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dramatical-gatsbytalia · 3 years

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A Messy Love Through the Ages - A SidLink AOC fic (Chapter One)

Well. Turns out you have to be invited to AO3. So I guess this is going up on Tumblr until I get my invitation. What a way to come out of fanfiction writer retirement.

Bit of warning; I have yet to play Age of Calamity yet. I traded in two of my unwanted games and had just enough to get a copy of the game, but it sits on my shelf waiting. Calling to me.

However, this RP was done with someone who has played Age of Calamity in all of its entirety; @wilclhero and I have our second RP that I’ve decided to flesh out because there are few AOC SidLink fics out there. So thank you @wilclhero for your permission and so many great ideas when developing this with me. :)

And I also sat through the 2-ish hours of cutscenes strung together on YouTube to make a film. So like…it’s fanfiction. No one is expecting 100% accuracy. And since this game throws out any time things that make sense in regards to the timeline in Breath of the Wild, I can do it too. Because Jeremy Bearimy said I could.

Chapter 1

It had been a long and treacherous battle. Mipha had been holding off Ganon’s Water Blight for as long as she could, but she had exhausted most of her powers. And as the monstrous beast loomed overhead she had thought for a moment this was the end.

But she would live to see another day. For out of nowhere a trident shot catapulted through the air, destroying what she had been expecting as the final blow that would end her life. And as she looked up at the Zora in front of her she gasped. His deep red scales that matched her own, that charisma in his grin, only a twinkle in his youth, fully realized from the shy boy she had known in this timeline. That voice calling out towards the scourge. “I will not let you take her again!”

“Sidon?”

And just in time too. Joining her side was the courageous hero, Champion Link of the Hylians. And just like that, the tides turned, and Ganon’s Blight was defeated. From the jaws of defeat, they emerged victorious.

But Link’s footsteps were heavy as he, Mipha, and Prince Sidon emerged from Vah Ruta. His mind was still spinning, utterly exhausted from the hours of nonstop battle leading up to this moment. Things had moved so quickly he barely had time to reflect; the Calamity was here, King Rhoam of Hyrule was dead, and he had only barely managed to drag his screaming daughter, Princess Zelda, from Calamity Ganon’s clutches.

It had been King Rhoam’s command. But he didn’t feel any less a coward as he pulled her away to safety instead of aiding him. Sure, he was Zelda’s personal knight, but this was the ruler of his Kingdom. What hero was he to leave the king for dead? And after all of their preparations, things seemed so hopeless. All of the other Champions were still trapped inside their assigned Divine Beasts.

All of their hard work, those sleepless nights, hours training and hardening themselves for battle…all for nothing. In that moment, even the Hero felt doubtful.

Hyrule was going to fall. And it would be all his fault.

His gaze ended up locked on the tall figure in front of him. This wasn’t the little prince he knew. The Sidon he, only knee-high to a grasshopper, was always so shy and so quiet. Where had this prince come from?

And why had he saved them—saved Link? No one had ever saved the Hero before. He was always the one doing the rescuing. He was supposed to risk his life for royalty, not the other way around.

What was this feeling?

As he trailed behind the siblings he slouched. He couldn’t remember a moment in his life he had felt so tired and hopeless. But there was still so much to do. Three more Divine Beasts. The Yiga Clan. Ganon.

“I…I can’t keep going…” he whispered, though apparently loud enough, as the siblings stopped in their tracks to face him. He was going to die, he knew it. He couldn’t protect everyone, and Ganon was going to win because of it.

Mipha approached Link, searching for the calming words that could pull Link from the depths of his hopelessness. Something to give him home. But she was still searching, mind still reeling from the recent events, pulling herself from despair and her resignation that she was going to die.

It was Sidon who spoke first and broke the silence. Sidon approached them both, crouched down to their level—when had the two of them gotten so small? He towered over the two of them. He took Link’s hands in his, a sun-kissed tan swallowed in a sea of red scales. Had things always been this small?

Sidon didn’t know the reason for what he said next. He remembered looking up to Link, literally and figuratively, but it hadn’t ever gone past gazing up to his elders and seeing greatness. And perhaps the tiniest boyhood crush. But he wouldn’t let the other know that. In that moment there was something else…he couldn’t put his fin on it.

He squeezed Link’s hands ever so slightly, the other looking him straight on before he spoke. “You can do it. I believe in you.”

Mipha nodded in encouragement. “That’s right. You can do it. I know it seems like all hope is lost, but we must believe. We survived this. Who isn’t to say we’ll survive even more?”

Link looked wide-eyed to Sidon and Mipha. He was already so spent; what if the other Champions were already dead? But…but he knew that he had to try. He had people believing in him.

With a nod, they set off. One down. Three more to go.

---

It was hours before they were able to meet up again. But by the Goddess, that small amount of hope had been enough to get them all through. Everyone had now regrouped, and now with three additional party members from the future by their sides, they were triumphant in each and every battle against Ganon’s Blights.

But their most recent battle against the Thunder Blight had done a number on Link. It had been so fast, and seemed to land several blows on him despite the blond constantly adjusting his strategy to keep up with the blasted thing. And now, run ragged from exerting his energy in multiple battles, he needed Mipha’s help badly to recover.

Even with her healing powers being pushed to the limit that day, the Princess of the Zora still had room for her favourite Hylian. His skin practically sewed itself up again with her help, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious despite Mipha having done this countless times before. He had always hated being the centre of attention, that feeling of constantly being watched.

What didn’t help was that it was the eyes of not one, not two, but three members of royalty keeping a close watch on his healing process. With his role keeping watch over Zelda and Mipha doing the healing, he hadn’t thought that her brother would be getting a front row seat to his broken and bruised body stitching itself back together again. For some reason, his gaze felt the most intimidating.

When their eyes met he looked away. The prince had saved him, and it was impossible to wipe that from his mind. If it hadn’t been for that first battle, for the prince quite literally dropping in from nowhere, and his words of encouragement, he would not have made it through the day.

Link was just a lowly knight. Why did they all care so much? Especially Sidon.

As the last of his wounds were treated he ended up looking over again, their eyes meeting once more. Once again, he quickly looked away, willing away the redness that threatened to spread across his cheeks. Goddess, what was wrong with him?

Sidon couldn’t see it, but he could feel something there as well. He had always been enamoured by the other as a child. He was tall (or at least back then he was), brave and…handsome? Yes, that was it. He couldn’t place that feeling in his youth, and had been unable to pursue any feelings he had as a hatchling. After this was all over perhaps he could--

“There,” Mipha said as she was all finished. Link went to get his tunic, letting it fall back over his torso before going to pick up his sword. Even in the safety of their small, fortified camp, he could never let his guard down.

And it was then it hit Sidon. Yes, of course. Mipha was alive. His sister was alive! Those feelings he had had needed to be pushed aside; she had never been able to pursue her own happy ending in his timeline. It seemed a shame, but it felt like the right thing to do. He wouldn’t get in the way of his sister’s affections for Link. He would see to it that she had her chance.

“Are you alright? Feeling better?”

Link nodded despite feeling like shit. While fantastic at fixing wounds, her healing powers could do nothing when it came to the exhaustion washing over him like a tidal wave. He tried to hide it, but it was obvious in the way he wobbled. Sidon, not wanting to interrupt but noticing the uneven sway in his step, put his hand to his back to even out his footing.

When Link looked to him in thanks he knew in that moment suppressing any burgeoning feelings was going to be a difficult task indeed. His balance restored, Sidon removed his hand, offering a charismatic smile to those in the tent with him. “You’ve all done well today, I knew we could do it!”

Ah, but it seemed perhaps he was just a bit too energetic for the mood in the room. It was late. Any leftover troops were gathered outside making quick meals to regain their strength. Perhaps it was time to eat and sleep. No doubt it would be a busy day tomorrow.

“It’s imperative we all rest. I’ll take my leave, I hope you all get an opportunity to get a good night’s rest.”

Mipha nodded and stood up. “Yes, I think that’s the best option.” Zelda only nodded in agreement, the weight of the day now resting heavily on her shoulders and rendering her silent.

But Link shook his head in protest. Not so much because he didn’t want to sleep; his body begged him for rest. But he had a job to do. How could he sleep with all that had happened today, with all that could still happen that evening? What happened if he wasn’t there, alert and ready to defend what was left of their small army.

Sidon seemed a bit shocked by Link’s answer, so he shook his head resolutely once again.

“…right…then I wish you all a lovely evening and a safe watch over us all tonight.”

With that, Mipha and Sidon exited the Zelda’s tent, Link following shortly after to keep guard outside. It wasn’t until they walked closer towards their own tents that Sidon really let his opinions be known.

“Does Champion Link really need permission to sleep at a time like this? Dear sister, this is ludicrous! We can’t just let that poor man stay up, it’s clear as day how exhausted he is!”

Mipha let out a small laugh, though it was mainly at her brother’s reaction rather than Link remaining awake. “I’m serious!” he continued. Didn’t you see the way he shook when he stood up and walked? Surely we won’t be able to put a dent in the Calamity if he’s in a similar state!”

She shook her head. “I was laughing at the way you’re so adamantly coming to his defense. It’s good to see that you’re still the hatchling I remember. Always kicking a fuss when he couldn’t get his way.” She meant no offense to her brother, and was quick to put his shock at her words to rest. “But you’ve grown…and it’s nice that your stubbornness for someone else’s sake rather than your own.”

She gave a heavy sigh though as she changed the topic. “I wish it were so easy to tell him to get some rest, believe me, I’ve tried. But it’s complicated. He takes his job as Zelda’s personal knight almost too seriously…”

Sidon huffed in response, crossing his arms, and then quickly uncrossing them as he saw his sister already laughing once more. Though as he passed a small faction of Hylian guards left over from King Rhoam’s army the wheels in his head began to turn. As he turned from his sister she looked on as he approached them, all smiles as he propositioned them for the chance that, as he would phrase it, could make or break their career as a knight and a hero.

“Gentlemen! I hope you are in high spirits after today’s grueling yet victorious fight! Say, are any of you lot on night watch? I was hoping we might have a moment to talk.”

---

As Link stood outside the tent, soon taking a sitting position as his legs were too tired to continue standing, he was quickly met with a problem. While there was nothing going on around him that put them all in any heightened state of alertness, that meant his mind had nothing to occupy itself. And with nothing to stimulate his mind, he quickly found himself succumbing to sleep.

He tightened his grip on his sword to try and force himself to stay awake, but as he rolled his head to stretch his shoulders he felt his eyes becoming heavy. And then shaking his head awake only worked in the beginning. Frustrated, he finally rested his chin against his chest. Perhaps if he let himself relax, just a small bit, it would be enough to keep him going.

It wasn’t long until he dozed off, lucky that his sword didn’t go clattering onto the ground.

Nearby, Sidon was leading the guard brave enough to volunteer his services towards Princess Zelda’s tent. “I don’t know if this will work, your highness. Master Link is very particular and doesn’t appreciate others meddling in how he keeps watch over the princess.”

Sidon waved that concern away. “Oh no, no, no, don’t think of it as meddling! Think of it as…” he paused for a moment, he needed to really sell this, “training! Yes, her personal knight is the Hero of Hyrule after all, perhaps you could learn some useful tips from him! Consider this akin to an apprenticeship!”

As they got closer he raised his hand to wave to Link, fully committed to convincing the other that he ought to really show this eager guard the ropes of what it took to be a true hero. Though upon closer inspection, and thankfully before his boisterous voice said anything to disturb him, he noticed Link had fallen asleep. Aha. He knew the other had been tired.

“Hmm…” he said, pausing for one moment to think. It occurred to him moments later what he could do. "Wait right here," Sidon said, and quickly retreated to his tent, where he took one of the blankets that had been given to him to use off the mattress. It wasn’t in the best shape and was far too small for himself, but was the perfect size to cover Link’s small frame and provide him some form of warmth while he got some much-needed rest.

He made haste in going back towards Zelda's tent where the Hero sat sleeping and the other guard stood waiting nervously. When he returned he carefully draped it over Link’s body, careful as he got closer so he didn’t wake him.

Much better. He stood up and pat the other guard on the back. “You can put your best foot forward to stay on guard. Wake him in case anything happens, but I have the utmost faith you will rise to the occasion.”

Giving the guard a thumbs up and whispering his thanks, Sidon moved to return to his own tent.

TBC

Do I know the order of events in the game? No. Do I care? Maybe a little. But this game doesn’t care about continuity, so why should I?

This is my first time writing fanfiction in…uh…ten years? Okay well not my first time in ten years. My first time in ten years was a few weeks ago for the SidLink gift exchange. That said, it’s my first multi-chapter fic in ten years.

I’ll do my best to keep updates…somewhat regular. If I can crank out 2-3 chapters a month that would be awesome. But I’m busy as hell 80% of the time. And the 15% I’m not busy I tend to spend on a nap. Constitution Day is coming up though so I’ll have some free time at the end of April and beginning of May.

Fingers crossed. I desperately want to get into writing again. That gift exchange fic was a good kick in the pants and I hope it lasts.

Thanks. And see you.

#sidlink #sidon x link #aoc link #aoc sidon #aoc mipha #botw sidon #botw fanfic #botw aoc #probably gonna be slow burn #i don't know #this is based on an rp #and i decided to sit my ass down to write it #this is only the first few entries in the rp and I managed to flesh it out to over 2k words #umm i guess theyll bone in the earlier chapters so maybe not a slow burn #but there gonna be angst folks #buckle up buttercup

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oraclememehacker · 3 years

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I’m going to shill a little bit and gauge reaction here! Cause I can of course. Here are my OC’s that I’ve created over the past years and a little explanation about them.

Adelina Fincher: Age 34, My Ace Attorney OC

She’s a prosecutor for the district of Los Angeles but didn’t originally live there. Her parents are Katherine and Victoria Fincher, highly regarded actors and noted perfectionists. As a kid she was emotionally neglected and abused by her parents who never found anything that she did good enough. This lead her to be more closed off and barely made any friends because she was too busy trying to please her unpleasable parents.

She wanted to be a prosecutor growing up because of law shows but her parents insisted she become an actor like they were and she learned a lot about playing a role because of them. However, she eventually convinced them that she would go to college and get her law degree, and that they would help pay for it. On one condition. She’d get a 4.0 GPA. And she did! At the expense of her social life again aside from 1 friend. But when she graduated she was saddled with a ton of debt because her parents were broke and were going after her for money.

She is straight forward, honest and doesn’t hold anything back. She is also sharp witted and is able to figure out things about people when they are holding back from her. She also has a crippling addiction to pepsi and drinks a 12 pack during court. It takes her a while to warm up to people because of trust issues (her parents betrayed her, she’s had others betray her and so on). But if you break her shell she is very friendly and cracks all sorts of puns and jokes.

Elly Lane: Age 25, a trans female OC

Growing up in San Diego California well before she came out as trans, Elly lived a relatively normal life, though her parents were highly religious. One time as a joke she was forced to wear a dress as a humiliation tactic and she found that she actually found it quite comfortable and that was the start to her becoming trans, though it would be a long time before she realized what it meant. As she grew up, she wore dresses more and more, having to hide them from the prying eyes of her parents who were convinced that she was mentally ill and needed to be subjected to some form of conversion therapy.

Elly took refuge behind a computer screen and is a massive fan of anime and manga. Her favorite Anime/manga of all time is a made up for her anime series called Princess Rikako, a series about a Princess with the ability to shape shift into whatever she wanted, albeit with more realistic limitations to it in terms of being able to change back. It was also a big part of what made her come out as trans. In person she is soft spoken and quick to emotional outbursts, usually tears because getting overwhelmed emotionally is very easy to happen to her.

Online though she is argumentative and defensive of her favorite shows. Japan and it’s culture are her favorite things and she has spent years learning to speak and write and read Japanese on her own, and while she’s not perfect, she was able to go to Japan on vacation and that’s when she eventually came out as trans. In the rp universe I have with her on discord she met up with Ren/Akira and Futaba in Akihibara and eventually became friends with the phantom thieves, and was able to get a job at Leblanc Cafe and stay in Japan whilst working towards her naturalized citizenship. And is currently in the midst of transitioning.

Valerie Mable, Age 33. My buff girl OC

Growing up in Minneapolis Minnesota Valerie grew up to a relatively poor family who didn’t have much to their name and as a result she valued food because it was scarce. However there come a point where her family ran across a large sum of money and her life turned around instantly. No longer was food and essentials something that had to be treasured but instead it was something that she could just have whenever. That resulted in her eating a lot and gaining a lot of weight. Even though she is 6′0 she was seen as very fat, being over 350 lbs at one point in her life.

She wanted to be a lawyer, a defense attorney and ended up going to the same college that Adelina did and she considered Adelina her only friend there, and was defended against when her weight was used for bullying. Despite being roomates with Adelina the two didn’t talk as much as expected and when Valerie graduated she didn’t even get to say goodbye to her friend. She went on a mission to lose weight and ended up developing anorexia as a result and nearly dying having lost a ton of weight in such a short period of time.

Afterwards she got her life back together and devoted herself to fitness where she became the buff fitness guru that she is today. She is a defense attorney in the district of Minneapolis and holds herself in high esteem, and will put your ass to work if she feels that you need a good workout. She is open about her jealousy towards other women and seeing buff women was the reason why she became so fit in the first place.

Leiko Enomoto, Age 23, my crazy destruction filled OC

Currently going to the same college that Makoto Nijima is, she is currently working on her degree to become an architectural designer. Her goal is to create the tallest structure in the world and she already has a mockup in blender to show this design. Plus she has worked on designs for buildings like big bang burger. As a kid she was rambunctious and a hard time for her parents but she was still loved regardless. Part of this was because of her then undiagnosed ADHD.

When she was little she played around in her father’s workshop and had a hot piece of iron fall on her face and that created a permanent crescent moon shaped scar on her face. She is reckless and often gets herself injured for various reasons. Her parents were killed in a burglary gone wrong and she was sent to live with her grandparents who did their best to take care of her despite her ways. Eventually she was diagnosed with ADHD but by then she was just seen as a nuisance by a lot of people. And she played into that, cursing and swearing a lot, dying her hair multiple colors, the picture has her with rainbow colors but she also does warm and cool colors depending on her mood.

She is a tinkerer by nature, working on such things as a custom battery for a power wheels jeep, a custom vibrator (she is really open about her sexualness and is a proud bisexual, she’ll talk about using her toys out in the open) a potato cannon and a flamethrower. Her tinkering keeps her mind occupied along with the work she does in blender for buildings. She loves explosions and watches action flicks just for the destruction.

These are my OC’s that I’ve made since 2017 and I want to know if anyone is interested in me doing a blog with them! I’ve been rping with them with my SO for a long time now (Leiko is my newest) and been a really enjoyable time. If I need to I will put this in a readmore because this post is rather long. Thanks for reading if you had the attention span to do so! And please ask if you have any questions.

#text #Shameless Plug (Self Promo)#Looking Into the Source Code (OOC)#My OCs #Long Post

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risrielthron · 4 years

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Who We Were

This took a good long while because there was a retcon in November of 2015 that kinda forced Risri into hiatus. When I brought her back for the paper in 2016, some details changed but still this was an eye-opening exercise of how I’ve grown as both an RPer and a writer. Anything that does not have brackets is the same.

Take a trip down memory lane, pull up the oldest ‘about’ post you can find for your character, and annotate what has changed and what has stayed the same in {Curly brackets}.

(I borrowed this from @alyssa-ward because what a cool exercise)

Originally posted October 4, 2015

Character’s full name: Risri Elthron Reason or meaning of name: combination of Mother's best friend's name (still alive) and her mother's sister who died - Rislana (best friend) and Kiari (sister). The Elthron family have mostly played a back seat in the history of the Kaldorei. {Both of these origins have kind of changed. Risri’s name became a place that her parents named her after, something that was important to her father’s family in an RP with her aunt. The last name Elthron was chosen by Risri during her exile her original family name is Kal’serrar.} Character’s nickname: Ris Reason for nickname: just a short form of Risri

Physical appearance

Age: 403 {she has aged 1 rl year each year since 2015 she is currently 408 years old} How old does he/she appear: to a human about 20ish {I actually think now she probably seems a little older to people) Weight: We don't ask ladies this! Though she looks healthy and toned. {I figure she’s whatever the average weight is for female elves} Height: Average for a Kaldorei {This has changed a bit. I have her just a tad shorter than Dragaur in human form so she’s 6’2” which apparently is short for an elf} Body build: She's not a body builder but her activities keep her in shape. Shape of face: Typical Kaldorei {She did not have a face claim at the time nor did she have art. Her face looks like this art the most.}

Eye color: White {I list it as silver now} Glasses or contacts: none Skin tone: light purplish Distinguishing marks: Claw tattoo (gained during her Druid initiation ceremony) Hair color: Purple Type of hair: Long Hairstyle: up in a ponytail or straight down her back {when I first made Risri I had her in the pigtail hair style. I quickly didnt like how it looks and changed it to the long style she sports now. It has not changed since} Voice: typically soft {I imagine her voice and accent a bit like Gal Gadot’s natural voice} Overall attractiveness: again not really caught up in her appearance so someone may need to tell her and even then she will more than likely blush and stammer a thank you. {This has changed so so much from when I first created her. She knows she is lovely and she will probably think you want something from her if you flatter her appearance.} Physical disabilities: none Usual fashion of dress: For events: dresses...she has discovered she likes pretty pretty dresses. For class: simple black pants and a simple shirt {So this too has changed from when I first created her. She aims for comfort and style. She most often will be found in one of these} Favorite outfit: Dresses, she found a lovely gold and white dress that has become her favorite {I dont even know what dress this was but Im sure it was something from my early days on wra-I would say her favorite outfit is probably one of the ones above} Jewelry or accessories: She wears a button on a string around her neck. She fondles it every so often. {The button on a string has actually moved to her bag, she now sports a ruby necklace from Dragaur, her bracelet with several charms on it, and always has her camera}

Personality

Alignment: Good {I think I would classify Risri now as more neutral these days} Good personality traits: Loves animals, children, books, meeting new people (even though she can be shy, she enjoys it), giving, loyal {This is all true except for the shyness, I don’t actually rp Risri as shy. She may be standoffish but thats cause IRL I am shy but Risri most definitely has no fear of talking to people} Bad personality traits: shyness can sometimes stop her from joining in, when she is caught up in research she may ignore others not to be hurtful she just gets caught up {I think this one goes with the other, as for bad traits today, I usually say she can be stuck in her ways at times and can be over protective} Mood character is most often in: happy {I would say this is still true but she’s had her share of pain} Sense of humor: silly things make her laugh {Not so much silly things but she definitely has a more snarky is funny sense of humor} Character’s greatest joy in life: running in the forest as a cat {Taking pictures and being a druid are equal} Character’s greatest fear: the death of her mother {This has actually come out in RP as a fear of mind control. She would fear the death of her mother but mind control tops it.} Why? Her mother and her are very close (unusual for Kaldorei, as they grow up communally typically), travelling with her mother in her formative years they relied upon each other What single event would most throw this character’s life into complete turmoil? Ris would be devastated if something happened to her mother {I think the death of Latilda, and then when she thought Dragaur was dead, and subsequently the death of Suzi in the office are three of the most profound things that made Risri change some. Her fel contamination would come a close fourth Currently, if something was to really happen to Dragaur, Sky, or Selise it would mess up Risri for a while} Character is most at ease when: Researching {Funnily enough this might still be true, but I would say taking pictures is probably more} Most ill at ease when: at war {This is true, but as she found out both at Darkshore and recently when there are forsaken involved she has no hesitation in killing.} Enraged when: witnessing senseless destruction of sacred places or artifacts {I completely forgot that I chose that, but I would say it has not changed. She also does not stand for people she cares about being hurt, this one is tricky though and I often have to tame it down because of interactions with others.} Depressed or sad when: she is a pretty positive individual, depression and sadness are fleeting if they happen at all. {This has matured over time. She gets very introspective at times and definitely will seek alone time when she is sad.} Priorities: Learn about as many cultures as she can, current focus is Treants. {So long ago… Her priorities currently are her studio, Dragaur, and helping the Kaldorei still homeless.} Life philosophy: Learn, Learn, Learn then share it all! {This was definitely written back in my Stormwind University days. Her philosophy “Be kind. It’s worthwhile to make an effort to learn about other people and figure out what you might have in common with them.”} Character’s soft spot: her Sprite Darter "Flutter" {Also a certain worgen} Is this soft spot obvious to others? Sometimes {while I dont play it up too much she is very attached to Flutter. As for the worgen, yes when they are together it is clear she has a soft spot for the gruff one} Greatest strength: Passion for learning {This is probably still true but I would say she also is a pretty good photographer and a loyal friend.} Greatest vulnerability or weakness: Naivety of how the world really works even though she has travelled the two main continents extensively she has been sheltered by her mother. {This was one of the things I retconned out of her when I brought her back for the paper. Risri may be unknowing of some human interactions but she is far from naive in most cases.} Biggest regret: That one time at band camp...seriously she is young so right now she doesn't have one but this may play into her development and story later. {HUGE change here... in fleshing her out in RP the biggest regret is and always will be the incident that forced her out of the Sentinels but not the results because it let her become a druid so its a double edged regret} Minor regret: she forgot to tell her mom about the time she ...oh that might not be appropriate for here {Again a change that came about from RP, that she threatened Dragaur with turning him in. She would never do that and she said it in a moment of frustration with him during a fight. It hurt them both too much.} Biggest accomplishment: coming soon {Running the paper. Opening her studio. either} Minor accomplishment: joining the University! {so many things, her writings, some of her photographs, saving people at Teldrassil, helping the Kaldorei in Stormwind.} Past failures he/she would be embarrassed to have people know about: she was almost not able to become a druid...story for another time {This also changed with the retcon, but I would say the time she spent before coming to Stormwind would be something she would not want others to know about and will probably not talk about to anyone.} Why? She loves being a druid so not being one… {I have thoughts about what she was doing but its not fleshed out. Maybe someday and I can revisit this.} Character’s darkest secret: She is a pretty open book. Maybe later she will have a "dark" secret. {So this dark secret is the fact that she killed 10 Sentinels. That also came with the revamp.} Does anyone else know? {Several people.}

Goals

Drives and motivations: Curiosity unusual for a Kaldorei and need to have answers to questions { I would say this is somewhat still there and aided her when she was a reporter, but her drives and motivations are deeper now and the result of RP. She wants to make amends and sees her work with the Kaldorei refugees as part of that.} Immediate goals: Make friends with the treant she met at the Grove of Ancients {Keep her business running, aid the Kaldorei} Long term goals: Become an expert in as many cultures as she can {Live} How the character plans to accomplish these goals: Locate writings and interviewing others, spending time with treants ((her contact will be sending her around Azeroth and Draenor to meet with others)) {So her plan for her immediate goals are tied together. She takes a good portion of her profits from the studio and the two books she’s published to fund her relief efforts} How other characters will be affected: may be pestered for any little detail they have about treants {Most of the people she interacts with in RP would not be impacted.}

Past

Hometown: Darnassus {God I was such a noob. Feralas is her home.} Type of childhood: travelled both continents with her mother {so noob. She spent her youth in Feralas, Ashenvale, and Darkshore.} Pets: Sprite Darter named Flutter and a curious little white kitten {I retconned the kitten. Its only Flutter} First memory: Leaves above her (could be why she is fascinated with the treants...) {I think I’ll leave this one.} Most important childhood memory: Her and her mother on a ship talking into the night {This can stay too} Why? The closeness she felt to her mother {Because of this reason}

Present

Current location: Elwynn Forest, Jazimina Amberstill's "Ranch" {Stormwind City, either Dragaur’s apartment or her studio} Currently living with: Jazimina Amberstill and Ritti {Dragaur} Pets: Sprite Darter "Flutter" Religion: Follower of Elune {no change, add wild gods} Occupation: Researcher {Photographer} Finances: moderate {no change though she has more wealth than she lets on}

Family

Mother: Kahrysta Elthron {Oh wow I totally changed her mother’s name.. Its Alistra Kal’serrar } Relationship with her: good {excellent} Father: Brezlin Elthron Relationship with him: vague memories, he died when she was still a child Siblings: none Relationship with them: Spouse: none Relationship with him/her: Children: none {though she briefly adopted Ritti before they found the gnome’s family} Relationship with them: Other important family members: Mother's best friend Rislana is like an aunt {her aunt Tara, cousins, and another aunt I dont have a name for.}

Favorites

Color: Green and Purple {blues could be added} Least favorite color: Orange {sorry Drag, but I dont think its true anymore} Music: any Food: Chocolate Cookies {See answer here} Literature: Any Form of entertainment: stories {plays, dances could be added} Expressions: "Indeed!" {Its not often I get to use it but I do like it} Mode of transportation: Winterspring Frostsaber, given to her by her mother when she hit adulthood (about 50 years ago) or flight form {Flight form. The frostsaber went away in the retcon} Most prized possession: her journal {Camera}

Habits

Hobbies: Dabbles in alchemy {more than dabbles now} Plays a musical instrument? No Plays a sport: no How he/she would spend a rainy day: reading a book, any book {taking pictures} Spending habits: thrifty {for herself this is probably true, for others she can be extravagant} Smokes: no Drinks: not normally {no change, but she will drink} Other drugs: no What does he/she do too much of? Read {Take pictures} What does he/she do too little of? Socialize just for fun {This is probably more true now since giving up the paper} Extremely skilled at: Keeping a team alive when faced with challenges when exploring {Photography, writing could be added} Extremely unskilled at: a lot of things but she does hate cooking {LIES...I retconned this. She loves to cook. I don’t know...but I am sure there is something. It would probably be something she doesn’t do and has no desire to do.} Nervous tics: not sure someone may need to point that out to her {She plays with the bracelet on her wrist when she’s nervous. } Usual body posture: relaxed and happy Mannerisms: polite {extremely so} Peculiarities: … {hmm, I am sure there are some that have manifested over the five years I’ve been RPing her. Perhaps how she will always address a human as their full name unless she has been asked not to and will still use Ms. Mrs. Miss. Mr. with that name unless she feels close to you.}

Traits

Optimist or pessimist: Optimist Introvert or extrovert: Introvert until she gets to know you then she might not be quiet {I would say shes more mixed now.} Daredevil or cautious?: A little of both Logical or emotional: Emotional {probably more mixed now though she can be emotional she just normally doesn’t let it show unless she is very comfortable with you} Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat: somewhere in between, depends on how wrapped up she is in her research but she does have a habit of cleaning up if there is a mess { I would say she is very neat. Sky drives her crazy.} Prefers working or relaxing: working {definitely would say this is still true} Confident or unsure of himself/herself: unsure internally, others probably see her as confident {a little of this still lingers but unless you are close to her you wont see it} Animal lover: indeed

Self-Perception

How he/she feels about himself/herself: an introvert who is more bookish than social {This is still kinda true.} One word the character would use to describe self: shy {Quiet} One paragraph description of how the character would describe self: A passionate learner and studier of peoples, loves animals, enjoys outdoors, and exploring is exciting. {A memory keeper, lover of animals and the outdoors, her passion for photography as a way to preserve memories is high.} What does the character consider his/her best personality trait? her passion for learning {her compassion for others} What does the character consider his/her worst personality trait? her shyness ((its all in her head too, she really can be quite un-shy when meeting new races or investigating something though in social entertainment type situations she is at a loss)) {so retconned, she would say her possessiveness when it comes to the people she cares about.} What does the character consider his/her best physical characteristic? She is unaware of her appearance most of the time {She likes her hair.} What does the character consider his/her worst physical characteristic? She hates her feet...not really {I’ll keep this if only cause I dont know} How does the character think others perceive him/her: She sometimes thinks too much about this and sometimes it doesn't bother her at all {She is very conscious of being a Kaldorei business woman in a human society. She strives to show that her people are trustworthy and kind.} What would the character most like to change about himself/herself: her shyness {Since I retconned the shyness...I don’t know...Risri believes she can be a better person but its something that you work on each day.}

Relationships with others

Opinion of other people in general: opportunity to learn {She is still curious about others and likes people watching. She thinks most people are good at heart.} Does the character hide his/her true opinions and emotions from others: hmm, I think this will depend upon the relationship and situation {Oh most definitely, this was honed during her time as a reporter where she hid a lot of her thoughts about things.} Person character most hates: no one (yet) {Elyza Morrowbranch} Best friend(s): her mother / Jazi {Sky Stoneseat} Love interest(s): none (yet) {Dragaur} Person character goes to for advice: her mother / Dean Crowelley { Dragaur, Sky, Selise} Person character feels responsible for or takes care of: Ritti {Dragaur, Sky } Person character feels shy or awkward around: cute boys...oh ok anyone in an entertainment social situation, when she is meeting others for what she calls "research" she emulates her mother's ambassador ways as much as possible {So such a noob. She really doesn’t except older Kaldorei...she worries what they know of her past.} Person character openly admires: her mother and Rislana Silverwind {Who is Rislana Silverwind omg I totally forgot this was a thing. Will have to think of someone else as Rislana is a Draenei now. As for who she admires? Her mother, Selise, Sky, Eilithe, Feyawen, Anegorn, and a few others.} Person character secretly admires: Dean Crowelley {I don’t think there is anyone she secretly admires, if she likes you, you know.} Most important person in character’s life before story starts: her mother After story starts: Ritti, Jazi, and the university faculty {Dragaur, Sky, Selise}

If you made it here thanks for looking at the changes of Risri over the course of the last five years. Its been a long, strange, crazy trip but I wouldn’t change much about it. If you want to do this, I encourage you to! And tag me cause I wanna read!

#risri

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paradise-of-guilty-pleasures · 4 years

Text

Shattered Reflections {21}

[Helsa RP- Fanfic]

Fandom: Frozen

Genre: Post-Frozen/ Canon Divergence

- Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Romance

Pairing(s): Hans/Elsa, Kristoff/Anna

Previous Chapter: 20. Boys’ Night A/N:

More Helsa heavy chapters to come

21. Nonchalant

The girls' night concluded after plenty more sisterly bonding after their tea party. The parlor which had been in a state of disarray, because of the construction of the pillow fort, was reverted back to its original state. It was put together rather quickly thanks to the help of Kristoff who had returned before bedtime like promised. Elsa was in charge of the last chore, returning the borrowed pillows and blankets, they'd offered to help her with that task, but assured them it was best if she did it herself since she knew exactly where to return the items. Elsa said she'd head to bed after finishing her errand so they all wished each other good night and were off in opposite directions.

Elsa had returned the other items rather quickly and now she hesitantly stood outside Hans' door firmly hugging the pillow across her chest. Maybe it had been a bad idea to take his pillow in the first place. She was starting to hope that room would be vacant once again, though she knew that would likely not be the case this time. Something about having her hair down made her extra anxious (even though Anna said it made her seem more relaxed), Kristoff had seen it of course, but that didn't bother her, he was already like a brother. She knew she couldn't stall forever; she had left a note after all. She held her breath as she opened the door.

When she entered she saw the next best thing she could hope for, which was Hans already laying down in bed asleep, in a rather strange position but in bed nonetheless. The breath finally escaped her lungs in relief, one less thing to worry about she thought. Now all she had to drop off the pillow by the bedside.

Hans was not a heavy sleeper. He had twelve brothers, he couldn't afford to be. But he was also a man of deception, so he remained still, and measured his breathing as she neared, listening. Footsteps too light to be a guard, so it had to be Elsa, only confirmed by the slight chill in the room. He opened an eye carefully, under his arm, with just enough gap to see her by.

"I never thought I'd live to see your hair down." He murmured, before he could stop himself. Maybe he'd had more than he thought, but surely it would have worn off by then. Sleep dulling his senses, perhaps? "I suppose now I can die happy." he added, entirely as a joke. He'd already alerted her that he was awake, may as well toss subtlety out the window and make it humor instead. He was good at that. Somehow referencing his depression and making a joke all at once seemed to be sort of a trend for him.

His voice resonating in the silence had completely startled her. She let out a yelp and before her mind could fully process his words, her body practically moved on it's own, tossing the pillow at his face out of pure reflex.

Elsa let out a nervous laugh.

"Oh, you're awake," her voice higher pitched than usual. "I'm so sorry!" she panically stated, realizing the pillow left her grasp. Good thing she'd thrown the pillow at him instead of ice, though it was possible the pillow was at the very least slightly frosted over.

Hans laughed at the pillow throw, downright giggly at the sudden pillow fight.

"Well I can't say I didn't deserve that." He admitted through his fit of laughter. Maybe it was the drinking, or the evening before, but he found it easy to laugh that night. "No need to apologize, I startled you, and I should've known better. Perhaps I should be grateful you didn't hit me with a snowball." He proposed sweetly. He nonchalantly shifted down to reclaim the pillow (which had bounced off of him and flopped off the bed) and got back up to put it behind his head, though cringed a little. His wound was still a little sore.

"Today was a lovely day on my part, I hope yours was as well." He hummed, laying back again as nonchalant as ever. If not moreso. He had never been one to sit or lay while others stood, but her being there so frequently and him being so injured so often (and the drinking didn't help here), he didn't seem to mind it this time. Or maybe it was just to illustrate to her that she wasn't a bother to him.

Elsa's face was florid from the embarrassment of being caught by surprise, and with her mind finally settling and registering what Hans had murmured surely didn't help diminish the bloom of her cheeks. She definitely took notice that Hans seemed a bit more laid-back than usual (both figuratively and literally), but it was more than his posture that cued her in, the subtle difference of his laughter had also caught her attention.

"Yeah, so-," she caught herself from apologizing again. "I don't know if I can say the same about my day as a whole, being busy and all, but my evening was indeed a lovely one, spending some much needed time with Anna," she affirmed with a smile. She hadn't noticed but she was fidgeting with her hair. Holding and sliding a long lock of her hair in between the first three fingers of her alternating hands in a repetitive motion. Elsa normally didn't wear her hair down so it made sense that she'd subconsciously want to touch it in one of her anxious mannerisms. "I just came by to return your pillow like promised."

"Promised?" He hummed, seeming somewhat bewildered. "Ah, was that that scratching?" He reached behind his head and looked for whatever he had felt, before uncovering the paper. "I admit, I was tired and didn't think to care what I landed on. Rest assured, the pillow wasn't particularly missed." He assured, with an amused look. He almost seemed like a different person when he was smiling, to when he was sad. But he could change between the two so very quickly.

"I meant what I said, you know. Your hair is beautiful when it's down. It always is, but especially when it's down." He occupied himself reading the note, then idly folding it. He seemed to be doing it to some purpose, but not really for something grand. Just a thing to play with. He didn't know why he was telling her that, but it seemed so simple now. So easy. He would undoubtedly hate himself for saying it later, but why not take the chance while he didn't feel bad about it?

"The Captain of the Guard and I were drinking, don't pay me too much mind, I'm sure I'll make even more a fool of myself. But I suppose that's my official title these days." He hummed. He finished toying with the note over the course of a few moments, and presented her with the result: A little paper frog. Not perfectly folded, a bit wrinkled from being slept on and from his own failed folds (as he only half-remembered how it was supposed to be done), but it still had a little bit of spring in its feet, and could sort of haphazardly hop when pressed down to the table (even if it might typically fall on its back). Simple and silly.

"I-Uh...Thank you," she acknowledged rather shyly, the crimson continued to suffuse her cheeks at his repeated words of praise. So he'd been out drinking, that would explain a lot, inebriation (as well as drowsiness) were surely the reasoning behind his more mellow mood. Having a more airy Hans was far better than a somber one, even if it caused some awkwardness. She definitely wouldn't be able to easily ignore him even if it was just tipsy babbling. Elsa smiled at the paper frog, it was a cute little craft. She tried pressing down on it herself.

"It must have been nice to finally spend some time outside, instead of being confined to this room," she said. A slight shiver crossed her body as memory of her own confinement momentarily re-emerged, she quickly shook her head and got rid of it. "Hopefully your wounds didn't give you too much trouble today." Elsa showed concern about him like always, he had regained a lot of his mobility, but he wasn't completely out of the woods just yet he still had a bit of healing to do. "It sounds like you're already getting along quite well with the Captain, that's good to hear," she commented. Hans and the Captain would have together for a while with the training regimen, it was good that they were already becoming chummy enough to warrant going out for drinks.

"My wound hurt a little, but only because I did something stupid, as men are wont to do. I took it easy after that, rest assured. Training the men got more physical than I had intended, I think I'll try to stick to paperwork for a few more weeks, much as it pains me." He hummed. "I got to see Sitron at the stables, after drinks. I ran into Kristoff and Olaf, and Sven, and we had a fine time." He had to pause to remember the reindeer's name. "Sitron seems cared for, but he needs more riding time. If it's alright with you, I may take more time out with him." And there was the crux of it, 'if it's alright with you'. It wasn't bars or locks keeping him where he was, but her wants.

"Oh?" Hans' forthcoming was surprising, yes, but him willing to refrain from being stubborn and allowing himself to heal, was even more so. Maybe he finally discerned that if he was to remain patient for a little while longer, he'd be able to heal up much faster and no longer have to be shut up in his chamber for most the day. Elsa smiled at the fact that he was going to try to take it easy, for the time being, well at least as easy as Hans would allow himself to be. "Of course, I don't see why not. I'm sure Sitron misses you and he could really use the exercise," Elsa affirmed giving him a warm smile. Hans knew how to best care for him and she surely wasn't going to keep a man from his horse.

Hans smiled a bit at that. "He did. We were both excited to see each-other. I'm afraid I distracted all of us from our outing to go see my horse, and groom him. Sitron has always been a friend to me, and I do look out for my friends and allies." He hummed. "And, whatever we are." He glanced at her, a curious look in his eyes. "I still find it difficult to discern, to be honest. I don't think of you as an enemy. I never have. But I'm not sure you would appreciate me calling you a friend, either. Especially not while Anna still hates me -as she rightfully ought to, I suppose-. If anything, hers is the most sensible reaction I've seen from me. The guards murmured a bit, but I won them over quickly. Captain Johannes told me some still have doubts and that they haven't forgotten, I'll believe it when I see it." He felt it easier to talk to her that evening. It didn't feel like it was because of the alcohol, but maybe it was. It just felt like... he wanted to talk about it. It didn't feel like a bunch of secrets, it felt like things she must have already surmised. Like friends discussing a nuisance of one's day, not dissecting his character.

Elsa glimpsed back at him. She let a titter escape as she combed her hair atop her head with one of her fingers. "Yeah, it really is hard to know where exactly we stand, given the odd circumstances." Elsa concurred. "You know, I was also wondering about that myself, being able to consider you a friend, I mean. I wasn't sure if I could call you that, and not because of Anna or that I don't want us to be friends, I was just uncertain," Elsa expressed and paused biting her bottom lip a bit. "Because to tell you the truth, I don't have many friends, and I don't know if I can count Anna since she's my sister, so as you can imagine I'm not very good when it comes to that sort of thing," Elsa explained. "The Ice Queen, still having trouble warming up, big surprise. Thirteen years of isolation surely didn't help in that regard,"she huffed. "Though Anna seemed to have gotten the hang of it unlike me, but then again she's always been amiable, social and striving to connect with people," she recognized. She paused once again getting lost down memory lane.

"It's silly but, I didn't have a companion like Sitron or Sven, instead for the longest time, since I couldn't interact with Anna, I had a Sir Jorgenbjorgen, he was a little stuffed puffin doll I would talk to," she reminisced. "Had I known sooner that I had the ability to bring my creations to life, I might have tried to make myself a friend," Elsa considered, lost deeper in her thoughts. There was one last pause before she noticed. "Oh, sorry, I'm getting carried away." Elsa realized she had gotten a bit too caught up in the friend talk, maybe she was being too chatty herself, but since they were already opening up to each other, might as well just say what was on her mind, just because it felt right to do so. "Anyway, I don't know what else we could deem ourselves if not friends." She didn't address how others might feel about Hans, because it was pretty obvious how she felt herself, if she was considering him her friend.

Hans looked up at her, with perhaps a bit of hope in his eyes. "Do get carried away more, it's easier to converse when both sides are chatty." He pointed out with a little smile. "Friends, then?" He asked, almost wary. She may have been isolated for years, but Hans was familiar with backstabbing and attempts to be perfect. Elsa may have been slow-melting ice, but Hans was more of a doe, listening for trouble and leaping away at the first movement, even if it was from a future friend. "I like that your puffin was a sir. That's cute." He hummed. "I had my journals, why wouldn't you have a doll? I had to be wary of echoes, you had to be wary of living things. I can't imagine being afraid to touch life. I suppose we were both prisoners in our bedrooms in different ways. You to hide from yourself, and protect others; me to hide from others and protect myself. At least I could wander out, most times." He seemed less than comfortable thinking about it, not quite frowning, but not looking happy. "I'm glad you can still love your castle and kingdom. I can't." He would visit home if someone was dying; but he had no further desire to. He doubted they kept his things in his room. He was only a prince in name so he could visit the dying, because they knew his father wouldn't live long. "Ah, there I go, turning grim after we were having such a lovely day before. I didn't mean to bring us down." His tone was lighter and apologetic, to make up for his gloominess. Even though it may not have been him starting the gloom, he blamed himself and his mercurial moods.

"Yes, Friends," Elsa replied with smiling eyes. It felt good to finally have a bit more clarity on the relationship between them. "I'm sure it was my doing this time, I have a knack of turning things sour without wanting to," She assured, remembering how well the conversation with Anna went before the fun finally started. "Let's see if I can just as easily divert it back to being lovely again," Elsa affirmed, taking a moment to ponder. "Oh, I know! Aren't you the least bit curious as to know what the pressing matter that required me to borrow your pillow?" She asked. It was going to be a bit embarrassing to admit, but it got the conversation to revert back into something more pleasant. It didn't really matter.

Hans looked up at her curiously, and grinned playfully. "Missed me that much?" He proposed, with mock flattery and a playful smile. She looked ready to go to bed, with her hair down. He had to be careful not to think too much about that all at once. "Alright, I'll bite, why borrow my pillow?" He had guesses (after all, how many reasons could there be?) but he participated for the sake of the conversation. The longer it lasted, the more time he spent in her presence, and could admire her beauty while he thought she wouldn't notice.

She giggled a bit. Even though Hans himself was joking it technically wasn't far from the truth, she had indeed wished to see him, though she wouldn't actually admit it and she hadn't playfully denied it either. "Well, how else would we construct Arendelle's most extravagant pillow fort? " Elsa laughed followed by a sigh. "Childish I know, and most unbecoming of a Queen, but I must admit it was rather fun, doing things with Anna we never got the chance to do growing up."

Hans smiled a little, especially in his eyes, where crow's feet would form well before any other wrinkles made themselves prominent with age. "Now if we can't spend our adulthood being childish, whatever did we grow up for?" He joked easily. "We're both rather giggly tonight. I quite like it. And I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with a penchant for childish behavior. Olaf got me to smile earlier with bad puns, and the time at the pub-- well I think the Captain thinks of me as the obnoxious young recruit more than a trainer to his troops, but he reminds me of the Captain of my ship, in spite of being much younger. I wouldn't have it any other way." He hummed. He sounded as if the day had overall been quite positive, even if -for a time- he had been quite melancholy. It seemed that was his natural state of being, and happy any time someone got him out of it.

"It is rather nice," Elsa agreed as a grin crossed her face. The two of them sharing a moment in good spirits was very pleasant. "I may not be able to indulge in acting childish often, but I won't deny it's enjoyable to do so," she laughed a bit more, the laughter sure seemed to be contagious tonight."I'm glad you were able to have a nice night out."

"Hmm, why not? Perhaps you simply need to take more time to be a child." He suggested, gesturing to the little paper frog he had made. "I learned to make those in Japan, then promptly forgot. With a little struggling I can get them almost like they're supposed to look. And that's one of the easy ones. Some people can make flapping birds,dogs, cats, all out of folded paper. It's a mystery to me, I guess I just don't have the mind for it. But I like the little hopping frog fold. Simple and cute."

Elsa smiled at the frog, poking it once again. "I don't think it would make the right impression if I was regarded as 'Elsa the Childish Ice Queen of Arendelle'," she jokingly remarked with a snort. "Actually, I've already planned to make more time, I promised Anna to try doing more fun things we didn't get to do together."

"Hmm, I try on titles and attitudes like most try shoes. Something different for any occasion, no need to let one define you. Why bother? Of course, I'm hardly the picture of mental health." He remained casual, leaning back, though he propped himself up a little more to converse with her. Maybe he just preferred there to be a power imbalance. It made him less of a threat. Especially with his sword still on the bureau. "My moods change faster than the tides, as does my personality and my behavior, if I could do anything else as fast, I'd be a much more productive human being. But it means I have the freedom to be a different person to everyone I meet, if I choose to be. I'd say it doesn't change who I am at heart, but I'm not convinced there's a layer deeper than that. I'm still a mirror, I am whatever others want or need me to be, and that's why I get all the titles. My favorite so far was Admiral, but my second-favorite is Fool. I suppose it's the only one I gave myself." He mused. He didn't really have a singular purpose to mention it, he just found it intriguing. "At any rate, you can have more time to be a child, and not be defined as childish. Even kings and queens must laugh."

Elsa didn't care too much what people thought of her, but then again she was a Queen and a big sister, two titles she felt didn't allow freedom to be carefree, responsibility seemed to have been engraved as a part of her personality from a young age. She might have seemed serious and resolute in remaining regal, but she didn't really mind being like that, actually she preferred it, it was essentially how she was in character, she could never be abundantly energetic like Anna that was way too draining.

"Adaptability isn't necessarily a bad attribute, sounds exhilarating having that freedom explore the infinite possibilities, instead of being set in stone." There was a part of Elsa wished she wasn't bound by the expectations (that she'd mostly placed on her own shoulders) and she could have the freedom to be that flexible. "I guess you're right, even I deserve some fun," she answered.

Elsa then pursed her lips and pondered.

"Do you think I'm too serious? I know I can be a bit of a stickler," she wondered. All this talk made it sound like she was normally no fun at all, and maybe that was true, she was rather duty driven. Perhaps what she was really trying to ask was what was his impression of her.

Hans considered her question a bit. "Seriousness is a necessary evil, especially as a royal. You need to be able to be serious when the time calls for it. But we can't stop enjoying life, else there's no reason to have it. I adventure and enjoy wordplay, that's how I enjoy life. You're dutiful, but I think you're serious for work, and very human otherwise. You laugh and smile and tease. Some military men seem like they hold onto their frowns and barked orders like a man holds to a life raft. Those types of men tend not to like me, because I refuse to take them seriously." Hans smiled to himself, ever the young rogue. "People like that tend to demand respect they haven't earned with me, or expect me to follow them because I'm young. Ah, but alas, I suppose I am a follower again. My highest rank now is 'Queen's Fool'." He smiled a little to himself just the same. As far as it was from 'prince', he still had an inordinate fondness for the title. At least in part because nobody really hired fools anymore. "Very human, hm?" she repeated in a murmur. She smiled, that really was a compliment to her, since she often tended to forget that. "That's quite the title, the highest ranking Fool in the land, a very rare achievement indeed, I can see why you are quite fond of it," Elsa playfully teased.

Hans laughed a little, smiling at her. "Well I can't think of a better kingdom to be a fool in. Careful, I might start asking for pay. Though, if I keep playing cards with the men I'm training, I might need one anyway." He laughed. "I wonder how the history books will write about me. 'The fool who trained the Queen's Guards, a failed treasoner and prince of a foreign land', I like the reverse-ordering. I'm sure they'll gloss over the admiralty, history books always seem to miss the important bits." He chuckled and shook his head. "Of course it's only by the treason I'd have made it in, anyway." He shrugged. "Glad it didn't work out, though. In spite of all my pains and injuries, I am glad life has brought me to where I am. I just wish it had taken a somewhat different path to get here."

Elsa smiled and laughed along with him, up until the treason talk. "I'm glad you're here too," she reassured softly. "It might not have been the preferable path, but life might not have granted the same possibilities any other way."

"There're so many good things that might not have happened had we not gone down the paths we’d chosen."

"Just so." Hans hummed. She brought him a sense of peace, even though he felt somewhat trapped there in his room. Even healed, he tended not to explore the small space.

"Not the preferable path, indeed. If I'd have known about your powers, maybe we could have been friends. I certainly would have been a lot more careful." He thought about it a moment, then waved the thought off. "Best not to think about 'what ifs', they only lead to sadness, I find."

He seemed to be right, the unattainable 'what ifs' did indeed only tended to bring sorrow of how things might have been. She was melancholy for a moment as she let out a sigh. Then a strange concept crossed her mind.

"That seems to be true, but what if," Elsa giggled a little at the way she started that statement. "Instead of thinking of the impossible 'what ifs' of the past, we think of the potential 'what ifs' of the present and the future." She suggested. "I think those are far less gloomy since they are still probable prospects."

"Like what if I did officially grant you the title of fool?" That part was of course just another joke, but certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

Hans chuckled. "Embarrassing, truly, yet charming. I imagine my family would never understand that I'd sooner be a fool in Arendelle than a prince in the Isles." He admitted idly. "Well then, what if my work here somehow encouraged the Isles to give back my titles? Then I would be a fool admiral and a fool prince. What a combination. One confusing hierarchy of titles. My mother would hate it, therefore I'm for it." He chuckled dryly.

Elsa wasn't sure if she should ask the next question, but the 'what if' of returning titles made her curious. After a brief hesitation she decided to ask.

"What if you were given the opportunity to sail again, would you?" She wondered, wringing her hands. Her crimson nails contrasting her porcelain skin. It was a bittersweet question even for a hypothetical, since she wouldn't want him to leave, yet she knew how much he loved the sea and adventure and was rather curious to find out if he would. She'd asked him a similar question before about why he'd returned to Arendelle instead of sailing away. She wondered if his answer would differ, given other circumstances, such as regaining his admiralty.

He thought about it a bit. "Of course, I do love adventure; but I must return to a friendly port now and then to rest and restock and call home. I would sooner that be here than the Isles, if Arendelle would have me. I daresay the Isles has no need for me now, if I'm no longer an Admiral, and not counted in the line of succession. I have nowhere I must be but where Her Majesty assigns me." He gestured to Elsa, not toward home. His mother was Queen Consort and had no true say in the running of the government.

His answer had put her mind at ease. Elsa smiled a bit. "But of course, if you are indeed considering yourself my fool it's only logical that Arendelle would be your home," she affirmed. It felt a little strange to call him her fool in the possessive especially out loud, but she was in fact the Queen and he was her fool. It did embarrass her a little to have said after the fact, even if it was only meant to be playful banter.

Hans smiled a little at the thought. He was welcomed there, even if it was only as a jester in her court. "I could always be considered the Guard Trainer or whatever official title that would be. In the Isles, we had the Swordmaster, who taught us boys to swing a sword, but that was a bit of a different job." He admitted, considering the thought.

Oh, right his real official title, she had practically forgotten about that and it made her fluster a bit more.

"Yes, definitely," she nodded."I'm not quite sure of the official name yet either, but we'll figure it out soon enough." She assured him.

"Hmm, what about Combat Consultant? It has a nice ring to it, but I don't know. Do you have any other ideas?" Elsa suggested and asked him for his input. "Oh, and before I forget since we're on the topic of training. Kristoff might be the one watching over us while you're training me." She informed him.

"Oh that does have a nice ring. 'Consultant' sounds a bit like desk work, though. There must be a term for the one who trains the guards, that isn't 'captain'. I'd hate to dethrone the captain we have, after all." He chuckled at the thought. He would absolutely tease the Captain about it if it happened, but he thought it might make a bit of a sore spot. "Ah, we'll figure it out." He shrugged.

"That's fine with me, Kristoff is a nice young man, dutiful and level-headed. Hell, he can join, if he likes. Give you someone to vent to when you both get tired of hearing me quote 'A Treatise on The Swordsmen of the Southern Isles' at you. It's not a common book, probably doesn't exist outside of the Isles. If it does exist in your library I'll be surprised, but feel free to read it in advance, if you do have it. It's a written explanation of the 'implied sword-culture' of the Isles, and goes into detail about why we give up swords, what it means, all sorts of minutia you might not care about. And some things that might actually help swordplay, occasionally." He chuckled a little. It was clearly a favorite read of his. One of those books, not read for entertainment, but guidance; as a man reads a bible.

"Yeah, we'll figure it out later,"she concurred. Elsa really didn't want to step on anyone's toes, by making Hans the new captain, so she hoped to come up with a suitable solution without having to resort to that. "Oh dear, are you going to make me regret acquiescing before we even begin?" She giggled. "I'll be sure to check the library, I doubt we have a copy, but you never know."

He chuckled a little and shrugged. "I have a fondness for my country's 'sword culture'. It's one of the few parts of it I like. But that's mostly fluff. Cultural details that won't necessarily apply to you, though you may gain an appreciation for how and when I carry mine. It's perhaps the political equivalent of a lady's fan-language, or perhaps that's an odd English trend. I never bothered to learn whether ladies truly bother with communicating with coquettish fanning. It seems a bit silly to me. I'd say I'm more straightforward than that, but you and I both know that's a lie." He laughed dryly. He was a man who chose his words carefully, most times. Still, he seemed to be learning how to be more casual with her-- for good or ill.

"I would actually like to try to understand that fondness, as well as the significance behind the swords, it honestly sounds like an interesting topic, besides I don't mind a history lesson," Elsa smilingly nodded. It was true, Hans seemed to take his sword culture seriously, and if it was something important to him she wanted to learn more about it to know why, believing that it might give her a better idea of who Hans was at heart. "As for fan-language I wouldn't know too much of that myself either, I never learned any of that, there was really no use for it, considering," Elsa did a quick demonstration of her magic, in the palm of her hand."Nor was I ever interested in that sort of thing, so it was for the best. I also think it's rather silly, though I'm fairly certain Anna knows how to do it, she's always liked things like that, and think I've seen her play around with a fan. Seems unnecessary complicated to me, just like a certain person I know," Elsa giggled, she was kidding of course, playing along with what he'd said before.

"All too complicated." He agreed with a smile. "If you can get a copy of the book out here, it's a thin one, if dense. If not, I'll likely cover most of it while I teach you, anyway. Just as soon as I can do that without injuring myself." He touched his old stab wound. It hardly needed bandages, but it was still scabbed and occasionally spotted blood. It would heal soon.

"I'll see if I can get my hands on one, though it might be better to just wait and hear it from you, your way with words is certainly a lot more vibrant than reading them from a book, that's for sure" she acknowledged. "Yes, please do heal up first, we wouldn't want to keep you trapped in here, because of yet another injury two is more than enough."

Hans chuckled a little. "Much as I've managed to enjoy my confinement, it will be nice to get out of this damned bed, at least." He admitted. "I don't mind being in a cell or a room, it's not being able to move around that bothers me. You never know how much you gesture when you talk until it hurts to move." It was strange, he still felt their relationship was nebulous. Friends, yes, and friendly. But... more, perhaps? Was it possible that they could be? Or was he just fond of her, and it was all one-sided? He could never admit it to ask, surely. "I'm at least dimly aware that Anna doesn't trust me, and I don't blame her in the slightest. Am I permitted to move about the castle, though? I'll accept any restrictions, or a no, but I am curious. I never bother to check outside my door for guards, I just assume they're posted." Because at heart, he thought of himself still as a treasoner. It had been as deeply ingrained into him as the scars across his back.

"Oh, there aren't any guards," she stated, shaking her head. "You're free to leave your room if you desire, though Anna probably wouldn't be too thrilled if she caught you roaming around. Hmm. I think this whole corridor is probably safe though, I'm sure she doesn't come this way at all, just to avoid bumping into you. There are some places that are likely to always be unoccupied because they mostly go unused, like the music room and ballroom for example. I think the only area of the castle that I would really consider off limits is the upstairs level, where our bedrooms are, I think Anna would be rather upset if she saw you around there, she'd likely see it as an invasion of her personal space. As for the other parts of the castle, are pretty much open to you, if you wish to visit, all I say is go at your own risk and can only suggest that you proceed with caution."

Hans nodded thoughtfully. "I'm uncertain how to feel about that." He admitted. "Ah, but I got stabbed defending the kingdom. The Captain tells me I should give myself some credit for that. Though I am about as eager to run into Anna as she is to run into me. I'm quite good at not being found when I don't want to be. She won't hear from me if I can help it, let alone see me." He had quite enough interaction with Anna for one lifetime. No man scared him, but he would sooner fight pirates than deal with Anna calling him useless again.

"It didn't make sense to keep guards posted when you are no longer my prisoner," she expressed.

Hans considered that thought. "I suppose not." He said, but didn't seem to quite believe the idea. "I suppose it would look bad if the man training your guards needed a guard presence, himself. So... if I'm to live in Arendelle, if I'm truly to be a citizen here, should I save for a home here? I imagine I probably won't be asked to stay here when Anna is so upset with me. And I don't exactly have family money anymore in the Isles. But I don't mind the idea of having a humble home here. As long as the people of Arendelle don't feel like lynching me in the night, anyway. Thankfully I seem to be winning people over easily enough." Though he wasn't sure if that was truly a good thing.

Elsa didn't know how to answer that, she hadn't really thought of him leaving the castle. She opened her mouth to speak but remained silent for a little while longer.

"I-Uh, I...I really don't mind having you stay here in the castle myself,"she began in a soft-spoken tone. "but I know that's not really fair to Anna. She really only seemed alright with letting you stay while you heal." She admitted with a sigh. "You could probably stay at the barracks for a time," she suggested. "And if you wished to build yourself a home in town in the future you're welcome to do so."

"Hmm, building a home." Hans mused, seeming new to the idea. "I wouldn't have the faintest idea how, what an intriguing thought." He remarked, sounding more excited by the prospect than anything. "I may have to get a uniform if I'm to work with the guard staff. Wouldn't be my first, though the least likely, I'd wager. Perhaps when I'm fully ready to train them? I always was in favor of living alongside the men I work with." He didn't mind that any. But perhaps most importantly, she wanted him there near her. That was a sweet idea. "I might have to save a long while. Perhaps I'll find a place near the fjords someday. Near the ships and the sea. Near the castle." For her, not for anything else. The only reason he had to put his feet on dry land anymore was to visit her, really. He could have left, could have returned to sea life. But then what? Just be a midshipman? A sailor with no rank or renown? He could have, perhaps, joined Arendelle's navy, but why, if not to stay at her heels? "I suppose I have more options than I've had in a while. I'll have to think about life and consider them."

#Helsa #Iceburns #Hans x Elsa #Frozen #Fanfiction #Frozen Fanfiction #fanfic #Shattered Reflections

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shadowsong26fic · 6 years

Text

Because Roommate and I think we’re funny...

...here’s another excerpt from our Epic Crossover RP of DOOM!

For those of you who don’t know, this started life...yeesh, three years ago...anyway, it started life as a Star Wars/Marvel crossover (primarily rooted in MCU, but with a fair amount of comics canon drawn in; and using Precipice for the Star Wars side).

It has been going for, as I said, three years, probably a good 250-300k words long at least, and now includes ten fandoms (though one is mostly in the background and the other has yet to actually appear on page but will fairly soon). It is delightfully cracky and wonderfully self-indulgent, involving a boatload of OCs because Why Not.

This bit is from fairly early on. As a note, neither of us had seen Rebels when we wrote it, which means that some backstories are not necessarily consistent to canon. Also, if this scene seems to end rather abruptly, it’s because it’s about to veer off into Major Spoilers for a future Precipice arc.

And so, without further ado, behind the cut is an excerpt which focuses on certain Avengers meeting Hondo Ohnaka. Enjoy!

Tony was actually kind of proud of himself that it had only taken about three hours between "my kids are nowhere to be found" and "rescue party assembled and through the portal." Under ordinary circumstances that would have been quite a bit longer than he liked, but he'd been waylaid into believing Emily used "Coruscant" as a code and it took him a couple of hours to realize she was serious. The remaining hour had been been roughly half and half between recruiting helpers and suiting up, and deciphering Addie's handwriting to figure out the coordinates she'd left. But now they were there, ready to go, him and Steve (of course) and Thor (who adored the girls and had since immediately after he met them, it was weird) and Natasha, silent and deadly. Clint and Bruce had agreed to stay behind, stall Fury and Coulson (and Pepper) and take care of anything that popped up in the meantime. So… here they went… he took a deep breath, and launched himself in full armor through the portal.

They did not land on Coruscant, or in any other city. But they were on what was probably some kind of spaceship--a cluttered, dirty spaceship, with a trio of aliens playing some sort of dice game on a crate.

Or, that's what they were doing, until Tony and the others came through the portal. Then they jumped up and started shooting.

Tony didn't feel entirely comfortable repulsoring the shit out of them, so it was probably a good thing that Steve came through next, and took them all out with a single shield throw. Thor actually looked disappointed, which would have been hilarious if he hadn't been so worried about his kids. He picked a random groaning pirate and hoisted him up, shaking him. Where are my kids?"

"Kids?" the pirate said. "Dunno what the hell you're talking about. We don't got no kids on board." He somehow dragged a holdout blaster from his boot and tried firing it into Tony's abdomen.

Oh, hey, the armor deflected blasters too. Tony sometimes amazed himself with how good he was. "They're adults," he said. "But they're my kids, so tell me where they are or else."

"Dunno what the hell you're talking about," the pirate insisted. "We ain't got no hostages on board at all."

"Well, well, well, what is going on here?" A fourth pirate had joined them, same species, one with dark goggles and a weird sort of monkey-parrot-thing hovering on his shoulder.

Natasha was behind him. On the off-chance (or, okay, fairly good chance) that he hadn't noticed her, Tony wasn't planning on drawing his attention to her. "My kids came here, they didn't come back, so where the hell are they?" he asked, without dropping the pirate he had. Thor was swinging his hammer and looking sufficiently ominous even without Steve glaring at the guy.

"Kids?" The pirate tilted his head and tapped his chin. "No, no children here. I haven't kidnapped anyone's children in almost a year, have I? And let me tell you, Hondo Ohnaka is not a man who lies!"

"Sure," Tony said, then did a double-take. "Wait, the wiseass pirate?"

Hondo laughed uproariously. "I like you! Come, come, put down my men and I will help you find your children. I am in a generous mood today!"

"Are you really," Tony said, more than asked, "or are you just angling for a payday? 'Cause don't get me wrong, I'm happy to pay to get my kids back, but I don't think you accept credit cards."

Behind Hondo, Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.

Hondo waved a hand. "We can work out all those details later. Right now, there are children in danger, and I have just finished a very profitable deal--very profitable indeed!"

Tony hesitantly put the pirate down, and glanced at Steve, who was frowning, but when wasn't he when the kids were in danger. "Technically they're not children," he said. Emily, after all, was an adult. "Well, Addie is."

"Ah, yes, but daughters are always children, are they not?" Hondo said. "Come, come. You say your children came here? How do you know? You're the first stowaways on my ship, unless that crazy horned man got to my men again."

"No, Hondo," the pirate Tony had dropped said, rubbing his neck and glaring not-so-subtly in Tony's direction. "We learned our lesson."

"So! No stowaways, until you came here. Only me, my men, and my new business partner."

Whoever that was. "My kids are geniuses," Tony said. Thor nodded, and boomed out an, "Indeed!" Tony ignored him, and continued, "One of them built a portal generator and left me these coordinates, which means they came here."

Natasha, from behind Hondo, inquired, "Where is here?"

"Deep space," Hondo said. "You are very lucky, I think, that I was here to catch you!"

"No," Tony said, "because I thought of that and I was going to go back and keep them from coming through if there wasn't anything here." Which he totally would have done, if he'd thought of it. And judging from Natasha's expression, she knew it. He didn't dare look at Steve.

"I see, I see." Hondo frowned. "Well, we will just have to try and find which ships passed through here in the--whenever your daughters passed through. We find the right ship, we find your children, everyone goes home happy. I like this plan!"

"So do I," Tony said.

"Me too," Steve said. "What do you get out of?" He pinned Hondo with his all-American-gung-ho-GI-man glare.

"I don't think I like you as much as your shiny metal friend," Hondo said thoughtfully. He then shook his head, and completely and totally did not answer Steve's question. "Come! I will show you my scanners, we will find your mystery ship!"

"Yeah, you didn't answer my question," Steve said.

"You're going to want to answer his question," Natasha said, sweetly. Since she was pants-wettingly terrifying when she was sweet, Tony wasn't sure how Hondo could hold it together.

His eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "No, no, I didn't." He sighed, then put back on his carefree persona. "Why must you make things so difficult? Very well, fine. What I get out of it all depends on what ship we find, yes? If they're friends of mine, that's one thing, but if they're not my friends, well. That's something different, isn't it?"

Which made absolutely no sense to Tony, but Steve's eyes narrowed. "We won't kill anyone for you," he said, flatly.

"Excuse me," Tony said. "If someone is hurting my kids I absolutely will kill them."

"Well, yeah," Steve said, momentarily distracted, "but, I mean, that's for the girls, not for him. We're not mercenaries."

"Technically," Tony started.

"Tony," Natasha said, still sweetly. "Shut up." He shut up.

"For me, for them, what does it matter?" Hondo shrugged. "Trust me, my not-friends are very unreasonable people. You won't like them, either."

"Yeah, you don't seem like the kind of person who'd be friends with the Empire," Tony said. "Wait, are they around yet? When is this?"

"Ah, the Empire." Hondo tutted and shook his head. "Bad for business, bad for business. Except when they're good for business--more profit, but sadly more risk. This is no game for an old man like me. It's why I'm branching out--new deals, new partners. Legal businesses! Or, well, mostly legal, anyway."

"Oh," Natasha said, and smiled, sharp and unfairly beautiful. "You two should get along wonderfully, then."

"Hey, fuck you," Tony said, but not very loudly, in case she heard him. "My business has always been legal. Just not, you know, super ethical sometimes."

Steve coughed. It sounded like "Stane." Tony gave him the evil eye and said, "I said my business."

Hondo laughed again. "I knew I liked you, shiny metal man! So, are we going to look at my scanners, or not?"

Tony wondered if he ought to mention that he wasn't actually metal, and decided that wasn't really an illusion he was interested in dispelling. "Sure, let's go."

He could hear Steve roll his eyes, but at least Cap got it. "Thor, you're behind Tony. Natasha and I will have the rear. If anyone tries anything, hammer them."

Thor hefted Mjolnir, and grinned a feral Viking grin at the nearest pirate. "I look forward to any hammering."

Tony choked at that, but managed to keep his voice steady. "Lead on, weird pirate man."

The pirates glared back at Thor, and Hondo turned and led them through the cluttered, narrow hallways of his ship.

They made their way to the bridge without anyone trying anything--Mjolnir seemed to be an effective deterrent.

On the bridge were another couple Weequay pirates, who Hondo nudged out of the way as they headed to a viewscreen, and someone who looked an awful lot like Lando Calrissian.

Tony pointed at him and yelled something incoherent. Again, he heard Steve roll his eyes, but screw Steve anyway, he'd seen Empire Strikes Back on opening night and it was formative, all right. "You!"

Lando blinked, and turned to face the group with one eyebrow raised. "Last I checked, yes. I don't think we've met, though. I'm pretty sure I'd remember the four of you." He flashed a particularly wide grin at Natasha. "Lando Calrissian, at your service."

Natasha smiled back at him, her unnerving, terrifying smile. "Charmed."

"Steve Rogers," Steve said, and offered his hand, because Steve was like that. "These are my teammates, Natasha Romanava, Thor, and Tony Stark. We're here looking for our daughters."

Steve and his "no relationships while in uniform" policy. Ah well.

At first, Lando had seemed only encouraged by Natasha's terrifying smile--then again, he'd been pretty flirty with Leia at her most antagonistic, so that wasn't all that surprising. But that smile slipped when he heard Steve. He shook his hand firmly. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"They were in this part of space sometime recently," Hondo called. "I'm finding the ship they may have landed on for my new friends here."

"They're smart, they're resourceful, and you shouldn't fuck with either one of them," Tony said, "so I know they're fine, they're just having trouble getting home. So I am here to retrieve them." Or so he was going to continue to tell himself, anyway.

"As far as we can tell,” Steve continued, "they came here about five hours ago."

"Good, good," Hondo said. "That will make it easier to find the ship, yes?"

"Hondo, I've got some time. I'd like to stick around and help, if you don't mind my company a little longer," Lando said.

"Of course, of course," Hondo said. "Anything for my new friends."

Steve narrowed his eyes again, although Tony wasn't sure why since he'd seen Empire Strikes Back too. "And… no offense. Mr. Calrissian, but what's in it for you?"

"I don't like it when people hurt kids," he said quietly.

"Okay," Tony said, "I'm just gonna reiterate that Emily's not a kid. I mean, she's my baby, she'll always be my baby, but she's twenty-five and she can kick you in the face from a standing start."

"I taught her that," Natasha said, rather smugly. "She could also break a man's neck with her thighs. At least theoretically."

"See?" Tony gestured at Natasha. "See? Also, Addie will just fuck you up."

Thor nodded, solemnly. "Indeed, the Miss Starks are intimidating."

"Still," Lando said. "At least one kid is in danger, even if she can hit back. I may be a lot of things, but I'm not a monster. That satisfy you, Rogers?"

Thor straightened up to his considerable height and glared. "Captain Rogers," he said, "is worthy of being addressed by his title."

Tony was ninety, ninety-five percent sure that Thor was just fucking with Lando, but he wasn't completely sure, so he was glad when Steve said, "It's fine. And sure, why not."

"Sorry about that," Lando said, with an apologetic shrug. "I would've used it if I'd known it. Any luck, Hondo?"

"Three ships came by around the right time," the pirate said. "One at about six hours, one at five, and one at four and a half."

Thor settled down into a glare, but… no, the corner of his mouth was twitching a little. Yeah, he was fucking with the guy. Anyway, Tony had other things to worry about.

"What kind of ships?" Tony asked, walking over to the scanners. He didn't know what he was looking at but he could guess. "Who do they belong to?"

"Well, this first one--they are not my friends. Star Destroyer. The...Chimaera, I think."

Tony frowned. He knew that name… right, Zahn. "When is this again?" he asked. "What's blown up most recently?"

"I love that you track timelines through explosions," Steve murmured. Disturbingly, he sounded sincere, but Steve had weird taste in men, obviously.

"There was a big one out near Yavin earlier," Hondo said. "I don't know what it is yet, I'm hoping my friends will tell me. This second one here--ah, false ID. It may take us some time to identify."

"I'll work on that," Lando said. "I can at least figure out who made the fake transponder for you."

The big one near Yavin was probably the Death Star, which meant the Emperor was still around, which meant it probably wasn't Grand Admiral Thrawn or Captain Pellaeon, which meant Tony really hoped his girls weren't on the Star Destroyer. "What kind of ship?" he asked.

"Midsized freighter," Lando answered. "Looks like it's--"

"Aha!" Hondo said, jabbing a finger at the third ship. "I know that ship! That is the Waterfall! They are my friends! Or, well, my friend's brother, who is almost my friend."

Tony snorted. Steve choked. Thor looked vaguely hunted, and even Natasha looked vaguely amused. "Emphasis on almost," he said. "Who's your friend?"

"Why, Kenobi, of course. I should call him, we haven't spoken in months--"

"He's been trying to call you for an hour, Captain," one of the other Weequay said. "Our comms haven't been working too well since--"

"Yes, yes, fine," he said, waving his hand in annoyance.

"Uh," Tony said, because if Kenobi was who he thought he was… "Maybe you better call him back." Because he was like, 95% sure that Kenobi had died on the Death Star earlier.

Judging from Steve's expression he'd just figured that out too. Thor just looked blank— Tony made a mental note to pick Star Wars for the next movie night— and Natasha kept her poker face as per usual.

"He's hailing us again, Captain," the same Weequay said.

"Kenobi has always had the best timing," Hondo said, and wandered over to the comm system. He pushed a few buttons and a grainy, wavery hologram of a bearded man appeared. He could very well have been Obi-Wan, but it was low-quality and hard to tell. "Kenobi, my friend! It has been too long."

"Hond--I need--headed to--" There was some kind of interference or bad connection, but that was definitely Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice.

"Huh," Tony said, intelligently.

"Huh," Steve agreed, making Tony feel better about himself.

"Kenobi, Kenobi, I can't hear you," Hondo said, gesturing dramatically at his ears. "Call me later." He hung up. "Anyway. If Kenobi and Skywalker picked up your girls, they're fine. I know those two almost as well as I know my men. The adventures we've had! Twenty years and more of them!"

Tony stared at him for a moment before he remembered that the faceplate was down and thus it wasn't having the effect he wanted. "So… you didn't ask him if he had my girls because...."

"I couldn't hear him anyway," Hondo said. "But he said 'need' and 'headed to,' so I think he needs a favor from Hondo, and is coming here. These conversations are much better face to face, yes?"

"No," Tony said, "they're better when I know if my kids are okay," but there wasn't much he could do about it now. Not yet, anyway. "When's he going to get here?"

"Hmmm, well..." Hondo glanced at the pirate manning the comm station.

"Signal didn't come from far," she said. "Looks like he just dropped out of hyperspace. Should be here in a half-hour or so, on the outside. Depending on which ship he borrowed."

"Fine," Tony said, and because he was a scientist and an impatient bastard, started a clock running inside his HUD because why not. "Half an hour."

"In the meantime," Natasha said, "may I suggest contingency plans? How might one take down a Star Destroyer, for example?"

Somehow Tony suspected she wasn't asking out of idle curiosity. It was something to do with the glee on her face.

"I have never tried," Hondo admitted. "Shame, such a shame. But you can ask Kenobi when he gets here! He's done such things."

"Are you taking it out from the outside or from inside?" Lando asked absently, still working on the fake ID for the third ship.

"Either," Natasha said, and moved over to him. "Explain."

Tony would have been intimidated by her looming, but then, Lando hadn't seen what she could do. Yet. He did anticipate Natasha beating up someone, if only because she was bored and hadn't been able to.

"From outside, depends on what kind of firepower you're packing, and whether or not you're alone," Lando said. "From inside..." He looked over at her, and quirked a smile. "I'm guessing you're used to infiltration tactics. So, I'd get the specs and then sneak on board in a stolen uniform--you're too short to pass as a stormtrooper, but if you get a low-level army or navy officer uniform, you could probably bluff your way into the engine room and disable the hyperdrive. You'd probably only get to one vital system before you got caught, and that's where you'd want to start. That or the shields, but there are fewer redundancies on the hyperdrive. You'd still need someone on the outside to finish the job, and probably an extraction team, but you could do it. Corporal or something similar would probably be best for your cover. High enough that no one bothers you, low enough that people don't actually look to you for commands."

Natasha thought about it for a moment. "Clint and I could do it in an hour," she said, after a minute. "Less if we had a lightsaber or repulsors, more if we were working with just his arrows and my knives."

"A whole hour?" Tony asked, not quite joking. "You're slipping."

"It's an unfamiliar ship," Natasha said, serenely.

"Plus, those things are big," Lando said. "And your best infiltration points aren't all that close to the engine room, because the Empire's stupid about some things, but that ain't one of them. And if the rumors about the Super Star Destroyers they're building are true, those'll be even harder."

"God<i>damn</i> I want one of those," Tony said.

"No," Steve said, without looking around. He'd been taking lessons from Pepper, clearly.

"All right," Lando said. "I know the guy who made this ID. He works all over the map, but given they were meeting up with the Waterfall, I'm guessing they're Alliance. Either that, or Skywalker's got an underworld contact that isn't you," he added, nodding to Hondo.

The pirate looked scandalized. "Such a betrayal! I would never think it of him! But, then again, it is good business. On the other hand, Skywalker has never had a good business sense..."

"Skywalker?" Steve asked, frowning. "Wait a minute..."

"No," Tony interrupted, quickly. "I don't care. I don't care yet. Let's find the girls first and then we can care, okay?"

"Okay," Steve said, "but I will care."

"Fine," Tony said, waving a hand. "We can absolutely care then."

Lando shrugged, and turned back to the third ship. "I'll keep working on this, see if I can confirm it's Alliance or not."

"And if it is, we can make a deal with them!" Hondo said. "I like making deals with the Alliance. Nice people. Not much money, though."

"Money I got," Tony said. "Money is not really a problem here."

"Well," Steve said, thoughtfully, but he cut himself off almost immediately. "Hey, what's that?" He gestured at the scopes.

"Looks like an X-wing," Lando said.

"Might be Kenobi," Hondo added. "Is he hailing us again?"

"Trying to, Captain," the pirate monitoring the comms said. "It's all choppy, though."

Did Obi-Wan Kenobi fly an X-wing? Tony honestly couldn't remember because at that point in the movie he'd been yelling about the problems of fires in space until Emily kicked him in the ankle. "What's wrong with the comms?"

"Oh, they keep breaking, ever since that mess last year on Ordo Plutonia," Hondo said, waving a hand.

Gah, it was driving him nuts. Tony got down on his knees and peered under the console for a minute, before he held a hand out and said, "Screwdriver. Did anyone look at this? The wiring's all fucked up and crossways but I can fix it." Something else to think about beside his children, missing… yeah, okay, wiring.

"Better do it," Steve advised Hondo. "He'll just tear it apart otherwise."

Hondo paused for a second. "Well, all right then." He clapped his hands twice. "Come, come, get the shiny metal man a screwdriver!"

One of the pirates complied, dropping one into Tony's outstretched hand.

"Thanks," Tony said absently, already poking around the wiring. Oh, yeah, some of them were just cross-plugged. It looked like… "Did this get thrown around or something? Because it looks like somebody just plugged these back in any which way."

"Uh, more or less?" Hondo said. "Why, did we do it wrong?"

"Way wrong," Tony said. It might have come out really muffled, he wasn't sure. "It's like you screwed up the whole AC/DC circuit except that's not what's going on at all."

He barely heard Steve tell Hondo, "He's like this. Just nod and smile."

"Ah, I'm good at that!" Hondo said, then laughed again.

"X-wing transponder matches Alliance codes," the pirate on comms said. "Odds are good it's Kenobi. Should I let him land, boss?"

"Yes, yes," Hondo said. "Let him come!"

Tony tweaked a couple of wires, swapped another pair, screwed one loose nut back into place and then came out again. "Okay, try it now, should be good." He absently stuck the screwdriver in his gauntlet sleeve.

Hondo pushed a couple of buttons, and a much-clearer hologram appeared. It was definitely Obi-Wan Kenobi--but he looked younger than he should have, if the Death Star just blew, by at least a decade. "Hondo. I'm just coming into your docking bay. Shall we hold off until I can see you face-to-face?"

Interesting, Tony thought, staring at the hologram. Amazing what twenty years of not being on a desert planet would do to a man.

"Yes, yes," Hondo said. "I was just making sure the shiny metal man fixed my comms. I will see you soon!"

"...Hondo--"

He flipped a switch, cutting the connection.

"Am I going to be shiny metal man forever?" Tony asked. "I ask purely out of curiosity, since I do have a name and you can use it, weird pirate man."

"You are as soon as I tell Clint about it," Natasha said, sounding annoyingly pleased. Tony flipped her off and then hid behind Steve.

"Well, you are a shiny metal man," Hondo said. "And I am a weird pirate man, too!"

"So everyone is pleased!" boomed Thor. Tony jumped, having either forgotten that Thor was there or lost track of him or SOMETHING. "This is excellent! You may call me mighty lightning man."

"Mighty lightning man?" Hondo asked. "Why are you the mighty lightning man, eh?"

Thor grinned, and raised Mjolnir, but then apparently thought better of it before anyone said anything. "Alas, I cannot demonstrate in here."

"He'd fry us all," Tony said. "Well. You all. I'm grounded."

Steve choked at that, and then said, "No you're not."

Tony flipped him off too.

Hondo looked almost as disappointed as Thor did. "Some other time, then, yes?"

"When we are not surrounded by metal," Thor said, and bowed. "It would be my pleasure, Weird Pirate Man."

Tony could hear the capitals.

"I look forward to it, Mighty Lightning Man," Hondo said, with an extravagant bow of his own. His monkey-parrot thing chittered and danced a little bit on his shoulder.

"Oh, my God," Tony said, to no one in particular. "Thor's made a friend."

#epic crossover rp OF DOOM #shadowsong writes star wars #shadowsong writes crossovers #shadowsong cowrites stuff #tigerkat24

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iggys-sous-chef · 6 years

Text

Ignoct NSFW week

Late post for Day 3 Biting/Marking | Body Worship/Praise Kink For @ignoctweek Rating: Mature (for the end of this installment and for part two to come) Word Count: 7,010 Summary: He surely didn't stay the night wrapped up in his arms, buried inside him, and making him cry out his name because it was his job. He loved Noctis and for the heir to the throne to suggest it was anything else made his heart sink, piece by piece.

Or Ignis can only take so much of Noctis’ behavior before he snaps and has to know where they stand.

This was done via a RP with the lovely @amakai who let me work this idea out with her; I went back and made some edits to make this more cohesive. Thank you for being the Noctis to my Iggy!!

It was the start of Noctis’ final year of high school and the third in which he’d found his first real friend in school. Prompto Argentum had been a godsend in his life. He'd never had so much fun with anyone before, but now he was actually feeling normal.

Ignis was happy that Noctis had found a friend in the literal ray of sunshine from school. He'd met Prompto a few times and the boy seemed friendly and genuine enough. Noctis hadn't made any other friends in school - acquaintances, sure, but honest friends? It was unheard of.

The young advisor wasn't blind, he could tell how important the friendship was to Noctis, so when the first little slips occurred (simple things like not putting away his laundry or forgetting to sign documents he'd left for him to look over) Ignis bit his tongue.

Noctis came home late that Friday night after school. He'd spent the afternoon in the arcade with Prompto and it was just a little past 7 o’clock by the time he walked into his apartment.

Ignis looked up from his task, pushing his glasses up his nose. His sleeves were rolled up and he sighed as he passed the sponge under the tap. "There you are, Noct. Explain to me again the purpose of you having a cellular phone if you don't answer it."

"The battery died during lunch,” he replied, kicking his shoes off as he dropped his bag haphazardly by the door.

Ignis hummed, disappointed at his lackadaisical attitude as he kicked his shoes off. "Could you at least put your shoes away properly?"

Noctis rolled his eyes, pushing them off to the side and out of the way.

Ignoring the eye roll, Ignis went back to scrubbing the sink clean since he'd finished washing all the dishes. "I put the notes from today's meetings by your bedside. I know it's the weekend, but we have delegates arriving on Monday and your father requests you at least make an appearance. I’ve highlighted the key points for you."

"I can't do Monday. I got study hall after school."

Ignis scrubbed at a particularly stubborn stain, knowing full well it wouldn't come out; it hadn't in the months he'd been fighting it. "I'm afraid you'll have to make it up, we can't reschedule a political meeting when they're traveling thousands of miles to come here."

"I don't see why I have to go anyways. It's not like I ever do anything but sit there and look interested,” he muttered, dropping onto the couch.

"Obligation to the Crown, my dear," he retorted. "The noble family is bringing their son; he's a year younger than you. I can tell you now that they're hoping to foster a friendship between future leaders. Come for lunch and schmooze for an hour and I will do my best to get you back to school."

Noctis sighed heavily, folding his arms over his chest. "Yea, fine..."

Ignis finally abandoned the stain and rinsed the sponge a final time. "I know you don't enjoy these social meetings, but they're just as important."

"I don't think so," he mumbled, picking up the TV remote to turn it on, the sounds of a detergent commercial filling up the space.

"Whether you think so or not, your presence is required," he replied, perhaps a bit too frustrated. He didn't understand the push back he'd been receiving from Noctis as of late.

He turned off the kitchen light and began to roll his sleeves down again. He paused beside the sofa and after a moment's thought, he bent down and softly kissed his cheek, letting his lips linger. "You're obviously not in the mood for my company tonight, so I will see myself out."

"Mm...kay...see you in the morning."

Ignis' jaw clenched, but he did no more than head to the door and put his shoes on. He looked back to Noctis, who seemed engrossed in whatever was on TV, and then stalked out.

Noctis spent the rest of the evening playing games and watching stuff until he was too tired to stay awake. He then dragged himself to bed, leaving a trail of his uniform on the clean bedroom floor as he went.

Ignis showed up to his apartment in the morning as expected of him. It wasn't even that he minded; ever since he found that his one-sided feelings were in fact mutual, he looked forward to their mornings together. Even if Noctis was difficult to rouse, even if their time was spent going over notes and plans, they generally had a good day together. Ignis could usually bribe him with a kiss or two or something more, and after business was tended to, they indulged in pleasure.

But the last few months had been... different. More difficult. Briefly, Ignis wondered if it was because of him, if Noctis was growing tired of their supposed relationship, or if perhaps Prompto was holding more of his attention and affection.

He entered the quiet apartment, scooting his shoes to their appropriate place and walking further in... and promptly stopping. How on Eos did Noct manage to make such a mess? He had just cleaned up and now there were empty bottles and a ramen bowl and snack bags strewn about. With a sigh, he picked them up, cleaned the couch, and swept.

And then, as he headed to wake Noctis, his ire was stoked again as he noticed his uniform crumpled in pieces in a trail leading to the bed. ‘Breathe, Ignis, you love Noctis, and you can't kill the Crowned Prince... no matter how ungrateful he is,’ his mind screamed. He was no longer going to go the gentle route to wake him. He went straight to the curtains and pulled them open, letting bright golden sunlight stream in and fall across Noct's face.

The bright light against his face made him groan softly, turning to bury himself into the pillows. "The fuck Specs...it's Saturday..."

"Yes, it is, and we have breakfast and Crownsguard training."

He grunted, pulling the covers over his head. "No thanks."

Ignis put his hands on his hips as he stared at the Noctis-sized lump. "Unfortunately, I'm not asking. You can come straight home and take a nap after training. I will even gladly lie with you, but you must get up now," he replied as he tugged on the blankets.

"I don't want to. It's my day off, I'm staying in bed."

"You can take your day off tomorrow," he countered. "I promise you have nothing on the agenda for Sunday."

His voice, clearly irritated and gravelly with sleep rose from the sea of pillows. “Can't train on three hours of sleep.”

"You... seriously Noct! You knew you had training today," Ignis scolded. "What am I supposed to tell Gladiolus? And your father?"

"I didn't know or I woulda gone to bed earlier!" he snapped back. "Get off my back, Ignis."

"This is me off your back, I assure you. It's the second Saturday of the month. You always have morning training on the second Saturday. Perhaps if you'd looked over the materials I left for you at the beginning of the week you would've seen the reminder..." he said as he gestured to the planner.

Noctis let out a growl as he threw the blankets back and then got up from bed. He stomped off to the bathroom, door slamming behind him.

Ignis took a deep breath as he felt frustration and anger well up inside him. His fingers curled into fists and he let out a sigh, slumping down to sit on the edge of the bed. He put his head in his hands. He didn't know what to do with him anymore.

*****

After showering and dressing, Noctis grabbed his training bag from his room and headed for the door, sitting down to pull his shoes on.

Ignis thrust a bag into Noct's hands once he was ready, lifting his gaze to hold his, simply explaining, "Breakfast," before turning on his heel and opening the door.

Grunting softly, he started down the steps. "I'll walk.”

Ignis pressed his lips together, letting go of the car keys, and dropping them back into his pocket. "Then I shall walk with you."

"So you can get on my case more? No thanks,” he grumbled, stuffing hands in his pockets as he headed off in the direction of the Citadel.

Ignis froze in his spot and watched as Noctis carried on walking. Wordlessly he turned and went back to the parking garage and got into the car. He wondered how the king would take the advice of having another child that would be more willing to serve the crown. If Noctis wanted to behave like some petulant child, then so be it. He'd let Gladio work it out of him.

He pulled out and headed towards the Citadel, doing all he could to not cast a look in Noct's direction as he drove past.

Noctis arrived to training much later than he would have if he’d ridden with Ignis, but at least he wasn't as pissed off when he got there.

Gladio glared at him, the fire of challenge burning in his eyes. "You're late. And Specs got called into an emergency meeting, so you ain't got anyone to save your ass. Laps, princess, now."

"Good. As long as it gets him off my case," he muttered, dropping his bag off to the side. He put all of his frustrations and annoyance into training, not even caring if he overworked himself. He could just sleep it off later.

Ignis stopped by the training hall much later that day, finding both Gladio and Noctis panting hard and resting on the mats. He quietly approached and held a water bottle out to both of them.

Noctis took it silently, struggling upright as he downed the water. He really didn't feel too great right now - head spinning, stomach churning as he hadn't eaten the breakfast Iggy had given him.

Ignis took one good look at him and then glared at Gladiolus. "You're supposed to train the prince, not kill him!" The Shield waved him off. "Endurance. He's alright. You mother him too much." Ignis' eyes narrowed dangerously. "Careful Gladiolus, set the example, don't be it." "That a threat you paper pusher?" he teased, but Ignis was in no mood for their usual banter and Gladiolus could tell. He held up his hands defensively. "Alright, alright, Iggy, damn. We just have a few-" "No, you don't. You're done for today." He looked to Noctis and offered his hand. "Can you stand?"

Noctis shifted to his knees, ignoring the offering and wobbling slightly as he tried to stand before shaking his head. "No...don't think so...might have overdone it a little too much..."

Ignis slowly dropped his hand and then turned around, squatting in front of him. "I'll carry you, come on."

Despite still being annoyed with Ignis, he didn't want to risk walking anywhere with as light headed as he felt. He set the empty bottle aside, slowly pulling himself up onto his back.

Ignis secured his arms under him and then stood, hoisting him up a bit more and readjusting his hold. He walked over to the benches and took up Noct's gym bag. "We'll see you next time, Gladiolus." The shield waved them off and then cursed at himself. He knew that look in Iggy's eyes... he was so screwed. Ignis was quiet the majority of the time he carried him down to the garage and towards the car, only asking him questions pertaining to if he was comfortable, or wanted to stop, or try to walk. But soon they made it and Ignis opened the passenger side and let Noctis slide from his back. "Get in."

He slipped into the car, sighing softly as he rubbed a hand over his face.

Ignis tossed the bag into the trunk and then got into the driver's seat. "Lean back and rest. I'll get the air on."

"I'll be okay...I just need to sleep."

Ignis nodded and then reversed out of his spot, but hesitated in putting the car into gear. "Noct... this tension between us, I don't like it. Not just today, but all week… all month. I know it's been difficult. But I miss you," he admitted as he looked over at him.

"I'm sorry...it's just...I haven't had a friend outside of you and Gladio. It's exciting to have someone like Prom in my life. I'm not trying to ignore you."

He put the car in drive and headed towards Noctis' apartment. "I know. Prompto is a wonderful person... but beyond ignoring me you're also ignoring your duties and there's only so much I can do in your stead." He wasn't even going to mention how Regis had questioned him about his difficulty with Noctis lately, and if he required assistance. Any implication that he couldn't perform his job well really got under his skin.

"I'm not asking you to give up the sense of normalcy you've found with Prompto,” Ignis continued carefully, “just don't forget about the obligations you have as well. You can achieve a balance."

Noctis leaned on the door, sighing. "You've been stuck in this hell as long as I have and you just don't get it, but I don't expect you to. Prompto makes me feel...free...normal. I don't have to try to be something I'm not with him. He lets me be...me. Doesn't expect anything of me other than just being there for him as a friend. That's something I've wanted all my life. No one's ever wanted me for me. You're here because you have to be. It's your job."

That was a low blow, and while true that they had come together out of obligation, as children Ignis had always gone out of his way to dote on Noctis, to take care of him, to sneak him out at night to watch the stars and read him bedtime stories, to try to make him feel like a kid and not a prince. Whenever they got caught he always took all the blame and that was never out of obligation.

And now he didn't clean up his apartment or mend his clothes or try to recreate those Tenebraen tarts Noctis loved so much because it was his job. He surely didn't stay the night wrapped up in his arms, buried inside him, and making him cry out his name because it was his job. He loved Noctis and for the heir to the throne to suggest it was anything else made his heart sink, piece by piece.

"I may have a duty to fulfill, but I thought you knew, understood, how I felt, that you are more to me than my job... but if you feel that way then I won't overstep my boundaries again." His tone turned clipped at the end and he focused on the road ahead, hands tightening at the wheel.

"I didn't mean it like that Ignis..." He sighed, rubbing his temples. “You know I love you..."

"I may be bound to your side as your advisor, but I've always chosen you for who you were beyond your name and title." He couldn't bring himself to take his eyes off the road and look at him. "And I'm sorry I've failed to make it abundantly clear to you. Consider it a lesson learned."

Noctis sighed softly, "Iggy...come on. I didn't mean...I'm just...frustrated with life right now okay?”

Ignis wanted to snap at him; it wasn't as if he wasn't frustrated either. He had juggled school and his duties, and he was the one who sat in on all the meetings for Noctis, and took care of everything that supposedly made Noctis independent. But he kept quiet, stewed in his own frustration.

He pulled into the parking garage of his apartment and parked, keeping his duties in mind and the irritation out of his voice. "Can you make it from here?"

He nodded as he opened the door. "Yeah...thanks Iggy..."

Ignis briefly glanced at him as he pressed the button to pop open the trunk, his usually composed expression gone for once, and the boy looked worn. He gave a curt nod. "Of course, Your Highness."

Noctis froze halfway out of the car, feeling his heart sink at the words. Ignis only used his title when a certain decorum was necessary or when he was upset with him for something. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he pushed himself out, keeping his back to him as he wiped at the corners of his eyes. He hastily shut the door and then grabbed his bag before heading to his apartment.

Ignis closed his eyes as the door shut with a thud. He waited until Noctis was into the elevator before he sighed and dropped his head against the steering wheel. Why did he have to say that? Why couldn't he have just been the bigger person and let it go? He had set up a surprise for Noctis by way of apology for pulling him out of bed and being harsh with him. He should've walked up with him and smiled as Noctis realized the newest AC game was waiting on his table, Prompto lounging on the couch in waiting for him. A perfectly normal afternoon for a normal teenager - as he wanted.

It was too late to take it back. Ignis pulled out of the garage and headed home.

Getting up to the apartment took a little longer than he would have liked to admit. Noctis was still feeling like crap but when he opened the door to find lights on, confusion washed over him. He knew it wasn't Ignis or Gladio, which left only- "Prompto?"

The blond popped his head out of the kitchen, a spoon balanced between his lips. He quickly pulled it free and wiped at the yogurt on the corner of his mouth. "Hey, Noct!"

Dropping his bag, he leaned on the wall, still confused. "What're you doing here?"

"Um... Ignis called me. He said you were having a rough day and invited me over to cheer you up. There's all kinds of stuff in the kitchen for us, too! He said something about you having a free day tomorrow so we could cut loose... well he said it in Ignis terms. Oh! Dude! We even have the newest Assassin's Creed! It doesn't even come out til next week! But he said I absolutely had to wait for you to play..." he scooped his spoon back into the yogurt cup. "Pretty awesome," he said in a sing song voice.

Great. Just...great. Now he felt even more like a sack of shit. "Uhh...g-great...you can go ahead and set it up? I'm gonna shower. I overdid it with training today."

The blond eagerly bounded over the couch and picked up the game to open it. “'Kay! Hey... there's a note here in the case for you,” Prompto said, waving it over his head.

Noctis moved over to take it, reading it over as he headed for the bedroom to grab clothes.

The note was written in Ignis' elegant script. I pulled a few strings, for as daunting as our positions are they do come with some perks. I hope you don't mind me inviting Prompto over on your behalf, but please put this week out of your mind and enjoy your night with your friend. I only request that you join me for dinner on Friday, just the two of us. We owe it to ourselves. Ignis' signature sat below it.

Thumb running over the signature, he set it on the dresser, sighing softly. He really didn't deserve Ignis.

Prompto let the game install while he waited on Noctis, snacking a bit. He knew that Noctis had it rough as the prince, but stuff like this seemed pretty sweet.

Taking his time showering and relaxing, Noctis eventually joined his friend on the couch. "Have you gotten those pictures printed?"

Prompto picked up his messenger bag, setting it in his lap. "I sure did!" He pulled out and handed over the envelope to Noctis.

He took the envelope, flipping through it with a smile. "Great...just need to finish the album now..."

The blond made a little humming sound. "We got time... but first," he handed over the controller with a grin. "Let's have some fun."

Noctis smiled, setting the pictures aside before turning his attention to the TV.

*******

The following week passed quietly, Noctis had come along to the social meeting on Monday without much pestering from Ignis, who also upheld his promise and ensured he made it back to school. The car ride had been awkward and silent, and Ignis once again parted ways with a nod and a muttered Your Highness.

By Wednesday, he was back to calling him Noctis, but still their interactions were minimal. Ignis only stayed as long as he needed - only to do chores and drop off papers or food - and only spoke to him when necessary. Ignis could easily put all this behind him, in fact he probably should be the bigger person and do just that, but... he was hurt.

Noctis hated the distance between them. Hated the awkward silence and cold conversations. He wanted to be back with Ignis, so he decided he needed to get this gift wrapped up and finished soon. He had to get them back on track and set things right.

It had been a bit last minute, but Ignis was surprised when he received a message from Noctis saying that he wanted to meet for dinner. If anything, he hoped this could be a step in the right direction and perhaps he could take the opportunity to apologize.

On the way home Thursday, he stopped and picked up all the ingredients for one of Noct's favorite dishes. A small way to start his apology for being so distant and short with him.

Noctis spent his night Thursday finishing all of the last minute touches he needed to complete the surprise gift for Ignis. With over the phone help from Prompto about where things should go and be laid out, he was eventually satisfied with it all. He bid his friend a good night and put the documents on a thumb drive. He'd have to make a stop after school to get it printed and bound, but it was going to be worth it.

Since Noctis had claimed he didn't need to be picked up from school, Ignis went straight to his apartment to tidy up and begin preparing their dinner. He wasn't even going to try to sneak any vegetables into the dish, a detail that he was sure would please Noctis. He sent him a text message when it was nearly ready, growing concerned that it hadn't made it home yet.

Absorbed in his gift making, Noctis was discussing the layout for the cover. He'd worked hard to gather a bunch of recipes he knew Ignis hadn't ever cooked before and was excited to see how he'd react to it. Getting the book an hour later, he got it wrapped up and a bow tied around it before heading out the door. It was dark out when he left, and he picked up the pace.

Ignis had set the table and placed the food out, covering it to keep it all warm. He'd sat at the table and waited, periodically checking his phone, yet Noctis never replied to his messages. Was he seriously being stood up? After everything that happened over the last couple weeks... Noctis couldn't send back a simple reply or give him a phone call? Ignis bowed his head, he couldn't believe it.

A little after nine, Noctis came into the apartment, slightly out of breath with the gift tucked under his arm.

By now the dinner was cold, and Ignis... he wasn't sure why he even stayed. Maybe he was tired, tired of all the back and forth, the cold shoulders, and being talked to one minute to be ignored the next. He knew that things were difficult right now, but he deserved an answer, some kind of explanation. He was worth at least that much wasn't he? He wasn't really sure considering Noctis thought he wasn't even deserving of a text.

His chest tightened when he heard the front door open, and he looked up as Noctis came in. "There you are," he said, but his voice wasn't relieved. He was tired and angry; he couldn't take much more of this.

"Oh...shit...am I late?" Noctis asked, setting his backpack on the couch.

"Are you late? It's after nine o'clock at night and I sent you a message hours ago that I was nearly done." He stood from his seat at the table and folded the napkin he had idly been toying with. "Have I done something that has warranted such treatment?"

"I...thought you said 9:30...I'm sorry Iggy. I had something I needed to get done. I tried to be quick about it."

"So, did you not receive my messages yet again?" Ignoring his excuse, he stepped closer to Noctis, eyes narrowing in disbelief. "Was your phone conveniently dead... again?"

He moved to his backpack, rummaging through it to find his phone at the bottom of the bag. "I'm sorry...I was in a hurry to get this done..."

"What was so important to you that you've ignored me, again? I thought we were making amends after everything... but you've just strung me along and left me here waiting because you damn well know that I would still be here!" Ignis spat as he came closer still; anger and sadness whirled in his gaze and tumbled from his lips. "What else does Ignis have to do besides wait on you hand and foot? I don't fancy being toyed with. If you're punishing me for something just tell me so because I can't take this any longer."

Noctis shifted, holding the gift out. "I...I was doing this..."

Ignis looked from Noctis to the gift in his outstretched hands and back again. "Is it for me?" he asked hesitantly, softly.

"Yea...it is..."

"I..." Wow, he felt like an ass for exploding now. But, he had felt totally valid in doing so, and even if Noctis had gotten him something, it still didn't change how he felt about the last couple weeks. He felt like they were falling apart, and he didn't know what to do to fix it.

Before Ignis had even realized it, he had torn open the wrapping. He looked down at the bound book and opened it. It was full of pictures and recipes, some he'd never even seen before. "Oh, Noctis..."

"I was trying to do something nice for you...I didn't mean to forget about the time..."

He let his fingers trace the photos and recipes and he snapped the book closed with a sigh. "I... please forgive me. With the way things have been between us lately, I assumed the worst..."

"I didn't know… how to show I care."

"You could start by believing that I love you and that I do so of my own free will, not because I'm obligated to be by your side..."

Out of everything, that hurt Ignis the most. He could deal with his brattiness and his temper, his discontent with his position, and his unwillingness to go to meetings and training. But to be accused that his love wasn't sincere, he couldn't stand it.

"I'm sorry..."

He set the book on the back cushion of the couch. "When you're frustrated, when everything starts to pile up and it gets too difficult, tell me. Don't blame me and push me away. It's my job to prepare you for these things. It's my choice to support you beyond it..."

"I just...I don't like you trying to force me to focus on my duties when I only have so much time to be young and have fun. I know I have to be king someday! I know I have to be responsible, but just let me be free while I can!"

"You... don't think that I already do that? I know you're young. I've always rallied your side, to allow you freedoms. These duties that you speak of, the ones I press you for, are the least you could do. Do you forget who it is that sits in on your meetings and takes notes for you so that you can go to school and goof off at the arcade? Who swore to pick you up and see to it that you met your appointments so that you could live on your own!"

"I know it was you! I'm not stupid, Ignis!" he snapped, "I never asked for this life!!"

Ignis stepped forward and cupped his face. "I know you didn't! But this is still your life whether you want it or not. And it breaks my heart. Ever since we were kids... why do you think I work so hard for you?" He held his face steady, staring into his eyes. "I've only ever wanted to lessen your burdens, Noct..."

The intensity of his stare became too much and Noctis closed his eyes, tears slipping free. "I k-know you do..." he sniffed.

He jerked him closer with a sigh, wrapping his arms around him. Ignis buried his face in the crook of his neck. "Then please stop pushing me away."

Arms curled around his waist, gripping at the back of his shirt. "I'm s-sorry..."

Ignis' hand cupped the back of Noct's head, fingers curling into his hair as he turned his face and pressed a kiss to his neck. "I love you, Noctis."

"I love you too, Iggy...I'm sorry...for being late...I honestly thought it was later..."

"It doesn't matter any longer," he murmured before kissing his neck again. He left a trail of lingering kisses up his throat to his jaw, coaxing his face toward his for a kiss.

Noctis let out a small sigh as their lips met, shoulders relaxing as the kiss swept him away. With a little prodding, Ignis coaxed him to open up, letting his tongue slide in to roll against his, each swipe growing more bold.

Noct slipped hands under Ignis' shirt, scratching over his skin as he let the kiss deepen. The older man gasped against his lips as he felt blunt nails pass over him. He tightened the fingers at the back of Noctis’ head and tugged, teeth raking over his bottom lip before he set his lips back upon his neck.

"Nnngh...I-Iggy...fuck I've missed this..."

"As have I," he rasped against his Adam's apple before letting his tongue slowly trace over it.

Noctis let out a soft whimper, rocking his hips toward him. Stepping forward, Ignis pushed him against the back of the couch, a hand slipping down to firmly clutch at his hip, holding Noctis still. Teeth nipped at his jaw as he pulled back. "Perhaps we should move to a more comfortable location... unless you’d rather I bend you over this sofa?"

"B-bedroom works," he moaned softly in reply.

Ignis smirked as he pulled away from him. "Lead and I shall follow."

Noctis snorted softly. "Like you don't know where it is," he murmured, taking his hand to lead him.

"Of course, but it's more fun this way," he retorted, squeezing his hand as he followed after him. Once in the bedroom, Ignis pulled Noctis in for another kiss that quickly heated as tongues twined and hands tugged at clothes. Ignis hummed against his mouth as his fingers finally met skin.

Noctis worked his tie open while they kissed, letting it hang around his neck as he reached to undo shirt buttons. The young advisor was feeling much too impatient and he pulled away to start on the buttons from the bottom and worked up until he met Noct's hands. Ignis wrapped fingers around his wrists and pulled Noctis' touch inside his shirt, up onto his chest as he leaned in and kissed him again.

Moaning into the kiss, Noctis let his nails drag over his skin, stepping closer to him. Ignis pressed his hands firmly to his back, holding him close as he took control of the kiss, lips meshed together with a hungry passion. He groaned softly before breaking away, gasping for proper breath against his prince’s lips as he peeled the shirt from his shoulders.

"Nnn...fuck Iggy..." he mumbled, leaning in to kiss along his neck and shoulder. The smoothness of his skin was addicting, and Noctis loved to run his lips across him, to feel the heat radiating from him.

His hands fit under Noct's shirt, working it up his body, his fingertips brushing lightly over his skin before he tore the garment up and off over his head. Ignis’ heated gaze flickered over his bared chest, his breath falling more quickly as he reached for him and tugged him close by the waistband of his pants.

A surprised gasp parted his lips and Noctis hid a smile against him. "I love you..." he murmured against his shoulder, biting softly at the skin.

A hushed moan left Ignis, fingers teasing into the waist of Noct's pants over his rear. "I love you, too, Noctis..." he replied, pressing a kiss to the temple of his head.

Noctis physically relaxed under the words. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say my name..."

"I was so upset with you, please forgive my pettiness," he said under a sigh, running his hands over his back. "I will call your name all night..."

"Good...I need that...I need you..."

Ignis cupped his face, looking down into his eyes before pressing their lips softly together. "You have me, always... in every way."

Noctis smiled softly, letting him go only to move over to the bed as he made short work of the fasteners on his pants. He looked back over his shoulder as he lowered them from his hips. Ignis watched the little display as Noctis pushed them down his legs and turned around to face him as he stepped out.

Ignis grinned and tackled Noctis onto the bed, chuckling as he attacked his neck with his lips, nipping at his skin. Letting out a small squeal, Noctis laughed, wrapping arms around his shoulders.

He kissed the hollow between Noct's collarbones as he worked his way up the other side of his throat. “Never did get to eat dinner..." he rasped against his ear. "I don't know about you, but I'm feeling quite ravenous."

He shivered, biting his lip. "I'm yours to feast on Iggy."

"Are you now?" he playfully questioned, voice dropping into a low hum. He pushed himself up and then rocked back, lowering himself down Noct's torso, leaving a hot, wet trail of kisses as he headed down his abdomen.

"Nnn...y-yea..." he murmured softly, slipping fingers into his hair.

Ignis briefly sucked at the skin just below his navel before pulling back. "Mmm... not there..." he trailed his lips over to the jut of his hip bone, nipping at the flesh, perhaps a little harder than necessary.

Noctis groaned softly, fidgeting at the sharp, brief press of teeth. "S-shit..."

His small laugh fluttered over Noct's skin. "Not there either..."

His fingers hooked into the elastic band and he began to pull his boxers down, leaving them around the middle of his thighs, just enough to free him. The plush of his lips worked across Noctis’ pelvis as Ignis firmly spread his legs apart a little more, to reach the juncture of his thigh. He glanced up at him and licked his lips. "Here perhaps?"

He closed his lips around him, pulling his skin into the vacuum of his mouth. His teeth scraped over him, pressed into him, as he moaned against him, sucking him harder. With a wet sound, Ignis finally popped his lips free and he smiled at his handiwork, the mark angry and red and already darkening.

"I-Iggy..." Noctis whimpered softly, breathing already uneven as his cheeks darkened in blush, "P-please..."

"Please... what?" he teased as he went lower, sucking at his inner thigh, pressing his teeth deliberately into the skin.

"A-ahh...I w-want your mouth on my cock already," he huffed.

"Ever impatient," Ignis remarked as he tugged his boxers the rest of the way down, letting them drop from his feet. His hands smoothed up his legs, admiring their muscular tone before brushing lips over him, leading back up towards his pelvis.

"It's been forever...can you blame me?"

Ignis hummed in reply as he turned his face, the warmth of his mouth blooming over the base of his cock as he parted his lips. The petal softness of his lips, the silky contrast of his tongue, slowly slid up the side of his length.

Noctis groaned out softly, head dropping back. "S-shit..."

The corner of his lips twitched into a smile and then his mouth closed around him. His tongue twirled around the crown of his cock as he bobbed his head

"I-Iggy..." he moaned softly, fingers tightening in sandy locks.

Ignis let his eyes fall close, feeling only the fingers in his hair and the smooth hardness past his lips, the musky tang of his precum that slid to the back of his throat as he took more and more of him.

"S-so...good...I-Iggy..."

He hummed low, head tilting and corkscrewing up and down, nose brushing the curls at the base of him as his hands gripped his thighs.

"I wanna t-touch you, too..."

His eyes lifted to Noctis' face as he pulled off of him, cheeks hollowing, and his lips left him with a soft pop. He rose to his feet, standing between his legs. "Then touch me, Noct."

"W-where do you want it?" the prince asked breathlessly.

Ignis took his hands and pulled him upright before setting them on his own hips. "Anywhere you want... everywhere you want. I just want to feel you."

Noctis slid his hands to his pants, holding his gaze as he unbuttoned them, pushing them down. His lips brushed against his thigh, hands gliding along his legs possessively as gravity took over. Ignis hastily stepped out of them, lifting his hand to brush dark hair from his cheek.

Noctis leaned in, biting at his hip gently with a smirk. Ignis drew in a deep breath as he looked down to watch as his prince kissed over to the hem of his boxer briefs, carefully grabbing them with his teeth to pull them down.

A surprised huff left him. "Where did you pick that up?" he asked in a whisper as the garment was taken down his thighs.

"Porn?" He giggled softly, nipping his thigh as he leaned back up.

"Figures," he muttered softly, "Not that I mind..." He lifted his hand to rake his fingers through his lover's dark tresses.

"Would you rather I had learned it from someone?” he asked, glancing back to his face, "cause I think your possessiveness would rather I find new things from porn."

Ignis’ fingers tightened in his hair. "Well if you know then why would you ask, unless you're simply enjoying toying with me?"

"Mmmhmm~ I like riling you up...makes the sex more fun," he purred, dipping his head to lick over the swell of his sack in a light teasing manner.

Ignis pulled a steady breath through his nose at the feeling of his tongue, just as teasing as his words. "You could just tell me how you want it instead of manipulating me," he murmured, although he knew it wasn't going to happen, although he knew somewhere in the back of his mind that he liked it like this with Noctis appealing to his flaws.

"Nah...you're the word guy not me,” he chuckled, lifting his head enough to pull his cock into his mouth.

A breathy moan parted his lips. "Noct..." He focused his gaze on him, watching those perfectly pink lips move along his length.

Noctis raised his gaze up to him, hands sliding up his thighs as he worked him up at a slow but steady pace.

Ignis' breath came quicker, even as he tried to keep it controlled, but Noctis' mouth was like fire, burning his nerve endings and catching him aflame. He caught his bottom lip between his teeth as he continued to watch, soft appreciative sounds bubbling up with every bob of his head. "So good..."

He let out a soft hum, eyes slipping shut before taking a breath through his nose and slowly working him down further and further. Noctis hummed softly, relaxing his throat as his nose hit Ignis' stomach.

The breath momentarily caught in his throat, fingers curling and tightening into his dark hair lovingly, brushing against his scalp. "Astrals, Noctis... just like that, love."

Ignis’ eyes fell close as his head tilted back, losing himself to the warm perfection of his mouth, fingers caressing his cheek or jaw whenever he did something that felt particularly amazing. Noctis repeated it, his head bobbing enthusiastically a few more times before pulling off with a soft, wet popping sound, panting softly.

Ignis' hand took his shoulder and he lowered himself, straddling Noct's lap before pushing him down onto the bed, sealing their mouth together. He pressed his tongue into his mouth, commanding the kiss. He moaned softly against him, nipping at his lip as he pulled away. "I taste good on you," he rasped, teasingly lapping at his bottom lip.

"Mmm...glad you approve Iggy," he panted, kneading at his sides.

He rocked against him, the length of his cock rubbing along Noct's, softly whimpering at the friction. "Shall I show you just how much I approve?"

A part 2 will follow with the glorious smut they deserve. Thanks for reading!

#ignoctnsfwweek #nsfwignoctweek #ignoct #ignis scientia #noctis lucis caelum #amakai #deni writes #with others

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gabriellapatterson-blog · 6 years

Photo

Birthday First Date

A/N: Altivo doesn’t like being ignored. Thanks @wyattschreave for the rp! Also there’s another authors note at the end because I didn’t wanna give something away but it’s funny! Also the first picture is for the romance, 2nd is humor/realism. BEcause Altivo is there which they seem to forget about +shes small so tiptoes even with him hunched over

Breakfast had been pretty fun for me. I couldn’t help but side glance at Wyatt every few minutes. I just felt so happy. He was my boyfriend now and he was right there and we were eating breakfast together and it was my birthday! I kept twirling my hair as we made light conversation as we normally would have.

I walked back from breakfast happy after having gotten to see Wyatt while we ate. I was so thankful that my seat had just happened to be right next to Wyatt's.

My eyebrows furrowed as I saw a small box in my room on my bed. Who could that be from? I grinned hoping it was Wyatt and saw it was from Ben.

I was confused. Why would Ben give me anything? I mean it was my birthday but he was awfully busy and I wasn’t even competing for him anymore.

I opened up the box and saw a note that looked exactly like the one from the penguin meme. Oh, so that was a hint. My smile returned as I knew it was from Wyatt now. He was being sneaky with our super secret relationship. No one knew. Just us two.

“yOU BETTER HAVE NOT EXPECTED IT TO BE FROM BEN. that would be a pretzel affair. I couldn't really get you anything interesting at midnight but I figured I might as well make something that would get you to laugh. happy birthday, cupcake"

I chuckled and plopped down onto my bed and looking through the pictures in the box. There were the pictures from when my family came and one of my staring at the napkin cocoon with an intense hatred.

I smiled as I saw the pictures for the first time. It was funny to remember my thoughts and moods while they had been taken and to see them there.

Like my annoyance at my dad poking fun at me for telling Wyatt about my cupcake phase which had become his nickname for me. I had been annoyed when he started using it. I knew it was meant to annoy me and he had succeeded. But as time had progressed it grew on me. Now I found it sweet.

It reminded me of fun moments talking with him. And the day my subconscious decided I was too oblivious to notice I liked Wyatt on my own so it through a dream at me. Talking with Wyatt as he sat in a chair beside my bed. My ankle hurt so I couldn't stand up and my hip had stitches so I couldn’t really sit up. He had brought me toast. It was sweet how he had noticed I loved the toast in the morning.

In another photo I saw my fear as I tried to balance with books stacked on my head and one foot off the ground as Ellie had demanded. I was holding onto Wyatt’s hand tightly both because I didn’t want to fall and because I hadn’t had the chance to hold his hand before.

I hadn’t noticed he was smirking down at me from over his shoulder. If I had I’m sure I would have chewed him out. I laid back down in bed and looked over the picture. I think it’s my favorite. It just perfectly got how I felt, and I love seeing Wyatt’s face looking down at me. I couldn’t help but smile giddily and I set the photo down on my bedside table.

I flipped through more of the photos and got to a sea of photos of Mashed Potato.

“Amazing.” I mumbled looking at the adorable little chub chow dog.

Then there was another picture. This one though, was of Wyatt. He was much younger maybe ten to twelve. Making almost a duck face. He probably was just talking but it came out like one which made me snort a bit.

I considered going to see him but decided I should wait. Since he may be worried about us being caught even though I’m sure I could be 100% sneaky. OH CRAP HAZELS RIGHT NEXT TO WYATT. My face went red as I realized she probably had totally picked up on all my flirting during breakfast.

Okay so maybe I’m not the best at being sneaky. But I’m just not good at keeping things inside. I just feel so delighted that I want to act on it.

My face went red and I picked up my phone and told Emma everything. I mean it was Emma. I couldn’t not tell Emma and she wouldn't tell anyone. She could be very tight lipped, well with secrets not with Jonathan, apparently.

We talked on the phone for a long while since she was driving and hated driving in silence.

Finally, I had to leave my room again since it was lunch time. This time I tried to be a little less flirty but still ended up talking with him a bit more than we normally would have. Maybe Hazel’s bad at noticing things, like me?

After lunch I went back to my room and saw a note on the floor barely inside the room. I picked it up and read it was from Wyatt saying I should come visit him at the stables if I was bored.

There were still things I could do and girls to talk to before I was eliminated, but my heart jumped at the idea of seeing Wyatt again so soon. So I quickly rushed down to the stables.

My eyes had caught him before he had caught me, so I slowly crept up from behind him. Planning to surprise him with the aim of seeing if he had a girlish fear scream or not.

The horse he had been petting blew in his face putting his hair out of place, “We're out of apples, stop messing my hair up. I actually need it to look nice today.” I smiled thinking he may want to look nice for me since this could count as our first official date.

I got closer behind him before I yelled, “BOO!”

His reaction was underwhelming. Mission failed. I’ll have to try harder next time. Wyatt jumped and looked over his shoulder as the horse neighed which frightened me a bit. Then wyatt ran a hand through his messy hair and blinked, “Hey, so you were bored?”

I bit the inside of my cheek and pouted a little, “I was hoping for more of a yelp than a jump. And nope, I wasn't bored. I wanted to hang out with you.” I said then leaned a bit to the side to get a better look of the horse since Wyatt was in front of it and made eyes a little cautiously but also threateningly like I was establishing dominance.

“I'm not easily scared.” He then leaned down our faces close, causing me to blush. His eyes narrowed for a split second before he, while smiling smugly, poked both my cheeks, each with an index finger, “Nice chipmunk.”

I grabbed his fingers and then took his hands, pulling him down a little so I could reach better, then stood on my tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek, “I may be a chipmunk when I glare but you're a tomato with pink ears when you blush.”

His ears went pink to prove my point even further, “Well- you know, you can't just do stuff like that in public. Kinda dampers on this secret we're trying to uphold.”

Oh right secret! I looked around quickly but tried to keep my cool as there was no one around, “There's no one around so it's fine. It's only secret around other people. I bet you just want me to not fluster you so you don't get pink ears. Which just makes me want to more.” I added with a chuckle.

“Maybe,” He replied with a smile before we were very rudely interrupted ™.

Wyatt was pushed forward by the horse causing me to blush. Wyatt blinked down as he stared into my eyes and cleared his throat, “So um, that's Altivo.”

I would have stepped away since Wyatt was now extremely close to me but my attention had shifted to the horse, “He seems to want more attention. I take it he's named after the horse in Road to El Dorado? Or does he just fit the name?” I asked.

He finally pulled back just a bit, “Both. Both. Both is good.”

I burst out laughing at the reference to the historic line, “Good use.”

I then approached Altivo, my slight glare returning, “Hello, horse.”

“You already know his name.” Wyatt said before the horse got all up in my space and was way too close causing me to take a few steps back as it looked at me with those murderous eyes.

“I don't like horses thus they should be called horse. You'd be insulted if you were called human, right? It's an insult.”

Wyatt made a face attempting to belittle me even though I have highly legitimate reasons for my disliking. He then crossed his arms and spoke up, “He's just trying to say hello. No need to insult him.”

“He said hello in a rude way. Invading my personal space.”

“That's kind of how horses show affection. But if you don't want to he won't.” The horse then moved its snout over to Wyatt’s head as he stood haughtily like the horse, not uncrossing his arms, “See?”

“He has teeth, right?”

“Yes, just like you do.”

“Yes, but he's significantly more scary.” I replied before deciding to try again. I couldn't be a chicken. Not in front of Wyatt. So I tried to scoot a little closer to the horse but was ready to bolt at any sudden movements.

Wyatt took a step back from the horse resulting in Altivo’s attention to shift to me. He lowered his head to examine me with his creepy eyes, “It don’t bite.” Wyatt mumbled referencing the vine with the aggressive dog.

I stiffened as the horse got closer but turned my attention to Wyatt’s poor choice of words, “THE DOG FROM THAT VINE IS VERY AGGRESSIVE SO THAT'S A POOR CHOICE.”

Wyatt tilted his head, “I’m confused. What do you exactly think he’s going to do to you? He’s not going to bite you to see if you’re food. That’s exclusively shark behavior.”

“Don't be mean to the sharks, they're just confused. And I've seen the movies. Horses are always the ultimate traitors. It could do anything.”

“Such as....what exactly?”

“We have been over this. For example one left Anna to die and get hypothermia in frozen.”

“Right. But that’s only one example and you’re not riding him.”

“But it was an example of malicious intent.” I huffed and crossed my arms.

“Does he seem malicious?” Wyatt asked as the horse started to sniff my arm.

I thought for a moment, “.....no.” Then decided to try something and pat the horse.

The horse decided he hated me and pulled his head up and out of my reach, Wyatt chuckled a bit at my failure like the kindest boyfriend. “He likes it better when he can see you.” He explained. Oh. Then Wyatt grabbed my arm and moved me a bit more to the side so the horse could see better.

“Try again.”

I looked at the horse who looked back at me. He looks at me. And I look at him. And he looks at me. And I look at hIM.

“Oh right they have those weird side eyes. It's odd. Why not have eyes in the front? Isn't seeing what's in front of you more important?”

The horse lowered himself even further which just annoyed me. Even the horse has decided to get on the mocking my height bandwagon?

“I honestly wouldn’t want to see a horse with it’s eyes more in the middle than they already are. That would be kinda creepy. But they can see what’s in front of them by tilting their head slightly, so it’s not that hard. The way their eyes work is more beneficial for them.”

I stifled a laugh thinking about horses with eyes in the middle of their heads, “Yeah I hadn't put the image of that in my head. I feel a little insulted by how much he's lowered his head, but since horses are tall I've decided to let it go. So what does Altivo like to do?” I asked.

Wyatt laughed, “He’s trying to be nice! But as for what he likes to do... I’d say he enjoys being a show off though.”

I mumbled as I spoke to the horse, “Me too, Altivo, me too.”

I then turned to Wyatt, “Does he like grapes? I can't remember which of the horses Fee fed grapes too. I just stayed back and avoided eye contact with them and talked with her.”

Wyatt chuckled at that, “I’m sure she gave him some despite me saying not to. He’s kind of spoiled so I try not to add.. but I guess just so he likes you more I can make an exception.” He then walked off somewhere and came back with two apples, “Apples are better.” He explained then held one out to me. “He likes them more because he’s an asshole so eating apples is his aesthetic.”

I laughed at his eating apples= joke asshat, which made me think of cinemasins. I should check if they have a new video later. “He's very relatable. Does he eat the cores?” I asked referencing my rant on people eating apple cores.

Wyatt smirked and took a knife out to cut out a section of the apple, “Sometimes, but I don't let him do it often.”

“That's good. Makes him not a weirdo. The seeds probably have toxins and deathly things in them anyways.” I mumbled not fully knowing what I was talking about but I knew I had heard somewhere that the seeds were bad.

“Well, apple seeds are actually not as bad as people make them sound. Especially not to pets. The amount of cyanide within a few seeds is so minimal that it’s really not a concern. Too many apples a day isn't good though. Just like too many of anything isn't good.” Oh.

Suddenly, Altivo decided to bust in and go for the apple I hadn’t given him yet. I’M NOT READY TO STINGY HORSE. I SWEAR!

I huffed and backed up from the horse. Gotta wait for me to be ready. “I disagree. There are some things you can have as many as you want of in a day and it's fine. Like naps, showers, baths, conversations with you.” I finally replied.

Wyatt laughed and stood up to move closer to me, “I was mostly thinking of food rather than activities.”

“I'm glad you think that though.” He added.

I smiled and looked up at him, “Of course. Conversations with you are normally pretty fun as long as you don't decide to huff off and leave in the middle of it assuming I'll follow you. Though, now I probably would, but still my jab works.”

Wyatt gave me a crooked smile, “That was my mistake. I think I prefer dragging you places rather than expecting you to follow now. Otherwise it's no fun.”

“Ah yes, the much more sane version. Just grab the wrist and drag. Though, last night being dragged into a random room was an experience. Especially, because it was fun to see you look around in panic and being all flustered after calling you my boyfriend.” I added to which I got to see his face turn into a solid tomato red shade yet again.

“It was a reasonable response. We went from friends, to admitting things, to dating soon, to actually using titles in the same night, okay?” He said and looked away to hide his blush. I leaned forward a bit wanted to capture every moment I could of tomato Wyatt before he returned to normal.

“Well I mean. I think people don't usually just sit on it when people say they like each other. Like suzans like "hey um- carl, like you." carls like "like you too" then they're like "cool. So the weather?" I think its a normal thing to go straight from confessing to dating.” I explained.

“In case you haven’t noticed, my examples of romance have been selections, convenient political dating or engagements, and staff members that end up dating.”

“Hm I suppose your right. Though personally my only other experience is the selection and being asked for a pencil, I have seen Emma and Nina court people before.” I shrugged, “You can win that one from not knowing.”

He nodded, “My friends are mostly royals after all.” He then looked down to his apple, is it his or Altivos? I mean Altivo gets it in the end, but it is in his hands?

“Also, it’s not like circumstance is the easiest at the moment.” He said then looked back down to me sheepishly.

“I didn’t think you’d be so determined on what you want.” He added.

“Hah that'd be weird if I wasn't. I'm rarely indecisive on things. I also don't like half doing things which is why I'm normally pretty into what I like and pretty against what I don't. Such as I hate heels. A normal person would have lived with it, I chose to get rid of them via you. Another case is when I had acted like I didn't like you not because I couldn't decide what to do, but instead because I had decided you didn't like me and I wanted to stick to friendship in that case. So I commited and just lied occasionally to avoid it coming out. Though, that didn't really stick when I was drunk and of course the case changed when you said you did like me so I weighed pros and cons and decided that I wanted to give it a go. Sometimes I need some time to process things but normally I just go with my gut so making choices is easy and I prefer to go with them wholeheartedly.” I explained.

“I appreciate someone’s who’s decisive. People complicate everything for themselves way too often.” Altivo then decided that Wyatt’s hair needed to change so he huffed in it to mess it up.

“Thanks bud.” Wyatt said with a flat expression not looking at Altivo.

“He should be a hairstylist. Knew just what to fix.” I joked with a laugh.

“I don’t think so.” Wyatt said as he ran a hand through his hair. HOLY. IT'S SO FLUFFY. THAT'S NOT FAIR.

“I didn't get to fully mess with your hair when I fixed your helmet hair. It seems fluffy!” I said and walked up close to him. I stood on my tiptoes and put my elbows on his shoulders for support and smirked as I played with his hair with was even more fluffy than it looked. It was like a pom pom.

Wyatt laughed and bent his knees slightly, which I knew was to try and help me reach, but it just annoyed me. I don’t need his handicap. Then to make my frustration worse, he directly attacked me. “I do have great hair. It’s probably better than yours.”

I scoffed, “It is not. No one has hair better than mine. Its fabulous. Also I could actually destroy you right now so mocking me isn't nice. Like my elbows are on your shoulders, you have a weaker stance. I could knock you down if I wanted. You're lucky I'm mature and have self restraint.”

As I spoke Wyatt just seemed to get a wider and wider smile. Which just made me even more irritated. As I finished speaking he suddenly leaned down and melted away any annoyance in me by pressing his lips against mine.

My cheeks flushed and I was startled at first but quickly started to kiss him back, it was a soft kiss but slightly playful in nature having come from a silly argument. I felt like the butterflies in my stomach were losing their minds. They just got more ecstatic as I felt one of his arms go to hold me around my waist.

As the kiss ended there was a small part of me that was fearful. What if he said it? What if he said, “That was legitness?” Could I kill him there? I think that would be fine. It would be deserved. He better not quote a vine.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t destroy me.” He mumbled.

What? Why would I? Why would he think that I wou- oh right Anika.

“Oh I'm not planning on it.” I mumbled back a bit breathy feeling light headed from the sudden kiss.

I fidgeted with my hands as I tried to find words to make them come out of my mouth. I needed to say something to make him know how much I liked at but my head was still in a whirlwind.

Ben hadn’t taken my words and breath away like that before especially with a simple kiss so I took it as a sign that I had made the right choice. Not that I was concerned for a moment I had made the wrong one. But I was a little worried if it would be weird to kiss Wyatt after having kissed his brother before. But it wasn’t at all. To me it felt better than perfect.

“You're a good kisser. Also I'd prefer if you do not recite that that was legitness vine.” I said quickly stating my own fear.

Wyatt leaned his head back laughing but still keeping a hold on me, then looked back down to me, “I’m just glad this time you didn’t scream my name.” WhAT?

Tomato Wyatt back at it again, “I mean- that sounded bad. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Uh-what?” I verbalized.

He looked away completely embarassed, “I um, when- the day you got drunk-” He cleared his throat, “-I had a dream I kissed you as well the next morning. Since you woke me up with your screaming, really nice by the way, the first thing your dream doppelgänger did when I pulled away from the kiss was scream my name.”

I burst out laughing, “That explains why you were so panicked that morning! And it was my only choice you didn't wake up the first time I tried!”

“One is supposed to wake up relaxed. Calm and put together. Screaming in someone’s ear does not encourage either.” Uh no. One is supposed to wake up confused and in dread. We must have very different experiences in the morning.

“Well if you had woken up to maids looking weirdly at you as you slept on a bean bag I don't think you would have been calm or put together either.”

“Maybe I would’ve told them I wanted to mix things up.”

“Ah- and you think waking up right out of a dream where we had kissed you'd be able to seem perfectly calm and come up with a reasonable excuse? Plus no one wants to sleep on a bean bag. It's an unbelievable excuse.”

“How do you know?” He said and rested his chin on my head providing me with the delightful view of just his neck and chest, “I like being edgy.”

I stood up on my tiptoes to nudge him off of me, “You somehow become more of a bully as a boyfriend than you were as just a friend. Mocking me over my height.”

He laughed and pulled back, I felt more annoyed because I was a twinge upset that he pulled away. Him being so close was nice, it was almost a hug “Alright, if that bothers you…”

I leaned up again and gave him another kiss wanting more contact with him but not wanting to give in and let him mock me more by doing that again. After I pulled away I mumbled, “I didn't say it bothered me. Just that it was mocking.”

Wyatt was grinned down at me after my quick kiss, “Now that's just contradicting. Who likes to be mocked?”

“Shush. It has pros and cons. Con its mocking pro I like the contact. also pro you smell nice. 2 pros beat the 1 con.” I said being a little too honest causing me cheeks to flush.

“Nice to know I smell nice. Is it like-” He paused to adjust his voice into a dramatic ad one, “-dark temptation? Black eclipse? Black chill? Denim?”

I laughed and ran a hand through my hair, “Dark temptation for sure. I mean with all this sneaking secret stuff if has to be. Also how does denim smell?”

He shrugged, “Deodorants pick weird names. I'm not sure what they're trying to do there.”

“I bet I would be great at naming deodorants. I'm surprisingly good at picking weird names for things. I would call your smell Tall, towering and-” I dramatically waved a hand, “-tantalizing. Leave it to the consumers to figure out what that means.”

He raised his eyebrows, “I might need an explanation as well.” SMH boy can’t even guess his own name.

“Well, you're tall. You tower because you're tall, and tantalizing as in you like to tease i.e mock.”

He hummed, “I think that name is too long. Nobody would buy it. Also, it needs to be more edgy.” Fine. You want edgy. You get edgy. Also you say it’s too long, well, it’s about to get longer.

“Oh true. I was focusing too much on the alliteration of it. How about "I drive a motorcycle, don't you think that's cool? tell me its cool." that's a fitting name for your smell.”

He burst out laughing then leaned down to give me a quick kiss himself. My face flushed again at the contact. “You already called me a cool dork, so I don't need you to tell me.” He paused, “Just occasionally.”

“I can make a biweekly quota of times telling you you're a cool dork.” I mumbled still embarrassed from the kiss. It had thrown me off since I hadn’t seen it coming.

“Look who's flustered now.” He teased down at me.

“W-well you normally are flustered! Our ratio is like 100 to 1!” I yelled defensively ™.

Wyatt just grinned more, “I never feel this need you do to defend myself, however.”

“Of course I want to defend myself I'm being attacked! You just don't defend yourself because your a dummy who accepts insults most of the time.”

He rolled his eyes, “We already went over this. But I don’t defend myself because I don’t think it’s needed. Not with you at least.”

I huffed and crossed my arms. He had won. I couldn't think of some other reply to try and drag him. Then I got an idea and stood up on my tiptoes, I leaned up and wrapped my arms over his shoulders to pull him down close to me and pushed my lips against his, trying to fluster him again. My kiss being rough and competitive since I wanted to win this fluster debate.

Wyatt beat me though as he gently cupped my face which just made me fluster further. Once he pulled away he was not blushy and he looked down at me with a cocky grin, “Nice try.”

I had to hold back a smile myself as my endorphins wanted me to, but this was a battle, I couldn’t smile in battle. It was seRIOUS. So I pouted a little and lightly kicked some hay on the ground, “I'll catch you off guard later.”

Wyatt raised his chin with a smug grin, “I'm sure you won't give up.”

Altivo suddenly pushed Wyatt, making him drop his apple and eating it off of the ground, “No manners now.” Wyatt scoffed.

“He must get it from you. Though, I admit it was a good strategy. He got the apple in the end. I like this specific horse. He has flare.”

Wyatt gave me a flat look before the horse attacked my personal space sniffing now at the apple I still hadn’t given him. “Well, he is mine for a reason.” Wyatt muttered with a side glare at Altivo.

I took a few steps back from the horse, “Nope! Not getting that close to your mouth.” I then thought up a plan. I walked back up to the horse and put the apple down on the ground by where Wyatt’s had fallen to let Altivo get the apple himself.

Wyatt chuckled at my actions, “How brave.”

“I got him the apple, did I not? That's what matters. also I already touched him my horse quota has been met.”

“Fine. I’ll take that as progress. I assume you won’t be riding horses any time soon?”

“Or ever. Plus I've capped out this week on riding terrifying things after your death bike last night.”

“Oh, I know you thought it was nice. It lets you be a koala bear.” He called me out.

“Okay that part was nice. But the thinking about death part was not. To be fair I tried to be respectful at first and just hold onto your jacket or something. If you had gone maybe 5mph it would have worked.”

“Hey, you were the one that made me randomly leave the palace to help Kenna.” I rolled my eyes at his continued decision to not say her name correctly.

“Emma, and I only asked you could have said no to helping.”

He looked at Altivo, “I wasn't going to let you go out there alone.” He mumbled.

“You know, I've lived outside of the palace for 18, well 19 now years. I would have been fine on my own. But thanks for the consideration.”

He hummed and started listing, “It was late. You are a Selected, which means you stand out. There was a recent attack on the palace-” He paused frowning a bit, “in which you were hurt. Need I go on?”

“Fine.” I replied then pursed my lips as a sad thought came back. I would have to leave soon. We needed to start planning what we would do when I was eliminated. I hated to break our happy time with our first date but it needed to be said, “I won't be a selected much longer. We should think about what to do then. I imagine any day now it'll be time for me to go home.”

Wyatt took my hand had had me sit down in one of the small chairs used for the people to clean or brush the horses. He then grabbed another chair from a different area and spun it to face me and sat down himself, “So,” He said then leaned his chair back against the wooden wall, the horse on the other side looking down at Wyatt which cause me a moment of concern because what if the horse thought his hair was food, but he seemed to move on, “any ideas?”

“Hmm have I told you about the pantry plan before?” I asked joking a little.

He scoffed a laugh, “You did, but I think that won’t work too well.” The horse then started to sniff Wyatt more which caused me to stiffen a little. Wyatt, however, did not seem to care at all and just reached up to pet it his eyes still on the ground, “Maybe-” He sighed, “Maybe we need to wait a while.” Is he breaking up with me on my birthday on our first date?

“Like I go home and we try long distance? I don't like that idea if so so we should keep thinking.” I mumbled hoping that was his suggestion instead of a complete break.

He finally looked up to the horse who had been invading his space for awhile now, then he laughed a little as an idea came to his mind, “You could work at the palace.”

That’s a great idea! It fixes everything! Mom wouldn’t be mad because it’s not like I could risk being homeless. Palace workers have the option to stay which fixes the distance. “I could! I could find something to do and it'd be an excuse for me to stay.”

He raised his eyebrows, “Wait, I wasn't serious... I mean, not that it wouldn't work but... I doubt you want to work in the palace.”

“Why not? It could be fun, plus it's not like I know what I'm doing with my life outside of this anyways. Oh! Hazel really liked the chocolates that I made, I could just be her personal chocolate maker person.” I suggested.

He chuckled, “You mean a chocolatier? We don't have one of those, but you could be a pastry chef apprentice if you have some decent skills.”

I thought for a moment, I’m not really the best with pastries, but I’m good with chocolate which is in a lot of pastries. I bet if I got cozy with the head pastry chef before leaving they would take my regardless. No one can resist my mass charm. So I’ll befriend the head pastry chef then have Hazel recommend me and it’s a done deal.

“I could do that! It'd be fun! Plus I could get hazel to recommend me since pastries have chocolate most of the time so it wouldn't look weird.”

“Maybe it would be best if no one saw a connection between you and the royal family for a while. Then when we do let everyone know one day, it just seems like something came out of our Selection-time friendship when you started working at the palace.” Haha! We have a false storyline now too.

He frowned a little and scooted his chair closer to me, “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

I nodded, “Yup! It would be fun, plus I could make cupcakes.”

He tilted his head and smiled a bit at my cupcake comment, “What about surfing? Or marine biology?”

“I can still surf if I stay here. I'm content not doing much. I like naps and eating. I don't actually like the idea of work it's annoying to be told what to do. Like i probably wouldn't mind doing the stuff for fun but being forced to to it just makes me not want to do it.” Wow sound ODD much?

He ran a hand through his fluff of hair again with an amused look, “So you wanna be a pastry chef for the fun of it?”

“Sure! I could learn how to make the ultimate cupcake to eat out of from the center. Maybe it'll go better than when I was three.”

He laughed and leaned forward to kiss the top of my head, “You’re my favorite cupcake either way.”

“Glad to know I wont be replaced by a literal cupcake.” I joked before leaning up to give him a kiss on the lips.

He laughed and mumbled a shut up into the kiss before properly speaking once it had ended, “I thought your life goal was to become a literal cupcake?”

“That would make it even sadder if I were replaced by a literal cupcake. Beaten by someone who accomplished my life goal before me.”

“That was meant as a romantic line Gabby. If I replaced you with a literal cupcake, it would be because you accomplished your life goal of becoming one.” He clarified with a smirk which caused me to blush.

“Oh well, thanks then. Not as sad. I wonder what flavor cupcake I'd be?” I asked curious about what he would say. Maybe it would be some deep personality thing.

“Strawberry.” He replied quickly. I should have seen it coming.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. It's mocking like this that lead to the outburst of actually trying some of yours.” I said referencing the great milkshake delima.

He shrugged dramatically, “What Can I say? Guilty as charged.”

“Welp, if I eat a strawberry tomorrow and am in immense pain, it's on you.”

He chuckled and leaned his elbows on his knees and took my hands, “Please don’t eat strawberries.”

“Fine. But just because I don't want to bite my tongue again. That really hurt.” I shuddered remembering the pain.

“Mhmm,” He replied before resting his chin in one of his palms and turning my hand with his other to face palm up. “Do you think this has been a successful birthday?”

“It's been pretty spectacular so far. I really liked seeing a picture of little you making a near duckface.” I chuckled thinking of the picture from his box of pictures he had given me.

“Honestly, I’m not sure what I was trying to do. Maybe I was in the middle of saying something. I was a very expressive child.”

I chuckled then decided to explain how inexpressive people thought I was when I was younger, “It's okay. People thought I was like a gangster when I was a kid. I was apparently scary. I was like cool scary though so other kids still wanted to be my friend but they were also too intimidated to talk to me. I think Stella started it because she said I was strong and she was popular so it got around. Then I made the kid cry when we were playing soccer because I accidentally kicked him in the shin. Woops. It faded more when I got into cheer though, then I was just seen as serious. Emma helped with it too since she is the opposite of intimidating to people so her being friends with me made me more approachable even though I've always been approachable and not scary at all.”

“So what I hear is that I'm dating a elementary school bully?”

“I was not a bully. I never even did anything. And the shin kicking was an accident I just got too caught up in winning and I apologized.” I said then smirked as I decided to attack him.

“You seem like the kinda person who would have been picked on in school and I mean I was a popular jock. It's like a cinderella story. nerd gets noticed by the cool girl,” I then dramatically tossed my hair.

“For the record, that is also mocking.”

“It's not mocking if its a fact.”

He made a sound like he had just been burned, because he had been, “you're right. You're a jock. A rude, pretentious jock.”

“Now you're bullying me. I didnt even insult you. I just stated a fact. and you're all like, you're rude and pretentious, which I am not.”

He hummed again, “I guess those are more of my adjectives rather than yours.”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “I can't tell if you just insulted yourself or if you still are insulting me but saying that's what you'd say about me as opposed to what I'd say about me? But if it's the first then I want to defend because my secret boyfriend is being attacked by himself, if it's the second then I need to attack to defend my honor.”

He laughed, “You're so complicated sometimes. If it's the first, how will you defend your boyfriend by attacking your boyfriend? ...Since he is the original attacker-” He paused and frowned as he seemed confused now by the inception.

“Hmmm. Well I think I'd have to get rid of the attacking boyfriend. Since the attacker is not nice they probably don't like nice things and would be expelled if there was a nice thing. Like this-” I leaned up and gave him a soft kiss on the lips aiming to be more gentle this time. “-or maybe that was just an excuse to kiss you.” I added once it had ended.

“I think it sounds like an excuse...but I won't complain today.” He then turned his attention to something outside of the stable which I identified as a tree when I turned to look at it too, “Did Ben give you anything for your birthday?” He asked.

“No, I don't think so. But considering that he's been pretty upset with the fighting, so I've heard I haven't talked with him since he apologized on the night of the fight, and I only ever told him the date once so I wouldn't put it against him if it slipped his mind. Additionally, we're just friends now and I don't think friends always or even normally give birthday gifts anyways.” He nodded a little but clearly was still thinking about the fight.

“It probably slipped his mind…” He said before his wrist watch went off and he started to roll up his sleeves.

I frowned, “You got somewhere to go?” Obviously. But I was prompting.

“I have some wiggle room. I set my alarms before the actual schedule I've got to work with. I'm just trying to make myself look like I actually went riding.” He said as he kept rolling up his sleeves. Oh right we’re sneaking around. I forgot. He then smiled a little sadly, “There's a meeting today.”

I leaned up to give him another kiss hoping to cheer him up a little, “I don't like it when you look sad. Why do you need to roll your sleeves so far up if you had gone riding?” I said hoping the first comment would get him to talk more about it.

“Yeah, well... the meeting's about the attack.” He said and rubbed the back of his neck, “And I'm not entirely sure where it's going to go. I wanted to see if Ben had any thoughts but-” He pressed his lips together. “-no point in bothering him.” I frowned at that. I know Ben wouldn’t have been bothered but Wyatt still seemed so upset about the fight. It made sense. But it was upsetting that he was upset.

He ran a hand through his hair trying to make it messy, “As for the sleeves, it's just a thing I do. If I came back inside from "riding" with them down, it'd be weird. Besides,” He paused and smiled at me, “I've been told I look even better that way so.” I should make Wyatt happy again. There’s no point on continuing to mope in sadness when we aren’t looking for a solution. Making the mood happy again would be for the best.

I chuckled and leaned back in my own chair and put my index finger under my chin in #deepthought to seem dramatic and funny for Wyatt. “Hmmm…” I then snapped my fingers like the conclusion of if he looked more attractive that way or not had just miraculously come to me, “I agree. That's the conclusion I've come to. Whoever said you looked better with them that way is correct, it makes you look-” I dramatically waved a hand, “-dashing.”

He laughed a bit more genuinely and grabbed some hay and threw a clump in my hair before a strand on his, “I also need to look like I've been around here tending to my horse.”

I laughed and tried to brush some of it out of my hair with my fingers before throwing more in his hair, “Woops! Guess you tripped and fell while you were tending to the horses!” I joked.

“Gasp!” He exclaimed then quickly stood from his seat and lifted me up off of mine by my waist. Holding me up in the air. I couldn’t help but to let out an EEK as I was suddenly lifted up. He then quickly spun us both around, “Wonder what I tripped with?”

I couldn’t stop laughing so I tried to speak through it, “Stop! Put me down I don't wanna fall and hurt my bum!”

He pretended to be offended, “You think I would drop you?”

“I could slip!” I argued.

“how? Like this?” He then loosened his grip letting me drop a little and causing me to scream again before he fixed his grip on me.

“Stoooppp! You're taking advantage of my size! It's rude and-” I fumbled as I tried to find a word, “-SIZEST.”

He burst out laughing and sat me down, “I'll set a motion in progress to add that word to the dictionary.”

“You should. It's a very serious thing. Millions suffer from sizeism daily, like me with your sizest behavior.”

“Mhmm, I'll keep that in mind next time.” He replied still smirking as he leaned down to kiss the top of my head, “I hope this was a somewhat decent, improvised birthday-date.”

“It was. I got to meet the horse version of Wyatt same trait of rudeness, I got hay in my hair, and I got a bunch of pretty awesome kisses including our first.”

“I suppose that’s true. Though, Altivo takes full offense to that.” He replied as he started to take some of the hay out of my hair. We both then glanced over to Altivo who seemed very unoffended by my comment, “He’s hiding it to seem nice.”

“How do you even get to ride him? He seems like he would be pretty anti being told what to do. Just sit down and eat apples instead.”

He laughed, “He likes me enough. Besides, I told you he likes to show off. He’s the perfect horse for me. Who wants to be fast when you can be fancy?”

“I mean I would pick being fast over funny because when you're faster it's funner, but to each their own.”

“He can run fast. But Cleo beats him.” He then pointed at a different horse who must be Cleo then smirked, “Cleo can’t walk backwards, however.”

“ah such a needed skill. Walking backwards.” I scoffed.

He scoffed, “It’s fun!” He then tsked, “No appreciation for arts.”

I shook my head, “None at all. But I mean what would you even expect from a jock like me.” I then leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything more.” He then took my hands. Our fingers lacing together. I couldn’t help but smile feeling his hands in mine. “So, do I look like I’ve been jogging around, attending my horse and riding?”

“I believe so. Though in reality you've just been horse'n around with me.” I had to hold back from bursting into laughter at me own joke.

He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at me with a smile, “This is it. This will be the reason we break up.”

“You're just jealous that I'm a humor mastermind!” I cheered and pointed to myself with my thumb.

He rolled his eyes, “Only because it’s your birthday.” He then remembered something and took something I couldn’t see out of his breast pocket.

“Also, after breakfast, I figured I should get you an actual present.”

“Oooh, exciting.”

“No time to wrap though.” He added then opened his palm and showed me a shark tooth necklace on a gold chain.

A big smile overtook my face as I took the necklace and held it up to look at the tooth, “Ooh! I love it! I wonder what kinda shark it came from? They're wild with how many teeth they have. I would think it would be easier to evolve to have stronger gums than to just have more teeth which are replaceable.”

“I will be honest and say I don’t know much about shark teeth...but sure, I’ll trust you on that.” He said with a smile and leaned down to give me a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

“I'll research later about the specific types of teeth. See you at dinner, tomato face.” I said and leaned up to kiss his cheek back.

He grinned as I pulled away, “Thank you, Cupcake.”

He soon rushed off and I stayed back with the horses. I plopped down into the small chair as I played with the necklace. Then finally, I decided it would be safer to put it on before I lost it so I put it on then messed with the tooth some more.

I looked up at Altivo who was still chilling. “He really is the best isn’t he, Altivo.” I mumbled more to myself but didn’t wanna sound like a looney so I addressed the horse. Granted he probably isn’t going to reply either.

Though he did, he gave a small huff as a reply. “I’ll take that as a yes.” I replied smugly then decided enough time had passed that probably anyone who had seen Wyatt leave would have left. So I made my way out and back to my room.

A/N p2: SO as i was writing this I was like “WOW THEY KISSED A LOT” so i counted to see how gross these two doofs are.

They got 13 kisses (not just lips)

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hex-and-fable · 5 years

Text

Of Matter: Purpose. Pt: 1

[A guild Wars 2 Rp:] A: Fractals of dust danced within the thick beams of light which stretched from the open panes of the tall floor to ceiling windows lining the West Wing of the Cress Estate. From where he sat---at a desk centered within the middle of the room surrounded by furniture which served mostly pragmatic purpose as opposed to decorative---he heard the daily prattle of the estates bustle. The room wasn’t entirely considered a study for a rather large table mapping out Kessex Hills implied it was more so used for strategic caravanning and overall meetings. A glimmer caught the ember liquid left to breathe within a glass decanter as Argrin hoisted it from its post to pour himself another heavy cup. It was his third but by the plethora of paper littering his desk it was a testament to just how hard he’d been working throughout the day. Set to the edge of the massive oak desk was an untouched tray of fresh fruit and peppered jerky. Breathing a sigh he wet his mouth with a quaff only to settle the heavy cup aside in order to massage his thickly fingers between his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as if reading the same sentence caused him a hangover he could feel in his teeth. Gently a breeze swept in from the window causing the thin gossamer curtains to flutter in the wake of its uplifting dance. Curiously, the man pushed his chair back with a loud scrape of the chairs feet against the wood only meander toward the large window. With the back of his hand he nudged the curtain back only to peer down below where a collection of greenhorn soldiers were in the midst of their training. From where he stood the fervent clatter of sword to training doll clamored. There he stood lost deep within the throes of wistful memories of a time when the weight and soreness of a day in armor was a welcomed pain. S: The pale guard captain was absent, having only attended the drills earlier on in the wee hours before dismissing herself for the rest of the day to tend to other, more pressing duties. She needn’t tend to her daughter as often now that she was old enough to attend her studies, but dutiful was her nature, Sigrid oft stopped by to see how she has progressed. Balancing home life and work had never come easy to her, but as she aged, she was starting to grow weary and much to her chagrin. It was not unheard of, particularly by the Head of the House, that she would slip her leash occasionally. At her core, she was a wild child and still retained that inquisitive nature ranging from innocent to fatally persistent. She was a woman of action, but her body was outpacing her tumultuous spirit.Today she followed a different routine. Scarce as she may be, when it comes to transitioning positions, the two managed to gravitate to one another even if only briefly. It was difficult to pretend that everything was normal, but they tried.

The door swung open incrementally, the hinges eliciting complaint before the padlock dropped with a click when it closed once more. Her footfalls were measured, but far from subtle. He could see it – after all, she was a creature of habit – how she paused at the corner of his desk to gently place the stopper in the decanter. In the past, she might have chided, even if light-heartedly, but now it was an expectation; for good or for ill was hard to discern. He could feel her presence behind him now, peering past him down to the training grounds. However, what she fixated upon was not the same as he. “How about you relax a moment. I can handle the rest for today…” She offered, the Ascalonian diction bubbling within the hearth of her throat.

A: The pinion of his gaze flicked aside once the heavy weight of the door heralded her presence. His attention followed her gait till she was no longer visible to his peripheral but her company wasn’t an ailment. Normally he’d present himself the epitome of a Lord---no, something far more demanding. A head of House required diction and poise for the attire that most commonly adorned him was that of fitted suits and cufflinks. That blazing afternoon he opted for simpler attire in the form of a white dress shirt unbuttoned thrice at the chest with his sleeves rolled to the comforts of his elbows. The trousers he wore were akin to that of common folk, loose in all the right places for optimal luxury. A silver chain hung from the pocket something most definitely attached to that of a pocket watch. His knuckles were still decorated with the weathered ink of his tattoos, some of which were practically illegible on account of the hair collected there. “Just for a moment?” His rejoinder followed him as he turned around to face her, the beaming sun haloing about his raven haired crown pulling out the faint tinge of mahogany laced within it. At his temples his hair was peppered with grey the same managing its way within his facial hair. A habitual smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, a gesture she was all too familiar with. Perhaps at some point in the beginning it was enough to make her heart flutter, perhaps that differed now but he still crooked a finger her direction in a ‘come hither’ motion. “We’ve had another caravan robbed at the Peaks. Centaurs are causing us more grief than they have in the past and it looks as if the agreement we’ve made with them is no longer in effect.” Another sigh eased through his nose. “They sent someone back alive to relay the message though the poor lad is left without an arm. Business as usual.” S: No matter how many seasons passed, no matter how grey he became, the way the corner of his lips tugged upward along the corner always warranted a throaty chuckle from her. That, or an eye roll, depending on the day, but he never failed to coax a smile from the stoic, weathered femme. While his temerity had been humbled under the weight of his unwitting mantle, his tongue remained sharp and his addendums facetious. Humoring one of her wan smiles, she brought a hand to perch upon the cusp of his broad shoulder, sweeping the profile of her thumb over the ivory weave of his dress shirt. She had never been one for tactile gestures of affection, but with every touch, chaste or skating, correlated an unspoken word or sentiment. She leaned in to rest partially against his arm, adorn in modest attire as well – then again, all her shirts looked the same. Her hair had since grown long, braided back with the colors of the Cress house hold to keep it from tumbling down past her shoulder blades. In the right light, she still had her youthful repose, akin to the termagant shepherdess whom walked barefoot amongst the tall grass all those years ago. Telltale crow’s feet now persisted and the stress lines upon her brow had become more accentuated, but despite her scars and other physical nuances, it only seemed to make her appear increasingly regal. Once in a blue moon, she donned a gown, though oft her mood did sour, but she was not a woman without her poise or patience. In fact, she never raised her voice, ‘lest it was to acknowledge the guardsmen in the field or to call from across the room. Her presence commanded attentiveness and her tone of voice carried with it a firm and directive locution. The sheer disappointment within the vernacular was enough to make any stout man ashamed of his behavior.(edited)The tine of her incisor dimpled her lower tier as her brow knit, the news of the latest disruption meriting a tired sigh from her esophagus. “I see. I think tomorrow I will see to him before I make my rounds. If he is of a mind, mayhap I can encourage him to speak more of what happened.” The familiar somber note bled into her diction. Her own history with the centaur nomads was a bitter one at that, perhaps more so than what she shared with the Charr. However, the Charr had some concept of reasoning, unlike the equine harriers. Some. While she was a woman of action, decisive, she was not without her sympathy. It was common for her to visit the sickly and injured or even work in the very fields alongside their farmers. She saw it as comradery, but perhaps others saw it as more. “What was the message they sent him away with?” A: Without preamble Argrin further slipped his arm about the pinch of her waste and pinned his hand to rest at the swell of her hip. Idly, perhaps in tandem with the motion of her own, his thumb smoothed along it akin to some wordless sentiment. “With the way you frequent the infirmary it’s no a wonder people of this House look up to you in the manner that they do.” His breath kissed at the slope of her forehead as he leaned in to press his lips to it. There he lingered, eyes easing up to regard something unimportant across the way as his keyed into her phrasings. When she finished his free hand came to rise and rest at the shape of her chin, hoisting it up incrementally as to afford himself an easier vantage of her visage given the stark contrast in height between the two. “He was the message, mo grá. In addition, if we continue to take the paths we have been through Kessex we’ll see more and more of our men slaughtered. From what I was told, second hand given the foot soldiers who found him were the informants, they nailed the rest of our men to the walls of their villages. Most likely to ward any continual usage of the pathways.” Argrin’s jaw jerked with a twinge, “I think the best course of action would be to send an example of our own and burn that particular village to the ground and then change our route from land to water. It’ll cost a bit more by month to do so but in the long run it’ll save us having to find more men.” S: "It will save more lives." She agreed, coolly. However, she afforded a pause, reflective as she searched his features. Hooking her arm, she elevated a hand to gently wrap her fingers about his wrist and move up along the slope of his calloused hand until she held it with the heel of his palm upturned and her thumb pressed within the center. Averting her amber hues, she encouraged his digits to fan. “I know their tactics, their formations. While they are not above guerilla warfare, they are particularly conventional. I trust Thomas to carry out the orders flawlessly, but some of our men do not know the centaurs like I do.” She began. He knew what she was leading into, what she would ask and perhaps she already knew his answer. All the same, she spoke those words: “With your permission, you can send me out there and I can send that message temporarily secure our roads. And when we begin to make port out of Lion’s Reach (I think that’s what it is called, can’t remember), we can promptly withdraw.” ----Her molten orbs swept upward. He knew that look; soft, but as resolute as her proposal. He knew her more than anyone ever did within those walls. She had been more than just a soldier. She did not like war, but she was good at it. She did not like brutality, but in the extreme it was necessary. “It would minimalize further retaliation. And our allies would greatly appreciate the assistance – I am certain we are not the only ones that have attributed damages, or accumulated victims.” A: By the command of her encouraging fingers his splayed comforted by the warmth hers had to offer against his. Indeed he knew the exact trail she was looking to trek and just as obvious as she was so was he. The thickness of his brows pinched at their corners as he stared down to her with a measured look mapping every corner and slope of her mien. It was a look she was all too familiar with. “If I were a lesser man I’d command you to stay but I know better than that.” That half smirk found its way to his mouth once more coupled by the slow furling of his massive fingers over hers. The soft sound of his rough skin caressing against her fingers filled the space between them before he continued, all the while drawing her closer by furthering the grip of his hand at the small of her back. “No, you’re not wrong in the latter. How many men do you presume you’ll take with you or is this something you intend on executing by yourself?” Truth be told he truly did enjoy the image of her burning an entire Centaur village of her own accord. Unhinged and without restraint---she may not have enjoyed brutality but she was a herald of it in her own manner. S: She brought the opposing hand up to rest along the contour of his shoulder. His words elicited a charmingly wry smile, albeit short-lived. Sigrid had an odd definition for romance, but it made their dynamic nigh seamless, though they still had their moments and hiccups. They were both flawed individuals, but that was what made them so beautiful - at least in her mind. “Not many. With the right positioning, we could appear to be a larger force than we are. We may taint their water supply… ‘twould make it difficult to clean their wounds while the area burns. I only need archers and a handful of footmen – primarily Thomas’ specialists. We will maintain defenses and set up barricades along the roads trafficked heavily until the last have made it through and then we can dismantle and abandon them.” She surmised, concise.(edited)She need not justify anything to her better half, but she knew he preferred details and numbers; absolutes. It had been what had made them such an effective team, all things considered. She gave his hand a squeeze before the other ascended, cupping his grizzled jawline. She feigned to confess, but those twin emeralds always haunted her. They had seen much, eluding that he held far more knowledge than one might assume. “And I will return. As I always do. And I will bring them all back with me. You have my word.” A: Settling a minute bit of weight within her cupped palm Argrin’s attention anchored to her embers, holding there for a long drawn moment before wordlessly lifting his hand from its placement at her spine. There he set his hand just behind her ear while his fingers laced about the fashion of her skull. Without preamble he leaned forward to close the space between them, pressing his lips to hers voraciously. It was as if it was a caress laden with the implication it would be their last despite her encouraging words. He held her close so much so that he turned her body into his; coiling her against him like a snake in a hold which signaled the mounting affection he sought to offer her. Their lips lingered in connection for as long as she willed it and if and when their lips parted he offered rejoinder. “I know you’ll come back but that doesn’t lessen the concern I have whenever it is you leave. You are the most capable for this job.” A faint chuckle pressed from the back of his throat. “And one with the head for it. Take all the men you need, Thomas included. I will ensure you won’t hear complaint.” S: The twin embers churned akin to warmed tree sap, threatening to encapsulate and imprison his reflection with in those intense orbs. There had always been something supernatural about them, how they scrutinized and seem to peer through. That was what placed Argrin above the rest – she could not see through him. He was transparent and bore himself wholly to her. It was why they had shared such a deeply rooted kinship. She moved fluidly in tandem, familiar as a waltz. Her calloused digits meandered to crest his crown, combing them through the raven locks and tangling them within her fist. Her lids waned to crescent. When first they had met, she was hard-pressed to even so much as sleep with her eyes closed. Then again, she had rarely found restful slumber. She had become comfortable in his presence – in fact, some parts of her nag that she was letting her guard down, but it was a voice oft stifled these days. A voice from another life time ago, another life style. He had shown her it was alright to be human, to be more than just a tool for country and faith. In fact, he had presented her with the most challenging feat in her life: Their daughter. He could feel her lips tighten into one of her trademark, frail smiles during their passionate exchange. She did not seem keen to pull away and eventually, when she did, it was only scantly. “I know. And you have every right to be worried. No amount of assurance will stop you from fretting and nor will I try to stop you. Fortunately… the excursion will not take long.” She afforded a pause, glancing down to his lips once more. The other hand had since travelled to pinch the fabric of his dress shit within its grasp and gradually it tightened. “This will not be like Maguuma or the Crystal Desert. If plans go awry, we will adapt, or I will have our men fall back and pull out.” There was a timbre in her voice shy of a tremble, but it was only for a moment."Besides..." Her nose crinkled, accentuating the telltale laugh lines. "...'twould be a very bad time for me to die. There is too much work to do." A: “One would wonder what exactly it is you’d find yourself doing if there were no more work to be done.” He continued to hold her close, knowing full well her mind was well within the throes of readying a ‘to-do’ list. She was always the eager sort to start something straight away. “I dare say rest is a word that so rarely graces that tongue of yours. I wonder, does your back know the sensation as well? Or is that too a long forgotten memory?” Jest laced his words like a plague, a mannerism she was all too familiar with but one so rarely heard of these days given the tremendous efforts of running a House. In some respects he abhorred Othello for leaving him with this charge but as akin to his paramour and her proclivities with upholding her duty so was he. Their daughter most of all needed a home in these trying times and they were fortunate enough that the Cress vaults were still stacked from floor to ceiling with cold and prospects---all of which would eventually fall unto her should she desire it. Despite anything else she was a Cress. “Will you leave by morning?” S: Her gaze narrowed as the corners of her lips twitched, the smile threatening to broaden, but she feigned. She expressed faux offense, the blade of her tongue clicking along the roof of her mouth when following a deliberate hiss. “I sleep in… occasionally. Besides, what was it that you once told me?” She rejoined coolly, gently giving his bearded chin a playful tug.

“Do as I say and not as I do? Hypocrites DO make the best teachers…” Her back did ache. She was not terribly old, but her bones begged to differ, particularly her spine. It was once rumored that they only thing holding the femme together was her armor. They both toiled ever so tirelessly, but when given the chance, they would not have it any other way. Her truncated tines brushed a few unruly tresses back securely behind his ear, the pallor mien softening.“Aye. The sooner ‘tis done, the cleaner. I will brief the men tonight … and speak to the wee rowan.”

She rasped as she sighed through her nostrils. Maevis was mature for her age, but her mother’s absence previously had taken a toll on her as a toddler. While they were close, the girl had attributed similar characteristics as her mother when it came to distancing herself from others emotionally, even if she was eager to interact with them, akin to her father. Sigrid had been doing her best to remedy this folly, but it was difficult to undo what damage there had been done, if any had been rendered.

Their work kept her busy, but at least in one spot now. It was a blessing and a curse. Fortunately, Argrin’s presence in her life has been the former, giving the rapidly growing child more structure. “The instructor has told me she is progressing nicely, but she has become increasingly flighty. She fears Maevis may falter in her studies eventually. She is… very intelligent. Mayhap she is becoming bored, but I fear she may not be sleeping well again.”

A: “And what better teacher is there within this world than I?” Argrin’s vibrato hummed down toward her sarcastically. He knew more than most that his teachings, whatever they were, were of the unconventional kind. At the mention of their kin the tense of his jaw drew amplified by a faint twitch---none of vexed connotation but one of mild concern.

“Maevis is beyond her years. I fear that perhaps having her within the walls so commonly is having its effects on her.” He need no bring up Sigrid’s absence for it’d prove little to his point and he was well aware that she knew exactly of her absents effects. “With Balthazar dead the war efforts have dwindled but there’s still tension all about Kryta.” He settled her with another lingering stare, holding it for several passing moments as if plucking ideas from the ether before finally speaking.

“Do you think she’d be happier within Divinities Reach? There’s a plethora of schools that may pique her interest. That and having a change of scenery may do her a world of good.” S: Her gaze gradually averted, her features darkening. She seemed pensive, but his words held merit. “The temple host a myriad of teachings… and it would do her some good to be around children gifted similarly.” Maevis’ “gift” was not lost on either of them, though it did warrant some concern. Grenth had blessed her, as the priesthood would chirp much to the ire of the mother; a devout of Kormir. Grenth had his place amongst the pantheon as death had its’ role in the cycle. In fact, she would be hardpressed to say that perhaps she and the morose God had been a traveling companion for some time, never too far from her. It was a bittersweet acquiescence.

“And… “ She exhaled a breath. “…she would have the chance to sample other cultures, learn more about the nations we share alliances with.” She spoke deliberately, as if to convince herself aloud that it was a sound ideal, but a part of her was hesitant, that much was discernable. Her brow then furrowed, humoring a thought. “Though, mayhap we should speak to her and ask her what ‘tis she would like before we ultimately decide to send her away anon. Tonight would be as good as any.” A: As a man of Grenth there was hidden pride the moment Maevia was blessed with his holy word perhaps at the demise of his paramour. Nonetheless, Sigird wasn’t spared from an all knowing look offered down to her. One she would most definitely feel seeping beneath her armor and sinew.

“She is afforded the luxury of such a prospect.” He rumbled lowly, “And it’s one I wholly encourage given the state of most women of this House and bloodline. I’d abhor the idea that she would blame either of us for stunting whatever gifts she wishes to pursue. I don’t desire her to stay here for an extended period of time for if I may speak candidly I feel as if that time has already come into effect.” He peered over Sigrid’s shoulder as if chasing a thought as another telltale implication on the matter was that of the subtle twinge his jaw made whenever he clenched it.

“Tonight.” The man parroted. “And if I may be so bold---“ That steely gaze settled back to her. “Perhaps I may hold your company tonight as well after our affairs have been conducted?” S: She elicited another soft sigh, this time in admonishment. Her own jaw became set as her lids waned to a close, bringing her brow to rest along his collar’s cynosure. Her arms had dropped to wrap about his midsection. Silence descended between the two, humored only momentarily, until she spoke with a rasp. “I know.” She confessed airily.

Her breath flushed his breast. “You are right, mo stór, and that my fretting is for naught. We both know what she will say, but I want her to be a part of this decision. She cannot stay here, but I still worry. She has, unfortunately, inherited my inquisitive nature. At least she has a good head on her shoulders to keep her out of trouble.”Turning her head, her temple now braced the weave, peering once more out the window and out over the expanse beyond the edified walls. Once, they had been a prison. She did not want their daughter to experience the same demure, but it seemed each day the sun rose a tad brighter to kiss the aged mortar. It was a contrast to her earlier demeanor, but at least on the battlefield you knew your enemies wanted you dead.

In Divinity’s Reach, wolves wore the skin of sheep. Upon his latter request, that frail smile crested once more. It was the same, familiar smile she gave to him all those years ago when first they had met – though it was oft followed by a rather incredulous rebuke or look. The amber hues swept askance before she rescinded incrementally to meet his gaze. “You needn’t ask, mo bhéar.” The Ascalonian vernacular was honeyed with a bubbling lilt.(edited) A: Argrin found his gaze pinning to the crackling hearth across the way as his mind bubbled with a myriad of additional thought. With a manner of reluctance he pulled free from her only to set his hands at her waist and stare down to her in a manner she was all too accustomed to.

“Where is she now?” At first he assumed she was within the libraries but that was an ideal long lost. Another was that she was already within her chambers but given her nature that too was wistful thinking. If anything her proclivity for going unnoticed was astounding for she could hide among the halls and go unnoticed. The ‘Little lady’ was but a trickster in her own merit for if she desired solace she truly was one to find it. “I wonder if we should coming baring an offering.” He teased. “Or five for that matter.” S: A solitary brow arched, oft as it was prone to. Her termagant hues narrowed as she elicited a faux hiss betwixt the tiers of her teeth. “ONE is more than enough, ‘lest we ruin her appetite. By the by, with any luck, she is already down in the kitchen -” She mused dryly, hooking an arm to proffer a playful tug to his beard. It was true; their progeny was a tad difficult to account for had she the inclination to ‘spelunk’ down the disused corridors of the manor.

She was not wont for company, but when she desired to be alone, she never truly seemed to be. When first her gift manifested, Sigrid had been frightened for the girl. No one seemed to know what illness had befallen little Maevis when she made a habit of wandering at night or screaming when she suffered a supposed night terror. It had been the primary drive to teach her to articulate better, be that through physical or verbal gesticulation. Now such incidents were rare, were they to happen at all.

When the raven-haired lass stopped to turn about and address an invisible visitor, not many questioned it, either. Rather than shun her sixth sense, the Grenth-touched prodigy had adapted it as a way of life. She could see things, individuals, that no one else could, but to her they were just fellow residents and staff within her home.However, the girl had started taken her ability to ‘disappear’ a bit too much for granted lately.

Recently, they had caught her eavesdropping indiscreetly with her only response being: “I didn’t wanna open the door if you two were KISSING! That is GROSS!” Inhaling gradually, the knightly femme scantly canted her head indicatively toward the door, her octave rising. “-and NOT outside our DOOR because if she is, she will not be given ANY offerings!” Glancing askance over the cusp of her shoulder, she stared expectantly toward the yawn of the doorway. There was no answer, let alone the sound of shuffling feet. As the blade of her tongue clicked along the roof of her mouth, she hummed curiously. “In the kitchens she is, then.” A: It wasn’t against Argrin’s nature to laugh but when Sigird turned her attention to the doorway a rather loving chortle petered from the back of his throat. If anything it caused a rather admiring look to befall the woman as she clicked that tongue along the roof of her mouth. In the moments which proceeded them Argrin made point in coiling his arms around her waist only to draw her close, leaning down he brushed the tip of his nose at her cheek to call her attention back to him.

Once acquired he pressed their foreheads together---certainly not a gesture his daughter would have expected them to see if she were to happen upon them. No, there were no sensual gestures of theirs mouths molding together hotly. Instead, he allowed their spiritual minds to connect, a warm smile albeit succinct in nature had graced his mouth before finally releasing her from his grip. “What do you surmise this offering to be, hm? Something pragmatic or something not?”

The heavy breach of his footfalls muffled against the carpet heralded his meander toward the door which was opened by another strained series of groaning hinges as he opened it, being polite enough to step aside as to allow her to exit first. He was, despite his nature, still a gentleman. “Perhaps a new horse? Do little ladies adore horses still?” S: As he leaned in, the sunlight kissed the top of his head to crest a halo. Their foreheads met, and her lids waned, though the prudent smile broadened gradually. A hand once more elevated to compliment the shallow dip of his cheek bone. They were connected by more than just oaths and companionate affiliation. They were a singular entity, entwined for this life time and perhaps others to come – were one to have such a belief. For, at least, Sigrid, they had just this one and it made their time on this earth more precious. Perhaps she should have more faith in her subordinates to carry out the mission, but she knew she would not rest easy.

Those men and women were just as much as family and she wanted to ensure they came home, even if it meant she had to spend some time away. Mayhap… it will be the last time she would have to. They stood together in silence with only their breathing audible; a biological metronome. Until Argrin rescinded. Recollecting her poise, righting her posture, she humored the enquiry as she watched him near the door.

Soon, she followed suit.Of course, pragmaticism was a virtue; she would rather gift books or clothes. Something utilitarian… though there might be some protest. If the Little Lady’s attentiveness was slipping, maybe something indulgent was called for considering her successful studies preceding. Something to keep her invested, encouraged, but not to create a habit. A horse might seem a bit much, but Maevis was of age to learn how to ride and it was a necessity, true. And yet… As she passed, she brushed her hand along the profile of his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze before stepping over the threshold. A chuckle bubbling within the hearth of her throat. “How about we start with dinner and go from there.” She mused.

#guild wars 2 #argrin and sigrid #gw2 #part one #argrin

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seventh-progenitor-ferid-bathory · 7 years

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[For a kink meme many moons ago! There was no character specified, so I chose Shinoa.

For this one I rolled 53. Our muses get caught having sex which had me juggle between Chess and Shinoa for a brief time as I had chosen those two on the wiki or something I can’t remember. Anyway, I chose Shinoa and finished the meme most the way until losing motivation for awhile. Enjoy and hopefully i can get to that Mika request someday now that I’m trying to do more than just RP again laughs]

Fearless as always, Shinoa's hands roam her partner's body and make quick work of removing his coat, undoing his shirt, and starting in on his belt in between simply feeling him up and down as she sees fit. Ferid has never minded the rushed pace Shinoa occasionally starts with despite his usual preference for taking one's time, as generally it means she really, really missed him and that alone pleases him greatly. After all, if it were up to Shinoa she would happily move in with her chosen companion rather than remain here in her brother's home, but alas she is still tied to her family and unable to do so just yet. She hopes to soon, but for now she is stuck waiting it out. Aside from lunches and dinners they will often attend together after the usual human and vampire political meets, they often do not see each other unless her blood relative is out of town on business of his own. There are occasions where humans will get out of their own city and go to where the lovely queen Krul resides instead, and during these times it is often the highest ranking ones while the rest stay and continue business. Usually, Ferid would have to attend the queen's meetings as well, but Crowley is plenty capable of doing that in his place, so the noble prefers to stay at his own home until Shinoa inevitably invites him over. Today is their first meeting in private since a few weeks back, and clearly his little human is eager to get right to playing around as Shinoa starts their visit by immediately pulling Ferid down for a kiss while urging him to get to work on her clothes. Truth be told, the noble did not expect this to happen so swiftly, but perhaps he should have given his knowledge of this human so far. To the point, she has long since dragged them both to her bed as she plopped down on her back and tugged Ferid along to oh so 'threateningly' looming over her. The noble kept himself busy by occasionally leaning in to nuzzle at her cheeks while Shinoa gleefully begun working on his clothes moments ago. Now, her hands curiously roam across his chest and sides, clearly excited to feel his skin again despite the simplicity of their actions thus far. Shinoa does look down to watch his hand movements every so often, squirming a bit beneath him each time he happens to touch one of her more sensitive spots. Her shirt is pulled over her head after a short time, her skirt becoming next in line to remove while the female human below him seems to have finished up with his belt and now lowers his pants down. While they have only recently sealed the deal to become 'official' mates, so to speak, this human is quite ravenous now that she is free to mate with her partner as often as she so wishes to. This, naturally, meaning they already are familiar enough with one another to quickly get down to business when she is in a rushed mood like this. It is hard to believe this human used to be so shy when it came down to affectionate gestures, this despite her often perverted jokes and teasing. In speaking of teasing, Shinoa grasps his length, quickly earning a gasp from the noble, and gives him one firm stroke prior to giggling as she moves on to preparing herself rather than continuing her work on him. Ferid pouts, but truthfully is not nearly as bothered as most others would be from such an act and instead rewards his tiny human by moving to gently massage her chest. Shinoa's response is immediate and utter bliss, that much is obvious from her unrestrained sounds and her squirming becoming far less subtle, to which Ferid puts a little more effort into his work and again leans in to offer her a kiss. He always has enjoyed the softness of her skin, not to mention the sounds she makes when touched, so he is all too happy to-- well, he stops for a moment when Shinoa pushes forward by wrapping her legs around his waist and plunging him into her. Ferid shudders and moans, surprised by the sudden sensation she's caused and continues to cause by moving her hips. It used to startle him for another reason when she did things like this, he worried he would hurt her after all and the first few times Shinoa quickly found out it does indeed hurt when she rushes things, but these days she is quite used to it. She must 'work' on this sort of thing a lot in her spare time, hm? Whatever the case, the noble is more than happy to move in rhythm with her and urge her into a brief kiss every so often. She does need to breath a lot more than he does, so he tries to be careful and back away relatively often to instead tease her neck or her ears. His dear companion utters various pleasing sounds, expressing her clear adoration for their movements as well as urging Ferid along as he allows his hands to roam her body while their lower halves continue to move in unison-- until suddenly, however, Shinoa freezes and almost seems to hide under him. Did he hurt her? Is she not feeling well? The noble slows somewhat, panting as he tries to urge her attention to him so he can ask what is wrong, but sadly she seems a bit shy in doing so. This, of course, confuses Ferid greatly until looking toward the direction she seems to be avoiding only to find not only the older brother they had been avoiding but her little blonde friend that must have decided today was a perfect day to go out and do something. My, no wonder poor Shinoa seems so uneasy. For Shinoa's sake rather than his own, Ferid stops completely to focus on their two intruders so Shinoa can perhaps get her nerve back. "Hm? May I help you with something?" The blonde, Mitsuba he believes her name is, looks mortified at this and her face is about as crimson as one possibly could get while she sputters and backs up a few steps. The older brother, Kureto, he has seen in most meetings and was supposed to be at one today but it seems that one was cancelled. Did Krul do this on purpose, he wonders? She did seem a little irritated today with his teasing…oh well, at least he got some time alone with his partner before these two stormed in so rudely. Well, now the older Hiiragi is also considerably surprised, though to a much lesser degree than Mitsuba, instead of bored at a meeting or snapping at the queen over something or another. At the very least, the admittedly strong willed human is able to clear his throat then utter a warning about needing a word with both of them downstairs when they are decent. Huh, well, that was not too bad at all. Ferid offers a carefree shrug at this mere moments before the door is slammed shut by Mitsuba rather than Kureto. The older Hiiragi must have just scarcely avoided being hit by said door, though Ferid doubts said Hiiragi cares too much and is likely grateful he was able to be excused rather than awkwardly doing so himself. With that mess more or less done for now, Ferid merely hums then looks to a still heavily embarrassed Shinoa. Truthfully, he doesn't really care too much about being seen in such a state, so his composure seems to confuse as well as slightly irritate the poor human below him-- "'May I help you with something'? That's what you h-have to say a-- how can you be so calm!?" To be fair, he is quite sure had it just been Mitsuba or Kureto that Shinoa might not have been so uneasy, but seeing both at the same time was likely too much to handle. This is, of course, taking into account the time her little friend Yoichi accidentally-- hm? Ferid tilts his head when Shinoa seems to move to get up, then smiles and urges her to lie back down despite her clearly halfhearted protests. "Your brother never said we had to hurry, correct? We can finish a few rounds then meet him downstairs for his lecture on sleeping with the enemy or whatever it is he wishes to speak to us about. I doubt they have the heart to come back up here, and if they do I can simply ask if they want to join in." He says this with such ease and in such a carefree way it urges a small laugh from Shinoa after the initial surprise from his words, succeeding in calming her down and easing her into pushing him forward in their session. Perhaps that will also calm her down should those two, more likely Kureto than Mitsuba, decide to wander back up here for another peek. My, such perverted beasts these livestock are.

#Shinoa Hiiragi #Ferid Bathory #memes #[originally ferid's final suggestion was going to be the first thing he said but i forgot until the end and was too lazy to change it]#[i feel so rusty uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh]#[i've got lazy in my writing and it pain me]

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newhologram · 8 years

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2016 diary of a spoonie

Rereading my diary from 2016 for some perspective (not ready to open my 2015 one, I know it’s going to be even more difficult). Remembering some mental places I've been and that I made it through them and I’m still here.

Here are some parts I'm okay with sharing, hopefully it will help someone realize they are not alone and that as difficult as things get, there is so much more to life than being sick even if we have to deal with it often in isolation.

It’s also good to keep in mind that when we have illnesses that affect our brain/mood, it can drastically warp our perception of the world, our lives, and ourselves. That’s why I started trying to keep a diary, to record these moments when I’m not myself, when my illnesses make me think things that aren’t true, makes me have horrible tunnel vision, and then be able to look back on them when I’m not in that mental state and try to get an understanding of it.

(warning for suicide mentions in some excerpts because Mr. Brain can be kinda bananas sometimes, it’s pretty heavy and a lot of it is me scribbling when dissociating pretty badly so I say some weird things)

This is also probably a cautionary tale to NOT BE LIKE ME, I’m a bad spoonie. I can’t believe I forced myself to have such a full schedule, no wonder my body broke down by December.

1.5.16 8:49 PM: Everything in my life is so turbulent. Why? I feel like someone cut and pasted me here.

1.19.16 2:51 AM: I barely slept. Puked a little, dry heaved a lot, sweated so much. Cried my eyes out in the shower.

I have to leave for work in 2 hours. I hope it's not a long day.

I don't know where this mood swing came from. I feel so weak. I was just crying and crying because I can't stand myself. I can't stand being me. I feel so alone and lost. I feel so stupid.

3:18 AM: Dry heaved again. I'm shivering and I feel horrible. Why does this happen to me? I thought I was done with this. I feel like I'm shriveling up.

What's going to happen to me?

1.20.16 10:56 AM: Yesterday was rough. First depressive mood swing of this year. I suddenly felt like no one would ever love me. That I’m just an immature slob. A burden. A loser. Dirty.

I don’t even have a best friend. I’m not close with anyone. I can’t organize my room or my life. I just sort of work, play games, and sleep. I’m so lonely. I’m stressed and overwhelmed. I don’t have anyone to talk to. I live in a fantasy world but really I’m just alone here in my room.

I feel so pathetic. I feel so stupid. Who could ever love me?

1.26.16 4:59 PM: Wow! Worked 7am-3:18pm. Didn’t see Miss Piggy. Again!

But since I got out so early I was able to run and errand, do yoga, aerobics, read, and stuff.

Now is definitely meditation time but I’m worried I will fall asleep. Too tired to bathe/eat.

Going to open my heart chakra! Yay!

1.31.16 5:57 PM: Holy stress. Still no word about the shoot. Aaand there was some asshole.

Gotta let it go. They don’t dictate my day. I do. Only me. I am in charge. No one else.

2.3.16 10:48 PM: No spoons for laundry or putting clothes up. I desperately need to do that. My room is overflowing with clothes.

BAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(drawing of a newlamb)

たりないよ　(it’s not enough!)

2.5.16 10:54 PM: I feel so strange. Like I’m a thousand lifetimes apart from New. I don’t know who that person is.

I guess it’s okay not to know.

Right?

2.14.16 1:15 AM: よふかししてるの (I’m stayin’ up late)

Um... too much mental energy. Body is done and tired but my mind all よ～～～～～～～～～～！

Kinda woozy today. But I got FFX-2 running so I’ve been doing that. Maybe too much.

2.21.16 10:30 PM: Oops, 4 days of not writing in here.

I didn’t work Thursday. Friday I went to Hollywood w/ ______. We saw Frozen, she gave me my presents, we had tea and a chicken burger at Chado tea room and we goofed around doing touristy things. Had so much fun, I really missed her.

I was so tired I fell asleep at 8pm. I woke up at 3am but I was having so much fun sleeping that I just went back to sleep until 8am.

2.24.16 8:22 PM: I was having an okay day. I was doing okay. Right now I want to not exist. Two auditions tomorrow. What am I gonna do?

I wish I was never born.

I don’t feel much. Now would be a good time to do it. But I don’t want to hurt my dad.

Wish I had someone to talk to.

I’m so done. So done. So alone.

If I died a lot of people would be really sad but it wouldn’t change much.

I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be me. I hate who I am. I hate me. I’m too stupid to work retail. I can’t do math. I can’t edit, I was too stupid for editing school. My body can’t work or I get sick.

I don’t know how I’ll be able to support myself. I can’t rely on my dream. It might not come true. I’ll be 30 in 4 years—will I still be living here, relying on my dad? I’m a joke. I’m not a real adult or person.

My cats would be sad if I died. Would they understand? I don’t want to hurt them either but I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.

I’m not okay right now but I have no one. I’m all alone.

A few tears came out.

That’s all I have.

2.25.16 1:12 PM: I’m so sad right now. The pain is already bad. I don’t have money for more edibles. I had to cancel one audition because I was too sick. Too depressed. Too much anxiety.

I went to Sprouts and very nearly had a freak out. I tried to meditate. I can’t focus on editing. I feel trapped. I feel like the walls are caving in.

How am I gonna get out of this one? I’ve done it before. Time is crawling.

Bad pain spreading. Bad thoughts. bad urges. I need distractions but the problem is that I’m too depressed to actually focus on anything fun.

I can barely cry. It’s like a blockage.

FUUUUUCK!!!

(lots of scribbles)

2.26.16 12:05 PM: Much better today. Body is tired but I’m not depressed. Nope! Had a shoyuu tamago. Mm! It’s still really early but I think it’s time for a meditation nap.

3.2.16 10:03 PM: It’s March wtf... okay.

3.11.16 1:46 PM: I soar. I am worthy. My dreams will come true.

3.13.16 2:51 PM: It’s Nikki’s birthday.

I feel like all I do is edit, play games, RP, watch cartoons... :(

Even though I love that stuff, it doesn’t make me money. It makes me happy, so happy, but. Where am I going in my life?

I just feel so fragile I’m worried that if one day, my family snaps at me and says how they hate having to support me, that I won’t be able to take it. That I’ll run away, or worse. I’ve had some suicidal ideations lately. I feel like my family hates me. I know it’s silly but. Maybe at the very least they resent me.

:( I wish I wasn’t like this.

3.21.16 1:42 PM, Monday: It’s so hard not to feel like he [my dad] hates me. I keep having horrible dreams about fighting with him or other family like my sister. :(

Things will work out. Things will pay off.

Lots of pain right now. I have so much to do always. Always trying, always in pain, never have money.

Caught int he swirl.

I am something and someone.

3.28.16 1:19 PM: If I get that job it’s going to be really difficult to balance with bg work but what choice do I have? I can’t afford my bills right now.

(written out weekly schedule with a drawing of Bill crying and saying, “you can do it”)

I can do this. I can make it happen.

4.4.16 8:37 AM: Bad morning anxiety again. I kept waking up with my heart pounding. Dry-heaved a bit at 7am.

So much going on in my head. Wish I could stop it.

4.29.16 8:45 PM: Ugh!! MOOD DOWN, CAN’T FOCUS!! SAD!!

5.29.16 12:25 PM: Wow. Really been in la la land. Mood crazy. My period came 11 days late and I am 900% sure I felt a cyst pop.

I haven’t been meditating... I really need to get back into it so I won’t fall apart. also I lost out on 3 bookings, ugh. :( It’s just a dry spell. It will get better.

I just want to cry in bed. A lot.

6.13.16 8:52 PM: Whoops. I have no memory of actually writing that last post.

Still having a hard time with this summer depression... Trying to hang in there.

I had 2 insane customers stress me out the past 2 shifts. Shoots are still only about 1/week...

I’ve been keeping busy despite my health though. Been editing and stuff a lot, though rest breaks get me down.

BUT SO. I moved my room around. Don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner.

(drawing of my room before and after)

So much nicer. I think I’ve been sleeping better. And now there’s not all this junk space under my bed or to the side. Love it!

Well so... Friday I had a bad audition. It sucked so hard. Had to cry, tried to prepare, couldn’t cry... fuck.

Whatever. Life goes on. My confidence has sucked lately.

Sigh (drawing of New in lamb hat with eyes full of tears)

There was a bad shooting. Worst in US history, at a gay club in Florida. 49 dead. The whole world is crying. I feel numb.

6.14.16 11:45 PM: I love my dad more than anyone in the whole universe. He has done so much for me and other people. He deserves the best love. He deserves to be happy.

I’m so sick of women hurting him like this. He tries so hard to make things work.

I hope he’ll be okay.

I just want him to know how special he is.

6.28.16 1:11 PM: Colonoscopy and upper endoscopy in an hour. Period started. Depressed.

Keep making mistakes at my part-time job. Worried. Stressed.

Tuesday now, been eating nothing but jello since Saturday.

Just feeling really down about my situation. My health, work, school, friends. Everything.

I hate the snarling monster inside of me. I hate who it makes me. I hate myself for yelling at my dad yesterday.

I just really don’t like myself.

What can I do?

7.1.16 1:20 PM: Shooting a chronic pain thing in my room right now.

Camera in my face.

Feeling tired but pretty good.

7.24.16 10:38 PM: There’s so much to say but it’s late, gotta take my meds, and I got a shoot.

I release pain. I release guilt. Namaste.

8.11.16 2:22 PM: Why do things have to be so hard? I’m trying my best. I really am. But it’s not enough. Will it ever be enough? Will I ever live alone, be independent, be happy?

I feel like my dad resents me. I know he loves me but I just have so much pain and guilt for existing. I know I am capable of so much more and that life has so much to offer me... it’s just so hard.

9.3.16 8:17 PM: Hooey, it’s September. 3rd week with no bookings, taking an extra day at part-time job.

Since I’ve had all these days off I have been dividing my time to get things done, rest, play games, better myself. Even just a little at a time is good.

9.11.16 11:13 PM: Finally got work. Which means I worked 5 days. Yay.

I’m still trying to improve my writing. My problem is I never really have a plan—or I get stuck at words, instead of just writing.

9.12.16 10:49 PM: Oh, hell... My agent called today, I got booked on some shoot. But it’s for tomorrow, so. I can’t since now I work Tues as well. So last week I worked SUN, TUES, WED, THU, FRI... hooly shit. No wonder I feel awful.

Of course when I tried to talk to ___ about it they made me cry. Fuck. Been depressed all fucking day. Fuck fuck fuck.

I’m okay. I have distractions. I have coping methods.... I have myself. Soon is paychecks. I’m okay.

Tomorrow is... let’s see.

7 AM wake, meditate, yoga 8 AM tea, tumblr 9 AM edit 10 AM read 11 AM rest 12 PM ?????

I can do it.

9.23.16 12:27 PM, Friday: My body is struggling to keep up w this schedule.

I worked Sun Mon Tues Wed, had yesterday off, now I have to be at a shoot in a few hours. I’ve had to seriously up my self-care game to be able to do this. Tomorrow is school and acupuncture. I’ll be wiped out.

But... money! Also I’ve been meditating a lot with amethyst and rose quartz.

(a row of crystals)

On Mon my shoot was so hard, I was having such a rough time but then I met two cool Japanese women. One is Michiko Nishiwaki, a famous stunt woman. She and the (other) Michiko seemed really impressed by me and want me to get on TV. Yay.

Okay, I feel woozy so it is time to read.

10.11.16 12:12 pm: Last week was two kinds of intense.

SUN-WED: bad depression. bad pain. bad bad bad.

TH: Doc, got dmv handicap parking placard, bloodwork, x-rays, narcotics. FRI-SAT: pain so easy, feeling happy.

SUN: pain back after good massage

Now I’m feeling depressed again.

I’m so scared for my future. I just can’t bear the thought of still being in this situation at age 30.

I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.

10.20.16 12:30 PM: I booked a short film. Happy about it but feeling depressed about my health again.

It’s like a merry-go-round.

(sad crying face)

10.31.16 11:46 PM: (arrow pointing to previous entry) I don’t remember writing that. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Well. Tomorrow is November.

Yikes. Where was I last year around this time? Only doing bg, no vlogs to edit. No Overwatch.

What did I do during down time? How did I keep sane?

This year has brought a lot of change, but ti’s easy to see it only as the same because my career is so slow going.

Just keep swimming.

11.25.16 4:15 AM: I start my hostessing job in 5 hours. New job. 3rd job.

Idk. I’m so sad rn. Anxious. Woke up w racing heart. Pukey. I wanna cry.

I didn’t do anything wrong.

12.1.16 9:48 PM: I threw up a lot, just now recovering a week later.

Things:

New job: shift got cut Tuesday

Universe made up for it by having casting call me with work. Cult member. Very far but this should be interesting.

Doc today gave me gave more tramadol + xanax ☆ Nice.

it’s December wtf

Made a Patreon

12.12.16 10:02 PM: Energy is focused. Going to set up 2017 to be a great year.

12.16.16 3:07 PM: I intend to heal. I feel terrific. I love myself. I release guilt. The universe supports me. Today I expect that something wonderful is going to happen.

My Dharma is to guide, inspire, teach, and help.

All is perfect. All is well.

#spoonie #chronic illness #fibromyalgia #narcolepsy #invisible illnesses #personal #teku #long post #suicide mention

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