#big thank you to all the animators who worked on that frame of Ray in the shadows they are my heroes that shot fucks me up so bad _(:△」∠)_

[thunderous-wolf]

The Ball Dance

Installment 1 of my series of "Thoughtz"

a/n: "Thoughtz" is a compilation of drafts of fanfic I've had in my notes for a while. They're unedited and most are unfinished. Since I do not feel motivated enough to finish them, I'm posting them for you all to read. Enjoy~

Pairing: Nobleman Skz Member x Noblelady fem!reader (it's a surprise ish) - [Featuring unannounced members of TXT, Enhypen, Skz and Ateez]

Plot: reader gets invited to a Masquerade Ball and stumbles upon a special someone.

Warnings: kissing, slightly suggestive, mentions of alcohol, a bestie who teases you way too much, cringy nicknames, jello

Word count: somewhere around 1000?

Please DO NOT copy, translate or steal my works

"M'lady, we've arrived." Said the voice of Peter, the temporary driver of my carriage. My father, the Duke of Purpureus, had allowed me to go to my first ever party in high society - as long as I promised to be heading home by midnight, of course. He was a rather strict man, and after some convincing, he finally softened up a bit on the idea of letting me go on my own to the big city. I better not screw this up, or else I'll never be allowed to go anywhere unsupervised ever again.

After the cart stopped, Peter came and opened the door for me. My eyes were met with a glorious sight. The castle was spectacular. It shone in the setting sun's light as if it were made out of the sun's rays itself. Stepping out of the carriage, I flashed a quick smile to Peter before continuing to the door.

"Thanks, Peter. I'll see you later."

"As you wish, M'lady. But please do be back by midnight, else your father will be worried." He said before hopping onto the driver seat and leaving me to the party. I couldn't wait to see the inside of the castle and the many guests. Who knows who I may meet?

I excitedly - yet carefully - walked up the many steps to the castle entrance. I had not had the chance to attend many parties of high society, much less ones hosted by the Royal family themselves. I had never set foot in the castle before, and that was going to change soon.

I was awed as I walked through the halls. Everything seemed so luxurious. The lights, the carpeting, the pictures. My fathers duchy was rather wealthy, but certainly not this rich. A single door handle here probably cost more than my entire wardrobe.

Nothing prepared me for the extravagance I would witness when I stepped into the ballroom.

Looking down from the staircase, I was amazed at the scenery. Everything was elaborately decorated. From the large crystal chandeliers to the exquisite dinnerware. I felt like royalty myself.

Below me were rows of people in colorful outfits, all dressed to the nines and adorning their own masks I was both excited and nervous at the idea of mingling within them. Anyone I meet here - any friendships I create - will remain a mystery. That could be both good and bad.

"What's the point in attending a ball if you're just going to stand on a staircase and people watch?" A voice said from behind me. I turned around to see a woman about my age in a black dress that glistened like midnight. It was sleek and bold in contrast to the various eyecatching poofy dresses that the other ladies wore. Her brown curly hair was pulled into a braid with small coils of hair framing her face. She smirked as she saw me staring. "I know I'm stunning, but my intention wasn't for you to turn around and start gawking at me." She said sarcastically. At her comment, I looked away and blushed.

"I- uh- sorry!" I said, embarrassed.

"You're so funny when you're flustered. But this night was made for some handsome young man to fluster you, not me. So let's go! Live a little! There's a reason you're wearing a mask. No one will recognize you! Well, except for me, but that's besides the point." She said, shooing me towards the stairs. I knew from her animated voice that this was my best friend, Aya, who resided in a neighboring duchy. I looked back at her hesitantly, but by the sassy look on her face, I knew that it was no use resisting her antics.

"I'll go if you come with me.." I said, trying to get her to atleast accompany me. What kind of best friend let's you wander into a place you've never been before all alone?

"No, no! Go. I want to make a dramatic entrance!" She said teasingly, waving her hands in the air to show how "dramatic" it would be. I rolled my eyes before continuing down the stairs.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I turned around. If she is going to make a dramatic entrance, I am going to watch. To my surprise, she was gone. Was this part of her scheme?

To my dismay, it was certainly not part of her scheme. I have been standing here waiting for her to appear, but she never did. I huffed. She tricked me. That little-

"Excuse me, Miss. May I have this dance?" A voice interrupted me from my thoughts. I turned around and my eyes were met with the smile of a - quite tall - bashful man. He shyly held out a gloved hand for me to grab, hoping that I would accept his offer. And his hopes came true, since I knew that I would feel guilty if I said no.

He gently led me over to the area where the rest of the guests were waltzing. With a soft smile, he rested a hand on the small of my back, with the other tenderly grasping my hand, and started dancing.

As we danced, he became a little less timid. We began having a little conversation while waltzing around, and I found that he was a really sweet guy. It was a shame that I couldn't put a face to his personality.

When the dance ended, he offered to grab a drink or a snack for me. He said that the champagne here was quite delectable if I had never tried it. When I told him I have never even been here before, he insisted on getting some champagne for me. With a small smile, he left, promising to be back shortly.

With this, I was left alone. I zoned out, watching the swirling of the various dresses. However, something caught my eye. It was a black dress in a sea of color. I knew exactly who it was. She was not too far away, so I decided to go pester her.

As I approached, she suddenly started laughing quietly (as to not make as much of a commotion). I couldn't quite see who she was talking to, but they must be funny.

"That was a terrible joke!" She said, still laughing.

"He's told worse. Trust me."

"Hey!" The supposed teller of the joke exclaimed. This sent the others into another fit of quiet laughter.

Regaining her breath, she glanced around to see if anyone was watching, but then her eyes landed on me. So much for the surprise factor.

"What happened to your grand entrance, my esteemed friend-" I started.

"Now, now. We mustn't name names here,.. cupcake." She interrupted, turning from her previous conversation. I blushed slightly at the use of the nickname. Why must she bring this up in public? As if they could read my mind, the two guests she was talking to laughed under their breath at the cute name.

"Thank you, Honey Muffin. Wouldn't want me breaking the rules, would we?" I said, in an attempt to get the attention off of me.

"Honey Muffin?" A man said, poking his head out from behind her and into my view. When she turned to face him, I could finally see him clearly. I could see why they were together, it was as if they complemented eachother perfectly. In contrast to her black dress, he was wearing an all white suit, decorated with diamonds in all of the right places. It was a little eccentric, but it fit him well. At first glance, they both came off as a little intimidating, but judging from this conversation, they were certainly not.

"Don't even." She threatened playfully. It was a little comical, since he was taller than her. Her serious tone melted into laughter as he made a ridiculous pouty face in response to her.

"Let's give them some room. Care for a dance, M'Lady?" The other man said to me with a flirty smile. I didn't even get a chance to answer before he wisked me away to the dance floor.

As I was dancing, I couldn't take my eyes off of him. His charisma enamored me. I was like a moth drawn to a flame. I couldn't escape his charm. He had a beautiful smile that surely has seduced many ladies before. He was also quite a good dancer. Not to mention, he wasn't too bad on the eyes.

"Found someone you fancy yet, Miss Cupcake?" He said, breaking your trance.

"I - um.. no? Well.."

He chuckled at my response. "You can just tell me you think I'm hot, you know." He said, with a cheshire grin. My jaw would have dropped to the ground if I didn't have to keep my ladylike composure. I wasn't entirely thinking of him, but I couldn't deny that he was hot either.

With a satisfied look, he let us continue dancing without much more teasing. He must have taken pity on my cherry red face. Thank goodness.

Our dancing was cut short, however, when he spotted someone in the crowd. After apologizing, he dashed over to his friend. I watched as a shorter - yet buff - man emerged from the crowd. He immediately recognized my former dancing partner, and they both gave each other the most manly hug I have ever seen.

Now that I had been left alone once again, I decided to go grab a snack. I slowly weaved my way through the crowd and found the massive food table. I grabbed a drink from a passing waiter and planned my next course of action. I wanted to not get caught stuck in place by my fellow partygoers. There were a few groups of people gathered around the table, but one group certainly grabbed your attention.

"(very loud gasp) THEY HAVE PURPLE JELLO?!" A young man exclaimed. He seemed to be about the same age as me, however, he acted like a toddler.

"Yes, there's purple jello. There's every color of jello. Would you please quiet down? You're drawing too much attention." The other young man he was with said. He had a hand shielding his face and was acting like he didn't know his overly excited friend.

"WHOA. It's a rainbow of jello!" The first man said, bewildered. This earned him some strange looks from people within earshot. The second man looked as if he wished the earth would just swallow him up. I couldn't help but find the first man's antics adorable.

Seeing that I was watching him, the extroverted man waved me over.

"Have you ever tried purple jello? I've never even seen it before! I thought Hee- I mean, Bambi, was kidding when he said that the Palace had purple jello!" He said excitedly. "Here, try a bite!" He asked, handing me a tiny plate with a square of jello on it.

"I'm sorry, but I am not very fond of jello. I do like the color purple though." I said, trying to politely decline his offer. I felt a little bad when I saw his pouting face. It quickly vanished as he got side tracked by a new dessert.

"Please don't forget your manners." The more mature one said to the childlike young man. The latter's eyes widened and he quickly apologized. I assured him that it was alright, and his youthfulness was refreshing.

Shortly after, he got distracted by yet another food item and rushed off, the second man hurriedly following after him. I also continued down the table in search of something else to eat.

Scanning the tables, my eyes landed on a cookie platter. These intricately shaped cinnamon cookies had caught my attention, and I was determined to get one. I gracefully moved closer and reached to grab one when suddenly, a hand brushed against mine. Looking up, a young man was standing across the table from me, also trying to grab one of the cookies.

When we made eye contact, it seemed as if time stopped. My breath caught in my throat and my heartbeat was racing. He was stunning. His bronze and white suit hugged him in all the right places, and his mask was designed in a way that perfectly showcased his chocolate brown eyes. The light was wonderfully illuminating his face so it seemed almost as if he was glowing.

"I - uh - sorry!" He said, bashfully. His voice snapped me out of my daydream and I finally let go of the breath that I had no idea that I had been holding. I looked away, embarrassed that I had been staring.

"I-its alright. I should have paid more attention." I said, my cheeks growing warm. The man cleared his throat, drawing my focus back to him, before suddenly becoming a little bold. "Could I make it up to you with a dance?" He said, smiling.

I could not resist his dimpled smile, so of course agreed to a dance.

Suddenly, one dance became two, then three, and so on and so on. I became entranced by his aura. With each step, each twirl of our waltzing, I began to fall deeper. His dazzling eyes were looking at me as if I was his entire world, and that's when it happened. I realized that I was in love.

So when he pulled me closer at the end of this song, it felt like my heart had taken control of my body. He leaned in, and we were now only a breath apart. He glanced from my eyes to my lips before asking in a voice that was barely above a whisper, "May I?".

My coy smile was all he needed to close the distance between us. His plush lips seemed to fit perfectly with mine, sending a whole new wave of butterflies in my stomach.

Sadly, it did not last that long. He pulled away slightly and looked at me with those wonderful eyes of his again. I could see there was a bit of pink dusting his cheeks, which probably mirrored my own. A cheeky smile grew on his face.

"Have you ever explored the castle before?" He asked.

"No. I've never been here before." I said skeptically. What was he trying to say?

"Good. I'll take you for a tour." He said with a smirk and a mischievous glint in his eye. Suddenly, he grabbed my wrist and starting tugging me to the staircase. Confused, I wordlessly followed him.

I didn't know if it was the crazy feelings inside my heart or the alcohol that got me here, but I now found myself pinned against the wall of a guest bedroom, caged between the arms of a man who would certainly be the death of me. He had long ago ditched the jacket and other formal outer attire, now sporting a mere dress shirt and pants. His hands were planted on either side of my head, and he was looking at me with such desire I thought my legs would give out then and there if he was not pressed against me.

With a sly smile, his swollen lips met mine again, and the jolt of electricity that ran through me from the contact was intoxicating. His hands fell from the side of my head to my waist, taking time on their journey, making sure to explore every inch of my body before they reach their destination. When they did, he pulled me impossibly closer, deepening the kiss.

I tangled my hands in his hair before sliding one down to the collar of his buttoned shirt. I clumsily fiddled with the top button until I managed to unbutton it. Noticing my plan, he stopped me before I could get any further.

"Hmph. That's reserved for the second date." He said inbetween kisses. "It's not curtious to take the lady to bed on the first date." He finished, while leaving a small bite at the end of his kiss trail down my neck - which made me gasp and left him pleased with his work.

Before I could respond, the bells chimed, signifying that it was midnight. My eyes shot open when I realized that I'd promised to be back to the carriage at midnight. Noticing my quickened breathing (that sadly wasn't caused by him) he pulled away.

"What's wrong?" He said, looking at me with worried eyes.

"I have to go. I told my father I'd be heading back home at midnight, and if I don't, I probably won't ever be allowed to a party ever again." I told him, despair creeping into my voice. If only I could spend this moment with you forever.

I could tell he felt the same. But after a moment, his face lit up.

"I know I'm not really supposed to do this, but I don't know if I'll ever get to find you again. I brought this pin with me, in hopes that I could give it to a special lady, and she would always wear it close to her heart until we could be reunited." He spoke, pulling out a small bag from one of the various pockets of his. "It's a one of a kind, made specially for me on my 16th birthday. It's a promise from me to you that I will find you."

He took my end and gently placed the pin in my palm. It depicted a smiling golden fox that large ears and a bushy tail. The design was so delicate that it looked as if it were a real animal.

"It's beautiful. Thank you. I swear that I'll always wear it. Even after you find me." I said, smiling. He gave me a small peck on the lips before guiding me out the door.

"Goodbye, my beloved Lady. I'll see you on that second date!" He said, watching me head down the corridor. I was glad I was faced away from him so that he couldn't see the bright red flush that had taken over my face.

This was a better party than I'd ever imagined. Let's just hope that I can find my way to the carriage...

[The End]

[pregnant-piggy]

Reminds me of home

Jesper Fahey x reader

words: 5.5k

warnings: mentions of food and animals, reader’s mother is dead, no pronouns used for the reader

A/N: this is my first time writing Jesper, so I struggled with his character and don’t think this is totally right, but I loved writing this too much not to share it with you :) please let me know what you think, thank you!

The sun was setting slowly in the sky, painting orange strikes on a gradually darkening canvas, when Jesper checked the note in his hand one final time, before stepping onto the driveway of the old farmhouse. Around the farmhouse lay a yellow-green grass lawn, with on the left side of the house a little garden with flower beds in full bloom. Behind the house stood the stables and sounds of breezing horses and bleating goats filled the air, along with the lingering scent of drying grass. 

The front of the house was covering in shadow, the red bricks and woodwork a tone darker than they would be in the sunlight. Above the front door hung a single lamp, and the flickering of the fire inside of it wasn’t enough to compete with the light of the setting sun. 

Jesper groaned as he walked over the driveway to the front door. He wondered what the odds were that he had pulled the farm out of the stack with hideouts. 

A week ago, Kaz had come with his plans for a new job. This time the victim was a rich merchant, who had a large estate in the country lands outside of Ketterdam. The merchant’s name was Klaas Rover and he was well-known in wealthy circles. 

Just recently, Rover had bought a very pricey DeKappel painting and Kaz had found out that he was moving the painting to his country-estate at the beginning of that week. The basics of the plan had been easy. As long as Rover wasn’t at the house and the painting was, it would be impossible to get it with all the security. But, according to Kaz, there would be one moment of weakness in the security. From the morning Rover would step foot into his mansion to the night he’d fall asleep there, the merchant would want to showcase his painting to everyone who’d want to see it. That night had been the night to strike. 

And so had Kaz done. He had set out with a small team; Inej and Jesper had been at his side, followed by two other Dregs, Pieter and Roos. The whole operation had gone according to plan and the painting had come off the wall and outside without a hitch. 

That was why it had come as a surprise when Kaz had pulled out three pieces of paper with the notion that they had to hide for a couple of days. Inej had gone with Kaz, Pieter and Roos were together, and Jesper was alone. 

‘Remember, you are Thomas van Dijk now,’ Kaz had said before they had parted ways. ‘You are a student and stranded alone after a trip with your fellow students. I know the people there and they will take you in.’ 

Kaz had disappeared before Jesper could say anything and he had seen no other option than to follow Kaz’s orders. 

So now he was standing in front of a farmhouse, silently cursing his friend before knocking on the door. 

A broadly built man opened the door and eyed Jesper suspiciously. This one tried to keep his easy posture and smile, but he felt himself grow slightly uncomfortable under the gaze of the man. 

‘What do you want?’ he asked brusquely. 

Jesper swallowed and his hands automatically reached for his hips, finding nothing but air there as he had hid his revolvers in his bag, figuring it wouldn’t be too great of an entrance. He scratched the back of his head and let out a nervous chuckle. 

‘I’m Thomas van Dijk,’ he started, wondering if the man would ever believe him. ‘I uhh… I was out with friends—a break from studying, you see? And this morning when I woke up they were gone and they took all transport… so I was wondering if I could perhaps stay here until they pick me up again?’ 

The man glanced at Jesper for a while. ‘D’you know farm stuff?’ he then asked. 

‘Sure,’ Jesper shrugged, figuring that it couldn’t be all too hard. 

‘Alright, then,’ the man nodded and stepped aside to let Jesper in, ‘you can stay here for a few days.’ 

Jesper sighed relieved and walked into the farmhouse, only realising inside that he had had no plan if this hadn’t worked out. 

The interior of the house reminded Jesper of his home in Novyi Zem. The walls were painted in a warm colour green and an old rug lay on the stone floor. On the wall in the little hall hung a portrait of a beautiful woman standing in a field of wildflowers. She had long hair framing her face, falling down in curls around her shoulders. The woman looked like she was in her late thirties, but she had a smile that was ageless. 

Jesper followed the man into the next room, which was the living and dining area. There was an open door that led to the kitchen, from where Jesper could smell whatever the man was cooking. Another door probably led to a staircase, Jesper figured by the shape of the little space behind it. 

The main room was an extension of the hall. The same green coloured the walls here and more paintings hung on the walls. Jesper recognised the woman in more pictures on the wall, and sometimes she was accompanied by a child. 

Jesper looked around, wondering where the rest of the household was. Kaz had spoken about more than one person, but so far Jesper had only seen one; and that one was standing right in front of him. 

‘You can sit there,’ the man said and pointed at the chairs around the table. ‘You want dinner?’ 

‘I’d really appreciate that, sir,’ Jesper said and the man nodded before he disappeared into the kitchen.

-=-=-=-=-

The sky was dark and the last rays of the sun were setting behind the horizon when you heard the bell from the kitchen, telling you that dinner was ready. 

You always spent so much time outside that your father had given up on trying to find you for dinner. Instead he had installed the bell to let you know when you had to come home, and when you cooked you used it to get your father back home. 

You got up from your spot on the ground next to Klara. She was the oldest cow you had at the little farm and she had been your mother’s favourite. However, two nights back Klara had suddenly fallen ill and so far she hadn’t improved yet. You had spent the last two days neglecting your duties at the farm to take care of her. Klara was the one thing that was closest to your mother and you refused to say goodbye to her too. 

Silently you slipped from the stables and walked back to the house. There was light burning behind the windows and you saw the silhouette of your father inside, sitting at the dinner table. In a flash you thought you saw your mother there too, but as you blinked the image fell away. 

Stepping through the backdoor in the kitchen, you kicked off your boots and shrugged off your coat. Quickly you washed your hands and face and arranged your hair, before you walked into the living area, knowing that your father liked you to not be messy at dinner. 

‘Klara’s not any better,’ you said as you walked into the room. ‘She’s just lying still and—’

You stopped talking as your eyes found the stranger at the dining table. He was sitting opposite of your father, looking at you with a smile. The boy could be not much older than you were, but by the way he was clumsily sitting in the chair, you saw that he was a lot taller than you. His dark-skinned body was clothed by a dark green suit with flashy, golden buttons, lined with a silky lime-green fabric. Below his dark eyebrows two eyes glittered merrily and his smile got a little more confident as you sat down at the table. 

‘What’s going on?’ you asked your father. 

‘This is Thomas,’ your father answered, nodding towards the strange boy. ‘His friends ditched him and he needed a place to stay for a few days. With the situation around Klara, I figured a little help at the farm wouldn’t hurt.’ 

You stared at your father for a moment and then turned to Thomas. ‘Are you from the city?’ 

The boy nodded. ‘Yes, I go to the university in Ketterdam.’ 

‘What happened?’ 

‘We had a few days off and decided to go on a trip here. But when I woke up this morning my friends had left. I have no transport home and after searching for a place to stay all day, I got here.’ 

‘Nice friends you have,’ you mumbled and something in the boy’s face turned bitter. 

‘Don’t get me started,’ Thomas said and then he smiled at you. 

-=-=-=-=-

Jesper was woken early by a heavy, pounding headache. The sky outside was pink from the sunrise and with the figures of the trees and houses it looked like a painting to Jesper—one that was far more beautiful than the one he stole from Rover. 

As he rolled over in his bed and reached for his temples, it didn’t take long for Jesper to realise that it wasn’t his head that was pounding—there was someone at the door of the room. Groaning Jesper sat up in his bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with the sleeve of the shirt that he had borrowed to sleep in. 

‘Coming, coming,’ Jesper groaned when the knocking kept going. 

He opened the door and was met with your eager face, painted with a big smile. You chuckled at Jesper and shook your head. ‘Come on, Thomas! Work doesn’t wait!’ 

Just for a split second Jesper was confused as to why you called him Thomas, but then he realised that the whole show he was putting up here was nothing more than that; a show. You didn’t know who he really was and, if he was honest, Jesper did feel a little guilty about it. You were so kind to him and he hadn’t even given you his real name. 

This was not the time for morale questions, however, and Jesper shook the guilt off him. ‘Right,’ he said slowly and then glanced into his room, finding the bag he had dumped on the floor. He had not brought anything other than his guns, the clothes he had been wearing and a little money. ‘Do you perhaps have some clothes I can borrow?’ 

Half an hour later, Jesper was standing in the stables next to the house with a buttered slice of bread in his hand. He was wearing a linen blouse and trousers of rough material that you had given him. He felt naked without his guns resting on his hips, but taking them with him had been out of the question. Now he felt like the Jesper he had been before he had gone to Ketterdam—poor, weak and unskilled. 

You came back with a large sack in your arms, that you dumped into Jesper’s arms. He stumbled under the sudden weight, but managed to keep his balance. 

‘My dad’s out on the fields today, so we have to take care of the stables,’ you said. ‘If you feed the chickens, I’ll do the goats and then we’ll get together again, okay? Don’t forget the eggs!’ 

You turned around and walked off and Jesper was left baffled. Unsure, he turned and walked to the chicken coop, finding a bunch of chickens there. A fat, white one looked up when Jesper stood over the coop and cooed softly. The chicken kept staring at him as he walked around the fence and Jesper slowly began to freak a little. 

He put his hand in the bag with food and grabbed a handful of seeds that he threw as far away from him in the chicken coop as possible. All the chickens rushed to the food—including the fat, white one—and Jesper quickly stepped over the fence and lowered to his knees so he could reach into the henhouse. He was met with the angry eyes of another chicken that was still sitting inside the house. She pecked at Jesper’s hand while he tried to find the eggs that you wanted. 

When he finally pulled back, he had found six eggs. His hand was throbbing and even bleeding at some places. As fast as he could he walked away from the chicken coop back to the stables, where he dropped the sack with food on the ground and sat down next to it, examining his hand. 

After a few minutes you came back from the goats and the smile on your face changed to worry when you saw Jesper sitting defeated on the ground. 

‘Are you alright?’ you asked. 

Jesper quickly jumped up and nodded, hiding his hand behind his back. He forced a smile on his face and tried to look excited at you. ‘I’m perfectly fine.’ 

You squeezed your eyes at him but dropped the subject. ‘Okay, if you say so,’ you mumbled and then nodded your head to the back of the stables. ‘We have to check on Klara again before we go on.’ 

‘Klara?’ Jesper asked. 

You walked off to the back and Jesper followed you, ending up at a dark stable where a big cow was lying on the ground, breathing deeply. She had her eyes closed and Jesper thought she was asleep, but when you stepped into the space, the cow opened her eyes and looked up at you. 

‘This is Klara,’ you unnecessarily explained. ‘She is our oldest cow, but it’s not looking so good for her now.’ 

You lowered to your knees and rested your hand on top of Klara’s head. The cow closed her eyes at the feeling and let out a deep breath. You closed your eyes momentarily and as a troubled shadow crossed your face Jesper realised that Klara wasn’t just another animal at the farm to you. 

‘Will she be alright again?’ Jesper asked, standing awkwardly at the entrance of the stable. 

‘I really don’t know,’ you sighed and you looked up at Jesper with sad eyes. ‘She’s not worse than yesterday, but also not any better.’ 

‘I’m sorry,’ Jesper said and he tried to give you a reassuring smile. 

You got up from the ground and gave Jesper a little smile back. ‘Thank you.’ 

-=-=-=-=-

Later that afternoon Jesper was sitting with you in the shadows of the house, looking out over the fields that surrounded the farm. Somewhere far in the distance he could see the figure of your father, as a little black silhouette against the bright light of the sun. 

Jesper was exhausted. Although he considered himself in good shape, the work on the farm was completely different from what he usually did in Ketterdam. Normally he would crouch, run and hide, but today he had had to use brute force and the running had only applied when one of the goats had gone after him. 

‘And,’ you said as you handed Jesper a glass of water, ‘how do you like it here?’ 

‘I’m so tired,’ he whined dramatically and you laughed, throwing your head back. ‘But it looks beautiful here. I like it—reminds me of home.’ 

‘Where’s home?’ 

Jesper hesitated for a moment, considering where his actual home was. 

‘I grew up in Novyi Zem, on a jurda farm,’ he told you, while staring out at the fields. ‘My dad still lives there, works on the farm now that I… am going to the university in Ketterdam…’ 

Carefully Jesper looked aside after his slip-up, but you hadn’t caught it. With your legs tucked to your chest and your arms wrapped around them, you were sitting in the chair, taking in the sunlight with your eyes closed. There was a soft golden glow on your face from the sun and the point of your nose glistened. 

‘...I guess that’s my home now,’ Jesper continued. ‘Ketterdam.’ 

‘Hmm,’ you hummed softly before you opened your eyes and looked at Jesper. ‘What’s it like? To live there?’ 

‘You’ve never been to Ketterdam?’ 

‘I have, but never for a long time,’ you said, giving Jesper an innocent smile. 

‘It’s… busy, noisy, crowded. There’s people everywhere, at all times of the day. When it’s hot the canals stink and when it rains the entire city turns grey. The rich people are mean and the poor are gross. It’s never safe and there’s a lot of crime.’ Jesper stopped talking to take a breath and noticed you were watching him with a raised eyebrow. Then he smirked. ‘It’s amazing.’ 

You leaned back in your chair and huffed. ‘I think I prefer the silence of the country.’ 

‘I get that. On my first day in Ketterdam I wondered how I could ever live there. I was sick with longing for home and the farm.’ 

‘What happened?’ 

Jesper grimaced. ‘I got a taste of real life.’ 

You waited for Jesper to continue, but he said nothing. He couldn’t really, not if he wanted to obey Kaz’s orders. Again he felt bad for you, for lying to you. You were so kind to him and all he did was lie about who he was; you didn’t even know his real name. 

-=-=-=-=-

You stepped out of your room while the sun wasn’t even up yet. The house was silent and dark, but you could easily find your way to the room you were headed for. This was the house you grew up in and you knew every secret hidden in every dark corner. 

‘Time to wake up!’ you said through the door and you knocked shortly. 

Yesterday, Thomas hadn’t been of great use with your animals, but you hoped that today he would. He had told you that he had grown up on a jurda farm so you figured fieldwork wouldn’t be as hard on him as the goats. 

There was a grunt from inside the room and you had to stifle a laugh. Once again you knocked—a little harder this time—and the grunt from inside came back louder. Yet there was little movement in the room and you rolled your eyes and grumbled something about lazy rich boys from stupid universities, before you threw the door open. 

‘What—hey!’ Thomas cried out. ‘I said I was coming!’ 

‘Sounded a lot more like you’d just roll over again,’ you said, leaning against the doorpost with your arms crossed. 

Thomas murmured something incomprehensible and he threw the blankets off of him. ‘If you wanted to see me naked, you could’ve just asked, you know?’ he smirked as he swung his legs off the bed and stretched his arms over his head. 

‘Hmm, if only I wanted,’ you shot back, but you couldn’t keep your eyes from gazing at his chest anyway. It was dark, but your eyes had gotten used to the darkness enough to be able to see the lines and shapes of Thomas’ bare body. There was no denying his fitness, but what caught your attention more were the scars littered over his torso. From small, almost innocent lines to light-coloured circles and dents. For the simple student he claimed to be, he had an awfully damaged body. 

You averted your eyes from his chest and shook your head. How this boy’s body looked was none of your business, so there was no point of dwelling on it. Yet, as you turned around to leave the room, you found yourself fighting the urge to get closer and feel his body under your hands. 

‘You like waffles?’ you asked over your shoulder, seeing a big smile break on the half-naked boy’s face. 

-=-=-=-=-

Your father had worked on the fields yesterday, and most work had been done already. All there was left for you and Thomas to do was harvest the potatoes on the last piece of land and then sort them with the rest. It was heavy, dull work and you were glad there was someone to help you. 

Thomas and you were bent over the crops, working opposite of each other on a row of potatoes. The sun was shining on your back fiercely and you felt it burning on your neck. It was long too late to prevent the sweat from breaking out and you felt hot and sticky. 

Opposite of you, Thomas wasn’t doing much better. Little droplets of sweat were rolling down his temples and the shirt he was wearing was soaked with his sweat. Yet there seemed to be some sort of glow around him, like he was energetic still—even after the hours of labour. 

It was late in the afternoon when you pulled out the last of the potatoes. You and Thomas dropped down on the grass on the edge of the field, both sighing with relief that the hard work was over. 

‘Only sorting left,’ Thomas said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. ‘How long will that take?’ 

You squeezed your eyes against the afternoon sun as you looked at the boy next to you and shrugged. ‘About two hours, I guess.’ 

‘Two hours in this heat is an eternity,’ Thomas stated. 

‘We could do it tonight,’ you suggested. ‘After dinner, when it has cooled a bit.’ 

‘And what do we do until then?’ 

You shot Thomas a cheeky smile and got up from the ground. ‘I have an idea.’ 

You led Thomas through the sunny fields and over the meadows around the farm, ignoring the sunshine in your face. Eventually you slowed at large bushes and a few trees and you smiled at the boy before you pushed aside some branches and stepped out into an open spot with a small lake. 

Thomas burst out in laughter and turned to you with a big smile on his face. 

‘Last one in the water has to get the other drinks!’ he shouted as he threw off his shirt. 

You followed after him, stepping out of your shoes and trousers. As you ran towards the water you took off your shirt, throwing it somewhere behind you on the grass. You pushed off on the side and wrapped your arms around your legs as you jumped into the water next to Thomas with a cheer. 

The cold water engulfed your entire body and you happily welcomed it after the whole day of sun. Gasping for air when your head reached above the water again, you turned to Thomas. 

‘You were last!’ he exclaimed. 

‘Only because you were already in the water when you said it!’ you defended yourself and splashed water towards Thomas. 

‘Still counts!’ 

He pushed water back and you closed your eyes against the waves. Water dripped down your hair and face, getting stuck in your eyelashes. You blinked the drops away and swam a little closer to Thomas. 

Planning to create a huge wave, you lowered your hands in the water, when you felt something slimy slither past your foot. You squealed and leaped into Thomas’ arms, almost drowning him with the sudden weight. Terrified you scanned the water around you, looking for the thing you had felt. 

‘What’s wrong?’ Thomas asked, trying to keep you in his arms while staying above the water. 

‘I felt something!’ you squeaked, still looking around you. 

‘Don’t tell me you’re afraid of fish,’ Thomas laughed. 

‘I am not! I just freaked because I—’ you started but stopped when you quit looking and found yourself very close to Thomas. 

That same deep urge as this morning crawled inside your mind before you could stop it. Despite yourself you admired the simple beauty of the face so close to yours. This boy had something enchanting, and it was more than just his jokes and smirks. Something about him made you want to cling onto him and not let go. 

You did let go, however, and quickly swam back to the side in silence. Thomas followed you and climbed on the grass, offering you a hand so you could get out of the water yourself. 

As you got dressed—with some difficulty because you were both still wet—far in the distance you heard the sound of a bell, telling you that dinner was ready. 

‘Finally,’ Thomas said, as he pulled his shirt over his head. ‘I was beginning to worry we wouldn’t eat at all.’ 

-=-=-=-=-

Jesper was sitting alone at the back of the house with two large baskets of potatoes in front of him. Luckily it had cooled down and it was now pleasant to sit outside. 

You stepped out of the house with a tray in your arms. Two glasses of lemonade and a plate of biscuits stood on the tray that you put down on the ground between Jesper and you, before you sat down yourself. 

‘How generous of you,’ Jesper started, as he took the glass. ‘Almost like you didn’t lose the race.’ 

You shook your eyes as you took a biscuit, which you used to point at Jesper. ‘That race wasn’t fair, and you know it.’ 

‘Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.’ 

You rolled your eyes but there was a smile on your face nevertheless. Then you nodded towards the baskets. 

‘Two piles,’ you said. ‘One with small potatoes and one with normal and large.’ 

You took out a few potatoes and showed Jesper how to determine the size. He got on quickly and you were already starting on the second basket when your father called you away. 

Jesper continued on his own while admiring the sunset he always missed in Ketterdam. He loved living in the city and wouldn’t want it any other way, but in moments like these he did miss his old home. He missed the simplicity of life back then, of knowing exactly what was going to happen in your day. Living in the city, living with the Dregs, had taken that certainty from Jesper. 

The sun had almost completely set when you came back and the last rays of sunshine reflected in the tears on your face. You sat down with a sigh next to Jesper and before he could ask you what was wrong, you burst into sobs. 

Before thinking, Jesper dropped the potato in his hand and crawled to you. He wrapped his arm around your shoulder and pulled you closer to his chest. He didn’t know where the action came from or why he did it, but seeing you so heartbroken hurt Jesper’s own heart. 

You buried your face in Jesper’s neck and he wrapped his arms a little tighter around you. He could feel your quivering breaths on his skin and your tears soaked his shirt but he didn’t care. 

‘It’s okay,’ he whispered and pressed a kiss on the top of your head without a second thought. ‘Let it out. It’s alright.’ 

After a while your tears stopped and your quivering breath changed for hiccoughs. You lifted your head from Jesper’s shoulder and looked at him with an apologetic look, that he discarded immediately. 

‘Don’t even dare to apologise,’ he said and you laughed softly. Jesper wiped the tears from your face and cradled your head in his hands. ‘What’s wrong?’ 

‘It’s Klara,’ you said as Jesper dropped his hands from your face to your hands. ‘My dad went looking at her and she’s doing even worse than before. I know she’s just a cow and everything, but she’s the strongest connection I have to my mother and I just…’ 

You looked up at Jesper and smiled sadly. ‘I don’t know, it probably sounds weird.’ 

Jesper shook his head and gave your hand a little squeeze. 

‘It doesn’t sound weird,’ he said, thinking of how he had clung to the littlest thing of his mother after she had passed. 

You sniffed and smiled at Jesper. ‘Thanks.’ 

‘Of course,’ he said, as he sat back next to you, taking a new potato in his hand. 

You followed his example and for a while you worked in silence, until Jesper took the last potato from the basket and threw it on the pile left of him. He turned to you and found you staring at the dark sky. 

‘What was your mother like?’ he asked finally, giving in to his curiosity. 

‘She was perfect,’ you said and you smiled faintly ahead of you. ‘She was caring, kind and smart. She kept things going around here. There is not much to do, but she always made sure I was never bored.’ 

You laughed shortly and turned to Jesper. ‘Perhaps I’m a little biased; she was my mother after all.’ 

‘Maybe,’ Jesper said and he gave you a smile. ‘But you’re allowed. Who better than kids to judge a parent?’ 

‘She was beautiful too,’ you added. ‘Did you see the paintings? My dad used to paint a lot, but since my mother passed away he hasn’t picked up a brush. It’s a shame, I think he’s really talented.’ 

Jesper nodded. He had wondered why the paintings had only been of the woman young, but she hadn’t aged anymore after that. 

Now that the sun had set, the warm air slowly turned cold. Jesper fought the urge to wrap his arms around his own body. He looked at you and noticed the goose bumps on your arms too. He got up and offered you his hand. 

‘Come on, let’s go inside,’ he said. ‘It’s freezing out here.’ 

You took Jesper’s hand and followed him to the backdoor of the house. When you walked past the path that led to the stables, you slowed and pulled lightly on Jesper’s hand. 

‘Can we…?’ you asked and before you had finished your sentence Jesper nodded. 

‘Of course.’ 

The stables were warmer than outside and though Jesper still hadn’t gotten used to the smell he much rather be there than outside. He much rather be there with you than alone in his bed. 

Klara lay in the back and you let go of Jesper’s hand to rush over to her. You dropped to your knees next to the cow and wrapped your arms around her. Big tears rolled down your cheeks and the soft sound of your crying filled the barn. 

Jesper sat down in a pile of dried hay and stared at his hands as he listened. After a while your crying stopped and only the heavy breaths of Klara could be heard. Feet shuffled and when Jesper looked up you weren’t sitting next to the sick animal anymore but next to him. 

Your cheeks were still wet from the tears, but you managed to give Jesper a little smile. He wrapped his arm around your shoulder and pulled you closer to him. Slowly he leaned back in the hay until his back found support and he was almost lying down. 

Without needing more words, you pulled your legs on the hay and settled against Jesper’s body. With one hand to your own chest and the other rising and falling with the motion of Jepser’s chest, you quickly fell asleep. 

Jesper glanced down at you and almost got unwell by the sense of comfort that washed over him. The longer he looked at you the more that little bubble of guilt in his stomach grew, but before he could do anything about it the hard work of the day took its toll on him and he dozed off. 

-=-=-=-=-

You woke up in a pile of hay by something that was nudging your leg. Slowly and grumbling against the bright morning light you opened your eyes to find a cow standing in front of you. 

‘Klara!’ you cried out and the happiness that filled you at seeing she had recovered during the night drowned out all the sleep left in your system. 

You jumped up and stumbled to the cow, throwing your arms around her neck. A few tears of happiness escaped your eyes and they dropped down on Klara. After last night you really didn’t think she would recover anymore, let alone be standing on her own feet. 

As you hugged Klara, you suddenly remembered that you hadn’t been alone last night. You let go of the cow and returned to the hay you had woken up in. Instead of the boy you had fallen asleep against last night now lay a little note. 

Good morning sleepyhead,

My friends finally picked me up early this morning and you looked too peaceful to be disturbed. I want to thank you and your father for letting me stay at your humble farm. It did me good to be out of the city for a while. I want to thank you as well for your company and honesty. I really hope Klara gets better—she seems quite cool.

I know you don’t like the city, but if you ever accidentally find yourself there and you miss my sparkling presence, go to The Crow Club and ask the bartender for Jesper Fahey. They’ll know who to find.

Take care, 

Thomas

- - - - - - - - 

taglist: @is-it-really-a-secret @mrs-brekker15​

MASTERLIST

[dirtychocolatechai]

meet-cute | b.b.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader Warning(s): fluff, awkward Bucky, vet appointment stuff, Alpine Request: Babes if you're lowkey taking requests can I lowkey make one? 👉🏼👈🏼🥺💕 something flirty and cute and maybe a lil spicy with Bucky and vet!reader where something's going on with Alpine? Not self indulgent at all 😻💖 Notes: This was the first thing I’ve written in months and it felt damn good. Funny story, I actually almost went to school to be a vet tech + shadowed a vet for two weeks and got to see some wickedly cool things.

This was a bit self-indulgent on my part because I had a cat who passed away some years ago because of struvite stones and I wished he had a happier ending like Alpine so I thought why not 🤷‍♀️💖

Taglist is open

(gif from google)

There’s nothing Bucky hates more than the stringent smell of industrial cleaners and clinical white walls - too many associations and shades of memory long laid to rest - except for when something’s going on with Alpine. The Turkish Angora was fine up until a few days ago when he started to hide away and sleep all day.

That wasn’t too concerning at first...

But then came the pained little noises, the frantic running back and forth from the litter box, the excessive grooming. The pit that started forming low in his belly grew, his instincts screaming at him that something was wrong, very wrong, with his little buddy. 

Bucky wasn’t about to fuck around and set up an appointment with the first vet office he could find that had a same-day opening. And now he’s trying not to fall apart at the seams while he waits for the docs to do their magic and tell him what the hell’s going on with his cat and what he has to do to fix it.

The vet tech collected Alpine a bit ago and every minute stretches into years, the cat’s pitiful meow echoing in his ears and those betrayed eyes burned onto the backs of his eyelids.

I know, Bub, I’m sorry but they gotta figure out what’s going on. It’ll be okay, they’ll take care of you. 

His ass went numb from the plastic chair ages ago, his leg jiggling up and down at a rapid pace as he chews on his thumbnail and waits.

And waits.

And waits.

God, he knows these things take time but he’d rather be back at home, curled up on the couch with Alpine pigging out on breakfast food and watching space documentaries. 

How much longer-

“Alright, Mr. Barnes?”

The heavy door swings open with a click, a kind, professional voice preceding a pair of sensible shoes as the vet steps into the room with a clipboard cradled against her chest. His eyes snap up, skipping over her completely to look at the tech holding his cat who looks absolutely miserable. 

She introduces herself but he’s not paying attention. He’s not meaning to be rude but all his focus narrows in on that white little face, the knot in his chest unfurling at the little mew.

He smiles, his eyes crinkling around the edges as he breathes, “Hey there, Little Buddy.” 

The vet doesn’t push, in fact, she seems a little enamored with how much he melts at the sight of his pet. Her own lips quirk up into a soft smile while she stands off to the side patiently as Alpine’s set down on the metal table.

Bucky gets in a few good scritches under his chin, the beginnings of a purr just starting to vibrate his hand when the vet clears her throat delicately. 

He clears his throat, heat burrowing into the apples of his cheeks. “Shi - uh, ‘m sorry.” A hand scrubs over the back of his neck. “I’m just - uh - y’know...” 

Her laugh trickles down his spine like warm rain, the sound effectively drawing his attention away from the cat rubbing up against his side. He gets his first look at her and oh.

A bare face and a no-nonsense hairstyle greet him, her scrubs and white coat adding to the overall doctor vibe but she’s still breathtaking. The natural beauty in the curves of her face, the slant of her brows, the sparkle of her eyes.

He feels like he got sucker-punched in the chest, his heart giving a sudden throb that has him coughing like an idiot as he scrambles to not look like such a jackass.

“So,” he clears his throat, scratching at the stubble along his jaw, “What’s - what’s wrong with him?” 

Glancing down at Alpine’s chart, she hums and writes a note before glancing back up with a reassuring smile. “Nothing that can’t be managed with a special diet and watching his water intake.”

It’s like the weight of the world disappears from his shoulders, his broad frame practically heaving with his sigh of relief. “Oh thank fucking- ahem, ‘scuse me - thank god.” 

Her chuckle and sly smile have him blushing from the roots of his hair to the collar of his shirt, his stomach squirming in discomfort. Old habits are hard to break, especially ones his momma taught him with a box to the ear.

“You’re allowed to swear, Mr. Barnes,” she says, reaching down to run her fingers through snow-white fur. “We’re all adults here.” 

“No, no, I know...” 

“Hm, anyway, his blood work came back and everything looks fine which is a good thing.” 

And it’s back to business like that, any hint of personality hidden behind cool professionalism that Bucky thinks even Tasha would admire. Except for the playful gleam in her eyes as she sneaks peeks at him while going over everything they did and what they found. 

“Struvite crystals are quite common in cats at low levels, especially males because their tract is longer and narrower.” She pauses, flipping to a new page. “Depending on the severity, they can clump together in the urinary tract and actually form stones. That’s where the true problem lies because get one large enough, and it can cause a blockage.”

He’s listening with rapt attention, soaking in the knowledge she’s imparting to him all the while, petting Alpine who keeps nuzzling him and making little sounds. Honestly, he could listen to her talk for hours even if he didn’t understand a goddamn thing. 

She’s so animated when she speaks, holds eye contact and makes sure he understands everything without making him feel like an idiot. He’s had so many doctors who talked at him rather than with him, staring through him without seeing, more interested in the paycheck rather than their patients.

But not her, she cares.

Deeply.

He can see it all over her face and it’s utterly enchanting. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a little enamored, charmed.

Turning the tablet towards him, she shifts closer and a waft of whatever perfume she’s wearing tickles his nose as she explains what the x-ray of Alpine’s abdomen found.

“These are the stones but thankfully they’re relatively small,” she points to several hazy white ovals starkly visible on the radiograph, “We caught them in time before they became a really big problem.” 

Shit, she smells so good...

 “Now, we’ll send you home with a special diet and see how he does. Also, make sure to up his fluid intake as much as you can. The food can take several months to start dissolving the crystals so we’ll have to do everything we can to help. Sound good?”

Bucky hasn’t pulled his eyes away from her face once this entire time, and how fucking creepy is that?

Quickly looking down at Alpine, embarrassment gnawing at his belly, he nods and wishes for the first time since he cut his hair that he hadn’t so he’d at least have a passing chance at hiding the blush burning its way across his face. 

“Yeah,” he says, picking up the ball of white fluff to hold against his chest, a makeshift shield. “Is there anything else I should do?” 

“No.” She smiles, writing another note and tapping away at the tablet next to her. “I do want to see him again in about a month for a check-up.”

Fuck, he doesn’t want to leave so soon.

The irony isn’t lost on him either.

How does he make this last longer? What can he do? If Sam was here right now, he’d be kicking him in the ass and bitching at him to ask for her number already, Ice Pick.

The clack of the chart being set down rings through the room, bouncing off the walls and sounding so fucking final that he starts to panic. 

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. 

She’s already halfway to the door when she asks, “Do you have any questions?”

The word vomit spring from him, unbidden and sudden without any thought, more forward than he’s been with a woman in years.

“Can I have your number?”

As soon as the question leaves his lips, he curses, cringes and wishes he could snatch the very words from the air itself.

Great, I just hit on my vet.

No amount of backpedaling can salvage this but goddamn it if Bucky doesn’t try, stuttering out some half-assed excuse about wanting it just in case he thinks of something later.

When he glances up, he wishes he hadn’t. The vet tech is in near tears in the corner, biting her lips so hard he wouldn’t be surprised if they started to bleed.

But it’s the absolute surprised bafflement on the woman he just inappropriately hit on that does him in, makes him about ready to burn all forms of identification and run for the hills. 

Her brows nearly reach her hairline, her mouth slack, eyes startled. She gets ahold of herself before he does, and he barely stops himself from slapping a hand over his face.

Right when he’s thinking there’s no way he’s going to be able to show his face in the office again, her expression softens with gentle amusement and her lips twitch. 

Struck dumb, he can only watch as she writes something down on a slip of paper before handing it over to him. He barely believes the string of numbers and the cheeky little call me anytime :).

The wink she sends his way is there and gone, so fast he almost believes he imagined it. 

“For emergencies only,” she says, slyly. “Of course.”

“Of course,” he agrees, almost tripping over the cat carrier as he hurries to stuff Alpine back in. “Of course, thank you. I...appreciate it.” 

“Anytime, Mr. Barnes.” 

Bucky leaves the room in a stupor, the world sharply shifted to the left as he heads to the front desk to make the follow-up appointment, but not before hearing the whispered, “Girl, you’re lucky. He’s fine!” and the “He is, isn’t he?”. 

[power-of-plot]

Iida, Mirio, and Aizawa dating hcs please

Of course! But holy cow apparently this seriously inspired me, i hope this is ok xd

I I D A

Oh yes robot boi. Iida is someone nerdy in every aspect, his language even with close friends like Midoriya is very formal and polite, the same rule would apply when it comes to his significant other. Unlike what some would think, this doesn’t give your conversations a cold touch, on the contrary, it’d make him look chivalrous.

He’s a classic gentleman, he’d be the kind who opens the door and waits for you to walk in first or gives you his jacket when it’s too cold and you don’t have anything to cover yourself with, the second one would happen often in the classroom if you’re sensitive to cold. We are talking about U.A have you seen the measures of the classrooms and the entire area? It’s impossible they don’t have those huge air conditioners.

He highly respects the rules wich means, no PDA, on a certain level, no kisses to be specific. That doesn’t mean he won’t give you any affection, though every gear of his robotic soul is having a bad time working properly inside, he’d hold your hand or put his over your shoulder pulling you close when you’re sitting together. 

He definitely would do that thing of caressing you with his thumb. As you expected it from Tenya, this is a sort of robotic motion, his finger would move like a metronome but that doesn’t make it any less nicer, he is slow and gentle.

Honestly, he’d be nervous most of the time. ALSO! Tenya is very thoughtful, he’d ask (often verbally) if you’re okay with whatever he’d do, as times goes by the questions turn non verbal, for example he’d hold his hand above yours waiting for you to give green light or grasp it. 

“..Can i hold your hand?” “Sure!” “*DEEP INHALE AND BLUSH*” He couldn’t help to blush the first times. Specially on the firsT kiss but how would it be? A clasic scenenario after classes! And after you both have grown comfortable enough to each other’s touch. Seriously, if you like to go slow he's got you.

You two would be walking around in the campus after classes and he feels the tension grow.. he is analyzing every detail, he wants to ask but what if things get extremely awkward, he’s very tall- he’d have to bend down slightly (unless you’re nearly as tall as him) to do it so what if you flinch because it was unexpected.. he stops walking, he simply manages to say your name. You stared into each other's eye and then it happened, a big smile unexplainably forms in his lips complemented by a scarlet color across his whole face, his haircut made his head look like a strawberry.

There are going to be days you don't see him as much as you'd like, Tenya is very comitted to his hero patrols, he certainly would do extra hours from time to time or if the situation called for it. Let him know you like his hero suit! He’s thankful it has a helmet otherwise his flustered face would be exposed. 

Whatever position you cuddle in Iida would wrap his arms around you, not only that, he’d interlock his fingers so he has a nice grip. His cuddles would be the classic spooning or having your head on his shoulder with your arm over his chest and in case you worry about his arm, this guy doesn’t know limb numbness- he literally tenses and holds his arms up every five minutes.

He sends good morning/good night texts often on the weekends since you're practically living together thanks to the dormitory system, they vary depending on the day, some are a reminder to get a proper amount of sleep or! To get done with homework so you can enjoy your free time and maybe ask if he can go over to study *cough spend time together*

He'd send the classic heart emoji, very detailed but easy to comprehend videos explaining any difficult lesson and history related stuff like paint restorations or facts about iconic sculptures. Please don’t send him those videos of people accidentally breaking things on museums, he’s gonna feel like something breaks inside.

M I R I O

This ray of sunshine fell for you? Your luck is so big you’d get jackpot on a slot machine on the first try-. You’re undeniably going to be good friends with Tamaki and Nejire, specially her, expect to get questions one after another without the chance to reply when she finds out you’re Mirio’s significant other, Tamaki would take it way better.

Mirio’s goofyness and confidence combined with his feelings give a unique result: he literally spoke to the boss of mafia himself twice like he was the manager in a store, but, the case is different when you’re around, he’s saying and actually good joke and suddenly.. it goes away, his mind goes blank. “So what happened after Mirio..?” “Ah.. i had practiced a lot, i don’t know what happened haha my bad!”

You’re going to get tons of his jokes and something more “intense” such as the classic “What’s in your shirt?” to make you look down so he can boop your nose with his finger, you should expect some gentle headpats as well. 

If you’re shy he’s cool about it, he knows what do and adaptates to your pace, you’d start off with hand holding or rather pinky holding, he’d interwine his pinky with yours and show a bright smile. His hugs are the warmest, he doesn’t do it half-assesly, when you hug, YOU HUG, he uses both arms and slightly lifts you up! Height or strength are not a problem he’s actually one cm taller than Iida i just found out

He seems like the kind who loses their pen or eraser despite seeing it on their desk just one minute ago, if you happen to be that kind as well you’re both going to lay down your faith on poor Tamaki’s hands, i’m sure he has all his material complete.

He hardly ever gets nervous or scared by anything, things like the first kiss would go pretty smooth, instead of blushing intensely he’d just chuckle with slight disbelief, his mind is racing like “I just did that? woah!”. The biggest trouble for him would be gifts, he wants it to be perfect but asking Nejire for advice is not a good idea, roses are too formal and they don’t last long, going to the movies seems a little cliche.. his first gift would end up being a plushie of your favorite animal and a bamboo.

He’d sneak a kiss or two, specially before the class is begginning a training session, he’d send you a text telling you to go outside the changing rooms and oop! He phases through the wall poking out his head to give you a kiss kiss. If you don’t mind a prank from time to time he’d give a little scare using his quirk.

This guy is the big spoon during cuddles, no arguing! He could switch but as time goes by he’d slowly shift into the big spoon, that’s just the way he is, the most usual position would be where you’re facing each other with your limbs wrapping around the other’s body. Waking up with him would be adorable and attractive, morning and night are the only times of the day when his hair isn’t gelled into his All Might-like hairstyle, those blonde locks would frame his face, a heavenly sight.

Would send you a pic of stray animals he rescued with a “:D!” and Sir. Nighteye 'torturing' Bubble girl (half of his head visibly on a corner of the image). If you longed for a pet badly he would bring a nice dog/cat he finds around! In his hero suit to make the moment more special. 

He uses the smiling emojis and emoticons! And shares videos of animals he finds adorable, if you sent him fails videos he'd laugh as long as the falls don't seem extreme or too severe, small trips on the beach or slips on the snow are fine. Mirio sends gifs i just know.

A I Z A W A

Have you taken a look at him? You must be a big The Walking Dead fan to like him lmao. Aizawa gives me an unexplainable gut feeling that he'd prefer a civilian (perhaps quirkless?) significant other over a hero, he wouldn't want his partner to go into the same dangerous situations he does.

His affection is tired, let me explain, he'd hug you and all that physical stuff but it'd kinda feel like his arms fall limply around you, still, even with his minuscule clingyness he loves you with all his might! He doesn't fall for anyone.

Not very fond of PDA, in public he'd preferr temple/forehead kisses and having your hand on the crook of his arm instead of hand holding (thinking about it Iida would do that too), seems more discret and! you don't let go when his hands are busy. He'd initiates it by gently resting your hand on his arm and sinking his hand into his pocket.

Surprise! He does smile, not that maniactic-looking grin he has sometimes during his shifts at U.A when a student impresses him, this one is less wide but somehow more tender and sweet, he tilts his head and for once his eyes seem relaxed, a relationship would make his cheeks hurt.. either for he's not used to smile so much or he smiles more than he thought he would.

If you give him a cat.. that's a strong blow straight to one of his weakest spots, he'd stare both at you and the kitten with a dumbfounded look before picking it up in his arm like a baby, his hand gravitates towards his it's head giving some nice pets before he shows a rare and somewhat bright smile "Thank you very much." Next time have a camera ready damnit! That smile rarely shows up.

He's practical, he wants his gifts to be nice but useful as well. He’d get you those mugs with candies inside, you get the candy and you can use the mug later for your coffee or tea; a power bank with a nice color or design and in case he choses something smaller: a bamboo, those one don’t wither away. Aizawa is fine with whatever you get for him, big or small he appreciates it. Sweaters, scarfs and blankets would be his favorite thing to get though, he likes to stay warm while working late at night

He’s sneaky, as an underground hero he’s used to work at times when the streets look disolated and the dark crime has more freedom to do as it pleases, he wouldn’t want to wake you up unless you asked him to. He’d leave a note on is pillow with the time he wrote it at and a short loving phrase like “i love you, i’ll be back soon, good morning”, before he leaves he’d always lift the sheet up to your neck or drag it away if you seem to be kicking it off you and give you a small kiss.

You’d find him passed out in his sleeping bag with his laptop besides him at random spots of his appartment, if it wasn’t because of the unatura position he adopts to fit in his sleeping bag he’d give you a death scare ‘cause let’s be honest he doesn’t look one hundred percent alive even when he’s awake. “Shota..? Shota can you hear me?!” “I’m not dead.”

Hibrid of big-small spoon. Most of the times you cuddle he’s asleep and you go snuggle him, his hair is a mess so better prepare to get tickled all night. He pull you close the best way he can when you’re behind him, not very comfortable for his arm but it’s worth it. He’d have you like a pillow over him, his chin over your head and both arms around you.

This man doesn’t bother typing when he can use his voice, the only situations he uses regular text messages are when he’s on shift or with you sleeping next to him. Send him gifs of kittens and a ‘i love you’ it instanstly gives him a good mood! He’d send pics of cats he sees around and gifts he bought you, doesn’t use emojis.

*COLLAPSES ON THE GROUND* Big oof- requests are open.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #196

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're building the last of the Three Goddesses Alliance, Ereshkigal! (It took her long enough to show up.)

Eresh is a Grave Cleric for relatively obvious reasons, as it lets her do pretty much everything she does- raise the dead, care for the dead, raise the dead properly, cause earthquakes, and start pandemics. Maybe don't do that last one right now, we're kinda busy with one already. It's a shame Soul Cage is a wizard spell, but pobody's nerfect.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: Now all of China knows you're on the naughty list.

Race and Background

Ereshkigal is part chthonic god, part human thanks to being a pseudoservant, that means Fallen Aasimar is a pretty good choice for her. You get Darkvision, Celestial Resistance to radiant and necrotic damage, Healing Hands to heal with your hands, and the Light cantrip to help the mortals with their dumb mortal eyes, using Charisma to cast it.

She's also the Three Goddess' Representative on behalf of humanity, trying to squirrel some away to prevent them from being entirely wiped out. This gives her proficiency with Intimidation and Religion, as well as an extended spell list we'll go over as it comes up. If you're wondering about the Intimidation: Yes the fandom thinks she's cute now, but you have to remember she's still a god of death. Most people aren't going to be as chill with her.

Ability Scores

Wisdom is first, Ereshkigal spent millennia honing her art alone in the underworld, so either she has a super high wisdom or an incredibly low one. But high wisdom works better for the build, so we'll go with that. Second is Charisma- some people love you, some people are terrified of you, those are both charisma. Your Dexterity is also solid, because your armor is not. Your Constitution is above average because while we don't need it for the build have you SEEN her HP stat? Your Intelligence is okay. You're not dumb, we just need other stuff more. Finally, dump Strength. You're a bit awkward with that spear, but we'll get some stuff to make it work later.

Class Levels

You're 100% Grave Cleric, so we'll just get into it. Starting off in this subclass gets you proficiency with Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as Persuasion to show off your awkward charms and History because you're literally older than the written word. At first level you also enter the Circle of Mortality, so your healing spells automatically heal for max HP on creatures with 0 HP, and you get a suped-up version of the Spare the Dying cantrip that uses a bonus action and has a thirty foot range. You also get Eyes of the Grave, meaning you can sense undead creatures within 60' of you if they're not behind cover. It won't tell you about their identity though, so make sure you don't pick a fight with Strahd, you're still only level one. You can do this Wisdom modifier times per long rest. Starting in a spellcasting class also gets you Spells, surprise surprise, and having a Ravnica background gets you even more. Being a grave cleric gets you Bane and False Life for free, giving you easy access to curses and HP boosts early in the game. Something I want to bring up about the ravnica background before we move forward: I misread how these backgrounds work before. They add spells to your class' spell list, not your spells known. That means builds where you pick spells every level only get the opportunity to learn those spells, they don't just get all of them for free. Clerics can prepare spells from their spell list every long rest anyway so it's not a big difference here, but it is something I'll have to go back and fix for the other members of the alliance and Ishtar. Anyways, you get Illusory Script added to your spell list, not exactly something you'll probably use. For spells you can actually choose, grab Resistance for a goddess core that adds 1d4 to your next save, Thaumaturgy for when you need to get dramatic with extra magical effects, and Toll the Dead to do just that for some necrotic damage. You can also choose to prepare spells like Command to flex your authority and Protection from Evil and Good to flex on your sister.

Second level clerics can Channel Divinity once per short rest in two flavors. Turn Undead takes care of undead that fail their wisdom save, and Path to the Grave will clear out anything else. Spend your action to curse a creature, giving vulnerability to the next attack that hits it. Rules as written you can't target a mountain with this, and you definitely can't get the bonus for an Earthquake spell, but I'd allow it for the cool factor. Alternatively, you can Harness Divine Power to spend one use of Channel Divinity for an extra spell slot which is a level equal to or less than half your proficiency bonus. You can do this once per long rest, but that will grow as your Channel Divinity uses do.

Usually your third level doesn't get you much of anything as a cleric, but since you're a fallen aasimar you get a Necrotic Shroud, spending an action to get really spooky for a minute. Mechanically, this is your big ghostly form, and it'll frighten nearby creatures that fail a charisma save, and for the minute you're transformed you'll deal an extra bit of necrotic damage once per turn. You can go ghost once per long rest. You also get second level spells now, including your freebies Gentle Repose to prevent people from rising back as zombies and Ray of Enfeeblement, which weakens a creature's weapon attacks for up to a minute. They can make a constitution save to shrug it off, but not until the after the spell's already hit, so at least you'll get your money's worth. Thanks to your background you can also learn the spell Enthrall, making it harder for people to notice anyone but you. As someone who's existed in this fandom for any period of time, I can confirm Ereshkigal definitely has this ability. You can also prepare spells like Spiritual Weapon to have a spear that actually hits good and Protection from Poison for more goddess core shenanigans. Finally, make sure you pick up Silence. I'm still not entirely sure how we'll build Tiamat, but that should help shut off her immortality.

At fourth level you get your first Ability Score Improvement, which won't actually be improving your ability scores. grab the Eldritch Adept feat for the Armor of Shadows invocation so you can cast mage armor on yourself for free. You also learn how to cast Friends to make it easier to make friends and terrify your enemies.

Fifth level clerics get third level spells, including your freebies Revivify and Vampiric Touch. You're the god of the dead, so people should only really die when you want them to. Alternatively, you can Animate Dead to summon some skeletons for your own uses. You can also use Spirit Guardians to get more ghostly defenses. They'll slow down creatures of your choice in your area, and if they fail wisdom save they'll take radiant and/or necrotic damage, with it getting halved if they succeed.

At sixth level you get a second use of Channel Divinity per short rest, and a second use of Harness Divine Power per long rest. You also become a Sentinel at Death's Door, shutting down a critical hit near you as a reaction, turning it into a regular attack Wisdom Modifier times per long rest. Sure, you can bring people back later, but this is way less expensive.

Seventh level clerics get fourth level spells, like Blight and Death Ward. It is really hard for flowers to grow in the underworld. You can also use Leomund's Secret Chest thanks to your background, or you can prepare Banishment to throw Tiamat back where she came from, use Guardian of Faith for more ghosts, and leave an Aura of Purity around you to give your allies the blessings of Kur.

Eighth level clerics get another ASI, and this one will improve your ability scores. Kinda. We're grabbing another feat, but being Shadow Touched will improve your Wisdom by one point. It lets you cast Invisibility or Disguise Self once per long rest for free, or you can cast either spell as if it were a normal spell on your spell list. Now you can really make yourself look ghostly, if a bit undersized for your boss fight. Your destroy undead also bumps up to hit CR 1 creatures, but that'll blow up your skeletons as well, so be careful with it. Finally, Potent Spellcasting adds your wisdom modifier to your cleric cantrip damage. Nobody can toll the dead harder than the god of the dead.

Ninth level cleric, fifth level spells. Antilife Shell prevents anyone from getting too close to you, though it also means you can't get close to them without breaking the spell. It's almost poetic. Anyway, you also get Raise Dead, which is like revivify but with a more lenient time frame. You can also instigate your very own christmas event now with Contagion! This spell poisons a target, and at the end of each of its turns it has to make a Constitution save. After succeeding three throws, the spell ends. If it fails three throws, it gets a disease for the rest of the week. The closest thing to Sumerian Flu is probably Filth Fever, which gives disadvantage on saves, checks, and attacks that use strength, but there's all sorts of diseases you can give people. Technically this isn't a contagious disease, but talk to your DM, I'm sure you can work something out. You can also use Hallow to turn your room into a little slice of the underworld, shutting down your sister even further.

Tenth level clerics can invoke Divine Intervention with a 1 in 10 chance of getting a free favor from your god. Your god is you, technically, but it'll make more sense later. You can use this once per day, but it takes a week to recharge after it actually works. You can also cast the Light cantrip now. You could do it before, but now it's stronger.

Destroy Undead grows to hit CR 2 undead, and you can cast sixth level spells. Create Undead makes stronger undead for your army. Sadly dinosaur skeletons aren't available, so you'll just have to settle for ghouls. At higher levels you still won't get dinosaurs, but you can get ghasts, wights, and even mummies! Just be careful you don't stop recasting the spell, mummy rot can be rough. You can also summon a Heroes' Feast for more blessings from Kur, and you can take on an Otherworldly Form for another ghost transformation. This spell makes you immune to fire and poison damage as well as the poisoned condition. You can fly 40' per round, get +2 to AC, and you can attack with weapons using your wisdom twice per attack action. You're stuck with the UA version of this spell, so it takes an action, but on the plus side this just gives you an excuse to use Spiritual Weapon more.

Use this ASI to bump up your Constitution for more health. Health gets added retroactively, so you get +12 HP now instead of just +1. It's pretty nice.

Seventh level spells! Resurrection further cements your control over death with a time limit of a century, and you can also Plane Shift yourself (or an enemy) into the underworld.

Destroy Undead hits CR 3 creatures now. Not even mummies can stand up to your power!

Fifteenth level clerics get eight level spells. If silence won't keep Tiamat down, Antimagic Field should do the trick. The one problem there is it's only a 10' sphere around you, and you rely on magic way more than Tiamat does. You can also cause Earthquakes, turning a very large area into difficult terrain, disrupting concentration, knocking creatures prone, and destroying structures in the area. The one problem here is that you can't fly, so be careful where you're pointing that thing.

Yet another ASI. Use this one to finally max out your Wisdom for super strong spells and better protection from crits.

If you make it to level 17, you get the super powerful ninth level spells. Also, Destroy Undead hits CR 4 creatures, and you become a Keeper of Souls, stealing away some of a dying enemy's soul to heal an ally based on the creature's hit dice once per turn. Right though, ninth level spells. True Resurrection brings someone back even if they've been disintegrated 199 years ago. It's expensive, but you can always grab some gems from your sister if you're pressed for cash. The benefits of sharing a body.

At eighteenth level you get a third Channel Divinity and another use of Harness Divine Power. Really get those paths to the grave filled, it's kind of your thing.

Use your last ASI to grab the Tough feat for 38 HP now and another 2 next level. You have one of the highest HP stats in the game, this only makes sense.

Your capstone level is an improvement to your Divine Intervention. You know how I keep bringing up multiclassing as a con when we include cleric levels? This is why. Your divine intervention now always succeeds. Period. I mean, it makes sense. You are the god giving you power. But yeah, you get guaranteed god-level power freely given as an action. You truly have the power of god and anime on your side.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Clerics have a good variety of spells, and you take it even further with your background. You can heal but you're not completely hosed on your own like Medea Lily, you can deal damage and still do stuff outside of combat unlike your sister, and you have utility without your build being dominated by it like Hundred Personas.

You might not be good in a one on one fight, but you don't get into those that often thanks to your skeleton army. If you just dedicate harnessing divine power to keeping them in line, you can have nine extra bodies on the field to turn the action economy in your favor.

Even when we're not talking about spells, you're still really supportive of your team. Shutting down critical hits and stabilizing your allies quickly will seriously improve the longevity of your party.

Cons:

Dabbling in so many areas of magic means you're unfocused, so you won't excel in any one. You won't heal as much as Medea, deal as much damage as Ishtar, or be a skill monkey like Hundred Personas.

You also rely on magic completely for combat, which means stepping into an anti-magic zone can be deadly. This is especially bad for you, since an anti-magic zone will probably be the best way to deal with Tiamat.

You might have an undead army, but your best spells are area of effect and you're a cleric. Destroy Undead is kind of a big deal for you.

[maybe-your-left]

Pst pst pst. I think my first ask got deleted when you tried to do something XD anyways, some blurb/hc on how the boys treats us/spoils us? I could use some fluff now :<

Special Treatment yooooo... 

Clyde Logan: Big Daddy treats y’ somethin’ good... if you didn’t know, Clyde is a bit of a sugar-fiend. he loves to take you out for a nice brunch, a fancy place by the river, with bottomless mimosas and sweet treats you can’t get enough of. gets some sugary syrup on your lips, he will gladly lick it off while you nuzzle into one another. lots of sweet pastries-cakes-muffins-creampies. 

Charlie Barber: everything is art, a performance. everything Charlie does has its purpose in his artistic vision, including anything he does for you. when he sees you feeling down, he loves to book the two of you art classes. letting you recharge and retreat back to your roots. watercolor-acrylic-body painting-pottery-silent hours-anything that gets the creative juices flowing for the both of you when you’re in a funk. 

Jamie Massey: much like Charlie, his revolve around a getaway for the senses. of course-it will be filmed, it is Jamie. something he clings to from his marriage to Darby is purging the soul every once in a while. for the both of you to reconnect as one-he books you a trip. complete with a tent, blanket, some guitars, and plenty of natures sweet treats. (drugs, he takes you on Acid trips guys)

Rick Smolan: unfortunately, he's away so much. so to make it up to you when you’re feeling down, Rick takes you on vacation! yes, its somewhere he’s been before. but he doesn’t care because he’s there for pleasure. not work, your favorite spot right now is Everest, its taken a few months of preparation but the two of you are determined to make it to the top. sharing the moment of pure-euphoria and human spirit together, thats how he spoils you rotten. 

Kylo Ren (Triplet AU): he doesn’t trust women, or men, or animals, or the sky, and definitely doesn’t trust gift giving. if someone tries to give him something that means horrible things are going to happen, so he buys nothing for people. the few times he’s given gifts, they’ve backfired on him. who knew women didn’t like exotic reptiles in an unsuspecting basket? if he’s desperate, he will run to a jewelry store and slap down his credit card, barking at the person behind the counter what your favorite colors are and they throw back a bracelet or ring that he then gives you. usually he’s blushing profusely when he hands it over, saying that it’s not gonna hurt you. trying to push you away when you try and kiss him thank you-thank you-thank you once you’ve stopped crying over the diamonds. 

Ben Solo (Triplet AU): can you wear it? check. can he rip it off? check. bonus points if he can eat it too, most of his gifts are based around the four basic Benji needs: Food-Fucking-Frolicking-Frogs, the boy loves frogs. be prepared for horrible frog statues in your yard (like gnomes but-frog)

Matthew Organa-Solo (Triplet AU): he’s not as stupid as his brothers, doesn't have an aversion to gift giving and doesn’t make it all about sex. he wants to give you something that makes you smile, and he finds that when you’re together somewhere new it makes you feel better. so once a month, you and Matty pack the car and go on a road trip! you’re trying to make it to every National Park in America-complete with different kitchy gifts that make you both smile. 

Maurizio Gucci: Daddy filled up your credit card this morning, and got you a new baby-pink leather checkbook. anything you want, he gets it for you. exotic wines and cheeses, silks and furs, a brand new purse that hasn’t been on the runway yet. cars-mopeds-motorcycles, even though you don’t drive. Daddy doesn’t let you lift a finger. 

Phillip Altman: gifts are no fuckin’ sweat to this gremlin, he knows you inside and out. and what makes you the happiest? spending time with him babygirl, so the best thing he can do is spoil you with days of love making. pinning you to the mattress, lounge chair, couch, counter, hood of the Porsche. until your full of cum and drained of your tears. Oh! and he loves taking you to concerts, the way you get all giddy and squeal when he hands you tickets to your favorite band makes his heart hurt. 

Paterson: poetry, that reminds him solely of you and how you make him feel like a different man. flowers, farmers market trips, walking your pet cat together (he doesn’t want another dog), picnic’s in the park, and lots and lots of notes around the house from him so you know how much he loves you. 

Adam Sacker: buying gifts is a waste of time when he can do it himself, he can make some wood frame for a silly picture the two of you took at a carnival. or reinforce some furniture you’ve been complaining about, maybe even build a new canopy bed frame for you, stained and everything! being a handyman and a soft soul means he can do whatever and he still gets rewarded. 

Toby Grisoni: he doesn’t buy you ‘gifts’, instead he takes you on experiences. including you on his trips around the world for filming, he likes taking you dancing in the lavish cities you stay in, a bit of a hopeless romantic if he is feeling like it. and scarves, lots of scarves for you to tie him up with at the end of a long day. 

-------

Trattami crudele, papà.

TAGGING: @finn-ray-nal-beads @onlykyloscenes @candycanes19 @historyandfandoms50 @caelum-phyriina-vermillon @ghoulian13 @mrs-kylo-ren @millenialcatlady @relationshipwithmybed @dancingmicrobes @wayward-rose  @contesa-lui-alucard @daydreamsofren @insufferablelust @ohdamnadamm @mariesackler @caillea @safarigirlsp @jalexunderthestars @shesakillerkween @glassythoughts @zimmermansbrat @not-the-teen-witch @jynzandtonic @roanniom @celestiasin @glassbxttless @cornmousequeen @driversmutbucket @blowthatpieceofjunk

Here is the link to my Mega Masterlist, for all your stalking needs. 

[pennamesmith]

For Want of a Skeletor

Entrapta hosts a Princess Alliance meeting at the Crypto Castle and absolutely nothing goes wrong. More Skeletor stories!

*

The lights were on late in Dryl. 

Stars shone outside the windows. Entrapta sat hunched over her desk, studying datapads and readouts. A polite cough from the laboratory door caused her to look up from her work.

“Oh! I’m sorry Hordak, did I wake you?”

Her partner stepped softly into the room and shook his head. “Imp did. You know how he gets when either of us take too long to come to bed.” 

Hordak crossed the cluttered floor and joined Entrapta at the desk. He was holding Imp in his arms, and the smaller, winged clone whined plaintively when he saw her. Entrapta kept her screens on, but leaned gratefully into Hordak’s side and curled a tendril of hair around his waist. She yawned, despite herself. 

“I know. I just want to make sure I get everything right before the other princesses come over tomorrow.” She glanced back at the data, nervously tapping her fingertips together. “I’ve never hosted an Alliance meeting before! And this rescue will be our biggest mission since… well, you know. I don’t want to mess anything up.”

Hordak smiled. “Your diligence is admirable. But I also seem to recall someone telling me that imperfections are beautiful.”

Entrapta stuck out her tongue. “No fair.” 

“I’m afraid the science is sound. Come to bed, my dear.” 

The scientist scoffed, but she did not protest when Hordak gathered her up in his arms. She wrapped more of her hair around him, and Imp settled sleepily in the resulting nest. Entrapta could already feel herself drifting. 

“You will be a shining star tomorrow,” Hordak promised, as he carried his family back to rest. 

“Tomorrow,” echoed Imp.

*

The next day saw the Crypto Castle’s largest meeting room filled with princesses, dignitaries, and other honorary Alliance members. While Scorpia and Perfuma admired the tiny refreshments laid out for everyone, Mermista split her time between groaning at Sea Hawk’s boasts and trying every available chair to find the most comfortable one. Glimmer and Bow stepped uneasily around the edges of the room, watching carefully for anything that might be a trap, and Frosta followed their lead. Netossa and Spinnerella tried their best to find a chair Swift Wind could sit in. 

Adora and Catra, wearing increasingly baffled expressions, were conversing with two domestic-looking robots who sat at the head of the table next to Entrapta. One was tall and skinny, and the other wore a welded-on handlebar mustache. 

“Entrapta has parents?” Catra was asking, her face a galaxy of disbelief. 

“Adopted, technically. Or adapted,” the skinnier bot explained. “We’re Entrapta’s parental units. She built us when she was six. You must have seen the painting in the foyer.” 

“Yeah, we’ve been here pretty much the whole time,” the mustachioed model added. “You kids sure made a racket during your last few visits. What was that all about?” 

“Uh,” Adora faltered. 

To her immense relief, Hordak swept into the room at that very moment, flanked by Imp, Emily, and the reprogrammed Horde drone Entrapta had dubbed ‘Skeletor.’ 

“Welcome, everyone,” Hordak boomed, bringing the gathering to a respectful hush. 

“Witless fools! I’m in charge now! And if you know what’s good for you you’ll do as I say!” Skeletor shouted. 

Hordak scowled and shooed the fussing robot away from the table. “Pay no mind to that one,” he grumbled once he’d regained the floor. “Now then. Please allow me the honor of introducing the unparalleled mind who has made this operation possible, Princess Entrapta.” 

“Thank you all for coming!” Entrapta started, while everyone took their seats. “I know you’re all excited about what we’re planning, but there’s still a lot of preparation to do before we can take off. As the chief science officers for this mission, it’s vital that Hordak and I gather as much data on your abilities as possible! Interdimensional travel is severely unpredictable and —” 

“Hold on,” Mermista interrupted. “Exactly how high are the chances of us getting mutated by cosmic space energy or whatever? Because I only want cool mutations, not gross ones.” 

“Maybe thirty, thirty-five percent?” Entrapta guessed. She shrugged. “A lot of this is theoretical. You guys will be like my guinea pigs! By which I mean the small robotic animals in the castle I protect and care for. And experiment on, sometimes.” 

She laughed heartily. Glimmer and Bow shared a nervous glance. Perfuma turned slightly green. 

Entrapta regained her composure and pointed back to the display board. “Ahem. Anyway, the good news is we already know some things about where we’re going! Probably.” She shuffled her notes, gaining confidence as she spoke.

“Before Adora found the Sword of Protection, historians debated ancient records of She-Ra. Some claimed she was called ‘Her-Ra’ and fought for the ‘Power of Grayskull.’ But I theorize that what those archaeologists actually uncovered was evidence of —”

“I have a question!” Frosta yelled. “Will there be hunky guys in the other dimension? I’m asking for a friend.”

“It’s funny you mention that, actually,” Entrapta replied. “Listen, just let me finish and…” 

Unfortunately, anxious impatience had already gripped the assembled Alliance members. They clamored with questions, all talking at the same time. Entrapta shrank back in her seat and pulled her welding mask down, seeming to reach for something under the table. 

Hordak stood up. Just as it looked like he was about to do something violent, a loud alarm sounded and the lights in the room flashed red. 

“Uh-oh.” Entrapta glanced around at the assembled company. “Um, get ready to tuck and roll everybody!”

“Get ready to what?” Mermista cried out, but it was already too late. Multiple trap doors swung open across the meeting room floor, and with flailing limbs and startled shouts the guests were sent tumbling down chutes in every direction. In moments they had all vanished.

“I always feel so much better after doing something bad!” Skeletor cackled. “Now we begin phase two!” 

*

Adora and Catra, who had clung to each other as they fell, landed with a bump in a darkened, underground space. As soon as they arrived, bright lights flickered to life and a huge screen lit up against the wall. 

Entrapta’s face appeared on the monitor, larger than life. “Oh good! You’re alive,” she chirped when she saw the other two. 

Adora clambered to her feet. “Entrapta! What’s going on?” 

The scientist glanced away. “Well, I guess Skeletor didn’t like that we were ignoring him. So he stole my map of the castle and activated the security systems! Which means we’re all lost in the labyrinth until I can catch him. Isn’t that great?” 

“It’s something,” Catra groaned, rubbing her head. 

“Exactly! Now, without my map I can’t come find you. But if you can make it through the traps, the hallway you’re in should take you back to the meeting room. Then you’ll be safe until I can fix things!” 

The screen dimmed again before Catra or Adora could protest. Left with few other options, they turned to get a good look at whatever dangers lay ahead. 

They were standing at one end of a long corridor. Square blocks floated along its length, suspended in midair with anti-gravitational tech. An interrogative punctuation mark flashed on one, while a squat robot with painted-on angry eyebrows shambled slowly back and forth beneath it. 

Catra took it all in. “You have got to be kidding.” 

Adora had already drawn her sword and begun to venture forward. Catra was about to follow her, when something made her ears flick. A suspicious frown crossed her face.

“Hey, Adora!” Catra called. “Listen!” 

“What?” 

Catra pressed her ear to the wall. “There! Do you hear that?” 

“Obviously not,” Adora huffed. “Now stop dawdling, the first puzzle looks pretty easy.” 

Catra stayed where she was. “Hold on a second. This part of the castle feels familiar. I remember walking through here back when, uh, back when it was still Horde territory.” She coughed awkwardly, and then reached up to tilt the frame of a big-eyed kitten painting. “Look!” 

Something clicked and the wall slid open, revealing a new passageway. Distinctive laughter could be heard coming from the other end of it. A purple neon sign reading “Secret Entrance!!!” buzzed to life. 

Adora sighed and rolled her eyes. 

“One time Entrapta had me and Scorpia over for a life-size Snakemen and Ladders game that got a little out of hand,” Catra explained as they entered the tunnel. At the far end there was a brightly lit office; inside, it was filled with laboratory equipment, video monitors, and a humble but dignified desk. 

Hordak was sitting at the desk, in what appeared to be a smaller version of his old Fright Zone throne. It swiveled. Entrapta was sitting on the desk, and she waved as the other couple entered. 

“Myaah! Sleep gas and stun-rays only, my evil minions!” muttered Skeletor, who was busy working the video monitors. On closer inspection, Adora realized that each of them showed some of the other princesses as they traversed the castle labyrinth. 

“Welcome to mission control!” Entrapta sang, spreading her arms wide. “Hordak didn’t think you’d find us, but I had a hypothesis you might.” 

“It was a ruse!” Adora gasped, scandalized. “You’re not lost at all!” 

“You really need to hang out with Entrapta more if that still surprises you,” Catra observed. She looked at the monitors. “Ah, are they gonna be okay?” 

“Better than!” Entrapta sprang off the desk, hanging by her hair as she showed off multiple datapads. “Everyone was getting a little… distracted upstairs, so I just decided to speed things up a teensy bit! The princesses using their powers to escape the maze will let me get all the readings we need, and then we can have a nice little party! I had the baker make tiny cakes.” 

“I made sure Hordak’s doomberry pie was especially tasty!” Skeletor piped up. 

“And it’s all perfectly safe!” Entrapta promised. Discreetly, a ribbon of hair reached out to push a blinking button. On the monitors, Mermista and Sea Hawk were rescued from a robot shark attack by a convenient change of the currents. 

“This is hilarious,” Catra laughed, looking more closely. On one of the screens, Swift Wind was gleefully running loop-de-loops along a curving racetrack. “I think they’re actually having fun in there. Can we stay and watch?” 

“I’m afraid not,” Hordak said. She-Ra’s — and your — assessment is the most important of all. But we’d love to have you over to the castle for dinner soon. Shall we say eight o’clock next week?” 

“That sounds nice!” Adora chimed, before Catra could stop her. 

“Splendid. I’ll cook,” Hordak concluded. Then he pressed a button on his desk, and a trapdoor sent the younger women plummeting through the floor. 

Catra and Adora yelped in surprise, only for their fall to be cut short by an enormous pile of pillows on the level below. They struggled to their feet. Another corridor stretched away in front of them, filled with further challenges. Floating gold coins, each about four feet tall, indicated a pathway. 

“Try not to have too much fun,” Hordak called good-naturedly as the trapdoor slid shut. 

“Use the warp zone! It’s faster!” Entrapta added. 

“Have a nice trip down!” said Skeletor. 

*

Hordak settled back in his chair (it had soft armrests, and a cushion for lumbar support) and watched his partner at work. Entrapta flitted from screen to screen, taking notes and making adjustments. On one display, Bow and Glimmer had met up with Netossa and Spinnerella while navigating a cage minefield. On another, Frosta was making an ice bridge to help Perfuma and Scorpia cross a slow-moving spike trap. 

“I’m sorry you had to use your backup plan. They really are utter fools if they ever doubted your genius,” Hordak mused. 

“Different people have different strengths and weaknesses,” Entrapta replied, without looking up from her work. “And a good scientist collaborates whenever they can! Even if that requires a little creativity sometimes.” 

Hordak nodded. “Fair enough. Nevertheless, I would not blame you if you wished to have nothing more to do with the Princess Alliance. Even their attempts to help you can seem… insensitive. You’re not obligated to forgive that.” 

Skeletor looked up from his control panel and shook a fist. “Don’t you get awfully tired of being a hero all the time? Don’t you ever feel like doing something evil?” 

“They’re trying to be good friends,” Entrapta defended. “And so am I. And if I really did need their help, maybe things would be different. But I’ve got it all under control!” 

She vaulted across the room, flipping switches and turning dials along the way. On the monitors, Perfuma’s fall from a tall platform was gently broken by a sudden anti-gravitational field. 

“Besides, forgiveness isn’t always about the person being forgiven. It’s also about taking back potential energy that was lost.” 

“Did you learn that in my brother’s therapy group?” Hordak asked. 

Entrapta smirked. “Actually, he got it from me.” 

A pleasant ding sounded and Entrapta clapped her hair. “Hooray, everyone made it back! I’ll calculate the high scores and then we can continue the social experiment!” 

“You astonish me every day,” Hordak purred as he rose to follow her. Entrapta put out her hand, and he took it. 

“Wait for me!” Skeletor cried out. “You might get lost by yourself!” 

*

One week later, a much smaller gathering of royals met in Dryl. 

Catra and Adora sat together in one of the Crypto Castle’s least intimidating dining rooms, listening with barely-contained delight as Entrapta’s parental units thoroughly embarrassed their former boss. 

“...And so I said to him, ‘I have charging ports Hordak, can you download raw data offa me?’ Ha! Oh, you shoulda seen his face!” 

Hordak slouched in his chair. “I do not think we need to bore our guests with the details of this particular story,” he protested, feebly. 

“Oh, I’m not bored at all! I want to hear everything,” Catra said. She leaned forward, grinning. “So, was this before or after you hooked him up to the lie detector?” 

Entrapta giggled, and gave Hordak a gentle pat on the shoulder as she reached for another helping of his tiny quiche. All things considered, the night was going surprisingly well. 

It was exactly what Entrapta wanted. 

After dinner, wheeled bots carted away the leftovers and dirty dishes. Hordak poured coffee for himself and Adora, and the parental units retired to wherever it was they lived in the cavernous castle. Entrapta, lost in thought as usual, felt a familiar feline presence approach her. 

“Thank you,” Catra said, sincerely. “Not just for this. For everything. For being so nice all the time. For making this mission happen. It means a lot to me.” 

Entrapta smiled softly. “To me, too. Everyone makes mistakes. It would be a shame not to learn from them when we can.” 

“Did you say something?” Skeletor squawked, suddenly materializing in the doorway. 

Entrapta, unbothered, immediately produced a datapad. “Oh we’re just talking about the big rescue mission! Actually, you should probably take a look at my data, Skeletor. I haven’t told you much yet, and we might need you!” She held the blinking screen out happily. 

Skeletor looked at the datapad. At first he seemed confused; then he boggled as he registered the information in front of him. “Eternia?” he gasped in disbelief. “Grayskull?” 

His voice rose to a fevered pitch. “He-Man!”

For once, Skeletor had no words. He shrieked incomprehensibly instead, fists shaking. 

Hordak chuckled. “It’ll be just like the old days!” 

Skeletor screamed. 

[of-tatooine]

mercy. | chapter 16 - whiskey

the whiskey sunrise brought pleasant surprises with it.

Amber.

Ever so prevalent in nature, in soil, in earth. In every single crevice of the trees that surrounded God's green earth, the shades of fur on the animals you hunted for food and for survival, the dried out and dead leaves. The dirt that slipped through the cracks and through your fingers, the clay and rust you had grown up on.

The color of his worn-out irises, speckled with the most beautiful green forest - the reassuring hazel, the burnt amber, the deep brown that gleamed just a bit lighter with each passing day into the spring. With each step taken with purpose, getting closer to the goal that clouded over his racing mind.

The shade of the bitter yet oh-so-sweet liquor gently swaying inside the glass bottle, of the gentle heat in your throat. The reflections against the transparent confinement, sometimes a neat crystal and most of the times a scratched bar glass. The ease in the limbs with each consecutive sip of fire emanating throughout the skin, the leftover taste of honey in the mouth, the tremor in your fingers after a bit too much.

The unknown taste of something other than the hard liquor. The long stares and the textures under your fingertips long unexplored. The desolate but warm sense of belonging, of feeling protected. The gruffness, rumbles and grunts piercing through the air. All of which combined themselves in a strange formula and seemed to come to life right in front of you, in almost a lazy yet enticing haze of foregin origin as a solid frame walked across the room.

"You sure you don't wanna save that for later?"

A breathy chuckle emanated from the man upon the light remark and you could just tell he was strongly considering the suggestion for a second. His voice soft, unlike the rougher than gravel tone he usually sported - one of the many gestures and reactions that only recently began to resurface from their hiding spot deep within.

Was it upon his will? He was not the type of person to just let go of his guard or let people see another side of the medallion, no matter what the circumstance was. And yet there he was, breathing and living in the same room a couple feet away from you with nothing but friendliness for a change in the most part of the journey so far, some sort of fondness creasing his features - you reckoned there was no way it could have been.

All that pondering and it did not matter one single bit as he took slow but steady steps towards the chair you were sprawled over near the table. Time seemed to slow down in a lazy pace, not racing for the clock handle to advance just a couple of ticks more. The tattered blinds rustled in the faint spring breeze, the occasional gusts of wind through the cracked windows were cold but had a certain promising warmth to them. Leftover afternoon sunlight filled in the spare room of the rundown house in a calm shade of yellow, tinting everything the rays touched with a sparkly hue.

Including him.

The hollows in his structured jawline accentuated by his peppered beard, the gentle wrinkles of age and hardship lingering on his tan skin with the hints of the smile, stretching his lips. A couple buttons undone on his navy flannel, the slight nonchalant show of his chest. The rips and frays, the dried out blood - his and others - on his shirt ever so evident under the unforgiving light. Hands so scarred yet strong, bulging veins trailing up to mark a path of scratches, old and new scars and scabs.

The look in his eyes as the light hit them, lowering himself down to a gentle kneel right in front of you.

“Believe me, I would,” he spoke, the animosity he used to have against strangers once upon a time long gone.

He was not talking to just a mere stranger anymore. 

“ - but you might need it more than I do.”

To that, your lips let out a chuckle, defying your quickening heartbeat that at this rate, would burst out of your ribcage due to the sheer proximity of the man. Each movement, small hints of his body language - the relaxed jaw in contrast to his usual clench, the colorful irises with specks of hopeful light, the long fingers which had done too much harm instead working gently to do good. 

"I'm guessin' the stitches are your handiwork," he softly said, a tone of gratitude in his smooth drawl to accompany the brief twinkles of light in his eyes, looking into yours levelly with some sort of hesitation hidden beneath. Upon your nod, an appreciative smile would curl up the corner of his mouth.

"They hold tight."

By that time, you had seen more than enough to know that this was his subtly unique way of voicing his thanks, through many ways than one. A calloused hand worked to spill just the right amount of alcohol to soak the rag, motions so gentle and soothing that you would not dream were coming from a man who could bash someone's skull with enough force to crack in half at any given moment. 

There was a price you had to pay to see the gentle side of him, the good heart he carried slipping through the cracks of his broken soul and equally damaged ribs. A price that almost took your life and cracked your bones, brought you to the edge of death looming with arms wide open, battered and bruised your skin with scars so deep they touched your soul. All for one purpose, for the one who mattered the most, that brought you two together in such a bond that only people who have been through hell and back could form.

All to keep that little girl resting in the other room out of harm’s way. 

“Was a nurse back then,” you would explain with a shrug, an easy smile on your reminiscent face as you observed each movement he made, taking note of his soft nod upon your confession, as if that had confirmed the ideas running rampant in his head. 

“Not sure what I am now.”

His head would softly rise, looking into your eyes as the rag hovered just a tad lower from the wound, the small droplets of bitter liquid slipping down the cut fabric onto the floor, clearing a lazy trail of dried blood over bare skin along. 

“Must have been a damn good one at that,” he hinted with that damn drawl, his head tilting a bit to the side as if awaiting a reaction, reading through your expression of gratitude as your smile only grew more nostalgic.

It had taken you a while to clean the other wounds and properly seal off the gape in your thigh that dead bastard had opened up just when it had been healing - a rag in between your teeth keeping your screams to yourself as a hot suture needle pierced through your skin yet again. Him walking into the room with an unusually calm gait in his step after putting Ellie to sleep, heading straight towards helping you was a surprise that was most certainly welcome.

Yet before your thoughts could comprehend what he was doing, your body unfortunately did - stinging rays of pain jolted all over your skin, a loud hiss escaping your lips as the alcohol made gentle contact near the newly forming scar tissue. It was for the best, hell, you would have done this to yourself to prevent yet another damn infection if he had not been around.

While his fingers that pressed the gauze ever so gently to clean the wound, the other set slowly yet gingerly found their way to your other thigh covered with fabric in a ghost of a touch - one that seemed to calm you down, the vice-like grip of your hands around the edges of the wooden chair relaxing, chest rising up and down with the deep breaths of anticipation of pain. 

“Sorry,” he would murmur knowing that his actions involuntarily gave you discomfort, under his own hands that hurt too much. 

A soft shake of your head was your response, the hint of a smile along your lips, pushing past all of that twitching pain as you encouraged him to go on - not that he would need it. The moment he wrapped his arm around you so tight to get you out of that burning hell mere hours ago should have told you he did not need the telling to help you survive.

As long as you were with him, he had promised himself that he would do anything to make sure you did. 

That included honoring the other pact he had made with himself. 

“Listen, I ain’t been the friendliest man to be around,” his gaze now shifted to concentrate on the wound as if he was trying to gather himself together, brows furrowed with some sort of newfound determination. His shoulders under the flannel moving along with his arms that worked to clear the wound, jaw clenching at your every other little hiss or groan. The words flowed out of his parted lips under that salt and pepper beard, in a husk that only sentences left unspoken for too long could muster. 

And all you could do, as the pain subsided a little more with each gentle touch, all you found yourself wanting to do was to hear more of what he had to say - the most genuine you had gotten out of the man and he was not the type to talk.

“I regretted it at first, when I took you out of that building.” 

A small frown crawled on your lips as he put the bloody gauze away, picking up a wet rag and a big bandage whose adhesives surprisingly had not worn out too much after all these years.

“And then, just when things start goin’ right… your history caught up.”

And then, upon the insinuation of your old faction, your heart began thudding even more in your chest in anticipation of what was to come. Would he hurt you? Was this all a ploy to get you talking, or even worse? His voice had been way too gentle for someone who was plotting on ripping your skin apart, his touch way too comforting. 

The mere thought of it made you uneasy as your body tensed under his fingertips, jaw clenching as you clutched onto the chair. Noticing the subtle change of motion as he cleaned the residual blood, he would tilt his head up with such an angle that accentuated the high cheekbones and the light in his eyes that told you to not be afraid.

He was right there.

“But seeing the way you looked after her, after me when you had no obligation to… patching us up and protecting us.”

An almost foreign, long forgotten sensation then decided to visit you - emotions, coating your eyes in a glassy layer and your mouth curl up in the saddest of reflections. His eyes, an amalgam of dark forests of greenery and gold specks of determination. Focused in yours and yours only, staring into your soul as if he saw right through you.

“If the Good Lord gave me another chance -  I would do it all over again.”

And it made your heart stop, skip a beat, then frantically pulse beneath the rib cage.

After all this time making it out of the gutter alone, escaping the one community that gave you life. Shooting first and never asking questions. Torturing and being tortured. All alone, without a single soul that cared about you just an ounce. 

It was a mystery whatever that meant during the goddamn apocalypse but there was one truth evident in front of your eyes.

He cared. Maybe more than he should have been. More than he needed to, for his sake. 

All the way back in that crumbling building with the infected - even when he did not know it. He cared every time you would stumble, hold onto the trees or railings for support. When your hands held Ellie’s to help her down the hills, the same ones caressing his forehead in long-gone whispered words and wishes, the ones stitching his wounds. When he had found you, scarred beyond recognition but alive nonetheless, clutching onto the little girl that gave him life. 

Measuring your reaction, he swallowed as what he saw gave him the strength to continue.

“I was thinkin’…  once this is all over, for good this time,” Joel started with his drawl, his deep voice a hopeful one, each word slipping out slowly like fingertips gliding on velvet as his hands slowly finished wrapping the clean-enough bandage around your thigh securely.

“…if you would want to come back to Tommy’s with us.”

In the haze of the leftover heat of the sunset coating the room with orange reflections coupled with the small course of adrenaline running through your veins, you found yourself leaning in just a little towards the man kneeling beside your seat, looking at him incredulously - subconsciously, maybe, to make sure you heard him correctly. 

A measure set forth by your survival instinct when you heard things that were just too good to be true in this forsaken shell of a world. Something inside told you that you did not need any such measures when you were with him. 

Not anymore. Not after all that you have been through.

Words were not needed as your grateful, unbelieving yet bittersweet expression said it all. A sigh of long-awaited relief slipped past your lips. A soft nod followed your smile, watery eyes relieving you from the security of all of those walls you had built. The light in your eyes glowed a bit brighter with the gentle smile he had under that beard, the forests in his eyes blooming with the greenest of greens and the everlasting gold.

They reminded you of home. Of somewhere far away yet right there in front of you. Of somewhere warm and safe, with memories to be made. 

His hand would reach up tentatively, the backs of his fingers brushing against your cheek as you find yourself leaning into the gesture, the softest of touches. A strand of stray hair is tucked behind your ear as his calloused palm placed itself on your cheek in a warm embrace. A feather light touch as if he was afraid of breaking you.

Eyes locked, you could not see the usually violent storms raging within his gaze. Instead, the sun was shining - a source of light so bright that the worries, the pain were silenced. It reflected off of yours, this contagious energy that heated up the air and made your head lean just a bit closer to his, leveled due to the height difference - his breathing mixing in with yours as his chest heaved to match your heart trying to escape from the confinements of his flannel covering you.

Then came a stare down your lips which felt like hours, contemplating, admiring, thinking. As if he had been pondering this moment for a long while, of crossing that one bridge. Tilting his head further in. It made your lashes flutter in the sheer heat of it all, brain completely shut off as all you could think of at the moment was right in front of you, mere inches away.

“Joel - ”

The intoxicating mix of whiskey, leather and pine left momentarily along with the warmth on your cheek upon the knock at the door, rattling your reality with a soft gasp. 

His head whipped to the wooden door - the rest of his body frozen as his hand instinctively reached back for his revolver and yours, in turn, reached to hold onto him. The newly awakened survival instinct subsided just as it came upon seeing a yawning redhead with bright, green eyes that lit up the entire room, staring at just how close you and him were situated and smiling to herself.

“Uh, hey, guys - I’m kinda starving.”

The moment your eyes met his again, this time, it was with a chuckle and a shake of the head, his genuine laugh that warmed your heart in the most unexpected way making his shoulders dip slightly. 

They were your home. 

[a-dorin]

hostage | savage opress

“word count: 1.140k

warnings: cursing, mentions of death, interrogation, use of weapons, angst.. the end is very fluffy though! 

a/n: this was a request from @waytoinlovewithdarthmaul ! also, this was my first time hondo made an appearance, so i hope i wrote his character well! (he’s one of my favorites) since there is not much savage content on this site, i hope you guys enjoy :)) 

prompt:  after being taken hostage by hondo ohnaka and his rowdy crew, a golden zabrak and his companion are in for it. however, after making it back to mandalore safely, feelings that were once repressed emerge, and savage is prompted to act on them. 

“so tell me,” his accent is thick, slurred by the alcohol, “would you or your little friend like to speak first?”

“i don’t think he’s little,” you snorted, rolling your eyes, “i’m not impressed with your interrogation tactics, hondo.”

the weequay leaned in, his breath reeking as it wafted into your nostrils, “well, your friend here is practically an animal. do you see the restraints we placed on him? he’s far more restrained than you are, sweetheart.”

“don’t you dare speak to her like that,” a growl rumbled behind you, “she is not your sweetheart.”

“i see that the zabrak has a weak spot,” hondo chuckled darkly, “bring in the big guns.”

“and what are those?” you scoffed, wrinkling your nose, “blasters don’t scare me. you’re going to have to do better than that.”

“she sure is a fiery one isn’t she?” the pirate teased, nudging your shoulder with his hand as he spoke to savage, “well, who’s speaking first? i need some more intel on your other little friend. that red guy. what’s his name? maul, is it?”

“you won’t get it,” savage snarled, tugging on the shackles bound to his wrists, “you don’t know what you’re doing. my brother is going to have you ripped apart piece by piece, until your blood is spilled all over this-.”

“what’s that horny-headed man going to do, huh? is he going to use some witchcraft on me. he’s only a torso with some arms anyways. he doesn’t scare me one bit.”

two henchmen emerged from the shadows, wielding two recognizable weapons. your heart skipped a beat, your throat tightening, “hondo, where did you acquire those staffs?”

“some tin man gave them to me,” hondo took a swig from a bottle, “i dunno how or why, but it was a fair deal. an eye for an eye.”

fear crept in as the staffs illuminated a purple glow, crackling with electricity. hondo puffed out his chest, “so, who’s going to pipe up first?” 

“why do you even need information about maul?” you arched a brow, attempting to maintain your composure, “the three of us, we’ve been traveling together for some time now. we haven’t infiltrated mandalore until very recently. who are you working for, hondo? how much are they paying you?”

“quite a sum,” the pirate responded coolly, “retch, mundo, let’s prompt our little friends here, since they don’t want to budge.”

“please,” your voice was eerily calm, “don’t hurt him.”

“why not sweetheart?” a devilish smirk crept onto the pirate’s lips, “are the two of you romantically involved?”

“because he doesn’t deserve it,” you remarked, “i’m the one who knows the intel, not him.”

“hmmm,” hondo hummed, tapping his foot, “well, since you asked so nicely, retch, mundo, get her.”

the weequay stepped forward, the glow of the staffs cascading onto you as you squirmed, desperate for a miracle. for some hope that maybe hondo would grace you with kindness. 

however, the fire that blazed in his eyes spoke a far different story, his laughter echoing off the walls, “well, my golden friend, how about we watch your friend writhe around for a bit? wouldn’t you enjoy that?”

the last thing you remembered was the anguished scream that erupted from your lips the second the staffs met with your body. 

stirring awake, you blinked, pain seeping in. however, you were intrigued as you grasped the surface, the sheets soft and cozy underneath your fingertips. scanning the room, relief spread as you recognized the decor lining the walls, as well as the all too familiar viewport. 

night fell over mandalore, the sky a rich navy, the stars shrouded by the light pollution of the capitol. the glow of the city was comforting, a mundane aspect of life that you had no idea you would seek solace out of. 

swinging your legs off the bed, you winced as you took a step, bandages wrapped around your wrists, as well one on your shoulder. your curiosity skyrocketed as you realized you were wearing nothing but a thin black tunic, the sleeves stretching well past your hands.

how did you manage to escape hondo and the rest of his crew? who tended to your wounds? 

yet, one question rang through your mind, oh so clearly. 

where was savage?

padding out of your quarters, you roamed the sundari royal palace, on high alert. rays of moonlight cascaded through the viewports, your skin glowing a silvery hue. after some searching, you remembered that there was one location of the palace you had yet to investigate. 

the throne room. 

swallowing thickly, you pressed your ear to the thick wooden doors, ears pricking with the muffled voices of two certain zabraki. 

voices in which you recognized immediately, the inflections and octaves so distinct. 

the rumble of a golden zabrak. 

and the quiet, hushed, tone of a crimson zabrak. 

pushing the door open ever so slightly, you gained clarity of their conversation, your eyes narrowing. 

“you’re lucky that both of you made it out alive.”

“the dark side provided me with strength,” savage replied, “however, there was something else i couldn’t quite distinguish. something more..”

“i believe it was your affection for the girl,” maul snorted, “you wouldn’t believe the sheer power affection can hold over an individual.”

“i do like her,” savage mumbled, “i enjoy her presence. it’s almost as if she’s this.. radiant light.”

“oh gods,” you stifled a giggle as you could picture maul rolling his eyes, “if you hold such affection for her, then why don’t you tell her?”

“i guess i’m afraid,” savage let out a sigh, “i’m afraid of what she might say.”

“believe me,” maul began, “the way you two act around one another tells me everything that i need to know. it’s quite sickening, actually- wait, i sense something. but rather, someone. perhaps it’s time for your confession, brother.”

two pairs of eyes fell on you as you slipped into the throne room, your cheeks tainted with a crimson hue. savage cleared his throat, “you’re awake.”

surging forward, you collapsed into savage’s arms, the zabrak flinching momentarily. however, the moment you nuzzled your head into his chest, he melted, wrapping his arms around your frame. 

“thank you for saving me,” you whispered, tears brimming your lids. 

“i would save you time and time again,” his lips, so plump and soft, brushed your forehead, “i-i have something that i want to share with you.”

“you can share anything with me,” you murmured, your voice delicate. 

“there’s an abundance of affection, in my heart.. for you,” the zabrak fidgeted, “i’m not sure if i said that right.”

“savage,” you breathed, your eyes meeting his, “i feel the same way.”

the grin that lit up his face, enveloping his features, was enough to light up the capitol of sundari, let alone the planet of mandalore itself. 

[stray-tori]

TPN S02E08 - Initial Thoughts (anime-only)

Reaction Vid: Google Drive

I’m here, finally! Let me just say, I’m glad to see some more positivity around ahh- Not that anyone isn’t allowed to feel negatively about it, I do have my problems too of course! But it’s just nice when things are epic and liked by people :)

.

I don’t think I can really separate it into topics this time so I’ll just kind of... go through it by chronological order this time! With “.” paragraphs separating thoughts :)

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Norman figuring out that there’s at least one other person taking tests because he’s left-handed and the code scan thing is placed on the right when he put it down left is such a nice, unspoken execution!

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also. Zaziee :(

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also, what do we think is happening in this room? are those just... dead subjects that they feed to demons or...? experimenting with how certain manipulated humans will affect demons eating them? 

(also they just flipped Norman’s walk here, so his curl is on the wrong side. not blaming them or anything, I just noticed. I hope the staff is doing okay :<)

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also, idk if my brain is melting but when Norman was like "I just need a detonator" and then he focuses on that king chess piece before the explosion, is the implication that the king piece was the detonator? :D

I do like the few subtle hints we do get just from the scenes (like the left hand/right hand thing and the cube communication) but I feel like I'm missing some connecting pieces here, even with knowing Smee was there and supporting him. It’s weird because I feel like the left-hand thing was really nicely done and digestible and the fork thing is presumably checking out how many cameras there are (even if still a little obvious) - but the explosion? Maybe I’m just stupid haha- it had to be Smee helping, right? I just would have liked more hints (but maybe I’m too small brain rn).

.

I'm a little confused because Peter said "the era of James as the gatekeeper has ended" (paraphrased), so he’s the gatekeeper right? And Norman was so concerned about the gatekeeper last episode, to the point that I felt like it was a point largely against the "using the gate in GF" plan (aside from uncertainty about the gates and the human world, of course) - but it's literally just a human then? I thought it was gonna be some epic demon or magic concept or something, but it's just that dude pff- whats the dude gonna do against the murder squad? :D Ig he has the farm/demon forces behind him but those would exist either way (and Norman must have considered that), so why is he in particular such a big deal/threat? Is he that ultra big brain? Not big brain enough to have prevented Norman’s escape anyway.

Or maybe he’s just 6 moves ahead and waiting for Norman to lead him back to the hideout that was referenced a few episodes ago where Norman brings all the stolen kids -- but I feel like that’s such a... roundabout way of capturing the GF kids. Plus, that should be Isabella’s doing, if anything. So yeah. Confused about that a bit.

.

I love the parallel how in ep1 Ray running from the pursuers and Emma collapsing was the whole thing about like, not taking it all upon yourself -- and now Emma (who mirrored Ray’s exact run through the forest) got help with Ray jumping in and also later Sonju, conveniently timed as usual haha.

(negativity) It’s a nice parallel, though i would have preferred if Ray had run again and Emma had gotten the shot - it’d still carry around the same message (”then vs now”) but please I beg you give Emma one (1) cool bow shot  - or I’ll steal your animation and do it myself >:”(

(ik she got the hunting shot which was slow and cool but idk)

.

The animation was so pretty. I loved Norman on the cliff and the wind animation, and the MUSIC when the town raid happened and how everything was framed and the goddamn MUSIC???? DID I MENTION THE MUSIC.

Also Norman’s expression and that shot where he realizes Vyrk has the blood condition and sweeps in for a stab.

It was pretty brutal and I appreciate that they showed it. It’s just... really pretty overall and- yes. thank you. love goes out to the staff. god knows they need some. and money. please give them more money.

.

I also like how with how the episode set up the whole, "are you god?" - "I'll be a god or devil" thing, and then when Vyrk asks "are you a human?", my friend joked he'd answer "no, i'm god" and then we joked a bit about his silence. But in hindsight, I really appreciate those jokes, because it made me realize: for a different kind of character, that WOULD have been the perfect setup to have a badass response but that silence was probably on purpose and I can’t really explain it but I just like how that makes the through-line in the episode even stronger and also kind of connects with his wavering?? I can’t explain but I LIKE IT.

.

(slightly negative) It's a little bit funny that the parallel didn't occur to him until it was thrown in his face, but I think that's what dissociation and just being observed in one's plan does.

Plus I do get what they're going for, and it was pretty dang emotional. A little on the nose maybe but- yee.

It works well as an eye opener to tear down the mental wall between the two groups. He's also never really been in contact with demons equally before afaik so, I shall accept it. Not that currently killing them all makes him equal in power dynamic right now, but I mean like, in a way where he truly, in real life, got to see that they’re similar -- he made comparisons to humans last episode, so clearly he wasn’t completely unaware. He’s smart, he knew what he was doing would make him seem like a devil to the demons. He probably just numbed himself to it until something that could break those walls down happened, ie the Emma thing.

I feel like it could have worked too if her name wasn’t Emma, but he probably wouldn’t have paused for as long and the voiced lines couldn’t have been given the time needed to make them hit as strongly - but I do think just a line that sounds really similar to what they talked about in GF could have been enough too - but again, that would have potentially taken too long down the exchange between the two.

It also doesn’t seem completely random since the old guy also reacted to Emma’s name before and everything so. Overall, I’m willing to suspend my disbelief - even if it IS funny that the family naming went from Vyrk to... Emma :D (though demons do get old so I suppose that makes sense haha)

.

I also wonder how this will impact Norman going forward. Even if he decides for the GF plan now (likely, we don’t have much time), he still did that and even if they return all the degenerated demons with Mujika’s, Sonju’s and Vyrk’s help... I doubt those who were already eaten and killed, can be saved. So that blood is on his hands forever now, likely hurting even more now that he feels personally impacted by it and not just... knows he’s doing something bad.

The anime definitely doesn’t have the time to delve into that sadly but that’s,,, very good angst.

.

week 3 of asking where is Isabella- (I mean I am GLAD that she didn’t show up at the temple- yET - because that’d just make them leaving them there worse but fudshjsd- Is she actually just waiting for them to come for the gate what’s happening ahahaha-)

I also don’t know if I mentioned this in my last episode thoughts or not, but I do still believe the gate stuff could have been revealed more incrementally? Like have James include that tidbit of info, please. If we know gates exist, then at least now it isn’t such an extreme change of information to know: “there are gates. yes where you were sent WAS a gate, but they’ve been destroyed. oh and another gate is in GF!” like HOLD UP-

.

I wonder if we’ll ever see the hideout that Cislo or Vincent referenced... I’m sure that’d be lots of random children designs so probably not but,, I am really curious how and if they’ll take all those kids. Norman did say he wants freedom for all cattle children. but with no large scale plan anymore, I’m not sure if that’s gonna work. If any human stays behind, as I’ve often talked about before, the cycle just starts anew and I’m really curious if TPN will go for a morally grey ending like that.

Unless the whole “evil-blood” religion works out this time when the high class is gone. but even Sonju is already in part a counter-example so... we’ll see I suppose.

.

I really loved this episode though! If the anime continues this trend to the finish line, it’ll stay a wonky 7 for me :) (quality wise, you guys know my tpn brainrot won’t make me truly hate it pff- tpn love too big-)

[todomochi-uwu]

1, 2... and maybe 3 (1/3)

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Kirishima Eijirou; Bakugou Katsuki x reader; Kirishima Eijirou x reader

Warnings: Angst, Poly relationship

Author´s Note: This is the first part of my commission for @beemmmv thank you so much for asking for this, I really hope you enjoy it!!!!!

Bakugou's back was pressed against the dark wood bed heading, his head in between his hands, the trembling of his shoulders wouldn´t seem to stop, his eyes were swollen to the point everything seems just a blur while his mouth failed miserably trying to keep the sobs in. 

Kirishima was on the other side, he didn´t seem to be any better. small drops of blood fell off his lips, his teeth bite them down in anxiety and sorrow, his hands clutched the fabric in his shirt in a desperate attempt to stop the ache in his heart. 

Only one question had managed to take all the oxygen in the room, asphyxiating them, leaving them cornered.

                                                                Where had things gone wrong?

Nothing seemed to add up, no sign, no red flag.

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

Going back to when they first years; naive; predictable; no experience at all into what feelings were. They would have never thought that those fist bumps would turn into awkward hand holdings; playful insults would now have a hidden meaning and lingering feelings would insert themselves in the conversation, but before they knew a small peck on the lips in celebration of Bakugou´s new hero license ignited something so big and wonderful it almost felt unreal. 

Everything was great. They made it work.

Kirishima knew how and when to be patient, but also to extern his doubts and thoughts, while Bakugou, although took a while, learned how to manage his insecurities and express his feelings. 

Some things were new, feelings, for example, saying I love you had a new tone to it, hugging and kissing was such an experience, but also some pretty bold statements had been made, they were NOT into girls. 

Funny, considering none of them had even liked someone before or knew what the fuck they were doing. 

Mina had commented along the lines, "Sexuality and points of view will change along we grow, maybe not entirely, maybe just small details, but they will." Might be a crackhead, but she knew what she was talking about. 

But they were sure of themselves.

So... What in the hell had happened?

A bunch of snarky comments and the power of a thunderstorm.  Miya.

The first day she appeared she managed to sweep everyone off their feet, strong looks, determination in her eyes and the scene she had made were enough to declare her place in the room. She stood tall in the ground, small freckles adorn her face along with her rose pink lips, her eyelashes stood long and curvy framing her big brown eyes that were covered behind thick square glasses. 

"Hey, four-eyes you are sitting in my fucking seat. Care to move?" A foot kicking the desk hard enough to make it move and hit the wall. 

She couldn´t be bothered, she got up and went to the back of the classroom, not even sparing a glance to the porcupine looking man.

"The fuck? I'm talking to you, are you as deaf as you are blind, bitch?" Once again, no fucks were given. And that was enough to tick off Bakugou, in a matter of seconds he was up in her face. Truly a mistake. 

"If you don't mind I have better things than to be tacking care of a rabies dog, where´s your caretaker? Shall I fill up a complaint with animal control, because I believe you don´t belong to a classroom but a cage." She pushed her finger against his chest making him back away, not a fraction of fear in her self, she knew his kind, pompous, wannabes who bark much but no bite. "I know who you are Bakugou Katsuki, first and third place in the sports festival, Endeavour´s intern, Ground Zero. Let me tell you something, and you WILL listen, am not here to get yelled or put down by a guy who spits more saliva than he makes sense, make us both a favour and sit down like a good boy and you might receive a treat if you behave. Are we clear?

Complete silence. Midoriya´s jaw was on the floor along with everyone else´s in the room, hell, even Todoroki´s eyes were wide opened and small drops of sweat ran down the right part of his forehead. 

No one knew what to do or how to react until a red spiked hair man decided to include himself in the scene. 

"Oh my god, I am so sorry. Bakugou can be a little bit much to handle, but I assure he doesn´t mean wrong, he's just not good with strangers, please please don´t take it so personally." He grabbed the blonde one by the collar, but he made no effort in detaching himself, still not understanding what just happened. "My name´s Kirishima, welcome to class 3A." And with that, he left the room along with Bakugou; reprimanding him for his actions and stating that he didn´t act manly at all. 

After this, people were a little afraid of approaching her, but soon they found out it was just her standing up for herself, she usually was sweet and considerate, more of a listener rather than a talker, and not a follower. 

Her leadership truly showed when in practice missions she managed to come up with a plan that went accord everyone's needs and strongest points, she took suggestions and comments, people looked up to her. A true icon. 

About her quirk? Thunderstorm. Her ability to invoke a storm at please was amazing and well worked. Her body would lift off the ground and her eyes would turn pearl white, rays ran across her skin, decorating it, her hands sparkled, she looked invincible. 

And two pairs of eyes could notice this.

Kirishima´s eyes always wander to where she stood, he knew it was wrong but the way the dark coloured suit hugged her hips along with the heels she wore it was simply unbelievable, the rhythm she followed while walking; while exercising: while fighting. He was enticed. 

His boyfriend was no different, Bakugou would never admit it, but he would watch from the side every time they had to combat, the way she would frown when calculating was arousing and it was even better when she had her legs tight around Deku´s neck, choking him while pulling his arm, immobilizing him. 

But there were also small things, simple and almost unnoticeable things that made her lovely, the way she small and giggle when Mina kept making lame jokes; the way the tip of her tongue would come out when trying to wing her eyeliner; her baby blue painted nails scratching the back of her shaved blonde hair; or how excited she would get when dripping little drops of pink colourant in the batter for the cupcakes she made. 

Everything amount and made them drop on their knees, their hearts out for her.

Looking on the other side, she wasn´t above feelings. She first noticed the shark-like boy, the way he would cheer up his friends, the words that came out of his heart and the way his smile would light up his entire face. She was confused with what he meant with being "manly" but quickly caught on, it meant being a hero, a good person, and he truly lived up to that. She saw him in the job, she saw him in school and she saw him in his casual state, and she had no doubt, he made her heart flutter. 

With Bakugou things were a little more... Harsh? Bickering, comments back and forth, she would pin him to the ground and he would have her face against the floor. And while he was a dick, she could see through it, she could see his fragileness, but also his determination. The way he would care without saying it, or the small efforts he made trying to tone down his attitude. 

And then. Sad. Tragic. Heartbroken. 

Kirishima and Bakugou were a thing. They had been for a couple of years now. 

"Ugh I can´t believe two of the most decent guys in the class are already taken, that leaves us with stoic Todoroki, pervert Mineta and trembling Deku." Hagakure let out, exasperated. 

"Who are the other two?" Miya giggled, ohh the drama. Boy, she did not expect what was happening next. 

"Bakugou and Kirishima, but I can't even be mad. They are so fucking cute together." 

"Wait, wait. They are together? I thought Kirishima was only just a great friend." She could hear her heartbreak bit by bit, the oxygen running out her lungs and her mouth going dry. 

"No, girl. Two years now. It was a bit of a shock at first but not unexpected, y´know?" 

"Right." And that was the only thing that could come out of her mouth, the two men she loved, the ones who made her skin get goosebumps and sighs leave her mouth. 

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

Falling in love was the easy part. Dealing with it? Not so much.

They were unsure and scared, they knew they loved each other, but they also love her. Afraid of hurting each other feelings, they decided it was better to stay quiet. 

Bakugou loves Kirishima and wasn´t ready to lose him.

Kirishima loves Bakugou and wasn´t planning to have him out of his life. 

But it was becoming more and more difficult to hide it, jealousy and longing were now present. 

Suddenly the way Todoroki´s eyes looked at her made Kirishima´s teeth clenched to the point of hurting. Sero´s arm was too close for Bakugou´s liking. Deku´s excitement to see her made Kirishima go way too harm on him at training. And the constant flirting Kaminari did gain him a punch on the eye by Bakugou. 

Things were getting out of my hand. All of it leading to how things were right now.  Communication had been lost, doubts all over the place and the fear filling their hearts.

"Katsuki" Kirishima's broken voice and nasal tone made his partner's heart clench even more, "Could you please tell me what's going on? I am sure I can help if you just let me, you don't have to face this alone."

He decided to stay quiet, Kirishima had been the one and the only person who could see right through him, he could see through the anger, the superiority complex, the hate in his soul, and the idea of breaking the one person he loved, it simply killed him. 

"Baby please, you have to talk to me, I just... I just..." Tears were falling again, sobs coming out not allowing any words to come out. "Bakugou, I just don´t want this to end, not like this, not ever. So I´m begging you, please tell me what's wrong."

And he tried, he did, after a few breaths he managed to calm down a bit, enough to talk at least, "I don´t want to hurt you, Ei."

"I promise you won't, talk to me, babe." He promised his forehead against the door. 

"I think, I think I like someone else." He stayed quiet gathering his thoughts, "I think I like a girl."

Kirishima eyes widened, his heart beating increasing, even more, they were walking on eggshells, "Okay, are you okay with that?"

"I don't know."

"It's normal to be scared baby, but it´s also normal if you like them. I also do."

"You do?" This time Bakugou was left without words, could it be that...?

"Yeah, at least I think so." He remembered the talk he had with Mina earlier that day. 

"I don´t know Mina, I guess I always thought that..."

"Just because Bakugou is your boyfriend doesn´t mean you are gay, Kiri. Sexuality has a pretty big spectrum, doesn´t mean things are either black or white, for all you know you could be bisexual, pansexual or omnisexual; or maybe you just like one girl and she's the exception, we don´t know, all you have to know is that this is okay, you are not wrong, you are not bad. You love Bakugou very much and you will get through this, just talk to him."

"Thank you, Mina"

"Can I... Can I know who you like?" The blonde was hesitant, not sure if he wanted to answer that.

"Okay, but before I want you to know that I love you so much and that this doesn't have to change anything between us, okay?"

"Okay. "

"I like Miya."

Kirishima´s eyes were wide open, relief washing over his entire body and a strange sense of excitement replace it, he had an idea. 

"Hey, Katsuki. Do you know what polyamory means?"

[aphroditestummyrolls]

This is some Nile!POV Joe/Nicky cuteness that is also the start of the sequel Brother of My Heart and Sono Qui (and Feed My Soul, but there’s no smut here). I wanted to have this posted today, but I’m depressed as fuck and have about 1500 words to go on this lil ditty, so I’m posting a snippet. For shameless validation purposes. Let me know what you think <3 

Joe led the way into a cozy back room, flooded with morning sunlight. The back doors were flung open, and Nile could glimpse the trees that she had seen poking out the top of the garden wall before. They were heavy with orange fruit that matched the bowl on the kitchen counter. 

The walls were a soft white, reflecting the sun’s rays and turning the whole space to gold. The dark wood of the rafters reminded her of Provence, and she smiled. 

“Did you build this one, too?” She asked while the coffee percolated. Joe hummed, shaking his head. 

“The foundations of this one might even predate us.” He replied, choosing a tangerine from the bowl and digging his thumbs in to peel it. “We didn’t buy this place until after the Second World War.” 

“From the way you guys talk about it, I thought it must’ve been your oldest place— your first place together, or something.” 

“Nicky had a hell of a time in the Pacific theatre. And then as a medic in France through the end of the war.” He popped a segment of fruit into his mouth, “We were separated for a long time— longest ever, actually.” 

“You didn’t serve in World War 2?” That didn’t sound right to Nile. They fought for what they thought was right, they were an army of four— but Joe skipped out on the biggest war in modern history?

“Joe and I worked in intelligence.” Andy cut in while Joe chewed, “More covert work.” 

Nile just nodded, swallowing the thousands of questions bubbling up her throat and filing them away. It was too early. 

You ask one question, and suddenly everything‘s a story— she thought, How do people not immediately know you guys are old people? I feel like I’m talking to my grandma.

Not that she was complaining. She had loved her grandma’s stories— it was why she loved history, and wanted to study art. Her stomach clenched, and not for the first time, she remembered what Andy had said— I don’t remember what my mother looked like… or my sisters… 

Nile didn’t want to forget her grandma. She didn’t want to forget a minute— the Sundays in the kitchen after church, the smell of earl gray and Werther’s caramels, the peace lily she watered every day after Dad’s funeral.

Hearing stories of all the things they remembered was reassuring. At least they didn’t forget everything. 

“Nile?” Joe’s voice shook her out of her thoughts, “Coffee?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, thanks.” She took the mug with a deep breath, “Sorry, I’m still a little tired. You were a spy?” 

Joe smiled like he understood something unspoken, nodding “Yes. Many times in my life— but I’d never been away from Nicky like that. Three years, it was Hell.” 

“It was Hell to listen to your pining.” Andy nudged his shoulder, smiling into her mug. 

“You barely even saw me!” He tsked, wagging a finger at her before turning back to Nile, “Anyway, a couple years after the war was over, we decided we needed a break. We picked Malta simply for its position— smack in the middle of the sea between Italy and Tunisia. We didn’t expect to love it as much as we did, but it was a buyer’s market, and…” he started out shrugging, looking down at the orange in his hand, but when he glanced up, he did a double take. 

At first, she thought he was looking at her, but he couldn’t be. His gaze was too soft, his smile too charmed, his quiet laugh seemed too practiced for it to be for her. Andy snorted into her mug, her eyes doing that thing that you would expect of a person seeing a baby animal. 

“Good Morning, my heart.” Joe cooed, his smile beaming. 

Nile looked over her shoulder, and sure enough, Nicky was at the foot of the stairs on the other side of the living space. 

He was a sight, all ruffled and tanned, blinking sleep out of his eyes. He was wearing thin shorts and a singlet tank top that must have been Joe’s. It was stretched out just the littlest bit too much for his lanky frame, but what really made Nile choke on her coffee was his hair. 

“Finally!” Andy greeted as Nicky plodded his way through the living room to the kitchen, “After 196 years, the long hair returns!” 

Joe grinned and Nicky chuckled, running a hand down his face like he could scrub the sleepiness away. “Yes, and it needs to be washed.” 

He came up beside Nile with one of his big, warm hands and squeezed the back of her neck, wrapping her into a hug that smelled like detergent and Joe’s sandalwood cologne. She squeezed him around the waist, her smile curving her lips without a thought. He shuffled around the room to Andy, murmuring something soft and Italian that made her smile before hugging her too. 

Andy curled her hand around the back of his head, petting through the long strands and humming in contentment. Joe grinned, his eyes catching Nile’s across the counter. 

“When my Nico first cut his hair, I think Andy was more bereft than I was.” He said it like a stage whisper, making Nicky snort, unwinding from his friend’s arms while Andy lazily flipped Joe off. 

“Don’t worry, Andy, Joe made a very persuasive argument for keeping the hair.” Nicky grinned, turning to the man in question and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. He slipped around him behind him, looping his arms loosely around his waist. Nicky sandwiched himself between Joe’s back and the kitchen counter, making the other man hum and lean into him. He peeled off a slice of tangerine and held it over his shoulder for his love. “And yet, now I am the one who wakes up alone in our bed,” he tsked, even as he took the offered bite, “very rude, Yusuf.” 

“And what did you expect of me? We have guests, Hayati.” 

“You could have woken me and told me we had guests.” He shook his head at Nile in a universal gesture that said can you believe this guy? Even while Joe did the same thing, rolling his eyes in a long suffering way toward Andy. 

There was some grumbled Italian kissed into Joe’s neck. It made his eyes crinkle as he laughed, holding out another orange slice. 

Nile rolled her eyes fondly, sipping her coffee and wondering how these two soft, sleepy men could possibly be the hardened warriors of epic battles and old paintings. 

“I was just telling Nile about how we came to own this palace.” Joe said, slipping out of Nicky’s arms so he could pour another cup of coffee. Nicky hummed, nodding. 

“You told her how much I hated it here at first?” He smirked, just a tiny flicker of a thing as the other man pressed a mug into his hand. 

Every few minutes with these people, Nile felt like she heard a record scratch. There was always something deeper with them, even in a nondescript little house on the edge of the sea. 

“You hated it?” Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline, “But I thought this was your spot.” 

“It is now, but there was baggage for me in Valletta that we didn’t know until we got here.” He shrugged, “By then, I figured it must be fate— God telling me that it was time to fight that particular demon.” He looked over at Joe, whose smile had gone tender. Andy nodded at the dregs of her coffee, leaning into Nicky’s side. “The core of this life is learning to change, Nile.” 

The silence hung heavily for Nile, but she had the feeling that this was normal for the others— it had been in Provence, too. Every once in a while, something jogged a memory and pulled a feeling or a thought right out of the depths of them. It didn’t matter what time of day, or where in the world they were, sometimes things just hit them. Like Chicago. 

It was weirdly comforting.

Times like this usually meant a story, and Nile wanted to hear this one. She needed to hear this one. 

“But how d’you keep changing without forgetting?” She finally asked with a voice that was smaller than she wanted it to be. 

Nicky smiled. Like Joe, he looked softer than he had in the church or the lab or in Provence. There was an ease in the set of his shoulders, and the circles under his eyes were less like bruises. He smiled at her, and she almost believed that he was just a 30 year old man. 

How did they do that? Act their age, while also being indescribably ancient? Being her friend, while also being like her brother, and her grandma all at once? 

“I’ll trade you a story for an onion.” He said. Andy snorted, and Joe choked on his orange slice. 

“What?” 

“I’m going to make omelettes— chop half an onion and mince some garlic for me, and we can chat about Valletta.” 

She smiled, “Deal.” 

[fireflyhwufanficwriter]

My thoughts on Dr. Stone’s S02E02 (“Hot Line”)

(Safe to read for anime-only folks 😁)

My thoughts after watching Season Two, Episode Two:

01. Taiju and Yuzuriha in the very first frame 😊

02. In Season One, the OP had chemistry formulas, and this season, it’s mathematical formulas! 😊

03. In the opening song, Ruri is praying for everybody to be safe, Kaseki looks solemn, Magma is smiling, and Suika is… bouncing around excitedly. I think this might be showing us just who is actually the most bloodthirsty member of the kingdom of science to date... 😆

04. Is it a good idea for Suika to be the lookout? I know the telescope has lenses, but still… Although out of main and side characters, she’s the one who’d be better off avoiding an all-out battle (though she did save everybody last season), so I guess it makes sense for her to help out this way. And she isn’t the type of person to get bored or slack off 😊

05. Kohaku makes jumping off of tree branches look so effortless 😲

06. The way Kohaku’s eyes were red as she approached Homura from behind… 😲

07. Haha! Kohaku carried hot spring water from a mountain to her village for years and years! A bit of conversation while jumping around in the forest isn’t going to exhaust her at all 😁

08. It’s nice that Kokuyou is still so active in protecting the village even though he isn’t the chief anymore 😊

09. Kohaku from behind, Senku from the front, trapping Homura in the middle. It’s awesome to see the two of them working together like this! 😊

10. Hello again, Mecha Senku! Long time no see! 😁

11. We didn’t get a “flare acquired!” notification 🙁

12. Kohaku fell off a tree because of her incredible eyesight couldn’t take Senku’s super-bright flare! Aww! 😊 And… nobody noticed 😆

13. “Once we’re done building civilization…” This is really interesting. Way back in the beginning, he wasn’t interested in romance at all, but now, after some time has passed, he went from “no thanks” to “maybe AFTER this specific point in time in the future.” Something, or rather, somebody, may have caused Senku to consider changing his mind? Who knows...? 😆

14. Senku’s lack of physical strength is so established that even Homura knows about it 😆

15. Poor Kohaku… incredible eyesight isn’t always such a great thing to have... 😆

16. In Argo’s mind: “Yes! I’m in a scene with main characters! And an antagonist knows who I am! Wow!”

17. Chalk trying to help 😊

18. Again, no “black light acquired!” notification 🙁

19. Kohaku and Senku’s conversation! 😊 For somebody to put their trust in somebody else when it’s a question of morals… you don’t do that with just anybody. That shows an amazing amount of faith 😲 Both of them speaking with each other so seriously, and Kohaku opening up about a “weakness” of hers… This is a great scene! 😁

20. Magma was RUNNING down that mountain! Running!

21. Why did Gen stop Chrome from answering the phone? It wasn’t like Homura or Tsukasa had any way of intercepting the call?

22. Senku, Kohaku, Kinro… a nice trio 😊 Kohaku taking her turn to keep watch, while Senku and Kinro are bonding… it’s nice to see hints like this of friendships between characters 😊

23. That “sun rising over the Earth” shot reminded me of the very first Pokemon opening theme 😁 “I want to be the very best… Like no one ever was…”

24. Senku, why are you comparing Morse Code transmissions to text messages while talking to Kohaku and Kinro?? That doesn’t help make things any clearer! 😆

25. That map shows paths that aren’t straight lines. How do you even communicate paths like that in Morse Code? Degrees and steps, maybe?

26. Homura looks HORRIFIED at the thought of communications technology! (As she rightly should.)

27. Before, Tsukasa trapped Kohaku under a tree, intending to kill her… and now, Kohaku’s saving a member of the Tsukasa Empire from being trapped under a tree and being killed by the impact 😲

28. Before, Tsukasa chopped down a tree to trap Kohaku and kill her, and now, the kingdom of science chopped down a tree to trap a member of the Tsukasa Empire, and had Kohaku save her from being killed 😲

29. I love how Kohaku is just gloating over how they used the cell phones and how they used them to trap Homura, because one, it’s not like she gets all the scientific concepts behind it, and two, the MODERN-ERA person she’s restraining understands the concept of communications technology way more than Kohaku does 😆

30. Kohaku looked so happy as she was waving to Chrome! I love their friendship!! 😊

31. The music we heard right after that… feels like a slow version of something familiar? Or is it just nee epic-sounding music?

32. Why is there no snow on those numbered statues? And the general area Chrome and the others are in?

33. I JUST noticed that Magma has the same two-color hair Kokuyou has 😲 Has Magma always had that??

34. Gen thinking about that guy’s family… 😢

35. He was able to intercept that? He moves fast!

36. Um, Gen… when it actually comes time to kill somebody… what you said doesn’t apply to everybody, unfortunately. The person right in front of you is also capable of “going ahead and doing it.” You know that better than anybody!

37. I like what Chrome is saying (especially the “We’re aiming way higher” line), but the super quick transition from “cloudy day” to “lots of rays of sunlight” is pretty jarring…

38. They’re allies now, but Gen can’t resist taking the opportunity to creep Magma out… or just plain scare him 😆

39. Using a fake grave for covert communications like that is SUCH a good idea! 😁

40. Magma’s trying so hard to help, but… 😆

41. When Chrome hit that large stone with his shovel, I thought it was THE rock – the gigantic boulder that Taiju threw at Tsukasa! Could it be the same rock?

42. The archer has appeared! 😊 He has a deeper voice than I would have imagined…

43. Kohaku looks so worried; probably for Chrome in particular… 🙁

44. I wish the animators had included one frame of Taiju and Yuzuriha noticing the upturned earth around the grave, or something, instead of immediately having Taiju just randomly stick his hand into the dirt and pull out the microphone.

45. One word from Senku, and Taiju started crying so hard before he could even speak… 😢

46. After Taiju said, “Senku!” we see Senku’s face… and there was a quick moment where his mouth twitched while the corners of his lips were still pulled downward… like a genuinely spontaneous emotional reaction to hearing from his friends again after so long… before Senku gave a big grin as a planned “cooler” reaction 😢 And even though he’s trying to act all cool and stuff, Senku’s eyes are shining with tears… 😢

47. About the ED, I was expecting modern Senku to turn into stone world Senku… I didn’t expect the green petrification light and petrified Senku, and for the buildings in the background to fall apart. Such cool details! And I loved how stone age Senku was walking at first, then running (and then running with science gear), representing the hope he has for the future! 😊 I wonder if the yellow-to-blue color transition has any symbolic meanings behind it?

48. I need to look up the meanings of the lyrics of these new season’s OP and ED so that I can understand what the songs are about. Right now, the OP sounds too chill for me to be the right OP for this season, but I like the way the ED sounds 😊 I think I’ll really like the ED’s lyrics when I learn what they are! 😁

https://firefly-hwufanficwriterrrrr.tumblr.com/MyDrStoneEpisodeMangaThoughts

[redmayniac-roleplayer]

Childhood Aesthetics Meme

Bold all that apply to your muse as a child. (In modern verse if you write a historical or fantasy character.)

Alright, I'll be doing it for little Toria in Alaska:

FUTURE JOB  -  ninja, pirate, vet, actor, astronaut, cooker, builder, knight, indiana jones, wizard, a parent, barbie, action man, writer, prince or princess, hero, villain, teacher, doctor, nurse, army man, rapper, singer, dancer, youtuber, twitch streamer, zookeeper, gardener, sailor, fisherman, carpenter, monarch, pilot.

FEARS  -  thunderstorms, strangers, space, abandonment, the dark, clowns, loud noises, dogs, spiders, masks, puppets, boys, girls, cooties, bugs, big objects, water, hell, being told off, police, new places, bullies, being wrong, ghosts.

PAINT YOUR  BEDROOM  -  pink, blue, green, brown, yellow, orange, purple, neons, pastels, beige, mismatched multicolour, dark blue, wall mural, black, grey, white.

DECORATE YOUR BEDROOM  -  posters torn from magazines, maps of fictional lands, books, cassettes or cds, lavalamp, minifridge, your very own tv, games console, teddies, pirate ship, floor length mirror, fairylights, funko dolls, vhs or dvds, dinosaurs, beanbags, animals, framed posters, stickers, pokemon, princesses, glow in the dark stars, corkboard full of photos, awards, your own art, disney princesses, marvel heroes, ben 10 theme, cartoon network show theme, animes, space theme, fantasy theme.

TOYBOX  -  barbie, ken, action man, my first science kit, csi lab kit, tamagotchi, cuddly teddy, pirate ship, horse, lego, furby, easybake oven, archeology kit, pokemon cards, beyblades, disney princesses, baby doll, sword, gun, crown, recorder, spy gear, slinky, beanie babies, colouring set, paints, play doh, simpsons, disney princess dolls, marvel action figures, books, puzzle books, wizard broom, robes, dollhouse, space ship, ray guns, walkie talkies, craft kits, slime, fidget spinners, fake tattoos, football, basketball, skateboard, swings, mini ant farm, seamonkies, rock em sock em robots, stretch armstrong, he man, my little pony, care bears, girls world styling head, mostly broken, sticky, pristine, no batteries, perfect working order, crayons, sunbleached, well loved. 

BOOKBAG  -  harry potter, bfg, the hunger games, wheres wally, winnie the pooh, the very hungry caterpillar, matilda, the cat in the hat, the lord of the rings, charlottes web, northern lights, lion witch and the wardrobe, goodnight moon, where the wild things are, the tale of peter rabbit, charlie and the chocolate factory, stuart little, alices adventures in wonderland, a series of unfortunate events, bridge to terabithia, diary of a wimpy kid, anne frank diary of a young girl, the outsiders, the jungle book, the wonderful wizard of oz, peter pan, the secret garden, the wind in the willows, how to draw.

WARDROBE  -  tshirts with your fave cartoon characters, youtuber merch, scuffed jeans, plasticy fancy dress costumes, pretty dresses, button down shirts, woolen sweaters, floral skirts, jean shorts, cargo pants, handmedowns, brand new, grass stains, mud stains, three days worn, clean on, all one colour, too many different colours, plain tshirts, hoody, custom printed novelty tops, bows, animal onesies, pufferjackets, bodywarmer, mittens, bobblehats, hats with ears, sunglasses, earmuffs, pastels, oversaturated dark colours, crinkled, ironed, smells floral, smells musky, animal print, sparkles, double denim, too big, too small, just right, karate uniform, scouts uniform, school uniform.

Tagged by @hiccuphaddockswife - thanks sweetie! 💓

Tagging whoever else who wants doing it.

[simkjrs]

fic: see you in the dark

chapter i: a troublePSIme development

saiki kusuo no psi nan x worm web serial | saiki kusuo & taylor hebert | 3k

----

Psychic power. For instance… hearing other people’s thoughts, or seeing what’s on the other side of a wall, or even manipulating objects through power of will alone. A power to do what normal people can’t. That’s what I have. 

My name is Saiki Kusuo, and I am an esper. 

Q: Are you a chuunibyou?

A: No. 

I’ve lived with this power my whole life. Some of you might be thinking, “How lucky! With that kind of power, you could do anything you want!” Wrong! Do you know how annoying it is to always be hearing people’s thoughts, or constantly seeing through skin and muscle until everyone simply looks like walking sacks of bones? Not to mention each power comes with its own downsides too. Read the manga if you want to learn more. In any case, having psychic power has done nothing but inconvenience me since the moment of my birth, and is barely any help in my pursuit of my dream to live a completely ordinary life. 

That said, thanks to my psychic powers, nothing bad has ever really happened to me, so I don’t really have anything to complain about. 

Well, there is one thing. 

“Saiki. How did your part of the project go last night?” 

As I haven’t brainwashed the people of this world into ignoring me speaking directly to their minds with telepathy, I can only respond through physical gesture or by speaking with my actual voice. I don’t particularly care to do the latter, so I simply nod in greeting. 

Here, Hebert. Take this packet of papers with all my work so you can look over it and calm down your paranoia about me ruining your grades, and so I don’t have to speak. 

As you may have guessed, the one speaking to me is named Hebert. Taylor Hebert, to be exact. Since this is a story and not a manga or anime, I’ll describe her for you. She’s tall for her age, thin, and has long, curly black hair. As for her facial features… She probably has a wide mouth, but I wouldn’t know, since my X-ray vision is always on and looking at anyone for longer than a second means I start seeing through their skin down to their muscle and bone. Thanks to that I’ve never bothered to memorize people’s faces very closely. I can identify them by their thoughts anyways. 

So why are you complaining about Hebert? you might be asking. Is she a bad school partner? Does she smell bad? Does she have a romantic inclination for you that you can’t maneuver your way out of no matter how hard you try, like a certain blue-haired perfect pretty girl loved by God? 

None of the above. There’s nothing wrong with Hebert herself. She’s capable, diligent, and introverted, which suits a shy and withdrawn student like me. No, the problem is the trouble that she comes with. 

Here they come, right on cue. Hess has walked by and bumped Hebert just a little too hard, almost jostling the papers out of her hands. None of that, now. I’ll help Hebert keep ahold of them with a little telekinesis. I worked hard on those papers, you know. No knocking them down. 

“Oops, sorry, we didn’t see you there, Taylor,” says Barnes sweetly. “I guess we just didn’t notice you, what with how plain and ugly your clothes are…” 

And there they go, starting up with one insult after another. They’re not even very good insults. Well, carry on a bullying campaign for a year and a half and you’ll eventually run out of material, I suppose. It’s still quite annoying to hear themselves congratulating themselves for a job well done with each insult, though. Like this, with Barnes…  

<Hehe. The look on her face. She’s totally self conscious about how she looks, now. I wonder if she’ll go cry in the bathroom later?> 

That’s not something you should be proud of, you know. The level of self-congratulation sure is amazing. Actually, what’s more amazing is how shamelessly they bully Hebert right in front of others. I’m right here, you know? Not that I want them to notice me, but it’s the principle of the matter. 

I shift in my seat slightly, which successfully draws their attention away from Taylor for a moment. 

“Oh, sorry, Saiki,” Barnes says. “Were we interrupting a moment between you two?” Yes, our homework consultation time. “Nah, who am I kidding? No one would ever get together with flat-chest over here.” What’s the big deal about the size of someone’s chest? One mass of fat and muscle is basically the same as another; if there’s a little more or less, who cares. “You’re still working with her on this project? You can do way better than her.” 

Is that so? Certainly I could find a partner with better grades if I wanted, but I don’t want good grades. I want ones that are completely ordinarily average. Standing out is the opposite of what I want to do… although, being partnered with Hebert, I’ve already failed step one. What a pain. 

“Yeah,” says Clements. “Haven’t you heard how bad her grades are? She never turns in anything on time…” That’s because you steal her things. “And she cheats…” That’s because you frame her after you copy her work. “And when she does turn in original work, the quality is so bad, she might as well drop out and join the Merchants!” That’s because she has to redo her work after you destroy it. Who has the time to redo everything perfectly a second time. 

The bullies all seem to think this is very clever though, laughing at Hebert. It’s actually quite incredible that anyone could be this cliche. 

Hebert has lowered her head. … It’s only natural to be worn down after months of this treatment, I suppose. 

<Damn it. Why did they have to do this in front of Saiki? Now I’ll lose another partner, too. Can’t I have just one class without having to worry about them?> 

It doesn’t really make a difference if they do it here or in another classroom, Hebert. I can still hear it with my telepathy. This bullying case is even worse than Akechi’s. At least Akechi had acquaintances who would help him in the aftermath. But no one steps up to help Hebert. 

“Hey, it’s rude to ignore people when they’re talking to you,” says Barnes. 

Ah, that’s right, they’re waiting for a response from me. Why did you have to drag me into this, seriously. 

“Well?” says Barnes, putting a hand on her hip. “What do you think?” 

Now that it’s come to this, I have no choice but to respond. 

What should I do? Talk to her? I’d rather not make my first spoken words in this story to someone like her. 

Ignore her? 

<This guy is ticking me off. If he keeps ignoring me, I’ll have to explain to him properly how it works around here…> 

That’s just trouble. How annoying. 

With those two options off the table, you’ve left me no choice but to show you the power of an esper, Barnes. You brought this on yourself. 

“Hey, she’s talking to you,” Hess says menacingly, stepping up to me and grabbing me by the collar of my shirt. “Or do you want to end up on the shit list like Hebert, here?” 

I narrow my eyes. I see. So you want to pick a fight with me? 

Then you better be prepared for the consequences. 

Hess flinches for a second, before gripping my shirt harder. “What’s with that look?” she says lowly. <What was that?! Usually he just sits there passively with a blank expression. He doesn’t respond to anything. He’s totally prey! He’s basically air! But for a second there, I could have sworn…> 

“Don’t bother with him,” Clements says disdainfully. “I mean, if he doesn’t want to talk, he’s pretty much declared where he stands, right?” She smiles. Next to her, Barnes holds the papers I worked so hard on last night. She makes direct eye contact with me as she rips it into shreds. I have the feeling I’m supposed to be hurt by this action somehow, but this level of harassment is so petty it’s just sad. 

<That’ll show you not to mess with me. So hurry up and change your expression already…Hm?> 

She follows my gaze to the doorway behind her. 

There stands Mr. Prescott, looking at the shredded paper on the desk. That’s right. Behold the revenge of an esper. 

“Miss Barnes,” says Mr. Prescott, “Care to explain?” 

<Damn it, it’s Shadow Stalker and her friends. I can’t turn a blind eye to this, but if I’m too hard on her, we could lose the PRT funding…> 

“Oh, Mr. Prescott!” Barnes says sweetly. “We were just messing around between friends. Sorry, it looks a little compromising, huh?” 

Mr. Prescott’s gaze travels to where Hess is still holding my shirt. Hess lets go quickly and straightens up. 

“Yes,” Mr. Prescott says slowly. “Well. There’s nothing wrong with having fun with your friends. But be sure not to disrupt class. Everyone be seated, then. The bell is about to ring.” 

“Sure thing, Mr. Prescott,” Clements says, and the bullies disperse away from my desk. 

<At least they gave me an excuse not to do anything, but honestly, if you’re going to do anything, make sure I won’t see it…> Mr. Prescott, you sure do love that PRT funding, huh. What is with this school. So irresponsible. 

<What bad luck. Usually the teacher doesn’t get here for a couple minutes more,> Emma thinks. <What was that timing?> 

That would be my doing. Using my telepathy, I nudged Mr. Prescott into deciding to walk over a few minutes earlier than usual. Of course, now he’s thinking about how he’s strictly not entering the classroom until after the bell has rung because he wants to avoid seeing trouble like that again, so it seems it was a one-time use trick, but it’s enough to make everyone back off for now. 

<That Saiki, he didn’t even flinch. It’s like he knew Mr. Prescott was coming.> There goes Hess speculating about me again. <Or it could just be his face. He always looks like he just smelt something foul. I don’t think I’ve seen him change expression once. Or heard him talk, for that matter.> A pause. <Wait, is he mute?> 

She feels a moment of shame. That’s right. You should feel bad. 

<…Typical. How weak. He’s got to be prey after all.> 

Wow. What a character. 

Hess, for someone who likes to call herself a predator, you’ve sure got bad instincts. 

“I’m sorry, Saiki,” Hebert says to me as Mr. Prescott sets up the projector. “It’s my fault your work got ruined.” 

<Why’d he have to catch their attention like that, anyways? If he’d just kept his head low, maybe I could’ve gotten through this class’s project...> 

Your resentment is saying something totally different. I don’t hold it against her, though, since anyone would gather up resentment after being bullied for so long. It’s only natural to lash out against someone you can actually have an impact on instead of the people whose fault it actually is. At least she’s only doing it in her mind. 

<No, what am I thinking? It’s the Trio’s fault. It’s just so frustrating. They’ve already ruined my notebooks this morning.> … It’s a tough life. I’m surprised at how reasonable Hebert is being even in the confines of her own mind, though. It’s okay to sling mud at me a little longer. I can take it. I’ve heard thoughts like that my whole life. Although, thanks for not blaming me for too long, I suppose. It would have been annoying to work with you while constantly hearing how upset you are with me. <And now Saiki’s going to stop working with me, because he won’t want to be dragged into this. I’m alone again.>

Hahhh, seriously, what a pain. I haven’t even responded yet, you know? 

I shrug at Hebert, and then I reach into my bag for a spare sheaf of papers. With a bit of thoughtography, I copy the research I did last night onto the papers and pull them out. 

Hebert’s eyes widen when I put it in front of her. “You brought a second copy.” The amount of relief she feels is a bit depressing. The suspicion that immediately follows, even more so. “Why?” 

I slide my eyes to look at Barnes across the room, curl my lips into a slight sneer, and then turn my eyes back to the front, going back to my usual blank expression. 

<Emma? Wait, so he made preparations in case the Trio did anything?> Sure, let’s go with that. <Then… Well. Of course he’s noticed the bullying by now. But if he knew what was going on, why didn’t he do anything earlier? Why now?> 

Sorry, Hebert. I’m not really a nice person. I don’t take action unless it directly affects me. You’ve gotten quite the selfish partner. 

<But at the same time… I guess if I was in his position, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about them, either. He’s only just transferred into the school, and I don’t think he has any friends.> Don’t say that with such a pitying tone. I don’t want any friends here. <How would he even stand up to the Trio’s social circle? But he still stuck with me as a partner even though he knew. He made backup copies so we’d still be able to complete the project…> 

Hebert lowers her head at her desk. 

<And for a second there, I thought he really was going to fight Hess, too.> She noticed too, huh. Well, hopefully she’ll write it off as easily as they did. <That basically makes him the only person here to show me any kind of support, doesn’t it?> Just my luck. Of course she didn’t. <Maybe if someone like him had arrived here just a few months earlier, the locker incident wouldn’t have...>

Hebert, your life is seriously depressing. I haven’t done anything for you. It’s just a copy of my work, stop reading so much into it. 

<He didn’t have to go that far for me.> 

Seriously, it wasn’t for you. They were just getting me involved. It annoys me when someone thinks they can get the better of me. 

“…Thanks.” 

I said it wasn’t for you. 

Whatever. I give her a curt nod and then go back to ignoring her. This is an important class to pay attention to, after all. 

“Good morning, class. Welcome back to our Parahuman Studies unit. As a reminder, your research project is due this Friday…” 

<I wonder why an upperclassman like Saiki is taking this class, though. Is he taking it for easy units, maybe?> 

Hebert, I’m trying to concentrate here. 

<Well, it is an elective class, so maybe he’s just interested in the topic. The research he did looked really thorough and well-cited, too. I wonder how knowledgeable he is? Maybe I’ll ask after class.> Please don’t. I’m a sensitive soul. If too many people try to engage me in social interaction in one day I’ll wither away and die. <Who knows, maybe he even knows something that could help me with my debut.> 

Oh boy.

<Yeah. I can’t put off debuting any longer. I’ve had these powers for long enough, it’s time I stop delaying and start doing something meaningful.> 

This is the other troublesome thing with Hebert. 

What? you might be saying. Isn’t it cool that she has powers? Look you can be friends, and you’re not alone anymore. 

First of all, I’m not interested in being anyone’s friend. There’s nothing wrong with being alone. But no, the real problem is that she’s not like me at all. 

<Shard:Queen_Administrator:<PROCESS_INPUT>>

There’s a parasitic alien shard attached to her brain, and it’s the thing that gives her powers. On top of that, she controls bugs. 

It’s not that I’m afraid of bugs. They’re not particularly disgusting, either. Not much more than seeing people’s muscular structure every day, anyways. What really bothers me about them is that they’re so small I can’t read their minds or predict them. Birds, mammals, even fish? Sure. Bugs, though? Nothing. It’s way too creepy. 

I nearly refused to be her partner when I realized what she could do, but it turns out that by listening to this “Queen Administrator” shard, I can predict what nearby bugs are going to do and when. So it’s better to be next to her than not… even though it comes with the downside of knowing where every single bug in a two block radius is. 

And there are so. Many. Bugs. Just my luck. I’ll never be able to relax again. 

I’m getting sidetracked. The point is: I’m different from her. I’m different from every parahuman on this Earth, in fact. Of all the superpowered people on this planet, there is still not a single one like me. 

I’m sure that you, as a savvy reader, have noticed my phrasing by now. This Earth? you may be asking. Yes. This Earth, as one among many. This dimension is a different dimension from my own. 

That’s the biggest thing to complain about, really. I’ve accidentally hopped dimensions, and I don’t have a clue how to get back home. 

—— 

How did I get here? you might ask. Well, it’s a simple answer, really. For all of you manga readers, you may recall that in chapter 206 my limiter device malfunctioned and resulted in me acquiring a wide variety of inconvenient and useless powers. One of those powers? Dimension hopping. 

But that’s not useless at all! you might be crying. Imagine the possibilities! The riches you could acquire! The fame you could accrue! The technological development you could facilitate! 

With my powers I could make money in hundreds of different ways, easily. I don’t need dimension hopping for that. And why would I get myself money anyways, when I can just acquire what I want directly with my powers? 

That’s why I don’t bother with riches, and fame is just annoying because of all the attention. And I wouldn’t want to help facilitate technological development. That would require me to reveal my abilities in some capacity, and you should have realized by now that I would much prefer my privacy. 

In any case, I accidentally dimension hopped here. I managed to use one of the other “useless powers” to fix my limiter device so my psychic powers worked properly again, but now I can’t figure out how to get home. I don’t know how to break my limiter in the right way to get the dimension hopping power back, and I don’t want to risk it either, since my powers without the limiter device are uncontrollably strong and I might end up irrevocably changing this world if I’m not careful. 

Oh well. Kuusuke will probably find where I’ve ended up, eventually. The best thing to do is stay in one place until then. 

——

After a long and harrowing day at school blending into the background, I’ve finally arrived home. 

“Home.” In reality, it’s just an abandoned house that I fixed up with my psychic powers. No one knows I’m here. Well, that’s fine with me, though. 

Finishing all my homework is easy, so I take care of that first. Then I read some books. Then it’s around dinnertime. That’s a simple matter of taking some plants I gathered and deer meat I hunted from a forest on the other continent the other day, and stored in my “refrigerator” of ice I made from my cryokinesis. Then cook everything with pyrokinesis in an iron pot I bought with some money I got from cheating the lottery with my clairvoyance and X-ray powers. 

It’s quiet without my noisy and troublesome family around… Well, I’m always complaining about them, so I don’t have the right to complain about not having them here. 

There’s really not much to do. Maybe I should get myself a computer so I can go look around that PHO forum that Hebert is always thinking about. 

Speaking of Hebert, didn’t she say she was going to debut tonight? I guess I’ll check in on her. It would be annoying if my project partner got herself killed on her first night out, after all. Let’s see… 

Crossing my eyes, I activate my clairvoyance. Where is she… Aha, there. 

“--shoot the kids.”

<What? He’s going to murder children?! I know that’s Lung I’m going up against, but I can’t just sit here and do nothing…!> 

<Shard:Queen_Administrator:<COMMAND>>

Wait wait wait. Lung? As in the leader of that one gang, the parahuman who no one wants to take on? 

Good grief. Hebert, you sure have a talent for getting into trouble. I’m trying to keep this story strictly comedy, or failing that, at least something that’s not dark. You just had to go and change the genre, didn’t you. What am I supposed to do here? 

So much for a quiet, peaceful night.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Lost one sibling, gained four more; Queen x teen reader pt.2

*Author’s note*

Okay so here we go w/pt.2 now here is where we get to majority of the angst towards the middle and the end of the story. So I hope you all got your handkerchiefs out cause you’ll need them for this part. I’m sorry in advance for any heartbreak that I’ll cause but it ends with fluff, don’t worry. Enjoy my lovelies

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@waddles03

@geek-and-proud

@platawnic

@queendeakyy

@coolcxt

_________________________________________________________

"(Y/n). (Y/n)~ wake up sleeping beauty." I moaned and groggily opened my eyes to see Deacy smiling down at me. I felt his hand stroking my hair and I let out a soft yawn.

"Are we there yet?"

"We're just about to turn into the driveway right now." I heard Roger say. I got off Deacy's shoulder and as we finally arrived up at the studio I was surprised to see it was more like a barn than a recording studio. "This is it?" Roger asked.

"This is it boys and girl. Welcome to your new home for the next several weeks." Our driver parked the car and we all got out. I raised my arms stretching them out trying to wake myself up and all around me I saw nothing but miles of greenery, some animals out and about like cattle and chickens.

"It's pleasant. I think it'll do good." I said to myself.

"Oi intern! Make yourself useful and grab some of these bags." I heard Paul's nastily voice snap at me.

"Watch it Prenter. Less you wanna be thrown over the barn." Roger threatened him.

We were then given our rooms. Freddie of course got the biggest one, Rog's was quite comfortable looking, Brian had the rickety old bed, poor John was shoved down the basement in probably the smallest room in the whole house, then just before Paul could stick me down in the middle of the living room, Roger came down and said.

"Hang on, there's a spare room jointed with Freddie's. I think (y/n) should take that room."

"That won't do any good Roger, I've already called that room." Paul said.

"You sure you want that room Prenter? Because I just went in it and I saw this big, nasty, hairy spider about the size of a dinner plate. Not to mention the rat burrows I found in the drawers." At hearing Roger's tale, Paul's eyes widened and he said.

"Better yet, why don't you take that room lass?"

"Thanks you for understanding Prenter." Said Rog as he came over and wrapped an arm around me and brought me back upstairs.

"Please tell me there's no spider or rats." I whispered to him.

"Of course there's not. I just said that to jerk him off. You didn't really think I'd let you sleep in a room like that, did you?" He then opened the door to my room and it was fairly big in itself.

A beautiful wooden wardrobe with carvings of horses designed along the frame, a Victorian style dresser, a pretty big bed maybe a queen sized mattress and a joint bathroom.

"Plus I figured you deserve your own bathroom than having to share it amongst us men. Leave the fighting to us, no need to drag you into our morning squabbles of who gets the first morning shower." I set my stuff down and said.

"Thanks Rog."

"No need to thank me at all love, just hope you can handle Fred as a roommate."

"I managed while we were in Japan, didn't I?"

"That you did, well I'll leave you to unpack your things. Breakfast will be made in about an hour. Deacy's cooking today." I moaned already thinking of the delicious meal Deacy was going to prep for us. After unpacking my stuff, I lay down on the bed to test it and already I felt like I was on a heavenly cloud.

"Oh my god this bed is so comfortable." I turned towards the window and looked out to the green paradise that reached our far beyond the horizon. "God Kay, you should really see this view." I then grabbed my journal and did a quick sketch of the outside. The sky, clouds and even rays of sunlight peeking out. As I kept working, I soon heard Deacy's voice proclaim.

"Breakfast is ready!" I smiled and set my journal down and raced downstairs. "Well first one down, first one to be served. And also given something a little extra."

"Thanks Deacy." I thanked as he gave me extra cheese on toast and eggs.

"How come she gets extras?" exclaimed Paul. Deacy and I turned towards him and he said.

"I only give extras to first arrivals. And (y/n) here deserves every ounce of extra food because she alone appreciates my cooking."

"What are you talking about I appreciate your cooking Deacy darling!" Freddie proclaimed.

"Just last week you said my toast was too crispy for your liking."

"I was recovering from a hangover and I needed flavor, not dried up ash."

"Exactly my point Fred. Now everyone else come make your plate." We all then gathered around the table with me sitting between Brian and Freddie and Roger sitting across from me.

As the day went on, the boys went immediately to work after breakfast and tested out the recording studio across from the main house. They were all scattered around currently trying to come up with song ideas.

I was walking along outside to get some fresh air when I saw Roger bothering some of the chickens.

"I thought you were supposed to be working? Not bothering the livestock." He jolted before turning towards me and he said.

"I am working. In fact I've poured my heart and soul into this song."

"Oh really? And what song have you poured your very being into?"

"Come into the studio with me and I'll show you." He then guided me to the studio and went over to his drumkit and began playing his song to which he named "I'm in love with my car."

After he played it, I'll admit I was intrigued. It definitely had a good drum feel to it, because this was a song where the drums really got to shine and I haven't heard a song do that yet.

"How was that?" he asked me.

"It's......" I tried to find the right words on how I really felt.

"Please tell me you don't hate it. Cause I swear if you do I'll lock you in here till you say you love it."

"No, no Rog I don't hate it. I love the fact that it has a good drum feel to it. They really shine more than anything I've ever heard of from any rock and roller. It's just the lyrics.....Please tell me you don't actually want to have—"

"No! It's a metaphor (n/n). In fact Johnathan is inspiration to this."

"Wait Johnathan Harris, one of the roadies?"

"Yeah. He says that the current love of his life is his Triumph F4. So as appreciate for what he's done for us on the road, this song is for him."

"Ahh I see."

"So you—do like the song?" he asked almost insecurely. He stared at me with nervous baby blue eyes that made him look like a nervous puppy about to go to the vet. How could one say no to his face?

"I like it." A proud smile spread wide across his face as he came up and picked me up and spun me around.

"Oh thank you lovie. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

The next morning I woke up to the sound of an argument downstairs. I stood up and walked down the stairs to see Roger throw a few strips of bacon right at Brian.

"Is that strong enough?!" he then cleared the entire counter. Food, plates, the vase with some flowers and water all slammed right on the ground and broke into a million pieces. "What about that!?" he then reached for the coffee machine and was ready to smash it when Brian and Deacy exclaimed.

"NOT THE COFFEE MACHINE!!!"

"What is going on here!?" I snapped. The three of them turned towards me and that's when they all began talking over each other. I rubbed my fingers to my temples immediately regretting even saying anything. "SHUT IT!!!" at that point they all went quiet.

"(Y/n), please tell me you didn't actually agree to a song like 'I'm in love with my car'." Brian pleaded with me.

"I did. I think the song has some potential. I mean yeah the lyrics are a little iffy but it's catchy." At that point John and Brian groaned out while Roger gave me a wink and a thumbs up.

"And to think I was gonna make you Veronica's special apple pie. But now I take that back." Deacy said.

"I thought you had good taste in music (y/n)."

"And she does. At least it's better than calling someone sweet like they're cheese."

As the day went on, we were now recording Freddie's song to which he's titled "Bohemian Rhapsody." I'll admit the lyrics made absolutely no sense whatsoever, but Freddie had a vision for the song and just hearing him sing and play the piano of how he wanted this song to be, made me begin to really like this song.

Right now Brian who had just had an idea for a guitar solo for this song, was in the studio recording what he had in mind. I'll admit it this'll probably be the first time a guitar solo is sung, and when people finally get a taste of this song, they'll probably be singing this for decades to come.

Weeks continued to pass by and we were still focused on Fred's song. But what was really going through my mind was that I hadn't heard from my mum since the second day we came here. I know I've been busy with the guys but I would've thought Paul being the message keeper, he would've at least told me if my mum had called.

But then again you should never trust a snake with secrets.

It was currently 2:30am when I kept tossing and turning in my sleep. I kept whimpering out as my breathing went ragged and heavy.

"No. No.....no Kay don't.....don't leave me."

"(Y/n). (Y/n) dear. Darling wake up!" I suddenly opened my eyes someone reached for my lamp and when the light came on, Freddie stood hovering over me. "It's okay, it's okay darling, you're okay."

"Freddie wha—what time is it?"

"2:30 darling, I could hear you whimpering from my room."

"Ahh shit I'm so sorry Fred I—I didn't mean to wake you up."

"No, no it's fine dear. Are you okay? It sounded like a pretty bad dream." He said as he stroked some hair out of my face. I sighed heavily.

"It's been over 3 weeks since I've talked to my mum. And just the last few times that I have called I got no answer from the house phone. Freddie I'm—I'm worried something's happened to Kay. What if—what if she's....."

"Hey, hey, hey no don't think like that darling. Come here." He sat down beside me and pulled me close so that my ear was pressed over his heart. "Don't automatically assume the worst dear."

"Then why haven't I gotten word from my mum yet?"

"I'll sort it out with Paul in the morning. For now try to get back to sleep, yeah?" I sniffled and nodded. I lowered myself back into bed and Freddie helped tucked me back in. "There we go darling. Snug as a cute bug in a rug." I hummed a chuckle and he smiled at me. "Stay here for a minute."

He then left my room for half a second before finally coming back in with a candle in one hand and his lighter in another. He set the candle by the nightstand and flicked his lighter on before lighting it up. He turned my light off, letting the candle be my only source of light.

"What is this Fred?"

"Something I used to do with Kash when she was a little girl before I went off to boarding school. While this candle is a light, they are the eyes that a brother leaves behind to guard his sister while she dreams at night. No nightmares would dare enter while this candle is lite."

"You promise?"

"I swear it." He smiled and brushed my bangs out of the way before placing a gentle and loving kiss at the center of my forehead. "Goodnight my little kitten."

"Night Freddie." He smiled and gave me one final kiss to each of my cheeks before walking out smiling softly and shutting the door. I kept my eyes on the candle as it flickered on an invisible breeze. I soon felt my eyes grow heavy as I fell back asleep.

Early the next morning, we were starting the Operatic section of Bohemian Rhapsody. Roger being the high range singer that he is, recorded his bits for the Galileo parts.

"How was that?" he asked.

"Freddie?" Deacy spoke trying to get Fred's attention as he stared at the meters.

"Higher." Freddie said. Roy rewind the tape as Deacy said to Roger.

"Can you go a bit higher?"

"If I go any higher, only dogs will hear me."

"Try." Said Fred.

"Freddie's note, sorry." Said Deacy.

"Go on, roll the tape." Sighed Roger. Then on take 24 Rog tried the Galileo's again, this time they were higher as he did grand arm gestures to help make his voice go higher. "How was that? Better?"

"Higher." Freddie bluntly demanded. Brian pointed up to the sky with his pen and Roger growled out.

"Jesus, how many more Galileo's do you want?"

"Freddie wants to do a few more overdubs." Deacy stated.

"Do we even have any tape left?" asked Roger.

"I do have to say the tape is wearing out. It can't take much more."

"Yeah we can't afford much more. What are we three weeks overscheduled?" questioned Brian as he wrote down some notes while I was drawing Roger in the studio.

Soon enough one more take turned into 9-10 takes before Fred was finally satisfied. The operatic session continued with the next line, Freddie who was pacing around said with a grin.

"That's it." After Roger was done singing Freddie continued, "It's beautiful. Love it!" with a clap of his hands, they continued on.

Now all four of them were in the booth going back and forth from the low ranges to the high for the Bismillah section.

The guys got into it so much especially at the final vocalization that by the time the rock out section came on, they were all bouncing up and down so much that they actually made the flats collapse backwards, barely missing some of their stuff.

Freddie and John came falling to the ground, while Rog and Bri were the ones responsible for knocking the two flats behind them down. I couldn't help but laugh myself as I knew this song was gonna change Queen's life forever.

"How was it (y/n) darling?" asked Freddie.

"I love it guys. It's perfect! This is gonna change the world forever." I said into the microphone and the guys all cheered.

Whoo what a rush! I thought we'd never get the song done. Guess being a perfectionist finally paid off, because as I've said repeatedly I truly believe "Bohemian Rhapsody" is gonna change the way of music forever.

Now with the song finally done and the guys taking a break for a bit, I decided to try and call my mum again to see how Kaylee is doing.

I typed in my home phone number and I heard it ring three times before my mum's voice said.

'Hello?'

"Hey mummy."

'(Y/n)?'

"Yeah who'd you think it was Debbie Reynolds? I've......"

'(Y/n) I've been trying to call you repeatedly for weeks hadn't you gotten any of my messages?' her voice was frantic and cracking with sorrow.

"Whoa, whoa mum slow down. What's happened?"

'I've been calling you repeatedly nonstop. This man who answered said he'd relay my messages to you. But you never called me back, why didn't you call me back?!' Paul. Goddamn you Prenter!

"Mum I didn't get any messages. What's happened?"

'(Y/n)......it's Kaylee.'

"What about Kaylee is she alright?!"

'Oh sweetheart I'm so sorry......it just happened so suddenly, the doctors tried so hard to revive her but she—she died a week ago.' At this point I just froze.

No she—she couldn't have. Not Kaylee, not my best friend. She can't be dead, she can't be!

"(Y/n) dear! Come on out and party with us! We—darling?" I saw all four of the guys come in from outside and they must've seen the horrified shock on my face.

I could hear the faint sounds of my mum trying to get my attention but all I did was drop the phone and race upstairs. I slammed the door shut and leaned up against it.

My chest felt like it was being squished by a car as I could barely get a breath of air out. Then I guess I must've blacked out because all I could faintly hear was the sound of crashing, the faint feeling of my fist beating against a wall and just screaming. I don't know how long I was doing this but it wasn't until I felt the familiar arms of Roger wrap around me trying to get me to stop.

I ended up crying and screaming as I just collapsed into Roger's lap and wept hard and long.

I was now back in London ready to bid a final farewell to my sister at her funeral. I only just wish I could've said goodbye to her before she passed away. Since it was an open casket, my mum and I stood side by side of each other as we stared down at Kaylee before we would bury her.

"She loved you (y/n). I hope you realize that." Said my mum.

"I wish I got to say goodbye to her though."

"I know." She wrapped an arm around me and kissed the top of my head and rubbed my arm and back. She then left me alone with my sister. I stared down at her and it was like she was asleep, like our favorite Disney Princess Aurora. However I knew that not even true love's kiss would wake her up, because unlike Aurora my sister is actually dead and no spell can reverse it to make it a sleeping curse.

I didn't even know what to say. My throat was choking up as it felt dry, my stomach was in tight knots, and I felt like crying but my tears were all spent. I felt sick and just wanted to curl up and disappear, maybe even die myself so that I could be reunited with my sister. I leaned down and pressed my forehead against hers and whispered.

"Goodbye Kay." I kissed her forehead and began to realize just how cold she was. I backed away from her casket and lowered my head as I felt sobs coming out of me once more. I felt a presence behind me and that's when I heard Roger's voice say.

"We're so sorry (y/n)." I whimpered and immediately nuzzled myself into his chest as my voice trembled.

"Thank you Queen." Roger wrapped his arms around me and placed his head on top of mine and kept hugging me.

It was surprising that the boys wanted to come to the funeral to pay their respects to Kaylee, and it was also surprising that from some of the profit they've already made from their previous records, as well as payment for this album to help pay for this whole funeral.

I soon was passed over to Brian who gave me a soft but assuring bear hug.

"We're truly sorry for your loss (y/n). Kaylee didn't deserve to be taken away so young. But she'll always watching over you from the stars."

"And we're always here for you precious darling." Freddie stated. He came over and cupped each side of my face and he said as he wiped away my tears, "Paul's out. After finding out he kept these messages from you, we fired him. We wish we had found out sooner, you know we'd stop the recording and drive you back home to say a final goodbye. You know that right?" I nodded and I felt him kiss a tear away.

Deacy soon came up and he held his arms out for me. I instantly went to him and clung onto him. And even when he refused to say a word, this was the best comfort I could ask for.

I didn't need all this sympathy talk, or the repetitive 'she's always watching over you' or 'she's never really gone. She's up in heaven with the Lord watching over you.' Or whatever religious BS people have to say.

He just held me and pet my hair, and that's all I needed.

After that I—I couldn't go back to work for the guys. I had no motivation anymore, just due to the fact that I needed to be with my mother now. She had just lost her first born child and I can't imagine what she's going through right now. I need to be there for her, no matter what to let her know I'm still her. Even if it means letting go of my dreams.

2 years later; I was working a 9-5 shift at a shopping center. I basically did what Mary used to do at Biba. Along with that, my mum's forced us to go to therapy sessions to try and talk about our feelings after Kaylee's death.

Since I was now done with work, I had to go to my independent weekly session. I was sitting on the couch with my therapist Dr. Lockwood sitting at his desk.

"So how have you been handling all this so far?"

"I mean—I get by day by day. Some days are hard, some are easy." I answered.

"Have you entered into Ealing art college yet? You said you wanted to be an artist."

"I decided not to go. So I just work at the shopping center a few miles away from here. Sorta near Biba."

"Why did you decide to give up your dream? I thought being an artist was your dream?"

"Yeah well dreams change." I sneered.

"Okay, okay I can understand that. So do you like this job better than your old one?" I remained silent. "Your mother said that you worked alongside Queen. They've got good music, my daughter's bought every one of their records."

"Yeah they're.....they're talented guys." I muttered.

"So about your previous job? Was it better than your current one?"

"I mean.....I don't have as much fun as I used to but....." I trailed off and couldn't bring myself to answer.

"Do you think your sister would've wanted you to give up your job with them?" I turned to look at him and I snapped.

"Why must you assume what my sister would want of me!? You're not her! You don't know what it's like to lose your best friend! You're just trying to make me feel guilty, that's all you've ever done!"

"I'm not making you feel guilty. Your mum told me that your sister was thrilled that you were working with both of yours favorite band. She knew you were special and just what Queen needed."

"I just......"

"(Y/n), I bet the boys of Queen miss you just as much as you miss them. I know why you had to leave, it was your way of handling your grief, and to be there for your mum. But the boys had helped you throughout your internship, as well as during the funeral. No rock band would do that willingly." I leaned back against the couch and sighed heavily. "I believe your sister wouldn't want you to push them away as you have been."

"They—well Roger mostly has tried to reach out a few times for the past couple months. I never did call him back though."

"I think you should go see them. Aren't they going to perform in Houston in a couple days?"

"What if they don't want to see me since I've been avoiding them?"

"If they truly loved you, I doubt they would turn you aside."

So I took Dr. Lockwood's advice and got a ticket and went on the next flight to Houston, Texas for their concert. As usual the boys performed magnificently on stage, especially with their new album News of the World out. I also took notice that Rog, Freddie and Deacy had shorter hair than I last remembered.

But they still were awesome up there, hell I thought they looked even better with the shorter hair. They continued to work the audience with each song and seeing the crowd react bigger and more energetic than ever before it made me happy to know the guys were finally reaching the popularity they always wanted to have.

When the show was over, I stayed behind and somehow managed to sneak backstage. I walked along the underground hallways that lead to the dressing rooms when I was stopped by a security guard.

"Excuse me do you have a backstage pass miss?"

"No but I know the band."

"Uh-huh you and every other young teenage girl that pulls this move." He stated as he gripped hold of my arms and began to take me outside.

"No, no let go I'm not kidding! I used to be their lawyer's assistant!"

"Young lady I gave you fair warning, now please leave or else I'll have you arrested."

"What is going on out—(y/n)?" I turned and gaped.

"Phoebe?" It was Freddie's assistant Peter or as Freddie like to call him, Phoebe.

"Oh my god you—you actually came." He said with a wide smile.

"Yeah I—I was hoping to also maybe......talk to the guys."

"Yes of course ohh you have no idea how happy they'll be to see you again."

"But....." the security guard tried to butt in and that's when Phoebe slammed him.

"Oi back off pal, this young lady here is Queen's personal assistant. She's just been on personal leave for a while. So if you don't let her through, you'll have to face the wrath of the four Queens." With no other words from the security guard, he let me go and Phoebe extended his arm out towards me and I followed behind him. As we walked along the corridors he asked me, "So how have things been for you (y/n)?"

"It's.....been rough."

"I know what you mean. When my mum died I didn't know what to do."

"Are—are they upset with me?" I asked nervously.

"Of course not darling. Not once have they talked about you in anger or resentment. If anyone did, Roger and Fred were the first to pop those bastards in the face." I nodded. Soon we reached the dressing room and he said, "here we are love. They should be decent by now. Go on in."

"Thanks Peter." He smiled and patted my shoulder before leaving to check out to see if the roadies had finally cleared the stage and packed everything up. I stared at the door and took a deep breath in before exhaling softly and slowly opened up the door.

"He threw my best fucking pair of maracas away the first day. Great sounding maracas and I mean....it took me hours to steal them." I softly smiled as I heard Roger's voice for the first time in 2 years. I could hear the sounds of laughter before Freddie spoke up.

"Now they know I'm gonna throw those things...."

"And he just goes..."

"Actually they were wonderful I must say, I'm sorry."

"One in a million maracas and I'm never gonna get them back." Roger whined. I slowly stepped further in the dressing room to see Fred sitting down in his green and gold robe getting unwind from the performance while Roger continued to pace around muttering about his maracas while Brian and John were adjusting the sleeves on their normal clothes.

Freddie continued to talk about the maracas and that's when I picked up on Brian saying.

"You can throw me in the audience." Freddie stood up and he said.

"You don't...you don't rattle as good." That's when he looked over and he must've seen me because his eyes went wide briefly and his face turned solemn. Brian then turned around and he saw me as well hiding in the corner.

"(Y/n)?" everyone soon turned their attention towards me.

"Hey guys, long—time no see, ehh?". Knowing of my story, the assistants, makeup people and roadies all left the dressing room leaving me alone with Queen.

The four men stood before me and neither of us spoke until I finally broke the ice.

"I—I'm really sorry I just left guys I.....I was stupid, selfish, and you guys didn't deserve me at all. I just—I was lost and I know that's no excuse but—you guys didn't deserve to have a broken girl hanging off you just as you were finally about to rise to fame. And now look at you all, famous on pretty much every country, our own home country finally recognizing your talents. If I had stayed I would've just dragged you four down and—" I trailed off as Deacy was the first to stand before me.

Mr. King of the one liners, I've witnessed firsthand of him breaking people with just one phrase or sentence. I could only imagine what he was going to say to me after all this time. You get on John Deacon's bad side and he'll make you know it, for life.

But I was shocked when he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a comforting hug. I was frozen but it wasn't until I heard him say.

"You are anything but what you just called yourself poppet." I slowly began to relax as I buried my face into Deacy's chest and wrap my arms around him. I felt him pet down my head much like he did at the funeral and allowed me to let out a couple of tears.

"We understand you needed to process your grief (y/n). We're not mad at you for leaving us." Said Brian. I looked up towards the spaceman guitarist and that's when Roger spoke up.

"But we are disappointed of the way you shut us out for two years." His tone wasn't anger filled or upset, but it did have that disappointing tonality. I lowered my head in shame and I muttered.

"I know."

"We were willing to be there for you in any way you needed. Even if it was just to sit there in silence. We wouldn't have hounded you darling because you didn't need that. It would've been nice to hear your voice again, just to see that you were okay." Said Freddie.

"I'm really sorry guys. I—I came to ask if you'd forgive me." They remained silent and deliberated with each other just by looking at each other and that's when Brian came up and cupped each side of my face.

"There's nothing to forgive love." I felt my lip tremble and I choked out a sob. Soon enough I was once again for the first time in two years, in the middle of a Queen group hug.

I'm glad I chose to come here. I guess in a way it was my sister telling me that even though she was gone, she knew that I would be looked after by four amazing and loving big brothers to look after me for the rest of my days until the day comes when I pass on and be reunited with my best friend once again.