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silyabeeodess · 4 years ago

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So... Last night, I read the Balan Wonderworld novel. It’s... something. It's not bad--I did enjoy it and it does have its moments--but there’s bits that don’t really seem to work as well as they could’ve and they can add up. To avoid major spoilers, like last time, I’ll put my thoughts below the cut, so be warned:

Most of my concerns are issues with the individual characters, but I’ll start by talking about the book itself first. Because there are so many people and themes in it to discuss, with the plot covering every stage and each of the residents’ backstories, you have to move through events quickly: We don’t really spend enough time with any of the characters to know them beyond some basic traits and what they need. Fine for a game and with visuals, sure, but not so much for a story. Things can feel like they’re moving a bit too fast, which I can excuse because of the large cast number; however, the writing only amplifies the problem and makes it feel like the book is being padded with wasted, repetitive dialogue that takes away from the story. I want you to imagine taking the 12 Days of Christmas and turning it into a novel--not with the things divided up into each individual day, but each chapter repeating all of the other days that came before it. It’s stale, it’s droning, and you as a reader will just end up skipping through material after a while. The book does this through the visions the characters share of Balan and Fighter/Emma, with Streetbeat/Leo and the residents each having them with slight differences in-between. As you meet each individual resident, one by one, they repeat a lot of the same things over and over. Not only that, but then you have to loop back through them and their stages a second time as Leo saves everyone. It’s not quite as bad as my 12 Days of Christmas example, but it does get to the point where you’re ready to say, “I get it! Your lover gave you calling birds, hens, doves, and a partridge--please, just move on already!” There are such easy fixes to this issue too, like having characters already meeting in each other’s stages to cover them together, maybe summarizing the differences in their stages to set up Leo’s expectations before he sees how distorted they become later on since he’s going to have to visit each one anyway. Instead, time is wasted that could’ve been spent on descriptions or building the characters in other ways.

I think the one character that suffers the most because of this Fighter/Emma. Because she’s placed in the story with the same mystery as Balan and viewed as a villain by the rest of the cast up until the end, she’s constantly being sidelined even though she’s a main character. She’s used more-so as a plot device for Leo, running off to do her own thing when she’s no longer needed, and then gets no conclusion where all of the other characters do. It’s like that meme where a person asks, “What about Emma?” and everyone just repeats the question dismissively as an answer. Again, I get it, we’re following Leo’s story here just as we would only be following one of them in the game, but it’s bad to keep dismissing her all while using her as a necessary key to saving everyone else. I guess it’s implied at the end that the Wonderworld gang might seek her out too, as they did with each other, but she’s barely a footnote. Balan and Lance suffer a little bit too, but do make enough satisfying reappearances that it’s not as much of an issue.

I kind of want to avoid talking about the writing style further, as I can’t help but wonder how much might be more of something like a translation issue; however, I will say that if you plan on reading this with a young reader, be ready to explain some extensive vocabulary to them. The style itself isn’t very flowery, the book isn’t a heavy text, but there are some words they won’t understand that can’t be deciphered by using the surrounding text. Like I said, the book doesn’t have a strong focus on description: Moreover though, there’s not as many illustrations paced through the book as you would imagine based on the preview. You end have having to rely on what you already know going off those first images at the start of the book introducing the characters or if you’ve played the game. It’s not a big thing, but I can see it being a small problem if you chose to read the novel alone. I tend to lean toward styles with heavier description in both my reading and writing though, so that might be a bit of my personal bias as well. Some of you may prefer it as it is.

Now getting on to the individual characters... Oh boy, is there some stuff to go through. Let me start with the one I’m actually a little uncomfortable with, as her actions affect some of the other characters as well in major ways: The Clocktower Kid/Cass Milligan. Throughout the story, we’re given clues that she has a big crush on Pensive Perriot/Attilio Caccini--who, as most of you likely already know--is in love with a woman who works with him at his theme park as a princess. By the end of the book, it’s revealed that there’s a near decade-long gap between when the two stepped into Wonderworld and that Cass is the princess... Thankfully, Attilio showed no interest in Cass as her child-self and this means that they’re actually close to the same age, but let’s unpack the assortment of other problems this brings up. 1.) This goes beyond a childhood crush with someone older that most people get over: The girl devoted a decade of her life to getting the princess role so she could be with the guy. If it was a year or two between teenagers, that would be one thing: This borderlines obsession. 2.) She knows who Attilio is from the beginning and waits for him to confess his love to her before revealing her identity. She says it’s because she didn’t want to risk messing up the timeline, but her own actions could’ve done exactly that had the princess role been meant for literally any other girl on the entire planet. She didn’t know that she was meant to be the princess: All she knew was that she wanted to be with Attilio. 3.) Either Attilio just kind of accepts all of this or, again, the pacing won’t give us some much-needed details, because the next thing we know we’re getting to their engagement and honeymoon months later. Keep in mind: While she waits a decade for him, his confession takes place barely a few hours after he leaves Wonderworld. I think the guy would need at least a little time to process everything. 4.) While the book seems to stay close to the game’s canon from what I’ve seen, this particular relationship is handled even weirder in its cutscenes. For one thing, it’s not revealed that Cass is the princess. For another, despite this, we see her with Attilio anyway as her young, childhood self--granted, without any big hints to a romance between them. I’ll let you dissect what you will from that.

Let me get to The Checkered King/Cal Suresh next. In the novel, a couple of the characters had their backstories tweaked. These changes don’t interfere with what we see from the game’s cutscenes, but they do add more context to them that changes what particular issues the characters are suffering through. In Cal’s case, his obsession with his champion title in chess led him to ignore his dying wife, adding an extreme sense of guilt and longing that wasn’t there when we believed this was just a matter of his pride and sense of identity alone. Enter Cass, who reappears in her timeline before this death takes place, finds out who Cal is... and apparently does nothing to warn him. We can use her timeline excuse, but this is someone’s dying wife we’re talking about--she even sees him grieving over her in an illusion as they’re all leaving Wonderworld. Even if no one could do anything for Mrs. Suresh, even if Cal didn’t listen to Cass and dismissed everything she had to say about wasting precious hours better spent with the people you love, I think an attempt at talking to him would at least be necessary. No though, the book just ignores that while the two of them and Attilio eat snacks together.

Cal isn’t the only one who had the added trauma of death: They did it to The Watcher/Sana Hudson too. In her case, she was trying to protect some endangered birds that were killed--both directly and indirectly--by the construction workers in her area, leading her to despise humanity for its “greed and selfishness.” Now, her situation/feelings is/are perfectly understandable, especially given how the construction workers in the story are portrayed. What doesn’t really work is the context surrounding the issue and her actions involving the event. Now, I admit this first point is a bit weak as I can’t speak for the regulations across every country and we don’t know exactly where Sana is from, but a lot of places have heavy regulations and work with big organizations to protect endangered species. Not to mention this is a bit of a heavy topic with much-needed context for a book like this to properly cover. This fact isn’t even glossed over though and the workers have no problem cutting down the birds’ tree despite how this would likely cause massive legal trouble for them and be a major deterrent as a result. As to the “greed and selfishness of man,” this doesn’t really work well considering that the workers are trying to build a residential area. A cost to the environment? Yes. However, it was likely ordered for the benefit of the community. We see this debated a little more evenly in the conclusion to Sana’s story; however, we’re also pretty much told “Yeah, humans are terrible and can never change. Pick birds over them,” beforehand. Lastly, Sana’s own actions--or rather, lackthereof. When the birds lose their tree, their eggs are destroyed and the parents stay behind out of their love for their deceased offspring rather than leave for winter later on, resulting in their deaths. To try to prevent this, Sana begs the birds to leave... Let me repeat that: She begs the birds to leave. The problem? They’re birds. They’re animals. And, outside of the theatre, this is supposedly a world just like ours. You can’t reason with a bird like a person. She could’ve just as easily tried to capture the birds and brought them somewhere safer herself or called someone who would. If that didn’t work, at least those actions would make a lot more sense for the hatred she feels towards other humans: Instead, this decision makes their deaths kinda her fault too for leaving them there despite knowing what would happen is she did.

I don’t know how I feel about the added issues involving death. Yes, there’s a lot surrounding that theme alone to cover, but part of Balan Wonderworld’s charm is confronting all these people with extremely diverse problems, some stemming from issues beyond their control and some their own, internal struggles. The inclusion of death might have made the consequences of events more traumatic, but I think to a detriment. It doesn’t affect Sana as much, but Cal’s case is the worst, as his wife’s passing echoes the regret and mourning we already get from The Lady/Iben Bia’s story when it could’ve been it’s own, independent thing focusing on pride, identity, and a sense of fulfillment that we see more in his game counterpart. I can’t help but feel that we miss out on a wider range of messages by emphasizing on the aspect of death so much.

Lastly, let’s get to Balan and Lance. Overall, I greatly enjoyed the twist at the end with the connection between their characters. The problems I have with them, honestly, I debate whether or not are even problems at all as they do address real concerns that perfectly fit what individuals in their circumstances would go through. First Lance, then Balan, they’ve spent a millennia helping others repair the imbalance in their hearts. People come, people go, and they’re left behind, forever alone in that that theatre. It would be crushing. Lance already broke under the weight of that pain, which is why Balan exists--and now he’s likely doomed to continue the cycle as he suffers this same degree of loneliness. My main issue is that there’s so much to cover about this that we’re barely given a teaspoon of. The author couldn’t really give us much, as this book’s main focus was on Wonderworld’s inhabitants. It feels though that there’s something being built-up that we might not ever get to see completed depending on how successful the franchise it, which is sad if that’s the case. (Hey though: That’s where we fans usually step in, right?)

Secondary to that is that there’s a level of hypocrisy to Balan, Lance, and how they engage with the inhabitants. I kind of love it, but this is where I’m a little conflicted since Balan is supposed to be the one helping people fix their hearts. Two general themes that carry over greatly among all of the inhabitants is the importance of love and friendship, how we rely on others to grow and save us from the worst of ourselves. Balan, however, is required to stay detached from others no matter how much it hurts or what it will inevitably lead to, as everyone must leave Wonderworld eventually. It’s a conflict of interest. Ironically enough, it’s Lance’s decision to trap Leo in a stage and his overwhelming longing for true connections that allow the inhabitants to find and help each other. It’s bad that Balan and Lance couldn’t take the lessons they gave others and apply it to themselves, because their situation is so extreme.

Furthermore, there’s a hypocrisy between Balan and Lance in their decision to wipe the inhabitants memories. It’s revealed not to be a magical phenomena caused by the theatre itself once people leave it as many of us thought, but rather a conscious choice Balan makes--just like Lance. However, while Lance does it to keep the inhabitants contently trapped inside their hearts, we’re not really given a reason for Balan’s actions. Memories, good and bad, are a vital piece of us: We reflect on them as we grow to maintain the lessons we learned in those moments that make us who we are. We see the danger of lost memories not just with Lance, but with Balan as well as part of Sana’s conclusion alludes to a potential relapse. It was her connection to the people she met in Wonderworld that allowed her to recognize one of them--Eis Glover--back home and keep her grounded in another, potentially shattering instant of her life. Similarly, Leo only managed to restore his imbalance because of his friendships with the other inhabitants--friendships he was destined to lose the moment he walked out of the theatre had Balan taken everyone’s memories. This too, I feel, could’ve caused Leo to relapse. If so, Balan’s choice to let them keep their memories of Wonderworld likely prevented them from needing to come back to the theatre--at least not as often as they may have needed to otherwise. Let’s get to the question Lance brings up at the end: “Honestly, enough with the self-deception. You normally take everyone’s memories when they leave, so why this time did you make an exception?” It could be that Balan simply didn’t want to be forgotten anymore. It could also be that he loved them enough that he didn’t want them to suffer to the extent where they had to return to the theatre even if it meant there was a chance he wouldn’t see them again. That idea would beg a second question though: Why did Balan erase the memories of every inhabitant who came before them? (If it isn’t obvious by now, this scene was my favorite bit in the whole book.)

I know this whole post seems to be mostly a series of complaints, but I did enjoy the book overall: I just have a tendency to look at every detail and, when things don’t work, they stay in my mind for a long while. Like I said at the start, the novel isn’t a bad read, it just has some bad points. If you’re already a fan of the game, you’ll probably enjoy it too. If not, I’d recommend checking out some of the other content available--like the video previews/cutscenes introducing the characters--before stepping into this.

#balan wonderworld #bww #video games #novel #novelization

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judgejurythceif · 4 years ago

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What the Seven’s relationship should have been like

We didn’t get to see a lot of the seven bonding as it was more focused on the quest, which makes sense in the story. But, I feel like some relationships people had and everyone instantly being best friends doesn’t make sense. So here’s a web of what I think the relationship between each member of the seven should have been like, with explanation.

Key

Pink- Dating

Dotted Pink- Crush

Close Friends- Blue

Friends- Green

Civil- Grey

Distrustful- Orange

Percy + Annabeth - Dating

Okay, I feel like this seems kind of obvious so I’m not going to go into much detail, but there were five books that built up their relationship with each other. It’s a healthy relationship and they trust each other. I might explain this in detail later why I ship Percabeth and why it’s not toxic but I’m not going to right now.

Percy + Jason - Friends

Okay, the bromance stuff was completely made up by the fandom except I think for one time where they called each other “bro.” They also have sort-of a Greek-Roman rivalry going on, but after the fight in Kansa, they seem to ditch that except for a couple of jokes about them being able to beat the other in a fight.

Percy + Leo - Distrustful

I’m pretty sure (I haven’t reread HoO in a while) that Leo didn’t like Percy. But Percy definitely didn’t trust Leo after he bombed the Romans while he was possessed. He knows that Leo wasn’t in control, but it was very important to Percy that the Roman and Greeks got along, and Leo blew up the Roman camp.

Percy + Hazel - Friends

Okay so they definitely became friends in SoN when they were on a quest. I just don’t see them becoming really close friends like Percy is with Grover and Thalia? Like, I can see them as the type of friends that talk in school, but not the type of friends that would schedule days to hang out together unless it was for a project.

Percy + Frank - Friends

Basically same as Hazel and Percy. I love their friendship, but I can’t see them trying to figure out time to hang out between their schedules.

Percy + Piper - Close Friends

Okay, this is partially influenced by posts I saw about the potential for their friendship, but I definitely see a lot of potential for their friendship without headcanons and just reading the books.

Annabeth + Jason - Civil

So, in different circumstances, like a mortal au, I can see them being friends. But in the canon universe, her boyfriend disappears, Hera gives her a clue, she goes thinking Percy will be there, and it’s some Roman kid that’s supposed to be his replacement. I just don’t see them being able to get past that and actually be friends. I don’t think she would hate him or distrust him though, because he didn’t exactly have a say in it.

Annabeth + Leo - Friends

Okay, there was so much potential in this friendship and Rick just ignored it. Annabeth and Leo both like to build (Annabeth more so the planning part of it but still), they’re both extremely smart, and they’re also both dating people that are considered the hero of their respective camps. I just feel like we could have gotten a lot more interaction from them.

Annabeth + Hazel - Distrustful

Okay, so we’re going to start this from Annabeth’s point of view: your boyfriend goes missing for months, you go to find him, and he’s just chilling with some new Roman friends he found? He didn’t even tell you anything? Time for Hazel’s point of view because that’s all I have for Annabeth: There’s this boy that shows up at camp, he’s a son of Neptune and also your cousin. He has amnesia and doesn’t remember anything except for his girlfriend. If you hadn’t know what Percy and Annabeth’s relationship was like and how well they knew each other wouldn’t you find that a little suspicious. Also as Reyna mentions, Minerva (Athena’s Roman form) doesn’t have demigod children. It would probably be harder to trust a child of someone who isn’t supposed to have kids.

Annabeth + Piper - Close Friends

It’s implied that they’re pretty close friends in canon while they’re at Camp Half-Blood, and I love that, but it’s like the second they were on the Argo ll Rick completely forgot about that. I think they only interacted once or twice on the ship.

Annabeth + Frank - Distrustful

This is pretty much the same as Annabeth and Hazel’s but a little less distrustful. I see it as more distrustful at the beginning, but as time goes on they grow closer and maybe become friends.

Jason + Leo - Dating

I will die mad that this ship isn’t canon. It had much more potential than Piper and Jason, which seemed kind of forced. I think that this ship would definitely be better if Jason didn’t wake up on the bus already dating someone, and everyone had time to figure out their feelings.

Jason + Piper - Friends

I just don’t really feel like they worked together as a relationship. Hera literally forced it together when Jason woke up on the bus. If I was Rick Riordan (and I am very obviously not since I’m making this post), I would just not have made Piper and Jason wake up on the bus already dating. You need to give them time to figure out what they actually want to do and not shove them into a relationship on the first page.

Jason + Hazel - Friends

This is purely based on the fact that they’re both Roman and I’m assuming they talk at the Argo ll meet up parties that Percy mentioned. They get very little time to talk in the books (I don’t remember them talking at all) and they never mention each other. Hazel seems sad when he dies though so it’s kind of implied they were friends. (Am I still supposed to tag for spoilers for that?)

Jason + Frank - Friends

This is again based on the fact that they were both Roman and the fact that Jason promoted Frank to praetor in the middle of a fight. You probably don’t do that if you only kind of know the person, you need to build a relationship* with each other and trust each other.

Leo + Piper - Close Friends

Hmmmmmm, okay. They definitely knew each other before Jason just popped onto the bus, and they were definitely close (possibly dating?) But I see their relationship ship as more of a sibling relationship instead of romantic. 10/10 I love them though.

Leo + Hazel - Close Friends

Okay, so. Because Frazel isn’t happening in my mind, there isn’t any weird tension between them except for the Sammy thing. So, they figure that out and through that just become really good friends. I would also die for this friendship. That was underdeveloped because Rick rushed a love triangle.

Leo + Frank - Friends

Okay, no Frazel here still so there’s no weird tension between “are you trying to steal my girlfriend?” which was the main part of their relationship. Frank would definitely be wary of Leo because of his fire powers but Calypso gave him the fireproof fabric and he made the bag for Frank’s firewood so they definitely don’t hate each other.

Piper + Hazel - Friends

Okay, this just seems like a really neat friendship to me? They don’t interact that I can remember beside the visit with Aphrodite/Venus and they don’t really talk during that. There’s definitely a lot of potential for a friendship here though.**

Piper + Frank - Friends

Okay, I absolutely love the potential for this friendship. Again, it didn’t happen because Rick is a coward but I absolutely love this and they would be such good friends.

Hazel + Frank - Close Friends

Okay, so. I put two lines between them. ‘Crush’ and ‘close friends.’ No matter what’s going on, I feel like Hazel would have a crush on Frank. He obviously doesn’t like her back, because he is two years older than her. I know that people are saying Frazel isn’t problematic, and I somewhat agree, but I feel like if Hazel was aged-up a little it would be better. No matter what, they’re definitely going to be best friends though. And Hazel definitely still carries his firewood.***

*by ‘relationship’ when I mention it, I don’t always mean a romantic relationship.

**I do really want to put all of them as friends, but I just can’t see that happening, as they were seven demigods out on a ship and told to save the world. In a random group of seven people, there’s going to be at least one you don’t like.

***Another point I wanted to put on here but don’t know where to put it is that Rick forced them all into relationships. A lot of teenagers just don’t date anyone, and that doesn’t feel reflected at all in his books, as he just pairs every single character off with someone.

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sylvain-writes · 4 years ago

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Guarded Hearts and Safe Houses (Leonardo x Reader) Chapter 6/9

Rated: T

Gender Neutral Reader, canon typical violence/injury, light angst, strangers to lovers, supportive family.

for @melodiousmelodrama

Maybe Mikey should have called ahead to say you were coming down. Maybe you should have asked permission from Leo, their appointed leader, to enter their new home. But Mikey invited you and you hadn’t heard from Leo in almost two weeks. Maybe Leo shouldn’t be shutting you out when all you’ve ever done is be there to help.

The platform looks great. Donnie’s setup spans the entire western wall. You think he must run himself tired going up and down the line, but the skateboard under his feet helps him make it a quick and easy ride from one end of his work station to the other.

“Raph’s down there, probably.” Mikey waves down the tracks. “Streets have been kinda quiet. It makes him uneasy. 'specially when we know the Krang are out there, but we can’t find ‘em.”

“Dare I ask about-”

“Leo? Heh. He’s probably training. Sensei has him working on finding balance." Mikey walks the rail with ease, one foot in front of the other. "You see, Leo’s been all kinds of bent outta shape since he walked out on you.”

“Leo didn’t walk out on anybody, Mikey,” you say with a frown.

With a leap, he turns to you. “Anyway! Leo’s been having some trouble focusing so… he’s in the ha'shi.”

You let Mikey lead the way up the opposite end of the platform until you hear a stern voice barking commands. “Find your center, Leonardo. Strength, speed, stealth… these are things that can waver, can fail, and still you keep focus on your path.”

“Yes, Master Splinter.”

You watch, with Mikey, from the edge of the small room. It must have been designated for another track, but it’s far more run down than the one Leo chose for his family.

Leonardo’s muscles strain and tremble as he holds himself on the ropes suspended overhead. His twin swords cut through the air like a dance.

“He’s really something else.”

“Huh?” Raphael comes up behind you smelling every bit as bad as Mikey promised he would. “Oh, yeah, he’s a real piece o’ work.”

Raphael raises his voice as he claps for his brother, “Good work, Leo! Nice form, brutha! Dropping that left still, but you’re comin’ around!”

All the cajoling doesn’t break Leonardo’s focus for an instant.

“I wonder if he even notices I’m here,” you say to no one.

“You ain’t said Hi to our guest yet? Come on, man, we raised you betta than that, Leo!”

Leo does a double take at his brothers, at you standing between them, and loses concentration. All it takes is one instant of distraction to have him falling from the ropes onto his shell.

“Ha ha!” Raph and Mikey bump fists.

Seeing they made Leo fall, you figure Splinter is going to have it out for the younger turtles, but the sensei's frustration is focused on Leo alone. “You mustn’t be so easily distracted, Leonardo. Clear your mind.”

Leo sits up and shakes off the shock of impact.

Splinter follows Leo’s line of sight to you. “This is the cause of your distraction? Of your failures? This human?”

You don’t think you should be insulted. You’re the outsider here. And if what Splinter is saying is true, then you’re dangerous. You’re dangerous if your presence means Leo’s unfocused, if it means that Leo has been making mistakes.

You swallow hard and bite your tongue and wait for Leonardo to say something. To stand up for you, to throw you under the bus. To say anything that would give you a clue as to how to respond.

“You. You.” Splinter points his gnarled staff from you to Leonardo and then raps it against the cement at his feet. “Speak. Communication. Trust. Honor.”

You think there will be more. More explanation. More reprimand. But Splinter taps his staff against the floor again, and then he’s gone. You think he walks out. You’re pretty sure he walks out. He can’t just disappear. Can he?

Your eyes are drawn back to Leo at the sound of him shuffling on the straw mat. “He’s right," you say, wishing you didn't have to. "If I’m a distraction, I should stay out of your way.”

Leo rubs his shell as he stands. “Then why did you come?”

“Mikey… he-”

“Mikey? Of course it was. Of course it was Mikey, or Donnie, or Raph.”

There's an accusation in his words. It fans your frustration with him into anger. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Leo huffs, throws up his hands, and gathers up his katanas from the ground.

“You’re never around, Leo. They look out for me and my family. They kept their promise to look after us.”

Leo's eyes are piercing. He sheaths his swords at his back without dropping his gaze. “I kept my promise.”

“Then where have you been?”

“I stayed away. The Krang is looking for me. I’m not going to lead them back to you. Not again." Squaring his shoulders, Leo faces you head on. His words are stiff. But he places a hand over his heart, and you remember the soft warmth of that hand under yours. "I swore I would protect your family, on my honor. And I am doing that. By staying away, by keeping my brothers close. But you…”

“Me? What about me? I’ve offered you everything. And you pushed me away." That day on the mat, when everything was broken but Leo held you close, feels like it was a lifetime ago. "So, what? You’re mad that I made friends with your brothers? They were there, Leo.”

Leo wrings his hands in front of him as he begins walking forward and back. When his paces draw him near, you can see the tightness in his jaw, the flush of his cheeks, the shine of unshed tears in his eyes. “Mikey’s been upset since we came down here. I thought it was just the move, but it was more than that… He opened up to you.”

“And you’re mad?”

“He opened up to you! You’re a stranger!” No, it isn’t anger in his voice.

“I’m a friend,” you say softer. “To them and I thought to you too.”

“I’m their brother. Their leader.: He presses his lips together and you think, maybe, his chin is trembling. You think, maybe, there is sadness in his wavering tone. “They're supposed to come to me. I’m supposed to see when they need me.”

“Sometimes people need a friend though. To talk to someone outside of the family, someone who isn’t their older brother.” After that moment in the old dojo, Leo must understand what it is to hide. “Mikey didn’t go to you because... he can see you’re doing the best you can. That you’re trying so hard to hold it all together. Didn’t want to seem ungrateful.”

"You don't know us like that. You don't get to have us like that. He's my brother. My responsibility."

Raising a hand to hold his, to comfort him like the night when the Lair was destroyed, you come forward. "You take on so much, Leo."

But he considers your outstretched hand with a hard stare. "No. You think you know me. You're too familiar. You saw what you shouldn't have seen."

"It's not a weakness to need someone sometimes."

"I don't need you. We don't need you."

You stare at Leo and let what he says really sink in, for him and for you. Your parents taught you to notice when someone is hurting. They instilled it in you to help when you can. But you won’t stay where you’re unwanted.

With a nod you acknowledge Leo’s rejection. Though his words expressed his wish to be left alone, he pales as you take a step back. He inhales a sharp breath as you withdraw your support. But when you walk away, he doesn’t ask you to stay.

Splinter waits for you at the edge of the mat, staff in hand, scowl in place.

“He doesn’t want to talk,” you say. You’re tired. You’re tired of giving yourself and being cast aside.

Splinter’s voice is deep and broken. “Then make him listen.”

You turn. And without taking any steps toward Leo, you raise your voice to grab his attention. "I'm going to help Mikey with his room. He misses Raph. That's the big secret. He isn't used to having his own room and he isn't sleeping through the day.” Leo doesn’t even look up. Too focused on polishing his swords.

You sigh before continuing, hoping he’ll listen. “He's hurting, not because you did anything wrong or because he's mad at anything you did. He's just having a hard time with the transition. If Raph agrees, we're gonna make windows between them so when Mikey needs to, they can hear each other."

At that, Leo pauses his work. "They'll keep each other up. Pick on each other until I come down on them."

"Is that what they used to have?"

Leo wipes his blades with a cloth and shrugs.

"Then maybe that's what they need, for now."

Leo’s quiet for a long while. You consider leaving, but something in your gut tugs you to go over to him instead.

He still hasn’t lifted his gaze, when he grumbles, "How did you get so smart?"

Your self-deprecating laugh comes out in huff. "I'm not.” You remember that night on the roof, when you should have run, but moved closer to the action instead. “I saw a fight between mutants and an alien and got caught. I'm reckless."

Leo offers the barest shake of his head. "You saw Mikey was hurt. You stuck your neck out for us.” There’s a glance where your eyes meet and you forget to breathe. “You got a big heart."

Your response is a whisper. "Right back at ya.”

There's a pause, a quiet. When Leo's cloth runs down the blade again, it doesn't feel like he’s putting on a show. Doesn’t feel like he’s trying to ignore or dismiss your company. It's routine. He's caring for his blades and you're there with him.

You take a seat on the mat and pick at the laces on your shoe. "Heart's not a bad thing, y'know. Loving your family, it's what drives you. I've always admired that about you."

"My family needs me. I have to think with my head, not my heart.” And just like that, Leo’s starts building his walls of defense, brick by brick. “I've seen what thinking with one's heart can do to a person. Passion clouds the mind.”

Leo rolls his shoulders, focuses on his task as he strengthens his resolve. "I fight because to walk away would be cowardly and shameful. It would bring dishonor to my family.” You wonder if those are his true beliefs or if they’re ones drilled into him by his father. “I fight because I am able. I am strong where others are vulnerable."

It breaks your heart to hear him pit strength and vulnerability against each other, as if they are mutually exclusive. "A reed before the wind lives on, while mighty oaks do fall.”

Leo gives only a hum in reply.

“It's ok to be vulnerable every once in a while. Better to bend than break.” You move closer to him as he oils the pommel. “Leo, you used to let me see you. Really see you. What changed?"

You place your hand on his blade and push it away with easy pressure. "Leo."

He lays the sword and cloth on the floor and looks at you with open palms. "I don't know if I can be both."

"Both?"

There’s a different kind of tension in his shoulders. Not the kind that he wears when he’s closing himself off, but the kind he wears when he’s trying to open himself up. "I don't know if I can be the man who teases you into getting hearing aids and still be the leader my brother's need in a fight."

The corner of your mouth lifts in an easy smile. "Leo,” you say, relief and affection moving through you like a wave, “you'll never be the tease. You'll always be the one pretending not to listen.” His frown twitches, and you take his hand. “But you'll hear me."

"How do you know?"

"Because you heard me all the other times. When I asked you to let my family help yours. When I asked for your trust. When I asked you to trust your brothers with the new Lair. You listened now, when I told you about Mikey."

Leo takes your hand in his and draws you to your feet. He pulls you in until you're standing close enough to hear his breath. "I'm supposed to look after my family."

"And maybe sometimes you can let me look after you."

Leo's expression turns soft. His eyes lose the last remnants of their walls and his head tilts as he assesses the sincerity in your voice.

“You came into our world and turned it upside down,” he says. “I don’t know if I can.”

Despite his words, Leo inches closer. His hands slide up your arms to your elbows. His fingers curl around your arms as he takes a trembling breath.

Your hand rises to his chest. Pauses over his heart before it moves to his cheek, briefly brushing the edge of his frown. “It’s OK… if you don’t need me. But if you do-”

You’re hushed by the feeling of Leo’s thumb caressing your cheek. You’re stilled by the sensation of his hand smoothing down your hair. “If I do,” he says, waiting for you to fill in the rest.

“Then I’m right here.”

The quiet spell is broken when Donatello rushes into the gym, skidding to a stop at the edge of the mat.

Leo pulls away from you quickly and strides to his brother, ready to take a report. “Sitrep, Donnie.”

“The-the-the Krang. Leo, they’ve hit the city. Leo, they… they…” His gaze locks on you before his face twists to a mournful scowl. “They must have known we’ve been getting help from humans. The apartment was attacked.”

#tmnt x reader #leonardo x reader #leo x reader #tmnt leonardo x reader #gender neutral reader #my writing #guarded hearts and safe houses fic

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elencelebrindal · 4 years ago

Note

What about the 17th century Gold saints if they come back to life and see the world and everything that they know change? And what they will react and meet to the classic 20th gold saints?

I’m so sorry for taking so long to answer this, I’m having a ton of issues and cannot concentrate on long posts. I’m also sorry about any mistakes you may find in this, I kept forgetting what I was writing and how I was writing it. Stress is a beast.

Also... I assume you meant TLC or ND, but that XVII century throws me off. Maybe you meant XVIII? I panicked and double checked, and there’s no XVII century Saints side from the XVII century alterative (aka Sage, if the internet is not betraying me, I’m not good with dates). I went with TLC.

First of all, they will ask themselves “where the hell are Shion and Dohko?!”, because obviously they will be missing. Since, you know, they didn’t die back then. And... the premise is: everyone’s back to life. The only moment in time where the Golds were almost all together as adults was during the Sanctuary Battle, and half of them died in 12 hours. Before that, with Pope Ares being a tyrant and half the Sanctuary being empty, doesn’t work. Shion is a bit of a problem, so there’s two options: either his old friends get traumatized again upon knowing he was assassinated, or traumatized again because they learn he became a Specter (kinda). Or both. Pretty sure that at least one of them, if Shion presents himself wearing a Surplice, will instinctively punch him. They don’t even realize it’s him, they just see the Surplice and all their fight or flight responses light up more than a beacon. And then they’ll be traumatized again upon learning Shion was Pope before dying.

Dohko... well, how would you react upon discovering one of your companions didn’t die, but stayed alive and well thanks to Athena’s misopethamenos? Minus the accidental punching, obviously.

Anyway, once they finally get over that shock, it’s time for them to check out the world and the other Saints. And of course, they start from the beginning.

Aries Temple At least a couple of them will mention how Mu resembles Atla (same thing I did when I saw the kid, after all). Then, they will ask about his master, because obviously he’s Shion’s successor, so bring in another shock. Mu is Shion’s disciple. Great. They keep getting showered with Shion knowledge without even searching for it, and every single piece of information is a punch in the gut. They will leave with a dumbfounded expression on their faces, onward to the next temple.

Taurus Temple Rasgado will be absolutely jealous of Aldebaran’s name. He gets to have it since birth, who wouldn’t be jealous of that? They immediately bond, though. They’re both good-hearted people, after all, even if ready to wreck everything if they need to. Manigoldo really likes his sense of humor.

Gemini Temple Now, for this I’m in bit of a pickle. I don’t know if Aspros and Defteros are both there, if there’s only one of them, I don’t know. The fact the both Saga and Kanon have been the Gemini Saint doesn’t help either. Let’s say this. If they meet Saga, they will like him as a Saint. Powerful extremely skilled, with a great mind? All of them are going to appreciate such a man. And then, they learn about him as a tyrant, and collectively take a step back. If they meet Kanon, Athena please help them. Someone will try to punch him. Kanon will trap them in his labyrinth because there’s no way he’s going to let Aspros pass without testing him (I know, poor Aspros, but I love doing this to him). He’s going to bond with Kardia, though. They can both brag about how they defeated Rhadamanthys, even though Kanon will emphasize that he actually killed him.

Cancer Temple Please, someone take Manigoldo away from this wretched place. As soon as they step in, Manigoldo will either faint from shock upon hearing all those distressed laments, or try to kick Deathmask in the jewels for keeping innocents as trophies. There’s no way the whole ordeal could end well.

Leo Temple Immediately after seeing Regulus, Aiolia will pat him on the head. No one can resist Regulus, not even him, I won’t change my mind. And then onward to more serious stuff. Precisely, Aiolia will talk with all of them, to make sure they’re actually the real Gold Saints, and there’s a high probability he’s going to ask for a fight just to be even more sure. Just like he did with Athena, back then.

Virgo Temple Remember when I told you that Shaka, in my humble opinion, is the most powerful Gold Saint of his generation? Close to the gods? Well, at least a couple of them will hesitate before stepping inside his temple, because his cosmo is terrifying. Asmita, though... he’s curious. He’s going to step in and stand in front of Shaka, comparing his cosmo to his own, trying to understand him. Of course, as soon as he learn that his eyes are closed, Asmita will ask if he’s blind or just chose to keep them shut. They’re probably going to have the longest conversation of the group, both yearning to learn about how the other uses his cosmo and fights. And, Shaka uses that time to test them, again, because he needs to protect Athena and the best way to do that is to be careful. Libra Temple They met Dohko before reaching it. I didn’t specify it at the beginning of the post.

Scorpio Temple Milo and Kardia? Oh boy, someone’s getting hurt. Kardia, being the reckless fighter he is, will definitely want to fight his successor. Just to see how different they are. Cue Degél being forced to stop him because “there’s no way I’m going to drag your sorry ass when your heart catches fire”, and Milo watching as his “older” counterpart gets frozen in place. Though, he will tell Kardia how amusing the coincidence of both of them being close to an Aquarius is (friendship, love, whatever you want, these two are close).

Sagittarius Temple Right after meeting each other, how long do you think it’ll take for Aiolos and Sisyphus to start talking about their family? To brag about how much they love their lions? Don’t get Aiolos wrong, though. He is going to be the hardest Gold Saint to convince. He has to make sure they’re not there to hurt Athena, even if he trusts his companions. They will read his testament, and most of them will finally realize how painful and horrible those years of tyranny were for the Sanctuary. They will think about how Shion made the Sanctuary a livable place, and how Ares destroyed everything and betrayed everyone. Sisyphus will be the most shocked of the group, thinking back to when he took Sasha away from his family because Athena was more important, seeing himself both similar to Aiolos and completely different. It ends with a melacholic feeling permeating all the past Saints.

Capricorn Temple El Cid and Shura talking about their Excalibur is the first thing that happens. Who has the best sword? They keep arguing about it (El Cid more calmly) until Sisyphus intervenes. As soon as he learn the Shura gave Excalibus to a Bronze Saint, though, El Cid almost loses his cool. The encounter goes on without other accidents, luckily, so the Gold Saints can pass.

Aquarius Temple Degél and Kardia, thanks to what Milo told them at his temple, will try to understand what kind of person is Camus. Only to be confused and surprised at how a cold and calm man like him could actively be close to someone like Milo. Of course, right after they realize it’s the same situation they live in, so everyone moves on to more serious stuff, aka Degél trying to understand what happened in their Holy War, since learning from Saga wasn’t an option and Deathmask risked getting knocked out of existence by Manigoldo. Obviously, the Golds of the past are even more horrified to know that, aside from Shion, five more Gold Saints chose to betray Athena, even if they didn’t really stand by Hades’ side. Sisyphus especially, since he actually experienced what was like being covered by a Surplice (I loved that scene, I have to pay homage to it). They also learn about the Athena Exclamation used to kill one of their companions, though Camus avoids telling them of the second time they used it. After this, once the shock subsided, it’s time for the last temple.

Pisces Temple The very first thing Albafica will do when stepping in that temple is ask Aphrodite how he manages to live the life of a Pisces Saint. There’s two possible options for this: the more canon approach, where Aphrodite doesn’t have poisonous blood, so the answer Albafica receives cannot be applied to his experience; my own approach, where Aphrodite was born with poisonous blood, and he can tell Albafica that it’s not as dangerous for other people as it might seem to him, because the problem resides in his blood, not in his general person. On a more general note, Albafica will have a good conversation with him and will actually approach him, since they’re both Pisces Saints. His companions leave him be, because it’s the first time that Albafica gets that close to someone without feeling on edge, and even though they end up feeling a bit ill upon knowing Aphrodite was one of the real traitors of Athena in the past, they’ll leave with no incidents happening.

I know this is a way more generic approach to the topic compared to what I would actually write, but I don’t have a clear mind at the moment and it’s difficult for me to concentrate too much on sigle characters and situations. Also, there is one main issue with these Saints coming back to life that I didn’t tackle: how their mentality is out of place in a way more modern time like the XX century. This is too difficult for me to elaborate now, especially with a serious approach (I often see the TLC Saints being thrown into the XX or XXI century with a comedic intent, instead of a serious one, so I don’t know how other people deal with the issue), so I avoided it. Another problem is how Dohko and Shion would react to them. For the TLC Saints is not that big of a deal, they died back then, but Shion and Dohko survived. They outlived them, they saw them die. I made it sound really simple in this post, but I believe this kind of emotions cannot be easily summed up in a couple sentences. And there’s the fact that some of the classic Golds betrayed Athena, a very heavy topic for a Gold Saint. Again, I made it sound simple, from Ares to the Holy War, but in reality this would take a much bigger toll on past Saints coming back. How would you react upon knowing that your successors, the people you hoped were going to protect Athena after your death, not only didn’t follow that path but also tried to kill her? It would take some time for them to understand how those Saints got a redemption.

Again, I’m sorry for the terrible amount of time that passed since you asked me this, dear anon. I always answer asks, but sometimes I don’t have time to do so as soon as I get them. I hope you found this at least a bit interesting, and I hope I didn’t misinterpret what you asked me.

Have a good day, guys!

#saint seiya #i cavalieri dello zodiaco #los caballeros del zodiaco #os cavaleiros do zodiaco #knights of the zodiac #the lost canvas #gold saints

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orange-meringue · 4 years ago

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Lost And Found Q & A

(The Q&A is here! Yeah, I’m not sure exactly how many of you ended up coming over from AO3, but I’ve decided to do the Q&A for my fic here -sorry to those of you who are uninterested in my writing life, I’ve been really invested in Lost And Found lately.

The first question was submitted here on Tumblr, and the rest are all from AO3. I hope you’re satisfied with my answers, and if you have any more questions after this or just want some elaboration, please feel free to ask! I’ll add them on in a reblog!

Anyway, enjoy! I’ll put everything beneath the cut)

How does Donnie adjust to physical touch/affection in the future?

-Donnie is definitely touch-starved. No way around it. As mentioned in the fic, Draxum, Huginn, and Muninn never really gave him more than a few one-sided hugs, fist-bumps or handshakes. He’d never been fully hugged or held until he met his brothers, and it’s still very weird and new to him. But obviously his brothers (as well as April and Splinter, once you get to know them) are pretty touchy, but a few of them are better at picking up on Donnie’s thing with touch than others. Overtime I feel like they would be able to get him more and more acquainted with things like casual hugs and friendly touch, and the more he gets used to these things, the less they startle him every time. Though I do imagine he has a few relapses in the future (which I do plan to write about) where touch goes back to being startling and scary, and it takes him a day or so to warm back up to it. Mostly good things, though! Donnie truly does love the familial affection, though he’s not likely to admit it

When did the boys prepare Donnie’s room?

I imagine they made his room during the last chapter, after Splinter’s apology and after April and Mayhem left, when everyone began to split up to do their own things. The timeline is a little questionable, but I like to think they had a good hour in there, and most of the materials were already there and ready -the room was likely empty, too, and was acting as some sort of storage room that they never knew what to do with. I tried to make it obvious that they’d been pressed for time and hadn’t been able to do much, hence the hastily made bed frame and why there were only two other pieces of furniture

Will Donnie ever feel comfortable enough to remove his tech around the lair in the future?

I feel that, much like canon Donnie, wearing his tech is a bit of a habitual thing. He doesn’t really see a reason to take it off, even if he’s technically safe in the lair, especially because it was ingrained in him via Draxum that his tech is everything keeping him safe. His tech is his armor and his safety blanket, and even if he knows, logically, he’s not going to be ambushed in the middle of the lair, it’s hard to take it off. Eventually, though, I feel like his brothers help with that. At one point Raph probably starts trying to train him to build strength and muscle on his own so he doesn’t have to rely on his limb clamps, and, as Donnie gets more comfortable with his brothers, he starts feeling relaxed enough to remove his battle shell when lounging around with them

Would Splinter try to bond with Donnie and attempt to form a better connection with him?

Splinter really does love his son and wants to spend time with him! But...uh...as of the story’s ending...he doesn’t know very much about him. He knows he was raised by Draxum to be a soldier and is very good with technology, but other than that...next to nothing. But it’s a great motivator! Splinter 100% wants to know Donnie as well as he knows his other boys, so he pulls out every stop to try and bond with him, making sure not to rush him despite his curiosity and family-oriented nature, because Donnie is currently pretty skeptical of adults (even Splinter) for...obvious reasons. But he wants to get to know Splinter, too, and, yeah, he’s willing to sit through his 5+ hour Lou Jitsu monologues to let that happen

How does Donnie feel about the boys’ future plans to capture oozesquitos and sabotage Draxum? Does he still have conflicted feelings about humans?

After the initial adrenaline and shock of everything subsides, I feel like it was Donnie’s idea to go after the oozesquitos. He probably wakes up in a cold sweat one night remembering oh yeah, Draxum and I unleashed a swarm of carrier bugs upon New York that are set on turning people into mutants and immediately feels the need to remedy his past mistake. So he builds a device to track the oozesquitos, which leads the boys to Big Mama’s hotel, and the rest is history (though slightly different than it was in canon, considering Donnie’s knowledge of Big Mama’s schemes and the Battle Nexus). But in terms of Draxum, Donnie would definitely be far more hesitant about trying to sabotage him. Donnie is still afraid of Draxum, after all -a small part of him feels like everything with his brothers is only temporary, and eventually he’s going to be stuck with Draxum again, and the further on his bad side he gets now, the worse it’s going to be when that does happen. He never directly challenges or fights Draxum whenever they run into him, and if there’s a way to avoid clashing with him altogether, he’ll take it

As for humans, Donnie’s definitely still conflicted about them. It’s been ingrained in him his whole life that humans are evil and selfish- that they forced his whole race underground and that’s the reason they now live in secrecy. And honestly, not even Splinter actually knows if that’s true. So Donnie remains skeptical, but overtime he’s able to do a lot more things around the city without fear of humans. They’re not actually that dangerous, he discovers, and maybe -just maybe- they’re alright. But there’s only one human Donnie grows to fully trust, and that’s April. In his eyes, she’s already proved her loyalty and compassion and, y’know, desire not to out him and his brothers to all of human-kind, not to mention she’s super badass and someone Donnie does not want on his bad side again. She’s a good friend, he realizes. He can definitely understand why she’s part of the family

How much does Donnie know about the Hidden City? Does he know about Big Mama and her hotel? How would the boys’ interactions with Big Mama change with this version of Donnie?

Considering he was raised with Draxum (who is apparently a well-known public figure in the Hidden City) he definitely has a fair amount of knowledge about the place, as well as a few ins and yōkai to go to when he needs something done. He’s very well-known himself, and actually has a reputation as a very intimidating soldier. He’s also well-versed in Big Mama’s tricks, because she and Draxum have done business before and she’s 100% tried to kidnap him for the Battle Nexus (emphasis on tried). Harking back to the question about Donnie’s oozesquito-capturing plan, the episode would definitely go differently with him there. It would be a great Leo and Donnie bonding episode, because neither of them trust Big Mama in the slightest, and Raph and Mikey would be far more cautious around her, though still intrigued by the concept of a mutant hotel and her apparent interest in helping them. But I think Donnie would manage to slip out with Leo before their brothers are captured, then it would be a race with a hilarious amount of arguing until they rescue Raph and Mikey, then everything would likely proceed as normal for the rest of the episode

Is Donnie jealous that April gets to attend school? What would his relationships with the Purple Dragons be like?

Donnie has no idea what school is. He’s heard mention of it in shows he’s pirated, but it isn’t until April comes to him one day complaining about her workload that he asks what she’s talking about. Once she explains it, he’s ecstatic! A place you can go to learn about math, science, history, and any other subject you could ever want? How much does it cost? ...It’s free?! He’s begging April to smuggle him in. She absolutely does not want to deal with that, but Donnie did make her a whole laptop and upgrade her phone a whole bunch, so how can she say no? She agrees to take him the next day, but it doesn’t fully occur to Donnie that the school is crowded with humans until he gets there. He’s on-edge the entire day, and it doesn’t help that he’s a weird green-skinned new kid no one’s ever seen before. I imagine it would be a great chapter for some good old fashioned Donnie and April bonding, and I’m 100% going to write it now, so anything else would be considered a spoiler

As for the Purple Dragons, I imagine their relationship wouldn’t be too different. The Purple Jacket episode would go relatively the same way, though I imagine Donnie would be a little more reluctant to actually join the Dragons, and way more irritating throughout the rest of the episode. But the plot and their feelings toward each other would likely remain the same

Does Donnie still eat bugs?

The whole thing with the bugs is basically...Draxum didn’t know what to feed Donnie as a baby, so he went to a local animal expert who recommended things like fruits, veggies, bugs, etc. So, considering that Draxum’s main priority was rebuilding his lab and he didn’t really have the resources to get food for anyone but himself (and maybe Huginn and Muninn- though they probably stuck to dumpster diving), Donnie’s appetite ended up consisting completely of typical turtle food, and only when he got older did Draxum started adding in things like nutrient bars and protein shakes, just to help him build more strength and muscle. So Donnie never really had anything else before he met his brothers, and it feels weird to him to jump straight from turtle to human food, so he slowly incorporates more of the latter into his diet overtime. He does still eat bugs, though. Splinter started getting him things like bug chips and seasoned bugs to make it less unsettling, but now he just eats those all the time and none of the others care for it. If a live bug happens to get in his way, he definitely won’t hesitate to eat it, and, yeah, sometimes it’s startling and almost made Leo throw up once, but it’s also really helpful if there’s a bug in the lair and none of the others want to deal with it. Donnie has eaten a spider before. The others just pretend it never happened

#rottmnt fic #rottmnt separated au #these were fun to write! Hope I gave you guys the answers you were looking for #special shoutout to lizwuzthere for asking literally 7/8 of the Q&A questions thank you so much alsdkfjhas #Lost And Found

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merryfortune · 4 years ago

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Day 1 / Red

Clover and Violets 2021

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V + GX

Ship: Redjacketshipping | Rei/Serena

Universe: Arc V

Word Count: 1,221

Rating: T

Tags: Canon Compliant, GX/Arc V Fusion, Fluff with a Sad Ending

Serena felt like her life was missing something. Like there was something which was just out of place with it even though there didn’t seem to be anything wrong. It was content. Ideal. Even the weather of Duel Academia Island seemed beautiful all year around. There was a volcano which every other day, Serena begged for it to explode because she thought that would be pretty cool but that was about it. No other natural disasters to speak of, even though it was all a small island, they never got huge waves, no, it was massively flat on the beach so there weren’t any tidal waves and there were never any cyclones either.

Well, most of the time, at least.

Serena watched from underneath the stone hallway as it poured torrentially. She had never seen anything like it all her life and she had lived on Duel Academia literally all her life. It was a shame that both Professor Leo and Barret had assured her that there wouldn’t be any tidal waves, cyclones, or floods despite how it rained but they all agreed, it was a most biblical rain.

Still, Serena watched with the utmost fascination how the rain poured down on the Island, sending rivers in the gutters and becoming sheets on the roof. It mesmerised her and whilst all the other students had gone to run and hide from the cold, Serena hadn’t. Not even as her skin prickled. She just wanted to stand and watch.

And she thought she would be the only one but one of the older kids, a girl slightly taller and older than her, maybe by a year or two, approached.

“You’re gonna catch a cold out here if you keep that up.” she said.

“Rack off, I can do what I want.” Serena retorted.

The girl laughed. “Only some friendly advice from a senior.”

Serena rolled her eyes, she didn’t want to hear that from someone in a red jacket. A red jacket meant red dorm and everyone knew that red dorm was the dorm for losers, whiners, and complainers. The sort that no one wanted to associate with lest the rot touched them and they were ruined too with such dreadful initiative and other vestments of sloth.

And Serena had big ambitions. She didn’t want to be the bird in the cage anymore. She wanted to prove her stripes, go out and strike it big but for some reason, she kept getting benched and if she started hanging out with slackers like the ones from the Osiris Red Dorm, she may as well kiss those big ambitions a big goodbye.

“I doubt it.” Serena scoffed at her.

“Hey, I’m serious.” the girl pouted. “I’m a good duellist, all things considered.”

“Yeah, right.” Serena sarcastically agreed with her.

“I got my foot in the door at nine years old, I’ll have you know. I had all the markings of a child prodigy, just wasn’t raised right, you know?” she said. “Anyway, m’name’s Rei and its good to meet you.”

“Can’t say the feelings’re mutual.” Serena said.

Even though all she wanted was to watch the rain, Serena told a glance at this Rei girl. She actually seemed kind of similar to her. Rough around the edges, tomboyish, that sort of thing but getting that second look at her, Serena noticed something was amiss with her. She was nursing her arm in a bandage and sling, she seemed a bit downtrodden.

“How’d you do that?” Serena asked.

“Stuff and things.” Rei defensively replied. “Fell out of a tree.”

Serena snorted with laughter. Okay, maybe she was a little charmed by that. After all, she had gotten into many scrapes and the like back in the day from climbing trees and falling out of them. Maybe she and this Rei chick were a little bit similar. Maybe Serena was being quick to judge based purely on that red jacket of hers.

Rei turned dejected though. “Not much of a funny story though, I was trying to hide from… ah, forget, you wouldn’t understand unless you’ve been out on those frontlines.”

The conversation turned quiet. Great, Serena found herself thinking, even the broken armed Osiris Red girl had gone out and seen the glorious hunts for herself and she hadn’t.

“You sure you should be out hangin’ around in just a skort and a shirt?” Rei asked.

“It’s fine.” Serena said.

“No, it ain’t, you’ll catch your death out here or even worse.” Rei nervously laughed. “Here, take my jacket, I don’t think I’ll be needing it much longer.”

Serena tried to wave Rei off, she most certainly did not want a used Osiris Red jacket but the girl was determined. Serena couldn’t say no when Rei had finally gone through all that effort to take off her jacket with just one arm and one hand, not even disturbing her broken arm on the way.

“Here, let me help.” Rei said.

Serena stiffened but only because she blushed. She felt her temperature rise until she was red hot, just like the jacket. She wasn’t used to getting much affection, let alone from near strangers. So, she let Rei put on that jacket for her. It was snug and had a satiny in-line. It was nice, Serena found herself thinking once she was all wrapped up in it. It smelt nicer than expecting, too, which she really liked. The faintness of Rei’s scent was there but it was sweet, almost woody but nice.

“Well, see ya round, kitty cat, I mean, everyone knows who you are, Serena.” Rei said.

She felt rude now because she hadn’t introduced herself but Serena felt rude and brusque every other day because that’s the kind of person she was so she tried not to let this little infraction bother her. So, she let her red face sour to Rei’s bemusement. She shrugged, tried to laugh but it was a pitiful attempt.

“Yeah, let’s face it, I probably won’t be seeing you around.” Rei said. “Anyways, I’ll let you enjoy the tropical storm in peace now.”

Serena blinked. She hadn’t realised her reputation preceded her so much so she waved Rei off too.

“Yeah, see ya round, Red.” Serena mumbled.

Serena watched as Rei wandered off. She wondered what Rei had meant by that. Thunder crashed and lightning sparked in the sky, briefly catching Serena’s attention with how spectacular it was but it didn’t hold her fascination. Not quite like before. Instead, she started fidgeting with the jacket, with how it did up on its zip and its pockets. It was cosy. Comfy.

But that dawdling confusion that Serena had had in that moment was palpable in hindsight. Staring, watching the rain, enjoying the sensation of a new jacket because hindsight was something else. As Serena never saw Rei again after that and she worked out why pretty quickly and her heart broke.

Rei was a dissenter. She was a traitor who had been hiding out from the very same forces that she was supposed to be allied with. She had been brought back by force and she had been carded as her punishment. So now all Serena had left of that moment in time, bittersweet and docile, was her very same favourite, red jacket of Rei’s and a rather confused infatuation.

#femslash #redjacketshipping #femslash february #femslashfeb2021 #yugioh arc v #yugioh gx #arc v #gx #arc v fanfic #serena (arc v)#saotome rei #rei saotome #blair flannigan #writing tag #clover and violets #clover and violets 2021

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hellswolfie · 4 years ago

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The Mark of Athena Review

Ok so once again i continue reading “The Heroes of Olympus” and once again i need to vent so Tadaaaaa !!

So before I start, here is a more general Review : I really REALLY liked this book. Favorite of the serie so far. Also, obviously, SPOILERS !!

THINGS I DIDNT LIKE :

- The role of Frank : I can maybe forgive that, because with 7 main characters i understand it’s difficult to give them all an important role in one single book. But I really loved him in “The Son of Neptune” and I really wanted to see more of him, and the most of what we got was him being the Jealous Boyfriend. It was kind of disappointing so I hope it’ll change in the next books.

- Piper : it costs me a lot to put her there because I really really loved her in “The Lost Hero” but I have to admit I didn’t like one single chapter of hers in “The Mark of Athena”. Or at least not completely. In the first book there was the relationship with her dad, her culture, her dealing with the fact she was an Aphrodite children, the begining of a friendship with Annabeth and Leo... But in this book ? It’s only about Jason. Endlessly. And it’s so tiring and eyeroll worthy, especially when we compare her “issues” over JASON with the others’. And even without that, she was really not a great person in this book and not in the interesting way : she was ready to put the whole World in danger just so Jason wouldnt stay in New Rome, kept Charming Up her friends just for convenience (like srsly i know thats not supposed to be a Big Deal but thats still mind control so yikes), and when it came down to it, no matter what she said about how Leo is like her little brother or Annabeth is her BFF, she only gave a crap about Jason Jason Jason...There was barely a scene of her with the other two. And I find it frustrasting that it didn’t even feel like the plot during her chapters were about her, but more about Jason and her being a support for him, even though they were HER chapters !!

- Jasiper : Well I guess that’s not really a surprise lol. I never liked this pairing and this book didn’t change my mind on that at all. Piper keeps clinging to the three months THAT NEVER HAPPENED (and that apparently weren’t faithful to Jason’s character like srsly is she even really in love with HIM or the idea of him she had in her mind ?) instead of the 8 real months they spent together, thinks it’s a miracle when Jason appologizes (he’s a real catch huh ?) and is so so sure he’ll leave her to go to New Rome which first : wow you really have faith in this relationship huh ? But also second : why is this such a Big Deal ?? Even if he did go to New Rome she could still follow him (she made it pretty clear she’d leave all of her friends in Camp Half Blood to be with him), it’s not like he’s a whole new different person when he’s there !! And my baby Reyna was so hurt by that, like Jason was a reall asshole here, even if he was oblivious and didn’t realize her feelings for him she’s still supposed to be his friend and the first thing he asks after 8 months of disappearing is if he can spend alone time with his gf ? And I found it kind of frustrating that in the end, all the others left on their own to do their own things (yk, to save the fucking world ?) while literaly risking their life and Jasiper just...went on a date. Like seriously ? So yeah. Not a fan.

- The whole Frank x Leo “rivalery” : Why make another older character be attracted to 13 years old ?? Can you stop that ??? Leo could also be a real ass sometimes, even tho I still love him and Frank well...I already talked about that. This book had enough pissing contests between guys as it is.

- Percy apparently forgetting all the Hercules stuff he learned in “The Titan Curse”. I know it might not seem like THAT much of a deal but it was a really important thing for his character ? That he learned how Heroes, especially Hercules, were real assholes too and that he had to learn to not be like them ? That Zoe, his friend who sacrificiced herself to save the world, was treated like shit by this guy but now he was still like “omg this is Hercules I SO want to meet this guy he seems great !!” ???. It was just one sentence but I hated it.

- The focus on the Romantic relationships. Look I have nothing against romance and ships. I love romantic love in stories !! But I also love friendships and I really wish this book would have given us more of that instead of spending so much time on romantic relationships. I mean it is pretty well illustrated in the end of the book when they all separate : all the groups are romantic pairings. Percabeth, Jiper, and Frazel with Leo who has kind of a crush on Hazel. And as much as I love Frazel and Percabeth, where are the friendships ?? Percy and Jason’s relationship was supposed to be very important in this book so why didn’t we see more of that ?? What about the friendships that were already established like Percy with Frank and Hazel, Leo with Piper and Jason, Piper and Anabeth,...And all the new friendships that could have had more screen time like Annabeth and Frank or something !! So yeah that was disappointing.

THINGS I LOVED :

- the River God scene. Ok so yes I kind of lied : I enjoyed this chapter of Piper. Well this scene at least. And only kind off, because it is still a Jasiper moment but anyway. In my last review of “the Son of Neptune”, I mentionned how it always annoyed me that the heroes have a habit of always making the Good Moral Decision, without any hesitation, even if the fate of the world is in the balance. I was like “Give me morally conflicted characters damn it” !! And that’s what I got here. Piper having to lie to the God, taking his horn that was so important to him, even tho he was just a very tragic dude, to save Jason and the World, realizing that even if it is bad and she feels like shit after doing it, she still had to do it...YES !!! THANK YOU !! I LOVED THAT !!!

- The LEO X NICO INTERACTIONS !!!!!! After spending 2 books shipping them (they’d fit so well together i will die on this hill) they finally talked !!! Well once, and about the fact that Percabeth just fell into fucking Tartarus but like !!! TALKING !!!! And the first thing Nico tell him is to reassure him <3 (look I know it won’t be canon but the POTIENTIAL!!!)

- Annabeth’s chapters. I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t like them like we finally got her point of view people !!! And it was awesome !!! I loved seeing her on a quest, the way she thinks and sees the world, how she uses her intelligence,... Like she’s so brave and smart but also so sentimental even tho she’d never admit it (like getting emo about having lost the white hair because it was a connection with Percy ? My baby is so fucking precious). And obviously we already knew that but to actually be in her head ??? It was so fucking good !! And it really succeeded to make me feel so much for her, like she’s just a kid and her mother literaly sent her to her death and she was so scared but she still kept going (only to end up in Tartarus WHYYYYYY) and I’m so proud of her. I love this character so much !!

- Percabeth : The reunion !!!! FINALLY !!!! That’s my first ever OTP right there and they’re so in love !! They’re such a badass power couple and they love eachother so fucking much !! God i missed them X( I loved every Percabeth scenes, they were so adorable and beautiful. I loved how even tho they are differents and are not always in the same page, they still know eachother so well and the communication was just so cheff’s kiss. And omg their lasts scenes together ?? Chills !! Like when Percy almost begged the (kind of?) gods to let him stay just a few more moments with her because he was so scared of never seeing her again almost brought tears to my eyes and then of course their final scene when they fall together into Tartarus, because all that matter is that they’re together...MY HEART !!!

- Percy’s and Leo’s chapters. I put them together because I don’t have much to say except that I love them so much and that I would literaly lay down my life for this two. Their chapters are always such joy to read, and after one whole book without him, I was really glad to get back with Leo. Probably the funniest chapters too.

- The Crazy Dolphins scene. This scene was fucking hilarious. Pic comedy ^^

- The crumb of friendhips dynamics we got. So much potential I want to see more !! Like Percy x Jason, Annabeth x Frank (so much Hermione x Neville vibes), Leo x Frank, Hazel x Annabeth, Percy x Frank, Annabeth x Leo (Leo who is so scared of and impressed by her as he should lol),...That’s probably one of the reasons I was so bitter about the romantic relationships getting so much more time, like ALL the friendhships that were so interestings like come on !!

- Percy thinking about LUKE !!! hjfgjehgfjhsegf !!! The fact that he still considers Luke as his fighting teacher, still thinks about his training and his advices !!! Even going as far as thinking he totally understood where he came from for doing all this horrible things !!! That was so awesome !! And such a character development !!! And that makes Percy even more of an interesting character !!! Anyway I loved that ^^

- All the mythological aspect like Rick can be such a genius sometimes with how he uses them, managing to stay faithful to them while sill adapting them to a more modern setting and that works so well !! Well its there in every single one of the PJO series book, but I just wanted to put it out there so here.

- Hazel story. Look I didn’t like the whole weird kind off “love triangle” thing with Leo and Frank. But I love Hazel and I LOVED knowing more about her and also knowing more about Leo’s ancestor (who was awesome btw). That was such an interesting story, how she discovered that her only friend back then and first love spent his whole life thinking her disappearence was his fault. And the flackback was so cute too ^^ Also Loved her being so desperate finding her brother because that’s what Nico deserves and that was adorable. I really hope we’ll get to see more of their bond.

- The end. Such an amazing cliffhanger. I could feel the tension in the scene, I could’t stop reading and then the last chapter were everyone was just so in chock but Nico still believed that Percy would come back out of it alive because he admires him so much. It was SO !!! FUCKING !!! GREAT !!! Amazing way to end this book.

And that’s also how I will end this review ^^ Feel free to comment on it (respectfully) in the comments if you want.

#percy jackson #PJO #pjo series #heroes of olympus #hoo #mark of athena #MOA #percabeth

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nazariolahela · 5 years ago

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Something Domestic: Chapter 10

A/N: Hey y'all! This story is told in first-person narrative, from Riley’s (MC) POV. There will likely be smidges of canon in this, but not too much. Thanks for reading, and please leave feedback, and/or if you would like to be tagged.

NOTE: This chapter contains adult themes. Reader discretion is advised.

Catch up here

Series Tags: @burnsoslow @aworldoffandoms @dcbbw @ladyangel70 @texaskitten30 @sunandlemons @jlynn12273 @indiacater @jared2612 @rainbowsinthestorm @drakesensworld @badchoicesposts @msjr0119 @katurrade @blackcoffee85 @cynicalworlds-blog @hopefulmoonobject @beardedoafdonutwagon @cmestrella @sugarandspice-milkandhoney @superharrietsuper

Synopsis: When Riley Brooks takes a new job as a nanny for the affluent Rhys family in New York’s Upper East Side, she assumes she’s just going to care for the children of the couple who hired her. But instead of just school pick-ups and afternoon snacks, she also finds herself spending time with Liam, the handsome divorced dad. Can Riley control her feelings for Liam while still performing the job she was hired for?

All characters are the property of Pixelberry Studios. Thanks for allowing me to borrow them.

Chapter Summary: Things between Riley and Liam get hot and heavy after a tense standoff.

“That dinner was amazing. I don’t think I can eat another bite,” Hana exclaims as she pushes her plate away. Meanwhile, I scowl down at mine, picking at the entree with my fork. I’ve barely touched my food, too upset to eat. Why was Liam kissing Madeleine? Maybe I saw that wrong. Nope, pretty sure that was a kiss on the cheek. And the look on his face was pretty affectionate. I need to find a way to get him alone and figure out what the fuck is going on. Busboys come around to our table to collect dirty dishes. I drain the remainder of my wine and motion to the waiter for another.

The waiter sets another glass of wine in front of me and I immediately chug it. Hana frowns. “Are you okay, Riley? You should probably slow down. And definitely eat something.” I pick up my fork and violently stab several pieces of broccoli and carrots with it. I shove the vegetables in my mouth and set the fork down.

Dr. Ethan Ramsey takes the podium and begins his speech. He talks about his patients at Edenbrook Hospital and the rookie interns he’s mentored throughout the years. He also speaks about kids who have gone on to become successful physicians at his hospital because of the opportunities granted to them from this scholarship program. All eyes in the room are on him, except for two. I glance to my left and see Liam staring at me from across the room. I look from him to Madeleine, and back to him. Anger burns in my eyes. He gives me a confused look.

After Dr. Ramsey wraps up his speech, I get up from my seat and move to the bar to order another glass of wine. I lean up against the bar and survey the room. Most of the people here are networking. I see Hana talking to an older gentleman before they exchange business cards. I chug my wine and signal for another one when out of the corner of my eye, a tall, blonde man sidles up to the bar and takes the seat next to me.

”So, this is the amazing nanny.” I look to my left to see the man Maxwell pointed out earlier as Liam’s brother perched on a barstool. ”I have to say, my brother has excellent taste,” he says, looking me up and down. Up close, I can definitely see the similarities between the two of them. He has wavy blonde hair and the same piercing blue eyes as his younger brother. The lines around his eyes definitely give away his age. His sharp jaw is covered in a light stubble and he flashes me a mouth of straight white teeth. I understand now why the tabloids (and the ladies) love this guy so much. If I wasn't so hung up on his brother, I could find myself interested in him.

”You must be the infamous older brother I've heard so much about. Riley Brooks. A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” I extend my hand to shake his, and he brings it to his lips, pressing a feather-light kiss to the back of it. My cheeks immediately flush. Obviously from the alcohol.

”Leo Rhys. Trust me, the pleasure’s all mine. It’s not every day a gorgeous woman falls into my lap.”

”Do wha…” before I can finish, he grabs my forearm and pulls me into his lap. I let out a yelp as he wraps his arms around my waist. ”Mr. Rhys. I see your reputation speaks for itself.”

He chuckles and signals to the bartender. She pours three fingers of scotch and slides the tumbler toward him with a wink. He grabs the glass and brings it to his lips, grinning seductively. ”If you really want to know about my reputation, I can show you.”

I look over Leo’s shoulder to see Liam staring at us from across the room, his expression unreadable. Oh, this is going to be fun.

I hide my blush behind my wine glass. ”Mr. Rhys. Are you coming on to me?”

He leans in closer to whisper in my ear and I inhale his scent. His cologne is intoxicating. He slides his hand down my back, coming to rest just above my ass. ”That is an amazing dress, Miss Brooks. Is this what you wear when you watch my niece and nephew? Cause if so, Uncle Leo needs to come and visit more. We could get to know each other over naptime.”

Whoa! This took a turn.

”Mr. Rhys…”

”Call me Leo.”

I clear my throat. “It seems the tabloids were right about you, Leo. I had heard you were a bit of a flirt.”

He laughs and squeezes my ass. “Sugar, you have no idea.”

Okay. As fun as this is, we’re getting a little out of control. ”Leo, I'm flattered, but I take my job seriously. And as much as I’d like to learn more about your ‘reputation,’ I have my eye on someone else.”

He grins. ”Don’t worry. I’m well aware. My brother wouldn't appreciate me trying to steal his girl. Nor would he like it if I banged his kids’ nanny. I'm simply trying to help you out. Don't think I haven’t seen the looks he’s been giving you from across the room. He might have everyone else in this room fooled, but he’s been eye-fucking you all night.”

I look past him and see Liam staring a hole through me. The intensity of his gaze sets my body on fire. His eyes move to Leo, then back to me. I raise an eyebrow at him, daring him to come over here and do something. He rises from his seat as if to head my way when Madeleine appears from behind and loops her arm in his, kissing his cheek.

“Excuse me. I need to get some air,” I say quietly — sliding off Leo’s lap — and make my exit. I spot Hana from across the room and she gives me a concerned look as I sneak out and make my way toward the front entrance of the hotel. I push open the door and the cool night air hits my face. I turn to the sky and let out an aggravated scream. People walking past me on the street shoot dirty looks as they pass. Deep breaths, Riley. Don’t let him ruin your evening. Is he doing all of this to test me? I keep thinking about what he said in the conference room. How his words sounded so sincere. Was it all bullshit? Was the whole court date story just a line to try and get into my pants?

I battle with my inner thoughts. Okay, so what if he is telling the truth? Does that mean that once the divorce is final, we can be together? What happens with my job? I’m pretty sure getting involved with him is a conflict of interest. Even though he’d technically be divorced, people would still frown upon the whole “sleeping with your nanny” thing. And what happens if we can’t make it work? I’ve only been with them for a few weeks, but I already care about Charlotte and Philip. They would be devastated. I lean against the side of the building, struggling to figure out how to handle this whole situation. The realization hits that I’ve been standing here for a while. What time is it anyway? I check the pockets of my dress for my phone and curse when I remember that I left it at the table. After taking a few more moments to calm myself, I head back inside. I’m greeted by the sight of Liam standing in the lobby. My mouth waters as my eyes rake up and down his body. His black suit fits like a glove and I find myself struggling to breathe.

“Where did you go?” he asks. I regain my composure and shoot him a glare before brushing past him. He catches my arm, stopping me. “Riley? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, Liam. You tell me?” He stares at me for a long moment, trying to figure out what I’m talking about. I roll my eyes and try to jerk out of his hold. His grip tightens. “What happened to ‘the divorce becomes final on Wednesday?’ It sure didn’t look that way when you were cozying up to your ex.”

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “It’s not what you think.”

“Yeah, whatever,” I reply and pull free from his grip.

He laughs sarcastically. “Yeah, well what about that little show you were putting on with my brother just now?”

“Just giving you a taste of your own medicine. Since that’s the game we seem to be playing tonight.” I attempt to walk away and he grabs me again, shoving me into the nearby coat check closet.

“Riley. Listen to me. It’s not like that at all. This whole evening is for show. It’s my last gift to Madeleine before the divorce is final.”

Tears prick my eyes. “Your last gift? You don’t owe her anything, Liam. She cheated on you. Or did you forget that?”

He sighs and puts his hand on my chin, tilting my face up. “You’re right. And no, I didn’t forget. But I agreed to ‘play nice’ with her tonight to keep up appearances with her friends and our colleagues. They don’t know about the divorce, and she doesn’t want to tell them until it’s done. She said if I went along with it, she wouldn’t give me any trouble with the custody hearing.”

“And you believe her?”

“I have to. I just want this whole thing to be over, so I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.” He leans in and presses his forehead against mine. “Please understand me when I tell you that you’re the only woman I want. Any love I had for her is gone, and the only thing I want from her is to go to this hearing, say there are no unresolved matters, and get out of my house.” He reaches out and touches my arm and my body tenses. He notices and pulls away. “Riley, please. It was an act.”

“Well, someone should give you an Oscar, because that was very convincing,” I snap.

His expression hardens and for the first time in weeks, I see a different side of Liam. Sure, I’m being stubborn, but I feel like it’s warranted after being strung along all this time. He gives me an almost unreadable look. “Is that what you think of me?” he barks.

“I’m starting to question everything I think about you.”

He grabs my hand, pressing it to his crotch. His erection strains against his pants. “You feel this? This isn’t because of her. This is because of you. Every night, when I get myself off, it’s not to images of her. It’s to images of you.” He leans in brushes his lips against mine, whispering, “I don’t want her. I want you right here, right now, in this coat closet.” I look around the closet. It’s small, but there is just enough room for the two of us, even with all the expensive coats and jackets. The hunger in his eyes for me is carnal; it makes me physically shudder.

“Prove it,” I challenge.

He pushes me against a rack of coats, his face against mine, and pulls my skirt up. I wrap my arms around his neck and nibble on his earlobe. He grunts and slides his hands in my underwear, finding my wet clit. I swallow hard, letting my legs fall open at his touch. “You’re so wet for me. Your mouth says that you’re still mad, but your pussy says you’re all mine.” He slips one finger into me and I nearly explode on the spot.

He pulls his hands away and I gasp in disappointment. He smirks and drops to his knees, lifting my skirt and draping it over his head. “Lean back. Grab that closet rod and hold on tight.” He moves his mouth down my stomach before grabbing my underwear with his teeth and dragging them down my legs. Once I step out of them, he puts both hands on each of my legs and slowly drags them up toward the apex of my thighs, spreading my legs. I grip the closet rod, my knuckles turning white, as he rubs his nose along my clit. He lifts one of my legs and rests it on his shoulder. In one motion, he flicks his tongue against my clit and my knees buckle.

“Ohmygods, Liam,” I cry. I immediately slap one hand over my mouth. He laughs softly before giving me another long, luscious stroke. I allow a whimper to slip out, then bite down on my palm to keep from screaming. The last thing we need is for someone to hear us and come barging in. He pushes my dress off his head. “Do you want me to stop?”

“Don’t you dare!”

He grins and returns to massaging my clit with his tongue. He slips a finger inside me and begins fucking me with his hand, causing my body to tighten. It doesn’t take long before I’m gasping and shuddering, my orgasm powering through me. With one last kiss to my inner thigh, he crawls out from under my skirt and rises to his feet.

“Holy shit,” he says, pressing a kiss to my lips. I taste myself on him and it’s the hottest fucking thing ever. I reach down to undo his pants when he grabs my hands, stopping me. “Not tonight, sweetheart.”

“What do you mean? It’s my turn to take care of you.”

He shakes his head and kisses my forehead. “Another time. Tonight was for you.”

I nod and take a few moments to come down from my high. We straighten ourselves out and exit the coat closet, making sure no one saw us. He takes my hand in his and we make our way back down the hall towards the ballroom. When we reach the doors, he brings my hand to his lips and softly kisses the back of it.

“If I don’t talk to you again tonight, I’ll see you Monday morning, okay?”

I nod, avoiding eye contact. After what just happened in that coat closet, it’s going to be hard pretending we’re just associates. He grips my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing me to look into his eyes.

“Hey. I know what you’re thinking right now, but remember what I told you. We just have to get through these next few days.” He leans in and presses one last kiss to my lips. “You go ahead. I need to hit the men’s room before I go back in there.”

I smirk. “Behave yourself, Mr. Rhys.”

He groans and taps me on the ass before turning and making his way down the hall towards the bathroom. I chuckle and enter the ballroom, making a beeline for Hana.

“Riley? Are you okay? You ran out of here pretty quickly.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just needed some air. You ready to get out of here?”

She nods and heads over to our table to retrieve our things. We say our goodbyes and make our way out of the ballroom arm-in-arm. Before the doors close, I take one last look back and see Liam standing next to his brother. He shoots me a wink and my cheeks flush. As Hana and I make our way outside to wait for our ride, I feel a little better about our situation. We just have to get through these next few days. I repeat his words in my mind, willing myself to believe them.

#something domestic #nanny au #trr au #trr fanfic #playchoices fanfic #liam rhys #riley brooks #n*fw #nazariolahela fanfic

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mia-cooper · 5 years ago

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Fanfiction Questions

from here

Fandom Questions

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Involved as in ‘frantically read every book I could get my hands on, daydreamed about being part of that universe and wrote stories/made art inspired by the books, if not actual fanfiction’? Mm, probably The Chronicles of Narnia when I was six or seven. The next great obsession was The Silver Brumby when I went through my horse stage around age 12, and then Sweet Valley High when I was 15. Hahaha.

2. What is your latest fandom?

Marvel! I’m not into comics and I’m definitely not interested in consuming every last bit of canon material or memorising the variations of every universe, but I love (most of) the movies and Agents of SHIELD is pretty cool.

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

Star Trek Voyager. No contest. I venture to suggest that the older fandoms, the ones that are all about defunct shows, are a hell of a lot more chilled. Maybe because we’ve come to terms with our shitty canon endings and learned that liking the ship you hate doesn’t make someone problematic, unlike some newer fandoms I could name (Yes I’m talking about you, Game of Thrones fans. What the fuck.)

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

I’ve dipped a toe into one or two fandoms for shows or books I’ve really enjoyed and backed the fuck out when the vibe gets weird (oh hey, it’s GoT again), but nope. No regrets.

5. Which fandoms have you written fanfiction for?

All the Star Treks except TOS, and a Trek/MCU crossover. I’d like to write more for MCU someday. Plus I’ve written longhand entire notebooks full of teen romance shit that bore an uncanny similarity to SVH, and my first short story was a fantasy fic that featured a girl whose guardian was a wise talking lion who led her into mystical secret worlds, which is kind of familiar.

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Wow. I’m going to define ‘involved in’ as ‘cared enough about to have an OTP’, but I’m guaranteed to forget a ton. In no particular order:

Voyager: Janeway x anyone who can get her off

Discovery: Lorca x Cornwell or Pike x Tyler x Burnham (or any combination of)

DS9: Kira x Jadzia Dax

TNG: Picard x Vash, I guess? I don’t really have any TNG ships

ENT: T’Pol x Trip x Hoshi (or any variation therein)

MCU: Cap x Widow

AoS: Coulson x Skye... no May... no Skye... I don’t know

CAOS: Madam Satan x Zelda

Timeless: Garcy

The Good Place: Eleanor x Tahani

The 100 (shut up): toss up between Clarke x Bellamy and Kane x Abby

Veronica Mars: Veronica x Leo (first run), Veronica x Logan (s4)

Orphan Black: Cosima x Delphine

BSG: Apollo x Starbuck

SG1: Sam x Jack

Arrow: Olicity (so over the show now though)

This Life: Milly x Egg

Yeah you know what... I’m drawing a blank. I can’t think of any other shows where I’ve been invested in The Romance that much.

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

I’m too tired to do every fandom, and besides, I can come around to almost any ship if the headcanons (or fics) are convincing enough. I do have a few hard no-gos, but they might be someone else’s OTP so I’ll shut up about them.

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

Reluctantly. The MCU movies are not something I ever thought I’d enjoy beyond a dull evening’s entertainment. I never expected to get attached to the characters. And yet.

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

Voyager is my forever fandom and the only one where I’ve really interacted with other fans. The best things about it? In general, everyone is just cool, accepting, open and basically awesome. And talented. I love my Party Bus people.

10. Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Sure. The 100, Veronica Mars and Agents of SHIELD are the ones I’d dip into more frequently. I really enjoy crossovers between Trek and BSG or the Stargate variants, too.

Ship Questions for your Current Fandom

11. Who is your current OTP?

Janeway x Chakotay.

12. Who is your current OT3?

Janeway x Chakotay x Paris.

13. Any NoTPs?

A few.

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Janeway & Tuvok! Also Torres & Chakotay, and I’d have killed for more Janeway & Torres in canon. (If they kissed sometimes that would be okay too)

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

Yeah. Paris x Seven. There are like two fics in existence, and yet ... the potential! (Sorry, B’Elanna)

16. Are there any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Nope.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Janeway x Paris. And they’re still way up there, but not quite at the top.

18. What ship have you written the most about?

84% of my fics feature Janeway x Chakotay as either the primary or secondary pairing... holy shit.

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

Paris x Torres. I mean, I feel them. I just don’t generally feel the need to write about them.

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

Chakotay x Seven. In another universe, it could’ve been beautiful.

Author Questions

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

Actual story that was clearly fanfic? A farcical drunken romp told in the 24th century equivalent of email format called PADDemonium (see what I did there?)

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Lol, a few things that should probably have never seen the light of day for various reasons, some of them leola related. But I’ve only deleted two fics that I can recall.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

Relieved. It’s a 30k AU Chakotay moral dilemma backstory that brings in DS9 characters, Section 31 and his longstanding history with AU Janeway. I did so much research for it (way back in the days before memory alpha and chakoteya.net) and I’m really proud of how I wound in canon stuff across series but changed a few key bits and pieces. Only problem is, it’s a sequel to ...

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

... Pressure, which I can’t even read without cringing. My characterisation of Janeway, even Angry Maquis AU Janeway, is way over the top and there are moments that verge on Mills and Boon and give me first, second and third hand embarrassment. God, I’d love to rewrite it. Actually, that’s a lie. I want someone else to rewrite it so I can read it without covering my eyes and moaning.

25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

Desperate Measures, by about 70,000 light years, lol. Although Fragile Things beats it on bookmarks.

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

You know what? A fair percentage of the time, I think of the title first and come up with a plot second. Aside from that, I prefer shorter, punchier titles that clearly tie into the story (Flight Risk, Speechless), though sometimes it’s song lyrics (Burn Our Horizons, your body like a searchlight) or a literary quote (Required to Bear, All the Devils are Here) or a turn of phrase from the story itself (The Prisons You Inhabit). Hey that was fun. Thanks for letting me pimp the shit out of my stories.

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Ugh, it depends on the day. Summaries are harder, I think. I never want to give away too much of the plot, but there has to be enough there for people to know whether they’ll bother clicking. Funny story: I actually ran the stats on this a few months back. Here they are for your edification:

Fics with a one line plot summary = 54%

With two or three line plot summary = 18%

With a short snippet directly from the fic = 16%

With a snippet + a one line explanation = 3%

With a one line plot summary plus a line to date the fic (eg "set in season 3", “episode tag to Worst Case Scenario") or the fic prompt = 7%

And finally, a quote from something other than the fic = 2% (that's only 3 fics).

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

Ooh. I’ll say the final scene in Explosive.

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

I used to regularly ask @jhelenoftrek and @littleobsessions90 to beta for me, and both of them are brilliant at it. Lately I’ve been posting without sending my stuff off for editing. This is partly because I’m impatient to get stuff out there, partly because I don’t have as much time to write/edit, and partly because I’m a little less focused on improving my writing and more on enjoying it for its own sake.

30. What inspires you to write?

Little bits of episode dialogue I haven’t noticed before, other people’s fanfiction, stray conversations, fic prompts, song lyrics, random headcanons, fever dreams, dares ...

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

I’ve been really lucky with comments on my fic. The least helpful comment I’ve ever received was on one of my early 30k fics and all it said was “Did you have to take the name of the lord in vain?” Which is kind of funny. The nicest thing anyone’s ever said? I’m very partial to the feedback that starts “I don’t even like this pairing/genre/trope/show but you made me love it”, and particularly “I’ll read anything you write, I don’t care what it’s about.” But all comments are gold. The little heart button is cool too.

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

I’m not someone who can tune out music I love, or leave it in the background to inspire me. If it’s on, I’m fully invested in it. I’m that annoying person in the car who flips radio stations every three seconds until I find something I like and then it’s on 11 and I’m singing along to it. I’m also really picky but extremely eclectic, although there are genres I can’t stand (anything with autotune makes me stabby). That said, sometimes I find a song that I can’t stop listening to for weeks and often that perfect combination of music and lyrics will inspire me to write a fic. For example, I just plotted out an entire J/C story because of this song.

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

All of the above. Although I’m not sure if my longest epic is huuuuuge or just huuuge.

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

101,467.

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

I have two drabble collections. One is all J/C, full of responses to random prompts and I add to it sporadically. The other is episode additions set on Kathryn Janeway’s birthday (May 20) and added to annually.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

Angst, definitely. Sometimes it’s smutty angst or fluffy angst or hurt/comfort angst, but often it’s just fucking unrelenting angst. And I’m okay with that.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

I did the stats on this once, too, haha. Pretty sure I came out fairly even on first and third person with a smattering of second person in there. I’m probably even-ish on present vs past tense, too. I make it a point to mix it up to avoid my writing getting stale or same-y. And sometimes a fic doesn’t really click for me until I try it in a different POV or tense or from a different character’s perspective.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

I mostly write for canon characters - the fun is in all the different ways you can interpret and imagine them - but I’ve been known to throw in the odd OC, or focus on a character who only got a brief cameo appearance, or write about someone who only appears in beta canon, or who only rates a mention on screen.

39. What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Oh, wow. I’m not sure. I guess the thing I value most about my own writing is my willingness to try different styles, characters, pairings and so on. The thing I strive for most is characterisation that feels true, and I really love it when I get comments on that. Exploring a character in a way that rings true with a reader is the best thing ever.

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Overly long sentences and adverb abuse, haha. No, truthfully, there comes a point in most of my fics, particularly the longer ones, when I really just want to scrap it because in my heart I know it’s dreadful. Usually that passes once I slog through the ‘I don’t wanna’ stage because I’m a bloody-minded bitch, but sometimes fics do get left in the dust half-written. Honestly, though, they’re the ones that probably should stay there.

Fanfiction Questions

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

This is hilarious because I was just talking on discord about my problematic ‘to read’ pile. My unread AO3 subscription emails currently number 29 and my phone browser has 71 tabs open. So here are 5 random picks from that list of exactly 100 fics I should be reading:

Sex on the Beach (E, Janeway/Chakotay) by @traccigaryn

The Ruby Ring (T, Janeway/Chakotay, Janeway/Tighe) by @trinfinity2001

Earth is But an Idea (T, Janeway/Chakotay, Carter/O’Neill) by @caladeniablue

Home (E, Janeway/Chakotay) by Cassatt

Wise Up (E, Janeway/Chakotay) by KimJ

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

Only five? Shit. Okay. In no particular order, these are five of the writers I keep coming back to:

quantumsilver (also here)

northernexposure

LittleObsessions

Helen8462

Cheshire

But there are so many others. My chosen fandom is chock full of amazing talent.

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

All of the authors above for various reasons, but also august because her writing is so spare and delicate and devastating, and runawaymetaphor because she writes the most delicious Janeway/Paris, and @seperis because I read In the Space of Seven Days literally 20 years ago and I still haven’t recovered, and I could be here all night raving on this topic but there are still many questions to get through.

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

Janeway x Paris. I’m so happy there’s been a little bit of a resurgence in J/P fics lately. Thanks, @curator-on-ao3, you’re doing the lord’s work.

I’ll also take Janeway x Johnson content any day of the week.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

What the hell? I can’t pick just one! Ugh!

... but okay, here’s the first one that came to mind when I tried to think about this: if you came this way by tree. I’m not sure I’d call it my favourite, but it’s one I revisit often. Ugh, there are so many other fics I’m thinking of now that I really want to list.

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

Oh, that’s hard. I should probably pick an angsty smutty J/C because that’s a fair proportion of what I write and it’s good to let a new reader know what they can expect. But honestly, I think the best fic I’ve written is The Uncharted Sea. (It’s safe for work. Maybe not for makeup.)

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

The Archive, of course. Where else can I find ad-free hosting on a stunningly user-friendly interface with absolutely no moralising content restrictions and the world’s best tagging system? That Hugo award is well deserved.

Tumblr is good for headcanons and meta and gifsets and a few other formats that I’m less likely to post on AO3 because I’d feel like I was pissing off people who subscribe to me by giving them some random garbage.

I also have my own website, but I’m not really sure why. Sometimes I post fic there that doesn’t make it to tumblr or AO3.

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

I try to. Honestly I do. I love it when I get reviews, so I figure paying it forward is the least I can do. I’m less scrupulous about leaving comments when I’m busy or reading on my phone.

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

I mean, I love it when people reblog, but I certainly don’t expect it. @arcadia1995 is amazing for reblogging stuff *blows kisses*

Nobody owes fanfic writers shit, but I feel like there’s a tacit agreement that if you like what you just read for free and you’re on a platform that makes it easy to do so, you leave a review or at least a kudos, because I’m not gonna lie, posting a fic you’ve worked super hard on and seeing it get very few kudos or comments is a bit deflating. I’m sure a lot of us have been there.

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

During Voyager’s original run I was trawling the internet for Endgame spoilers (I don’t know why; I usually love surprises) and I guess I googled (or whatever the 2001 equivalent of googling was) something like “how does voyager get home” and somehow I stumbled across Revisionist History. At first I had no idea what I was reading - was this a lost story pitch that somehow got leaked? A professional novella commissioned by the showrunners?

Then I started following links and discovered yahoo groups and webrings and Trekiverse and fanfiction.net and all sorts of incredible things I’d never guessed at, including the now defunct ‘archipelago of angst’, a collection of Voyager writers who focused mainly on a darker Janeway than most of the other fic writers I was encountering, and I was hooked. So I wrote a few of my own pieces, and then I lost interest for 15 years. I’m still not sure how I got dragged back in.

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

Honestly, in what other way can I indulge my obsessions, hone my skills and talk about it endlessly with like-minded people? Where else can I instantly find a plethora of fiction about the exact topic I feel like reading about on my mobile device and for free? Fanfiction is fucking amazing and I’m so glad it exists in my life.

#miamemes #fanfiction #fanfic asks

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europeanguy · 6 years ago

Text

Gotta Gogh [Part 5.1: Sure Moments]

Pairing: Nadia x Maxwell

Words: 2k

Tags/Warnings: Canon Divergence, Crossovers, time jumps and POV changes… and uh… angst?

Maxwell is soaked to the bone.

He stands in the carpeted hallway – the downpour outside not showing any signs of stopping. Before knocking, he tries to catch his breath. And for a moment he just stands there – and all he could think about is her.

Maxwell tugs at the collar of his turtleneck. Bertrand insisted that he wear the itchy thing along with that new checkered suit – it made him look like a “proper nobleman”, apparently. He doesn’t know how this led to his older brother also talking him into getting his hair cut shorter now that he’s just one semester away from graduating. Bertrand had his way of relating two completely random things together, probably an inborn talent. He said it made Maxwell look more serious – and as usual, his brother is right. Even he wanted to take himself seriously for once.

He decides to finally come out of hiding in one of the many palace offices. There’s never a silent moment once he rejoins the party, so he savors a few minutes of this. Every December it was the same old tradition. The royal family would throw their annual Holiday Charity Gala – the usual party with the usual people trying to outdo each other’s donations. Maxwell had been attending ever since he can remember. The only thing that changed is the pressure to impress, now that it was just him and Bertrand trying to uphold the Beaumont name.

He wishes that Nadia could’ve been beside him.

The trip back from the Paris weekend was quick, the both of them asleep for the most of it. Neither talked about the kiss or where it left them. Not until a few days later when he was walking her back to her dorm and instinctively leaned in – the very action coming to him like second-nature. Nadia kissed him back under her door’s threshold and told him that We can’t do this again. To which he nodded in response, still a little dizzy in the head. Another few days after that, it was Nadia who broke their agreement. He almost found it comical how cliché their Talk after that went.

We’ll figure it out.

Tomorrow would be her last day – and they hardly had anything figured out. What happens the moment she boards that plane, how often they would talk if at all, how soon he could go visit. What changes over the years – how many it would take for them to drift apart and move on. He doesn’t even know why he’s bothering to show his face here in the first place, when he could be spending his last sure moments with her, even though he made a promise.

“Now hold on,” A hand lands on his shoulder, and some musky, flowery perfume fills his senses – and he shudders. Adelaide. He turns around the face the aging duchess. “I believe I was promised a dance?”

He laughs awkwardly, shifting a little further away. “I don’t see anyone dancing yet, Your Grace.”

She flashes him an oily smile, her skin stretching taut across her cheeks from constant upkeep. “Oh Maxwell, you’ve never been one to shy away from starting the party!”

“Later. I promise.” He forces a smile and a lie to placate the older woman. He desperately searches the ballroom for a familiar face to rescue him. Liam is preoccupied with a serious-looking conversation with even more serious-looking people, Leo is trying to soothe an upset Olivia in a far corner of the ballroom, and Drake is of course, nowhere to be found. The only other familiar circle of people were “friends” he no longer talks to. He only really found out what happened at the polo match after a lot of convincing and dessert-bribing. Neville catches his eye but quickly looks away, pretending to see through him. As if he wasn’t just a major member of their stupid club, his position now gladly replaced by Tariq.

Penelope stands in the same circle too, but she doesn’t look away. And Maxwell doesn’t know if he should be disappointed or relieved when she makes her way over to him and Adelaide. She smiles brightly at him, and for a moment he sees a glimmer of the girl he thought he knew. Then she curtsies at Adelaide, no doubt perfected with etiquette classes. The heavily beaded skirt of her royal blue gown swishes and sparkles under the lights.

“Well, this glass needs a refill,” Adelaide doesn’t bother to make her smile look genuine. “You two enjoy yourselves.”

Penelope smiles shyly up at him. “You look really handsome. Did you get a haircut?”

“I did, yeah,” Maxwell’s hand involuntarily reaches up to the back of his head. He racks his brain for a polite compliment to throw back at her. “You look pretty.”

“We kind of match…” She lightly touches the fabric of his navy turtleneck. Maxwell catches her hand and gently places it back on her side – her face immediately falls.

He shoves his hands in his pockets and waits for her to speak. No matter how things played out that day, in the end, he shouldn’t have left Nadia to fend for herself. Was it totally his fault to be so trusting of the people he grew up with? He didn’t expect that sort of treatment to come from them, let alone Penelope.

Penelope’s hands find the stiff tulle of her skirt, bunching it in her fists. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Maxwell nods. “Two months?”

“Will you spend Christmas here?”

“Bertrand has arranged for us to go home tomorrow.”

“Ahh… Ramsford.” Penelope looks wistful. “It’s beautiful there this time of year.”

If only Maxwell had the freedom to fully appreciate it, to do whatever he wanted like back then. But him and his brother have responsibilities now. Three years since everything fell on Bertrand’s shoulders. It’s about time Maxwell bore some of the load too, and his brother isn’t wasting any time. His winter break would be spent neck-deep in tedious meetings with fund managers, investment portfolios, smile and shake the hands of the many people that rely on him now; truly show everyone that even though he’s the spare, he’s completely committed to Ramsford.

“It is.” He lies, wanting nothing more than to run off to New York. Or anywhere for that matter.

A familiar melody comes on from the string quartet and everyone starts pairing off on the dance floor. He’s almost relieved that it broke the awkward moment, but then Penelope looks at him expectantly. A part of Maxwell wants to be a gentleman and at least take Penelope for one dance – for old time’s sake since they were always the designated partners. It was a running “joke” between their families that they would be married someday. It wasn’t too far-fetched. People in their circles rarely married for love.

“It’s my favorite place in Cordonia.” Penelope says quietly, turning away to watch the dancing couples once she realizes that Maxwell isn’t going to ask anytime soon. She stops fiddling with the material of her skirt, smoothing it self-consciously and then turns to him again. “Is she here?”

“No. She leaves tomorrow too.” Nadia had repeatedly made him promise not to see her off.

“I’m sorry about the way I acted, Max.” Penelope fiddles with her silver and diamond bracelet. “Will you tell her I’m sorry?”

Maxwell tries to smile – more sad than angry. “Sure.”

He remembers dancing with Nadia under the moonlight on the cobblestone street like two people so into each other that they didn’t care about looking stupid. That night when he danced with Nadia on the street. He didn’t see people looking in either adoration or judgement, he saw Nadia. He would give anything to be in that moment than be here right now.

In the distance, Adelaide catches his eye and starts to make her way towards him like a woman on a mission.

“I have to go,” He declares, heart suddenly racing. “I’m sorry.” I can’t keep my promise.

Penelope catches the sleeve of his jacket, her big blue eyes searching his own. “Where are you going?”

“Out of here.” Maxwell gently pulls away. And with that he turns – flooded with a sense of urgency to catch those last sure moments.

Welcome home,

The University of Cordonia promised Nadia a home away from home – and in a way she found it. But not in the university and its very welcoming community. She found it in the museum and in the aloof museum custodian, Otis. Most importantly she found it in Maxwell Beaumont.

She looks at the Cordonian Ruby painting with a strange sense of melancholy. This particular painting had gotten her in so much trouble. Only just a few months ago, she had almost destroyed one of the country’s national treasures by taking it to the back for restoration along with some other “wall space-occupying” paintings – according to the owner’s representative. Anything that didn’t hold too much history or cultural significance gets stashed in the back rooms until the restoration expert arrives. Needless to say, the artist came running out of the back with what’s left of his thinning white hair mussed and his glasses crooked atop his nose, screaming at Nadia in rapid-fire Greek as Otis watched in silent amusement.

Nadia sighs and steps away from the painting, deciding that she should stop reminiscing and get on with the inevitable goodbyes. She can’t decide if it’s a good thing that she barely made any friends – less people to say goodbye to. Or maybe it’s a lot worse that she met just one, someone so amazing and genuine that she connected so much with that just the thought of leaving hurts.

She watches the dull pink and orange sky through the big windows – it would rain soon. She had hoped for a clear night to see the stars from here. From Cordonia. It’s always too bright in New York City to look at the stars properly. Sighing, she packs her stuff from the receptionist’s desk – leaving a soft leather cover sketchbook on the table. Hopefully Otis would love the book, filled from front to back with sketches of museum guests, animals, other random things. She looks up to find the old man lingering under an archway, pretend-cleaning a carved moulding. Nadia hoped she was imagining the distant loneliness in his air – she did NOT want to cry right now.

Five o’clock.

“Hey Otis, I’m going home!” Nadia manages a big smile as she runs up to him, hiking her backpack up her shoulders. “I left something at my desk for you, so um…” Nadia mostly did it as a sign of thanks – but in a selfish way it also made her feel like she wouldn’t be some footprint in the sand, fading away from their memories as the waves slowly wash her away.

Otis nods, not meeting her eyes. She tries to ignore the fact that his eyes look shiny. He takes a moment to reply.

“Thank you.”

That’s all it takes for Nadia’s tears to start. She sobs, feeling ridiculous and wipes her tears with her sleeve. “Sorry… I’m sorry.” She laughs, sniffing.

Otis’ face breaks into an unexpectedly smile. He almost looked grandfatherly. It catches Nadia off-guard – today being the first time she really saw him smile.

“Go,” He pats her shoulder and nods towards the door.

Nadia nods, smiling and feeling lighter. “Okay. Goodbye.” Still, the hard part isn’t over yet.

She doesn’t go straight home. The walk from the museum to the main library (the only place with a half-decent phone signal) is a transition from elegant and historical to dreary and dusty – but just as empty now that finals are over. Faded tapestries and pictures of alumni line the dark paneled walls, the librarian sat behind a heavy and ornate front desk – looking thoroughly bored. Nadia nods at her in an attempt to be friendly and she is met by a bored expression, her mouth pressed in a thin line.

Nadia isn’t surprised to find there are absolutely zero students in the main hall. Once she reaches a row of desks far enough inside to be out of the librarian’s ear shot, she drops on a random seat, feeling tired all of a sudden. Quickly, she calls Kai.

Raydan L. Hall is an old building – its age made obvious through the weathered bricks and the dust settled in the cracks. The foyer’s chandelier blinks once in a while, the hallways usually desolate. Maxwell has never seen it so full of people, a constant flow of students moving in and out of its doors fully packed to go home for the break. A few faces light up in recognition as he passes them, scanning each one for the one girl he was looking for.

And he is soaked to the bone.

He stands in the carpeted hallway – the downpour outside not showing any signs of stopping. The sounds of his clothes dripping on the floor feels embarrassingly loud, but he doesn’t care because on the other side of that door is Nadia Park. Before knocking, he tries to catch his breath. And for a moment he just stands there, shivering – and all he could think about is her.

How funny life works. Because of course it had to rain so hard, nonstop. Of course the car had to get stuck in traffic – so he had to run the last few blocks.

Deep breaths. He doesn’t know why he’s nervous, but he knocks.

No answer.

End of finale pt. 1

Useless factoids that I like to put in under each chapter bc I’m a bad writer who can’t figure out how to insert these in without it beinFUN FACTS

Well, hair we are (I hate myself):

- In my first drawing (the very drawing that spurred this on) Maxwell has wild, curly-ish hair. It’s definitely long and a little unkempt – the most that he does to it is brush it back with his fingers or tie it in a little bun if he doesn’t want it in the way. His new, shorter hair is closer to what it is in canon.

- I honestly just didn’t want to draw that hair again lmao (since I’m planning on putting out more drawings WHOOPS although I would have to draw it again for chapters before this one, huh? Dammit.)

- So yes. This younger version of Maxwell has messy, kinda long and curly hair. Which I think really fits.

Squids and Narwhals:

- In my head, maybe Penelope and Maxwell’s parents would have pushed them together. Their house symbols are both sea creatures… and man… idk just… humor this random headcanon of mine okay.

More excuses:

- So there you go, the Cordonian Ruby Incident. Don’t think about this too much HAHAHA

- I wasn’t gonna break this in half but I decided to lump in part 2 with the epilogue. I felt like it would be too much to take in, so… welp!

tag list: @littlecrookedheart, @femmeshep, @brightpinkpeppercorn, @zaffrenotes, @teamtomsato, @pixieferry

A/N: guys I just wanna say thank you so so so much for your patience!! here it is, it’s DONE!!

#europeanguy #gotta gogh #part 5.1 #maxwell x nadia #maxwell beaumont #nadia park #trr #the royal romance #pm #perfect match #fan fiction #fluff #angst #au #canon divergence #long post #europeanguy fic #ITS HERE YALL ITS ALMOST DONEEEE!!!

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theeeveetamer · 6 years ago

Note

Helloo! Hm, if you don't mind, I have a request for some more of the modern omegaverse? Particularly how Leo and Takumi met, or the scene with good ol protective Ryoma :)

Alright here we go. I know nothing about this is specific to high school, but in my modern Omegaverse I always envisioned Leo and Takumi being high school sweethearts.

I had a lot of fun writing this, so it ended up being really damn long. Like, almost 40 pages. Couple of notes: I know Mikoto isn’t their canon mother but since she has an established relationship with all of the Hoshidan sibs I think she’s easier to write and makes more sense in Omegaverse. I based this on my high school’s class scheduling, which was four classes a semester, 90 minutes per class. We called them blocks but most places have ‘periods’ so they’re referred to as such for simplicity sake. Finally, I’ve arbitrarily decided that America’s drinking age is 18 in this fic because it should be.

Tags: Omegaverse, High School AU, Omega!Takumi, Alpha!Leo, falling in love, Lower Middle Class Leokumis, Mentions of child abuse/alcoholism

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17282396

“Alright are we ready?”

“Yep! On three!”

Takumi slid his finger under the lip of the envelope, and his friends followed suit.

“One… Two… Three!”

They all tore the glue seal, some more elegantly than others. Hinata got impatient half way through and just ripped the envelope down the middle. Oboro’s wasn’t much better, but at least she’d managed to tear it lengthwise like she was supposed to.

They all pulled out their class schedules at the same time and compared.

“Alright I have geometry first thing… Ugh.” He groaned. He liked math as much as the next guy, but that early in the morning?

“Damn, I have it third.” Oboro pointed out. “But we have the same teacher, so we can at least do the homework together.”

“Wait, I thought we were taking that next semester!”

They tried to schedule their class preferences so that they matched up, but that still didn’t guarantee they would get classes together. Hinata always mixed up at least one class and took it in the wrong semester.

“No, Hinata. We were going to take art next semester, remember?”

“Well shit.” He laughed. “You guys’ll still help me, right?”

Takumi rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

“C’mon Takumi, what do you have next?”

It didn’t take them long to hash out the schedules. He was on his own first period, but he and Oboro had gym together fourth period. He and Hinata shared American History during third period, which also meant they had lunch together. They were all taking different language courses anyways, so he knew he’d have at least one class by himself.

With that settled he was scanning his schedule again just to ensure they shared the same teachers.

“Fuck…” He muttered under his breath.

“What is it?”

“I just realized that we have Izana for history.”

“So?”

Hinata was the oldest in his family and Oboro was an only child, so they didn’t have the ‘benefit’ of having older siblings go before them. Sometimes it was nice because he knew which teachers were good, and sometimes it was awful. If he had a quarter for every time a teacher said ‘Oh, Shirasagi? Are you Ryoma’s little brother? Well he was a joy to have in class!’ he’d be loaded.

“Ryoma and Hinoka both had him! They say he likes to play matchmaker with the Omegas in the class. Plus, he assigns a lot of group projects.”

“Ugh, great! You’ll be my partner right?”

“Obviously, dude.” Even though working with Hinata usually resulted in both of them getting distracted and goofing off until last minute, he wouldn’t have it any other way. As long as he got his A he didn’t really care how the project got done.

Though, he was concerned about a little more than just the group projects. There were definitely more Alphas in their school than Omegas, and ever since he’d presented he’d been dealing with dumb ‘matchmaking’ teachers. Heck, they were doing it before he’d even presented! And pretty much every time it happened the Alpha fell head over heels for him, and he absolutely did not reciprocate.

He couldn’t even count the number of calls Mama needed to make to the school about it on both hands. And whatever number that was, he’d probably have to double it to even get close to the number of overstepping Alphas Ryoma beat the shit out of on his behalf. In fact, most Alphas were beginning to treat being seated next to him as a death sentence, which wasn’t exactly doing wonders for his romantic life. The only Alphas in their grade willing to go within fifteen feet of him were Hinata and Oboro.

He tugged anxiously at his collar. Oboro seemed to notice because she finally changed the subject.

“Well, we only have a few weeks left of summer! Let’s not waste it thinking about school!”

“Damn straight!” Hinata agreed.

“Come on, Mama said dinner would be done around six. And hey, she bought a ton of popcorn for movie night!”

_________________

The first day back was always the worst. Farewell to staying up until four am and waking up at noon, hello dragging his ass out of bed at seven am. At least Ryoma was a senior this year, so Mama let him take the car to school. Hinoka took shotgun and he sat in the back with Sakura. She was fiddling with the strap of her messenger bag and biting her lip nervously.

“You look cute today, baby sister.” She really did. He could tell she’d woken up early to do her hair and makeup, and she’d picked out one of her favorite dresses. It was a far cry from his ratty old jeans and tshirt or Hinoka’s athletic shorts and tank top. He hadn’t even bothered to comb his hair out when he woke up, he’d just thrown it in it’s regular ponytail. He almost envied his sisters’ shorter hair.

“T-Thanks! I’m just so n-nervous, you know?”

“You’ll see! High school isn’t so scary!” Hinoka threw over her shoulder from the passenger seat. “Heck, you’ll be sick of it before long!”

“Come on Hinoka. Let her have one day before you make her jaded.” Ryoma chuckled.

“You’ll do great.” He patted her hand. “Let me know if you get lost okay? I can help you walk to class.”

“A-Alright.”

______________

The day went pretty quickly. It was the first day, so most of the teachers were just going over their syllabi and doing some dumb icebreakers so the class could get to know each other. It was mind numbing, but at least he could doodle in his notebooks and just pretend to be paying attention.

He’d been silently dreading third period all day, and all was well until then. He wasn’t sure what he wanted. It would be nice to sit next to Hinata, but if Izana really was a matchmaker then that could make things awkward. Then again, he’d rather things be a little awkward with his best friend than get harassed by some Alpha that needed to learn the definition of ‘boundaries’.

Hinata was already inside the classroom. He waved at Takumi from around the middle of the classroom and motioned to the empty seat beside him. The desks were laid out very strangely: Each row had six desks, and three columns consisting of two desks pushed together.

“No alphabetical order?”

Hinata shrugged. “He just told us to sit wherever.”

The man in question was currently behind his computer at the front of the room. The bell rang, but he still seemed intent on whatever he was working on. A few minutes of idle chatting later he stood up and stepped to the center of the room.

“Good afternoon everyone. I’ve created a randomized seating chart for you all. Please come sit in your new seat when I call your name.”

They were about ten desks in when the pattern became obvious. Of course every Omega just so happened to be paired with an alpha, despite the sizable portion of Betas in the class. Randomized. Sure.

“… Shirasagi, Takumi!” He squinted his eyes at the paper for a moment. “Weird, I think I had your brother. Or was it a sister?”

“It was both…” He mumbled dejectedly as he took his seat.

“Alright then let’s see… Windmire, Leo!”

Oh gods. Anyone but him.

Their brothers had been feuding since Ryoma’s freshman year, he couldn’t even remember what about. Something about a failed science project that both of them insisted wasn’t their fault. After that it was pretty much silently agreed upon that the Shirasagis would avoid the Windmires, and they would do the same. He’d never personally met Leo, but he’d heard stories. Mainly about how he was a stuck up pretty boy.

And yeah, just looking at him walk across the room he’d believe those rumors. He had a way about him that was hard to miss. He never slouched or shuffled; He strode along like he was above it all. And he was tall. At least six foot or so. Which, Takumi supposed wasn’t all that impressive for Alphas in general, but at fifteen or sixteen most of them were still growing and stood at around five foot eight to five foot ten. That meant he was constantly looking down his nose at everyone else. It was a little intimidating, at five foot six he’d pretty much stopped growing, and he was considered tall for an Omega. Sakura was only five foot two.

The blonde dropped his newly acquired textbook and notebooks down on the desk next to him. They didn’t say a word to each other as Izana finished assigning seats. It seemed like his siblings hadn’t exaggerated: Every Omega in the class was paired off with an Alpha. When that was done he handed out the syllabi and moved back to the front of the class to go over it.

“In this class I believe in learning the value of teamwork! So, you’ll have four group projects. Three due throughout the semester and one final project. Your project partners will be the person you’re sitting next to. No exceptions. These are big projects and will require outside work, so be sure to get your partner’s contact information.”

He heard the Alpha beside him audibly groan. He was, quite frankly, a little offended. Sure he and Hinata goofed off, but he was still a straight A student damn it! Where did this asshole get off?

They suffered silently through the remaining eighty minutes of class until lunch. When the bell rang he reluctantly turned to his seatmate.

“So…” He was loathe to do it, but unfortunately he had to. “We should probably exchange numbers.”

The Alpha rolled his eyes as he pulled out his phone.

“I’m sorry, do you have a problem with me?”

“Just don’t tank my grade. It’s bad enough that I have to associate with a Shirasagi, but an Omega?”

Ah, there it was. The old stereotype that an Omega couldn’t be smart, too. Boy, was this asshole in for a rude awakening.

“Look, I’m not happy about this either.” He growled as he typed his number in. “But I’m not about to get a B just because I’m stuck with you as a partner.”

With the exchange done he collected up his backpack and met up with Hinata, who was waiting by the door for him.

________

“Ugh, can you believe that guy!” He groused, shoving his sandwich into his mouth. Hinata was similarly scarfing down his food, but they were sitting on their own because Oboro had a different lunch.

Between complaining he was also scanning the room for Sakura. She’d texted him that they had the same lunch and he wanted to make sure she wasn’t sitting on her own. He finally caught sight of her – she was kind of hard to miss with the pink hair – sitting a few tables away with her friend Hana and some blonde girl he’d never met. Reasonably assured she was in good hands, he continued his complaining about Leo.

“I mean, the nerve of the guy! Implying that I can’t do work just because I’m an Omega!”

“Yeah, I can’t believe it either.” Hinata added through a mouthful of chips. “I mean, I’m pretty sure I would have failed algebra if it wasn’t for you.”

“Exactly! I mean–” He realized quickly that he probably shouldn’t be insulting his friend’s intelligence just to prove a point. “Sorry, Hinata.”

His friend just waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. Come on, let’s talk about something else.”

He tried to keep his attention off of the blonde Alpha, but he kept catching him out of the corner of his eye and getting infuriated all over again.

__________

The rest of the day was, thankfully, pretty uneventful. He’d almost forgotten all about Leo and his prissy attitude until he got home and he and Sakura were helping Mama with dinner. He and Sakura were chopping up vegetables while she prepared the meats. Hinoka was still at baseball practice and Ryoma was in his room working on his college essays.

“So how was school?”

“Great!” Sakura started excitedly chattering. “Hana and I have a lot of classes together s-so that was good! And I met a r-really nice girl named Elise in first period!”

“That’s great, sweetie! What about you Takumi, did you have fun? Make any new friends?”

He shrugged. “Not really. But there was this one guy in my history class…”

“Oh? You met a boy?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Mama! It’s not like that! He’s… He’s completely insufferable!” He let out a frustrated sigh. “Mister Izana paired us up for every class project, and this dumb Alpha thinks I’m stupid just because I’m an Omega!”

“Oh dear… Well I’m sure it won’t be so bad. Once he gets to know you I’m sure he’ll warm up.”

“I dunno, he’s a Windmire. They’re, like, predisposed to hate us or something!”

“I’m sure he can’t be that bad. You know what I always say, never judge a book by its cover!”

“Yes, Mama.” He rolled his eyes. Of course she didn’t get it. She hadn’t even met Leo, she had no idea how rude he’d been!

He finished up slicing the vegetables and Mama shooed them both out of the kitchen so she could finish cooking. He didn’t have much to do since there wasn’t any homework, so he decided to bum around on his laptop until dinner.

He hadn’t really intended to start cyberstalking Leo, it had just kind of happened. It started when he tried looking up the Alpha’s social media, but the guy was a ghost. None of the Windmires seemed to have any online presence, and the only pictures he found were from what he was guessing were Leo’s friends. He’d just wanted to get a general idea of the guy, but after an hour of coming up blank finding anything became an obsession. How could he not have anything online? It was just so weird!

He finally stopped when Mama called them all down to dinner, and he realized how ridiculous he was being. So what if he couldn’t find any information? Why should he care about this asshole anyways? He shut the laptop and hurried to the dining room.

____________

The first month or so went by without too many problems. He and Leo mostly just ignored each other during class, and once it was over he made a quick escape to lunch with Hinata. They didn’t get the details about their first project until late September. It wasn’t much, just a paper. It was about three pages and due in two weeks, so he wasn’t too worried about it just yet.

He stuck the project requirements into his folder and headed down to lunch. The second he left the room his phone buzzed in his pocket.

We should get started on this project today.

He glanced over his shoulder. Leo was literally standing ten feet away from him. Was he for real?

He pulled his phone back out to respond.

Dude, you’re literally standing right there. You couldn’t talk to me?

He watched as the blonde’s phone buzzed and he typed his response. This was ridiculous, was he really so conceited that he couldn’t even talk to him?

Look who’s talking.

“Ugh!” He stuffed his phone back in his pocket. “Come on Hinata, let’s go.”

All of lunch was a back and forth.

The project isn’t even due until two weeks from now.

I’m not going to fail this class because you wanted to wait until last minute.

Fine! We can start working on it tonight then! Your house or mine?

Better do yours.

Alright, meet me by the exit after school. My brother will drive us.

Gods, what an arrogant asshole! As if waiting a week would kill them! If he were working alone he could get it done in two days! Not to mention the fact that he wanted to start working on it on a Friday night! Sure, Takumi had just planned to stay in and watch movies, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have had plans!

Sakura was already waiting by the door, along with her blonde friend. She waved at him as he approached. “B-Big brother! This is my friend, Elise.”

“Oh, uh, nice to meet you.” Now that he was closer he could see that she was an Omega as well. The heat suppressants could make it hard to tell sometimes, but only Omegas wore collars like that. Hers was made of dyed black leather and it was studded with little purple rhinestones to match her black and purple dress.

“Ta-ku-mi,” She enunciated every syllable in his name carefully. “Did I say it right?”

“Y-Yeah, that’s right.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you too, Takumi!” She beamed up at him. Geez when Sakura said Elise was friendly she wasn’t kidding. They hadn’t known each other five minutes and she was already chattering away like they’d been friends for decades.

Leo turned up a few minutes later. Takumi caught sight of him down the hall, and he seemed confused as he approached.

“Elise? What are you doing here?”

Did they know each other?

“Aw, Leo! Did you make friends too?”

The Alpha side-eyed him and then shook his head. “Absolutely not. We’re just working on a project together. What are you doing?”

“Xander said I could stay over at Sakura’s tonight! We’re gonna get together with Hana and Effie to do girl stuff!”

“Did you ask father too?”

She pouted. “You know how he is.”

“… Alright, but you need to finish your homework beforehand.”

“Yeah, yeah. Camilla already gave me the lecture. Sakura and I are gonna get it all done before dinner.”

So, Elise was Leo’s little sister? He hadn’t really considered the possibility that Sakura’s new friend was a Windmire, but he supposed it made sense. He’d forgotten about the youngest sibling since she was the grade below him and they’d never had classes together or anything.

It was almost cute watching them; It reminded him a lot of his relationship with Sakura. That didn’t mean Leo wasn’t still a complete asshole, but he supposed even assholes had their moments.

Ryoma finally came down the hall, backpack slung over one shoulder and spinning his keys around his finger.

“Who are your friends?”

“We aren’t friends.” He and Leo said it in unison. Ryoma raised and eyebrow, and Sakura giggled.

“W-We’re just working on a project.” He finished lamely.

His brother shrugged his shoulders, but he was glaring daggers at Leo already. It wasn’t angry, more like don’t you dare fuck with my little brother, asshole. Leo shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

“Alright, well let’s get home.”

He’d never really felt self-conscious about his house before. It wasn’t the biggest, and it certainly wasn’t the nicest. He’d known Hinata and Oboro for so long that none of it mattered because… Well it never had before. He didn’t know much about Leo, but this stuck up pretty boy was probably used to nicer stuff.

Mama couldn’t work because she didn’t have an Alpha to sign off on it. Papa made pretty good money, but after he died they had to cut back and make do on the insurance money. They only owned one car since Mama only left to do errands, and she could do those once they got home from school.

Their house was a standard split-level with three bedrooms and a basement. He and Sakura actually shared a room, and Ryoma and Hinoka did the same. Mama took the smallest room and his older siblings had the master bedroom. The basement was a general family room, with a nice but old flat screen TV, an old Nintendo that he’d found for twenty bucks at a neighbor’s garage sale, and a big sectional couch. The upstairs had a much smaller TV and couch that Mama mainly used to watch the news. Or to stop arguments when everyone wanted to watch something at the same time.

The nicest piece of furniture they owned was probably their dining table. Mama had been saving up for a new one for years because the old one was too small for a family of five, and she liked it when they all ate together. Plus, one or more of their friends usually came over for dinner more often than not and she liked entertaining company. It made the small space a little cramped but Mama always made sure it was clean and overall it was pretty cozy.

They all kicked their shoes off, and Takumi tried not to look at their guests faces when they stepped inside. He wasn’t sure if he could stop himself from punching Leo in the face if he got condescending about it.

“Come on. We can work on our project in my room. Sakura, are you and Elise okay in the living room?”

“Y-Yeah no problem!”

It would be a little too cramped in their small space with four people in there. Usually when they did homework they all set up on the dining room table and did it together. But he didn’t want to disturb Ryoma and Sakura since he and Leo would probably be pretty distracting with their talking.

Mama greeted them at the top of the stairs.

“Perfect timing. Ryoma dear can you give me the keys? I need to go grocery shopping.”

“They’re in the key bowl by the door.”

“Great!” She looked over their two guests. “Are you two going to be staying for dinner?”

“Oh, right! Mama this is Leo, and that’s Sakura’s friend Elise.”

“Nice to meet you Missus Shirasagi.” Leo extended a hand for her to shake.

“Please, you can just call me Mikoto.”

“I don’t know how long Leo and I will be working on our project, but Elise will definitely be here for dinner.”

“Alright I’ll buy a little extra then!” That went without saying, though. Mama always bought extra for guests. She grabbed the keys and headed out, and Takumi led Leo down the hall to his room.

“Takumi!” Ryoma called out to him from the living room.

“What?”

“Leave the door open!”

“Ryoma!” He could feel his face heating up. Gods, like he would ever do anything with this guy!

He left the door open anyways, mostly because it was better than having Ryoma randomly barge in and “need something” like he always did if Takumi shut the door.

There wasn’t a whole lot of room to spread out. Most of the space was taken up by two twin beds. Their room was about ten feet wide, and there was about four feet of open space between the beds. They each had their own nightstand, and there was a dresser shoved in the closet. It was a pretty wide closet, but they had to share. Three of the four dresser drawers belonged to him, but two thirds of the closet belonged to Sakura because she owned so many dresses.

All in all, it was pretty obvious what belonged to whom in the room. Sakura had a lot of decor of her namesake: Her lampshade and bedspread both featured cherry blossom patterns, and she had a variety of little bobbles including a little glass cherry blossom tree that Mama made for her by hand. She also had a few canvasses hanging from the walls with several different designs, one of which featured cherry blossoms once again. Most of it wasn’t her choice, it was just what people bought her for birthdays and Christmas. It was a good thing she liked pink.

His side was a little plainer decor-wise. In addition to his bed and nightstand he also had a bookshelf that was overflowing with books on history and philosophy. There were so many that he’d begun stacking them on top of the shelf as well. On top of those books an old Shogi board was perched, just in case any of his siblings ever wanted to play with him again. They had a few other board games on the top shelf of the closet. Sometimes they had game nights on the weekend, but for the most part they went untouched. His bow and a quiverfull of arrows were currently leaning in the space between the nightstands. He didn’t really have anywhere else for it, since his kendo equipment was underneath the bed and there was no more room in the closet.

“Sorry it’s not very big.” He dropped his backpack on his bed and pulled out his laptop. Mama bought them all the same cheap little chromebook one year for Christmas when they were on sale. It wasn’t the best, but it got the job done.

Leo just shrugged and followed suit. His laptop was bigger, but it also looked pretty old. He brought out the charger as well.

“Got an outlet somewhere? The battery on this damn thing is burnt out.”

Once they were finally set up on the floor he pulled the assignment sheet back out of his folder.

“Alright, looks like we have to discuss the fallout after the civil war. Three pages, double spaced, yadda yadda. And a presentation to the class.”

“You haven’t even read the assignment yet?”

“When was I supposed to read it? Izana gave it to us at the end of class, and I wasn’t going to read it over during gym class!”

“Gods I’m going to fail.” The Alpha muttered under his breath.

“Hey!” Takumi growled. “Would you stop treating me like I’m some ditz! I’m trying to get an A too, you know! So just start the damn powerpoint and I’ll start the paper.”

He flipped his textbook open to the relevant chapter and started scanning for information.

The Alpha sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I’m just used to my partners slacking.”

Well of all the things he’d been expecting, he certainly hadn’t seen an apology coming.

“I-It’s fine. Let’s just get this done so I can actually enjoy this weekend.”

They worked for a solid hour, only talking to ensure that their points matched up. He was probably a third of the way done with the rough draft of their paper, and Leo was about half done with the powerpoint when they were interrupted by Elise entering the room.

“Leeeeooo!” She called from the door.

“What is it, Elise?”

“Can you help me with math?”

“Have you done all of the problems you can solve?”

“Yep! And Sakura helped me with some, but there are a couple we can’t get.”

“And you finished your other subjects?”

“Uh huh! We did those first.”

“Alright, I’ll come help you in a few minutes.”

“Okay!” She skipped back down the hall and sat down with Sakura at the dining room table.

Leo shut his laptop and shoved his books back into his backpack.

“I thought you wanted to get this project done?”

The blonde rolled his eyes. He was just now noticing, but had they always been that color? Or was the dim light in his room playing tricks on his eyes? He hadn’t really been paying attention, but he swore he would have remembered such vivid red eyes.

“This is exactly why I start projects when they’re assigned. We don’t have to do it all today.”

He left all of his things on the floor of Takumi’s room and headed back out into the main living area.

Takumi had managed to get all of his homework done in class today. He was pretty bored in geometry, so he usually did the homework as he was taking notes. Plus with ninety minute classes their teacher usually gave them half of that time for homework. His language class usually made it a point not to assign any homework, and their history class assigned the project in lieu of any real homework. So he decided to take his laptop into the living room and start picking out a movie for tonight. Ryoma had disappeared to somewhere, probably over to Saizo’s house to hang out.

He was actually currently stealing his good friend’s netflix, and with October on the horizon most of the queue was horror movies. It was just easier to stay logged in since they usually hung out at his house. Hinata didn’t usually mind, as long as he didn’t hog it or remove things from his list.

Elise and Sakura really only had two math problems they couldn’t get on their own, and once Leo walked them through the first one they didn’t even need help on the second. He got the sense that this was something Leo did a lot, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed by it. Maybe he wasn’t as stuck up as everyone seemed to imply.

“So,” The Alpha finally spoke directly to him. He’d been so focused on his computer that it startled him. “You like horror movies?”

He shuddered at the thought. Horror movies always made his nightmares so much worse. “No, actually. This is my friend’s account. I take it you do?”

“Mhmm. That’s too bad, I know a few good ones you might enjoy.”

“… Nothing too scary?”

“I suppose that depends on your definition of scary.”

“Hmm… Well I don’t do paranormal. Hard no on anything paranormal. I also don’t really like monsters or ghouls or anything like that.”

“Home invasion?”

“Yeah I think I could do that.” If he were being honest he would have said not in a million years, but he also didn’t want to seem like a complete wuss.

He grinned. “I have the perfect movie. Do you want to watch it on my laptop?”

“W-What? You mean, right now?”

He shrugged. “I’m here, and obviously we’ve both already checked out of this project for today. Besides, I don’t want to leave in case Elise needs me for something else.”

Just then he was saved by the bell – or rather, his mother.

“Takumi! Come help me get the groceries in!”

He hopped up and ran to the car, thankful to get out of that conversation. Maybe he wouldn’t have to watch a horror movie after all.

“Would you like some help with those?” Leo asked, indicating the bags she was carrying. She handed them off to him gratefully and he finished getting them into the kitchen. Then Leo helped him bring in the few bags from the car, and they were done in one trip. He tried to help put things away, but Mama shooed him back out into the living room.

Leo was standing by, waiting for him to get done.

“So, how about it?”

“I don’t know if we have time for a movie. Mama when is dinner?”

“Oh don’t worry about it sweetie. There’s plenty of time for a movie.”

Fuck. Looks like he was doing this.

“Alright, sure. Sakura will probably want the basement so she can get ready for her sleepover, so we can watch it in my room.”

With Ryoma out he could finally shut his door. It wasn’t that he wanted to do anything, he just liked having the privacy. Leo set his laptop up on the bed.

“Turn off the lights.”

“W-What?”

“Come on, it’s a horror movie. You have to set the mood!”

He flicked the lights off and sat down. He tried to keep a respectable distance, but it was hard when they were watching on a laptop. They had three or four inches between their shoulders at best.

It was a little weird, if he was being honest. He’d never had an Alpha on his bed unless it was Hinata or Oboro. He hadn’t realized how weirdly intimate it was until he was sitting with the blonde. His heart was racing, though that was probably just from the movie. Though, by the end of it he was actually clinging to Leo’s arm and hiding his face in the sleeve of the blonde’s hoodie.

They were nearing the end of the movie. By now there had been a few tense moments of this woman trying to escape her would-be killer, and a few jump scares to set his nerves on edge. She was trying to crawl back in her window while the killer chased her, and he had to stop himself from shouting go, go, go, go!

The door to his room slammed open and he screamed. Not a yelp or a cry of surprise, he actually yelled out in terror and hid his face behind the Alpha’s shoulder.

“Takumi?” It was just Ryoma. Apparently he hadn’t been as gone as Takumi thought him.

“Gods, Ryoma! You scared the shit out of me!”

“My apologies. I just wanted to know if you needed anything.”

“Yeah! A new damn pair of underwear! Geez Ryoma, can’t I have the door closed for five minutes without you barging in!”

His brother put his hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright. Finish your movie, mother said that dinner will be ready soon.

As soon as he backed out Leo chuckled. “I didn’t think you would be that scared by this movie!”

“I-I wasn’t scared! He just surprised me is all!” He scooted away from Leo and drew his knees up to his chest.

“Of course, obviously.” Leo nodded. “Alright pay attention. We’re almost at the end.”

They very end of the movie was more action packed and didn’t have as many jump scares, so it was a little easier to get through. She managed to fight off her attacker and call the police in the end. And hey, the cat didn’t even die. When the credits started rolling Leo shut his laptop.

“So, what did you think?”

“The entire plot of this movie could have been avoided if this woman just owned a landline.”

“That’s… Exactly what I always say.”

There was an awkward lull in the conversation. After a moment he finally responded again.

“W-We should get to the dining room. Mama is probably waiting for us.”

He reached for the light, but in the dark he didn’t see the stack of books hanging a few inches over the edge of his bookshelf. He accidentally bumped them and brought the entire pile down.

“Shit!” He muttered. He managed to flick the light on. Only five or six books ended up on the ground, and he quickly picked them up and re-stacked them on the shelf.

“The Stranger?” Leo picked the top paperback off the stack and flipped it over.

“Well aren’t you nosy!” He shot back, defensively. Most people that saw his book collection automatically labelled him a huge nerd, including his older siblings.

“I’ve been trying my hardest not to snoop, but it’s kind of hard not to notice when you’re a complete klutz and knock over piles of books. Besides, it’s one of my favorites, I couldn’t help bringing it up.”

“I actually haven’t finished it yet.” He admitted. “Nihilism isn’t really my thing, and I can’t stand the main character!”

“Really? I think it leans more absurdist myself. How far did you get?”

“Uh, I think I was about half way through part one.”

“You should try again. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

He took the book from the Alpha and tossed it on his nightstand.

“You know, for a pretty boy you’re kind of a dork.”

He was into philosophy and history? What was next? Would Leo tell him that he’s on the school’s chess team?

“I could say the same of you, Takumi.”

Wait, did Leo just call him pretty? Did he just call Leo pretty? To his face? Oh gods, like he needed another reason to go red as a tomato. He hurried past the Alpha and took his seat at the table with the rest of his family and Elise. There were seven places set at the table. Ryoma was sitting on one end, Mama on the other, and Elise, Sakura, and Hinoka on one side. That left two places on the other for he and Leo to sit. He took his usual seat nearest Mama, but Leo hung back a moment. He checked his watch.

“Actually I think it’s time I headed home.”

He wasn’t about to stop Leo, though he was a little disappointed. He’d just found out that they had so much in common, and he’d been kind of hoping that they could chat more.

“Please stay for dinner at least! Sakura was just telling me about how helpful you’ve been, it’s the least I can do.”

He looked conflicted, but he ultimately sat down.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Mama smiled at him, then leaned over and whispered conspiratorially in his ear.

“Is this the boy you’ve been complaining about? He’s so polite!”

“Mama please!” His face was already red enough from that earlier pretty boy comment.

“So, Leo.” Oh gods. Ryoma was going to do this to him? Tonight? “You’re working on a project with Takumi?”

“That’s right.”

“Uh huh. How’s your GPA?”

“Ryoma…” He muttered under his breath.

“I have a perfect GPA, actually.”

“Good, good… Because, you know, my brother doesn’t waste his time with stupid men.”

“Ryoma!” He growled. Mama patted him on the arm.

“Now come on Ryoma, he’s our guest. There’s no need for this.” Yet. He could hear it in her voice. Gods, had his entire family gone crazy?

The rest of dinner went pretty normally, aside from Ryoma’s incessant what-are-your-intentions-with-my-brother grilling. When it was over he helped Mama clear the table, and Leo excused himself.

“I really must get going.”

“Do you live far? I can drive you home, if you’d like?” Mama called out from the kitchen. She was in the middle of doing the dishes, and Ryoma was helping her dry.

“It’s not far.” He answered quickly. “Really, I’d prefer to walk.”

“Alright. It was nice meeting you!”

Ryoma was just glaring daggers at him over her shoulder. Takumi pushed him toward the stairs and followed him into the entryway.

“Uh, sorry about him.”

Leo just shrugged. “Believe me, I’ve seen worse. Why don’t we get together on Sunday to finish the project?”

“Y-Yeah, sure. Sounds good.”

“I’ll text you.”

He headed out and Takumi shut the door behind him. It was still pretty warm out, but he hoped Leo didn’t have to walk too far. It was starting to get dark, and it looked like it might rain later that night.

All in all he was no longer absolutely dreading seeing Leo again. Hell, he was a completely different person than he usually was in school! He’d even called Mama ‘ma’am’!

He headed back upstairs to see if any more help was needed. Sakura and Elise had long since retreated into the basement to get things set up, and Hana and Effie would probably be there soon.

“Your friend seemed nice.” Mama was just finishing up the dishes and wiping her hands on a nearby towel.

“I don’t like him.” Ryoma slammed a plate down in the cupboard a little harder than usual.

He rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to like him, Ryoma. We’re just doing a class project together. Besides, he hates me anyways.”

It was true. Just because he was polite didn’t mean he liked Takumi. He was probably just minding his manners for once.

“Oh I don’t know about that, sweetie. The two of you seemed to get on just fine.” She had this glint in her eye.

“I told you, Mama, it’s not like that.”

“Good.” Ryoma muttered under his breath.

Gods, what a pain! He loved his brother, but he could be too overprotective sometimes. Heck, he still glared daggers at Hinata, and they’d been friends since they were five!

“I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

He spent the rest of the night watching dumb youtube videos to try and shake the horror movie from his mind.

_____________

Saturday went by pretty uneventfully. He and Hinata went to kendo practice in the morning and then they spent the rest of the day bumming around the park while the weather was still warm. Then later that night Oboro came over for their regular movie night.

Hinata hooked his laptop into the TV and started flicking through the movies. He and Oboro were already sitting on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn between them.

“So how did working on your project with Mister Prissy-pants go yesterday?”

“Actually, not terribly. It was, uh, actually kind of fun.”

Both of his friends stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

“Woah, hold the phone. You had fun. With Leo?”

“I mean… Look, he was still kind of a dick but I don’t know. We have a lot in common, and he was actually really sweet with Mama and his sister.”

Hinata whistled. “Well looks like it’s the end of the world everybody. Oboro, do you still have that zombie invasion action plan we wrote up?”

She shoved him. “Who said it was going to be a zombie invasion?”

“Who said it wasn’t?”

He was thankful that they didn’t push the subject, at least. Mama had been giving him that look ever since and Ryoma kept pulling him aside to have the talk. Just the memory of it made him shudder, and he was glad that Hinoka needed him for something before he could really get into it.

“I know you don’t like them, but can we please watch a horror movie? I know of a really good zombie flick now that you mention it!” Hinata urged.

Zombie movies, strangely enough, didn’t really bother him. Maybe because he knew how unlikely a zombie apocalypse was, and most of the movies were pretty bad anyways.

“Fine. But no more until Halloween!”

He started playing the movie and sat down on the couch next to Oboro. They were only about ten minutes in when he got distracted by a text from Leo.

Hey, sorry but I’m not going to be able to meet tomorrow.

What? Why?

Some family stuff came up. Sorry, we can talk about it more on Monday?

Alright, just don’t go tanking my grade with your slacking.

“Hey!” Oboro snapped her fingers. “Eyes on the screen!”

“Sorry, sorry!” He shut his phone off and set it aside.

He was a little disappointed. Maybe Leo got scared off by his family after all? But still, they could have met up at the library or something. He just hoped his overbearing brother wasn’t about to be the reason he failed a class.

______________

After awhile he started wondering what exactly came up to stop Leo from working on their project. Just three days ago he’d been so insistent that they get the project done immediately, but now he was delaying?

Though, it didn’t take him long to figure out what had happened. He walked into third period, and the first thing he noticed was the blonde in the second row. His left eye was swollen and bruised up. Takumi took his seat and set his backpack down.

“Geez, what happened?”

“Oh this? It’s nothing.” He brushed it off. He didn’t seem interested in talking about it, so he dropped it. Whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant.

“… Did you want to get the rest of this project done today? I was thinking we could go to the library after school.”

“Yeah, sure. Sound’s good.”

He couldn’t pay attention for the rest of class. He knew it wasn’t any of his business, but he couldn’t help speculating. What the hell happened? Heck, he wouldn’t be at all surprised if Ryoma hunted him down after he left their house. Not that it’d happened, he could think of plenty of people that would want to punch Leo in the face.

______________

They decided to head to the library separately after school. Takumi arrived first. It was a pretty big library, and they’d agreed to meet near the back. There was a section specifically designed for teens to hang around in. There were a few tables, some computers, and a couple of board games, TVs, and even a game console. He didn’t usually come back to this section, but it was the most recognizable one so he’d picked it on a whim.

He was currently sitting at the chess table they had back there. He didn’t really have anything to do until Leo got there, and his phone was running low on battery so he was absentmindedly moving the pieces around.

There wasn’t really anyone else around, so he perked up immediately once Leo came in.

The Alpha nodded at the board. “You play?”

“Oh gods, you are a chess nerd. I knew it.”

Leo shrugged and dropped his backpack on the ground next to his chair. “My father used to play with me when I was a kid.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah, it was… Do you want to play a game?”

“Sure, but I’m not that good. I prefer shogi.”

“Show-gee? Is that like chess?”

“Yeah, a bit.”

As it turned out, Leo was quite good. He won pretty easily, and as much as he wanted to let his competitive spirit out he pushed his chair out and moved to one of the tables.

“You don’t want to play another game?”

“Oh believe me, I’m going to kick your ass in the future. But Mama wants me home for dinner so we should probably work on the project.”

They managed to finish up their project over the next two hours of working. He finished the paper, Leo finished the powerpoint, and then they swapped to proof read. He was pretty happy with the work overall, but he did veto some of Leo’s color choices for the slides.

When they were done he packed up his things, and Leo did the same.

“Would you like me to walk you home?”

He didn’t live too far from the library. It was about half way between their high school and his house. All together it would be about a fifteen minute walk from there to his house, but Mama and Ryoma wouldn’t usually let him walk anywhere by himself. They lived in an okay neighborhood, but they definitely bordered on a bad part of town. Another fifteen minutes of walking past his house and there was nothing but ramshackle ranch houses and trailers. He’d originally planned to call up Ryoma or Hinoka to get a ride, but it was a nice day, and if he had Leo with him…

“Are you sure? I can get a ride?”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on my way.”

“Y-Yeah, sure.”

It would be nice to get some time to talk without his family or school projects getting in the way. He was vaguely aware of the fact that he was actually starting to like Leo. But hey, how couldn’t he? It was like someone reached into his head, pulled out all of his favorite things, and stuffed them into the body of a tall, pretty Alpha. And those eyes? Gods, those piercing, red eyes. It almost wasn’t fair.

He found out that they had even more in common on the walk home. His favorite food was beef stew, which was kind of like a soup. Though it was second only in his heart to tomatoes. Takumi had brought up the subject accidentally, and Leo had begun rambling on about them.

“… And when you bite into them! Gods it’s divine!”

“Woah, hold up. You eat raw tomatoes?”

“Yes, don’t you?”

“No. Actually, I don’t think anyone does.”

“You’re missing out.”

He scrunched up his nose. “Gross.”

Leo gently nudged him as they walked. “Hey, don’t make fun. Someday I’m going to have a garden full of just tomato plants. Then you’ll see.”

Takumi pushed him back, just a little harder. “Don’t be such a weirdo, then!”

Those fifteen minutes almost went by too fast, and before he knew it they were standing at his front door. He didn’t really want to say goodbye, but Ryoma would probably just embarrass the hell out of him, and if he didn’t come home for dinner Mama would be upset.

“So I’ll uh, see you in class tomorrow?”

“Couldn’t miss it if I wanted to.” He answered dryly. It was one of those jokes that wasn’t really a joke, the kind Takumi couldn’t help laughing at.

Leo waited for him to get inside the house before he left.

“Takumi? I thought you were going to call for a ride? You didn’t walk home alone, did you?”

“No Mama, Leo walked with me.”

“Really, he did?”

He rolled his eyes. “He was just being polite. He said it was on his way anyways.”

“Is it?”

He shrugged. He’d just taken Leo’s word for it but he didn’t check to see if the Alpha had turned back the way they came or not.

“I’m going to finish up the rest of my homework. Do you need anything?”

“No I’m fine dear. Dinner in an hour.”

Ryoma and Sakura had long since finished their homework, but Hinoka was still sitting at the dining room table when he put his backpack down. She’d probably just walked home from practice and taken a shower – Mama always made her take a shower before dinner so she didn’t stink up the place.

He loved Hinoka, but he didn’t really get to spend that much time with her. Once she got to high school most of her free time was spent either at practice or hanging out with her teammates. That, and she and Ryoma were quite close. Pretty much anything he shared with her got passed on to his brother, whether he wanted it to be or not. He supposed it made sense, he was far closer to Sakura and they were far closer to each other, but it made it much harder to relate to her.

“So…” She opened up the conversation. “Leo?”

“Oh gods, not you too!”

“Hey, I’m not judging! I think it’s great that you’re getting along! He’s a good kid.”

“He’s sixteen, he’s not a kid. And how would you know what he’s like?”

She shrugged. “Just the impression I got from him at dinner. And sometimes his sister helps out at bake sales and things for the team. She talks about him a lot.”

He did vaguely recall a busty, purple haired Alpha coming by a few times in the past to see Hinoka. She hadn’t been around long enough for him to register the connection, but now that he thought about it he did hear quite a bit about Camilla. Mostly jealous rumors from the girls in his grade, or the guys bemoaning how she only ever seemed to flirt with other girls.

“Well you don’t have to go running to Ryoma. Like I told him, we’re just doing our class projects together.”

“Alright little brother. I believe you.”

_______________

The due date for their first project came and went. They got an A, obviously, and strangely enough Takumi couldn’t wait for the next one. He and Leo worked well together, and it was nice having a project partner that didn’t distract the hell out of him for once.

In the meantime, they started spending more and more time together. In addition to his Saturday movie nights with Hinata and Oboro, he and Leo had a Friday movie night now too. Sometimes they watched them in his room, sometimes the basement. They’d begun switching off between B horror movies and terrible sci-fi flicks. Sometimes they didn’t watch a movie at all, they just played video games or a board game or just talked.

It was a few days before Thanksgiving, so they’d decided to have their movie night after school on that Tuesday instead. Though they’d never gotten around to picking a movie. His computer was lying a few feet away, HDMI cable plugged in and idling on the Netflix home screen.

He was lying down on one end of the couch, knees bent, and Leo was on the other. Their legs were just barely close enough to touch.

“What do you guys do for Thanksgiving?”

“Nothing really.”

“Really? Nothing?”

“Father hates holidays.”

“Your father sounds like a dick.”

The Alpha snorted. “You don’t know the half of it.”

He’d been wondering for awhile. Leo never talked about his family, or at least he didn’t talk about his dad. Over the past few months he’d been slowly piecing some things together, but the picture was still frustratingly incomplete.

“… Hey Leo?”

“Yeah?”

“You remember that black eye you had a few months ago?”

“What about it?”

“… How did you get it?”

He immediately regretted asking. Leo sat up, and Takumi mirrored him.

“I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Leo just shrugged. “Why bother hiding it? My father isn’t exactly the most even tempered guy. He kind of flipped his lid when Elise came home that Saturday morning. Kept ranting about how she was whoring around with Alphas – I guess he smelled your siblings on her. I tried to stop him from throwing her out.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It is what it is.”

Takumi scooted closer to him. He didn’t really know what to say, so he did what he always did when one of his siblings was upset. He hugged him. The Alpha seemed surprised, but he didn’t pull away.

Leo smelled nice. Like a forest on a sunny, warm day. Like dirt and grass and… honeysuckle? It was a lot to take in at once. And he was so warm and his skin was so soft…

Footsteps pounded down the stairs, and he pushed the Alpha away quickly just before Ryoma could see them. Leo scooted back quickly and he turned to his computer screen so Ryoma wouldn’t suspect anything.

“Are you two doing okay down here?”

“Get out of here, Ryoma! Mama told you not to bug us!”

He was trying to hide his blushing face from his brother, but it was a losing battle. He might have been mistaken, but he thought he saw a small tint to Leo’s cheeks too.

“As long as the two of you are… getting along.” He gave Leo the I hope you aren’t fucking around down here look before he went back upstairs. Gods, he was only fifteen, why did Ryoma not trust him to keep his hormones in check?

“A-Anyways… Do you want to spend Thanksgiving here? I’m sure Mama won’t mind, she always makes too much food.”

“You don’t have to be nice to me just because of my father.”

“It’s not because of that! I would have invited you, anyways. Geez, who doesn’t have a holiday celebration?”

“… I’ll think about it. And thanks for the offer.”

______________

He’d been friends with Hinata and Oboro for a long time. They were both Alphas, but he’d never felt anything special for them. He’d never gotten butterflies in his stomach thinking about them, and he’d never spent hours going through his closet to find the right outfit before he saw them. But here he was, Thanksgiving morning, doing exactly that.

He tried to justify it. Well we’ve never had guests before. At least, no guests that weren’t Hinata, Oboro, or one of his siblings’ friends.

But then wasn’t Leo just one of his friends, too?

Mama was okay with him coming over, just like he knew she would be. Ryoma was less than thrilled, something about how he was “too young to be dating”. Whatever, he’d get over it. He and Leo weren’t even dating. He wasn’t even sure if the Alpha liked him.

He pulled at least five things out of the closet and laid them over the bed. He was staring at them hopelessly when Sakura came into the room. She was already dressed for the day in an oversized orange sweater-dress and some plain black leggings. She even had a pair of matching orange slippers and a matching headband and gods he’d never envied girls for having so many cute clothing options, but he was right now.

“A-Are you trying to look good for Leo?”

“Help.”

He’d never in a million years admit to crushing on someone to his older siblings, but Sakura was different.

“J-Just be yourself! I’m s-sure he likes you just the way you are!”

“Yeah, but I still want to look nice! But I also don’t want to look like I’m trying to look nice, you know?” He’d been wearing sweatpants and plain v-neck t-shirts the last couple of times they’d hung out. He couldn’t help himself, it’d been Friday! That was his comfy day!

“A-Alright, let me see what I can do.” She giggled.

It wasn’t too far off what he’d normally wear, in the end. She pulled out one of his usual black v-necks and a pair of jeans, but she also managed to dig out an old button down that he was pretty sure he’d gotten as a hand-me-down from Ryoma. The sleeves were a little long, so he just rolled them up to the elbows and left the front unbuttoned.

The only accessory he really owned an extensive collection of was hair ribbons. Mama usually bought him the same thing for every birthday or Christmas: A book and a hair ribbon. He loved both, so he wasn’t complaining. Sakura found a plain orange one to match the Thanksgiving theme and he quickly tied his hair up with it.

With that all sorted, they spent most of the rest of the day cooking with Mama while Ryoma and Hinoka cleaned up. They didn’t really do the traditional American thanksgiving, instead Mama tried to cook everyone’s favorite foods. There was almost always miso soup for him, salmon for Ryoma, and pickled vegetables for Hinoka along with rice, duck, a salad, and some stir-fried vegetables. She also made tea, and Sakura’s favorite mochi for dessert.

It was a pretty big task to cook it all, and they always had a ton of leftovers. Mama joked that she was glad they were finally old enough to help her out, since she used to do all of it by herself.

Hinoka popped her head in around four o’clock.

“How many places should we set?”

“Hmm… I think we’ll be having nine?”

“Nine? Who all is coming?”

“Well there’s the five of us, Leo and Elise makes seven… And since they’re coming I told them to just invite their whole family, so Xander and Camilla makes nine.”

He heard Ryoma groan from the living room. “You invited Xander?”

“Well I wasn’t going to invite everyone but Xander! That would be rude, Ryoma!” She yelled back.

He’d considered inviting Oboro and Hinata as well, but Oboro was travelling to visit family this year and Hinata’s parents were inviting over some relatives so he had to be at home. Plus, he’d avoided having Leo meet his friends thus far. Not that he was embarrassed of them or anything, he just wasn’t sure how well they’d all get along.

Everyone arrived around five, and he ran down to get the door before Ryoma could jump at it. Only Camilla, Leo, and Elise were at the door, and the eldest was holding a bottle of something. It was lightly snowing outside, so he ushered them in quickly.

“Thank you so much for inviting us, dear!” She handed over the bottle.

“Yeah, no problem. Make yourselves at home.” He hung their coats up on the nearby coat rack. Camilla and Elise ran upstairs, but Leo hung back with him.

He pulled the bottle out of the bag to get a better look at it.

“Sake? Where did you guys even get this?” As far as he knew, none of them were of age. Well, Xander might be eighteen, but he wasn’t there.

“Father won’t miss one bottle. He doesn’t even like sake, it’s just been sitting around the house.”

He shrugged. Mama sometimes drank sake, and usually she would let them have a taste around the holidays. He just put it on the kitchen counter and started getting down the serving dishes for the food. Camilla wandered in a few minutes later.

“Is there anything at all I can help with?”

He’d never seen an Alpha offer to help with kitchen stuff, but there was a first time for everything. Ryoma and Hinoka would usually help out, but only if directly asked.

“Oh don’t worry about it. You’re a guest! Besides, we’re almost done here. Just go take a seat, dinner will be in a few minutes.”

He caught a few snippets of conversation as he and Sakura carried dishes out to the table. Mainly Hinoka and Camilla discussing what the baseball season would look like come spring. Ryoma occasionally added to the conversation, but overall it was nothing he was too interested in. Elise must have been in the bathroom, and Leo was boredly sitting at the table. It didn’t take long to get everything on the table, so when it was all ready he took his usual seat next to Leo.

“Won’t Xander be joining us?”

“I’m afraid he had to work, actually.” Camilla answered. Mama took the empty plate away and he, Leo, and Hinoka all shifted over a little to make things even. He ended up sitting directly across from Sakura, Leo was in front of Elise, and Hinoka was facing Camilla.

“This all looks wonderful ma’am! I hope you had some help!” Camilla added as they began passing things around the table.

“Yes, Takumi and Sakura are quite the little chefs now!” She laughed. “I remember when they were little they tried to help cook and they nearly burnt the house down! Little Takumi came sprinting down the hall, hair singed to drag me out of bed… And what do I find in the kitchen? Ryoma and Hinoka standing over a smoking pan and Sakura crying in the corner!”

They all laughed about it now, but he remembered that year all too well. That was the year Papa died. He was maybe five? Mama didn’t get out of bed for weeks unless it was to take care of them, and little seven year old Ryoma thought it might help cheer her up if they cooked for her. Of course they were kids so none of them knew how to cook. It got her out of bed, though. It was easy to laugh at in retrospect, but at the time it had probably shocked her back into being alive and a mother.

But it wasn’t really the time for such discussions, so he laughed along.

“Mama kept the knives out of reach and I wanted to make soup. So I just dumped whole vegetables into a pot of water. Didn’t even turn the stove on. I thought her head was going to explode!”

“Kids just do the strangest things, don’t they?” Camilla added. Though, wasn’t she still a kid herself? “When we were little Elise wanted to play princesses, and unfortunately poor Leo was the only one around at the time. Elise dressed them both up in mother’s clothes and used up every last bit of her makeup! By the end they both looked like something straight out of a clown horror movie!”

“Oh? Is that where the love of headbands stems from?” He teased, nudging Leo’s foot under the table. The Alpha scoffed.

“Coming from the guy with a collection of hair ribbons.”

“Hey, don’t knock ‘em. Do you even know how hard it is to use scrunchies when you have all of this hair?”

“Why not just cut it?”

He mock-gasped. “Blasphemy.”

Leo kicked him playfully under the table, and he laughed.

Thankfully, it ended up being a very bearable holiday. Ryoma didn’t spend half of dinner re-grilling Leo like he usually did when the Alpha came over, and his brother even seemed to get along with Camilla. Plus, after dinner they all went down to the basement to watch dumb holiday movies. It was a pretty big couch, but with eight people was still a squeeze. So, naturally in the interest of making space he had to get as close to Leo as possible.

He wasn’t on top of him or anything, but he was practically glued to his side. They also didn’t have too many blankets in the basement, so he and Leo had to share. About half way through the movie the overwhelming scent of honeysuckle and grass and Leo was starting to get to his head, and he was getting antsy. They didn’t normally sit this close when they were alone, and his Alpha scent was doing very weird things to his hormones.

He started fidgeting with his hands, scratching his nails down the leg of his jeans or tapping his fingers. Leo tapped the back of his hand with his knuckles. He froze, and once he was still the Alpha grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together under the blanket.

He was at a complete loss for words. At no point did Leo’s eyes leave the screen, but he did squeeze his hand when Takumi looked over at him from the corner of his eye. He felt like he was about to explode. Leo was holding his hand. He could have died happy then and there.

When they left he was on top of the moon. Maybe Leo did like him back. He was so giddy he could barely get to sleep.

________________

He was hopeful when he returned to school the following week, but the Alpha didn’t seem keen on acknowledging that anything had happened. He didn’t bring it up, and it certainly didn’t happen again. Even when they were completely alone in his basement.

He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting to happen after Thanksgiving, but it certainly wasn’t nothing. They finished their last two projects together, and they kept their regular Friday night hangouts, but nothing happened.

Tomorrow was their last day before the end of the semester. He and Sakura were already in their pajamas and ready for bed, but they weren’t sleeping just yet. He was lying face down with his head buried in the pillow, and she was sitting on the end of his bed with him.

“I don’t know Sakura, maybe I’m an idiot. I thought he liked me.”

“Maybe he does? I m-mean, he did hold your hand.”

“But that was a month ago! Why hasn’t he done anything else? I thought he’d ask me out or try to kiss me or something, but he’s acting like nothing happened!”

“W-Why don’t you ask him out then?”

“Are you crazy? What if he said no? Gods it’d be so embarrassing!”

“Maybe he’s j-just waiting until the end of the semester?”

He looked up from his pillow. She had a look to her that immediately set something off in his head.

“Sakura… Do you know something?”

She giggled. It wouldn’t be unusual… She was friends with Leo’s little sister, and Elise was becoming notorious for being a bit of a blabber mouth. Sakura got up and scurried back to her bed.

“C-Come on, it’s late. Worry about it t-tomorrow.”

It didn’t make him feel better, but it did give him a little hope.

___________

He waited anxiously for third period. It was the last day of classes before winter break, so most teachers didn’t have anything for them to do. He had his Geometry final in the morning, but that was about it. He hadn’t even bothered studying because even if he completely failed he’d still be getting an A in the class. Third period they were just doing presentations for their final projects, and he and Leo had already presented theirs.

Leo leaned over to him when he sat down in class.

“Hey… Can you wait for me after school? I want to ask you something.”

His heart was already pounding, but now it was doing double time.

“O-Okay.”

The rest of the day couldn’t go by fast enough. He barely even touched his lunch, and Hinata spent the entire time teasing him about his “future boyfriend”. He didn’t want to get his hopes up too high. For all he knew Leo wanted to talk about something completely unrelated.

When the end of the day came he anxiously waited by the exit for Leo. Ryoma still had to drive them home, but he hoped that his brother wouldn’t show up and kill the moment until after Leo had asked him whatever he was going to ask him.

The Alpha was with one of his friends, the white-haired one with the eyepatch. They looked like they were debating something, and eventually Leo gave an exasperated sigh. His friend apparently got his way, at least if his giddy look was any indication. The other Alpha sniggered and pushed the blonde his way.

“Hey, Leo!” He tried to be casual, but his excitement was bleeding through in his voice.

“Hey, uh… Look this is going to sound stupid, but Niles wanted me to ask…”

“Uh huh?”

“I was just wondering…”

“Yeah?” He tried not to get his hopes up, but damn were his hopes up.

Leo sighed.

“How much would it be?”

“For what?”

“For you to blow me in the bathroom.”

He had no words. He just gaped at the Alpha for a minute, and finally stuttered out an “Excuse me?”

Ryoma was less calm about it. He’d apparently been coming down the hall behind Leo, and unfortunately for the blonde Alpha he’d heard the whole thing. His backpack thunked to the ground behind him. Leo’s eyes widened as Ryoma grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around.

“What makes you think that you can talk to my brother like that?”

“W-Woah, hey hold on-”

But he didn’t get to finish his sentence. Ryoma punched him straight in the mouth. Leo recoiled, then bolted in the opposite direction. His brother tried to run after him, but Takumi grabbed him by the arm.

“Ryoma no!”

“You’re just going to let him disrespect you like that? I know you like him, but come on Takumi!”

“He’s not worth it. You only have one semester left until graduation, do you really want to get suspended or worse?”

That seemed to level his head. He took a deep breath, then picked his backpack up off of the floor.

“Come on. We’d better get home before I change my mind.”

The drive home was a quiet one. As soon as they were home he dropped his backpack in the entryway.

“Hey how was school?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He called over his shoulder and ran up to his room. Mama tried to follow him, but he slammed the door and curled up in bed.

What an asshole! Just when he’d started actually liking Leo, he goes and acts like every other Alpha! Was that all he was to these people? A set of fucking holes? They had so much in common, they’d had so much fun together over the past few months, but all he cared about was getting his knot swallowed? Fuck it, he was never talking to another Alpha ever again. They could all shove it, for what he cared. He’d just die alone.

He’d just resigned himself to wallowing in self-pity when there was a soft knock on the door.

“Not now, Mama.”

She came in anyways and sat down on the end of his bed.

“Ryoma told me what happened. Do you want to talk about it?”

He sat up and let her wrap an arm around his shoulders. He buried his face in her shirt and just let the tears loose.

“I thought he r-really liked me! I’m s-such an idiot!”

“Shh, it’s okay baby. There’ll be other Alphas.”

“They’re all the same! They’re just looking for somewhere to stick their dicks!”

“You’re still young. There’ll be other Alphas. I didn’t meet your father until I was in my twenties.”

“Yeah, but Papa wasn’t awful!”

She let him cry it out, until his chest hurt and his eyes were dry and he was sniffling and hiccuping. It probably took a good three hours, but she didn’t leave his side. She just held him and waited. Only once he’d cried himself dry did she speak up again.

“Why don’t I take you all out for dinner?”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Consider it a reward for your good grades?”

“We haven’t even gotten our report cards back.”

“But I know you all did wonderfully. Come on, it’ll be fun. You can have all the miso soup you want!”

“… Alright. Thanks, Mama.”

He blew his nose and washed his face off. His eyes were still a little red and puffy still, but he grabbed his coat anyways.

Everyone else was already ready to go. Ryoma must have filled them in too because Sakura ran over and gave him a hug as soon as he got to the living room.

They almost always went to the same restaurant when they went out for dinner. It was a little Japanese place on the other side of town. Mama liked to go there sometimes because that was where she and Papa met when she used to waitress there. The food was pretty good, and they ran special all-you-can-eat sushi deals so they could get a lot for pretty cheap. Plus, Mama got a discount.

Everyone tried their best to keep it light. He ate about five bowls of miso soup, and by the end of it he was feeling a lot better. He even managed to smile at a few of Hinoka’s dumb jokes.

By the time they were done it was snowing pretty hard outside, and it took them awhile to get home in the blizzard. It was already pitch black outside, but when they pulled up to the house there was someone sitting clearly on their front stoop. He caught a flash of blonde hair as their lights went past, and he heard Ryoma swear from the front seat.

“That bastard!”

Mama pushed him inside the house as soon as they were in the garage. Takumi tried to follow her, but she stopped him.

“Just go talk to him, sweetheart.”

“But Mama–”

“I understand, just ask if he wants a ride home. I’d send your brother to do it but…”

He rolled his eyes and pulled his scarf over his nose. Leo stood up when he saw him come out of the garage. His lip was busted and bloody, and he was shivering but otherwise he seemed fine. He brushed off a fine dusting of snow from his shoulders.

“Takumi I–”

“Don’t.”

“Look, I understand if you don’t want to talk to me, and after I say this I’ll leave if you want me to.”

“Fine. What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Why would you say that to me in the first place?”

“It was just a stupid dare. I was going to apologize afterwards, but your brother kind of decked me and I wanted to avoid being beaten to a bloody pulp.”

He shook his head. “You don’t get it! It isn’t funny! Do you know how many times I’ve had Alphas seriously say that kind of stuff to me?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that you would be so hurt by it, I thought it would just be a dumb, harmless joke. There’s no excuse, and all I can do is apologize.”

He was shivering like crazy now, and his cheeks and nose were bright red. He must have been standing out there for awhile if he was in such a shape. He knew Alphas ran a little warmer, but Leo’s coat wasn’t very thick to begin with and he didn’t have a hat, gloves, or scarf.

He let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed the Alpha by the wrist.

“You’re going to freeze to death out here, come on.”

He dragged him into the house. Ryoma was already waiting for them in the foyer.

“What is he doing here?”

“Don’t start, Ryoma.”

Takumi pulled him into his room and swapped Leo’s coat out for one of his thick wool blankets. He tossed his own coat and scarf aside and sat down next to the Alpha on the bed.

“… Thank you.”

“You looked so pathetic out there.”

Leo chuckled. “I must have just missed you, I’ve been waiting for an hour.”

An hour? It must have been ten below out there!

He bumped him with his shoulder. “You’re an idiot. Why didn’t you just text me?”

“Because I felt like an ass, and my father took my phone away when he saw the split lip.”

“Still, it could have waited until tomorrow. You could have frozen to death.”

“But I didn’t.”

“No, I guess you didn’t.”

Leo shivered under the blanket. He pulled one half of the oversized blanket over his shoulder and scooted closer. Leo’s skin was cold to the touch, and now that they were in the light he could see his lips had been turning a bit blue. His blonde hair was dripping as the snow melted off of it, but he rested his head on Leo’s wet shoulder anyways.

“Takumi?”

“Yeah?”

“I wanted to ask you something, too. I mean, I meant to ask you something after I completed Niles’s stupid dare.”

His heart was beating out of his chest. “What was it?”

“I wanted to know if you would go out with me? I mean, the theater is doing some showings of old documentaries and I thought you might want to go with me… But I understand if you don’t want to, after all of this.”

“Y-You mean like… On a date?”

“Well… Yes, that was the intention?”

He’d been waiting for this for months now. And, in spite of the events of the day he was still ecstatic.

“… Swear you’ll never talk to me like that again?”

“For as long as I live.”

Leo didn’t hesitate in his response. So, neither did he.

“Alright, but you’re on probation. And you’re buying the popcorn to make it up to me.”

“Of course, I am a gentleman after all.”

“A gentleman that asks Omegas to choke on his dick?”

“Not all Omegas, just the ones I like.”

He laughed in spite of himself.

“Well, good luck getting Ryoma to like you after that one.”

“Baby steps, Takumi. Baby steps.”

#Leokumi #fanfiction #Omegaverse #High School AU #Alpha!Leo #Omega!Takumi

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