#and I didn't write anything *readable* for much longer

[watchingroger]

Since it is that time of year, have some Christmas Cabin Pressure fic. There a few bits in these that I'm desperate to re-write but I'm! Not! Going to!

Erfurt - sets up Christmas fic - the whole gang is here, it's very silly.

“Everything alright, Arthur?”

“Yes! Uh, yes, everything’s fine, I think. I think… I think the passengers quite like me.”

“What on earth gives you that idea?” A smirk pulled at Douglas’s lips.

“Well they keep trying to touch my bottom.” Arthur blushed. “And I understand it’s because they like my bottom and I should probably be - be flattered but it’s - well - it’s my bottom, isn’t it? I should decide if people get to touch it.”

'Tis The Season - Christmas Day - Martin & Douglas friendship/pre-slash

He had lost heroically at Trivial Pursuits, having spent most of his life obsessively memorising flight manuals and operational procedures to the detriment of almost all other knowledge, but he still felt the warmth in his chest from the way the whole room had cheered when he got the pink cheese. He had bristled at the time, making a show of being irritated at being treated like a child, but secretly he enjoyed that he was still in some ways the baby. He glanced across at Douglas, and wondered what he had done all day.

There's New Year's Eve fic as well but you'll have to wait for that. Or you could just click through on A03.

[just-a-random-dead-thing]

~Lost and Found~ (Larissa Weems x Student!Reader)

The reader is 19 in this fic!!! The show makes it clear they have students well above the age of consent.

My undying love for this woman and her actress mixed with the honesty concerning lack of fics for her character has finally compelled me to publish something. This fic is completely self indulgent and probably not worth your time but if you for some reason feel compelled to read on, thank you and enjoy!

Chapter one (1k words)

Be warned this is very shitty angst and do not expect it to get better as I continue on. If anything expect it to get worse. Nothing for this chapter but please be warned moving forward this fic will discuss some triggering topics which will be made clear at the start of each chapter they appear. Also eventual smut you have been warned...or teased?

Finally thank you to my friend who edited this because it's the only reason it is semi-readable, they're the best <3

The rain drops raced down the cold slabs of glass, through which I watched the students running late to their classes. They sprint across the courtyard with books above their heads, sacrificing their notes for the sake of keeping themselves dry.

I hear a faint ringing. Noises blurring into high pitched radio waves as I tune back in, slowly coming to the right frequency to hear the disgruntled voice of my teacher calling my name. I say nothing in return.

Dragging my attention to the front of the class, where my teacher is writing something on the board pertaining to- werewolf procreation? Vampire sex ed? I can't keep up with the 50 different (and equally boring) lectures this man gives.

Once again I find my mind wandering off to far away places. Anywhere but this grey box, which traps me within its walls like a glass traps a spider. I have given up on any hopes of understanding today's topic of useless information, so instead I retrieve my book from my school bag and begin to read. The Outsider by Albert Camus, ironic and meaningless when you're in a school for outcasts.

I am half way through the chapter when my teacher's grating voice once again bursts any sense of joy I am experiencing in his class. This time I just can't be bothered listening to the lecture on the importance of whatever the fuck he's teaching so I get up and walk out. He continues to get louder the further I get out the door, so I flip him off for good measure. Come on, seriously! How are you that bad at your job I can't figure out the topic of today's lesson even when I put the effort in to try? If I require this much to even figure out what to put as the title of notes then your teaching certainly isn't important enough, and you aren't good enough at your job to keep me in that room any longer.

I slowly make my way through the empty halls of the academy, continuing to read as I venture back to my dorm. Thankfully, I don't have to share a room. If I had a roommate, they'd probably be dead within the week. Probably not on purpose, but you never know - I could have just been having a really bad day, and thought a light spot of murder would cheer me up.

I bang into something large, falling over my feet onto the cold stone ground. I reach to pick up my book, but before I can reach it, it’s plucked from the ground by a hand, which my eyes follow up to a very disapproving Principal’s face. Oops? What am I meant to say, sorry? It was an empty corridor, she could have easily walked around me.

She's always needlessly difficult for no reason.

"Y/N..." Weems says seething, scowl firmly fixed on her face. God, the annoyance is really seeping into her tone and body language today. Normally she at least keeps the plastic smile up, while passive aggressively giving you a lecture on how you've disappointed her, harmed the school community and destroyed its image. Hmm... the board must have cut her budget for the semester.

I meet her eyes, nearly breaking my neck in the process since she's over a foot taller than me. I smirk as I address her. "Headmistress...I didn't see you there, out for a morning stroll?" She scrunches her nose briefly at my coy attitude before replying, her words like venom.

"No Mx/Mr/Miss L/N, I'm actually coming to find you because once again you've managed to piss off the teaching staff, and I have to deal with the repercussions of them complaining about you."

Honestly, I only processed one thing she said, and that was Weems swearing. She's never done that before. Hot... definitely hot.

I chuckle with a reply. "Well looks like I've out done myself this time. I've got you in such a state that the perfect facade has fallen and you're even swearing, that's not very school appropri-"

I am interrupted part way through my gloating by a sudden sharp pain in my back. I come to realise I have been slammed against the rough wall of the corridor, causing the air to leave my lungs and leaving me helplessly gasping for air.

She leans in close with an almost deadly expression as she whispers, "This is my final warning. Make light of this situation again and I'll have you in detention with me every lunch, free, and evening for the week on top of whatever I am going to have to arrange for your other grievances.

“Skipping class and disrespecting the teaching staff - not to mention, myself - with your snarky comments and nonchalant attitude when it comes to your studies. You refuse tutoring despite being seriously behind on control of your powers - do you even know if you have any? You certainly haven't displayed any thus far throughout the two years you've been at this school.

“Sometimes, I seriously question why you chose to transfer to this school, and why I even accepted your application. It had nothing Nevermore looks for in a student and you've clearly shown you don't intend to work on that."

Listening to her words as they become increasingly more personally, tears prick the corners of my eyes but I do not allow them to fall. I refuse to show weakness towards this woman who knows nothing about me. My brief sorrow turns to anger, as I respond with possibly my last words whilst I'm alive, "Go. Fuck. Your. Self."

I desperately try to escape her grip, but just like a fly in a spider-web, it is hopeless. She is a foot taller than me and twice my weight. Her arm presses harder against my chest, air struggling to get in and out as the carbon dioxide begins to drown me. Blurred darkness slowly eclipses my view of her.

I mean, there's worse things to see in your dying moments.

[woofwoofwolf]

Go home, Hobie Brown pt. 2

Hobie Brown x reader

Part 1:

Notes: Alt and aro ace reader (although that’s less relevant here), fluff-ish, reader remains GN but might have a writing bias towards fem, Hobie does some illegal shit, Hobie and reader are adults, use of (y/n), no phonetic spelling of Hobie’s accent, brit written by a European sue me, he’s probably a bit OOC in this one,

“Why does reader work at a factory and not, say, a pub? That’s a little weird isn’t it?” it’s bc I work at a factory and this is once again ✨wish fulfillment✨

So this initially was something else, but I realized that it was similar in structure to my previous work and that if I reworked it a little bit, it would be a nice addition to that. Is this a series now? I fucking hope not, I have a bad track record finishing those. Loosely connected two shot for now. I might come back tonight to tweak some stuff, but I think it is in a readable state lol

Pls dont repost anywhere thx ✨️

You tried your best to ignore him. An half hearted attempt to deprive him of the reaction he wanted while you continued to flatten out your stack of cardboard boxes, throwing them into the container next to you. Hobie was standing right in front of you, not having said anything to you since he arrived. He stood far enough away from you for it to appear casual and incidental, but close enough for him to still tower over you.

Finally, his patience caved. “…hey,” he said.

“Hey, Hobie,” your tone was cool. You didn't feel as embarrassed now that there were no people around, right outside of the small factory you worked at.

“What are you doing?”

You peered up at him with a smirk on your face. “I need to throw out these boxes. You know, for my job? My job that I have at this factory that we’re currently at. That you jumped a fence over to get to just now.” You gestured towards the fence right in front of you.

“Ey no way,” Hobie laughed as if he hadn't known all along. “You think they got cameras?”

You shrugged, all the while continuing your work. “We have a front door. You could’ve just talked to the lady at the front desk. She might have let you through, you know?”

“Nah, didn't like the look of her.”

"She probably wouldn't have liked the look of you either to be fair," you laughed. Technically, she'd be right, Hobie was trespassing. But she was a sour tart anyways, so you understood Hobie’s comment.

"What's wrong with those boxes anyways?" He pointed. "They look brand new."

You had noticed that he had been antsy about that. He probably didn't like you throwing out boxes that were still more than usable. It wasn’t something you agreed with either, but it wasn’t up to you.

"Dunno." You answered. "I don't think theres anything wrong with them perse. They probably prepared more than they needed."

"That's IT?! What a bloody waste," He gave the container a kick after his outburst. "Why are you contributing to this,"

"Boss's orders" you gave him a cheeky salute.

"I'm disappointed in you," You choked back a laugh.

"I knew you would be. I'm part of the machine, Hobart," You stuck out your hands and did a mock robot walk. “they’re coming to get you, Hobart-” 

Hobie pushed your arms back to your sides. His hands lingered there longer than your heart could handle "That stupid uniform too... They're stripping you of all the important bits."

"Well.” You said, hoping to go back to a lighter tone. “If you know of an anarchist version of this part-time job where I can come and go when I want, where I barely have to speak to people and where I make this much money, doing the workload equivalent of Homer Simpsons job, then let me know." It was true, this was the easiest part time you've ever had. "If you look at it like that, I'm practically stealing from the boss, don't you think?"

"I know of a job like that." He said, playing along. "It's called 'dating me'. heard It's got real good benefits too. "

"Ohhh does that include the part that I dont have to talk to my boss?" Hobie’s big dumb smirk dropped to an amused smile.

"No, I'd prefer if you kept doing that to be honest."

You couldn't hold it in and you awkwardly laughed alongside him.

"Can I have them?" He asked out of the blue.

"Pardon?"

"The boxes.”

"What do you need cardboard boxes for?" You put the box you had picked up back on the pile. "Don't become a hoarder, Hobie, I'll stop visiting you guys."

"Not me," he picked up one of the boxes to inspect. "For Gwendy. These are the exact size she uses to ship her clothes in when she sells them online."

You looked at him with narrowed eyes. If he took the few remaining boxes, you could finish up and go back inside, which was tempting.

Before you could answer him, the door to the building opened.

"Hey (y/n)," your manager said. "I came to check on you. Who's this..?" She frowned at Hobie, who was obviously not supposed to be there. Hobie looked troubled, even though he liked testing the boundaries he didn't want to get you fired over something like this. Which is honestly something he should have thought of before coming over, but what can you do.

"Actually," you said in the most somber tone you could muster. You placed your hand on Hobie’s arm in a comforting gesture. "Hobie just told me his grandma passed away this morning." You felt him stiffen up, his emotions shifting from confused to amused to acting out sadness in a split second.

Hobie, of course, didn't have a grandma in his life.

"Oh..." your manager said, you knew how empathetic she was. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

“I’m sorry ma’m.. I know I’m not supposed to be here, but,“ He let out a very fake sob and you suppressed the desire to roll your eyes. “I just know how close (y/n) was to my nan... I’ll be going now...“

Before he went though, he turned around and grabbed an entire armful of cardboard boxes. Leaving your manager stunned. Hobie walked towards the fence gate.

“You perhaps got a key for this gate? Ah, you do? Thank you I’ll be leaving now, Cheers.“

Your manager looked at you when he left. “Ah well. Nan would have hated for those boxes to go to waste.”

---------

Alright wow, I'm being so productive with fics at the moment this is kind of crazy.

I hope he isn't TOO out of character? I think it's really hard to get his speech pattern right. And then I don't just mean his accent, but how that interacts with his cheeky and confident way of talking. But my biggest pet peeves in fics of his at the moment are a) phonetic spelling of his accent and b) people who write fake and cringey British slang. (He doesn't constantly speak in cockney rhyme in the movie ppl lol) Bonus point if both are true, haha... I've lived in England, but honestly, getting it right is difficult, and I still feel like I'm having him say american phrases 😭

[wimbledon2008]

so i just finished the captive prince series about a week ago and am rereading it now. just finished the hello lover scene and honestly im still so confused over what's going on in laurent's head lmao like??

was he previously compartmentalizing his resentment so well that real feelings developed, but now he finally has a chance to truly let his anger out, he's locking down the positive feelings?

was he being truthful about manipulating damen the whole time (highly unlikely to me)? or was the cruelty in and of itself a play, either to push damen away despite not actually wanting to, or some other convoluted reason? bc damen really would have done anything he asked, trying to outmaneuver him like that was unnecessary.

my first theory feels the most right to me, and he just needed more time to process and purge his desire for revenge but idk im a taurus and very akielon coded. i love laurent but i do not understand that man lol

okay, disclaimer, i haven't read the books in quite some time so this probably isn't the fullest or deepest analysis. i welcome any additions or corrections from those who are better at meta than me <3

so the hello lover scene is incredibly complex and nuanced, a standard of pacat's writing that makes his works so infinitely re-readable. based on my personal understanding of the scene, there are a few key things that help to explain why laurent behaves the way he does in the tent scene:

1. laurent needs damen and the akielons to win against his uncle, which he very much wants to do. charcy didn't go how he'd originally planned, and he knows damen is pissed about it and probably thinks the worst of laurent right now - that he intentionally abandoned the akielons at charcy for his own purposes. so laurent is being manipulative; he is trying to outmaneuver damen. because what damen says is true: laurent has no allies, no friends, he's ruined his reputation by aligning himself with akielos, etc. we as the readers know that damen cares deeply for laurent and wouldn't just abandon him, and if laurent simply explained what happened and asked damen to help him, damen wouldn't hesitate to stay at his side. but laurent doesn't think damen has any reason to trust him, so laurent can't trust damen either. so instead of being honest, he chooses to be cold-blooded, to assert control over the situation and force damen's hand to ensure that the alliance he worked so hard to establish stays intact. he could've just asked, but this is laurent, and there are other factors at play, such as the fact that

2. laurent is already in love with damen by the tent scene, or at least most of the way there. but laurent can no longer pretend damen is anyone other than the person who killed his brother. damen walks into that tent as prince damianos, in full akielon regalia, covered in blood, with a sword. laurent has been doing some aggressive compartmentalizing, especially in order to have allowed himself to sleep with damen. who killed his brother, which was the inciting incident that made laurent's life a living hell. laurent has not forgiven damen for auguste, and he's having to really confront that hatred and anger for maybe the first time since the first book. and laurent is also punishing himself for caring for and sleeping with damen, his brother's killer. can you even imagine? it's better not to. laurent probably hates himself as much as he hates damianos in that moment. so he shoves all those glimmering, positive feelings down because he wants to hurt damen, and himself too. and none of this is particularly rational because

3. laurent is very upset at the beginning of king's rising. this is an understatement. he's still reeling from nicaise's death, which he blames himself for, he's losing damen, the only person he trusted, he was recently stabbed, and everything is spiraling out of his tightly held control. and when laurent is upset he's cruel. he's not at his best in the tent scene. he's clinging to his own self-preservation, and he's making it up as he goes along because whatever his original plan was got blown to hell, which is clear because he's saying shit that doesn't even make sense. see, e.g., this post about him allegedly enduring damen's "fumbling attentions" to win a battle he didn't even know about at the time. while laurent is being cold and ruthless to secure his position as best he can (see no. 1), he's also acting from a place of emotion instead of strict rationality, which is how he typically operates, and how he prefers to act. he's on the defensive, he's deeply confused and unable to cope with all of his conflicting feelings about damen, and he's lashing out - protecting himself before damen can hurt him first. and then damen literally sticks his thumb in his stab wound. basically: our boy laurent's going through it in a major way.

going back and re-reading your message i realize i've essentially just reiterated everything you initially said but with a lot of extra words. so i guess the long and short of it is: you're right. honestly there are so many ways to interpret the tent scene and everything else laurent says and does, which is what makes him so fascinating! so thanks for giving me the opportunity to dive back into his psyche for a little while <3

[sweetpandorabox]

Oopsy Daisey - Neville Longbottom x Female Reader (One Shot)

⋆ ˚｡ ⋆୨sweetpandorabox୧⋆ ˚｡ ⋆

⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎…⋙

Synopsis: Cielo is one of the most popular girls in Gryffindor's house, known for her beauty, kindness, and witty personality every boy is falling practically down on her feet juniors or seniors. They're willing to do anything just to be able to have a small conversation with her or go out on a date with her, but every guy has tried, and pretty much failed only being able to adore her from afar except for one. An insecure, shy, and clumsy plant-loving boy who's a year below her has had a crush on her since his 3rd year, not knowing how to get her attention to notice or like him back, he grew disappointed in himself every day for wasting time. One day a group of slightly older Gryffindor guys decided to help Neville caught your attention, but was it genuine help or are they trying to set him up to fail his chances with you?

Pairing: Neville Longbottom x Cielo (Female Reader)

Story Settings: This fanfiction is set in your 6th of Hogwarts, during the Order of the Phoenix time (You're a Gryffindor student for this one and you're also a year above Neville). Anything that's bolded and in italic is a flashback scene.

Terms 📖:

Y/L/N: Your last name

Y/E/C : Your eye color

Y/H/C : Your hair color

Warnings⚠️: Bullying but other than that it's pure fluff.

A/N: Why hello there sexy people, so first off this fanfic is actually a personalized gift for a fellow friend @milivanili99 a.k.a the lovely Cielo, she's incredibly amazing at making scrapbook collages and she happened to make me one for Valentine's day this year, which you can check out by clicking here. I love her so much she's amazing and just such an angelic human being so give her a follow if you can because trust me you won't regret it. Anyways I'm trying to make this readable for everyone as well but I will be using Cielo's name here as the Y/N female character and will be using the She/Her pronouns okay enjoy bye bye, I love you all. P.s. I'm so sorry if the ending isn't all that good, I was struggling to write the ending but I hope this is okay 😓

Word Count: 4,714

✯¸.•´¨*•✿ Oopsy Daisey✿•*¨`•.¸✯

"Hmm, do you reckon Honeydukes will be busy this Saturday? I've been wanting to try one of that new grape flavor sugar quills" Ginny wondered towards Luna and the seemingly distracted Neville staring off into the other side of the library no longer interested in his potions homework. "I'm not sure, but would I be able to come along with you? father happens to love sugar quills, and it wouldn't hurt to mail him some while he's writing the next issue of the Quibbler. I can't wait to hand more copies around" Luna smiled sweetly wearing her multicolored Spectrespecs giving her a look of a demented yet adorable owl. Ginny giggled at the sight of Luna moving her head around swiftly, trying to find those invisible Wrackspurt creatures that float through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy, "Well of course Luna, you can totally come along. I wanted to go with both of you actually so how about we meet at around noon tomorrow? by the fountain in the clocktower courtyard? Ginny proposed.

Luna gave her an enthusiastic double thumbs up but Neville seems to be in his little world, leading Ginny to call out after him. "How about you Nev? are you down to come this Saturday?" Nothing, he can't even master a small nod, Ginny is pretty dang on sure that Neville didn't hear anything she said nor ask him, so she tried again. "Hello, Neville… would you like to go to Honeydukes with me and Luna this Saturday?" she asks raising her voice slightly but no, nothing once more, Ginny grew concerned, and turned to look at Luna who was all caught up with what's happening so she tried tapping him on the shoulder gently. "Huh? I'm sorry what was that?" Neville migrates back to reality shaking his head in an attempt to focus, confused about what he's been missing, without answering his questions Ginny and Luna move their heads away from Neville to spot a certain person he's been staring at across the room for the past 10 minutes.

And there sat Cielo studying alone, she's a popular and extremely pretty girl in her 6th year, she was sorted into Gryffindor in her first year and instantly became best friends with one of the Gryffindor chasers Katie Bell. She's known to be a kind and immensely brave witch, she was one of the biggest supporters of Hermione's S.P.E.W cause as she believed the same thing Hermione did, that all Elves should be freed and instead receive wages, pensions, sick leave, and other benefits that a normal worker earns. She helped Hermione in any way she can like handing out badges and standing up to those who even dares to try and criticize Hermione for her beliefs, earning herself respect not just from Hermione but from Harry and Ron as well, who both made it quite obvious that they fancied her. She was also selected as a perfect in her 5th year which double the number of boys getting themselves into trouble just to talk to her, Fred and George seem to have it bad for her compared to the others, pulling stupid pranks and stunts knowing that she'd lecture them about it so they can spend about 45 minutes just staring at her pretty face, Y/H/C and soft looking hair matching her glimmering Y/E/C eyes get all worked up about how childish their actions were.

But boys aside she truly was a great young witch, she was pretty, brave, and kind, a triple threat of some sort to all the other Gryffindor girls and even those outside the red and gold house. Ginny and Luna smiled simultaneously at Cielo's sight and return their attention to the now beetroot-faced Neville looking down at his advanced potion-making book shyly. Ginny and Luna shared a quiet giggle knowing how bad Neville's crush on her has gotten over the years as it all started in his 3rd year. "Well then…" Ginny cleared her throat trying her best not to sound amused, "Nev would you like to go Honeydukes with me and Luna this Saturday?" The red-headed girl repeats for the last time, with Luna giving the shy Gryffindor some gentle rubs on his left shoulder, he masters up a small nod this time unable to face his two best friends, embarrassed that after all these years he can't seem to just talk to her like all the boys had, he needs to at least try but his shyness and insecurities seem to be holding him, hostage, preventing him to do what he wants to do. Luna being the smart and wise Ravenclaw she is lets out a small gasp over an idea, "W-what is it Luna?" Neville asks finally being able to lift his head to look at her concernedly.

Luna turned her head towards a confused-looking Ginny and Neville before filling them in on the idea. "Neville you've liked Cielo for almost 3 years now, I think you need to step it up and stop beating around the bush before some other guy actually got a chance and goes out with her" Luna states determination coating her tone, Ginny and Neville looked each other for a second before returning their attention to the blonde girl, "An idea popped into my head about 2 minutes ago, why don't you just send her a letter confessing your feelings for her since you're so awfully shy, and maybe send her some flowers, surely you know everything about her at this point right?" Luna asks bluntly which left Neville red once more. Ginny smiled at Luna's bright idea "That's a great idea, Luna, I mean it'll be nice to let her breathe while also getting Neville's feelings across, just look at her over there, I heard her study period are the only times she can be alone without boys up her arse or girls giving her dirty looks and spreading ugly gossips about her because they're jealous" Ginny mentioned giving a sympathetic look towards the busy looking Cielo.

Neville couldn't speak at this point, a perk of having two girls as his best friends is that he understood a lot about girls but a disadvantage of this is that he can't seem to disagree with them, they always win in the end so he opts to stay quiet and maybe this plan would work in his favor. "Great that settles it then we can plan something more tomorrow during our Hogsmeade trip" Luna added giving both Ginny and Neville a supportive smile before raising her hand out to do their three-way handshake, Ginny joined her hands in, soon both girls waited for the emerald-eyed boy to join them, "You in Neville?" Ginny asked in a reassuring tone before he reluctantly joined in, ending the adorable and long handshake between the two girls with a group hug. Days passed after the plan-filled Hogsmeade trip between the silver trio, Neville had a great time then, he never actually chipped in on anything as it was mostly the girls coming up with ideas on how Neville could catch Cielo's attention and what to possibly get for the plan.

Neville sat himself down on an empty section of the Gryffindor table inside the great hall during breakfast this morning, with a well-written love letter for Cielo ready, placed inside the pocket of his robe, and a small bouquet of roses in hand, he quietly waited for Cielo to turn up this morning so he can finally get it over and done with. Nervousness starts to swallow him whole, his palm was sweaty and his heart is beating out of his chest but he tries to soothe all these things away, by remembering what Luna and Ginny had instructed him to do during that helpful and fun Hogsmeade trip. "Okay so I think the best move for you Nev, is to write her a letter like we planned, just a short and sweet letter confessing your feelings for her, why you liked her, and if she's willing to go to Hogsmeade with you that following weekend when you give her that letter" Ginny suggested enjoying her grape flavor sugar quills while walking back to the castle, linking her right arm into Neville's left arm while Luna links her left arm to Neville's right arm.

Luna nodded along with Ginny's suggestions and manage to add "Oh and if you have time before giving her the ready-made letter, you should pick up a bouquet, even if she didn't reciprocate her feeling back to you, she'll appreciate your sweet gesture and I'm sure she's more then willing to be your friend after" Luna almost comforted Neville to ease him that if she didn't like him back as a worst-case scenario, she's still a kind person and she's sure that Cielo will never put Neville in a spot where she embarrassed him or unnecessarily tell others about her rejecting the poor ole Neville. The herbology-loving boy, couldn't look at either girl as he merely focuses on the ground making sure they were walking safely, but he did master a small nod to each of their brilliant ideas. Once the trio reached the clocktower courtyard, they sat on the antique fountain surrounded by statues of eagles.

Ginny noticed a worried look swarming over Neville's face before she reached her hand onto his right shoulder, "Nev, you've got nothing to lose, trust me if she isn't the one for you there will be other people alright?" Neville placed his hand on top of hers and nodded as she was practically right, Luna joined in and says "You got this, we believed in you" she smile kindly which puts a smile on Neville and Ginny's faces, ending the Hogsmeade trip sweetly. Looking back at the memory has helped soothe his nervousness and fast heartbeats away for now, it soothes him enough in fact that now he's able to have an appetite for breakfast and ate about 2 slices of toast with butter and jam. Although it would probably be so helpful to have the girls here at this moment for a little encouragement, sadly both couldn't make it as Ginny got an early morning quidditch practice while Luna is busy sorting through piles of the next issue of the Quibbler so it's all ready to be hand out by lunchtime today, both girls were upset that they couldn't be there but they wished him all the luck which gave Neville some sort of a confidence boost.

Trying not to think so hard as he anxiously waits for Cielo's arrival, eating his toast, a couple of delinquents and arrogant Gryffindor boys from Cielo's year has sat themselves a couple of spots away, not far off from Neville, laughing loudly and obnoxiously while disgustingly eating their breakfast with no manners to be found. This particular group of year 6 boys has it bad for Cielo too, just like any other Gryffindor boys have, but above all else, they value bullying, embarrassing others, pulling stupid pranks, and picking on others because they think being an arsehole is a personality trait and girls find it attractive. Well spoiler alert they don't and that includes Cielo as she couldn't stand them, but it doesn't look like those boys would stop anytime soon as one of them starts talking, "I'm bored out of my mind, see anyone we can pick for fun before class starts?" one of the taller boys ask his 4 other friends, "Hmm I don't know, I don't suppose any of have you seen Longbottom have you?" the weird one asks around the others. They all look around the Gryffindor table until "Aha got him" the pudgy one mentioned, making all the other 4 boys look in his direction.

"There he is sitting all alone eating some toast…looks like looney Lovegood nor carrot top pretty Weasley won't be saving his arse today" the Athletic one mentioned with sinister lacing his voice, as the other nodded in agreement, "What do you say boys should we come and say hi to our fellow herbolodork of a friend, I see he's got a bouquet there with him… wonder who it's for" the vain one laughs mockingly as all the others did as well, in unison before finally getting up out of their seat and make their way over to the nervous wreck of a boy sitting alone. Neville had finally finished his breakfast, and as he tossed his dirty plates aside still waiting for Cielo, he looked desperately and impatiently over the grand entrance of the great hall, just hoping that everything is going according to plan but of course, things are about to go downhill. "Longbottom haven't seen you in a while mate" The athletic one greets him by putting a gentle hand on his left shoulder which forces Neville to look away from the entrance and face the familiar voice and laughs trailing behind him.

"U-Uhm what can I h-help you guys with?" Neville stammered scared for his well-being, the boys sat around him, some by his sides and some across from him. "Oh relax Longbottom we're not going to do anything to you, just wanted to have a chat" the pudgy one explained with slight wickedness in his voice, Neville was reluctant but he nodded trying to keep the letter hidden, but unfortunately he couldn't keep the bouquet of roses away as it was larger. "Oh, I see you got a bouquet of roses. are they for someone special? perhaps miss Y/L/N?" The vain one smiles at Neville, trying to hide his evil side, Neville shook his head but then "Hmm are you sure mate? you don't need to lie to us, it's fairly obvious, you stare at her for hours it feels like. I mean I don't blame you but still" the tall one added, Neville felt trapped, he couldn't breathe properly as he takes a quick scan of all the guys sitting around him while they show off their best most sincere smile, after a while he nodded, admitting to them that yes these are in fact for Cielo, soon all of them started sharing amused glances.

"Oh well, why don't we help you? I heard she loves pumpkin juice, maybe you can get up out of your chair once you see her come in, take the bouquet along with you and a goblet full of fresh pumpkin juice, then you can ask if she'd like to have breakfast with you this morning. then we can leave you be" the weird looking one suggested, the others nod in agreement and hyped the weird looking one with his brilliant idea. Neville paused and think to himself about this, he is right after all she loves pumpkin juice and what could honestly go wrong? so he did just that and filled up an empty goblet filled with pumpkin juice as the boys sit chattering quietly amongst themselves waiting for Cielo's arrival, and about 5 minutes later there she was, she couldn't have looked more beautiful as her hair was styled in a single braid with a red ribbon tied into a bow holding her hair together eyes glue down on a 'one thousand magical herbs and fungi' a Herbology textbook, she seems to be distracted, a perfect opportunity to mess up Neville chance don't you think.

One of the boys signals Neville that you've arrived and to be ready to get up out of his seat and walk towards you, "Good luck Longbottom she's going to love those roses, that's her favorite after all" one of the other boys mentioned. Neville nodded and steady himself before walking over to you, once he got close enough, 5 of those awful boys knew where this is about to go, soon one of them whip their wands out and pointed at Neville ready to go, meanwhile, Neville tried his best not to look so nervous and grip on the goblet full of pumpkin goodness tightly making sure he doesn't spill, and hold the bouquet close to him as he watched Cielo's beautiful yet highly focused face still glued down on that book not watching where she was going. As he got closer and closer he tried to greet her saying "H-hi…" before "Impedimenta" as one of the wicked boys who held his wand out, cast the tripping jinx onto Neville's foot, and as time will have it 'Thud' followed by 'Clank!' dropped loudly catching all the students inside the great hall's attention.

After what felt like a pause, laughter started to roar all over the place from every student inside the big room, including those 5 Gryffindor boys. They were having the time of their life watching Neville display a look of sheer horror on his face, looking up from the ground and realizing that he'd not only managed to fall straight on his face, and got the bouquet ruined since he dropped it, but he also managed to spill all the Pumpkin juice inside the Goblet all over Cielo's Gryffindor uniform. Cielo's mouth dropped as she watched her uniform soaked in the orange liquid, and watch as her book lay flat on the ground wet and stained. Cielo's still paused at the messy sight unsure of what to do as everyone else laugh at her and Neville's collision finding it hilarious. After some time Cielo takes a breath before composing herself saying "Whoopsie Daisy, are you alright there Neville?" Cielo asks in the best sympathetic tone she can master at the younger and now highly embarrassed Gryffindor boy.

Neville still displayed that look of sheer horror, only this time he apologized immediately and more times than he actually needs to, "Oh my I'm so sorry Cielo, I-I didn't m-mean t-to do that I-I just wanted to offer you, your favorite drink" he stammered, the stuttering has started to get worse, as slight panic and worried run through his tone as he apologizes to you immensely. Although he expected her to be extremely mad and upset over this incident all she did was smile it away sympathetically, and offer her hand to help him up. "Oh Neville it's alright don't worry about it here let me help you" she offers, a true angel she was, how can somebody be so patient and kind towards somebody who's put them in the most humiliating position ever? she's so kind she could easily pass as Hufflepuff student making Helga Hufflepuff proud.

Neville reluctantly takes your hand, and you pulled him up revealing the height difference between you and Neville, never noticing how short you are next to him. Neville's face was tomato red, he couldn't even look at you, embarrassed of what he has done, as all he can do now is say thank you for the help and apologized countless times repeatedly, in hopes that you don't resent him for this. "Watch where you going next time Longbottom," the tall one shouted as all the other boys laugh along with him. Cielo noticed the yelling and immediately frown before looking over at Neville who was visibly upset and guilty. "Neville let me ask you this, did those guys try and encourage you to walk with a goblet full of pumpkin juice?" Cielo ask in a stern yet questioning tone, it left Neville dumbfounded as he never heard you speak in such a tone, but all he did was looked at you and nodded, shamefaced.

You sigh, not at Neville but at that stupid group of year 6 boys who have finally calmed down and chatted amongst themselves the laughter has begun to die down as people start to get disinterested and class is about to start soon anyways, but after looking down at your messy uniform you finally said it, "Well then… class is pretty much in 5 minutes so I better go down to the lavatory and fix this" Cielo smiled at Neville who's fiddling with his fingers silently, still upset at what happened. She pick her wet book from the ground and kept her thankfully cleaned bag away from the mess by carrying it, and as she was about to say her farewell she noticed minor cuts and scrapes on Neville's forehead area and his left cheek, you'd completely forgotten that he'd managed to fall flat onto his face, and that must have hurt but all he can focus on was apologizing to you and making sure you're okay which you thought was the sweetest most cutest thing Neville has done for you, you knew you always liked Neville, ever since 5th year when you saw him walked around on the shallow parts of the black lake trying to find gillyweed for Harry's 2nd task in the Triwizard tournament or when you saw him all alone happily taking care of the plants inside the greenhouse dancing around to some music on the weekend's, just being himself, he was adorable you thought and he was certainly different from most boys, but you didn't know if he liked you back or not.

You smiled at the tall and herbology-loving boy before reaching to grab his left hand, his eyes shot up, and looked at you in surprise, only to find you smiling. Neville's face was redder than ever but his facial expression manage to soften at your smile, it's almost like you're smiling to ensure him that you're fine and that you forgive him. "Neville, you have some cuts and scrapes on your face do you mind if I fix it for you before class? I promise it won't take too long" you ask in the sweetest tone. Neville nodded face still bright red and a body stiff as a board over how nervous yet excited he was. "Alright then follow me" you instructed him as you lead him out of the great hall hand in hand not seen by anyone. Cielo took Neville into one of the not-so-frequently used girl's lavatories and sat him down on the floor as she takes off her cardigan only to reveal her white collared shirt and Gryffindor tie which also had a bit of orange liquid stained to them, Neville watched you carefully as you try and wipe off a much orange liquid that there is with some toilet paper before pulling out her wand and casting a spell that manage dot get all the orange stain out in minutes, making her uniform look nice and tidy again.

Although Neville can clearly see her uniform is all better now he still has this need to just apologized again one more time. "Cielo I'm so sorry I spilled that juice all over you, I swear I didn't mean to I just tripped out of nowhere" he explained still with guilt lacing around his tone. Cielo put her cardigan back on and tidied herself into a nearby mirror before taking a seat next to the upset-looking boy, "Neville, you've apologized about 10 times now, I think that's enough, isn't it? It's quite alright you know? thank merlin we're witches and wizards it should be an easy fix, and see it didn't stain or anything" Cielo smile sweetly and soon giggled adorably, he was sure his heart was about to beat out of his chest if he dares to move a muscle, he couldn't quite comprehend how kind and attractive she was, everything he had seen or heard of her around the school was true, he was the best a girl can truly get, a goddess in his eyes. she takes a quick look at the minor cuts and scrapes before pulling out her wand and performs a nonverbal healing spell on to Neville's face and watched them disappear, after it did Cielo ran her thumb across his left cheek and forehead making sure that it all healed properly.

Her touched hitch Neville's breathe she was so close to his face that he can see just how soft her lips look, and how much he wanted to experience that softness with his lips, after making sure it was all good Cielo smiled again, and told Neville to look in the mirror nearby, he did just that and his eyes shot up like dear in headlights, it was gone, and there was no visible mark on his face, he smiled happily and turned to look at you. "Thank you, Cielo but how? Healing charms are such difficult spells to perform, you did it so perfectly" Neville compliment you with his cute and genuine smile, the stuttering flying out the window. His words left a visible pink hue on your cheeks as you couldn't make sudden eye contact with him, "Oh well thank you, Neville, my father's a healer you see, he works at St. Mongos hospital so he made sure to teach me some healing spells over the summer, and I've just learned a nonverbal one like this recently so I'm glad I got to show and perform it on someone" you explained smiling.

Neville was happier than ever chuckling after finding out how talented you are, until he looked over the ruined bouquet of roses that was sitting right next to Cielo's wet and sticky herbology textbook, by then he frowns. Cielo noticed the sudden silence that falls between them however and got up to check on Neville. "Are you alright Neville? is something bothering you?" you ask laying a gentle hand on his left shoulder, he nodded in disappointment and has a sudden bluntness to him, that he gave you an honest reason as to why he was upset. "Those roses are meant for you, I knew how much you loved roses. I had a solid plan, I wanted to ask you something and I thought it'd be nice too but of course, something bad has to happen and I had to be gullible enough to listen to those bullies and filled a whole goblet with pumpkin juice and walk over to you when I should've just waited for you to sit down for breakfast and offer you some." Neville hadn't realized but he's been ranting nonstop, he wasn't supposed to reveal all of that but there he goes.

Cielo paused as she studied Neville's defeated face before looking over at the not-so-badly ruined bouquet and picked up her wand and handed it over to herself, she smiled at it and thought about how precious Neville was getting this for her, Cielo might not know the reasons why he went out of his way to get her such beautiful flowers but she loved it, and without a second thought, she got on her tippy toes and placed a soft kiss on to Neville right cheek, leaving him love-struck. "Neville I love them they're beautiful thank you" Cielo appreciated with pink hues still apparent on her cheek, after the kiss Neville looked over with a joyful glow and smile on his face as you did and vice versa, neither of you had seen this and coming, but it sure graved this memory deep into both of your minds forever. "Well we should probably get going we've been here awhile and we don't want to miss any more class time than we already have" you suggested, you didn't want to leave, you wanted to stay with Neville but school was indeed important.

He nodded and as you were about to turn away and leave he calls out after you. "Cielo wait" you paused and looked back at Neville, "Yes?" you answered softly, "I have something for you" he mentioned rummaging through his robes to find an envelope, an envelope containing the letter he's written for her. Neville handed it over confidently and watched as the smile stays on your face, as you accept the envelope from his hand. "Promise me you'' read it when you have the chance and get back to me with your answer?" he asked in hesitation, you smile brightly at Neville, nodded, and kiss him on the cheek one last time, before saying "I will have a good class, Nev, I'll see you at lunch" Cielo farewelled rushing out to get to her class still so excited to read what's inside the letter leaving Neville Longbottom the happiest guy in the world.

Taglist 👇🏻

@igncrantbliss @milivanili99

[semperama]

hiya! so i'm moodlighting on ao3/the writer of the things all come and gone and i was just reading all the ficlets you've written over the last few days, which are all AMAZING btw, would definitely subscribe should you ever want to upload them to ao3 👀 and then i checked my email and saw the very kind comment you left on my fic and wanted to return the love. so just popping by to say i adore your work and how beautifully, effortlessly readable your writing is. i also LOVED come and taste and i so wanted to reblog the post to share it with everyone but didn't due to the fact that my little sister follows me here and i didn't want to #Expose myself akdjdkfjdjf. ANYWAY, just wanted to let you know how much i admire you as a writer and that i look forward to anything else you might share with us in the future ❤️

Please omg, I have already reread The Things All Come and Gone (which I am linking here in case anyone who follows me hasn't read it yet--GO READ IT) like three times at least and I've had the tab open all week trying to come up with an adequate comment, and it still didn't feel like enough! I can't even put into words how much I love that fic! To have you here now saying such kind things to me is making me feel all wibbly. Thank you so much!!

I'll definitely be putting some of my ficlets on AO3 soon! I have a few more prompts in my inbox, and once I get through those, I'll repost the longer ones over there. I still feel weird about putting short things on AO3 sometimes, but I know that's dumb and it'll help people find them later since no one can find ANYTHING on tumblr, so yeah. Feel free to kick me if I don't do it. (The titles though......I have to come up with titles.....)

Also lmao when I first got on tumblr, my little sister followed me too! Luckily she was never really active, and I ended up deleting that blog and making a new one that she didn't know about so I could feel comfortable posting my smutty, smutty fics. The perils of crossing the streams of real life and tumblr!!

Anyway, you're so nice, thank you so much. I'm clutching your kind words to my chest and keeping them for a rainy day.

[acefaun]

Does anybody miss our old days ( few months ago), when we were active? When we were interacting with each other?

YES 🥺 Lord, that was the best time.

The post-Renaissance boom that might be going on under my nose? I've been thinking about how sad it is, that I've been basically non-existent on Instagram for the past couple years which I used to thrive on, and I haven't been on Tumblr in forever. 😵‍💫 But I'm slowly, very slowly working on a funny mother's day fic at least. So, ✨ we got something in progress. I'm tryna get back into it!

I'm also trying to get back into actually reading fics, because inspiration feeds inspiration, ya know? And people got nice things I've never seen. But I haven't had time to just sit and read. I've still got a fun Hobbit book I haven't been able to pick up!

But to be fair, I didn't have 2 jobs a few months ago... Now I suddenly had to pick up slack and work a morning job and run a business in the afternoon. And my banner came out nice for the business! We even have cool work tshirts now that I'm selling.

Along with those two jobs, I also got a girlfriend last month. 😚 I never thought I'd date someone with a child, but here I am. 👀 It's fine! We've been besties since high school so it seems like it was a matter of time. I was already named the nanny of the little bean so now I'm just even more part of the family. It's a nice emotional recharge when my jobs get to be too much. I suggest an emotional-recharge girlfriend for anyone in need.

She's got me started watching Hazbin Hotel with her. And I've been on a Alastor/Lucifer kick lately.

Alastor because scary deer man. Spooky radio demon. 🥴

Alastor=Deer Me=Faun Alastor=Me

And Lucifer because... Well, King of Hell, am I right? 🔥💕 Powerful King man. Sad fallen angel dude that sings beautifully and has a quirky fixation? I want.

But yes! 🥺 Once I finish all this extra business prep stuff, I hope I have more free time to be creative again. I'm writing a total of two sentences a day at this point and I'm not getting anything finished. But I have unwritten ideas and plots and that's what counts right? No? It only counts if it's posted and readable. ✨ I'll get there eventually.

Until then.... Let's just say what great fandoms we have and hope our patience can last a bit longer before our next mental breakdown! ✨

[bretongirlwrites]

tagged by @sylvienerevarine for this tag game... i don't know who has already been tagged but i will tag @druidx and @redyn-nerevarine and anyone else who feels like it

How many works do you have on AO3?

91.. i have no idea how it got to that amount. most of them are like 500 words though. just bits. i also have 33 on fanfiction dot net but haven't posted there in years and years

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

146,927. which means i'm somehow significantly under my fanfiction dot net count (232,934!!) despite the 91 fics. damn what was i on back in 2015

3. What fandoms do you write for?

well you all know about the elder scrolls ones. have dabbled in dragon age and mass effect, but don't often publish what i write for those. my 2015 obsessions were merlin and sherlock and occasionally atlantis but they're pretty much abandoned

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

cannot really answer as i got hit a few times by the kudos bot. the formation of a courier is incontestably up there. as is where were you when the dragonborn came, but i've a feeling people accidentally end up on that one thinking the title is uhhh innuendo

5. Do you respond to comments?

i try to... i don't get too many and idk what to reply other than 'thanks! :)' though

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

an ultimatum and well laid plans maybe... i can't really say that my fics have endings. since they're mostly scraps and i never finish longer fics

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

see above... i try to end things happily but since i'm writing fics from the middle it's not always obvious from what i publish

8. Do you get hate on fics?

thankfully not. except an instance of delphine hate that wasn't very favourable to the fic either. and that one time way back when, when someone criticised a fic for being unrealistic. because the count of monte cristo is so realistic

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i do not. the only time i tried, it ended up extremely non-explicit anyway. and i deleted it off ao3 because it was cringe but it was getting tons of hits from people probably expecting more. i used to tag my fanfiction dot net ones with 'this will not contain smut or anything like that' because i didn't realise that smut was what people were mainly looking for

10. Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one you've written?

i began a merlin/sherlock crossover that got quite popular but which i never finished... the crazy thing ended up being not so much the crossover but the existence of a magical teleporting conservative mp

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i damn well hope not

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

i used to translate my own fics into french... i no longer have the translations but knowing how bad i was at french in 2015, i doubt they were readable. maybe i ought to try again... since nobody else appears to be doing so hehe

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

no although i have written crack fics with my sibling that would never make any sense to anyone including us

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

i'm not really in this for the shipping... my oc victoria hatteras and her platonic soulmate harbert brown will always be my otp but i do not publish anything about them. am however fond of julienne and marcurio (all the book smarts and none of the street smarts), and lunette and ilmeni (which despite lunette's cavalier attitude to romance, i am determined will be perfect)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

occasionally i still get requests to continue the aforementioned merlin-sherlock crossover. but that's probably not happening. really the answer is 'literally any of them' since i don't remember the last time i finished a multi-chapter fic

16. What are your writing strengths?

uhhh uniqueness. chaos punctuation. sounding like i died two hundred years ago

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

anything actually happening that involves like movement and stuff

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

i've not thus far felt like i needed to, at least for tes. if a fic called for french or german, then i'd try. if it called for anything else, i wouldn't trust myself or google translate enough. idk how readers would feel about that... i already invent words from french sometimes

19. First fandom you wrote for?

in terms of published works, it seems to be doctor who. in terms of generally... hell probably still doctor who, i was obsessive when i was younger

20. Favourite fic you've written?

all and none of them. the aforementioned formation of a courier... and the imperial city irregulars, that was a good one. i seem to be more consistent and less cringe where comedy is concerned than more serious fics

[dragonotaku-justineverything]

Jaune sempai after prodding from Glynda he decides to go and visit the other two members of his team! He is shocked to find they want to welcome him with open arms

Jaune took in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves as they started to rise again. He had been hyping himself up all day for this, but now that he was standing out of the building with "Golden palate" written above it large, golden letters and easily readable on the black background and a golden plate logo in the middle underneath the writing. Nothing too fancy, but Jaune knew how much Piken had liked that name and didn't particularly like fancy.

He looked around the street he was on, fully knowing that he was just stalling for more time to avoid the conversation ahead of him. There wasn't much to keep his attention though, given how late it was. Even though it was a Friday night, only a few individuals and couples were walking down the street. The last of the nearby stores that stayed open later than others were now starting to close down for the night themselves, so there wasn't much left for people to do for the night besides loiter about. Speaking of closing down, the Golden Palate was about to as well, so Jaune really could stall any longer.

With a gulp, he stepped forward, pulled the door open, and walked in.

Susan heard the chime of the door and fought down a sigh. Of course, when they were almost closed, another guest had to come in. She was just wiping down one of the last dirty tables with a clean towel before she was going to start the closing cleaning in the back with Piken.

They had sent most of their other staff home already a few hours ago, thinking it was about to die down but ended up getting a small pop of guests not soon after. They managed it pretty well, but it was still kind of exhausting for the both of them. Thankfully the other chefs, servers, and hosts were still able to get out at decent time so they could go home and get some well earned rest. Now it was just the two of them left to deal with the closing duties. And of course the guest that just walked in.

'Oh well, I guess one more table won't hurt. Just please don't let them be difficult.' With a quick inhale and exhale, Susan stood up straight and softly patted her stomach before turning around to greet their newest guest in her usual cheerful voice. "Hiii, welcome to the Golden Palate! How may we... h-help you..."

Susan's greeting trailed off as she saw just who their late guest was. Her old team leader Jaune Arc. The towel in her hands suddenly hung limply from one finger. Surprise overtook all her senses as she stared at Jaune. Her mind was racing, but she couldn't say anything.

Thankfully, Jaune could still manage to find his voice. "H-hey... Susan... I hope I'm not... intruding or anything."

Susan silently shook her head, her mouth hanging open a little.

Jaune seemed to lose the confidence he did have at her total silence. He rubbed his arm nervously. As he rubbed his arm, Susan noticed the familiar black and blue glove and armor on his right arm. She recognized it immediately, and she could already feel the tears start stinging at her eyes.

"D-do you think that we could talk maybe? J-just the three of us?"

Susan finally seemed to snap back to the present and spoke, "S-sure Jaune..." Following a moment of silence, the cheetah faunus turned and walked off towards the kitchen in the restaurant, calling out loudly as she got near the double-swing door. "Piken! C-can you come out here! S-someone's here to t-talk with us!"

"Sure thing! One sec!"

True to the voice's words, it was only a seconds later until the door swung open towards Susan and revealed Jaune's other former teammate, Piken Dovo. Piken was just finishing removing his apron when Susan rushed up to him. Jaune was too far away, but from the way that the man stiffened up as she talked to him, he knew Piken was just as hesitant for this meeting as he was.

Jaune didn’t have very long to think about it though as the two started walking back over towards him. Piken stopped by Jaune and took a long look at his old leader. It had been over three months since either of them had seen him, which had last been a week before they had left Beacon, leaving the Huntsman life behind them. And he wasn’t too sure what to do. But he had one thing he could do. “Hey Jaune. You... wanna take a seat at the bar? I’m going to lock up the place really quick.”

Jaune nodded. “S-sure. That sounds great, thank you.”

Jaune slowly paced over to the small bar along one wall while Piken went to the front door to start locking up. Susan herself went to the back to quick finish up a few closing things before joining Jaune at the bar, though she kept her distance. She was sitting two stools away, putting an extra empty stool between them. She was hoping the space would make things feel less awkward.

It didn’t.

They sat in silence until Piken joined them and stood on the other side of the bar. Only then did the cheetah faunus feel willing to speak. “So Jaune... What brings you by? You... haven’t stopped by before...”

Well... that was a great way to start the conversation...

Susan immedately realized what she said, and worry filled her face as she tried to back pedal. “I-I mean you haven’t.... uuuuhmmmm...”

Jaune just shook his head and spoke up to get her to stop. “It’s okay Susan. I know what you meant. But you’re right. I haven’t been around a lot recently... ” Jaune brushed aside her attempts to say something more sensitive. He looked at her and Piken. Susan settled down a little and Piken just kept looking at him silently from the other side of the bar. Jaune breathed in and out slowly. He thought back to his conversation with Professor Goodwitch yesterday morning.

She had found him passed out in the training room. Again. It was about the seventh time or so that she had, and unlike she had done all the other times she found him, she didn’t just let him go. Instead she basically forced him to open up to her, no longer letting him hide his problems from her. 

And boy did he open up. 

Jaune let the last two months of stress, hurt, anger, sadness, regret, loss, guilt, and overall just pain explode out of him. Not at Glynda specifically, but just raging in the room in general. After a few minutes of ranting (and crying) Glynda calmed him down and told him he couldn’t keep training himself to exhaustion as some sort of punishment or distraction. Instead, she helped talk him into coming down to Vale and confronting his friends about what happened.

So here he was. Pouring his heart out once again. This time to the two people he had yelled at three months ago. Who he had called cowardly and pathetic for running away like they were.

“And I’m sorry. For everything I said three months ago. I was so incredibly wrong and I was angry at everything then, but I shouldn’t have lashed out at you two... I just felt like you were abandoning me for what happened to Azuri. It wasn't right to think that. It was selfish of me and I shouldn't have tried to get in the way of your own lives. I am so sorry I pushed you both away. I know you're- huph?"

Jaune was cut off when Susan had suddenly stood up and hugged him. It felt weird getting a hug from her after so long without one, but he did remember her amazing hugs. He even felt her tail come around gently wrap around his waist like she used to do. After missing only a beat, Jaune hugged her back tightly. He had missed her hugs.

"You're too hard on yourself still... Glynda came in a while ago and told us what was happening to you." Susan mumbled into Jaune's shoulder. "We never once thought that you were the one to blame. We never once thought that we were hurting you so much by leaving! We were just so scared... If something that horrible could happen to someone as nice as Azuri, then how could any of us really expect to come home every time we left. It is, in no possible way, your fault Jaune! But... Oh Jaune you had us so scared! When Professor Goodwitch told us how you were acting and working yourself to exhaustion every other day, we felt terrible, but we just didn't know what to do! And with starting up the restaurant, we couldn't go up to Beacon because we were just so busy here!"

Jaune was shocked to hear this come flooding out of Susan. Someone who was usually so carefree and so full of joy to the point of infecting others with it just by talking to them. To hear that she was worrying about HIM after the way they had parted knocked Jaune for a loop.

However, he wasn't too shocked that he didn't notice another pair of arms wrapped around him from the side. Piken had come around from the other side of the bar and had wrapped his arms around the two of them, hugging them both tightly. Jaune it returned with one arm across Piken's back. "We did try calling you, but we couldn't get through no matter how much or what time we tried."

Jaune bowed his head. He knew why they couldn't reach him, and he was pretty sure they knew as well. He had blocked their numbers in his scroll in anger after their fight. He'd honestly forgotten about doing that until just now. So that made him feel even more guilty about everything he'd done to his friends.

He promised himself, right then and there, that he'd make it up to them.

For the next five minutes, the old friends kept hugging and aired the rest of their regrets, worries, and especially apologies to each other. They actually all ended up going around in circles, taking turns forgiving one another it seemed. Pretty soon the three of them realized they were just going back and forth with saying they were sorry and then the other forgiving them. And at that point they all just started laughing.

After their laughing fits died down, it was like the tension totally cleared and they started talking like they used to for about another 30 minutes. It was so nice to Jaune to be able to talk to the two of them again after so long. And to hear them hear him out and forgive him had made him feel better than he had in months.

But it was getting very late, and Piken and Susan needed to get home and to sleep soon for work tomorrow. Jaune fully understood, and he apologized for dropping by out of nowhere without warning. Yet again, he was forgiven and told that it was fine. "More than fine" in fact by a much happier Susan.

Jaune stood up from the bar stool and was about to leave when something shifted in his hoodie pocket, reminding him of something. "Oh yeah! I also have something for you guys." Jaune looked down and reached into the pocket. He struggled for a few seconds, but then finally pulled out a huge bundled stack of Lien cards.

"Here you go." Which he tossed onto the bar.

Susan and Piken's eyes had almost shot out of their head when they saw the stack land on the counter. They didn't move or say anything. They just looked back at Jaune.

Jaune, when he saw them staring, just gestured to the stack and repeated, "Here you go."

Susan yelled first. "What do you mean 'here you go'!?"

Piken was right behind her. "Jaune what the hell?!"

Despite both of their yelling though, they had moved closer to the stack and started looking at it. Piken, with very shaky hands, reached out and picked it up delicately. He almost choked when he felt the weight of it.

"I promised I was going to help you get your dream about opening up the most famous restaurant. I know I'm pretty late to the game, but that's the start of me trying to keep that promise."

The couple stood side by side and kept marveling at the stack of money before Susan managed to ask, "H-how..."

"If you're asking how I have that much, weeeeell I sort of dipped into my savings that I'd been building with my share of the side jobs we were doing. Also I called in a couple of favors around Beacon and Vale to get a little more. If you're asking how much is there... Iiiii think it was around 10,000?"

Piken's reaction to hearing that was instantaneous, which was that he fumbled the stack around in his hands out of surprise before getting a firm, iron-clad grip on it.

Susan's reaction was also instant. "We're not taking this!!!"

The volume of her scream deafened Jaune and Piken for a brief second before Jaune spoke up again. "Yes, you are."

"No we aren't! This is a ridiculous amount!"

"And I earned or was given every cent so I get to choose what to do with it. And it's going to you and your restaurant."

"Jaune we-!"

"Susan, you really think you're going to win this? Have you forgotten how our arguments used to end?"

Susan's voice petered out at that. She knew that he was always the most stubborn one on the team. It usually took all three of them to get him to concede about something. Susan's face scrunched up, making it look like she was going to yell at Jaune again, but instead she just sighed and slouched a bit. She knew it'd be a headache to argue with him and she just couldn't deal with that at the moment. She looked up at Jaune, the man she'd known for over a year at Beacon, spending everyday with him and becoming as close if not closer than family. Until that nightmare three months ago that is... And here he was, smiling at her like he always did. Like he smiled at his sisters.

Susan looked to her side at Piken. He immediately saw her look and hugged her tightly with one arm and held the stack of money tightly in his other hand. He kissed her head and nodded at her. That was all she needed to hear. "Fine Jaune. We accept it. T-thank you so much!" 'Oh great now the tears are coming back!' Jaune gave a small chuckle and flashed a thumbs up to her. "But we're going to pay you back somehow!"

"No you're not, that's my promise to help you. Not a loan."

Piken finally joined back in on the conversation. "But you're going to accept it."

"No I won't."

The couple spoke together next in a strong unified voice that came from practice over the years with Jaune. "Jaune. You will accept whatever we do to pay you back for this."

Jaune winced under their voices. 'I hate when they gang up on me like that. Two vs one isn't fair.' "Yeah okay. Fine. I'll accept it."

"Good."

"Stop talking at the same time."

Piken and Susan looked at each other, then back at Jaune with a defiant smile. "No." Jaune's annoyed groan earned a laugh out of all three of them.

"Okay guys. It was amazing catching up with you, but I think it's too late to keep chatting. I need to head back to Beacon and you both need your sleep. I'll definitely be stopping by again soon, both to chat and if you ever need any help. And we'll chat over our scrolls a lot more too now I promise. Bye guys."

Piken did a friendly salute with two fingers to Jaune. "See you then leader."

Susan nodded and waved at him. "Bye Jaune. Please message us as soon as you can!"

"You got it Sues."

Just as he was about to walk out, Jaune was stopped by Susan calling out, "Oh Jaune?"

He turned around again, his hand still on the door. "Yeah Sues?"

"Didn't the last bullhead leave for Beacon already."

...

...

Jaune quickly whipped out his scroll and turned it on, seeing the time was 12:01. The last bullhead in Vale goes to Beacon at 12:00 on the dot to make sure students get back for curfew.

Jaune's hand fell from the door as he stared at his screen. "Uuuuuuh.... I guess so."

"Need a place to stay?"

Jaune looked up at his two friends and saw them smiling smugly at him. ‘Something tells me they realized that long before they told me...' "That... would be helpful."

Piken couldn't hold it after Jaune's reluctant admittance and let out a deep laugh. "You can spend the night at our place then."

"Thanks you guys. I appreciate it."

Pike and Susan looked at him warmly, with Piken saying, "What are friends for?"

...

...

"So does this count as you paying me back and we can call it even?"

"Oooooh not even close."

[arnold-layne]

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that? ☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

ZERO. I don't like editing at all. i used to pore over my writing, rewriting huge parts of it due to anxiety of not being good enough, and it took even longer than writing the chapter itself. which, understandably, delayed updates. then i started posting as we were falling barely edited and no one said anything and i realised that i don't have to edit so hard, my writing is already readable enough, y'know? and since then i just go over the chapter once before posting, change a couple words, maybe alter a phrase or two, and it's become much more bearable!

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

oooh i was like 13 when i made my first tumblr account. so it was 10 years ago. and i have to admit. i stole it from a user on vk i briefly talked to. i knew it's a pink floyd song and i didn't care. and i don't regret it it's literally my tumblr persona now everyone knows me by this username

[merakiui]

(4) obviously I love your x reader fics the most hehe. but I really do like the occasional sprinkling of polycules or at least open relationships u do amongst characters and certain dynamics !! I know a lot of them aren't necessarily ships between the other characters ^^; but u write their dynamics so well and it's fun to see how they interact with one another when a further person (reader) is involved :D if that makes sense ^^;

(8) god the descriptive imagery you paint and OMG THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL!!! your attention to detail and symbolism featured in your work such as dru and 11:11 !! those are some of the most notable works that come to my mind, but really any of your longer work or even a few specific drabbles always seem to hold so much detail !! I remember (awhile back) after u had updated dru with a new chapter, anons were pointing out your foreshadowing and specific symbolism from earlier chapters and theorizing for future chapters and aaa !! it was so fun, really felt like we were playing detective hehe, and it really shows how well you keep your readers interested and attentive ^_^ and omg every one of ur fics has such amazing setting and I find myself absolutely enamored and immersed with the scene!! 11:11 made me awestruck with the scenery the first time i read it, and then left me amazed at the symbolism the next few times i read it!! OMG AND YOUR PACING!! how did I not mention that earlier omg T__T .. your pacing is absolutely fantastic. and how you can so easily achieve the right tone and pacing depending on the context!! the slow and steady parts in a tense and suspenseful atmosphere that never let the reader get too comfortable >:) or other times, it begins fast paced and sudden before slowly fizzling out to a cliffhanger or masterful and concluding ending!! and the overall sensual and loving undertones of your more fluffy and intimate work and the gentle pacing that comes with them T__T orz you are truly a master at pacing. OH AND AAHHH your ability to write such re-readable work !! whether it's a longer and more developed piece or a quick thought u had rushed, i always find myself going back thru your tags or scrolling thru ur blog and re reading things I know I've already read a dozen times before because aaa T__T I just really adore your work so much and everytime I read from you, it always feels like a treat that i'm unwrapping and indulging in for the first time <3

(11) as much as i love all of your current work, something I would love to see more of would definitely be you writing and exploring the other dorms + characters in more depth!! :D I adore how you paint pomefiore and diasomnia, despite not writing much of the latter ^^; and I'd love to see more scarabia and savanaclaw content from you as well!! I know you've explored kalim/jamil briefly before but I think you'd have tons of fun writing kalims character in more complex scenarios since he's such a fun, optimistic, and upbeat guy and a bit oblivious .. and the possibilities of a character like jamil orz !! but of course, never feel pressured for that kind of stuff !! writing characters that are, well, actually somewhat consistent to their canon character can be such a hard feat to achieve, so don't worry too much about exploring other characters if you're not yet ready to tackle their personalities, or if u simply don't have an interest in them !! I'm always happy with any content you currently publish, so it wouldn't bother me if you prefer to stick with dorms/characters you're most familiar with 🫶🫶

sry if this was long .. I hope I didn't miss/forget anything that I wanted to say T_T

(ask game)

DEAREST ANON, OMG OMG THANK YOU!!!!!!! I want to preface my ramblings by saying please never apologize for long asks!!! I love to read asks regardless of how short or long they may be. Additionally, I cannot thank you enough for sending such a sweet message OMG?????? AAAAAAA okay okay!!!! >w< now I will delve into my ramblings per section! :D

I'm so happy you can enjoy the dynamics and relationships in my writing! With Pomefiore especially, though I don't write it often, I love their entire dynamic as a group, so the thought of them sharing a darling together is very fun!! Although this applies for any group of yanderes! Heartslabyul is so much fun when they're all pining for the same person. Of course, this is also the same case for Octavinelle and Diasomnia. Just,,,, any group of yanderes is fun to write for because they all are united with the common similarity of sharing darling, but they all interact with darling in separate, different ways, which I greatly enjoy writing about. Additionally, how the characters themselves will interact with each other! Like Ace and Deuce being an example of "the enabler" and "the enabled." Deuce tries so hard to be good, but it's difficult when Ace is in his ear, twisting his rationality and morals. ;;;;

AAAAAA thank you so much for enjoying my descriptive imagery and details!!! One of my favorite things about writing series is that I can sprinkle in all kinds of foreshadowing that span throughout chapters, which allows for readers to theorize and make guesses about what might happen next in the plot. Playing detective is so fun!!! DRU is full of symbolism and details big and small. I'm always so excited to read everyone's theories and thoughts on recent chapters and the story overall. I'm also so attached to the setting because it feels like such a vibrant city despite all of the darkness that is happening beneath the surface.

Speaking of settings, thank you for liking the settings in my stories!!!!!! With 11:11, I just had to place Rook in a cabin in the woods. He fits into that sort of backdrop so well! I'm glad you could enjoy your reading of it. As is common with my fics, there was an absurd amount of detail and symbolism weaved throughout despite it being a relatively compact fic. ^^;;; it's a little scary how easy it was to write Rook for that fic... but I'm proud of the outcome! He's a terrifying menace in that plot.

AAAAAA THANK YOU FOR SAYING SO ABOUT MY PACING!!!!!! To be called a master... I'm really flattered and so relieved to know my pacing is done just right. I often worry about my pacing in smut scenes. On one hand, I don't want it to be a few paragraphs or too short where it feels rushed or hastily composed; I really want to dig deep into the sensations and feelings of that scene, as well as illustrate the connection between the reader and the character. But then I also don't want to write a smut scene that feels like it drags on. orz I'm very happy to know that is not the case!

:o re-readable work!!!!! I'm forever shocked when I'm told that people read my work more than once. It never occurs to me that my stories are worth a second, third, or even fourth read. >_< so thank you for loving it enough to read more than once!! I am eternally grateful that both long and short works (fics and ramblings) can be enjoyed over and over!! <3 I hope to continue to provide you with more tasty treats hehe!!!

Aaaa yes!!! I plan to explore more characters beyond the ones I already write a lot of (looking directly at Octavinelle). Lately I've wanted to write a lot of Jamil and Vil thoughts, but I also hope to write more for characters like Leona and Malleus and more of other dorms as a whole! Book six flipped a switch in me and now I have even more love for the characters. >0< with Jamil, I want to write a short fic called [...] (yes, that is the title...for now) in which you match with him on a dating app, but he's secretly your stalker. Stalker Jamil is currently my favorite flavor of Jamil, but I am compiling all manner of facts about him and his personality so that I can write him in a convincing, in-character manner! Also,,, enemies to lovers with Jamil, but then I want to use that trope for nearly every twst character lol. But I will definitely write more for other characters! :D I hope those writings will be enjoyed when they are posted!!!!

[ectoamerican]

WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN INTERACTING WITH MY BLOG - Customizable Edition

BASICS !

Name / Alias: Spooky Pronouns: he/they Blog type: single muse | Multi-muse | non selective | semi selective | selective| mutuals only | private | other (specify) Type of muses: canon | OCs | both | other (specify)

GENERALITIES ! Triggers people MUST tag: animal death Interest tracker / checker: I have it and it's mandatory | I have it, it's not mandatory but I'm more likely to follow bad / interact with the people who fill it | I have one and I prefer it if people fill it in | I have it but it's to people whether to fill it or not | I don't have one | other (specify) Reblog karma: I practise it | I practise it sometimes | I don't practise it | I always reblog memes from the source | indifferent | other (specify) Rule passwords: I have one and it's mandatory | I have one and it's optional | I don't have one | I send passwords | don't sent passwords | I have to hype myself up to send one

3-5 ESSENTIAL RULES PEOPLE HAVE TO RESPECT

please read my rules

please be patient with me. irl stuff can get in my way or leave me too drained to do stuff, even if i WANT to write

the basic stuff, no metagaming, godmodding, infomodding, etc

3-5 IMPORTANT PET PEEVES TO KEEP IN MIND

I am 100% okay with my rp partner not matching my reply length. Be it shorter or longer. (heck, if they make it longer then I'll feel better abt my next reply being longer.) HOWEVER, if I give a paragraph or two, I will expect more than one line. which is what I actually got one time.

if my rp partner goes into a thread with me assuming something about my muse even though I make it clear that my muse is canon divergent. I'm absolutely free to IM if you have questions! I'm friendly and don't bite, i promise. QwQ

when i can't figure out your blog. please, readability is the most important thing to me. which is why the most I do is small text. I will change my theme if I think even one thing is making it unreadable or even slightly harder to read. bright harsh colors as well, makes the blog a mess to read anything on.

not trimming your posts. it makes it hard to follow whats going on sometimes. even if tumblr now makes long posts auto readmore. (at least it does for me)

i do prefer that ppl tag their posts most of the time, but that's not really a requirement if it's not like for a trigger or something. it just helps me search for stuff on their blogs if i can't find it through our notes.

2-5 THINGS THAT WILL LEAD TO INSTANT (SOFT/HARD)BLOCKING

if the blog looks like a bot in some way

if it's a personal who has repeatedly reblogged something after being asked not to

if it's someone i've known in the past to make me uncomfortable

2-5 THINGS THAT LEAD ME TO UNFOLLOW / SOFTBLOCK A MUTUAL / SOMEONE I INTERACT WITH

ooc drama between people, vague posts, bullying

minor/adult ships

very rarely, if they're spamming TOO MUCH ooc stuff, untagged or other wise, in a short amount of time. I mean like, many posts that are actually ooc not having anything to do with their character. not like aesthetic posts, headcanons, or art. I'm also not talking abt like, PSAs or updates on the mun's health/lack of energy. i get that it's your blog. but i didn't want to follow a blog that's being treated more like a personal blog.

also very rarely, if my dash is going too fast and it's clear someone isn't going to interact with me i might unfollow just to make things easier for myself to keep up with. but again, that doesn't happen very often.

if it's clear a blog has been abandoned. if they show signs of activity later tho, i may refollow. bc i know irl stuff happens, u kno.

2-5 REASON YOU DON'T FOLLOW (BACK) SOMEONE

if their muse is from a series i am uncomfortable with. (used to love HP, but i can't look at anything from it now. for example.)

if they ASK why i haven't followed them back. just feels weird, man. I will then not follow out of spite for how uncalled for that question is. nobody is owed a follow. not even me.

[galacticlamps]

fic writer asks 😈🎶🤩? o:

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

You mean aside from taking a handful of unrelated wips and turning them into a 42k "Almost Kiss" 5+1 series that started in season 4 & didn't resolve until 6b, and had the audacity to call any of that "almost"?

But honestly, unless that counts then probably not really, I'm much more likely to be playfully mean to the characters. Actually, tell you what, to take this in the complete opposite direction, I once did something very nice for my readers (and admittedly for the fic's readability too) and took a wip that was originally conceived of as being set after/in response to the PDA The Indestructible Man, kept the scene itself & just wrote a new less traumatic context for it so it could stand alone for people unfamiliar with and/or understandably quite upset by the novel. That's kinda like being nice, right?

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

I have a Two/Jamie playlist, and it's horrifyingly long, and it's not at all uncommon for songs on it to inspire ideas - but it's actually kinda rare for me to listen to anything while writing, I'm just too easily distracted. Some exceptions would be a playlist made of specific pieces from the Series 5 soundtrack while I was editing Small Hours In a Wide Universe, because that just felt appropriate. I also have wips directly inspired by Pink Floyd's Us & Them and David Bowie's Moss Garden, as well as the general concept of the story album Etain - and all of those are relevant enough & instrumental enough that I'll put them on while I'm working on the stories in question. Of those, Etain's been seeing the most action lately, as that's a semi-recent idea & a longer fic with more plotting/world building to flesh out before I can actually return to writing more of the scenes.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

That's a tough one, honestly. Of the fics I've finished & posted, there are 2 without Two in them, but zero without Jamie, but then again, Two has so many doctorish turns of phrase he's also a lot of fun in his own right. The one time I did a bit with Six he was also pretty great to write for, in spite of how brief it was. But that's all mostly talking about dialogue, and lord knows there's more to characters than that. In terms of perspective, of the 20 fics I currently have posted the pov characters actually seem shockingly evenly distributed... Ok, look, this is going to sound like a very strange distinction, but I think I enjoy writing Jamie's actions/decisions/behavior and the Doctor's thought process/analysis of things the most. How the Doctor sees things and how Jamie responds to them, perhaps, is the best way of describing what I'm most enjoying writing right now, even if that's not the greatest answer

[eregyrn-falls]

Anyone who would like to have these points emphasized to them should look up a couple of books that I read cover to cover and really enjoyed* (for certain definitions of "enjoyed"):

"Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite"

and

"Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon"

Both are by Michael P. Ghiglieri, along with others more specialized in those parks. They are both just basically "here is every single death (and quite a few disappearances) recorded in the park, and a sometimes brief, sometimes longer write-up about the circumstances of each". They're hefty books, but still, in the 100+ years that these parks have existed, it's a finite number, you know? And they're both VERY readable.

I happened to read them both after visiting Yosemite, but before going to the Grand Canyon; so that when I took a trip to the latter, I made sure to drill into my friends' heads "DO NOT EVER leave one person out of your sight", because the main takeaway from those books is, "And they were never seen again, and their body was never found." One of your hiking companions might sit down on a trailside rock to rest for a little bit and tell you to go on, they'll catch up, it's only a half a mile to the end of the trail... do not fall for this. It won't hurt you to sit or stand with them for a while until they're ready to go again.

But mostly the phrase that I made sure stuck in everyone's head was, "Do you have enough water? No, you don't -- here, take some more." Especially in the desert southwest parks (where we went during summer), but this goes for most parks if you're hiking in warm weather.

Because another salient example was that when we arrived at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and were walking into the visitor center, there was a big sign on a stand right beside the door, and it said (to paraphrase), "Are you in good enough shape to run a marathon?" It went on to report that, not that long before, a woman who had run the Boston Marathon was visiting the GC and went for a hike with a friend. Like MANY PEOPLE, they underestimated the distances (especially common in the desert parks, where you can see for a long way and you are bad at estimating how far away some of the things you can see actually are), and underestimated how much water to take with them, and underestimated how warm out it really was. They hiked for too long and didn't drink enough, and started to experience heat exhaustion. The marathon runner went into heat stroke sooner, IIRC. She sat down in the shade, while her friend tried to hike out to find help. The friend did make it out and survived. The marathon runner died.

The point being: even if you are young and very in shape and athletic, you can still make some very unwise decisions when you head out on a hike into the wilderness. Most people who visit the parks are NOT nearly that in shape or athletic, and they are often making bad decisions, too. Bright Angel trail is the most well-known trail from the South Rim of the GC down to the river. It's 7.8 miles down. (Another sign we saw frequently in GC: "Down is Optional; Up is Mandatory".) There is a park ranger who is stationed to hang around the first few hundred feet of the trail, where it finally just goes below the rim, and their sole purpose is to stop tourists who are descending the trail wearing flip-flops and carrying one (1) 12 oz. bottle of water.

Another anecdote: on the same trip, at the end, two of us went to Mesa Verde NP in Colorado. When we arrived, there were signs posted on basically every building door with a photo of an older man, who had gone missing only the week before. Obviously, the signs were to alert people to watch for anything unusual that might help find the guy (who by that point was probably no longer alive; and in fact it would turn out, he definitely wasn't).

This was Dave Stehling, who was 51. He was there with his wife and elderly parents. They all stayed around the visitor center, while he decided to go on a short, paved quarter-mile hike to a look-out. (Mesa Verde mostly consists of the mesa top, and most trails to see the cliff dwellings and other sights drop down into the canyons. The park is a maze of deep canyons and steep drops from the mesa.) He did not take water with him, although the temps were 90-100 F that day. His wife described him as a little directionally challenged sometimes; but he was on a very short and clear path near the visitor center. An extremely easy hike. Witnesses placed him as having diverted onto the longer (2.8 mile) Petroglyph trail; either he took a wrong turn, or he decided he wanted to see the petroglyphs. Even that longer trail should only have taken a hour to walk.

He disappeared. Despite a massive search (made difficult by the terrain), his body was not discovered for 6 more years. He was the subject of theories about paranormal activity by David Paulides (the guy behind Missing411, who is the source of a LOT of conspiracy theories about people going missing/dying in the national parks/public lands and the NPS covering it up; most of his theories involve Bigfoot, and/or portals to other dimensions, sometimes both). And yes, Stehling's disappearance seems to defy logic. How could you go missing on a short trail, where there is a very finite area into which you might have fallen, and not be discovered by a huge search and rescue effort?

But I've read enough about this kind of thing by now to have read statements by people who work in SAR. And one of the take-aways is that until you experience it firsthand, it's hard to appreciate how difficult it actually is to locate a person who is lost in the wilderness. There are multiple stories about volunteers who played the role of the victim in SAR training -- who would just go out and lay down in the woods and be still and quiet, while a search team tries to find them. And they consistently report the searchers walking past them within touching distance, but not seeing them. (Usually, that has to do with underbrush, but it's also just a testament to how much a body can blend in with its surroundings even if you would *think* it would not; even if you'd think the clothes or something would stand out.)

Stehling's body was found a little over 4 miles away from where he'd disappeared. It seems like he had fallen, probably sustained injuries, but tried to hike out of the canyon he'd fallen into by following it downwards. (I'm not sure that an autopsy was ever released, which is why I don't know if he sustained injuries or not; but in a fall like that, it does seem very likely.) He might have been unconscious during the height of the searching, hidden in dense, scrubby vegetation. In June, he would have had to hike further to finally hit running water. But in the temperatures they were getting at that time, he almost certainly succumbed to hyperthermia.

All of this is just to emphasize what's said in the posts above and in the replies or other posts. A lot of tourists visit the national parks, and they think the word "park" means that it's a tame, safe environment. So many people express shock at the idea that the environment and landscape can hurt them, even though the NPS does post warnings all over the place. They don't take the idea of hiking seriously, and often don't have the right supplies or equipment. They don't realize that even the shortest, friendliest-looking trail can have hazards. They think a running stream looks inviting and they'll just dip their feet in to cool off, and don't realize how fast the current is running or how slippery the rocks are. One of the shortest, flattest, best-paved trails in Yosemite (from the ring road to Mirror Lake) has a sign right by the road warning people that there may be mountain lions around, and not to allow children to run ahead, or trail behind.

And yeah: BISON. And bears. Just yesterday I opened my weather.com app on my phone and on the front page is a video story about some tourists who dragged two black bear cubs out of a tree so they could pose with them to take photos. (This was NOT in a national or state park, but is still an example of people being idiots about interacting with wildlife.) The cubs got away quickly, and authorities "decided not to press charges because the cubs were released quickly". (They should have pressed charged, ffs.) These people will likely never appreciate how lucky they were that the mother bear did not show up.

You really don't need Bigfoot to explain weird disappearances, or paradoxical undressing (something that regularly happens as hypothermia sets in). You don't need holes between dimensions to explain how someone wasn't found by SAR, but their body was later discovered in an area that had been searched previously.

All you need to know is that in 2023, across all of the properties in the national park system, there were 325.5 million visits; an increase of 13 million over 2022 alone. The total population of the United States is 333.3 million. I wish we had a way to estimate how many of those millions were unprepared for the wilderness, but who took risks they shouldn't have anyway. I'd be willing to bet that number is pretty high.

You can't have *nearly the population of the U.S.* venturing out into the wilderness and not expect some of them to die or go missing. Honestly, the surprisingly thing is that it's as relatively rare an occurrence as it is -- deaths and disappearances in the parks still make national headlines.

Any conspiracy theory about people going missing in National Parks is automatically silly to me. Like "Why are National Parks such a hotbed of disappearances???" because they're full of idiots. You've got thousands of people who've never pissed outdoors in their life wandering around the woods/desert/mountain with zero experience and zero gear and zero understanding that this place can kill them. You don't see as many disappearances in wild areas because people don't go to them unless they have some background knowledge. Whereas you get tour buses full of old folks and suburban families shuttling people into National Parks 365 days a year. If you took the same amount of buffoons and dropped them in the actual wilderness the disappearances would be significantly higher than at the parks. Use your brain.

[thedemonstherapist]

Tension Solution

Summary: “I think this tension between us needs resolving. Be that with swords against each other’s necks or in my bed. You decide”. 

Wordcount: ~4,2K

Pairing: Kaeya Alberich x GN! Reader

Warnings: Swearing, Enemies to Lovers, Sexual innuendos, Small mentions of blood

Author’s Note: Here it is! My Kaeya enemies to fuckers piece. A huge thank you to @gnocchi-ghoul​ for Beta reading this for me! I had such fun writing this, and you all know I’m a sucker for some good tensioned sworfighting, and this smug bastard has been on my mind ever since starting to play the game. I know this is not my usual content, but I write when I want, about who I want, ok? I’ve had so little inspiration over the past months that I’ve got to take chances like these and go with them.

Banner is not mine! If you know who to credit it to, let me know, I couldn’t find it!

There he came again. That stupid coin between his fingers, flung into the air at random intervals. That stupid grin softening his face, cheerful greetings echoing through the noisy hall. Oh, and above all, that tremendously stupid way his eyes find you immediately, just trying to do your work.

You lower your gaze, pressing your pen down onto paper with renewed determination. Jean and her new open doors policy be damned, you couldn’t wait to slam it in his face. Of course it’s the last few minutes of visiting hours that he decides to come back from his commission. Three blissful weeks of calm while he was stationed out near the Liyue border, no comments, no irksome remarks, no-

“Don’t tell me you’re too busy to greet me”. 

You sigh. Kaeya observes you with his arms crossed, casually lent against the doorframe. His sword is still strapped to his back, droplets of water running down the blade, and he clearly hasn’t gone to take a shower yet, covered in dirt, mud and sporadic dried blood. 

“Captain”. You can’t help your displeasured tone. “I see you’re back”. 

“Inspector”. He raises a brow in retaliation. “I sent a notice stating my return three days ago”. 

“Oh, that”. You pick the unintelligible letter from your desk with two fingers, holding it at an arm’s length. “Apparently your messenger didn't go for a swim on the way here. Could you confirm?”

His jaw tightens momentarily, as you note with satisfaction, but it doesn’t deter the grin. “You should be used to my handwriting by now”. 

You place it back on your desk with contempt. “I am not. Hopefully your report to Jean is a little more… readable”. 

He shrugs, beginning to peel off his gloves. “She’s never complained about it”. 

Taking a deep breath, you try to calm yourself down. Kaeya tends to make you irrationally angry, and no, it wasn’t just the absolute nonchalante recklessness he treated his position and commissions with. You couldn’t count the times he’d risked more than his own life in battle, somehow always managing to pull it off in the last second. And of course, that was his surefire way to getting out of trouble, no matter how much Jean grilled him for it afterwards.

“Go clean up”. You try your best to make your dismissal abundant, leaning back over your work. “You’re dripping water on my carpet”. 

“Oh, we’re touchy today, aren’t we?” Kaeya’s grin widens into a smirk, pushing himself off the frame. “Did Fawks hit on you during your patrols again?” 

“That’s none of your business”. You shoot him a glare, tapping your nails impatiently. As if you still had the opportunity to go out on patrols, you’d been holed up in your office pretty much ever since becoming Inspector. You wished you could get out again, your body had been aching for some action for weeks, but he was the last person you’d ever confess that to.

Kaeya hums lightly, and instead of exiting, takes another step into the office. His eyes wandered your shelves with staged disinterest, but you knew he was looking for something to use as ammunition.

“I’m assuming you couldn’t hear me” you state, sarcasm adding a bite to your tone. “I told you to clean up. You look like you haven’t seen soap since leaving Mondstadt”. 

“Oh, Y/N, always so worried about my appearance” he muses, drawing closer to your desk. God, you hated that stupid cat-like expression he bore, so sly and pretentious. “I’d be more worried about yourself, frankly”. 

“I’m not playing these games, Kaeya”, you reply sharply, fingers tightening around your pen. “Go take a damn shower, and stop ruining my carpet. I don’t know why your immediate goal seems to piss me off, but I’d like to maintain some level of professional dignity between us”. 

He rolls his eyes. “By Barbatos, you really are wound up today. I doubt that’s just my fault”. 

“Be delusional, then”. You shake your head. “I don’t think Jean would appreciate another formal complaint, so do her the favour, if not for me, and get out of my office”. 

“Fine”. He turns around, but not before throwing you another glance, and damn it, you know he has one last trick up his sleeve, just by the way he says it. “However, before I forget-”. 

“What?”

“You’re pre-reading my report for Jean. Her orders”. 

---

“... and that bastard didn't even take the time to brief me about the mission outcome, the entire time he was dirtying up my office!” You end your rant with an angry flourish, slamming your hand down on the table. “I don’t know what he intended with that whole interaction, he just likes making my day so much worse!” 

Your friend chuckles, stirring her drink idly, an ocean of calm in comparison to your raging fury. “Man, if we weren’t close, I would never guess Kaeya to be such a pain in the ass. Each time I’ve encountered him he’s been so chivalrous and kind”. 

“He just can’t keep it in his pants”. You cross your arms, sitting back in your chair with a huff. “If you ever end up in his bed, I will personally hunt him down”. 

She laughs. “Oh, don’t worry, I won’t put you in that position”. 

“I just don’t understand it”. You run a hand through your hair, glancing around the tavern. It was unusually crowded for a Thursday night, you’d been lucky to get your usual table. “Why he has this stupid grudge against me. We used to be normal colleagues, back when we were both only trainee’s and officers, but then one day the switch flipped and it’s like we can’t stand the sight of each other ever since. The worst thing is, he has every last person in Mondstadt wrapped around his finger! So nobody understands my frustration!”

“First of all, Diluc exists. Second of all, aren’t you higher ranking than him?” she asks, and you regretfully shake your head. 

“No, Captains and Inspectors are on the same level. I personally didn't feel ready to be a leader in combat situations, so I passed on the opportunity. Now I miss active commissions so much, my poor sword is nothing more than an ancient relic at this point”. 

“Surely, you’ll still be sent out?” 

“I don’t have a command, the only times I might be are on extraordinarily dangerous or sizable sightings, or for assistance to Captains. Rue the day I get sent out with Kaeya”. You shudder at the thought. “That would end in total disaster”. 

“So you really have no idea why Kaeya began to dislike you so suddenly?” your friend inquires, tilting her head aside. You shake yours. “And there wasn’t some kind of incident that caused this?” 

“Not that I know of”.

A grin spreads over her face. “Hey, you ever considered that he likes you a little too much for his own good?” 

“That’s some misogynistic bullshit”, you snort. “Guys are rude to people because they like them, yeah right. That’s just trying to normalise shitty behaviour in the name of quote-on-quote love”. 

“I know that”. She gives you an exasperated look. “But… you have to admit that the two of you have some serious chemistry”. 

“What are you even talking about?” you question, downing the rest of your drink. 

“Every time you two interact”. She raises a brow knowingly. “Remember that time you were bickering on patrol through Mondstadt? I swear, even without a vision, I could see sparks between the two of you, and I wasn’t the only one, you got the entire town talking. You get on each other’s nerves because you have some unresolved tension you need to work out, and neither of you wants to admit it”. 

“Shut up”. Your cheeks suddenly feel suspiciously warm, and you firmly decide it’s the alcohol. “Fine, Kaeya’s attractive, but he’s so fucking annoying because he knows that. He messes with me ‘cause he knows how to get in my head, and gets some kind of sadistic pleasure from it”. 

Your friend makes an attempt to interrupt you, but you don’t let her, motioning to her to let you rant. “Let me finish. He was nice enough up until he got that damn ego boost after being promoted, I think, and even then I could still talk to him without the need to stab myself in the eye. He’s just so frustrating, never thinks twice about anything he does, and always gets away with it, plus he has this weird urge to always show off that stupidly toned chest of his and - by the Seven, I hate that idiot smirk of his, and the fact that he’s so damn perfect at his swordsmanship, I can’t even deny how good he is in battle, Jean has said he rivals her, and I despise that he knows he looks good while doing it, he-”

“So, how much longer were you going to let them just talk?” A voice offhandedly asks from behind you, and the blood in your veins turns to ice. Your friend smiles lazily, winking at you. 

“Oh, you know, however long they need. Y/N’s been ranting quite a bit this evening, you really get on their nerves”. 

You whip around, and sure enough, there he is, the cause of this mess. Kaeya has his arms folded, grinning down at you with thinly veiled satisfaction. You’re pretty sure half of the tavern is watching, and your blood turns from freezing to seething within seconds. 

“How long have you been there?” you ask stiffly, glaring at your friend. She pulls an innocent face, leaning back in her seat with performative disinterest. Traitor. 

“Just long enough to hear what I needed to”. Kaeya’s grin is threatening to split his face in half. “You really think I’m that attractive, huh? I never would have guessed”. 

You jump up from your chair, spitting out the first thing that comes to mind. “Fight me”. 

He actually laughs, a few of the tavern occupants joining in. “What? Are you sure you’re not mixing up a couple words there?”

You clench your jaw, deciding to just go with it. “Fight me. Knights of Favonius training ring, tomorrow morning. I’m sick of your attitude”. 

“Oh?” He cocks a brow at you. “I hope you’re ready after wasting away in that office of yours”. 

“I could beat you blindfolded”, you reply presumptuously, mimicking his stance, unable to ignore the fact that he smells a little too good for your tipsy state. At least he finally took your orders. You hold his stare regardless, unwilling to give in.

“Thank the Seven, you’re working this out at last”, your friend sighs, sipping at her drink. “And here I thought you’d take the sexual tension to the grave”. 

Kaeya’s lip twitches in amusement as he extends one hand. “Tomorrow morning at seven. I’ll try not to kill you then, for that sake alone”.

You give him a dirty look, reluctantly shaking his hand. “Your chance of me doing the same is decreasing with every word that leaves your mouth”. 

“I can live with that”. He suddenly leans closer, and before you can pull away, whispers in your ear, sultry tone leaving the hairs on the back of your neck standing up. “You’re going down, darling”. 

Like Hell you are.

---

The training hall is usually relatively empty at this time of day. Some dedicated trainee’s use the morning to get their routine over, but otherwise, not many knights exercise this early. And though at least a few of them must have heard of what happened last night, not many are to be seen. Even if you could live with an audience, you decide this way is perfectly fine, especially in case of the (distinctly undesirable and should-be-impossible outcome) of you losing to him. You’re a bit out of breath from warming up, fixing your shirt before making your way over to the ring.

Kaeya is waiting for you there, clad in athleisure and in the midst of testing out a beginner’s sword. His vision is nowhere to be seen, and you curse him a little for not giving you something more to berate him for. Nevertheless, you straighten up as you approach.

“Good morning”, you greet him nonchalantly, walking over to inspect the racks of weapons. 

A grin flashes across his face as he turns around, wiping the sweat off his brow. “Hello, darling”.

“Sweating already?” You raise a brow at him, deciding to ignore the nickname. “And here I thought I’d have a challenge”. 

Kaeya laughs, rolling out his wrist. “You are cute when you’re acting tough”. Tilting his head aside, he watches you take your pick of one of the swords. The morning light bathes him in a soft glow, falling through the high windows, hair tied up in a messy bun at the back of his head, and- wait. Your cheeks grow hot as you realise what absurd directions your thoughts are heading to. Your friend must have gotten under your skin more than you realised last night. 

Shaking your head a little, you roll your shoulders back and face him head-on. “Whatever makes you feel better. For the rules, as by training code, drawing blood is an immediate end”. 

“No visions, no hits near the head or vital organs, dull blades and stop means stop”, Kaeya counts up calmly, making his way to the center of the ring. His blue eye gleams playfully in the light, and he swings the sword near aimlessly while walking. You grit your teeth at his relaxed manner. He wasn’t taking this seriously at all, huh?

“Don’t worry, Inspector”. He winks as he comes to a halt before you, maintaining the mandated arm’s distance. “I know the rules”. 

“I’d hope so”, you reply, getting into position and watching him do the same. You decide to stir the pot a little, knowing it’s best to get into his head, and feign a smile. “I can’t wait until the rest of the knights hear about how royally I kicked your ass”. 

He laughs lowly, and is immediately on the attack. Anticipating such, after years of observing him in battle, you parry it easily, ducking aside to avoid the next one. You wait until he’s nearly backed you into the corner, ego visibly growing with every move he makes, and take a rolling dive, knocking his legs out from under him with your own. 

He manages to catch himself, and you’re relieved by the split-second of surprise in his expression. You withdraw towards the middle, blowing a stray strand of hair out of your face and, in a rush of adrenalin, smirk at him. “Not so confident now, are we, Captain?”

“You’re not as out of shape as I anticipated”, he counters, slashing his sword through the air as he repositions himself. Brows narrowing playfully, he adds: “It’ll make it more fun to thoroughly take you apart”. 

You don’t give him more time to prepare. Blades crash onto each other as he masterfully deflects your attacks, and it doesn’t take long for the two of you to get out of breath. Neither of you can land a hit, no matter how feasible it seems. He handles the comparatively bulky sword with enviable ease, and you grow frustrated quickly, unable to break through his defences. In turn, you don’t let him back you into any corner, constantly keeping the playing field level and returning every new strike with your own.

“You know what, I’ve missed this”, Kaeya pants, quick to switch hands as you sidestep him, attempting to land a hit on his blinde side. 

“Huh?” is all you can answer in return, deflecting his counter aimed at your back, and darting aside. 

“Training”. He nearly misses the parry, forced to back up if not to risk a blow to his abdomen. “With you”. He shoots you a brash smile, easily twisting out of your range.

You huff, irritated at the fact that he still has the mind to flirt. “Your silver tongue isn’t getting you out of this one”. 

“I meant it”. And of damn course, his tactic worked, the point of his blade sinking into your shoulder. “Remember when we used to practise together?” 

“Before you became a dick, you mean?” you shoot back, attempting an aggressive strike at his lower thigh. Your body is getting sore, heart pounding against your ribcage, breaths coming out short and strained, but despite it all, you’re enjoying this. In any case, you’d rather die than admit to him that you’re having fun. 

You really needed to get out of your office more.

Kaeya laughs, equally exhausted, before advancing at an alarming speed. “I’ll give you that one, darling”. 

Your blades cross, metal clashing loudly, and you can see an opportunity form as he shortly weakens his hold. Rotating your sword in the opposite direction to try and hook beneath his, you’re so distracted by the possibility of disarming him that you don’t notice the satisfaction that washes over his expression as you do. One swift swipe of his foot and you’re falling backwards, weapon nearly ripped from your hand. 

Your back hits the mat with full force, air knocked out of your lungs, causing you to give a strangled gasp. Kaeya is smirking down at you, but he’s as out of breath as you are and there’s sweat soaking his shoulders. You don’t think before you move, so infuriated by the words you know are about to leave his mouth, fingers tightening around the handle. 

The hit against his shins sends him to the ground, but not sideways as planned, instead straight onto you. You don’t have the time or the mind to roll out of the way, and he tries very hard to catch himself, hands landing on either side of you. You yelp as most of his weight hits you, momentarily forgetting what’s even happening. 

 “Fuck”, Kaeya groans, arms shaking as he tries to brace himself. “You like playing dirty, don’t you?” 

Slowly regaining the ability to breathe after nearly being crushed, your eyes dart to see him dangling over you, legs and lower body resting on your own. If anyone hears of this out of context, you’re moving to the other end of Teyvat. He’s panting, no doubt as shocked as you are, strands of his hair tickling your nose. His face is mere inches away from yours, heat seeping through his clothes onto your skin. 

Decidedly too close.

Your blade kissing his throat is a much better sight. You know you’re technically breaking the rules, but the way his eye widens, corners of his mouth twitching and brows raising to the sky is just too good of a picture. 

“Get off me”. You growl, trying to steady yourself with your other hand. 

His laugh sounds astounded, but contrary to your demand, he does not. Instead, his chin juts forward, pressing the metal into his skin for earnest. There’s no blood, of course, all these swords are dulled to near uselessness, but it does leave you speechless at the amount of reckless pride he seems to possess. 

 Kaeya hums, clearly satisfied at your reaction. “I’ll be honest, this is not how I initially pictured you under me”. 

What a smug son of a-

“Oh, fuck off”. Your knee makes contact with his stomach and he rolls off you with a grunt. You scramble to your feet, grimacing at what you're sure will be a bruised tailbone later. He’s already composed himself, twirling his sword idly as you get a proper grip on your own. Looking you up and down, his grin widens into a smirk.

“Though you do look similar to the imaginary aftermath”. 

“I am going to kill you”, you hiss, red flashing before your eyes as you charge at him. Kaeya begins to laugh once more, but it quickly dies down as your moves become more and more aggressive, driving him out of the ring and towards the wall. The thought of whoever may be around again crosses your mind, but honestly, you can’t care about who may be watching, every last bit of strength you have left is focused on Kaeya and his stupid fucking face and the way he evades your strikes with a precision that only leaves to be desired to every onlooker. It makes you want to actually scream. You finally land two hits on him, arms beginning to shake from exhaustion and overwhelming adrenalin. 

But once more, Kaeya catches you off guard. The switch flips just as his leg hits the wall and you’re just beginning to notice your own smile, sure of your victory. His expression darkens, lip caught in his teeth as his eyes narrow down at you. 

Your blades clash as they did before, and of course he uses your own move against you, managing to perfect it. Your sword goes flying to the ground, and the moment you lose your grip is the moment you’re being slammed against the wall that he was nearly backed up against mere seconds ago. The tip of his sword is digging into the soft skin of your throat, positioned perfectly above your Adam's apple. 

Suddenly, it goes very quiet, the silence only interrupted by your laboured breaths. Maybe it’s the fact that he near literally has a knife to your throat, but you can’t tear your eyes away from him. His hand is pressing on your shoulder, pinning you to the wall, keeping you in place. His leg is slotted between yours, barring you from moving an inch. 

For the first time since you’ve met him, you have nothing to do but to admire him. Sweat is making his hair stick to his skin, an exhausted flush upon his dark cheeks. His body is visibly tense, stare boring into yours with a kind of intensity you’ve only ever seen during active combat. There’s nothing unintentional about the way he’s restraining you, nothing hesitant about the placement of the blade against your skin. His chest is heaving, teeth digging into his lip in constrained effort, fingers digging into your shoulder as if expecting you to fight back.

You don’t. 

Instead, you let out a shaky breath. The adrenalin is still surging through you, but you can’t feel the constant urge to punch him in the gut anymore. Huh. Weird. 

“You won”. Your voice is calmer than it ever has been talking to him, accepting of your defeat. Plus, your body is beginning to realise that whatever just happened hurt, and quite a bit at that. You wince, knowing you’re going to need some ice to get through the rest of the day. 

Kaeya shakes his head determinedly, stare not wavering. “You had me in practically the same position less than a minute ago. You could have flipped me over with ease and won. You didn't. That’s the only reason I got you here”. His grip on your shoulder eases up. “We’re equal”. 

Withdrawing the sword from your neck, he takes a step back, relinquishing his hold on you. You feel strangely dazed, automatically reaching to check for cuts on your neck. “I guess?”

“You okay?” He sounds relatively quiet as well, nearly uneasy, which does not fit the overconfident persona he usually bears. Whatever tension there was before has yielded to something more cautious, like strangers navigating their way across broken ice. 

You nod, reaching to pick up your sword. “Fine”. You pause briefly, debating your words before meeting his eye again. “That was… good exercise. Thanks for fighting me”. 

He laughs a little, and you’re taken aback by how much you don’t feel like reacting. What was going on? At the latest after that laugh you’d usually be back at his throat. 

“Sure”. There’s the typical amusement in his face, but his smile is less egregious and smug. It’s… kind? “I’d have no problem repeating it”. 

You raise your shoulders, unsure of what to do now. “I guess… I wouldn’t either?”

“Good”. He runs a hand through his hair in an effort to fix the mess it’s become. You’re beginning to hear the confidence you’re used to re-enter his words, but it doesn’t appear to bother you. “Friday’s at seven, then. We’ll make it a regular thing”.

“Trying to kill each other?” You surprise yourself with the attempt to ease the tension, and why in the world do you have the urge to smile at the sight of his?

“If that’s how you want to see it”. He shrugs, placing his sword back on the racks. Glancing over his shoulder, he regards you for a long moment. “I think your friend is right”. 

“In what regard?” you ask, in principle fully aware of what that expression means for you. 

Kaeya’s shit-eating grin has made its way back onto his face. “I think this tension needs resolving. Whatever means it takes”. 

You can hear the words in your head before he says them. 

“Be that with swords against each other’s necks or in my bed. You decide”.

[chikagestits]

Yeah we can do Spring last, after all, suspense brings ratings! (๑╹ω╹๑ )

How much, out of 10, are you of each autumn troupe member?

Might as well randomize the order we go in (*'ω'*)

Enjoy ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

SPRING || SUMMER || WINTER

OOOOOOO AUTUMN FIRST HUH Banri: 9/10 Juza: 2/10 Taichi: 2/10 Omi: 4/10 (originally 3/10) Sakyo: 7/10 (originally 6/10) Azami: 3/10 So, I'll be going by en story and not jp story so that this is readable for everyone. Maybe I'll write a separate post based on jp story. Also, this is long already, wonderful gjfdklhjdfkl

Oh Banri. Banri Banri Banri. Where do I even start? Like him, I thrived off of approval of others and when I no longer received that, I stopped caring. The only difference is that I got gifted kid burnout and he didn't. I guess you could say that he either always had hope someone would still approve of his accomplishments or there was someone who was there that did approve, but it wasn't enough to get him completely out of his own head. It's clear that Banri had friends in school. He was a popular kid, but he wasn't a Popular Kid. That known by everyone, but not really creating lasting bonds with people kinda feeling was something I had growing up too. My groups of friends always came and went and honestly, I don't expect people to stay anymore, but that might be my doing more than anything. I'm not very good with socializing and connecting with people. Growing up, I didn't know Who I Was, which sounds normal for y'know being a kid and all, you're supposed to find out along the way. My case is kinda different though and it probably had a huge factor, as well as the fact that if I change interests, I stop talking to those friends I made. (Not saying I'd COMPLETELY stop talking to them, I just wouldn't message first anymore.) But doing things for others and never myself kinda fucked me up, much like it did for Banri. He seemingly hasn't had a meaningful relationship until Mankai and the fact that he was just about ready to leave at a drop of a hat was kinda like oh. Haha me. (I felt like somewhat of a coward because he had the courage to actually leave, but I never did.) I don't start fights, well, physical anyway. I'm noodle arms hjfkdlhjf But I used to start fights a ton, which still lingers even now but I've since toned down. I'm very happy for Banri and I love how he found his Thrill with acting and such that he even went to college for it. Unfortunately for me, I have yet to find that Thrill. So, I'm in that limbo stage that he was in in the very beginning. A lot of his apathy, for lack of a better word, to most things is how I am now. I just. Don't care about a lot of things. And yeah, I skip class a lot hjdklhj I used to have high expectations for myself too, (so I totally relate to Banri leaving when Izumi and Yuzo said he wasn't good enough) but that's since been carried away with my care for everything. Not to mention admitting shit is a no no to me and to Banri :3 I'm not really good with rounding this out, but yeah, 9/10 for Banri. UHHHHHHHH Honestly, I think I only relate with Juza on the sweets and the "can't let people know we're related" fronts. I don't have much else to say on him. (Though, for the related front, it's more so I don't want to associate with someone from my family because they're a fucking jackass and I hope they burn.) BUT wanting to be Anything But Me is such a mood. Sooooo yeah 2/10 for Juza. Excluding Mantou Fist story from this because it just came out. I don't think I'm very similar to Taichi, though I will say one thing that always stood out to me with him. Unfortunately, I take it very personally when someone's better at something I'm good at. I don't MEAN TO take it personally, it just happens and I get distraught and shit, but I usually try to get outta that mindset as quickly as possible. (because who has time for sadness? Emotions? Fuck you) 2/10 for Taichi. Omi's probably the one I relate to the least, in reality, but the reason I'm giving him a 3 is because "stealing someone else's dream" is uhhhh Yeah <333 It's not the same kinda thing, but goddamn is it similar enough. I guess I could also make an argument for wanting to connect with someone, but not being able to because of reasons they have because I do want to care and help others when I can and when I'm not able to, I kinda. Blame myself haha So fuck it, I'm changing it to 4/10 for Omi. I'd like to think I'm not anything like Sakyo, but I am rather blunt because telling people how it is is, in my mind, better than beating around the bush. Tough love isn't something I have, but you go, Sakyo, I guess

gjhjdfklhjfdk Just admit you're a proud father! I'm getting off track. Anyway, I absolutely feel for Sakyo on wanting to not be a burden on his mother and just generally trying to make life easier by not wanting anything and, unfortunately, isolating myself from my family. My mom was also the only one who worked and she had to take care of three children. Though, I can't say I have as good of a relationship with my mom as he does with his mother. Being the "more experienced"/"older one" in the group always befell onto me because of the haha oh boy constant missed opportunities during my childhood, and I was expected to be a leader when I absolutely do not qualify. I've definitely wasted a majority of my childhood, but Yknow. Nothing I can do about it now. What's done is done. 7/10 for Sakyo, I feel like I'm not great at ranking these. Azamiiiiiiiiiii Wanting to be independent, having to "grow up" too fast, hiding important aspects of myself from my mom—yeah, I'd say I relate a bit. Though, I never really had a support system like Azami who had Sakyo and Sakoda by his side constantly. Though, those three things are probably the only things I relate to with himmmmm. NO WAIT I just remembered that a lot of my main interests now are based on someone else. And that's all I can really say about that because I don't like that fact at all since I don't want to relate my interests to them >:( 3/10 for Azami. But to round out Autumn, I gotta do it. My biggest regret: Not indulging in my dreams earlier (adding another point to Sakyo just for this SIGHS) Have I ran away from home: Yes