#also engagement flower crowns are really the new thing

[storyofmychoices]

Now that I've written AU/Book 2 engagement, someone needs to force me to finish book 1's engagement!!! I started it literally a year ago in January 2023 and have not touched it since! I even have art of it!!! From a year ago lol.

But at the same time, I want to see these two (AU version) go ring shopping. Mal is definitely getting a ring (one for him, one for her, they're very much about equality) hehe

The Princess of Parnassus and The Trophy Husband

[Mal Volari x Daenarya Blades 1 + Beyond] [Mal’s Orphanage]

[Mal Volari x Daenarya Blades 2 AU]

Pairings: Mal Volari x Daenarya (F!OC), with mentions of Iliana

Book: Blades of Light and Shadow 2 (post finale)

Word Count: ~1,000

Rating/Warnings: General, no warnings (for maybe the first time ever)

Synopsis: Daenarya and Mal enjoy a much needed relaxing afternoon while contemplating what comes next.

Thank you to the absolutely amazing @cashweasel for this perfect art. I've been holding onto it for months now waiting for a story worthy of it. Once this idea popped into my head, it felt like the right time. (A second version of the art can be found below the story)

A moment of peace, 

finally.

That's what they deserved.

No more danger, no more life-altering choices, no more world-ending destruction. No more dealing with the aftermath.

The Realm had been saved, again—technically two realms this time.

More portals had been opened to allow for easier crossing between both realms. New guidance and orders were established. All was progressing toward a new future.

And, in a brief lull between it all, Iliana was born—their greatest gift. 

Daenarya drew in a deep breath, savoring the gentle caress of the breeze as it wove through her hair. She hadn't seen rest since... well, since before all of it. Before her daughter. Before the new agreement between sides. Before the war between the realms. Before she had been taken. Before the Dreadlord. Before she'd met her found family. Before Kade had been taken. Before Mal Volari strutted into her life. How long ago that seemed.

So much had changed. So much was still changing, but one thing that hadn't changed in quite a while was him and how she felt about him.

The afternoon sun bathed the field in its soft, golden embrace, illuminating the sea of windflowers gently swaying. Above them, the air filled with the melodic song of birds flitting amongst the grasses. Daenarya smiled at the beautiful symphony around her. 

Her nimble fingers wove delicate blooms together, putting the final touches on the crown she was crafting for Mal, mirroring his efforts for her.

"A crown fitting for a princess," Mal teased, showcasing his completed creation. It was a brilliant assortment of wildflower blossoms expertly entwined into an elegant crown. 

"I'm not sure about the princess part—" she shook her head playfully. "—but it's beautiful."

"May I?" He held it out to her. 

"Of course." She dipped her head forward, allowing him to place the beautiful display upon her head. A gentle smile spread across her features as she let her hand linger over his for a moment. 

"Shall I send word that you are ready to reclaim the Parnassus name and embrace your kingdom?" Mal inquired, his gaze fixed on her, his smile matching that of her own. 

"You're never going to let me forget that, are you?" Daenarya rolled her eyes. She ran her fingers through the silky grass beside her, her thoughts wandering for a moment. "We don't even know how directly I'm related. I'm sure there are many other descendants equally entitled by blood, if not more so."

"None of them are as qualified though," Mal interrupted. "Kit, you've saved the damn realm, twice, and ensured a truce between Light and Shadows. Gods know if anyone deserved it, it'd be you."

She reached over, tracing the lines of his jaw before cradling his face. "I'm not starting a monarchy, Mal." 

He pouted beneath her tender touch. "You're really going to take this from me?"

She couldn't stifle her laughter. "Take what from you?"

"My chance to be a trophy husband!" He declared proudly with a mischievous grin. "You're letting all of this go to waste." He gestured over his particularly exquisite features. 

"Husband?" Her brow piqued at the word.

"I just mean—" His confidence faltered a moment, his fingers running sheepishly through his long hair. "You're right, this isn't about me... it's about you and if you'll use Parnassus as your surname now that you know about it, kingdom or not."

"I don't think it's right for me." Her thoughtful eyes met his, contemplating the weight of such a decision. "I've never had a last name before... I wasn't important enough to need one. I'm just Daenarya of Riverbend."

"You're so much more than that," Mal marveled. "You might be the most important person in all the realms."

"Might be?" She teased.

"Well, I like to think I helped a little," Mal insisted. "Even Elfboy did something, but don't tell him I said that."

"What about for you?"

"What about me?"

"How important am I?"

"Fishing for a compliment?" His gaze narrowed on her.

She chewed her lower lip, shrugging lightly, "mayyybeee."

He chuckled softly, "Kit... Daenarya, you're the most important person to me. I never dreamed I could find someone like you. Someone who—" He shook his head, his smile spreading wide. "Someone who I'd gladly risk my life for, over and over again, with no promise of treasure or reward, except that of keeping you safe and experiencing all life has to offer with you." 

Daenarya leaned forward, quieting his words with a kiss. "I love you, Mal Volari."

"I love you so damn much…Daenarya of Riverbend, or whatever name you choose," he offered as she rested her forehead against his, savoring their closeness.

"I know," she whispered. "So…I might have an idea for a last name."

"Really?" He pulled back slightly, curious to hear what she was thinking. 

A glint of amusement danced in her eyes. "What about…Volari?"

Mal's brow furrowed for a moment, confusion flickering across his features.

"I thought we might share it, you and I." Daenarya watched him closely, waiting for him to understand. “Iliana, too.”

Realization dawned upon Mal as her words sank in. "Are you proposing to me?"

"So what if I am?" 

"Shouldn't I be the one proposing?" Mal teased lightly, though his heart pounded with anticipation.

Daenarya's laughter echoed across the serene landscape. "No, I think this is right for us."

"I don't know, Kit," he attempted to feign indecision, his fingers stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I always imagined when I got proposed to it would be this big grand gesture, and there would be a massive diamond involved." 

"No diamond, Mal the Magnificent, but perhaps I can offer you another token of my appreciation." Daenarya shifted beside him, holding out the flower crown she had created for him. "Mal Volari, the Magnificent one, would you do me the honor of becoming my trophy husband, kingdom or no kingdom?"

He couldn't stop his joyous laughter. "With an offer that good, how could I say no?" 

Daenarya no sooner placed the crown on his head than he pulled her into his arms, showering her with all the love and affection she deserved. There was no one he would rather spend forever with than her—Daenarya of Riverbend, soon to be Daenarya Volari. (But had she asked, he'd be Mal of Riverbend or whatever name she chose because being with her was the only constant he ever needed.)

I had this silly little idea and I hope you enjoy it. I figured since Mal is struggling to propose to Daenarya in my "Prime" aka book one universe, I thought it would be Daenarya proposing in this one.

Oh, and one more thing before you go.... the lovely Lou was amazing enough to give me 2 versions of this art. I initially asked for Short Haired Mal since Book Two would be introducing him, but I got cold feet and wanted my long-haired Mal, too, so Lou allowed me both versions. Though, if ever there was a good looking short haired Mal this is the one 😍

[munsonfamilyband]

Just had the most ooey gooey platonic stobin thought (featuring, as always, steddie)

Just, years after everyone has left Hawkins. The kids all graduated and have gone on to college. Nancy has her degree and is working her way very quickly up the ranks of the paper she works at. Jonathan got a job with Nat Geo somehow (though no one is surprised). Robin is working at some kind of archive, sorting and translating and transcribing and she loves every second of it.

Eddie and Steve live in the apartment right next to hers. At first it was awful, both because she hated having a wall between her and Steve, even with the balconies that they managed to connect somehow, and because their bedroom shared a wall with hers and they were so LOUD. Over time it got easier, her and Steve still were weirdly connected and Eddie woke up with a surprise third person in their bed multiple times a week but he knew she was a bonus when he asked Steve out.

Eddie got a job working as a tattoo artist (he convinced Steve to get one, but he only agreed to any tattoos that had a pair on someone else so he and Robin have matching anchors and ice cream scoops and he and Eddie have a little bat wearing a crown).

Steve struggled his way through school and got a job as an elementary school teacher. He comes home covered in glue and paint and glitter multiple times a week and has complained about ruining so many sweaters but he adores his kids and his job.

The night they get engaged Steve had just come home from the first parent-teacher conferences of the new year and he was barely standing up. He was carrying the italian Eddie had told him he ordered on his way home and when he got inside their apartment he was almost too tired to notice all the lights being off and all of their candles lit.

Almost.

Steve froze and then kept putting his stuff away, calling out for Eddie. He finally found him in their bedroom (that no longer shared a wall with Robin’s), where Eddie was bouncing on his toes and twirling a small box in his hands.

Robin didn’t know what was going on when she heard Steve scream… something, she couldn’t really tell because it almost sounded like he was crying. Her Bestie Alarms immediately went off at the sound of Steve Tears but as she opened her balcony door to go check on him, he was already there. Tears still falling, hand shoved into her face, and the biggest smile she had ever seen him make.

It took less than 5 seconds for her to recognize the new ring on Steve’s hand and then they were both screaming and crying and hugging each other. (They were also ignoring Eddie yelling from their balcony to give his fiance back).

A few months passed and Steve and Eddie had started planning their wedding. Robin was nervous, she was waiting for Steve to ask her to be his maid of honor or something and she wanted to, she did. But she was also terrible at planning big events and she didn’t think she could handle all the pressure of having to plan showers and parties and getting things organized the day of. She wanted to be in Steve’s wedding more than anything, but she did NOT want to be in his wedding party and she was terrified of telling him that.

When Steve and her were at lunch one day and he said he had something to ask, she started panicking. She had barely been listening but she did catch a word she wasn’t expecting.

Officiate.

Steve told her that he wanted her to officiate his wedding. He said that he knew she would have hated being best man (the way he didn’t said maid of honor didn’t make her love him more, it didn’t) because of all the planning but he needed her to be part of his wedding. She was great at giving speeches, rambling included, and he couldn’t think of anyone he would rather have perform his wedding.

They both cried and then got kicked out of the chinese restaurant.

When the time came, Robin stood at the “altar” that the kids had helped make. It was covered in flowers and twinkling lights and it looked beautiful.

That day, being able to be the one to help her best friend get married, was the best day of her life.

[blackhairedjjun]

flowers of every color | 9. purple hyacinths

overall summary: when your father is assigned as the new head gardener to the royal family, you are also tasked with helping him maintain the castle's many gardens and extensive floral arrangements. by chance you find yourself crossing paths with the "ice-cold" crown prince, choi yeonjun... who turns out to be not as ice-cold as everyone says he is.

chapter summary: soobin checks on yeonjun, and beomgyu checks on you; you take the first step to make amends.

word count: 2.7k

warnings: a bit of angst, general panicking/anxiety

author's note: second to the last main chapter! finally getting a break from the angst here i swear 🙏

prev | masterlist | next

soobin doesn’t even need to knock for the older choi to sense his presence. “come in,” he says.

yeonjun is sitting at the edge of his bed when his friend and younger relative enters. he doesn’t even turn in his direction, instead gazing at the flower vase where the wilting striped carnations still are, their stems turning brown. he hasn’t even considered getting them replaced.

“i know you’re still mad at y/n,” he says, moving aside so that soobin can sit next to him, “but don’t be too hard on them, please.”

“i just wish they could’ve ended things properly with you instead of avoiding you.”

yeonjun looks down at his hands and fidgets. “but i... does it matter? maybe they were right, i shouldn’t be friends with them. i mean, shit” — his voice trembles — “i’m getting married. even if we fixed things i can’t just run off to teatime and spend time with them like we used to.”

“well, even if that’s the case” — soobin pauses and stares at him. “wait, hold on, the engagement is real now?!”

yeonjun flops on the bed, buries his face in a pillow, and lets out a long, muffled whine.

“i… i thought things would slow down and all.”

“i thought so too!” yeonjun throws the pillow aside, nearly hitting soobin with it. “but the bride’s mother is a control freak! she’s going to get this alliance even if she forces us all into it! and all our advisors agree that the agreement is just too good to pass up, so if i say that i don’t want to get married, i’ll look like the court idiot.”

“hyung, your mom has to do something about this. she’s bought you time before.”

“how much? even if she buys me time, i’ll still have to marry that princess!” he lets out another whine. “i barely know anything about her! she won’t tell me anything about herself and her mom is probably feeding her things to say so that she doesn’t ruin the engagement! what the hell do i do? i can’t marry a stranger, i just can’t… why can’t i marry y/n instead?”

soobin stares at him. yeonjun, realizing what he just said, sits up and stares back in horror. his ears start to turn red.

“please forget that i just said that.”

the younger choi simply grins. “hyung, beomgyu and i have known since the first time we saw you two together.”

“are you serious?! was it really that obvious?”

“pretty much.” soobin looks down and purses his lips, lost in thought, then glances back up at yeonjun. “that’s why i’m so upset at them at first. you two looked so happy together, and i hoped that you would stay happy. when they stopped being friends with you, it was like stopping a good dream.”

“well, it is just a dream anyway. even if i somehow fixed things with them and they felt that way about me too, it’s not like i can be with them.”

“you never know, hyung. one of the princes in the central region got to choose his wife! i was there at his wedding.”

“maybe, i just hope it’s not too late for me.”

soobin shrugs. “does y/n know how you feel?”

“i never told them. what if they figured it out and stopped being friends with me because they don’t feel the same way?”

“not with the way they look at you.”

yeonjun glares at soobin, mouth agape.

“what?” soobin elbows him lightly. “it’s true! i saw how they looked at you a while ago when you said you were busy. they looked like you stomped on their heart!”

“but they stomped on mine first! how could they feel that way?!” 

“i don’t know with them! just stop stomping on each other’s hearts!” soobin huffs. “look, both of you are hurting and it’s unlike you to be this hopeless.”

yeonjun buries his face in the pillow again, but instead of a whine he just lets out a low groan. he feels his friend pull him closer to his side and his hand rubbing circles in his back. sighing, he pries the pillow off himself.

they both sit in silence for a few moments. yeonjun glances at the vase of wilted carnations and lets himself remember all the flowers you’ve delivered to him. he dwells on the pink roses you left him after the dance, and how he always imagined dancing with you again. he loved having you in his arms and he dreams still of holding you even closer.

even as every day conspires to make that dream nothing more than a flight of fancy, a part of him has always held onto it.

“you’re right. i wish we could just work things out.”

“they will.”

“how do you know?”

“i don’t, but beomgyu’s talking to y/n right now. i think that’s a good sign.”

yeonjun looks at him with eyes full of hope. “about what?”

“dunno, but i bet he’s talking sense into them.”

—

you sit on the grass and hug your knees. the cold response from yeonjun has made your body feel unbearably heavy, so much that you need to sit to be able to bear your own weight. your head is slumped and you close your eyes as you try to grapple with the image of your friend ignoring you and walking away, when all he has ever done before is stay close to you and ask you to stay close by him too. without meaning to you find yourself in front of the wall of emotions again, and this time trying to climb or even approach it feels more daunting than ever.

you feel something shift next to you, snapping you out of your spiral, and open your eyes to see beomgyu seated next to you on the grass.

“your…” you throat feels dry. “your trousers will get dirty…”

“it’s okay, they’re dark colored anyway so no one will see. how are you feeling?”

you bite your lip. beomgyu tilts his head at you and watches you with shining eyes, as if to say go on, you can say whatever you want. you still feel the wall of emotions looming over you, so you say nothing.

“or we can sit down here as long as you like,” he says, filling the air with chatter. “it’s a pretty day, isn’t it? i like this time of year when the weather’s not too warm and the sky is clear. usually soobin hyung and yeonjun hyung and i will play a lot of games or go swimming or ride the horses, especially when we were kids. we don’t do it as much ‘cause of all the meetings, and also ‘cause we get tired faster.”

you nod. there’s something oddly comforting about the image of the three boys playing games in the meadows as kids.

“we usually do it here ‘cause yeonjun hyung’s family has the biggest open grounds, but sometimes we go to soobin hyung’s or my home. we have a tennis court at our castle grounds, you should come! i think you’d be good at it. you were really good at that badminton game.”

“oh… thanks.”

“did you play a lot of sports growing up?”

“a little bit.” you loosen your grip on your knees. “usually when the other children invite me to play, but i never start it myself.”

“oh! you weren’t the type to go running around a lot?”

you shake your head. 

“mm, what did you do when you were a kid?”

“uh, gardening.” you laugh. “and drawing, but i wasn’t very good. i just liked doing it.”

beomgyu laughs too. you start to chat with him about both of your childhood memories, and as you do, the heaviness starts to lift from your body. the initial shock from your encounter with yeonjun starts to subside, and though you still feel that wall of emotions looming in front of you, your mind has now taken a few steps back from it. besides, you no longer feel like you’re facing that wall alone; beomgyu is with you, making sure that you’re okay.

he’s in the middle of telling a story about the time he and another prince from the house of huening once snuck into the kitchen to steal some chocolates, and you listen and wait for him to finish. you’re pretty sure he’s exaggerating the story but it doesn’t matter and you laugh anyway. you feel calm now, not quite free from the heaviness but at least in a place to carry it better.

“hey, beomgyu?”

“what is it?”

“i...” you gaze up at the sky. “i’m scared.”

his expression changes from a carefree smile to a look of concern. “what are you scared of?”

“everything, i guess.” you grip the fabric of your gardener’s smock. “i’m scared that i’ll never talk to yeonjun again and that i broke his heart. what if he doesn’t want to be friends anymore even if i try to make it up to him? but even if i do try to be friends again, will everyone else even let me? he’s getting engaged and he has that princess now, would she even let me be a part of his life? and what if the staff gets suspicious of me again and i get fi—”

“whoa, whoa. slow down, y/n.” he lifts an arm to put around your shoulder, and you let him. “let’s take it one at a time, okay?”

you take a deep breath. “what i mean is, i feel like i’m going to lose either way. either i lose yeonjun because i stopped being friends with him, or i lose him because he’s a prince and i’m just a gardener.”

beomgyu nods and pats your shoulder. “it’s okay to be scared,” he says, his voice soft. “we’re all scared, actually. yeonjun hyung’s terrified. we have to learn to not look scared because we’re princes and people look up at us, but we’re just as scared as you.”

“i know he’s scared too. i’m worried about him but i just... i just wish i knew what to do. it feels like everything i do will hurt, whether it’s me or him or the both of us.”

you hear your companion humming as he tries to think. “i think you can take things slowly...? ‘cause it is scary trying to solve all those things at once, but maybe there’s something small that you can handle.”

“something small...” you smooth down your gardener’s smock. now that you’ve backed away from the wall and aired out your fears, everything feels less overwhelming. you can see the pieces of your problems now: your friendship, your feelings, yeonjun’s feelings, his betrothal. you still can’t fix everything 一 maybe if you had less self-restraint, you’d kick down the doors of the cathedral on his wedding day 一 but seeing each piece of the puzzle gives you some clarity.

you can’t fix the court politics that he’s gotten himself into, but you can make amends with yeonjun. maybe it won’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but it’s better than nothing.

you turn to beomgyu with a small smile.

“hey, what are you thinking of now? are you concocting some sort of grand scheme?”

“nothing grand.” you stand up and brush the grass off yourself. “you’re right, i need to start small.”

一

you aren’t part of the official party to send off the visiting branches of the house of choi, but you find a convenient excuse to go water the marigolds at the front entrance where the sending-off will occur. you stand off to the side, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, hidden from the line of sight of the farewell party: the royal family, their advisors, queen hwayoung and princess ajin and their advisors, and a dozen other members of the court. their eyes and yours are all on the parade of carriages ready to leave through the main gate and back to their respective kingdoms.

you watch beomgyu approach one carriage first with his parents, smiling and waving, thanking them for the nice room and the good food and the pleasant time. he waves freely with his left arm while his right arm cradles a pot of sweet peas 一 the one you miraculously managed to prepare just that morning. you smile at the sight just as he spots you off to the side. his smile becomes wider and he mouths good luck to you before finally climbing in his carriage. 

soobin and his parents are next, and though he appears shyer than the younger choi, he still manages to give little bows and dimpled smiles at everyone. he doesn’t wave, not when both of his hands are carrying the sweet pea pot you prepared, and you can’t help but giggle at it. he seems to have taken some invisible cue from beomgyu, because he spots you instantly, then nods and mouths take care at you before he too climbs into the carriage and prepares to leave.

once all the carriages and carts are ready, the main gate opens and you watch them exit, one by one, all while the farewell party continues to shout well-wishes for safe travels. for a while you can see soobin and beomgyu still waving at everyone and shouting greetings back. you can’t yell any yourself without getting noticed, so you send your farewells silently from your heart, hoping that your goodwill will reach them anyway and be felt long after you’re gone from their sight.

the carriages disappear and the party starts to disperse. queen hwayoung and princess ajin disappear almost instantly, and the other court officials start to head back as well. soon only the royal family is left, and the king and queen are soon whisked away by a guard for some important matter to attend to. that leaves yeonjun just behind everyone else, and you take your cue.

“your majesty.”

you hate using his title on him again, but you need to keep up the pretense.

yeonjun whips around. “who’s ther一”

you step out from the side and take out what you previously hid among the marigolds: a small pot of purple hyacinths. “it’s me, your majesty.”

for a few moments he simply stares at you, posture rigid. he doesn’t approach but raises an eyebrow. “‘your majesty’? c’mon are we really not一”

before he can say anything more, you shove the pot into his hands. “pleasenotnownotoutside,” you say. you start to tremble and try to steady yourself with a long, deep breath. “i mean, not where people can see us, please, not here…”

yeonjun’s posture shifts. he grabs you by the arm and pulls you away from the main entrance and off to small courtyard at the side. he looks around to confirm that there’s no one watching, then sets down the pot and steps toward you.

before you can back away, he places a hand on your cheek and gazes at you with tears starting to form in his eyes. his whole expression softens as he studies your face, and you feel the old warmth blooming in your chest 一 it’s been too long since you felt that sensation.

“are you okay? is anyone threatening you?”

he says it so softly that you could melt right into him. you shake your head.

“did they punish you again?”

you shake your head again. “they could if they see us…” 

yeonjun tries to say more but you only tut and tilt your head towards the pot.

he nods, brushing your cheek with his thumb and blinking away his tears, then crouches down to where the pot is. he gazes at the delicate purple flowers before he sees the paper you tucked in between the stalks, then he fishes it out and reads your message:

dear yeonjun, these purple hyacinths are for sorrow and apologies. i’m sorry. i hurt you and i shouldn’t have. please let me explain myself to you. meet me at the gazebo tonight at midnight, and i’ll tell you everything.

he pockets the message and stands up to face you again. as he stands close to you, he takes both your hands in his, tilting his head down towards yours to lock eyes with you.

“okay, i’ll be there.”

already the hours to midnight feel too long.

notes: everybody say thank you beomgyu 😌 we are wrapping things up real soon!!

taglist (CLOSED) @seosalad @lilplilplilp @yeonboy @pyuae @hyuneyeon @strawbrinkofdeath @yushiu @mazeinthemoon @banggyu0308 @shytubatu @kyaneosprincess @agustdiv1ne @whippedforbeomgyu @justineasian @skywithf1 @wrongbathroom @choizzn @bangchansbae @huskyhunny @catsyoon @flowerbe0m

[dark-elf-writes]

So for you PYT AU, how do Inko and Oboro get married, do they just go down to the courthouse with a few people because that's all they need for their love? Or is it a sweet little backyard deal? Or is it further into Oboro career so he is making bank and they do a big do where he spoils Inko? Please I need details. Also I am envisioning Izuku as flower child.

At first I wasn’t sold that they would actually get married or if they would be the couple that just dates forever and calls each other husband and wife, but then I thought about benefits and possible issues with hero work if she isn’t his wife so yeah it would make more sense for them to be married.

The strike me as a couple that still wouldn’t rush into marriage though. Like Inko got massively screwed over in her last marriage and wasn’t even technically divorced until several years into her relationship with Oboro so I can see them having like a suuuper long engagement during which izuku just starts referring to Oboro as their dad because “my mom’s fiancé” is a god damn mouthful when you’re like ten and trying to tell a story and it’s not like they remember Hisashi being around anyway.

Oboro proposed in the most over the top way possible while still keeping it rather private. I’m talking a big family dinner at a restaurant he rented out completely, a nice walk where they were a bit in front of everyone else, candles, rose petals, biodegradable glitter and confetti poppers that Hizashi and Izuku aimed directly for both of their heads when she said yes. Incredibly romantic. Oboro is filmed on patrol with glitter stuck in his hair and the biggest grin on his face for DAYS.

The actual ceremony they would probably keep pretty small/pretty much a hero only affair. Both for security reasons and because Inko doesn’t really have any civilian friends and a lot of her coworkers weren’t the kindest after the news of their relationship dropped. Jokes on them though because after one too many glasses of wine at a gala it was learned that she, Jeanist, and surprisingly Snipe get along like a house on fire and no one knows peace again.

It is a backyard affair in the house that she and Oboro bought and he tends to the gardens on his time off as a stress relief thing. Izuku is the flower child looking completely adorable in their dress and flower crown even as they purposefully pelt their family members with flower petals because Oboro told them they could and Shouta definitely deserves it for some reason or another. Nemuri so the one that marries them as there would have been a fight trying to get her on one side of the wedding party over the other as while she might have been Oboro’s friend first her and Inko become like sisters over the years. There’s a lot of laughter and happy tears throughout the ceremony. Izuku is all but sobbing into Jeanist’s shoulder from the moment their mom gets to the altar because she looks so fucking happy. Their first kiss is with smiling lips and tears on both of their faces. Oboro immediately pulls back to grab Izuku like some sort of weird lion king scene because he did it. This is his family now.

The reception is a lot of terrible dancing and videos that get posted to social media that go viral because no one expects to see heroes act like normal fucking people/ what the hell is Lunch Rush doing that does not count as a dance but the ceremony is just for them.

[box-architecture]

Fem!Awesamdrunz.

Dream with long, blonde curls she ties up in a battlemaiden crown. (Quackity cuts her hair, practically destroys her scalp in the process. Its stupid to cry over it, so Dream doesn't. Not until she escapes and looks into a mirror for the first time. She's scarred beyond belief, maimed really. She feels fucking pathetic, giving a shit about hair. But it made her feel good, and now her fingers instinctively reach to fiddle with the strands only to be met with air.)

Sam who's got short, floofy waves that curl a bit. Sides might be shaved. (She is an absolute fuckming lesbian. Her ears turn red when Dream lets her hair down the first time, or when Dream wears a more revealing top. Her Catholicisms made her very uptight and in denial about her Gay when she was younger. She's very stiff about it, even now. She melts at gentle kisses.)

Punz with an undercut. That's it that's the brainrot. (Punz with a tongue piercing that vibrates so they can stimulate Dreams clit when they go down on her. Punz is She/They because Gender. She thinks it's very funny to poke Sam's tits.)

consider Sam hand-sewing dream a wig (and Punz braiding it into a bunch of different styles). she's tried growing it out, but it never grows back just the same way. and she cant seem to take care of it like she used to with all these new body limitations such as chronic pain and hand tremors. she pretends it doesn't effect her because really- its just hair.

(its not like it was a way of self expression that's been taken away or anything.)

It's important to her!!!!!! She took very good care of it. And maybe that's a little vain, maybe she was made fun of a bit for caring about her appearance, but she was Strong and Powerful, and engaged in a lot of traditionally masculine activities. It made her feel really good, to just. Be feminine. To have this one thing.

It fucks her up pretty bad, and she hates herself for caring about it. Spirals pretty badly. When Sam helps her with the wig the first time, she really does cry

The way girls are simultaneously told they shouldn't care so much about their looks while constantly being judged for them. Dream constantly being pressured for that. Dream just wanting to feel good

its not quite the same as it used to be- she cant directly feel fingers running through the strands and against her scalp, its not attached to her, and it requires learning to care for it in a way shes not used to, but it helps. and most importantly its a symbol of love. love when Punz helps her braid it into her old style, and how Sam made it for her at all, its love, and shes happy

They take such good care of her, she does elaborate styles, they get butterfly pins and colorful ties, jewels to clink, flower crowns. When she shows up to kick Quackity's ass she wears the wig in the old style (shes tried some new styles lately, but this one seemed fitting) a symbol of defiance

Still a battlemaiden, a Valkyrie

and maybe she gets some blood into it and thats a bit of a pain to clean up but its fine. Sam will very happily help her out. Punz scrubs her cheek while Sam carefully combs through it. She was so good!!!!! So cool!!!!! Why is she covered in slime???

what the fuck do you mean a slime army

There's more than one wig, too, in case Dream didn't like the first. She wanted Dream to be happy with it! There are several, the parts in several places, because parting hair is a pain. They have to help her because her fingers are just not that dexterous anymore. (she has to relearn how to walk around and fight in armor and they're there for her through that entire process)

Also bonus points if she's lying on a heating pad (Body Pain Hurts) and Fluffy Centaur Sam just. Lays on top of her. Starts purring. Purring will Cure The Ailments of The Body

Punz: I don't think that will fix it Dream: nono Punz get under here I think it's working

Sam got jealous of the heating pad. Technology?????? Taking her partners time and attention???? Horrible, abhorrent. She will fix it better than any dumb heating pad with PURRING

Punz finds the heating pad in the trash later that day

Punz: YOU CANT JUST GET RID OF EQUIPMENT WE NEED EVERY TIME DREAMS USES IT Sam: ILL MAKE A BETTER ONE Punz: Sam, there are times when you will not be there, and Dream will still need to be warm. Sam: How Dare You Suggest Such A Thing

Sam, coming home covered in redstone and immediately flopping onto Dream and Punz (who were cuddling) and getting it everywhere

(Punz likes to use Dreams chest as a pillow. They also really like sticking their tongue out at Sam while they do it. Sam fumes silently in the background. She wants Chest Pillow.)

Sam can't comprehend a world where she will not be there to keep Dream warm.

Sam does Dream's eyeliner! She feels so fucking honored. Wide eyed as Dream sits still for her. She watched a million tutorials and Studied This. Dream wears swoopy makeup that Sam does for her into battle sometimes. Makes her feel Very Pretty

Punz has a garden. Punz growing the flowers that Sam makes into paints for Dream to wear into battle, flower designs to match.

She carries her partners with her, their existence painted on her face

[kusagrasskusa]

Can i ask for a request? prompt 23 but it's Kitana reacting to reader getting flirted with, please ❣ (if u don't write for her or FxF just ignore it, no problem)

I'm so fucking sorry for being late!! I was so busy recently and overwhelmed that I had to spend time to myself. But here you are! This takes place before they were a couple. I'm sorry this isn't too good :/

▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀

Kitana's S/O being flirted with

▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀

The first time in years that a trip like this would possible- Jade, Kitana, Y/N, Lui Kang, and Kung Lao all going to China during a New Year's celebration.

They were just patrolling and watching the fireworks and eating little New Year's cakes, and had to have Lui Kang and Kung Lao order all food for them.

As we all know, Kade and Kitana are Edenian. Y/N was [specy] but didn't know Chinese aside from a few words she picked up when working for Shang Tsung.

As the group passed a patch of peonies, Kung Lao pulled one out. Sneaking up behind her, he snuck a flower into Y/N's hair. "Hmm?" She hummed as she spun look up and saw Lao looking down at her. She smiled brightly and giggled, "Laooo-"

Kitana giggled as the rest if the group did. I suppose nothing was funny but the high energy in the air was enough to make it happen. But Kitana felt a little confused as well. Why did Kung Lao do that, she asked herself. The two are very close but he doesn't normally act so romantic with her.

"You would look great with a flower crown on, Y/N," Kitana commented. Y/N thanked her, messing with the flower in her hair.

Let's skip like 10 minutes when they pass a stand that Y/N seems to have a lot of interest in. Kitana smiled sweetly when she noticed that Y/N couldn't stop looking at the food. "I would love to buy you some," Kitana spoke up, earning a sweet gasp from Y/N. And just minutes later, here Y/N was stuffing her face with these sweet rice cakes.

"You know," Y/N spoke as she held another New Year's treat to her mouth. "During this time of year, Shang Tsung would have a private celebration he hoped no one would find out about. Only the chefs and I caught on but never said a word. We knew he was missing home."

While Lui Kang hummed and commented, Kitana felt a shiver travel down her spin. A small frown found its way onto her mouth and a slight pain in her chest erupted. She always forgets by how carefree and lovable Y/N is that she once worked for a terrible man.

"These are so good, and sweet!" Y/N commented as she finished the cake. Kung Lao chuckled, leaning a little closer to her.

"Doubt it can match your sweetness. It might be a little envious." Cliche Earthrealm pickup lines are so strong against this lady. But too bad she doesn't even realize he's flirting smh.

Y/N smiled and thanked him while Kitana frowned underneath her mask. Does she realize what he's doing? A little pit was formed in her stomach as she grew saddened. Kung Lao clearly likes her.

Despite always being secret about her feelings for Y/N, she couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. But she told herself that she couldn't be mad because two females together is wrong according to so many. The only thing making her feel comfortable with her orientation is how Raiden told her that no fighter cares who her heart desires, but what her heart desires.

Kitana dwelled on this for a few minutes. Maybe this is what she gets for rejected Lui Kang?

Speaking of Lui Kang, he was able to catch on to Kitana's sadness easily.

The group made their way to a table and sat down right in front of a Yi Mein stand. Yi Mein, or long-life noodles, is an traditional food around this time of year.

"Hmm, have any of you ever tried those?" Lui Kang asked, referring to the food. Kung Lao smirked as Y/N shook her head with a smile on her face.

"No, but I always wanted to try it! It smells so good!" Jade snickered at Y/N behavior while Kitana rolled her eyes playfully.

"Well, I'd love to buy you some," Kung Lao offered to Y/N. A glare from Kitana came towards Kung Lao. Yet, just before she could say anything, Lui Kang spoke.

"Actually, I have a little more money to spare. Y/N, Jade, can you two join me please? I will need help picking up the bowls?"

Jade stood up and followed Lui Kang to the stand. Y/N had this stupid smile on her face as she walked with then. And this leaves Kung Lao and Kitana by themselves.

...

It was painfully silent between the two. Kitana stared sadly at her lap as Kung Lao stared dreamingly at the table. Kitana knew why Lui Kang wanted to leave the two alone. It was pretty obvious.

Then suddenly, the princess just sighed and looked up with desperate eyes.

"I know you love her, Kung Lao. I know you do. But please, I have something to ask of you."

Kung Lao felt his face heat up. "What it is?"

Kitana took a deep breath and just let it out. "Y/N is...very important to me. In fact, she- she's made me feel things I've never felt before and..."

Kitana paused, fumbling with her fingers. This was so out of character for her, and Kung Lao caught on to her anxiety.

"Do you think that you can confess to her later? With your romantic gestures and how special tonight is, it would be the perfect time to tell her how you feel. But I ask that were to please, please tell her much later."

Kung Lao furrowed his eyebrows before his widened a bit. A shiver went down his spine as he registered how soft and pleading the princesses voice and words really were. It was so out of character that it scared him.

"Princess Kitana," Kung Lao spoke softly. "Do you love her as well?"

...

Kitana didn't answer as she felt heat rise to her face and tears wanting to form.

"Hmm. I see. You know, I have a younger cousin who also feels that way. Please, have no worries of judgement. I don't care who you love as long as it's healthy," he confided in her as he pat her shoulder.

A smile on her face formed underneath her mask as she nodded.

"I promise I'll tell her long times later. In the meantime, feel free to engage in activities with her. She may fall in love you as well."

And soon after that, the three came with five bowls in their hands.

The food was amazing and crippling anxiety within Kitana's stomach disappeared as they continued their journey throughout China.

If course, with a few exceptions. Y/N going overboard on buying food that is, and her excitement getting to her as she saw fireworks. And when Y/N grabbed Kitana's hand and pointed at a firework, the princess could have sworn she was gonna pass out.

[jmdbjk]

Is this true ?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FXZCGTjVEAEOean?format=jpg&name=large

Hey, Anon!

I know it’s a yes or no question, but sorry...your first mistake was you sent it to ME... so here’s my super long ass post for such a short question...get your snacks and beer (or lemonade if you are underage) and get comfy, here goes...

I am assuming the image that your link is referring to is related to a fan sign event. The image in question is way down below under these cute fan sign pics...

For new Army who might not be familiar with fan sign events: I am pretty sure these events are common in the kpop world. They are a cute way for fans to get up close to the members. They get one on one time with each member, talking, taking photos, holding hands, signing autographs, fans also bring questions for the members to answer.  They also bring cute gifts and it’s all very... sweetly cute. Typically, attendees are younger/teenage females and the interactions are very age appropriate. 

BTS has not done a fan sign since 2019 I think. I wasn’t Army when BTS still did them.

My take away from those events is that they are highly contrived as idol/fan interactions...the pure definition of “fan service.” The members will be engaging and cute with the fans during these things. They wear all kinds of knick-knacks that are gifted to them: crowns, flowers, all kinds of headbands for photos...

During one of these events, a fan brought Jimin the exact same Minnie hat he wore in GCFT... when he put it on the crowd started shouting for Jungkook to look... Jimin looked like he wished the ground would just open up and swallow him right there ... he’s so damn cute.  

As the years went on, we progressively saw Jungkook and Jimin evolve from being very awkwardly cute in their behavior with fans to more relaxed and playful, joking with each other and it all coincides with how their relationship has evolved over the years. I think I even found the instance (or a similar one) that Anon’s question is about and it happened in the very early years:

There’s a ton of stuff out there, even fan-edited compilations of these moments. I also found this:

I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other about fan sign events. If I had an opportunity to attend one, hell yes I would! But do I think it is something the members themselves enjoy doing? Maybe at first because they were working hard to be successful and build their fanbase. But these days we are moving on to Chapter 2 so I don’t know if this type of thing would be on their radar. The ages of the fans at these events is really young and it would seem awkward now that the members are a little older and it appears they are shooting for a mature market from the looks of Hobi’s new work.

So back to Anon’s question...

I cannot tell exactly when or where this particular interaction may have taken place but it looks like something that would happen at a fan sign. I don't think the remarks in English on the white section of the image are exactly what the poster asked in Korean but I could be wrong. 

This is my very rudimentary translation of the typed Korean:

꾹이한테 To Kuk

어제 지민이가 정국이가자기안고잔 다고자랑을 하길래 Yesterday, Jimin was bragging that Jungkook slept in his arms.

물어보니 굉 장히단 호하게 When I asked, he was very, very kind.

"절대아님" “Absolutely not”

박지민 에게 진실을 요구합니다 I ask Jimin the truth

From MY translation (I do not speak Korean, I can barely read it and use a translator to translate what I read) so my understanding of my translation would be something like:

“To Kuk (Jungkook), Jimin was bragging that Jungkook slept in his arms, when I asked Jimin the truth he was very kind and said absolutely not” so obviously my translation would be different than what is on that post. There is no way for me to grasp the context with this image.

(Imagines a future conversation with someone when I try to ask in Korean “May I pet your dog?” and it comes out “When do you fuck your dog?” ...already pre-embarrassed.)

On the handwritten yellow note the only words I can make out are:

잘대 Sleep well

지민 이룰 (?) Jimin will(?) 

I am not sure if that is 룰

I cannot make out the other characters well enough to translate all of it since it is CROSSED OUT WITH 7 X’s hahahahaha. 

I do think that���s Jungkook's handwriting in sharpie marker, but I can't read his handwriting very well 🤣 and it doesn’t even closely resemble the characters that spell out “absolutely not.” Maybe it says: ㄹ록 ㄹ록 or “LOL LOL” 🤪

So my answer to Anon’s question, “is it true?” I don't know. Did this interaction actually take place? Seems possible...I found the instance where it happened or one that is similar.  Is what they said true? Could be? 

Did they mean it, like with their hearts and souls? HAHAHAHA...no. 

The intent of the post might be an attempt at refuting Jimin’s claim he slept with his arms around Jungkook and that Jungkook said absolutely not, that did not happen. But I think there are issues with the translation because of the comment in English on the black section of the image. I cannot tell who said what and we are supposed to take the original poster’s word as accurate translation which is not wise when it comes to things we see on social media that have been passed through several users (I’m thinking the image is a fan cafe post that was reposted on Twitter maybe). 

WATCH ORIGINAL CONTENT IN ITS ENTIRETY!

Regardless, if this was during a fan sign event, the members are playful, teasing, acting up with fans. If Jimin stated Jungkook slept in his arms, it was in this context. If Jungkook (or even Jimin) said “absolutely not,” what does anyone expect them to say in front of a roomful of young female fans? Yes, we fuck as soon as we get home? 

Does any of it mean anything in the big picture of Jimin and Jungkook being the closest of closeness? No. They’re fine. 

Anyone else have any input here? I am certain there are others who probably know exactly when this happened. 

[bbangsoonie]

good for nothing

member: juyeon genre: angst (royal au) word count: 4,635 synopsis: despite being the first born and the kingdom’s princess, you lived your whole life in the shadow of the crown prince born to a concubine. in your plot for revenge, a fool in love comes along your path. warning(s): violence

kingdom masterlist

Princess Y/n. You were the first born of the king and queen, educated beyond societal standards for girls, and incredibly beautiful. Yet, you were disregarded and looked down on since the moment you were born. Your brother, who was born to a concubine, was the crown prince and received much greater respect. The reason? You were a girl. A good-for-nothing girl as your father called you on multiple occasions.

The king was ashamed to have his first born be a daughter. He also felt threatened by your rejection of the status quo. Because of this, he grabbed every opportunity to make you submit to him.

You were exceptionally smart but no one cared to notice. Your desire to learn was ignored and you were forced to embroider butterfly patterns instead. At a young age, you realized your place. You knew your designated fate was to be a political pawn meant to be married off at a beautiful age. To protect the royal family that never considered you as one of their own, you were to marry a complete stranger one day.

However, just because you realized your place didn’t mean you accepted it. You defied the rules at every chance you saw. You remained a headache for the king, but a small enough headache to avoid his wrath.

Unbeknownst to him, you were well versed with the dirty politics of the country. Ever since you were a little girl, you would eavesdrop into the ministers’ conversations and manipulate the eunuchs to take a peak at written grievances sent to the king. You knew about the starving peasants he ignored and the bribes he received. As you grew older, you became hungry for power. When it became apparent that the king was blocking any hope for you, you were determined to take as many people down with you. You refused to suffer alone.

The king always berated you for being greedy. Greedy for education. Greedy for acknowledgement. Greedy for a life that was more than just being a good wife. He reminded you again and again that you would never have a voice in official affairs.

Every time you left his chamber after another lecture, you made sure to humiliate the embarrassment the kingdom called the crown prince. You would outshine him one way or another. Whether it be pointing out his grammar mistakes in front of the scholars or exposing his secret palace escapes to the queen, you would dampen his mood for the day. It was the only thing that gave you a speck of joy.

There was also only one thing that gave you something to look forward to. For years, you had been conspiring against the royal family. You despised the royal family and its classist, sexist, and pretentious values. You planned on getting rid of it once and for all. The kingdom deserved a leader that would rule benevolently. Slowly but surely, you gained the loyalty of several ministers. Soon enough, you would be able to execute the meticulous coup d'état.

But until then, you had to continue to be nothing but the king’s puppet. Which included meeting your fiancé. You were introduced a week ago and wedding preparations were already in full swing.

The man you would be forced to wed, Lee Juyeon, was the first son of the Chief State Councillor. You didn’t like him the moment you saw him. He was a pretty face that grew up with his father’s full love and support. He was both elegant and masculine; he was the definition of perfect and you hated it. A person had to have flaws to be likeable.

For some crazy reason you couldn’t wrap your mind around, Juyeon was infatuated with you. He visited the palace every day just to have you decline his request for a meeting. He was persistent.

Unfortunately for you, he was also crafty. He figured out that announcing his arrival to the king was an effective way to see your face. The king was delighted to see the Chief State Councillor’s son head over heels for his daughter and thus, to your annoyance, daily meetings were arranged for you two.

“Tell me, Lord Lee, what about me is worthy of your obsession?” you asked.

You were sitting at one of the gardens within the palace walls. He had insisted on the location because of its romantic beauty.

“Then tell me, Your Highness, what about me is not to your liking?” he grinned.

“Do you wish to hear the answer of the princess or the answer of Y/n?” you raised a brow, making him laugh.

“You amuse me, Princess Y/n,” he turned his head to look at the pond.

You sighed, wondering how long you had until you could return to your residence. The man next to you was oblivious to your feelings as he rambled on about the dates he wanted to take you on. He caught your attention when he mentioned sneaking you out of the palace for half a day.

“You would really risk taking me outside of the palace?” you perked up.

He was excited to see you finally engaged in the conversation and nodded profusely. He promised to set up an elaborate plan for a smooth date. Grudgingly, you accepted his offer. Your wish to see the village overwhelmed your wish to avoid your soon-to-be consort.

The next day, a court lady secretly found you to notify you of his plans. To evade the eyes of palace maids, you were to escape through a path not commonly used. She helped you scale the wall and you froze when you saw Juyeon on the other side. You sat on top of the wall and he extended his hand for support. With a tight smile, you held his hand and jumped down.

He pulled the veil over your face to keep your identity hidden, blushing when his hand slightly brushed your cheek. He hopped onto the horse and gestured for you to do the same. Hesitantly, you held his hand again to climb on.

Using the excuse of maintaining balance, he urged you to hold on tightly. You weren’t left with an option when he sped up, prompting you to instinctively hug his waist. You didn’t have to see his face to know that he was smiling like a fool.

At last, you finally arrived at the village. Fascinated at the change in environment, you looked like a child surrounded by toys. Chuckling, Juyeon admired the view in front of him. In his eyes, you were prettier than any flower and sweeter than any candy. Feeling his gaze on you, you cleared your throat and began walking.

There was so much to look at. He caught you staring at the rows of yeot and purchased the confectionery without you asking. You immediately popped one into your mouth and he laughed when your cheeks expanded to resemble a squirrel.

“Are you teasing me?” you frowned.

“No, I am appreciating your adorable and lovely appearance,” he answered as he handed you the bag holding the rest of the yeot. His words didn’t fluster you. You simply rolled your eyes and resumed walking.

His long legs were quick to catch up with you. Enjoying your presence, he watched as you fawned over little trinkets. It was a new side of you that he had never seen.

Stopping at an accessory shop, you scanned the norigaes displayed on the table. One of them caught your eye and you held it up for a closer look. It was a beautiful pale pink color that perfectly matched your current hanbok.

“It seems a norigae is better at capturing your heart than I am,” Juyeon pouted.

“Perhaps it is prettier than you,” you shrugged.

“Is this an implication that I am pretty? To a certain extent?” he beamed.

“How do my words become that?” you exclaimed.

With another laugh, he took the accessory from your grasp and went to pay for it. You blinked at the sudden sight of his back, noticing for the first time how broad his shoulders were. When he came back to your side, he held the norigae in front of you but pulled it back when you reached out for it. He pointed at the bag of yeot and opened his mouth. Baffled, you turned around to walk away.

He caught your wrist and spun you back around. He bent down and your face stopped an inch away from his. His usual shy self was gone and he had a confident smirk on his lips.

“Does your heart not sway even at a close distance like this?” he asked. This time, he caught you off guard. When you finally came back to your senses, you hurriedly shoved a piece of yeot into his mouth and stormed off.

“Y/n, you make me laugh too hard and too much!” you heard his voice call out, making you blush crimson with embarrassment.

With your upcoming wedding looming over your head, it became increasingly difficult to communicate with the ministers. There were too many eyes to be wary of. Juyeon, of course, was one of them.

As you spent more time with him, you realized how sentimental he was. He brought you small, meaningful gifts and loved to tell you about the meanings behind each flower.

“Did you know that the plum blossom is one of the indications of spring's arrival?” he asked one day. “They can bloom as early as late March.”

“I think it is quite obvious that it is spring,” you commented, pointing at the variety of flowers surrounding you.

“My personal favorite flower is the rose of sharon,” he continued. “It is nicknamed the “immortal flower” and means “eternal blossom that never fades” because of its resilience. It regrows despite harsh conditions and even after it is damaged. Amazing, isn’t it?”

You hummed, looking for the flower he was talking about.

“I used to hope that our kingdom would take after the flower. We have survived through many tragedies and I hope that we will survive through anything else that tries to beat us down,” his words pricked you for some reason. Would your rebellion be seen as a tragedy or as a heroic deed?

“Now, I like to think that our love will be like the rose of sharon. My love for you will never fade and I will continue to pine after you despite your harsh words. Even if you hurt me, my feelings will transcend time,” he smiled. “The flower does not bloom until July. My wish is to go see them with you. Would you bless me with your presence when the time comes?”

You observed his lovestruck expression and couldn’t bring yourself to say no. Again, you were at a loss trying to understand why he was so besotted with you. His childlike innocence was almost pure to a fault in a place like the palace.

“I shall consider it if you teach me how to swing a sword,” you proposed.

He couldn’t hide both his shock and happiness. He was confused as to why you wanted to ever hold a weapon but glad that you were slowly opening up to him. Without a second thought, he agreed to your proposition.

Juyeon was full of bliss at the thought of spending more time with you. Teaching you swordsmanship would allow him to be intimate with you and he was thrilled. At your first secret lesson, his heart raced at your proximity as he guided your hands on how to properly wield the blade.

A week passed by and you quickly improved each day. Eventually, you became skilled enough to land a fake jab. Seeing your proud smile, he grinned as well.

“I guess I should be on edge now. If I annoy my princess one too many times, my life will literally be at your hands,” he joked.

“Do you regret training me?” you smirked.

“Ah, was this all a part of your plan?” he pretended to gasp. “Either to kill me off or to threaten me to obedience?”

Not finding his joke funny, you blankly stared at him. Noticing the sudden chill in the atmosphere, he awkwardly laughed.

“Do not worry, Your Highness. I will always do as you say. You do not need a sword to make me behave.” he smiled.

You hated to admit it but he had grown on you. His constant attempts to tear down your wall had finally made a crack. You had to stop before he became your weakness.

For the first time in a while, you were summoned to the king’s chamber. Expecting another reprimand, you dreaded the walk there. To your surprise, however, you were greeted with a smile he hadn’t given you in years. It kind of freaked you out.

“You called for me, Your Majesty?” you bowed.

“I hear you have been getting along wonderfully with the Chief State Councillor’s son. Finally, you are fulfilling your duty as this kingdom’s princess,” he commended.

What a back-handed compliment. You wanted to roll your eyes at his passive aggressiveness. Holding back your urges, you politely smiled instead.

“I just wanted to let you know that I will be in a hurry to complete your wedding. I need the Chief State Councillor’s support to find a suitable wife for the crown prince,” he announced.

“Is my marriage merely a way for the crown prince to find a wife with a powerful family?” you shot back.

Your question turned the mood scarily sour. You felt his anger rise as he chastised you for your impudence and disrespect.

“The crown prince is the future leader of our kingdom. He is more than deserving of the immense care, thought, and effort that goes into picking his consort. His consort will be this kingdom’s queen and will be the one to bear the next king. You are nothing but a useless girl who will belong to a different family.”

“I am still a member of the royal family, am I not?”

“You are just a good-for-nothing girl that will leave this palace soon,” he spat. “Now leave. You are dismissed.”

On your way out, you ran into the crown prince who looked at you in a way you found to be offensive. You paused your steps and turned around.

“I wish you fertility, Crown Prince. After all, the kingdom relies on your performance to produce an heir to the throne,” you said, lacing your words with venom. “I would imagine you would hate having to adopt a nephew.”

You could tell you had gotten under his skin yet again and left satisfied. You loathed and condemned your family with a burning passion. You couldn’t wait for the day it would all come to a bitter end.

While you were brooding, you didn’t notice Juyeon sneaking up on you. When you finally saw him, you nearly jumped. Your hand reached out to cover your heart, trying to calm it down. Sheepishly, he apologized for startling you.

Trying to keep you from walking away from him, he held onto the hem of your sleeve. Your heart softened at the gentle manner he treated you with. Ignoring your instincts, you let him cling onto you. Instead of making you turn around to face him, he walked in front of you.

“Will you accompany me to the garden today as well?” he asked earnestly.

Knowing that the court ladies were watching, you reluctantly accepted his invitation once again. This time, he surprised you with a bag filled with yeot. He looked so proud of himself for remembering your love for the sweet treat that it made you laugh. As a reward, he grabbed a piece for himself. Unaware of the smudge it left on the corner of his lips, he was conscious of your gaze and tried to look attractive.

“Worry not, Your Highness. You will get to look at this face every day and every night once we marry,” he assured.

Despite his wise exterior, he had a goofy side to him. He was pure and innocent—everything you weren’t. You could see why the king favored him so much.

“I do not understand why you are so eager to become my consort,” you suddenly blurted. “You know that it is just a flashy title that does not award you with much privileges. It is an empty position; you cannot hold office without a special order from the king. Do you simply see yourself as a stepping stone for your father to bring honor to your family?”

“Is my love for you an acceptable response?” he asked after some thought.

“Is it truly worth your dangerous status as the princess’s husband and king’s son-in-law? The royal family has many enemies,” you warned.

“I will be the one to protect you from such enemies,” he declared.

Was he naive or has his affection for you blinded him?

“Princess Y/n,” he said solemnly as he held your hand. “I promise to love and protect you for as long as my heart beats. No, even after it ceases to beat, I will still yearn for you. I will not demand or expect you to do the same. Even if your feelings for me are not as strong as my feelings for you, I will not blame you. But will you please give me the chance to try to win you over?”

His confession triggered an alarm in your head. He was never supposed to fall for you this hard and you were never supposed to allow him to. He had no idea how cunning and conniving you really were. Only the people in the palace knew how cold-hearted you could be. You had to be in order to survive.

You refused to give him a reply and pulled your hand away. His face fell but he forced himself to smile again. In an attempt to break the tension, he made a random comment on the weather.

After you two parted, you decided to speed things up to initiate the revolt. Once you joined hands in marriage, Juyeon would inevitably end up a target as well. If you wanted to spare him, you needed to overthrow the corrupted royal family before he became a part of it.

It was officially the day before the insurrection. To be honest, you weren’t really nervous. This was what you had been anticipating your entire life.

Yet why did you have a moment of weakness when you saw Juyeon that afternoon? He approached you with that boyish smile that did wonders to your normally rational mind. Feeling what you believed was pity, you wanted to leave him with a pleasant memory.

So you ended up convincing him to sneak you out of the palace again. This time, you were a lot more enthusiastic. You wanted to try all the pastries and insisted that he taste them too.

“You seemed to have a lot on your mind these days,” he carefully pointed out. “Has the problem that has been bothering you been resolved now?”

“It will soon,” you eluded.

You stared at the man in front of you, observing his features. He was, without a doubt, good looking. You could see why all the court ladies, palace maids, and girls of the village were so smitten with him. But you still didn’t get why he chose you to fawn over. Maybe it was because of the lack of affection you grew up with but something about having someone care for you was unsettling.

You had suitors court you before but none of them were as devoted as Juyeon. He always came off as genuine. Perhaps his sincerity was what made you lower your guard.

“I promise to lavish you with such outings if that is what makes you happy,” he proclaimed, almost making you laugh.

“Why do you make so many vows?” you inquired.

“I am a man who keeps his word and you are the only one I give it to,” he grinned. You wondered how happy he had to be to smile so often. You rarely had reasons to be smiling.

He glanced down at the table and examined the rows of binyeos. Holding one up, he held the hair pin against your hair.

“May I gift you this binyeo?” he asked.

You pursed your lips, feeling just a tad bit of guilt. You were used to being showered with extravagance but with Juyeon, it was different. There was an emotional value attached to each present.

“Only if you promise me one other thing,” you negotiated.

“Of course. I will do anything you ask of me,” he responded.

“Promise me that you will not visit the palace tomorrow,” you said sternly. He looked at you with curiosity.

“Tomorrow is… a day of mourning for me. I do not wish to see you until the day after,” you lied.

“This is the first time you have expressed your desire to see me,” he lit up at your last sentence. “I will prepare a magnificent date for when I see you over-morrow.”

You almost felt sorry for his naiveté. And you almost—just almost—felt sorry for deceiving him.

The fateful day arrived at last. You stood, taking one last glimpse at your reflection. Subconsciously, your hand reached out to touch the binyeo in your hair.

The roars of the royal guards and the clanks of combat rumbled throughout the palace. With a determined look, you left your chamber. The sword in your clenched fist dragged across the ground as you made your way to the throne hall.

When you finally busted through the door, the king sat as if he had been waiting for you.

“I should have known that this was your doing,” he scowled. “Was your luxurious life as a princess not enough for you? Could you not fight the temptation of avarice?”

“Nothing about my life was ever comfortable,” you corrected. “I always had to play along to match your mood in order to avoid being married off to an old man just out of your spite. You tried to drill your toxic mentality in me because my individuality terrified you. You made it a point to constantly tear me down. So I made it a point to see your demise.”

“You have always been this sly ever since you were a little girl. I knew I would regret your birth the moment I saw your eyes. And I was right. You are nothing but a vile bitch.”

“For the longest time, I thought I was deserving of your hatred. But I came to the realization that you simply belittled me just for being a girl. Do not forget, Your Majesty, that the womb inside me is the same as the one that bore you the crown prince.”

Mockingly, you approached the throne. It was incredible how that one seat gave its owner immense power.

“Speaking of which, why is it that only men carry on the family name?” you questioned. “Do you not realize that women are the ones who carry on the precious bloodline you always speak of? It is the body of women that conceive and grow another human inside them. It is the body of women that suffer through labor to deliver you children and nurture them to good health. The only thing you do is spread your seeds like a fruit. And then blame women for your own infertility.”

“All throughout history, it has been men who carried on the royal bloodline. What makes you think that you are worthy of special treatment?”

“Bloodline, bloodline, bloodline,” you rolled your eyes in irritation. “Do not fool yourself. It is not blood you care about but name. Men may carry on the nameline but we are the ones who give you the royal blood pumping in your veins.”

You sloppily lifted the sword to the king’s neck, smirking.

“I knew you would be the one to bring my downfall,” he glared.

“Well, how does it feel to have all your fears come true, my king?” you taunted. “You were always afraid that I would either surpass you or ruin you. Now, I will be the one to end this damned bloodline. This good-for-nothing girl will take back the royal blood that was given to you by a woman.”

With that, you slashed his neck. Blood splattered across the wall and on your face. You grimaced, wiping away the warm liquid. You were surprisingly calm in front of such a gruesome sight. That was, until Juyeon came bursting through the door.

After he had parted from you the day before, he could not get you out of his mind. Something about your eyes had been melancholic. Your words sounded like a foreshadow and it left him feeling disturbed. So he broke his promise and went to the palace to see you again. He was alarmed to see the chaos ensuing and immediately searched for you. However, he never expected the situation he stumbled into.

“P-Princess Y/n,” he stuttered, making you aim the weapon at yourself. You never intended or wanted him to witness this.

“Do not come any closer,” you warned.

“Your Highness, please. Put the sword down,” he begged.

“I cannot,” you gulped. “This is how it must end.”

“We-we can run away. Together. We can leave everything behind and I will keep you safe,” he said as he tried his best to stay calm.

You wanted to both laugh and cry. Your life was a suicidal mission. You knew from the beginning that you would not be able to survive. If you failed, you would be executed for treason. If you succeeded, you would be executed to officially end the royal bloodline.

You had to admit, you slightly wavered at one point. Juyeon’s promise to make you happy was enticing. To someone who never strayed close to emotions before, he was like a miracle. He made you feel all sorts of things that you were glad to have experienced.

“I apologize, Lord Lee,” you sadly smiled before you stabbed the blade into your stomach.

“No!” he screamed as he ran to your side.

You slowly fell to the ground with Juyeon’s arms wrapped around your body. His hands shook above the wound as he cried, knowing that he couldn’t take it out without ensuring your death. He never thought that what he taught you would be used against yourself. If he had known that this was what you planned on using your skills for, he never would have taken your offer.

“I am afraid I will not be able to go see the rose of sharons with you,” you said as a tear escaped your eyes.

Your vision began to cloud and you felt the life in you leave with every breath you took. You didn’t even realize that your hand was gripping his clothes, crinkling it. Another tear rolled down your cheek as your head fell back, your neck unable to support it any longer.

He desperately clung onto you, holding your head in his bloodied hands.

“I will bring the flowers to you,” he affirmed.

“Another promise,” you chuckled.

“This one I will be sure to keep,” he stated as his own tears fell to your face.

Next to the weapon embedded in you was the norigae he bought you the first time you escaped the palace together. He looked up to see that you were wearing the binyeo he bought you as well. He sobbed, holding onto you tighter.

“I hope to be reborn as a rose of sharon. That way, I can come see you every spring,” you whispered before you closed your eyes for the last time.

tag list: @dearseungie​ @cuppasunu​ @reverienostalgia​ @elcie-chxn​ @parfaitz​​ @lovelyutas​ @mochinyu​ @leejaeyeons​

[dramioneasks]

HP FESTS: DramioneFanfictionWriters (Part 4)

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Famous Shakespeare Lines, February 2021:

Short Life For A Daffodil by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - Hermione and Draco have a wild daughter who likes to pull up daffodils and frustrate her parents, but the duo wouldn't be without their children.

Friends Dont by Lostinthenightrain - T, one-shot - "You don’t choose who you fall for!” “No, because I sure as hell wouldn’t be standing here now would I?” Hermione mourns the loss of a relationship.

The Malfoy Mistress by ThebeMoon - M, one-shot - Unable to bear the sight of Bellatrix carving into Hermione Granger at Malfoy Manor, Draco Malfoy whisks his hated former schoolmate to safety. He should have known better.

Rules of Engagement by Art3misiA - T, one-shot - Lucius just had to be difficult about the idea of Draco and Hermione getting married. Will Draco and Hermione allow him to throw his weight around, or will they bring him to heel?

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Popular 90's TV Shows, March 2021:

The Death of Theo Nott by Lostinthenightrain - T, one-shot - “Hermione.” Her head whipped up to see the broken expression in Draco’s eyes. “He wouldn’t kill himself.”

The Night of the Rats by rennaissance_woman - not rated, one-shot - What happens when a prank war goes too far?

Perfect Harmony by Talonwillow (TalonWillow) - T, one-shot -Professor Slughorn's star Potions pupil Hermione was tired of being the ugly duckling, so she created a potion that would transform her into a beautiful swan. Everyone seemed to like the shiny new version of her... Well, except for herself and maybe one other. Would Draco Malfoy convince her that what everyone else was seeing was what he saw every day, and would Hermione finally be able to live in Perfect Harmony?

Dramione Go Star Trekking by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - Riker has made a pass at Hermione and she doesn't quite know how to deal with it.

Bloody Colonials by Maira - T, one-shot - Hermione Granger has had a long week, and the last thing she wants to do is leave the comfort of her home. But when her best friend asks for her help in dealing with a possible cursed object, what can she do but help? Brownies, Potion-making robe etiquette, and a cursed Nigerian mask all add up to a typical night at Hogwarts. Written for the DFW's Deal or No Deal challenge.

The Latest Teenage Drama by Art3misiA - T, one-shot - Teenagers. Gotta love em. Teenage dramas? Not so much. Draco and Hermione navigate the perils of unwanted teenage behaviour - 90s family sitcom style.

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Around the World, April 2021:

The Assignment by Art3misiA - G, one-shot - Hermione and Draco, Aurors, have been sent to Cape Town on a top secret assignment - to track down a former Death Eater.

Finding Them by KrysKrossZee - T, WIP - After not finding her parents in Austrailia, Hermione enlists Draco's help and the two make their way to Vancouver when they have a new lead.

DFW's Deal or No Deal: The Language of Flowers, May 2021:

Spilled Ink by Maira - M, one-shot - It's nearly Christmas, and things aren't great. Draco Malfoy is still on house arrest due to the Wizengamot being a bag of dicks. Hermione Granger is out of the country on a job, which means he won't see her for a few weeks. And to top it all off, Hermione has sent Draco a plant. A green, spiky plant, for no reason that he can fathom. Oh, and a spelled journal that he's now supposed to write in. Because nothing could possibly go wrong with that plan. Written for the DFW Deal or No Deal Challenge!

Forever by Art3misiA - M, one-shot - Though they may be gone, our memories of them remain forever.

The Little Things by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - When Hermione buys Draco a cup of coffee and leaves it on his desk, it throws Draco through a loop and he wonders what he should get her in exchange.

The Climbing Vine by rennaissance_woman - not rated, one-shot - After receiving some startling news, Draco runs out of the house. He receives some advice from a surprising source.

Changing of the Seasons by Lostinthenightrain - M, one-shot - Hermione & Draco find a local park and two unlikely faces to greet them.

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Draco's Birthday Soundtrack, June 2021:

Straight to the Heart by AdAsttra - T, one-shot - Draco's ready to tell Hermione how he feels, but Cupid has other ideas.

Stick Around by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - Hermione doesn't know why Draco is the only one who makes her feel safe, but she is glad that she is able to get some reprieve from her brain.

Wild and Wired by Maira - M, one-shot - Need your lovin' here beside me, Need it close enough to guide me, I've been hopin' you would find me, You're the biggest part of me. - Hermione was expecting a fun night out with her boyfriend and her friends. She was not expecting ice cubes, sick ponies, and a serenade beautiful enough to melt her heart. Written for the DFW's Deal or No Deal challenge.

Let's Get Serious (Please, for the Love of Merlin!) by Art3misiA - G, one-shot - Draco wants to get serious, but Hermione isn't so sure. Will their opposing views make or break them?

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Magical Monsters, July 2021:

There's A Zouwu In My Basement by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - When a creature has broken into the Malfoy Manor dungeon, Draco has to call for help.

Miseria by crochetaway - T, one-shot - Hermione tames a Dementor.

Aegis by Maira - M, one-shot - Their world is in ruins, and their only protection against creatures wanting to kill them is about to fall. They make a plan to trek across the country to Hogwarts, where others have gathered to make a new home within the castle. There, they will be safe. One problem - before they go, there's a queen to kill. Written for the DFW's Deal or No Deal Challenge.

Fear & Desire by myladymay - T, one-shot - Draco Malfoy wants to change his life. He returns to Hogwarts for Eighth Year and finds himself confronted with both his biggest fear and greatest desire, all wrapped up in a Gryffindor tie.

Innocent Monsters by itscometothis - T, 12 chapters - Draco Malfoy thought he had reasonable expectations for his mandatory Eighth Year at Hogwarts, where he would be confined to the grounds as part of his probation. Isolation, hatred, and passing his NEWTs were really all he had in mind. What he wasn't anticipating: 1) Having a small firstie latch onto him like a bloody koala 2) Said firstie adopting an erkling as if they didn’t feed on children. To protect his little nuisance, he’ll have to seek help from uncomfortable places, including the Swottiest Witch of Her Age. Joy of all joys.

Transformed by Art3misiA - T, one-shot - Draco and Charlie have a dragon to catch, and time is running out. Meanwhile, Hermione is missing, adding to Draco's woes.

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Legendary Duos, August 2021:

Three's a crowd, four's trouble by AnnaRitaLi - M, WIP - p>My sister is right. My life did change that evening. I just don't think Rosalind meant for me to steal her boyfriend, or I don't think I stole him, Draco, not precisely. You cannot steal something that doesn't want to be whisked away. That's my experience, at least, and I've stolen quite a few things over the years. So I can say this with confidence. You can't lose something you never had. But you’ll have to read it in the book, dear. While the Crown doesn’t wish for me to speak out in public, I have been silent for too long. You see, There were three of us in this marriage. And people, the press, have assumed many things over the years about Draco and me. So this book, as you’ll see, it’s my attempt to set the record straight. Yes, there were three of us in this marriage, but there were also much more going on than that. -- This is the story the Crown never wanted to get out. In other words, I bring you the x-rated version of the book ‘Diana - her true story - in her own words’.’ It’s the Dramione as Charles & Diana AU you didn't know you needed.

The Marquess and the Kitchen Girl by Art3misiA - E, 8 chapters - Draco Malfoy is the son of the most powerful Duke in Wiltshire. One day, he will be the ruler of a large duchy. Hermione Granger lives happily with her parents - that is, until tragedy strikes. Two children will become friends, and gradually discover a forbidden love that seems as if it might one day defy the odds. Alas, this is a tale of doomed lovers.

In Her Arms by KrysKrossZee - M, one-shot - Draco's worked his way up through Voldemort's ranks but it would seem that all of his work has been for nothing when Dolohov captures a new prisoner.

The Happiness I Seek by Maira - M, one-shot - To those without a soulmate, the world is devoid of colour. They say that if you are lucky enough to meet your soulmate, everything changes. The world is brighter, food is richer, and you find a love you never knew you needed. Draco Malfoy has never been lucky. Written for the DFW's Deal or No Deal challenge.

darling! by itscometothis - M, one-shot - When Draco and Hermione are invited to help demonstrate a path forward for Wizarding Britain and its reconciliation, neither really feel like they can refuse - Hermione for moral reasons and Draco for practical ones (read: Azkaban sounds bad). But they have very different ideas on how to play up this fake relationship. Written for DFW's Deal or No Deal: Legendary Duos - Kermit and Ms. Piggy. It's as ridiculous as you expect.

A Thousand Ships by floorcoaster - M, WIP - Draco Malfoy knows what he wants, and he's not afraid to reach out and take it.

Quiet My Demons by Lostinthenightrain - M, one-shot - “Unhappy, darling?” He murmured, his cigar placed on its resting dish, dashed out - a little puff of smoke rising into the air between them before disappearing. “Yes, completely.”

I Love Draco by crochetaway - G, one-shot - A few slice of life scenes with Hermione, Draco, and Scorpius ala I Love Lucy style!

DFW's Deal or No Deal: The Final Word, September 2021:

Crime & Punishment by itscometothis - T, 12 chapters - TRIAL TRANSCRIPT OF DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY IS FORMALLY CHARGED WITH THE FOLLOWING: CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER AIDING AND ABETTING A MURDER USE OF UNFORGIVABLE CURSES: IMPERIUS (2 COUNTS) USE OF UNFORGIVABLE CURSES: CRUCIATUS (47 COUNTS) PARTICIPATING IN A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION -- I don’t regret hoping. I thought I might, at the beginning, do you remember? But I don’t. I regret nothing about you, my love. Eternally yours, Draco -- A story of hope, punishment, and the nature of justice told in trial transcripts, visits in an interrogation room, and letters.

Boats Against the Current by AlannaTCooper - T, one-shot - Draco Malfoy is trying to escape his past by running as far away as he can. But the past - and his nightmares - keep pulling him backwards.

By His Side by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - Hermione is lonely but there's at least one person who can break through her loneliness.

Trying To Live by IzzieStellar - T, one-shot - After her husband dies, Hermione can’t seem to remember how to live and her friends vow to help her.

In the Dead of Night by AdAsttra - G, one-shot - Hermione and Draco are some of the last people to leave Hogwarts under the veil of a cold, dark night.

This fest is ongoing.

[hops-hunny]

Temptation

Pairing: Neville Longbottom x McGonagall!Reader

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 4k

Request: “Could you maybe do a Neville x reader where the reader is McGonagall's grandchild?”

Summary: Neville had never experienced temptation, till it walked by him in a pleated skirt.

Warnings: Suggestive thoughts???

A/N: I won’t even lie, this was very self indulgent. I didn’t mean to write this much but oh well! Also I noticed I read the prompt wrong and wrote this for fem reader so I apologize anon. I still hope you can find joy in this!

Temptation. Temptation was a word Neville knew well. He had heard it many upon many times. From his peers, and even some of his teachers. However, he never really understood what it felt like to experience it, to have it coursing through his very being. Well, that was until it came knocking on his door or, to put it more precisely, walking by him in a (y/h/h) robe and vanilla-lavender perfume. He didn’t expect it to have such a beautiful laugh and he certainly didn’t expect it to be McGonagall's granddaughter! No matter how many times he had heard it described to him and how many times he had heard the feeling be recited to him like one of those shit muggle pop songs, it still didn’t prepare him for the real experience itself.

Could she be anymore perfect? Anymore graceful, anymore well, tempting? She was the kind of beauty that he read about in books and the kind of beauty he saw when he looked at all the flowers that bloomed within the greenhouse. He watched, observing her beauty as she walked. His face flushed softly as he saw her eyes light up, head facing straight ahead and shoulders held high unaware of his eyes of adoration upon her. His gaze was then shifted to her hair. The way the light reflected off of the (h/c) strand made his heart race! Next was one of his favorite things, her smile. Her smile was enough to brighten anyone's day! Well...it most certainly brightened his that is. His eyes fixated on her legs, the soft sheen they held. ‘God they look smooth, like the softest of pillows, the smoothest of silks, the fluffiest, puffiest of clouds. I bet the-’ he was broken out of his thoughts as she came to a stop in front of her grandmother which made him a bit queasy to his stomach. If only McGonagall new about his thoughts...wait did she? She could be using legilimency on him this very moment and he’d have no clue. What if she was, what if she-

He jumped, squeaking softly as a hand came down hard on his shoulder causing his body to tense. And his gaze to shift to the source of the force relaxing when he saw it was Dean. 

“Hey Nev, what are you doing just standing here? Oh I see what it is!” He exclaimed smiling at his lanky friend, watching his eyes flicker back and forth between in front of him and back to himself. Neville gulped, tugging at his sleeves a bit as his shirt suddenly began to feel constraining.

“Y-you do?” he asked nervously. His throat began to feel smaller. The problem with Neville’s little…’temptation’ was that he hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had feelings for people before. He had his fair share of crushes throughout the year. But she was different. See, he wasn’t the first one to notice how beautiful the girl was. Heavens no! Quite a few of his peers had noticed just how breathtaking (Y/n) was but once they saw the last name that was attached to her, that was more than enough to turn them the other way. However, the connection to her grandmother not only put up an invisible force field for suitors, but friends as well. He found himself feeling sorry for her often, he could only imagine how lonely she was. 

“Yeah, I do. You were waiting for me to find you so you could help me with my herbology homework! Man Nev, you’re such a good friend.” he said. Neville rolled his eyes noticing all of Dean’s missing coursework for herbology within his hands. As much as he loved his friend, he also couldn’t deny how unbelievably idiotic he was. Although he was disappointed in how irresponsible he was, he was also relieved he hadn’t noticed what had actually had him standing there lost in his thoughts. “Oh and I also saw you staring at McGonagall junior. I don’t blame you mate, she’s bloody fit. Have you seen her in that skirt she wears to Hogsmeade? It makes me just wanna-” Neville smacked his friend on the back again ignoring his groan of protest. He began to walk off leaving Dean confused. Neville noticed the lack of his friend's presence near him causing him to turn around.

“Do you want help with your herbology work or not?”

-----------

(Y/n) sat with Luna in the courtyard, watching as her friend picked at the wildflowers twisting them and molding them into a flower crown. She sighed once again as she continued to ramble onto her. “I don’t know Lu, he’s just so cute! I wouldn’t even know how to approach him. Besides, he probably wants someone from his own house and year, yknow?” She said as she glanced at her preoccupied friend. “Are you even listening to me?” she huffed frustratedly. Luna looked at her, rolling her eyes at her a bit.

“You’re only a year below us (Y/n), you talk about him as if he’s an old man! Besides, the whole different house thing would only matter to him if he was a Slytherin. Neville doesn’t care about little things like that.” she took the completed crown placing it on her friend’s head as she smiled at her. “Yknow, for someone at the top of your year you’re quite daft.” Luna said nonchalantly, causing her friend’s eye to twitch. One thing (Y/n) would never get quite used to is her friend’s ability to tell people the truth as if it were nothing. Luna squeezed the girl’s soft (s/c) hand before smiling at her. “Besides, you’re beautiful! If he doesn’t want you, I know there are plenty of guys who most certainly do!” (Y/n) felt herself get quite shy at her friend’s words, rubbing at the goosebumps that were forming on her arm. But, she was right. She couldn’t let her thoughts of if or if not a guy liked her get her down. 

“Hey (Y/n), have you ever, yknow, actually tried TALKING to the guy?” Ginny asked, smacking on the taffy she had been eating. The (e/c) eyed girl felt herself getting flustered once again.

“W-well, the short answer is no. Don’t look at me like that! I’ve TRIED. Every time I try something comes up! I’m either almost late to class, one of his friend’s comes up to him, or I have to do something for my Nan! It’s a lot harder trying to talk to someone when you don’t have any classes with them..” she said as she began to pout, reminded of her failed attempts to speak to the awkwardly charming boy. Ginny popped another taffy in her mouth, processing her friend's words before smirking a bit.

“Just leave it to me, I have the perfect plan! Don’t you worry a single little hair on that pretty head of yours.” she said, causing both of her friends to side eye her both with the same thought in mind: ‘Oh Merlin, what is she thinking now?’

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

Well, what Ginny had been thinking wasn’t too bad but, (Y/n) was still quite nervous as she sat here. She was thankful Ginny hadn’t trapped them in a 1 on 1 situation or did something fucking stupid such as locking them in the room of requirement together. No, instead she had gathered her and Neville’s shared group of friends and decided to have a picnic together whilst everyone else was at Hogsmeade. Luna had asked the house elves to spare some of the extra food they had from lunch which they gave to her kindly considering how sweet she was to them always. 

Even though all of their friends were there, she still found herself being nervous which is why she still sat on the blanket with Hermione as Ron, Harry, and Dean picked on Neville lightheartedly by splashing him with water, Ginny and Luna challenged each other to different swim challenges, and Hermione read a book, relaxing comfortably under the shade of the tree. She sighed to herself, hugging her legs closer to her chest as she brought her face to rest upon her knees. She let her eyes wander back to Neville, a smile gracing her face as she observed him. She never got the time to just watch him in a natural environment. Every time she saw him, he was always so jumpy or nervous, awkwardly engaging in conversation with people who usually just wanted herbology help or needed advice on how to care for their plants. But now, watching as he smiled and laughed with their friends she realized just how infatuated with him she truly was. She took in the way his hair looked wet, his usually wavy hair drooped, water dripping from the strands. She smiled, noticing the way his crooked smile looked when he was his happiest. She began to get flustered noticing the way his arms had a bit of definition to them which (Y/n) could only assume came from all the heavy lifting he did for Professor Sprout in the greenhouse.

“You should join him. Sitting there and wondering what could be isn’t gonna get you anywhere.” (Y/n) gasped a little, whipping her head around quickly to look at her friend whose eyes were still fixated on the book in her hand, flipping the pages delicately.

“H-how did yo-”

“How did I know? You’re so predictable. Plus, you’re a little chatterbox. The only time you shut up is when you look at him.” Hermione giggled, finally peering at her friend over her book. She closed it and set it down on the blanket before taking off her cover up. She held a hand down to her friend. “Well, are you coming?” (Y/n) looked up at her friend, biting the inside of her cheek as she thought about it before nodding, letting Hermione pull her up. She began to take off her own cover up before taking a deep breath. She looked at her friend and they began walking towards the lake.

“I’ve never seen ‘Mione in a swimsuit before. She looks...like a girl.” Ron said to his friends as they watched the two girls near the lake. His friends all responded in some form of agreement. He turned to look at Neville, smirking as he saw him staring at the girls. “It looks like you agree don’t you, Nev?” Neville shook his head, a light blush coating his cheeks. Unknown to his friends he wasn’t looking at Hermione though, he was looking at her. 

“Yeah, she’s quite beautiful.” This didn’t go unnoticed by Ginny though who smirked, deciding to turn things up a notch.

“Hey, why don’t we all play some chicken? There’s enough of us!” Ginny said, beginning to walk over to the guys with Luna not too far behind her. “Unless you guys are scared, you know I’m the chicken champion so I wouldn’t be surprised if you w-”

“Don’t be ridiculous Gin! You know for a fact I’m way better than you, I proved that when you came to my place last summer.” (Y/n) said giggling at her overly confident friend. She tried sneaking a glance at Neville but found she had been caught in the act as Neville was already staring at her. She looked away quickly rubbing the back of her neck. Wait, why was Neville already looking at her?

 She shook herself out of her thoughts as they all began to pair off for chicken. The (h/c) haired girl went to approach one of her friends but found that Ginny and Harry already paired. She quickly tried turning to Hermione who made her way over to Ron. She sent one last pleading glance Luna’s way but the girl simply smiled at her before walking over to Dean. She felt her heart race at what she already suspected to happen. “I-I guess it's us, Nev.” she felt herself growing a bit insecure at having to sit on the boy’s shoulders. Although she was short, she didn’t have as small of a frame as her other friends did. “L-listen Neville, if I’m too heavy or too much for you to lift don’t even worry about it! I have no problem bei-”

With all the courage Neville could muster, he took a deep breath diving under water before rising up with the girl on his shoulder as his large hands gripped at her thighs making sure she was sturdy on his shoulders. She shrieked a bit at the unexpected gesture, gripping at his hair a bit. Holy shit was his heart racing. Had he really just done that? What had gotten into him? ‘Don’t back down, Nev! Say something cool, say something cool!!’ 

He cleared his throat some, before patting her thigh with his hand. “You’re fine. Y-you don’t weigh much of anything.” He said. She felt herself relax some, hoping he couldn’t feel the goosebumps on her thighs. However, Neville’s thoughts were far from the goosebumps. He couldn’t help himself from thinking that they were just as soft as he had imagined them to be. He was in deep and he knew it. “L-l-listen (Y/n), I-”

“Alright who’s going first? Me vs ‘Mione maybe? Come on Harry, move faster!” Ginny said. (Y/n) found herself trying to stifle a giggle at the sight before her. Ginny was tugging at Harry’s hair and yelling at the boy as he argued back. She couldn’t contain herself at the sight, she began to laugh trying to make sure she didn’t fall off Neville’s shoulders at the movement. 

Neville however was so entranced at that sound. He found himself wanting to be the person to cause that melodic giggle to come from her every time. “They’re so cute aren’t they?” she asked as he hummed in agreement. “I’d love to have something like that.” she mumbled to herself, however Neville had heard.

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

Ginny was on a win streak, she had beaten Luna and Dean, and Hermione and Ron. She was feeling confident as she banged on her chest cheering which reminded (Y/n) of a muggle movie her aunt once showed her. She had been absentmindedly petting Neville’s hair, running her fingers through it as she swirled it around her fingers. He hadn’t minded though, his face was flushed a bright pink and he was much too scared to say anything, worried that if he did he would end up waking up in his bed and it all would’ve been a dream. He heard his favorite voice pull him out of his thoughts.

“We’re up next Nev, think we’ll win?” she asked as she leaned over, her face appearing in front of his upside down. He jumped a bit, pulling his face back and tightening his grip on her legs.

“C-careful (Y/n!) You might fall if you’re not!” he said, staring into her eyes. God were they beautiful.

“I doubt it, I’ve got you holding me up. I trust ya, you wouldn’t let me fall.” she said giggling as she leaned back up, her lips accidentally brushing against his nose and forehead on the way back up which has caused both of them to freeze up and a silence to fall upon the two. Their eyes both watched as Luna fell off of Dean’s shoulders again as Ginny cheered at another victory.

“But to answer your question, I think we’ve got this in the bag! Let’s do this!” He said as he waded over to them. She smiled at his enthusiasm as they looked over at them. She looked over at Luna who gave her a wink causing her to grow shy once more. 

“Ah a new challenger approaches!” Ron exclaims, his eyes drifting to the pair. Neville glared at Ron a bit when his eyes lingered on the girl above him’s figure for just a tad too long before he cleared his throat.

“We’re gonna kick your ass, Gin! Prepare to get that gorgeous red hair of yours soaked! Isn’t that right, Neville?” She asked looking down at his head as he nodded along. “Consider this a rematch to last summer. I’ve come to snatch my crown right from off your head.” she said placing an invisible crown done on her head laughing as Ginny scoffed at her actions.

“Bring it on (y/h/h)!” She said as Harry began to walk over to her. The two girls both began to approach each other with looks of determination in their eyes. Neville let his eyes wander to the water watching the girl’s actions through the water.

“Beautiful..” he muttered in awe as he gazed upon her affectionately. Although he was nervous, he was even more so nervous of letting her down. He tightened his grip on her plush thighs as a determined expression made its way to his face. 

Ginny and (Y/n) both began pushing and tugging at each other trying to get each other to fall. And (Y/n) did have to admit, it was no easy feat considering how tone Ginny was from quidditch practice and how out of shape she was herself from all those late night cake sessions with the house elves but it didn’t deter her at all. She continued to push and shove at Ginny. If she could only get a better grip...she didn’t have that much time to do so as the redhead girl gave a particularly hard push causing the girl to almost topple over. Almost being the key word. Neville gripped at her a bit harder at her as she went backwards causing her to fling forward with quite a bit of force. Using said force to her advantage, the (y/h/h) girl was able to push Ginny, sending her and Harry falling in. They both cheered Neville spinning around with her as they laughed before he felt something tug his leg sending them both flying into the water.

Neville resurfaced, spluttering a bit as he shook his head a bit. “Sod off, Harry! You’re a sore loser!” He exclaimed laughing with his friend. He turned to his side remembering the (h/c) girl. He watched as she resurfaced and took a gasp of air. His breath hitched as he watched the way she pushed her hair back, chest on display behind her swimsuit. God was she gorgeous.. He shook himself out of his thoughts, pushing some of her hair behind her ear that she had managed to miss. He watched as she looked away from him shyly muttering a soft thank you towards him.

They went at it for a bit more, the girls all determined to at least win one round. At some point, Ginny even put Harry on her shoulders and as it turned out, he was way worse at chicken than she was. Even Luna had somehow managed to beat him. But as they all went on, the group grew hungry and decided as the sun would be setting soon, it’d be a good idea to eat like they originally planned. They all gathered around on the large gingham blanket and once again, her friends turned against her leaving the only spot available for her next to Neville. However, unlike last time she decided to take full advantage of the situation. She feigned a shiver, catching his attention as she hoped. 

“A-are you cold, (Y/n)?” He asked, eyes full of concern.

“Yeah, just a bit Nev!” she smiled back at him, popping another grape into her mouth. Neville looked at her blankly for a bit before deciding to give into his temptation. See, the thing with Neville wasn’t that he was scared. No, in fact he had had his fair share of flings during his time at Hogwarts unbeknownst to his friends. It's just, she was different. He made his heart race in different ways and gave him goosebumps on his arms and back. She made his brain short circuit from the mere sight of her. However, he knew she would not be single forever. He wasn’t oblivious to the lingering looks his friends had been given her throughout the night and he certainly wasn’t going to stay in the same lane as them. So, without a second thought he grabbed her with ease sitting her in his lap, the soft skin of her waist meeting the soft skin of his arms as he pulled her into his chest. (Y/n) felt her breath hitch slightly, as her own set of goosebumps started to form.

“Is that better?” Neville whispered softly to her as his chin came to rest on her shoulder. She turned her head slightly, her lips slightly brushing against his freckled cheek due to their close proximity. Instead of responding, she simply nodded still in a state of shock. Was this really happening? Her (e/c) eyes came to meet Ginny’s who simply smirked, sending her a wink before she went back to her conversation with Harry. None of her friends seemed that shocked at the position they were in. (Y/n) found herself a mix between relieved and offended that no one was surprised.

Although (Y/n) hadn’t noticed anything, the clenched fist and furrowed brows of his own friends did not go unnoticed. He felt himself smile internally, Neville 1 and the others 0. He caressed her skin lightly as if she was made of the finest of porcelain that would break from even a bit of pressure. The Gryffindor boy felt a surge of confidence within himself as goosebumps formed under his fingertips. He was knocked from his thoughts as a ripe strawberry was pressed against his lips, turning his attention to the (h/c) haired girl. He slowly took a bite from it, pink lips wrapped around the red fruit. He hummed constantly as he pulled away. (Y/n) moved back slightly to look at him, giggling at his red stained lips as the juice rolled down his chin a bit.

“Hey, you’ve got a bit of..” she trailed off giggling more as she motioned towards the juice. “One second, I’ll get it for you.” she murmured, reaching for a napkin. Neville pulled her back causing her to give him a confused look.

“No need.” he whispered, pulling her forward, pressing his lips against hers. The kiss was a mix of everything at once. Passion. Hesitance. Desire. And oh, he couldn’t forget his little friend: temptation. He pulled her closer, settling his large hands at the base of her spine right about her rear as hers wrapped around his neck. The girl’s fingers twirled the hair at the bottom of his head trying to distract her from the tingling sensation she felt all over. Neville nibbled at her lip a bit, biting it as he pulled away. “T-this is probably the wrong time to ask but, are you seeing anyone?”

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

The next week, Neville found himself in that same spot in the hallway that he was in the previous monday. His thoughts drift to the angel known as his vice, his temptation. He watched as her smooth legs made their way down the hall, smile on her face as per usual. However, this time he didn’t have to crave to be the one those eyes were lighting up at. He didn’t have to crave to be the one that oh so beautiful smile was caused by, because he was. He held his arms open with a smile, stumbling back a bit as the (y/h/h) jumped in his arms. He caught her, twirling her around as they both laughed before he placed her on the ground grabbing her hand. Neville placed a peck upon her cheek, nothing but adoration in his eyes. He gulped slightly, sweaty palms as they walked by McGonagall but he found himself relaxing when she sent a wink his way as she gave him a smile of approval.

Although temptation had originally showed itself on his doorstep as a visitor in his home, it eventually developed into something more and became a welcome resident in his home. Temptation was no longer temptation, it was love.

[sup-hoes-its-me]

Fine Line (Kakashi x Reader)

A/N: hey. Friends to lovers (the only trope i respect) You’re about to marry someone else, a prince from another village in an attempt to save relations with said village, only kakashi stands in the way of that, and everyone knows. 

Also, i know kakashi would never do this in reality, but gosh is it romantic to imagine

Word count: 5400

“Y/N, you really need to sleep,” Kakashi sighed, leaning on his fist which sat on the thin, flimsy armchair beside her bed.

She hadn’t slept properly for weeks now, day after day only falling asleep at random hours of the day, naps in the afternoon and a half hour of shut eye in the early morning. She ate sporadically, and her schedule had admittedly started to interfere with her friend’s. Kakashi found himself in her apartment, awake the majority of the nights trying to calm her down. 

But nothing was going to help this situation. Tsunade had decided already, after Y/N had hesistantly agreed. It wasn't as if this marriage was forced, but it certainly wasn’t ideal.

The woman never really imagined herself marrying at all, but if she had, she always dreamed it would be out of love for the other person, someone who would match her perfectly like a puzzle piece, essentially, someone who would complete her. 

Instead, she had been hastily shoved into an arranged marriage with a man she and Kakashi guarded on one of their missions. He was the wealthy crown prince in the Land of Frost. He was kind enough, and he respected her wishes when it came to the proposal, giving Y/N a month to decide whether she was ready to be wed to such a man.

He promised her the entire world. Jewels, clothes, children, a palace in which to live the rest of her days, anything she could possibly need he would have servants at her beck and call.

It hadn’t seemed like the worst idea at all, and Y/N shortly considered it. It wasn’t until Tsunade heard about it that things became serious. 

The relationship between the two lands was falling apart, and this was a last resort, she had said. It wouldn’t mean she could never see her friends again but meetings would be scarce, and she was positive he wouldn't let her train and go on the occasional, non-dangerous mission. It would be as if she were abandoning her entire life, she realized as the weeks passed after the engagement was set. 

And so the letter was sent back to the Land of Frost, and abruptly, Y/N L/N found herself engaged to be married in 3 months time. It seemed surreal, only having 90 days practically, to enjoy her normal life and prepare for an entirely new world. She hadn’t known anything else other than the way of shinobi, nor had she adjusted to other cultures. The Leaf was her home, and the thought of leaving it broke her heart.

For the first time in her life, it seemed she was petrified. Sure, there were times when she felt like everything was set up against her, that the enemy might win, but she hadn’t felt so hopeless and lost either. There always seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Not this time. 

“Please, just finish your tea and rest. You’re wasting away,“ he told her again, whispering in a soft tone only the two of them could hear. She was in the medical ward for the night, low blood sugar bringing her in this time. The dangerous combo of not sleeping or eating had set her body into a panic. She was so weak.

As she sipped the tea she sighed, feeling that sting of warmth run down her throat and bring some feeling to her empty, weak stomach. She couldn’t look at the man sitting beside her, it would only bring her pain, she decided. How could she face him? She was leaving him after all this time. 

It had been decades since they were apart for longer than the standard mission time. He was always there right alongside her. They grew up on the same street in the same complex. They attended the academy together, fought in the war side by side, travelled the world as jounin just trying to make their way through the twists and turns of village politics. She felt like shit having to leave him behind. It wasn’t like her new husband was going to let her have weekly visits to her old friend, a man who was closer than anyone else she knew. It wasn’t plausible. 

Slowly, she had realized that one day would be the last day she could hug Kakashi, that she could look up to him and hear his calm tone telling her it would all be okay, that he would never leave her behind, that he would always be there to protect her as long as she did the same for him. It wasn’t going to be like that anymore, and it often brought tears to her eyes in the late of night in her apartment, tears saturating her pillows and face swelling from the suffocated sobs. One day would be the last time she saw him, and it just hurt so badly. At times she found herself gasping for air, so terrified she couldn't find breath..

So, no, Y/N couldn't bring herself to face Kakashi. Maybe if she distanced herself little by little as the few months went on, it would be easier leaving. Leaving everyone behind. Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, all the students she had grown to care about over the years. To spend her last days avoiding the people she would miss so dearly seemed like a waste of time and irrational, but it was the only thing that seemed reasonable in her confused mind.

“I can’t,” she replied softly, setting her mug down on the table to the other side of her bed. “How do you expect me to sleep?”

He shook his head in disapproval, his arms crossed over his chest as he leant back in his chair. He replied, “I don’t know. Just close your eyes and it’s bound to happen. You could at least try.” His suggestion was pretty useless, and he knew that. Hell, the amount of times he stayed awake when she begged him to sleep, he should have known he wasn’t going to get anywhere.

“And if I don’t want to?” 

He sighed, his eyes rolling to the ceiling, as he muttered, “What is your prince going to say when he sees you with black eye bags and cheeks sunken in?” He felt disgusted, hearing those words leave his mouth. Not only was she to be married to someone she barely knew, but she had to impress him. She had to change herself to fit his narrative of a woman, stereotypically beautiful, effortless yet hard working at the same time. He felt sick to his stomach thinking about that prince, and the ploy Tsunade had put up in the way of arranging them together.

Absolutely sickened.

She peered over at him and frowned. “Between you and me, I don’t give a fuck what that guy thinks,” she whispered, her eyes resting on the doorway to make sure no late night nurses were walking through. “I wish he would take one look at me and break the engagement himself.”

“You don’t have to do this, Y/N.” His eyes now drawn on her, watching as she took another long sip of her tea, which he now suspected was spiked with something Gai had given her on his way out, something to numb the pain she was feeling. It burned her throat so good, and dulled her mind just enough to ease her. The Green Beast understood her desire to help the village, but he also sided with Kakashi in that she could change her mind at any point in time. 

Even Gai knew she wasn’t happy, everyone fucking knew.

“Oh, but I do, Kakashi. I don’t really have a choice at this point.”

“You do. Don’t let a spoiled prince take away your happiness,” he argued, his face turned just the slightest shade of red at his frustration. He wanted to wring this prince by the neck for what he had done, for the tough situation Y/N was put in. Either save the relationship between two nations or be selfish and do nothing. “Please, Y/N.”

A part of him liked to believe that his begging was simply to save his friend from a horrible fate, that he was just doing what a normal person would do and defend someone who seemed so helpless, only that wasn’t it. It was never that in the first place. He wouldn’t have been the one to fall apart in Tsunade’s office when she told him that the pair were engaged, screaming profanities at the Hokage who only looked up at him with pity in her eyes. And he certainly wouldn’t have run all the way across the village to her apartment and bang on the door until she opened. He wouldn’t have left her room that night with a tear about to fall from his eye, and vomit coming up in his throat. He wouldn’t have thrown up in the middle of the street that night. Not if he was simply protecting a friend.

He knew that the reason this hurt him so badly is because he loved her. He always knew there was something there, but there was never any reason to act on his feelings. They had all the time in the world it seemed, just the two of them soldiering on in this boring life. Telling her how he felt, how much he wanted her...that wouldn’t have changed a thing between them other than made things just that much more difficult.

Now, Kakashi found himself regretting everything. If only he had said something before, maybe she could have stayed here in the Leaf with him, and all her other friends who had become her family over these decades of struggling together. If only he had stepped up and been brave. He never faltered in the face of fear; why did it have to be the only time he did that screwed him over.

“Kakashi, I can’t go back on the engagement. It would cause us to lose one of our greatest allies,” she told him calmly, but her heart was once again beating too fast for comfort. She found herself falling into that downward spiral of hopelessness once again. She looked over at him with a quiver in her lip and tears bubbling up at her waterline, words softly leaving her mouth, so quiet he almost missed it. “I was fitted for a wedding gown two days ago. I-It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. He asked me to pick what flowers I want at the ceremony.”

“Ah, I see.”

“All I wanted to say was wilted fucking roses, thorns and all. Weeds and empty branches.”

“Just run away if you have to, run for long enough that he forgets about you,” Kakashi suggested, a bit of plea in his voice for her to listen to anything, anything that would get her away from that man, this horrible fate. “You don’t need to do this. Tsunade can make it work.”

“Kakashi.” Y/N paused, biting her lip. Her head was beginning to buzz from the tea she was drinking, one in which Gai added more than a bit of sake to numb the pain. Something the nurses at this godforsaken hospital refused to give her. She gazed over at him with a glaze over her eyes, her cheeks draining of any last bit of color she had in them.

“Yes?”

“I don’t want to marry him,” she confessed, that much was obvious. “I wish I was marrying you instead.”

“Y/N-”

“I’ve never even looked at someone twice because of you. I’ve only ever wanted you, for fuck’s sake.” she bit out harshly, her voice raising with every word. Her eyes were trailed painfully on his own, glaring fire into him. "All these years, all these long, painful years, it's always been you, Hatake."

Just as he was about to say something in response, she had leaned over and pushed him away from her. He opened his mouth to get out a word, but nothing came out. Her angry shouts filled his ears, and he found himself falling. He stood from his chair and backed away from her bed.

“Just get out, Kakashi. It doesn’t matter how the fuck I feel anymore. I should have never said anything. At this point, I'm just tormenting myself. Just get out,” she hissed. “Get out, get out, get out.” Her shouts were painful to hear, but he understood. He wasn’t angry, unlike the girl with the overwhelming emotions bubbling out from the ears. His heart raced at her words, at the rushing emotions flowing through his veins.

He walked out the door without saying goodbye, just hearing her crying behind him while he pushed open the cracked door. As he shut the door behind him, he noticed a particular pink haired girl standing against the wall. She stared at him in shock, having heard the outbursts from the woman in the room who she was just about to check up on to make sure vitals were okay. She heard the confession, and she heard the subsequent backlash. She heard the parts about Y/N not wanting to marry the prince as well. 

It wasn’t exactly well known that she resented the engagement, but it was fairly obvious if you spent enough time with the kunoichi, which Sakura surely did being a medical nin.

“Sensei, are you okay?”

“Yes, Sakura, I’m fine,” he breathed, finding himself at a loss for words and lungs utterly useless.

Sakura grabbed onto his arm, peering up at him with just an ounce of determination in her eyes. “You need to convince Y/N-sensei to break the engagement.”

“I know.”

“Did you talk to Lady Tsunade.”

“She won’t listen to me.”

“Then I’ll try to talk to her too. She's not a cruel woman, but she is set on this engagement. She believes it will unite the two villages for hundreds of years. Y/N is one of our best and brightest after all.” Sakura told the man in the darkness of the hospital halls, her soft voice echoing on white walls. “I know it doesn’t seem like things will work out, and maybe Lady Tsunade won't listen. But you have to convince Y/N to stand up for herself."

He nodded, but it felt hopeless even pretending that things would change.

“You two were meant for each other. You can’t just give up on that now.”

And with that, he left down the hall, waving goodbye to his student. He didn’t know  how exactly he was going to do this, work out this mess in his favor, but it was worth a shot trying. If he didn’t, it would mean losing the love of his life. He couldn’t lose anyone else, not this time. 

Please, just not this time.

________________________

Despite being dressed in all white, Y/N felt anything but pure. She had been dolled up the entire morning by her friends and the young girls of the village. Ino, Hinata and her sister, and a handmaiden sent from the Land of the Frost to prepare her for her wedding that day. Her dress was embroidered with small snowflakes and wisps of silver and baby blue details. 

Already she felt as if she were being taken from her village and her heritage with all this decoration from the other land. Not to mention she would be married off somewhere foreign and cold, alone without the comfort of her family and friends here in the Leaf. The only people to be escorting her to the other village would be the handmaid, a couple guards from the Frost, and Kakashi.

Her final request was allowing him to come with her just for the wedding. And maybe it was cruel, to have him there as both their hopes for a happy ending dissolve, but she needed him. There was no way she would make it through the wedding without him standing to the side supporting her, even if the support was purely obligatory.

She never said anything to Tsunade, in fear of being rejected or patronized for changing her mind. Instead. She just waited for the fateful day.

Y/N stood at the gates,  arms crossed over her chest as she stared out into the woods, a white and silver carriage sitting before her with 3 horses standing tall ahead. This was the life waiting for her across the boundary, in the faraway land she would never recognize as home. It would be her last day in the village for a long time, at least until she was allowed to leave. Still, her life wouldn’t be the same ever again. She never dreamed of living in a world where she was forced to be a housewife, alone in a giant house without her companions, without the rush of the hunt on missions, without feeling the chakra flowing thickly through her veins.

She’d said her goodbyes. Cleared out her apartment, leaving the majority of her belongings behind with friends and family. She wouldn’t be needing it where she was going. 

“Kakashi?” she asked softly, peering over her shoulder at the man leaning against the gate, a book in his hand, the other tucked into his pocket. He wore nice clothing. Better than usual, at least. He wasn’t an honored guest, honestly, he wasn’t truly invited, she was just bringing him along upon her own stubbornness. He looked nice, dressed up like he cared today. 

He lifted his eyes and hummed in reply, obviously lost in his own thoughts as well.

“I feel like I should have stayed longer in the village, to say goodbye. Our friends...Gai and all our students, Iruka...I feel like I'm just abandoning them,” she told him. “I just don’t think I’m ready to say goodbye. I guess I just don’t know how to say goodbye, a real goodbye. I’ve never felt like this- like I need to put so much thought behind a farewell because honestly, I’ve never felt like it would be my last one.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I have never intentionally left someone knowing that I’ll never see them again. It fucking sucks that I’m standing here knowing I’ll never see you guys again after this. I can’t accept it like that though. I keep thinking that after this is all over life will be back to normal, but it won’t.”

“I know. We should have tried harder to get you out of this mess. I could have said something-”

“It’s not your fault. I-I shouldn’t have agreed in the first place. I only agreed because I didn’t think I had a chance with you, so what would it matter leaving to be with someone else,” she blurted out, her truths coming out in heavy waves, “It would make me less lonely, I thought, even though it’s clearly done the opposite. I’ve never felt more impending loneliness than I do now.”

He sighed, shutting his book and stuffing it into his jacket pocket. It was like him to bring his romance novellas on a trip like this. She wanted to smile at his hobby, but her heart felt too heavy in her chest to even lift her lips. “I’ll see you again, Y/N. One day, I’ll get the chance to go back there and see you, as long as you let me in.”

“I don’t want it to just be one day,” she cried, throwing her arms down at her sides. She felt gross in these dreary robes, too decorated for her tastes altogether. “I want to see you everyday. I never want to go another day without you by my side. Jesus, this whole situation is just sick.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder and furrowed his brow. “Keep quiet. You’re gonna make a scene, Y/N.”

“I just can’t be quiet about this. Don’t you understand how I’m feeling? Aren’t you going to miss me too?” The woman asked, feeling her hands begin to sweat as she clenched them over and over. She stared at him, right into his exposed eye, her breaths becoming shallower with every passing moment. Panic creeped up her neck so quickly, smothering her thoughts, rationale flying out the window.

“Of course I will, L/N. That’s a stupid question, and you know it. I’m just trying not to get caught fraternizing with a future queen, yeah?” he mumbled, his voice hushed. "Just calm down. You're getting pale." He wanted to reach down and run his hands along her arms, smooth over her shoulders for just a bit of comfort, but he refrained. He didn't want to touch her in front of wandering eyes, the eyes of any Frost people.

After scanning the area, she grabbed a hold of his wrist, her fingers firm with no intention of letting go. “We need to leave. You and me, we can get out of here.”

“What?” He could only ask, completely stunned at her suggestion. 

“Remember what you told me in the hospital. You told me to run away. We run away from here now, for as long as it takes for the prince to give up on me.” How scandalous, he thought. He couldn’t possibly just take the bride and run, could he? He hadn’t even pondered that route in his nightly daydreaming before bed, tossing and turning trying to think of a way to save his friend from the depths of whatever this prince had to offer. 

“Y/N, I meant just you. I-I can’t just go against Lady Tsunade like that-”

“Kakashi Hatake, you’re my best friend, but more importantly, I’m in love with you. If I’m not wrong, the feeling is mutual. If that doesn’t make you want to run away together then I call cowardice,” she said boldly, her eyes never once leaving his own. “Come on, we don’t have the time for this.”

This could ruin him, he knew that full well. But there was just something about this woman he couldn’t let slip from his grasp. His entire world fell into her hands. When he felt that inevitable tug on his arm, pulling him into the familiar woods before them, he found himself following without a single restraint. The only thing he felt was his heart racing in his chest, bursting with an adrenaline he hadn’t felt in a long time. 

They pushed through the forest for as long as she could run, tripping over branches and roots along the way, but never losing grip of each other. Her blood pulsed through her veins, and honestly, she had never felt more alive. Her entire life she found herself bowing down to those superior to her, listening to each word they say and meeting their every beck and call. She accepted a proposal she desperately wanted to decline solely to please the Hokage, one of the worst mistakes of all because she needed to obey. 

It felt so fucking good to break the rules, to be disobedient for once in her sorry life. 

Finally, after running for what seemed like miles, she finally slowed to a stop next to a particularly large tree. Her palms pressed against the rough bark, wood chips digging into her calloused hands. He slowed to a stop beside her and watched silently as she caught her breath, her chest rising and falling under the thick robes she wore. 

“These shoes sure as hell aren’t made for running,” she mumbled, looking down at the pathetic slippers they’d given her. “I think we are far enough away that we can sit and talk for a little bit.”

“Yeah, you wanna talk about how you committed treason.”

“You did, too. Don’t blame this all on me.”

“You were the one with all your “cowardice” and “love” crap. God, this entire thing feels like it’d come out of one of Master Jiraiya's novels.”

She took a seat on the ground, not caring if the dirt stained her robes. Why would she care? She was dead either way. If Tsunade ever laid eyes on her again, Y/N knew she’d be a goner. That woman would kill with no hesitation, she was convinced of it. Y/N’s eyes trailed back up to her the man, and she could only groan. “Listen I know there were definitely better ways of doing this, but I’m not the sharpest kunai in the box. I was just doing what my feral instincts were telling me to do. You were the one who just followed after me like a lost puppy.”

He rolled his eyes, huffing out, “What was I supposed to do? Think rationally? You’ve got my brain turned to mush half the damn time; what do you want from me?”

“Don’t worry, you’re literally Tsunade’s best ninja- She’ll let you back into the village.”

“You’re not that bad yourself-”

“Yeah, that’s why she tried to pawn me off to the Land of Frost to be a stay-at-home mom. Things aren’t lining up, Kakashi.”

He sighed, finally deciding to take a seat beside her against the tree trunk. He leant his head against the wood, his eyes peering up into the trees. Things had taken a wild turn, that’s for sure. He really did feel like he was in one of his romantic drama, the only thing missing was the R-rated content-Not that that was what he was thinking about, of course not…

 How the story would end, he didn’t really know. 

“Well, what’s done is done. Whether it was a bad decision or not.”

“I really didn’t think this through.”

“Nope.”

She turned to him, her eyebrows furrowed deeply, frustrated with this entire thing. “Kakashi, I did this because of you. Because of what we have going on between us. Did you want me to be married off to that pig of a prince?” she questioned.

“No.”

 She nodded at his answer and leaned back in her spot. Her arms worked their way to being crossed over her chest, and she couldn’t look him in the eyes at this point, her sight set on a particular mushroom a few yards away. Her words were curt, if not awkward, “Speaking of which, we need to discuss what we are or how we feel or whatever.”

“I thought that was obvious.”

“Not really. I mean, I’ve told you how I feel already, but um, you haven’t said a thing.”

“But you clearly know.”

She shook her head, a bit of heat rising up her cheeks and ears. “Doesn’t matter. I gotta hear you say it, for real.” 

Kakashi let his eyes wander over to the woman, who sat there like a child with her arms crossed and her eyes tucked away somewhere else. He almost wanted to laugh. She reminded him of a student at times with her bashfulness. It was definitely one of the many things he liked about her. “What? Do you want me to tell you I love you, or something?”

“Yes, that would be nice after all the trouble I’ve been through for you.”

He chuckled that time. Of course, all the trouble…”Y/N, I guess I love you. I guess I spent all these years ignoring my feelings, and it took this whole arranged marriage thing to make me realize I was missing out on a really good thing,” he confessed, voice softer than usual. “When you told me in the hospital, riding out your buzz from the spiked tea Gai gave you, that you wished you were marrying me instead, I just knew I had to have you. Truly though, I knew on our first meeting that I wanted you.”

“I was such a clumsy idiot back then. I think I’ve matured a lot since then, don’t you think?”

“Maybe, you’re still a clumsy idiot, just one with great ninjutsu.”

“Hey!”

"All I know is that I loved the feeling of falling in love with you. How good it made me feel. I was more worried about you than ever before, but every time you smiled and said hello, anything you did really, started to make my days better and better,” he continued, “This life has been cold and harsh to me, but you just swooped in and made it worth something.”

She felt her heart beat faster in her chest hearing that, a warmth growing in her stomach as she scooted closer to him, inch by inch. He clearly didn’t take notice or mind, so she pressed her side to his, shoulder to shoulder and thigh to thigh. She felt ridiculous in these heavy ginormous robes, too bulky to move properly. She dropped her head on his shoulder gently, and felt him relax into her touch.

“I love you so much it hurts. My hands are shaking because of all the love that’s overflowing,” she told him with a sheepish grin, holding up her hand so he could indeed see that her hand was vibrating. He clasped her hand in his own and lowered them to his lap. His thumb ran over her knuckles in soft strokes, and she melted into the gentle touch of the man she cared so deeply for. 

“I’m glad I ran away with you.”

“Me too.”

________________________________

It had been about 3 days before someone found them wandering in a nearby village. It was only a matter of time before they were found and brought back to the Leaf, anyway, so no surprise to them there. It was exciting having a few days without responsibilities, just living almost as if they were civilians in love. 

People in the village stared as the pair walked through the streets of the town, whispers being heard and looks shared. It was only a matter of time before everyone knew about the Copy-nin and his battered bride companion being escorted into Konoha.

Tsunade was in her office waiting for them to arrive. The door shut behind them, and Y/N wished someone was there to witness the Hokage murder them, only, the fatal blow never came. Instead, calm words reached their ears.

“I’d say I’m surprised, but I’m really not.”

“Lady Tsunade, let me explain what happened-” Y/N started to say, but she was quickly interrupted.

“I really don’t need to hear the details of your 3 day sex-capade,” she dismissed, a look of disgust crossing her face. Y/N’s face morphed into that of pure horror, the thought of the Hokage and everyone in the village that knew they ran away assuming that’s what they’d been doing. It was humiliating, to say the least. She didn’t have time to process the fact before the Hokage spoke again, “I’m mad because you two essentially committed treason, but thankfully, the prince didn’t have any complaints. He apparently saw a psychic the day of the wedding who told him that his marriage was cursed for eternity, and was ready to call off the entire thing. Superstitious bastard.”

“So, the Land of the Frost and the Leaf are still allies?” Kakashi asked.

“Yes, fortunately," the Hokage stated simply. She lifted her eyes to the younger woman, and the exasperation was obvious in her appearance as well as tone. The girl in question nervously rubbed her forearm, embarrassed beyond belief. It was one thing getting screamed at, but it was another to be scolded like a child. "Y/N, if you wanted to break the arrangement, you should have just told me. I could have worked it out somehow. There was no need for all this drama.”

She bit her lip, not knowing what to say. She really should have said something before, but she was foolish. “I know, but I didn’t want to disappoint you," the woman mumbled awkwardly.

“Well, you did.” Ouch, so blunt.

“I know.”

She nodded, clearly having said what needed to be said. Her eyes dipped back down to her paperwork. The air wasn't nearly as heavy as when the pair first walked in, and Y/N finally felt air fill her lungs once again. Her nerves had really been for nothing, thankfully. 

“Very well, you two are dismissed. Don't go around pulling shit like this again, or I’ll see to it that you actually receive punishment.”

The doors shut behind them, and Y/N let a smile grow on her cheeks. She turned to the man at her side, her smile only growing that much more at the sight of his handsome face. “Things sure worked out for me. I didn’t get in trouble for my crimes, and I have a boyfriend now,” she gleamed.

He smirked, rolling his eyes. “Don’t get too cocky. You still have to deal with Gai.”

“I’m not prepared for the amount of hugs I am about to receive.”

“Neither am I.”

And as they heard those oh-so familiar, loud footsteps rushing up the stairs of the Hokage Tower, they knew they were in for it. 

"Kakashi! Y/N! I heard the joyous news of your return!"

Oh, boy.

[cosmiclatte28]

Forced Marriage (Baekhyun, Sehun, you)

A/n : hey so this story was written last year when SuperM drama was out, but I never continue it and I just checked this again because of the WIP tag. (once again thanks to @yutahoes ) and I want to post this to see if actually there's still EXOL here who wants to read a fanfic

I will write the second part (ending) for this, after hearing if you want to end with who

tagging @yutahoes coz Sehun is a major role here hehehe and i don't really know other exols but @neopalette usually wants to read my fics (thanks honey!) and @swagmonsterofficial also could help

trigger warning: strict parents, old-classic ideology of arranged marriage

Here we go..

“Let’s get married, (y/n)!” The cheeky boy beside you blurts out and stops you in your track.

Your eyes widen, your steps taken to a halt, and his smile? His smile is still there.

“A wedding?” you turn your body to face him. Earlier you are walking ahead of him into the woods, running away from your parent’s “important talk”.

You live in the big house on the end of the road, where wilderness is still a thing. An hour ago, your parents told you to get dressed up as an important guest is coming, and you’re expected to look decent for lunch.

But here you are now, thirty minutes into the invitation, you’re walking in the woods with your best friend of a lifetime, or so you hope.

Baekhyun has been your neighbour since you moved in. His house is just one throw of pebble. Your bedroom window and his are face to face and that makes your friendship with him totally wonderful. When phones are not yet a thing, you don’t have trouble to see what he is doing at night, talking through written messages on a paper has been a way you two “chat” late at night.

Baekhyun nods his head and reaches for your hand, he guides you through his imagination of what he calls “our future small family”

“Yes, we will get married, in the same way you’ve always wished! In a garden, with a priest blessing our vows. You will wear your dream gown, with flower crowns like how you read in your princess tales! I got to pick you up in a carriage! Dad can work it out, what colour do you want for the carriage?” Baekhyun sounds so happy and innocent.

You hold yourself from tears, well he doesn’t know yet the reason why you run from your house’s back door to the woods. Baekhyun happens to see you run from his bedroom and he decides to follow you. You did not say anything, just replied to his surprising greeting with a surprised tone. Other than that, you’ve kept your mouth shut. Now it questions you why Baekhyun suddenly asks you for marriage.

“Umm why are you suddenly asking me this Baek?” a glint of hope reflects from this seeming normal question.

“Hmm maybe because I don’t want to lose you?” He shrugs playfully and swings the intertwined hands as he drags you for a deeper walk.

You think it is not a good idea to walk deeper, since you need to return after this if you did not want to end up with bruises.

“What kind of mind is that Baekhyun! I am here!” you try your best to sound happy.

He stops walking and faces you, gently he bends down to match your shorter height and he cups your face. “You know sometimes what we think won’t be gone, might be gone in a blink of an eye when one forgets to hold on tight.” He gives a small force to squeeze your cheeks and he giggles, ‘Hey since when did your cheeks lose their squishiness? You got thinner! Come join me for dinner mom can cook your favourite steak!”

Baekhyun did not know the reason you’re thinner is because you’ve skipped dinner. Fighting with your parents made you lock yourself in the room, skip dinner and lost appetite.

“Well, I’d love that but right now is not the time. Besides, what time is it Baek?” you ask him a new topic so you don’t have to answer his proposal.

Baekhyun glances at his analogue, “It’s ten minutes to twelve.”

You gulp and know you’re screwed. Returning to the house and dressing up will take some time and you’ll most likely show up at the dining table 15 minutes late. Like it or not, you have to go back now.

“Um Baekhyun I have some things to do, catch you later.” You quickly turn your heels and dash through the woods. Baekhyun frowns, but also follows your steps.

“Hey slow down! You’ll fall and get hurt.” Baekhyun yells to you, who is already a few steps ahead of him. This is so weird, you usually always ask him to accompany you, since you’ve once got lost in the forest. Come to think of it, you left by yourself today here. Why? That is unusual.

All these questions remain unanswered as Baekhyun sees you from the mouth of the forest, running to the back door and rushing all the way to your room.

You disappear from the veins covered gates of your backyard, and lonely Baekhyun takes the left path to his house. He smells the delicious lunch his kitchen is making. Well, as his stomach grumbles from hunger, Baekhyun tosses aside his problems and dash to wash his hands and dress for lunch.

Your expectation and calculation were accurate. You got to your room five minutes after twelve right at the time a car entered your porch. You quickly change your dress to the one your mother has prepared and as much as you hated laces, the dress was covered wit lace. You step to the mirror, tidy your look, powder up and brush your hair.

A hurried knock echoes in your room and your mother’s voice enters your room.

“Coming, wait a second.” You yell as you struggle to put on your shoes while making sure you look flawless already.

Once the door flies open, hey your mom knows how to pick locks, you’ve already forced a smile on your face, and she doesn’t look that mad.

“Nice, you didn’t disappoint me. Now gently do down, your fiancé is waiting for you in the dining room. Remember..”

You cut her in “No loud voice, no improper language, tidy eating manner, and agree on this thing.”

She smiles proudly at you and runs a soothing hand down your arm. “Hey, everything will be alright okay.”

You exhale a long breath and with a heavy heart, walks down the stairs to meet the man of your future.

If this was not reality, you would already run down the stairs with joyful steps to reach the man of your choice, sadly this is not your own story to write.

No, your father is dying and his last wish was to see you marry the guy he has set up for you. You remember what he said last week, “Please the man I’ve set for you will be a good man to continue the business I had started. Not that I don’t believe in you taking after, but he will be a good leader. His family also owns a strong business and together, you will live a good life. Trust me darling, I want this for your happiness.”

You remember him saying that to you, one cold night beside the fireplace when he invited you for a game of chess. You belong to the noble family; you have private teachers coming in to tutor you; unlike ordinary girls who need to stay home to cook and wash laundries. Chess is your dad’s favourite game and he always teaches you how to advance the game. Your heart tugs a little when his weak state flashes in your mind.

The last chess you played with him was that same time he proposed to you this whole arranged marriage idea.

You reach the last step of stairs and see the new family seated elegantly on the big table. Your father despite his weak state, still manages to look handsome. You spot the empty seat next to a tall man with strong face lines and a cold smile. He looks smart, strong, but lacks warmth and love. Your face shows a pretty smile, but deep inside your heart you’re crying as you can totally see your future won’t be different than what you have right now.

“Nice to meet you, Miss (y/n), I am Oh Sehun, your fiancé” He stands tall on his legs and after receiving your hand, he presses a light kiss on them. You greet him back and take your place beside him.

Lunch begins and all the time, you only open your mouth when direct questions are given to you. Sehun mostly takes over the questions about the wedding party, saying that he will let you choose what kind of party you want. You just nod and say you will think about it.

“Right, please make up your mind as soon as possible. The wedding will happen in 15 days and I hope we can get this over really quick.” Sehun’s father ends the talk of the wedding.

The choice of food for today was not your preferred dish. You only eat a small portion of the food and try your best to swallow this bitter lump.

Main course went well with Sehun getting engaged to business talks with your father and you were interrogated for your social life by his mother.

Luckily, your mother is there to help you lie. You’ve never really put yourself into the rich girl’s society, you’ve always lied to your mom. You lied about going to the social house, just to run away elsewhere with Baekhyun or simply attend last minute.

Strawberry panna cotta is your favourite dessert; however, today you cannot find the joy of sticking that sweet pudding into your mouth.

The suffocating tension grows thicker when you are sent to take Sehun for a walk to the festival reoccurring in the centre of the town.

Your mind is busy thinking of something, yes you remember Baekhyun is taking care of one event there. He is assigned by the Mayor to lead the talent show performance tonight. Now you remember there is no way you’ll meet him in the town with a new man by your side. He would totally rant to you for not telling him your new friend.

“Umm Sehun, can we go somewhere else instead.. I don’t think the festival is suitable for us to talk with one another. It’s loud.” You bite your lips nervously.

Sehun quirks his eyebrow, “Oh? Well then where should we go?”

His voice is icy and cold, even standing beside him sends shivers down your spine.

“We can go to the quiet hill a few miles from here, will it be okay?”

To your surprise he is okay with walking a few miles. You really think he would deny it and just ask you to talk here in the garden, but no, he didn’t waver at all.

So you begin your hike to the hill where you usually escape when your mind is not clear.

“And… this is it, the quiet place I always go when I have much in my mind.” You spin around once and smile when you close your eyes and feel the gentle breeze blowing.

Sehun takes off his mantle and lays it down for you to sit on. You looked puzzled and he chuckled at your confused face.

“I’m sure your mother wouldn’t want that dress to be dirty.” He helps you sit over his mantle and soon joins you down on the other side.

“Sorry for making you do this.” You point at his clothes and mantel, you did not expect going to the hill will cause him much commotion.

Sehun shakes his head and begins asking you questions to know you better.

“I know you did not like this marriage, but I will try my best to be a good husband.” Sehun said that to you, but things were not as beautiful as his promise.

__

Baekhyun enters his house and finds his dog already waiting for him

“Ah my sweet mongryong! You’re waiting for me!” Baekhyun kneels down to pet his excited puppy just to be run over and he ends up giggling on the floor.

“Baekhyun hurry up! Your brother and father are waiting for you! Go change to a clean shirt and wash your hand. Hurry or your plate will be clean!” His mother cheerfully kisses him and pushes him to change his attire.

Baekhyun laughs at the warmth this house can never fail to give him, he runs to his room on the second floor and quickly changes for a fresh linen. Just as he glances over to the mirror, he notices a foreign car on the porch of your front house. With a confused look, he tries to remember if you told him anything about a guest or a new tutor maybe.

The cheerful boy makes it to the dining table looking clean and handsome.

“Sorry for making you gentlemen wait and my beautiful mother too. Now shall we eat?” He grabs his utensils and a hearty lunch happens right at the same time as yours (the cold and tense one).

“Looks like our neighbour has a big news coming around!” his father starts the topic for today’s lunch.

Baekhyun’s ears perk up, “Oh yeah? A party? I thought they have their birthday already.”

His brother shakes his head, “No, something else. That car is new. We never see anyone visiting her in a fancy car.”

Baekhyun still enjoys his food, “Maybe a new tutor. She told me the last French tutor moved and her mother is busy looking for a new one.”

“Maybe…” his brother leaves a lingering statement and soon their discussion changes to the perfect seasoning their mother did on the food, or just random small talks.

“I am going to the town! I need to make sure the talent show will be perfect tonight!” Baekhyun bids farewell to the family as he takes his bike and pedals all the way to the town hall.

He can’t wait to meet you tonight in the town hall!

But Baekhyun didn’t meet you at all that afternoon. Instead he found another friend of his, Park Chanyeol.

“Hey! You’re by yourself? Not usual eh?” Chanyeol nudges his shorter friend, who is busy moving things around to set up the stage.

“Oh hi there Yeollie, well yeah It’s me and the team, who else are you expecting?” Baekhyun stops bending and straightens his back.

Chanyeol rolls his eyes, “I mean where is your girlfriend you always have by your side…”

Baekhyun secretly smiles but he shakes his head, “She’s not my girlfriend… we’re neighbours and yeah good friends, you miss her?”

Chanyeol awkwardly laughs, “No, I am not looking for her. Just feels weird… maybe she’s coming later. Now let me help you fix this place! We only have several hours to go!”

Baekhyun nudges off the odd feeling in his stomach. Come to think of it, you’re not the type to not come and help him. He tries to think that maybe your mother or father is acting up again.

--

You spend a good two hours of talking and planning with Sehun. As you feel wind more breezy and Sehun notifies you it’s almost tea time, you finally stand up from the ground and with the help of Sehun, you stretch your stiff body.

“It’s almost tea time.” Sehun says while putting on his mantle.

“Oh right… Will you join us for tea?” a question of formality.

You wish he would just reject it and go home, but no this guy accepts the offer.

You can only force another fake smile and return to the house.

“Great to see the two of you back on time for tea! We think it is a bit too late already for the Oh family to go home, so they might be staying for dinner and the night.” Your mother greets you and Sehun over the door.

Your mouth falls open and with one glare from your mother, you pull yourself back together. Before she can pull you inside the room, you quickly glance to your neighbour’s house and notice the lack of a bicycle. Hmm Baekhyun must already be in the festival.

Tea time is better since Sehun was called for a talk with your father and his. You are left alone with your mother and Sehun’s mother. The ladies engage themselves in a deep conversation of a recipe and you just sit there quietly. Pretending to listen to their fun discussion, while actually thinking how you will spend the night. There’s a very big probability that you are told to bring Sehun to the carnival and that means meeting Baekhyun. It is not a problem if you’re the only one, but coming with Sehun will be something deadly.

You’re not stupid. You know the feeling Baekhyun has for you. You know he was not 100% joking when he proposed earlier in the woods. You see how his eyes always show hearts when he is with you, you realize the protective voice he always has when you show up to him with fresh bruises. You may be over confidence, but his flirting game is a hint to you. You feel it, you too cannot lie that there’s something different you feel for him.

That night, you thank heaven for not sending you to the carnival. No, Sehun did go there, but you lie while feeling sick. Lucky, they bought your lie and let you rest at home. Sehun goes to see the town with his family, for you also learn today that he will move in here later on. This house will be for you and Sehun the day father passed. The Oh family is checking out the town and you… you’re now facing the floor while trembling in fear when your parents called you with that tone.

You enter the study room shaking. You can see what’s coming… seeing your dad seated on his big chair and a belt. The night will be long.

You earn fifteen tonight, for showing up late to the table, for not showing interest to Sehun, and for not being so lady-like or elegant.

“I thought we raised you nicely to be a lady with a class, but what’s that messy hair! I know you’re sneaking out again right?! There’s no way your hair will be like that if you take your one-hour preparation nicely.” He emotionally launches his belt to hit you. You’re standing up, tonight you did not let out a tear. Your lips are bleeding from the pressure your teeth do to ensure you’re quiet. No, you’ve run out of tears. You’re angry… not only did he force you to marry a boy you don’t know, but he was still picking on you.

“You know if the next time he comes here and you have not improved or put interest in him, you’ll meet another belt of mine. FIX YOUR MANNERS MISS. DON’T BE A DISGRACE!” He swings his last whip and leaves the room with a loud slam.

You fall to the carpet, curling yourself into a fetal position. No matter how many whippings you’ve grown up with, fresh bruise is always burning.

You lay down for a while, streaming your face with tears and as you hear the clock chimes seven, you know soon you’ll have to move to your room. The guest must never see what’s behind your dress.

__

You stare blankly into the wall, back facing the bright night sky shown from the window. It’s already 8.30, you hear the footsteps of people moving around the house. Great the guests must be here already. You remain silent in your room, hoping that your pain and fatigue can bring you to sleep quick. Laying down sideways to not touch the burning pain on your back and thighs.

Your eyes almost close and bring you to dreamland if not for the soft knock on your window. You peek from your shoulder and see Baekhyun’s window bright and he’s throwing you pebbles.

You did not turn on your lights, though Baekhyun can see your night lamp is still on. You feel like a jerk leaving him to work by himself tonight and not giving him any news at all.

The rock hits one to two times again and you finally turn the lights on and opens your curtain. There, you can see the brightest smile from your best friend blinding you.

Baekhyun raises a paper with a note

“SICK? YOU MISSED THE SHOW!”

You wince and try to reach for the board you’ve hidden under your bed. You open the curtain and flash your answer “GROUNDED”

That’s bullshit.

“OH? NEW CAR IS IT YOURS?” He shows you his board.

You hesitate, “A GUEST’S”

“SORRY. YOU OKAY?” he flashes his board up when he feels you’re not as quick as usual in replying.

“THE BELT’S OUT TONIGHT”

Baekhyun grits his teeth when he knows that code. He discovered your father’s bad habit of violence long time ago when you fell from a climbing tree and Baekhyun accidentally saw your scars and bruises. Since then, after you get punished, you usually run to his house and he will sneak you in and when you’re younger he would help you with healing and taking care of them. However as you mature, you only go to his house for mental support. Baekhyun used to promise he would bring you away from your violence father and he promised you to start a healthy family like his.

“We can start a healthy family! I can be a loving dad… I never hit people! I am raised to be a gentle man. I shall never raise my hand to any girl or child or anyone!” He once told you that with fires in his eyes, promising you he will get you out of that hell.

“WANNA COME OVER?” He flashes his board after thinking for a while, why did you earn whipping. Coming late to lunch must not be a big deal right? Unless…

Baekhyun shakes his head, trying to get rid of the silly idea he has in his mind.

“Is the guest so special?” he mumbles to himself.

“I DON’T THINK TONIGHT IS THE RIGHT TIME. SORRY ☹ AND THANKS” you raise your board the last time, before closing the curtains and shutting off the lights.

Baekhyun keeps his eyes on your window for a longer time, he doesn’t want to miss it if you’re sneaking out. But five minutes with no action, Baekhyun gives up and closes his curtain too soullessly.

The conversation he had with Chanyeol earlier lingers in his mind.

“Hey Baek, have you ever seen that man before?” Chanyeol points to a tall figure dressed nicely in an expensive coat. Taking time to stroll from one stand to another, seeing things and trying things.

“Hmm nope. Must be a visitor! He looks so expensive right Yeol?”

“Uh-hum, who can have that kind of guest here….” Chanyeol regrets saying that part out loud, for the slightly surprised look on Baekhyun's face is enough to make Chanyeol feels guilty.

In Baekhyun's mind, suddenly flashes the expensive car parked on your house porch.

“Must be Suho’s” Chanyeol quickly covers up his mistake and pushes Baekhyun away to start the talent show.

__

tbc

yes or no??

[unblot]

@makovu​ :     it's some sort of holiday, although it only seems to be celebrating the passage of time — the changing of seasons, the warming of weather. the weather would be changing into the dry season in the savanna. the weather is warming into something equally cool here, although it's far from dry.

there is a large fire, and music, and dancing, and food. there's drink, too, and leona's only had enough to make him feel warm and relaxed. he's never cared to tip beyond that point, especially in a social setting. unusually, he's been dancing. selket — sebek's sister and very notably on his side — had practically pulled him into it with the reason of learning how things work here and demonstrating an interest in this place and these people.

he may be engaged to marry malleus, but he's engaged to the country as well. this is the home he's been willingly swept away into, this land of fae who cast him looks he's not unused to, who speak in a language he understands better than they think even if not perfectly yet, who do not want him here. the number of fae who do want him here are few. the zigvolt family are all good allies, even if it earns them looks of betrayal or judgment or disdain.

and it's to challenge those looks that leona wraps his arms around malleus' shoulders where they're sitting, nuzzling slightly against their cheek. "dance with me??" he asks, his voice a whisper he knows malleus will hear. sometimes people need to be reminded that he isn't a simple intruder in the valley — he's engaged to their future king. he's taken what he wants and will not flee with his tail between his legs.

this is a familiar scene, one malleus has come to know well over the course of his life. the celebration of the vernal equinox is one of the only annual celebrations malleus has any experience with along with halloween, the autumn equinox & the winter solstice. the traditional festivities are fairly routine at this point, a fire lit outdoor banquet complete with music & dancing. the air is often jubilant, though with the simplicity of the affairs it has been fairly easy for malleus to find the occasion mundane after the first hundred celebrations. 

however that is not the case tonight. tonight vibrant colors are painted across the dull grays typically found in this celebration. for the first time it really feels like a celebration of spring & light. warm are reds dusted across the faces of malleus’ people alight with joy & drink & sunny yellows flicker in the firelight & the stars above. but the most eye catching color of all is the lush & wild greens found in leona’s gaze, summertide eyes more vibrant than the most beautiful flowers found in the valley.

with leona here it is not simply a celebration of the arrival of spring, but also the dawn of a new age. briar valley’s days of isolation from the outside world are over. the centuries of solitude & prejudice are no more. with leona they’ve not only begun a new season, but they’ve begun a new era as well. & as malleus watches fondly as selket zigvolt strongarms leona into teaching him a traditional dance, they wonder if the son of the savanna knows how important he is to the future of this nation.

it’s no secret that their betrothal & anticipated union has been met with a great deal of resistance. briar valley is a land of long held tradition & of people stubborn & set in their ways. the elders in positions of power are the worst offenders of this, the royal council not even bothering to hide their disapproval & disdain for malleus’ chosen partner. it’s an undeniable truth that has left both princes feeling disheartened & frustrated. but on nights like tonight it’s easier to pretend they’re more welcome than they are, that most of the eyes on leona are held with affection & joy. it’s even easier to pretend no one else is around, that only leona stands before him, crowned in starlight & gold.

malleus’ smile is warm as leona pulls him in, the briar prince resting a hand over leona’s as the lion asks him to dance. the question strikes an air of familiarity malleus can’t quite place at first. but once they rise from their seat & move to dance with their fiancé the source of the deja vu becomes clear. they may not be in the royal rose garden this time, but their woodland surroundings & the starlight pouring over them is close enough to replicate the effect of their first dance. well -- technically this is their first dance now. that moment before, that moment over a year ago had only been once upon a dream. 

as the pair move across the grass, malleus ponders on that dream, the one that had started it all. at the time he’d decided to think nothing of it, believing that dwelling on the nature of such fantasy would be his undoing. in a way malleus has been correct. leona was his undoing, though not in the way the lion had initially wanted to be. 

they remember fondly the way leona’s dream counterpart had left him enchanted, daring them to do as they���ve never done before. to take a leap of faith. though thinking on it now the real leona has done far more than dare that of malleus & he’s certainly left them more enchanted than a simple dream ever could. 

for a time malleus lived in fantasy, having nothing in the real world valuable enough to want to savor. & while this life with leona had begun in fantasy, their beginnings pale in comparison to what they have founded in reality together. what they have now is not something malleus ever anticipated himself having in either the real world or the dream one. but he is relieved that he has been permitted to have such joy in a realm where it lasts. & when leona closes the distance between them & captures malleus in a kiss, malleus is overjoyed to still be awake when they part. 

[erazonpo3]

WOWM

so What Once Was Mine came out and I read it.

My General Thoughts are that this book was something of a rollercoaster but in like a pop up carnival with dubious safety regulations and diseases in the DIY log flume water kind of way. I had some fun reading it but I also feel like I picked up a rash.

If you're like me and you enjoy picking a book apart for morsels of interesting concepts then you might enjoy it, if you think holy shit why the fuck is a literal real historical serial killer in this book I need to see this then you might enjoy it, if you care about engaging plots and character beats then you probably won't.

If you want to ask me anything specific go ahead, but otherwise for more in depth thoughts: spoilers ahead

Basic Summary of the Plot

Okay so here's the deal. The story has the framing device of two siblings in a cancer ward, where one tells the other a story. I'll get into that later, but that's how it starts. Our actual story starts with a pretty long prologue: We learn that the King & Queen got the Moonflower thinking it was the Sunflower, Rapunzel was born with silver hair, and then baby Rapunzel kills a maid who accidentally hurt her when brushing her hair.

Oh, by the way, Max is a human man named Justin Tregsburg. Yeah.

Anyway, the royal family puts out feelers for legit witches who can safely take care of Rapunzel because the baby is too dangerous, and Gothel shows up to take her away. Queen Arianna visits Rapunzel once (but is only allowed to watch through a peephole) and decides watching another woman raise her child is too painful and throws herself into restoring the kingdom's orphanages instead.

Now we're in the present. Rapunzel is nineteen and she wants to go and see the lanterns (a mourning tradition of the Dead princess in this story). She tries to argue with Gothel but gets shut down, and Gothel makes her kill a chicken to prove the point that she can't go outside because she's too dangerous. However we as the audience already know Gothel plans to sell Rapunzel off as a bride or a servant or a weapon to some other nobles, because she's evil.

Also by the way Gothel still has access to our Sundrop Flower and is using it to live forever that's just a thing that happens in the background.

When Gothel is gone Rapunzel watches as a man (Flynn) stores a satchel in a tree outside of her tower, and that motivates her to leave the tower for the first time. Then she goes back inside the tower with her prize of a crown, and a skink she found and named Pascal. Rapunezl and Gothel have another spat, and Rapunzel decides she will run off to see the lanterns and she will find Flynn and make him her guide.

She ends up at the Snuggly Duckling and she doesn't find Flynn but she does find Gina, a young career criminal girl looking to break the glass ceiling. Gina agrees to help her find Flynn. They find Flynn, and he agrees to help guide Rapunzel to see the floating lanterns for a split reward of the crown with Gina.

The Snuggly Duckling gets burned down by Countess Bathory (yes that Elizabeth Bathory) and the Pub Thugs are pissed about it and also they're helping Rapunzel even though she didn't sing the I've Got A Dream song don't worry about it. We learn that the nobles that wanted to buy Rapunzel are now hunting her down so she can go to auction.

Gina takes them to her adopted mother's cottage. Gina's mother is a white witch, who goes by the name of Goodwife. She doesn't get an actual name she's just The Goodwife. Anyhow, the cottage is a magic safe space (for now) and Goodwife teaches Rapunzel that her hair isn't inherently evil and may not even be all that deadly! Rapunzel learns that her hair has other powers too, like the ability to turn skink Pascal into a sentient Chameleon. Yeah.

Also Goodwife tells Rapunzel she's the dead princess but this isn't like, an immediate call to action. Not a lot happens until we get this story's version of the Mother Knows Best Reprise where Gothel finds Rapunzel again but has to flee, but this Rapunzel has a bigger support network and isn't buying it. Flynn and Gina decide the safest course of action is to bring Rapunzel to the castle, but along the way she gets kidnapped by the Countess.

Gothel is pissed because she still wants the money for Rapunzel, so she rallies the armies of all the opposing bidders. Flynn and Gina convince Max the Man to send for his troops, and he joins them in going to the enemy castle. Flynn tries to sneak in, gets caught, and meanwhile there's a bloody battle out the front between the noble armies. Max jumps into the fray, Gina turns around and rallies the Pub Thugs.

Rapunzel uses her shrinking magic (!) to disappear half the castle and escape with Eugene, and the Pub Thugs arrive and basically end the battle. The Captain is dying but it's okay! Rapunzel turns him into a horse :) Also Rapunzel sees Gothel and tells her to fuck off.

The story ends with a tearful reunion between Rapunzel and her parents, Eugene and Gina are implied to be biological siblings, and things are good but of course in direct parallel to Cass Gina leaves at the end to become an adventurer. The end.

(There are a few other smaller plot beats, but you get the idea.)

MY THOTS

So here are my thoughts™.

Framing Device

I'll just state that I didn't like that the story was told via the vehicle of an older brother telling his 16 year old sister a different version of the Tangled Movie in a cancer ward. From what I've heard it also isn't normal for the Twisted Tales series to use a framing device for the AUs either.

I sympathise with the author's personal story, of course I do. That doesn't mean I'm stirred with compassion every time the flow of the story is interrupted to remind you to be sad because this is a story being told to a girl sick with cancer. It feels more than a little tragedy-porny rather than emotionally touching, and maybe that's because I'm too burnt out on real life tragedy to waste emotional energy on fictional cancer patients but we don't need to do Fault In Our Stars discourse again.

Real World References

This story goes heavy with Real World references. And another issue with the framing device as above is that you do feel like this is a story being told by someone namedropping every historical figure they know which makes it harder to get into the story.

There's like... a lot of references to Christianity, particularly in the prologue. There's a priest that thinks Rapunzel's hair is the work of the Devil or whatever. It's a lot. The Patriarchy is a thing. And that's not even getting into the Countess. I put it very succinctly in my notes so I'll paste it here:

I wish she’d just been an OC who could exist to chew scenery because the fact that she was a literal historical serial killer is super. Off putting. Like, she could have been an obvious reference to Bathory, but it feels like Miku Binder Hamilton levels of uncomfortable to me.

I miss Lady D.

Which basically sums up my problem with trying to take the setting of Tangled and put it somewhere in the Real World and somewhere on the Timeline. Who thought this was a good idea.

Misc. Thoughts

So, I used the five highlighter colours my ipad allows to organise my thoughts and organised them accordingly: Yellow for out of place IRL references, Blue for worldbuilding/character points that aren't plot relevant but still interesting, Pink for when something I find personally amusing happens, Purple for when the story feels like it's trying to 1-up the movie in some kind of way and Green for Heterosexual Nonsense. I'll touch on those last two in the Character sections but be prepared.

Also: for a book about giving Rapunzel killer hair, her hair isn't very dangerous. I wanted to see Rapunzel kill someone, and I'm disappointed that I didn't.

Characters

I'll do a deep dive into my thoughts about the characters before wrapping it up. I'm starting with Gina because she's honestly the easiest to get through.

Gina

Gina is a new character introduced for the story. She's a young woman trying to make it as a career criminal but keeps hitting that glass ceiling. So here's the down low, for all those who want to know: Gina is basically Cass, only not really. She's implied to be Eugene's biological sister, as previously mentioned, but you can imagine she's Cass the entire way through without breaking your immersion because if you imagined Cass if she were adopted by a Goodwitch rather than the Captain and had a looser, more wilderness survivor than trainee guard upbringing then you get Gina.

I liked Gina! I think she's fun as her own character too, and her best moments are when she's interacting with her mother Goody Goodwife, and she of course picks up a natural sibling rivalry with Eugene, but I was disappointed with how little she really bonded with Rapunzel because she needed to make room for Eugene and Rapunzel's romance.

Rapunzel

Okay, here's our protagonist. There's a notable effort to make Rapunzel more active in her destiny and whatever, and sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't. I was worried they'd try to go full butt-kicking girlboss with her but I was pleasantly surprised that Rapunzel was pretty useless in most scenes, genuinely love to see it.

With a more intimate look into Rapunzel's psyche through the medium of prose, we see Rapunzel really questioning Gothel's behaviour even before she leaves the tower, and while I appreciate that she can develop her own cynicism I feel it starts unnecessarily early. This is my purple colour; the movie needs to be "fixed" by showing the readers that this Rapunzel is quicker to distrust Gothel. She's also quicker to hatch a plan to go outside of the tower on her own, and she makes a plan to make Flynn her guide for the lanterns even though he never stumbles upon her in the tower- and even though she has a perfectly rational reason not to trust him which is that he is a stranger and a Wanted Thief.

In the moments where it does work is when Rapunzel is surrounded by her new support network: Flynn, Goodwife and Gina, who encourage her to question Gothel's sincerity, and Rapunzel comes up with her own defences for Gothel so that she can poke through them herself.

I have some other thoughts about Rapunzel's hair and her powers, like how the story provides the interesting concept that her hair gets different powers with the different phases of the moon, but a lot of the powers are uhhh stupid and also I feel like it really robs the story of the whole gripping conflict of "Yes I'm Rapunzel Yes my hair kills people what of it".

In as far as just Rapunzel herself though, she still felt pretty in character nonetheless, and maybe that's all I can ask.

Flynn Rider / Eugene Fitzherbert

My boy I am so sorry. They neutered my boy.

Long story short: Eugene in this story is the sexy lamp. He contributes nothing to the plot except to be there for Rapunzel to drool over. And of course because he won't get any character development, he starts from the very beginning as a sweet soft boi with none of the Flynn Rider characterisation from the movie because we don't have time for that, he needs to be husband material stat.

His whole character is the colour green for Heterosexual Nonsense.

So, here's the problem. In the movie, there's not a lot of time for ~friendship~ between Rapunzel and Eugene because they kind of immediately see each other as a romantic prospect. And whatever, it's a movie and there's only so much time. But this book had the opportunity to take things a bit slower and instead chooses to make Rapunzel get jealous whenever Eugene and Gina interact and for her to be constantly wishing he was holding her hand.

Say what you will about Lost Lagoon, but it tells a good romance story just by virtue of not intending to be a romance story, because the author is trying to convey a strong bond between Rapunzel and Cassandra without using "and they kiss" as a cheatcode. What Once Was Mine says "he was a boy, she was a girl, could it be any more obvious?" and leaves it at that.

Now as for how this all pertains to Eugene's character? Well, it just robs him of any flavour. In the movie there's a clear distinction between Flynn and Eugene, when we learn Eugene's real name about halfway through. We see a clear difference between the Flynn we knew- kind of an asshole, wanated to drop Rapunzel off at the Snuggly Duckling and get rid of her- and Eugene, who is sincere and chooses Rapunzel as his New Dream in opposition to his Old Dream of living alone on an island with a bunch of money.

This version of Eugene is basically Eugene all the way through, because the plot doesn't really need Eugene there but he has to be there because it's a Tangled AU so there's no Rapunzel rescuing Flynn from the guards and healing his hand scene, he just loves her immediately and that's that. They have a little spat at one point but it's cleared up later and not because they actually communicate but because they kiss.

Rapunzel only learns Eugene's real name at the very end of the story, and gives a speech about how Eugene is the real him, but it's just so flat because 'Flynn' has been sincere this whole time? Anyway he does nothing of value for the entire story except be there for Rapunzel to lust after. Eugene I'm so sorry.

Gothel

Gothel's sort of the Big Bad and is characterised as an abusive asshole, the usual. I wish there were a bit more nuance to her character but then again in this story she's not just being passively evil- taking care of Rapunzel for selfish reasons but nevertheless maintaining the status quo- she's being actively evil in trying to sell Rapunzel off.

It's notably funny that Gothel sees the Countess Bathory and is like "what the fuck".

Anyway Gothel in this story also feels very weak in part because this Rapunzel is more critical and in part because this Rapunzel has a new support network. It's for that reason the Mother Knows Best Reprise scene doesn't really work, because the original has Gothel pit Rapunzel against Eugene, whereas she can't do that here so it remains a Gothel vs Rapunzel thing.

She gets a boring death as an epilogue addendum that someone rips out the Sundrop flower, which tbh? lame. It would be a lot more fun if it were open ended but I am also preferential to Rapunzel actually using her killer hair to kill someone. Please

Captain Justin Tregsburg

It's Max. He was a human but then he got turned into a horse. what the fuck you guys

[janetbrown711]

The Story

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess.

Her full name was Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Second, but Angelina was just fine. However, if you were especially close, she’d let you call her Lena. 

She was as kind as she was beautiful. Often Angelina found herself wandering the Warnerstock castle grounds and singing to herself, whenever she wasn’t getting in trouble for skipping classes. 

Oh yes, Angelina was a trouble maker. And a smart-ass too. She loved talking back and driving her teachers insane more than anything. It wasn’t that she hated learning, far from it, it was just that she always had something better on her mind. Most often it was a song, other times it was her thinking about the new squire, William. 

They had met in the stables. She had just finished her horseback riding lessons and he was just getting started with his. She was roughly 15, and he 16. They hit it off right away, though William made a fool of himself when he tripped face first in to a bucket of water. Angelina didn’t mind at all though, and they quickly became close friends.

William was a handsome squire, and it was very clear to Angelina that he liked her. Angelina liked him too. He had a goofy grin, and was full of fascinating stories she could listen to all day. He was also surprisingly optimistic, always encouraging her and others to never give up on their goals and aspirations. 

He was sweet, and Angelina was pretty sure she was hopelessly in love with him. 

Her parents didn’t really approve- they didn’t approve of most things she liked. The only thing they let her do was sing, so she practiced and did it often. Angelina was pretty sure that if she wasn’t destined to take the throne, she’d be a singer on stage, and would dance and perform. 

Instead, she sat and learned how to eat at a dinner table. Of all the classes she thought were boring and useless, manners were the most boring and least useful. However, she sparked back to life when she looked out the window and saw none other than William himself waiting for her outside. 

“Salad, fish, dinner, dessert, oyster.” Angelina cut off her instructor mid sentence and listed off the specific and dumb uses of the forks in front of her. “Now, miss, I’m afraid this lesson isn’t very interesting and something much better is waiting for me downstairs. If you don’t mind, how about we both spare each other from this dreadful lesson and call it a day early?” Angelina looked at her instructor. 

“Smart-ass,” The teacher rolled her eyes. “But fine. We’ll just go overtime next time,” she said. Angelina groaned internally, but accepted her win, and ran out of the castle as quick as she could to meet William, only stopping right before the doors to adjust her crown. 

“Hi William,” She said with a smile, almost giggling at how nervous he looked. For someone who was soon going to be knighted, he seemed pretty nervous about something. 

“H-hi Lena,” He blushed. Angelina snorted. 

“William, relax. It’s just me,” She touched his shoulder, and he relaxed a little. “C’mon, let’s go for a walk.”

William agreed to this, and with him leading they strolled through the gardens. It was their favorite way to spend the time. They loved looking at all the flowers and planting them too. Angelina’s mother thought it was too dirty of an activity for a princess, but Angelina thought her mother was too rude and egotistical to be queen, and yet here they were.  

Needless to say, her mother let her garden. 

“Can you believe you’re going to be a real knight by this time tomorrow?” Angelina asked. 

“No, not really,” He scratched the back of his neck. “To be honest, I’m dreadfully nervous about the ceremony, but I’m hopeful that things will turn out well enough,” He admitted to her. Angelina nodded. 

“Knighthood is a big step from squire. Very respectable and admirable,” She said.

“What about you? You ready to be queen?” William asked. 

Angelina laughed. “Me? Queen? Not in a million years. I mean- I know it’ll happen one day, but so long as I have any say in it, it won’t be for awhile,” She remarked.

“Have you not heard rumors of your mother’s retirement? You are of age and all,” He asked. Angelina shrugged. 

“I hardly pay attention to a word she says these days,” She admitted. “She hates seeing me happy, so I prefer to not be around her in hopes that i will be.”

“Are you?” William asked. 

“With you? Of course,” Angelina smiled at him. William blushed. 

“Good- that’s... that’s good,” He said, looking at the flowers. Angelina restrained a giggle. 

“So... if I may, why did you want to talk with me today?” She asked as they reached the center fountain. 

“Well- I uh...” William cleared his throat. “Well... you see... I-i’m becoming a knight which mean I-I’m eligible for- well...” 

“Well..?” Angelina tilted her head slightly. William took in a deep breath. 

“Lena... I’ve been in love with you since I first laid eyes on you. You’re... you’re beautiful, witty, courageous, and just... wow,” He said, and it was Angelina’s turn to blush. 

“I know I don’t come from much- I’m just an orphan from Acme Falls, a-and I know your mother doesn’t approve but... well...” He got down on one knee. 

“I don’t have a ring, as squires don’t really get paid but... I love you, Angelina. There is no one on this earth I’d rather spend the rest of my life with. So... please... will you marry me?” He proposed. 

“I... Of course,” Angelina nodded.

“I-it wouldn’t be right away. It’d be after you’re queen- when your mother is gone and can’t-” William paused. “W-wait- did you say-”

“Yes, you dummy,” Angelina punched his arm lightly. William laughed and stood, and Angelina pulled him into a passionate kiss. 

And so the pair was engaged, though it was in secret. Angelina was pretty sure her mother finding out would give her a heart attack, and she’d die right then and there. 

Well, turns out it didn’t matter because in a months time, Queen Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the First died of a sudden illness, and Angelina rose to the throne. She and William were married no less than a month later. 

Ten months after their wedding, Warnerstock had a new prince. 

“William, isn’t he just the cutest thing?” Angelina said, unable to take her eyes off her newborn son. 

William kissed her head. “Of course, my love.”

“I think I’m seriously in love with him. I never want to take my eyes off of him. I mean seriously- look at that little face,” Angelina sniffled. William chuckled. 

“He has your eyes. I think that’s what does it,” He said. 

“Stop, you’re making me emotional,” Angelina laughed and sniffled again. 

“We’re going to have to name him, you know?” William said. Angelina sighed and nodded. 

“Yes, I know... but names are so hard,” She complained. “I mean- It’s not like I have a lot to go on. My father’s name was Harold the Eighth and my mother was Queen Angelina Contessa blah blah blah the first. They were so lazy,” She sighed. “And I refuse to name this precious little thing Harold the Ninth. That’s just a curse.”

“I understand dear. It’s just... well... the people do need to hear something soon,” William said. “They can’t be waiting forever. They want to know their future king.”

“I know, I know,” She sighed, looking at her son’s face and thinking intensely. 

“What about something... traditional in the sense that it’s old, but not in the sense it’s boring and overused?” She suggested. 

“What did you have in mind?” He asked, genuinely curious. 

“Something like... Yakkorotius or Alexandrion or something,” She thought out loud, before shaking her head. “That’s a very stupid name, never mind.”

“What about just... Yakko?” He proposed. Angelina thought about it. 

“I think I like that name,” She nodded. “Prince Yakko Warner of Warnerstock it is,” She smiled as she said it. She didn’t know why, but she could tell it suited him already. 

And so their little family began. Yakko very much lived up to his name, as once he gained the ability to babble, it seemed he never stopped. Even in his sleep, Angelina swore she could hear him babbling about whatever he was dreaming about in that sweet little head of his. By the time he was three, he would just ramble on and on about the bedtime story William had told him the previous night. 

It was the favorite part of Angelina’s mornings. 

However, Angelina and William found themselves wanting another child, and so by the next year, they had another son. 

“You know what William? I think if they gave out awards for cutest babies, they’d go to our kids,” Angelina said as she laid in bed, utterly exhausted. 

“You’re right,” The king agreed. “I think he had to though, to make up for the scare he gave us,” he said. In truth, he hadn’t been born breathing and crying and for a moment, everyone in the room believed the worst. But fortunately, the doctor fixed him right up, and everything was okay. 

Still. 

It had scared the crap out of Angelina and William, and the queen was determined to never let go of her newborn. 

“What do you think of the name Wakkorotti?” William asked out of the blue. 

“Like the performer?” Angelina tilted her head. The king nodded. 

“I think it sounds elegant. And what about the middle name Alan, after my father?” He suggested. 

“We didn’t give Yakko a middle name,” Angelina remarked. 

“True, but I didn’t think about it until now,” William said. Angelina thought a moment. 

“Perhaps we should let Yakko decide. He’s probably curious and wanting to meet his little brother,” Angelina said, nodding at the maid by the door, who left to go fetch him. 

“Letting him decide? I’m pretty sure if he could he’d name him Knight or Dragon or something,” William teased her, and Angelina stuck out her tongue at him. Just then the door opened and Yakko ran to his mothers side. 

“You’re okay!” He said, jumping onto the bed. Angelina laughed at his enthusiasm, but remembered that she was holding a sleeping newborn and silently reminded Yakko to keep his voice down. 

“Of course I’m okay dear. Now... would you like to meet your baby brother?” Angelina said. Yakko nodded and peered over her shoulder to get a good look at him. 

“He’s tiny,” Yakko said. 

“That’s because he’s a baby, though you were slightly bigger when you were born,” William explained. 

“What’s his name?” Yakko asked. 

“What do you think of the name Wakkorotti Alan Warner?” Angelina asked. The boy pondered it for a long moment, stroking his chin intensely before nodding. 

“Wakkorotti is cool,” he determined. William smirked and kissed her forehead. 

“Wakkorotti it is,” he grinned. 

And Wakkorotti it was, though they shortened it to Wakko. Wakko proved himself to be an... interesting child to say the least. He loved to chew on everything he could get his little ungloved hands on, so they had to be extra careful not to leave anything dangerous within his grasp. He also had a tendency to chew on his tail when nervous, which was cute at times, but once he started growing teeth he had a tendency to hurt himself, which was bad. 

Once he began to crawl though, he had a funny little habbit of following Yakko wherever he went, to his older brother’s confusion and delight. Angelina found it adorable how he would just chase after him. She found it less cute when he fell on his face, but he always recovered just fine. 

Angelina had a tendency to be a worry-wart. 

However, perhaps the cutest habbit the two of them shared was the constant want and need to sleep in their bed. Sure, it was a little annoying at times, but Angelina honestly lived for the feeling of her two boys against her as they slept peacefully. She always considered herself the luckiest woman in the world in those moments, despite any other troubles she was facing. 

Though of course it was true, Wakko proved himself to be quite the handful. However, despite that, Angelina knew that she still wanted to try one more time for a little girl. She loved her boys dearly, but she knew she wanted to try at least one more time for a girl. Plus, she felt being an older brother would be good for Wakko. Perhaps it would help tame him a little bit, though she and William suspected he was destined to be a wild child. They did name him Wakko after all. 

“Congratulations your majesties. It’s a girl,” The doctor said as she wrapped the newborn princess in a blanket and handed her to Angelina, who just about started crying when she held her. 

“I know what you’re gonna say Lena, and yes, she’s adorable,” William wrapped an arm around her. 

“She’s just so cuteeeee,” Angelina sobbed this time, the hormones really doing a number on her. Then again, though William wouldn’t admit it out loud to the boys, she was easily the cutest baby he had ever laid eyes on. 

“I just-” Angelina sniffled, desperate to pull herself together. “She’s just so cute. I can’t handle this.”

“You’re exhausted Lena. Maybe I should-” 

“No, I want to hold her,” Angelina shook her head, and William backed down. Angelina took in deep breaths and gathered herself. 

“I’m okay, I promise,” Angelina said. William nodded. 

“I know my love,” He kissed her. His eyes then went to his sleeping baby girl and the two just sat and stared at her sleeping, both feeling exhausted (though one more notably than the other). 

In honesty, things were starting to get tense with Warnerstock and Ticktockia, as the new king Salazar was far less willing to follow treaties of the past, and Angelina and William had been working out deals very late hours into the night, and their exhaustion most certainly wasnt helped my Angelina being in labor for two whole days, leaving neither one of them with much sleep at all. 

“What do you want to name her, dearest?” Angelina asked. William yawned. 

“I thought I named Wakko,” He said. 

“Well yes, and I do have an idea of my own, but I was wondering what you think first,” Angelina said. 

“Fair enough,” The king said, sitting himself up. 

“I was thinking she could have your name,” He said. Angelina blinked. 

“You want her to save the same name as my mother?” She raised an eyebrow in alarm. 

“I hardly think of your name as her name. You’re much much kinder and more beautiful and kind and a much better mother than she could ever dream,” William smiled tiredly at her. 

“Oh stop, you’ll make me cry again,” Angelina said, not admitting how much those words meant to her. William kissed her head. 

“What were you thinking of naming her Lena?” He asked. 

“I just wanted to name her Dot...” She sniffled. In truth, she liked the name Dot. She had read it in a book somewhere and admired how short yet colorful it was. 

“How about that’s her nickname? Like how I call you Lena,” William suggested. 

“How on earth is Dot short for Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Third?” Angelina questioned. 

“It isn’t, I just think it makes sense,” William shrugged. Angelina looked back down at her baby girl and thought about it. 

She really did like the idea of her sharing her name... but she did also like the name Dot. It suited her, somehow. Just like how Yakko fit Yakko and Wakko fit Wakko, Dot just seemed to fit Dot. 

“I’d like that,” Angelina agreed. 

“Do you want me to let the boys in?” The king asked. She nodded. He kissed her one last time and headed out of the room, and before she knew it, two cautious little boys were at the foot of her bed. 

“It’s okay you two, you can climb up,” She gestured with her head. Slowly, they climbed up on either side of her, and both looked down at their baby sister. 

“What’s her name?” Yakko asked. 

“Her full name is Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Third... but you can just call her Dot,” Angelina joked. 

“That’s a really long name,” Yakko remarked. 

“It’s my name too,” The queen said. 

“Your name isn’t mummy?” Wakko tilted his head in confusion, and Yakko laughed at him. Angelina gave him a look. 

“No. I’m Angelina the second, and this is Angelina the third,” She said, not having the energy for the full name. 

“How is Dot short for Angelina?” Yakko asked. 

“It just is,” She shrugged. 

“Why does she look like that?” Wakko asked with a frown. 

“Wakko, that’s quite a rude thing to say,” Angelina scolded. 

“Sorry,” he apologized. The queen took a deep breath in. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t snap like that,” She apologized too. “It’s been a very long week.” 

“Yeah,” Yakko agreed. 

“I think she’s cute,” Wakko said, seeming to have changed his mind from the previous statement. Angelina smiled. 

“She is, isn’t she?” She laughed tiredly. After that, the three of them stayed staring at the newest member of their family curiously, even though she was only sleeping. Eventually Angelina joined her in sleep, and soon enough, all four of them were asleep on the bed. 

With encouragement from William, despite having a rocky and exhausting start, Angelina was optimistic that everything was going to turn out alright. Thank god William was an optimist, because Angelina was pretty sure between the tension only increasing with Ticktockia and with her exhaustion from having a newborn around again, she was pretty sure she might have snapped by now. 

It especially wasn’t helped that when Dot was only three months old, there was already rumors of war. 

Angelina hated war. She hated the very concept of it. All she wanted to do was to live a peaceful life with her children and husband, was that so much to ask? 

However, despite how dire things were going William always promised everything was going to be okay, but Angelina was starting to become less and less persuaded. So, while she set Dot down for her afternoon nap, and while Yakko and Wakko played in the gardens, she wrote letters to Acme Falls, explaining the situation as best she could. 

She couldn’t live with herself if something were to happen and she didn’t have a plan. 

Thankfully the people of Acme Falls agreed. Many of them were old friends of William’s, and so they swore they’d protect them if anything bad were to happen to her and William. 

Angelina hated to think that way, but she needed to know they’d be safe no matter what. 

Well, one night Angelina put Dot in her crib for the night after finally getting her to go to sleep (it had been a rough night and she had had to go through at least five different lullabies) and Angelina went into the playroom and saw Wakko playing by himself with toy soldiers and carts. 

“What’re you playing there Wakko?” She asked, trying her best not to let her exhaustion show. 

“M’playing soldiers,” He gave her a big toothy grin. She nodded and sat in the rocking chair in the corner. 

“Sounds like fun, my dear,” She said, not knowing what else to really say. Wakko was nowhere near as talkative as Yakko, so if he didn’t feel like talking, he didn’t feel like talking. 

She had nearly fallen asleep in the rocking chair, when she heard the door open and saw an embarrassed and upset looking Yakko enter the room. 

Right. He had just come back from the meeting with his father. Angelina told him he shouldn’t have let him sit in, but William had insisted it was good for him. She sighed. 

“You alright honey?” She asked. Yakko sighed. 

“I talk too much,” he sighed. 

“Impossible. I think you talk just the right amount for you,” The queen shook her head. 

“Yakko! Play with me!” Wakko said, putting a toy soldier into his hand. Yakko groaned and looked at his mom. Angelina rolled her eyes. 

“Play with your brother Yakko, it’s good for you,” She said, before grabbing his arm and whispering, “I’ll let you have a treat later if you play nice.”

That seemed to change his mood instantly and he quickly joined Wakko on the floor. He was still a little more grouchy than she would have liked, but she was far too exhausted to fix it, and decided he just needed to vent a little and that it’d be fine if she closed her eyes for a minute or two...

Angelina wasn’t how long she had rested before the loud shattering of glass shot her awake in the rocking chair, and she stood. 

“What was that mummy?” Wakko asked, tugging on her sleeve. 

“I-i’m sure it was nothing, dear,” She patted his head to try and reassure him, but she cringed when there was another crash. In a moment, she recognized what she had to do. 

“Yakko, watch over your brother. I’ll be back in a moment, I promise,” She said, trying her best to appear strong and brave for them, but she could see it wasn’t very effective on Yakko. She hugged them tightly and kissed their foreheads. 

“I’ll be back in a moment, I’m just going to check on your father,” She repeated, praying that sounded more confident. Quickly, she grabbed Yakko’s shoulders. 

“Yakko, listen to me. If anything should happen, I need you to grab Dot and exit the castle using the servant tunnels underground. Don’t stop until you reach Acme Falls, understood?” She asked him. Seeing the fear in his eyes nearly broke her, but Angelina knew she had to get Dot and William. Thankfully, he nodded and She relaxed a little. 

“I promise I’ll protect them,” Yakko said. Angelina nodded. 

“I love you two so very, very much,” She said, hugging them once again. 

Why did this feel like a goodbye?

She kissed their foreheads again, making sure to memorize the feeling of holding them. God, she loved them. 

With a heavy heart, she pulled herself away and ran out. 

It was worse than she imagined. She could smell wood burning and the shouting and swearing of men. Angelina ran as far away as she could from the nursery, knowing if she ran into any of these invaders, the last thing she wanted was for them to find the boys. 

She had to find William before she could find Dot. It broke her heart to admit, but Dot’s bedroom was a million times safer than wherever her husband was. 

She dashed around corners and went down and upstairs, and eventually she heard his voice. 

“William?!” She called out. 

No response. 

She ran towards where she heard the voice, but no one was there. Eventually, someone grabbed her arm and she spun around, expecting it to be him, but-

“I found her royal majesty,” a greasy and disgusting man spat on her. Angelina tried to break free, but he was much taller and stronger than she was, and his grip only tightened. 

“I demand you let me go!” She tried, but the man only chuckled as more of his ‘friends’ arrived, and she was overcome with a feeling of dread. 

“You think you’re so pretty huh? Got all that money and power, hm?” He asked. Angelina didn’t dignify the stupid words with a response, which fill the man with anger and he punched her in the face so hard she fell to the ground. 

Ow. 

“Did they find the King?” One of the men asked, as another, much taller and muscular man approached. 

“He is... taken care of. Now our main goal is to find those little brats. And oh look- you found their mommy dearest,” A familiar voice spoke. Angelina blinked and looked up to see his face. 

it was King Salazar himself. 

“Surprised?” He grinned. 

“Not in the slightest,” She growled. Salazar snapped his fingers and one of the men kicked her in the ribs. Hard. 

“You’ve always been so annoying Angelina, you know that?” He complained. 

“You’ve always been a stuck-up pain in the ass who’s never had more than ten cents worth of knowledge, you know that?” Angelina fought back, and regretted it as she was kicked again. 

“You never know when to shut up, do you?” He frowned. Angelina only glared, which made him grin. 

“You know... we were originally betrothed to each other. It’s not too late. We can still be married,” He said, squatting down to her level. Rage filled her body and she spat in his face. 

“I’d sooner die,” She stated. 

“You disgusting creature!” he shouted, standing up and wiping off his eyes. Angelina felt two men grab her arms and twist them into and uncomfortable position and soon she was off the ground. 

“Look... I’m only going to ask this once. Where are those disgusting little children of yours?” He asked.

“Tough, because I’m not telling you,” She glared, and she was dropped onto the floor, her head hitting the marble hard. 

“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” Salazar snapped his fingers and guns were pointed at her head. 

“I’m not telling you where they are.” She didn’t waver. 

“We’ll find them either way Angelina, so how’s about you tell us anyway? We already killed the king, we can kill you just as easily,” He snarled. 

William...

Angelina’s eyes darted everywhere as she tried to grasp what they just told her. She didn’t want to believe it but-

William was dead. 

Then, the worst happened. 

She saw him. 

Yakko. He was standing at the end of the hall, looking utterly terrified. Angelina’s eyes widened in fear as she realized her mistake, and she heard Salazar’s voice order:

“Seize the boy.”

Angelina called up all of her inner strength to shout

“Yakko, run.” 

Thank god he did. 

However, a feeling of dread crawled up her spine as Salazar laughed. 

“You stupid, pathetic, and grotesque little creature,” He grinned and Angelina felt blood drip down her face. She hoped Yakko hadn’t seen that. 

“He’s going to lead us right to them, which means we no longer have a use for you,” he grinned. 

“Wait-! Salazar, please- i-i-” She tried begging, but she was knocked back down to the ground my one of their guns. She cried out in pain as she heard something break. 

Her last thoughts were of Yakko, and she quickly and silently prayed that somehow, someway, they’d make it out alive and stay together. They had to. 

“please,” she whispered.

And everything went black.

[arcxnumvitae]

★ fill in the questions as if you are being interviewed for an article and you were your muse.

TAGGED BY:  Stole it

TAGGING: Steal it

1. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

A:  Camhlaidh Moireasdan

R:  Ruaidhri Allanach

E:  Eilidh Deòireach

2. WHAT IS YOUR REAL NAME?

R: You’ll have to try harder than that if you wish to pry a fae’s true name from them

E: Generally, we don’t share them with anyone

A: My parents shared theirs with each other actually

R: How romantic

3. DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU’RE CALLED THAT?

A: ‘Relic’

R: ‘Red king’

E: ‘Radiant one’

R: That was awfully poetic of your parents, hm?

E: I never did ask them why they decided to name me that

A: Probably because even as a newborn they could sense your bright and luminous spirit

E: That about a smooth-talker!

R: I didn’t think that you had it in you, my liege!

A: Not really...

4. ARE YOU SINGLE OR TAKEN?

A:...

R:...

E: Yeesh, what an oppressive air all of a sudden. As for me, I am married but I’ve run away from my husband!

A: Do you have to sound so blasé when announcing that?

5. WHAT ARE YOUR POWERS AND ABILITIES?

R: Our king here has an intimate--

A: Don’t say it like that

R: --connection with the land of Seelie. He can manipulate the land as he sees fit, and he quite literally can see all.  And to my understanding, you can even interact with the flora of the mortal world, yes?

A: I could, and they were drawn to me as well. Even without my memories that connection still remained. There are also some things passed down through my bloodline, but to explain them would take some time.

E: I have my ability gained through Bryony and the vampire clans!

R: And then, of course, we all have the ability to glamour others. Plus, I would like to count my raw sexual charisma as a force of its own--

E: It isn’t.

6. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR EYES?

A: Red and gold

E: Either incredibly good luck or incredibly bad luck, depending on who you ask and how superstitious they are!

R: Though as of late, the gossip of Seelie have come to see our king’s eyes as a sign of disastrous luck

A: Thank you for that

R: *waves hand* You already know I don’t put any stock in things like that

7. HAVE YOU EVER DYED YOUR HAIR?

All: No

R: Why mess with perfection? Plus, I wouldn’t want to make the flowers wilt

A: Our true hair colors are an abundance of shades already

8. DO YOU HAVE ANY FAMILY MEMBERS?

All:...

E: I have my parents, and that’s all

R: Not even your husband, I can feel poor Aodh’s stab of pain from here. Good. As for me, just my father. 

A: My mother...passed when I was younger, and my father as well recently. I have my younger sister Tara but...

R and E: ...

9. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?

E: Does Aodh count as an unwanted one

R: Goodness, dear, quite the venom you’re spewing today--

E, smiling: Careful or I mention the mortal

R: !!

A: Eilidh is someone whose bad side you do not want to get on

10. TELL ME ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DON’T LIKE.

E: Clingy people, people who refuse to try and understand you

R: Duty

A: Also duty...

11. DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES OR ACTIVITIES YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

R: Decorating, shopping, finding new mortals to toy with--

A: *clears throat*

R: The last of which I have not engaged in quite some time as per the orders of our new king

E: Yes, just the orders of the king, and no one else. As for me, I like people watching and also teasing easy to mess with people!

A: Reading books, stargazing, wandering around. Though free time has not been in abundance as of late

R: Ah, the life of a newly crowned king

12. HAVE YOU EVER HURT ANYONE BEFORE?

A: Yes. During my years with the Bastion of the Veil, saving some people entailed hurting others

R: You’ll have to tell us more of your time with that group over tea someday

A: Maybe. It wasn’t anything special.

E: ‘Maybe’? I think you may be underselling things, Your Highness

13. HAVE YOU EVER… KILLED ANYONE?

A: Yes

R and E: No

14. WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL ARE YOU?

E: Riri’s obviously a snake! I mean, you have the eyes and the tongue!

R: Mm, you didn’t have to say it quite so quickly though... 

A: Eilidh is a fox, deceptively playful but cunning when she wants to be

R: And the king is...a stag I would say. One who fittingly leads the herd

15. NAME YOUR WORST HABITS.

E: Riri is incredibly self-absorbed, a little bit stupid, very useless, barely able to take care of himself--

R: This is feeling very targeted now!

E: I’m not done yet

R: You’ve said enough

A: ...Anyways, I have a tendency to be pessimistic and Eilidh here can be incredibly scatter-brained. And perhaps too blunt 

16. DO YOU LOOK UP TO ANYONE?

R: *snorts* certainly not any parent

E: Mm, I can’t think of anyone either

A: My mother

E: Aww

17. GAY, STRAIGHT, OR BISEXUAL?

A: I don’t know?

R: Ach, those odd labels. I like everything and have no particular preference when it comes to a partner

E: It’s the same for me as well

18. DO YOU GO TO SCHOOL?

R: I believe we all received tutelage from private tutors and the like

E: Some lessons were held with other gentry around our age, Riri though was a bit too old to be with us at that point. Still, those had the underlying purpose of beginning the marriage process and discussions. Not long after those was when Aodh’s parents first approached mine after all. 

A: How odd, despite how much the gentry intermingle with each other, you would think we would have had a singular schooling system set up

19. DO YOU EVER WANT TO MARRY AND HAVE KIDS SOMEDAY?

A: ‘Want’...

R: As if our positions allow us the luxury of deciding what we ‘want’ or not. Our families had us for a singular purpose, to carry on the family line and bring whatever honor to it that we can

E: We don’t get to make the decisions about whether we want marriage or want to start families, that’s simply how it is for the gentry

21. WHAT ARE YOU MOST AFRAID OF?

A: Failing

R: Being trapped

E: Imprisonment

22. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY WEAR?

A: Whatever clothing the tailors have made and is set out for me that day. Of course I have some say in the material, color, and things of the like. Compared to some other fae I suppose my taste is somewhat conservative

R:  Whatever fits my stunning visage the best and makes me catch the attention of the whole room

E: I like whatever accentuates my breasts and legs the most

R: I adore your candor

23. DO YOU LOVE SOMEONE?

A: ...

R: ...

E: Again, a harsh question! What a complicated matter love is, especially for fae

24. WHAT CLASS ARE YOU?

All: High

R: With the king a step above even that of course

E: “Status” isn’t generally something among the fae, but the gentry are the exception, our family histories span back an incredibly long amount of time

25. HOW MANY FRIENDS DO YOU HAVE?

E: Well there’s Celeste and Alastair and some people from the Japanese clans...

R: I have plenty I know in the Seelie court as well

A: ...

E: Heavy is the head and all

26. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON PIE?

E: That mortal thing but its made with fruit?

R: It’s okay

A: Yes, it’s fine I suppose.  

27. FAVORITE DRINK?

E: Pomegranate juice

R: Wine

A: Water infused with fruits

29. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE?

R: Mikael’s apartment...

E: Hm, I don’t have one

A: Either the roof of the castle or the meadows and forests surrounding it

R: Sometimes I truly believe you were meant to be one of the wild and wandering fae of Seelie rather than anchored to its throne

A: How characteristically astute of you

30. ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SOMEONE?

A: ...

R: ...

E: Third time’s the charm! Rough go for you two, huh? As for me, I’m interested in a lot of different people

A: You are definitely deliberately misinterpreting the question 

31. WHAT’S YOUR DICK SIZE?

A: I will not be announcing--!

R: What’s the point in shame, Your Highness? It’s not a secret we have genitalia! I am the proud owner of a glorious seven inches when erect!

A:  Clag Deireadh...

E: I don’t have one but I am a fan!

32. WOULD YOU RATHER SWIM IN THE LAKE OR THE OCEAN?

A: Lake

E: Ocean

R: Can I say neither

33. WHAT’S YOUR ‘TYPE’?

A: Someone who I could spend time with and we don’t even have to speak. Someone who I can be myself around, whatever that entails

R: And if she has green eyes and belongs to a vampire clan, all the better

A: Ruaidhri here turns out to be a rather large fan of strong, endearingly sweet, and scruffy humans. Who knew.

E: Oh, I think Riri’s blushing! 

34. ANY FETISHES?

A: *groans* I don’t know

R: Now that the killjoy is out of the way, I like being manhandled, a bit of sadism giving or taking, being pampered as I deserve--

E: And I think restraining a partner can be fun. Honestly, I think I’m fond of most things that put me in control over a partner.

35. TOP OR BOTTOM? DOMINANT OR SUBMISSIVE?

R: I believe we’ve lost the king

A: I simply don’t know, I’ve never laid with another person

R: Despite my best efforts

A: What was that?

R: I prefer being on the bottom! But sometimes I get in the mood to bully top my partner

E: He’s what I hear mortals call a “pillow princess”. I suppose I like bottoming but still being in some control. But I won’t complain otherwise.

36. CAMPING, OR INDOORS?

A: Camping

R and E: Indoors

37. ARE YOU WAITING FOR THIS INTERVIEW TO BE OVER?

A: I honestly cannot say that this was enjoyable

E: Oh lighten up

R: It did have its ups and downs