#asra: You and me both

[maya-tl]

Another drawing of my apprentice, Raya! This time with shading and a much more practical outfit!! 💙

[asmo-cosmetics]

when i say i ship asrian what i need you to understand is that i mean i want asra to apologize and beg for julian back. possibly in messy tears

[steelthroat]

It's not a type. It's a pattern... and I think I just found mine

[fizzy-fizzy]

I am TIRED of these people on ao3.

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

The Arcana HCs: M6 and Kisses

~ enjoy :3 ~

Julian

Kissing him is never unemotional

Heated moments aside, Julian gives you both planned and unplanned kisses. Depending on the mood and context, how that feels and how that progresses can change drastically

He loves "occasion" kisses, tiny little pauses of the day's etiquette where he gets to swoop in and leave a peck on your cheek. Hello kisses, goodbye kisses, thanks-for-checking-on-me-at-2-AM-because-I'm-still-awake-from-thinking-too-much kisses ...

... though that last kind is less likely to be on the cheek, and more likely to be the most tired, grateful "thank you" you've ever heard, whispered against your lips as he trails after your touch

Unplanned kisses happen whenever someone says or does something that reminds him of what you mean to him. Between his scholar's brain and bleeding heart is a vast sea of sentiment

Maybe it's seeing one of the South End vendors, stooped with age, quietly lighting up as their equally weathered partner walks by on the other side of the canal and blows them a cheeky smooch

He never thought he'd live long enough to look like that, but now all he can think about is how he can't wait to be that with you

Then he's making good use of that massive coat of his, catching up to you in two long strides, pulling you into one of those all-encompassing hugs before he swoops the cape of it between you and prying eyes so he can pour his soul into a heartfelt kiss

Asra

Never the same and always the same, somehow

They don't care to be publicly vulnerable, so you're not going to get any lingering kisses in the street, or the market, or the tavern

But considering the extent to which his love for you has completely consumed him, he can't not express affection for you

And besides, they've never been conventional. Why limit themself to your face when you've got a whole body?

Unexpected kisses peppered across your knuckles when you hold hands. A subtle peck to the pulse point below your ear when he leans in to whisper something to you. The briefest brush of his lips against the back of your shoulder as you stand and wait together

All this without ever expecting anything in return - doing anything similarly sweet and subtle back will result in a blushing, stumbling, zoned-out magician and a laughing snake

Privately, kisses aren't about a heated moment (though they have been known to play into them, when you were interested ...)

They're about savoring you, lingering on the gift of your warm, living presence, delighting in their chance to luxuriate in finally expressing every ounce of devoted adoration for you

For someone as playful and creative as he is, every moment your mouths meet is a little different, a little new, that childlike curiosity excited to find yet another way to feel you

All while that loyal, bone-deep love feels like coming home

Nadia

Kissing her feels like you're being blessed

Getting kissed in public is almost always a statement of some kind. Each brush of her lips against your skin carries the weight of an important message

Anything from a kiss to your wrist, telling you that you handled a tricky situation well, to a firm kiss on your mouth, telling everyone around you that you are her most important person

It could be easy to feel you're just another face orbiting her, with how naturally she commands the attention of a room and takes charge of any situation and brings it into line

But when every moment of contact is designed to honor you, to credit you with the leader she's become, you may find that not sharing the spotlight with her is almost impossible

In private, kisses are raw and unrefined

They're still purposeful, but there's no grand painting to be a part of. The woman next to you is not the Countess, but the person who trusts you wholeheartedly and expects no less in return

Dizzying intensity, feeling every emotion freely expressed against your lips, watching her thoughts flit across her open, unguarded face. She desires vulnerability and abandons ceremony in her rush to be close to you. If there's no walls between you, why hold back?

Being the sole focus of such a powerful, regal person feels a bit like taking the concentrated power of the sun. Except it's Nadia, and her neverending need to saturate you with her love

Muriel

Kisses with him are tender

Halting and awkward, at first, and a little lost as he gets his practice, and much more involved and intense as time goes on, but never lacking in gentleness and consideration

You can count the amount of times he's kissed you in public on one hand. He is not into PDA by a long shot

Luckily for you, you two live in the woods. Being in public requires planning ahead. Being in private is another normal day

Casual kisses take time. They're never thoughtless, instead being something you receive in a split second after about ten minutes of intense mental planning and preparation on his part

Over time, you find it's easier for him to give you casual kisses with his fingertips - brushing your cheek gently, pressing one finger to his own lips before lightly tapping it to your nose

He has accidentally kissed your nose when he was aiming for your mouth multiple times now. The only way to convince him to get past it and keep initiating kisses was to make it an inside joke

Kisses for him are a way to reaffirm every silent promise he's made you. Whether it be his commitment to sticking life out with you, to healing, to growing, to protecting, to nurturing with you

To him, it's the weighty comfort of building a new home and family with you. To you, it's safety and trust and security and gentleness beyond imagining. Not the most heated, but always warm

Portia

Kissing her is like bubbling over

She loves fiercely and without restraint. If you're hers and she's yours, there is no reason to hold back

Kisses are her extension of general physical affection. She'll stand with her arm around you, nuzzling into your cheek as she teases you in conversation and planting a kiss there while she's at it

She's also so openly affectionate towards anyone she cares about that there's next to no room for anybody to feel awkward

If it's in reach and she's happy you're with her for the hundredth time that day, she's kissing it. Shoulders, arms, hands, elbows, nose, cheeks, hair - there are very few limits

Kisses in private don't get outrageously creative, but they take on a whole host of meanings for someone as expressive as she is

Frustrated kisses when she feels like she's failed, excited kisses when she's got a new idea, flirtatious kisses that make you feel those new couple butterflies after decades of life together

"You're irresistible with flour in your hair" kisses, scattered all across your face in her sunlit kitchen before she pulls you in for something longer and deeper and sweeter

"You make life feel like a storybook" kisses, full of suspended disbelief and excited giggles and romantic embraces

"You make me the main character of my story" kisses, lingering long as she holds you to her chest and savors your companionship

Lucio

Kissing him is an adventure

He wasn't used to kisses meaning much more than a good time. At least, not before you. By the time he met you, the ability to feel warmth and basic touch was overwhelmingly precious

As easy at it is for casual affection to be simply casual for him, it's never unappreciated, and certainly not taken for granted

Has no issues with PDA. If he wants a kiss, and you want a kiss, then it's time to enjoy a kiss. Anybody who has a problem with it is free to look in any other direction (though he's not thinking that far)

From moment to moment, they're the added spice to a good life. Sudden, rushed, sloppy kisses on the road just because he can, and because he's about to disregard that "no trespassing" sign

In quieter moments, kisses become so precious that each one feels like a polished gemstone falling into your lap

He's been starving all his life for a true connection, for a reliable affection that tells him it's safe to believe you when you tell him that you love him. He may act entitled, but he's not oblivious

Holding such a rollercoaster of a man while he loses both himself and all of his emotions in the safety of your kisses is enough to get you a little lost too, if you let yourself get drawn in

As much as he might grandstand and monologue as he puts all that leadership charisma into charming you, the moment you hold his face in your hands, he's clinging to your soul and offering his own in return. Through his mouth. Into your mouth. Again, please -

[bunnyluvx]

the arcana characters and their favorite ways to spend time with you! ♡

featuring: the romanceable cast of the arcana minus lucio x gn!reader.

summary: the cast and their favorite ways to spend time with you!! <3

warnings: brief death mention in portia's part. nothing else! <3

a/n: WOWIEEE HAIII EVERYONE!! i just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who loved on my last post. it was really scary for me to make that, but i did it and all of the interaction means the complete world!!!! i know that this is a very different fandom than the last post so i don't know how many people will see this but to any readers, i hope that you enjoy this!!! i worked super hard and got a bit tired towards the end so i hope you can forgive me if it isn't as detailed eyfvibu i wanted to do more but mannnn i am so tired. i didn't write lucio, as i will not be writing any lucio content on my page at all. mentions of him for story reasons and maybe if i ever write a fanfic, he'll probably show up but other than that, i will not be making any content of him at all. i am a proud lucio hater so if you want lucio content please go somewhere else. i just finished asra's route today, i got the upright ending and AAAAAAAAAA?????? I LOVE THEM SMMM SYFVIUBIOE!!!! asra is literally such a cutie patootie and i am so in love with him. i cannot deal with it. i have done muriel and julian's routes too, both with the result of the upright ending, and i plan to do nadia's next!!!! very excited and nervous to see what happens. nadia and portia may be a bit ooc, so apologies for that. i have yet to do their routes so i have yet to see their characters in action. very mildly proofread, so please forgive any errors. character banners were edited together by me! any and all requests/ideas for my next post are appreciated! i don't think i have anything else to mention so enjoy!!!!!!

divider credit: @isisjupiter

date started: 7:46PM, april 11th, 2024. date finished: 2:07AM, april 22nd, 2024.

wc: 3.9k

asra ♡ traveling.

i really struggled to find something for asra that suited, because they would honestly enjoy doing anything with you. it doesn't matter where you are or what time of day it is, as long as he has you by his side, then he's happy. and that is super evident in their route. and having just finished asra's route, i have been thinking; we all know that asra does a lot of traveling. and we all know that during those times, asra misses you terribly. they don't like being away from you for a long time, and as we go through asra's route, having all of these adventures and seeing so many new and cool places, we can see just how happy asra is to have you at their side. the joy shines through the screen, and i can feel just how happy he is to have you with him wherever you are. ergo, their favorite thing to do with you is to travel.

when the two of you started to travel together, asra was a bit nervous. he didn't know what to expect when you agreed to travel together without a destination in mind, and he was worried that somehow, some way, something would happen to you. what if you got kidnapped? what if you got hurt? what if you got sick? all sorts of thoughts were running through asra's head, but the more that they watched you grow and allowed you to take chances, the more that they realized that you would be okay. yes, any of those things could happen, but he is right there if you need him. they know that they will always be by your side to help you through any challenge, and care for you however you need it.

however, as the travels go on, he is reminded everyday that you are a strong, capable individual. they knew that before, of course, but seeing you solve all of the riddles and puzzles put in front of you, helping so many people and growing so much made it hit them like a truck. he was always too afraid to allow you to take chances before, in fear that you would get hurt. but they learned that if you didn't take chances, that you wouldn't grow. and the last thing that he wants is to stop you from being the best version of you that you can be.

so, they let you off of the leash. and just like a bird taking flight, you soared and took everything that came at you by storm. he watched you as you became braver, smarter, kinder and stronger. they always expected for you to be great, and they always had faith in you. he just needed to learn that in order to achieve that greatness, that he needed to let you do some things on your own. they needed to let you make your own mistakes and win your own battles, so that you could learn. and it was one of the best decisions that he's ever made. watching you become more independent and confident within yourself is one of the best feelings that they could ever be blessed to have. he feels so grateful that he is the person that you choose every single day, and no matter what, he will always choose you.

julian ♡ dancing.

at heart, julian is a romantic. almost every cliche romantic thing that you can think of, you have done with julian. picnics. karaoke, aquariums, painting classes, shopping, craft nights, not to mention all of the crazy adventures that you guys would get into together. every day, he wants to remind you why you fell for him, and in his opinion, keeping things lively is the best way to do that! above all, though, julian's favorite thing to do with you is to dance. he knew that you were a prodigy at dancing after the masquerade, but one night changes everything.

the two of you had actually taken dancing classes before this. you were actually the one who suggested it, and after teasingly accusing you of thinking that the two of you are horrible dancers, he agreed. he honestly didn't think that he could be more in love with you after that. you two went to the class, and julian could hardly ever tear his eyes off of you. the way that you moved was so naturally graceful, as if you had been a dancer your whole life. he most definitely showered you in attention and love after the class was over, and he knew that he had to arrange for the two of you to dance together more often.

oh but that night was not the night that he realized that this was his favorite thing to do with you, no no no no no. the night that he realized that dancing was his favorite activity to do with you was a night like many others; dinner at portia's. it was you, julian, portia and nadia, and you all decided to eat outside so that you could watch the stars. portia went into the cottage to check on the food, with nadia following close behind her, and julian figured that it was the perfect time to steal a sweet moment with you. so, he stood from his seat and knelt to one knee before you. with one hand on his chest and the other extended to you, he asked, "will you have this dance with me, my dear?"

you giggled and told him that there wasn't any music playing. what could you possibly dance to? oh how sweet you are. a chuckle symphonized from his chest, and he responded with, "oh my dear, we do have music." a gloved hand took yours and placed it over his heart, "right here." oh my gods, this absolute cheeseball. you playfully shoved his chest, moving backwards under the force but not falling onto his butt. he swiftly leans forward and takes the hand that shoved him, pulling you to your feet as he stood. one pair of hands intertwined while the others lay on your waist on his shoulder. you two started to sway together, as if you were in the masquerade. yes, you did technically dance at the masquerade, but julian wanted a more intimate experience. you didn't get to have a romantic ballroom dance thanks to the one we do not speak, and julian finds that absolutely outrageous!

your bodies glide beautifully amongst the grass and bushes, you take turns spinning each other around and laughing throughout. fireflies spring from the greenery wherever you set your feet, giving your figures a tender glow that julian found absolutely enchanting on you. after spinning through almost all of portia's front lawn, you find yourselves right back at group sitting spot. his arms have encircled your waist, keeping you close to him as your arms encircle his neck carefully. there are no long strides in this dance, no dramatic flair; just you and him rocking back and forth. his eyes stare into yours and his lips are curved into an adoring smile, as if by looking into your eyes, he could pour all of his love from him to you just through eye contact.

you mutter his name, he mutters yours, you lean in, and..portia pipes up. both her and nadia hold two bowls of soup, hot and ready. portia is mischievously smirking at the two of you while nadia admires your connection. julian tries to usher them away so that he can have more alone time with you, but you're quick to shut him down. begrudgingly, julian did, but all he could think about for the rest of the night was how beautiful you were dancing with him. your laughter singing into the air, the smile on your face, your gaze carving through the very core of his being. somehow, he was able to stay focused on the conversations that occurred that evening, but everyone, including you, could tell that he was going to be hung up on tonight for the next several weeks. when you got home, he was sure to steal a kiss from you later, and another dance.

nadia ♡ fashion shows.

ah, our beloved countess. at first, i planned on giving her shopping, seeing as her love language is gift giving, she would love to spoil the crap out of you with anything that you even glanced out. however, i wasn't happy with that idea. my boyfriend was actually the one who came up with the idea of fashion shows (hi vinny honey, i love you <3). he is such a freaking genius for this one bc OH MY GOSH YES. nadia has such beautiful taste in clothing, so she would absolutely love to host little fashion shows with you. she does like to share her clothes with her friends, but with you, it's special.

the original thought was you trying on nadia's clothes, and nadia trying on your clothes. nadia would feel like she is falling in love with you all over again if you tried on her clothes. all of the fabric would embrace you in such a perfect way, accentuating all of the things that she loves the most about you. gosh she would just be so head over heels,, she would clap every time you would walk out to show her what you chose, or what she selected for you because she just wanted to see you in it so bad. this woman is literally your number one supporter, she thinks that you are absolutely drop-dead gorgeous in everything that you choose to try on and cannot get enough of you in her clothes. she will shower you in compliments and praise of just how celestial you look, and it makes you super duper flustered because she just flatters you so much.

she also gets really shy when she tries on your clothes. all of her life, she has had the most expensive, well-made, stunning clothes that anyone could ever dream of. so, trying on clothes that do not fit under those categories is new to her. while she isn't used to not wearing the most lavish clothes to be found, she likes your sense of style and is always excited when you ask her to try on an ensemble of yours. what she worries about is what you think. she frets that you think it won't look good on her, if that isn't the farthest thing from the truth. when she walks out to you, you are in absolute awe of how beautiful she is. you already think that she can't get any prettier when she wears other outfits, but now this???? her in your clothes???? oh lord almighty you must be SAVED bc this woman has swept you off of your feet. she asks you what you think, and all you can do is walk up to her and smooch the ever-loving life out of her. you just love each other so much!!!!!

BUT WAIT, I'M NOT DONE. I HAVE MORE THOUGHTS.

when your group of friends have sleepovers at the palace, or when you all go out shopping together, it is unavoidable that you all will be having a fashion show where you all show off the clothes that you bought. nadia loves these so much because she gets to watch her friends all enjoy themselves and feel confident in their clothes, especially if she was the one who bought them. but with you, they just feel so different. to her, it is an intimate experience of being able to share your joy with one another. something that you value in your relationship with nadia is self-esteem, both yours and hers. not only do you both want to make each other feel good. but you also want to feel good within yourself. and nadia thinks that fashion shows are an important part of that. clothes are part of how one may express themselves and their identity, and that is something that nadia treasures. so, if showing off the clothes that you got is going to make you feel good about yourself, then she wants to be there to watch you. there is nothing more important to her than your happiness, and if going through outfit by outfit is what will make you happy, then so be it.

admittedly, she..also really likes to show you the new clothes she gets. when you first started dating, she was a bit nervous about it. she knew that you knew of her riches and lifestyle; it was lavish, and she only got the best of the best. she's the countess for crying out loud, so of course you knew that she was going to have everything that she wanted at her feet, even if it meant something that took literal years to find. but there was part of her that worried that you would see her money and think differently of her. she feared that you would judge her person based on her money, instead of the woman you fell in love with. when she told you this, you automatically reassured her that you wouldn't think differently of her at all. you would love her regardless of the amount of money she has, you told her. and this put her heart at ease, so she progressively became more comfortable showing off her wardrobe when you hosted your shows to each other. now, she doesn't hesitate to declare a fashion show after a shopping spree so that she can show you the lovely things that she got for herself. and every single time that you have one, you cannot believe that that is your girlfriend. you are just the luckiest person in the whole world to have someone like her, and she feels infinitely more lucky to have you.

portia ♡ watching the sunset.

this kind of feels like a given to me. portia is always talking about how she wants to sail the world and explore, both in the actual routes and in heart hunter. so sitting on the docks with you, watching the sun disappear behind the sea and talking about your dreams??? oh heck yes, count her in. she is really tired when she isn't working, so usually she spends her time trying to rest up and take care of things around her cottage. however, she wants to spend all of the time that she can with you. so, the two of you go on all sorts of lovely dates! shopping in the marketplace, teaching her about new herbs in the shop, seeing the new shows in the theater and heckling julian, all sorts of stuff!!!!! but portia's all time favorite part of your days together is when you go to the docks, take off your shoes, sit on the edge and talk while watching the sunset together.

portia has so many dreams, and so many things that she wants to do in her life. and she loves to tell you about all of them. she spends hours just ranting to you about all of the things that she wants to do, the places that she wants to see, the types of adventures that she wants to go on, and of course they all include you being there with her. oh gods you love listening to her,, every single word that she speaks are words that you carve into the stones of your memories. listening to her talk about her dreams is like watching the sun shine. greenery smiles under the glorious warmth and embraces her glimmer gratefully, her passion burns brightly and she is the most beautiful being in any realm to ever exist. she has no time to wonder if she's talking too much because she is far too focused on being with you, and loving every single moment of it. you truly hope that you are able to go on all of the adventures that she wants, so that you can experience every ounce of the world with her, until it all falls apart.

of course, she loves to listen to you. the time that you two spend at the docks is time to talk about anything that comes to mind, and she cannot help but adore you as you pour your heart out to her. when you speak of all of the things that you want to do before your time in this realm comes to a close, she watches and listens very intently. your voice to her is like a river, running smoothly through the canals of her mind and soothing the battering howl of her heart. her eyes twinkle with adoration as her elbow rests on her knee, her face leaning against her hand as she stares at you. everything that you tell her only makes her more excited for your future, because in your future, you include her. and that is all that she could ever truly want. you both truly love to listen to each other talk, not even just about your dreams, but about anything. even if it's something as small as dinner options or something that you saw at the market that you liked, you both love to hear anything and everything from each other. can you tell that the two of you are head over heels in love??

the first time that you sat at the docks together was a magical moment that portia will never forget. you two had just spent an amazing day together, and you wanted to rest by somewhere pretty before heading back home. so, portia suggested the docks to watch the sunset. you agreed, then took your shoes off and sat down. you conversed for hours, laughing and teasing each other. it is so obvious that you both are the other's favorite person to be around to everyone around you, you are both so comfortable with each other in the purest, most loving way. portia had taken her hair down, long curly locks of red flowing carefully down her back. as the sun caressed the ocean for a farewell kiss, the light made her look like she was a celestial being. freckled, pale skin bathes in orange, your own skin making you look just as radiant as she. you locked eyes with her, and all you could think about is just how much you love her. and her you, for she thought in that moment, that you were the most gorgeous person she had ever seen. she thinks that all of the time, but everything about that time was too perfect. your hands cupped her cheek, and her hands held your arms as you exchanged a beautifully passionate kiss. all of her love dumped into it as did yours, and it is something that portia will always remember. you two go to the docks a lot more to watch the sunset, and exchange plenty more kisses worth treasuring for the rest of your lives.

muriel ♡ nature walks.

OHHHHHH MURIEL!!! MY SHMOOPY POOPY DOOPY BEAR!! i love this man with all of my heart,, no one understands my love for him syufigubine. i didn't even have to think about this one, because i KNEW for a fact this our sweet boy would absolutely LOVE to go on nature walks with you. he isn't much of a people-person, so he doesn't really like going anywhere that crowds gather. which, in vesuvia, is a pretty hard thing to do, considering the fact that people are almost always out, doing something. so muriel doesn't like going anywhere where people are. the time that he spends with you is meant for you and you alone, not to be spent around a crap ton of strangers that push and shove and cram him into tight spaces. so anytime alone with you is time that he greatly cherishes. you had been wanting to find an activity that both you and muriel love doing that wouldn't make muriel anxious or uncomfortable, so you came up with the idea of nature walks.

when you brought it up to muriel, he accepted it right away. he would get to be around nature and spend time with you? that's all he ever really needs, honestly. he has been through the forest time and time again, he knows every crevice of it like the lines on his palms, yet when you went on your first nature walk together, everything about the forest seemed to change. the colors were brighter, the plants smelt richer, heck even the animals were out and about more when you two went out together. he didn't understand why, but it felt so much better being in the forest with you. you walked along and let the path take you wherever fate demanded. the sun peered through the leaves of the trees to allow life to breathe underneath it, the warmth of the day wrapping around you both like a blanket. he's gotten used to this forest after living in it for so many years, but with you, it felt like the most fascinating place to be.

he was a little worried because he figured that you would want to go out. not just to the forest, but to somewhere like the marketplace, the town square or even the rowdy raven. when he expressed his concerns, you reassured him that you didn't need to go out and do something. all you need is to be with him, and if this is the way that he is most comfortable spending time together, then so be it. you could walk all day, all night, for the rest of your lives in this forest together, as long as it meant that he was comfortable and happy. he smiled and thanked you for your reassurance, giving you a little kiss on the cheek before taking your hand and continuing your journey.

from that point forward, nature walks became a very regular part of your routine with muriel. it always starts with "wanna go on a walk?", and from that point forward, who knows what could happen. you two have found a lot of new things in that forest together. you've found lots of pretty flowers, greenery, rocks and animals that you didn't see before, new spots to relax in and even found little burrows and nests a couple of times!!! it's like a little adventure that isn't too far away from home, and muriel is more than happy to go on a walk at any time. it's almost always something new when the two of you go out together, and he thinks that that's what makes you so lovely. on most days, on his own, he wouldn't think twice about any of the things that you do. so, when you stop him to look at a pattern on a rock, or to admire a dandelion that you call a flower even though it's a weed, he takes his time to admire it with you, and he can't stop that sweet smile from curling onto his lips. seeing you in his favorite place is the most wonderful experience that he could ever ask for. he didn't believe that he was deserving of wonderful experiences before, but now that he has you, he wants to think differently.

@BUNNYLUVX ,, all rights reserved. do not copy/plagiarize any of my works or submit it into ai. any and all support is so very appreciated! <3

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

ROUND 5 MATCH 4

Derek propaganda:

“Extreme hot take but Derek is the best OL1 love interest. He has the best and sweetest confession in the game. You play video games together. He seems reserved until you actually start dating and find out that he's actually just a gentleman who didn't want to be overly forward with someone he's not in a relationship with. He's a family man. You get to blatantly abuse your 'dating' privileges in front of his brothers. He's just so insanely sweet and caring and makes me wanna cry whenever I play his DLC.”

“- Impossible to dislike

- No, like, literally impossible. OL1 will allow you to be indifferent to it's two other LIs, Cove and Baxter but you actually can't pick that option for Derek. Game decided that You Will Be (at least) Friends With Derek

- This boy is so good!!!! He's a sweetheart and has your back in the best way and he's constantly doing his best to make sure the people around him (especially you) are happy

- This is also a complex flaw of his because he feels like he needs to be the best that he can be and to be worth something

- This both manifests in how he treats others (he's exceedingly well-mannered and does everything for others because he secretly hopes that someday someone will do the same for him) and his career prospects (he takes on excessive practice to get good at football/soccer so that he can potentially get a scholarship and become famous all so he can potenially feel like he's worth something. This is actually a major conflict in his Step 4)

- His DLC also has some of the best moments in the game

- He also has a family and they're also really good and you get to see a lot of them

- His dad is hilarious, his mom is gorgeous and their relationship is very cute

- Meanwhile, Derek's brothers are great. I wanna gush about them because I love them but also play Derek's DLC yourself!!! See how good they are for yourself!!!!

- I will say that these three have a really good relationship dynamic and the development it takes in the 10 years between when you first meet Jorge and Nico as little kids to Step 4 where they're adults (and a teenager, Nico is 16 in Step 4) is genuinely very well written

- If you're into the steamy stuff, Derek also has the best make-out session out of all of the boys

- He's also just. Very funny. This boy will invite you to a waterpark and then ask you if its a date so he knows whether or not it's ok to check you out in your swimsuit

- Or, if you aren't dating by that point (but you do want to to date him), the narration will note how he's trying so so hard not to check you out, he's just trying so so so hard

- Puppy dog face. Look at it. Tell me you can look at that face and not want to smooch him

- His confession is also the best, did I mention it's the best? Because it's absolutely the best one in the entire game

- He has a whole thing about having to confess to you on a ferris wheel and he's so committed to it that he actually avoided ferris wheels for a long time before this confession because he promised himself he'd do it the next time he went on one

- And then he went on one...and he literally doesn't confess when he does it because he lost track of time and he had to get off

- so he asks you to go on the ferris wheel with him again so he can actually confess this time

Just. Just vote for him!!!!”

“He's sweet, polite, and out-going and is always willing to put you first (sometimes too willing).”

“polite responsible jock u r NOT immune to this”

Asra propaganda:

“He GIVES AWAY HALF HIS HEART TO REVIVE YOU okay but like. He's the MCs roommate and they were together for a few years before the MC caught a plague and died and he obsesses over a way to bring them back before succeeding by making a deal with a god to trade half his heart for MC and betraying the emperor. And then when MC comes back but without any of their memories, he takes care of them and teaches them how to live all over again and he never asks for anything in return. On all the routes where you don't choose him he's really supportive and helps you out despite your history and overall he's just really nice and supportive of the MC and is their rock no matter what route you go down. Also he has a pet snake named Faust and I love her she's so <33 

Idk I just appreciate him so much”

"He gave you half his HEART!! He would literally go to hell and back for you!! He wants to take you on adventures all around the world—doesn’t matter where, as long as he’s by your side!! AND he’s nonbinary!!!"

[pvrkacciosan]

Kicks and Kisses

Summary: After the readers run-in with Xaden's training methods, Bodhi isn't in any rush to let her back on them defenseless so takes it upon himself to teach her a few things.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Pairing: Bodhi Durran X Marked Fem! Reader

Word Count: uncounted

Warnings: Suggestive, swearing, fighting training, Mature language content

☽⋆❈⋆☾

With the valiant help from a group of young healers you were released from the prescribed rest, and were able to get yourself back up and moving within a week.

You were still tender but your breathing wouldn't cut out on you and the blinding pain was no longer erupting behind your eyes rendering you useless in ever sense.

But still Bodhi had refused to let you return back to your own dorm in that time. Even when you had a perfectly good bed there.

Those beds are un-comfy and you know it.

You rolled your eyes at Asra, whether she could sense your attitude, you were hopeful she couldn't,

I don't understand why he won't let me go back to my own bed. That chair can't be very comfortable. You stared at the chair positioned on the far side of the room, the one Bodhi had been sleeping in whilst you took his bed. You didn't understand why you were entertaining such topics of conversation with her. Talking with Asra had always come naturally, like a sister you could confine in, and the subject of Bodhi Durran left your chest feeling warm in a rather pleasant way.

So Invite him into the bed with you.

It wasn't difficult for you to sense every dripping pulse of Asra's amusement, you gawked at her words in your head.

I can't do that. Won't it be awkward You couldn't help but contemplate the outcome.

Don't be foolish girl. You're a dragon rider, start acting like it. If you want something you might just start acting like that Riorson boy, heys taken the silver one to bed.

You didn't want to know where she had got that piece of information. But the notion of what she was speaking... There was a difference between asking Bodhi to share his bed and committing to taking him in his bed.

When Asra laughed in your head, you clamped your knees together, trying to ignore the heat that was building there. As you ripped the covers of Bodhi's bed from atop your body, you could't stop the swirling of those blood igniting thoughts. Couldn't decide what you would want more, to have him sleeping in the bed with you, or having him take you in the bed you had come to love.

The quilt scented of him. A deep smell that you hadn't noticed the first night you slept, it lingered on everything in this room.

His scent has been all over you. Asra's voice in your head, you only assumed she was referring to when you had gone flying yesterday, trying to ease yourself back into training once you got the all clear from the healers.

Bodhi and Cuir had flown with you both yesterday, positioning himself slightly below you, to catch you should you fall off Asra's back.

I would have caught you. Asra's voice was dripping with some tone you couldn't place, Laughing lightly in your own head you shot it down the bond. She didn't respond beyond that of a gentle huff.

Closing up the wall between you. Moving to begin gathering ouself from the room. Bodhi was supposed to meet you down at the mats for an initial round of training, trying to strengthen the muscles and reconditioning them to get back to what they had once been.

And as usual, you were running late. At least you could use the excuse of your lingering injuries. They weren't as painful, just uncomfotable. Especially your shoulder, a mender had reattached many of the tendsons and ligaments in your shoulder, but you still have only light movement in the joint.

Moving down through the halls, you rounded into the training room. The mats laid out as per usual, there were a couple cadets scattered around each pair training away from one another in private lessons.

Strolling in softly you glanced around and spotted two famiar bodies. Sauntering closer you watched them, matching hit for powerful hit on one another.

Bodhi and Xaden often never sparred with each other. Garrick was the usual go-to. The third boy was on the side of the mat, arms folded as he watched the cousins spar. You moved to stand beside the giant.

"Hey Y/n" He offered you a small smile.

At the sound of your names, Bodhi glanced up, un-focusing the fight at hand. It landed him a stiff jaw from the next punch Xaden landed. Blinking to look you over once, Bodhi dodged out the way of his cousins next hit.

You watched from the side returning Garrick's smile with one of your own before turning back unaware of the excited glances Garrick was switching between you and Bodhi.

"Garrick.," Bodhi warned as he dodged a swing from Xaden before getting a punch in at the Wingleader's ribs.

You glance questioningly up at the boy beside you, Garrick coughed, covering his smirk with a hand.

"They are sparring to burn off...Pent up...emotions"

You frowned at him, that definitely was not what Garrick was entertaining in his thoughts. You squinted at him before glancing to watch Bodhi swing hard and fast for Xaden. What Bodi lacked in size against his cousin and Garrick he surely made up for in speed. His exposed muscles rippling with each movement. Your gaze zones in on the sweat gleaming, coating every inch of his skin.

What it would be like to have his body pressed against you own on that bed, having him above or below you, At each others mercy.

You're drooling

You went to snip back at Asra but she hid behind your mental shield straight after her own words.

Paranoia took hold, Twisting away from Garrick slightly you wiped at your lower lip and chin with the back of your hand. You weren't but you still sense Asra's lingering amusement at your sudden panic.

Turning back to watch, Xaden and Bodhi panting hard as they finally parted from one another on the mat. Bodhi gave Xaden's shoulder a rough shoves but they were both smiling as they stepped back.

Xaden initially avoided your gaze. You hadn't seen the Wingleader since the day of your injury. Besides once when he had tried to come see you. Bodhi had refused to let him in then and you could still recall the sound of them arguing outside the bedroom door.

He tried now to get out of the way, Slipping from the room. Bodhi folded his arms across his chest clearing his throat, Xaden froze. Pivoting to meet your stare.

"Y/n I'm sorry for putting you on that mat" His tone was so awkward even you didn't know what exactly to say. Bodhi rose his eyebrows when Xaden cast him a sidelong glance.

The Wingleader sighed, "It was clear you didn't want to fight, I shouldn't have made you and it won't happen again"

Bodhi was grinning like an idiot in your direction when Xaden finally rose back to his full height. Bodhi watching you intently, waiting for you to acknowledge his efforts in making his cousin apologize. Something about the way he smiled at you made the strings in your heart cinch. Asra slide into your mind, her presence alone snapping you from watching Bodhi.

Glancing to Xaden, "I'm fine Xaden. I'm alive am I not?" The Wingleader waited. Attention flicking to Bodhi, You warily followed his stare. A muscle beneath Bodhi's eyes twitched, Garrick caught it after seeing the expression on your own face. Spinning himself into the middle of the two and clasped Xaden roughly on one shoulder.

"Right we're off to find your opponent from that day. Try and make sure Imogen hasn't gutted the girl for her slander against you" Garrick's usually stoic face was set in a grin, you had a feeling he might sooner set Imogen on the girl first before saving her hide.

Garrick and Xaden stalked from the mats, leaving the room entirely within a few long strides,

When you turned back to obverse Bodhi, heat bloomed in your cheeks to find him already watching you.

"Right" He shook his head, these dark curls shaking to cover his brow bone. "Let's get started."

After running through a quick warm up with him your skin had already formed up quite a sweat. Many of the other cadets had vacated the training room, probably to attend to other daily duties.

Bodhi had been wary of your shoulder joint and coached you through each movement, sometimes he would place a hand against your body to steady the off balance the injuries had given you and It was becoming increasingly difficult to focus.

Moving off the mat to grab a quick drink of water you tried to organise the shambling thoughts which flushed your flesh to the core.

"We will move onto some evasion techniques and manoeuvrers to get yourself out of someone's grip."

You nodded, taking a quick final gulp of the water, evasion and defensive practise that would be fine. You had done this before.

You turned to move back onto the mat when your thoughts finally processed what you were getting yourself into. There was only a few ways to actively practise these sorts of manoeuvrers . Ones that involved lots of bodily contact.

You blinked as Bodhi shook his muscles, rolling each of his joints, The silence prompted him to look up

"I won't bite" there was a boyish smirk gracing his lips, it was an expression you had seen on him for years since knowing each other, often when causing mischief. The only form of consistency it offered you now was that it caused your heart to hammer harder against your ribs.

Pull yourself together. You were reducing yourself to no better than a teenage boy seeing a women naked for the first time in his life. Sighing deeply you moved onto the mat.

Bodhi stilled hands clasping together, allowing you to come closer, he watched carefully, assessing you.

"How is your shoulder feeling?"

Prompted by his question you rolled the ball and socket joint, easing deeper into the muscle there. They ached slightly but nothing more beyond overexerting the shoulder.

"All good" smiling softly you ignored the joint focusing now as Bodhi began to prepare himself.

"We are going to start with something simple. If someone tries to grab you from the front."

He waited for you to nod before continuing, "I'm going to grab for you and all you have to do is get me off you. We will critique everything once we've gone through every scenario "

He didn't wait for your acknowledgement now, unprepared you stepped back when both of Bodhi's hands came up towards you. As his body followed through your own muscle memory kicked in, grabbing his right wrist you jammed a thumb into the pulse point there and twisted— hard.

Bodhi let loose a grunt as he moved with the twisting limb, following so you wouldn't break his arm entirely. You only let go once his limb was flush unnaturally against his back.

"Good." He turned shaking his wrist lightly "That was perfect. Could be a little quicker with your reaction time, but we will work on that in our next session"

You nodded, worriedly glancing at his wrist perhaps you had been too forceful.

"This time we are going to run with the scenario that I actually got a hold on you"

Bodhi closed the gap separating you both, slowly raises his hands, hesitating with them hovering your body, noting their destined locations you gave Bodhi the go ahead. He rests his hand on your left shoulder the other at the base of your neck.

"Right.." Bodhi cleared his throat, "I'm going to pretend to be trying to push you back as if to get you.. against a wall. Get out of my grip."

Nervous, you glance at him, he offers an encouraging smile, nodding softly you tried desperately to ignore as his grip squeezes lightly against you body, try to ignore the pander of heartbeats that flutter in you.

When Bodhi began to push back you resisted, planting a foot behind to stabilise the weight of you. The muscles in the back of the leg stretching with the pressure. The result of Bodhi pushing you however; his hand pushing into your windpipe, slowing the flow of air to you with dizzying affect and not from the lack of oxygen.

Relaxing the breaths you took, You made quick work of trying to lessen his grip. Pressing your finger into his wrist's pulse point.

"Find somethinng new. That's not going to work a second time"

Frustration grew like a building short circuit. You knew strength wasn't your biggest fighting factor, it was instinct at this point born and bred as a female to go for a man's weakest point and it was taking everything within your resolve to not kick between his legs.

Pressure point began quizzing through your mind. Bodhi watches as your eyes flicked across his body ravaging at the sight of your attention on him. Felt the heat of it across every inch of his aching skin, tensioned for the need of touch, your touch. You were simply looking for his weaknesses, ones you could reach from the position you were currently in.

Shifting your weight into the side he held a hand to your throat, you rammed your thumb under his arm, nail digging into the soft flesh there.

Bodhi loosens his grip enough for you to duck under the other arm and release yourself. Bouncing back on the balls of your feet, you teetered towards the edges of the mat.

Bodhi rounded with a smirk, shooting a quick wink your way, "Atta Girl." The genuine pride and excitement in his tone made your cheeks flush.

Any focus you had fought to obtain since the beginning of this session slipped entirely away from you in that second. Shallow breathing, you shook yourself off the rising tension with it.

"Again." Bodhi gestured you back for the middle of the mat, "This time I'm coming at you from behind"

The air hauled in your throat, gulping quickly and moving back to the centre. Bodhi stepped up behind you.

He gave you even less warning. Albeit you could have used one this time unexpecting of his arms to latch themselves around your torso.

You needed to focus, focus on getting yourself out of his hold, but the only thing swirling in your mind was how close his body now was to yours, you could feel the rippling warm muscles on his chest against your back.

His arms tightened and you gasped lightly when you felt the sensation of his palm brush up the side of your breast, the material of your clothing ruffling as he righted his grip

A pulse of fresh warmth coursed through you, blooming from your core. It was almost painful as the material brushed the peak of your nipple.

If this was how your body reacted to his unintentional intimate touches you could only imagine what he might do to you intentionally.

"You seem distracted." the heat of his breath fanned your neck when he whispered the words against the shell of your ear, close enough you swore on your life that was his lips brush the curve.

Nerves rippled against him. You needed to get your shit together, but. . .

There was a smugness in his tone. That bastard, was he potentially... teasing on purpose to distract you? You swallowed a scoff. Two could definitely play at this game.

Grabbing his elbow you made an attempt to lift his arm up over your head, the well tones limb didn't move, but you couldn't resist the smile, for it was a cover up.

Rolling your hips and pushing you ass back against him. With the shared closeness he had created you heard his breath stuttered behind your ear and felt his pulse skyrocket.

Who was the distracted one now, driving the heel of your foot into the top of his, you heard the oxygen whoosh into his lungs as he hissed. Elevating the foot ever so slightly.

You wouldn't have the strength to throw him over your shoulder but if he was off balance as he was now. Gripping both hands as far up his arm as you could reach you twisted sharply into his unbalanced side.

Feeling his weight falling against you own you planted both legs to limit the chance of you falling too.

When Bodhi hit the ground you were diligent, moving quickly while he stunned to recall his senses.

Swinging one leg you planted yourself above him to pin him below you.

There was a second were you hadn't thought, just did. Hadn't realised what you were doing until you did it. Hadn't realised you now straddled his waist, hadn't realised you might have miscalculated the extent of your teasing until you felt the growth hardening beneath your ass.

Bodhi blinked at you in wild surprise as though he too now realised what had been done.

Had he not been thinking just as you hadn't? Simply following movements and feelings that felt so inheritable right until there was an irreversible shift between you both. Bodies welded together from where you sat atop him.

Every nerve in you was jackhammering in your heart, blood thrumming against your hearing. An unmistakable ache was growing between your legs, one which could and would lead to decisions you knew were irreversible.

Perhaps Bodhi had been teasing you simply to district, there was nothing attached to that. No emotion or feeling.

Foolish girl. You hadn't realised Asra had been listening into your thoughts, Had failed to notice she had lowered her shield. Is that how distracted Bodhi had made you?

You went to move from his lap, but Bodhi groaned, the sound low and guttural from deep at the back of his throat, head falling back with his eyes squeezing shut. Without looking his hand found your thigh, squeezing to hold you in place,

"Don't move." The guttural throaty sound in his voice blinded your every sense, glancing to his veined hand you couldn't rip your attention away until Bodhi blinked at you startled, a muscle in his jaw twitched as his eyes darkened.

Within the next second you attempted to lift yourself back off him, in one swift movement, Bodhi pushed himself up with a hand behind him. Using the grip on your leg to keep you on top of him, the positions now pushing you to sit further onto his growing erection.

It wasn't until he rightened himself that Bodhi released his grip only to move it across your body, you felt it clasp the back of your neck as he leaned closer pulling you with him and wasted no more time of colliding his lips with yours.

You stilled, stunned as his lips moved against your own, Asra's presence stroking against your mind prompting you from the stupor, her rebuilding her shield was enough of a hint and approval.

Softening your tense muscles you wrapped both arms to encircle around his shoulders, pulling your chest closer to his. Letting one hand slip to cup the back of his head. Fingers threading his dark curls.

Bodhi continued denying himself breath as he smiled, feeling you finally give in. Letting yourself match him. Giving and receiving the hot kisses, fast and swift.

They continued, hungry for more. Starved for the touch of one another. It was a sensation you didn't know you wanted — needed.

The heat encased between your bodies made your heart hammer into overdrive, Lifting your weight and then lowering it with a roll of your hips, causing friction against the now obvious erection beneath you.

Bodhi exhaled sharp and hot against your mouth, pulling from your lips. Once more his eyes squinted shut, brow furrowed.

You couldn't pry your attention away. The expression on his face alone set you emotions spiralling. It was the perfect mix of pain and pleasure rolled into one.

Wiggling your ass down, Bodhi groaned louder this time. His eyes snapped open to level with your own, within that hungry fire that was beginning to demand more of you: a desire you would happily indulge.

Even within that burning, there was still a softness to Bodhi, he was still the same man you grew up with, a comfort you had come to depend on.

He grinned as he watched you, eyes flicking to scan every inch of your face. You shivered as Bodhi dragged a hand across you collar bone, up your neck to cup the line of your jaw. Thumb rubbing into your now swollen lower lip.

He leaned so close once more that you now shared a combined airspace.

"We shouldn't continue" the smirk growing on his lips said more. The growing heat within you was answer enough, rubbing a hand into his jaw, for the thrill of it you shook you head leaning closer still. "We shouldn't"

Tightening your grip at the back of his head, fingers twisting into a strand of hair, Bodhi dipped his head to yours, lips a whisper apart.

"Kiss me again" His voice turned throaty, the blood in you warming at his touch, "Please" the shift in his tone was astonishing.

Giving yourself over, leaning to rejoin him, a coil of tension grew in the core of your chest. You kissed him fully, Pulling Bodhi into you.

Bodhi broke the connection after a second, "Atta girl" he was already smirking by the time he kissed you again.

That coil continued to tighten. This was an irreversible decision, this pairing. It could easily cleave you in two.

But this moment as Bodhi began to lower his kisses flowing down the column of your throat, you couldn't bring yourself to give a flying fuck.

[xaharadesert]

MC Who Sleeps Like The Dead - Headcanon

Arcana Characters (Main 6) x MC

A/N: for another lovely anon! I just finished drawing one of my OCs to prepare for art fight, so I’m feeling a bit more inspired than usual! Please let me know if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes :) requests are open!

❤️Julian❤️

This is a man who runs on stress and caffeine, so he’s always up at ungodly hours of the night

Your ability to sleep through every instance of him stubbing his toe or bumping his head, or just generally swearing at whatever script or medical case he’s having trouble with at the moment is a blessing in his opinion

Of course, on the rare occasions that you manage to get him to bed, he’ll be as out of it as you are, if not more so

He flails in his sleep, and since it won’t be waking either of you up any time soon, there’s a good chance you’ll both end up with some mystery bruises

He’ll feel a bit bad about it in the morning, but it’s nothing some kisses can’t fix

🧡Portia🧡

Considering how tired she usually is by the end of the day, she’s a surprisingly light sleeper

This can be a problem for her when Pepi decides she wants to make biscuits and Portia’s the only potential victim around

So when you two start sleeping in the same bed, she sacrifices you to Pepi and makes sure she’s the one sleeping next to the wall

Pepi seems satisfied with this arrangement and leaves Portia alone, meaning she gets the sleep she needs and you get a cat to cuddle with while you’re unconscious

It’s also great for when she needs to get up early for work; she can make as much noise as she wants while she’s getting ready, and you’ll sleep right through it

💛Lucio💛

No no no, this will not do

Lucio operates under the assumption that if he’s awake, you’re also supposed to be awake

So if he’s having trouble sleeping while you’re snoozing away next to him, he will be trying his best to wake you up

His attempts will start with whispers and a couple gentle pokes, but when you don’t look like you’ll be getting up soon it quickly becomes less subtle

This man will fully kick you off the bed and onto the cold floor to get you up

If you sleep through that, he’s gonna get really close to your ear and scream

For the sake of everyone else nearby, you may need to learn to sleep less heavily

💚Muriel💚

He’s a light sleeper thanks to anxiety, and he doesn’t really understand how someone can sleep as deeply as you do

In the early days of your relationship he was a bit worried that there might be something wrong with you

Once he settles into the idea that you Will Not Be Woken Up before you’re good and ready, he takes full advantage of the extra alone time it gives him

It’s nice to just coexist with you and go about his day without worrying about waking you up

Once Inanna took a nap on you and he thought you may have actually suffocated under her, but turns out you were fine

He does not mention this to you when you wake up

💙Asra💙

While he certainly sleep often, he does not sleep heavily

If he’s sitting down, then he’s probably already at least 10% asleep

He doesn’t usually sleep in the traditional sense, and instead takes a few extended naps throughout the day

So when you’re getting your proper 8 hours, he may be laying awake beside you, gently rubbing your back and reading a book

He likes that his sleep schedule doesn’t affect yours, and that he gets to see you so peaceful and far from the stresses of life

💜Nadia💜

Most of her life is on a pretty tight schedule, so your sleep habits are not something she’s particularly fond of

If you’re asleep when she wakes up to begin her day, then she’s learned not to bother trying to wake you

She’ll kiss your temple and try to find some time to spend with you at the end of the day, but she misses the quiet moments you two could share while the rest of the world starts to wake up

Overall it’s not a hassle, just something she has to adapt to

Unless of course there’s an early morning event that you’re also supposed to attend with her

Then she’s trying to figure out the most gentle way to pry you from the hands of sleep (she may quite literally drag you out of the bed and start getting you ready before you wake up)

[teshadraws]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 52]

<< First | < Previous | Next >

-

Nia and Tobias have their mission. It's time to plan their next move, and get some training in while they're at the Lexym Guild.

-

Telling Maggie about their trip to Asra and Shivergleam is a tense affair. The meganium stays quiet for most of it, but Nia can see her honey-gold eyes darken after each brush with danger that they skim over, clumsily trying to fill in the gaps left in their story.

Finally, what feels like hours later, they're finished. Quiet falls over the three of them.

With a forced sort of calm, Maggie asks, “Is that everything?”

“It’s all we know so far,” Tobias hedges. “Our plan right now is just to find Xerneas. Hopefully she can prevent any of this from happening. Or at least fix the dimensional border if it does break.”

If she doesn't, the world falls apart, Nia silently adds, knowing she doesn’t need to say it for it to be in the forefront of all their minds. Both the Pokemon world and the human world would be destroyed.

Nia fiddles with the soft fur of her tail, too nervous to look up at Maggie. The silence while the grass type digests everything is heavy.

Finally, Maggie sighs. Nia jumps.

“I’m going to need a hug after all of that,” Maggie says.

Nia finally looks up, relieved, and willingly scoots closer for the meganium to pull her into a hug with her vine. Nia leans against her petals, soft but firm, and breathes in her fresh floral scent. She sees Tobias getting the same treatment on Maggie’s other side.

Immediately, Nia feels a little better. Everything feels less dire when she's tucked against Maggie like this. It's still quiet, but a comforting sort of quiet. It’s only the three of them in the herbalist quarters at the moment, Sage having been politely shooed out of the room to grab some berries for breakfast once Maggie realized that neither Nia nor Tobias felt comfortable explaining their trip with the ivysaur present. Sage had taken the obvious excuse with grace, thankfully, and is taking his time in returning.

“Thank you for telling me.” Maggie says. She takes a deep breath, Nia lifting with the exhale. “I just wish you two weren’t thrown right in the middle of all this mess. You’re so young.”

“We’re not little kids,” Tobias mutters.

“Oh, don’t pout.”

“I'm not pouting!” Tobias says, absolutely pouting.

Nia turns her face into Maggie’s petals to stifle a laugh.

“When were you planning on talking to August about all of this?” Maggie asks.

Nia pulls away to look at Tobias. He seems as unsure as she feels.

“Should we tell him?” Tobias asks, crossing his arms. “We’re getting intel from a banished legendary, if he even believes we're telling the truth. And we don’t know that he’ll actually do anything even if he does believe us. He said he’d look into the fire that happened in Ghatha but nothing ever came from that.”

Nia has to admit that he has a point.

Maggie sighs. “Even if it’s not obvious, I’m sure August is doing all he can to help. And if this is something jeopardizing not only our guild but the entire Pokemon world, I promise you he would want to know about it.”

Nia and Tobias exchange a doubtful look.

Maybe sensing that they’re reluctant to talk to August and worried that they’ll try to put it off completely, Maggie only allows a quick breakfast of the berries Sage brings back before marching the two of them straight to August’s office herself. The rillaboom looks pleased to see them, a soft sort of relief on his face when he catches sight of Nia and Tobias safely back from their travels. His warm smile fades as he locks eyes with Maggie, though, his more casual posture straightening up. He waves them in without a word.

Verene seems to be out, so they’re the only ones present in the spacious office. The leaves weaving in and out of the wooden walls are a lovely gradient of warm autumnal tones.

August takes a seat behind his desk, chair creaking. “Welcome back, Team Scarlet. It’s good to see you both safe. I heard from the crew of the Aqua Jet and that little sableye that you both showed impressive prowess as Seekers yesterday.”

Nia murmurs a thank you. Tobias nods.

“However, gauging by your expressions, I must assume that’s not why you came to see me today,” August says. “A shame. I could do with some good news, for once. What can I help you with?”

Nia looks to Tobias, so he starts them off. Retells the story once more with Nia stepping in on occasion, trading the explanation back and forth.

They mention Asra, first, to explain everything that comes after. Giratina. The protective shell of this world weakening from a preemptive crack in the very fabric of the dimension. Nia and Tobias being assigned to find Xerneas in a desperate bid for hope.

August’s brow knits and falls lower and lower as he listens, chin resting on bridged fingers. By time they’re finally finished, Nia’s throat is dry. The same oppressive silence from before falls over the room, and it feels thick enough to choke on.

August’s amber eyes settle on Nia. “How sure are you that Giratina was telling the truth?”

Nia tries not to let her own doubt show on her face. “W-Well…I guess I don’t have any proof that he was? But he felt…honest. And it makes sense. Or at least more sense than anything else people have guessed for why the world is breaking down, right? Could anything else cause natural disasters and make evolution stop? Or force legendaries to go dormant?”

“You think Giratina would have something to gain from us seeking out Xerneas?” Tobias asks, eyes narrowing.

August sighs, raking his fingers back through his leafy mane. “That’s difficult to say. I’m no expert on either legendary.”

“But surely there’s enough here to merit a deeper look,” Maggie pipes up. “If Giratina is being honest, then…”

August lets a rush of air out through his nose. “It would be disastrous for us to ignore him, yes.”

The quiet returns like an itchy, ill-fitting sweater.

“I’ll ask Alistair and Tawny to look into it immediately,” August finally says. “If they feel that searching for Xerneas is likely to be of help and not just playing into Giratina’s schemes, then I’ll reach out to the other Guildmasters so we can plan from there.”

Nia lets out a breath. Knowing that they aren’t solely responsible for saving the whole world feels like the weight of the Lexym Tree itself being lifted off her shoulders. She kind of wants to cry. “Thank you.”

August nods. “Of course. I’m here for anyone in the guild, but a matter pertaining to the safety of the entire world? That is not to be treated lightly.”

“Speaking of safety,” Tobias says, in a tone that would be casual if it didn’t sound like it was barbed with thorns. “You said you were going to send someone to look into the fire at Ghatha, right? And other human discrimination. Anything ever come of that?”

August gives Tobias a dry look. “Put away your fangs, Tobias. I did indeed look into the matter.”

“And?”

“The investigation into the Ghatha fire has unfortunately gone cold. While they can assume it was a fire type at the convention who started it, Rai’s guild hasn’t been able to determine who was the culprit. They’ve marked it closed for now unless new information arises.”

"Yeah, and I'm sure that decision has nothing to do with the guy not liking humans," Tobias mutters.

August's eyes narrow. "Where did you hear that?"

Nia blinks, surprised, and exchanges a look with Tobias. August doesn't know? "Keegan mentioned it, back when we were in Ghatha."

"The guild's second-in-command," Tobias clarifies. "A ninetales."

"Hm." August looks past them for a moment, locking eyes with Maggie. Before Nia can figure out what the two older Pokemon are thinking, he speaks again. "That's not something I was aware of. What are your thoughts on Keegan? I haven't had the chance to speak with him myself."

"He was nice!" Nia says.

"A little too nice," Tobias scoffs.

August hums. "...Noted. Regardless, for now the investigation remains at a stand-still."

Tobias’ muzzle crinkles, mirroring Nia’s own displeasure. While this news isn’t entirely unexpected, it is unnerving, not knowing the Pokemon who made a very intentional effort on all of the human lives at the convention in Ghatha. What if they try something else in the future? The thought makes Nia feel…uneasy. Unsafe.

“My scouts did also confirm your claims regarding the general perception of humans in Ghatha. It seems the aggression towards them is increasing. Considering you saw the same in Asra, I can only assume the trend continues elsewhere as well.”

“But why?" Nia protests, voice cracking. "We aren't doing anything wrong!"

“I know,” August says, rubbing at his face. “We know you have nothing to do with what’s happening to our world, Nia. None of the humans do. But unfortunately, the natural disasters and mystery dungeons are only becoming more and more common. Pokemon are injured and frightened, and humans are a handy group to shoulder the blame.”

“It’s escalating, isn’t it?” Maggie cuts in, voice soft. “Not just the aggression. The natural disasters. The spread of mystery dungeons. The Haven hasn’t been hit too hard yet, but…”

August hesitates with a glance at Nia and Tobias. “Yes. Which would line up with what Giratina is claiming. The closer we get to the moment when the barrier of our dimension breaks, the more and more dangerous our world gets. And the more that tensions run high, the more rumors spread about whose fault it could be.”

Another silence. Nia can hear the walls of the Lexym Tree creak around them in the wind.

“What about Will?” Tobias asks. Nia looks at him, surprised that he’s even willing to bring up the yamask he dislikes so much.

“Ah, yes. You mentioned wanting to visit him to see if he has any leads in finding Xerneas. My scouts didn’t hear much about his group while in Ghatha, but they also couldn’t find many humans at all, seeing as they’re keeping a low profile.”

“I sent him a letter before we left for Asra,” Nia speaks up. “Telling him about Giratina trying to pull me into the distortion realm through the stream. A-And about me recovering some of my memories. If he’s written back by now, he probably left a way to find him, right?”

“Should we even bother seeing if he has information, though?” Tobias asks, face twisting. “If we know that we’re looking for Xerneas, what are the chances he knows something Alistair and Tawny and the other guilds don’t?”

“Can we risk not checking?” Nia murmurs.

Tobias doesn’t have an argument for that. “I guess just flying straight to see him ourselves would be faster than waiting for mail.”

August's hand strokes at his chin. “I believe Nia is right. We can’t risk missing a potential lead from a network of information outside of our own. If you are willing to track him down, then I approve your travel to seek him out in a few days’ time. I will have the guild cover your flight costs across the sea.”

“Why’re we waiting?” Tobias asks, frowning. “Shouldn’t we leave right away?”

August shakes his head. “I want to first discuss with Alistair and Tawny. If they believe seeking out Xerneas could be as beneficial as Giratina suspects, I’ll have them spread word to the other guilds to start an official search. If they believe we could be playing into a plot, then we’ll put a hold on seeking out any information.”

Nia and Tobias trade an uncertain look, but eventually agree.

The three of them depart the office shortly after, August giving them a distracted goodbye as he turns to some papers on his desk.

“So we have a few days until we can leave,” Tobias says, jumping right into it. “What’s our plan until then?”

“We should probably go to our quarters first, right?” Nia says. “To see if Will even wrote back?”

Tobias frowns, but nods.

They reach the medical floor, and Maggie stops, reminding Nia and Tobias that the meganium has a job to do elsewhere.

“Oh, don’t give me those yamper eyes,” Maggie laughs. She nuzzles the top of Nia’s head, then Tobias’. “I have a job to do as well! And I’ll still be right here if you want to stop in again later tonight.”

Tobias visibly relaxes at the reminder, and Nia thanks the meganium for her help. For listening.

“Of course! Someone has to look after you two, always running off into trouble,” Maggie says with a wink.

Nia turns to head down the stairs, but pauses when Tobias doesn’t follow. The charmander is hesitating, staring at Maggie with a conflicted expression. Then he darts forward to squeeze Maggie’s leg in a hug. The meganium seems as surprised as Nia is by the unusually open affection, but after a beat her expression softens. She lowers her head to return the hug with her long neck and a vine, squeezing him tight.

Ah, right. Tobias had told Maggie about finding the home of the crobat outlaw, too. About finding the crobat's grave, and the loving family he’d left behind. Maggie had smothered him in a hug then, too, but it makes sense that he’s still feeling a bit emotional about it all.

Tobias only tolerates the affection for a few seconds before ducking free and slipping past Nia, calling for her to hurry up over his shoulder. Nia smiles as she waves to Maggie and hurries after her partner.

The two of them head to the Seekers’ quarters a few floors down. Most of the doors are closed since Pokemon are out and about doing missions in the middle of the day, but there are a few lattice windows in the halls that let in glimpses of bright sunshine and whistling gusts of air.

Their own room is just as they left it, save a thin layer of dust over everything. The wall is lined by a few wooden cabinets, along with a bookcase and chest to keep their belongings in. A large window sits on the far wall, its lattice-like roots currently opened wide. A leaf-woven curtain is pulled down over it to keep out the wind, and the sun shines through it beautifully, casting a dim golden-green hue over everything. In the center of the room lies their plush scarlet red rug, and away from the window sits their nests, resting side-by-side.

Tobias dumps their satchel next to the chest. Nia goes to the mailbox set into the wall by the door. She’s excited to find three pieces of mail inside—two letters and one thin slip of paper. She pulls them out and looks at the smallest one first. It reads 20% Off at the Kecleon Brothers Shop! with a cute little drawing of a pair of…chameleons?

“They have coupons in this world?” Nia asks, strangely amused by the thought.

Tobias’ warmth appears at her side as he peers over her shoulder. He snorts. “The kecleon merchants are really well-known. Good quality wares, but make sure you stay on their good side.”

“Um, okay. Why?”

Tobias flops down in his nest. “The last ‘mon that tried to steal from ‘em left with less limbs than they started with.”

“But they’re so cute!” Nia says, aghast, as she looks again at the little drawing.

“So are fairy types, and they’re terrifying."

Nia sinks into her own nest, gently setting the coupon aside. She’s not sure she wants to deal with the shop at all if that’s the reputation they keep. She lights up when she sees the second letter, though—it’s a cute little thing, blue, with Nia’s name written in delicate, loopy cursive.

Tobias rolls over to squint at the envelope. “Who wrote us a letter in gibberish?”

Nia blinks. “You can’t read this?”

“You can?”

Nia takes another look at the letter. At first she thinks the problem is that the writing is cursive, but then she realizes that it’s probably because it's English. Not the native Pokemon language.

“Oh,” Nia laughs, feeling a strange pang of homesickness. “It’s in English. A, uh. Human language.”

She opens the envelope with care, pulling out the stationery and smiling at the letter, which is also written in looping cursive. Tobias doesn’t say anything else, but she can feel his eyes on her so she translates as she skims.

“It’s from Hazel. She says that she can make me a human bed! Oh man, you are going to love it. You’ll never be able to go back to a normal nest. And she’ll even give me the family discount! Aww!”

“She should give you more than that after we saved her mate’s tail,” Tobias says.

“We hadn’t even met Beck yet when I sent the request! Let’s see here…she also says—”

Nia bursts into laughter.

“What?”

“She also says that she’s glad you’re nicer to me now, but that she’s willing to knock some sense into you any time if that changes.”

Tobias straightens up, flushing. “She did not say that.” Nia cackles, turning the page over to his grabby hands. “She did! C’mon, she’s the reason I confronted you in Afon’s Cap at all!”

Tobias makes a face, but he’s still bright red. Nia isn’t sure if it’s because he’s embarrassed to be called out, or because of his behavior during their early partnership in the first place. Either way, he folds the letter back up and frisbees it at her, huffing.

Nia laughs again and tucks the letter off to the side with the coupon. She’ll have to write the old raichu back later. Nia’s amusement dies down as she picks up the third letter.

Tobias sits up as he sees her expression. “…Will?”

Nia nods. Hesitantly, she opens the yamask’s letter.

Nia,

While I’m pleased to hear from you, I wish it was under better circumstances! I’m relieved that you escaped from Giratina unharmed, but concerned that you had such a close call at all. If you do feel unsafe where you are, please don��t hesitate to come join the community of humans we have amassed thus far—we’re growing by the day! We're just south of Ghatha, past Stonebrook and closer to Kaleido Bay. If you can find Stonebrook, they can direct you from there.

“Stonebrook,” Nia murmurs, tilting her head. “Why does that sound familiar?”

Tobias, who had scooched closer to read, frowns as he tries to recall as well. Then he groans and plants his face in his hands.

“What?”

“It’s where your stupid rookidee friend lives,” Tobias says, words muffled.

Nia gasps. “Junie! Oh my gosh, you’re right! We could stop by and see her! She could—”

“We are not inviting her to join us.”

“Aw, why not? I miss her!”

“You miss her because she doesn’t pick fights with you constantly!”

Nia looks at him for a moment. “I thought you kind of enjoyed it. It's like how you squabble with Andyn."

Tobias stumbles over a retort—outright stammers—his face growing red again, and Nia bursts into laughter.

“Oh my God, I knew it! You do like bickering with them! Why do you act like you hate them so much?”

“I do hate them!”

“Mhm.”

“They’re annoying and loud and—”

“They’re your frieeends,” Nia coos, poking him in the cheek.

“They are not,” Tobias hisses, swatting her hand away. “Shut up!”

Nia can feel him heating up with embarrassment so she knows he’s lying, but she takes mercy and backs off, still grinning.

“This is exactly why you don’t need to be spending more time with either of them,” Tobias grumbles, rubbing at his cheek. “They’re rubbing off on you.”

Nia finally tames her delight down to a manageable level and goes back to Will’s letter.

I am thrilled, however, to hear about your returned memories, even if you had to endure a terrifying illness to find them. After speaking with more of the humans under my care who have recovered their own memories, I have to wonder if there is a correlation between severe injury or illness and the recovery of one's memories. Perhaps brushing by Death’s doorstep unlocks a part of the brain once buried?

Huh. Nia has to take a moment to think after reading that. The handful of memories she recovered did only return to her when she was gravely ill, but she didn’t think it was a direct correlation. But Will seems to be implying that nearly dying could be a trigger for that process. If Giratina is correct, maybe it has to do with them getting close to…leaving their new vessels? So the memories that Mew sealed away kind of…loosen?

Nia shakes her head, unnerved by the reminder that she nearly died, and reads on.

I would love to discuss with you further if you do feel like visiting. Know that you’re always welcome. We have exciting developments in the works! Until then, I hope you and your partner are well.

Will

Nia sits back. “Well, he’s open to a visit, and we have directions…”

“Guess it’s settled then,” Tobias sighs. “I’ll let August know tomorrow.”

“August said to give him a few days to run everything by Tawny and Alistair, right? So…what should we do in the meantime?”

Tobias makes a thoughtful sound in his throat, eyes trailing over the faint pattern of leaves forming the window curtain. “We don’t want to wear ourselves out completely before traveling, but we should definitely do some training or missions or something. We need to keep getting stronger, and we need to keep rising higher in the ranks so Pokemon take us seriously.”

“That would give us more funds, too,” Nia agrees. “So I guess for now we just work on recuperating and take a few missions?"

“Then when we’re cleared for travel we go to the flying outpost.” Tobias finishes, a smirk growing on his face. “You excited to get back in the air?”

Nia groans, falling back into her nest. The soft scent of straw and moss wafts up around her. “Not even a little.”

Tobias snorts a laugh. “You’ll survive.”

There’s a moment of quiet where Nia lies starfished in her nest, listening to the wind blow against their curtain. The midday sun has warmed their little room enough for it to feel nice and cozy.

“It’s too late in the day to start a mission,” Tobias says, snagging her attention again. “But I’m going to go see if Azami or Val are around to spar with.”

While he isn’t outright asking Nia to join, the way he pauses to look at her makes the implied question clear. Nia perks up. “Oh! I’ll come with! I’ve been wanting to chat with Val about how my aura’s shaping up anyways.”

Tobias grins, pushing himself to his feet and offering a hand to help her up. The two of them leave the cozy atmosphere of their room to wind their way down the Lexym Tree.

At the doorway leading into the training floor, Nia nearly bumps into a taller Pokemon. She hops back with an apology, craning her head up to meet their eyes. They look interesting—an olive green and tan Pokemon with a mushroom cap and a long, almost kangaroo-like tail. In their bright red claws, tucked close to their body, they hold something like a clipboard.

The mushroom Pokemon starts a polite apology, but cuts himself off as he catches sight of Tobias standing behind Nia. Nia’s own apology trails off as she looks between Tobias and the new ‘mon. Tobias is clearly uncomfortable, an echo of his old, closed-off demeanor resurfacing as he crosses his arms and scowls up at the taller grass type.

“Try to keep everything in one piece,” The new Pokemon finally says, tone clipped, as he slips around them and walks off.

Nia turns to Tobias with a concerned frown. “Who was that?”

“Archer,” He grumbles, good mood clearly soured. “He keeps track of inventory.”

“Oh. Um. Why was he..?”

“I used to be more…destructive, with some of the dummies. They’re flammable.”

“Oh.” Nia stares at him, trying to parse that information. With how often they travel nowadays and how much Tobias has softened up around her, Nia always forgets that there are Pokemon in the guild who aren’t fond of Tobias for one reason or another. This reason doesn’t seem like a very fair one, though. “Aren’t training dummies meant to be attacked?”

“Not when you’re using fire, apparently,” Tobias snaps, moving past her and into the training area with his shoulders tense.

Nia hurries after her partner, relieved when she sees that not only are their mentors present, but that Val is working with Xander’s team. The medicham is listening to something the luxio is explaining, the rest of his teammates gathered around to listen as well.

Azami is nearby, manning a different fighting area. The tsareena is watching a treecko as they attack a dummy, but she beams behind her tall collar when she catches sight of Nia and Tobias. “Spitfire! And little Riolu. Good to see you!”

Tobias ducks his chin into his scarf, but Nia thinks he’s secretly pleased to have such a warm reception after bumping into Archer. Val, Xander and the rest of Team Shellshock turn at the loud greeting as well.

Avery smiles with a delicate wave.

Felix grins, fluffy ears perking. “Nia!”

“Good to see you," Xander says. "When did you two get back?”

“Last night! Sorry, are we interrupting?” Nia says, approaching the group.

“We were actually just saying we need to branch out a bit with our sparring partners,” Xander says, giving Nia a friendly flick of his star-tipped tail. His gold eyes move to Tobias. “Either of you interested in joining us for combat training?"

“Yeah! I’ve been dying to see how you squirts do in a fight,” Kry says. The fraxure cracks her knuckles to punctuate her words, as if her looming presence isn't intimidating enough.

Tobias, however, flexes his claws and steps forward to meet her. “You’re on.”

"Ohoho! Bring it, little 'mon!"

“Oh, this oughta be good,” Felix says, turning to lead everyone to the sidelines.  “C’mon, we’d better clear the field for these two.”

“They’re going to battle right now?” Nia asks, giving Val a wide-eyed look even as she follows. They just got here! Shouldn’t they warm up or something?

The medicham shrugs. “Charmander stepped forward.”

Well, she can’t argue with that. Still, as Nia sits to watch, she can't help feeling nervous as Tobias crouches into a battle stance across from Kry. The fraxure lashes her tail and lowers her head with a sharp grin. Nia doesn’t think the brash Pokemon would actually hurt Tobias, but…

“Battle!” Val calls.

Both lizard Pokemon lunge, Tobias ducking under a slash and spinning to trip up Kry’s footing with his tail. The fraxure recovers with surprising grace and goes on the offensive again. Tobias is forced to backstep, shooting off small bursts of fire to try and gain some distance. Kry leaps right through one of Tobias’ flames as if it were nothing more than smoke.

“Whoa,” Nia murmurs.

“How was your trip?” Xander asks, leaning over to whisper.

“We had an, uh…eventful week,” Nia chuckles. “Solved a mysterious earthquake problem, fought some outlaws, got caught in a mystery dungeon on the river, so fun times all around.”

They also found the grave of a long-hunted outlaw and met with Giratina of all Pokemon, who told them the world was ending, but Nia feels reluctant to drop all of that onto Xander so suddenly.

Felix whistles. The wartortle’s gaze is on the fight, but his fluffy ears are angled her way. “Busy, busy! No wonder Tobias is holding his own pretty well. You two just don’t stop, huh?”

Nia smiles and straightens up, proudly watching her partner continue to dance around Kry. His fighting style is still more offensive than defensive, but he’s playing it smart, relying on his smaller size and speed to keep the fraxure from landing a spar-stopping blow.

“You willing to try a round next?” Xander asks, giving Nia a friendly nudge with his elbow that nearly knocks her over.

Nia laughs, a little nervous. “Sure? But, uh, I’m not as good at fighting as Tobias.”

“Somehow I doubt that’s true,” Avery speaks up from Xander's other side. The kirlia gives her a warm half-smile. “You tend to underestimate yourself.”

Nia flushes under her fur and looks back to the fight, wincing as Kry nearly lands a devastating punch on Tobias. Instead, her fist slams into the wooden floor with enough force to crack it. The fraxure seems to be getting frustrated, but Tobias is starting to slow too, panting hard. He hasn’t used his smokescreen yet, though Nia isn’t sure if that’s a matter of pride or if Kry’s vision would be sharp enough to see through it.

The fight continues for another minute, Tobias landing a few brushes of flames and claws on Kry’s tough hide, but the fraxure is the one who ends it. She clips the charmander with a left hook, and as he stumbles, she slams him hard in the gut with her heavy tail. Tobias staggers, and Kry takes the opportunity to pin him to the ground with her greater weight.

After a few moments of Tobias struggling to free himself—that tail whip must've knocked the breath out of him if he isn't using his fire—Val calls the match. Kry releases him, stepping back, and Tobias sits up slowly, wincing and rubbing at his stomach. Felix calls out a jovial “Good match!” while Val moves to Tobias’ side. At first, the charmander seems reluctant to listen to her, but after a few quiet words he looks at her fully, scowl lessening as he nods. She must be giving him advice.

Kry makes her way over and grins down at Nia, breathing somehow unlabored. “You next, scrap?”

Felix pouts. “You already got your turn, Kry.”

“And I asked first,” Xander says smoothly, standing and moving to where Kry stood before. He doesn’t sound bossy, but somehow even Nia can hear the quiet authority in his voice. While Nia and Tobias don’t really have a “leader” of their team, it’s clear that Xander holds the title for Team Shellshock.

“You up for it, Nia?” The luxio asks, confident expression softening.

Nia feels her heart flutter with anxiety, but Avery gives her an encouraging nod. She pads over to where Tobias is finally getting to his feet.

“Good fight,” Nia whispers to him as she passes.

“Kick his tail,” Tobias says in return, though it sounds less heated than the scathing comments he used to make towards Xander.

Nia nods and gets in position, lifting her hands and crouching just a bit, feet spread wide and stable. She still doesn’t particularly like fighting, even for fun, but she just tries to think of it more like…a friendly sporting match.

Xander spreads his paws wide as his tail flicks. Sparks come to life and crackle across his black fur, like stars in a night sky. Nia shifts, suddenly registering the fact that Xander is nearly twice her size. Usually the thought is comforting more than anything, but facing him as an opponent…

“Show ‘em what you did to that steelix!” Tobias shouts.

There’s a lull in the group's conversation that makes Nia’s ears flatten, embarrassed by the attention. However, the comment does lessen her nerves a bit. Hard to be intimidated by a luxio when she’s faced down a metal serpent the size of a semi-truck. And she did just learn work up in the last mystery dungeon, which should make her more powerful, but that might up her attack too much—she doesn't want to actually hurt Xander, after all.

Nia can hear Felix asking Tobias about the steelix comment, but Val starts off their spar with a loud, “Battle!”

In complete contrast to Tobias and Kry’s fight, Nia and Xander stay frozen in place, sizing each other up. The sparks crackling across the luxio’s fur make her wary to get in close like she usually does—he can probably cause paralysis, right? He is an electric type. But if she doesn’t get in close, then her only option is to—

Xander makes the first move, lighting up with a flash of electricity and sending a test bolt her way. Nia rolls out of the way on instinct, but she can feel the charge in the air prickling at her fur.

Xander’s eyes narrow. He darts forward to attack.

Nia yelps and creates a staff of aura, taking a swing to make him leap back. He does so, but shoots off another electric attack. Nia barely manages to scramble out of the way, rolling and leaping from bolt after bolt. She doesn’t realize Xander is herding her closer and closer to himself until he’s suddenly slamming into her side.

The electricity in his fur stings, and the blow sends her tumbling across the floor as her staff vanishes. Xander hesitates. Nia takes the opportunity as soon as she lands on her knees to charge up a messy ball of aura in her paws and launch it at the luxio. Xander’s eyes widen, clearly not expecting that, before he gets hit head-on in a flash of blue.

Nia winces. Yeah, she really doesn’t like fighting her friends.

“Oh, you learned aura sphere while you were gone?” Nia hears Avery say, excited.

Nia blinks, looking over at the kirlia. “I did?”

Tobias is also staring at Avery. “She did?”

Nia sees Avery’s eyes widen a split-second before Xander bowls into her again. As she rolls to a stop, she notices the tingly current racing through her body, making her limbs feel numb and locked into place. She struggles to sit up but can’t move. Xander takes his opportunity to pin her down, paws heavy on her arms.

He smiles. “My win.”

Nia accepts defeat with a sigh, letting her head drop back. “I got distracted.”

Xander laughs. For a moment his claws flex, and then Nia feels the electricity in her body…recede, as Xander’s own sparks increase. He steps back, and Nia can move again. She blinks as she sits up, rubbing the remaining tingles out of her arms. Did he…take back the paralysis? Like a lightning rod?

“Good fight, Nia!” Felix, ever the optimist, cheers.

“It really wasn’t,” Nia says. “At least not on my end.”

“That aura sphere caught me off-guard,” Xander encourages. “And I have a feeling you were holding back on me.”

“Not on purpose,” Nia assures, even as she keeps her mouth shut about how Xander hesitated too. He reminds her of her brother in the human world, Clay, so of course she doesn’t want to hurt him. She imagines he sees some of his younger siblings in her as well.

As they rejoin the rest of the group, Kry and Felix pass them to spar next. Val gestures Nia to sit at her side, between her and Avery.

“Sorry, I promise I’ve been keeping up with my training. I can fight better than that,” Nia says, shying away from her mentor’s inscrutable gaze.

“So we heard!” Avery says, ruby eyes shining. “You fought a steelix on your own?”

Nia shrugs, ears pinning to her head. “Tobias and Samir weakened him first.”

“It is still impressive, Riolu,” Val finally says. “Do not downplay your achievements. You fight hardest when there is a true threat. That is admirable in its own way.”

Nia relaxes, giving Val a thankful smile. “I just worry about hurting my friends when we spar.”

“Xander can take it,” Avery giggles. “But forget about that—what other aura techniques did you learn while you were gone?”

Nia perks up as she describes her improved control over her aura. She can form a pretty reliable staff of aura now, officially replacing her trusty branch as her main weapon, and apparently even throw something like an aura sphere at a short distance, at least according to Avery. Plus, there’s the way she used her aura to find Tobias in the mines under Asra—like a pulse. A radar.

At that revelation, Avery interrupts. “That could be a really useful skill to master.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely! Other than being able to find Pokemon buried beneath rocks or snow, you could even use it in battle or in the dark if your vision is impaired.”

Nia looks down at her hands, flexing them. She supposes she did kind of “see” Tobias’ aura to find him in the rubble. And she remembers when she was first learning to use her aura that Val’s energy formed a sort of…silhouette of color. Nia hadn’t thought of practicing her aura as a form of vision, but Avery does have a point about it being useful in certain situations.

“Want to try it?” Xander asks, dropping into the conversation from Avery's other side.

“Now?” Nia asks.

“Why not?”

Nia looks between everyone, but they all seem open to the idea. Tobias, sitting on Xander’s other side, looks a bit uneasy as usual at the mention of aura, but he doesn’t protest. Maybe since Nia has already seen his aura once, albeit on a very surface level, some of his reluctance has melted away.

“You…don’t mind if I look at your aura to practice?”

Everyone shakes their head, save for Tobias. He just shrugs, looking down to fiddle with his scarf. That's as close to a yes as she's probably getting.

Well, they’re all waiting for her. With a hesitant nod, Nia closes her eyes, trying to remember what she did down in the mines. At the time she was fueled by desperation, so it feels strange to try and replicate the move in a more relaxed environment. She thinks she just kind of…pushed out a thin pulse of aura? Like a wave.

She tries it once, gently. Her aura barely even leaves her body, brushing against Val’s orange energy and flashing in her mind’s eye before petering out. Frowning, Nia turns up the power a few notches. Not so strong as to hurt, but not so weak that it dissipates immediately.

On her second try, the aura washes over all of them in a single pulse. Colors light up in her mind’s eye, resembling their vague silhouettes. Val’s bright, strong orange. Avery’s calming indigo. Xander’s eye-catching red. Tobias’ deeper scarlet. For an instant, for a moment, she sees them all, before it goes dark again.

“That felt…interesting,” Xander says, making Nia open her eyes. He’s rubbing a paw over his chest.

Nia blinks. “You felt that?”

Avery nods. “Yes! It’s so hard to describe. It almost feels like you…brushed your paw over my arm to get my attention. But…against my mind instead? My emotions, maybe?”

Nia cringes, immediately glancing at Tobias. He was the touchiest about her aura being invasive.

He does look a bit wary. “How does it feel for you? When you do that.”

Nia looks down at her hand, curling it. “I…don’t think I focused on anyone long enough to get a read on anything? But I’m familiar enough with all of you that it was easy to tell who was who. I could still…feel your personalities? But not any specific emotions.”

“If you were to focus your aura more steadily, in a direct connection rather than a radius, I wonder how well you could track an opponent, even with your eyes closed,” Val says, hand at her chin.

“Could you attach your aura in some way?” Avery adds. “Tag someone, so you would have a constant link?”

Nia sits back. Huh. She certainly hadn’t thought of that. She’s glad these two are here to help. “I…don’t know? I’ve never tried.”

“Would you want to?” Avery asks, practically vibrating with excitement at the prospect of experimenting. They clearly wouldn’t mind being a guinea pig.

“Sure? If you don’t, uh. Mind. Any suggestions for how to do this? Since you’re a psychic type?”

“Well, you should probably start out by touching them, right?” Xander says, tilting his head. He glances Kry and Felix’s way when a small explosion goes off from their sparring. Felix is cackling as Kry shouts something at him.

“That would likely be a good place to start, yes,” Val says.

Avery holds out a hand, smiling. Nia hesitates, then takes it, closing her eyes and reaching out with her aura.

Avery’s purple-blue aura, as curious and deep as the night sky, flares to life behind Nia’s eyelids, making up the kirlia’s silhouette. Nia’s own bright blue aura is a strong contrast to it, the two colors a beautiful mix where they overlap at their hands. But when Nia pulls back her paw, Avery’s aura vanishes. She frowns, and touches the kirlia again so the indigo flares back to life. So she does need to…attach her aura to them, somehow. Anchor herself?

Nia can’t think of how to do such a thing, so she tries to let her instincts take over instead. Aura is all about emotion, after all. About her life energy, what she wills into being. So what if she just…wills her aura to connect? Wills her bond with the kirlia to become something…tangible. Something physical. Something more than the surface-level observations of aura that she's done so far, something deeper.

She thinks about Avery’s soft voice and bright eyes and the delicate way they move. How they’re always happy to help Nia think through a problem and how their very presence soothes something anxious in Nia. Warm affection wells up in her heart.

Nia’s aura moves to follow that pull, that connection, latching onto Avery’s instead of just brushing against it. She feels a rush of emotion, of thought, that isn’t hers.

fascinating eager friend proud curious

It’s less a voice, and more a…feeling of each word. Not too different from what Nia has felt in the past, but somehow more intense. Clearer. Nia yanks her hand away, startled, but between them a string of bright blue aura remains, tying her to Avery’s indigo aura and keeping their form visible behind her eyelids. If Nia focuses on it, she can still feels Avery’s emotions, distant. Like a voice from the next room over or a palm radiating warmth through a heavy sweater.

Worry friend okay?

Nia’s eyes snap open, and she feels the connection cut out, leaving her feeling almost…lonely. She’s panting like she hasn’t since the early days of her aura training. Avery, Xander, and Tobias are watching her with mirrored expressions of concerned curiosity.

“I-I think it worked?” Nia says.

Avery lights up, leaning forward. “Tell me everything.”

Nia tries her best to describe the experience as Felix and Kry return to the group, Kry pouting at her loss and Felix ribbing the dragon type with an elbow to her side. As soon as they’re caught up on what’s happening, Felix eagerly volunteers to be Nia’s next test subject.

Nia has a slightly harder time connecting to Felix’s leafy green aura, and frowns as she tries and fails to find a foothold.

“Maybe your aura is too depleted?” Avery suggests.

Nia considers that, but shakes her head. No, her aura isn’t anywhere near gone. It’s just like…trying to stick one piece of cotton to another, with no adhesive to hold it in place. With Avery, it was like there’d been a piece of Velcro to snag onto.

Val, arms crossed and head tilted, flicks her gaze to Tobias. “Charmander.”

Tobias, who had been watching the whole process with an unreadable expression, frowns. “Yeah?”

“You next.”

Nia and Tobias shake their heads at the same time.

“No.”

“H-He doesn’t have to, really!”

“He is your partner,” Val cuts in. “He of all Pokemon should be the one you are most familiar with. If you two are separated, I want to know you have a chance to use this skill to your advantage.”

That is…unfortunately a good point. Except Tobias has been so private with his aura, from the very beginning. Not that Nia can blame him! It’s a really personal thing. But…she also doesn’t want to disappoint Val, and—

“Fine,” Tobias grumbles, scooting over to sit in front of Nia and jabbing his hand forward. “Get it over with.”

Nia blinks at him, surprised. Just like that?

Tobias flushes. “She has a good point. C’mon.”

Nia still hesitates, but after glancing at his face one more time she closes her eyes and reaches out a hand.

Before even brushing against him, her aura leaps from her body to his, latching on like a magnet. Tobias’ emotions filter through the string, somehow…louder than Avery's. Clearer, like the reception is better.

hide hide hide calm down Nia won’t hate calm down will she get it over with already—

Nia cuts the connection herself, recoiling with wide eyes. Tobias glares back at her, none of the turmoil she just felt showing on his face.

“Riolu?” Val prompts.

“You didn’t even touch me,” Tobias grumbles. “Why do you look so freaked out?”

“I-I didn’t need to?” Nia says, more a question than a statement. “I…my aura connected on its own?”

“Without contact?” Avery asks.

Surprised, Nia nods. Her attention is admittedly torn, though, caught on the thoughts and emotions Nia felt when she connected to her partner. He’s…so scared of her looking at his aura. And not because of privacy reasons, like she’d previously thought.

He’s…scared Nia will hate what she sees?

“Hm.” Val looks like she expected this turn of events. “I suspect the depth of your bond with someone influences how easily you can connect to them.”

“Or maybe Nia is just getting better as she goes?” Felix suggests.

Nia can’t give the speculation her full attention like she usually would. She’s too busy trying to tear her thoughts away from Tobias’ suddenly worrying self-esteem, or lack thereof. She…doesn’t think she can really bring it up directly, since they were kind of his private thoughts? But she’s more than a little concerned. She’s confident that the two of them are friends at this point, but he’s still so scared that she’s suddenly going to…what? Turn on him? Just because she gets a better understanding of who he is?

“Try again on Wartortle,” Val says.

Nia manages to focus back on the conversation, at least a little. Distracted, almost without thinking, she reaches out and tries to make her aura connect to Felix again, this time without touching. Her aura strains and reaches an inch or two past her body before snapping back. Completely different than it was with Tobias, where it leaped for him like a long-lost friend.

“No,” Nia murmurs. “I think Val is right. It’s…it feels completely different.”

Felix looks unusually put out by Nia struggling to connect with his aura. Val, Avery and Xander, however, just seem thoughtful. Kry is busy picking at her teeth.

Tobias is staunchly looking everywhere but Nia, face redder than usual and fingers rubbing at his scarf. Embarrassed. Nia supposes she understands how he feels, even in her distracted state. It’s one thing to feel close to him, but another thing entirely to have tangible proof of their friendship. Then again, apparently he needs proof, if his inner thoughts are anything to gauge by.

“If only we could speak with one of the lucario tribes,” Avery sighs. “They must know so much more about aura and what it can do. Psychic energy can be used for telepathy and more physical techniques like telekinesis, but aura is an entirely different matter since it deals directly with life energy and emotions. I’ve heard you can even influence a target's emotional state and manipulate their aura like you would your own!”

Nia leans back, something in her gut turning over as she snaps back to the conversation at hand. Influencing others’ emotions? Manipulating their aura, their life energy?

"That…uh, sounds a little scary, Avery."

Avery seems surprised, but then laughs. “Apologies. I suppose it does. I just thought it was fascinating! And I know you would never misuse your aura, so I don’t fear that kind of power in your paws.”

Nia’s unease fades a bit as she gives them a smile. It’s nice to know Avery has so much faith in her.

“For now, continue to explore this technique, Riolu,” Val says. She tilts her head towards the battlefield. “Avery. Luxio. You are next.”

Avery looks reluctant to leave the discussion, but sighs and stands with an unreasonable amount of grace. They give Xander a teasing smile. “Think you can win this time?”

Xander laughs, lighting up in the way he only seems to around the kirlia. It’s kind of adorable. He nudges his teammate as they walk onto the battlefield together. “I’ll certainly try my best.”

Val hums, gaze lingering on the two of them as they start sparring without her call. “Charmander, you will battle Wartortle next.”

Nia frowns. Felix just battled a bit ago. “Shouldn’t I..?”

“You can fight if you would prefer to, but I can see you are reluctant. I believe you are making fine enough combat progress to focus on your aura today.”

Oh. Nia would prefer that over sparring, if Val thinks she’s doing all right. “O-Okay! So should I just..?”

“Practice with my aura while I monitor the sparring,” Val says, still watching the battle. “Connect to me, then try stepping away to see how far you can go before you lose the connection. Take a break between each attempt.”

There’s no hesitation in the medicham’s words, so after a moment Nia nods and closes her eyes to connect to Val’s orange energy. It’s not nearly as easy as Tobias or even Avery, but not any more difficult than Felix. A gentle tap to the fighting type’s arm, and the connection, though weak, is made. Val’s thoughts and emotions, calm as a still lake, leak through.

Luxio spark more aggressive Avery work on physical strength Riolu take breaks cannot forget exhaust herself—

Nia tries to channel out the medicham's thoughts, feeling a bit like she’s intruding. The thoughts are still there, but like someone murmuring nearby. She can kind of tune them out, and instead focuses on getting to her feet.

Whoa. She feels a bit woozy, as she usually does when stretching her aura in new ways. After a moment she manages to back away, one step at a time. The string between them stretches longer and longer. All Nia sees is her own aura and Val’s, the orange silhouette of her a bright beacon amidst the sea of black behind her eyelids.

Nia makes it ten steps away before she feels the string…strain, for lack of a better word. A tug on her soul. Then, one more step and it snaps. Nia gasps and stumbles, barely managing to catch herself before she can fall.

“Nia?” Tobias calls, apparently watching. His brow is furrowed.

“I’m fine!” She pants. That feeling just…surprised her. It was as if something she was leaning her weight on suddenly vanished.

“Take a break,” Val calls.

Nia does so, staggering back to Val’s side to sit and watch Xander and Avery exchange blows.

That’s how the training session continues, the others taking turns sparring, Tobias included, while Nia trains this new facet of her aura.

Avery, of course, gently interrogates Nia every time they are on the sidelines, watching Nia’s progress with fascination. The two of them hold a conversation as Nia treads back and forth, getting familiar with seeing the others through her aura. Avery is as curious about Nia and Tobias’ travels to Asra and Shivergleam as they are about everything else.

When Nia brings up how protect and misty terrain stopped the effects of the forming mystery dungeon on their way back from Shivergleam, Avery falls silent. When Nia finishes that round of connection training and opens her eyes, Avery is staring at her in much the same way they did when Nia made the connection between aura and type energy. Like their world has just shifted on its axis a bit.

“Avery?”

“…It’s almost a shame you became a Seeker, Nia. The research community would be lucky to have you.”

“Has no one ever tried to use a move like that in a mystery dungeon?” Nia asks, frowning. It feels kind of…obvious?

Avery hums. “I’m sure someone has, but it’s certainly not a well-documented strategy. The number of Pokemon who know such moves is already small, and the number of those Pokemon who just happen to get caught in a mystery dungeon forming are even smaller. To then also have a calm enough head to try defending rather than running? Even less so.”

“Oh.” Nia suddenly feels very, very glad that her instinct seems to be to freeze and defend, rather than to fight or flee. In this case, it worked in her favor.

“Mystery dungeons are a fairly recent phenomenon, in the grand scheme of things,” Avery continues. “Less than half a century old. And considering how dangerous they are to study as well as how randomly and rarely they appear—at least until recently—many basic facts about how they function are still unknown."

Huh. Nia guesses that makes sense.

"So this is an incredible discovery!" Avery says, excited. "I’ll need to share with Father later and ask him to connect with the researchers and archivists at the other guilds. I wonder why those moves can interact directly with a mystery dungeon? Is the environment itself using an attack somehow?”

Avery’s voice trails off to a mutter, and Nia has to stop herself from responding. Because she knows the answer to that, thanks to Giratina. Knows that the weakening border around the Pokemon world is the cause of the mystery dungeons, and that it’s made of life energy, of aura, just like any Pokemon. It makes sense that moves, which also use aura as their base power, can interact with it.

But sharing that knowledge would mean admitting to her run-in with Giratina. It would mean sharing the news of the world ending, the news that their hopes currently hinge on finding a long-lost dormant legendary. And August is going to talk to Alistair and Tawny anyways, right? Nia doesn’t want to put that burden on Avery’s shoulders. Not when there’s nothing they can do about it. They’re having a good time, training together! There’s no reason for Nia to bother Avery with terrible news. Not yet.

Nia takes a break shortly after that conversation, starting to feel truly worn down. Tobias sits down beside her after his latest spar, panting hard after facing off against Xander. Felix and Avery battle in front of them, while Xander and Kry talk strategy and Val observes.

“Hey, you crazy kids!”

Nia and Tobias tilt their heads back to see Azami hanging over them. She must be done training her own students. The tsareena’s mouth is hidden behind her high collar, but her eyes are crinkled with a smile. “Good to see you back at the Tree in one piece.”

Tobias scoffs, but Nia feels the way he relaxes at her side. “What, you think we were going to lose an arm or something out there?”

Azami laughs. “I never know with you, Spitfire!”

The tsareena takes a seat on Val’s other side to watch the spar now that she’s done mentoring her own students. After a moment, she decides to cheer on Avery. Felix sends her a betrayed look in the midst of battle that results in him getting blasted by a fairy move. Val gets up a moment later to move to where Felix is groaning on the floor, a quiet lecture about getting distracted in battle likely on her tongue.

On Nia's other side, Tobias is now arguing with Kry and Xander about offensive versus defensive strategies. Tobias insists that offensive is best, of course, while Xander leans more towards defensive strategies. Kry seems to be arguing that going on the offensive is not aggressive enough, somehow.

Nia, left to drift in the middle, sits in contented silence, letting her fatigued aura rest. She watches Val talk to Avery next. The medicham’s stoic expression is softened ever so slightly as she directs the kirlia on how they could’ve better dodged a tricky aqua tail attack earlier in the battle.

Azami leans over to whisper to Nia, “You’re one of her favorites, y’know.”

“W-What?”

“Val,” Azami says. She straightens up, but keeps her voice low. “She didn’t have the greatest mentor growing up, so she tends to keep her students at arm’s length. But she always perks up when you and Spitfire are back in town.”

“Oh,” Nia says, unsure what else to respond with. Her ears feel warm.

She…wasn’t expecting that. Val doesn’t seem to hate being around Nia and teaching her, but Nia has a hard time believing that Val holds any particular fondness for her, either. Especially considering Nia’s inexperience with pretty much, well…everything. If anything, she’d thought Val might find her kind of exhausting to deal with. Not that the medicham ever let that slip, but she doesn’t let much of anything slip.

“Trust me,” Azami laughs. “Other than Alistair, I’m the best Val translator in the guild. We’re close.”

Her voice is sly, and Nia glances at the tall grass type.

Azami winks.

Oh, Nia thinks as her brows shoot up. She doesn’t want to assume anything, but Azami isn’t exactly subtle. Does that mean her and Val..?

Val finishes offering advice and returns to sit between Nia and Azami, stopping Nia’s moment of revelation. Still, she can’t help peeking over at the two Pokemon afterwards, trying to figure out if Azami was just teasing her or not. Azami does lean awfully close to Val when they talk, and the medicham doesn’t seem to mind at all. Then again, cool and collected is kind of her default state.

For a moment, Nia thinks, I could connect to Val’s aura to find out.

Then she registers that thought and tears her gaze away to watch the next spar, stomach turning uncomfortably. She’s going to need to be careful with how she practices this new technique. Every time she thinks she’s getting a grasp on her aura, getting comfortable with it, something new pops up to throw a curveball and make her feel like she’s handling a live bomb. It’s just…scary. To know she holds so much power.

Val calls it quits on everyone’s training soon after. Tobias and Xander’s team are radiating exhaustion, and they eagerly agree to break for a late lunch. While Nia isn’t physically tired, her aura is worn down to a fraction of its usual amount and that leaves her ready for a rest and a good meal, too.

“Wanna come with us to the dining hall?” Felix invites, smile broad as he stands and stretches.

Nia glances at her partner. Tobias seems uncertain, but doesn’t disagree immediately, so he’s probably just feeling shy about how to say yes without a fuss. Nia accepts for them both, and the group packs up to head down the Lexym Tree to the cafeteria floor.

As they leave, calling thanks to Val and Azami, Nia spots the tsareena slinging an arm around Val’s shoulders, laughing about something. Val’s mouth twitches into a small smile.

Nia bites back a smile of her own and hurries after her friends.

[thefishermansharbor]

The M6 proposing to you!

The arcana x GN!Reader 

Julian Devorak:

Julian is an excellent actor. In all different ways, if something is bothering him - only those who know him very best can understand that something is wrong. And right now especially, he was thanking the arcana that he was such an excellent actor. Because that way he could conceal his plan from you. 

You walk into the study. “ You needed me, honey? Is something wrong?” you ask.

“ I was just curious about something, dear.” He says, extra sweetly. He has his tie on, and his eyepatch off. Whatever he’s thinking about is something serious. “ .. Have you ever thought about officiating a certain thing?” 

“ .. what ‘thing’ are you talking about, Jules?”

He sighs, and smiles.  He sweeps all of his desk’s contents to the floor, they make a loud clatter sound against the hardwood floor.  He knew that this was not the time to put on a false face and act, this was the time to speak straight from the heart.

Julian can feel his worries about this fall away. The endless and long nights of staying up to rehearse and plan for this now felt.. silly. So incredibly silly, what good is pretending to be someone else in the moment he should most definitely just be himself? He was going to do this his own way. To say the things he truly feels, and not some silly pre - written words. 

There’s only one thing left on his desk, a pearl ring. It’s not even in a box, it’s just sitting there, only accompanied by a second ring. He stares into your eyes, a cheeky smirk on his face. 

“ Officiating our relationship, of course. Would you do the honor of marrying me, dear?” 

Asra Alnazar:

Asra sighed, thinking of you. The truth was ever since he’d known that you loved him just as much as he loved you, he had been thinking of you. You were so unbelievably perfect in so many ways to him. Everything about you, your looks, your thoughts, your feelings.. He cherished it. It had been taken away from him - and he never fully recovered. 

Asra worried that something else would split the two of you apart again. He really did, but then an idea crossed his mind. Marriage. You two had been talking about it before you caught the plague, and he started to think that it was a way to truly solidify your connection. 

He waited for you at the fountain garden. A place that was special to the two of you. It was the early summer, a june evening. His favorite time of day during his favorite season. What better place? 

As the noise of the castle slowly drifted off behind you, you came into Asra’s view. He had said to you that he wanted to tell you something important. He stood up from the edge of the fountain, his soft smile widening. 

“ Hello, my love.” 

“ Hi, Asra.” You say. He takes you hand and squeezes it gently. His eyes stared into yours. A breeze passed through the garden, the purple sky in the background made your lover look simply stunning.

“ .. I told you this morning that I wanted to tell you something. I’ve been waiting, ___. I’ve been waiting a long time.” 

You listen, you could never know how carefully he’s considered every word and rehearsed it before now. He wants nothing more than for this to be as special as possible for you.

“ … but now the wait is finally over, my love.” He kneeled, taking out a small pouch, and taking one silver ring with both of your initials inscribed into the inside of it. 

“ Will you marry me, ____ ?”

Lucio Morgasson:

Lucio sat up in bed, covered in cold sweat. He had a dream about you, and it could only mean one thing - he was being stupid. He was stupid not to marry you, you’re the most perfect person to him. You’re beautiful, perfect, and kind. He couldn’t think why he hadn’t yet put a ring on you. 

He ran over to his own jewelry box, ransacking it for rings. Anything would do. All he knew is that he wanted you, and he wanted you now. He found one that looked like it might be your size - and before he knew it, he was running down the hall. 

You’d said to him earlier that you’d be working on a project with Portia in the library tonight. He ran as fast as he could down the hall. Once he got there, he banged on the library door until Portia opened it. 

“ .. Sir Lucio? What are you doing here?” She said, surprised. He was out of breath, and looked over Portia’s shoulder and saw you reading. 

“ out of my way, Portia–” He said, shoving and squeezing past her. She let him get by, standing there confused. 

He ran up behind you, tapping your shoulder. He was a man on a mission, nothing could’ve stopped him from getting what he wanted at that moment. You turned and looked at him,

“ Lucio? What is it?”

“ .. “ He stared at you for another second before acknowledging himself. Still a bit out of breath, and grabbed your shoulders before waving the ring near your face like a mad man.

“ .. marry me, here. Now.” 

Nadia Satrinava:

She wanted to extravagant, she really wanted it to be a story you talked about for the rest of your life together. She had several servants, wedding planners, event planners, and even some family members invited to the palace to help her come up with the best plan she could. She only allows the best for you. 

She thought long and hard about what to do, but eventually she decided on something she thought you’d like. She made a reservation for a small pizza restaurant. It was old fashioned brick-oven pizza, something she thought you’d like. 

Nadia sat at the restaurant, waiting patiently for you. She had sent a carriage to the magic shop a little over 20 minutes ago. She shifted in her seat, she’d really dressed up for the event. She had painted her nails a deep red, the perfect manicure to show your rings off with. 

“ .. Oh, Nadia, sweetie, I’m so sorry I’m late!” You say apologetically, rushing over to the table from the front. “ A customer knocked over the buckwheat frogskin and then I had to spent an extra half hour helping her clean herself up, and then cleaning the group.” 

She pulled out your chair for you and give you a kiss on the cheek. “ It’s quite alright, darling.” 

She sat back down and across from people, smiling at you. She’d planned to do it towards the end of the meal, but as soon as the bread came - she just looked at how beautiful you were. You were so beautiful and kind all the time.. Something came over her, and she stood up out of her chair. 

She nearly knocked into a waiter, but she got down on a knee, and put her hand on your knee. 

Nadia stares, she’d never been so confident in a decision. Ever. 

“ Darling, Would you marry me?”

Muriel the outsider:

He was nervous about asking you. It was a large step in life, but you had helped grow into a better and more confident person, and he couldn’t imagine asking this of anyone else. 

You’re sat near the fire with Inanna, journaling while Inanna’s asleep on your lap. The only thing that can be heard is your occasional laughter and Inanna’s soft snoring. Muriel smiled at you. He knew you were the one. The person, HIS person. 

He walked up behind you, and sat down next to the two of you. He loved the way you looked at him, so full of love - and never full of fear. He tries to speak, but the words die in his throat. How is he supposed to do this? 

Muriel takes a deep breath and stares at you. From your perspective, it looks a bit like he’s glaring as hard as he can. It makes you a bit nervous.

“ Hey, Muri. Is something wrong?” You ask, concerned about him. 

“ I.. you.. Please, maybe– if you think you want.. W-we could.. I think that..”

He stumbles on his words, blushing. He puts a ahand over his face, you’ve been together so long and yet you still fluster him so very much. 

He decides it’s best to just get it over and done with, the words come out bluntly but they’re still endearing and sweet. 

“ I want to marry you!” He says loudly, but then he realizes how awkward he looks and his gaze softens. “ .. Please say yes.” he whispers.

Portia Devorak:

Portia knew she wanted to take advantage of her charm when it came to you. If there’s two things she loved, it was life at sea - and you, OF COURSE. One time while you were re-stocking the ship at one of the towns, she brought you off away from the crowd and onto a much smaller sailing boat.

It was perfect. The late afternoon sun on the harbor and coastline, it was just the two of you. With the exception of a sailor who was manning the boat while Portia romanced you. She was incredibly patient and listened a lot more than talked - you could sense something was different about this date, she almost always did most of the talking. 

She had been very patient that day. She knew what she wanted, and she was ready to make that happen. She waited until the very best moment to ask, when the sun was setting and you were least expecting it. 

She scooted a little closer to you, putting her hand on top of yours. She smiled, taking something out of her pocket. 

It’s a pearl ring, perfectly your size. It’s beautiful, and you gape at it.. Too happy to realize that Portia’s started talking, finally you look over and she smiles at you. She loves you so very much. 

“ Could you make me the happiest woman ever and marry me?”

[priestessame]

Lazy mornings with the big cuddlers, (ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ꕤ.ﾟ

Where you two decide to laze around in the bed because it is still cold outside, tangled limbs and groggy thoughts. You know if you continue to sleep more, you'd wake up with the weird ache in your back but the chilly morning air still makes you want to continue to curl under your duvet.

Unfortunately you had kicked around in your sleep and found yourself on the cold side of the bed, groaning at the unwelcome freezing shins. Your tossing wakes up the man beside you, and you feel his arms reach over the mountain of blankets at once.

Wrapping his arms around your frame, pulling you closer in case you had wandered off to the other side of the bed. He slides you up against your torso and you instinctively bury your face into his chest. Out of habit his palm pats down your back, caressing you back to sleep. The movement lasts for about a minute, before you feel his chest rise and fall in a content slow rhythm again, sleep catching up as quickly as it had awoken him. It feels warm and safe for the both of you. Cocooned up in all those layers, the world beyond what you're holding right now blurs, colours fading into each other until the only way you know you're real is the warmth of his skin. The sleep that dawns on you then is nothing short of a spell, it wisps around you like a burning incense, and you probably wouldn't wake up until you feel his fingers on your skin again. (And you will sleep contently until his loud snoring wakes you up again.)

His touch creeps over your body, calloused fingers brushing against your sides as the mouth finds your neck. Something about you simply existing in his bed when he wakes up excites him. So don't be too mad when he nips at your skin teasingly, murmuring things you can't hear yet. And if his lips find your face he'll kiss you awake until you have to shove him off. In the end you don't really mind if he does wake you up, do you?

ASRA, Choso T.T, Thoma, ITTO, LAW, Sanji, + (any of your favs?) The snoring is so Zhongli (pls that man is loud).

Buy me a coffee ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

[snobgoblin]

I've been cooking up a 60s band au on discord with Thun and Beez and I'll just copy paste what I've been putting there to keep track of it

OK I tried to keep in mind their canon outfits (like giving Julian colored lenses like his plague doctor mask), their animal associations (giving Nadia a feather like pattern on her dress), and their development notes (like leaving Asra's heart exposed) also things like giving Nadia a very trendy look for the time since she's always on top of trends in the game

more drawings to come, under the read more were my initial thoughts for the au

I think based off the game it would make sense for

>Asra to be the singer (is said to be both a good singer and dancer)

>Nadia would be the keyboardist (she plays the piano)

>Julian would be the bassist (he plays a stringed instrument the player asks about and I don't remember the name of it) (I was torn on guitarist or bassist but I think bassist works for that "why are the singer and bassist always dating" meme I keep seeing in band spaces)

>Portia and Muriel would be roadies (they both enjoy physical labor and Muriel is shy as hell there's no way he's going on stage)

>Lucio would be the bodyguard bc he likes to fight people. he really wants to be the singer though (which ties into him being jealous of Asras magic skills) he fucking LOVES the energy of the atmosphere

that means they don't have a drummer or guitarist but that's okay the actual band aspect isn't that important anyway. it's mostly heehee silly outfits

AND THEN when Thunderlina asked about the courtiers I said

maybe "something something Lucio wants to be the singer so he makes a deal with the devil for his own band members and is provided with Those Fuckers"

hehehehe me and Thun and Beez have been cooking just you wait......

[rasby]

M6 eeping

Or, sleeping, for those who don't know! I'm sick and writing these is somehow helping me, expect more of them!!

Asra

• Puts on your shirt (that he totally did not steal) and some shorts and calls it a day (or...night, i guess)

• They don't move around too much but they talk a lot

• You've recently discovered a new passion for talking with him while he sleeps

• They get a bit embarrassed about it once you tell them at first but you two gain SOOO many inside jokes that it's worth it

• Generally, his sleeping schedule is none existant. They sleep when they feel tired. Day, night, shop, middle of the street...doesn't matter!

Nadia

• She is a lady, okay

• Has a full nightly routine, face masks, hair masks, gowns, everything.

• Once she lays into bed though, there is NO waking her up.

• You're often worried she fell into another coma

• It doesn't help that she doesn't move at all

• She's just laying there, still, not making any sound (besides the occasional snore)

• Everything in her life is scheduled and so is her sleep

Julian

• He doesn't often choose to go to sleep

• He mostly passes out at his desk in whatever he already had on

• In the rare occasion that he does go to bed, he puts on an old shirt, no pants

• However he NEEDS his socks. They're a must have

• He has cold feet!

• He both moves and talks a lot in his sleep (it's less talking more muttering tho)

• It isn't unbearable but it may take you time to get used to

• No sleep schedule whatsoever

• It's a miracle he gets sleep, honestly

Portia

• Has a collection of cute pajamas and won't sleep without them

• Also has some cute cat slippers

• When she sleeps she needs something to cling to

• Most of the time it's you

• It isn't too bad, but you might wake up with an aching back

• You see now why Pepi chooses to sleep on the chair...

• She usually goes to sleep early because her mornings are always busy

• And just in general, she likes the morning air, it's refreshing

Muriel

• If he could, he'd sleep naked

• But that isn't decent, especially now that you live with him

• He resorts to sleeping in his undies

• He doesn't move around too much but he does snore

• And it's LOUD

• You get used to it fairly quickly because compared to the sounds from the forest, it's pretty tame

• He still gets embarrassed if you tease him about it though

• He doesn't like being up during the night so he gets to bed soon after the sun goes down and wakes up at sunrise

Lucio

• He doesn't care about being decent and sleeps full on naked

• He gets really hot during the night and this way he can breathe!!

• This man also FIGHTS in his sleep

• You wake up with at least 5 bruises on each body part every morning

• He's required to take off the gold arm for bed because you got hit with it so much, you almost broke yours

• Sometimes when he's having a very vivid dream, you have to get out of bed because he's moving so much

• Usually sleeps whenever you do, he can stay awake for days and can also fall asleep in minutes

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Hi there! Hope you're doing good! Can I ask for short headcanons for the M6? how do you think they would react if MC came running around the corner towards them and just said "quick! Hide me!" Because they're running away from someone (maybe because they pulled a prank and got caught, or maybe stole something?)

The Arcana Mini-HCs: Running to M6 saying "hide me!"

Julian: no hesitating, spins you behind his back and under his coat, prepares a whole improvised speech to throw off your pursuer

Asra: catches you in their arms, poofs you both off to a random hidden spot in a cloud of purple magic, then asks what happened

Nadia: not as concerned with hiding you as she is with putting the fear of god into whoever dares cause you to run in fear like this

Muriel: acting purely on reflex, snatches you up in one arm and yanks both of you into an alleyway with the other. blushes once you're close

Portia: pushes you down behind the nearest large object and throws a cloth over it, stands in front with her arms crossed out of curiosity

Lucio: panics, mishears you and thinks he needs to hide, dives into the first spot he sees and makes such a ruckus it distracts the chaser

[saintunhinged]

you find a picture of asra from long before the two of you met and you can’t stop admiring it.

You stumble into the room that both you and Asra shared, only to find colorful clothes scattered on the bed. You had no doubt that they belonged to Asra. On the edge of the bed was a framed picture, so close to falling off that a bump to the mattress could have made it fall and broken it.

He always was a bit messy, but you didn’t mind helping him straighten up his things here and there.

Making your way to fix it, your eyes fall on the young kid in the photo. A wide smile paints your face as you recognize what it is— or who. Bright purple eyes stared from the picture, yet these eyes belonged to a younger version of the person you knew. The white hair and golden skin gave it away, not to mention the signature scarf he always styled with his outfits.

You almost wanted to let out a loud “aw” at the sight of a much younger Asra smiling at you from the picture, but the familiar voice that came from behind you had spoke even before a could even get a word out.

Just as you marveled at the younger version of him, the familiar voice of your magician lover interrupted your thoughts. “I meant to clean this mess up.” Asra declared, appearing in the doorway with an apologetic grin on his face.

Instead, you turn around with the frame in your hand. “You were so adorable!” you exclaimed, unable to hold your excitement.

Asra’s eyes met yours, curiosity dancing in the violet depths. A soft smile graced his lips, the contrast between the past and present evident in the warmth that radiated from the framed photograph and the genuine connection between you and the person before you.

His eyes twinkled mischievously as he observed you holding the framed picture. “Ah, my youthful days,” he mused, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe. “Care to share what you’ve found?”

You couldn’t contain the affectionate grin on your face. “Look at you! White hair, golden skin, and that signature scarf. You were absolutely adorable.”

Asra chuckled, a melodic sound that filled the room with warmth. “I suppose I’ve always had a flair for fashion.” He gestured towards the colorful chaos on the bed. “Although, it seems my fashion sense hasn’t evolved much since then.”

You playfully rolled your eyes. “Oh, come on. Your style is timeless. Besides, who doesn’t love a bit of magic in their wardrobe?”

“As much as I appreciate your fashion critique,” Asra began, a playful glint in his eyes, “I need help cleaning up. Not that I mind the distraction, of course.”

You chuckled, joining him by the door. “Cleaning can wait. I’m too busy reveling in the cuteness overload from this picture.” You held the frame closer to him. “Did you always have that mischievous glint in your eyes?”

Asra grinned, leaning in to get a closer look. “Maybe. Magic and mischief tend to go hand in hand, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely,” you agreed, a teasing tone in your voice. “Though I have to say, present-day Asra might have a bit more charm, if that’s possible.”

A playful gasp escaped Asra’s lips. “I hopre you’re not implying I wasn’t the epitome of charm back then? I’ll have you know I was quite the charismatic little magician.”

You laughed, shaking your head. “I’m sure you were. But now, you’re a charismatic, charming magician who also happens to share a room with me.”

Asra’s bright eyes sparkled with affection. “And how fortunate I am,” he replied, his voice dripping with playful sincerity. “Now, shall we continue this trip down memory lane or get back to the 'cleaning' business?”

You grin, holding the picture close to your heart. “Cleaning can wait. I’m too busy falling in love with the tiny, precious child in this photo... and the not-so-tiny, still-precious adult standing in front of me.”

His soft smirk deepened, his mischievous gaze locked onto yours. “Falling in love, you say? My, my, someone's being rather bold today.”

You shrugged, a playful glint in your eyes matching his. “Can you blame me? I mean, just look at this adorable face.” You pointed at the picture, then at Asra, emphasizing your point.

He feigned modesty, placing a hand over his heart. “Oh, you flatter me. But you know, present-day me comes with a lot more... intriguing qualities.”

You raised an eyebrow, a sly smile forming. “Intriguing, huh? Do tell, I’m all ears.”

Asra stepped closer, a layer of thick white hair falling down his forehead, eyes never leaving yours. “Well, for starters, this Asra,” he starts, pointing to himself with his index finger, “knows a thing or two about casting spells of the heart. And perhaps, just perhaps, he’s been under the influence of a certain enchantment.”

You chuckled, playing along. “Is it reversible, or am I stuck with the consequences?”

Asra placed a finger to his lips, feigning deep contemplation. “I guess that depends. Are you prepared for a lifetime of charm, wit, and an abundance of wonderful moments?”

You pretended to ponder, tapping your chin. “Tough choice. But if it means being swept off my feet by a charming someone every day, I think I can handle it.”

A genuine laugh escaped Asra, the sound like music in the room. “Very well. Brace yourself for a lifetime of love, with a touch of mischief, of course.”

You held the framed picture between you two, as if sealing the deal. “Deal. Now, about this cleaning business... any chance we can clean the mess with our minds?” You half-way joke, but apart of you seriously didn’t feel like doing the physical work.

The magician’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “I suppose a little magic wouldn't hurt. But only if you keep falling in love with the tiny, precious child and the not-so-tiny, still-precious me every day.”

You grinned, leaning in for a playful peck on Asra's cheek. “Deal.” And with that, you both set out to sprinkle a bit of magic on the chaos, leaving a trail of laughter and love in your wake.