolded for an easier reading experience

“Let’s start with why are you are so jumpy, Loid? Your leg is bouncing non-stop.”

“Uh I– sorry about that. I’m just eager to be done with this and see my wife.”

“Your wife?”

“My fiancée, Steph, actually. We’ve not yet gotten married but to me she is already my wife. Has been since day one.”

“How sweet! Do you regularly call her your wife?”

“I try not to, so as to not confuse anyone. Don’t want anyone thinking they weren’t invited to the wedding,” he chuckles, “but it comes out naturally at this point.”

“And do you two have any plans for the wedding yet?”

“Yeah…we have some venues and themes we’re looking at… We’re also considering eloping,” he mumbles.

“Oh! How interesting! And very exciting!! Now onto the next question: You said you were eager to get out of here to see Steph. Do you two lovebirds have plans this evening?”

“Yes. A date.”

“A date!! Elaborate please.”

“She’s had a lot on her plate recently, so I’m cooking her favorite meal tonight. She’s currently out at a spa and when she comes back we’ll enjoy an intimate dinner–Anya will be staying at a friends for the night– and afterwards I’d like to dance with her to some songs she’s been enjoying lately. She always has the prettiest smile when I dip her. And then I’d like to spend the rest of the night reminding her how much I love her.” He clears his throat as a his cheeks turn pink at the thought of what’s to come.

“Wow, it sounds like you really love her, huh?”

“I do, more than anything.”

“Well, I hope the two of you have a fantastic evening. I’m praying for your poor neighbors.”

“My neighbors? Why?”

“Well there’s no doubt they’re gonna have to deal with how rowdy you and your soon to be wife will be tonight. Especially considering you seem to be the type to like when your woman is very loud with you....Anyways, you look like you’re about to combust so I’ll take that as my assumption was correct and end the interview here hehe.”

[therealgchu]

Late Snippet Sunday - To the Shore: Reflections

i'm late cos i deciced to scrap the whole first section of this chapter. it was just too contrived and not organic at all. i started re-writing it on saturday, and finally got enough up to post up a snippet. it's not likely i'll make my publishing schedule for friday, either, as this chapter is going to be long and involved, and i don't have another thing queued up (unless something pops into my thinky-blob between now and wednesday).

progress is never linear.

if you want to read To the Shore from the beginning, or missed a chapter, check it out on ao3.

i've also started a backstories companion called Anamnesis, also on ao3.

finally, sneak peekage

Cora looked up in wonder, “This was your mom's? Grandpa said he didn’t save anything of hers.”

“He didn’t. I don’t remember much, but I know at some point he threw mom’s stuff away. I think he wanted to get rid of the memories…” he trailed off, then looked at Hwa. She could see in his eyes the unfinished portion of that sentence, like me. He shook his head, “It looks like he saved her camera though.” He picked it up, examining it. “Yeah, it’s pretty broken. But, I bet we can fix it.” He handed the camera to Cora. “Would you like to try?”

Cora’s eyes shined and she nodded, taking the camera gently from her father’s hands. She examined it carefully, analyzing what was broken and where. She nodded again, “If I can find the right parts and tools, I’m certain I can get it working!”

“May I see it?” Hwa asked. Cora handed her the camera. “You’ll need some speciality tools. Some of these parts are small and delicate. I think I have some, but otherwise, we can probably find some at a jeweler.”

Sam grinned, “Sounds like a project for the both of you!”

Finding the tools was easy as Hwa and Cora repurposed computer repair tools; sourcing the parts, however, proved to be a challenge as there were very few actual film cameras in existence. It was Walter that delivered the goods for the spare parts, film, and chemicals for developing the film. Apparently, antique film cameras were one of those trendy hobbies for the people he regularly hobnobbed with, namely wealthy people of leisure.

It took about a week of intermittent work to get the camera in working order. Sam and Barrett helped set up a dark room in the basement of the Lodge, clearing out the spare storage room. Once the work was done, Cora started photographing everything and anything she could find. Walter, once again, was instrumental in assisting her new hobby, as he was her source for acquiring film. He felt it was a good investment as it “recorded Constellation’s endeavors for posterity.”

She had a good eye for composition, but it took time to understand the mechanics of things like aperture speed, film grain, and lenses. And, there was both a craft and an art to developing the film. It was a couple weeks before decent enough photos were produced, for which Cora showed off proudly to the members.

The first batch she showed to her dad, especially one photo of which she was particularly proud of, and thought he’d like. It was of him and Hwa aboard the Razorleaf, with Hwa holding onto his arm and laughing. 

“Oh, gum drop,” Sam said, a little choked up, “this is beautiful. My mom used to show me pictures like this. Can I have this?” he asked. 

“Of course. I can always make a copy from the negative.”

“Thank you so much,” he whispered to Cora, and hugged her tightly. He let her go, sniffled, and wiped his nose. “I want to get this framed. Have you shown this to Hwa yet?”

“No, I thought you’d like to show it to her.”

Sam smiled widely, “That I would. This is the best gift I think I’ve ever received.” He gave Cora another hug. “Do you know where Hwa is? Is she in her room?”

“No, last I saw her, she was downstairs working on her armor.”

Sam headed down the stairs, two steps at a time, and found Hwa was tinkering with the Mantis helmet, head down and goggles on, soldering servos. He walked over and put his arm around her waist when she stood up. Hwa jumped a little, but calmed when she felt him kiss her neck. “Cora’s first batch of photos are done. I wanted to show this one to you,” he said, and handed her the photograph.

She briefly glanced at it. Her body went rigid and her breathing stopped. She dropped the picture, and removed his arm from her waist. Without a word, she left the basement, leaving Sam flabbergasted.

[wewillbeseen-butnotbeheard]

i’m taking time away from this app (i haven’t really used it as much ~the last few days) but it’s making me realise that i really did get comfort from posting regularly about my own experiences

but also, seeing posts on the relevant tags is not ever going to NOT make me feel invalidated on my own experiences. that’s just how my brain operates with a lot of things and that’s fine.

the things i go through/have gone through feel vastly different to what i hear about on here (and yet it feels like an effective lens to use to explain the things i’ve felt). i can tell i’m avoiding certain words while writing this because i’m still scared to entertain the idea properly

to say that i’m “getting better” is a little complicated because while i’m (probably) moving forward on this, i still feel pretty much the same about everything regarding being human. i find myself crying a little sometimes still. if anything i feel more disconnected from my own body. my own face doesn’t feel like who i am until i look in to the mirror, only then do i feel like i NEED to accept reality for what it is. that’s something that i don’t want to try and explore further into

i’ve “struggled” with aspects of “my own identity” in the past, and i look back on those times fondly. but this is something that genuinely makes times harder. (obviously) i like to take in this half of the year, yet it’s all felt less enjoyable. i should add that it’s hard to think about the holidays that are coming up when all this is on my mind all of the time

i’m not “extremely depressed” or anything. i don’t need to call a hotline or anything i think i’m fine enough. (i think i might’ve gotten close at least once though) but i have extremely conflicting thoughts on this stuff and it leads to me saying rash things and trying to lash out against random people. what i think i really wanted to hear is “fuck you you’re not welcome here” and i really thought that would motivate me to leave this account and move on. after almost a week it’s clear that it had the exact opposite effect

so yeah. i don’t really have anywhere to go to, so the option i will likely keep going back to is yelling out into the void that is this website. that in itself isn’t harmful, even if i’ve started to stop. it’s my thoughts that are harmful. the issue i find with viewing this sort of stuff is that the art, poetry and etc that come out of this community touch my soul in a painful way and it makes me want to retaliate. but it’s a self-inflicted point of view that causes it, just like a lot of this

i don’t know. what i mean is that it’s not explicitly harming me in any way to make posts like this. i’m still going to phase it out (i am right now) to take “time off” for the next month or more, so i can come back with a more refined perspective on everything regarding myself. i hope it’s not weird or uncomfortable at all for me to still be on here and if it is i apologise

[yappingespurr]

Cass: My WoL

This Au’ra is a literal menace to society yet also the hero… Somehow.

(STORY CANON)

Yeah, I’m in the FFXIV scene. I’m a Square nerd and my friends pulled me into 14 like it was a normal Wednesday afternoon.

Anyways…

Cassahn Drache is the little brother to Alyssa Drache. He’s my warrior of light canonically, but he isn’t exactly… happy about it. It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy adventuring. He just hates having to fight for everyone’s safety.

However, being the WoL doesn’t mean he can’t have fun with it. He’s been causing chaos since he was a young lizzer.

How may you ask? Allow me to give you some examples.

As a small child, he would literally bite anyone’s ankles. ESPECIALLY ones who would get too close to his older sister

He would also: Attack said people with a tiny lance that could and would make you bleed. Gods know how many times Alyssa tried to get it off of him

Cass would consistently and always sneak out of the house even if Alyssa would lock the doors. Turns out he atuned to an Aetheryte to get out of the house and always left a window slightly cracked open to get back inside. Arashi(bf oc)and Alyssa are still trying to figure out how he got the gil (It was Mother Miounne)

As stated in the PJ post: You run the risk of walking in on him sleeping ass crack naked in bed. Along with that he would potentially walk down to get a drink in said nakedness.

He torments Erenville with a hum in his voice. You would think they’d get along? Especially when Cass almost hears his old name. And I quote: “WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR NAME ERENSMERIN?!”

He has threatened to blow up Camp Dragonhead multiple times and has started fires on purpose to “scare” Haurchefant…. He actually only does it to get the noble’s attention because he sees him as an older brother.

He was the child who would go out into the wilderness of Gridania. Find some form of a raccoon. Bring it home and let it loose in the house. He was that type of feral

Cass would intentionally put something you’re allergic to into your drink or food and make it look like it isn’t in there. Arashi has been a victim of this. The au’ra was then sent on a mission as punishment

He would regularly be picked up by the Wood Wailers. Not arrested of course, just taken home. Dropped on the door step with; “Miss Drache… We found your brother again.”

If there was an FFXIV equivalent to Nair… Only the gods could protect you from this man. Hide your shampoo and conditioner.

Estinien and Cass are great friends surprisingly. DRG to DRG type friendship… Cass did insult the elezen with all of the poor gil choices.

He would sneak out of Camp Dragonhead with a boombox. WHILE EVERYONE IS ASLEEP. Hide in a tree and play dragon sounds. Asshole

Cass has stolen a precious stuffed animal before and held it hostage. It was not a fun day for anyone

The au’ra will in fact blackmail someone. He is not opposed to it. If he figures out dirt on you, you’re fucked.

Mans literally gives zero fucks. He is a “Get it done NOW” person. The waiting game is his worst enemy.

That’s only some of the examples.

Cassahn is just a menace to society despite being the WoL. That fact does not change even though some traumatic events happen.

He does care: He just doesn’t enjoy showing it. When hi s sister went missing it was as if a part of him died. He never really recovered.

He still causes chaos. Still torments people, but at the end of the day.. As much as he hates being it. He understands his purpose and his duty, and does his job.

….That doesn’t mean he does it right all the time

[nights-at-crystarium]

Fragments - episodes 12-14 author notes

Hi hello and welcome to yet another ramble about Fragments C: I’m doing these regularly because there’s so much I wanna say about my idiots, and I like looking back and appreciating the work I’ve done.

You can find similar breakdown posts on older episodes in my pinned!

I haven’t commented on any of the ShB episodes yet, so here we go. Chapter 2 is estimated to last for over a year real-time, it correlates to the msq events up to Amity. The name honestly I’m not too proud of, I didn’t wanna spend too much brain juice on it :’> But the cover.....

Obligatory ShB spoiler warning!

- Investigating each other. They’ve become completely new people since ARR.

- Despite what he thinks of himself, our lord and savior Crystal Exarch has the ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ grandeur ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆.

- Vivi’s self-image is similar, he doesn’t see himself as anything grand no it’s not a height joke but Exarch rapidly grows in his eyes as he learns about him.

- He sports an outfit I once doodled and found cute, I’m just being cheeky about his newfound obsession.

- He also appears fragile to Exarch, who’s literally seen a world where he died being this young. Exarch wants to protect him, to say the least.

- Vivi’s perceived helplessness and lack of agency in ShB, although it’s nothing he hasn’t already been through in his other WoL misadventures.

- The Light, of course the wicked white surrounding them.

Episode 12 I’m proud of writing-wise, but not art-wise. Turns out the Ocular is a bigger bitch to draw/paint than I’d anticipated, and, although I’ve mostly figured it out by now (having just released episode 16 for patrons), the colors and light in the episode 12 will forever stick out like a sore thumb to me, probably until I find the time to redraw it. Same goes for the Scions, learning to draw a whole bunch of new characters over a week (roughly, an episode takes 7~14 days to complete), well, I should’ve taken a bigger break and practiced some more.

I’d even apply the ugly word “crunch” to this episode. But ah, the best page wasn’t crunched, hell started breaking loose a bit later. Yeah I don’t work in order, usually I do the most important frames first.

A bit of a sidetrack: even though I sometimes find myself wanting for more time between episodes, I don’t think I can afford making the releases even more sparse, current 2-week cycle ensures that this story WILL reach its finale in some distant 2028 if not later, I’m not kidding, it might take even longer and I’ve only been working on the script for a year. The broad strokes are complete, but I indulge in adding more sweet nonsense here and there. Or sometimes a raw af dialogue pops up in my head and MUST be included in some chapter. In other words, help, this behemoth keeps growing.

Personally I’m loyal to my fandoms, and not in a rush to finish the comic, but my mmo experience bangs on that nothing lasts forever: I don’t know where the xiv community would be in 5+ years from now, and I need A LOT of people supporting me, allowing me to work on this full time. So I’d rather keep a steady pace while it’s still possible.

As I get more xp in painting backgrounds and learn all the ShB character designs, it should become easier for me. Currently I’m fumbling through a new field, so please bear with me :’D

Back to the main topic: I came up with and scrapped at least 2 ideas of the transition between ARR and ShB, the timeskip was always planned, but Vivi needed some more introduction still. Current iteration of Exarch “interviewing” the Scions seems the most fun and creative to me.

Also, tea parties with Urianger and Feo Ul :> They’re his only two friends in my hc, Urianger he purposely revealed himself to, and Feo Ul, merely being a soul in a sparkly shell, can see Exarch’s soul as well, hoods are useless. All while they’re somewhat reliable, truly the paragon of pixies who wouldn’t randomly spill his secrets (probably).

Vivi’s a mirror. Every single one of us is, to some degree. We react and adapt to the way the others treat us, and so does Vivi. Unintentionally, of course. It’s a natural “passive trait”. All the Scions except Urianger (for the same reason he managed to trick the pixies, he’s just a special smartass) see their reflections in Vivi, direct or warped.

Y’shtola is basically this:

Can’t promise equal amounts of screentime for all the Scions, but the twins and Thancred are the closest to Vivi, you’ll definitely see more of them.

He’s 26 now, which is still rather young by the elezen standards, and he’s way too tired (tm) probably like most WoLs at this point in time.

Maybe not of life itself, but he’s definitely sick of the Source and all its inhabitants. For all he cares, this place can go to hells.

His state just so happens to be perfect for the isekai love story that awaits him. How did he get there? I know, you’ll have to stick around until I deem it appropriate to drop some flashback episodes. I’m leery of loredumping too early on: firstly, you current readers will get more invested over time, therefore have more fun learning about him at a later point; secondly, I’m personally not a fan of tragic backstories right in yo face, before the main story gets a chance to breathe. And, mind you, Vivi’s past isn’t even THAT tragic, just, well.. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes \o/

In this episode I wanted to show his practical approach to things. He may possess an Echo, Blessing, soul stone and whatnot else, but gotta stick a good ol’ dagger in a boot just in case. He’s a doubter, just a tiny bit paranoid.

Also he has The Chair (tm) where he dumps clothes on. His room in the Rising Stones looks vague for now because we indeed don’t return there for years in real time, I don’t need to spend my energy on designing this room in detail just yet.

Most items don’t hold any special meaning, he simply prepares for a journey into the unknown. Well, there’s the journal he dumps his cringy thoughts in, and doodles sometimes. The trinket he holds here is a Princess Ai easter egg:

I talked about Vivi’s character influences and inspirations here if you haven’t seen yet C:

Exarch’s glorious meltdown does a good job averting eyes from Feo Ul being right there in the beginning of the episode 14, but yeah they’re present not for no reason :>

Mentally he’s still in the msq cutscene.

Gotta mention that there’s no amnesia, insanity, or other sad brain fuckery ever in this comic. Vivi’s head’s made of dense and sturdy stuff x’D

Just a meme I made because I had to :>

There isn’t much Deep Meaning in this episode, the visuals speak for themselves, and I’m DAMN PROUD of them.

We don’t see Exarch in this moment ingame, so I took my creative liberty to illustrate the range of emotions he goes through in like 5 minutes before finally rushing out to meet his hero in person, forgetting that he can teleport at will (yet another hc of mine) anywhere in the Tower’s vicinity, and doing so on foot.

That’s it for now, thank you for reading this and enjoying Fragments C: