#Just remember to leave her in her room after she's done with classes and battle

[omegablade0]

Best girl Bernie with her deadeye

[jwonsite]

bed chem - sim jaeyun

(part of the short n' sweet series)

pairing - collegestudent!jake x fem!reader

word count - 7.6k

warnings - drinking, unprotected sex (wrap it up,,), they don't rly know each other whoops, uhm lmk anything i missed

you looked in the mirror one last time as your best friend rambled on about how fun this party was going to be, and how you could finally “put yourself out there” after your last boyfriend. 

“i am going to get so wasted tonight, apparently they hired like, an actual dj, and i heard somebody say that they were going to do a lip sync battle between the boys,” yunjin explained as she bounced on her heels, waving her hands around in excitement as she told you all the things she heard about the party already.

you ran your hands over the fabric of the dress again, silently questioning whether you were ready for this. it had been a few months since your last relationship, but the idea of putting yourself out there felt… a bit overwhelming.

“alright yes i get it yunjin, i promise i will not silently sit in the corner the whole time,” you said to her as you turned to walk out of your room

“okay okay, i’m sorry i just want you to have a little bit of fun for once. you’re always cooped up in this room doing god knows what,” she said as she grabbed her stuff and followed you out of your apartment

“how did you even find out about this again?” you asked her, sitting down in the drivers seat of your car as she settled into the seat next to you

“well i have a class with heeseung, and the other day he was talking about this ‘big party’ that his best friend was throwing for his birthday, and he asked me to come, and told me to ‘bring my friend too’,” she explained, applying another layer of lip liner and gloss in the small mirror above her

“wait pause, lee heeseung asked about me?” you asked, making a face of disbelief, considering you have never talked to him in your life

“well no, it was one of his friends, i dont remember which one of them it was they all kind of blur together in my mind,” she said as she closed the mirror and opened her phone, rambling about something she saw on her phone as you’re left to wonder which one of lee heeseung’s friends would’ve requested you at this party.

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as the street filled with parked cars and the music thumped louder, a knot started forming in your stomach. you can’t believe you let her talk you into this, much rather being at home in your pajamas binge watching a new series. you glanced at yunjin, who was already checking her lipstick in the mirror, completely unfazed. of course, she was used to this; you, on the other hand… it had been a while.

you find a parking spot relatively close to the house after a boy helped his very obviously drunk girlfriend into the car and drove away. parking the car you grabbed your bag and looked at your best friend,

“yunjin do not leave me alone here like last time. and if you are going home with somebody please tell me before you’re already halfway to his house so i dont go insane looking for you,” you said a bit sternly

“i promise i will tell you if i leave,” she said, extending her pinky out to you as you guys have done for all the years you’ve been friends, interlocking your pinkies before touching your thumbs together and smiling.

as you stepped out of the car, the crisp night air hit your skin, contrasting with the heavy thrum of bass in the distance. the smell of alcohol already lingered, though you hadn’t even reached the front door.

yunjin let out a small squeal, excited to have finally been able to convince you to come to a party with her again. she grabbed your hand as you both walked to the front door, watching as a group of people are huddled on the porch, holding red cups as they laughed at the boy in the middle badly attempted to show off a dance move to the rest of the group.

inside, the bass vibrated through the floor, almost drowning out the sound of slurred conversations and wild laughter. the room was dimly lit, only flashing neon lights from the dj booth cutting through the haze. the air was thick with the scent of alcohol and the heat of too many bodies crowded into one space.

your grip on yunjin’s hand tightened as the crowd pressed in, laughter and music swirling around you like a chaotic blur. part of you wanted to turn around, walk right back out into the quiet night. but another part, the part that hadn’t let go of your last relationship, wondered if maybe, just maybe, yunjin was right. maybe tonight was the night to try and put yourself out there again.

as you and yunjin made it through the large crowd and to a less crowded area of the party, she let go of your hand before yelling over the music, “i’m gonna go say hi to heeseung,” she said with a wink, “ill be back!”

you shook your head a bit as you let out a small laugh, the small crush your friend had on the boy never letting up. you sat down on one of the couches in front of you, and your mind briefly wandered to heeseung’s friends, trying to remember their faces. which one of them had asked for you? the thought lingered for a moment, but you quickly shook it off. it didn’t matter, right?

as yunjin disappeared into the crowd, the thrum of excitement that she had brought with her quickly faded, leaving you alone with the deafening music and unfamiliar faces. you looked around, suddenly aware of how out of place you felt without her by your side.

you pulled out your phone, scrolling through it for a bit before you felt somebody sit down next to you, looking to your left and seeing a boy wearing a white jacket. his long brown hair fell nicely to the sides of his head, highlighting his big brown eyes and plump lips, seeing them curl up as he smiled at you. 

“you here by yourself?” he asked you, the words rolling off his lips coated in a thick australian accent.

“oh no, i’m here with my best friend but she disappeared a bit ago to find someone,” you said looking down shyly, smiling as you looked back up at him as you finished your sentence.

you recognized him, but you weren’t sure from where. you probably had seen him around campus, pushing it out of your head as he spoke up again.

“ah well, you could hang with me for a bit til she gets back,” he said, smiling at you with his eyes wide. you let out a small laugh as you nodded, but your heart raced a little faster than you’d expected. It had been a long time since you’d felt the nerves of sitting close to a boy, especially one who looked at you like that. was this how flirting was supposed to go? you could barely remember.

"i’m jake, by the way," he said, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled. 

"nice to meet you, jake," you replied, still feeling a little off-kilter but warming up to the conversation, "i’m y/n" 

he let out a small chuckle, "you looked like you needed a rescue back there, these kinds of parties not your scene?" 

you laughed, feeling yourself relax just a bit, "is it that obvious?"

he looked up as he pretending to think about your question, “hm, just a bit,” he said, feeling his knee brush lightly against yours as he leaned in, his smile growing wider. you noticed the faint scent of his cologne, warm and slightly sweet, mixing with the alcohol-laced air.

“you want something to drink?” he asked, pointing over his shoulder at the drink table behind him.

“sure,” you said, going to get up before he stopped you, putting a hand out in front of you

“no no its okay i got it, what do you want?” he asked you, looking down at you as you sat back down on the couch.

“surprise me,” you replied cheekily, smiling up at him as he walked away.

as you watched jake weave through the crowd toward the drink table, you couldn’t help but feel a flutter of excitement, or was it nervousness? you couldn’t tell.

jake returned with a grin, making eye contact with you. you stifled a laugh as he tripped over the carpet beneath the couch, catching himself just before falling.

“that carpet definitely wasn’t there before,” he said, laughing as he sat down next to you. he handed you a red cup filled with a vibrant orange liquid. you took the cup, peered inside, and sniffed. the strong aroma of alcohol mixed with a fruity scent made you scrunch your nose.

“i’m not going to wake up in an unknown place tomorrow with no memory of tonight if i drink this, am i?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

jake let out a small laugh, grabbing the cup from your hand. he poured the contents into another cup, mixing them together before handing it back. “there, promise I’m not trying to kill you,” he said with a wink, taking a big swig from his own drink.

you took a cautious sip, then looked at jake with a mock-serious expression. 

“well, i guess if i wake up in a strange place i’m blaming you,” you said with a grin.

jake chuckled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “fair enough. but I’ll do my best to keep you safe,” he said, running a hand through his hair.

you two continued to talk, the conversation flowing effortlessly between playful banter and discussions about your future plans. jake shared what he does for fun, his major in school, and his aspirations for after graduation. you found yourselves bonding over shared interests and ambitions, discovering more common ground as the night went on.

as you spoke, jake’s proximity made it hard to concentrate. his cologne, warm and slightly sweet, mixed with the scent of the party, creating a dizzying effect. he inched closer, your knees touching as he placed a hand on your thigh. the simple touch, combined with his intense gaze, made your heart race and your thoughts scatter.

his fingers rested lightly on your leg, and you could feel the warmth of his hand even through the fabric of your dress. you tried to focus on the conversation, but the closeness and the lingering effect of the alcohol made it increasingly difficult to think straight. jake’s voice, warm and smooth, seemed to envelop you, making everything else fade into the background.

you glanced at him, catching his gaze as he spoke, his eyes reflecting a genuine interest and a hint of something deeper. you were so focused on the boy in front of you that you had completely forgotten about waiting for your best friend to come back.

a hand on your shoulder made you turn around, and you saw yunjin standing there, with heeseung right behind her.

“i’m leaving. you good?” she asked, her eyes flicking to jake before turning back to you.

“yeah, i’m fine. keep me updated on where you are, i’ll see you tomorrow,” you said, pulling her in for a hug. she bent down, wrapping her arms around you, and whispered in your ear.

“that’s him,” she said quickly, a hint of excitement in her voice, “he’s the one who asked about you.”

your cheeks heated at the thought that jake had actively looked for you during the party. as yunjin pulled away and smiled at you, raising her eyebrows, you felt a rush of warmth.

“well, anyway, bye,” she said, drawing out the word as she grabbed heeseung’s hand and practically dragged him out of the house.

you watched them leave, feeling a mix of excitement and nervous anticipation. turning back to jake, you found him still smiling at you, his interest palpable.

“was she your ride?” he asked, his face showing a hint of concern.

“no, no, i was actually her ride,” you explained. “i just like for her to let me know when she’s leaving so i don’t go crazy looking for her when i want to leave.”

“makes sense,” he said, nodding. the conversation fell into a brief silence, and you could sense the shift in the air.

“well, i should probably head home,” you said, standing up. you stumbled slightly to the side as you straightened up. jake quickly stood, his hands reaching out to steady you, resting gently on your waist.

“woah, are you sure you’re okay to drive home?” he asked, his hands still on your waist, holding you upright. your faces were inches apart, and the warmth of his touch sent a rush of feelings through you. his close proximity made your mind fuzzy, and you found it hard to focus on anything other than the way his hands felt on you. at your lack of response, jake gently removed his hands and grabbed your bag from the couch.

“i’ll drive you home,” he said, taking one of your hands in his and leading you out of the house. he fished your car keys out of your purse and pressed the lock button to find your car, spotting it parked at a nearby house.

as you walked together, your thoughts were consumed by the lingering sensation of his hand on yours. the warmth and security of his grip made your heart race and your mind swirl with a mix of excitement and anticipation. you let him lead you to your car, watching him as he opened the passenger door for you and helped you get in. he walked around the front of the car and got into the driver's seat, turning on the car before adjusting the seat and mirrors for his height. he put the car in drive and pulled out of the parking spot.

as jake pulled up in front of your apartment building, the soft glow of the streetlights bathed the street in a muted orange hue. the ride had been quiet, with a comfortable silence lingering between you two. as he cut the engine, the quiet felt heavier, almost like neither of you wanted to break it.

jake glanced over at you, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “you okay?” he asked, voice soft but tinged with concern.

you nodded, trying to push down the nervous flutter in your stomach. “yeah, i’m good. thanks for driving me.”

he gave a small shrug, his eyes never leaving yours. “i wasn’t about to let you drive home after everything tonight. no way.”

you smiled in return, the warmth in his gaze doing more to settle you than you’d care to admit. after a moment of hesitation, you reached for the door handle, but the thought of saying goodbye so soon felt wrong, unfinished. you turned back to Jake, the words slipping out before you could second-guess them.

“do you… wanna come inside for a bit?”

jake blinked, his eyebrows rising slightly in surprise, “inside? i mean, sure, if that’s okay with you.”

“yeah,” you said quickly, the sudden rush of confidence surprising even you, “i just thought it might be better than you waiting out here or calling an uber.”

jake grinned, his eyes softening in that easy, charming way he had, “i’m not gonna say no to that.”

you both got out of the car, the cool night air nipping at your skin. as you led him to the door, the sound of his footsteps behind you felt grounding, reassuring. once inside, you clicked on a small lamp, the warm light spilling over your cozy apartment. you turned to see jake taking it all in, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets.

“it’s nice,” he said, his voice quieter now that you were in a more intimate space. “feels like you.”

you blinked at him, caught off guard, 

“like me?”

“yeah,” he nodded, offering you a soft smile. “warm, inviting.”

heat crept up your neck at his words. you quickly moved toward the closet, pulling out a blanket and some pillows. “you can, uh, take the couch. it’s really comfortable. i have extra blankets if you need more.”

jake chuckled softly as he watched you fuss around, “thanks, y/n. i appreciate it.”

you placed the pillows on the couch and turned back to him, feeling a bit self-conscious now that you were standing in the soft glow of the living room together. the energy between you two felt different here, softer, closer.

“so… do you want something to drink?” you offered, “water, soda, tea?”

“water’s fine,” jake said, following you with his eyes as you made your way to the kitchen. 

“you’re being really sweet about this, you know that?”

you laughed quietly, grabbing a glass. “i just don’t want you to think i invited you in and then abandoned you on the couch.”

jake smiled, his gaze lingering on you as you handed him the glass of water.

“i definitely don’t feel abandoned.”

his words hung in the air for a moment longer than necessary, and you found yourself nervously tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. 

“so, um, you’re okay with crashing here? i mean, i don’t want it to feel awkward or anything.”

jake shook his head. 

“not awkward at all. actually… it’s kind of nice. i wasn’t ready to head home yet anyway.”

you bit your lip, contemplating your next move. 

“well… if you’re not tired, we could, i don’t know, watch a movie or something? just to wind down?”

jake’s eyes lit up, “a movie sounds perfect. wyou got?”

You walked over to the couch and gestured toward your small but growing collection of dvds and streaming options on the tv. 

“pick your poison. i’m pretty easygoing when it comes to movies.”

jake grinned, kneeling down in front of your collection, his fingers brushing over a few titles before he looked back at you with a playful gleam in his eye. 

“rom-com or action?”

you rolled your eyes playfully. “you really think I’m the rom-com type?”

he chuckled, shaking his head, “i don’t know, i could see you enjoying a cheesy romance now and then.”

“alright, fine,” you said with a smirk, “pick whatever you want. i’m just going to change into something more comfortable.”

jake nodded as you disappeared into your bedroom, your heart racing a little faster than it should have been. the realization that jake was in your living room, picking out a movie for the two of you to watch together, was almost surreal.

when you emerged a few minutes later, now dressed in comfy sweatpants and a hoodie, jake had settled on the couch, the movie queued up, and now changed into a pair of sweats and oversized t shirt that you had left out for him. he looked up at you with a grin.

“i went with action. hope that’s cool,” he said, patting the seat next to him.

“totally fine,” you laughed, sitting down beside him, leaving just enough space to feel the comfortable tension between you.

the movie started, and for the first few minutes, you both stayed focused on the screen, the low hum of action scenes filling the room. but as time passed, you found yourself sneaking glances at jake. his profile, illuminated by the soft glow of the tv, was calm and relaxed.

eventually, you leaned back into the couch, letting the comfort of the moment settle over you. “thanks for tonight,” you said softly.

jake turned his head, his gaze finding yours in the dim light. “i should be the one thanking you.”

you smiled, feeling the weight of his words. “for what?”

“for letting me in,” he said quietly, his voice sincere.

for a moment, neither of you spoke, the quiet hanging in the air between you. then, without really thinking, you nudged him with your elbow, breaking the tension with a smile. “well, if you get popcorn crumbs on my couch, i might take it back.”

jake laughed, the sound low and warm, and suddenly everything felt easy again. you leaned into the movie, the space between you shrinking ever so slightly as the night went on, the quiet intimacy of it all wrapping around you both like a soft, shared secret.

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you woke up early the next morning, the soft rays of sunlight filtering through the curtains, painting the room in golden hues. it had to be around 6 or 7 a.m. the apartment was quiet, the only sound being the rhythmic breathing from the boy underneath you. you went to move, instinctively reaching for your phone, but stopped as you became fully aware of where you were—and who you were with.

your face warmed as you realized you were lying completely on top of jake, his arms wrapped snugly around your waist, his chest rising and falling beneath you. you didn’t even remember how you ended up like this, barely recalling falling asleep in the first place. all you could focus on was the heat of his hands resting against your back, their warmth burning through the thin fabric of your t-shirt, as though they belonged there.

jake stirred slightly, his body reacting to your small movements. his eyes opened slowly, still heavy with sleep, and as he looked down at you, his messy hair and sleepy expression only made your heart race more. his grip on your waist tightened slightly, pulling you just a little closer, as if to confirm that you were real.

“hi,” you said softly, a smile tugging at your lips.

“hey,” he replied, his voice raspy from sleep, one hand lazily leaving your waist to rub the sleep from his eyes. even in his groggy state, his gaze was soft, lingering on you with that same intensity from last night.

he shifted, propping himself up slightly against the arm of the couch. his hands moved to your waist again, gently guiding you so that you were now straddling his lap. the movement felt effortless, as if the two of you had done this a hundred times before. your heart was beating out of your chest, but something about this felt... right.

you instinctively rested your hands behind his neck, fingers playing with the soft strands of hair at his nape. the closeness was intoxicating, neither of you speaking as you exchanged quiet smiles. in this early morning haze, with sleep still clinging to your senses, it felt like the world had narrowed down to just the two of you. it was domestic, almost intimate in a way that left you breathless.

jake’s eyes searched yours, his expression thoughtful before he spoke. “i really want to kiss you right now,” he admitted softly, his voice low and sincere, never breaking eye contact.

his words caught you off guard, your heart skipping a beat. you blinked at him, your mouth slightly open in surprise, trying to process what he’d just said. before you could respond, jake’s face shifted, a flicker of uncertainty passing through his eyes.

“i’m sorry, was that too far—”

but his words were cut short as you leaned in, closing the gap between you. your lips met his in a rush of heat and urgency, the feel of his lips against yours instantly sending sparks through your body. for a second, jake’s eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly melted into the kiss, his grip on your waist tightening. his hands moved up and down your sides, fingers tracing the fabric of your shirt as if memorizing the feel of you.

the kiss was far from perfect, messy, a tangle of teeth and tongues, but that only made it better. there was no hesitation, no holding back. you pressed yourself closer to him, your arms tightening around his neck, and jake responded in kind, pulling you against him with a kind of desperation, as though he had wanted this for as long as you had.

time seemed to blur as the kiss deepened, the air between you thick with longing. you could feel the pounding of his heart beneath your hands, mirroring the wild rhythm of your own. the world outside faded, leaving only the heat between you, the sound of your shared breath, and the lingering taste of his lips on yours.

he pulled away to catch his breath before moving his lips down your neck, kissing and sucking on it and leaving red marks along his path. you threw your head back as you let out small moans, gripping the hair along the nape of his neck tightly. after taking his time on your neck, he pulls away and looks at you with a certain desperation in his eyes.

“i want you so bad, please.” he says, looking at you with pleading eyes, waiting for you to give him the okay. you nodded at him quickly before he let out a small groan and picked you up to lay you down on the couch, hovering over you before continuing to kiss you, kissing down your neck again before grabbing the hem of your t shirt and pulling it over your head. you let out a small moan as kissed your exposed chest, his hands wrapping around your back to unclasp your bra, slipping it off your arms and discarding it somewhere on the floor in your living room. 

“so pretty…” he muttered to himself as he continued to kiss down your body. your hands tangled into his hair, grabbing at the roots of his brown locks and tugging slightly. you let out a small whine of impatience, pushing his head down towards your core softly.

“jake please,” you said breathily, not even sure what you were asking for. 

“please what baby?” he asked you, coming up from his spot over your lower stomach to kiss your jawline

“want you so bad don’t tease,” you said with a pout, looking up at him with pleading eyes as he had done to you before.

“shh be patient princess, i promise i’m gonna take good care of you,” he said to you before kissing your lips softly and returning back to where he was on your lower stomach. he moved down a bit more to kiss your core over the sweats you were wearing, watching as you grabbed onto the cushions next to you in frustration.

he chuckled to himself before hooking his fingers on the waistband of your pants and pulling them down, exposing the black lacy pair of underwear you had on. he swears he practically salivated at the sight, wanting to feel you on his tongue right now, but also wanting to prolong this moment forever. you bucked your hips up towards his mouth, trying to get more friction against your core. he kissed the insides of your thighs before pulling your underwear to the side and licking a stripe right up your folds. you let out a loud whine at the sensation of him where you’ve wanted him this entire time.

“mm you taste so sweet princess,” he said, dipping his head down for another taste of you. he suckled on your clit as his hands were wrapped around your thighs, holding you down onto his face so you couldn’t move off of him. he was devouring your core like he was a starved man, licking and sucking your clit while also putting his tongue inside your hole ever so often. you grasped at the couch cushions next to you before one of you hands flew to his head, grabbing at his hair and the other moved to grab your boob, playing with and pinching your nipple.

he moved one of his hands up to play with your other boob, using his other hand to finger you, sticking two of his fingers inside you while still sucking on your clit and playing with your boob, the sensation of everything hes doing making your mind practically break, barely even able to think about anything other than his mouth on you. you felt your high approaching, the familiar knot in your stomach tightening as he continued his ministrations on your body. as your orgasm hit, he continued eat you out through it, slowing his finger and bit but keeping his mouth on your clit. once you had stopped shaking and calmed down, he pulled away, licking his lips and sucking your juices off his fingers.

“did so good for me baby, taste so good,” he said as he finished cleaning your essence off his fingers. you pushed yourself off the couch and onto your still weak legs, standing at the edge of the couch about to sink down onto your knees before jake stopped you, grabbing your forearm and pulling you onto his lap.

“as much as i would love to feel your mouth around me, i need to be inside you. we can save that for next time,” he tells you with a wink, lifting you up for a moment so he can pull his pants and underwear down, his hard on slapping against his stomach as he lets you settle back down on his lap, leaning forward to suck on one of your nipples and taking your other boob in his hand. your hand tugged at the hem of his t shirt, signaling to him that you wanted it off. he chuckled before leaning back and tugging his shirt off, letting you ogle at his chiseled abs and chest. you ran a finger down his abs, tracing the lines as he watched you, hands moving to your ass and massaging it. he pulled your underwear to the side and let you sink down onto his dick.

you both let out small moans and whines, leaning forward to bury your head in his neck, moaning into it and sucking small hickies onto it. you bottomed out on him, sitting there for a second to let yourself adjust to his size. he throws his head back on the couch, closing his eyes and letting out a small ‘fuck’ as you sit on him, he looks back at your face, lip slightly bit and eyes squeezed shut.

“please move princess, i can’t do this,” he asks you, rubbing one of his hands up and down your back soothingly. you opened your eyes and obliged to his request, slowly lifting off him so you can sink back down, repeating this until you have a steady pace, your legs burning a bit as you fight to lift off him. your pace quickens as you rest your hands on his shoulders, grabbing onto them to ground yourself.

“fuck jakey i cant ‘s too much need help,” you say to him with a pout, tears pricking at your eyes in frustration.

“aw baby need my help? its okay i got you,” he says as he picks you up off of him and puts you face down ass up on the couch, settling behind you before pushing himself into you again, his pace quick and deep, not giving you a moment to breathe. you fisted at the blanket still lying on the couch from last night, grabbing it and burying your face into it to stifle your moans. you could feel his hips being to stutter, his pace faltering a bit as you guessed he was close to finishing. you were close again too, reaching a hand down to play with your clit to help you finish at the same time as him. jake watched as your hand went down to your core and he swears it pushed him over the edge, shooting his cum deep inside you right as your second orgasm hit you, your legs shaking as you clenched around him, milking his cock. 

he pulls out of you slowly, not wanting to overstimulate you anymore, before picking you up to lay you back against him.

“mm, go to my room ‘m sleepy,” you said to him before he could settle down, letting him pick you up and walk to the bedroom he had seen you exit the night before. the bed was still freshly made from not being slept in, but before he placed you in bed he took you to the bathroom, placing you on the toilet so you could pee, and then grabbing a few wipes to clean you up. he picked you up again, walking out to your bedroom and placing you on the bed, tucking you into the freshly made sheets and getting in bed next to you. you pull him against you, throwing one of your legs over him as you bury your face into his chest as he wraps his arms around you, letting his smell intoxicate your senses. you felt him kiss the top of your head before drifting off to sleep, feeling secure in his arms as he holds you.

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you woke up again later that morning, the bed next to you noticeably empty. groggily, you reached for your phone on the nightstand to check the time. 11:24 a.m. blinked back at you in soft, digital numbers. as you shifted to sit up, a dull ache spread through your legs and core, reminding you of the ministrations of the morning. you winced slightly, muscles protesting at the movement. but your mind quickly shifted to the more pressing question—where was jake?

slowly, you got out of bed, walking with a slight limp as you made your way toward the living room. the sounds of activity in the kitchen caught your attention, and when you peeked in, you couldn’t help but smile at the sight in front of you.

jake stood there, a mess of pancake batter smeared across his arms and face, frantically attempting to balance cooking pancakes, bacon, and eggs all at once. from the look of it, it wasn’t going very well. the pancakes were sticking to the pan, some slightly burnt around the edges, while the bacon seemed dangerously close to being overcooked. he was muttering something under his breath, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

you bit back a giggle, finding his distressed state both endearing and hilarious. you stayed back for a moment, just watching him as he tried to flip a pancake, only for it to fall apart mid-air, half of it splatting onto the stove.

“this is a lot harder than they make it seem,” he muttered to himself, his frustration growing. “how am I supposed to tell when one side is cooked? every time I try to flip them, they just fall apart. then when I focus on the pancakes, the bacon burns... and oh my gosh, i forgot about the eggs…” he scrambled to pull the bacon off the burner before it became any more charred than it already was.

you couldn’t hold back your laughter any longer, a soft giggle escaping your lips. jake froze, turning toward you with a sheepish grin, as if just now realizing how ridiculous the scene must look. his hair was tousled, and the smear of pancake batter on his face made him look like a kid caught in the middle of a food fight.

without a word, you walked up behind him and wrapped your arms around his back, resting your cheek against the broad expanse of his shoulder. the warmth of his body was comforting, familiar. you pressed a small kiss against his shoulder blade, smiling to yourself as you felt him relax under your touch.

he turned his head to look at you, his eyes soft but amused. “i’m trying,” he said with a sigh, “but i think i’m in over my head here.”

you glanced at the stove, seeing the evidence of his valiant but slightly chaotic efforts. with a soft chuckle, you gave him a playful nudge. “i can see that. but don't worry, i’ve got this. go sit down before you burn the kitchen down.”

jake laughed, his shoulders sagging in relief as you motioned for him to sit at the counter’s barstools. he wiped at the pancake batter smeared on his forearms, then gave you a grateful smile. “you sure? because I’m about two seconds away from calling for takeout.”

you shook your head with a grin. “i’ll save breakfast. just sit tight,” you said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before moving back to the stove

jake took a seat, watching as you moved effortlessly around the kitchen, turning down the heat on the stove and rescuing the pancakes from total disaster. as you whisked together a fresh batch of eggs, you could feel his eyes on you, but instead of the tension from earlier, it was a warm, lingering gaze that made your heart flutter.

“not gonna lie, I’m a little impressed,” jake admitted, resting his chin on his hand as he watched you in awe. “i thought i could handle breakfast, but clearly i was wrong.”

“you had the right idea,” you teased, glancing over your shoulder with a smirk. “execution could use a little work though.”

he chuckled, leaning back in the chair. “i’ll leave the culinary stuff to you then. i’ll handle... well, anything that doesn’t involve flipping pancakes.”

“deal.”

within a few minutes, you had managed to salvage the meal, serving up perfectly golden pancakes, crisp bacon, and fluffy scrambled eggs. you slid a plate in front of jake, who gave you an exaggerated look of gratitude.

“this looks amazing,” he said, eyeing the food with genuine appreciation. “you’re a lifesaver.”

you joined him at the counter, sitting down next to him with your own plate. “well, it’s the least I could do after you tried so hard. but next time? maybe stick to something simpler, like toast.”

he laughed, taking a bite of his food. “yeah, noted.”

the two of you ate in comfortable silence, the clinking of cutlery the only sound in the air. you glanced up at him every now and then, noticing the subtle bounce of his leg under the counter. his hands fiddled with the edge of his plate, eyes occasionally darting to you as if he was trying to work up the courage to say something. you leaned forward slightly, concern softening your features.

“you okay?” you asked, your voice gentle but curious.

"hm? oh yeah, i’m fine,” he replied with a small chuckle, though his tone was a bit too casual, unconvincing. his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

you raised an eyebrow, sensing there was something more on his mind. jake inhaled deeply, his chest rising with a nervous breath before he finally spoke, the words tumbling out quickly, almost all at once.

“i was just wondering if, maybe, you wanted to go on a date with me? a real one, like at a restaurant or something fancy like that,” he asked, his voice tinged with nervous excitement. he kept his gaze on you, but you could see the flicker of doubt in his eyes.

a soft giggle escaped your lips at how flustered he sounded. you turned to face him fully, your heart warming at how endearing his awkwardness was. reaching out, you gently took one of his hands in yours, threading your fingers through his. his hand felt warm and solid in your grasp, a reassuring touch as you smiled up at him.

“jake,” you said, giving his hand a light squeeze. "you really think after everything that happened last night and this morning i would say no to going on a date with you?”

his eyes widened for a moment, like he hadn’t even thought of that possibility. you grinned, enjoying the way his nervous energy shifted into something more relaxed as you continued.

“of course i’ll go on a date with you. to a restaurant, somewhere fancy... whatever you want,” you teased, repeating his words back to him with a playful tone and a soft smile.

jake let out a long sigh of relief, a smile breaking across his face as he dramatically placed his free hand over his heart. "oh thank god. i was so worried you were going to say no. that would’ve been really embarrassing, especially after... well, everything.”

he glanced at you, his expression a mix of humor and sincerity, like he still couldn’t quite believe his luck. you leaned closer, pressing a light kiss to the back of his hand before pulling away.

“well, you don’t have to worry about that," you reassured him. "i’m looking forward to it.”

the tension between you melted, replaced by the easy warmth that had been there since the night before. jake’s eyes lingered on yours for a moment longer, his leg finally still as the nervous energy dissipated. you could feel the shift in the air between you, something that felt more real, more grounded, like the beginning of something truly special.

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months had passed, and your new apartment was still half-filled with unpacked boxes, yet it already felt like home. the sunlight streamed through the window as you stood in the living room, trying to make sense of where to hang the last picture frame. jake was on the floor, fumbling with the assembly of a coffee table, muttering curses under his breath.

“you sure you don’t need help?” you teased, leaning against the doorway with a smile.

he glanced up, flashing you a sheepish grin. “i’ve got it. i think.” then, after another failed attempt to fit the legs together, he sighed dramatically. “okay, maybe not. wanna come rescue me?”

you laughed, walking over to him. kneeling beside him, you grabbed the instruction manual, skimming over it quickly. “you’re hopeless,” you teased, nudging him gently with your shoulder.

“hopeless?” he echoed, pretending to be offended. “i got us this far, didn’t i?”

“barely,” you retorted with a smirk, handing him a screwdriver.

as you worked together on the table, the soft hum of music from your phone filled the background. the moment was calm, but it felt familiar, like it always had when you were with jake. comfortable, easy.

“i was thinking about something earlier,” jake said after a quiet pause.

“oh yeah?” you glanced up at him as you tightened one of the screws.

“the night we met. at that party. you remember it?” He leaned back slightly, reminiscing with a small smile tugging at his lips.

you rolled your eyes playfully. “how could I forget? you were the only guy there not trying to impress people.”

jake laughed, shaking his head. “i was definitely trying to impress you. i just didn’t know how.”

you grinned at the memory, sitting back on your heels. “really? because i distinctly remember you spilling your drink all over your shoes when you tried to come over and talk to me.”

he winced. “okay, yeah, that was not my smoothest moment. but hey, you laughed. that was a win in my book.”

“i laughed because you were adorable. completely flustered,” you said, nudging him again.

he chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “i had no idea what to say. you looked so cool, like you had everything figured out. i was just the guy trying not to trip over his own feet.”

“you were cute,” you admitted with a soft smile. “i remember thinking you were different from everyone else there. you weren’t trying too hard, and you weren’t putting on an act. that’s what i liked.”

jake’s smile softened as he met your gaze. “and now look at us. from that messy party to... this.”

he gestured around the apartment, the boxes, the half-assembled furniture, and the growing life you two were creating together.

“it’s crazy, isn’t it?” you said, leaning against him. “If someone told me that night we’d be living together, I would’ve never believed them.”

“i had a feeling,” he said softly. “i mean, i didn’t know it then, but there was something about you. even from that first awkward conversation, i knew i didn’t want it to be the last.”

you looked at him, your heart swelling with affection. “i’m glad you didn’t give up after the drink spill.”

“hey, it was part of my charm,” jake teased with a grin, squeezing your hand.

“sure, let’s call it that,” you joked, resting your head on his shoulder.

jake wrapped his arm around you, pulling you close as you both sat back, admiring the space that was slowly becoming your shared home. the silence between you was comfortable, like a warm blanket of memories.

“i still can’t believe how nervous I was to ask you out that morning,” jake said after a while, his voice filled with amusement. “i was convinced you’d say no.”

you laughed. “how could i? after all that... there was no way I was letting you get away.”

he leaned in, kissing the top of your head gently. “well, good thing you didn’t. because this... all of this feels right.”

you smiled, closing your eyes as you sank into the moment. “yeah. it does.”

as you sat there together, the apartment around you still in progress, you realized that it didn’t matter if things were perfect. the only thing that mattered was that you were building it together. from that party where you first met to this shared life, every step along the way had brought you closer, turning small moments into something lasting and real.

and as jake pulled you even closer, you knew that this was just the beginning of everything you both still had to look forward to.

[newtthetranswriter]

Okay, so of course this is a giulio gandini request because no one has been writing about him yet, but I NEED him now, so.. 👀

(Sry if these are a bit corny, I'm a sucker for tooth rotting fluff!!)

‼️*SMALL MHA YOUR NEXT SPOILERS*‼️

So maybe a gaming one where the reader kinda teaches him how, baking with him, or you know how thought the movie he is basically telling us that he is alone and Anna saved him?? Well, they save Anna, so they don't talk as much as they used to. Then, one day, he runs into reader and it's like the "I'd thought I'd never love again, until I found her" yk??

(Sry, Ik this is long, i just love him, sm!!😫🥹)

Word Count: 2370

Paring: Giulio Gandini x gn!reader

Warnings: Angst to fluff, Spoilers for My Hero Academia: You’re Next, Slight Spoilers for the My Hero Manga (nothing huge just talk about the clean up efforts), Ooc Giulio (As far as I know this is the first Giulio fic so I don;t know how others write for him and it might be a little off nothing to bad though)

A/n: Hello anon. Thank you so much for the Request. I hope this meets your expectations, as Giulio might be a little ooc, but I am happy with how this turned out. Also I went with gender neutral pronouns, i hope that's okay, it only mentioned like once though. Anyways enjoy, remember requests are open, and as always remember to hydrate or diedrate.

   Living in the U.A. shelter was not how I expected my spring to go, but alas with the war between Villains and Heroes reaching its turning point there wasn’t any other option. Though unlike most of the refugees staying in U.A., I was brought here after I helped take down Dark Might. I was working alongside my close friend Giulio to locate and kill his boss Miss Anna, who had been kidnapped by the Gullini family, when we ran into the students of Class A. After the battle to take out the crime family, the three of us were offered shelter within U.A. in case friends of the Gullinis tried to come after us. 

   We were each given rooms within the many U.A Dormitories where the students normally stayed. Luckily we had ended up in the same building and we’re able to spend our time together. Even though the state of the world isn’t great, we have been settling nicely into our temporary life. Most days are spent talking and trying to ignore the growing threat of villains, or walking around the shelter and learning about the campus we currently call home.

   It’s usually all of us who go on these walks but every now and then Anna doesn’t join, leaving me and Giulio to explore on our own. At first the days where it was just the two of us reminded me of the time we spent tracking down Anna, but slowly things started to feel different. 

   Slowly our walks went from having long discussions about what we wanted to do once we were able to leave U.A. to Giulio just walking along with me in silence as I rambled on about whatever thought came to mind. At first I thought he might have just been tired and didn’t have much thought to add that day, but slowly he started acting like I was speaking to him even when we were back in the dormitories. Again I wrote it off as him being tired and tried to act like it wasn’t affecting me.

   After a few days of him acting like I wasn’t there, I began to worry that I might have done something to upset him. The fear of having upset him was only cemented when I asked if want to join me for a walk and he just walked away like I hadn’t said anything. I stood frozen, searching through recent memory of anything that I may have done that could possibly have upset Giulio, but nothing seemed to stand out.

   My train of thought was interrupted by Anna waving a hand in front of my face. I blinked quickly before nodding at her to acknowledge that I was paying attention. “What was that about? I’ve never seen Giulio act like that, especially when it comes to you.” She asked, having also noticed our friend’s weird behavior. 

   I shrugged at the blonde before responding. “I have no clue. He’s been acting weird the past few days and I can’t figure out why.” I explained. 

   Anna turned to watch as the red head began making himself some tea, before speaking again. “Maybe he’s just tired? We have been through a lot these past couple weeks and he got his replacement leg the other day so he probably just wants to relax a bit. You know how Giulio can be, since everything happened he has been one for big crowds and stuff like that.” She suggested.

    Her reasoning made sense but I couldn’t stop thinking that it had something to do with me. “You’re probably right, I can’t imagine it’s easy to adjust to a new limb.” I told her, not voicing my internal worries. “I’m just going to head back to my room, now that I think about it. I borrowed some books from the school, so I’ll just read for the day.” I explained moving to head to the elevator.

    “Well, okay, enjoy your books. I’m sure Giulio will be easier to talk to tomorrow.” Anna said waving goodbye as the elevator closed behind me.

Time Skip

    That was over a week ago. Not once has Giulio spoken to me in that time. I had tried multiple times to get him to talk to me, but every time I tried he either walked away or just acted like I hadn’t even spoken. Every time he ignored me, I brushed it off telling myself that he was just tired or he hadn’t heard me. 

    Unfortunately, I was forced to face the truth in the worst way. I had just entered the common room of the dorm building, when I heard hushed voices coming from the kitchen area.

    “I already told you, it’s easier this way.” The first voice was clearly Giulio, and he sounded irritated.

    I silently moved to be standing closer to the kitchen but still out of sight and waited to hear what else was being said. “You can’t just stop talking to them, Giulio. You need to explain yourself at least.” That was Anna, and from how exasperated she sounded, I could tell this wasn’t the first time they have had this conversation.

    The responding sigh was a tell tale sign that Giulio was tired of the conversation. “And tell me Anna how exactly am I supposed to Y/n that I don’t want to be friends anymore?” After hearing that one question I knew it was over, I had lost one of my long time friends and there was nothing I could do about it. I didn’t wait to hear the blonde's response before running out of the dorm building.

    Knowing now that Giulio was ignoring me because he was done with our friendship hurt worse than any injury I could receive from a villain. I had been the one to save him from the burning rubble of the Scervino house after the Gullinis attacked and I helped him recover quickly so he could find Anna. We had been through so much together, but I guess all good things come to an end. I just wish he could have told me before he stole my heart.

   After leaving the dorms I made my way to the staff offices within the U.A. school building. Once I was there I requested to be moved to a different refugee shelter as soon as possible. If Giulio didn’t want to be around me anymore, then he wouldn’t have to. It didn’t take long to get approval and shortly after I returned to the dorm to pack what little belongings I had, a couple Proheroes arrived to help me get to the new shelter safely. When the gates of U.A. closed behind me, I sighed knowing that even if this hurt me it would remove stress from the two people who meant everything to me.

Time Skip to after the Final war arc

    It’s been a few months since I last saw Giulio or Anna. The war with the villains had ended and many parts of Japan were quickly being rebuilt with the help of the Proheroes. While many of the refugees from the various shelters returned to what was left of their old lives and began rebuilding, I decided to start over. I had left my old life the day I left Giulio and Anna at U.A. so I saw no point in leaving Japan. 

   It was difficult to find work but I eventually found a job at a small convenience store that had narrowly survived the country wide battle. It wasn’t much but the owner also allowed me to rent out the small apartment that was over the shop for a discounted rate. Slowly but surely I was making a place for myself. Eventually I even stopped wondering what Giulio and Anna were up to, I started truly accepting that the part of my life was in the past.

  At least it was in the past. It was brought back to front of my mind when a familiar head of red hair walked into the store. At first I thought I was imagining things, that maybe I hadn’t really gotten over it all like I thought. But as soon as I saw his metal hand, I knew I wasn’t just seeing things. Before I could duck behind the counter and act like I wasn’t there, he turned his head in my direction and I watched as what I could only describe as joy washed over his face.

  Sure I had seen Giulio smile before but it was never directed at me. Plus with the way he treated me last time I saw him, why on earth would he be happy to see me of all people. Thinking quickly I decided to act like I hadn’t recognized him. “Welcome in, is there anything I can help you find?” I asked plastering on my fakest smile, trying to hide the conflicted thoughts rushing through my head.

  I then watched as Giulio took a moment to process what I said, confusion replacing the smile that was there a second ago. “Don’t play stupid with me Y/n. We’ve been looking for you for months.” He said approaching the counter. “I also saw the way you looked at me when I walked in so don’t even bother trying to act like you don’t know me or what I’m talking about. Now mind telling me why you ran off and where you’ve been these past couple months.” It wasn’t a question, Giulio wanted answers and he was determined to get them.

   Rolling my eyes I leaned against the wall behind the counter. “Why do you care? Last time I checked you weren’t talking to me.” I responded, the hurt from before turned to anger now that he was actually willing to have a conversation with me. “What was it you said to Anna that day? Oh yeah it was ‘how exactly am I supposed to Y/n that I don’t want to be friends anymore?’. Don’t come in here acting like you care when you were the one who wanted to end our friendship.” I answered, revealing that I had heard their ‘secret’ conversation.

  Giulio stood in shock at my response. He wasn’t expecting such a harsh reply to his simple question. “Wait, you heard that?” He asked, sounding slightly panicked. I only nodded in response. “Did you hear the rest of that conversation?” He continued.

   “No Giulio, I didn’t. Why would I stay and listen to the guy I thought was my best friend tell our friend that he was done with me? Honestly, had you told me you didn’t want to be friends anymore instead of ignoring me, I might not be upset right now.” I said not understanding why he thinks anyone would want to hear their friend talk bad about them.

   Giulio sighed, he glanced around the room as if searching for the right words to say. I just watched him confused, it was not like it was a secret anymore he could just tell me the truth and be done. “I think you should have stayed and listened to the rest of that conversation.” He finally started. I was about to respond but he beat me to it. “It wasn’t that I wanted our friendship to end. It’s more the opposite actually.” He said looking down at the floor, his bangs falling to block his face from view. “I was confused about my feelings. For so long I thought I had feelings for Anna, that once she was safe from the toll her quirk put on her we would be together. But then you saved after the Gullinis took Anna, and you stuck with me the entire time after. Even when I tried to push you away, you stuck by my side promising to help me complete my mission.” I stood silent as began to explain himself. “Then even after Anna was saved and we were allowed to stay at U.A. I thought things would go the way I originally thought. But the more time I spent with just you in nonlife threatening situations, the more I realized what I really wanted.” 

   He paused for another moment, rolling his shoulders and taking a deep breath like he was preparing for something big. “ I thought for the longest time I wouldn’t fall in love, and then I met you and you didn’t judge me for my goal or turn your back on me when I was difficult. Y/n, I know I was childish and hurt you but if you’ll allow, I’d be honored to spend forever making it up to you.” Giulio finished as he finally looked me in the eye. It was my turn to freeze again. Of all the things I expected for him to say to me, that was not it.

    I blinked a couple of times trying to fully grasp what he meant. After what felt like hours of silence I finally responded. “You’re right, you were childish and you did hurt me. But I was also childish by running away before talking things out. I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions and left without saying anything to you or Anna.” I paused to breathe for a second before truly smiling at him. “And Giulio, you can start making it up to me by taking me to dinner tomorrow.” I finished.

   Giulio returned the smile, nodding in confirmation. “As you wish.” He said with a slight bow, earning a chuckle from me.

    “Good, now I have to get back to work. You can pick me up here at 8.” I said while grabbing a pen and piece of paper. Quickly scribbling my new phone number down. “And here’s my new number since you’ve probably already guessed I changed phones after I left.” I finished handing him the paper. 

     He quickly accepted it, nodding one last time. “Of course I will see you tomorrow Y/n.” With that he turned and left the store. 

    As I watched him walk away I couldn’t help but wonder what would have been different if I had stayed and listened to the end of that conversation all those months ago.

(dividers by @/cafekitsune)

[storiesundercandlelight]

In The Eyes of Priwen - Chapter Four

Another chapter!

Geoffrey made quick work of his journey to Evelyn's house, he could see the two lads stationed outside for the night sitting on chairs out the front. A luxury he certainly hadn't awarded to them. They stood up to greet him when he got close enough for them to be able to make him out in the lamp lit street, the air felt damp, like any moment the heavens would open up and the rain would start to fall. 

"Evening boss, everything alright?" Geoffrey was half ashamed that he couldn't remember the name of the guard who addressed him first, he was new.

"Yeah, anything here? I take it you're bein' treated as well as the lads last night?"

"Yeah Miss Evelyn had her man come out earlier with drinks and food" Geoffrey nodded before heading up the stairs, leaving the two men to sit back down. He knocked on the door expecting to be greeted by Sembene but it was Evelyn that opened the door.

"Hello, come in" She ushered Geoffrey in quickly, motioning for him to follow her into the living room and towards the desk at the back of the room.

"Your man not here tonight?"

"He was earlier but not now, I usually let him take time off, it's only me here now after all. Though he hasn't been taking any time since the attack. But now that your men are here I insisted" Geoffrey could already see an improvement, Evelyn was still dressed as casually as before, but her eyes seemed brighter, she'd clearly been sleeping these last couple of nights. "I found something"

"Yeah your note said"

"I don't actually know if it will be helpful to you but..." Evelyn leant over and picked up two brown leather journals from the desk. " My father was an explorer, hence the décor, he usually visited Egypt. Anyway before he died he became obsessed with immortality. Thomas and I just put it down to his love for Ancient Egyptian beliefs and their afterlife, but he wasn't the same in the last two years of his life" Geoffrey was beginning to wonder what any of this had to do with him, but he couldn't bring himself to interrupt her as he would have done with someone else like Edgar. Geoffrey realised he would probably sit and listen to her chat about anything as long as she kept her attention on him.

"Anyway it wasn't until I read his last two journals that I saw Priwen mentioned, and someone named Carl Eldridge?" Geoffrey's interest peaked at this.

"He was the former leader of Priwen, my mentor"

"My father seemed to have been meeting with him, about a weapon that can kill vampires. But later in the journal he begins talking about a club called Ascalon. They apparently reached out to him offering him immortality, I suppose I now know that means turning him into a vampire"

"Yeah it does, what weapon is mentioned?"

"Some sort of sword, the sword of a king" Geoffrey stilled for a moment. The only link to a king was the blood of Arthur that Carl had passed down to Geoffrey. Only in a time of great need was he to even consider using it to help him battle the worst of foes. But Geoffrey wasn't a fool, there was only one sword owned by a king that would be worth mentioning. "You can take them"

Geoffrey took the journals from Evelyn. "You sure?"

"Yes, you can bring them back after you're done with them and to let me know if there anything other than the ramblings of a mad man in there"

"Carl wouldn't have worked with your father if he were mad"

"My father was persuasive, even at the end he could probably talk his way out of the worst kinds of situations. Maybe he talked his way into gaining Carls help"

"You don't sound too fond of him. Your father I mean"

"I was, but he was away most of the time travelling. He'd never take me with him no matter how much I asked. My mother was determined to stick to the rules of the upper class, marry me off to someone suitable, my father knew I wouldn't have it. He used to let me get into all sorts of trouble" Evelyn smiled at the memory and now even more than before Geoffrey wanted her to keep talking.

"Your mother isn't around either?"

"No she passed first, she was sick. About 6 months later was when my father began to change. He died of a heart attack. Then it was me and Thomas. Now it's just me" She didn't say it with sadness but Geoffrey knew what it was like to be alone, you often hide the pain of it, well he certainly did.

"I know the feelin' of being the only one left" Geoffrey watched Evelyn look up at him in sympathy.

"You lost your family?"

"My father came back to Dublin a leech, killed my mother, Carl saved me and helped me hunt down Ian who was turned. That's how I ended up in Priwen" It wasn't a story Geoffrey often told, the short version was the only one he was comfortable with.

"I'm sorry"

"It was a long time ago now"

"Doesn't stop the memory from being there though" Evelyn shrugged to lighten the mood and stepped closer to Geoffrey, this close he could see the faint freckles that dotted across the bridge of her nose, the mix of greys and blues in her eyes. He realised after a moment she had been expecting him to move with her, he didn't and was now blocking her from moving away from the desk.

He cursed himself and went to move but Evelyn reached up, her hand ghosting over his jaw before gently pushing his face slightly to the side, her eyes fell on the faint scar that lined the side of his face. "How did this happen?"

"When I was younger, not so quick, leech scratched me" Evelyn met his gaze, a smile tugged at her lips. Geoffrey didn't want her hand to stop touching him, his own hand by it's own accord reached up to hold her arm in place. What was he doing? He wasn't sure himself. When Evelyn didn't react or pull away he wondered if he could lean in and kiss her, they were close enough.

But he didn't. Or he left it too long because Evelyn did move away from him, her eyes darting away from him in disappointment. Jesus he was a fool, he should have just done it.

"Thank you for coming, I hope the journals help" Her voice was quieter now, embarrassed perhaps. He didn't stop himself this time as he placed the journals back onto the desk and reached for Evelyn. He did it quick enough that he heard her take in a startled breath before he pushed his lips against hers.

Geoffrey would never claim to be the most experienced person when it came to romance but he didn't hold back from this kiss. Their lips moved easily against each other, as if this was a rhythm they had already learnt before. Evelyn's hands gripped Geoffrey's coat as they pushed closer together. He knew he could easily loose himself in this kiss, this moment, it could have perhaps been the only time in many year that Geoffrey would be willing to let himself get lost in something. For a man so devoted to Priwen and the cause, enough to be called a fanatic by many, Geoffrey in this moment wanted to be nothing more than the man kissing Evelyn.

This dance of their continued, building only more passion as they pulled and gripped at each other, Evelyn found herself backed up against the desk, Geoffrey leaning over her as their kiss grew deeper. If breathing wasn't vital Geoffrey knew he wouldn't have pulled away, but when he did they both let their heads rest against each other, their noses brushing gently as they both caught their breath.

They looked at each other then, both surprised as a small smirk pulled at both of their lips. "Lets hope your men haven't been watching through the windows" Evelyn whispered. Geoffrey hadn't even thought about it but now that he was he pulled back, his head snapping in the direction of the window, but all he could see were curtains pulled tightly across the glass.

His eyes rolled as Evelyn giggled at having tricked him. Geoffrey looked back at her, his eyes lingering on her lips a moment, wondering if he should kiss her again. God he wanted to, but the hour grew late and he knew he needed to get back to Priwen. "I want to stay but..."

"You have a job to do"

"Aye"

"Until next time then Geoffrey"

--------------------------------------

It was hard before keeping his mind off of Evelyn but now all he could think about was their kiss, the way she felt in his arms. He'd left Evelyn's house in a stupor almost missing the goodbyes from the guards outside.

By the time he'd made it back to Priwen most of the patrols were out or sleeping, only the men by the door were awake to greet him and Philip who was nursing a glass of whiskey in the entry hall which as it stands was the only space left with any room to relax in. "So...how'd it go?" The shir eating grin was back on his face but Geoffrey found himself in too good a mood to snap back.

"Fine, she gave me her fathers journals, seems he was working with Carl"

"I never heard of that happening"

"Nor I but sure it's there, I'll read over them and see what comes of it if anything" Geoffrey took Philips glass and took a swig himself before handing it back and muttering a good night.

"Hold on! Ye aren't going to entertain an ol' man?" Philip sat forward, a knowing look on his face but Geoffrey simply shrugged.

"You'll just have to find your entertainment elsewhere, I have nothin' to share"

"Oh aye, so that smile that was on yer face as ye came through the door was a coincidence then?" Geoffrey didn't even answer he simply turned and headed for a free bed. He would deal with Philips teasing tomorrow.

[pyropsychiccollector]

Natsu Harem: Fairy GET! 11/14

Now we're getting to the oneechan's. (人◕ω◕) I saved these for last because they should be obvious.... But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We'll deal with them one at at time, like all the rest~

The first spotlight goes to Ultear Milkovich~ \(人◕ω◕)/

When did they meet?

Officially, Natsu met Ultear on that S-Class Quest to dispel the curse of Galuna Island. (人◕ω◕) At the time, Natsu didn't know it was her. She pulled off her disguise so well that for the longest time, the Dragon Slayer actually believed she was an old man named Zalty~.... Isn't that just cute? (人◕ω◕)

After battling Natsu for a bit, toying around with him.... Ultear wound up with a little trophy with the swelled cheek there, as can be seen. (人◕ω◕) It was delayed, and Ultear-chan was rather miffed about it... But the Dragon Slayer apparently got one good hit in. (人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)

Ultear would go on to watch Natsu's progress in the Tower of Heaven incident, as well as report about Oracion Seis making their move to Hades.

Natsu and Ultear would more formally meet on Tenrou Island. ... Where Natsu would assume she was a guy crossdressing as a girl. And get her name mixed up with "Ultimate Milk Sandwich." (人◕ω◕) Now why would he ever think that~...?

Their more proper meeting goes about as well as the first. Natsu tries engaging her in battle, but Ultear is more focused on tracking down and capturing Zeref for Grimoire Heart's goal of the Grand Magic World. ... Or, well. more specifically her desire to go back to a time when she didn't hate her mother. To save her mother from death. (人◕ω◕)

It's honestly very interesting that Ultear and Natsu's fates are intertwined so inextricably. While she did get handed to the Dark Guilds on a silver platter at a young age, her mom would go on to seal away and eventually kill one of Zeref's demons. And Ultear wanted Zeref for her goals. Zeref, who is in fact Zeref Dragneel. It doesn't go as planned, of course. Zeref becomes cross at Grimoire Heart summoning Acnologia to the island; and he'd go on to kill Hades with the Curse of Ankhseram. Moreover, Gray helped Ultear get her head on straight... Although frankly, most of the "work" was done when they ended up in the ocean, where Ultear heard stray memories of her mother; and she rightfully deduced it was the remnants of her mother that melted and became one with the sea.

Regardless, Ultear came to see the error of her ways. She would go on to help restore the Tenrou Tree to help give Fairy Tail back their magic, and then she'd slip away with Meredy... who found out the truth about her childhood home's destruction. Ultear tries taking responsibility for that by killing herself... But Meredy forgives her, wanting Ultear to live.

Ultear and Meredy wouldn't get to see Fairy Tail again until seven years later...

When did they get closer?

As mentioned in the Meredy post... Crime Sorciere approaches the Fairy Tail mages preparing for the Grand Magic Games, hoping to get their help in tracking down a presence similar to Zeref to deal with it. Ultear juices them up with Second Origin... And, well... (人◕ω◕);;;

... Natsu still thinks she's Zalty crossdressing. (人◕ω◕);;; A pity this gag fades away after... But I suppose we can take that to mean Ultear proves to Natsu, leaving no room for doubt, that she is a bonafide woman... (人◕ω◕);;;;;;; What? Don't you remember the hot, raunchy episode where they screwed like monkeys? No...? Aw, well. (人◕ω◕)

Jokes aside... Ultear is more aware of Natsu's true feelings towards Jellal. Especially with how Erza suffers, clinging to the past like she does. Natsu's frustrated, but keeps quiet to keep Erza... "happy". Ultear nudges Meredy into noticing Natsu's depression, figuring Ultear's Maguilty Sense is the best tool for anyone empathizing with Natsu. Ultear herself keeps a polite distance, prioritizing her sister's happiness over her own; Meredy needs friends, considering she's forced into travelling around with Crime Sorciere as a "criminal" since they busted Jellal out of jail so they can all atone.

... It's really too bad for the Time Witch that Natsu never got the memo to leave things be. (人◕ω◕) He picks up on the fact that Meredy was "directed" to him, and more or less deduces Ultear was responsible. They have a private conversation while Meredy plays around with Juvia for a bit - a talk that ends up with Ultear confiding in Natsu that she feels guilty about possessing Jellal as children, and causing so much pain and hardship for all the slaves... Erza included in that.

Natsu doesn't let Ultear drown in her guilt. Jellal was never just a puppet with no free will... He doesn't get a free pass for everything he did, constructing that Tower on the backs of all his "friends" and fellow slaves. Even Natsu could see that Jellal was in control of himself. The most that Ultear's spell did was nudge him into his darker emotions... Which were there already. Jellal was a child, and he was a slave like all of them. A harsh environment like that can stir some very dark, vengeful emotions. All her spell did was "add more fuel to the fire". Jellal was a lost soul trapped in his own darkness, and Natsu tried getting the guy to wake up during the Tower of Heaven conflict... But seeing him now, Jellal's so down on himself. He's not making a real effort to atone like Ultear and Meredy; he's going though the motions, and they're dragging him around just because they need the extra firepower.

Ultear doesn't dispute Natsu's observations. Crime Sorciere always felt like her brainchild, not Jellal's. She tried making him the leader to let him feel like he was making progress in his atonement... And to deal with her own lingering sense of guilt that she didn't "deserve" to lead the group after all she did... But honestly, it's like Natsu said. This isn't helping Jellal. Getting defeated and freed from Ultear's spell just... shut him down. Ultear doesn't know how to get through to him, and Natsu says there's nothing wrong with that. The fact they tried, gave Jellal these opportunities, Ultear and Meredy aren't obligated to do all the work in "bringing him back". Jellal has to make the effort himself and seize onto this second chance at life with both hands, and until he does Natsu won't get over his resentment toward the man. He won't pity Jellal like Erza does; Gajeel and Laxus made harsh mistakes too, and they've been atoning all this time. Jellal has to accept responsibility for his actions, and just move forward on his own two feet. No one should have to push him along.

After Natsu unloads all of his pent-up frustrations on her, Ultear can appreciate his position. He is being tough on Jellal... But it's what they deserve, after falling so low. Natsu's kinder to her and Meredy because he can see they're truly contrite and making an effort. Jellal's just... given up. This gives Ultear plenty to think about, how to proceed with Jellal from now on. She accepts that she should take on the mantle of Crime Sorciere's leader, and be a little tougher on Jellal, herself. if she doesn't... they probably won't go much of anywhere. And Ultear would rather not drown in guilt again... That's no way to live.

This talk gives her much more insightfulness into Natsu. He's not a complete fight-happy idiot. There's stuff Natsu takes very seriously, and his friends are at the top of that list. He spares Erza's feelings out of compassion... But he privately feels very strongly about the person hurting Erza by keeping her rooted in the past. Natsu's very fascinating to Ultear, and like Meredy she'll keep an eye on him from here on out~...

As the Grand Magic Games go on, Ultear lightens up somewhat. Messing with Jellal while he's on Fairy Tail Team B, on the verge of exposing himself all because he wants to impress Erza. (人◕ω◕) Ultear will have none of that.

While we're talking about differences from the canon, though... (人◕ω◕) Leading up to the Games, Warrod negotiated with the King, the Council, and Makarov to give his "little sprouts" a second chance, now that he's had seven years to reform Oracion Seis, Rusty Rose, and Azuma. (人◕ω◕) It doesn't go quite as planned... The King's initially against letting criminals participate in the Games. But when Raven Tail breaks the rules, well... It opens up an opportunity for Warrod to give his proposal a shot. If his "guild" of Hydra Roots manages to make a comeback and win the games, they can be pardoned and allowed to go free. ... If they lose - more specifically, if Fairy Tail performs better than them... Then they will join Fairy Tail. ... And still be pardoned. (人◕ω◕) The Council isn't exactly happy about Warrod's shenanigans... But if they doubt one of the Four Gods of Ishgar, that would reflect bad on them in the eyes of the public. ... So they grudgingly allow it.

I bring this up because Fairy Tail still wins the games. Obviously. (人◕ω◕) And Warrod being the playful guy he is... He ropes Crime Sorciere into his "guild". Both during the games and the dragon invasion. Lahar is against this, since Crime Sorciere has been running loose all this time... But Mest grudgingly helps Warrod "convince" Lahar to allow it. Wiping his memories a bit. The memories pertaining to Crime Sorciere. (人◕ω◕);;; ... Just a bit.

I was debating to go this route for a while. So prior posts might not exactly reflect this change in canon... Not precisely. However, I don't see the need to save Crime Sorciere's pardoning until the end of the series. It's mere circumstance that they're left as "criminals" on the run, and there's just no point to keeping up the charade. If Fairy Tail and their allies work together frequently with Crime Sorciere without complaint, the powers-that-be can just deal. (人◕ω◕)

Ultear and Natsu have that talk during the dragon invasion, keeping Ultear from casting Last Ages. I won't expand on this point too much since I already talked about it in Meredy's post, but Natsu's pretty much nipped all of Ultear's "problems" in the bud. Simon's alive, Natsu's convinced her that Jellal's actions are his own, and now he's given her the strength to carry on during a dangerous event of fighting dragons~... It shouldn't come as a surprise when it's all over, and the King pardons the members of Hydra Roots and they go on to join Fairy Tail... Well. Ultear is more than happy to grow closer to Natsu. (人◕ω◕) There's nothing holding her back anymore.

... And really, since I already had Meredy making frequent trips to Magnolia over the next few years anyway, might as well go all the way. Oracion Seis (minus Brain), Rusty Rose, Azuma, Ultear, and Meredy all join Fairy Tail. I should have specified in Tenrou arc, but Azuma survived. I have this habit of keeping awesome characters alive for atonement. (人◕ω◕) Nooo regrets~....

When did friendship turn to something more?

I'll skim over Tartaros and Alvarez arcs. It should be pretty obvious Ultear and the other former Balam Alliance members helped bring down Tartaros... and the survivors of Tartaros went on to fight Zeref's armies in Alvarez, independently. Gotta love these buildups over time with reformed villains coming together to fight against stronger foes. (人◕ω◕) ... Or maybe that's just me.

Ultear and Meredy joining Fairy Tail... Gravitating to Natsu... Of course there's opposition to these endeavors. (人◕ω◕);;; Ultear's such a troublemaker. All these... "games", flirting with Natsu and "leading him along". ... Certain parties feel like she is, anyway. It's all but impossible to hate Meredy because of how bubbly and cheerful she is. ... But Ultear. Ooh, boy, Ultear. Cana, Kagura, even Juvia is a bit... territorial around the Time Witch. And Sayla butts heads with her, when she comes around... And bossy Brandish... (人◕ω◕);;; Ultear has a fair amount of competition.

Yet Ultear is... grateful to Natsu. She really is. (人◕ω◕) It's no surprise that she and Meredy join Team Natsu on jobs... The team is rather large by now. Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy, Simon, Wendy, Juvia, Kagura, and now these two. (人◕ω◕) Jellal turns down the opportunity, and really it's for the best. There's already enough... tension. All orbiting around Natsu for some bizarre reason. (人◕ω◕) Doesn't help the Strauss Siblings struck during the guild's disbandment and were with him for a year. (人◕ω◕);;;

But Ultear delights in Natsu's pranking nature, as much as his serious side. (人◕ω◕) They're just playing around with friends, like Gray and Lucy. ... And Erza. What's wrong with that? (人◕ω◕);;;;;;; I confess, however, that Ultear gravitating to Natsu is what snapped Erza out of her funk, regarding Dingleberry. Erza realizes that somewhere along the way... Natsu became very popular. And seeing the woman that sprang Jellal from prison, seeing Natsu get along with that woman so well.... It makes Erza very jealous. She was one of the first to eye Natsu, and it hurts to see she's wasted all this time, and now she can't have the Dragon Slayer to herself. (人◕ω◕);;; Erza and Ultear get along about as well as cats and dogs. ... Please don't throw Mira into that mix. (人◕ω◕);;;;;;;;

I suppose to get back to the question: Natsu and Ultear become an item shortly after Alvarez arc. That's when most of the relationships become established anyway... But Natsu and Ultear...? Hmm. They both have serious sides to them. Both have goofy sides. And it just felt nice to resonate with one another. In part, Ultear wanted to see the look on Gray's face when she got together with Natsu.... But the Dragon Slayer wasn't a means to an end. She cares deeply for him, and it's very much reciprocated. (人◕ω◕)

Ultear's certainly one of the first few to make babies with Natsu, though... After all, Ultear thinks ahead. And there isn't anyone else she'd rather be the father to her children. (人◕ω◕) They wind up with a daughter as the firstborn... But after that...? I'll leave to your imaginations~... (人◕ω◕)

[ambrosykim]

four years

pairing: ambrose kim x f!button (alex wiseman <3) words, rating: 932, gen, sickfic, fluff summary: inspired by this ask. alex's different approaches to rosy being sick, with a four year time difference. oh how much has changed in those four years... a/n: twc b3 is nearly here and i'm writing a mind blind fanfic, that's the hold rosy's got on me <3 but! lo and behold my second piece of fanfiction !

she's never seen rosy sick before. granted, it's only been a few months since she's been at aeon, but the cold months were in full swing, bringing cold and darkness, that settle in one's chest. (meaning, alex has already had her first round of seasonal cold, which cost her about two weeks of sniffling and more peppermint tea than she remembers ever drinking. though, after enough tea, the cold got the hint that she wasn't gonna give up and finally got lost.)

but now, it seems that rosy is currently battling a bad cold, a fact he does not hide well. she saw him on the corridor, before class, and he was already looking like someone ate the last piece of chocolate he was saving for later. (alex might be projecting her own feelings about nick stealing from her hidden chocolate stash.) he's prowling about aeon as if he's looking for his next murder victim, because that glare indicates at least, what, three people already dead? in any case, alex is not willing to risk getting caught in what would either be actual murder or, god forbid, a stern lecture about everything she's done wrong in the past week. no matter what, it would definitely not end well for her well being, be it physically or mentally.

in class, it isn't any better. here, she can't even escape; asking to go to the restroom is absolutely out of the question – she won't risk talking to him any more than she has to, in case he gets even more irritated. he's pairing them up and giving them tasks with as few actual words as possible, communicating in mostly grunts. these, alex can figure out the fastest, she quickly translates to her classmates and they end up in the formation rosy wanted them to be, without managing to anger him. alex watches him throughout the lesson; while trying to perform well is important, she wants to know how she could help him. if she told him to take a few days off to recover, would he listen to her? probably not. in the end, alex only looks at him wistfully as the class is over and she slowly exits the room, leaving rosy to combat his illness alone.

now, alex is more prepared. not only that, she's also more confident that ambrose might actually listen to her. she couldn't convince him at home, which ended up in him leaving for work in the sorry state he was in, out of – what alex suspect might have been – spite. it's true, maybe trying to restrain him by laying on top of him might not have been the best idea, but when she heard his quiet sniffling (muffled, so as to not let alex know he's sick), what else was she supposed to do? the only thing left to do now, is to actually get ambrose to come home and let alex take care of him.

she knows not to approach him in the corridors of aeon, he would definitely try not to show any weakness, lest one of his students sees them. she decides to ambush ambrose in his office, where she knows she has a better chance of seeing him without his usual mask of indifference.

the moment she opens the door to his office – without knocking of course –, he immediately tries to compose himself in his chair, as if his head wasn't in his hands just moments ago. when he catches sight of alex, he drops his hand back in one hand, while propping his elbow on his table – a pose very unsuited to ambrose, usually.

'i should've known you'd come to check on me,' he murmurs, voice hardly carrying, even in the silence of the room.

alex steps closer to the desk, careful to be as quiet as possible.

'you know i was worried about you,' she finally reaches him, 'and yet you still chose to come to work. i think it would've been weird if i didn't come to check on you.' she stand next to the desk, next to him, and slowly leans on the desk. he silently detaches his head from his hand and looks up at her from where he's sitting.

'so, please, would you finally quit the act and come home? i already know you're super tough,' alex says with a small smile, putting an exaggerated emphasis on "super", as she starts stroking ambrose's hair slowly. she can't help teasing him, even in this state, but she knows not to make him uncomfortable with her excessive jokes, especially now.

as a response, ambrose reaches out the arm not on the table, and cautiously rests it on the side of alex's thigh, trapping alex and making sure she can't get away from the desk, from him, even if she tried. (not that she would want to anyway, but he doesn't need to know that.) (he knows anyway.)

'...fine, i'll go home with you,' he murmurs while slowly moving his head forward, ending up with his forehead against alex's thigh. he makes sure to move slowly enough that alex could still continue caressing her hair, even though her ministrations are starting to leave his usually immaculate hair messy.

'just... let me rest like this for a few minutes,' he was clearly in a bad state if he needed rest just to stand up, so alex hummed in agreement, while continuing stroking his hair with her fingers.

'let me know when you're ready. we'll go home and i'll take care of you for as long as you need me to.'

[maskofmilves]

Tears In The Rain

Chapter 1: Interlinked

Characters: Chiren, Alita, Joi (Blade Runner 2049)

Fandom(s): Alita Battle Angel x Blade Runner 2049 crossover/Alita sequel (Robert please get on this)

Summary: After the events of Alita: Battle Angel, Chiren wakes up with some memories of what had previously happened to her. A friend from the past helps her become human again. She's greeted with a new companion. Joi. Things happen from there...

Warnings: lots of angst, Joi and Chiren being flirty, Alita being a boss, robot/cyborg stuff, and fluff if you squint.

A/n: I don't know how I came up with this concept but I love both Blade runner films and Alita (& the fandom) so much.

Chapter 1: Interlinked

First feeling: None. Second feeling: Feeling, yes. Within cells interlinked. Within cells interlinked, Within cells interlinked.

Chiren felt everything come together in her body, her new one, within her cells interlinked, within her cells interlinked, within her cells interlinked.

She woke up on a bed of sorts, in an empty room, a bright light above her head blasting into her eyes. Struggling to tilt her head to her left side there’s a large window that covered the whole wall from floor to ceiling. What is that? Making out blurry images becoming clear now. It was a gray sky, raining out, pouring, sad for her thought. Successfully she got up, as she noticed she wasn’t wearing any clothing feeling weary. This wasn’t any place, this was her home. Her bed, her window, her kitchen, yada yada yada.

There was a chair next to the bed with some lower-class clothes; a sweater, boots, cargo pants, and a fleece-lined trench coat. Far from what she’s used to normally wearing. As she finished putting them on a small folded-up piece of paper slowly fell to the floor from within the coat. Chiren undid the paper, written inside was lettering;

“It’s what I could find. If you want, Joi will tell you a lot, she will go where you please. I’m sorry, for everything…”  -A

Chiren knew who this was who wrote it. ‘Joi?’ the former doctor thought the woman hadn’t seemed to notice that she was thinking out loud. A hologram of a woman appeared standing in front of her, smiling. 

“Can I help you Dr. Chiren?” If this was Joi she was definitely kind and polite toward her. 

“You’re Joi?” Chiren questioned.

“Yes.”

“Joi. Do you know who wrote this?” Chiren pointed out the slip she held.

“I only assume you know” Joi’s grin became sublime

“It was Alita, wasn’t it? Why am I here? How am I here? I feel different. The last thing I remember was being locked in a box with just my eyes and brain for days” Chiren’s face grew in longing, this was the first time in a while that she felt grief.

“Yes, it was Alita. She went searching for you for a bit, she felt bad about leaving you and retrieved you from Nova. This is your new body, although you still look the same your insides are all synthetic, including your programming. You’re the first human hybrid that I know, and that’s a good thing” Joi stated in a favorable tone.

Chiren raised for her forehead, where the mark of Zalem used to be, was gone, nothing there. She was dismayed and not at the same time. A face of remorse and regret came upon her, with memories of what had been done coming into view.

Visions now made her soon realize that Alita is just who her daughter was before she passed and that she may be Chiren’s only reason to become whole again.

Joi spoke up to break the silence “Dr. Chiren…with your mark removed you’re finally able to feel what most want to feel, like a real human being. Now that you’re back together with your new human hybrid body your lifespan is infinite, you have all the time in the world, so what will you do?”

Chiren thought for a good minute and soon answered; “First thing; Just call me Chiren, second; I’m going to find Alita and I know you know where she is…what year is it?”

Joi was weirdly confused by the last part but smiled for her anyway “Of course, I can do that. Chiren it is then…Chiren…it’s 2584, I’m sorry. I guess I should’ve told you sooner”

“Oh god…I- it's been so long- I have to find her, otherwise I don’t know why I’m supposed to be here…do you know anything else?” Chiren asked.

“Yes actually. Your next sign is in the kitchen.”

“Alright, leaving me hints eh?” She went into her kitchen and saw a letter on top of the microwave, she opened it, seeing what was in there was a piece of paper written with “Joi is quite nice, isn’t she? I hope you’ll bond a relationship with her, as she will follow you anywhere, I programmed her to be accessible outside anywhere too. I hope that is helpful. Meet me at the bar or whatever you usually go to, I promise I’ll be there.” -A

“Hmmm, well I guess let’s get there then”

“Get where?” Joi asked.

“The bar.” That was all she said. Joi decided to go ahead and follow Chiren to the rooftop, they both got into her abandoned Peugeot spinner, it was practically not starting but they eventually got it started in the cold dense rain. “Alita said she’ll be there. And I trust her. How'd you get my car?- Nevermind”

Joi nodded, looking out the window she traced her finger where the raindrops were running across the window, the look on her face was curious, almost acting as if she’d never seen rain before. The corner of Chiren’s eye caught this, it just being a little moment, it’s the little things that matter to her as she remembered. Chiren turned her head to her, setting the car on autopilot as they made their way to the place.

“What are you doing?” Eyeing the innocent one. “Have you not experienced rain before?”

Joi turned and smiled back at her. “I know about rain. It’s programmed in my system, I just haven’t seen or touched it before. I am only a couple of days old too..”

Chiren nodded and let out a grunt in response. “Hmm” Turning her eyes back to the outside weather. Joi’s gaze lowered, about to speak but hesitant at first.

“What was it like…being in there for so long”

Chiren quickly got emotional inside about the question. She started playing with her hands, then rubbed her eyes. “It was horrible. You couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t feel…anything, all you could do was blink and watch time pass by. Made me want to just get killed already but I knew it was my punishment, then the rest of my body was sent to the yard. Then everything went black, I don’t know what happened after that”

Joi felt bad about it, and even though she had nothing to do with her punishment, she has sympathy for her nevertheless. “I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like…”

The former doctor met her gaze with the android and let out a sigh, trying to ignore her demons and instead wondering about what she can do. “Thank you…do you feel anything physically?” She asked.

“Physically no. I can only feel things through my database”

Chiren placed her rather attractive hand on the armrest. Keeping eye contact with Joi. “Try feeling this” Saying that as she indicated her hand to Joi “Try. Try as hard as you can to feel touch” Again Joi gave the raven-haired woman innocent eyes along with her fading confusion, proceeding to do the task. Joi was mesmerized by her, she knew she may not be able to physically feel things, but she does have feelings for others, as she was programmed to. She finally moved her hand, right onto hers, Joi focused as much as she could, but unfortunately, it went right through.

“I can’t do it…I know it's leather and plastic but I cannot feel it as what people call it.”

“Hey, that’s okay, I can work something out for you alright? Did the shops around here stay the same?"

***

The two arrived at their destination. The building was a part of a large warehouse complex that seemed to stay the same, just more filthy and worn, the walls covered in dirt and grim. Definitely shady. It used to be at least a bit cleaner than this. Everything changed now, including her own appearance, going from looking like a rich snob to the lower class even though her good-sized penthouse is high up there. Again, just appearance. Chiren reached into her coat to scratch herself. Hey, she felt that. It felt good. While doing so, she looked at the note again. 'This better be true' she thought to herself, folding the paper away.

Chiren motioned for Joi to follow her. Joi faded from the inside of the vehicle, reappearing outside the car and standing up. The slightly taller woman looked up into the sky, letting the water hit her face. Knowing she could feel again, relieved her. Looking back at Joi she saw her doing the same. Instead, the water droplets fell through her hologram. The recovering woman saw this and sadness swooned upon her again, knowing she was a real person, neither was she really. Did it all not matter? No. She had a real mind and heart, she is a real human being. Yeah. Real to her anyway.

"Come on, let's go inside."

And so they did, finally realizing they were getting soaked. Running inside now remembering oh hey it's pouring out.

Opening the door inside they are greeted with the smell of sweat and smoke and with the sight of dirty gray walls and a table to sit at.

"Well, this place went to shit."

Chiren raised one eyebrow with a fuzzy feeling still clouding her mind. She looked over the several booths, her eyes locking on jet-black hair, walking in that direction and her conscience is revealed. Playing with her hands and staring in awe Alita stood up from her seat. Both had stunned almost blank expressions on their faces looking at each other. Alita didn't know what to do other than break the silence.

"Chiren…..I-"

"How am I here?" She almost said it like a statement. Confused. Almost blessed with rage and tranquility at the same time.

"I searched for your box for days tracking you, I fought them because I left you there and Ido- I found you after losing your location before, I eventually found you…after so long, I brought you to Ido's and replicated your old body luckily he taught me how to do that at least, transferred you to your place, and set up Joi for you. I couldn't meet you there because there's a gang after me. I'm sorry I didn't want to leave you there all alone I had to stop-"

"What about Ido? I take it I missed the funeral. Ya know I actually loved him and my….. daughter… I was kept in that box forever waiting for something or anything to happen, I was in a jar for years! Thank zalem I went into hibernation 2 days in luckily but still. I have no one. Before too. Now anyone remotely close is dead except for you. You're the closest thing to me ever having a daughter again…"

Chiren let herself down, everyone in the bar wouldn't stop looking. She eventually sat down and let out a quiet sigh. Alita across from her did the same. Joi looked at the both of them reading their faces, noticing the disdain in Chiren’s voice when she mentioned her dead daughter she lost so long ago. Alita knows she has every right to despise Ido for it, still made her angry about what happened so long ago. Ido has been gone forever. Chiren will never get to tell him how sorry she is, how she regretted causing everything to fall apart after her child’s passing, She could’ve done more when she had the time. Why didn’t she? Gosh, she was a wreck through and through but no she wants to do what’s right. To both of them. Joi sat next to the grieving woman.

“You say people are after you? How’d this happen?”

Alita’s big eyes widened. “Yes…long story short I stole Joi here, from them…”

“How much was she?

“A lot. I’m also struggling to get back an adapter for her. It would make her a solid and not just a hologram.”

Joi gave a look on her face that shined with hope and desire. Wanting to be able to live as the closest to being something real. The program went to put her hand on the much older woman’s thigh. When they both looked down at the same time Chiren felt sullen for her, only a hologram's touch. Knowing Joi just wanted some reassurance for herself, Chiren gave her a slight nod before rubbing her thumb on the translucent humanoid even though neither of their nerves had a trigger in their systems or brains if you will. Showing her some compassion as well. Loving care. Was this a sign of love? Compassion? It was the first time neither of them have felt warmness, for Chiren that was a long time.

Alita tried to not think of it that much even though it was pretty obvious that was a kind move on Chiren’s part.

“If we somehow get the adapter from them, Joi can do a lot more than set appliances to make dinner and schedule appointments for you.”

Chiren thought for a good second or so. “What’s your living situation?” She asked. Thinking up a plan for all of this.

“I’m still living at Ido’s place. Although it has been rotting, literally, water damage and hail damage were caused by the big storm we had a few years back.

The woman across from her raised an eyebrow again. “I’m not an expert but I sure know it’s very unsafe to live in a place with mold that bad. The air. Is it affecting you?”

The super android fidgeted with their hands. Chiren didn’t know that anxiety happened in andriods like this. She knew that they could have anxiety but not till a level where physical stumulation happened. “I’m only doing some light coughing. But other than that I am fine.”

“That’s not good for you. I know you’re different but it can still mess up your internals. I want you to move in with me. If you’re fine with it that is but you’re not living in a suitable environment and I would prefer if you…do that.”

“Okay, when do we start?”

“Joi turn off so we can make room for Alita here in the car.”

***

Chiren had the spinner do an auto-pilot landing on the street. “I take it you’ll probably have a few items you want to bring with right?”

“Yeah I do. I’ll be a few.”

[consularmain]

4, 13, 17 for Minerva?

ty for the ask!

4. Where would you recruit them from? Pre KOTFE: Tython. You would have to go into the Jedi Temple and find a training room where she would be teaching a group of Padawans. Post KOTFE: The Force Enclave on Odessen. She would be meditating alone where Sana-Rae usually stands.

13. What gifts do they Love? Like? What would they say when you gave them a gift? Minerva likes Republic memorabilia, cultural artifacts, and weapon gifts. She loves luxury and courting gifts. Her dialogue for liked gifts would be: "This is lovely!" "Jedi do not need gifts. But... thank you." "Intriguing." Her dialogue for loved gifts would be: "Oh, how thoughtful!" "My friend, you shouldn't have."

17. What letter’s would they send post vanillia class story/SOR/KOTFE? This got looooong sorry I just loved writing these. I included both romanced and non-romanced versions :) I'll be posting these on ao3 for easier reading.

Post Class #1 non-romanced

Sender: Jedi Battlemaster Minerva Subject: The Emperor

He is gone. It almost doesn’t feel real. I have lived in fear of him for what feels like a whole lifetime, but it has truly only been a few months. 

I feel as though I can finally breathe again. The path to healing for myself and everyone touched by his darkness will not be simple, but I am determined to make amends for the things I have done. 

Thank you for standing by me, even through the worst of it. If you ever have need of me, I will be there. 

Minerva

Post Class #1 romanced

Sender: Jedi Battlemaster Minerva Subject: The Emperor

He is gone. It almost doesn’t feel real. I have lived in fear of him for what feels like a whole lifetime, but it has truly only been a few months.

I know I have been… distant lately and for that, I apologize. It was never my intention to hurt you by pushing you away – I only wanted to protect you, even from myself. 

I will never comprehend how you could continue to love me after everything he – I did. I do not remember much of my time under his control, but I know you had to watch me do… unspeakable things. I hurt the people that love me the most. I hurt you. 

I thought I was protecting you by pushing you away, by ignoring my feelings for you. But when I faced Vitiate in the Dark Temple, I wasn’t thinking of my duty as a Jedi or Scourge’s prophecy – I thought only of you. 

I once believed my love for you would only bring ruin to us both. But it’s the opposite. You give me strength. You give me focus. You give me a future worth fighting for. 

I have never been more glad to be wrong. 

Yours, Hanan

Post Class #2 romanced

Sender: Jedi Battlemaster Minerva Subject: Us

I never imagined I would one day be a wife but… here we are. 

It’s strange – a few years ago, I would have condemned any Jedi who gave in to such “weakness”. But I’ve never felt so complete, so strong. I have denied myself such joys for long enough. I want to know what it is to live. With you. I’m just sorry it took me so long to realize that. 

It may take me time to settle into marital bliss. Even longer to accept you won’t disappear. Please be patient with me. 

I love you. I hope you know that, even if I don’t say it enough. 

Your wife, Hanan

Post Class #3 romanced

Sender: Jedi Battlemaster Minerva Subject: Our Future

I have been meditating on the future lately. This war will not end anytime soon and I know it’s dangerous to make promises but if the galaxy is ever at peace in our lifetime… I want to leave everything behind and just be with you. 

I don’t care what the Council will think. You mean more to me than any Code, any rule, any vow. 

We have a future together, you and I. If that means falling in battle or living until we are old and gray, then I will gladly walk with you. 

All my love, Hanan

Shadow of Revan

Sender: Jedi Battlemaster Minerva Subject: Vitiate

I thought we were finally free. 

I was wrong. 

I do not care what I have to do, how far I will have to go – I will not rest until he is dead. 

I won’t stop until we are safe from him.

KotFE

Sender: Commander Minerva Subject: I still love you

Five years and you haven’t changed. I’m glad. 

You have always been my rock, the one thing keeping me grounded when I start to lose myself. I fear what would have become of me if we hadn’t found each other again. When Lana rescued me from carbonite and told me how much time had passed, I feared the worst. I couldn’t feel you. There was just… a constant ache reminding me I was missing my other half. 

I worried that after so many years, you might have… forgotten what we meant to each other. 

But you came back to me. And no Emperor or Eternal Empire will take you away from me. 

That I can promise you. 

Your loving wife, Hanan

[asperants]

It stung when her sister left for the officer's academy on a foreign continent. Ivy holds no ill will towards Hortensia for leaving to further her education. Rather, pride swells in her chest when she thinks of how Hortensia wanted to further her education. She had managed to catch up with her at the Elusian academy. It makes sense she'd want to challenge herself elsewhere.

"Hortensia," she says her sisters name with a warmth not often found the Snow Queen's vicinity. "I'm glad to see you're doing well." Her sister easily thrived in social environments. Like mother like daughter.

"How are you faring? You... never replied to my previous letter, so I'm... well, I want to be sure you're doing well. And that you're happy."

When Hortensia had declared she would be studying abroad at Garreg Mach she had done so with a flourish; she remembers strongly how odd it had felt at first with just her and Ivy in the throne room. The ghost of their father hung over both of them even after they had said their goodbyes, it seemed, and Hortensia was sure that she could only be adding to Ivy's sad memories.

She hadn't wanted that at all, had wanted to support her sister.

"So, hey, did you hear about that foreign academy for young nobles? They don't just do boring seminars on international relations either there's on sight magic training and everything! I was thinking I could go check it out and tell everyone how great Elusia is. Whaddya think?"

She'd known Ivy's answer even before it came, and for once Hortensia had almost wanted to be denied something. If the Queen-to-be of Elusia had said, no, I'm lonely stay, then she would have.

Well. It was probably best she just accepted it. Ivy was the older sister for a reason after all.

And Hortensia couldn't look anything but perfect for said sister! The first few moons she'd sent back letters about the classes she'd enrolled in, and her hopes for them; how the people here were already interested in Elyos and Hortensia was sure they'd get a bunch of visitors hyping up the picturesque snowy peaks of their kingdom Hortensia had gushed about.

But then... classes got harder, and the students more competitive. The Battle of the Eagle and the Lion started, and even after a long evening in the sauna when Hortensia put her pen to paper she found that even if she had barely won against Stahl there was nothing illustrious about it.

Hortensia never wanted to lie to Ivy. But there was no way she could tell her she was struggling more than she'd expected! She'd just worry and,

and without Goldmary or Rosado there to give her an extra push the letter she'd meant to send had just sat there as more and more of Hortensia's extracurriculars piled up.

"Ivy, oh wow! It really is you. But, um, you're not wearing an academy uniform... are you here for a trip?"

(Had she missed that new too in her her stack of "to do"s? Surely not...)

"Or did you just come her to see cute lil ol' me? Let me give you a tour of my favorite spots! The sauna and gardens here are just the best - oh, but don't worry I'm on top of all of my classes too. They even have lessons in riding and flying!

...Um, it's a lot of fun. But I'm most happy to see you."

[ajm1218]

Long post to follow, so apologies in advance, but I felt the need to share my experience. I had just finished 6th grade when No Child Left Behind was implemented. I had been through four different schools due to moving a lot, but despite not being the best at Math I had good grades and even got a Science Award. My science teacher, after presenting it to me, gifted me my first Insect Field Guide books, encouraging me to pursue my passion for Entomology that I showed so well that I even got to guest teach a couple days in class. I remember being worried at first about the new policies that would come from NCLB but I was practically a prodigy, so why should I worry? The next school year was different. Standardized Tests started being rolled out. Graduation scores were recalculated with more emphasis on Math. As Middle School slowly transitioned to High School for me, I saw electives and secondary activities vanish. I saw the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) Program shelved. I saw band cut funding. I saw computer clubs close. I saw creative arts, social studies, Multicultural Club, Cooking, Home Economics, and Typing classes all vanish. All the the while teachers became more and more driven for results than teaching. I saw my old mentors that I looked up to either quit or move onto private schools.

Still, it wouldn't hit me until my Sophomore year of High School when I joined a unique class that the teacher had fought the system to teach kids things that she knew we'd need to know: word processors, spreadsheets, resumes, cover letters, researching, web search, teamwork, time management, file management, interviewing practice, mentoring, and more. I absolutely loved this class, but as the year came to a close, the teacher who founded it had to leave on a job offer by a Private School that paid more. Then her teaching partner left right as I was graduating, and I while I was worried, I tried not to think about it too much. A few years later I returned as a guest speaker for their Public Speaking event, and I could finally see what had become of my favorite class.

Years of de-funding had gutted the program. Barely any of the vital things being taught before remained, save for word processing and spreadsheets. Gone was the psuedo-office space environment with volunteer Supervisors and Team Leaders, and instead were just kids watched by an overworked teacher who didn't care if they were working on their assignment or playing games at their computer station. The printers sat unused as paper and ink were expensive, the speaking room was now just a storage room, and the classroom "library" of reference materials was left with only outdated books from the Windows 2000 era. Yet it was still better than how much worse my High School had become overall.

I despise No Child Left Behind and all the harm it has done to the education system, to the teachers who tried to do more but had to risk their own well being to do so, but even more so for the harm it has caused making generations of kids lack the skills to function, to be unquestioning test taking machines that retain nothing. I'm proud of the few who have persevered to enrich themselves, but it's an uphill battle for all involved.

I was today years old. That is disgusting.

No Child Left Behind is one of the worst things to ever be incentivized in schools. It was signed into law when I was 14. Reading Rainbow was my show as a kid. LeVar Burton played a big part in why I became an avid reader to date. The joy of it. It's an adventure around the globe and through different time periods without stepping on a plane or time machine.

Children parrot behavior. In grade school, I always wanted to read the same amount of books as my teachers (50 books) and managed to double that each year. Before No Child Left Behind, book fairs and Scholastic catalogs were a serious matter like your grandma's Fingerhut catalogs. Libraries were (and still are) a wonderland.

Reading comprehension and proficiency in schools has been declining for decades. A crisis. The joy of books isn't pushed anymore and I'm always saddened by it. It's one of the reasons why I post my book reviews and recommendations on here, as well as posts from others to encourage reading and (novel) writing. Kids will parrot your behavior while the education system sadly fails to return as that example.

[sapphirecrook]

[STORY] Call Me Fang - Chapter 2-1: The Slow Start

TUMBLR TEXT:

Download (it looks nicer)

ORIGINAL:

I realized these chapters are a bit meaty at like, 5k words a pop, so I'm splitting them up. To help avoid indigestion

-----

It is 8 AM. 

The demo is finished.

I even did something of my own. 

And I sent the file to LJ. 

More importantly, I’ve realized that I have forgotten my own name.

In fact, there’s a few quaint gaps in my memory. Quaint is the polite term for ‘this is going to be something else later’ and nothing else. How can I vividly remember my own room, yet not my name? I still remember the swipe pattern for my phone, after all. 

The ceiling here has been nice to look at, at least.

This bed wasn’t a bad sleep either. Despite the hour taken to figure out how to sleep with wings. 

It’s strange. I’m alone in this room, yet it feels like my body and my mind are separate people. Like I could just have a conversation with myself. I could spit a diss track at myself and be at once proud and insulted. 

“You tell me what the deal is.”

In some weird way, I expected an answer. From myself. Body moving on its own, rebutting. Would be preferable to the silence. 

Buzz buzz.

Phone time. It’s been buzzing since I woke up.

Is it weird to get dressed and get back in bed? And if you shower too? And spend like, ten minutes figuring out how hair dye even works? 

Or is it the right amount of dramatics? 

Let’s see what everyone is whining about.

Luckily, I know a sneaky trick that lets me scope out notifications without sending ‘read’ updates, so nobody knows I’m looking. If it applies in this world, that’d be a nice bonus.

Hm. 

It only works for like, a few messages at a time. Guess I gotta take the full plunge to see what all this is about.

# Trish (Friend/Bandmate? She/Her)

> T: “YOOOOOOOOOOO”

> T: “We’re SENIORS” > T: :graduation::crown:

> T: “We should meet” > T: “after school, I mean” > T: “hit up the mall”

> T: “The things I gotta show.”

> T: “Lemme know when you’re up, sleepyhead”

> T: :zzz: 

# Reed (Friend/Bandmate? He/Him) 

> R: :partypopper:

> R: “happy new schoolyear”

> R: “dont let the government bugs bite you”

# DINOGANG (Friend Group?)

> St: “No loitering, I have got to talk toe veryone” 

> Sa: “soon the winter current goes away and we stop being forcefully melted”

> Sa: :pray::snowflake:

# NEW YEAR NEW WORM DRAMA (Band)

> T: “When’s the first session!” > R: “that’s fang’s deal”

> T: “I’ll score the room.”

> T: “FANG ROOM” > R: “whenever you’re ready”

# LJ (Talent Scout? She/Her)

> F: :demo-final-final-final2.0(1)(2)(3).snd::fighting-gardens.snd:

> L: “Mhm. If you can bring that to the audition, you’re in.” > L: “This has promise.”

> L: “That’s not an excuse to get lazy. You need to work on it. But this is work in the right direction.”

> L: “Remember. Sunday evening. Be there.”

There’s no better way to feel like you don’t belong than this. Standing in the crosshairs of conversations. Alright, enough self pity. I have a whole day of pretending to get out of the way, and at least two to four friends who need to be deftly led astray. No need to make anyone uncomfortable or unsettled until I’ve more insight. 

Naser’s probably leaving soon. He said like, 8:30 last night? If I don’t catch this ride, I’ll have to find my own way, and the risk of being late becomes exponential. 

At least I’m dressed and set up to go. I am unsure how punctual Fang is, so I’m just going to insist I’m cleaning up by act if anyone asks. What a pain to find the schedules and whatnot. Whoever Ms. Roberts is, I feel sorry Fang felt confident she could mangle the print out like that.

School’s got a decent app at least.

Plunging time. 

Battle plan: Pour every ounce into direct confrontations, coast through classes. Keep exposures direct, focused, fast. Nod along to pad for time. 

May every version of dino god stand by me on this perilous journey into the lands I left behind. Of teen drama, espionage and social invisibility. 

8:50 AM

The black dinosaur had done his best to prepare, yet now it all felt so real. The light hearted comments, the parental praise, nothing but faint wisps in his mind. Now he had to actually do it. Actually be Class President. Unlike his clubs, it just had that aura of officialness that cannot be easily shrugged. 

Naser sighed. Naomi sat with him, just inside the meeting room. A few had gathered outside, not enough to start. And starting early wasn’t an option anyway. So, small talk it was. 

“Fang didn’t say a thing the whole ride over.” His voice had a distinct low to it, betraying his multifaceted concerns. “Must be new year shivers. Or that they’re an hour early.” Naomi’s ever blossoming optimism spilled to cover his up. “Yeah… that was a bad idea. They’re probably pacing around angrily.”

Naser couldn’t know that Fang had taken this chance to simply examine the school. Easier to scout ahead when there’s not an entire student body judging you.

“So, Naser. Mind explaining how you’re going to avoid falling apart? Like I said, it’s a lot.” HIs eyes rolled as he got a cocky smirk. He’d thought of that one. “Says the one who is trying to find pre-med classes to take. And what do you have in your room again? Sewing equipment, electronic gizmos, and you’re in Reed’s L&L group. Oh, how could I forget, we’re both in the Yearbook Committee.” as Naser lists them off, Naomi grows more defeated. “Did I mention the finals yet?”

“I… I just feel like I can handle it.” She hugs herself tightly, eyes sliding to the side, away from Naser. “And so do I! And I’m not saying you should cut back on what you love doing. You’ve always been on top of everything. Just, extend that mindset to others. I might be younger, but I’m not stupid!” Naser’s smile and brief chuckle seems to diffuse Naomi’s sense of screwing up instantly. 

Figuring she might as well joke it off, she replied with a smile. “At least you have your campaign slogan.” Before he could formulate an answer, he felt something on his chest. “Oh, excuse me.” Naser reached down, into his jacket. His phone quietly buzzed in his hand like a hurt bee. “Mom’s calling.” “Should’ve known she’d call on the first day.” Was the snickered answer.

“Yes, mom, what is it?” His face betrayed that this conversation was a repeat of many others. And still not exactly appreciated.

“Naser, are you driving?” Pinching the bridge of his nose, he endured what he knew was coming. “No, mom, I’m at school for the first student council meeting of the year.” “Ah, it is so good to hear things are working out. We are still very proud of you. And Fatima is…”

Before she could finish, the mother was interrupted. Naomi listened along, even from a distance. “They’re at school. I drove Fang over personally.” Naser spoke, like a teacher teaching words.

His efforts went unnoticed. He never knew if his mother didn’t care, or simply didn’t notice. “Very good. Remember to be nice to her. Senior year can be very demanding. She needs all the support she can get.” 

“Fang’s grades have never been that much of a problem.” Frustration began to build, his brow tensing.

“And remember to sleep on time. You and her are still growing, you need the rest. A Class President has standards.” “When have I ever gone to bed late?” His answer dripped with a curious mixture of being defensive and trying to play it off coy.

“I am just making sure.” 

Naomi suddenly shoulders in and yells into the mic. “Hi, miss el-Samad!” Her call had successfully diffused Naser’s growing tension. 

“Nice to hear from you too, Naomi. Remember, only one friend is at home at a time, Naser.”

“As if that would ever be a problem.” He muttered under his breath.

“And remember. We will be home in two weeks. Your father can explain it better, it is some kind of interference. It is eating into his hours and he barely gets his sleep. He needs the support.” “Oh, I picked it up too! On my dad’s old radio. If it gets much stronger it might even interfere with small-scale local signals!”

“Interesting. Ah, you two remind me of us. One is all talk, the other all walk.”

“Yes, mother, very exciting. But that meeting is coming up and I don’t think it’s a PTA night.” With composure he twisted the call to an end.

“Goodbye, Naser.”

“Goodbye, mom.” Naser finally shuts off the call and lets out a deep sigh of relief. Despite their frequency, each one of them seemed to just get to him. “Us, a couple? What an idea!” Naomi snickers away. “Don’t let my mother arrange my marriage too.”

“Who says I’m on board with that to begin with!”

“The meeting’s coming. Time to impress.”

While I mistook ‘a ride over’ as a silent affair, silently nodding along has fooled Naser anyway. He kept talking about how excited he was about being Class President. Proud of you, my brother in flesh, but not blood. He’s passionate, and even in a car chat, you can feel that leaderly whatsit. The chutzpah. 

My own confidence is bolting up and down, it’s truly like the days of yore.

I’ve taken a good hour to myself scouting school grounds. It’s a fancy place. Strangely enough my mind kept thinking about jumping between the school buildings. Soar overhead while the masses use the concrete land bridges below. 

Either or, it seems obvious enough. Class building, ‘large room’ building and the library. And what I presume is the office space. It’s smaller than any high school I’ve seen,

The buildings are interesting. They look very sturdy, solid, massive concrete blocks someone took painstaking effort carving into pleasing forms. A giant clock, hanging banners, large windows, and my goodness, everything has a goddamn plant growing out of it. It feels very solarpunk. Like I should call the concrete ‘fusion concrete’ or something. Oozes modernity. 

Unlike my old high school. 

That place had goddamn gargoyles.

‘It adds character’ they say, I’d sooner believe them if they told me each had cams and mics.

By now, we’re approaching 9:50 AM. I don’t know why I’m still outside. I’ll just bump into people I should know here, though there’s a quiet dread of having to scan the interior for ‘homeroom’ whatever that is. The crumpled, paper version of the schedule had notes indicating Reed, one of the characters from the messaging application, would be sharing (or teaching?) the first two periods. 

It is then my risk assessment proves accurate. 

A purple creature approaches me. “Approaches” is underselling the mad sprint she’s making. That’s goring speed.

She has horns, a large crest on the back of her head, but she is short. LIke, a good foot shorter. Her vibrant yellow hoodie screams ‘OX’ in red at me, vertically. Between the boots and tight legwear, she strikes me as someone who might do parkour or running. 

“OH MY GOD. WHO. IS THIS?” Or running right into people with loudly asked questions. 

Wait, why would she ask who I am?

Alright, stick to the plan. Let out some of that quipping steam, but stay straight, narrow, and nod along. This isn’t the first time you’ve had to fake a conversation.

“Hello, I’m Fang.” It feels, at once, like the most natural, yet the most artificial thing I can say. The razor’s edge of truthiness. 

“This is a work of art. But first. Dude. Why didn’t you answer my texts? Don’t tell me you just woke up. At school.” Her hands go into her sides and her skeptical look undermines the fake confidence I’d sat aside for today.

“I… uh…” I guess the thought of answering someone else’s texts is a bit far. Outside of LJ, even if that was more professional business stuff by the looks of it. “Ugh, nevermind. I have things to show you. First off, digging the occult metalhead vibe. Feeling cursed just standing here. In a good way. Second, what did you do all summer?” “Music.” A shrug to mystify the subject. “The 20 to 1 odds always pay out.” “Except 5% of the time. Wait, that’s probability, not odds…” As I try to consider things, she suddenly jumps up, as if a more pressing topic was abandoned.. “DUDE. MANGO! ROSA!” “PEAR. TULIP.” Nailed it.

Trish wrangles her phone out of her hoodie pocket. The screen is cracked. She produces the image of a worm. For a worm, it is cute. Quite a pleasant pastel color with a distinct liveliness. Then, with a few swipes, shows images of her with some orange horned lady dinosaur. I do not recognize her at all from the DMs, despite their constant involvement with Trish. Although the two make a cooperative pair in their thick, rubber/plastic/whatever boots and overalls digging up soils and bugs. You can see the friendship in each shot. 

Trish is just beaming with energy.

“Rosa’s the red bug, right?” 

Okay, footnote for next time, jokes, not questions, one is way more telling than a light hearted ‘which is which.’ “It’s not been THAT long since you saw Rosa. But that’s Mango. She is a darling velvet worm and my little itty bitty precious baby angel. Honestly, Tendrils Summer Nature Intensive has been perfect. I met up with Rosa, you remember, right? Mr. Perea’s volcano disaster? Ugh! We have just had the perfect time together. Soil samples, plant analysis, and so many bugs. I even got to treat a bite wound.”

I cannibalize some of her fine vibes, and perk up a bit. It’s always nice to hear people finding themselves and growing. Especially one that is energetic. I feel like swinging a cane around and talking about kids and the old days.

Geeze, why am I acting like I’m that much older? “Glad to hear you’re making such strides. Hey, mind I ask, but you look a bit different…” 

Yea, the photos didn’t look quite like this. 

Should avoid being too questioning, this is fine though, right?

“Oh, yea. Trimmed up the hair a bit. I think it really helps bring out the frill. It works, right?” I’ve given character design advice before. Maybe I can wrangle it into a suitable fashion reflection? “Hm. Hmmmmm~ Now there’s a question. It does bring out the frill. And it gives your head some vertical pop. Makes you look taller.” 

“See, that’s exactly what I was thinking. It looks mature, more professional.” Her smiling face makes it worth it. 

“Mhm.”

She begins spitting a few facts about Mango at me. And shows me a video displaying the exciting slime-based abilities of the velvet worm. And plant-based mating requirements. Truly, I am entering an exciting world.

Onychophora. O-ny-cho-pho-ra. Onychophora.

Gosh, it’s like she read an encyclopedia article and forgot to trim the script so all she has is lines about worms.

Yet, before she gets really going, she turns the subject elsewhere. As in, she withdraws her phone and begins to think, remembering that she should remember something. “Hey, heard from LJ? Isn’t the audition like next week?” “Oh, yea, we’re in. No fuss no muss.” That was definitely something for me to mention first.

“How is that not your opening statement?” As I thought. “How did you do it? LJ hates our music, all of it, so how much did it cost? Did you protest outside Lava Java?” “No fuss.” Just play it cool. Good intentions go a long way.

“Did you tell Reed yet?” Never met him. Hoho. “I was planning to when we were all together. Here you are, prying ahead of time.” A little accusation might dampen her fire.

“Whatever. I’ll wrangle us a room. I bet I can get the music room just fine. I'll send you the number when it’s set. You tell Reed. We have got to celebrate. Or cower. Either or.” 

“I’ll tell you all about how I made it work.” “Got my ears. Whatever got her to turn around has got to be something.”

The bell rang. Trish flinched in surprise, giving me a perfect moment to sneak out of here. No need to linger, or those missteps I made will taunt me like ghosts.

[raointean]

Fred lives (AU from Umbridge onward)

During Order of the Phoenix, Umbridge restrains herself to blood quills for the underage student population. For the adult students (age 17 and upwards) however, she uses the cruciatus curse, her logic being that they are adults and should be able to conduct themselves properly by now. 

Fred and George are natural troublemakers and, as such, get a fair amount of detention towards the beginning of the year. They try to get it together to avoid being tortured, but Umbridge has already decided that she hates them and will use any reason to put them in detention, separately. 

Now, the cruciatus curse can have many different long-term-effects and affects each person differently. Physically, it can cause numbness, pain, and/or shaking in the extremities and deterioration of fine motor skills. Mentally, it can cause hallucinations, short-term memory loss, long-term memory loss, and, in extreme cases, a chronic vegetative state. 

By February, both twins are beginning to experience some of these permanent after-effects. Fred develops a tremor in his hands and is generally in some sort of pain due to the nerve damage. George begins to have trouble with his short-term memory, but he just chalks it up to stress from Umbridge and the upcoming NEWTS. 

Usually during detention, Umbridge will cast the cruciatus curse for ~2-3 minutes and then let the student rest a little. (I don’t want to KILL them! What kind of monster do you take me for?) In May, she has a detention with George (for talking in class). 

She casts the curse but George accidentally hits his head on the corner of her desk. Later in the detention, she gets so involved in grading that she forgets to remove the curse for a whopping ten minutes (and no, she doesn’t even pretend to apologize). George staggers back to the common room afterwards and collapses in bed. 

From that day forward, his memory is notably much worse. Where previously it was things like “When was that assignment due?” and “Did I eat breakfast this morning?”, it’s become more like “Which house am I in?”, “Where am I going and what am I doing?”, and “What’s that one sibling’s name again?”. 

George is afraid that his memory will only get worse if he has another detention and he talks to Fred about dropping out and leaving the school. Fred understands where he’s coming from, but wants to stay since they’re almost done with the year anyway. George doesn’t want to leave without Fred so he stays as well until one morning, he wakes up and can’t remember a thing about anything. 

Fred wakes him up and George asks him who he is. This, naturally, freaks Fred out. He decides to wait a day and see if it clears up so they skip class. The next day it does, in fact, clear up, but both twins are now aware of the damage the curse can do and they start planning their great escape immediately.

They leave and start Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes and quickly discover some... difficulties. Fred’s hands shake so much, he can’t make most of the potions properly and George keeps forgetting what the names of their products are and how much they cost. 

They reshuffle tasks. George takes charge of all of the potion work and Fred heads up the sales. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes flourishes until they close down for the war. 

Fast-forward to the Battle of Hogwarts and Fred is injured and is rushed to St. Mungo's (JK Rowling who?). The entire Weasley family (plus Harry, Hermione and Fleur) congregate at The Burrow because none of them really want to be alone. 

One morning, two days after the battle, George comes down for breakfast looking slightly confused. He looks around the table and asks Molly where Fred is. Molly answers that he's still at St. Mungo's, assuming that George was still half-asleep and that's why he was confused. George realizes that he must have forgotten something important and asks why Fred is in the hospital. 

Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione all simultaneously remember George's memory problems. Ron steps in and tells him about the Battle of Hogwarts and that Fred was injured but he should be fine. 

Molly is now very very confused so George explains what happened; he struggles with short term memory loss due to prolonged exposure to the cruciatus curse and a head injury. 

Everyone is shocked and horrified. Molly and Arthur ask why he never said anything earlier, but George doesn’t remember. He assumes that he and Fred had their reasons though.

Eventually, Fred is released from St. Mungo’s and he and George go back to work. Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes is thriving more than ever before and soon enough, they open a pharmacy/adaptive equipment store called Weasley’s Apothecary adjacent to the joke shop.

They sell all the regular pharmacy potions; pepper-up, cure-for-boils, skele-gro, essance of dittany, murtlap essence, and so on. They also sell rarer potions like wolfsbane. One of Weasley’s Apothecary’s main attractions is their line of PTSD related potions; dreamless sleep, calming draught, and draught of relaxment.

Another thing that sets them apart is their sale of adaptive equipment. They sell magical earplugs that filter only what the user wants to here. They sell magical prosthetics with all sorts of attachable doodads (all compatible with WWW products). There are gloves, arm braces, and leg braces to help stabilize weak or shaky limbs (Fred swears by these). They also invented a watch that remembers everything you tell it (schedules, recipes, task lists, price lists, etc.) and will repeat it back to you (George never leaves home without his).

[adelheidvonschicksal]

182 Centimeters | Tall!F!Reader x Surprise

A great boon has been bestowed upon Aoi Todo. First, he got to meet Takada in person. Second, he gained a brother. Third, he was able to fight a special grade all in one month.

Is there anything else that could make this trip perfect?

Todo didn't think so until he lays eyes on you, standing in the middle of the hallway with luggage tucked under one arm and the other holding onto a rolling suitcase. He remembers now about Mai mentioning a late edition transfer student who was going to be joining in the school games a little late. He only wishes Mai had warned him about the other thing about you. The fact that you are an amazon in the flesh.

"She has to be 187," Todo thinks upon first seeing you and sizing you up from a respectable distance. "No, she's definitely closer to 185. Definitely, 185," he corrects as he tries to measure you by judging how far your head was away from the top door frame. When he glances down at your feet, he realizes his stupid mistake and smacks himself on the forehead. "I'm such an idiot. I forgot about her shoes." Taking your soles into account, he finally narrows down your height range. You have to be 182cm. An even 6 feet. That makes you taller than even Takada!

Todo's eyes widen upon the realization.

You had half his attraction factor right there; and with his help in training, you would definitely have the second half. He knows plenty of exercises that would make your ass look great and have the rest of your body strong enough to toss any curse. You guys could make training into dates, and dates would lead to the two of you making kissy faces. Aoi can already picture it. Naturally, you'd be admiring him, shirtless and glistening with sweat, unable to take your eyes off him. Then, you'd grow embarrassed when he would call you out on it and try to look away like you were never staring in the first place. Luckily for you, he wouldn't mind if you wanted to look at his chiseled chest a little while longer. Or better yet, touch it. 

Todo isn't sure what he's done to deserve such luck. Perhaps the world is rewarding him for finally breaking his record of 1000 sit-ups in an hour or maybe it's the limited-edition lucky Takada-chan charm that arrived in a mail a week earlier working its magic?

Either way, this might be the best year of his life, Todo decides.

That is until he hears a familiar voice. 

"Hey there! How are you doing?" Yuuji asks loudly as he walks up to your person. Todo should've known. Of course, his brother would sense best girl material walking into the building.

"My name is Yuuji. What's yours?"

"I'm (Name). I'm a new student here. I'm a little lost actually. Could you help me out?"

Even your voice sounds so cute! You were so perfect.

That means Yuuji had no chance with the way he was doing things now. Despite Todo wanting you for himself, he could never leave his brother to make such an embarrassment of himself. If the two of them are to battle for your love, it has to be a fair battle.

"Yeah, the dorms are thi—" Yuuji yelps as he's suddenly tugged away from you and dragged around the nearest corner, leaving you in a confused state where you stood.

"What’s the big idea?" Yuuji asks, breaking free from the grasp that held him.

"I'm trying to save you, brother! What do you think you're doing walking up to a woman like that so casually?" Todo asks.

It takes Yuuji a few seconds to realize that Todo meant you were the woman that couldn't be so casually spoken to since he's fairly sure you're a first-year like him. "I'm pretty sure she's the same age as us, dude."

This is worse than he thought. He's definitely going to have to give Yuuji the rundown on how to properly ask a girl out. "That doesn't matter. She's still a lady that requires finesse if you're going to try to ask her out," Todo says. 

Sadly, they are too busy in their discussion to notice you getting impatient for Yuuji to return or to notice another one of your classmates passing them and heading in your direction. You are just thankful to finally have someone help walk you to your dorm and not ditch you instead.

For the rest of the day, Yuuji is stuck with Todo lecturing in his ear. The first time being at the baseball game against the Kyoto school.

"First, you need to set the mood. And by mood, I mean you need to get her attention on you. Do something to impress her without her knowing you're trying to impress her," Todo instructs as you round home base on long legs, which Todo claims is made for a goddess. You were able to get a score for the team thanks to Fushiguro's sacrifice bunt, and the two of you take a seat in the dugout.

"Shouldn't you be helping your team?" Yuuji asks Todo after seeing him compliment your score. Todo sighs. Obviously, Yuuji needs more lessons. 

Eventually, Yuuji steps up to the plate for his turn. Naturally, he hits a home run. As he rounds home, he sees you applauding loudly. Your eyes perfectly on him. It definitely feels good to have a cute girl's attention, and Yuuji realizes that he did really want to ask you out. He wonders if Todo thinks that's a good way to set the mood.

The next time Todo decides to instruct Yuuji is after they all take their showers and decide to rest up before dinner. "Next, you need to leave a letter under her door. Something to pique her interest and make her want to meet up with you."

Luckily, Yuuji has seen this before in anime. "Right, right. I heard of that actually." He easily drafted a letter and slid it under your dorm door. It sounds like you're talking to someone else on the other side so Yuuji hopes you'll see it in time so the two of you can meet up in fifteen minutes.

"Finally, make sure the place you meet up is scenic," Todo says, nodding his head and closing his eyes to repeat the steps in his head as he follows his brother to the school's courtyard. Impress? Check. Letter? Check. Scenic meet-up place? Check.

It isn't until he feels Yuuji's hand on his shoulder and a quick thanks that Todo realizes his mistake. Yuuji rushes away from him to the other side of the courtyard where you're waiting with the letter in hand. 

"My name is Yuuji. I don't know if you remember me from class."

"Oh, yes, I know! You hit that homerun. It was really great."

Todo stands in shock. 

...He was so busy trying to teach that he actually forgot to pursue you first!

"Really? Thanks! I was just trying to make sure I actually hit it. I wasn't expecting it to go so far." Yuuji laughed. "So, (Name), I was wondering if you wanna go out together?"

Todo could cry. Actually, he already feels the tears coming down his face, but his brother could at least be happy. And if his brother is happy, that's all he needed!

"I'm sorry," you say sweetly. "I only showed up because I didn't want to stand you up, but the truth is I already like someone, and I wouldn't feel comfortable going out with someone when I have a crush on another person."

Todo's ears ring with your words. You already like someone!

"Oh, well, that's too bad, I guess. Thanks for telling me," Yuuji says with a disappointed yet understanding smile while Todo finds the opportunity to scoot in the middle of your conversation.

"Excuse me but your crush wouldn't happen to be on me by any chance?" he asks, hopeful.

You force a smile onto your face and tilt your head. "Sorry...Have we met?" you ask, nervously.

Todo gasps as he feels his world crashing down. Your date. Your marriage. Your kids. All gone, and it’s all black in his memory after that. The next thing he can recall is sitting in the eating area with Itadori. He remembers this heartache once before. "It's just like with Takada-chan..." he mumbles heartbrokenly.

"I told you already. We never went to the same middle school, and you never confessed to Takada," Yuuji grumbles, but Todo knows that Yuuji is only trying to make him feel better. He is so lucky to have such a good brother.

"Who...Who do you think it is anyway?"

Yuuji pauses.

He actually wonders that as well.

Then, they hear your voice ringing through the dining hall. Immediately, both sets of eyes are on you. 

"Fushiguro-kun, I wanted to thank you for helping me get settled into the academy. My mom gave me a buy one, get one free for a sushi place for when I made some friends, so...I was wondering if you wanted to be my plus one?"

Then, Yuuji finally gets it. He had been ignoring the small conversations happening around him the entire time thanks to Todo's interruptions.

The Hall.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for the dorms. Gojo-sensei was supposed to show me, but he got sidetracked so I've been sort of left on my own."

"Of course, he did. Geeze, that guy." Megumi sighs. "You can follow me. I'll show you where some empty rooms near the other girls are."

"Thank you so much! I'm (Name) by the way."

"Fushiguro," he states plainly and simply as you struggle behind him with your luggage. "Is that stuff heavy? Want me to help you carry it?"

”Yes. My arms got numb while I was waiting. Thank you so much!”

The Game.

"Out!" Gojo says. Fushiguro rounds first base to head back to the dugout, but you at least made it home to score. You head to the dugout as well.

"That's too bad, Fushiguro. You'll get it next time," you say, sitting next to him.

"As long as Kugisaki made it to second and you made it home then it's fine. I'm not really too hyped up on winning anyway."

”Oh. I was really looking forward to seeing you get one.”

”Too bad. Guess you’ll have to wait,” and by “wait” Megumi had meant probably not ever but you laughed anyway even though you had got what he meant. 

”I don’t mind waiting.”

The Dorms.

"Kugisaki-san said you could summon different shikigami animals."

"That's true."

"Would you mind showing me sometime? I love animals."

"What is your favorite?"

"I really like rabbits. Are you able to summon those?"

"Not at the moment, but I’ll show you when I learn it. How do you feel about dogs instead?"

”That cute dog was yours? That’s amazing.”

And now.

"Yeah, sure. I wasn't really in the mood for anything at school anyway," Fushiguro agrees, and your face lights up with a glow that could rival sunshine. Yuuji thinks if he squints he can see the anime hearts starting to dance over your head but Fushiguro didn't seem to mind.

Itadori could almost laugh. That's a new record in anyone ever befriending Fushiguro. The two of you must have hit it off really well. Yuuji smiles. In that case, he couldn't be upset. That must mean fate has something in store for you guys, and he didn't want to get in the way. "I guess girls really do like that cool, quiet type."

Meanwhile, Todo is crying in defeat. How could a woman like you like Fushiguro? 

"He's so boring though..."

[evebestt]

Hi! How are you? Hope you’ve been having a wonderful holiday season (if you celebrate at al!) ☺️ I was missing Farah x reader fics, saw you still take requests, and was wondering if you’d be able to write anything cute? I’m not sure about prompts. Perhaps either Farah or reader encouraging the other in something? Idk lol

Hi hon! I know it's been a while since the holidays (it's been a while since then sorry 'bout that) but I did have a good season! Thank you for the prompt! And don't worry about it being vague, it was fun to have a bit of wiggle room. This fic is a bit emotional along with cute, but I hope you like it!

Here's a little synopsis for you all: The first day back teaching after Farah's resurrection, she finds herself nervous for the first time in years. Reader comforts and encourages.

As always, send me a message or an ask to submit a request. Read here on AO3 or below

First Day Jitters

After what was now being called the Battle of Alfea — when Bloom and her friends had pulled Farah from her grave, newly alive and gasping for breath, when the students had woken from Rosalind’s spell and fought for their school, when Farah, Saul and Ben at her side, had cornered Rosalind in the woods and finally done what she should have done all those years ago — the school was finally quiet. When the headcount had been completed and the injuries had been treated, there was only about two weeks of the term left, and given the trauma everyone had been through, Farah started the summer break early, leaving the campus mostly empty for repairs to be finished — and for everyone to find their bearings again.

But now the students were back, and the first day of term was upon them all. You were anxious to start teaching again, ready to get back to the normalcy that was Farah’s Alfea, and ready for the simplicity of routine that the school year offered.

You’d set your alarm early, wanting plenty of time to prepare, but when it went off, you rolled over to find Farah’s side of the bed empty, already fading in warmth. The sound of the shower running told you where she was, and thinking nothing of her even earlier start, you rose and went to pick out your outfit for the day.

You both got ready in companionable silence, though you swore you could feel the tension radiating from Farah, and only increasing with every passing minute. Despite your relationship, Farah was a private person, so you decided not to question her, but when you’d finished your makeup in the bathroom and came out to find her pacing the room, you started to wonder if you should.

You watched her for a moment, thinking she’d stop, but when she just continued her pattern — seven strides to one end of the room, turn, seven strides to the other — you finally decided to intervene.

“Hey, slow down, honey,” you spoke soothingly as you caught her mid stride and wrapped your arms around her waist, pulling her close to you. She was tense like she might break free of your embrace, but as you pressed kisses along the back of her shoulders, she suddenly relaxed, leaning back against you.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t relax this morning,” she said, her frustration evident in her voice, and you just hummed, kissing the back of her neck before resting your chin on her shoulder.

‘Want to tell me what’s wrong?” you asked gently.

She was quiet for a very long moment, and then finally murmured, “I’m just… nervous.”

Thankfully she was still turned away from you, for you couldn’t stop your confused frown — you couldn’t remember the last time she’d ever admitted to being nervous. Trying your hardest to keep the confusion out of your voice, you spoke again. “Nervous for… for class today?”

You felt her nod. “I haven’t been nervous to teach in over a decade, and now, I… I feel like I’ve never taught a day in my life.”

Everything suddenly made sense, and you let out a small sigh, running your hand comfortingly along her ribs. “That’s understandable, a lot has happened in the past months. Even if you take—” you hesitated a moment — it was still hard to say the words, “take your death and resurrection out of the picture, there’s still been a lot going on at Alfea. It’s hard to pretend like everything is normal after all that and stand up to lecture about magical theory.”

She let out a huff of laughter, though there wasn’t any humor in it. “No, no it’s not easy to do. For anyone, but for myself, it’s—” she stepped out of your arms and turned to face you, her own arms folded over her middle like she was protecting herself. “It’s not going to be an easy day for anyone, but how am I supposed to be a pillar of authority while having to teach to a room full of students that know it was one of their peers that brought me back to life?”

You blinked, amazed she’d been so vulnerable with you. You wanted to reach out for her again, but afraid that might drive her away, you forced yourself to stay rooted to the spot. “Do you wish it wasn’t Bloom that brought you back?”

“No!” she exclaimed vehemently, shaking her head. “No, gods, that’s not what I meant, it’s just… the Headmistress needs to project unshakable confidence — I need to be a strong and powerful presence for the students to trust me completely, and… and I feel like that presence has been fractured by being brought back to life by a seventeen year old who until a year ago didn’t know that magic existed.” She sat down hard on the bed, burying her head in her hands. “Gods, I sound horrible and bitter. I don’t regret Bloom any of her powers, not for a second, and I certainly don’t regret her bringing me back to life. I just…”

You sat down next to her, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I understand what you’re saying. It’s your job to protect them, but instead they’ve protected you. It’s hard to go back to that protector role when you feel as though the tables have turned, so to speak.”

She nodded, staring at a spot on the wall, but you could see flashes of that night in the back of her eyes. “I’ve never been so vulnerable with anyone — those five held my life in their hands, and that’s not a secret to anyone. And now, I just have to… resume my position as Headmistress, their teacher, their mentor. And I don’t know how to do that.”

You were both quiet for a minute, letting her words sink in. “I don’t think anyone could know,” you said finally. “You are in uncharted territory, that’s for sure.”

She let out a chuckle at that, one with a bit of humor, and that made the fist in your chest unclench out of sheer relief, allowing you to continue. “But you’re not in that territory alone. It may be unknown, and there may be no right answers for what to do, but you’re not alone in it. Saul and Ben have never wavered, not for a moment. The girls have impatiently asked after you, Sky and Saul even replaced as much as they could in your office after Rosalind had it cleared out. The whole school stands behind you — we never would have won this fight if they didn’t.”

Farah gave you a faint smile, and you slid your hand down her arm to tangle your fingers with hers. “And you have me. Always. I put your portrait back on the wall myself, and I intend it to stay there for a very long time.”

Her smile widened and she squeezed your hand, resting her forehead on yours for a moment. “I do have you,” she murmured, and you kissed the corner of her mouth in response.

She picked up her head, looking at you in amazement. “What would I do without you?”

You smirked. “Wallow in your self-pity?”

“I was not wallowing, I was—” she paused, looking for a word, then gave you a pouty look. “Alright, well, I still wouldn’t call it wallowing, that’s far too dramatic.”

You just smiled as she stood, standing before the full length mirror as she smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles of her dress. She seemed to stand taller and more like herself, but you could still see some tension in her shoulders, and you wished you could take it all away, even knowing you never could.

“The students love you,” you said after a moment, wanting her to hear it explicitly.

You saw her smirk, and there was humor in her eyes when she met yours in the mirror. “Even when they call me a hard-ass?”

You grinned. “Even when they call you a hard-ass. They respect you. If they didn’t, they’d be calling you that to your face.”

Farah let out a bark of laughter as she brought her hands up to fiddle with the pins holding her hair. “That is true, they do refrain from that at least.”

You stood from the bed and came up behind her, gently pushing her hands out of the way as you took over the braid she was redoing. “Do you think Bloom and the girls could have done the unimaginable — the impossible if they weren’t doing it out of a love for you?”

She met your eyes in the mirror again. “I don’t think I’ve thought of it that way before.”

You held out your hand, and she gave you the bobby pins she was holding, tilting her head as you secured the braid you’d finished. “I’ve never seen it any other way.”

Farah turned when you’d finished and wrapped her arms around your waist, pulling you close as she smiled. “Thank you for talking me off the ledge.”

“You were hardly on a ledge,” you assured her, then gently smoothed your thumb between her eyebrows. “I just wanted to see that furrow in your brow disappear.”

“It’ll be back when I start in on paperwork today,” she joked, and you bumped your nose with hers.

“Then I’ll just have to pull you away from it,” you countered. “Meet me for lunch today?”

Farah nodded. “I’d like that.”

And you thought your heart would melt when she pulled you in for a hug, leaning down to rest her head on your shoulder.

You drew your hand up her spine, stopping to rub gentle circles between her shoulder blades. “You’re allowed to be nervous for the first day back, and even for the days after,” you murmured to her. “I just hope that soon you’ll see you don’t have to be.”

She straightened, brushing a piece of hair behind your ear and giving you a small smile, one that reached her eyes fully and stole your breath away. “Thanks to you, I think I will.”

~~~~~~~~~

Farah stood looking out the window as students shuffled into the classroom behind her, their murmuring becoming louder as they filled in the tables, finding friends and classmates to sit with. She swore she could feel their eyes on her, staring, and that their murmurings were about her return, and her skin prickled at the thought — but then she caught a snatch of a conversation, and smiled when it was just students comparing class schedules.

I’m old news at this point, she thought to herself, and that made some of the tightness in her belly loosen. First days didn’t change much, even if everything else had.

The clock hit the top of the hour, and Farah gave herself another moment before she turned around, taking in the view out the window of the grounds of the school —

Of her school.

I’m not alone, she thought, thinking back to earlier that morning, and found the memory calmed her even more, making her smile.

And with that, turned to face her class.

“Welcome to Magical Theory,” Farah said when they’d fallen silent, then gave her students a wry smile. “What I’m sure is everyone’s most anticipated class.”

A light chuckle rippled through the room, and Farah felt herself ease further. She fingered the stack of syllabi on the desk, running through her normal speech, the way she’s taught the class for the past fourteen years.

Before she’d died, been resurrected, and magicks previously unknown had been put on a very public display.

“I…” She took one last look at the syllabi. And then flipped the folder closed, instead coming to lean on the front of the desk as she surveyed the class. “A lot has happened in the past few months, as you’re all very aware of.”

There was another ripple of laughter again, though darker than before. “Because of that, and the fact that… that I was brought back to life by students at this very school with magic that very few people knew existed, my normal teachings on Magical Theory seem… of little circumstance.”

She had the room’s rapt attention now — she could feel all of their eyes on her. “That doesn’t mean you all will get out of the normal course load,” she stressed, giving them all a stare, and she saw a few smiles amidst the quiet groans, “however what happened should be discussed. I don’t believe this information should be hidden, and I don’t want any of you put in danger by attempting something you know little about. So, in addition to my normal lectures on the basics of magic we already know, I’m going to do my best to teach you all about what happened, and help you to process the information Alfea as a whole continues to learn.”

Farah was pleased to see she still had the room’s attention, and giving them a small smile, cocked her head in question. “With that, are there any questions?”

And felt her smile widen when a few hands went up in response.

[stellarlex]

What are your thoughts about Adrien/Cat Noir?

You got me started, so I won’t mince words.

Adrien is a pain in the ass.

The way the show constantly makes it seem like he’s in the right when he absolutely fucking ISN’T is something that has infuriated me for a very long time. The writing makes him seem perfect but he isn’t. He’s not even a good friend, and Marinette’s crush addled brain forces her to listen to his garbage advice even though she knows better and is more experienced in social matters.

This fucking kid has only been breathing fresh fucking air for a few months and somehow he’s suddenly a fucking expert on how to deal with bullies and manipulators. That’s how he comes off to Marinette with how often he lets Chloe’s shitty behavior slide or his dumb advice about Lila: “Making a bad guy suffer has never turned them into a good guy.” Or, “If you humiliate her he’ll just be hurt more.”

But Chloé gets to humiliate and hurt others with barely any consequences from anyone, let alone Adrien. And Lila just gets to publicly make fools out of anyone who believes her nonsensical bullshit. And it’s only appropriate to chastise them only AFTER someone has been humiliated, hurt, and even EXPELLED right Adrien?

And sure, I can acknowledge when Adrien has his moments of a spine but it never lasts and always falls through. People are constantly screaming “but his dad and his childhood and he’s so sheltered and can’t stand up to anyone !” but forget that he chose to be a superhero and fight evil and has stood up to people.

I mean he stands up for Chloé and Lila quite a bit no matter who they hurt. He had no problem standing up to Marinette and shaming her and the others when they were rightfully happy that Chloé, their longtime tormentor and bully was leaving. He gets to be sad that Chloé is leaving and shame on anyone who is happy about that.

He was so concerned that Chloé left hurt and humiliated, (which was her own fault for trying to lie about her school project and after the bullshit she pulled with the Bee Miraculous) that he didn’t care about how badly Chloé made others feel on a daily basis. They were rightfully relieved to have Chloé gone and to celebrate having some peace in school for fucking once.

He seemed to have forgotten about how she nearly killed a train full of fucking people to make herself look like a hero. How soon he forgets how Chloé sabotaged Marinette’s great uncle, how she treats Sabrina, how she broke into Marinette’s room and stole her diary to win a class president election, stole Marinette’s hat design and tried to frame her for stealing, how she broke into Marinette’s locker and vandalized her gift to Bustier. Just so many things.

But noooo. That’s not important. What’s important was that HIS FRIEND was sad and that all her bad behavior is negated and that they shouldn’t celebrate her leaving because SHE kept HIM company when he was kept inside his home. Nothing else matters Right Adrien?

And let’s not forget about Lila. I’ve heard so many bullshit excuses about why he won’t expose Lila and it pisses me off something fierce:

“He doesn’t know that Lila threatened Marinette!” “Marinette didn’t tell him about the threat!” “He can’t stand up for himself because he’s scared his dad will pull him out of school!” “He’s scared of Lila!” “But his upbringing” “But his dad!” “He doesn’t have evidence!” “His advice is right!” “He doesn’t know how dangerous Lila is!”

ALL. COMPLETE. BULLSHIT.

Especially that last one. There has been multiple occasions where Lila has proven how dangerous she is outside of being akuamtized but he still won’t expose her. The time she got Kagami akumatized and WILLINGLY helped Oni-Chan, was proven true by the horn on her head growing every time she lied. Adrien as Chat Noir saw this. Ladybug warned him. A FIREFIGHTER examined Lila’s ankle and basically said she was full of shit about her injury and saw Chat Noir chew her out over her willingly helping an akuma.

Still don’t know how the firefighter didn’t report that to the cops but then I remember that Thomas Astruc is shit and I say to myself, “Ah, that’s why.”

Adrien knew then especially how dangerous Lila was. He even warned Ladybug about her. If I was Ladybug I’d have said “Yeah, no shit. I tried to tell you that 5 minutes ago but sure.” But instead of outing Lila, he still says NOTHING and continues to let her lie and promise his friends things she can’t possibly deliver, continues to let her mess with his friends dreams because she’ll be “hurt more.”

When was this bitch hurt at school I wanna know.

Also, there’s the fact that Adrien has chewed Lila out multiple times about her behavior, so he’s not afraid to stand up to her. He’s even done it in public where anyone can hear him like in school. But he just keeps giving her chances. I was excited when he chewed Lila out after “Ladybug” but then that quickly went away when he said that he didn’t have any proof.

But he does have proof of her lying. He was there when Ladybug chewed Lila out about her lying. If he spoke up about that, they would believe him because he doesn’t have a motive to speak against Lila, like the way others were skeptical of Marinette’s claims because of her crush on Adrien. There’s also the fact that she lied to get into his house and got Nathalie and his bodyguard into trouble.

There is a picture she sent out to multiple people so she can’t rebut that. And then the whole shit about framing Marinette and the red butterflies. He should have spilled all the fucking tea but he still kept his mouth shut. If his little talk with Lila hadn’t panned out Marinette would still be out of school and she would look like some horrible villain and no one would doubt Lila.

But noooooo. Lila will be humiliated, she’ll be hurt. It wouldn’t make her a good guy.

Screw you Adrien.

As for Chat Noir....

*breathes in*

He needs to get a fucking reality check or he needs to not have a miraculous. Yeah. I said it.

Here’s a special message for him:

Ladybug said no. Stop asking her to date you. Stop trying to make plans or trick her into romantic situations with you. Don’t throw tantrums because she doesn’t tell you things or because she won’t do what you want. Stop goofing off during battles. Stop sacrificing yourself you absolute DUMBASS.

Sincerely, me.

It boggles me why he gets to do all the shit he does and has no fucking consequences. Marinette’s toe can’t even twitch without someone breathing down her fucking neck about being the bigger person or just chastising her for not living up to the standards of a Ladybug.

I’m looking at you Tikki.

But Adrien gets to just do all kinds of shit without a HINT of consequences as Chat Noir. It’s fucking WILD. But apparently to some it’s more important that he keeps Plagg because he’s lonely and he shouldn’t be trapped inside his house with Gabriel.

That’s not what a miraculous is for??!?!!?!?!! 🥴

And sure, Marinette has had some slip ups as Ladybug. But not nearly as many as Adrien has as Chat Noir. But like I said, Marinette gets blamed for anything by any and everyone whether she’s Ladybug or not. Tikki and Alya chastised her because she entered the game tournament to spend time with Adrien.

WHY??

She didn’t cheat, she entered fairly and played fairly and won fairly just like Adrien did. But because it was to spend time with Adrien it was wrong. Even Max’s sore loser ass admitted before he left that Marinette beat him fair and square. It’s a competition. He wasn’t entitled to have a spot. He even looked upset when Adrien beat him and Adrien had a worried look on his face. Tikki even chastises Marinette saying that there were better ways to spend time with Adrien.

But there WEREN’T.

Adrien’s time is so closely monitored that he barely ever gets time to spend with friends. That was the only chance Marinette had to spend time with Adrien. But of course Marinette gets the heat for it.

But Adrien gets nearly nothing when he causes Copy Cat because of his lie about Ladybug. He gets to throw a tantrum because Ladybug didn’t come to a picnic she never agreed to in the first place with no consequences. He gets to be upset about Ladybug having someone she loved and refuse to work together with her. And it’s all just glossed over.

But Marinette? Everything she does is always wrong. She has no choice but to be perfect or somehow the whole fucking world ends. And while it’s not right, Adrien only has to look perfect for his dad’s company. The amount of pressure isn’t the same. He gets to be carefree in at least half of his life, but Marinette is always under pressure and always judged harshly while Adrien gets to fuck up with barely any consequences or repercussions.

In conclusion, I’m so tired of this “sunshine boy”. You asked for this, and I delivered.

[uwuwriting]

Affectionate moments with the Todorokis

Request: Can I get some Todoroki fluff and when I say todoroki I mean all of the todoroki children thank you very much- anonymous

Okay now we can proudly call Dabi a Todoroki. The waiting is over, we’ve won this war ladies and gentlemen. I need some soft Dabi right now so I’m happy to oblige. Love ya. 💖💖💖

masterlist

rules

warnings: fluff, maybe some angst if you squint

Dabi/ Touya Todoroki 

-He isn’t the most affectionate person both in private and out in public. 

-The maximum effort he will put while out in public might be just a hand on your lower back to ground you when things are kinda spiraling out of control. 

-But apart from that nothing. 

-Now when you were just fuck buddies he couldn’t care less about affection.

-He was just here to have some fun and then he was out the door. 

-But when things change drastically between the two of you and he realizes that he really can’t stand the idea of losing you, his demeanor changed. 

-He had come to see how important you were and how dependent he had become of your presence. 

-Boy really couldn’t function without you around. 

-So he changed his antics around you. 

-He no longer left after your shared nights and he would even go as far as to hold you or help you clean up. 

-You thought that that was the most you were going to get from him, that he had nothing else to give apart from those moments of affection. 

-You were wrong though. 

-After a rather hard mission he would come and cuddle you  out of nowhere. 

-He would bury his face in your neck as his torso lay between your legs while you gently stroked his hair. 

-It would help him fall asleep most of the time but on the rare occasion he could manage to stay awake he would talk to you. 

-Those conversations weren’t of any value; it was dumb stuff that came to mind and he just felt like sharing. 

-Then after one too many close calls he would begin to tell you your importance. 

-After witnessing you almost getting killed time and time again, making his heart almost come out of his mouth every time you nearly dodged an attack he couldn’t hold back. 

-He would pepper you with kisses as he would flip you over so you were on top of him, your head tucked into his neck while his rough cheeks would rub on your plush ones. 

-It always hit him hard when he couldn’t protect you. 

-He wasn’t *that* stupid, he knew his job wasn’t to protect you and that you could handle yourself better than anyone in that dumpster fire of a league but he couldn’t stop himself from worrying. 

-Those shared moments of pure domesticity and normality between the both of you made it hard for him to deny that he was indeed falling in love. 

-And he hated it because he knew that at some point, when push comes to shove, he would have to choose between you and his goal. 

-And he wasn’t so sure what he would decide to follow. 

-When you broke the news to him that you were expecting, around the time Shiggy was putting his grand plan into action, he knew what he would choose in an instant. 

-But you wouldn’t budge; you knew what his dreams meant to him and you wouldn’t let him throw it all away for you. 

-He could have this new life after the battle, after the dust had settled and all had been revealed. 

-So, with a camera in hand, you helped him make the masterpiece that would show the world who Endeavor really was. 

-And you couldn’t be prouder of your lover. 

Fuyumi Todoroki

-Ahhh soft girl hours. 

-Okay now Fuyumi is the type of person to go all out for their significant other. 

-So PDA is on the table even if it makes her a little uncomfortable at times. 

-She’s kind of a people pleaser so as long as you are happy she is happy no matter how uncomfortable she might feel at the moment. 

-But like the great girlfriend that you are, and because you would kill for her, you push her to tell you what she really thinks about certain situations.

-And the moment she tells you that PDA is kinda meh, you yeet yourself away from her. 

-Holding hands wherever you are is a must, a request or rather a demand made from the queen herself. 

-She just likes feeling you next to her and what better way than holding your hand? 

-Apart from that demand of hers she never ever asks for anything else in that department. 

-Like girly believes that you have to earn your love and others won’t just give it to you. 

-That you need to prove yourself as useful so you can get affection. 

-An effort-reward dynamic. 

-And you can safely assume that we can’t have that here. 

-THIS IS A LOVE INFESTED HOUSEHOLD GET YOUR ASS HERE AND TAKE SOME OF MY LOVE.

-When you ask her to move in with you, she sees that as her opportunity to shine, to show you that ‘oh I’m not useless’. 

-Baby will try doing all the house work and such. 

-You legit have to call her to cuddle. 

-You’ll be working on your laptop, sprawled on the couch when you see your girlfriend just mopping. 

- “Fuyu come here.” 

- “But I still have to-” 

- “Forget about that, you’ve done enough I just want to hold you.” 

-She just flushes bright red before putting the mop away and moving to settle in your lap.

 -Her head is on your shoulder while she plays softly with your hair, her legs stretching across the coach as you continue to type mindlessly on your computer. 

-You give her the occasional forehead kisses while she nuzzles your cheek. 

-Last we have chaotic girlfriend hours when she’ll straight up straddle you and start doing your makeup. 

-You both burst out laughing every five minutes because you get overwhelmed due to the fact that she’s a) straddling you and b) she’s too close to your face and you can’t help but want to kiss her. 

-I want a girlfriend…..

Natsuo Todoroki 

-College boyyyyy.

-He is in general a neutral person. 

-I mean he will give you a kiss on the cheek while he is leaving for his class but he won’t full out make out with you in front of others. 

-So things are pretty chill between you two. 

-He has almost the same mindset as Fuyumi so at first he would try to prove himself to you so he would be worth your love but once you caught on you smothered him. 

-Now baby loves his kisses. 

-He needs them to function okay?

-Every morning he will wake up and if you have slept over he will wake you up with nuzzling his nose in your neck and softly tracing shapes on your stomach.

-Then after his kiss good morning and his first I love you of the day he is ready to go. 

-If however you are in your dorm/apartment, he will sulk until he sees you. 

-He has that puppy love. 

-Natsuo suffers from trauma from his family. 

-It’s common knowledge. 

-He hates looking weak, especially in front of you, so whenever he has a fight with his father or Touyas’ anniversary rolls around he tends to become distant.

-Try as you might, you can never truly get him to speak to you about those issues and let you help you. 

-You weren’t part of his childhood, you don’t know what it was like but you can try to make him feel better. 

-In reality you were ready to devote your every waking minute to him if he let you. 

-But that Todoroki pride gets in the way and he doesn’t let you see him like that.

-Until the villain attack when his father saved him. 

-Endeavor looked so genuine when he talked to him and all he did was scream at him. 

-Was he too cruel? 

-So he made his way to your apartment and without missing a beat he attached himself to you and finally, finally, letting himself be vulnerable. 

-After his break down you started to rock back and forth before turning on your stereo and putting on a slow song. 

-Taking his hand you started dancing in the middle of your living room, Natsuos’ arm wrapped around your waist bringing you flush to his chest as his head stayed buried in your hair. 

-You would hum the tune as you moved around. 

-This became somewhat of a ritual whenever things got bad inside his head. 

-You would just put on that song and calm him down. 

-And that was the best thing someone has ever done for him. 

Shouto Todoroki 

-Ah poor baby.

-He is touch starved like very touch starved. 

-My mans is out there longing for someone to tell him it's okay since the age of five. 

-Anyways. 

-He really doesn’t know how to communicate his needs though so you’ll have to figure out on your own what he wants. 

-He might recoil at first but don’t be disheartened. 

-Baby has been abused ever since he was born so of course he will be reluctant to let anyone touch him. 

-Subtle things are the go to at first. 

-Linking your pinkies under the table or maybe sitting closer to  each other.

-Kisses are rare and far apart but they exist. 

-Now things change after some time. 

-Depending on his relationship with his parents that is. 

-When his dad starts to try and redeem himself and he wants to be an active part of his sons’ life *GET THE FUCK AWAY BITCH*, Shouto is really conflicted. 

-Especially when he doesn’t get his hero license on the first try. 

-So that’s when his touch starved side comes into the light. 

-He’s stressed out of his mind and he needs comfort but of course he doesn’t know how to convey that to others. 

-You pick up on it and start giving subtle reassuring touches. 

-Squeezing his hand when you notice him spacing out. 

-Giving him a quick hug before he enters class in the mornings. 

-And as time goes by you peck him on the cheek before he leaves. 

-He becomes addicted and soon enough he’s initiating things on his own, giving YOU kisses each morning and coming to your dorm for “study” dates turned to cuddle sessions. 

-You guys have a ritual for whenever things get extremely bad; when he can’t seem to stop flinching away from sudden movement, when he can’t recall anything about his older brother or when Endeavor says something again about his friends/you. 

-He will come to your room with a pillow and some snacks if he remembers them. 

-You’ll put on a movie and he’ll just sit in between your legs, his head tucked under your chin as you run your fingers through the soft strands. 

-He might break down, he might not, it depends each time. 

-But he knows that this time he doesn’t have to face anything alone, that he is loved and cherished and that you’ll be there to pick him up when everything seems meaningless. 

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