#and he has a pet hummingbird that he loves and one time he told someone to kneel down to him as king and that was HOT

[andsotheuniverseended]

Orimar Vale sir if you happen to be free any night this week i would love to discuss sensory overload and the pursuit of escaping the limits of humanity to become a story that will never die with you

[thatharringrovehoe]

I love 'stuck in a time loop' fics where the characters slowly fall in love with each other. But right now I'm thinking of Steve rushing downstairs wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and his left sock while someone pounds on his front door in the middle of the night. When he opens it, there stands none other than Billy Hargrove, sweaty and exhausted.

And carrying an axe.

Steve tries to close the door but Billy's already jammed his boot up against it, holding it open. Billy's voice is a croak in the otherwise eerily silent night.

"The first pet you ever had was a cat named Sampson. You found him in the alley behind Melvald's and hid him in your room for six weeks before your mom found out and gave him away while you were at school. You were eight."

Steve is sure there's smoke billowing out of his ears from how hard the gears are turning in his brain. But try as he might, he has absolutely zero fucking clue what to do with this information. Somewhere in the house an antique clock strikes midnight.

Billy flinches, grip creaking around the axe propped up on his shoulder.

Steve chooses his next words very carefully.

"While I'm really glad you and Tommy are swapping childhood stories about me, it's getting late-"

"-And you have a shift in the morning. Yeah. I know. I also know that in the past one hundred and fifteen days you've never once even made it till morning. So I'm here to keep you from becoming monster chow and then maybe my fucking life can go back to normal"

Billy's shouting by the end. Steve's heart thunders in his chest.

you've never once even made it till morning

monster chow

The image of a demon falling out of the Byer's ceiling in a cloud of plaster and rot bubbles up with a growing panic. Billy's tapping his fingers anxiously around the handle of his axe, eyes darting to the side every now and again like he expects something to be there. Steve swallows down a hysterical laugh with the thought that the best case scenario right now is Hargrove took some type of hallucinogenic drug and drove to Steve's house in the middle of the night with a weapon.

The worst case scenario...

An owl hoots in the darkness and Steve feels like he might vomit with the surge of adrenaline. A stray breeze rustles the branches of the forest around them.

What if it's a prank?

God please let it be a prank

"All my friends knew about Sampson. Hell, the lunch lady knew about him."

Billy's jaw tics. "Look, I'm trying to keep us both alive so would you just shut up and let me in? The last place I wanna die is bumfuck Indiana."

He moves to shoulder past but Steve doesn't let him through. From this close Steve could count all the freckles on Billy's nose, air tense as a piano wire. Billy stares back, gaze wild.

Desperate

And one hundred days is a long time to get to know a person.

"I'll let you in. But-!" Steve's hand shoots up to press back against Billy's chest as he attempts to shove past him. His heart beats like a hummingbird under Steve's palm. "You have to make me believe you."

Billy breathes a harsh sigh through his nose, leveling a glare at Steve. The axe thankfully does not lodge itself into any part of Steve's person. For now.

"What do you want from me Steve?"

A coyote howls in the distance. Guttural and wrong. Chills erupt down Steve's spine.

"Tell me something I've never told anyone. Something only I would know."

An expression Steve can't parse flashes across Billy's face. Whatever it is it looks painful. Sad, but not for himself. There's more rustling out in the woods. This time without a breeze.

"You're adopted"

It's like a punch to the sternum.

Steve lets him in.

.

[miwsolovely]

—BROKEN PIANO KEYS.

combat medic!reader getting the brunt of gaz’s death + price who breaks. based on mito’s post !!

tw: heavy grief, character death.

it wasn’t raining.

on days like these, days where people are mourned and remembered, where people regret and forgive, it’s supposed to be sad.

it’s supposed to be sad, so why is the sun shining? why is the sky clear? where’s the bitter, dewy smell of the rain on the plants?

Why are the flowers blossoming on such a dreary day?

you thought the setting was bad, thought the world hated you with how the skies were free of dark clouds and droopy leaves, but when the 21-gun salute started, your knees buckled and your body started shaking; you want to go home.

home where you used to lay on the couch together, home where you used to cook meals together, home where his scent still lingers on the furniture, his clothes, his pillow. it was still there, his tantalizing scent, comforting you during the hard days where you can barely close your eyes, but tormenting you every day with what you lost.

each fire of their guns made you flinch, made you dig your nails into your palm until they bled, made you sink your teeth in your chapped lips until you tasted iron.

only when you looked down at your hands, seeing the blood trail out of the crescent marks you created and spread out on your palmar flexion creases like art, the trail of blood leading from your mouth splattering on your open palm and staining the dry grass, that you realized where you are.

you’re at a funeral, his funeral.

Kyle ‘Gaz’ Garrick, a sergeant in the 141, your friend, your best friend, the man you found yourself falling for day by day. he’s gone.

if you’d have gotten there sooner, if you’d have—

the whiplike shots of the guns shake you out of your reverie.

but they also send you into a more poisonous one.

one where you see him. see his face covered in blood, his beautiful face, stained by the blood of enemies.

we get dirty and the world stays clean.

but he didn’t need to. he didn't need to get dirty to keep the world clean. he was the only one who had a clear mindset in the darkest times, who had stayed by you when your sheets would stick to your skin and your mind had been plagued by the cloying melody of the night.

to you, the world needed him to stay clean.

they needed him in the way he'd anyways go out of his way to make sure the elderly were safe after a bad day, who always check up on the kids he'd meet on ops after they went through a traumatic moment,

you needed him in the way he could just be there with you and listen to your hummingbird heart beat into his open palm when you’d lie in bed together.

you remember, his ebony hair that is, was, a rich dark brown, that always seemed to verge on black; it always reminded you of the grand piano he has.

. . . Had.

his voice was always so soft, just like the word ebony itself has a pleasing, melodic sound when it's spoken, his name, not his callsign, instead, the name given to him by his mother who has equally as shiny hair and skin;

Kyle. your kyle, your love. your everything.

though you were going through one of the worst throes since your late parents, though your grief was present in your breath, though the wail you let out scratched your throat like knives; others were going through the agonizing pain of loss.

others like johnny whose tear stained sketchbook is filled with kyle’s last moments smiling, where he was petting a stray cat on the outskirts of the battlefield a few weeks ago.

others like simon who can’t walk to his room without feeling his eyes sting and heart crumble; kyle’s room exactly across from his, with bouquets and letters and everything that screams Kyle blocking someone from entering.

others like johnathan.

johnathan, who can’t drink his tea without feeling like somethings wrong. kyle would make him tea early in the morning with his own special touch. though he’d never told price what it was.

johnathan, who finds himself gently moving the gifts left in front of kyle’s door and quietly moving inside after opening the door.

johnathan, whose tears come fast when he sees your sleeping body laying on his bed, tears flowing free even in your sleep.

johnathan, who gently wakes you up and guides you to the bathroom so you can wash up and get something to eat.

“kyle wouldn’t want this for you doe.”

johnathan, who after you wash up and after johnny drives you to a nearby diner, stands alone in kyle’s room.

johnathan, who falls to his knees and lets out a deep wail that comes from the hearth of his sorrow.

johnathan, whose tears cascaded down his face like a relentless waterfall, each droplet a testament to the profound sorrow that had hollowed out his heart.

johnathan, whose sobs echoed through the empty room, a symphony of despair that reverberated against the walls and seeped into the very air he breathed inside this grave of a room.

johnathan, whose grief seemed to bend him, much like how he saw you curled in fetal position, his shoulders were hunched as if carrying the burden of a thousand heartaches; his team’s heartaches, your heartache. his own headache that weighed the weight of the world ten times over.

johnathan, whose eyes, windows to a soul shattered by loss, glistened with the raw, unfiltered emotion of a man who had been stripped of all pretense.

johnathan, who, in that moment, he was the embodiment of human fragility, a poignant reminder of the universal capacity for suffering.

- please do not plagiarize, copy, or repost my works to other platforms !

- likes, comments, and reblogs are very appreciated <3 !!

©miwsolovely

[weepinglevi]

patience is a virtue

summary: college!au. all aged up. eren and reader continue with their sexual escapades. find part one here! warnings: 18+ minors dni. dirty text messages, dirty talk. dom!eren and bratty reader (i suppose?). throat fucking and semi-public sex. (no p in v tho) word count: around 3.5k A/N: i have a love/hate relationship with this eren ahaha, he's been ruling my brainrot ever since the last part so i hope you enjoy! there will be a part three eventually, so be on the lookout for that! enjoy your read and feedback is greatly appreciated! xx

you awake to your phone vibrating somewhere next to you. the hope of it only being a one-time occurrence quickly proven to be false as it just wouldn't stop. brr-brr. a second of silence. brr-brr. pause. brr-brr.

taking a mental note to never go to sleep again without turning off your phone, you roll over to your other side and try to ignore it. you could simply answer the texts, but that meant you'd have to open your eyes. and that whoever was texting you would win this weird battle you've just come up with in your head.

"if you don't pick up your goddamn phone, i'll smack you over the head with it," sasha groans from the other side of your shared dorm, words coming slurry with her tiredness.

brr-brr.

"i could also stick it up your ass, your decision," a pillow comes flying to your head, serving as enough of a warning for you to sit up in your bed, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

"quit moaning, i'll turn it off now," you yawn, feeling around your bed for your phone, "you never hear me complaining about the shit you do in the middle of the night."

"that's because my shit is funny and not fucking annoying," she scoffs, followed by a muted thump as she is sinking back down into her pillows. sasha's way of ending the conversation.

you find your phone half-tucked underneath your pillow, the display already lighting up again. someone is desperate for attention, you think to yourself and unlock your phone with an annoyed sigh. the messages were coming from an unknown number.

thinking about your wet pussy. this is eren, btw. historia gave me your number. i told her you wouldn't mind you don't mind, do you?

in a matter of seconds, your heart is beating in your throat once more, just like this afternoon in that godforsaken computer lab. ears growing hot at his words, you could almost imagine the sound of him laughing at you again. with trembling fingers, you scroll down further.

anyway, let's do it again sometime i told you. i'll never let you forget about how you moaned my name i'm also not forgetting about how badly i want to fuck that pretty mouth of yours, so it's a win-win see ya, then

staring down at your phone, you don't know if you should answer him. and even if you would answer his texts, what the hell should you say? "fucking bastard," the words escaping your mouth before even realizing that you'd better keep quiet. the only thing that could make this situation any worse was if sasha were to wake up again.

scratch that, you think as you see eren's new messages.

how badly do you want to suck my cock? you looked really hot today, covered in my cum what, you're shy again?

there are two ways this could go: either you stand up, put on some clothes, and then go to eren's dorm to let hell rain upon him - or simply mute your phone and ignore him. deciding to go with the latter, you lie back down and save his number as "fuckhead", a small grin forming on your face. if he wants to be childish, then you can be, too.

the display still lighting up at a steady pace, you have to fight the urge to open his other messages. to physically prevent yourself from grabbing your phone again, you put your hands between your thighs and sigh. what the hell have i gotten myself into?

"so, who am i gonna have to teach some manners today?", sasha asks in the morning, "because there are only two valid reasons for sending that many texts in the middle of the night," she sits up in her bed and bends over to reach for her phone, "either someone's dead or there's a food sale."

cringing at the thought of having to read the countless other messages eren has sent throughout the night, you try to laugh at her comment, "of course, when there's food involved, you're all for it."

"girl's gotta eat," she claims, thankfully being too distracted by something on her phone to notice your strange behavior, "i'm gonna be back later than usual today, connie wants me to be his wingman again."

starting to go off on a tangent about how connie should just get a dating app already, sasha's words become more of background noise to you. you want to know what he wrote. what he has in store for you. at the same time, you curse yourself out. you're turning into a headless chicken and all of it because of eren fucking yeager?

you nod here and there, offering her a "yes" at what you believe to be fitting moments, desperately hoping she doesn't catch up on your restlessness. all the while the two of you are getting ready for the day. this goes on for a few more minutes and you have no clue what she's talking about now, so you decide to grab your phone and stand up.

"i'm gonna go for a run around campus, you want coffee?" you blurt out, interrupting her monologue. the device in your hand feels as if it's burning through your skin. slipping into your trainers, you're already halfway out the room, her perplexed "uh- yes, please," being muffled by the door closing behind you.

it's still warm outside - not as hot as yesterday, but warm enough for you to be glad to have forgotten your cardigan earlier. you let out a deep breath, trying to clear your mind. even though you told sasha you'd be out for a run, you walk at a slow pace.

some people are already wandering around campus, most of them on their way to a lecture. at this time in the morning, everyone has their heads full with their own worries so no one notices you slowly making your way off-campus.

arriving at a little park surrounded by trees, you sit down on the bench farest off. you notice your heart fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird when pulling the phone out of your back pocket. fuck him, you think once again while typing in your code. fuck him for making me feel this way.

12 unread messages.

didn't seem all too shy when i had my hand wrapped around your throat no need to play hard to get when i already had you if that makes sense? haven't fucked you yet doesn't mean i won't get to fuck you

all you want is to feel appalled by these messages. to screenshot them and send them to the dean. maybe even to his mother. sickened with yourself though, you already feel the familiar warmth creeping up your body, curling up in your abdomen.

i know you want it, too how fucking needy you were for me getting yourself off in public to the thought of me maybe you can tell me what exactly you were thinking of? gonna make sure to let your dreams come true, princess

pet names? you clench your fist at the thought of eren leaning over you, breathing the word princess into your ear. you have an inkling that he'd say it mockingly; spitting it out whilst gathering your hair in a ponytail, arching your back forcefully, and slamming his length into you without mercy.

no. you hate pet names. at least, you've always hated them.

i'm gonna find out if you're ignoring me right now remember, you're not the best actress. fucking suck at it, actually wouldn't want to be punished now, would we?

his last message echoed in your head. still coming to terms with the fact of what happened yesterday, now you have to deal with a whole new revelation: eren yeager being a cocky motherfucker pushing all the right buttons for you. even though you want to blast his ass for this, the mere thought of him being near you again is too sweet of an imagination.

you want to play this game, too. for whatever reason keep on riding this high, and you just know that no one could do it quite as well as eren can. somehow you can only imagine taking him on this ride with you, no one else.

so, in that manner you decide to ignore his messages. if he's desperate enough to keep on sending them in the middle of the night, you're sure it won't be long until he sends another text. and it would give him enough reason to try and punish you, whatever that might entail – you're excited to find out. fucking nervous, too. but then again, who wouldn't be?

you stand up and put your phone in your back pocket, a sense of excitement surrounding your steps as you turn left to make your way to the nearest coffee shop.

"something tells me you're ignoring me," of course, the moment eren's voice comes up behind you, you fucking flinch like a little bird that's been scared away, "mostly because i've seen you reading the messages, but what do i know?"

you turn to see him clutching his heart dramatically, "don't play with my feelings like this," he swoons, bringing one hand to his forehead. he's laughing again, all white teeth and bright smiles – you realize this is the kind of eren you rarely get to see. not the cocky bastard he normally portrays; right now, he seems to be a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, just enjoying himself. still, you want to show him that you can play just as well as he can.

crossing your arms in front of your chest, you slightly raise a brow, trying your hardest to not look as nervous as you feel. it's a lost cause though because you can already feel the tips of your ears glowing with heat again. can't things go my way for once? just once? you think and chew the inside of your cheek. you felt so sure of yourself just moments ago. how the hell can he have this sort of effect on you?

suddenly, his whole demeanor changes. before, he seemed laid-back, entertained by the game he played with you. now he leans forward, hands in the pockets of his jacket and an almost cruel smile forming on his lips, "don't try to challenge me in this. you'll lose."

you know that you should feel frightened. terrified, even. he's looking like a lion preparing to jump the antelope, a sense of alarming calmness around him that's causing the small hairs on your neck to stand up. but alas, the way he's looking at you seems to have the same effect on you his scent has.

"i told you not to ignore me," eren says and takes a few steps closer to you, "yet here you are, doing it again." the chuckle leaving his lips a stark contrast to his stern gaze, still trained on you. somehow, you feel awfully small again - still not frightened, though. you stare right back at him, tilting your head slightly as if you wanted to say "so what?"

"are you seriously that desperate to be punished?"

better now than never, you think and once again place a courtly smile on your lips, "seems like it."

for a split second, you see eren's smug look turn into a genuine smile. realizing that you're up for his game, he lets out a smooth whistle, "you do surprise me."

"if you wouldn't always be so full of yourself, i'm sure you'd have recognized this sooner," you can feel the confidence growing in yourself again. clinging on to it, you take a step toward him, "i'm full of surprises."

"oh, yeah? i bet you are," from the corner of your eye, you can see him lifting his hand. before thinking twice about it, you bat it away, "i'm not one for public displays of affection."

oh, it is on– eren's smirk turns into a full-fledged grin as he takes a grip of your wrist, "you sure about that?" lifting your hand to his face, for a short moment you think he's going to suck on your fingers again. but all he does is place a faint kiss on the back of your hand, "didn't seem like it yesterday."

"you weren't supposed to see."

"but i'm so glad i did," he leans forward, the two of you standing so close you can feel his breath on your face, "or else we wouldn't have this kind of fun right now."

still having a hold of your hand, he lifts his other to your jaw, gently tracing his thumb across your lower lip, "you looked so pretty in your skirt yesterday."

taking a leap of faith, you grab his hand, holding it in place and letting your tongue run across the tip of his thumb before biting down playfully. there's a hiss and then eren pulls away and grabs your arm, "come with me."

finally, you think and let him guide you to wherever he wants, let's have some fun, then.

on your way out of the park, you pass jean and marco. even though they stand to greet eren, he just raises his hand whilst not breaking his pace, "gotta go, have an assignment to work on."

"never seen you that determined, but go off," jean laughs.

before you know it, you're inside one of the countless maintenance sheds. pushing you against the wall, eren's movements seem to become more and more erratic by the second. pinning your arms over your head, he's looking down at you, breathing heavily. "you have no idea what you just got yourself into," licking his lips, he chuckles.

"oh, but i think i actually do," you smile innocently, fucking glad to have found your normal self again. admittedly, eren threw you off your game since yesterday – but it's just going to play into your hands now. he won't see it coming until it's hitting him straight in the face; that you're just as messed up as he seems to be.

"then prove it," he breathes against your ear, "tell me how badly you want it."

the stuffy air inside the dimly lit shed doesn't help with keeping eren's scent away from you. being so close to him, looking up into his shadowed face and right into his dilated eyes; you're like putty in his hands. you try to move forward, to touch him in some way because you just know that he'll feel so good under your skin.

"now now, princess," he moves even closer, wedging you between himself and the wall, "how about we learn some patience, first?"

you nod, but then grind up against his thigh, hissing through your teeth, "i worry i'll be a real handful." you know you could very well move your hands, too – eren seems to still be testing the waters as to how far he can go with you. but with him actually letting you grind on him; you decide to play into his hands.

your breaths grow quicker as you keep on, pace becoming erratic. all you want is to get rid of your track pants – come to think of it, what you actually want is eren under you whilst you continuously bounce on his cock. you want to hear him call you princess and immediately after call you his little whore because that's exactly what you are.

eren has a little smile on his lips and you know you should ask yourself why – because you're doing exactly what he has forbidden you to do – but you're too far gone. the heat growing, you feel your knees buckle but he's holding you up; one hand now resting on your waist for support. you're so close –

and then he pulls away from you, nearly causing you to topple over. chest heaving, you place your hands on your knees for balance, "what the fuck was – "

"patience is a virtue," interrupting you with a laugh, but his voice heavy with lust, "thought i might give you a lesson you're ought to remember."

you look up to see eren palming his erection through his pants, standing about an arm's length away from you, "but i have to admit, hearing you getting yourself off is fucking hot."

biting your teeth together, you straighten up and take a step toward him – only for him to click his tongue in disapproval, "you're gonna stay right there," tugging at his pants he raises his eyebrow, "i told you what i want, get on your knees for me."

"the fuck i will," you spit out and make a move again, grasping for his waistband. but eren is quick to take a hold of your hand and pushes you back to the wall, "come on, now, princess," he chuckles but his eyes are concentrated at you, "you want this, don't you?". he's asking for permission, the thought feeling very comforting to you. and also, very excited for what's about to come.

"of course, i do," you answer him earnestly, resting the back of your head against the wall, "or else i wouldn't be here."

"fantastic," he breathes, a little smile playing in the corners of his mouth, "then get down on your knees," placing his hands on your shoulders, weighing you down, "i won't ask again."

the change of tone in his voice has you nodding, slowly sinking onto your knees, you're bursting in anticipation. one hand finally pulling down his pants, he runs his other through your hair, then down your jaw until it comes to rest on your chin.

thumbing at your lower lip, he groans "do i have to be careful?"

you just shake your head no. then you break away from his gaze, fixing your eyes on the bobbing cock in front of you. it's tip leaking with precum already, you remember how badly you wanted to lick it away yesterday.

taking his cock at its base, you bend forward and slide your tongue around its head. the salty taste sending shudders down your spine, you make sure to lift your eyes again once you prepare to take it all down your throat. your other hand snakes up to his balls, slightly tugging them which earns you a moan from eren, and fuck, you're so wet at the sound alone, you let go of his cock and slide one hand down to your own center.

he gathers your hair in one hand, taking the base of his throbbing cock in the other, "bet this is what you thought of yesterday," he slowly but surely pulls your head in closer, "of how i fuck the words right out of you."

bucking your hips into your own hand, you can do nothing but whimper at his words. because yes, this is exactly what you imagined. he's only halfway in and you're already struggling to breathe, but not wanting him to stop you hold your breath and push down even further; trying desperately not to moan.

the tears in your eyes causing your vision to be blurry, you attempt to blink them away.

"shit – ", he's pumping into you now, rubbing the tears from your cheeks and then placing both his hands on your head, "you're doing so well – "

getting lost in his words, the fear of being caught is so far away; you finally moan around his cock. saliva soaking the hem of his shirt, you can't seem to take his whole length, no matter how hard you try. you're a fucking mess under him and the thought alone is nearly sending you over the edge.

he's trying to pull away now and you know he's close, so you snake your hand around his hip, hoping this is enough of a sign to him that if he dared to cum anywhere else than down your throat, you'd bite him.

"you really – " his voice is hoarse, "fuck – this is fucking perfect," he moans as he comes to the realization. leaning his arm against the wall behind you, he's fucking himself into your mouth, his panting and the sound of your choking filling the room.

you close your eyes to blink the tears away again, but eren pulls on your hair, "no – look at me."

with this the knot in your belly explodes, leaving you holding on to eren's hip as you ride the waves of electricity that are running through your body like lava.

"such a good little whore – " he's gone as well, holding your head in place as he's pumping his load down your throat, leaving you no other option than to swallow – which you eagerly do. you feel his legs shaking under your hands.

once again, eren hands you his shirt to clean your face. this time, you take it with a smile, noting that, "i still have your other one."

"don't worry, i'll come get it sometime when sasha's away," the two of you know exactly what this means – neither of you are planning on this to be over anytime soon.

"i'll let you know, then," you nod and stand up, hoping you don't look as well-fucked as you feel, and make your way to the door, "she's gone most of the time."

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[writingandmore]

Hi!!! May I get a HP, Star Wars, Voltron, and Disney matchup?

𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗦 + 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘

19, Libra, Neutral Good, enneagram is 4w5, muggleborn Ravenclaw (with Gryffindor tendencies), and my patronus spirit is Hummingbird. Biromantic Pansexual Genderfluid woman using pronouns of She/Her or He/Him. Cherubic-like face, with short height (5'1") plus sized Southeast Asian woman with Spanish descent that has chic messy/wavy brunette medium hair that reaches to my shoulder, oriental skin, slightly upturned eyes, small lashes, chocolate brown irises, cute flat nose, heart shaped face, full cheeks, cupid's bow lips, a small beauty mark on the forehead, and naturally straight teeth with tiny gap in front (just imagine that it's a mixture of Marinette from 𝗠𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝘆𝗯𝘂𝗴, Musa from 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘅 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯, and Alexandra Trese from 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲---cause' my friend told me that I kinda look like them). My sense of fashion is in between emo and boyish plus korean glam, I sometimes let my hair down or styled like Lara Croft reboot.

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬

Distant, quiet, and timid at first making people thought I'm a demure, modest, and self-effacing that looks "immaculate" or "one of a kind" (due to my protective mom, a reason why I've never been in a relationship) but the truth is, dunno how to initiate a conversation, but a total opposite if I open up---friendly, ambivert, witty, laughing loudly on a daily basis---like my happiness is too shallow, super talkative, eats a lot (yeah I can finish a huge slice of cake or a meal in one sitting), awkward, daydreamer (I got embarrassed from knocking at the door even I'm inside the classroom 😂), EXTREMELY CLUMSY (mostly gets bruises from hitting, bumping my head somewhere, walking into something on my way, and being careless to my belongings), secretly likes affection, easily overwhelmed, prone to melt over wholesomeness, flusters on compliments, lightly blushes on cheesy banters, eager to share what I know (especially about Catholic Church---my past teacher joked that I'll become a saint because of it 🤣), oftenly speaks full of sarcasm with a lowkey crackhead energy citing meme references, and talented girl who can be your no.1 supporter and unashamed to be true to myself but can be awkward to strangers. In terms of leadership, I only educate and guide than being a prefect (I might take the role seriously), will lift my group when there's lacking/incompleteness. About doing projects in school, I become too extra and prepared for efforts, but I'll forget the process in the end.

The extent, I'm expressive, warm-hearted, willig to help, kind, intelligent, supportive, nice, creative, enthusiastic, laid-back, determined, tough, competitive, and feisty outside, but a real softie that can be childish and dramatic that cries so easily (but will enlightened real quick by smallest things that makes me smile) filled with doubts, frustrations, and insecurities with fear of failure that pushes off the limits to to please everyone because they might get dissappointed from expectations---I simply can't stop proving myself too much because I'm a survivor of bullying. But I still managed to be stronger than ever after I stumbled, even it's a slow burn process. I can be blunt, intimidating, harsh, and a douchebag if I receive ends or I got interrupted while doing something. Immature, headstrong, perfectionist, demanding, hesitant, jumpy, forgetful, overthinker, quick-tempered, sensitive, and anxious (no joke, my nervousness makes me think worse scenario will arrive). Though can be procrastinator and arrogant, I raised as a religious 𝖺𝗇𝖽 diplomatic youth, willing to fight what I believe (including my dreams and what's important to me) and what is right. In addition, I have a habit of staying up late and doing sign of the cross to ease nervousness.

Rowdy and feeling-brokenhearted and bitter friend in the group who fangirl a lot, swears like sailor, will call out on people that we loathe, will make fun of your stupidity (in a good way) before helping, and bring gossips, but a hopeless romantic and cheeky (makes banter with sarcasms or pick up lines as an endearment, but gets annoyed if I received sappy or offensive one), Still generous and concerned person in a subtle and different way.

𝗛𝗢𝗕𝗕𝗜𝗘𝗦

My hobbies are singing, drawing, roleplaying, listening to music, chatting/browsing on social media, conceptualizing, writing, and reading some stuffs. I'll include making corniest jokes/puns, sleeping, and dancing when nobody's around or walking like a model if I feel so bold (even I'm terrible at both xD). I also used to learn Italian language a bit.

𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦

Loves kittens, milk tea, singing at the karaoke, cartoons, iced coffee, memes, cute things, watching YouTube videos (mostly pageants, ASMR, edit audios, and mukbangs), also enjoys playing games on my sister's PSP. Sucker for arts, choir, poetry, night sky, makeup, fun/deep/dumb conversations, Christianity, documentaries (about saints, real crime stories, and inspirational people), reading interesting stuffs, talking about social issues, and creative writing, chilling both indoors and outdoors. Beside that, my music taste are like late 90s-2000s songs (mostly rock, pop, and country) sometimes Catholic songs, kpop and ppop, chocoholic, and a sweetooth as well.

𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦

Things that I hate are stereotyping, HUGE creepy crawlies (spiders, toads, snakes, and cockroaches), firecracker sounds, thunder and lightning, being left out, loneliness, heart break, blackout, and judgemental people. If I found out that someone hates or backstabbing or being rude to me, I won't hesitate to throw offensive criticisms, leaving them with a "I don't give a f" attitude. One random fact about me is, I 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 vent out EVERYTHING I despise in my entire existence---from bad soap operas to toxicity, worse scenarios in real life, and how terrible is my love life from unrequited feelings that I got, because it's a big deal for me, and I consider forcing me to do what I'm not into and manipulating me as my major pet peeves.

𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦

In terms of triggers...I only have two which are ta𝖨king about divorce/annullment/separation because I came from a generational broken family (it sucks that some people I knew assumed that the reason why I'm overly unaware that someone is interested in me in secret, is I have "high standards" looking for a partner, but the truth is I'm strict and I have a personal preferences...I know my worth and I don't want settle for less!) and religion/beliefs discrimination, cause' there are reasonings that doesn't makes sense because some, sounds too hypocritical, like as if you're a morally good person.

𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 + 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗨𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗦

My love languages are quality time and gift giving, but I actually swoon over physical touch (especially cuddles and cute kisses) and words of affirmation when it comes to having a partner, though I get attracted so easily, matured but can be a goofy person who's nice, friendly, kind-hearted, loving, faithful, and excels in academics is my cup of tea. Whenever I have a real life crush (which is rare), I act the same but deep inside, my heart is about to explode and will eventually share to my trustful friends how I highly admire that person, however if they spilled the beans out, I'll obviously deny it and will cry if they like someone else, it will take some time for me to move on, now I don't care for them anymore.

Best Friends to Lovers is my ideal trope because I find it very cute since you already knew each other before dating (which happened to my 2nd cousin, she married her best friend!)---perfect balance for romance, laughters, comfort, and tears when it comes to sharing your vibes, being there through thick and thin, safe with embraces, and helping each other to grow.

𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗔𝗦

My best assets are smile, eyes, personality, singing voice, artistic skills, writings, intelligence, oratorical skills and I have potential in hosting...so I can consider myself as a singer, artist, orator, speaker, and a top student who's a former active campus ministry member with three roles (choir leader, psalm singer, and reader).

May sounds different but I'm passionate for helping people through my talents and sharing my story to inspire everyone. I may look selfish, but I have a different way on how I show that I actually care also I have a biased sentimental value

Currently a college freshman, learning how to cook. I have so many interests, to the point I don't know what I'm into because of my dreams to become a popular Filipino YouTuber, a novelist, and being part of a successful chorale competing internationally...I also consider joining pageants at school too once the pandemic ends, but maybe.

HP: Remus!

- Remus is also quiet and a bit reserved when he's not in a familiar situation, so your own first impression on him would be a good one, as you'd seem similar to his own personality. He's sweet and is able to start up a conversation if he notices the other person is having a hard time doing so, so hopefully he'd be able to bring out your more extroverted and friendly self after a while so he can be around the more open you. He wouldn't mind you being a bit awkward-he's very much the same way-honestly, the comradery that would come from that would be more positive than anything else. He loves sharing knowledge and learning about new things, so your eagerness to talk about what you know would work really well also! He does a lot better when he knows someone has his back too, so your extra supportive nature would endear him to you as well.

SW: Han!

- Your nicer and more helpful personality would balance out Han's more standoffish vibes when first meeting. You might get on his nerves a bit first, but you'd quickly grown on him and, in turn, make him a bit of a better person. Your ability to be blunt and a bit harsh would serve you well if you ever needed to stand your ground on an issue that two of you have, as he can be quite stubborn.

VLD: Lance!

- Lance can be a bit immature from time to time as well, especially when it comes to trying to be funny or cheering up those around him-he's also headstrong and typically firm in what he wants to do, so your own determined personality would attract him to you a lot as well. He often puts off things he needs to do if they make him anxious too, but if you both recognize that you share that problem, helping each other might be a good solution!

Disney: Flynn!

- Flynn is quite a sarcastic and teasing person, so your own humor would match well with his. He's also quite a hopeless romantic as well, even though he's certainly not one to admit that right off the bat. He enjoys singing, and as he gets closer to someone he feels more comfortable doing so in front of them, so a partner he's been with for a long time would get to see him be more and more open with it. That also applies to activities like dancing.

[a-square-minus-one]

Honey

Just starting a series of one shots about Gar and Raven falling in love slowly.

“Good morning lovely teammates,” Garfield says, arms raised high in the air as the common room doors open up. He looks amusedly at his friends. Nightwing had stopped in the middle of pouring his coffee, his sleepy, swollen eyes blinking tiredly at him. Cyborg had paused mid chew. Starfire had been in the middle of releasing her hair from her ponytail. They look like a funny little tableau. Changeling chuckles. 

“Sunrise. I thought I’d have to project you into the ocean to wake you up,” Raven says. But she doesn’t look shocked. In fact her eyes are closed and she remains in a semi-meditative state.

“You know today is always a fun day for all of us,” Changeling says, taking his frozen bananas and pineapples out of the freezer. “Rae, do you want me to make you an acai bowl too?” 

“Please” she says, now dropping her feet delicately on the ground. Garfield had already begun making two servings before she responded.

“Coming right up,” he says, humming “La Vie en Rose” to himself. “Are we all packed up for today?” he asks, dumping the purple puree into two bowls. 

“The T-Car is stacked with water balloons, books, goodies, gifts, board games. It’s gonna be a good one this year,” Cyborg says, clapping his hands together. Star exclaims something in Tameranean before swirling in the air and gripping Nightwing in a tight hug. He moves his mug out of the way just in time and smiles into her shoulder. Changeling feels a similar exuberance bubbling in his chest. Similar to the feeling he gets when he’s running in animal form.

It was the beginning of their annual field days. Titans from all over the country came together and visited beaches and parks all over the country for a week to partake in summertime activities with foster kids all over the country. This year, festivities started in Jump City. Seeing as most Titans were orphaned or had strained relationships with their own parents, this week always meant a lot to everyone involved in it.

“Bumblebee says they already landed. Says the beach is packed. Are y’all ready to go?” Cyborg says, looking up from the arm he was reading the message from. Starfire is already dragging Nightwing to the car; Changeling hot on their heels. Cyborg sends an amused smile to Raven who is in the middle of placing her empty bowl into the sink. Cyborg cocks his head as Raven bites her lip, lost in thought. 

“You okay Raven?” Cyborg says. Raven shakes her head, dropping the bowl clumsily into the sink. She looks at Cyborg and nods; he looks to her scrunched up eyebrows. She follows his eyesight and rubs her hands over her brows like she’s smoothing out the crinkles in a paper.

“Yeah, you know me and big crowds. Just a little...loud.” Raven says. Cyborg nods, understanding.

“You can leave whenever you want.” Cyborg says. 

“Yeah. I meditated a little more than usual,” Raven says and starts walking towards the T Car. Cyborg senses that something remains unsaid as he follows after her.

.....................................................................................................................

It’s almost 3 pm when Garfield transforms from a tiger back into his human self and jogs to the snack table. He is having the time of his life.

The Titans are good with kids. There is absolutely no denying it. Starfire is radiant and bubbly. She was excited to make as many light spectacles as the children asked her to. Cyborg is great at football. Aqualad is great at sensing multiple children in the water at once. Nightwing is a skilled gymnast and never ran out of energy. Kids loved rocks and Terra could always find the coolest shaped ones to give out. Garfield likes to think the kids loved him as well. He is a walking petting zoo and ever since he started his acting career, the teenagers like hanging out with him too. And Raven...hmm, he hadn’t seen Raven in a while. Changeling looks around, sipping lazily from the almost empty water bottle he has just picked up. And then he spots her.

In typical Raven fashion, she is away from the crowds. She is heading towards a small girl with two cute afro puffs with pink ribbons. The girl’s face is contorted into a pained expression and both her hands are pressed tightly to her ears. She looks maybe four, definitely not older than six.

“That’s Jordan. She’s new to our group home,” says someone approaching Garfield on his left. Garfield looks at the teenage girl with orange pigtails and a shy smile on her face.

“Hi,” the girl says, blushing profusely as if she said something embarrassing. “I-” she clears her throat. “I’m Becca. A volunteer.”

“Hello Becca,” Garfield says cheerfully, a little amused. “You said the girl’s new?” “Yeah, Jordan came in a couple weeks ago.” “How old is she?”

“Five.”

“And she’s-” Garfield hesitates. He doesn’t want to assume.

“Autistic?” Becca finishes for him. Changeling nods. “Yes, she’s the most loving little girl. She actually loves the Titans. She just hates changes in her routine a little more,” says Becca. As if on cue, Garfield hears a pained screech from the corner of the beach. He cringes and puts down his water bottle. He begins to transition into a hummingbird.

“Wait!” Becca says. Changeling turns to the teen girl.

“Yeah?” he asks. Her blush becomes so severe that it almost obscures all the freckles on her cheeks. 

“Could I-” Garfield swears she squeals. “Could I get an autograph sir?....Please?” she asks looking down at her flip flops. Garfield smiles so widely his cheeks hurt. 

“Of course,” he says, taking the young girl’s clipboard from her. 

“I...um...loved you in that new comedy with Seth Rogan. Me and my mom watched it like thirty times,” she says, still not looking up from her shoes. 

“Thank you,” Garfield says, hoping that the deep gratitude he feels in his heart is seeping into his words. “You are doing amazing work here Becca.” Becca peaks up at Garfield through her lashes, at this point, her face looks painfully red. He chuckles and writes ‘Cute pigtails. Love, Gar.’

“You said her name was Jordan?” Garfield asks. Becca nods. 

“Thank you Becca,” Garfield sings, handing her her clipboard, quickly transforming and flying towards the crying young girl.

Garfield lands on a boulder near Raven and Jordan. He doesn’t want to startle them. He doesn’t make a move, just listens intently for the right time to interject. At this point, Raven has already knelt in front of the young girl who is looking up at Raven with big wet eyes.

“Hi,” Raven says. People have described Raven’s voice in many ways. Monotone. Raspy. Sleepy. But he’s never heard anyone call it gentle. Right now, it’s as soft as the inside of a rose.

“I’m Raven.” Jordan is swaying from foot to foot, tears streaming steadily down her face. “Someone told me your name is Jordan.” Jordan whimpers softly in response, boogers starting to flow from her nose.

“Is it okay if I move your arms?” Raven asks. She is about to move Jordan’s hands from her ears when the girl lets out a heart shattering sob. Raven quickly drops her hands.

“I’m sorry,” Raven says, and Jordan settles down a little. Raven moves a little closer. If it wasn’t for Garfield’s enhanced hearing he wouldn’t be able to hear their conversation.

“You don’t like big crowds do you?” Raven asks softly. “That’s okay, me neither. They can get really loud,” Raven says, placing her own hands over her ears. Raven’s made it clear to the team that she’s an empath but it isn’t really a power people can see. Right now though, Garfield can only see two people who are attempting to see each other on another level. Jordan looks at Raven intently. Tears are still streaming down her face but her full body sobs have quieted down to small intermittent whimpers.

“Your friend Maria-” Raven gestures towards the volunteer about ten feet away. Beast Boy hadn’t even recognized her. “Tells me that you like the ocean. Maybe you and I can float on the ocean together?” Raven asks, getting up and wiping sand off her knees. Raven’s eyes start to glow and suddenly her dark energy forms a solid, raft-like structure. Jordan takes a few fearful steps back.

“It’s okay Jordan, this is safe. We’ll be safe,” Raven says in a very low voice, demonstrating Jordan’s safety by walking onto the raft herself. Jordan looks on in wonder but remains glued to her spot. Garfield figures this is the perfect time to intervene. He transforms himself into a shih tzu and walks slowly over to Jordan. 

“Look Jordan, a dog. Maria says you love dogs too,” Raven says. Garfield didn’t even think Raven recognized he was there the whole time. When Jordan sees the small dog, her hands fall away for her ears. Changeling walks closely to Jordan and nudges at her small palm with his nose. She looks down at Garfield and hums, a small smile breaking onto her face. Garfield feels his body thrum with pride as he snuggles into the young girls legs. She brings two fists up to her now wide smile and squeals loudly. Garfield begins to jump around excitedly, then skillfully leads Jordan onto the dark energy raft that Raven has crafted for them. Jordan squeals again when Raven lifts them off the sandy ground and levitates them over the waves. 

“Eeeee!” Jordan says, swaying from foot to foot as a wave splashes up over Raven’s raft and wets Jordan’s tiny little feet. Garfield runs circles around her. Stopping only so Jordan can rub behind his ears and squeeze him towards her chest. 

And they continue like that for hours, until the sun starts to sink. Changeling wonders more than once, how long Raven can keep this projection going without exhausting herself. Still, it never wavers. In fact Raven occasionally jolts the raft back and forth because Jordan lets out an excited squeal whenever the waves hit her feet. It isn’t until Jordan starts falling asleep, her head falling onto Changeling’s dog form’s back that Raven starts to bring them back to shore. By then, the beach had settled down a little. Many children and volunteers had started heading back home. Changeling turns back into his human form and snuggles the sweet girl to his chest much like she had done before. In an embrace that radiated nothing but affection. Raven let her energy dissolve beneath them.

Maria was waiting at the shore to pick Jordan up. Garfield tried his hardest to move Jordan into Maria’s embrace without waking her up but Jordan shifts in Maria’s arms and wiggles out of her arms. She does a little trott to Raven and squeezes her legs tightly. Raven’s eyes widen, and she places a hand in the space where Jordan’s hair is parted. Changeling swears he sees Raven’s eyes glaze over with tears.

Raven kneels down in front of the girl and places two hands on her shoulders.

“I’ll come see you soon.” Raven promises. Maria scoops the tired girl up in her arms.

“She’s usually never that affectionate with anyone she just meets,” Maria says, smiling warmly at Raven. She places a grateful hand on Raven’s shoulder and walks away.

Garfield feels something catch in his throat as he looks at Raven looking at the departing girl. She’s been curling her hair lately. The curve of her ear poking out from her purple waves of hair is something he never thought he could be transfixed by. Her eyes, still a little wet with happy tears, look even more purple than usual and Garfield is reminded of the posters Rita used to have of portraits of a soft lit Elizabeth Taylor. Raven looks so...soft. Gar swallows past something thick in his throat.

“You were...really gentle with her,” Garfield says, feeling like he needs to fill the silence with something. Raven looks towards Jordan a little while longer before turning to Garfield to respond. He feels a little like he was punched in the chest when the full weight of her gaze lands on him. It’s like a spotlight. He can’t see anything around it.

“You were too.” Raven says. Garfield gets a sudden flashback of Raven reading with Teether, Melvin and Timmy. 

“You are really good with kids,” Garfield says. He’s talking low because he feels like a louder voice would shatter this delicate moment. Raven shrugs.

“All the Titans are,” Raven says and Garfield feels himself shake his head without even thinking about it. The Titans were all good with kids. That was true. When the kids were happy, receptive and energetic. The Titans were great with them. But when they had shut down? Were scared? Tired?

“But you’re...you’re-” Garfield tries to find the words to describe how Raven was answering every single one of the subtle cues Jordan was giving her. Even the slightest twitch of her lip. It’s like she had answers lined up before Jordan even knew what she wanted. Raven was like that with a lot of people. The word empathetic was jumping around his head but it felt too light on his tongue to truly capture what Raven was to the people around her. She was a salve. Healing. Their missing pieces. 

Raven looked at Garfield expectantly.

“Hey baby,” a voice came from beside them. Changeling felt his arm lift and a figure settle under his shoulder. He saw the blonde hair twinkling in his peripheral vision. He felt sticky lips leave their residue on the corner of his lips. Raven looked expectant for only a few seconds more before she greeted Terra.

“Nice to see you Terra. I’m sure you guys have a lot of catching up to do,” Raven said before moving away from the couple to help Cyborg clean.

[darisu-chan]

whatever our souls are made of (his and mine are the same), pt. 15

Welcome back to yet another one-shot!

Hope you guys enjoy it!

You can also read it here.

See ya!

inkwell

Prompt: social media

Summary: Each photo they upload becomes a puzzle piece which tells a story. Their story.

Ichigo, Rukia realizes, is not a fan of social media.

 Not that she had known what that was beforehand.

 She hadn’t realized there were more uses for a cellphone besides calling, receiving texts, listening to music and maybe taking a few pictures.

 She had had a more pragmatic view of technology.

 And it is not until she overhears Inoue and Arizawa talking about the newest photograph the former had taken and posted to Instagram, that she takes an interest on all the other uses one can give to a phone.

 “Ichigo, what is Instagram?” She asks the following day.

 She had hardly been able to sleep as she thought about that mysterious Instagram thing.

 Ichigo blinks and puts away the manga he had been reading.

 It is obvious he hadn’t seen this question coming.

 “It is a cellphone app.” He vaguely explains.

 “I see.”

 (Spoiler alert: she hadn’t)

 “What is an app?”

 She asks again.

 Then he goes on a lengthy explanation about the many apps and their uses.

 Turns out, Instagram is just one of the many apps you can use.

 You can even watch movies on your phone!

 Who would’ve thought?

 And Rukia gets the gist of it.

 Well sorta.

 She just knows that you can use a phone for almost anything nowadays.

 But he hadn’t really answered what Instagram was, so she asks again.

 “It’s an app in which people post pictures, sometimes with messages, other times not.” Ichigo tells her.

 “So people use it to share their photos with other people?”

 That sounded simple enough.

 “That’s the idea. Though attractive people use it for attention.” He adds.

 “Is that why Inoue has an Instagram?” Rukia asks out loud.

 (That makes him crack up)

 “So, to sum up, it is essentially a virtual album?”

 “Yeah, I guess.”

 It then occurs to Rukia that if Ichigo knows so much about it, maybe he has one.

 So she questions him about it.

 As it turns out, Ichigo does have an Instagram account.

 But he rarely uses it.

 It’s private, to begin with.

 There are just a few people that Ichigo had accepted, including his sisters and his few high school friends.

 He also doesn’t follow a lot of people.

 Besides that, he has only posted two photos.

 The first one is a snap of the river bank as the sun sets.

 There’s no description below and it seems unasuming, but Rukia knows the significance of it once she looks at the date it was posted on.

 The second one is just a picture of two very thick books by English authors.

 Again, there is no description, but she guesses those are a few of his favorite books.

 Other than that, there’s not much on his Instagram.

 Keigo did tag him on a picture with their other friends at someone’s house about a year ago.

 And that’s pretty much it.

 Yet, despite Ichigo’s lack of enthusiasm, Rukia is intrigued.

 She uses his account to browse through Instagram and realizes that he’s right, many attractive people, from celebrities to ordinary teens, post pictures of themselves, some in very suggestive poses.

 Then, there are other people who just share many things.

 Their pets, the places they’ve visited, their significant others, their children and other family members, things they bought, their food, concerts, and so much more.

 Rukia likes that.

 It feels as if they were sharing an intimate glimpse into their lives.

 She feels like she wants to share that too.

 She expresses as much, and Ichigo ends up installing the app into her own human cellphone and tells her how to use it.

 First things first, she needs a handle name.

 Rukia decides that doesn’t want to use her own name.

 Ichigo had told her that she could use a pseudonym in social media.

 She likes the anonymity of it.

 So she chooses a very simple handle.

 It is @krchappy14 and instead of her name, she just writes her initials.

 K. R.

 She becomes just a random Instagram user.

 And her first post is a snap of a drawing she had made, of a single white bunny waving hello with the hashtags #new, #hello and #bunny.

 That is just the beginning.

 Before long, her Instagram is filled with pictures.

 Rukia takes photos of anything she likes and posts them on the app.

 ─ Of sunsets, scattered leaves, the river.

 A stray snail, the white bunny she saw at a pet store, a hummingbird.

 Rain drops on windows, clouds, rainbows.

 A picture of her boots as she stands over a puddle.

 The highest tree in Karakura Town. ─

 There is not a single description in any of them.

 But Rukia uses different emoji under them and hashtags relating to what they are and what she feels about them.

 Soon, she gains a small following.

 At first just Ichigo follows her, and then Yuzu and Karin.

 Ishida, Chad, Mizuiro and Keigo end up following her too.

 Then there are two accounts that seem too suspicious to be just random users.

 (@greenhats4laifu and @_real_black_cat)

 Yet there are other people ─ strangers ─ who follow her for the photographs she posts.

 They like their simplicity.

 How Rukia lets them speak for themselves.

 There are, of course, more intimate ones.

 Ones most people wouldn’t be able to guess their true meaning.

 ─ Two coffee mugs sitting side by side ─ one light blue with a white bunny on it, another black with red accents.

 Two videogame controllers.

 A horror manga next to a copy of Shakespeare’s selected works.

 Pictures of a rainy day with sad face emoji underneath.

 Board games on a table.

 A plate of curry.

 A festival.

 Fireworks.

 A rooftop overseeing the town.

 The silhouette of a young man reading. ─

 Her pictures are not only about things she likes.

 Each one tells a different story.

 And as time passes by, they multiply.

 Eventually Ichigo takes notice and asks her about it.

 “Why do you take so many pictures each time you visit?”

 “Because I don’t want to forget.”

 She simply admits.

 And suddenly she feels raw as Ichigo stares at her.

 “I… I never got to live as a human, so now that I get the chance, there are many things, many moments I just don’t want to ever forget.”

 For Rukia Instagram is more than just an app and photos.

 She uses it as her personal journal.

 But instead of words, it is filled with glimpses of life.

 Each photograph is a brief moment frozen in time that she wants to remember for the rest of her days.

 Everything she gets to experience, everything that she gets to be, is there.

 It is a testimony of her own existence.

 “I just figured that if there comes a time I can’t come here anymore, at least there’d be proof I was here, you know?”

 That I lived, she wants to say.

 Ichigo smiles softly at her.

 “I understand.”

 On her next visit, she is surprised to discover that Ichigo has been uploading more photos on his account.

 It’s not just a few.

 His account is still private, and the same people still follow him, but now there are more than just two lone pictures.

 ─ There’s a snap of his university.

 Pictures of Karin’s recent games.

 A photo of the Kurosakis all eating dinner together.

 A picture of Yuzu focused on her cooking.

 Birds flying through the window.

 A stack of new manga.

 Just a simple picture of his closet.

 A photo of the new CDs he bought.

 A snap of forget-me-nots. ─

 And Rukia soon realizes why he’s taking so many pictures.

 They are not for himself or for other people.

 They are for her.

 Each picture is about something she had missed while she was away.

 Events and anecdotes she gets to hear from her favorite people.

 And that now she gets to see.

 So she smiles at each them as she sees them.

 She treasures them deep in her heart.

 (Now she doesn’t have to miss anything)

 Eventually, their Instagram accounts get filled with photographs that you’d need to see together to get the full picture.

 Each photo becomes a puzzle piece which tells a story.

 Their story.

 ─ Movie tickets.

 Two pairs of ice skates.

 Starbucks orders.

 Pink dresses and leather jackets.

 Drawings and crayons.

 Books and college essays.

 A sunrise.

 Black bracelets.

 Silver rings.

 A field covered in flowers.

 Bunnies everywhere.

 A kitchen.

 Chocolate cake.

 Two pairs of legs covered in blankets.

 Sakura trees in full bloom.

 Dandelions. ─

 And one winter day, they post their best pictures.

 Rukia’s is a simple one.

 She hadn’t taken it, though.

 It had been Yuzu who had snapped it when they hadn’t been looking.

 It has a black and white filter.

 And in the picture, you can see the backs of a man and a woman wearing winter coats.

 They are surrounded by a snowy landscape.

 And the girl has her head on the guy’s shoulder as he holds her close.

 The caption is just a heart emoji.

 Ichigo, for his part, posts two pictures.

 His are more straightforward.

 The first is a snap of Rukia grinning as she throws snow in the air.

 In the second one, they are sitting next to each other.

 As Rukia smiles and blushes, Ichigo is seen pecking her cheek.

 The description simply reads,

 “I’m still not used to the cold, but since she loves snow so much, I gotta learn how to enjoy it too. It’s worth it, though. Just to see her smile.”

 Rukia gets a lot of comments saying she and her boyfriend look cute, even though you cannot see their faces.

 Ichigo, meanwhile, is bombarded by comments from his friends.

 He ignores them, though, as now he is more focused on the girl next to him.

 “Guess this means we’re now Instagram official, nee?”

 She jests as he rolls his eyes.

 “Rukia, please don’t ruin the moment.”

 “You know you love it.”

 “Damn right I do.”

[inkribbon796]

Cause and Effect Ch. 2: The Blind Seer

Summary: The Host is born and Kay decides what he wants to do with his life.

WARNINGS: warnings for self harm and eye scratching and technically death. He flatlines but his body does get back up.

Chapters: 1, 2

When the Author finally woke up everything felt a thousand times worse. He just knew things.

Like the fact that Dark was looking for him. That he had hurt Illinois for just existing. He had threatened King with the same.

. . . . . .

Who the fuck was King?!

He knew King. He was his adopted brother. An animal lover who was a better person than he could ever hope to be.

But whoever the hell that was, the Host couldn’t remember . . .

And the instant that name, the Host, entered his mind he became aware that he was not alone in his own mind.

It was a chilling realization. As if walking into his bedroom and finding someone who looked just like you sleeping in your own bed.

Thousands of images entered his mind completely unprompted. He could see the off-white ceiling of the hospital room. But there were also an image of him meeting with Dark again. Dark who had worried about him, and was angry. The discussion played out in a thousand different ways. In many Dark cried and hugged him, telling the Author how much he loved him and missed him. In some they argued violently until the Author struck out first.

On and on it went until it moved to a new scene. Him and Kay talking in the hospital lobby. His brother was afraid of him.

The images kept coming and there was no stopping them. It overstimulated his brain due to the two sets of contrasting optical feedback.

He couldn’t take it, it was going to drive him insane.

In his coming madness he reached for his eyes.

“Hey, hey,” his doctor cautioned, still in the room and startled at the Author — the Host’s — screams.

He looked at Doctor . . . Dr. Iplier.

A heroes’ doctor. His mind supplied. Smart, sardonic, and the most patient person the Host would ever meet.

It would also be the first and only time the Host would get to see the man’s face, the Author reached up. Before Dr. Iplier could manage to stop him, the Author in a bout of strength he never had felt before, started viciously clawing at his own eyes. His hands started to irreparably damage his eyes, scratching and gouging at them.

Dr. Iplier held down his hands and frantically called for help as the Author began seizing. Nurses and other doctors rushed as they took the young man back into the surgery room.

Too late to save his eyes.

(GAP)

In a private waiting room, Kay was waiting for news on Arthur.

To put it mildly, he was fucked.

Kay was horrified and terrified all in one go. What was he going to do? He’d panicked. Artie had been dying and he let the heroes just take him.

They’d found him with a gun and a fancy suit and Kay was so frazzled that he just confessed they were network members on the spot. So he’d been arrested, not formally but he was in a room with Abe and they were being nice.

Probably because he looked like a kid and was clearly so distraught that they weren’t getting much. He did have that nice stray dog next to him that was just letting the heroes’ apprentice pet him.

“Such a good boy,” Ethan scratched his ears. “You have such a nice dog.”

“He’s not mine, he’s a stray,” Kay corrected. “He is a good dog though.”

“But he’s such a good boy,” Ethan frowned, already deciding to keep him.

“He’s going to kill me,” Kay realized.

“Who?” Abe asked, his attention laser-focused on Kay.

“My,” Kay started, absolutely destroying his bottom lip with his teeth. He caught himself, having enough control over his racing panic for that. “Dark, he’s going to kill me.”

“And why’s that?” Abe asked.

Kay paused, feeling his heart beating so fast it felt like a hummingbird.

Ethan’s future dog whimpered and licked his hand, Kay reflexively began petting his head.

The young man was saved from answering when the room flew open, Dr. Iplier’s voice chasing him down the hall. “Sir, you need to get back to your room, you just got out of surgery.”

The man who’d burst into the room had a long brown trench and a floral print shirt. There were white bandages around his eyes that had blood already seeping through. “Everyone in the room freezes as the Host comes to a halt.”

Suddenly the room snapped to the Host’s command, and with just a few words Kay, Host, the dog, and the heroes were all in the living area of the hero’s base, going right through Marvin’s magical barrier and startling Chase who was in the room drinking a coffee.

Blood began seeping through the Host’s bandages with the force of moving everyone into the base.

With another few sentences he summonses Silver and Jackie into the base, saving both from running into a very angry Dark who was hunting for Jackie.

Chase and Abe pulled their weapons on the Host.

“Stop! Stop!” Abe ordered and the Host’s narrations died down to a mutter.

“No, stop talking, now!” Abe ordered.

“The Host is not capable of such an action, he narrates the world around him,” the Host told the heroes, the dog barking wildly at him as the apprentice hero tried to calm him down.

“Artie?” Kay realized. The voice was hauntingly familiar, but itched something dangerous into his brain. Whoever was in front of him was not his brother. He was something else.

“The Author is dead,” the Host announced, “the Host was left behind.”

Kay felt a flood of surprise, grief, guilt, and disbelief, “What? No, he’s not dead.”

“You flatlined,” Iplier corrected sharply, having gotten over the shock of being suddenly teleported into the base. “We revived you.”

There was a slight smile on the Host’s face. “The Entity known as Dark will attempt to find and interrogate any heroes he sees in order to locate the two enforcers that went missing from his network an hour ago.”

“It’s been longer than an hour,” Dr. Iplier reminded.

“Has it, Doctor?” The Host smiled.

“Yeah it’s,” Dr. Iplier started, checking his watch, “holy shit, how is it only three?”

“The Silver Shepherd should call all the heroes to prepare them for the Entity’s attack, the instant he finds out that King and the Host are in the base, he will send Google to attack.”

That got the heroes to move into action, J.J bracing to fend off Dark when he finally arrived, full of fire and parental fury.

The Host would sit across the room from Kay who was a ball of grief, waiting.

Eventually Kay walked over and leaned against the Host. The Host letting him grieve, and slowly his words would erase the Actor’s poisonous words from Kay’s mind, freeing him from the implications of his reality falling apart around him.

An act that the Host would ensure he was never thanked or yelled at for it.

In a couple weeks, Kay would be sitting in the heroes’ base. He was unsure if he wanted to stay with the heroes or go back to his family. He felt lonely and isolated from everyone.

As if something had heard his call, a squirrel scurried into the room. Looking around for something before hopping into his lap and cuddling against him. By the end of the day the heroes would find seven squirrels buzzing around him. As it turned out, Kay was an animal magnet and he would gain a newfound determination.

Dark with all his money and power did nothing but watch the city rot. But there was beauty in the city and the heroes really weren’t all that bad.

So the new King of the Squirrels vowed to bring some life back into the city, even if Dark disowned and hated him for it. He would not let it die around him.

[harmonytre]

Comic Plans

Current Projects:

Prismtale (Mondays): An Undertale AU involving NPCs and multiverse travelling. Multi-chapter comic and ongoing.

Mistbreak (Tuesdays): A Steven Universe AU with about 5 pages left of the comic. Then it will become an ask/drabble/design blog.

Flicker of a Neon Soul (Wednesdays): An Undertale AU where monsters have colored soul traits and humans have white soul traits. 10+ chaptered comic with many plans and plot.

Taffy and Steven (Thursdays): A Steven Universe where Steven and his gem are split into different people and Taffy is a wholesome boyo. One page left of the comic, then will become an ask/edit blog with occasional comics.

Future Fandom Projects:

Pokemon Nuzlocke Comics: Multiple regions and an overarching plot. I need to finish playing and writing the first arc before starting the comic. (long term)

Who I Am: A Pokemon comic where James from Team Rocket is a were-pokemon. I need to rewrite it first. About 7 to 8 chapters. (medium length)

Other Undertale AUs: Certain AUs will be revealed in Prismtale and turn into side blogs, and others will be one time comics. (varies)

Future Original Projects:

(One of these I want to make extremely interactive. Like the audience makes choices for the characters.)

Phantulfurs: A comic about teens with powers to see creatures no one else can. I’ve rewritten the first chapter multiple times, but I need to really write it out before starting the comic. About ten arcs. (long term)

Skryculars: A sequel to the above story. (medium length)

The Journeyers: A multi-book series with my cousin. About ten books. Involves animals, powers, and romance. Won’t give information beyond that. (long term)

Unnamed Animated Series: Still need to design the two main characters, but they’ll travel through many worlds from my dream world. (long term youtube series)

Unnamed Wings Story: Decided many many characters for a high school story with wings. Lots of diversity and LGBTQ. Problem is I don’t like writing high school stories and have no plot. ;^; (medium? short?)

Unnamed Long Term Comic: A story about a space girl with wings, a nonbinary person that can shapeshift and communicate with animals, twins with water and plant powers, and an angsty wholesome skeleton bean. No plot yet. (long term)

Short Term (below the cut, any catch your interest?)

(keep in mind many of these I wrote the descriptions for years ago or based off of dreams.)

“Orphan Dog” and “Martha’s Pack” An orphan finds out she can talk to dogs and realizes they are the key to finding her missing parents. (Wrote when I was 8, rewrote partially when I was 13. So very cheezy. Would be even cheezier if I didn’t rewrite it, but still drew quality serious art XD.)

“The Agency” A girl named Jill has secrets. Major secrets. For one, she can turn into any animal at will including extinct, Fantasy, or hybrids. Don’t forget that she can also turn invisible and do telepathy. (Not to mention she runs an entire secret animal spy community…) When her best friend and spy ally, Izabella the opossum, goes missing, she must find what it means to be a true friend and showing that it’s what’s inside that counts. (Actually liked this one too. Even if it’s also cheezy.)

1. “Moos” A boy is adopted by cows and is granted the power to understand animals and turn into a cow.

2. “Moos: Vile Meat” Hoover is back and he must defeat the evil Haystack, a human entrapping calfs in little domes for eternity.

3. “Moos: Cold Cuts” Hoover finds a new ally, one who creates...snow?

4. “Moos: Wakey Wakey Eggs and Bakey” Haystack is back and Hoover and his friends must defeat him before he turns all pigs into stone. (Cheezy series?)

“Extraordinaries” Emma, her friend, Millie, her brother, Clark, and her dog, Charlie, have to travel to a faraway land to save Emma’s mother, who has been poisoned. Along the way Emma and the team must find how to deal with their newfound powers of Imagination. (This one was also pretty good! A story from Nanowrimo a few years ago.)

“The Hummingbird Did It” A hummingbird turns a lazy boy into a dog. The boy must venture across country to find the cure. (Was kinda boring and just me having fun with google maps lol.)

“Sunshine and Rainbows” A girl is taken to another world by rainbow dust and must find her way back to Earth. (Can’t actually remember this one.)

“Nature’s Lifeforce” A boy and girl are given the power to turn into any woodland creature and talk to trees. (Also can’t remember, but sounds cool.)

“Ravens” A girl named Hannah, a boy named Billy, a boy named Cameron, a girl named Lyla, and a boy named Clark, among other students, have their wishes come true. This creates a problem as Cameron becomes a dog, Lyla becomes a cat and Hannah and Billy become ravens. They fix the problem for everyone except Hannah and Billy, but embark on an adventure to find the scientist who can help them. (Based on a dream, I think.)

“Dragon wings” Hiccup and Toothless accidentally sit down someplace weird. They switch bodies and Toothless claims to have heard someone press a button. (ASDFGHJKL WHAT?! HTTYD short story)

“Melody Dreambubble” A weird new pony arrives in Ponyville. Twilight is curious to find that she has no Cutie Mark, was raised by wolves, and bears mysterious powers. (My Little Pony, kinda self insert, short story)

“Eyes of Gold/The Tower” A Fan Fiction based on The Ever Afters series and two stories rolled into one. Rory finds that her two best friends have been poisoned by a new dragon species/As Rory is about to enter a tower to save Chase a random girl shows up out of nowhere and has a weird habit of annoying Adelaide. (Was my first ever self insert? And based on a book series unlike the rest? Cool! Oh I even wrote ten whole pages! Neat. Featuring a girl chasing a dragon with a bedpan!)

“Roadkill” A man purposely runs over a deer on a freeway. The deer’s best friend curses the man, later to regret it because he has to undo the curse himself. (Lol, this was interesting.)

“Melissa and Steven Started a Food Fight” A completely random book that takes the characters through an adventure of explosions, unicorns, and talking squirrels. (Used a random prompt generator. Very random. And funny.)

“Before it’s Gone” A snooty teen crashes in her car and finds a surprise when she wakes up. (Oh yeah, another old story. She turned into a dog and none of the other dogs believed her.)

“The Unicorn Killer” A short story about poachers and Julia. (Yep. Short story.)

1. “Feathers of Gold” A logical young bird griffin, Gabriel, wants to find a way to stop to war between bird and lion in his land, Genetica.

2. “Scales of Emerald” A shy young dragon, Emmie, tries to keep her land, Reptilia, from destruction.

3. “Hair of Crystal” A brave young unicorn, Crystal, tries to find a way to join together the leaders of the land of Equinsta.

4. “Flames of Ruby” A vain young phoenix, Flaxter, tries to capture the eyes of girls. Taken place in the land of Flamia.

5. “Gems Unite” Gabriel, Emmie, Crystal, and Flaxter find out they are The Gems, the only ones who can save their world, Animagicia, from the beings, called Humurns, that are trying to destroy it. They must come together and find who they truly are. (Might have fun with this series. I’ve always loved mythical animals.)

“The Distance from Sam” An 8 year-old St. Bernard named Barry, a 3 year-old Golden Retriever named Mick, and a 1 year-old Sheltie named Sandy set off to return to their owner Sam, after being kidnapped and sent across country. (Kinda like Homeward Bound. Came in mind when I saw these three dogs alone by a street, no humans around.)

“The Skilled” Andy and Ashley(both fifteen) and their eight year-old siblings, twins Alex and Alexa, gain powers from the sewers. All: understand animals and fly, Andy: talk to toys, Ashley: speak to plants, Alex and Alexa: psychic powers. “I used to think my toys would come to life when I was gone. I guess I was right.”-Andy. Based on a dream. (Too many “A” names, oof. Also, toy Story much?)

“The Moon’s Eye” A teenage girl named April gets trapped under a snow drift and wakes up to be a wolf. A nearby wolf pack needs her aid and calls her The Mooneye, a changeling. (Cool. Cool.)

“Unusual Forces of Omnipotence” A woman and her horse are supposedly crushed by a U.F.O. When Tanaya wakes up she finds out she has super strong senses and can run as fast as her horse. Pluto the alien knows he’s going to be in trouble if his planet finds out he crash landed and accidentally gave a human the powers of her horse. He tries to fix it. Told from Tanaya, Sunray (the horse), and Pluto’s point of view. Based on a dream. (Sounds interesting! Title came from before I knew UFO was an acronym lol.)

“The Lawn” Unknown to humans, a yard full of statues come alive at night. There is an elk, two bears, four buffalo, a wolf, an eagle, three horses, a small boy, a moose, a bighorn sheep, and a rabbit. (Based on a real lawn I’d see on the way to school.)

“Dragon Eyes” Max has an ordinary life, until his family, him, and his three friends, Alice, Peter, and Samuel, are transported to another world. His parents are then kidnapped and they have to fight against an evil Mother Nature. Based on a dream. (Interesting. The dream was freaky.)

“Sweet Treat” Emily’s dad works at a candy factory, and one day she visits him and realizes his work is not all it seems… Based on a dream. (What? I don’t remember what was different about his work???)

“The Flight of the Supernatural” Randy thinks he is mostly a normal kid. Sure, he and his dad live inside a mountain, and sure, some flying species of human killed his mother, that doesn’t mean he can’t live normal life homeschooling and watching TV. But unfortunately, Randy’s life turns around when he finds out he can fly. Is his father telling the truth? Did his own species kill his mother? Based on a dream. (Actually REALLY loved this story.)

“Whispering Willow” A girl named Willow helps 20 wolf cubs escape a pet store and then is recruited by a zoo. Pretty soon all of the animals know her as Whisper. Based on a dream. (Cool. another animal whisperer.)

“The Invasion of Our Minds” Little black aliens invade Earth and only one person can stop them: Julia. Based on a dream. (Oh RIGHT! Yeah I remember that.)

“The Marble Island(Possibly a short story?)” Julia goes on a trip to a new marble island only to find the owner turns people into stone figurines. Based on a dream. (Links to the previous story, I think.)

“Have some candy!” Violet, an expert on strange occurrences, needs to help a group of people who mysteriously turned into animals after attempting to grab candy bars from a bin in a local store. Based on a dream. (More animal transformation.)

“The Guide to Mythical Creatures I Made Up” A guide to everything from the Mystic Melody to the Gollan. (I don’t remember either of their designs! :P )

“Trying to Get Back to Mom” Michael and Annabelle meet new friends, while they frantically try to reunite with their mother. (Don’t remember.)

“Surprise of the Future” Pearl travels to the future and has to fight her now-evil brother in his stone mansion. (Not Pearl from SU. Based on a dream.)

“All for You” A man has to overcome many obstacles, such as mermaids, yellow smoke wolves, and magic maps, to save the world and his girl. (Oh yeah, this was a cool one. Based on a song, but I can’t remember which one.)

“The Stranger at the Door” Keith and Amber have lived with their grandmother for many years, but now they live alone and nobody knows. Then a strange girl arrives at the door. She claims they will have to leave town within 2 hours or risk being stuck in a quarantine zone. There will be traffic jams and other hindrances, so it's best to leave right now without taking anything with you. Unsure about everything, including this strange girl, the teenage boy disagrees to the proposal, if all this turns out to be true, this choice will seem foolish. His younger sister does agree. But what if this strange girl can't be trusted. Or what if all this is an elaborate trap. How could an ordinary teenage girl and boy end up in a situation like this. Time to find out. (Oh, a quarantine story? How long ago was this? 2017 I think.)

“The Beginning of the Hybrid Brothers” A backstory that shines a light on how Ralph the Rat-Man and Dr. Discord came to be evil. (YES, MY TWO VILLAINS NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT BUT ARE STILL DEAR TO MY HEART HNNNNNNNG.)

“Unnamed but same as the blank” A girl named, _____, lives in a family of nine. She and her mother are the only ones who aren’t “Morhumals”, or people who can turn into one animal. After the twins mess-up and send a “Morhumals” hunter after them, it is up to ___ and her sister, ____ to rescue them.

“Song of the Siren” ____ is back after her fourteenth birthday. She finally has received her animal and must follow her family to the mythed Siren hideout.

[freddy-ryland]

scene ii: the art of memory

turn up the volume I'm not listening the dialogue is static and I start to panic and the music fades

The dull roar in her ears was familiar as she stepped out of the glowing green flames, hurrying forward a few steps to make room for the tell-tale whoosh of a similar traveler. The teenager was sure to wipe her sooty palms off on a handkerchief, straightening out her jumper before approaching the visitor's desk. There was a long winding line behind the little gate, stamped with the Ministry Seal, but she sidestepped it and waited for the man to wave at her. 

There were a few noises of annoyance as Freddy cleared the line, but a singular glare from the attending Auror shut them up. Freddy patted Amara Bone's arm, who flushed and continued to stand ramrod straight. The elder Hufflepuff had always been kind to her at Hogwarts; she'd woken up with Amara carrying her back to her room many times after passing out around the castle. Amara always cut a surprisingly imposing figure, despite being one of the softest people Freddy had met in her life.

"Another top-secret meeting with our magical mimes eh Lil' Ry," The man had a shockingly bad case of bedhead and a lazy eye, he told her tales that he popped the eye out during the war to scare Snatchers so he could get the drop on them in a fight, and it never healed right. "Thinkin' that you might as well become a mime yourself, missus."

"Gerald, I think I've had my fill of our devout Unspeakables," she flashed him a smile as he continued to process her wand, a rigid formality, "and I've every intention to make a grand escape of them once I graduate."

"A grand escape, eh?"

"Oh yes, it's all very planned out, our lovely chats will come to an end. I'll be sure to send you a postcard." She had a map of every place she wanted to see, already marked up and pasted to her wall.

"You do that girl," Gerald smiled, he was missing his front tooth, and it always gave his words a distinctive whistling sound, "you get outta here an' far away from those mimes before they trap you in their circus."

"I was thinking of joining the circus actually, as a fortune-teller. Get some real-world experiences," Freddy grinned, "though I have plenty of experience working with mimes and clowns." Gerald's whistling laugh followed her through the marbled Atrium as she squeezed by, fixating her visitor's badge to the front of her sweater. 

More than a few ministry workers recognized her, between Micah and Uncle Kinglsey and her Mum being the Healer for the rich and pure, Freddy had been around these halls since she was born. Most offered small smiles and mayne some gently awkward small talk and returned to their lives. An older red-haired woman held the elevator door open for her as Freddy thanked her profusely, having nearly missed it after being waylaid by some friend-of-Mom's-patients-nephew. It wasn't unusual to see teenagers at the Ministry, between internships and family, but it was unusual to see 'Department of Mysteries' embossed on her visitor's badge. It earned her a few looks on the crowded elevator so Freddy simply smiled and watched the arrow tick. Slowly the overfilled elevator began to empty until it was just Freddy left. Kicking her heels against the ground, the teenager started to gently sweat under her loose top, a pit opening as she watched the arrow tick down and down towards 9.

Finally, the door opened, and the Hufflepuff stepped out into the Atrium, a cold desolate place. The floors were disconcertingly white, the kind of white that reminds you of dying, shined to such a high polish that Freddy could see up her own skirt. The walls were covered in etched runes and spells in Latin, Greek and possibly more than a few ancient, dead languages. There were no portraits adorning the sparse walls, only four statues in each corner of the room, all of which were humans in some sort of distorted way. Unspeakable Hawkins once told her they were reminders of how the human soul can twist when experimenting with unknown magic, a warning of sorts to the workers. A reminder. One she didn't need as Freddy looked away from the child chimera hybrid writhing on the ground below the impatient glare of an older woman who held a gnarled rod above it’s body. There was a distinctive clicking noise that was the only sound in the room, and Freddy moved towards it, keeping a careful eye on the statues. 

The Hufflepuff hated when they moved, or decided to watch her.

A woman sat behind a similarly Spartan desk, typing away and glaring at the man sitting at the lone mid-century chair that looks like a child's under his bulk and stature. His shock of royal purple and gold robes were dazzlingly out of place in this room, and as the receptionist sniffed at Freddy in her voiceless greeting, Kingsley Shacklebolt looked up. His lips pulled into a comfortingly wide smile.

"Uncle King?" Freddy hurried across the marble, taking care not to slip on the slick surface, "what are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to check on your progress with Madame Basnet--"

"Unspeakable Basnet, Mr. Shacklebolt," the receptionist, Alisha snapped, her box braids whipping around her head so she could level a cold glare at him, "do remember her title, Sir." The clack! clack! clack! continued it's metronome and paper continued to feed into it with twitches of her pinky.

"Forgive me, Madame Kieta," his grin might’ve been charming to anyone else but the living statue at the desk. 

Her face pinched returning to her typing, the clack of the typewriter going faster as the door in front of them began to open. Freddy never understood how she opened it when her fingers never left the typewriter. "Mr. Shacklebolt has already taken his Vow of Silence, he may enter. As for you, Ms. Ryland, the statues will tell if you've been following your end of the contract."

Following her end of the contract, a contract she took when she was still a child and was somehow so binding it made her keep having to coming here every goddamn week. Just the notion of still being forced by a decade old scrap of parchment was enough to make her want to cuss Ms. Kieta out. 

But, Uncle Kingsley held his arm out, and in the fashion of any proper young woman of magical society, she took it with a gentle bob of her knees. Long schooled into her by her Mum. She kept her mouth shut, teeth grinding on sharp words until they became soft powder. 

The statue from the corner crawled over as they crossed the invisible barrier between the rest of the world and the Department of Mysteries. It was an eyeless thing, mouth carved open and gapping with marble streaks of drool. Truly it would’ve been an impressive piece of art if it wasn’t so gruesome. Its movement caused a grinding sound of stone on stone; the magicked creature prowled around her ankles before coming up behind her shoulder.

Freddy stood stock still, eyes screwing tight. She'd seen what happened when someone broke their Silence Vows, and the statue found it. The teen remembered how fast they moved and the high-pitched whistling sound they made for an alarm. She remembered how the woman's skull cracked when marble met marble with a body between. Freddy had been tugged in by Unspeakable Ellie, and sat down with comforting head pats from folk who didn’t know how to pet a cat without being constipated.

The teenager let out a sigh, not unlike a balloon, as the statue nudged her hand, cold and hard, before retreating to its sentry position in the corner.

"Horrible creatures," Kingsley whispered; his knuckles were white, and the bulge of his biceps were stone beneath her tightened grip, "wholly unnecessary for someone of your position." For all that he was a war hero her Uncle always did take far too much pride in their family position at the Ministry, but that was just pureblood upbringing for you. 

"The Department must have their protections, even from someone overly familiar."

Kingsley made a noise of disapproval before they entered the real Atrium. The place was a madhouse in truth, positively Frankenstienan compared to the cold room they just left. Messenger papers were flying above their heads and the distant sound of a boom. Desks were smashed together while massive runes covered thick paper; one desk was dedicated to writing implements -- quill, pen, pencil, charcoal, blood ink, unicorn blood ink, paint, chalk. In addition, there was a large bookcase stretching from floor to ceiling and filled to bursting with papers, books, and more than a few stone tablets. 

Unspeakable Hawkins was rushed past, jostling a cauldron and a papyrus scroll. He offered a cursorary wave before cursing as he tripped over a series of tangled wires. In a distant corner, Freddy noted a man talking to himself, Keith? Kai? Kyle? She couldn't remember his name, nor what they spoke of, nor anything about him. His name started with a 'K,' and he always looked half beaten to death with exhaustion. Unspeakable Ellie (who refused her surname for security purposes) was orchestrating a jostling crowd of marmosets, succulents, several hummingbirds, and a single cacti in a floating box headed towards a door marked with green. Freddy could see the bone thorns on her shoulders and arms peeking between the folds of her bulky Unspeakable robe even from this distance. There were doors all around them, moving in and out of existence. It reminded Freddy remarkably of Lib-Con, without the fun of it. Only hurried, furious magical workings, the scent of stale coffee and the ambiance of lab rats on a wheel chasing only certain death via science (or magic). The doors that led to the various Halls of Magic were locked to her personally, but employees busted in and out at breakneck pace. The smaller doors belonged to offices and various other tinkering workshops where booms and clangs shook the floor and no-one batted a single eyelash. It was an orchestra of chaos, with no conductor keeping track, time or tempo.

Above all the noise Cassandra Basnet walked like a whisper, in a tight business uniform that seemed more in place with the Department of Law Enforcement. Not even a single item of turquoise or jade adorned her person, no jangle of obtrusive jewelry or an obnoxious scent of sage or patchouli marked her for a Divination expert like others in the field. There were no stray tea leaves or frog spawn in her pockets, nor a deck of tarot cards in hand. Hair pulled back in such a severe bun that it would make Headmistress McGonagall wince. Yet, even with the power walk of a misandrist girlboss, no one could deny that Unspeakable Basnet is beautiful with her high cheekbones and startlingly green eyes, always decorated with minimal make up and on occasion wire frame glasses. Her walk slowed, dodging desks, the tenseness in her arms softened as she came closer before wrapping Freddy into a familiar hug, tugging her straight from her Uncle's arms.

Freddy tensed but hugged back, politely but wincing as she felt the surprisingly heavyweight of Cassandra's arm. It was a show of dominance, and all parties knew that as she pulled away, keeping a possessive arm around Freddy's shoulders.

"Mr. Shacklebolt, I had no idea you'd be joining our little shindig today." Her smile was florescent bright. "My little crystal didn't send a word."

"I simply wanted to do a quick drop-in. It's so difficult to plan these sorts of things these days."

"Well, I am always happy to have someone of your esteem in our halls. Come to my office. Today is hectic, we've had more than a few breakthroughs, so everyone is very excited. They'd probably want to drag Freddy to show off, and we can't have that." 

Moving through the zoo, they found a deep maroon door that came into the similarly stark office, the wall covered in crystal balls, palmistry books, more than a few photos of Freddy in various states of having a Sight or Vision. Several papers on her desk and a bronze paperweight in the shape of a jaguar, which Freddy knew to be her Patronus. A plush couch pushed up against the wall with a gauzy veil over it to block light. Freddy had passed out many times on that couch after long days working with her powers and had woken up an unknown number of times under a heavy weighted blanket that laid folded up neat against the arm. The desk was minimalistic, and there was a single dark brown leather armchair in front of it, where Kingsley settled his imposing mass into, without so much as an invitation, lounging like a panther.

Freddy dropped herself onto the couch, pulling her sweater tighter around herself, wishing with all her might that a pit would open beneath her butt and drop her from this incredibly awkward situation. 

"So, Mr. Shacklebolt, have you any questions about Freddy's instruction here with me? Concerns?" She kept her voice even and relaxed, puttering around the office shuffling and filing papers, pulling out an all too familiar folder more than three inches thick. Quills marched to their places on the desk with muttered incantations. She was absolute crap at wordless magic for all of Basnet's abilities, and her wandless magic was abysmal. All in all, Freddy regarded her as a less than average witch, but no one could deny that she had some sorta latent power and her mind was a whetstone on which she sharpened it. 

"Just wish to observe as much of Freddy's instruction as possible. Our family has begun to worry that perhaps she has grown stagnant in this environment. Our Freddy may need some more... varied instruction" though his tone remained polite, there was a distinct sense of 'fuck you' in each curated word. She knew her parents were worried, but she hadn't realized how nervous her Mom had asked her esteemed cousin to attend. "You know, young wix, always needing to be pushed in the right direction, teachers can make or break a future."

"Of course, however," Basnet pulled down several more books and smiled, "there is a point where I will have to ask you to leave. Your Vow of Silence only goes so far when it comes to more... delicate magical workings."

"I will respect that; however, if Freddy should ask me to stay, then I'd like to push that envelope."

"We'll see if you have any questions--"

"Believe me," his eyes flickered towards Freddy before back to Basnet, steel entering his voice, "I will speak up."

"Alright, now," Basnet turned her piercing gaze onto the teenager who squirmed in her seat, "Freddy, what did you have for breakfast?"

It seemed a harmless question if it weren't for the fact that she couldn't remember. 

"I believe I had some toast and tea."

"Do you believe or know?"

"Believe," Freddy answered, clipped and strangled.

Basnet noted something down on parchment, "This morning, what time did you wake up?"

"Seven o'clock; I went for a walk with Micah." She could smell the lavender, see the brick they walked on. She was sure of that.

"Where did you walk to?"

"The shops down the road had to pick up some things." The man greeted them, or was it his daughter? What day was it... Tuesday? His daughter then.

"What things? List them."

"Milk, bread, some cleaning supplies for mum. I wanted one of their cookies."

"Flavor?"

"Chocolate." Her fingers ran over the packaging still in her pocket, the embossed words 'Ghirardelli' guiding her answer.

"Good, you had breakfast when you came home?"

"Yes, I had a small vision while we were walking, just a flash."

"What was it?"

"A child screaming."

Basnet frowned, "Just a flash?"

"Just her and the sound, then it went away, lasted less than half a second."

Kingsley was watching Basnet's hands like a hawk, no doubt trying to decipher what she was writing. 

"So you believe you had breakfast, then you came straight here."

"Yes." Freddy shifted her weight.

"Who helped you at the Visitors Gate?" The question came fast, a little voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Tierney whispered 'Your Mom.'

"Gerald, we chatted for a few minutes, nothing crazy. He was asking about my plans for post-grad." she ground her teeth. "I told him I was leaving after graduation, maybe to join a circus." That earned her two eye-rolls from both adults. "I said I had enough experience working with mimes and clowns." Basnet sneered and continued to jot things down.

"Who was the Auror on guard?" 

Freddy stopped.

Fuck. Wait, no, she had seen them. They had waved them through. She knew them, but their faces were blurred. Their robes weren't trimmed with any color.

"I'm not sure of their name!" She answered brightly, "I don't know everyone in the Auror Department." She hoped the lie would stick. 

But Basnet pressed further, steepling her fingers and peering at her over the tips of her chipped manicure. "Who were they, Freddy? Surely you would know most of the Aurors; give me an image, a gender."

"Now it's insulting to assume they use one of the binary genders, Madame Basnet!" Freddy was grasping at straws now, plowing through her memory over and over again. Who was standing there? Had they smiled? Did Freddy touch them? Sometimes the Aurors give her high fives or slip her a candy. She patted her pockets; they were empty except for the cookie wrapper and some lint. So who was at the Gate? "I can't-- I don't. I wasn't paying attention."

"It was Auror Amara Bones," Freddy's mouth went dry, and unshed tears came to her eyes, "but you can't remember that can you? Who held the door open for you on the elevator?" It was a woman, right? Freddy began to tug on the sleeves of her sweater. Maybe it was a man, a tall man? That didn't seem right... "What did you have for dinner last night? Who did you have lunch with last week? What is the name of the delivery boy at your work?" 

Questions began to pile up before Freddy finally shook her head.

"I--"

"What. Is going on." Kingsley stood from his chair, coming around to press a hand to the top of Freddy's head. "What are you badgering her for?"

"Short-term memory loss," Basnet finally said, "her memory it's," she wiggled her fingers, "going wonky for lack of a better term. Her power is a mental one. The more it gets used, the stronger it gets, the more it affects the brain."

"What does that mean?"

"What it means, Mr. Shacklebolt is that Freddy is losing her memories, short blips of time are being lost in her day-to-day life, and your visions are getting stronger, more detailed, aren't they? What did your vision smell like?"

"Piss." It came sharp, "The child was screaming and smelled like pee, the ground was brick, and it was cold out."

"All that in a flash requires a mind to remember. As they get stronger, her daily memories get lost."

"What is your plan?"

Basnet shook her head, "There really isn't one; we can just continue to manage the Visions, work on keeping them longer or stopping them when they start. But the memory loss is a side effect, like her migraines, like her nosebleeds. So it can only be managed, not healed."

"So what you're telling me is that all this is a waste of our goddamn time?" Kingsley was angry now, but his voice boomed from deep within his chest. "She is coming here just to have you manage her? 

"Teach her to handle it better, Mr. Shackle--"

"Get up, Freddy," the teenager flinched as Kingsley seemed to dominate the room, though Basnet sat pristinely and seemingly unaffected at her desk, "we are leaving. I will not have you waste your time as it gets worse."

"Freddy, stay."

The teenager hovered at the couch, her fists tightening under their equal gaze.

"Freddy, you know you can't leave yet, don't you?" Basnet's voice was sugar-sweet, "Your time isn't up today, as agreed upon." 

Persephone chose her place with Hades, she decided to eat the pomegranate seeds, and Freddy desperately wished to throw hers up. 

"Uncle... The contract says 8 hours a week during non-school time. I can't leave yet."

Her Uncle was breathing thunderclouds before sitting back down in the chair, "Continue," he ground out.

Slowly Freddy walked through last week. She could count up at least 20 instances of purely lost memory. More than 50 flashing visions, and 5 of the longer ones. They continued to record and tally up each one until finally they were done at the two-hour mark. Taking a deep breath, Freddy leaned against the back of the couch, her legs pulled up against her chest despite being far too tall for such a position.

"I think that is enough for the day," Basnet finally hummed, "We can make up the hours later this week, perhaps Friday?"

"Sure, I don't work that day."

"Excellent, now I want you to keep a notebook, make notes of when you forget things. Then, start playing some muggle brain games. I've heard Sudoku is helpful, and we'll talk to St. Mungo's about their memory-impaired patients and what they do. So that'll be my homework." Freddy nodded, hopping off the couch and stretching out her tensed limbs as her Uncle stood by the door, opening it.

"Mr. Shacklebolt," the man didn't look at her, "next time, do tell me when you plan on dropping by, we can have a more formal session planned, and it won't be as startling then while we do our work."

"Thank you for your time. Freddy, let's go."

The duo strode through the Department Atrium. They passed into the white marble room, where the receptionist quirked a brow. She knew that Freddy's sessions were usually much longer. Then they stepped into the elevator, and with a murmured silencing charm, Kingsley looked down at her. 

"I want to see that contract."

"Dad has it."

"I want a legal team to search it," there was a lightness in her chest, "she is a goodman quack, you are getting worse, and your control is minimal at best."

Freddy grimaced because, in truth, it was better than it had ever been, but neither her Uncle nor Basnet needed to know that. She didn't need Basnet poking around her head any more than she usually did. 

"We can find other help. There are many bright wix in the world who can help you, other Seers."

"I know. But we need to stop talking about it, the wards..." watching the arrow tick up and up.

"Of course," they both fell silent as the voice rang out -- "8th Floor!"

Freddy leaned against her Uncle's arm, and he curled her tighter against him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I had no idea how bad your condition has gotten." She nodded slowly, trying not to let a tear fall. "We'll get you out of this contract, get you some real help. Basnet has done well with your control, but frankly, it's not enough anymore."

"She tried--" Freddy started weakly before closing her jaw together with a click. The wards were in place, and Freddy was far too terrified to talk too much about what Basnet had her doing. What envelopes she was pushing. Freddy could only think of the swirls of the room, the way she'd wake up, her memory blank and energy drained, the way she'd vomit blood up, and the glare of a timer going far, far past the agreed 10-minute mark. Breaking the Vows of Silence for the Department of Mysteries led to tragedy. Though Freddy had looser restrictions than any regular Unspeakable, she hardly wanted to test the boundary here.

"Trying to use the wrong family's kid is what she’s trying to do.” He was tense, every inch of him and every movement militaristic. “I'll have the Head of the Department investigate her. Then we'll see where we're at with getting you a new teacher. I’ll speak with my Mother, she has connections with the other magical schools." So this really was a family matter.

But, Freddy knew that it would take a lot more than the Shacklebolt name thrown around to get her out of the contract. But she let her Uncle have the optimism and simply let him crack jokes and tell funny anecdotes for the rest of the elevator ride up. Freddy popped in on occasion, exchanging a quip or describing a new story about her friends from school and things going on at the candy shop. 

Freddy hardly noticed they were already at the Visitor's Gate, a low thrumming headache forming at the back of her skull. She rubbed gently at her eyes; they were aching too. Maybe she ought to get checked at St. Mungo's to see if they could get her any more potent headache potions. 

"Gerald! I didn't know you were working today."

"Huh, lassie? You were just here, not even 3 hours ago? I checked you in, remember?" Gerald gently took her visitor's badge, "We were chatting..."

Freddy's face fell, and Kingsley tensed as she tripped over her words before finally exiting. Amara stood there, concern blatant; Freddy peered up at her before sharply turning away. They paused at the fireplaces, and Freddy looked at Kingsley, tears in her eyes, and whispered quietly. He seemed deep in thought.

"Uncle King?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know if I Flooed in this morning?"

Kingsley Shacklebolt looked down on her, a feat with her height, and gently slid his hand into hers and tugged her into the Floo, gently calling out "Ryland Residence, Falmouth." 

Freddy let her world go up in flames and didn't remember stepping out of them this morning.

[cartoonfangirl1218]

EoA ships fluff headcanons part 6

Most unexpected compliments

Eleteo: Mateo praising Elena for her governing smarts. I mean Elena knows she’s smart but she tends to view smarts as in the stem-kind Isabel is or lots of book knowledge like Esteban. She’s more of impulsive type. But when Mateo praised her for natural talent in diplomacy and just the sheer amount of names she had to know plus their habits and quirks, that was a smarts all on her own. As for Mateo, the compliment she gave him would be almost anything about his muscles as minx like she is. Mainly because Mateo is such a skinny thing as a child, he can’t believe someone would call him an Adonis. Gababel: Gabe praises Isabel for her inquisitiveness and how interesting she is even though many people wouldn’t find science as fascinating, whenever she tells her about it, he thinks it’s the most interesting thing in the world. Isabel praised Gabe whenever he showed his emotional vulnerability. All his life he had been put down by Roberto to act like a man so Isabel giving him sort of “permission” to cry and be sweet and gentlemanly, it is another thing that he loves about her. Estenaomi: The time that Esteban complimented Naomi for being prettier than any noble lady was a secret thrill for her. Though she shrugs it off and pretends she doesn’t compare herself to those snobby royal ladies, she can’t help but worry that Esteban will go back to his own class. That praise lifted her spirits to the clouds. As for Esteban, he was over the moon when Naomi told him that he was always number one to her. After being El Segundo, just those words, as corny as he teased her for, he loved it. Estoma: The compliment Esteban loved was when Doña told him that she could see no else being a better Chancellor than him. After all, the circumstances of how he became Chancellor is somewhat undeserved so he never felt like he was truly good at it. Especially with the added guilt of hurting his family and having to fulfill Shuriki’s horrid orders. So for someone to say that he was a perfect Chancellor. That meant a lot. Anyway, once Esteban called Doña adorable. She had thought he was being sarcastic after all she had been called “Gorgeous” “Sophisticated” “Hostile bitch”- “Adorable”? Never. But he meant it. She joked that love was making him hallucinate traits that weren’t there but she secretly appreciated it.

What spirit guide would their SO choose?

Eleteo: I'm just gonna stick with what they have because I agree with the choices and I really liked how well they fit. Elena is like a fox, crafty, sometimes impulsive  and loves to be free in the world. Mateo is like a sloth being calm and patient in his doings and can be quiet good at insight to his surroundings. Gababel: Isabel would choose a wolf for Gabe because of it's fierceness, it's loyalty to it's pack/family and it can be quiet caring and nurturing. Gabe would choose a hummingbird for Isabel because of it's inquisitive nature, and the fact they both have a fondness for sweet substances. Estenaomi: Esteban would choose a sassy dolphin for Naomi and Naomi would say Esteban is a total preening peacock! No question about it. Proud of his great hair and clothes and can squawk quite a bit when he doesn't get his way which Esteban protests wholeheartedly. Estoma: I couldn't think of them saying nice ones so here it is. Esteban chooses Doña as a magpie. A shrill, annoying, chattering bird with a penchant for shiny things. Doña would say Esteban is a lapdog, enjoying luxuries people give him but is all bark and no bite when it comes to confrontation so he has to stew with what others decide for him. Whose more protective?

Eleteo: Since Elena inherited Luisa's mother hen tendencies, she's a lot more outwardly protective like when she gave Gabe those warning glares for dissing Mateo in Spellbound or getting a bit more distressed when Mateo is in danger even at the cost of an important jewel like in Jewel of Maru. But that's not to say Mateo is equally protective of Elena when danger comes calling. Spellbound and Song of the Sirenas is a big example of that. The sweet cinnaomon roll gets spicy when someone threatens his beloved shining light, and Ninjateo comes out with vengeance. Gababel: Gabe, obviously. It's part of his knight in shining armor charm. Isabel does want Gabe's protection but sometimes he can go overboard like when they are exploring an island and Isabel just needs to get these last few rock samples but Gabe thinks its too dangerous for her to trek through jungles even though she has done it thousands of times before. Estenaomi: Naomi is. Naomi is generally much more suspicious and streetwise than young!Esteban who wants to go adventuring everywhere and is willing to talk to anyone to get information even if those sources are less than reliable. Plus young!Esteban has a tendency to overestimate his own mortality so she has to pull him away from swinging over lava and crocodile invested lakes among other things even though he assures her he can totally climb that thousand feet mountain without proper safety gear. 

Estoma: Esteban is. Blame it on everything he lost, but he is a bit protective about making sure no one hurts his family again. Nor the ones he loves.

Whose more protective of their food?

Eleteo: Neither is particularly. But Elena can be possessive of her pan dulces when she has them. So when Mateo teasingly takes a few from her plate, then the food fight is on. Of course, that just leads to some licking off each other's cheeks and fingers. A bit like that Gababel drabble you did on the private group chat. But Elena would also totally put a strawberry in her mouth and taunt Mateo into kissing her. Or even do an orange smile and think it's incredibly hilarious. Gababel: Isabel is. We all know Gabe will do anything for Isabel, including sharing food. Isa would do the same. Except when it comes to the pan dulces. Isabel loves those pan dulces and will basically hoard them in her cheeks if she is able to manage it. Gabe finds the image adorable and always teases her for the chipmunk cheeks. Estenaomi: Esteban. Let's just face it. Pan dulces and Flores family are like inseparable. So, Naomi often teases Esteban by hiding the food or stealing it for herself. Esteban's "tortured" reaction to her "betrayal" is often amusing to watch but Naomi has learned to be careful because Esteban often retaliates with creative pranks that she never sees coming. Also it bugs him when Naomi sometimes obliviously double dips. Estoma: Doña. Especially if she is already in a bad mood. "IF YOU DARE TAKE MY DANISH, I WILL REACH DOWN YOUR THROAT, PULL IT OUT, AND BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH IT." (Not my quote. But it's such a overwrought reaction to food being taken that I had to use it). Whose more picky?

Eleteo: Neither really. Elena is very enthusiastic about experiencing new cultures which includes eating their foods and Mateo has never been picky, he just doesn't eat a lot due to his studying as you hc. But Mateo is the more hesitant of the two when it comes to trying things like a kelp taco. BUT he also can't resist Elena's puppy dog look and enthusiastic face when she urges him to try a little bit. And that's when he learned that Marisa and Elena have the right idea when it comes to the deliciousness of kelp tacos. (I still can't get over that food choice) Gababel: Isabel is. Not because she is scared of the food but let's just say biology has made a big impact on how she views salmonella and E. coli. But that's more with regular foods. She will say yes to about any sort of dessert. Especially if her handsome baker boy makes it just for her. Estenaomi: Esteban is. Naomi is more adventurous due to having to adjust to eating new foods. Sometimes she likes to taunt him about that like by shoving the fried squid tentacles in his face. But she has also tried to help him get over his pickiness by sometimes putting the food in her mouth for a kiss or dousing it with sugar or using some sort of new meat in a tamale.   Estoma: Esteban still is. Though Dona once tried to guilt him into eating new foods with this (not my) quote- "I had a pet goat growing up, Jenny. When I was eight, my parents ran out of food so they made me go outside and kill her. I had to skin Jenny, cook Jenny and eat Jenny. After that, I guess I just tried not to think too much about what I was eating anymore. And, well... I made damn well sure I wouldn't be in a position where I'd have to eat my favorite pet again." The plan backfired and instead of feeling grateful for food, Esteban lost his appetite completely.

Insecurity/flaw they help the other with

Eleteo: Elena tries to help Mateo with his insecurity and self doubt that eats him up inside. After years of hiding in the shadows of his basement (and okay partially inspired by Becky’s Mateo backstory from Magic Within) Mateo really doubts his worth, his ability and his value within the kingdom as a wizard and as a person. He berated himself for not being enough. Elena has a similar problem that though Mateo can see her greatness, sometimes Elena is too consumed with her failures as a queen. But moreover, he tries to help her ease the burden of when she tries to take on everything herself. That somehow all responsibility falls to her all the time. Gababel: Gabe tries to help Isabel when it comes to her perfectionism and need to have everything right. Though he adores how Isabel’s mind works, he gets concerned about when she overanalyzes and overthinks to the point of paralysis. Meanwhile Isabel helps Gabe with his need to repress his weak emotions and how no matter how much glory he achieves as Captain, the doubt in his head in the sound of his father’s voice that says he’s not doing enough and that he’s letting people down. Estoma: Isn’t it obvious what Esteban deals with. Survivors guilt. Big time. Also a overwhelming bouts of anxiety, depression and hopelessness along with a bit of a superiority inferiority complex coming from being “El Segundo.” She tries to help ease past the sins that make him an “evil man” and see that sometimes it’s okay to allow yourself to be loved. Which is almost like pot calling kettle since Doña has major emotional repression issues. Or asEsteban says emotional constipation since it annoys her. He tries to encourage her to you know, talk about her feelings at the moment instead of bottling it up for months, cracking and being an useless emotional  wreck for a week. First impressions and how they’ve changed

Eleteo: Mateo’s first impression of Elena was first like freaked out amazement that they lost Princess was alive. Then just awe because of how brave, talented, etc etc she was. Though that sort of hero pedastle stayed, Mateo slowly got over his amazement of Elena as his queen and princess and began seeing her as a friend. He appreciated her kindness and that song during Spellbound made him realize how much Elena truly trusted in his magical expertise and cared for him. I also hc that was when Mateo first started feeling signs of a crush. Elena’s first impression of Mateo was one of relief since he got her out of the amulet. And she mainly saw him as adorkable. He was blushing, geeky wizard and of course she saw him in a very kind way but that also began to change as they developed their friendship. She saw his bravery, his dedication and enthusiasm and his moral need to do what was right and she began to see him as a true confident and ally and friend and eventual lover. Gababel: Obviously Gabe’s first impression of Isabel was that she was Elena’s kid sister. Nothing particularly big. But he did find her enthusiasm for science and inventions to be amusing even when they had been younger and the gap mattered more. The change came after Isabel grew up, went to college and returned home. He began to see her enthusiasm and sweetness in a new light. He came to know her dedication to science that was so similar to his focus on become a guard. He learned how fierce she was when it came to those she loved and her sweetness was not because of any passiveness but because she cared. Isabel saw Gabe as Elena’s cool, brave Guard Captain friend when they were younger but she did also note his kindness to her even when he didn’t really need to. So when they grew up Isabel began to see that kindness even more. How Gabe’s sense of duty wasn’t a need for glory and control but because he cared too about the well beings of those he loved. She became to understand how his anger connected to how he was raised by his father, and that confident exterior shielded a more complex and strategic mind underneath that she admired. Estenaomi: Naomi saw Esteban to be a snooty, impulsive guy-guy that thought too much of his ill-planned out plans. Esteban saw Naomi as someone who was much too sassy and hellbent on annoying him in every which way. But as the two began to hang out more together they gained a deeper understanding. They both bonded over how they wished to become something special, to do something more and make a lasting contribution. They also bonded over some of their similar insecurities in just staying in the background, Naomi as a commoner and Esteban as a pity case. Besides that Esteban began to appreciate how Naomi tried to keep things grounded and her practicality while Naomi enjoyed Esteban’s overdramatics and sense for adventure despite the consequences as thrilling and fun. Estoma: Esteban saw Doña as universal retribution sent to make his life even more difficult with her judgmental comments and two default modes- disdain or superiority when pointing out his mistakes. Doña saw him as a know it all, unfairly entitled, incompetent royal (to be fair Esteban was working for Shuriki who probably kept a long list of demands and orders that Esteban had to do while dealing with all the issues of the kingdom that she was neglected so he was more than a little harried and couldn’t give it all his 100%). However, at sometime during all their talks about finances, Esteban decided it would be a challenge to break her ice queen act and started pointing out all her mistakes in order to get her to snap. It took at least two months but it worked  and then their great rivalry went off. And though it seemed like they never stopped bickering long enough to properly talk to each other, their first impressions did change a little bit. Doña saw that Esteban wasn’t incompetent, just overworked but that didn’t change just how much effort Esteban did put in when he was put in charge of something. He was methodical, dedicated, still too proud about his knowledge but he also had a soft heart. Esteban began to see that under the haughty arrogance was someone who valued hard work even above the amount of riches earned, still far too opinionated but also concerned with tradition and stability which he could appreciate after what he had lost. How do they handle disagreement between each other and making up afterwards?Eleteo: It would be tense I think with clipped words and some high emotions. But generally, they try to keep calm and they have a rule that they cannot walk away from the other in anger. The two talk out their disagreements and then have a cooling off period. By the time they return to the other, they both apologize and hug. Making up consists of extra time spent together so to assure each other that there are no hurt feelings and to calmly discuss that previous argument which means so little in the long run. Elena heaps up a lot of cuddles too. Estenaomi: The two usually separate after they have a major fight so they can cool off and think about things in a more rational manner. Then Esteban might come by her house with a treat or Naomi would stop by his room. Then they would try to talk it over like adults. Afterwards, they would spend some time on her ship, eating food and go back to their usual bantering since that is their version of normalcy and everything is okay again. Gababel: It would actually have a lot of yelling. Isabel is as stubborn as Gabe sometimes so they both refuse to budge on the issue. There would be a point that neither has anything else to argue so they stop, take a breath and return to the beginning. Most of the anger/passion is gone so they could approach things more rationally. Making up consists of lots of apologizing from both ends, hugging, and reassurances. If Gabe made Isabel cry, you can bet there would be some groveling too even if it goes a bit overboard. Estoma: In business disagreements, their general professionalism allows them to look past it to get a solution. In more personal disagreements, they are just very passive aggressive until one of them snaps and they start yelling at each other. Their make ups comprise of reluctant apologies and cautious small talk with a calming dinner afterwards. If one really feels bad, there might be a present the next morning. Gababel: It would actually have a lot of yelling. Isabel is as stubborn as Gabe sometimes so they both refuse to budge on the issue. There would be a point that neither has anything else to argue so they stop, take a breath and return to the beginning. Most of the anger/passion is gone so they could approach things more rationally. Making up consists of lots of apologizing from both ends, hugging, and reassurances. If Gabe made Isabel cry, you can bet there would be some groveling too even if it goes a bit overboard.

Nickname they give each other 

Eleteo: As taken from a fandom consensus, Elena calls Mateo, ““Wizard King” along with other endearments like mi amor and mi querida. Mateo does the same, but also calls her “Shining light” (Never while they’re in Paraíso of course).

Gababel: Isabel calls Gabe all the usual affectionate terms and he does too, but her significant one for him was “My Knight” both for the literal description of him and for how she admires his strength and chivalry. Gabe calls her his brain, and more often, his soul because she is able to help him come down from the stoic battle guard captain mask he had to take on when in a fight and remind him of the lighter sweeter things he is protecting Avalor for. 

Estenaomi: I put this under embarrassing nicknames but over time, Esteban comes to sincerely mean ““Miss Fiestypants” as an endearment since that feistiness is one of the things he loved about her. Naomi calls Esteban the Duke of Sin which she meant as a joke but he took as the highest of compliments and he insists on living up to it. Not that she’s complaining.  Estoma: Doña calls Esteban, “El Primero.” Well the full nickname is “El primero en mí corazón.” But El Primero is shorter and a nice reverse of his loathed El Segundo nickname. Esteban calls Doña the usual mí amor or mí querida. He’ll occasionally call her “Pretty Bird” or “Labia Plata” which means silver tongue. 

[tilltheendwilliwrite]

Balance on the Head of a Pin

Chapter Thirty-Six

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Loki Odinson x OFC  |  Word Count: 7301 Warnings: Swearing, smexy, angst, violence

Lauren stretched her arms up over her head as she walked into the kitchen and smiled back at Loki when he made an unintelligible noise. “Somethin’ wrong, peaches?”

“You know very well your shirt rides up when you do that, darling. Stop being coquettish,” he grumbled, pouting when she slipped out of reach of his grasping hands.

“None of that now. You know they’ll all be down here beggin’ for breakfast within the next hour. It’s your own fault, puttin’ me in this mess. You and Sadie,” she huffed. “Now not only am I cookin’ for the bottomless pits of the masses, but I’ve got to put a basket up for auction, too.” Already fretting, she yanked open the door to the fridge.

“Lauren,” Loki sighed and slipped up behind her to place his hands on her hips. “If you dislike it so much, why don’t we simply give Sadie and Marcus whatever monetary equivalent will satisfy them excusing you from this event?”

“Bite your tongue!” she huffed. “I already said I’d do it, and whether or not I hate it is beside the point. Participatin’ and showin’ my support for their foundation is. I can’t just back out.” Even if she did despise the idea of standing on a stage again. She preferred to be the assistant, the one who took the notes, answered the calls, and arranged events. Behind the scenes was a perfect place to be.

“My heart,” Loki murmured and pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck. “You do not have to do anything that makes you this anxious. Had I known it would upset you so, I would have rejected the idea wholeheartedly last night.”

She sighed and closed the fridge to turn and face him. “It’s not all the picnic. I’m nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockin’ chairs over the kids and these people and everythin’ with Samuel.” Lauren dropped her forehead to his polo shirt covered chest.

He was dressed as immaculately as always, the deep blue of his shirt a complement to his eyes, while she had refused to let him dress her just yet, preferring to tug on a pair of cutoffs and a tank top in sunshine yellow. She’d brought the clothes, she may as well wear them, and as she would be cooking on what was already announcing itself as a scorcher of a day, Lauren had no desire to be overdressed next to a hot stove. Even her signature ponytail had been exchanged for a messy loop to keep her hair off her neck.

“Elskan min,” he crooned, bringing her closer to his body by tightening his arms. “I told you. Everything is under control. The call which needed to be made has been. Soon the others will be caught up, and then this will be over. As for breakfast…” he flicked out his wrist, and the kitchen island was covered in enough food to stuff an elephant.

Plates of pancakes were piled high along with massive bowls of whip cream, mixed berries, and sliced peaches. The bowl with the strawberries sat separate, an omaĝe to Pepper’s allergy that turned Lauren’s heart over at Loki’s thoughtfulness. There were servers of bacon, eggs, and a platter of muffins still steaming as if she’d just taken them out of the oven.

“Loki!” Lauren gasped, “I think that’s cheatin’.” She couldn’t help but smile at his playful way around things.

“They will never know the difference. Now, about this basket…” He flicked his fingers a second time and had one appear at the end of the counter. “There. Fried chicken, the salad thing with the potatoes your Gran made, that delicious Hummingbird Cake, and a bottle of Asgard’s finest wine, along with fruits and cheeses of course.”

“Of course,” she snickered. “Have you left me anythin’ to do this mornin’?”

“You can make the coffee. Yours is always far superior to anything the others make.”

Lauren chuckled and tried to escape his hold only to find herself backed into the cold metal of the stainless steel refrigerator. She gasped in surprise and gave a breathy moan when Loki’s tongue slipped into her mouth.

His hand found its way beneath her top to cup and mould her satin encased breast. Even through the thicker padding of her bra he found her nipple and rubbed his thumb back and forth across it. “You can make it in a moment,” he said, grinding his pelvis into hers. “After I have my fill of you.”

“Insatiable,” she teased and wrapped her arms around his neck. He’d already had her when the sun had risen, rolling her beneath him to make slow, sweet love, and then again when they’d showered together, holding her up against the wall, taking her hard and fast. “I’m not havin’ sex with you in the kitchen, Loki.”

“That is what you think,” he growled and jerked her off the floor, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist.

“That is what I think. I’ll do a lot of things with you, peaches, but fuckin’ in the open where any old soul can walk in on us? That’s a big ol’ no.” Sure he could hide them with magic, but she wasn’t taking the chance he’d get distracted.

“Fine,” he huffed and carried her toward the butler’s pantry where he plopped her butt down on the counter. “Better, wife?”

“Much, but I’m still not havin’ sex with you in the pantry.”

He growled from his position, his forehead now pressed to her chest in frustration. “You are impossible, woman.” Loki huffed before relaxing against her to look up. “Just what would constitute an acceptable place for me to seduce you, my heart if I cannot convince you to let me have my way with you in the kitchen?”

“I do have a new found appreciation for tack rooms. Also, offices hold a special place in my heart. Hidden gardens are nice.” She grinned when his hands flexed on her bottom.

“Temptress. The moment I have you alone and behind a locked door…”

He let the pseudo-threat hang and Lauren shivered, anticipation skimming up her spine. “Such promises,” she crooned and leaned in to kiss him. His bottom lip was a tasty pout she just had to sink her teeth into.

He gave a content sigh and slipped his hands beneath the hem of her shirt, but only to rest them on the skin of her lower back.

Lauren linked her fingers together and fell into the sweet, sultry kiss. He tasted ridiculously good, still that peppermint patty flavour, but beneath it now she recognized the ice and snow, the crisp bite of frost, and the thing which made him who he was. She could taste the zing and tingle of magic which flowed beneath the surface in his very blood.

She would never, could never, grow tired of having his marvellous taste to look forward to with each kiss. Even the smallest of pecks still left a hint of who he was on her lips. Add in the way he smelled like everything she loved about winter and Lauren was hooked for life.

“What is that devious little smirk for?” Loki asked.

“I was just thinkin’ how much I love the way you smell and taste. You’re like all the best parts of winter wrapped up together.” Lauren brushed her nose along his cheek and carded her fingers through his hair.

“And you are like a sultry jungle, pet. Warm and lush and laced with lilies.” He buried his nose in her neck where he dragged it along the length to close his teeth gently on her shoulder next to the strap of her top. His fingers dipped beneath the waist of her shorts to knead the swell of her ass cheeks, slowly rocking her forward and into the hard length wedged between them.

She knew what he was doing, and though she’d protested, Lauren revelled in his attention. Even with all that had happened in the last few days, it felt surreal and gave her a thrill to know he wanted her so badly. She felt powerful, strong, and loved in a way she’d always longed for.

He’d done so much for her self-esteem. He made her feel beautiful. He made he feel graceful and seductive. No, she wasn’t unaware of the face in the mirror. Yes, she knew most people thought her pretty, but it had been so hard to believe what others said after so many, many years of being pounded with a negative image of herself, her body, and her brain.

For the first time ever, Lauren finally felt free.

“Loki,” she whimpered as tears burned her eyes.

“My heart,” he whispered, kissing her cheek and holding her gently. “It’s alright, darling. I understand.” One of his hands left the back of her shirt to lift and press against the stone in the center of her torque. “You are so special, and beautiful, and amazing. It is time you felt it. It is time you found yourself.”

“Without you… I don’t know if I ever would have,” she sighed, letting their foreheads rest together.

“Perhaps that is why the Norns have brought us together. You make me whole, my love. It is only right I should do the same for you. We are meant to be.” He let his hand lay against her heart, an action Lauren mirrored. “My life beats here. I could not long live without you at my side.”

“Good thing you won’t have to then, hm?” she murmured, feeling so overfull of emotion she wanted to laugh and cry and love and just wallow in the feel of him. She wanted to fall into him and live beneath his skin. To wrap herself around his heart and hold it tight to her own so nothing and no one could ever injure it again, and in turn, find the protection, the love, and the understanding she’d longed for all her life.

Unable to physically do so, Lauren simply let her arms rest on his shoulders, her wrists crossed and hands dangling loosely as she wiggled impossibly closer. She turned her head to lay on her arm and just… held him. Chest to breast, belly to belly, heart to heart. “I never thought I could love someone the way I love you.”

“You two are ridiculously sappy.”

Lauren startled and opened her eyes to see Bucky leaning in the doorway. “If y’all weren’t spyin’ like a super sneaky assassin, you wouldn’t have to see it.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “You could have said somethin’, Loki.”

“As we were not in a compromising position, and I personally like this one quite a lot, I wasn’t about to ruin the moment because of Barnes’ sneaky feet.”

Bucky’s eyes widened before his face twisted. “No. No funny business in places where people eat.”

Loki grinned wickedly. “Of course not.”

The super soldier’s eyes widened further and darted around before returning his gaze to them. “You know what? I don’t want to know.”

“Wasn’t gonna tell you anyway,” Lauren snickered as Loki stepped back and helped her slide to the ground.

Bucky took in her appearance and his eyes crinkled when he smiled. “Looking good, doll face. You don’t usually dress so casual.”

A blush burned through Lauren’s cheeks while she played with the hem of her shirt. “Well, it’s already swelterin’, and what with you all demandin’ breakfast it was this or overheat.” She twisted the toes of her bare foot against the cold tile floor in an action which mirrored Sara’s from a few days ago.

“Ho, man. That smells amazing!” Steve’s voice rang out through the kitchen.

Bucky stepped out of the doorway, and Lauren linked her fingers through Loki’s, reached for the tin of coffee on a lower shelf, and smiled when Loki leaned over and kissed the back of her shoulder.

“As we do not want people to see your lovely adornment, my sweet, you may not want to stretch too high,” he murmured against her skin.

The hand with the can of coffee went right to her stomach, and Lauren eeped in surprise. “I forgot.”

“I don’t know how you could. Putting them back where they belong was incredibly memorable,” he chuckled.

The blush already present got even hotter. “Shush, you,” she huffed, but it was half-hearted at best. After all, he wasn’t wrong.

Her devious God of Mischief had pulled her beneath the shower spray and led her serpents back to their home around her belly button… with his mouth. He’d used his tongue, and they’d followed, sliding over her skin with the tiniest brush of sleek scales. Loki had put them back, then put his tongue to better use.

Just thinking about it made Lauren feel far too warm.

Loki brushed his hand down her spine, and it was icy. “You appear flushed, darling.”

She rolled her eyes and left the pantry to make the coffee. “Mornin’, Steve.”

“Lauren. Loki.” He grinned sheepishly as he jerked his hand away from the bowl of whipped cream.

Lauren chuckled. “Y’all can get started. I’m sure the others will be down soon enough. Eat while it’s hot. And, Steve?”

“Yeah, doll?” he said absently as he began to pile things on a plate.

“Happy birthday.”

Blue eyes darted up, and a red flush coloured his cheeks. “Um, thanks, Lauren.”

“See?” Bucky chuckled. “No one forgets your birthday.”

“The irony of being Captain America and being born on the same day this country celebrates its independence is both amusing and startling. Fate has a hand in all our lives it seems,” Loki said, handing Lauren a coffee filter. “Felicitations on your natal day, Captain.”

“Thanks,” Steve smiled and nodded.

“What is that smell?” Pepper breathed as she walked into the kitchen on Tony’s arm. “Oh, wow, Lauren! This is too much.”

A floaty peach wrap dress accentuated Pepper’s figure while Tony looked no different than the others in jeans and t-shirts. Seeing her dressed as if Pepper was heading to a ladies breakfast had Lauren suddenly feeling a little shabby, a little too underdressed, and she tugged on her shorts self consciously.

Loki’s hand captured hers, and he looked at her, his eyes so knowing before they slowly warmed with appreciation when he let his gaze drift down her body to her painted toes and back up.

It snapped Lauren instantly out of her head, and she smiled brightly at Pepper. “Considerin’ how much some of them eat? I don’t think so. Besides, I had help.” She gave Loki a wink. “Cookin’s a lot more fun when someone can do all the dishes with magic.”

“Does that mean you’ll do this again?” Bucky asked around a mouthful of pancakes.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, James,” Lauren scolded.

“Sorry.” He swallowed. “It’s just so damn good.”

“Seconded,” Steve mumbled, plowing through his own stack of pancakes.

“Coffee,” was all Tony said as he leaned against the counter and put on a pair of dark glasses.

Lauren tried not to smirk and bit her lip as she turned back to the coffee maker. “Did you indulge a little last night, boss?”

“Every time I finished a drink someone handed me a new one,” he grumbled. “I know you’re a lightweight. How the hell are you so chipper?”

“She’s of Asgard. It will take much more than a few glasses of Midgardian wine to make Lauren give that sweet giggle she makes when she is tipsy,” Loki informed them, his arm wrapped around her waist and made her shiver with the coolness radiating off him.

“I wager a horn of mead would do the trick,” Thor laughed wandering into the kitchen with Natasha.

Lauren glanced at the redhead, their gazes connected, and Nat smirked before casting an assessing eye toward Loki.

“Oh, my stars,” Lauren whispered and wrenched her face around, knowing it had turned a burning red.

“Mm, she is back to normal,” Loki whispered in Lauren’s ear. “And it appears they enjoyed themselves as much as we did.”

“Shut up, Laufeyson,” Lauren hissed and kicked him in the shin, trying not to die of embarrassment when Loki snickered.

“It’s Odinson, darling,” he teased and kissed her cheek.

“Do somethin’ useful and tell them about our visitor, peaches,” Lauren grumbled.

The atmosphere in the room changed so suddenly, Lauren felt it in the rise of the hair on the back of her neck.  

“Excuse me?” Steve laid down his fork.

Loki waved a dismissive hand. “It was nothing I could not handle on my own. In fact, it shall work splendidly toward my plan for the ones who dared to come after Sara. Mario was quite helpful… once he stopped resisting.” The smile on Loki’s face was wicked.

“You’re gonna give ‘em a heart attack, elskan min. Just tell them what happened,” Lauren huffed, having gotten the full story earlier.

“You ruin all my fun,” he pouted but got on with it. “His name was Mario Gallo, one of the men from earlier, and was sent by Valentino to watch the house and inform on any changes to our circumstances. Apparently, they knew a handful of Avengers were in residence, myself and Thor, thanks to the ignorant man who had been hired last minute by the setup crew.”

“The one you threatened to skin, brother?” Thor asked.

“You threatened to skin someone?” Lauren gasped.

“Yes, but he was that man who made you uncomfortable while dealing with that horrid white-haired snot of a woman, darling.” He squeezed her waist where his hand still rested.

She nearly snorted at his description of Quinn. “Oh. Alright then.” Lauren made to reach for the mugs above her, only to have them appear on the countertop. “Thanks, hun.”

He hummed and continued. “While that man was not part of last night’s crew, he is part of Valentino’s operation. He knew the layout of the house and where the children would be housed during the party and relayed this back to Valentino. Apparently, they have been planning to use Sara or Benny, or both if they could take both, as collateral until Avirett returned the funds he’d stolen.”

A hardening of Loki’s jaw had Lauren reaching out and brushing her hand up and down his abdomen before returning to pouring the coffee. She didn’t notice how Bucky, Steve, Thor and Pepper all smiled teasingly at the act of affection, nor how Nat smirked at Thor, or how Tony’s grin grew smug, for they were all back to their stoic faces by the time she turned around to begin passing out coffee cups. “Eat for heaven’s sake! I didn’t slave over no stove for it all to run cold. Y’all can chew and listen,” she huffed placing a coffee in Tony’s hand and offering the other to Pepper.

“You’re a godsend,” Tony muttered, inhaling over his cup.

“Designed by the Norns,” Loki smirked and chuckled when Lauren patted his cheek. “Knowing Thor and I were here only made them more determined to succeed in removing the children out from under our noses. The plan has been in place for some time. Jimmy Johnson, the one helping with the setup, has been renting a farm outside town, making it appear as if he was new to Greenville, and asking about work. Hence the reason he was here without proper vetting. Bianci, too, has been to the house under the pretense of purchasing one of the Annandale’s horses.”

The thought of it gave Lauren the willies. A crime lord in the house, meeting her father, seeing the children.

Loki’s hand caressed her arm as she took more coffee to the island. “Avirett has made a very serious enemy, and so, apparently, have we.”

“What’s that mean?” Bucky asked.

“Valentino has had a run in with both Natasha and Barton. It appears you foiled an assassination he’d been sent to carry out. He quite thoroughly hates you. While the Captain and Barnes had a hand in destroying a rather important shipment of narcotics Bianci was counting on. So, when Valentino realized not just two but six Avengers were suddenly in-house and showed interest and affection with the children, well…” Loki shrugged.

“It’s now become a challenge. A way to stick it to us all,” Natasha murmured.

Lauren looked at her, and her eyes were a hard, sharp green full of anger.

“I’m feeling particularly inclined to kick a little ass. What did you do with this… Gallo?” Nat asked, biting a strawberry off the end of her fork with a snap of teeth.

“I gave him to Hill. He is out of the way, and I have been in contact with Valentino as Gallo to inform him there has been no change. The Avengers remained overnight.”

“So, the question is, do we stay and make it a challenge? Or pretend to leave and let them think it’s going to be easy to take the kids,” Steve asked.

“Neither,” Loki smiled his signature grin. “There is a third option I think we shall all enjoy.”

***

“You’re not staying.”

Lauren paused before she reached the doorway, having slipped out of the kitchen after Loki revealed his plan to go check on the children only to find Pepper and Tony arguing outside the powder room door.

“Tony.”

“Don’t start,” he huffed.

“It’s not like there will be any danger. Not after you take care of Valentino and his men. Then we can spend the day at the fair. We never get to do things like this. It will be fun.” Pepper stepped into his chest and placed her hand lightly against his cheek. “We can eat cotton candy. Ride the Ferris wheel…”

“We are not riding the Ferris wheel! Who knows what kind of third-rate hack last checked its mechanics.” His arms slipped around her waist.

“They’ll likely have corn dogs,” Pepper tempted.

Lauren had to bring her hand to her mouth to contain her giggle when Tony’s eyes lit up.

“Ya think?”

“And mini donuts. You know you love mini donuts.” Pepper smiled and stroked her fingers along his beard. “You can even try your hand at winning me a teddy bear.”

“Maybe you should win me one,” he teased.

Her brow arched. “You know I could. I bet I could win one faster than you could.”

“You’re on!” Tony smirked and drew Pepper in for a tender kiss.

Lauren slipped away before either noticed her, a smile playing on her lips with Pepper’s sleek manipulation. It didn’t surprise her at all, Tony’s protective nature. Though Lauren hadn’t been around when Pepper had been kidnapped and experimented on by Aldrich Killian, she had seen the files and knew in general what had happened.

Tony went out of his way to make sure Pepper was never again put in a position which could see her injured because of him, but this time, Lauren too thought he was being a little ridiculous when he’d tried to make Pepper leave. There was no point.

Mario Gallo had revealed to Loki, Valentino and his men were staying at the farm this Jimmy had rented, what turned out to be the old Taggart place. It had once been a rundown house and a handful of outbuildings, but Kipling Scott, a former high school buddy of Marcus, had ended up buying it and turning it into a rental investment.

Lauren remembered Kipling from school but had little dealings with him, and her memories of him were vague at best. She’d only ever seen him if she’d been out with Marcus and Sadie, or in passing in the halls.

Still, after the dust settled with this forthcoming encounter, she figured she should probably give him a call and let him know the Avengers would compensate him for whatever damages had occurred. She was not so naive as to think there would not be damages. Two gods, two super soldiers, an assassin, and a man in an iron suit were not going to tiptoe their way around like it was a china shop. They would be the damn bull and plow their way through it.

But, going in hard and fast was the only way to be sure all who were involved were rounded up without tipping off the Bianci’s. Hill and Fury were set to go, the SHIELD op intricate and multifaceted. It could all come tumbling down far too quickly if one of the bad guys caught wind of what they were doing.

Loki was running point, to everyone’s surprise, and his plan was both devious and effective. Sure he could waltz in and take them all out himself, but Mario had unwillingly informed him that Valentino had called in reinforcements. They had planned to cause a disturbance at the fair, something resulting in mass panic and injuries, pulling the team away and causing complete chaos. Then, in the confusion, they would have taken the children and whoever had been with them.

Lauren shuddered for when Mario had been speaking about it, they had mentioned her. The sweet little blonde, he’d said. The one they’d nearly caught. The one who’d escaped out from under Valentino’s nose.

By now they would know who she was. They would know her name and that the children were her niece and nephew.

Loki had remained absolutely calm throughout the whole explanation, but Lauren knew better. His hand had twitched toward his waist, and she could only imagine what he’d done. She was of no illusion that he wouldn’t have reacted… poorly to that revelation. By now she knew him and knew exactly what he was capable of when angry.

She gave her head a shake, preferring not to think about it. He would always do whatever he felt was needed to protect her. As they all would. This time was no different.

For this reason she, and now Pepper, would be staying at the house where it was safe while the team went to Kipling’s property. As Mario had not been back, he couldn’t tell them what the intended target at the fairgrounds was, nor whether Valentino’s backup had arrived, were on route, or were set up elsewhere. Hence Tony’s upcoming role.

He, with the help of Loki’s magic, would be playing Mario and walking into the lion’s den. When Steve had protested because Tony would be going in sans suit, Loki had only thrown him a look of exasperation and irritation. For one, Tony would not be in danger as it was simple enough to weave a protective shield into the magic he was using to disguise Tony as Gallo, and two, Tony was the only other person besides himself who could speak fluent Italian should he be required to. Yes, Loki could do it, but he was better situated on the outside, capable of moving locations should they need to do so quickly.

Steve had closed his mouth with an arched brow and assessing nod, seeming to see Loki from a new perspective.

It made Lauren happy. They were all seeing Loki in a new light, a different light. No longer the backup, they were allowing him to put his exceptional mind to work, and he was excelling at it.

Once Tony had gotten the lowdown on what the plan was, they would move in and take out Valentino and his cronies. If by chance, there was a second team elsewhere, Thor and Loki would deal with them. Between the God of Thunder and the God of Mischief, there would be little chance of anyone escaping. Once everyone was rounded up, Hill had transport on standby waiting to collect the criminals and take them off the team’s hands.

Yes, it made her heart trip a little. Every time the Avengers were called up for a mission she worried, but she didn’t let it show. This was their job, and they were very good at it. Still, she had more invested this time, both in the children they were working to protect, and the man who had stepped into the leadership role of the team for the very first time.

Lauren blew out a heavy breath when the sound of high, childish giggles resounded behind the closed door she approached and pasted on a smile which became real as soon as she pushed open the door. Sara and Benny were sitting on the floor in their jammies with Usun between them. The puppy rolled on his back, all four feet in the air, wriggling happily as they rubbed his belly.

“You’re such a good boy,” Sara cooed causing Usun’s tongue to loll happily from his mouth.

“He sure is,” Lauren said, walking into the room to settle to her knees on the floor.

“Aunt Lu!” Benny jumped up and threw his arms around her neck before plopping his bum down on her knee. “You’re takin’ us to the fair, right?”

She nodded. “I am. We’re gonna go as soon as the team gets back.”

“Where they goin’?” he asked, blinking up at her with big, innocent blue eyes.

Sara’s face paled, and she buried it in Usun’s fur when the pup crawled up on her and licked her face.

“They have to go deal with some bad people, but after that, there will be nothin’ more to worry about.” Lauren ran her hand down Sara’s hair. “Nothin’ at all,” she promised when Sara looked up in tentative hope. “Let’s get y’all dressed and fed, and maybe Miss Potts would like a tour of the grounds.”

“Why are you so stupid?”

The hiss of hatred had Usun growling and Lauren stiffening in both surprise and anger.

“I beg your pardon?” Lauren snapped, turning to see Marabeth standing in the doorway.

She looked ready to take on the world in what Lauren knew was one of her power suits. A deep blue, the pants and jacket were so crisp you never would have guessed it was hot and humid already.

“You should be beggin’ my pardon after what you’ve done.” She stormed into the room and jerked Benny from Lauren’s lap by the arm. “The both of you best be gettin’ off that filthy floor right this instant! Get up, Sara Marie and stop handlin’ that mongrel. It’s goin’ straight to the pound the moment y’all leave. I can’t believe you’d be stupid enough to think I’d let you keep that mangy curr!”

“But, mama!” Sara cried, squeezing Usun all the tighter as big tears rolled down her face.

“Don’t you go blubberin’, Sara Marie or so help me I’ll give you somethin’ to cry about!” Marabeth shouted, and Benny squealed in pain when she twisted his arm.

“Enough!” Lauren shouted lurching to her feet to tear Marabeth’s hand away from her son. “Leave them be, Marabeth! They’re just babies!”

“They’re my brats, and I’ll do as I please!” she screamed.

Lauren was prepared this time when the open palm came at her face and deflected the blow while using the momentum to spin her sister back toward the door and push her out of the room. “I warned you I wouldn’t allow you to hit me again, Marabeth, and I won’t let you hurt your kids because you’re mad at Samuel!”

Marabeth stumbled into the hall. “What do you know about it?” she hissed, face hard with narrowed eyes.  

“I know he missed the party. I know you left in a hurry. I know you’re madder than a wet cat! If y’all are havin’ problems take it up with him, but you leave the kids outta it!”

“Or what, boo hoo?  You’ll run off and tell daddy on me?” she simpered and took a threatening step forward.

A thunderous, deep growl came from behind Lauren, somewhere around thigh height and she smiled, cold, sharp, and deadly at her sister. It was Loki’s smile, but Lauren used it with glee. “No, Marabeth. I won’t need to.” Without looking, she set her hand on the brindled coat of the fully grown dyrehund. “Usun will not be going anywhere. He was a gift from Thor. Try and remove him at your peril. Come at the kids like that again at your peril. You won’t like the consequences.” She stroked her hand down his coat before the hound stretched his body out on the rug and glared at Lauren’s sister.

“You’ll regret this, Lauren Guillemin!”

“I don’t think so, Marabeth Augustine.” Lauren lifted her chin and stood her ground. Both kids cowered behind her, afraid of their own mother. It sickened her. “You should go. Deal with whatever has you dressed so fancy at this time of day. I’ll take the kids into town.”

“They’re coming with me,” she growled.

“No. They are not.” Lauren glared her down. “You’ve clearly got important business. I ain’t got a problem lookin’ after them for the day.”

“I have a problem with it!” Marabeth snapped.

“Marabeth.” Their father’s voice resonated down the hall. “Lauren always takes them. Let them go.”

“But, daddy!” Marabeth wailed.

“They’ll be bored and bothersome taggin’ along with whatever it is you got goin’ on. They hardly get to see Lauren. Let them go.”

Thunderous brows and a pinched face glared at her before Marabeth stormed away. Her father stepped into the doorway seconds later, and Lauren sagged in relief.

“Thank you,” she whispered before dropping down to hug both the children tightly to her. Both had silently started to cry, and Sara burst fully into tears against Lauren’s shoulder. “Hush now, sugar cube. It’s okay. Your mama’s having a tough day is all.”

Lauren looked imploringly at her father, now standing in the room. This couldn’t keep happening.

He cast a confused glance at Usun. “Last time I saw him he was a might bit… smaller.”

“Usun’s magic, pawpaw,” Benny said, holding his arm with the other. “He protects us.”

The dog, for he was no longer a puppy, wagged his tail happily against the floor with a hearty thumping that saw dust mites floating up and through the sunbeam streaming in the children’s open window.

“I see that,” Hoyt nodded slowly, his hands tucked in his pockets. “You hurt your arm, buddy?”

“No,” he pouted. “Mama did.”

Lauren’s heart broke at the resigned way he said it. As if this wasn’t the first time Marabeth had done so. She knew it wasn’t, that her sister had been getting rougher with them for a while now, but to hear it come from the mouth of a six-year-old who’d barely begun his life, was painful. “Oh, baby,” she whispered and cupped his little face.

“Mr. Loki could fix it,” Sara said, knuckling the tears from her eyes. “He fixed mine when mama…” She trailed off, her eyes growing wide and scared, darting up to where Hoyt stood watching. “Um…”

Lauren watched her father’s heart break as pain rippled across his face. Hoyt took the last few steps and knelt down beside Sara where he scooped her up into his arms and held on tight. “You don’t worry about that none. I know Loki fixed your arm, sweet peach. From now on, I want you both to know if you’re scared, or your mama hurts you, you come to me, okay?” He brushed Sara’s hair back and stroked her cheek.

“Really?” she whispered.

“Really.” He tapped her nose. “That’s what pawpaws are for. That and sneakin’ treats when meemaw ain’t lookin’.” He winked at her and smiled.

Sara threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, pawpaw.”

“Aww, I love you, sweet peach.” He kissed the top of her head and squeezed his eyes closed.

Lauren had seen the moisture present, the tears aching to fall, and reached out to squeeze his forearm. “Thanks, daddy.”

“We ain’t havin’ no more of this in this house. I promise, Lauren. I won’t stand for it.”

“That’s good.” Lauren smiled at him even as she wished he’d come to this conclusion sooner and turned her focus to Benny who still cradled his arm. “Let’s see it, hun.”

The boy held it out, and Lauren flinched. Black and purple bruises had formed in the shape of Marabeth’s fingers. “It hurts, Aunt Lu.”

His chin wobbled, and big, silent tears dripped down his cheeks. “Oh, baby.” Lauren cuddled him close and called out, “Loki!”

He appeared in the doorway. “Darling?”

She watched him take in the room in a single glance. His face instantly hardened when it landed on Benny’s arm.

“Why young Ben, you seem to have gotten injured. How painful it looks. May I?” He didn’t wait for Benny’s agreement, though the boy gave it with a rapid nod of his head, simply dropped to a knee at Lauren’s side. “What ghastly bruising. Might I inquire just who wrenched your arm to the point of nearly breaking the bones?”

Loki’s eyes were cold and hard when he glared at Hoyt as if to say now do you see? Her father nodded once sharply, and Lauren touched Loki’s shoulder. “It got handled, peaches.”

“It should not need to be handled,” he growled, continuing to glare at her father as he wrapped his fingers around Benny’s arm.

“Ooh, that’s cold!” Benny giggled as green and gold light gleamed from beneath Loki’s fingers.

Hoyt quietly cleared his throat. “Y’all will never guess who I saw at the party last night.”

“Who?” Sara chirped, her fear and sadness gone.

Lauren wondered if it was Loki’s arrival, or just that she now felt safe again thanks to having three adults around who she knew would stand up for her and protect her. Benny crawled onto Loki’s lap the instant her husband sat down, and Usun snuck his nose beneath her arm, prompting Lauren to wrap her arm around his neck and lean against his much bigger body. When he snuck a kiss to her chin with a flick of his tongue, she smiled, scratched his ear and murmured, “You’re such a good boy.” She didn’t notice the way he looked at her, or the look Loki gave them.

“I saw Angie last night,” Hoyt continued. “And she’s agreed to come back and look after y’all.”

“Really?” Benny squealed excitedly.

“She sure did.” Hoyt grinned.

“That’s great, daddy,” Lauren said. “She’s… okay with it?”

Hoyt nodded. “I assured her that wouldn’t happen again and that she’s bein’ hired on by me, not Marabeth. She’s gonna start tomorrow.”

“Yay!” Both kids yelled excitedly and leapt up to jump around.

“Oh, my. What a ruckus. What are y’all up to in- good gracious! When did he get so big?” Magnolia shied away from Lauren and Usun.

“He grew up, mama. Dogs and most people have a tendency to do that,” Lauren snapped, getting to her feet. “Kids, y’all get dressed then head down to the kitchen. The others are just finishin’ up breakfast and hopefully will have left you somethin’ to eat. I’m gonna go change, and then we’ll see if Miss Potts wants that tour.”

“Okay, Aunt Lu!” They called out as Lauren swept past her gaping mother and out into the hall. She only made it halfway back to her room before anger and hatred and disgust overwhelmed her, and she stopped to press a hand to the wall and the other to her mouth, praying she wouldn’t be violently ill.

“Just breathe, my love,” Loki whispered, turning her around to gather her close.

Lauren threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. “What is wrong’ with her? What sick, twisted thing snapped in her head to make her hurt her own babies? God! She’s even worse than mama. Mama may have hurt me, but she never hit me. What the hell is wrong’ with her?”

“I’m afraid things will only go from bad to worse when what her husband has been doing comes to light. Is there a way to take them from her? Can we get them away from her before then? Can it be done here, darling?” Loki asked urgently.

“I don’t know. Yes, children in abusive homes can be removed, but Marabeth is well respected. It would be tough to prove, and she’s so good at twistin’ things, I just… I don’t know. And if I tried and failed, she could take the kids away altogether. I might never see them again.” She didn’t want to cry, not again, and rubbed her nose beneath his jaw to breathe him in. It was beginning to feel like she’d spent half her time here bawling her eyes out or wrapped around Loki. “I don’t know what to do anymore. At least daddy’s gettin’ involved. Between him and Usun, I feel a little better about leavin’, but… she scares me, Loki. Marabeth scares me.”

“I know, my heart. Before we go, I will give the children a gift. If their need is great, they can use it to call for me directly. It will not matter where in the nine realms I am. I will hear and know they need me, and I will come.”

Shocked, Lauren pulled back to look at him. “You’d do that for them?”

“Lauren.” He released her but only to cup her face. His eyes were washed in green magic. “I would do it for you. You love them with everything you are. If I could take them from her and give them to you, I would do it, but your Midgardian laws are foreign to me. The others assure me this cannot be done so I will do what I must do to see they are safe.”

He had done so much for her already. Adding one more thing, one more step seemed like asking too much, even if it was for the children she loved so dearly. “You… you shouldn’t… not just for me…”

He smiled. “No, my darling. Not just for you but for me as well, for as they are the children of your heart, so have they become mine. If something were to harm them, what pain and sorrow you would feel, I would also feel. They are brave little darlings. No child should live in fear of pain or violence inflicted on them by their parents. I won’t stand for it. If giving them a way to contact me gives them peace of mind as well as you, what harm is there in it?”

Lauren wrapped her fingers around his wrists. “You’re too good, Loki. Too sweet and kind and genuine.”

“Only for you,” he whispered and brought her in for a tender kiss.

The slow brush of lips, the quiet understanding, and complete depth of his love was her undoing, and Lauren let the tears fall.

Loki swept her off her feet, wrapped them in magic, and sat with her before the empty fireplace on the makeshift throne in her room. “Do not fear, my love. They will be safe. Safe from the monsters who hunt them, and safe from the ones who live under the same roof. I swear it!”

His fist came down on the arm of the divan making her jolt, but Lauren only curled further into him. She needed to sink into his love and his comforting embrace for a few minutes before she locked it all up and spent the day with the children away from the drama which was about to unfold for Marabeth and her husband.

She didn’t notice the blood which dripped from Loki’s fingers onto the arm of the divan, nor the hard, sharp, calculating glare he levelled at the fireplace.

Next Chapter

[motherofbirds]

1-65 but if it must be limited then 1, 5, 11, 18, 20, 28, 31, 33, 35 jumper, 41, 49, 52, 59, 62. that's a lot wow, i just wanna learn more about you ;-;

OMG! Masha lmao

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you?

I mean I doubt the existence of myself so LOL yeah that’s pretty common. Are we even real? Existential crisis inbound!

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you?

I’m not really afraid of the dark, so I guess 1. Maybe 2.

3. The person you would never want to meet?

Uhh not sure about this one.

4. What is your favorite word?

Indubitably

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be?

oooo a Weeping Willow or a Cherry Blossom Tree

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought?

Bedhead.

7. What shirt are you wearing?

a “House Targaryen” Game of Thrones shirt

8. What do you label yourself as?

I hate labels. I’m just me.

9. Bright room or dark room?

Dark

10. What were you doing at midnight last night?

I was voice chatting with my favorite person

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far?

Probably right now. 23

12. Who told you they loved you last?

My favorite person lol

13. Your worst enemy?

Gosh I don’t have any.

14. What is your current desktop picture?

15. Do you like someone?

Yes.

16. The last song you listened to?

‘A Million Miles’ by Dontfeedthebirds!

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?

God that’s really violent jeez. Pass.

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

I could not punch someone for real. I just don’t have it in me.

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do?

Uhhh no lol If I could hire someone that would be different. I’d love to have a personal chef for a day.

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional)

You’ve already seen my best attribute ;)))) LOOOOOL No, in all seriousness probably my smile.

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

omg I actually did one of those face gender swap thingies a while back. I turned out kind of terrifying! LOL I’d probably hide from the world.

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it?

I don’t think so lol

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of?

I’m really terrified of thunder and lighting. And I have a huge huge phobia of needles. Stupid irrational fears.

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal.

Oh man! Actually there was this one sandwich my mom used to make for me. It was toasted rosemary bread, a slab of feta cheese, lettuce, tomato, rotisserie chicken, and homemade tzatziki sauce. That’s the one.

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it?

Man that is going right into my savings account.

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go?

California lol

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be?

I do not drink alcohol.

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?

Only me and my 300 birds are allowed on this island! and maybe my friends and family.. BUT THAT’S IT.

29. What is your favorite expletive?

“Cluster Fuck” lol

30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno?

GOD. Probably definitely my phone.

31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

When I was raped.

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world!

Japan lol

33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?

My older brother.

34. What was your last dream about?

I don’t remember lol

35. Are you a good….”jumper”?

I don’t think so lol what does this mean haha

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital?

Yeah many times. Broken bones, stitches, and allergic reactions.

37. Have you ever built a snowman?

Sure have!

38. What is the color of your socks?

Grey

39. What type of music do you like?

Metal and Rock 🤘

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?

Sunsets

41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor?

Oreo Cookies n’ Cream

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer)

My family supports the Bears so I guess I’ll go with that. I don’t really watch sports.

43. Do you have any scars?

LOADS. All accidents. I am a very clumsy person. My most noticeable one is in the middle of my forehead. I split it open twice in the same spot.

44. What do you want to be when you graduate?

Seeing as I already graduated lmao I guess I’m living the dream

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

My height lol Can I be like 2-4 inches shorter? thanks.

46. Are you reliable?

Absolutely

47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?

When did it get better?

48. Do you hold grudges?

No. I maybe forgive way too easily.

49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create?

I really want the Hippogryph to be real! So half eagle, half horse?

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had?

I can’t even say lmao I’ve had so many weird/funny/unusual conversations I don’t think I can list just one.

51. Are you a good liar?

LOL nope. not at all

52. How long could you go without talking?

Probably a very long time.

53. What has been your worst haircut/style?

Oh GOD. When I was in middle school I cut my hair and donated it. And the hair dresser essentially gave me a bowl cut. I had to go somewhere else for them to fix it. It was so awful.

54. Have you ever baked your own cake?

Yeah! I love baking!!

55. Can you do any accents other than your own?

I’m pretty good at a southern accent.

56. What do you like on your toast?

Butter? Maybe cinnamon sugar if I’m in the mood. Avocado… Peanut butter and banana! OH NUTELLA.

57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of?

A hummingbird for my mom on Mother’s Day.

58. What would be your dream car?

TESLA

59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain.

Lol I sing in the shower sometimes. Not very well. 

60. Do you believe in aliens?

Hell yeah. We cannot be the only beings in the universe.

61. Do you often read your horoscope?

Not really.

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet?

lol M! for Mimi and Masha :P

63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons?

DRAGONS! Definitely.

64. What do you think about babies?

ew

65. Freebie! Ask anything interesting you can think of. “What do you think the song ‘Rubber ducky you’re the one, you make bath time so much fun’ is really about?”

I don’t even know. It’s about a Rubber Ducky in the bath.

There was this one song I used to sing when I was in the bath.. it went like this:

I had a tiny turtleHis name was Tiny TimI put him in the bathtubTo see if he could swim

He drank up all the waterHe ate up all the soapNow he’s home sick in bed with a bubble in his throat!

Bubble bubble bubbleBubble bubble bubbleBubble bubble bubbleBubble bubble POP!

o-o

[thathellraiserbitch]

My grandpa, the most imperfect perfect Christian (I’ll explain later), Who was a drill sergeant in the army in his younger years....here are some things he’s done and why he’s he best as well as the Sweden of the family.

• Knocked a recruit out with a smoky the bear helmet (the helmet also broke). Gramps got in a bit of trouble but not a lot

• A long time ago a neighbor had kept leaving the shared gate open and my mom’s dog (her name was Falkore) nearly got out many times and could have gotten killed. My grandpa was nice for a bit. But the pets aren’t pets. They’re family. So he walked across the yard and got up in the neighbors face and the drill sergeant in him came out. No one knew what was said bc of him speaking quietly but my grandpa scared the guy enough that their was a “FOR SALE” sign on his trailer the next day.

• Stalked my grandma (playfully) and that’s how they ended up together. Everywhere my grandma went my grandpa would be seen there too. Bar hopping.

• Would always watch cartoons with the kids and knows the gen 1 mlp theme pretty much by heart.

• Was In jail or prison or something for a while and read the Bible from front to back and can quote it.

• He doesn’t judge at all. If you asked him to use certain pronouns for you he will (with little to know accidental mess ups)

• Has looked at our shopping cart at food lion and just in a deadpan voice went “we have a whole cart full of diabetes”

• When trying a sour head or war head (one of the two) he spat it out across the kitchen counter the second he put it in his mouth and said “what the hell was that”

• Talks for the animals

• Though he cant have too much sugar my family still buys him big bags of Oreos bc he loves Oreos. He could sit down with an entire container plus a large glass of milk and just sit and eat them. It’s hilarious

• Can play guitar

• Has met multiple celebrities from the 80’s

• Has a celebrity crush on Madonna (isn’t open about it but you can hear it in his voice whenever she’s brought up)

• Always plants a garden every year during the summer to have something to do despite the constant pain of bending over bc he’s had a few back surgeries

• Has offered to buy my mom a house and has gone out of his way to buy an expensive dress she was eyeballing for prom (she got stood up by her date unfortunately)

• He’s a simple man and hard to buy for but will take note of the littlest details about you and will buy accordingly

• Everyone falls him Lala

• “Hey, Lala, I’m on my period and having really bad cramps” “the ibuprofen’s on the fridge. I’ll get it for you”

• During family fights he tries to stay out of the fights and stay neautral and try to ease things

• Makes some of the best god dang ribs and steak ever

• When hes home alone he watches history documentaries but when my grandma is home they watch shows like Supernatural, Schitts Creek, Lucifer, etc.

• Speaking of grandma, whenever she’s on Facebook looking at a video of say a snake he balls of a piece of tissue or printer paper and throws it from the bed where he sits so he can startle her. They both laugh. She hasn’t picked up any of the paper bc it’s funny.

• He is forever buying bird food and the birds are always around. We mostly get doves, cardinals, and robins.

• He’s always wanted a dog named Susie and someone bought him a small glass dog that he keeps on his wardrobe. He calls it Susie.

• His mom loved squirrel brains so in his younger days (even at they age of like 2) he’d go out with his gun and some traps and come home later with squirrels. My grandma walked into his living room one day to see a cage in the middle with some squirrels in it and that’s how she found out.

• Will spend hours (literally) at Kay Jewlers to find the perfect ring for my grandma during Christmas time

• If he’s not on the bed watching tv or not in kitchen or not in the shed he’s on the deck in the early morning (7am or 8) drinking straight black coffee watching the hummingbirds feed in the feeders

• One time my mom and uncle were in the car and the doors would not unlock so he told them to move up front (he was outside) and he broke the back window to get in and unlock the car. He wasn’t worried about it. He basically believes in the lion king morals about the past.

• Will automatically know if the house is out of someththing. It’s like a sixth sense.

• He doesn’t like rice all that much anymore bc of Vietnam but he still makes it for others. He also never forgets others when he’s shopping and if you say you need something but haven’t been able to find it then he will come back with what you were looking for some way somehow.

• Loves Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi (which seems to be the only song besides Centerfold that he actually likes that plays on the local radio station)

• Will sing certain songs that come on the radio however he does it in this deep voice that sounds like it’s from the 50’s. It’s kinda neat.

[sending-the-message]

My typical bus ride suddenly became very different, when I fell asleep... by Sweet-Lady-H

I ride the bus often. Almost every day, actually. And my commute is long. On average I ride the bus two or more hours on any given day. Naturally, I fall asleep on the bus a lot, since I don’t really have much time for sleep any other time. But last week, everything changed…

It was a typical Thursday afternoon, mid-August temperatures pushing triple digits, bus over crowded, air conditioning not running, and a five-car pileup on the freeway. I knew I wasn’t getting home any time soon, so I slouched in my seat, closed my eyes, and within seconds I was asleep. I’m not sure how long I had been sleeping, but when I opened my eyes the bus was moving again and nearly completely empty. I looked around to see what seats were occupied, and looked out the window to try and get my bearings. It was darker than it should have been, and I didn’t recognize where we were; I immediately started panicking, thinking I’d missed my stop. I looked down at my phone and, of course, it was dead. I was relieved I wore a watch every day, and looked down to check the time. Then I really knew something was wrong. It should have been sometime after 6:00 pm - my digital watch always set to military time should have shown 18:00 or later… but it didn’t. Instead it showed 2:47… meaning it was 2:47 AM, TOMORROW.

Now, nearing a panic attack, I frantically searched for a familiar face, or someone to at least make eye contact with to figure out what the hell was going on. A kind looking older woman looked over at me, and I quickly asked, “Ma’am, where are we? I fell asleep and I obviously missed my stop, but my watch isn’t working so I don’t even know what time it is.”

She smiled a smile that was not comforting, but unnerving, although I couldn’t quite place what was so off-putting about it. “Why, we’re in Summerland. And it’s probably close to 3:00 am.”

I’d never even heard of Summerland and knew it most definitely was no where near where I worked or lived, and my regular bus sure as hell did not go anywhere out of the area. Undoubtedly the terror I felt must have shown on my face because the woman moved to a seat closer to me and leaned in. “Don’t worry doll, there must be a reason you’re here… your kind typically don’t get this opportunity, embrace it, get the most out of it, and try to remember as much of it as you possibly can. No doubt, what you learn here, you will bring back with you. It will change you, but you seem like a good soul, so it will change you for the better, if you let it.”

She stood up, went back to the seat she was originally in before I’d bothered her, and looked out the window. I called out to her, I still had so many questions, but whether she chose not to help me, or was suddenly unable to see or hear me, I don’t think I’ll ever know. My fear was subsiding, but my confusion was only growing. What did she mean? Where was I? And how was I going to get back home? I looked around for my bag to get out my bus pass in hopes I could get the driver to drop me off somewhere, but my belongings were nowhere to be found. “Great,” I thought, “let’s just make this even worse.”

I stood up and started walking toward the front in hopes the driver would be able to help me. I’d made it about halfway up when a soft, cold hand gently grabbed my arm and I heard a familiar voice, “Well hello there!”

I froze.

This voice was familiar, but one I had not heart in over 20 years. It was the voice of my grandmother.

I looked down to the woman sitting next to me, and my vision was immediately blurred from the tears welling up in my eyes. “This isn’t possible,” I whispered so softly I barely heard myself.

“Have a seat dear,” my sweet grandma requested, looking no different than she did the last day I saw her. The day she died.

Without having to open my mouth, she immediately knew everything I was thinking. “No, you’re not dead. Yes, I still am. This is Summerland; a place where we can choose to go after our time runs out. A place where, if we’re lucky enough, occasionally will give us a few precious moments with someone we’ve left behind.”

My mind raced with thoughts of times throughout my life where I’d had dreams that felt so real where I saw her, and others I’d lost. To times where I’d had the strangest feeling that she was there, even though I didn’t really believe in that sort of thing. To the times where I’d picked out a new dress or something for my kitchen only to have a family member say it was exactly the sort of thing she would have picked for herself.

“I’ve missed you,” was the only thing I could get out.

“I know, child,” she replied, resting her head on my shoulder and interlocking her fingers in mine, “but I’ve always been there with you. I’ve watched you grow. I’ve listened to you play piano countless hours. So much improvement from the ‘Chopsticks’ and ‘Heart and Soul’ I taught you!” We both laughed. “You’ve grown into such a beautiful woman, and I am so proud of you. I’ve seen your concern for your father these past months too.”

That was it; I couldn’t take anymore. My dad had recently been in the hospital unexpectedly. Heart attack, emergency triple by-pass surgery, a week in ICU… doctors had told us that he wasn’t going to make it. He was 66. The same age she was when she died. The same age she was when she died on the operating table during emergency by-pass surgery after having a heart attack. I sat there quietly crying.

“Hush child. Don’t you cry now. Your daddy is a strong man, you know this. When he was in the hospital, he came to Summerland. We sat talking for hours and hours, making up for all the lost time. But ultimately he told me that he had to go back. He might have been tired and ready to join me, but he knew you weren’t ready for that. So he came back. We made a deal that he would go back long enough to take care of his affairs, make sure everyone was taken care of. Give everyone the chance to say the things they needed to say, and give him the chance for you all to hear the things he needed to say. But he asked about you specifically, and said he wanted you to see Summerland for yourself, so you knew where he was going and that he’d be at peace here. We’ve always known that you’ve had a ‘sensitivity’ that no one else in the family has. He and I always knew that you were more aware of death than you should have been for your age. We always knew that you knew when someone was going to go, before anyone else did - just like you did with me the last day we were together. And we’ve both always known that those that have crossed over have visited you, all your life, when you’re awake and when you’re asleep. That’s why you’re special, that’s why you’re allowed to come see Summerland before your time. You might not remember all of this, it will probably seem like a dream, but it’s real. Do you understand?”

How does one even begin to answer that? Yes, I understood, but logically my brain was trying to explain all of this away. Before I even had a chance to respond, the bus stopped. I looked out the window and it was a beautiful fall day outside.

“Your time is almost up here, but your father wanted you to see this one specific thing before you go back.”

My grandmother led me outside to the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. On one side were sandy beaches and waves crashing, on another side was a gentle creek running in a winding path. There were trees and mountains and hills and valleys and everything you could ever picture. Wild animals and house pets, a garden bigger than I’ve ever seen, and what looked like an old mechanics shop in the distance filled with every muscle car from the 60’s ever made. I knew this was his place. And I knew then why he wanted to stay. Tears filled my eyes again, because I fully understood what this meant. My grandmother held me close, and sang the song she always sang to me as a child: “You are my Sunshine.”

“It’s almost time to go my love,” she whispered in my ear. “Can I stay just a few more minutes?”

She took my hand, and led me to the base of the biggest maple tree I’d ever seen. Together we laid down in the pile of colorful leaves and watched the hummingbirds fly around us. My dad’s favorite creatures on the planet were hummingbirds. One swooped down and landed on my chest, just below my collarbone. I felt my grandmother squeeze my hand and tell me “I’ll see you next time!” just like she always told me, as a child, when we parted ways, and I closed my eyes…

Of course when I opened my eyes again, I was back on my regular bus, and it was nearly my stop. I gathered my things, feeling such a mix of sadness and happiness. As I stepped off the bus my phone rang, it was my mother.

I answered, already knowing… dad was gone. He’d joined Grandma in Summerland. Hopefully I’ll get another chance to visit one of these days, when I’m stuck in traffic on the bus. But until then, I’ll carry them with me in my heart, and in the form of a hummingbird, tattooed just below my collarbone.

[storm-magic]

[W101] Hummingbird’s Kiss

Very very short fic detailing how Garrett chooses his Halloween costume, a lightning hummingbird (which so happens to be his favourite animal) to properly blend in with the local festivities he found cute. Upon venturing into trick-or-treating with a lightning-marked basket that he crafted himself, (and his trusty whiptail panther cub, Trixie joining in) a surprise awaits in Krokotopia. Happy Halloween everyone!

Glistening irises of blue shone the faint light of unfeigned artisanship as young fingers grappled onto the needle with care. The negligible amount of gold he held wasn’t enough for him to walk out of his tower to purchase a cheap pumpkin made of plastic for such things.

This was a once-a-year festival, dating since the most ancient of Pagan times. Necromancers were said to be most alive during this single day and night of fright and sweet delight.

For a wizard of Storm with endless curiosities he hadn’t touched; Halloween - as it is called - was something he regarded “charming” in a way. 

Sounds of content purrs were what was keeping Garrett in focus while he was handling his needlework. Trixie was one of his most prized and cherished pets he held dear. Seeing her play and act as any other wild cub, blessed plainspoken feelings of hope and love to her master’s heart. His lips pursed into an innocent smile which could speak a thousand words of mere praise.

Garrett’s grip momentarily goes quivery - the strained sentiment of a needle puncturing his index sent a voltaic response to his brain as he whimpered in clear discomfort. The Diviner frantically sought for a way to wrap his wound before it gushes out, a loose piece of red ribbon finally being tied in a knot around the cut.

"Close call..." The young storm wizard sighs in relief, his crystalline-blue gaze turning to his finished craft.

A punnet that was rather small in size and light in weight - the material of which entangled in the power of storm. He deemed it perfect for storing candy for this occasion.

“Eh?”

”Trixie?”

The young diviner rose his head from his work desk - as his ears picked up the sound of Trixie - a meow that seemed to give Garrett the impression that she was in an ecstatic mood.

A Diviner’s closet was not as cramped or disorganized as many profess: His robes hung in an even color scheme, hats of all kinds sat on the very top shelf - now free of the dust which has set on them since his first quests.

Blended in with his many reminders of his growth as a wielder of magic were self-tailored outfits. Even after these were crafted with an eye for details, Garrett never wore them.

The storm wizard’s deep glances only meant that he may have forgotten about the costumes he made himself. He didn’t seem to recall anything about them. He hums in wonder, pressing his fingers to his chin, and fluttering his lashes shut. Trixie dragged her front paw across his ankle, as if to urge him to make his choice.

Cracking his eyes open once more, his hands reach for a certain hanger which displayed a costume of bright, imaginative colors.

He seems insecure about it once he inspects a closer look. He turns his head to Trixie as to see what she thinks of the costume her master made from his pleasure for sewing.

The whiptail panther cub purrs in approval, waving her front paws as to imitate the clapping of hands.

The Diviner chuckles sweetly in return, holding onto the hanger of his costume firmly.

“Good girl!”

The costume was neatly fit to Garrett's slim body shape, he figured so - as he posed in front of the mirror to his dorm. Even if his expression painted his features as ‘doubtful’ aside from ‘shying away’, Garrett struggles to fight off these thoughts and stride ahead into the Halloween cheer.

Strutting across the alleyways of the Shopping District while an almost new moon fell into darkness - appeared to compliment the eerie atmosphere. It seemed empty, yet Garrett had a feeling it wasn’t that way. The faint howls of supposed ghosts of the forgotten were enough for a dreaded chill to be crawling along the Diviner’s spine, and for the purple feathers of his costume to ruffle.

He instantly yelps the very second he feels as thought something touched him. Gazing behind him, it was only Hunter, dressed as a monster with many hand-drawn eyes all over his face.

“Hahaha! Did I scare you, Garrett? That’s the spirit of Halloween!” The Conjurer beamed in his generally upbeat tone, slinging his arm around the Diviner’s shoulder in a friendly, engaging behavior.

The Diviner laughs nervously, his small hummingbird wings fluttering in the rhythm of the blowing wind. The Myth wizard went on to talk about how Lionheart is not very fond of Halloween, but he still got him to wear a werewolf costume.

“He thinks all of this to be childish, but I gotta say he looks 120% cooler as a wolf! Ha ha!” The Conjurer’s merry disposition creates an aura of positivity, Hunter doesn’t want to experience the pain and sadness of others, he only knows of cherished moments of someone’s life, and how to make those around him feel better about themselves, no matter what. He was an example of a young wizard who ignored the bad and focused on the good.

Garrett hoped that he could one day let go of his insecurity and anxiousness, and replace it with happiness.

He was about to find out a way to connect his heart to someone he cares deeply for. 

“Err, have you seen Jacob? How is he?” Garrett’s inquiry was not strange to the carefree Conjurer, who answered the Diviner with a turn of the head, and a grinning look that could touch even the coldest of hearts.

“He’s probably still studying with Alhazred. Maybe you should go and check up on him!”

For Garrett, it was easier said than it was done. By following the Myth wizard’s advice, he steps closer to the Spiral door and fits the Spiral key into place.

He awakens in the great heat of the scorching Oasis. Upon regaining his composure on his feet, the hummingbird Diviner eyed the floating boat that would lead him to the Krokopshinx, where the Balance school was located.

Niles averted his eyes to the rugged panting of the wizard who climbed off the boat, his deep voice resounding as unmoved as the young Diviner knew him.

“Good to see you here, young wizard. Need anything?”

Wiping the sweat off his brow, Garrett replies through staggered breathing, holding onto his knees, fearing he might collapse.

“I came for Jacob LegendHeart. A student of Alhazred’s.”

“Ah, he’s in the classroom. Climb down the ladder there and see if he’s still inside.” Niles smiles widely to the Diviner, who takes a wobbly step closer to where Niles told him to go - his vision facing forward.

The young Sorcerer’s deep brown irises never lost their primary line of focus as he scribbled down every hieroglyph that was being dictated to him. Both his sister and himself have worked their way through as to prove to their Balance teacher that they’re worthy of being Balance scholars one day in the fabled Arcanum when they’ve both reached the adult ages.

Garrett gulped a tight knot forming in his throat as he grasped onto the railings of the ladder which lead into the Balance classroom, where his boyfriend studied.

His large violet and yellow tail was an unmistakable feature - that Alhazred couldn’t notice from the distance he was standing. So much for an old, poor, blind krok. It was pitiful for many of his students.

Jacob did pick up on the noise that someone climbed down, yet couldn’t discern who it was exactly. Standing up from his seat at his desk, he walks over to the odd-looking tail, and tugs on it experimentally. Almost immediately, Garrett jumps right back up, not knowing that Jacob actually took notice of him.

“Garrett, don’t be afraid, it’s me!”

“Jacob?” Garrett’s eyes suddenly lit in sheer happiness at the proper sight of the Sorcerer, who took the time to pull away the Anubis mask he wore for Halloween.

Smiling genuinely, Garrett climbs down to te Balance school - and his lips are caught with Jacob’s in a chaste kiss. Such a faint yet loving kiss seemed a better option than candy, that was certain.

When the two young boys pulled away, their smiles were what was making their hearts tingle with love that was upright.

“Happy Halloween!” They exclaimed in unison - as they both embraced one another.