#also changing the ribbon to a tie is a pretty funny change

[almoststedytimetravel]

It's honestly so fucking funny how dead Trinity Soul is. Almost every single piece of Persona media released since has been dedicated to making that poor twink noncannonical.

[peppermintquartz]

I could use something so so fluffy. How about bucktommy wedding day?

Jee-yun loves her dress. It's lilac and floaty and sparkly and she has pink rosebuds in her hair, like her mom does. Mom is wearing a pretty blue dress with sparkly crystals on it. And Papa is dressed up really nicely too, in a black suit with a blue tie and blue handkerchief in his jacket pocket, like Uncles Eddie and Sal.

She loves the garden too. There are dozens of chairs draped in white cloth and tied in the back with lilac and pink ribbons. Christopher is already sitting in the front row, wearing a really nice white shirt and blue pants with blue suspenders, and he's talking to Carla and Aunthena (Aunt Athena, her mom reminded her this morning). Then Aunt Hen and Karen arrive, both in different shades of purple - Aunt Hen in a purple that's like a jewel, and Aunt Karen's dress is soft purple - while Mara is wearing light blue and Denny is wearing a dark pink. Jee-yun shrieks and goes over to hug them.

Before long, everyone has arrived. Jee-yun runs from group to group, giving hugs and getting compliments on her dress and her hair, until Uncle Eddie and her Papa calls for everyone to take their seats.

Uncle Bobby is standing there at the front under the white arch decorated with pink roses and lilac ribbons. He looks very handsome in a black shirt and jacket, with a silver tie. In the front row, Grandpa and Grandma are on the right side, and Christopher is sitting beside them with Carla, and Apa and Eomma are on the left.

Her papa and May are the first to walk down the aisle, then Uncle Sal with Lucy, then Uncle Eddie with her mom, the couples separating to stand on either side, and then it's Jee-yun's turn, a basket of rose petals in her left hand.

She puffs with pride as she waits for the music to start. Then, like they practiced, she walks down the aisle, tossing flowers out handful by handful, smiling as big as she can as she goes.

And then she's led to Eomma who gives her a pink ring pop. She hears the music change and turns to peer down the aisle.

Uncle Buck is there in his baby blue suit on his jacket, looking very handsome and happy, and Uncle Tommy approaches him in a dark blue suit, also very handsome and happy. Both of them have pale pink rosebuds pinned to their jackets. They hold hands - someone whistles at them - and they walk down the aisle together.

"Now kiss!" Jee-yun shouts when Uncles Buck and Tommy are standing under the arch. There's a ripple of laughter.

Taking her hand, Aunthena bends down to murmur, "Not yet, sweetie. Bobby has to say a few words first, okay?"

Jee-yun pouts, but catches Uncle Tommy's wink. He mouths, "Later." She subsides and sits on the empty seat between Apa and Eomma.

Uncle Bobby talks a little bit, and then Uncle Buck says something that makes Uncle Tommy's face do that funny twisty thing like he's going to cry, and then Uncle Tommy says something that does make Uncle Buck cry, and they exchange rings, and - finally! - they kiss.

Jee-yun cheers. Everyone she loves is here and happy, and Uncle Tommy has promised her a dance later. She can't wait.

--

visual aid: Jee-yun's dress

[aliensunflower-fics]

Marinette Changes Schools: A funny little Lila salt prompt

So, there are a lot of ‘Marinette changes schools’ au’s and I love a whole bunch of them don't get me wrong. BUT the one thing I haven’t seen yet is Marinette changing schools not because of Lila or salt but simply because her parents are moving and they want her to attend a school close to home. So without further ado let me sell you on my little idea: 

Lila has been plotting weeks worth of plans and lies, she’s thought up some sob stories about being stalked, about near death experiences, about celebrities that are like her family. She has plans for Marinette all the ways she could make the girl look bad and all the ways she could force Adrien to see her. That all goes out the window one day when she gets to school and it's a sob fest. There is a clear air of dread and dismay, the blue skies she saw on the way to school replaced with heavy storm clouds. And when she gets to class it's worse. Marinette and Alya are hugging and crying, Adrien looks like he's been shot, Nino and Kim are demanding to know ‘why’ even Chloe looks upset, her blue eyes a little glassy. Lila quickly learns why, Marinette’s parents' business is doing GREAT so great in fact that they have decided to open a second location! The twist? They also decided to move INTO the new location and with it being on the other side of Paris and her parents fears for their daughters safety that means Marinette is moving to a new school!

Now Lila doesn’t even have to school her face into a practiced expression of shock. She genuinely is shocked here she’d been planning months in advance picturing the ways she would destroy her rivals life and steal her friends! And now just like that Marinette is MOVING? Of course Lila quickly decides this is a good thing! After all if Marinette is out of the picture ruling the school will be that much easier. Sure Chloe might be queen bee but with Marinette gone people will be looking to replace her! In walks Lila Rossi, a gorgeous upstart model with a heart of gold and connections coming out of her bangs! She’d rule the school and Adrien would fall for her, then Marinette would probably come crawling back desperate for her old friends only to learn she’d snatched them all up! It was brilliant! And with Marinette gone she could probably do it in record time! So Lila covers up her smirk and says she’s devastated to hear that the twin tailed girl would be leaving and begins plotting.

In the month that follows Lila leaves Marinette alone letting her have her friends for what would be for the last time. After all if everyone still loved the designer when she left they’d be all the more eager to replace her with a new and better version. Of course just because Lila is playing nice doesn’t mean she enjoys it. Alya is practically glued to the girl and ignores Lila even when she’s not trying to sabotage Marinette. Adrien is acting like his life is ending and all anyone will talk about is Marinette. When she checks social media it's all just pictures of ‘old-great times with Marinette’ or new photos and videos of helping the girl pack up and move into her new room, which Lila seethes about for a week when she sees the photos of the spacious luxurious room with a private bath. Apparently the Dupain-Cheng’s new bakery was in a pretty ritzy rich neighborhood. During school Marinette is mobbed by a constant stream of people begging her to stay and when they accept that not happening they all at least beg her to ‘come back and visit’ Marinette promises and Lila has to hide her snort. Fat chance of that actually happening. 

Finally the last day arrives and Lila has to hold back the urge to gag as everyone fills the nearby park giving Marinette gifts and heartfelt goodbyes. Adrien is the last one to offer his gift and Lila seethes as Marinette gingerly opens the box with a gasp and pulls out two brand new pink hair ribbons, and Adrien goes on to say that they’re made of imported silk! SILK, as if the little baker brat deserved silk! The whole exchange is cliche and romantic as Marinette removes her current hair ribbons to tie in the new ones and Adrien ties the old ones around his wrist like some idiot who doesn’t realize what a love struck longing look he's giving his ‘good friend’. But Lila just keeps reminding herself its just a bit longer and sure enough not long after the hideously gooey exchange between Adrien and Marinette is over the designer is leaving with more tears and farewells. FINALLY Lila thinks she can get back to what matters! Ruling her empire.

As it turns out ruling her empire is not what she thinks. For the first month after Marinette leaves all anyone will talk about is the photos she’s posted online. The first week its ALL about HER new school is a private well known academy with uniforms, and isn't Marinette cute in it? And look at her in her custom black kitty thigh highs? Lila wants to scream, but not as much as when she catches Adrien drooling over the photo of said thigh highs and twirling the old nasty hair ribbons around his wrist. The second week its all about the video tour of her new home and school that Marinette sent Alya. Lila glares the whole time as Alya puts the video on the projector at lunch so everyone can see the big new gorgeous bakery and the beautiful house on the second floor and her stupid big bedroom that should belong to someone like herself and not some bratty bakers daughter! By the third week Lila has had enough and fakes some nasty texts from Marinette hoping to speed up the process of helping her classmates move on to HERSELF. It backfires spectacularly with Alya going on the warpath to learn who would dare frame Marinette now that she’s gone. Lila is starting to realize that somehow Marinette has reached a higher level of popularity now that she’s gone. But she reminds herself it won't last forever that in ‘just a little bit longer’ everyone will forget the baker. Right?

A little bit longer. Never happens. Lila asks the girls to hang out that weekend with plans of winning them over with some juicy celeb story? Alya says they all already made plans to hope aboard the train to spend the whole weekend at Marinette’s new place! Lila tries to corner Adrien into a date after a photo shoot. He disappears and all she hears from the workers on set is that he's been looking up some new bakery on the other side of town. [Marinette is suddenly being visited by Chat Noir every other night but she figures she must have moved closer to where his civilian self lives if hes dropping by so much.] She tries to throw a party for the class? They can't. Marinette will be coming out to the park today! With her new school friends!

AH HA! Lila see’s opportunity and decides to tag along. After all if Marinette has new friends Lila can twist it! She’ll whisper about her replacing them all! Make them hate Marinette’s new friends! Fill them with jealousy till they hate Marinette! It's BRILLIANT! And, it fails in less than two minutes, with Alya learning about Aurore being a ballet dancer and the two girls bonding over their mutual love of DANCE?? How the heck was Lila supposed to know Alya had been a champion ballet dancer in her younger years! Then Nino is bonding with some kid named Allen or whatever about classical vs modern music and how to blend the two! And some kid named Claude is joking with Kim, Max, and Alix! And this is definitely not how things were supposed to go!

The worst part is Adrien, who is passive aggressively fighting for Marinette against Kagami AND Felix who are both all too eager to show how ‘close’ they’ve gotten to the baker's daughter while Adrien’s been across the city. Kagami is all to happy to show off that she ALSO bought Marinette some new silk hair ribbons [in a red shade that happens to match her fencing uniform] while Felix eagerly wisks Marinette away the moment Kagami and Adrien are distracted the two fencers find him openly flirting with an oblivious Marinette her hair down because ‘oh felix was nice enough to help me get some leaves out of my hair and said i should leave it like this!’ [while both Kagami and Adrien agree she looks beyond cute they know this means war.] Needless to say Lila didn’t realize that Marinette was that damn popular with men and woman.

The week after the meet up Lila is worn so thin she’s ready to snap. Not only did the class not get jealous but they actually became FRIENDS with all of Marinette’s new buddies and were planning many more meet ups including a paintball war over the baker girl that saturday. Adrien had taken to openly mumbling to himself about changing schools and how he ‘cant believe’ his own flesh and blood would so openly flirt with HIS very good friend! And what was with Kagami showing off how easily she can pick up and carry Marinette? And why did she invite Marinette to watch their next tournament! He needed to train, what if he lost?? In front of Marinette?! And then she thought he was too weak to keep her safe like all good friends are supposed to do! Clearly Kagami was trying to replace him as Marinette’s very good friend! Poor Nino who was sitting next to the boy had actually volunteered to switch with Lila but she came up with a lie to avoid it, she’d had enough of hearing about Marinette from Alya and Juleka and the rest of the girls, she didn’t also need to hear it from Adrien! 

It all comes to a head that Saturday during the paintball tournament when Lila now at her wits end her plans out the window her schemes barely thought out hopes to find something ANYTHING to ruin Marinette’s day and reputation and everything. But Lila just so happens to get completely pelted with paintballs everytime she so much as moves and then later gets ignored when trying to wow Marinette’s new friends, and then gets called out by Felix and Kagami snaps and finally she snaps and SCREAMS and runs off and not even a dark little butterfly comes to help her ruin the perfect day. As it turns out Hawkmoth was a little preoccupied with trying to save his business after all the computers and data involved in his precise scheduling were mysteriously corrupted suddenly freeing up his son's time and schedule so he could spend more with HIS very good friend and no one else's. Kagami and Felix apparently had the same idea as when he gets to her new house their already their doing their best to get on her parents good side.

Basically just give me some comedic, fluffy, Lila salty, Marinette changes school fics. Because I love them ok.

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[huihuiheart]

Kinktober D8: Lesson One - Seungwoo

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Pairing: Soft Dom! Seungwoo x Sub! GN Reader

Genre: Smut (mostly implied)

Summary: Seungwoo had started taking on a more dominant role in your relationship recently, and he was about to let you know what happens when you misbehave.

Warnings: Dom/sub themes (soft), punishment themes, bondage, implied smut, slight sir kink.

Word Count: 704

You knew what you were asking for, but you also know this was something you wanted to try out. Seungwoo had been easing you into this life of dominance and submission, and you knew he could continue to do so. As grateful as you were for that patience, you were oh so curious. You knew a large part of that life involved punishments for misbehaving and while you hadn’t yet established many rules you were wondering just what he would do if you happened to break one of them. 

So that’s what you did, you sent him some risky photos while at work. Nothing too extreme and only a few. You had no intention of pushing too far today, just test things out and see what would come out of it. Not sure quite how to prepare for him to return home, or what to expect. Your heart rate spiking as you heard keys in the door signaling that he was finally back. Seungwoo’s keys jingling as he puts them by the door before stepping deeper into the home, raising a brow at you while your eyes are on him.

“I had an interesting day today baby. I got some pretty little pictures of your body while at work.” Seungwoo licks his lips, leaning over the back of the couch to get closer to your face as your form sat beneath his, “It’s funny though because I could have sworn we agreed on that as a rule.”

“Yes sir, we did.” You nod, mirror his actions on his lips as you wait for what’s to come.

“I believe we also agreed that there would be a punishment if those rules were broken, didn’t we?” Seungwoo places his hands on your shoulders, squeezing gently before they brush down your arms making you shiver beneath him.

“Yes sir, we did.” Your voice is quieter than you anticipated and Seungwoo picks up on it too as his hands still delicately trail over your form.

“Anxious, babydoll?” He places a kiss on your temple as he speaks, checking your comfort level.

“A little bit, but I trust you...it’s just that I don’t know what to expect.” You admit and he hums, pulling away a little to guide you to stand.

“You weren’t too bad, and it’s your first time, so I’m going to go easy on you.” Seungwoo assures you, giving a small pat to your ass, “Go get ready for me, and if you’re good I’ll let you pick which punishment I use tonight.”

You knew what he meant, this was something else you both had been working on in addition to rules. What he meant when he told you to get ready for him. Going to the bedroom, you strip, and sit on your heels in the center of the bed. You place your hands in your lap, eyes on the door as he expected. Seungwoo rewarded you with a smile as he noticed that you listened by the time he arrived. Crawling onto the bed for a moment he leans in to peck your lips.

“Good job baby, so the choice is yours tonight. Do you want to be blindfolded? Or tied up at my mercy?” Seungwoo leaves the bed to go find the items while you think over your decision. 

“Sir, I...I want to see you.” Your shy response makes Seungwoo chuckle, he’d accept that today knowing this was all new to you and as time went on you’d learn what he considered to be more proper responses. 

Bringing a few silk ribbons over, he nudges you to lay back, kneeling with your hips between his legs. He takes your wrists into his grasp and ties the one ribbon around them both, testing how tight it was to be sure you were safe. Next, he attaches the other one to that and lifts your arms above your head to use the rest of the ribbon to tie them there. He moves down to change your positions so he’s between your legs now, mouth slowly moving closer to your crotch while he smirks up at you.

“You look so pretty like this baby, let’s see how quickly this gets you to learn your lesson, hm?”

[thisisarcanereverie]

When in Love (Sam Wilson x Reader)

A/N: I love Sam Wilson period. 

ULTIMATE MASTERLIST 

REQUEST SOME PROMPTS

Summary: Bucky did indeed flirt with Sam’s sister again........and now they’re getting married. Sam brought you as his date to their big day. 

“It’s not too late to get Carlos,” Sam said as you straightened his tie, Sam could do it by himself but then he wouldn’t have an excuse to have you near him. 

“I’m pretty sure people would notice if the groom weren’t to make an appearance.” You said as you finished straightening his tie, letting your hands linger there for a while as you looked up into his dark eyes. 

“Don’t know unless we try.” Sam half heartedly said. He was only half joking, for the past few years he saw Sarah happier than she had been in years. He knew Bucky treated her well and that he loved the kids as well. Sam knew Bucky would never hurt them. 

Didn’t mean that Sam didn’t have Carlos on speed dial and an alibi set up just in case. 

(Y/n) lightly smacked her hand against Sam’s chest as he laughed. His warm dark eyes lit up as he looked at her. 

(Y/n) smiled and rolled her eyes. She had gotten ready before driving over and Sam couldn’t help but think of how beautiful she was in sky blue. 

Sam had been nervous when he asked (Y/n) to be his date to Sarah and Bucky’s wedding. He knew she wasn’t one for parties where she didn’t know anyone but she had surprised him by accepting. 

“We have a wedding to get to.” You drew him from his thoughts while grabbing your clutch on the bed and walking out the door to wait for him. You had no idea the effect on Sam, even the way your hips sway when you walked away drove him insane. 

Sam took a deep breath in to calm his nerves as he readied himself mentally. Sam was not only going to be one of Bucky’s groomsmen but also the one giving Sarah away. 

Their father was the one to give her away the first time she got married, and now since their father had passed Sam was the only one left for the job. 

Sam gathered his thoughts and headed out of the bedroom and down the stairs to see your figure waiting for him patiently at the bottom. 

You hear the stairs creak under his feet and look up. You had always thought he looked attractive, but put that man in a suit and your knees began growing weak. 

You barely managed to tear your eyes away from him for a second as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Ready?” you asked, trying to keep your voice even. 

“Ready.” 

---

The wedding had been beautiful, it was held at the church. The aisle and booths were decorated with white flowers and ribbons. 

On Bucky’s side there was Dora Milaje and T’Challa. Along with Thor, Brunheilda, and the Guardians. Rocket was mostly looking at Bucky’s metal arm though. 

The Ceremony had been just as beautiful, Sarah walked down the aisle in a beautiful white gown which made Bucky tear up with Sam. AJ and Cass were already by Bucky’s side, after all Bucky had named them his Best Men. 

While Sarah and Bucky said their vows Sam’s gaze couldn’t help but wonder to you. You were seated by Sarah’s side of the church along with almost everyone in town. You smiled and wiped a few tears as the vows got increasingly emotional. You had been seated near a glass stained window and all of its colors bathed you in it’s light. You just got more beautiful the longer he looked at you. 

Suddenly your eyes had met with his, and he felt his heart stop and breathing suddenly became difficult. It wasn’t unwelcomed though, in fact it was quite the opposite. Sam didn’t look away and neither did you. You both had stared at each other until Sam decided to be bold and wink and flash his intoxicating smile. You smiled bashfully before winking back and tearing your eyes from his to focus back to the stars of the day as Sam did the same thing. 

The reception was back at the house, Sam and a few other people from town helped set up the yard yesterday. Making an area for dancing, dining, food, socializing. Decorating it with magnolias and fairy lights and it looked stunning. 

The sun had almost begun to set by the time everyone got back to the house to enjoy the party. 

Bucky and Sarah did their first dance as husband and wife to an old 1940��s song and was later joined by AJ and Cass. Bucky had gone above and beyond to make sure the boys had been included in everything. 

After their dance ended, something faster paced began to play and almost everyone began to make their way to the dance floor. You and Sam being among them. Sam had twirled you around and danced with you until it was time for the toasts to begin. 

“I just want to thank everyone who came here today,” Bucky began to speak on the microphone, a beer in his hand. “I especially want to thank AJ and Cass for letting me into their lives, and my beautiful wife Sarah.” Bucky paused and gave her a wink, Sarah winked back and smiled. “I promise to uphold my vows and protect and love you and the boys with everything I have.” He raised his beer bottle in cheers before taking a quick swig out of it. 

AJ and Cass had performed their toast next, welcoming him into their family and just an overall sweet speech which ended with Bucky in tears for the second time that day. It made your heart swell to see Bucky so happy after all these years he had to endure alone and tortured. He deserved this, they all did. Sarah, Bucky, Cass, and Aj deserved to be happy together. 

A few other people gave speeches before Sam gave his. Even Rocket gave an impromptu speech. 

“Can I have that arm now?”

“No.”

“I’m getting that arm.” 

You saw a quick look of fear cross Bucky’s face as Rocket was approached by Dora Milaje and struggled to hold in a small laugh. 

Sam made his way up the stage to give his speech. He straightened his jacket before grabbing the microphone. 

“Sarah as your brother I am so proud of you and I know if Dad and Mom were here they would say the exact same thing. They would be proud of the woman and of the mother you have become.” Sam said with tears at the corners of his eyes at the mention of their parents, Sarah wiped her tears away as well. “Bucky as your friend I know Steve would be as proud and as happy for you as I am. Happy that you have finally found your peace and I welcome you to the family with open arms.” He raised his glass to Bucky who returned the favor. “Although I do recall telling you not to flirt with my sister,” laughter then ensued as Bucky chuckled and shook his head. “As Sarah’s brother,” Sam then motioned to Carlos sitting at one of the tables, “I want you to know that it’s not too late for me to get Carlos to feed you to the fish if necessary.” Carlos then waved and laughed at the groom who returned the favor. “treat her and the boys well and I guess we’re no longer co workers.” Laughter erupted as Sam took a drink in congratulations as did everyone else. 

---

As the party began to die down you had snuck out the pier to get some fresh air away from everyone. 

It wasn’t like you didn’t enjoy their company and didn’t get to meet some pretty interesting people. It was just you needed a moment to yourself to relax. You were an introvert at heart and so many people at once tended to overwhelm you sometimes. 

You watched as the water moved gracefully, breathing in time with it. The lights from the party reflected in the water and the music could still be heard although softer now. 

You didn’t even seem to notice a certain man making his way to you before you heard a silent ‘oh shit’. 

If Sam thought you had looked beautiful before, now you were angelic. The sun had long before set and now your figure was illuminated by the faint lights of the party and the moon. It gave you an almost ethereal glow as he noticed your hands fidgeting. A habit he noticed a long time ago, you always have to do something with your hands. He honestly found it cute. 

Sam had been so caught up in you that he hadn’t noticed a little loose board and nearly tripped over himself. 

Your hands stopped moving as you saw Sam holding onto the wooden railing of the pier for dear life. You laughed a little at Sam’s embarrassed expression as he tried to walk it off as though it didn’t happen. 

You looked back out to the water as Sam finally made his way to your side. Out of the side of your eye you caught a glimpse at the man beside you. The light of the party and the moon made him look romantic, and you noticed that at some point in the night Sam discarded his tie and jacket, rolled the sleeves up his forearms and unbuttoned a button or two on his shirt. He started fidgeting with the watch on his wrist as you both look at the water dancing. 

You could hear the upbeat music from the party change to another slow dance. 

“You wanna dance?” 

You turned and saw Sam with his hand out, ready to take your hand if you accepted. Which you did. 

Slowly you and Sam moved with the beat, the music was quiet and the lights had made the moment all the more romantic. 

Sam held your hand in one and his other hand went to your waist, pulling you flush against him making your heart beat out your chest. 

Neither of you said a word, Sam hummed in tune with the song as you smiled at him. 

Sam’s heart was beating out of his chest, usually he was smooth. Usually Sam had no trouble speaking to ladies, but it seemed as though you were the exception. 

A couple of seconds passed before Sam finally broke the silence. 

“Usually I can speak just fine in front of someone,” He started his deep voice quiet, “but now I can’t seem to speak without getting all tongue tied.”

You laughed a little at that, Sam loved your laugh. He couldn’t understand why but your laugh always seemed to put him in a better mood. 

“What’s so funny?” Sam asked with a smile on his face, you wondered if his smile would ever stop making your heart beat faster. 

“It’s just something my Mum used to tell me,” you explained, “what you just said reminded me of it.”

“Tell me.” He said his eyes focused on you, eyes reflecting the light from the reception. You looked down bashfully before meeting his eyes again. 

“When in love speech becomes meaningless.” 

Sam’s dark eyes stared into yours intensely as if you had become the only thing left in the world. 

For a moment you wonder if you had misread the signs, maybe you had scared him. Panic starts to fill you as you begin to apologize before his hands move from their places at your waist and hand to either side of your face and kiss you. 

The first thing you noticed was that Sam tasted of beer and spice. The next thing you noticed was how soft his lips were on yours and how gently he moved against you. 

You had been so lost in the kiss that you hadn’t noticed the music dying down and the lights going out, all there was, was you and him. 

You both pulled away reluctantly and watched as the moonlight reflected off the water. Content with not speaking another word and just holding each other in peace.

[nah-she-didnt]

okay, so all i want is for remus to have a crush on reader or whoever . you can do absolutely anything with this remus just has a really big crush on her and he notices things about her personality and all. fluff because I also want them to like kiss at the end of this all.

Okay here’s the deal anon, I owe you an apology because I’m almost certain that the following story is not what you had in mind. I headcanon that Sirius is gay and Remus is bisexual or pansexual (I also headcanon that Tonks is NB, and I do ship Remadora to a point, but that’s beside the point). So while this might not be exactly what you intended, it’s the story that came to me, so I hope you enjoy! 

Please Send Me Prompts My Inbox Is Sad And Empty 

Firsts

In the three previous years, James had partnered with Sirius in Herbology and Remus with Peter. This was generally how lesson pairs broke down between the four friends, partly because James and Sirius had so much fun goofing off together and partly because Remus wanted to actually concentrate on the professor during lessons. Fourth year, however, was different. 

The first day of classes began like any other. The bright September sun followed the four of them across the grounds into Greenhouse 2 for their first Herbology lesson of term.

“I hope we do Devil’s Snare this year,” Sirius grinned mischievously. 

“God, I don’t,” Peter paled, “imagine if it got you and never let go.” 

“Don’t worry, Pete,” James beamed as he threw glances to the group of Gryffindor girls ahead of them, also on their way to Herbology, “we’d visit you all the time, bring you biscuits, everything.” 

“Fuck off,” grumbled Pete. He’d been in a foul mood all day after their disastrous first Potions lesson where he’d managed to melt his brand-new cauldron. 

“Someone’s grumpy!” Sirius declared as they crossed the threshold into Greenhouse 2, “don’t worry, Pete, I’ll tell you a joke to cheer you up. Have you ever heard about the troll, the hag, and the leprechaun who all go into a bar-” 

“Remus?” 

Remus doubled back, not sorry to miss the rest of Sirius’ joke. Amelia Bones stood a few feet away, wearing a pretty blue hair ribbon to match her Ravenclaw tie. She was twisting her hands nervously over her stomach, and he noticed that she was blushing slightly. The effect the flush had underneath her freckles was quite nice. 

“Hi Amelia,” he squeaked, trying to sound more confident than he felt, “what’s up? How was your summer?” 

“Erm, not bad,” she smiled sweetly up at him, “I was wondering if…” 

“Oi, Remus!” Sirius called across the room, “Pete saved you a seat.” James and Peter snickered behind Sirius, clearly in on the joke to make him look a fool in front of Amelia.

Remus waved them off and turned his attention back to Amelia. “Sorry, ignore them. What were you wondering?” 

She went from pink to red at his words. “I was wondering if… you wanted to be my Herbology partner this year.” 

Remus blinked. “Oh,” he said, unsure if he understood her properly, “um, yeah, alright. You mean all year?” 

She looked stunned at his words. “Oh, yeah, if you wanted…” 

“I do,” he said quickly. To his annoyance, he felt his hand fly to his hair, just like James did when he talked to a girl. “Yeah. I’d like that, Amelia.” 

She beamed at him. “Great! Well, I guess we should get on with it, then,” and she gestured to a pair of empty chairs. 

--

And so they sat together in the Greenhouse. Their conversations were awkward at first. They kept running into long pauses between their feeble attempts at small talk. Remus always kicked himself when he couldn’t decide what to say. He couldn’t tell too many stories, so much of his life had to be kept secret. He couldn’t very well tell her why he looked so tired that one Wednesday after the Full Moon, nor where he had gotten a particularly nasty scar that stretched across the back of his right hand. He was sure she’d get bored of him eventually, but lesson after lesson there she was, smiling from the seat next to him. She didn’t seem to care that he had little to say, because after a few weeks she talked enough for the both of them. 

She told him about her mother’s work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Remus braced himself at this. He knew that the Department was none too friendly towards werewolves, but the topic never came up. She told him that she wanted to head the Department herself someday. 

“Yeah?” he grinned, “you want to work in magical law?” 

She smiled as she misted a rosebush with a spray bottle. “It’s the only thing I can imagine doing, you know, with everything that’s going on.” 

Remus nodded. That was one of the things he liked about Amelia. She had parents in the Ministry. She knew about the war that was surely coming, and she wasn’t afraid. She’d told him once that she’d give her life to protect others if it came to it. 

“Sounds like you should have been in Gryffindor,” he’d told her at this.

“Nah,” she laughed, “you lot are too aggressive. Give me a book over a fight any day.” 

Remus pretended to look wounded. “Not all of us are like that.” 

He stopped his work on the engorged Venus Flytrap in front of him and glanced sideways at her. Her large blue eyes studied him carefully as if she were making up her mind. “No,” she almost whispered, “I suppose you’re not, are you?” 

--

That night in the Common Room found the boys sitting around the roaring fire. James and Sirius played a game of Exploding Snap while Peter watched, clapping his hands and cheering loudly when one of the players had a particularly impressive move. Remus stared into the fire, the book he had been reading lay forgotten in his lap. 

“Moony,” James called, waking Remus from his daydream about Herbology that day, “what’s got your face look all crumpled like that?”

“Isn’t it obvious,” grumbled Sirius, “Bones. Again. Am I wrong?” 

Remus was sure his cheeks had turned dark red at this comment. “No.”

Sirius grimaced. “See? Told you.” 

James laughed out loud. “Remus? In love? I never thought I’d see the day.” 

“Not in love,” Remus argued, trying to regain some of his dignity, “in….like, I suppose.” 

“Like...you want to shag her brains out, do you mean?” Peter chuckled. 

“Don’t be gross,” Remus tossed his book at Peter’s head, which unfortunately missed. “She’s funny, that’s all.” 

“Funny?” Said Sirius incredulously, “I’ve never heard her be funny.” 

“Have you ever even talked to her?” Remus frowned. He didn’t know why Sirius was being so nasty.

“‘Course I have,” Sirius muttered, “she seems boring if you ask me.” 

“Well, good thing no one asked you, then,” Remus snapped. He wasn’t interested in dealing with one of Sirius’ moods today. Amelia was a nice girl. She had a good heart and she cared about the things Remus cared about. Sirius was just jealous for whatever reason. 

Sirius jumped to his feet. “Well, if you’re going to blab on about her all night, I’m going to bed.” 

Remus rolled his eyes. “What, and deprive us of your pleasant company?” 

Sirius glared at him, then stomped off up the stairs. 

James stared after his friend. “What was that about?” 

“No idea,” Remus gestured to Peter for his book back, then went back to pretending to read in front of the fire. Really, if Sirius had a problem with Amelia, who cared. 

But he did care. 

--

The ground had frozen solid already, a sure sign that winter approached. Amelia had insisted that they study for their Herbology exam down by the black lake. He wasn’t sure why they had to be outside, but she’d lit a fire that floated several inches above the blanket she laid out for them which provided a buffer of warmth against the brisk wind. 

“Name the Kingdom, Order, and Family of Crataegus, give its common name, and list its magical properties,” Amelia recited from her textbook. 

Remus screwed up his face in concentration. 

“Let’s see...Crataegus, also known as Hawthorn, Kingdom is Plantae, Order is Rosales, and Family is Rosaceae. In ancient times Muggles believed the Hawhotrn had magical properties of rebirth and fertility, and Wizards use its elements in draughts to strengthen the heart,” He glanced at Amelia, “how’d I do?” 

“Brilliant,” she beamed, snapping her book shut. She stretched her legs so that her shoeless feet reached towards the Black Lake. “Let’s take a break, I’m exhausted.” 

“Up all night reading, were you?” he teased.

She tried her best not to smile, but the corners of her mouth gave her away. “If you must know… yes. I couldn’t put down our Transfiguration textbook.” 

Remus gaped at her. “Oh come on!” he laughed, “there’s being studious, and there’s being a bloody nerd!” 

She looked at him in disbelief. “Traitor! I would have thought you, of all people, would understand.” Something changed in her face when she said this. She seemed to grow softer, more earnest. She looked at him as if he were supposed to gain some greater understanding from her words. 

Remus laughed nervously. “Well, I like bloody nerds.” 

“Yeah?” she whispered. She drew closer to him by the second, her eyes boring into his. 

“Yeah,” he breathed. He knew what she wanted from him, and he was pretty sure he wanted it too. 

Their lips met across the space between them. Her skin was warm, and her lips moved naturally against his own. It was a nice feeling, and he kissed her back with interest. His stomach swooped when she gently tugged at his bottom lip with her teeth. He lifted a hand to her cheek and rested it there, gently pulling her closer. 

--

“You WHAT?” 

Remus did not look up from his book. “We kissed. Alright?” 

James stared at him open-mouthed. “How!” he howled, like a child who had a toy taken away by a fed-up parent, “how are you the first one to kiss a girl of the four of us? You’re afraid of girls!” 

“Apparently not,” Remus grinned despite himself. It was true, he’d never been a flirt. But it seemed that James’ strategy of annoying girls until they liked him hadn’t quite paid off yet. 

“And how was it?” Sirius barked across the room from his spot on his four-poster. He still had that strange, hard edge to his voice. He’d been that way for a few weeks now. 

Remus shrugged. “It was nice.” 

“Just nice?” cried Peter, who looked like he was about to explode, “Come on, we need more than that!” 

Remus thought back to the moment down by the lake. “It was...unexpected.” 

“Was it everything you’d ever dreamed of?” Sirius drawled in a bored voice. 

Remus shot him a dirty look. “And if it was?” 

Sirius scoffed. “I doubt it.” 

“Look,” Remus said angrily, “I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m sick of this. You’ve been sulking around me for weeks. I don’t know if it’s jealousy, or-”

“Jealous?” Sirius’ eyes flashed with anger, “you think I’m jealous of her?” 

Remus faltered. “No,” he stammered, “I meant-” 

But Sirius cut him off. “Of course, I didn’t mean,” he took a breath, “I just don’t want you lording it over the rest of us, alright? That you’ve got a girlfriend, or whatever. Us Marauders have more important things to think about.” And with that, Sirius tore the hangings around his bed closed with a huff. 

Remus stared at the spot Sirius had been feeling shaken. What had Sirius meant, “you think I’m jealous of her?” 

“Let him sleep it off, mate,” James said uneasily, glancing at the closed hangings around his friend’s bed, “he’s just in a mood.” 

“Fuck off, James,” Sirius called from out of sight. 

James sighed, threw Remus one more apologetic look, then began to get ready for bed. 

Remus sat quite still for a moment. Just minutes ago he could think of nothing but Amelia. Now, Sirius filled his brain. They fought so rarely, it was hard to believe that his kiss with Amelia had made Sirius so angry. After a while, Remus realized he was the last boy awake in the dormitory. Confused and upset, he got to his feet and turned out the light.

[laurawritesandgames]

Title: Objections

Fandom: Beetlejuice (Musical)

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Beetlejuice/Adam/Barbara, Charles/Delia

Prompt: Wedding

Content Warning: Set during coronavirus pandemic

Summary: It’s Delia and Charles’s wedding day. The Maitland-Deetz household tries to keep their irreverent demon from spoiling the big day. Little do they know it’s not Beetlejuice they need to worry about….

It had taken ten minutes, but Barbara was finally satisfied with Delia’s lashes. “There. I think we’ve got it.” She moved aside to let Delia see herself in the mirror.

Barbara had put her hair and makeup skills to the test and helped Delia out on her wedding day. Why invite over a makeup artist and hair stylist during a pandemic if you didn’t have to?

Delia examined her reflection and beamed. “It’s perfect.”

That was being kind. It wasn’t exactly one of the dramatic looks on Delia’s wedding Pinterest board. More dramatic makeup would’ve suited her dress better. Ordered from Italy, her dress was a gold ballgown with dramatic tiered tulle flounces on the skirt and a deep V neckline. The gold in the dress played off the gold accents in Delia’s bright orange hair, which was in romantic waves down her back. It was daring and sweet all at once.

When the pandemic hit, the household had talked about postponing her and Charles’s wedding. But Charles’s parents were old-fashioned, and since Delia and Charles wanted to try for a baby right away, they decided to have a virtual wedding instead.

“I can’t thank you enough, Barbara.”

“I’m not letting you do your own hair and makeup on your big day!” She gestured to the laptop. “Now go show the girls.” Her bridesmaids were eagerly awaiting drinking mimosas and celebrating Delia’s look. Barbara had met them at Delia’s virtual bachelorette party, though, of course, they hadn’t known Barbara was there. The bachelorette party had also been rather subdued, considering Delia’s usual standards. She, Barbara and the bridesmaids had streamed both Magic Mike movies, ate popcorn and drank champagne. What else could you do in a pandemic? “I’ll go check on the preparations.”

Delia’s phone, face down on the makeup table, buzzed again. Someone had been texting her all morning, and Delia had been ignoring them. Her gaze flicked to the phone, jaw tightening before she looked back into the mirror.

Barbara gestured to the phone. “I can grab that for you, too.”

A hint of a frown worked its way between Delia’s brows. A moment later, her expression relaxed, and she waved the suggestion away. “I’m fine, darling. I’ve been getting so many robotexts lately. You know, you could stay and have a drink. You’re a bridesmaid too, dear!”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I like keeping busy!” And if I bump something or the camera catches me drinking a mimosa, the focus is definitely not going to be on the bride. Barbara excused herself and went downstairs.

The walls of the living/dining room were decorated with curled gold ribbons and champagne-coloured tulle banners beneath the crown molding. The ghosts and Beetlejuice had moved all the furniture—quite easily, with telekinesis—and added two rows of four chairs on either side of an elegant pale gray runner. The rug led the eye to the laptop, set up on a crystal-laden table where the officiant would’ve stood, and the pale-wood wedding arch wrapped in the same champagne tulle. Everything looked perfect.

Adam, Beetlejuice, and Lydia, the family’s impromptu wedding photographer/videographer, were gathered around a photo album. It took Barbara a second to recognize it.

“Aww, our wedding album!” She joined the group, resting her head on Adam’s shoulder. He kissed her temple, pulling her closer with both arms. The book continued floating in mid-air.

“Obsessed with sunflowers much?” grumbled an unimpressed Beetlejuice.

“I guess so,” Adam said. “My family’s farm had a little sunflower patch. That kinda became our thing.”

“Love the mason jars,” Lydia commented.

“Hey, those were the big thing in 2009,” Barbara said. She supposed their wedding had followed a lot of popular trends: an outdoor barn wedding, lots of tea lights in mason jars, and even a photo booth. But they’d managed to be ahead of the curve on a few things. “Remember our party favours, sweetie?” she asked Adam. “They were little terrariums in stemless wineglasses.”

Adam grinned and squeezed the arm around her waist. “They were tied with ribbons that said ‘Thank you very ‘mulch’ for coming to our wedding!’”

Lydia chuckled; Beetlejuice rolled his eyes.

“Don’t encourage that,” the demon said to his friend. He continued scowling at the wedding album, but Lydia seemed happy to keep looking at the photos.

The most pages they turned, the more Barbara’s mood slid closer to Beetlejuice’s. All those photos were full of friends and family she couldn’t see anymore. Most of her friends’ Facebooks or Instagrams were private, so she couldn’t even do any light internet stalking unless she wanted to log into her old accounts and confuse everyone. Was Lisa still going back to school to get her Masters, or had the pandemic put that on hold? Was Alison still having issues with her mother-in-law? Barbara had no idea. Dead women didn’t have friends. Not to mention her family….

But a wedding was no time to be sad. She pasted a smile on her face and even managed a few cute wedding stories.

“Remember when your uncle Eddy tried to drink his wedding favour?” she asked Adam, who chuckled. “He almost choked on a succulent!”

“But he kept trying to drink from it! Three times!” Adam chuckled. A moment later, his smile faltered. “Probably because he’s a massive alcoholic.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” That story wasn’t quite as cute as she remembered. “So, um, why don’t we do a last-minute check? Make sure we’ve got everything.”

“All right,” Lydia said. She took the photo album from midair and put it away, frowning slightly. “This is probably going to be the nicest moment I have today, so thanks for that.”

Barbara and Adam shared a worried look. Lydia was deeply ambivalent about her father marrying another woman only six months after her mother died. Lydia had used that fact to extract a lot of concessions about the wedding: Delia had let her wear a black dress and take photographs on her analogue camera instead of a digital camera.

“C’mon, kid!” Beetlejuice said. “Just wait ‘til I get the party started!” He blew a party favour, and sparkly beetles flew behind him.

While Lydia rolled her eyes fondly at her friend, Barbara and Adam shared another worried look. The young woman went upstairs to get changed.  

Barbara turned to Beetlejuice. “I just wanted to remind you about your promise, Beetlejuice. I know it’d probably be very funny to interrupt the ceremony. Maybe Lydia would even appreciate it. But this day means a lot to Delia and Charles. They’ve found each other through a lot of pain and hardship, and they deserve a fun, special memory.”

Beetlejuice waved her words away. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don’t know this about me yet, but I love a good party. And people can finally see me! Well, only people here, but whatever. Why would I mess that up and have everybody pissed at me? I’m here for the fun and the food, baby.”

As much as Barbara wanted to believe him, she suspected that the only reason he didn’t have a disruption planned was because of Lydia’s innate goodness, not his own.

“I noticed you didn’t love us going through the wedding album, buddy,” Adam said. “Is everything okay?”

He shrugged. “It just…it looked nice. Your wedding.” He glanced between Barbara and Adam, loudly announcing, “None of that boring-ass shit at our wedding, okay?”

Barbara tried not to look too surprised—Beetlejuice loved shocking them. “Noted. But it’s also not going to be jump scares every minute, or a projector that reveals everyone’s darkest fears, or some kind of Saw situation.”

Beetlejuice’s eyebrows rose. “I was just thinking there’d be singing cockroaches and banners made of bats, but those are way better! You wanna plan it, baby?”

“I said ‘not.’ It’s not going to be any of those things. Did you even hear that part?”

He darted in close and kissed her lips. “Eh, we’ll find a compromise that works for all of us. We’re all about that life, right?” His neck stretched cartoonishly to kiss Adam on the lips as well. Then he poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

After a few moments, Adam said, “Did he just ask us to marry him?”

“I think it was a joke proposal. You know him. If he really wanted to propose, there’d be a lot more pizzazz. And possibly dead bodies.”

“Right, of course.”

“Would you have said yes if he’d been serious?” Barbara asked, curious.

“Things between the three of us have been going pretty well, but I don’t think I’m ready to jump into another marriage quite yet. And you?”

It was exactly what she’d expected from Adam. They’d changed since their deaths—six months later, their afterlives involved parenthood, isolation from friends and family, a lot more free time, and a polyamorous relationship. But it was nice when she could guess what he was thinking. Not everything had changed. “The same. Maybe in a few years or so.”

*

Before the ceremony, Charles and Lydia stayed in the living room, helping older relatives log on to Zoom and greeting people as they logged in. Charles was wearing a pale grey tuxedo with a metallic grey tie and pocket square. Lydia looked like an elegant classic Hollywood starlet with a goth twist: her black lace gown had a subtle skull pattern to it, barely visible unless the light hit it just right. Her onyx choker and bracelets looked like thorny vines going up her pale arms and encircling her neck. On her head was a raven fascinator with golden bead eyes, her one concession to the wedding colours.

The laptop screen filled up with squares of happy, smiling faces. Everyone had dressed up for the occasion, wearing suits and dresses.

“Betcha most of them are wearing sweat pants,” Beetlejuice said.

“Well, hopefully we’ll never find out,” Barbara replied. The three of them were sitting on the white chairs on either side of the aisle. Most people watching this meeting online probably assumed these chairs were only there for symmetry. As far as they knew, Lydia was the only other person physically at this wedding.

Despite her earlier claim, Lydia was smiling and chatting with Charles’s parents and, to Barbara’s surprise, Emily’s mother. Coming to your son-in-law’s wedding six months after your daughter’s death must have been hard, but if there were any issues, Barbara didn’t see them, and she wasn’t about to eavesdrop on a family moment.

Emily was sick for years. I suppose her family had a lot of time to mourn her. She thought about her parents and her sister at her own funeral. What had that been like?

Lydia took video of Delia coming down the stairs to the bridal chorus, played on speakers set up throughout the room, then put the video camera on a tripod so she could participate in the ceremony.

“I want to thank everyone for joining us today,” the officiant said. “In lieu of wedding gifts, the bride and groom have asked that you donate to the Rural Connecticut Preservation Society. I’m pleased to share that we’ve raised $10,000, which will be donated after the wedding.”

If Charles had had any reservations about donating to a charity dedicated to stopping housing development in rural Connecticut, which directly impacted his career, he hadn’t brought it up during the wedding’s planning stages. Lydia had suggested the charity, after all.

Everyone applauded.

“We will now bless the rings,” the officiant said.

Lydia took out the rings, held them both tightly in her hands, and whispered her blessing into her clenched fists. She smiled mischievously at Charles.

“I suppose if they burst into flame, we’ll know Mom disapproves.”

There were a few awkward chuckles from the assembled, none louder than Delia’s. “That’s my darling, unique stepdaughter for you! Oh, Lydia, you’re so funny!”

In a mocking, little-girl voice, Lydia replied, “I appreciate the compliment, my dearest stepmother.”

Barbara and Adam made sure that they were holding Beetlejuice’s hands so he couldn’t raise them.

The demon scoffed. “You know, I don’t need my hands to do ghost magic? I could just set the rings on fire with my mind.”

“Do not—”

“I wasn’t gonna! Jeez.”

With a theatrical flourish, Lydia showed off the rings to the laptop camera. Barbara half-expected them to be Netherworld green, but they were normal. “My blessing has been spoken. Please speak your blessings now.” Ideally, everyone would’ve been able to touch the rings and speak their blessings in private.

After a pause, Delia’s father spoke first, and others followed. The wedding program had provided a few sample blessings, but people were free to write their own. Delia’s mother began crying halfway through hers.

“Save something for the wedding speech, Amanda,” her father joked. He reminded Barbara of her own dad.

Barbara and Adam gave their own blessings. “Delia and Charles, we wish you health, happiness and love as you start your new life together,” they said, touching the rings, making sure not to brush Lydia’s hands.

Beetlejuice had declined to take part in “New Age bullshittery,” so he remained hovering over his seat.

The rest of the wedding was more traditional, probably to appease Charles’s parents. Barbara’s mind wandered. She and Adam had come so far, hadn’t they? She held Adam’s hand lightly, running her thumb up and down his palm—rather, she did until Beetlejuice forced his way between the two of them and sat on both of their laps.

“Poor baby, no one was paying attention to you,” she cooed into his ear.

“It’s the worst,” he agreed. She ran her fingers through his spikey green hair. Adam gave him some attention by resting his head on Beetlejuice’s shoulder. That seemed to do the trick—he sighed and relaxed.

Readings were read, vows were said, and rings were exchanged. Charles’s vows were simple and straightforward—too curt for Barbara’s tastes—but Delia’s were long enough for them both. Barbara fought the urge to check the time. She felt like Delia had been going for 10 minutes.

Delia actually appeared to be wrapping up when “I object!” sounded over the laptop’s speakers.

A square popped up on Zoom, revealing that the speaker was a tanned older man with more salt than pepper in his hair and bright white teeth. He had a faint accent that Barbara couldn’t place. She’d never seen him on any of Delia’s photos or social media.

Delia made a few choking noises in the back of her throat, the colour draining from her face.

Charles glared at the screen. “You,” he spat out.

Clutching Charles like a lifeline, Delia drew herself up as tall as she could. “Jeremy, log off immediately! I don’t know how you got my number or how you got this link, but get out, you narcissistic psychopath! You don’t get to be a part of my life, not after what you did!”

“Delia, my love, I know you still feel something for me—“

‘My love’? This can’t be the ex-husband, can it? Years ago, Delia’s ex had sailed away to Rome with the secretary he’d been cheating on her with.

“Hey,” Beetlejuice whispered, “I never possessed someone over the internet before. Maybe if we all work together, we can do it?”

Jeremy had opened his mouth to speak again. If ghostly powers could stop this disaster, they had to try. Barbara grabbed Beetlejuice’s and Adam’s hands and held them out to the laptop screen.

“—and I—” Jeremy continued. His gaze abruptly unfocused. Barbara tried to force words into his mouth.

“I’m so sorry!” he said, just as she’d scripted. “I’m going to log off and…and…and throw myself into a dumpster like the piece of trash I am.”

She hadn’t told him to say that. Barbara glanced at Beetlejuice, who grinned back at her.

“And then,” Jeremy continued, “I’m gonna take my toenail clippings, and my belly button lint, put them in a blender, take a shit in that blender, start the blender, and pour myself a shit-shake. It’s my regular Saturday morning routine, baby!”

Lydia rushed forward and tapped a few keys. His square vanished from the screen.

“I blocked him,” she said.

“Thank you, stepdaughter.” Delia sniffled, and Charles handed her a Kleenex from his suit pocket.

As Delia struggled to compose herself, Barbara whispered, “A poop-shake? Really, Beetlejuice?”

“It was Adam!” He couldn’t even keep a straight face, and chortled. “Okay, you caught me. Hey, I had to make sure he’d never be able to look these people in the eye again.”

Delia glared at the laptop screen. “Lydia, darling, explain to me how you set this event up again.”

“I set it as a private Zoom event. Everyone involved in the ceremony had to have a link and a password.”

“So,” Delia said, “who gave my ex-husband—who, I’d just like to remind everyone, is a cheating bastard—the link and the password?”

Slowly, one of Delia’s aunts raised her hand, her face bright pink behind her makeup.

“Millie!” Delia’s mom exclaimed.

“Mom!” shrieked one of Delia’s cousins.

Most people on the Zoom call started shouting at once. It took a few minutes to hear Aunt Millie’s explanation.

“I had no idea he was going to object,” she squeaked. “But he was such a big part of our lives for such a long time, and I thought he deserved to at least see the ceremony….”

“Aunt Millie,” Delia said, “you are no longer welcome!”

“Of—of course. I’m so sorry, Delia.” Aunt Millie took out her glasses and peered at the screen. “Er, which button do I…?”

Lydia took care of it, and banned her.

“And everyone thought I’d use my ghost powers for evil,” Beetlejuice boasted. “Look at me, doing good deeds! Being a goddamn hero!”

Barbara would’ve responded, but poor Delia sagged against Charles, tears running down her face. She tried to speak, but only managed a quiet sob.

“We’re going to take a break,” Lydia said quickly, turning back to the laptop. “See you in 10 minutes, everyone.” She muted them and closed the laptop.

Beetlejuice waved his hand to grab Delia’s attention, grinning broadly. “Thought I’d mention that if you know where he lives I could teleport to his location and, well, cause a little havoc.”

“Do we need to go over the house rules?” Barbara asked. ‘No Murdering’ was the first one.

“No murdering, this time! Just a little non-fatal revenge.”

Delia hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. “No, thank you.”

“Non-fatal?” Lydia asked Beetlejuice. “Are you sure? Our wedding did set a precedent for murder….”

Beetlejuice chuckled, and the two fistbumped.

After a moment, the demon frowned. “Wait, should I fistbump you for murdering me?”

“You already completed the ‘bump—you can’t take it back now,” Lydia said.

“Shit, you’re right.”

Delia stared at the living room, lips quivering. “Maybe…maybe this is a sign. The universe must not want me to get married again!”

Beetlejuice floated over. “Delia! Signs don’t exist. Trust me, I’d know! There is no heaven, no hell, no meaning to anything! The universe is cold, distant, and uncaring. It’s basically my mom,” he joked. “But the point is—it doesn’t care what you want, and nothing you say or do can affect it.

“Besides, girl!” Beetlejuice leaned in. “Chuck is rich as fuck. Lock him down!”

Charles glared at him before turning back to Delia. “I still want to get married to you, Delia.”

“Are you sure?” She blew into her Kleenex before continuing. “There are women who…who don’t have ex-husbands that ruin their weddings and—and make a scene in front of all their friends and family….”

“Delia,” Barbara said quietly, “you’re not the first person to date an asshole. I mean, look at me and Adam.”

Beetlejuice appreciated the burn, even if it was at his own expense—he cackled over Delia’s tepid chuckle.

“Don’t blame yourself for what just happened,” Barbara continued.

Delia whimpered into her Kleenex. Charles stroked her hair lightly.

“Delia,” he said, “I stood in front of our friends and family and told them how you were the brightest light in my darkest time. I meant every word of it. Nothing will change that. I love you.” He kissed her so deeply that Barbara looked away to give them some privacy.

When they were done, Lydia cleared her throat. “I’ll go get the digital camera so we can adjust the photos faster. That way you won’t have to worry about your makeup looking perfect.” She began to set her analog camera down.

Delia shook her head. “No—you said this was your artistic vision, and I won’t see it compromised.”

Lydia looked surprised. “Oh.” Her smile was small but sincere. “Thanks, Delia.”

Delia took this as an invitation to hug her stepdaughter. Lydia rolled her eyes, but patted her shoulder and didn’t pull away.

“Besides,” Delia added, “this camera was your mother’s gift to you, and I don’t want her coming back from the Netherworld to tell me off.”

Beetlejuice facepalmed. “That is not how the Netherworld works! That’s not how any of it works.”

“Well, it couldn’t hurt to make sure, could it?” Delia stepped back. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just fix my face.”

“I can help,” Barbara said, and Delia nodded.

Once they were upstairs, Delia collapsed in her makeup chair, sighing heavily.

“I actually thought it was going to go well,” she commented. “That I’d have one beautiful day even in the midst of the world’s ugliness. I was so stupid. Nothing ever goes right for me.”

Barbara reached out to pat Delia’s shoulder before stopping herself. When Delia looked confused, she explained, “Lydia said touching me or Adam is like touching an ice cube tray straight from the freezer.”

“I don’t mind.”

Hesitantly, Barbara touched Delia’s shoulder. It was the first time she’d touched a living person other than Lydia in months, and hugs from a 16-year-old girl she didn’t know that well were rare. The older woman shivered but didn’t pull away.

“Lydia’s not wrong,” Delia admitted. She put her hand over Barbara’s, squeezing slightly. “But a hand offered in friendship should never be refused. You know, it’s been almost four months since I last touched someone who wasn’t Charles.”

“Hopefully this coronavirus pandemic will end soon.”

“I’ve been saying healing prayers twice a day.”

Barbara wasn’t sure they’d be effective, but healing prayers were more than most of America’s leaders were doing. At least Delia was listening to the science and wearing a mask when she went outside. She’d grown so much in the short time Barbara had known her.

Barbara missed her friends from when she was alive. That was natural. But she couldn’t let her loss keep her from recognizing that she’d made a friend after death, too.

“Thanks, Delia,” Barbara said. “Not just for the healing prayers, but for everything. Having two ghostly housemates and a demon would be a lot for some people, but you’ve taken it in stride.”

Delia chuckled. “I once lived in a commune of 200 people. Living off the land, growing our own food…and digging our own toilets.” She wrinkled her nose, then chuckled. “You three are a walk in the park compared to that!”

“If there’s anything you need from me or Adam, please let us know. We don’t want to trouble you or Charles.”

Delia opened and closed her mouth. After a moment, she said, “Well….I suppose I do have a rather personal question….”

“Shoot.”

“Beetlejuice—is he actually good in the bedroom?”

Barbara giggled. “He is. He’s had millennia to think about what he’d do if he ever had sexual partners again. He’s very…inventive.”

“I’ll admit, I’m surprised. He doesn’t seem the type to be concerned with another’s pleasure.”

“Oh, there’s definitely times he forgets. But then we get to teach him. Ahem. Now,” she nodded to the mirror, “let’s get your makeup touched up.”

*

Barbara wouldn’t ever be hungry or thirsty again, but the stuffed butternut squash was delicious. Delia and Charles had deferred to Barbara and Adam’s local expertise when they planned the menu at their wedding dinner. Adam knew most of the farms the vegetables had come from.

The Deetzes had said goodbye to all their guests, and the family was eating their wedding dinner in the dining room.

Delia had been going to give out the crystals on either side of the laptop as wedding favours—the stones were mostly rose quartz, moonstone and a pale white stone called selenite. But after Jeremy’s arrival, she said she needed to cleanse the crystals. “I’m going to give them a few lunar cycles, just to be safe.”

Barbara nodded, pretending she understood what that meant. “Adam, Beetlejuice and I are dead. We’ve got nothing but time!”

“I just want to thank everyone again for your hard work,” Delia said, smiling at them. “Lydia, for your photographic eye and leading the blessing. Barbara, for the hair, makeup, decorating and emotional support. Adam, for sending out all the emails and doing the tech support. All the ghosts, for intervening when a certain someone decided to crash the party.”

“It was mostly me,” Beetlejuice said. Barbara rolled her eyes at Adam, who chuckled.

“He is the ghost with the most,” Adam said, making Beetlejuice grin.

“My mistake—thank you, Beetlejuice. Thank you all for being part of one of the most important days of our lives. Thank you for being our family.”

Barbara sniffled a bit as she and Adam applauded the speech.

“I got the happy couple some extra gifts,” Beetlejuice said. “For the wedding night.”

“I’m going into another room,” Lydia announced abruptly, setting her plate down. “Another house. Another life.”

As she left, Beetlejuice grinned. “We’re rated PG-13, guys! It’s just rose petals on the bed and some boozy chocolates. Figured you two have your own toys—”

Lydia started singing loudly as she covered her ears, taking the stairs three at a time to get away.

Barbara tried to figure out what he had in mind. “These rose petals won’t become spiders, will they?”

“They’re totally normally and boring, if you must know. I ordered them off Amazon.”

“How?” Adam asked. “You have no money.”

“I typed in Chuck’s credit card, duh.”

“What?” Charles snapped.

Barbara and Adam sighed. Beetlejuice’s morality was a never-ending project that was not without its consequences.

Not for the first time, Barbara reflected that it was a good thing the Maitlands loved working on projects together.

*

After the wedding dinner, as Barbara, Adam and Beetlejuice were cleaning up, Lydia came downstairs. She was carrying another photo album and wearing a glum expression. She’d changed out of her party dress, and was wearing a comfy hoodie and sweat pants—all black, of course.

“Got a sec?” she asked quietly.

“Of course, sweetheart,” Barbara said.

Lydia showed them a photo—a younger Emily Deetz on a younger Charles’s lap, grinning at the camera in a fancy restaurant.

“My mom and dad’s wedding wasn’t like today’s. There wasn’t any structure. It was just a big party at one of the best restaurants in New York, followed by wandering the city with all their friends and family. They stopped in at dingy bars to listen to live music, they caught a comedy show, they walked through Times Square at two in the morning. They almost got mugged! Mom was hard core like that. Daddy attracts dramatic weddings, doesn’t he?” she joked.

Her smile dropped a second later. “And Daddy looks just as happy here as he did today. I was photographing him and Delia the whole time. I’d know.”

“So,” Beetlejuice said, “the big takeaway here is that Chuck is in love with the women he gets married to?”

Lydia chuckled sadly. “Something like that. I mean, one of them was a woman he met in college, while the other was his employee…. But who cares about things like abuses of power when it’s true love? Daddy and Delia keep trying to make me comfortable with their love story, but how can I be? If it were any other situation, I’d be blasting Daddy online as he stars in the latest MeToo scandal, right?”

Barbara nodded. “You’re right. It’s pretty rare for a story like Delia and Charles’s to end this way. You sound like you’re carrying a lot, Lydia. Do you want to sit and—”

“No, thanks. I just wanted to whine for a bit. Delia’s family seem nice, at least. Except for Aunt Millie, obviously.” She closed the photo album in a short, frustrated gesture. “Well, goodnight, guys.”

“Do you mind if we check in with you tomorrow?” Barbara said. “See how you’re feeling?” Sixteen was such a tough age—particularly when your father was remarrying.

“If you want.” She shrugged, as if she really didn’t care, but her small smile made Barbara hopeful that she’d made the right decision. The only thing more difficult than being a teenager was parenting a teenager she’d just met a few months ago.

Beetlejuice was frowning as Lydia left. “Guys, we gotta help Lyds!” He was nothing if not loyal. “We should break Chuck and Delia up, right?” He leaned in to Adam. “I got the perfect way to do it. You know how Delia thinks Emily can come back from the Netherworld?” Beetlejuice became Emily Deetz for a moment, still with a few mossy patches and green hair. “Well, what if she can? And then we tell Delia to GTFO!”

That he was asking them instead of just doing it was a pretty good sign.

“Well, Bug,” Adam said, “think about it—if Lydia didn’t want this wedding to happen, she could’ve objected herself. Or asked her father not to get married to Delia.”

Beetlejuice became his usual self again, looking disappointed. “Oh. Right. Didn’t think of that.”

“She’s an intelligent, sensitive young woman with complicated feelings about a complicated issue,” Barbara said. “I think the best way to help her is to listen to her without judgement.”

“Why is the right way always the most boring way?” Beetlejuice said, sighing.

Barbara knew how to get him happy again. “Now,” she said, running her hand along his shoulder, “why don’t we finish up and go upstairs? After all this work for everyone else, we deserve some…ah, quality time together.”

Beetlejuice fistpumped and chortled. “Yes! Unfortunately, because of this fic’s rating, we gotta cut it off here. I just wanna let everyone know, it’s gonna be freakin’ awesome—'cuz I’m awesome, baby.”

Barbara had no idea what he was talking about, as usual. Adam kissed her cheek, and they went back to the dishes.

[slusheeduck]

Binding Resolution

https://slusheeduck.tumblr.com/post/626433636773838848/binding-resolution[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2]

Chapter 3

              The backpack falls from your hands with a loud thud, and the lovey-dovey exchanges come to a screeching halt. Queen Vanessa’s head snaps over to look at you, ice-blue eyes narrowing suspiciously before she puts on a stiff smile.

              “Darling, who’s this?” she asks through her teeth.

              The Prince—should you start thinking of him as Snatcher? But that’s so weird—looks over at you. “Hey, kiddo, welcome back to the world of the living,” he says with a smile, though it fades as he pulls away from Vanessa to crouch down in front of you. “Well, maybe I spoke too soon. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

              You laugh. You know you shouldn’t, but like, come on.

              Despite the fact that you did not actually find his comment that funny, he relaxes. “Well, that’s more than you’ve said all day.”

              “Darling, who is that?” Vanessa’s voice is much more clipped, and her smile seems frozen in place. You don’t like that.

              The Prince, however, is unphased and pats your hat. “An urchin I picked up off the street, obviously. Getting ready for a life of indentured servitude.” He smiles down at you. “Do I have to tell you I’m joking now, or are you catching on?”

              You manage a weak laugh. These jokes of his weren’t really that funny to begin with, but now they make you a little sick. He pats your hat again as he looks back to Vanessa.

              “She’s just a little visitor. Got lost in the woods, so we’re getting her rested up before finding out where home is.”

              Vanessa’s stuck smile finally disappears, now replaced with an exaggerated pout. “But…but I came home early so we could spend a whole extra day together.”

              “And we will, my love, we will.”

              “But…I don’t want anyone bothering you today! I mean, apart from me, of course.” The pout becomes even more exaggerated. “After all, we’re getting married soon. We should be spending every moment possible together to get ready.”

              The Prince shakes his head with a fond smile, then walks back to Vanessa and presses a kiss to her forehead. “We have plenty of time, my princess, don’t you worry.” He takes a step back, keeping his hands on her arms. “Look, I’ve already had the Dwellers cooking up some food, and I’m sure you’re exhausted after fast-tracking it home. Why don’t you…” He taps her nose. “…go freshen up, and I’ll take care of some business I got behind on thanks to our visitor, and then we���ll all meet up in a bit for brunch. Deal?”

              Vanessa giggles. “Deal,” she says, leaning forward to kiss him again before jumping up to give him a tight hug. Over his shoulder, her bright smile drops as she looks down at you, something in her eyes sending a chill down your spine.

A moment later, she bounced back out of his arms. “I’ll miss you every moment we’re apart, my prince,” she coos.

              “And so will I, my princess.” He kisses her again, then pulls away to walk down the hallway.

Vanessa watches him go, then sighs before stomping her way up the stairs. From your spot, you hear the door open. “Why are you in here?” you hear her ask the Dwellers. “My bedroom should have been UNTOUCHED.”

              You decide now is a good time to see what the Prince is up to.

~

              You find him in an office, tucked away in the back corner of the mansion. You don’t think you ever got this far, but then again, you might not have been able to recognize it if you had. The Prince is crouched over his desk, quill scratching quickly over paper.

              You’re willing to bet pons to donuts that he’s writing out contracts of some sort, but probably ones of a less soul-stealy nature. And, since he’ll one day be legally obligated to be your BFF, you figure you might as well take a look.

              “Oh, hey, kid. You looking to be put to work?”

              You hesitate for a moment, looking at his desk. Pages upon pages of letters are scattered all over it.

              “I won’t turn down the help, pull up a chair and grab a quill.” He pushes his pot of ink so it sits between the two of you, then puts his hand over it. “Wait. You can write, can’t you?”

              You send him a flat look and nod.

              “Just checking! Someone is definitely feeling better, isn’t she?” He pulls his hand back, picking up his quill again. “Anyway, I’m just writing letters to the Dwellers, so don’t worry about being too fancy. It sounds sappy, but…we’re pretty isolated out here, so I like sending them some mail every now and again. They’re always over the moon to get some from the ‘outside world,’ even if it’s just a smiley face.”

              You smile a bit as you start to write. This is much nicer than outright stealing mail and redelivering it. Huh, Snatcher really wasn’t that bad of a guy before everything happened, was he?

              A thought crosses your mind, a kind of terrible one. Generally speaking, trying to change the past is a BIG no-no, even bigger than dropping a Time Piece. But…if…and this was a BIG if…but if you could stop the break up from happening, then maybe Vanessa and the Prince could stay normal, and Subcon Forest could stay happy. In that case, it’d be better for everyone involved, wouldn’t it?

              The Prince interrupts your thoughts by cracking his knuckles. “Jeez, writing this much makes my hands cramp up. Back in school I would have actual dreams about being able to write up contracts with just my mind. But I suppose that’s the life of a prince, isn’t it?” He takes up his quill again, then pauses. “Well, technically, that’s the life of the Grand Duke of the Subcon Forest—actually, technically Grand Duke and District Attorney of the Subcon Forest. But that’s a mouthful, isn’t it?”

              Attorney? You knew it.

              The Prince catches your smug look and grins. “Bet you haven’t heard of a noble lawyer, have you, kid? Well, I haven’t, either. But lawyers who are minor royalty are also pretty rare.” He laughs at his own joke, and you politely laugh with him. “Anyway, I thought it’d be a good thing to have in my pocket, you know? But—and contain your surprise at this, kid—there’s not much in terms of legal settlements out here in Subcon. But who knows, maybe it’ll come in handy when I’m king. There’s all sorts of treaties and stuff to take care of, and I won’t have to worry about Subcon when it’s not my domain anymore.” A strange expression crosses his face at that, and he abruptly sets the quill down. “Anyway, I think that’s enough letters for this round. I’ve got ribbons in the drawer there, we’ll just roll these up, tie ‘em off, and then pop them into some mailboxes.”

              You nod, then open up the drawer. You don’t find ribbons, but you do find a very official-looking piece of paper with the word “Contract” embellished at the top.

              Really, you’re surprised it took you this long.

              You pull it out, looking it over. It’s much longer than the ones Snatcher gave you, with a lot of big words and sentences that seem to go on forever. But you do pick out “Queen Vanessa” and “marriage,” so it’s probably…

              “Heyyy, hey, hey, that is definitely not ribbons.” The contract is plucked out of your hand, and the Prince puts it back in the drawer in a hurry before slamming it shut. “Anyway, you don’t want to read that. It’s all boring marriage stuff. Did you know there’s a whole bunch of legal processing when you get married? No, wait, of course you wouldn’t, you’re, like, six. Annnnyway…”

              “My Priiiiince!”

              This time, the Prince looks downright relieved at the squeal, and this time he’s prepared for Vanessa to launch herself at him, deftly catching her and setting her in his lap.

              “I was wondering when you’d be coming in,” he says, leaning forward to rub his nose against hers.

              “Oh, I’m sorry to keep you waiting, darling,” she replies, giving him another pout. “It was those Dwellers. Someone apparently messed up my bed while I was gone.”

              For a moment, you and the Prince lock eyes over her shoulder, both of you fighting grimaces. The Prince breaks away first, putting on a mock-serious face as he cups her chin.

              “Well! I’ll be sure to get to the bottom of it, my love. We can’t have your bedroom getting messed up.”

              Vanessa giggles before snuggling up to him. “It’ll be so much easier when we’re married. I’m not letting you out of my sight, ever, and so I won’t even need a visiting room out here in Subcon! Just think, no more incompetent Dwellers demanding your attention and messing up our beds.” She lifts her head. “Speaking of, have they finished brunch yet? I’m starving.”

              The same strange expression crosses his face, but only for a moment before his smile’s back on. “I’m sure they are by now. Why don’t we get going?” He helps Vanessa to her feet, then, keeping a hold of her hand, presses kisses up the length of her arm as he stands up himself.

              Jeez. You knew the two of them were in love, but this is just gross. But you’ve already decided you’re going to try and help, and “gross” is much more preferable to “murderous.” Even so, you’d almost prefer having them be their current selves if it means no more baby talk and gratuitous smooching.

              “Hey, kid, come on. Bet you’re starving after the morning you’ve had,” the Prince says. He doesn’t seem to notice when Vanessa grips his arm tighter, nor the icy look she sends your way before giving a sharp smile.

              “Of course. Wouldn’t want our guest to go hungry.” The smile drops, and she tugs the Prince out the door, much more roughly than she needs to.

              You get the feeling she doesn’t like you much. But much more important is the feeling that your stomach is empty, so you shake it off and follow them.

~

              You haven’t had brunch before, but you’ve decided it’s now your favorite meal of the day. At least, it is in Subcon Forest.

              There’s eggs and sausage and biscuits and fruit and, most importantly, cookies! For BREAKFAST! Time travel is notorious for making you hungry, and you’re pretty sure you’ve inhaled six of these breakfast cookies before you’ve even sat down properly.

              You realize halfway through your second sausage that you’re probably not behaving the way you should when having  brunch with royalty, but the Prince doesn’t seem to mind all that much.

              “Careful, Vanessa,” he says as you reach for yet another cookie. “Looks like we might have someone who loves cookies more than you.”

              “Not possible.” Vanessa’s voice is flat, and she hasn’t so much as touched her fork yet. Instead, she’s just staring at you. Her face is composed, but you still get the impression she’s imagining some not very nice things.

              The Prince doesn’t seem to notice, instead stirring his coffee with another laugh. “You really ought to come back when Vanessa’s the one in the kitchen. Her cookies? Ugh, to die for.”

              Suddenly, you don’t want to eat anymore cookies. Possibly ever again.

              “Oh, if you’re looking for jam, try this one.” The Prince nudges a small jar toward you. “Here, I lo—” He catches himself. “It’s my favorite.”

              You’re not sure what’s weirder: the way he corrected himself, or the fact that you’re getting jam recommendations from Snatcher. Either way, you decide you might as well try it. As you’re spooning it onto some toast, another heavenly smell comes from the kitchen. This one seems to pull Vanessa out of her one-sided staring contest with you, but she doesn’t seem any happier. In fact, she looks outright angry.

              “What is that?” she snaps at the Dweller who enters the room with a covered dish.

              The Dweller pauses, their masked face going between Vanessa and the Prince. “It’s, uh…actually, I think it needs to go back to the kitchen.”

              “Show me what you’ve brought,” Vanessa says through her teeth.

              “Vanessa, love…” The Prince tries, but she holds up a finger to shush him. The Dweller is visibly shaking as they lift up the cover on the tray.

              “Bacon?!”

              You swear you see the lights flicker, and you sink down in your seat as she continues to shout at the Dweller.

              “You know bacon is not allowed at the table!”

              “Vanessa, darling, it was a mistake.” The Prince is immediately on his feet, turning Vanessa around to face him. The Dweller took the chance to bolt back into the kitchen. “I mean, you dropped by much earlier than planned and…”

              “I don’t care! I won’t have you loving something more than me first thing in the morning!” She gasps suddenly, then narrows her eyes up at him. “Have you…have you been eating bacon when I’m not here?”

              “No, no! Of course not, dearest. And anyway, you know I could never love anything more than you, especially not some cured pork.”

              “I don’t want you to love anything but me!” she snaps back at him, pushing him back before crossing her arms in a huff. “Not bacon, not this stupid forest, nothing.”

              Immediately, the Prince is behind her, hugging her tightly despite her stiff pose. “Don’t be ridiculous, love. You know I love you more than anything, Vanessa.”

              For a moment, she stays stiff, but then she leans against him with a sigh. “I just…after my last relationship…”

              “I know.”

              “And I get so worried…”

              “I know, I know. But I’m not like him.”

              Vanessa lets out a shaky sigh, then turns and buries her face in his chest. The Prince strokes her hair silently for several minutes, then lifts her head and rubs her cheek with his thumb, smiling gently.

              “Better?”

              Vanessa nods.

              “I think, love, that you’re exhausted.” He leans down to kiss her cheek. “Look, I’ve still got some Dweller business to attend to. Why don’t you take a nap, and then by the time you wake up, I’ll be right back.”

              She looks up at him with big, blue eyes. “Promise?”

              “Promise.”

              Vanessa nods, then pulls the Prince down to give him a very long kiss right on the lips. Finally, she lets him go. The Prince blinks a few times, looking stunned, then shakes his head.

              “C-C’mon, Kid. Can’t keep the Dwellers waiting for their mail,” he says, smiling woozily.

              You quickly hop down from your chair, all but running to the Prince’s side after witnessing all that. Despite everything telling you not to, you look back at Vanessa. She’s not smiling as you two go, and as a shadow crosses her face, you swear you can see a trace of red in her ice-blue eyes. You pick up the pace and turn back around, sticking as close to the Prince as possible as you both exit the house.

              You’ll be the first to admit that you don’t know the first thing about relationships. After all, you’re just a kid. But what you’re seeing doesn’t seem normal, and maybe your goal here shouldn’t be trying to keep the two of them together.

              Maybe it’s keeping them far, far apart.

[Chapter 4]

[purplesurveys]

1125

survey by nadine07

[..Introductions..]

First Name: Robyn.

Middle Name: I don’t think I’ve shared it on here and I doubt I will.

Last Name: Not providing it either but it starts with a C.

Birthdate: April 21st.

[..First Things First..]

What was the first thing you did after you got up? I rushed to the rooftop so that I could see the sunrise. I also got in the random mood to do a time-lapse of it, but the sun took forrrrrrrr-freaking-ever to come up entirely. I was holding up my phone for like 15 minutes and nothing was happening, so I quit halfway through lol.

What was the name of your first pet? Goldie, because it was a goldfish.

Who was your first big crush? Gabie, I would say.

Where was the first place you drove after you got your license? Chelsea’s 18th birthday dinner was scheduled right after I happened to get my license, and the event took place in a small, quaint little restaurant in Marikina. 

There’s a bit of a funny story here, too – Aaron needed a ride to get there and so I offered to drive him. I picked him up and we were having small talk in the car, and he asked me how long I’ve been driving. I told him that moment was my literal first time driving out and that I just got my license the day before, and he is my first-ever passenger (at that point I’ve never even tried driving solo yet). The horror and immediate distrust on his face was something I will never forget HAHAHA. We got to the place unharmed, but it’s still one of my favorite stories to tell.

Who was your very first friend? It was a kind girl named Kaye back in kindergarten. We were always next to each other in our class lists, so it was inevitable for us to befriend one another. She transferred schools in first grade and I have not seen nor heard from her since.

What was the first thing you ate today? I had another bag of salted egg chips. I’m extremely hooked, lmao.

What was your first job? I work as an associate at a PR agency.

[..Colors..]

Name something red in the room you are in: We have an unopened bottle of wine here on the dining table and there’s still a red ribbon wrapped around it.

Is orange one of your school's team colors? No, neither of my schools had orange as one of its colors.

How many yellow shirts do you own? I can think of 5 tops hanging out in my wardrobe at the moment. Two of them are class shirts from high school; the others were tops I bought when I started getting into mustard yellow.

Name someone you know who drives a green car: I believe Angel, a classmate from high school who also studies in UP, also drives a Mitsubishi Mirage, albeit a lime green one.

Is it a blue sky outside right now? Yes for the most part, but the sun is setting soon so the sky is bound to change into many pretty colors as it usually does at this time of the day.

What is the first thing that pops into your head when I say 'purple'? Barney the dinosaur, and ube.

Are the walls in the room you're in white? Yes, all our walls indoors are white.

Does black make you think of depressing things? Not always, but if used specifically in that context, it definitely helps boosts the mood.

Jewelry: gold or silver? Silverrr, always.

[..Phone Stuff..]

Who is your provider? Nothing you would be familiar with, but I use Globe.

How long have you had your current phone? It’ll be three years this year. It would be nice to upgrade, but I’m also still happy with my current phone so it doesn’t really matter to me.

What did your last text say? The last one that came through that didn’t come from my mobile services provider was from someone in the media. It was his birthday last Friday and I messaged him if he’d like to receive a gift from us, on behalf of one of our clients; he just replied with his confirmation and details.

If you woke up naked next to the last person to call, would it be awkward? Yep and I’d feel like throwing up almost immediately.

Was your last missed call male or female? It was from my mom.

Who is your 10th phone contact? It’s from Jum, who I realize is still listed as Ate Jum on my phone. That’s cute hahaha; I must have gotten her number when we weren’t super close yet. Anyway, she’s been super MIA for like the last two years...basically, ever since she graduated. I believe she has also since moved back to Bicol, so it’s become virtually impossible to see her again. Bums me out and I look forward to the day we somehow end up in the same room once again.

How did you meet them? I met her in my very first journalism major class. I had mixed feelings towards her at first since I found her to be super loud in class, and I initially thought she would only be a one-time classmate and nothing more; but I got to know her more and we even ended up as orgmates, and it turns out she is literally the most hilarious person I know.

Are you related to your 17th phone contact? I have absolutely no clue who it is. I no longer remember what led to it, but Gabie and I swapped the SIM cards in our phones at one point, and for some reason it made me have access to her contacts; the 17th contact on my phone is someone from her list. And since I never hang out in my Contacts app, I’ve never gotten around to deleting those extra numbers I received.

How long have you known your 1st phone contact? Around 6th or 7th grade. I can’t remember the exact grade level she transferred to my school as a new student.

When was the last time you saw them? It’s been at least a year. I remember seeing her on campus very briefly when I was on my way to a certain building for class, while she was walking out of it.

Who is your 4th phone contact? LMAO, again, it’s from her contact list. Said person is one of her older cousins, I believe.

Have you ever kissed that person? No, and that is very weird and uncomfortable to think about.

When was the last time someone drunk dialed/texted/left a voicemail? Andi drunk messaged me a few months ago. November, I think.

[..Friends..]

Who is your #1? No Myspace but I’d say my top best friend is Angela.

How long have you known them? It will be 16 years this year.

Have you ever kissed? Oh my gosh, hell no. It would be like kissing a sister haha. She’s super affectionate and will sometimes kiss my shoulder or cheek, though.

Are you dating this person? No, never did and never desired to.

Do you have nicknames for each other? Not really exclusive to each other, but I call her Anj (and only a few people call her so) and she will occasionally call me Reben or Rolayn, both from past inside jokes.

What is your #2's full name? I am not sharing that, but I refer to them as Andi (you may remember them as Andrew from the past times I’ve mentioned them).

Do they live within 20 minutes of you? If there is zero traffic, I can probably make it to their place within that timeframe, yeah. But realistically, no they don’t.

How did you meet? We initially met in an anti-Marcos protest/rally – I approached they first because they had a wrestling shirt on, heheh – and that’s when I learned we were from the same college. But they rubbed me off the wrong way from our first meeting as they were too extroverted for my liking, and I spent a good chunk of time ignoring him whenever we crossed paths, lmfao. Eventually we were put in the same class at some point, and they even joined my org, and an intensely close friendship started from there.

Could you live with this person? Sure. I think they would never be a boring roommate.

Who is your #3? I’m gonna go with Kate for this one.

Where are they right now? I have no idea. We don’t really catch up with each other’s lives on a regular basis; we have a very chill, low-maintenance friendship.

When is this person's birthday? January 1st.

Has this person ever seen you naked? I don’t think so.

What is your #4's full name? I don’t think I have a 4th-tier best friend haha, but I’m gonna pick Tina.

When did you last see them? Last year, on the last normal day I was able to be on campus. She was set to present one of her projects at a journalism conference that was taking place in campus that day, but I was able to hang out with her for a short time before the event.

Have they ever dated one of your other friends? No. I knew she had a crush on someone from the college, though.

Do you know their favorite movie? I’m not sure about her favorite movie but I do know she loves Adam Sandler. I was never able to figure out if her interest was ironic or genuine but yeah, she enjoys a good number of his works.

[..Randomosity..]

What time is it? 6:20 PM.

Are you supposed to be doing something other than this? I wouldn’t say so. I do have deliverables for work but since it’s the weekend, I’m not thinking about them nor do I have the desire to touch those tasks until Monday.

Do you live on your own or with your parents? I live with my family. Considering my monthly income, it’d be close to impossible to sustain myself in my own place this early in my adult life.

Are you more of a cat or a dog person? Dog, for sure.

Are you allergic to anything? I don’t believe so.

Does your shirt have anything written on it? Yeah, it says “UP Fighting Maroons” styled in a varsity font since that’s the term for our sports team.

Have you ever tie-dyed something? I have, but only back in like Grade 6 when we had to do it for a home ec class. I remember wanting to buy a tie-dye set recently so I could revisit the activity, but I never got around to it.

Who can you always count on to cheer you up? Angela for the most part; but I also don’t want to be too reliant on my friends in this way. Sometimes I simply allow myself to be sad or upset, and sometimes I count on myself to cheer up.

How many places have you been today? I have been nowhere but at home today lol. I’ll be going to BGC tomorrow to have lunch with my godfather and my cousins, though.

Are you a forgiving person? No.

When was the last time you felt let down? Last night when I read the news that the government will be making All Souls’ Day, Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve working days this year. I already know I’ll be half-assing my way through those days lmao because whyyyyyyy the fuck would you make people work on family-centric holidays such as those

What is the title of the nearest book to you? There are no books here at the rooftop.

Are you wearing anything that belongs to someone else? Nope.

Can you whistle? Only through my lips. I can’t do the kind of whistle where you put your fingers in your mouth as well.

Do you look more like your mother or your father? My mom.

Are you still in high school? I’m well past that chapter.

Are you the oldest, middle, youngest, or an only child? I’m the eldest.

Has anyone ever told you that you talk in your sleep? No, because I don’t.

How many people have you kissed this year? None.

Is there anyone of the opposite sex you trust fully? Hmm, no one comes to mind.

Are you a night owl or an early bird? More of a night owl.

If you could have an exotic pet, what would it be? No thanks. I’ve never had the desire to have one.

Would you rather go to Brazil for the weekend or Finland for a month? I’d have to go with Finland. I feel like the cultural differences would be a lot more marked, plus the vacation is longer so that is an instant win for me.

[..And Finally..]

Where did you go the last time you drove somewhere? I was driving to the local coffee shop to spend some time with myself, and do a liiiiiiiittle bit of work as well.

Where did you last go out to eat at? Ramen Nagi. I was initially hesitant to show up there and ask for a table for one on a Sunday evening...but it turned out to feel incredibly empowering and freeing. It was definitely awkward at first, but it got a lot easier once I realized literally no one gives a fuck. Or if they did, they didn’t do anything about it and let me mind my own business. That evening was a crucial step in reclaiming my happiness, so I’m glad I made the choice to suck it up and enter the restaurant.

When was the last time you let someone borrow something from you? Last week, when Angela needed our abaca mat as an aesthetic for her grad shoot.

Was your last breakup a bad one? Yes.

What was the last song you listened to? Just checked my Spotify and the current song I have on pause is Descansos by Hayley Williams. 

What was the last movie you watched? Midsommar.

Did your last kiss happen in a public place? Not technically, but it did take place outside of my house so we were outdoors for some neighbors to see.

How did you meet the last person to leave you a comment? It was Andi, and I already explained how we met earlier in this survey.

[satsuki2406]

Dear Aomi Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

"I've seen you in a dream before, you are the warm and bright presence that embraced me on Cape Kamui a long time ago on a June afternoon."

Shinohara (Y/N) is a normal girl who had everything she could ask for, a loving family, a beautiful home, friends, and a fluffy cat. For a long time, she gave her life and happiness for granted, never imagining that she'll face one of the worst and crueler facades of society so closely, destroying what once was a happy, harmonious and normal family. One day, in hopes to recover what they lost, the Shinohara family took one of the more difficult decisions of their lives; leave behind their home back in Hokkaido and travel hundreds of miles south until Musutafu, the place that could grant them a solution and help close the yet fresh wound and scare away the ghosts of the past. Hardheaded, passionate, and ambitious (Y/N) is forced to confront the incarnated face of the superhuman society that she hated the most; Bakugou Katsuki.

PAIRING: (Bakugou Katsuki x Reader)

GENRE/WARNINGS: Romance, Fluff, Angst, Dark Themes, My poor attempt of humor, Strong language (Courtesy of Lord Explosion Murder 💥), Manga Spoilers, LONG ass chapter.

STATUS: On going

Chapter 1: School is a Great Place to Make Enemies

Chapter 2: My Stupid Classmate, The Angry Dandelion

Chapter 3:In Conclusion, This Day Was...

Masterlist \(￣︶￣*\))

4: Welcome to The Neighborhood

The salty breeze caressed (Y/N) face in a wavy motion mixing with the relaxing sound of waves crashing down the coastline. Along with her steady and calm breathing, those were the only things she could perceive in the endless darkness flooding her eyes.

‘A dream?’

Suddenly, her eyelids started to flutter little by little showing her a pretty familiar scenery. A long and meandering trail lay was in front of her, surrounded by the expanse of an endless blue sea. An old wood railing was the only thing shielding (Y/N) from a deadly fall to the humongous rocks nested around the rocky and long structure.

‘Cape Kamui? Again? Why do I keep dreaming of this place?! I haven’t been here in years! Do I miss my old home so much that my brain continues to bring me here? But, it looks so real…’

All of sudden, with the corner of her eye (Y/N) caught the silhouette of someone in the distance, they were with their back turned to her looking at the scenery without a care. That right there was new. This had become a recurrent dream since she moved, but in all the other occasions (Y/N) was there by her own, not a single soul was there, and now an unknown presence awaited ahead.

‘Should I talk to them? Well, I guess is worthed a try.’

With vacillating steps, (Y/N) walked forward to the mysterious entity, as she started to move along the slightly narrow path. Suddenly the wind became more and more agitated as she advanced, her hair moved haphazardly blocking her view frequently. Soon walking became more difficult forcing her to stay still, tightly gripping the railing. The blue and clear sky over her became gray and clouded.

‘What the hell?! Maybe if I try to-’

“E-Excuse me!” You shouted. “Do you know what is happening? I-I haven’t seen you here before! Do I-do I know you?!”

The inexplicable being seen to haven’t noticed (Y/N)'s attempts to make contact, but now she could catch a certain detail that had ignored before while trying to keep herself steady in the implacable bursts. The perimeter around this enigmatic character remained intact the whole time, even the portion of sky over them lingered cloudless and immaculate. The breeze swayed delicately what at your current distance seems to be a white sundress.

‘So, it’s a girl’

Abruptly a blaring sound started to resonate in (Y/N) head, she tried to cover her ears with her hands to no avail. Gradually her vision began to blur and a heavy sensation of falling invaded her body. Unexpectedly everything became black until-

“OUCH!!”

Once again, (Y/N)’s world took a 180-degree change of scenery, a more uncomfortable and painful one per se. There she laid on her bedroom floor, upside down, hair scattered, ungracefully contorted with her legs dangling over her head in something similar to a pretty messy plow yoga position.

(Y/N) blinked still sleepy and confused trying to remember what was going on before she ended up like this, but unfortunately, her abrupt awakening seen to had blurred her memory. All of sudden (Y/N) was brought back from her stirred thoughts as a soft knock was heard on her door.

“Honey are you-oh my! What happened to you?!” (Y/N) mother quacked as she entered your room, her face contorted in concern. “Here, let me help you, darling, I don’t think that position could be good for your back”

“O-Ok, thanks”

After her mother helped her to stand up again, (Y/N) decided to take a quick shower to relax and clear her mind. Now, more awaken and changed in her uniform she was sitting in her vanity stool absentmindedly brushing her hair trying to recall what kind of dream she had last night.

“It will be best if I stop to think about that, I’m gonna get a migraine, it was just a dream, no biggie.”

Once detangled, (Y/N) proceed to think how she would like to style her hair or just use it loose as always. “I don’t want to tie it but I want something different.” Instantly a bulb lighted up over her head, from one of the front drawers she took out a thin light blue ribbon. She put it around her head like a headband and knot it in a little bow at the side of her head.

Content with her simple but cute look she took her already packed bag and proceeded to go downstairs to have breakfast. In her way to the first floor, (Y/N) caught the aroma of fresh pancakes and coffee.

“Smells good!” (Y/N) excitedly exclaimed once she spotted her mom coming out of the kitchen with a stack of pancakes and a bottle a maple syrup to place them on the table.

“I’m glad you think so! I put some chocolate chips in the batter just like you like it!”

“You are the best mom!~”

“Oh, darling I know it. Now sit down and eat you have to leave to soon” (Y/N) did as her mother said, who shortly joined her with her morning coffee on hand. Both of them thanked for the food and dug in.

“Oh, now that I remember! Yesterday I met our next-door neighbor!” (Y/N)’s mom chimed happily.

“Oh really? What did you talk about?”

“Oh, she was really nice and chatty! Her name is Mitsuki but I don’t remember her last name, was it, Bai? Bandai? Bando? Oh, this terrible memory of mine is getting worse and worse every day!” (Y/N)’s mom complained.

“It’s funny that we’ve already met all our close neighbors but them. It’s weird if you think about it.”

“I guess so, she also said that she has a son your age that also attends Aldera Junior High! Maybe you could start going to school together and become friends! Probably he’s as nice as his mom.”

“Hmm probably” (Y/N) said mind absently. “Hey, mom…” She whispered while putting down her cutlery. “Did-did the doctor answered something about- you know…”

Akari paused her fork holding a piece of pancake in mid-air in front of her open mouth, shock spread all over her face. She quickly composed herself and cleared her throat. “He told us it was a long process, you know a lot of tests, blood works, scans and so… he told us not to worry too much, all the necessary requirements were successfully fulfilled. Don’t worry darling, everything would be ok; we have to be faithful.” (Y/N)’s mom reassured her as she squeezed her hand.

“I know but, I’m just… scared.”

“I know baby, I know.”

🏫🚲🏃🏻‍♀️

“I’m leaving now mom!” (Y/N) exclaimed from the front door as she put on her shoes at the genkan. “Alright, sweetie! Are you bringing your bento? Your handkerchief? Your pencil-case? Your toothbrush? Your phone? Your pouch with all your ‘lady necessities’?

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.”

“Ok! Please take care and if anything happens call me immediately and I’ll go to pick you up. I have a meeting with a potential meat and seafood distributor for the new restaurant today but I’ll have my phone with me all the time at full volume.”

“Alright mom! Ittekimasu!”

"Itterasshai darling!"

After locking the door and taking her bike (Y/N) exited her house through the short gate door at the front, but stopped midway when her ears caught what sounded like a heated discussion next door, but the loud argument wasn’t the problem, it was one of the voices involved; an annoying, loud and really familiar voice to be exact.

‘No way…’

“I’m warning you Katsuki! Take your fucking lunch or I’ll personally deliver it to you, at school, in your classroom, in front of all of your classmates!”

“You wouldn’t dare old hag!”

“Oh, but I would! I didn’t wake up at fucking five in the morning to make a bento that you’ll refuse to eat! Now take it!”

“Piss off!”

*SLAP!*

“Don’t hit me old hag! I’ll kill you!”

“Don't you dare to talk to your mother like that you ungrateful brat!”

‘Nice my ass! What made my mom thought that this woman could be nice in the first place?! She’s shouting at her son in the middle of the street like a madwoman at 7:30 in the morning because he doesn't want his bento?! What is this?! Crazy Town?!’

“I already told you a thousand fucking times to stop making this shitty bentos! I’m not seven anymore! Not my problem that you are an old hag that can’t remember shit!

“What did you say?!’

“You heard me!”

‘I was lucky yesterday because I left earlier and he must walk to school so the chances to run into him were slim. Damn! Now I’m gonna have to wake up earlier to avoid him?! Fuck you, Bakugou! Why in heaven did he have to live next door?! Now I understand why the house was cheaper than it should have, the realtor said the former owner had trouble selling it because of the size and the prize, hah! What a joke.’

“Enough of this, I have to go before he notices me, I can get ahead faster so I won’t see him until I get to the class. Yes! Now all I have to do is walk away really slowly-”

(Y/N) put her escape plan in action immediately, moving as fast and quietly as she could even lifting the bike a little bit so the sound of the chain wouldn’t forewarn them of her presence. After a short but cumbersome trail, 2 houses away from hers (Y/N) hopped on her bike more than ready to cycle with all her might directly to the school when another voice resounded at the distance.

“(Y/N)! You forgot the bag with your P.E uniform!” Exclaimed Akari while she held the said bag for (Y/N) to see it clearly.

‘FUCK! No! No! Calm down just take the stupid bag and run! Yes! You can do it!’

(Y/N) pedaled at high speed towards her mother with an only goal in mind, ‘retrieve and flee’ Just a little bit more and she could make a clean escape. Just two feet more!

Putting all her skills on display (Y/N) did her best to balance herself on the bike with only one hand on the rudder while she extended her right hand as much as she could, ready to snatch the bag and leave for dear life.

‘Just a few inches more! Yes! You can do it! Just keep pedaling! Just keep!-’

“Oh! Akari-san! I thought I heard your voice!” Mitsuki beamed as she leaned out of her house entrance while she dragged her temperamental scion by the ear.

‘Son of a biscuit!’

“Let me go you shitty hag!”

“Watch your damn language brat! Can’t you see our lovely neighbors are here too!”

“Like I care for those extras! Let me go! I’ll be fucking late!”

*SMACK!*

“Stop with the fucking hitting!”

“Stop screaming!”

“You stop screaming!”

“Oh, isn’t this neighborhood lively, darling?~” Chimed Akari smiling amusedly at the scene in front of her.

“Aha…” (Y/N) petrified by her side, all willing to live left her body already.

‘I hate my life…’

“Oh! Bakugou!” Said Akari while she bumped the side of her fist over her open palm “Mitsuki-san’s last name is Bakugou!”

“And why couldn't you ‘ve remembered this important piece of information, I don’t know, like thirty-five minutes ago mother?” (Y/N) groaned.

“Oh, you know I’ve always had a bad memory, but I always end up remembering everything at the right time” Akari giggled. (Y/N) simply sighed for the umpteenth time that morning.

‘I’m exhausted already’

After a couple of minutes of bickering, the interesting ‘shoutversation’ mother and son had come to a halt when Mrs. Bakugou strongly hit her son’s head pushing it down in a bow like position.

“Oh, Akari-san! I’m so ashamed that you had to witness this! Katsuki can be a handful sometimes!” Said the blond woman with a dismayed expression.

'Just sometimes?'

“Oh, don’t worry!” Said (Y/N)’s mom waving her hand dismissively. “Teens are usually more temperamental, especially at this age. (Y/N) is not always a ray of sunshine, you know how hormones are.

“Mom!” (Y/N) exclaimed embarrassed, making the older blonde’s attention go from her mom to her, acknowledging her presence. The female Bakugou’s expression went from pensive to surprised, to excited to hopeful all in a matter of five seconds.

“Oh my! you must be (Y/N)-chan! Your mother has told me a lot about you! I’m Bakugou Mitsuki, but you can call me Mitsuki! This is my son, Katsuki! He goes to the same school as you! Katsuki say ‘hi’!” Said Mitsuki with a cheery voice.

*UNINTELLIGIBLE GRUMBLES*

“I SAID SAY ‘HI’ KATSUKI!!”

“OH MY FUCKING-! Hi or whatever!” sneered the seething blond.

“Umm… hi…” After her court response Katsuki seemed to tense slightly, like he just fogured out something. He then slowly rose his head and his wide, bloodshot eyes met (Y/N)’s unfazed yet irritated ones.

“THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE THIEF BITCH?!”

*SLAP! x3*

“KATSUKI YOU DISGRACEFUL PUNK! APOLOGIZE THIS INSTANT!”

“Make me old hag!!!”

*SLAP! x6*

“So help me Katsuki! I will take away all of your phone, Wi-Fi, and PS privileges!”

“I wanna see you try!  And why should I apologize?! This shitty thief used her fucking quirk on me yesterday! If anyone should apologize, it's her!”

“Ha! Knowing you, you must have deserved it for sure!”

“Da fuck?!”

“I told you to stop with the fucking swearing!”

“You stop with the fucking swearing!”

‘Oh God help us all’

[lizz-revs]

Dandelion - Wishes brought to you -

A manage your stats game, with cut-scenes that feature your chosen romantic interest. You choose your activities and interactions, but not the cut-scenes and the cut-scenes don’t influence the further development of the relationship.

Story

The main character is a girl, who is a business major in a university. She is mentally unstable (I’d say almost depressive and close to a complete burn-out) and very unhappy with her current life. The reason for that is her strict mother, who never allowed her to do the things she wanted, but had a close observation regarding everything her daughter was doing and with whom she was interacting. The heroine tried to escape from her mother by choosing to live on her own, but her influence still prevails because the main character isn’t able to change her life (the business major was her mother’s order).

One day though she finds a basket in front of her door with five pets in it: Three rabbits and two cats. She is very happy to be able to adopt them and suddenly her life isn’t boring anymore because she has to take care of the animals. However, those animals aren’t ordinary and, when she begins to fall in love with one of them, all of the animals change back to human form and are in fact handsome guys. Now the heroine is sharing her house with five men and is able to have a romantic relationship with one of them. This relationship isn’t as easy to maintain as it seems and even more difficult it gets after the heroine realizes that these people haven’t come to her world only to be with her.

The characters

Heejung

She is a rather quiet girl, who is living by herself since about three years. At the beginning of the game, she is quite ordinary, but since you as the player can level up her stats, you can enhance her beauty, femininity and her art skills. With increased femininity, she gets better at chores and with increased beauty at make-up and fashion. The heroine slowly wants to change her life, but she is very scared. She is easily pressured and since she isn’t studying, what she wants, every time she studies she gets stressed and needs to take a break. Her self-esteem is pretty low as well, since she can’t really fight back and just accepts being criticised, while thinking that it was her fault. She is used to doing as others want her to do, so the first time she starts actually doing what she wants is after falling in love with one of the guys and realizing that there are people, who accept her as she is and want her to do, what makes her happy. After realizing this, she becomes more mature and is willing to make sacrifices for the person that she loves and wants to live a life that suits her.

The rabbits

Jihae

He is the silver rabbit and rather anti-social. His only communication partner is Jieun and he has a very low self-esteem. At the beginning he isn’t very talkative, but polite and somehow cold towards the heroine. He always calls her “my lady” and wants to be as least a bother to her as possible. In his free time he takes care of Jieun like a butler (from feeding him to carrying him around).

Jieun

He is the white rabbit with red eyes and is really cute. At the beginning, he is shy and you can only watch him as the heroine, but eventually he opens up to her and starts talking more. At first, he isn’t able to do anything without Jihae’s help and clings to him like someone would to a parent. This is rather weird because Jieun isn’t a child, but a teenage boy, and still isn’t able to feed himself or tie his ribbon himself. However, he is able to change his behaviour gradually.

Jiwoo

He is a very noisy and kind of obnoxious rabbit. I’d call him a great example for the tsundere-personality. He is much of an attention freak, but, if the heroine gives him the attention, he just starts harassing her. In addition, he thinks he is very knowledgeable in romance since he has read a huge amount of romance novels and watched some shows. Nevertheless, it’s more like there is no one less clueless regarding romance as him besides the heroine. This makes it rather funny, when he is the chosen candidate and doesn’t know, how to deal with it.

The cats

Jiyeon

At first Jiyeun seems very friendly and social. He is an orange cat, who adores oranges. After transforming to a human his love for oranges still prevails and he seems to be more or less like a cheerful kid, who doesn’t know Korean that well and often makes mistakes, when choosing appropriate words. Well, this isn’t actually quite his true personality as you can see in his route.

Jisoo

On the other hand, Jisoo is really unfriendly and as anti-social as he can be. He is more of a stray cat, who wanders around. He calls the heroine “Foodgiver”, which pretty much characterizes their relationship. Jisoo cares about his looks because he appears to be always kind of stylish. He had a difficult past and distrusts the heroine at first as he doesn’t think that she will choose him anyway. But, when she does choose him things get rather complicated as well because of his personality…

Gameplay

As I mentioned the gameplay is based on choosing activities. Every day the player can choose an activity, which levels the heroine’s stats. Regarding the activity, it is also important that the player doesn’t choose blindly, but minds the other characters. On the map are pictures of the pets that show their locations and while doing an activity the heroine may encounter one of them, if they are in the same room. Therefore, it’s useful to look up a guide about the characters and what they like to do in order to choose the right activity. You will need to interact with your chosen character because otherwise you won’t be able to get him to like you or get his route. Another important aspect is that the heroine has a stress- and a pressure-meter. If she doesn’t study, she gets more pressure, but if she studies her stress increases. If pressure or stress is maxed out, you will automatically get a bad end. Regarding the stats and the chosen character’s affection, you can look both up in “Status”.

At the weekend later in the game, you can also choose to go on Dates with one of the characters. It boosts their affection and you can collect their stamps to unlock pictures at the end of the game. For that, it is also important to boost the heroine’s eye sight.

 My Opinion

In my opinion, this game is really good.

The characters feel very much alive. They have a distinct personality and, since it is Cheritz, also a surprisingly dark side. The story feels natural, the relationships feel logical and aren’t rushed. Because there are always time skips between the scenes, you are able to take breaks and just boost some stats instead of reading the whole time. The gameplay is enjoyable and straightforward, although it gets rather tedious after a while and you need a lot of time to clear the routes.

I think, it’s still worth the time though because you get to read the cut-scenes, which are simply amazing. Every story and every character in this game moved me. I mean you can relate to every one of them and the heroine. They aren’t fixed on romance or anything, but they try to heal from their bad experiences and past. I think it’s really important that even, if this is a romance game, there isn’t only romance in the game. Personally, I hate it, when developers try to focus on romance and not the plot because it leads to irrational behaviour of the main character and to more or less a “damsel in distress” story. Meanwhile, the heroine in Dandelion is just scared. She doesn’t try to be saved or to be saved by love. She genuinely starts to care for one of the men and just wants to spend time with them. I think such a story moves a reader’s heart way more than a story about “I want to get a boyfriend”.

Another aspect I really like in this game is the music, especially the opening and ending sequences. Moreover, since I liked it so much, I even bought the OST…

Anyway, I don’t know, if I’m not biased about this game though, since I am a fan of Cheritz. However, I still think everyone should know about Cheritz AND about this game because otherwise you miss out a few of the best visual novels you could find. In addition to that reading Cheritz’s novels is a good change of pace after reading novels from Idea Factory. Both Idea Factory and Cheritz publish great novels, but Cheritz focusses more on creating characters, which seem alive to me and I like every one of them, while Idea Factory has great stories, but I still never liked all the characters the game has to offer.

So, I think Cheritz’s games are one of the classics you just have to read. 10/10

[franklyshipping]

Day 5 ~ Christmas 2019 Ego Fanfics

Day number five my frens, and things are about to get cheeky up in this festive bitch! LET'S DO IT!

TAGGING: @silvlee-shepherd and @yandere-ipli-ler

When I think of winter time, I think of being a damn cozy boy. I want blankets and a fireplace and a hot drink and someone to snuggle….but at the very basis of all of that, there is something very special. Pyjamas. Now, pyjamas are a pretty wonderful concept anyway, but allow me to present to you the elevated concept….of festive pyjamas. That’s right my friends. I mean c’mon, how else are you going to run downstairs on Christmas morning and sit under the tree unwrapping your gifts if your jammies aren’t festive somehow? I mean, it’s only common sense. Also, it’s an excuse to exchange gifts a tad early, which is what Yandereplier and Silver Shepherd were currently doing.

The third portion of that sweet polyamory, the Host, had already been gifted his ahead of time. It turned out that the snowman themed pyjamas were the only things warm and cozy enough to coax him into getting a decent night’s sleep, so Yan and Silver were leaving him to his well-deserved resting time. Meanwhile, they were unwrapping theirs. The way it worked was that each of them would get pyjamas chosen by the other two, i.e. Yan's were picked by Host and Silver. Both Yan and Silver squealed with delight as they unwrapped the comfy clothing, and exchanged kisses before eagerly getting changed.

Yandere smiled giddily as they slipped on the matching silky, crimson tank top and bottoms that were decorated with mistletoe, hugging themselves happily whilst giggling at what they saw in their peripheral. Gooper was taking their discarded wrapping paper and ribbons in a manner that he thought was sneaky, and it was so cute that Yan didn’t have the heart to draw attention to him, so they merely watched subtly as the squeaky glob took the paper and ribbons; he was planning to make his bedding more festive. Yandere chuckled as he left, before looking to their Silver lovingly.

'Oh love these are so pretty and silky, I love them!’

Silver squeaked happily, overjoyed that Yandere loved the ones he and Host had picked out; Host had chosen the material and Silver the design. Meanwhile, Silver was enamoured with his. His matching shirt and bottoms were thick and woolly in terms of material, and had been tie-dyed a beautiful evergreen and had snowdrops and snowflakes decorating them. Silver gave himself a squeeze hug as he looked to Yan.

‘These a-are so soft and snuggly, I love mine too! I FRICKIN LOVE CHRISTMAS!’

Yandere burst into giggles at Silver’s giddy exclamation, before suddenly squealing when Silver flopped on top of them and attacked them with a) lovely cuddles, and b) a big loving kiss. Yandere giggled and purred into Silver’s pillowy lips, and eagerly cupped his face as they wriggled against each other contentedly for a while. They were so in love, and mentally brainstorming attacking Host with a cuddle pile later. After a few moments they parted, and Yandere let out a soft sigh as they brushed the black hair from Silver’s sweet, innocent, handsome little face.

��I love you, my sweet little hero….’

Silver giggled, and replied with a charming grin.

‘And I love you, my saucy Senpai.’

Yandere’s eyes widened as their face turned bright red, making Silver let out a satisfied chuckle; that word had quite the effect on Yandere, it was the ultimate fluster weapon, especially when it came from the lips of one of Yandere’s lovers.

‘B-Babe!’

Yan squeaked and averted their eyes, but couldn’t stop smiling, especially when Silver nuzzled their cheek and cooed.

‘Awww you know you love it!’

Silver grinned happily, oh how he loved teasing Yan and flustering them; they were always the traditional flusterer in the relationship, which made moments like this all the more treasured. And since Silver was in a cheeky, teasy mood….he had the confidence to ask something that his regular meek, innocent self would never dream of asking.

‘Hey hun, since you’ve got mistletoe on your top, does that mean I can kiss underneath it?’

….Yandere’s jaw absolutely dropped. Their mouth was wide open as they looked up at Silver, their sweet, innocent, naïve little Silver; Yan couldn’t believe that their sweet hero had said something like that! Meanwhile, Silver had snorted and burst into giggles at Yan’s reaction, rolling off them onto his back as he grinned cheekily. Yan blinked a few times.

‘….what did you just ask me?’

Silver snorted and cackled, covering his mouth with his hands as Yandere sat up and loomed over him, their eyebrow raised expectantly. Silver grinned, his tongue poking out through his teeth as he retorted.

‘Yohou heheard meheee!’

Yandere narrowed their eyes down at Silver, pursing their lips at his sassiness.

‘Since when is the heroic, innocent Silver Shepherd suddenly a man of lewd sassiness?’

The hero giggled giddily, because the answer was a very simple one. Silver Shepherd was in a particular mood, and this mood had turned him into a cheeky little brat, a cheeky little brat who needed to be taught what happens to cheeky little brats who become too cheeky. Silver stuck his tongue out up at Yan as he retorted.

‘Since when did you become such a hot piece of schnookie?’

Silver followed his comment with some cheeky pokes to Yan’s sides, making them gasp and squeak in surprise as they registered what happened….but then they snapped. They growled, gripped Silver’s wrists, and pinned them above his head swiftly. They were not going to let themselves be sassed, teased, AND tickled like that!

‘Oh that is IT!’

Yandere growled down at Silver, and that was all it took for the sweet meekness to return and for Silver to start squeaking and stuttering oh so sweetly.

‘AH! I-I’m sorry I-I-I was j-just trying to be f-funny!’

Yandere scoffed.

‘Oh don’t give me that! I might have believed you if you’d just stuck to being a potty mouth, but trying to TICKLE me on top of that? You crossed a line baby….’

Silver gulped and Yandere leant down so they were nose to nose, and Yan’s cherry red lips ghosted over Silver’s teasingly as they purred.

‘I was all ready to kiss you to get rid of that potty mouth….but you just HAD to bring tickles into the mix didn’t you?’

Silver’s eyes were wide and his cheeks were pink as he watched Yan’s expression transition into one of great, smirky mischief. He whimpered in an almost inhumanly cute manner.

‘I-I’m s-sorry ba-MMPH!’

Silver gasped as he was cut off by Yan’s kiss, which he couldn’t help but melt into because Yandere’s kisses were one of Silver Shepherd’s many adorable weaknesses. Yandere smirked into Silver’s lips, adoring how he just submitted to the affection. This was merely a decoy though, Yandere had to make Silver learn that tickling and teasing them…came with great consequences.

‘Oh you’re not sorry yet…but you will be.’

Silver’s eyes widened, and he burst into giddy giggles, giggling right into Yandere’s lips as he jiggled about. Yandere had transferred Silver’s wrists to one hand, and was using the other to absently skitter over his belly as they continually pecked his lips. Silver was already a flustered mess.

‘N-Nohoho nohoho nahahat my tuhummy nohoho th-thahahat’s nahat fahahair!’

Yandere smirked, and nibbled Silver’s bottom lip to make him squeal.

‘This is exactly what you deserve darling, and you know it!’

Silver tried to tug at his wrists as his body writhed from side to side, he was trying to escape the belly tickles but Yandere was just too damn skilled. He whined into Yan’s lips, trying to coax out some mercy as he looked up at them with his chocolatey puppy eyes.

‘P-P-Plehehease I-I-I cahahan’t tahahake ihit!’

Yandere rolled their eyes fondly, because they knew damn well that Silver could take a LOT of tickling. They snickered as they walked their fingers up his belly and over his chest teasingly.

‘Ahaaww is da wittle hewo too tickwiiish? Poor baaaby, so seeensitive and expooosed…’

As Yan cooed, they softly started poking and booping the little snowflakes decorating his pyjama shirt; that made Silver squeal and yip and jump like he was getting lots of little shocks to his system. The hero also had to look away from Yan, he could never look at Yan when they cooed at him like that, he just got way too fricking flustered.

‘Shuhush-EE! S-Stahap pohoki-EEK! Stahahap pohokihing mehehe-EEP!’

Yandere giggled fondly, their crimson eyes gleaming warmly down at their precious hero. He was so cute when he was being tickled, his smile was so bright and his giggles were the bounciest, sweetest giggles in existence…which was why Yandere couldn’t possibly stop, not so soon.

‘Oh but your reactions are so cute and innocent! If I can keep you squeaking then it’ll keep that naughty sass at bay! Now, let’s count these snowflakes shall we?’

Yandere smirked when Silver’s eyes widened, and he started shaking his head frantically…his clothes were covered in snowflakes, which meant that every single one of his tickle spots were covered in snowflakes. Yan chuckled, and took their sweet time counting each one, starting with the ones at his armpits and at the top of his ribs.

‘N-Nohoho-nOHOHOHO NAHAT THEHEHERE!’

Silver snorted and cackled as Yandere used a single, sharp nail to scratch at each and every embroidered snowflake, quite a lot of which seemed to be deeply nestled into Silver’s hollows. Yandere let out a dramatic sigh at their thrashing, mirthful hero.

‘Sweetie if you don’t keep still then I’ll lose count and have to start over again! Honestly-’

‘OHOKAYOKAY IHIHI’LL STAHAY STIHILL I WIHILL IHI WIHILL!’

Silver whined and whimpered fearfully at the prospect of prolonged armpit tickles, and so ended up in a state where he clenched every muscle he possibly could in the effort to keep still. Yandere smirked at that, kissing his cheek warmly as they evilly scratched slowly at a snowflake that was right on one of Silver’s topmost ribs.

‘Such a good boy…I bet you’re regretting tickling me now, aren’t you?’

Silver nodded as he squealed desperately.

‘YEHES YEHEHEHES!’

Yandere hummed with satisfaction, dragging their hand down his ribs and tweaking every snowflake they found as they crooned.

‘I bet you’re also regretting that cheeky little question of yours, aren’t you?’

Silver just didn’t stop nodding, he figured it was in his best interest. It was a lie though, they both knew that Silver wasn’t regretting his actions for one second, but it was fun to play along.

‘AHAHAHA YEHEHES!’

Yandere grinned, chuckling fondly when Silver started to snort as Yan’s little pinches and pokes reached the bottom of his ribcage. Silver threw his head back with light laughter as Yan took to poking and scratching the dips of his sides, Yan wasn’t looking but they assumed there were lots and lots of snowflakes there.

‘Awww were those some little snorts I just heard? You’re just too ticklish for your own good aren’t you?’

Silver’s blush by this point had crept down his neck, and up past his ears to his damn temples and forehead! If he was on hero duty he’d have frickin arrested Yan for malevolent, evil amounts of teasing and flustering and yes that’s a real crime Silver would NEVER make that up…ahem.

‘YOHOHOU KNOHOW IHI AHAAAM!’

Silver wailed, which made Yandere chuckle and pause for a few moment, so Silver could catch his breath with his sweet little gasps and pants. Yandere still held Silver’s wrists, but used their previously tickling hand to soothingly stroke Silver’s hair, Yandere loved Silver too much to make it ALL tickle torture.

‘My poor ticklish honey, I bet you’re ready for some mercy now aren’t you, hmm? Would you like some snuggle time in our new jammies?’

Silver averted his gaze as he smiled and nodded bashfully, he wanted nothing more than to bury his face into one of Yan’s silk-covered shoulders whilst tangling their legs together for a woolly-silky snuggle bonanza. Yandere giggled, and kissed Silver’s forehead as they purred.

‘We’re gonna do that reeally soon honey…juuust after I’ve said hello to one final little snowflake…’

Silver’s breath caught in his throat as his eyes snapped up to Yan, and he smiled a wobbly smile as they smirked knowingly down at him. Yandere always had to finish with an evil finale when it came to tickles, and this time was no different. Silver was already giggling when Yan started wiggling a single finger in the air….right above his covered hyper-sensitive belly-button that had a little snowflake marking its exact position.

‘N-N-Noho th-thehere’s n-no snohowflake there!’

Yandere raised an amused eyebrow at Silver as their pointer finger got ever closer to their, now trembling, target.

‘Oh? Well now that’s odd, because I can see one quite clearly. It even looks like it’s shaking with excitement!’

Silver let out a flustered whine as his belly quivered more with his anticipatory giggles, he couldn’t keep his eyes off Yan’s finger.

‘N-Noho Y-Yahanny d-don’t do it d-don’t-AAAAHHHH!!!’

Yandere let out a devious giggle as they let their finger descend, where it delivered a few devious scratches to Silver’s covered navel, before retreating mercifully. It coaxed out one of Silver’s rare, shrill screams that Yandere absolutely adored, before he was left panting and trembling like a flustered little leaf.

‘Ohokay okay Ihi’m done now lovey I’m done…’

Yandere immediately released Silver’s wrists before bringing the hero into their chest for a, very well-deserved, cuddle session. The blushing hero hugged his belly and whined sweetly.

‘That w-was s-so meeean!’

Yandere merely chuckled and kissed Silver’s temple as they stroked his hair, smiling when Silver started entangling their legs together…but then they smirked.

‘Oh and love?'

Silver looked up at Yan, smiling his cute smile as Yandere whispered to him.

‘You can kiss under my top anytime….or under any of my clothes for that matter.’

And with that, the meek, innocent Silver Shepherd spluttered, squealed, and hid his blushing face in Yan’s shoulder. Yandere chuckled satisfactorily as they pulled a blanket up for them both as they partook in the most festive snuggle session known to ego-kind.

HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THIS FIC WOOOO LEMME KNOW IF YA DOOO LUV YOUS XX

[chuffyfan87]

Growing Pains. Part 1d (NSFW)

“Sorry.” He laughed gently and got up to go into the other room with the boys.

By the time the film finished the girls and Duffy were all sobbing at the romantic ending, even Tilly!

Charlie wandered into the lounge with a box of tissues. “You might be needing these?”

"Don't laugh!" Duffy sniffled, grabbing a tissue.

“I’m not laughing.”

"Have the boys finished killing all extraterrestrial life in the cosmos?"

“Yes they have. They’re just going up to bed.”

"And that's where you girls should be headed too." Duffy added.

Tilly groaned, “But it’s early!”

"Come on you've all had a busy day. Plus me and your dad are tired too from someone waking us up at 6am!"

The twins looked at each other and giggled. “I’m not sure who that was...”

"I wonder..!" Duffy chuckled. "Now off you go to bed."

“Night night mama.” All three girls said and kissed their mum’s cheek. Then they turned to their dad, “Night dad.” They kissed his cheek before all three went off to bed.

Whilst the kids were getting themselves into bed Duffy went through to the kitchen to make herself and Charlie some hot chocolate.

Charlie yawned and closed his eyes on the sofa. He was knackered.

Placing the mugs on the coffee table she snuggled up next to him. "Aw, my poor sleepy boy!" She teased.

He placed his hand on her thigh, “I’m getting too old.” He yawned again.

"Maybe but we survived." She smiled.

“We did.”

"We have five teenagers living under this roof - heaven help us!"

“It’s bedlam. But I love it.” He smiled.

"Its been nice to have the whole family back together even if it's just for Christmas." She smiled.

“I agree with you, it has.” He kissed her neck.

"How about we take these upstairs..." She indicated the mugs on the table. "...and I'll give you a back rub?" She suggested.

“Just a back rub? That all I get for Christmas these days.” He smirked.

"You were the one complaining you were tired..." She teased.

“Never too tired to make you come.”

"Such a charmer!" She giggled.

“I didn’t give you your Christmas present...”

"I was starting to think that maybe old age was making you forgetful..."

“I’m just hoping it fits.”

"What exactly are you implying by that?" She pouted.

“That I haven’t got the wrong size and it’s too big. Or I’ve misjudged how big your tits are and it’s too small up top. I wouldn’t be complaining...”

She shook her head indulgently at him. "Its not like my underwear drawer has a lock on it Charlie, you could just check and save yourself a lot of effort."

“I did. But I may have got distracted.” He smirked.

"That explains a lot!"

“Explains what?”

"I thought it was one of the kids that had rifled through it. Apparently I was wrong."

“Why would the kids be going through your underwear drawer?”

"That's what I couldn't quite figure out either. I thought maybe they thought I'd hidden their presents in there or something." She shrugged.

He laughed gently and stood up, holding his hand out for Duffy. “Shall we?”

"I thought you'd never ask." She smiled, taking his hand.

Together with their mugs of hot chocolate, Charlie and Duffy went upstairs to bed.

Once upstairs Duffy sat on the bed resting back against the pillows and sipped her drink whilst she waited to see where Charlie had hidden her present.

He’d hidden it under the bed. He pulled out quite a large gift bag. “Here we go, beautiful. Merry Christmas.”

She raised an eyebrow as he placed it on the bed, she'd been expecting something smaller.

“Open it and you’ll find out what’s inside.”

Taking hold of the bag she disappeared into the bathroom, letting out several childlike squeals of glee as she examined the contents.

It was a series of presents. A new underwear set (that he’d hoped he’d got right, beautiful colouring to match her skin tone) a new necklace and bracelet and two bottles of her favourite perfume. As well as a few other small bits and bobs.

After what seemed like forever Duffy finally poked her head out from behind the bathroom door, a purposefully neutral expression on her face.

“Is it ok? Does it fit?”

"Well, it took me a few moments to figure out exactly how to get it on..."

“What do you mean?” He frowned.

"Trust you to go for the bells and whistles model rather than something standard." She teased. "Its a good job I'm still pretty flexible so I could do it up!"

“Do I get to see how beautiful you are in it? Or do I have to use my imagination?”

"Oh I'm sure you've already done that plenty of times since you bought it!" She giggled. "Close your eyes!"

Charlie closed his eyes.

Duffy opened the door wider and re-entered the bedroom, sliding on a pair of heels as she passed her dresser. She stood before him, the present he'd bought her hidden from his view by her silk dressing gown that was tied at the waist, she'd also refreshed her hair and make up. "You can open your eyes again."

Charlie opened his eyes. He ran his gaze over Duffy, “You are so gorgeous.”

"Would you like to help me with the final unwrapping?" She asked, her hands playing with the tie of her dressing gown.

He reached up to untie her dressing gown, revealing the set underneath. He gasped.

"What is it with you and ribbons?" She teased gently.

He pushed off her dressing gown, allowing it to fall into a heap onto the floor. He ran his fingertips across the material of her breasts, “Fucking hell.”

"You approve of your present to yourself then?"

“I really do.” He swallowed. “You’re stunning.”

She cast her eyes over him. "You appear to be rather overdressed for the occasion."

“Would you like to undress me?”

"You really have gotten lazy in your old age!" She remarked as she bent over to reach for the bottom of his tshirt.

His hands began to roam her body. She really hadn’t changed in the last twenty odd years.

"And here was me thinking that getting a toddler dressed and undressed was the most difficult thing to do. Turns out I was wrong!" She smirked.

“Would you like me to stand up?”

"No, just keep your hands to yourself for a minute whilst I get your tshirt over your head!" She chided playfully.

“Sorry.” He smirked. “It’s your fault for being too bloody sexy!”

"If you don't behave yourself I'll just go to bed instead." She replied, placing her hands on her hips and giving him a stern look.

“Oh I intend to behave.” His cock twitched because of her stern look.

"Good boy. Now how about we get you out of those uncomfortable clothes?"

“Best idea you ever had.” He undid his belt and removed his trousers, leaving him sat in just his boxers.

"Now that's a lot better." She smiled as she straddled herself across his lap.

He grabbed her breasts, “Duffy?”

"Yes darling?" She asked, draping her arms around his neck.

“Who’d have thought it, hey?” He smiled. “You and me, raising our beautiful children into adults and teenagers. Nobody thought it would happen, did they?”

"They all expected you to have gotten bored of me by now."

“Yeah they did.” He sighed, “Sex with you is different.”

"Thank you. I think..." She chuckled.

“Always has been. Even now. After all this time.”

"You make me feel old when you phrase it like that!" She pouted.

He kissed her pout. “I can fuck you and make love to you in the same breath. That’s different.”

"How skillful of you!" She giggled.

His fingertips ran up her back, “I love you.”

"Good!"

“And you look fit as fuck, in that.”

Duffy couldn't help but laugh at his remark. "And you've been spending far too much time around our teenage sons!"

“Maybe.” His hands moved around the front of her and cupped her breasts.

"Though that does remind me that I meant to ask the boys what Jake's friend meant by a word he used to describe me the other week."

“What did he call you?”

"They were discussing a film they'd seen and they were comparing me to the mum of one of the characters. I didn't quite catch the start of what Andy said but Craig seemed very enthusiastic in his agreement though Jake didn't look too impressed." She shrugged.

Charlie laughed, “Craig didn’t call you a milf, did he?”

"Yes! That was it! Is that even a word?!"

“And you have no idea what it means?” He smiled and met her eye.

"No... Have I missed something..? Tell me!" She pouted.

“Craig wants to fuck you.” He smiled, “Milf stands for mother I’d like to fuck.”

"What?!" She gasped. "But... But... I've known those boys since they were seven! That's so wrong!" She covered her face with her hands, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“Would appear you might be wank bank material.” Charlie shifted her slightly, he seemed to get harder thinking about someone else wanking over her. “You’re beautiful. And these lads are seeing that.”

"How am I supposed to face them now?!" She moved to bury her face in her husband's shoulder.

“By being normal.”

She looked up. "Will you stop finding this so funny?"

“I find it turns me on.” He admitted, “Does it not make you a little bit horny? To know you’ve got a bunch of eighteen year olds wanking over you?”

"I honestly thought that you were the only one who indulged in that particular habit."

“Wanking? Or wanking over you?”

"Wanking over me. Believe me I'm well aware of the urges of males in that department!"

“Seems you’ve got a few more people who like to wank over you.” Charlie's hand began to stroke the outside of her knickers.

"You're really enjoying that fact aren't you? It doesn't make you jealous?"

“No it doesn’t make me jealous. Turns me on.” He whispered in her ear as he slowly moved her knickers to the side.

"Because you get the reality when they just get the fantasy?"

“Something like that.”

"Well, maybe we should stop talking so you can get on with enjoying the reality?" She suggested with a smile.

He pinged the elastic on her knickers and tapped her thigh, “Stand up so I can take these off. Or you take them off for me, I’ll watch you remove your wet knickers.”

She stood up, her legs slightly apart and her hands on her hips. "I need your help, I struggled enough getting them on." She batted her eyelashes at him helplessly.

“Tell me what to do.” He smiled, moving closer to her.

"Well all these ribbons and bows are so confusing." She replied, her voice dripping with fake girlishness.

He laughed gently and untied the ribbons either side of her knickers. Watching as the knickers fell to the floor. “That’s much better.” He bit his lip.

"You did that in a lot less time than it took me to get them on!"

He pulled her back onto his lap. “I like unwrapping my gifts.”

"You've got quite a skill for it too."

His hands stroked her hips, “Come and sit on my face gorgeous.”

[ladyluck852]

Fruit Tarts and Love Hearts (San x Reader)

A/N: my favorite baby boy, not even my ateez bias but I love him like he is.

Word Count: 1.9k

Genre: Valentine’s Day fluff, coffee shop au, softness and love. Too cheesy?

Warnings: none!

Summary: googles how not to fall in love with the cute boy who comes into the cafe almost every day, but the search comes up empty.

The wintertime was always y/n’s favorite time of the year to be working in a cafe, something about the weather just made everything feel so cozy and pretty, it was hard not to be happy even if the days were long and busy. When y/n was little she’d always dreamed of running her parents bakery, making breads and sweets and interacting with customers, she never would have guessed that she’d be running her own. When she turned 18 her parents passed down the bakery to her, gave her complete creative control, let her young mind run free so she could learn to be successful and hopefully flourish.

Always having had an eye for design and eye catching cuteness, y/n turned the small bakery into a wonderful cafe that attracted both young and older customers now, a display of pastries and coffees that were favorites among all of the returning patrons. There were lots of windows and plants, inviting decor kept a steady flow of customers and they always returned. On the days she wasn’t helping make pastries or helping out at the register, she created and printed out instructionals on how to make various origami figures for customers to do while they sat and enjoyed their food. Everyone thought she was charming, young and friendly, all the older customers loved her and she loved them.

There was just one customer in particular she was starting to grow fond of though...

Y/n didn’t truly know when he’d caught her eye, she had noticed him before but never really noticed how cute he was, always occupied with running the cafe until she stopped to look for once. He was probably around her age, bright eyes and an adorable dimpled smile, he came into the store every day and ordered fruit tarts to eat while he sat in the corner and made origami.

“Which one is your favorite?” He’d asked her, smiling when he noticed the blush on her cheeks and how cute it made her look. The cafe had recently been decorated for Valentine’s Day, a whole new pastry display created by y/n herself sitting behind the glass, San didn’t know what to get because everything looked so good.

“They’re all really good, but I like the strawberries and cream tart the most, I have a mini version if you wanna try” y/n said excitedly, always happy to recommend her favorites to customers. Her newest fruit tarts were heart shaped, filled with pastry cream and topped with whipped cream and heart cut strawberries, they were almost too cute to eat.

“I want everything” San laughed, putting his hands on his cheeks before he grabbed the newest instructable page from the counter, the origami theme of the month was love. Heart shaped boxes, cards, all the cute things for Valentine’s Day. San couldn’t remember a time when he even liked the holiday, or even considered it a holiday, something about the welcoming atmosphere and cute setup of the cafe was quickly making him change his mind.

“You could certainly have it, but would that be good for your stomach? I’m not sure,” y/n laughed, blushing even harder when he laughed along with her, “I can brew you some ginger tea”

“That’s not on the menu, I’ve checked” San said, his eyes quickly scanning the hot drink menu above her head just in case he’d missed it. The last thing he wanted was to sound like an idiot, even if he did visit almost every day now, he was running out of things to try.

“I know, it’s a secret menu item for my favorite customers” y/n winked, putting on a pair of gloves as she grabbed a tray and a plate for him.

“Actually, I kinda have to go today, I can’t stay,” San said nervously, glancing down at the counter and missing the slight look of dissapointment and sadness y/n had on briefly, “but I’ll be here tomorrow! I’ll come early too”

“You’re too good of a customer San,” y/n said sweetly, packing a few tart’s for San and throwing in an extra strawberry one. His face got hot when she said his name, like the two of them were friends instead of sort of acquaintances, “be safe okay?”

“Of course, I have to come back don’t I?”

*

“Can I get you some more tea?” A waitress asked San, noticing he had made about ten little origami hearts in the hour he’d been there, no more than half of his pastry gone. He looked troubled, like he had a long day, and he had, his day had been so long and agonizing he just wanted to relax and see y/n’s pretty face. When he arrived at the cafe, cold from the rain and tired as hell, she wasn’t there.

“Where’s y/n?” He asked quietly, feeling like he could confide in the waitress he’d never seen before, if he never saw her again he didn’t have to be so embarrassed.

“Um...she’s in the back, she’s been in the kitchen all day” the waitress said quietly, a grimace on her face that told San that things probably weren’t okay. He could bet that y/n was probably having a bad day, he wished he could do something about it, he could probably make her feel better. Then they could feel okay together.

“Oh, alright,” San sighed, “more tea would be nice, if that’s okay?”

“Of course!” The waitress chirped, smiling widely before taking his mug and disappearing into the kitchen. San sighed, he had to go home soon and just had to deal with the fact that he couldn’t always get what he wanted, it was kind of silly of him to depend on one person to make his day better anyways.

“Did someone order tea? I brought something special” y/n said softly, sliding into a chair next to San and setting down two cups of a pink liquid. It looked like paint water, oddly appetizing, and it smelled sweet and aromatic.

“Y/n, I didn’t think I’d see you today!” San laughed, his heart ready to burst out of his chest as y/n hid her face behind her mug.

“I was really busy, I’m sorry I know I’m usually here to chat, I was making some new items for my dairy and nut free customers. It was harder than I thought, but it came out nice. I also made these new milk teas” y/n said, resting her chin on her hand as she looked over the hearts San had made. She got a funny feeling in her stomach, butterflies every time she looked at him, it made her nervous and confused.

“You’re so thoughtful, most people would never think to include stuff like that in their menu’s, and I know a lot of people can’t eat certain things. You’re so kind, like a... pretty little food fairy” San said lovingly, choking on his tea when he realized what he’d said. The words weren’t intentional, he didn’t really mean to say it, but he did, and y/n was red in the face and staring at the table.

“Food fairy, that’s almost too cute”

San didn’t know what to say, because telling her she was cute was too embarrassing, he just stared at her with dreamy eyes while she made another origami heart.

“The cafe closes soon, I have to lock up” y/n said, sounding a bit sad, most likely from having a long day, “but you can stay a little longer if you’d like, I can show you the kitchen”

Y/n sent the last of her workers home, packaging a majority of the sweets for them to take home to their families in cute boxes before she let San into the kitchen. The kitchen was cuter than he thought, plants on the windows and colorful machinery, he saw y/n’s touch everywhere and wondered if she really loved what she did.

“I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that this is all you, all of your ideas, you’re kind of an amazing genius” he laughed, watching her tie a bow around a heart shaped box, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration.

“San, you’re so cute, you’re too nice. I like your new hair color” y/n mumbled, glancing up at him shyly as he fussed over the top of his hair.

“Oh, this? It’s...it’s alright,” he shrugged dismissively, trying to keep his cool and failing, “when my schedule is busy I’m going to dream about this place and your pastries, I don’t know how I’ll survive”

“It’ll dream about you too you know? Even when you’re not here, no one’s gonna forget you. Favorite customer, remember?” Y/n teased, holding out the heart shaped box and gesturing it towards San, “Happy Valentine’s Day”

“Oh...” he blushed, covering his mouth when he took the box from her, a letter tucked into the ribbon, “how did I get so lucky though?”

“Lucky? You’re just really great okay?” Y/n said under her breath, rubbing her cheeks that wouldn’t stop heating up, “I’m the lucky one, you come here all the time and you’re a good customer”

“Technically I’m not a customer anymore. Technically I’m your valentine,” San shrugged, giving her a cheeky smile, “I feel like nothing I could give you would be good enough”

Y/n frowned, not expecting anything in return from him at all, she just wanted to be nice and show him that she cared about him, “it is getting late, so you getting home safely is actually something I’d really like”

San watched y/n lock up, wondering how he’d survive if he let the night end without telling her how much she meant to him, how he loved seeing her all the time and how she was one of those people he could open up to and feel loved and accepted, “so I have a busy schedule this upcoming week, I won’t be able to stop by at all...”

“I’ll really miss you then,” y/n said, crossing her arms over her chest as they stood outside the cafe in the cold. San blushed, reaching over to pull her hood over her head, his stomach in knots when she put her hands over his, “thanks for being you”

“Thank you for letting me be your valentine, I didn’t know I was worthy of such things, especially not from someone as wonderful as you”

“Are you flirting with me?” Y/n laughed, closing her eyes when the butterflies wouldn’t calm down.

“You started it! Either I can keep it going like an expert or I can end it, whichever you’d like, but neither of them are going to get you out of the cold faster. Your little nose is all red and cold” San murmured, poking her nose, slowly moving closer to her.

“It’s red because I can’t stop blushing”

“Then I’ll stop flirting, but I’ll have you know that it’s going to be a good ending” San said, bending down to meet her eagerly, pulling y/n by her waist until they were pressed together. They both laughed when they bumped noses, their first kiss was awkward and sweet and loving, both of them warm and fuzzy by the time they pulled away.

“San, my heart is beating so fast! I think I’m going to pass out, you’re so cute” y/n whined, burying her face in his chest when he hugged her, squeezing her so hard until she laughed.

“I lied when I said I didn’t have anything to give you for Valentine’s Day, I just didn’t think you’d want it. That goes to show that I could be a bit more confident in myself huh?” San asked, holding her face in his hands and nearly melting from the loving look in her eyes.

“What kind of gift are we talking about?”

“Uh...” San laughed, kissing her again, not sure if he’d ever get used to it. So he was going to do it a lot, just to make sure, “my heart”

[dohmaverse]

thank u murpho for these bountiful prompts

Clothing Preferences: Belvite Edition

Maverick: Always covered from the neck down & dresses in layers, loves a nice poncho & tassels & really any kind of patterned knit and living in a desert isn’t gonna stop him(it’s the Dysphoria).  If he has to dress up for a formal event he opts for a modest dress over a suit(regrets wearing a tux to his wedding it was so fucking uncomfortable & awkward).  Always wearing gloves(he’s sensitive about his weird hands). Wears long-sleeved night gowns to bed.  Boots.

Lorant:  No such thing as casual looks for him, he’s always wearing professional cuts of clothing, generally dress pants+dress shirt+vest, exclusively in soft pinks and greys and whites.  The only deviation from looking like a pastel business boy is his enjoyment of cute ribbon-based ties & hairpieces, and pearl earrings.  He’s very dedicated to his aesthetic.  His pajamas are those button-up cotton sets in cute pastel patterns, sometimes with sleeping cap like a fucking cartoon character.  Low-heeled dress shoes.

Gale:  Athletic shirts & sweat pants all day every day.  Has an attachment to compression materials, especially in his shirts(he got rid of his tiddys years ago but he still feels better with his chest ‘bound’).  All his pants are loose & he never wears shorts because he’s sensitive about people seeing his prosthetic.  There is no separation of clean & dirty clothes he will just pick up individual garments from the floor & sniff until he finds one that’s not overly funky.  All of his shirts are black so he will always match no matter how loud & colorful his pants are.  On formal occasions he has one of those t shirts with a tux graphic on the front & pairs it with his least-stained black sweatpants. He’s been wearing it for 17 years & it’s still funny(to him).  Sleeps either nude or in whatever he was wearing that day, depending on whether he's sharing the bed or not ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).  Sneakers.

Kenny:  sleeveless shirts & cargo shorts, in various & often-clashing colors & patterns.  In her edgy phase rn so her palette is more confined to red & black but it’s been pretty eyeburny over the years.  Has a bolo tie that she wears EVERY DAY, doesn’t matter if her shirt doesn’t have a collar. Prefers a tux over a dress in formal settings & is a very handsome lil butch baby.    Sleepwear is big t-shirts & basketball shorts. Ugly leather sandals, will throw a fit over having to wear closed-toe shoes.

Marta:  Oh she loves a nice sweater dress w/ leggings.  Really dresses like a teacher(2 steps above casual, but still mostly comfortable).  Wears a lot of mustard yellow & dull green & maybe a burnt orange, just some nice autumnal tones.  Has a pocket watch on a long chain she wears on a necklace most of the time.  Formalwear i see her having a lot of different looks, mostly mid-cut dresses(always liked the idea of shorter dresses but never really had the nerve to get any). Pajamas are just soft shirts & pants, regular-ass pajama sets.  Flats & slippers preferred for footwear but will wear heels once in a while(probably is just in her socks most of the time tho).

Hyaki:  If She Covers Her Abs She Will Die, a lot of the time will just wear a sport bra for a shirt, maybe with a half-length vest or hoodie over it.  Wears sturdy pants, usually denim or leather, and some good boots.  Also knee pads just cuz Belles have weird nods to armor as a part of the general aesthetic.  Will deign to cover her stomach at formal events only, but whatever dress she wears has a halter top so you can still see her HUGE BICEPS and RIPPLING BACK MUSCLE.  Sleeps in her underwear usually.

Soleil:  Fuckin, rompers.  Has never been seen in an outfit that isn’t primarily yellow & black.  Beanie at all times, probably a cool belt with a sword on it.  She likes accessories, ok?  Has a pair of those sneakers with wings on them & keeps them in As Pristine Condition As Possible, will fight you if you step on her shoes.  Prefers to avoid formal events, but if she has to she’ll wear a jumpsuit or maybe a regular suit depending on her mood.

Tevyn:  This bitch loves a sundress, just a nice light flowy thing that’s easy to move in, both because they’re cute & comfy AND because their form is kinda...wibbly(it’s not fun to start sprouting extra limbs & scales & feathers in restrictive clothing).  Prefers vibrant, summery colors(orange & yellow & sky blue & white).  Desperately wishes formal dresses weren’t exclusively made of fabrics with No Fucking Give to them, but as it is they have One formal outfit & it’s backless.  Likes cute lacey pajamas that are like 1 step away from just being lingerie.  Prefers not to wear shoes, but if forced will wear slip-ons.

Tobi:  Just a basic bitch who wears graphic tees with wolves on them or polo shirts & khakis.  I hate looking at him.  Will wear a suit to work if he wants to be serious that day.  Pajamas are nearly indistinguishable from his daywear, but he changes before bed so there must be some difference.

Buddy:  Long sleeves + booty shorts.  That is all.  Has worn the same suit to every formal event he’s been to since he was 15, but if it’s a party he might just throw the suit top on with some shorts & thigh-high socks cuz he’s a thot.  Passes out in whatever he’s wearing, which is usually just his underwear cuz he strips down the moment he enters his house.  Has a few pairs of shoes but prefers his purple rain boots.

[komahinasecretexchange]

Title: Let’s Be Unpredictable

Author: @thatsrightdollface

For: @bluenurse

Rating/Warnings: Ahh, I think maybe I’d rate this T, due to descriptions of violence!  This is meant to be Kamukoma during an extended, canon divergence-y interpretation of the Despair period, after all.  Towa City’s kinda something else right now!  (Let’s say Ultra Despair Girls went pretty differently, here? :P)

Prompt:  “Despair Wedding with Izuru and Servant, bride Kamukura please hehe.”

Author’s Notes: Hi, and happy Komahina Exchange!!!  :D  I had fun writing this, and truly hope you have fun reading it too.  Hopefully it came out okay… I’m sorry for anything I might’ve gotten funny.  I decided on this prompt ‘cause I saw a lot of your lovely Kamukoma art when I went to your Tumblr page to see what you might like!      

Let’s Be Unpredictable

1.

Izuru Kamukura tried to smile, seeing himself in his wedding dress.  To test if he could, mostly.  Izuru was reflected in a shattered shopfront window, just then; the street had been splintered to screaming-siren pieces around him and the air was sour with ash.  This was a ruined place, but the man who could love a creature like Izuru – who adored him almost too completely, given how Izuru felt like a ghost of his own self – said that meant it had become the perfect garden.  They had planted the despairing, gory seeds of Hope here.  It was time to see what would rise up and make everything even more beautiful.

That was so boring, Izuru told him.   Told Nagito Komaeda, who insisted on being called “Servant” so much of the time.  The bodies mangled along the side of the road, left kicked and splattered apart by mechanical death-bears were so boring.  Whatever “Hope” was supposedly going to come next…  Whatever awful purpose Junko Enoshima had bound Nagito and all his old classmates to serve…  Izuru tried to feel something for it all, he really did, but he was hollow inside like his heart was clear cold glass.

The Servant only hummed and shook his head, hearing things like that.  He said, “Hope is never boring, I don’t think.  Though…  As you’re the Ultimate Hope…  I bet you know better than I do, right?  I could have sworn your heart was only blood and meat!”

Izuru understood he had been named the Ultimate Hope.  He understood his talent was an abyss, an impossibly deep well of potential that’d swallowed up whatever his ordinary self had been like, once.  He also understood that Nagito couldn’t know what it was like to feel so empty.  Nagito was always full of shaking words, full of wants and eagerness and the kind of desperation that meant he would give anything for what they were to matter.  Meant he would drink horrible milkshakes he’d accidentally made for those twisted Warriors of Hope out of mostly lard…  Meant he’d tracked Izuru down and tried to get to know him once the world had been almost completely won for Despair. 

Izuru might have expected someone like the Servant to irritate him for all time.  Now, though, he watched his lip twitch in the cracked-open shop window and straightened the sleeves of his dress.  Jataro Kemuri, the Li’l Ultimate Art, had made that dress out of yellowed bandages and lace, out of caution tape and glass shards and mismatched crystals plundered from very expensive shops.  He was one of the Warriors of Hope Nagito served, and they had defeated so much of the Future Foundation now.  Komaru Naegi’s death had been such a dark and hopeless one…  Nothing like what so many people had wanted for her, given what Nagito’d confided about Monaca Towa’s actual plans.  Humanity’s champions were falling, one by one, all the time.

Izuru had wanted to see which was less boring — Hope or Despair — but maybe the least predictable thing for him personally could be a self-proclaimed Servant asking him to make actual proper milkshakes for a gang of murderous children.  The Ultimate Hope had baked cookies, too, and helped decorate his own wedding cake.  Maybe the least predictable thing here could be Nagito Komaeda his own self.  The Servant asked for favors in a way that implied he didn’t expect even the infamous Izuru Kamukura to refuse. 

There was no reason to expect that someone able to bring the Remnants of Despair down – able to change all this – might still stumble out of the ashes of the world…  But Nagito Komaeda believed all the same.  His stubbornness?  That was predictable.  But the earnest, broken innocence waiting behind that faith was something Izuru had found himself wondering about lately.

There was no reason to expect that someone like Izuru Kamukura was capable of being truly known, either.  But there you go – Nagito wanted to know him anyway.  And after Izuru had shot him, too; after Nagito and his classmates had become so ruinously changed.

Maybe it meant something that Izuru even thought about smiling, before he got married.  This was a union of Despair.  This was flipping off the Future Foundation just one more time, gathering the people who had ended the world to celebrate a pair of murderers ruling over their graveyard.  Taunting the dead, willing someone to stand against them.

Izuru’s face felt lifeless as the shop lying broken apart before him, in the end, with all its toppled headless mannequins and shredded half-off sweaters.  Bloody carpets, sparking streetlights.  He shook his head, muttered, “Useless,” and spun around on his heel. 

2.

Nagito’s face was always sort of twitching, on the other hand: full of expression and nothing like Izuru’s at all.  There was rot seeping deeper under Nagito’s skin all the time, too…  He should have died ages ago, by rights, years before Izuru ever met him.  That had been one of the first things Izuru thought about, meeting the Servant: here is a man who was supposed to be dead.  I wonder why he isn’t, yet?

Thoughts like that made Izuru feel an ache that might have possibly been loss, sometimes, nowadays.  He kept expecting to grow numb to it.  The world was a stretch of nothings, bored and waiting for change that never came.  Nagito was something sort of struggling to be new, and he combed out Izuru’s long, long hair with shuddering fingers.  It had grown…  Unpleasant…  Imagining him truly gone.  Nagito’s living hand was so gentle with him, as though Izuru was someone who should be treated with care.  One of Nagito’s hands belonged to Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Despair, of course, and that hand was so cold and rubbery against Izuru’s skin when Nagito petted bits of charred building off his cheek.  Simple, kind motions like that contradicted everything his new hand represented, but Nagito didn’t seem to realize it at all.  There was that good-intentioned sweetness, again, the impossible optimism behind everything terrifying the Servant did.  How was it possible? 

Nagito couldn’t move that dead-girl’s hand very well, even now.  Usually he kept Junko’s fingers hidden beneath a singed old mitten, but he’d thought it was important Izuru understood who he agreed to tie himself to.  It was possible Nagito hadn’t expected Izuru to go along with his plan at all – it was possible part of him would always be stuck trying to figure out how to respond when Izuru had actually said yes. 

“If we’re going to get married, even for the sake of Despair…  For the sake of Hope, I mean, the Hope that has to come after…  You should know everything there is to know about me, if you want.  I won’t keep any secrets.  You can ask me anything, okay?”

Nagito said that sort of thing, but his words were like a carousel, spinning around and around, the carnival music growing warbly and strange.  Busted speakers, toxic, chipping paint.  Izuru both understood him and thought maybe this Servant wasn’t the kind of person it was easy to get to know no matter how completely he wanted someone else to know him.  Nagito could spill all his secrets out to someone, but what made him tick…  What kept him going…  Well.  That was hard to get anyone to understand.  Nagito’s nature was his alone, the same as Izuru’s inscrutable talent.  They were both cut off so much of the time, keeping their own company even in a room surrounded by the people Junko Enoshima would have called their “Friends.”

The Warriors of Hope.  The Remnants of Despair – Nagito’s old classmates.  They had all gathered here in Towa City to see this wedding.  To will the Future Foundation out of hiding once again, if there was anyone left to take the bait.

The Ultimate Animal Breeder’s beasts had blood hardening under their claws, now; they prowled the streets, scavenging from the dead.  The Ultimate Musician was going to sing as Izuru led himself up a crooked aisle to the Servant’s side, and her songs would make almost anyone who heard them feel a deep, chest-crushing Despair.  Sometimes people cried, feeling that, or screamed, or tried to scrape out their ears…   But the Servant always laughed.

Nagito would be laughing at the end of the aisle, then, his arms folded around himself and chains hanging heavy from his neck.

How predictable.

Izuru thought he could imagine the panicked, spinning look in his husband-to-be’s eyes — imagine it perfectly, down to his pale eyelashes, down to the twitch of his brows — even now.  He made his way through the corpse of Towa City, stepping over a broken Megaphone Hacking Gun on his way.  If Izuru didn’t step just right on the glittery shrapnel shoes Jataro had made him, they would slice his feet to ribbons.  That was probably meant as a gift — meant to make things less boring.

Of course Izuru didn’t slip and cut his feet, not even once.

3.

Izuru Kamukura took the Servant’s so-cold dead-girl’s hand under a broken roof, under a smoky sky.  Nagito’s flyaway hair had been combed out just a little, and he was wearing a tattered suit jacket over his ordinary clothes.  Just that morning his ridiculous luck had accidentally flooded their hideout building — the clothes he’d been intending to wear today had been completely trashed.

That was alright. Nagito had been called the Ultimate Lucky Student, once, and at least the calamity that followed him everywhere was sometimes difficult to predict.

There was a constant guarantee that something would go strangely around the Servant — either amazingly right or amazingly wrong — but it was true that Izuru couldn’t always guess exactly what.  He had told Nagito he enjoyed that about him, once, and Nagito had offered him a sing-song story about a time when nobody in his family had been willing to pay the ransom to bring him home.  He was so much trouble; he was dangerous; he was alone.

When Izuru took Nagito’s hand, the Servant grinned all lopsided and spun him around to see the glass on his wedding dress catch the sticky chemical light.  Izuru let him.  He had been wondering why Nagito wasn’t laughing the sort of laugh that shook his bones, as the Ultimate Musician sang just moments before, but now that he’d reached the end of the aisle he saw Nagito had worn nearly-invisible earplugs.

“I should keep you guessing sometimes, shouldn’t I?  If I want to make you happy?” the Servant murmured, then.  The affection in his voice was enough that Izuru couldn’t meet his eyes.

Izuru wanted to tell Nagito that he didn’t know how to be happy — that he hadn’t been created to be happy — but all of a sudden he realized that he was squeezing Nagito’s… Junko’s…. Waxy-dead hand.  Nagito wouldn’t be able to feel that, no matter how hard Izuru squeezed, no matter how tenderly.

That was familiar, somehow.  Izuru might have almost felt tears burning along the back of his eyes.  Could that have been the Ultimate Musician’s talent finally working on him, there?

The Future Foundation didn’t make it for their ceremony, not this time.  No one attempted to stop them, or bring them to justice, or shoot anybody in the back of the head with high-tech weapons that broke just about as easily as the less expensive kind. 

Izuru might have expected the Servant to be disappointed by that, but he could tell Nagito wasn’t.  Not really.

“If nobody else stands for Hope, maybe we’ll have to,” Nagito told Izuru Kamukura, the Ultimate Hope, just after their wedding in the name of Despair.  The Ultimate Chef had begun to cut the cake, by that point, and sickly-sweet strawberry syrup bled out of it like a wound.  “Maybe we’ll have to be the game changers. You ever think about that?”

“Yes,” Izuru answered.  But of course, with his earplugs in, it was difficult to tell if Nagito heard.

“From Hope’s stepping-stones to its champions,” Nagito murmured.  “What do you say, Izuru?”

Izuru thought.  He thought about what it meant that the idea of a world without Nagito Komaeda in it struck him as even more hopelessly boring than the one they were rattling around in.  He thought about Nagito’s unknowing contradiction; he thought about how it had felt trying to offer his own reflection a smile.

After a long, slow breath, Izuru said, “I think the music’s starting, again.  You should dance with me,” and Nagito Komaeda blinked at him.  Wide-eyed.  Mouth hanging partway open.  The Servant finally choked on that swaying, dizzy-eyed laugh of his, then, and promised he would do his best not to stomp on Izuru’s toes.