#and now for the tags (how the frick do I even tag this)

[feliciadraws]

👁️ W I T N E S S 👁️

- I've been meaning to do something with Onmyoji, the awesome @bamboorocket's Lancer AU!Waka, for a while now, but since it's Bamboo's birthday I went ahead and did a thing inspired by the current campaign she's playing him in as a birthday present!

So without further ado, Happy Birthday to the awesome @bamboorocket! Thank you so much for being one of the coolest, most awesome friends I could ever ask for 🎂🌙✨

[hamiltonaf]

Veiled Emotions | Lando Norris

(Part 1) | Part 2

Pairing: Lando Norris x BFF!Female Reader

Word Count: 2K

Warnings: None

A/N: Hello my loves. I’m back from my hiatus ! Had this one in my drafts for so long and finally got out of writers block to finish it. Let me know your thoughts if you’d like a part 2 ? Enjoy ! X

(Y/F/N) - Your Friend’s Name

(Y/N/N) - Your Nickname

“Oh my days” I said aloud. “No fricking way” I slapped a hand over my mouth in shock as I stared at my Instagram notifications. “Bestie what happened ?” (Y/F/N) asked as she rushed over to my side. “You are not going to believe who just followed me” I said as I looked at her. “Tell me already !” (Y/F/N) yelled. “The footballer, João Félix !” I squealed. “Shut up ! Give me that” she grabbed my phone from my hand to take a closer look. “What the- wait a second..isn’t he-“ “Yepp” I nodded as I pressed my lips together. “This is major !” She shouted.

“But how crazy that he followed me the same time these rumours started with Lando ?” I said as I snatched my phone back. “This sounds like sweet revenge to me” (Y/F/N) said as she rubbed her hands together. “I wouldn’t say revenge, I mean they’re just rumours” I shrugged. “Babe sometimes you’re blind and I feel bad for you” she said as she rubbed my back. “What do you mean I’m blind ?” I furrowed my brows.

“Don’t you see how that dumb ass doesn’t care about you when she’s around ? He doesn’t call you or text you, but if you tried calling or texting him he’s always so called ‘busy’ ! He doesn’t make time for you anymore considering you guys have known each other for 2 years now. The only time he knows you is when she’s not around which is so not on. You don’t deserve that treatment” she lectured.

“I get where you’re coming from and gosh.. I wish it was so easy to stop thinking about him, but you already know how I feel. It’s a one sided love story” I sighed. “Get over him ! I’ve been telling you this for so long, he doesn’t deserve you. If he wants to prioritise her over you, yet he knows you for god knows how long, that speaks for itself” she said. “Yeah it’s easy to say get over him, not so easy when I still get tagged on pictures and see him all over my timeline” I fussed. “Block him” she simply said. “Are you mad ? These gossip accounts and fans will notice and then people won’t stop talking about it. I can forsee what’s going to happen already, leave it to me” I reassured her. “Ugh fine, but please stop letting him have control over you” she warned. “Control over me ? Ain’t no way, I can play the same game ” I grinned to myself. I followed Joāo.

To think that my follower count is such that youoão won’t notice one extra follower, but I guessed wrong because these F1 gossip accounts don’t play. It’s only been an hour, we haven’t even DMed each other, just a follow back and F1 gossip girl had posted.

***BREAKING NEWS***

Spotted: Lando getting cozy with Magui at the trendiest spots in town. But hold your gasps, because there’s a juicy twist —João Felix and (Y/N) are now following each other. Is this just a casual follow, or a strategic move in a high-stakes game of love and rivalry ? As the drama unfolds, one thing’s for sure: the Upper East Side’s favorite social circle is about to get even more complicated. Stay tuned, darling—this is just the beginning of the scandal.

XOXO, Gossip Girl

After reading the post I felt as if I was apart of the Gossip Girl series, a childhood dream come true. Jokes aside… I showed (Y/F/N) the post and we had a good laugh for a few minutes. “At this point you NEED to date Joāo, give the fans what they want !” she said as she shook me. “Dating for drama is too much work and I don’t do fake romance” I rolled my eyes. “Girl… who said it has to be fake ? What if y’all actually fall in love oh my god !” She squealed. “Not when that idiot lives in my head rent free” I said as I grabbed the pillow from beside me and screamed into it in frustration. “Babe you need to calm down-“ and just then my Twitch notification went off. It could only go off for two people - Lando or Max.

We shared a look simultaneously, (Y/F/N) was indirectly giving me permission to open the stream. Max is in frame on the golf cart and he starts off by greeting everyone, as well as giving a brief run down of what they’re doing. I failed to remember that my username is visible until I read the comments which everyone is tagging me and saying hi or bringing up Joāo…oh dear. “I see we have our bestie watching the stream. Hey (Y/N/N) !” Max waved. I typed back ‘Heyy Max !’.

The comments were only about Joāo Felix within a few seconds. Max starts reading one of the comments, “(Y/N) wins in life with Max and Lando as her best friends and now a footballer, Joāo, is her potential boyfriend ! Unreal.” I was at a loss for words. (Y/F/N) and I looked at each other and burst out laughing at the comment, as much as I love the fans they have gone crazy. “Say what now ?” Lando said as he then came into frame and sat beside Max on the golf cart. “Shit” I muttered. “(Y/N/N) is on the stream” Max glanced at him. “Hey bestie ! Missing you” Lando said with a smile. “I hate him” I said to myself. “Me too” (Y/F/N) agreed.

‘Enjoy Portugal !’ I typed in the comments. “Bro did you know (Y/N) and Joāo are dating” Max said as he watched Lando jump off the golf cart. “You’re joking” Lando scoffed. Max cleared his throat and coughed before Lando could comment any further. “This is like watching Gossip Girl in the flesh” (Y/F/N) said. “Why does he look good” I whined. “I’ve had enough of you acting like this, please leave the stream and watch something else like TikTok or something” (Y/F/N) said as she snatched my phone to close Twitch and open TikTok instead.

I swear this day is like a fever dream. “Are you taking the piss” (Y/F/N) said as she was viewing a TikTok. “What ? Show me too” I said as I grabbed my phone from her hand. It’s a TikTok of Max’ girlfriend and Joāo’s ex. That means the rumours must be true seeing how close they are in the video.

“So much for thinking TikTok would be a good distraction” (Y/F/N) said as she closed TikTok. “This day couldn’t be more of a joke” I sighed. “You know what I’ve had enough ! Let’s get ready, we’re going out” I practically got dragged to my room. “Going where exactly ?” I asked as I sat at the edge of the bed. “Anywhere ! As long as you don’t look at your phone today” (Y/F/N) said as she rummaged through her bag for an outfit. “But I’m so not in the mood” I said as I fell back on the bed. Just then my notifications went off. A text from Lando. Strange.

(Y/F/N) paused with searching for a dress and scurried to lay beside me.

Little did Lando know was that (Y/F/N) had taken my phone away that’s why I didn’t answer his calls and bonus of it all, she lied by answering his question. “I guess fake love it is then” I furrowed my brows. “Why chase when you’re the catch, right ?” She said as she stood up to face me. “I mean I guess so” I shrugged. “You have to be confident and know that you’re worth more than chasing after this boy. He needs to chase after you” she said as she held me at my shoulders and shook me.

“Are you going to make this boy fall for you or what ?” She asked. I was hesitant to answer, “Bestie… I thought you didn’t like him” I pressed my lips together. “Only because he’s being an idiot you and I hate seeing you like this. But if it means playing cupid and bringing back my old bestie - more importantly that you’re happy then I’ll support it” she smiled softly. “Awww.. stop ! Now enough pep talk, we need to get dressed” I clapped my hands and jumped off the bed in a hurry.

yourusername added to story

(Y/F/N) suggested to post on my story as if I’m out with João and I think I nailed it considering it got a reaction out of Lando. He reacted with ‘😍’ and added, ‘You actually went on a date with him 😂’. (Y/F/N) said nothing would tick him off more than leaving him on read and that’s what I did.

After a fun night of dinner and drinks with our other girl friends, we made it back home safely and all I just wanted to do was go to sleep. I kicked off my heels and walked over to the kitchen to fill up a vase with water for the bouquet - Lando’s name lit up across my lock screen to video call. I rolled my eyes, “Ugh to answer or not to answer ?”. “Girl answer ! I wanna hear this” (Y/F/N) said as she sat beside me, away from my camera view but enough for her to see what’s happening. “Hey you, what a surprise” I greeted. “Are you back home ?” He asked. “Yeah I actually just got back” I said as I leaned against the counter.

“At 12am ?” He furrowed his brows. “I guess you can say we lost track of time” I grinned. (Y/F/N) was trying her best not to laugh. “Where did he take you ?” He asked curiously. I then grabbed the bouquet and tried to place it nicely as a whole into the vase. “Is this why you called ? To get information ?” I raised a brow. “No ! I just miss you that’s all” he sighed. “You seem perfectly fine without me, in fact you look like you’re having a lot of fun.. I don’t see how me being there would make a difference” I shrugged.

“Okay now what’s with the sarcasm ? You’re acting as if I didn’t ask you to come with !” He argued. “Oh I’m sorry Lando, but I would hate to be the third wheel for both you and Max.” “Third wheel for me ? Why is that ?” He looked confused. “Oh my god how slow are you” I rolled my eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes now, tell me why !” He broke into a smile as he started to laugh. The audacity. “Are you trying to make me look like a mug ?” I sniggered. “No no, it’s just cute to see you get upset” he smiled. “Wow okay. Anyways I’m gonna go” I grew annoyed very quickly, I just want this call to end. “Wait wait. I’m sorry okay, I’ll stop talking” he pouted. Nope, not gonna work. “No..it’s getting late anyways. I’m gonna go. Night” I huffed. “But (Y/N/N)-“ “Lando I’m tired please.” “Alright sorry..good night..love ya” he sighed. “Bye” I said softly and ended the call.

“Girlll can y’all just admit y’all love each other at this point. I felt like I was watching a couple fight. Geez” (Y/F/N) shook her head. “Absolutely not. I’m annoyed because I feel like he called for some entertainment for his girlfriend. I’m sure she’s dying to know what her ex and I were up to, and also how she can get payback for whatever reason” I said as we walked back to the room. “Babe I think you’re overthinking it. From what I saw he genuinely looked lonely and just wanted to talk to you because he misses you” she said. “Erm I’m sorry but what happened to my best friend who was against him ?” I raised a brow. “I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt” she smiled proudly.

“Love how everyone is ganging up against me like I’m the villain. Love to see it ! Not.” I faked a smile. “Sleep over it and talk to him tomorrow” she suggested. “Hmm we’ll see” I said lowly.

[vamp0rivm]

𝙱𝙴𝚈𝙾𝙽𝙳 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴 𝟶𝟺

summary: you haven’t spent the night with ellie since she left, and you didn’t think you would ever do so again. but now you’re here. and there’s this random ass dog here too ig.

a/n: LOLLLLL I DID IT!!!!! this is 75% yap but I swear it gets cute at the end plz just read plz istg

tag list: @diddiqueen, @amberputh, @fatbootymuncher, @sapphointhe21stcenturyposts, @jadelovesyou00, @ravyaryn

series masterlist

You turn your phone off, eyes fixed on that same blurry fleck on the ceiling as darkness floods back into the room. 

03:17

Unfortunately, those are rookie numbers to you, especially since that little get-together: the night you ended ‘things’ with Alexis over the phone, which somehow went surprisingly smoothly, on your part at least. 

Well, you hung up before gauging how she took it. The only implications were the incessant buzzes of your phone against the smooth wooden surface of your nightstand, now cluttered with junk accumulated during the past few days. Over the course of them, the buzzes slowed before dying out completely. Then came the silence, in which you were left to rot in your thoughts.

That day, you came home and embraced the emptiness of your bed after going so long with a stranger lying beside you, and you immediately began abusing the absolute tragedy of it all, using the breakup as an excuse to laze around constantly, take a day or two off work. The reality, quite clearly, try as you might to conceal it (which isn’t much), is that you’re not really at the appropriate level of impacted by the whole ordeal, whatever that would be.

Perhaps the worst part of it all - what you truly feel the most guilty for - is that your thoughts keep taking a turn towards Ellie. It’s like the area of your mind dedicated to her suddenly flourished with greenery and colour following her return like rain crashing down against the dry sands of a desert, and it has only amplified since that night. A constant reminder that the markings she left on the enclosure of your skull will never fade.

Maybe you should be annoyed - mad, even - about the way she acted. But none of the emotions clustered inside you come even remotely close to that. Too far in an unprecedented direction. 

But it’s not unprecedented. Not really. You’re acutely self-aware; you’ve always found it difficult to lie to yourself.

You think about her a lot, most of all about how she’s doing all alone in that house. You hope for a lot of things for her too. A lot. Things you shouldn’t hope for people you were supposed to have left in your past.

Ellie felt like dookie, which wasn’t unusual, quite the opposite. However, the reasoning was new. She felt like shit for that ugly thing that came over her, jealousy. She felt like shit because it was wrong to be jealous over the woman she once belonged to, the woman who also belonged to her, who doesn’t look in her eyes the way she used to, who laughs with someone else, holds someone else, loves someone else the way she used to love Ellie. Well, Ellie knows you love her because she knows you, but not the way you used to. There is a sadness there, a sort of pity, which irks her. It made her scared that you’d never see her the same way again.

And she wasn’t sure she’d be able to let the walls between you crumble even now, after everything. Still so on guard.

She wanted to do whatever it took to be part of your life: be respectful, give you space, be a friend, and she fricked up because you were supposed to be hers, and you would be, if she hadn’t lost her mind all that time ago.

She tried to ease the anxiety by texting you after the party, but when she looked down into the glow of the phone screen, rereading the words she’d typed out in apology, they seemed like the most laughable thing on the planet: rambles of incoherent, disconnected foolishness. She almost unsent them. You didn't respond anyway.

Tossing her phone aside, she picked up the guitar tilted against the side of her wardrobe with hesitation, and held it to her body, adjusting to regain fragments of familiarity. It felt a lot heavier than it used to, like the shadow of an old soul lingers around it, shaky fingers, greyed hair, gruff hum.

Her fingers strummed discordantly, in some distracted attempt at stringing together a tune, but no words came to mind when it was rampant with great hurricanes of guilt that dated back to times she didn’t even remember. A problem she couldn’t quite seem to rid herself of.

Now, she squats beside the dog’s makeshift food bowl under the porch light as fireflies flutter between the clusters of cobwebs bound to it, and she inspects the flecks of dust settled over the pet store biscuits when something clicks in her mind. The dog’s been acting weird. The barks have quieted to naught, he hasn’t gone outside to take his daily shit yet, and come to think of it, Ellie’s not sure he went yesterday either, but most importantly, the food has gone untouched. 

After a Google search, Ellie bounds up the stairs, scouring the rooms for him, and stopping with a thumping heart when she spots his dark coat flopped atop a rug dejectedly. She kneels beside him and runs her fingers through the tufts of fur, muttering,

“You not feelin’ too good, goober?”

A wheezy sigh fills the silence, almost as if in response, and Ellie’s brows furrow in worry.

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner. C’mon, let’s get you to the vet.”

10 minutes later, she’s in Tommy’s truck, the engine growls but she realises she doesn’t think she can do this alone. She’s formed a weird bond with the dog, greyed coat and warm eyes. They feel homely in a way that makes her stomach churn and her throat tighten. There’s a slight squeak of the leather steering wheel in her grip as she tenses. 

Tommy’s out, Ellie’s not quite ready to see Maria, Jesse’s working nights, and a quick text exchange reveals Dina’s currently being knocked out by cramps.

She holds her phone in a shaky hand, glancing back at the dog who’s laying quiet on the floor and then looks back at the screen. It often hits her how small the number of people she can turn to is. Well, the list isn’t quite empty now. She’s yet to ask you.

So, with a thumb hovering over your number, twitching in hesitance for a few moments, she decides to bite the bullet and hits call. A few rings pass, each saturated with the increasing intensity of her heartbeat, and then you answer.

“Ellie?”

Your mind is foggy with sleep but you find yourself sitting beside her once again. The journey is quiet; you don’t feel the tension you thought you would. Maybe it's the fatigue obscuring your observation skills. 

She steers the truck into the car park and gets out, jogging over to your side to open your door and help you down. She grunts as she urges the dog out of the van and they scuttle along down to the entrance side by side. You smile to yourself at the sight a couple of steps behind.

Not many questions were asked during the short phone call.

“I uh- Are… Are you free - right now?”

“Um, yeah, I’m free, why? Is everything okay?”

“My dog’s not looking too great and I gotta take him to the vet, I guess… I don’t really know… what I’m doing.”

She has a dog?

“Okay… Do you… Do you want me to come with you?”

The receptionist tells Ellie the dog needs to be on a leash and she apologises before taking a seat.

The waiting room’s quiet and Ellie looks a mess. Her hair is shorter, choppier, just barely hanging over the curves of her ear. You remember it looking longer in the pictures of her while she was back in LA. She needs help fixing it up. You can picture her craning her neck in the mirror to snip at stray locks. Cute. She bounces her foot incessantly and the fidgeting doesn’t hide the shaking of her hands. Her eyes tell you she’s somewhere else - a place you think you recognise from all those years ago.

You know what she needs, watch her distant eyes flit down to the sight of your hand over hers, bringing her back to the surface. Baby steps.

When the vet gives the verdict, that the issue shouldn’t last longer than a week, injects antibiotics into the scruff of the dog’s neck, Ellie’s shoulders seem less tense and you set off home. 

There are thoughts that sometimes should stay internal, impulses you probably shouldn’t act upon.

But you love her. And you’re older. Less kind feelings about the concept of regret.

“Are you okay?”

She sighs, a slight croak in her voice but she smiles,

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. You-uh still living with Dina?”

“Mhm, but don’t drop me off there.”

Ellie turns to face you, eyes glancing back at the road repetitively, 

“What? You don’t- You don’t have to do that-”

“Obviously I don’t. I want to.”

There’s a slight pause as she looks over your features and then shifts her focus back to the road, whispering,

“Okay.”

Then, Ellie looks up at the dog through the rearview mirror.

“You scared me there, old man, thought you were gonna throw up on my bed or something.  Shit in the bathtub or something.”

You chuckle and she grins in that adorable way that drew you to her in the first place,

“I don’t know, dog’s are dumb. They do dumb shit.”

She tells you she just calls him Buddy and Buddy seems better already. He sleeps soundly in the backseat as Ellie’s fingers tap idly against the steering wheel. She glances over at you now and then, like she’s trying to make sense of the thoughts in your head through the expression on your face.

The door to the old house is like a portal to the old world, and when it’s open, you’re stepping into a memory. You can’t figure out if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Ellie drops her keys onto the counter and moves to let Buddy settle in the corner of the couch, running her hand over his fur with veiny hands and tender movements, you almost feel a phantom touch down your spine. What it elicits in you seems a little dangerous. 

A worn pair of sneakers is sprawled out by the door. How the fuck does she still have those?

You take a seat by the dog and try not to sound too tense,

“How have you been? I mean… with everything?” 

It’s a loaded question, and she knows it, maybe too much so. Her jaw tightens for a moment, but she exhales slowly and settles beside you, her knee brushing yours, and, even though she’s very aware of it, she doesn’t move it away.

“Sobriety?” she asks, her voice careful. You nod.

Ellie leans back, resting her head against the couch. She stares at the ceiling, her fingers drumming against her thigh before curling into fists and imprinting crescent moons on her palm. Is she fighting the urge to pull away? She was always retreating when things got too close, too real. Your stomach is sinking.

“It’s… hard,” she admits, taking you by surprise though her voice is barely above a whisper. 

“Some days are better than others. I haven’t…” 

She pauses, taking in air like it’s suffocating to think about.

“I haven’t used anything in a while. Not since LA.” 

“Good. I’m glad, Ellie. That’s good.” you say softly, knots loosening in your heart, but you keep your eyes trained on her, analysing every little expression, every little movement. Her lips twitch into a faint, almost bitter smile. 

“Yeah. But it’s not just about not using, you know? It’s… so much… Everything else. Dealing with everything else… It’s so hard not to keep… chasing something, distracting myself, running away instead of facing it…

I fell into it so quickly before… I shouldn’t have… I should’ve tried to let you in.” 

Swallow, the memories are filling your mouth, and they sting your insides as they move through you, still sharp as ever. Peace is all you need for her. Peace is all you need for her. 

You don’t really go to her gigs anymore. It’s a wonder she still does them, comes home drunk out of her mind every time. 

It’s haunting her every day.

The door opens, not surprising. You could hear her fuck around with the keys outside the door for a while before a gust of wind washes over you. She rushes to the bathroom and throws up again, dry heaving because there’s nothing to come out but alcohol.

It’s almost 4 AM. You rise to your feet and crouch down beside her, rubbing small circles over her back and feeling the nubs of her spine and the ripples of her ribcage beneath her thin T-shirt. 

“Stop,” she spits out with a scratchy throat and through a choked sob.

You sit with her for a while, until she gets up and walks to her office.

The door closes behind her, leaving loud nothingness in her workroom. 

As you lay in bed, gasps carry through the air. You wish, with everything in you, there was a way to heal these wounds, but you can feel it sinking, crashing.

“We can’t change the past, Ellie. And even if it hurt, I don’t blame you for what you did. You needed to leave. And… I just wasn’t what you needed at the time… You weren’t ready for a relationship. Running was all you could do.”

“I don’t want to run anymore,” she whispers, her voice firm despite the tremble in it,

“It’s weird… You’re right. I think I needed to get away from this place… Being here… The posters, the books, the desk, it’s like I kept finding little pieces of… kid me. And Joel.” 

Her voice almost catches on his name but she looks at her hands and navigates the minefield of memories, so much better than she used to be able to.

“But looking at them now… I just… I feel like I can face it.”

Laced through her words, images of his face. Grief which rushed through her, mind, heart and soul. The guilt - the longing, that burdens her spirit, little by little, pieces dissipate into fireflies and fly away. Fragile steps towards being able to look him in the eye - the essence of him left behind in her life.

250,000 Miles is whirring through an old CD player, there’s a box of stir-fry on the table by Ellie. You’re sitting before her, laughing at her for pretending to know how to use chopsticks, and at the fact that she’s absolutely tanked at this game of Catan. But she’s grinning at you, and her chest feels warm.

“Alright, it’s literally 1 AM, we need to pack this up. I’m becoming delirious.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

You scoff, your lips still curved into a smile, getting up to carry your dishes to the sink, “Shut up.”

She scoops the empty cans of cola vanilla scattered around the table into her arms and drops them by the sink to rinse them out beside you as you dry your hands. You catch her smirking and nudge her, watching her scoff and whisper,

“What?”

Ellie turns to you and her cheeks are tinged pink. You're grinning at her and she's smiling at you and it feels so natural, the soft curve of your back, the chub of your cheek, natural to fall back into that old rhythm; it’s so easy to forget that she isn't years back in the past, to just lean in so you can feel the warmth of her breath fan your lips.

An exhale catches in your throat, a sharp thrum in your chest as your eyes flit down to her lips. You begin to close the distance, but hesitation is inevitable. The fear of hurting, of falling into the ravenous love you felt before it's ripped away from you again.

Ellie doesn’t push, her eyes dropping to the space you give. She knows she fucked up. You have a girlfriend, and you want to be nothing more than friends.

“Sorry,” she mutters, her voice thick with regret.

But you need her to know now, that you want this as much as she does, that you need her as much as she needs you. That you miss her so much.

“I broke up with Alexis.”

Ellie looks up at you with those wide eyes.

“Let’s take our time, Ellie. We don’t have to rush into anything.”

She can’t help the way her eyelashes flutter, lips curve down into a small smile.

The couch is a tight squeeze with Buddy still asleep at the end of it. 

You told her you were okay with sharing the bed, but she insisted, not wanting to push any further after what transpired earlier. The living room is cold - must be a draught coming in from somewhere. She knows she won’t be able to fall asleep here.

Hesitant again, she sits up, and then makes her way to the bedroom, taking her place on the left side of the bed, facing you. And when you open your eyes, she doesn’t turn away.

“Night, El.”

“Goodnight.”

[scorpioriesling]

GIRLIE i have been reading 4th wing and holy hell, why havent we got an azriel x fourth wing yettt? like just imagine, that man is literally perfect for ANY book crossover, I would pay good money to see Az beat the frick out of jack (ew)

Our Worlds Collided

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *

Pairing(s): Azriel x reader

Warning(s): Violence... I mean, read the ask. Lol.

Summary: Living in a different place than your boyfriend is hard, and the moments you can be together, you don't want to waste. But, being in school, there are still obligations and tasks you must complete -- even if it means spending time with your man in a less-than-ideal place.

SR’s Note: This ask was *chef's kiss*. I've been doing so much lately with smut + the Invisible String series (which is finished btw, go read it if you haven't yet) that I haven't really got to write a cute little short story in a while. I hope this is what you wanted -- I'm happy with how it turned out!

Tags: @mellowmusings @rcarbo1 @lilah-asteria @kitsunetori @velarisdusk (inbox me or comment if you'd like to be added!)

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *

"I'm so glad you made it!"

You threw your arms around your boyfriend, his tall but strong frame engulfing you as he held you close. Grateful for the familiar scent of pine and mint, you inhaled deeply.

"You missed me that much?" The low timbre of his voice was like a caress against your very soul.

Nodding wordlessly, he pulled back, only a bit to look into your eyes. His shadows danced around him in a joyful parade, signaling his inner happiness he so rarely showed on the outside.

"I missed you too, Y/N." He leaned down, pressing a kiss against your lips and smiling when you tugged him close for more. He slid his rough hands along your waist, settling on your hips while his lips moved against yours.

The moment, one you'd been desperate for for weeks now, was harshly interrupted by the mid-afternoon bell, signaling the end of classes for the day. You pulled back, watching your boyfriend grimace at the sound.

"Don't tell me you've never heard a schoolbell before, Azriel," you chuckled. His ears perked up at the sound, and only when it finally ended did he resume his usual, unassuming posture.

"I'll have to get used to the sounds here again." He says. It was true -- where he was from, Prythian, sounds were much softer as the fae hearing had adapted that way. But, in Basgiath, for your kind; it was quite the opposite.

"Yes... and the dragons." You'd taken his hand, making way for your dorm as he sighed.

"Ahh, yes. Almost forgot about those."

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

He truly could not have come to visit at a worse time; not to sound ungrateful, you loved seeing your boyfriend and all, but between all the training, challenges, and courses you were balancing -- well, there were many hours of the day that you had to leave him to attend those duties.

But, you couldn't complain. Spending every evening, curled up with Azriel, your back to his chest as you got the best sleep of your life? You were counting down the days to graduation.

"So... a first year... that's when we met," Azriel says slowly, flipping through one of your library books. He'd chosen Basgiath's War College History, and was all the more quizzical.

"Yes," you confirmed. "That was when I took Ramir to... well, Prythian." You shrugged. "Accidental, of course, but, look what it got me."

He glanced up, chuckling as you threw him a wink. It was an unusually rainy Friday, and though you'd rather be exploring the town with Azriel, Emetterio had other plans.

"But, how were you even able to leave the college with your dragon?" He asks, frowning at the next. You wrap a few more strands of your braid, reflecting on the distant memory.

"Oh, I got in trouble all right." General Sorrengail had been furious with you upon your return, having clearly stated that dragon riding was for Basgiath-grounds only. "But, like I said -- at least I met you."

He doesn't look up this time, flipping the page and reading more of the text intently.

"So, now that you're a third-year," he starts, his attention only faltering for a moment when you sit down on the mattress beside him. "You can go anywhere you want?"

You nod in confirmation. "Yup. That's right -- Ramir doesn't particularly like long-distance flying, but he does just fine going to Prythian and back."

Azriel looks sidelong at you, and in the dim afternoon light, you can count every freckle on his face. His hazel eyes gaze at you, flickering between your eyes and lips. You lean in, pressing a quick kiss to his lips as his hands slide along your upper thigh.

Your alarm buzzes from your phone, causing Azriel to pull back and cover his ears with his palms. You scramble to turn it off, leaning across your boyfriend to reach the night stand in the process.

"Sorry! I'm sorry," you apologize. Your movement to sit back down is halted; his large hands pulling you to straddle him.

He smirks at you, appreciating your cute giggle as you sit on his lap. His hands run up and down the sides of your waist, and in an instant his lips are on yours again.

"Hmm, quite handsy today, are we?" You mumble, eliciting a chuckle from him against your mouth. He enforces his feelings as his left hand lightly pats your behind, and you squeak.

"I wonder why you've got all this on, anyway?" He mutters suggestively. You peer down at him with a scolding expression.

"Though I'd love to have it all off," you punctuate. "I have to be in the training room in 10 minutes." His smile falters a bit, and you realize too late that you slipped up.

"Training room? For what?"

Realization hits you, and you hastily hop off his lap to grab your phone and boots.

"Uh, we have, umm..." You fumble, quickly yanking your boots on and tying the laces. "Training. Tonight."

He looks at you, unimpressed. "Really. Training, at 5 in the afternoon? On a Friday?" He raises an eyebrow.

You huff, standing as you adjust your leathers. "Y-yes."

He continues his blank stare, clearly not buying it.

"Don't worry, I won't be long -- I promise, I'll be quick." You reach for the doorhandle, making up for the time you you'd spent on your boyfriend's lap.

"And, safe." He calls, just as the door shuts.

As you jogged through the corridors, you felt anything but safe. Azriel hated when you got hurt, and of course, before the long weekend, Professor Emetterio was holding challenges. It made sense to choose tonight so injured riders could rest up before classes resumed Tuesday -- but given your situation, it really, really sucked.

Especially because of who had chellanged you; none other than Jack Barlowe.

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"Girl, you're lucky Emetterio is running behind," Violet says, shaking her head as you finally make it to the training ring. Rhiannon places a light hand on your shoulder, making sure you're okay, but you only nod to her in thanks.

"I.... I lost, track... of time," you say between pants. Rhiannon nods in sympathy, but your silver-haired friend only smirks.

"Mhm, I'm sure you did. Too caught up with the Shadowsinger?" She teases. Rhiannon gasps.

"I didn't know Azriel was in town!" She beams. You roll your eyes at Violet.

"Oh, like you've never been late before," you grin wickedly. "Too busy playing with shadows, and such." Rhiannon claps a hand over her mouth, giggling at the insinuation.

Violet can't help but laugh too. "Oh please -- we know you love your boyfriends little playmates just as much."

Just then, the training room door swings open as Professor Emetterio walks through. He walks straight to the center of the room, clipboard in hand.

"Students!" He bellows, and the entire room hushes. "I have the list here of challenges for this evening -- now, I want to remind you all, the goal of these scheduled fights is not to kill, but rather build your own strength as a rider against an opponent."

Your eyes flicker to that familiar head of blonde hair across the room. Bile rises in your throat as he snickers, whispering something to his friends before meeting you with a menacing stare.

You look away.

"...we'll try to make this quick, as I do understand it is a long weekend and most of you have plans." He clears his throat, adjusting his glasses on his nose and squinting down at the first names.

"Ridoc and Merlin -- please step onto the training mat!"

Everyone clears off the mat, instead lining the outer edges to get a view of the impending battle before them. You stay close to your friends, your attention interrupted by Violet's voice in your ear.

"We've always kind of had the same type, haven't we?"

Rhiannon giggles again from her other side, and you loose a breath you hadn't realized you were holding.

"We do not -- for example, I would've never dated a guy like Dain." You quip. Violet groans, stratching her forehead.

"Okay, that was definately one mistake," she says. Rhiannon glances between the two of you, counting the similarities on one hand.

"Hmm, tall, tan, brooding shadow masters? Yeah, I'd say your type is the same." You blush, thinking of the handsome male waiting for you in your dorm room.

Violet chimes in. "Don't forget about the tattoos."

Rhiannon nods, holding up another finger. "Right, right -- definitely can't forget the tattoos."

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Three more pairs are called after the first fight, and you're so caught up in conversation with your friends that you almost miss your name being called.

"Y/N and Jack -- please take the mat!"

Violet looks to you in horror, as Rhiannon gasps.

"Y/N! Why didn't you tell me you had to fight-"

"It wouldn't have changed anything." You glare ahead, watching Jack's pompous, blonde head part through the crowd of onlookers.

It was true, your friends couldn't have done anything to change the fact that Jack had challenged you. In a twisted way, you kind of wanted the opportunity to punch him in the face -- but, the niggling fear of him punishing you to the near brink of death had you mostly thinking otherwise.

Taking the mat, you watched as Jack sized you up, smirking and rolling his lip between his teeth before taking his beginning stance. You mirrored him, fists raised, though they shook.

"Begin."

Jack wastes no time, slowly stepping around the ring as he continues to look at you menacingly. You move in opposition, trying to keep as much distance as you can.

"Awww," he coos mockingly. "Not so tough now that were in the training ring, are we?" He smirks.

You glare at him. "I've always been tougher than you, Jack."

He chuckles, lunging forward and clicking his teeth together in front of your face. You step back, your boot stepping onto the cold concrete floor outside the training ring. Emettario clears his throat, before breathing out a sigh.

"Y/N, please. Step back onto the mat."

You take a half step onto the mat, it's surface not much more forgiving than the concrete it sat on. Jack snickers, backing up to allow you an inch of room.

"Y'look scared to me, Y/N." He moves, slow and stealthy. "Almost as scared as Baide when I-"

"Shut the Hell up." You grit out, glaring hard at him. Reflecting back to the moment that caused all this to begin with, your blood boils. Finding Jack out late that night last week, all of those weapons, how he had mistreated his own dragon-

"Ooooh, hot are we?" He sneers, ignoring the fearful faces of your friends standing just outside the ring behind him. "That's the difference between dragons and us -- they are easier to control."

Rage bubbles over the surface, your own words drifting into the back of your mind. They're no different than we are, you'd tried to convince him that night. They deserve our respect.

You lunge at him, respect be damned for the asshole before you. Adrenaline pumps through your veins at the silent victory; your fist had hit him exactly where you wanted it to. He staggers back, clutching his face with one hand as he gasps, his other hand raised before him.

"Fuck, you!" He growls, making to grab you but you're too fast. You snake to his side, kicking your boot against his stomach. He doubles over, falling to his knees in pain.

The memory of Violet in this position from your first year sends you reeling, remembering the horror of watching your best friend beaten and bruised so badly that Xaden had to come finish her challenge for her.

You grap him around the neck, flexing your arm at a 45 degree angle in an attempt to put him in a headlock. He'd never hurt anyone again; not you, not your friends, not any dragon, whether it be someone else's or his own-

His hands grip your arm, pulling you over his back and slamming you straight onto your back before him. You let out a cough as the wind was knocked out of you, your vision blurring as you tried to refocus on the ceiling above you.

"Shouldn't have fucked with me, Y/N!" He shouts, scrambling to his feet, only to land a harsh kick to your ribcage. You cried out in pain, grabbing your side as you felt his boot shoving against your ribs, and fingers, again.

"I do what I want with my dragon," he grunts, ramming his shoe into your side over and over again. Pain explodes across your body, your fingers cracking beneath his repeated blows.

Black spots begin to fill your vision, the overhead lights blinking out as the last sounds feel your ears. You're blacking out. You're surely blacking out.

You try again to rise, weakly as your arms shake beneath you. It's no use -- his foot connects with your hipbone, sending you right back to the floor. The shouts of your friends, Emetterio's calling, the world around you; it all begins winking out.

Curled onto your side, you heave one last final breath, waiting for the final hit to send you into darkness.

But, it never comes.

You crane your neck, confused as the shouting around you grows louder. Wincing in pain, you make it onto your back, only having to turn your head to watch as the horrific scene unfolds from the other side of the mat.

Tall and terrifying, you watch those familiar scarred hands throw the blonde to the ground, his body literally bouncing in recoil at the impact. Large, tanned muscles yank Jack back up; only to twist his arms behind his back, the angle unnatural.

Your enemy cries out, writing in pain as the wispy black shadows hurl punches of their own at the bastard. Dark, large wings flare behind the male; the talons enough to send anyone away screaming.

"Please... you don't have to do this, I-"

Azriel punches him clean in the jaw, Jack's head jerking as he falls limply to the ground. The growing crowd around the mat erupts, their screams so loud it felt deafening.

You now understood why Azriel hated the sounds here so much.

The black dots clouding your vision increase, your heart rate slowing before you finally black out -- the last thing you see are his familiar leather boots stalking toward you.

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"She's going to be just fine."

The light from the overhead bulbs is blinding as you squint your eyes open, muffled voices and beeps becoming more distinguishable. You blink a few times before everything comes into clear view -- the white operating bed, the heart rate monitor beside you...

...the brooding, winged male in the chair across from you.

"I... what..." you look side to side, taking in the mender watching over you. He begins to grab his things, preparing to leave.

"Your challenge with Mr. Barlowe left you with a few... injuries," he settles on the word lightly. You don't miss his quick glance to Azriel before he continues. "But, not as many as he recieved himself."

You swear there is a hint of a smile behind his words.

"I'll leave you two for a moment."

No sooner than the door shuts behind him, Azriel is on his feet and approaching your bedside, opting to sit next to you on it as he looks down at you. Concern etches his features, underneath the unassuming mask he puts on; then, the memories of what happened start coming back to you.

"Why would you step in like that?" You say angrily, and Azriel huffs.

"Seriously, Y/N? Why would I step in?" He raises his eyebrows. "Maybe because I wasn't comfortable watching the shit get beat out of my girlfriend, that's why." He takes your wrapped hand in his, though his brows still knit on his forehead. "Why didn't you tell me about the fight beforehand?"

You relax your features a little, your heart softening as he rubs small circles against the back of your palm with his thumb. "I didn't think you'd particularly like it, or understand-"

"You're damn right I don't like it." He says, giving your hand a small squeeze. "What would have happened had I not been there?"

His hazel eyes stare right into yours, and you bite your bottom lip. Truly, what would have happened?

"I-I don't know, I guess, Emetterio would have-"

"He wasn't doing shit, Y/N." He sighs, leaning on his elbow to cocoon you in an embrace. He presses a soft kiss to the side of your neck, and you find yourself relaxing a bit more against his warmth.

"I don't like that you have to go through these things." He says after a moment of silence. His voice is softer now, his hand lightly running along your bandaged side. "I don't like to see you hurt-"

"I have to do this though, Az. It's part of training." You turn to face him, wincing in pain as the fresh bandages do little to ease you. "And, I'm much tougher than you think."

A ghost of a smile graces his lips, his rough fingers reaching out to brush a piece of hair out of your eyes.

"I know you are. I just... I don't want anything to happen to you. I love you too much for that."

Your heart practically bursts out of your chest at the sentiment, and in that moment, you snuggle closer to his chest.

"Good thing I have a big, strong male that I love to protect me then."

[alsktudy]

— it's the little things

paring. joshua x reader genre. fluff, bsf!joshua, mutual pining wc. 0.5k warning. reader has periods

synopsis. joshua being the most caring, wonderful boy :(

au m.list. because i love you [f]

shua: hey, we r still going on that picnic right?

you: josh im sorry but can we cancel?

you: i woke up with the worst cramps

you: and my apartments still a mess

you: plus i just left a massive stain on my sheets

you: sorry that was tmi

you: but srsly im so sorry for cancelling

you: i promise ill make it up to you

shua: im omw

you: lol what

—

it isn’t the grand gestures that has your heart fluttering for joshua, instead, it’s the little things, like opening those annoying milk cartons or listening to you rant about the same thing for the umpteenth time or washing your period-stained sheets, like he’s doing now.

here you are, sitting on the toilet, watching your bestfriend apply stain remover on your brand-new white sheets that you had just put on your mattress a few days ago.

you watch the way he checks the sheet with a careful eye, making sure he doesn’t miss a single spot. you watch the way he carefully measures how much detergent he needs to put into the washing machine. you watch the way his eyes turn into crescents as he turns to you and chirps, "all done!”

all you can do in response is grunt while clutching your stomach, resulting in joshua shooting you an sympathetic pout. he walks over to you and helps you up, guiding you to a chair in your bedroom, sitting you down then going off to cover your bare mattress with new sheets.

“you really didn’t have to come,” you say, watching him lift one corner of the bed.

“i wanted to.” he chuckles, tucking the sheet underneath the mattress, “i told you, don’t worry about it."

you let out a guilty sigh, he could be doing anything he wanted on a thursday at 10am, he could’ve just let you handle this all by yourself.

“but i can do this all myself… im not some helpless kid.”

“well, yeah. you can do it by yourself, but, i want to do it for you.” you let out a sigh in response, “is it so bad letting someone help you out for once?” he gives you a small smile, “you’re not gonna kick me out just for wanting to spend time with my best friend, right?”

“i guess i won't.”

throughout the day joshua runs around your apartment making sure your needs were met. from making sure you’ve eaten, making sure the house is clean and making sure your cravings don’t say cravings for too long; even leaving during your haikyuu marathon to go buy you a crookie that you didn’t finish – falling asleep half way through eating it.

joshua crooks his neck to see you passed out on his shoulder, making him smile. he presses a gentle kiss on the top of your head then rests his head on yours.

for joshua, it’s the little things that make him fall for you just a bit more.

thank you for reading until the end!!

a/n. its been… WAY too long ive literally missed writing sm anyways heres a short one. i love writing josh bc hes genuinely the sweetest boy on the planet and hes literally so domestic what the frick

want to read more? » m.list

want to be tagged? » taglist

tags:

@aaniag @dkswife @kokoiinuts @nishloves @joshuashna @sofix-hc7 @mekuiikore @onlyyjeonghan @dokyeomkyeom

[littlelordfuckler0y]

Ben barnes x fem!actress reader Instagram au

context: reader is good friends w Freddie

yourinstagram Freddie’s cooler friends from s&b🤭

@Jessie_mei_li Said the coolest person in town

@Yourinstagram I LOVE YOU

@Y/nfan1 THIS IS SO CUTE I CANNOT

@Y/nfan2 Y/n cameo in shadow and bone when??

@Amitasuman When do we get to see you again😣

@Yourinstagram soon I hope :/

@Jackwolfe Funny because we know you as Freddie’s cool acting school friend

@Fabienfrankel *coughs in cool friend from the dragon show*

benbarnes Sadly I did not get any spoilers for house of the dragon 💔

tagged yourinstagram

@Kittheyounger That is after 92 attempts and a blank NDA contract

@Benbarnes We all have our vices don’t we

@Yourinstagram I cannot be HBO’s weakest link I’m sorry😔😔

@benfan1 HES SO UNSERIOUS LMAO

@Y/nfan1 fan behaviour like he should YASSSS

@Freddiecarter Y/n would fold over a chocolate bar just saying

@Yourinstagram no I would not????

@Oliviacooke y/n!!!! Our strongest soldier when it comes to spoilers! (She would in fact fold over a chocolate bar)

@Freddiecarter See @Yourinstagram

yourusername said he knew a spot

@Jessie_mei_li is it really worth 4 extra miles?

@yourusrname I mean😭😭

@Freddiecarter Great! I can barely feel my legs now!

@benfan1 THEYRE SO CUTE OML

@Benbarnes Why thank you :)

@Benfan2 Are they dating??

@Y/nfan1 the photos seem from a camping trip Freddie posted about but who knows

@Benfan2 they’d look so good together tho

@Jackwolfe what a day!

daniellegalligan_ dumb and dumber

tagged: yourusername benbarnes

@Amitasuman are we surprised

@Y/nfan1 THEYRE SO FRICKING CUTE

@benfan1 DANIELLE FEEDING US CRUMBS YES

@yourusrname the caption…can’t even do goodwill these days 😔

@Freddiecarter could’ve just walked across mother teresa

@Benbarnes in her defence we didn’t know there was a door there

@Callahan.skogman @benbarnes how else do you think people would get in the place…at all?

@Kittheyounger dumb and dumber indeed

[brisquad-unit-4402]

claude x reader au where clawmino are stoners

hear me out

tags: gender neutral reader, pre-relationship, significant lack of claude in the claude x reader fic, au where everything is the same but nijisanji en is just a giant smoke circle, weed as described by someone that doesn’t do weed, other liver mentions

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The air goes rich with cocoa as Shu skims the surface of the bowl. Ribbons of instant brownie batter unfurl from the mixing spatula as he raises it, then slaps the surface of the bowl again.

His phone rests on the counter. No matter how hard he wills it the screen remains blank with zero notifications. How long does it take to meet up with your plug, anyway?

Still, there’s not much else he can do while he waits for you to return. Folding the batter would be fun, but you told him over-mixing is a one-way ticket to tough brownies, so that has to wait. Especially since he hasn’t added the chocolate chips yet. The best brownies have an obscene chip-batter ratio but that requires folding, so… waiting.

In a rare moment of impatience Shu stabs the spatula into the batter and picks up his phone, just as the door clicks open.

“Got it?” He asks as you step inside, noticeably sans weed. “You got it, right?” He repeats even though he thinks he knows the answer and your empty hands confirm it.

You bitterly shovel a handful of chocolate chips in your mouth. “He’s not selling.”

“But Finana just bought from him the other day.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not Finana.”

Shu peers at you. When you invited him over to take the piss out of a crappy movie you were in a good mood, but now your eyes were pointed and narrow. Not to mention they weren’t red at all, which was going to be a problem. Sober commentary is fine, but zooted commentary goes way harder.

You flicked on your phone, unaware of Shu’s observations. “You think I could I.O.U. Feesh for some of her stash right now?”

“She’s out of town.”

“Fuck, you’re right.” You grimaced at the screen, then met his eye. “Hey, you wanna see something stupid?”

“Yeah?”

Without a word, you handed your phone to Shu. He took it gingerly and held it to his face. “From Claude: Find another weed guy I can’t [frick] with you?” Shu glanced back at you with all the understanding of a gerbil lost in a quantum physics seminar. You gestured for him to go on. “Uhhhhmm nothing personal, I can’t—“

Shu’s jaw dropped as he scrolled down. “—I can’t fall in love right now?!”

“It gets worse,” you said.

“You’re Everthing (with a big E and no y, huh) I love so if I ever see you again I’ll never let go of your hand sooo yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“Woa,” Shu said.

“So no weed.”

“Infinite weed glitch.”

“No, I just said he’s done selling to me.”

“Reader, he’s asking you out,” Shu said. “So if you stay together you have access to like his entire stash.”

You furrowed your brow. “I know he’s your friend, Shu, but are you seriously telling me to take advantage of him ‘cause he’s a dealer?”

Shu didn’t say anything.

“You’re an awful liar.”

When caught in a lie Shu always reacts childishly, a far cry from his usual laidback attitude. Guilt paints his face. “Okay, maybe he’s trying his best and doesn’t know what to do!” He cries. “This is the guy that routinely says he’s afraid of women, of course he doesn’t know how to ask anyone out!”

“He does that?” You bury your face in your hands. Surely you’re turning a deeper shade of red, too. “Oh, no. We’re both clueless.”

You slump down into the couch and groan for a while. Shu follows, brownies forgotten in favor of patting you on the back and occasionally, awkwardly giggling.

“It’s not that bad. You can get to know each other,” he tries. “I guess you’ve talked with him a little but not enough to be a friend instead of weed guy? So you could, uh, try being friends?”

“Shu, he professed his love to me and I don’t even know his last name.”

“Clawmark.” He rethought what you said. “He’s really bad with romance.”

You groan some more. Shu pats you on the back again, albeit even more awkwardly.

“You knew he liked me, didn’t you?”

He hesitated, but mustered up the words before you could call him out on it again. He sheepishly laughs. “I didn’t not know… he wanted to talk to you more.”

“Wait, did he keep cutting me deals because he liked me? I thought it was because I was a regular!”

“He gives you deals?”

“Yes?”

Shu buries his head in his hands just like you. “I didn’t realize he had it that bad.”

You both sit on the couch, unaware of how identical you look, until Shu grips your sleeve. “You don’t have to be cool with it, and he won’t be weird if you aren’t cool.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t cool.”

“Oh.”

“He’s kind of cute.”

“Okay.”

“In a lost dog type of way.”

“Huh.”

You exhale as you rub your fingers through your hair. “You have to tell me if I’m about to make an awful decision in my dating life.”

“I don’t think it’s bad, no.” Shu giggles again, but this time relief colors his words. “He’s a good guy but you should think about it before telling him anything.”

You set your phone on the table, lean back into the couch, and stare into the ceiling with laser vision. “Great. Now I need to get high and we don’t even have weed for the weed brownies.”

Shu sighs, resigned. He picks up his own phone. “I’ll go ask for Kunai’s prices.”

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

✧. ┊ masterpost ✧. ┊ kofi ✧. ┊ sorry i can only find this meme on ifunny

[kandisheek]

FIC REC WEEK 52 – DAILY THEMES

WORKSKINS & FORMATTING

An Avengers Powerpoint Party by gogglor

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 4,769 Tags: Avengers Tower, Humor, Team Bonding

Summary: The Avengers threw a Powerpoint Party. These are their slides.

Reasons why I love it: This is the best thing I've read in a long time, holy shit, it's so good! The whole fic is hilarious from start to finish and suits each character to a fucking T, but the last chapter with Steve's powerpoint really takes the cake, especially the beginning, oh my god, I was laughing so hard. Definitely check this one out, because it's my new favorite thing.

Sex v. Work Performance - A Self-Study by Tony Stark by FestiveFerret

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: M Words: 1,039 Tags: Spreadsheets as Foreplay, Crack, Tony Tracks Everything

Summary: Hmm... Looks like you've accidentally wandered into some of Tony's private files. Wonder what this one could be? Maybe you should give it a little click and find out...

Reasons why I love it: This is such a cool idea! I can practically hear Tony’s voice in my head with every line in the spreadsheet, it feels so TONY to want to gather data on anything and everything, even his sex life. Plus, the underlying romance is super sweet, and the ending made me laugh out loud. Definitely check this one out if you haven’t, and while you’re at it, also take a look at the other fics Ferret wrote for the Steve Tony Games, because they’re all amazing.

explosive by imaginestevetony

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 0 (Images) Tags: Crashing Twitter, Daily Bugle, Social Media

Summary: One of the times that Tony and Steve broke Twitter.

Reasons why I love it: Steve and Tony absolutely WOULD crash the internet like this, and I am here for it. I love how the whole world is eating the information out of their palms to spread gossip, and Steve just drops the bomb of the century on them like it’s nothing. This fic is fantastic, and I really hope you go and check it out for yourself!

see it with the lights out by astrhae

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: G Words: 1,855 Tags: Established Relationship, Instagram, Married Life

Summary: Tony goes on a business trip, and he does not - not at all - get jealous of Dodger hogging his husband's chest, a territory otherwise known as Tony's pillow. (or, Steve goes on an Instagram spree and Tony misses home)

Reasons why I love it: I love all of the picture choices here, it really feels like a look into Steve and Tony's life. And the way Steve dispels Tony's jealousy and homesickness is so fricking sweet, it made my heart melt into a puddle of goo. Definitely check this one out, it's amazing!

Caught Up in Our Stories by gogglor

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 41,203 (30-35k without formatting) Tags: Multiple Genres, Magic, Idiots in Love

Summary: “Tony, listen to me," said Steve. "This isn’t you. You’re not a PI, you’re a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist superhero. You and everyone else who lives in the tower have all been put under a spell, and you need to come with me to break it.” I suppose that’s what I get for saying I’ve heard it all before, thought Tony. -- Someone's cast a spell on Avengers Tower that has changed each floor into a different kind of story, and trapped the Avengers inside. Steve mounts a rescue mission, starting with Tony Stark, PI, a noir detective who's got a thing for blonde bombshells who bring trouble to his door.

Reasons why I love it: Okay, I am declaring this fic a must-read for everyone in this fandom right now, because this is the most creative thing I’ve ever seen on AO3. I’m serious, drop whatever you’re doing and go read this fic. I was dying laughing through most of it and just staring bug-eyed at all of the different types of formatting, like – god DAMN the amount of effort it must have taken to write this makes me literally speechless. Also, I will never get over the sentence, “Once upon a midday sucky, six great heroes were unlucky”, I probably laughed at that for ten minutes straight. Anyway, if you’re going to read just one of my recs, make it this one, because it’s just that fucking good.

[icedjuiceboxes]

Daud VS Emily

Part 1 here,

Part 2 here,

Part 4 here

More of my Dishonored art here

Notes and Thank you's below!

Fun fact, part 3 was meant to be the entire fight scene. Another fun fact, it's fucking 14 pages. So it's now split into 3 parts. Fun.

More fun facts. My first comic had a car chase scene in the opening chapters. It was awful. I did it. Have I drawn a car chase scene since? No. Have I ever drawn a sword fight before? No. Mix in fucking teleporting powers and the 180 camera rule is now dead. it's fucking dead. What's the point of this whole paragraph? That comics made me do awful awful things. Don't be a comic artist. You have to do shit.

Artist's notes

This takes place between the Clock work mansion and Royal conversatory, if you wanted to gauge Emily's expertise. Had her powers at most for a month, and haven't fought any other magic users (let alone another marked)

Yeah Emily is my favourite. Yeah I'm drawing her getting her ass beat. It's great.

Never used mesmerize at all. I don't think I even unlocked it. Hence Emily's comment on the matter. It's useless.

I wasn't gonna add any colour, but oh my god, I had to to make it understandable between powers and everything else i just don't know how people can ONLY use black and white. Insanity.

Thank you's

Thanks to ignorethispotatoplease, darthfluff, ririrules60, oh-frick-it's-cinnamon, exalok for the fun tags!! And to all others who reblogged and liked <3. I appreciate it!

[caronaro-flipaclip]

Hello Nabiu enjoyers, I CREATED THE FIRST EVER AU [PROBABLY]

Okay, this is a long Post, so be prepared!

If you want to do anything with the Au or design, just tag me! :]]]

ANYWAYYYY

I INTRODUCE TO YOU-

LYCAN KAROTO!

This AU idea came to me when I thought of more angst and THEN noticed that the leylines seemed to be part of the plot. [Check video description!]

So, because I loved the glitchy concept and because I utterly love making weird things, I DECIDED TO MAKE THIS AU....SCENE....OC...VERSION?

Whatever you say-

SOOOL, LETS GET INTO THIS CONCEPT MORE! WHAT'S THE AU ABOUT AND HOW THE FRICK DID THIS HAPPEN-?

Well, our Story starts in the dear dark castle the Wizards nephew talked about, where in this AU the chair actually landed! Karoto is kinda having doubts about betraying Nabiu as they reach the end goal.

But just before they get to the chair, A LEYLINE RIPS RIGHT UNDER THEIR FEET, literally almost getting them both corrupted....but Karoto very much likes Nabiu now, so in a noble sacrifice?

Throws Nabiu away and let's himself fall into the pit.

At the same time, the Knight appears to finally catch up to these two only to find a concerned and distraught Nabiu...but also Wizzro comes! Mainly because this would be the last place and he wanted to make extra sure everything went well.

WELL, TILL OUR CORRUPTED BOI COMES FROM THE LEYLINE, WHICH ENSUES THE CORRUPTED BOSSFIGHT AGAINST A 27 [probably 29 at that point in the story] TEAM MEMBER.

So to share some ideas and doodles here!

This Fight would probably be pretty hard, BUT YOU GET WIZZRO AND BROCCOLI KNIGHT AS TEAM MEMBERS.

The form you see on the right is the main form, pretty much combining all the instruments the Dice provides and mashing them together into a monstrosity.

Instruments are in order: Flute, cymbals, trumpet, accordion, Banjo/Guitar and Electric guitar!

The Monster can still use its dice, but will probably either rig rolls by cheating or glitch to the dice to get its desired response. Can be dodged by throwing the dice yourself as it still affects the monster!

The forms being:

Flute: The flute has a sharp sense of sight with all its eyes, using the flute as a cannon and shooting point.

Cymbals: Will try to smash the player with the cymbals or throw them, being returned to them immediantly like a Frisbee.

Trumpet: Will make heavy noise waves to push others away, can vary and sound and might even suck stuff in!

Accordion: Noise waves but stronger, has the ability to stretch and slam into people and wrap itself around people due to its longness.

Guitar: Multiple arms to aim itself, strings to use to wrap around people and an glitched version of the normal attack Karoto performs.

Electric Guitar: Much faster than the Guitar, is able to shoot very unfocused electric beams everywhere, very good aligns and basically copies some of the lycan's abilities like teleporting.

THAT SHOULD BE ABOUT ALL

If you landed here, thank you for listening. :]]]

[xoxoskai]

THE WHITE MASK THEORY;

PART TWO

Before I go into detail about Ava and her relationships with the Heathens, I want to clarify a few things.

I wasn't aware that Rina had confirmed that we haven't met WM yet. A lot of you pointed it out in the previous post and that's how I found out. However, I think it's even more anti-climactic if it's someone we haven't met so far to be WM because there will be no excitement involved in the grand reveal. A five-book buildup for it to be someone completely new is not dramatic or shocking at all. It'll be like the no-name nanny being the villain in God of Ruin. Most people, me included, were dumbfounded at the reveal and of course, Maya's ridiculous fall from grace.

How are you going to look at normal sibling jealousy and kidnap the sister because you thought it would do justice to the other one? You're telling me the Bratva with Kyle-fricking-Hunter, Rai-mother-Sokolov, Adrian-Daddy-Volkov as the Obschak and Kirill-dilf-Morozov as the Pakhan couldn't track down the silly nanny who kidnapped a mafia princess for shits and giggles? That they haven't been able to for the past decade? Make it make sense.

It would have made a lot more sense for it to be the Irish mafia back for more revenge.

Now, Eli King.

I swear, his character is all kinds of perfectly mysterious, makes him such an enigma.

Eli being awol most of the time can perhaps make him WM. Infact, him telling Killian "It's nothing personal, family business" before they waterboarded him could imply a lot more.

(Plus, Eli was the one carrying Niko out when he stabbed himself to save Jeremy and thus, missed Creigh getting shot.)

However, this also shows that Eli prioritizes his family over a game of tag with mafia heirs and the Heathens trying to off Creighton for being with Annika is not something he would let slide. Maybe he is closer to them than he lets on but Eli participating in the initiation feels like a far cry. Especially because Creigh has specifically mentioned that Eli is more of a strategist type, not known to use his fists to absolutely destroy someone.

Eli having his own inside contacts feels like a given. And I do believe it's a huge give-and-take type of scenario. Eli, heir to the King Empire, I'm sure realizes the importance of having connections. Especially connections with the mafia. I'm guessing his point of contact would be Killian in that scenario.

Interestingly, someone I accidentally left out in my observations is Kayden.

For everyone who doesn't know who Kayden is, he made his first appearance in God of Ruin and is confirmed to be Gareth Carson's love interest.

In my defense, we haven't seen a lot of him at all. But is he a viable candidate? Absolutely. Would I be disappointed to see him as WM? Absolutely not.

What, however, will disappoint me is that Gareth Carson being the green mask and Kayden being the WM, DO NOT GET A BOOK. AND THAT IS TOO CRUEL. AN MLM, PROFESSOR X STUDENT WHERE THEY ARE BOTH PARTAKING IN THE INITIATION FOR WHATEVER GOD-FORSAKEN REASON AND IT BEING THE PEAK OF FORBIDDEN ROMANCE IS,

You guessed it,

Not getting a book.

This is the exact same reason why I ruled out Remi Astor as well. If WM is simply meant to be a side character, why would they be such an enigma? Why is there not a book?

Kayden also checks a lot of the WM boxes of

Being leaner than the rest, hello he's a professor. He's not going to be fighting for his life every day in the mafia (or he might, we don't know his origins)

Cherry would not be able to seduce him. Kayden plays for the same team so, yes, it makes sense.

In the epilogue of God of Wrath, we see Jeremy proposing an initiation where they chase a pre-decided target only. We know why Nikolai, Killian and Jeremy would appreciate it, Gareth was not having it, but WM was. (It feels like repetition but Gods, the hatecrime it is to not have their book).

But the prospect of the Heathens allowing a professor at their university into the mix seems a little far-fetched. Not to mention, I think it was clearly stated that Kayden had arrived at Brighton recently and there was no mention anywhere of WM being a recent member.

Now, Ava Nash.

Remember I said, "Eli realizes the importance of having connections with the mafia"? That it's a give and take? If Ava Nash is really WM,

Do we really believe Eli wouldn't know?

Do we really believe he would not be keeping tabs on her?

Now, the million-dollar question is - what do the Heathens gain from forming an alliance, as discreet as it is, with Eli King?

The most I can think of is, Brighton is basically RES' turf. The Heathens are far from their powerful parents and between the mafia and the powerful families of London, The Kings, The Nashs, The Knights and The Astors hold a lot more power and influence. At some point, I'm sure they would call in a favor when the times comes for it, to wipe out the Irish mafia's main base or whatever it is these people want to do.

Would Eli really not keep tabs on Ava after two of her closest friends start dating two leaders of the Heathens?

Between all the Heathens and Ava, I think she has the most complicated and interesting relationship with Jeremy.

"Say the word and I'll bring him to you?" Bestie hasn't exchanged a single word with that man as far as we know.

"When she's not around?" What context and scenario would lead Jeremy to meet Ava when Cecily isn't around? ("Break Ava"? Bro we know you're a mafia prince but the little princeling of the King household would uproot your family if you tried. )

Jeremy, as the leader, obviously knows who the WM is.

The scene is God of Wrath where Cecily is following Ava outside before encountering Jeremy is single-handedly carrying my theory.

-> Ava, drunk, still seemed to know her way around the forest behind the Heathens mansion despite only exploring it once with Cecily and Annika (God of Pain, Chapter 5)

-> Jeremy, when spotted at the beginning, is wearing a jacket that he's discarded by the time he finally encounters Cecily. Unless my man wants to flex his Russian roots and channel his inner Queen of Arendelle, it does not make sense for him to lose his jacket when stepping out of the house.

-> Cecily is tracking Ava using an app on her phone when she suddenly changes directions back towards the house at an alarming speed that indicates she was on the back of a motorbike.

This brings me to my theory that-

It is not surprising that Jeremy was out of the house as soon as Cecily was. Which means, he'd have gone ahead and intercepted Ava first to send her back. His jacket is missing cuz, she was wearing a short skirt and was going back on a motorbike, so she needed coverage.

Yes, shocker that Jeremy is being civil to her, but I need to remind you this is much earlier than him falling for Cecily + the entire AnniCreigh shitshow. So, if Ava is really WM, to some extent, he was probably civil with her.

Either Ava went back with a bodyguard or someone else with connections to the mafia (*cough* Heir of the King Empire *cough*) was informed and came to pick her up.

The Heathens would gladly form an alliance with Eli just for inside intel about their girls all the time and vice versa if Ava really is WM.

Interestingly, according to the timeline, this is also the part where in God of Pain, Creighton tells Eli that if he's so bored, he should go to Ava and gets "If I go to her, I'll kill her" in response.

Is this because he found her wandering by herself through the forest at midnight?

Is this because she refuses to disassociate with the Heathens?

Theories, theories, everywhere.

Now, if Ava is really WM, why would Jeremy make her cry?

Because Ava made Annika cry, It's that simple.

When I tell you it's only Landon King and Killian Carson who don't care about their siblings, I mean it. Jeremy and Annika are obviously close enough to want to die for one another and if someone comes up to your sibling and calls them a murderer after they shoot someone to protect you, yeah, I'd have a vendetta against that person too, part of my cult or not.

Jeremy obviously hated Cecily at some point for it too. At how easily they all abandoned Annika and while I understand that she was new to their group as compared to Creighton who they've known their whole lives, Ava might have taken it too far by calling Annika a murderer, something Jeremy obviously heard of.

In Ava's defense, they probably felt guilty for ever including Annika in their group and causing the chain reaction of Creighton falling for her because it led to him being in a coma.

Naturally, Jeremy doesn't care about that. Ava name-calling Anni became personal to him because 1, she's his baby sister and 2, Annika was in that predicament cuz she shot Creigh for him.

At the same time, I was really mad at Cecily for not defending her childhood best friend because whatever happened to sisters before misters? Sometimes the girls only seem like friends to me for the sake of the plot considering how little they know of each other.

In God of Malice, when Killian swaps in for Nikolai and is about to go against Creighton, who is giving Glyndon a run-down about the Heathens?

Go ahead and take a guess.

How, and I can't say this enough, does she know so much in excruciating detail about the Heathens when she's never interacted with them, and they are from a completely different university? Everyone always asks her how she knows so much, and she deflects with -You have to be living under a rock to not know- when the actual situation is that no one but Ava knows so much.

You seriously can't believe the Heathens are observant to the point of knowing every little, tiny detail about their girlfriends, quirks only a childhood friend would know?

And no, Eli King, close ally or not, would not divulge all this freely. You know who would? Someone who wants to see their girlfriends get laid and happy.

I think the most fascinating thing about Ava being the WM is that I can't, frankly, think of a single reason why she would be a part of the Heathens except that she thrives on chaos (hello daughter of Cole Nash).

But it is entirely plausible that if the Heathens send initiation invites to the Elites who never attend it, chances of Ava swiping the QR code thru someone's phone is very likely.

What does Ava bring to the Heathens?

Honestly? No idea. If it was in exchange for being close to their respective s/o, it'd make sense, but WM is already part of the initiation way before God of Malice.

Did they have a particular initiation to recruit a fifth member for their close circle? Probably. Were they looking for someone who'd be willing to betray the Elites? Maybe. If Landon and Ava have a completely different type of understanding between them, do we really believe Landon to be above using Ava to spy for the Heathens? If no, why the Heathens would still allow her among them remains a mystery. Did they not know who she was related to? Did she pass the initiation with flying colors and show potential to be a part of the inner circle?

(Eli is family man first, which is why I can't see him being a Heathen)

What I do know is that Ava feels lonely among her own circle. With all her friends now spending more time with their boyfriends, she feels alone (God bless Remi, he's going to be such a good brother-in-law after being an already awesome friend to her).

I also believe that if Ava would tell anyone she was part of the Heathens, it'd be Remi. They are a lot closer than they portray.

You know who else was shit at keeping secrets, was out-going, definitely the social butterfly of the group but had a truckload of demons in their closet? Ronan Astor.

This is why, I refuse to underestimate Ava. "Disappears like a ghost" is a very interesting choice of words.

Besides, if she's really WM, she's so unserious.

Also, possible foreshadowing?

Anyways, considering Ava is also pretty close to Brandon, we'll be seeing a lot of her in God of Fury which will finally reveal who WM is. She has no interactions so far with Nikolai or Gareth for me to deduce anything between them so 6th December, we'll find out!

For now, and perhaps always (I'll reject canon I don't care) my suspect is Ava, who's yours?

[yadchi-i-guess]

Deal with the Devil(s)

By Yadchi (I guess)

Electric Shock AU by @leefl00f

So basically Uzi asks Lizzy for a favor, and after some convincing, the queen bee accepts. Anything for her girlfriend, after all...

SFW tickle fic!

Word count: 2,127

Uzi was in a bad mood.

Granted, most days she was in a bad mood, what with getting older and stuff, but today she was particularly sour. And everyone was gonna know about (or be aware of) it, if it's the last thing on Copper-9 she did.

She'd refused to do any of her schoolwork, talked back to the teacher at every turn, and had chucked a dodgeball at Chad in gym class so hard he crashed into the wall. Even his friend Thad was impressed... which might've made Uzi blush a little.

At least now it was lunchtime, and the little rebel could get some real time to herself. She let her feet carry her to a desolate hallway, perfect, wide open space to let her mind wander.

Uzi settled down at the foot of a locker with a small sigh, finally able to just chill. Batteries were on the menu today in her lunchbox, and she was about to toss one in her mouth when something suddenly grazed her neck.

"Eeheheek! Wahahat the heheeck?!" She squeaked, fumbling for the mysterious little tickler as the battery bounced off her face. She pulled it off and was surprised to see Bit hadn't tagged along for the school day. It was PomPom.

"Hehey! What're you doing here, little dude?" Uzi chuckled.

Knowing that his tickles were well received, PomPom scurring around happily in his friend's hand as he was given a battery. He flashed a "TY <3" message at Uzi, whose facescreen glitched and flashed a ">:3" back.

"Having fun with that icky little pet of yours?" Someone standing over Uzi said.

"AGH! Bite me, Lizzy!" Uzi barked as she shot up and clenched her fist around PomPom. She was almost certain sometimes that Doll's girlfriend had the Solver too, with how easily she spooked her from time to time.

"Oh chillllll, you know my locker's right where you're snackin," Lizzy replied nonchalantly. She reached in for something, then looked back at Uzi, who was still eyeing her angrily.

"Not in the mood for your dumb teasing," the little drone pouted. She was just getting to feel a little better... only for Lizzy to screw it all up again.

"Sheesh, sardonic much?" Lizzy asked. "What's with the foul attitude?"

"And why would you care?"

"Dolly's your cousin, and she made it clear I can't treat you like garbage."

Uzi let out a small "hpmh" and sat back down, forcing her attention back on PomPom grooming his front legs in an attempt to ignore Lizzy. "Just bite me. Doll's the reason why I'm so upset," she said acidically.

"Seriously? Doll making you angry? That's far from a first," Lizzy said as she leaned against the locker. "What's so different about this time?"

"The fact she got away with it!" Uzi spat back. "She tickled me and teased me, and it was stupid, and I couldn't tickle her back! And I FRICKING LOST BECAUSE OF IT!"

A couple nights ago, Doll had challenged Uzi to a Mario Kart rematch to make up for Uzi cheating earlier, but the Russian drone had used the cheeky tactic employed on herself before; tickling Uzi to distract her while they were racing. She had then teleported back home right before Uzi tackled her.

Although it was a generalized rule that revenge would always occur between cousins, Uzi hadn't yet been able to get close enough to Doll and get her sweet revenge, making her typically snarky, mischievous attitude rot like an old piece of human food since then.

But that's when a little lightbulb went off in her head. The one that usually meant another one of her devious little ideas was forming, and a smirk would grow on her face.

"Hey, Lizzy," Uzi said with a gloat. "How would you-"

"Nope, this is between you and Doll," Lizzy interrupted bluntly as she turned away. Unfortunately, she didn't get far as Uzi activated [Translate] on the worker to immobilize her.

"Ohhhhh no you don't," Uzi deadpanned. "You're gonna help me get back at Doll because nothing can stop me."

"Oh, for robo-god's sake, Uzi..." Lizzy sighed as she struggled to break free (to no avail).

"Can't you give it a rest and NOT try to get revenge on her? Besides, what's in it for-"

"First of all, we're cousins, it's like siblings fighting, but you live in different houses," Uzi retorted. "Second off... I know how to make your hangout with your girlfriend betterrrrrr!"

Lizzy just blinked. Could she really trust this little weirdo to make her hangout (totally not date) more enjoyable? Frankly, not really, but she didn't have many other options.

"Go on..." she said dryly.

"Tell ya what," Uzi started to explain. "I'm gonna give you PomPom for the night. Cuddle with Doll for a bit, get really into an old human tv show or something... then let him scurry alllllll over Doll."

"And I get in return...?"

"The delightful giggling from your girlfriend."

"..."

"Ugh... and I'll wear one of the spare cheerleader outfits for the rest of the week."

"Hah!" Lizzy chuckled, satisfied. "Consider it done!"

Uzi's face lit up in pure excitement, foreseeing the absolute chaos that would unfold during their date. She released her Solver grip on Lizzy.

"Shake on it?" Uzi asked cheekily, holding out her hand. Lizzy reluctantly took her hand, relieved to see the little rebel didn't try to pull anything.

"Anything to see my girlfriend laugh," Lizzy smirked, but it melted off her face when she saw PomPom crawling on Uzi's shoulder. "But did your friend really have to be a roach...?"

"Yes, bite me," Uzi spat.

---------------

The timing could not be more perfect.

Doll came into Lizzy’s room, looking very down and somewhat filthy. She immediately went in for a hug from her popular girlfriend, something she rarely ever did.

"What's wrong, Dolly?" Lizzy asked calmly, stroking the Russian drone's stiff wig.

["Nothing..."] Doll mumbled. ["Got in a fight. Don't wanna talk about it."]

"Yeaaaah... it's ok, girlfriend," Lizzy replied brightly. "Now you have me, and we can just cuddle and be cute together!"

Doll nodded slowly. Lizzy was so good at comforting her that it was almost ridiculous. Her bright, loving disposition was simply infectious. The solver drone settled on the bed to be as close as possible, a moth drawn to her light. Her low mood was a thing of the past within minutes of turning on some human tv show from the 90s.

["This again?"] Doll muttered. ["We watched this last week..."]"Nah, pretty sure this is a..." Lizzy trailed off as she watched the intro. "Nope, never mind. It's the pilot again."

["I've never understood why they named that character 'remember'..."] Doll commented.

Lizzy hummed in reply, and 10 minutes in, she noticed Doll seemed to be very drawn into the show, to the point where she'd barely respond to a poke on the shoulder.

Operation "Revenge of the Giggles" was a go.

The blonde drone reached under her helmet and pulled out a small, wriggling mass that had been sleeping until now. She let PomPom hop off her hand and onto Doll’s head, doing a rather good job of holding in her mischievous snickering.

["What's so funny...?"] Doll asked after a solid minute.

"Ohhhhh, it's a little secret, Dolly." Lizzy replied. "And secrets are blackmail... well, until they get found out, anyway."

["Implying... Eeheheek! *hic* Whaahaht the hehehck?!"]

Lizzy simply smirked as she watched PomPom crawl around on Doll's stomach in excitement, making the solver drone curl up and cover her belly to lessen the tickles. The way Doll squealed with laughter made a wide grin spread on Lizzy’s face, just as wide as the one her girlfriend couldn't contain. It was that adorable.

"Oop! Looks like my secret's out!" Lizzy remarked mischievously.

["Lizzyyyhyhyhy! *hic* Hehehahaa!"] Doll stammered, her voice broken heavily with giggles. ["Geeheheht hihihm off meehehheee! *hic* Ehehhahaha!"]

"Hm, nah," Lizzy answered, leaning back and going on her phone. "I'm totally enjoying this more than I thought I would."

However, it wasn't long before PomPom hopped off of Doll's belly, seemingly uninterested in tickling her more. Doll rolled away to put some kind of distance between her and the bug, falling on the floor.

["Nehehever... do that to me again..."] Doll huffed, her voice still laced with giggles. ["Heeeehh... what're you looking at...?"]

"Uhm... Is PomPom supposed to be squeaking at a random wall?" Lizzy asked, watching the bug chirping at... nothing in particular.

Doll shrugged, then examined the wall as she stood. Perhaps there was a threat on the other side? PomPom sounded very... in distress, something Uzi mentioned that giggle bugs could practically smell danger throughout the whole bunker.

Then Doll spotted the vent. A small one, but it was big enough to let an infestation of bugs in and out. There were two tiny flickers of pink light. Then two more. And more. Lizzy had noticed it, too.

"Uhmm... Dolly...?" Lizzy spoke up hesitantly. "D-does PomPom have any... friends?"

["Dozens, why?"]

"...why DID UZI LIKE, NOT TELL ME?!"

[Yep, that checks out], Doll thought.

However, she didn't get a response out of her mouth before more giggling came first. She looked down and saw the giggle bugs already crawling up her legs.

["No no no, nohohoho!"] Doll squealed as she curled around her stomach again. ["Hehhahaha! *hic* Nohohot ahahahgain!"]

"Doll!" Lizzy exclaimed as she perched herself on the backboard of her bed. She wasn’t having it any easier. The bugs had never tickled her before, which meant a lovely new friend. She had managed to get away, but not for long. One of the bugs jumped onto her leg and started its ascension.

"ACK! EW!" Lizzy screeched shrilly. "Get off me-eheeheee! Eheheheheee! Stahahahahap!"

Doll had enough strength to pull her head up and saw Lizzy being swarmed. It was somewhat adorable, hearing the queen bee's goofy, bubbly laughter... too bad she didn't seem to be enjoying it.

["Hehehee! *hic* just leheheheet it haaaahahappen!"] Doll advised as best she could. ["They'll stahahahp eventuallyhyhhy!"]

"Whehehehen?!"

["I don't knohoohOHOHOHO! AAAAHAHHAA!"]

The unholy screaming that came from Doll just after she stopped laughing almost made Lizzy assume the devil had paid them a visit. The giggle bugs had started using the fuzzy fluffs on their feet and rubbed them on Doll's skin, unluckily on her death spot.

"Hehehehey!" Lizzy exclaimed at the bugs. "Leheheheve her ribs alohoohohne!"

Unfortunately, she didn't count on the bugs getting to her armpits, and she let out an unholy scream of her own.

"AAAAAAAHHAHAA! NOHOHOHOT THEEHHEEHRE!" Lizzy cackled, throwing her head back as the bugs skittered all over her. She was having such a bad time that digital tears of mirth welled up in her optics.

After what seemed like hours (in reality, it was around 7 minutes of on and off tickling), Lizzy finally got to catch a real breath as the bugs got off her body.

"Heeeeeh... hehehe... ok... that actually felt nice... heheh..." Lizzy panted. "D-doll?" ["Lizzyyyhyhyhy! Heheheheh... heheheehelp!"] Doll giggled weakly. She'd had it way worse and was way over her limit. Unfortunately, PomPom and his buddies hadn't gotten the message.

"Oh! Uh, uh..." Lizzy jumped and attempted to scare the bugs away. Given that she had the height advantage, it worked. "Shoo! Get off her! Leave her alone!"

Little by little, the giggle bugs scurried away from Doll and back into the vent, headed up by PomPom, who the worker drones had no doubt was satisfied in another job well done.

"You good, Dolly?" Lizzy asked as she helped Doll off the floor.

["I-I'll be fine..."] Doll stammered as she tried to regain her breath. ["*hic!* hff... hff...]

"Dear robo-god... I'm so sorry, girl!" Lizzy said as she pulled Doll into a hug. "If I'd known Uzi would sic this on us, I'd have never struck a deal!"

["Is ok... is ok..."] Doll replied quietly, patting her girlfriend's back. The two pulled away from each other, looking at one another up and down. Then Lizzy giggled.

"Wow. OMG," she said. "Those giggle bugs really did a number on ya! And in a good way."

Doll looked down at herself. There was no trace of dirt and filth from earlier anywhere. No wonder the giggle bugs went on her so hard.

["Ah, well..."] Doll trailed off awkwardly as she blushed. ["Heheh... they did."]

"Oh you, always being so modest," Lizzy chuckled. She leaned back on the bed. "C'mon. You need alllllll the r&r after that."

Doll nodded and laid down halfway on Lizzy, clinging softly to her as they resumed their show.

["Hey Lizzy...] Doll mumbled.

"Hm?"

["Wanna help me get revenge on Uzi tomorrow?"]

"Totes."

["Thanks... what'd I do to deserve you as a girlfriend...]

The end :]

Wow, it has been a HOT MINUTE since I published a tickle fic! I really gotta get back into this, it's so fun writing murder drones fluff. <3

[en-geneisaxx]

'Please don't say that this is the end of us...'

Pairings: Husband!Hoon x fem!reader

Warnings: swearing (you're gonna be on a rollercoaster of emotions darling) and a suggestive at hoon's part (if u squint 🤭)

Feat. Jay, Heeseung and Jake of Enhypen, Yeji (Sunghoon's sister), Jin Ae (Y/n and Sunghoon's child)

Tagging my moots who wanted to read: @pockettwinzz @diorsyun @rinbowaman @heeslomll @heeslut4life @hoonieshoneymain @sungvrhs

A/n: THE REACTIONS ARE REALLY INTERESTING LMAOOO, I'M CURIOUS IF IT'LL CHANGE WHEN I FINISH THIS FIC (I have no idea when 💀) BUT HOPEFULLY YOU'LL ENJOY MY DEBUT

Not proofread 😅

Likes, reblogs and/or following me will be much appreciated!!

Part 4:

'...'

The silence was so loud.

But I mean, it was expected. How would you have reacted given that information and the current situation you were in? Even I, too, wouldn't know, despite living it.

'Y/n,' Jay breaks the awkward atmosphere,

'take your damn child before it has a concussion from it falling from my arms, because I feel so fricking weak right now.'

Glady, you took Jin Ae, since she was like a comforter. And, gosh, she was SO 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 CUTE.

Finally, you felt a little light-hearted, but that could only last for long...

'I...damn. I never knew my bro would be like that... He's not the type to do that...'

'Y/n...have you ever suspected that Jake dude? Because right now, he seems like he's the problem.'

'I agree, Jay. Hoon would never hurt you, but it may be he's worried that Jake guy would take you. You're everything to him, Y/n, and he's just as similar to you when it comes to love.'

Hearing the different views of the story did give you an insight of what might be going on in his head.

'Try being Hoon,' suggested Jay, 'because you need to know what's his version of this mess.

Thoughtfully, you scrape out every detail of Jake you could get from your memory, and tried to piece it together to get a clear answer.

Jake was a flirty boy, so his actions could rub off people in the wrong way, especially if it was Hoon.

When he hangs out with you, he would definitely initiate the physical contact, snaking an arm around your waist or putting an arm on your shoulder.

The way he would look at you...it...it was different, now that you're gaining a third person view. Those eyes...it was so dark when it came to you, unlike when they have a charming gleam to others. Could it be lust? The thought made you sick, you hated liking another man when you were happily in love.

Even the nicknames...he would call me things Sunghoon does, like 'Love' or 'Darling'.

Ah, so he wasn't trying to be my best friend,

He took 'bf' to a whole new level.

No wonder why Hoon got so agitated at the thought of him.

But...at the same time, these are just reasonable guesses. I would need to discuss with Sunghoon to actually know the answer.

'So, what's your verdict, 𝐌𝐫𝐬. 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤?'

'I think Jake tried to change it to Mrs. Sim.'

'I thought so too, ngl.'

'Me three!' Yeji chimes in.

'Well, at least now you should have Sunghoon's view.'

And I think we talked for too long that Jin Ae started crying, hungry for milk.

'Shoot, Jin Ae hasn't drank yet.'

'We'll leave you two to be, call us when you're done.' Says the modest Jay, who you really thought deserved to be the older Park.

'I'll be waiting nearby, ok bro?'

'Cheers Hee, for letting me hang about your place and all that.'

'My job as the eldest, is it not?' He chuckles.

'I know you love Y/n, but right now, you're not really taking your role as the husband, aren't you? Remember, you haven't heard her side of the story, so take it easy.'

'I'll try to, I really will.'

I head on over to the backyard of our house, decorated by my lovely Y/n. She took so much time renovating it into the piece of art it is today. That was what she was good at: creating masterpieces. She's probably best at it because she is one, and if I was to ever be hurtful to her, I would never have meant it; I never deserved such a woman ever, such luck I had to create my family with her as my wife.

I start appreciating everything more, taking a look around and observing the way she places the plant pots, and the strokes she did when painting the fence. There was something else she was better at stroking at, but we'll save that for another time.

When approaching the bench where we would always sit when it was a beautiful sunset, I noticed engravings on it. I thought someone may have vandilised it, until I took a closer look.

'Y/n Park ♥︎ Park Sunghoon'

'He's my forever!!'

'I'm so happy my child was made with him.'

'𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒏, 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

-𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒀/𝒏.'

All this made him feel ashamed of himself. He deserves to, he was pretty much destroying his sunshine.

He wanted to talk things out, but you weren't there.

*Buzz*

'Who is it?' Enquires Yeji

'Ooolalaaa, it's Mr. Park Sunghoon.'

'Interesting...'

*Otp* 'What.'

'Where's Y/n?'

'Jin Ae was hungry, so she's breastfeeding her right now.'

(She's such a good mother... Oh, Y/n, if only I could prove my love to you better...)

'Oh...ok.' *Ends call*

...

*Jay and Yeji monster shrieks*

'OMG, OPPA, SHOULDN'T WE TELL H/N?'

'YEAH, WE SHOULD. HURRY, OPEN UP THE GROUP CHAT!!'

[typosandtea]

OC SPEECH MANNERISMS

Thanks for the tag @bokatan ^_^

I tag @charliesvarietyhour @fablewritesnonsense @sirmanmister @secondhand-lions @wasteland-wrecker (so many people have already been tagged lol)

-> Not including Nathan since he barely speaks now he’s mutated

Tango

NO. OF SPOKEN LANGUAGES: 1 / 2* / 3 (two if robot/binary counts)

TONE OF VOICE: high / average / deep (power armour modulated phill Coulson basically)

ACCENT: Yes* (notably electronic/robotic sounding, even with a massive range of tone etc)/ No

DEMEANOR: confident / shy / approachable / hostile / other

POSTURE: slumped / straight / stiff / relaxed

HABITS: head tilting / swaying / fidgeting / stuttering / gesturing (anyone who hangs out with them for any length of time quickly learns to be out of accidental slapping distance.. power armour accidental backhand hurts!) / arm crossing / strokes chin / er, um, or other interjections / plays with hair or clothing / hands at hips / inconsistent eye contact / maintains eye contact / frequent pausing / stands close / stands at a distance

COMPLEXITY

VOCABULARY: ⬤⬤⬤〇〇

EMOTION: ⬤⬤⬤〇〇

SENTENCE STRUCTURE: ⬤〇〇〇〇

PROFANITY

FREQUENCY: ⬤⬤⬤〇〇

CREATIVITY (in regards to profanity): ⬤〇〇〇〇

BOLD ALL THAT APPLY: arse. ass. asshole. bastard. (Don’t be a little)bitch. bloody. bugger. bollocks. chicken shit. crap. cunt. dick. frick. fuck. horseshit. motherfucker. piss. prick. screw. shit. shitass. son of a bitch. twat. wanker. pussy.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

DO PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME HEARING OR UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHARACTER? - almost always / frequently / rarely / never

DOES YOUR CHARACTER'S INTENDED POINT COME ACROSS EASILY WHEN THEY SPEAK? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER INITIATE CONVERSATIONS? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER BE THE ONE TO END CONVERSATIONS? - almost always (if Tangos not vibing time to hit da bricks)/ frequently / sometimes / rarely / never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER USE 'WHOM' IN A SENTENCE? - yes / no / only ironically

YOUR CHARACTER WANTS TO MAKE A COUNTERPOINT. WHAT WORD DO THEY USE? - but / though / although / however / perhaps / mayhaps.

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER END CONVERSATIONS? - walk away / ask if that's everything / say that's everything / give a proper goodbye (reserved for the few people Tango considered a friend) / tell their company they're done here / remain quiet / they don't.

WHAT SOCIAL CLASS WOULD OTHERS ASSUME YOUR CHARACTER BELONGS TO, HEARING THEM SPEAK? - upper / middle / lower. (Average tech-scavenging wastelander by voice alone)

IN WHAT WAYS DOES THE WAY YOUR CHARACTER SPEAK STAND OUT TO OTHERS? - accent / vocabulary / tone / level / politeness / brusqueness / it doesn't.

Murphy

NO. OF SPOKEN LANGUAGES: 1 / 2 / 3

TONE OF VOICE: high / average / deep (deeper than you expect for how short she is though)

ACCENT: Yes / No (strong Aussie)

DEMEANOR: confident / shy / approachable / hostile / other

POSTURE: slumped / straight / stiff / relaxed

HABITS: head tilting / swaying / fidgeting / stuttering / gesturing / arm crossing / strokes chin / er, um, or other interjections / plays with hair or clothing / hands at hips / inconsistent eye contact / maintains eye contact / frequent pausing / stands close / stands at a distance

COMPLEXITY

VOCABULARY: ⬤⬤⬤⬤〇

EMOTION: ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤

SENTENCE STRUCTURE: ⬤⬤⬤〇〇

PROFANITY

FREQUENCY: ⬤⬤〇〇〇

CREATIVITY (in regards to profanity): ⬤⬤⬤⬤〇

BOLD ALL THAT APPLY: arse(move ur arse, well that bit me in arse). ass. asshole. bastard. bitch. bloody. bugger. bollocks. chicken shit. crap. cunt. dick. frick. fuck(fuckin, for fucks sake, fuckin hell). horseshit. motherfucker. piss(piss off). prick. screw. shit(shit a brick). shitass. son of a bitch. twat. wanker. pussy. (heck, oh heck)

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

DO PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME HEARING OR UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHARACTER? - almost always / frequently / rarely / never (strong foreign accent + lots of slang + fast talker)

DOES YOUR CHARACTER'S INTENDED POINT COME ACROSS EASILY WHEN THEY SPEAK? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never. (3 int 10 charisma)

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER INITIATE CONVERSATIONS? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER BE THE ONE TO END CONVERSATIONS? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER USE 'WHOM' IN A SENTENCE? - yes / no / only ironically

YOUR CHARACTER WANTS TO MAKE A COUNTERPOINT. WHAT WORD DO THEY USE? - but / though / although / however / perhaps / mayhaps.

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER END CONVERSATIONS? - walk away(or fly away, rude) / ask if that's everything / say that's everything / give a proper goodbye / tell their company they're done here(being rude) / remain quiet / they don't.

WHAT SOCIAL CLASS WOULD OTHERS ASSUME YOUR CHARACTER BELONGS TO, HEARING THEM SPEAK? - upper / middle / lower.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES THE WAY YOUR CHARACTER SPEAK STAND OUT TO OTHERS? - accent / vocabulary / tone / level / politeness / brusqueness / it doesn't.

[applejuicefruit]

HELLO I REALLY LUV UR WRITING LUV CAN I REQUEST SOMETHING

can u do like the reader is an artist that can draw portrait and kylian notice her art and he FRICKING praises her... and he request the reader to draw him as a portrait ..the reader really likes him praising

thnk u if u do this request I STILL LOVE UR WRITING

something fluffy after all the sad ones i made <3

kylian mbappe x reader

Art

It was a simple portrait.

Nothing too excessive, that’s how you liked it and people really loved your work.

You started drawing portraits of famous people a few years ago and one day you decided to open a page on instagram where you could show everyone your art. You definitely didn’t expect it to blow up as it did. Two years later you almost had a million followers and high brands always wanted to collaborate with you. You definitely didn’t expect it at all.

But the most success came when you decided to post on your ig a small portrait you made of the Equipe, still when they were playing the world cup and of course you tagged them all. You knew they had a busy life and probably they didn’t even went through all of their notifications so it surprised you when you saw The Kylian Mbappè liking the post and leaving a small heart as a comment.

Of course being the famous person he is now a lot of his fanpages saw that he liked your post so they all reposted your drawing.

The following morning you opened your insta because you saw how many notifications you were getting from that simply portrait but you definitely didn’t expect to see Kylian reposting your drawing in his stories. That made your page reach the million and you were completely shocked.

“I love your works” Kylian texted you.

You didn’t know what to say or what to do so you simply replied back with a “thank you <3”.

“You’re very welcome! You have a lot of talent.” he replied to your previous message.

Kylian Mbappè was saying that you had talent? Were you dreaming? You always had a small crush on him, mostly because you were a huge PSG fan and you couldn’t forget all the time you went to the stadium seeing the team playing but now having him praising your work was something completely different.

“I really appreciate it! Thank you so much Kylian!” you replied and waited for him as you saw the dots moving, sign that he was writing something.

“How would you feel drawing a portrait for me?” he asked you.

“Of course! Just let me know who do you want me do draw :)” you quickly sent him.

“Me” he replied back.

He wanted a portrait of himself and you were the one he wanted to drawing it? You were dreaming, this wasn’t real.

“Sure!” you said back.

“I’ll be waiting then :))” he replied back and you left him unread because what the heck were you going to reply?

You decided to put yourself back to work and started looking for a picture of him that you could draw.

You didn’t find anything you felt were special so you opted for using your imagination and started drawing a portrait of his face.

You put your favourite music on as you were working and in a day you finished the portrait. You wanted to wait before posting it, making him wait a little bit because you didn’t want to look like an obsessed fan.

You waited two days and when you woke up on the third day you posted the draw on your instagram, tagging Kylian of course.

“A special portrait for a special person” you wrote in the caption.

You didn’t even send the picture to Kylian, wanting to surprise him.

You waited and waited but Kylian still didn’t see the picture you posted, maybe he was too busy or training so you didn’t think much about it.

A few hours later you saw a notification popping on your home screen.

Kylian Mbappè started following you.

Kylian Mbappè liked the post.

Kylian Mbappè commented on your post with “I love it, it’s beautiful, thank you so much”.

And you felt like dying.

You immediately opened insta and liked his comment, a way to let him know you saw his notifications.

“You really have talent you know!” he texted you.

“Thank you so much Kylian, it means a lot for me” you wrote him back.

“You don’t have to thank me, it’s true, you’re very talented…and also a very beautiful girl y/n”.

Wait. How did he find you?

No one never saw your face on instagram and no one knew your name as you always used an art name.

“I have my way” he texted you back with a smiley face.

“I didn’t expect that” you joked.

“Well…I would really like to meet the woman behind the art” he texted and you almost fainted.

“That would be a pleasure :)” you still tried to act professional but your mind was racing and your heart was beating so fast you thought it would explode.

“So, how about a date tomorrow?” he texted you with a winky emoji.

“It’s perfect” you quickly replied back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then, my artist” he said and you were left speechless. He was flirting with you. He called you his artist. You were currently crying of joy on the inside but you only and 12 hours deciding what to wear and that was where your mind went. You wanted to look at least presentable and not wear a dirty white shirt, full of paint and colors.

You still couldn’t believe that your work just got you a date with Kylian.

[saltyfishdream]

Kazuha x Reader (Hogwarts AU)

Tags: reverse hurt/comfort, triggered by weather, coping with grief, gn!reader, implied past Kazuha/Friend

Words: 3.8k

The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was empty for only you and Professor Minci. You gulped nervously as she started to talk about your consistent “trolling” grade, which you still had to stifle a few laughs from hearing. You grew up in a Muggle family, and of course, the Internet.

She continued with how she tried to put you with other “high-achieving students” (Diluc and Kaeya) to get your grade up or making you sit on your own (after she found that you three together were the perfect stew for chatter) but they “probably weren't the best ways for you”.

“So that's why I'd like to introduce you to your peer tutor,” She finished. Peer tutor? You don't dare raise a brow at the idea even though you wanted to. You were sure that Diluc and Kaeya’s grades dropped that term because of all the chatting in class. Would you distract that peer tutor so much you'd forget about studying in the first place?

A knock on the door stopped your train of thoughts.

“Come in.”

You were first met with red eyes. Not as dark and piercing as the crimson in Diluc's, but a shade closer to the warm flame in the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room despite the fact that he was a Hufflepuff. His hair was white for only a few red strands, which was brushed to his right.

“Kadehara,” Professor Minci continued, “Will be your student tutor this term…”

She went on with a lot of details (like how good a student Kadehara was? Or he's a sixth year who didn’t drop the subject?) that you mostly missed, before noticing that it was almost time for dinner and ushered you two out of the room.

Kadehara said, “[name], are you fine with calling me Kazuha? I'm not really used to being called by my last name–”

You only blurted out the thing that was hanging on your mind from the moment you saw him. “You should put less stress on yourself, or even that red part of your hair will turn white at this rate if you insist on tutoring me.”

Kazuha's eyes widened for a second, probably from confusion.

“A-Ah no, I just bleached and dyed my hair! Kind of, actually. I wanted to dye it all red but the dyeing spell didn't work as well as I'd imagined,” he let out a few dry laughs, even though he didn’t look anything close to feeling awkward or already hating you.

You could feel the warmth creep up your face. Those rumors about the guy who found his hair whitened overnight was total bullcrap! Why would’ve you believed it? Are you fricking stupid? And had to make that tutor think you’re stupid in non-DA stuff? You ask yourself, almost embarrassing yourself in front of Kazuha again by nearly hitting yourself in the head with an imaginary rolled-up newspaper.

And so you both got back to your own tables without saying a word.

.ೃ࿐

“Isn't it time for you to go to that student tutor?” Kaeya asked. You groaned, looking up from the magical equivalent of a Rubik's cube in your hands, the only difference between both is that it keeps tricking you into the wrong steps by changing its colors and giving you riddles then roasts you for not solving the puzzle. It was a Saturday morning and the last thing that you had the mood to do was tutoring.

You pretend to have forgotten about the whole thing. “Tutor? What tutor?”

“The sixth-year who bleached his hair with a spell,” Diluc said, hands subconsciously turning his own cube.

“Ugh, thanks for the reminder.”

That conversation a few days ago had left a much sour taste in your mouth than you'd imagined that you were dreading seeing Kazuha again. Now every time you think of anything related to hair or peer tutoring (which Diluc and Kaeya are very unhelpfully mentioning in every conversation) you would cringe for the next hour about it– even Scara telling everyone that your face keeps turning into a tomato isn’t as embarrassing as that!

Don't know what to do next? Too bad. The words showed on your cube while it made obnoxious booing sounds. Note to self: get self a set of wizarding chess that is not from Dori.

You put the cube down for it to reshuffle in a flurry of colors and launch itself into Kaeya’s hands.

And for once the cube was right. You didn't really know what to do next, go to the library and face Kazuha or think of some random excuse that can convince Professor Minci to let you off the hook.

You left the common room. You knew that Kaeya and Diluc would literally drag you to the library if you stayed for a while longer, and they weren't sick of making hair-dyeing references yet while you were more than sick of the conversation with Kazuha. 

Speak of the devil, he was standing next to the Fat Lady waiting for you.

“Oh, you're finally here.” He said with a smile as if the conversation didn't happen at all. “I thought you… forgot… or something…” Kazuha’s voice trailed off further as he went.

It was so awkward that you hoped that the floor would open up like the stairs did and swallow you whole (which it sadly didn't yet).

It took something like a million years and 20 tokens for you to generate a response, “It- I… lost my book. And notes, so, uh…” 

You haven't even gotten to the part of calling off the tutoring session because of that when Kazuha replied, “That's fine, there are copies of textbooks in the library… it's really a blessing, isn't it?”

You could do nothing but nod and pray for whoever Merlin is to get you out of this cringefest.

.ೃ࿐

You both go to the library in total silence. There weren’t many students in the halls early on a Saturday morning. But you just can’t relax from the lingering threat of awkwardness. You and Kazuha each grabbed a seat at the left third row as a copy of the DA textbook automatically flew to your desk and opened itself on the first page.

“Ah, right. Would it be a bit inconvenient if you don’t have your own notes with you?” He asked while handing you a piece of paper. Yep, it’s the paper you’ve never seen ever since you’ve been to Hogwarts. You put it on your side of the table, your mind as blank as how it looked. “I never had any notes for DA,” you confess. Kazuha exhales deeply. “From now on,” He stated, “You have to start writing your notes.”

You groan. 

“This subject is no fun…” Mumbling under your breath, you take your spare pencil out from your robe pocket, “I have no idea why Diluc and Kaeya could pass without even studying…” They were telling you to “blame everything on the pre-war Ministry” while you were still struggling with who did what. You were that day years old when you knew that Tom Riddle had never been the Minister of Magic.

Kazuha shrugged. “Most Muggle-borns like me have to study it the hard way. I mean– you’ve never known about the society and history and whatever shit we have here so you need, like, plenty of time to get used to it.” He puts his hair down and ties it back up, not giving a care about how he was swearing out loud. In the library.

You begrudgingly force your eyes back to the parchment and textbook. “How much do you mean by ‘plenty of time’? It’s been a term and I’m still trolling every single DA-related assignment.” Holding the urge to gnaw on the end of your pencil back, you finally write down the words “DA notes” on the paper. 

“Can you tell me what the first chapter is about first?” He asks, gesturing to you to close the textbook. You stare at him with the same blank expression as if his head were the DA textbook. The air solidified around you. How on Earth would you know? You’ve never really touched the textbook, and he’s talking about the first chapter? Finally, you confidently tell him your answer which is definitely right. “It’s about how to defend yourself from the Dark Arts!”

Kazuha laughed– not dryly, but fortunately heartily. “Can’t say you’re totally wrong,” He said, a hint of amusement in his voice, “But I think it’s a sign for us to go through this chapter together.”

You start reading the chapter with him, the memories about the incident last week slowly fading to make way for the words in your textbook. The whatever “grim consequences of the Wizarding Wars” didn’t seem as hard as they seem to be, and even better– you finally remember the name Tom Riddle gave himself. (Hint: it’s not Dildo-lover Rat Mom or anything dildo-related) Kazuha seemed to be a way better teacher than Professor Minci– his voice was calming, but didn’t sound boring when he spoke and scribbled down concepts on his parchment.

“You see? It’s not as hard as you’ve imagined!”

Towards the end of the session (did time pass that quick?) you were at the end of the first chapter. There was still half an hour before lunch starts and you were too lazy to go back to the Common Room yet, so you decided to chat for a while while waiting.

“First year DA used to be more fun,” Kazuha sighed, “They had At least that’s what I heard from my seniors.” He puts his own quill and parchment away.

You say, “Define ‘fun’. If you’re talking about some lame Auror droning on about how he peaked in his teenage years and gave his wand to a dead man in the end, don’t count me in.” You weren’t even sure if Harry Potter did ever come back to Hogwarts to do some speech or whatever for the first years–but it’s most likely true if Kaeya told you. Very big thanks to the trust issues everyone you knew gave you after last week. 

Books in the distance flew back onto their shelves, dust falling down onto your table.

“I mean- yeah, Auror Potter did come back to introduce DA for first years, but, that was like, a couple of years ago. And if I were you, I wouldn't say that he's lame.” Kazuha’s round, autumn-like eyes fell, staring at the dust.

The air was lead. And you both were suffocating in it.

A gust of wind blew the invisible lead, along with the dust away. “Anyways, they used to have lessons on the actual stuff besides all those theories. Combatting Boggarts? Check. Resisting Unforgivables? Check. Professors who make up ninety-nine percent of the Dark Arts themselves? Check.”

He kept on talking about how they postponed all that cool stuff to the third year. You would’ve looked forward to fighting off evil creatures but you were more stuck in Kazuha’s reaction to what you said. You had to blurt and now you don’t think he’s feeling totally good with that. Great.

You headed your own ways without a word.

.ೃ࿐

It has been two months since Kazuha started tutoring you, always sitting at the left third row in tutoring sessions. Your DA grades were getting better– definitely not the best, but having four assignments in a row without a “Troll” was progress. You started to control your big, fat mouth in front of him as well. You didn’t want to risk embarrassing yourself or having him look at the dust again.

Kazuha was a great guy as well– a cool sixth-year that you could rely on. When you met him out of tutoring, he would wave, or stop for a chat with you, slightly blushing when his friends hooted or whistled behind. His kitten– which perched on his shoulder like a Pikachu– even stretched itself to you when you met Kazuha, begging for a boop on the nose. He sometimes talked about his misadventures as a first year which always made you laugh, but you could sense the hint of something else in it, whether in his gaze or tone.

You were walking alone on the path next to the Great Lake on a sunny afternoon. Diluc and Kaeya were busy talking to Dehya about joining the Quidditch team next year and they told you not to wait for them.

The blonde with the red strand in his hair, sitting next to the lake while putting a maple leaf on the calm water surface. With a gentle swish of his wand the leaf sailed away, leaving two lines on the lake. “Didn’t you watch the Quidditch match?” You ask.

He said, “No, I didn’t.” Before putting another maple leaf onto the water. 

“Come on! You totally missed out on how Gryffindor whooped the butts of all those Slytherins! It took, like, three whole hours before Heizou finally caught the Snitch!” You sat next to him, looking at the maple leaf floating on the water.

Kazuha fidgeted with his wand like how you would spin your pen in class. “I… used to love watching Quidditch, but…” He lost hold of its wand, luckily catching it before it fell into the water, “The person I usually watched playing left. So, yeah.”

“Left in terms of graduated?” You ask.

“You can say it like that.”

He stopped putting leaves into the lake.

You sit in silence with him for a while. Before you leave upon seeing Diluc and Kaeya in the distance.

.ೃ࿐

Another Saturday morning. It's raining so heavily that you thought that someone was pouring buckets of black water down from the roof. Breakfast was over already and you were running late for tutoring so you had to ignore the sensation in your gut.

You grab your textbook and notes and make a mad dash to the library, passing the practically waterfalls of rain along the corridors. You look at your usual seat. He wasn't there yet despite you being already– you look at the clock– ten minutes late.

Huh. That's weird. Maybe he decided to go to a new table today for the view? You look into the dark, barely-illuminated depths of the library. Nope. Not searching by yourself. 

You go up to the front table and ask the librarian Pela if she had seen Kazuha.

Pela shakes her head, before picking back up the doujinshi she was reading.

Feeling like sticking out like a sore thumb, you go back to your usual table. Maybe he just overslept like you did and he was on his way here.

Another ten minutes pass. No sign of Kazuha. You open your textbook and start studying Chapter Nine. But no matter how many times you read it, the words just rebound from your brain and back into the textbook.

You close it a bit too loudly in frustration. Where was he?

“Mmnh?” Kazuha appears in the corridor next to your table, black circles under his puffy eyes. He forces a smile and says, “Sorry for being late, I pulled an all-nighter last night and got to bed at five AM. I got myself some coffee, so… don’t worry too much about me.”

He sets his stuff down on the table and immediately starts explaining the chapter.

“… So Aurors had to undergo strict tests…” He kept speaking, eyes on the textbook. His voice was raspy– not Scara’s oh-im-so-dark-and-mysterious type, but rather the type you get when you catch a cold or have stayed up the whole night crying.

Maybe he caught a cold after pulling an all-nighter. Just maybe.

His words fuse with the pattering of the rain on the windows outside. You can’t comprehend anything he was saying while your mind is running a hundred miles per hour wondering what’s wrong with Kazuha even though you know that it’s technically not your business. You don’t even bother asking yourself to focus– your head was just too occupied with these thoughts.

He didn’t notice the fact you weren’t listening at all. “Nowadays, Aurors still have to- to… fight against… the remaining power of Tom Riddle’s followers…” He said, trailing off at the end of the sentence. You look at him. Then at the textbook, where a whole chart of different events with the corresponding years with the title “Major Breakthroughs in Defending Post-War Magical Britain from Death Eaters” occupied two whole pages.

Kazuha was covering his eyes with both his hands, his elbows resting on the table. You can hear his muffled sniffling.

Well, that was definitely more than a cold.

“Kazuha? Uh- you ok?” You felt stupid asking this question. He is visibly not OK, cold or not. The ball of panic erupted in your head. Is this supposed to be normal? Think, [name], you have to think… Why is he like this? What can I do?

Your pencil feels slippery, and if you keep the tip pressed on your notebook you’d be drawing a seismograph.

You had never seen him like this. Like, of course, you guys just met two months ago and you expect him to be vulnerable in front of you? But you always saw him as the “cool senior student”. 

A flash of lightning.

You ask, “What happened?” as if your head has been struck by a Stupefy. It came out as a whisper.

Kazuha rested his head on the table, not looking at you.

The roaring of thunder broke in the library, not helping with anything at all.

“It- it’s just the weather…” He turned his back against you, conjuring a piece of tissue paper.

You put your pencil down. “Yeah, awful weather, isn’t it?” You say without even thinking, your voice sounding dead.

Lightning struck again, momentarily painting the room in white.

Kazuha closes the textbook. “I’ve always hated rainstorms,” he says, his voice still breaking, “They… they took him away. In the middle of a rainstorm.”

Your train of thought gets cut short by the thunderclap. “I’m… sorry for that.”

“No, y-you don’t have to. It’s not your fault.” The feeble candlelight flickers, illuminating his face. Fresh tears were streaming down his reddened cheeks, his red eyes looking like the Great Lake under the sunset. His light hair was slightly disheveled, which he brushed towards one side. “It’s just that… I never thought that they would be that cruel.”

The pattering sound outside seemed louder. “Tomo… I should’ve… Why didn’t I…” Kazuha muttered under his breath.

“Mind if we, uh, just,” You struggle to find the right words to say, “Talk about it?”

Kazuha nods.

“Tomo… he was a nice friend. A Ravenclaw. He was a fourth-year student when I started studying here…” 

The candles flickered a few more times, teetering at the verge of totally going out before reilluminating itself.

“I got bullied for being a Muggleborn and having a strange accent, he was the only other Japanese guy here and he stood up for me so… we became friends…” He paused.

“I should’ve stopped him from being an Auror if I knew this would happen to him… He could’ve been a good Quidditch player or potionmaker or… I was just happy for him when he told me he passed all the tests last summer but just on his very first mission…”

His voice broke again. You scooted over to him. “He sent me a letter that morning about how he looked forward to it and before I could reply, that evening it rained until the next morning and what I saw on the news was that…”

You patted his back. The wind howled, as if it were weeping as well. Leaves flew by the window, which was barely holding on to the frame. You haven’t even experienced such a storm back where you lived.

“The Death Eaters killed him but didn’t take his wand. His partner told me he could’ve survived if they didn’t fire a second spell at him…”

“They really are… heartless. More than I'd imagined. It must’ve been awful knowing that,” you say.

Kazuha continued, “It was. The first spell landed on his keychain instead… Why were they so bent on… doing this? He fought until the last moment… The keychain… we bought a matching pair at a cheap souvenir store together at Hogsmeade… it cracked when the spell hit…”

“I kept it when they sent it to me. And… his kitten… I guess it helped me keep my mind off stuff for a while.”

The raindrops sounded lighter.

“… he loved cats, but his parents were allergic so he got it after graduation when he got to rent a house with his colleagues and updated me about his life and training along with a photo of his kitten every single day… And he was a good Quidditch player but quit in his sixth year. If he were a Quidditch player maybe he would’ve still been here but not…”

The sky seemed lighter as the heavy rain faded. Kazuha fell silent. “Was he happy? About being an Auror?” You asked.

He nodded. “It… it was his lifelong dream. I had thought of pulling that ‘stealing a Time-turner’ trick in those rumors… but I guess he wouldn't listen if I went back and asked him not to become an Auror. It would’ve been selfish of me to do that but there’s just that part of me that wanted to save him…”

You think aloud, “He wouldn't have regretted anything even in his last moments.”

“Huh?” Kazuha asked.

You’ve done it again. Why can’t you take control of what you say? You stare at him, trying not to let him know that your mind is rolling down the spiral staircase for the rest of the summer.

“You are right. It was always his dream to be an Auror. And he achieved it,” He said, looking back at you.

A few drops of rain clung to the window frame, occasionally dripping down.

“It was just… never your fault, ok? Fudge those Death Eaters, I bet they get haunted by Tomo’s ghost every night that they’ve gone insane in Alakazam,” You tell him, not minding that you’re (almost) swearing out loud in the library.

Kazuha coughed out a few laughs as he wiped off his tears. “It’s Azkaban! Why must you make a Pokemon reference here?”

You put up your most innocuous smile.

The bell rings for lunch.

“Anyways, uh,” Kazuha stutters while tidying up his stuff, “Thanks but... Sorry for… just… venting to you like that…” He blushes, red creeping up from his neck to his face.

You give him a playful slap in the back. “No biggie– as long as you’re feeling fine now.”

You walk out of the library. The thick layer of clouds have disappeared, leaving only a few droplets on the trees and the birds singing.

You part ways at the Great Hall as usual.