#and just hanging w snf

[sandsofdteam-moved]

good to know everyone is going through drithdrawals right now I miss him :(

[twisted-sickfics]

Hell is Forever (But Thankfully Colds Aren’t)

thank you sm to anon who requested sick sneezy adam, i absolutely loved humbling this little asshole <3 love this guy and i hope you guys enjoy me torturing him

~

“Ugh, kill me now,” Adam groans for the umpteenth time that day. “I thought this was supposed to be heaven. Why are there still fucking colds in heaven?! hhuh… hh’TSHOO!”

“It’s by design,” Lute says, completely unfazed by the fact that Adam seems to refuse to cover a single sneeze. “If Angels were immune to illness or injury, that would take away our sense of purpose and self-preservation. Plus, it teaches us humility, something you desperately need.”

“Great,” Adam says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “I bet it was that stupid princess and her spooky gremlin girlfriend that did this to me. *snff*”

“Through the hologram?” Lute asks, unimpressed.

“Through the fucking hologram!” he bemoans. “Hell and their crazy, weird-ass germs. I’m gonna exterminate the fuck outta those sinners when I get down thehh… hhH’HASSHOO!“

“Bless you,” Lute says. “What is that, the tenth time today?” It’s a joke intended to ruffle his feathers a bit, and it seems to accomplish just that.

“Oh, shut up,” Adam says, grabbing a tissue and blowing his nose loudly. He attempts to throw it like a basketball into the nearest trash can and misses. “I’m gonna kill whoever gave me this fucking cold. I feel like shit. How do I know if it’s the flu or just a cold again? Or is it something worse and I’m finally gonna kick the bucket?”

“You’re not dying,” Lute says, thoroughly exasperated. “You just have a cold and it’ll get better in a few days. The best thing to do is rest so you don’t make it worse. If you keep talking so much, you’ll hurt your throat.”

“Oh yeah? Says who?” Adam asks boisterously, though he immediately falls into a harsh coughing fit right after. “Lute—” he says between coughs, "I’m dying—”

Lute looks at her commander and briefly wonders about how difficult it would be to ascend to power. No, she decides, not today. She moves over to Adam’s side and pats his back in the least awkward way possible (for her). “Just breathe,” she says as gently as her voice allows. “It’ll pass.”

And it does. Adam catches his breath soon after and tries to brush it off as though nothing just happened and he didn’t just see the gates of heaven, well, outside of his day job.

“You’ve only been given a couple of days to rest,” Lute reminds him, not wanting to fall behind on important business. Heaven is very demanding, even for its higher-ups. “Think you’ll be fine by then?”

“No,” Adam says, and it’s starting to sound like he’s being genuine. Maybe. “Can’t imagine I can shake this in two days. I’m really getting my ass kicked here.” He blows his nose again, an unsettling gurgling sound.

Lute can’t believe this is her life. Yes, she is Adam’s lieutenant, but surely this is above her pay grade? Still, something inside her stirs and she can’t just leave him alone when he’s this miserable, can she?

Adam started feeling a little off the day prior, but he chalked it up to getting less sleep than usual. It was only when he woke up today that he realized just how fucked he was. He called Lute immediately, saying that he needed her for something very important. Apparently the “very important” thing is waiting on Adam hand and foot while he complains and throws tissues outside of the trash can.

“I might be able to get you a third day off if you really need it,” Lute says and she doesn’t miss the way Adam’s eyes light up in a way they haven’t all day. It would almost be cute if it wasn’t so pathetic. “But only if you’re not feeling better by tomorrow. I can’t having you shrugging off work when we have another extermination coming up.”

“Sounds goohh…good *snf* Hang on, I’m gonna…gonna snee— hH’ESCHIEW! hhH’ETCHHIU!“

“Bless you—”

“HH’ATSHHiew!”

“Bless you—”

“hH’ESCHHIU!”

It’s getting annoying at this point. Adam sneezes again and rubs his nose with his sleeve, which Lute winces at because of how much his nose was dripping just moments ago. She’ll have to clean that later, won’t she?

So far, Adam has asked for cough drops, a new box of tissues, a heating pad, the temperature to be turned down, more blankets, less blankets, more pillows, and a cup of tea. None of these things he attempted to get himself nor did he ask for any of them at the same time. It’s been a tough day for both of them.

“What, you’re not going to bless me?” Adam asks, pushing her buttons. He sniffles and Lute doesn’t know how much longer she can go hearing his sneezing, coughing, and sniffling. Not to mention his incessant talking that seems to stem from a place of boredom.

Being one of the only people Adam trusts enough to let into his circle (genuinely, and not just to use them for one of his whims) has its perks and its downsides. This is definitely one of the downsides.

But honestly…it’s not that bad. Lute has taken care of whinier people at some point in all of her years of existence, and this doesn’t even come close to that. It’s annoying, but it’s just Adam. Adam may be annoying, but he’s safe.

And if she were in his position, she would want to be taken care of and doted on too. She can’t really blame him, especially when he’s feeling as awful as she knows he is. His throat sounds better than it did earlier that morning, but he’s much more congested and lethargic. What he really needs is some rest, so what Adam doesn’t know is that there may or may not be a light sleep aid in his tea. She thought it would have kicked in by now.

Lute glares at him in response, and Adam laughs which just leads to more coughing. “Watch this be allergies,” he half-says, half-wheezes before he catches his breath.

“I don’t think it is, sweetheart,” Lute says coldly. She knows Adam isn’t allergic to anything other than fragrances and last time she checked, she’s not wearing any. There’s no way it’s anything but a nasty cold. He didn’t have a fever the last time she checked, and he doesn’t feel excessively warm when she leaves her hand on his back for a second longer to check his temperature.

There’s now a slight heaviness to his eyelids that he didn’t quite notice before. It’s making him feel out of it. “You really think those demon fuckers got one of our own?” he asks, suddenly quite serious. “That means any of one us…”

The suddenness of the question catches Lute off-guard. “Cease that line of thinking,” she demands. “All of us will be fine. It’s unfortunate that one of our own fell, but that will be the last angel they ever harm. Once we get down there on Extermination Day, we’ll—”

“hhH’ESSHHIU!”

“Never mind,” Lute sighs. “Just focus on recovering and then we can talk strategy later. Need anything from me right now? I can go get you some more tea if you need it.” It’s an offer she expects him to take her up on in a matter of seconds, but he’s oddly silent for a moment after she asks.

“Nah,” he eventually decides, “‘m fine like this. Just…hang around for a little while longer, yeah?” It’s the biggest show of vulnerability Adam is willing to display. Actually asking for help? For someone to stick by him in his rare moment of weakness? It’s almost unheard of.

But not impossible, evidently.

And who is Lute to ignore a direct request from her commander? It’s definitely not because she wants to stick around and make sure he’s alright. And it’s certainly not because she’s genuinely rly worried about him. Definitely not.

“Sure,” she agrees. “I suppose I have some free time.” Her entire schedule has been cleared just to look after Adam, but whether or not he knows that is debatable. “Sneeze on me and I’ll kill you,” she warns.

“You really think I’d do thahht… HH’ETTSHIEW!”

Thankfully, Lute has the foresight to quickly grab a tissue and cover his sneeze. “Bless you,” she says. “And stop spreading your germs everywhere. You don’t want to get anyone else sick, do you?”

“Ub, I do’t really care,” Adam says, taking the tissue from Lute’s hand and blowing his nose for what is starting to feel like the millionth time that day. “I just want this fucking cold to be finished with me and move on to the next guy.”

‘The next guy’ will probably be Lute at this rate, with the way he’s sneezed on practically every surface of this room by now. A small part of her doesn’t want to blame him because he genuinely seems to have no clue what he’s doing when it comes to just…being sick. But that’s only a small part of her.

“Why am I so tired?” Adam asks, yawning loudly. His eyes start to droop shut, but he manages to keep himself awake for now. He rolls over in bed and sniffles.

“Who knows?” Lute knows. “It’s probably just the cold making you tired. It’s good to get some rest, anyway. Have you actually slept at all?” Knowing Adam, the answer is probably “no.” The lack of a sense of self-preservation is astonishing.

As expected, he shakes his head. “I just can’t sleep when my nose is all clogged, y’know? It’s a little better today though, so I might actually be able to sleep tonight.”

Good boy, she thinks. Go to sleep and stop being my problem. Instead, what she says is, “I think it’ll do you some good to try and rest. You sound terrible.”

“I sound perfectly fine,” Adam insists, though the congested sniffle he gives immediately afterwards doesn’t exactly lend itself to his point. “Just tryin’ to…sleep…”

He’s slowly starting to doze off. Lute keeps herself still, trying not to startle him so he’ll actually fall asleep. It seems to work because she can hear his congested snores in a matter of minutes.

Great, her shift is over. For now. But…why does she feel kind of bad? It’s not like Adam’s never been sick before, but getting sick right after announcing an extermination in sixth months is unfortunate timing. Plus, he does seem really sick. No healthy person would sneeze that much.

“Sleep well,” she says softly, making sure Adam is really asleep before turning off the lights and leaving the room.

He’ll be fine, but a part of her is worried about what’s to come.

[tinogiehd]

am i the only one who thinks george not going to a football game bc sapnap will be sad is not cute like people made it out to be… like dream and george should be able to hang out without feeling guilty or weird about it 💀💀😭 especially when snf do it literally all the time and dnap went last year w/out george. not sapnap neg i just think it’s a little weird and i don’t understand also i’ve been waiting for george to go to a ou game with him since he didn’t go last year 💔💔💔 what we could have had

no you're definitely not the only one but this is stupid ass take sorry but george is a grown man who can make his own decisions regarding his friends and his relationships and if he felt bad about going then he had his perfectly valid reasoning to and that's fine. like you're allowed to wish we'd gotten dnf at the game I Do Too but i just dont think you have to justify being disappointed by making it out to be an issue w sapnap

[softsnzstuff]

steddie (eddie snzer) w 💊(nasal spray) + maybe 🤒!!

(not me forgetting this is where i drop these💀)

I LOVE this combo!! 💊Nasal spray and 🤒Cold in Disguise. Wowowow!!! Please enjoy this little drabble for the Radio Show AU Bc I miss it. ~KB

*****

After spending five days a week together at the most ungodly of hours, it’s frankly a miracle that on the off days they still want to hang out.

Today in particular it’s a Sunday afternoons and the entire gang is out for a picnic. They even managed to get Jonathan and Chrissy to join too!

They’d all brought an assortment of fruit, crackers, and champagne, Al spread out on a huge blanket that was Jonathan’s mom’s.

For probably the tenth time this morning, Eddie turns away from the group, sprawled out on the blanket.

“H’xxT! N’xT!! X’tCHiew!!”

“Bless you!” Jonathan offered a napkin, which Eddie took with gratitude.

The long haired man tented the napkin over his nose and blew harshly. Robin making an openly disgusted grimace at how full it sounded.

“What’s up with you Eddie? You’ve sneezed like. Seven hundred thousand times.” The freckled brunette teases.

“Ha ha,” he sniffles again, “my allergies are SNF killing me. Some help this is…”

He grumbles and drops the Flonase spray out of his jacket pocket.

“You sound like you’re getting sick, Bean.” Chrissy rubs a hand on his arm.

“What?!”

He was certain it was allergies, but now he has to wonder. The blonde has known him the longest and seemingly knows him better than he does.

“I guess I feel a little more worn out than allergies usually makes me…”

Steve rubs a hand on his boyfriends back, but then pulls his shoulder in to make Eddie face him. The brunette takes a beat to take in the tiny details on Eddie’s face before resting a hand on his forehead.

Eddie scoffs, “Steve it’s springtime. I’m not going to feel any warmer than usual.”

Steve shot Eddie a look right back, “You don’t feel warm. Probably just a cold. But Flonase definitely isn’t going to cure that.”

Eddie grabbed the spray off the picnic blanket and pocketed it again, “yeah yeah whatever.”

[jordanraye47]

modern day total drama headcanons (HS I guess) pt 2

they’re teenagers doing modern teenager stuff don’t come for me😔😔🙏 there will be sexual jokes btw ‼️

Heather: laughs when the popular guys moan in class. Idk she’d just be annoying like that. “Did I ask” AHHHHWIRJFUFUFU KILL ME. I like Heather but thank god she’s a millennial I would’ve hunted her down if she went to my school. “WHO YOU CALLIN A LESBIAN YOU FUCKIG FAGGOT” those live girls. Like if zshe was lesbian she would’ve denied it for years like “only faggots are lesbians”

Izzy [fucking ginger]: this isn’t even angst but she’d be bullied tbh. Curly ginger hair? Freackles? Talkative? Bro she’d be dead. Like trust me shes my fav and so cool but let’s be real. Kinda mf to be like “heyyy how have you been” snf hug her friends and be like “im gonna touch you” (shes js like me fr) we all saw that she was dressed up on total drama but tbh I don’t think shed be that dressed up in school. She’d either have “SLIPKNOT DEATH DATH EMO” written shirts or those fucked up Walter white shirts. SHED BE THAT KID WHO WAS AKWAYS CALLED OUT OD CLASS LIKE “is Izzy here? Yeah, pack your things and come with me” and literally nobody sees her for the rest of the day. I don’t wanna start a war here so for nemma shippers: she’d be such good friends with kitty. They’d hang out whenever Emma and noah were out on dates or just hanging. Kitty has so many pics of them together tbh. for noco shippers: she’d be the biggest nco shipper ever. Y’know in the intro w Zoey Mike and sierra? She’d do that sierra thing to noah and Cody.

probably more coming idk

[cantofworms]

Tag at least six people (can be more than six if you want), and say at least one nice thing about or to each of them. Can be mutuals, can be people you follow, can be people you don’t know but just happen to exist in the same circle(s) with. All you gotta do is tag them and say something nice about/to them :)

ty my beloved Asher for the tag it warmed my heart up :,) <3

@wolfboypunzo first off I just wanna thank u for allowing me to be a part of ur discord server it’s the very first fandom server I joined I was nervous as hell but it’s such a fun place to hang out/lurk on (even tho I spend most time getting my ass kicked in trivia LMAO) ❤️

@sapnapstummy blaze !! an og who I appreciate sm and also my favourite spam reblogger <33 u always bring the best vibes to the dash and I appreciate u creating that duolingo classroom EVERYDAY THANK U THANK U I just hit a 200 day streak >:) <3

@stonersap ennie ik ur not super active idk if you’ll see this but you’re one the funniest ppl here and I reread tangerine at least once a month I think you’re an amazing writer I miss you everyday I hope you’re doing well🫶🏻

@gogtopia JULES💪🏻 someone who I value the opinions of from lore to hashtag drama you’ve always been a delight to be mutuals with im so glad I get to witness ur insanisms on priv now and I will literally never shut up about ur fem!snf fic💓

@sapybara iny the titan im so grateful u invited me into the priv twt group idk how else to say this but it truly meant a lot to be considered/trusted into joining smth like that :] also ur petty (a good thing imo) and witty and FUNNY I’m so glad we’re mutuals <3

@princeandreis CELLO ik we’re not the closest but after last October and I remade my blog you were the very first person I followed ifl we’ve been mutuals for so long and I’m glad I get to interact w you more on priv !! :D

ik I could go on and on and make a point to compliment all my favs here but !!!! I love u all the kindest and fun that ppl create here is more important and impactful to me than any drama inside or outside of the fandom could ever be🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

[gladiolidiaries]

I’m gonna put on my tinfoil hat and say maybe it sketched Sapnap out last time with karl and q talking, but he pretended everythings all good kept calm mentioning q since on his own stream and got over it. Then banter live happened and now snf are reevaluating everything and the impact banters had on their careers and bank accounts and all around image and that’s why it seems like snf and Karl are not hanging even though they’re in NC while Karl’s also doing the same but in the opposite direction of being closely associated w dteam vs the rest of mcyt.

half of this is just me snorting hardcore copium so 🫡

you really cooked up something here like hold on...

i think that what will be the most telling is when we know whether or not snf recorded more banter. but i do believe that the whole banter live show really put a sour taste in their mouths. like dude over 500 qrts straight up humiliating them for being such flops. this is HARD on anyone's ego and it was mostly night media and karl's doings.

[awesamcozy]

They just hung out together for an entire week in antarctica w/ no phones no internet no nothing.

Yea for content 🤣🤣 they ain’t hanging out for fun, it always either snf or dream (and dreamnap once) doing shit alone

Sorry was not aware u had a magic crystal ball that peers into their personal lives my fucking bad man ... was not aware u knew what they were doing 24/7 off camera in the house they live in together where theres literslly posted candid pictures of them hanging out on the couch n shit...

[adj444]

NOV. 24 ‘22

FRENCH: nothing to show for today in terms of writing cuz we spent a class on aural work :) the OL aural questions are so much easier than the HL questions it almost seems like a joke but i’m so so grateful anyways heres some more vocab that i have got 2 make prettier eventually

MATHS: differentiation is going to be on the xmas test AHHHH but i have the hang of it now so all is well

ART: YAY PRACTICAL CLASS and i got to stay +1hr instead of going down 2 study which was good & it looks like i’m on a good track i’m just super behind

AG. SCIENCE: never a dull day here is there #throwbackthursday we’re doing dairy breeds & reprod & prod & diseases allll over again which isn't that bad its kind of just throwback to the beginning

newborn calf needs...

mucus cleared away from mouth & nose

licking from mom / vigorous rubbing with straw = circulation

navel dipped in iodine = prevents infection

2-3l of colostrum in first 2hrs = antibodies undigestible after 24hrs

tagged = traceability & BVD testing

colostrum (prod 4-5 days after calving):  ↑% fat, SNFs (solid non-fats), easily digestible nutrients, temp // ↑ antibodies (immunoglobins) =  ↑ protein content // feed until normal milk is produced, then separate from mom (dairy milk prod too high for calf stomach, scour)

separation: grouped w/ calves of similar age, milk/milk replacer 2x daily (regular intervals: irregular feeding = scour), access to hay (rumen development) + concentrates + fresh water

housing: well-ventilated, draught-free, clean & dry straw, fresh water access, trough & feeder hygiene

weaning @ 6wks: milk/milk replacer → high quality grass (selective grazers) & concentrates (750g daily until adjustment to grass diet), leader-follower grazing = ↑ LWG, parasite exposure control, outdoors summer & majority of autumn

ENGLISH: spent a class on 1 discursive essay & 2 personal essays about vicky phelan’s passing

[whumpybucky]

My first official fic under this handle! Classic tale of Bucky being sick and Stevie just wanting to take care of him. I’m imagining an AU where Bucky is an editor at a small press and Steve is an illustrator (it’s how they met). Don’t know if I’ll continue it, and it’s just a wee drabble, but it’s a start! 850 words under the cut. Enjoy! 🌲💛

Leaving work now, home by 6. Love you 😘

You sure you don’t want me to come get you?

It’s nice out and I want the fresh air. I’ll be fine, love.

K, Alpine and I will be here with tea and tissues 😻😻

Bucky chuckled softly at his boyfriend’s mother henning. He had woken up with the start of a cold that morning. Steve had of course encouraged him to take the day, but it was Friday and Bucky didn’t want to be seen as that guy. So he went in and kept his office door closed for most of the day—which he’s sure all his colleagues were grateful for. A scratchy throat the night before had turned into constant sniffling congestion with scattered coughs and sneezing throughout the day.

He pocketed his cell then pressed a knuckle to his itchy nose before zipping up his bomber-style jacket and starting on his route home. A straight shot up the boulevard that led to the main park in the centre of the city. Then a short jaunt past the dog park to the path that crossed through the small woods in the middle, which popped him out 20 minutes later at the end of their street. He did this walk at least twice a week. No big deal.

Bucky sighed when he finally made it to their floor of the three-storey walk up, more exhausted than he expected to be after his walk home. The exhale tickled his throat. His attempt to quell it as he opened their apartment door quickly turned into a cough that Bucky immediately covered with his elbow.

“Poor guy, you sound so much worse than this morning.”

“Snfff… ‘s not that bad. Just… SNF! Just a cold.”

Steve gave Bucky a soft sympathetic look as he watched him place his messenger back in the hook and slip his shoes off, all at a dulled pace. This morning he had said it was just the sniffles. He knew if his partner was admitting he was actually sick then it was indeed that bad.

Even Alpine seemed to agree, mewing as he rubbed against Bucky’s legs.

“Well you and your “just a cold” can get out of your work clothes, into comfy pants, and then onto the couch. I’ve got soup simmering on the stove and Alpine’s been waiting for you all day.”

Bucky finished hanging his coat in the closet then wrapped his arms around Steve, resting his head on his shoulder. He was so grateful to be home. “Love it when you get bossy,” he muttered, sniffling softly.

A warmth bloomed in Steve’s chest. “Yeah? Well good, ‘cause it’s going to be like that all weekend. I’m going to force you to rest and watch movies and eat soup and drink tea and—”

“W-whatever you say, love,” Bucky cut him off as he pulled out of the hug before catching three rapid-fire sneezes into the crook of his elbow just in time.

“Ble— one more?”

He didn’t have time to respond before the fourth and final sneeze erupted out of him. “HEHTSCHieeeew! Ugggh, ‘scuse mbe.”

“Aw, sweetheart. Bless you.”

Bucky nodded in thanks after grabbing several tissues from the credenza in the entry hall.

When he was finished blowing his nose, Steve stepped towards him again. Then pressing a kiss to his hairline, he followed up the gesture with a reiteration of his orders. “Changed, then couch. Now.”

“Yessir, captain sir,” Bucky saluted mockingly as he made his way to their bedroom to get changed. Alpine’s tail twitched as he trotted after him.

*****

“Hmmm, you feel warm.” Steve’s brows furrowed as he moved a palm from bucky’s forehead to one of his rosy cheeks.

Bucky just shrugged, glassy blue eyes blinking up at Steve.

“I’m going to get you some Tylenol. Then what do you say about going to bed early?”

“What time is it?” Bucky asked, voice hoarse and dry causing him to cough. He’d been dozing off and on, head on a pillow on Steve’s lap and alpine curled at his feet, as they watched some old Carey Grant film Steve loved.

“9:40, a perfectly reasonable time to go to bed. Especially when you’re sick. Which you absolutely are.”

Bucky managed a smile at his boyfriend’s concern.

“I’ll be fine, Stevie. Don’t need to worry.”

“I know you will. Just like to take care of you, sweetheart.” Steve added, brushing a thumb over Bucky’s cheek.

“I know you do. And I love you for it.”

“Love you too. Now bed?”

Bucky nodded and allowed himself to be pulled up from the couch, guided to the washroom where he was fed Tylenol, then into bed where he was tucked under their duvet. He was asleep within minutes, well before Steve shut off all the lights and finished his night time routine.

Slowly slipping under the covers so as not to wake him, Steve had to stifle a chuckle at the soft snores from Bucky when he finally joined him. Then pressing a ghost of a kiss into his temple, he whispered good night before drifting off himself.

[glitterrosesnz]

Xiao finding out his allergic to some kind of flower while with lumine/ aether 👉👈

you: Xiao with Aether or Lumine

Me: did you mean, Xiao with Aether AND Lumine?

dont think too hard about how they’re both there hdkfjslkdslj also. *(chanting)* flower crowns, flower crowns, flower cro-

---

Spending the day with the twins seemed, at first, to be a relaxing idea. Aether and Lumine had finally convinced Xiao to spend a day in Mondstadt with them, not really doing anything serious like commissions or anything like that, just hanging out and having fun. Xiao had, for the most part, resigned himself to simply following the twins around as they showed him to random places.

It was when the two of them decided to take a break in a flower field that a problem started to arise.

Xiao was usually fine with flowers, in fact he rather liked them. They'd never given him any trouble.

The tickle that had been forming in his nose ever since they'd stopped there was clearly going to argue against that.

To be fair, there were some flowers there that Xiao had never seen before. (Aether and Lumine had called them 'Windwheel Asters' and 'Dandelions'.) It was entirely possible that he was, actually, allergic to one or two of them.

That didn't mean he was going to admit it though.

He sniffled as discreetly as possible, rubbing the back of his hand against his nose in an attempt to alleviate the tickle before it could grow stronger. He'd sat down a short distance away from the flowers, far away enough that he'd hoped their affect on him would lessen, but close enough to not draw the twin's suspicion. The two of them could be very intuitive when it came down to it, but Xiao really didn't want to bother them with a small problem like this.

He rubbed his nose against his hand again, which turned out to be a mistake, as the tickle suddenly spiked and Xiao pitched forwards, barely stifling the sneeze in time.

"Hi-h'txch!" He sniffled, eyes watering. The sneeze had hardly been relieving, in fact, it hadn't helped at all. He glanced up, checking to see if either Aether or Lumine had heard. They seemed oblivious, their backs turned to him as they picked flowers and weaved them together, making flower crowns for each other. Xiao sighed in relief, only for his breath to hitch. Quickly, he pressed his hand against his nose and closed his eyes, trying to focus on breathing, and not sneezing again.

He was focused on this, that he didn't notice Lumine walking up until she had already put the flower crown on his head. He startled, instinctively switching from deep breathing to holding his breath as he glanced up at her. Lumine's expression was that of a soft smile, but it quickly swapped to a slight frown once she actually saw Xiao's face.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked, "Your nose and ears look kinda red."

Xiao didn't answer, instead giving a glare that he hoped conveyed 'I'm fine' as well as 'I am definitely not allergic to the flowers you just put on my head'.

Lumine hummed in contemplation, and suddenly Aether was there as well, staring down at Xiao with narrowed eyes.

"Have you been crying?" Aether asked, and oh, Xiao could not allow the two of them to think he'd been crying of all things.

"No, I'm fi-heH.....fine." Xiao said, instantly regretting regretting speaking as he stifled two sneezes into his arm. "Hih-h'NGXt...-'tchi!"

"Ah." Lumine and Aether said, coming to the same realization at the same time. "Allergies."

"It's naht-" Xiao cut himself off, gritting his teeth together as he pressed his tongue to the roof his mouth to try and hold back.

"It's not allergies?" Aether guessed, and Xiao nodded, only to wish he hadn't, as moving his head jostled the flower crown Lumine had placed on him, sending a bit of pollen down into his face.

"Heh....hIH! H'txch! hEH! H'NGXT-iu!"

"What would you call this then, if not allergies?" Lumine asked as Xiao sniffled, trying to get a hold of himself.

"A...heh......sens- sensitivity- hIH! H'txch-ii!" Xiao barely managed to stutter out before stifling another sneeze. Neither Aether or Lumine looked very impressed.

"Mm....The flower crowns probably aren't helping huh?" Aether said, gently removing his while Lumine took off hers, throwing it to the side, before reaching to take Xiao's off as well. Xiao winced. He knew the two of them had put a lot of work into making those.

"S-sorry- h'ngxt-ii!" He muttered. Aether reached out and helped him stand up, steadying him as he continued to stifle sneezes into his arm.

"It's okay, you can't help being allergic." Aether said.

"Being out here probably isn't helping much." Lumine said, gently rubbing circles on Xiao's back. "Come on, lets get you back to Wangshu Inn."

The twins focused, drawing on the power of the waypoints, and with a shudder, they were in one of the empty rooms in the Wangshu Inn. Using their anemo abilities, they gently blew the pollen off of themselves and Xiao, but Xiao still continued to stifle sneeze after sneeze into his hands.

"You're not ever going to stop if you keep holding them in like that." Lumine said, grabbing hold of one of Xiao's hands and pulling it away from his face. Aether, following her lead, took hold of Xiao's other hand.

"W-wait, hold on-hIH!" Xiao started, trying to pull his hands out of the twin's grip as his breath started hitching again. He knew he could probably over power them and get his hands free but-

He didn't want to hurt them.

"C'mon, it's okay." Aether said, both he and Lumine gently rubbing circles on the back of Xiao's hands. "Let yourself sneeze. We don't mind."

Xiao knew that neither of them really cared, but he still turned his head away from them as he-

"Heh...H'ITCH-ii! H'iTSHH-iu! Hih...hIH- H'ISHH-ii!"

"There you go!" Lumine said, a hint of laughter in her voice. "Doesn't that feel better?"

"Snf....Marginally." Xiao said, gratefully accepting the tissues Aether proceeded to hand to him.

"Marginally is still better than not at all." Lumine said, Aether nodding in agreement with her.

"Which flower was it that you're allergic to anyways?" Aether asked, "All of them?"

"....Dunno." Xiao muttered. "This....has never happened before."

"Hm. Well we can test it later, if you feel up for it." Lumine said, "It'll be better for us to know specifically what sets you off after all. Then we can make allergy-free flower crowns for you!"

[marvelousstevetony]

Hi! If you’re taking prompts, can you maybe do insecure tony for stony? I was just thinking about tony always stifling sneezes because his normal sneeze is insanely cute but he doesn’t want Steve or the team to know? But then they find out when tony has a cold or something and can’t stifle at some point? Thank you for your writing also :)

This is... so old, anon, I’m so sorry. Life has been crazy busy these last few weeks. I combined this ask with another anon requesting “vulnerable” for stony (which I’m also very late to answer, sorry!)

I hope you both see this anyway and enjoy despite it being so late. 

(2.5k of sick Tony, cuddles, and everything in between)

----------

“h’ehh… uhNGxxt! ehhh’mPTChh!”

Tony pinches his nose between his thumb and index finger, head bopping slightly forward with the force of the sneezes.

“Bless you, Tones.” Steve glances up from the debrief forms and watches the way Tony’s rubbing mercilessly at his twitching nostrils. His eyes are half-lidded, mouth hanging slightly agape as he waits for the sneeze to come, however, after a few seconds, it seems to escape, and Tony is left sniffling into his wrist.

“Sorry… thanks,” he replies, and Steve swears he can see Tony’s cheeks color immediately after Steve pulls out his handkerchief and offers it to him. Tony shakes his head, though, but his soft smile tells Steve that he’s grateful for the offer even though he declines.

Steve goes back to looking over the forms while sipping his coffee. They’ve been at it for a while, and Steve’s tired, so he downs the caffeinated drink mindlessly despite its ineffectiveness. Tony says it’s a mental thing as much as it is physiologically,  and it seems to have become a habitual thing for him since they started dating. Even though Steve doesn’t particularly like the taste, he finds that he’ll always drink the coffee as long as Tony’s there.

He narrows he eyes, concentrating on reading the words, but his head’s suddenly swimming, and he lets his eyes slip shut for a few moments until his hearing picks up a choked noise, and he looks up to see Tony stifling another bout of near-silent sneezes into the shoulder of his white button-up.

Tony looks adorable like this, Steve thinks, nose all scrunched up and eyebrows drawn together into a confused frown. He also looks tired, Steve notices, as tired as Steve feels. He throws a quick glances over the papers that are scattered all over the table, then up at his boyfriends who’s now scrubbing at his nose with a bent index finger, and catches his lower lips between his teeth as he decides that they’re done for the day.

“Hey,” Steve says as he gets up and goes to stand behind Tony, leaning down to rest his chin on Tony’s shoulder.

“Hey,” Tony echoes and turns on the chair, now facing Steve with a warm, yet sleepy, smile, which is immediately returned.

“You think it’s time to finish up here, yeah?” Steve ask softly, caressing Tony’s cheek as he says it. They feel a little warm, and now that Steve gets a closer look, he can tell that there’s a slight flush to them, and to his nose as well. It could be because he’s just tired, that happens to Steve sometimes, but Steve’s 99 percent sure that Tony probably needs rest because he’s both spent, overworked and, from the looks (and sounds) of it, coming down with a cold.

Tony leans in to the gentle touch for a second, then closes his eyes and nods. “I can’t even tell you how long snf! I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.” It almost comes out as a sigh, breathy and relieved, and Steve could feel the way Tony’s jaw unclenched in his hand.  

“So… dinner in bed?” Steve carefully slips off Tony’s glasses and places them on the table, then strokes a thumb under Tony’s eye, tracing along the indistinct line the glasses had imprinted onto his skin. “I think an early night would do us good,” Steve adds and leans in his brush his nose against Tony’s.

Tony pulls away slightly, even the softest touch making him sniffle madly. He draws in a few quavering breaths and leans away from Steve before crushing a small fit of sneezes into his fist.

“Hdt’mpshh! hH’NGSXT! N’GKt! snffSNFF! Sorry,” Tony rasps as the fit subsides.

“God bless you, sweetheart,” Steve says, voice drowning in sympathy. “Dinner in bed?” he asks again.

“We don’t have to, snff! We can do dinner at the table,” Tony assures, frowning.

Steve smiles warmly. “I know… It was mostly because I feel like I could fall asleep right here on the floor,” he chuckles. “But I do believe it’d be good for both of us.”

“Yeah, I- I guess so,” Tony exhales. “I really can’t be bothered to cook dinner, though.”

“I’ll do dinner,” Steve offers. “You can take a shower and get into bed.”

Tony pouts at that. “The can’t be bothered to cook dinner was mostly because it would mean we’d have less time to cuddle. You doing dinner doesn’t change that, Steve, I’ll still need my favorite pillow.”

Steve shakes his head and laughs fondly. “Thirty minutes tops. I promise.”

Tony narrows his eyes at Steve, then smirks. “Twenty.”

———

Steve arrives with dinner exactly 21 minutes and 15 seconds later.

“You’re late,” Tony states, looking at his wrist as if he was wearing a watch.

“Oh, shush, you,” Steve says as he settles the tray on the bed. “You’re not even wearing a watch.”

“JARVIS keeps track of the time,” Tony clarifies. “Although, I think you’re forgiven. This looks amazing, Steve.” Tony reaches out to grab the plate and puts it in his lap.

“Anyone can cook pasta, Tony. Even Clint,” Steve shrugs.

“But your pasta is actually good,” Tony says. “And I’m Italian, I’m a tough critic to please,” he adds as he swallows a mouthful of creamy spaghetti.

Steve, as always, brushes off the compliment and ducks his head with a shy smile. He joins Tony under the comforter, scooting closer to his boyfriend until he’s near enough to rest his chin on top of Tony’s head. He doesn’t even remember letting his eyes slip shut, but they do, slowly. He’s right on the verge of nodding off, but suddenly he feels something being removed from under his chin, and his head falls forward, waking him with a start. It’s Tony’s head that’s missing, Steve realizes.

Beside him, Tony’s body jerks slightly forward as he pinches his nose with two fingers. His eyes are squeezed shut, shoulders hunched, as he draws in a short breath and stifles another near-silent sneeze.

“ng’tCHh!”

“Bless you,” Steve croaks, his voice already rusty from almost sleeping. He grabs a few tissues from the nightstand and places them in Tony’s hand.

Tony accepts the Kleenex and brings it right up to his nose. “uhhGxxt’ch! ehhk’NGxt!”

“Let yourself sneeze, babe. Sounds like it hurts…” Steve mumbles as he settles back in close to Tony. He doesn’t even hear Tony’s response, because his eyelids are just so heavy, and the comforter is warm, and within a few seconds, Steve is out like a light.

————

When Steve wakes up, his face is smushed into the pillow. He sighs deeply into it before propping himself up on his elbows and scrubs at his face with both palms to clear away the sleepy haze. His naked back is half covered by the linen sheet, half uncovered, fair skin glowing from the sleep-warm heat. He must’ve taken his t-shirt off at some point during the night, which seems unusual. He’s normally always cold in the night and has to cuddle in close to Tony to get warm.

Steve looks to his right and watches Tony’s relaxed facial expression. He looks so peaceful and innocent that Steve can’t help the flush creeping up his cheeks or the soft smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Adoration and affection surge through him as he takes in the view of his boyfriend.

Tony is lying on his side, face turned towards Steve. His lips are barely parted, just enough to breathe in through his mouth. They look so soft, though, Steve thinks, irresistible, really, and Steve… Well, Steve feels it would be a crime not to kiss them when they are that pink and plump and perfect.

He leans down and catches Tony’s bottom lip between both of his. The kiss is gentle and sweet and the dazed feeling lingers even after he’s pulled away. It tingles in every inch of Steve body; the urge to run his fingers over Tony’s cheek, to brush a hand through the soft curls, and, somehow, Steve knows that this is what he wants every morning. He wants their sleep-warm bodies pressed close to each other. He wants the first thing he sees when he wakes up to be Tony’s messy hair and half-open mouth. He wants the domesticity and the pure bliss of waking up with he person he loves more than anything else.

The thoughts make tears prickle behind Steve’s eyes, and he probably would’ve teared up if Tony didn’t begin stirring just then.

Tony blinks his eyes open, and he smirks when he sees Steve gazing at him with such fond and kind eyes. “Mornin’,” he croaks.

“Hey.” Steve smiles and brings his hand up to stroke Tony’s arm through the soft t-shirt he slept in. “Sleep well?”

“I think so… or, I don’t know,” Tony amends. “I’m still so tired.” He closes his eyes and nuzzles closer to Steve, who now realizes why he’d overheated while they slept.

“You feel warm,” Steve murmurs. “Are you alright?”

Tony huffs. “‘M fine, Steve,” he mutters, voice muffled by the pillow. “Jus’ tired.”

Steve frowns and cups Tony’s cheek in his palm. “I think you’re running a slight temperature, sweetheart. ’S not too bad, but still…”

“I get hot when I sleep, tha-ahh-that’s w-why,” Tony tries, but it sounds unconvincing, even to him. It probably would have more believable if his breath hadn’t come in short gasps, and his nose hadn’t quivered violently as he said it.

Steve watches as Tony twists his head to face away from Steve. He doesn’t see the way Tony’s face undoubtedly crumbles with the sneezes, but the way his shoulders tense with the withheld sneezes is enough to make Steve’s heart ache in sympathy.

“ehh-NgHTsshx! Hng-tsxx! HNgx! SnfSNFF!” Tony sniffles a few times, then groans. When he turns his head to face Steve again, his eyes are squeezed shut and presses a hand to his temple. “Sorry, excuse me.”

“God bless,” Steve murmurs and removes Tony’s hand from his forehead and places his own there instead. He begins gently massaging Tony’s scalp, fingers rubbing along his hairline, and he carefully runs his thumb over one eyebrow.

Tony’s face is still pinched, nose wrinkling, and a few second later, he stifles a small Hngxsh! into the pillow. An almost inaudible whimper escapes through his lips, one that Steve probably wouldn’t have heard it if he didn’t have super-senses.

“Bless you,” Steve sympathizes. “Why do you keep doing that?”

“Doing what?” Tony asks, confused.

“Hold them back like that. It’s not good for you, it looks painful,” Steve winces at the mere thought of the stabbing pain stifling sneezes does to him, and he can’t imagine it hurts any less to Tony.

“Yeah, it’s… not great,” Tony agrees. “But I can’t help it, it’s a habit.” He shrugs and leaves it at that.

They’re quiet for a minute while Steve nestles closer to Tony and drapes an arm over his waist. They lay there, in silence, looking into each other’s eyes— until Tony draws in a breath and crushes his face into his shoulder.

“H’tsnghh! Sh-ihht ihhngxt! Ugh.”

“Tony,” Steve says disapprovingly, glaring at him.

“I’m not doing it on purpose, Steve,” Tony grumbles. “That’s just how I sneeze, I’ve done it since I was twenty. Twenty, Steve. You know how many years ago that is??”

Steve chuckles fondly at Tony’s self-deprecating joke. “And I thought I was the old one in this relationship,” he retorts with a quirk of an eyebrow.

“You are, but it’s still a long time… You know how hard it is to break a habit like that? It’s impossible,” Tony answers his own question.

Steve shakes his head and laughs again. “You’re ridiculous—“

“You love me.”

“and— I do love you, yes, but you really should stop trying to hold your sneezes back like that. It’ll give you a headache, and from the looks of it, it already has.”

Tony opens his mouth to protest, but nothing comes out. Instead, Tony sighs and deflates, which tells Steve that his suspicion was right. “Okay, yeah, a little maybe,” Tony admits with a small smile to show Steve that he is okay, even if his head is pounding and his nose is twitching, and he has to keep sniffling and rubbing at his poor nose to impede the horrible itch.

“I’m sorry you’re feeling bad,” Steve says sweetly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this sniffly,” he adds.

“You wouldn’t have… I don’t get sick. Or, I don’t get sick very often,” he rephrases when Steve gives him a look that says Really? “I normally just stay in the workshop, but this… this is not the normal I’m used to when I have a cold.”

Tony looks around the room, at Steve, who’s definitely the anomaly in this case.

Steve smiles warmly. “Well, it is now.” He leans in to graze a kiss over Tony’s lips and nudges his nose against Tony’s. The feather-light touch seems to cause the remaining itch in Tony’s nose to bloom, though, because Tony quickly pushes Steve away. He barely has time to bring his arm to his face, so he aims the sneezes down towards the blankets.

“tshu! tshh! eh’tsh! huh-tshoo!”

The sneezy sensation overcomes him so quickly he doesn’t even have time to think about stifling them. They’re small and soft and shivery, but Tony lets out a relieved sigh when he finishes. It feels so good to sneeze and not feel like he’s been smacked in the head by the Hulk afterwards.

The alleviation almost makes him dizzy, and it takes him a couple of seconds to pick up the sound of Steve... giggling?

“What are you laughing at?” Tony asks, brows drawn together.

“That- w-was,” Steve tries to speak, but he couldn’t get the words out in between cackles. “That’s the cutest sneeze I’ve ever heard,” he manages to say. The smile on his face stretches from ear to ear.

“Ha-ha.” Tony rolls his eyes. “Laughing at my weird sneeze is very funny, Steve.”

Tony pouts as Steve still couldn’t keep a straight face. “You know, this is why I started stifling them. Because of bullies like you.” Steve can tell he’s not actually mad, though, because Tony’s face starts breaking into a smile and soon he’s chuckling alongside Steve.

“That’s why?” Steve asks.

“I know my sneeze is weird—“ he begins, immediately going shy.

“No, it’s not weird, not at all. It’s adorable.”

“Adorable?” Tony asks incredulously.

“Mhmm,” Steve hums, “definitely the cutest sound I’ve ever heard.” The blonde leans in again, brushes his nose against Tony’s. It has the same effect the second time around, and Tony quickly snaps his head the other way to sneeze over his shoulder.

“tish! iitsh! huh-uh! tshu! hh’itsch! Oh…”

“So sensitive,” Steve murmurs fondly as Tony recovers from the fit of small, ticklish sneezes. “Bless you,” he adds and Tony just sniffles in reply. The tip of his nose is so pink, quivering ever so slightly, and Steve really can’t help but press the most tender kiss right on the center of it, grinning as Tony’s eyes begin to flutter shut again.

“Oh, fuhhck y-you, R-Rohhgers… ishhew! ishh! uhh-tshh!”

“Bless you, sweetheart,” Steve coos, one big, loving smile plastered all across his face.

[kaikeidou-backstage-blog]

Kaikeidou Ibun: M.c.s. - Tale of Sea Searching, Conclusion Part 2

"You don't have to do anything... I... I won't ask for much, I swear... I just, *snf*... I just want to have, a peaceful, life..... *hic*"

(Fwoosh...)

 As I choke back the rest of my sentence, I feel something wrapping gently around me. It's such a soft feeling that I don't even bother to wipe my face; I just let myself relax into it without thinking.

".....Tsukushi, it's gonna be okay. You saved me when I was crying, so now I'm gonna be here to protect you too..."

"Ten...pyou..."

 Tenpyou's voice is soft, as her cool hands gently stroke my hair. I bury my face against her as the floodgates open, and I start crying like a little kid.

"...I'm sorry, Tsukushi. You were so nice to me, and you saved me from Big Sis, but... I had no idea that you'd been through something like that."

"Not sure I like that 'saved' phrasin', but... well, I suppose that's it, then. I can hardly imagine anyone other than greedy humans doing something as awful as that."

"Yes... The power of an incarnate god must certainly be alluring to humans of the modern world. It would easily be a target of their greed..."

"Well, I can't say much one way or another, myself. Us sisters haven't gotten to know many humans yet."

"Hey... um, hey, Big Sis Kyouga? Lady Mikoto? I... I wanna help Tsukushi! She saved me, yeah, so now I wanna help save her too!"

"Y'know you already said that, right?"

"Oh, Tenpyou..."

 I listen to their discussion through the haze of tears, still leaning against Tenpyou's chest. Before long, I can make out what sounds like Shunkei-san and Suzutake-san joining in as well. After a few moments of words passing indistinctly to and fro, the discussion quiets as I-- and likely the others as well-- hear a new voice chime in.

"Well then! That sure makes things simple!"

 The unfamiliar voice cuts through the haze, and I open my eyes again to see who it is. Standing a few feet away from us is a small girl, wearing a kimono with vaguely geometric patterns printed on it.

"Ah, Lady Otohime...! You were watching us just now?"

"Yep! In fact, I was watching from the very start. Since before the new Kaikeidou even got built, to be precise. So, little Tsukushi Awakihara... long time no see, huh?"

 So says the tiny 'Lady Otohime,' as she peers back at me. As I look her in the eye, I suddenly remember a strange encounter I'd had several months before.

------

 I saw a girl standing on the shore, gazing out at the sea. She stuck out like a sore thumb in the chilly weather, dressed as she was for summer, and was standing next to a travel suitcase almost as big as she was. I called out to her, wondering at the sight.

"Um, excuse me-- are you perhaps a tourist?"

"Mm? Oh man, sorry, couldn’t hear you over the wind. Are you someone from around here, by any chance?"

"No, I’m just a student passing by here. Are you on vacation?"

"Well, I guess you could say that. I was hoping I could find someone who knows the lay of the land around here? Ask them a few questions, y'know?"

------

 Indeed... I had met this girl right before I saw that bizarre depression in the sea, all those months ago. The realization snaps me back to reality, and I hastily try to get up. But...

"Y-You... you're... wuh-- "

"T-Tsukushi, hey! Don't try to stand up so fast, yeah?!"

 ...my body refuses to move the way I want it to, and I topple back over onto Tenpyou in a matter of seconds.

"Woah there. Calm down, okay? You're totally beat up from that fight, so you ought to rest for right now. You can still talk to me while you're down there, right?"

"Y... yes. Right."

 I can't deny that resting against Tenpyou like this is quite comfortable, so I decide to settle down in place as I continue listening to the girl from that day.

"So then, Lady Otohime... Can Tsukushi really live in, like, peace and quiet? Down here?"

"Pretty much. If you're living in fear of the humans up on the surface, then all you've gotta to is disappear from the surface, right? In fact, we could even have your parents move down here too while we're at it, and then you'd have nothing to worry about up there..."

"W-wait, okay, just hang on for a moment. This is really starting to get out of hand. ...First, I haven't actually given the OK yet."

 I had almost forgotten as the conversation rushed along, but for starters, I still haven't agreed to become the Kaikeidou's shrine maiden. And, well...

"...Why are you offering to do all this for me? I mean, certainly, you're a family of mermaids and goddesses, but knowing what you do about my situation, why would you shelter me...?"

"The answer to that question's pretty simple, really."

 I turn to listen as Otohime answers my question.

"We... well, technically not me, but Mikoto's family can't survive without someone else's knowledge of them. That's where you and your Watatsumi come in. By accepting you into their home, they'll gain more strength... so, business reasons, basically."

 Lady Mikoto and the others silently nod.

"Meanwhile, you've had to deal with those evil human-looking things threatening your safety for your whole life, and want to live without any further trouble. A very pure wish, if you ask me. Right?"

 As Otohime continues, I silently nod as well.

"Those two facts finally fit together like puzzle pieces, right here in this spot. That's why Mikoto and I are giving you this offer! Also, you don't have to actually live here if you don't want to. It's already enough if you just know that Mikoto's family exists, and if even you only happened to stop by once in a while, you'd still be giving us an enormous amount of power!"

 Mikoto-san continues from where Lady Otohime leaves off.

"If you'll consent to becoming the Kaikeidou's shrine maiden, Tsukushi-san, then we'll welcome you with open arms. We'll see to it that you have every freedom you could possibly want. If you resent your family, then-- with the assistance of your Lord Nakatsu-Watatsumi-- I can even use my divine influence to make it so that none of them ever existed."

"Ooh, I could help with that too! Want me to Butterfly Effect 'em and free up some space?!"

"Woah, hey! Just... slow down for a minute there."

 Okay, that's a clear candidate for most disquieting statement of the year. I put my hands up in the air to try and quiet the two of them down. It's now much more obvious that neither they, nor any of the family members surrounding us, are human. Any ordinary human would probably start trembling at the knees upon hearing that, but...

"If they had the gall to try and capture such a precious human friend of ours, why don't I head out and swallow them with a tidal wave?"

"Shunkei. It's rather indiscrete to bring up the subject of tidal waves with most present-day humans."

"Aw, what? That makes most of my abilities into total non-starters, though."

 Well, I suppose that's mermaids for you. Their thought processes are fundamentally those of youkai.

 Lady Otohime, taking notice of how I'm glancing around at everyone, resumes speaking with me.

"Aaanyway, all joking aside... what are you going to do, Tsukushi? Either forget all about us, and live as a regular ol' human on the surface, constantly in fear of those 'things'... or accept the duty of the Kaikeidou's protector, and obtain an environment where you can live safely and proudly as an incarnate god...?"

 She looks straight into my eyes as she speaks. Now that I'm staring at them up close like this, Lady Otohime's eyes almost seem to have star designs in them, like the Milky Way... No, they're far too vivid to be called 'designs,' honestly. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that her irises had the whole world, the whole universe inside of them...

 And with those deep, spacious eyes, Lady Otohime grins brightly, and asks:

"So, what do you say? Pretty mean-spirited couple of options, aren't they?"

".....I have to agree. That is mean-spirited. It's a choice that you set up from the beginning so that I'd pick the one you wanted me to. Honestly, now..."

"Well, you've come all this way, so why not give that option of mine a whirl? I'm sure nothing bad will happen. ...Uh. Probably?"

"Pfft...! For someone who just foisted a rigged choice on me, you really don't sound sure of yourself."

 In that case, my decision is...

 It's been one month since the marine incidents occurred-- a month that passed in the blink of an eye. I'm walking along the shoreline and looking out at the sea, as usual.

"Okay then, see ya tomorrow~."

"Oh, yes! See you tomorrow!"

 I say a brief farewell to my friends from school, and walk down to the water.

".....All right then, Lord Watatsumi. Shall we dive?"

 With that brief word to Lord Watatsumi within me, I'm enveloped in a bubble, and glide out across the ocean's surface.

 We reach the edge of the open ocean in no time at all. I let myself relax, and sink beneath the waves. Diving deep down, towards the Kaikeidou at the very bottom.....

........

 I'm still living my life as a regular human, but I also visit the Kaikeidou fairly often to do my job as its shrine maiden.

 In the end, I agreed to Lady Otohime's second option, choosing to become the Kaikeidou's guardian... Officially, my job description is "Lady Mikoto's shrine maiden." I asked Lady Mikoto and Lady Otohime what I should do to serve them, but...

(I don't think you have to do anything in particular?)

(Yeah, there's nothing special that you have to do.)

(Whaaa...?)

 ...So they replied, incredibly optimistically. I'd had the impression that the job was a little more, you know, dangerous than that. Perhaps my fears were unfounded?

 I also told my parents about my decision; Lady Mikoto, too, briefly came ashore to talk things over with them. They stood stunned at first, and didn't seem quite able to follow what I and Lady Mikoto were saying. But as we discussed Lady Mikoto's desire to help us with our family situation, her promise to respect my and my parents' current way of life as much as possible, and-- above all else-- respecting my choice of future career path later on down the line, both my mother and father agreed to the arrangement. They said the whole "goddess" and "youkai" thing was hardly something to be surprised by, though, since I already exist in the first place.

........

"Right, then."

 I stop by the Kaikeidou every now and again, on my days off from school. I usually spend my time there with the Kai sisters, talking about various things and doing a bit of shrine maiden training. ...Well, it's actually pretty relaxed for something called 'training.' We mostly just compete at showing off beautiful danmaku patterns to each other. Shunkei-san's patterns are always gorgeous, I have to say.

"TSUKUSHIIII!"

"Tenpyou!"

 Tenpyou shoots through the water towards me, leaving a trail of bubbles in her wake. She flies straight down the Kaikeidou's castle thoroughfare like a torpedo, with the help of her fish tail; I call out to her in response, while quickly trying to decide which direction to dodge in today.

 Tenpyou's still in charge of guarding the castle town and the Kaikeidou's front gate. Now, though, little Ayaori and Suimei are there with her too, and the Kaikeidou has a trio of mermaids protecting it. Now that I've become the Kaikeidou's caregiver, the two of them don't need to provoke any rumors up on shore, after all.

"　...Big Sis Tenpyou sure likes Miss Tsukushi, doesn't she~?"

"Miss Tsukushi's not doing half bad, either~."

 And my very first motive, the marine incidents and rumors here in my town on the shore, naturally faded away as the Kaikeidou's residents returned to their seabed home. The town's residents, too, are all living their regular human lives. No strange incidents assail the sea-- none from the Kaikeidou, at least-- and the fishermen have successfully returned to their pre-incident level of business.

........

The marine incidents on the modern world's shores ended, the deep-sea Dragon Palace known as the "Kaikeidou" was saved, and the incarnate god of Awakihara blossomed into the shrine maiden of Watatsumi. 'S good for them, yanno. Real good. All's well that ends well. So... whadda ya say we pay their story a little visit too, sometime soon? We've been bored outta our freakin' skulls spendin' all this time down here, yeah? A'ight. Hey, you. Yeah, you. Miss Deep-Sea Shrine Maiden. Wanna go for a dip in the "NETHER SEA"?

Kaikeidou Ibun ~ Migration to the Conceptual Sea. "Tale of Shrine Migration / Sea Searching"... ALL STAGE CLEAR!!

And continue to EXTRASTAGE...

[kaikeidou-backstage-blog]

Kaikeidou Ibun: M.c.s. - Tale of Sea Searching, Part 5

"*hic*... *snrk*... *snf*"

"Here, it's okay-- blow your nose, now. We wouldn't want your face to get all messy, right?"

"wehhh....."

 In the end, after having cried her eyes out, Tenpyou just sat down at the corner of the front gate and huddled there for a while. Well, more precisely, she's still huddled there right now, with me sitting beside her, but...

 At first, I did try to give her some space and open the giant gate on my own, but it unsurprisingly failed to budge an inch. On the other hand, though, coldly demanding that Tenpyou open it when she's currently curled up on the ground would be just miserable on my conscience. So, I've just been sitting here and thinking it over, which brings us to now.

 After wiping her red eyes and blowing her nose with the handkerchief I handed her, Tenpyou quietly murmured something with an anxious look on her face.

"...my big sister Kyouga is gonna get real mad at me."

 There's hardly a trace of her cheerful, rapidly-changing expression from before. She's been hanging her head for some time now, repeatedly mentioning her 'big sis Kyouga.' Now that I think about it, I remember little Suimei mentioning a 'big sis' too. That must be this "Kyouga" individual that Tenpyou's talking about?

"Is your big sister a scary person?"

"......"

 She glances aside at me, and looks like she's thinking something over. One brief pause later, and she starts quietly talking as if thinking back on something, while looking out over the thoroughfare.

"I mean, like... I guess, but I mostly jus' feel like I've done something real bad, y'know. She was nice enough to make me the front guard an' everything, but I went and broke the whole castle town, and, and lost to a human too, so... like, I feel like I let her down... or stuff. ...D'you get me?"

 So she says, seeming like she doesn't know quite what words to use. In short, this 'Big Sis Kyouga' is the one who bestowed Tenpyou with the role of the Kaikeidou's gatekeeper. But now, having lost her battle with me...

"So you feel like, because you couldn't protect your home, you can't face her now?"

"Yeah, that! I can't face her! That's the word I was lookin' for."

 Tenpyou whips her head around and points at me. It seems that I've helped her put words to what she was feeling; her morose expression has gotten a little brighter.

"Hey, Miss... um, Awakihara! Yeah, you're the Awakihara lady!"

"Um. Yes?"

 As she says my surname, it seems like Tenpyou's remembered something. She grabs both my hands and quickly shakes them up and down. It's a pretty gentle handshake; even though we're underwater, her hands feel nice and cool.

"I wanna say thanks. Talking to you helped me calm down a little, actually! Like, yeah, I might've lost to a human, but weirdly enough, I don't feel that bad about losing to you!"

 As she says that, Tenpyou stands back up and strides over to the gate that I'd struggled so hard to open.

"Plus, I remembered somethin'. My job is to fight juuust hard enough that a human can still barely win, an' let any humans who win pass through here. So beating me means you can head inside now!"

"Does that mean that your big sister won't get mad at you after all, then...?"

"Uh... well, I did still make a mess of the town..."

 Tenpyou scratches her cheek with an awkward look on her face. Thus prompted, I turn back around and look at the thoroughfare. The fairies are hurriedly flying every which way, desperately working to repair their respective shops. They're conducting repairs on the tiles and incandescent lanterns, too, at speeds that a human couldn't possibly match.

"Big sis Kyouga was probably watching my fight. And I'm... gonna guess that she totally saw all that, too."

 Her expression darkens again somewhat, as she mutters quietly. I haven't the slightest idea what this 'Kyouga' individual is like, but I can easily imagine that she was watching us from somewhere.

 Yes... from somewhere within the "Kaikeidou" palace towering above us.

........

"Welp, you can head on inside now. I'll open the door, so stand back a little, yeah?"

 At Tenpyou's direction, I back several meters away from the door. Having confirmed that I'm out of the way, Tenpyou grabs hold of one of the metal rings on the door. Probably a door-knocker.

"Oh. I see. It opens outward, huh..."

"Hm? Well, yeah?"

 Just based on my own experience, I'd assumed that front doors always opened inward. Not that I can say why, exactly, but...

"A'ight then. Open sesame...!"

 Right as Tenpyou began pulling on the door, a massive noise boomed forth in the middle of her sentence, big enough to seemingly shake the water all around us. As I crouch down at the sudden ear-splitting roar, a vaguely human-shaped blur speeds past me.

"BWAAGH?!"

 I turn around to see what happened, and Tenpyou-- having apparently been blasted backwards-- is sprawled out on the tiled road. Oh, wow. That is... a very unbecoming position to end up in. No, okay, more importantly...

"Tenpyou. It seems you've destroyed the castle town once again."

 A dignified-sounding voice reaches my ears from beyond the front gate. I can't see who it belongs to, but if I didn't know any better, I'd swear she was standing right next to me.

"Oof... b-big sis Suzutake, c'mon... you can't just come outta nowhere like that...!"

"We've told you so many times, you have to keep an eye out for your surroundings when fighting... even Elder Sister Shunkei has told you, has she not? To keep a close eye on the castle town when playing or engaging in combat?"

"I-I'm sorry..."

"Additionally, Big Sister Kyouga did tell you to avoid harming our honoured guest, yes? But you ignored that warning too, and very nearly injured her..."

"Mmm~rrm......"

 Oh, goodness. Tenpyou's starting to sulk again.

"W-well, don't be too hard on her, all right? She was working very hard, in the end..."

"A-Awakihara lady.....!"

 Tenpyou. Are you sure that's how you properly address someone?

 As this brief exchange plays out, the new arrival-- Tenpyou's next eldest sister, I imagine-- puts a finger to her brow and speaks in a pained tone.

"*Sigh*. It's rather odd that the visitor is the one trying to argue her case, but... well. Our elder sisters can compensate for it, I suppose."

 With that, Tenpyou's sister turns to look me in the eye.

"Let's try this once more. ...Greetings. I am the next eldest sister of Tenpyou there; my name is Suzutake Kai, third eldest of the Kai sisters. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Tsukushi Awakihara."

Sea Hound of Vanishingly Rare Cheer Suzutake Kai

"Now, I imagine you'd rather not hold a conversation standing around out here, so why don't we take this indoors. That means you too, Tenpyou."

"Aw..."

 Thus does Suzutake-san usher us in through the door.

........

 Upon entering, the ocean water that had surrounded us is suddenly nowhere to be found. The room is filled with cool, pleasant-feeling air. Lord Watatsumi dissolves the air bubble surrounding me, and I breathe a hearty sigh of relief.

 Suzutake-san gives off slightly more mature impression than I or Tenpyou. Her short, grey bob haircut sways back and forth, with a beautiful green color just barely visible beneath it. She's got a hairpin that shines in that same color, shaped sort of like a word written in cursive, and her outfit resembles a sailor uniform similar to Tenpyou's. She looks me over as we walk onward. (What does that hairpin say, anyway? "Stoß"? ...What's a stob?)

 However, now that I don't have to worry about being able to breathe, I remember something that'd struck me as severely odd in our brief exchange outside. I look back and forth from Suzutake-san, who's guiding us into the building, to Tenpyou, who's... clinging to my side for some reason, and ask them a question.

"By the way-- this might sound silly, but may I ask a question?"

".....Certainly."

"...You already know who I am, don't you?"

 I'd had a vague feeling about it ever since I fought little Ayaori, but it seems that my arrival here was no mere coincidence. I heard her loud and clear out there. Suzutake-san had called me their "honoured guest"...

 As I said that, the already-cold air dropped by another several degrees.

 I see that, in response, Tenpyou begins anxiously looking at Suzutake-san, and Suzutake-san stares icily towards me. Glancing downward, I see that she's suddenly holding a gigantic cross in her hand, and has generated several distortion fields like Tenpyou did before.

"...I'd rather have refrained from engaging in battle so soon after coming indoors. But now that you've questioned us this far, I suppose there's only one response I can give. .....Isn't that right!"

 With that, Suzutake-san kicks off the floor, flying up through the Kaikeidou's vast interior. The entry hall is huge, with a ceiling even higher than the front gate. She steadies herself while hovering up there, and swings down the cross that's several times larger than herself. As she does, countless distortion fields-- far, far more than Tenpyou had made-- fan out around her.

"If you want an answer to that question, ask again after pushing through here."

She's armed and fully prepared for battle. After a brief moment's pause, I summon the ōnusa from Lord Watatsumi that I'd fought Tenpyou with. Thus, in that vast, cavernous space that the phrase "grand hall" could hardly do justice to, I began my battle with Suzutake-san.

Nicovideo links: Stage theme (Dragon Palace of the Modern World) Boss theme (Faithful Hound)

[kaikeidou-backstage-blog]

Kaikeidou Ibun: M.c.s. - Tale of Sea Searching, Part 4

"How ya doin' with my vibration bullets? Feelin' scared? Yeah, they're scary, aren't they? Eee hee hee!"

 Tenpyou is standing in place with her back to the Kaikeidou's massive walls, firing off volley after volley of danmaku. I, for my part, am just dodging, with help of the evasive skills that I'd honed in my previous two battles.

 The things Tenpyou calls 'microvibration bullets' are these floating, spherical zones of tiny underwater vibrations. Touching them causes damage in the form of fractures, heat, ringing in one's ears, and so on. I'm unharmed for now, aside from a couple scorched edges on my sleeves, but in exchange...

"You're lookin' at the Kaikeidou's number-one gate guard, yeah! No way I'm lettin' any humans pass through!"

(Oh, there goes another shish-kebab stand...)

 While Tenpyou continues boasting over at the gate, I can't help but glance over at the bullets I've dodged... or, more accurately, how they're gradually destroying the buildings lined up on either side of the thoroughfare. Yeah, Tenpyou definitely seems like...

"C'mon, now! If all you do is dodge, it's totally boring! Try shootin' something at me too, yeah? 'Course, it's not like a human's attacks would even put a scratch on us mermaids! Eee hee hee!"

 Like a rather simple sort of person.

 What? Hey, nobody ever said she was dumb or anything.

 The thing is, she hasn't attacked in any way other than firing the vibration bullets. Be it because she's holding back, or because she's already reached her limit, it's safe to assume that she can't perform any attacks more complicated than this. Thus, I could potentially deal with her just by dodging until she runs out of patience. As I turn back around to see how she's doing, however, Tenpyou claps her hands as if she just thought of something, and flashes me a haughty grin.

"Hey, lady? Don't tell me you're just planning to dodge my attacks forever, yeah? 'Cause that won't get you a~nywhere! ♪ See, I can keep this up basically forever. So I guess if you can dodge forever, that'll do the job?"

"......"

 I fall silent, trying not to give away the fact that she practically read my mind. I guess she's on to me after all. Well, I suppose it wasn't a particularly inspired plan.

"Hrm... y'know, you're the first human visitor we've got in a while, but you're pretty boring. Like, the ones from before tried to dash at me like mad..."

"......Hm?"

 As she said that, Tenpyou's expression suddenly changed to a look of boredom. That reminds me-- there's still a question I've been meaning to ask. I'm not the only human who's encountered these Kai sisters and been forced to fight them... but the sisters have all been vague about it, not telling me any clear details. So what exactly happened to those past challengers...?

"Let me ask you just one thing."

"Yeah, what?"

"What happened to the humans you fought before?"

"Aw, is that it? Pff, I mean....."

 Tenpyou briefly closed her eyes. As she uttered her next words, she had a very different look on her face-- fearsome, one might say-- and her eyes, once opened, looked completely black.

"You know EXACTLY what it is that we youkai do to people... don't you, lassie?"

"......!!"

 I feel a chill run up my spine. And before I can even think, I find myself rocketing towards her in a single, unbroken line.

 I can hear Lord Watatsumi's words racing around in my head, trying to tell me to calm down, but I continue straight towards Tenpyou without stopping to listen.

"Woah! Not sure what you're tryin' to pull, but hey, that's humans for ya! So, are you gonna lose? Or aren't ya? Hee hee hee...!"

 Meanwhile, Tenpyou stands back with a relaxed expression and lets me approach. As I draw near, she whips out several vibration bullets that spin around before my eyes, forming both a trap and a defensive wall. Even with my gaze locked on them, I keep charging forward. And with that:

(Lord Watatsumi, if you please, will you lend me the power to strike down this youkai before me? I'll pay you back.)

 In response, Lord Watatsumi forms an ōnusa in my right hand. As soon as I feel the wooden handle in my grasp, I swing it as hard as I can.

KRAAASH!!

"Nwauh?!"

 The bullets protecting Tenpyou are smashed to pieces, with the shards flying like glass in all directions. I swing the ōnusa again, aiming right for her this time, but she dodges away almost reflexively.

"W-What in the heck?! What ARE you?!"

"My apologies for the late introduction. I am Tsukushi Awakihara... a student, and incarnate god, from the town on the shore."

 I face little Tenpyou, who's now showing clear signs of panic, and calmly reveal my identity. By now, the chill from the deep-sea water has helped me cool my head a little. But even with that said... if the opponent before me brought harm to a human, then as a representative of a god, I can't let her off that easily.

"Incarnate god...? Awakihara...?"

"It seems that, thanks to this ōnusa, I too can fight youkai on even ground. So, Miss Tenpyou, allow me to counterattack as you requested!"

 I take one deep breath, then advance towards Tenpyou again. Tenpyou, however, now looks downright aghast; she turns on her heel and bolts, while showering bullets in my direction.

"D-don't come any closer! Y-You're just some human, ya know!!"

 She's barely even aiming this new wave of danmaku. I dodge from side to side, not knowing whether any of it is aimed for me or when any of it might land a hit, as I slowly close the distance between the two of us. The barrage of vibration bullets streaks past me, demolishing not just the surrounding buildings, but the polished stone tiles and glowing lanterns. Dragging this out much longer would really do a number on the nice scenery, but right now, it'd be much too dangerous to just run up to her. However, just as I start to falter...

"......Eeek!"

 In the midst of her mad scramble, Tenpyou suddenly gives a start and freezes in place. At that, her entire barrage stops and hangs in the water, and I immediately take the opportunity to catch up to her.

"AAAHH!!"

"Looks like you slipped up. With this, I am the victor! ...Probably!"

 As I speak, I point the ōnusa at Tenpyou's chest, and pray to Lord Watatsumi.

rrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUMMMBLE...!!!

 Just as I hear Lord Watatsumi's voice in my head, a ferocious ocean current shoots forth from my hands, washing Tenpyou away with as much strength as I can muster.

"Aaah... AAAHH... ah-- UWAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGHH!!!"

 She's blasted away by the huge, bubbling current, all the way down the thoroughfare. In the end, she's finally pushed back to the Kaikeidou's front gate. The wreckage of the surrounding buildings also gets caught in the current, and ends up being washed all the way into the distance, but... well. That's just something we'll have to accept. Yes.

........

 With the dramatic, highly destructive battle having drawn to a close, I proceed towards the Kaikeidou while pondering what to do next. Despite the building's huge appearance, though, it's actually farther away than one might expect, so it takes me a while to get there.

 Also, I can't see little Tenpyou anywhere-- I mean, I did sort of blast her really far away-- so there's nobody present to tell me where to go. Got to find her first, I suppose.

"Okay, so..... um, hello~o? Miss Tenpyo~u? I-- oh. My goodness."

 While searching for little Tenpyou-- and bracing myself for any more potential ambushes-- I found myself at the gate of that massive Dragon Palace. The "Kaikeidou".

"Wow..."

 Now that I can get a close look at it, the size of the front gate is absolutely astonishing. It's easily three times taller than I am. The building itself stands so high, it's honestly closer to a tower than a castle. As I gaze up at it...

".....oogh..."

 I find Tenpyou, huddled up on the ground next to the gate.

"Ah... hello?"

".....*snf* 'm s'ryy..."

"Uh--?"

"'m sorryyy... 'ig sis Kyouga..... I couldn't, *snf*, pr'tect th'... w, wh..."

"Um, Tenpyou, are... you okay...?"

"WAAAAAAAAAHHHH!! I'M SOOO SOOORRYYYYYY!!"