#also I forgot to add an arrow for him to hold onto

[applinsoda]

This is probably not its intended use but I love using procreates “page assist” setting as my own digital sketchbook.

[oleandro-drag]

going to reblog this so a few things are accessible at least in the notes. first, i forgot to add an image ID. a few people did in reblogs and i appreciate it very much. i've tried to write one based on theirs, open to feedback as i'm new to writing image IDs, i didn't know how much detail to add

ID: photo of two seated early-20s white people on stage in a wash of blue light with a yellow glow on and behind them. there's an olive tree in a pot next to the two people. one person is holding the other - they are wearing a white toga, dangly earring and choker necklace. they have a moustache and are wearing a full face of feminine drag makeup with a smokey eye, shiny eyeliner and blush, and a beauty mark. they also have a brilliant mop of curly red hair. the other person is on his knees and sprawled out on their lap. he is shirtless and wearing a white loincloth, beige trans tape on his chest, and a full face of masculine drag makeup with light foundation and dark angular contour. there's a line underneath one of his eyes where a tear has washed away the foundation. he has a short dark beard and dark hair that is tied back and mostly not visible. there are two arrows sticking out of him, one from his side and one from his shoulder on the opposite side. his eyes are closed. a simple rope is tied around one of his wrists that the other person is gazing down toward - they are untying the rope from his wrist while also holding his hand suspended in air by it. his other hand is hanging loosely from his side with his hand touching the ground - the wrist of that arm has faintly visible rope imprints on it. his head is relaxed and supported by the other person's other hand. they are in front of a screen which has the painting il penteroso by thomas cole projected onto it, a section of which is visible but not clearly due to the lighting - a faint outline of mountains is visible above them. end ID

second, i edited the original post to add this but that doesn't alter reblogs. credits (with instagram handles in the parentheses because we're all mostly active there): the artists on stage are oleandro (oleandro_drag) and delfi oraakel (delfi_oraakel), the photographer is peroksiid (peroksiid). the concept author for the st. sebastian performance was oleandro (aka me) and it's part of the larger production of siinpool sood (siinpoolsood_), directed by elina masing, produced by eli staak, mikk lahesalu & eva maris küngas, and altogether put together by more than 20 people, most of whom are mentioned on my instagram. the project is part of the main program of the european capital of culture tartu 2024

saint sebastian tended by saint irene but they're both drag artists

felt like this might be something this site would enjoy

on stage: oleandro & delfi oraakel, photographer: peroksiid (on ig as oleandro_drag, delfi_oraakel and peroksiid)

[nyappytown]

Susano'o Theory Bones:

First: What lead me to look into Susanoo in the first place was a mention of Kushihime in Clash! Oh Ye gods of Calamity. Upon looking into her I had to of course, look into her husband. And immediately he reminded me of Yato’s behavior.

Second: While Yato mentions that Yukine is scared of the dark, Yukine mentions that same chapter how Yato hates storms. Since the beginning of my looking into the theory it has always made sense that he would despise his own nature.

Fourth: The reoccurring motif of storms through the series while we still have no sign of the storm god.

“I wonder if Yato has another name too… I’ll go ask Mayu about Yato after I stop by the team room…”

Now onto a very rough comparison of folk lore!

Susano'o is a key figure and works as a foil to Amaterasu through in many points of the mythology, many of the events of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki cannot exist without him, yet, he is no where in Noragami as it stands. But as I will list below, we still see some of those stories interpreted... but with Yato in place of Susano'o-no-Mikoto.

Susano'o was born of Izanagi’s nose in the Kojiki. Yato is constantly shown with a runny nose.

He was sent to Ne no Kuni by Izanagi after his birth because he wailed to be with his mother.

Yato was sent to Yomi after wailing to be reunited with Hiyori and Yukine.

(Ne no Kuni translates to “land of roots” but it has been associated with the underworld in just about everything I have read.) fun fact! We have seen Yato demonstrate he may have some sort of control over Ayakashi.

The heaven arc is honestly where the most was shoved in our faces. Susano'o is the god who slew Yamata no Orochi and retrieved Kusanagi from its belly.

In the heaven arc Yato is who takes down Take’s dragon.

The trial by pledge is known as “ukei” which is the same ritual that was performed by Susano'o and Amaterasu to determine his innocence. Each party took an item from the other and was chewed on them to produce children. The party to produce daughters would be seen in the right and the party to produce sons, wrong.

Susano'o was declared in the right, and upon winning was so overwhelmed with joy he proceeded to make a mess of Amaterasu’s weaving hall and flayed her horses. (Normal person behavior, I know.) And that is, in one of the accounts, when he was banished!

Those primarily in order they appear in Noragami and not the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki but hopefully it is enough to express why I am so in love with this theory! There are also other more humorous moments and little call outs which I adore.

At the beginning of the series, in chapter one, Yato makes mention of how stormy it is, and then sneezes, which can indicate someone is talking about you.

At the divine party Yamata no Orochi gets mentioned, directly across from that, and paneled to the same size, we see a “gloomy” Yato drinking by himself.

In chapter 83, we see Take with his perm and watch Kofuku break the rafters of Izumo Shrine down on him in a way that is very similar to how Ookuninushi and Suseribime managed to hold of Susano'o to get out of the underworld. This may in fact be a call out to this story. This is also potentially quite punny, as one of Susano'o-no-Mikoto's titles is Takehaya-Susano'o-no-Mikoto.

While it is Take in the scene, we see Coo phone, and black cats which are both associated with Yato through the series. But of course, black cats could also just be bad luck. (Poor kitties)

I adore that Ookuninushi is in this shot too. It’s just too perfect.

On the note of the above story!

In this tale, Ookuninushi received scarves from Suseribime to protect him from the trials Susanoo set him on. At the end of the tale, he receives a sword, as well as a bow and arrows from Susano'o.

And what is Rekki’s vessel form?

Exactly that-

I would like to end, with the manifold fence.

“Ah, a manifold fence.”

Bonus:

I FORGOT MY FAVORITE

For shame.

I need to add this because I can’t stop thinking about it. “In other words, you’re the invisible hand of nature.” Also, the pesti-germ is a reference to pestilence. Which Susano’o is associated with via Gozu Tenno. While Father, in this case, is associated with the Capyper.

This has been my first attempt to back up a Twitter thread! Thank you for bearing with me as I know these are probably strange in bullet point format on Tumblr. The other two are a bit more complicated, so I will get to those at a different time.

[akingdomofswordsandstories]

Unrequited

azriel (acotar) x reader

Summary: takes place during acofas, you and Azriel are mates but he doesn’t know it yet, angst, fluff, and everything in between

*Also this is my first imagine ever so I'm sorry if it sucks lol! There will be a part 2 to this, but I am still working on it!!

word count: 3927

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

The winter solstice was in a few days and you weren’t sure what to get some of the inner circle. You walked briskly down the streets of the Rainbow, chilled to the bone due to the wind. You had made the dumb mistake of rushing out of the townhouse - to avoid any questions of where you were going - without taking your scarf. Your current outfit, which was a chunky knit blue sweater with leggings and boots, wasn’t enough to keep the chill away. But the cold wasn’t the most important thing on your mind. You had already bought presents for Rhys, Feyre, Amren, and Elain, but that left Cassian, Mor, and Azriel. Mor and Cass would be pretty easy to buy for, but you put it off knowing they would look through your room trying to find their solstice gift. But Azriel, that would be much harder.

Every waking hour, the shadowsinger haunted your thoughts. Something you had come to conclude was unrequited.

You had realized the mating bond between you two before he did.

It had clicked a few months ago while on a diplomatic mission. The aftermath of Hybern had left things chaotic, and if you were being honest, it still was. Rhys decided to send Cassian, Mor, Azriel, and you to travel to some of the other courts to bring back reports on the recovery after the war. However, traveling did have some dangers. While you were on your way back to Velaris from the Winter Court, your group was ambushed by a group of Hybern soldiers who had been hiding out in the mountains. Had it not been for Azriel’s wings shielding you from the initial arrows, you would’ve surely been dead, and that’s when it clicked for you. But like an idiot, you didn’t say anything.

You had thought if the bond had clicked for you, it would've clicked for Azriel too. You realized your mistake when Azriel hadn’t acknowledged any change between you two. You hoped that he would figure it out in the coming weeks, but he didn’t. You knew the same sort of situation happened with feyre and rhys so you still held out some hope. But as the months went by, and you realized the bond still hadn’t clicked for Azriel and it felt too late to tell him.

At least that was the excuse you made up. Truly, you were also afraid of the rejection that could have followed. You weren’t a fool, you knew him and Elain had some sort of connection, and that shattered your dreams even more. The possibility that he wouldn’t accept the mating bond to be with the fair skinned, doe eyed fae. Everytime Azriel was in the same room as Elain, she was the only thing he would pay attention to. During gatherings, you would plaster on a smile and act as if you were happy, but Cassian and Mor, your best friends, could sense your discomfort. They tried to ask you about it, but seeing as you would shut down anything they said, they decided not to pry too much. Amren ended up figuring out the source of your discomfort had to do with Azriel, but kept your secret until you would be ready to share it.

You came to the conclusion that distancing yourself from him would be the best option, so that's what you did.

You walked down the street till you got to one of the finest seamstresses is Velaris. Since you were an artist like Feyre, you decided to draw out a dress and have it made for Mor. The color was blood red, her signature. It was a silk slip dress that would come down to her mid-lower calf and it would be embroidered with a brilliant gold thread. You drew out a pattern of the sun, stars, and moon, which you hoped she would like. To go along with Mor’s dress, you got a jeweler to make a custom necklace and bracelet set to go with it. You designed more dainty jewelry that had gold stars with diamonds, since she was a dreamer.

You decided to design Cassian’s gift as well, creating a beautiful silver and black dagger with a moonstone on the hilt. It was a beautiful dagger, but you also made sure it was usable, because you would hate for it to go to waste. To add onto the combat theme, you also decided to buy him new fighting leathers with touches of red embroidery to match his siphons. Lastly, you bought Cassian a bottle of fae wine, which definitely wouldn't last long.

The last thing you got for all three of you was a friendship necklace. Although that sounds corny, the two of them had become such a positive force in your life and you couldn’t imagine life without them. Keeping with the celestial theme for the friendship necklaces, you bought a sun, a moon, and a star. The sun for Cassian, the moon for Mor, and the star for you. Although they are opposites in some ways, all three need each other, just like the three of you needed each other.

Now that you had gotten Mor’s and Cassian’s solstice gifts figured out, it was onto Azriel’s gift. You honestly had no clue what to get him. Due to distancing yourself, you weren’t sure if there was something that he wanted. You were positively stumped. Lucky for you though, you ended up spotting Mor in another shop a few stores down from where you were, most likely getting the rest of her solstice gifts. You decided to sneak up on her as a friendly prank. Grabbing her shoulders, you yelled in her ear, making her jump.

“Oh mother above, it’s just you, y/n! You scared the life out of me” Mor said.

“Doing some last minute shopping?” you asked. “I could ask you the same thing”. Giving her a playful smack on the arm, the corners of your mouth curled upward, even the simplest remark from her could make you smile.

The two of you were currently standing in front of a jewelry shop, looking at the collections of necklaces and earrings through the window. “Wow” you breathed out “These are all so beautiful”

“Indeed they are, although they’re quite pricey”

“How pricey is pricey?”

She whispered the amount in your ear and you stopped breathing for a second, “Holy Mother wow, that is quite the price tag. At least we can admire it from a far”, you laughed out. Even though you got a very generous salary from Rhys, you still felt guilty spending so much money on materialistic things.

After a moment you said, “Actually, since you’re here, I do need help finding a solstice gift for Azriel”, softening your voice at the end, “Any ideas?” you asked, drawing out the syllables.

“Well, I always get Azriel some cool towels, clothing, or a dagger!” Mor said. A small scoff came out of my mouth as I shook my head and raised my eyebrows. “Fine!” she exclaimed, “I may have overheard him needing a new leather sheath for Truth Teller.” grumbling towards the end. “Oh that sounds great, thank you for the help! Now let’s go off to the closest leather goods store and find a sheath!”.

“y/n! I still have shopping to do” a scowl appearing on her face. “Fine, I guess I’ll just call Cassian, cause his judgement might be better than yours, when it comes to knife related things of course” you said, baiting her.

“Ugh, I hate you y/n”

“I hate you too Mor”

“Fine, let's get going before I change my mind” she grumbled. Then we took off down the streets of the Rainbow to find a sheath.

The task was easier said than done, for you at least. Being indecisive and a major over thinker, you had looked through close to 100 sheaths, but none of them seemed good enough to hold the blade that Azriel never let anyone else touch. Except Elain.

While you were lost in your thoughts, you laid your y/c eyes on the perfect sheath. It had a bright cobalt blue stitching to match Az’s siphons. Along the tip and lining the top of the leather was a thin coat of silver plating with little sapphires embedded in the metal. You quickly snatched it up and paid a hefty price for it, but it was perfect.

“Thank god you finally picked one, it felt like we were in that store for centuries”. Mor sighed, probably a sigh of relief for getting out of the store, “But y/n, it’s perfect, I know Azriel will love it”

“Do you really think so? I just want it to be the perfect gift and I’m scared he won’t like it because what if it’s too simplistic and what if-”

“Hey! It's perfect! Don’t stress too much y/n. And for the record, I think that you’re an amazing gift giver - the amount of thought you put into gifts make it all the better.”

You could feel a blush creeping up your cheeks and mumbled a small thank you.

“Anyway while we’re here do you need to get anything to go with your solstice outfit?”

“Oh Actually, I was so stressed about getting everyone’s solstice gift that I forgot to buy my dress” your voice falling off at the end. You felt yourself being yanked to a harsh stop and the saw Mor’s face staring at yours, mouth gaping and eyes wide.

“Are you crazy?? Solstice is in 3 days and you still don’t have anything??? Oh honey, our shopping isn’t done yet.” And with that statement you found yourself being pulled into the nearest dress shop. After trying on nearly 20 dresses you finally found the perfect one, which Mor approved. It was a light blue silk dress that was more fitted at the top but flared down at your waist. It had a cowl neckline, a slit going up the side to the mid upper thigh, and accentuates your curves beautifully and has a slight shimmer to it. You looked ethereal in it

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

After your exhausting day of shopping, you couldn’t wait to get out of the cold. You swiftly walked back to the townhouse. Once inside you made your way to your room to set down the gifts, change your clothes, and grab your book. Then you quietly headed down to the kitchen to make yourself a cup of tea and sat on the couch to read. The house was quiet since all of the others decided to go to Rita’s tonight. You decided to stay home for some much needed relaxation. You opened your book and started reading. After a few hours, you felt your eyes drooping and eventually, sleep consumed you.

The loud noise of the front door caused you to stir and your eyes fluttered open. You were too exhausted to look so you just laid your head back down and tried to go to sleep. You could hear Mor whispering something and then felt yourself being lifted off the couch and being held close to a chest with your blanket still draped on you.

“Cass?” you whispered hoarsely along with a string of incoherent words

You heard a slight laugh “Not Cass but It’s ok, go back to sleep”. Then you felt yourself being gently placed on your bed and the sleep hit you before you could mutter a thank you.

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

The sun was setting towards the sea as you sat in the sitting room of the town house. You were in your blue silk dress with a glass of wine in your hand. Rhys and Feyre were by the mantel, quietly talking while Mor and Amren were across the room. Near the window I saw Elain, and from the corner of my eye I could see Azriel making his way towards her. My face fell but I quickly plastered on a smile, not wanting to concern anyone. Especially since today was also Feyre’s birthday and we had planned a surprise for her. Feyre thought she could slip her birthday past us, but we hadn’t forgotten. After a few minutes, Cassian made his way from the kitchen with the enormous cake.

You floated towards Feyre and gave her arm a light squeeze. “Happy Birthday, make a wish before the candles melt!”

She blew out the candles and then we ate cake before opening up the presents.

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

Rhys snapped his fingers and piles of brightly wrapped bags and boxes filled up the sitting room. Amren was the first to open her presents. Naturally, everyone got her something jewelry related. Amren opened mine and you saw a wide smile set across her face, she picked up the diamond necklace and nodded a ‘thank you’ your way. You returned the gesture back, a small smile forming on your face.

Next, Cassian handed Mor her present from him and she pulled out a-. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. He bought her red lingerie. Your face turned slightly red, but the Mor said “Don’t let him fool you: he couldn’t think of a damn thing to get me, so he gave up and asked me outright. I gave him precise orders. For once in his life, he obeyed them.”

Then, you heard one sharp knock at the door.

Nesta.

You saw Cassian tense up a bit. Nesta walked in, linking arms with Elain. She got a glass of wine before heading to sit in a chair in the back of the room. The silence was deafening. Finally Varian started talking and the present opening resumed.

From Amren, you received a new calligraphy set. It was so beautiful and you loved it. From Rhys, you got some books. It was perfect since you loved to read, and they were ones that you had been wanting to read for a long time. From Feyre, you received a painting as well as a new paint brush kit.

Cassian made his way to you and set a gift down in your lap. You opened the dark blue box that Cassian had placed in your lap. He had gotten you a sky blue hardbound journal with a gold embossed star on it. You desperately needed a new one, and this was perfect. You walked over and gave him a hug, whispered “Thank you, I love it.”.

Next you opened Mor’s present. You nearly choked when you saw what she got you and your whole face heated up. She got you a matching navy blue lingerie set like the one Cassian bought her.

“Yeah, I wasn’t too sure what to get you so I thought we could twin”. You looked around the room and saw the others holding in their laughs. You could’ve sworn you saw a tinge of red on Azriel’s ears. You just smiled and mouthed a silent “I’m going to kill you, but thank you” at her.

There wasn’t anything from Azriel. Your heart twinged. Had you not been important enough? It was just a present you reminded yourself, fixing your composure before handing Cassian his present.

He ripped it open like an animal, squealing when he saw it. A promising reaction given the amount of thought you put into it.

“Did you design these? They look amazing!”

“Yeah, I’m glad you like it. It took a long time to figure out what to get for your dumb ass”

“You mean my cute ass”, you smacked his arm and then got up to give Mor her present.

You closely watched her reaction as she opened her dress and jewelry, a large smile spreading across her face.

“You really buy the perfect presents y/n, I love it”.

“Oh Cass, Mor. One more thing.” You pulled out the small boxes with the friendship necklaces and bracelets handing it to them. “This was just a little something extra I thought of, I hope you like it”. You knew you would have started stuttering and crying if you had said the meaning to them, so you just handed them notes instead. They read over them, eyes glossing over, and pulled you into a hug.

“This is the only time I’ll wear jewelry” Cass stated, causing you to chuckle

Then Mor said, “I am never taking this off” causing you to laugh again.

Finally, Azriel opened up his presents. He had opened up all the others. All that was left was yours and Elain’s gift to him. He found his way to your present first, opening it.

“A new sheath for Truth Teller. I heard you needed a new one” you quietly said.

He held your gaze and smiled, “Thank you, it's great”. Suddenly feeling exposed, you quickly gave him a nod.

Then he went to open Elain’s gift. “It’s a powder to mix in with any drink.” she said.

Silence.

Elain bit her lip and then smiled sheepishly. “It’s for the headaches everyone always gives you. Since you rub your temples so often.”

Silence again.

Then Azriel tipped his head back and laughed.

You hadn’t heard him laugh before, and mother above it was gorgeous. You had never heard a sound so deep and joyous, a sound which made your heart clench. A part of you wished you were the reason he was laughing. You forced on a smile and spent the rest of the night drinking away the slight pain in your chest.

You were exhausted by the end of the night, sitting on the couch with Cassian and Mor, Azriel and Rhys seated on the opposite side of you.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw movement towards the door, and craned your head to see what was going on. It was Nesta making her way to the door. You felt the couch lift next to you.

Cassian. He had swiftly pushed past Feyre and went after Nesta. This wouldn’t end well.

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

Cassian had come back quiet and brooding, walking straight to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of liquor. You got up off the couch and followed him straight into the kitchen.

“Cass, let’s take a walk, yeah?”

“I just took a walk”

“It wasn’t a question”. You grabbed a white shawl and his hand and led him outside. “What happened?”

“What’s there to talk about? It was like all the other times. Why did I have to fall in love with someone who doesn't even love me back. Who looks at me like the Illyrian born bastard I am. Who hates the idea of being in the same room as me.”

You grabbed Cass’ hand, lightly squeezing it. “Don’t say that. Nesta, she,” your voice stopping for a second “She’s different. The way she handles pain and copes is different. Give her time. She just needs time. I know how much that may pain you, but you can’t rush healing”

You pulled him into a hug

“And for the record, I know the feeling more than you know” you quietly said “unrequited love”, head pointed at the ground.

Cassian tilted his head down to look at you, his face painted with confusion. You could tell he wanted to know more, but didn’t want to pry too much.

You hesitated before continuing, not sure if you wanted to reveal your closely guarded secret. “I-“ your voice faltering, “I found my mate”. The words seemed to have rushed out of your mouth and tears pricked your eyes as you said that. After months of hiding it, you had finally gotten it off your chest.

Cassian stood shocked, staring at you. “You found your mate? And you didn’t think to tell any of us? How long ago was this”

“I-, I found out who he was around the same time Rhys sent us on that diplomatic mission. And I didn’t tell anyone because he doesn’t even know yet.”

“That was almost 6 months ago, and you didn’t say anything?”.

The tears had started flowing at this point, “I thought he would figure it out. But by the time I realized he wasn’t going to figure it out, it was too late. He had already set his eyes on someone else. And I know I could never compete with Elain, even if I am his mate.” the last part slipped out without you realizing.

“Elain? What does she-“ his eyes widening “Does that mean Az is-“

You slowly nodded, tears welled up, threatening to spill out.

“Oh, mother…”, he pulled you into a tighter hug and that’s when the gates broke. You couldn’t hold back your tears as you sobbed into Cassian's chest, his hand stroking your back.

you must have been there for 15 minutes before you realized the other might start getting suspicious. Regaining your composure, you dried your tears and tried, to the best of your ability, to hide that you had been crying.

Looking back at Cassian, you gave him a slight smile before muttering, “Thank you. I’m sorry for dumping that on you, but please promise me you won’t tell anyone. Please.”

“Of course y/n, and don’t apologize, if it makes you feel better, it helped to take my mind off of Nesta and my own problems, which I desperately needed” he chuckled out.

With the smile still on your face, you linked arms with Cassian before saying, “Oh mother above it’s freezing, let’s get back inside before we turn into popsicles!”

He let out another laugh before the two of you made your way back into the house.

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

You walked into the house and your sliver of happiness was crushed as you saw Az and Elain sitting at the table smiling and laughing quietly to themselves. Elain had her sketchbook out, showing Az her plans for the garden.

Your distraught had been clear to anyone who saw your face, and you were too tired to realize you weren’t able to hide it fast enough. Not being able to view the scene anymore, you quickly got up, muttered happy solstice, and grabbed your coat and purse before heading out the door to your apartment.

While walking home, you were consumed by your thoughts. You hated the pangs of jealousy that coursed through you. You often found yourself jealous of her soft spokenness and kindness. You also found yourself jealous of her effortless beauty. It was something that kept you up at night. She was so likeable and easily approachable, something you wished you were.

You were so drowned in your own thoughts that you hadn’t noticed a male following you till it was too late. One of his hands clamped on your mouth while the other grabbed your waist and pushed you into the nearest alleyway.

The male pulled out a knife and your tears started to fall. You were terrified about what he would do to you. This could be the last time you would have seen your family. You were struggling and kicking against him but it was no use. Your senses were groggy from the alcohol and drowsiness.

You had been so stupid to walk home alone at 2 in the morning. No matter how angry you were, you should’ve just stayed at the town house.

Before you could realize what was happening, you felt a sharp pain shoot through your side.

The sound of a clatter.

Receding footsteps.

A crimson stain blooming.

Your body crumpled to the ground and your vision started blacked out. This was it. Nobody could hear you and nobody could save you.

[fantastic-bby]

Pairing: Reader x Jackson

Word count: 1.2k

Genre: Fluff 

Summary: Jackson thinks it’s a good idea to take the map from you while you’re hiking and it results in the both of you getting lost in the middle of the forest

Warnings: Fear of thunder

Prompt: “I have no idea where to go next” a challenge by @challengingwords​

Masterlist

[15:04]

“I have no idea where to go next.” You turn around slowly to look at Jackson. He’s honestly scared to look away from the map in his hands because he knows that you’re going to start scolding him, but eventually, he has to. Jackson’s brown eyes slowly move from the map to look at you and he can see a vein bulging from your forehead. “Please, (Y/n), I’m sorry, I-I know you should’ve taken the map, please don’t kill me!” he squeaks when you grab the map out of his hands and stare at the printed piece of paper. There’s no way for you to actually tell where you are because you’re literally in the middle of the forest. 

“Oh my god, why did Jaebeom give you the map,” you groan as you try to remember the way you came, but the forest is unfortunately not as forgiving as you hope it is because every direction you look at looks exactly the same as the last. “How are we supposed to get out! We left our phones at the camp!” 

“I know! I’m sorry!” Jackson whines. He watches as you repetitively look from the map to your surroundings, trying your best to at least figure out where you are. It was Jackson’s idea to go camping with you and your best friends, and honestly, the two of you were doing fine in your paired hiking until Jackson thought it was a good idea to take hold of the map and lead the two of you off trail. Which leads you to your current situation; lost in the middle of the forest with barely any kind of knowledge as to where you are or just how far away from the camp you are. 

“I think I know where to go,” you mutter, looking back down at the map. There’s a loud clap of thunder that makes both of your heads whip up to look at the gloomy sky and suddenly, you feel a single drop of water fall onto your face. You turn around slowly to Jackson once again and he’s never felt so scared in his life from just your gaze. 

“I-I have a mini tent in my bag,” he smiles nervously. 

“Set it up. Hopefully it doesn’t rain that bad,” you sigh, watching as Jackson starts pulling it out of his pack.  

It’s raining.

Heavily. 

You and Jackson are huddled in his freakishly small tent that barely fits two people but is enough to shelter you two from the rain. It’s cold and you have your windbreaker tightly wrapped around you as you shine your flashlight onto the map. 

“We should be able to find base camp if we head North East,” you mutter, circling what your assumed location is and drawing an arrow towards the small red tent you had drawn before you and Jackson had left the camp. 

“Can I see?” he questions softly. You look up from the map to see Jackson give you his best puppy eyes and you give in with a sigh, angling the map so that he’s able to look at it too. “That makes sense,” he nods. “I’m sorry we’re stuck in the forest now. Lost… and in the rain.” 

“It’s okay, Jacks,” you give him a small smile as you pat his head gently. You always thought that Jackson’s decision to go strawberry blond resulted in one of his best looks, but as much as you want to tell him that, you know you’ll end up saying something else instead. “We’ll find our way back. Worse comes to worst, they’ll send Jinyoung out with his strange tracking skills.” 

“I think he’d end up hunting us with a spear before actually bringing us back to camp,” Jackson quips, enticing a laugh out of you. His smile grows at the way you throw your head back when you laugh. He has so much he wants to tell you, but he fears that he’ll end up ruining the friendship you’ve built over the past four years. So, Jackson stays quiet when you laugh, only a small chuckle leaving past his lips at the way you smile. 

“Jinyoung would kill you for making us lost. He loves me too much to do anything to me,” you hum as you fold the map and stick it into the pocket of your windbreaker. 

“Jinyoung only has a soft spot for you because you’re not me,” he huffs as he sits upright. The temperature’s starting to drop even more the heavier the rain’s getting and it’s not helping that all you have are windbreakers. You can’t even start a fire because you’d just end up lighting the tent on fire and Jackson forgot to grab the heat lamp before you guys left the main camp. To be fair, you both thought that the heat lamp would just add weight to your backpacks since it was pretty hot and you were only supposed to be hiking for about two hours. 

It’s been four hours. 

Which makes you wonder whether or not your other friends had already started panicking or already had a feeling that you’d get lost. 

“Do you think they’re looking for us?” you question, turning to Jackson. 

“Hmm, I’m pretty sure Youngjae’s the only one that would be worried and maybe Mark’s girlfriend, but other than that…” he trails off as he thinks about it before shaking his head, “I’m pretty sure they know that we’d get lost.” 

You raise an eyebrow, “why?” 

“Jinyoung specifically told me not to take the map from you,” Jackson confesses with an awkward laugh. Your eyes narrowed into slits, an accusing look directed at him. 

“Then why did you take the map?” Your arms cross over your chest when he lets out a long, awkward laugh. 

“I wanted to prove a point.” 

“Well, point proven,” you huff. There’s a loud clap of thunder that makes you jump and let out a squeal, your heart suddenly pounding in your chest. Jackson instinctively moves closer to hold onto you but he stops himself right before, arms reaching towards you. 

“You didn’t tell me you were scared of thunder,” he points out, moving slightly closer to you so that at least you’re more aware that he’s there. 

“It’s not something you just tell someone,” you mutter, looking around the tent. Jackson’s torn between holding onto you or just staying still. He wants to comfort you, but he also doesn’t want to make it awkward between you two. There’s another clap of thunder that almost makes you scream and Jackson works on instinct. His arms immediately wrap around you as he pulls you into him, one hand holding onto the back of your head and the other wrapped around your torso. Your hands are folded in between the two of you as you let your face lean into his chest.

You don’t even register the fact that you’re securely held against his chest until your heart rate slows down. You freeze when you realise the hold Jackson has you in. You feel like you should move away before it gets weird, but his grip on you makes you feel secure. You look up to see him looking down at you, brown eyes gentle. 

“Are you okay?” Jackson asks softly. You nod slowly and he smiles. “We can stay like this if it makes you feel safe.”

“R-Really?” Your eyes widen when he nods.  Your hands slowly move to wrap around his waist, feeling more comfortable that way. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you,” he hums, chin resting against the top of your head. 

[stanknotstark]

Astral Pt. 10 (Loki x Reader)

So im out eating right now so ill add the link to the last part in an hour and stuff also I did not beta read this part and apologize if I need to change something later on but I want to try and keep up with posting at 5:30 so im releasing it 🤗

Alright we finally have some actions and many open ended questions that I’ve got to close up BUT we also experience one of our main villains warriors. If you read the comics you’ll immediately know who the main villain is (Or Google it but I suggest not doing that if you want to be surprised :p)

You knew having peace and hanging out with your team and Loki would only last for so long, but you were still saddened when it came time to finally work. 

You’re all on the top most floor of the Avenger’s tower, the War Room as Tony called it (sounds a bit over dramatic but it was Tony so...). Fury is there in hologram mode, sitting in the middle of a large custom made table that had the Avengers logo engraved into the middle of the dark oak. 

“What kind of readings are we talking about?” Stark asks Fury. 

Fury’s hand comes up and swipes at something invisible on his end and it translates to Stark’s theater size screens on the wall. It’s a bunch of graphs, statistics, and other jargon you can’t understand. You raise a brow when Tony and Bruce gasp and start talking in hushed tones to each other. 

“Tony, make this english so everyone can understand what’s going on, please?” Steve asks. 

Tony clears his throat and points to one of the graphs, “According to Fury’s collected data, Thor give Jane a big hug when you next see her, they’ve picked up on some form of energy spikes in the middle of Death Valley, Nevada. Like we’re talking colossal size spikes. ”

You look at Loki who sits up in his chair next to you and squints at the screens.

“I know what these ‘energy’,” Loki says energy like it’s disgusting, “readings are. It’s magic from another realm. Specifically, it’s time travel but...” Loki frowns and you watch as his eyes become almost fearful.

“Spit it out, Reindeer Games.” Tony says, sounding concerned at Loki’s fear.

“It’s time travel across an alternate timeline.” 

Tony blinks. Bruce frowns and pushes his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. The entire room is silent. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know who caused these readings would you?” Tony finally asks. 

Loki, who has a neutral face now and the fear is gone from his eyes, shakes his head. “I can’t know for sure unless I can inspect the magic in person.” 

Finally Fury speaks, you had almost forgot the director was even here. “Prepare a quin jet Stark, get Loki and whoever else you deem reliable to escort. We need to figure out who came for a visit and if they’re ally or enemy as soon as possible.”

Fury disappears from the table and Tony gets into worker mode immediately. He points to you, claiming you’re the close combat person, to Clint, who is your ranged fighter, and to Natasha who would be pilot and your extraction. 

Things become a blur after that. You remember going to your room and jumping into your Shield issued attire (Stark had yet to make you your own suit), and meeting Loki at the roof where a quin jet readied for take off. Before you walked into the quin jet Loki stopped you, his hands holding your shoulders making you face him. 

“I promise that I will let nothing harm you, you’re my first priority and if things get violent I will teleport us away to safety.” 

You nod but give him a small smile, “I can handle myself but it’s good to know I’ve got someone watching my back.” You then push onto your toes and give Loki a peck and make your way to the quin jet. 

The ride there is tense and quiet. Loki says he’s putting a spell on you that acts as a shield but doesn’t specify how it works.

Looking back you wish you would have asked how it worked. 

Landing around 100 meters from the destination Clint, Loki and you leave the ship and begin your trek to the site. 

“Holy fuck! If I could strip out of my skin I would.” You say to Loki and Clint. Death Valley’s temperature was a recorded 130 degrees today. 

At your displeasure Loki slows till he’s next to you and puts an arm around your shoulders. You look at him questionably but gasp as his arm generates a coolness that at least stops your sweating. You make sure not to say anything so Clint, in front of you, doesn’t become jealous. 

The trip to the site is very uneventful. Even reaching the site is uneventful. About 30 meters from the site you see nothing. Literally, it’s just desert, surrounded by high cliffs, for miles. 

So you snoop, you walk around the site as Clint and Loki argue about whether the coordinates are correct. 

“I swear, this is what Stark gave me so, if they’re wrong, blame him!” Clint says, exasperated.

“It can’t be wrong I can feel something pulling at my magic but-”

That’s when you run into an invisible wall and yelp as you fall backwards onto your butt. 

“Found it!” You cheer as a space ship slowly appears, the colors changing and shifting from the point you hit till the whole thing is uncovered. At first glance the ship looks futuristic but once you overlook the whole thing with Clint keeping his distance, and Loki exploring with you, you realize it’s shaped as a sphinx. 

Very fitting for the desert surrounding the ship. 

“Work you magic.” You tell Loki and he does. You both congregate at the head of the ship/sphinx and he waves his hands over it, his green magic trailing out here and there to touch the ship. Loki himself mutters under his breath. 

You keep your eyes on him but also keep vigilant about the area. You finally get an idea and close your eyes for a second, your magic leaving your body and passing through the ship. No life forms. When you open your eyes again Loki lifts a brow at you, still muttering. 

“No life I can detect.” You tell him and he nods and focuses back on the ship. 

You put a hand to your ear piece and tell Clint, “I don’t sense any life forms but I’d keep a close eye anyways.” 

Clint gives you an acknowledgment. 

Loki finally stops his magic and drops his hands to his sides, just as he looks at you and you hear Clint yell into your ear, you’re hit by a concussive blast. When you look up in shock you see one lone humanoid figure walking towards Loki, who although wasn’t in the way of the blast also got blasted back, curious you think. Loki had immediately gotten into a defensive stance after getting up from the blast, one hand on his back holds three daggers, the other hand put up in a manner meant to calm the figure. 

You quickly get on your feet and stand next to Loki, your magic congregating at your balled fists. 

“Listen, buddy, I don’t know who you think you are-” Loki hisses at you, trying to get you to stop antagonizing the being that is close enough to identify. He is tall, around 7 feet tall and is dressed in a skin tight tank and leggings that are a dark purple color, it looks like metal but it’s too flexible to actually be metal. His head is encased in a tight helmet that frames his face and covers his head from his forehead, up, in a way that makes you think he is bald underneath. You shiver as you look into his eyes, they glow white. 

“Identify yourself.” The being says. Standing casually as if he didn’t attack you. 

“I am Loki, Prince of Asgard, and you are?” 

The being stands there silently. You huff. “I’m y/n, of Earth.” 

The being stands still for a few seconds then gets into a fighting position.

“I am here to take y/n, anyone who stands in my way shall perish.” 

Loki immediately grabs you and teleports you to Clint, you yell out angrily as he teleports back to the being and they start fighting. Loki throwing magic and daggers at the being. You gasp, the first ball of magic Loki throws at it makes a purple light encase the being, in a rippling effect, who then grows a bit. Hawkeye lets loose some arrows that explode on impact. It does nothing but make the man grow even more. 

Loki also realizes what’s going on because he stops attacking the being. The being takes his chance and lunges at Loki. Loki isn’t fast enough and takes a blow to the head. You scream and begin running towards him as he lays in the dirt discombobulated. Clint tries to grab your arm but misses you just so. 

In your ear you hear Clint tell Natasha to ready the jet. Before the being can get to Loki you throw yourself over his body. When he’s a few feet away you look at him with furious eyes.

“Stop!” 

To your surprise the being stops mid step, considers your words, then stands in place. You frown but look at Loki who is watching with fascinated eyes, recovered from the hard hit he took. You watch as blood trails down the side of his face and out of his ear. He probably can’t hear out of his left ear. 

Looking back up at the being you ask it, “Who sent you? What are you?”

The being stares at the two of you but answers, “I am Subject 52103 Growing Man, and my master sent me.” 

You feel Loki tense under you and assume he knows who his master is. 

“Tell your master to leave Earth alone, that if you or him show your faces here again, the Avengers will take you out without hesitation.”

The Growing Man nods and leaves in a flash of purple and black. 

Letting out a tense breath you stand and help Loki up. Making your way back to the quin jet, you pick up Clint. 

“Why does he want you?” Clint asks, looking at you. 

You walk, holding Loki at your side, the hit from the Growing Man doing enough to leave him a bit disoriented and sluggish. 

“I don’t know and I’m not quite sure I want to know.” You say. Loki stays conveniently quiet the entire walk to the quin jet. Clint doesn’t ask anything else either. 

Pt. 9.1/Pt. 10/?

Tag list: @justfangirlthingies​ @emelieh99​ @high-functioning-lokipath​ @loveableasshole​ 

[chibienvychan03]

It’s Valentine’s Day?

Pairing: Victor x female MC

Warning: lots of fluff and sassy MC

Summary: Given the amount of work you’ve received, the days blur into each other and you can’t believe you’ve forgotten about Valentine’s Day. You had planned on skipping it, but something changes your mind.

Gift fic for @otome0heart. Happy holidays!

When you arrive at the office, you find the atmosphere has completely changed. Instead of being hectic and chaotic, you see your employees whispering and giggling (mainly the girls), but the mood is definitely better though you still have your assignment to work on. Even though you’re their boss, you hate having to put your foot down hard so you will be able to complete it on time and on schedule.

 As you’re about to say something, Kiki rushes over to you, looking like she’s on a caffeine and sugar high which to be honest is her default mode most of the time. “Boss, boss, boss!”

 “Yes, yes, yes?”

 “Who are you going to give your chocolates to?” Your confusion speaks in volumes. Sighing Kiki gives you that ‘I’m disappointed in you’ look. “Have you forgotten what today is?”

 “Eh?”

 “Told you so! She totally forgot.” Ah yes, Willow the voice of reason and sometimes the kill joy with reality. It makes you wonder what you forgot.

 One glance around the office, you start noticing small things, namely all those red, pink, and white hearts. Then there are a few pictures of what appears to be a baby wearing a diaper while holding a bow and arrow. Isn’t it bad parenting to let a child that age hold a dangerous weapon? This annoys you, being left in the dark.

 “What is it I’m forgetting?” You cross your arms over your chest, giving them that stern look, but it has no effect on them. They’re probably used to it by now or don’t care.

 “I can’t believe you forgot! Hey, there’s still time to buy some chocolate.” Kiki bounces around you. Why is doing it? You have no clue except you wish she would stop as you’re becoming dizzy with her antics.

 “Why is it important I buy chocolate?” What was so special about buying chocolate? It’s just another day. Wait a moment, what is today? Thanks to all the overtime you’ve been putting into this assignment, the days have become blurred. You at least know which day of the week it is, thank you Mister CEO and having to give updates.

 “Boss, you have no romantic bone in your body,” Willow sighs a long one as if she’s the one suffering. She swivels in her chair to face the two of you. “Maybe that’s why you don’t have a date for tonight.”

 “Date? We’re swamped with work. I can’t believe I’m saying, but we need to concentrate on this assignment.” For once, you’re the one who isn’t losing concentration or having a wandering mind as a certain someone who has a penchant for reminding you appears in your thoughts. You quickly squash those as now isn’t the time.

 “Don’t tell me your date is work. Boring.” Kiki makes an exaggerated yawn.

 Hearts. A baby wearing a diaper and armed with a bow. Chocolate. Date. What on earth involved all of these? Think. You rack your mind trying to figure out what they’re referring to.

 Minor comes to the rescue. “Boss, who are you going to give your Valentine’s Day chocolate to?”

 Your train of thought comes to a screeching stop. Wait a moment. It can’t be, can it? You pull out your phone to check the day. Friday the fourteenth of February. Oh shit. You can’t believe you forgot about this day. Then again, you have a habit of forgetting your own birthday. Oops?

 All three of your employees are expectantly staring at you, waiting for you to answer their question of who you’re going to give chocolate to. Considering who your boss is and your desire for your company to be successful, you have no choice other than disappointing them.

 “No one. I don’t have time for romance.” The truth hurts as many say.

 “Boo,” Kiki pouts, but at least, she stops circling you like… a predator? “Why not give Kiro chocolate? He loves eating snacks.”

 Err…..

 “No way, she’s gonna give bro chocolate,” Minor chimes in. What a major fanboy. It makes you wonder if he’s started a secret fan club.

 “Officer Gavin kicks ass,” Willow adds her two cents. “It’s a no brainer there.”

 A guy from editing peers over the partition. “The mind is the strongest part of the body. I’m sure boss appreciates someone with a high IQ like Professor Lucien.”

 “Kiro’s the same age as Boss.”

 You plant your foot on Kiki’s as you do not want your age revealed to everyone. It works as she yelps and is now hopping on one foot, her good one. While you don’t mind them knowing your birthday, you do mind them knowing how old you’ve become. Not that you’re senior citizen old, but still!

 “Two years isn’t a huge difference,” Willow points out. She knows you don’t want to reveal your age, but she does have a point about the age gap between you and a certain officer. “Not like four years.”

 Minor nods his head in agreement. “And you two have a history together.”

 “If you take into consideration, the ages people got married historically,” the editing guy counters. “Four years is nothing. Some of them are twenty years apart!”

 “Kiro’s a lot cuter.”

 “Bro can protect her,” Minor argues to which Willow agrees with. “He’s awesome with a gun and can take on ten guys at the same time.”

 “Professor Lucien has helped with the show many times.”

 Why is everyone interested with your love life? Or rather lack of it. Not that you mind as you have your priorities in order. It’s not like Minor or that guy from editing received any chocolate. The last time you checked, neither Kiki or Willow were interested in someone. You pinch the bridge of your nose. “You can celebrate all you want. Just leave me out of it… and make sure you finish your work.”

 “So if you’re not giving Bro chocolate, then that means I got some and he didn’t.” Hold the phone, someone actually gave Minor chocolate? Who’s desperate enough to give him some?

 You turn your attention to Kiki and Willow. “Have you given your chocolate?”

 “Of course!” Kiki chirps and then she points to someone you can’t recall his name. The guy blushes when attention is brought onto him. “We’re going on a date tonight!”

 Willow just points to Minor. This does not compute. Error. Error. Did she just admit to giving Minor chocolate? Yes, she did. “We’re going on a double date. Someone has to keep the kids in line.”

 “Hey!” Kiki sticks out her tongue and blows a raspberry.

 Reinforcements have arrived! Anna enters the room, carrying the materials needed for your latest assignment. “Back to work.” Yes! It’s nice having someone on your side.

 “Awww… it’s Valentine’s Day.” Kiki pouts, however, she reluctantly returns to her desk. “We wanna know who Boss is giving her chocolate to.”

 “She should give it to Officer Gavin.”

 “Yeah, Bro will be happy to receive anything from you.”

 “I’m sure Professor Lucien will appreciate your effort.”

 “Kiro’s the best choice.”

 “You guys…”

 “We can have this discussion during our lunch break.” You nod your head in agreement. Maybe they’ll forget by then. “Since we all know, she’s giving it to CEO Victor.”

 “Not you too.”

 Lunch happens to take out from your third favorite restaurant. You originally planned to make your meals, thanks to those cooking lessons, but work leaves you with little time and energy. When you arrive home, all you want to do is face plant onto your bed and not wake up for the next eight hours. Thank whatever deity, they have delivery. It saves you time, and you can work up until your midday break.

 Back to the battlefield you go. Your employees have other things in mind as they divvy up your portion amongst themselves and start working. You blink several times, wondering what has gotten into them. Were they not complaining about the workload? Why the sudden change of heart? There’s something fishy going on there.

 You turn to Anna. “What’s going on?”

 “I told them you’re taking the afternoon off.” Hey, aren’t you supposed to be the boss? “Hurry before the shops run out of the good stuff.” She ushers you out the door and then shuts it.

 What about your purse? As if reading your mind, the door opens. Someone shoves your purse into your hands before shutting the door again. You attempt to open the door, but it refuses to budge. It can’t be locked as you can turn the knob. No, it’s more like something heavy is preventing the door from moving.

 “You don’t want to give Kiro second rate chocolate!”

 “Don’t you mean Officer Gavin?”

 “Agreed. Bro is the one.”

 “What about Professor Lucien?”

 “You already know what CEO Victor likes.”

 You resist the urge to bang your head on the door or nearest wall. Time to head over to the nearest shop for chocolate. While you’d rather not buy it, no one says you have to actually give it. You can make up a guy to give it to and eat the chocolate yourself. Yeah, that sounds like an excellent plan. You’d give yourself a pat on the back.

 And then remember, you need a ride back to your place. Since you don’t want to give them any ideas, you decide to not call any of those guys. You scroll down your phone list and see the number to your classmate, the one Victor was ‘not jealous’ of. Yeah, right. You decide to send him a text, knowing that nothing would happen between the two of you since you’re female, and he swings that way. His quick response startles you.

 He’s on his way.

 His quick appearance also startles you. “I was in the area. You know dropping off my gift.”

 “Aren’t girls supposed to be giving the gifts?” You blink several times, trying to figure out how this same sex thing works. While you don’t mind them, you have no clue about how they interact with each other. Your research lands you straight into the doujinshi area. While they’re entertaining, you doubt they’re completely realistic. Then again fiction tends to exaggerate things.

 “Someone has to initiate it, and since he doesn’t have a clue, I have to,” your friend says with a slight shrug. It makes sense to you. “Have you given yours chocolate?” In spite of his helmet, you can tell he’s waggling his eyebrows at you.

 “Ugh… Not you too.”

 “Oh. Whoops? Sorry.”

 You wave him off. “Not your fault. My employees are more interested in the lack of my love life than actually working.” He hands over you the second helmet.

 “You gonna head home or buy something for him?”

 Good question. While you want to head home, the thought of giving your ‘crush’ chocolate on Valentine’s Day sounds appealing even if it’s store bought. Then again, he does have a very high standard, considering his culinary expertise. By now, you figure all the good stuff is gone. Now the thought of going home sounds appealing.

 “You can always make him some. I mean I did for mine.”

 You stare at him as if he’s grown a second appendage. It’s something you hadn’t considered. To cover up your inevitable blush due to your friend being too smart for his own good, you shove the helmet onto yourself. “Is there enough time?”

 “Unless you take several hours, you’ll be fine. Hey, why don’t I help you? It’ll go faster.”

 “But won’t that be kinda like cheating?”

 “You’ll be doing most of the work. I’m there to make sure things go smoothly and offer any suggestions.” Technically you’d be making it, but a little advice never hurts, right? Especially when the recipient of that creation happens to be that guy. Mister Critical.

 If that’s the case, there’s no need to think about it. “To the nearest supermarket!”

 Levi chuckled as he picked up speed without driving recklessly, making you wonder why he doesn’t seem to be the type to drive fast. His personality fits, but then again, looks can be deceiving as you’ve experienced many times, often with you looking like a fool. He pulls up close to the entrance of what appears to be a family owned supermarket.

 “Ah, friends of mine own this place,” Levi answers your question before you can even formulate it.

 Leaving your helmets, you two make your way through the shelves. You take your time to look at what they have to offer. For being this size, they offer more of a variety than you anticipated. You wonder what you’re going to use in your chocolate. Of course, it will not be too sweet as he isn’t into sweets like you. He says you’re sweet enough for the both of you. Maybe a hint of sweetness. Yeah. That means dark chocolate. You head to where they keep the baking supplies while your friend wanders through the other aisles. Dark chocolate with maybe some accents of… white chocolate?

 “How about some flavoring?” He pops up from the next aisle, completely surprising you into an almost heart attack. “Oops? My bad.”

 Once you get your breathing and heart rate back to normal, you see what he’s holding. He has a few different flavors in small bottles. They appear small, but you know better. Since they’re concentrated, a few drops will suffice lest the recipient be overwhelmed with the flavor.

 Vanilla, rose, strawberry, and mango?

 “Can you bring me one of each?” You request. Variety makes things interesting, and if one fails, you’ll have the others as back-ups.

 “Sure.” Levi disappears just as quickly and quietly as he appeared. You swear he’s part ninja or something. Maybe he’s a secret agent. You end that train of thought before it takes a surprise journey.

 With him not distracting you, you return your attention to the selection of chocolates in front of you. You read the cacao concentration before picking something not too bitter but not sweet either. On second thought, you grab more as you don’t know how many attempts you’ll need before you manage to make a decent chocolate. Having the main ingredient in your basket, you search for the others. Somewhere along the line, Levi takes the basket from you as it’s becoming heavier with your selections. Not that it was impossible to carry. Having a gentleman with you can be useful especially when you know he’s not interested in you other than being a friend and possibly siblings.

 At the register, the cashier rings up your purchases. Your friend and she know each other. Yet, why is she attempting to flirt with him? Not that it’s any of your business. You just hate it when people are disappointed. He is either oblivious or doesn’t care like a certain someone in your life. Well make that four guys you know.

 “Levi, why didn’t you call?” a middle-aged man appears. “I would have prepared your favorite snack.”

 He politely declines. “Spur of the moment decision, and I have urgent business to attend to.”

 “What can be that urgent you don’t want to spend time with your old pal?” He notices you’re in the company of his friend. “I see. What a cute girl you’re with. Whose girlfriend is she?”

 “Er…” You attempt to answer.

 “That’s the urgent business. I’m helping her win her crush over.” He appears to be teasing you, but something in his tone tells you he’s serious about assisting you with your quest to win him over and especially not make a fool of yourself like you normally do.

 “He’s not a crush,” you mumble.

 “Who took classes on cooking with me?”

 You probably could pass off as a human tomato at this point. “That’s different!” You rack your mind trying to dig yourself out of this hole you somehow managed to fall into. Your brain starts waving a white flag, easily surrendering.

 Levi chuckles. “I’ll stop teasing you.”

 “You took cooking classes?” The cashier gives your male friend those eyes.

 “Well yeah. It’s not healthy eating out or pre-made meals.” You wish you could have said that earlier. As they say, hindsight is 20/20. You hate it.

 “We’d better get going,” Levi says, prompting her to hurry up ringing you up. “She still needs to cook and then give it to him before the day ends.”

 Once you paid for the ingredients, your friend takes it back to his motorcycle before securing it and then you. He hops onto his bike and then heads to your place. You’ve been to each other’s homes so neither of you needs directions.

 “Let’s do this!” You’re very much pumped to make these chocolates. And well if they turn out not the greatest, no one said you couldn’t eat them yourself, right? You plan on eating all the fails anyways, but even though you love chocolate, you hope there aren’t too many of them.

 Levi smiles while shaking his head. “You’re like the little sister I never had.”

 You turn to stare at him. Family? This brings several questions to mind, mainly about his family which he has yet to share anything about. “Only child?”

 “No, I had an adopted brother, but that’s about it.” Levi shrugs and carries the bag for you. Good thing, it’s heavy. He doesn’t say anything more so you drop it.

 Inside your kitchen, the two of you clean up and start prepping to make the chocolate. He helps with the set up but once you start actually making it, he steps back and let’s you take over with him supervising you. You decide to create four different flavors. Kind of like the saying, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.’ In addition to the flavoring, you have picked up some nuts, because well why not? Sometimes you believe he’s nuts.

 Just as you’re about to put the pot with the chocolate on the stove, Levi holds your arm. “You don’t want to put it on direct heat. Use double broiler.” When you stare at him in confusion, he turns off the stove and explains. “Get a larger pot and fill it with water. Then you place this pot in it. Make sure the water doesn’t go into your chocolate.”

 “Oh. No wonder why my first attempt ended horribly.” Whoops? You follow his advice and grab a larger pot to fill with water. Once it’s filled, you lug it over to your stove and turn it on. Next you place your pot full of chocolate in it. When it starts melting, you stir it and are thankful it doesn’t burn or turn hard. Wow. You’ll have to remember this for future use. This batch will be the vanilla flavored, some with nuts. Once it’s a nice gooey mess, you take it off the heat before grabbing your already prepared tray. You stir in some nuts and then meticulously pour it into the molds. When you used up what you melted so far, you ask your assistant to place it in the fridge while you start on the second batch.

 As it turns out, you have more chocolate than you anticipate. Oh well you did prepare in case of fails, but so far, there haven’t been any as you have a very watchful assistant who keeps reminding you. Maybe you need to improve your concentration and not let your mind wander that often. It’s great for creating programs, not great when you’re trying to do something that requires concentration.

 “Why not chocolate covered fruit?” Levi suggests as he rummages through your fridge. He emerges with a pack of strawberries. When did you get those? Oh wait, you went on a grocery run a few days ago. Come to think of it, you wonder why you picked up strawberries as they’re not in season. Maybe they were on sale? Given Valentine’s Day, you wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.

 “I’ll pick up some whip cream later.” When you bring your gift to him, you plan on grabbing some. That’s until you see your assistant holding a tub of whip cream. “What?”

 “I snuck it in while you’re distracted.”

 Your eye twitches as you didn’t see him with it at all, but at the same time, you’re thankful. It means no detour. After all, he’s doing you more than a favor by not only driving, but supervising your cooking. This time, you know what to do. You wash the strawberries and have your assistant dry them off with paper towels. With him being busy, you start up the.. you lost count batch of chocolate. You get it to a nice consistency and turn off the stove. Then you realize, you don’t have anywhere to place them. You notice a lined tray ready to receive the strawberries. After thanking him, you begin dipping the strawberries and placing them on the prepped tray.

 Minutes later, you’re finished and have a messy kitchen, but it’s worth it to make those home-made chocolate. As to whether, they’d taste good is up in the air. You’ve made a few extra for you two to try before you gift him with it. He gets up to start help with the clean-up, but you push him back down. Levi has done more than his share.

 Once they’ve hardened, you take out your tester chocolates and divvy them between the two of you. For your first successful batch, they’re not too bad. It’s not like those sold at candy shops, however, they’re a vast improvement on your first attempt… attempts.

 Between the two of you, you manage to find materials to wrap up your gift to him. You also decide to give him some of the chocolate as you’ve made more than you anticipated. A friendly Valentine’s gift. Levi surprisingly accepts it and pats you on the head like some sort of cute pet. Hey!

 Victor-Victor-Victor-Victor

 Since you know Victor happens to be a workaholic and little romance in his body, you know he won’t take today off. If anything, he may be annoyed with the amount of chocolate he’s receiving from his female (and maybe male) fans. You stare at the gift in your hands, wondering whether or not to give it to him since he’s probably more than irritated. A nudge from behind causes you to stumble a little.

 “He doesn’t know you’re here.”

 “Er… I’m worried he’d find me annoying.”

 Levi leans back on his motorcycle. “Why would he find you annoying?”

 You wave your hand. “Capitalist CEO. He didn’t become a leading financial institution by being a pushover… or romantic person.”

 “I’m sure he’ll make an exception for you.” You blink several times. “You’re a funny, kind, generous, hard working person. How could he not fall for you? If he so much makes you cry, I’m taking him out of the picture.”

 You don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Instead you hug him. “Thanks.”

 “Now go sweep him off his feet, and remember what I said about making him disappear.” He releases you so you can go to him.

 “Right…”

 “After all, no one messes with my little sister and gets away with it.”

 “I’m not little!” you pout, but the huge grin on your face gives you a comical appearance. You hug him for a second time. “Fine, big bro.” Then it occurs to you if he sees you as his little sister, then oh boy… Victor would be in for a world of hurt should he hurt you. Isn’t that what big brothers do?

 “Just don’t kill him. I still need him to sign my paychecks.”

 “All right. He’ll be missing a limb or two then.”

 You playfully punch him. “I’m serious. He still needs to write.”

 “Who ever said it’s those limbs?”

 This time your whole face turns red and you smack him with your purse. “You!”

 “Feeling nervous?”

 Come to think of it, you’re not. He’s distracted you with his shenanigans. “Nope!”

 Something falling catches your attention. You see Goldman hastily picking up folders and papers. Having some mercy on him, you decide to help him pick them up. Unfortunately some of them fly too far from either of you and are about to escape when your big brother catches them for you. You thank him for it.

 Goldman sounds nervous as he’s trying to warn you of something. It sounds like gibberish. “Slow down and take a deep breath.”

 “Later!” Levi waves to you.

 “Bye, big bro!”

 This time Goldman’s jaw drops. Did he think you two were? Oh boy.

 “We’re not in that kind of relationship. More like we adopted each other as siblings… unofficially.”

 Goldman lets out a sigh of relief. “It’s a warzone in there.”

 “Let me guess. Victor has many admirers giving him unwanted gifts?”

 “Ding ding ding. You have won a prize. Yeah, he’s in a very, very sour mood. Please don’t say anything to upset him further.”

 You give him that look. “I’m not that bad.”

 He returns that look. “Yes, you are. I don’t know how many times you’ve left boss stressed out. I lost count.” Hmph. See if you help him with any of his assignments.

 “I guess it’s better I don’t give these.” You hold up your wrapped gift.

 “Are those chocolates?” Goldman looks horrified at the thought.

 “They’re not sweet! I made sure of it. They’re not the greatest, but I’m getting better at cooking.” You’re proud of what you’ve accomplished and how far you’ve come from being a walking kitchen disaster.

  “You made them?” Goldman gulps as if you’ve made Victor his last meal.

 You glare at him. “I’m not that bad, and big bro helped me with them.”

 Goldman shakes his head. “Good luck in there.”

 “What? You’re going home?”

 “No. I’m running errands.” He checks his watch. “Oh crap, gotta go before it’s too late. Thanks for your help.” With his papers and folders secured, Goldman wastes no time in leaving you in the dust.

 “Bye?”

 Might as well be prepared to enter the battlefield, aka LFG. You check your gift for the hundredth time you’d probably stare holes into it. Everything is good to go… except your feet. You mentally shout at your feet to start moving. After several swear words and threats, your feet start moving to the entrance and then inside where everyone looks like there’s a ticking time bomb somewhere.

 Come to think of it, there is a literal ticking time bomb who calls himself their boss, aka Victor. The people move skittishly around you as you make your way to their boss’ office. Having given so many reports, you can walk there in your sleep. As you come closer to his office, the people become more stressed out and anxious. You’re tempted to sneak up behind them and yell “BOO!” However, a figure who suspiciously appears to be victor pops up in your mind, telling you that it’s childish behavior.

 Even in your mind, Victor is a kill joy.

 Just as you’re about to raise your hand and knock, you hear several strange noises coming from behind that wooden barrier. You blink several times before placing your ear against the door. While it’s bad manners to eavesdrop, you’re worried about Victor. Is he hurt? Does he need an ambulance? That’s what you tell yourself when that same figure chastises you about listening on other people’s conversation. From what you hear, it doesn’t sound like someone needs medical assistance. Phew. You take a step back, but being the queen of klutzes, you trip on something invisible (rather yourself) and fall back, landing right on your rear.

 “Ow…” Somehow you manage to keep your voice low though it’s not low enough as you hear movement from behind the door.

 Glancing around, you scurry over to a place to hide. Why are you hiding when you’re there to see Victor? You have no idea. Impulse perhaps? It’s small. You shove yourself into that little corner, hoping he would not venture further than the doorway to look out.

 Victor lets out his sigh which you believe is reserved for you when you’re behaving childishly, looking like a fool, or thinking something he considers stupid. “I know you’re here.” When you don’t move or make any noise, he sounds exasperated. “I’m not mad at you. Promise.”

 Since he has never broken any promises, you crawl out of your little hiding place. As soon as you appear in his sights, he seems to be in disbelief. Probably because you’re there or how you managed to cram yourself into that tiny space.

 “I heard you went home early,” Victor starts off. He appears like his normal self though you know better. Even if he won’t admit it, he’s worried about your health.

 “I’m fine.”

 “I can see that.” His posture screams he wants to know why you’re there in the first place.

 “Err… I have something for you.” You walk up to him before shoving your gift at him, more like at his broad chest.

 Victor turns his attention to the thing you’ve shoved at him. “What’s this?”

 “If you want to know, you’ll have to open it,” you tease him. Given the wrapping design and theme, it’s not hard to guess you’re giving him a Valentine’s gift.

 “I’m not into sweets.”

 You puff up your cheeks. “I know that. I made sure they’re not too sweet.”

 His long fingers start to meticulously unwrap his gift. “You made these?”

 “Yep!” You sound very proud of yourself.

 “Shouldn’t you be giving it to your boyfriend?”

 EH???

 “What boyfriend?” Seriously you don’t recall being into any guy.

 “You hugged that guy twice.”

 “Oh, what about big bro?”

 This stuns Victor into silence for a minute or two. “You don’t have any brothers.”

 “Well now I do!” Wait a moment. “You’re jealous of my gay brother again?”

 “I’m not jealous of your gay brother… again? What’s that supposed to mean?”

 This leaves you in giggling fits. It takes you a few moments and a stern look from him for you to calm yourself enough to talk. “Do you remember the cooking class you substituted for?” Nod of his head. “It’s the same guy. My gay friend turned gay brother.”

 You catch a blush appear on his face just as he turns away. “Hopefully they’re edible.”

 HEY! “I worked hard on them. Big bro says I’ve improved a lot.”

 Victor motions for you to follow him into his office. There are several stacks of papers and folders both on his desk and around it. What’s going on? It’s never this cluttered when you’re there ever. Victor appreciates his space being clean and orderly. You should know as he scolds you for making a mess or for putting away things in the wrong places.

 “If now isn’t a good time, I can leave,” you say in an unsure tone.

 “I’m almost done.” Victor ambles over to his chair behind his desk. He picks up his glasses and places them on his face. Without looking in your direction, he adds, “I’ve made reservations at that new restaurant you wanted to try.”

 What? You rack your mind, trying to think how he heard about it. The only person you told is your now new big brother while you two were making those chocolates.

 “You mentioned it in your moments post.”

 Oh that. Making those chocolates and then mustering up the courage to give them has pushed that thought way, way far down. “Hehehehe. I forgot about that.” Wait a moment. “I made that post during lunch. How could you get reservations? It’s hard to get them unless you make it days in advance.”

 “I have my ways.” Victor shuffles papers around before settling on one. His eyes never leave it as he continues the conversation with you. “It’s called having connections. You can use more of them.”

 Ouch… Does he have to be that brutal? Although you know he’s right, you wish he’d tell you in a more gentle way instead of dropping it on you like a bomb. You’ve been working on gathering connections and have invited a few influential people to your show. Had it been a year earlier, they wouldn’t even consider being on your show which indicates how much you’ve grown and learned under his care.

 “You’re better than when you started.” Is this a complement? If it isn’t, you decide to take it as one.

  “But isn’t it expensive?” You recall the reviews and how they say it’s pricy but definitely worth it for the quality and experience.

 “That’s for me to worry about. All you need to worry about is what you want to eat.”

 “Okay.” You make you way to one of the chairs when you realize one of the chairs is occupied by a large mountain of gifts. In fact, they’re practically burying the poor furniture. You hadn’t noticed this, however, to be fair, you had several things on your mind. The fact your gift hasn’t joined this enormous pile gives you hope that Victor would try what you’ve made. At least yours has a chance of being opened.

 After pulling out your phone, you browse the restaurants website, more specifically their menu. Their prices cause you to wince. It’d take you a week of work to get enough money for one meal, and that’s for yourself alone. As if on cue, Victor tell you to order what you want and ignore the price. He can afford it. According to him, it’s cheap for that kind of restaurant.

 Wow… Cheap. The life of the rich and infamous.

 You pull out a pen and pad of paper from your purse. When Victor raises a brow, you stick your tongue out at him. “It’s for random ideas.” As soon as he returns to his work, you peruse their menu. There are a lot of things you’d like to try and most likely to overeat, making a fool of yourself in the process. So this time, you’ll come prepared. You will plan what you’re going to eat for future visits so as to not tempt yourself to eat more than your stomach can handle. For a second, you consider telling Victor, however, you squash that thought. He wouldn’t praise you or acknowledge you for something he considers trivial.

 By the time you finish selecting your dishes for this visit, Victor has finished cleaning up. “Will you be ordering the entire menu?”

 Ouch… “Yes,” you reply with a cheeky grin. “Hope you can afford it!”

 Victor stands over you, looking down at you and your notes. His soft snort tells you he’s read them. “Indeed you have ordered everything.” He pauses. “Wise decision to spread it out on multiple visits.”

 Oh my. Did he just praise you again? While you’re tempted to request he say it again, you decide it’s better to not push your luck. After all, he’ll be paying for future visits. Unless he increases your salary, you doubt you’d be able to afford it without having to make sacrifices and live off of cup noodles like a certain someone who shall remain nameless.

 “Are you going to try your gift?” You ask as you follow him, noticing he’s carrying your gift with him.

 “Chocolate is for dessert,” Victor reminds you, causing you to blush. Right.

 “Does that mean you’ll try it after dinner?” You bat your eyes even though he can’t see behind him. He doesn’t have eyes in the back of his head or does he? Hm… He has a knack for catching you doing things when he’s not even facing you or looking in your direction.

 “Yes.”

 His one-word reply causes you to be giddy with delight. You hope he likes it as you’ve put effort into making it…. Even if it’s last minute, but he doesn’t have to know that! What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him for now.

 Victor-Victor-Victor-Victor

 With it being Valentine’s Day and Friday night, the restaurant is packed with a long line going out the door. If they’re willing to wait outside, then the food must be worth it. You become excited with anticipation. It may not be Victor level cooking, you appreciate good food.

 “Victor, I—”

 Some heavy set male runs straight into you causing you to lurch forward. Instinctively you brace for an impact that never arrives. Instead you find yourself in the embrace of the man you like a lot… maybe even love? Once Victor helps you back on your feet, you notice two things… Victor glaring and second your high heel is no longer high heel on the left side. You believe he’s glaring at you, however, he’s not looking directly at you, more like over you.

 “Why should I apologize? She’s standing in the way,” the guy argues. Where should you stand? It’s not like there is a vacant spot for you to occupy. Now is there?

 “You should look where you’re going. Perhaps you need glasses. I can help with that.”

 The guy starts turning red. “I can see just fine.”

 “Then you should have seen her.” Victor indicates you.

 “She’s tiny. Careful someone might sit on her.”

 Why you!

 Victor stops you from marching straight up to him and giving him a piece of your mind. “On second thought, you’ll need a lawyer.”

 “What?”

 “You could have given her a concussion, and you broke her shoe.” So Victor did notice your heel-less left shoe. Hard to get anything past him.

 “Gentlemen,” the restaurant’s manager speaks up. “There will be no violence in this establishment.”

 “Tell that to him,” the rude guy grumbles.

 “How is knocking someone over not violent,” you finally explode. “I coulda gotten a concussion.”

 “Mister, please leave.” At first you think he’s referring to Victor, but his next words confirm who. “I’m terribly sorry, Mister.” He’s facing Victor. “Your table is this way.”

 “Err…” You can walk but awkwardly with uneven shoes.

 Victor understands what you’re trying to get at before you can say it. He literally sweeps you off your feet and carries you to your table. On your way there, more than a few customers look in your direction and whisper. Not everyday a guy carries a girl to their table.

 Not like you have a choice given your broken footwear. Still it’s embarrassing to be stared at by these strangers. Somehow Victor ignores every single one of them. Of course, he does. He’s the great and mighty Victor. His name is very much appropriate for him.

 At your private table, the manager fusses over the two of you, making sure you’re well taken care of before taking his leave. It makes you wonder if this is the usual service for Victor whenever he goes out or if it’s from the earlier incident. Thanks to you having decided what you want to eat before you arrived at the restaurant, you’re able to put in your order. Considering how packed this place is, you wouldn’t be surprised should service be slower than usual. Not that you’ll make a deal out of it.

 Now what?

 “Are you sure you’re just siblings?”

 You groan. Not this again. “I’m sure of it. Unless I become a guy, he’s not interested in me.”

 “You sure he isn’t lying?”

 Here we go for another round. “I’m sure of it. We both like looking at cute guys and before you say anything, appreciation for nice aesthetics doesn’t mean I’m in love with them. It’s superficial level appreciation.”

 Victor appears skeptical, but he doesn’t push it further.

 A random thought pops into your mind, causing you to giggle.

 “What useless thing are you thinking of this time?”

 “All my thoughts aren’t useless. My mind can be creative and imaginative, okay?”

 “What is it?”

 You prop your head on your hands. “You should be more worried for yourself.”

 “Oh?”

 “If he’s going to hit on anyone, it’ll be you.”

 Victor is stunned into silence. You’re not sure if he’s against same sex couples or tolerates them. Maybe it’s the realization that yes, there are men who would be after him. He probably had not even considered it much less thought about it.

 “And if you hurt me, well you know how big brothers are overprotective of their little sisters.” You somehow recall he’s good at martial arts, very good at it. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to put it to use against a certain someone.

 “He won’t have a chance.” Oh confident now are we?

 Before either of you can say another word, your waiter arrives with a bottle of fine wine. “On the house.” She places it in a prepared container of ice. You peer at it. Oh it sounds good from what you’ve read. Apparently you’re not the only one who read it.

 “You can have one glass.” That’s better than nothing. You’ll take it.

 Victor-Victor-Victor-Victor

 Man you’re stuffed. The food is too good, but not as good as a certain restaurant which Victor knows all too well, considering he owns it. You’re thankful you ordered just the right amount. Knowing yourself, you’d still keep eating even if you’re full.

 You pull out your phone. “I’m going to give them a five-star review.” In your review, you write about your experience there including the incident before dinner and their heavenly cuisine. If Victor asks where you want to eat and doesn’t feel like cooking, you know what you’re answer will be.

 Victor scoffs at this though he seems to be amused and overall in a good mood. When you place down your phone, you notice your gift has been opened.

 “So what do you think?”

 “Needs improvement.” Your spirits sink. “But you’ve come a long way from when you started. I’ve had my fair share of less than desirable results in the past. No one starts out good or perfect.”

 Then Victor must have had some fails when he first started cooking. This somewhat lifts your spirits. Considering he has a huge head start over you, you take it stride. It’s not like Rome was built in a day as they say.

 After paying for your meal (minus the wine), Victor once again sweeps you off your feet to carry you to his car. Unlike some big wigs, he doesn’t need a chauffeur to drive him around. He’d probably become too impatient waiting for the poor person.

 “Where are we headed?” You ask as soon as you’re safely secured and he’s behind the wheel.

 “To the mall.”

 “Eh?”

 “Your broken shoes.”

 Oh. “I can repair them at home.” You don’t want to trouble him more than necessary.

 “I’m buying you better ones, sturdier shoes.” In his language, it means more expensive and better quality.

 By now you should be celebrating. Free dinner and shoes, but somehow your heart isn’t into it. You’re not sure why.

 “Aren’t you going to gloat about getting free shoes?”

 You turn your head to face him. “Not in the mood.”

 “Is something wrong?” Victor sounds genuinely concerned, given how you love to banter with him.

 “It’s… I don’t know. I guess I’m not ready for this to end.”

 “Is that so?” Victor takes a few seconds to look at you before turning his attention back to the road.

 “I’m actually enjoying spending time with you.” Shut up mouth! Why don’t you dig a hole and bury yourself in it?

 “Are you sure it’s not the food?”

 This time you glare at him. “It’s not always about the food. Believe it or not, good company makes the food taste even better.”

 “I see.” No, you don’t.

 You puff up your cheeks and stare out the passenger side window. Could this get any more awkward? Scratch that. You don’t want to jinx yourself.

 “Why don’t you spend the night at my place?”

 Say what?

 “A certain someone says she doesn’t want this to end.”

 Right. “I don’t have my stuff.”

 “Already taken care of.” How in the world? You decide not to question it.

 Victor-Victor-Victor-Victor

 At the mall, Victor carries you as he’s not willing to risk you tripping and falling due to your broken shoe. Says that you’re a walking disaster with two good shoes. When he teases you, you can feel the warmth and affection in his voice. He does care in his own way, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. It just wouldn’t be him.

 When the sales lady notices you and your predicament, she hurries over to you. “You poor thing. I’ll find a pair of shoes that’ll flatter your figure.” How does she know your size?

 After Victor places you on a chair, you take off your shoes and turn one of them over. Oh… Right in the middle is your size. You haven’t worn this pair enough times to wear out the writing. Meanwhile Victor stands guard over you. Not like you’re going to have another person try to shove you to the ground.

 The sales lady returns with a dozen pair of shoes. How she managed to carry all of them. You’re not sure nor do you ask. She does have good taste in footwear. You try on all of them, some of them twice. So many nice shoes, but you only need one pair. You don’t feel like owing Victor a lot. After some consideration and thought, you narrow your selection down to two.

 “Which looks better? This or that?” You’re wearing one of the pairs.

 “We’ll take them both.”

 “Um… I need one pair.” Mouth, stop moving and let him buy you the damn shoes.

 “Since a certain dummy can’t decide, I’ll buy them both for her.” Victor grabs the box for the shoes you’re wearing and the other pair. He heads over to the cash register.

 “You have a nice boyfriend.”

 BOYFRIEND?! “Er… we’re good friends.”

 “Are you sure about that? The way he looks at you.”

 You blink in confusion. “He’s probably annoyed with having to replace my broken shoes.”

 She laughs. “No. He looks at you like you’re his most precious person, a treasure he intends to protect.”

 “Eh? How do you know it’s that?”

 She holds up her left hand. “My husband does that a lot.” Now you notice the ring on her finger. She’s married. “Take my advice, don’t let this one go. He’s a keeper.”

 “Right.”

 Once he’s paid for the shoes, you insist on taking a stroll through the mall to walk off dinner. Victor isn’t happy though he indulges you, and the two of you take a leisurely walk through the building. Good thing this is an indoor mall so you don’t have to deal with the cold weather. As you pass by the window displays, you take a good look at their merchandise. A pair of rings catches your attention.

 “Promise rings.” You didn’t plan to say it out loud. You did anyways.

 “Those are for children.”

 You roll your eyes at him and point at the price tag. “I don’t think children can afford that on their allowance.”

 “Right.”

 The cute puppies and kitties catch your attention. You hurry over to look at them and maybe they’ll let you pet them! They’re so adorable. Although you’re tempted to adopt one, you know you don’t have the time or energy to properly look after one. Maybe one of your friends will let you pet sit? You’d be more than willing to look after their furry four-legged family member for a short time. After all, you took care of Pearly while Gavin was away on a mission.

 Inside the store, they have more than kitties and puppies. They have fishes, mice, lizards, and birds. You’re not crazy about mice or lizards. The fish are pretty to look at, but they’re kind of boring. It’s not like you can play with them or pet them. A small bird wanders to you and starts whistling. Is it serenading you? You glance around to see if the employees would let you pet the bird. Sadly they’re all busy. You reach in and the bird scoots over to your hand before climbing onto your finger. Then it makes its way up your arm and onto your shoulder. It snuggles against you.

 “Oh wow, he’s never been this friendly with anyone.” A store employee appears, startling you and inadvertently the bird too. “Sorry. We normally don’t let people touch him. He tends to be grumpy most of the time.”

 You reach up and start petting him. He leans into your touch, chirping in content. “Really? He seems friendly.” If this bird is as how the employee makes him out to be, you’ve found Victor in bird form it seems. Maybe this can be Victor Junior? Thinking about Victor, where is he? You thought he’d follow you into the store.

 “Miss?”

 “Yes?”

 “Please adopt him! I’m begging you.”

 What?

 “You’re the first person he’s been nice to. I didn’t think he would be attached to anyone.”

 “Um… I’m busy so I don’t think I can properly care for him.”

 “You’ll do fine. These are great starter birds since they’re not hard to take care of.” The store employee begins telling you the benefits of having a pet and one that’s low maintenance. You find out this is a cockatiel. Thinking about the name causes you to giggle.

 Between the store employee and the cute birdy eyes, you break down and decide to adopt this adorable creature. This time, you’re paying for him along with what’s needed to keep him happy and healthy. He’s content to sit on your shoulder the entire time and growls whenever he thinks someone is a threat to you.

 Cage, food, toys, perches, feeding dishes, something for water, some basic first aid, and the bird himself.

 “What makes you think you can take care of a pet?”

 This startles you and causes him to almost fall off your shoulder. “They’re not hard to take care of, and he’s cute.”

 “All animals are cute to you.”

 “Not all of them.” You glance over to the lizard section. “And he really likes me.”

 “Right. Are you sure it’s not some sales gimmick?” Victor folds his arms over his chest, waiting for your answer.

 “I’ve seen him interact with others. He isn’t social but he’s friendly with me.” You reach up to pet him, which he happily accepts. “He’s like a bird version of you.”

 Victor lets out an exasperated sigh. “Since you’ve already bought him, let’s take the stuff to my car.” Wow, you didn’t think Victor would be on board with you purchasing a pet this quickly. You decide not to point it out.

 On the way to his place, the bird is content with being on your lap. You’ll need to name him since you can’t keep calling him the bird or bird.

 “Victor Junior or Vic for short.”

 “What are you up to this time?”

 “He’s just like you.”

 “….”

 “So I’m naming him after you.”

 “This is ridiculous.”

 You stick your tongue out at Victor. Victor Junior copies you, much to your amusement. “Our son isn’t ridiculous, are you?” You coo at the little bird.

 “Our son?”

 “Fine, my son.”

 Victor-Victor-Victor-Victor

 Victor Junior has picked up quite a vocabulary during his stay at the pet shop. You can’t help but giggle at his antics. Since you’re spending the night there, you’ve set up his cage once human Victor has brought in his supplies. It’s getting late and Victor Junior looks tired. He’s yawning up a storm. You place him in his cage so he can get some sleep.

 Since Victor is a gentleman, he insists you sleep in his guest room. It appears while you’re taking care of the bird, he prepared the guest room for you. Before he takes his leave so you can change, he holds out a small box. Is that a ring box? You open it to find one half of the promise ring set.

 “Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?”

 Victor stutters, attempting to deny it and saying that you’re interested in it.

 “Now look who’s being silly.” You pull out the ring and slide it onto your finger before giving a surprised Victor a hug. “Does this answer your question?”

 His response? He pulls you in for one passionate kiss.

 Where the hell did he learn to kiss like that?

[cami-chats]

Cats Get Dates

Fandom: Marvel, The Umbrella Academy (TV)

Pairing: Five Hargreeves/Tony Stark

Warnings: None

On AO3 or below

Tony didn't think about it too much before putting up the sign in his window. He felt kind of stupid as he did it-- and also like he was in that one Taylor Swift music video-- but also, that cat was super cute and he wanted to know its name. Calling it 'the stupidly cute, fluffy cat' when he was telling Jim about it was getting a little lengthy; not to mention Jim had thought he was talking about more than one cat for about six months.

Your cat's really cute. So white and fluffy, I love them was what the sign said, but it was enough. With the way windows and floors worked in these weirdass apartment buildings, he wasn't risking much by admitting the cutest cat in the world was, in fact, the cutest cat in the world to a bunch of strangers other than the one stranger he had in mind.

The next day, there was a sign in the window with an arrow pointing down to the cat's favorite lounging spot: Mr. Pennycrumb (yes, really).

Tony wasn't the best artist, but he did a pretty good rendition of Mr. Pennycrumb in a suit, with a monocle and a walking stick. I love him. He didn't hesitate to put that one up either, and he thought that would be the end of it.

He should've known that the universe would decide to throw him a nice little curveball. The next time he peeked across the street to see if Mr. Pennycrumb was taking a nap or licking his paw, he instead saw a handsome man with a criminal jawline sitting in the window, writing in a notebook.

Tony was just tired enough to sit at his own desk and stare an unreasonable amount.

Mr. Pennycrumb's owner looked up after a while and saw him. He raised an eyebrow.

Tony reached for the poster that had his drawing of Mr. Pennycrumb in a suit-- which he kept by the window simply because he wanted to keep the drawing but didn't have any other place to put it-- and held it up. Then he set it down and put his hands together in a pleading fashion.

The cat owner smirked in a very self-satisfied manner, then disappeared for a moment. When he came back, he had Mr. Pennycrumb in his arms. He plopped him in front of the window, where the cat was happy to stretch out and roll onto his back.

Tony blew him a kiss, and he was glad when the other man chuckled before turning back to his writing. Cause otherwise that would've been really awkward. Mr. Pennycrumb was unfairly adorable, and definitely worth a little embarrassment for, if the situation ever called for it. Plus, if the cat's owner had figured out that Tony was checking him out, he might've decided to close his shades, and that would've been a real tragedy.

*

Their first real, face-to-face contact came sometime after three in the morning when the two of them were the only people with both their lights on and their shades open.

Mr. Pennycrumb's owner was the one to initiate it with a note in his window that read, Do you have coffee?

Tony wrote back. Yes.

Can I have some? Everywhere's closed. And it was true. Everywhere was closed, but fuck only knew why. There was a college in this city; surely there was at least one cafe that could turn a profit from running twenty-four hours. There were grocery stores that were still open, but the closest one was two blocks away-- considerably further than across the street, and a lot more of a pain.

In response, Tony wrote down his apartment number. Someone with a cat that cute wouldn't murder him after asking for coffee. If there were two good qualities a person could have, it would be liking coffee and loving their cat. Or maybe it was loving coffee and liking their cat. Either way, it was good combination to have. Not to mention that Tony was infinitely more likely to be kidnapped, not murdered flat out. And the kidnapping type had the same look about them, which Mr. Pennycrumb's owner did not have.

When he saw the man's light go off, he got up to make a new pot of coffee. He still had some in there for himself, so he dumped the rest of it in a spare mug and started a new one. He had a huge ass thermos around here somewhere-- a gift from Jim, and he'd made sure it was big enough for a pot of coffee plus all the cream that Tony liked to add, because Jim was the best gift-giver in the entire world.

As Tony crawled in a cupboard to find it, he wondered why he didn't use it more often. Usually, it was to avoid questions. If people asked him one question, they took it as an invitation for more conversation, which was pretty much the opposite of what Tony wanted when he was carrying around a pot of coffee.

It was only after he unearthed it that he remembered Jim had sort of taken it away for a week when Tony had decided to brew his coffee with an energy drink instead of water. It had tasted like shit, but it had kept him awake enough to keep up with his coursework while also finishing off the designs for the upcoming expo and giving his notes to Howard about the latest prototype. Now that that horrible time had passed though, he should be able to start using it again.

Someone knocked on the door as he was halfway through pouring the coffee into the giant thermos, so he put it down to answer the door. As expected, it was the neighbor-- if neighbor could be used to describe someone that lived in a separate building on the opposite side of the road. He was even more handsome up close, which was a dangerous thing to be noticing in the middle of the night when his self-control was wearing thin. He didn't have much of a filter to begin with, and it only became thinner when he was tired.

"Hey," the possibly-a-neighbor but definitely-the-cute-cat-owner said. "Thanks for this."

"Yeah, no problem. I can't make it a day without coffee." Tony sort of forgot to invite him in, but he turned to go finish pouring the coffee and figured that his sort-of-neighbor would either follow him in or stay in the doorway. Tony would be very tempted to ask him to stay forever if he had remembered to ask him inside in the first place. As he started to pour the remainder of the pot, he heard the door close, and a second later, the guy walked into the kitchen. "I'm Tony, by the way."

"Five. Yes, like the number."

"Your parents weren't very imaginative."

"Actually, I only have one sibling."

"That's even worse."

"I've always thought so," Five said mildly.

"Is there a story there or are they just weird as shit?"

Five snorted. "If they had reasons, they never bothered to share them with me." Then he tilted his head curiously. "Does that thermos fit an entire pot of coffee?"

"Yep."

"That's amazing. Where did you get it?"

"It was a gift, so I don't know."

"Hm, shame."

Tony screwed the lid on and held it out to him.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"I'll try to have it back in a couple days."

"Sure. And if you forget, I can always add it to a sign when I'm asking about Mr. Pennycrumb. How is he anyways?"

"A pain in the ass," Five said, rolling his eyes as they walked to the door. "He was playing with a plastic bag, got his head caught, flipped out, and ended up shredding it over half the apartment."

"And that's why I admire other people's cats from afar instead of getting my own."

"A wise decision," Five said flatly, but with a hint of a smile across his mouth. Tony had the strong urge to kiss him, but he was too far away for Tony to do it as an impulse decision. "See you around."

"Yep, see you."

Having a crush from a distance had been weird and a little creepy of him, but he didn't think the one minute of conversation with Five really justified it. If anything, it made it worse. Jim would probably tell him to be a normal neighbor and not make contact unless they were passing each other on the street-- but then, Jim was also convinced that Tony was going to be murdered horribly in the middle of the night because he hadn't been looking where he was going, so Tony took everything he said with a grain of salt.

*

Tony got back to his apartment one day to find a bag hanging on the door. He peeked inside and saw that it was the thermos he'd loaned Five, so he picked it up and brought it in with him.

He forgot to put it away for a while, so it was almost a week later when he grabbed the thermos to use it and a picture fell out. Curious, Tony reached for it, then he laughed. It was a polaroid of Mr. Pennycrumb. He was sitting up straight, fluffy tail curled around the front of his little feet and looking intensely at the camera-- or, rather, the person holding the camera, but it was the same effect. On the white bottom, Five had written 'Thanks' in sharpie, in all caps like he was an old man.

Tony hung it on the fridge, then went back to putting his bag together for the day.

*

The next contact came when Tony was settling in for the evening, ready to stay up all night writing code, only to realize that he didn't have enough sugar for his coffee to last all night. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, and fuck some more, he was not going to make it through the night unless he had caffeine and sugar. He glanced out the window automatically and saw that Five's light was on, and he was sitting at his desk.

There was no guarantee that he'd look up, but Tony had to try.

Do you have sugar?

Five looked up when he held the sign in front of his window. He reached to the side and wrote, and a moment later, Tony was reading what he'd written. Only if you'll come over here to get it.

Tony nodded vigorously. He could definitely walk over there. No way in hell was he going to ask Five for a favor and then expect for him to walk over to Tony's place.

Five flipped over his paper and wrote his apartment number.

Tony got up, shoved on some shoes, and hurried over. It was a good thing that it was a short walk, because it was kind of cold out, and he hadn't grabbed a jacket.

It was barely five seconds after he knocked that the door opened. "How much sugar do you need?"

"I don't know, maybe a cup?" Tony said. "It's for my coffee."

"You put sugar in your coffee?" Five asked, raising an eyebrow judgmentally.

"You don't?" Tony asked, mirroring his expression. "I guess that's fine, if you want to be miserable."

Five rolled his eyes and walked to the kitchen, pouring sugar from a large bucket to a smaller container. "Is that enough?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Five put the lid on and handed it over. Then, scarcely after Tony had his hands on it, Five put a scrap of paper on top. "That's my number. You can use it the next time you need sugar instead of hoping I look up at the right time."

Tony's heart decided to be a traitorous little bastard and started beating faster, but he hoped it didn't show in his voice when he said, "Cool; I'll do that. Thanks again," he said.

He made it back over to his apartment, saved Five's number in his phone, then sent him a text.

This is Tony, so you have my number too.

He tossed his phone onto the desk and went to pour some sugar in his coffee. On the desk, his phone buzzed with a new message.

Good to know, was all Five said. A minute later, he sent a photo of Mr. Pennycrumb. It was obvious that he'd just taken it, and the cat was glaring at him as it sat atop his laptop keyboard. The King of the universe says hello.

Tell him I love him.

And have it go to his head? But your message has been passed on.

*

Things continued in that vein for a while. Five would send him pictures of Mr. Pennycrumb in various poses-- Tony's favorite was the one where the cat had climbed into the filled bathtub and then squalled about it like it was Five's fault-- and in return, Tony would gush about how cute Mr. Pennycrumb was.

After a couple weeks of that, they started complaining about their class work, which rapidly turned into helping each other. It's not that either of them was stupid or refused to do their own work, but Five's grasp of physics was much better than Tony's (to say nothing of his understanding of chaos theory), and in return, Tony helped him with the finer points of chemistry.

And since they were helping each other with work, they might as well meet in person rather than halting texts back and forth whenever they remembered to check their phone. Tony didn't think anything of it until it was leading up to the end of the semester and he went to Five's favorite coffee shop to buy him a cup before he headed over-- instead of just letting him brew coffee like normal. Since when did Tony go out of his way to do something nice? The answer used to be: hardly ever. Now, it looked like the answer was: for about three weeks. Because he'd been doing things to try and be nice to Five for a while, even if it inconvenienced him.

With his usual tact, Tony knocked on the door and as soon as Five answered, he asked, "Are we dating?"

"We won't be if you don't hand over the coffee," Five said, his eyes going straight to the cup with laser focus.

Tony handed it over.

Five took a sip, savored it, then brushed a kiss over Tony's cheek. "Come on, I ordered your shitty pizza, and it's useless if it goes cold."

Tony walked in, closing the door behind him. Well, the kiss answered that question. Or maybe it was the way that Five had answered his question. Either way, Tony now had a boyfriend, and that was wonderful. "It makes a wonderful snack four hours into studying," Tony argued. He knew this for a fact after a dozen times of doing it. "You can shove it in your mouth without tasting it, and you don't have to wait for something to be delivered."

"Congratulations," Five said flatly. "I'm not trying it."

"Fine, suffer then." 

[the-last-cuddlebender]

5 for kataang

Sorry for the wait!🙏 Crazy two days of life and work and family

(Kataang + #5: “You’re burning up.”)

(This is in the same AU as THIS hurt/comfort ficlet ask)

Fire Breather

Words: 1,248

Rating: G

ArchiveOfOurOwn

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

The snow was soft, wouldn’t stop falling, and cloaked Katara in a powdery cape. The grown-ups and big-kids were all at pick-up, but her best friend still hadn’t come out.

Aang wasn’t on the stairs.

He wasn’t with Mister Bumi, either.

Katara tightened her arms around the apple Aang didn’t pick up. Mister Bumi always brought one for Aang’s invisible friend, and Aang never forgot Appa’s daily treat.

Miss Kyoshi hadn’t seen Aang since recess, but Mister Roku said Aang went to play hide and seek with Hide.

Katara didn’t like that one bit. Hide had a face that made her want to hit him, especially when he flicked Aang where it hurt or when he tried to take her best friend’s beanie.

Katara bit her lip, puffed her cheeks, and held Appa’s apple a little bit tighter. The snow reached past her knees as she followed the tracks trying not to be found. She passed the body-sized holes where Aang had tripped once and then twice. The tracks went under the chainlink fence and turned a corner out of the grown-ups’ sight.

Katara stepped into the inky blue shadows behind the schoolhouse. Chilly cold like jumping into the snow after a hot bath made her skin tingle.

Aang’s nothing-voice—the cry that needed his breathing-box—had her sprinting and her stomach flipping like it was jumping off a teeter-totter.

“Aang—!”

Hide, the bully, was grabbing Katara’s best friend with one big-kid hand and holding Aang’s beanie in the other. Aang’s breathing was rough and gritty like running on frozen mulch, and his little tears made Katara’s heart hurt. He jumped and struggled more than he ever should, all in his desperation to get his beanie back. It was useless. The snow swallowed him nearly to his waist, and Hide was the biggest kid in their class.

Katara remembered how Sokka threw his baseball with their Dad. She also remembered what Suki did to Sokka when the softball player first met her brother.

Hide dropped Aang like the boy half his size had caught fire. The bully first held his bruising head where Appa’s apple left its mark, but then Katara was in front of him and furious, and Hide fell to his knees to cradle where she kicked him.

“You leave him alone!”

Hide limped like something was broken and sped up like Katara was something ferocious disguised as a girl. “I-I’m telling Miss Kyoshi!”

Katara lunged at him. Hide flinched and slipped in the snow.

She couldn’t wait to hear what Miss Kyoshi would do to the meanie.

“Aang?”

Aang wheezed. His nothing-voice was panicked and thin as he fumbled for his breathing-box. It was white, shaped like a bison, and anchored to the inside of his coat pocket by a string of beads.

Katara dropped to her knees in front of him. They sat in a bowl of snow with walls nearly two feet high. Aang’s fingers were stiff as if frozen, and Katara scooted closer like sharing her warmth would somehow help.

She remembered how her Dad helped Aang with the breathing-box when he and Katara played for too long in the park. She also remembered what her Mom said to help Aang back then, too.

“It’s okay, sweetie.” She helped Aang prep the white bison and guide it to his mouth. “It’s okay. I got you, Aang. You’re okay.”

She counted slowly and out loud like Sokka did when Katara was scared. Aang’s breathing fell in line with it, and he looked at her in teary awe.

“You okay?”

“Mhm…” Aang hiccuped. “...’m, okay…”

The beanie Hide tore had a blue arrow and was Aang’s favorite. Katara made it for him when her Mom first taught her to crochet.

Katara took it from Aang’s hand and tucked it—very carefully—in her backpack. She could mend it later.

In the same moment, she took off her own beanie—blue with black and white fishes and made by her Mom on the Solstice—and slid it over her best friend’s head.

Aang wiped his eyes. Katara could read the ‘thank you’ in his smile even though she couldn’t read all her letters. And she knew for a fact that hugs made Aang’s hurts go away better than any bandaid.

His voice was even smaller than him when she pulled away. “...T-Thanks, K’tara.”

“Do you wanna go play together? Before my Mom picks us up? The big-kid side of the playground is empty.” Aang’s shy smile got a little bigger. “We can make a snowfort if ya wanna. I saw how Sokka made his tower yesterday.”

“Can Appa play, too?”

“Well, duh.” Katara lent him a hand and didn’t let go even after she tugged Aang to his feet. “We might have to make a snowcastle for him to fit, though.”

“Yeah! Yeah!” Aang bounced a little bit, even though it made his breathing harder and faster and had Katara’s heart hurting again. “And you can be the knight like in the storybook Miss Kyoshi read today! And I—I...I, um…”

“You can be a knight, too. Appa can be your horsie.”

“...But I can’t be a knight.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t run a lot…” Aang scratched his chest and over the breathing-box in his coat pocket.

Katara still held his hand, but now a bit tighter. “That doesn’t mean you can’t be a knight. You don’t have to run a lot a lot.”

“It makes my chest hurt real bad. Gyatso said Imma get a puppy, though. He said it’ll help.” Aang tried to smile. “You can be the knight, though! You’ll be the best knight! You’re really, really brave, K’tara!”

Katara didn’t like that one bit. Aang had a face that made her want to hug him, especially when his teary eyes hit her where it hurt and his shaky lip tried to hide his hiccup.

Katara bit her lip, puffed her cheeks, and held his hand a little bit tighter. She scowled like she was threatening an answer to come out of hiding.

“Okay. I’ll be the knight, but you’re gonna be my princess.”

Katara puffed her chest and picked up her stride. Aang tried not to be dragged as his best friend marched them to the shallow snow where they played.

“What?” His voice was breathless, but in a good way. “Really?”

“Yeah-huh! And as my princess, you need to stick with me so I can protect you.” She showed him their held hands. “So I’m not gonna let you go, okay?”

“...Promise?”

“Promise.”

She looked him in the eye like when her Dad told her Mom he would be home by Christmas.

Aang smiled like it really was Christmas, and Katara’s best friend sucked in air like he might have trouble breathing again.

“Okay! Okay!”

Katara was nothing if not a knight of honor. Her princess was wounded and slow (and short) in the deep snow, and he had to lift his knee almost to his chest with every step he took.

This was unacceptable.

Katara had no sooner said her vows than herded her too-light princess (and both their backpacks) onto her back.

She struggled a bit, but then Aang laughed. It drowned the memory of his nothing-voice and filled Katara with something like strength. She liked it when he laughed. It made her heart run and jump like Nyla did when June got off the bus at her house.

It nearly left her breathless.

Her best friend was in never such a danger with her around to protect him.

“Oh, thank you, Miss Mighty Knight Katara!” Katara’s princess swooned just like in the storybook. “You’re my hero!”

He kissed her cheek just like in the storybook, too.

Lava gushed under Katara’s cheeks, and Katara waited, frozen, for her body, now on fire, to melt through the snow and into the center of the earth.

“K’tara? Katara!” Katara’s princess patted her cheeks, and her best friend looked ready to cry. “Katara, you’re burning up!” Aang patted a little bit of snow on her and sounded like he would need his breathing-box. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Katara hugged him, laughed until he did, too, and patted his back when she pulled away.

“Shush, princess! The dragon is coming!”

“A dragon?”

“The dragon! Now hurry, princess!” Katara spun and made room for him on her back. “The dragon’s super strong and is gonna burn the school down! We gotta run away! With Appa! Into the storm!”

Aang tugged his best friend’s beanie more snugly on his head and giggled as his brave knight herded him onto her back. Katara ran fast and long enough for both of them. They dodged fireballs and firestorms until princess, knight, and Appa were covered in frost and snow and safely hidden from their enemies.

Sokka found their hideout and poked a hole that broke it open from top to bottom.

Katara bowed and Aang did the same, and they finally broke character to hug.

It had never been harder for them to leave the schoolhouse.

Tomorrow felt like a hundred years away.

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

👏I👏stan👏childhood👏friend👏AUs👏

I broke my rule to keep this under 1,000 words but I just...I had half of another answer to the ask written when this idea hit me like a truck. I just couldn’t resist. And it felt criminal to cut any more words than I already did😭

Hurt/comfort dialogue prompt ask: Send me a number with an ATLA ship and any other details you want❤️

(I’ll add a read more + I’ll post this and the other dialogue-ask-prompt-ficlets on my ao3 when I get to my PC!)

Also just a PSA I love this fandom and everyone in it y'all are so kind and sweet it’s making me short-circuit😭

[thecleverdame]

Gods of Twilight - 6

Alpha!Werewolf!Sam x Human!Reader

Master List (posting schedule is there as well)

Summary: You marry Sam, The King of Lebanon, as part of an alliance between two lands. You soon discover that nothing is as it appears and that your husband is hiding a secret that may end your relationship before it can begin.

Warnings: smut, dub-con, canon-level violence, domestic discipline, spanking

Beta:  ilikaicalie

*Chapters 7-25 (26 posting tonight) are available on Patreon. To get access to this and many other stories, subscribe for a pledge of 2.50 per month. CLICK HERE

-

Two Months Later

“How often do the two of you lie together?” The midwife asks, sitting across from you in judgment. You’ve been married eight months and you’re still not pregnant. Most of the kingdom sees it as your only job and for the most part, it is. As the queen, it’s your duty to provide your husband with heirs to his throne.

Growing up you could never picture yourself as a mother, in fact, you’d never confess it but in truth, the idea of having children is not appealing at all. But your ability to give Sam children is imperative and it’s a responsibility you take seriously.

“Enough.” You shift uncomfortably.

“Apparently not,” she quips. “Have you keep keeping yourself warm during the nights? It will help your womb ripen.”

“I think so, I don’t feel cold,” you offer, looking back to your bed. “Isn’t there something we can do? Herbs I could drink?”

“I’ll concoct a tincture, perhaps it will help.” She eyes you and then shrugs. “I’ll speak to your maids. Make sure they’re stoking the fire throughout the night.”

--

After months of seclusion, you begin to plot your own personal rebellion. Most nights are yours alone. The last of the servants come to check the fire just before midnight, leaving you alone until the morning light breaks.

You typically stay up late, reading by candlelight into the early hours of the morning. It’s on one of these late nights when you’re curled up by the fire that you hear gentle snoring coming from the hall.

The night guard, Tobias, has fallen asleep.

Opening the heavy door to your room you peek out to find him propped against the wall, dead asleep on his feet. Collecting a shawl you inch out the door, tiptoeing silently down the hallway. You scamper carefully over the stone walkways, stopping to exchange your shawl for that of a servant’s and make your way to the exterior of the castle.

You walk with the stealth of a ghost, silent and light, making your way through the dark streets of the village and out of the city. You walk and walk until the fields surrounding the castle are visible under the moonlight. Staying in the castle at night feels like a waste of this perfect opportunity to slip into the dark.

Over the following weeks, you come to crave the experiences of nighttime, when the stars kiss the sky, decorating the heavens above like the most exquisite jewels. Beauty beyond human creation, all for simply raising your eyes instead of watching the timid footfalls that take you toward the aging drawbridge.

It’s here in Lebanon you discover your thirst for life after sunset, seeking ghosts of the past and whatever else prefers the world without the glare of the sun. In this shadowless black your ears are perfect, your senses heightened.

The night guard into a predictable pattern and you watch the clock tick well past midnight as you pry the door open to assure he’s asleep, which most night he is. These free nights are spent in the fields, laying your back, staring up at the heavens and dreaming of a different life, an existence where you’re free to choose your own path. If you were a man you’d go on grand adventures, exploring distant lands and uncharted territories. You get lost in these waking dreams, oftentimes for hours.

Tonight you’re running at full speed across the open field, your breath fast and heavy as you push farther and faster, skin covered in sweat. Your feet make little noise as they kiss the ground under the fat moon hanging full in the sky.

You slow as you reach the forest's edge, careful to make your way to the dirt path you know all too well. You’ve spent many a night alone in these woods, wandering and exploring like the little girl you used to be. There’s freedom out here in the dark. There’s no one to watch you spin under the stars, and hum quietly to yourself as you walk along.

Normally you’d have turned around by now but you’re full of pent of energy and eager to push the boundaries and explore further than you ever have before. You’re not sure of exactly where you are, but also unconcerned. It’s as you take a fork to the left, deeper into the forest that you sense you are no longer alone.

Stopping for a moment you listen to the sounds of the night, but all the peeping insects and squeaking bats have gone silent. In truth, it’s the silence that sends a chill up your spine. It’s dark out, but the moon is full and you’re eyes have adjusted enough to inspect your surroundings.

Listening carefully, you take a few more steps, spying something moving out of the corner of your eye. Drawing in a pregnant breath you freeze and slowly turn, only to find a sight that nearly stops your heart.

Fifty paces into the woods there’s a massive white wolf standing in the brush. You swear its eyes are glowing yellow, fixed on you where you stand.

Every story you’ve ever heard of the strange wolves of Lebanon floods back to you. You and the beast watch each other in the silent forest.

Slowly you take a step and the wolf moves in tandem, shoulders rolling as it matches your stride. You take, one, two, three more steps down the path and the wolf moves alongside, flanking you.

You should be afraid, you're not sure what’s wrong with you but find yourself sure that the creature has no intention to harm you. When you stop walking the wolf stops on cue.

“Hello,” you call out softly. “You won’t hurt me, will you?” The beast cocks it’s head at you as if drawn to your voice. “Can’t you sleep either? Why don’t we walk together for a while.”

The white wolf takes a dozen steps toward you, sniffing the air.

You continue walking, watching this giant dog follow at your pace.

“You are quite beautiful,” you offer, feeling rather silly at the prospect of speaking to an animal, but that doesn’t stop you. Your father always spoke sweetly to his horses and in return they were loyal steeds. This can’t be much different. Perhaps some of the wild tales are rooted in truth. “Can I tell you a secret,” you angle your path closer to the side of the road and the wolf gets closer as well. “It would be nice to have a friend. Most of the time I am rather lonely and it looks as if you are alone too. Perhaps we could be friends. I often walk at night, you could join me if you like.”

You wander on for the better part of an hour babbling on about your life. The beast stays with you, gradually getting closer and closer until it takes a final step onto the path next to you, walking barely an arm's length away.

Perhaps this kingdom holds magic. You’ve always believed in a subtle world beyond what you can see, the veil that holds the dead and the enlightened. This isn’t so far removed, it seems in this place the wolves are indeed part of something truly mystical.

“Do you not have a pack?” you ask, wandering along. “I am married but my husband does not like me very much. He prefers the company of his brother and other women I suspect. I came here to marry him so I don’t know anyone, you see. I am strictly decorative. A pretty thing to be seen and not heard. Sometimes I fear I will never be heard again.”

With realizing how close the beast has gotten, the wolf brushes your hand, his soft fur cold in the night air.

Crack.  

The sound of a branch breaking makes you jump and the wolf instantly leaps into the woods. You turn around on the path, alone and suddenly frightened as you watch the silhouette of man appear.

“What do we have here?” His voice floats out into the night as he approaches.

“Who are you, good sir?” you ask, forcing an even voice despite quaking nerves.

“Who are you young one, to be alone in the woods in the middle of the night.”

“You should not come any closer!” You warn, inching backward.

He whistles and after a moment another man appears. Two large men who are getting closer by the second.

“A woman just wandering around in the night in Lebanon?” the new man snorts. “Maybe it’s a gift for us, a whore ready to do her duty.”

“I beg your pardon, sir.” You square off your shoulders. “I am aware that don’t know me, so I will let your comment pass, but you are speaking to a queen.”

“A queen?” The first man chortles. “Oh my. I’m honored.” He mines a bow.

“So am I.” The second man adds.

They separate, each getting into position to grab you and you prepare to run, heart thumping faster and faster.

It’s as the first man lunges for you that the white wolf springs from the forest, pouncing on one of the men and taking him to the ground. The night becomes a mix of snarls and screams as you take off like an arrow, bare feet pounding the dirt.

You run faster than you have in your entire life, sprinting back the way you came. You run and run until you can’t breathe and are to forced to stop and recover, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings.

You’re lost. For a moment you fall to your knees, sitting in the dirt and crying to yourself. But it doesn’t take long to pull yourself back together, looking at the stars to find your way home. Your father taught you many things and celestial navigation was one of them.

It takes you hours to make your way home, the sun will be rising soon and you’re lucky to have snuck back through the village. It’s as you pass the stables that you come upon chaos, knights shouting for reinforcements.

You forgot all stealth and approach the first man you see.

“What is happening?” You ask grabbing the arm of a giant man clad in battle armor.

“The King was attacked and The Queen is missing. We’re forming a search party.”

Your mind swirls. What a wretched night, first you were assaulted in the woods and now Sam has been attacked as well.

“Is he alive?” you ask, confusion suddenly bleeding into a panic. The knight pulls away, annoyance brimming. “Answer me! Is Sam alive?”

In truth, it’s referring to The King as Sam that draws the attention of every person in the castle’s keep. They all fall silent turning to find their queen, covered in dirt with a torn dress.

“Forgive me.” The knight falls to his knee. “I did not mean to speak to you in such a way m’lady.”

Propriety is the least of your concern as you step forward. “I couldn’t care less about how you’re speaking to me. What happened to The King? Take me to him now.”

“My Lady.” Philip is beside you, gently taking your elbow. “Come with me.”

-

*Chapters 7-25 (26 posting tonight) are available on Patreon. To get access to this and many other stories, subscribe for a pledge of 2.50 per month. CLICK HERE

[dilfdoctordoom]

Who do you think Bette hates the most in the batfam or fellow hero wise?

Out of the Batfamily, I’d say she tries her very best to get along with everyone, but it works to varying degrees. Like, while I like to imagine they reconcile in their later years, at the point of being Hawkfire, Bette probably holds a grudge towards Dick for telling her to quit. For that incident, it was probably a little one, but like... I think it would’ve grown after the Spyral incident. Not because he was forced to pretend to be dead (she’d be more pissed at Bruce, and happy he’s alive), but because, like, he knows exactly how much Kathy meant to her... and he never told her that she was alive... she wouldn’t want to, but she’d probably be mad as hell with him. That anger would definitely extend to Bruce, but frankly, Bette probably has a lot of anger towards her older cousin that she doesn’t really want to address.

She’s also absolutely trading passive-aggressive comments with Talia and nobody ━━ not even them ━━ know why they dislike each other so very much.

As for the larger superhero community as a whole... hm. Jesse Quick, maybe? I love Jesse more than life itself, but for some reason, I think she & Bette would hate each other.

When they first met & before they really got to know each other, definitely Lilith. One hundred per cent Lilith. Lilith canonically starts off thinking that Bette is this airhead rich kid & Bette does absolutely nothing to convince her otherwise. Like, they definitely get closer & become friends, but nobody outside of Titans West/LA actually knows they became friends... Dick is still vaguely convinced that Lilith is down to murder Bette. Bette & Lilith think it’s funny so whenever they’re in the same place together, they act like there is no being on Earth they hate more than each other.

Tara II doesn’t like Bette because she thinks Bette & Garfield are together. Bette doesn’t like Tara II because seeing her makes Gar freak out. If these two ever sat down & had an actual conversation, they’d probably get along fine. They would never be best buddies or anything, but, yeah, Bette wouldn’t hate her guts.

If Bette sees Mirage, it’s on site. She doesn’t know about the whole Nightwing incident, but Miriam has slut-shamed her a lot (it happened in a comic once, can’t remember the exact issue)... the number one way to piss Bette off is slut-shaming... if Bette ever did discover the Nightwing incident, she would absolutely commit murder. 

Holly Granger absolutely loathes Bette. It’s less about her personality, more that she & Dawn used to date & Holly is kinda overprotective of her big sister. It’s also a little bit because of her personality, but that’s because Holly’s clashes with hers a lot. It does not help that when Holly first threatened to kill Bette, Bette’s response was to pinch her cheeks and call her adorable.

If Bette ever met Green Arrow, they’d either get along great or hate each other. There’s no in-between here. Ollie is bad at making friends, Bette is great at making friends, it would depend on where they’re both at emotionally. I adore it either way.

I reckon Bette would’ve gotten along great with Wally West & be a little bitter when Barry came back. Like, no, give her the cute Flash back, she liked him.

Anyways, feel free to add onto this if you want! I probably forgot some people lmao

[cinaja]

Before the Wall Part 3

For the entire series and the summary, click here

Is anyone reading this? If so, please give me a sign! This is my first time posting a story and I'd love some feedback

Disclaimer: characters, world etc. belong to Sarah j. Maas

----

There is another desert. Great. Simply great. Sometimes, Miryam wonders if fate hates her.

But in a small town on the edge of the sand, a Fae female with a bad cough that she is treating tells her about the human rebels who have set up their camp just on the other side of the sand. The female means it as a warning, but Miryam has to lower her head to hide her smile.

"I mean it", the female insists, "You may be part human, but you are also half Fae and these people won't like that."

This worries Miryam more than she wants to admit. But she swore a vow to save her people and another one to be kind, to help others - and for both, she needs the rebellion.

So she spends her last coins on a camel and sets off.

On the first day, she runs into a pack of Martax and almost gets eaten (again). On the second day, there is a stabbing pain in her lower body. Closer inspection reveals that she is, apparently, on her period. (Of course. Of course she gets her first bleeding while stuck in the middle of a desert. It`s just typical.)

On the third day, she runs out of water. She was supposed to reach an oasis that day, but it is dried out. She guesses it is a side effect of thirst (or maybe of the heat) when she starts seeing strings of light, running through the air and over the ground. She blinks and they are gone.

On the fourth day, she falls asleep in the shadow of a sand dune and wakes up in a small cabin. Miryam jumps to her feet - and slams into a wall of hard air. Around her, there is are symbols drawn on the wooden panels. Forming a perfect circle and trapping her within.

Miryam has seen those symbols before. For a moment, she thinks that she`s still asleep and this is another nightmare. But something tells her this is very real.

"You know", a voice drawls behind her, "this would have been much easier for you if you had stayed unconscious.

Miryam spins around and comes face to face with a High Fae female. In her hands, she holds an ancient-looking book bound in black leather.

The female is a witch

Fear shoots through Miryam. This can't be happening. Not when she was so close to reaching the rebellion. For a moment, Miryam thinks that she sees the strings of light again, wrapping around the witch, running through the air. But they vanish as quickly as they appeared

The witch raises her hands and smiles at Miryam. "You should consider it an honour, girl. Your life will be used for something greater."

Miryam doesn't beg for mercy. She knows there won't be any and spent her entire life on her knees - she won't die that way, too.

The witch begins chanting

Miryam can feel the magic, wrapping around her body. Burning, searing. (This is what her mother must have felt in her last moments). She raises her hands, like she might ward of the looming death.

The lights are back. Strings of light, wrapping around her. Miryam pushes against them and something inside her rises up, up, up.

Burning pain.

Her body is on fire. It hurts. Hurts so badly she thinks she may be dying. She leans to the sides and retches up blood.

Somehow, she manages to sit up.

Around her, the house is reduced to cinders. Where the witch stood, there is nothing but a pile of ashes on the ground. The book is still there, untouched, but everything else is destroyed. But the strings of light are still there, fainter but clearly visible.

It is impossible. Miryam should be dead - worse than dead.

She wants to laugh, but she only manages a broken sob. She knows enough about witches from her time in Ravenia's court to understand what it means that the female is dead and she is still alive. What those strings of light mean and why they appeared just when she bled for the first time.

Miryam is a witch.

It has to be some kind of sick joke by whoever decides these things - maybe the Cauldron. She has seen such unspeakable horrors inflicted by witches and witchers - on humans, on her people - and she...

Stumbling, Miryam gets to her feet. She doesn’t know why, but she takes the book when she staggers outside. (Maybe she knows it is too dangerous to just be left lying around. Or maybe some small part of her understands that she will still need it.)

Through some stroke of luck, the stable is still standing and inside, she finds her camel standing next to two horses. The animals look up when she enters. They stand frozen, staring at her.

She puts the book into the saddle bag next to the one on healing. It feels wrong, death and life together. The animals still watch at her, without an inch of fear. It`s not natural. But Miryam once heard that witches can talk to animals. Maybe it is true, after all. She unties the horses.

"Go north", she tells them, "that's the way out of the desert." Then, she climbs into her camel's saddle.

She decides right then and there that those powers might be evil, but she is not. And she won't use them. Not now and not ever. So she locks them away, right alongside all that pain and the memories she cannot face, the past she chose to leave behind

(Years later, Miryam will look back and wonder what would have happened if she had chosen differently. If it would have saved her all the pain that later came with realising that there is no way to lock away parts of yourself forever - or if it would have broken her to face these things right there.)

During the following days, she begins to understand that choosing that she doesn't want to be a witch doesn't mean that she stops being one. The strings are everywhere. She doesn't understand what they mean, but they. Drive. Her. Crazy. Then, there are the animals. Snakes, hares, even bugs - all of them suddenly approach her without an inch of fear.

"Go away!", Miryam yells at them, "I don't want this!" But if they do understand, they certainly don't listen.

Finally, burning sand gives way to soft grass and trees. Miryam ties her camel to a tree and runs her fingers through the grass. She smiles. Now, she just has to find the rebellion, then everything will be fine.

She takes the rest of her food out of the saddle bag and sits down, back leaning against a boulder. Just as she is about to take a bite of the hard cheese, the forest around her goes silent. Miryam is on her feet, knife in her hand, in a second. Quickly, she climbs onto the boulder.

Three Naga burst into the clearing. There is a dark shimmer around them, like an aura. The first Naga takes a step forward - and collapses, the tip of an arrow pointing out of his throat. An Ash arrow.

Another arrow goes flying and hits a second Naga in the shoulder. The faeries whirl, snarling, just as three people appear out of the bushes. Two men, one woman.

And all of them human.

The Naga, surprisingly, don't stand a chance. A few seconds and they are all dead. One of the human men, old enough that his blond hair is already streaked with gray, is down as well with a nasty slice over his stomach. His companion, brown-haired and handsome, kneels next to him, while the woman now has an arrow pointed at Miryam

"What is a pretty little faerie like you doing here?", she asks sharply.

But the brown-haired man looks up. His eyes slide from Miryam's face to her arm, where here sleeve slid up to reveal the brand on her arm. His eyes widen slightly, but his tone is light as he says: "You know, Tia, sometimes you can be shockingly blind. Can't you see that she is partially human?"

He stands up und jerks his head at the woman - Tia - who lowers her bow and takes his place at the injured man's side.

"Are you going to come down from that rock, or do you need me to help you?", he asks mockingly.

Miryam scowls at him and clims down. Her camel is pulling at its rope, but as soon as she puts a hand on its side, it calms down.

"Thank you. For your help", she says.

"You`re welcome. Although I do wonder what you are doing here. This isn't the safest region." He is younger than Miryam thought at first, five years older than her at most

"I survived worse”, she says.

The man glances at the brand on her arm again. "I can imagine."

But Miryam's attention goes to the injured man, who is now groaning in pain. "Someone needs to take care of that wound or he won't live another hour”, she says and starts searching her saddle back for her supplies

"You know anything of it?", Tia asks, but her eyes are full of hope

Miryam nods and kneels next to the injured, inspecting the wound. "I need some water", she says and Tia goes running

"I was looking for the rebellion", Miryam adds, in answer to the man's earlier question, "You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?"

He laughs softly. "Oh, I most certainly do. I just happen to be the leader of this particular group." He sketches a mocking bow. "Jurian, at your service."

----

Note: Like I said, more action this time. Miryam being a witch (or having any power at all) is not canon, but this headcanon is a particular favourite of mine and it doesn't contradict any of the information we have on her. Actually, there are some hints about her having certain abilities that I might just do a post on later

The next part will be about the beginnings of the War in other places: In the Night Court, Rhysand's father visits his son in the Illyrian camps for the first time in centuries and on the Continent, tensins are running high while Prince Drakon tries to deal with the fallout of his broken engagement

Edit: It just occurred to me that I don't think I ever specify Jurian's age later on (kind of forgot, oops), so I just wanted to make it clear here that he is NOT actually five years older than Miryam. I thought they'd have an age gap of 1.5-2 years, no more.

[setsureadsshit]

Lost At Sea: A List of WIP’s I am finally letting go of [ Part 4 ]

[ Part 1 ] [ Post 2 ] [ Post 3 ]

*see posts 1-3*

let me (under your skin) by godsensei

Summary:  Hinata unknowingly moves into the apartment directly beside Oikawa and Iwaizumi's. Oikawa is delighted.

Last Update: 2016

Fandom & Main Pairing: Haikyuu!! ; Hizuwa

Personal Notes: IT WAS SUCH A PROMISING START, I’M SO MAD. I...could probably hold onto it for another year or two but you know, this whole process is about letting go right? Still sad :<

Ten by Azkaabanter

Summary: Oliver's in Central City on Mayoral business, and to take a break from being the Green Arrow in Starling City for one month. Just one.His temporary office is in the crime lab of the CCPD, because what place in Central could be safer than the police station? And what room could be better than one he gets to share with the shy, nerdy, clumsy CSI?But Barry Allen isn't at all what he seems.Oliver can see if you're dangerous, it's a gift; a power.

A toddler... a one.

A cop... a five.

A hitman... a seven.

Barry Allen... a ten.

Last Update: 2018

Fandom & Main Pairing: The Flash/Arrow ; Flarrow

Personal Notes: I’d have kept this one if not for the fact that the 4th chapter isn’t actually a chapter but an update promising to finish the story and then it’s been another 2 years, lol.

Glow Worms by gurglesnaps

Summary:  I knew this wasn't a good idea. None of Stiles' ideas ever were.

Last Update: 2016

Fandom & Main Pairing: Teen Wolf ; Sterek

Personal Notes: It is rare for me to so much as look at a fic written in first person, usually after the first paragraph I’ve noped out of it, it’s just not a tense I enjoy. But this fic not only caught my attention but I held onto it so that should tell you something. It’s only 3 chapters which is a disappointment.

Open Book by AggressiveWhenStartled

Summary: “If you jump out of this plane without a parachute one more time, I don’t know what I'm gonna do, but you will not like it.” Bucky yanked, hard, on one of the straps holding the parachute on—Steve gave a soft grunt of complaint. Bucky shot him a look and jerked it harder.

This work has been discontinued and has been completely rewritten as Closed Book. This is not a sequel, prequel, or otherwise related. Read Closed Book with the confidence it will conclude, but this is an older version of it and will not.

Last Update: 2017

Fandom & Main Pairing: The Avengers ; Stucky

Personal Notes: Pretty self explanatory on this one I think, lol. I haven’t read Closed Book yet but I loved what there was of open book so it’s def on my list to tackle next!

Hard to Breathe by sourwulfur

Summary:  What with the Nemeton making things difficult for Stiles and the gang, a school project shoves Danny and Stiles into spending time together. That little push may be all it takes to start forming a bond as more than just classmates. Maybe Danny could be the one to help Stiles find a light in the dark where his friends are already succeeding.

Last Update: 2014

Fandom & Main Pairing: Teen Wolf ; Stanny? Diles? It’s such a rare pair I honestly don’t know.

Personal Notes: I think this might be the one and only fic I have ever read that was Danny x Stiles in my many many many many many many MANY years of reading teen wolf fanfic. It was decent, I liked where it was going, I just wish we’d gotten to the end. There’s like, 9 chapters but a lot is left up in the air so if you need closure, don’t even start this one.

Junkyard Dogs by TrashPanda

Summary: Orphaned at a young age, Derek is sold into the slave market. His dynamic as an alpha, and a werewolf, make him a desirable slave to have working in Peter's alpha brothel, The Junkyard.Stiles is a 21 year old virgin omega who's tired of going through heats alone. Dating isn't a realistic prospect, so he seeks out The Junkyard, hoping to maybe find an alpha to help him through his rapidly approaching heat.Then he meets Derek, one of the Junkyard Dogs, who's also about to go into rut. And nothing could stop the pull they feel towards one another.

Last Update: 2018

Fandom & Main Pairing: Teen Wolf ; Sterek

Personal Notes: This one actually hasn’t been left for very long I’m just no longer interested in the story it has to tell

Some Kind Of Madness by cutestpixieyoueversaw

Summary: ****WARNING: Story is currently being rewritten and organized until June/July 2018. Deletions and additions will happen in the meantime***Stiles apparently has a type. You know unfairly attractive for this worldly plane while having perhaps some of the best wit around? The kind of wit that could be spoken with only facial expressions. Bonus if they gave Einstein a run for his money. Oh he forgot to add Alpha because it was now a thing, perhaps even a kink if he was going to be really honest with himself.Or the one where Stiles realizes that his life should be a MTV show because the drama he has is worthy of cable television.Or the one where Stiles meets another pack and gets to understand that Bella and Sookie really had the worst luck ever and he is not them but really it's reading like he is. P.S. Tinkerbell is a bitch.

Last Update: 2014

Fandom & Main Pairing: Teen Wolf ; Sterek

Personal Notes: I feel like I remember liking this but it’s been so long and while it claims it’s being re-written, I’ve kinda just lost interest. Hopefully the revamped version is even better than the original and I def encourage y’all to give it a chance.

By All Four by Sunshineditty

Summary:  Sentinel Jim Ellison and his guide Blair Sandburg are on the trail of a serial killer who murders young latent and online sentinels in the Pacific Northwest. Derek Hale - an unbonded guide - is trying to live through the pity of friends and family when his sentinel ex-girlfriend and the guide she left him for return to Beacon Hills. None of them will predict the series of events and the feral sentinel who will change the course of their lives forever.

Last Update: 2016

Fandom & Main Pairing: Teen Wolf ; Sterek

Personal Notes: I don’t know enough about Sentinel to really judge the fic, but I do remember it made me want to actually hunt down the original show to watch because it seemed interesting.  

No Longer Human by battlegod (Battle_god_Ye_Xiu)

Summary:  He now understood why moths would flit towards a flame, pining for its warmth even as they caught fire. It was the irresistible attraction of light when one was surrounded by darkness. Reaching for the lone spark that shone at night, was that not the instinct of all living things?

Last Update: 2019

Fandom & Main Pairing: The King’s Avatar ; Huáng Shàotiān xYù Wénzhōu

Personal Notes: I’ve watched this drama like, 20 times but I’ve lost interest in fics pretty much. Mostly because it’s understandably hard to find anything in english, lol. We can’t all be Untamed.

Swapped by writeonclara

Summary: if u wanted my number u couldve just asked

u didnt have to steal my whole phone ;)

Steve stared down at his phone, confused. He didn't recognize the number – except, oh wait, he really did. That was his number. On his phone.He flipped the phone over, then slid one hand down his face. 

Not his phone.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

Last Update: 2018

Fandom & Main Pairing: Captain America ; Stucky

Personal Notes: It’s a cute start but not interesting enough for me to hold onto. Stucky is one of those....tangential pairings that is more I know a lot of people who ship it and the stories tend to be interesting so I’ll read it when I happen across something that catches my eye but I don’t like...go hunting for it.

two drums in the grey by brandywine421

Summary: “Standard disclaimer – you are not on the first or second string of our emergency call trees,” Cisco said.

“So why are you here?” Barry yawned.

“We’ve got a new speedster. Wally West,” Caitlin said, preemptively wincing.

Last Update: 2018

Fandom & Main Pairing: The Flash/Green Arrow ; Flarrow

Personal Notes: This is actually the second in a series, the first story is complete and I honestly don’t remember much about it but it must have been good if I subscribed to the sequel. So take that as you will, lol.

[geneshaven]

Mother And Daughter

Part Four

It was past 3:00am when Oliver and Felicity ended their tale, and as Donna listened to Oliver telling her how and why he killed Damien Darkhe, she stared at Felicity and sent a mental hug over to her on the couch. Darkhe created a lot of damage in her daughter’s life, and Donna was in the same camp of not placing any blame on Felicity for what happened at Havenrock. The man also had his goons shoot and paralyze her daughter, ruining what was most probably the best night of her life after Oliver proposed to her. He killed Laurel, creating another black shadow onto their mission to save Star City. All of it swirled in Donna’s mind, and a brief image of her being held helpless in Darkhe’s grip at the Loft made her shiver. She unconsciously reached up and ran her fingers over the fading bruises that still lingered there. Oliver and Felicity  (and Thea) saved her life that night. That was a new reality for her, one that made her feel suddenly alive in a way she had never felt before.

“Mom, are you okay,” Felicity asked?

Donna nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m…I’m fine.” She looked over at her daughter and a sudden wave of admiration washed over her. Felicity had made herself a part of something special when she agreed to follow Oliver’s crusade. Her technological wizardry on the computer was amazing and Donna felt a deep pride in her daughter’s heroics. “Honey,” she continued her answer. “I don’t…I feel like…I don’t know what to say. You two have truly found yourselves in each other, like I said you would. I’m proud of you. Both of you.”

Felicity got off the couch and went to her mother. She reached Donna and bent down to her chair and took her mother into her arms with a hug that was pure relief. “Mom,” she whispered into Donna’s ear. “I’m so happy that this secret I’ve kept from you is part of your life now.” She stood up, taking Donna’s hands into hers. “Oliver and I have…well, we’ve had some problems when it comes to our personal relationship. But when I’m behind my computer, and sometimes out in the field, I find a balance that keeps me fighting, for the city and for us. We are not invincible when it comes to fighting bad guys. The same goes for putting our hearts out there and looking for love and trust and…” She paused and looked back at Oliver. “And truth,” she added.

Oliver had stayed silent after his tale of Damien Darkhe. He sat on the couch and watched Donna and Felicity interact; they crossed a bridge that had spanned across their relationship, keeping them apart for so many years. He was helpless as a smile began to spread across his face. When Felicity looked at him and reminded him of what they had lost being together, Oliver felt the sealed doors in his heart suddenly start to swing open. The possibilities ahead for him, for both of them, did not seem as daunting as they did a few short months ago when she turned her back on their romance. He felt the possibility of forgiveness nearly bring him to his knees. That Felicity seemed on the verge of having the talk they’ve been avoiding after the damage Oliver caused by lying to her about William was something he could believe in now. Felicity had once again shown him that her loving grace was as powerful a weapon as any out there.

Donna nodded at Felicity’s assessment of her bond with Oliver. “You two are amazing,” she enthused. “I’m so proud of both of you. Did I mention that already?”

Both Oliver and Felicity embraced Donna’s approval of their lives together. Oliver really didn’t expect any negative drama from Donna when they told her their story. She has shown resiliency as a strong person, one who raised a daughter on her own. One who instilled strength into her daughter by her example of fortitude and determination. She had planted the seeds of love into Felicity’s heart and made her stronger for it. And maybe that is why he was saved from the tragic life he was set upon back on the island. That love blossomed and gave a light to Oliver, one that he followed out of the darkness.

“Donna,” Oliver finally spoke from the couch. “It’s you who is amazing. You have endured so much to have a daughter you can be proud of. But what you did for Felicity, providing a loving home, a place where she could grow into her talents…it’s made the real difference in what we do and how we overcome the danger in our lives. You gave Felicity her greatest weapon against the turmoil our lives exist in. You gave her empathy. You gave her the belief that love is not something to be afraid of. You gave her to me because she taught me the same things. I’m honored that we can now add your story to ours.”

He stood up and went over to them. As he stepped up beside them, Donna gathered Oliver and Felicity into her arms and a connection to her life and theirs clicked into place. “Thank you,” she whispered to both of them. “Thank you for trusting me.”

*

Oliver pulled the hideaway bed out of the couch, while Donna and Felicity did a quick removal of the mint-chip ice cream bowls they ate while sharing their stories. Oliver was ready to find an out of the way place on the floor to lie down. He had been ready to go find a motel to stay in, but Donna, and Felicity too, would not hear of it. He got a blanket and pillow from Donna and lay them down next to the hideaway bed.

“You guys…” Donna said. “I’m going to bed. I almost forgot that I promised a co-worker I would cover her shift, which starts in ten hours. Despite your awesome superhero adventures, life goes on for the rest of us. Maybe you guys can come visit me while I make the tourists their drinks?”

“Yeah, we could do that,” Felicity told her. Oliver had already stretched himself out on the floor next to the bed. A brief frown creased her forehead as she looked down at him settling in. “Wow,” she exclaimed as a huge yawn distorted her features. “I’m bushed. Mom, thanks for…well, thanks for putting us up, and for putting up with us.”

Donna hugged her daughter. “You don’t have to thank me, honey. We’re in this together now, right?”

“Right,” Felicity answered, hugging her back.

“Donna,” Oliver spoke from the floor. “Thanks for listening. I know it’s a lot to take in…but we’re here for you if you need any help processing all this.”

“I know Oliver,” she responded. A small smile crossed her face. “Maybe I could take a picture of you sometime when you’re wearing your Green Arrow costume. You could sign if for me and I can frame it and hang on the wall.”

Oliver smiled back at her. “Yeah, maybe you could.”

“Goodnight you two. Felicity, you know where everything is…you know, the bathroom and such.” Donna yawned herself as she turned and went into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

*

Felicity was lying on top of the covers on the bed and could not find her way into sleep. She was completely conscious of Oliver lying on the floor beneath her, and that earlier frown on her brow returned. She could hear his breathing drifting up to her and Felicity could feel his presence start to send a tremble through her. His nearness brought back so many memories, so many desires.

“Oliver,” she called out. “Are you still awake?”

“Yes,” he answered immediately. “Of course I am. What’s on your mind?”

Felicity rolled over to the side of the bed and looked down at Oliver. “I don’t want to make things more complicated than they already are between  us…but, could you come up here and hold me?”

Oliver didn’t have to be asked twice. He rose from the floor, discarding the blanket on him, and climbed into the bed with Felicity. He took her into his arms and held her as if he had found a life preserver to keep him from sinking below the surface of his life without her.

They fell asleep that way, both finding a peace which has eluded them for too long. Neither of them, (and Donna too) would be ready for the disaster that was to come, some ten hours later.

@it-was-a-red-heeler @memcjo @swordandarrow @hope-for-olicity @icannotbelieveiamhere @cruzrogue @lageniuswannabe

[petri808]

From Awkward Beginnings

FT next-gen draft?  Nashi Dragneel & Arashi Fullbuster college AU story.  

There she was again, sitting with her group of friends like most Monday and Wednesday afternoons.  He had to switch with a co-worker to get this shift, but they had stopped questioning him about it after the third time of asking.  Arashi didn’t want to admit even though it was so painfully obvious to all of them that he had a crush on the pretty salmon-haired Freshman.  Who wouldn’t be, he sighed, wiping along the counter and trying not to stare...  The girl had the most electrifying blue eyes, an infectious beautiful smile, and her bubbling laughter shot an arrow piercing his heart.    

Too bad he was too shy to make a move, relegated to watching from a distance and gleaming information through conversations.  His friend Sage was the one who found out her name, age, and college status, passing it along to him, but most of it was just through observation. Arashi notices a couple tables on the other side leaving and heads over to clean them up.                  

Once the shy barista had moved to the other end of the room, “Hey Nashi,” her friend Chieko Redfox leans in close, whispering and giggling in her ear, “I think he was looking at you again, see, I’m telling you he likes you!  He’s only done it like every time we come in here for the past month.”

“No way,” she flushes the same shade as her hair and turns her head, “he’s probably just staring out the window or something watching for new customers.”

Logan Bastia, Chieko’s boyfriend laughs, “you guys are too funny, so that’s the guy you were telling me about?”  He leans forward, “that’s Nieve’s older brother.”

“Who’s Nieve?”

“Oh, I thought you guys remembered her from high school, she was a Freshman that transferred in our Senior year, but her brother had graduated the year before they moved here.”

“Then how’d you find out about her brother?”

“She and my brother had a class project together and he dropped her off at our house to work on it a couple times.  He was a really quiet guy and probably doesn’t remember me since that was a couple years ago.”

“Ooooh shy type,” Chieko pokes and tickles her friend’s side, “looks like you might have to make the first move.”

“Quit it!” Nashi swats at her friend’s hands. “No!”  She twists and turns in her seat, squealing and giggling as the onslaught continues. “Okay, okay, maybe!”

Chieko stops teasing her friend, “couldn’t be too bad,” shrugging her shoulders, “at least he’s cute.”

“I also found out he wields ice and water magic,” Logan adds to the conversation, “lucky bastard inherited magic from both his parents.”

Clasping her hands, and laughing aloud, “Oh. My. god!”  Chieko hugs onto her friend’s shoulders rocking them both, “you guys would be fire and ice!  I guess opposites really do attract!”

Another week goes by and Arashi bides his time, checking between orders for any signs of pink walking through the doors.  But the small campus Starbucks was unusually busy that day and it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to do so. Jamming through orders as the senior barista on duty, he freezes the second her voice rang through his ears.

“Hi, I’d like a grande cinnamon dulce latte please, oh with extra cinnamon.”

The cashier processes the girls order, snickering when she passes it off to Arashi, even adding a little quip of ‘she likes ithot’, to taunt the boy of water and ice.  Whatever, he snatched the paper out of his co-worker’s hand and feverishly whipped up the drink, so she wouldn’t have to wait long.  Just as he was about to toss the note, he realizes there was writing on the back of it…  10 numbers.  His heart jumped into his throat and all the moisture left it high and dry.  Arashi gulps, slowly places it in his pocket and hands the cup to the cashier who is grinning.  Ugh, he’ll get the nosy brunette back later!

It takes another 35 minutes or so for the shop to calm down.  He was quite tired from the rush, but now was the chance to clean up and get ready for the next one when classes change.  Picking up a rag, Arashi moves from one end of the room to the other, wiping down empty tables, clearing any trash from them, purposely leaving herend for last.  There was a conflict pulsing through his mind, torn should he talk to her, not talk to her, ugh, ask about the number.  Obviously, she gave it to him for a reason.  Just do it!  His consciousness yelled at him, it won’t kill you to talk to a girl!  Arashi groans, he hated when that voice was right.                

“H-Hey,” Arashi fails miserably in hiding his anxieties.  When she turns to look up at the barista, her eyes beaming, he swallows hard, “um Nashi, right?”

“That would be me, and you’re Arashi,” a hint of a giggle in her tone.

“How’d you guess my name?” She taps his name badge, giggling again. If he could die of embarrassment right then and there, he would!  Sending a wave of ice magic through his body in an effort to stop the feverish sensation, and chuckling in a means to circumvent a desire to pass out.  “Oh Duh.  So, um, how’s your coffee, do you need it warmed up or a refill?”

“Nah, I got it,” with a wink, “watch this.”  The pretty fire wielder’s hands begin to glow orange and soon, steam rises from the cup. “It’s a useful trick.”

“Fire magic, that’s a lot handier than my magic.”

“I heard you’ve got water and ice magic, I think that’s pretty cool,” giggling when she realizes the pun, “I meant, it’s handy that you have two types of magic that complement each other well.”

“Yeah,” unable to hold back the blush any longer, “I guess you’re right…. Um, c-could I ask you,” he pulls the semi-crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, “is this your phone number on here?”

“Oh, good you got it!” Nashi’s brightens up while her cheeks grow to match her hair color, “I wondered if that cashier gave it to you cause she just kept grinning when I was writing it and frankly it was kinda creeping me out.”  Her eyes sweep the ground, too filled with apprehension to look at him directly, “are you….  gonna give me yours?”

Arashi nods, then pulls out his phone, dialing the number she gave him.  Once her phone starts to ring, “there your go.”

“Thanks!”  Her fingers already flying over the screen creating a new contact in her phone.  

“It was really nice talking with you, but I sorta gotta get back to work.”

“Oh, right!” she chuckles, “I forgot you were still on the clock.”  Gathering up her belongings, “I’ll see ya next time.”

“Next time…. Oh,” Arashi reaches out and taps her shoulder, “actually, would you like to, maybe go to the movies or something this weekend?”

The corners of her eyes crinkle when a smile sweeps across her face, “I’d love to.  Call me after work and we can sort out the deets.” Nashi shoulders her backpack but before turning to leave, reaches up on tiptoes and plants a kiss on Arashi’s cheek. “Don’t forget to call,” she winks and heads out of the café.”

He touches the spot still lingering with the warmth from her lips, I definitely won’t…    

@petrisoriginals for OC art of the characters thanks to Chiire 

[suzubelle-chan]

A Cass/Ralnor Childhood Romance Au: Someday, Someplace Prologue

Hello there! First off huge shout out to @s-kinnaly, @ridersoftheapocalypse, @mrneighbourlove for creating these characters and letting me use them for this story! The title says everything you need to know-this will be a fic about Cass and Ralnor, falling in love when they are kids and watching that love and the two of them change and grow over the years. There won’t be any monsters or Big Bad to slay, but there will some angst and drama later on. Right now, however, the fic will be like 85-90% fluff. I’ll warn you when the time comes, but that won’t be for long while-given how I write. Sorry, just wanted to get this out of the way first. Now onto the fic.

Someday, Someplace Prologue A Prince’s Day, A Merchant’s Night

The royal family of Hyrule was having a wonderful lunch together, sitting around a low table as they ate and talked. Until Zelda opened her mouth and said, “Alright children let’s go over your lessons for the rest of the day.”

The room filled with groans in high pitched tones.

"Aw, Mama do we have to?" Covarog asked.

“Can’t we stay with you and Papa and Tebanam?” Kanisa asked, clinging to her father’s side.

“While I do wish we could spend more time together, you do need to go to your lessons," Ganondorf stated, stroking her head.

“Are you sure we can’t stay with you a little longer?” Ralnor asked.

“I’m sorry dears, lessons come first,” Zelda responded.

“Then can we at least take Teb with us? He’s probably really lonely…” Orana stated.

Said four-year-old was currently grabbing bits of rice and stuffing into his mouth, at the mention of his name he stopped and looked at his sister, let out a squeak.

“Teb is a little too little to go to lessons yet. Next year he will and you can help him.” Zelda replied.

The princess pouted and crossed her arms.

“Now back to your lessons,” Zelda stated, wiping her mouth with a handkerchief. “We have Science with Ms. Isley.”

“Yes!” Orana and Ralnor cheered.

“Combat Practice with Klinge.” Zelda continued.

“Yay!” All of the children exclaimed.

“And finally, your etiquette lessons with Mr. Corum.”

Now all the children groaned.

“Why Mama why?” Covarog moaned.

“Do we have to? He’s the worst!” Kanisa argued.

“His lessons are terrible!” Ralnor offered.

The queen sighed, “I know that Mr. Corum lessons may not be a fun class.”

“Mama, they are the opposite of fun. Like the opposite side of the world to fun.” Orana stated.

“Plus, he always makes us sit up so straight my back hurts,” Covarog whined.

“Well maybe if you always sat up straight it wouldn’t always feel so bad,” Zelda commented.

The children huffed all together in response.

“Trust me dears, I had to go through the same lessons when I was your age. It is important as royalty that we have the best manners so no one thinks we are rude. Once you learn all you need to know, then it will be easier and you won’t have any lessons like this,” Zelda replied.

Ralnor glanced at his father, now holding Tebanam trying to wipe the corners of his mouth, and stated, “Papa didn’t have to go through these lessons when he was little and he’s royalty.”

The king smiled, gazing at his son affectionately but when he caught his wife glaring, he stopped. “Well that is true, but I wasn’t born a royal. So, when I married your mother, she gave me all kinds of lessons about manners.”

“Were they boring?” Covarog asked.

“The absolute most boring things I sat through. But now I’m on the other side and no longer have to do those lessons.” He patted the children’s heads. “You will be too. Just smile, do as your teacher asked, practiced and soon no more manner lessons.”

All the children listened, wide-eyed. "Really?"

“Yes, but that won’t be today. So, get to your lessons. At least the sooner you get to lessons, the sooner they will be over.” The king stated. “Now off you go. Your escort is waiting for you outside the room.

“Okay!” They all cheered and gave their parents one hug before heading out.

“Why is it they always listen to you?” Zelda wondered.

Ganondorf beamed, puffing out his chest. “I just know what to say.”

“Besides lying about those lessons,” she mentioned.

“You did teach how to use silverware a couple of times. Longest dinners of my life. Of any life really. Same thing.”

Zelda rolled her eyes, "Yes dear. Of course, they were."

The children’s eyes followed as Professor Isley as walked in front of their desks, her green robes pooling around her body. Her emerald eyes shone brightly as she continued on her lesson. She flicked off one of her red curls from her face as she asked, “Okay, Prince Covarog please tell me about the food chain.” A young woman asked, a piece of chalk in

Covarog stared at Professor Isley. “Um…the food chain is who-eats-who in nature. Plants are eaten by animals and other animals eat them.”

“A rather good summarization, but I would like more details. Would anyone else like to expand on Covarog’s explanation?”

“Well the animals that eat other animals are called predators and the animals that get eaten are called prey,” Kanisa commented.

“That’s very good, your highness. Does anyone else have anything to add?”

Ralnor raised his hand and Isley called on him, “Plants in a food chain are also called producers because they can make their food from sunlight and water. Animals are consumers because they need to eat others for food.”

“Excellent as always Ralnor! Just what I was looking for!” The woman gushed.

“Thank you, ma’am.” The boy smiled.

The woman flipped over her chalkboard, now displaying a large number of animals and plants, connected to each other by a series of arrows. “Now food webs are an interconnected food chain. Take a good look at the chart and tell me what that means.”

The children stared. Covarog tilted and scratched his head. Orana’s head bobbed up and down. Kanisa continued to stare with a frown. Ralnor looked all over the board and then shot up his hand.

The teacher nodded and the boy spoke, “It means that some animals are eaten by more than one kind of animals. Like in the chart, bunnies are eaten by snakes and foxes.”

“Very good Ralnor.”

“But then why are all the arrows pointing up?” Covarog asked. “Shouldn’t they be pointing down to show who eats who?”

“Very good observation your highness. Does anybody have any ideas?”

Ralnor once again raised his hand and the professor called on him. “It’s because it shows how energy flows from producers to consumers and from one consumer to another.”

“Excellent!”

Orana sighed, “This class is sad.”

“What makes it say that?” the teacher asked.

“Well look at those poor birdies and bunnies! They get eaten up by so many other animals!”

“While it is sad that some animals are eaten, it is a part of life. If there were no predators, then all the birds and bunnies would eat all their food, and then they would get hungry. This way this keeps balance. And don’t worry, there will always be more birdies and bunnies then predators.”

“Why is that?” Orana asked.

“It’s just how nature balances out to make sure there are still animals,” responded Isley.

“What about plants? Will there always be plants?” Ralnor asked.

“Why yes,” the teacher smiled. “As long as they have soil and water, plants will always survive. Why do you ask?”

“Well birds and bunnies can run away from predators, but plants can’t move. They are just stuck in the ground by their roots. I just really like plants and I would hate to see them all go.”

Isley smiled, “You truly possess a wonderful mind. While it is true that many plants are defenseless to being eaten, there are some plants have defenses that stop animals from eating them.”

“There are plants can defend themselves?” Ralnor asked, incuriously.

"Yes, some plants will have certain attributes that make animals wary or incapable of eating them. Some plants produce spikes that hurt whoever tries to eat them."

“Is that why the roses in the garden have thorns?” Kanisa asked.

“Or why cacti have their sharp spines?” Orana asked.

“Indeed. Other plants produce liquids that will make animals sick or even kill them if they eat them. Those are known as poisonous plants.”

The prince let out a soft, “Whoa…”

“Whoa indeed. So, it very important to not eat any unfamiliar plants-whether they are berries, roots, or leaves unless an expert tells you it’s okay.

Orana raised her hand and asked, “Is it possible that broccoli is poisonous?”

“No why do you ask?” the teacher replied.

“Because it tastes so bad. How can something like that not make you sick?”

The whole classroom giggled.

“While some plants don’t have the best tastes, they are not poisonous.”

“Mama didn’t pay you to say that, did she?” Ralnor asked.

The teacher laughed again, wiping a tear from your eye. “No again. You little smart-alec you. Now it’s time for all of you to head to your other lessons.”

“Okay,” the children grabbed their books and papers.

Ralnor walked over to the teacher and tugged at her skirt. "Excuse me, Ms. Isley, could you teach us more about poisonous plants?”

“We’ll have to see, but I am very pleased about your curiosity. Never lose that." She stated, tapping his mind.

The boy stared a bit, eyes wide, a bit confused.

“Hey Ralnor, let’s go!” Covarog called out.

“Okay! Goodbye Ms. Isley,” the boy stated and ran off after his brother.

The children took several steps outside the classroom before Covarog paused. “Wait we forgot Del!”

The rest of the pack stopped a few steps before him.

“Who?” Orana asked.

“Our guard for the day, you know, the guy that follows us around the castle for our lessons,” the eldest prince explained.

“Oh yeah!” Orana said.

“Actually, I kind of forget about them after a while,” Ralnor admitted. “So, where is he?”

Kanisa dashed over to the room, peaked inside and giggled, “Found him.”

The rest of the children followed and started to laugh at the sight. Dell sat there at the back of the class in a chair, his tongue hanging out and head tilted, perched on his hand. His eyes followed the teacher as she rubbed to board clean.

Covarog walked over to the knight and knocked on his leg, “Mr. Dell, it’s time to go.”

The soldier didn’t even notice, just sighing and switching hands.

The rest of the siblings joined their brother, gathering around the man. “Oh boy, this one has got it bad,” Kanisa commented.

“I don’t know how we are going to get him out of it," Orana said.

“Me neither, but I do know one thing,” Ralnor said as he looked away from the man.

“What?” Covarog asked.

“Duck!” he hollered and lowered himself.

His siblings turned their heads and quickly ducked too. However, the knight just stared affectionately unaware until it was too late. A chalk eraser smacked him right in the head, causing him to fall over. After a few moments of watching the stars above his head, he quickly dashed off.

The children rose and stared at their teacher, some of her red locks out of the bun, arm stretched out in front of her.

“Sorry,” Ralnor stated.

“It’s not your fault, young prince,” The woman sighed, pulling her locks back into her bun. “Just once I wish your father would find one guard that wouldn’t drool over me.”

“It’ll get better once Ima comes back from her vacation,” Kanisa said.

The teacher sighed, “I do hope she comes back soon. Now I think it’s best for you to go to your next lesson. Especially, since your guard has probably already left the building.”

The kids agreed and left the room. As they walked out, Ralnor commented, “We lose a lot of guards this way.

Now outside, each with a wooden stool, the children waited. They all stood as straight as they could for the guard before them. As all as their papa, Klinge strolled back and forth, his armor gleaming in the sun. He watched with discerning eyes.

“So, tell me, children, what is one of the most important rules in fighting?" the guard asked.

"Keep your stance wide, body lowered," Covarog answered.

"Always protect your face," Ralnor replied.

“Strength comes from the breath not the muscles,” Orana declared.

“Um… That strength isn’t all that matters in a fight. If you just take a second look, then maybe you see there’s another way,” Kanisa squeaked out.

“All good ideas children,” he stated. “Why did you remember those lessons in particular?”

The children blinked for a bit. Ralnor answered first, “Because you said that if we get hit in the face, then we could be knock out and our opponent could really hurt us.”

“Excellent memory, young one.” The knight commented. “Now how about the rest of you?”

“I remember how you said that you have to keep breathing or else your muscles get tired more quickly and you lose strength,” Orana declared. “So, then you can’t hit your opponents hard.

Covarog replied, “I thought of it because if you stand like that, it’s harder for your opponent to knock us off your feet. It’s hard to fight while on the ground.”

Kanisa messed with her feet, “Um…you said that you didn’t have to be the strongest to win the fight. Sometimes thinking how you would hit your opponent could important as how hard you hit them. I really liked it that thought so I remembered it.”

The Darknut hummed, “All good answers. Now onto the lesson,” the man turned away from the children. The princes and princesses waited for the next words, but he remained silent. The heirs just stared at his back.

“Um…Uncle Klinge?” Kanisa squeaked out.

The man roared and swung his blade at the children. Covarog and Orana braced themselves with their swords, close to them.  Ralnor held the blade out in his outstretched arms. Kanisa held her blade with only one hand and shielded her face with the other.

Klinge just stopped a few inches away from the wood. Then he set the sword on his shoulder. “Pretty good response. But you will need to work on your guarding skills.”

“What?” Ralnor asked.

“Uncle Klinge you really scared us!” Kanisa stated, hands on hips as she stomped.

“Ha! I wasn’t scared!” Orana stated.

"Your knees are shaking," Covarog mentioned.

Orana pouted and gave her older brother a light punch.

“What was that for?” Ralnor asked.

"When learning how to fight, you must learn how to protect yourself from any attacks," Klinge stated.  “You could be attacked at any time. You must be prepared to defend yourselves. Covarog, Orana, good response. Just need to work angling your weapons for utmost protection. Ralnor you need to keep your weapon close to you for best defense. Kanisa you need to make sure to actually defend yourself. We will keep doing this until you have a proper defensive stance.” He then let out another roar.

After about two hours, the Darknut let down his sword, “Alright, that’s enough for today. Remember children that you need to always be alert. Always ready to strike.”

“Yes sir,” the kids agreed. Sweat covered all over their bodies, but their smiles streached across their faces. Klinge’s lessons were one of the toughest they had, but they were always exciting.

“Especially you Kanisa.”

The youngest princess flinched and nodded. "Yes, sir."

The man sighed, kneeling to the ground and patted her head. “Child, please know that I am tough on you only because I want to make sure that you are ready to fight.”

“I don’t really want to fight people…” the princess replied.

“I know, you don’t. But doesn’t mean there will not people or monster that want to fight you. And they won’t take no for answer.” The knight stood up tall. “I wish I could protect you, all of you, all the time. But I can’t. So, I want to make sure you can defend yourself.”

“I understand Uncle Klinge. I’m sorry I’m so scared,” Kanisa replied.

“It’s alright. It’s only natural to feel that way when attacked. However, you can’t let your emotions control you in a fight. I know you will be a great fighter someday.”

Kanisa let out a small smile before looking down at the ground again.

Covarog stood there for a moment and suggested, “Maybe there’s a different way to test our reflexes?”

“What?” Klinge asked.

“You want to be able to hit anyone that comes at us in any direction, right? So, what if there’s a way to do that without you scaring us so much?” Covarog offered.

"That is an interesting thought…What do you suggest prince?"

“Um…honestly that’s as far as I got,” The eldest admitted.

Ralnor glanced and asked, “How about you throw something at us, and we try to avoid it?”

“What?” Orana asked.

“Well I mean, if you could throw something at us, from all around, then we would get better at blocking something all around. I don’t know what, but I think that might work.” Ralnor offered.

“That sounds great!” Covarog stated.

“That does sound like a rather interesting concept.” The Darknut admitted. “But I’m not sure what we could use.”

“How about balls? I mean if they are small and not that hard.” Orana offered.

“That’s perfect!” Ralnor exclaimed. “Plus, we could try to hit the balls with our swords so we can better at those too.”

“That would be an ideal object,” the knight agreed. He then looked at Kanisa, “What do you think?”

The princess glanced up in her thoughts before replying, “It doesn’t sound so bad. As long as the balls are not too hard.”

“I’ll see what I can do, however, I may throw them as hard as you can," the dark nut stated. "You have to prepare for all kinds of attacks."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Orana stated.

“Why not?” Klinge suggested.

“Well if you hit us, you’d break a bone. And if you miss us, you’d break a window or wall or something. Do you really want Mama and Papa to yell at you for that?”

The children chuckled and after a few moments, the knight joined. “I suppose you are right. I’ll try going easy on you for now.”

"Thank you, Uncle Klinge," Kanisa smiled. And wrapped her arms around as much of the man as she could. Her siblings joined in and the knight returned the embrace.

“Alright children, now time for you to go to your next lesson,” Klinge commented.

All of the kids groaned.

“No Uncle Klinge can’t we stay with you?” Kanisa pleaded.

“We…wanna do more training!” Ralnor declared.

“Come on, just a few more minutes?” Covarog questioned.

All of the children’s eyes grew extremely wide, like a bunch of puppies looking up at hopeful owners.

The man rubbed his chin, “I’m assuming that this next lesson is with Mr. Corum.”

Orana groaned, “Yes! He is the worst!”

“While I do agree that Corum can be disagreeable, it is important for you to learn your manners too.”

“Even more important to defend ourselves?” Ralnor pondered, a light tone to his voice.

The knight smirked, “I see what you are doing and they are of equal importance. You have great intelligence Ralnor, you need to learn to use it all situations. Not just trying to flattering your teachers. Now children go.”

The children let out one last sigh and hug before heading to the last class.

When they approached an oak door, a sense of dread filled the air. Covarog swallowed. Ralnor glared. Kanisa shivered and Orana placed an arm around her, despite her shaking hands.

“It’s only for a few hours. Then we won’t have to see him for a few days.” Covarog stated.

"You always say that," Orana said.

“But it’s true.” The eldest prince stated.

“Remember what Mama said about meanies, just smile and agree until they leave?” Kanisa suggested.

"Good idea," Ralnor stated.

"But I bet he'll find something wrong with those too," Orana stated.

“Well, we can’t wait out here forever. He’ll yell at us for being late.” Covarog stated and knocked on the door, "It's us, Mr. Corum. We are here for our lesson.”

“Come on,” a deep voice boomed.

The eldest opened the door, revealing a short man with a thick black mustache and pointed ears waiting in front of a desk. His black robes swished as he walked to the kids. He stopped right before them, pointing his ruler right at Covarog's nose.  “None of you are on time,” he declared.

Ralnor glanced over his brother’s shoulders to the grandfather that ticked and tocked loud enough for the children to hear. “But sir we are two minutes early,” he argued.

“You must be on time, your highnesses. If you are late, you will appear sloppy to your hosts. If you are early then you are inconveniencing them by not giving them enough time. Now come, we are discussing ball etiquette today.

The children glanced at each, exasperated. Mr. Corum’s lessons were always long. This one would probably the longest yet.

After an eternity or about two hours, the children had droned into their heads all about proper attire, table manners, and almost everything and anything nobody really wanted to know about balls.

“Now as the ball commences, what will you be doing?” Corum asked, pointing at the crown prince with a ruler.

“I will be mingling with nobles and dancing with the young ladies?” the prince answered.

“While your confidence makes me worry about this kingdom, your answer is correct.”

The prince crouched down in his seat.

“Sit up straight!” He bellowed, rapping the desk with his ruler.

All of the children jumped as they sat up straighter than ever.

“Now as you hopefully know there are several dances performed in succession at the ball....”

Ralnor scratched feverously at his notes trying to get as much down. The teacher stopped for a moment and the boy took a moment to breathe. He glanced away for a moment to see what made the teacher stopped. His heart stopped when he saw Kanisa’s hand raised, shaking but her eyes looked determined.

Corum raised his brow. “Finally, some willing participation from you. What is it you would like to say, young lady?"

“I was wondering, if it would be alright, I dance for people at the ball?” the princess wondered.

“What?” the teacher asked.

“Papa told me that when Gerudo have guests, especially foreign ones, often a princess would dance for them. I mean, it won't happen until I'm all grown up, but do you think it would be alright?" Kanisa wondered.

The man sneered, “While I do appreciate you trying to be involved, your…dancing would never be suitable for a ball.”

“Not even if I practiced really hard?” she asked, eyes watering.

“It is not your technique the people would find vulgar, it is the dancing yourself. Twirling around in revealing clothing, it is unseemly for a Hylian princess. Everyone would laugh at you and your family. It would be best to keep your Gerudo customs as far away from the court as you can.”

Kanisa eyes now filled with tears, but she looked up at the teacher, “Alright sire. Thank you for answering my question.

“Yes, well back to the lesson,” the man stated and turned his back on his students.

Orana stood there, mouth opened wide. Covarog glared at him, fists clenched. For a moment, it looked like they would yell at their teacher. With a screech on the tile, one chair parted as its owner stood up. But no one could believe who it was. Ralnor, completely red in the face, hollered, “Why can’t she dance?”

The man turned around, “What?”

The boy stomped, “Kanisa said the Gerudo used to this for all foreign visitors. That includes Hylians too. And they liked it then. Why wouldn’t they like it now?”

“Because that kind of dancing is not proper for a Hylian princess, as I’ve said.” The teacher reiterated.

“But Kanisa is also a Gerudo princess too. So, shouldn’t she also follow Gerudo traditions too? Why should act like she’s not Gerudo when she is?”

“Ralnor I always thought you were the most…civil of your siblings. Please don’t break that thought.”

“I don’t care about what you think about me! You shouldn’t be mean to my little sister, or anyone because they are Gerudo.”

The man squared his shoulders and pointed at the prince, “You boy, should be a good prince and be quiet and content that you have the life you have. As nothing more than a second-born prince, you won’t be much use to the kingdom so at least learn to behave as to not embarrass Hyrule.

The boy slumped his shoulders, dropping his jaw. He squeaked out a soft, “What?”

"Hey, you can't talk to my little brother that way!" Covarog roared

“Stop picking on my family!’ Orana bellowed.

“Now see here you-” The man retorted before loud gonging cut him off. Everyone glanced to see the clock tower, longhand at twelve. He let out a huff, “Well looks like class is over for the day. But don’t think I won’t remember this. I’ll alert your parents of this unruly behavior. And you will receive extra homework, not only do I want a three-page paper on the dos and don’ts of proper ball behavior, I want a four-page paper of what one should expect at a ball's meal, along with complete coverage of manners of the ball, which utensil to use when, how to excuse yourself, proper points of discussion and more.”

“Aw!” the children grumbled.

“Silence. Or else I’ll give you an extra assignment on the proper dress and I will want to you detail every piece down to the stitching on the socks and every button. Now out!”

The children quickly scurried out of the room. The man turned his back out of the room, grumbling. Orana made a quick trip back and stuck her tongue, complete with raspberry sound. However, Ralnor pulled her out of the doorway before the man whipped around to see an empty frame.

Once they made their way to their parent’s office, Zelda stood there before her desk giving one of her famous glares to the children, arms crossed. Ganondorf knelt to the side with Tebanam as he played with some blocks in the corner. Zelda started, “While I do know that you don’t care much for Mr. Corum’s lessons, your behavior today was inexcusable. Disrupting a lesson, talking back to a teacher, I know you are all young but you really need to learn how to behave.”

Ganondorf walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder, “Now dear. It’s true its not their favorite class, but our children wouldn’t do anything like this without reason. The rest of the tutors give glowing praises about the children’s actions” he gave a quick glance at Orana, “Most of the time.”

“Hey!” Orana shouted.

There was a slight giggle in the room but Zelda’s glare stopped it.

“It wouldn’t be like them if all of them were acted up. There has to be a reason. Let the children speak,” Ganondorf explained.

Ralnor took a deep breath and opened his mouth but Kanisa declared, “It’s all my fault!”

Everyone stared at the little princess. “Kanisa?” Zelda asked.

“I asked Mr. Corum if I could dance at the ball when I’m older Gerudo style like Papa said his daughters used to for his guests. But Mr. Corum said it wouldn't be appropriate for a Hylian princess. I accepted it, but Ralnor didn’t and got mad at him. And the two of them started fighting. And then Covarog and Cass got mad and yelled too.  And that’s when Corum got angry and gave us homework. It’s all my fault, I should never have asked my question. I’m sorry.”

"No!" Ralnor yelled. "I'm the one who got into a fight with Mr. Corum. I couldn't understand why he didn't want Kanisa to dance Gerudo style because she was a Hylian  princess. I mean she's a Gerudo princess too, and Corum is supposed to teach us all about traditions, right? Why shouldn’t she dance like a Gerudo if she’s Gerudo too.”

“And when Ralnor asked these questions,” Covarog interjected, “He said some weird things to Ralnor, so I got mad.”

“So, did I-we couldn’t take what he said anymore!” Orana declared.

“Wait wait wait a moment-what did Corum say to you Ralnor?” the mother asked.

Ralnor took a deep breath and answered, “Well he said I was nothing more than a second-born prince, that I won’t be useful to Hyrule, and I should work hard to not embarrass it.” He looked up to his parents, his big teal eyes wider than ever and asked, “What did he mean?

Zelda knelt down and hugged him tightly for a moment before looking him in the eye. “Ralnor none of that is true. Well, you are second born prince. But you are more than that. You are smart, kind, curious, and your papa and I love you so very much. We wouldn’t change”

The boy returned the hug and then let go. He smiled for a moment, “But what about me being useful?”

“Uh well…you see…” Zelda started.

Now Ganondorf joined his wife on his knees, now taking his hands. “My son,” he started. "What Corum say is true to a point. Because Covarog will be king, lots of people will want to talk with him: the nobles, foreign visitors, the commoners. So much that they might ignore you in order to be with him. And there will be a time when Mama and I will be focused on your brother so we can teach him how to be king.” He squeezed the little hands, “However, let me tell you this, your mama is right. We love you just as much as we love Covarog. Perhaps the court may not see it, but the people who truly love you will and love you for it.”

Ralnor stared wide-eyed at his papa, “Uh…”

The king smiled, “It is alright you don’t understand now. Just know that Mama, Papa, Ima, Klinge, and your siblings love you and that’s all that matters.”

“Okay,” the boy said brightly. He hugged his father who eagerly returned the embrace. Zelda, Covarog, Orana, and Kanisa joined in. Tebanam noticed the group and wrapped as much as his little arm could on the family group.

Zelda broke up the hug, stood up and cleared her throat, “Well now that I understand why you acted up in class. This time it’s excusable, but I do hope you will try to refrain from yelling at your teachers from now on.”

“Yes mama,” Covarog, Ralnor, and Kanisa agreed.

“Unless they start it?” Orana asked.

Zelda put her hands on her hips, “Under any circumstances, young lady.”

Orana nervously smiled, “Okay mama.”

“And now that’s settled,” Ganondorf stated as he rose up, “We can start discussing important things.”

“Like what?” Ralnor asked.

“Like which stalls you really want to see when we go out tomorrow to look over preparations for Daourfel,” Ganondorf announced.

The children cheered and squealed. Tebanam clapped his hands and yelled along with his siblings.

“I wanna look at the animal stalls!” Orana declared.

“Can we please go to the book stalls?” Ralnor said.

“Please? Please? Please, Papa, we've got to see books!” Kanisa asked.

“Toys too please!” Covarog asked.

“Toys please!” Tebanam repeated.

“Alright! Alright!” the king chuckled. “We will talk about it and make a plan. Now go and wash up for dinner.”

The kids scrambled over to the washroom, Kanisa leading Tebanam by holding his hand. Just as Ganondorf was about to follow, Zelda caught him by the hand. She leaned into his large figure, wrapping her arms around as much of his waist as she could. “Thank you. You really do know what to say to make the kids feel better.”

“I do my best.” He stated, wrapping an arm around his wife. “You too said the truth. I just hope that when the time comes, he really understands what I am saying.”

“It’s just a matter of time before he grasps it. He’s a smart kid. They all are,” Zelda stated.

“That they get from you dear,” Ganondorf beamed.

“Flatterer,” she smirked.

The king bent leaned into each other when there was a loud splash and a series of "Uh-ohs.” And the parents sighed.

“Never a calm moment with the children around,” Zelda sighed.

“At least it’s not dull,” he stated.

The parents smiled at each other, gave a quick laugh, and rushed to settle an overflow of soap, water spilled all over the floor, and several wet children.

After everything was settled in the bathroom, the royal family ate dinner, planning their next day. Then it was time for bed. But just as Ralnor pulled the sheets over himself, he sat up and he asked, “What will I be when I grow up?”

Zelda and Ganondorf turned towards their son. “What dear?” the mother asked.

"Well, I'm not going to be the king like you said. So, what will I be?”

"You'll be a prince, you will always be a prince," Zelda replied. “You can help your brother run the kingdom, go on trips, help him with the plans all kinds of things.”

“And you can be something else,” Ganondorf interjected. “Rinku is a princess and she goes out on adventures and fights monsters. You can travel all you want or stay at home, just do what you like.”

“What I like?” the prince asked

“Exactly-you can write books since you love to read. Or you can travel around learning about all the different plants in the world.” The king commented.

“Can I learn about the poisonous plants in the world too?” the prince asked.

Zelda winched a bit, “Where…did you learn about them from?”

“Ms. Isley told us in class about plants that defend themselves by making liquid so that when animals eat them, they can get sick or even die. Doesn’t that sound amazing?” The boy said awestruck.

“Ah yes, but those are very dangerous Ralnor. You have to be really careful or else you could get hurt too,” Zelda warned.

“I will be Mama, I promise,” Ralnor said.

Ganondorf sat down on the bed, creaking and slumping underneath his weight, “You know, Ralnor. I wager no matter what you choose. I know you are going to be great at it, even famous for it.”

“Really?” the boy smiled, pushing himself up.

“Yep, I bet someday there will be a day where there’ll be a crowd cheering your name.” The king picked up the boy, holding him up in the air. “I can just hear them now! ‘Ralnor!’ ‘Ralnor!’” he chanted as he bobbed the boy, now laughing.

“Ganondorf, it's bedtime," Zelda warned lightly. “No sense in winding him up.”

“Yes. Right.” The king slipped the boy back into the sheets and gave him a kiss on the head. “Goodnight Ralnor. I love you.”

"I love you too Papa. I love you, Mama. Night."

“Goodnight my love.” The queen cooed and kissed him on the forehead, patted his head.

The parents watched as their boy slowly dropped into his dreams. The king noticed the forlorn look in his wife’s eyes. “What?”

Zelda lamented, “It’s just…while I don’t have as many memories as you, I once do recall having an older brother. We got along well until my father confided in me about my relation to the goddess and how it would be my duty to keep the Triforce safe. When my father died and my brother assumed the throne, he wanted to know where it was, but I was hesitant to tell him. He persisted, even hiring a magician to torture me. Out of anger at my resistance, he cursed me into a deep sleep. The next thing, I know the hero was standing by my bed, smiling. That’s really all I remember from that life. I don’t recall if my brother and I ever made up or even met again, given how long I was asleep. I know that the duties between our sons won’t be like this, but I can imagine how Ralnor may become envious of the power and influence Covarog will have someday.”

Ganondorf let out a snort, “Well at least you didn’t have mothers, aunts, sisters, and cousins try to dump all political responsibility from the trade, guard, to visiting on you the moment you became of age so they could have fun. And while I did have a first-born daughter that eventually took my place, none of their sisters were pressured to be as like them.” He turned his wife towards him, hands in hers.  “I know this uncertain ground for us, but I’m sure that we can raise Ralnor with all the love and attention he'll need. Eventually, he'll find something that will capture his attention, like Orana with animals or Kanisa with music, and any envy he'll have for his brother will fade in favor for passion in life pursuit.”

Zelda sighed and smiled, “Again you know what to say. Thank you so much, dear." She stood on her tip toes and reached around her husband’s neck. He eagerly bent down to close the distance and they kissed. After the embrace, the queen glanced between her husband and child.

“What?”

“Is just that…poisonous plants? That is what he finds interesting? I always wondered what side effects marrying a demon king could have and now I think I’m seeing the side effects.”

“Well I think I’ve seen some books on the subject in the library, so he can’t be the only one. Besides, I can’t take full responsibility here, there are some pretty shady teaching in Sheikah training."

Ralnor continued to sleep, oblivious to his parents’ chuckles and quips. Instead, he stood, as tall and big as his papa, in front of a huge crowd, spreading as far as he could see. And just like his papa said, they were all cheering his name. And Ralnor loved every moment of it.

Several miles away from the castle, a guard in armor yawned as he glanced at the papers in front of him. He glanced at the man in front of him. A short chubby, black-haired Hylian, dressed in a nice clean shirt, a leather vest embroidered with golden vines, and pants with boots. And then he glanced at the line of four carts trailing out behind this first man. “Seems like everything is in order,” he mumbled.

The merchant smiled, “Great! Thank you, sir, and hope you can get some sleep soon.” The man bowed and jumped up back into the cart behind him. He cracked the reins and his two horses pulled the cart slowly away.

The guard idly watched the next three carts: the first a thin man with blonde hair who smiled broadly, the second man muscular with brown hair who gave a nod, and finally a red-haired who barely looked older than a teenager who glanced but quickly turned back to the road in front of him. “Just a normal caravan,” the knight thought and headed into the station when the last cart caught his eye. Rather the large robed figure sitting at its bench, face obscured their hood, even in the low burning lamplight. The robe even covered their hands “Oi who are you?” he yelled out.

The figure flinched, halting the cart. “Me sir?” A deep woman’s voice answered.

“What are you hiding underneath that hood? Let me see.” The man stepped forward and started to reach for the fabric. The woman turned her head but didn't object or run.

“Hey why are you touching my sister!” the man leading the group hollered, just before the guard reached the hood.

“Sister?” the knight stated, glancing between the two. “What-”

“She’s got burns on her face! Check the papers, she’s with me!”

The knight grumbled, taking back his hand. He started to shift through the papers until he stopped at one. He squinted and read, “O-ko-wi?”

“Ukuri,” the woman replied. “Exotic name from an exotic mother.”

“See? Now let her go!” he hollered.

“Okay…okay yeesh! Sorry if hoods are suspicious!” the knight hollered and waved them away.

The woman sighed and cracked her reigns. For a while the group just traveled, the wheels squeaking and a few horses’ huffing the only sounds between the group. However, the first man turned around just in time for the lamp at the station to go dark. He called out, “Hey Ukuri! It’s safe now!”

The whole group let out a huge sigh. The woman flipped her hood back, revealing her brown skin, yellow eyes and a short crop of red hair. "Thanks, Mabal. You saved my life back there.”

“Finally go out with me on a date and we’ll call ourselves even,” the man yelled. Even with the distance, Ukuri could see the cheeky grin on the man’s face.

The blonde commented, "And afterward, the rest of us will have to pitch in for the doctor’s bills after she drives you crazy.”

"I agree with Jabok," the brunette laughed. “However, I think that the bills will be to fix his legs.”

"Well if she keeps turning me down, Kino, I'll end up at the doctor's with a broken heart!" Mabal exclaimed.

The three men laughed their heads off. The fourth man continued to shake and stare ahead.

Ukuri called out, “Hey Lobo, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m in now so relax.

The redhead sighed, "Sorry ma'am. I just didn't want anything to happen to you or Cass."

The woman smiled, “Aw! Aren’t you sweet? Good to see a few months on the road, you haven’t been completely corrupted.”

“Give us some more time!” Mabal called out. “You’ve been cuddling him under your wing, you’d think you were the boy’s mother. Speaking of kids, how’s our little mascot?”

"Well, she's…” Ukuri started as she turned to her cart. However, she spotted at the very end, a small red bump peeked out from underneath the tarp.

The Gerudo woman gave out a small chuckle. She turned away, and stated loudly, “Don’t worry. Cass is fast asleep like she should be since we have a big day setting up our booth tomorrow and not staying up late. And if she isn’t, she’s got to beat to all the rugs for everyone when we hit the road again.”

There was a small gasp and the bump retreated underneath the trap, slithering around. The sound of snoring quickly filled the air. However, just as the bump reached the end of the cart, right behind the woman, she pulled it up reveal a Gerudo girl, dressed in white pajamas on her hands and knees right above a small pile of furs.

“Whoopsie…” the girl let out with an awkward grin. “So…rug duty in like two months??”

“No…but don’t tempt me,” the woman scolded lightly. She offered a hand and the girl took it, helping herself up and into the seat.

“Sorry, mommy. I couldn’t sleep. I mean, we are here! In Hyrule!” Cass stated, arms out wide.

“So, what were you expecting staying up late-dragons and fairies flying overhead?” Kino asked.

"No…but that would be really cool," Cass admitted.

“True, especially with the profits we could make on all those scales," Mabal answered. “However, I think that Hyrule can be just like any other country we’ve been too. It’s got grass, trees, roads-nice ones I’ve got to admit, and plenty of customers.”

“Are you sure sir? I’ve heard stories,” Lobo started.

"About the golden goddess, the demon king, and the Hero of Time? Please, you think we'd be that lucky to be born in such a time?" Jabok commented.

“More like unlucky,” Ukuri huffed. She sighed then said loudly. “Let’s just keep our noses clean and our hands off the barmaids and this venture should be a nice profit for all of us.”

“We will if you will!” Jabok declared.

The whole group burst into laughter, clutching their sides and wiping some tears falling tears. The men soon continued on various conversations, mainly talking about various goods and hopeful customers.

As she tried to follow the talks, Cass leaned into her mother. She clung onto the woman’s body. She asked, looking down, “Do you think we’ll be safe here?”

The woman pulled the child closer, keeping her large hand on her shoulder. “We will be. Just keep smiling and keep out of trouble and we should be okay.” Ukuri moved Cass’s head to so she could look the child in the eye. “Okay?” The woman smiled.

Cass smiled and nodded, “Okay.”

Ukuri rubbed Cass’s head, “Come on, be confident! We’ve got the caravan and you’ve got me. And You’ll always have me, monkey.”

Cass yawned, rubbing her eyes. Ukuri moved the child so now she lay on her lap. “Sleep tight kiddo, we’ve got a long day tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you too, mommy,” the little girl mumbled before snuggling into her mother’s thighs. After the child’s breathing slowed, Ukuri gazed turned to the horizon, a town with a large castle silhouetted by the moonlight, slowly coming into view. “We’ll be okay,” she mumbled to herself. She brushed the girl’s hair. “We’ll be okay.”

Thanks for reading! Here’s a link to the first chapter: Chapter 1: Marketplace