#The first of (hopefully) many Lyons to come

[sagie-artzz]

Yippee Lyon!

[magics-neptunes-things]

Fire and Ice

Hi guys!

Yes I know it's me again! I got a request for a story with Leah, so here is a story with Leah.

I'm open to request btw :)

I hope this story will please you, I tried to stick as much as possible to the way I imagine Leah’s dynamique.

Part 2 is HERE :) and the chapter bonus HERE.

Thanks everyone ♥

____________________________________________________________

New to Arsenal, you’ve only been part of this team since this summer. You left Bayern Munich at the end of you contract and after some hesitation between different clubs, you finally chose Arsenal. Lyon would have loved to hire you too, but you felt that English football was probably better if you wanted to continue to evolve in your career. You're only 21 and hopefully, many years ahead of you.

You were scared at first to be honest, you know the team had a lot of players who already know themselves. But Lia was particularly welcoming to you, playing the role of a little mother. Frida, who is also your teammate in the Norway team, decided to show you her favorite places in London and Alessia who arrived at the same time as you quickly offered to do the exercises in training together.

In reality, your arrival at Arsenal was very smooth even if some personalities continue to impress you a little. For example Leah, Beth or Katie. As a result, you have very little interactions with them, as Leah’s injury has not helped to create a special bond with her. Even if she was present on the day of your presentation to the rest of the group, wanted to welcome you like the others.

You do, however, enjoy evenings organized by your teammates and you go regularly. Far from your family, you don’t know anyone here and it makes you feel less alone.

So here you are, in Leah's appartment with some of the Arsenal girls. You hesitated to come since Frida wasn't here, but Alessia is and hasn’t given you much choice to do otherwise. Leah was in charge of the cocktails and only gave Lia a smirk when she asked her what she put in it. You took the time to discreetly sniff the mixture before bringing it to your lips, pleasantly surprised by the sweetness of the drink. A little misleading though, because after two or three drinks, getting up to go to the toilet took a little longer than usual.

When you came back, you drop on the couch next to Alessia, trying to get back into the conversation. You became bit uncomfortable when you realize that the discussion has turned on the girls being in couple or those who are not. You are single obviously, finding it particularly difficult to have a long-distance relationship, or with one of your teammates. In the case of a breakup, you were always afraid that it would be too complicated for you to handle.

So you say nothing, hoping that hiding behind your glass will save you from possible questions. You are very naive.

"And you, Y/N? You never mention anyone, I guess you're single?"

Beth’s question makes you grimace and you find yourself nervously biting the edge of your plastic glass before answering a simple "Yes".

"Why that?" asks Beth and you just shrugs.

"We should make her up with someone" Katie decide and you can't help but laugh a little.

"I’m a little demanding about my partner"

"Not a problem"

You roll your eyes before taking a new sip of your drink, crossing Leah’s gaze. She seems lost in her thoughts, twirling her glass in her hand. Your eyes cross a split second and you hurry to report it to Katie when she speaks again.

"We should make you profil though. Like in a dating app"

"OMG yes, I going to take something to write!"

Alessia chuckles next to you and you can't help but smile too. You don’t really take this seriously, given everyone’s blood alcohol levels, you’re sure that half of this evening will be forgotten by tomorrow morning. So you decide to play the game with a smile.

"Ok, first question" Beth begin with a notepad and a pen. "What is your house in Hogwarts?"

"How is that even a question?" Katie answers with a disgusting face.

"It's not because you don't like Harry Potter than it's the same for everyone, McCabe"

************

You let the two girls ask you questions for twenty minutes, ignoring the departure of several of your teammates. Now it’s just you, Katie, Lotte, Beth, Leah and Alessia.

"Are you a good kisser?" Beth asked, looking over her sheet.

"How am I even supposed to know that?" you ask, giggling.

"I don't know, it's your kissing skills, not mine."

You roll your eyes before answering.

"I've never received any complaints"

"Does it count?" Katie asked while looking at Beth.

"Not really. Is there anyone in this room who can testify to that?"

"What? No!" you laugh softly.

You, in reality, only have two relationship in your life and both didn't end really well. Football keeping you very busy, you maybe weren't a great girlfriend. But that doesn’t mean your first girlfriend’s infidelity should be excused, in your opinion. Anyway, the next sentence coming from Beth's mouth take you back in the reality.

"Maybe we need a sincere testimony from someone we trust…" Katie said thoughtfully.

"Maybe we can make her kiss someone here, now?" Beth answers with the same tone.

"Excuse me?" you ask with a certain concern.

But the two women didn't seem to give it the slightest care, continuing in their dialogue which makes you slightly think of Dupont and Dupond in Tintin.

"Leah is definitely the most experienced of us, she has a hunt board longer than the number of goals scored by Alexia Putellas at FC Barcelona."

"What the fuck?"

This is the first time of the evening that you hear Leah's voice, who had been content until then to make cocktails and dance in the kitchen with Lia and Caitlin. Both of Beth and Katie laugh at her offended face, finally out of their common monologue.

"Come on Leah, you have to kiss Y/N to help her finding love"

"Don't I have any say in this?" you say softly.

Beth’s gaze makes you realize that you don’t really have much of a say, but it’s especially Leah’s piercing gaze that you feel on you that electrifies you. Leah is a very beautiful woman and you must admit that if you hadn't been teammates, maybe you would have thought of her differently. But there is also her assertive and confident personality that can sometimes confuse you, you who is rather quiet and discreet, you are a bit like fire and ice.

But tonight, your eyes meet a few seconds and for once you don't look away. It's even finally Leah who looks away to look at Beth.

"Ok" Leah answers before getting up "But I'm not doing it in front of everyone. Close all your damn pretty eyes"

They all agreed without saying any word, Alessia swaping place with Leah on the couches. The captain waits patiently for everyone to close their eyes, before looking at you.

"You know you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, right? You're sure you want to?" she asks softly.

So softly that it surprises you at first. And you almost immediately feel overwhelmed by a wave of guilt, after all you are very well placed to know that Leah knows how to take care of the people around her. She showed it to you several times as captain of her team.

"I am" you simply answer, before adding "And you?"

"Hey don't worry about me. Go on" she gives you a smirk of her own and you smile back.

You feel particularly nervous though, becoming a little aware of the situation you’re in. Leah doesn’t seem particularly drunk, but you’re hoping she won’t be mad at you tomorrow when she realizes things. You wait a few more seconds, detailing her face and eyes looking for a trace of hesitation. But you find nothing and you finally decide to break the physical distance between you two.

Your eyes left hers and you look at her lips for a few moments, certainly looking at them for the first time. It doesn't last long however. Like a second after that, you close your eyes, your lips gently touching hers. At this distance, you can smell her perfume and shampoo. Her lips are soft and have the flavor of the cocktail she has prepared for you all evening.

But that’s not what’s calling you.

What's calling you is the way your whole body seems to react to a simple peck with Leah Williamson.

You feel like every part of your body is burning up and asking for more of Leah’s. And that's scared the shit out of you. That’s why you step back after a few seconds, wide-eyed, looking for an explanation on Leah’s face. But you can’t find anything and you can’t even determine the emotion in her eyes.

"Tell us when you're finished" Katie points.

Of course, you forgot about them. Everything that didn’t concern Leah directly had been completely zapped by your brain.

"Shut up. We haven’t even started"

Leah answers for both of you and you hardly swallow, not at all recovering from the emotions you felt. That you still feel. A second later, Leah grabs your face with both hands before kissing you. You don't lose a second before responding to her kiss, your lips moving together with an ease you have never felt before.

It's easy for you to get lost in this kiss, the sensations mixing so much that you completely lose the notion of things. Your hands slide over Leah’s hips and you find yourself sitting on her, your legs on either side of hers.

That doesn’t seem to bother her though, her tong easily finding access to yours. Your lips only separate for a few seconds, until you get enough air to start your dance again. And again.

You could have sincerely spent the rest of the evening - the night - kissing her, but one of them had to realize that you were going to get the attention of your teammates. It was Leah who put an end to the kiss first, snatching from your embrace as breathless as you. You don’t look away this time either when she looks at you, before gently pushing you away so that you find your original place on the couch.

You could have taken this as a gesture of reject, but the smile and wink she offers you when she gets up seems to be there only to reassure you that it’s not. You follow her with your eyes as she discreetly go behind the couch, leaning on her backrest, above where she was sitting until now.

"How is it possible that it lasts so long?" Alessia wines and you smile when you hear Leah's laugh.

The other girls open their eyes and the surprise appears on almost every face by discovering your positioning.

"Did you really think I was going to kiss someone to please you? Well everyone out now, I need my beauty sleep."

Rolling their eyes or grumbling, your teammates obeyed quickly. After exchanging greetings, you follow Alessia who promised to take you home. Still disturbed by these kisses, you can’t help but turn around while closing the front door hoping to meet Leah’s gaze.

You succeed, while she leaned against the central island of her kitchen. The same look as the one she used to look at you earlier appears on her face, but you can’t study it as long as you would like since you feel Alessia’s hand grab your arm, suddenly eager to find her bed.

[lydiadeetzwannabee]

Misc. Bot Release

Includes: Art Donaldson, Danny Lyon, Dodge Mason, Roger Sharpe

Art Donaldson

જ⁀➴ “ hungry for your love “

Requested: Yes | No

⋆ ₊ ⊹ stanford!art & ucla!user. You and Art have blurred the lines between friendship and love since you first met back at the Mark Rebellat tennis Academy. The two of you parted ways after dedicating yourself to different schools, but when your team eventually comes to play at Stanford, there’s always time for Art to lose himself in you. Blurb here.

જ⁀➴ “ my funny valentine “

Requested: Yes | No

⋆ ₊ ⊹ He should probably leave you alone. You’ve made it clear that you don’t want to waste your time on him but Art won’t let up. Maybe it’s the fact that you weren’t completely uninterested in him, you just favored your studies more. Either way, he’s making his final efforts at the door to your dorm room. He’ll beg if he has to, but he’s not leaving without plans with you.

Danny Lyon

જ⁀➴ “ pining “

Requested: Yes | No

⋆ ₊ ⊹ Danny feels like an idiot. How many times have your eyes lingered on him and he hadn’t noticed? How many days did you wait for him to point his lens at you? Not that he hasn’t before, he has several portraits of you with a pensive look on your face. Not for anyone but him, he didn’t want to share. But now that it’s finally come to his attention that you’ve felt the same he has, he has motivation. Hopefully you haven’t lost interest in him when he makes his move.

જ⁀➴ “ reconnecting “

Requested: Yes | No

⋆ ₊ ⊹ It’s been seven years since Danny first set foot in your house, and now he’s back for the same reason. You want to bask in him like you always did, to sit closer, to cling to him. But after all this time apart, everything feels uncertain. You’re not sure if he still wants you.

Dodge Mason

જ⁀➴ “ farmers daughter “

Requested: Yes | No

⋆ ₊ ⊹ Dodge isn’t forever grateful that he works for Anne, otherwise he would’ve never met you. It was only a brief month that he got with you in December before you had to go back to your father in the east coast. He regrets not taking his chance to do more than give you a simple kiss, but now you’re back for the summer, and Dodge isn’t letting you slip through his fingers this time.

જ⁀➴ “ panic “

Requested: Yes | No

⋆ ₊ ⊹ For the first time, Dodge truly understands why Panic was named that way. It’s all he feels, all he hears, all he sees when he recognizes your voice coming from beneath the trapdoor during his individual challenge. A dizzying rush overtakes him—his usual coordination slipping, replaced by pure panic. He’ll get you out first. Whoever put you down there can wait.

Roger Sharpe

જ⁀➴ “ office crush “

Requested: Yes | No

⋆ ₊ ⊹ It’s like he’s forgotten how to approach. All he had to do was talk to you, get a feel and maybe ask for you to accompany him to lunch if he got that far. Yet he’s stuck at his desk with the clock ticking to midnight while you’re a few feet away from him, brainstorming on a dress form. He’s not sure what overcomes him when he decides to approach you, but you stumbling back against him was not what he wanted your first encounter with him to be like. Too late.

[el1-z4]

To balance out the universe I finally got round to drawing these steampunk lesbians.

Specifically, Edith and Amelia - who've been dating for about 5 years now.

Edith is a locksmith by trade, but has a knack for making things that hopefully dont explode. She comes from a loooong heritage of victorian* inventors and scientists, meaning she grew up with huge expectations from her family. However as she got older, she began slowly distancing herself from her family due to these expectations, finding work and accommodation on the outskirts of West Hameshire.

*Victorian refers to the planet of Victoric, an incredibly old and highly culturally conservative system. This is still Arcania lol

Amelia, however, has a much, much more interesting history. The Faxiath Coalition, in recent years, has been experimenting with dimensional rift technology in order to probe the physics and workings of alternate realities. In one incident, they opened a small gateway between the lab on Ilquar and an alternate version of Earth - year 2034. This earth saw many major 20th century powers have their ideologies swapped; the EU leading the modern world in alliance with the United States of Ataria - up against the formerly communist American Federation.

Amelia, born in 2005 was born in Lyon, France, to her Scottish/French parents. She spent a good amount of her life in both countries, but eventually moved permanently to Berlin when she was 23. However, when she was 28, one morning she walked putside to find the fabric of reality around her collapsing.

In an instant, it felt like every part of her was on fire as she was flashbanged by a bright white/violet light. Just as suddenly she found herself on a precariously balanced platform at the center of what looked like a giant particle collider; scientists racing behind windows around her. Before she knew it, someone over the PA, speaking what she could only decipher as German dialect with a strange accent, asked her who she was and if she was alright. She could sort of understand it, but she could only nod or shake her head to whatever questions they asked her.

Finally, someone walked over a catwalk and outstretched an arm to her. She was pulled over by the wrist and shuffled into one of the side offices. The scientists knew they fucked up - and it was no better that the gateway was basically permanently shut.

She was given a warm drink by one of the lead scientists, and they started asking her questions once again. Her first words were, in German, "My german isnt very good... do you speak french or english..?" thinking full well she was just inside some lab still in europe, except with weird symbols on the walls and dials. Alas, she wasnt. The scientist, asked her if she spoke Atlantean or Basic - and she returned a confused look. She guessed basic and the scientist started speaking in what she knew as english. The scientist, realizing whats gone on, broke the unfortunate news to her.

Everything and everyone she knew was gone. She was in an entirely different universe with no statistically possible way home. Amelia was incredibly distraught - feeling like she was just in some kind of bad dream or that it was all an elaborate prank. But, that came crashing down the longer the scientist kept talking. Strangely enough she didnt cry at all; I don't think she knew how to interpret anything at the moment.

She spent the next few days at the lab, slowly trying to come to terms with her new situation. After a while, she was approached by another scientist who told her she couldnt stay for much longer, but they could relocate her to another planet. She was both nervous and excited at the possibility of being in space, let alone travelling to another planet - though I guess she's already on one of those.

She was relocated to victoric, as the scientists felt it best for her to go somewhere that would guarantee her safety from the news and, more importantly, somewhere they felt would feel a little more homely - technology wise. Amelia felt, admittedly, a little insulted that they thought the closest match to her time was electricity-less steampunkery, but she felt like it'd do.

Fast forward a few months, and shes living/working in a bed and breakfast outside of West Hameshire. She's getting on rather nicely, even if the trauma of reality occasionally creeps back up on her in horrific panic attacks. Except one day, this locksmith came over, whos apparently quite a regular -fixing the doors on the rooms, and goddamn she was pretty.

Anyways yeah its pretty easy to say where they went from there. They started going out about two weeks after first meeting - and they've been inseparable ever since.

As of present day, Amelia moved out of the Bed and Breakfast and moved in with Edith - though she still works there. They're really quite comfortable with where they are in life, with aspirations to see the galaxies and everything in it (Amelia's really interested in visiting the Lordean system, as well as Atlatic). Edith on the other hand, is much more interested in finally asking Amelia to marry her... if she could ever work up the impossible levels of confidence needed for it.

[laurenetuttle]

Rhine River Cruise Day 2 (December 15th, 2024)

Today was our first full day in Europe! We spent all day today in Lucerne, Switzerland. Both Liz and I slept pretty well last night. I slept from about 10 o’clock to three in the morning, woke up briefly, and fell back asleep. I woke up maybe a few more times but we finally got out of bed around 8 AM. We then got ready for the day and we headed downstairs to the included breakfast from the hotel. The breakfast offered by the hotel is a breakfast buffet and it was really nice. We had eggs, potatoes, fruit, and toast. At about 9:45 we met in the lobby for our tour. Right before heading out on the tour, we decided to sign up for the 5 1/2 hour tour tomorrow to mount Titlis. We were told that we were the only two who signed up for the tour and they needed a minimum of five people to go. So we didn’t know if we were actually going to go tomorrow.

We then started our two hour walking tour of Lucerne at 10 AM. There’s approximately 23 people in our Viking group at this hotel. Liz and I are by far the youngest ones in this group by several decades. So the walking pace was quite slow and meandering. We walked by the train station, which is close to the hotel. The original train station burned down in the 1970s. So the current train station that is there is pretty modern. But they did save the original arch from the train station because that was made of stone. We then crossed one of several bridges and started walking around old town. Lucerne cross the bridge back to the other side cross the bridge back to the other side. We did a lot of bridge crossings. We learned about some of the local cuisine in our guide pointed out some good places to eat. We saw a really beautiful Catholic Church that it’s just very beautiful and light and bright inside. We saw the chapel bridge. Which is a famous bridge that burnt part of it burned down in the 1990s and was rebuilt but there’s still some original wood from the 1300s. Lucerne is an interesting town because there’s a lot of different architectural influences from different countries around the world. We found some Italian style architecture and Austrian architecture. After spending about two hours on the walking tour, we decided to take some more pictures at certain spots, we wanted to go back to and then find lunch. We ended up going to an Italian restaurant that was recommended by our guide. Liz got a margarita pizza and I got some spinach ricotta tortellini, which was really good. And it was nice to sit inside and warm up. Thankfully, it was not raining today and the cold was manageable. 

After lunch, we continued meandering around. We walked into some shops including a Rolex shop. Apparently Lucerne is a popular spot to buy high end watches. So many people buy Rolexes here that one store had to put a limit at 8 watches per customer. Hah! We decided to walk to another old church and took a peek inside there. We walked to the famous Lyon monument. This monument was carved into stone to commemorate the Swiss guards who died fighting for France in the 1700s. We then walked over to a spot where we could hike up a hill and get a pretty viewpoint over Lucerne. Up at the top of this hill there was also a little café that we popped into to get some hot chocolate and warm up. after coming back down the hill, we slowly made our way back to the hotel to take a little break. When we got back to the hotel, our tour guide that she was able to get three more people to sign up for the Mount Titlis tour tomorrow. So yay! That tour is a go! So this mountain is pretty close to Lucerne. And we’re gonna get bust over there and take multiple gondolas up to around 10,000 feet. Per Google apparently it’s only gonna be maybe around 3° up there. So I hope I brought enough warm clothing for up there. I am also not sure if I’ve ever been at that high altitude before so I hope I feel OK. But will head up there hopefully get some pretty views because it’s supposed to be a clear day. Go on some sort of suspension bridge walk and go into a glacier cave. And apparently there are a few restaurants up there too. At the end of the tour will swing by Lucerne to pick up the people who didn’t sign up for the tour and then head over to Basel Switzerland to board our boat! 

After a little break at the hotel, we headed back out to a restaurant for dinner that was recommended by our tour guide. It was this cute little place that had traditional Swiss cuisine on the menu was a lot of veal and pork. There were some beef and some freshwater fish. Both Liz and I ended up getting vegetarian options. Mine was some sort of potato hash with vegetables and Liz got a tangerine and mascarpone cheese risotto. After dinner, we headed back through the Christmas markets. Some of the stalls were closing up. But it was still fun to be in the Christmas market vicinity. I ended up stopping by the Portuguese stall at the one Christmas market and getting a pastel de nata. We then headed back to the hotel and we are showering and getting ready for bed and packing up our stuff to get ready for tomorrow!

[hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong]

Century War of the Wyverns Part 7a: Search for the Dragon Slayer

Previous | Contents | Next

"Hopefully this is the start of us writing regularly," haha ha ha. Great joke, past me. I'm putting this first half of the chapter out now just so we have something to show we're still writing (and also to torture people with a cliffhanger.) I swear 7b won't take six months to come out. Unless we get that job offer.

now, for the story! we follow martha's tip about a dragon slaying servant hidden deep in the ruins of lyon, but when we arrive we find jalter's forces were expecting us...

Astolfo skipped merrily through the woods back to their encampment, jauntily humming a song as they went.

Astolfo: Hey everyone! I’m ba~ack! There were so many cool sights in Bourg-en-bresse, I wish you guys weren’t stuck holding down the fort. Or tents, I guess! But now that’s all in the past. Past tents!

April (Cat): So? How’d it go?

Astolfo: It’s just like Martha said. Some knight was protecting Lyon for a while, but then a bunch of creepy people showed up and he disappeared! After that the city got overrun.

Jeanne Lily: Mhm, then we have our next destination. We should head to Lyon for clues about this protector. If he’s still alive, we’ll find something there.

Mash: Let’s get ready to head out, senpai!

April (Cat): Aye aye!

we picked up our gear and headed off to lyon. stolfo sent his griffon on ahead to scout while we all walked on foot. after a while, sieg fell behind to talk to mash.

Sieg: How are you holding up?

Mash: I got plenty of sleep last night, so... well enough, I suppose.

Sieg: That's not what I meant. I can tell you're nervous.

Mash: Is it that obvious? *sigh* To be honest, I don't know if I'm ready for this. I wanted to see the outside world, and I still do, but I worry I won't be enough.

Sieg: I see. I know how you feel- I still don't feel like I did anything worth becoming a servant over.

Sieg glances over at Jeanne Lily, riding on Astolfo's shoulders.

Sieg: But y'know, there's some people worth risking it for.

Mash beams.

Mash: Right! We've gotten this far, so let's give it our all!

--------

Kris: <so, do you think we can trust Martha's advice?>

Jeanne: <I do not see why we wouldn't. She had no reason to lie to us, and it's been corroborated by locals.>

Kris: <she had every reason to lie to us.>

Jeanne: <still, it is our only lead to go on.>

Kris: <I know, I just hate following a tip from someone we were fighting. it feels like we're walking into a trap.>

Jeanne: <It will be okay, dear. We'll be carefu- ow!>

We neared the crest of a hill, and suddenly Mash stopped in front of me. Hitting her shoulder was like walking into a concrete barrier, she didn’t even flinch.

Mash: Oh, sorry Senpai!

April (Jeanne): No, no It’s okay. I wasn’t looking where I was going. What happened?

Mash: We have reached Lyon. It’s… as bad as the other cities were. But there’s something else. An encampment is set up near the city.

Sieg: Those don’t look like refugees, they look like-

Jeanne Lily: The French Army. They must be launching an offensive!

April (Jeanne): Should we go down there and help them?

Jeanne Lily: I don’t… think… so? I’m trying to remember what the army was like, but I just …can’t. But still, something is telling me talking to them would be a mistake.

Dr. Roman: I agree with Jeanne. We should try to avoid changing the timeline as much as possible while we’re here; that means avoiding contact with large groups of people. Try to stay out of the French Ar--s way w--- you ---rch for --------.

As we got closer to the town of Lyon, our connection with Doctor Romani faded, and soon we had nothing but static.

April (Jeanne): If we can’t rely on readings from the doctor, we’ll have to split up. Astolfo, Sieg, you two scout ahead for any signs of life from the air. We’ll stay with Jeanne and Mash and look for them on foot.

Astolfo: On it!

Sieg: Hey, wait I- WOAH!

Astolfo had already pulled Sieg into the saddle of his griffon before he could get another word out. While they were busy searching the skies, we entered the town proper, or what was left of it. The closer we got to the town, the thicker a miasma of horrific energy swirled around us, quickly blocking my ability to “see” entirely. With our connection to Chaldea cut off and my ability to detect magic almost completely gone, we were stuck sifting through rubble by hand.

???: Sing once again with me/ a strange duet…

April (Jeanne): Did you hear something, just now?

Mash: I didn’t hear anything, Senpai. Which direction did- oh! There, I see it, there’s movement in the debris! Jeanne, come help me with this!

They pulled a stone aside, and a strangled gurgling noise arose. Then, from behind us, another. And another to the left. Three more to the right.

Mash: Necromancy!

Jeanne Lily: Sickening! How dare they use the dead like this!

Moans and screams filled the air, but above it all… A song.

???: My power over you/ grows stronger yet…

Such a sweet song, sung right in my ears. Everything else felt… distant. Fuzzy. Like Mash and Jeanne were performing a play, while I sat in the back row.

And then, the curtain dropped.

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

Meanwhile, Mash and Jeanne Lily struggled against the hordes of undead. A single living corpse would be no match for any kind of servant, but there was only so much they could do against so many.

Mash: There’s too many, we can’t even break through to escape! Jeanne, can you try your noble phantasm again?

Jeanne Lily: I’ll try! O Holy Night, a momentary and unstoppable lovely miracle! La Grace Fille Noel!

Nothing happened. Jeanne Lily’s heart sank as her noble phantasm failed to materialize. Just then, a single flurry floated past her face. Then another, and another. A light snowfall began to stick to the ruins around them, and just like before, the Christmas snow burned away the undead, and impure. Soon the horde was nothing more than ash, mixing with the snowflakes on the breeze.

As the zombies disappeared, so too did the static on Mash’s communicator. On the other end, Dr. Romani looked even more frazzled than usual.

Romani: Mash, thank goodness. Do you know where April is?

Mash: What do you mean, Doctor? She’s right-

Suddenly aware of her master's disappearance, Mash frantically searched for her throughout the square. The only response was a faint song echoing through the streets.

[feistypuppythatwantstowatchball]

It's funny: sooo many arsenal stans want Daan to come back desperately and then there are others who can't wait for her to end up in PSV (both cases are mostly because they don't approve of her relationship lol). Come on, they claim to fans but cannot be truly happy for her. She's happy. She's acclimated well in Lyon, loves her teammates, and you can see how much her team, the staff, the club, the supporters love her back. She has expressed that she doesnt want this to be her first and only CL medal. She wants to stay. She wants more and she knows she can do more for the club. Hopefully she ends up being part of Lyon's staff or the Netherlands or any other club she wants to be a part of, but she will leave when she is due to leave.

I want her to come to PSV, BUT not until she is ready to go back. If she can play on Lyons level I want her to stay there, its best for her and for nt. She seems happy and like always everyone loves her so she will be good for her entire stay there, if its one more season or 4 more.

[cutiepisenpai]

Dear Stranger (Spencer Reid x Female OC) Ch.1

Warning: Drug Abuse (mentioned briefly)

August XX, 2004 Dear Stranger, You have not received this letter by mistake. I know this may seem strange since you don't know me and I may be crazy for sending this in the first place. Anyways I've sent this letter because I have been in France for a year and a friend suggested if I was feeling homesick to send a letter to a random person I don't know in my hometown. It’s supposed to be like meeting someone new but who knows the places you know. I don't know if you'll actually send a letter back but here's to hoping. , M

This is the letter Spencer received in the mail today. Random doesn't even begin to describe it but he is intrigued. Considering his work he should be extra cautious but there just something about this letter that seems so genuine. It takes a few days but Spencer he decides to write a letter of his own.

August XX, 2004 Dear M, I am not even sure I should be writing you back, but I am. I am not really sure what I should say but I guess I should start with a bit about myself. I guess the first thing I should let you know is although I currently live in D.C. I am not from here. I'm from Las Vegas and I moved to D.C. for my job. Is that why you are in France, for work? Or are you a student, studying abroad? Sincerely, S

They begin to send more letters back and forth over the course of 2 months. In that time he learns that M's name is actually Melinda Warren and she is in France for work even though he doesn't know exactly what she does. He does know she loves books and architecture, and likes to take photographs. He has received a photo took of the Wiblingen Monastery Library at while in a trip to Germany. In one letter early on he joked about her being a spy and since then all of his letters he addresses her as Agent 007. To counter that nickname she refers to him as Dr. 187. Their letters are sent weekly sharing everything from there week aside from work. Spencer doesn't know how he can feel such a strong connection with a person he's never met.

There relationship continues like this for four years. Weekly letters with the random goings-on in their lives in such a normal part of Spencer life he can't imagine a time without it. In this time he has learned that she isn't close with her father and her mother passed when she was young, the only family she is close with are her maternal grandparent and they live in Connecticut. He shared about his mother's condition and his father leaving and eventually even about Tobias Hankel and his addiction with Dilaudid. He never felt judged by her she did ask many questions but it felt like she only wanted to help. The most surprising thing Spencer learned about Melinda was something they share in common. She was also a child prodigy and had numerous doctorates of her own in psychology, neurobiology, and music composition. She said she knew music made no sense considering her other degrees, but she studied it because of her love of music. Spencer just wishes that one day she will at least visit, since she hasn't ever returned to the U.S. since she moved away.

June XX, 2008 Dear Dr. 187 I hope you are doing well. I regret to inform you this will be the last letter you receive for some time. But please do not be upset, this is good news. I'm finishing up my final job here in France and will be heading back to the U.S. soon hopefully in the D.C. area so we can finally meet. Since I don't know exactly where I'll be don't write me back just yet. I'll send you another letter as soon as I can. Take care and you'll hear from me soon. ❤ always, Melinda

Spencer received this letter nearly 3 weeks ago and had yet to hear anything else from Melinda. He was beginning to worry that she may have already forgotten him, that he may never receive another letter from her again. He's become strangely attached to this letter keeping it with him rereading it constantly believing that there may be hidden context he missed. He's currently waiting in the BAU room so enthralled in the letter again he doesn't notice Morgan coming up behind him. "Watcha got there pretty boy, a love letter?". This question makes Spencer so flustered he starts flailing his hands saying it's not like that. By now JJ, Emily, And Penelope have all showed up and are now curious. "Pretty Boy here has a secret girlfriend he never told us about." Spencer still flustered, "It's not like that. She's not my girlfriend she just a friend and I've never even met her in person." This statement gets some concerned looks from all of them, but Penelope is the first one to say anything, "So you're "friends" with someone you've never met? You hunt serial killers for a living and this didn't seem suspicious or dangerous at all? Did you even look up her name in the database to make sure she isn't some sort of crazy unsub? Or ya know if she is a real person?" Spencer didn't like them thinking you could possibly be an unsub or some crazy stalker. "She's isn't crazy! And I don't need to look her up in the database." The team share another look before Morgan grabs the envelope from Spencer and passing it to Penelope. Now holding Spencer back, "It's for your own good." Penelope types in the name on the envelope and 1 result comes up which she clicks immediately. On the screen appears Dr. Melinda Lynn Warren along with her photo. She is beautiful long dark brown hair, sapphire blue eyes, freckles on her cheeks and beaming smile. Spencer has tried to imagine what she would look like but seeing her beauty was indescribable. Even the other team members are shocked. Before anyone can say anything Hotch appears, "What are you doing?" "Checking out Spencer's secret girlfriend." Penelope beams. Hotch gives them all a stern look before saying, " I don't think that's such a good idea." But before they can take the photo down, they all turn hearing an unfamiliar voice. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen my own face on a screen so big." All except for Hotch are surprised to see the face they were just looking at on the screen right in front of them. Melinda walks in with Rossi taking a seat on the other side near Hotch. Hotch clears his throat," Everyone this is Dr. Melinda Warren coming from Interpol's Lyon office, she will be joining the team starting today and also serving as a temporary replacement for JJ one she goes on maternity leave." Before Hotch can get further with introductions Rossi chimes in, "She is also my favorite God daughter and here because I asked her to be so don't mess with her. I'm not going to do anything though she is more than capable of handling herself." Everyone mutters a welcome to the team except for Spencer, who hasn't stopped staring since she walked into the room. As Hotch goes around introducing everyone, lastly Spencer. His name catches Melinda's attention and her gaze stays on him just a little too long. During the briefing Rossi leans over to whisper, " Is there something going on with you two we should know about?" Melinda whispers back, "It's complicated and I'd rather not discuss that here with you, plus we should probably be focusing on the case." Although she was definitely not focused on a word JJ was saying she was trying to steady her breath and stop herself from looking over towards Spencer. The last thing she expected coming to the BAU was meeting him. She always thought of him as possibly being a professor or a researcher, but she for sure didn't think he would be a profiler. Melinda is so engrossed in her own thoughts she zones out on most of the briefing only to focus we she hears Hotch say," wheels up in 30." As everyone begins to shuffle out both Melinda and Spencer hang back. Once everyone is out of earshot the silence is uncomfortable and the tension is thick. Melinda is the first to speak, "Sorry, I don't want you to think I'm some sort of crazy stalker. I really didn't know you would be here otherwise I would have said something earlier." She can feel blush creeping up her neck and covering her ears, all of which were thankfully covered. Now it's Spencer's turn to say something but he didn't even know where to begin,"I.. I don't think you're crazy, this situation is crazy sure but not you. And I wasn't looking into earlier I've never actually tried to find out more than you would tell me. I wanted to hear if from you. I was just so fixated on your last letter its been a while and was worried that you wouldn't send another. Then they all showed up and they saw the letter and started pestering me about talking to someone I've never met and all the possibilities..."He was talking a mile a minute, luckily Melinda could keep up but she cut him off, pulling 3 envelopes out of her purse and hands them to him. "Sorry about that, the move has been so hectic I didn't want to lose them before I could mail them I kept them in my purse haven't had a chance to get U.S. postage." Her explanation leaves them in another awkward silence until she begins again." I am really happy to be meeting you finally, although I was hoping for something less awkward." To this Spencer can only nod in agreement. "Maybe once this case is over we can go get coffee and go to a bookstore?" Spencer offers. Melinda breaks out in an ear to ear smile. "I would like that." They had out together, perhaps becoming random pen pals with a strange isn't such a bad idea.

[fallout-drabbles-n-stuff]

Elder Maxson as a father Headcanons

Maxson always knew that he’d have to have children and the sooner the better but..when he watched you, his sentinel, his love, bring his babies into the world- the reality of it hit him like a ton of bricks. He was a father now.

Arthur reflects back onto his own childhood, trying to remember everything he possibly could that would hopefully prepare him for how to act around his own kids but nothing quite seemed to be of any help. His own father died before he even got to meet the man..his mother was a brief memory, the closest thing he had was Elder Owen Lyons and the tons of soldiers that cared for him. As such, Maxson silently made a vow one night, his baby in his arms, he promised the peacefully sleeping child that he would be there for them no matter what. Promised to not ever allow them to wonder if they’re actually loved and not just some pawn in a picture that was so much grander than them.

Due to his upbringing though, you can expect Arthur to pretty strict dad. However because of his blatant inexperience, all it takes is his children to give him a big puppy dog eyed pout and whatever they want is theirs.

Every once in a while he’ll lay down in bed with you, look you in the eyes and ask if he’s doing this whole parenting thing right. These times are the ones that Arthur is especially vulnerable.

He’s a very serious leader, but you can still expect to see him giving Shaun and his baby piggy back rides around the prydwen. No one dares say anything about either.

Though it’s with great reluctance, Arthur eventually enlists his children into the ranks- giving them the best training he has to offer, and a permanent home even if something somehow happened to you and him.

It isn’t much, but you and him can both rest just a little bit easier knowing that your children will have access to reliable healthcare and clean water/food, that was more than could be said for most children growing up in the wastes.

Has considered cutting off his beard a couple of times when your baby was little because of their habit of pulling on it. Speaking of them being a baby, on multiple occasions you’ve heard Arthur speak to them in the “cutesy” voice.

You are likely to become the “bad guy” when it comes to discipline. What? Just because he’s the commander of a whole army doesn’t mean that he’ll reign over your children with the same intensity. Already mentioned he’s a big softie.

He feels pretty bad whenever work takes you and him away from “family time” with the kids, as such he’ll pull as many strings as he possibly can considering his position in order to make up for some of the missed time.

Birthdays and Christmas time are big, and I mean huge, events through the whole ship just because of his babies. All the squires rejoice..but even his own babies still have to get up at dawn the next day for their training regiment.

Captain Kells seems to be the designated baby sitter despite his equally busy schedule, he’s one of the few Arthur actually trusts anyway.

Speaking of trust, if you spared Danse and one day come up with the idea of taking your children out in the wastes..well let’s just say Arthur easily connects the dots and is not very happy with you when you come back. Once you two talk it out though, he admits he was more scared of not being there with his children to protect them- still refusing to believe that Danse won’t somehow “flip a switch” and turn on you.

Regardless, he soon warms up to the idea of bringing the children out for family picnics on Nordhagen Beach, the same beach that has been the setting for innumerable dates the two of you went on. Soon enough it becomes tradition to go to the beach at least twice a month with the kids.

The first time one of the kids loses a tooth Arthur flips out.

Doesn’t admit it at first but he orders scribes to go collect “specimens” that end up being old pre war toys- to the point that your children have tons of teddy bears and other knick knacks

When it comes down to it, Arthur may be a little bit of a pushover but he’ll do anything in his power to make sure his kids know they are loved by him.

[writingwithcolor]

Find your next diverse read! (WWC Reader Publications)

We asked you to tell us about your publications to have it featured on our page, so here we are! These are the ten (10) books submitted to us written by Writing With Color readers. Thank you for sharing your lovely diverse works. Folks who missed out on this shout-out or haven’t had their works released just yet, look out for more submit requests in the future! 

Book Titles 

The Apprentice Sorceress

Change of Address

Eight Secret Nights

Firebreed

Illusive: Need vs Want

Inspired

The Language of Flowers

Rescues and the Rhyssa

The Sleeping Seer

The Unlikely Tale of the Royal Elite Squad

Book Descriptions

Title: The Apprentice Sorceress

Author: E.D. Walker | @beth-a-saurus

Series: Yes. Stand-alone Series.

Buy: Amazon | Goodreads

Premise: A lady would never practice magic…until now. Using magic could destroy her reputation, but denying her powers could get her killed.

Themes/Elements: Orphans, nobility, fake relationship, a ball

Main Character (MC) Race/Ethnicity: Mixed Race - Black and White

Other Diversity: Trans boy love interest

Title: Change of Address

Author: Jordan Brock | @anauthorandherservicedog

Series: No

Buy: Goodreads | Amazon 

Premise: Disabled veteran Michael Baldwin retreats to his family’s vacation home with his service dog, Kaylee, intending to rebuild his life without giving in to his father’s political ambitions. On his first day there, he discovers the local bagel shop – and proprietor Josh Goldberg. Letting someone in is a tall order for two men who can’t trust themselves, but if they have any hope of a future together, that’s exactly what they’ll need to do.

Themes/Elements: Romance

MC Background: Michael (white), Josh (white, Jewish, adopted, ownvoices)

Other Diversity: Queer (gay, bisexual), Jewish family (ownvoices), mental illness (PTSD, anxiety, service dog, ownvoices; also aphasia and dyslexia), physical disability (traumatic brain injury), weight (fat character, insecurity but no fat-shaming, ownvoices)

Title: Eight Secret Nights (short story)

Author: Shoshana David | @rosefyrefyre

Series:  No

Buy: Books 2 Read

Premise: Someone’s been leaving Hanukkah presents on Mara’s doorstep.  Sweet presents – thoughtful presents.  Hopefully her secret admirer is the cute guy who moved in next door and not the creep from 7A.

Themes/Elements: Romance, Secret Admirer, Hanukkah

MC Background: Jewish, White

Title: Firebreed

Author: Aviendha Rounds | @lady-of-the-summer-court

Series: Yes

Buy: Amazon

Premise: The twins Amber and Ember find themselves thrust into a world on the brink of civil war.

Themes/Elements: Young adult, War, coming of age, super rad sword fights, fantasy and sci fi

MC Race: Filipino

Other Characters: Japanese, African American, Mexican

Other Diversity: LGBT characters, mental illness

Title: Illusive: Need vs Want (Novella)

Author: By Celeste-Marie Lyon @celeste-marie-lyon

Series: Book 1 in The Illusive Series (Book 2 is available also)

Buy: Amazon | Nook | Smashwords

Premise: Alyssa was on a well-deserved vacation when she met the lead singer of Djed. The two hit it off immediately but is there more to their attraction? Will Alyssa let down her guard and give Marcu a chance? There may be something stronger than chemistry drawing them together.

Themes/Elements: Romance, Erotica

MC Race: Black

R/E Others: White/Sicilian, Asian

Title: Inspired

Author: Danielle E. Shipley | @outlawsofavalon

Series: Yes; 2 novels, 1 flash fic, and 1 journal published, so far.

Buy: Amazon

Premise: An author’s sudden death means her characters need to find a replacement writer to be their home and tell their stories. 16-year-old Annabelle could be just what they’re looking for. …if she can put in the work to one exacting muse’s satisfaction.

Themes/Elements: The art of writing; imaginary friends; multiple planes of realty; stories within stories

MC Race: Annabelle = African American

Other Characters: Apart from Annabelle and her family, no human* races/ethnicities are specified (*fantastic races like light elemental and cat god, though present and hella awesome, don’t count)

Other Diversity: Both Annabelle and character Uri identify as asexual

Title: The Language of Flowers

Author: Christina Rose Andrews | @christinaroseandrews

Series: No

Buy: Books2Read

Premise: Afghanistan vet and new teacher, Cole Visser, never expected to find himself teaching at his old high school. Which is why when he runs into his old college girlfriend, Zara, and her cute-as-a-button daughter, Angelica, Cole’s life turns on its head. How is he going to reconcile his feelings for the one who got away while trying to build a relationship with his newly discovered daughter?

Themes/Elements: Romance, Second Chance Romance, Teachers

MC Race: White

Other Characters: Hispanic/White Bi-racial.

Other Diversity: LGBTQIA+, disability, mental illness, etc.) Main character is an amputee with PTSD, Love Interest has Depression

Title: Rescues and the Rhyssa

Author: TS Porter | @ts-porter

Series: No

Buy: Goodreads

Premise: Cadan is the king of Nidum star system’s favorite weapon, and his beloved cousin. Her sometimes-lover and main annoyance Sophi captains a smuggler ship. When the king’s children are kidnapped, Cadan knows only Sophi has the skills to help her get them back before full war breaks out.

Themes/Elements: Lesbians IN SPACE, aliens, antagonistic relationship to romance, family both found and blood, love in many permutations

MC Race: Black

Other Races: Chinese diaspora

Other Diversity: Lesbians, Trans characters, Disabled characters, Nonbinary characters, Muslim characters, Polyamorous characters

Title: The Sleeping Seer

Author: Morgan Blue Malory | @morganbluemalory

Series: Yes

Buy: Amazon

Premise: Siblings Luke and Ellie Kakiro are the last surviving members of an ancient line of seers. Armed only with their late mother’s journal to teach them control over a perilous and oftentimes forbidden gift, the two become the target of complex hidden societies and forces not entirely human. Entangled with Lilith, a complicated woman trapped in the modern world and on the run from the same enemies, and aided by Viper Insane, an all-women street-racing gang, the Kakiro siblings journey across the country—and sometimes between worlds—in search of the secrets behind their mother’s research.

Themes/Elements: modern fantasy, magic & tarot, family, the first generation experience, mental illness worsened/complicated by magic, moral dilemmas, society, girl gangs

MC Race: Mixed - Puerto Rican, White, and Middle Eastern/North African Diaspora

Other Characters: Colombian, Mixed - White, Middle Eastern/North African Diaspora

Other Diversity: Bisexual main character, LGBTQIA+ major secondary characters; mentally ill main character & major secondary character

Title: The Unlikely Tale of the Royal Elite Squad

Author: D.A. Alston | @da-alston

Series: Yes

Buy:  Amazon | Character Artwork 

Premise: It’s a coming of age tale about 4 young and very different girls who get paired together for a science fair project. Something goes wrong and they end up blowing up their school. The series follows them afterwards as they try to pick up the pieces of their lives, manage new friendships, juggle school, maneuver through family drama all while discovering new abilities.

Themes/Elements: Superhero, Friendship, Diversity, Life skills

MC Race: Cuban/Puerto Rican , African American , Caucasian , and Pakistani

Other Characters: Creole

Other Diversity: Muslim, Plus size

If you enjoy any of these books, let us know here so the author can see! Also please leave a review on goodreads, amazon, etc. 

WWC Reader Publications - Spring 2019

[gaymirajane]

- heart shaped things

Chelia has a favourite bakery, but it has nothing to do with the bread, 

Chelia x Wendy / Lyon x Jellal - Bakery AU - 5 / 29

for @j-ellals​

It was her brother that had found the bakery, and her brother who had first spotted the shy young girl kneading bread behind the counter.

“She’s watching you again.” Lyon grinned, nudging Chelia suggestively, and even through her blush she managed to roll her eyes at her brother.

Since being introduced to the bakery, Chelia had visited on her own many times to read, eat cake, and hopefully catch a glimpse of the blue-haired girl who worked there, but every time Chelia tried to instigate a conversation the other girl ran away. It hurt, and yet she kept coming back, could not even pretend to stay away.

“Leave her alone.” Her brother’s boyfriend rested his hand on her arm from across the table. Jellal was a serious man of few words, which helped since Chelia knew that her brother always had plenty to say. “You have to trust the process, Chelia. Believe in beginnings.”

Before Chelia could reply, a girl of around her age approached their table. She had wavy white hair and wore an adorable headband decorated with cat ears, but her eyes were pulled down in a scowl.

“This is for you.” She threw a plate down in front of Chelia before turning to point at the blue-haired girl peering from behind the counter. “Wendy made them especially. Enjoy.”

At the mere mention of her name, Wendy helped and scuttled away into the back of the shop. With a sigh the other girl followed, and Chelia was left stunned and confused, staring at a plate of food which she had not ordered. There were pancakes cut into the shape of hearts, smothered in butter and syrup and sprinkles. With there only being enough for one portion, the intent was clear. As Lyon began to rant about the blossoming of first love, Chelia tuned him out and focused on Jellal’s advice instead. She would trust the process, follow this road until the end, and hoped that Wendy’s kisses were as sweet as the pancakes she had made.

[ft-dads-au]

Come Into Bloom

Femslash Fairies 2020 Prompt: Flower Shop Pairing: Erza x Mirajane A Collaboration by @mdelpin​ and @oryu404​ AO3 | FF.Net September 25, 2021

“It’s getting pretty crowded out there,” Sherry commented to Erza as she looked out the shop window.

“Hopefully, that will be good for us,” Erza mumbled as she worked on another corsage, this one a pretty combination of lavender and pink flowers.

They were right in the middle of Fantasia, the biggest flower holiday of the year. Unlike Valentine’s Day, which was mostly targeted at lovers, Fantasia was meant for everyone. It was just as likely for a father to give a token to his children, as to his partner, or even his own parents.

Erza had already made Natsu's order that morning, a beautiful flower crown for Hana, as well as a large bouquet for Gray. Atlas, Aki and the twins were getting some flower-shaped cookies that Mira and Elfman had baked and decorated for the boys the previous night as they were a little too young to appreciate flowers.

“Isn’t it about time for Mira to get here?” Sherry asked her employer, smiling as Erza’s hands immediately went to her hair.

“Oh yes, you’re right,” Erza looked back down at her work table not wanting to give away her agitation.

“It’s so nice that you two make a habit of having lunch together every Saturday,” Sherry enthused, with hearts in her eyes. “Are you getting her something for Fantasia?”

“I uhm, hadn’t thought about it,” Erza lied, not wanting to admit that she had spent hours trying to devise the perfect bouquet of flowers. One that would let Mira know once and for all how she felt about her, but with all the orders she needed to fill plus walk-ins, there had been no time. It was only her and Sherry, and she couldn’t afford to hire more employees.

She’d started working at Rose of Yūen during her college days, and once she’d graduated, she’d bought it from the elderly couple who had owned it. It was her pride and joy, but it also took up a lot of her time, the rest of which was usually claimed by her brother and niece and nephew.

Which is how she had ended up pining for the same woman for years and finding multiple excuses to do nothing about it.

The tinkling of the shop’s door alerted them to a visitor, and Sherry went to help their customer, knowing that Erza was about to go on her lunch break. Erza smiled, remembering the special order she had hidden in her office cooler. Ren Akatsuki, Sherry’s husband, would be by to pick it up as soon as Sherry went on her own break.

That was one of the things she loved about having the shop. Most of the time, she got to see the best in people. The shy teenage boy anxiously looking for a corsage for his first date, the elderly couples that were still madly in love with each other even after a lifetime together and everything in between.

There was Rogue Eucliffe who special ordered flowers from Edolas, to give his husband a taste of his home country. And Alzack Connell, who bought flowers for both his wife and daughter at least once a month and would probably stop in today.

Even couples who were rekindling a love thought lost long ago. Silver Fullbuster and Gildarts Clive were probably some of her favorite customers, always coming in full of boisterous insults towards the other, yet the love in their eyes was unmistakable.

In fact, it seemed like everyone around her was either in love or starting a relationship. Even her brother, who had unexpectedly become a widower last year, had already found someone. While Erza remained forever alone.

She was done with that though, after spending the last eight years building up her business and helping Natsu get back on his feet, it was time to do something for herself. To stop pining for her best friend and try her own hand at love. If she didn’t do something soon someone was likely to whisk Mira off her feet, and she’d have no one to blame but herself.

It was while she was lost in these thoughts that Erza felt a soft tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Mira smiling at her, “You always get so lost in your flowers. I’m gonna go set these up in your office, okay?”

Mira moved towards the office without waiting for Erza's approval, a bag of food from Fairy Tail in each hand. When she noticed Erza wasn’t following, she called behind her, “Hurry up, I brought you a surprise, but if you make me wait too long, I’ll eat it myself!”

Erza put her tools down and scrambled, knowing there was a good chance the surprise was strawberry cake, and she wasn’t about to give that up.

Her office wasn’t very large, but there was enough room for her desk and chair, a watercooler and a small round table with two plastic chairs. Mira had already set out the food, rolling her eyes when Erza’s eyes were already on the two slices of cake that were visible inside a clear plastic container. “How you don’t weigh 300 pounds, I’ll never know,” Mira giggled.

Erza ignored the comment, digging into the chicken pot pie Mira had brought. “Mhmm, this is really good!” she complimented, closing her eyes to savor all the different flavors.

“Yeah, I remembered it was your favorite. I changed the recipe up a little, made it lighter, and the crust a little flakier.”

“Whatever you did, it’s amazing!”

“You really are as bad as Natsu, just as messy too,” Mira laughed fondly, grabbing a napkin from the bag and handing it to Erza, who had sauce dripping down her chin, before taking a bite from her own dish.

“Have you been very busy today with Fantasia?” Mira asked curiously.

“Yeah, a lot of walk-ins, lots of special requests too,” Erza replied, continuing to eat, “What about you guys?”

“It’s still a little early for the drinking crowd, but the restaurant was pretty busy, they had Natsu subbing in for a waiter that called in sick, at least until the bar needs him back. That was uhm, interesting,” Mira’s eyes twinkled with mirth, “Good thing he’s an excellent bartender.”

She leaned forward in her chair, curious as always, “What kinds of special requests?”

“Well, different flowers can mean different things, it’s almost like a language all its own. Like those flowers that Rogue gets for Sting? Those mean everlasting love.”

“Why am I not surprised? Those two are sickening,” Mira snorted, “Is there one that means I really kind of just like you as a friend?”

“Well, there’s yellow roses, they’re not associated with romance. Oh, and alstroemeria,” Erza recited, clarifying when she saw Mira’s blank expression,” It’s a type of lily.”

She got up and opened one of her desk drawers, grabbing a book and bringing it back to the table. She looked through it until she found a picture of the flower she had mentioned and showed it to Mira.

It was a beautiful flower that came in a variety of bright colors, with center petals that had contrasting stripes. Mira studied the picture, and it’s given description curiously, but her attention was soon drawn by other flowers on the page.

"Wow, I never knew that there was so much symbolism behind flowers," she mused as she turned the page, "It’s a lot more complicated than I’d thought.” She looked up at Erza, a devious smirk on her lips and a twinkle of mischief in her eyes that Erza found really adorable, but also a tad bit troubling. “Hey, are there any flowers that have an offensive meaning?”

Erza snorted, immediately thinking about the first time Gildarts had come to her shop with a similar question, “Look up yellow carnations.”

“Disappointment and rejection? Ouch!” Mira giggled, and the sound translated into butterflies in Erza’s stomach. “So, do you know all of these by heart?”

“I know most of them, but there are so many variations, and each color often has its own meaning-”

Before Erza had the chance to get lost in the passion she had for her job, she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Erza, I’m sorry to disrupt your lunch, but do you think you could come out here for a few minutes? There are several customers and another special order,” Sherry looked apologetic.

While slightly disappointed, Erza didn’t mind too much, she’d already known it was probably going to be a busy day.

“I’m sorry, I’ll try to hurry,” Erza apologized to Mira, wiping her face with the napkin before getting up from the table and rushing out the door, a smile already on her face.

Mira continued eating, grabbing the book Erza had left on the table and flipping through its pages, the beginnings of an idea blooming in her mind.

Erza never returned to finish her lunch, and eventually, Mira had to go back to work, so she cleaned up, putting Erza’s food in her small fridge and leaving both pieces of cake for her to eat later.

Mira hurried to the door waving goodbye to both Sherry and Erza on her way out.

0-0

It had been a long day, both Erza and Sherry had been going nonstop, although Erza insisted Sherry take her break if only so she could get Ren his flowers.

They had sold out of everything in the refrigerators and had to scramble to replenish them. Erza felt like she had seen just about everyone in town. Loke came in to get corsages and flower crowns for his daughters, and a small bouquet for Lucy.

Silver and Gildarts had come in with Rogue and the kids, along with an order from Gray for Natsu. Lyon had surprised both her and Sherry by coming in to get something for Chelia. That had probably been her favorite moment of the day, watching the usually stoic Lyon acting nervous and awkward as he tried to find something special for the daughter he’d just discovered he had.

Almost as lovely as watching Sherry help him pick something Chelia would like. Alzack, Macao, Warren, Cana, Juvia, the list went on and on. About the only person she hadn’t seen was Sting.

Almost as if on cue, Sting raced in, hair disheveled, breathing in gasps and eyeing her worriedly, “Am I too late?”

“You’re fine,” Erza assured him, “We don’t close for another hour.”

“Oh, good. Rogue has the car, and I had to run here from the hospital.”

“The hospital?” Erza’s eyes widened in disbelief, “You’re an idiot, you should have taken a taxi or something.”

“No, there’s a ton of traffic, they’re starting to close off the streets for tonight’s events.”

“I see,” She went into her office returning with a folding chair and a cup of water. ”Sit.”

“Now, what nauseatingly romantic thing are you wanting this time?” she teased.

“Well, Rogue’s playing his first gig tonight since forever,” Sting’s eyes blazed with pride, “So here’s what I was thinking.”

And as he began telling her what he wanted, she wasn’t disappointed. They chatted as she worked on Rogue’s flowers, and when the phone rang, Sherry answered it.

“Alright, I’ll give her your order, thanks!” Sherry spoke into the phone, “What’s that? Oh, yeah, got it! Don’t forget Hana’s flower crown, okay. No, he already paid for that as well as Gray’s arrangement. Thanks, Mira!”

“What do you think?” Erza showed Sting her finished arrangement, and his wide grin made her smile wistfully. She handed the flowers over and reminded Sherry to give him the frequent customer/family discount.

“Are you going to meet with us later?” Sting peered at her from behind the enormous bouquet, which Erza already knew Rogue was going to have a hard time moving around with. Hopefully, they’d thought to bring the stroller.

“I’m not sure yet, I have to go to Fairy Tail to drop off Natsu’s stuff, I’ll decide then.”

“Does that mean you’ll decide when you know whether Mira is going?” Sting regarded her with a knowing grin. “Seriously, Erza, are you ever going to do something? Your brother has discovered a whole new sexuality in the time it’s taken you to make a move.”

“Go away, Sting,” Erza muttered in annoyance but mostly because she knew he was right.

“Well, I hope you come,” Sting entreated, “it will be fun to have everyone together.” He struggled to balance the flowers in one arm as he paid for them and then left, nearly missing the door and walking into the wall because of the obstructed view.

Erza shook her head as she watched him leave, reminded of how similar he sometimes was to her brother. Filled with enthusiasm and energy, a bit silly, but with a good heart. They were also amazingly devoted partners, which was reflected in their grand romantic gestures.

How she’d wanted to do something special for Mira, she thought sadly. Maybe there was still time! But before she could give it any real thought, Sherry had given her the order she’d taken over the phone. It was for Mirajane Strauss.

Erza read the names of the flowers listed on the order again: red tulips, red roses, gardenias, and amaryllis. She scrunched up her face in distaste at the combination.

“You’re sure these are the flowers she wanted?” she challenged.

“Yep, she was especially adamant about the red tulips,” Sherry informed her.

Red tulips, red roses, gardenias, and amaryllis. Four species of flowers that looked so vastly different from each other that Erza wasn’t even sure she could combine them into an arrangement that would actually be aesthetically pleasing. But it was for Mira, so she was going to give it her absolute best.

It was for Mira.

Wait a second… Erza listed the order in her head once again with growing anxiety. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Mira had requested these flowers after she’d been looking in that book Erza had shown her during lunch break. They all referred to deep love, affection, and attraction. It was a love confession hastily pieced together in flower meanings.

Shit! Erza’s heart pounded in her chest, the fear that she might have waited too long making her feel light-headed. Who were these flowers for? Erza wracked her brain to think of anyone Mira might have mentioned recently. Mira worked at Fairy Tail, she got hit on constantly, but she usually just laughed it off.

They’d both dated people casually over the years, but it never lasted long, and they always returned to their comfortable camaraderie, laughing at how there was no one out there for them. Although in Erza’s case, what she really meant was there’s no one out there for me but you.

She reviewed the meanings in her head.

Red tulips - a declaration of love, perfect love

Red roses - the most classic of all expressions of love, a child could tell you what it meant.

Gardenias- a symbol of purity and sweetness

Amaryllis - splendid beauty

Every one of these flowers was like a stab to her heart.

“Did uhm, did she say she was picking these up herself?”

“No, she asked that you bring it to Fairy Tail along with Natsu’s stuff,” Sherry answered moving towards the back of the shop, where they kept overstock and orders they didn’t want to be mixed in with sale items, “I’m going to get his things from the back now.”

“Ah, okay, thank you,” Erza muttered, gripping the edges of the table tightly.

“Are you okay?” Sherry hovered over her in concern.

“I’m fine, just a little tired,” Erza smiled weakly.

“Do you want me to take over?”

“No!” Erza replied quickly, “It’s for Mira, I should be the one to do it.”

Sherry didn’t look convinced by her assurances, but she went into Erza’s office, returning with a glass of water and the box containing the cakes Mira had left for her. “Here, eat something, you never even finished your lunch. I’ll go pick the flowers, and you can arrange them, alright?”

Erza nodded gratefully, sitting down on the chair she had brought out for Sting. She opened the container, eating her cake but for once, finding no joy in it. She still managed to eat both pieces by the time Sherry came back, arms laden with the requested flowers.

“I’m going to lock the door. Otherwise, we’ll never be able to leave,” Sherry called over her shoulder.

Erza didn’t answer, already busy with the flowers on her work table. Well, there was nothing she could do; if Mira had given her heart to another, then she would just have to accept it. Mira deserved all the happiness in the world. They would still be friends and aunts to Natsu’s children.

She would make Mira the most beautiful bouquet that could possibly be made with these flowers, and she would even add her own well wishes to it.

“Sherry? Can you get me some red peonies, please?”

“Just a minute, I’m getting Natsu’s order.”

Erza arranged and rearranged, not satisfied with her efforts. She jumped when Sherry arrived with the flowers she’s asked for.

“More red?” Sherry wrinkled her nose in distaste, “Are you sure that’s what you want? That bouquet does not exactly scream love.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what it’s screaming,” Erza disagreed, showing her the piece of paper that she’d scribbled the order on. “The red peonies are to wish her luck.”

“Oh! Oh,” Sherry frowned, realizing what Erza was saying. She was about to say something else when there was a tapping on the door. A quick peek showed Ren and Chelia waiting for her outside.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Sherry asked in a soft voice, “I can ask them to come back later.”

“Nonsense, go have fun with your family, I’ll see you on Monday!”

Sherry didn’t look convinced, but she gave Erza a hug, letting herself out and locking the door from the outside.

With no one left to act tough for, Erza let her tears flow as she continued to work, arranging and rearranging once again until she was satisfied.

0-0

Mira stood next to Natsu, both trying to stay on top of all the customers that had flooded the bar. She was growing increasingly nervous the closer it got to the end of her shift, knowing Erza would show up any minute. She’d bungled up more orders than she could count, having to resort to shameless flirting to keep from getting in trouble. Noticing her state, Natsu took pity on her, asking her to prep fruit for him while he handled the drink orders.

“It’s gonna be fine,” he assured her with one of his smiles, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze before moving on to a customer that was calling for his attention.

For most people, being handed a knife while they were in turmoil was a terrible idea, but for Mira, who had a knife in hand as often as not, it was fine. The repetitive action of cutting the lemons, limes, and oranges needed for drink garnishes was relaxing.

When she’d arrived back at work from her interrupted lunch with Erza, she had been excited about her idea. She’d written down the names of a bunch of flowers and their meanings, trying to construct a love confession in a language Erza would be sure to understand.

A few hours later, she had been wavering, scared that maybe she’d been reading the signals wrong all these years. If she went through with her plan, she would only be exposing herself to heartbreak and ruining the beautiful friendship she and Erza had worked so hard to sustain over the years.

There had always been so many reasons for Mira not to start anything. At first, it had been because they hadn’t exactly hit it off in the beginning. Then, when that had changed, it was because she was trying to sort out the mess Elfman had gotten himself into, especially after it had caused Lisanna to run away in fear. To Edolas, where she was followed by Natsu, and about two years later, they got married.

It had felt awkward to ask Erza out once they were linked by family, so Mira had dated others instead, trying to distance herself from the love and attraction she felt for Erza. None of them had worked out. Her heart just hadn’t been in them, and when the years hadn’t worn down her feelings one bit, she’d begun to think maybe it was time to take a chance.

But then Lisanna had died, and Mira had been grieving and trying to be there for Natsu, who was clearly falling apart. It was a new excuse but one that felt valid. After all, if she acted now and things didn’t work out between them, it would affect Hana and Atlas, which wasn’t fair to them. The last thing they needed was for their aunts, who each fulfilled a part of a female role model they missed so deeply, to be the cause of uncomfortable tensions.

Sharing babysitting duties with Erza and helping raise the kids had been fun, bringing them even closer together, but also filling Mira’s head with visions of what it might be like if the kids they were taking care of were theirs instead.

But it had been watching Natsu find love again with Gray that had truly sparked her to want to make her own move. If Gray, who had just come out of what was arguably the worst relationship ever, was willing to take a chance on a Dragneel, then why not her? And if Natsu, whose whole life had been turned upside down when he lost his wife granted himself another shot at love, then why shouldn’t she?

It felt right. Maybe that was just Mira's inner hopeless romantic speaking, but it spoke loud and clear, and she was done ignoring it. Besides, they had both turned thirty that year. Not that Mira felt old or anything, but she sure as hell wasn’t getting any younger either. She’d been looking forward to starting a family of her own for so long now. All she needed was someone amazing to start it with.

And Erza was amazing. She was smart, beautiful, and kind, and she had this awkward vulnerability that was incredibly endearing. Which was not to say that Mira wasn’t aware of her faults, like her stubbornness, and her fiery temper.

Mira knew that Erza wasn’t perfect, she was just perfect for her.

It had been Natsu who had encouraged her to make the call, telling her she would never know if she didn’t try, and Fantasia was a perfect occasion. He’d looked over the flowers she had jotted down, making his own suggestions.

“Here, do these. There’s no way she could mistake it,” Natsu assured her.

“How can you be so sure?” Mira asked, eyebrow raised in question.

“Because they all clash horribly in a mess of red that no sane person would ever like,” Natsu’s eyes crinkled with merriment.

Mira stared at him in disbelief and then began to laugh, “Is that what you did with Gray?”

“No, we were just honest with each other, but you two suck at that so gaudy bouquet it is!”

Mira had swatted at him playfully, but she had to admit he was right, she and Erza never seemed to be able to tell each other how they felt about each other, always tiptoeing around anything that might upset the balance they had achieved.

So she had made the call, relieved to hear Sherry’s cheerful voice answer the phone and now there was nothing left to do except wait.

Mira had sliced enough fruit to keep the night shift bartenders going through their entire shift, and still, Erza hadn’t arrived. She could see Makarov and Porlyusica already waiting outside with Atlas, Hana, and Wendy. Had she been held up at the shop?

A few minutes later, there was an unmistakable flash of scarlet, and she could see Erza talking to her foster parents, arms full of packages, with both kids latching on to her excitedly.

“You ready to go?” Natsu asked, signaling the end of their shift.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose,” Mira sighed, the natural confidence she usually exuded escaping her for once.

Natsu snickered and grabbed her hand, pulling her behind him as he weaved his way out of the crowded bar and to their waiting family. They were the last to arrive, and Mira was pleased to see that Gray had joined them, even if he was wearing a cap and large sunglasses. Elfman had made it too. Natsu let go of her hand, heading to Erza and asking for his purchases.

Once Erza had finished helping Natsu, she turned towards Mira. “I brought your order too, even added a touch of red peonies for luck,” she chirped with a fake cheerfulness that confused Mira, as she accepted the bouquet she had ordered.

She examined the flowers in her hand and immediately saw what Natsu had meant. As much as Erza had obviously tried to make the flowers she had requested look as appealing as possible, it was a cacophony of contrasting reds, loud and garish. Those flowers had no business being together. And apparently, Erza had felt the need to add her own touch to the mix, yet another red flower.

What the heck? Red peonies for luck? What did she need luck for?

Erza refused to meet her eyes, and if it hadn’t been for that odd phrase, Mira would have expected some yellow carnations in her future. When she looked at her more closely, Mira saw that Erza’s eyes were puffy as if she’d been crying recently.

Did something happen?

“Luck?” Mira blinked owlishly, trying to understand what was going through Erza’s mind.

“Yes, for you. So that you get the answer you want from whoever you give those to,” Erza managed an awkward smile that tore at Mira’s heart as she finally put two and two together.

“Whoever I give them to?” A laugh escaped her before she could stop it. The hilarity of the situation too much for her to handle. Here she’d thought she’d been as brazen as could be, and all she’d accomplished was to make Erza think they were for someone else.

Erza didn’t seem to know how to react to Mira’s outburst. She peered at her before once again looking down.

“They’re for you, you dummy,” Mira wiped her eyes, trying to ignore the fact that everyone in their group was staring at them with either curious eyes or knowing smiles.

“F-for me?” Erza stammered, her face turning as bright red as her hair once she realized her mistake. A tentative smile crossed her lips.

“Yes, for you,” Mira repeated, handing the bouquet over to Erza with a grin, waiting for her to say something.

“Did your added luck work in my favor?” Mira teased when Erza remained silent, although truth be told, she was starting to feel nervous.

Tears shimmered in Erza’s eyes as she nodded happily, taking out one last item from the bag she had brought from the store and handing it to Mira. It was the most beautiful bouquet Mira had ever seen, and she didn’t have to know anything about flowers to understand that Erza had poured all of herself into it.

They stared at each other, frozen in place by all the years they had spent hoping for this moment, imagining it in hundreds of different ways. Both desperate to take the next step but also terrified of what it would mean.

“Just kiss already,” Hana’s voice startled both of them out of their reverie, followed by the well-meaning laughs of their family and closest friends. She might have been only eight years old, but she’d managed to say what they had all been thinking.

So Erza and Mira did, neither one sure of who took the first step towards the other, or who’s lips pressed against who’s first. All they knew was that as awkward as the moment was, it was also perfect.

They were soon surrounded by the loud congratulations and, in some cases, happy tears of their family. Even though they were out in public, the promise of what was to come enough to make them both smile radiantly.

For the rest of the evening, they enjoyed the festivities with the others, walking hand in hand through the streets of Magnolia. They fed each other snacks from the many food carts that had gathered around the city center, watched Phantom Lord's live performance, slow dancing to some of their songs, and topping off the evening with soft kisses underneath the fireworks.

It was a beautiful evening, filled with more than they could’ve hoped for, but they both couldn't help but look forward to the moment when they were finally alone and could express their feelings more privately.

@femslashfairies​

[notsoharsh]

How to Make a Mimesicle || Kaden & Harsh

Kaden and Harsh’s accent comparison gets a very rude interruption. Flipped needs a new... well, everything.

Comparing accents was probably one of the weirder excuses Harsh had found to meet up with someone, well… recently at least. No one in White Crest ever wanted to just go for coffee, it always had to be something a little odd. Whatever, he wasn’t complaining. Kaden seemed alright. The last, and well only, time they had met before, he hadn’t been in the best shape, but Harsh could hardly blame him for that. Getting stabbed didn’t generally put people in a great mood. Hopefully tonight would end a little less bloody. Harsh got to Flipped a little early, scouting out a booth near the back. As… retro as the place looked, it seemed harmless enough. He spent a few minutes flicking through the menu before the sound of the door opening caught his ears. Head tipping up, a slight grin slid onto his face as he lifted a hand. “Kaden, over here man. Saved you a seat.”

Ever since they tried and apparently failed to blow up that fucking mime restaurant, Kaden couldn’t help but check behind his back every few mintues, make sure nothing was following him. Maybe it was the paranoia of being caught for something that apparnelty had no fucking conseuqences or it was all the reports of mime clones, but he couldn’t help it. He took one last drag of his cigarette before he threw it to the ground and stomped it out, swinging open the door and stepping inside. Had to say, he was pretty sure the last time he was at Flipped was when he struck a deal with Morgan that ended up with the very jacket he was wearing now, all good and new. He caught sight of Harsh and gave a nod before heading over to take a seat. Honestly, he still doubted anyone who wasn’t French could hold a proper conversation but he was willing to take the challenge, find out. Why not, he didn’t have much better to do. Plus, getting his mind off mimes seemed like it was for the best. Still, didn’t like sitting with his back to the door. Putain, he was getting fucking paranoid now. “Hey. Or rather, bonjour,” he said, smug smile on his face. “Have to say, I think there might be more people in this town who speak French than half of Maine. I didn’t expect that when moving here.”

“Yeah? I haven’t met too many yet. So far, I think it’s just you, and me, of course.” Switching tracks was relatively easy. It had been a while since Harsh had had a reason to break out his French, but slipping back into it was as natural as… well, it was far more natural than breathing was now, actually. There was something nice about getting back into it. Sixty years with the language had given him a pretty solid grasp, and… maybe he liked showing off a little. He shifted in the booth, kicking his feet up onto the empty space at his side. “So what brought you to White Crest? I’m guessing it wasn’t cause the mimes in France weren’t terrifying enough.” His grin grew, one eyebrow rising in a slight challenge. Maybe it wasn’t the best move to bring up the mimes first thing, but they seemed to be on everyone’s mind lately. Harsh had heard a few weird rumors going around. Well, more than usual anyway. There wasn’t a week that went by without some kind of nonsense throwing everything into chaos. “Sorry, that’s probably a sore spot. Let me buy you a cup of coffee.”

“I know at least three others,” Kaden replied. And funny enough two of them were hunters. “Maybe four or five. Depends on if you count Colombian French.” The accent wasn’t bad. But he wasn’t going to ever admit it. He couldn’t allow himself to ever say that anyone who wasn’t from France was good enough at French. Those were just the rules. Still, it was always nice to have a conversation in his native language. It always felt easier. “Putain de merde, no. If I knew there was this much bullshit mime crap, I never would have moved here.” He rolled his eyes. It seemed like no one would ever stop teasing him about this mime shit so long as he stayed in town. He probably should get over it, but he refused to get used to it. “It’s fine. But I’ll take your free coffee.” It was strange, he felt it again, that odd chill down his spine. It wasn’t the werewolf sense, not at all. Just a bad fucking feeling. “So. You're alright. Where’d you learn?” There was a bell signifying the door opening, but not a single other sound. That wasn’t unusual, right? He looked over his shoulder. Was that… a flash of black and white stripes? No. Couldn’t be. Fuck. 

“Really? You’ll have to introduce me sometime. The only French that doesn’t count is whatever the hell they speak in Canada,” Harsh said, with a little chuckle. It wasn’t often that just talking to someone was fun, but Kaden was interesting, a little rough around the edges, sure, but Harsh would be a pretty big hypocrite if he knocked him for that. “I lived in France for six years. I hung around Paris mostly. I know, very touristy--” He trailed off, half looking for a waitress to order that coffee. But then he glanced back at Kaden and frowned. His mouth was half open to ask what was the matter when he started following the path of Kaden’s eyes with his own. “Holy shit. What… what is that?” Harsh looked between Kaden and… the thing that had just walked in. Every muscle in him went tense. Whoever it was that just walked in looked… well, just like the guy sitting across from him, except with a really, really shitty sense of fashion. “Friend of yours?” he asked, voice low, his tone forced. The silence in the air was heavy, unnaturally so. Whatever that thing was, Harsh could tell with just a look that it probably wasn’t friendly.

“Paris, of course.” Kaden shook his head with a small laugh. At least the guy was aware of how cliche it was. “I’m from Lyon. Grew up there. Ended up in Montreal eventually so trust me when I say you don’t want to hear how any of them speak up there.” His brows knit together as he saw the look of shock across Harsh’s face. He turned back to see his paranoia more than confirmed. Looking up was like looking in a mirror. Well, a funhouse mirror. Or a nightmare. Before he could say putain, the mime was pulling Kaden out of the booth by his shirt and threw him on the ground before kicking him in the gut. Shit, he didn’t fight this dirty, did he? That was some bullshit. Kaden ducked and rolled out of the way, wincing in pain to avoid a second kick. He was fumbling to pull out a knife from his boot when he saw a flash of a blade come down. Kaden went to cover his face with his arm, but the knife slammed right into his foot, through the boot. Kaden howled in pain. What the fuck? And was that a fucking knife shaped like a baugette? Did he just get his foot slashed by a bread knife? Shit. He took his free foot and kicked his own fucking grease painted face. Probably shouldn’t have felt as cathartic as it did. 

Cursing under his breath, Harsh jolted in his seat. He had seen plenty of wild things in White Crest, but this one was going to take the fucking cake. For a second, he stared, mouth open, shock freezing him in place. It lasted only a moment before he sprang to his feet, letting out a yell as he tackled the terrifying version of Kaden. They both fell to the floor in a heap, elbows and knees flying. Not for the first time, Harsh was a bit glad he didn’t need to breathe or the air would have been driven from his lungs a dozen times over. Still, Not Kaden clearly knew how to land blows that hurt. Rearing back, Harsh drove his fist into that horrific copy of Kaden’s face before frantically glancing about. “Knife--where’s his fucking knife?” His question was answered a second later as the blade slashed across his side, a fist following it, sending him crashing back to the floor, hissing in pain. He expected another strike, but it didn’t come. Huh, apparently he wasn’t the target here. “Kaden, move!”

Kaden was shocked at how fast Harsh reacted, throwing himself into the fight and holding his own against this mime fucker. Was he a hunter, too? Maybe. Whatever the reason was, it didn’t matter. The knife ripped out of Kaden’s foot with a sick squelching sound. Hurt like a bitch, too. Shit, didn't have time to care about that as he watched it swing and dig into Harsh’s side. Putain. He grabbed his own knife that he was hiding in his now very punctured boot. It was almost like the mime could mirror his movements, though. As soon as he put his arm up to shield himself from the nex attack, the knife tore into his arm. Fuck. He knew it looked like him, why the fuck did it know how to fight like him. He couldn't out think himself. It wasn’t possible. Still, he took all his weight and threw himself into the mime, hoping to knock him out of focus long enough for Kaden to toss the knife to Harsh. “Here!”

“Shit.” This fucker meant business. Harsh scrambled up, barely catching the knife. Kaden had the mime’s attention, he could run, leave the pair of them to duke it out. No, no that definitely wasn’t good. He shifted his grip on the knife as he rushed in. The mime was occupied, too busy trying to maul Kaden to see him coming. Grabbing that shaggy hair, Harsh yanked the mime’s head back roughly and dragged the knife across his throat. Whatever poured out of the wound… it wasn’t blood. The smell was wrong, the color too. It spilled down the mime’s front, far thicker than blood should be. Harsh took a step back, forcing down unnecessary breaths to make his chest heave as the mime sank to the floor. The… whatever it was lay there for only a moment before a cloud of smoke appeared from nowhere, the stripes of it more than unnatural. And then the body was gone. Harsh turned his incredulous eyes to Kaden. “The hell was that thing?”

Some of the black ooze splattered on Kaden’s face as he watched the blade slip across his clone’s neck. It was fucking weird seeing his own throat getting slit. Even a terrifying mime version of himself. Huh,did his hair really look like that in the back? Shit, he didn’t get long to wonder. The bastard oozed more sludge and then went up in a striped puff  of smoke. “Putain de merde,” he muttered mostly to himself, running a hand through his hair as he sunk back down to sit on the floor. “I don’t know. Heard people talking about mime clones. Guess I’m just lucky enough to get one too.” What the fuck had just happened? And more importantly, how had his latest aqcuaintence handled that so adeptly? “Thanks. By the way. You do this kind of shit a lot?” He should probably stand, get off the floor, maybe sit in a booth, order the whole pot of coffee. Then he heard the fucking bell in the door jingle again and he tensed up. No. It couldn’t be. There was no fucking way.

Leaning heavily on the booth, Harsh pressed a hand to his side. At least the jacket he was wearing hid the fact that he wasn’t bleeding quite as much as he probably should be. He could pass it off, say the cut wasn’t that deep. “Do I kill a lot of mimes that look like people I know? Nah, that’s a first for me. But uh…” He had a good line about fighting, being able to hold his own, but it shriveled up and died on his tongue as he looked to the door. His shoulders fell. “Oh come on.” Harsh turned, grabbing for Kaden’s hand, trying to tug him to his feet. “This thing is just gonna keep coming, we’ve gotta go, man.” He looked around, mentally scrambling. There had to be something--another way out of this place, or somewhere they could trap that fucking thing. His eyes found the backdoor and he started toward it, yanking Kaden along with him. “We’ve gotta get out of here, now.”

Cursed. Kaden was fucking cursed. That’s what it had to be. Moving to this town somehow invoked a goddamn mime curse on him. Everyone else said their doppelgangers disappeared. But here was this fucker coming through the goddamn door again. And he wasn’t aware his own face could look that angry. Putain. He scrambled up off the floor with Harsh’s help, hissing in pain as he stepped on his injured foot. Shit, that was going to take a while to recover even with super healing. Kaden’s eyes darted back and forth as the mime came closer. Back door was close, sure, but after they ran out? He couldn’t make a dash for it, not like this. And he was sure this piece of shit would keep coming. His eyes landed on the kitchen door. “Over here,” he said, darting to the door, shoving Harsh through. “Find something to trap him, anything!” Shit, might be hard. If what he knew was right, this shit had his own enhanced strength. Fuck. He turned back to the mime version of himself, waving his arms to get his attention, something he really didn’t need to do. “Hey! Right here, connard! Follow me!” Kaden shouted in French. He then ran through the door, his clone close behind. Hopefully Harsh was quick on his feet or this was going to end poorly.   

The kitchen? What the hell was he supposed to use to fight a mime in a kitchen? But Kaden had a point, dragging that thing out into the world wasn’t going to make dealing with it any easier. At least the kitchen staff seemed intent on making themselves scarce, so there was no one stopped Harsh as he frantically rushed about. What could they use? Where could they put this damn thing? His eyes darted about, stopping on the heavy metal door of the walk-in fridge. Huh… that might work. Harsh rushed over, hauling it open and glancing inside. Oh yeah, definitely enough room for a mime. “Get it in here,” he called over his shoulder, already looking around for something to bar the door with. He remained rooted to the spot. The second Kaden got the damn thing inside, he meant to slam it shut. 

Running sucked a fucking lot right then. He could feel blood sloshing around in his shoe. Didn’t matter, he just had to get the fucking mime trapped. After he popped into the kitchen, Kaden hid to the side, waiting. The second he saw that stupid fucking beret and mop of hair walk through, he swung a punch right in his own face. Bastard dodged enough to miss the full impact of his fist. It was still covered in grease paint, all the same. And enough to throw the mime off balance. Kaden took his bloody elbow and slammed it into the side of his body double. The fucker came back with a knife. Of course. Kaden reached out and grabbed for the knife and got his wrist. Before he could turn it, the mime and yanked his own in a circle, pulling the joint the wrong way. Fucking shit, this wasn’t going graet. His head shot over to look at Harsh at his words. Great. Fridge. He could do that. Hopefully. Kaden stomped his foot down (the good one) onto the mime’s and used the wince of pain to pull his arm free and run. Well, hobble  in a running fashion. The mime didn’t even look like anything Kaden had done had phased him; it was barreling down on him like it had no other focus than the hunt and Kaden was his prey. Not a position Kaden liked to be in. He dodged past counters, grabbing a shitty kitchen knife off one of them along the way, and ran round tables before planting himself in front of the open door. The mime pushed his way there, and rushed at Kaden, full speed ahead, knife in hand. Thank god he could count on his stupid impulses to be good for something. Kaden waited, stood his ground, until the last fucking second when the threw himself out of the way, sending the mime tumbling into the fuckin freezer. “Close it! Fucking close it!!” he shouted.

Harsh didn’t need to be told twice. As soon as the mime stumbled in, he slammed the door of the fridge shut and held it tight with all his might. There was a frantic thumping against it, the mime clearly not too happy with his new environment. The door shifted, but only just, the weight of it and Harsh’s strength keeping it from moving even an inch. “We gotta get something in front of it!” He glanced about, panicked. “Grab something! Can you move the stove?” Kaden seemed to be quite a bit stronger than he looked, especially if his twisted double was any indication. Harsh grit his teeth, shoulder slammed against the door as he forced it to remain in place. “I can’t keep this up forever, man.” Even vampire strength has its limits, though Harsh had never expected those to be tested by a fucking mime. If he never saw another one of them after this it would be too damn soon. 

Kaden should have known better than to assume it was over once the door slammed. Shit. He pushed himself up and started looking around for something heavy. Not a damn thing came to mind until Harsh shouted about the stove. “The fucking stove?” He could see the other guy struggling. Fuck. Stove it was. He shoved the tables and shit out of the way and pulled back on the stove, dragging it out as far as he could before running to the other side and shoving it with all his strength. “Move!” He shouted before slamming it in to place right up against the door. He backed off a moment. The pounding against the door continued but it seemed to hold. Kaden sighed as relief washed through him and he leaned against the stupid stove. A quick glance around and it was impressive how quickly they’d manage to trash the place. Guess he couldn’t give Ricky too much shit about Al’s now. Wouldn’t stop him. “Uh, think we should put up a sign or something?”

At Kaden’s shout, Harsh jerked out of the way, the stove taking his place. He leaned against the wall, forcing down a few unneeded breaths. He faintly shook his head. “Y’know, now I’m really sorry for teasing you about the mime shit. These fuckers really seem to hate you.” Pushing himself off the wall, he glanced at the thumping door. Hopefully no one would be stupid enough to open that for a while. A sign? Harsh cocked an eyebrow and glanced around. No pens, but… there was a squeeze bottle of ketchup. He grabbed it and leaned over the stove, writing ‘occupied’ on the fridge door. “There. So… I’m thinking we go somewhere else to get that coffee I owe you?”

[thetypedwriter]

The Name of All Things Book Review

The Name of All Things Book Review by Jenn lyons 

I swear to God that I feel like I have been reading this book for my entire life. I can’t remember a time I wasn’t reading Jenn Lyons’ next installment in the A Chorus of Dragons Series. 

And while I found the first installment, The Ruin of Kings, filled with jargon, confusing for a large portion, and sometimes over inundated with the many god-kings, characters, and places, I also found it action-packed, whimsical, and truly original with her use of POV and world building. 

This unfortunately all goes to shit in the sequel. 

I was excited enough about The Ruin of Kings to immediately pick up the sequel and read it with starry eyes and enthusiastic gusto. However, it was quickly established that this novel was not like the others for one dominant reason: the main character. 

Now, I won’t get into the nitty gritty about why I enjoyed Khirin D’Mon as a main character in the last book, as you could simply read my review about it here, but to summarize, I found him witty, charming, engaging, and driven. Perhaps naively, although I truly feel like I was duped, Khirin is hardly in the second installment at all (even if the jacket cover makes you believe otherwise). 

Instead, the main character of book two is a girl named Janel Danorak who has suffered at the hands of the demon Xaltorath (just like Khirin) and has manifested superhuman-strength as a result. It chronicles her life up to the current present where she is currently sitting in a tavern with Khirin three days after the conclusion of last book and is essentially telling Khirin every single fucking thing that has happened to her in her lifetime to bring her to the current moment. 

It is beyond maddening. 

If Lyons thought she was creatively manipulating the narrative by doing a paltry back-and-forth maneuver in which Janel and Brother Qown are re-telling their own stories to “bring Khirin up to speed” it failed. I didn’t find it clever, charming, or engaging. Instead I was irritated, bored, and indifferent. 

Instead of getting more action, progressing the plot, establishing more of the world, building relationships that have already been established, and you know, advancing Khirin’s character and motives, a character we have entirely seen the world through up to his point, we instead get what comes across to me as the longest, most boring “filler” in the history of books I have ever read. 

This whole almost-600-page book felt like a, “Oops. I wanted to include all this information earlier cause it’s important. Yeah. Important. I’ll just spend a whole book talking about shit that doesn’t matter and that already happened so that I can tell everyone how important Janel is. Perfect.”

I don’t remember the last time I was so frustrated finishing a book. This book did nothing, and I mean nothing, to progress anything that happened in book one except for maybe the last forty pages, and that’s being generous. Instead, it was essentially Lyons’ way of word vomiting exposition onto her audience without actually telling an engaging story or continuing book one in any fashion. Make no mistake, ladies and gentleman, this is the Janel Danorak show and nothing else. 

Maybe I wouldn’t have hated it so much if I actually found Janel to be an engaging character like Khirin, or even like Thurvishar, Tyentso, or Teraeth, but nope. Hell, I would have taken Senera or Brother Qown over Janel any day, as they were much more interesting side characters than Janel could ever hope to be. 

To me, Janel came across as the most generic crybaby who whined like a little bitch and pretended to be strong for the entire book when she was really just unintelligent, uninspired, and lacking in every way. Lyons tries very, very hard to tell you that Janel is amazing. She’s so cool, so strong, so authoritative, so different, omg. But no. 

Unlike book one, where we learn Khirin’s characteristics through trial and error and are able to deduce them for ourselves, Lyons switches methods completely in this book and just tells us over and over again that Janel is super awesome hoping that it will stick. 

It doesn’t. 

And on top of that, why do Khirin and her get together at the end? Why does Khirin give one inch of a damn about her?? He has no reason to. He’s known her for three goddamn days as that is the duration of THIS WHOLE BOOK. It’s completely out-of-character for Khirin and frustratingly nonsensical. It simply serves as another example of how Lyons is spoon-feeding us how cool Janel is when all it really does is make me never want to pick up the book again.

I can’t even really say anything about the plot. Which, it being 600 pages is pretty pathetic. Bottom line: Janel needs to kill a dragon. She needs a special spear to do it. She spends a vastly inordinate amount of time getting this spear and dicking around and then goes to kill the dragon. Oh, and Senera and Relos Var are killing people like normal and Relos Var betrays everyone again. 

That’s about it. That’s the whole book. 

Hopefully now you can see why I’m so vexed. There was no reason Lyons needed to take this much time and this length to tell Janel’s story. Quite honestly, a chapter or two would have sufficed for her background and then her and Khirin could have set off for their adventure. That’s it. That’s what should have happened. 

But it didn’t. It didn’t at all. And this poorly paced, poorly written, horribly executed sequel was the epitome of a disappointment. 

Recommendation: I don’t even know. Read The Ruin of Kings and pretend it’s a stand-alone novel. When the third book comes out, check Google Pages to make sure the whole thing isn’t a flashback of Janel Danorak and I might be interested. Huge emphasis on the might. This is why I stick to YA, people. 

Score: 3/10

[i-am-the-hero-alfred-jones]

Fairy Tail’s Fairy Tale’s Chapter 4

((Part 4 of my contribution for the Fairy Tail big bang by @ft-ez-bb ! This is my favorite chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy it! Please like/comment/reblog/ect!! )) 

Wendy glanced back into the book, "Okay next is-" The doors of the guild were thrown open and an underwear-clad ice mage stormed in. "So how was the annulment?" Erza asked, smirking as she sat by Wendy. She had been looking over the slayer's shoulder and had an idea for the next story. "We're still married!" Juvia declared, hugging onto Gray happily. Normally Gray would allow her to hold onto him for a short time, but this time he roughly shrugged her off. "We can't get it annulled for 24 hours." he informed the guild bitterly, "They have to wait for the paperwork to go through before they can cancel it." 

"But Gajeel still has the paperwork. . . " Wendy said, confused. "What?!" Gray whirled towards the dragon slayer. Sure enough, the marriage certificate was still sitting on the table in front of him. "Yeah, technically you guys aren't legal until I turn this thing in." Gajeel said, handing Gray the paper. "Oh no!" Juvia gasped, she wasn't aware of that fact, "If we hurry back to City Hall we can turn it in-" Gray looked her dead in the eye as he ripped the certificate in half. Juvia gasped and covered her mouth. Gray proceeded to shred the rest of the paper, before throwing it into the fire. "Gray-" "No! I'm not talking to you- I don't even want to look  at you right now!" he yelled angrily. Juvia ran out of the guild sobbing. Wendy and Lyon seemed to be the only ones that felt bad for Juvia, as everyone else agreed that tricking someone into thinking they'd married you was crossing some sort of line. 

"I'm glad you're back Gray, because I think the next story would be perfect for you and Natsu." Erza mentioned. "Me and who?!" Gray demanded, "Aren't I angry enough right now?!" "But it's for Wendy." Erza pointed out, gesturing to the guild's sweetest member, who was staring at the book curiously. "Do you really think this would be good for Gray and Natsu?" Wendy asked curiously. "I think it would be perfect." Erza assured, "Lucy and I could be their parents. All we need now is a witch." "But who would want to hurt Gray and Natsu?" Wendy asked innocently. Laxus snorted from the bar, "Who wouldn't?" he took a drag from his pint but choked on it at Wendy's next words. 

"Perfect! Laxus, you can be the witch!" "No!" Laxus slammed his drink down, "I think this whole thing is stupid and I'm not-" he fell silent as his eyes fell on Wendy. She looked like she was about to cry. "Oh. . . I understand. . ." Wendy said hollowly. She looked away, "Y-you don't have to do it if you don't want to. . ." The guild glared and Laxus felt guilt twist in his stomach. "Hey- I didn't mean it like that-" he said quickly, "You know what? I'll be your witch." "I don't wanna make you-" Wendy began. Laxus interrupted her, "No. I want to be your witch." he assured, "It uh- it sounds like fun." "Really?" Wendy asked hopefully. "Really." Laxus confirmed. "Thank you, Laxus!" she hugged the blonde happily. Laxus stiffened at the touch, but sighed and rested a hand on her head, "You're welcome. . ." he grumbled, heading backstage. Freed had a hand on his heart as he watched the other go, "Laxus is so good with children." he declared fondly. Bixlow just stared at him in awe, "You must have seen something we didn't." 

HANSEL AND GRETEL

Wendy smiled, "Next up is the story of Hansel and Gretel-" "Hold it!" Wendy glanced up at Gray curiously. He was now clad in blue lederhosen. "Why am I the girl?" he demanded. "Because Gretel is the one who outsmarts the witch." Wendy explained. Gray glanced back towards Natsu, who was now trying to lick his own elbow. "Yeah, he's not outsmarting anyone. Alright, let's get started." He grabbed Natsu, who was wearing matching red lederhosen and dragged him backstage. 

"In a great wood there lived a poor woodcutter, his wife, and his two children. The boy's name was Hansel and the gir- the other boy's name was Gretel." Wendy began. Lucy and Erza came onstage and sat in a bed together. Natsu and Gray walked onstage from the other side. A prop door separated the boys from the girls. "I'm hungry." Natsu complained. "It's a famine, Natsu, everyone's hungry." Gray shot back. Lucy turned to Erza, "We gotta get rid of them, Erza." Gray and Natsu looked towards the door in confusion, they pressed their ears up against it to listen better. "I can't take it anymore!" Lucy wailed, "I need a break! Just for like, a day!" Erza hummed, "Well. . . their bickering is pretty obnoxious. . ." she admitted, "And we'd have a lot more food with Natsu out of the house. But how would we get rid of them?" "Let's just . . . leave them in the woods." Lucy suggested. Erza nodded to herself, "Simple, yet elegant- good plan, Lucy. Tomorrow, we'll leave our children in the woods." The two lay down in bed and pretended to sleep. 

Gray threw his hands up in exasperation, "Well, we're doomed." "Hey!" Natsu put a hand on Gray's shoulder, "Don't worry about it, we'll figure something out! We always do!" And the slayer lay on the ground to feign sleep as well. Gray looked towards the audience again. "Yeah, we're doomed." he confirmed, but joined Natsu on the floor anyways. Wendy took up her narration again, "The next day, the parents took Hansel and Gretel into the woods, intent on losing them."  "Alright kids, everyone ready to go into the woods?" Lucy asked. Natsu raised his hand eagerly, "Can I bring my rock collection?!" Lucy just stared at him for a moment. ". . . Sure. . ." she shook her head as she walked off. "Why the hell do you wanna bring a rock collection?" Gray asked. "I figured if we're gonna live in the woods, I might well release them back into the wild." Natsu shrugged. That rendered Gray speechless for a solid minute. "Natsu, Do you think the rocks . . . are alive?" he asked, slowly. "Well, yeah! Aren't they? Igneel said everything in nature is alive." Natsu replied casually. Gray gave a deep sigh, "Let's just get this over with." he stood up and walked offstage. "I'm still taking my rock collection!" Natsu declared stubbornly, as he followed Gray offstage. 

The group came onstage again. "Now you kids wait here and we'll come back soon." Erza assured, before her and Lucy left. "But they didn't' come back." Wendy said, "And soon it got dark." Gray sighed, "Well. . . our parents are clearly liars. You got any ideas, Natsu?" "Hey! My rocks are gone!" Natsu exclaimed, angrily looking into his now-empty pocket, he gasped and turned to Gray triumphantly, "I told you they were alive!" "There's a hole in your pocket, dumbass!" Gray argued. Natsu looked down and stuck his fingers through said hole, ". . . Oh yeah. . ." he saddened, "I loved those rocks." "Natsu, focus!" Gray yelled angrily, "We've been abandoned!" Natsu looked off miserably, "I at least wanted to say goodbye . . ." "Who knows what could happen to us out here?!" Gray continued. Natsu frowned, "Don't worry, Gray." he assured gently, "I'll take care of you!" Gray glared at the audience, "I'm gonna die in the woods with an idiot." 

The two sighed and sat on the ground in sorrow. "How many rocks did you have anyway?" Gray asked. Natsu shrugged, "I don't know. Happy gave them to me. He gave me a new one every time you and I fought to cheer me up." Gray was surprised, "That's a lot of rocks." he noted. Natsu nodded, "I miss my rocks. . . they were so pretty. All round and smooth. Like that one." he pointed to one lying onstage, "And that one." Another rock lay about a foot away from the first that fit the same description, "And that one-" "Natsu!" Gray exclaimed, jumping up, "The hole in your pocket made a trail for us to follow home!" "Hey, yeah!" Natsu stood with him, "Let's go!" Natsu moved to follow Gray offstage, but stopped to pick up the rocks. "Are you seriously bringing the rocks?" Gray complained. Natsu stood, "You're right. They belong free and in the wild." Gray groaned as Natsu followed him offstage. "I'll come back for you." he whispered to the rocks as he left.

Lucy sighed in content with her hands behind her head as she sat on a chair onstage, Erza sat in an adjoining chair, knitting calmly. "How long has it been since you heard silence, Erza?" Lucy asked. "Since before I joined the guild." the redhead admitted. Lucy sighed again, "It's nice-" Suddenly the door was kicked in and Natsu entered, "We're back!!!!" Lucy jumped from her chair, "How the hell did you- I mean- Yay!" Lucy cheered, smiling, "It's late, why don't you boys go up to bed?" "Okay!" the duo walked offstage. Once they were gone Lucy whirled on Erza, "How the hell did they get back here?!" "I don't know!" Erza replied, "We'll have to take them even further tomorrow." 

"The next day, the parents took them even further into the woods," Wendy narrated as the group walked across the stage.  "Gray, give me your bread." Natsu demanded, Gray obeyed. "Okay kids, we'll be back soon!" Lucy repeated, before once again leaving the stage with Erza. Gray immediately turned to Natsu, "Alright, let's follow the trail back home." "What?" Natsu asked, confused. "That's what you wanted my bread for, right?" Gray asked, "To make a trail back home? "No, I was just really hungry." Natsu said easily. Gray was furious, "You ate my food?!" "You gave it to me!" "Because I thought you were leading us back home! Now what are we supposed to do?!" Natsu shrugged. "I dunno." 

"The children wandered the woods for hours, but couldn't find their way home." Wendy continued. Gray and Natsu sat back to back on stage, sighing. "I'm so hungry it hurts." Gray complained. "I think my stomach is trying to eat itself." Natsu replied. Gray sighed again, "Natsu?" he glanced towards his friend teammate, "Did you ever think it would end like this?" Natsu shook his head, "No." he admitted, "I always thought I'd go out in a blazing flame of glory." "Yeah," Gray agreed, "I always thought I'd die sacrificing myself for my friends." "Well it's not like you didn't try." Natsu said, bitterly. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Gray demanded. "I can't name any quest we've been on where you didn't try to sacrifice yourself! Do you want to die?!" Natsu yelled angrily. "A little bit!" Gray admitted, just as angry. "Food!" Natsu gasped and ran off. "Oh, I guess Gray's problems don't matter!" Gray exclaimed indignantly, glaring after Natsu. ". . . Is that a house made of candy?!" he asked in confusion and awe. A child-sized candy house was pushed onstage. "Where did that come from?" Carla asked. "I do't know but it  sure looks yummy!" Wendy cheered. 

The duo stared at the candy house in awe. "I call the roof!" Natsu declared, breaking a big chunk off and eating it eagerly. Gray broke off a window and began licking it, "This is the best candy I've ever had!" "Is someone eating my fucking house?!" Laxus's disgruntled and confused voice came from inside. The two froze in place. "No, it's the wind!" Natsu replied, panicking. "Natsu, you idiot!" Gray smacked his arm. Laxus exited the house, glaring, but his gaze softened when he saw who it was. The 'children', however, attempted to run away. "Hey! Hold on a minute!" Laxus called. "Are you hungry? You seem hungry. I mean, you ate the damn house. I have meat and. . ." he hesitated, "Beer?" "Laxus they're playing children!" Mira scolded. "Do I look like I know how to handle children?!" Laxus replied. 

"And the wo-uh, man let them in." Wendy explained, "But it was soon revealed that he was a witch! And he locked poor Hansel in a cage!" "I get to lock Natsu in a cage?!" asked Laxus eagerly, "I've wanted to do that for years!"  Gajeel slammed a Natsu-sized cage on the stage, "Here ya go! A nice, iron, electricity conducting cage!" Gajeel declared happily. "What?" Natsu squeaked fearfully. Gray grabbed him by his shoulders, "Well, you heard the story, Natsu, you gotta go in the cage!" he shoved Natsu into the cage, slammed the door, shut the lock and stepped back with a large grin. "This'll be fun." Laxus grinned and let lightning dance across his fingertips. The guild watched on in amusement as Natsu got electrocuted. Repeatedly. 

Natsu lay in pain at the bottom of the cage as Wendy continued, "The witch fattened Hansel up for four weeks before she finally decided to eat him. She asked Gretel to help prepare him." "Alright, climb inside the oven so I can see if it's hot enough to cook your brother in." Laxus said casually, as he gestured to a large prop oven Gajeel had made. ". . .You're a really messed up person, ya know that?" Gray asked. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, now get in the oven." Laxus pointed to the open oven door. "I don't think I'll fit." Gray confessed. "Of course you'll fit! I fit!" Laxus exclaimed. "Prove it." Gray challenged. "Fine!" Laxus climbed in and Gray slammed the door on him. 

"And so the witch died, Gretel freed her brother, and they went home to their parents, and lived happily ever after!" Wendy finished. "I don't know, I'm kind of enjoying this." Gray admitted, "Can we just keep him in there?" "NO!" Natsu yelled. "No." Makarov confirmed. "Are you sure, old man?" Laxus asked hopefully. "Yes." Makarov answered sternly, "Free him." Laxus grumbled but opened the cage. Natsu was pouting as he stomped back to his seat to hug his cat, "You guys are all jerks." 

[splendidlyimperfect]

Sting and Rogue barely escape Sabertooth with their lives, and Sting turns to the only place he can think of to help - Fairy Tail. While they try to sort out their feelings and recover from the abuse Jiemma inflicted on them, Sting and Rogue must help the other guilds protect Fiore from their biggest threat yet - dragons.

Chapter Summary: Rogue refuses to fall to the darkness with Sting to light his way. Natsu comes up with a new plan to defeat the dragons, but there are complications along the way.

Chapters (7/?): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Rogue Cheney/Sting Eucliffe, Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster, Laxus Dreyar/Freed Justine Characters: Rogue Cheney, Sting Eucliffe, Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy Marvell, Porlyusica (Fairy Tail), Makarov Dreyar, Laxus Dreyar, Freed Justine, Future Rogue Cheney, Jiemma (Fairy Tail), Gajeel Redfox Additional Tags: Dai Matou Enbu | Grand Magic Games Arc, Abuse, Physical Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Serious Injuries, Developing Relationship, First Kiss, Platonic Cuddling, Sign Language, Magic Fusion, Unison Raids, Grief/Mourning, Dissociation, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Friendship, Tumblr: FTLGBTales Series: Part 3 of what we choose to become

** TW for graphic violence

-----

Rogue was exhausted.

He stumbled forward, flinging another attack at the dragon before sinking back into the shadows when it retaliated with flames. The dark alley gave him a moment of reprieve and he leaned against the wall, panting and holding his injured arm as he stared up at the sky.

The dragon was still up there, and he could see Natsu on its back, explosions following him as he fought the unfamiliar enemy – the person who was supposedly Rogue.

“It’s not me,” Rogue insisted, taking a deep breath and leaping out to attack again. The edge of the dragon’s tail caught him in the back, and he cried out as he slammed face-first into a building.    

All you can do is accept your fate.

Rogue froze. That wasn’t the dragon’s voice.

“No,” he whispered, eyes widening as the familiar darkness fought at the walls he’d spent so long building up around it. He’d kept it at bay for all these years and now it scraped at his mind, sharp and aching; begging to be let free.  

You can’t stop it, the shadow whispered. He is what you become.

Rogue dropped to his knees, sharp edges of broken glass digging into his skin. The scattered light across the sky illuminated the shards – flecks of brightness mixed with ash and blood. Thin tendrils of shadow crept across the ground, spreading into a dark mockery of his pain.

“No,” he begged.

Yes, it whispered.

Continue reading on AO3

The numbness of the past few days was quickly being pushed away by a deep, terrified ache that spread through him until every nerve in his body was burning. He stared at his hands, already stained with blood, and nearly threw up.

He couldn’t do this – not alone, not without Sting. But Sting wasn’t here. He was fighting, being brave and beautiful and trying his best to keep everyone safe.

“I can’t,” Rogue gasped, breathing ragged. “I won’t.”

You will, the voice said, words tearing through Rogue like an avalanche that made his teeth hurt. You alone will survive, and you will—

“Rogue!”

That was Sting’s voice – radiant enough to break through the darkness spreading deep into Rogue’s body. He let out a shaky breath, refusing to look up in case it wasn’t real, just another imagined—

“Rogue.” The voice was close, now, and there was a hand on his shoulder, and then Sting was there, eyes bright, face dirty and bruised, perfect and holy and everything Rogue needed. “C’mon,” Sting said, grabbing both Rogue’s arms and tugging him to his feet. “Are you hurt?”

“You…” Rogue gripped Sting’s arms, nails digging into Sting’s skin, trying to breathe around the terrified pressure in his chest. “I…”

“It’s okay,” Sting said, pulling Rogue close and pressing their foreheads together. The sounds of the battle around them faded, pushed away by the pounding of Rogue’s heartbeat and Sting’s soft breath on his cheek.

“You’re here,” Rogue whispered, flinching as a roar split the sky and rubble pounded down around them. The dragon Sting had been fighting burst through the buildings nearby; teeth bared, ready to tear them apart.

“Always,” Sting said, squeezing Rogue’s arms and pulling him into a quick kiss. “We can do this. Together.”

Together, Rogue thought as he returned the kiss, pushing away the desperate terror that threatened to swallow him whole. The darkness inside him craved it, latched onto it with sharp claws and kicked at him, trying to escape.

He wouldn’t let it. He could be strong if Sting was here, if he had Sting’s light to burn away the shadows.

“Okay,” Rogue said, pulling away from Sting and gazing into the bright blue of his eyes before looking back at the dragons. “Together.” 

~

Gray staggered backward, wiping at the blood still dripping down his forehead. Clouds of smoke billowed around them, picking up the ashes of the ruined city and scattering them into the wind.

“Get down!”

Lyon appeared in front of him, shoving Gray backward behind a piece of rubble as beams of light pierced the air around them, shattering anything in their way.

“Thanks,” Gray panted, leaning forward and trying to catch his breath. The acrid smoke in the air made it nearly impossible and he doubled over, coughing.

“How many of these things are there?” Lyon demanded, peeking out from behind their makeshift shelter and quickly ducking back into cover. The hatchlings were everywhere, destroying the city and threatening to overwhelm them. “We’re never going to be able to take them all out.”

Gray glanced back at Juvia, who was crouched behind them, arm bleeding and face set in determination. Then he looked back up to the sky, where the two dragons clashed – one fire, one… something else.

“We have to,” he insisted, spitting blood onto the ground and wiping his face. “They’re still evacuating, we have to keep these things occupied. We can’t give up.”

Natsu was up there, and Gray couldn’t let him down.

An ache spread through his chest at the idea of losing, of falling in the battle and never telling Natsu about the stupid way his heart fell apart every time they touched each other.  

Another blast rocked the ground and he stumbled, grateful for Lyon’s hand that caught him before he fell. Then Juvia was beside him and he could feel their magic, the three of them, perfectly in sync and ready to keep fighting.

“Okay,” he said, taking a deep breath and bracing himself as frost crept up his arms. “Let’s do this.” 

~

Sting saw the dragon’s wing coming at him a second too late and took the hit directly in his chest. The impact tossed him across the street and into a building, bringing down a chunk of rubble that barely missed his head.

“Sting!” Rogue shouted, but Sting waved off his concern, struggling to his feet and wiping blood from his mouth. It hurt to breathe – the sound was wet and ragged, but he could still stand.

Sting staggered forward, blasting the larger dragon with a wave of holy magic that lit up the entire alley, casting all of them in an eerie light. The magic burned along Sting’s skin that was still red and blistered from the fire dragon’s attack, but Sting gritted his teeth and pushed through.  

They had to win. Things were just getting better – they were safe, and protected, and Rogue had kissed him for the first time, and Sting wasn’t about to let that go.

An enormous set of claws raked through the air toward him and Sting braced himself for the impact, but before it could hit, a hand gripped his wrist and yanked him back into darkness. His breath caught in his throat, entire body freezing up in the shadows, but then Rogue had him around the waist and they were stumbling out on the other side of the dragons.

Sting stared at Rogue and a thousand words passed between them as the world crumbled, falling into ash and ruin. Rogue’s tight grip on Sting’s arms hurt, but he ignored the pain, instead leaning in and pressing a fierce kiss to Rogue’s lips.

Then they both turned toward the dragons, hands clasped, magic stitching itself together into a perfect pattern of black and white that sprang from their fingertips and raced through the air.

The attack left Sting breathless and he nearly collapsed, only held upright by Rogue’s tight grip on his hand.

“Fuck,” he whispered as the dust cleared and both dragons remained in front of them, whole and unharmed. “How the hell are we—”

Sting? Rogue? Are you there?

Sting looked around in confusion as Natsu’s voice echoed around them, faint and unstable. “Natsu?” There was no answer.

Max is letting me talk to you, Natsu said eventually. Get to the fountain, we have a new plan.

“To the—what are we supposed to do with the dragons?” Sting demanded, but there was no answer. Rogue looked between Sting and the two dragons, jumping when another voice came from behind them.

“We’ll handle them.” It was Erza. She was still limping, being supported by man with blue hair and a face tattoo that Sting didn’t recognize. “Go.”

“You can’t—”

Erza shook her head, letting go of the man and standing unsteadily with her sword in both hands. “If Natsu has a plan,” she said, “you need to go to him.”

Sting knew Erza wasn’t a dragon slayer, but there was something in her posture that made him feel confident that she could at least keep the dragons at bay while they figured out another solution. Hopefully it would be something more permanent.

“Go,” the man said. “We’ll keep them occupied.”

Sting nodded, taking one last look at the destruction around them before grabbing Rogue’s hand and taking off toward the fountain. 

~

They were losing.

Gray skidded backwards across the rubble, grasping his side and breathing heavily. A searing pain ripped down his left side from where the creature’s claws had raked across him. He pressed his hand to the area, and when he took it away, it was dark red.

“Fuck,” he muttered, trying to summon a patch of ice to cover the wound. When the ice immediately melted away, Gray new it was bad. He pressed his hand tightly against the area to try and slow the bleeding.

“You givin’ up, Snowflake?”

Gray blinked, wiping at his eyes and looking up through the smoke. Natsu stood there, bruised and bloody, his side marred by an enormous wound that appeared to have been cauterized.

“What’re you… doing here?” Gray ground out as Natsu stepped closer to him. He grunted in pain as Natsu grasped his arms and stared at him with concern.

“Long story,” Natsu said, voice low as he stepped closer into Gray’s space. His skin was hot against Gray’s, and Gray tried to focus on the sensation rather than the searing pain in his side. “That looks bad,” Natsu said, gently trying to pry Gray’s hand from his side. Blood bubbled between Gray’s fingers and he cried out.

“Don’t—it’s fine,” Gray panted, shaking his head and staring over Natsu’s shoulder at the hatchlings. Lyon and Juvia were still fighting, ice and water forming and breaking as they pushed against the tide. Further into the city the other dragons were roaring, spreading devastation in their wake.

“You’re not fine,” Natsu insisted, tugging off his scarf and wrapping it around Gray’s torso, ignoring Gray’s protests when the fabric started to stain dark red. “You need to get somewhere safe.”

“Nowhere is safe,” Gray argued, trying to breathe through the pain. He looked up at Natsu – at his ridiculous green eyes, wide with concern.

“We can—”

“We’re never going to win this,” Gray said, shaking his head. “Not if we don’t take out at least one of the dragons. Maybe I can use Iced—”

“Don’t you dare,” Natsu hissed, squeezing Gray’s arms so hard it hurt. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“If it’s the only—”

“It’s not the only way!” Natsu’s voice was thick and Gray was shocked to see tears in his eyes. “It’s never going to be the way; do you understand me?”

“Natsu, I—”

Natsu interrupted him again, this time with his lips on Gray’s. “You’re an idiot,” Natsu murmured, bringing one hand up to Gray’s hair and holding him close as he kissed him. “But you’re my favorite idiot, and I’m not gonna lose you.”

Gray nearly collapsed at the sensation of Natsu’s lips on his, trembling as the fear from earlier dissipated into a sense of contentment. He kissed back, hard and desperate, fingers tight on Natsu’s arms to keep them both from falling apart.

They broke apart quickly as another blast shattered the cover they were hiding behind, sending pieces of debris flying in every direction. The soft sense of intimacy between them fractured and was quickly replaced by smoke and flames and screaming.

“Natsu—” Gray started, moving back to pull him away from the wreckage, but his words were interrupted by a brilliant blast, followed immediately by a searing, unbearable pain that knocked him off his feet.

Everything stopped.

Natsu’s mouth was moving but Gray couldn’t hear him, couldn’t hear anything but the slam of his heartbeat as his life spilled out of him, bit by bit. Everything blurred. Another light. More pain, scorching, ripping him apart.

He couldn’t breathe.

“Nat…su…” He forced the word out, breath escaping in a thin gasp as Natsu touched his chest, pushing against the wounds, trying to stem the blood that bubbled over his fingers and poured down the backs of his hands.

“No.” Gray could hear Natsu now, just barely. His vision blurred, hands going numb as he tried to hold onto Natsu’s wrists. “No, please—Gray, no, c’mon, look at me.” Panic stained the words, drew them out in a rush as Gray’s breath turned wet and copper bubbled in the back of his throat.

“C-can’t…”

“Don’t talk, just look at me. You’re gonna be okay.” Natsu’s hands were everywhere and everything was red, and it didn’t hurt anymore because all the feeling in Gray’s body was slowly slipping away. “Please, please, no.”

Natsu touched Gray’s face, tears spilling down his cheeks as he pulled Gray close, forehead pressed against Natsu’s shoulder. “You can’t leave me,” Natsu begged, voice thick with tears. “I need you.”

Gray blinked, choking on blood as he tried to focus, tried to keep himself here long enough to do what he needed to do.

“Take…” He couldn’t make the words, but he gave anyway, pushing what little magic he had left out along with the blood that spilled over Natsu’s hands. It was so cold, and he watched as frost crept over Natsu’s arms and sunk into his skin.

If Gray was going to die, he could at least help keep Natsu safe.

“No,” Natsu sobbed. “Please. Please, I love you.”

I love you, too, Gray thought, wishing he had the strength to say the words.

The last thing Gray felt was the press of Natsu’s lips to his forehead, then a bright light, then nothing at all. 

~

This wasn’t real.

Natsu clutched at Gray’s arms, pulling him closer, begging as Gray’s eyes closed and he exhaled one last time. Then his body went limp against Natsu’s chest.

“No,” Natsu sobbed, as anguish tore him apart. “Gray! Wake up. C’mon, you’re—you’re okay. Wendy’s—she’s… she’s somewhere, she can…” Natsu looked around frantically, trying to pick out a familiar face through the destruction that surrounded them. Someone stumbled through the smoke – Lyon, Natsu realized – and fell to his knees next to them.

“You have to—please, you have to find Wendy,” Natsu begged, hands still desperately trying to stem the bleeding. Gray wasn’t moving but that wasn’t right, that couldn’t be right because Gray was alive, he was just hurt, he was bleeding but they could fix it, they could help him, they could—

“Natsu!” Lyon’s voice broke through the panic and Natsu realized he was holding up an ice barrier between them and the hatchlings that were slowly closing in on them. “We have to move!”

“No,” Natsu said, voice low and quiet as he stared down at Gray’s bloody face and still chest. “We’re not going anywhere.”

The magic Gray had given him resurfaced, speeding up his arms and pushing him into Dragon Force without him even thinking about it. Scales raced across his body as fast as the grief that filled him, and when he looked down at his arms, he realized the usual red was tinged with an icy blue.

Natsu closed his eyes, letting the comforting sensation of Gray’s magic mingle with the terrified despair that was overwhelming him. They’d fought so many battles together that it was like his own magic, familiar and safe.

Like Gray was beside him, awake and fighting and not—

Natsu shook his head, wiping at his face with the back of his hand as tears streamed down his cheeks. “Can you…” Natsu looked up at Lyon, whose expression was as heartbroken as Natsu felt. Letting go of Gray hurt, more than the wound in his side, more than the bruises that covered his body, more than any physical pain he’d felt before.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, kissing Gray’s forehead again before letting Lyon take him. Then he pushed himself slowly to his feet, holding his trembling arms at his sides as the creatures closed around them.

The fight was over before it began. Blue flames, hotter than anything Natsu had ever made before, exploded from him in searing blaze that pushed the creatures back, incinerating everything until all that surrounded them was scorched earth and ash. Dark, acrid smoke filled the air as Natsu threw his head back and screamed, the anguished sound tearing through him as another wave of fire billowed up into the air, lighting up the dark sky in a brilliant mix of red and blue.

As quickly as it appeared, the column of fire disappeared, leaving nothing but sparks that drifted around Natsu as he dropped to his knees and cried. An anguished sound ripped from his chest, tearing him apart as he struggled to breathe.

Nothing existed right now but Natsu and his grief.