#Kiana's Fic Madness

[kianaisspiraling]

Immortal GIGS Crew Phasmophobia AU

GIGS phasmo AU where they're basically just a group of retired immortals having fun :D

Impulse and Skizz started working for this ghost hunting company, and since they can't die, instead of reading the manual they decided to just fuck around and find out.

In truth, they kinda just showed up and started taking jobs. The company was gonna find these intruders and punish them at first, but when the spectacular results started coming in, the higher-ups hesitantly decided to let it go, since none of their actual employees were brave enough to take the cases Impulse and Skizz did.

Eventually, their results from one investigation were left with a letter requesting payment, since they didn't wanna keep using the cheap starter equipment in the van they "borrowed." So if the company slips an envelope full of cash into their own mailbox every time they receive a report for the mystery workers to take, and sometimes equipment disappears from storage with cash in its place, they simply would look the other way.

Later they drag Grian, Scar, and Gem into their shenanigans and they also fuck around and find out.

To the company, the GIGS Crew is their best team, even if they don't know much about them. They always take their hardest, most fatal jobs, and walk out completely fine.

Little do they know these eldritch entities die repeatedly and they scream like little girls. What is considered an almost certainly fatal job for any regular person, is just a game to the GIGS.

For example, all manuals say to snap pictures of cursed items, and safely return them to HQ to be disposed of in a contained area. GIGS crew though? None of them have the self control to not use those. Every single one of them would pull every tarot card for fun and you know it. Manual says to under no circumstances touch a summoning circle. GIGS does not read the manual.

They even set some rules early on, afterall this is a game to them, and what fun is a game if you can't die? So essentially they declared that if a ghost was to hit you with what would be a killing blow, you have to go into spectral form, in which you detach from your body and hover about like a spectator. Think Dr. Strange. The only thing they're allowed to do in this form is pick stray items up, and if everyone "dies" they have to jump ship and come back again later.

They can be 'revived' by the monkey paw or something too. Thing is, despite the fact that they don't need to, they still say, "I wish for Life," before the 'dead' person returns to their body. If this causes some recently dead guy a block away to suddenly wake up fine, sue them. They're causing miracles over here, be grateful!

Now imagine something happens one day that causes a human mortal that also works for the company in some regard to bare witness to GIGS' unhinged method of investigation. They're playing with cursed objects like toys, purposefully triggering hunts, and—

Unnamed is sitting in the van watching the camera closely when it happens. They've been tasked as a fifth, no wait, sixth member of the legendary GIGS crew for the day, since there's apparently a girl named Gem that subs in for Scar half the time. They're thinking that, sure, this team's been a bit reckless so far, but who are they to judge? These guys are THE professionals, after all. However, this viewpoint quickly gets decimated.

"HahAHA Scar's dead!" Unnamed's head snaps up at Grian's outburst. They, being the normal person they are, respond reasonably, "Wait, agent Scar is dead-?!" A pause followed by a realization, "Why the hell are you laughing-?!"

Grian, who came back into the van for candles since they were going to do an Onryo test before it started hunting, suddenly remembers that humans don't think death is funny. Right. Need to fix that slip up.

"Uhm... out of shock, I think?" Wow, A+ excuse, he mentally berates himself. Think Grian, think! Humans have that thing called grief, right? And isn't the first stage of that denial? Bingo! "I.. I'm sorry, I think I'm just.. in denial?" Grian wants to slap himself. Great idea, horrible execution. Unnamed clearly didn't buy it.

Thankfully, that mess was interrupted, "Hey guys, I found the monkey paw. Should I use it to bring Scar back?" Impulse says over the radio. Skizz and Grian are quick to agree, the latter also using the distraction to rush out of the van and that conversation with the candles.

It takes a moment to click, but Unnamed suddenly realizes, "Wait, are you guys gonna use a cursed item to bring Agent Scar back-?! Look, I know you all are mourning, but that is under all circumstances forbidden!" They take a breath in disbelief, "That could have unforeseen consequences!"

Skizz pipes up, not even trying to be subtle, "Well, duh. The consequences are what makes it fun!" Unnamed is interrupted by Impulse before they can rant about how bad of an idea this is—, "Yeah you say that until you're the one that has to deal with them," he chuckles.

Skizz, in blind yet playful rage, bites the bait, "Fine then! Give me the monkey paw, and I'll wish Scar back to life myself!"

Skizz does this and dies, and they can practically hear him complaining from beyond the grave. Impulse snaps a picture of his corpse as they make fun of the position he's in, his back bent backward. Unnamed is frozen in shock in the van as they listen to Skizz's friends, including a newly revived Scar, laugh at their own friend's demise. Oh god, they're surrounded by psychopaths. These guys take all the hardest jobs, of course they've gone crazy—

Unnamed, after spiraling for an unknown amount of time, looks over to the activity chart to see that there is a hunt going on. This gives them some time to collect their thoughts, only for that little composure to immediately be shattered when as soon as the hunt ends, Grian barks out a laugh, "Oh Scar! He's died AGAIN!", "Oh nooo!" Impulse follows along with a chuckle. Unnamed is on the verge of hyperventilating.

The two remaining GIGS return to the van and ignore Unnamed's impending panic attack. Grian tells Impulse that the hunt started right after the third candle blew out, so he thinks it's an Onryo. "I mean we do already have orbs, but I wasn't getting freezing temps and that ghost just wasn't answering spirit box." Impulse counters.

"Listen, I know I was spirit boxin' it pretty good,"—Unnamed shudders at that. The second-hand cringe they felt listening to Grian's "WHERE ARE YOUUU-?!" was indescribable—"but my gut is really telling me it's an Onryo! Besides, we've had ghosts that just refused to talk before."

"Your gut is usually right," Impulse mutters. "Look, we've got one of two evidence and a successful Onryo test, so I say we gag since Scar and Skizz are dead." Grian says. Impulse still looks unsure, "I just feel like it's too soon. One evidence is hardly enough, and that Onryo test could be a fluke."

They have completely forgotten Unnamed is there at this point, and they don't exactly feel like attracting attention to themself as they wilt like a flower in the corner, pondering their life choices.

Grian relents a bit, "Okay how about this, we ask Scar and Skizz if we should gag or continue investigating, fair?" Impulse nods, "Fair."

Unnamed looks up a little, concerned on how exactly they plan to consult their dead friends. They're beginning to think there's a high likelihood they'll quit tonight, and they're definitely going to need a therapist after all this.

Impulse speaks up over the radio despite them all being in the truck, "Alright guys, come get your clipboards!" Unnamed stares on in something akin to horror as two of the clipboards up on the wall start hovering. Impulse's voice is somehow too loud and too quiet at the same time, "Alright, throw your clipboards on the keyboard if we should continue, and throw them on the floor if we should gag."

Both clipboards are now being repeatedly picked up and tossed on the floor of the van by an invisible force. 'Forces,' they correct themself mentally, as it slowly dawns on them that these ghosts are actually Scar and Skizz, and isn't THAT a mind-twister?

Impulse looks slightly disappointed but smiles good-naturedly anyway, "You guys wanna gag? Alrighty then, check off Onryo and let's go!"

This is the moment that Impulse suddenly remembers Unnamed's existence, looking slightly worried at their lack of input, "You okay?" He turns his head, "Grian don't go yet, Unnamed hasn't given their opinion." Grian grumbles out a 'fine', and Impulse looks back at them, "You wanna gag, or should we contin–" Unnamed interrupts, "Just get me outta here please," they near-whisper.

Impulse looks them over and remembers that humans aren't meant to be that pale and hesitantly asks, "You uh... feeling sick?" He looks over to Grian for help, and Unnamed could swear they heard Grian sassily mumble, "Don't look at me, I dunno how humans work either," but they had to be hearing things, because that just doesn't make sense, surely.

"Impulse, lets just go and pass Unnamed onto someone who actually knows what they're doing," Grian grumbles, clearly frustrated. Impulse still looks concerned (at least he's trying), but concedes since, yeah, they really don't know what they're doing, do they?

As Grian starts the truck, Unnamed notices that Scar and Skizz's bodies are suddenly in the truck. Did– did Grian leave while Impulse looked them over? That had only lasted for a few seconds though, Grian couldn't possibly have dragged them in in that time, could he? It's like they were just teleported in here. Unnamed is really going to need that therapist, and maybe some kind of hallucination medication too...

While staring into space and down at the keyboard in misery, Unnamed distantly hears the sounds of someone cracking their joints and grunting noises to accompany it. They fully snap to attention, however, when they hear the people's voices.

Scar makes a sound of discomfort as he snaps his neck back into place, "Oh void, gonna feel that in the mornin'," he mutters to himself. Skizz on the other hand lets out a whoop at the satisfying crack in his back, before immediately thrusting into bickering with Impulse.

"Dipple-Dop, you killed me!" Skizz exclaims, and Unnamed gets the feeling that they should cover their ears, like a child does when their parents fight. "ME-?! You're the one who used the monkey paw!" Impulse retorts. Skizz, "Well, you shouldn't have given it to me!" Impulse, "But you literally asked me for it!" Skizz, "Well, I wouldn't have if you didn't instigate me!" Impulse, "Oh, come on! You..."

Unnamed tunes them out and focuses on Scar and Grian, all thoughts having left their head out of pure shock, believing this must be some twisted fever dream. It makes sense, they think, they have been tasked with reviewing GIGS' reports for the past month after all.

In truth, the only reason Unnamed is here in the first place is because Skizz didn't read a form before signing it. With their previous check, GIGS received a form that was asking about sending someone to monitor and review their methods and see if they're fit to formally become employees. It was really just an effort to get to know something about these mysterious volunteers, though.

Skizz, however, just skimmed the part gushing about how much the company appreciates their hard work and the benefits of becoming real hires, not actually reading the part about the employee evaluation, assuming they were just going to get the rewards. He signed it and wrote down the GIGS Crew email address he created a minute ago, hence why Unnamed is now here. Yippie.

They tune into Grian and Scar's conversation as they vaguely register Impulse and Skizz's continued, albeit quieter, bickering in the background. Scar is griping about the crick in his neck, "Why do you guys always have to leave a guy in the most uncomfortable positions, huh?" Grian responds blunty with zero hesitation, "Because it's funny," he snorts.

Unnamed tunes them out too as their brain starts to reboot enough to process that they are supposed to be dead. Why are they not dead-?!

Grian notices Unnamed staring in the corner and clears his throat above everyone else's chatter, making a gesture towards them once he has their attention. Unnamed can feel their heart sink straight through the floor, and a metaphorical noose tighten around their neck.

He looks over at Scar and Skizz, "You two really couldn't wait to get back up, could you? Remember, we. have. COMPANY!" Grian punctuates each word in that statement with a clap.

The two sheepishly look over at Unnamed while Impulse looks mildly panicked. Scar and Impulse were cooking up some half-baked excuses, and Skizz is malfunctioning when Grian sighs and relents a bit, "Okay, we're really not being that subtle anyway, are we?"

Scar is spewing a ridiculous explanation in the background, "They uh, shocked us back to life while you weren't looking, yeah!" A whisper from Skizz shuts him up, "I'm no expert, but I don't think that's how that works, buddy." Scar deflates a bit, "But that's all I've got..." Skizz rubs a comforting hand on his back, "I know, dude, at least ya' tried."

Before Unnamed can get enough of a grip on themself and ask what in the hell is happening, the ride ends, simultaneously having taken an eternity and also been way too short.

Grian slips out of the driver seat and ushers them outside quickly, them now standing in front of the company's main building looking lost. "Wait!" Impulse stops Grian from driving off, "You forgot your employee evaluation sheet. It looks oddly blank..." Impulse trails off before snapping out of his stupor, "Sorry! Didn't mean to pry. I'm probably not meant to read that, huh?" He slips the report into Unnamed's hand when they don't take it on their own.

"Oh, and would you mind taking in our report for this job too?" Despite the lack of a response, Impulse slips the report into their hands anyway, "Thanks, pleasure working with you! Sorry for any disturbances we many of caused." Impulse calls out as he steps back into the vehicle, Grian driving away as soon as the door closes, as if driving away will solve all their problems.

Unnamed starts to mindlessly wander inside the building, robotically turning in the report and submitting their evaluation sheet for review, one to the standard job review department and one to HQ. 'It really is a bit blank, huh?' They think passively. They're not really there, still feeling like they're floating in nothingness, but it's the first coherent thought they've had regarding reality in a while, so they'll take anything at this point.

Before they know it, they've found their way into the overnight stay room. Most investigations occur at night, so they have two rooms with sectioned off areas, each area containing a twin bed and a nightstand. It would look uncannily like a hospital if the nightstands were metal instead of wood.

They look up at the clock in the room and distantly note that its 2:17 am. Barely acknowledging that, they ungracefully flop onto the nearest available bed and pass out unceremoniously, not even taking off their shoes. The last thing to cross their mind before drifting off into a dreamless sleep is absolute certainty that this must just be a really strange nightmare induced by lack of proper sleep, and with that, they are at peace.

~

Unnamed hazily blinks their eyes open the next morning to see a silhouette sitting on their bedside, vaguely recognizing them as their friend, Unidentified. They can't focus on that though, only signing in relief now that that disturbing dream was over, writing it off as nerves for the upcoming job with GIGS. They're probably completely normal people, if a bit unorthodox.

This illusion is quickly shattered, though, because as soon as Unnamed is conscious enough to listen, their friend speaks, "So, how was it?" Unidentified stares at them with clear excitement, bouncing up and down a bit where they sat.

Unnamed, still pitifully oblivious, tilts their head in confusion, "How was what?" It's Unidentified's turn to be confused, "What do you mean, 'How was what?' The job with GIGS, obviously!" Unidentified exclaims incredulously.

Unnamed's face slowly morphs into one of unbridled horror as they realize that that wasn't a dream.

The next thing they know, they've sat up, fully awake, getting up and brushing themself off. Unidentified quickly switches from excited to worried, "Unnamed, are you okay?"

Unnamed can barely recall how to string together the sounds they call language to reply, "Yeah, I uh... I just need to go report something to HQ." Before Unidentified can respond, Unnamed has rushed out the door, straightening out their attire so that they look at least somewhat presentable in front of the company's head.

They file a request for an immediate meeting with the higher-ups, stressing the importance of it. They add that it has to do with Team GIGS as an afterthought, hoping it'll peak their curiosity.

And so Unnamed sits there, standing in the lobby with pumping adrenaline as they come to terms with a stark truth:

The GIGS crew is not human.

~•~

Bonuses!

POV GIGS Before:

"Look, Grian, I know you don't wanna leave the van, but this time you have to!" Impulse tries to reason, though he knows he's fighting a losing battle.

Grian refuses to relent, gaze boring into Impulse with several Eyes, "But whyyyy?!"

Impulse lets out an exhausted sigh, he's been at this for a while, "You know why, an inspector is going to be hunting with us this time, and they're human! We have to give them van duty or else they could die in the house. Like actually die."

Grian let's out an indignant whine, his wings puffing out in defiance, "And? There's gonna be five of us, can't we both just be in the van or something?"

"Grian, you and I both know that out of everyone here, except for maybe Gem, you get along with humans the least. You don't even try to be friendly!" Impulse counters. He can see Grian's resolve beginning to falter as he continues, "You don't wanna be stuck in the van with a 'strange mortal' the whole time, do you?" He uses air quotes, trying to speak Grian's language, and it's working.

Grian visibly deflates a little bit, crossing his arms and looking away as he bites out a bitter, "no." He's staring with only two eyes now, so that's progress Impulse thinks.

Skizz finally cuts in, not having wanted to get involved when Grian was still yelling, but will now that he's somewhat calm, "Listen buddy, it's not like you've never left the van before! You do it whenever Gemstone joins us, and sometimes when a bunch of us are dead!" Skizz chuckles a bit, "It's nothin' you haven't done before, G-Sharp."

Grian fully deflates this time, tension releasing from his body as looks at his feet and heaves a sigh of his own, "Fiiiine. The stupid human can have the vaaaan." He pouts, but it's the best they're going to get so they take it.

Impulse finally lets out a breath of relief, glad that he's avoided the possible murder of their inspector. Void, he really feels like a single mom sometimes.

~•~

POV GIGS After:

Grian is most definitely driving faster than the speed limit allows, not that he particularly cares. That went horribly, the human saw Scar and Skizz revive themselves for Void's sake!

In truth, they were never really dead. They really just couldn't bend their death-related rules they set for a day, huh? He has the urge to bury his face in the steering wheel as he drives. "This is why I avoid mortals," he grumbles to himself.

~

When they arrive at their designated "ghost hunting lobby," as they call it, they all devolve into various states of stress.

Grian face-plants into sofa and screams into a throw pillow, Eyes forming and popping around his head like lava. Impulse is pacing around the room like a maniac, pointed tail swishing back and forth in distress. Scar sits on the armchair, fiddling with his cane and pushing a hand through his hair, his eyes practically stapled open, gazing into space. Skizz just kind of stands there, his tail also swishing in anxiety as he dreads the inevitable.

Scar finally shatters the silence, "Now, I don't wanna point fingers, but," he points at Skizz, "kinda your fault, Skizz." There it is, there's what Skizz was dreading.

He tries to defend himself anyways, "Alright listen, I know that most of this is my fault for signing that dumb form, but you can't deny that we all messed up at least a little bit."

Impulse stops pacing at that. Grian doesn't move from his misery on the sofa, not reacting at all.

"I- yeah, Skizz is right. We all kind of screwed up. I think our main problem was how casually we acknowledged death. It's surprisingly easy to forget that humans don't view life as a game..." Impulse rubs the back of his neck, guilty.

Skizz still looks apologetic though, "Yeah, just know I'm really sorry about that. Maybe don't put me on mail duty anymore."

Scar stands up, his skin having taken on a blue blue sheen, his edges a little sharper, and small translucent wings behind him. "It's okay man, I probably would have done the same thing," he picks up a Jellie that's winding in between his legs, "plus we both kinda revived while Unnamed was right there, so you can't take all the blame for that."

"Thanks dude, that means a lot." Skizz slings an arm over Scar's shoulder.

Grian finally sits up, "So what happens now?" All heads turn to him, their stares questioning.

Eyes have never bothered Grian, since he has more of them, so he stands up fully and elaborates, "Well, within the next few days, the company is gonna know we're not human. What exactly do we do now?" A contemplating pause followed by a sad voice, "Do we... have to quit ghost hunting?"

The room goes deathly quiet. They... didn't think about that. Even Skizz and Scar look crestfallen. It's Impulse who pipes up, "No, we don't." he says surprisingly self-assured, all eyes now on him.

Impulse continues on, "I mean, Skizz and I just kinda showed up one day and they couldn't get rid of us, them knowing what we are isn't gonna change that. How exactly would they stop us?" The crew looks a little less depressed at that.

"Plus," Impulse looks hesitant for a moment, "Unnamed's reaction to death reminded me of how fragile human life really is, so even if we're only doing this for fun," he looks to each of them, "it makes me feel like we're protecting them, even if just by taking the lethal jobs."

Skizz perks up at the notion, and Scar breaks out into a grin, waltzing over to Impulse and slinging an arm over his shoulder. Jellie wanders off to go paw at Grian, who's sat back down, still squeezing that throw pillow.

Scar has regained his aura of grandeur, as he joins Impulse in cheering them up, "Yeah, I like that! We're helping by dying where they can't!" He looks very excited at the thought.

It's Skizz's turn to join the building huddle, an arm finding it's way on Impulse's other shoulder. "Oh yeah! Good guy Skizzleman, saving mortals from the horrors of death!" He pumps a fist in the air.

Grian gets up, Jellie trailing behind, and reluctantly joins the hug, arms around Scar and Skizz and his wings around all of them. "I don't care what happens to those humans, but whatever," grian mumbles. Impulse just smiles fondly at him, because despite how he pretends not to, Impulse can see just how much Grian truly cares. He doesn't have to understand mortals to care for them.

The soft moment is interrupted by a ding from Skizz's phone. They untangle their arms as Skizz checks what it is.

He perks up excitedly, "Oh, it's our report's review for the job!" He chuckles a bit, "If one good thing came out of signing that form, it's that we now get almost instant results!"

He clicks on the email, eager to see if they guessed right. Spoiler, they did not.

"What-?!" His face contorts to one of disbelief, "A Mare-?! How?" Grian shoots up at Skizz's outburst, clearly upset.

"What-?! Yeah how-?! That thing wasn't turning off any lights!" He squawks indignantly, a few Eyes floating over Skizz's shoulder to read it himself.

Scar looks wholly unaffected, "Eh, I don't really know how we got Onryo in the first place, I was too busy being dead."

Impulse seems to slowly come to a conclusion, "Well, if you think about it, we weren't really turning the lights on to begin with," his voice picks up a bit, "We were putting so many candles out for the Onryo test, that—"

Skizz finishes, "We stopped turning on the breaker 'cause the candlelight was enough!"

None of them have to turn around to see Grian facepalming, the scream of frustration enough for them to paint that picture themselves, "I hate this game!"

Grian isn't done with his rampage, "But wait, doesn't Mare also need spirit box?" He looks to Impulse for confirmation, and continues once he gets a nod, "But I did spirit box so well though! I had great coverage."

Impulse puts up a hand placatingly, "Yeah, I agree, you did spirit box pretty good, but we were on Nightmare, so spirit box probably just probably wasn't one of the two random evidence."

Grian crosses his arms, "Or maybe it's because someone," he casts a glare at Impulse, though he means nothing malicious by it, "just had to prestige, leaving us with shoddy level 1 equipment." He sighs however, "But you're probably right. We didn't really look that hard for Ghost Writing, did we?"

He wanders off to grumble to himself a little longer, and they all laugh at Grian's pity-party. They end up sitting on sofa together for a while, just chatting about things they couldn't talk about while Unnamed was there.

Impulse is telling a story from Hermitcraft earlier that day, but he stops when Gem comes up in it, paling, "Oh Void..."

Impulse's face unravels into one of dread, a realization forming, "Gem's gonna smack us all upside the head for this." Oh. Oh no. They all shudder in unison. They're screwed.

~•~

Thanks for reading my little self-indulgent AU-idea turned into a fic!

This was originally meant to just be an AU idea, but I blinked and I'd written a whole fic, so yeah.

I think I'll edit this a bit and post it on Ao3 too of that interests anyone.

Feel free to use the idea however you want, just tag me, I wanna see what you do :)

[vashatxt]

blade x reader - period s3x

imagine: you're not feeling too hot, on your period and suffering in bed, but you have a generous boyfriend called blade who knows exactly how to get you to sleep.

if you would like to request a fic/send a prompt, please read pinned and head to my ask!

there is no obligation to send any tips but if you feel like passing on a good deed, my kofi is https://ko-fi.com/idolelysia

cw: period sex, piss mention, oral sex, ass play.

the worst thing about your period, aside from how little you’re able to get done and the moodswings, is the pain. you’ve always suffered from horrendous cramping, heavy bleeding, bloating, and every other symptom under the sun.

there are days during that week of the month where you can do nothing but curl up into the fetal position, clench your legs together, your hand not resting on your crotch for anything nefarious, just comfort.

one afternoon, after showering to freshen up with no relief from the misery, you resign yourself to a nap. your boyfriend is already in bed, cosy in his boxers and a sweatshirt, his long hair tied up in a ponytail.

You smile at him and then start to pout. "don't be mad, but i think i need to accept the fact today is a write off."

"get in here." you gratefully climb over him onto the bed, curling up and letting out a deep sigh as your head hits the pillow. your tampon is only making you more conscious of your flow with how it would leak within an hour, and that wouldnt make for a peaceful nap.

"i'll change the sheets later...," you mumble. "don't worry about that," blade shushes you, his voice soft and gentle. you nuzzle into his shoulder. "It's okay, my girl." "mhm."

blade lowers the volume on the television while you assume your usual position, hand between your thighs. You try to focus on your breathing to allow yourself to fall into a deep slumber, but it's no use.

the cramping pain that extended right down from your abdomen to your legs is just intensifying. You moan as and wriggle around, trying to relieve it any way possible.

"babe?” blade mumbles. 

"mhhm? im sorry, i know i'm disturbing you-," "you're not at all. i just...," blade slips his own hand between your thighs. "maybe an orgasm could help you sleep?"

"i...," you aren’t a blusher, but for some reason, you feel embarrassed. "i promise i wasnt trying to.... be presumptuous and initiate something-,"

"i know," blade presses his hand down onto your much smaller one, and smirks when you gasp. your hand is the only barrier between your cunt, and blade’s touch. "but you sound like you might need it." "b-but you know i don't like to make it gross...,"

"do you think its gross when i fuck you and my cock and my fingers come out covered in blood?" blade blinks, wide eyed and innocent. it takes everything for you not to moan at the words alone. "no... i think its hot."

"so do i. selfishly, this is one of my favorite times of the month." a grin flashes across his face, before he gently retracts his hand and uses it to roll you onto your back. "spread your legs."

he's gone down on you on your period before, but never while you were freely bleeding this heavily. but you don’t have time to feel self conscious, because the minute blade slips two of his long fingers into your pussy and gently pumps in and out, the lubrication from the blood and cum making it too easy for him to make you feel full. "more," you moan, but blade just laughs. "you're so fucking soaked, you slut."

blade is positioned on his knees between your spread legs, and makes sure to make eye contact before lowering his head, painfully slowly, like you have all the patience in the world. he doesn't break the eye contact until he has to, and he burrows his whole face into your warm cunt. the hand he was using to fuck you is now digging into your hip, keeping you restrained, and the other slips underneath your butt, fingers itching to play with your asshole. but eating you out is the main event. as blade’s tongue swirls inside you and he licks at your clit, just gently enough for it to be considered a tease, you are squirming. You’re sensitive at the best of times, but this is actually threatening to humiliate you with how quick you could climax. You muster the strength to start grinding against his face. "you ok?" blade pulls back, looking at you again. 

"what?!" "you're being a brat." You narrow your eyes. "are you for real?"

Blade loves winding you up, but you can't do it today. you’re destroyed. Blade’s face is soaked, the sun shining in through the window making it absolutely clear that his face is coated in not just blood, but clear, thick  cum too. "kiss me," you demand, and blade knows you’re feeling better already - but isn't going to complain about continuing to take care of you. You’ve forgotten all about your reservations regarding mess, and you clumsily climbs on top of blade, diving in for a sloppy kiss. You taste yourself, and fuck, there is something so hot about it, if you do say so yourself. You suck on blade’s bottom lip and cup his face to smear the blood further across it. he looks like an animal after devouring its helpless prey. and blade is licking his lips. Hungry for more. "leave some for me," he pouts. "not fair, babe." "you cant get enough of my taste, can you?" "you really are an insufferable little bitch."

You kiss him again, blade’s hands are around your waist and pulling you closer, while you fumble underneath his sweatshirt to start flicking and twisting at his nipples - you know how much he gets off on sharp pains like that - “fuck, you’re a desperate little thing.”

"always, baby," blade moans. "please. please please please." "please what?" "i wanna taste y-you... please... i wanna .. i wanna breathe you in... i want to drown in your cunt...i want every drop of you i want it i want it."

You shift forwards and lower yourself onto blade’s lips, blade dutifully supporting you from behind which has the added benefit of being able to pull you down further onto his face.

"this'll shut you up," you mumble, and it's not quite true, because though slightly muffled, blade is louder than ever, louder than even you were. there's something about a boy moaning into your pussy with his hot breath that drives you insane, and you know you won't last long, you’ll spill while still sitting on his face like its a throne made just for you. but thats how blade worships you, after all. he falls apart for you, so he deserves a good view of you falling apart for him.

"you feel what you do to me?" Blade presses his tongue into you in response. of course he can't penetrate much, but it's enough. You ride his tongue, closing your eyes and your hips rising and falling, throwing your neck back. You let the cusses and the whimpers and the "blade"s fall out of your mouth until the moment his lips latch around your throbbing clit and his tongue wraps around in weird and wonderful directions, you cannot even figure out what he was fucking drawing on you in his mind (blade tells you later it was the word "mine"), and when he refuses to stop stimulating your urethra when you warn him to not, you don’t have a choice - "fuck," you yell “blade, blade, bla--," You tremble into the orgasm, feeling the familiar warm sensations of a gush of blood, squirting, and a trickle of piss all while blade digs his fingers into your ass so hard that you can't move from his face.

then, finally, you can roll off him and fall asleep in seconds, this time to the soundtrack of blade jacking off beside you under the covers, not being able to keep your name out of his mouth as he does.

[kianaflame23]

Final Fantasy XVI Clive Rosfield x OC plus Aquafina, Fediel from Granblue Fantasy and canon ff16 characters (friend's OC by @tea-r-re-z ) ☆

*Warning* Not suitable for anyone! It will contain child sexual exploitation so please ignore this chapter if you feel uncomfortable by this. I'm sorry!! characters death, graphic with gore. It will be bloody so I'm just letting you know the warming before reading this.

ONLY 18+ CAN READ THIS FANFIC SERIES! NO MINORS! I WILL BLOCK YOU IF YOU DON'T SHOW YOUR AGE IN YOUR BIO!

Tagging: @theempressofdarkmagic @aria-lesage @virtuousluna @momowasdreaming @blueflame97 @seiyaido @ishgard

Chapter 1 : Pain and Suffering

She's the same age as Clive, but only difference that she's actually from the present time but somehow she's in the past, she got some of her memories from her present time but she doesn't fully understand them. Also, her current appearance is very different from her present time but she doesn't know it yet. She even knows her true first name but decided to keep it to herself. Maybe she'll tell Clive, Joshua, Jill and Aquafina about it but afraid that she'll be left alone and wouldn't talk to her anymore...

Hating herself as she lied to them. (Don't forget about this part btw! I'll be writing the angst fic about that. )

She's actually very quiet and shy when she first met Clive and Aqua. Trying her best to be a good servant, helping and obeying Rosfield's family orders. She was 8 years old when she met Clive and Aqua. Despite her quietness and shyness, she's still the sweetest girl who would do anything to help and be there for anyone. She loves to pet the small cute Torgal and always feel happy seeing him as she turned 15 years old. Kiana is so grateful that Clive doesn't mind being with her as they got more closer. Spending good time with him and Torgal. Kiana tends to get scared easily when someone gets mad at her. Kiana does have a good student and mentor relationship. She doesn't mind if Aqua sees her as her little sister. Aqua's beautiful long, silver hair stunned Kiana in a good way and wants to be like her when she's older. Kiana liking and wishing to have her mentor's appearance. She's too shy to say anything to her though.

Kiana felt nostalgic as her family looks just like her present time. She doesn't know why though. Believing that everything she is seeing is fake and must be an illusion to her. Her parents is good terms with Rosfield family. Kiana thought everything will go fine, right? Oh how wrong she was.....

She immediately remembers her mom's father, which is her grandfather... and already starts to panic so much... her memories from her present time came crashing to her. Knowing that she needs to be away from him no matter what.... she has to go somewhere safe. Maybe Clive or Aqua can be there for her. But she can't tell them yet. It hasn't happened to her yet.... she knows how disgusting and dangerous her grandfather is so she avoids him every time. However, her grandfather would find a way to follow her and it was pure bad luck that she wasn't able to protect her from that horrible old man... Not strong enough to push him away nor hurt him... Allowing him to do anything to her body.... Praying to Eikons for her grandfather to stop and forget about her. Sadly, he kept going and going until she was 12 years old... Kiana felt like she didn't deserve to be alive, blaming herself for everything. Not brave of not saying to her family and friends.... She can't even tell Clive, Joshua, Jill, and her mentor, Aquafina. There's times that she wants to tell everyone about her and her thoughts but still refuse to say anything once again... Kiana would interact with everyone even though she lost her cheeriness and prefer to stay in her room, blaming herself again and again...

After Aqua left the castle, she's 15 years old and already in love with Clive but decided to keep her feelings to herself. After all, Clive and Joshua's father spoke to her coldly, forcing her to not interact him anymore and never think of marrying Clive. Nodding shakily as she obeys his command. Him smirking at her as he has nothing to say more, Lord Rosfield walks away from her.

She wants to be happy with Clive, thinking about how their life will be if they are together.... Aqua and Joshua supporting them and not judging at them. Kiana loves both Aqua and Joshua as her family too. She rushed to her family and hoping to see them as soon she is there... why must Kiana suffer a cruel fate? Seems that someone, a tall hooded-man who's wearing a demon mask, lurking in the shadows, enjoying the pain of Kiana and waiting for the right time to begin their chaos on her... to begin the eternal suffering and pain on poor Kiana....

As soon as she arrived at her home, the pain and suffering began.... Kiana witnessing all of her family, rope tightly all around their bodies as their knees are down in the ground. Not saying a word as Lord Rosfield talks to them with anger and disgusted tone.

"HOW DARE YOUR DAUGHTER MADE MY SON FALL IN LOVE WITH HER?! HE SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON HIS EDUCATION AND HIS SWORD PRACTICES!"

Kiana's father was about to explain but Lord Rosfield wasn't having it at all.

"SILENCE! I THOUGHT I COULD TRUST YOU WITH THIS AGREEMENT! YOU JUST PROVE ME WRONG!"

Before he can say anything more, Kiana rushed to her family and shielding them as she is in front of them. Both of her arms spreading away from her as if she can protect them....

"Please, Lord Rosfield! It's my fault! Don't hurt them! I'll listen to you! I-I will stay away from Clive from now o-on...."

"Perfect timing, Kiana. Then, prove me now. Say that you don't love Clive and that you don't want to see him anymore"

"W-what?" she looked at him with fear and sadness.

"SAY IT NOW, KIANA! OR YOUR PATHETIC FAMILY WILL DIE!"

"O-okay..."

"I d-don't love Clive and will not s-see him anymore"

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! SPEAK LOUDER NOW, KIANA"

"I DON'T LOVE CLIVE AND I WILL NOT SEE HIM ANYMORE! I WILL STAY FAR AWAY FROM HIM!" Kiana yelled as she tries her to stay calm and not wanting to cry in front of Clive's father.

"Good. Do you hear that, my son? You don't need to focus on her anymore."

Kiana immediately turned her head, trying to find Clive. She saw both Clive and Joshua.... seeing sadness across their faces... true pain appears in Clive's blue eyes.

"Clive! I--"

Clive turned away his face, not wanting to see Kiana. Joshua's confused eyes looks all around as he tries to understand the situation. He knows that Kiana loves his older brother dearly. She told Aqua and Joshua about her romantic feelings towards Clive. Even Jill was there and is happy for her too! Them being happy for her and begged her to tell her feelings to him. Kiana disagreed and explains that she will once she is ready. So why is she lying right now...?

Joshua was able to say something to Clive but their father interrupts them. Both Clive and Joshua wasn't there when Lord Rosfield was forcing Kiana to say those cruel words in there...

Kiana continues to say anything to Clive but he still refused to see nor hear her. Making her fall down in her delicate knees, feeling defeated as she fails to convince Clive.... her brown eyes filled with emptiness and sorrow....

"Good, you know the consequences for getting in the way of my son's training. For your punishment, you will be staying in your room all day unless I need you to do something in the castle."

Kiana froze as she listened to his words, already hating the idea of not seeing everyone that she cares and love. Especially Clive... Kiana is going to regret this but she doesn't care! She will not obey his commands anymore! Kiana wants to start working on her confidence. She doesn't want to be shy and quiet any longer!

"NO! I WANT TO SEE AND BE WITH CL---" she was interrupted once again as Lord Rosfield slapped her face harshly, rage in his face as he continued to slap her more...

Witnessing the horror of his father slapping Kiana's sweet face, Clive tries to run in order to stop his father, however, the knight guards stopped him as Clive screamed her name. The guards using their weapons and preventing him to go anywhere as they hold Clive with force. It took more than four knights to hold him.

Kiana's older sister couldn't handle this anymore and stood up from the ground, furious on her eyes. Still having her rope all around her body but she doesn't care. She needs to protect her little sister even if she has to die trying to save Kiana.

"¡¡OYE, PEDAZO DE MIERDA!! ¡DEJA A MI HERMANITA EN PAZ!

(HEY, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!! LEAVE MY LITTLE SISTER ALONE!)

Lord Rosfield stopped his hand and slowly turned his face towards Kiana's older sister, not focusing on Kiana anymore

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! KIANA, WHAT DID YOUR SISTER SAID TO ME?!"

Ignoring his demands and desperately told her older sister to stop and forget about her.

"¡¿OLVIDARTE?! ¡NO, MATARÉ A LORD ROSFIELD SI TENGO QUE HACERLO! ¡NO QUIERO QUE SUFRAS HERMANITA!"

(FORGET YOU?! NO, I WILL KILL LORD ROSFIELD IF I HAVE TO! I DON'T WANT YOU TO SUFFER LITTLE SIS!)

Both Kiana and her older sister talking to each other in their native language, everyone getting more confused and not understanding their talking.

"ENOUGH!! GUARDS, KILL THAT WENCH OF KIANA'S SISTER! KIANA WILL GET HER PUNISHMENT NEXT"

They obeyed Clive's father and walked menacingly towards Kiana's family. Kiana screaming for Clive to stop them. Clive used his all of his strength to push the knight guards away, which he was able to be free from them. Clive gripped his hilt of his sword and took out his sword from the scabbard, in order for him to save Kiana's family. He doesn't want Kiana to hate him because of his father. He can't fully understand why his father is so cruel towards Kiana and her family. Clive can't be thinking about it right now. He NEEDS to save Kiana! He hasn't told his love confession to her.... Clive wouldn't forgive himself if she dies in front of him. He will save her no matter what!

'I'm going to save you, Kiana! I don't care if my parents doesn’t accept us! You're not dying today! Everything will be fine, Kiana!'

Oh, how fate continues to torture Kiana and Clive..... Especially what's going to happened next...

As soon he was close to Kiana's family, Clive's father stood in front of Kiana. Her looking up at him. Fearing for her life as Kiana yelled out her beloved knight's name, Clive's father swung his sword. Slashing across her body before thrusting the tip of the sword through her chest, making her cough blood from her mouth. Kiana falling down to the dirt ground, blood appearing from her red with black maiden's dress as her brown eyes slowly losing life... Kiana looks at Clive and her family, not able to hear their cries of her name... Kiana feels pain from her ears, knowing that they are bleeding and trying to get out from the ground but fails as she kept hurting herself.

"FATHER? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!" Clive's furious blue eyes stared at his father, as he walked quickly to Kiana but Lord Rosfield stopped him.

"SON, YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT SHE'S A DISTRACTION TO YOUR WELL-BEING AND YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON YOUR TRAINING"

"NO, SHE ISN'T! I NEED TO S--"

"DIDN'T YOU PROMISE TO ME THAT YOU WILL GUARDING JOSHUA AND BE HIS SHIELD! THE SHIELD OF ROSARIA?!"

Clive's mouth closed shut as he didn't say anything to his father, trying to find a way to save Kiana. Clive's father snapped his fingers as he ordered his guards once again, ordering them to take Clive and Joshua away from there.

Kiana's older sister, Ana, witnessing her dying little sister in front of her. Tears falling down from her hazel eyes as she began to sprint towards Clive's father.

¡¡ESTAS MUERTO!! ¡¡TE MATARÉ, BASTARDO!!

(YOU'RE DEAD!! I WILL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!)

It was horrible for Kiana to see the knights getting closer to her older sister, not able to move a muscle and screamed her name in agony.

"ANA!! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! FORGET ME!!", Kiana was able to utter her words before losing her voice, coughing more blood... Surprised that she is even still alive....

"HERMANITA! I WILL SAVE Y--"

Ana wasn't able to say a word as dark shadow appears below her legs, a demonic eye stared at her widely. Ready to swallow her whole.

"Qué? What is tha-" Ana said her last words before the demonic shadow swallowed her whole body and suddenly disappeared in front of Kiana's brown eyes...

"Ana....no....", Kiana tries to scream or say something but she is losing consciousness. Knowing that she will die soon...

Lord Rosfield looked terrified, leaning back as he tries to remain calm. All of the knights looked each other in terror, asking to each other on what just happened. Then, Lord Rosfield laughed as he grabbed his chin.

"I get it now....You're a monster, Kiana. It is your fault that Clive is in love with you! Your family must be like you too, right?!" He was slowly losing his sanity, as if he is a crazy mad man....

"Kill her family! We must exterminate them", Lord Rosfield commanded his knights, the Rosaria knights agreeing with him as they beheaded Kiana's whole family. Kiana felt hopeless as she saw her parents and siblings' heads drop down in the ground. Their dead eyes staring at her eyes. Traumatizing Kiana even more as she felt numb...Not caring about herself. She only wished she was stronger. If only she has her own powers to revenge her family... Maybe she can be worthy for Clive and everyone in Rosaria... She can never forgive Lord Rosfield, wanting to kill him...But Kiana doesn't want Clive and Joshua to hate her....Clive hating her and wanting her die... She would rather end her life than hurting him....Kiana closed her eyes, accepting her death.

'I guess I'm dying....I will be joining you...mamá...papá...hermanas....wait for me...please..."

"Poor Kiana. I feel bad for you. Why don't you form a pact with me?"

A distorted and ominous voice snapped her thoughts as she looked around her surroundings. Not longer feeling pain as she stood up from the ground.

"Who are you? Where am I...?", Kian spoked nervously as she tries to see the mysterious shadow person.

"Oh, sorry for my bad manners. Let me show you who I REALLY am, Kiana", the voice laughed as if they are losing their voice.

The mysterious person suddenly transformed themselves as a three headed skeleton dragon in front of Kiana. Shocking her as she falls down to the floor. Terrified of what she is seeing, wanting to scream but her voice doesn't let her....

"Please don't kill me!"

"Kiana, you're already dead."

"......"

"Don't worry, you can be alive again if you agree to form a pact with me.".

"Why...?", Kiana looked at the dragon confused, asking the real question and worried if she has to do something worse...

"Because you deserve better, Kiana. Your family got killed right in front of you."

"......please don't remind me about that...I know and it's my fault....", Kiana cries as she finished her sentence, blaming herself more. Feeling useless and want to be with her family.

"No, it isn't your fault. It's that bastard! Clive Rosfield's father should die!"

"B-but we can't! I don't want Clive to hate me...."

"Very well, then. We wouldn't kill him but I want to taste those knights' souls!"

"No! You can't k--"

"They killed your family, right? Let me use your body to take their souls. Then, you can be alive. You don't need to worry, Kiana...", the three headed skeleton dragon spoked slowly but Kiana understood what they were saying to her.

"I....."

"You want to see Clive again. Then, make a deal. I wouldn't kill the Rosfield family and you let me use your body. Reviving you as I take those knights' souls. Deal?"

".....fine, it's a deal...tell me your name please...", Kiana spoked softly as she looked at the dragon, her brown eyes filled desperation and fear.

"I will tell you my name once we sealed our pact, Kiana."

The dragon decided to use two of their heads, getting closer to Kiana. She panicked, however, stayed calm as the dragon's heads were in the front of her small yet delicate hands. Biting gently to her forehand as Kiana winced in pain. A tattoo of the three headed skeleton dragon appeared in both of her hands. Then, it just disappeared as if it wasn't there at all.

"We formed a pact, Kiana. It seems that you are afraid of me... Let me turn into a "human" so you can feel comfortable."

"Huh? What are you do--"

The dragon slowly transformed themselves, their huge figure coming down as they are fully human in front of Kiana. Kiana's eyes widened as her face blushes. Covering her face as she looked away from the now, humanoid tall lady with long horns.

"WHY ARE YOUR...CHE--...I MEAN, WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO LOOK LIKE THAT??", Kiana yelled in embarrassment, not wanting to see them.

"I knew you will love it, Kiana! Who can resist my perfect body~?", they winked at Kiana as they know it will embarrassed Kiana even more. Giggling to themselves as Kiana panicked even more as she stuttered her words to them.

"Hey, I even have my huge chest that every men craves and every women desired to have so they can satisfy their love ones~"

"PLEASE STOP TALKING!"

"Alright, then. You will wear like this though, Kiana."

"WHAT?! NO! I CA--"

"Your body wouldn't change at all. Just on how you would look and your clothes, Kiana."

Kiana blushes more as she starts to imagine on how Clive will see her in that outfit....Kiana would rather die than exposing her skin to everyone. She really wants to talk with Clive again though....

"O-okay. Promise me that you wouldn't hurt Clive...."

"I will only take the souls of the knights. I promise, Kiana.", they smiled gleefully as their hands were on their hips.

"Okay, let's do it."

"My name is Fediel. Call my name as you raised both of you hands, Kiana!"

Kiana nodded and did exactly as she was told.

"COME TO ME, FEDIEL!", Kiana screamed the dragon's name as Fediel's shit eating grin appeared on their face. Getting excited to use Kiana's body and getting what they want.

Clive watches as Kiana's dead corpse in front of him, his mind racing as he looked at his father with such hatred and rage. Ready to attack his own father. Not caring if he is no longer part of Rosfield name. He would rather die with Kiana than staying with here.

"FATHER! I WILL KILL YOU! I SWEAR YOU WILL BEGGED FOR MERC--"

Clive wasn't able to finish his sentence as purple flames blasted all around the castle and Kiana.... Clive looked rapidly towards the purple flames, wondering what's going on. A figure slowly approached out of the flames, a young lady looked down as they continued walking towards the knights.

"Kiana...is that you?", Clive spoked to the young lady in a concerned tone, hoping for Kiana to answer him.

"No! My name is Fediel!! TIME TO DIE, YOU MORTALS!!", Kiana laughed maniacally, her voice is combined with hers and Fediel. Echoing to each other as Kiana slaughtered every knights. Beheading and cutting their flesh to pieces. Kiana is no longer wearing her maiden dress and she appears to have long horns in her head. Kiana's brown braid hair turned grayish as her long hair got much longer. Clive and his family watched in horror, seeing the shy yet sweet Kiana killing the knights with no mercy. As if she is enjoying her kills.....

"OH! I AM SO DELIGHTED TO BE BACK! I WILL GET ALL OF YOUR SOULS AND THEY WILL BE MINE!", Kiana grinned as she walked towards to the last knight. The knight begging for their life to Kiana before ending their life. Blood splattered in her face and her body as she drinks their blood. Kiana turned away from the dead knight and looked at Lord Rosfield. Fearing for his life but mostly for his sons. Shielding Joshua as Kiana laughed at his attempt to protect his second son.

"I am not going to kill you. I promise Kiana that I will use her body to kill your knights."

"WHAT ARE YOU?! LEAVE NOW!"

"Oh, you don't tell me what to do. Kiana needs to say her goodbye first~"

Kiana closed her purple eyes and opened her brown eyes as she witnessed what Fediel did to the knights.... She still has her grayish hair and sighed to herself. She cries as she looked at Clive and Joshua. Seeing fear in their eyes as she starts to talk with them.

"I'm sorry Clive....Joshua.....please forgive me....you will never see me again....", Kiana smiled sadly to them as her tears falls down from her eyes. Using her powers to take her dead family with her, her skeleton wings appears in front of them.

"Goodbye Clive...."

"Wait, don’t leave Kiana!", Clive screamed her name as she used her wings, flying high to the sky. Taking her family as she finds a place to bury them.... Clive sees her from a far distance before he can no longer see Kiana anymore....

Clive collapsed to the ground and screamed her name, wanting her to come back to him.

"DON'T LEAVE ME, KIANA! I PROMISE THAT I WILL PROTECT YOU!"

"PLEASE COME BACK TO ME, KIANAAA!"

Clive cries as he felt unworthy to save his true love. Vowing to himself that he will get more stronger than before.

"I will find you, Kiana. I don't care if it'll take me days, months, or even years. You wouldn't suffer alone. Wait for me, my beautiful angel....

The demon masked man laughed as he walked away from the scene. Seeing the mysterious hooded man and smirked at them, patting their shoulder as they began to talk.

"My job is done, you can begin yours. Let's continue working together."

The mysterious hooded man smirked as well and nodded. Waiting for his time to strike as the sun slowly goes down, showing that it will be night. Then, he can bring more suffering and pain to Clive Rosfield and his family....

Chapter 1 end ☆

[raylazuko]

So the lore grows and grows for the fanfic there are a lot of characters now.

Like yes thinking about Ragbros instead of the election at 2 am is helping actually.

Ok but I saw some people debating Kaeya and Diluc being siblings in a YouTube comment. (Of course) but people’s argument for them not being siblings being “they hate each other” is so funny to me.

But it just reminded me of my fanfic how

Spoilers for the first fic go to RiahWrites02 on ao3

Kaeya stops Diluc from offing himself and they sorta have a long talk on the dock too as kaeya is remembering his past then in Khaenri’ah Diluc comes to rescue Kaeya and Usura comes in too then Diluc blows up the thing and Kaeya and Usura escape. Diluc and Dain are literally buried under rubble and Aether peace out and Kaeya’s vision teleports to him on the surface and the each think the other is dead btw. Also kaeya goes back and Usura fights Rancourt and then they all end up back and Rancourt literally turns up the heat which makes Kaeya start slowly dying and having fever dreams and shit and Diluc is not on with this. Anyway Dain fixes it but when they fight Rancourt Diluc gives Kaeya the dagger Crepus gave him when Kaeya is disarmed and says he earned it and then Kaeya uses Diluc’s claymore to kill Rancourt (his abusive bio dad if you dont know the fic) and then Usura (his mom) Dain and Diluc all protect him from absorbing the dark energy. Usura literally dies and Dain says Sumerian custom is to bury with a weapon and Kaya can’t use his own or Rancourt’s so Diluc lets him use the dagger again and leave it which is like so……

And then there’s the follow up stories where they just bond with Clavia and chill at Kaeya’s house. And one of them Kaeya has his mind invaded by his literal evil stepmother and defacto ruler of Khaenri’ah Albina and she mocks his mom and other stuff and he’s not ok at all physically sick from the thing and also mentally not ok and Diluc Dain and Clavia help and comfort him again. Then there’s the one where he nearly dies and bleeds out and Diluc saves him. And the one where Dain and Kaeya both fall into severe depression and are not eating or leave the house and even start sh and Diluc breaks in and cooks breakfast.

Basically Diluc hates and won’t forgive himself for hurting Kaeya and not being able to save Crepus and he now feels bad for treating Kaeya that way.

But yeah not to spoil too too much of the upcoming sequel but basically there’s a TON of backstory about Crepus, his siblings and why he didn’t tell the boys about them, Elde who is his niece etc. Basically Diluc’s mom Emiline (not Emilie, name was picked out before Emilie) cursed herself and her sister sorta by accident and also her having kids kinda decreases her life expectancy but basically Crepus inherited the winery cuz his older brother Rafeus ran off to be a sorcerer and Rafeus doesn’t like Emiline because he’s afraid something bad will happen to Crepus cuz he foresees it and also prophesies about three kids two boys and a girl so Emiline thinks she’s gonna have two boys and a girl. Rafeus says the other boy doesn’t look like the kids but he doesn’t explain it. (He can tell kaeya is Khaenri’ahn and also scared of him and literally tells Crepus Kaeya will be his downfall or some shit and Crepus doesn’t tell kaeya this cuz wtf). But anyway so Emiline dies with only one kid the youngest boy is obvs Kaeya and Crepus realizes that the girl must be Kiana’s kid. Kiana his sister ran off with Leon Lawrence (eula’s uncle) who Crepus didn’t like and warned her about but she got mad and then Rafeus kinda threw her out and then Crepus and Rafeus fought. Also, Kiana and Emiline team up and that’s important later but yeah basically Crepus realizes Elde exists cuz of this. He knew Kiana died in szenhenaya of an illness (spoilers it was Dottore testing elezar) and left Elde in an orphanage there. She and Liesel Kratz are besties and maybe in love and she won’t go back with Crepus and instead signs up for working in the pentacle basically refusing the same life that the other kids have and they don’t know about each others existent for security reasons but Crepus does everything he can for Elde regardless. He can’t take in Liesel cuz he can’t take in another kid

But basically he kinda takes care of the kids who stay there who are Elzer and Ava basicallt both of their parents don’t care and they’re there on apprenticeships. So the 3 and later 4 with kaeya basically run amok and Ava gets a crush on Diluc at some point but Diluc is with Jean at the time. Random but Ava also loves horses. She can be kind of clumsy and forgetful but is nice. If you remember from the first story she was there when they got attacked and passed out and kaeya found her while he was observing the other stuff ueah it’s a mess. With a broken arm she makes it back to call for help and ummm transport because she is actually the bestest delivery girlie I want to remake her in the other style tho

[oathofkaslana]

the only hi3 au’s/fix-it’s i really have in my head are like.

elykiamei canon compliant fic ← will not get written.

kaslanas reunion fix-it.

the ending but like. without hyperion lambda i’m so mad at the writers for that

part one ending but like. madokas her. (kiana isn’t allowed to go back to her universe at all)

[phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing]

i think they call you a proshipper because you wrote smut fics and sometimes wrote fics of bronseele which both are 16??? though you never wrote bronseele smut or any smut involving the two sin mal and olenyevas twin so i dont know whats going on with the anon. there was also a dude one time going "remember they are minors!" to kiana when shes like 18 or 19. Twitter is just obsessed with those its weird.

THEY'RE MAD ABOUT BRONSEELE NOW??? W h a t... Yaknow I don't think I've actually gone through a bronseele smut fic, they just don't have a horny vibe to me. They're just kinda cute

What I find really weird is the last time someone actually tried asking why they're saying that they brought up a reblog with someone I don't know in it?? Who I wasn't even reblogging from?? Who I've never interacted with whatsoever?? Not anything I'd actually, like... written. So like. Their obsession is a mystery

Anyway I've said it a lot, I don't care about labels as much as the meaning underneath, if you're going to slander me you can level my sleeping habits against me instead whatever this is supposed to be

[bubblyani]

Bail Out- A Fic Playlist🎶

The Playlist for the Bruce Wayne Multi Chapter Series : Bail Out

Hey lovelies! While I was writing this series, I had a playlist made with songs that set me in the mood and played as a soundtrack for the story. And I finally wanted to share it now that the series is finished. Hope you will enjoy this and be able to enjoy the story again.

Read SERIES HERE!

(SPOILER DETAILS INCLUDED WITH SONGS)

~Wanted to give an insight of where the songs fitted in the story in my head~

1. My Whole Life- Alina Baraz 

Chapter 2: When the Reader fell hopelessly for Bruce Wayne, this seemed quite relatable for her

2. Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now- Mcfadden & Whitehead

Chapter 2: The Song the HR Department played when the Reader returns to work on Monday after the punching incident.

3. Eyes Off You- M-22, Arlissa & Kiana Ledé

Chapter 2: Drunk off whiskey during the Charity dinner, the Reader dances to this track without any form of inhibitions.

4. Love on the Ground- Cannons

Chapter 3: That fuzzy feeling the reader gets upon seeing Bruce Wayne once again, successfully engaged in a well formed conversation as he brings her Wallet.

5. Mad About You- Hooverphonic

Chapter 4: Through the tears, how the Reader’s feelings for Bruce Wayne remains unchanged even after finding out his secret identity: The Batman.

6. Just Got Paid- Sigala, Ella Eyre & Meghan Trainor ft. French Montana

Chapter 4: The sweet reminiscent of the time when the Reader and Allison went on a Girls night out, right before the Loan sharks crashed their evening.

7. You’re Gonna Love Me (The Dark Knight OST) - Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard

Chapter 6: (Specifically at the 3:30 mark of the song) The confessional moment  between the Reader and Bruce Wayne after he rescued her from the grips of death by Alpha. Right up to the kiss. This is from the Dark Knight soundtrack I know, but this resonated so much.

8. Night and Morning - Alina Baraz

Chapter 10: The morning after confronting Alpha. The intimate moment during the Blue Hour where the Reader and Bruce Wayne make gentle and passionate love.

~Hope you guys enjoyed it. Any additional songs you guys have? any song you could relate to while reading this? Please let me know. I would love to hear about the songs that came up while reading this~

Tagged: @tealaquinn​​ @ladyerina​​ @kittenlittle24 @wholesumm @everyday-imfangirling​​ @lucy-roo​​ @works-of-fanfiction​​ @bale-is-a-babe @badsext​​  @maddistyles17 @truly-insatiable @gooseyhouse​​ @artsymaddie​​ @quarterback-5 @mamooska8 @strangerliaa​​ @jensen-impala​​ @lilyofthesword​​ @woodencupcake​​ @fonduebitches @soullesstaco​​ @spicybellinger​​ @marvel-lously​​ @glitterypinkkitty​​ @danceyreagan​​​ @barikawho​​​  @lostgirl0020​ @diogodxlot​​​ @elena-mayfair​​​ @xxdearlybeloved​​​ @shewearsprada​​​

[alwayssaywhatever]

I made a playlist for my fanfic

Art by my friend Ferbiie. She’s amazing and did this as a surprise and she’s incredibly talented. So go follow her tumblr, her account on Insta for drawings: littlesweetdrawings and read her fanfics at A03.

So, some of you know that I‘m writing Mystic Messenger Fanfic. I just decided to create a playlist to my wip, Wine and Cigarettes, a JuminxZen Fanfic.

There’s a few songs per chapter, and I decided to post the list here with a few notes about each of them. 

There are spoilers for the chapters on the song’s choices and explanation. I suggest you go read first and then come back here.

1- Underneath The Mistletoe

A Lovely Night - La La Land Soundtrack (The hate-love dynamics in the beginning of their relationship and the RFA being on a lovely Christmas Night).

Gorgeous - Taylor Swift (Jumin feeling conflicted about Zen)

Daddy Issues - The Neighbourhood (I think the lyrics say everything, they are lonely, ygot issues.)

Nervous - Shawn Mendes (“You make me nervous and piss me off”)

Underneath the Mistletoe - Sia (I found this one today and found cute and it’s the name of the chapter)

2- Silence and Anxiety

Toxic - Britney Spears (Zen still wondering what happened on their first kiss)

Troublemaker - Olly Murs ft. Flo Rida (Zen knowing that JUmin could be trouble)

His Status is… Preferred - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Cast (I love this show CEG and decided to put some fun songs in the middle of this playlist and the lyrics describe Jumin well from Zen’s pov)

broken - lovelytheband (I add this one on the list after reading this fic “Trust fund party” link: https://bit.ly/3iQtXis)

Into You - Ariana Grande (Zen wondering if he should make a move before the second kiss)

3- French Cuisine

Crush - Tessa Violet (I love her music and this album, the fluff, thinking about each other)

I Like (the idea of) You - Tessa Violet (more fluff, the texting each other)

Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys (Even if they already kissed each other twice, there’s the question if the other feels the same way, the same intensity)

I Wanna Be Yours - Arctic Monkeys (The end of the dinner)

Animal - Chase Holfelder (it’s a cover from Neon Trees and I like the slowed down version, it gets sexier)

4- Birthday Date

I Really Like You - Carly Rae Jepsen (few weeks of dating, the beginning of liking someone)

Absolutely Smitten - dodie (same from the one before)

Dive - Ed Sheeran (the fear of falling fast and too intensely for someone, wanting to make sure the other feels the same)

Talk Too Much - COIN (I love this one and thought it was too cute)

5- Confessions and Fried Chicken

Make Me Like You - Gwen Stefani (the whole panic before saying “I Love You”)

Stupid Love - Lady Gaga (fine, I love you, so what?)

Shut Up and Dance - WALK THE MOON (Zen basically saying this song before they dance together)

Baby I’m Yours - Barbara Lewis (the song that appears at the chapter, it speaks for itself)

6- The Storm After the Calm

You Deserve Better - James Arthur (Jumin thinking about leaving Zen, insecurities and fear)

Just Give Me a Reason - P!nk ft. Nate Ruess (Zen asking what’s wrong and why they are breaking up. P!nk’s lines are Jumin and Nate’s lines are Zen)

Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi (Zen asking if there was something he could do to stop the break up)

ok on your own - mxmtoon ft. Carly Rae Jepsen (the whole lyrics it’s a mix between their feelings)

7- Broken Promises

We don’t talk Anymore - Charlie Puth ft. Selena Gomez (“Every now and then I think you might want me to come show up at your door, but I'm just too afraid that I'll be wrong”)

I Was an Island - John-Allison Weiss (Zen’s pov for the lyrics)

Words Ain’t Enough - Tessa Violet (Jumin made promises with words, but his actions proved them otherwise. They broke up saying that they still loved each other)

Death By A Thousand Cuts - Taylor Swift (Zen again: “'Cause saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts; flashbacks waking me up; I get drunk, but it's not enough”)

EX - Kiana Ledé (More Zen: “Just 'cause it's different and we're not the same; Doesn't mean things have to change; I got no trouble with my pride, got trouble cutting ties”)

8- RFA’s New Members

dream of you - mxmtoon (I love her music and had to have her here too and it’s sad. The lyrics really mean everything)

i miss you - mxmtoon (the lyrics also say everything on this one)

Dress - Taylor Swift (“Our secret moments in your crowded room; They've got no idea about me and you”)

I Won’t Give Up - Jason Mraz (Zen still has hopes, so he joins the RFA)

9- A Night of Regrets

Maniac - Conan Gray (pretty much the fight from the chapter)

Walls Could Talk - Halsey (The fight gain)

Horny Angry Tango - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Cast (the sexual tension of the fight)

We Should Definetly Not Have Sex Right Now - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Cast (the title and the lyrics are pretty straight forward)

MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT - Monsta X (this happens after this chapter and before the next chapter. It’s not healthy, but continue to hook up)

Circles - Post Malone (the same bas from the last song, but this time Zen believes he has to put an end to all of this)

10- The Consequences To Their Actions

Never Really Over - Katy Perry (Zen thinking about the bad cycle of their hookups, but also still having feelings for Jumin)

Strangers - Halsey ft. Lauren Jauregui (Halsey lines are Zen and Lauren’s lines are Jumin)

Getaway Car - Taylor Swift (Jumin talking about their relationship was doomed from the beginning)

Mercy - Shawn Mendes (Zen demanding explanations about them, if they have a future)

Say Something - A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera (Zen pleading for answers)

Please Don’t Leave Me - P!nk (Jumin not wanting Zen to leave)

It Was a Shit Show - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Cast (Zen admitting that their relationship was flawed and it should be over)

11- Comfort in an Unexpected Place

Perfect Illusion - Lady Gaga (Zen being mad about their second time was not feeling and just something casual)

Truth Hurts - Lizzo (Zen complaining to Seven)

Good as Hell - Lizzo (Seven giving advice to Zen)

Kill This Love - BLACKPINK (feeling empowered after deciding not to cry about his ex anymore. “His love is my favorite; But you plus me; Sadly can be dangerous”)

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift (putting the final stone and saying it’s over forever)

12- Kind Eyes and Good Advice

Strawberries and Cigarettes - Troye Sivan (the song that inspired the title of the fic. I could be the two singing, but Jumin is thinking about: “strawberries and cigarettes always taste like you”)

Someone You Loved - Lewis Capaldi (Jumin is all the lyrics, but this one really hurts: “I guess I kinda liked the way you numbed all the pain”)

Falling - Harry Styles (Jumin drinking and blaming himself. “And I get the feelin' that you'll never need me again”)

Ex - Stray Kids (the moment I heard this song I thought about Jumin singing this. The MV on youtube has the lyrics in English ;])

13- When a Door Closes…

i hate u, i love u - gnash ft. Olivia O’Brien (this chapter it’s more about the characters and Rika, but it’s also the first time in six months that the two saw each other and I love this song so much)

14- …Someone Breaks Through a Window

Strange Love - Halsey (RFA wondering why the two fight so much and Zen reflects about their past)

When I Was Your Man - Bruno Mars (Jumin thinking about the things he could’ve done better)

Talking to the Moon - Bruno Mars (Zen thinking about the two of them after all this time)

Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye ft. Kimbra (they being annoyed at the the other, their fights and bickerings on the chat rooms)

I will reblog this post when I add more songs to the playlist. I’ve already updates chapters 15 and 16 but I still didn’t know wich songs to add, so this is it for now.

There is a tag for the fic and I’ll update everything there as well. 

I hope you enjoyed this journey into my mind. This songs helped me write and maybe I’ll have some drawing to complete this whole work.

[artificialqueens]

2003 (1/2) (Vanique) - Ortega

a/n: VANIQUE MUST RIIIIIIISE!!!! ayo team, welcome to this. i pulled this ship from virtually nowhere when i was writing n19f and people seemed to like i as much as i did, so i wrote these two together for the fic challenge. i’ve split this fic into two halves, as they’re two very different vibes. this part follows Vanessa and Monique as they go through primary school and then start their first couple years at high school, so it’s definitely more platonic than anything else but it’s cute! also overall this was inspired by two songs, one being 2003 by Todrick and the other being I Choose You by Kiana Ledé which will be the title of the next part, so look out for that. i so so sosososo hope u enjoy, bc i highkey love this pairing a lot. lots of lo-ove, by-ee!

tw: implied child neglect and drug use

summary: Vanessa Mateo and Monique Heart start school in the year 2003. They love girlbands, superheroes and football, and they’re best friends forever. At least, that’s the plan.

***

The room smells of squeaky floors and play-dough. It’s not like anything she’s ever smelt before, but it’s weirdly comforting. She’s sat on a carpet patterned with all kinds of fruit. It doesn’t have pineapple (which is her favourite), but that’s okay. The walls are covered in colourful paper, an arts-and-crafts rainbow explosion. There’s words too, different curly and spiky shapes making letters. She knows one has a “V” in it because that comes at the start of her name and it looks the same, but she can’t read any of the writing yet. Some of the kids in nursery could already read and one of the boys could even write stories. Vanessa couldn’t. She still can’t, but that’s okay. She can write her name and say please and thank you in two different languages and she knows how to count up to 12 (she gets stuck after that, but she’ll learn the rest).

She looks around the carpet. There’s a girl nearby her with two huge black plaits and huge brown eyes to match. Her skin is dark, and Vanessa feels comforted by the fact she’s not alone in sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the Snow Whites and Cinderellas and Auroras and their matching porcelain-skinned Disney princes that are sitting on the carpet with her. She scratches her head, feeling the bow her Mama tied in dark her hair shift. She hopes she’s not made a mess of it. Then Mama would be mad.

Her teacher’s been talking for a while now. It seems like she’s been talking for two hours. Maybe she has been talking for two hours. Vanessa looks up at the clock, even though she doesn’t know how to tell the time yet so the information is less than useless to her. Bored, her eyes drift towards the girl she was looking at before. She’s wearing a white polo shirt and a red pinafore, and her white socks have got red bows on them. Vanessa is jealous. Her new jumper with the school logo is scratchy on the inside and she told her Mama that her leggings have a hole at the knee but they can’t get any new ones until she gets paid.

She bum-shuffles across to sit beside the girl, keeps her eyes trained on the teacher like a sniper as she leans in and whispers. “You look like a princess.”

The girl gives her a big smile. Vanessa knows she should say thank you, but maybe she doesn’t know as much about manners as Vanessa does. The girl whispers to her. “You look like Meg from Hercules.”

Vanessa smiles at her. She’s seen Hercules- it’s not her favourite, but she’s seen it- and Meg was her favourite character. “Thanks.”

“It’s okay,” she whispers. There’s a pause before she hisses to her again. “My name’s Monique, what’s yours?”

“I’m Vanessa,” she replies quietly. Vanessa picks at the hole in her leggings. It’s now about the size of a 1p coin. She knows about coins, at least. “Hey, you wanna play princesses at playtime?”

Monique nods excitedly, then whips her head around, scared. Vanessa looks up at her teacher. Her eyebrows are almost joined-up and there’s little lines on her forehead and her eyes have gone all hard. Vanessa knows this means she’s feeling cross.

“Vanessa, Monique! It’s rude to talk while someone else is talking. We don’t do that in school.”

Vanessa knows she should nod, but her stomach feels all fizzy and she finds herself frowning at her teacher instead. Monique says sorry. Maybe Vanessa should say sorry too. She decides she doesn’t want to.

“She’s been talking for about 5 hours. Maybe even 4 years,” Vanessa whispers to Monique again. Monique covers her mouth with her hands and lets out a tiny giggle. Their teacher gives them a suspicious look again and Monique shuffles away from Vanessa. Vanessa knows this means she doesn’t want to get into trouble. As soon as the teacher starts talking again, Vanessa hisses over to her.

“Monique!”

No answer. “Monique!”

Monique turns around a little bit to face her. “What?”

Vanessa cups her mouth with her hands so the girl can hear her. “Do you want to be best friends?”

Monique gives her another big smile. It makes Vanessa feel happy too. “Okay!”

She’s only been here for five hours, maybe even four years, and she’s already made a best friend. This school thing is easy.

***

It’s the two of them for life. Vanessa just knows it. They’re BFFAEAE (best friends forever and ever and ever). They get in trouble for chatting at school and their long-suffering teacher monitors them like a hawk. They’re banned from sitting near each other on the carpet because even when Vanessa tries to listen (even if it’s P.E., her favourite), she’ll think of something funny she just has to share with Monique, and of course Monique is incapable of laughing quietly so she lets out a screech that completely disrupts the whole lesson and earns them both five minutes off their reward time. Vanessa doesn’t even mind losing reward time. They sit at the same table while everyone else plays and they write out the class rules, but Vanessa doesn’t mind because it’s the only time they’ll ever be allowed to sit together in class.

In the playground and after school it’s a different story. In Reception they play princesses and animal rescue with their threadbare, well-loved stuffed animals they sneak into school in their schoolbags. By Year 1 they’re popstars learning dance routines and designing album covers and falling out because Monique wants to call their double-act The Strawberry Babies and Vanessa knows that obviously The Starlights is a far superior name. In the Summer between Year 1 and Year 2 Vanessa’s Mama takes them to the cinema to see Fantastic Four and so for the whole of Year 2 they’re obsessed with superheroes, rolling around on the tarmac play-fighting with each other and getting bruised knees and scraped elbows and so far removed from the girly girls they were when they started school.

Vanessa knows everything about Monique and Monique knows everything about her, because that’s what it means to be best friends. Vanessa knows that Monique’s brother is eleven and goes to Big School and doesn’t play with her and slams his door and plays rap music that Monique can hear when she’s in her room with the door closed. Monique stays in the high flats with her brother and her gran.

“Do you have a Mama?” Vanessa remembers asking her one day in the playground, drawing in the dirt with sticks.

Monique’s voice had been quiet. She hadn’t looked up from drawing in the dirt. “Uh-huh.”    

“Where is she?”

Monique had shrugged, scribbled out the happy face she’d drawn. “Gran says she’s not allowed to see us any more.”

Vanessa could tell talking about her Mama had made Monique sad, so they don’t talk about that any more. Dads are off the table too. Vanessa doesn’t know hers and Monique doesn’t either. Vanessa doesn’t really need a Dad. Her Mama works in the supermarket and keeps their tiny pebbledashed council house in the estate spotlessly clean and is always on time to pick Vanessa up from school. She drags Vanessa kicking and screaming to mass every Sunday (Vanessa doesn’t like it because all the chanting scares her) and threatens her with El Coco until she’s blue in the face. Monique goes to church too but hers sounds more fun- they laugh and clap and sing their hearts out. Monique sings the songs in school. Vanessa thinks she sounds like she could be in the Sugababes, not that she’s allowed to listen to the Sugababes.

Monique comes round to Vanessa’s house every few weeks or so. She lives close, and Monique is allowed to walk round on her own. Vanessa is jealous of that. She wishes her Mama would let her go places on her own. She tells her that one day and Mama howls with laughter, says she’s not allowed out on her own until she’s at least twenty-one. Vanessa thinks she’s joking. Thinks.

Vanessa gets excited when Monique visits because she knows her Mama will make an effort with the dinner. That’s unfair and disrespectful, she knows; Mama works hard to put food on the table, but her stuffed arepas are just better than rice and beans (and microwave meals if it’s near her pay day, which her Mama makes Vanessa promise she’ll never tell her Abuela they eat). They sit and eat with their bowls on their laps on the sofa in front of the TV and watch The Weakest Link. They sometimes get the questions right even though they’re only 7 and the people on the show are fully-grown adults. Monique is smart, though. Smarter than Vanessa. Vanessa thinks she’s smarter than their teacher. She’s the best at writing in the class and the best at maths too, and she can read any word at all.

Vanessa’s not that smart, but she knows Monique is, and she thinks she’s amazing.

It’s a grey-clouded day in July in the Summer of 2007 when Monique pulls up outside Vanessa’s house on a brand new bike. It’s blue and the seat is close to the ground and the spokes are all shiny. Vanessa runs out to see her, sticks her feet in between the bars of the rusty iron gate at the front of their house and swings back and forth as Monique talks.

“My brother got me it. Someone from the skatepark didn’t want it any more and it’s too small for him, so I guess it’s mine now,” Monique shrugs happily. There’s a smudge of dirt on her face that Vanessa knows her Mama will wipe off with a hot cloth if she sees it. “It’s kinda big for me but it works okay. You got a bike, right?”

Vanessa cringes, thinks about the pink bike with streamers at the handles that lives in their back garden and is probably crumbling away with rust. “I got one, but it ain’t as cool as yours.”

Monique smiles, satisfied with the compliment. “Well, go get it an’ we can go for a ride.”

Vanessa blushes and thinks of how many cool points she’s going to lose when she tells Monique that she has to ask her Mama first. Monique laughs at her good-humouredly, sticks her tongue out at her and calls her a baby. Monique turned 9 two months ago and Vanessa has to wait four more to catch up with her, so the comment stings but she pretends it doesn’t.

To her surprise and delight, her Mama lets her go out on her bike with Monique but only if they just go round the estate and they’re back before dinner time. Vanessa has never been able to follow the rules, though, so when Monique tells her she knows a place by the river under the bridge with a scrub of sand like it’s the seaside then Vanessa doesn’t hesitate to follow her. Vanessa wonders how Monique seems to know the city so well: she takes her on a journey through dark underpasses with yellow strip lights and bright scrawls of graffiti, narrow bridges above busy roads that Vanessa tries to pretend don’t scare her, secret little paths through the big park Vanessa goes to with her Mama sometimes. They pedal wildly and everything zooms by so quickly that even though she has no idea where she is, Vanessa feels safe. Any vaguely scary things they see (big dogs) are gone a second later, and Vanessa knows Monique would protect her if anything scary did happen. She would protect her too. That’s just what best friends do.

They arrive at the place Monique had been talking about. The brown stone bridge hangs high above them but Vanessa can still hear the cars on it pass by. They’re drowned out slightly by the babbling of the river, inky and cold and black with jaggy rocks underneath its surface. There’s huge clusters of boulders that they both have to climb over to get to the sand and they have to leave their bikes leaning against the wall on the path. It’s not a pretty place, but it’s still a little bit magical. It has the aura of adventure rather than beauty and they’d be more likely to discover pirates here than fairies, which is just how Vanessa likes it. Together they chuck stones into the water haphazardly, their hands growing more grubby by the minute and the dirt black under their nails.

“What’s that?” Vanessa narrows her eyes, reaches down to pick up the object she’s spotted. It’s embedded in the sand and she can’t really see what it is, but it looks like what she got her injections with at the doctor’s. Monique races over to see what she’s talking about and pushes her hand away quickly. Vanessa snaps. “Hey!”

“You’re not s'posed to touch that, it’s dangerous!” Monique cries, outraged. “What if you got stabbed?”

Vanessa snorts a laugh. “It’s ain’t a knife, M'nique, it’s only a stupid needle."

Then, almost as if Monique’s warning had been a dare, Vanessa picks it out the sand with her thumb and index finger, holds it by the plastic tube. Monique’s face falls. "Stop it, ‘Ness, that’s creepy.”

Vanessa laughs, starts making the needle float about while making spooky noises. Monique takes a step back, her face all panicked. Vanessa gives a giggle. Monique’s acting like a scaredy-cat; she does that sometimes and it’s funny to wind her up. She usually takes it well but she’s growing more distressed than she usually does. Her eyes are all wide and Vanessa stops playing the moment she sees tears start welling up in them. She immediately drops the needle into the river and crosses over to her, her trainers leaving huge Nike ticks in the sand.

“Hey, what’s the matter? I’m sorry,” she mumbles. She regrets joking around now, and Monique is wiping at her eyes and sniffing and smearing dirt across her face.

“They used to be all ‘round my house before we lived with Gran,” she sniffs. Vanessa gets a churning feeling in her tummy. She doesn’t really know what that means, but it makes her feel frightened just hearing about it. She can’t imagine how frightened Monique felt seeing them for real. Slipping the sleeves of her hoodie down over her hands, she gives Monique a hug, pats her back in the hope it’s comforting.

“I threw it in the river. Don’t worry. You don’t need to see it ever again,” Vanessa says. She’s not Monique, she doesn’t know what it’s like to have a sibling, but Monique is the closest thing to a sister she has and she wants to keep her safe. Monique is smiling at her when she steps out of the hug, and Vanessa feels relieved.

“An’ if it does come back we’ll just stab it before it can stab us first!” Monique jokes. It’s a silly joke but Vanessa still bursts out laughing.

“We’ll stab it with a stick!” she joins in, and soon the two girls are laughing and anything vaguely threatening has been forgotten about.

They end up cycling a lot that Summer, Monique showing Vanessa all sorts of hidden places all round the city. Vanessa never feels freer than when she’s racing around on dirt paths behind her best friend, and worries are a distant memory. Vanessa’s life is good and she has a lot of things to be thankful for but she knows she looks different and doesn’t fit in, she knows there’s a lot of things that the other kids have that she doesn’t, she knows that there are times when her Mama sits up at night time with her bills spilling out across the kitchen table and a calculator in her hand. Monique is a bright smile and a sense of adventure and she makes Vanessa feel happy.

They don’t go out on their bikes as much when they go back to school after the holidays. Year 4 flies by almost as quick as they used to cycle, as does Year 5. They don’t pretend as much in the playground anymore, preferring to run riot on the astroturf with the boys in their class and play football and get bruises on their shins from being tackled to within an inch of their life. Not much changes by Year 6; their last year of primary school when they should be responsible and conscientious and yet they’re still getting in trouble for giggling in class and playing pranks on the other kids and whispering swear words in Spanish (that one is Vanessa’s fault).

They’ve only got a month left of primary school and Vanessa’s allowed to walk home with Monique now as long as she keeps her phone on loud and texts her Mama to tell her if they’re stopping by the park or the snack van. Today is one of those days. They’re sat underneath the huge cherry blossom tree at the park; Vanessa wants to climb it but Monique’s saying that’s too babyish. They’re too old for that now, so they’re bluetoothing each other Tinchy Stryder and N-Dubz songs and blaring them at full volume out of their tinny phone speakers instead. Vanessa’s about to show Monique a parody somebody’s made of You’re Beautiful by James Blunt when Monique breaks the not-quite-silence.

“You gotta crush on anyone?”

Vanessa wrinkles her face up, snorts a laugh. “Ew! Nah. All the boys in our class are gross. I ain’t ever had a crush on any of ‘em.”

Monique gives a quiet laugh. “Me neither. They all use that Lynx Africa like it’s gonna cover up their B.O.”

Vanessa lets out a howl of laughter. She wasn’t lying to Monique; she doesn’t have a crush on anyone. If she thinks about it, she’s never really had a crush on any of the boys in her class. It’s just not something she thinks about. She cares more about her best friend than she’d ever care about any boy.

Their laughter dies down, and Vanessa gets a knot in her stomach. It happens every so often when she thinks about high school. Their class went up to see the school last week and it felt like such a terrifying maze of identical-looking corridors and crowds of kids so old they looked to be mini adults. Their teacher had told them to write down three friends they wanted to be in the same form class as, even though she said she couldn’t guarantee they’d get to stay together. Vanessa had written only one name on her form- Monique Heart - in her curly, barely-legible handwriting, the “i”s dotted with hearts. It’s been on her mind ever since, though. They’ve been together since Reception, Monique is all Vanessa knows. She wouldn’t begin to know how to make any other friends. She doesn’t want any other friends.

“M’nique,” Vanessa says, and the other girl looks up. “What happens if we ain’t in the same form class next year?”

Monique gives a small, humoured laugh. “Well then we ain’t in the same form class.”

Vanessa rolls her eyes and shoves her. “Duh, idiot! I mean like…with us. We still gon’ be best friends?”

Monique laughs dismissively, shakes her head at her. “Now who’s being the idiot?”

“I’m serious!” Vanessa objects, annoyed that Monique’s still got her eyebrows raised at her like she’s a little kid. She’s going to be 12 in October; it’s not like she’s a baby. “What if you find other cool girls to hang out with? What if you get a new best friend? What am I gonna do?”

“You’re gonna do nothing, cuz that ain’t gonna happen,” Monique insists. Her face lights up as she gets an idea, jabs a finger against the tree trunk. “Okay. If I carve our initials into this tree, it’ll be like a promise. That we’re always gonna be best friends. I don’t want to hang out with cool girls. It’s fun just me an’ you.”

Vanessa smiles, her heart feeling all warm at the reassurance. Monique rummages around in her bag and produces her keys, starts stabbing at the bark of the tree relentlessly. Vanessa flinches a little, part of the reaction a residual memory from watching Pocahontas too much when she was really little; she used to believe that trees could feel things like humans. She shares the memory with Monique who doesn’t laugh at her, even though she probably has every right to.

“Well humans feel things an’ they get tattoos. So this is like a tattoo for a tree,” she shrugs. She’s chipped a big capital M in the bumpy bark so far and is starting on an H.

“Hey, you think we should get matching tattoos when we’re grown ups?” Vanessa suggests, the idea exciting her. Monique frowns as she drags her key over the wood.

“Don’t they use needles for that?”

Vanessa regrets the idea as soon as Monique says it; she’d forgotten about her friend’s fear. She decides to commit to the idea. “They do, but they’re all clean an’ safe. An’ you wouldn’t have to be scared cuz I’d go with you.”

Monique nods as she starts on Vanessa’s name. “I never feel scared when I’m with you. Except when Mrs Del Rio yells at us.”

“She’s a big baby. She just hates us cuz we would be better teachers than her,” Vanessa shrugs. It’s true.

“Well, what tattoo are we gonna get? We need to decide now so we can start saving up for it,” Monique questions her. Vanessa scoffs.

“How much do you think a tattoo costs? It’s like ten pounds, God!"

It’s Monique’s turn to laugh. "Nah, it’s way more than that! My brother’s got one and his cost a hundred and fifty.”

Vanessa lets out an outraged screech. “That’s a damn lie! You’re gonna go to the bad fire if you keep tellin’ lies like that.”

“An’ you’re gonna go to the bad fire cuz you just cussed.”

“Well, see you down there,” Vanessa shrugs. She considers Monique’s question. “What about we get BFFs in cool writing?”

Monique nods enthusiastically. “Yeah! With a heart maybe.”

“Yeah!” Vanessa agrees, excited about the prospect of their matching tattoos. She Googles “when can i get a tatoo” (spelling’s never been her strong suit) and lets out a groan at what she reads. “Ugh. We have to wait seven whole years.”

“You have to wait seven years, I only have to wait six!” Monique boasts, Vanessa sighing. She hates being one of the youngest in the class. She doesn’t have time to feel down for long though, as Monique shows her her handiwork with a flourish; MH + VM, scratched into the tree forever. “There! Best friends forever.”

Vanessa feels as if her smile is going to break her face. It feels like her body is made of the sun’s rays. When Monique says that, high school doesn’t seem so scary any more.

“Where we gonna get these tattoos anyway?” Monique speaks again. Vanessa’s smile turns wicked and she can barely get her thoughts out without laughing.

“Imagine we get them on our butt!”

Vanessa thinks Monique’s Gran might be able to her them screeching with laughter from the top floor of her tower block.

***

Things change though, despite the promise they make. Monique doesn’t think either of them mean to break it but life gets in the way and God has other plans. It’s what she believes at least.

Though she doesn’t know what his plan was for separating her from her best friend. Monique cries for forty-five solid minutes when she receives the letter telling her what form class she’s in; she knows it’s different to Vanessa’s. Her Gran holds her tight and rocks her against her chest on the sofa while her brother yells at her to shut up and slams his bedroom door. Her Gran is full of comforting words: you’re a strong girl, and you’ve been through worse in your life than this, and this isn’t going to change a single thing, hush now. But it is going to change things. When she’s with Vanessa, Monique feels like she can take on the world. She brings out her confident side when she feels shy, matches every shriek with a screech, takes her mind off the fact that she lives in a shoebox fourteen storeys high in the air where the elevator doesn’t work and the stairwell smells like piss. She can’t imagine starting high school without her. She doesn’t want to imagine it.

Monique batters out of the flat despite her Gran shouting after her, dashes down the stairs like her life depends on it. Her heart feels ready to give out when she reaches the lobby and bursts out into the open air but she still unchains her bike from the rack outside, pedals madly to Vanessa’s house. The bike is too small for her now and it’s uncomfortable to ride but it’s all she has to get her to the person that matters most. She reaches the house and Vanessa’s Mama lets her in, and Monique takes the stairs up to Vanessa’s bedroom two at a time where they hold each other tight and bundle up in Vanessa’s duvet and sob and sob and sob.

But looking back, Monique knows she’d been a little dramatic that day. Not being in the same form class as Vanessa really is not the end of the world. They walk there together on their first day and give each other a tight, nervous hug before they each head to their own form rooms. Monique pushes down on the doorhandle and anxiety fills her body as she walks in, freezes at the doorframe. There’s about twenty other kids already in the room and the whole scene is a bit chaotic. There are two boys chucking a ball to each other across the classroom, some girls with hair in high ponytails screeching and playing Katy Perry out of their phone speakers. Even though Monique has sat through countless interviews with social workers, child psychologists and police officers, this is one of the scariest experiences of her life.

“Hey. You wanna sit with us?”

Monique’s eyes fall on a table of girls with skin just like hers and hair to match. Monique instantly feels 80% more reassured; she’s never seen a classroom with a colour palette like this in her life. She and Vanessa had been the only two girls in their year at primary whose skin colour had deviated from the sea of pink or almost-translucent. There’s one girl who fits that mold at the table with the others, and Monique thinks it’s funny that she’s got pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes and still happens to be the odd one out.

The girls take her under their wing that first day, and the next, and the next. They’ve all gone to a different primary school from Monique and so are already closer than close, but they never make her feel like an outsider. Asia with the sleek, black hair that tumbles down her back has a sweet smile and explains all the in-jokes that Monique doesn’t understand. Antonia, the girl who invited Monique to sit with them, has an intimidating face and a skinny frame but a kind heart and always shares her snack and pens with her. Roberta- Bob- has a huge untameable afro and personality to match, and her cousin Monét isn’t dissimilar apart from the fact that her hair is wavy and caramel instead of jet black and curly. They bicker with each other and gossip about their teachers and make Monique laugh when she’s down. And Brianna is kind and caring and is always able to put a smile on Monique’s face.

Before long, it seems like Monique has made five new friends without even having to try. She wishes she could say she’s friends with Vanessa like she always used to be, but that would be lying.

Because Vanessa’s made friends too. They’re the girls Monique’s Gran always warned her about- friends with the devil and they’ll lead you on a path straight to him. Akeria and Silky make a reputation for themselves at high school within a week of the year beginning. They mess about in class, text during lessons, Silky starts fights with other girls in the corridors that her victims never have the balls to finish. Akeria flirts with the boys and the rumours say she’s had her first kiss already. They backchat teachers and keep cans of spray paint in their bags and walk along the train tracks to the depot after school to spray their wobbly initials on the side of freight trains.

But despite the fact they don’t hang out as much in person any more, that doesn’t diminish the light that Monique keeps burning in her heart for Vanessa. They bump into each other in corridors and chat excitedly in the five minutes they have between lessons, smile and wave at each other from across the lunch hall, and they still text each other and walk there and back from school together. Well, until just after the start of Year 8. Vanessa starts getting a lift from Akeria’s Mum in the mornings and hanging out at the shopping centre with her and Silky after school. It’s not her fault, and Monique supposes she’s no better- Monét lives on Monique’s route to school so the two of them start walking together instead, and after school the girls often go to the chicken shop in town and shovel down wings to make up for the disgusting school lunches.

By her second year of high school it’s almost like Monique has a new best friend.

But she doesn’t want to think like that, so she’s overjoyed when it gets to the start of Summer, just before the last term of their second year ends, and Vanessa’s texts change from general small-talk chit-chat to an invitation to have a sleepover at her house at the weekend. Monique feels embarrassing levels of excitement as she texts back confirming she’ll be there.

M: Are your other friends gonna be there??

V: nah just me n u

And it is just her and Vanessa. It’s a gorgeously sunny day and Vanessa’s Mama puts up a tent in the garden that they can camp out in. It’s nice to be back with her, talking and giggling and laughing about stupid stuff. Vanessa laughs uproariously as she tells Monique about Silky and Akeria’s latest exploits and Monique listens nervously, anxious just hearing about them.

“Do you join in when they do stuff like that?” Monique asks her, after a story about how Silky signed her name in the same Sharpie she does her eyebrows with on a toilet cubicle door and got detention. Vanessa shakes her head, smiles bashfully.

“Nah. I tell ‘em it’s good to keep someone onside in case we get into trouble. The teachers’ll let us away with more if they like one of us. 'Least that’s my excuse,” she explains. Monique smiles, reassured.

“I didn’t think you were like them,” she says, relieved. She thinks Vanessa narrows her eyes at her, but she blinks and her expression has changed. Vanessa’s started wearing makeup and it suits her, even though her foundation is maybe a little off-colour. The mascara she’s swept onto her lashes opens up her eyes a little more and lets Monique see the twinkle that seems to be permanently shining in them.

She is so pretty, and Monique wishes she could look like her.

They talk as if nothing has changed over dinner, various barbecued meats grilled on a disposable barbecue Vanessa’s Mama got from her work. Monique has never had a barbecue before and she decides that burgers charred to within an inch of their lives are the best thing she’s ever eaten. They make smores from chocolate digestives and marshmallows for dessert and Monique howls with laughter as the chocolate and marshmallow melt down half Vanessa’s hand and she licks it off as her Mama rolls her eyes, goes to find her a hot cloth and mutters in Spanish that Monique doesn’t understand but knows is long-suffering. She has almost forgotten the way Vanessa can make her belly laugh just by acting the fool. Monique has spent two whole years not even knowing how much she’s missed her friend, too distracted by her new ones.

When it’s time to go to sleep they both cosy up under Vanessa’s duvet that’s been dragged outside and a sleeping bag each under that. Every available pillow and cushion in the house has been utilised in lieu of a blow-up mattress but the set-up is still comfortable, even though it’s pitch-black both in the tent and outside. It might be the end of June but it’s still cold once the sun goes down, and Vanessa has shuffled up near to Monique in a bid to try and keep warm. Vanessa being so close makes Monique feel warm on the inside as well as the outside.

“Hey, you know that rumour about Akeria kissing Dean from Year 9?” Monique pipes up, interested. “Is that true?”

Vanessa rolls onto her tummy to face Monique, and her eyes are sparkling with mischief even in the dark. It makes Monique’s stomach do a flip. “Yeah. They did it at the food court after school one day. You wanna know what else?”

Vanessa’s face is so full of glee that Monique can’t help but nod in anticipation. She’s almost in fits of laughter as she tries to get the secret out. “He tried to get her to touch his…you know!”

Monique lets out a screech that is equal parts horrified and amused as Vanessa dissolves into giggles too. “GROSS! Did she do it?”

“Ew! What do you think? Of course she didn’t. That shit’s nasty.”

There’s a pause in which Vanessa lets out a few more giggles. Monique doesn’t. She’s silent. She’s thinking.

“I wonder what it’s like.”

Vanessa’s voice is loud in the silence of the night. “What? Touching a boy’s-”

“No, idiot!” Monique laughs, explaining herself. “Kissing someone. Wonder if it’s as nice as people say it is.”

Vanessa falls quiet as well. Monique wonders what she’s thinking. She decides to break the silence. “You ever kissed a boy?”

Vanessa lets out a snort. “Come on, M’nique, you know I ain’t.”

“No I don’t!” Monique protests, her voice dropping to a murmur as she feels herself pout while she speaks. “I feel like I don’t know anything about you anymore.”

They both fall silent, and there’s a shift in the atmosphere that Monique can’t quite put her finger on. Vanessa lets out a sudden giggle.

“What?” Monique asks awkwardly, unsure if she’s meant to be in on the joke or the butt of it.

Vanessa’s face is scheming. She laughs a little, buries her face in her pillow before she speaks. “You know we could practise?”

Monique is slow on the uptake at first. “Practise? Practise what?”

She realises as Vanessa lifts her head and gives another giggle. Monique lets out a screech, takes the pillow from underneath her head and thumps her friend with it. “Ew, Vanessa! Ew, ew, ew! You’re so weird!”

“Oh, c’mon! I don’t wanna go kiss a boy and then be really bad at it, then he’s tell his friends and they’d tell their friends and then the whole school would think I’m shit!” Vanessa insists. Monique’s heart gives a very loud thud as Vanessa inches her face close to Monique. She’s not taken her makeup off and her mascara is all smudged around her eyes like makeshift eyeliner. She looks really pretty.

Monique shoves her away back onto the pillows. “I ain’t doin’ that shit with you! Ask Akeria since she’s so experienced.”

“But I don’t wanna practise with Kiki! I wanna practise with you!” Vanessa says matter-of-factly. Monique’s stomach gives another churn. Something is different, something has changed. Monique isn’t sure what it is or what to make of it.

“Well, tough shit. We ain’t…practising,” Monique huffs, turning her back to Vanessa and letting her eyes burn holes in the flimsy tent walls.

Vanessa’s voice comes from her side of the tent. “Fine! But if they call you…shit, I don’t know…Washing-Machine Mouth Monique…don’t say I never warned you!”

Monique lets out another huff, squeezes her eyes shut and wills herself to sleep. She feels weird. Her heart is going too fast and her stomach feels fizzy and it takes her a moment to realise her face has gone all hot.

“M’nique?” Vanessa’s voice comes from the darkness. She ignores it. “You mad at me?”

She sighs, rolls her eyes even though she knows Vanessa can’t see. “No.”

“Okay,” Vanessa says. Her voice is soft, and she rolls over onto her side. She rests her head against Monique’s back and puts an arm around her. They hug all the time, but this one feels different. It’s nice, though, and Monique feels warm and safe. “I’m sorry we haven’t hung out much. You know. Like we did in primary.”

“I’m sorry too,” Monique sighs, bringing a hand up to pat Vanessa on the arm. She ends up simply leaving it there.

“Hey, we should hang out more in the Summer! You know you can always come round to mine,” Vanessa continues.

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” Monique murmurs, letting out a heavy sigh. She’s not lying- it would be nice. She knows she could never have friends back to her flat because they don’t have the space and besides, most of them wouldn’t even want to set foot in the high rise anyway. Monét’s parents are doctors and Asia’s Dad is a barrister and her Mum is a lawyer, and Bob’s parents work in something accountant-y, and they all live in big houses with sweeping paved driveways and garages and gardens the size of the Emirates stadium. Granted Antonia’s Mum and Dad both work two jobs to pay the rent and Brianna’s Dad is a dustbin man while her Mum stays at home to look after her baby sister, but at least their families are happy ones. Monique has never known the luxury of a fancy house or a private garden or a car or a perfect, cookie-cutter family. She wonders if she ever will.

She’s pulled out of her thoughts by Vanessa giving her a gentle squeeze, cuddling closer. She didn’t think it would be possible but she somehow manages it, and Monique isn’t complaining. “G'night, M'nique.”

Monique is too tired to think any more. Vanessa’s arms feel comforting around her, and she chooses to settle in them. “Night, 'Ness.”

[lord-of-shadows]

drinking on a beach with (you all over me)

this is my second [published] botw zelink fic. post-calamity; based on the taylor swift lyric. thanks to @amxthystfan for beta reading even tho she knows nothing about zelda. read on ao3 here or under the cut. hope you enjoy! :)

It was only a week after she had sealed Ganon away, and Zelda was quick to return to her diplomatic duties.

She had immediately reunited with Impa, her dear friend that had always remained by her side ever since her mother passed away, and formulated a plan to visit each of the races and reunite them under one nation in order to finally begin the process of restoring Hyrule. She noticed that the light on Vah Ruta on the Sheikah Slate had gone dark––a perfect reason to visit Zora’s Domain and begin her task.

It was over a year after Link had awoken––over a year it had taken to rescue his princess and drive the beast away from Hyrule Castle once and for all. His memories were slowly returning to him at closer intervals now, perhaps due to Zelda’s new presence, and he was beginning to understand his past self.

He always had this goal to work towards––freeing Zelda from the Castle––but now that it was accomplished, an invisible weight was lifted off his shoulders, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into his Hateno bed and fall asleep for the next millennium, despite being asleep for an entire century.

However, he would never leave his princess, and wherever she suggested they go next, he followed––not because of his duty bestowed upon him centuries ago, but because of her.

He made sure to remind her everytime he found her doubting herself.

It has been a week since they were reunited, a week full of Zelda reconnecting with the land, of her meeting old and new friends, of her planning an entire journey. It will be like old times, Link! she had exuberantly exclaimed while showing him the map on the Sheikah Slate, their path already laid out. He smiled––if his princess was happy, then so was he.

But alas, Link was tired, and he knew from the way Zelda had dark lines under her eyes and slouched her shoulders when she thought no one was looking, so was she. It made sense, after all––she was sleeping a lot lately, but long hours of sleep could not erase away the fact that she was trapped in a battle with Ganon for the past century.

And so, the day before they were scheduled to depart to Zora’s Domain, Link had approached Zelda with the Sheikah Slate and pointed towards a location.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Lurelin Village?” she asked, taking the Slate, and he nodded. “Why there?”

“They are having a festival in two days to celebrate the end of the darkness,” he signed. “We can get away.”

“As in, a break?”

He nodded.

He watched her consider, a thousand thoughts roaming in her mind, trying to plan. She was chewing on her bottom lip, and Link almost wanted to lean in so she would just relax.

“I suppose it would be beneficial. I am quite exhausted, and attending this celebration will allow me to get a glimpse of how Hyrule’s citizens have functioned in the hundred years without a central government. It would be…nice, I think, to indulge in their customs before setting foot in the political madness.”

Link was nodding vigorously, a smile beaming on his face. When Zelda met his eyes, she was nearly taken back––she hadn’t realized Link was truly wanting this short break. She immediately felt a wave of guilt for not considering the fact that he must have been worn out this entire time. He needed to rest, especially after defeating the dark beast––she reprimanded herself for not allowing him to do so.

He noticed the look on her face, and his smile vanished, his hands flying, “It’s okay––it’s not your fault. I understand your dedication to the restoration project, but you need to relax. You never had the opportunity to, not even before.”

Before. When her father insisted she maintain her daily devotions and visit every spring, every holy relic in this land in order to awaken her powers. She had worked tirelessly ever since the age of seven training––an entire decade without a break. Link was right, she realized. They both needed this.

She didn’t say anything as Link traced the path from Kakariko to Lurelin, instead offering him a grateful smile. Goddesses, how lucky she was to have this man in her life.

They had planned on arriving in Lurelin in the afternoon so that Zelda would have enough time to be introduced to each of the villagers before celebrations began that night. Leaving their horses at Lakeside Stable, they walked the rest of the distance, enjoying the breathtaking views of the trees brimming with life. Zelda admitted it was quite humid and sweat was beginning to build on her neck, but as the entrance to the village came into view, and with Link’s close presence next to her, she knew she did not regret their decision.

Almost immediately as they walked in did two little kids jump out from behind the palm trees, racing towards Link and nearly tackling him to the ground. However, he was not the Hero of Hyrule, fearless Knight of them all, for no reason, and he managed to stand his ground as the kids began to bombard him with questions.

“Link!” the one in the blue shirt exclaimed. “It’s been forever since you were here! Did you find the ruins? What were they like!?”

“No, Zuta!” The other kid said, pushing him aside. “Let Link tell us of you going to the Castle like a strong knight! That was you, right?” Link gave a hesitant nod, and the kid shrieked in joy. “I knew it! I knew it! What was it like? Did you rescue a pretty princess?”

Link sheepishly scratched the back of his head, unsure how to respond. They had agreed to keep Zelda’s true identity secret for now; she wanted to immerse with her people, not watch from afar.

“Kinov! Zuta! Leave Link alone and return to your mother! I hear she needs help preparing seafood paella!”

Zuta gasped, and his attention was immediately whisked away. Grabbing Zuta’s hand, they dashed back to the house where their mother was sat by the cooking pot, both of them waving at Link as they left. Link and Zelda turned around to see the man who sent the kids away approaching them. He was holding a fishing spear, and he extended a hand out to Link, clasping it on his shoulder.

“Link! It’s good to see you, buddy. Here for the celebration, I assume?”

“Hey, Numar,” Link signed. “Yes, we are”––he gestured at Zelda––“In fact, this is her first time visiting.”

“Is it, now?” Numar smiled. “My name is Numar. I keep watch over the village, and I’m also the Chief’s son.”

“Oh!” Zelda exclaimed. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Numar! My name is Tetra.”

“It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Tetra. Now, if you two would excuse me, I must help finish the preparations for the celebration. Do feel free to converse with the other villagers, however. You will see that everyone here just about knows Link!” He laughed.

Zelda laughed as well. “Link has made himself quite a popular person around Hyrule. It is no surprise he has done the same here.”

She could see Link’s face flush a little at the comment, and she stifled another laugh as Numar walked away. Link grabbed her hand, leading her inside the quaint village.

They spent the next few hours or so talking to each of the villagers; Kiana, Zuta and Kinov’s mother, told the story of how Link had helped her prepare seafood paella for dinner, and ever since that day, it was all her children craved. She and Zelda shared a laugh when Kiana noted how rapidly Link devoured his meal––as if he hadn’t had one in days!––and Zelda fondly remembered the day she discovered Link was a glutton. It turned out all she needed to do to get him to open up to her was to feed him!

Next, they encountered the fisherman Sebasto––also Kiana’s husband, Zelda noted––who thanked Link earnestly for opening up the fishing spot on Aris Beach once more, then began to tell Zelda all about how Link had heroically taken out all of the monsters that were plaguing the area. Zelda listened intently, pride swelling in her chest––Link could never resist extending a helping hand when needed, whether it be cooking dinner or defeating monsters. He was truly the Hero of Hyrule, on both grandiose and minuscule levels.

The rest of the faces were a blur as the celebration was drawing near––Zelda remembered Link introducing her to Armes who was busy preparing the fish, Mubs who was the shopkeeper but was currently assisting Numar with decorations, Cloyne whom Link didn’t linger too long on––he’s a bit shady––and lastly Charissa who showed them to their rooms in the inn.

There was only one left for it seemed as if Link and Zelda were not the only outsiders to attend the grand celebration at Lurelin, but no one seemed to mind that they were sharing a room. Link decided to continue wearing his Champion’s Tunic, but Zelda changed into a light, flowing dress that Kiana had given her. There was a beautiful, intricate design of the horizon meeting the sea, a clashing of various shades of blues and golds. She could not help but be entranced by the dress.

When the bells rang indicating the beginning of the festival, Link took her hand and led her to the center of the village, where every villager––and some more––was gathering around a large, dancing fire. They all sat, Zelda and Link next to Kiana and her family, and Zelda gazed around to see Numar and Armes with instruments, filling the air with livened music. Charissa and Mubs handed out drinks and plates, and Zelda recognized a few individuals whom she hadn’t met on her trek with Link––a Gerudo, whom later she would learn was named Flavi, and a traveler named Letty. When everyone was settled, the music came to a slow stop, and an elderly man stood.

“Greetings, friends and visitors! As you may know, my name is Rozel,” his eyes met each person, carrying a demeanor about him that made it seem he was talking to you individually, “And I am the Lurelin Village Chief.” Zelda smiled––so this will be the person she will be meeting with once she begins the restoration process. She was glad; he carried himself with kindness and ease.

“I thank you for coming together to prepare our village for this momentous night. As you may know, the evil blight that plagued our land is no more. Monsters no longer roam our beaches and roads, and our people are free to traverse once again.” There were whoops from the crowd, and Zelda was ecstatic with them. The amount of trade and travel decreased significantly in the prior century, not only due to monsters but to the fact that the population of Hyrule decreased significantly as well. People tend to stay within the walls of their village––only a few dared to leave and travel to other towns. Link had told her that even though he explored all of Hyrule numerous times, he only encountered a handful of merchants and travelers repeatedly, some of them being members of the Yiga Clan in disguise. It was one of the top priorities on Zelda’s list: to open the trading routes and free the roads from all harm.

“Tonight, we celebrate the end of the Age of Calamity, and we feast for the dawn of a new, prosperous age.”

He hadn’t mentioned who brought upon this end, but all eyes turned to Link anyways, and she felt him move back a bit as if hiding behind her.

She squeezed his hand, and in order to divert the attention, lifted her drink and cheered, “To the end of the Calamity!”

Everyone’s eyes were on her now, and to her relief, they all smiled and repeated her motion, chanting, “To the end of the Calamity!”

Link loosened next to her, and with a grin on his face he joined in, and the moment passed. Everyone began to share stories of their experiences of the darkness, encouraging Link to pipe in whenever he could, and Zelda sat and listened, watching Link’s face as his hands moved and his expressions reflected his words, and Zelda reiterated for those who did not understand sign. She felt a swell in her chest when Link gazed at her while she was talking, one which she pushed down lest a blush crept on her face.

Suddenly, Kinov piped up, pointing a finger at Link. “Link! Tell the story of how you killed the evil monster!”

All eyes were back on Link again, and Zelda couldn’t do anything in fear she might be discovered. Link stilled, looking at Kinov, then to everyone’s amazement––including Zelda’s––he whispered, “Okay.”

So he began to iterate how he defeated the Guardians storming Hyrule Castle, swam up the waterfalls and explored the different rooms that were now collapsed––Zelda blinked away tears before Link could notice––found rare treasures and weapons, and killed all of the monsters before heading to the Sanctum, where a ginormous egg was stuck to the ceiling and suddenly burst, revealing the hideous, terrible blight that was the cause for the devastation of Hyrule. Zelda stared at her drink, watching the liquid gently swish, her grip tightening. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy Link’s stories––they kept her entertained for hours when they were traveling together in the past––it was the fact that she had spent this past week doing whatever she could to banish all memories of Ganon from her mind, and Link’s telling was bringing forth the utter darkness she felt while trapped within the beast’s consciousness. When Link began to tell of the Divine Beasts assisting him, she felt at lost for air, her heart aching for her fallen friends, and excusing herself, she walked away from the fire and the people surrounding it––none paid much attention to her departure, all too focused on Link’s story––and decided to take a walk around the shore, gazing up at the constellations and stars and willing her body to relax and take deep breaths.

She knew she couldn’t run away from Ganon anymore. She had fought him relentlessly for the past century, and yet, she still awoke at night screaming at the nightmares he infiltrated. She was burying herself in the restoration project, and she had hoped this little vacation would do her good, but it was reminding her more and more of how the people of Hyrule had suffered, and how they were slowly recovering, and how she had so much more left to do to make the nation safe once again.

She took another deep breath, willing the thoughts away from her mind, and felt a presence next to her, familiar footsteps echoing on the sand, and without even looking she knew Link had immediately ran after her.

“This is nothing like the wine they served during those grandiose balls at the Castle,” Zelda reminisced, a slight frown on her face as she gripped the glass in her hand. He knew she wasn’t focusing on her words, trying to fill the silence as her thoughts battled elsewhere. “Even though I’m sure it was rich in value, this one just tastes better. More…” She trailed off once they reached a scatter of trees, turning to face the water; however, Link took her hand, turning her around so she faced him instead. She was staring at the glass on her hand now, anywhere except his face.

She felt the texture of rough hands on her chin, marveling at how gentle he was as he lifted her head. Her breath caught on her throat––cerulean eyes reflecting her own, a mixture of concern and worry and something else dashing across them.

“Zel, I’m sorry––I didn’t mean to––”

“It’s okay,” she said, her heart wildly beating at him calling her Zel. “I’ve been trying to forget, but perhaps––perhaps I should recognize what happened and move on.”

Link nodded, pressing his forehead against hers, taking slow and steady breaths so she could relax. “You are not alone,” he said, looking her squarely in the eye. “I will be here, every step of the way, and so will the people of Hyrule. We will get through this, together.”

She nodded, and at that moment, a sudden feeling in her chest seized her as he slowly grew closer, and she wanted nothing more than to lean in and capture his lips with hers, to let that feeling she constantly pushed away explode––but as soon as she began to close her eyes, he pulled away. Zelda blinked, wondering if she had done something wrong, or if she simply imagined he was about to kiss her. She was feeling a little tipsy, but she was usually more tolerant than this. Usually.

But then he set down her glass of wine by the base of a tree, and when he turned around, there was fire in his eyes.

One moment she was standing still, and the next, his hands were cupping her face, traveling down, down, until they rested on her hips, squeezing her gently in comparison to the way his lips were pressed against hers, as if she were a feast he could not resist devouring.

“Zelda,” he whispered breathlessly as he pulled away, and she broke.

Her fingers tangled in his hair, her other hand drifting behind his neck, pulling him closer, her head tilting up a little bit––when did he get taller?––to recapture his lips feverishly, allowing herself to get lost in this moment, to forget all of her duties and only focus on the chorus in her mind that screamed Link, Link, Link.

He picked her up suddenly, and Zelda let out a little yelp of surprise as his arms snaked under her knees and back, setting her against one of the palm trees. He climbed over her, and Zelda wondered how long, exactly, he had waited for this moment.

He planted kisses on her neck, careful not to leave behind any marks, and she squirmed as his hands came to rest at the hem of her skirt, his eyes meeting hers as she waited expectantly.

Instead, he kissed her chastely, and she whimpered at his loss when he rolled next to her. She turned to face him, her mouth opening to ask Why did you stop? but he seemed to anticipate this, as he propped himself up and began to move his hands.

“This isn’t the best location,” he signed, then paused. “Not that far away from the village, either.”

Of course. Zelda blushed. She had forgotten it was nearly midnight, and the celebration was still alive and well, with the lights twinkling and the people jumping into the water not that far away. They couldn’t see her and Link because of the darkness, but––Zelda’s blush deepened––they would certainly hear her.

Link laughed at her flustered face as she sat up, and he handed her wine back, allowing her to take a sip from the glass, but not before he whispered in her ear, “Next time.”

She whipped her head around, and he was laughing once more, hands pulling her close, lips tracing patterns in her skin.

She raised the glass to her lips, relishing in the way the cool liquid burned down her throat, as her eyes fluttered closed and her skin was ignited by the feel of him.

It was going to be a long night. Not that she minded.

i don’t wanna hurt you (i just wanna be) drinking on a beach with (you all over me)