#and i was like wait i can make a giant umbrella to cover the whole field so we all dont get wet (instead of just stopping the rain...)

[gifti3]

More lucid dreams yayyy

[faketrex]

Beach Weather (05.04.2024)

Quadruple drabble (400 words, probably not a thing but I'm saying it is). Beach themed. Henry is thirsty and Alex has a Baywatch moment.

Also here on AO3.

...

Alex likes to sit at the end of the dock and dangle his legs, propping himself up with his arms, shoulders braced behind him.

When he sprawls on his back on the swimming platform, he lets the sun bake into him until he shines with sweat, then stretches his whole body taut before diving into the lake.

He doesn't climb the ladder to the dock. Instead, he walks through the shallows to shore, water dripping in rivulets down his limbs, swimming shorts clinging and riding up his thighs by the time he reaches Henry's lounger.

Henry tips his head back, watching.

Alex squints against the sun, damp and sandy, golden brown and glorious. As he pushes his hair back, droplets wind down his neck and shoulders to catch and glisten in the hair on his chest.

“Are you really sure you like it better up here than on the dock?”

“Unfortunately, I'll burn if I stay out there for long.”

There hadn't always been a giant beach umbrella at the lake house, but there is now. Henry has a favorite spot and the umbrella is always next to it, along with a paperback, sunscreen, and an extra towel.

His lounger has the best view.

“Shame you can't enjoy the sun without going all lobster mode.”

“You know I like it anyway.”

“As long as you're not lonely. Hey – come out and swim a little with me in a while?” Alex winks. “We'll stay mostly underwater. You’ll be safe and sound.”

“It's a deal.”

Alex leans down to smack a wet kiss to Henry's forehead and then another to his shoulder, dripping all over him in the process and making him shiver and laugh.

“Later, babe.”

When Alex turns, he's close enough that Henry can spot the mark.

It's on the back of Alex’s right thigh, high up, barely exposed by his shorts. Henry had made that one first last night, with his teeth. Next, he'd made another one on his left cheek.

It had been during the second that Alex had started pleading, writhing and begging for him. His hands had covered Alex's on the sheets when he had slid back up and ground against the space between his thighs from behind, singing the praises of his body into his ear.

Henry shivers again and sets down his book.

He loves the view from up here, but Alex is waiting.

[ednaeflowers]

❛  It's a rat's instinct to stay safe, I suppose,  ❜ she comments, absently. ❛  Guess we're lucky there aren't any here. That only leaves just about ... everything else we could encounter in here, such as the golems and zombies—  ❜ She is already counting her fingers boredly. ❛  —but not limited to goblins, mammoths, slime, skeletons, giant spiders, wolves, or even wyverns. Maybe there's a giant wyvern waiting for us somewhere. I'm counting on you to take it down, fearless leader.  ❜ Of course, this is all said in jest. Nothing like a good scare or two to make someone more attentive. ( Not to mention, his jumpiness is a little entertaining. )

Oh, now he's stuttering again. She briefly wonders if she can pinpoint a pattern to this. ❛  Ghost ship?  ❜ Now she's piqued. That seems like the perfect place to scare Rose silly. Edna once again despairs that she isn't here. Giving a small hum, she instead replies, ❛  As a seraph, it's sort of the same with me. Aside from you and a few others, ordinary humans can't see me. We can't be seen in mirrors either, so in a way, you already know another kind of ghost.  ❜ At least she's a cute ghost. ❛  There were some ghosts like you've mentioned in a few places my friends explored in, but they weren't really dangerous threats.  ❜ A pause as she tries to remember those gruesome spelunking detours Sorey and Meebo always went on. She didn't really enjoy them that much, but had to go along anyway, so Edna's had her fair share of unfortunate encounters. ❛  Unless you count the floating eyeball and glowy spectre. They were super annoying—  ❜

There's a scream and Karol is suddenly tumbling down. Startled, Edna stares quietly at the sight of him on his backside, the bottom hem of his pants tainted with a few splotches of ... mud? Her eyes direct towards the puddle and, slowly, she starts understanding what just happened. ❛  Nevermind,  ❜ she finally says, flatly, and shakes her head. Hanging her umbrella at the crook of her elbow, she ambles over to scrutinize the puddle, then she lightly thumps her foot on the ground to channel her powers through the earth. The edges of the puddle start glowing in yellow, extending out to cover the whole thing until it looks as if there was never a puddle at this spot to begin with. There's a reason why Sorey relies on her to do cleanup work whenever they run into obstacles on the road. 

❛  Yeah, you certainly should.  ❜ Edna's body is frail and dainty, so she doubts she can help up a kid who seems roughly her size, but at least she can easily solve their little puddle crisis. Patiently, she picks up the lamp he dropped and holds it as she waits for him to stand up. Looking forward at their path, she squints and can make out something bright on the ground, somewhat obscured by a boulder in the way. It's still close to where they are, so she curiously wanders over to inspect it, squatting down and peeking at—

❛  Is this a clue?  ❜ she asks, already walking back to Karol to hand him a piece of cloth she picked up. Its stark red color greatly contrasts the dull brown of the cave, the edges seem like it was ripped, and it's slightly lathered in dirt. ❛  You said the doll had a red and white dress, right? Maybe something decided it'd make a good afternoon snack, judging from this rip.  ❜ A beat passes to let the implication process for him, then she regards him more solemnly this time. She doesn't know if there's actually a monster up ahead or if the doll is simply caught on something, but if they're going forward, then the decision should be clearly made now before it's too late. ❛  Well? Still want to proceed?  ❜   

“Believe it or not, yes actually.” Karol cringed a little. He didn’t mind rats, honestly. And it wasn’t his first time in an underground cavern like this one with said rats scurrying from place to place. He’s been in plenty of caves, caverns, and more during his travels with Brave Vesperia and this one didn’t seem any different from the ones he had visited in the past. “I don’t mind rats too much. They very rarely bother with you unless they feel cornered. And even then, they’ll go out of their way to avoid you.”

Rationalizing that part made Karol feel a bit better… for a moment. But then the idea of Zombies and Golems being around had been suggested and… well, Karol couldn’t deny that a chill ran up his spine at the thought of it. Golems weren’t scary as they were just a problem. They hit hard, they were hard to take down… With his large mallet, he could maybe manage but if they got overwhelmed, that would be a problem. Zombies on the other hand… those… were scary. Did they really have to talk about what could possibly be lurking within the shadows of this creepy dumb cave?

“W-We’ve… uh…” Karol forced his brain to move away from the images of growling groans of a zombie as he tried to remind himself of how he had survived scarier situations. As his brain jumped from scenario to scenario, he realized that in such a short amount of time, he had truly gone through a lot of scary scenarios, hadn’t he? He just had to remember that he came out of them alive…

“...Oh! Uh… Well, this one time… Everyone else and I had to climb onto this ghost ship.” Had to was a bit of a stretch. Their ship had broken down as the ghost ship drifted up next to their own ship. It was Yuri who suggested they take a look at it. Karol was completely freaked out at the time but at least he wasn’t as scared as Rita. He was lucky that he was too scared at the time to make fun of her for it. She would’ve burned him alive. “There were actual, for real ghosts on it! Like… ghost monsters that you could only see if you were looking through the mirror for them! It was like major creep city on that thing.”

He’s momentarily distracted as he tells the story that he almost forgets to watch his footing as he’s walking. At the mere mention of sinkholes, he jolts back to attention, eyes snapping to the ground in front of him… a bit too late, however, as his foot slips in a puddle. His feet slide out from beneath him as he falls backwards onto his backside. The loud yelp followed by the small ‘oof’ as he hit the ground was the only thing that came out of his mouth as he went down.

Well. At least it was just a muddy puddle and not an actual sinkhole. “...I should probably pay more attention… Ow.”

[astaroth1357]

AYE requests briefly open you say? Then here ya go: MC (female or gn) turns into a child for a day courtsey of Solomon (maybe around 5) with the Brothers. I think it'd be adorable, what with finger painting on spell books and things, but there ya go!

The MC is Now Five Years Old, Thanks Solomon...

Oh boy…. A little kid in Hell sounds like a train wreck admittedly, but at least they'll have some pretty strong guardians right? I heard It'll Be Okay by SMLE & Helen Tess and decided that was JUST the feel this sort of request needed.

Intro:

Solomon really doesn't mess up spells often. He's been doing this for a while (at least as far as my headcanon is concerned) so he's gotten pretty damn good at magic over the years. It takes a looot to make him mess up. Like say, a natural disaster, an unexpected surprise… or a whole-ass MC getting knocked into what sigil he's using at just the wrong time. Yeah. That'll do it.

How in the world is he going to explain this to the brothers…?

Lucifer

His anger toward Solomon is quite severe… tempered only slightly by how utterly adorable kid!MC is. (Well all know he's got that soft spot for cute things 🤭) It reminds him so much of his brothers at that age…

The man basically reverts back to being Dad!Lucifer sooo fast.

He's the one tying their shoes, checking on them throughout the day, making sure they're not running with scissors… that sort of thing.

Weirdly enough he's not that bothered by it… In fact, his brothers find it a little unnerving just how at peace he seems when he's keeping track of kid!MC doing this or that… It's like he's just put on an old pair of gloves and found out they still fit.

Speaking of his brothers, Lucifer can't turn off "Parent Mode" so it starts spilling over to them too...

When he started telling Levi "It's bedtime" and used a napkin to wipe Beel's face for him in public, they decided to hold an informal intervention. They're grown demons now, damnit!! 😖

Mammon

The first thing kid!MC did when they saw Mammon was fling themselves at him while screaming "MAMMIE!!!" at the top of their lungs… Regardless of his confusion, the man could probably die happy now.

He only gripes a little bit about being saddled with babysitting duty… Because everybody knows he's not the babysitter now. He's the playmate.

"Mammie, I wanna play House!!" "I ain't playing House with ya, kid. How 'bout Tag?" "No way, you're too fast!"  "Hide'n Seek?" "Luci said we can't play that no more…" "Well don't hide in the oven again!" "You didn't find me!!" "That was the problem!!!"

Pretty much the Man-Child/Actual Child Duo. He's perfect for keeping up with them and they'll whine incessantly when they can't find him for too long...

Totally the brother to take them to the amusement park or really any of those super fun places kids love. He will be just as excited as they are to be there, too.

It's not uncommon to find Mammon passed out on a couch or something with an equally exhausted kid!MC sleeping on his back. The two can really wear each other out…

Leviathan

He's probably the least perturbed by this change. Sudden de-aging of characters is a pretty popular anime trope, after all...

He's not all that taken with kid!MC though to be honest… Largely because he's too worried about keeping his stuff out of their grubby mitts. 😖

"Levi, what's this?" "GAH! Don't touch that!! That's my limited edition Ultra☆Rainbow Witch figurine!!" "I wanna play with it, though!" "It's not a toy!!" "That's not fair! You have nothing but toys, Levi!! You need to share!!" "NO I DON'T!!!"

In those times where Lucifer forces him to share, Levi goes full neat-freak. He handles all the discs and games himself, everything gets practically sterilized, and kid!MC HAS to wash their hands before they touch ANYTHING (especially the game controllers). He ain't risking any random kid-gunk getting on his precious possessions… 😰

He does enjoy playing games with them well enough, at least. No one's going to pass up a game of Devil Kart after all!

Sometimes he'll let them win just to see how happy they get… Though, then they start getting a big head about it so he has to remind him who the actual gamer is with another string of losses... Sucks to suck, kid! 😌😏

Satan

… You know, five year-olds ask a lot of questions… A looot of questions…

"Satan, what's that?" "An umbrella. You use it so that rain doesn't get on you." "Where does rain come from?" "Evaporated water collects in the atmosphere and-" "Is rain like the sky peeing?" "...." "Satan? Does your face hurt?... Satan?"

Please Lord, they may not be on speaking terms, but someone has to have mercy on his patience...

In truth, Satan's kind of charmed by how curious kid!MC is, he just wished they'd listen more to his boring explanations…

"Satan? Why does everyone listen to Diavolo?" "Lord Diavolo is like a king to us demons." "Where's his crown?" "He doesn't wear a crown." "Oh… You don't wear a crown and people listen to you. Are you a king too?" "I mean, you're not wrong… 😏" "Satan, get back to work."

Eh, maybe having a little MC isn't all that bad. They don't lie, after all. 😌

Asmodeus

OMG he hasn't seen a child this cute since the twins were in diapers!!!!

If Mammon isn't around then Asmo takes over babysitting duties (like an actual babysitter) and he's more than happy to do it. It reminds of him of taking care of baby Belphie!

If kid!MC has any interest at all in makeup then he's happy to foster it. He won't give them the good stuff of course, but he'll show them how to do blush, eyes, lipstick, nail polish, whatever!

He also dabbles in a bit of facepaint so do they want to look like a kitty, panda, or dragon? He's got them covered.

Asmo just likes to let them be creative in all forms, really. He's going to be the one to break out the paint and markers and just the kid!MC go to town! (hopefully not on the walls…)

Takes pictures of whatever they draw, good or bad, and happily displays them to everyone. There's not a big enough fridge to hold all the art he's going to collect (and zealously protect).

Beelzebub

Playmate #2 right after Mammon, but he's the less excitable, more responsible one.

"Beel! Beel! Watch me jump off this slide!!" 😰 "Please don't… You could hurt yourself… You slide down slides. That's why they're called that." "*GASP*... That's right! You're a genius!!" *sits back down* "Not really, but thank you." 😊 *waits for them at the bottom*

If the MC is with Beel, they're doing one of two things. Either they're playing together or gorging themselves on junk food.

Beel actually likes "domestic" games like House and Tea Party because it's an excuse to raid the kitchen. He'll play "house-husband" all day as long as he gets to actually eat at every imaginary dinnertime.

He'll play active games too, of course. Especially action-oriented ones like "Cops and Robbers" or Superheros. No one's better at roughhousing than Beel! Though he'll go easy on them, cause they're small and all… 😅

Everyone can always tell when Beel's in charge of them because he carries them around on his shoulders. He's the tallest one of the family so it's like getting to be a giant!

Belphegor

Belphie was introduced to kid!MC when they started crying during one of his naps. They couldn't wake him and they thought he was dead… Followed directly by them declaring their tears were magic when they noticed his eyes opened.

He proceeded to close his eyes again and purposely play dead just to get them all worried again. It was the smile creeping up onto his face that eventually gave him away… 😏

He likes to play with kid!MC and Beel but he's not going to let it get in the way of his nap schedule or anything. When they play "Knights" he gets to take the role of the world's laziest dragon… Rawr.

Kid!MC will only settle down for naptime if Belphie joins too since he'll read them a book like he used to do with Lilith.

Satan's usually the go-to guy for storytime, but Belphie's a close second (largely because he just imitates what he remembers Lucifer doing for him, voices and all 🤭).

He deals with their myriad of questions by just making shit up and pretending he knows what he's talking about. It's around the time that he told them that little men live inside the freezer and shave ice cubes to keep things cold that Lucifer started getting on his case about it… Killjoy. 🙄

[lizbotw]

hi! could u pls write how kuroo,bokuto,semi and oikawa would react to going to the beach with their gf and teammates and getting jealous when everyone’s staring at her in bikini?💖

Kuroo, Bokuto, Semi, and Oikawa When Their Teammates are Staring at Their S/O on the Beach

hey!!! i hope you enjoy these ♡ even though you said girlfriend, all of them ended up being gender neutral!

Kuroo Tetsurou

He's used to people admiring you from afar, and actually he takes pride in the fact that he managed to snag someone who's just all around perfect in his eyes, so he’s never outright confronted just anyone he sees looking at you (that is, as long as they don’t appear to want to harm you in any way because you’re still his precious baby, no matter what)—at most putting a protective arm around you and pulling you to his chest, or giving you a kiss while staring at the other person dead in the eye until they look away, a playful smirk on his lips.

Sort of a “they can look but can’t touch sort of deal”—although that's mainly because he knows the second anyone looks at you funny you're the one ready to tell them off, not him.

He's had to stop you his fair share of times from starting something in public because you thought someone was scrutinizing you too closely. However, even for all the times Kuroo knows you can look out for yourself, he can't help but turn up his protectiveness in certain situations.

A beach day to boost team morale (read as: an excuse to skip out on practice on yet another hot, sticky summer day)—that was the official description of the situation you now found yourself in.

After dealing with quite a few whines of "Babe, come on, it'll be fun," from Kuroo, you eventually caved, bidding farewell to your wonderfully air conditioned bedroom for the day.

As the team had arrived, Lev and Yaku went straight to work getting a volleyball game set up (beach volleyball? yes); Kenma found himself sitting on the towel he had spread under a beach umbrella, game in hand; and everyone else was focused on their own activities, getting everything ready for the day of fun.

That left you and Kuroo standing next to each other, surveying the work of the others.

You felt a tug on the end of your shirt and looked down at the hand that had grabbed the fabric, following the curve of the toned arm upwards with your eyes until your sight landed on Kuroo's grinning face. "Come on, you're not going to keep this on all day, are you?" He gave it another small tug for emphasis and then released it. "You know, overheating can cause your body to-"

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, Tets.” You already knew he was about to go off on one of his science tangents again—how he could still think about that sort of thing even in this heat was a miracle in and of itself.

Now that he had mentioned it, you realized you were hot. Acutely aware of the unconformable sticking off your clothing to your skin, you quickly moved to shed the extra layers, shimmying out of them and revealing the bathing suit you had worn underneath.

At the same time, Lev came over to ask Kuroo a question about setting up the volleyball net. "Hey, can you help with the poles? Yaku won't let me near them, but between you and me, I don't think he's strong enough to push them down into the sand himself. I swear that thing is about to blow over and-"

Of course at that moment you had been pulling your shirt over your head, leaving you in only your bathing suit. The sound of Lev talking had been muffled when the shirt passed over your ears so you weren't sure who it was at first, but now that you were free of the clingy clothing, you noticed him and gave him a small smile.

You were confused though because it seemed as soon as you were able to hear properly again, he had stop speaking—and that was because he had, sentence caught in his throat because he hadn't been expecting you to do that. He hadn't even noticed you standing next Kuroo at first so it was a bit of a shock to now be suddenly facing you like this.

You looked up at Kuroo, curious about why he wasn't saying anything either, and found him staring at Lev intently.

It seemed that Kuroo had decided the other boy's gaze had lingered a second too long, even though only a short moment had passed and Lev was more so giving you a surprised glance than a leering stare.

Kuroo crossed his arms. "Lev?"

“Yeah?” Lev seemed to straighten up at the mention of his name and quickly tore his eyes away from you to give Kuroo his full attention once again.

Watching the exchange, you could see Kuroo lips curl up into a smirk. "Remember what I said about you needing to do more receiving practice?"

Lev's expression fell instantly, eyes widening. "Wait-"

Kuroo glanced over Lev's shoulder towards where Yaku was still trying to set up the volleyball net and called out to him. "Yo, Yaku! I have something I need you to do."

Once Yaku dropped the poles he had been wrestling with into the sand and came jogging over to the three of you, you were pretty sure you saw Lev's spirit leave his body.

Bokuto Koutarou

King of getting-distracted-because-Kuroo-challenged-him-to-a-sand-wrestling-match-(whatever that means)-and-Akaashi-and Kenma-were-betting-on-them-(using seashells as currency because the rules of the real world don’t apply on the beach).

It was meant to be a Fukurodani beach day but somewhere along the way Nekoma had caught wind of the invitation and now here they were (everyone knew it was Bokuto who had revealed the plan to Kuroo but they were too scared to confront him, lest he get depressed at being called out and go running off somewhere on the beach, wanting to be alone—no one could handle organizing a search party for the giant expanse of the beach to look for him right now so they just let him be).

You were used to Bokuto’s overexcited nature though and couldn’t help but grin at seeing him run off with his friends, him giving you a kiss on your forehead (that was more so a peck with how fast it was) with a quick, “I’ll be back soon, babe!” before he was off.

Dating Bokuto meant you were well acquainted with his “best bro’s” team and you easily took up hanging out with a few of the Nekoma and Fukurodani members, Yukie and Kaori at your side.

At some point Yukie and Kaori seemed to have grown bored being on land and watching the boys splashing around in the water without them, so they asked if you’d like to join them for a dip in the ocean.

You agreed easily, wanting to cool off yourself off—the shade of the giant umbrella you were sitting under hadn't done much to fight off the heat that hung thick in the air, and laying down on the blanket you had spread was definitely less than comfortable than being able to lounge on your bed at home.

You followed Yukie’s and Kaori’s lead when they stood up to shrug off their cover-ups. You did the same, untying the thin wrap you had been wearing and leaving you only in your swimsuit.

The sight of Yukie, Kaori, and you walking together towards the water definitely had heads turning, but Bokuto, with his back to the action, barely noticed until Kuroo pointed it out to him.

Once the three of you got closer to the shoreline, some of the boys who had been splashing around before came out of the water to meet you halfway and you fell into conversation with them—that is, until you were suddenly shoved out of the way.

Stumbling a bit, you regained your footing after a moment and found yourself facing none other that Bokuto's back—he had pushed you behind him and now had his hands on his hips in a protective stance in a face-off against the guys you had been talking to.

He had a whole protective spiel he gave them while trying to be your knight in shining armor, but of course the other guys gave up pretty easily because, honestly, the goal here was to just keep Bokuto from falling into a depressive state (once again, beach rescue missions were not on the agenda for today). Bokuto seemed pretty satisfied with their response though and once he had gestured for them to go away because he was here to protect you now, you had to make sure to hide your smile behind your hand when he whirled around to face you. Instead, you provided him with his well deserved praise.

"Woo! The ace strikes again!" He did a fist pump and then grabbed your arm, taking off in a sprint.

"Wait, Bokuto-" You were struggling to keep up with him as he ran ahead and once you realized he was heading towards the ocean, you unsuccessfully tried to pry your arm from his grip.

"Swimming time!"

You two splashed into the water with one final tug from him and you stumbled on the shifty sand, softened by the water, shivering at the sudden feeling of the tide as it raised around your legs as you moved deeper. Yukie and Kaori had already gotten into the water on their own and now they snuck up on you and started splashing you with water.

The rest of the day was definition of fun, and Bokuto continuously switched between sticking to your and loudly going around proclaiming how much he loved you. It seems like the "incident" from before was a much needed confidence booster for him and the others let him have this victory for now because as a result he had also spontaneously volunteered to treat everyone out to ice cream once you all were winding down for the day—sun low in the sky as each person started to pack up—so really everyone was a winner here.

Semi Eita

It was Tendou's idea that the team should take a trip to the beach and Ushijima agreed, but only because he wanted to play beach volleyball. Ushijima’s approval obviously got Goshiki on board and one by one the rest of the team slowly gave in, and of course that meant you were coming too.

Everyone started setting up their own towels, umbrellas, and beach chairs, so Eita wasn't at your side for the first few minutes of the get-together aside from when he had greeted you earlier with a kiss to the forehead.

He was rummaging around in his bag for sunscreen when Shirabu came up to him.

"Hm?" Semi was confused to see the shadow that was cast over him while he was kneeling on his blanket and turned to see what it was that was blocking the sun, finding his teammate standing there. "Oh, what do you need?" Semi stood from his crouched position, crossing his arms as he listened to Shirabu speak.

While he was doing that, you had already finished laying out your things and stood up with a content sigh, hands on your hips as you looked proudly upon your work. Now all that was left was to actually go have some fun on the beach. First order of business was to kick off your casual clothes and tuck them away safely into your bag so sand didn't get on them.

By the time you had done that, only taking a few minutes, Semi was still talking with Shirabu and you bounced over to the two, slipping your hand into Semi's. "Ready to go?" you asked him, impatient with how long they were taking.

The sight of you instantly had him beaming and he squeezed your hand in reply. "Yeah, just a sec."

You playfully rolled your eyes and released his hand, telling him to catch up to you whenever he was done, and went over to talk with Goshiki while he set up Tendou's umbrella for him (no doubt the redhead had told him it would make him a better ace and who was Goshiki to question his upperclassmen).

Semi watched you go, his gaze lingering on you, before he crossed his arms again and turned back to finish off his conversation with Shirabu. However, he found the other boy still looking over at you. Semi felt his eyebrow twitch. "Earth to Shirabu, hellooo?" He hit him on the upside of his head and Shirabu went reeling back, rubbing at the sore spot.

"Hey! What was that for?"

Rather than say anything, Semi just tilted his head in your direction as an indication.

"What? Oh-" Shirabu followed Semi's gaze to you and shook his head in disbelief. "Don't tell me you thought I was..." His sentence trailed off in the middle because one look at Semi had confirmed that he had, in fact, thought that Shirabu was checking you out. "Oh, come on, Semi. Have a little bit more faith in me?"

Semi cocked an eyebrow. "Then what were you looking at?"

"Well, Goshiki seems to be really struggling with that umbrella, are you sure he's going to be okay?"

A look back at said first year confirmed that he was, in fact, struggling. Semi squinted, trying to make out the scene in front of him. "Wait, is that Tendou's extra large beach umbrella? Didn't I tell him not to bring that anymore?" You were trying to help Goshiki wrestle the umbrella into place—a difficult feat with the wind blowing and with the pure size of the umbrella.

As if to top everything off, a pair of seagulls could be spotted circling overhead and when one of them moved to dive towards Goshiki, Semi tensed up and then took off running towards you two, Shirabu in tow.

"Will someone, please just call Ushijima over already?"

Goshiki’s screams were already racketing through the air as he crouched low to the sand, hands thrown up around his head as the seagulls pecked at him. "Leave me alone! The tuna sandwich in my pocket is mine!"

Oikawa Tooru

As soon as you get to the beach, he’s showing you off and teasing the rest of the team about how he's dating someone so cute while most of the others can barley look at an attractive person without getting flustered (Kindaichi), but at the same time hiding you from their view because he doesn’t think they deserve to see you looking like that??? Getting mixed signals here, Tooru.

You manage to shake him off at some point and he’s pouting as you run away from him, just wanting to get some peace and quiet so you can eat ice cream and build sandcastles, until Iwaizumi steps in and drags Oikawa away.

“Don’t worry about him, I’ll take care of it,” Iwaizumi says over his shoulder, not even bothering to take his eyes off of the the direction he's heading in. You had sought refuge by hiding behind Makki and Mattsun when Oikawa was chasing you around, and now the three of you fell into a fit of laughter at Oikawa's expense at the sight of the scene in front of you.

It's still grinning that Mattsun invites you to spend the rest of the day with him and Makki instead, citing the fact that you deserve a much needed break form your clingy boyfriend. You agree and they decide as the first order of business that you three should build a sandcastle. A singular collective sandcastle eventually turns into a sandcastle competition with the three of you each building your own (somehow you manage to rope Kunimi into judging with the promise that you'll stop bothering him after that), which then turns into burying Makki under the sand.

You're putting the final touches on the sand mermaid tale you had given Makki (per his request of course), when Mattsun suggests you two go take a dip in the ocean and leave Makki for high tide.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!" Makki is nodding his head along with you two until he remembers that he's buried under a mountain of sand and the meaning of the words sinks into his mind. "Wait-"

While Makki wallows in distress over that statement and you two ignore his futile struggles as he squirms under the sand and tries to get out (Mattsun had packed the sand tightly around him so you might as well give up while you're ahead Makki—there's no escape), you consider the proposition, eyeing the sand that's sticking to you all over your arms, hands, and legs from kneeling down and building with it.

It seems like a good idea because you've been playing in the sand the whole time, so this would be the perfect opportunity to wash all of that off. Also, what good is a little time at the beach without a dip in the ocean?

And with that in mind, you nod to Mattsun and bid Makki farewell, leaving him to his fate. Just as you're about to walk off and follow Mattsun, his long strides taking him ahead of you in only a matter of seconds, you remember that you still have your beach wrap on.

"Oh, Makki, here. Watch this for me, will you?" You undid the wrap and moved to drape it over a nearby rock so it wouldn't be left in the sand.

"Uh, sure."

You thought his tone sounded pretty weird and when you turned to him, you found that he wasn't looking at you, but rather at Mattsun, the two sharing a collective glance that definitely looked like they were planning something.

"I give it at least three minutes."

"Three? Two minutes tops."

You were about to open your mouth to ask them what in the world they were talking about when you were cut off by a high pitched yelp.

"(Y/N)!!!" You could recognize that whiny voice anywhere and the familiar arms that wrapped around you confirmed your suspicions. "I knew I shouldn't have left you alone, who knows what would have happened if I haven't come in time."

"Tooru- mfph- Tooru, let me go-," you attempted to get out, voice muffled and your face being squished into his chest.

"Woah, that wasn't even a minute."

"A new personal record."

You could hear Makki and Mattsun exchanging remarks of surprise at your boyfriend's quick appearance and you realized what this was about.

You groaned. "Tooru, I'm fine." You squirmed out of his grasp enough that you could peek your head out and craned your neck, spotting Kunimi laying on a towel under an umbrella with sunglasses on, having ran off to there after he had finished judging the sandcastle competition, and Iwaizumi next to him, reclining on a beach chair in the shade and snoozing away—so that's how Oikawa managed to escape.

It took a while to pry Oikawa off of you with how jealous he was being with others seeing you like that, but you managed to do it—Mattusn and Makki placed bets on how long they thought it would take (Makki ended up winning—as his prize, he forced Mattsun to dig him out of the sand because he was still scared of you guys leaving him for high tide).

Tooru was overall extra clingy for the rest of the day, which was saying a lot for him, and was especially so when Mattsun bought you ice cream later (in retaliation, Oikawa bought you two more, despite your protests that there was no way you could possibly finish all of them).

[slutdery]

Never take a break, u’r always working overtime.

make a wish series.

A series (for each member of the unit) about their lines in make a wish (english version).

pairing | xiaojun x fem!reader

genre | smut, fluff

words | 2.5k

warning | overstimulation, vibrator (using on f), degradation, softdom!xiaojun, mature content.

author’s note | my native language isn’t english, so if there’s something wrong with anything i wrote tell me and i’ll edit.

It was one of those chilly mornings. People running desperately through the sidewalk and lots of cars on the streets, typical mornings in Seoul. You on the other side was just walking with a cup of coffee on your hand, your phone ringing nonstop as you kept strolling, you knew it was Xiaojun, but you were too focused on looking at the boy who was walking in front of you. He was tall and very thin, his hair had an pretty blue color that was almost fading and his roots were already growing. Xiaojun didn’t stop even for a second, he wanted to talk to you so much. You sighed and finally accepted his calls.

“You’re such a burden, you know that?”

“Uhm, yeah. A burden of hotness.” He laughed while finishing his sentence which made you roll your eyes at his stupidity. “You’re so stressed these last weeks, needing to relax a bit.” He chuckled, making you let a sight out.

“I have to work, bye.” You ended the call not waiting for a response, receiving tones of messages from him minutes after, it was actually pissing you off. You sighed again as you lost the cute boy that was in front of you. Xiaojun was your best friend since high school, you two always bullied each other in a friendly way, but it the last months he has changed so much. Every time you see him he starts talking about personal things ‘Sex.’ you thought. And it was so odd, cause you’ve never talked about this with him. It isn’t a strange subject to talk about, it’s such a normal thing, but with him? Made you so shy. Thank god you wasn’t seeing him often, your work and college was taking all of your time. Of course you missed him, but you had to pay for your bills and you weren’t spoiled as Xiaojun to have what you wanted from your parents. Sometimes you just wished you were him. Finally getting out of your thoughts, you returned to walking, almost late for your shift. As you kept ambling, a sudden droplets ran down your face, seconds lates followed by many of them. ‘Shit, i didn’t bring an umbrella.’ Running to the closest covered place, you got your phone out of your pocket. Already calling the emergency number, it wasn’t such a surprise that it were Xiaojun’s number. Quickly calling him and waiting for a response, since he was the only friend you had and plus he had a car. He didn’t made you wait much, answering the call right away.

“What’s up? Felt sorry for treating me rudely?” He made a cry voice as he talked.

“Yeah, sure. I need you... Like now. Can you pick me up? I’m scared to take an Uber alone and i don’t have money. Pleaseee.”

“Now you need me, huh?” He giggled, after a few seconds you heard the keys and sighed in relief, knowing that he’ll actually pick you up.

“Where are you?” You heard a door banging and quickly sent him a location to where you were through Imessage. He ended the call without saying a thing, just like you did before ‘Such a vengeful bitch.’ You laughed while leaning against the wall behind you. Looking around you recognized where you were, surprisingly it was next to Xiaojun’s house, so it wouldn’t take long for him to arrive. The rain just intensified with the time, making you got a little bit scared of the thunders, it seemed like was falling so close to you. Minutes passed and he didn’t appeared yet, you started to worrie since it wasn’t so far away, but you managed to calm down as you saw the traffic, it had so many cars, so you thought that may be the reason why he’s taking so long. When Xiaojun popped in your head, you suddenly felt butterfly in your stomach, hands sweating even with the coldness and your whole body nervously waiting to just see him. You didn’t understood why you were so nervous about, you couldn’t deny that he’s the most gorgeous person you’ve ever seen in your entire life, but liking him? That’s a no, no! He’s your best friend, there’s no way you’re in love with him. Your thoughts were vanished away by a horn, as you looked at where the sound came you spotted a smiling Xiaojun inside of his car. You quickly walked to his car and entered in it as soon as possible, getting a little wet on the way there.

🌟

The ride was quiet, he didn’t said a word and neither did you, but he kept jamming his fingers on the wheel with a song that you couldn’t recognize. As soon as you entered in his house he started screaming the song that he was jamming before, you laughed looking at him doing an highnote on his way to the kitchen.

“I have to call my boss, could you shut up?” You threw yourself on the couch and started looking for your bosses number on your list, finding it not much time later, you brought the phone next to your ear after calling him. Xiaojun came back with two mugs. “Hot chocolate?” you whispered, receiving a nod and a lovely smile of his, returning the smile as you got one of the mug. Your boss didn’t answered your calls so instead you sent him a message explaining why you couldn’t go today and hopefully he would understand your side and wouldn’t fier you.

“I missed you.” Xiaojun threw himself next to the spot you were, quickly wrapping his arms tightly around your waist, resting his head on your chest, which made your eyes wide at the closeness. His mouth was so close to your nipples that you thought he would suck it through the fabric, sighing in relief as you noticed he just laid there. “Yeah?” You moved your hand to reach his hair, caressing it with your fingers while drinking the hot chocolate with the free hand.

“Yes. You’re always busy with work and when i call you to go out and relax a bit you start being rude.” He moved his head so he could face you, making a sad puppy face while looking at your eyes. You could swear it seemed like he were going to cry, but he quickly looked away. “I don’t have parents like yours, i actually have to work so i can live. You know that right?” He nodded, biting his lower lips as his eyes got down to your chest, making you surprised by the strange action. His eyes studying your breast turned you on more than you thought and now you may be slightly wet on the thought of him sucking it.

“What are you looking at?” You moved your hands to reach his chin, tilting it so he could look at your face. As his eyes met yours, you raised an eyebrow, still surprised by the lip biting.

“I think you need to relax. You’re too stressed, what do you think?” His straight line mouth turned into a sexy smirk, making your thoughts go wild.

“What do you mean?” His face got closer, lips almost touching and his eyes were already closed. It took you a few seconds to understand the situation, just when you felt his lips touching yours you pulled away with a disgusted look on your face. “What the fuck you think you’re doing?”

“Fuck. Sorry y/n, i thought you wanted too. Please just forget about this.”  He got back to the place he was before, laying his head on the couch while facepalming. You could see he was frustrated and that made you a bit sad, you wouldn’t have turned him down if he asked, he just caught you off guard. “Don’t need to be sorry Dejun, you just caught me off guard.” You smiled trying to comfort him, receiving a giant smile back, seemed like he gained a free pass to do it again, and he didn’t hesitated. It happened so quickly that you got lost, his hands found your neck pulling you closer to his face, meeting your lips not much time later. The kiss was full of lust, hungrier than all the ones you’ve had before, so warm that made you want to spend the rest of your life kissing him. Your hands moved to his waist trying to pull him closer, you needed him just for you. It was indeed the kiss you felt more safe, his body felt like home as you hugged him, such a comfortable position to stay. You tightened your arms around his waist to the point he groaned from the slight of pain, pulling away from the kiss while smiling. “Slow down there.” He laughed being followed by you.

“I have to tell you something.” His gaze pierced in your eyes with a thoughtful expression, you changed yours to an worried one as you noticed the seriousness in his tone.

“What? What happened?” He straightened himself, ready to say something but closed his mouth again. After a few seconds he finally said. “Uhm... I love you.” You saw his ears turning into a red tone and couldn’t hold your laugh back, he was the cutest person alive and you always thought that. “Awww, i love you too cutie pie.” His eyes widened and a contagious smile appeared on his lips, such a pleasant thing to see, this will be always on your mind.

He got up from the couch, grabbing your hand to help you get up as well, putting the mug on the tiny desk after getting up. He guided you to his bedroom, with his hand still wrapped on yours. When you two entered on the room he lead the way to his bed, pushing you there as you got closer, making you fall on the soft sheets and lots of pillows.

“You trust me, right?” He walked until it reached his wardrobe, opening one of the drawers and grabbing something that you couldn’t see yet, after a few seconds he moved to face you. Your face turned into a shocked one as you saw the vibrator on one of his hands and a rope on the other. “Yes... i actually do.” Your smile gave him confidence to do what he wanted from the start. He made his way to the bed, spreading your legs in a butterfly position and sitting in the middle of them. He passed his hands through your body until it reached your arms, putting the two of them together and tying it up with the rope. He didn’t make a tight knot, cause he was afraid it could hurt you and surely he didn’t wanted the experience to be uncomfortable. His hands moved to the hemline of your skirt, pulling them down without thinking twice, your underwear was gone within seconds too. He licked his lips as he saw your pussy soaking wet, he wanted to fuck you like this so bad, but he wanted you to beg for that.

“You’re so wet babe, you always wanted this, right whore? Now if you feel like it’s too much say ‘Bunny’” You nodded at him, making him finally get the vibrator on his hand. He got it closer to your cunt, making you flinch as you felt the coldness of the object, a few seconds after he placed it on your clit. You were already preparing yourself for the sensation it would send your whole body when starts the vibration. A deep breath left you as he turned it on, it started with the lowest level, it was amazing but you still needed more.

“You want more, what a naughty bitch.” He smiled and moved his hand back to the vibrator, clicking on the ‘+’ button lots of time, getting in the highest level, making your whole body feels the wave of pleasure that the vibrations were sending.

“That’s better, right slut?” Your moans were so loud that you barely heard what he said, the pleasant feeling taking control of your body, it was placed directly against your clit which made you almost cry from the heavenly stimulation. Your fingers curled and your legs started trembling, it was amazing the way the vibrator sent you so much pleasure, your belly warmed in anticipation you were already going to reach your orgasm.

“Daddy, i’m gonna cum.” He looked surprised at you, but you didn’t pay much attention to what you said, closing your eyes as you felt the orgasm hitting you. Loud moans leaving your mouth and the sensation of the vibrator still on your clit, making tears form in your eyes. “Daddy, huh?” You opened your eyes and tears were all over it, the overstimulation was too much, you wanted it to stop but didn’t at the same time.

“Stop, stop, stop. MAKE IT STOP, XIAOJUN. PLEASE, please... too much” You mew at him while tryng to close your legs attempting to make it just stop, he pinned your thighs with his feet and moved the vibrator up and down so it would send you even more pleasure.

“I want to see you crying as you cum again, do it for Daddy.” He didn’t have to say much, your orgasm was already being built in your stomach, crying moans being followed by you screaming his name. Your orgasm happened again, tears running down your cheeks and your sensitive clit still feeling the vibrations. You knew he wouldn’t stop unless you said the ‘Safe word’ you wanted to last more on this but it was too much for you to handle, all the vibrations sending more pleasure to your body while your legs wouldn’t stop trembling.

“BUNNY. STOP, PLEASE. T-TOO MUCH.” He quickly moved his fingers to turn it off, looking at you with an worried face while removing the vibrator. You sighed in relief hoping that the discomfort finally ended.

“I didn’t finished yet.” Xiaojun passed his index finger on your cunt, making you flinch from the touch. He leaned his head so it could reach your pussy, your hands were still tied so you couldn’t stop him from doing what he was trying to do. As you felt his tongue kitty licking your sensitive clit you couldn’t hold your moans back, it was still too much for you to handle. After two orgasms you didn’t know if you could handle a third one for now, but that wouldn’t stop Xiaojun from doing what he wanted, unless you tell him to stop. He kept eating you like it was his last meal, kissing your clit and teasing your hole with his tongue, but most of the time he focused on your clit so he could make you cum again.

The moment he sucked your clit you felt a giant wave of pleasure, your body reacted without anticipating for it, you came without even knowing you would’ve, your eyes closed and stars appearing on your head. It was fascinating, such a pleasant feeling, all of your body relaxed as the liquid kept coming out. You thought you pissed on him and was ready to apologize, but after opening your eyes and looking directly at him you couldn’t belive what just happened.

“That was hot as fuck, do it again.” Both of you started laughing while he cleaned his face from the jet of your squirt, you didn’t wanted to agree but it was really hot seeing his face covered with the nectar of your pussy.

He untied the knot of the rope and threw it somewhere while making his way to lay next to you. “Sorry babe... for not stopping.” He wrapped his arms on your waist, tightly hugging you while leaving lots of pecks on your cheeks.

“Baby?” You moved your head so you could see his face, he smiled at you and left a peck on your mouth before answering. “What?” His expression was full of confusion as you started to laugh your lungs off, he had an ‘?’ on his face while you couldn’t stop laughing.

“You came in your pants, idiot.” His cheeks got a pink tone and an awkward smile set on his lips, following your laugh while facepalming.

“Yeah. You were hot as fuck, you would came if you saw your face too.” He buried his face on your neck, still laughing, you had goosebumps as you felt the tip of his nose touching your supple skin. You closed your eyes from the tiredness, after two orgasm you were already exhausted and not counting you woke up early to ‘Work’ so it didn’t took you long to sleep. And after all of this you could finally say that you were, indeed, in love with Xiao Dejun.

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 310 Spoiler Thoughts: “The First and Second Holders”

Some fan translations are out and it’s time to flex some thoughts out again!  I couldn’t do them last night because I didn’t have all the scan images with me and I didn’t want to jump the gun with only text descriptions.  Anyway, this was mainly an exposition chapter that properly introduces us to the second and third OFA Holders, especially the 2nd and what his relationship to the 1st is.  This might not be as long as others “Spoiler Thoughts” I’ve written, but let’s see:

First off, we have a colored cover page by Horikoshi-sensei himself!  It’s a solo page featuring Vigilante Deku and he looks badass!  Deku looks ready to kick ass and take names.  And, his Mid-Gauntlet is colored red like a lot of us thought and it adds to the theory that Melissa Shield did create it like she did with Deku’s Full-Gauntlet back in Two Heroes.

The chapter starts in a dark and rainy night.  A large woman (she’s like maybe 10ft tall; she’s taller than All Might who I think is 7ft) with a mutant-type quirk who’s getting attacked by some civilians because they think she’s a villain.  Deku jumps in to stop the attacks and the woman explains that she was just trying to go to one of the evacuation centers at a hero school.  Deku is kind enough to give her her umbrella back and reassure her that things will be ok.  

I gotta say that this whole situation is scarily close to real life right now.  I don’t like getting too political, but we live in a scary world where discrimination is, unfortunately, alive and well...  If you are a POC, you can be attacked from anywhere with the only reason being that “you’re a danger because of the skin you were born with”. It’s horrific, it’s disgusting, and it’s been around for a long time.  Even in the BNHA universe, there used to be cults solely dedicated to discriminating against mutant-type people (we learned this back in the My Villain Academia Arc).  So, like in the real world, this problem has risen again.  Thankfully, there are people like Deku and All Might who are more than willing to help someone in need regardless of who they are.  BNHA hits too close to home sometimes.  

Anyway, going back to the BNHA story.  Before All Might leaves to help the woman in his Batmobile, he hands Deku some Pork Katsu in a cute bento box wrapped in a bunny cloth!  Deku is visibly happy and thanks All Might for the meal.  This is so cute!  I’m so glad to see that All Might is making sure that Deku is being properly taken care of.  Boy needs to eat if he’s going to save the world.  I’m also glad that Deku can still show signs of happiness despite, well, everything.  I swear, if All Might doesn’t legally adopt Deku as his son by the time this series is over, I’m going to jump into this manga and force him to sign those documents myself. 

The next panel shows Deku standing on what looks like Tokyo’s famous Sky Tree (or Sky Egg if we’re going off what Vigilantes showed us).  He’s back to talking to the OFA Holders like they’re angels on his shoulders.  Banjo talks about how it’s like the world’s reverted back in time when things were worse and Deku responds that if he doesn’t use all of OFA’s power, he’ll never be able to defeat Shigaraki and AFO.  I know we’re in the final act, so Deku’s gotta get to 100% fast if he wants to win this war.  Last we checked, he was at 45%, but he might be at a higher percentage now since he’s unlocked En’s Smokescreen.  Also, Deku’s looking more and more like Batman each chapter and I gotta say that it really suits him.

Back to the Vestige Dream back when Deku was still in a coma after the war.  The 1st Holder begs the 2nd and 3rd to corporate with him so that they can provide their power to Deku.  The 1st calls the 2nd and 3rd “My Heroes” which causes some awkward silence lol.  Neither one is responding, so Banjo breaks the silence by suggesting that Deku learn everyone’s Quirks so that he’ll get used to them once he starts using them.  We learn why the 2nd and 3rd are the 1st’s heroes soon, but it’s actually a good idea for Deku to learn about all these different Quirks while he’s sleeping so that he’ll get a good idea on how to execute them when he wakes up.  It’s kind of a way of training for Deku just without actually using the Quirks themselves.  

The 3rd Holder (the one with the spiky ponytail and headband) starts to talk.  He says that the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd came from the “Harshest era of history”.  It was a time where AFO ruled all and peaked in power and control.  He was going to take over the whole world if the first 3 Holders didn’t step in to stop him.  My guess is that after AFO was defeated for the first time, society started to calm down and become more or less the world we knew before the War Arc.  So, things weren’t as bad during the 4th Holder’s era and so forth.  This would explain why Shinomori was able to hide in the forest for so long without being detected.  

And now the big part of the chapter: the 2nd Holder.  Who does in fact look A LOT like Bakugo.  Big difference is that he has a massive scar across his face.  I am aware of the whole “time travel” theory that people have going on with Bakugo and this dude, but I’m not on that train.  Instead, I think that the 2nd Holder is one of Bakugo’s ancestors.  Like, a really, really-great-grandfather.  Horikoshi doesn’t just design his characters for no reason.  The fact that the 2nd user looks so much like Bakugo, has a costume similar to Bakugo’s, and that future panels in this chapter straight up parallel that iconic scene with young Bakugo and Deku in the river only add fuel to this fire.  Unless Horikoshi says otherwise, this is the theory I’m sticking to: this “Ancestor” theory.

And we know of the 1st user’s real name now too, which is Yoichi!  If Horikoshi is keeping up with the “numbers in names” theme, then I’m positive that Yochi has the kanji for “One” somewhere in it.  And, if we’re going to believe AFO at all, then that means that the 1st user’s full name is Yoichi Shigaraki.  We don’t know AFO’s full name yet.  But, again, AFO could be lying with his last name, so I’m taking this one with a grain of salt.

Back to the 2nd Holder, he tells Yoichi that a lot of lives were sacrificed in order to stop AFO back then.  He believes that there is only victory or defeat in battle; that there’s no hope of saving their archenemy.  He has doubt about putting his faith in Deku because of this.  Given how the 3rd Holder still has his back turned too, I’m lead to believe that he also thinks Deku is crazy for wanting to save Shigaraki.  I don’t exactly blame them.  Really, none of us know if Deku will be successful in saving Shigaraki.  He might have to kill him in the end.  I think they should offer Deku help, but I don’t blame them for being at least a little skeptical.  

But, Yoichi reminds the 2nd and 3rd users that they saved Yoichi back when AFO locked him up to die.  They found Yoichi with the intention to kill him it seems, but the 2nd Holder showed sympathy for Yoichi and lent him a helping hand despite Yoichi being AFO’s little brother.  This is the parallel panel I was talking about.  Yoichi is kneeling down on the floor and the 2nd user is standing up extending his hand to help Yoichi.  I don’t even need to look back in the manga to know what inspired this.  Hell, I don’t even need to tell you!  We all know what Horikoshi was doing when he drew and wrote this.

Yoichi convinces him that he should believe in Deku as Yoichi does think Deku will save the day.  If the 2nd user didn’t extend his hand to help Yoichi, OFA wouldn’t have begun.  I think that the trust between these two is ultimately the reason why the 2nd user finally agreed to help Deku; the same with the 3rd user too.  And, kind of a tangent, but I really like how Horikoshi draws Yoichi and the 2nd user’s hands as they’re reaching for each other.  Horikoshi has always been really good with drawing hands like they’re facial expressions (something my ass could never do 😭) and this one shows kindness and empathy.  It’s almost like what would’ve happened if Bakugo accepted Deku’s hand for help when they were young instead of letting his pride and ego get in the way.  Oh, the parallels! 

Finally, the 2nd user speaks in present day telling Deku that they’re going full speed ahead now.  My guess is that Deku’s going to have to improve on OFA and the rest of his Quirks quickly in order to find and beat the LoV.  We are in the Final Act after all.  The chapter ends at a good place if we want to switch to the UA kids, which is honestly what I’m hoping for.  Again, I love Deku and his Vigilante adventures, but I miss the rest of the kids.  The new BNHA Exhibition in Japan apparently has a giant drawing of the main class, All Might, Aizawa, and Shinso in his new hero costume!  Which tells me that 1. Shinso probably took Deku’s place in the class for the time being, and 2. We’re definitely going to see the other kids again.  I’m hoping soon.  But, I wouldn’t be surprised if Horikoshi decided to continue focusing on Deku’s Vigilanteism and have him practice with he 2nd and 3rd Holder’s Quirks now that they’re working with him.  We’ll just have to see.

So, that’s it!  Solid chapter overall.  I’m glad we finally got to see the 3rd and 2nd Holder’s faces.  I think the “Kirishima is the 3rd Holder” theroy has been debunked at this point, but I’m still on the “2nd Holder is Bakugo’s ancestor” train.  The similarities and parallels are too strong for me to deny it.  Horikoshi-sensei, please confirm or deny soon 🙏.  We are getting break next week for Golden Week BTW!  All of Shonen Jump is actually, so no One Piece or JJK either (I’m not sure about Jump+, so we might still be getting some Spy X Family for example).  So, basically all our favorite mangakas are getting a well-deserved break as they should!  I hope they enjoy their vacation!  Waiting’s going to suck tho, I’m ngl about that...  Oh well, I’m willing to take the sacrifice if it means having healthy mangka.  Thankfully, we still have the anime and the new exhibition to tide us over until then.

Edit: OR NOT SINCE THE EXHIBITION IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED BECAUSE OF A CERTAIN PANDEMIC GOING NUTS IN JAPAN AFTER ONLY BEING OPEN FOR 2 DAYS 😭 

Edit: I went back to re-read the chapter and I completely missed the date for the next chapter (chapter 311) which is set to release on May 9th!  So, we’re actually getting a 2 week break instead.  Damn...  Sucks for us, but it’s good for mangaka to get breaks when they can especially considering their absolutely insane schedule.

Me reading this chapter:

[feralnumberfive]

The Rewatch Academy: Episode 3 of Season 1

“Extra Ordinary”

I am in no way a good analyst so my little analysis and speculations probably sound a bit goofy or pretty wild and probably mean nothing at all. Everything I put into this post about each episode is purely what I noticed or thought, whether it's funny or serious. I will be making jokes, so please just leave it at that (in no way am I trying to make fun of an actor and or character!) I am also in no way saying I noticed this stuff first. This is just what I noticed while rewatching these episodes

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ 

1x01 | 1x02 | 1x03 | 1x04 |

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

☂ First off I’d like to say that this is one of my favorite episodes of this season. It’s just soooo good

☂ The second comic book in the window features the Televator from the actual comics, so that has to be canon in the show! Also at the time that that second comic came out, Five had already left since we don’t see him on the cover

☂ It’d be cool if they actually printed Vanya’s book for fans to read

☂ Well Diego isn’t wrong when he called Hazel and Cha Cha animals because of their masks

☂ Honestly I feel Vanya’s struggle with chair placement. I’ve fortunately had the luck of playing in all three clarinet chair placements, but 1st chair is challenging. I personally found each placement very fun to play, especially 3rd, and I hope Vanya does too! (why am I talking like she’s real)

☂ Hazel talks about people living ordinary lives, but didn’t he live like that too at one point? How does The Commission recruit people? If they get ordinary people, do they wipe their memories of their previous lives?

☂ “Let’s see’em get out from behind their desks, get their hands dirty for once.” Well Hazel, Five does indeed do this even though he only had a desk job for a day. Still, he got to experience both worlds

☂ My mind is blanking on this, but how did Five get that cut on his arm? Was it from a bullet wound at Gimbel’s? 

☂ Five must have a high pain tolerance to stitch his own wound but his bandaid probably wouldn’t stick due to the wet blood he slapped it over. Five sweetie you need a cotton pad and gauze for that one

☂ Wait, you’re telling me that The Umbrella Academy boys’ top uniform consists of a tank top, a white dress shirt, a tie, a sweater vest, and then the blazer? Someone asked Reginald what he wanted for the uniforms and he just said “Yes.”

☂ Five: *puts hands in pockets only to immediately take them out*

☂ Aidan almost sounds like he has an accent when he says “I'm done funding your drug habit.” 

☂ Five’s so soft talking to his wife

☂ No Leonard, your bread and butter is being a creep

☂ Also, he thinks wood carving is embarrassing? If someone came up to me and showed me something they carved out of wood I would be so jealous cause it’s such a neat form of art

☂ Leonard saying that he carved wood, and in that case wooden figures, when he was a kid is a slight foreshadow of all of his tampering with his Umbrella Academy figures. He can make wooden figures but he’s also destroyed a handful of the Hargreeves figures 

☂ “Never really did like The Beatles.” Well sir you’ve made me dislike you even more

☂ Vanya asking Allison if her siblings wanted her at the family meeting bugs me a bit. I absolutely get that she was literally left out of anything and everything that had to do with her siblings when she was younger, but Allison just asked her to come back home for a family meeting. Allison wouldn't have walked around looking for Vanya only to tell her that they were having a family meeting and that she wasn’t actually invited. Allison is including her in on a family meeting but Vanya is just in a bit of disbelief that she’s being included

☂ Ah yes, the only PTSD flashback for Five we see in the show! He looks so scared when he snaps out of it. I believe it was somehow triggered by the kids (I could be wrong) but do you think Five sometimes panics when he looks at himself in the mirror now since his body is the same age it was when he got stuck? Also it’s very subtle but when Luther opens the door, Five slightly jerks/flinches back. I wish we would see more of this in the show since it’s one of his major traumas

☂ “Does it matter? It’s Klaus.” Ouch! Well Five I hope you know that your siblings are somewhat thinking the same thing since they believe that you’ve lost your mind and are practically an old man crying “Apocalypse!” 

☂ Five does an ever so slight huff and smirk when Luther tells him that the meeting at the Academy is important. He finds it a little funny but so frustrating in his mind that Luther doesn’t know what’s truly important

☂ Also I love that Aidan has to turn to the side so that he can keep it together after Klaus talks about his chocolate pudding waxing. Either that or he’s portraying Five as being frustrated and in disbelief. Also this is the first time I’ve noticed that he says “Ay, ay ay...” 

☂ “We’re all you have. And you know it.” Oh Luther, you’re failing to see that that’s why he’s acting like this right now. He’s all frantic and crazed about trying to stop the apocalypse so that he can protect and save all that he has

☂ Five certainly is mad at Luther during his mini lecture. He’s clenching his jaw tightly and when he first speaks he hisses out the words through gritted teeth. He even called Luther by his number. He’s very impatient at this point and doesn’t care for Luther’s act of attempting to be a leader

☂ This is their first, and certainly not last, time watching Klaus go by in front of them doing something he shouldn’t be doing

☂ “You haven’t been home in a long time, Vanya.” Sir you were also just on the moon for four years. Yeah Vanya was away for a long time but Grace easily could have changed too during the four years you were gone

☂ How sweet, even though Five hasn’t really been home they want to include him in on the family vote :]

☂ I’ve noticed that in S1 that David really mumbles his lines. A lot

☂ I wish we got more flashbacks of the younger Umbrellas

☂ Diego my beloved mama’s boy ♥️

☂ It’s confusing as to which country TUA takes place in, but it’s really not supposed to be a specific one. It’s portrayed as being in North America, but you can see behind Cha Cha when she gets out of the car at the Academy the flag of the RAF, which Canada would have at a monument since it’s a Commonwealth country. At the same time though Delores came from Gimbels, which was a department store chain across the U.S

☂ The light above Five’s portrait is slightly crooked, which probably means no one has really been paying attention to it

☂ It makes me nervous that Klaus wipes bubbles onto his face. It looks like he got some in his eyes

☂ Ugh I love the whole scene of Hazel and Cha Cha walking around the Academy with “We’re Through” playing

☂ Diego: *has knives but instead chooses to punch and hit Hazel to try to make him let go of Allison”

☂ A rope-a-dope is a boxing tactic of pretending to be trapped against the ropes, goading an opponent to throw tiring ineffective punches. Diego sweetie Hazel wasn’t even trying to get you off of him all he was doing was choking Allison. The only person who got tired was probably you

☂ What’s the point in Diego yelling “Luther, go!” if he’s already going 💀

☂ Luther was there immediately when Hazel attacked Vanya. That means that Luther heard Vanya and was going to go get her to safety

☂ I will never stop signing my praise for the entirety of the “Sinnerman” fight scene(s). It gives me chills every single time. Easily one of the best scenes in all of the show

☂ Klaus must really have his music blasting if he can’t hear the gun shots right next to him

☂ I’ve always wondered if Allison actually registered in her mind that “The boy” is Five when Cha Cha says that’s who they’re looking for. Either she does realize that’s Five, is simply just angry that those two are looking for a boy, or registers in her mind that it’s Five through his superhero codename even though Cha Cha’s not referring to him in that way

☂ Diego is full on just standing in the background watching Allison get beat up by Cha Cha 🕴

☂ I love Diego’s little hand flap when he gets hit in the hand fighting Cha Cha

☂ Okay so I make everything about Five, but the whole Cha Cha fight scene with Allison and then Diego kind of scares me. Cha Cha and Hazel are both amazing assassins (they’re both probably right below Five) and neither Allison nor Diego could stop her by themselves. Could you imagine Five fighting one of his siblings? Especially with his spatial jumps? We already got a glimpse of his true combat skills when he fights Lila in S2. What a scary little old man

☂ “Vanya, get out of here!” Again, wanting to make sure that Vanya is safe and gets away. He even tried to go look for her

☂ Something I don’t really get about the Hazel and Luther fight is why doesn’t Luther just overpower him? Luther has super strength and on top of that he has giant muscles due to the gorilla DNA. Shouldn’t he be able to beat Hazel to a pulp? Maybe we have to consider that Hazel might have been altered by The Commission to be stronger and more durable, but they haven’t mentioned that in the show

☂ “Ah, you gotta cut down on that fast food, soldier.” What are you talking about Diego he literally just got off the moon two days ago aflksjfdk

☂ So Luther was too injured to jump out of the way of the chandelier but was able to push it up off of himself? 🤔

☂ I personally think that Luther’s body design adaptation for the show is really cool and that they gave him the perfect amount of bulk without making him look ridiculous

☂ This has been pointed out before, but cross-stitch foreshadowing, baby 

☂ Again, Diego my beloved mama’s boy ♥️

☂ Well at least Diego thought about Vanya dying before thinking about his siblings dying because of her. The latter is ironic!

☂ The clock above Luther’s mirror reads approximately 1:30 am. Hazel and Cha Cha didn’t want to wait until morning

☂ I wonder how different it would be if Five was present at the Academy when Hazel and Cha Cha attacked. He probably would have surrendered himself to them, but it's fun to entertain the idea that he would go apeshit if he knew that they were harming his family in order to find him

☂☂☂☂☂☂☂

Feel free to comment or reblog with things you have noticed too!

[countlessimagines]

The Umbrella Academy Watches Yours and Luther’s Kid (Headcannon)

A/N: I chose this gif because Luther holding his siblings tight and to protect them just... it’s so caring. Okay that is all.

Requested by @canonbiwonderwoman

Warnings: none

The Umbrella Adademy watches yours and ____ kid series can be found here. (Includes Diego, Klaus, Five, and Ben).

-

Luther is a big softie, which is where we should start

He as a blubbering mess when he asked you out

And when he asked you to marry him

And when he asked if you two could start a family

He was worried about your reaction though

Because of his dna being altered from the blood and his abilities, he did not know what would lie ahead for your children

You agreed happily though to having children

And everything worked out for the best

You gave birth to healthy twin girls, Amelia and Aurora

Luther was shocked and amazed to say the least

When you were pregnant, he would lay his large hands on your stomach and could feel the girls kicking around

And they never stopped kicking when they got out of the womb

Or should I say

Running

When Amelia and Aurora learned how to walk

Oh boy

They would go everywhere

You and Luther would have to always watch them 24/7 or else they would knock something over or get into something or eat something not edible

It was a mad house at times

They were a bit mischievous but adorable kids

As they got older Luther grew more and more attached to them

He would carry them around easily because of his strength and how massive he was

You would take well deserved naps while Luther would lift them up in the air and catch them easily for fun

They would giggle non stop

They would often tug on the long strands of hair in his arm

You loved seeing them spend so much quality time with their dad

You knew Luther wanted to be the best dad because of how horrible his father had treated him and his siblings

Speaking of his siblings

They had been absolutely dumbfounded when you two strolled in with the twins at a family reunion

Because every lived such different lives, you couldn’t keep in touch with them

And they completely gushed over your baby girls who were three years old by then

Klaus grabbed Amelia first because she was wearing a little leather jacket and said it reminded him of Ben

Five reluctantly held Aurora because you placed her on his lap

He bounced her up and down and she seemed to enjoy it

She let out giggles and it made Five smile

Everyone looked at him surprised

“What?!”

Diego came up to the two of you guys

You and Luther were slumped on the couch, half awake

“You guys need a break? We can watch them for a bit while you sleep”

“Ah no, it’s okay. We don’t want to trouble you guys,” you said with a soft smile

Luther started snoring and Diego slapped his cheek

“Hey!” Luther stood up and shoved his brother a bit

However, he was still sleep deprived and stumbled

“Okay, sweetie, lets go use your old bed to sleep,” you said and dragged your husband upstairs

Diego turned to Aurora and picked her up from Five’s lap

“Hey, I was telling her about twinkies, she was interested”

Diego walked around with her and told her better stories in his opinion

He said how him and Luther would fight

But as the years have gone on, they’ve settled down

And Diego made a promise to her that he knew she most likely wouldn’t remember

But he said it anyway

“I promise that I won’t let you and your sister ever be raised the way we were. And I think your dad has got it down.”

Allison and Vanya wanted to play with Aurora next so they brought out some toys from their play box and set them out on the carpet

Klaus was too attached to Amelia and refused to give her to Allison and Vanya

Instead he snuck into the kitchen, with ghost Ben lurking, to make Amelia a sweet dessert

“Okay, I’m no baby expert but do you even know what she’s allowed to eat?”

“No but... I’ll figure it out”

Klaus was confident until Amelia started waddling away and getting I got eh cabinets

“Wait, no! Don’t eat that whole loaf of bread!”

Meanwhile Allison was reading a book to Aurora who was playing with her toys

Five was still upset Aurora was taken from him

But was happy that she wasn’t being fussy since she was away from her parents

So he eventually joined them on the carpet

Diego went to make sure Klaus hadn’t messed up Amelia so he entered the kitchen

And saw the kitchen in a disastrous state

Klaus frantically trying to tap the cabinets shut

And Amelia covered in flour

“Klaus, what the hell?”

A few hours passed and the twins had a great time with their aunts and uncles

And the umbrella academy definitely were enjoying their time with their nieces

Vanya played them songs on the violin

Five teleported to get them more toys from the store

Klaus did his research and made an appropriate dessert for the twins and everyone else

Diego watched from afar but still made sure the twins weren’t dropped on their head or wandered off without anyone noticing

Allison kept them laughing

Eventually you and Luther woke up from your six hour nap

You both walked downstairs and saw everyone in a giant fort, asleep

Your hearts melted at the sight of your twins happily tucked into the arms of their aunts and uncles

[winterrose527]

The Favor: Part 3, London, England

psychotically posting for the second time today to hopefully cheer up @amillcitygirl who is having a lousy Monday. This is the third and final part, I hope you all enjoy! This was such a fun prompt!

(Part 1) (Part 2)

London, England

It was raining once again, but she was used to it and in all honesty it suited her mood.

“It’s like this city doesn’t understand the importance of a good blow out,” Marg complained as she lowered the umbrella so that it was fully encasing them.

She smiled, “I told you it wouldn’t be worth it.”

“Well I’m sorry we can’t all throw our hair into a low bun and look like a perfect Parisan girl with poreless skin!” Marg argued.

She fought the urge to roll her eyes, knowing that Margaery was in a mood because she’d been in a mood.

It was impossible not to be. Not when they’d figured out on the way to Milan that she’d actually found him. Robb. Her Robb. The boy she’d thought of after every bad date. The one who’d become her stand-in for a prince from a fairy tale.

When Harry had cheated on her during her first year at Cambridge, she’d told herself somewhere out there is a boy named Robb who would never do this to me.

She understood logically that this was ridiculous. That she didn’t know him from Adam and he might be a full-blown sociopath. But the point of a fantasy was that you didn’t have to get bogged down in reality.

And in her fantasy, Robb was the one boy in the whole world who would never hurt her.

Except, he wasn’t a boy anymore. He was a man. That was the only explanation for how she hadn’t recognized him.

He had been beautiful when he was younger, now though he was… it made her body tingle just to think about him. He’d grown a beard, he was broader, there was… wisdom in those blue eyes of his.

And the fact of the matter was, that over the years, she’d forced herself to think about him less. It wasn’t to be, she was never going to see him again and she knew that and it wasn’t healthy for anybody measuring up real guys to a figment of her imagination.

But then they’d been on the train to Milan, trying to figure out what photos to post and what to caption them, and she’d gone to the kissing picture.

“You have such a type,” Marg laughed. “I can spot them from a mile away.”

“Well can you blame me? Look at him,” she noted. Then she did just that. “No wait, look at him. That’s… that’s him… that’s Robb!”

“No it’s not, don’t be ridiculous,” Marg told her.

“Pull up that post- I swear to God it’s him,” she said.

Marg opened her phone and scrolled through Instagram and found her post. They put the phones side by side.

“Oh… oh my god,” Marg said.

“It was him,” Ella realized, leaning back against her seat. “He was right there… and I… ran away.”

“El…,” Marg lamented.

“It’s fine,” she shook her head, “I’m fine. I’m just being stupid.”

Margaery looped her arm through hers and leaned her chin on her shoulder, “Want to know what I think?”

Ella felt her lip quivering and nodded before leaning her head on top of Marg’s.

“I think, that fate has a plan for the two of you,” Marg told her, “And I’ve read enough mythology to know that you don’t stand a chance against it.”

Ella let out a teary laugh, “I’m so glad you’re a Classics major.”

“That,” Marg pointed to the picture of Robb from the day before, “Is a hero, if ever there was one.”

She wasn’t so sure that she needed a hero. But a boyfriend that looked like him would be pretty nice.

Though she’d tried her best, she hadn’t been able to get out of her funk. Marg had come all this way only to be at her side as she sulked her way through Italy.

So when they’d woken up this morning and Marg had determined she didn’t care whether it was touristy or not, they were going on the London Eye today, she hadn’t had it in her to deny her.

They’d stopped at Bluebird for a coffee and breakfast, Marg smiling coquettishly at the Chelsea boys who lingered by their table. None of them interested her though.

She’d convinced Marg to take the tube, telling her there was more to London than black taxis, and that she had to get used to it as she’d be taking it every day. That or the bus. She hadn’t really figured it out yet.

Living in Chelsea wasn’t the most convenient neighborhood of London to live in to attend the London School of Economics, but her family had a townhouse there that no one was using so it had made sense. Plus she loved Chelsea, she always had. And the townhouse. The fact that she could walk across the bridge and be at Battersea Park. That she could walk a few blocks in and be in South Kensington, at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Her mother had always used London as their jumping off point for their overseas travels, so it had always felt a little like home.

When she’d gone to her undergrad at Cambridge, her and her friends would come down for long weekends and reading weeks, alternating nights at Raffles and indie shows in Camden.

And now she was living here, full time. That was enough to bring a smile to her face as they stepped onto the London Eye, hooking her arm through Marg’s.

They were the first to step on and Marg took advantage by determining the perfect spot for them to stand, and they settled in, grabbing their phones. She was sort of glad that Marg had suggested this, she’d never do it on her own and it really would be a great way to see the city.

Soon the capsule filled up and she felt them starting to move.

“No stop it I’m not doing that,” they heard a voice behind them say, “Because it’s different for girls!”

“Just-“

“No Theon! You want to do it so bad, you do it,” they heard.

“Excuse me, people are trying to enjoy the majesty here,” Marg suggested.

She covered her mouth to hide her laugh, squeezing Marg’s arm.

“Oh I’m sorry,” they heard and turned around, “You see my friend here he-“

“Ella?” a voice asked.

No not a voice. That voice.

That had been different too. More developed. Deeper. Sexier.

“Robb?” she wondered.

“Wait Ella Ella?” one of his friends asked, looking her over, “Okay, now I get it.”

“Oh my god it is you!” Marg laughed pointing at Robb.

He was even more handsome than she remembered, standing there with rain drops in his curls. He was tan, clearly having just been on his own holiday, an adorable strip of pink on the bridge of his nose.

His eyes were wandering over her, a smile growing on his face.

“Hey I –“

“No!” he held his hand up, “Just… shush for a second.” She glanced at his friends who were openly gaping at him. Marg was smirking. Robb reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone and handed it to her. “Please just put your full name and telephone number and I don’t know… maybe an emergency contact in there – and then I’ll kiss you in front of whatever landmark you want me to. I’ll kiss you at the DMV. I’ll kiss you at the Post Office. I don’t care, I’ll kiss you anywhere and everywhere just while I… please don’t run away again.”

“We’re literally on a giant ferris wheel where the fuck do you think she’s gonna go?” his friend asked.

“Shut up, Theon,” Robb and their other friend said.

She took his phone, trying not to smile, and typed Ella Baratheon and then her telephone number into his phone. She looked at it to make sure that it saved, and then opened up his contacts again to double check before handing it back to him.

His eyes hadn’t left her and he shook his head, “It is you… right?”

It had been a long time since she’d channeled her inner Audrey, but she couldn’t help but smile and ask, “Didn’t I tell you in Paris that we’d meet again?”

“Oh my god,” Marg murmured.

“I’m Theon by the way,” Theon stage whispered to Marg.

“Are you seriously hitting on me in the middle of our friend’s five year meet-cute?” Marg asked him.

That seemed to shame Theon who promptly shut up.

“I didn’t know it was you, in Rome,” she told Robb. “I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have run away I… it’s you.”

Robb smiled and he nodded, “It’s me.” Then looked around, “Some guy you kissed in Vienna isn’t going to jump out and kick my ass, is he?”

She laughed and shook her head, “No… that was a two time thing. Promise.”

“Told you,” Robb said to his friends, but his eyes stayed on her.

“Marg?” she asked.

“Yeah El?” Marg responded.

“Get your camera ready,” she told her.

And with that she leapt into Robb’s arms. As though he’d been about to reach out and grab her anyway, he caught her easily. His lips pressed against hers and though the other kisses had been good, this one was better because it was him and he didn’t want her to run away and he was holding her like he’d stop her if she tried.

One of his hands moved up her back and went into her hair before cupping her cheek, kissing her deeply, as though he’d been just as miserable as she was these last few days.

“We’ve got the picture,” Theon informed them after they’d been kissing for at least a minute.

“From multiple different angles,” their other friend sighed.

“Lean her back a bit more,” Marg suggested.

She started laughing against Robb’s lips as he started laughing against hers. They broke apart but he kept holding her and she leaned her cheek against his as they turned.

“Hi I’m Ella,” she greeted his friends.

“Jon, nice to meet you,” one of them said.

“I’m Theon,” the other one said, “And you owe me a trip to Ibiza because he ruined mine moping about you.”

“I’m sorry,” she laughed, “What if I um… convince Marg here to let you buy her a drink?”

“Ella!” Marg chided.

“Oh come on Marg,” she grinned, and just as Marg had five years earlier, she teased, “I dare you.”

[itsclydebitches]

Discredit Pt. 2: More Recommended Reviews For A.Z. Fell’s

Alright, folks. Some notes first: 

1. You all rock. I’m sending out 20k+ virtual hugs for all the notes I NEVER expected to get on this nonsense. 

2. This is probably the final section, just because I’m not sure I can adequately follow up part one and it might be foolish to attempt it here. Let alone twice. But for now, here we go. 

3. Kudos to the anon who reminded me of Aziraphale’s cash-only policy <3 

4. Nicole Y’s review is based off an actual comment I read years ago, but heaven only knows where online it was. I’ve got the memory of a goldfish. 

5. Trigger warning for the use of a queer slur in this. It’s the same review as above, number 5 if you want to avoid it. 

6. There’s a text-only version of just the reviews at the end, after all the images. I’ll upload that to my Sparse Clutter collection on AO3 in a bit. 

Bonus 7. People thinking this is a real shop deserve all the good things in this world. 

That’s all I’ve got. Hope you enjoy! 👍

****************************************************************************

I’m a simple guy who likes simple jokes. If there’s a whoopee cushion I plant it. I will call you up to ask if your refrigerator is running and then tell you to go catch it. (Actually that one died out so thoroughly it’s actually capable of a comeback now!). Yes, I’m a dad and yes, I have a t-shirt that says Dad Jokes? I Think You Mean Rad Jokes! which I wear un-ironically every Saturday. All of which is just to say that my wife was well prepared for my stupidity when I walked into Fell’s.

I? I was not.

You see the bibles when you walk in? The ones to the left? Let them be. Don’t even look at them. Definitely don’t pick out the fanciest one you can find and absolutely don’t walk up to the owner with it held in your pudgy little fingers, grinning like a loon, cheerfully asking whether this should be in the fiction section. Just don’t. Mark my words you’ll regret it. Though your wife won’t. She’ll get a great old laugh out of it all.

In conclusion: it’s quite possible that mama did raise a fool and he just got his ass verbally whooped by a guy in a bowtie.  

***

Shout-out to Mr. Fell for being the only decent bloke in this city. I’ve popped in and out of his store for years—including before I started transitioning. So he knew my dead name, dead look, whole shebang and I was definitely nervous to play the ‘You know me, but this is what’s changed and are you gonna throw a fit about it?’ game.

You know what he said? “Oh, Rose! What a lovely choice. Crowley dear, why aren’t you growing any roses? Some white ones would look splendid next to my Henredon chair.”

That’s it. He just went straight into dragging his partner for not giving him roses. So hey, Mom? Next time you’re snooping through my social media why don’t you explain to all these nice people why the 50+yo book seller accepts me in ways you won’t. Don’t go telling me age is an excuse or that you’re ‘Stuck in your ways.’ I’ve watched Fell dress in the same damn clothes since I was ten!!

Yeah. Sorry. Rant over. Fell’s a gem. That’s my take. Rose out.

***

Anyone else in the shop when that guy started yelling about buying pornography? And then got escorted into the back room for some ‘private conversation’? Well done, Mr. Fell! Didn’t know you had it in you.

***

Alright alright alright alright I am TOTALLY calm about this.

Went into A.Z. Fell’s last Thursday. Not because I knew anything about the place. Just because I’ve been hitting up every bookshop within a twenty-mile radius, asking if they’re hosting any book signings. Long story short I self-published my novel Blight last month—which you can get for a mere £5 here but I swear this isn’t a promotional thing I’m just BROKE—and have been looking for networking opportunities, tips, stuff like that. So the owner listened politely as I explained all this. Then said he didn’t do anything of that sort, which didn’t surprise me given the shop’s vibe.

But then? Then??? He offered to let me do a signing there??????

As said. Totally calm about this. This man either plans to kidnap me or is actually giving me my first shot at an audience outside my blog. AKA totally worth the risk.

Tuesday the 9th. 7:00pm. Just in case anyone’s interested ;)

***

holy sweet baby jesus i was tripping balls last week you tryin’ to tell me that kING KONG SIZED FANGED FUCK SNAKE IS REAL

***

Witnessed the most perfect exchange the other day:

Grumpy Dude With No Manners: “You. Boy. Where’s the man I spoke with over the phone?”

Mr. Fell’s Partner Who Knows Damn Well Only Two of Them Work There But Clearly Doesn’t Like This Guy’s Tone: “Did this man give you his name?”

Grumpy Dude: “Might have. Don’t remember. Sounded like a fairy though.”

Me: “....”

My girlfriend: “....”

This Poor Sweet Startled Kid On Our Left: “?!?!?!?”

Fell’s Partner In The Drollest Voice I’ve Ever Heard: “None of us have wings. Out!”

***

This shop gets full stars simply because every time I walk in they’re playing Queen.

I mean, I’ve walked in once, but once is enough when you’ve got Crazy Little Thing Called Love blasting full volume.

***

Okay, I’m still kind of shaken up but I needed to write this out somewhere and this seemed as good a place as any.

I spilled my latte on a book. Just tripped on thin air, popped the lid, and chucked a venti’s worth of coffee all over a very expensive looking text. I didn’t mean to, obviously, but it happened and I just started bawling on the spot. Full on sobs because this semester has been absolute hell, I ruined this guy’s antique, there’s no way I can pay for it, I can’t even sneak away because I’m drawing the whole store’s attention...just all the things all at once. I really was straight up panicking and was seconds away from pulling out my inhaler. I couldn’t breathe.

And then Mr. Fell showed up.

Jesus it’s embarrassing to admit but I think I hit him once or twice. On the arms I mean, because he was trying to touch me and I figured, I don’t know, it was a restraint or something. He was going to call the police and hold me until they got there. But then he managed to start rubbing my back and I lost it like I hadn’t already been bawling my eyes out in this shop. Ever cry into a perfect stranger’s chest? I have! But if Mr. Fell seemed to mind he definitely didn’t show it. Just kept holding me while I probably ruined his shirt and then took me into the back and made me a new coffee in this cute little angel mug. He let me stay there while I called my sister and waited for her to arrive.

She’s a good twenty minutes outside of Soho, so we talked for a while. It’s not like Mr. Fell could fix my shit roommate or bio classes, but I guess just talking about it all really helped. I was a lot calmer by the time my sis arrived and Mr. Fell insisted I come back any time I wanted—for browsing or more coffee.

Of course, sis offered to pay for the book herself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone look so surprised in my life. “Certainly not!” he said. “Contrary to popular belief, no one should pay for their mistakes. It’s what makes you all so wonderfully human.”

So yeah. Thanks, Mr. Fell.

***

This little shop must have started a book club for kids! Lately I’ve seen the same group of children hanging out at Fell’s. Three boys and a girl. They’re a bit rambunctious at times, but who isn’t at that age? So wonderful seeing literature passed down to the next generation. Even if some of it is rather questionable looking...

***

It’s an honest crime that more of you aren’t talking about what a wonderful bookstore this is.

I’m a book lover at heart and Fell’s always makes me feel like I’m coming home. I just arrived somewhere safe and familiar after a particularly harrowing day. I’ve slipped under the covers of my bed after dinner and a bubble bath. It’s something like that, but with an element of surprise too. One of the reasons why I adore private and used shops over chain stores is that little touch of chaos. You walk in and sure, there are general sections to browse, but everything is just a little bit disorganized from people leafing through books and then putting them back somewhere else. There’s no real record keeping, you’ve just gotta head to one particular corner and hope for the best. It’s not the sort of place you go to if you want something specific because the chances of them having it are slim—that’s just how the universe works—and even if they did no employee knows where it is anymore.

But if you wander the shelves for a while, crouch down low to get a look at everything on the bottom shelf, pay attention to the books that don’t have easy to read titles or any summaries to speak of... you just might find something you didn’t know you were looking for. That’s Fell’s: the comfort of the familiar and the excitement of the unknown.

*** A lot of people might assume that these stories are embellished or outright made up, but as a bookseller myself going on twenty years I believe every single one of them.

That being said, I accidentally moved a rug and found chalk sigils that look like they belong in a cult. Make of that what you will.

***

There’s a special place in hell for 21st century shop owners that only take cash. Who carries cash anymore? Not me! I haven’t bothered with that nonsense in years! You can get a card reader for 15 pounds on Amazon. Or you know what? Be stingy and pay 7 for the little attachment on your phone. This place is nuts if it thinks it’s going to survive much longer on a cash-only policy, especially with some books that look like they’re worth hundreds or thousands of pounds! Yeah, yeah, just let me pull out this giant wad of bills for you. I’ll carry them around a crime-laden city because there’s no ATM near you either.

I mean jesus, you’d think this guy didn’t want to sell anything.

***

I walked in. There was a man screaming at a fern while another threatened him with an umbrella. I walked out.

5 stars do recommend.

***

I once walked in on the same (?) guy yelling at a book for daring to fall on the owner’s head. I think that’s just a Thing over there.

***

Like a lot of people here I didn’t actually go to Fell’s for any books (flat tire, Angel Recovery taking forever) and ended up staying three hours (not because of Angel). No, I wandered towards the back and found this ancient CRT set propped on a table of books, the kind that my Dad used to watch Twilight Zone on. This lanky guy had a marathon of Gilmore Girls going... though how he was managing that with a broken antenna and no DVR, I really don’t know. But yeah. He told me to pull up a chair and I did. Guy gave me popcorn.

I wish I’d paid a little more attention to his name. Charlie? Curley? I really can’t remember, but thanks for the enjoyable afternoon, man.

***

I BOUGHT A BOOK HERE

Not sure how though. Just kinda happened. First edition of Just William. Frankly I didn’t even want the thing, but the owner basically shoved me out the door with it when I took two seconds to look at the spine. Odd that he was so willing to part with this one.

Update: ... hold up. I didn’t buy a book because I never actually paid the guy. ‘Basically shoved me out the door’ was literal. Do I go back??

***

This page has really gone feral the last couple of months so I’m just gonna bite the bullet and say it:

Anyone notice that Fell’s snake and Fell’s partner are never in the same room together?

***

I really don’t like the implications of this…

***

This is precisely why the Internet has turned into a cesspool. You all should be ashamed of some of the stuff you’re writing here. Can’t two men just be friends anymore? Two real life men? These guys aren’t some characters for you to ‘ship’ or whatever. Quit making outrageous assumptions about their sexualities and use this website for what it’s actually for: reviewing the bookshop. Honestly I’m so sick of this sort of this shit.

***

Dude. They run a queer-focused shop together with a flat on the second floor. Fell calls the guy ‘Dear’ and he’s always calling him ‘Angel.’ People have literally seen them kissing. If you want I can give you the number of my physician. He might be able to help you pull your head out of your ass.

***

What the hell is your problem? I’m literally just reminding people to stop making assumptions. It’s gross and insulting. These guys check their Yelp page. You really think they’re gonna be okay with this stuff?

Also: I’m not the five-year-old relying on insults, so.

***

Making an account purely to set the record straight: I’m the hot twink in question and I married that angel. Peace

[mrs-takami-keigo]

Summer Nights

For my second piece of work for the BNHArem collaboration I give you Summer Nights. Honestly this was so much fun to write. The theme was Summer, and summer to me means vacation and romance! You can find all the summer goodness with BNHA by other amazing and talented Authors here! 

Pairing: Shouto x Fem!Reader

Description: You’ve always watched summer romances in movies and read them in books, but you never thought it in a million years it could happen to you. 

Rating:SFW

Word count:6.0K

“Look! It’s the beach!” Ochaco beamed as she pulled on Tsui’s arm dragging her across the white sand. Soon Mina, Hagakure and Jiro followed behind them, giggling once the cool clear waters of the sea touched their feet.

‘Even at twenty-one they can’t control themselves.’

Shouto stepped out of the van putting on his black Ray Bans sunglasses, the summer sun beat down on the exposed skin his white v-neck didn't cover. Even with his dark sunglasses on, he could tell the hawaiian sky was a picturesque light blue. Vast beaches full of travelers and locals alike. The air was fresh and crisp with the smell of local restaurants mixing it to it. Tall palm trees rustling in the breeze, Shouto was sure he had never felt so calm in his life.

“Hey we should stay as a group to check in!!” Iida started after the group when Momo stepped in, placing her small hand on his shoulder.

“Oh let them have their fun. We’ve all been so busy these past three years with hero work, we deserve this vacation.” With a defeated sigh and mumbles of how irresponsible people could be, their old class rep turned around making his way to the entrance of the hotel.

“Okay boys! Me and Iida are going to go check in. Can you help unload the van and meet us inside!” Momo waved her hand as she passed the group of hotel staff, their mouth’s were slightly hung open admiring her stunning beauty.

“Man, why do the girls get to have fun and we gotta do the work? I thought this was a vacation?” shaking his head at his lightning powered friend's whine, Shouto reached into the back of the van to pick up his hard black suitcase.

“Shut up and just grab a damn bag, dumbass!” Bakugou snatched up his own suitcases before shoving past everyone stomping his way into the hotel. Shouto and the rest of the group followed behind the hot tempered blonde. The sliding glass doors opened for the group  where they were greeted by hotel staff members who had genuine smiles gracing their features.

A woman walked up to Shouto,”Aloha, welcome to honolulu.” She reached up and placed a lei with beautiful purple and white orchids around his neck. Giving her a soft smile in return Shouto continued his journey into the massive hotel lobby.

Shouto had stopped in the middle of the semi-busy area, lifting his sunglasses to sit on top of his head pushing his hair back, so he could admire every detail of the building. The only word he could come up with was glamorous. The lobby had white and grey marble flooring, tall white pillars with intricate flower designs lined in gold wrapped around the cylinders holding up the extravagant ceiling. Gold moldings lined the high ceiling and a giant crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the room. Seeing as how it was summer people were all over, be it at the check-in/out desks, the concierge or even sitting on the wine colored couches and chairs that were placed strategically in the lobby.

“Wait, watch where you’re go-” Before he could react, Shouto felt someone bump into his back, forcing him to rock forward, sunglasses clattering to the floor. Looking over his right shoulder he caught a glimpse of your soft hair on top of your head before he felt like he had the wind knocked out of him. Feeling like everything turned into slow motion, you lifted your head, Shouto’s eyes widened.

‘Beautiful.’

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Your voice sounded like a sweet medley that calmed Shouto’s heart. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”

“No I’m fine, a-are you okay?” He turned his body so he could face you, now he was able to take in all of your beauty. What you wore was so simple but you made it look stunning. A white tank top with the word bridesmaid in black lettering, a pair of blue denim bermuda shorts and black platform sandals, that's all you had on but still managed to take his breath away. You went to pick up the sunglasses that fell when you bumped into him, that’s when he noticed one multi-colored and one pink and purple crystal bracelet on your wrist.

You reached out your hand offering his glasses back. “Yeah I’m fine!” Shouto slowly took his glasses back from you. “But um next time maybe don’t stop in the middle of the entrance, it’s a little dangerous.” Shouto swore he felt his heart stop when you smiled at him.

“Hey! Come on, everyone is waiting for you!” Both you and Shouto looked over at your group of friends, all of them wearing the same top as you except one, calling over to you.

“Looks like I gotta run, don't wanna upset the bride. Oh and sorry again.” You sent him one last smile before running towards your friends. Shouto watched as your friends kept making glances at him before you turned to look back at him. A smile graced your lips as you sent him a small wave of your hand. One of your friend’s, the bride he assumed because of her shirt, leaned over and whispered something in your ear. Her action caused you to have a shocked expression before turning away from him quickly. Shouto let out a small chuckle, wondering what your friends could have possibly said to have made you so flustered.

“Hey, did you forget something Todoroki?” Deku’s voice brought him back to reality. “Why are you just standing here?”

“It was nothing Midoriya, just looking at the interior.” Looking at his close friend he let a small smile pass his lips. “Let’s go join the others shall we?”

Making his way back to his group, Shouto passed one more look over his shoulder only to see you were already gone.

‘Who is she?’

It wasn’t till that next night at the luau did Shouto see you again. You and your group walked past his table, his observant eyes catching every smile you passed to your friends as you found your seats. The way your royal blue floral sundress that came down right below your knees blew in the night breeze. You had your hair tied up in a ponytail, a beautiful Hawaiian hibiscus was placed on the base of the ponytail. Shouto tried to make it not apparent that he was watching you but couldn’t help himself, the more he looked at you the more he noticed. 

The tables for the luau were long wooden picnic tables enough for your group and his to fit together. Finally picking a spot on the bench, he had a perfect view of you, on the other side of the table slightly to the left closer to the stage.

“Those girls down there are beauties aren’t they?” Denki slung his arm over Shouto’s shoulders, taking a sip of his soda, Denki saw that Shouto had never stopped looking at you. Clearing his throat Denki decided to speak louder. 

“Isn't that the girl you were talking about last night? The one that bumped into you and you said smelled like a beautiful garden of roses, daffodil’s, peony and a hint of dahlia?” Shouto tore his eyes away from you to glare at his so called friend, ready to freeze or burn that big mouth of his off, just wasn’t sure which.

You heard the blonde as he spoke to the man you ran into the day before. Watching as the embarrassed male slammed a hand over his blonde friend's mouth and saying something through his teeth, making the others eyes widen. You couldn't help but chuckle at the dynamic of the two, the blonde looked like he was a puppy that had just gotten scolded.

The sound of your chuckle caught Shouto’s attention, he looked at you with a horrified expression. He realized that you heard what Denki said, meaning you know what he said about you. A light blush formed on his cheeks before he turned his gaze down to his drink, playing with the little umbrella it had in it.

“I think he likes you.” Your friend nudged you in the ribs with her elbow a smirk formed on her lips.

“I don’t know. I only bumped into him and said less than ten words to him.” You kept your gaze on him. He kept fidgeting with that paper umbrella trying to look at anything but you. “Maybe he’s just embarrassed cause I told him it wasn't smart to just stop like that.” Those pesky butterflies were still in your stomach from when you first made eye contact with him. His face looked like it was sculpted by angel’s themselves. Then his eyes, god those eyes, you felt like if you had looked at them any longer you’d turn into a blubbering mess.

“Well I found out from some of the staff here that he and his whole group are actually pro-Heroes from japan. It’s kind of like a summer vacation/reunion for them.”

“Even on vacation your journalistic self can’t help but find out the latest scoop huh?” You stuffed a freshly baked roll in her mouth, earning a light slap on your shoulder.

You heard the start of drums starting to pound in a rhythmic beat signaling that the show was starting. You paid attention to the performance of the hula dancers as they told stories with their fluid movements, it was beautiful. The night carried on with more performances, food and fun moments between the performers and the audience. The show soon came to a close, leaving you wanting more. But ever so often you felt the gaze of a certain hero, your heart racing every time you felt it.

“Wasn’t that awesome?” Your friend had her arm intertwined with yours as you walked the torch lit pathway back to the small villas. You could only hum in agreement, not really paying attention to what she had been talking about. For some reason your mind was still jumping back to the red and white haired man. There was about him, something that made you want to know more about him.

Not watching where you were going you bumped shoulders with a woman who was passing you causing the room key that was tucked into your pocket to fall out. With a quick apology to the women you resumed your walk down the path never realizing the key fell out of your pocket.

“Excuse me!” You heard a man shout from behind you, making you and your friend stop. “I think you dropped this.” Turning around you saw the man that haunted your thoughts jog up to you holding the room key that had fallen. Stuffing your hand in your pockets where that key should be you had finally realized it had fallen. He was soon in front of you the key was being held in between his thumb and pointer finger, holding it out for you.

“I’ll meet you back at the villa.” Your friend sent you a sly smile wiggling her eyebrows as she pushed you a little forward towards the awaiting man.

“Oh um thank you. I can be such a clutz sometimes.” Reaching out a hand, your fingertips brushed against his, gently taking the plastic object back. It may sound cliche but you were sure there was a small rush of electricity that ran through you with just that slight contact.

“It was no problem.” He rubbed the back of his neck once the key was back in your hand. Now it was your turn to look at him like he did you. He was a decently taller than you by a few inches, his red and white hair framed showing off the impeccable structure of his face. The scar on his left side didn’t hinder his beauty in any way. His sharp eyes were just as mesmerizing as they were the other day. The white and turquoise striped short sleeved button down outlined his broad shoulders, the first few buttons open showing off the silver necklaces he wore. Black khaki shorts that seemed to go perfectly on his long legs, and black leather boat shoes. All in all he looked like the perfect man to you.

“What’s your name?” You're not sure what came over you ask that. You could have just walked away after saying thank you but for some reason you couldn’t.

“Shouto Todoroki. And yours?” You told him, only to have him repeat it back. The sound of your name rolling off his lips set your heart racing. “It’s a beautiful name.” Silence fell between you two. “This may sound a little forward but would you like to take a walk on the beach with me?” You can tell he was hesitant to ask you, but that only made you smile.

“I would like that Shouto.” He smiled back at you as he moved to the side so you could start walking back towards the beach. The walk for the most part was in silence, just the gentle sound of the summer’s night breeze dancing through the palm trees.

“So, I hear you’re a pro-hero in japan.” You decided to break the ice, hoping to get to know him better. “What’s that like?” By the time you decide to speak you two had made it to the end of the concrete pathway where the sand from the  beach started. Stopping you bent down to take off your wedges, not wanting to walk in the sand with them. Looking next to you, you noticed Shouto doing the same. Once he got his own shoes off you both picked up the shoes and made your way down the beach.

“How did you find that out?”

“I have my sources.” You shrugged flashing a playful grin at the man accompanying you.

Shouto chuckled at your response. You could feel those butterflies fluttering again. “It’s hard work, but worth it. To be able to protect people is the main reason why I wanted to become a hero.” His voice was a little gruff at times but calming at the same time. “What do you do, are you a Pro as well?”

You had reached the shore, the sounds of crashing waves roared across the empty beach. The full moon high in the sky reflecting beautifully off the dark sea as if it were the moon's personal mirror. “No, unfortunately.” A wave crashed, making its way up the sand, the water tickling the tips of your toes. “I was born without a quirk.”

You turned your head to Shouto, his face showing expressions of being apologetic and of sheer panic, you were used to it by now. “But it doesn’t bother me. I may not have a quirk but I still have powers.” You wiggled your fingers like a witch would do in the cartoons you would watch on TV when you were younger.

Shouto tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“I have the power to let couples have their dream weddings.” You let out a laugh as the confusion became more apparent. “I’m a wedding planner. I may not be a well known one but one day I will be. That way I can do my part for people, it may not be as impactful as what you do but it’s still something.”

“I think that’s an amazing power you have. To be able to help people with their dreams isn’t a small feat. It's something very admirable actually.” The smile that graced his face was nothing short of breath taking. It was almost contagious how his smile made your own wider.

There was a silence that fell between you two again, but you were comfortable around him. Just what was it about him that made you feel like this around a stranger? Was it because he was a hero or was there something else to him? Something deeper? You wanted to find out.

“Can I ask you a question? And I’m sorry if it’s out of line but how did you get that scar?” You had turned to face him, stepping closer you got a better look at the imperfection on his skin.

“Oh this,” he raised his palm to it gently grazing the scar with his finger tips. “My mother poured boiling water on my left side because it reminded her of my father.”

An audible gasp left your lips as you stepped closer to him. Not sure what came over you but you raised your hand to cover his. “I’m so sorry, Shouto. I shouldn’t have asked.”

His body froze. You were so close to him, your scent encased him, pulling him further into your mysterious spell. What have you done to him, he felt like his heart was about to explode whenever you simply looked at him. But to have you this close and touching his hand he was sure he had seen the heavens open, and you were the angel greeting him.

He leaned slightly into your hand. “It’s fine, it happened so long ago. It’s a part of how I became the man I am today.” Taking your hand in his, he walked you both over to a set of lounge chairs. 

He then explained his childhood to you. What his power is, who his father was, how Deku helped him make his fire his own, everything. As he told his story you felt water gather in your eyes. He had been through so much, and yet he was this kind, confident and all around beautiful man.

Shouto honestly couldn't explain why he opened up to you the way he did. It took his classmates, his closest friends, much longer to get this deep with him. You made him feel like he could open himself up, that he didn’t need to be ashamed of his past.

You two went well into the night, sharing stories of your past and dreams about your futures. It wasn’t until you saw the sky start to turn lighter did you realize that it was almost six in the morning. You’ve spent more than seven hours with a man you had just met. Shouto offered to walk you to your villa that you shared with your friends, in which you gladly accepted.

Shouto walked down the same path from before, glancing to his right to look at you. The blush of dawn illuminated your skin, shining brightly through your tresses. That serene smile on your lips made his heart do backflips. He was so caught up in watching you he didn’t realize that you were both standing in front of the villa.

“This is me.” You moved to stand on the stoop in front of the door, making you eye level with Shouto. “I really enjoyed tonight Shouto.”

“So did I.” His voice was soft like he didn't want to speak too loud in case it broke the spell you had on him.

“Well, I guess I’ll just see you around the hotel.” You gave him a short wave as you turned to open the door.

“Wait.” You were stopped by Shouto’s hand as he got a hold of yours. Looking down at your connected hands you felt like your body was on fire. “May I see you again?”

Raising your eyes from your hands, you met his gaze. He had a slight blush forming on his cheeks, his eyes searching yours for an answer. You couldn’t help it, no matter what he did you always felt a sense of happiness around him.

“I would really like that.” You watched as relief washed over him, his shoulders visibly relaxing, his brilliant smile came back.

“Tonight at nine, can you meet me at the beach again. If you’re not busy that is.”

“I think I can fit you in my schedule.” with hands still connected, Shouto raised your hand to his lips. Placing a gentle kiss in the back of it.

“Then I’ll see you tonight.” He released your hand, taking a few steps backwards, his eyes never leaving yours.

Turning around you unlocked the door, opening it. Stepping through the door you closed it and pressed your back against the wood. Taking the hand he held on to, you placed it above your racing heart.

“Shouto Todoroki , what have you done to me?” Still feeling like you were on cloud nine you made your way to your room, hoping to get some sleep before your friends decided to go sightseeing.

Over the next five days of your vacation, you met up with Shouto every night at nine on the beach. Tonight was no different. This was what you looked forward to each and every day, to see Shouto, to hear the stories of his days in highschool with his friends, to spend all hours of the night with him just talking.

Walking to the beach you noticed Shouto was already there. His dark jeans rolled up his calves as he stood in the water, face turned up to the sky. You could feel the air in your lungs be sucked out. The way the moonlight was reflecting off his porcelain skin, made him look like an unearthly being, highlighting the sharp features of his face. Silky strands of his two-toned hair flies in the wind, a smile plays on his lips. He was perfect.

Rolling up your jeans, you walked into the water to stand next to him. “It’s a beautiful night isn't it?” The cold water rolled over your feet coming up over your ankles. It was one of the chilliest nights you’ve had all summer. Thinking maybe you should have brought a light jacket with you, you rubbed your exposed arms trying to generate heat.

“It is, now that you’re here.” You could feel the heat in your cheeks start to rise. One thing you learned about Shouto over these nights was that he wasn’t one to beat around the bush. “Are you cold?” Shouto started to come closer to you, wrapping his left arm around your shoulders, his body touching yours. It was then you realized he was using his fire side to keep you warm.

“Thank you, Shouto.” His quirk had amazed you when he told you what it was. On the third night he had done a small demonstration, showing you how it works. You could still remember the excitement in his eyes when he made you a small ice figurine of the flower you had in your hair that first night.

Suddenly you thought back to what your friend asked ‘So what are you gonna do once we have to go back to reality?’. You only had two more nights to spend with Shouto, two more nights to live in this fantasy. What were you going to do, you didn’t live in japan and he did. You were just a wedding planner and he was a hero, you lived in two entirely different worlds.

“Hey Shouto, I wanted to give you something.” You broke apart from him, already missing the warmth he gave you, you faced him. “Remember when you asked me about my bracelets?” he nodded his head, watching as you reached in your back pocket. You pulled out a crystal bracelet much like your own, only this one had black and a light brown small round stones on it.

“I got you one, this is a protection bracelet.” You took hold of his wrist, sliding the elastic object over his large slightly calloused hand. “It’s made from black obsidian which is known as a grounding and protective stone and tiger eye; it's going to help bring you balance and help you release fear and anxiety, aiding you in making unclouded judgments and understanding. I thought that you could use this seeing as how you have a tough and dangerous job.” You played with the little polished stones now on his wrists. You wanted to give him something to remember these summer nights with you, because you knew this is all it would ever be, summer nights and a summer romance.

“I feel bad, I didn’t get you anything.” He tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear, letting his hand slide down to the ends playing with it between his fingers.

“You don’t have to, the memories of these past few nights are all I need.” his eyes stared into your own, like they were trying to say something to you but you couldn't figure it out.

You gasped as Shouto pulled you into a tight hug. His hand stroking the back of your head, long fingers running through your hair. “Sometimes memories aren't enough. Tomorrow night I promise, I’ll give you something you can always remember me by.”

That night you spent it like all the other nights, only difference was Shouto had held you for the better part of the whole night. Soon it was time to say goodnight, like every night. Once you closed your door Shouto headed back to the villa he shared with his friends, he looked at his wrist staring at the bracelet. He had to get you something just as meaningful in the morning. Letting out a sigh he looked back up at the star lit sky, tomorrow night he was going to ask you if you wanted to continue this romance once the vacation ended.

You had butterflies in your stomach all day long. Something about what Shouto said last night had you on your toes. Deciding you were going to dress up tonight you put on a black and daisy printed spaghetti strapped dress that came up to right above your knees. You made sure to spray your signature perfume, knowing that Shouto liked the smell of it just as much as you did. After talking with your friends about it, maybe it wasn't so bad to carry on with this romance after leaving Hawaii. So many people you know and even couples you planned weddings for had done the whole long distance thing. ‘This could work!’ You smiled as you picked up pace making your way to the beach.

Once you reached the beach you noticed Shouto wasn't there yet. It wasn’t like him to not be here before you. Shrugging it off you made your way to the lounge chairs you and Shouto declared as your spot. Pulling out your phone you decided to play a game or check your social media sites while you waited for him.

Five minutes turned into thirty, thirty turned into an hour and before you knew it you wanted on that beach for almost an hour and a half. You felt silly for never getting Shouto’s number, what if something happened to him and his friends. You were about to get up and make your way to the front desk to ask them to call his villa for you when you saw a hotel staff member run towards you.

“Excuse me are you,” He said your name, before handing you a beautifully wrapped box and a letter. “Mr.Todoroki asked me to give that to you.” without another word the man turned around and left.

Sitting back down you placed the box on your lap as you opened the letter.

‘To my Flower,

 I’m so sorry to have left without a word but something came up back in japan and they needed all of us to come back immediately. These past few days seemed like a fantasy for me, YOU were like a fantasy for me. I was afraid that one day I would open my eyes and you would be gone, that you were only someone I imagined. You are a woman who must be too wonderful, too beautiful, too great to be true, it's odd to think that a man like me could catch your eye and possibly your heart.  

I was going to use tonight to ask you if this could turn into something more than just a past memory, if this can become our reality. If you want to become MY reality. Inside the box is something you could cherish forever and my contact information. Hope to hear from you soon, my flower.

-Shouto

Folding the letter back up and placing it against your stomach, you switched your attention to the small box. The wrapping paper was a beautiful lilac and gold metallic marble pattern, with a mesh white ribbon wrapped around it, a perfect bow on top. You almost didn't want to open it, it was so beautiful.

Pulling the ribbon you gently untied it from around the box before pulling at the paper. The gift had a little weight to it, your mind wandered trying to come up with what could possibly be in there. Once you got rid of the paper, you were left with a small dark blue velvet box. Slowly you opened the lid. You nearly dropped it as a gasp passed your lips, hands shaking, water gathering in the corner of your eyes.

Inside was a Hawaiian Hibiscus hair pin made out of red sapphires, he remembered your favorite flower. You had mentioned it to him the first night and it was never brought up again. You ran your fingertips over the stunning stones, taking it out of its case you clipped it to the side of your hair. With it securely in place you looked back at the box hopping to find a small card with his phone number.

Confusion struck as you noticed there wasn't a card in the box, tilting your head you turned the object over shaking it hoping something was going to magically fall out. But nothing, going back to the letter you re-read the last line over again just to make sure you did read it right. Grabbing the envelope you ripped it open but once again, nothing.

Shouto forgot to leave his number for you, you had no way of contacting him. Was this fate's way of telling you this wouldn't have worked?  Did fate save you from an impending heartbreak? You looked up to the stars as tears started to flow from your eyes. You and Shouto were never meant to walk down this path together, at least not in reality. Now you only had these summer nights to remember the man that set your heart on fire. With tears streaming down your face you held the letter to your heart.

“I’ll cherish these memories forever, Shouto.”

It’s been five years to the day and you haunted Shouto’s memories. Those nights were still fresh in his head, if he closed his eyes he could still feel that soft breeze on the beach, your scent wafting around him. The way your smile was somehow brighter than the sun, your laugh was like a lullaby in his head, he could remember it all. When he landed back home he had expected you to have sent him a text message but nothing, even days, weeks, months later there was nothing. He was devastated, he truly wanted to believe that you had felt for him the way he felt for you but he was mistaken.

“You're still thinking about that girl icy hot?” The sound of Bakugou’s rough voice brought him out of his reverie. He had been put on patrol with his old classmate, there was a big convention going on in town so they were put on duty to make sure nothing happens in the surrounding area.

“No I’m not.” Shouto continued to walk alongside his friend, as his hand played with the bracelet on his wrist.

“Tch don’t lie, every time the summer comes your head gets further in the clouds. It’s been five years man, let it go.”

He’s tried so many times but couldn’t, you were all he could think of. He tried looking for you but didn’t know where, he racked his brain thinking back to the conversations but you never said where you lived now. He was hoping that one day your paths would cross like they did in Hawaii on that beautiful summer day, and just hope he wasn't too late.

“Come in Ground Zero and Shouto!” The heroes could hear the dispatcher call for them in the hidden earpiece they had.

“Shouto and Ground Zero here, what’s going on?”

“Looks like some criminals decided to show up at the convention center. Other heroes are on their way but you two are the closest!” Looking at Bakugou, Shouto watched as he blasted himself in the air going towards the center.

“Time to get your head out of the past icy hot and focus on the present!!” Shouto was never one to take advice from the hot tempered hero, but maybe this time he would.

They arrived at the scene to see people running and screaming out of the convention center. police officers and EMT’s trying to get people to safety and taking those who were injured “Bakugou, you get the attention of the criminals, keep them busy until backup arrives, I’ll go in and try to evacuate as many people as I can.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” He took off into the building, one thing over the years hasn't changed and that was Bakugou’s anger.

Running to the back of the building Shouto found an entrance that seemed to have not been noticed by the criminals, Shouto figured he'd start the evacuation from the back working his way to the front making sure everyone was safe. Running into rooms, and halls he got out as many as he could making sure the coast was clear for the civilians to run to the exit.

He had gotten everyone out and was about to go aid Bakugou when he heard a woman screaming as she was being held back by the police. “My friend is in there! She’s still in there!” There was sheer panic and desperation in her voice .

“Do you know where she is?” Shouto was slightly out of breath having ran through the entire building.

“She was in the dressing room of the main hall!” Shouto nodded his head at her before running off back into the building. ‘How could I have missed her!’ Gritting his teeth Shouto pushed himself faster, he had to get to her and then go help Bakugou.

“Oi Todoroki where are you?” He could hear Bakugou over the earpiece.

“There is one more civilian in the dressing room, once I get her to safety I’ll head over to help you.”

“Help me?” Shouto heard a loud explosion followed by Bakugou laughing. “Who said I needed your help, just figured you'd want in on the action!”

Shouto was about to respond back when he heard the sound of someone screaming. Using his ice as a booster he slid down the escalators leading him to the main hall where the woman’s friend said she was. Slowing down and stopping right outside the door, Shouto heard the criminal speaking to the woman.

“Just come out and nobody gets hurt!” Shouto used that as his moment to freeze the criminal, surrounding him in ice. “What the-” The criminal tried to break free but couldn’t.

“It’s useless, you can't break my ice.” His voice was low and deadly sending shivers down the criminal’s spine. Shouto walked into the room, tables were flipped glass was broken but the woman’s friend was nowhere to be seen. “Miss, you can come out, it's safe now.” He walked closer to the stand up closet, figuring that’s the first place a person would hide. Shouto put his hand on the small door knob ready to open it when he got a whiff of it.

‘Roses, daffodil’s, peony and a hint of dahlia? It couldn’t be, there's no way’.

Nearly ripping the door off it hinges, Shouto’s eyes widened as he saw you. A mix of black mascara and tears streaming down your face. Your body shaking from fear hands clenched into fists on your side. You opened your eyes, meeting Shouto’s shocked ones. That’s when he saw it, that hair pin he gave you all those years ago, placed on the side of your head.

“Shouto?” Was the last thing you heard yourself say before everything went black.

[bush-viper-cutie]

sMuggled Art

Pairing: young muggle!snape x muggle!reader

Word Count: 5, 262

Rating: E for Everyone

Plot:  Severus is forced to take work in his father’s coworker’s wife’s store where he meets (Y/n). Severus’ view of the world seems dark, and you don’t really make things any better, but there is yet hope to change his mind! 

Warnings: None

A/N: Another request completed for anon! Since Severus doesn’t go to Hogwarts he has (my best attempt) at his North England accent. Hope you like it and the next on the list is the long awaited Crystal Ball part 4! :D

Posted: 8/31/20

Masterlist

---

(Y/n) = Your Name

 ~ * ~ * ~   = time skip

 ~ * ~ * ~

~ * ~ * ~ = POV switch

---

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

The front door slammed and shook the walls; Severus and his mother both jumped knowing what was soon to follow. His father was home and it didn’t sound like work had gone well again. His father walked into the kitchen where Severus was eating, his mother was wafting the cigarette smoke out the window before hastily dropping it into a water-filled pan in the sink and turned to her husband.

“They cut our pays. Again!” His father pulled on the fridge door so hard the entire thing moved forward several inches, scraping the tile.

That was Severus’ cue to escape to his room. He didn’t like being in the same room as either of his parents, though he could tolerate it when they were sober. All they ever did was order him around or ignore him on good days and yell at him on bad ones. Drunk, however, he knew what awaited him. He gathered his books and left his half-eaten cheese sandwich on his plate and turned to leave.

“You.”

His father’s gruff voice stopped him in his tracks. He turned, staring up at him as he took a long swig of beer and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

“You need to start earnin’ for this ‘ousehold.” He stepped closer and stared down at him over his large, hooked nose. His black eyes looked hazy and dark circles made his face look much older than he was. Anyone could look at his face alone and guess an age ten years older than he was, except his large square shoulders and huge bulging muscles would make anyone second guess themselves. He slid his jacket off himself and let it drop to the floor, flexing his arms and leaned over the doorway, blocking Severus’ exit. “T’morrow. I’m takin’ you ‘round to Malv’s wife’s store. They’re lookin’ for an extra ‘and.”

“Doin’ what?” Severus squeezed his eyes, regretting having spoken.

His father smirked and bent down to Severus’ hunched height. “Doin’ wh’ever they ask s’long as it pays.” He shoved him out of the kitchen and slammed the door.

Severus straightened his shirt and cursed to himself, heading upstairs. He closed his bedroom door and sat on the edge of his bed. He had plans tomorrow to do the homework he’d been putting off for the week. He was already falling behind in school, which wasn’t a good enough excuse to get out of doing work. It wasn’t like his parents cared whether he stayed in his disgusting school. His father had, on more than one occasion, talked to him about quitting and starting work in the mill, but there was no bloody way he was throwing out his only chance of leaving this horrid town.

He kicked his nightstand in frustration and winced as the leg snapped with a crunch and the whole thing came toppling over. Pencils and loose paper fell out, along with his black leather-bound journal. It was the most expensive thing in the house, given to him for his eighth birthday by his grandfather before he died.

His father had wanted to sell it, but it wasn’t even worth the cost of gas it took to get to the pawn shop across town. His grandfather had paid good money for it, and in the end, it stayed in Severus’ possession, used to hold his rubbish drawings throughout the years.

He picked it up and started sketching out the broken furniture and shading it as best he could. He sighed and closed it, throwing it back on the pile of loose doodles.

~ * ~ * ~

The next morning he picked out anything that didn’t have obvious patches or holes to wear. He even combed through his hair, per his mother’s orders, and brushed his teeth, ready for work. He dumped out his school supplies from his bag and packed his journal and a few pencils. He hated having nothing to do and carried it with him everywhere. He liked drawing in public because normally no one talked to him when he did, and if they did, he could ignore them with ease and pretended to be too focused on his art.

“Severus! Get down! Now!” His father’s deep voice roared through the house.

He growled to himself and slammed his bedroom door shut, marching down the stairs to where his father stood waiting with his arms crossed.

“Don’t make me late for work,” his father growled.

He was always late for work.

Severus nodded and slipped on his shoes, tucking the laces inside and pulled the door open. His father pushed him aside and walked out first, heading to his old grey car with the paint coming off the sides. He looked around for his mother but she was in the kitchen, smoking again.

“There food I can take? …For breaks?” he called out.

She didn’t respond and he headed out. He walked around to the passenger side and did his best to unjam the car door, finally needing help from his father to get it open. He sat down, hugged his bag to his chest, and buckled in.

~ * ~ * ~

He stared at the rain droplets racing down the window as they drove a few minutes into town. The shops were just opening as the car pulled up to the curve of a street of small and old looking store fronts. The most immediate store had a metal sign with their store name stamped on and rusting on all the edges. It was still in better condition than the wooden sign from the store next to it with bloated letters from all the years of rain.

His father slammed the door closed and walked around the car, pulling the passenger door open with such ferocity the car wobbled in place.

“I’ll pick you up after work. ‘Round seven. ‘ere’s your papers.” His father handed him three folded pieces of paper and pulled him out of the car, slammed the door closed and walked back around. “Don’t mess this up, Severus. Or you’ll be dealin’ with me.”

Severus nodded, clutching his papers and watched his father’s car pull into the street and head back around towards the large looming factory in the distance. The smoke from the factory mixed with the grey clouds, hiding any hints of the sun outside.

He covered the papers from the rain and walked the few steps to the door and pulled but it wouldn’t budge. He pressed his forehead to the window and peered inside, watching as a silhouette of a short woman approached.

He backed away as the door unlocked and a pale, sunken-faced woman with big bushy brown brows stared up at him through golden glasses. She pulled on her string of waxy pearls around her neck and looked him up and down.

He stared back at her and extended his hand with his papers his father had given him. She unfolded and shuffled through them, humming affirmatively after each one.

“I can use you.” She stepped back and let him in out of the rain into the yellow glare of the ceiling lights. “Was ‘oping you’d be… more like your father.”

She squeezed his arms and he recoiled into a shelf, hitting his head against the sharp wood.

“But I s’ppose jus’ your height will do.” She led him through several tight spaces between shelves of porcelain figures and around the front counter into the back room.

The back room was brighter than the main store, using whiter light, and there were larger stacks of boxes piled in the corner behind a single round table where someone sat reading.

“This is (Y/N). Do what you’re told. I’ll be back ‘round noon to check up on things ‘ere. Or might be back sooner. Don’ know yet.” She eyed him up and down with squinted eyes and exited the back room.

After a few awkward seconds the front door creaked open and closed. Severus stood there doing his best to avoid looking at (Y/n), instead looking down hoping his hair would hide his burning face.

~ * ~ * ~

~ * ~ * ~

A tall boy with long inky hair stood awkwardly in the doorway, looking at his shoes, glancing up at you every few seconds, and clutching his beige tattered bag in his arms.

You set your book down and stood. “Sorry about my mum… She can be a bit…” you shrugged, not knowing exactly what word best described the creature that was your mother. “What’s your name?”

His eyes flashed to your face and back down to his shoes, a light blush spreading over his cheeks. “Severus.” He turned his head to look at the wall of advertisements for new porcelain figures and let his hair fall over his face.

“Welcome, Severus. It’s pretty easy what you’ll be doing. Just… restocking and opening boxes while I dust and sit at the counter.” You turn to face the boxes and brought one down on the table with a grunt. You pulled on the tape and opened it up, taking out the little porcelain figure wrapped in tissue and plastic. “You can just set them on that cart over there and wheel it out into the store.”

Severus looked over at the cart and nodded.

You stood there awkwardly, waiting for him to say anything or ask any questions but all he did was hang his bag on one of the hooks on the wall and avoid your eyes.

“The sheet there says what number box to open and how many figurines to take out every morning. Just… let me know if you have any questions or can’t find something… I’ll be in the front.” You closed the box and headed out, closing the door to the back room and went to flip the ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’.

~*~*~

You spent the hour dusting the figures all over the store before finally sitting down on the stool behind the counter – a little high for your liking – and opened up your book once more. Severus had begun restocking the figurines, preferring to wonder around the store like a lanky giant than ask for your help. You tried concentrating on the words beneath you but watching him struggle to find the shelf full of porcelain ducks while carrying a glossy yellow one with a blue umbrella was entertaining enough.

The first customer of the day came through and bought about six of the forest series figures. As they walked out you spotted Severus’ look of disgust and laughed, catching his attention.

“You should see them over the Holidays. The shelves need constant restocking.” You watched a tiny smile grow and felt the air around get significantly lighter.

“But what are they for?” He stepped closer but avoided your gaze.

You shrugged, “They collect them.”

“Waste of money,” he mumbled and continued finding where the last of the figurines went.

~ * ~ * ~

It was around noon now and like she had said, your mother was back. She pushed the door open with her pink faux-leather purse and sneered at Severus in the corner as he replaced some figures a customer had just bought moments ago.

“Got anythin’ nicer to wear? You’re drivin’ down the prices with those pants of yours. They’re too short.”

“Mum,” you cut in before she could embarrass him further. “No one’s even noticed him.”

She turned back to Severus. “Ever think to tuck in that shirt?”

“No,” Severus snapped. He crossed his arms over his chest, somehow looking smaller than before.

Your mother scoffed and headed to the counter, shooing you out. “Go eat your lunches.”

You jerked your head to the back room, inviting Severus to join you. He shuffled in ahead, going straight for his bag.

You unwrapped the brown bag in the corner and took out your sandwich, turning back to Severus. He was bent over the table scribbling in a journal. You pulled the other chair out and sat down, peering over and seeing it was the beginnings of a doodle.

You watched him for a few minutes until he looked up and closed it.

“What were you drawing?” You finished one of your sandwich halves and waited for his reply.

His eyes flickered to you and he licked his lips, getting ready to answer. “Its… Just nothin’.”

“Your tongue was sticking out… You looked pretty concentrated.”

“I wasn’t drawin’ nothin’,” he growled and put his stuff back in his bag. He laid his head down, letting his hair spread out on the table.

You stretched out your finger and snuck a feel, smiling to yourself. You wrapped your last sandwich half and pushed it up to him. “Want my sandwich? I haven’t bitten it.”

He dragged his face up and looked down at the sandwich half next to his elbow. He looked back up at you and raised his brow.

“Take it.” You nudged it closer.

He took the sandwich and began eating. “I don’t take bribes, just to inform you.”

You gave a giggle and enjoyed the slight blush that spread over his cheeks. “You think I’m giving you my sandwich so that u can show me your art?” You leaned forward and grinned. “I’m just being nice.”

“Nice?” He shook his head, “No one’s just nice.”

“What?” You laughed. “People are nice all the time!”

He turned to you, furrowing his thick brows and leaned in. “Everyone wants somethin’. Even if it’s just to feel good ‘bout themselves.”

Your grin shrunk and you looked deep into his eyes, seeing he was speaking his truth, even if you disagreed. You sat back and mulled over what he said, seeing a bit of where he was coming from. What you didn’t understand is how someone could actually think that.

He set down his sandwich and got up from the table, walking over to the bathroom and locked it. You looked at his bag and thought back to the doodle he had been working on. You looked back at the locked door and back at his bag. What sort of stuff did he draw with a mentality like that? He frowned when he restocked, snapped angrily at people, and believed the world to be selfish.

You reach in his bag and pulled out his black leather journal, opening it from the back forward and flipped through pages until you found the first doodle. It was a scribbled mess, but it had begun to take shape into one of the tiny lamb figurines, cowering from a large grey wolf with an open drooling mouth.

You flipped to the next page and saw a broken stand and a few shattered bottles. The next page was a broken mirror and the next a burning house. The page after caught your eye. It was a swing set in the foregrounds and a group of teens talking by the slides of the playground he’d drawn. All of the teens had smiling faces and ice cream cones or popsicles in their hands. Were these his friends? But why did they look so far away? Regardless, his skills were amazing. Everything looked so detailed and precise.

“Couldn’t resist?” A cold low voice spoke from above.

Severus’ hands came down above you and snatched up his book. You turned around and stood to face him, red in the face with embarrassment and shame.

“I-I’m sorry I… I just… It was only a few pages.”

He was fuming, lips turned down with bared teeth. His eyes glistened as he clutched onto the journal. “You can keep the rest of your ruddy sandwich.”

“No, please. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking… I was just curious and I let it get the better of me… I really am sorry. I swear I only looked at a few drawings. I’m sorry. Really.” You were a fool for not realizing how upset he’d be. You’d thought worst case scenario he’d be annoyed, and once the band aid of you looking at his art was torn off, he’d be more open to going through it with you. Best case you’d put the journal back before he came back and your curiosity would be settled.

He stepped forward, towering over you. “No. You’re not. You got what you wanted… So why would you be sorry?”

“Because I didn’t consider your feelings. I thought you wouldn’t care so much about your art. I didn’t think you’d really care.” You hugged your arms closer and watched his expression change.

His furious black eyes took in your figure and he looked down at his book. His frown turned softer. “I don’t care. It’s pointless to care.”

He turned away from you and walked into the bathroom. Within seconds he was back out with empty hands and left the back room to continue stocking the shelves in the store. You made your way to the bathroom and saw he had turned the faucet on the book, soaking it in the sink.

Tears coated your eyes as you blinked, turning the other pages of the journal and seeing nothing but smeared figures and smudged faces. You hadn’t expected such an extreme reaction… but it was still all your fault. You should have realized some people could be very sensitive about their art… even if you hadn’t seen anything that personal in it.

~ * ~ * ~

The next four hours was spent in silence as you helped in the front desk and occasionally restocked some figurines. Severus had refused to even look at you, keeping his eyelids half closed in boredom the rest of the time and responded to only your mother.

The last customer left, and the shop was ready to close. The next hour was spent dusting and counting money until finally your father’s car pulled up on the curb.

“Time to close,” your mother pushed you and Severus out as she locked the shop door and dropped the key in her pocket.

Severus’ bag was noticeably more empty than it had been when he walked into the shop. You clutched your bag closer and felt the journal you had slipped into your bag. You weren’t really sure what you were going to do with it… but you wanted to make things right with him.

You father honked and your mother and you got in his car, leaving Severus standing outside the shop in the rain. You watched him sit against the door and pull his legs in, resting his head on his knees. Your father pulled away from the curb and you sat back, wondering what to do.

~ * ~ * ~

The night air was cold but the rain had stopped shortly after dinner. You gripped onto the handlebars of your bike and squinted at the signs as you rode passed. The torch in your hand kept flickering and the rows and rows of identical houses made biking all the way to Severus’ house in the dead of night seem like the worst idea of the century.

You kept your feet still as the wheels turned on their own down the hill, taking you to the last neighborhood of Spinner’s End. You stopped a few houses away from the house you believed to be Severus’. You took out the note where you’d written his address and shined your torch at the letters written sloppily on his dented mailbox.

You ditched your bike in a bush across the street and headed to his house. You placed your hand on the gate and breathed out, pushing it open and walking down his cobblestone walkway and up the two steps to his front door.

You knocked a few times and heard a door close inside and then quick footsteps. The front door swung open and a tall woman looked down at you. Her eyes made her look cross, but her down turned mouth gave off a sullen air about her. She looked you up and down and crossed her arms.

“S-sorry,” you stammered. “Can I speak to Severus?”

The woman’s sad mouth turned up at the ends. “Severus? And what would you wan’ with him?”

Did she find it funny you wanted to speak to him? “I’d just like to.”

Her smile pulled up higher to show her yellow crooked teeth. “Run ‘long back to where you came from, brasser. Come back when we ‘ave the money to spend.” She slammed the door.

Your mouth fell open and you backed away, shaking with anger. If you could go back several second you’d’ve hit her long pale face square in the nose. She may not have realized who you were and the fact your mother was currently employing her son, but that still didn’t giver her the right to talk to you that way.

You headed out of their property and noticed a shadow on the pavement coming from the house. You turned just in time to see a dash of black hair as Severus pulled his head back inside his window. You looked at the windows at the front of the house and made sure no one was watching you from there before heading around the brick wall to the left side of the house. Severus was hiding under the windowsill, only the top of his head was visible from down where you stood.

You climbed the low wall and shined your torch on the dead dried grass, spotting a ladder. You jumped down and dragged the ladder, pulling it out as long as it’d go, and propped it up on the side of the house. His window wasn’t that high up and the ladder seemed sturdy enough so you climbed, clutching your bag under your arm as best you could.

You reached the top and looked down into Severus’ eyes as he sat under his windowsill still with a red face. You sighed and looked around his room. His door was closed and it looked safe enough, away from the eyes and ears of his horrible mother.

“Are you going to invite me in?”

Severus nodded and moved back awkwardly, still on the floor of his room.

You threw your bag in and ducked inside, doing your best to not fall on your face. You sat in front of him and pulled your bag close. “Severus, I wanted to talk to you and apologize.” You looked around his messy room. “Though I was hoping to do it at your front door but… I suppose this is still the least weird apology I’ve given in my life.” You smiled hoping to lighten the mood.

He shook his head and pulled down on his hair. “I heard… I-I mean…” He pressed his face down into his hands, hiding his red face. “I’m sorry my mam called you a… She… She ‘ates everyone. Please don’t…” He sighed.

You laughed, “Don’t worry. It’s not like you called me that.”

He looked up and watched you behind his hair as you pulled out his black journal.

“I… was a jerk earlier. I got curious and went behind your back… You don’t deserve that… So… Here.” You extended his notebook out to him.

He pushed his hair back and frowned. “It’s ruined. I soaked it.”

You nodded, “Well… The art is no longer in there. It was really smudged. But I cleaned it off as best I could and spent all evening drying it… The pages are dry and hold pencil led well enough again… See?” You flipped to the first page where you’d written:

‘I’m Sorry I’m Awful

Please Don’t Hate Me.’

He took it and flipped through it, feeling the paper with his long fingers and rubbing at the occasional left over smudge. He looked back up at you with still furrowed brows. “But why? We aren’t friends… What d’you expect to get from this?”

You raised your brow and pushed your hair aside. “Still so cynical. But you’re right. I do want something – Two things actually. One, for you to forgive me. And two, to be friends. You seem pretty alright and your art was really good, from what I could tell.”

His face softened and he looked back at his journal, closing it and placing it between you both. “Friends?”

You laughed. “Yeah. What? Have too many to squeeze me in?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s just…” He gripped his knees and bit his lip. “D’you know we go to the same school?”

You blinked, taken completely aback. “We what? Really? I’ve never seen you around.” How had you not noticed him ever at school. It wasn’t that big of a school, and most students knew each other through their parents who most all worked at the mill.

He nodded, bringing his head lower and letting his hair cover his face again. “You’re too popular t’even know I exist.”

You laughed at that word. “Popular? I’m not popular.” You couldn’t believe what he was saying.

“You’re always around all those people…”

You giggled, “They’re just my friends…” It suddenly struck you that he’d been watching you before. As you were cleaning up his journal you had noticed several groups of students he’d drawn. Besides the one at whatever park, some of the settings were school settings. But it hadn’t clicked that it was your school he had drawn. “Severus?”

He looked up, his face was no longer red, but a light pink blush remained on his pale cheeks.

“Did you want to be friends with me before? At school I mean?”

He shook his head.

You frowned, confused about what he was trying to say. If he didn’t want to be friends why was he watching you? Why did it seem he had an interest in you if he wanted nothing to do with you? “Then what? I don’t get it.”

He shook his head again. “Nothin’… I forgive you. You should go before my parents catch you in ‘ere. My mam will lose it… and you wouldn’t want to see that. Things get weird when she does.”

You nodded and stood, zipping up your bag and turned to the window. You wanted to stay longer, figure out what the hell was Severus’ secret. Why was he so secretive!

You swung a leg over and felt for the step, ducking through the window and finding the step again with your other foot. You looked down to make sure everything was okay and took a step down. You turned back and froze. Severus was back to kneeling next to the window and his face just inches from yours.

“S-sorry! I thought I should be close enough to catch you if the ladder started tiltin’…” His cheeks reddened even more and spread to his neck.

You nodded and looked into the deep wells of his eyes, seeing yourself reflected in their dark depths. He got closer, letting you stare at him longer.

Another explanation popped into your head, for why he’d been the one to know you existed despite never having met him. Why he’d observed you with your friends. Why he cared about your social differences….

“Do you have a crush on me, Severus?” you smiled.

His eyes widened and his mouth fell open slightly. The blush that had been spreading down his neck turned red again, and he looked away, giving you a curtain of inky hair. He turned back with more composed features. “Of course I don’t! Why would I? I-I just met you today and… and I was just sayin’ that stuff about school because I-I noticed you once. That’s all!” His voice was deep and harsh.

You rolled your eyes at his weak attempt at intimidation. “Just admit it! Why else would you be acting so weird about being friends and caring about how ‘popular’ I am even though I’m not?” You climbed back up the ladder and pushed him aside to climb back through the window.

He stood and squeezed his hands into fists, no longer cowering. “Just because I’ve seen you ‘round doesn’t mean I ‘ave a crush on you!”

You scoffed. “Do we have any classes together?”

“No.” He crossed his arms.

“Do we have the same lunch together?”

“No.” He started tugging on his sleeve.

You smiled again. “There are over a thousand students in our crummy school and hundreds during lunches and somehow you know I’m not part of those hundreds in your lunch?” You laughed again. “Explain that.”

His face got even redder. “Well.. I-I… I-it…” He shut his mouth and clenched his jaw. “Fine. I DID. ‘appy?”

Your smile dropped. “‘Did’? When… Why did you stop?” Why did you care?

He huffed. “I told you. It’s pointless to care… about you…”

You looked down at his greying socks. You weren’t sure why his words kind of stung.

“Why d’you look like that?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know…” You bit your lip. “I think I… Liked? That you had a crush on me?”

He scoffed, “Why? S’you could feel good about yourself?”

You shrugged again, feeling tears grow in the corner of your eyes and wishing you could escape such an awkward turn of the argument.

There was a long pause.

“D-d’you like me?”

Your head shot up and your faced burned hot. His eyebrows were raised and his crossed arms were loosening the longer you took to respond. “I… might have taken an interest in… you.”

“You’re interested in me?” His face pulled up into a grin suddenly. “Is that what you’re sayin’?”

You scoffed, “I didn’t say that exactly!”

He laughed and stepped forward, still towering over you. “I felt you feel my hair! I was right! I knew it!”

Your jaw dropped and if your face wasn’t red before it was now the color of a tomato. You did remember doing that. “I… I don’t know why I did that!”

“That’s why you want me to admit I ‘ave a crush on you,” he shrugged and stepped back, looking as if he’d won.

“Aha!” You quickly put your finger up. “You DO have a crush on me!”

He placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. “I’ve already won. You ‘ave a crush on me – and you didn’t even realize it.”

What had this day turned into. Being suddenly told this morning you’d have to train someone knew at the store and now it was passed midnight and somehow you’d accidently confessed a crush you’d also gotten today? The day was as messy as the clean up for his journal that now lay forgotten on the floor.

You held your hands up in defeat. “Fine… So maybe I do… But you do too!”

He curled his finger and pressed it to his lips. “Alright… I do…”

You smiled down at your shoes and stood there awkwardly for a minute before decided to just go for it. You stepped forward and kissed his cheek, accidently touching the corner of his mouth and pulled away.

Your face burned. “Ok… Bye – !” You turned and headed out the window, quickly climbing down and let the ladder down on the ground gently.

You climbed the brick wall and looked back up at Severus.

He was touching his cheek as he smiled and waved. “S-see you t’morrow!”

You put your hand to your mouth and giggled. “See you.”

He looked smug suddenly and you rolled your eyes playfully.

You quickly jumped down and ran to your bike, hopping on and peddling back up the hill, trying to pull your giant smile back to normal.

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

Masterlist

Request: “may I request a muggle young sev x muggle reader please idk a story or headcanon really anything you want I just love the way you write young severus okie dokie thank you for reading 🥺❤” – Anon

---

Welcome to General Taglist!!:

@bionic-otp​

@severuslovebot​

---

[chipper9906]

Heal The Cracks Within My Heart - Chapter 5: Old Friends Made Anew

<- - - Previous Chapter

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR LOKI SEASON 1 EPISODE 6 ‘FOR ALL TIME. ALWAYS.’

Pairings: Loki/Sylvie

Rating: General Audiences

Chapter Word Count: 6,344

Overall Word Count: 48,317 (In Progress)

Status: Multi Chapter Fic - In Progress (5/?)

Chapter Preview:

Coming from the unbearable heat of whatever desert-type planet they had come from and walking into the almost tropical level of heat of this new place was downright pleasant. Loki blinked in surprise as they stepped out onto more sand, though it was also combined with the refreshing breeze blowing in from the ocean that crashed down around his feet. The water was crystal clear up close, but the more it stretched out, the more it took on the vivid turquoise colors of the beaches he had seen in those jet-ski magazines on Mobius’s desk.

“Quite the Time-Loop…” Loki whirls around in place, taking in the sight of people lounging around on bed-like chairs. Most had drinks in hands, others were passed out asleep and only half under the cover of the straw umbrellas overhead, their other half more than likely burning away as they cooked in the day’s heat. “Better than being kicked in a rather sensitive area over and over again, that’s for sure…”

Link To Fic

Or

Click Below To Keep Reading

* * *

On his first shift, Loki lets Sylvie sleep for a little bit longer than their agreed shift times. 

He isn’t too sure how, but Sylvie somehow seems to know that he was waking her up a couple of hours into what should have been her shift. It was almost funny watching her try to decide whether to express her gratitude for his thoughtfulness or be annoyed that he had let her sleep in when they had clearly agreed to set shift times. 

The second time he wakes her up for her shift, he tries to do so with the morning kiss that he had promised (with try being the keyword here). It had been quite early in the morning, judging by the faint light that had started to filter in through the ceiling and partly illuminate the cave. Loki summarized that, with that small amount of light, that Sylvie would be able to recognize it was him when she woke up and hold herself back enough not to stab him immediately on sight. 

He was mostly right. It had started well enough – running the back of his hand softly down her face as she began to stir and tucking a few wry strands of hair behind her ear. He waited until she was mostly awake, just seconds away from transitioning into that deep sleep to a groggy awareness, before leaning across her and pressing a feather-light kiss to her lips.

For a few seconds, Loki thought it had been a success. Of course, that thought flew straight out of his head the moment he felt her body go tense under his. It was remarkable how quickly she had snatched her sword up from her side, and he could at least appreciate the feel of the blade pressing against his side instead of in his side. 

“Oh,” Sylvie breathed in surprise as recognition filtered in through drowsy eyes, the sharp pinch of the blade end against his side quickly disappearing as she drops her weapon. “Gods, did I…?”

“Nope, completely stab free,” Loki assures her. 

“I did warn you…”

“And I said I’d still take the risk,” Loki countered with a cocky grin. 

Sylvie wanted to wipe that grin off his face as he hovered over her, and she did so by grabbing hold of collar of his dress shirt and yanking him down. Loki was barely able to catch himself, hands spread out on either side of Sylvie as she surged up to claim his lips with her own. 

She could still feel his smile against her mouth, though this one was less of the typical arrogance he displayed and more of… of contentedness. Dare she say ‘happiness’, even? Whatever it was, she found she didn’t mind it – even if it did make it a little awkward to kiss him. 

It was almost surprising that nothing of note occurs during their watches: no more giant lizards set on peeling away the meat from their bones, no unruly citizens that didn’t appreciate their presence on this planet, no brown and orange-clad TVA workers materializing from thin air and whisking them away. 

Some might call Loki stupid for making an attempt to kiss Sylvie awake for the second time. If he’s being honest with himself, he did feel a little nervous as he leaned down, trying to resist the urge to push her sword out of reach; not that it would do any good since she’s apparently a natural at conjuring and would probably have a dagger materialized and plunged into his chest before he knows it.

But this time, it seemed that Sylvie was expecting it – or, maybe, she really was starting to break out of the habit of attacking anyone that touched her whilst coming out of such a vulnerable state. There is a split second where she goes from ‘sleeping still’ to ‘unnaturally and very much alert’ still – which is the moment his nerves hit their peak – but Loki’s then pleasantly surprised by the way she seems to relax into his hold, pushing up into the kiss rather than forcefully pushing him away as he had expected. 

“Good morning,” Loki rumbles in greeting as they separate, drinking in the sleepy smile she gives him in response. 

“Well, we weren’t killed in the night, so I think I can agree with it being a ‘good morning’,” 

Loki narrowed his eyes playfully at her. “Oh? And it being a ‘good morning’ has nothing to do with my method of waking you?”

“Hmm… I suppose it helped a little…”

Sylvie suppressed a grin at the roll of his eyes, pushing up and away from her with an overly-exasperated sounding huff. Loki offered out a hand to her once he was settled, helping to pull her up into a sitting position. 

“How was your sleep?” Loki asks once she’s sat up, holding out a flask of water that he had collected shortly before waking her. 

“Surprisingly well,” Sylvie takes the flask with a thankful smile, the early morning sun already starting to bake the cave. “–Considering I had a bunch of little rocks stabbing me in the back.”

“You should have said something,” Loki says, waiting for the moment she takes a deep pull from the flask before continuing. “I would have been more than happy to act as your personal pillow once again.”

To his disappointment, she does not spit out the water all over himself like he had the night before. She does give a slight pause though, arching up a brow at him as she continues to drink from the canteen. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” She returns once she pulls the flask away from her mouth, holding out the flask for him to take back and take a drink himself. 

Loki looks down to the flask in his hands, fingers tapping against the metal as he thinks. “So… we survived the night.”

“Somehow,” Sylvie added.

“Guess that means we can assume this isn’t an apocalypse? And that we’re somehow off the TVA’s radar?”

Sylvie sighed softly, resting the back of her head against the wall behind her. “Assume? Yes, but we can’t know for sure. There’s a chance that… that maybe…”

“That what?” Loki pries, sensing her reluctance to speak what was on her mind. 

“You’ve seen the TVA first hand, perhaps even more than I have. You’ve seen the intricacies of how they work, of how dedicated they are to ensuring the timeline goes the way He Who Remains had decided it needs to go.”

“I suppose so, yes,” Loki agreed slowly, wondering where Sylvie was going with this. 

“What’s the one reason why the TVA wouldn’t be interfering with a branch?” Sylvie asks. “The one reason they don’t get involved?”

“An Apocalypse?” Loki guesses, and Sylvie shakes her head ‘no’ at him. 

“An Apocalypse isn’t a branch. They’re not interfering there because there’s nothing to happen that would affect the timeline.”

“Then… what-,”

“The only time they don’t interfere-,” Sylvie continues. “-Is because there’s nothing to interfere with. Because we’re abiding by the timeline.”

“But… there’s no one controlling the timeline anymore,” Loki points out. 

“How do we know that?” Sylvie stresses. “You want to know the last thing ‘He Who Remains’ said to me? He said ‘See you soon’. He told us he’d be right back in that office, didn’t he? How do we know some other version of him isn’t already up there, waiting for us to go find him again and… start all this shit over again.”

“I… I suppose it’s a possibility,” Loki reluctantly agrees. “But, from what He was describing of the other variants of Him… I imagine it’s Him that’s going to be tracking down us.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“It means we’re not living by the story that He’s written so… a little, I’d hope?”

That did make Sylvie feel a little better, actually. Not enough to overpower the paranoia that an endless amount of variants of a man that controlled infinite universes could be personally hunting them down, but still – a little better was better than nothing.

“Either way, we’ve got a Hel of a fight ahead of us,” Sylvie points out the obvious. 

“Unless we keep hiding like this…?” Loki jokes – or at least, Sylvie assumes he’s joking. 

Sylvie exhales sharply from her nose, shaking her head side to side. “I’ve been running my whole life. I’m done running, Loki.”

“Okay then,” Loki says, apparently on board with whatever it is that Sylvie wants to do. “So… what’s the plan?”

“We’re going to do the only other thing I know how to do,” Sylvie answers. “We’re going to fight.”

“Oh, no -- I get that,” Loki got out in a rush. “I meant more what’s the plan for today? Are we going to stay on this Hel-Hole and try to find some kind of power source for your TemPad?”

“Only if it comes to it,” Sylvie didn’t quite fancy the idea of trudging through all that sand and potentially facing even more pissed-off wildlife. She rotated her wrist so the surface of the TemPad was facing up towards her, running a finger along it to wake it up. “Never thought I’d be saying this, but… I suppose we should see if there’s enough juice left in this thing to get us back to the TVA…”

“-Wait, hang on a second,” Loki reaches out a hand to stop her from activating anything on the TemPad. Sylvie pauses, looking up to him with her brows raised in surprise. “How will we know which TVA it’ll take us to?” 

“We won’t,” Sylvie answers grimly. “If things go south quickly, then we can just grab another TemPad and get the Hel out of there. At least with one of the TVA’s TemPads, I know how to use them and how to charge them -- and that they can even be charged.”

“And then what? Sylvie, we need the TVA’s help with this, whether we like it or not. They’ll know more about what’s going on out there than we do. We need to know how to use that TemPad properly: how to jump between multiverses; how to select specific timelines to travel to. Otherwise… we’ll end up lost in a web of universes.”

“Then… then I don’t know,” Sylvie admitted defeat. “We can’t just keep jumping between TVA’s, hoping that the next will be ours, or at least better than the one before. But we also can’t just go up to whoever at whatever TVA we end up in and demand they tell us all they know. Magic doesn’t work in the TVA, remember? So, enchanting is off the table. Really, we’ll be lucky we aren’t surrounded and with a collar around our necks the second we step in there…”

“Or… come face to face with another version of Him…” Loki says, grimacing at the thought. 

Then, an idea springs to mind. Loki straightens up as the realization hits him, turning to Sylvie. “Almost sounds like… we could use a guide?”

Sylvie frowns at him. “A guide?”

“Of course!” Loki exclaims. “Someone who’s familiar with the TVA perhaps? Someone who knows their way around the place, knows what files to find, holds some information that could be of use to us?”

“Well, yeah, that’d be great,” Sylvie says, frown still etched onto her face. “But there’s no one in the TVA that would help us.”

“What if they’re not in the TVA?” Loki counters with an excited smile. “At least, not right at this moment.”

Sylvie’s narrowed-eyed look of suspicion grows. “….Such as who…?”

“Well…” Loki trails off, glancing down to the TemPad on Sylvie’s hand, and then back up to her. “You think there’s enough juice in that thing to re-open a time-loop?”

* * *

Sylvie was right: Mobius’s time-loop was nice. 

Coming from the unbearable heat of whatever desert-type planet they had come from and walking into the almost tropical level of heat of this new place was downright pleasant. Loki blinked in surprise as they stepped out onto more sand, though it was also combined with the refreshing breeze blowing in from the ocean that crashed down around his feet. The water was crystal clear up close, but the more it stretched out, the more it took on the vivid turquoise colors of the beaches he had seen in those jet-ski magazines on Mobius’s desk. 

Which… kind of explained why they were here, he supposed. It was kind of comforting knowing that, despite they weren’t the same Mobius’s, they seemed to share the same type of desires. And, if this was the good memory Sylvie had recreated in a Time-Loop for him, then… perhaps he was more like his Mobius than he thought. Perhaps… they had a good chance of swaying this Mobius over to their side. 

“Quite the Time-Loop…” Loki whirls around in place, taking in the sight of people lounging around on bed-like chairs. Most had drinks in hands, others were passed out asleep and only half under the cover of the straw umbrellas overhead, their other half more than likely burning away as they cooked in the day’s heat. “Better than being kicked in a rather sensitive area over and over again, that’s for sure…”

That was enough for Sylvie’s eyes to freeze in place from where they were scanning across this unknown environment, slowly turning to Loki with a questioning look. “I’m not sure if I even want to ask…”

Loki could only shrug. “It’s not a good day when you lose count of the number of times someone’s kneed you in the crotch…”

Even Sylvie had to wince at that. 

Loki placed his hands on his hips as he peered out to the bay they found themselves in, searching the crowds of people both in the ocean and on the beach itself for a familiar gray hair and mustache combo. Even in what was only a re-construction of an actual time – more of a memory, really – the two of them still gained a few curious looks. This was to be expected, of course, being the only two people dressed like they didn’t belong: one looking like he had just come from the office, and the other looking like she had just returned from battle. 

“Do you remember where he was last time?” Loki asks Sylvie, wading through the shallow water and out onto mostly dry land where she stood. “I’m saying this under the assumption you didn’t just shove him through the Time-Door and slam it closed behind you, of course.”

“I couldn’t exactly hang about in here,” Sylvie retorted. “I was working on getting you out of the TVA, remember? 

“So… you did shove him through the Time-Door and slam it closed behind you?”

“No,” Sylvie all but groaned. “I told you already, I had to enchant him to keep him calm. It sort of… placated him, I think. Helped remind him that he actually enjoyed the life taken from him. At least, enough so that he would forget about the TVA for a little while and just… re-live his memories. But I don’t know how long that would have lasted. The effects of enchantments don’t last forever…”

That… was better than so many other outcomes, Loki thought. 

“In that case, I can’t imagine he’ll be too thrilled to see us again…” Loki said, now more on the lookout for a very disgruntled, ‘could possibly throw a punch on sight if they’re not careful’ mustached man. “Is there any chance he could have escaped? Maybe there’s some kind of… escape hatch of some sorts that we don’t know about?”

“Uh… I’m gonna guess no,” Sylvie had her eyes fixated on something in the distance, which Loki – who was still busy searching the closer vicinity – did not notice.

“And why’s that-,” Loki begins to ask, but stops talking when Sylvie grabs at his arm for his attention, pointing out to a section of the bay not too far ahead. 

“Because Mobius is right there… and… Loki, I don’t think he’s alone.”

Sylvie was right. As they trekked across the beach and closer to Mobius, ignoring the stares of the cautious but, thankfully, fake beach-goers, they could clearly make out that it wasn’t just Mobius sat upon the jet-ski that they had spotted him ripping around the bay. 

“Now you see, you want to be a little bit less trigger happy with the throttle there.”

A part of Loki didn’t want to approach Mobius anymore. Even Sylvie seemed to hesitate, her long strides turning shorter and sluggish just as his do the closer they get. The jet-ski had been brought to a standstill, bobbing away on the peaceful waves near the shore. Seeing Mobius without his usual suit and tie get-up was jarring enough, so seeing him in only a pair of swim-shorts was quite the sight. Mobius had his body craned around a young boy that sat in front of him on the jet-ski, pointing out various instruments of the vehicle as he – presumably – was giving the child some driving tips. 

“Trust me kiddo, I get the need for speed same as you do,” Mobius said with a gleaming grin, patting the boy on his shoulder. “But I think it’d be best we avoid giving your mom a heart attack if we take off like that again.”

Loki wanted to sink into the sand. He wanted an astronomically large tidal wave to appear out of nowhere and swallow him up. Mobius did have a family. A family. And he had had that taken away from him. Somewhere out there is his Mobius, trying to turn the TVA around, trying to do the right thing, and he doesn't even know. 

The two of them probably looked incredibly suspicious – just stood there in the sand, dressed in clothes that definitely were not beach appropriate, watching a father and son live out one of their fondest memories. Luckily, Mobius hadn’t noticed them just yet, his focus solely on his son who rolled his eyes at his father just as every child who thinks they know better than their parents does.

 “What if I take us out slowly around the corner of the bay, then once we’re out of sight from mom I can really open her up?”

Mobius laughed heartily at his son’s enthusiasm, giving his son’s shoulders a playful shake when he pouted at his father's reaction. 

“Well, for one… I think us being out of her sight would give her even more of a heart attack,” Mobius said. “And secondly… you know better than I do that your mother has eyes in the back of her head. Really, there’s no such thing as ‘out of sight.'"

“That’s the right answer.”

Both Loki and Sylvie looked over to the woman who had seemingly appeared from within the crowded beach, walking over to the edge of the beach and stopping just before the incoming waves would reach her feet. She looked to be around the same age as Mobius, although her black hair had streaks of gray running through it instead of being fully gray as Mobius’s was. Her face looked kind, ingrained with laughter lines that hinted at a well-loved life. 

“How many others do you think are out there?” Sylvie got out through gritted teeth, the heat in her voice taking Loki by surprise. 

“How many of what?”

“Families ripped apart by Him,” Sylvie answered, her face scrunched up in disgust. “People who, just like us, took one wrong step – as decided by Him – and were just… whisked away from their lives, brainwashed, and forced to work for the group that had kidnapped them in the first place. And their families?”

Sylvie laughs a humorless laugh, gesturing with a lazy flick of her hand to Mobius and his family. “Nothing more than memories now. His real family were… well, they were just another meal for Alioth, I suppose.”

“Until you changed that,” Loki said softly, tearing his eyes away from Mobius and down to Sylvie next to him. “Somewhere out there… there’s a variant of Mobius that was never taken from his family. Infinite variants, even.”

“And what of this variants family?” Sylvie asks, gesturing to Mobius with a flick of her chin. “And what of our Mobius? What I did doesn’t change their fate.”

“No, but at least now they have the opportunity to make a difference,” Loki stressed his words, the back of his hand lightly brushing against hers in an attempt at comfort. “They can help us to make sure no other variants of themselves have to go through what they went through.”

“...Dad?” The sound of the young boy's fear-filled voice snapped their attention back. It seemed that Mobius’s son had been the first to spot them, his eyes fixated on the two mysterious strangers who had been watching them. “Dad, who is that?”

The moment Mobius’s eyes landed on them, it was like he changed into a different person completely. Gone was the carefree and laid-back father. Gone was the happy-looking family man spending a day at the beach. His entire demeanor hardened, eyes cold and calculated as he stared at them. He could no longer pretend that this Time-Loop was his life. Now, he was faced with the reminder of why he was here in the first place. 

“Get over to your mom real quick, would you?” Mobius instructed his son, but he kept his gaze solely on them. “I need to talk with… some people from work.”

Mobius’s son looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but knew better. He slid down from the jet-ski in a hurry, wading through the shallow water as fast as his little legs would carry him over to his mother. It was only once the young boy had safely reached his mother’s side – who briskly pulled him out of sight – that Mobius moved from the jet-ski. He slowly slid down from the vehicle, keeping a hand on its seat as he stands silently, waiting for them to come to him.

Loki and Sylvie exchange nervous glances, unsure as to whether this was going to be an actual talk, or more… the kind of talking you do with clashes of steel and the spilling of blood. Then again, it wasn’t exactly like Mobius was able to hide a weapon when he’s clad in only a pair of swim-shorts…

Loki and Sylvie both nod at each other in silent understanding, choosing not to pull out their weapons and potentially freak out the people around them – even if they were nothing more than memories. They both slowly advance towards Mobius, who continues to stare them down, understandably cautious of their approach. 

“Mobius…” Loki says his name conservatively in greeting. 

Mobius’s eyes flick between Loki and Sylvie, landing on the both of them for a few seconds each before settling on Loki. “Loki.”

“You remember my name?”

“Not every day I have someone in a TVA uniform come up to me in a blind panic, tell me they don’t actually work for the TVA, tries to get me to turn against my people, and then disappears around the same time I find myself kidnapped and placed in a Time-Loop.”

Loki and Sylvie look to one another again, a movement that – surprisingly – get’s Mobius to groan in annoyance. 

“And here I was thinking what happened with you two was just two random different events. Should have known you were both involved with one another,” Mobius sighs, glancing back to where his family had disappeared into the sea of people. “So… what now? You here to kill me?”

“No,” Loki answered, voice pitched up in surprise that Mobius would think that. “No, nothing like that, Mobius. We just… we want to talk.”

“About what?”

“About the TVA,” Sylvie said, garnering Mobius’s attention. 

Mobius narrowed his eyes at her, head tilted to the side as he looked her up and down. “And… who are you, exactly? I didn’t quite get your name before you–” Mobius bent his arm, mimicking a choking motion. “–put me in a choke-hold and violated my privacy by digging around in my memories.”

Sylvie at least had enough kindness to look ashamed at her actions. “My name is Sylvie.”

“Sylvie…” Mobius repeated her name, dropping his arm back down. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of you.”

“There’s a reason for that,” Loki piped up. “Sylvie is, uh… well, technically she’s me. Another variant of me, anyway. And if what you said about me not being on your files was true, then… Sylvie wouldn’t be, either.”

“Hang on, what?” Sylvie spluttered, wheeling around to face Loki. “We don’t exist in this timeline?”

“I guess not?” Loki said, sounding unsure. “Either that, or we haven’t done anything in this timeline to become variants.”

“Wow…” Mobius interjected, staring out blankly into the distance. “I knew that whatever had happened to make the sacred timeline erupt like that would be bad but… I don’t even want to think about the shambles it must be in right now…”

“Believe me, you don’t even know the half of it,” Sylvie grumbled. 

“Mobius, you…” Loki begins, the corner of his mouth pulling into an uncomfortable grimace. “I don’t get it. You’re a variant-,”

“I’m aware,” Mobius stated dryly. 

“Already told him, Loki,” Sylvie reminded him. 

“But… now you know that your TVA isn’t the only TVA,” Loki pointed out. “Your timeline isn’t even the sacred timeline. Hel, mine and Sylvie’s timeline weren’t the sacred timeline, either. We just sort of… found our way onto it.”

Mobius cocked a disbelieving eyebrow at them. “And… how did that happen?”

“Well… you, actually,” Loki said. “You – the version of you we know – was trying to track Sylvie down. I had been brought in by the TVA for, um… you know what, it’s not important. You stopped me from being reset. You thought that the best person to track down me would be… me.”

Mobius huffed out a breath of laughter at that, crossing his arms against his chest. “I’m assuming the other me was right?”

“Well, I did find her,” Loki said, voice full of pride as he jabbed a thumb in Sylvie’s direction. “And… well, it’s…”

“I have an idea,” Sylvie suddenly whispered in realization. “We could try telling you what happened, but I doubt you’ll believe us.”

Mobius shrugged his shoulders in a way that said that would be exactly the case. 

“Alright, fine,” Sylvie said, and before either Mobius or Loki knew what she was doing, she grabbed hold of Loki’s arm before stepping forward and grabbing Mobius’s.

Loki didn’t even know that enchantment could work this way. Instead of searching through Mobius’s memories, she was scrounging through both hers and his and, like a reel of film, she let them play. All three of them watched as the series of events that had led them here flitted by: Loki crash landing in the deserts of Mongolia and swiftly being apprehended by the TVA, and coming face to face with Mobius for the first time as he saves him from being reset –

– Sylvie burning the TVA workers to a crisp in the fields of the past and snatching the reset charges left behind –

– Loki and Mobius discovering Sylvie’s hiding trick within the Apocalypses of the Universe; the first time Loki sets eyes on the other version of himself as she playfully waves at him before stepping through the Time-Door –

– The two of them running through Lamentis, just trying to survive an event that no living being is supposed to survive; the moment that a nexus event Mobius had never seen before spikes on the monitor, as two of the same beings reach out for one another –

– Loki pleading with Mobius with everything he’s got to believe him, that Mobius had been taken from his life just as everyone else in the TVA had –

– The brief moment it seemed they may have a chance before Mobius was pruned before Loki’s very eyes, losing one of the few friends he’s ever had in his entire life –

– Watching in horror as the decapitated head of a Time-Keeper falls to their feet, realizing that the all-knowing Time-Keepers were nothing more than robots being used for show to keep the workers of the TVA in line. Then, that small yet significant moment where Loki dared to take a leap he never thought he would make, only to feel his body disintegrate as Renslayer’s pruning stick is pressed against this heart –

– Sylvie, not long after, shoving that very same pruning stick into her heart, joining him in the Void. The briefest of glimpses she got of the Citadel as she grabbed hold of a part of Alioth, before being reunited with the man she had spent her life running away from. All three of them, accompanied by a few peculiar Loki variants, hatching a plan to bring down the TVA once more – 

– A tender goodbye shared between a rapidly formed yet strong bond between the three; a hand stuck out in an attempt of a goodbye that was deemed not enough by Loki, who couldn’t bear to let the other man leave without a word of thanks, both spoken aloud and with the gesture of arms wrapped around one another –

– Stepping through into that Citadel that sat on the edge of time, the two of them being offered what was once all they ever wanted. Then finally, finally, meeting the man responsible for it all. Listening as he regaled his life story, trying valiantly to defend his actions to two people whose actions he had wronged –

– Loki’s hand on her shoulder, trying desperately to pull her back as she advanced towards He Who Remains with sword in hand. Loki’s heart-filled attempt to get Sylvie to stop before all hell breaks loose, and they find themselves fighting the one person they never truly want to hurt. Then, knowing what she knows, Sylvie chooses to let herself enjoy the briefest of moments where Loki made her feel like she could be okay before shoving him through that Time-Door –

– The emptiness Sylvie felt inside as she plunged her sword into He Who Remains’s chest, feeling no sense of the satisfaction she thought she’d feel as the light left his eyes. That emptiness being replaced by complete and utter regret as she watched the timeline ripping itself apart, already imagining all the other versions of Him forming into existence as she dropped to the ground –

– Loki’s similar feeling of emptiness as he sat within the TVA, the shock steadily giving away to the aching pain in his chest, now knowing what it felt like to be on the other side of a Loki betrayal. That pain only becoming infinitely worse as he finds the friend he was looking for, only to be slapped with the realization that whilst the man in front of him may have bore the same face as the man he knows, he was now nothing more than a stranger to him – 

Mobius gasped as he was wrenched out from the memories, nearly falling over his jet-ski as he stumbled back and away from the two of them. Loki instinctively reached out a hand to help steady him, but stopped himself, unsure as to how this Mobius might react. Mobius’s face was scrunched in pain, holding a hand up to his head as the images of what he had seen remained burned in his memory. 

“I know it’s a lot,” Sylvie said apologetically. “But it’s important. I… we needed you to see.”

“I… I don’t understand…” Mobius mumbled, his eyes rapidly moving side to side as he was lost in his thoughts. “Why… why wouldn’t He tell us? He… he told us our jobs were important, that we were protecting the entirety of time, but… we didn’t know we were protecting it from Him.”

“Do you see now?” Loki asks, taking a risk and stepping closer to Mobius. “Your leader… he isn’t the only one of him out there now, and if we don’t do something, then… there will be nothing left but death and suffering.”

Mobius swallowed harshly, giving a small nod of his head as he struggled to get his thoughts under control. “I… I don’t even know what to do, now… Everything I thought I knew, it’s… it’s…”

“It’s never how you think it is,” Sylvie finishes for him. “But you can help us, Mobius. Help us find a way to make things right.”

“How?” Mobius asked, forcing his head up to look to Sylvie. “I’m just an analyst-,”

“Precisely!” Loki cut him off. “You know more about the inner workings of the TVA and the timelines than we do. If you don’t want to get involved, that’s fine. All we’re asking is for some information from you. Give us a chance to find some people that can help, and fix this whole mess.”

Mobius sighed, running a shaking hand through his hair. “I… I suppose that might be possible… What kind of information are we talking about here?”

“For starters-,” Sylvie brought up her hand, showing Mobius the TemPad wrapped around it. “-Any information you have on this thing would be good.”

“His TemPad…” Mobius uttered in amazement, looking moments away from reaching out for it before thinking better of his actions. 

“His?” Loki asks. “Does your version of ‘He Who Remains’ have one of these, too?”

“That he does…” Mobius confirms, looking almost transfixed by the TemPad. “I’ve never actually been able to see it up close myself – having never met Him face to face – but… I know of it. Not much, I have to warn you. Although… there might be some files on it stored away within the TVA…"

“He keeps files about it?” Sylvie asked.

“It’s His pride and joy,” Mobius answered with a short chuckle. “While we’re left slumming it with the older versions, he’s the only one that gets to use the ‘new and improved’ model.”

“Huh… guess your version of ‘He Who Remains’ is kind of similar to the one we know,” Sylvie noted, running a finger across the TemPad. 

“I wouldn’t know,” Mobius said with a shrug of his shoulders. “He’s just sort of… there. An imposing leader. A…”

“A threat?” Sylvie guessed. “Something to keep you in line?”

Mobius paused, pondering over her answer for a moment. “Kind of. Someone to respect, but also… someone to fear.”

Mobius twisted his neck around, looking around to the crowd of people that were still around them. He turned back to them, flicking his head for them to follow as he moves away from the jet-ski, making his way onto the shore. Loki and Sylvie obediently follow, keeping on Mobius’s heels as he carves a path through the name-less beach-goers. 

“I don’t think I can do much for you,” Mobius said over his shoulder as they pushed through to a less densely populated area of the beach. “I’m… I’m not much of a fighter; I wasn’t trained for that. I know how to find information that would be of use to me, and apply it effectively. That’s what I’m good at.”

“And that’s all we’re asking of you,” Loki said. “We could really use a guide through the TVA.”

Mobius came to a stop with a heavy sigh, spinning around on the spot to face them. “I hope you realize what you’re asking of me here. The TVA it’s… it’s all I know. They’re my family-,”

“No, they’re your family,” Sylvie insisted, pointing back to the crowd of people they had walked away from. “And I know there’s nothing we can do to bring them back. But the person who did this to you, who took you away from your family? He’s still out there.”

“I know,” Mobius said gently, eyes glazed over as he looked to where Sylvie had been pointing. “I thought that… that the ends justified the means. I knew that I was doing to other people what had been done to me, but… He… He was so assuring, you know? He made us believe there was truly no other way.”

“He’s a very convincing man,” Loki agreed, glancing over to Sylvie with an awkward wince. “But we’re going to find a way to stop him. There has to be a way for the multi-verse to exist in peace. We just need to remove the dictator – every version of Him.

Mobius nodded at that, taking in a deep breath through his nose. “Okay then,” He said, shortly before spinning back around and walking away from them. 

Loki and Sylvie looked at each other, eyebrows raised in surprise as Mobius continued to just walk away from them. “Wait -- where are you going?” Loki called out, unsure whether they were supposed to follow. 

“Well, I’m not just gonna rock back up to the TVA in swimming trunks, am I?” Mobius called back with a grin, walking backward to face them as he gestured down at himself. “And, uh… whilst you’re technically in uniform, you should probably clean up all the sweat, and dirt, and… and is that blood?”

“It’s been a rough few days…” Loki grumbled. “It’s been a rough damn existence.”

“Isn’t that the truth…” Sylvie added. 

“Oh, and you-,” Mobius said, clicking his fingers as he pointed to Sylvie. “Not saying that I don’t admire the armor set, but uh… you might want to think about wearing something else if we’re going to blend in.”

Loki turned to Sylvie with a knowing grin, enjoying the apprehensive look on her face just a little bit more than he should. “Guess it’s time to see if we can conjure you’re a new outfit.”

Next Chapter - - - >

[icequeenoriginal]

What if you made a fanfic where bowceit puts a spell on roman where roman sees bowceit as virgil and virgil as bowceit

Author’s Note: I am so so so so so so so sorry. You asked this over a year ago, maybe longer but I got so distracted that I did not get to it until now. I was never going to abandon this, even if the AU is basically over. I hope it was worth the wait. I love the prompt by the way.

Mario AU belongs to @sugarglider-s

A03 link 

Warning: Brainwashing, mistaken identity, misunderstanding, fighting, villain but sympathetic Deceit, crying, yelling (Let me know if I missed anything)

Pairings: Prinxiety and Logicality 

Title: The Original is Always Better

~

It was supposed to be a fun day.

It was rare for Patton’s and Roman’s free days to line up with one another, even rarer for Patton’s, Logan’s, Virgil’s, and Roman’s free days to line up but on a Saturday at the end of the month, the stars finally aligned for such a thing to occur. They would have to thanks Remy next time they see him. 

Patton had come up with an idea for them to have a picnic on Emile’s island. They could make a whole trip out of it. They could visit Emile, swim in the ocean, lay on the beach. 

“That sounds like a perfect idea dear,” Logan replied, which made Patton smile and blush.

Roman nodded, “I can bring my beach ball, I haven’t used it in ages!”

“Could be nice to get some sun for once,” Virgil added.

And so the day was set, they would leave before sunrise in Patton’s pink plane. That way they could get as much of the day in as possible and a certain snake wouldn’t see them leaving the Mushroom Kingdom.

Patton and Logan spent the day before preparing the food as well as packing. Roman and Virgil meanwhile, came up with games as they packed. 

It was going to be a great day.

Keyword: Was.

~

As the main four were happily planning their getaway, Bowciet was sulking in his throne room, nothing his servants weren’t used to. 

He had suffered another bitter defeat by the Sarcastic Brothers. Plan after plan, he could never win. He would get so close and those annoying jumping brothers would always stupidly find a way to beat him. 

And the worst part? After they were rescued, the princes would go on and on about how they were so happy that they were saved by their wonderful boyfriends.

“What do those princes even see in those two lowlife peasants plumbers anyway?!” Bowciet exclaimed.

“Because they’re cool?” A Gomba suggested.

“Because they are kind?” A Koopa offered.

“Because they don’t kidnap them?” A hammer bro adds.

Bowciet growled and blew fire at them, making them run out of the room in pain and fear. Bowciet slumps back into his chair.

What his minions said was absolutely ridiculous. They were completely not cool, cool people do not ruin the plans of a king! They were both a four at best and they weren’t THAT strong. Logan could jump pretty high sure, but he was as boring as a textbook. How could Prince Patton ever be attracted to that? And Virgil, an anxious freak who jumps at his own shadow, Roman likes that?

Bowceit knew he would be a much better match for the princes but they never give him a chance to prove it. They usually turn their back to him when he puts them in their cells and ignores him. How rude of them. 

No matter how many presents and compliments he gives, they never give him a chance. Roman even had to gall say they both could not stand the sight of him.

Wait.

They could not stand the sight of him.

But they could stand the sight of those plumbers.

Bowciet smirked, his newest plan was forming in his mind. 

He summoned a Magikoopa to his throne room.

“Yes, your majesty?” The Magikoopa said as it entered the room.

“I need you to make me a spell, as quickly as possible.”“What kind, your majesty?”Bowceit smirked, “Illusion”

~

As much as Virgil hates getting out of bed early, and boy does he hate it, he was very happy to find out that the seats on Patton’s plane leaned as flatly as possible. He sleeps through the entire plane ride with Roman run his fingers through his hair. Virgil breathes in Roman’s scent. He smells like the flowers in his garden and the tea he makes. Mainly honeysuckle and strawberry, it causes Virgil to dream of running through the fields with Roman. It is them alone, with only the flower-covered valleys and the warm sun. 

In his dream, Roman’s smile rivals the sun, as if it doesn’t do that in the real world. Dream Roman runs a bit of head, a gap is starting to form between them. It made Virgil a bit nervous but Roman only looks over his shoulder and smiles. “Follow me!” Dream Roman shouts happily, “Don’t stop following me.”“Never” Virgil whispers.After a few more minutes of Virgil chasing Dream Roman, Dream Roman stops and stands in the middle of the endless field. 

Virgil stops a few feet behind him and pants, trying to catch his breath. Dream Roman turns to face him and lifts up Virgil’s chin gently. Virgil blushes and Dream Roman smiles at him.

Dream Roman smiles back and says, “It’s time to wake up Virgil.”

The dream ends as Virgil begins to blink, he feels someone is shaking him awake. He turns to the source of the shaking before immediately freezing when seeing how close Roman’s face is to his.

It did not matter that this was how Virgil normally wakes up, Roman always makes him freeze with how beautiful he is. Virgil can’t help himself as he scans every feature of Roman’s face as if he was seeing Roman for the first time.

Roman smiles softly at him, flashing his pearly white teeth, “Hey sleepyhead, we are here.”

Virgil nods quickly, face completely red with blush. “T-Thanks Ro.”

Roman kisses his forehead before pulling him up and out of his seat. Virgil can barely keep up as Roman runs out of the plane, having to hold down his hat as they go. 

Virgil has to squint when the light suddenly hits his eyes. Once his eyes adjust, he gasps at the sight in front of him. The beach sand is crystal white and very warm when Virgil touches it. The water is cyan blue, so clear that you can see the fish swim through it. The palm trees are ten times Virgil high with huge lush leaves. It wasn’t like Virgil hadn’t been to Emile’s island before but you don’t really have time to stop and smell the roses when an evil snake monster kidnaps your boyfriend.

Patton quickly rips off his shirt and jumps into the ocean to swim around, having changed into his swimsuit on the plane. Logan soon joins him, making sure to put out the picnic blanket and the picnic basket.

Virgil yawns, “I think I’m going to take another nap. The warm sand is just too tempting.”Roman giggles, “Okay then babe. I’m going to make a sandcastle next to you then.”Virgil had to physically stop himself from swooning. He knew that Roman had a bunch of stuff planned for them to do together and Virgil knew that Roman generally did not want to give up what he comes up with but he always does it for Virgil. Virgil is always his priority. 

Virgil pulls Roman into a kiss before laying down. 

Roman blushes, “What was that for?” Virgil wasn’t always one to initiate kisses.

Virgil covers his face with his hat to block out the sun and to hide his blush, “Just felt like it.”

Roman smiles at Virgil, his heart soaring with love for his boyfriend. Virgil always found a way to be sweet without trying. It was one of the things Roman loved about him.

~

Virgil woke up again to someone shaking him. This time it was his brother so Virgil was far less jumpy this time.

“What’s up, bro?” Virgil asked sleepily 

“We are about to eat lunch and I figured you would want some,” Logan replies 

“Lunchtime? How long have I been asleep?”

“You slept through the entire morning.”

“Did I miss anything?”“You missed Roman joining us in the ocean then he and Patton make this giant sandcastle,” Logan says as he points to a sandcastle that is about two stories tall. It looks like a miniature version of Patton’s castle except on the front, instead of a glass window with Patton holding a rose, it is a drawing of Patton and Roman made into the sand. Roman peeks his head out of the sand castle’s window and waves, “Virgil! My love! You are awake! Look what we made!” 

Virgil’s eyes widen in shock at how big the castle is and how it can hold both Roman and Patton. Roman does not seem to notice this as he exits the sandcastle with Patton.

They all sit on the picnic blanket and Patton serves the food. They eat are given their favorite sandwiches and favorite kind of chips. Patton also packed potato and macaroni salad for them all to share. 

“What do you guys want to do next?” Roman asks between bites.

“Hmm…Oh! What if we went for a walk around the island?” Patton suggests.

“That sounds absolutely wonderful Patton! I have been meaning to take note of the flowers around here to expand my garden!” Roman replies

Virgil snickers, “Do you even have any garden space left Princey?”

Roman waves him off, “I can just start a fourth garden.”“FOURTH?!”

“Instead of debating Roman’s plant obsession, we should finish our lunch so we can begin our walk,” Logan says while waving his hand to silence his brother and his brother’s boyfriend.

The other three nod in agreement and eat their food in relative silence.

~

Once they pack up their things and changed on Patton’s plane, the four head deeper into the island. They pass by plants and bushes that are twice their size but they oddly seem to be walking on a mostly clear path. Roman runs a bit ahead, hardly able to contain his squeals as he sees all the plants in front of him. He scribes a quick drawing of them into his little orange notebook. Virgil is standing next to him, holding his umbrella and smiling at his boyfriend’s antics. He adored Roman’s passion and will do anything to not let that fire die.

Eventually, the four come across an empty field. It has patches of leaves all around it. They all look at one another, something feels off. It seemed too quiet, none of them were used to pure quiet.

Patton squats in front of one of the patches of leaves. “It looks like the bed Emile has.”

Logan nods “The Emiles must collect leaves and make beds that they sleep on.”

“Why aren’t any of them here?” Virgil asks, nervousness creeping into his voice. 

“They might all be doing something right now.” Roman offers, hoping to calm his boyfriend.

No one else replied, there was no way it was something as simple as that, it never was. Patton moves to investigate another pile of leaves when it suddenly begins to shake. Before Patton can react, a Goomba jumps out, causing Patton to yelp. Patton falls on his back as the Goomba lands just by his head. Logan quickly stomps on it and helps Patton up.

Two dozen more Goomba jumps out from under the other piles of leaves surround the four of them. The four each take out six Goombas but don’t have time to celebrate when more of Bowceit’s minions surround them. 

Roman bursts into laughter “No originality Bowceit? Oh well! I’m going to make this fun for me! Whoever defeats the most minions gets the first swing on Bowceit!”Logan, Virgil, and Patton all exchange a look before all smiling and nodding. Unbeknownst to them, Bowceit was smiling too, his plan was working exactly as he expected. 

The four fought the Koopas, not noticing that they were being moved further and further away from each other. They push Logan and Virgil to one side of the field and Patton and Roman to the other side. Once they were where Bowceit wanted them, he sent Hammer Bros. towards them.  They throw their hammers between the two groups, forcing all four of them to be on their own and surrounded by Koopas. 

Bowceit smirks and walks out from behind the tree, receiving glares from all of them. “Well, well, well…look what the Koopas dragged in.”

All four of them groan, making Bowceit hiss at all of them. “Rude.”

“What do you want Bowceit, this time?” Logan says, annoyance and bitterness dripping from his mouth. 

“Oh please Logan, as if you do not know,” Bowceit replies as he looks at his gloved fingers.

Logan rolls eyes, “Of course…well since you are up to your old tricks, I might as well use mine!” Logan then jumps up in the air, well over the enemies. He lands a punch square into Bowceit’s jaw. As the two begin to scuffle, Virgil takes out the Koopas on their side to go help Logan fight Bowceit. 

On the other side, Roman starts to take out the Koopas near him. That is when he notices that the Koopas near him and Patton are running towards Virgil. Roman immediately feels suspicious. Bowceit normally sends the most amount of Koopas at Roman. He looks around and that’s when he spots it.

A magikoopa, directly diagonal from Patton waving its wand, ready to cast a spell. Roman runs to Patton as fast as he can.

“PATTON!” Roman yellsPatton turns to him confused, “Huh?!”The magikoopa fires the spell.

Roman shoves Patton out of the way and yells in pain as the spell hits him and knocks him to the ground. 

“ROMAN!” Virgil shouts and jumps over the group of Koopas. Logan kicks Bowceit away from and turns to the group of Koopas, ready to take them out so they can’t stop Virgil. He pauses, confused when he sees that they are not following Virgil, just standing. Logan turns his head to Bowceit and sees him smirking. 

Virgil quickly helps Roman up, “Ro! Are you alright?”

Roman blinks at him before grabbing his arm and throwing him across the field. Everyone but Bowceit freezes in shock. Virgil hits a tree and rubs the back of his head in confusion.”

Bowceit smiles, “Not the one I was intending,” Bowceit shrugs, “But I can’t complain!” Bowceit walks to Roman and smiles, opening his arms. “Excellent throw my dear”

Roman giggles and blushes. Bowceit takes cups his face and Roman leans into his touch, shattering Virgil’s heart.

Bowceit turns his head to Virgil with the evilest grin on his face as he carcasses Roman’s cheek. 

Virgil went numb. 

Virgil will be the first to admit he has a lot of fears. Some odd like jumping too high he gets lost in space and some serious like burning to death in lava. This, however, was worse than any fear of his.

Bowceit winning. 

He had gotten one of the princes. His prince. His Princey. And Roman looked happy in his arms. Roman’s normally kind and playful grin was replaced by a devilish and evil grin. And his eyes…

Oh god, his eyes.

One thing Virgil loved to do was just stare into Roman’s eyes. Roman’s eyes are normally warm, brown, and playful. His eyes now…they were ice blue. Piercing ice blue that sent daggers into Virgil’s heart. 

Bowceit picks up Roman bride style pulling the giggling prince close. Bowceit sends him a wink and runs off with Roman. 

Logan, who has been frozen in shock the entire time, takes a step forward only to have to dodge a hammer throw at his head. Logan narrows his eyes at them but something purple catches his eyes.

Logan sees his brother shaking, on the verge of tears. Logan is livid. He jumps up and stomps down hard on two Goombas. He angrily but silently takes out the rest of Bowceit’s minion in the area. Logan is panting by the time he is finished but ignores it to run over and check on Virgil.

Virgil clings onto his brother as he tries to get himself to breathe. This was not the time to panic, but it was also the perfect time to panic. Did this have to be Virgil’s life right now?

It took a while but Virgil was finally able to get his breathing normal enough to think straight. Patton made sure to give him a big hug just to make sure.

“Okay, okay,” Virgil pulls away from him “So what the heck just happened?!”“Language!” Patton shouted. Just because it is a stressful situation does not mean he will be allowed to curse.

Virgil blinked at him before shaking his head, “What happened to Roman?”

Logan pauses for a moment before replying, “Clearly, he has been brainwashed in some way. Most likely by whatever that spell was.”

“Right, right, great, great! Now how do we fix it?!” Virgil asks, already feeling his panic returning. 

“Well, it’s a spell, right? We need to find a magikoopa,” Logan offered.

Virgil nods, “Right, right. That makes sense. Of course, it makes sense. Is it always this hard to breathe?” Virgil says as he pants.

Patton pats his back as Virgil tries again to catch his breath. 

Logan puts his hands on Virgil’s shoulders, “Virgil. You are my brother. I will do anything for you. I will get Roman back.”

Virgil smiles and puts his hand on one of Logan’s hands, “Thanks bro, now let’s go kick some magikoopa butt!”

~Roman laughs as “Virgil” carries him through the island. “Virgil” jumped through the air, making Roman hold onto him tightly.

This was surprising to Roman. Virgil was never this energetic after a fight Bowceit. Though, to be fair to him, this time did not require traveling through nine different worlds to get to said fight. 

Roman was happy about this small change. Normally his poor stormcloud would be too drained to want to do anything but cuddle in their shared bed. Roman wouldn’t mind if it was because Virgil enjoyed it, he minded that it was the only thing his love could physically do that did not strain his body.

Well, now was not the time to think about that. Now was the time to admire “Virgil’s” jumping skills. He knew both Logan and Virgil hated their jumping ability but that did not make it any less impressive. Though, Roman did think it was odd that “Virgil” seemed to land so loudly. He figured Virgil would be the lightest on his feet, after Patton and him of course. You can’t spend your youth dancing and not be.

Roman had no time to think about it as he gasps, nearly jumping out of “Virgil’s” arm. “Virgil” stops moving to prevent Roman from falling out of his arms. 

“Stop! Stop here!” Roman demands.

Bowceit raises an eyebrow, “Why?”

“Look at those flowers!” Roman untangles himself from “Virgil’s” arms and motions to the flower field in front of him, “I have never seen such amazing and huge flowers!”

Bowceit would admit that the flowers in question were…okay looking. They were very tall with bright pink flower petals. The petals were very vibrant pink with white accents. Bowceit feels his piranha plants were much nicer.

“We have to see more of it!” Roman shouts as he points to the field. 

“Maybe later, I have something much more fun in mind.”

Bowceit had a plan. He would convince Roman to come back to his castle and marry “Virgil”.

“What could be more fun than this?” Roman asked perplexed. What could be more them than running through a flower field and fall into each other’s arms only to stay there and watch the sunset?

“Well I was thinking we could go to Bowceit’s castle–” Bowceit begins only for Roman to cut him off.

“Pffft, we spend enough time there, too much time in my opinion,” Roman says with a laugh. 

Bowceit did his best to hide his annoyance with that statement. The spell may make him look and sounds like Virgil but unless he acted Virgil, there was a chance Roman could peek through. 

“Yeah but you knocked him out, maybe we could trash the place?”

Roman made a very perplexed face and Bowceit sucked in his breath. After a few moments, Roman bursts into laughter. “We do that too much too. Come onnnn, please?”

“I just…had a funny prank idea we could pull on him!” “Virgil pushed.

“I promise we can do that next time but when are we going to have a quiet moment and who knows how long these flowers again?”Bowceit did not have time for this. Another problem with the spell was that it only lasted until the sun went down. That is what he gets for rushing the creation of the spell but he wanted this done today. So much for being eager.

How would Virgil react to Roman’s begging? He knew virtually nothing about the younger plumber due to not caring to. The only thing he knew was he got upset easily which either led to tears or him getting punched in the face by the purple plumber. 

He did once overhear Roman describing a painting Virgil apparently did for him to Patton when they were both in his dungeon but he doubted it could help him in this situation. Unless…

“Alright, but just long enough for me to get a…drawing in,” “Virgil” replies, almost hesitantly. 

Luckily for him, Roman’s pleading face morphs into a soft accepting smile, “Of course dear. Then we can do whatever you want afterward.”

Bowceit smirks, “Excellent.”~

A magikoopa was flying peacefully when a green shell suddenly came flying at it. The magikoopa had no time to react before it was knocked right off of its broom and falls to the ground. 

The magikoopa screams as it went tumbling to the ground. It hit the ground with a thud and it grips its head in pain. 

Once its vision cleared, it gasps as it sees it is surrounded by a very angry Virgil, Logan, and Patton. All three of their arms are crossed and they are glaring daggers into the magikoopa.

The magikoopa scrambles onto its butt as it looks at the trio, absolutely terrified. Before it can try to escape, Virgil grabs it by the robe and drags it to make it face to face with him. 

It squeaks, “Don’t hurt me! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Virgil growls out, “You were there! You cast a spell on Roman! Now tell me what you did to him!” 

As Virgil is talking, Logan walks around him to be behind the magikoopa. “Just so you know, Patton and I won’t hold him back.”

“In fact, we will help,” Patton says, his voice sounding like a horror movie villain.

The magikoopa began to sweat profusely. “It-it was an illusion spell!” it squeaks out.

“What kind of illusion spell?” Virgil asks, tightening his grip on the Magikoopa’s robe.

“It made Bowceit look like you and you look like Bowceit to Prince Roman! If it hit Prince Patton, it would have done the thing to Logan!”

 “That must be why Roman attacked you when you touched him,” Logan says as he rubs his chin in thought.

“Alright so now tell us how to break the spell!” Virgil shouts. 

“I am not telling you anything!” the magikoopa says, acting as if its voice was not completely shaky.

However, before Virgil could do anything, Patton rips the magikoopa away from him.

Patton glares at the magikoopa with nothing but malice with his eyes. “You are going to tell him so we can save my best friend or you are going to deal with me,”

“Like you can hurt a fly!” The magikoopa barks at Patton.

“I only hurt those who deserve it, and you for one, deserve a lot.” Patton throws the magikoopa to the ground in anger. He pulls out his umbrella and swings it down on the magikoopa.

“WAIT!” the magikoopa screams.

Patton stops just as the umbrella is about to hit him. “Yes?”“I’ll tell you everything! I swear!” the magikoopa pleads, getting on its hands and knees.

“Then start talking,” Patton says with a glare. 

“There is no way to break the spell!” Patton winds up to swing again.

“BUT! THERE’S A BUT!” the magikoopa “The spell will end when the sun goes down! His plan is to marry the prince before then as you!”

“Anything else?” Patton asks

“Bowceit Jr. made me come up with a spell to make himself taller.” the magikoopa replies, looking down at the ground in shame before bursting into tears. 

The three of them look at each other, very uncomfortable. They slowly back away from the crying magikoopa and head off to find Roman.

~

Roman had a great time in the flower field. He was able to collect some seeds of the flower and have a nice walk through the field with “Virgil”.

Though “Virgil” seemed to be awfully quiet, not having anything to say to him.

It strikes Roman as odd. Sure, Virgil was always one to keep to himself. When Roman would boast and brag to his Thomases and Talyns, Virgil would walk silently next to him with a smile on his face as he intently listens to whatever Roman has to say.

However, when they are alone, Virgil becomes the more talkative one. He would go on about his adventure with Logan, his ideas for songs, and anything that was on his mind. 

Roman figures that something must be wrong. With him being uncharacteristically pushy earlier and with him not saying anything, there must be something going on in his mind. 

“Mind if we rest in the tree for a bit? My legs are a bit sore.” Roman asks while pointing at a tall tree.

“Virgil” shrugs and follows him. Bowceit knew it was a bit late in the afternoon but he was sure they still had enough time to complete his plan. He goes to sit next to the tree but stops to watch Roman climb the tree. 

“What are you doing?” “Virgil” asks.

Roman stops his climbing. “What does it look like? I’m sitting in the tree.” Roman replies, almost laughing.  

“But why?”

“Because we always sit in trees together?” Roman replies, looking very confused. 

“Oh? Oh! Of course! Sorry, I completely forgot.” “Virgil” scrambles up the tree after him. Roman continues to climb up confused. 

Roman sits on a high branch that overlooks the island. Bowceit could see that the sun was beginning to go down. He frowns, he is running out of time. He was nowhere near his castle with the wedding chapel. He doubts that there were any wedding chapels on Emile’s Island, there were hardly any buildings at all.

“Alright, what is wrong? Don’t tell me it’s nothing, you wouldn’t be frowning if something wasn’t wrong.” Roman asks, his arms crossed so there was no room for discussion. 

Bowceit was stuck. He began patting his sides nervously, it was a habit he has always had ever since he was younger. 

As he was doing that, he felt a small box in his pocket. The ring! He had completely forgotten that he had it on him with everything going on. 

Bowceit tried to hide his shock at discovering the ring but he clearly did not do it well as Roman cups his face. 

“Stormcloud, tell me, please. You know you can tell me, anything babe.” Roman asks gently. 

Bowceit’s finger’s rest of the ring box. This was his last shot. 

“I have something to ask you,” “Virgil” asks as he slips his hand into his pocket. 

Roman is confused, he knew Virgil put his hands in his pockets when he was nervous but he had no idea what was making Virgil nervous. 

“Will you…?”

“Will I?”“Will you…tell me why you like me?” 

Bowceit didn’t know what possessed him to ask that question. It was always lingering in his mind. Why them and not him? He was a king after all! With minions and a huge castle,  not to mention very adorable children. So why did the princes date the plumbers? They are plumbers, what exactly do they have to offer?

Roman’s frown was deep that Bowceit was so sure that it would cause permanent frown lines. He takes a deep breath and says, “Okay, I am only going to say this once more. So make sure it stays in your brain this time because you know I hate repeating myself.” Roman emphasis his point by poking “Virgil” forehead. 

“Alright, alright, I get it.” “Virgil” replies, waving Roman off, “Just tell me.”

Roman makes a show of clearing his throat, tapping his chest, and do some vocal exercises. “Alright. First off, I demand as your prince and loving boyfriend that you never doubt our relationship again. I know you get anxious about a lot of things but we should not be one of them, my stormcloud. I adore you. I love how cautious you are but are still willing to jump over literal lava when I am kidnapped. You are strong and a hero. But that is not all I like. I like it when you sing when we sit together under a tree and read a book. I like doing nothing and everything with you because it is you. You are an amazing artist and musician. You are an amazing brother and boyfriend.”

Bowceit is shocked, to say the least. He has never heard Roman talk this soft or sweetly. The ring felt heavy in his hand.

“And secondly, I don’t just like you, I love you.” Roman says as he puts his hand on “Virgil”’s hand that is resting on the tree branch. 

Bowceit looks down at their hands before looking up at Roman’s face. He is smiling, the most loving smile Roman had ever given him. Roman’s now blue eyes seemed to shimmer with joy and love.  

This is all he ever wanted from the prince. And yet…

It felt wrong. This was wrong. 

He squeezed the ring box. He had to make a choice. 

~

As this was happening; Logan, Patton, and Virgil seemed to be running around like chickens that have lost their heads. They first headed straight for Bowceit’s castle after talking with the magikoopa. They were shocked when they did not find Roman but rather the danger noodles making a gigantic pillow fort in their father’s throne room.

They headed from world to world afterward but they could not seem to find Roman anywhere. They made it back to the Mushroom Kingdom before deciding to take a breather. 

Once they arrive, Virgil walks up to the closet tree and punches it. He immediately regrets this action as his anger quickly turns into pain. He sticks his wounded fist into his mouth to silence any curse words that threaten to escape. 

Patton pulls him into a hug, gently rubbing his back. He rocks Virgil back and forth in an attempt to soothe him. Virgil tears up, though he is not sure if it is because of the pain or the sadness he has been trying to suppress all day. 

Once the pain dulls, Virgil pulls away from Patton, and Patton lets him go. Virgil tends to pace when he needs to calm his mind down. 

Virgil paces in front of Patton’s castle, almost biting his nails but stopping when he remembers he has gloves on. “AGH! Where could they possibly be?!” Virgil shouts in anger.

“We will find them, Virgil,” Logan replies.

“No, no. No, we won’t!”“Virgil–”

“No, no Logan, don’t you dare! Don’t tell me we will! Because we have looked everywhere! We went to every Zone, fuck, we’ve been to his castle! And even if we do find them, they probably are already married. That’s probably why we can’t find them because they’re on their goddamn honeymoon! It’s over! He’s gone!”

Virgil pauses, the weight of his words hit him, “He’s gone…I lost him.” He nearly fell backward from it. He begins to hug himself, trying to catch his breath. 

Logan is completely lost. He wants to reassure his brother but he doesn’t know what he could possibly say to help him. He had no logical positive explanation. The logical explanation is that Virgil is right. He did not know what to do. 

Luckily, Patton does. 

“So you’re just going to give up?” Patton says, making the two brothers turn to him. His pink sleeved arms arm crossed and he is glaring at the pair. 

“You guys are only heroes when it’s easy for you? Now that you’re in a hard spot you’re just going to stop?” Patton says angrily 

“Well, dear, there is not–” Logan starts but Patton silences him with a hand raise. 

“Don’t ‘dear’ me! And don’t you dare say there is nothing you can do! What would Roman say? What would Roman DO? Do you think he just sits around and waits for you guys to save him?’“No…” Virgil replies “He never gives up. H-He would keep trying…”

“That’s right! So you need to do that too!” 

Virgil is silent for a few seconds before standing up straight, “You’re right…”

“What was that?” Patton says, his face morphing into a smile. 

“You’re right!” Virgil shouts, determination coming back to him, “I am not going to give up! Because I am not a quitter!”

“That’s right! So what are you going to do?!”

“I’M GOING TO BREAK BOWCEIT’S FACE!”Patton blinks at him, “…What else are you going to do?”

“Oh uh save Roman. THEN BREAK HIS FACE!”

“Okay, kiddo.”

“I WILL SEARCH EACH ENDS OF THE EARTH AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE TO BREAK THAT UGLY SNAKE’S FACE!”

“Maybe you won’t have to,” Logan chimes in. 

Both Virgil and Patton turn to him and say, “Huh?” 

“Think about it, where was the first place we checked when we knew Bowceit had Roman?”

“Bowceit’s castle, but he wasn’t there,” Virgil replies, still confused. 

“And when we saw that they were not there, where did we go?”

“To every other place, we know Bowceit has a tower.”

“So that means we didn’t check…?”

“…THE ISLAND! THAT SON OF A BITCH NEVER LEFT THE ISLAND! WE GOT TO GO!” Virgil screams before taking off in a run. 

“Virgil! Kiddo! We have to take the plane!” Patton shouts after him. 

“Oh right.”

~

“Cover your eyes and follow me.” “Virgil” instructs Roman as they climbed out of the tree. Roman raises his eyebrow skeptically but covers his eyes with one hand, using his other hand to take “Virgil’s” hand. 

They walk for a while before Roman hears what sounds like running water. “May I open my eyes now?”

“Not yet, not yet, Count down from..from 300.”

“300?!”

“Virgil” sighs, “Please? For me.”

Roman rolls his eyes behind his hand, “Okay, okay. But this surprise better be worth it. One, two, three…”

Bowceit steps back from Roman with a frown. He shakes his head and runs away as quietly as possible.

He could not believe that he was actually doing this. He should be jumping at this opportunity and fast, the sun was starting to go down. He looks over his shoulder at Roman still counting. He sighs and continues to walk away.  

Damn his stupid conscience.  

~

Once the plane touches the ground on the island, Virgil runs out of it. He is prepared to rip this island to sherds to find his beloved. Luckily he only has to run for a bit before he finds Bowceit. 

He jumps up and goes to punch Bowceit but Bowceit dodges. Virgil lands and gets into a fighting set “You…”

“I’m not here to fight,” Bowceit says putting his hands up in defense. 

Virgil rolls his eyes, “Wow, that’s a first, but I do not care. Where’s Roman?”

“He’s down that path,” points, “He’s fine, just counting.”

“What? Why is he counting?” Virgil asks, prepared to hear something about a bomb. 

“He’s counting down until the spell breaks. Go and get him.” Bowceit says. 

“How do I know you’re not lying?” 

“Because I’m heading to my airship by myself. But don’t believe me, it doesn’t make a difference to me.”

Virgil stares at him, and he can’t find any indication that Bowceit is lying. “…Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t want to win this way.”

Virgil looks at him in utter shock. 

“Oh pick up your jaw from the ground plumber. Don’t read into this. I will marry one of those princes, just not like this.”

Virgil couldn’t hold back his smirk, “Not if my brother and I have anything to say about it.”

Bowceit smirks as well, “We will see.” He salutes Virgil before stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking off. 

Virgil’s smirk morphs into a relieved smile. He takes off to Roman, he’ll break Bowceit’s fave another day. 

~“Three…two…one…” Roman removes his hand “Oh my gosh…”

The lake he had been brought to was surrounded by Evening Primroses and Moonflowers. The sky was filled with bright beautiful stars. Roman smiles at the scene before turning around. Standing behind him is Virgil, staring at him with his bright brown eyes. 

Roman runs over to him and takes his hands. “This place is beautiful. Did you find it on one of your adventures? Wait, don’t tell me. I want to listen to the wonderful sounds of this place.” Roman looks around with a smile before his eyes land back on Roman.

His brown eyes. His soft, warm, and oh so loving brown eyes. 

“Stormcloud, why are you crying?” Roman asks as he cups Virgil’s hand and wipes the tears away with his thumb.

Virgil lets out a watery laugh, “Nothing baby, I just love you so much.”

Roman kisses his nose “And I love you too. And I will always love you.”

Virgil grins, “I know.”

~

Taglist:

@corkeecoderyt @Per-seph-o-nee @Ohshrekmyheck @3milystuff  @Asymmetricalgarbage8888   @fairytailtwists  @sanders-sides-rebloger  @sanderssidesfluffyangst  @unikornavenger @0callmevirge0 @gloomingwitch @roxiefox24 @ijustreallylovesanderssides @unisaurioamorfo @mycatshuman

[razieltwelve]

Signage (Final Rose)

“You realise you’re being an obnoxious, little troll, right?” Yang growled.

Neo shrugged and then held up a wooden sign. You do realise that you’d probably be dead if I wasn’t here, right?

“Oh, shut up.” Yang peered around the boulder. The gigantic Grimm and its horde of minions were still skulking about. It was just her luck to run into an S Tier Grimm on what was supposed to be a simple mission to weed out a few lesser Grimm. “And how are you even making those signs? Don’t tell me you’re carrying around planks of wood to write on.”

Of course not. I’m using my Semblance to create illusions of wooden signs that I pretend to hold up. Naturally, Neo was doing exactly that as she replied. Another sign appeared to replace the previous one. I don’t suppose you have a plan, do you?

“Does punching it until it dies count as a plan?”

Nope. Neo peeked around the other side of the boulder. Good grief that thing was big. It had to be at least thirty feet tall, and its entire body was covered in thick plates of bony armour. Worse, the few gaps in its armour were only there to allow tentacles barbed with bone spurs to protrude from its body. This is where Weiss would be handy. You could go out there, do you whole ‘look at how awesome I am’ thing and distract it until Weiss could blast it.

“I’ll have you know that I am completely awesome.” Yang smirked. “And that might work.” She nodded. “I’ll go out there and have the little ones whack me a bit. That should give me the juice I need to punch through that armour.”

And what, pray tell, will I be doing while you do all this?

“I’m glad you asked.” Yang put one arm on Neo’s shoulder and then lifted the smaller girl over her head like a trophy before heaving her at the huge Grimm. “You’re the distraction.”

X     X     X

“I won’t argue with the results,” Lightning drawled as Yang finished her mission report. “However, I do think your methods could use some work.”

Next to Yang, Neo was practically radiating outrage. The petite teen had no visible signs of injury, but the twitch in her eye suggested that she was on the verge of lashing out. She threw me at a giant Grimm! Neo didn’t bother to create the illusion of a sign this time. Instead, the words were written in glowing writing in the air around them.

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it?” Yang huffed. “And you were better suited to be a distraction since you’ve got your illusions and you’re smaller and faster. It makes you less of a target.”

Neo hefted her umbrella.

“Wait until you’re out of my office to stab her. Otherwise, I’ll have to deal with it.”

Neo shot Yang a nasty look. So it’s okay to stab her, so long as it’s not here?

“Should you really be encouraging her?” Yang asked.

Lightning raised one eyebrow. “You did throw her at a giant Grimm.”

“Come on. I bet you’ve thrown your teammates at Grimm plenty of times.”

Lightning nodded. “Of course, I have. However, I’m not the one giving a mission report.”

“I guess...”

Lightning sighed. “Try not to do it again unless you have to. I also want you to forward the footage you’ve collected to Professor Dia. The Grimm you encountered sounds familiar, but I want it checked against existing records just to be sure.”

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

The Yang approach to problem solving. If you can’t already punch it hard enough to kill it, get hit enough until you can. Also, throw people as a distraction. And Yang does have a point. Lightning has totally used her teammates as projectiles on multiple occasions, which is why she doesn’t even bother denying it. She refers to it as ‘Rapid Deployment Tactics’.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.