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shihalyfie · 4 years ago

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A meta on Mimi and her character

Today’s spotlight character is Mimi! While the Adventure characters are all written to subvert character stereotypes (no, really), I feel this is particularly enhanced for Mimi, whose surface demeanor and the first impression you get from her suggest an almost opposite character to whom she actually is.

Disclaimer before we continue: While not to the same extent as Daisuke, Mimi’s disposition and personality have some significant differences in the American English dub compared to the original Japanese. As usual, this is not meant to be any particular comment about the dub’s changes, but simply that if you’ve only seen that dub, are reading this post, and are thinking “that doesn’t seem right?” that would probably be why.

Mimi’s family background and attitude prior to Adventure

Like with any of the other Adventure characters, understanding Mimi’s personality and why she acts the way she does is most easily done by starting with her family background.

We first meet Mimi’s family in Adventure episode 35.

There is a lot to unpack with only this scene alone, so let’s get started!

Mimi’s family is quite well-to-do. They’re not filthy rich or anything, but they’re well-to-do enough for Mimi’s father to work freelancer (he works in music). This means that Mimi grew up with a fairly “comfortable” life, probably getting pretty much anything she asked for -- in other words, she’s spoiled. It also explains why she’s actually pretty impeccably polite to everyone -- she adheres very firmly to honorifics when speaking to both elders and younger people, and never, ever speaks roughly or aggressively, because her parents have basically been raising her like a “lady of the house” (ojousama) or princess. (She does use casual-form Japanese, but she never lets up on the honorifics.)

They’re very open-minded. We learn in this episode that Mimi’s bizarre food tastes in liking natto on her eggs with sugar (from Adventure episode 6) most likely come from her mother, Satoe, cooking things like kimchi fried rice with whipped cream and strawberries. In other words, the family is very into the idea of “unconventional and strange” and has no qualms about it.

While Mimi in 02 is portrayed as liking practically any kind of fashion aesthetic imaginable, both her room and the overall decor of the apartment suggest that “in-your-face cute” is the generally favored one.

Mimi’s family is also extremely affectionate. They smother each other in lovey-dovey words, her father actively likes Satoe’s weird cooking ideas, and it’s a household where everyone seems to dote on and mutually love and support each other (Mimi’s parents are almost embarrassingly lovey-dovey) without restraint.

The result is that Mimi ends up “spoiled sweet” -- she’s pampered and used to a comfortable life where everyone dotes on her, but because of the family dynamic being so built on “affection” and “open-mindedness”, she also never develops a streak towards condescension or malice.

What does that mean, you might ask?

Mimi in Adventure

A lot of people remember Mimi by the fact that she was “whining a lot” in the early stages of Adventure, and the fact that she’s a “girly-girl” with some of the associated stereotypes. As a result, one may be surprised to hear that her behavior is actually supposed to be mostly representative of an average child in her situation, and she’s often described in press materials as “someone who can befriend anyone” or “someone who can get along with anyone”. Even her official website profile talks about how pretty much everyone considers her likeable.

This may seem difficult to believe at first, but you might actually notice a pattern when it comes to her “complaining” -- it pretty much always boils down to one of the following, or something along these lines:

I’m scared

I’m tired

I don’t like this/I don’t want that

I want a bath/bed/food/(some other home comfort)

I want to go home

In other words, Mimi is basically reacting like an average child would when thrown into another world out of nowhere! All of her complaints are out of low tolerance and high sensitivity -- all of these scary and uncomfortable things around her are making her feel bad, and she’s not hesitating to make that clear with her words.

However -- and this is very important -- these are all things she’s saying specifically because she’s now in a dangerous, unfamiliar situation in another world. All of these things are things she says defensively, because she’s sensitive to being uncomfortable or hurt, but she is also never aggressive towards others. In completely normal situations -- ones where all she’s doing is socializing at school -- it’s not hard to believe that she would actually be one of the nicest and most considerate people on the planet and that she would be instantly likeable to anyone she meets. Why? Because she lacks condescension or malice. She’s a very nice person who, if not for being under heavy stress, would never step on anyone’s toes. Even during those early episodes of Adventure, whenever there’s “down time” and they’re not in an uncomfortable situation or being chased by something, she goes back to being polite and respectful of others (remember: she’s one of the most adherent to honorifics among the cast), and is perfectly kind and agreeable with them.

As much as she may sometimes get demanding during the early episodes of Adventure, she also doesn’t expect her peers to cater to her nor does she look down on them. One of the biggest examples comes from the Adventure novel:

Mi–chan was pointing at the front of the bus, where a boy wearing a long–sleeved orange shirt was about to get off. Even Mimi knew who he was. They hardly ever talked together, but he was her classmate, Koushiro Izumi. Mi–chan wanted them to look at what Koushiro was carrying on his back – a wireless laptop. “Isn’t he so weird for bringing that all the way to camp?” Mi–chan sneered with mocking laughter, but Mimi didn’t laugh. She simply didn’t find any reason to.

In a situation where people are mocking this weirdo kid for bringing his laptop to camp, Mimi “sees no reason” to look down on him. To her, what’s the point? It’s not fun to be malicious towards others, and she sees no benefit in dunking on him. Hence, because she’s actually very polite and open-minded towards others, and doesn’t see any reason to be mean, she’s not mean, and so you can see why everyone would like her -- after all, she’s not only bright and cheerful, she’s also polite and kind! Who wouldn’t like such a nice person?

Mimi’s first “focus episode” is Adventure episode 6, and we already see a lot of these traits in action. Mimi gets to see the other kids making absolute fools of themselves under Monzaemon’s brainwashing, but the most she has to say is just observing that they seem to not be having fun, and being worried about their well-being. Once she finds out the truth behind what he did to them, she gets extremely angry on her friends’ behalf -- she actually calls them her “friends”, despite them barely knowing each other at this point!

And then when the Numemon step in to fight for her, despite her initially having been turned off by them (mainly because they make her uncomfortable, both by indulging in literal poop around her presence and by invading her personal space by flirting with her), she actually almost breaks down in tears over them!

What this all means is that Mimi’s “high sensitivity” also translates to something else: Mimi has extremely high empathy for others. In terms of being “sensitive”, she’s also sensitive to how other people feel. She worries about others’ welfare constantly, even when they’re poop-throwing slime monsters who had just flirted with her, or near-stranger classmates who just happen to have been thrown onto this adventure with her whom she barely knows. That’s why she’s so nice to other people -- she feels for them, and she constantly empathizes with others’ emotions, so that’s why she’s never rude to others nor does she step on their toes.

It’s also why, even after Koushirou rubs her the wrong way and momentarily causes her to lash out at him for being insensitive about her feelings in Adventure episode 10, she also never seems to hold a grudge against him thereafter (especially since, for as much as he was acting pretty frustrating, she understands he was doing it out of good intentions). In fact, Mimi is pretty much incapable of holding a grudge at all. (More on this later!)

Mimi’s most famous incident of “succumbing to her vices” is Adventure episode 25, when she ends up letting the Geckomon and Otamamon pamper her while stringing along and refusing to do the job they’d needed her for in the first place (singing to wake TonosamaGeckomon). Let’s go over what led to Mimi getting in this situation:

Mimi was basically at her limit. She had been in the Digital World for what had been implied to be months. Going that long without her bath or soft bed or comfort, it’s understandable that she finally let stress overcome her and succumbed to her vices in full. This is basically Mimi at one of her worst possible breaking points, not her most of the time.

Taichi, Jou, and their partners never gave her a very good reason why they should leave (Taichi never explained the problems going on in the real world, nor that he’d even taken a pit stop there) and now, for all she knows, they’re trapped in the Digital World forever, so when she sees an offer to make it all stop hurting, she naturally takes it -- especially when the people telling her to leave aren’t giving her any reason why except that she should.

Even despite all that, Mimi has a complete mental breakdown after her tantrum ends up throwing everyone in jail, dreaming about how everyone must hate her now and how even the Geckomon and Otamamon are tiring of her (the fact this pops up in her dream implies that she’d had a feeling this was coming for a while now). Sora comes to give her a little encouragement, but even she says that Mimi already really knows what she should be doing now. Mimi ends up bringing everyone out to apologize to them and fulfill her duty before the night is even over.

So let’s recap: Mimi is so empathetic and worried about other people’s feelings and what they think of her that, even in arguably one of the worst mental health crashes we’ve ever seen her have on screen, she still breaks down at the prospect of disappointing everyone and making them hate her to the point she immediately recognizes how far she’s fallen and takes it back before the night’s even over. That is how much other people, ranging from Taichi to a crowd of Digimon she’s only vaguely acquainted with, matter to her.

The full “payoff” for this episode in terms of the light of the Crest of Purity glowing and achieving Lilimon evolution does not happen until Adventure episode 35.

It is interesting for a lot of reasons, mainly because it involves all of the events happening in response to things that don’t sound very virtuous on their face (early in the episode, Mimi insensitively comments on Palmon being “bad taste”, and later in the episode she starts considering the Digimon tormenting others unforgivable).

The “Crest of Purity” (sometimes “Innocence”) is something that’s often been difficult to translate, mainly because the easiest words that come to mind often have other unwanted implications, but the real point of it is that, again, Mimi is lacking in malice. The way she talks to Palmon at the beginning of the episode indicates she really didn’t think Palmon would take it seriously (she even urges her to “not think too much into it”), only to find out at the end of the episode that she sort of kind of did. (Trust me, she’s very sorry about it.) The other thing is that, when she starts protesting at the Digimon at the end of the episode, she’s doing this specifically because she’s weeping on behalf of all of the tormented civilians (including her family) that are being caught in the crossfire. She’s so constantly empathetic towards other people that seeing other people hurt, regardless of how well she knows them, just eats her inside. So for her, those who cause that kind of suffering are unforgivable, because they’re inflicting that pain on others.

This is also what leads to her breakdown near the three-quarters mark of the series. Like with how she eventually came to empathize with the Numemon who fought on her behalf, Mimi holds no grudge against Scumon and Chuumon despite them having flirted with her earlier, and Chuumon taking a hit for her hurts her the deepest among all of the other kids. Because Mimi is so empathetic towards others, every death starts tearing away further until she finally can’t take it anymore.

Mimi is fundamentally the kind of person who hates fighting, and even from day one she’d never liked it -- her way of “encouraging” fighting was more like hoping that Palmon (or her evolved forms) could survive. If she wanted to win, it was in the sense of wanting everyone to Not Die; she was never belligerent. But now that the actual body count of people she considers friends is rising, she associates fighting so deeply with that body count that the pain gets to her, and the last straw breaks in Adventure episode 45 in the form of two people she considers friends, Taichi and Yamato, getting in a fight. Everyone around her is hurt. Everyone around her is pain. The naturally empathetic Mimi feels all of this, and she thus decides to pull back from the fighting.

Mimi being such a firm pacifist does have its benefits -- not only does it mean that she holds no grudge against Ogremon in Adventure episode 46 and bid for treating his wounds even though Jou (understandably!) is initially more skeptical because of how he’d initially tried to kill them, she also creates a major dent in Ogremon’s “fated rival” philosophy towards Leomon by forcing him to question: so what if you do defeat your rival? Then what? What’s the point of fighting? Does it actually make you feel better to try and prove your strength this way? (Even Leomon, for all he’s portrayed as noble, is still shown to have a petty investment in his conflict with Ogremon in the following episode.) Ogremon tries not to think too hard about it, but Mimi questioning “what he would do if Leomon were gone” becomes a question he really does have to confront when Leomon dies in the next episode...

...which is also an important learning lesson for Mimi herself as well: fighting may cause collateral damage, but not fighting doesn’t help things either, because when less-than-virtuous forces are at work, casualties will happen either way. In fact, it’s even worse to be a sitting duck, because now you’re just doing nothing when people die right in front of you. Which is a lesson that Jou had wanted to tell her earlier, but didn’t know how to describe to her in words because of his own complicated feelings:

What he wanted to tell her was this: that he didn’t see any likelihood of co-existing with the Dark Masters, and that they had no other choice but to fight them. Even a neutral country like Switzerland had a military. They would be invaded by enemy countries without one. It would be nice and ideal if they used the nonviolent resistance approach as Ghandi did. But that didn’t mean it was okay to just be killed without lifting a finger… But not even he could find a good answer.

However, Mimi is still a pacifist. Even if she finally understands that fighting is necessary, that should not mean that she should now force herself to become someone gung-ho and enthusiastic about it. This is why, in Adventure episode 50, Jou contemplates different ways they can productively contribute to the fight -- because Mimi should not be obligated to personally fight herself when it’s not in her fundamental nature, and Jou personally does not feel that he’s very good at it. But Jou, having put some thought into “one’s own path”, realizes that literal physical violence fighting isn’t the only way to be “part of the fight” -- and so while Jou starts to realize that his unique role is becoming someone who can be a capable healer and doctor for those who are wounded, Mimi has her own talents that she can use to bring Digimon and other allies together. Because Mimi is a kind and charismatic person whom everyone finds likeable and would be willing to come along with, and since she holds no grudges against anyone, nobody would hold any grudges against her, so she’s perfect for the role of “bringing people together for the sake of what they want to protect”.

And she does. Adventure being a series that respects the contributions of those who don’t necessarily participate by direct fighting, Mimi’s rallying together of the Digimon becomes key to saving everyone in Adventure episode 52, and the fact that everyone’s together in the end makes for a great group photo.

Speaking of the final episode, in case the point hadn’t been driven home enough that Mimi’s the most empathetic and emotionally sensitive of the entire cast, the series famously ends on her very emotionally compromised farewell with Palmon. Of course, Palmon’s the one who kind of initiated it (she’s the one who initially refuses to see Mimi because she’s too emotionally compromised), but, after all, the series ends on Mimi being so frazzled about it that she loses her hat.

Mimi in 02 and beyond

As with the other Adventure kids, Mimi’s character arc continues in 02, and we learn a lot about her before she even makes her first personal appearance!

Firstly, we learn that Mimi’s moved to America. The in-universe reason is that it’s for her father’s work...or, at least, ostensibly so, because 02 episode 40 implies that the actual reason was that her parents wanted them to be away from Digimon incidents. (Which, of course, didn’t last very long.) The meta reason for Mimi moving, however, very likely has to do with the fact that 02 involves a subplot of Chosen Children appearing all over the world, and Mimi’s character involves an innate talent for bringing people together.

We learn in Two-and-a-Half Year Break that Mimi moved in 2001, only one year before 02′s events, and eventually got caught in the 9/11 incident -- where she met a number of other American Chosen Children in New York and, now much stronger of heart since the events of Adventure, was able to help them in the recovery efforts, despite there being a language barrier. With this, and the fact she’s shown at a huge party in 02 episode 14: they’re not kidding when they say Mimi can become friends with pretty much anyone. Even going to an entirely different country and dealing with a language and cultural barrier, Mimi is such a naturally kind and compassionate person that she immediately doesn’t have any problem fitting in. (Because, really, someone that level of kind and friendly is hard to dislike.) And in a world where international solidarity between Chosen Children is getting more and more important, that is a very valuable role to have.

The other thing we find out early about Mimi in 02 episode 2 is that Sora catches on that Miyako is a lot like Mimi, based on the fact that Miyako also is empathetic and has an aversion to fighting. And Sora’s completely right, because when Mimi does come into the picture, the similarities -- and differences -- between her and Miyako say a lot about both characters.

When Mimi arrives in Japan in 02 episode 6 (for her cousin’s wedding), she and Miyako immediately get along with each other, and Miyako instantly role-models her, to the point of claiming her as an honorary older sister (despite already having older sisters herself!). It’s not surprising; Mimi and Miyako are both very bright and cheerful people, and Miyako even shares the background of being slightly pampered by her family (although presumably more due to her being the youngest of several siblings). Mimi, for her part, continues her trend of being likeable and fond of pretty much everything (including even her beloved tuna-mayo onigiri that she hadn’t had for so long), and is perfectly happy to be tight with Miyako.

The Digitamamon incident in 02 episode 14, however, adds an extra layer into why Miyako idolizes Mimi so much besides Mimi just being cool in general: Mimi is kind, forgiving, mature, and incapable of holding a grudge -- to the point her pacifistic tendencies kick in even when Digitamamon gets hit by a Evil Spiral and she refuses to fight him, despite him literally starting to beat her up. Again, Mimi came to understand the inevitability of having to fight back in Adventure, but Digitamamon is, to her, a friend who was trying his hardest to turn over a new leaf -- so, naturally, she tries to see if she can appeal to his heart instead. Miyako, on the other hand, is on the opposite extreme -- she’s so judgmental about her poor first impression with Digitamamon that, despite fully knowing well that Evil Spirals cause their victims to lose their ability to have reason, keeps trying to use it as evidence that Digitamamon was a traitor from the get-go.

Considering that the “secondary Digimentals” arc is largely about Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori coming to terms with their deficiencies in their respective traits and aspiring to do better, Miyako unfavorably compares herself to Mimi because Mimi is everything she wants to be and currently isn’t. Unlike Mimi, Miyako is aggressive, in-your-face, occasionally judgmental, belligerent, sometimes insensitive (not by choice), and often shallow, which she fully admits to in this episode. Of course, the reason Miyako gets the Digimental of Purity (Mimi’s trait) is because she hates this about herself -- even in 02 episode 31, she gives herself no shortage of grief for her foot-in-mouth syndrome and the fact she’s not as “kind” of a person she wants to be, and she herself is also fundamentally devoid of malice, just quick to jump to conclusions and a bit sidetracked by first impressions. (After all, Mimi was guilty of being accidentally insensitive when she called Palmon lacking in taste back in Adventure; the point is that when both of them do it, they really don’t mean badly, and end up sorry for it later.)

But that’s a story for another post about Miyako; more importantly, the reason Miyako is harsh on herself about this in this episode is that, in many ways, she’s everything Mimi is not, because Mimi is empathetic and mature and polite and never steps on anyone’s toes.

02 episode 25 gives us more to work with; first of all, she’s depicted in yet another completely different hair and fashion style (which she brings up another of during the winter season), and her drastic shifts in style indicate more of her “open-mindedness”; she’s open to trying out tons of new things and is willing to like just about anything. More importantly, however, she turns out to be completely open-minded about recruiting Ken to help out, even though she’s well aware of what he’d done as the Kaiser (and, again, Miyako sees her ability to be forgiving as something to look up to). Because, again, Mimi doesn’t hold a grudge; she doesn’t send anything accusatory or forceful to Ken, but simply believes that he should be given the chance to know what’s going on and help out if he so chooses, which becomes key to Miyako herself also choosing to accept Ken at the end of the episode.

Given that Mimi is portrayed as so open-minded towards trying all sorts of things, it’s probably no surprise that her “career” in Kizuna is so different from what we eventually know she’ll be doing in the epilogue -- instead of her cooking show, we see her running an online shopping business. After all, with her being so open-minded about wanting to do potentially anything, it’s very like her to "dabble” in a few different experimental things before (or perhaps “without”!) settling for something. What we know about this business is also quite on brand for her; her business specializes in “cute” (her preferred aesthetic, which she also shamelessly dresses in), and she’s established as setting up business all over the world to the point she has to constantly travel. Presumably, her natural charisma made it easy for her to set up connections.

Interestingly, her website profile also omits any discussion of any kind of university or other post-secondary education, implying that, unlike the others, she chose to dive directly into her career after high school. Again, it’s quite like her to find something she wanted to do and pursue it the moment it was in front of her -- no matter what it is, as long as it’s interesting.

Mimi’s largest amount of focus in regards to the movie is in To Sora, where she’s seen checking in on Sora after noticing she hasn’t been in the group chat in a while -- again, as someone constantly empathetic to how her friends are doing, it’s natural that she’s the one who catches on and decides she needs to check in. As someone who loves uplifting and supporting her friends first and foremost, she happens to be fully aware of what everyone’s currently up to (compare how Taichi had to be actively updated on Sora and Takeru’s status from Yamato in the movie proper), and also provides nothing but positive supportiveness to Sora’s troubles during their conversation -- as usual, always respectful and polite, and never condescending.

And, of course, she naturally empathizes with Sora having hesitation about fighting -- both because she’s been busy herself, but also because she, of course, understands exactly how it feels for fighting to be emotionally taxing -- and declares that she’ll support Sora with whatever she does, just like how she found her own path back in Adventure by choosing to contribute by bringing people together instead of fighting. She makes do on this promise as well, considering that she keeps up with supporting Sora during her exhibition.

By the time of the 02 epilogue, Mimi has decided to change tracks entirely and go for cooking, which, while being very different, is also very on-brand. This time, the part about “cooking” is something that comes from her family, since, after all, experimental cooking (...of some kind) was something Satoe got the whole family to embrace. The exact nature of her job is literally “culinary researcher”, which is a Japanese catch-all to refer to the sort of “food critic” who experiments with food and writes extensively (or, in this case, runs a TV show) about different ways you can enjoy and put together food, which also goes in mind with her streak of “open-mindedness”. The common point is, really, that everything Mimi does comes out of positivity, supportiveness, and love.

#digimon #digimon adventure #digimon adventure 02 #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #tachikawa mimi #mimi tachikawa #kizuna spoilers #shihameta

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thiswaycomessomethingwicked · 4 years ago

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please tell me your headcannons about the silly old traditions and funny hats and gowns worn at the Assassins Guild graduation ceremonies (bonus points: Vetinari occasionally attends as a distinguished alumnus; differences for those not taking the black) Downey has to make a speech

I love this ask, thank you so much. <3

Downey has added feathers to the hats because it’s Downey and he believes all hats need a nice feather.

Vetinari: . . .I refuse.

Downey: It’s a single, white feather. Very stylish.

Vetinari: You can’t make these hats stylish. It’s impossible.

Downey: That will not stop me from trying.

First it must be said, I place most of my Discworld fashion firmly in the “anywhere from 1350-1650″ camp. Which means there’s lots of diversity but it’s all still very late medieval/early modern. This is a just-me thing though, as the books are all over the place with the fashion. There seemed to be a sense, in the early Watch books, that fashion went backwards (i.e. the more recent, to our mind, the clothes the more old fashioned they are on discworld) but that was quickly abandoned partway through the series and then it became a hodgepodge.

I still like the early modern feel and so am keeping to it. You can pry Downey’s stupid fucking doublet with its black pearl buttons and his slouchy hat with the Florentine “I’m very gay” feather from my cold, dead hands.

This got long so it’s under the cut.

Fashion first, because this is Downey and the Assassins we’re talking about after all.

So I imagine the hats that the professors/teaching staff wear are the slouchy ones like these. This is modeled off of hats that were in fashion when the guild first instituted formal graduation ceremonies which are relatively recent (for a given value of “recent” i.e. only circa 150/200 years ago).

The students graduating with the Black get the slouchy hats too. The ones who didn’t take the black get the more familiar flat board graduation cap. (Students 100% balance things on top of the flat board cap. This may or may not be desired by the cap-wearer.)

The formal, ceremonial gowns, indeed the entire outfit, for the teachers are hilariously ornate because of course they are. It’s the Assassin’s Guild.

All ceremonial gowns would be different iterations of the houppelande.

Beneath the gown there is the Assassin’s black of the doublet with a long-ish skirt beneath the belt (knee length? perhaps floor - but then it starts hitting gown territory). The doublet is form fitting at the top, belted off with the skirt below. Naturally, there are very nice buttons. The linen undershirt is white and can be seen at the collar and wrists. Leggings/tights/hose/whatever you want to call them, also black and worn with dress shoes, not their usual working day boots. All men present wear this, including Vetinari.

(Downey: No grey-blacks allowed on stage unless it’s representing your specialty and I know you didn’t specialize in astronomy and quantum mathmatics.

Vetinari:

Vetinari: But it’s My Colour.

Downey: Put the doublet on.)

Women on staff are also all in black, but it’s a dress over a kirtle which is over their undershirt which can be seen at the cuffs. The dress et al is also form fitting on the top with tightly buttoned (or laced) sleeves, then there’s the belt and full skirts after. Dresses are always worn with a high neckline. They too have formal dress shoes, though you can’t see them.

The ceremonial gowns are black with coloured lining and trim. I’m thinking the sleeves are large and pinned back to show the lining which represents the general field you’re a specialist in. So, green for biology; red for literature/linguistics; white for deportment/dancing; blue for history; yellow for mathematics or whatever. The lining can be dual-colours if applicable. The trim will accent the lining but doesn’t mean anything in particular.

The slouchy hats, however, tell you what the person specialized in with regards to their training i.e. poisons; knife work etc.

Some gowns have that long drapey hood that is purely for aesthetics, but not all. I’m thinking if your specialty is stealth (coughHavelockcough) you get it. But, of course, as a specialist in stealth you don’t want people knowing that so no one who qualifies for a drapey hood wears it.

Students wear simple black gowns with relatively short, deep cut sleeves so you can see more of their doublet beneath. Boys wear the usual doublet/hose combo (kind of like this) and girls the formal dress/kirtle combo (think this, but all black and with less jewels and tighter sleeves) beneath their graduation gowns.

All gowns on students and staff alike are closed in the front - either with buttons or ties.

Aside from the hat distinction between those who are taking the black and those who aren’t, the gowns for those taking the Black are all black and have the drapey hood. Those that aren’t taking the black have gowns trimmed with a dark colour - maybe blue? grey? something that blends but still is distinct.

Ceremonial Nonsense

The graduation is held in the great hall where the students usually dine on a day-to-day basis. Parents are allowed and all families get a “plus two” for grandparents or family friends or whatever.

There are two separate ceremonies - the first is for those taking the Black. That’s the one where Downey forces Vetinari to give a speech as he is Guild Provost and one a Distinguished Old Boy etc.

Downey does his speech first and usually lines up those coming after him (Vetinari; Mericet; Lady T’Malia is what I have in my head. Though Mericet can usually convince Downey to sub in someone else as he is Too Old For This Shit).

For those taking the Black Downey will pepper in Fun Facts About Assassins and Helpful Pro Tips for Life (some of which are more helpful than others). Vetinari’s speech usually offers subtle rebuttals to Downey’s more outlandish life advice. Lady T’Malia’s is a universal favourite because she has the dry, disdainful wit of a person who has seen way too much nonsense in her life and has lived to continue to roll her eyes at it all.

Mericet, when he’s made to do a speech and can’t pawn it off on one of the younger staff, is always very short. His record time was 15 seconds wherein he got to the podium, looked somberly out at his soon to be former students, and said “All I can say to you is, good luck and don’t die” then he sat down. Downey could be heard to mutter: Really?? rather loudly.

Vetinari, more out of a desire to cause Downey some form of annoyance than anything else, will drone on for a long time and pepper in weird references only the headmaster of the guild will understand. He makes a few tiger jokes every year to which Downey, when he gets up to introduce the next speaker, will reply: “You really need to get over that”. No one knows what they’re talking about. However, the students always haaate it when Vetinari takes the podium. There is much sighing and sliding down in seats out of boredom.

The students are called up to the stage the receive their diploma in order of their name and it’s done by house (so viper house then black widow then poison dart frog or whatever they all are).

Weapons are expressly forbidden on all students after that One Unfortunate Incident back when Cruces was headmaster about which the least said, soonest mended.

Back when Downey and Vetinari were graduating, when weapons were allowed, all students were given a ceremonial sword and they got to wear it when they went up to take their diploma. Students still get a ceremonial sword (or dagger, depending on preference) but they are received after the ceremony.

The infamous ring is presented alongside the diploma.

For those not taking the Black, it’s still the same roster of speakers but it’s usually a faster ceremony (though, that is changing over the years as the Guild is sought out more and more as a general-purpose educational institution for parents seeking a classical education for their children).

Students in this group are also gifted a ceremonial sword but they’re allowed to wear theirs during the graduation ceremony because most can do nice, polite, gentlemanly dueling and not much else. Unlike their colleagues who can use it in increasingly diverse and experimental fashions.

After both ceremonies are complete there is a grand dinner with students and their families and much conviviality. Under Downey’s reign as headmaster the amount of “accidental deaths” that occurred at this dinner have decreased dramatically. Mostly because unlike previous headmaster, Downey thinks it a waste of a good education to knock someone off so soon. Also, it is deplorable manners and not civil.

(Vimes, “It’s also immoral.” Downey, “I fail to see your point, commander?”)

Wait at least a year or two until inhuming that One Guy who was A Class A Cunt During Maths. Or, if they’re really that bothersome, at least have the grace to wait until after the pudding has been served.

Pre-graduation tomfoolery

The graduating class, as a whole (well, those who survived the Run and those not taking the Black who haven’t accidentally fallen down the stairs), have two weeks between end of term and graduation and tend to run absolutely wild.

Downey’s main rule is: no one is inhumed, his dogs are left alone and nothing is set on fire; flooded; booby-trapped; or exploded etc.*

*see fine print for continuing list.

It is considered a grand tradition for each house to prank their house master. One year, students cellophaned everything in Mericet’s office. Including individual pages of books. Downey thought this absolutely Delightful. Mericet said, “that’s it, I’m retiring.” Which is, coincidentally, what he says every year.

Students will also strike up a very large game of Gotcha (i.e. Assassin) over the course of the intervening weeks between Term and Graduation. It used to be a very deadly endeavour but due to Downey’s new rule of “no inhuming until after graduation you daft kids” it’s just become a way to dunk on people.

These are also the weeks that students clean out their rooms which is always an adventure. Many will try and discreetly sneak out their illegal pot plants and shroom logs. Those that hide them in places that aren’t their room will have minor panic attacks because Lady T’Malia and other staff enjoy rounding up the plants ahead of the students and watching the fallout.

(Vetinari: I really should tell Vimes you have enough here to supply everyone in the city for a decade.

Downey: Leave my drug collection alone.)

There is a lot of Lady T’Malia and others being like, “You all do know we hid our illegal shit in the exact same places, right?’

Students will also throw end-of-year ragers in the common room which the staff pretend to know nothing about. These tend to get very messy very quickly. Downey will show up around 3am to shut it down, though. Because some people need to sleep and aren’t 18 anymore.

Anyway, that’s the long and short of my headcanon for Guild Graduation nonsense. All in all it’s a rowdy if somewhat bittersweet time. Downey secretly gets a little teary eyed over it. Aww look at his tiny little murderers going off into the big wide world. He remembers when they first arrived with knobbly knees and big eyes. His paternal side comes out in full force.

Vetinari: it’s very good you have hundreds of students and several dogs because I don’t know what you’d do without them since you’re basically 110% a dad.

Downey: i might have gotten married. What a horrifying concept.

Vetinari:

Vetinari: I have weird feelings about that which I am not going to explore in any great depth.

Thank you so much for the ask! <3 <3

#ask #reply #discworld #assassins guild #lord downey #vetinari #discworld headcanon

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neokids · 4 years ago

Text

Fortune's Fool: Act II

Introduction

Cast

Act I

Act III

Act IV

Act II

Tw: Lots of blood, character death, violence, guns, knives, weapons, self-inflicted wounds, suicide, overall graphic content

There was actually no point in hiding,

If anything, Jeno should be the one walking away. Yeji was safe walking on the grounds the Vipers ruled over, Jeno was not. All eyes were on him as he stood in the middle of the Poculum, which was Viper territory. Everyone was ready to whip out their guns to shoot the heir of the Neos. No one cared about his status or high rank, he was in Viper territory and he was a Neo, he was at the bottom of the food chain. Anyone, Viper or Neo, could easily recognize him. His tall and muscular figure with his jet black hair and his dark eyes, no doubt it was him.

Jeno had lost sight of Yeji or where she was. Everyone in the bar had stilled as Jeno made his way across the club. Business men stopped their conversations, girls stopped flirting with the merchants, the merchants stopped drinking just as Jeno passed their tables in hopes of finding Yeji.

Meanwhile, Yeji had to stop and lean against the wall in order to maintain her composure. She stole a quick glance to see that Jeno was as clueless as a lost puppy. In that moment, she had wished for one of the gangsters to shoot him right then and there. It wasn’t bizarre for a random gunfight to begin at the club, in fact it would be more bizarre if a night or day had passed without a random person dying in this club, it was just how things went in Viper territory.

Yeji started to walk closer to him, forcing a lump in her throat to stay down. Fighting every instinct in her body to kill him right there and then. Damn these new shoes.

Just as she was close enough, she reached out to touch the sleeve of his leather jacket. “Hey there big guy.”

Jeno turned around to the all too familiar sight in front of him, a young woman dressed in Viper colors. The scene felt way too familiar for him. His lips parted to say something, but nothing came out. Yeji arched her eyebrow higher, a sign for him to continue what he was supposed to say, yet nothing came out from his lips again.

The thought of him, standing in the middle of the club, in Viper territory, surrounded by Viper associates, in front of the Viper heiress, suddenly registered to him, and it was as if a bucket of cold ice had been dunked to his head.

“Yeji,” Jeno said way too easily. A name in which he had not spoken for so long suddenly rolled out of his tongue as if he said it everyday. A name that if called by any other name would smell as sweet. A name only unique to her.

Jeno cleared his throat. Based on Yeji’s look on her face, they were no longer on first name basis. “Ms. Hwang, how long have you been here in Seoul?”

Bold of you to assume I ever left, she thought to herself.

That was partially true. Although 4 years back she had moved to California, her mind still wandered here. Seoul was her city, her life, her kingdom. Seoul was all she grew up knowing and serving. She has been preparing all her life to finally rule this city, she could never leave it for some other town. She was ready to die and sacrifice her life if it meant that the people of Seoul would stay safe. She couldn’t bear any moment away from this city.

And it was all your fault

“Not for long but do forgive me for asking Mr. Lee, what are you doing here?”

Jeno was the reason Yeji had to leave Seoul, for Yeji’s safety and to ensure that nothing would happen to the heiress of the Vipers. Now that he was in her territory, the audacity to show his face to her after what he had done, nothing would have felt better than sticking a knife straight to his heart.

“I need to speak to Lord Hwang,” Jeno said as if asking to speak to a longtime friend, “It is urgent.”

Yeji stepped closer, her dress wrinkling at the side since she was gripping it too hard. She looked at him from head to toe, judging the way he entered her territory as if it were his, as id they were still friends. She took a deep breath and looked at him in the eyes once more.

“I see how urgent it is if you have come all the way here.” Yeji said while arching her brow. “But that urgency has to wait for Lord Hwang is handling international affairs as we speak.”

Jeno looked at her, puzzled. That was not the answer he was hoping to get. “Speak to me instead and I’ll try to pass the message. Speak, Lee.” The way she had said his name was as if it was the nastiest curse in the Korean language. To her, it felt foreign, speaking his name after so long.

“You don’t have to worry about anything spreading, Lee. You can trust me, right?”

Her vexing tone was one thing, but her icy and cold stare was another. They were the last people the other would trust, and it should remain that way. It should always be that way.

But whatever Jeno needed, it was serious. He didn’t argue.

“Can I talk to you?” he said in a much more quiet voice. Yeji let out a puff of air and turned on her heel. She didn;t even bother to wait and see if Jeno was following her. He was. Jeno made sure to keep his distance from her. It’s not everyday you encounter someone who has been waiting 4 years to kill you, it’s better to take caution.

Yeji stopped right near the dressing room of the performers. The place was more secluded and less chaotic, if anyone were to die right now, no one would even notice. Yeji turned around to see Jeno right in front of her. She crossed her arms and started tapping her foot.

“Well, get to it then.” She sounded rather impatient, she didn’t even bother to hide it in her tone.

Jeno scanned the place, looking if anyone was listening to them or if anyone followed him. He lowered his voice to an almost inaudible sound, Yeji struggled to hear him and struggled she did. There was no way she would come any closer to him.

“Last night, at the dock near Han river, 6 Neos had died.” He said carefully.

Yeji looked at him as if he said the most stupid thing she had heard.

“And?” Yeji was getting impatient. She coudln’t believe Jeno really came all this way just to tell her that his men died. And?

I hope you were one of them

“And,” He added rather defensively, “Two policemen and two of yours.”

Strange, Yeji thought to herself. Surely if a Viper death had occured she would have heard from her cousin who claims he knew everything and everyone. She tried to recall a mention of any death yesterday, but her mind was blank. It was a little weird to find a crime scene that involves both sides to end up dead. One side should’ve walked away bragging, not ending up dead. Still a matter like this was very unintersting for Yeji, Jeno could sense her walking away at any moment.

“Do you know anything about it?” Jeno asked, hoping to get some sort of answer.

“Are you serious?” Jeno was taken aback.

“What?” He asked, not sure why Yeji was reacting this way. A few years back even if a dog died that was owned by a Viper would cause Yeji to cry for days, and now she was standing here as if Jeno was telling her the most nonsense story she had heard.

“I said, are you serious?” She repeated, this time sounding rather more annoyed than she was when they first started talking.

“I need an explanation, does your father know anything about this?” He said as he stepped forward towards her, she took a step back.

“I already told you, my parents are abroad right now handling business affairs. Also why do you care so much about what happened last night? It’s not like you don’t see crime scenes on a daily basis.” Yeji said leaning against the wall while rolling her eyes.

“The cause of death was all self-inflicted.”

What? Yeji looked at him to see if he was messing with her. To her dismay, Jeno’s expression was rather solem and mournful.

“No gunfight nor violence was initiated by any side. They all had self-inflicted claw marks at their throats.” He added.

Yeji looked away with a scoff. 10 people, with claw marks on their throats, lay dead on the port near Han river? Yeji swore that was a plot of some old shitty Hollywood movie, and he expects her to believe and find him an explanation? Well I’ll be damned.

“We can not help you.” Yeji said firmly.

“If you know anything Ms. Hwang, I’m sure it would help to know what had happened that caused them to die like that.” Jeno persisted. It was obvious that he was getting irritated with her already, they were getting on the same level.

“Two of your people had died and–”

“We will not help nor cooperate with the Neos.” Yeji cut in, her face rather showing a much more hostile rather than an annoyed expression. “I will say this once and I won’t repeat myself again so you better listen. Even if my father knew something, I would still not tell you even if you begged. I do not care if any information my side knows can help and solve whatever you are stressing about. You and I both know the last time we had told each other information from our sides that it did not end up pretty. So if you have no more matters to discuss, I’m afraid I need to end this conversation. A pleasant day to you sir.”

Obviously, Yeji wanted him to leave and never come back, yet he remained where he stood. Yeji couldn’t stand any other moment with him so she decided to leave. Just as she was making her way towards the exit, she heard Jeno whispered rather sadly, “What happened to you?’

What happened to me?

Yeji could have said anything right now. She could have said the same words she had been preparing herself to say for the past 4 years when they finally meet again, she could have said anything that she felt or anything she could have thought of in the moment. She could have reminded him what he had done to her before she had left for America, putting the blame all on him. She could have said so many things right now, but she said nothing.

Just before she was out of his sight, a deafening scream echoed all through out the club. A scream so loud, it was heard above all noise, making everyone and everything in the club freeze.

“What the hell is happening?!” Yeji started to move to the center of the chaos, but right as she was about to weave her way towards the crowd, a hand had grabbed her arm, making her stop with a burning feeling where his hands were. Things may have changed over the past years, but his touch still set a burning sensation to her.

“Don’t,” He warned Yeji. His tone was on the calmer side, as if implying that he wouldn’t care if Yeji listened or not, but his eyes told a different story. Filled with pleading and caution. If you please just listen to me this once.

Yeji has never jerked her arm from someone so fast, it was as if she indeed got burned. She was on fire, no doubt her eyes didn’t fail to show what she felt when she looked at Jeno. He lost the right to care or even protect her.

She tried her best to weave through the crowd currently going into panic, trying her best to ignore Jeno’s persistent presence trying to stop her. Just as she was close enough, she saw a man currently rolling on the floor, going insane.

He started clawing at his own neck.

“What is he doing?!” Yeji exclaimed as she took a better look, “Well what are you all doing?! Somebody do something!”

But the man was already too far gone. He had clawed enough for some muscle to be exposed, blood already starting to seep to the floor. The man kept scratching and scratching as if there was something there that only he could see and feel, his nails dug deeper and deeper. People watched the man’s ragged breaths slowly decrease, until nothing could be heard at all. It was deafening.

People halt in their tracks, not muttering a single word. Everyone far too scared to even make a single move, they could only stare at the violent sight in front of them.

A sight of a man who had gone insane, causing him to collapse and violently scratch his neck, until the soft muscle was scattered all over the floor.

Then what once was a scene so quiet, quickly turned into a scene of chaos.

People started panicking and screaming, getting as far away from the man. They started to push themselves, causing the others to trip and lay next to the man. Soon enough, mass hysteria had began.

“Mr. Lee you need to leave right now.” Yeji said, facing Jeno who was right behind her when the scene unfolded. Yeji had waved for two Viper men to come and clean up the mess, they didn’t verbally complain, but their face said all. Yeji almost fired them on the spot, how dare they for complaining to do their jobs, until she had caught a glimpse of Jeno frozen like a Greek statue, not leaving.

“You have got to be kidding me.” She rolled her eyes, her attention turned towards the two Viper men mopping the floor, “Please show Mr. Lee the way towards the exit? Please?”

The two men looked at each other, then looked at the Neo heir. Their faces had contorted into a weird, almost psychotic way. It was the moment they have finally been waiting for. They immediately shoved Jeno roughly infront of them, causing Jeno to lose his balance and almost lay next to the dead man.

“I said show, didn’t I?” Yeji said, causing the two men to look completely confused.

“But madam, he is trespassing and he is not welcomed–”

“Why can’t you understand?” Jeno cut in abruptly, nodding towards the dead man and back towards Yeji. He looked at her and only her in the eye. Pretending that no one else was present in the room, not even the two men behind them, not even the dead man on the floor. At that moment, it was only as if Jeno and Yeji were there. “This is what exactly happened to the Neos and the Vipers last night!” He pleaded just for her to try and listen to him.

But with a swift move of her wrist, Jeno was quickly dismissed. The two men shoving him towards the exit. Jeno couldn’t afford to fight back. Considering how lucky he already was for leaving the Poculum with no blood dripping from his body. Yeji knew he couldn’t fight back, he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t dare.

Just as he was gone from her sight, only then did Yeji take in the scene in front of her. Turns out, the man wasn’t dead afterall. He was muttering something. She knelt forward to listen to his words, but a feeling of nostalgia came upon her.

This was exactly what the picture was like 4 years back. Her kneeling to a pool of blood already staining her dress, beside a dead–well in this case, dying person. She glared at the place where Jeno last stood, as if he was still there. She then glared towards the door in where he had been escorted out.

She knelt closer to the man in hopes of finding out what he was saying, “Oh dear heavens above, what in Lucifer’s–” Mr. Liu apparently never left and here he is peering over Yeji’s shoulder, too scared to come closer.

“Shut up.” Yeji said in attempts of figuring out the man’s last words. She had focused so hard that her background was starting to blurr, the hysteria fading slowly, until nothing but the man’s words were heard.

“Goemul, goemul, goemul, goemul”

Goemul? A monster?

“What monster? What monster are you talking about?” Yeji tried to tap the man in order for him to regain his consciousness, but with one last look at her, his eyes fell dull.

Now this time, he truly was dead.

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workingonit-currently · 3 years ago

Text

DOG

session starts a little late, maybe. And simply text tonight.

still waiting at the gate

Times does not spell well if Courage and Aleris are the only two available for this session...

Griss is still trying to kill himself

Apparently his house is about to go up in flames

Griss needs help putting out the flames and Aleris thinks Imogen sleep cast the fire. (again)

Courage tells Aleris they can use this as cover to enter the city without the guards

Aleris just calls the guards over to help

Aleris tries to end it with druidcraft

Griss and the guard run in to save his house and Aleris doesn't want them to die.

Griss' house is fire-proof but the recipes are not and all gone now.

Courage is suprised he doesn't just throw shit in a bowl with how weird his food tastes.

Aleris offers to give him some of her cookbooks but Griss takes that as an insult.

We hear horses and Aleris becomes enamored.

You see the other goliath guard from earlier, who you sent to grab Danald Gray Old, along with another man. He's wearing bright bronzed armor, has long, gray hair, and is short and well-built.

"Travellers! Present yourselves! I have brought our boss, Mr. Old!"

Aleris says she needs to get into the city quick

The old man knows ALERIS!!!?

Aleris asks him what he is

DGO is offended, apparently

He looks like he's going in for a hug so Courage steps away, she does not like.

Aleris still questions him. (and now my capslock is backwards so the light is on when I'm typing in lower case....0-0)

He's an founder or something and my computer has reverted to normal, wahay

He looks to be a short human or a tall dwarf

Aleris asking the real question of 'is he going to let us past?'

He's actually pretty chill and allows us in, allows us horses and stuff to.

He introduces himself to Courage and she is prickly

He says she could stand to learn manners as well and Aleris wants him to turn into a dog.

We give him the glare as we both get on the warhorse to ride into the city

Aleris says 'The horses told me they don't like went people sat on them'

Courage is connected to this horse so...

Aleris now refers to DGO as dog man and Courage shakes her head at his apparent treatment of horses.

He smiles at you, his smile more like a toothy grin full of barely hidden anger, before he swings up onto his horse. "Well then? If you're ready, I will show you the way. And watch your words. I am the founder of this city, you would do well to remember that."

Ohhhh Aleris is dunking on this dude. (like I thought, with just Aleris and Courage they get angry.)

He speeds off and Courage takes it as a challenge

Noooom!

Roll and a 7 so not so noom

Aleris feeds him apple and it's a 23 noom! He is speedy noom boy!

Stephen, after being bribed with an apple, achieves all his dreams and almost flies across the gray waste of the ground like he has wings on his feet. DGO's horse isn't far behind, but Stephen neatly outraces him to the gates of the city

DGO is annoyed and comes storming behind us as we pat and give apples to Stephen, our good boy.

He's angry we've disrespected him but Courage is acting all innocent.

lying me teeth off Where I'm from it's the mayor honor to make the guest race, and if he get beaten it's means he choose his guest well. But probably, don't have such tradition here. Since the city is still very young. - ALERIS IS A LEGEND! I love her! Well done Rian.

He glares at you, working his jaw, before his mouth stretches painfully into an anger-filled horrifying imitation of a smile. "Of course. My....apologies. You two truly are great guests. Clearly, I have chosen well." He grabs the harness on his horse, pulling it to a guard who takes it, startled, and he storms into the city. - We might have gone and messed up

People are parting for the mayor and Aleris is blowing Courage's attempts at being not seen by waving at people staring

Aleris tries to find druids

Aleris rolls a good perception check (I think repayment for all the terrible rolls last sunday.)

Aleris asks Courage what to do and Courage says to stick with the dog, he might lead them exactly where they need to go

'yes, that's the polite thing to do right?' - Aleris...you better not be thinking what I'm thinking....

You guys continue following him through the streets, all the way to a massive, bright white building in the center of the town. It looks almost like a massive, blindingly bright spike in the middle of the city, shedding light on anything around it. It is probably the brightest thing you've seen so far while down here.

Courage complements the house

Aleris says nothing because if she opens her mouth rudeness might come out

"It is my place of work, gallant knight! The Tallspire. It is the tallest and brightest thing in the city. I had it specially made out of veins of this bright, light-emitting stone we had found in some of the caves of Helmsbane cavern. This stone is said to ward off the god Helm; thus the name. Anyways, come inside, come inside." He walks to the doors and flings them open, walking inside and up a massive spiral staircase in the side of the tower.

More sucking up and Aleris being silent

You guys follow him up this massive spiral staircase for a good three or four minutes. You see thousands upon thousands of crates in nooks and recesses in the walls, all branded “oldliving oils—live until you’re old and gray”. He leads you all the way up to his office.

His office is massive, with a desk in the middle with stacks of papers on top of it. He’s got the Oldliving logo in gold leaf on top of the desk, and a few chairs around it. There are shelves upon shelves of books and papers and files.

We sit and think about how he's compensating for something

He snaps his fingers and an elaborate throne-sort-of-rolly-chair appears out of thin air, and he collapses into it with a dramatic sigh. "Now. Now that all the walking business is out of the way, I would like to talk to you for a bit, Aleris, person-to-person, just us two." He leans over the table, steepling his fingers, and looks at you expectantly, Courage.

Courage in not going anywhere for the moment though you can't remind me of noble knights when all I've been thinking about is Ed. I'm going to start thinking of ED.

She's my emotion support paladin, she doesn't leave me grab Courage arm, and hold on firmly

"Well, I'm afraid that if you wish to speak about your true family, little druid, it would be better for both of us if she were not here."

Courage asks about who she'll be with waiting

Aleris argues Courage stays

Daniel!?

"You can trust me, Aleris. I'm old, I would not even be able to hurt a fly. As for you, Courage...DANIEL!" He shouts out the door. You hear a faint "Yes, sir?" "DANIEL, COME UP HERE, WE NEED SOME COMPANY FOR A CLIENT!" "Of course sir, I'll be right up."

Courage is ready to fight this Daniel

Daniel is a cat, a tabaxi. Aleris' dog, Link can stay though. Courage is confused if she should skin the cat.

whisper back Don't I want to see where this is going. I'll sent you Link if I need anything. Ok?

Courage trusts Aleris so takes the cat's paw and walks out of the room. (did I mention she is nervous around cats.)

Oooh, DGO getting to the point and calling Courage a client

Aleris also doesn't like being called a client

"Of course. My apologies for assuming." He hums, placing a hand on the file. "We were recently visited by a group of a few travelling druids, wearing green cloaks, who were asking around for someone who went by the name 'Aleris'". He leans over the table to meet your eyes. "Now, I should say, I generally don't like druids. They infringe on some of the...projects I do, however these druids were willing to pay an amount of money to find you."

Oooh, Aleris might be getting kidnapped.

"Well...yes and no. I know where they are, but in exchange for that information, you'll have to help me for a bit." - Nope, Aleris is just being hired to help him for a bit in exchange for information, Yay!

Ohhhhhhhh, Aleris is showing the anger she has for being abandoned

Tricky DGO but Aleris is not agreeing to something she knows nothing about

"You wished to find these druids that are looking for you, no?" He grabs a bottle of some sort of amber, sweet-smelling liquid from the shelf, and snaps his fingers. Two glasses appear, and he pours some of the liquid into each one. "Stay for a while, let's chat about you for a bit."

Suspicious

Aleris tries to divert the conversation but he just wants to talk about her...weird

Aleris asks why he cares

"I do care! I care about our partnership, our friendship, druid. It's a symbiotic relationship. You help me, I help you, we become friends!" - I call horse-shit

Daniel, the cat, locks the room Aleris is in.

Courage asks why.

He shrugs. "Mr. Old told me to, ma'am. He's quite insistent on this with every client. Says it cultivates an air of 'privacy' and 'trust'." - Yeah, Aleris is totally going to trust him now. Rian states.

'You're the one that contacted me. YOU need me, not the other way around. I know I look like a naive little thing, but don't believe for a second that I need you. And if the other druids refused to help you there probably is a very good reason. And I quite would like to hear it.' - Aleris telling the truth!

You see his smile go back to that pained, angry grin. "Of...of course. They did not agree with...some of the lengths I had had to go to in order to make my essential oils, and so, when I asked for their help to make a new product, they left before I could convince them to stay. It's all in the name of business, Aleris, and I will give you a 20% share in the profits if you join me." He looks nervously at Link, who is quietly growling, looking nervously back at the door.

Aleris would like to leave

"Before you leave! Let us sit down! Introduce yourself a bit, talk about yourself. Have a drink." He slides a glass of the amber liquid over to you.

Aleris says goodbye and tries to open the door. (it's locked though.)

The door is locked, and when you look back, Danald Gray Old is holding a few bottles of essential oils. Courage, you hear the door rattle, and Daniel starts again, looking at the door, confused.

We roll initiative and we'll start off fighting next session.

#OXFalconMail #oxfalconmail #dnd #d&d #aleris #courage

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badger-writes · 3 years ago

Text

Star Wars OC Ship Week 2021 - for light and love

uhhhh Hello! 😄

This fic and all its chapters was written for Star Wars OC Ship Week's inaugural year 2021, an event spotlighting OCxEC romances & platonic friendships helmed by @findswoman! It's also the first time I've personally ever taken part in an event week so I hope I do a good job! 😅

Whether you're a High Republic fan or you just want to see the big lizard get smooches, hope you enjoy! Leave comments and kudos if you do! Looking forward to sharing all I've written over the course of the week w/ y'all!

1 - How They Met

It all started, as these things do, in a medical bay.

Kelto Lem, a Jedi healer, had been busying himself with organizing the implements and instruments of the first aid wing in the Halls of Healing. This was light work, and peaceful, which suited him fine. Rarely, if ever, were there emergencies in the Jedi Temple of such scope and scale as to totally overwhelm the medical ward, and to the best of his recollection they had never occurred in the early morning, when dew was still settled on the trees and grasses of Monument Park. This made it an optimal time for preparing the ward for most of the day’s eventualities well ahead of schedule; this making good sense to him, he settled into this habit as a padawan and had never quite given it up. In time, it became almost a meditative practice for him - refilling stores of fresh bandages, taking stock of available pharmaceuticals and herbal remedies, refilling the kolto canisters…

And so it was in the middle of this daily routine that he was interrupted by the door sliding open. He turned to look and nearly dropped the medical scanner he was holding - for two reasons.

The first: his guest was built like a permacrete E-Web bunker. Broad and tall, with an implied physicality that not even Jedi robes concealed, the visitor - a Trandoshan - strode into the ward with an aura of stern command, stolid orange eyes locking upon Kelto almost immediately. His emerald scales shone with a slight luster as he walked, the claws of his toes clicking against the tile floor, until he came to the edge of the biobed in the center of the room less than a foot away from the resident healer. The sheer weight of his presence made Kelto feel small by comparison - he, a shorter pale-scaled Rodian with stripes of deep blue running along his jaw and neck, who wore a satchel of first aid essentials on his hip everywhere he went and tied back his spines in a long, narrow topknot ending in a spiky pom where they escaped the hold of the strip of linen which restrained them.

The second: he was covered in scorchmarks.

“Star’s End,” Kelto said, when he could finally get his (dry, dry) mouth to work correctly. “What in the world happened to you?”

The Trandoshan rumbled, mouth pulling to one side in chagrin. It was a deep, bassy sound, and it landed straight in the pit of Kelto’s stomach.

“A… mishap with the duelling droid,” he grunted, in the sibilant speech of his species. “I was not focused. Lost sight of my present. It seized the opportunity, as you can see,” he added, gesturing to his scorched robes.

“You were training? This early? Chee,” Kelto said, shaking his head. “And I thought my morning habits were odd - jump up on the bench, here, I’ll patch you up.”

He turned away to fetch some burn relief supplies, piling them on a tray. When he turned back, the Trandoshan had sat upon the biobed - and his tunic was resting carefully folded on the bench beside him.

“Ahghg,” he said, and everything on his tray rattled as he short-circuited.

The Trandoshan gave him an odd look. “Yes?”

“Oh, nothing. Nothing. I’m fine,” Kelto stammered. “Let me just, uhhh… set this down here.”

He let the tray’s repulsorlifts catch it in midair, so that it would hover at his side. Then he took a ball of fluff and daubed it in a squat open vial of kolto, letting the excess drip off and trying not to think too much about the barrel-chested masterpiece of physicality sitting just within arm’s reach to his right.

“So, how did this happen, Master …?”

“Knight, actually,” the patient replied. “Not master - not yet, anyway. And as I said, I was training.”

“Only a Knight? ...Well, I guess if you were a Master, you wouldn’t have ended up - err, you know what, forget I said that.”

With kolto-ball and medigauze dressings in hand, Kelto turned to his patient and gave him a quick once-over. There were injuries in areas roughly corresponding to the placement of scorch marks on the surface of his clothes, but fortunately, most of them didn’t seem too severe - the robes acting as a layer of insulation against the worst of it. Quite intentionally, he started on the outside limbs, an attempt to spare himself another hot flush provoked by looking straight on at his patient’s torso. Sskeer didn’t even flinch when he touched the wet medical fluff against an abrasion on the side of his arm.

“I train on one or two levels above the normal training setting,” the Trandoshan offered, by way of explanation. “Thus, my injuries.”

“Ah,” Kelto murmured, mostly to himself. “A masochist.”

Sskeer grunted reproachfully. “The training settings are designed to hold back. There will be no such reprieve in the field. Therefore, I train the body to anticipate the presence of harm - to become numb to its threat, and then, to surpass it.”

“So you’re fine with the pain?”

“Pain can be ignored. And my people have thick hides. I endure.”

“Well, I’m no duelist, but in my estimation you could probably stand to bump back down a few levels,” Kelto observed, winding a bandage around his forearm. “At least until you can defeat one of those saber-happy droids.”

Sskeer hrrred. The sound landed in Kelto’s gut again. “Bold words from a nurse.”

“Bold enough to be a Knight, like you.” The Rodian retorted, flashing him a smirk - and turning away immediately when the sensation of being perceived became too much. (His cheeks were so warm - was it supposed to be so hot in here?) Falling silent, he took one of Sskeer’s wide, thick-fingered hands in his own, turning it to inspect the green welt on its back.

“I did not realize you had risen to Knighthood as well,” the Trandoshan offered as Kelto dressed his injury. “If I offended, it was not by intent.”

“It’s fine. I’d rather people forget, honestly. Most people, they see a Jedi and think, ‘wow! Laser swords! Magic powers!’ - but that’s… never really where I felt comfortable.”

“You feel your place is here.”

“It’s where my talents lie, I think. I’ve sort of been drawn to the healing halls ever since I left the creche. And… well, to be honest, I like being able to help people doing this. So… I guess it’s true what they say, about the Force having a path for us all, and all that.”

Sskeer hummed. “That is good.”

“Yeah, and I remember when I was little, Master Rancisis came by the ward and said a-- I’m sorry, am I rambling? I’m rambling, aren’t I? I’ll just shut up and tend you--”

“It’s fine.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I just dropped basically my whole backstory on you--”

“It’s fine,” Sskeer said - firmly, but patiently. “Really.”

And Kelto believed him.

It’s funny, he thought suddenly, how quickly you can get comfortable with someone else. A moment ago he could barely stand to meet Sskeer’s gaze - now, though, he could look him straight in the eye without feeling like wilting. Sskeer had surprisingly deep eyes, he noticed, for how small they were. Deep and dark. Like he could dip into his pupils and fall forever --

Oh gosh, there’s a huge green mark right on his temple. How did he miss that??

Kelto dunked a fresh puffball in the healing fluid and held it up to the Trandoshan’s brow, cradling it in his long, sucker-tipped fingers. This time, when it touched his skin, Sskeer flinched and barely suppressed a hiss. On instinct, Kelto shushed him - a habit picked up from soothing much younger patients, when he got his start tending the younglings’ skinned knees and broken bones.

“This one’s not so bad, I think,” he murmurs. “Just needs a little kolto to help keep it clean. Just put some ice on it every few hours for the swelling and it’ll go away soon.”

“And this?”

“Hm?”

Sskeer gestured again to a long line of angry green flesh across his trunk.

“OH Force,” the Rodian cried, slapping a hand against his forehead. “I completely missed that somehow, thank you so much, I’m so sorry. Gods, I’ll get right on that--”

The Trandoshan surprises him with a chuckle. “Rather absentminded for a healer, aren’t you?”

“D-don’t judge!” Kelto sputters. “I’ve been distracted.”

“By what, exactly?” Sskeer asked, with a smirk.

“... J-just lie all the way down, please?”

Sskeer leaned back onto the biobed, hands resting behind his back. Now the whole of his broad, stocky abdomen lies prone under the glowlights, throwing the long diagonal burn across his trunk into stark, unmistakable relief.

“Why is this one so much worse,” Kelto wonders aloud.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘worse’. As I said, I endure.”

“I’m sorry, this doesn’t look like a giant, stinging saber-welt to you?” Kelto peered closer at the mark, hesitantly plying the flesh of the Trandoshan’s belly under his fingers. “...Actually, wait. This is almost a first degree burn. What kind of training saber makes marks like these?”

Now it was Sskeer’s turn to fall quiet and avoid eye contact.

“...You… did something pretty dumb, didn’t you.”

“...When my performance against the droids began to suffer, I… disabled some of the limiters on the droids,” Sskeer growled, at length.

“Y-you did WHAT?”

“I thought it would motivate me to improve,” he shrugged.

“So when I called you a masochist earlier and you didn’t really deny it--”

This time, Sskeer almost snarled. “It’s no crime to seek out a proper challenge.”

“Oh, and if every adrenaline junkie Padawan jumped off the High Council Tower, you would too?”

“Will you just stop arguing and fix this?”

“I--” Kelto groaned. “Okay, whatever, big guy. Just - just hang on.”

He arranged his hands on either side of Sskeer’s wound - one above on his chest, one below on his stomach. Then he sucked in a deep breath through his snout and released it slowly, letting his eyes fall shut as he exhaled.

He was panicking, he knew. Overcorrecting. There was no reason to take things this far when he was literally standing in a room filled with other, more practical solutions - and certainly not over something so silly as a shouting match with a Knight he barely knew. But by now, good sense and training had momentarily fled him.

Here, in this moment, Kelto sank into the Force and let himself be guided by the simple instinct to help.

He took another slow breath in, and out, and began to concentrate.

And then…

Sskeer sensed it before he saw it. He craned his neck over his chest to see - and rose up on his elbows, watching intensely.

With preternatural speed, the hideous burn across his torso lightened, shrank - and then vanished. In its place only unblemished scales remained.

Like he’d never even been touched.

Kelto let out one final, explosive breath - and almost collapsed. Sskeer jolted to his feet and grabbed his arms, cradled his back in one arm, steadying him on his feet until he could recover.

“Nice catch,” Kelto panted, when he’d finally recovered.

Sskeer was looking at him differently, the Rodian noticed through the blur of lightheadedness. Looking with him with something like awe.

“That was… quite a feat,” the Trandoshan noted. “It seems you were correct to follow the path of the healers.”

“Y-yes, well,” Kelto murmured sleepily, “we all have our own special talents.”

His eyes trailed back to Sskeer’s chest, fingertips idly following their gaze down his trunk. They tickled, just slightly; Sskeer registered an unexpected, but not wholly unpleasant shiver down his spine.

“Think we’re all done now,” the Rodian mumbled. Then his big, sea-blue eyes blinked - slowly, then rapidly, like a Wookiee propeller-engine starting up - and he realized his hand was just shy of cupping one of Sskeer’s pecs.

“UM,” he said loudly, jumping away. “YEAH, so, all done. Clean bill of health. You should be completely fine within the next day or so, and then you can go get your butt handed to you by the training droids again, right? Yup, glad to help, have a nice day, May the Force Be With You and all that jizz, ahaha~”

The Rodian became a flurry of hyperactivity around the ward, re-stocking and re-checking shelves and cabinets for reasons Sskeer could not divine. To appear busy, he supposed - and discourage his continued presence.

It was, he decided, reather endearing.

Sskeer let the flustered healer flail a moment more before saying, “I don’t think you ever shared your name.”

When he looked over his shoulder, Kelto’s face looked as bright as a Life Day orb - only much, much greener. “Huh?”

“Force healing is no small feat,” the Trandoshan observed, slipping his tunic and tabard back over his shoulders. “To have seen it performed is a privilege; for something as small as my own self-inflicted injury, and after my own stubbornness - an honor.

“I’d prefer to thank you for it properly, and to apologize. But for that, I must ask your name.”

The Rodian stared. Then coughed, turning to lean back against the counter before him. “Uh, well… That’s … kind of you, but I - you know, we’re Jedi and all. W-we don’t really serve for gratitude’s sake.”

“For the sake of a fellow Jedi, then, and a friend?”

“…Friend?”

A bemused head tilt. “Are we not?”

“W-well, that’s moving a bit quickly, isn’t it? I mean - we don’t even know each other’s names.”

Sskeer stared.

“Sorry. Sorry. I’m not dumb, I swear, I’m just -- panicking.”

The Trandoshan gave him a funny look. (It was kinda cute, Kelto noticed, when his nose scrunched up like that.)

Just spit it out. Spit it out. Spit it out. You’re blowing it. Just spit it out spititout spititout---

“My name’s Kolto,” he said -- and groaned.

“Your name,” Sskeer echoed, “is...‘Kolto’?”

“Noooo, no, not ‘Kolto’ - Kelto! Kelto! My name is Kelto. Kelto Lem. I just - I’m just called ‘Kolto’. By - certain people.”

“Because… you work with kolto?” he ventured. “Or because it happens to sound similar?”

Kelto sulked, crossing his arms. “Because Torban Buck thinks he’s funny.”

Understanding dawned. “Ah. Yes, he certainly does.”

“Mmmmgh. Well, now that I’ve botched my own introduction, I guess you know me. So you can leave me to my shame, now, I guess.” Kelto returned to the business of managing the ward - opening and closing cabinet doors slightly harder, this time.

A wide, three-fingered hand landed on his narrow shoulder, making him jump.

“Thank you, Kelto Lem,” Sskeer said. “Truly, you’re a credit to the Order.”

His voice was deep and warm. Kelto swore he could feel his breath tickling his ear.

“A-anytime,” he replied, spine locking ramrod straight.

He senses Sskeer’s presence pass by behind him, and imagines it’s what little Rodian swamp-fish feel like when big surface trawlers pass by, and catch them in their wake. “And perhaps when I continue my training,” Sskeer added, “I will remember to return here, for my wounds to be dressed.”

“Orrr you could crush those droids and never need to come back here again!” Kelto shakily returned.

“I’m sure I could, at that,” Sskeer chuckled. And the door slides shut behind him.

The moment Kelto was certain he was alone, he took a little paper cup and pours himself a drink of cool sinkwater. It takes gulping down two full cupfuls before he cools down, sinking heavily on his elbows against the counter.

“‘Kolto’,” he muttered, scoffing. “God damn it.”

#StarWarsOCShipWeek2021 #star wars #the high republic #sskeer #original character #oc x canon #how they met #fanfic

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awhiskeyriver · 4 years ago

Note

Yay! So happy that you're writing AND that we get to have some more insight on TheBet! Peeta! :) I'd like to know what was going on his mind on thanksgiving, with K being there with his family. Also, it's not Peeta's POV, but I was always wondered what Madge's thoughts on Katniss were when they accidently met at the boys apartment door for the first time, and also when she sees K in the dunk tank and Peeta stops to "save" her. Did she recognize K from the bet? Was she curious?

Thank you so much!

Okay, so this isn’t *exactly* what you requested...but this is the scene at the dunk tank from Peeta’s POV with some insight into Madge as well! I had a few requests for the Thanksgiving scene, so keep an eye out for that one later on as well! :) Hope you enjoy!

+++

“Hey, I know her.”

I turned to Madge, following her line of sight down the pier to where Katniss Everdeen was sitting above a dunk tank clad in nothing but a soaked-through bikini. As if on cue, a gust of cool wind struck and I watched her shoulders instinctively hunch while some guy with a megaphone encouraged people to visit the booth.

“Yeah, everyone knows her,” Gale snorted, looking away with a shake of his head. “She’ll go down in history as the dumbest sorority girl at Panem. And that’s saying something.”

Why would they choose a dunk tank for a party in the middle of October? It wouldn’t surprise me if there was snow on the ground in a few short weeks, and yet they had people sitting out at night in barely anything? Made no sense. Megaphone guy looked warm enough in his fleece jacket...

Madge shot Gale a disapproving look before pressing on. “I meant that’s the girl who came to the apartment the other day.”

“Stop pointing,” I hissed, rubbing a hand along the back of my neck subconsciously. The last thing I needed was for her to catch us talking about her.

When coach heavily implied we all needed to spend more time together off field ‘bonding’--aka, I needed to leave the apartment for more than practice and class--the only option worth consideration was to head to Greek row. It was the place most students could be found on a Saturday night, and this weekend more than most, since it was their fall fundraiser. Chances of encountering Katniss were high, and I knew that, but I could hardly convince my team mates and coach that I was over the entire bet if I kept avoiding social settings like the plague.

So, to the frat house we went. And sure enough, there she was.

I swallowed heavily, hating the way the sweat on the back of my neck felt ice cold when the wind hit. And the way it made me pity Katniss for how cold she must be.

Shit, she caught me staring.

Our eyes met for a short moment before I looked away, uncomfortable heat encompassing my body at being caught.

Madge, who had no shame, continued to look on before nudging me in the side playfully.

“She’s got a smokin’ body.”

“Jesus, Madge,” I grumbled, afraid someone would over hear her. My embarrassment only made her laugh and she patted my back lovingly as I stared down at my shoes.

I could feel Katniss looking over in my direction still. The heat of her deep gray eyes boring into the side of my head. Her full lips pursed and eyebrows slightly downcast.

“Am I wrong?” she asked, the question open for any takers. I wasn’t stupid, I saw the lingering glances a few of the guys gave before trying to feign indifference. If it was for my sake, there was no point. I knew she was good looking.

Hot.

I chanced another glance, and for a heated moment we stared at one another. Swallowing hard and stuffed my hands down into my pockets for something to do.

Who was I kidding, she was fucking stunning.

Which made me all the more an idiot for ever believing she was interested in me.

“It’d be kind of funny to dunk her,” Gale pointed out, wrapping a protective arm around Madge to starve off the wind. I watched in the distance as Katniss gave into the struggle and finally wrapped her arms around her bare stomach.

How much longer would they seriously make her stay up there?

“Try your chances to dunk a Theta. You can’t convince me you haven’t thought about it at least once,” Megaphone guy continued to taunt. “If for no other reason, it’s an excuse to see one soaking wet…”

My feet moved without permission, before I was even fully aware of what I was doing, but I heard Finnick ask where I was going and saw the wide-eyed stare of Katniss as I walked up to the dunk tank.

The guy attending it lowered his megaphone to the table and leaned forward with an easy grin. Either he recognized me, or thought I was a scumbag who gave into his pitch. Or both.

“Five bucks for three hits, bro,” he said, holding a hand out.

“How many rounds until she’s done for the night?” Something about her sitting there on display, shivering so hard her teeth were chattering, made me ask.

The guy looked confused, and I was staring to lose my patience.

“You want her to get down?” he confirmed, and when I gave a short nod his eyes narrowed.

“That’s not really how this works.”

“Will it work for two-hundred?”

“Dollars?”

I pulled out my wallet, handing him the cash with ease that should’ve given me pause. I was in too deep to care, now. Focused on my goal.

“You can do whatever you want with her for two hundred dollars,” the kid joked, and he seemed to sense my disapproval as he turned to the megaphone to announce to anyone within a five mile radius that I’d paid a pretty penny to play the game. Surrounding us a few people cheered or clapped, but mostly we went ignored as he slapped a bucket of bean bags onto the table for me to take the hits I’d paid for. I ignored it, walking past the table and over to the booth where Katniss eyed me with a level of distrust.

“Hey,” she said slowly, crossing her legs which were eye-level with my face.

I cleared my throat before returning the sentiment.

Her eyes darted between the untouched bean bags and me for a moment before a sly smirk tickled her lips.

“Come to warn me that you’re about to pelt me with a bucket worth of bean bags?” she laughed, eyebrows raised in question.

“No,” I said, and my answer seemed to surprise her. Did she really think I was going to throw bean bags at her? “I came to tell you that you can get down.”

She wasn’t convinced. Katniss folded her arms across herself, doing wonderful things to her chest that I fought to ignore as I kept my eyes trained on her face, which was still painted with unease.

I realized then that my request came off more instructional and demanding than I intended, like I was ordering her to get down or something. It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment that maybe she was having fun. Despite the cold, she might’ve been enjoying herself and there I was, coming to ruin it.

“If you want,” I added, lamely, wondering if again I was about to be rejected, left to walk away awkwardly after yet another failed encounter with Katniss Everdeen.

I’d barely gotten the words out before she nodded eagerly though, reaching out for help to get down from the high seat above the tank. I lifted an arm up to help, not letting go of hers until she was firmly back on the ground.

“Thanks,” she said quietly, pushing a piece of curly hair back behind her ear before crossing her arms again.

“No problem.” I was glad my voice came out normal, masking the way my heart was pounding inside my chest with her standing inches away from me practically naked.

Practically naked.

Shit.

“Do you, uh, have a towel or a blanket?” A blanket? Really? I looked around the ground stupidly for anything resembling such, but came up short.

“I left it inside,” she admitted, biting down on her lip.

“Here.” I pulled my sweatshirt off, smoothing the material out before holding it out for her to take. It wasn’t much, but comparatively it was something at least.

She took the offering without complaint, pulling it down over her head before turning up to me with an appreciative smile.

She was drowning in the fabric, the thing almost reached her knees it was so big and she had to roll the sleeves several times before the material stopped falling over her hands.

“Sorry,” I said, sheepishly. “It’s huge.”

“It’s comfortable,” she argued, and the bright smile she gifted me was enough for me to return it. We stood there a moment longer, but with nothing more to say and the temperature only dropping, I figured it was best to let her go inside to warm up.

When I chanced a glance over at the group of people waiting for me, their reactions to the exchange between Katniss and I varied, but Madge gave me a wink that had me turning away quickly.

“I’ll come find you after I change to return this,” she said, motioning to the sweatshirt.

“Don’t worry about that,” I said quickly, not wanting her to feel like it was all part of some elaborate ploy to make her come find me later tonight. She could keep it forever, for all I cared. It looked far better on her than it ever had on me.

Her expression looked doubtful though, and sensing she needed some reassurance, I added, “You can give it back to me another time. Just go get warm. It’s freezing out here.”

“Okay,” she said almost shyly, a far cry from the girl I’d originally met. But, I guess that was where we were now that things had fallen apart. Awkwardly tip-toeing around one another, unsure of how to proceed. Not really friends but...what? Not enemies, at least. It didn’t seem like it.

“Peet, let’s go!” I heard Finnick call out and the realization that they were all still standing there watching, that anyone could be, made my skin heat.

“I’ve uh, gotta get going.”

She waved goodbye as I turned to walk away, unsure how I felt about the exchange. But when I made my way back to the waiting group, Madge gave me one of her clever looks that couldn’t go ignored.

“What?” I asked, hesitantly. I really didn’t feel like being the center of conversation--especially one to do with Katniss Everdeen--for the rest of the night.

“That was a good move, giving her your jacket.”

“It’s cold,” I insisted.

“Yeah, but now she’ll have to return it.”

“I mean, she doesn’t have to,” I said quietly, trying to remember if I’d asked her to or not but the whole conversation was honestly a blur.

“She will.” Madge was leaving no room for debate. “And in order to do that, she’ll need to set up a time to see you again. Sly dog.”

“It’s not like that,” I insisted, but Madge only shrugged before walking quicker to catch up with Gale.

She was a helpless romantic, it wasn’t her fault, but that didn’t change the fact that there was nothing between Katniss Everdeen and I besides guilt and awkwardness. Maybe in an alternate universe, before the bet things could’ve been different.

But in this one, she is somebody with endless options. Beautiful, popular…

And I’m just me.

#anon #ask #the bet #peeta pov #fanfic #thg #the panem nightlocks series

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frywen-bumbles · 4 years ago

Text

The Way to a Man's Heart Goes Through His... Cat? Ch2

Days 6-7: Jaskier gets some unexpected messages and looks after house plants

AO3

Master of Music.

Jaskier loves the sound of it.

What he doesn't love is the half-empty document staring at him from his laptop screen.

'Historical Facts, Recent Myths, Current Connections: The Witchers in Historical and Contemporary Music'

He has all of his research material on hand. He has read through it. Several times. But writing the actual research down isn't happening.

Gods above how much he wishes he could just compose new songs and throw his brain out of the window. He doesn't even believe in any gods but if praying will help writing to happen he's willing to try.

Roach sits on top of the bookshelf, in one of her favourite places to... stare at him. And judge. Or maybe Jaskier feels like the cat is judging him. She hasn't warmed up to him during the first week at all, all she does is stare at him whatever he does but doesn't let him close enough to touch yet alone to brush.

"You know, Roachie if you won't let me touch you soon your owner will have to shave you naked when he returns."

Roach doesn't answer.

Of course, she won't answer. He must be going bonkers. Maybe a walk will help. He doesn't hold high hopes, everything is going shite anyway, what good could one walk do?

He snaps a quick silly selfie of himself and Roach and sends it to Roach's owner, like every day. It doesn't take long for the mark to turn blue to note the message has been seen. No answer, but at this point, Jaskier is not surprised. There has been no answer in the previous days, why break the tradition now? Some people just aren't made for small talk and Jaskier isn't going to force it. Not that he'd want to see the man. No, that would be ridiculous.

He gets lost in his thoughts, trying to figure out how to put together his thesis in some sort of coherent way as he walks to the nearby park. His phone buzzes in his pocket for a new message. He digs it out, not giving it much thought expecting to see a message from Essi or Pricilla. What he sees makes him almost drop his phone in his shock.

Cat dad answered? And with a photo?

A honk makes him realise he's standing in the middle of the road like an idiot and he crosses to the other side to reach the park. Only it feels like he doesn't need to have a walk anymore, this is more excitement than he's had in the entire week.

He opens the message.

A selfie with a blonde girl and a man stare back at him. He feels like his heart will stop.

"Essi?" Jaskier has to talk to someone. He knows he shouldn't, he promised absolute confidentiality. But he will burst if he doesn't talk about this to someone. He will absolutely without a doubt die.

"What is it, Buttercup?" Essi drawls like she has all the time in the world.

"Cat dad it insanely hot!"

"Whaaat? He texted back?"

"Yes! He's off the wall hot? I can't deal with this! How am I supposed to just sit working on his desk knowing what the man looks like? He will haunt my dreams, Essi!"

"Well, spill the tea! What does he look like?"

"You know I can't tell you, just know he's the hottest dude I have ever seen, okay? I can't deal with this. How am I supposed to write academic bullshite when his picture sits on my phone and I could just... look at it whenever I want to?

"Jaskier, for fucks sake. Your thesis is already a year late. You have been promised a place in the doctoral programme. If you keep sitting on your arse with this, instead of being the brightest student at the Uni, you will fail, understand? Get your shite together and stop falling in love with every person you happen to see."

"But, Essiiii... He's really hot!"

"I know, darling. Just keep it in your pants until you've finished with your thesis. Then I give you my permission to go chase the hot cat daddy."

"Melitele forbid, Essi, you're no fun. I wasn't going to chase him! I don't even know where he is. I just can't get over the hotness, okay?"

"Mm hmm, I know you too well. Get back to work or do I need to remind you why you took up pet sitting?"

"No. I'm sorry. I'll take a small walk and then get right back to writing, I promise."

Jaskier does not get back to writing.

He stares at the picture in his phone trying to figure out how a gorgeous man like that could have such an impersonal home. The man has his hair tied back in a messy bun, revealing an undercut which tells the milky white locks are natural. Jaskier didn't know he had a thing for blonds, but he sure as hell does now.

The girl's young, maybe around ten years old, Jaskier isn't sure. Kids aren't exactly his forte, all of his friends are still firmly stuck in their studies instead of having families of their own.

The picture had been taken by the girl, the grin wide on her face suggesting taking it had been her idea. But the soft smile the man has as he looks at the girl is melting Jaskier's heart.

If only someone would look at him like that he could die happy.

A crash from upstairs startles him enough to put down his phone and look at the time. Jaskier tries and fails not to fall into despair. He has wasted another day, not a single word written and how he wishes he could just throw up all of his ideas into coherent text but it is not happening.

He closes his laptop. It's no use. Going like this he'll never graduate.

Roach stares at him from the door, covered in dust and... definitely more dust.

"I'm a mess, aren't I, Roachie?"

Roach doesn't answer. Instead, she screams and runs downstairs, expecting him to follow like a good servant. His phone buzzes for a new message and Jaskier taps it open.

Remember to what the what now? He stares at the message, trying (and failing) to ignore the image above it.

"What the fuck?" he mutters to himself as he makes his way downstairs to stare at the house plants he has given no thought at all up to this point. On the windowsill in the kitchen is a lone cactus, right next to where Roach likes to sit and look to the yard. A cactus completely covered in cat hair and Roach is happy to provide how that particular thing happened. She jumps next to the plant and rubs her head against it, leaving even more hair on the spines.

"Brush the cactus. Okay then..."

Jaskier snaps a picture of the cactus and sends it to the group chat with Essi and Pricilla.

He gets no response. ... appears on the screen several times before crying laughing emojis fill the screen.

He goes to dig through the cabinet where he found cat things and discovers a comb.

"That'll have to do," he sighs and gets to combing the cactus, careful not to harm it. In the end, the cactus comes unharmed from the endeavour but unfortunately, Jaskier doesn't. His palm is adorned with spines he spends a good five minutes plucking out with tweezers.

<lmao>

<lmao???? I'm suffering and you're laughing??? Essi, Pris is being horrible>

Jaskier looks up from his phone when he hears water splashing. He doesn't even want to know what toy the cat has decided to drown now but if he doesn't hurry the whole kitchen will be filled with water.

Roach is happily playing with a toy mouse dunking it in her water bowl and tossing it around, spreading water everywhere.

"Roach, please? Could you just... not do that?" Jaskier begs as he fishes the mouse out of the water bowl and puts it to dry in a cabinet. "This may come as a surprise to you but I do not enjoy mopping the floors after you." He complains as he dutifully takes kitchen towels and dries the kitchen. At least it's better than the time Roach tucked the entire kitchen rug in the water bowl while he was out.

"You are a menace," Jaskier tells Roach after he has cleaned up everything. Roach meows.

Jaskier feels like he has barely fallen asleep when he wakes up. At first, he doesn't understand what woke him, but another yowl has him wide awake. What has him jumping out of the bed and run is the sound of pumping, like someone was trying to unclog a toilet.

"Roach you bastard, where are you? Please don't throw up on a carpet!!" Jaskier tries to find the cat based on the noise, stumbling in the dark. To his horror, the noise is coming from the second floor, where he was absolutely forbidden to go.

"Roaaaaach...!" he whines and makes his way up the stairs.

The view that awaits him when he flips the light on is totally unexpected. It is so unexpected Jaskier has to pinch himself to believe he's actually standing in a real room.

It is, and really the only way to describe it is every little girl's dream room. The room spans the entire second floor, ceiling low on the sides showing it was renovated from an attic, pinks, purples and blues adorning the furnishing.

And right on the middle of the white rug is the vomit.

"Fuck."

Jaskier collects the rug and carries it in the bathroom and spends an ungodly amount of time washing it, hoping against all the odds, the stain would leave.

It doesn't.

Come morning and Jaskier is sure it's all been a weird dream. Unfortunately for him, the stained rug awaits him in the bathroom when he goes to brush his teeth and he groans in frustration.

Roach meows at the closed door and scratches it until he lets her in so she can stare at him. Jaskier sighs and snaps a quick selfie, hair mussed and toothbrush still in his mouth and sends it. No need to prolong it, now he can hopefully focus on writing.

He's drinking his third cup of tea when his phone buzzes for a new message.

<Roach's hair is as messy as yours>

Jaskier stares at the message, sent from an unknown number.

<You're the girl! From the picture!> <I'm Julian but you can call me Jaskier> <Wait you shouldn't text strange men does your dad know you've texted me?>

<You're not strange you just told me your name> <I'm bored daddy went out with grandpa and im left with uncle> <Hes no fun> <I'm Fiona>

Jaskier doesn't know what else he's supposed to say. How does one talk with children? Just like normal people? Right?

Wait!

Jaskier comes to a sudden realisation; now he has the perfect opportunity to ask cheat codes for Roach to get the cat to, well maybe not like him but to tolerate him.

The screen fills with laughing emojis earning a sigh from Jaskier. No help then.

Of course, why hasn't he thought to give the cat cheese? Maybe because it doesn't make any sense. Who gives cat cheese when there are perfectly good cat treats available?

Nothing else about this makes any sense either and since writing isn't happening nor is Fiona texting anything else he makes his way to the fridge and digs out a block of cheese and cuts a piece.

Roach runs at him screaming. She thrills and screams and rubs herself against the drawer where all of her brushes are.

Roach doesn't purr when he combs through her fur, but feeding her bits of cheese every time she gets too annoyed helps and like a miracle Jaskier manages to brush a cat-sized pile of loose fur to show for his efforts. He gives Roach the last piece when he has finished and tries to pet her, but she sprints away from him with an annoyed meow.

Maybe Roach doesn't hate him as much as he thought after all.

#the witcher #the witcher fanfic #geralt of rivia #Jaskier #geraskier #geralt x jaskier #jaskier x geralt #cirilla fiona elen riannon #frywen writes

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crayonwriting · 5 years ago

Text

The Mandalorian (3/4)

(Din Djarin x Reader) Part 3, everybody! Changed it up a bit from the actual episode. Tell me your thoughts!

Summary: You’re the good soul that helps the Mandalorian retrieve, save and protect the Child.

<<prev // next>>

You wrung your fingers nervously as you waited for Mando to come back. You didn’t exactly count the time that had passed. But with the whining and uneasiness of the Jawas, you knew that it was already long enough.

Without warning, they kicked you out of their sandcrawler, along with your hoversled and blurrg. They were obviously disappointed that they didn’t get what they bargained for.

“Just wait a little longer!” You said from your position on the ground. They shouted back something you didn’t catch. With the shaking of their heads and how some of them waved their hands frantically, you figured that their patience had already run thin.

“Fine! Leave without me!” You shouted, making a face. You huffed out in annoyance and turned your back to them. You could hear the hatch door of the sandcrawler slowly go up. You decided that you were going to look for the Mandalorian if he doesn’t show up when the Jawas leave.

Just when the thought had passed, you saw the Mandalorian’s figure in the distance—along with the Child’s.

“Mando!” You screamed. You waved both of your hands, trying to catch his attention. True enough, he lifted his head and looked at you. You felt small tears prick the corner of your eyes. You were relieved that he was okay and alive.

The Mandalorian limped slightly towards where you were standing. He held the mudhorn egg in one arm as he clutched his rifle with the other one. Just as he got closer, you noticed how damaged his armour was. Broken chest plate, damaged vambraces and a helmet full of scratches. He was all dirty, covered in mud and something else you didn't want to know.

"I have it." He said, his voice going down to an almost whisper. "I've got the egg."

The Jawas started cheering gleefully. They flocked to the Mandalorian and met him halfway. They almost wrestled for it but Mando gave it to them immediately. Their leader cheered and walked to the entrance of their sandcrawler. The Jawas cracked open the egg, dunked their little hands inside and started...eating it? A slimy, yellow mixture was inside and they devoured it as if they haven't eaten in weeks.

Mando shook his head disappointedly and limped over to where you were standing. You took a step forward. Relief washed over you seeing him up close despite the mud, dirt and the battered armour. You wiped your unshed tears with your forearm, giving him an impressed smile.

“I’m surprised you waited.” The Mandalorian was just as happy and relieved as you were. He noticed how you wiped your tears but didn’t say anything about it.

“Well, I’m surprised you took so long.” You fired back. No one moved and said anything else. Mando looked at you intently. You gazed back at him the same way, staring hard through the visor of his helmet, hoping to at least see the shadows of his eyes. Unbeknownst to you, Mando had a small smile on his face beneath the beskar.

—

The ride back to the Razor Crest was silent and a little bit slower than before. With the added weight of the Razor Crest’s parts on the hoversled, your blurrg was doing that best it could to pull. You kept petting the side of its head as encouragement and praise that it was doing an absolutely amazing job. The blurrg hummed in response.

Behind you, Mando remained quiet, keeping his gaze locked on the Child, who was still unconscious.

“Is it still sleeping?” You asked. Without breaking his stare, he reached over the Child’s pod and shook it gently. The Child didn’t even budge or flinch at the action.

“Yes.”

You breathed out, asking softly, “Was it injured?” It took a beat before Mando answered.

“I don’t think so. Not physically.”

“Explain it to me again.” You looked back at him just as he turned his head to look at you. “I still don’t understand what happened.”

“Neither do I.”

You waited for him to say something else but it was obvious that he was as clueless as you. Facing front again, you kept quiet for the remainder of your journey.

—

Dusk had started to settle when you finally reached what’s left of the Razor Crest. Mando looked at it from afar.

“There’s no way we’re gonna get this to work without a full maintenance facility.”

You paid him no heed as you did your best to set up the portable light you knew you needed. When it was finally working, you slung your bag of tools over your shoulder, gathered up a few parts of the ship in your arms and walked towards the Mandalorian.

“This is gonna take days to fix.” He sighed.

You rolled your eyes behind his back. When you were beside him, you gave him half of the parts you were already carrying in your arms along with your tool bag.

“If you care to help me, then maybe we could finish faster.” You teased. You walked right up to the ship and started working on the hull leaving him to stand there. He didn’t know why but you always caught him off guard with the way you responded to certain situations. He’s surprised you’re still here, helping him fix his ship, instead of going back to your farm. He’s only known you for a day and yet you treat him as if you’ve known each other for years.

He felt that you trusted him. He knew you trusted him. The words ‘trust’ and ‘Mandalorian’ didn’t really go well with each other when the phrase ‘bounty hunter’ is also included. You were different; that he was sure of. A good different.

“Uhm, hello? Arvala to the Mandalorian? We’ve got a long way to go if you’re just gonna stand there.” You shouted out to him. Mando snapped out of his thoughts and walked towards you.

You both worked together on patching up the ship. He worked on the remainder of the hull while you fixed the engines. Despite the loud hammering, welding, and bolting, the Child remained asleep in his pod, undisturbed. Both you and Mando took small breaks in between then continued the work.

When you were done with the engines, you started fixing the wirings and connections inside the cockpit. You were once an indentured servant, utilized for your craftsmanship and mechanic skills. Working on the Razor Crest felt like second nature to you.

The sun was just starting to rise as you flipped a few switches on the panel. The comms beeped alive as well as the screen. You smiled triumphantly. ‘Yep, still have it in me,’ you thought.

Mando was now sitting on the cockpit, with you stood on the side. He pressed a button and flipped a few switches. He pulled on the right lever and glanced as the right engine roared to life. He did the same with the other side. The Razor Crest was back.

You grinned at him, proud. You leaned your arm on his shoulder, sighing contentedly.

“She’s a fighter, that’s for sure.” You mumbled, looking around the control panel. Mando sat stock still. He really wasn't used to people touching him. He would seize the hand of someone about to touch him so instantly that no one ever dared to do it. And then there's you. You’ve been giving him pats on his shoulder, touching his armour...and he didn't even stop you. Why? Kriff, he doesn't know. All he knows is that you're different. And that he doesn't mind getting touched by you.

You pat his arm—again—a few times before walking out of the cockpit and down the ladder to the hull. The Mandalorian followed suit. You went to the corner, gathering up all your tools and putting them in your bag.

"I can't thank you enough. Please, allow me to give you a portion of the reward." The Mandalorian stated. You stopped halfway from fixing your tools. You turned to him and shook your head firmly.

"You know I can't accept that. Besides, you're my guest. Making me, at your service." You gave him a mock bow which you yourself laughed at. You swore you heard a soft chuckle from him, despite the helmet. You gave him a smile and continued to pack up your tools.

He stood there for a moment. He wanted to ask you something but he thought against it. He turned away from you. He was only able to walk a few steps before he came walking back to where you were.

"I could use a crew member of your ability." You gave him a glance, with an eyebrow raised in question. He took that as a sign to continue. "I can pay you handsomely." He urged. For a moment, he felt a little on edge as he waited for your answer. You made an impressed face. You looked at him, beaming.

"You know what?" You eyed him. "I’d like that.” You nodded a few times, mulling over the idea. Mando felt...elated at the thought of you joining him. But when he saw how your smile suddenly grew smaller and smaller, he felt something in his chest grow heavy.

“Believe me when I say that, it is an honour to be working for a Mandalorian. But I have worked…,” you sighed, “A lifetime, to free myself from servitude. And here I am. I can’t go back.” You looked at him, a sad smile on your face. The Mandalorian nodded.

“I understand.” He sounded a bit disappointed. “Then, all I can offer is my thanks.”

“And I offer mine. Thank you for bringing peace to my valley.” The ramp of the Razor Crest was down as you gestured towards the vast lands in front of you. You huffed out loud and faced him again, for what could possibly be the last time. You clamped a hand down on his shoulder. He looked at where your hand was then looked back at you. Smiling and squeezing his shoulders lightly, you hiked up your tool bag on your shoulder and started down the ramp, out of the ship.

He watched you walk away and for some reason, it sent an ache across his body. He was sad to see you go, but he understood your principles—as you did his. In a short amount of time, he had felt a connection with the Child and protected it from other bounty hunters. He also felt a connection with you. Helping him get parts of his ship and repairing the Razor Crest itself. It was already dangerous being seen with a Mandalorian but he didn’t feel that you were scared.

You mounted your blurrg and looked back at him. “Good luck with the Child! May it survive and give you a handsome reward. Maybe by yourself a new armour, yeah?”

You saluted him and waved farewell. From the cockpit of his ship, he nodded in acknowledgement before starting up the Razor Crest. He pressed all the necessary buttons and flipped the appropriate switches and soon enough, the Mandalorian and the child were off.

—

permanent tag: @awkwardfangirl2014

the mandalorian tag: @ginger-swag-rapunzel

pedro pascal tag: @thinemineours / @lavenderl3mons

#b writes #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian imagine #din djarin #din djarin x reader #din djarin imagine #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal imagine

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tsarisfanfiction · 4 years ago

Text

Shaken (Tales From The Heart)

Fandom: One Piece Rating: Gen Warnings: None Characters: Law, Shachi, Heart Pirates

Law liked to consider himself as not easily shaken. Things that would upset many people did nothing for him – bloodshed and general gore, for example – and he strode around in public with his smirk fixed firmly to his face. How true that statement really was, however, Law tried not to think about too much. He'd been shaken before, as a child alone and abandoned in the world, and sometimes those feelings would come back if something happened to one of his nakama, or his nightmares surged to the forefront of his mind.

It was more common than he cared to admit.

He hid it from his nakama when he could, staying in solitude until he had control over himself again, which a decent success rate (not even the ever attuned Penguin, Shachi or Bepo could tell if he contained it in the safety of his room before going out to face the new day).

That morning, it was his mind churning up memories and convoluted what-ifs of their winter island adventure the previous day. Carelessness and bad luck had conspired against Law, leading the snow he'd been walking on to being not as solid as he'd believed, giving way beneath his feet with an alarming crack and sending him plummeting down into frigid water before he'd managed to summon a Room and escape.

The shock of the cold water had stolen his breath away in one swift blow, leaving him unable to even struggle to keep his head above the water. Luckily, he hadn't been alone, his nakama close enough to come running the moment he crashed through the snow and firmly grasp his arms before his head submerged. Less luckily, they'd also ended up on weakened ice hidden by snow and had also found themselves taking an unexpected swim.

They hadn't lost their grip on their captain, though, pulling his arms over their shoulders as they trod water, keeping him afloat as they hunted for a way back out of the water. Limp and useless, Law could do nothing except be a dead weight against their struggles, feeling himself being passed from nakama to nakama as their strength waned. He'd ended up in Ikkaku's grip, the last one with enough strength to keep her arm wrapped around him, with the rest of his nakama bobbing wearily in the water and barely capable of keeping their heads up, when help finally arrived.

Like the rest of them, Bepo crashed through the ice as he got close, but unlike his human nakama his thick fur insulated him from the shock. A rope was clenched between his teeth, running back to the rest of the crew, where Jean Bart was anchoring himself firmly back away from the broken ice and Penguin and Shachi helped grip it. In the water it took some fumbling, human fingers frozen and Bepo's paws not helpful for knot-tying, before the rope was secured around Law's torso, just under his arms, and he was pulled out. Soaked to the bone, Law could do nothing more than collapse on the ground, panting heavily and watching with half-lidded eyes as the rest of his nakama were pulled out.

He must have passed out, as the next thing he knew was the sight of his bedroom ceiling. He was warm and dry, bundled up in blankets.

"Captain!" a delighted voice exclaimed, and he turned his head to face Ikkaku, who was similarly bundled in blankets but otherwise looked fine. "You're awake!" There was no need to state the obvious, Law thought, but gave her his best attempt at a smile, considering the circumstances.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked, trying to move but finding his strength had been entirely sapped by the water.

"Everyone's fine," Ikkaku reassured him. "You were the only one to pass out." His pride should have rankled at that, but all he could think of was how relieved he was to hear it. Being the only fruit user, it carried a certain amount of sense, anyway.

"I see," he said with a smile, closing his eyes again. "That's good; I'm glad." He kept the smile up until he heard her leave the room, presumably to tell the others he was awake, when it dropped suddenly.

If someone had been seriously ill… he would have been useless. Falling unconscious when half his crew were in serious danger of hypothermia was a failure as both captain and doctor. His hands shook, and he balled them into fists. That none of them were suffering was luck – far too much luck. Law didn't get luck like that, and it made him nervous. He wanted to see them, to confirm it with his own eyes, but his body didn't want to move, stubbornly unresponsive.

Bepo's arrival was well-timed before Law started to strain his body too much.

"I need to see them," he said bluntly, and Bepo didn't question it, scooping him up into his arms and taking him to the recreation room, where everyone was bundled up in blankets, regardless of whether or not they'd taken a dunking.

"Captain!" Uni called out, waving until Bepo made his way over, depositing Law inside the blanket-bundled crew where he was quickly surrounded. They kept moving around, so it was difficult to focus on everyone long enough to check they were truly okay, but with the light atmosphere and constant movement he was reassured that there was no lasting damage.

If only his subconsciousness wasn't so willing to show him "what ifs" while he slept, jerking him awake more than once during the night with the fear that someone was dying, a sensation only pacified by a trek around the sleeping quarters. The following morning found him tired, the combination of his disrupted sleep and residue weariness out with a vengeance, and he fumbled his cutlery at breakfast. If anyone noticed, no-one commented, to Law's relief. Perhaps they thought it was residue from his dunking, Law didn't bother to ask. After one too many almost-accidents with his mug, Law retreated to his quarters, citing the cold as an excuse when asked.

He'd be fine in a few hours, he reassured them. He didn't need them hovering, either. Yes, he'd come see them once he felt better. Heavily implying that they shouldn't disturb him, he returned to his room, sitting on the bed and staring at his hands.

They were still shaking, but they weren't cold at all. It was fear, the fear of what he could have lost and he shuddered as unwelcome mental images formed of his nakama, all frozen to death while he was merrily sleeping away, victims of his carelessness. He rested his head in his hands, trying to shut the images out.

The door opened and his head jerked up, hunting down the intruder with a scowl because he'd wanted to be alone. Shachi said nothing as he walked in, shutting the door behind him and heading straight for the bed – for Law. The younger man did nothing, hoping that if he didn't react, Shachi would get the message (a fool's hope) and leave him in peace. There was no such luck, the ginger sitting a short distance away from Law on the bed.

Law waited for him to speak, expecting some sort of pep talk, and jumped when Shachi simply flopped over, his head landing solidly in Law's lap.

"Sha-"

"Butterfingers," Shachi said bluntly, his voice muffled by Law's legs. Law scowled at him, or rather the back of his head. The hair was warmly coloured, the ginger shoving the cool what-ifs further back in his mind. If he put his hands in there, would they warm up?

Law hadn't braided Shachi's hair in years, stopping in silent embarrassment after realising what his father had really been after, even if it had also worked to control his fingers. He didn't know what Shachi's aim was, flopping like that and disturbing him when he'd specified he wanted to be left alone, but his fingers remembered what his hair was like and never gave Shachi a chance to escape.

The ginger didn't even try to move away as Law gave in, shaky fingers threading through ginger strands a couple of times before attempting a braid. His fingers settled into a familiar pattern, and not only did Shachi continue to stay where he was, but Law could have sworn he felt a smile against his thigh. Was this really what he was after? Law knew that Shachi preferred having other people cut his hair, but to extend that to things like having his hair styled was a new consideration, with suspicious timing.

Law didn't notice when his fingers finally stopped trembling.

#one piece #one piece fanfiction #heart pirates #tales from the heart #tsari writes fanfiction #trafalgar law #shachi #bepo #ikkaku #uni

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littlemisssquiggles · 5 years ago

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Hey! Any theories on the intro? And the upcoming fight with Oscar and Ironwood. I'm soooo excited 😖 gooo OSCAR!!😍

Hello again Luna. Well I don’t wish to discuss much out in the open since there are still folks who follow my blog and content who haven’t seen the episode as yet. So out of respect for them, I’m going to give my answer under cut.

Theories based on the intro. Whelp since the tradition since V6 is that RWBY opening sheds light on some of the story beats and subplots that will be focused on for part of the season, here’s what I’m anticipating is going to go down for V7:

Keeping Up with Best of the Best:

JNR_RWBY will probably placed under the guidance and supervision of Atlesian Ace Ops who will more or less oversee their continued training as huntsmen.

We’ll probably have at least one episode or two in which our young heroes head out on missions around Mantle and Solitas accompanying the Ace Ops in the field.

While I’d love to see JNR_RWBY work alongside the Aces for more than one mission; if I’m going off the footage in the V7 opening and the V7 trailer, the main mission will obviously be the one teased before in the trailer. The mission that takes place presumably in the Dust Mines of Atlas; infested with Centinal Grimm and another Geist Grimm.

Wouldnt surprise me if we got that mission episode between CH3 and 4 since I’m sure CH2 will involve the group being held in prison under firm interrogation until Ironwood arrives to bail them out (much like in @miki-13’s fanfic “Reconciliation”)

Oscar-Worthy:

While JNR_RWBY will be out with Ace Ops, they’re not the only ones getting a taste of Atlas style of teaching. As shown, Oscar will remain in Atlas to be trained personally by Ironwood.

James and Oscar weren’t fighting. I guess this was more or less a little friendly sparring match for Ironwood to test just how far Oscar is in his training and skills as the successor to Oz.

Like you, I’m interested to see how this match will go. However at the same time, I’m not rooting for Oscar to win this one on one. On the contrary, I’m more anticipating Ironwood to wipe the floor with Oscar in their first match. He’ll probably go easy on him at first only to later take it up a notch and become more aggressive, forcing Oscar into a corner.I’m hoping this first fight between them is actually more…I guess serious when it comes to the actual episode. This opening makes it look like these two are play fighting and Ironwood is humouring Oscar. Don’t get me wrong. I want Ironwood to more or less be a good teacher to Oscar but at the same time, I don’t want him to coddle him either. Ironwood has been shown to be a hard boiled badass of a soldier. A man who singlehandedly slam-dunked a charging Beowolf with one hand and shot it straight through the neck with his other hand.

Let that guy teach Oscar a thing or two on what it’s light to be a warrior. War is nothing to take lightly. One slip up—even the tiniest of them can easily open the door to victory or failure. I can see Ironwood drilling that lesson into Oscar very firmly.

One thing I’m also hoping for is that there will be an audience there to show Oscar support during his sparring match with Oscar. I know JNR_RWBY will be mostly out in the field but I think it’d be cute to have someone there on Oscar’s behalf to cheer him on and help him up after Ironwood kicks his ass the first time.

With Ironwood training Oscar for V7, I’m hoping for V7 that we can at least get one Oscar-worthy episode where he is the focal point or key driver of the chapter.

Similar to how we had the Jaundice multi-part episodes back during V1, it would be pretty great if Oscar got his own ‘Oscar-worthy’-titled episode that focuses heavily on his feelings handling everything (leaving home, the events of Mistral and Haven, Jinn’s story, Ozpin’s isolation, etc) while additionally trying to keep up with Ironwood’s rigourous training regiment which the poor boy unfortunately struggles with in the beginning.

As a matter of fact, one thing I’m anticipating for with Ironwood training Oscar is the show highlighting Oscar struggling at first. I understand that Oscar’s whole thing is that he picks up things fast while also being expected to inherit Oz’s muscle memory; which we’ve seen him achieve.

That being said, I hope it’s not another example of the Writers neglecting to portray Oscar as his own character first and foremost.It still bothers me that after two seasons, we still don’t know much about Oscar’s true thoughts and how he feels.

For the most part we’ve just seen him humbly accept everything that’s happened to him since the events of V4 and be perfectly comfortable with being puppeteered around by Ozpin while signing away his life to being another for Ozma to live through.

…Yep. Oscar has been with with the heroes for 48-49 days (1 month, 2 weeks and 4 days since V4 to V6, according to the RWBY timeline) since he first left his presumably sheltered life back in Mistral and he’s just fine with all that’s happened since then. Uh huh. That’s what the show and the CRWBY Writers want me to wholeheartedly believe. Sure.

It was especially worse last season where Oscar was supposed to be a focal figure of the season, like Ozpin, but the Writers once again overlooked him in favour of other characters (including ones who weren’t relevant to the main plot of that season).

This is why I believe an Oscar-worthy episode isn’t only warranted by strongly needed at this point. What could be even better is if that episode is used to spark a close friendship and potential brotherhood between Oscar and Jaune.

Why I want an episode where Oscar is seen struggling with his training and/or slowly beginning to fall apart from the pressures of everything around him to the point of frustration is because I can see it parallelling Jaundice where Jaune suffered through the same emotional struggles.

Jaune have come a long, long way from the whimpy kid he started off as. Perhaps he could use his experience to help and/or guide Oscar when he falters.

I believe it was mentioned in an interview with M&K that Oscar might share a similar story beat to Jaune when he first started out. I hope this means we’ll get to see Oscar go through an Jaundice-esque type of experience which in turn will prompt Jaune to want to help him since he sees his old self mirrored in Oscar. It’d be even nicer if this is followed up by Jaune offering to have practice sessions with Oscar to help him with improving his fighting technique.

While I’d still love for Ruby to be the one to help Oscar with his training, I feel like it’d be more meaningful if Jaune offers to help Oscar similar to how Pyrhha once offered to help him back in V1.

I’ve been waiting for a moment where Jaune becomes a big brother/ mentor type character to Oscar since V5.

Plus if Oscar is indeed destined to join JNR (as the opening alluded to), this would be a nice way to have Oscar and Jaune bond to build into the potential of them eventually become teammates and brothers in arms.

I’d love it if we get a moment where Jaune and Oscar are training together while Nora, Ren and even Ruby observe from a far.

Having RNJR be a part of Oscar’s training and development as a fighter is a nice callback to V5 where the five of them were being trained under Oz’s watch and guidance.

Plus this could provide another example of RNJR becoming Oscar’s Golden Circle of close confidantes.I’m seeing more and more signs of the Golden Circle being a canonical possibility as the series feeds me more evidence for my Pinehead headcanon.

I hope they don’t stop for V7. I really want to see RNJR become Oscar’s main group. JNR as his potential huntsman team and surrogate family and Ruby as Oscar’s best friend, most trusted companion and of course, his potential love interest (maybe).

So yeah it’d be nice if Oscar training Ironwood is a sign he might have his own Jaundice-esque episode that focuses on him and his growing friendship with RNJR. I mean it’d be nice if one of the episodes gave us that for him this season.

But given the Writers’ track recording on dishing those out; that’s wishful thinking. Ey who knows?

Schnee Family Affairs:

Judging by the fact that they are featured in the intro, apparently Weiss is going to have to confront the conflicts with her that she left behind in V4. This also seems to be tied into something to do with the Crimes of the SDC. As alluded to the audience during the World of Remnant episode on the Schnee Dust Company, the company has committed one or two nefarious deeds under Jacques Schnee’s leadership.

The intro also highlighted the new Robyn Hill character looking at tele-ad of Ironwood which later glitches to Jacques.This makes me wonder something curious but I’ll save it for my musing post.

All I will say for now is that there is a definitely a connection between this Hill character, Ironwood and Jacques Schnee. It can also be noted that Qrow will meet Hill face to face. My theory on that is that James will probably task Qrow to investigate some strange things going down in Mantle that’s connected to Hill.

My hunch with that is that Hill is the prime suspect in some reported mishaps down in Mantle when the reality is that it’s Tyrian Callows who's been causing trouble on Watts behalf.

That’s my hunch. Speaking of Watts.

Watts’ Mole?

In the opening Watts is seen observing an image of the Ace Ops. This got me curious about that. Why show a shot of Watts eyeballing them specifically of all things with a smirk on his face?

This made me consider two theories as a rationale. Either Watts is watching the Ace Ops because he plans on using them and their influence on the People of Atlas as possibly their finest soldiers to once again humiliate and mock the strength and integrity of Atlas’ Kingdom to the rest of the world; as it was done back during the Vytal Festival.

Or…the Ace Ops or at least ONE of their members is secretly in cohoots with Watts. While I understand that Watts’ gig is that he’s a genius, what if…he had a secret accomplice among the ranks of the Ace Ops who has been feeding him valuable Atlas intel that he then used against the Atlesian military.

We can assume that Watts’ was exiled from Atlas for reasons. But imagine if before being banished, Watts had a family? Like imagine if...Watts is also a dad and one of the Ace Ops members is secretly his kid who he was forced to leave behind when he was banished. Watts then reunited with said child and together the two have been working together to enact their revenge and said child is in the Ace Ops and has been feeding Watts valuable info to help with his schemes for years; including the Fall of Beacon.I could be completely wrong about Watts having a kid in the Ace Ops but…who knows. Let’s leave it on the table for now.

Attack on Mantle:

This shot makes me think that at some point for the V7 Finale, something big is going to go down in Mantle. Like there might be some big attack. Maybe Watts will create a stronger virus that’ll once again take over all mechanical lifeforms down in Atlas and the robot soldiers (inclusive of Penny 2.0 possibly) will suddenly turn fire on the innocent civilians, sending the People of Mantle into a frenzied panic which in turn will bring forth an army of Grimm to reign down on the Surface Kingdom. It might even attract another big Grimm.

Last time for V6, we got an underused Kaijuu Grimm. Perhaps this round we’ll get an Artic Yeti or Abominable Snowman type of Grimm. Who knows.

The Relic of Creation:

Well…we saw it clear as day in the opening. So we can bet the Relic of Creation will be a factor this season. I’m curious to see how Atlas uses this Relic since my hunch is that part of the reason why Atlas has been able to advance so much is due in part to them using the power of Relic of Creation. And since we saw the Relic, I wonder if this means we’ll get a teaser of the identity of the Winter Maiden and the Vault of the Winter Maiden.

Penny:

... As much as Penny’s shining smile in the opening brightens me up every time I see it, I can’t help but feel uneasy about that. I’ll talk more about on that later in a future musing post.

No Fire and Icecream?

Another thing to point out in the V7 opening is the lack of Cinder or Neo.

Even though they were teased heading toward Atlas at the end of V6, the V7 opening showed nothing of them. This makes me wonder if the two are even going to appear at all this season.

I mean take Adam Taurus for example. Even though Adam Taurus didn't appear until the later half of V6, he was still featured in the V6 opening.

Cinder and Neo; nowhere to be found in V7′s opening. This leads me to believe that we may not see these two at all for V7. Then again, it was said in another interview with the Writers that we’ll be learning about Cinder’s past at some point. I can’t remember if it was teased for V7 or a future season.

Either way I can’t really think that she’ll be a character for V7 since she wasn’t shown.

The same can be said about Salem’s army of Winged Beringels sent after Oz at the end of V6.

I guess they won’t be a factor for V7 either. I guess they’ll be saved for V8 (which is actually a good call).

Speaking of Oz, he was also omitted from this opening. Makes me wonder how much of a presence he’ll have this season.

I’m at least hoping for a thing where Oz comes back a bit for Oscar’s sake. Like maybe he and Oscar sort of reconcile but Oz doesn't take over Oscar’s body anymore. Instead he just plays a voice of guidance to him at times. I wouldn’t mind if Oz was relegated to that role for Oscar’s development. I want V7 to focus on Oscar since his side of things is often overlooked so much. He needs to be a focus.

Love is the Key:

Looking at how much times it was mentioned in the opening, it may seem that love is a central theme for this season.

It also seems like the lyrics to the V7 Opening might be alluding the Fox’s lesson from the Little Prince. Interesting.

With all this talk about love, I hope this means that romance is in the air for some of our young heroes.

I know we’re more likely to see love in the form of friendship (platonic love), family (familial love) devotion and responsibility to another person. But regardless of this, this squiggle meister is hoping for cupid to rear his fat naked ass and prick some of our heroes with a dose of love straight through the heart.

I want to see some of our characters fall in love with each other (particularly a certain pair of rosebuds who’ve been shown to really care about one another despite only knowing each other for 49 days and have been pretty chummy these past two seasons---just saying).

And yeah, that’s it. That’s all the theories I have for now based on the V7 opening. Anymore that pop up, I’ll just share in a musing or headcanon post. Hope that answers your question, fam.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

#apocalypseluna786 #squiggles answers: rwby #oscar pine #rwby theories #rwby volume 7 theories #rwby spoilers

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hcpefulmarshmallow · 5 years ago

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Good morning, friends. It’s been a whole hot minute since I ruined that FIHA guy for everyone by scrutinizing and over-analyzing every sentence he’s ever said, because what can I say, I have weird hobbies. So we’re going to do that. But before we jump down this rabbit-hole, I just want to clarify one thing. I’ll probably wind up using a lot of certain language in this post. Talking about a lot of “is” and “isn’t”, “should” and “shouldn’t”, things that “will” and “won’t” work. Just know I’m not trying to dunk on anyone else’s portrayal here. The last thing I want to do is discourage anybody’s work. This is based on my interpretation of the character solely. So, with that out of the way:

I do so love taking every chance I get to bring up this screenshot. Why? I don’t know, maybe I’m a glutton for punishment. But among other things, it establishes love - a happy relationship, a partnership, something in which Nagito can feel safe and secure and cared for - as the thing he wants more than anything else in the world. So let’s talk about why that’s nearly unattainable for him!

Since Nagito loves books, let’s use those to try and make some sense of all this. Think of where he’s at now, mentally and emotionally, as book one. The final book - the endgame - is him being happy and settled in that place he wants to be. So how is he supposed to get there? Well, all the books in between. There are lessons to be learned, adventures to be had. He needs to grow and change. See, it’s not really a matter of “wow this person loves me, how cool”, because something as simple as that can still crumble the shaky foundation upon which his entire philosophy and view of the world sits.

You may have noticed this, but Nagito’s life has been, uh...c͞ha͜ot̢ic̷. He’s been tortured, kidnapped, terminally ill, lost everyone he’s ever cared for, left all alone to deal with it all. He needs a way to process all this, and a reason to keep on living. And I think you know where I’m going with this. No matter what else, Nagito believes in Hope. And in order for Hope to exist, so must despair, or else Hope is worthless. And we can’t have that. Some people are worthy to bring about that Hope, some are not. Nagito has firmly planted himself in the latter category, due to all the pain his luck has caused. (And by extension, pardon the gratuitous use of my own headcanon, all the pain he caused, owing to how he blames himself for it’s existence, seeing it as a punishment for his very first instance of tragic luck - the death of his childhood pet, which he feels responsible for.) Remember, he needs this. He needs to believe that hope will follow despair, that bad luck serves to precede good, that for all the scum out there like him, there’s someone capable of undoing it all; or at least, capable of making it into something worthwhile. He needs to.

Enter the person whose affection Nagito wants. He could only ever love someone who is full of hope. In fact, he’s even said as much. So, that’s the kind of person whose love he’d want in return. Let’s say, he finds that in someone. Wow! Cool! Except, for someone that wonderful, their love is worth a great deal. Which means it can’t be given to just anyone. Which means they must be somehow justified in giving it to him. Which is impossible, because he’s worthless garbage that’s only good for bringing about misery. He must be, because if he isn’t, then he truly is a victim of circumstance. Because if that’s the case, perhaps luck truly is random and not a balanced force. And if that’s true, then all those horrible things he’s seen truly were all happenstance. Which means that good luck will not always follow bad, which means hope may not always follow despair, which means life itself is just one traumatising disappointment after another, and after being tortured, and kidnapped, and diagnosed with a terminal illness, and worst of all, losing everyone he’s ever loved until he’s all alone in the world, what’s the point of even living? It’s not just that he is worthless, it’s that he must be.

Do you see the dilemma?

Nagito relies so deeply on this shaky, unsteady philosophy, that if it crumbles away, he will probably lose his grip on reality. And though Danganronpa practically confirms hope, despair and luck to be tangible and real, if somewhat abstract, concepts; even Nagito’s dependence on it is supposed to be seen as, ah, Much. So how can he accept the love he so desperately needs, if he can never deserve it?

And that, at last, brings us to the apotheosis of this whole post. Entirely too many words in. Whoops.

So, how should one react when faced with Nagito’s vitriolic, cruel, verbal self-flagellation? How ought one go about changing his mind without completely shattering him? Or, to put it another way: what do when he starts up on his bullshit?

I’ve seen various writers, muses and such go about this different ways. Often to the tune of: “No ur not”. Which is not a bad or reductive response, to be clear. It’s the most obvious reaction, I think most people with a shred of empathy would say something to that effect. Of course he’s not useless scum with nothing to offer anybody - it’s true and you should say it. It would probably even make him feel nice for a moment.

What I’m getting at is: it’s just not very constructive.

Remember how I mentioned the books? I don’t know of a series where you can read the first book, skip to the last, and nothing in between matters. You’re just going to wind up confused and frustrated, just like many people are with him. Ultimately, Nagito will probably just smile and say something like “haha you’re too nice to me”, but with a simple “but you’re not trash” approach, nothing’s really going to change. He’s not going to give up his self-deprecating ways. His mindset won’t be altered. He’ll just think you’re humouring him or something. The road for him to accept someone’s love easily and readily is long, and takes patience. Rather than committing to an uphill battle, might I humbly suggest, instead, just leading him there willingly, step by step? So little by little, that even as his entire wold view is chipped away, he’ll have the chance to replace it with something stronger.

Banning him from ever saying anything bad about himself probably won’t help. If anything, he’ll just feel he needs to bury his true feelings deeper because they’re so annoying and troublesome. There’s a simpler, much better way to at least get him on the right track. Rather than denying him his point of view, just make it look a little nicer. Like, yeah, maybe he’s trash, but like, quality trash. Less stinky leftovers, more, a lottery ticket someone accidentally dropped in the bin. It still sounds callous, but we’re taking baby steps here.

I mean, I’m sure there’s lots of ways to approach this, but what I’m saying is: dealing with him takes a great deal of patience and kindness. And if he gets too difficult to argue with, then don’t. Sometimes small gestures and physical affection can speak volumes. It really is a page-by-page process, and sometimes, it might seem like he’s learned the next lesson, only to forget it again. Progress isn’t linear. And his hatred for himself isn’t something he can sternly be talked out of. Really, nobody can. That kind of change comes from inside, and it can start without others even knowing.

So, I supposed the point is...please be patient with him? I guess? I mean, he’s such a difficult and frustrating guy to deal with at times. But he’s also committed, loyal, kind, selfless, hardworking, playful, and so, so loving. And I’m not really sure how this post went from an examination of how Nagito’s world view obstructs his ability to receive love, to “deAR GOD SOMEONE PLEASE JUST PAT HIM AND TELL HIM HE’S GOOD, I’M BEGGING” but there you have it.

#meta;#long post;#( i love doing these but they are e x h a u s t )

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grownups-are-the-real-monsters · 6 years ago

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Silver Bells

Summary: Richie is sick and tired of being badgered about relationships at his family Christmas parties. And his idiotic cousin always brags about his girlfriend. So when in need of a fake boyfriend to stop the annoyance, Eddie’s name comes out.

Words: 9,774

Ships: Reddie

Stanley Uris lightly dragged his pencil down the side of the worn out pages of his bird book, passing the bushels of color from the photos. A thin feather-light gray line followed in it’s path alongside the faded dark brown framing of the particular page. He grinned, a kind man’s grin, and hoped to himself that once winter ended he would get to see a lot more birds again. The distant chatter of the dinner customer crowd was just as foggy as his table’s paired window. The snow falling down tapped almost silently against it and left a delicate layer of moisture perfect for finger drawn doodles. Surrounding the view was a strand of tiny bulbs of Christmas lights. It was all very warm and welcoming, enhanced by the smell of home cooking. Stan enjoyed his job there and was glad he got it. Working under Mr. and Mrs. Carson, a lovely old couple, was just his favorite.

The only thing was the creepy little old timey paintings they had around the dining areas. A part of him loved them and another part hated them. Their eyes followed him everywhere.

“Stan!” Richie abruptly came from behind the booth and set his cold hands on the very slim opening of Stan’s shirt on to his exposed collarbones with the intent to scare him. But Stan remained still as the dead. It was not in the least bit surprising but it still disappointed Richie to no end. “How did that not get you this time?”

Stan made a small amused huff as Richie came round to slide into the bench across from him, eyes avoiding the painting behind his head. “Can’t be surprised by what you know is coming, Rich.” Was his simple explanation and it made Richie huff for himself, crossing his arms and leaning back on the cushioned seat. He sat still for as long as he could entertain himself, which wasn’t long at all, before he started to hastily remove his layers of warm clothing. Flakes of snow fell off like tiny beads onto the chair and table.

“Here, eat your soup. Still warm.” Stan pushed the tiny meal he brought from the kitchen over to his friend who he knew needed it. Richie gladly took it and started to dunk the little bread rolls into it. “I only have like ten minutes for break so, what’s up?”

Richie slurped his soup from the silver spoon and rolled his lips together in thought. Stan had mastered his mind-blocking of the unfavorable sounds of eating, loud chewing and other classic gross hits. It was a skill that had come with the job and was now just a nice bonus. He smiled to show his friend he was listening.

“I have a problem.” Richie swallowed his mouthful and sat back again like just the sentence had exhausted him. He reached over to play with the end of the scarf he had carelessly thrown on the table.

“I think that much is apparent, Rich.” Stan nodded with a playful little grin and Richie rolled his eyes which lead to his thing about following every one of Stan’s movements with his eyes. He did that from time to time & Stan as well. But where they differed was Stan only really ‘people watched’ those he did not know because he had all his friends movements committed to memory. Richie, however, only really did this with his friends. And he’d make key expressions that lead Stan to believe he was happy with himself for predicting these movements. It was like he needed some kind of reassurance that he knew them as well as he suspected.

Stan partly dabbled in the art of observing and noting his friends habitual patterns. He grinned to himself and shook his head the tiniest bit, his own physical note of happiness. Like Stan noticed, Richie’s nose twitched like he had expected that reaction.

The nose twitching reminded Stan of that show....Bewitched! He figured if any sort of power that character had existed in the real world that it would most surely not be allowed in a restaurant. Especially if the someone who had it was Richie. He could imagine the havoc he’d cause and it made him giggle. “They’ll kick you out for that, y’know.” He mumbled to himself. Richie’s eyebrow quirked but he just waved his hand to forget it. “Never mind that, tell me what’s wrong.”

“A lot of my relatives are coming over for Christmas and everyone of them bugs me about school and relationships sooo...” Richie trailed off and scooted up to the edge of the table with a look of amused dread. “I told my parents I had a boyfriend.”

Stan put on a little smirk. “I know where this is going.”

Richie raised his brow but he continued.

“I’ll do it but only cause I have a swell outfit I’ve been waiting to wear...” Stan trailed off in his special Stan way and rolled his head back on his shoulders with a tiny smirk.

“Oh no. I told them Eddie was my boyfriend. I mean, I thought it’d work cause my parents like him and I thought maybe everyone else would too. Then they’d get off my back a little.” Richie explained, waving with his hands like he was telling a great story. Stan began to laugh again which annoyed his friend but he didn’t seem to care.

“I would have made a great boyfriend, y’know? Better than Eddie.” Stan put on a frown and leaned over to punch his friends arm but Richie remained conflicted. “Truthfully, I don’t know if that was the best idea, Rich.”

From his more upright position, the eyes of one of the paintings locked on him. Stan would scowl or maybe just move if he was alone.

Richie frowned, looking offended. “Why?” He said with a very snippy tone. Stan gave him that look that he absolutely hated. It was the kind of look only Stan could do. It said all he had to say without a lick of speech. It drove Richie nuts because what it said was ‘I know something’.

“Well, because you like him.” Stan said casually, picking up the salt & pepper shakers to perfectly center them in front of the menus.

The only reaction Richie could muster was to scoff a few times and try to stumble his way through a reply. “That is ridiculous. Stan, where did you get that?” He narrowed his eyes because the confusion was loud in the back of his brain. “I don’t like Eddie.” He made sure to put the same tone on the word as his friend.

“Bev and I talk about it all the time.” Stan said in a joking manner but it still pissed Richie off.

“Well fucking stop cause I don’t.” Richie reached over and pinched him. Stan made a small ‘ow’ sound and rolled his eyes.

Stan licked his lips and shrugged, leaning his forearms on the table. “Ok, so I was wrong.” He didn’t seem all that bothered and Richie knew it was because Stan still thought of himself as right. It irked the shit outta him.

“I don’t, Stan.”

“I didn’t say anything-”

“You said it with your eyes.”

“Ok. I said it with my eyes, sorry.” Stan laughed softly. “Anyway, why didn’t you go talk to Eddie about this situation? Considering he is your ‘boyfriend’." Stan stood from the booth with a kind smile and looked down at him.

Richie pouted up at him like a child. “Eddie’s gonna be maaaad.” He frowned. “He'd have to come over and meet everybody and-” Richie put his face in his hands and chuckled himself before pulling his palms down so his skin would pull.

“I think you should give em’ a heads up.” Stan patted his shoulder and laughed. But when Richie made the move to get up from the booth, Stan stopped him with a gentle push as he whipped a towel over his shoulder. “Finish your soup first then go find him. He’s probably at the bike shop with Bill.”

Richie smiled and went for his food again. Stan went the backwards way back to the kitchen to avoid that particular painting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bill Denbrough had been many different things in his lifetime so far and a fool was not one of them. Although as he approached the middle of his senior year in high school with his butt planted firmly on a glossy floor and staticky balloons with bright yellow smiling faces as his only company, he realized that everyone was a fool. No exceptions.

He tilted his chin up and felt the thickness of the air from the cloud of dust forming around him. The sneeze he held back gave him the closest thing to a high that he’d had in months. It was kinda nice. The smiley balloons leered above him with a much more mocking energy than he had planned for. Had this been just a couple years ago, he would’ve sworn they were swarming around him. It was deeply upsetting when paired with the cheery winter tunes on the radio. ‘They're really rockin’ around the Christmas tree, huh?’ Bill smiled a cheesy grin back at one because he was alone and did not give a shit. The kind of smile that gave a soft click from the shift of spit and showed off his great teeth. One of the damn smiley things popped. He sneezed.

“Mmmm I didn’t like that.” Bill whispered to himself with a slight grin as he steadied his hand once more on the cherry red bike he was working on. “Not one bit.” He went on meekly but with a spark of amusement. He had to be amused because if he wasn’t he’d be really annoyed.

Bill had worked at Sherwin’s Bike shop for roughly a year working under Mr. Sherwin, a small and outgoing old man. Bill had painted big bubble letters on the windows and wrote fun little sayings on the signs like ‘Sherwin’s Schwinns are sure to win’ for a while. But when the kind old man went and died on him a month ago, he left the store all to some new guy that Bill didn’t very much like. Which was why he was stuck with an early shift that started with being the only one in the store.

But now, he sat cross-legged on the bicycle shop floor some time later with his huge ‘Women want me, fish fear me’ shirt pooling into the lap of his jeans while he got stalked by smiling kids balloons. “All that worrying for nothing, huh? Turned out great, didn’t it?” Bill pursed his lips as he spoke to himself with such a heavy dose of sarcasm it would have annoyed anyone over thirty. And because he was becoming prematurely bitter, it sure did grind his gears too.

Grind his gears. That was a classic Mr. Sherwin expression. Bill hoped to God he wasn’t just going to straight up turn into the old man when he grew up, though he had loved him dearly. But his wardrobe spoke volumes on that idea. ‘Wearing a dead man’s shirt was like bad luck, wasn’t it?’ Bill paused from his work on the bike to think to himself. He sure hoped it wasn’t because he’d had enough of that in his life already.

It was the only damn piece of clothing in the store which made sense considering he had not thought to be prepared for spilling his coffee all over himself like an idiot at work. There had not been any time to go home for a change before he had to open but luckily, his favorite little old timer left this gem behind....’Almost as if he knew Bill would be an idiot.’ He was always one to tease him. The traces of his less prominent stutter that stayed with him was a popular subject to Mr. Sherwin’s comedy line-up. Bill missed him a lot but that did very little for him. People died on him, that was just the way it went.

One of his tools fell from the perch of his toolbox and shocked him enough to choke on his own spit. “F-f-fuck.” He cursed once he got most of his air back and stood, bringing the bike to full stance and laying it on it’s kickstand. And thus began the orchestra of disaster...

Once Bill had a small glass of water, he set it down to go back to his work but had misjudged his placement and it came to a crashing halt on the floor. The bike toppled over just a few feet away onto the tools which created harsh bangs of metal. Bill smacked himself on the forehead and bent to pick up the glass and cut his fingers. Blood trickled down his cupped hand as he rushed to get a towel that wasn’t covered in garbage.

“This is fine. Wonderful even.” Bill spoke in a voice so sickened with sarcasm and wrapped his hand slowly. He took a few moments to breathe in and out. It wasn’t as if he’d be alone much longer. His co-workers would be starting their shifts soon. That took a little weight off his shoulders and allowed him to relax.

Another balloon popped.

And the glass doors abruptly opened. Bill almost jumped into the air but he was soothed as Richie came bopping in with a carefree smile. “Hey Bill have you seen-? Christ! What happened!?”

Richie darted over and Bill was momentarily confused before remembering his cut-up hand. “Oh that...accident.” He tried to wave his hand to dismiss it but ended up flicking blood onto the counter. Richie rolled his eyes and tried to remember some of the medical shit Eddie had told him over the course of their friendship.

Richie attempted to wrap Bill’s hand properly while the other man shifted around the counter looking tired.

“Hey, at least the good stuff in life only requires one hand, huh?” Richie made an obscene gesture and Bill only rolled his eyes with a look of distaste. He awkwardly chuckled and went back to his job. One of the floating yellow bastards began to deflate slowly and descended a ways towards the floor. Bill felt a flare of silly anger from his gut as he followed it with his eyes. The tension was so thick that Richie briefly looked up & over his glasses to check it out, turning to see what was so infuriating to his friend.

“You do know that’s just a balloon, right?” Richie chuckled and Bill let out a small grin.

“Damn t-t-things are annoying the crap outta me.” Bill shook his head and Richie pushed his glasses up.

“Was Eddie around earlier? Kinda have to talk to him.”

“No one comes just to visit me anymore.” Bill mock pouted and took his injured hand back from his friend. “Yeah, E-E-Eddie came in looking for you actually. He meant to catch you before he started work but said he was outta time now. So I’d go looking for him at the theater.” Bill said with a grin. Richie rolled his eyes because, of course.

“I’ll come visit you later, Big Bill. Take care of your hand.” Richie snapped his fingers and made to exit.

“Oh! Before I forget!” Richie piped back up, sliding closer to Bill again. “Where can a guy like me get one of those ‘Women want me, fish fear me’ shirts? Asking for a friend.” He waggled his eyebrows and made a mockingly curious face all his own.

Bill rolled his eyes but had to laugh at the way Richie spoke and moved. ‘That was his real kicker, he thought. Richie just fuckin’ moved and acted so ridiculous that it was truly his powerhouse. Especially considering it came off so natural.’ Bill shook his head a few times and moved to shrug and shove his hands into his pockets.

“S’not funny Bill. My friend really wants to know, ok?” Richie slapped Bill’s arm and broke himself. ‘His true weakness however was laughing before he could fully commit to a joke. Which could sometimes be even fucking funnier....so maybe it wasn’t a weakness’, Bill thought.

They laughed endlessly for what seemed like hours. Every-time they thought the bug was gone, they’d just share a look and succumb to weird versions of their usual laughs. One’s that were more like hissing from being a victim of such restrain or their bodies would just rock in silence because nothing could even come out anymore.

“What’s the matter with you, that wasn’t even funny.” Richie spoke through restrained giggles. Bill shrugged and cradled his hand.

“I dunno. I’ll s-s-see you later, man.” Bill patted him with his good hand and walked with him to the door as he spotted his co-workers beginning to walk in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richie bopped inside the theater with hesitance. Eddie was a pistol and he was not too excited to hear the whole spiel he would surely have prepared in seconds flat for Richie name dropping him as his ‘boyfriend’.

Upon entry he could easily spot his tiny friend working as the ticket boy though since it was a slow day, Eddie was texting hurriedly under the tiny little booth. He grinned. Eds was not a champion at being subtle. It was by some miracle that he’d yet to be noticed. Just as Richie was starting to walk over, his own phone buzzed.

Eddie: Work is dead. Bring me a Redbull.

Richie held in his giggle and happily skipped on over. “Hey! You shouldn't be texting on the job!” The deep and loud yell was contrary to his bouncy demeanor and wide grin. However, Eddie jumped about a foot in the air and by the look of it, had a mini heart attack.

“Oh fuck you. I thought you were Robert.” Eddie rolled his eyes and smacked Richie hard in the arm. Robert was Eddie’s manager, a nice little old man, who Richie knew well enough just by visiting Eds all the time. That and he personally rejected Richie’s application on three different occasions.

“That was the point.” Richie gave some passers-by the side-eye as they looked up to stare at them. The theater was pretty dead so this was the most excitement they probably had all day. “I’m really good at impressions, huh?” He playfully tapped him.

“It isn’t hard to mock Robert, Rich. Where’s my Redbull?”

Richie rolled his eyes and leaned on the little booth. “I got here ten seconds before you texted me. I’m not a psychic nor The Flash, y’know?”

Eddie frowned but shrugged before they fell into an easy small-talk. “So why did you come visit then?”

Richie grinned again though this time it was a little nervous. “Can’t I just come say hi?” He chuckled and Eddie smirked.

“You come say hi like every time I’m on the clock. But I can always tell when you want something.” Eddie playfully narrowed his eyes and Richie felt his stomach drop a little. He glanced away and let his eyes drag over the red and gold decor of the theater. He felt the familiar bitterness for not being hired himself, he loved this place.

“So here’s the thing-”

“I knew it.” Eddie shook his head with a smile but quickly quieted to let his friend speak. He rolled his lips together, sniffled and rubbed his finger under his nose.

“You know how my family bugs me about how I never date anyone?” Richie asked and Eddie nodded. “Well, everyone’s coming over for this Christmas party in a few days and it’s a whole thing... dinner, activities, and all that jazz.” Richie made jazz hands with a flat expression and Eddie fought back a tiny giggle. “So in order to dodge all those annoying questions...I told my parents that I have a boyfriend.”

“You came out to your parents? That’s great! How did they take it?”

“Great but that’s not the point-” Richie had never doubted his parents would be ok with it. He had a gut feeling that they already knew, probably even before Richie himself did. “I told them I had a boyfriend.”

“But you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Thank you, captain obvious.” Richie rolled his eyes. “That’s the um...-Well I told them that you were my boyfriend..”

Eddie’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth but Richie was already set on a long tangent.

“I only said it because they like you so much, Eds. And I just don’t wanna hear that whole spiel again about relationships and I figured I could get them off my backs by being in one. Plus my mom already had suspicions about me being in a relationship. And when I said your name, she seemed pretty psyched....so yeah.” Richie grinned like a child after they’d done something wrong and rubbed behind his ear.

He recalled the moment he’d told his mother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had been mindlessly bickering about the yearly Tozier Christmas party while she cleaned the kitchen. The oven cleaner had gone right to his head and made him slightly more irritated than normal. The idea of this tradition was more so a burden to him now than it ever was. Being that once he turned around fifteen, all the questions were about dating and school. And his idiotic cousin who already had a girlfriend.

“Mom?.....Mom?....Mom!?” Richie whined like a child as Maggie Tozier pulled her head out of the oven with a comical grin that looked eerily familiar, Richie dropped his own grin. “Is everyone coming?”

“Yes, Richie. Everyone but your cousin. He’s got plans with his girlfriend, y’know.” She poked his shoulder in a very ‘mom’ like way.

“Oh that’s bull.”

“Richie!” She smacked the back of his head lightly. “Wouldn’t hurt you to just tell me you're dating someone.” She pursed her lips in the same way Stanley Uris did when he ‘knew’ something. He sat up straight with curiosity.

“What do you mean?”

“C’mon, I know you do. You go out all the time with the same excuse. ‘Going to hang-out with Eddie.’ or ‘Gonna go visit Eddie at work’. How many times can you be bothering that boy, realistically? I know that’s a cover-up son. I’m hip with the lingo.” Maggie circle her face with an extended finger and Richie held back a burst of laughter.

Though that had been quite amusing, Richie was momentarily thrown that she’d noticed how much he, quote unquote, bothered Eddie. It wasn’t that much. Of course not.

“You know your aunts and everyone wouldn’t bother you so much if you just admitted to it and brought her over.” She threw her dish towel over her shoulder, neglecting to remember it was covered in the oven cleaner that made Richie lightheaded and irritable.

The more Richie thought about it, his mother was on to something. No more long awkward conversations about setting him up with the local teenagers they knew. He gritted his teeth just thinking about it. He held up his hands in mock surrender and spoke without thinking, which he did a lot.

“You caught me, ma. You’re one...ugh...smart cookie, huh?” He put on some on some old timey voice and bumped her on the arm. She rolled her eyes but actually looked pretty pleased. “I have a boyfriend.”

Richie had spoke before he realized he’d basically just accidentally came out of the closet. He wasn’t too concerned but still....

Maggie just lit up though, her smile was wide and loving. “His name....?”

Richie panicked. “It actually is Eddie! That’s why I hang out with him all the time!” He gestured, very happy with himself.

‘That was smart, good job.’ He patted himself on the back.

That is until he realized the consequences of his words.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why don’t you umm...think about it?” Richie suggested, fearing a long rant from the boy. “Keep in mind, it’d sure help me a lot.” He grinned and Eddie chuckled, he felt better. “I’ll come back in like ten minutes.”

Eddie smiled like he was more so amused at the other boy than pleased, at least that’s what Richie thought. He gently patted Eddie’s arm and began to exit just as he saw Robert make his way over.

As he headed to the door, he caught the beginning to their conversation.

“You’ve got some weird friends, Eddie...”

“Do I now?” Eddie’s voice suggested amusement.

“Yeah. I don’t like that Richie kid, but you know that. You should hang more with that um....Bill kid or the Mike one. They’re nice respectable boys.”

“Alright boss.” Eddie laughed.

Richie couldn’t help but laugh. Though that old man didn’t like him and rejected his applications, Richie fuckin’ loved Robert.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Richie buzzed off for a while, Eddie moved on to cleaning the popcorn machine. His least favorite thing to do in the whole entire world. His thoughts easily drifted to the proposition Richie had given him. And as he cleaned the slimy grease off the counters nearby, he felt his stomach flutter.

He liked Richie. Liked him. He so badly wanted to take this chance while he could because heaven knows he’d never actually say a thing to Richie about his feelings. He’d sooner die.

He had mentioned it to Bill however, ‘well more like Bill found out all on his own because he knows me too well & I’m way to transparent but I digress.’ Eddie frowned deeply. Bill would be pissed if he found out Eddie had agreed to a plan like this. He could hear the whole speech about how this would only hurt his feelings in the long run now. But Eddie was thinking about saying yes. Really how bad could the harm be? Yeah he’d get his feelings hurt but he’d get to spend the day as Richie’s ‘boyfriend’...

Screw Bill. He was going to say yes.

Ten minutes went by astoundingly quick and Richie was easily spotted in the corner of Eddie’s vision just as soon as he started to wipe down the concessions counter. He turned, mouth open to speak but Richie interrupted by sliding a can of Redbull to him. He grinned widely.

“Oh you spoil me, Richie Tozier.” His voice was light and soft and he could almost feel a blush beginning to bloom on his cheeks.

Richie happily leaned over the counter to pinch his cheek. “Anything for my Eddie Spaghetti.”

Eddie swatted his hand away but missed it just as soon as it was gone. For a few comfortable minutes they were silent and smiley.

Eddie coughed and looked down towards the candy case as if examining the order. “So I’ve thought about it.”

Richie tried not to get his hopes up.

“I’ll do it.” Eddie looked up again, once more wiping his finger nervously under his nose. Richie followed the movement with his eyes and looked as if he knew he Eddie was going to do it. He then lit up with a wide smile, so wide in fact that his cheeks pushed his glasses up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And you said what!?” Bill narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms with all the grace of a middle-aged dad. Eddie gritted his teeth slightly as he responded with a ‘grin’ and twiddled his thumbs.

“I said yes and it’s too late to change it.” He shrugged with a purse of his lips, looking rather smug.

“No it’s not! Tell him I s-s-said no!” Bill spoke in all seriousness even though Eddie giggled like a child at that. “Be serious Eddie. This is only going to hurt you in the long run.”

Eddie pondered that statement for a few seconds and pushed himself off the wall of the bike store. “One day being Richie’s boyfriend is better then nothing, Bill.”

Bill rolled his eyes and tapped lightly at a bike handle. “I can’t believe you agreed to such a d-d-dumb idea.” He spoke as if he was wise beyond his years. Eddie loved and hated that trait, right now he mostly hated it.

“Look. I’m not trying to be the bad guy, Eddie. But once the day is done, you and Richie will be too. W-Where will that leave you? S-s-sad and regretful.” Bill rolled his lips together and felt a pinch in his gut. Eddie’s eyes glazed over with thought again and he could tell he was biting his cheek.

“I’ll be fine and I invite you to call my bluff afterwards if I’m wrong.” Eddie nodded.

Bill sighed, momentarily giving up the subject in fear of causing too much strain. The two of them ended up watching one of those stupid and unsettling yellow balloons slowly deflate to the ground for twenty minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day of the Tozier Christmas Party, Richie woke up supremely early to help his mother around the home. The cleaning, the tidying, the whole ordeal. His father sat at the kitchen counter reading the paper without a care in the world while his lovely & helpful son cleaned under the table.

‘Under the God damn thing. Like seriously? Who was gonna see under the thing? Beside’s maybe Grandma Ruth’s frickin’ dog.’ Richie pouted to himself as he laid under the thing and heard Wentworth Tozier’s soft laughter. Richie decided to give him a little show.

He moved to crawl under but purposefully misjudged his distance and smacked his head against the table. Wentworth burst into laughter, the kind Richie basked in with pride. Playing stupid wasn’t his preferred method to get laughter but it sure was effective in small doses.

“Oh Richie....” His mother’s voice cooed from the other room as if she just knew what happened from the ‘thump’ sound.

“I’m ok, ma. Tip top shape even.” Richie stood up as he called out loudly to his mother, rag hanging out of his pocket as he moved to sit next to his father, still chuckling. “So’s the table. Am I done for the day now?”

Wentworth ruffled his son’s hair. “Sure, sure. But before you go goof off somewhere, is my oh so wonderful son bringing someone to our little party this year?”

Richie slouched and shrugged him off with a playful frown. “Just Eddie, you’ve met him.” He assumed his father did not no of the details yet. Maggie Tozier might be a gossip but right now she was a little preoccupied, he heard her opening and closing drawers to reorganize them now. Plus, she most likely would want Richie to explain it when he was ready.

“Ahh Eddie, yes.” He nodded, not seeing anything weird in that idea. Richie pursed his lips.

“I just wanted to um....” Richie stumbled a little, not quite expecting his nerves to rise as they were. It was a little shocking. He knew 100% that his father wouldn’t care about the gay thing and would love him either way. So was it the Eddie thing he was nervous about? He shouldn’t even care about that cause it wasn’t even a real thing. “Bring someone special, you know?”

“He’s one of your childhood pals, Rich. Sure he’s special.” Wentworth casually spoke as he filled in another word in his crossword puzzle. “That’s why we invite your ‘Uncle’ Dan. He’s been my buddy since I was ten. Did I ever tell you how I met him-?”

“Yeah Dad. Just a little over two hundred times.” Richie wondered if all father’s had trouble recalling what boring stories they’d told at nausea.

“Anyway” Richie paused to think. He really had to sell this to get him to believe Eddie was his boyfriend.

So he took advantage of his nerves to give the best acting performance of his life...’and it wasn’t even that hard!’ His father turned to him, oblivious as ever. “Never-mind it’s stupid.”

Wentworth smiled up at his child and chuckled, swallowing his first tedious sip of the coffee he’d been nursing. "I say a lot of stupid things, I won't mind."

Richie gave him a look a lot of children give their parents. One of begrudging amusement and familiarity. “Well, Eddie and I are dating, dad.” Richie blurted and bit his lip afterward, wondering if that had been too strong.

“You don’t have to tell me that.” He rolled his eyes. “All kids your age are dating, son.” He shrugged and Richie blinked. How had he completely missed the point?

“Each other, dad. We’re dating each other” Richie rolled his eyes. Wentworth grinned.

“Oh. Alrighty then. Better warn him about your aunts, my boy. They’ll be swarming him with questions.” He stood, the chair squeaking, and patted Richie’s back softly.

Richie smiled, no teeth, just a casual joyful grin. “Better warn him about you too, dad. You and mom can be quite the handful, I tell ya.” He laughed and felt instant warmth and relief as he leaned back and his father wrapped his arms around him briefly. “Thanks.” He mumbled into his arm.

His father said nothing else. Just shook his son lightly and kissed the top of his head, a gesture Richie usually hated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything had worked out perfectly. Eddie’s mother was going to be out for the day with a friend but not before she helped him bake some peppermint brownies. To avoid suspicion, Eddie insisted they were for his track team because they were meeting for practice today. She was none the wiser to the fact that Track was not even in season right now.

To sell the point even further, Ben came over early in the morning to help them and to vouch for Eddie’s track story.

“Eddie. You could have said cross country, at least that’s currently in season.” Ben rolled his eyes with a small laugh. Eddie bumped his elbow and shrugged.

“Well, track’s what came out of my mouth so we’re going with it.” He sprinkled some peppermint dust on the brownies. Sonia Kaspbrak was getting her things together before she had to leave. “Besides, I’m not doing cross country again. Just track for me.”

Ben recalled the one year Eddie had done both and all the times he’d complained about running through the ‘fucking disgusting woods, Ben.’ He laughed. “I could guess that.”

“So what exactly am I helping you with now?” Ben asked, playing connect the dots with the candy cane pieces in his mind.

“...The brownies.” Eddie said dumbly, arm hovering over the pan of food. Ben laughed again.

“Yeah, no. I got that dummy. I met what am I helping you cover for?” Ben smacked his arm lightly as Eddie mumbled a small ‘oh’.

“Richie needed a fake boyfriend for a Christmas party to you know, get his family off his back.” Eddie shrugged, casually.

Ben chuckled again. “Sounds like a nightmare.” He joked. Eddie laughed too after what he thought was a pause.

“It’s a way to spend an afternoon alright. At least I’ll get some food and shit.” Eddie dusted his hands of crumbled candy and wiped them down his pant legs. “He’s coming over early, just as soon as my mom leaves to....” He stopped moving his hands to think it over. “actually I don’t know.”

Ben raised his eyebrows with amusement.

The two of them finished up the dessert treat and once Sonia had left, with a bit of a struggle, Ben made his exit too.

Eddie wrapped some tin foil over the pan and placed it on his counter just as a knock came at the door. Just as he swung the door open, a hug black garbage bag thrust into his arms.

“Is your mom here?” Came Richie’s voice, slightly muffled as Eddie’s face was shoved into the bag. He threw the thing onto his carpet and rolled his eyes. Richie stood in his doorway with a wide mischievous smile and a Christmas sweater that was practically glowing from the twinkle.

“No but if she was, your ass would be thrown out on the sidewalk by now. Do you have to make such a scene when you enter a room?” Eddie playfully smacked his cheek and Richie shoved him off, moving towards his bag of treasures.

“The answer is yes, Eddie my boy.” Richie sat on the ground and started to untie his bag. “And look what I have brought for you, my dear boyfriend.” Richie chuckled and Eddie swallowed thickly.

For a panicked moment, Eddie fully agreed with Bill. Just from the use of that word. It hit him in the gut and took with it his breath, he almost reached for his inhaler. However Richie did not miss a beat and was already pulling crap out of the bag to show him.

“You gotta pick one so you can blend in with the Toziers, who dress soooooo very cool.”

The garbage bag was full of Christmas sweaters, each one uglier than the next. Eddie let himself laugh again and took a seat on the carpet with his friend to dig through the pile of mess.

And for a solid twenty minutes, Eddie didn’t have a care in the world. As long as Richie was making him laugh and displaying his lovely sweater collection, he was happy and carefree.

After some fun, Richie and Eddie headed on their way together. The drive was surprisingly quiet, each boy inside their own head. Richie admired the falling snow and hoped that it would stick around to last through Christmas day.

Eddie’s mind was happily pushing out the risks about the day and feeling the slight itch from his borrowed sweater. He was elated from the knowledge that under Richie’s own thin coat, his sweater matched with his. He grinned and twitched his nose. He was pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t feeling that nervous anymore....in fact the only bothersome feeling he was having was that kind of absent feeling? He shook his hands which somehow felt empty as if he forgot something....

“Shit! Oh my god, you’re so stupid.” Eddie smacked his forehead and yelled at himself. Richie just about jumped six feet in the air from the abrupt surprise.

“Hey! What’d I do???” Richie blinked and Eddie turned to him with a look of amusement and annoyance, he gave that look to Richie a lot.

“No, I was talking to myself....I made brownies for your family but I doubt they’ll enjoy them much if they’re still in my kitchen.”

Richie chuckled for a few seconds before realizing they’d have to drive all the way back to Eddie’s house. “Oh crap.” He muttered, fidgeting in the drivers seat like he was going to turn.

Brenda Lee was singing with a voice of jolly as Richie pulled into a gas station to turn them around. “Should actually get some gas here, Rich. You’re gas light’s gonna be on in like two minutes I bet.” Eddie laughed.

Richie frowned. He was a really good driver but if he had one problem, it was forgetting to get gas or just pretending he didn’t need to do it. He did not like having to stop because it was an ‘inconvenience’. It made Eddie laugh because what an actual inconvenience it’d be if the guy ran out of gas in the middle of driving.

As the boy got out of the car, Eddie turned up the radio and felt the vibration of Richie sticking the gas pump in. The radio started out in soft whispers and grew louder in a familiar nostalgic way. Eddie knew just what it was so he lowered his window for his companion. “Listen to what you’re missing, Rich!!”

“...Another year over. And a new one just begun. And so this is Christmas...”

Richie instantly shouted out a loud cry of enjoyment. He finished filling the car up and hurried over to the window with the brightest grin Eddie had ever seen, he scooted back on his seat as if afraid of the sudden closeness. “This is why I hate getting gas. I miss everything good.” He leaned further into the car.

“Then get in and lets’ go.” Eddie said, almost begging him to back up and stop leaning over him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richie and Eddie made it back to his house and collected the brownies which were just too enticing for Richie not to try on the way back to his house. He ate three out of the huge pan full. Eddie smacked his hand the fourth time he tried to reach for one.

Richie did a great rendition of Elton John’s ‘Step Into Christmas’ where he got louder and louder every line which ended just in time for him to pull into his icy driveway. He turned the car off and made no immediate move to get out, just leaned back and sighed. “We’re still really early so it’s still probably just my parents.”

Eddie nodded.

“You ready for the greatest time of your life, dear?” Richie asked a sweet voice and made Eddie grin and laugh. Richie took that as yes and hopped out of the car in a flash and before Eddie could even think to open his door, Richie opened it for him.

Eddie whistled as he hopped out, careful not to slip though Richie looked ready to help if needed. “Oh how I love when you’re a gentleman.” He batted his eyes in some impression of a love-struck teen. He didn’t really know for sure what he was going for, after all Richie was the impressionist.

Richie almost looked flattered for a second, blinking with a shy grin. But almost instantly after, he rushed to the door while Eddie followed after.

Richie started speaking almost before he even opened the door, “ 'Zat You, Santa Claus?” He questioned sarcastically as he slid inside with a smirk. “Oh no, just your loving son.” He smiled and then gestured for Eddie to follow him.

“Dusting off the ol’ Louis Armstrong impression for the holidays, huh?” Wentworth spoke up from the kitchen counter. His newspaper spilled from his hands and spread over the table. His eyes still glanced over to read a few lines as his mother used the sports section as a placemat for cutting up ribbon. She glanced up and the look on her face was way more excited than Richie had expected and suddenly he was nervous again.

The home was in the process of being decorated, evergreen garland wrapped their banister and bundles of lights nested deeply in the spaces between green and pine cone. Richie was willing to bit his mother had forgot about the annual Christmas sprucing again and borrowed some extra lights from their neighbors. The ol’ time-y 50′s radio that Richie had found at a garage sale was pulled from his room and sat neatly a-top their crappy fireplace. James Taylor was currently wishing them all a merry little Christmas. He smiled.

“Eddie!” Maggie happily strolled over and stood before them.

“I’m here too mom.” Richie said sarcastically and she waved her hand with a matching smirk.

“Hi, Mrs. Tozier, Mr. Tozier.”

Richie could tell Eddie was a little nervous but who wouldn’t be if you had to pretend to be dating someone in front of their parents?

“I made everyone some brownies...there’d be more if your son didn’t eat three on the way over here.” Eddie playfully smacked Richie’s arm and handed over the pan to Maggie, who looked grateful.

“He is his fathers boy.” Maggie threw a look to her husband as she slid the treats carefully before him. He was not really paying attention to her and habitually reached out for a sweet brownie. Maggie slapped his hand and gave Eddie a look that said ‘See!’ and they shared a laugh.

“Hey! What’d I do?” Wentworth questioned, darting his eyes between them.

Richie felt a little odd at the moment. It was a new level of bonding that just occurred between his mother and Eddie. A simple shared joke about the Tozier boys...’Their Tozier boys’....it made his face burn a holly colored red that luckily no one saw.

“I thought you kids might wanna decorate the tree before the family shows up.” Wentworth scooted out of his seat and followed them into the living room area, picking up a smaller ornament box while Richie took a larger to set on the couch.

This was Richie’s favorite activity. God, he loved this time of the year. He started to carefully dig through the boxes for the best ones while Eddie sat down on the couch. “You gonna help me or what, Eddie dear?”

Eddie scoffed, leaning his body over the box. “I dunno....you probably ate enough sugar to do it all yourself in thirty seconds, Rich.” He spoke softly but with his favorite tone...teasing.

Richie rolled his eyes and leaned over the box as well, slightly taller so Eddie tilted his chin up. “You’re such a Grinch these days...” He sighed and lifted a clearly handmade ornament, admiring it in his hand. “I miss the boy in this ornament...he was much more fun back then.”

Eddie furrowed his brows and sat on his knees to get a peek of the ornament however Richie moved it from just under his nose. “Oh come on, what is that?” He scurried off the couch and fought him for it.

Neither boy cared to notice Richie’s parents who were so obviously enjoying the show. Maggie smacked Wentworth’s arm to get him to look and when he did, he held back laughter. “These kids...” She rolled her eyes but let her hand rest over her heart.

“Aha!” Eddie ripped the thing from his friend and got the look he wanted so badly. It was a handmade clay red and green frame with a photo of the two of them when they were no more than eight. Richie wanted to see the look on Eddie’s face so he instinctively rested his chin on Eddie’s shoulder. He’d been doing that lately a lot since Eddie was much shorter than him. “Awwww...” Eddie couldn’t help but smile. “We look so stupid.” He burst into laughter and thrusted the ornament back to his ‘boyfriend.’

“I gotta see this.” Wentworth jumped up and went over to them, Richie gladly handed it over. His dad smiled and shook his head and soon Maggie was over there just the same.

“And who would’ve known those two idiots would grow up to be two idiots in love.” Richie mocked, hand on his chest before looking at Eddie. That’s when he realized the heaviness of his words. Eddie’s eyes were wide and for a half second, panicked. No one in the room seemed to know what to do but for different reasons. Richie allowed his parents to believe the air was tense because they’d simply not said the ‘L’ word just yet while he and Eddie didn’t make eye contact.

“Ummm, ok. Who wants to hang the elf with one arm?” Richie held up the broken ornament with an awkward smile. Eddie chuckled, taking it from him, so everyone knew it was ok again.

They spent twenty minutes hanging shit. There were tons of ornaments Richie didn’t even remember like a vintage looking yellow balloon with a black smiley face. He figured it was one of his dads, he was weird.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had only took two or three guests arriving for Richie and Eddie to fall into a comfortable routine. Mostly because nothing had really changed. Richie always put his arm around Eddie, Eddie always begged Richie for bites of his food when he was perfectly capable of getting his own, and Richie always played with the end of Eddie’s sleeves.

By the time everyone was all counted for, Richie and Eddie were making their rounds with no problem. Richie could not believe how easy it was. They got told they were the cutest little couple like ten different times. ‘That was strange, huh? Nah, I’m a great actor so...’ Richie got distracted by Eddie looping their arms together.

Eddie was in shock that he played the part so well. Even family members he’d met before found it completely normal for the two of them to be ‘dating now’. It pained him a lot. Even more than he suspected.

The two of them and found a moment to themselves in the corner of the room on an old chair. Richie cradled a Pine candle that he raised to his nose every thirty seconds or so. “So, how weird is it for you?” Richie asked, head tilting to the side.

Eddie frowned. “Very.” ‘painful’. He took the candle to smell it for himself.

Richie deflated at that answer and he wasn’t quite sure why. That had been what he’d expected. He looked up to where his mother was showing everyone some childhood scrapbook and caught a comment.

“I knew it. Mary, I’ll tell you that much. I knew those two were a couple.”

Wentworth rolled his eyes, sipping the most classic dad drink he ever could, eggnog. “No you did not.”

His mother turned with her lips pursed to start bickering about it and Richie did not want to hear anymore. “What about you, Rich?” Eddie handed the candle back over.

Richie took in a nice long breath of it and rolled his lips together. “I mean yeah, but when everyone was trying to get us under the mistletoe I was excited. I’ve just been dying to kiss ya, Eds my love.” He grinned and leaned over to pinch his cheeks and Eddie rolled his eyes, slapping his arm to initiate a play fight.

“Awww look how cute.”

Both boys stopped suddenly as Richie’s aunt Mary stopped in front of them. Their cheeks turned rosy shades of pink.

“Hey Aunt Mary....” They both smiled awkwardly, dropping their hands into their own laps.

“Now. I’ve heard from just about everyone on how cute you two are.” She put her hands on her hips and they nodded out of politeness. “But I would like to know how it started. I mean I’ve known you Eddie since you were about...yay big.” She paused to make sure her measurement was right, her hand hovered low to the ground. “So it must be a cute story. You guys were adorable then too.” She laughed.

‘Crap.’ Of all their preparing, they lacked an actual answer for that. They never did come up with a full story. Richie turned to his friend, who looked equally lost and figured he should take the handle on this since it was all his idea.

“Well, I think I always just knew, you know?” Richie started, hoping he could pull it off. So he tried to remember why everyone truly believed them. “But I’m pretty shit at being serious about things like that so I always just joked with Eddie about it, I’m sure you remember hearing some of that?” He asked her and she nodded, not even caring that he swore just then.

“Anyway, I um....” He scratched behind his ear before awkwardly sliding it over to clasp Eddies for a more convincing look. Eddie didn’t even flinch, in fact, he looked rather interested himself. “It was after this really awesome day we had this past summer. We’d all hung out all day and at some point we were the only two left so I asked Eddie if he wanted to get ice cream. And what was it that we got...?” Richie laughed and looked to Eddie. This was such an unnecessary detail but he was basing this on an actual day they had and for the life of him, he could not remember their order from that day.

“Rocket pops.” Eddie supplied him with what he remembered and shook their hands, for a few seconds they just looked at each other.

“Oh yeah, Rocket pops. So I being an idiot, thought it’d be funny to scare Eddie on my way back from getting mine and so I did and you should’ve seen him.” He started to laugh. “He must’ve been going for a record jump. Eds Kaspbrak gets twenty feet off ground....” He laughed some more before gathering himself for his aunt’s sake.

“And he drops his right? We didn’t have anymore money left either so I felt like the scum of the earth.” He pats their clasped hands with his free one. “So I gave him mine. He didn’t even care about my germs. And I dunno...something about that moment was too perfect. I was still out of breath from the greatest day ever, I think Bruce Springsteen was playing on the loud speaker at the ice cream place and he makes me overly confident like nothing else-” He laughed again “And it was so God damn sunny out....so like the perfect day, right?” He was going on one of his tangents.

Eddie’s hand tightened it’s grip and Richie felt less nervous. “So I just kinda actually realized it for the first time and I knew that I had to say something right then and there or I’d regret it.” He waved his hand and when everyone was still looking, he let it fall. His chest tightened with embarrassment.

“Awwww, you two are the cutest kids.” Aunt Mary said in that adult tone of voice that read like she didn’t believe they’d last very long and she walked away. However, Eddie smacked his arm hard enough to leave a hand-print.

“Ow! What’d I do?” Richie rubbed at it and whined. Eddie shook his head and smiled.

“How did you come up with that?”

Richie felt himself grow even more embarrassed. “Oh well, you know-”

“Richie! come here for a minute!” He heard his mother call and was instantly relieved to escape the moment. He gave Eddie a small smile and squeezed his shoulder in habit as he left the room.

About five minutes later Eddie got bored and walked into the kitchen. He made a terrible mistake when he stopped at the door frame next to Richie where they were now...both under the mistletoe. ‘Crap’

This time, they’d done it themselves but no one seemed to notice a part from them. Richie looked up and back at Eddie, then Eddie did the same.

Both boys remained still and focused on the other. There was something between them in this moment, Eddie was sure. And God he really hoped so. Richie had to be thinking the same thing. Who could say a story like that and not mean it?

Richie twiddled his thumbs as he looked at the smaller boy. That story had just come out of him really. But when he was saying it....boy he really wished that had been what happened. Looking at Eddie right now, he was oh so sure he felt the same way.

‘This is it. He’s gonna say something’ Richie thought.

‘This is it. He’s gonna say something’ Eddie thought.

“Kids come here for a second!”

They both jumped, maybe breaking Eddie’s record from the ice cream shop and felt their chances were blown. Even worse, both felt that maybe they were reading too much into it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“He's got to wear his goggles 'cause the snow really bites And he's cruisin' every path with a little surprise-”

“Dad? Did you just say ‘the snow really bites?’ ” Richie asked his father with a laugh. Wentworth nodded. “That’s not right. It’s ‘the snow really flies’, dad.”

Eddie chuckled as he plopped into the seat next to Richie. Richie’s dad pulled back with a shocked expression.

“You’re kidding?”

“No dad. I know that song in and out. No one knows the Beach Boys better than your awesome son.” Richie stuck his thumb to his chest and Wentworth scoffed, getting up and ruffling his sons hair. Richie watched him go and turned to his small friend. “How goes it, my love?” He pinched his arm. Eddie smacked his hand away.

“Don’t do that, asshole.” He reached over and pinched him back. Eddie wanted so badly to start actually talking about how he was feeling like a normal person. But he really couldn’t get it out. Bill was right. This was a bad idea and any pain he was feeling was his own damn fault.

‘Little Saint Nick’ faded into ‘Silver Bells’ and Richie lit up like a Christmas tree. “Come on Eds, my dear. We should probably dance, you know?” He held out his hand and Eddie hesitated before allowing it.

Teasing ‘whoops’ and whistles came from his family members and Eddie hoped he wasn’t blushing. Richie just played along, rolling his eyes and waving his hands at them.

“-Children laughing people passing meeting smile after smile And on every street corner you hear

Silver bells (silver bells) Silver bells (silver bells)”

Richie pulled Eddie closer.

Eddie almost pinched himself.

Both boys took to the dance as any boyfriends would. Laughing, spinning each other and pulling the other close. Eddie was in heaven.

Richie leaned his head down as Eddie came close again, smiling into the shorter boys hair.

“Hey Eds-?” Eddie looked up and their faces were now just inches apart. “I missed the moment last time....but this one’s just as good so...I wanna tell you, I have feelings for you. Like real ones.”

Eddie almost passed out. “You do?”

Richie loosened up on the boy and nodded. “I know it might be weird and I dragged you into this but holy fuck, I didn’t plan on this. I have feelings and I think I always have.”

Eddie jumped up and wrapped his arms around his neck and heard distant whistles again. So he just mumbled into Richie’s neck. “Me too. And I’m so happy you dragged me into this.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The losers club was huddled into one small booth at the restaurant where Stan worked. They had just gotten the great news from Richie and Eddie. All that was left to hear was Stan. He came strolling out of the kitchen after his shift ended and slid into what space was left next to Mike.

He caught sight of Richie, who’s arm was around Eddie and he smirked the widest he’d ever had in his life.

“Wow. Seems like another case of I was right and you were wrong, huh Richie?” He crossed his arms. Richie shrugged. “I knew you liked Eddie. Before you even knew.” He stuffed some bread in his mouth as the rest of the losers laughed.

They spent the next twenty minutes having dinner together. Richie pulling Eddie close and the eyes of the ol’ timey paintings followed them all.

#i hope this is ok???#it's been 70 years since my last one #stephen king #Stephen kings IT #IT by stephen king #the losers club #my fanfiction #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #reddie #reddie fic #stan uris #bill denbrough #ben hanscom

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colorofmymindposts · 5 years ago

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Morgana and Guinevere Chapter Five

Fandom: BBC Merlin

Pairing: Morgana/Guinevere

Rating: Teen (Rating will increase in last chapter.)

Status: Incomplete

Word Count: 1587 for this chapter, 4646 for the entire work thus far

Story Summary: Set post 2x04. When Gwen returns safely from captivity, Morgana has many secrets about her own inner desires to tell her best friend. Gwen would be lying if she did not reciprocate her mistress’ feelings.

Chapter Summary: All is revealed.

Tags: Love Confessions, First Kiss, Tenderness

Notes: The entire work can be read here on ao3. Via tumblr, the first chapter can be read here, the second chapter here, the third chapter here, and the fourth chapter here. Last chapter will serve as an optional epilogue, but the story itself essentially ends here. Likes and reblogs are always appreciated!

Gwen knew. She knew. Not only of Morgana’s improper passions but illicit powers as well, of the dangerous woman she really was. A sob escaped Morgana as the reality of the situation came crashing down around her, and she couldn’t stop shaking and crying. Her legs gave out from under her, and she stifled her wails with covered hands. It was all over.

Gwen was a silent, looming presence above her.

“Gwen,” she started, voice choking around the lump in her throat. “I didn’t mean to—I would never hurt you. I didn’t even know I had this...curse until recently. My position doesn’t matter. I’ll be dead before the next dawn if Uther finds out what I am.”

“Morgana!” Her friend finally gasped, as if her declaration was shocking. It was only the truth.

An insistent knock startled both of them enough to look at Gwen’s door. It was already starting. Oh god, oh god, oh god…

She barely registered the girl moving past her to answer the door. She did not move to stop her either.

“Hello?”

“Yes, Guinevere. I thought I heard something shattering like glass, just a moment ago. I thought I would check in on you, see if you were alright.”

The concerned voice on the other side of the door belonged distinctly to an older man, not Gaius though. It must have been some other stranger in the village Morgana did not know. Gwen would give him the word to call for the night guards—to take Morgana away, throw her in the dungeon, to await condemnation and a sentence from King Uther. If she rushed the door and fled as quickly as she could on foot, she might be able to evade the guards. Yes, that’s what she’d have to do.

“Oh, that’s very kind of you, John. My window broke, but I think it must have been one of the men, probably just had a bit much to drink at the tavern. I should have no trouble cleaning it up on my own.”

What was she doing? Morgana was frozen where she sat on the floor. It took an effort to make herself turn her head to face the door, which Gwen only had open just enough for the man to make out her face. He probably had no idea that the Lady Morgana was lying on her servant girl’s floor.

“Those blasted drunkards! I suppose I should just be glad they didn’t do anything worse. I just figure, with your father gone, you should have someone checking in on you every now and again.”

“Well, I really appreciate it. I really think you should get back to bed though. I’m fine, and it’s awfully late.”

With a hum of assent and exchanging of goodbyes, Gwen shut the door firmly back into place.

The girl spun about on her heel and crouched down on her knees while gazing intently at Morgana. “That cut looks like it went rather deep. We’ll have to clean that out. Wouldn’t want to have to send you over to Gaius to treat you for an infection.”

Morgana watched mutely as Gwen walked over to a pail of water, dunked a fresh piece of cloth into it, and proceeded to kneel in front of her, gently stroking Morgana’s cheek with the wetted cloth.

“Why are you doing this?” Morgana all but hissed at Gwen, afraid and confused all at once. Was this some kind of game to her?

Gwen slightly recoiled at her tone, she could tell, and the cloth hung limply in her hand. “Because I care about you, Morgana. I would never want to see you executed let alone suffer from any injury, however small. I don’t believe all sorcerers are evil. I can’t believe it. How could I, when one so compassionate and pure of heart sits before me?”

Blinking her eyes, once, twice, Morgana could not deny that the words had indeed come out of Gwen’s mouth and that they were offered genuinely.

“How...how can you think that way? When all Camelot has taught us is that magic is evil along with those that have it?” She queried. There should be no reason in God’s name to question Gwen’s clemency and yet she had to know if she knew nothing else.

“Morgana, I helped you send Mordred away. I was almost executed for being accused of sorcery only last year. And my own father was executed wrongly for supposedly harbouring a sorcerer. What we’ve been taught...I cannot believe it to be completely true. No one group of people can be entirely evil. And they do not deserve to be persecuted as they are by this kingdom. I would shudder to think that the King would hold any ill will towards you for anything, he cares for you so much, but I cannot say I know him as well as you do. You are the kindest, most beautiful soul I have ever known. You wouldn’t harm me or anyone else with your magic. I swear I shall tell no one of your secret.”

The tears spilled from her eyes before Morgana could stop them. Nor could she resist wrapping her arms around her friend, sobbing with relief into the crook of her neck.

“Oh Gwen, I was so frightened! It’s only been a few months, but they’ve been the worst of my life, hiding this side of myself from everyone. I feared retribution from anyone who learned of my magic, but you…,’ Morgana paused to withdraw herself from the warmth of her friend. She needed to look her in the eyes. ‘You have my eternal gratitude for your acceptance. I don’t know how to repay you.”

“I don’t want you to pay me anything. I want you to be happy. If you are, I consider that my eternal reward,” her friend replied easily, dropping the cloth shortly after.

It was, to her own amazement, that Morgana could smile freely after that pronouncement. “This wasn’t exactly how I imagined this night would go.”

Gwen, bless her, actually giggled slightly. “I wouldn’t think so, no. But you didn’t come here to tell me about your magic, right? That seemed like an accident.”

“No, I didn’t.”

A silence fell between them as they seemingly both remembered what preceded the window shattering. In a way, what had caused it to shatter in the first place, revealing Morgana’s magic.

“Gwen...I can understand if I have one too many vices to forgive. It’s alright. Forget I even said anything, I can—”

Morgana was swiftly cut off by Gwen placing her index finger on top of Morgana’s parted lips. Gently, and ever so slowly that an age must have passed, Gwen pressed a simple but tender kiss to Morgana’s forehead.

“You’ve a beautiful mind, M’Lady,” Gwen whispered, lips just a fraction above Morgana’s forehead. It made her shiver and inadvertently withdraw from Gwen slightly. “I wonder though how you talk yourself in such circles, when the truth is so clear.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve lost all ability to think now that you’ve done that Gwen, you’ll have to tell me what truth you’re talking about.”

The smile that graced Gwen’s face at that moment was truly a sight to behold. No artist could capture that beam that tugged upwards on the corners of her lips, that effortlessly let in a rush of happiness into Morgana’s chest.

“I thought I’d been so obvious,” her friend admitted, seeming unbelieving that she hadn’t been. She pulled a few inches away and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she did so. “That’s why I was trying to stay away from you these last few days, though they’ve left me restless. I thought you would find me out.”

“Gwen, I don’t understand. Find out what?”

“I am in love with no man,” Gwen stopped herself, drawing a long breath before she continued. Her hands shook in her lap, and her voice began to be imbued with a quality of unrestrained fondness as she spoke. “I love a lady, so very fair. She has hair as dark as a raven, that flows in long waves down her back. I have brushed it many a time when she has allowed me to. She has perfect rosy lips and exquisite emerald eyes that I’ve recently learned sometimes turn to an amazing golden without her even trying. Once, I thought I might tell her how I felt when I picked some flowers for her, but I was too afraid then. I cannot be now. I am in love with the fairest lady in all the land, and she sits before me. I can only be so glad that she returns my affections, more than I ever could have hoped.”

Such a feeling of euphoria blossomed in Morgana at Gwen’s declaration that she could contain herself no longer. Her friend’s kiss had meant everything Morgana had wanted it to mean. Closing the distance between them, Morgana clasped her hand at the base of Gwen’s neck as she found Gwen’s eager lips to receive her own. The feeling...was more than anything Morgana had ever known before. The rush of warmth that flew to her cheeks, her mouth and the fluttering in her stomach couldn’t be helped, but Gwen’s soft caress left Morgana in absolute ecstasy, sighing into the other girl’s mouth for more, more, more. The glow of the moonlight shone brightly on their faces as they met each other again and again in their clandestine embrace.

#morgwen #morgana #guinevere #bbc merlin #my writing #fanfiction

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natsuhikoshidou · 6 years ago

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INVISIBLE CH.2 - UNBELIEVABLE PHENOMENON (PART 1)

Chapter 1 Pt 2 | Chapter 2 Pt 2

The next morning, Souhei woke like a mole crawling out of a hole, his aunt was still asleep as usual. He didn’t necessarily need to come in her room to check she was asleep, the fact that there was no sound of typing on a keyboard while the sliding doors were closed meant he didn’t have to.

He went to school on foot. Since there was a path that took no more than twenty minutes one way he could go by bike, but unfortunately he had no other the way to get there than by foot. Because of that Souhei had made a habit of leaving the house in a hurry. While eating his breakfast of rice topped with an egg, because he devoted himself to remembering the things his aunt asked him to buy last night, he was a little late to leave the house today. He remembered the milk, bread and cereal, but for some reason he forgot the bacon. He didn’t know what to say to his aunt when he gets home.

When he arrived at school, most of his classmates were already gathered in the classroom. As usual they were engaged in lively conversation about video-sharing sites and TV programs. From within them there wasn’t a single person who called out to Souhei who just barely appeared. Three male students gathered around Hijiri, sitting at the window. Someone over there held their stomach in laughter, "Hijirin, that’s so funny!"

Deep in his chest Souhei, who sat at his seat, wished that today and tomorrow would go by quietly. The details of the hatred he was subject to for standing out differed day by day. If he had a day that passed by peacefully, he’d then also have a day where it didn’t. They just act based on how they feel. But when a voice Souhei remembered reached his ears, his wish was interrupted.

"Souheeei!"

"-Huh?"

Suddenly, a large shadow appeared in his line of sight, Souhei reflexively threw his head back.

"Eeh...?"

Appearing before his eyes was a single girl. But she wasn't a classmate. That being said it wasn’t like he’d never seen her before. He remembered seeing her somewhere

"...Ah, Hey! From yesterday-"

Her jewel-like eyes sparkled with fire.

"-Ma, Maki-chan?"

"That's right~. It's Maki~" The girl said, her grin swinging across left to right.

It was the strange girl he met at the secret shrine. For some reason, she was enrolled at this school and wearing the sailor uniform. But her gloves and ripped stockings remained the same.

Full of surprise, Souhei spoke from deep in his throat after a short while.

"...Huuh? Wh, what are you... doing here?"

But before the girl answered another person interrupted.

The owner of the cold voice appeared behind Maki-chan. A female student and class organiser called Sawai from Grade 11 Class 5.

Sawai removed her short-lived gaze from Souhei, and smiled "Good morning, Tamagawa-san" at Maki-chan.

"Moorning, Sawachi"

Sawai, who has just been called a nickname, went very red and seemed incredibly happy. She’s a girl with a tight personality as far as you can tell, but now she reacted like a fan whose idol called her name out.

This Sawai then changed her facial expression in the blink of an eye, and looked down at Souhei with a blank stare again.

"-And? You were about to say, what?"

"Well..." The fact that this was Souhei’s first exchange of words with this girl bewildered him. But there wasn’t anybody else he felt he could pose the question to, so he had no choice but to ask. "...Um, is this girl from another class?"

When Souhei spoke, for a moment, Sawai made a face like she swallowed a watermelon.

"…Huh!? What did you say?"

"Eh, what...?" Souhei had no idea what was happening. Then he suddenly thought.

"Oh, is she a transfer student?"

Sawai hugged Maki, while she grinned like usual, like she was protecting a kitten drenched in rain.

"I can’t believe you! She's already been here for 2 months, and you still don't remember your classmate? Especially Tamagawa-san?"

This force panicked Souhei. And since he couldn’t comprehend why Sawai had such a violently threatening attitude, it took him some time to grasp the meaning of her words. Tamagawa? She’s called Maki Tamagawa? Already 2 months?

"...Classmate?" Said Souhei

"I can't believe you. You're just the worst."

Sawai said with a spit and took the girl now known as Maki Tamagawa away from him. "See ya" Maki-chan waved.

Souhei watched her go, dumbfounded. Why did she act like that? Sawai was acting just like that girl joined school at the beginning of the year. Before he realised it, Souhei noticed all eyes in the class had gathered towards him. Hijiri also looked towards him with dubious eyes. It was good timing that the teacher in charge appeared, so that situation came to a stop.

Maki Tamagawa sat at the middle seat on the window row. Until yesterday the person that sat in that seat was a large boy, but for some reason now he sat diagonally behind Souhei – even though there wasn’t a desk there yesterday.

When homeroom was over, Souhei found the chance to pick up the attendance record on the front desk. In it, the names of boys and girls were lined up in alphabetical order. He ran his hurried eyes over it, and the name "Maki Tamagawa" was stated firmly in it. The entry was also recorded right in the middle of the others. Just like it had been that way from the beginning.

Souhei put the attendance record down and returned to his seat. He didn’t understand anything. Even though 2 months hadn’t yet passed, memories of that unique girl had been engraved into his mind whether he liked it or not- or they were supposed to be. Souhei's head began to hurt.

---Maybe I hit my head somewhere?

Maki Tamagawa's characteristics didn’t fit her behavior.

In first period, they all wrote up easy formulas until she arrived. Souhei and his fellow students looked at her in shock with mouths agape from beginning to end, the excited salt-and-pepper haired teacher began to taking pictures of the blackboard with a digital camera he took from the staff room. According to him, as he muttered to himself, the formulas that Maki-chan enumerated could apparently be the answer to a famous unsolved equation. When the teacher snapped the shutter for the fourth time, the bell rang.

In music class in second period, she occupied the grand piano, and dexterously began to perform with flowing fingers. Souhei watched her in amazement, he thought the tune in which the sounds seemed to bounce and halt about might be a classic.

His young female teacher began to tremble like she was about to cry, she seemed overwhelmed by the songs that were being played one after another. After class, according to the veteran music teacher who appeared once he heard the nimble sounds, the tunes Maki-chan played all seemed to be songs by the old American pianist Bud Powell, who was honoured as “The Master of Modern Jazz Piano”. If Haruka were here she’d probably be full of joy.

In fourth period the gym was split in the middle with a net, the boys did gymnastics, the girls did basketball. During the match, holding the ball in one hand, Maki Tamagawa achieved three magnificent slam-dunks while other girls remained on the ground. No matter how big of an estimate you make, she probably wasn’t even 160cm tall. Though Souhei promised he’d no longer be surprised despite what she does, when he realized she jumped from the free throw lane, he went beyond surprise and could only feel some kind of terror.

Since she was such an alien existence, Maki Tamagawa became popular in class. No, that reputation went beyond the so-called classroom limit, even people from other classes were coming to meet her. In breaks between lessons and lunch time, surrounding her, there were so many people around her you couldn’t see her. So in class, Souhei quickly released that Maki Tamagawa, who started to become not just a student but also a teacher, was superior to him.

Gym finished and it turned to lunch break. After going to the ground floor cafeteria to buy some bread, without returning to the classroom, Souhei went to the school grounds. Today there was pleasant wind-less weather. There was nobody near the bench. The requirements for a comfortable lunch break were aligned. But today Souhei's head was dull and cloudy.

Why did Maki Tamagawa suddenly start coming here?

Souhei thought as he put the 100-yen greasy curry bread in his mouth. It was just like his other classmates thought her fame and her non-standard behaviour had always been a thing. It couldn’t be that they were all in cahoots and crafting a lie for only him.

"Souhei!"

"Ah."

-She’s here.

Maki Tamagawa hugged Souhei from behind. "Here you aaare. I was looking for youuu"

"...Ta, Tamagawa-san. You were looking... for me?"

"That's right. Hey, Souhei, how come don't you eat with everyone else in the classroom?"

"Wh, Why-- First of all... could you let go of me?"

Souhei looked at Maki Tamagawa’s eyes, who sat next to him. They sparkled like the eyes of a child who just received a present. They shined in a way so pure it was eerie, he swallowed without thinking.

"What on earth… are you?"

"Eh, Maki? Maki is Maki" she said with a puzzled expression.

"I'm not asking about your name. You weren’t in this class until today -right?"

"I was."

Having received an unexpectedly concise answer, Souhei's thoughts paused for a bit. "...Huh?"

"I was there, that’s the truth." she spoke like she was answering a normal question. "Anyway, Maki's waiting for Souhei to decide his wish y'know. So tell me as soon as you decide! I'll do my best!"

Maki Tamagawa made her hands into fists, he didn’t understand a single thing she said. Every single one of her bizarre words stood as robustly as an iceberg, he felt like they wouldn’t melt by any means possible, he couldn’t try to decipher them. When Souhei was finally able to open his mouth, he was interrupted. It was some girls from his class.

"Tamagawa-san, we brought the volleyball" Sawai said. Her gaze was only focussed towards girl sitting next to Souhei, it seemed just like they didn't realise a person was sitting next to her.

"Hey, thanks!" Maki-chan put her hands together. "Hey, Souhei should play too!"

The girls moved slightly so they could see Souhei. Don't worry. I don’t plan on doing that here.

"I'll pass"

He answered, getting up to walk towards the school building.

"Huuh, You should plaaay, Souhei"

But the other female students gently restrained Maki-chan as she invited him. "Let's leave that guy alone" the voice of Sawai reached him from behind.

By all means, please do, Souhei thought.

Several days passed, Souhei was slowly becoming able to understand the girl’s wild and free nature. As soon as she left morning homeroom she would go completely unseen until just before lunch, today was a day where he wondered if she was even going to turn up. In any case, her actions didn’t show any consistency, she seemed like the kind of person that only does what she pleases.

That day, he hadn’t seen Maki Tamagawa since the morning. Just from the fact that she wasn’t there, Souhei wondered if he could spend a peaceful regular day, but that didn’t happen.

With the unfortunate rain, at lunch break, Souhei nibbled at his bread in his seat in the classroom. Outside the dark mouse-fur-like clouds continued forever, waterfall-like rain water went along the glass window. But his line of sight stayed on the top of his desk. His nylon pencil case with a ragged hole was there. The hole looked like it was stabbed open with a box cutter or something. The event happened when he quickly went to the toilet. The thing that he used since middle school became garbage in just a brief moment. It’s not like he was especially emotionally attached to it. He didn’t remember where he bought it from, but there was no doubt that it was cheap. However, since it was something he’d continued to use for several years, the reason he looked so miserable once he saw it after the short time he’d left his seat was because he was considerably shocked.

Since he couldn’t help looking at it, Souhei put it away in his desk. On the days where Maki Tamagawa wasn’t at school, the harassment towards Souhei tended to get much worse.

There were almost always several thumbtacks in his shoes in the shoe cupboard. The first time he saw them he tried to chuckle scornfully to himself, how old fashioned, I wonder if anybody would fall for this – but mentally the shock he received wasn’t small. Wet cloth was also thrown into his locker built at the back of the classroom. When he returned from an overnight class trip once, Souhei’s desk alone had been thrown out in the hallway like a sheep lost from the herd. Once Souhei tidied it up, returning it to how it was before, the same old giggles leaked out around him.

When Souhei finished eating the bread he bought, someone called out "Hey, Shima".

It was Hijiri. On the one hand Souhei thought to himself that it was kind of rare for Hijiri to be the one to talk to him, but then he thought absent-mindedly that he stopped calling him “Souhei” like he did a long time ago.

(* typically in Japanese, you only refer to someone with their first name if you’re good friends or if they’re younger than you, referring to someone with their last name shows formality or that you have an indifferent relationship with that person)

"...What?"

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Despite the way he phrased it, his tone was imperative. There were two others apart from him, the three surrounded Souhei's seat.

What on earth, Souhei had his guard up.

"Hey, I think you should knock it off with that attitude you’ve got with Tamagawa-san"

"...Attitude?"

"Even though Tamagawa-san lets you talk to her, she told me you were acting cold"

"Well, even if she said that..."

"I didn’t wanna bring it up, but it’s bothering some people in our class. I’m telling you because I’m an old friend of yours.”

Hijiri met eyes with the other two, he looked back at Souhei again and smiled boldly.

"Also you should probably treat girls more gently when you talk to them."

As he said that one of the boys put his hand on Souhei's shoulder. It was a boy called Shiroyama from the soccer club.

"Hey, how come Tamagawa-san’s the only girl you’re into? Tell us."

Shiroyama said with a grin. This was the reason why the harassment accelerated these last few days. Because Maki Tamagawa, who’s attracted all the attention at school, is always following him around. What’s so special about him -- regardless of gender, their eyes always judged him with that. I want to ask the same question, he thought every time deep in his chest.

"Well... I don't know" He really didn't know.

Shiroyama tutted. "Well, whatever, don’t get so carried away for Tamagawa-san”

"...I don’t really-"

"Huh? What was that?"

When Shiroyama threatened him, Souhei closed his mouth like a wilted flower. That would be a bad fight to pick.

(言いがかり – iigakari means both ‘to pick a quarrel’ and ‘a false accusation’… not sure if Souhei referring to talking back to Shiroyama or the accusation that Shiroyama’s making is false.)

"Well that's that then" Hijiri said. "Take care"

His tone was just like he was acting from a sense of justice. But what does that mean? Souhei, however, didn't have the courage to ask that to his face. If he said that he would face new harassment - there's no doubt about that.

Unexpectedly, the classroom door opened. Maki Tamagawa appeared.

"Good mooorning"

The lights came on in the classroom. Everyone raised their heads, their gazes pouring towards her. Even though fifth period was beginning she’ll probably be let off the hook, that’s what everyone seemed to think.

Shiroyama tried to get close to her and greeted her with a bouncy voice "Morning, Tamagawa-san!".

"Moorning, Shiro-chan" Maki Tamagawa said. Shiroyama made a satisfied face. Next, she said "Souhei, good morning!"

"...Good morning."

Souhei spoke as hospitably as he could. As usual Shiroyama’s expression was like someone who just got out of a hot bath, but even though he couldn't make a smile, he thought it was good enough. Just then the English teacher appeared. As the scattered students took that as a sign to return to their seats, the Maki Tamagawa in question approached Souhei's ears and whispered.

"Maki’s gonna find out Souhei's wish no matter what."

Surprised, Souhei's body jumped back "...What?"

"Maki will do anything to find out."

After she said that, she quickly went back to her seat. Souhei had no time to ask her to repeat. What on earth does she mean by ‘wish’? She's been talking about it since I first met her.

But he realized thinking about it was useless. Souhei, who tried to concentrate on class and switched on his brain, opened the notes in his textbook, and took out a sharp pencil from his shredded-up pencil case.

After school, Souhei went into the school’s northern building. He planned to stop by the convenience store and take out a book at the library, then go to Othello’s spot. When he thought that and tried to leave the classroom, the voice of a female student called Mizuguchi from his class called out to him.

The girl is the student that sits right behind Souhei, in her free time she's always making bead-accessories. Apparently, she's in the handicraft club.

"Mr Kashiwazaki called for you" she explained to Souhei briefly and then left.

Kashiwazaki is a middle aged male teacher in charge of science. In any case, it seems like he needs help preparing for an experiment next week. Souhei was sure he remembered being on weekly duty next week. But he wants me to go now… how big is he planning to make the experiment?

In this school there's a so-called preparation officer-system in each class. They’re assigned lesson chores outside of the classroom, someone else is responsible every week.

It can seem like a pain when you’re ordered to do something, but compared to being an executive committee member for events like the culture and sports festival, or for regular activities like health and library committee, Souhei preferred doing this, so he didn’t mind it.

The first floor which housed the special classrooms felt kind of creepy with today's horrible weather and the lack of people there. Souhei knocked on the science prep office's door but he didn't hear a response. According to Mizuguchi, Kashiwazaki should be waiting here. The door wasn’t locked.

The prep room wasn’t very big. He entered the room, Hijiri Aota, who sat on the windowsill, immediately met eyes with Souhei.

"Eh, Hijiri...?"

Souhei saw he was also surprised. His face looked taken aback.

"Oh? Why are you here?"

"…Because I'm the prep officer for this week. What about you?"

In the closed room, when the two came face to face, there seemed to be a different atmosphere than usual.

Hijiri seemed like he didn't want to talk and stayed quiet, but answered briefly after a moment.

"... School trip meeting."

"…Oh, you're in charge. You're meeting here?"

Hijiri is one of the excursion committee members. Many students have more important events in high school, they probably thought they could leave it to the most popular student in class.

"Kashiwazashi's in charge of the trip"

Souhei asked nervously. "...How come you're alone?" There's another girl on the school travel committee.

"...It’s fine if it’s just me for today’s meeting. Anyway, stop asking about every little thing. Just shut up and wait."

Then they both closed their mouths. Souhei sat down in an empty chair.

What a weird story, Souhei thought. Kashiwazashi was planning to have a meeting with the excursion committee and for Grade 11 Class 5’s experiment preparation at the same time. He must be on a pretty tight schedule.

Looking out of the window behind Hijiri, the scenery was struck with rain. There was no sign of it stopping. The rain fell like waves, flapping in the wind ever so often. Each drop hit the window hard. The only sounds in the room were the sound of rain and the music department playing music in the distance.

As the silence continued, the hands on Hijiri’s wristwatch tick-tocked. Slowly. If Kashiwazashi is late, the other class' committee member won't appear at all. In the quiet and dimly lit room, it felt just like a cave in the mountains, like they were waiting to be rescued.

When the momentum of the rain outside became even stronger, Hijiri opened his mouth

"You got Haruka’s pictures right?"

"Eh... Yeah. I did."

It was a few days ago.

"Hmm."

After saying just that Hijiri was quiet again. He didn’t understand the reason behind that, but Souhei didn't ask.

Even so, how long has it been since Hijiri and I talked to one another?

Another 20 or so minutes passed after that. The landscape outside became dark.

He realized he could try to make use of this time. He was currently like this because of his falling-out with Hijiri due to what had happened — to be exact, the hatred from Hijiri was one-sided, his other classmates were probably just piggybacking on that relationship. Despite what Hijiri did or didn’t do until now, Souhei had nonetheless become a target for him to vent his stress onto. But he wasn’t sure that would change, even if his relationship with Hijiri would repair. He wasn’t sure if he’d end up in even more pain.

Hijiri spoke again.

"How many did she give you?"

"...Umm--" the suddenness surprised Souhei.

"--Around thirteen, I think."

"...Whatever, she said she gave them to you."

Hijiri was talking about Haruka. But something in those words sounded rather unpleasant to Souhei.

"She said that she didn’t really care about giving you those photos from two years ago. ‘Cause Haruka told me she thinks you’re in the wrong.” Hijiri spoke like he was doing a monologue again. It was a somewhat fitting way of speaking. Souhei felt a flashing sign of danger, like Hijiri was holding a knife behind his back.

"...What do you mean?"

Souhei couldn't hold it in and asked. He already sensed a discomfort, like his heart was being scraped with sandpaper.

"I told you to shut up-"

In that moment, Souhei knew he didn't want this light to go off.

It's fine if I don’t hear it. I have to close Hijiri's mouth by any means possible, he thought instinctively.

"--We're going out."

That’s what Hijiri said.

It was so quiet his ears hurt.

The rain he saw outside the window was still strong in momentum, it seemed like it would keep falling forever. However, he couldn’t hear the sound of rain. Souhei couldn't hear anything. Hijiri's words just spun around again and again in his head.

I must have misheard him. There's no way—something whispered to Souhei. But Haruka’s been on my side until now. We promised to study at the library together.

-- But that's all.

"Guess you didn’t know then." Hijiri said. "Feel free to ask Haruka."

Souhei felt a huge melting feeling sinking in his stomach. Without any energy, his voice became a whisper.

"Are you surprised?" Hijiri asked.

"I am." Souhei agreed meekly.

The power came out from his body. Naturally he couldn’t even pretend to keep his cool with a fake smile. His heart and lungs just moved on their own accord, he became a speechless doll.

"Well, don't be too glum about it." As Hijiri said that he left the prep room "I'm going home. Have fun waiting."

"Why did Haruka---"

Hijiri's feet stopped outside the door "What?"

"Why did Haruka... care about someone like me? She always cared about me..."

There was a long pause. After that, Hijiri deliberately spoke with a sneering tone.

"Sympathy."

Souhei's head suddenly became hot. He realized his hands had been made into fists. But it was no use. I don’t have the right to get angry--- Souhei held it in. When he thought about how Hijiri spoke to him, he couldn’t put it into words, was it insulting or persecuting? In addition, what he said is probably true. After the three of them stopped being on good terms in middle school, he was the only one that felt left out. Haruka probably only cared about him because of that. It was nothing more than sympathy.

The anger I have for Hijiri is unreasonable. I have to endure it.

How long had it been like that? Suddenly, he realized Hijiri was already gone. The rain had weakened, though only a little.

I'm going home, he thought. But the same time he got up, the door to the room opened.

The science teacher Kashiwazashi flinched in shock when he saw Souhei in a room which should have been empty. "What are you doing here? This place is prohibited, authorized entry only."

He had a familiar sour look.

"I know" Souhei responded.

Part 2 -->

#kemu #kemu voxx #invisible #インビジブル #panvoxx #PANDORA VOXX

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