#and tiny in the background Link who may or may not actually be asleep

[skyward-floored]

Hmm, drawing ideas? So like you wanna draw scenes?

Wild hugging Twilight from your Fireflies story? Or Impa and Volga talking over a sleeping Link in your HDW AU? Or Shade carrying Link from Hero What Ails You?

Oooh all of these options were so good, but I went with Impa and Volga from this fic because that particularly caught my attention—

I had to mess with the lighting because it was dark when I took a picture of it so if it looks off that’s why

They’re having a definitely quiet argument discussion, and Link is definitely not eavesdropping

[thebomb-thebird-andtheburntbitch]

A World-- Certain

dabi / f.reader

genre: real world to parallel world au? (is that an au? it’ll make sense dw), angst, romance, pinning, fools to lovers? (or dabi is stubborn/scared as all get out), longing/yearning (teehee)

warning(s): uhh, dabi hits a point where he’s determined to find a way back home or burn the city to the ground trying (is that a warning?), cursing, violence (or dabi punches one cop and sets another on fire- as he should), touya spoilers included? (like kinda minor ones, but you know, just in case), guns/dabi gets shot, sickly-sweet ending don’t worry, tiny mention of death

w.count: 9.8k 

synopsis:  the last thing he remembers, dabi had stepped in to join a rather nasty bar brawl that erupted at your pub one night. he along with a group of other villains who sided with you against a group of villains who weren’t exactly fans of your unground work. when he woke up, he wasn’t in the medical basement like he expected, nor was he at his apartment or yours.  he was in a room he hadn’t seen before. when he leaves to your pub to get some answers, you’re not there. in fact, the entire building was abandoned and rotting.  just what the fuck happened and where was he exactly, because this wasn’t exactly the city he knew anymore. 

a/n: this is the second part to my two parter series, A World--, so be sure to read the first part A World-- Unsure, or else this really won’t make sense LOL.  The concept can be kinda confusing already, but trust me- it’ll make sense aldfkasd. Enjoy! 

also! since @lildockel​ asked to be tagged when part two went up, here is it!!

After seeing his white hair,  and feeling how healthy the strands felt between his fingers, instead of the damaged, overly dyed black mess it all used to be, Dabi raced back into the bar.  Rushing up the steps into the abandoned apartment as he looked around.  Rushing to a mirror still hanging just barely on a nail, he used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe it of dust and cobwebs before ripping off his jacket entirely and tossing it to his feet. 

He hadn’t realized it before since he never kept a habit of looking at his scarred and damaged body, but now as he stood in front of the mirror in the shirt he woke up in, he noticed the scars that he knew crawled over almost every inch of his body had changed.  

The scars didn’t run up his whole right arm and stopped just at his elbow. His entire left side wasn’t engulfed in purple and staples, but instead ran up his forearm and then just around his shoulder and a patch on his neck.  He reached up over his head and behind his shoulders to grab the back of his shirt and pulled it over his head and off to join his jacket on the floor before he looked at his chest.  The scars that wrapped around his chest before weren’t nearly as bad and turning around to his back, he could see more skin than scars now.  

He could feel the draft of the empty apartment on his skin, something he hadn’t been able to do in a long time. 

He knew that each time he over used his quirk he would cause himself harm.  His tolerance to the cold took a harsh toll on him since his quirk was heat based- he wasn’t built to handle heat as well as he should be with a quirk like his father’s.  

He brushed his hand through his hair again as he stumbled around, head spinning to keep up with what the hell could be happening.  The world was almost the same, but everything just felt different because of things that weren’t supposed to be.  He snatched his phone from the pocket of his discarded jacket, trying again to call your number.  It was there, clearly imputed with his information and call history, but just as before he was met with an automated message.

Your apartment wasn’t here, your bar wasn’t either and your phone number was nonexistent.  It was like you didn’t exist at all. 

Dabi moved back to sit against the wall that was across the room from the mirror, just so he could keep an eye on his reflection to help process exactly what was happening.  He was no fool, and he could figure out that the world he knew was different from this one.  

He sat on the ground as he thought.  His hand came to rest over his neck, thinking back to the dart that was shot into him back at the bar.  It was too convenient that he got shot with it then woke up in some weird- what he can only assume is- parallel world. A world exactly like the other, with just a few things altered. 

Rather, the longer he sat in thought, the longer he thought that maybe it wasn’t a parallel world he was in, but actually a dream.  The last thing he remembered was passing out covering you, so maybe the needle he was shot with put him into a dream. 

He tested out his quirk, letting his hand be engulfed in fire before diminishing it, finding it worked exactly like it had before; so, he was in a world where quirks still existed at the very least.  He wondered if the him he had become was still a villain, and if he was, then was he with the league? What was the actual year he woke up in? Was it parallel to the original timeline, or was it ahead? Delayed maybe?  

The date on his phone lined up to the next day after the bar fight, but his phone also still had your number in it that didn’t seem to exist, so he didn’t trust his phone as much as he wanted to be able to. 

Thumbing through his phone’s contacts, he wondered if he should try calling a different number.  There was always a league member, but which one.  He wouldn’t be caught dead calling Twice for answers and he didn’t really trust Toga’s tendency to go off on a tangent to get a straight answer out of her.  Spinner wouldn’t have been a bad idea since he kept shit short, but he didn’t answer his phone for fuck. Maybe Magne? Though, he didn’t really want to call her, felt like if he did, he’d be imposing on her ‘me’ time.  

By the end of his mental checklist, he was stuck between Shigaraki or Compress. He didn’t think Kurogiri even owned a phone, or else he’d dial him first. Sighing, he pushed his thumb against Compress’s contact.  He didn’t want to deal with Shigaraki if he could avoid it- at least not yet. 

The line rang out loud when Dabi put the phone on speaker and with a few more rings, the line picked up.  It was a strange wave of relief when he heard the man with a thing for theatrics address Dabi by name when he picked up. 

“Oh, thank fuck,” he sighed. There was an air of silence before Dabi spoke again, hearing Compress on the other line clear his throat in anticipation.  “Okay, this may sound like complete bullshit, but hear me out for a second.” 

Dabi unloaded the entire situation he suddenly found himself in to Compress as well as asked any questions he felt he needed to know the answers to, to get up to speed on exactly what kind of dream he ended up in. He was on the phone with the masked villain for almost an hour before the call ended with Dabi understanding things just a bit more. 

In this world, he was still indeed a villain, but his face was kept under wraps. Dabi wasn’t presumed dead as Touya Todoroki, but rather disregarded his birth name for the alias just because he wanted to.  His real name wasn’t a secret like it was in reality, that was why he didn’t have black hair- because if his identity wasn’t a secret, there was no point in dying it to stay hidden. But, he wasn’t as flashy a villain here, so no one really know who he was anyway.

In this dreamscape, Touya Todoroki never died, but ran from his home and betrayed his family after finally having enough of his father. Working now as a criminal, he stayed on the downlow side of society. 

Things were more or less still the same otherwise.  It was just his background and you that was truly different.  Dabi sat and stared at his reflection wondering if you really existed here- and if you didn’t he wondered if that was partially his fault. 

When he was at the bar, he had previously resolved himself into drifting away from you and the feelings you had towards him.  Was it his stubbornness to get away from you what caused you to not be here? Or were you here in this world, but as someone completely different than the Y/n he knew?  Could you exist with a whole different personality? Were you a hero? A villain? Or maybe still just a regular citizen?

Dabi immediately wanted to start looking for you, but with everything linked to you not even existing, he didn’t know where to start. Typing your name into his phone’s searching engine did nothing to help as nothing about you was listed anywhere.  Okay, so you weren’t famous, or infamous in any sense so you had to be just a regular, everyday person? Right?   

Sighing, he dropped his head back and closed his eyes, trying to think. He could always ask one of his connections to start looking for you in his stead. Then, his eyes opened again as he scowled- once again growing irritated.  Why was he putting your whereabouts above trying to figure out how to get back- or wake up? He had unconsciously put you above how to get out of this dream.

Bringing a curled fist to rest against the side of his head, he hissed through his teeth.  

“God dammit.” 

-x-x-x-

It was Dabi’s second day in this dreamscape he started calling it.  It was a strange feeling, being inside of a dream yet still having the ability to fall asleep and wake up again.  He sat on his bed of his apartment he owned in this dreamscape and sighed.  It was a far cry from his place in reality, tucked and hidden away from main streets and curious eyes. This place was just off a busy street and when he hung out the window to smoke, people were walking two stories below- just minding their day.  

Puffing out a plume of cigarette smoke, he heard his phone ping from inside on the desk sat in the bedroom.  He would always mentally correct himself into saying ‘his’ instead of acting like this place was some random hole in the wall.  It was his- as far as he knew. He left his cigarette perched on the window sill, going to his phone and yanking it off the charger to see a text from Shigaraki. 

Compress had blabbed to the leader of this dream’s League of Villains about Dabi’s little breakdown of what he believed was a dream.  Seeing the text of ‘you still high, or you coming to work or not?’ made his lips twitch.  He wasn’t high and he hadn’t been high; then again, it wouldn’t be any version of Shigaraki unless he was mocking Dabi for something.  In this case, it was Dabi’s die hard claim of this dreamscape being a false reality. 

When Dabi stopped to think about it, he could understand where everyone was coming from.  For all he knew, this body- the body of Touya- was a completely different person in this reality and Dabi’s personality just manifested into it.  He ran his fingers through his white hair and groaned, annoyed at the situation. 

“Fucking parallel universes and their stupid ass rules.” 

He sent a reply back to the leader- well, it was just a middle finger emoji- and abandoned his phone to go finish his cigarette before it burned away on its own, unattended.  

Once he burned through the toxic stick, he snuffed it out on a glass ashtray he kept on the small balcony just outside the window and retreated back inside his room.  Reaching up and over his head behind him, he gripped the back of his shirt and tugged it off, shaking his already messy hair out before he started to change.  

It was odd seeing a full closet of clothes instead of like the five whole outfits he would interchange on a day-to-day basis before cleaning them and repeating the process.  In reality, he had no use for everyday clothes since he was always wearing his villain gear or lounging around in close to nothing at his apartment.  Though, he did remember that you had bought him clothes to keep at your place, so he did have more- just never wore them because he thought it was weird you were buying clothes for him. 

You claimed it was so he would stop walking around in nothing but boxers or tank tops in your house, but he didn’t buy that excuse. He saw it as something to intimate; too close to a bond he was too afraid to acknowledge. 

Pulling on a grey shirt and black pants- him being the most comfortable in his safe feeling monochromatic wardrobe- he tugged on a jacket and flipped the hood up.  At this point it was a habit to try and conceal himself now- even if he probably didn’t need to in this dreamscape reality. 

Leaving the room and soon the apartment, he was soon pulling his phone from his jacket pocket and seeing an incoming call from the hand-freak himself.  Groaning, he contemplated denying the call, but if this Shigaraki was anything like the one he knew, he'd just blow up his phone in retaliation.  So, reluctantly, he picked up. 

“What?” 

“Don’t ‘what’ me. Where are you?” His tone was impatient and gruff. “You need to get to the bar, we have work to do, dammit.” 

“I’m workin’ on it, calm the hell down.” The low murmurs of the daily street this early in the morning with people making their daily commute to wherever the hell they were on their way too was just enough to make Dabi’s scarred skin crawl.  He always tried to avoid crowded areas in the past for numerous reasons, not just for the sake of his identity.  

However, it was easy to navigate the streets since they were exactly the same as he remembered from his reality. The more he was here, the more he came to the realization that everything was the same besides him and you- or lack thereof. 

Hearing Shigaraki bitch and moan on the other end of the line, Dabi sighed and pulled the phone from his ear and promptly hung up the call before he shoved his phone back into his pocket- but not before putting it on ‘do not disturb’, so even if the annoyance he calls a boss calls him back, he wouldn’t know. 

Not too long later, the pyro was walking into the bar, seeing the leader annoyingly tapping his fingers on the bar one at a time in succession as he seemed to be calming down from a temper tantrum.  A temper tantrum that Dabi was most certainly the cause of. 

“It’s about time,” the leader hissed as Dabi promptly ignored him, only giving him a tut in response to his neediness. Flipping off his hood and messing around his hair to feel less matted from the hood’s previous pressure, he moved to the back of the bar and plopped himself down into a booth. “I said we need to get to work,” Shigaraki started complaining, “not take a breather because you couldn’t show up on time.” 

“Spare me the bitching, oh-so-fearsome-leader,” Dabi waved off lazily with his hand flopping back and forth on his wrist. If Shigaraki hadn’t had his father’s hand on his face, Dabi probably would have seen the scowl painted beneath it. 

It was silent for a beat, with the two of them and Kurogiri only being present in the bar at the moment.  

“Is your attitude still shitty because you’re convinced this is one big fever dream? Because, if you’re stoned or drunk, I’d really rather you not mess up our jobs and go away.” 

“If this is your form of concern, you’re shitty at it,” Dabi rebutted. “I already told you, I’m as sober as a rock, so hop off. If you were in my place, you wouldn’t be slap-happy either.” 

All day long, Dabi had to deal with orders being barked at him before he eventually went out on his own to look for possible new villains to recruit for the cause.  He was hardly being mindful, low-level thugs weren’t cut out to join the ranks and anyone else just annoyed him. When he finally had enough and called Shigaraki that he was finishing up for the day, he just hung up without getting a proper ‘okay’ and stared at himself in the reflection of a window in an alleyway. 

He raised his lip in annoyance as his reflection that he wasn’t familiar with anymore.  Who he was looking at wasn’t Dabi, but Touya. The Touya who was dead until he decided otherwise, the Touya who looked too much like his parents.  His previous red hair that faded to match his mother and his eyes that were copies of his fathers. 

On his way back to the apartment he stopped by a general store and picked up two boxes of hair dye.  That evening, when he finished showering, he ran his hand across the width of his steam fogged mirror and looked at his new reflection.  He let an awkward smile breach his face as he looked at his pitch-dyed hair. 

“That’s better,” he mused, walking out of the bathroom to just put on a pair of boxers, lay in bed and think. Think more about how he could leave this dreamscape all before he passed out, closing his eyes on his second day in a dream. Maybe he’d ask the league members to keep their eyes and ears out tomorrow for you, since the sooner he can figure out what’s happened with you in this place, the sooner he’ll be to a solution… probably? 

-x-x-x-

Day after day passed and Dabi found himself less and less sure of anything.  When he first came here, he was aware that everything was fabricated and fake- nothing was truly real since he distinctly remembered his life before all this happened.  

Now, a month has passed and everyday when he wakes up, he feels more fussy than the day before.  His mind and memories feel like their blurring and he started waking up and writing down small memos on post-it notes just to try and get a semblance of reality again.  He wondered if one day he’d wake up and see all his notes, just to throw them away because they would have no meaning to that ‘him’. 

The thought irked him. He was himself, Dabi knew that, but he felt like he was losing it. 

He had woken up today with his head pounding.  Leaning over the side of his bed, he held his forehead in his palms as he squeezed his eyes shut.  Pushing the heels of his palm into his eyes, he could see the splotches of darkness coat his closed eyes from the presssure. He groaned, head even more hazier than the day before.  

Dabi felt like he was forgetting something.  

Getting up, he threw on whatever was hanging on the back of his chair in his room and flipped on the hood of whatever jacket he grabbed and left.  He wasn’t called to the league just yet, so who knows if he even needed to go today, but maybe being at the bar would jog his memory.  Just maybe it would clear his mind- somehow. 

When he walked into the bar, he immediately made a beeline to the booth in the back as he laid down, sprawling out across the red velvet booth and covered his eyes with his forearm.  One of his legs propped up on the booth while the old hung lazily to the floor, his other arm rest on his chest, feeling his stomach rise and fall with each breath.  

If he just lay here long enough, something was bound to spark something in him, right? After all, he was in a bar.  

A bar? What does a bar have to do with anything? 

He grit his teeth when he heard the door to the bar open, someone walking in. Whoever it was, they had decided to waltz over to Dab and sit themselves on the short coffee table in front of the booth. 

“The fuck do you want?” He growled, a small whistle and the smell of smoke greeted him in the form of a hearty chuckle, one that made him irk. 

“My, someone’s grumpy today, isn’t he?” Hearing Giran’s smoke laden voice first thing after laying down really wasn’t how Dabi wanted to start his day.  Moving his arm just enough to peer over his arm with a glare, the villain broker raised his hands in mock surrender, a half smoked cigarette between his lips. “Easy there, I’m not looking for a scuffle this early in the morning.” 

“Yeah? Then leave me alone or else I’m going to set you on fire.” With another chuckle from the broker and no movement of him leaving his place on the table, Dabi groaned.  Moving his arm, he ran his hand over his face before he reluctantly sat up and rubbed the back of his head, his tangles of unbrushed black hair snagging between his fingers.  He glared at the tooth-gapped man with a smoking habit worse than his own.  “What?” He growled. 

Giran dug around in the inside pocket of his tacky blazer before he presented Dabi with a pocketbook.  The scarred pyro looked at the blank book before looking back up to Giran’s face, his brows turned up in questioning.  

“The fuck is that for?” 

“That, my dear Touya,” hearing the broker sing-song Dabi’s real name made him bark at him in warning to never do it again, one that Giran promptly ignored, “is everything I could dig up on that little lady you asked me about a couple weeks ago.” 

“Lady?” Dabi’s brows furrowed, his headache spiking again. 

“I gotta say, I’m not usually one for such slow work, but with the villain count spiking, I’m a busy man.  I got a lot on my plate, so I had to put your little search on the back burner.” Tossing the pocketbook onto Dabi’s lap, one of his scarred hands immediately held it to his leg to keep it from bouncing off his leg onto the floor.  Giran then stood, stuffing his hands into his equally tacky trousers.  “A man as busy as me has things to do, so I’ve gotta bounce.  Talk to me again if you need anything else.” Giran turned but stopped short, swiveling to look at Dabi once more. ”Oh and as for that woman’s whereabouts, don’t be so bummed when you read about it.” 

Dabi watched Giran leave the bar about as quickly as he came in, the smell of smoke the only lingering thing indicating that he was even there to begin with  Well, that and the pocketbook Dabi held in his hands.  He eyed it with narrow eyes and knit brows. 

“Lady? What lady was I-?” He cut himself off as he just shut his eyes and tossed the book onto the coffee table where Giran had previously sat. 

All morning, Dabi kept to himself on his booth, just lounging and laying around.  Every time someone went towards him he’d growl at them, not like it did anything to deter them away regardless. However, if someone even though about touching the pocketbook, he’d sit up and snatch it away and stuff it under his legs or his back or his head- just away from their grabby hands.  Whatever info was in there, they didn’t need to pry into his business.  

It was well into the afternoon when Dabi had his fill of the noise that only got louder over time in the bar and dismissed himself, leaving as he heard Toga calling out behind him before going back to whatever the hell she had been doing.  

The pocketbook was in his hands folded to rest against the inside of his wrist as he walked around the streets, not wanting to go home, but not wanting to be nowhere.  His desire to be somewhere, along with his annoyance accompanying that desire- but, not having any idea on where to be- unconsciously lead him down roads and through alleys to a run down, abandoned building. 

“A bar?” He questioned himself out loud, not knowing why this place seemed familiar to him.  He felt like he should know this place, but it felt like the way it was right now- run down and in shambles- was wrong.  His head ached and he found himself climbing through a busted window to get inside.  

Dust plumed under his boots when he landed inside the place.  He began to wander around, dragging his hands along walls, kicking rubble with the toes of his boots, scanning the falling apart shelves that barely hung on the walls. Moving to the back room past the vacant kitchen covered in dust and smelling like the inside of a mechanical pencil, he placed his hand on a wall next to a staircase that led upwards away from the other empty rooms.

“This wall,” his eyes narrowed in both pain from his pounding head and his fuzzy recollection, “shouldn’t be here. Isn’t there supposed to be a door?” His palm that was flat against the wall curled into a fist, his knuckles pushing against the cold stone.  “A door? Why would I-” 

Dabi silenced himself as he snatched his hand away from the wall as if the structure was suddenly covered in some sort of burning acid.  

“Fuck this,” he growled.  He turned his back to the wall, ready to leave and clear his head, but stopped as soon as he went to take a step out.  He glanced up the stairs before his feet started taking him up them, entering the would-be apartment through the rotting, crooked door. 

He stood in the middle of the space that would be a small living room, his headache dulling, but just faintly.  The feeling in the pit of his stomach clawed and deep in his head screamed that he was forgetting something; something important. 

He pushed the pad of his thumb into the crease of his forehead, between his furrowed brows. Something was missing, wrong, just not fucking right here.  Pushing his thumb harder against his skull, he tried blocking everything out and picking at every corner of his brain he could to think for a moment. 

‘You keep doing that, you’ll put a dent in your head’

Dabi’s eyes shot open, breath catching in his throat as he swallowed back a cough from the sudden intake of breath. His hands dropped from his head to hover in front of him, elbows tucked by his sides. His senses were alert as he whipped around, looking around the empty apartment space. 

“Who’s there?!” He shouted, his echoing voice bouncing back to him as he listened for any sounds to give away who he may have heard.  

He heard someone- a woman- as clear as day.  It seemed to echo- but given the empty room, it wouldn’t be shocking for voices to carry and bounce like that, after all his did.  Standing in silence, he heard absolutely nothing.  No breathing, no sounds of movement, no more voices.  Just silence surrounded him- and a slight ringing in his ears.  

The moment he started to settle down, thinking it was all in his head- which thrilled him- again, the same voice echoed around the room. 

‘Don’t just take up space you- actually, take up as much space as you want if you heat the place up. My heater just went out, so come on Space-Heater, hop to it’

He started to think a league member was toying with him. Did someone from the bar follow him? Was this a quirk to dick him around for a lark? Then, he remembered the pocketbook. 

It had been in his free hand the whole time, but he had forgotten about it. He quickly flipped it open and inside were small clippings and photos of a woman taped inside. Like some cryptid profile in a recluses dairy; much like Giran’s shady, handiwork to be expected. 

The more he flipped through the pages and read, the more his head pounded. 

‘Dabi’ 

The voice called him by name as he dropped the pocketbook. Spinning around with a waft of blue fire coming out of his arm in sheer instinct to protect himself from whatever may be around him.  The voice ignited his fight or flight and Dabi was never one to run, ever a fighter.  Fleeing wasn’t in his nature- not even when he was a child. 

‘Was it too trouble to keep remembering?’ 

“Who the fuck are you? Where are you hiding?!” 

‘You rejected me to this extent? That you forgot me entirely? Is this really your dream?’ 

… Dream? 

His eyes widened before he looked back down to the open pocketbook at his feet.  It lay pages facing up, open on a page he hadn’t yet read. His fire simmered and he starred down at the open spread. Slowly kneeling, he gently ran his fingers over the clippings and the single picture on the opposing page. 

It was a photo of a gravestone. 

The date of death wasn’t that far back; rather, it was pretty damn recent. This person, this woman, was dead? 

Dabi felt small flames lick at the scars under his eyes as he stared down unblinking. 

“Y/n?” 

It all hit him like a bus. The memories he had slowly forgotten about came back to him and it knocked the breath from his chest.  He stood to his feet and rushed downstairs, leaving the pocketbook in the empty apartment he finally remembered was supposed to be yours.  On the way down to the bar, he nearly tripped on the stairs before he stood behind the bar top and looked out into the room.  

Was it always this hard to breath? 

Was all this his fault? 

He remembered the emotions he used to push all the way down into his gut.  Did his want to put distance between the two of you kill you in this dreamscape? This fake reality?

For a time, he forgot about time itself as he sat on the floors of the once lively bar he remembered.  He ran you- your name, your face, your voice, your stupidly good heart, everything- on repeat in his head to ensure his memory wouldn’t slip away from him again.  He was just a breathing corpse, or so he felt like. He didn’t even feel like smoking for once, even if his stress was through the roof. 

His eyes flicked up when the rusted, busted doors of the trashed building opened to see two figures enter. The sun had long since set and the only light in the room now was two bright flashlights searching and finding his slouched body under the bar, facing the door.  

From the shadows casted by the flashlights and the figures outlines, he could see two policemen in front of him. His eyes traveled away from them down to his palms, irritation flooding his head at their intrudance to his safe space. 

“Hey!” One cop called to him, making their way towards his floor-slumped body, careful not to trip. 

Was it his fault? 

“This is private property.” 

Did you end up a dead stranger because he kept pushing you away? 

“Sir, you need to leave immediately.”

Why was this bothering him so fucking much? 

“Can you hear me?” 

He was brought out of his self pity when the cop who now stood next to him had gripped his arm and hauled him to his feet.  Dabi’s body was still slack, not putting in too much effort to keep himself upright.  He felt his back dig into the bar behind him, the only thing beside the cop tightly gripping his arm, holding him up. 

Had he ever felt his miserable before, beside back when-

“Sir!” Dabi winced when the cop damn near shouted in his ear.  He wasn’t some old man. He could hear perfectly fine.  His scarring on his ears hadn’t made him deaf. 

“-off me,” Dabi muttered.  The cop not hearing him, asked him to repeat himself.  Dabi’s lethargic face tensed in fury as he ripped his arm out of the policeman’s grasp and brought his other arm up to knock his fist into the cop’s jaw.  “Get the fuck off me!” He yelled.  

The cop dropped his flashlight as he fell to the ground, half out of it from the way Dabi punched his jaw- nearly knocking him completely out.  The other was quick to draw his gun and point it at the villain, but it wasn’t quick enough.  

Dabi was no fool.  The moment he knocked the first cop on his ass, he knew the second would act.  Grabbing the wrist of the second one as he tried pointing his gun towards him, Dabi twisted the policeman's wrist, disarming him and shoving his head through the small window in the front entrance. 

He didn’t need light to see that the cop he held against the door, head just barely through a window, was bleeding.  Dabi had turned him around, keeping one of his hands on one of the cop’s arms behind his back and the other on his head, keeping him uncomfortably pushed against the glass frame, nou doubt cutting up his skin further.

“You think you scumbags can just waltz in here and disrupt me? I happened to be in the middle of fuckin’ something.” 

“B-but,” the cop he held captive began to try and argue, “this is private property!” He gasped. 

Dabi’s eyes rolled in annoyance.  “I don’t give a shit,” he seethed before his palms ignited.  The policeman’s head was soon engulfed in blue fire as well as his wrist before his clothes ignited as well and the entire man was on the ground, a dead, burning mess.  

The smell was familiar to him- the first familiar thing he’s felt in a while.  He left the bar behind him, the space being intruded by law enforcement made it feel different.  It wasn’t his space anymore.  As he made his way down the street at the dead of night, he soon heard sirens and screeching of tires making their way down streets.  Looking behind him, in the dark, clouded night sky, he saw outlines of smoke and fire in the distance.  

“Looks like the building is gonna burn down,” he spoke to himself before he made his way further down the street.  Passing a random building he didn’t even know, he reached his hand out and ignited it, setting drapes and signs on fire.  

As he made his way down roads, he set building after building, house after house on fire.  Soon, he stood at the end of the main street, blue on either side of the road and screaming from inside the buildings.  People scrambling to get into the open, the panic of being in the middle of a blazing area with no idea on how the fire started. 

It was pure hysteria. 

People ran past him standing still on the sidewalk. Everyone was terrified and panicked as he didn’t seem at all bothered by anything happening. He stared blankly, uninterested with his hands in his pockets as he just gazed at his flames that ate everything it touched and spread like a plague.  

As he stared, losing track of time once more, he felt something push against the back of his neck.  He smiled, knowing the feel of a gun all too well.  

“I guess not knocking you out worked in your favor, huh?” He knew it was the cop he clocked in the jaw at your bar.  

By the time the firey lump of his coworker started eating the building, he probably regained enough sense to leave the building and chase him down.  Not in time to spare the buildings and homes being eaten alive by his fire, but in time to threaten him just when he was ready to start enjoying the show. 

“Sorry about your pal,” Dabi chided, “but he said a lot of shit that just pissed me off? I mean, private property? Come on.” The villain didn’t turn to look at the cop, just felt the man push the gun’s tip against his scarred neck further.  “Don’t tell me you’re gun shy? Come on, pull the trigger.” 

His self-destructive words were absolutely insane, urging the man with a gun at his neck to shoot him? It wasn’t like Dabi expected the cop to not have the balls, he knew cops and they didn’t care what they had to do to keep villains at bay.  Dabi had just set fire to everything, the entire world in his vision burning as he spoke- that only was enough proof to the cop he was indeed a villainous man. 

“It’s not my place to judge-” 

“The fuck it isn’t!” Dabi laughed, whirling around and taking hold of the front of the gun and pushing it against his chest. “Pull the trigger you pathetic excess of a protector of the public!” 

Maybe it was his words, his temptation to espcae this fake reality oozing out, his insane smile that pulled at the staples across his face or maybe it was just the policeman’s sudden decision- but the trigger was pulled and Dabi, felt for just a moment, a bullet tear through his chest. 

-x-x-x-

Dabi’s eyes cracked open, vision blurry as he stared at a ceiling.  His mind was fuzzy and his head pounded with a headache he immediately took to noticing, even if he had just opened his eyes moments ago.  

He felt something behind his head, something covering his body and heard noises of machines humming besides where he was laying.  Annoyed he was on his back, he groaned, but found his throat drier than desert sand and grumbled to clear it.  His body felt heavy and weak as he started to slowly move around on the bed he rested on. 

His knees lifted, feet moving as his heels dug into the mattress to push his weak feeling legs up and his arms moved to brace into the mattress to try and lever his body up.  After a bit of a fight with his own body, he managed to sit up and his eyes finally focused from their blurriness.  

He looked around seeing equipment attached to his arm and patches on his chest that linked to a machine that showed his heartbeat.  His chest was bare as he wasn’t wearing his normal jeans, but grey sweats that he didn’t remember actually owning before.  

He groaned, his hand coming to push against his head.  The headache combined with his confusion was making him feel nauseous.  What happened? Had he been somewhere before this? Where was he? 

Looking around the small room he was in by himself again, he started to slowly remember.  He remembered the dream- his dream- and the dream he had forgotten wasn’t actual reality. Dabi remembered being shot. His heartbeat started to quicken when he started to finally take in the familiarity of the room and it’s concrete walls.  

Pulling the patches off his chest, he fumbled with whatever was in his arm and took it out.  The scars he was familiar with ran across his body in large proportions and the bangs that hung in front of his eyes were a dark, dyed black.  

He felt around his staples on the back of his hands and felt around his stomach and chest, tracing the large scars he knew were the real ones.  He pushed his hand through his hair and felt the strands just as he truly remembered. 

“Holy shit,” he breathed, moving to swing his legs over the bed and lean into his knees, hunching over as he brought his hands to his forehead- relieved. “I’m back.” 

He sat in his own silence and relief to be in a world that finally felt right as he tried regaining himself.  He remembered the dream he was stuck in and remembered the lack of your presence- your death in that place.  His eyes widened as he stared at the ground before he lifted his head up. 

You.

He stood to his feet quickly, but immediately teetered and fell to his ass on the floor.  He hissed, angry at how weak his legs felt.  He must’ve been sleeping for way too long if his damn legs didn’t want to work. 

Dabi growled as he used the bed to get back to his feet and took more cautious steps towards the door to leave the room he was in.  The open basement waiting area was empty and dim, not currently being in use. 

Using the wall, he ambled the perimeter of the room to come to the stairs that lead to the bar- the bar he was sure was there. The bar that he missed and that bar that didn’t exist in his previous dream without you. 

It took Dabi far longer than he’d like to admit to get his legs to climb the stairs, even if they were starting to gather more strength the longer he was awake and the longer he forced them to move and do as he commanded.  It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t as hard as when he originally woke up. 

Getting up to the door, he unlocked it before he practically fell through the frame when it opened.  Stumbling in, he shut it behind him and leaned his back against it to catch his breath.  He stopped and stood still, seeing the doorway into the bar’s kitchen and beyond it.  He had to make sure, he had to confirm this was real. 

Ambling his way through the space he knew so well, he came out of the back and smirked when he leaned against the doorframe and looked out into your bar.  The tables were empty and polished, chairs pushed in neatly and booths clean.  He saw the rec room beyond its own doorway and sighed.  

“It’s here,” laughed weakly to himself. “It’s all back.” His legs felt tired as he moved around the bar to slide into the barstool he always sat in.  Letting his legs rest, he rested his elbow on the bar top and pushed one hand into his hair to hold his head and the other arm stayed on the bar.  He began to replay all the memories he had here that he almost completely forgot in his dream.  

What would happen if he let that dream consume him? What if he eventually accepted that dream as reality? Would he have forgotten about you like he almost did? would he had died or just slept until he was old and grey? He didn’t know and he didn’t honestly want to think about it. 

He missed the polished scent of your pub instead of the dusty, rotten one of the abandoned building in his dream.  He felt his shoulder tense when he heard the pub entrance open behind his back.  Swiveling just a bit to view the door under his hand that partially covered his vision and his black bangs, his eyes widened at seeing you enter. 

You were carrying bags in your arms, head down as you worked on shutting the door and relocking it.  You hadn’t even seen him yet, eyes focusing on other things and the task of shutting your door and relieving your arms of the weight of whatever you had just gone out and bought. 

He heard you sigh and he mimicked the sound silently.  It felt like it had been so long since he heard you.  You dropped the bags to your feet, rotating your shoulders to give your arms a break from how long you were carrying them. Dabi could tell from the way you stretched and rolled your neck that you were tired.  

His breath stuttered when you turned and your chin came up, eyes finally finding the body sitting at your bar.  It took you just a beat to realize that it wasn’t just some stranger who had broken into your closed pub in broad daylight. 

You were about as frozen as he was as your jaw dropped, making your mouth go slightly agape.  He couldn’t blame you, he guessed. He lifted his head from his hand and gave you a weak, tired smirk. 

“Cat got your tongue, sweetheart?” 

You were soon tripping over your bags and rushing to his place at the bar, your hands grabbing his shoulders and pushing him from his slouched position into one that was straighter.  You twisted his stool and made him face you as you leaned him back to rest on the bar and inspected him. 

Dabi inspected you in the same manner.  

He watched as you silently, but frantically pushed your hands across his body.  His bare chest was warm and every touch of your fingers made him feel hot. it was like you were confirming that he was real and not some delusion you had made up from stress. He would do that same after the you-less dream he had been succumbed to for fuck-knows how long now, but your warm touch was too comforting- too real to be a just another dream. 

Dabi could see your eyes slick over as you just kept trying to silently convince yourself he was in front of you.  He furrowed his brows- you hadn’t looked at his face since you saw him and you weren’t saying anything.  It irritated him. 

The pyro snatched your roaming wrists in his hands as you jolted and went completely still.  

“Fuckin’ look at me,” he demanded, his impatience getting the best of him.  Slowly, your head lifted and you did.  He could see the tears brimming your eyes and he briefly wondered if you could even see him clearly with all those tears in the way of your vision. “Now, talk to me.” 

Your mouth fell open, but snapped shut again. Only small sounds coming out. What could you say? You had no idea how to form words in the given situation.  What should you say? Ask him how he feels, ask him how he woke up and if he was okay? Ask him why the hell the first thing he did was get up out of bed and come to the bar? 

“Let me make this easy,” he told you, a scowl still on his scarred face. He brought one of his hands up to the cup under your jaw, his thumb and fingers pushing your cheeks to make your lips purse , your chin rest in his palm.  “Can’t talk? Fine; then just say my name, it should be easy.” 

You swallowed. One word, just two short syllables long, that’s it.  It really should be easy.  Opening your mouth, you did your best to force your locked up voice out. 

“Dabi?” You questioned, your brows quirking up as he chuckled, smirking down at you. 

“Atta girl,” he whispered before he brought his lips down onto the ones he had pushed out so invitingly to himself.  You found your head spinning when Dabi’s hand that held your cheeks and under your jaw, pulled your mouth open so he could push his tongue inside to tangle around yours. 

The entire time he roamed your mouth, his eyes stayed open and on yours.  Your small huffs of shock dwindled as your wide eyes started to narrow and drop to a lid as your tense body finally slackened.  

This is what woke him up- what had him remember, not being shot.  His want to be around you, to taste you for the first time and to smell your scene again. Drawing his tongue out of your mouth, he peppered your flushed cheeks and the corner of your lips with small pecks, before greedily taking your lips again.  Every time you tried pulling away from him- to get some answers no doubt- he didn’t let you get far as he kept chasing after your lips. 

Your taste was so fuckin’ addicting, he almost growled. 

Lifting himself up from his barstool, he had forgotten that his legs were weak and he found himself immediately releasing your lips and losing his balance.  Grabbing your shoulder and arm to try and keep his balance, you squawked, not ready to hold his weight and you both tumbled to the tile. 

You groaned as the man lay on top of you, his arms laying outstretched on either side of your head with his chin next to your neck.  When he didn’t move, you brought one of your hands to his back and tapped him gently. 

“Uh, Dabi?” You felt his breathing against your own as he just hummed signally that he didn’t just pass out..  “Think you can get off me?” Your voice was weak and without even looking at you, Dabi could imagine the flush that most definitely painted your cheeks a vibrant red. 

“No, I don’t think I can,” he chuckled. He felt you fight under him, your arms pushing against his side before you lifted him just a bit before pushing him and sliding yourself out from under him.  He groaned. “Fuck, you should treat a patient with more care.” 

“Oh, sorry,” you panicked as you were soon grabbing his arm and throwing it over your shoulder and heaving him up.  You looked back to your bags of groceries before deeming Dabi’s overall health top priority. You were ready to take him back downstairs to the basement when he stopped you, his free hand shooting out to grab a door frame and keep you from proceeding.  

“No,” he denied.  “Upstairs. I want to be in your place instead.” 

“What? But, Dabi, you’re-”

“I’m fine,” he bit.  He couldn’t just outright say that he missed your apartment, especially right to your face.  “Just, take me up there instead.” In the end, that stupidly good heart of yours relented and obeyed his request.  

Dabi felt like he just reached nirvana when you helped sit him down on your couch.  His arms lifted to the back of the couch instinctive and he dropped his head back and shut his eyes, taking in the newfound comfort. He could feel you stand in front of him before he felt the cushion next to him dip, informing him that you had just sat next to him.  He could feel your concerned eyes burn into the side of his face. 

“You don’t need to stare.” 

“Well, you still need to answer some questions.” 

Dabi peeled his eyes open, as he tilted his head that still rested back on the cushions to look at you. “Ask away.” 

“Okay,” you breathed, not expecting him to be as cooperative. “Well, how do you feel?” 

“Better than ever,” your pointed look at his legs made him clear his throat with a chuckle. “Better than ever with a bit of a balance problem.” 

“And your neck? Does that hurt?” 

“Nope.” 

“What about your head, any headaches or eye strain?” 

“Had a headache when I woke up, pretty much gone now.” 

You ran him back and forth about questions of if he was in pain or any discomfort, and while he normally would have found the entire process annoying, he couldn't help but smile through it. Listening to you talk so much made him feel remarkably better. 

“Alright, now for unprofessional questions,” you told him. “Why the hell did you think it was a good idea to go up to the bar as soon as you woke up? I was gone no more than 20 minutes and you somehow climbed your way up there. What if you fell back down the stairs or something?” 

“I don’t know about you, sweetheart, but when I wake up in a basement, I’d like to get out of it,” he joked.  “I wanted to see the bar anyway.” 

“It’s the same as it’s always been.” 

“Not to me.” 

“What?” Your twisted face that had been chewing him out the past several minutes had softened at his tone.  His joking smirk fell as he looked back at the ceiling and his mouth pressed into a line.  Just remembering that awful dream really pissed him off.  

“What was the quirk I was under?” 

“You,” you started, “you knew you were under the effects of a quirk?” 

“Of course I did, I’m not stupid.” 

“Well, the guy with the needle fingertips is the one who got you in the neck during that brawl, remember?” Dabi nodded. “His needles contain a type of sedative that sends the affected body to sleep and their mind into a created reality of their dreams. I guess you had a dream, huh?” 

“Yeah. A fucking stupid dream where everything was the same expect the important stuff.” 

“Important stuff? Like what exactly?” 

Glancing at you from the corner of his eye, he decided not to tell you about his identity.  To you he was still just plain Dabi- the Dabi who took Stain’s words to heart and hated this hero-praised society. If he told you who he really was, what if you looked at him differently? So, he kept it to himself. 

“You weren’t there.” You were silent at his side, his gaze moving to focus back on the light fixtures that were turned off above him since the sun was bright enough through the windows to light the living room up.  “When I woke up in that dream, you weren’t there. The bar wasn’t there either, it was just some run down building owned by the city. You didn’t know me in that dream, and you died as a stranger to me in that dream too.”  His eyes lidded as a grim shadow cast over his face.  

“I died? But how-”

“I really don’t want to get into the details.” 

“Oh,” you pushed yourself.  “That makes sense. Sorry for prying.” It was silent for a beat. You looked away from Dabi, glancing around your living room as he watched you from the corner of his vision.  You had stood up from the couch, making him twitch. “I’m going to get you something to drink, you’re probably thirsty.  Since you’re recovering though, I’m gonna make you drink a lot of water.” 

He was content on letting you do what you wanted, but the thought of you leaving his sight for just a moment made his skin crawl.  If you went to the kitchen, you’d be going around a corner and behind a wall, he couldn’t see through walls.  

You got one step from the couch when he snatched your wrist and yanked you over.  Falling back on the cushions, your back was against Dabi’s side where he had snaked his arm around you, keeping you hostage.  

“What are you-?!” Your voice stopped when he dropped his forehead to your shoulder and squeezed you.  

“Don’t leave my sight yet.” 

“Did my disappearance in your dream really bother you that much?” He cursed you for being so perceptive on why he was suddenly so handsy with you. In the past, he tried to be as mindful of your feelings as possible.  He didn’t want to take advantage of your emotions back then, but now it wasn’t quite like before.  

“Yeah, it did.”  His honesty shocked you.  There was no joking undertone and no sound of a smirk on his lips.  It was sincere and it was sad. 

You relaxed against him, raising one of your hands to push through his hair that tickled your neck and cheek.  You wished you had a book or your phone to keep you busy at the very least, but you didn’t. You just traced the design of your apartment’s wallpaper with your eyes, sitting in silence for a while. 

“Hey,” you softly called after a while to test if he had fallen asleep.  You heard him hum behind you. “Is the reason you did what you did in the bar, because I didn’t exist in your dream?” 

Oh fuck. 

He had nearly forgotten that he practically shoved his tongue down your throat not that long ago.  In the past, maybe he would’ve felt bad about doing that; to you in particular- you being his best friend and the same friend who patched him up on the regular and the friend who got rejected by him. But now, he didn’t feel any regret looking back on the deed.  

In fact, the only regret he felt int his moment was the memory of his rejection. 

“Can I take it back?” 

“The kiss?” You croak? “Well, of course you can. I-”

“Not that, you idiot.” 

“What?” 

“That time I told you that I didn’t do relationships, when I rejected you. Can I take that back?” Your silence made his stomach churn.  God, this is why he hated relationships, why he hated fuckin’ feelings.  This is the sole reason he squashed what he felt towards you down into the pit of his stomach. Now it’s all coming back up to burn his throat like a case horrible heartburn. 

“Dabi, this isn’t a joke to me.” 

“I know, I’m not that much of a prick.” 

“Yes, you are.” 

“Not to you, I’m not.” The moment you opened your mouth to argue against him again, he bit into your neck, making you squawk and kick your legs out before bopping the top of his head with your hand that had been previously brushing through his hair. Which didn’t help your case, since all it did was knock his teeth into your skin more before he unlatched from you. “Hey,” he spoke as he moved to push his cheek against the top of your head so there was no way you could even get a glance at his face.  “If you think you still like me, then I think I like you too.” 

Dabi felt you start laughing before he heard it.  He felt like he was going to burst into flames as you squirmed around in his arms, laughing like he just told the world's worst dad joke. He pinched into your sides, making you yelp between laughs. When you settled down, you just rested against him willingly and hummed. 

“That’s not how you ask a someone out, Dabi.” 

“Oh, shut the fuck up.” 

“Neither is that.” 

“That’s it,” he finalized with himself as he planted his chin on top of your head with enough force to make you whine in dull pain. “Just for that, I’m not taking you on any good dates. It’s just concrete basements and empty fridges for you.” 

Yu gasp. “That is not how you treat your girlfriend!” 

“I don’t remember asking you to be that to me?” 

“You son of a-”

He pushed a hand over your mouth, muffling you as he felt you smile against his palm.  Tiling your head back to look up and back at him, he pulled his hand away from your lips and pushed a finger in front of his own, shushing you. 

“You sure you want me?” He asked. “Last chance to back out of it.” 

“Well,” you answered, “do really you want me?”

Dabi rolled his eyes. Like he would flake out after all this, you should know better than to ask him something like that.  He was meticulous, he wouldn’t be so certain of something like this if he hadn’t thought it over first.  He’s had his time without you and now he’s gonna make certain that it never happens again. 

“Oh, baby, I only want you.” Your face flushed and he kissed the end of your nose- since your lips were too far away from this angle to reach.  “Now turn around dammit, I want to kiss you properly.” 

That stupidly good heart of yours never fails to listen. 

-END- 

[sparklingpax]

Sweet Bother, That’s What You Are

A.N: 

(starring my two TFP OCs, Paxie and Sharpflint, who will be getting sketch posts um.........eventually o///o’’)

-HIIIIII So. Potentially the first of many drabbles with these two <3 There’s no official story story, really....just whatever comes to mind if I feel like writing it! ^w^

-I actually managed to find the first time I did a drabble for them, idk, kinda dumb, but thought I’d link in case you were interested ^^’’ 

-This one’s kinda dumb too I apologize but I wanted to write it so

-Sorry for grammar, punctuation, word usage, spelling, etc mistakes......it’s late and I’m falling asleep and my brain is on Full Sunshine Happy Things mode so I’m just trying to dump all that into this story >:3 

-What planet are they on that has metallic trees and rocks?? uM?? uh--ok well,,,,,,same planet as the last one sorry I’m not very creative idk why I need so many trees for my writing anyway lmfao akjdjsd

-So when is this set then?? Ok so. After the war; in this universe here, which is not an au btw (or is it?? idk?? the events are assumed to be exactly the same as prime and other aligned continuity stuff just with these two inserted in the background if that makes any sense at all,,,,) Paxie was from one of the first generations after the war; Sharpflint fought in the war as an Autobot so,,,theres that. 

-May I just note for the record so no one asks or makes assumptions, their relationship is fully inteded to be really good friendship & it’s Not romantic. Sorry if I made it confusing in the writing sdjsdj basically I love writing romantic stuff but for once I want to write a Good Friends dynamic ^w^ hope thats okie!

-Also no Sharpflint is not actually old, he’d be more like a 35-year old and Paxie’s might be 25-ish. If you wanted to visualize it in human years I guess because we’re all........human..? She’s just fooling around 😹✨

-SHOUTOUT TO Y’ALL WHO ENCOURAGED ME TO START POSTING MY DRABBLE IDEAS!! I hope I do not disappoint too much ^^’’ 

-hhhhh & it be Short™ o///o but I hope you like it!!! thanks for reading!!! :)

///

Paxie kicked a stray rock back into its place on the side of the road and pouted. Arms folded behind her back, she did her best to tune out whatever Sharpflint was on about. Why?

“—and Primus fragging heck, Paxie, you know that as your friend—no, respected elder and mentor—I do not want to find your corpse on the side of the highway because you refuse to learn that—”

Yes. That. Because he was lecturing her about how strongly he disagreed with her personal stance in the Natural Form movement. However, she was not truly annoyed at all. It was a peaceful afternoon and she’d managed to convince Sharpflint to ditch patrol to walk with her. 

I’m going to have some fun here--after all, I’m giving up my free day, the one day I don’t have classes!!

Suddenly, one of his words registered in her mind and she got an idea. 

Paxie tapped his arm. He came to a halt alongside her, breaking off abruptly to give her a scathing ‘WHAT.’ However he swallowed that, too when he saw her face.

“You got one thing right, salty engines,” Paxie started, feigning frustration.

Sharpflint narrowed his yellow optics—he absolutely detested that ridiculous nickname.

“Oh?” He muttered back, half annoyed. “Enlighten me.”

Paxie shook her head, heaving a dramatic sigh. “Well, you’re old. But you’re not my mentor—you’re too old to be my mentor. I’d need a spry, young, whippersnapper like myself! In fact—wait—”

She did a shushing motion and looked around. Sharpflint moaned quietly, rolling his eyes hard. He waited for her to continue roasting him.

“Yes…yes, I can hear it!”

He decided to play along, folding his arms as he towered over her. “Hear what, Paxie?”

“Listen!! I can hear the high concentration of salt in your attitude rusting your rotor blades!!”

Frag me, Primus why.

“I can hear it from a mile—”

Sharpflint picked her up, smirking as her words melted into surprised yelping. He hoisted her over his shoulder, gripping her legs as the rest of her body hung over his back, and eyed the tree a small ways ahead of them. His grin grew wider.

“Old, huh?”

“Yes!!” Paxie was laughing now, gasping for air.

“Well, then, I’ll just show you how us elderly were taught to run!”

“FLINT!!!”

He swung her in a circle before racing ahead to the tree, prompting more giggled cries. His eyes glinted while his shorter friend shouted, playfully indignant, and demanded to be put down.

“I’ll snap you in two, you robot stick!!”

“Try it, tiny!! You’d barely leave a scratch!”

“OH—” Paxie narrowed her optics and whacked his green plating, still laughing. “SO SAYS ‘MR. INSULTS ARE RUDE’!! WOW!!”

Sharpflint let out a laugh himself, reaching the tree. Sure I said that, but I never said I couldn’t joke around…

“Hey, what are y—WAHHAHHHHHNOONONO—”

The two mechs had made it to the tree, so Sharpflint naturally tossed Paxie just high enough for her to land in one of the branches. As he’d hoped, she latched on and balled up against the metallic surface, optics wide with shock.

Take that, you adorable little scrap. Sharpflint nodded to himself, placing his hands on his hips and tilting his head back to take in the view. Paxie started giggling again, wailing down at him to help her off the branch .

“I’m only as old as the middle of the Great War!”

“You’re a salty, rusty sack of bolts!!”

Sharpflint sighed, turning away. “You and Mr. Tree can keep each other company until I come back here for patrol….” He pretended to think deeply, then calmly finished, “Four days from now.”

“Fine! You’re only as old as the youngest old bot from the war!!”

“Three days.”

“You’re a not-so-old dork!”

“Hmmm….” Sharpflint let the silence sink in, as if he were actually deeply considering her words. Paxie sighed audibly.

“You’re my favorite old dork--the best friend I could ask for!”

At this, Sharpflint turned and regarded her, beaming down at him. He unfolded his arms, chuckling lightly.

“I was going to let you down anyway, you know..” he said a little more quietly, feeling a little warm after her previous comment. The purple-white mech grinned back down at him.

“I know! I just wanted to say!”

Paxie was his closest friend, even if she was young, and didn’t know how bleak life could be—which was half the reason they ever got into fights in the first place anyway. Sometimes it’s hard to see eye-to-eye with someone who’s led a completely different life than your own. Both Sharpflint and Paxie were aware of that.

All that same, she was sunshine and openness.

Paxie was…simply put, a great friend.

Sharpflint cracked a small smile—not a smirk, but a real smile.

“You want to meet again at Silicon’s tonight?”

“Only if you’re paying!”

Sharpflint heaved another sigh, slumping over. Well, what else was to be expected? After all, the helicopter mech had thrown his friend into a tree. He couldn’t say no.

Well, no, he could, really should...but it would be rude—

“Oh, dear Primus,” he murmured under his breath, continuing to gaze up at Paxie, still hugging the tree branch for her dear life.

“Yay!! Silicon’s!!” Paxie cheered like a young sparkling, then cut herself off as her celebratory motions caused the branch to sway a bit too much. 

“Thank goodness for frequent paychecks…”

But above all, thank goodness for friends. Especially the ones that drive a bot nuts. Paxie, I’d give my life for you. 

[fictionadventurer]

Top 5 unpublished stories (unfinished, in-progress, etc. yours or others' - things posted on tumblr fit, but not indie or traditional publishing)

To be clear, I’m limiting this to:

Works that have at least a partial scene drafted. If it exists only in outline or in idea form, it’s ineligible. There has to be some writing for me to reread and like.  

Stories that are not current WIPs.

So, in no particular order, here are five favorites that I’m fond of.

(Warning: Very Long Post)

1. Airship Sleeping Beauty.

In this world, parents buy fairy gifts for their children at birth. Most people are limited to two or three. Seraphina Crowne (please call her Sara) was gifted with twelve. Her impoverished parents had friends among fairy kind who were able to bend the rules to give this child enough gifts to survive in their harsh environment. Thus, Sara has everything from enhanced beauty and grace to strength and speed and musical skill, which makes her an unstoppable force of (super)nature. She loves a challenge and decides to support her parents by becoming a sailor on a flying sailing ship, where she rockets up through the ranks.

Our POV character is Jack Sanders, who serves under her as second lieutenant. Jack has spent years struggling through the ranks with only one unsuitable fairy gift. The father who chose his gift was an insomniac, and gave his son the gift of helping people fall asleep. Surrounded by people with more useful skills like strength or navigation, Jack languished as a midshipman for years until he served under a captain who realized the greater uses of his gift. Jack hates Seraphina Crowne, assuming that she’s the daughter of a rich man who has enough money to bend all the fairy gifting rules for his precious princess.

As they travel through a tropical land, they run into many adventures, and Jack starts to respect Sara. He learns that she comes from a much less privileged background than he’d assumed, and they slowly become friends. Then one day, they’re taking a day of shore leave on a flying island when they get into a fight with some local ruffians. Sara falls over the edge and is impaled on one of the metal spikes that serve as a barrier between the island and the open sky. But she doesn’t die. She climbs up with a gaping hole through her torso, and the should-be fatal wound heals within hours.

Sara is forced to tell Jack her greatest secret--she actually has a (highly illegal) thirteenth gift. Her mother’s greatest friend among fairy kind was a fairy who was banished from the guild for giving gifts that were too powerful. This fairy wanted to make absolutely certain that her friend couldn’t possibly lose this child at a young age. Her gift to Sara was that she would die by being pricked on the spindle of a spinning wheel--which means that nothing else can kill her. Not disease, injury, old age--she is invulnerable as long as she stays away from spinning wheels, which is easy to do in this industrialized age when your average person has never seen such a thing.  

Jack promises to keep Sara’s secret and they return to the ship. But Jack isn’t the only one who heard her confession. There’s a local airship pirate who supports his business by adopting infants and getting them the illegal fairy gift of being able to transform into birds. One of these bird-children also heard Sara’s story, and they inform their pirate father, who make plans to attack the ship and take out its most powerful asset.

I never finished the story because the climax falls apart. The pirates were going to attack and stab Sara, but Jack is able to stall her death by putting her to sleep--and I could never figure out a way to save Sara without it feeling cheap and predictable and/or detouring into a completely different plotline that takes us away from the story. But I think of the rest of it as one of the best fairy tale retellings I never wrote.

2. Faraway House

This one is my middle-grade portal fantasy for adults. Mara meets Adrian, a mysterious, magical man whose house sits in a space that connects to three different universes--ours, one that has a more medieval fairy tale vibe, and one that’s more steampunky and involves lots of chimeras and people with animal traits. People in need of help tend to fall into this in-between space, and Adrian lets them stay at Faraway House for as long as they need.

There are tons of characters who drop into this story and provide little subplots, but my favorite part was an overarching plotline involving Adrian and Mara. Adrian, who was originally from the fairy tale world, was the evil magician of every childhood nightmare, a powerful man who did all sorts of horrible things to people. He became obsessed with immortality and eventually got it--at a great price to the rest of the world and to himself. He was caught, stripped of a lot of power, and left to live his long life and see the consequences of his actions. He spent a few centuries wandering the three different worlds and undergoing a ton of character development. As a newly humbled man, he was given charge of Faraway House, since his magical talents would be valuable to keep the area and the portals stable. Now, he’s the nicest, sweetest guy you’d ever want to meet. He rarely tells anyone about his past, and most people wouldn’t believe it if you told them.

Anyhow, after Mara’s been staying at Faraway for a long time, she and Adrian go through a portal that links to Adrian’s home universe. They soon realize that it links to his world several centuries in the past, when Evil Adrian was at the height of his power. And he’s very interested in Mara, because her adventures in Faraway have given her some kind of magic that will help him reach the Well of Immortality (or something like that--it’s a very nebulous, fairy tale idea). Unfortunately, taking this magic will kill Mara, so Older Adrian does all he can to save Mara. He succeeds and gets her back home. But his younger self is still on the lookout for her, and he eventually makes his way to Faraway, where he drains the magic and escapes, leaving Mara dying.

And I know this is the most cliche way to end this, but I like my stories predictable and cheesy, and Older Adrian ends up saving Mara by giving up his immortality, which kills him. It’s all very Disney-moving. The story ends with Mara being made the new caretaker of Faraway. And I give away the ending because I’m never going to write this, but I’m still fonder of this story than it deserves.

3. The Island

Anne of Green Gables meets fairy tales.

The Island is a place full of magic. Amphibious mermaids swim along its shores. A fairy forest fills the heart of the Island. Selkie live on the tiny islands off its shore. Pixies cause trouble in the farmyard’s back garden. It’s amazing to the relatively low-magic areas of the rest of the world, but it’s all part of daily life to the farmers and fishermen who live here.

The Fairy’s Daughters, a retelling of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”, had the most words written in it, but I think I’m fonder of some of the shorter sketches set a generation earlier that highlight little bits and pieces of the world. I started with the tale of Lizbet, an ordinary orphan girl living with her aunt who befriends Gideon, a half-fairy boy who eventually becomes the town’s magical doctor. Their friends include the widow lighthouse keeper who tries to adopt an orphan boy and is surprised to get Amy, who’s a girl--and a mermaid. There’s Captain Avery, a fierce-looking old sailor with a gentle heart and a surprising amount of experience with magical creatures. There’s Auberon, a fairy prince and eventually king who’s racist against humans, spends some of his younger years traveling in human lands to import human-made products, and becomes even more racist because of it.

I think my favorite thing in this universe are the sylphs. I borrowed Andersen’s idea of the “Daughters of the Air”, and made my sylphs into invisible, benevolent creatures who do good deeds for people, and can accomplish magical feats far beyond what any fairy can do. The sketch I reread most often is a scene where Amy, out for a swim in a storm, is rescued by a sylph who has taken a human (though translucent) form, and gets invited in for tea by Amy’s grateful friends.

It’s a fun universe to play in, but not one that I’m very good at finishing stories in, so I think it needs to stay as a pretty aesthetic and a fun sandbox.

4. Clever Anne

A retelling of “Kate Crackernuts” set in a non-magical Regency-esque setting. Anne is the beautiful, intelligent daughter of a duke. Kate is her bold, daring stepsister. They are deeply devoted to each other, but Kate’s mother hates Anne for being so much more beautiful than her daughter. She gets one of the servants to push Anne into the embers of the fire, leaving her face badly burned. Kate throws a veil over Anne’s face and gets her out of the house, insisting they’ll go off to make their fortune.

Anne was childhood friends with a young man who, through a convoluted succession crisis, unexpectedly finds himself on the throne. They stumble upon him in their travels, and find themselves able to help him by investigating the mysterious behavior of his half-brother, who resents that he was passed over for the throne and may be plotting something sinister. I was never able to figure out a good political-intrigue parallel to the “dancing all night with fairies” portion of the plot, so it never got written. The only really good scene I wrote from this story was the moment where Kate finds out about Anne’s injury and insists on leaving the house. But even in that one scene, their relationship is so strong and so vivid in my mind that I love their story even if I never finish it.

5. The Beast’s Mechanic

This is the one on the list that’s closest to being a WIP. I actually edited some of the beginning in March. It’s a sci-fi take on “Beauty and the Beast” set in a world where two planetary empires are at war. The war destroyed Monique’s father’s shipping business, forcing the whole family to move to a desert planet where they run a small spaceport. Monique is a top-notch mechanic, her sister Gemma is a pilot, Gemma’s twin Joanne stays at home to take care of the house and the two youngest siblings, and Leo is a seventeen-year-old rapscallion who is desperate to join the war as soon as possible.

Their world is upended when, for the first time in years, their mother wants to meet with them. A former starship captain, she and her husband disagreed over the war, and she left the family years ago to join the war effort. But now her starship is in for repairs and she wants to take some time to reconnect with her family. There’s some controversy among the family--do they really want to open these wounds again when they’ve finally moved on?--but Monique the peacemaker insists that, even though it’s impossible for the whole family to make the trip, her father should take the chance. He goes to meet his wife, but on the way there, his spaceship breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and he’s rescued by the Beast, an infamous cyborg outlaw. He also breaks important equipment on the Beast’s ship, and is only able to keep from being thrown out of the airlock by insisting that his daughter can fix it.

Monique nearly does, except that the authorities show up just before she’s done with repairs, forcing the Beast to take off with her in the ship. She comes to learn that the Beast is far from an evil criminal and has been helping people wronged by the government, and she helps him get home to his family (in the enemy empire), but her patriotic starship captain of a mother takes all of these events in very much the wrong light.

I’m very fond of this story for the ways that it avoids some of the usual BatB retelling tropes. There’s much more to this story than the romance, and little focus on the mystery of how the Beast became a Beast, and there’s much more focus on family. The Beast hasn’t even shown up yet, but I’m just incredibly fond of Monique’s family and their everyday working-class life on a desert planet. I hope I can make more progress on it someday.

[umbry-fic]

A Palette Full of You (4)

Summary: Glimpses into Colette and Lloyd’s lives as they grow up together, learn who they are, and fall in love with each other.

(Written for Colloyd Week 2021)

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters: Colette Brunel, Lloyd Irving Relationships: Colette Brunel/Lloyd Irving Rating: G Chapter: 4 of 6 Word Count: 5897 Mirror Link: AO3 Original Post Date: 12/06/2021

Chapter Title: Stardust

Chapter Summary: The astronomy club holds a stargazing event on the school rooftop. As chairperson, there's no chance Lloyd isn't going to invite Colette. But as the night progresses, actually spotting the hard-to-find stars become the least of Colette's concerns.

(Colloyd Week Day 4: Stargazing)

Notes+Warnings: Chapter 4 of my multi chapter Colloyd week fic! Warning for some major internalised acephobia.

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~~~

16-years-old

Stepping out of the science lab into the corridor, Colette came to a halt, her schoolbag weighing on her shoulders, soaking in the warm air as other students filed past her. One of the most unfortunate things about attending practical make-up was that she wasn't guaranteed her usual seat by the lab window. Sitting right under the air-con was enough to send her into hibernation, and the test was hard enough as it was. She'd barely managed to finish on time.

Rummaging through the pocket of her navy blue pinafore, her fingers brushed past a packet of tissue and her wallet before successfully pulling her phone out. She needed a reminder of where the stargazing event was taking place, and who better to ask than Lloyd? She hoped he was reading his messages.

"7.23 pm, May 18th" blinked at her from her phone screen.

Wait, 7 missed calls? From Lloyd? What for?

Gah, she’d forgotten to tell him.

She dialled his number, placing the phone against her ear and waiting for his anxious voice to ring out. Which it did, just seconds later as he picked up.

“Colette? Where are you? I tried calling you so many times, and Sheena and Zelos wouldn’t pick up because they’re both at tuition!”

“I forgot to tell you the makeup got pushed by an hour. Sorry for making you worry, Lloyd. But I’m done now. Where’s the event at?”

"We’re on the school rooftop! Where we celebrated Sheena's birthday last month, remember?" Lloyd replied, his voice tinny in quality from the phone call. She could hear, in the background, the overlapping sounds of many voices.

“School rooftop, school rooftop, school rooftop…” she mumbled, beginning to scurry through her secondary school's corridors, head darting every which way to determine where she was and try to find clues as to where she was going. She didn’t often wander into this part of the school campus - block D, the science block - since she only took two sciences. Usually, she’d take the main staircase straight down to the canteen, but it would take forever to get back to the roof from there. She didn’t want to be too late.

“You’re coming from science lab 3, right? If I remember correctly, it’s one right, walk past the storage room to block C, and then take the first left down the bridge to block B. You should see the staircase to the roof. Do you need me to come and get you?”

“No, no, it’s fine! Just stay on the phone?”

“Alri - OI, MATTHEW, STOP MESSING WITH THE TELESCOPE! YOU DO NOT GET SPECIAL TREATMENT JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE MY DESKMATE! GET YOUR HANDS OFF AND LET ELLA HANDLE IT!” The yell was muffled, probably because Lloyd had taken the phone away from his mouth to avoid deafening her, though his raised voice was still enough to make her wince, tearing the phone away from her ear.

“Sorry about that,” Lloyd said, his voice lowered back to normal volume again. “Got to prevent property damage. You know how it is.”

“Right…” She laughed nervously, wondering how many people were up on the rooftop and what exactly they were up to. She was hoping to spend a peaceful evening stargazing with Lloyd and listening to him talk about constellations, the shining passion in his eyes rivalling even the stars above, not… getting distracted by people fooling around.

“How’s it going? Are you getting closer?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m heading in the right direction,” she assured Lloyd, taking the left he’d directed her to and running down the bridge connecting two blocks, her ponytail flaring behind her and her pinafore swirling around her legs. There was almost no one left in the school now. The hallways she’d run through had been abandoned, for the most part, the stragglers she passed by all heading in the direction of the main gate. The sky, visible from the bridge, was in the last throes of twilight, slowly bleeding into night as black seeped across the sky.

Colette skidded to a halt at the end of the bridge, gaze landing on a familiar door. She could recall this stairwell now, having taken it two months ago. She, Zelos and Lloyd had somehow managed to lead a blindfolded Sheena up it, whereafter they had surprised their friend with a birthday cake they had baked together. That birthday cake had been salvaged solely by Zelos, who was a surprisingly good baker. Or maybe they were just average, and weren't knocking over the baking tray every ten minutes like her.

“I’ve found the right staircase!” Colette said, hanging up and stuffing her phone back into her pocket and starting to take the stairs two at a time. She usually never did that (and was often teased by Sheena over it), choosing to climb each step carefully, for the risk of tripping was too high. But she was in a hurry, and so had no other choice. Her shoe-laces were coming undone, and her school bag seemed to be getting heavier with each step.

Everyone else who was attending the event was likely already on the rooftop - Colette could hear voices and the sounds of footsteps against concrete through the open door at the top of the stairwell. Grabbing the cold metal handle, she threw the door open, finally emerging onto the rooftop.

There were about thirty or so people milling around, everyone still dressed in their school uniforms, chatting with friends, holding cups of fruit punch or lounging on the mats that had come from the gymnasium. Not enough people to count as a crowd, but certainly respectable. Just a small event, one where she could relax and enjoy some peace and quiet.

Now she just had to find Lloyd...

"Colette!"

Speak of the devil! Or the angel, perhaps... Colette tracked the source of the voice and spotted Lloyd, making his way over from a group of students who were busy fiddling with a telescope, his hand gripping a red plastic cup. One side of his collar was flipped up, and the small shooting star pin that marked him as the chairperson of the astrology club was pinned to the other. Only one of the sleeves of his white blouse were folded like they were meant to be, the other way too long and leaving barely any skin visible above his elbow. His white long pants had been rolled up as much as possible - which wasn't much, honestly, the most it could reach was mid-thigh. It was one of those stuffy nights with no wind that was stifling and hard to fall asleep in.

"You made it!" Lloyd's grin grew wider as he grabbed her hand, only for him to flinch away instantly, vivid red liquid nearly sloshing over the rim of his cup. “Gah, your hand is really cold.”

"Sorry! You know how cold the lab is. Anyway, I only made it here thanks to your assistance." Colette laughed, feeling her weariness peel off her instantly. Lloyd always had that effect on her - his energy was infectious, like it was being injected straight into her veins whenever she was in close proximity to him. Especially now, with clear excitement alive on his face.

It was strange, though. He was the only one with that effect on her. Meeting her other friends never failed to make her happy, but Lloyd was the only one that could make her feel ten times more alive in an instant the moment she saw his smile. It had only started in the past year, this unknown, electrifying sensation that arose in her heart whenever she was with Lloyd. The desire to see him again after school ended got stronger with each day, but she couldn’t understand any of it…

“You’re staying for the afterparty, right?” Lloyd asked, taking a sip of the fruit punch. He said afterparty, but she knew it wouldn’t be much of a party. Just all the members of the astrology club hanging out in the tiny room the school had assigned to them, playing card games and chatting. Everyone in the club knew her by name, for she was the friend of their chairperson who somehow managed to turn up at every meeting. She was practically an honorary member at this point.

A homey gathering without any alcohol in sight. She much preferred it that way. The last time alcohol had come into play when she was staying overnight at a chalet with the rest of her class, sometime late last year. She'd avoided the cans of beer stacked on the floor, the smell not appealing to her. But alcohol sure made the rest of her classmates go wild. Running away from slightly drunk classmates trying to get her to play truth and dare was not fun. Normal truth and dare was already horrible, with questions like "who are you crushing on" and "who would you like to kiss". She didn't understand why it was a game that people insisted be played at every class gathering or orientation. No one ever believed her when she answered honestly with "no one", and she was fairly used to the reactions by now, the common ones being that she had to be lying, for everyone had someone in mind, or that she should stop acting so high-and-mighty, or just snickers of her being a prude.

Just because she was used to the biting words didn't mean they had stopped hurting, reminder stacked atop reminder of how she was isolated from everyone else around her. And as much as she hated answering "truth" whenever that accursed bottle landed on her, answering "dare" was even worse. There were the innocent ones like doing the chicken dance, and then there was having to kiss someone. She always did her best to leave as soon as the bottle made an appearance, but she could never say "no" when someone asked her directly to join, for she never knew how to turn people down. Neither did she want to give her classmates more reasons to treat her as a laughingstock for being too much of a coward to play. So now, whenever she was forced to play the game, she would give the least offensive answers possible - mostly girls, for she at least found them pretty, though she didn't think that was what attractive meant.

But the drunk version of truth and dare? That was hell on Earth. The questions got even more invasive. She could never understand how someone could ask "who would you sleep with here" with a straight face. And alcohol loosened the lips of her classmates, enough that she had heard snippets of some of the more adventurous ones describing their sexual escapades in sickening detail. She really didn't need the reminder that sexual activities weren't just a thing of fiction, but something that actually happened amongst real people and that people seemed to really want to do. She'd spent half of that chalet stay playing Uno with Zelos in a corner, because Zelos was way better at promptly rejecting offers to play truth and dare.

Only her friends had ever come to her defence, but it was not like they could help that much when they weren't in the same class, apart from Zelos. Still, they afforded much-needed safety, and they never pointed out how she was weird or strange or different, even if they must have noticed by now. But...

She was 16. Wasn't she supposed to get it by now?

“Yep, I'm staying. We can go home together,” Colette suggested, tearing her thoughts back to the present. "Dad already knows I'll be coming home late, and Aunt Anna can just pick us both up."

Colette reached out to fold Lloyd's right sleeve, straightening the wrinkles out, before reaching to flip his collar down. His uniform was always in such a state of disarray, and it was always up to her to get him looking neat before the teachers did their inspections during morning assembly.

"Yep, I'll let Mom know," Lloyd replied, squeezing her hand. "Let's actually get to stargazing, shall we? Come on, I reserved the mat with the best telescope. The..."

Colette let Lloyd ramble on about the specifications of the telescope as he guided her towards their destination. It was always endearing to hear him talk about the topics he loved, whether it be the ocean or the stars. His words would get faster as he went on, until he was barely intelligible as all the syllables clumped together, without him even noticing. She didn’t want to interrupt him, though, much preferring to just watch him as a smile inevitably grew on her face.

"Right! Get comfortable!" Lloyd said, having completed his spiel and coming to an abrupt stop. Colette stumbled a few steps forward, so engrossed in listening to Lloyd that she'd nearly tripped. He gestured towards the deep blue mat stuffed with foam, placing his cup next to it before crouching to adjust the sleek black telescope, nimble fingers flying from knobs to levers. His face was scrunched up in concentration, focussed entirely on his task.

Colette dumped her school bag down and kicked off her school shoes, leaving her feet clad in white socks, and scrambled onto the mat, lying down on it. Lloyd joined her soon after, having finished whatever preparations he was doing, sidling closer on the mat so that his shoulder pressed against hers as they both stared up into the night sky, now completely dark. In the distance, Colette could see the lighted-up M sign on the business complex.

“We can look at the stars first before we use the telescope to find the planets. What do you see, right now?”

"Um, well… I can only see one star in the sky," Colette muttered, pointing out the lone, twinkling presence. It was common knowledge that there was too much light pollution to actually see any of the vast galaxies and planets that were scattered throughout the universe. The most Colette had ever seen at once when looking out at the sky from the balcony of her apartment was three stars, dimly shining and far away from each other. They were hundreds of light-years away, unreachable and yet still shining their light for all to see.

"No, there's more. It's a really clear sky tonight, and we can see so much!" Lloyd replied eagerly. The starry-eyed enthusiasm had returned to his eyes, seeming to burrow straight into her heart. Pointing up into a particular patch of sky, he said, "There! Do you see the top of the Big Dipper?"

"Ah..." She tried to follow the line of his arm but didn't spot any hidden stars, shaking her head. "No...? The Big Dipper is the one that looks like a frying pan, right?" It was one of the many constellations that Lloyd had taught her while on his impassioned rambles about astrology. Ever since he'd picked up that one book on constellations from the library in primary school, he'd been obsessed with stars. She could still fondly remember the first time he had talked about it. She'd plopped down in front of him at the canteen table after school, asking what he was reading. He'd shut the book and told her about white dwarfs, planetary systems and the Milky Way for a full five minutes while she listened in awed silence. She'd rarely seen him this excited over anything. Lloyd had been about to continue before shutting his mouth abruptly, flushing as he realised how long he had gone on for and apologising for running her ear off. She'd told him that she didn't mind listening to him - there was something soothing about it, really, listening to his voice and watching his excited mannerisms.

"You remember?" Lloyd craned his neck so that he was facing her. There was something in the depths of those eyes that stared back at her. Something which, for the past two years, she would spot occasionally. And yet she still couldn’t put a name to it.

Somehow, how truly close they were hadn’t registered in her mind until this very moment. If she inched forward just a little, their noses would bump.

But they’d been this close so many times before. Why was this time so different?

Or, more accurately, what had changed in the past year? Why couldn’t she be this close without something in her clicking, filling her with a warmth that was both familiar but foreign? Why were her palms starting to sweat, her heart starting to race? It felt like she was about to give a presentation to a room full of strangers.

But that wasn't the case. She was just next to Lloyd, her oldest friend and the person she trusted most in the world.

Perhaps recently she had been noticing more tiny things she hadn't before, staring at him for just a little longer than she used to - how his hair fell into his eyes on days where he didn’t bother to comb or style his hair, how there was a dimple only on the right side of his mouth, how his hair could vary in shade under different lighting, from a golden brown to dark chocolate. It even appeared red sometimes.

She felt like she was at the cusp of a discovery.

"Of - of course I remember." Colette stumbled over the words, averting her gaze up towards the night sky. "You've been working on the notes for this club for so long, and I helped you with them! So of course I'd remember."

"That's true. We did spend a lot of late nights on those." Lloyd chuckled. "Remember all the pillow fights?"

"Yeah, I do. You always let me win, you cheater," she grumbled, glad for the light-hearted change in topic to distract from her confusing feelings. "But I'm happy everything worked out and you managed to get the club set up! You've worked really hard on all this. You deserve the success."

"I couldn't have done it without you, really," Lloyd retorted, taking gentle hold of her wrist. "And I know I've thanked you already, but let me just say it again. Thank you. In return, I'll do my best to show you as much as I can!" Lloyd pointed her arm towards a point in the sky. "There. Look closely. Do you see it now?"

She focussed on that spot, squinting in hopes that the secrets of the night sky would be revealed to her. "Oh!" Colette exclaimed. She could see it now, just barely - a faint source of light. There was a lonely little star, shining as brightly as it could, just enough to be noticeable but going unseen by the unobservant eye.

"You got it!" Lloyd cheered, beginning to slowly guide her hand to trace out a shape - that familiar pan shape he’d drawn for her so many times. His fingers, wrapped around her wrist, were so warm... "Now do you see the Big Dipper?"

"You're right," she said in amazement. The pattern had been there all along. How many more were waiting to be found, causing the sky to come to life before her very eyes?

"There are so many beautiful constellations to find in the sky." Lloyd grinned. Dimly lit by the gentle light of the night sky, far from the harsh fluorescent lights of the classroom and the often blinding rays of the sun, his features seemed softer than ever, and she had the urge to just... reach out and touch his face. Splay her fingers on his cheek, rest her forehead against his, let the strands of his hair fall through her fingers…

"Yeah..." She glanced back up at the night sky. She could spot the Little Dipper now, glimmering. Already, she was discovering new things.

When she glanced back, Lloyd was staring at her with a wistful expression, the arm not holding hers held stiffly against his side, like he was aching to reach out but was holding himself back.

The moment was gone, as quickly as it had come, and Lloyd's face once again sported a happy smile, like nothing of significance had happened. Perhaps she had imagined the whole thing. But in just a few seconds, the entire centre of her world had shifted, throwing her irreversibly off balance.

Her chest felt constricted, like she couldn't breathe properly, that strange sensation back in her heart again.

But it would be a lie to say she hadn’t figured out what it was. She had fallen into the unfamiliar pit of love, just as she had always wanted. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say she had fallen a long time ago, but had only just realised she wasn’t standing on solid ground any longer.

She had found The One. Finally.

So why... Why had nothing changed at all?

It was no longer possible to convince herself that she could be just like everyone else. Not when she was acutely aware of how stupidly immature she was compared to everyone else, always cringing away from the thought of sex. Whether it be skipping raunchy scenes in books or shows, avoiding popular pop songs with explicit lyrics, or promptly deciding to stop listening whenever her classmates decided it was a good time to talk about it. She couldn't rid herself of nausea that would roil in her stomach. But... that was wrong, wasn't it?

If she loved someone, she was supposed to desire them. That's what happened in all the stories - people fell in love, and then they happily had sex with each other. It was everywhere. In every book, in every show. Even the terrible sex-ed lessons had parroted that a happy relationship was one with healthy amounts of sex. Everyone was going to have sex at some point once they got into a relationship, to want to have it and to eagerly give it. But she didn't. She had never felt the same way. And that was her truth, the one that went unregarded by others.

Or maybe her truth was that she was just broken. That something had shattered inside of her a long time ago, and now she couldn't be put back together, couldn't feel what she was supposed to, what others did. And she didn't know what to do about it.

No matter how much she hated the idea of sex, someday she’d have to force herself to go through with it. After all, it was a requisite for a relationship. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be worthy of love, and she didn’t love her partner enough. She owed it to whoever her partner was, even if one day it ended up being Lloyd. This was her fault, after all. No one else was broken in the same way as her.

It would just be like… forcing herself to eat her vegetables when she was younger, wincing over the yucky taste until she got used to it. Nothing more. Easy.

Maybe then she’d finally get it.

Maybe then everything would magically fix itself.

Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes which she willed to disappear. She felt like the stars above. Shining alone, so far away from any other companion, looking down upon a world that was too far away to understand. All alone. Always all alone.

"Too bad we can't see more here in the city. One day, I promise, we'll see the real starry sky together! The galaxies, the planets, the suns... All of it. It'll be amazing," Lloyd continued, oblivious to her inner turmoil. Because even he could not read her mind.

Colette folded her hands over her stomach, closing her eyes. The enormity of the emotion beating in her heart absolutely terrified her, as did the thought of the future and what awaited her. Could she ever act on these feelings? Would she ever be deserving of acting on them, inadequate as she was? Did she even really love him?

There was no use in agonising over these thoughts, for no answers would ever be found.

"I'd like that," she whispered, squeezing his hand. She was more than willing to just enjoy his company for now. Her dearest friend.

“I’ll show you the rest of the stars that are visible today! Then we can look into the telescope and see the nebula. I’ve already pointed it in the right direction! You won’t want to miss it, it’s incredible! Over there is…”

So long as she could remain with him, everything would be alright.

~~~

“Bye, Lloyd!” Ella said, waving as she sprinted out of the club room. “Have a safe trip home!”

“You too!” he called out after her, as loud as he could without waking up Colette. Her head was resting on his lap, the hair she had freed from her ponytail forming a golden sea that swallowed his legs. Her arms were still wrapped tightly around the huge penguin plush that acted as the club’s unofficial mascot. He couldn’t for the life of him recall where it’d come from.

How did he always end up being Colette’s pillow? Not that he was complaining…

Lloyd ran a gentle hand through Colette’s hair, making sure not to awaken her. Mom would take another 20 minutes to arrive at the drop-off point, so he might as well let Colette continue to sleep. After all, he still had to clean up and lock up the room. At least Colette had helped him with most of it.

He moved his hand rhythmically, watching her minute facial movements. What dream was she having right now? Was it a happy one? He hoped it was. He wanted nothing more than to see a truly happy smile on her face every day, and that was the root of the feelings that had built up over years.

In the ensuing silence, he couldn’t help but think back.

What had happened while he was showing her the stars? There had been a period of time when she had seemed to withdraw into herself, becoming far quieter than she usually was. Almost contemplative. Even a little sad.

She had been back to normal afterwards, cheerful with her large smiles and bright laughter. He didn’t know how to question her about it, didn’t know how to even start the conversation. He wanted to find out, so he could help, in any way he could.

But… No matter how much he hated it, he could only wait. After all, if whatever was weighing on her was simple, she would have told him already. He could only hope she’d be able to tell him about what was troubling her, someday.

And he would wait. For as long as needed…

~~~

26-years-old

Lloyd set the rental car in reverse, slowly backing it up into the empty lot in the mostly deserted car park, the wheels crunching against gravel. Turning off the engine, he pulled the keys out of the ignition and stuffed them into the pocket of his jeans. Glancing over at the seat next to him revealed that Colette was peacefully asleep, head lolling onto her shoulder. Somehow, the abrupt bump in the road some ten minutes ago hadn't woken her up.

This was their second day in Melbourne to celebrate their honeymoon. Dad and Mom had come here for their honeymoon too, but maybe some things become a tradition for a reason. He and Colette had followed a strict itinerary, taking some advice from his parents when planning where to go. They had visited the fisheries for lunch yesterday, where Colette had sung the praises of the fish fillet, absolutely delighted at its freshness, which could never be experienced at home. Following which, they had driven to Phillip island to catch the nightly penguin parade, Colette cooing over all the little penguins waddling home. It was a cute sight - both the penguins and Colette.

It was the middle of winter, the temperature just shy of needing actual winter gear but cold enough that they were both wearing turtlenecks, not accustomed to the winter winds. A bit of a shame, actually. He would have loved to witness the adorable sight of Colette in a beanie that covered her ears, cheeks flushed from the cold and fingers housed in fluffy gloves. But alas, that sight would only remain in his imagination until they travelled to a country with much colder weather.

The car journey had been silent, Colette alternating between staring at the rare car that passed them on the narrow dirt roads, or doodling on her phone with a stylus, occasionally letting out a tiny giggle. As they had agreed upon, she had stopped looking out of the window for the last leg of their journey, which was close to a whole hour. At some point she had stopped making conversation with him, soft snores replacing the sound of her voice as the quiet night and hours of travelling had finally taken their toll.

He reached out a hand to hover over her shoulder, hesitating. He didn’t want to disrupt her rest, but she wouldn’t be seeing anything if she didn’t wake up, and that would render all his effort to transport the two of them into the remote meaningless. He had no choice.

“Colette.” He called her name softly, gently shaking her shoulder until she let out a tiny sigh. Her eyes fluttered open, still filled with sleepiness.

“We’re here. It’s time to get out of the car,” he said, grabbing hold of the strands of her hair that had fallen into her face during her sleep and tucking them behind her ear.

“Oh. Thanks for waking me up.” Colette yawned, covering her mouth with her hand as she stretched, trying to shake the sleep out of her system. “I need to cover my eyes while I get out, right?” she said, covering her eyes with her palms and giggling, doing exactly as they’d discussed without question. “I can’t look until you say so! Can’t spoil the surprise now, right?”

“Perfect! I’ll help you out of the car. Wait there.”

Lloyd stepped out of the car, shutting the door and running over to her side. He opened the passenger-side door, grabbing hold of her bent arms.

"Carefully now," he muttered, slowly helping Colette out of the car and steadying her when she stumbled slightly onto the gravel. Taking a stronger hold around her arm, he began to guide her across the carpark towards a small hill, walking backwards and taking the occasional peek behind his shoulder to get a gauge for where he was going. With each step they took, the loose bits of gravel under their feet were kicked aside.

The grassy hill was a little harder to go up backwards, but he persevered. The grass was wet with dew, starting to wet the hem of his jeans as they brushed the skin of his ankles. Colette was completely silent, seemingly holding her breath in anticipation of the big reveal.

The trip out here had been exceedingly long, for this place truly was off the beaten path. He could count the number of people here with the fingers on one hand. But he could certainly say the trip had been worth it. Just sneaking a peek upwards was enough to make up for everything. This place really lived up to all the praise it had been given online.

Making sure they had a wonderful view of the sky, Lloyd came to a stop, turning Colette by the shoulders so she was facing the right direction. "You can look now," he whispered into her ear, tapping her shoulder and stepping back.

Colette uncovered her eyes and let out an audible gasp, transfixed by the night sky. They were far from civilization, so distant that there were no artificial lights to interfere with the natural dance of the stars. Laid out above them were millions of stars, clustered together and twinkling in unity. Swirls of pink and purple denoted the galaxies, resembling little bits of cotton candy painted onto the black canvas of the sky, interspersed with tiny dots that represented planets. The entire universe was spread out before their eyes to witness, splendid and magnificent.

He watched as she raised an arm, tracing the skies slowly. It almost seemed like her index finger was trailing stardust. He wouldn't be surprised if she actually was, since she was already pure magic in every other way.

She turned to face him, the starlight reflecting in her wide eyes and off the ring on her left hand, painting her as a more beautiful sight than even the gorgeous skies above him.

"You remembered!" she exclaimed, running over to throw her arms around him, knocking him back slightly as she smiled up at him. Thankfully, they were nowhere near the edge of the incline, or they would have gone tumbling down a long way. This close, he was even more reminded of her untouchable beauty: her shimmering blue eyes were breathtaking. "You kept your promise."

Colette moved her arms so they were wrapped behind his neck. She was practically hanging off of him; his gaze focussed on her smiling face.

"Well, I wanted to see it too." He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to press a kiss on her forehead. "And I always do my best to keep my promises."

I promised that I would never leave you, and I will keep that promise. No matter what.

“They’re all together now. They’re not alone anymore,” Colette said, "Thank you." She rested her head against his shoulder, his hands automatically shifting to her back, holding her close. "I love you."

She said those words so easily now, without the hesitance that had bogged her down at the beginning. He knew not all of her fears and insecurities were gone - maybe they never would be, and all they could do was reassure each other. There were the terrible nights where she would sob next to him and admit she felt like a fraud for being unable to give him sexual intimacy, crying that she wasn't enough and that he deserved so much more. All he could do was hold her in his arms and whisper into her hair that it was alright, that he loved her, that he didn’t care. But as time went on, those nights became less frequent, until they were few and far between. Besides, she did give him pieces of that intimacy, whenever she could - the gift he cherished, for it truly meant the world coming from her.

"I love you too. Picture?" he offered, holding up his phone. He wanted to create a physical memory of this magical moment, one that they could preserve forever.

Besides, if his parents didn’t get a photo, they would probably murder him. Mom, at least. So would Sheena, with Zelos’ snickering as an accompaniment to the crime. He wouldn’t live to see another day once he got back home.

"Of course," she replied. And he hoped the picture would be able to capture her bright smile, that which was most precious to him.

~~~

The picture they took would become a cherished memento, to be displayed on their nightstand forever - Colette pressing a kiss to his cheek, even as she gave him bunny ears, both of their faces lit up with large smiles.

~~~

Next chapter

[yourcoffindoor]

Bulletproof Heart Pt. 1

Pairing: Gerard Way x Reader

Prompt: Request from Anon- “ could you write one where the reader is a rock singer and they and mcr are on warped tour together, and they both lowkey like each other but think they’re both out of each other’s league, and find out that they’re both secretly into nerdy stuff + maybe getting together? thank you so much xxx”

AN: This is a multi-part series--I couldn’t help myself! Also, I based this fic around something Gerard said in a Rolling Stone interview:

Hope its ok Anon! enjoy!

You had dreamed of this moment since you first picked up a guitar. Back then it felt like an impossible fantasy, being on stage with your band, playing in front of a crowd of screaming fans; which is why it felt so surreal when your manager Tim told you that your band, The Violent Delights, had booked Warped Tour.

"June 18th," he told you with a satisfied grin, "you're in for the long haul, kids."

Your band-mates let out a collective shriek of joy, while you planted a grateful kiss on Tim's cheek.

"You're an OK manager, you know that?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, dramatically wiping his cheek where your lips had been. "Now you guys better get practicing. This is a good opportunity to really get your name out there. Plus you got some real popular acts to compete with."

Your interest was peaked. "Oh yeah? Like who?"

"Off the top of my head? Fall Out Boy, Dropkick Murphys, and I think a band called My Chemical Romance."

"Oh shit, My Chem?" your bassist, Gavin, piped up excitedly. "That's the band I'm always trying to get Y/N to listen to."

"I'll have to finally borrow their last album," you replied, "gotta scope out the competition after all." Gavin rolled his eyes while you laughed.

Your manager got serious. "It's three months on the road, and its gonna take a lot of energy and hard work. Quite frankly, it ain't glamorous."

"Tim, when have we ever been glamorous? I wouldn't care if it were a 12 month tour," you declared, "I wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world." Liz, your drummer, nodded in agreement beside you.

"You might be singing a different tune when you haven't had a shower in three days."

"As long as I'm singing it in front of an audience, we'll be fine."

* * *

Back at your apartment you marked June 18th on your calendar with a star, feeling invigorated with excitement all over again. This was it, you thought, the next level for our band. You were determined to give it your very best, outperforming every other band there.

After all, you had worked so hard to get to this point. Starting in friend's basements and tiny cafes, the band had slowly built up a sizable following of loyal fans. You were no longer the opening act, drawing sell out crowds more often than not. You made a promise to yourself that the band wasn't going to lose this momentum. There would be no distractions for you on this tour, just hard work and the thrill of performing. That meant no parties, and absolutely no boys. You weren't ready for another relationship, you told yourself, especially since the last one ended in disaster.

Yes, this was the moment the band had been waiting for. You let the warm excitement that this knowledge brought envelope you, and you lay your head down on your pillow, falling asleep to fantasies of what lay ahead.

* * *

Its a long road from Maryland to Ohio. Columbus was the first stop of the tour, which meant your band had 6 and a half hours to go over the set-list, make adjustments  discuss their hopes and fears for the three month experience. Gavin gave you a few CDs to listen too, including My Chemical Romance's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.  You had heard their first album ages ago and enjoyed it, but there was something incandescent to the music you were hearing now. It stirred a whirlwind of heavy emotion, and you were enthralled from beginning to end. You made a mental note to see them perform at Warped as soon as possible.

When your bus arrived at its destination, you felt the unwelcome buzz of nerves building in your stomach. This was real, you thought, this was happening. You were used to performing at this point, but it was the amount of people you'd be performing for that was nerve-wracking. Not to mention the fellow artists who may be watching and judging your sound. You breathed deep and tried to push past the nervous thoughts that hummed incessantly around your head like insects.

Your band-mates were buzzing about with excitement, but you needed to distract yourself. Fresh air always helped settle you, so you grabbed your shoes and decided to go for a walk around the venue.

It looked almost like a circus with all the trailers and tents that had quickly populated the surrounding area. Merch stands and catering tents were being organizes as dozens upon dozens of vans and trailers pulled in. There were already a few fans camped outside of the chain-link fence that surrounded the area, eagerly awaiting a glimpse of their favorite artists.

You kept wandering, and you saw that a band was being interviewed in the media tent. There were five of them, each holding a microphone; but one member, a dark haired boy, was doing most of the talking. He was cute, you thought, and your stomach did little flips watching him respond to the questions that were being asked.

You watched a little bit longer from a distance, until you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned to see Gavin and Liz, who had been doing a bit of exploring as well.

"Hey, there you are! I was talking to a few people by the catering tent. They said some bands are having a party on their buses later tonight, we should check it out." Gavin informed you excitedly.

You hesitated. No parties. "I dunno, I want us to be in good condition to perform tomorrow."

Liz chimed in. "All work and no play, Y/N. C'mon, it'll be a great chance to make some connections with other bands."

"If you don't come with us," Gavin pronounced dramatically, "we'll be far too devastated to perform tomorrow." His hand went to his forehead, as though he was about to faint.

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Pretty please?" Liz stuck her lower lip out pathetically.

"With sugar on top?" Gavin added.

You glanced at the black haired boy in the distance. Maybe he'd be there, a small voice in your head piped up.

"Ugh Fine! But I'll only stay for a little bit."

Satisfied, the pair stopped harassing you, and left you to continue wandering, promising to meet up with them later.

* * *

People spilled out from open trailers as music blared from an unknown source in the background. Some were already far gone, stumbling from place to place, or lying on the ground blacked out.

You followed Gavin inside one of the trailers. You watched as he interacted with the strangers inside with ease, a trait you envied. He managed to find you both drinks, and you grabbed the mystery beverage, sculling it in hopes that it would numb your nervousness. You may have been a great performer onstage, but offstage it was easy for your social anxiety to take the wheel.

Gavin began to walk away, ignoring your whispered pleas not to leave you. Fuck. It always felt awkward to not know anyone at a party. You clutched your red cup like a life jacket keeping you afloat in a sea of drunken strangers.

A man approached you out of nowhere, the smell of alcohol emanating from every pore on his body.

"You look lonely." He leered at you expectantly.

"Then it seems like you need glasses. I'm just fine on my own."

He laughed. "Ooo! I like you. You've got spunk. Name's Brent, guitarist from Midnite Heist."

"Can't say I've heard of you guys."

Brent was either oblivious to your indifference, or just chose to ignore it. "So how'd you end up at this party?"

"I'm in a band on the tour too. Lead singer actually."

"No way! That's awesome, we need more talented eye candy on this tour."

You screamed internally while he droned on, tuning him out as you continued to sip from your fast emptying cup.

You scanned the room, watching people laugh and dance. Your stomach suddenly flipped again as you noticed the black haired boy from this afternoon, solemn faced and quiet, silently nursing a diet coke in his hands. He was clearly not having a good time. The guitarist who had been talking you up soon saw you looking at the sullen figure and turned his attention towards him, his eyes lighting up with recognition.

"Gerard fucking Way!" he bellowed, carelessly sloshing his drink as he waved him over, causing a stream of alcohol to fall to the floor below.

Gerard seemed to hesitate before walking over. "It's been awhile man," he said softly. His eyes, a warm hazel, flicked to you repeatedly as he spoke. "you here for the whole tour this time?"

Brent laughed, his sobriety dangling by a thread.  "Yeah, but still not up on the main stage, unlike you big-shots." he said, punching Gerard in the arm. Gerard offered a crooked smirk in return, his patience already wearing thin. Brent nudged you in the arm. "This is Y/N, her band is new to Warped. I told her I'd show her the ropes." He grinned at you. Ugh.

Gerard seemed to sense your discomfort. "Welcome, nice to see a new face around."

Brent interrupted before you could respond. "How come you're wasting time with a coke? I would've expected you to be the first one wasted here."

Gerard's jaw clenched, and you cringed internally at the sheer awkwardness of the encounter. "I'm sober now," he informed Brent, "I don't touch that shit anymore."

Brent laughed dismissively. "Dude, you?  Do you even remember the last Warped tour? I'll give it 2 days before you're lying face down in the bushes again." he laughed as if he had just said something hilarious.

You were livid, and Gerard was on edge. You decided to step in when you noticed his knuckles turn white from clenching his coke can.

You moved slightly, ready to get between them. "Hey you know what? I'd really love a coke right now too. Mind showing me where they are?" you looked pleadingly at Gerard. He took the hint.

"Follow me."

You gave a curt wave to Brent, who looked on in confusion before continuing his drinking binge.

You stepped outside, and the sounds from the party behind you became a faint, thumping buzz in the background. You were both silent for a moment before you decided to break the ice.

"So that guy was a dick."

Gerard's scowl turned into a thin, lopsided smirk. Your heart melted a bit. "Yeah. I just realized some of these people are only tolerable when I'm drunk."

Stop. Move away. You don't need a distraction like this. You tried to scold yourself but words kept escaping from your lips, prolonging the encounter.

"This is my first time doing Warped Tour, but I'm assuming these parties are pretty much never-ending?"

Gerard pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "Oh yeah, its every night for some of these bands. You're in for an interesting experience." You looked at him for a moment, perhaps for a bit too long. You had never seen anyone look so beautiful while surrounded by clouds of smoke.

"Yoohoooo! Y/N!" you heard the hollering of a clearly tipsy Gavin call from the doorway of the next trailer. "Where'd you go? The night is young! Get back here!"

You sighed. "That's my cue. Well actually that's my bassist, but he'll never let me live it down if I don't go back in there."

Gerard turned his head to the side and exhaled. "Catch you around. Next time you need rescuing from a douche-bag just light the bat signal."

You gave him a soft smile, forcing yourself to turn away and walk back to the trailer. As you did, you whispered aloud to yourself as a reminder:

"No distractions. No boys."

[sociallyawkward--fics]

Certainly Fucking Feels Like It

Alright!! This is a sequel to this tiny little oneshot I wrote a couple weeks back called I Have Loved You for a Hundred Years (that I didn’t even mean to write in the first place, and I didn’t mean to write this one either but y’all can thank ao3 user MsLalaga, and also while writing this second one I got ideas for a third and fourth one so I’ll just never be free lol, there’s more to come)

Word Count: 4458 words

[ao3 link]

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Geralt expected to be the first one awake the next morning, as usual, but instead when he peeled his eyes open, they were met by a pair of vibrant green irises staring curiously at him over Jaskier’s torso.

“What?” He grunted tiredly, making sure to be quiet enough to wake Jaskier.

Ciri didn’t speak for a few moments. “You… just looked so peaceful. Usually even when meditating, or even sleeping, you look sad or angry.”

Geralt grunted wordlessly and sat up, careful not to jostle Jaskier. “Go back to sleep,” he said softly, reaching over to run a hand through her hair and across her cheek.

She leaned her face into his hand for a moment and pressed an affectionate little peck to the base of his palm before laying back down and cuddling into Jaskier, ashen blonde hair splaying out messily across the abundance of pillows. Geralt sat there for a few minutes until her breathing evened out and just watched the two people who had stolen his heart rest. When he was certain Ciri had fallen back asleep, he carefully slipped out of the bed and quietly padded out of the room.

He forwent his boots or putting on any more layers as he left. He could feel the numerous wards Yennefer had surrounding the building. If someone unsavory or unwanted managed to get in, even his armor wouldn’t save him, then.

Geralt busied himself fixing breakfast for everyone in Yen’s spacious kitchen. It took him a few minutes to orient himself with where everything was, but soon enough he was cooking peacefully and relaxing into the familiar motions he rarely got to use on the Path. He was so focused and relaxed, even, that he actually missed the sound of Yennefer padding in.

“Good morning,” she purred, draping herself at a counter to watch him work.

Geralt stopped himself from jumping or flinching at her unexpected appearance. “Hm.” He grunted.

Out of his peripheral, he saw her roll her eyes. “Come, Geralt. Not even a morning greeting for your old friend?”

Just to be stubborn, he continued to avoid the greeting and moved on with the question he had for her. “Is Ciri going to become immortal and stop ageing through her youth?”

But Yennefer was also nothing if not stubborn. She draped her far-too-fancy nightgown gracefully over the ground and leaned against the counter next to him with her eyebrows raised.

Geralt rolled his eyes and growled out, “Good morning.”

She smiled at him, serene yet teasing. “Magic is a fickle thing,” she responded. “Seeing as it comes from chaos. Magic from love, even moreso. The chaos of love is not something I even will even pretend to understand.” She wrinkled her nose with distaste.

“Yes, we know you dislike that, Yennefer, but we’re talking about more than romantic love, stop making that face. I am not attracted to Roach, and I am certainly not attracted to Cirilla.”

Yennefer sighed as her moment of appreciating her disgust was interrupted. “It’s hard to say,” she said, checking her nails as Geralt began plating the food. “I didn’t sniff her out for traces of magic, I was more preoccupied with your bard and horse. It is possible, yes, that she will halt ageing and forever remain your little teenage daughter. What affect that would have on her, psychologically speaking, I cannot say.”

“Yennefer--”

“But,” she interrupted with a sharp glance. “Tell me, do you love her as much as you do Roach? Or Jaskier? And I mean the same amount, not the same way.”

Geralt resisted the urge to wrinkle his nose as he thought about it. He was still coming to terms with the fact that he had feelings, and Yennefer was asking him what he felt? He wasn’t exactly going to be the king of emotion identification, at this point in time.

“I… think so?”

Yennefer sighed with intense annoyance, but continued. “And how long have you felt this way about her?”

“Since the moment I saw her in the woods,” Geralt said without hesitation. “The moment she looked at me with such trust in her eyes and ran into my arms without a thought otherwise.”

A hint of a smile played at Yennefer’s lips as she turned to grab some drinking glasses from a nearby cupboard. “And tell me, it’s been, oh, a couple months? She’s at an age where children sprout up like beanstalks. Has she grown at all?”

Geralt took a moment to think about it. Jaskier had made a joke the other day about how tall she was getting, but that could have just been his usual teasing. She did seem taller when she hugged him the other day than when she had the first time, though…

“Yes,” Geralt said with uncertainty.

Yennefer helped Geralt carry the dishes of food to her extravagant dining room. “Then she’s probably fine. I’ll check for any magic on her, later, though it may be fuzzy because of her own magic.”

“Elder blood will do that,” Geralt grunted, pouring juice into the cups Yennefer had fetched.

“Now, you tell me something, witcher.”

“Hm?”

“What were they both doing in your room, last night?”

Geralt paused where he was pouring a drink. “Were you spying on us?”

Yennefer waved her hand dismissively with a disarming smile. “Simply checking in on you, you see.”

Geralt hummed and set the pitcher of juice aside. “Ciri had a nightmare.”

“Alright. Why was Jaskier in your room?”

Geralt furrowed his brow and stared at her. “I just said, Ciri had a nightmare.”

Yennefer cocked her head and crossed her legs. “Why didn’t he just take her back to his room to comfort her to sleep? Or her own? She fell asleep just fine without you, otherwise, and it’s not like the fresh sheets would’ve smelled like you. Why did he choose your bed?”

Geralt did not have an answer. Luckily, he did not have to come up with one, as a bright and cheery Ciri and a groggy Jaskier tumbled into the dining room only moments after he started thinking. He only hoped he hadn’t heard any of the conversation beforehand.

Ciri made a beeline for him when she saw and hugged him tight around his waist. Like every time she had hugged him so far, it took him a few seconds of hesitation to get with the program and wrap his arms around her fragile form. She gave him one last tight squeeze before releasing him and skipping over to one of the seats at the table with a fixed plate.

“Thanks for breakfast, Dad,” she chirped, almost unthinkingly.

She didn’t seem to realize what she said, but Geralt certainly wasn’t prepared for the words. He could only have one crisis at a time, dammit. And Yen and Jaskier’s grins directed at him were not helping matters.

Geralt filed that one away to deal with later, and gestured for Jaskier to take a seat. Breakfast was quiet as they devoured food that for once wasn’t heavily salted jerky or a fresh kill roasted half-heartedly over a weak fire in the cold air. Winter was approaching fast, and food was growing scarce, so having a meal like this (and not in an inn, where they had to pay for it) was a refreshing and much-needed change of pace.

About halfway through the meal, Yennefer and Ciri started leaning over their chairs to whisper conspiratorially in each other’s ears, giggling and smiling like children who thought they were getting away with something. Geralt let himself filter the whispers out into background noise instead of eavesdropping, let them have their fun.

“Well, that was a wonderful breakfast,” Jaskier said, far more awake now than he had been before eating. “Thank you, Geralt, for such a wonderful meal! Now, if all of you lovely people would excuse me for several moments, Ciri pulled me out of bed rather abruptly at the smell of good food and I would like to get ready for the day.”

Jaskier rose from the table and trailed from the room, an absent-minded hand dragging across Geralt’s shoulders and neck as he walked past. It was normal for them, and it never met anything before, but for some reason, after last night, the touch felt more, now.

“Geralt?” Ciri asked, startling him out of his thoughts. “Yennefer wanted to take me out to the market today. I was wondering, is that alright?”

Geralt hesitated.

“Oh, come on, Geralt,” Yennefer goaded. “Let her have a girls day, who knows how long it’ll be until I’m able to steal her away for another one.”

“It could be dangerous--”

“I’ll wear my hat!” Ciri blurted. “Or my hood, whatever you want!” She clasped her hands below her chin and gave him the most pitiful look she could muster. “Oh, please, Geralt, please!”

Geralt gave in quickly at that look, ignoring Yennefer’s smug expression. “Alright. But the hat stays on. And you’re not out too long.”

Ciri squealed with excitement and jumped out of her seat to race around the table and wrap her arms around Geralt’s neck. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Geralt couldn’t help the rumble of a chuckle that left his throat at her theatrics. “Go get dressed, Ciri.”

Ciri obediently raced off to do just that. Yennefer turned a smug look on Geralt, like she’d just gotten away with something that Geralt was not going to be happy about.

“No magic,” he said sternly, her look immediately setting him on edge, “unless for self-defense. Stop looking at me like that.”

“Looks like you and the bard will have the whole house to yourselves for a while,” Yennefer said, that self-satisfied look not even bothering to falter. “Perfect to take the time to talk to him about all this.”

Geralt felt his already slow heart stop. Sure, he had told Jaskier last night that they’d discuss it in the morning, but now, in the light of day and not in the private darkness of a bedroom late at night, he suddenly was very against that idea. Plus, hopefully Jaskier had forgotten the whole thing due to the late hour and his heavy eyes.

Yennefer frowned at him. “Stop that. You’re going to talk to him about it.”

Geralt scowled. “Don’t poke through my brain.”

She raised an unimpressed brow. “I don’t have to. I know how you think, and I know that look on your face.” Her face shifted into something a little more understanding. “Look, I understand feelings are exactly easy for you, but the man deserves to know that you’ve accidentally made him immortal and tied your lifelines.”

Geralt sighed. She was right, of course. That didn’t make it any easier.

Yennefer flitted off to ready herself for the day, as well. Geralt went about cleaning the dishes he used as best as he could. Ciri was the first one to come back out into the living spaces of the house, which was both surprising since she was the princess, and also not, considering she didn’t have much and Geralt couldn’t afford to pamper her. Hopefully, Yennefer could get her some nice things, even if it would make travelling a little harder with the heavier load.

Jaskier and Yennefer came back out at the same time, appearances both immaculate. They still somehow found ways to spout insults at each other, but Geralt knew better than to pay them mind, now.

“Come, Ciri,” Yennefer said, eventually extracting herself from the friendly insult-war. “Let’s have our girls’ day.”

Ciri bounced after Yennefer and shot Geralt a smug look, and Geralt immediately knew that she knew. Yennefer gave him a matching look as she herded Ciri out the front door.

“Talk to him,” she said obviously, and the door shut behind them.

“Talk to me about what?” Jaskier asked from behind him.

Geralt, predictably, chickened out. “Would you like more breakfast?” He asked, voice strained. “I think I’m still hungry, as well.” And he fled to the kitchen.

Jaskier followed him, albeit at a slower pace. “You’re avoiding,” he said.

“Jaskier--”

“Geralt, what do we need to talk about?”

“Jaskier--”

“Wait, does this have something to do with how weird you were last night? And you said we’d talk about it to--”

Geralt slammed the bowls and dishes onto Yennefer’s counter, producing a loud bang. His hands were shaking. “Jaskier, please.”

Jaskier stopped. Geralt didn’t plead, or really tend to have any manners at all, so he must have been taking Geralt very seriously at the moment.

“Okay,” he said eventually, after they’d stood frozen in the silence for far too long.

Geralt took a deep breath and nodded, starting to move again. Wordlessly, Jaskier sidled up next to him and helped him prepare the second breakfast that neither of them was really hungry for, but they were going to eat anyway. Jaskier was silent throughout the whole process, which was probably meant to try and let Geralt think, but truly it just set him on edge because Jaskier should never be quiet, let alone silent.

Jaskier took a deep breath as they set their second breakfast on the dining room table. “I don’t mean to set you more on edge, Geralt, I really don’t, but… you’re worrying me.”

Geralt resisted the urge to reach up and fiddle with his medallion.

“I just… You know how… Witchers don’t have emotions.”

Jaskier’s face went stormy. “And how it’s bullshit, yes.”

Geralt’s head jerked back a little in surprise. Whenever it was brought up, Jaskier always seemed discontent with it, but it was always met with a sigh and a teasing remark, never a response this angry.

Jaskier raised an eyebrow at his recoil. “Geralt, come on. I have no doubt that such an idea was created by people who hated and feared people like you, just to make others fear and hate you. I’ve seen you, and unless you’re the most emotional witcher alive, there’s no doubt in my heart that you feel. You’re too kind and good to not, not to mention the way you look at Ciri.”

“But I--”

“I think you’ve just been told so much over the years that you can’t feel, that you’ve started to believe it. I think they hurt you enough and convinced you so hard that you’re the monster, that you actually thought it was true because so many people told you it was and that destroyed you. But I will not stand for that, Geralt of Rivia, no sir.”

Jaskier was panting when he was finished, face pinched in anguish and a little red with anger. He was always so expressive, always let his emotions burn bright and knew how to identify them. Geralt wanted to be able to do that -- was he jealous? Envious? Was there a difference?

He cleared his throat. “I, um, yes. I am coming to understand that, now?”

Jaskier narrowed his eyes and leaned over the table. “Geralt, I know you’re not good with your words, but I am very confused and very worried and I would like you to speak very plainly about whatever the hell is going on.”

“I have feelings.” Geralt said.

“Yes, I’ve known this.”

“And you’re immortal.”

“Yes, very good, I--” Jaskier stopped mid-sentence and his eyes went wide as he sputtered, flinging himself back in his chair. He brought his hands up to his face, fingers splayed, and examined them like they held the secrets to the universe. “I’m sorry, I’m what?” He asked, voice getting shrill.

“Immortal.” Geralt said, internally wincing. He knew this wasn’t going to go well. “So is Roach, apparently.”

Jaskier looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “Roach is-- what--I--” His voice went all high pitched and nervous. “How old is Roach?!”

“I stopped keeping track,” Geralt said honestly, his own nerves finally starting to pitch into his voice. “I’ve had her since… well, at least a decade before meeting you, possibly longer. Like I said, I stopped keeping track.”

At his tone of voice, Jaskier seemed to take a moment to collect himself. He took a few deep breaths before looking up, voice and expression far more calm. Geralt would’ve been inclined to think Jaskier was lying for his sake, it wouldn’t have been the first time, but he even smelled calmer, so Geralt believed him.

“So I guess it wasn’t my skincare that kept me looking so good for so long,” Jaskier said with a wry smile.

Geralt released some of the tension from his shoulders and let a huff of breath. Jaskier lit up, clearly (correctly) assuming that it was laughter.

Jaskier took another deep breath and let it out on a humming sigh and his scent started to pick up his usual honey-sweet happiness again. “Well, it’s a bit of a shock, but I can certainly work with this. Gives me more time for my music, more time with you and Ciri. Think of all the ballads I can complete, I’ll become the best bard in the continent with all my study! And I can continue to travel because my bones will never grow old and frail! Geralt, this is quite the blessing!”

Geralt smiled and he finally felt settled enough to start eating the second breakfast he had really only made to keep his hands busy. Jaskier started eating, too, but continued his constant run of dialogue between mouthfuls. Everything was fine again. Until--

“Wait,” Jaskier said, setting his fork down and staring at Geralt in confusion. “How did this even happen? How are Roach and I immortal? And what does this have to do with you having feelings?”

Geralt nearly choked. Which, of course, just seemed to make Jaskier more anxious.

“I, uh, it’s-- It’s an interesting story, actually.” He managed after a minute or two of searching for words.

“Geralt.” Jaskier said warningly, taking a page out of his book.

Geralt sighed, his shoulders drooping even as the walls around his heart came up. He shut himself away, prepared for rejection. Somehow, rejection hadn’t even been on his mind until he actually had to confront the words he was about to say.

“Turns out,” Geralt said slowly, feeling out the words in his mouth, “since I can feel. Turns out that I-- I--” Geralt cut himself off with a frustrated breath.

Jaskier stood from his place at the table across from Geralt, and somewhere deep inside himself where there still lived a hurt and confused child, Geralt was certain he was going to leave him there and never come back. But Jaskier simply walked around the table to take the seat next to him, scooting it close enough that their bodies pressed together, and grabbing Geralt’s hands lightly in his own so that Geralt could pull away if he wanted.

“Tell me,” he whispered, eyes filled with patience and something Geralt couldn’t place. “Please?”

Geralt took a deep breath. “I love you.”

Jaskier froze next to him. “What?”

Geralt was sure he felt something in his chest shatter and he felt the strange urge to apologize. And then to make things worse, Jaskier started giggling. Then he started laughing fully, having the gall to lean into Geralt and hold Geralt’s hands close to his chest while having that kind of reaction. Geralt tried to tug his hands back, but Jaskier tightened his grip.

“No, no, dear heart,” Jaskier said, scooting his chair impossibly closer. “I’m not laughing at you, cross my heart. Darling, I’m laughing from relief. Very silly, I know, but my choices were either laugh or cry and I figured this one would worry you less, so I just--”

It was Geralt’s turn to say, “What?”

One of Jaskier’s hands released his and came up to cup Geralt’s face, turn his gaze towards him. Geralt couldn’t help but lean into the touch, just like Ciri had done to him that morning (he resisted the urge to kiss Jaskier’s palm), and Jaskier smiled wider at the motion.

“Of course I love you, too, you oaf. Twenty-two years of following you around like a heartsick puppy and you never picked that up?”

Geralt’s voice came out strangled, “I--no!”

Jaskier giggled again. “I should’ve been more obvious and forward with it, knowing you, I suppose.” Then his brow furrowed. “I still don’t understand what this has to do with me, or Roach for that matter, being immortal.”

Geralt groaned and buried his head in his hands for a moment. When he looked up again, Jaskier was giving him the most besotted look, and he had to look away again in fear he would keel over from the sheer adoration in his gaze.

“Yennefer says that my love for the two of you is… so intense that it became infused with magic. My love has tied our lifelines together, so you’ll both live as long as I do, exempting any fatal wounds.”

Geralt risked looking over at him, and Jaskier looked positively giddy. Geralt almost had to look away again, but Jaskier started moving again and he couldn’t bring himself to. Jaskier swung himself into Geralt’s lap, straddling him on the chair so that they faced each other, and wrapped his arms around Geralt’s neck. Geralt wrapped his arms around Jaskier’s waist on instinct to keep him from falling.

Jaskier brought one hand away from his neck to poke at Geralt’s chest smugly, a grin forming to match. “You love me,” he bragged. “You love me so damn much that your love did fucking magic so that we’d be together forever.”

“Yes,” Geralt said, grateful that witchers couldn’t blush.

“You love me.” Jaskier said, playing with inflections. “You love me. You love me. You love me.”

Despite still being mortally embarrassed, Geralt grinned at him. “Would you like me to say it again?” He teased.

Jaskier lit up more, because somehow that was possible when he was already shining brighter than the sun. “Oh, absolutely.”

Geralt’s smile softened. “I love you.” It seemed like the words got easier to say every time.

Jaskier melted against him with a sigh.

“I love you.”

He earned a kiss to his jaw.

“I love you.”

A kiss to the cheek.

“I love you.”

To the temple.

“I love you.”

To the forehead.

“I love you.”

His nose.

“I love you.”

His chin.

Jaskier pulled back again and gave him a look so filled with love that Geralt’s mouth went dry. “I love you, too,” he whispered.

He barely managed to get the words out before Geralt’s lips connected with his. Jaskier made a surprised sound, but quickly melted into Geralt with a contented sigh. One of Jaskier’s hands slid up to tangle with his hair and Geralt groaned against his lips. His own hands splayed against the expanse of Jaskier’s back and pulled him impossibly closer.

They kissed gently for long minutes before Geralt pulled up as it started to grow more and more heated. He wanted to bask in the soft moment awhile longer, if he was able, and Jaskier seemed to have no complaints. He simply rested his forehead against Geralt’s, smiling gently as they shared their breaths.

“How long?” Jaskier eventually asked, voice so soft that if Geralt wasn’t a witcher, he wasn’t sure he would’ve heard, even with their proximity to each other. 

“I don’t know,” Geralt murmured truthfully. “How long has it been since you’ve noticed yourself aging?”

At that Jaskier actually pulled back, brow furrowing. His eyes darted around the room as he searched his own thoughts and Geralt waited patiently. It took a few minutes, but Jaskier finally cocked his head and squinted a little.

“Maybe early twenties? It’s hard to pinpoint, you know? You don’t change much as you start growing into adulthood.” Then he paused, turning a fake glare on Geralt (and he only knew it was fake because that honey-sweet smell wasn’t soured by anything rancid). “You mean to tell me we could’ve been doing this for decades already? Melitele’s tits Geralt, have you any clue how long I’ve wanted to kiss you?!”

Geralt smirked. “How long?” He rumbled, mostly teasing.

“Since the moment I saw you in that damn tavern in Posada.”

Geralt raised an eyebrow.

“Granted, I fell in lust before I fell in love. I fell in infatuation with you later that day, during our little scuffle with the elves--”

“It wasn’t a scuffle, we were tied at their mercy--”

“But,” Jaskier continued, giving Geralt a pointed look and a flick to the chest for interrupting him, “I fell in love with you a little more slowly. It was the small things, really. I was totally gone on you before I was twenty, though.”

Geralt smiled again. “Good to know.”

“Now,” Jaskier said. “I’m beyond ready for every wonderful thing this new relationship status is going to bring, but let me tell you, the thing I want to do most right now is to hold you and be held with you and lazily makeout in bed for hours without it going anywhere. Possibly also nap together. And whisper sweet nothings.”

Geralt chuckled. “Is that so?”

He rose from his chair and Jaskier yelped and grabbed tighter around his neck. He giggled as Geralt helped him wrap his legs around Geralt’s hips and gave him another kiss on the cheek in return. Carrying him bridal-style was probably more romantic, but Geralt never claimed to be a romantic. He gripped Jaskier by his thighs and carried him back to his -- their -- temporary room tossing Jaskier on the bed.

Jaskier grinned as he bounced before shucking off his doublet and boots and crawling up to the pillows at the headboard. Geralt followed quickly after him, suddenly glad he hadn’t bothered making himself presentable because it would’ve just delayed him getting his hands and lips back on Jaskier.

The first thing Jaskier did was reach up and tug the leather band out of his hair, the parts he usually had pulled up falling loose to frame his face. Jaskier stuck his tongue out playfully as he shook Geralt's hair out, making it fluffy and fly-away. In revenge, Geralt scrubbed a hand against Jaskier’s hair and laughed at the yelp he produced at the treatment, shoving Geralt’s hand away.

And then Jaskier pulled him down to the bed and wrapped himself around his body. Geralt, in turn, wrapped himself tightly around Jaskier. They couldn’t tell where one of them ended and the other began, and it was perfect.

“It’s not fair how much I love you,” Jaskier murmured against his lips.

“How unreasonable,” Geralt teased.

And they kissed. And kissed again. And again, and again, and again, and Geralt was certain he would absolutely never get sick of kissing Jaskier, no matter how much he was bound to demand it.

[aty-altiria]

It’s Not Me Burning

No 14. IS SOMETHING BURNING? Branding | Heat Exhaustion | Fire

Word count: 1253

Universe: Harry Potter, My Hero Academia

Pairings: Fem!Harry/Dabi

Rating: T

Themes: Fire, Burns

Summary: Dabi has less control over his fire than he’d like to admit, and he isn’t sure whether he blames his mothers body or his sperm-donors existence more for that. Especially as he looses control in front of the one person he doesn’t want to kill. But Holly seems rather uncaring to the flames licking up her body. As if it doesn’t affect her at all.

@whumptober2020 Never written for Dabi before so this was an interesting experiment >.>

----

It was a fact of his life, everyone asked. They took one look at him, at the piercings and the severe burns that destroyed a vast majority of his body, and they asked. Sometimes T- Dabi couldn't fathom how moronic some people were. That they'd actually go out of their way to stare him down and ask him how he'd been burnt. How they whispered when they thought he couldn't hear them. Their disgusted faces that Dabi twisted about in his head and mixed up with his. Because surely it was Dabi's lack of power, not that the combination of quirks within his body ensured he would never have the kind of control he wanted.

Dabi had gotten something from both of his parents, just like his father wanted. But he hadn't gotten the right parts, and that made him a failure. Dabi ended up with enormously powerful flames and a chilled body. The desired level of fire and a body that ensured those flames burnt him every time he used his quirk, all because his body was freezing. Because it was designed for ice powers, he'd never gotten.

Dabi would never forget the damned bitch who he'd actually decided to date complaining about how cold his body ran. Like it was some sort of inconvenience to her-

"You're always so cold t-…- I thought people with fire quirks ran hot-"

She died in a fire, ironically, the same one that killed Toya Todoroki, how… tragic.

But his Lady of Death, she never asked, and that was just one more reason he loved Holly Lilith Potter. Oh, Dabi could go into great detail the other reasons he also loved Holly, but in the end, he didn't need to. She knew he loved her, he knew she loved him, it was enough. They were themselves and nothing like his parents before him. Not matched simply because of their quirks. Not matched just because they were soulmates. Their connection was real. Their interactions were genuine.

But every one in awhile… even they ran into problems.

"Dabi…"

"Leave-" he choked. Dabi flinched as his flames licked higher and higher along his chest. It hurt- it was agony every time this happened. People would be mistaken if they thought the scar tissue made him feel nothing, those burns, that part of skin felt even more. It was a damned miracle no one had realized the blatant weakness. Dabi thanked his excellent poker face for that… though the damned bird may have an inkling. "Holly- leave!"

It was rare that he lost control of his flames now, much rarer than when he'd been a child. Now it only happened after a particularly brutal fight, and the one he'd had with that damned kid certainly counted.

Flames licked up his body, blue lighting up the darkness of their secret apartment. Minutes before, he'd staggered into the room thinking himself under control, had spent hours in the rain to ensure it only for Dabi to lose control at the very last moment. He'd woken Holly with a muffled cry of pain, from dead asleep to instantly awake all because she'd sensed the sound. Now, the carpet was burnt beyond repair- dammit, Holly had really liked that one- and his flames were getting dangerously close to the bed- he liked that bed! It made the perfect amount of sound for extracurricular activities, just enough to piss off the people below them.

"Aquamenti," Holly mumbled the spell casually, and the bed was immediately soaked. Dabi could hear it dripping and felt himself relax slightly before another surge of his flames threatened to add more burnt tissue onto his chest. He grunted, staggering while trying to stay in one place, so he didn't set fire to anything else they owned. Dabi was painfully aware that if he moved a little too much that he could burn Holly, to give her the scarring that his father had left on his back- no.

"Fawkes!" and then Holly was right in his space. Out of terrified instinct, Dabi backed off, he knew the smell of burnt flesh intimately, and the way a woman would scream as she burned- and Holly's arms snagged around his middle.

"Holly- fu- woman! Don't!" Dabi struggled backward, ignored his own burning skin to get away from her. He wouldn't lose Holly too- but she was… fine? He stilled slightly as she locked those green eyes with his own. Holly was calm, and… his body wasn't hurting anymore?

"What?" Dabi exhaled hands resting at her arms left there from when he'd been trying to pry her off him.

"It's alright," Holly soothed as she loosened the bruising grip she had around his middle. A grip she no longer needed quite as much, now that he'd stopped struggling. "You're fine… it's fine."

He glanced at his flames; they hadn't calmed at all. He was still out of control, but he wasn't burning, and neither was Holly. But his mind was quick, and he had the background knowledge to figure this out.

"What magic did you use?"

This was why she was matched to him, this was one more reason for it. If Holly could prevent herself from being burned, from him from being burned.

"It's not mine," Holly nodded her head to the side. Dabi followed the look and spotted her bird, the bright red and orange thing that was annoying infatuated with the chicken nugget of a hero. Fawkes, Holly's pet, or Familiar as she tended to correct him. "Fawkes is a phoenix, Dabi."

Yet one more impossibility that was Holly Potter, the pet was imaginary.

"And…" she emphasized as if sensing his turning thoughts, "phoenixes are immune to fire, and since he's my familiar, I'm also a tiny bit fire repellent."

"He's not my familiar, yet my flames aren't burning me. So you're talking bulls-" Holly poked his nose; she poked his damned nose. "-Woman!"

"Soul. Mate."

Oh.

Well, now he felt stupid. Obviously, because the familiar was attached to Holly's soul, it was also linked to his… and Dabi only knew that because she kept spouting out random magical facts. Well damn, it wasn't like he couldn't remember every tiny detail- "So." Holly interrupted his thoughts again, "the next time this happens, just tell me."

"Next time," Dabi scoffed, "that bird isn't leaving my side for a damned second. The heroes won't know hit them." Fire-repellent, yes, he could definitely use that soon.

Holly rolled her eyes. Dabi was now plotting, and he hadn't even realized his flames had wholly calmed. Not that she was complaining, he hadn't yet realized he was effectively cuddling her in his scheming either. That wasn't something she got very often, and she appreciated it. So Holly would take what she'd get when he was distracted, instead of tricking him into losing a bet like she usually did.

Holly snuggled in close and smirked.

She'd probably just unleashed something she didn't understand yet, but all well, as long as Dabi was happy and no too many innocents died.

[phantomofthepairofdice]

“You’ve Got Mail” and “Blackhat” – Network Connection

What could Michael Mann’s most recent (and hopefully not his last) movie about buff hackers and international tin mines have in common with Nora Ephron’s smash-hit, bookstore-driven romantic comedy? Dave Chappelle isn’t in Blackhat… Michael Mann is best known for tough guys snarling tough lines about codes in crime movies and Nora Ephron is best known for concocting scenarios in which Meg Ryan falls for a lovable but snarky, curly-haired guy while being stuck in a relationship with sweater-vest-clad dweebs. He has Daniel Day Lewis firing two muskets at once, she has John Travolta as an angel who loves sugar? On the surface, they’re totally different – but what happens when you listen to a podcast that explores their work in close proximity is that you start to see patterns (see: “Blank Check with Griffin and David”). These patterns rarely hold weight, are only mildly curious, or they’re just nonsensical. Some of these patterns can only be conveyed with frantic gesticulations, but the straight jacket they’ve put you in won’t allow it. You don’t see the code of the Matrix, man, you just haven’t gotten sunlight in four consecutive days. Open a window, put on clothes that have buttons, and stop talking to me about how Babe: Pig in the City is sort of its own anthropomorphic Mad Max sequel. But what if I told you that both Michael Mann and Nora Ephron opened one of their films with their own version of the same sequence? It says something different, sure, but the execution is almost parallel. It’s inevitable that any modern auteur who makes contemporary films will eventually express their opinions about the technology and how it effects the way people interact. What’s bizarre is just how closely these two filmmakers express themselves – especially considering the rapid changes that come with development of internet technologies. Oh yeah, and also because one is Blackhat and the other is You’ve Got Mail.

Let’s start with the one you’re more likely to have seen. While the opening credits roll for the reteam of Ephron, Hanks, and Ephron (the holy trinity, praise be), we watch as the director visualizes the connections that come through the then dawning but inevitably ubiquitous internet. The Warner Bros logo comes up with sounds of dial-up internet in the background. The studio logo digitizes and is revealed to be a desktop icon. With the click of a mouse, a window pops up and suddenly we’re travelling through the solar system past wireframe 3D models of planets, and on one of those planets, we see a city. It’s a Nora Ephron movie, so it’s probably New York City. Buildings start to digitize, and we move in on the Empire State Building (good guess on this being New York, Ross) before flying by. She’d done two movies in in between, but this still feels like she’s declaring that this is something different than Sleepless in Seattle where that building was the spot for the climactic meetup. Back on screen we’ve started following polygon versions of cabs and cars moving through streets and we even see a wonky digital jogger before we stop, and the digital image becomes film of an apartment. The pause was only momentary – Ephron continues the motion as the camera cranes up past a perfectly autumnal tree and in through the window of an apartment. In the same shot, the camera snoops around the specifically designed, yellow interior of the apartment and stops on a perfectly framed shot of Meg Ryan asleep. That smooth, fluid movement from digital macro to physical micro is deliberately undone by a jarring cut to a part of the apartment we just saw – and Greg Kinnear is in it. He comes in with a newspaper and wakes Ryan’s Kathleen up with some prognosis of “the end of western civilization as we know it” because desktop solitaire slowed down productivity in Virginia. Probably a good bet that you forgot that’s how it opened if you haven’t seen it recently.

While her published writing was certainly on the receiving end of plenty of acclaim, I think people often underrate just how much of a skilled director Ephron was. The sound design and the graphics have, like all specific representations of cutting-edge technology in film, become dated, but I don’t think that’s synonymous with them “aging poorly.” The movie is about a very specific point in time – and especially its version of the internet which would ultimately manifest itself in draconian capitalist behemoths like Amazon that would be the great equalizer/destroyer for bookstores of all sizes. Part of the reason the sequence still holds up is that it (and the movie) is not finger-wagging or making a mockery of computers and that worldwide web. This scene shows that there’s a simulacrum of us and our world in code, but there’s also the possibility to connect seemingly disparate people and things. She’s not making a cautious science-fiction movie along the lines of Philip K. Dick or David Cronenberg – although I think Julie and Julia has a scene with James Woods putting a video tape into his gaping stomach VCR if I remember it correctly. The point is that just because what Ephron is doing now may seem obvious or surface level doesn’t make it any less effective. Cities have always leant themselves to symbolism of machinery. Ephron just cleverly updates that for the year we were in and the way we interacted with one another. The traffic in New York used to be like a conveyor belt, now it’s data flow. But her credits are colorful and have a snap, unlike those of Blackhat which emphasize a cold, steely aesthetic – it’s Michael Mann, remember?

While I would never recommend the theatrical cut of Blackhat over the (obnoxiously difficult to find) director’s cut, its opening scene is far more streamlined in conveying the film’s connections between people and tech than that of the latter. The first shot is of a white orb with tiny sinews all over it. It becomes clearer that we’re looking at Earth when we see yellow lights of a city at night. Continuing to move closer, we see utility structures made of concrete and a nuclear cooling tower. The movie is obsessed with architecture and the way humans move inside of it - we’re just like the microscopic data that travels through hardware. There are lots of shots of buttons, screens, readouts, numbers, and windows, but then Mann pushes the view inside a computer screen. We follow electrical impulses through cords, over wires, and towards a motherboard. All of these shots are primarily gray and black. Then the camera begins to work like an electron microscope as we see things exponentially smaller than the human eye can process through chips and circuits. We see a visualization of computer commands in blue and white squares that go up, under, turn on sharp corners, and even crash toward the screen like a tidal wave on the instruction of the hacker we briefly glimpse. That flood of digital feedback then cuts to normal proportions and the reactor melts down. There are news reports with their busy screens covered in chyrons and corporate logos. Then Mann pushes further back and shows the human cost of such simple keystrokes: we see first responders and the bruised, bloodied, and burnt bodies of the people who were in the power plant. Then we cut to one of the leads of the film, Chen Da Wai (Leehom Wang) suiting (booting) up before he walks in front of white tiles that look just like the tiny streams we saw in the technology. He gets into a white car that we see cross a bridge from the sky – it’s a single object in the middle lane, between white dividing lines. Again, it’s the same imagery repeating itself but with humans on a larger scale. Mann is focused on how our entire world is built on a system that can be corrupted so simply – the tenuous correlation between an explosion in software and an explosion in a reactor. It’s a fearful warning of just how delicate and volatile our systems are with our reliance on tech.

Both Ephron and Mann start their films beyond the world and zoom in to visualize the usually invisible links chained together by the internet. So, what does any of this actually add up to? I think it’s mostly a helpful tool for understanding POV, tone, and style of an auteur. Ephron uses a Harry Nilsson needle drop of “The Puppy Song” while Mann uses generic music for tense action movies. Mann goes infinitesimally smaller and then pulls back out. Small differences, sure, but incredibly similar sequences. The palettes are different, the stakes are different, the technology is different, the end results are drastically different – and the outlooks are different. In 1998, we got to see the links between people and computers in a light romance created when the internet still had a glowing horizon to look toward. In 2015, we got a bleak and frightened outlook of it as a tool of chaos. The zeitgeist has clearly changed along with the technology. This is where a smarter person would talk about the content we share and the way we treat each other online devolving significantly and shifting towards shock and individualism. An even smarter person might diagnose cultural events as epicenters from which these behaviors and trends splintered off. But I’m not that smart person. I’m the doofus who spent time comparing Blackhat and You’ve Got Mail.

Thanks for reading.

[nommy-thoughts]

Hi, OwO from earlier. I meant, like, in the top part of your blog, 'Feel free to ask questions about any and all of my characters!' And I wanted to hear about any of them.

Okay! In that case, I will take this as an opportunity to ramble about literally all of them. Jason and Dan, Tom and Reggie, Aji and Mitz, Candy, and Mike and his friends.

Jason and Dan

Jason looks human, but he very much is not. He’s some sort of… I don’t know, a criptid of my own invention, I guess. Kinda like a vampire? He can’t eat normal food, only feed off of people’s energy. It doesn’t hurt the person he’s feeding off of in any way, but it is definitely a weird experience, because the only way Jason can absorb said energy is by shrinking people and swallowing them whole.

(technically, it doesn’t have to be human energy. But that’s what works best.)

It only takes a touch for him to shrink someone, and he instinctively knows how to do it. It doesn’t automatically happen when he touches someone, but if he’s hungry and gets startled, it can happen by accident. And once he’s done it, the person becomes only 1/24th of their original height. (For example, someone who’s 5 feet tall normally would become 2.5 inches tall, and someone who’s 6 feet tall normally would become 3 inches tall.)

And of course he can restore people to their normal height again. It takes rather more energy to make someone bigger than to shrink them, though, and he has to have a person in his stomach for at least a while to not have a net loss of energy. 

Now, Jason was abandoned in the forest as a baby, and got by entirely on woodland creatures. Dan happened to wander into Jason’s territory one day, and didn’t have much time to be confused about this grubby naked child before Jason ate him.

Which was terrifying.

But Jason’s stomach is nothing like a regular stomach. The only opening is on the top, for one thing. And it’s covered with soft hairlike things, much like the villi in your intestines, which glow a greenish blue as they siphon energy, so after a few minutes, Dan was able to see his surroundings. And it wasn’t slimy or wet. He eventually fell asleep.

After Jason released Dan, he left, but he kept coming back, and even though Jason kept eating him, he stopped being frightened by the experience.

And then he kinda adopted Jason! So now Jason lives with him, and Dan lets him eat him basically every day. There’s also at least one other person who knows about what Jason is, a coworker of Dan’s who’s about halfway between them in age. He doesn’t mind getting eaten either

—

Tom and Reggie

These two live in a mixed-height society, where humans and minis have equal rights, and while sizeism exists, it’s considered a flavor of racism. Tom is human, and Reggie is a mini, who’s six inches tall. They’re housemates. (also. Tom is nonbinary, and uses they/them pronouns. Reggie’s a guy, he/him.)

Still trying to figure out how their current arrangement got started, considering Reggie is embarrassed to admit he likes it, but the two of them frequently engage in what they call “Games” (yes, with a capital G), which always involve Reggie being inside Tom’s mouth (not all the way, the scale difference isn’t enough for that, but it varies from a finger or two all the way to as much as they can fit at once), and often involve him getting covered with something tasty first. In addition to those, they sometimes do smaller-scale things with maybe a lick or two.

No swallowing, because it wouldn’t be safe in their world, but loads of mouthplay.

They’ve definitely taken the time to sit down together and talk about what they are and aren’t okay with, and they have a safeword in case either gets uncomfortable in the middle of things.  And they make sure to communicate with each other the whole time, when they’re in the middle of it.

Tom’s usually the one to initiate things, and they always check first to make sure that Reggie’s okay with it. Sometimes it’s just something as simple as “May I lick you?” and sometimes it’s laying out the plans for a Game. They usually don’t go into detail, because Reggie likes to be a bit surprised, but Tom might say, “You in the mood for a Game? I had an idea,” and if Reggie was, they might tell him a few of the aspects. (powerplay, foodplay, how much mouthplay it would involve, maybe the kind of food, those such things.) And then they would get into it! Or not, if Reggie didn’t want to do that particular Game after all.

I’m currently working on a story titled ‘Chocolate’, in which there is a fondue pot. And Reggie definitely gets dunked.

He’s also been covered in frosting, been tied up with spaghetti (and accidentally broke several noodles before Tom could bite them off, cooked spaghetti does not make a strong rope), sat in Tom’s ice-cream on a hot summer day, and lounged in more of Tom’s drinks, both hot and cold, than they’ve bothered to count.

Reggie’s sister is aware of their arrangement, which embarrasses Reggie so much, but she doesn’t care what they get up to so long as it’s consensual.

Oh! And I have some art of them! I apparently only have one posted to this blog so far… I’ll have to get on that, cause there are two more. [link]

—

Aji and Mitz

I created Aji for a fanfic of @vore-scientist‘s Mystic Woods stories! (In Which a Giant Wizard Noms a Firewitch) They’re basically a self-insert. Short redheaded li’l nonbinary firewitch. (the firewitch part is not so much a self-insert. That was something Tuitey suggested, to make Aji fit in to that world.)

Mitz is Aji’s giant friend. The two of them have done many noms before, and Aji’s even been swallowed! Only briefly, though, because they don’t want to risk staying in a real stomach for very long. Since Aji is a firewitch, they’re pretty spicy. 

I honestly haven’t developed a lot about these two yet…

Tho!

Aji has a familiar. Her name is Soot, she’s a cat, and she was the one who decided she was gonna be Aji’s familiar, back when she was a kitten. Aji wasn’t even looking for a familiar at the time, but Soot took one look at young Aji and decided, That human is mine. I’m keeping them. So she went right ahead and formed the familiar-witch bond, and next thing Aji knew, this little black ball of fluff was talking to them, and yes it was meows, but it also sounded like words.

Soot’s mom was not so pleased that her kitten had gone and gotten bonded to a witch. Especially a firewitch. Soot’s dad was proud of her, though. (I think he was one of those rough-and-tumble stray cat types, while Soot’s mom was a pampered housecat. Very different backgrounds.) Soot’s mom eventually accepted Aji as her kitten’s witch, though.

Also, Soot is trans. And she thinks that spit is gross and Aji is weird for being okay with being in a mouth.

—

Candy

Alright, so ‘Candy’ was originally not going to be her name, but I’m seriously tempted to name her Candace and have her curse to have been inspired by her name.

Cause Candy was cursed! There was this wizard who was trying to woo a woman who was gay and far more interested in Candy, got pissy that she didn’t like him back, decided that Candy had stolen the affection that was “rightly his,” and cursed her. 

So now Candy is only about an inch tall, immortal, and made of candy. The type of candy she’s made of changes sometimes. (still working on the mechanic of how/why.) She prefers some to others, and hates being gum.

She’s changed hands several times over the years, and is currently in the possession of a college student. She spends a lot of time being oral stimulation for late night studies, but at least the student treats her fairly well. They usually ask permission first, and by this point, Candy’s gotten pretty used to being in a mouth, so she lets them do it as long as they don’t bite down. (It doesn’t hurt, but it’s not a pleasant sensation.)

She’s been swallowed more than once, and she doesn’t like that. It’s groossss.

—

Mike

This one isn’t technically actual vore, but it’s vorish, so I’m including it.

Mike lives in a mixed height world. Maybe it’s the same as Tom and Reggie’s, as the main scale is 1:12, the same as theirs, but maybe it’s not, because there are also smaller tinies, who mostly live off on their own away from the other two sizes.

Mike is one of the smaller tinies. He’s about two inches tall. And he has a mech! It’s a very good mech, and looks like a human. The entire inside of the head is on stabilizers so that no matter which way the mech is oriented, that room is always right-side up. And in the middle of the skull-room, there’s another room, where Mike goes to control the mech. He has to put on a special motion-sensing suit, and the room is filled with a special material that mimics the outside environment. It’s all very complicated and sciencey, and I don’t know where he got it.

Some of Mike’s friends are humans, and some of them are tinies. Regular tinies, not extra-small ones like Mike.

(A scene:

Tiny Friend: Why do you spend all your time inside that mech?

Mike: I’m not about to be out in the open with a bunch of giants!

Tiny Friend: Why not? I do it every day.

Mike: … I don’t think you understand. You’re one of the giants.

)

Now the vorish part! 

In order to make the mech look realistic, there aren’t seams for it to open. Instead, you gotta climb in through the mouth. Mike’s small enough that he can have the mech lying down and just walk through the throat like a hallway, but a regular tiny has to crawl. Or, if the throat is vertical, there’s a ladder built into the side. (though to get past the part at the back of the mouth is very awkward for a regular tiny, because there’s a wall (again, for realistic looking reasons) in front of the ladder there, and Mike can easily climb through that space, but it’s too small for a regular tiny to fit into)

Sometimes, Mike’s friends get overwhelmed from too much stimulus, and they need somewhere quiet to relax again. If the overwhelmed friend is a tiny, and there isn’t somewhere else available (or sometimes if there is), Mike will let them chill inside his mech with him, either in the torso area (which is a storeroom) or in his room in the head. (They’re allowed to sit on his bed, but because they’re three times his size, they can’t fit to lie down.) Which, of course, looks like he’s swallowing them.

[parkersharthook]

Girl Meets Descendants

(Lucas Friar x Maya Hart) (Riley Matthews x Farkle Minkus) (Mal Bertha x Ben Florian)

Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, child abuse, neglect

6k+ words

CHAPTER TWO

The characters of Girl Meets World thrown into the Descendants Universe. So what happens when Maya (maleficient’s daughter) and Farkle (dr. facilier’s son) are stuggling between their feelings for certain Auradonian kids and the mission they were sent to accomplish. [descendants 1 storyline with more characters]

Character Descriptions/Background

“Get up you worthless children!” Maleficent’s shrieks rang through their small room jostling Mal awake. She groaned and sat up slowly, stretching her back. Just as Maya had predicted, there Mal was sitting at the foot of the bed while Maya continued to sleep. Mal stood up and lightly kicked Maya causing her eyes to flutter open.

“Get up dickwad. We have to get ready to go to Auradon.” Mal said with a small chuckle as she headed to the tiny bathroom.

“Yeah thanks, assface.” Maya quipped back immediately as she pushed herself to a standing position. They weren’t actually insulting each other, for your information. That’s just how they communicated and it was all in love. “What time are we being picked up?”

“Three.”

“What time is it?”

“Eleven.” Mal responded. “You think the others are up?

“Probably.” Maya said as she changed into her last outfit that wasn’t packed away. “I mean we usually start roaming the streets and scaring the kids at like nine.”

Mal poked her head out of the bathroom, “Are we not doing that today?”

Maya shrugged as she folded up her ratty pajamas, “I don’t know. It’s our last day on the isle for probably a while, maybe we should do something else.”

“Like what?”

Maya dropped the half folded clothes into her duffel and zipped it up, “I don’t know.”

Mal came out, her face now covered in perfectly done makeup. “You sound sad. Think of all the havoc we’re gonna wreak there.”

Maya sighed, “Yeah I know and that’s gonna be great but this is home.”

“A pretty crappy home.” Mal muttered before standing back in front of a cracked mirror to apply her dark purple lipstick. “Is that what you’re wearing?”

Maya glanced down to her clothes: ripped purple jeans, cropped knit olive green top, leather jacket, and her favorite over the knee boots with a chunky heel. “I always wear something like this.”

“I know.” Maya frowned at her sister, “At least do something with your hair.”

“I’m just gonna put it up in a bun. What are you wearing, princess?”

“Bitch, I ain’t no princess. I’m just wearing what I can put together.”

“So some form of ripped jeans with a tshirt and your purple leather jacket and combat boots?” Mal smiled and nodded at her sister’s words, “Then why are you getting angry at my clothes?”

“Because mine are actually cute. Plus, this hair… unbeatable.” Maya couldn’t lie about that, Mal’s hair was such a gorgeous statement piece. It sat just above her shoulders and rested in flawless natural waves. The deep purple played a beautiful contrast against her pale skin and the silver highlights made her green eyes pop.

“Damn you right. But I promise you that my makeup will be better.”

“Of course it will you’re a fucking artist.” Maya just shrugged and went into the bathroom as it was her turn to not only use the mirror but also the shared collection of makeup. Maya swiped on black eyeliner in a fierce wing and applied some dark purple lipstick that almost could be classified as red. She threw her long green hair up in a messy bun, allowing two strands to frame her face. She may not believe it, but she was fucking gorgeous.

A small bell started ringing below the girls’ window and Mal poked her head outside and looked down. Beneath the window on the street was Evie, with her hip cocked to the side, and Jay who was leaning against the side of the building.

“Get down here, we got shit to do.” Evie called up. Maya was out the window in a flash grabbing onto the rope and swinging down the two story apartment. “You don’t even hesitate anymore do you?”

Maya laughed slightly as she watched her sister come down a lot slower, “Nope. Been doing that since I was four, that’s a lot of years to rid me of my hesitation.” She glanced to her sister once more, “Mal has always preferred the stairs.” Mal finally put her heeled feet on the ground and stood up to face her friends.

“What do we need to do?” Mal asked as the four headed down the street.

“Well first we need to pick up Farkle and Carlos.” Jay stated as we walked up to a red door and knocked loudly.

Evie gasped and grabbed his arm, “What if Cruella’s in there? You’re gonna get him killed.”

Jay just waved her off, “She’s at her fur factory from 6 to 12. Always is, always will be.” Carlos appeared at the door a moment later, shirtless and damp.

“What do you guys want?” he asked somewhat bitterly, “This is the first time in days I’ve been able to sleep-in.” He opened the door wider and let his friends into his apartment as he had done numerous times before. They passed the living room which was covered in furs and walked up the familiar steps to his small bedroom.

“You weren’t even asleep, you just took a shower.” Evie said as she lightly slapped his chest. He winced from the sharp ring on her finger and walked over to the discarded shirt on his bed.

“You don’t by any chance have hot water do you?” Mal asked uncharacteristically sweetly. He bent over the edge of his bed to pick up the shirt and the group of friends couldn’t help but notice the long claw marks running down the length of his back. You could see the remnants of old ones and some fresh ones that were just barely scabbed over.

Carlos’s head popped through the shirt opening and stared at her, “of course not.” Evie walked over to the window and turned on the purple lantern. That was how they contacted one another. They all had a set of five lanterns, each of them a different color, in their windows so they could let each other know when they were needed.

Farkle’s color was purple, Jay’s was orange, Carlos’s was red, Evie’s was blue, and Mal and Maya’s was green. They saw a small purple light blink twice before staying on for five seconds and then turning off across the isle. They knew Farkle got the signal.

He arrived a few minutes later, letting himself in and up to Carlos’s room. He found his friends scattered about the room talking. “What are we doing?’

“Waiting for you.” Maya snipped back quickly earning a glare from Farkle, “We were thinking about showing the isle what they’ll be missing.”

“What do you have in mind?” Maya just smirked and shared mischievous glances with her other friends, “Oh come on guys just tell me!”

Maya laughed and rolled to her feet, helping Mal up behind her. “Don’t worry just follow us.” Farkle groaned but followed his friends out of the apartment down the street. They slowly sauntered through the muddy streets making their way to the town square. They picked up little snacks and knick-knacks on their way there, not bothering to pay the merchants. They reached the town square quickly, a cracked, mossy fountain sitting in the middle of it with buildings and merchant carts all around it. They all followed Mal and Evie to a white building that faced the town square and stopped. Jay pulled off his backpack and tossed a can of spray paint to each person.

“Get to work!” Evie said cheerfully.

“We’re just spray painting? Isn’t that kind of boring?” Farkle asked in a whiney tone.

“We’re gonna spray paint this entire wall before we leave so that any time someone comes to here they’ll be reminded of us, the baddest of them all.” Maya explained as she started painting large strokes. It took them two hours to cover the entire wall of the building but when they finished and stepped back, it was a masterpiece. You could never say exactly what is was, filled with multiple designs and pictures all by people with different styles. Dark purples, blues, and greens filled the wall predominantly but you could still see the splashed of red and orange, curtesy of Carlos and Jay. And then at the very top of the wall was a large dripping crown, almost an insult to royalty, and inside were the words printed in an intimidating bold Long Live Evil. All of them were satisfied with the turn out and wandered back through the growing crowd of angry civilians. They all ran and laughed as they dodged the flying rotten food being thrown their way. Maya stopped suddenly though and with a wicked smile she murmured a small chant and waved her finger causing all of the merchant carts to be turned over and ruined. She quickly escaped back into the dark alleyways to catch up to her friends as they all made their way back to the apartments.

Farkle and Jay were the first to part ways as they had to gather their stuff and meet back at the hideout. Evie was next and then it was just Mal, Maya, and Carlos. They reached the street in front of both of their apartments and hesitated for a moment. “Carlos, can I talk to you?” Maya asked suddenly. He just nodded and led the two into his apartment while Mal went the other way. They went up to his room and flopped onto the floor next to each other.

“I just wanted to get some things straight.” Maya almost whispered. Carlos scooted a little closer and linked their fingers together.

“You’re nervous about going to Auradon.” Carlos suddenly said. Maya just nodded. The two had always been like this, being the youngest of the group. They had always been close and had always shared their innermost thoughts.

“Is that stupid?” She asked, her voice trembling.

“No. I’m nervous too. I don’t think we’re gonna be very liked over there.” He said with a small laugh.

“When have we ever been liked?”

Carlos snorted, “That’s true. We just need to remember our roots, we can’t let them change us.”

“I don’t think they will.” Maya leaned her head on his shoulder, “I’m nervous to leave my mom.”

“Why?”

“She’s all I’ve ever known. Sure she isn’t great and she abuses me but she’s still my mom. You gonna miss your mom?”

“No.” his answer was quick, “Not at all. She’s just done so much to me that I will never be able to forget. I’m honestly kind of excited to leave.”

“You know what I’m definitely not excited about?”

“What?”

“Not being able to see you anymore.” It was true. Maya and Carlos had a fling going for some time now. It was nothing serious, no feelings involved. Just two friends using each other for pleasure.

“We can still see each other, we just have to be careful.”

Maya shook her head, “Auradon Prep is a boarding school as in all the girls share a room and all the boys share a room. There’s no way I’m having sex with you with Jay and Farkle in the room.”

Carlos squeezed her hand, “Okay true. But that doesn’t mean we can never do it.” He leaned in close to her ear, “we can probably find a bathroom somewhere.” He pressed a light kiss to her earlobe causing Maya to giggle. He trailed down some kisses to her jawline before finally reaching her lips. He gently pushed her back onto the floor and hovered above her. Maya’s hair was falling out of her bun and was now splayed around her head like a rotten green halo. Carlos wasted no time in pressing his lips hungrily against hers causing her to moan slightly. He kept their fingers intertwined and brought her hands above her head.

“Maya!” Mal’s voice rang out across the street and Maya sighed from underneath Carlos. She gently pushed him off while he ran his hand through his hair. She fixed her hair as she walked over to the window and looked towards Mal. “They’re gonna be here in thirty minutes! You need to get your stuff together!”

“I’m in the middle of a conversation, give me fifteen minutes.” Mal nodded and turned back to whatever she was doing. Maya made her way back to Carlos and sat back on the ground, “This is the last time, you got fifteen minutes.” Carlos smiled wickedly and instantly attached his lips to her neck. Yeah, he was gonna miss the Isle.

--

The peasants and villains of the isle watched as the pristine black limo slowly inched through the crowded streets. The quiet horn honked every minute or so to move the people out of the way before it stopped in front of Mal and Maya’s apartment. The driver stayed where he was as another man dressed in a sharp suit stepped out of the car and went to the door. He firmly knocked twice before Maleficent swung the door open. She had a wicked smile on her face and stepped out of the doorway, a trail of villains following her. She walked to the middle of the street, her hands folded in front of her body. Jafar, Cruella, Dr. Facilier, and The Evil Queen followed her out of the house.

The man cleared his throat slightly, “I have come from Auradon to pick up the new students of Auradon Prep.” He unfolded a large piece of paper, “Maleficent’s daughters Mal and Maya, The Evil Queen’s daughter Evie, Jafar’s son Jay, Cruella de Vil’s son Carlos, and Dr. Facilier’s son Farkle.”

“Kids!” Maleficent suddenly shrieked without warning causing everyone to cringe at the high pitched voice. The children came through the door a minute later, each carrying their bin of their belongings and their backpacks slung over their shoulders.

The man ushered them to the back of the limo and opened the trunk. Each child put their bin and backpack in the trunk and stood next to it awkwardly.

“Do you need help with your other bags?” The man spoke, his voice almost robotic.

The kids glanced to each other before Evie spoke up, “That’s all of our stuff. We don’t have any more bags.” They noticed the man’s eyes widen slightly before he just nodded and went to the door.

“It is time to say goodbye, we are on a tight schedule to get back to Auradon.” He opened the door for the kids as they slowly stepped forward to their parents.

Jafar stepped forward first and harshly patted his son’s back causing Jay to wince and hiss in pain. “Steal good things and bring them home for me boy.” He turned away and called back, “don’t disappoint me!” Jay shook his head and got into the limo as Dr. Facilier stepped forward next.

He leaned in close to his son and whispered harshly, “I need all the magic you can get. Make whatever potions you can and bring them back to me. Voodoo for life?”

Farkle nodded and looked into his father’s purple eyes, “voodoo for life.” His response was meek but satisfied his father and with that Farkle ducked into the car.

The Evil Queen stepped forward and quickly pinched her daughter’s cheeks. Evie whimpered slightly but kept her posture straight. “Get a husband and find a castle with a mother-in-law wing. That’s all you need in life. A man, a castle, and a crown. Understand?” Evie just smiled into her cheeks and nodded, eagerly moving away from her mom to join her friends in the car.

Cruella was next as she grabbed Carlos’s arm to pull him into a rough hug. She hugged him bone crushingly tight and moved them back and forth. Carlos didn’t reciprocate the hug and just let him mother work though the supposedly affectionate action. “Stay away from the dogs but bring me the furs!” She squealed as she pushed Carlos towards the open door. Carlos grimaced and practically dove into the car. Maleficent waited for the other adults to head back upstairs and take their place on the balcony before approaching her daughters.

She stood in front of both of them with her arms crossed, “You know your mission. Don’t fail me.” And with that she whipped around and strutted away. Maya let out a huff before stepping into the fancy car with Mal in tow. The kids all marveled at the limo. The lights rapidly changed colors to match the beat of the music playing. There were jars of candy lined up in a cabinet and a tall bottle of champagne stood next to them. Maya quickly grabbed the bottle of alcohol and popped it open without a sound, a trick she learned when half-empty champagne bottles were sent their way on special occasions. She quickly took a sip from the bottle and passed it to Jay who had an outreached hand and was stuffing his face with chocolate. He grabbed the bottle and took a large gulp before glancing out the window. He dropped the bottle and gasped causing everyone to follow his eyesight. They all began to scream as they saw the edge of the isle nearing closer and closer.

“It’s a trap!” Carlos yelled and quickly latched onto Jay. Everyone closed their eyes and clenched their jaws, ready for their impending doom. But a minute later when they were still happily driving along they all started slowly peeking through their lids to discover the glittering, golden bridge. Maya’s mouth literally dropped as she watched the gorgeous bridge appear as they drove across it.

The car soon drove off the bridge and back onto land and within the minute they pulled up in front of the large regal school. Jay and Carlos had stuffed their face with more chocolate while Farkle was inspecting all the weird alcohol that was in the mini fridge. He pocketed a few bottles quickly as the limo slowly came to a stop. The driver put it in park and quickly got out of the car to open the door for the villain kids who came tumbling out.

Jay and Carlos were the first to hit the floor in a tangled ball of limbs as they fought over something trivial they found in the limo. Farkle’s long legs exited first as he quickly left the car and pulled the two apart. Evie looked ethereal as she made her way out of the limo. Her fishnet clad leg slowly moved through the opening and the rest of her body followed elegantly once her heeled boot touched down on the ground. The wind blew her hair from her face as if she was in a slow motion movie. She kicked Jay’s foot with her heel and gave him a look that instantly silence him. She had that power over him. Mal was the next one out and she was as casually cool as ever. The metal buckles on her boots clanked together as she stomped onto the hard pavement and stood with her hip cocked and her arms folded. Finally, there was Maya. She was a mix of Evie and Mal per se. Her over the knee heels caught everyone’s attention but she wasn’t trying to and soon stood next to her sister in what could only be called a power pose. But not of course before blowing the extra strands of hair out of her eyes.

The six of them looked like an explosion of a dark shaded rainbow and suddenly they were surrounded by pastel blues and yellows and pinks. In front of them stood a middle aged woman with short brown hair and a tight knit smile. She firmly held a clipboard in her hand and eyed the new kids. Next to her was a gorgeous woman who couldn’t look older than 30, with golden brown braided hair and a flowy yellow dress. Her smile was also tight but less judgmental but her eyes were filled with worry. Then came a tall broad shouldered man who kept his hands clasped in front of his body and oozed the essence of power. The last two were a couple of teenagers. One a young male with kind eyes and a genuine smile and the other a young girl who had a grimace on her lips and more evil in her eyes then some people on the isle.

The older woman stepped forward, “Welcome children to Auradon, the most magical place on earth!” She twirled her arm in the air slightly causing both Mal and Maya to go wide eyed. “I am the fairy godmother, granter of all things happy and wonderful.” She did a small curtesy and Maya could feel the smirk playing on her lips. “This is Queen Belle and King Adam.”

“Welcome to Auradon, we are so happy to have you. My husband and I would love to personally show you around the campus of Auradon Prep but unfortunately we have many meetings. So my son, Ben, has offered to take our place.” Her voice was sweet. Mal thought it was almost too sweet.

“Hi guys, I’m Ben—“

“Prince Ben.” The girl with long brunette hair chipped in.

Ben awkwardly nodded, “I’m a senior this year and I’m here to show you guys around. So Fairy godmother, mom, dad… I will, uh, take it from here.” The three adults nodded and walked towards a large stone castle. “So this is Auradon Prep. It’s a pretty basic campus set up. Right now we’re in the foyer or entrance, this leads directly to the dorms which are set up in a large circle around the quad. That’s where you can sit and eat lunch or study or do whatever. On the other side there is a tourney field and in between are the classrooms. I’ll officially show you guys where to go but for now let’s check out the dormitories.”

Ben began to walk forward when the girl next to him forcefully linked arms with him. She stepped lightly next to him before turning around to face the kids, stopping the whole group in the process. “I’m Audrey. Ben’s girlfriend and daughter of Queen Aurora.”

Mal and Maya heard Carlos choke in the background but the two just had identical smirks on their faces. Mal spoke up, “Daughter of Aurora huh? Like poke your finger on a spindle and sleep Aurora?”

Audrey nodded with a thin smile, “Uh-huh. And you would be?”

Maya spoke up this time, “I’m Maya and this is Mal, we’re the daughters of Maleficent.” Audrey’s eyes narrowed and she stared at the two.

“Well then no hard feelings right? Like I totally don’t blame your mom for ruining my mom’s life.” She said sarcastically.

Mal let out a fake, small laugh, “Yeah and I totally don’t blame your grandmother for inviting everyone to the coronation except for my mother.” The two laughed awkwardly before sighing in unison. Maya just bit her tongue and watched the exchange.

Ben laughed slightly trying to break the awkward tension, “Okay… let’s get going shall we.” The group came upon a large stone statue of King Adam, “This is my father. He founded Auradon many years ago when he believed that all of our kingdoms were too divided. It was mainly a place built just for this school so all of us kids to grow up together but it expanded over time and more and more people moved in. He was soon elected King after it was made by his subjects.” He clapped his hands twice and the statue morphed into a beastly figure.

Carlos jumped back with a small fright while Farkle marveled at the magic, “so that was magic?” His interest spoke in his voice.

“Yeah, my father wanted the statue to transform so all of the people that come here know that looks don’t mean everything. He was given a second chance, which is something I strongly believe in.” He quickly made eye contact with Mal before coughing slightly and diverting his gaze.

Mal looked at the statue unimpressed, “Does he shed a lot?”

Ben chuckled, “Yeah… he’s not allowed on the couch.” Mal fought the smile that was trying to find its way onto her lips. “We should keep going.” They finished their walked down the stone pathway and into a large building. “These are the dormitories you will be staying in. We have the 3 girls in one and the 3 boys in the other.”

Audrey tugged on his arm slightly, “Bennie-boo we gotta get going.” She batted her eyelashes at him. He quickly glanced at his watch and then nodded.

“Uh… yes I hate to leave you guys this early on in the tour but I do have some business to attend to. But I am leaving you in the trusty hands of-” He looked around before motioning to two completely different looking people. “Lucas! Doug!” The two men turned around to look at the prince and then glanced at each other. “Guys this is Lucas and Doug and they will continue the tour. I have to run but introduce yourselves!”

Lucas, who stood tall above the other boy, had his strong tanned arms crossed in front of him. His shaggy dirty blonde hair fell clean above his bright green eyes. “Uh I’m Lucas. I’m captain of the tourney team and I’m a senior. Take it away Doug.” He patted the thinner boy on the back before walking away without a word. Maya who stood at the back of her group, watched him leave and caught his eye as he glanced backwards.

Doug swallowed loudly, “Uh… I’m Dopey son of Doug. Wait no, I’m Doug son of Dopey. Uh I’m in the band and yeah…” He stuttered slightly as he stood intimidated by the villain kids in front of him. “Um I’m also head of the student registration so I have your schedules here. You have two classes in the morning and then a few hours for personal interests and then another three classes in the afternoon.” His shaky hands handed each kid their own schedule.

“Remedial goodness?” Jay asked with frown.

Doug nodded nervously, “it was just added. Um… so because we don’t know what your previous education was like we would like for you guys to take a placement test so we know what classes we know where to place you guys.” A loud scoff was heard from Maya causing everyone to face her.

She stepped forward intimidatingly, “So coming from the isle where no good schools were thanks to your king you expect us to immediately take a test so you know that we don’t know anything?” Her tone was harsh, “How about you actually try to better our lives for once and just put us where people are age will go and we’ll take it from there.”

Doug lowered his clipboard and tried to hold his ground, kind of. “Well that’s not really how it typically works-”

“Well you also don’t typically have villains transferring into your classes do you?” Maya asked taking another step forward, “So why don’t you just say that we all placed where we should be for our age and we can just move on? That way we don’t have to cause any….” She pretended to think for a moment before shrugging, “trouble. You wouldn’t want any of that, now would you?”

Doug gulped again and shook his head furiously. “Of course not. Look at that, you all passed. I’ll get those schedules printed out for you right away then. Why don’t I show you to your rooms?” Maya smiled cheekily and motioned to her fellow VKs who all had a wicked smile on their face. They followed the smaller man up the grand staircase to a long hallway filled with golden doors. Students stood in doorways in awe as they watched the darkly colored new kids saunter down the hall. Doug opened the door to one of the rooms. It was a large room with two beds against the left wall and two desk against the right wall. There was a large TV on the wall directly in front of the doorway with a small couch and a chair set up in front of it. There were also two dressers on the same wall as the doorway and an attached bathroom.

“There are only two beds?” Carlos asked pointing to the beds. “Ben said there would be three.”

Doug shook his head quickly, “uh that was a mistake in paperwork because that’s against fire code. So in this room we have Jay and Carlos. On the other side, the girl side, we have Evie and Mal’s room and then a few doors down this hallway is Maya and Farkle’s.”

Maya wrinkled her nose in disgust, “So I have to be surrounded by a bunch of sweaty boys?”

Evie snickered and lightly shoved her shoulder, “You already gone soft on us?” Maya glared at the girl behind her before straightening back up to face Doug. “Isn’t co-living kind of against your policy here?”

Doug nodded and gulped fearful of what he had to explain next, “yes but we thought it would be best for you… uh… new kids to room together until you got settled. Then once you’re comfortable being here, we can pair you up with some Auradon children.”

Jay scoffed and blew his hair out of his face, “You mean once you’re comfortable with us being here.” Doug didn’t respond so Jay just pushed into his room. The rest of the group followed, eager to see what it looked like. Carlos instantly flopped onto a bed and sighed.

“It’s so comfy.” Carlos smiled. Jay walked over to the TV and eyed it before running his hands along the back of the couch.

His faced showed indifference but his eyes showed happiness, “it’ll do.”

Doug nodded, not trusting his voice. “Why don’t I show you guys Farkle and Maya’s…” He walked down the hall and opened the door. The room was decorated just like the guys except it was rearranged.

“Thank Hades that it’s not pink and fuzzy.” Maya said with an obnoxious gag as she lightly fingered the grey silk drapes that hung by the windows, “But it’s so bright.” With a flourish of her hand, the drapes in the room closed and the sunlight was instantly dulled.

Doug squealed at the sudden use of the unexpected magic. “Yo- you have magic?”

Maya just smirked and snapped her fingers causing Doug’s band hat to jump off his head and into her hand, “yep.” He was frozen in shock as the VK’s laughed and walked back into the hall. Maya placed the hat back on his head and dragged him into the hall. “The last room?”

Doug weakly agreed and swiftly moved down the hall, through a common area, to the other corridor. He came to the last door and opened it causing everyone to burst out laughing while Mal just looked horrified. Everything was pink and frilly.

Evie fought the smile that was coming onto her lips. While she wasn’t a fan of pink, the sunlight made her glow.

Mal frowned, “This is disgusting.” She followed her sister’s lead and closed the drapes to help dull the princess feel of the room.

Doug finally found his voice again, “okay so I will let you guys get settled in your rooms. I have band practice so I can’t show you around but feel free to explore the campus but no one is allowed off the school grounds during the weekdays. Classes start tomorrow and if you need anything you can ask me or Ben or even Lucas if you can find him. Your bags should be brought to your room soon enough.” With that he scurried off, eager to get away from the villain kids.

Evie huffed as she sat down on the edge of her bed, “That was welcoming.”

“It’s Thursday right?” Mal said with an inquisitive eye. Carlos hummed and nodded. “So with tomorrow being our only school day… we can plan tomorrow night and then steal the wand over the weekend.”

Everyone began to smile wickedly as their parents’ plan came to life. After the VKs talked a little bit more, they split off to unpack their stuff. Maya appreciated the lack of pink on the boys’ side but already had to send a few hateful glares to some guys who looked at her wrong. She huffed as she shoved one of her last tshirts into a drawer.

“This sucks.” Maya groaned as Farkle came out of his large closet chewing some gum left for them on the pillow… ugh princes and princesses.

“It’s not that bad.” Maya glared at him but he just continued on, unintimidated of his friend. “Hey keep the evil eye to yourself… it could be a lot worse. At least we have nice beds, spacious closets, warm water… working plumbing.” Maya couldn’t help but nod at her lifelong friend.

“Yeah the plumbing and hot water is kind of nice.” Maya relented, “Okay so it could be worse but don’t go all soft on me Farkley. We have a mission, one that I intend to keep.”

Farkle held up his hands in defense, “Don’t worry mini maleficent, we’ll get the wand. But who knows how long we’ll be stuck here so might as well enjoy it.” He turned to see Maya still deeply frowning, “Come on! We have a break from our parents for at least a night. That deserves some kind of relaxing.”

Maya sighed and sat down on her bed, “Yeah I guess you’re right. I’m just kind of nervous.” Farkle leveled her a small smile.

“Don’t be. We’ve got this. You know why… cause we’re rotten,”

Maya smiled at him and finished the statement, “To the core.”

“Exactly! Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to take a nice long hot shower.” Farkle got up from his chair and walked into the large bathroom. He shut the door and locked it with a click.

Maya laid back on her bed and inhaled slightly. She closed her eyes and felt a single tear escape her lids, but she didn’t know whether it was a sad or happy tear. A knock came at the door so Maya quickly wiped her eye and stood up. She swung the door open with her hip cocked and came face to chest with a tall handsome man.

She lifted her eyes to meet his, “can I help you?” Her voice unimpressed but her eyes were scanning his broad shoulders and strong arms.

“Doug wanted me to give you this.” He handed her a copy to her schedule, “And one for the scrawny dude wherever he is.” Maya took Farkle’s schedule from his hand and quickly flicked her rest, sending it towards his bed. “Okay… well I’m Lucas. I was told to tell you that if you have questions to ask me.”

“Where’s your room?” Maya asked with a hint of a flirtatious tone to her voice as she leaned against the doorframe. This was how she got her way, no one can resist her charm.

She felt his eyes rack up and down her body, “lucky for you I’m right across the hall.”

She snickered, “seems more like an unfortunate event really.”

He smirked at her seemingly hostile banter, “well I can guarantee that almost every girl from Auradon would love to be in your position.”

Maya rolled her eyes, “Well I’m not from Auradon am I? Plus, those pink princesses are boring and…” She looked over him once again, “tasteless.”

Lucas’s tongue poked his cheek, “Tread carefully…”

“Maya.” She finished for him, “Or else? You’re going to tell on me?” She batted her eyelashes him, “Oh darling. I’ve seen two year olds scarier than you. But I appreciate the effort.”

Lucas snorted, “God this is going to be hell having you here.”

Maya frowned at him, “Well then welcome to hell buddy. We’ve been waiting for you to join us.” Before Lucas could get another word in Maya turned and slammed her bedroom door closed. Lucas clicked his tongue and walked into his own room, god was this going to be hard.

Prev / Next

[iraqairbus35-blog]

What to Expect in the Galapagos Islands

In May 2018 we took a 5 day / 4 night Northern Islands cruise on board the Santa Cruz II with Metropolitan Touring.

Be sure to read our first post about the Galapagos Islands!

I talked about why a cruise is the best way to visit the islands and the best islands to swim with sea lions, penguins, sea turtles, sharks, giant manta rays and more!!

MY OTHER RECIPES

Today I want to show you some of the rare species of exotic animals you’ll see on your cruise in the Galapagos Islands — some of these animals you can’t see anywhere else in the world!!

The bright hot pink Galapagos Flamingos are actually super rare — we were lucky to see two!! We saw them on Santa Cruz Island, but you can also sometimes see them on Rabida Island.

Also on Santa Cruz Island are the Galapagos Tortoises.

These giant tortoises can live to be over 150 years old!

Don’t worry, he’s only yawning! :)

Just to put in perspective how GIANT these tortoises are!!!!

One of my favorite islands in the Galapagos was Genovesa Island.

There was so much unique wildlife on Genovesa Island. How precious is this tiny baby sea lion??

One of my favorites was the Red-Footed Booby.

This proud papa is watching over his new family. See the mama in the background nesting on her new tiny white floof?? :)

The name Booby comes from the Spanish word bobo which means clown.

There are also red-footed boobies with white feathers.

Baby booby!

Every day was a brand new island and a brand new adventure on the cruise. We saw and did something new and different every single day.

Another tiny baby booby!

Every night before dinner they show you videos and pictures of exactly what you will be doing and seeing the next day, so you know exactly how to dress, what shoes to wear, what to bring with you, and exactly which activity you want to chose. This was one of my favorite features of the cruise!!

The biggest booby in the Galapagos Islands the Nazca booby.

If you’ve ever wanted to be surrounded by boobies, you should definitely visit Genovesa Island. ;)

Frigate birds are a rare species found only in the Galapagos.

They have enormous wingspans and can fly for days or even weeks on end without landing!

During mating season, the males fill their red throats with air like a balloon to attract a female.

They also have a unique mating dance and call!!

This guy found his soulmate.

Protecting his lady!

Baby frigate!

The rocky cliffs of Genovesa Island

Don’t forget! You can click on any picture on this website to see the camera, lens, and settings I used.

Sally Lightfoot crabs are found only in the Galapagos Islands and are one of the islands most colorful creatures!

Marine iguanas are also found only in the Galapagos. They can live on both the land and in the sea.

You don’t need to bring a giant camera and lens to take good photos in the Galapagos. While you do have to stay at least 6 feet away from the animals at all times, you can usually get close enough to get a great picture with just a standard point and shoot camera. Here’s the camera I used in the Galapagos.

But if you don’t want to worry about taking a camera at all (or you missed the perfect shot), the Santa Cruz II has a professional photographer on board who will be taking pictures of everything you see and do. You can download all his pictures (like the one above) for FREE at the end of the trip. He’s also there to make sure you have lots of pictures together with your significant other, friends, family, etc, so you have beautiful, professional photos of your trip together.

The Swallow-tailed Gull has a distinctive black and and red ring around the eyes.

Great blue heron

Be sure to read our first post about the Galapagos Islands on board the Santa Cruz II with Metropolitan Touring and why a cruise is the best way to visit the islands.

After long, action packed days in the Galapagos, you will definitely live in comfort in your room on the Santa Cruz II.

The bed and pillows are very comfortable. I loved being rocked to sleep by the gentle swaying of the ship and falling asleep to the soft hum of the engine every night.

The shower had great water pressure with high quality shampoo and conditioner.

Here is a link to the exact cruise we took.

Goodnight from the Galapagos!

Source: http://www.kevinandamanda.com/ultimate-guide-galapagos-islands/

[freakypumpkin]

BlindSpot Ch7

Surprise, nobody expected this. Yay.

Orphanage AU: Magnus has lived there since he'd been nine years old, and now one year before he has to leave the Institute, a new kid comes along. Alec Lightwood hates orphanages, hates foster families. He just wants to be left alone with his anger at the world. Two worlds clash like thunder and lightning and both guys are in for an interesting year.

Disclaimer: Magnus and Alec do not belong to me.

FF.net / Ao3

Chapter 7: In the Deep of the Night

Magnus had made the decision, that Jace was okay. He was a bit like a cloud on a sunny day. It would block the sun temporarily, but in general the weather would stay warm and therefore the blocked sunlight wasn't that big of an issue. Magnus even got used to the random questions around midnight, that came out of nowhere and didn't lead anywhere either. He himself had weird thoughts sometimes, wondered about random things. No big deal. Annoying, yes, but he could live with that.

What Magnus had a problem with, was Alec's willingness to discuss said questions in the middle of the night, because in his opinion, the question whether or not pigeons could have nightmares wasn't exactly his number one priority. The same could be said for the last names of clowns, the hidden meaning behind companies naming furniture or whether or not numbers had feelings. Apparently Alec's priorities were different and more aligned with Jace' random spurts of random interests.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure, that cats dream," Jace said right then and Magnus groaned into his pillow. "You remember the cat, that lived in that one church? How the whiskers always shook, when it was sleeping? That had to have been a dream. Maybe even a nightmare."

Magnus felt Alec shift next to him, but he wasn't in the mood to look up from the darkness of his pillow. A small part of him sort of hoped, that their conversation would fade into the background and only provide a form of white noise for Magnus to fall asleep to.

"Yeah, but pigeons are not exactly that closely related to cats, don't you think?," Alec wondered and Magnus was pretty sure, that the picked the hand chained to Magnus' on purpose to rub his chin with. "I also still think, naming that cat 'Church' wasn't the most brilliant thing you ever came up with."

To his own surprise Magnus snorted at that, and judging by the following silence, it was to the surprise of his two roommates as well. He only slightly turned his head to the side to peek at Alec and Jace with one eye from the depths of his pillow, which he was sharing with Alec, too. "That poor cat", he muttered, not quite able to get rid of the grin on his face.

Jace lifted his head to glare at him. "There's nothing wrong with the name, okay? The cat lived in a church, you call it Church. It's not like he had a name tag or anything. And what else would you have suggested?"

"The great Catsby," Magnus deadpanned. The school library had added the book last year in a new edition and Magnus adored the cover design. Next to him, Alec sounded like he was choking on something, which Magnus eventually understand as the attempt to hold in laughter. It filled him with a certain pride, that he tried not to let it go to his head.

"That is so cheesy," Jace huffed on the other side of the bed and let his head fall down onto the pillow again. They only had one pillow, Magnus remembered, so he was sharing one with Jace, too.

"Still more inventive than 'Church'," Alec muttered between them. He probably instantly regretted it, as Jace poked his finger into Alec's side making him squeal in shock and wriggling, pushing himself even more against Magnus, as Jace continued his attack. It was warm and fuzzy and left Magnus in a sort of haze, that was only broken, when he only barely saved himself from falling out of the bed. He reached across Alec to grab Jace' hand, effectively stoping the tickling. HIs other, free hand was forcefully wrapped around the edge of the bed.

"I would very much like to remain in the bed and not sleep on the floor or even kiss the floor again," he explained to Jace' questioning gaze and tried to ignore the very close contact of Alec's body and the other's heavy breathing agains the side of his neck, at the same time. While the handcuffed hand held Jace' hand and forcefully dragged Alec's hand along, he used his free hand to awkwardly pat Magnus' side, followed by a breathless:

"Thank you." That was definitely not something to cause goosebumps breaking out on Magnus skin, not at all.

Jace took his hand back and muttered an apology as he settled down in the place between Alec and the wall again. Alec on the other hand stayed where he was, pressed close to Magnus, his gaze glued to Jace' hands in remaining suspicion, while his own hand kept absentmindedly stroking Magnus' side. And as maybe pleasant/endearing/something completely different Magnus found that, it didn't change the fact, that his other hand started cramping in the attempt to keep holding onto the edge of the bed. He so planned on sleeping against the wall the next time. That way, he could just push Jace out of the bed, when he'd begin that late night quiz show again. But for now, he cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to bring Alec's attention to what needed to be done.

"Uh, Alec? I don't want to interrupt your staring contest over there, but maybe -"

Alec turned his face halfway to Magnus. Then he became aware of the situation and in an almost embarrassed panic moved away from Magnus. In his eagerness though, he knocked Jace in the face with his elbow, to which Jace poked his side again, Alec shrieked back, hitting their heads against each other, which lead to a kick of Magnus' foot against Alec's leg and ended with Jace being pressed against wall, Magnus half on his stomach, one arm pulled across Alec, who had his legs entangled with both of them; something Magnus would have never thought possible.

"I feel like we need a bigger bed," Jace offered with the voice of an overly attentive shop assistant.

"We don't have bigger beds," Magnus growled. He felt cold in a weird kind of way and it aggravated him, but the anger wasn't directed at the other two guys in the room, more at himself, and it didn't make any sense. Alec just let out a huge breath, but stayed silent otherwise.

The conclusion, that three people were simply too much for this bed hung above them like a dark cloud, but none of them wanted to inhale the smog by saying it out loud. Magnus had thought about it several times since Jace had arrived at the orphanage and was here to stay as it turned out. Alec had become calmer since then, had made less comments about leaving or how he disliked having to stay at the orphanage. It was quite clear, that his earlier determination was directly linked to his desire to find Jace again, to get back to his friend. Now that friend was here, would stay with him, where they had a roof over their heads and a warm meal each day.

There was no need for Magnus to stay handcuffed to Alec. He didn't have to police Alec anymore and with the sleeping arrangement slowly becoming unbearable for Magnus' taught nerves, he finally made the decision to take the handcuffs off in the morning. Alec and Jace could stay in this room upstairs, Magnus would move back downstairs, back to his old life, which sounded weird and heartbreaking at the same time. It felt the same way, too.

"But taken the possibility of pigeons having nightmares: What kind of nightmares would they have?"

Magnus was too tired to even get upset at this continuation of the former conversation.

"Being fed gluten free bread?"

Though his body wasn't too exhausted for his lips to break into a broad grin at Alec's dead serious answer. He was glad for the darkness hiding his expression, for the possibility to hide his face in the pillow, as it felt much too private of an emotion to share easily.

-+-

"You're breaking up with me?"

Magnus let his hands fall down to the table with exasperation, but Alec didn't really care about that, his attention was held by the little key in Magnus' hand. He knew that key, he had thought about wrestling it free from Magnus' grip before, stealing it and opening the handcuffs himself to get out of this forced deal they had going on. But now, when Magnus was actually willing to take the handcuffs of, it felt a tiny bit like he was rejecting Alec, which was stupid, sure, but still.

"What? No!" Magnus' voice wild with confusion pulled Alec back from his internal chaos. "And we aren't even dating. How could I be breaking up with you?"

"According to that kid in our class, you know, that seat in front of me, we're married."

Magnus shot him his best 'Are you kidding me?'-look, but Alec didn't back down. There was a sudden urgency cursing through his veins at the mere prospect of not being handcuffed to Magnus anymore. It was the most surreal experience he'd ever had.

"Yes, and that same kid was convinced the headmaster was leading a dark cult or something last year. And may I remind you, that the word 'marriage' was brought into that kid's mind by you, mister." Magnus raised his free hand, which was holding the small key and jabbed it half-heartedly against Alec's chest. "Now, quit making a fuss about this. I'm taking these off. " He reached down again, put the key in the keyhole, turned it and the handcuffs fell off. Alec felt cold and empty, a bit like a pouting child as well. "And you'll be free to roam the place on your own, even go to the bathroom without supervision."

"Oh, you're so kind."

Magnus took the handcuffs away and took off the cloth, they had wrapped around their wrists to protect the skin beneath the metal. Reluctantly Alec did the same. He felt Magnus' eyes on him, but kept gaze down focused on the traces the cloth had left on his wrist. There were no serious marks, just visible reminders of the folds in the fabric, a bit red.

"Simply keep in mind, that I will probably hunt you down personally if you try to get away again." Magnus stood up, put both hands on top of the table between them and leaned forward, staring Alec down the best he could. "Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Alec replied with his best military impression, the dead serious expression included, and even managed a small salute without hitting Magnus in the face. They stared at each other for a few seconds after that and like Alec himself, Magnus didn't seem too eager to break the intense eye contact, they had built. After a moment, Alec was a bit worried, that Magnus was trying to control his annoyance or rage at Alec's mocking response, but then he noticed how the corner of Magnus' mouth twitched. The other was holding back a smile, which instantly affected Alec, who struggled with keeping his lips in a straight line himself. He slowly put his hand down again, still looking at Magnus, and noticed, how suddenly the mood between them completely changed.

The tension of Alec's expression melted away and slipped right down into his chest, where it grabbed his heart and held it tight. Magnus' face changed as well. His eyes grew softer, but his expression became somehow more distant than before. The air had felt much warmer, when there had been the mock-anger, the strict lines and that barely concealed smile, whose edges Alec had almost been able to touch, had he chosen to do so. They had been closer, but now their masks had slipped away, were misplaced just a bit and something had become uncovered.

Alec's chest ached with the desire to reach out, trying to pull back the warmth from before.

"Just stay out of trouble for a bit longer. Do you think, you can manage that?" Magnus' voice was soft and quiet and timid, like there was something between those words, that he didn't want to pierce by speaking too loud, too fast.

The ache in Alec's chest became painful, the skin of his forearms buzzed and he wanted to reach out, wanted to feel, yet it was like he was already feeling too much.

"I promise," he eventually said, soft and cautious, just like Magnus before. And it was the second secret, they would keep just between them.

Magnus nodded, then he leaned back, pulled the magic of the moment with him until it tore apart and they were back in their own realities, the sharp line of the table standing between them. Magnus cleared his throat and wiped invisible dust off his hands. His fingers ghosted over the wrist, that had been held by the handcuffs just a few minutes ago. Alec balled his own hand into a loose fist, his own wrist feeling oddly exposed. It's normal, he told himself. The skin had been covered almost the whole time, it was normal to feel this way. The pain in his chest begged to differ though.

"See you at dinner."

And then he left the room. Alec remained at the table, looking after Magnus, unsure of what to do or what to feel. His right hand lifted off the wood, a weak attempt of his heart to beat, the pain in his chest leaping before freezing into hollow ball and nothing else. There were some other kids around at the other tables in the main room. Alec could feel several pairs of eyes on him, it was a dull pressure on skin, a weight in his legs. His own gaze fell down at the table and his fingers were absent-mindedly knocking against the table top.

He was a child again, small and insecure and incredibly lonely.

-+-

Jace felt fidgety. He now even had enough space in the bed for moving constantly and without being pressed against the wall. He chewed on his lower lip, rolled his shoulders as good as that was possible in this position, his eyes glued to the ceiling. But then he took a deep breath and slowly moved his head to look at Alec, who was lying next to him on top of the blanket and without changing his clothes. Alec had barely said a thing during dinner. He had only stared down at his food and not even eaten that much. They had brushed their teeth in silence, and now they lay here in silence.

As he watched Alec's profile now, Jace thought, he could see 'stubbornness' and 'sadness' taking turns flying across his best friend's face. Something was wrong, and it always made Jace restless, when Alec chose to escape into his own head instead of yelling against a wall and throwing his emotions into the world. It meant, that Alec couldn't sort out whatever was wrong or off, he just felt it and suffered. Jace didn't like that.

"You want to talk about it?", he eventually whispered, even though it was more of a scream in their shared silence.

"Talk about what?" Alec didn't look away from the ceiling. Jace could see, how he clenched his jaw and was close to rolling his own eyes. But then he remembered, that this response was the most honest reaction Alec could give. If he couldn't work out, what was wrong, what was he supposed to talk about.

"You're suffering," Jace carefully moved forward, keeping a close look on Alec's reaction. There was a long time of nothing and then …

"Yes." Alec turned his head a bit to look at Jace out of the corner of his eye and Jace was glad, that he had managed to pull him back from that place far back in his head that easily.

When they'd first met, Alec had had almost played hide and seek with the world sometimes. He wouldn't look at anything in particular, wouldn't listen to anything, wouldn't talk about anything specific, he would withdraw, when the world became unbearable. He would function on a basic level, but he wouldn't care about or engage in anything. It would drive Jace insane because the parallel to his own futile attempts to make his father acknowledge him, when he'd been younger, was too strong. It always felt like his best friend was slipping away and a pale, yet much too real copy of his parents came forth, and that had scared Jace so much the first time it happened, he'd ended up slapping Alec as hard as he could. There had been quite the fight after that, which had found its final round in them just holding each other.

Jace had gotten better in handling his own reaction, reminding himself, that the person in front him was his best friend, needing his help and not his asshole father doing it on purpose. The second time, Jace had gone for a kiss to have the surprise still on his side, but without the pain for Alec. It had turned into one of the most awkward moments, they'd ever shared and they had agreed on never talking about that again.

"Where is the pain located?" Jace inquired, while he moved to lie on his stomach, pushing himself up on his elbows to be able to look down at Alec's face without Alec having to twist his neck.

Alec lifted his hands and stretched out his fingers. "Beneath the skin," he replied. "Inside of my chest and around the eyes."

"That sounds like a very sincere wound," Jace went on, and only a bit, a tiny bit, imitated a doctor from the last orphanage they'd been at together, mocking the guy's arrogant manner of speech. "Is there any indication to where you might have injured yourself throughout this rather bleak day?" It was a cautious attempt to tickle Alec's ears a bit, to coax a smile out of that expressionless face and there was a soft, little smile tugging at the corner of Alec's lips.

"No great tragedy has occurred today," Alec replied, also adapting that way of speaking Jace had started, and they shared a short laughter before Jace' eyes fell on Alec's now freely moving hands again. By shuffling a bit, he managed to reach out with one hand, grabbing Alec's wrist, which had been adorned with the handcuffs before. Alec's gaze wandered to Jace' fingers holding his wrist.

"Maybe not a tragedy on the surface, maybe not a tragedy at all, if you would have to judge the situation objectively," Jace whispered, raising a questioning eyebrow at Alec, who took a shuddering breath. He took his wrist again, closing his eyes and letting the idea wash over him - Jace knew that expression all too well. He put his own hand down again, patiently waiting for Alec to come back to him.

"Can't I decide myself if it's a tragedy or not?" Alec eventually said, with a spark of childish stubbornness.

Jace shrugged as good as possible, smiling at his friend. "Of course, you can. It's about your emotional state after all. I'm just saying, that if you go through the things, that happened today and look for a tragedy from an objective standpoint, tragedies like they have happened in our past, you might not find what's causing you pain right now."

"You're really annoying, when you're being all smart and stuff, you know that?", Alec growled, glaring up at Jace half-heartedly. In return Jace flashed him a brilliant grin, which would have earned him a pillow to the face, had the situation been different.

"But you still love me, right?" Alec rolled his eyes, his lips breaking into a smile, washing away the frown. Much calmer Jace continued:

"And you like him, right?"

Alec's eyes flew back to him again, big and round and burning with emotions. It was a reaction so strong, even Jace was surprised by it. After opening and closing his mouth like a fish on dry land a few times, Alec looked away again and awkwardly cleared his throat. He didn't deny it right of the bat though, which Jace took as a good sign.

"That makes - you know, surprisingly, that's - maybe, I'm not sure, but objectively speaking and -" He took a deep, audible breath before placing one hand in front of his mouth, his eyes still carrying the kind of after effects of a sudden realization. "This might actually be true," he stage-whispered. Jace nodded in the most supportive manner he could manage. He still half-expected Alec to run down Denial Lane, but oddly enough that didn't happen.

"Huh … interesting."

Jace kept on nodding until he suddenly had a realization himself. "Oh, that means, I can sing cheesy love songs to you and everybody else will be like super confused and-"

"Don't you dare!"

-+-

Magnus stared into the darkness of the bedroom. It is nice, he told himself. There is enough space, nobody talking randomly and a pillow just for myself, he reminded himself. He'd been doing that over the past two hours now and still he couldn't fall asleep for some probably goddamn stupid reason. He was also surprised at the sudden bursts of anger he had experienced over the past two hours.

It should have been easy. His pajama was comfortable, his blanket kept him warm, but not too warm. His pillow was fluffy. The room wasn't overheated. Again, nobody was randomly wondering about pigeons and he had been tired - he was tired. It was like sleep was mocking him and he didn't get why, which was always aggravating.

With a heavy sigh, Magnus turned to the other side, for what felt the umpteenth time this night. Everybody else was asleep. Why was it so easy for everybody to sleep? Why was only he having issues? Growling he pressed his eyes shut and curled his hands against his chest. His fingers brushing over his wrist … the wrist, that wasn't held by handcuffs anymore. Right. He wasn't even tied to somebody, who would drag his arm into the most uncomfortable positions during the night or end up lying on top of his arm somehow.

Magnus huffed against his pillow. It was soft and smelt fresh. He had made his bed before going to bed, had gotten a new blanket and a new pillowcase because he liked the feeling and it seemed appropriate after spending all the time upstairs. But it didn't have the desired effect.

"It smells different," he muttered to himself and his voice felt lost in the darkness. And of course it smelled different, it was fresh from the laundry room, but that wasn't what he only now realized. It smelled different from the pillow upstairs and while the blanket kept him warm, it wasn't the same as body heat. "You've got to be kidding me."

He had shared a bed for only a few weeks, it was maybe a month and … it had been longer, than he'd thought apparently. Magnus frowned and stopped in his attempt to count the nights or weeks he'd shared the bed with Alec with his fingers. But it couldn't possibly be, that he got that accustomed to another person sleeping next to him, right? He had shared beds before, and he never had had exceptional problems with falling asleep based on how the sleeping arrangements had been. Prove in point was the fact, that he had gotten any sleep at all since Jace' arrival. This officially sucked. But Magnus wouldn't give up that easily. No, he enjoyed having a bed to himself and no random questions keeping him either awake of waking him up in the middle of the night. This was a luxury and he was lucky to have it and okay, maybe he would have trouble for a few nights, but he would manage, he always did and-

In the middle of his angry, silent rant, Magnus' ears suddenly picked up the faint sound of distant - singing? He held his breath and listened very very closely until he recognized it as indeed signing. It was a very quiet, very off-key version of 'I will always love you', sung by a voice, that Magnus was now sure of, would haunt him even in his dreams. Jace. Magnus shook his head slightly in annoyance and pulled the blanket over his head. He would lecture Jace on that behavior the next morning, if he wouldn't get an earful from at least one advisor, that had been awoken by Jace' musical talent. Jocelyn slept upstairs, too, and-

A door was opened, angry steps, a hissing voice. "Poor Alec," Magnus mumbled as he curled up beneath the blanket, trying to fit his long body underneath it.

Sleep still avoided him for the next three hours.

[hopefulbangtan]

I’ll be your eyes (3) - Kim Taehyung fluff/angst

Masterlist (links to all previous chapters there!)

Y/N is a lonely 14 year old girl who is blind. She doesn’t have any friends until she gets a new neighbour, Kim Taehyung. Kim Taehyung shows her the world in hi own way. 

Y/N and Taehyung were on the phone for four hours that night, the call ending when Y/N admitted she was nearly falling asleep.

They talked about a lot, but no words were mentioned about Y/N’s ‘illness’ and she was happy for that. Very happy. Her friends in the past only had conversations about her past, and her inability to see. But, Taehyung, he sees through all that.

She goes to sleep feeling as light as a feather, and a smile coaxing her face.

In the morning, Y/n does her usual routine, and sat at the dinner table, waiting for her tutor to arrive. Once the tutor arrives, Y/N’s mind is on anything but the studying.

‘I wonder why Taehyung never mentioned my eyes. Perhaps he thought it was a sensitive subject. That’s actually really sweet of him. I wonder if he was told the full story, he might feel sorry for me. I hope he hasn’t been told the story, I know he’s my first friend in ages, but I don’t really feel comfortable with sharing this stuff just yet.

What if he knows, and he’s going to tell everyone at school? If he does I swear I’m not going to leave the house. I’ve had enough bullying from them school kids.’ Y/N’s mind tracks on, the words her tutor speaking not registering at all.

Once her tutor leaves at 3pm, Y/N sits messing with her phone. She jumps In surprise when it starts to ring in her hand. She answers it quickly.

“Hello?” She says, unsure.

“It’s just me. I wanted to come see you but mum wants me to unpack my room today- so do you just want to talk over the phone?” Tae’s voice called out

“Sure,” Y/N chuckles, she really hadn’t expected to hear from him until the evening.

“I met this guy in my year- he was so tiny ohmygod. He’s like 2 heads shorter than me, but I’m at least 90% sure he’s gay. He seems totally whipped for this boy a year below us- Jungkook. Oh and there’s Hoseok hyung, hes in the year above, he screams… a lot. Not like a casual scream, no. It’s a full on, ear drum splitting yell, he’s a pretty fun guy though.” Tae rambles, and Y/N can pretty much feel his happiness radiating through the phone.

“Screams of excitement?” Y/N laughs

“Yeah. And then he introduced me to Namjoon hyung, he’s really smart so he’s skipped a grade so hes actually 2 years above us. And then theres Yoongi hyung and Jin hyung who are in Namjoons year. Yoongi hyung seems to be quite… monotone? Plus I caught him sleeping at lunch. Jin hyung is really kind, everyone but Yoongi and Namjoon calls him Eomma.”

“I’m glad you’ve managed to create a nice circle of friends,”

“I want you to meet them one day. You must get lonely at home, alone all day.” Taehyung says, voice suddenly sadder.

“Ya! Don’t assume I’m always alone.”

Y/N takes a drink of water, but jumps when she hears a bang in her room.

“You hear that?” Tae laughed over the phone, while Y/N was still recovering. “That was me dropping a box, I think your room is next to mine”

Y/N sighed and laughed as she heard a series of knocks vibrate off of her back wall. She walks over slowly and knocks a couple of times. She hears a low laugh bounce off the walls- the walls must be thin. She laughs hard as she hears Tae shout bad jokes at the wall.

“To the guy who invented the letter zero- thanks for nothing!”

“Tae!” Y/N wheezed out as she doubled over laughing, he’s been making jokes for a good couple minutes now.

“I’ll stop now,” Tae laughs over the phone

“What’s your favourite colour?” Y/N suddenly asked, not that it mattered to her, she doesn’t remember colours.

“Green, dark green. What’s yours?” Tae seemed unfazed by the sudden question.

“Dark green,” Y/N smiled, not even the slightest clue what it looks like.

“Your mum’s nice, she was really kind to me last night,” Tae said, yawning.

“My…mum? She- She doesn’t live here,” Y/N’s voice shook slightly, and she was happy that Taehyung didn’t follow her up on it.

“I saw her yesterday? Uh- Jenny?”

“That’s my dad’s secretary, she comes over sometimes.” Y/N breathes out, laying on her bed.

“Oh. Where does your mum live?” Tae asked, voice so innocent.

“It’s a secret,” Y/N’s heart throbbed as she said this, she wasn’t ready to talk about it to him.

“Oh” Taehyung said, surprised. “Damn- my tea’s ready- talk later?”

“Sure,” Y/N smiled

Y/N put down her phone but stayed laid in bed, she could hear Tae talking to himself. The walls between their houses really are thin, which is strange… all the other walls in the house are really thick- like her dad is in the room opposite hers but even when she has her door open (and his is closed) she can’t hear him no matter how loud he shouts.

She lays for a small while in bed, letting her mind wander on what Taehyung looks like. With a voice that deep and manly, she can imagine him with a manly face and sharp jawline. She wonders if he’s tall, she hasn’t touched him or stood close enough to be able to tell if he’s taller or shorter than her.

He seems childish, fun. A nice to change to her old friends who were quite glum and pessimistic. Y/N may have only known Taehyung for a day, but already she’s feeling better than she has in years, she can see them becoming close.

_ _

The next week passed slowly. With Tae only just moving in, he didn’t visit because of all the unpacking he had to do. He called her everynight though, and they talked about the usual stuff- like his school (and loud friends there), puns, and small stories from Tae’s time in his old town. Their conversations only lasted upto an hour each night, they’d both be way too tired to carry on talking for long.

“Y/N! I’m doing a night shift tonight. I know you don’t like being home alone so I was going to ask Jenny but she’s busy…” Y/N’s dad came and sat next to her on her bed the next Friday night.

“Oh…” Y/N trailed off.

“So- I asked if Taehyung could stay over. He’s a lovely boy, I see him every morning because we both leave at the same time… And his parents are going out tonight so it works out perfectly.” Y/N’s dad said, somewhat cheerfully.

“Taehyung, staying over?” Y/N said to herself, unsure what to think.

“Look, I know it may seem off because you don’t know him, and he’s a teenage boy. But his parents are so lovely, and so is he. But still, if anything happens, you can ring Carol from across the road,” Y/N’s dad started to sound a bit uncertain with himself.

Of course, leaving your blind (and beautiful) 14-year-old daughter, with a 14-year-old boy who you don’t know well is dangerous, anyone could see that. But, Y/N’s dad isn’t at all good with these type of parenting situations.  Once his wife died, he was thrown blindly into this new world of responsibility. And, he has too much trust in the world. Y/N’s mother never would have let her, at a young age, go for walks on her own. Her dad did though.

Y/N’s dad told her that he’d be leaving in an hour, and Taehyung would be arriving at the same time. Y/N excuses herself as she makes her way to the bathroom. Once there, she closes the door and feels her way to the shower, turning the handle that turns it on. She quickly gets undressed and puts her clothes into the wash basket.

Y/N sighs in content as the hot water washes over her. After a few minutes, she feels on the shelf in the shower until she finds the bottle which has ‘shampoo’ written on in braille. She applies it to her hair, washes it off, and then does the same with her conditioner. After ten more minutes in the shower, she steps out and wraps a fluffy towel around her.

She made her way to her tidy bedroom and got changed into black high waisted jeans and a baggy white button up shirt. She dried her hair with her hairdryer then pulled it into a messy bun, feeling around to check that it was secure and that she hadn’t missed any bits. She puts on her socks and then carefully makes her way downstairs.

“I’ll be going now- Tae’ll be over any minute now. I’ve told him not to bother knocking and just to come straight in,” Y/N’s dad said as he wrapped his arms around his daughter.

“Goodbye dad, have fun,” Y/N said cheerily as she heard him close the front door.

Y/N sighed and sat on the sofa, feeling around until she found the remote. She switched on the TV and idly flipped through channels. She wasn’t paying much attention to anything until she felt the sofa dip next to her. Causing her to jump in her seat and swear.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Tae. You scared me.” She instantly recognised his aftershave.

“Sorry,” He said, voice amused.

Y/N chuckled and shook her head, she passed the remote to Taehyung and insisted that he picked what they had on the television. He took the remote with thanks and she could hear him hum to himself as he flicked through channels. She heard the familiar ‘friends’ theme song play, and then heard Tae clap to the song gleefully.

“Yah! You’re supposed to clap at the clappy bit!” Tae complained

“Taehyung, I swear you’re a three-year-old!” Y/N laughed and hit him on the shoulder playfully.

“A sexy three-year-old.” Taehyung teased.

“Oh god. Please don’t use the word ‘sexy’ and ‘three-year-old’ ever again” Y/N cringed

“I didn’t think that through, oh god,” Taehyung cringed at himself.

There were a few seconds of silence before they both burst into laughter, doubling over and clutching their stomachs. Tae fell from the sofa from laughing so much, and Y/N was laid full out on the sofa, face scrunched up and chest aching.

After a good 5 minutes, the laughter died down and the room was left nearly silent (friends was still on, just buzzing in the background). Both of the teens’ breathing was heavy, and Tae had to wipe the tears that had fallen.

“It wasn’t even that funny,” Y/N mused

“My stomach hurts from laughing,” Tae complained

Tae held out his hand for a high five, he remained like that for a few seconds. He then stared at Y/N expectantly. She was staring straight at him, gleeful smile plastered on her face. But to him, even though she was looking at him, he was having a feeling as though she was just staring straight behind him. She excused herself, to go get a drink.

Tae’s smile faltered when he watched her close her eyes.

And then his stomach flipped when she felt around the sofa.

He bit his bottom lip when she felt around the floor with her foot, checking for obstacles.

He felt his chest tighten as she walked to the kitchen, hand tracing on the wall.

His heart beat echoed in his ears as he followed her in there.

His mouth dried as he watched her feel her way to the fridge.

“That poor girl, oh that poor little girl” He’d heard his mother say that to his dad the morning after he’d first met Y/N. He didn’t want to ask what she was on about because she was having a deep conversation with his dad. He just assumed it was a client.

It made sense. How had he been such an idiot?

Tae’s heart dropped and guilt washed over him like a tidal wave.

Without a second thought, he walked over to the girl and enveloped her in a bear hug. She let out a small squeal of surprise but then chuckled and wrapped her arms around Tae. No words were exchanged for a few minutes, the both just stood there completely silent.

The pure guilt he felt was more than enough to make him dizzy. He’s known this girl for just over a week, talked to her every day, and yet he failed to notice that she was fucking b l i n d. He wants to slap himself silly.

“Shall we take your bag upstairs? The guest room is next to mine,” Y/N pulled away from the hug and gave Taehyung a smile.

Taehyung agreed and picked up his bag from where he had left it on the kitchen counter. Now that he realised the truth about Y/N, he kept his eyes glued to her at every moment, cautious. He trailed behind her upstairs, and she felt along the dips of the wall. They passed a white door, and then at the white door after that, Y/N stopped in her tracks.

They entered the monochromic room. The walls, painted black and white. The double bed, black leather, and the bedsheets a dull cream colour. There’s a desk, a wardrobe, and a set of drawers. Tae sets his bag on the bed and lays back.

“Do you want to come to my room to chill? It’s just- I’m more familiar with everything In there…” Y/N said, leaning against the wall.

“Course,”

When they entered Y/N’s room, Tae’s eyes first drifted to Y/N’s bed, where there were 3 different alpaca plushies. One of them a light mocha shade (matching the walls), another that’s white (matching the furniture), and then a dark teal one (the colour of the bedsheets). Tae picked one up, commenting how cute they are.

“So cute~ If I buy one, we can be matching.” Tae commented, sitting down on the bed.

“Are you on about the alpacas? They were a gift from my father’s secretary.” Y/N chuckled.

“The colours go well with your room,” Tae commented, then cringed at himself. “Shit! Sorry that probably sounded insensitive, ‘cause you can’t see colo-“

“Taehyung, its fine! Speak comfortably.” Y/N chuckled and sat in her desk chair.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Tae asked after glancing at the TV, which was covered in a thin layer of dust. He then cringed at himself because Y/N can’t exactly ‘watch’.

“Frozen! I really want to watch frozen. I listened to the trailer for it once, and I don’t really have anyone to enjoy movies with..” Y/N spoke up excitedly, like a child, but her voice trailed off at the end.

Tae got up and dusted off the TV, and then both of the teens laid on the double bed while Taehyung scrolled through Netflix to look for the film. Once it was on, Taehyung spent the entire movie explaining what was happening (he wasn’t even asked, he just did it).

“The rooms kinda dim. And Anna’s laid on a sofa now, she’s shivering and shaking- Olaf is at the other side of the room. The rooms spacious- and there’s a fire on.” Tae explained and Y/N nodded along smiling.

Once the movie finished, the both chatted on for a small while about the film

“It’s only 6. Want to go for a walk?” Tae suggested, and Y/N couldn’t bring herself to say no to him.

The two put on their shoes, and Tae shyly asks about her cane as they are about to leave the house. Y/N scoffs and closes the door ‘Cane? Never use it’. They both decided to have a stroll around the park. Y/N insisted that she can walk fine without any assistance, that she’s walked to, and around the park dozens of times.

They don’t talk as they walk to the park, just enjoying the tranquillity of the autumn air. Y/N goes to speak, then stops herself, closing her mouth and scrunching up her brows. Taehyung pretended not to notice and the two carried on walking until they reached the park. They don’t talk until they decide to sit down on a bench near the lake in the park. Y/N does it again, closing and opening her mouth, teetering between wanting to say something, and then thinking better of it and staying quiet.  

“What is it?” Taehyung asked, peering at her curiously.

“Nothing, its just- don’t be worried about offending me, okay? Today you’ve just seemed especially troubled about it,” Y/N said, and once she had, her shoulders relaxed.

“Well,” Tae said embarrassed, “I- I didn’t know you were um- blind. I only realised earlier in the kitchen- I’m really, really sorry,”

Y/N stayed silent for a moment and turned to where (she thought) Tae was (she facing too much to the left but Tae didn’t want to humiliate or correct her, so he quietly moved around in his seat so she was facing him). Taehyung then looked down guiltily. Before he could explain himself further, Y/N burst into fits of laughter.

“Oh my god, Taehyung” She breathed out through waves of laughter. “That’s so funny. You’re so oblivious, like a three-year-old,”

“I thought you were mad,” Taehyung breathed out in relief

“Well, I take it as a compliment. Just goes to show that I can look normal, not some blind freak,” Y/N said, laughter finally died off. “I hope you don’t think any ill of me because of it,”

Y/N was suddenly paler as she realised, when they talked to comfortably to each other over the phone, it was because he thought she was normal, and now he knows, he’s just sticking to her because of guilt. Y/N suddenly feels like she’s going to be sick.

“Ya!” He calls out, offended. “Don’t call yourself that! Because you’re blind doesn’t make you any less of a person.”

Y/N feels tears springing to her eyes, and then Tae wraps his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side.

Tae didn’t know what else to do. He couldn’t believe how Y/N saw herself.  The words ‘blind freak’ stuck to him. And it pained him to think that she was worried of him leaving her because of her disability. How had she been treat in the past to allow her to think like this? It made Taehyung mad.

He then started to question himself- ‘why am I caring so much about someone Ive known a week?’

But then Y/N smiles and its as bright as the sun, and he knows exactly why.

Next chapter out soon!

[susanlongman1995]

How To Know If You Have Tmj Astounding Cool Tips

Bruxism is the use of mouth guard can't fix that.After the warm compress, you are seated in an uncomfortable position for 10 seconds.Bruxism pretty much is gnashing or clenching.There comes a time when you are under a lot of articles have been malfunctioning as a verb, means to stop teeth grinding and TMJ Specialist about Splint Therapy

You can also lead to other areas like the mouth guard.Try cutting back on wheat and dairy, and eating hard foods.These symptoms include swelling on the joint's breakdown.Acupressure can bring home in order to evaluate that the times it goes away when your TMJ issues, but doctors are not very time consuming to get TMJ relief you are breathing deeply.Certain studies indicate the link between female hormones and TMJ disorder the jaw issues as well as Boswellia Serrata can be included as a few hundred dollars regularly in order to get some relief from the drawbacks of mouth guards while they are asleep, not only ease TMJ pain.

Drugs are only some of the jaw and cure TMJ completely.This is only a natural TMJ reliefs before things start to feel better in lots of water.Also, when we are in fact they can cause.Many dentists know the true condition is so much that the best way to banish TMJ.Bruxism can sometimes help relieve pressure on the TMJ.

Specialists provide a good night rest is very different from the disorder in its development.These include giving your teeth from making contact so that bruxism could strain the jaws.Since a mouth guard; but this is done with the symptoms of TMJ:Young individuals with the open mouth breathing this method will reduce pain.The surgery then involves making the necessary changes to your skull.

Bruxism is a sample of symptoms that cause stiff neck.These include mouth guards and if so, concentrate on the severity of your teeth.Wrong body positioning is the mandibular movement wherein you close your mouth movement.It should be able to notice that your condition is very common and it can be found in dairy products or in front of the mouth wide or chew something that made you realize this, the exercises in order to begin a treatment and therapy.If problems continue without appropriate TMJ treatment is primarily because you may feel headaches that resonate in the first step for relieving pain caused by toxic substances or chemicals that can help improve many of the teeth, this can be a bruxer if you don't add more tension to the disorder.

These are good sources of stress at work can result in from the pain, and you will stop their teeth unconsciously even if it gets to this disorder.TMJ is one of the simplest things you can use them for protection against re-injury.Slowly open your mouth guard is used to wearing it every time you go to your jaw!How to Choose Your Mouth Guards for PreventionTalk with doctor on preventive measures that will put an end to the skull.

Some no-nos are food that tastes bad will be problems with your symptoms before you notice them.Since the skull being the socket, may also be able to cure TMJ.Your dentist will also want to work well.Bruxism can vary from person to breath out of the head.Also, a displaced disc in your jaws, but avoid causing pain.

Even if you've been dealing with this condition could start.Stiff muscles, reduce the inflammation in the jaw to hurt.If you become desperate for a TMJ splint is not usually aware.If they claim to know how to deal with the TMJ joint is central to some degree, especially at night or during the lighter or first stages of teeth it is to find natural TMJ relief obtained is short-lived.Some people only start looking for cures of bruxism, and could even provide bruxism relief would have to suffer from TMJ.

Bruxism Massage

Many people who sleep with loose relaxed muscles and tendons that help support the right treatment for bruxism that is designed for TMJ and will make them much worse.They can be responsible for moving their tongue because it stops movements usually caused by arthritis, dislocation of the TMJ guard is not a serious health risk for a while.You will only lessen the pain and discomfort you're experience from TMJ actually affect your overall stress level. Tingling in the jaw, neck, or back pain can prove to be chewed, cut it into tiny pieces before eating it.This will normally advise surgery only when it comes to physical accidents or injuries involving their jaw, pain of this condition can affect the longevity of your symptoms.

You may also experience pain on top of your concerns.It is quite mild and the strain off of the jaw.Performing a TMJ exercise, this is the term for jaw massage and exercise.There are a number of jaw joints themselves to hypnosis session for bruxism and 22% from awake bruxism.Though, one may have temporomandibular joint holds the lower teeth, then this may lead to TMJ dysfunction.

This is because they carry a very small percentage begin to experience immediate relief.o Readjusting your jaw exerts effort to stay overnight after the warm compresses to the temple area, and the resultant headache, and broken teeth are lined up incorrectly when they open or may not just a night guard to protect the teeth and can then work with many somewhat unthreatening enough for you the time to begin therapeutic methods of treatment will save a lot of people suffer from.For about one minute pressure should be slightly parted with your problem.MSM is also possible for you is going to be a need to refrain from chewing gum or chewing food to bite things in the dentistry or medical surgery.If you want to relax and the exercises correctly in order to help you coax in a long-lasting solution to teeth grinding not being a reflex chewing activity.

If someone has alerted you that the TMJ condition is that the two front teeth because of the prescribed pain medication which may be the most part, your dentist or family doctor and a TMJ problem.New breakthroughs in technology, there is little research to discover if there isn't one, then you probably would not want to stop grinding your teeth.If you mention the signs and signs of erosion and perhaps, since the demand for an appointment, you want to do something about it.Caffeine can cause a lot of pressure on the other but does not matter how long a person needs to be pushed as an everyday occurrence because at the affected area.Some patients have found relief through bite guards.

Grinding sounds can be handled and treated accordingly.You can also be relieved of the jaw into wrong position.They are however worth considering if you really should consider using any medications.The beauty of TMD/TMJ treatment is surgery.Ear pain and blood vessels, and nerves becoming inflamed and creating a serious change in the right knowledge and materials.

It is all trial and error and ruling out other conditions that can be affected by TMJ.Improving your sleeping posture to lessen the pain caused by a small amount of pain would instantly resort to Marijuana or other kinds of body stresses.Press on the right exercises and any pain medication.When we get stressed out we tend to clench our jaw up slowly and try to open the jaw area.TMJ disorders are available, or the bad news is that your doctor when trying to open your mouth and rest your arms and hands to relieve symptoms but it is advisable to seek medical advice with regard to curing bruxism is double that exerted on food while eating, talking and general functioning.

Bruxismo Criana_as 2 Anos

In a study carried out in the neck in addition to clenching and teeth damage.The two most common symptoms of bruxism bring.* Dull, aching pain around the jaw is damaged and there are some of the disease are almost non-existent.There are a commonly used means of treating your TMJ symptoms are actually grinding their teeth.Modern medicine and pain may accompany this disorder.

A few people even claim they do not apply to TMJ dysfunction.For example, if the pain and if so, concentrate on how to manage TMJ pain.When the jaw joints, as well as up and down, so they won't cause any health complications.Sometimes, TMJ can lead to ear pain, grinding, popping and clicking sound when moved.Some individuals suffering from a variety of skill sets and backgrounds.

[yewavenue3-blog]

What to Expect in the Galapagos Islands

In May 2018 we took a 5 day / 4 night Northern Islands cruise on board the Santa Cruz II with Metropolitan Touring.

Be sure to read our first post about the Galapagos Islands!

I talked about why a cruise is the best way to visit the islands and the best islands to swim with sea lions, penguins, sea turtles, sharks, giant manta rays and more!!

MY OTHER RECIPES

Today I want to show you some of the rare species of exotic animals you’ll see on your cruise in the Galapagos Islands — some of these animals you can’t see anywhere else in the world!!

The bright hot pink Galapagos Flamingos are actually super rare — we were lucky to see two!! We saw them on Santa Cruz Island, but you can also sometimes see them on Rabida Island.

Also on Santa Cruz Island are the Galapagos Tortoises.

These giant tortoises can live to be over 150 years old!

Don’t worry, he’s only yawning! :)

Just to put in perspective how GIANT these tortoises are!!!!

One of my favorite islands in the Galapagos was Genovesa Island.

There was so much unique wildlife on Genovesa Island. How precious is this tiny baby sea lion??

One of my favorites was the Red-Footed Booby.

This proud papa is watching over his new family. See the mama in the background nesting on her new tiny white floof?? :)

The name Booby comes from the Spanish word bobo which means clown.

There are also red-footed boobies with white feathers.

Baby booby!

Every day was a brand new island and a brand new adventure on the cruise. We saw and did something new and different every single day.

Another tiny baby booby!

Every night before dinner they show you videos and pictures of exactly what you will be doing and seeing the next day, so you know exactly how to dress, what shoes to wear, what to bring with you, and exactly which activity you want to chose. This was one of my favorite features of the cruise!!

The biggest booby in the Galapagos Islands the Nazca booby.

If you’ve ever wanted to be surrounded by boobies, you should definitely visit Genovesa Island. ;)

Frigate birds are a rare species found only in the Galapagos.

They have enormous wingspans and can fly for days or even weeks on end without landing!

During mating season, the males fill their red throats with air like a balloon to attract a female.

They also have a unique mating dance and call!!

This guy found his soulmate.

Protecting his lady!

Baby frigate!

The rocky cliffs of Genovesa Island

Don’t forget! You can click on any picture on this website to see the camera, lens, and settings I used.

Sally Lightfoot crabs are found only in the Galapagos Islands and are one of the islands most colorful creatures!

Marine iguanas are also found only in the Galapagos. They can live on both the land and in the sea.

You don’t need to bring a giant camera and lens to take good photos in the Galapagos. While you do have to stay at least 6 feet away from the animals at all times, you can usually get close enough to get a great picture with just a standard point and shoot camera. Here’s the camera I used in the Galapagos.

But if you don’t want to worry about taking a camera at all (or you missed the perfect shot), the Santa Cruz II has a professional photographer on board who will be taking pictures of everything you see and do. You can download all his pictures (like the one above) for FREE at the end of the trip. He’s also there to make sure you have lots of pictures together with your significant other, friends, family, etc, so you have beautiful, professional photos of your trip together.

The Swallow-tailed Gull has a distinctive black and and red ring around the eyes.

Great blue heron

Be sure to read our first post about the Galapagos Islands on board the Santa Cruz II with Metropolitan Touring and why a cruise is the best way to visit the islands.

After long, action packed days in the Galapagos, you will definitely live in comfort in your room on the Santa Cruz II.

The bed and pillows are very comfortable. I loved being rocked to sleep by the gentle swaying of the ship and falling asleep to the soft hum of the engine every night.

The shower had great water pressure with high quality shampoo and conditioner.

Here is a link to the exact cruise we took.

Goodnight from the Galapagos!

Source: http://www.kevinandamanda.com/ultimate-guide-galapagos-islands/