#also that one nightmare about what I thought was the train by my old house for a second but it shook the whole house and had a weird sound

[baby-yongbok]

𝘗𝘪𝘯𝘬 + 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦

Hwang Hyunjin 𝗑 Afab!Reader

♡ Genre - Friends to Lovers

♡ CW - Explicit Sexual Content, Unprotected Sex, Nightmares, Alcohol usage by reader, Hyunjin calls reader rose as a nickname, One use of 'y/n'.

♡ Summary - Your avoidant tendencies have allowed the burn of pink and white to keep you Hyunjin at a safe distance until it all comes crashing down. Can the fire that kept you apart also be what brings you together?

♡ Word Count - 9.2k

♡ A/N - I went from not being sure if I liked this fic to being in love with it. I think that it's a very sweet fic and I loved writing it. I worked so hard on it and I'm so proud of it. The goal was for it to be 4k words.. then I almost posted it at 8k but now... yeah. I hope that you love this as much as I do!

♡ Playlist - Pink + White - Frank Ocean, Rainy Days - V, For Us - V, Beautiful Things - Benson Boone, Trajectories - Bruno Major

✧ Masterlist ✧

When you were six years old you punched a boy in the face on the playground. That was the first time that you ever felt the burn of genuine fear.

Your mom along with the many others came swirling around them. When your mother asked you what happened you cried. You clung to her running over to you and the crying brunette boy on the playground with a mix of emotions and explained the best you could through your tears that you didn’t like that he was chasing you, when you agreed to play tag you thought that you’d be the chaser not the one being chased.

That was the day that you learned two things about yourself, you have a habit of acting impulsively when you’re scared and you don’t like being chased. It's suffocating.

As you got older your friends described you as the avoidant type, especially in relationships. You developed a reputation for being an ice queen in your Sophomore year of university which led to you being one of the most sought after girls on campus. 

You’ve lost friends because of this. Their boyfriends saw getting close to them as a gateway to meeting you. Many guys took dating you as a challenge with an end prize of overnight popularity. Unfortunately, some of your closest relationships have been destroyed because of it. You learned not to be sad about it, you’ve come to terms with it, this is just the way that it goes. Of course your other friends were all important to you but you always told yourself that you’re alright with losing them as long as you have your best friend by your side. 

“More roses? Are you in love or something?” You weaved through the cluttered art studio that Hyunjin has claimed as his own. It’s on the dead side of campus on the second floor of a building that was abandoned last year. Your best friend refused to let the studio go when it was shut down, he says that it houses some of his fondest memories. 

“Always in love, never loved back.” He quips, eyes still trained on the canvas. “You’re early.”

You jump up onto one of the few clear desks in the room, right behind his easel. “Chemistry ended early.” Hyunjin stands straight, eyeing his canvas for a second before looking over at you. He knows that you’re skipping class. Your last hook-up is in that class and you're trying to avoid his attempt at getting you in his bed again. If you’re being honest, the decision to sleep with him was impulsive. You blame the beer, all eight of them.

“I thought that we could go to the exhibition early.” He starts another brush stroke and silence swallows you both. “I’m excited about it and if I’m being honest I just wanna spend time with you. I’ve barely seen you for the past three days.”

Hyunjin’s steady hand wavers and he thanks his lucky stars that you didn’t see it. “Aw she misses me. She loves me so much.” The sound of your feet hitting the ground as you jump off of the desk echoes through the dusty room of stacked chairs and forgotten storage items. 

Hyunjin stands and dips the paint brush covered in bright pink in the cup of water next to him. “You could’ve come to my place ya know.” You grab your stuff, swinging your bag onto your shoulder. 

“Your brother is there, you know how he gets.” You scrunch your face at the thought of Hyunjin’s step brother, Jeongin. The two of you get along perfectly, almost as well as you and Hyunjin until Jeongin starts flirting. He confessed to you on New Years and you’ve been avoiding him ever since. He’s too sweet for you, you’d hate to hurt him. “I’m gonna go change, I’ll meet you by your car.”

“You brought a costume change for an art exhibit?” He asks as he starts cleaning his space.

“Of course, I need to look like art too.” You smile at him but he doesn’t smile back, he rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to the mess of paints and rags on the desk in front of him. He waits until he hears the door open and close behind you to finally let the corners of his mouth turn up. He chuckles to himself quietly while his mind comes up with responses that he’d never dare to utter out loud.

“This one looks like you, rose.” The year old nickname slips off of Hyunjin’s tongue like silk. You’ve never fully understood how the name stuck. You figured that it’s because roses are his favorite flower and he thought it was cute. You’ve never asked for its origin but you don’t mind the name. It’s sweet.

You turn to view the series of pink, white and green dots making up a bouquet of roses on the framed canvas in front of Hyunjin. He studies it with smiling eyes though the neutral look on his face could fool those who haven’t experienced him like you have.

“It’s pretty.” You mumble as you lean your head on his shoulder. You wrap your arm around his and the sleeve of the brown oversized flannel shirt that you picked out a year ago rides up his forearm a bit, he blames the chills running up his spine on the breeze against the newly exposed skin. 

“I knew I’d see you here.” The voice of a woman next to Hyunjin startles you a bit. You stand straight and watch as Hyunjin smiles towards her. He’s cursing her in his head for interrupting the moment between the two of you but he learned a long time ago to just live in the moment when it comes to you.

“Of course, I had to see this exhibition.” He shakes her hand and you chalk it up to her being someone important though she doesn’t look much older than either of you. “You put it together beautifully.”

Ah, she owns the gallery. “Oh, please, it’s nothing. I just hope that you’re enjoying it. I actually thought about you when I put this piece up.” She motions towards the art in front of the two of you. The piece that Hyunjin says resembles you. “It looks like something you’d design. I’m still desperate to organize a local exhibition for you, ya know.”

Hyunjin laughs but it's stiff and polite. He’s being shy. He’s a very cautious person but he reaches a whole new level when it comes to his art. “I’m not quite on that level yet.”

“I disagree but I won’t bother you about it until you graduate. This is your final semester, right?” You can see her eyes smiling just like Hyunjin’s were a second ago as she checks him out. She’s shameless in her actions, the glint in her eyes is far from professional. 

“Yes, just three months to go.” She nods, dragging her gaze up from his lips with a smile. 

“Call me when you graduate, I’d love to have you working with us.” She pulls a business card out of her pocket and flashes one last smile before waving a reluctant goodbye towards your best friend. 

Silence settles between the two of you for just a couple of seconds before you break it. “She wants to fuck you so badly that she didn’t even look at me.” Hyunjin scoffs at your whispered words as he slips the card into his pocket. “Don’t tell me that you didn’t notice. How old is she anyway? She looks a bit young to be in charge of this place.”

“Her father owns it.” He mumbles as he grabs your wrist and leads you over to the next piece of art. 

“Oh, of course. She probably thought I was your girlfriend, ya know. She’s rude as hell for not even asking or looking at me. I know she saw me here, she’s clearly -” You’re pulled into Hyunjin’s side before you can finish your sentence. The sudden action cuts you off with a heavy thump of your heart and that painfully familiar burn rising in your chest. 

“Look at this one.” Your eyes are on him but his are on the art. “This one looks like you too.” You pull your gaze away from him to view the piece. The thumping in your chest doubles once your gaze meets your own. It’s a mirror with pink and white abstract designs floating around and over the glass. The paint is so messy yet strategic. It leaves just enough room for your reflection. 

“It’s messy yet elegant, don’t you think? You can’t help but to stare..” He’s visibly smiling now. The corners of his mouth turn up as he studies the art in front of him. As he studies you. “This one might be my favorite. It’ll be hard to beat it.”

“I don’t like it.” You mutter quickly, pulling away from Hyunjin and turning towards the next piece. You try your best to steady your breathing. You will your heart to calm down so that you can take a complete breath but it’s betraying you. “I’m gonna use the bathroom.” 

You’re walking away before Hyunjin can reply. He watches you with that smile in his eyes as you disappear around the corner. He knew that what he pulled would be a risk but it was one that he was willing to take. He doesn’t call you beautiful nearly as much as he should or as much as he really wants to. 

In the bathroom you’re slumped against the door of a stall while you try to catch your breath. You don’t like how Hyunjin’s words made that white hot burn in your chest kick up. You don’t like the way that his eyes being on you made you feel like you were the only two in the entire gallery. It’s suffocating. 

When you step out of the stall your fingers are busy on your phone screen. You find your friend Isa’s number quickly and take a sigh of relief when she answers on the third ring. You bypass reciprocating her kind greeting and get right to the point. 

“Get-together at yours tomorrow?”

You’re standing in the middle of the Pink and White art exhibition. Other viewers jumble together along the walls of the gallery and crowd the pieces. You can’t see anything but their blurred faces decorating the white walls. There’s a slow yet heavy beating in your ears but you’re comfortable. You’re alone in the middle of it all, watching everyone from a pleasant distance as you turn to study them all as if they’re the art on the walls.

 The beating in your ears skips as you turn and come face to face with Hyunjin. He’s standing in front of you wearing that brown hat that you love and the oversized flannel that he bought just to share with you.

 Suddenly the others in the room are quiet. All eyes are on you but Hyunjin’s gaze is the most piercing. His brown eyes are smiling at you with a softness that makes the flame in your chest burn brighter. 

“Why are you staring at me like that?” You look around at everyone else but they’ve vanished along with the art on the walls. The beating in your ears picks up, it’s deafening but Hyunjin’s voice can be heard loud and clear over the noise.  

“I like staring at you.” He takes a step towards you but you take two back. He frowns and steps forward again. You repeat the process until your back is against the wall. “Why do you do that?” 

“I’m not doing anything.” You swallow hard as you try to push him away but he’s stronger than you. As strong as stone caging you against the stark white wall. “I can’t breathe.” You’re pushing as hard as you can but it’s no use. You’re stuck under him.

“Why do you do this?” He’s still staring down at you, a burning gaze setting your skin ablaze. “Why do you keep running?” The beating in your ears drowns out all sensible thoughts. You can feel your veins swelling with fear and the blinding white burning in your chest puffs up with the crushing pressure of having him so close. Too close. 

“Back up.” You inhale the thick air, feeling dizzy. “Move.”

“Stop running.” You try to inhale but it gets stuck in your throat. You want to scream. You need to escape. You need to get out of here. 

You lift your heavy arm the best you can and pull back enough to punch Hyunjin. You aim for his face but your fist goes through him just as your lungs start to burn, you take one last look at him before the wall behind you gives out and you’re falling backwards. Hyunjin watches you, his eyes are void of that sparkling smile and guilt consumes you right before you hit the ground.

You jump up with a gasp as your eyes frantically search the room around you. Your chest rises and falls heavily and sweat beads at your hairline.

It was a dream. 

Friday is a late day for you with your last class ending at nine in the evening. Hyunjin always waits for you in the abandoned art studio, he waits for two hours just to walk you to your dorm across campus. It’s become a routine for the two of you but you told him not to wait up tonight. He was reluctant at first, he insisted on waiting for you but you were adamant about breaking your routine.

He agreed eventually but you could see the dejection in his eyes as he hugged you goodbye before your last class. He watched you walk away just like he always did but this time his heart was heavy in his chest. Did he do something wrong? 

That question haunted him throughout the day. It was loud in his head as he collected his stuff and made his way to the abandoned studio. It echoed in his ears as he tried to finish the painting of his vibrant rose that he’s added notes of dusty pale pink to. But it was the loudest when Jeongin called him to ask if he was going to the get-together at Minho’s place tonight.

He knows that you and Minho’s girlfriend Isa are close so you have to know about this, hell, you might’ve even helped plan it and you kept it from him. You’re avoiding him.

You skipped your class to head to Minho and Isa’s place. They share a small apartment right off of campus that you often use as an escape. Isa is one of the few friends that you still have from sophomore year since her boyfriend has never once tried to get in your pants. 

You sat on Isa’s bed clutching a bottle of soju that is not at all meant for one person while you laid your head in her lap. You loved being with her because there was never any pressure to fill the silence. She understands you in a way that other people just don’t. Not even Hyunjin. 

“So, he called you pretty?” You’ve been telling her everything from what happened at the art gallery to the nightmare you had last night. “And now you’re avoiding him?”

“I’m not avoiding him.” You take a swig from the glass bottle and gulp hard to rush the alcohol into your system. “I’m just being careful.”

“You’re being careful by avoiding your best friend… because he called you pretty and you had a nightmare about it?” You sit up with a groan, lifting the bottle to your mouth again with a sigh. She’s not getting it. 

“You didn’t see the way he looked at me. You didn’t feel the way he pulled me into him, his arm wrapped around my waist and he just stared at me with that smile in his eyes. You know the one that makes his eyes shine when he sees something pretty? He was looking at me like that and he told me that I looked elegant. Messy but elegant and that he couldn’t help but to stare. There was a softness in his voice, I swear, and he just wouldn’t take his eyes off of me. It’s like he was looking into me instead of at me it was… it was..”

“Sweet?” You tap the bottle in your hands with your nails. 

“Suffocating. It was too much. It made my heart skip and it made me feel hot.” 

“That usually means that you like him, ya know.” She takes the bottle from you, drinking from it a bit herself. “ You know that he’s a romantic and this isn’t the first time you’ve felt like this with him.” She hands the cold glass back to you while you think back to the other times that you’ve felt this. The latest being your birthday three months ago when Hyunjin whisked you away to the next city for a mini getaway. 

You stayed in the same hotel room and on the night of your birthday you had a bit too much to drink. He carried you up to your room since you were too out of it to walk but you weren’t too far gone to forget the way that he handled you with such gentle care.

He brushed your hair out of your face when he laid you on your bed and took your make-up off with such a tender touch that it made you want to kiss him. You almost kissed him. 

“I don’t like him like that.” You shrug and she sighs. 

“Whatever you say, ice queen.” That damned nickname makes you cringe but Minho is bursting through the door before you can rebuttal. 

“Jisung and Bin just got here, come on.” You stare at him with confused eyes and he crosses his arms as he stares back at you. “Well? Get up, you wanted to do this.”

“Do what?” You look over at Isa who’s already getting up from the bed.

“Did you not call her asking for a get-together? People are getting here so come on. I’m not hosting this by myself.” Your heart drops and you stare over at Isa who looks back at you with her own look of confusion until it all sinks in.

 “You meant for it to be just us, didn’t you?”

Hyunjin is a cautious person, anyone who knows him knows that about him. He doesn’t like when things go wrong because of him. It eats him alive until he can fix it and if he can’t he lets the anxiety consume him until a part of him dies with the memory of it all. 

His cautious nature is what prompted him to drive home after he got that call from Jeongin. It brought him right to his bedroom where he dropped his bag by the foot of his bed and laid back against the mattress with a death stare set on the dull ceiling. It stared back at him, reflecting his thoughts back to him for him to analyze. 

His brother left for the get-together as soon as he walked through the door and Hyunjin was tempted to follow him down to Seungmin’s car.

He was tempted to drop his bag and turn on his heels and come straight to you but he knew better. He knew you better than you knew yourself. If he shows up at that get-together you’ll avoid him like the plague. You’ll feel trapped by his presence and any hope that he has of fixing this situation will die right in front of his eyes. 

His cautious nature is what’s keeping him on his bed. It’s what’s grounding him to this spot and sating the burning desire to chase you. The problem is that the fire in his chest is bigger than he can handle. He’s seen how you treat the men you want to avoid on campus, he’s seen you take the long way home just to avoid a conversation and the thought of you doing that to him makes him wilt. He can’t let that happen. 

His feet are carrying him across his room before he can even fully process it. He opens his closet and pulls out the brown flannel along with his brown beanie. They’ve become comfort items for the both of you at this point, especially the flannel. It feels like a thread connecting you to him and him to you. He needs to save that connection.

 He sloppily throws on the items while he checks the clock. He’s nearly two hours late but there’s still time. 

Hyunjin has never gotten a speeding ticket but he was nearly positive that he’d get one tonight. He made it to Minho’s place in record time but he’s panting when he knocks on the door like he’s ran there. His heart is hammering when Isa answers the door and the look on her face when she takes him in only makes his heart beat faster. 

She forces a smile, inviting him in and telling him where everything is but he already knows all of that and she knows that he does. “She doesn’t want to see me does she?” Isa sighs, giving him a look that answers each and every one of his questions all at once. 

“Thanks for letting me in.” He walks past her with a nervous huff, making his way into the small party and searching for you immediately. He finds Changbin and Chan before he can find you and the two quickly drag him into a conversation about gods know what while wedging a glass bottle of mystery liquid into his fist. 

Hyunjin’s eyes wander in an attempt to find you as he ignores his friends' conversation. Luckily it didn’t take long for the sound of your loud laughter to echo through the room. His eyes were on you in an instant once he heard it. You’re right in front of him sitting in the truth or dare circle with a can of something strong in your hand. You’re always the loudest in the room but right now you seem to be the drunkest too, you shouldn’t be playing that game you’ll do something reckless.  

He wants to go over and pull you up, he wants to tell you that you’re going home and that you need to sober up. He wants to get you to talk to him but he ignores everything he wants and watches you instead. He stays cautious and keeps his distance. 

“Y/n, truth or dare.” One of your few girl friends, Harvey asks from across the circle. You answer ‘dare’ with a wide smile, it’s no surprise, you always pick that. The raven haired girl looks over to Mingi for assistance since she’s known for picking terrible dares. After a couple seconds of deliberation the blonde perks up with an idea.

“I dare you to kiss whoever this bottle lands on.” Mingi dares with a nonchalant smile and you shrug, the alcohol in your system is surely boosting your confidence but it’s not like you’ll remember any of this tomorrow so who cares, right?

He spins the bottle in the middle of the circle and everyone watches with quiet anticipation as it lands on the copper haired boy sitting three people away from you. It’s Jeongin. 

He stops in the middle of sipping from his cup and flashes you a small innocent smile but what you return to him is nothing less than a look of raw seduction. You’re on your feet in an instant, making your way over to him with low and hazy eyes. You straddle him swiftly, getting comfortable in his lap like you’ve done this a hundred times. 

“You sure about this, noona?” His hands rest on your thighs, he brushes his thumbs over the bareskin and you can feel a shiver down your spine. It almost reminds you of how Hyunjin touched you on your birthday. 

“Do you not wanna kiss me?” You tease him with a slight slur to your voice. You know he wants to kiss you, everyone does except for Hyunjin, right? 

Just as that thought passes your eyes flicker up and meet those of the very man on your mind. He’s watching you with an angry gaze as he fists the neck of the glass bottle in his hand. Your mouth goes dry as you take him in, when did he get here? You feel stuck staring at him, everything around you is suddenly muted and the people around you disappear. It’s only you and Hyunjin.

Both of your hearts are pounding in your chest. 

Both of you feel like you can’t breathe. 

Both of you are about to do something that you shouldn’t.

“Kiss her already!” Ryujin instigates from across the circle and you snap out of your haze and blink down at Jeongin. You both share a smile, one more genuine than the other, before he’s leaning into you. His lips just barely brush against yours before you’re interrupted.

A firm grip on your shoulder startles you and the man under you. You both look up to meet the eyes of the angry Hyunjin above you.“Get up.” He practically growls with a slight tug on your arm. You stare up at him with glassy eyes though you are feeling a bit more sober now. “Get. Up.” 

You’re being pulled up before you can process it. Your feet fight to keep up with him as you stumble towards the bedroom he’s leading you to. You can feel all eyes on you, you can feel the room getting smaller once he locks the bedroom door behind the two of you and pulls his flannel off to drape over your shoulders, something that he does to comfort you. 

“What the fuck?” That’s all you can manage to get out of your mouth as you stare over at him. He stares back with his arms crossed and his chest rising and falling with what you perceive as anger but he would describe as anxiety. Pure fear. 

“Do you understand what you were about to do?” Hyunjin tries to be mindful of his tone. He tries to limit the waver of his words and calm the frantic thoughts in his head. He’s trying. “Why would you kiss him?”

“I didn’t.” The alcohol in your system takes over again and you thank the ridiculous amount of soju you’ve consumed for coming to the rescue. You tug on the flannel resting over your shoulders, pretending that its warmth would protect you from the buzzing in your head and inevitable burning in your chest.

“You would’ve if I didn’t stop you. What happened to you not being into Jeongin? What happened to you not wanting to hurt him?”

You groan, stomping your foot like a child being scolded by their guardian. Like the little girl who punched the brunette boy in the face for chasing her. “Why don’t you mind your business?”

Hyunjin scoffs, his anxiety grows in his chest and he takes a step back. “You are my business.” 

It’s silent for one, two, three heartbeats before the dizzying emotions burning in your chest fill in the silence for you. “Well maybe I shouldn’t be. You’re way too attached to me.”

Hyunjin feels frozen even though he’s stepping back from you. He’s creating more space between the two of you just like you seem to be doing. What do you mean by that? You’re rambling on before he can ask. “You do all of these things that make me feel like I can’t breathe. You call me pretty and you touch me softly and you hold me close and… and you just make me feel hot. You suffocate me.”

Hyunjin whispers through the bubbles forming in his throat. He’s gentle with the way he speaks, he is a cautious person after all, especially when it comes to his art. “Is this about what I said at the gallery?”

His question goes in one ear and right out the other. Your brain formulates words quicker than you can process them, creating a violent episode of word vomit that threatens to spill over your lips and onto the carpet but you swallow hard and condense it all into one simple yet seering sentence. “You keep making my heart race, it’s not fair. You need to go, just go.”

Hyunjin’s blood runs cold and his temples throb like you’ve hit him. Like you’ve punched him in the face. Anxiety bubbles in his veins and swells behind his eyes. It’s his turn to ramble, the word vomit seems to be contagious. 

“I’m not leaving.” His gaze is frantic, cautious, scared. “I am too attached, you’re right. I have been for a while. I’ve loved you for a while and I tried to hide it but I shouldn’t have to. I shouldn’t be scared that I’ll lose my best friend if I tell her that she’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

 “No, you are not confessing to me right now. Don’t you dare do that.” You pace to the left then the right in a hurried attempt to escape his words before they could reach you. He can’t be doing this right now. You needed to get out of here.

“I am. I am confessing to you. I need you to hear me say that I love you because I do and it scares me just as much as it scares you but you are the reason that it’s scaring me. Losing you is the reason that I’m afraid and I need you to tell me that that isn’t going to happen.” His voice is shaky just like your hands. He watches you like a dog being dropped off at the pound as you physically try to escape him. He knew this would happen, this is what he was afraid of. 

“Stop. Just stop it, Hyunjin. You’re doing it again, I can’t breathe when you’re this close to me.” He stares over at you from the other side of the room and you stare back at him. This doesn’t make any sense. He isn’t next to you but you still can’t breathe. It doesn’t make any sense. “I have to go - I have - just… just leave me alone.” You turn towards the bedroom door but he speaks up before you can make your escape. 

“I’m not going to chase you.” Hyunjin is unmoving. His feet are still planted to the floor like a statue as he slips his fists into his pocket. “I don’t want to push you further away but don’t you dare go home and convince yourself that I don’t care just because I let you go.” 

You listen to him over your hammering heart with your back turned to him and your unsteady gaze trained on the worn door knob. “I’m letting you go with the hope that you’ll come back. You know where to find me.” 

Your feet threaten to betray you, they try to turn you around and drive you over to him but your heart is screaming. That white flame is burning in your chest and begging you to run. Run as fast as you can and find safety, but your safety is standing behind you. It’s watching you with teary eyes that are desperate to meet yours. 

A tear slips down your cheek as you grab the doorknob and pull it with a quick twist. You follow your heart and rush out of the room with tears decorating your face and your hand over your mouth. You let the burning win again.

You rush past everyone, Isa tries to stop you and Minho even catches you for a minute but you fight him off of you and make your way to the front door. You don’t get too far before the last layer of your resolve snaps, You turn onto the next dark block and sink to the ground. Sobs rip through you as Hyunjin’s words hang in your head. He loves you. He wants you but you left him. You left everything you’ve ever wanted behind you. 

A heavier sob escapes you as the truth of it all comes crashing down. You love him too, don’t you? You’ve loved him for so long. Since your birthday and beyond that but you’ve been avoiding it. You’ve avoided your feelings just like you have everything else. You’ve punched yourself in the face, you’ve chased yourself into a corner and now you might just lose everything you have left. You might lose your best friend.

The storms over the next two days swirl the skies into mysterious clouds of pink and white as rain soaks the grass the same way that you’ve soaked your pillow for hours. You’ve opted to stay in, avoiding anything or anyone that could remind you of Friday’s catastrophe.

 You’ve debated texting Jeongin and apologizing for what you remember of the situation. You almost called Isa to spill the fears bubbling in your lungs to her so that she could help you sort through them but she can’t. This is up to you. You need to make a choice. Will you run away from the fire or towards it? 

On the other side of campus Hyunjin sits in the abandoned studio with paint stained hands and dried tears on his cheeks. He’s left his previous painting incomplete. The bright blushing rose sits across the room with the others just like it while he touches his brush to the canvas and smears a smoky mauve to the pristine white flesh. His lines are messy and uncalculated. Far from cautious. 

For a moment he considers that he was only ever careful because of you. Your lack of control over your emotions inspired him to fill in the blanks for you. Now there’s no need for caution without you.

The rain carried into Monday along with the emptiness in your chest. You’ve typed and deleted paragraphs to Hyunjin who has done the same as he sat on the studio floor.

He stayed in the dusty room until midnight each day that he was without you and you stayed up well past then. He poured himself into painting and you poured yourself onto the carpet of your dorm room. You made lists and mapped your emotions until it all started to make a bit more sense. Until the love that burned alongside your hot white fear was glowing pink in the mirror. 

You skipped your classes on Monday, your feet drove you over to the dead side of campus through the violent rain. You stood in the hallway outside of Hyunjin’s studio. The worn copper doorknob stared back at you like it knew what you were here to do. Like it was daring you to go inside. You suck in a breath as you grab the metal, you’ve never been one to back down from a dare.

The studio is empty when you walk inside. The fading warm light of the lamps that you and Hyunjin bought and snuck in illuminate the space the best that they can given the dull pink skies. Your eyes catch on the new piece sitting up on his easel. It’s dark and runny, it’s raw and it feels like it’s calling your name. 

“Hi.” Hyunjin’s voice snaps you out of your thoughts. His voice is small and surprised as he stares over at your frame clad in that famous brown flannel and sweatpants. 

“Hi.” You whisper back. He looks like a mess. Brown hat, pulled too far over his head and his hair spilling from every exit it can find. “More roses?” 

He stares passed you and over at the wilting petals on the canvas with a sad smile. “It’s like I’m in love or something.” 

Your guilt tinged heart beats a bit faster when he steps further into the room and closes the door behind him. He drops his bag next to the door and stares at the dinghy tile with his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry. For everything, for the party and everything with your brother and for everything that I said.” 

The word vomit is back. It spilled over your lips before you could attempt to swallow it back but you’re almost thankful for it. You have no clue how you’d get your words out otherwise. “You just made me feel… I just felt..” You kick at the cracked tile as if it holds the answers you’re looking for but Hyunjin beats you to it.

“Suffocated.” His eyes are on you now, they’re low and shadowed in a longing sadness. “I’ve seen this happen a million times to other guys and I thought that I was being careful enough to avoid it.” 

“This is nothing like the other guys.” Your bag slumps off of your shoulder and you carelessly allow it to hit the floor. “Your confession just -” He cuts you off with a tight smile.

 “I know. It ruined everything.” He sighs, sad eyes examining the space between the two of you. “I ruined everything and I’m sorry for that, rose. I really am.”

“It didn't. It didn’t ruin anything, it just scared me. I felt suffocated, yes, but not by you. It was by what I felt for you. That’s why this isn’t like what happened with any of the other guys. I never wanted them. Avoiding them was easy but you… avoiding you..” Hyunjin watches your heaving chest with the caution that he thought had abandoned him. He’s quiet, allowing you time to gather your thoughts. He doesn’t want to corner you, he just wants to hear you. 

“Why do you call me that?” You whisper once your breathing has steadied. “Why did you start calling me rose?”

Suddenly he’s looking past you then down at the tile under his feet. He leans against the door behind him, a faint smile decorating his sad face. “You were wearing one in your hair on the day that I realized I love you.” He looks over to where his easel is set up. “We were sitting right there and you had a pale pink rose behind your left ear. You picked me one to match and I told you that it was my favorite flower because in that moment it was. It was beautiful but you…your beauty is hard to beat.”

Your heart is thumping in your ears, it’s a sound that you’ve grown comfortable with over the past few days. The clutter of the abandoned room almost seems to disappear as you process his words. The burning in your chest makes itself known along with the newly identified pink flame. The white walls of the studio almost seem brighter as you receive Hyunjin’s confession. You let it sink in and drown out the tension little by little. “So when you paint them…”

“I’m painting you. I’m always painting you.” The thumping is deafening but Hyunjin is clear over the noise. He has always been the only one who can cut through it all, even in your dreams. 

You can feel yourself falling just like in your nightmare only it’s forwards. You’re falling forwards as your feet carry you to him. You run. You run to him and you fall into his arms that have been desperate to catch you for months. The burn in your chest is paralyzing, it’s seering and fighting the pink flame for dominance. 

You cry into his chest, you sob as the pain of running into the fire engulfs you. It swallows you whole and you stand in it with him, you cling to him before you burn to ash and he holds you like he knows it all. He cradles the back of your head like he can feel the fire ripping your flesh apart. 

You’re flush against him, tears soaking his shoulder and burning all over until he does what no one has done before. He puts it all out. A simple kiss to the top of your head dowses the flame and reduces it to a measly spark of fear overshadowed by an uncontainable pink and white glow of love in your chest. 

You gasp at the cooling effect. Air rushes into your lungs and you can finally breathe, he’s the oxygen you needed. He’s everything you’ve needed but now you want to give your air away again. You want to give it all to him. 

You pull away from his shoulder in one swift motion, your eyes are shut tight as your lips find his and you pull him into a hard and messy kiss. The sound that escapes you both is desperate and beautiful. His lips move with yours in an uncoordinated rhythm that makes your lungs burn comfortably. They burn the way that they’re supposed to. 

Hyunjin cries into the kiss. Tears stream down his cheeks as he cradles you against him like you’d vanish if he didn’t. He drinks it all in, he allows himself to live in this moment that he’s been dying to have with you for what feels like an eternity before he reluctantly breaks the kiss. 

His eyes are still closed when he pulls away. He whispers to you, careful not to crack the shell of this delicate moment. “I thought you -” 

“I don’t want to keep running. I can’t, I need you. I can’t lose you.” Your eyes flutter open at the same time as his. He stares down at you with that smile in his eyes. That smile he has when he sees something beautiful, when he’s utterly enamored by the sight before him. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to do any of this, I only know that I want to do it with you.”

He’s quiet for a couple of seconds before a smile sneaks up on him. It fades just as quickly as it came and his eyebrows pinch together. “You want me?” You nod and the smile shows itself again. 

“I want you.” He leans back in, cupping your cheek as he kisses you hard. His body pushes against yours and you move with him as he walks backwards towards one of the few empty desks and lifts you onto it. 

His hands explore every inch of you that he can reach. He balls his fist over the baggy flannel hiding your body from him while your fingers tangle in his hair and scratch over his shoulders and up his arms.

 He breaks the kiss to run his lips over the flushed flesh of your neck, he whispers into your skin between each kiss “Tell me to stop.” He pulls at the collar of the flannel to kiss the curve of your neck. “I’ve waited so long for this, please tell me to stop. Tell me to wait.”

You push his head further into the crook of your neck as you tilt your head further to give him better access. “I don’t want you to.” He sucks a mark into the skin right below your ear and you pull his tucked in shirt from his pants with an elated moan. 

His clumsy fingers fight to unbutton the oversized flannel as yours attempt to unbutton his jeans. You reach your goal before he does and waste no time capitalizing on your victory. You dip your hand in just enough to fish his growing erection from his briefs and wrap your hand around it. 

Hyunjin moans at the stimulation, leaning his forehead against yours and squeezing his eyes shut as you stroke him slowly. “Fuck, please don’t, I wont - I can’t last.”

 You kiss his temple softly, whispering reassurance that you don’t care to have him last, you just want to have him. Once he’s centered himself again he continues his struggle to expose your body to him. The final button falls open like the curtain to a play and he stares down your scantily clad torso like an audience in awe. 

His hand moves on its own as he admires you. It dips into the waistband of your sweatpants and swipes over your clothed clit.

 Your head falls forward to rest on his shoulder with a quiet moan as he groans into the air. Your grip on his cock tightens a bit in response to the sensation and he hisses. “Please tell me I can feel you. Is it okay? Can I?” 

He doesn't want your first time to be here but he wants you. He needs you. 

Hyunjin hooks a finger into the damp gusset of your panties and pulls it to the side just enough to slip a finger into your waiting cunt. You pant in his ear, wanton moans bubble over the brim of your lips as his free hand cradles the side of your neck. “Look at me, please look at me, baby.”

 He runs his thumb over your cheek, brushing over the path of your dried tears. “So pretty, this must be a dream.” You shake your head. Speaking between moans. “Not a dream, baby.”

 He slips in another finger as you circle your palm over the head of his cock and you both moan. “Please tell me I can.” He leans his forehead against yours, his desperate eyes reflect the look in your own.

“You can. Please, I want you to.” 

“Have you ever thought about it?” He’s asking before he can process it and you’re shaking your head before he can even finish his sentence. A shy glaze washes over your desperate gaze as you watch him undress you.

 “You’re all I ever think about.” He whispers as he hooks his thumbs into the band of your pants. “You’re all I’ve wanted for the past year.” 

“I’ve loved you since my birthday.” You blurt out, vulnerable eyes peering into his. “Maybe even before that.” He runs a finger over your clothed cunt and you shudder under the touch.

“I wanted to kiss you the night of your birthday. You looked so beautiful but you were wasted. You wouldn’t have remembered. I just stared at you, I took your make-up off and I brushed the hair from your face and you stared back at me. I was just dying to kiss you. I was dying to confess.” Your hand runs slowly up his shaft and he swears that he feels electric. 

“I wanted to kiss you too.” He’s quiet, staring back at you with a smile. “That’s why I was staring”

“I kissed your forehead when you fell asleep.”  He pulls your panties down your legs, allowing them to pool at his feet with your sweatpants. “I knelt by your bed and whispered my confession to you.” 

His fingers are filling you again and you gasp while staring into his eyes. “I wanna hear it.” You whisper through a moan.

 “You want to hear my confession?” You nod, your gently fucked out gaze stares into his like your hypnotized by the moment. He scissors his finger into you, stretching you out just a bit before you’re gasping from the stretch of him replacing his fingers with his length. 

“Fuck, you’re inside of me.” Hyunjin stills with a groan. His forehead rests on your shoulder while he silently begs himself not to come undone just yet. He sucks in a breath before he recites all that he can remember. 

“You’re everything that I thought it would be to fall in love.” He whispers as he pulls back, thrusting into you slowly. “You really snuck up on me, I don’t know what I expected though.” He lifts his head to look at you as he sinks back into you. “You became my world so quickly. So effortlessly.”

 You cup his face with both of your hands as you bite back your moans. You want to hear him loud and clear. You want to remember every word. “I should’ve known that I’d fall in love when I first met you.” He picks up the pace, falling into a messy rhythm that’s accompanied by a fit of moans and grunts. 

He struggles to keep his eyes on you. They flutter shut with each thrust as he feels himself float closer and closer to his climax. “Baby, I won’t last.” You wrap your arms around his neck and one of his wraps around your waist while the other rests on your thigh before creeping over to softly pinch and rub your clit. 

“Hyune, you’re gonna make me - gonna -” He cuts you off with a sloppy kiss, his tongue brushes over your parted lips to request access before making room for itself against yours.

“If you tell me that you’re gonna cum I won’t last another second.” He whispers against your lips and you moan against his.

“What if I tell you that I love you.” Hyunjin’s eyebrows pinch at the confession. That’s way worse than telling him that you’re close. “I’ve loved you back for as long as - as long as you’ve loved me.”

“Rose, baby, you’re gonna -” It’s your turn to kiss him now, it’s a mess of teeth and tongue but you love it. You love him and him you.

 You both pull away in tandem, twin moans ripping through your chests as you both announce yourself to the other. 

“I’m cumming, I’m cumming.” Hyunjin pulls out of you, painting your thighs in his sticky white release while his fingers toy with your clit to ride you through your orgasm. It’s loud and messy and beautiful. A romantic elegance that you want to live in for as long as it’s available. 

Once you’ve both come down from your high Hyunjin kisses your sweaty forehead and you kiss his. He pulls his bottoms up before grabbing the cleanest paint rag he has to clean you up. A comfortable silence settles around you as you ground yourself and take in the space.

“You didn’t finish that one.”

He follows your gaze over to the painting of the pale pink rose. The middle of the canvas contrasts the rest with nothing but dull line art to show the completed picture. It looks like a work in progress. “I know, but I think I like it like that.” He looks back over at you and you at him.

“It looks like you."

It’s been seven months. Graduation has come and gone in the middle of your blooming relationship with Hyunjin and you’ve dedicated each and every second of your budding love to taming the flame. 

Each kiss from him has kept the spark of fear at bay and each touch has taught you how to stop running. It’s been a slow and cautious process that he is more than proud to be a part of. He takes pride in it. He takes pride in being with you.

The smooth breeze of late summer brushes against your skin as you step out of your car. The white dress that Hyunjin picked out for you sticks to you like paint on a canvas as you make your way up to the art gallery. 

It’s buzzing inside, people stand and stare in awe at each piece while whispering and pointing to their favorite details. You stop and stand in the middle of it all, taking it all in with a slow spin on the balls of your feet. You take in every corner until you turn around completely and you’re met with the face of the artist himself. 

“Hi.” Hyunjin smiles down at you, brown baggy flannel hanging from his shoulders. 

“Hi.” You stare back at him with a gleaming smile in your eyes. You take in every inch of him, scanning him like he should be framed and hanging on the walls around you. 

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Hyunjin wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him. “I like staring at you.” Your response makes him beam a shy smile. 

“You should be staring at the art. The artist might get sad if you don’t.” He kisses your forehead before letting you go. Some people around you stare over at the two of you with curious eyes. They’re eager to put a face to the muse of the showing artist. 

You take his hand and lead him over to the piece that a couple is walking away from. You stand in front of it hand in hand as you study it for what feels like the millionth time. “This one is my favorite.” The incomplete pale pink rose stares back at you.

“And why is that?” Hyunjin has that smile in his eyes as he stares up with you. The memory of this piece's origin plays behind his eyes like a memorized movie. 

“I’ve been told that it looks like me.” You lay your head on his shoulder and wrap your arm around his. A chill runs up his spine and he blames it on you. You and the love he feels glowing pink and white around you. 

“There you are.” History repeats itself as the lady that you’ve come to know as Dalia interrupts the two of you. “I wanted to check in with you, how does it feel to finally have your own exhibition?” 

Hyunjin smiles at her politely, turning towards her a bit with his fingers still threaded through yours. “It’s amazing. Thank you, you���ve done a wonderful job putting this together.” 

“Oh, please, it’s nothing. This is all you.” You watch her as her eyes smile just as they always have. Her hand brushes over his arm in a carefully calculated move. She’s still shameless and unprofessional. “This piece is my favorite. The unfinished look is unique and raw. What inspired this one?” 

You grin to yourself as you listen to her. She’s trying so hard that it’s difficult not to laugh. 

“Actually.” Hyunjin pulls your hand a bit, leading you forward so that you’re right next to him. It’s impossible for Dalia to ignore you now. Her eyes scan you reluctantly and the smile on her face falters for a second before she pulls it together. Gosh, that's gratifying. 

“My lovely rose here is the inspiration for it all.” Hyunjin looks over at you with a glow that is unmatched even by the largest of flames. “None of this would be possible without her.” 

It’s like Dalia disappears once Hyunjin looks over at you. You’re the only two in the room as far as you’re concerned. “Oh, well that’s just - that’s wonderful.” Her staggered speech pulls you both out of your loving haze. 

“Such a … sweet profession of love.” She glares over at you though you’re sure that in her head she’s doing a wonderful job at hiding her contempt. “I should make sure that everything is running smoothly. Please excuse me.” 

She clears her throat awkwardly before she departs, you and Hyunjin both bid her smiling farewells before turning to each other with wide smiles. “Show off.” You push his shoulder playfully and he laughs.

“I didn’t do anything.” You roll your eyes as you both wander over to the next piece on the wall. You stare up at the two pink roses in a lone vase, a shadow of sunlight casts down on them both as they rise towards its shining glow. 

A comfortable silence blankets the two of you while you listen to the soft buzz of the people around you. You squeeze his hand softly and he squeezes back just as you open your mouth to speak. 

“She still wants to fuck you.” He smiles 

“Shut up.”

Thank you for reading! I'd love to know what you thought about this fic! Leave a comment or send an ask to let me know! ❣️

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[ruvaidwani]

Schizo Ruvaid :

I once read in a psychology book that the earlier in life that one appears odd, the more severely they’re likely to be impacted by their mental illness later on in life. I guess you could say that’s the case for me. I can trace certain thoughts back to as early as 6 years old. I had crippling social anxiety and would become fearful of totally irrational things. Irrational even for that age. I was freaked out constantly and didn’t even like walking to the bathroom in my own house during the day time. I had this sensation that someone was right behind me all the time. I never felt alone.

My psychotic symptoms appeared when I was 12. They were brief and very spread out then. The first hallucination I ever remember was seeing a black hole or portal in my yard. By 14–15, I was having visual hallucinations nearly constantly. Mostly when I was by myself though. They really scared me . My parents didn’t wanna hear it because it upset them.

Around that time I also started having delusions that stalkers from my old school were crawling in my air vents, so I’d always close the vents. I believed I had to punish myself to absolve the world of its pain and sins and that was my duty on this earth. This led me to hurting or torturing myself in various ways. I believed I had a sort of gift to communicate with the ghost world but I couldn’t brag about it or else I’d be a pompous sinner like all the rest.

I also would hallucinate glowing quotation marks and I thought that was the spirit world quoting my thoughts. Whenever that would happen I’d focus extra hard on whatever I was thinking because I thought the spirits were trying to tell me it had a deeper meaning about how to punish myself for the world. I would also think random things were making vague references to my thoughts and that was a punishment toward me to make me suffer and go crazy.

There was also this delusion I had that my bathroom mirror was a two way mirror and I didn’t shower often because I didn’t want whoever was on the other side to see me naked. And I would see this caterpillar man on the bathroom door and I don’t know why but I believed he was the spirit of a criminal.

When I was 18 I started having more vivid hallucinations as well as nightmares where I’d wake up and see visions. I got these new visuals where shadows would commit suicide in front of me. I also started hearing voices at this time, usually at night. I would hear static and a lady calling me rude names and just repeating words. And I heard a man’s voice saying the name of a TV character. I also began losing my train of thought mid sentence or text or forget what words I’m trying to say. Or I will misread words on paper.

Despite the toll this takes on me, I keep it mostly to myself. I know deep down I am either gifted with the ability to see the forces around us, or I genuinely have schizophrenia.

I stay to myself as much as I can in my room. I do have to study and I manage to get through it. I’d say I’m pretty functional though I am constantly tormented with fears and thoughts. I can never truly chill out because it’s always going on and I can’t just fully ignore it or get used to it. I just hope that it doesn’t progress past this point.

It got worse when I was 18 I started to hallucinate more but it got better after I overcame my addiction but now it's happening again

[fuck-customers]

I just have to vent to someone about this: I work in a convenience store. It gets real slow sometimes, so there's a few customers I'll chat with to pass the time. But I have an annoying customer that comes in almost everyday, sometimes multiple times a day, to complain about his dog. He used to be totally silent and honestly pretty rude to me, but one day I was talking to the woman in front of him while I was checking her out and I casually mentioned that my mother and grandmother both trained dogs, so I picked up a lot from them. Since then he's decided I'm supposed to help him with all his dog training woes.

Apparently his old dog passed away a few months ago and she was super easy and calm, so he decided to go out and get another dog. He showed me a picture of her and she looked like some sort of cattle dog mixed with dalmatian, maybe with some malamute or husky thrown in. He complains that she's nothing like his old dog, she's constantly whining and barking and never sits still and she's destroyed his furniture. And I try to be sympathetic but like... buddy. Your old dog was a senior dachshund and your new dog is a nightmare amalgamation of high energy, high maintenance dogs. I'm surprised she hasn't torn your house apart board by board. I tried telling him as gently as possible that high energy dogs like her need a job to do, or at least lots of exercise to get her energy out, but apparently he doesn't want to listen.

He also acts like the dog has like.. a personal vendetta against him? He says things like "(old dog) knew I have to get at least 6 hours of sleep every night or I can't function, but (new dog) wakes me up on purpose every night. (old dog) would never treat me this way." I eventually had to be like "You.. do know nothing a dog does is personal, right? If she's acting out it's because her needs aren't being met or she hasn't been trained properly. I think you're anthropomorphizing her too much."

He just stared at me blankly before being like "What did you just say?"

"Uh. You're anthropomorphizing her too much?"

"What does that mean?"

I proceed to tell him that animals aren't people and it's useless to prescribe certain human emotions or thought processes to them. Like.. the dog isn't trying to disrupt your sleep because she hates you, she just probably has to pee. Or she's feeling pent up because she didn't get walked enough. He was quiet for a little bit again before being like "I never thought about that. You're actually kinda smart, I didn't expect that."

I awkwardly fake laughed and was like "What, did you think I dropped out of 3rd grade or something?" and he, with the most serious look on his face, said "Well you work here for a reason."

So he basically admitted to my face he's been bothering me for dog advice for WEEKS but hasn't been taking any of it because he thought I was stupid and beneath him. Just... why. 😑

Posted by admin Rodney

[starry-bi-sky]

Danyal Al Ghul's missed potential - this kid is not gonna behave like his canon self if he's with the league of assassins until his late formative years, and my reasoning why

(feel free to take this all with a grain of salt this is just my thoughts on it, this is all mostly amusing to me and isn't trying to be negative towards anyone else)

similar to how i was talking about how danny growing up in crime alley would affect him, demon twin aus with danyal al ghul make me laugh a lot (affectionate) because... whose teaching danny to unlearn all the ecofascism he picked up from the league of assassins? whose teaching him to be kind? to be gentle? Not the LoA thats for certain.

(you could plausibly say Jazz but she's only 2 years older than Danny and do you really expect a fellow child to properly explain why X is wrong to another child and have it be 100% effective? i don't doubt it'd help to an extent, but not in the same way an adult explaining it would)

plus a ton of other things, like whose teaching him to value human life? not the LoA. Whose teaching him how to adjust to living with American society after he ends up with the Fentons when he's 8-9-10? Who teaches him that killing is wrong, whose enforcing that?

(not the Fentons if you're going the neglectful parent route, and Jazz can try but i really don't think Danny is going to listen to her, a stranger who isn't even part of his grandfather's league)

How do you teach a child to value human life when the greatest development window for that opportunity has closed and he's already formed his own opinions?

You're not gonna get a Danny whose exactly like his canon attitude if he's staying with the league during his formative years (0-8 years old). you're not. You could get someone LIKE it, potentially, or someone who has traces of it or is similar -- like danny's wit and jokes and sarcasm, and on some level his kindness. but you're not gonna have a carbon copy. Development doesn't work that way. "nature" can only do so much in the face of nurture.

If anything, it doesn't even have to be a major change -- in the league he cans till be kind, but it's probably going to manifest in a different way than what is considered normal. Tough love, for one. But there's gonna be something that affects him negatively. Why make him 'always good/kind' when you can make him a brat who develops into a kinder (if spikier than in canon) person?

TLDR: Danyal Al Ghul would not be like how he is in canon if he's with the league until his late formative years -- not without any lasting pr permanent impacts from the league at least. Missed potential to make him an absolute nightmare like damian was -- especially in his early years when he first arrived to the Fenton house.

(this doesn't apply to danyal al ghul aus where he's either given to the fentons as a baby/is reincarnated/etc. this is mostly aimed for danyal al ghul aus where he fakes his death at like, 7-10 and somehow ends up, personality-wise like his completely canon self by 14 without any differences.)

(and even then if he's five or four, or even three, he would still be traumatized and influenced by the league. he'll just have more time to adjust. the sooner he leaves the league the more likely he is to be like his canon self, but not like an exact copy)

(more under the cut)

Anyways what I'm saying is that there is prime missed Danyal al Ghul potential to make him an absolute NIGHTMARE to the Fentons however way he ends up with them, just like Damian was with the Waynes! Cuz why does Damian get all the fun? Danny got the same training and endoctrine as him! He is also an ex-assassin! Why is Danny the only one who is 'well adjusted and non-violent' hm? Hmm?

Why can't he also be mean, and stabby, and a total stuck-up in some way or another? Have fun with his characterization, its prime opportunity to play play-doh and clay with him! If he starts out as X how does he get the personality traits of Y, and thus become XY?

Like take this with a grain of salt if you will, but make him arrogant. Make him an asshole! Make him a bad person at first! Because he will be! He's the blood son of the batman and you mean to tell me that damian is the only one arrogant about it at first? Make him stabby and mean even at 14 when he's begun to chill out! Have fun with it! If he's with the Fentons at any point past the age of four or five then he's gonna be a nightmare to handle because he still remembers the league and his time there.

(and while it gives him more time to chill the hell out, his time at the league is still gonna leave an impact on him.)

also what im saying as well is have him and sam potentially get along like a house on FIRE. Again, Danny grew up under the views of an ecofascist cult and nobody to challenge those views to him until he got to amity park at whatever age in late formative years he was at. He could be about as intense or even MORE intense about environmental awareness/rights than Sam is!

(also him being supremely unimpressed with Sam's wealth. he gave up a palace in the mountains for this town. because that's funny to me - like let his past have more influence on him! it'll be fun!)

you could have a danny who doesn't kill but doesn't fully understand the value of human life because jazz is like two years older than him and isn't that good at explaining why people's lives are important. he won't kill but he's not morally opposed to it. there's very little chance he actually gets bullied at school because he nearly killed Dash the first time he tried anything.

Danny could have scars, physical ones, because its implied in multiple canon that training starts at toddling (my best bet is 3 at minimum and ~maybe~ 2 but only on the later side of 2. Good fucking luck getting any infant under 2 to do anything you ask, ESPECIALLY assassin training. They're gonna stick the weapon in their mouth sooner than they're gonna do katas. This is coming from a daycare teacher.)

there's more examples of how danny being at the league during his formative years would affect him, but those are just some of them. he could have a sword! An appreciation for weaponry and nature. Maybe he still speaks all shakespearan and formal, does he still make bodily threats to people? If Damian is still threatening people at 14 why can't danny?

[loupy-mongoose]

Fuji stood in silence, the two Mews and the little Mewtwo floating in front of him. Randy's widened, horrified eyes locked onto Fuji's, neither seeming sure how to go on.

Finally, Fuji shook his head lightly and turned away. No... It... I-It has to be a dream... It's too... too surreal... Another Mewtwo, with Mo of all Mews... It has to be a dream...

Lavender floated toward him, casting a nervous look at her parents. I-It's not... I'm sorry... She gently reached out and touched his arm. We're real, and we're here...

Fuji steadily met her gaze. Then the gentle man turned from her to Randy. He looked long and hard at the pink Mew, and in the little bit of his consciousness that wasn't panicking or wishing to wake from this sudden nightmare, Randy thought he saw a lifetime flash in the man's eyes.

Finally, Fuji spoke. You aren't Mo, are you...

Randy felt as if his heart had been stabbed, and his blood went cold. Thoughts flooded uninvited into his mind.

How many times had he tried to convince himself that over the last five years?

How many times had he looked at himself in the mirror, wishing he would one day wake up with his old brown eyes, to find it had all been a cruel dream?

How many times had he been fine, only to be slammed with the fact that he was Mo...?

In his hesitation, Akoya answered for him. He's not... But we knew him...

Fuji's gaze darkened. Suddenly it makes sense why you'd know about Nico...

Randy, who could feel his attention being washed away by his anxiety, snapped back at those words. He vaguely noticed his wife's pelt puff up again.

His voice shook. ...What do you mean...?

Fuji looked at him questioningly. ...Wait, you didn't learn about him from Mo?

Randy felt a twinge in his mind. Mo... hadn't told him... right?

Surly he would remember that...

He... never mentioned him, no....

Fuji's eyes grew sad. I guess that makes sense too... He wasn't exactly happy about Nico...

So Mo knew him? How?

Fuji's gaze drifted into a time long passed. He took a breath and closed his eyes. Mo's DNA was used to create Nico... As an attempt to find a way to bring Mews back from extinction...

But... when he saw what was coming from it... He left...

And... I don't blame him...

His eyes bore into Randy. Are you related to him, at least? You look so much like him...

Randy's ears fell back, and his brows creased together. His voice was shaky and hoarse. ...I.... ah....

Akoya floated close to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned to her, fighting his daze of rising anguish, and anchored himself in her rich, sapphire eyes.

As he took a reassuring breath, Akoya turned back to Fuji. Are we still welcome to stay in your guest room? Or has that offer changed, now that you've seen what we are?

Fuji gave her a warm smile, though his eyes were still clouded with questions and his old memories. My arms and house are open to those in need. People and Pokemon alike. An eyebrow raised questioningly. Or... In between...? He shook off that train of thought. And I'd say you guys are in need of at least a place to rest.

Here you are.

The room was pleasant. A good sized bed loomed in the center, painfully inviting, with a short dresser at the foot of it. Two side tables flanked the head.

There are extra blankets and pillows in the dresser there. Make yourselves comfortable.

He gave them a deep, finalizing nod.

Have a good rest.

Akoya smiled at him. Thank you so much, Mr. Fuji. We really do appreciate it. It's just a... Well, it's been a weird day for us, too.

Fuji smiled back at her. He waved farewell, and they close the door.

Randy, now in human form, trudged over to the bed, leaning heavily on his cane. He fell onto it without a word and lay still.

Akoya, still in Mew form, hovered over and psychically repositioned him to be more comfortable. By the time she covered him with the blanket, he was fast asleep.

Lav, also still in her Mewtwo form, asked her mom quietly, Where are the twins?

Akoya looked at her, filled with a warm love and encouragement that Lav hadn't felt in quite awhile. They're with Persim, outside of Lavender. She thought for a moment and giggled. ...I'm not used to saying that word and not having it be about you.

Lav gave a light chuckle, but her mood wasn't lifted. She hugged herself, her tail resting on the floor around her feet. Her expression dropping, Akoya floated over to her.

I messed up, Mom... I didn't want you and Dad to get hurt... She looked at Randy, sleeping soundly on the bed. But he's still the one paying for it.

Akoya wrapped her tail around her daughter's two necks and gave her a hug on the head. She sighed. We all make mistakes, Lav. Some bring more weight than others. But we'll bare it together, okay? We'll work through this. Just remember, we've got your back. She glanced at her mate. And we've got his back.

Lavender gave a small scared smile and nodded.

Akoya pecked her on the cheek and floated away from Lav, toward where her best friend lay sleeping. She stopped and turned to Lav. You're welcome to join us on the bed, if you want.

Lav's tail flicked, and her ears went back. Thanks, Mom, but I think I'll pass...

Akoya gave her a sad but understanding look. Okay. Hey... We love you. Both of us. Very much.

Lav smiled, half-forced. I love you too, Mom.

She watched her mom fly over and disappear behind her dad. She hesitated, then floated over to him herself. She gave him a small kiss on his head, though she wasn't sure he would be aware of it.

Then she gathered some extra blankets and pillows, and floated over to the corner of the room, where she curled up in a makeshift fort and drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~

PREVIOUS NEXT

ARC START | CHRONO

[thedelicatearcher]

do you have any headcannons for dad!haymitch???

also i love ur writing smmmmm<<<<<<3333

yess!!! also thank you so much, really appreciate it <33

dad!haymitch abernathy headcanons

• being a dad was incredibly hard for haymitch at first. he had spent his entire life afraid of forming real connections, terrified that the capitol would kill them off as they had done before. the first time he held his baby in his arms, he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing, suppressing his sobs as his newborn daughter wrapped her tiny hand around the tip of his finger.

• haymitch spent many nights in the nursery, staring protectively at the baby while she slept. his anxiety constantly warned him that if he looked away, even for a second, something terrible would happen to her. you often woke up to find haymitch asleep in the rocking chair you use to help the baby fall asleep, in such an awkward position that you knew he would be grumbling all day about a sore neck.

• the warm sensation in his chest at the sight of his baby looking at him with adoring eyes was unforgettable. that is the mental image he tries to focus on whenever he has a nightmare and tries to ground himself back to reality. closing his eyes tightly, inhaling and exhaling consciously, he tries to stop himself from hyperventilating. finally feeling calm, though still weary, he quietly enters the nursery and, with great gentleness, caresses his daughter’s cheek with his finger, careful not to wake her.

• haymitch absolutely despised changing the baby’s diaper. ever since his daughter peed on his face, he had been reluctant to do it again. he used his persuasion skills to negotiate his way out of diaper duty. ‘look, sweetheart,’ he started to bargain, trying to hide the desperation in his eyes, ‘if i never have to change the baby again, i promise the house will be spotless. no more of my dirty clothes lying around, and no more toys on the floor.’ when you lovingly laughed at his face, his businessman facade immediately dropped, realizing he had to overcome his distaste.

• eventually, he did it again. haymitch mastered the art of temporarily blocking his sense of smell. he focused on his daughter’s infectious laughter and the pleasant scent of baby powder, rather than the lingering odor of diapers that haunted his nightmares.

• with no experience in carpentry whatsoever and never having built anything in his life, haymitch so innocently decided to make some toys. ‘it shouldn’t be that hard,’ he thought, envisioning a wooden rocking horse in his mind. his calloused hands were clumsy, and he ended up with cuts from the small knife he attempted to was a mini, weird-looking horse that resembled more of a whale. he huffed dramatically before standing up and heading to the market, where a perfectly crafted  wooden horse seemed to call his name to be bought.

• HE IS A GIRL DAD!!! he has three girls, and he learned how to braid hair so he could brush and delicately braid theirs. most of the time, however, he found himself being the one getting his hair braided rather than doing the braiding. his daughters absolutely adore playing with his locks. one day, one of them suggested they start a braid train, and he spent the entire hour trying not to let out any sounds of discomfort as his 7-year-old daughter pulled on his hair, clumsily trying to make a ponytail.

• he frequently invites katniss and peeta over. his girls adore baking sweet treats with peeta and enjoy playing with the small wooden bow and arrow toys gifted by katniss. she mentions that when they are old enough, she can teach them how to hunt. his heart almost leaps out of his chest at the thought of his children venturing into the woods, vulnerable to the dangerous flora and fauna. 

• his little family is what he holds dearest to his heart. they are what keeps him going after a tumultuous life. some days, he questions whether he deserves them, asking the gods the reason for blessing him with a beautiful family. yet, the grounded part of his mind silences those thoughts, reminding him to do his best to be a fully present father, and ensuring his kids don’t miss out on anything.

[elixrr]

Here me out! So how about Kazuha getting reincarnated but he still remember his past life?

His past life where he has a lover (the reader) but both of them died in a tragic accident and Kazuha promise to meet them in another life.

But when Kazuha finally see them after many years of searching, his past lover doesn't remember him and the reader already have a family.

Of course he feels joy and pain. His happy to see them alive and happy with a new family, but he feels pain at the same time because his not the one by their side.

Thank you!

his love, yet left unanswered.

“ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ.” ʜᴇ ᴄʀɪᴇꜱ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴘᴜꜱʜ ʜɪᴍ ᴀᴡᴀʏ. “ᴡʜᴏ ᴀʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ?”

➥ kazuha x reader：angst

➥ angst / slight comfort

➥ word count：2.3k (with a twist...)

It's as he feared. Kazuha's breathed in, the cold air hitting his throat harsher than he wished it would. The stench of your corpse laid dead on the muddy grass of the garden, and each crop and flower was torn and ravaged, as though it were a personal vengeful attack on the house. Flashbacks of Tomo sprang and rang in his head the more he realizes that he had just lost someone else that he loved- yet, it was you, his love, his only one.

The trauma didn't let him hear the rustling of the grass and the squelch of the mud nearby. Tears welled in his eyes when he knelt on one knee and grasped your hand. He kissed his and your bloody, muddy ring, and he whispered a promise to you,

"We will meet again. One day, I promise to you, my maple."

"Finally, I found you." A voice calls from behind, and before Kazuha could even think to turn around, there's a thud. The mysterious person honing the mysterious voice had struck the back of Kazuha's head, and your love falls to the ground, unconscious, but still alive.

Yet, he was not granted the ability to live much longer. With a single bullet provided from the Fatui of Inazuma, he was gone.

-

But that was several years ago- close to half a century ago, as Kazuha wakes up on a comfortable bed with comfortable sheets. There is no blood; there is no mud. There is no death, and there is certainly no funeral being held for the two of you. He sighs, relieved as the nightmare has ended.

The smell of melted wax whisks near, and Kazuha sits up and turns to look towards the door. His nightstand catches his eye. A large cupcake stands by his pillows, and a notecard stands shorter by it, reading, "Happy 24th birthday, roomie!" From Tomo.

That's fun, Kazuha thinks, getting up and walking to the bathroom to start his day. It's a new day, a new year as a twenty-four year old, and a completely new life. Despite the reincarnation, he still looks around the same— just as Tomo and others like Heizou and Beidou do. He wonders if you'd still look the same, if you were also reincarnated.

He also wonders if you remember the old life, too.

Strangely, Kazuha is the only one who can remember his past life as the true Kaedehara Kazuha. Heizou is training to become a policeman, and he doesn't remember that he was a detective before. He's been recommended, though. Beidou is a pilot, and she definitely doesn't remember ever sailing the Crux. She did learn about its history, and she's definitely still a leader. Tomo isn't a swordsman; he has no current occupation, but he's been fascinated by blacksmiths. Kazuha doesn't know what to do with himself, except for the fact that he wishes to travel the world— but in current society, he would end up homeless without a job, and so he picked up a job at a local café.

In your past life, you loved your job. Would you still be who you were back then?

Kazuha spits out the watered-down toothpaste and flushes out the rest of it with water. He takes the used floss on the sink counter and throws it out, then cleans the counter. Kazuha then goes on with the rest of his morning routine with thoughts of you. He loved you then, and because he still retains memories of you, he loves you even now.

As his hair dries, Kazuha grabs his necessary belongings and goes outside, walking to the café. It's a beautiful café, too, and he smiles every time he walks into it. It's 11 AM, and he opens the café doors. There are only four customers inside, three of which ordered and received their drinks, and one of them hadn't. The three are familiar regulars, whereas the other customer looked unfamiliar, yet it's like he's known them all of his life. He ignores it and walks behind the counter, entering the backdoor.

"Kazu, you're here, finally! I just got this place opened!"

"Good morning, Yoimiya."

Yoimiya, once a girl obsessed with fireworks, is still obsessed with fireworks but now works at a café. Given that she's a familiar face, Kazuha had asked her once what she wanted to do for a living, and she told him that she'd keeping working at this café and that she'd absolutely love to work around all of Inazuma, trying to help prepare festivals and watch the fireworks.

"Oh, by the way," she interrupts his thoughts, "can you help that person over there? I've got some dishes to walk really quickly, I sorta messed up steaming the milk for someone over there, and the milk sorta got everywhere."

With a laugh, Kazuha agreed and came back to the counter. You were there, standing and on your phone, and Kazuha stopped.

"We will meet again, I promise to you, my maple."

"Hi!" Your smile shed more light than the sun itself.

"H- Hello. How may… I help you?"

With a glance at your phone, you told him what you wanted.

"Is that it—Will that be all?"

"Yeah- Oh, actually, wait. Can I have one of the café specialty snacks?"

Kazuha's smile grew. He's lovestruck again.

"Of course. Which one would you prefer?"

"You know what?" You shifted your posture, "Surprise me."

"Sure can do." Kazuha immediately took the dessert he recommended for the café to add. He remembered which ones you loved most from the past, so he taught his boss the easiest one to make and modified it specifically to your liking. On the digital register, he selected that specific dessert and gave you a discount for everything: 40% off for the employee discount.

"Aw, thank you!" Your smile grew, and you were visibly surprised. "You didn't have to do that for me."

"Of course, Y/N." I love you, after all.

"Wait- how'd you know my name?"

"Oh! I, uh, haha, I read it when you swiped your card. It appeared briefly on the register."

".. Oh, okay. That's okay. Well, I've got to ask now, what's your name?"

His smile began to dissipate. So you didn't remember, huh. He pauses momentarily, but he answers, "Kazuha."

"Well, that's a cute name. As you now know, I'm Y/N." He didn't know how to respond to that. He didn't know how to respond— he thought you would've remembered, too. Quickly and kindly, he dismisses himself from the conversation and begins to make your drink. He does it perfectly, but there's no longer that everyday chill that he carries with him. His steps are cold, as cold as you were when you died that day. His movement seem more bitter than usual, much like the reeking smell of your blood in his nose; he as a whole shutters desolate, just as desolate as the house had become when the both of you had died. Did any of that matter anymore? Everyone is the same, but everyone is different now. Same names, same personalities, different tastes, different occupations, and different lives.

So, while you're Y/N, who are you?

"Your drink is ready, and here are the pastries."

"Oh!" You nearly spring out of the chair and pace over to the counter. "Thank you!"

Your smile brightens him up, and Kazuha isn't so downcast anymore. Courage creeps up to him, and, without much thought, he asks you,

"Say, how old might you be?"

"Huh? Oh, uh… I'll be twenty-eight soon." Kazuha jumps at the statement. You? Four years older than him?

"Oh! Are you sing—" mid-thought he wonders why he asked it, "—le…?"

"Uh, are you trying to hit on me?"

"Huh! Oh, no, no, no, I'm not, I was, well, just curious." Kazuha pulls an awkward smile and a comforting chuckle. Without a word, you shake your head and reveal your left hand.

A solid glowing, silver ring on your finger.

Kazuha's blood runs cold. His heart stops momentarily. You're… Married? An unfamiliar man and a younger kid walk into the café, but he doesn't notice entirely. Kazuha has been waiting for you his whole life after he learned that everyone from before was reincarnated. He's constantly been on a journey to find you, yet, because of his household, could barely venture out of his hometown to find you. You were his set goal in life, to find you, date you, and marry you again, but he was far too late. You were already married, and—

"Hello there! How may I help you two?" Yoimiya's bounciness distracts Kazuha, and he snaps out of his thoughts. You wave at Kazuha and sit back down to enjoy your drink.

"Oh, no, it's okay. I'm here for my love." The man smiles when he looks over at you, and he and the child walk towards you. The child, contrasting Kazuha's devastation, was more than delighted to see you. Kazuha watches you, his maple, kiss the man and greet your child. It seems that, when Kazuha was twenty and you were twenty-four, you had a child with this other man, and he was trying to find you desperately. He knows he should look away, something in his gut tells him to go to the back and hide away from the pain, but he watches as you grab the pastry he's made just for you and give it to your child, the product of another marriage, the product of you and another man.

Kazuha stumbles away, subtle tears forming in his eyes. He feels guilty for wanting you when you've already found your special someone. Why didn't he forget? Why did he have to remember everything, everyone, when nobody remembered him? Why did he think that you would be different?

Kazuha walks to the back, and Yoimiya continues to wash the extra dishes added on by Kazuha. After everything, he feels so selfish and useless. He had the feeling that he should let go and live life as it is now, but he wanted to see you. He wanted the chance, but there never was one. He feels as though the past twenty-four years of his life were wasted on a lover who never knew him and never loved him. From the frame of the door, he sees your husband hand Yoimiya the plate for the pastry. Kazuha walks over to the door and watches your husband and your kid leave. You walk back to the counter. Yoimiya enters the back to take a break, and Kazuha steps out to see you out.

"Kazuha." You begin.

"Y/N." He answers.

"I remember you, y'know? I had a feeling you remembered by the way you looked at me."

"You-" Kazuha's eyes are open wide now, "you remember?"

"Yes, I do."

Kazuha's heart swells with hope. "I- do… Do you still… are you still, uh, interested... in me?" You stand still at the words, and you say nothing for a few seconds until you shift your posture again and sigh.

"I'm married to someone else now. I'm sorry, but no."

He doesn't know why, but he suddenly blurts, "Why?"

"I looked for you for a while, too. I thought that you could remember me, and yes, you do, but I could never meet you in time. In fact, I met someone else before I met you." You close your eyes to reminisce properly, "I felt so selfish for catching new feelings because I still felt married to you. But then I saw people like Kokomi, Gorou, Teppei, and even Ayato move on with their lives. I found myself in love with another before I could find you first, and seeing everyone else forget and live left me to think that you probably forgot, too. And so I went with this new life, Kazuha."

A silence stands between the two of you. The air thickens, and there's a mutual yet different guilt in your hearts. You sigh, opening your eyes, and you see the distraught look in Kazuha's eyes. It's familiar. You were married to him for almost five years before your death, so you still remember. His mouth opens to speak, and you prepare yourself for it.

"I'm… I'm sorry that I couldn’t find you first." His voice is shaky and shattered.

"That’s okay. Actually, I want you to take this day and use it to forget and live, too."

"But I can't forget you, maple."

Your breath hitches at the nickname. You haven't heard the word maple like that in almost three decades.

"Then forgive me, forgive yourself, and let go." Your voice seemingly grows impatient. "You won't forget me for now, but you'll learn to truly live without me forever."

"I…" Kazuha is at a loss for words. You understand fully, and you give him your last soft smile.

"You'll learn, I know you will. Even if we run into each other again, you'll live. Besides, I'm moving away. It hurts to stray away from us, especially considering that you still love me years after not seeing me, but you'll do it. You'll always manage, no matter what."

"Can I at least tell you that I love you one more time?" Kazuha's tears finally break out and he breaks down in front of you. Instinctively, you reach out to comfort him like you used to do before, but you stop yourself. You have a new life with your new husband and your own kid. You aren't going back now.

"Don't. Please."

"Can you… Try the dessert? At least?" Kazuha's desperate.

You sigh for the last time. "I know it's my favorite. I'll… Take one. As a final goodbye."

Kazuha nods and goes to the back to get you the pastry, yet before the back door closes, the front door opens quickly and closes, too. He turns around.

You're gone.

You've been gone for a while.

And it's about time for him to move on.

–

[marydublinauthor]

Shot in the Dark releases May 14, 2024!! EXCERPT BELOW 👇🏼

After all these years, Jon Cliff and Sylvia are getting a NEW debut in this 4-6 book series where fairies, hunters, found family and forbidden romance collide. If you’ve read our shorts over the years here and even enjoyed the original 2013 release, you will LOVE this. @kendsleyauthor and I worked so hard on making it epic and more polished than ever before.

I know we’ve been more quiet on here as we struggle to keep up with all our platforms and personal life (mental health struggles suck y’all lol) BUT we truly can’t wait for you to read this.

Updates:

Preorder coming later this month!

If you review books, sign up to be an Arc Reader and help boost our book’s visibility! You get to read a free electronic copy of the book before official release in exchange for an honest review

Add to Goodreads and Storygraph now (also helps us!)

More to come— But for now, enjoy this juicy excerpt from JON’S POV! 💕

“Every non-human I’ve ever met only causes pain and death,” I said. “They want us to bleed by their very nature. But… you haven’t tried anything. You haven’t tried to kill us, seduce us into selling our souls, or trap us in an eternal nightmare. I don’t understand you.”

The fairy’s eyes widened, and she scoffed at me. “Well, forgive me for confusing you by not being a murderer. How can someone like you be remotely afraid of me?”

“Looks can be deceiving.”

“And sometimes, they’re exactly what they are,” she fired back.

I didn’t wrestle off the tired, wry smile that came to my lips. “For someone the size of a mouse, you’ve got a lot of spirit.”

Her green eyes flickered, raking me up and down. Her posture softened like she was slowly seeing less of a snarling animal in me. “If you weren’t a hunter,” she said. “I might actually accept that as a compliment.”

“That’s a shame, then.”

“It is.” She sniffed, looking away pointedly.

The tug in my chest resurfaced—I couldn’t let her sleep thinking I might smother her before she awoke. She had to know we were going to release her. Somehow, it mattered to me that I wouldn’t stay a complete monstrosity in her eyes.

“I lied to you,” she announced, halting my train of thought.

I drew in a sharp breath and leaned away from her slightly. She didn’t appear to be priming herself to attack, but I stayed wary all the same. “What is it?” I asked.

“I…” She wet her lips and wrestled with herself. “I was there the night before you caught me. There were two humans. They didn’t see me, but I heard them. They… mentioned that hunters might be after them—”

“What?” I blurted, crowding toward her.

She cringed away, casting a wild look around the room for an escape.

“Hey.” I lowered my voice. “I’m not gonna hurt you. Look at me.”

Hesitantly, she did.

“You can tell me,” I assured. “It’s alright. What did they look like? What’d they say? Any names?”

“I couldn’t see their faces, and I don’t think I heard any names, but… I’m starting to think one of them was your monster. I’ve never been near one before, but something felt horribly wrong.”

“What does that mean?”

“There’s this… ability I have. A sort of instinct.” Each word fell from her lips hesitantly as though any one of them might set me off. “I can sense non-humans and other beings that you would consider unnatural. It’s meant to help my kind steer clear of those things. Maybe I could point you in the right direction if you take me back to that old house. But if I do that, you’ll have to let me go. Does that sound like a fair deal?”

Desperate hope painted her face. It was a little heartbreaking. I considered telling her I planned to release her regardless of what she offered, but it was a tempting ability to make use of.

“Why didn’t you say something about this earlier?” I asked.

Fresh, uncertain tears welled in her eyes. “I thought you’d kill me if I told you everything. You wouldn’t have a use for me anymore. And then, I thought if I admitted I lied…”

“You thought we’d kill you for that,” I finished. “So why admit it now?”

She shrugged, mumbling, “You didn’t lock me in the microwave. That counts for something, I suppose.”

After pondering her offer, I nodded. “Okay. We have a deal. You help us at the house, and you’re free to go.”

“Free to go immediately after,” she said, pointing a finger at me. “Swear that you won’t enslave me.”

I scoffed. “That didn’t even cross my mind.”

“Not even for a second?” She frowned suspiciously. “When was the last time you negotiated with a non-human? Stars, when’s the last time you spared a non-human?” When I couldn’t come up with an answer, she made a small noise of contempt.

“Fine,” I said. “I promise there’s no strings attached after you help us. But we’re not going anywhere until Cliff comes back with the car, so we may as well get some rest.”

[silly-inky]

Can we have more sibling banter between Mario and Luigi? Have some of my thoughts on them

Mario and Luigi def insult each other (this next part I will take directly from one of my head canons posts because I'm too lazy enough to think of more stuff lol) :

Mario: Luigi you’re looking extra ugly today. What did you do? Get a shower? Your skin looks like it’s melting off like the wicked witch of the west

Luigi: Look who’s talking you red bowling ball, you look like a love child between Danny DaVitto and Golem from lord of the ring, who's very existence makes god weep knowing he has to look at your face when you die

Mario: We have almost the same face you you dried out celery stick

Luigi: You’re the one that started it ‘jump man’

They pull pranks on each other all the time, such as Mario hiding Luigi's stuff around the house on their birthday, making him think he misplaced or simply forgot to out it back in its right place, until he looks at/in the object which will have a little note that would say something along the lines of "loosing your marbles already old man?", it's tradition at this point. Luigi would be a bit more smart and creative though, such as loosing all the screws on Mario's chair, so when he sits down on it, it falls apart, or putting tiny rocks under the insoles of Mario's shoes, so he feels them, but every time he tales his shoes off no rocks come out.

I headcanon that Mario has ADHD and Luigi has autism, so imagine with me, Luigi info dumping about his current hyper fixation, and Mario loosing his train of thought a lot through their convo

Luigi: and then ther is this thing about it!

Mario: that's cool, it reminds me of... Ummm.... Oh what was I gonna say!..................................................................................What were we talking about just now?

Luigi: * specific thing* I was on about

Mario: oh right! Go on

It works both ways, but Mario prefers to listen to Luigi, of course sometimes he just gets annoyed though

Mario: Luigi I love you, but I'm not interested right now, I'm trying to watch something here

Luigi: we'll screw you too (in a joking matter)

They both stim, with Luigi it's more vocal stimming such a screeching (he mainly does it in a more comfortable setting, such as at home) popping, clicking his tongue and random Jiberish, he likes to rock and jump when he's standing either when excited or bored, and occasionally will grab Mario's arms and flail his hands about, Mario is chill with this and laughs a little whenever Luigi does it, it's justbhis way of showing hebis excited and wants to share that with people

Mario stims through Echolalia (repeating certains words, phrases or sounds) visual stimming and tapping, he likes to stare at fire and flashing/ colour chnaging lights, he watches little ants on the floor move, we will watch the clouds slowly change in the sky, and he will move his head side to side looking at how the lighting changes on the jewels in Peaches crown. In meetings when he's bored an can't speak, he will tap his fingers or a pen and bounce his leg

They both know eachothers stimming, and encourage eachother doing so, so they don't get overwhelmed, but also as a way of showing his they are feeling to their friends without actually saying what they are feeling

Mario will randomly wake up in the middle of the night to go to the kitchen for something, only to find Luigi already awake and doing something in the kitchen

Mario: what are you doing up bro? Nightmares again?

Luigi: a little it's more of the phantom pain from my burn scars again (headcanon of him having burn scars from holding the man hole cover to protect mario)

Mario: shit, that doesn't sound fun

Luigi: it isn't, but I can't go back to sleep, so I made cookies, their on the cooling wrack

Mario: thought I smelt something good. Do you want me to stay up with you?

Luigi: nah, it'll pass eventually, currently talking with Rosalina over text to keep myself occupied, she says hi by the way

Mario: alrighty, I hope it goes away soon, and tell Rosie I send my love. Goodnight

Luigi: night bro

Peach often keeps Luigi up to speed on Mario's condition when he's not at home, and Luigi does the same for Peach, they have a running joke of calling Mario anything but Mario when talking about him, so he doesn't really understand they are on about him

Mario def jokes about Luigi's love life, when he does this however, Luigi reminds him of how he has not even accepted his own feelings about a certain princess, which quickly shuts him up

In the end, they make fun of eachother a lot, but are eachothers biggest fans, no one will ever love Luigi morebthan Mario, and no one will ever respect Mario more than Luigi

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk

[try-set-me-on-fire]

Tagged by @wildlife4life for wip Wednesday! Last night I was thinking about this dinluke fic where Luke lives on a house bout I wrote awhile ago and remembered I had a sequel planned thats like a bunch of vignettes in their lives going forward. Since it’s a busy holiday week and I have nothing new, here’s two of the complete ones (second one under a cut because it involves a nightmare about a fatal boating accident asdfgh). Other people are also probably busy this week but @malewifediaz @eddiebabygirldiaz @rewritetheending @shortsighted-owl @shitouttabuck @lover-of-mine @thewolvesof1998 if you have any wips you want to share this Wednesday

Luke listens to Din's breathing and the occasional rasp of a page turning. Lying at his side as he is, all he can see when he tries to look up at his face is a close up of an elbow, so instead Luke takes to studying the man's hip. The skin of Din's body is paler than his face and arms, hidden away from the sun's loving touch. There is a small scrape just above the crease of fat where torso meets leg, mostly healed. There's a tile on the front edge of the kitchen counter that's chipped from Grogu's forehead careening into it during an ill fated game of hide and seek, and the jagged edge keeps claiming victims to this day. Luke presses a kiss to the little red line before continuing his research. Din's skin was so warm against his lips that he decides sight alone is not enough to gather proper data, so he brings up his hand and presses his fingertips into flesh. Soft, giving, smooth. He moves his hand up and down, marveling in the divots left trailing behind. And here, a bone! The sturdy core of Din, the structure of him. Luke presses his forehead to it, his nose, his lips. He fumbles kisses along the crest of it, tasting salt, smelling sunscreen.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing?"

Luke looks up to find that Din has stopped reading and has twisted to look down at him, fondly amused. Luke isn't sure how to explain his thought process, so settles on simplicity. "I love your hip."

It makes Din huff out a breath of a laugh, eyes crinkling."Why?"

Luke hums, wrapping his arms around Din's waist and burying his face back into the beloved body part. "Because it's your hip. Because it's attached to the rest of you and I love all that, too."

A hand combs through Luke's hair, once, twice, then rests cradling his skull for a moment before Din scoots down the bed, dislodging Luke's arms from their embrace. Din kisses Luke's jaw, and then his neck, and then lays half on top of him, cheek pressed above his heart.

"I'm sorry I'm an old man, I don't think I have the energy to go again."

Luke smiles up at the ceiling. "You're not an old man."

Din hums skeptically and rolls his shoulder so the joint pops and Luke laughs. Din turns his head so his face is pressed into Luke's chest, and he can feel him smile. Luke remembers how his face used to hurt after being around Din for a few hours because he couldn't stop smiling in his presence. The muscles that move his cheeks and pull his lips must have grown stronger over time, because he certainly doesn't smile less. Big grin, showing teeth to the popcorn plaster above him.

"All of it," Luke says, trusting completely in Din's ability to follow his meandering train of thought. "Every part."

A warm little exhale against his skin and then Din lifts his head and props it on his own hand to look down at Luke. He just looks, and Luke lets himself be observed. Luke loses himself in the way their chests press together when they contract and expand to let air in and out, and then Din leans forward to kiss him. Luke brings his hand up to rest against his face. Din pulls back just enough to speak.

"I don't think there are words," he whispers, eyes fluttering shut as Luke's thumb strokes his temple, "To tell you…" Din is quiet for a moment, then inhales. "How you live in my heart."

And Luke knows. Din's love is plainly written into every movement and word, his love for his son, for his friends and his family, his love for Luke. Luke touches his wonderful disheveled hair. They're fairly thoroughly pressed together but he can trail his hand down and just fit it against Din's chest. Taps a finger twice. "It's nice in here."

Din nods, as if in relief at being understood.

—

In the dream, Biggs laughs, bright and open as he always did.

Two ships glide over water that looks like glass, no indents or peaks in its surface, and Luke is on one of the decks and observing from far above. Biggs laughs, bright and open as he always did, and tosses Luke a rope, and Luke laughs bright and open in return. His stomach rolls and he says "You have to leave," and Biggs laughs, bright and open as he always did. The light is the bright light of midday, and then it is dark and stars are blotted out above him by impenetrable clouds and he is Anakin slipping over the deck trying to secure every rope in place, shouting at Luke to help him take down the sail, and Biggs laughs, bright and open as he always did. And Luke is the ship and sees the other boat practically falling towards them, both of them caught almost sideways on the biggest wave Luke has ever seen. He is on shore and Leia is saying the weather is all clear, conditions good for the race. Biggs laughs, bright and open as he always did. Luke is on the ship, in the pounding rain that is indistinguishable from the salt water coming over the side of the boat, and Luke is the sound of splintering wood and screeching metal and Biggs, laughing, bright and open, like he always did.

He sees the moment he falls. He sees his head hit the cleat with enough force to crack him open. The moment happens, keeps happening, stretches on forever. And then he blinks and the other thing has happened, the mast has fallen, has crushed his hand, has knocked Biggs over. He looks at his hand and feels no pain, knowing that that is wrong, knowing that it was excruciating. He looks at Biggs and with so little light from the storm the deck looks black beneath him, and he knows before it happens that there will be a lightning strike and it will turn crimson. He doesn't want to be here. He looks at his hand and it is red and swollen. He is Anakin and Luke both and they frantically move around the boat, trying to stay on board, trying to keep it afloat. Anakin asks where the carabineers are and Luke begs him not to ask and Anakin asks where the carabineers are and Luke tries to pull away, tries to stop moving, tries to scream as he scrambles to Biggs and goes through his pockets and looks at his dead eyes and Biggs laughs, bright and open as he always did. Luke looks at his hand and it is purple. Luke is standing and moving to help Anakin and Luke is also holding Biggs, cradling his ruined skull. He is freezing, he is colder than he has ever been, he looks at his hand and his fingers have turned black, his flesh is dying. He is on the boat and he is holding a dead man and when he looks at his face it is Din's face, it is Din's blood and brains and bone fragments that they will wash off him four hours later when they have, somehow, made it to shore. Biggs laughs, bright and open as he always did.

Luke is moaning when he wakes, a fearful, sick sound. The gentle motions of the water in the harbor are usually soothing, but now they just make Luke feel panicked, his heart pounds, he heaves in great breaths without seeming to get any oxygen. He clenches the side of his bunk and can't decide if opening his eyes is better or worse, can't decide if he wants to curl into a ball or get up, get out of here, flee. He feels nauseous. He sees Din's dead face in his mind and tears come, he wishes for an absurd moment he was still dreaming so he could hear Biggs laugh again.

He's not sure when he woke up but by the time he is breathing somewhat normally and has more or less stopped shaking the sun has started to come up, the nighttime hues in his boat giving way to the purples and oranges of dawn. He didn't flee, he didn't throw up. He feels exhausted and he's soaked in sweat, but he counts those small victories. He'd scared the hell out of Leia and Ben and whoever he'd been staying with in those first few months when they woke up and found him gone, had to go pick him up when he'd call from a payphone or cafe, barefoot and trembling. He flexes his hand and sits up slowly. The world is calm outside the little porthole window above his bed, and he watches a seagull preening itself on a post for a minute as he gathers himself to take a shower or look at his phone. Shower first, he decides, standing up and stretching, still feeling too unsteady to let the rest of the world back in just yet.

The shower is tiny and never very warm, but the cool water is bracing and familiar and Luke closes his eyes and lets it run over him and tries to not let it remind him of anything, tries to keep his mind blissfully blank. He mostly succeeds, only has to swallow bile once as his thoughts bump against the image of Din with dead eyes again. He brushes his teeth and spits hard.

His mostly busted charger managed to get his phone up to almost full power through the night, a small miracle. He has emails which he ignores, and a message from Leia and a message from Din. Leia’s is a blurry picture of the baby with something green on his face sent at 3 am with no caption. He replies baby!!! then takes a breath before opening Din’s message. It’s a few minutes old, probably came in while he was in the shower, and says pancakes with no punctuation or explanation, but Luke doesn’t need any to understand the man. Some clenched part of him unclenches a little. He gets dressed in a hurry, grabs keys and wallet, breathes cold salty morning air as he makes his way up the dock and to his car.

There’s no one really on the road this early so the only thing slowing him down on the way to Din’s apartment is traffic lights and speed laws, and he ignores the second thing just a little. There’s even a parking spot open out front of the place when he pulls up, big enough for his stupid old truck. He sits in his car. It’s a shady spot, even, his car won’t be an oven when he comes back out later. He looks towards the building. Din and Grogu are up there, right now, Grogu is probably performing the all important task of dumping the bag of chocolate chips into the batter. He could walk right up, should be opening the door and heading inside but the ice has locked around his heart again. This happens sometimes, has happened before, Luke sitting outside convincing himself that if he opens a door he’ll find something terrible inside. It’s not like it’s an unfounded fear, in his life. And he can’t quite dodge the nightmare image of Din, cold and lifeless. He digs his blunt nails into the cracked leather of the seat and tries not to get worked up into a real panic and just as it starts to really not work his phone buzzes. Din. You here?

Luke gulps air and presses dial. It rings only once before Din picks up and in his soft voice says “Hey, everything ok?”

Luke shakes his head and says “Yeah,” and clears his throat and says “Sorry, yeah. I’m outside.” He can hear Grogu say something in the background but can’t make out what it is. “Are you-“ He can’t say are you alive, thats a dumb question, even if it’s the one he wants the answer to. “Is everything- It’s all alright, up there?”

A fuzzy breath, then “Yeah, Luke.” Some indistinct noises, then “Hey, kid, say hi.”

“Hello,” in Grogu’s tiny voice, L’s a little blurry.

“Hi,” Luke smiles, “Hi, baby.”

Grogu doesn’t say anything else but he giggles, and then Din is back on the line. “We haven’t started cooking yet. There was an, uh- orange juice situation.”

“Sounds serious,” Luke says, unlocking the car like he’s trying to do so without himself noticing.

“Down a few clean dish towels,” Din agrees. There’s a clang and Grogu laughs again, muffled.

Luke plants one foot on the street, drags the other out of the car, stands up. “Any left for thirsty travelers?”

“It’s the pulpy kind.”

“Gross,” Luke makes a face as he locks the car and takes measured steps towards the building.

"There's coffee."

Luke stands about ten feet from the door. "Lightning fast redemption arc you got there."

"It's a talent."

The door to the apartment building opens, and Din and Grogu stand in the entrance. Grogu strikes a pose and throws his hands into the air and shouts "Surpise!" with a big grin on his face.

All the air in Luke's lungs leaves in a rush, a laugh that feels punched out of him. He barely remembers to put his phone in his pocket before moving forward to catch the little boy running full tilt towards him. He spins around and Grogu cackles, and Luke kisses all over his head as they come to a dizzy stop. And here is Din.

The man stands close, first smiling with the specific sort of fondness he saves for his son, and then with the specific sort of fondness he saves for Luke. His eyes are bright as they search Luke's, and Luke lets out a little breath and steps even closer, grabbing a clumsy fistfull of Din's shirt while keeping Grogu in his arms. Din's brows furrow a little, and he slides his arms around them both and kisses Luke's cheek.

"Hey."

"Hi." It's so warm here, with these two. Luke gets even closer, leaning his face against Din's, supporting Grogu between their bodies. His hand moves from wrinkling Din's shirt to rest on his shoulder for a moment, then creeps up to cradle the back of his head. Whole, complete, unbroken. "Just… checking," Luke says, though Din probably doesn't need an explanation. Their foreheads are pressed together and it's a little dizzying to look at someone this close up, but they stare at each other anyway.

"You wanna come in?" Din asks, eventually, nodding his head back towards the building and the apartment and the pancakes and the coffee.

"Yeah," Luke says. "I do."

[alexis-royce]

Mr Pages- 4, 8, 9, 21

Ask game time!

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Either more visual novels, or a prose novel! I think that it’s nice to have a little time to puzzle out Pagemanteaus, and spoken media might go by a little too quickly for that. Also, unless you are literally Stupendium, putting Pages into a musical would be doomed to failure. The difficulty bar is absurdly high.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

I’m not a fan of questions like this! I think that unless it’s a genuine ethical issue like harassment, complaining about fandom creations is stirring up trouble and complaining about stuff that people make in their free time, for no pay, and often with no training. Also? The FL community tends to be pretty erudite and fun-loving. Everyone who memes on Pages gets the appeal! I always like seeing it, even if I’m too shy to interact sometimes.

So I guess instead, I’ll try to give advice? If you’re drawing Pages, I think that it’s fun to go exaggerated with the body language. Since you can’t see its face, most of the emotion will be stored in the pose. The other masters are better at acting spooky and stoic than Pages is. Pages is a fucking gremlin. ❤️

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

ABSOLUTELY NOT. My favorite characters are generally somewhat amoral and obnoxious, and Pages fits the bill for this. Let’s be real: Pages is a messy bitch who loves drama and canceling people for their problematic writing. Pages would take one look at a trans dude who writes weird smut with flawed characters and whoops I’m quickly dogpiled and in prison.

Pages is my worst nightmare but it is very fun to imagine a character (The Academic) who could survive it. Power fantasies come in all shapes and sizes.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I love writing pagemeanteaus. IRL I struggle to verbalize my thoughts often, and though I have a large vocabulary, I tend to get stuck when I can’t remember words. Sometimes simple ones. It’s very frustrating to stand there trying to talk with a brain that just stopped working. So I love that while writing, I can just bullshit words instead. Whenever I stumble I can just cramsert whatever makes sense into Pages’ speechandering style of speaking.

On the other hand, I have difficulty balancing how romantic to make Pages, with how antagonistic. I know that my characterization is much less brooding and mysterious than in canon (especially MotR. That one needs for Pages to represent the masters as a group for most of its plot, so it comes across as much more muted). I tend to lean on Pages’ depiction in Hearts Desire, which is lullingly affable, until the instant it’s not getting what it wants, whereupon it can be venomous. But I get the feeling that Pages really does like human romance, and its desires would be a little more mainstream than the curator fight-flirting I tend to write. If I were trying to write as canonically as possible, I’d tone that stuff down.

But sadly, I love antagonistic nemesis comedic pseudo-romances with blustery infodumping old guys, so you’re stuck with me writing Pages with a very low spooky and traditionally romantic stats. It’s autism and slapstick murder hours 24/7 in my house. ❤️

[strscrossed]

post-canon reikasa please if that's okay ❤️

that's a-okay! i'm sorry this is my first time writing reikasa, so it's not the best thing i've ever written. this is more or less where it would begin for the two of them. now I’m intrigued to explore them a little more. hope you enjoy!

The house was nowhere near big enough to bed everyone, but they made it work. Mikasa didn’t mind sleeping on the couch. Most nights, it was easier than sleeping in her bedroom. The bedroom that she used to share with Eren. 

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” Annie asked as she was washing the dishes. 

Mikasa shook her head, “No. Go sleep, you must be exhausted.” 

Annie didn’t put up much of a fight as she disappeared up the ladder.  

She thought it might be easier with everyone here, but it was a little harder. Being with their old friends, sharing the memories, and knowing well what that meant. She was also happy for Armin and Annie but there was that dull pain in her heart. Though, there was a small comfort in knowing that he was okay. 

At least one of us got our happily ever after… 

She finished the dishes and noticed that the front door was slightly creaked open. She walked over to close it but she noticed a large, hulking figure and she’d know that figure anywhere… 

“She stepped into the warm summer air and found Reiner standing there, a cigarette between his fingers. 

He turned his head, a little startled but made no effort to conceal what he was doing. 

“You haven’t slept yet?” he asked a little sheepishly. 

“No. Didn’t know you smoked,” she responded, closing the door behind her. 

“Not often, but sometimes…” 

It was odd. He’d cleaned up. He looked younger, even. He looked less burdened but there were ghosts in his eyes, as she imagined there were in everyone else’s. 

The truth was, they hadn’t really talked much before now. Sure they’d trained together, fought each other, and then fought alongside each other, but they’d never actually talked. He’d mentioned to her that she haunted his nightmares sometimes and she honestly found that kind of funny. 

“You look good, though,” he said suddenly and Mikasa looked at him, shocked. 

“Oh, um, thanks, so do you?” 

It was high summer at this so her cheeks were burning. Damn. 

There was a smile on his face, “Heh, thanks. Also your cooking is delicious. Where’d you learn to cook like that?” 

There was a pang of longing in her chest. It was a simple question but one that reminded her of just how much she’d lost, “My mom. And…Auntie Carla.” 

A shadow passed through his features. He suddenly looked so guilty and Mikasa wasn’t about to continue on that train of thought. Yes, a lot of the misery started that day thirteen years ago, but they all had blood on their hands and things to feel guilty about. 

Her heart was still six feet below in a grave on the hill of the man who’d done much worse. 

“Well, it was good. Can’t wait for breakfast tomorrow,” he went on with a chuckle. She found herself smiling. 

Was he always like that? 

She’d never gotten a good look at him before. She just remembered that he looked older than his years and now that the curse wasn’t weighing him down, he looked…good. Good and manly. 

Wait… 

Oh, suddenly she was feeling quite tired. 

“I laid out a bed for you downstairs. Hope you don’t mind sharing the space with Jean and Connie,” she said. He didn’t respond. 

Before she disappeared back into the house, Reiner’s voice stopped her. 

“I could walk with you to the baker tomorrow. I know you said you needed to go. And then maybe we could walk around the town a little bit.” 

“Of course,” she answered a little too quickly. 

He turned to give her a smile over his shoulder which she returned. 

Weird. She was inside where it was nice and cool but her cheeks were still burning…

[imaginethat0327]

Get to know us!

Hey everybody!  IJustLiveHere and I decided it might be kinda nice to share some info about us, so we can all be a little more personal with each other. We each made a little list of stuff we thought might be kinda fun to share :D 

ImagineThat 🦜: 

21 years old, pronouns she/her

Lives in the USA

Loves to sing, and enjoys pretty much all genres of music (from the Oh Hellos to the All-American Rejects, from cinematic instrumental to rap :D)

I’m an ENFJ and an Enneagram 9. My top love languages are Quality Time and Words of Affirmation.

Likes: Chocolate, coffee, sunshine, animals (especially cats and birds!), talking with people, having long, complex conversations, encouraging others, drawing (mostly digital art), all types of food (Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Greek, Halal, Indian, American, Mexican…. It goes on and on), Christmas (THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR), sharing my interests with other people, and watching movies (All the movies, all the movie quotes, lets goooo.) 

Dislikes: Sweet potatoes, most types of squash, mushrooms, disrespect towards others (HUGE pet peeve, especially when it’s directed towards parents or elders), bugs (unless in a documentary), rudeness, hypocrites, cold temperatures, unnecessary/over-the-top gore or crass language (unless I’m writing Bakugo or a character for which swearing is normal for them), horror films (they give me nightmares. I like a good psychological thriller, though) being ignored or otherwise deemed unimportant *sad face*, upsetting others. 

Fav Fandoms: My Hero Academia, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Stranger Things, How to Train Your Dragon (films), Lord of the Rings (films and books), Owl House, Avatar the Last Airbender, Star Trek TNG and DS9, Disney (especially pixar, but like the older movies cause the most recent ones are sorta meh), Marvel (not as much any more, gotta admit, although Guardians of the Galaxy 3 SLAPPED) and Hermitcraft 

Other fun stuff: I have a fairly big family, two dogs, and I’ve moved seven times in my life. I’ve traveled to nearly every US state and several other countries. I know how to passibly juggle, was once on a swim team (my record for breath holding about 4-5 years ago was 2 minutes!), and I rode horses for a while. My personal mission statement for life is to fight cynicism and negative views, always try to be open-minded and wise, and to always keep improving myself. 

IJustLiveHere 🍓:

20, she/they

Based in the USA 

I’m a theater person, and love both acting and working behind the scenes. (Like ImagineThat, I also appreciate all music genres)

INFP and Enneagram type 2. My top love languages are Physical Touch and Quality Time, although I appreciate all of them in my own way

Likes: Video games, dnd (playing and streams), sweet things, watermelon (my favorite fruit -despite what my sona may tell you- and I can eat entire melons in one sitting), snow, pretty much all animals, baking, platonic displays of affection, getting clear directions about something, talking about things I love, and listening to people rant about things they’re passionate about

Dislikes: Horror films (I’m really squeamish unless it’s animated or drawn, and spook super easily), pork and things that sneak food dye into it (allergic and makes me sick), the sun (also makes me sick), hot temperatures (haha makes me sick too), making on the spot decisions, and watching things that give me second-hand embarrassment

Fav Fandoms - Anime/Manga: One Piece, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, Haikyuu, Dr. Stone, Fire Force, Hunter X Hunter, Chainsaw Man, Dorohedoro, Assasination Classroom, Mob Psycho 100, Hell’s Paradise, Kaiju no.8… (a whole lot more but the list would be waaaayyy too long if I added them all. Name it and I most likely will be into it)

Fav Fandoms - Cartoons/Shows: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (but I like the other iterations too), Lego Monkie Kid, Avatar the last Airbender, OG Teen Titans, Marvel (more of a casual fan), Dimension 20 (most definitely not a casual fan… it’s a problem), Critical Role, and Firefly 

Other Fun Stuff: Ok some fun facts about me. [1] I tend to get injured in weird ways. For instance: I once cut myself on the round orange part of a pumpkin, and I've accidentally cut myself on a box cutter… by falling onto it face first. (She also somehow managed to stab herself in the hand with a knife while cutting a bagel, then drop the knife on her foot blade-first -ImagineThat). [2] I also rode horses! It was very fun. Unfortunately I had to stop when COVID rolled around 🙁. [3] My favorite number is 13, mostly because I just think it’s neat but also I was 13 years old when I moved out of my home state. [4] I love to bake, but I honestly know nothing about cooking lol. [5] I am a dice gremlin and have more dnd dice sets than any one person probably should, and the same goes for earrings! I love funky dangly earrings and probably have somewhere in the hundreds of pairs. [6] I want to go to Ren Fair or a Cosplay Convention one day but I don’t have the stylish outfits to do so *sigh*. [7] I honestly had never heard of Hermitcraft or Empires until I started beta-ing for Imagine. I’m hooked on those silly little guys now and even though I don’t actually watch the streams Imagine keeps me updated on everything that goes on with them (which I look forward to hearing every time)

[braveclementine]

Pieces of a Nightmare

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

"You want me to get you a file on a man that allegedly has done nothing wrong except kiss a woman on her cheek while she's already mated to her soulmate?" Fury asked you over the phone after you explained the entire thing to him.

You actually growled in frustration. "Fury! C'mon! He wants to change the DNA of living creatures so that their birth given genetic code is different! How come no one but me can see that its evil? He's up to something! Call it animal instinct."

"Maybe, because you're surrounded by geniuses who can see that the changing of DNA could also mean creating a stronger health system." Fury answered.

"God created all of us differently for a reason. It wasn't to change what he made us." You grumbled.

"And that might be part of the problem. Tony's atheist and so is Killian." Fury answered.

"Fine." You sighed, still frustrated, "Can you look into him at least then?"

"Why don't you think I'm busy with other projects Agent Stark? And when are you coming back to New York to continue training?"

"I don't know. I mean, Everleigh is barely a couple of weeks old still. And I hate leaving her for to long-"

"But you want to get into cases like Killian's." Fury sighed. "Give you and your daughter some time to rest before you go charging into all of this."

He hung up before you could get another word in.

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

As you parked in the driveway, you saw the very huge stuffed bunny rabbit at the front of the house. You couldn't stop smiling, reading the tag around its neck that read 'Merry Christmas'.

You quickly headed inside. It was date night, though it was going to be a staying in sort of date night since you wanted to keep Everleigh home.

"I'm sorry I was late." You apologized as you headed into the foyer. You had heard noises in the sitting room and assumed it was Tony. "I was tal-"

You broke off as you saw the Iron Man suit sitting there. It was a different colour scheme than you had seen before, this one cream and red coloured.

"What is that? You're wearing this in the house now?" You questioned in exasperation. "What is that, like Mark 17?"

"Uh, yeah." Tony said in a tone that you were sure meant he was lying. "Something like that. You know, everybody needs a hobby."

"Mhmm," You replied sitting down in the chair next to the champagne bottles and the stack of mail. The fire was roaring, two stockings hung up on either ends of the fireplace. "Oh, and you have to wear your hobby in the sitting room?"

"Just breaking it in. You know, it's always a little pinchy in the gooey bag" Tony said, walking around behind you. You fake gagged at the way he described it. "Where did you go? I'm sorry I left abruptly."

"I went to Stark industries." You admitted.

"Nice. Oh, well, hey, did you see your Christmas present?" Tony questioned quickly.

"Yes, I did. I don't know how anyone could've missed it." You smirked. You picked up the mail on table and asked, "Is it going to fit through the door?"

"Well, actually," Tony said as you stared down at the mail. It was all fan mail with notes to Tony about how much they admired him, most of them with Iron man drawings, "that's a great question. I got a team of guys coming tomorrow. They're gonna blow out that wall."

"Okay."

"So, uh, Tense? Good day? Huh?" Tony asked and you felt the metal hands come down on your shoulders. You smiled, relaxing into the feeling. "Ooh, shoulders, a little knotty. You naughty girl."

You giggled, even though Tony was being weird, he was being himself.

"I don't want to harp on this, but did you like the custom rabbit?"

You smiled inwardly and then turned the spiny chair around to face him. "I loved him."

"Oh, he's a him, is he?" Tony questioned.

"Yep. I think I'm going to call him. . ." You thought about it. "On second though, might have to wait to come up with a name. Get to know him. Intimately."

"That's not fair." Tony whined.

You got to your feet, putting your hands on his shoulders. "Well then, I'll get to know you intimately instead." You waited for him to lift the face plate to kiss you, but he didn't.

Tony knocked on the helmet while making robot sounds, "Yep. Damn it, can't kiss. You want to just kiss it on the-" He gestured to the metal mask.

Having a sinking suspicion that the suit was actually empty, you said, "Well, why don't I run down to the garage and see if I can't find a crowbar to break you open?"

"Crowbar, yeah." Tony said as you started to walk past the suit. "Oh! Except there's been a-a-a radiation leak."

"I'll take my chances." You responded coolly.

"That's risky." Tony replied, "at least let me get you like a hazmat suit-" His voice turned from faraway and robotic, to human and closer as you finished coming down the stairs and saw him doing pullups on a bar in the garage.

"Busted." He grunted out as you entered the garage.

"This is a new level of lame." You said, raising an eyebrow. You hated to be so blunt, but after taking off at lunch and then finding out about Killian, not to mention the empty suit so that for one second you had felt rejected, you were feeling a little upset.

"Sorry." Tony said quickly.

"You ate without me already? On date night?" You weren't sure why you were so upset. You had come home a little late. But still, you liked food.

"Well he was sort've-"

"You mean you." You corrected.

"Yeah, me, him, were just hosting you while we waited on you." Tony grumbled. "And yes, I had a quick bite. I didn't know if you were coming home or going to have drinks with Aldrich Kilian."

You just stared at him for a moment. "What?" You finally asked, anger seething under your skin. "Aldrich Killian?" You snapped. "Why would I go out for drinks with him?"

"Happy was concerned-"

"Bullshit. Maybe he should be concerned for Pepper, but not me! I'm loyal to you Tony! Why the hell would I have anything to do with Killian! I don't even trust the guy! I'm late because I was asking Fury for background on him because I got bad vibes from him! Screw you."

You turned on your heel, storming up the stairs.

"Y/N! Wait. I'm sorry. You're right. My fault. Sorry." He shouted out quickly in an attempt to get you to stop. You did, though you didn't go back down the stairs, opting to turn and look at him instead. His hands were raised in a surrendering way. "I'm a piping hot mess."

You turned to face him more.

"It's been going on for a while. I haven't said anything." You finally walked down the stairs and stood in front of him. "Nothings' been the same since New York."

"Oh really? I didn't notice that at all." I responded sarcastically.

"You experience things and then they're over and you still can't explain them. Gods, aliens, other dimensions. I'm just a man in a can."

Hearing Tony talk about himself like that, your anger melted for a second. But it flared again. You had experienced all of the same things! Well, not all of them. But most. And maybe even more. You had been fighting for more than just your own life. And you didn't have a suit around you to protect yourself.

"The only reason I haven't cracked up is because of you. Which is great. I love you. I'm lucky. But honey, I can't sleep. You go to bed, I come down here. I do what I know. I tinker. I-" He sat down. "Threat is imminent. And I have to protect the two things that I can't live without." He said, pointing at you. "That's you and our daughter. And my suits, they're uh-"

"A part of you." You whispered softly.

"They're part of me." Tony agreed.

You sighed, walking towards him. You put your hands on his shoulders. You bit back everything you wanted to say. To tell him that you understood because you had been there, because you had fought. That you understood because you couldn't sleep either, always waking up alone, sweating. But you didn't have an outlet to escape to like Tony did. Your outlet had always been Tony. And now he wasn't there anymore. Not really.

You ran your hands around to the back of his neck and he leaned forward, resting against your chest. You lifted the headset that he was wearing off his head and he stared up at you.

"I'm gonna take a shower." You whispered.

"Okay." He said, gritting his jaw a little in disappointment.

You walked all the way over to the door before you looked over you shoulder. "And you're going to join me."

"Better." He said firmly.

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

"Fuck." You groaned, your body pressed up against the cold tiles of the shower wall, the hot water cascading down on your bodies. Tony was behind you, having pushed into your cunt with his cock. His fingers teased your clit.

"That's it baby." Tony murmured, kissing your neck. "I want you to scream my name when you shatter apart on my cock. Can you do that baby?"

"Yes. Fuck. Tony please." You groaned, nails scratching at the tiles. It was such a mix of feelings that it was overwhelming.

"Then fucking cum." Tony demanded, pinching your clit and nipples at the same time. His thrust became faster and you screamed his name as demanded.

Only then did he finish inside of you and you crumbled in his arms.

He ran the bath then, switching the shower off and cleaned you up before carrying you over to the bed. You lazily helped him get your pajamas on, before cuddling into him, holding onto him. You were so glad that he was sleeping next to you for once. His warm comfort let you fall asleep almost immediately.

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

You were woken by Tony shouting in his sleep. You groggily looked over to see that he was all tense and he his pillow clenched in his fists.

You sat up, leaning over him, shaking his body. "Tony! Tony! Tony wake up!"

Suddenly, something metallic and cold grabbed your arm, pulling you back to your side of the bed. You screamed so loudly that you jerked Tony out of his sleep.

He immediately reacted, shouting at the Iron man to power down, which obeyed immediately. He hit it, which caused it to break into a thousand pieces.

You were shaking terribly as Tony started to apologize to you. "I must have called it in my sleep." You were both breathing heavily, both trying to recover from the event. "That's not supposed to happen. I'll recalibrate the sensors."

You swallowed heavily, getting up from the bed. You wrapped your arms around your body and then heard Everleigh start crying in the other room.

You quickly ran to the bedroom, afraid to find another Iron man suit standing over her. But she fine, mostly just hungry. Breast feeding her calmed you down so that your breathing eventually matched hers.

After feeding her, you held her for a little longer, unable to face Tony just yet. You hated that you had run from the room without telling him that you'd be back. You were afraid he'd go back down to the lab if you didn't get back fast enough.

Kissing your daughter's forehead, you placed her back into her crib, and then headed back to the room.

Tony was sitting on the bed with his head in his hands and looked up when you entered. "You're back."

"Everleigh is fine." You whispered, climbing back up on the bed. "And of course I'm back."

"Though you might've gone to sleep in one of the other rooms." He mumbled.

"Why?" You asked, wrapping your arms around your body. "It was a mistake Tony. I'm not going to leave you for that. Come on, let's get back to sleep. C'mon, just hug me Tony."

Tony wrapped his arms around you tightly, burying his head into your chest. You dimmed the lights once more, leaving the scattered pieces of the nightmare on the floor. 

[heavensbeehall]

"Catching Fire", Chapter 6

Part 1: The Spark

Chapter 6: Welp, Katniss thinks she's going to die so it's time to eat EVERYthing. As I would. The Preps arrive when Katniss is full and tell her to purge in the bathroom. Peeta is disgusted and wonders if they were wrong to subdue things in the Districts. Katniss is then introduced to Plutarch Heavensbee. Of the Capitol Heavensbees! He has a mockingjay on his watch and Katniss doesn't understand his meaning. They leave on the train toward 12. Katniss sleeps one whole night without nightmares. Once they reach the Mayor's house, Katniss sees a report on an uprising in District 8.

Thoughts:

-- You should NOT read these books on an empty stomach. Because I find myself thinking things like, "Have I ever had pumpkin soup? Should I get some? Can I order it online? I think one of the only similarities between Katniss' inner monologue and Snow's is that they are both obsessed with food.

-- It's odd. For a district that seems so important (Paylor, Bonnie and Twill all come from there), I don't really know much about 8. In my head I am picture Triangle Shirtwaist-type conditions since all the districts feel vaguely old timey.

Quotes:

Oh, the fun we two have together.

Katniss' inner monologue is snarky and that's why I love her.

One day when I dropped by to give Hazelle the game, Vick was home sick with a bad cough. Being part of Gale's family, the kid has to eat better than ninety percent of the rest of District 12. But he still spent about fifteen minutes talking about how they'd opened a can of corn syrup from Parcel Day and each had a spoonful on bread and were going to maybe have more later in the week. How Hazelle had said he could have a bit in a cup of tea to soothe his cough, but he wouldn't feel right unless the others had some, too. If it's like that at Gale's, what's it like in the other houses?

Aww Vick. The littlest Hawthornes are cuties. Posy is the STAR of Mockingjay as far as I am concerned.

I find Peeta admiring a table of elaborately decorated cakes. Bakers have come in from the kitchen especially to talk frosting with him, and you can see them tripping over one another to answer his questions. At his request, they assemble an assortment of little cakes for him to take back to District 12, where he can examine their work in quiet.

This also adorable. I think one thing Collins does that a lot of other authors don't is include these smale kindnesses from everyday Capitol citizens. It'd be very easy to make every one of them evil or stupid. These things remind you that they are human.

... and now I want cake.

Madge and I aren't gossipy and clothes bore me to tears. But after a few false starts, I realized she was dying to go into the woods, so I've taken her a couple of times and showed her how to shoot. She's trying to teach me the piano, but mostly I like to listen to her play.

I wish we got to know more about Madge. I feel like there is some story there.

[ryqoshay]

Tri-Arame Side Story - What Hurts More?

Primary Pairing: N/A Starring: Scythryn, Quentin, Index Secondary Pairing: ShizuKasu Words: 630 Rating: T Fandom: Love Live Nijigasaki, D&D Time Frame: D&D, ??? / Niji, sometime during their 3rd year of HS Prompt: Memory Content Warning: mild reference to battle and other fantasy stuff

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Author's Note: Bonus 3rd entry for the 4th.

Also, Scythryn is the callsign used by Anita, Executor is used by Quentin, and nobody in this chapter knows Index's given name.

Summary: Shizuku writes some character stuff for the D&D world she and Setsuna created

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“Mama…” The girl whimpered.

The child clutched her favorite stuffed animal as she searched the area.

“Mama…”

She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew something was wrong. Bright, orange, hot light flickered from some of the houses. People the girl knew shuffled around, but all ignored her, despite her asking them for help. Their movements were strange and occasionally some would make scary sounds.

And she couldn’t find her mom.

Suddenly, loud noises came from nearby. Many of the wandering people began to move in the direction of the clammer. And the girl decided to follow.

Around the corner, the girl saw several individuals she didn’t know. They wore heavy armor and were fighting the people of the girl’s town. The girl didn’t understand.

Then, she spotted someone else. Their armor was unique from the others and their weapon bore a long, curved blade. She could not see their face, but something about them made the girl believe things would now be alright.

“Mama…” She stepped toward the group.

---------

“Anita.”

The girl opened her eyes.

“Are you alright, my dear?” Quentin asked.

“Mm…” Anita sniffled before snuggling closer.

“Another bad dream?”

“Mm…”

“Well, you’re alright now. I’m here.” Quentin tilted his head down to plant a kiss atop his daughter’s head.

“…”

It seemed the girl had already fallen back asleep.

---------

“Executor.”

“Hey, Index.” Quentin greeted the psion approaching him.

“How goes Ms. Ani… Scythryn’s training?”

Quentin chuckled. “I thought you remembered everything, yet you’re already forgetting her callsign?”

“Forgive me, sir, but I have known of her for mellenia, yet she has only just recently joined the guild.”

Quentin shrugged and turned his attention back to the young warlock flying around the training area, giggling joyously as though she hadn’t awakened several times the prior night with nightmares.

Heh… young girl… Index theorized she was nearly as old as this world. But this incarnation… was that the right word? appeared young. Young enough in fact that Quentin had adopted her to avoid her appearance might cause. It wasn’t the first time he had taken a long-lived individual under his wing for such purposes, so he was a natural choice among the guild members.

“Say, Dex, a question.”

Index nodded.

“You’re an immortal.”

“As long as I desire to be, yes.”

“And you remember everything, including everything you have lost.”

“Yes.”

“And Anita is an immortal.”

“In a different manner, but yes.”

“And she forgets everything each time she… resets, including everything she has ever loved.”

“Yes, although she seems to remember an attachment to scythes.”

“Which do you believe hurts more?”

Index raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking about her and I, or yourself?”

The recently revived man scoffed and went back to watching.

---------

“Shizuko.”

“Mm?”

“Why do you always do this?”

“What do you mean, Kasumi-chan?”

“Immortality is one of the more popular fantasies. People love reading it because they love imaginig living forever.”

“Yes…”

“So why dose Shizuko have to ruin it by making her reader choose between forgetting loved ones or remembering losing them?”

“It’s a logical consequence of immortality.”

“I don’t want logic, I wanna fantasy about living forever and being happy!”

“Index and Scythryn are happy. They even have a found family with the guild.”

“And this Quentin, Executor guy?”

“He’s not immortal, he was just dead for a century and a half before being revived.”

Kasumi pursed her lips. “I’ll never understand why you gotta torture your characters.”

“Tragedy builds character.”

Kasumi sighed.

“I’ll be sure to write some cuter stuff for Scythryn later. I think you’ll like her. She’s a lot like Ryqo, the character Yuu-sempai played in our D&D game.”

That got Kasumi��s attention. “Ooo, let me know when you’re done.”

Shizuku giggled. “Of course.”

---------

Author's Note Continued: Anita and Quentin are two of my favorite OCs from the D&D themed story I've been writing for years, and never really stopped thinking about even when I started writing LL fanfic instead. Readers of my AUs involving Yohane may have recognized daggers of condensed magic and a fondness for scythes, as I pulled from Anita to create Yohane's fallen angel power set. Quentin is the father of Ryqoshay, whose callsign I've used as my screen name for years, and he is the reason for the Q in the mispelling of Ricochet; her mother, Yuri, is the Y.

I've already written and posted about several of my D&D OCs as I had several of the Niji girls play them in a game DM'ed by Setsuna. And just as my story expanded beyond the game that inspired it, I can see Shizuku and Setsuna continuing to create characters and worldbuild after their game as well. As such, this may be a way for me to slowly introduce my cast of OCs. And if some are received well enough, perhaps I will post some of my original works about them.

In any case, writing this brought back memories; interesting coincidence considering the prompt. And it was fun.