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belphies-cuhm-sluht · 3 years ago

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I enjoyed your dad!Lucifer and dad!Asmo stories! May I please request one of dad!Belphie where Satan takes over? 💜💚

Welcome Home (Dad!Belphie Pt. 2)

A/N : I live for this kind of angst, I love it. Although this hurt my Belphie loving heart, these fics are so much fun. (Part 1) Word Count : 3.1K Warnings : children; babies; maternity; mentions of MC's death; mentions of childbirth; dad!character; angst

Belphie stiffened when he heard his son say it, but he didn’t have time to react before the knock came. He groaned as he got up off the floor, picking his son up and walking to the door to throw it open, expecting another Akuzon delivery for Leviathan, or maybe Mammon had just forgotten his keys. “See, it’s not Ma…” He hadn’t even been looking when he opened the door, he was still on edge from his son uttering the word, but the way the child was reaching out towards the door made him look up. “Y/N…” Your name was whispered from his lips, he felt like he was dreaming, this was all just some sick dream that his mind had come up with out of guilt and self hatred. He must have fallen asleep on the floor, that’s what this is. You couldn’t actually be there, could you? “You would not believe how hard it is to get out of heaven. You all made it seem easy, but that guy is a real stickler.” You joked, grabbing your son from Belphie’s arms and holding him against your chest. “It’s been so long… You’ve grown so much. I’ve missed so much… How long was I gone?” You looked away from your son's purple eyes to meet Belphies, but he was still silent. It was like he had gone into shock, which, you wouldn’t blame him. Nobody probably expected for you to come back, but you weren’t going to spend your eternal life up in the Celestial Realm when your entire life was down in the Devildom. “Belphie… Can you atleast breathe? Please? You’re worrying me.” His mouth fell open, but the sound that escaped him was like a mixture between a squeal and gasp, and you didn’t really know what the sound meant, but his eyes were wide and his hands were holding his hair away from his face as if he still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “You can’t… You can’t be here… I watched you die.” He shook his head, quickly grabbing his son back and walking into the living room, shaking his head in disbelief. “That was one of the worst days of my life… I never thought you’d come back… I never thought I’d see you again.” He turned back around to face you as you walked into the house, shutting the door behind you. “How are you back?” You giggled lightly, trying to remember what happened in the Celestial Realm, but the memories were fading faster than you thought they would. “Well… First of all the line was so long, you would not believe it. They need to make the gates more like an amusement park entrance, maybe like five gates instead of one. It’ll really speed things up.” He didn’t seem to see the humor in it, not right now at least. It probably was the fact that he still didn’t understand how you got back and you were making jokes about the waiting time in heaven, it probably wasn’t a good time to do it. “It took forever to get through those gates, and the entire time I was waiting, I was thinking of you, and I was thinking of him. I don’t even know how I got sent up there in the first place, but as soon as I got through, I went straight to the guy who’s name shall not be said, and I told him I wanted to go back, to be back with you.” You rolled your eyes as little bits and pieces of memories came back to you, the hell that you went through just to get out of there. “I caused so much trouble, and I think I finally just annoyed everyone to the point where they didn’t care and they just gave me the boot… and here I am!” You gave him two thumbs up which your son mimicked back to you, but Belphie was still standing there, blinking rapidly as he tried to process everything that you just said. “So you ditched heaven essentially, to come back to your demon boyfriend and your demon kid who both killed you?” He said it as if it were a weird thing, and to most it probably would be, but to you it just seemed like the only thing to do. It was a pretty quick summary of everything that happened, and you probably could have summed it all up to that, but then there would have been no humor to break the ice and… you kind of felt like the situation needed a little comedy to lighten things up. “You’re such a dork…” He mumbled, but you saw the small smile tugging at his lips. You were

finally back, something that he never thought would happen, something that he never thought would be possible, but it did happen, and it was possible, and you were standing in front of him right now and he didn’t know how he actually felt about it.

“So how long have I been gone?” You asked, your head in Belphie’s lap as you laid on the floor, watching as your son tottered across the floor over to the toys that had been stacked in the corner of the living room. “He’s gotten so big…” As much as you had joked about the wait, it hadn’t felt like it was that long. The events that had taken place to get you up there in the first place were fresh in your mind still, it felt like it had just happened, but how big your son had grown said differently. Belphie pouted slightly as he thought of just how long he had gone without you, how long he had gone through this alone. “A year… and a half.” He ran his hand over your hair, watching your reaction. Your eyes gave away how you were really feeling, he could see how his words upset you, and that wasn’t what he was trying to do, not at all. “I never forgot you. I never got over what happened. I relived that day over and over in my mind… I’m so sorry Y/N…” His head dropped, resting his forehead against yours as he cradled your face in his hands. It was the first time you had ever heard him apologize for anything, and for once, he didn’t have a reason. There was no need for apologizing, not for this. “Hey… Don’t…” You reached up to cup his cheek, craning your neck just enough to kiss him before dropping your head back down into his lap. “I’m here now. You don’t have to apologize. Plus…” You held his chin between your thumb and pointer finger, turning his face to look at his son who was now sitting in the corner playing with his plush farm animals. “It was worth it to me. I have you, and I have him, and I can stay here with you forever. What is there to be sorry for?” You let your hand drop down against your stomach, smiling as you continued to watch your son, but your happiness was short lived as Belphie groaned, pushing himself up off the floor, causing you to roll off his lap. “You’re such an idiot! You think it was worth it? Dying for that thing?! You’re not the human I fell in love with anymore, you’ve changed.” His breathing was heavy as his nostrils flared, his hands shoved into the pockets of his cardigan. “And you may not notice it, but I do. And now… now you’re saying you want to live out the rest of eternity down here with me and the demon spawn.” He sighed loudly, shaking his head, but you didn’t understand why he was acting like this, speaking this way. “I said before all of that happened that I wanted to spend the rest of my human life down here with you, and that once I did die I would come back. I guess the process was a little sped up, but I don’t mind that.” You sat up, eyeing him suspiciously. You didn’t know where all of this was coming from, you thought that he was happy to have you back, and now he was basically saying that he didn’t love you anymore? “You didn’t have a problem with the plan before… And now that I’m here you don’t want me? That’s not fair, Belphie.” You swallowed thickly, digging your nails into your lap as you sat on your knees looking up at him. He looked indifferent , like he didn’t even care that what he was saying was hurting you. What had changed? “You didn’t come back for me. You came back for that, and you can have it. I don’t care. I wasted a year and a half of my life on the thing that took you away from me, and you come back and try to sweep it all under the rug, like it never happened.” You could hear in his voice that he was getting choked up, the lump in his throat causing his voice to crack. “You didn’t see your face… You didn’t see what I saw. I watched it hurt you, I watched it rip through you, and I watched it kill you. You don’t know how hard that was… And you don’t even care. You want to just walk back in where things left off and start playing house and… I’m just… I’m not ready for that.” Your teeth were sinking into your bottom lip as you listened to him, fighting back the urge to cry. He was wrong, he was so wrong. You might now have been able to see yourself, but you felt everything, but that didn’t change the fact that it was your child, that it was his child, and you

loved your son just as much as you loved his father. “What so… So you want me to leave again? You’d rather me just be completely dead and never have come back? What’s the reason? So you can suffer with the memories? So you can hate him forever for taking me away even though I’m right here?” You walked over to your son, lifting him off the floor and holding him on your hip, glaring at Belphie. “You’re utterly ridiculous… I… I don’t even… You’ll have what you want, but I’m not going to let you fill him with guilt for the rest of his life for something he couldn’t help.”

Belphie watched as you left again, walking out of the house with a luggage in one hand and his son’s hand in your other. “Well, that was stupid.” Satan said, appearing from seemingly nowhere beside Belphie, watching you walk down the pathway to the gate. “You finally got her back and… you let her leave again. You make no sense. Weren’t you the one crying every night because you missed her?” Satan’s eyes never left you, watching until you were too far off in the distance to even make out. “Shut up, Satan. You sound like Lucifer.” Bephie grumbled, slamming the door shut as he turned his back to his older brother and headed back up the stairs to the attic. It was supposed to be a low blow, but Satan knew that Lucifer wouldn’t have butted into his brother's business like he did. He waited to hear the attic stairs before walking out the door, sprinting down the walkway and out of the gates until he caught up with you. What Belphie… What none of his brothers knew was that he was infatuated with you. You were graceful, beautiful, funny, smart, sweet, and so much more. His heart had been torn as he watched your stomach swell with his brother’s child, and it had completely shattered when he watched that child rip through you, rip you away from Belphie, away from him. “Hey, you look like you need some help.” He said breathlessly, running his hand through his hair as he smiled sheepishly down at you. You were just as beautiful as you were before, even with the tear streaks that stained your cheeks. Your eyes glistened as you looked up at him, but it was only from the tears, tears that someone as wonderful as you shouldn’t have spilled for someone as shitty as Belphegor. “Oh… Satan… I uhm…” You sniffled loudly, dropping the luggage to the ground as your eyes overflowed with more tears. Satan did the only thing he knew to do, what he really wanted to do for so long, pulling you into his arms and holding you close as you cried against his chest, your words mumbled as you spoke into the fabric of his sweater. “I don’t know where to go… I don’t know what to do… I thought he’d be happy… He…” Your voice broke off into quiet sobs as his hand rubbed soothing circles into your back. Of course he knew that the only reason you were holding onto him like this was because you were broken, and you felt helpless, but he hoped that in due time you’d hold onto him like this for other reasons, because you wanted to, because you wanted him. He pulled back, sliding his finger under your chin to tilt your head up, using his other hand to wipe the tears from your cheeks. “Shh, it’s alright. I’ll help you. And if it makes things any better… I’m happy that you’re back. I’ve missed you, Y/N.” It felt good to finally get that off his chest, originally fearing the repercussions that those words would bring him if he said them anywhere around Belphie. It didn’t matter now though, Belphie had done the damage, and Satan was here to try to clean it up. He cleared his throat, kneeling down in front of your son who looked at him expectantly. “You’ve missed her too, haven’t you?” Your son nodded quickly as a child would, smiling wide up at you before looking back to Satan. “How about ice cream?” He looked up at you, waiting for your okay and how could you say no? Those two words had your son tugging at your hand, pulling you in the direction of the ice cream shop and you couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

“Are you sure this is okay?” You asked, stopping right outside of the door that you had walked out not more than an hour ago. “He doesn’t want me here, I’m sure me and the baby can stay at a hotel until we find somewhere else to go.” You didn’t want to admit it, but you were scared to go back in, scared to face Belphie again. Would he be mad that you were back? You didn’t want to deal with that, and you shouldn’t have to. You were only doing what you thought was right, and in Belphie’s eyes it had been all wrong. How were you supposed to know that he wouldn’t be happy? “Nonsense. You’ll stay here until you find a place. I’m not letting you spend all your money on a hotel room and food when you could stay here and get both for free. Plus, your room is still open, it’s still yours.” It was his idea to keep it, not that he’d tell you that yet. There was a time for everything, and right now what you needed was for him to be your support system, a friend that you could turn to and a friend that would be there. He opened the door for you, having to practically push you in as your son ran back into the living room to find his toys. “What the hell…?” You heard Belphie’s voice, clearly confused as he rounded the corner, his eyes landing on his son first before glancing up at the door to see you and Satan standing there. “I thought she was leaving. I thought they both were leaving.” His words stung, but you tried not to let him see just how much it hurt you. He didn’t deserve to know he had that much hold on you and your emotions. “Why the hell did you bring them back?” He eyed Satan suspiciously, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for answers. “I couldn’t just let her walk around the Devildom with a child that small by herself. I was doing the right thing.” He turned to face you, his eyes were soft as he read every emotion on your face. He could see the pain that Belphie’s words alone were causing you, and it irritated him more than he’d ever admit. “How about you go up to your room, get you and the baby situated. I’ll bring you both something to eat.” You nodded slowly, calling your son over and quickly carrying him up, glad to be away from the looming glare of Belphie. As soon as you were up the stairs and out of earshot Belphie let loose, coming at Satan and not holding back. “You’re a fucking liar. I know exactly why you went after her, you sick freak. You think that just because I needed a break to sort things out in my own head that you could rush in and try to take over?” He shoved Satan back, not even caring that his brother was the embodiment of wrath and pushing him like this was sure to have them both brawling. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” “What’s wrong with me? Shall I quote you? ‘You’re not the human I fell in love with.’ Do you remember, Belphegor?” He hissed the words, standing tall as Belphie shrunk away from him, backing up as his own words were repeated to him. “Or how about the fact that you won’t even call your son by his name, you only call him it or that. What’s wrong with you?” He scoffed, shaking his head at his youngest brother. “You know, I loathed you for what you did to her. You were the reason she died, you just couldn’t control yourself. You killed her… And you had no right to pity yourself, you should have only felt guilt. But then… she came back.” He chuckled loudly, stepping closer to Belphie to get in his face. “And you screwed up again… So tell me… What is wrong… With you?” He cleared his throat, standing up straight once more as he fixed his sweater. “Anyway, I have to go make her something to eat, she and the baby must be hungry. It’ll be a nice way to welcome her home, don’t you think?”

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littlegnoblin · 4 years ago

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Happy Valentine’s Day to my best friend and other half @donestiel

read on ao3

Dean comes home from work to find Cas and Jack sitting at the table, red heart-shaped lollipops strewn in front of them.

He gives Cas a quick kiss. “You trying to give the kid a sugar rush or what?”

“Daddy! It’s for Valemtime’s Day!” Jack yells excitedly, hopping off his chair to hug Dean’s legs.

“It’s pronounced valentine, Jack.”

“I don’t know, valemtime kinda has a nice ring to it,” Dean says. Jack beams up at him and he can’t help but ruffle his hair.

“Yes, well, the holiday has become so bastardized that I suppose renaming it wouldn’t hurt.” Cas squints at the box the candy came in. “Does no one find it odd that their children are passing around cards demanding others belong to them?”

Dean sits down and pulls Jack into his lap, flipping through the little pink cards. “I don’t know that you’re supposed to think about it that hard, dude.” He comes across a card that reads ‘kiss me’ and holds it up. “This, on the other hand-- they’re five, what the hell do they need to be kissin’ for?”

“I want kisses!” Jack protests.

“You’re a little kiss monster.” Cas leans in and presses a big, exaggerated smooch to Jack’s cheek. “How was that? Did it satisfy the beast?”

Jack giggles and nods enthusiastically.

“Hey, I’m gonna need to sample one of those kisses myself. Make sure they’re regulation-- standard procedure.”

“Is that right?”

“‘Fraid so,” Dean says with a shit eating grin.

He’s expecting a goofy kiss like the one he gave Jack but Cas uses his thumb to tilt Dean’s chin just so and kisses him deeply.

They break apart when two tiny hands push at their faces and Jack tells them to knock it off.

“This is what Valentine’s Day is all about, champ. Besides, I thought you liked kisses.”

“You guys do it gross.”

Dean smiles and bounces his eyebrows at Cas, who rolls his eyes but can’t hide the small curl of his mouth.

“Perhaps your father will help you write your classmates’ names on the cards while I get dinner ready.”

“I can cook,” Dean says quickly. The thought of Cas’ last attempt at cooking has his stomach churning and he’s pretty sure feeding that toxic waste to Jack would be considered child abuse.

Cas holds up a cardboard box. “It’s frozen pizza.”

“Alright, I’ll do babysitting duty. Just make sure you take the plastic off this time.”

“It’s not babysitting when it’s your own child and that was one time.”

“One time too many,” Dean mutters.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Nothing, dear.”

Cas glares at him. “I expect you to eat a healthy portion of salad along with your pizza tonight.”

“You making it yourself or is it bagged?”

The glare intensifies.

Jack tugs on his sleeve. “Daddy, did you like doing valentine’s stuff in school?”

“Nah, it, uh-- it wasn’t really a thing when I was your age.”

That’s a blatant lie but Dean’s not going to tell him the truth and bum him out. What five year old wants to hear that their dad didn’t do Valentine’s Day exchanges because there was barely enough money for food, let alone candy, and he never really stuck around any school long enough to get included in the holiday stuff. Shit’s depressing.

“So you never got no cards or nothin’?”

“Nope.” Dean never got cards but he did get invited under the bleachers a few times in high school to unwrap a different kind of present. He’s not telling him that either, though.

“That sucks. Can I have a lollipop?”

“Nice try, kid.” Dean taps on the card in front of them. “Get to writing.”

He oversees the careful labelling of the cards, reminding Jack to double check the list of names anytime he spells something wrong and corrects a few backwards letters. They debate who gets what card and Jack complains that he has to give one to Tom who keeps cutting him in line.

Cas rejoins them in the middle of Jack’s impassioned rant, hiding his smile behind his hand.

“While I agree that Tom is a-- what was it you called him?”

“A butthead.”

“Yes, right, a butthead. While I agree he is a butthead, unfortunately I think you need to be the bigger person. Maybe this will even convince him to stop cutting in line and you two can be friends.”

“No way. I don’t wanna be friends with Tom.”

“You never know,” Dean says. “I didn’t like your dad when we first met, but I think he’s a pretty okay guy now.”

Jack looks at him wide eyed. “You didn’t like Daddy?”

“No way, he was a butthead.”

“It was more of a misunderstanding,” Cas explains.

“Oh is that what we’re calling it?”

Cas lifts an eyebrow and stares him down. “What would you call it, Dean?”

Shit, that should not be so hot.

“Not the point; the point is that I didn’t think I would ever like your dad and now we’re married. Things change.”

Jack furrows his brows, considering. “I don’t want to marry Tom.”

Dean snorts. “You don’t have to. In fact, please don’t. His mom is a nightmare.” Cas kicks him under the table. “What! She is!”

“You don’t have to marry him and you don’t have to be friends with him,” Cas says, ignoring Dean completely, “but you do have to give him a card and some candy.”

Jack grumbles but does as he’s told. Dean’s legs are starting to fall asleep but he’s become increasingly aware of how fast Jack is growing up and soon-- way too fucking soon, if you ask him-- he won’t be sitting in his lap at all so he silently resigns to not feeling his legs for the next ten minutes.

“All done!” Jack yells and throws his hands in the air.

“Sweet, now let's stick some candy in these bad boys and call it a night.”

“Wait, there’s a extra, what should I do with it?”

“Is there anyone who’s not in your class that you’d like to give a valentine to?”

Jack gasps and slaps a hand over Dean’s eyes, nearly poking one out in the process. “Close your eyes, Daddy!”

Dean dutifully closes his eyes until Jack tells him he’s finished. He slowly opens one eye and sees the pink card held about an inch from his face.

“For me?” he gasps dramatically.

“Yes!”

The front of the card reads ‘You’re the best!’ and when he opens it, he finds ‘Daddy’ written in some of the neatest handwriting from Jack he’s ever seen. Beneath it he’s signed his name, the K backwards like it always is on his first try.

“I gave it to you because you never had one before and also you’re the best daddy ever, who makes me yummy chocolate chip pancakes and cheeseburgers and does funny voices for bedtime stories,” Jack explains.

Dean wraps his arms around his son and rests his cheek on top of his head, his heart feeling fit to burst. “Thank you, Jack. I’m gonna keep this forever.” And he means it.

“Welcome. Can I have a lollipop now?”

Cas points at Dean. “He gets that from you.”

After the valentines are carefully put away and they’ve had dinner (plastic free and edible, which Cas seems proud of), Jack gets a bath and is tucked in bed. Dean and Cas spend the rest of the night sprawled out on the couch watching reruns of Doctor Sexy and drinking beer. Party city.

When the Doctor Sexy reruns switch to Jeopardy, Dean knows it’s officially midnight.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, I guess.”

They tip their bottles together.

“I hope I didn’t disappoint you by not planning anything,” Cas says, picking at the label on his beer.

“What? No, of course not. We never do anything. I thought we were on the same page about avoiding that shit after our first Valentine’s together.”

They both shudder thinking about the sweaty cupid ‘handshake’.

“We are, but we never actually discussed it and I…” Cas pauses and tilts his head. “I think having Jack around and seeing the world through his eyes, experiencing things in a new way, it makes me wonder if we’re not missing out on some of the little things.”

“Hey, we appreciate lots of the little things-- like you not cooking frozen pizza with the plastic still on.”

“Dean.”

“Okay, okay. So you sayin’ you wanna celebrate now?”

“Sam and Eileen do.”

“Sam and Eileen are saps. And they don’t have a five year old running around.”

Cas makes a sound of agreement and softly strokes the back of Dean’s neck, sending shivers down his spine. “You make a fair point. In all honesty, I don’t want to do anything extravagant but I would like to take the opportunity to remind you how much I love you. Am I allowed to be sappy for a moment?”

Dean clears his throat. “Yeah, I guess you deserve one day to get it all out.” He puts their bottles down and faces his husband. “Lay it on me, big guy.”

Instead of looking annoyed, Cas just looks fond. “You know, it’s ironic that a man as full of love as you are is so quick to dismiss any sentimentality. You are a fascinating creature.” A thumb sweeps under his eye where he’s got permanent dark circles and settles at the corner where his lines get deeper every day. It makes Dean want to squirm but he holds still under the reverent touch. “Perhaps that’s why I never stood a chance.”

“C’mon, man,” Dean says, dropping his eyes to the couch.

“Hush, I’m allowed, I’ll have you know. My husband gave me explicit permission.”

“Well, your husband is thinking about rescinding the offer.”

“I love you.”

Cas says it with such conviction that Dean can’t help but look back at him, at his bright eyes and soft smile; at the evidence of his love written all over his face.

“I love you, endlessly, Dean Winchester. For everything that you are; the good and the bad. From the moment I saw your soul in hell, so bright it was almost blinding, I knew I would never be the same. You breathed life into me, gave me meaning and purpose, taught me the value of love, and you did it all, selflessly, simply by being the man that you are.” Cas draws him close, presses their foreheads together. “I can never give back all that you’ve given me but I promise you will have my love until we are nothing but a forgotten memory, and longer still.”

Dean squeezes his eyes shut and they breath together in the small space between them.

“You can’t-- you can’t just say shit like that,” he whispers.

“And why not?”

“Because it’s not true, first of all.” Cas opens his mouth to argue but Dean covers it with his hand and hurries on. “You’ve already given all of that back and more. God, Cas, if it weren’t for you I’d have been dead years ago. I needed to stick around-- to take care of Sammy, to stop whatever or whoever was trying to end the world next-- but you… you made me want to live. Really live, not just survive, you know? I fuckin’ love you, man.”

Cas pushes Dean’s hand away and presses his lips against Dean’s fervently.

When they finally break apart for desperately needed air, they both pretend they aren’t sniffling like little girls.

“You happy now? Can we go back to not doing this?”

Cas laughs. “I hadn’t planned on making it quite so emotional, I apologize. You always bring out the most in me.”

“Ugh, enough,” Dean groans, shoving Cas’ smiling face away. “You aren’t allowed to say anything even approaching romantic for the next twenty four hours, capiche?”

“I can agree to that, as long as I’m allowed to give you a gift later.”

“I thought you said you didn’t plan anything?”

“It’s nothing big.” Cas’ fingers sneak under Dean’s shirt and trail along his stomach, dipping to his waistband. “I just happened to walk by Victoria’s Secret and see a pair of pink satin panties in the window.”

Dean’s heart beats a little faster. “Oh yeah?” he says breathlessly. “Not gonna lie, that seems more like a present for you.”

Cas hums and leans over Dean, forcing him to lie back on the couch. “Well then I suppose I’ll just have to do whatever you want while you wear them.”

When he kisses him he tastes like cherry candy and Dean thinks could learn to like this holiday.

#spn #destiel #deancas #bend-me-shape-me #sweatercas #rambleoncas #acklesy #alivedean #userpris #usersila #goodthingsclara #shelikestv #hope you guys dont mind me tagging you!!!#sarah writes

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mcwritingblog · 3 years ago

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Immortal: Chapter 1

A Girl and Her Cat

Pairing: Javier Pena x reader

Summary: A small town barista meets a handsome Javi.

Rating: G

Author’s note: Hey guys I'm sorry this doesn't have a lot of Javier in it, its really a big set up chapter for the story.

Word count: 2k

1975, a random fall Tuesday

I don't know how it even happened, or how I met him. At the time I was living in a small town in Columbia run by Americans, keeping to myself, not drawing any attention to myself. He walked into my cafe and got a small black coffee. He stayed a while, reading his small novel.

“Hi there, stranger, I got your coffee”, you said as you set down his drink. “Anything else?”

“No ma’am. Thank you”

“No problem”, you went to turn away but you had to know, “Um, hey?”

“Yes?”

“You've come in before. What's your name?”

“Javier”

“Javier. I'm y/n. Let me know if you need anything. Maybe next time you could try a latte”, he lets out a snort. You go back to cleaning. It was extremely slow today so you got the go-ahead from your boss to close up early.

“Miss?”

You turned around and saw Javier leaning up against his truck with a smile.

You grasp your chest. “You scared me. I didn't notice you there.”

“Were you about to walk home?”

“Yes”

“Would you mind a ride?”

“My apartment isn't that far from here, but thank you I appreciate it.”

“Anytime.”

And like that, you were walking home, enjoying the weather. It was chilly and the leaves were falling beside you everywhere. You didn't mind the ten-minute walk to your apartment. You don't even get in the door before your cat starts meowing at you.

“Avery, give me one moment. I'll feed you I promise.”. You love the hell out of the black cat but the girl is so needy.

You flick off your shoes by the front door, bending down to pet Avery. You walked past her to shake some food into her bowl. With how she rushes to it, you'd think she never got fed. Silly girl. You walk over to the couch and lay out, grabbing the blanket to get comfortable, a few moments pass and your cat hops up to snuggle up to you. You flip on your tv to find something to have in the background and settle on Hawaii Five O. There's something about cops that attracts you so much. You find yourself falling asleep, Avery radiating heat on your stomach.

---

You were woken up the next morning by your alarm clock; another day, another dollar. You were on second shift today so you didn't have to be in until 11. You got up and made yourself toast and eggs, making sure fatso had her food too.

“Pretty girl”, you say scratching her chin and heading towards the door, adding an “I’ll be back later. Byeee”

The walk to the shop today was extra nice. You can smell the aroma of a pumpkin pie as you pass the houses in your neighborhood and hear the sounds of children playing outside. The giggles brought life to the quiet afternoon. As you come closer to the city, the more you hear the sounds of cars passing and smells of bread being baked at the bakery down the street. The bakers wave at you as you pass the front window. You hold up two fingers, gesturing back. Two shops down is Mrs. Rivera trying to hang up plants, struggling to steady herself, AND the hanging ivy pot.

“Here let me help you.”, you say as you come behind her and catch the pot, succeeding in hanging it up on her awning.

“Thank you, sweetheart!”, she says as she wipes her hands on her apron.

“No problem. I have to get going but come by for a latte?”, you ask.

“Yeah. I’ll see you”

And with that, you were back to it. Half a block down and you come to the shop's front door. It dings as you enter.

“You're late”, your boss, Maria, gets on to you.

“Mrs. Rivera needed help again.”

“Uh-huh. Get your butt back there”, she snorts. She's not mad. Thank god.

“Been busy today?”You ask about taking off your backpack and hanging it up. The shop was basically vacant. The only customer you could see was a college kid studying in the corner. You walk around to pick up mugs and empty plates from various tables.

“Not really. The usuals mostly… Oh! A guy was asking about you! He asked if I knew if you got home safe?”, she asked, confused.

“Ah yes, Javier. He offered to take me home last night.”, you say while walking the dirty dishes to the back.

“He’s cute. You should get in there, girl”, she yells to you. “In there?”, you come around the corner and scoff, “I'm not that interested in dating right now.”

“You should. You can't just spend all your free time with your cat and nonexistent characters in your books.”

“Can.” You point out “And will”

“You're only 24, do you really wanna throw away that opportunity?”

You could only muster up an eye roll.

----

The rest of the shift went off without a problem. Maria went home shortly after her talk with you. The next few hours included a couple of customers but mostly some cleaning. Mrs. Rivera actually came to see you, even getting a hot chocolate for her grandson when she got her latte. You hold a conversation with her for a while, talking about her daughter’s new job at the school. Maria said something about that a couple of weeks ago. The rest of the regulars got their usual drinks, only sticking around long enough for their drinks. The clock soon hits 7 pm.

“Another tea?”, you ask the college student in the corner. He’s been here for your whole shift and has gotten two hot green teas with sugar.

“No ma’am. I'm about to leave but I appreciate it.”

‘Alright. Don't be a stranger”, you say, taking his cup and saucer to the back to clean it off. You place it in the strainer to left it air dry. As you are in the back, the customer packed up and left, leaving the shop empty.

You walk past every table, wiping it down and stacking chairs on top, then grabbing the broom. You quite enjoy the quiet chill night, humming a simple tune. The night offers an array of noises through the open door: Grasshoppers chirping and the soft whistle of the breeze. You finish sweeping and put up the broom. “The tips were pretty good today”, you think, pushing the money into your pocket, removing your apron, locking up, and heading home.

----

You had Thursday off and planned to spend it accordingly. You slept until you couldn't anymore, got up, and fed Avery, offering extra pets to the needy cat. She snuggles up to you on the couch, laying in the space in front of your stomach. Your newest interest? Murder mysteries. So you are relaxing on the couch reading Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile.

You get pretty far into the book before hearing a knock at your door. Weird. Then walk to unlatch the door, swinging it open.

“Uh... hello?”, you questioned the man in front of you. He’s standing there with his hand to the back of his neck, looking nervous

“Hi. Umm, I'm new to building. I live across the hall. I’m Anthony”, he reaches his hand out. You take his hand and shake it.

“Y/N”, you respond, smiling.

“Nice to meet you, Y/N”

“Would you like to come in for some coffee? I just put on a fresh pot”, you invite.

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”, his face sparks up in happiness. He takes your invitation and walks into your apartment, you close the door behind him.

‘Wow. Nice apartment. How long have you been living here?”

“Eh, a while”. Boy, you have NO idea.

He sits down at your dinner table and you bring over two coffee mugs.

“Cream? Sugar?”, you ask.

“Yes. Both please”, he responds and you hand him the containers of cream and sugar.

“Just moved here?”

“Yeah. From Arizona. The owner told me that you're one of the only Americans renting here. Thought I might come by and say hello.”

“Arizona, huh?”

“Yeah. I used to live in Georgia when I was a young girl but I’ve been around the world a lot. Been a while since I’ve been in the United States”, you drift off for a second but reel it in. “ Where in Arizona are you from?”

“Tucson. Wasn’t a bad place to live but I went to college for a major in the Spanish language. I wanted to visit places where I could hear the different dialects and see the different cultures. Thus, I am in Columbia.”

“Ah, you see I just wanted to see the world. I’ve been almost everywhere”

‘What was your favorite place to visit?”, he asks, fully focused on the conversation and not realizing Avery’s furry body rubbing against his shins. She meows. “Oh, well, hello there pretty girl. What’s your name?”. He reaches down to pet her back.

“That’s Avery. But back to your question, I was living in Greece for a while and I just adored the blue waters and sandy beaches.”

He takes a sip of his coffee and asks, “So what brought you here?”

“Need a change of scene. I had a friend who lived here but she passed away a couple of years ago”, you reply back nonchalantly, shrugging your shoulders.

“Oh, im so sorry to hear that. Not too pry but we’re you close?”

“Yeah, We knew each other for a while.”

“How’d she die?”, he asks further

“Old age”, you let slip.

“Old age? he responds surprised.

“Uh... yeah. A family friend.”, you try to make up a better story to keep suspicion off of you.

That conversation kind of ended before it started, instead opting for a conversation about Anthony’s studies in places like Cuba and Spain. The talk circled around to different places you’ve visited, Rome being a topic that seemed to trail on and on. The sun outside seems to start to set.

“I’ve got to get going but it was nice to meet you, Y’N”

“You too, Anthony. Let me know if you need a cup of sugar or anything”, you say following him towards your door. He steps through and across the hallway to his front door. When he shuts his door, you follow suit. You turn around and you can feel Avery’s judging eyes on you.

“I know, I almost blew my cover”, you tell your feline friend. She meows.

-----

You weren't wrong when you told Anthony you’ve been living in Columbia for a while. The problem is his definition and your definition of “a while” were completely different. The truth is you lived in Columbia for 40 years and in this town for about 20. You didn’t age. The only person who could possibly know is Mrs. Rivera but she is very good at minding her own business. You were one of the only ones who came to her husband’s funeral a year ago. You’re practically family. The town’s oldest residents have passed and the owners of the apartments change every couple of years. The rent is paid in cash and the tenets come and go. Every couple of decades you move to another small town in another country.

You lived a normal life but you didn’t know your parents. You lived in the orphanage until you were 18. It was then you took up a job, reading in your spare time, and traveling when you could. You didn’t even realize your immortality until you were 40 looking 20. And then 50 looking 20. You did try to date but soon came to realize that you’d outlive them, leaving a trail of broken hearts. You were pretty sure you were incapable of love. 80 years old and not prepared for what happened next.

Javier Pena was about to change your life.

#javier pena #javier x reader #Javier pena x reader #reincarnated au #coffee shop au #mostly plot #immortal au

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bleachanimefan1 · 3 years ago

Text

The Song of the Titan

Chapter Nine!,

In a secret room of the castle, Belos stood in front of the repaired door of the human realm, that he had managed to salvage and recover. He ordered an abomaton to turn on a switch and it did as it was told. Glowing green goo flowed down from the pipes of the machine and headed towards the door, powering it up. Belos took out a handmade key and stuck it into the keyhole.

It disintegrated almost immediately as soon as he turned it. Hidden in a corner, behind the emperor, Hunter quietly watched, curious about the portal. Lil rascal had managed to sneak into the room as well and landed on Hunter's shoulder and let out a small chirp.

"Shoo!" Hunter brushed his hand to get the cardinal to leave.

"Would you like to see how this works, Hunter?" Belos called out. Hunter gasped and went tense. He had heard him. The cardinal went ridged and turned to wood and Hunter quickly put the bid inside his cloak, hiding it. Hesitantly, Hunter stepped out approaching Belos.

"I didn't mean to hide, Emperor Belos," He murmured.

"We found every piece of the door, but without the power of the real key, it refuses to open," He told him.

"Is true that rain doesn't boil in the human realm?" Hunter asked. Belos turned to Hunter with a surprised look.

"It is. But, how did you know that?" He asked, smiling.

"I ran into the other human the other day. She told me," Hunter told him. He saw his uncle's smile immediately drop. Hunter immediately shifted his gaze away from Belo's cold and dark eyes as they stared intensely down at him. Hunter nearly jumped as he felt his uncle's fingers tuck under his chin, tilting his head up, making Hunter look at him.

"Hunter, I need you to promise me that you won't see that human girl again." Hunter's eyes widen a little as he stared up at Belos confused.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"She is a bad influence, especially since she's hanging around with the owl lady, learning about wild magic," His uncle told him. "She's dangerous, so promise me that you will stay from her."

"I-...I promise, Emperor Belos," Hunter said, his eyes dropping a little as he looked down.

"Don't make that face, you know how I feel about that, Hunter."

"I'm sorry, Uncle," Hunter replied.

"You know I've been there before, the human realm, did I ever tell you that?" Below asked, immediately changing the subject. Hunter looked back at him, and shook head. Belos had a soft smile on his face.

"The trees they're green, nights are quiet," He told Hunter. "I look forward to seeing it again." Then he turned Hunter as he walked down the stairs with him. "Were you spying on me just to hear these boring stories?"

"The operation at the knee, why did you switch me out with Kikimora?" Hunter questioned. Belos smiled.

"Everyone has a use, Hunter. Kikimora has her intricate little plans, the scouts carry out orders, and you, well..." He wrapped his arm around Hunter, placing his hand on Hunter's shoulder as they continued walking down the stairs. "The Titan has BIG plans for you and it would be such a hassle to try and find an replacement." Hunter's eyes widened. He was going to be replaced? No! He worked so hard to get where he was! If he was replaced then what use would he be? He wouldn't be able to help his Uncle.

"So right now you can be useful by staying "safe" here in the castle," Belos told him as he led Hunter out.

"If this is punishment for failing my last mission, I swear that I can do better!" Hunter insisted.

"Good night, Hunter," Belos smiled, closing the door.

Hunter stood in front of the door for a minute, before making his decision. He was going to help his uncle, no matter what happens. He had to prove that he wasn't a failure...not again.

Hunter turned around and ran, heading straight to his room and dropped off Lil' rascal. The little bird made a confused chirp as it looked at Hunter.

"I'll be back," Hunter told the cardinal palisman. "Just STAY here and don't be seen. I have to do this on my own."

As he turned around to leave, Hunter heard the small red bird began chirping frantically before he saw Lil' rascal beginning to fly straight towards him. Quickly, Hunter shut the door, before Lil' rascal could get out. It nearly broke his heart hearing the frantic and coming from the small bird as it heard it pecking and clawing the door.

Hunter shook his head, making up his mind and quickly grabbed a coven's scouts uniform as a disguise. So no one would recognize him, since his own had been eaten and was getting the uniform and mask fixed and replaced. He put the scout's clothes and cloak on and left the castle, heading to the Knee.

Back at the owl, Amity was prepping and fortifying the security of the house. She walked past the window, seeing Hooty outside.

"Hooty, what's your status?" Amity asked.

"The perimeter is secure nothing's getting past me!" The owl beast told her as he broke the window, coming in.

"Good! Clean up that mess," Amity smiled.

"Ma'am!" Booty saluted. He sweeped the broken glass aside, using his neck. Amity walked into the living room to see Willow coming in and placed some groceries on the table.

"Willow have you gathered the supplies?" Amity asked.

"Yes! We're ready to attack this at all fronts!" Willow told her.

"Excellent!" Amity smiled. A small white car walked over to her. Amity bent down petting the cat. "Aw, Ghost, did you help, too? Who's a good palisman! Great, now all we is-"

"Rain? Beach wave?" Gus suggested as he and King walked up behind the two girls.

"Something called "Lo-fi beats to study and relax to." We've got it all!" King shouted.

"Eda was rummaging through her basement and gave us these soothing human noises!" Gus explain.

"That's, great," Amity replied. "Wait, Eda's still here? Eda you're supposed to be helping Hooty build up our defenses." Then she heard Eda scream.

Amity walked into a room to see, Eda screaming loudly at nothing, while Azara and John watched in amusement. "Whoo! Don't mind me, I'm just learning how to turn into Harpy Eda on demand. According to this human workout, you just got to scream a lot until you forced your inner beast out." Eda said.

"Eda, this is a cartoon," Azara told her. "Of course, it's not going to work."

"Gee, you just love to suck the fun out of everything, do ya kid?" Eda teased.

"This looks ancient," Amity replied picking up the tape.

"What? No! You're telling me-Thirty years old? I remember seeing this in theaters," Era frowned.

"Yes, you're old. Who cares? We have a crisis on our hands!" Amity exclaimed.

"Chill bossy boots. Everything's fine," Era reassured her. Amity gestured Eda to follow her, along with Azara and John as she walked them to Luz's room, opening the door.

"Does THIS seem fine to you?!" Amity asked gesturing over to Luz.

"It's like I have snake for arms!" Luz exclaimed, as she wildly waved her arms in the air at nothing. Luz's hair was a mess and she was inside of a sleeping bag. Her nose was red and her eyes looked blood shot and tired. She was sick.

"Please, she just has the common mold," Eda explained. "it's harmless."

"But, she's a human," Amity said, worried. "We have no idea how this will affect her!"

"If I eat the portal key, would I return to the human realm?" Luz questioned. Azara's eyes widen.

"Luz, no!" she tried to stop her. Luckily, Amity made a small abomaton and it quickly took the key from Luz, walking away, and gave it to Amity.

"I am not giving this back until you are better, okay?" Amity told her. Luz whined and took out a small device that looked like a tomagachi and started to type something on it. Amity had one as well as it pinged. She looked at it seeing the strange emojis, not understanding them.

U R PRETTY...

"Uh, you got it!" Amity smiled and winked at Luz. Luz stared at her confused and disappointed as she closed the door.

"I got to admit, Amity, seeing you around more often is different, " Willow told her as Gus, King and her approached the them.

"I know but I was taught to see every situation as an opportunity," Amity told them. "And today I am going to show Luz that I am an awesome girlfriend!"

"Feels like is it a few months ago you almost got her dissected by your crazy principal," King pointed out.

"She did what now?" Azara asked, interested. Amity blushed and looked away.

"That was a few months ago," Gus added. Suddenly, everyone jumped as they heard Luz scream.

"AAH!" They quickly opened the door to see Luz frantically grabbing a pen and paper. "Luz!"

"Mouse! Uh, Philip's dairy entry!" Luz exclaimed, frantically. They saw the echo mouse projecting something on the wall, in black and white, like an movie from an old film reel. Azara a strange man dressed in weird clothes that looked like from the 16th century. His hair was tied up in a pony tail and had two long strands of hair hanging from his face.

"After five years, I have finally found it. A power source so potent it can pierce through realms, Titan's blood. There are old tales of lakes reflecting green trees and blue skies. The Titan's veins run through the land and many believe that these wild portals are created when a little of It's blood leaks into the water. That is how I came here, so that is the first place I shall look. I will journey back to Eclipse Lake."

"I have to go to Eclipse Lake!" Luz shouted as she finished the drawing the location down and quickly got up, practically jumping out the door. Willow and Gus quickly caught her, dragging Luz back inside the room, putting her back into the sleeping bag.

"Luz, no! You are not well!" Willow told her.

"She is shockingly strong!" Gus added.

"Alright, Luz. Me and King will get your Titan blood," Eda told her. "if you just calm down."

"Yes! Perfect chance to take our new powers for a test drive!" King cheered.

"You guys are the best!" Luz smiled. She handed Eda the paper, however it looked like it had some snot on it as well. Eda cringed in disgust and took it, holding the map in front of her, walking away.

"You might want to get that disinfected," Azara chuckled.

"I volunteer as well, as Luz's girlfriend, I must -" Amity immediately volunteered, following after Eda.

"I get, Boots. Just grab a coat," Eda told her.

"I'm coming too!" Azara replied.

"Well, if you're coming, you're going to have to wear boots. Where we are going is cold and I can't afford to have another sick kid on my hands," Era told her.

"Fine," Azara pouted but agreed.

"I'm coming as well!" John shouted. Azara frowned and shook her head.

"No, you're not. You're staying here," she told him. John whined.

"You're not the boss of me!" he complained. Azara smirked.

"Actually I am, since mom's not here," she reminded him. "Therefore, I am in charge of you." She approached him and bent down to his level. "And if YOU get into trouble, "I" get into trouble, and WE don't want that, do we now?" John pouted, crossing his arms, before sticking out his lips.

"Fine," he replied.

"I need you help look after Luz, okay?" Azara smiled. John nodded his head, understanding.

"Willow, Goops, watch after Luz," Eda told the two. "She thinks she has snakes for arms." Willow and Gus looked back at Luz who had her arms in the air before she noticed them and hissed.

High above, on a snowy mountain, Kikimora and the coven scouts were digging around outside in the ruins of an abandoned mine.

"Dig faster, scouts!" Kikimora ordered.

"Kikimora, these tunnels are unstable, maybe we should slow down?" One of the scouts suggested.

"Not now, captain. This could be my last chance to show Belos what I can do! And I just know that brat golden guard will try to spoil it!" Kikimora said. "Hey Steve! Jump over that chasm before I throw you into it!"

"She's getting so paranoid," the captain shook her head.

Not too far off, from the scouts, Hunter was hiding behind a tree as he watched them. He leaned back against the tree and pulled back the hood his cloak, only to be startled as he saw the cardinal palisman right there next to him.

"Why do keep following me?!" Hunter hissed. "How did you even get out!?"

I'm.....h#r% to h#lp! Lil rascal chirped. Hunter frowned as he looked at the bird.

"I don't speak palisman," He replied then continued to explain his plan to the bird. Lil rascal was nodding his head the entire time, listening.

"Here's the plan, I slip in with this disguise, I find the Titan blood before Kiki, I give it to Belos. Boom! I'm useful again!" Hunter smiled. It suddenly dropped as Hunter heard one of the abomatons fired in his direction. He and Lil rascal quickly ducked and took cover as the blast exploded the tree that they were hiding behind. Hunter gulped nervously and quietly crawled way before the scouts noticed him. That blast almost blew his head off!

"Ma'am, is everything alright?!" The captain asked. Kikimora's eyes narrowed with a dark glare.

"I just thought I heard an annoying voice!" She hissed.

"Uh, another way in! We'll find another way in!" Hunter stammered, nervously. He ran got up and ran away while Lil rascal rode on top of his head. Lil rascal 's eyes widened as it sensed something nearby and happily chirped.

Hunt*& Th%$ #ay!

Hunter stopped and saw the cardinal land on a branch in a tree and walked over. His eyes widen in surprise to see Eda, King and Amity, approaching.

"The owl lady and her dog and is that the youngest Blight?" He questioned to himself. Then his eyes noticed a familiar pair of green eyes as he saw Azara walking with them as well. Hunter's eyes widen and he had almost fallen off from the steep slope, slipping on a small patch of ice, as soon as he saw her. He nearly lost his breath and felt his cheeks burn as he felt strange feeling in his chest. Hunter's heart began to beat faster, watching Azara as she and the others got closer. Her again!?

"This place is crawling with tools! What gives?!" King asked.

"Titan blood is the most powerful source of magic on the Isles. I'm not surprised Belos wants it too," Eda explained.

"Well, we can't afford to mess this up," Amity said. "Luz is counting on me! I mean, us!" She blushed.

"Well, as soon as we find this Titan's blood the sooner I can get out of these boots!" Azara complained. She was shaking her feet as she walked along side them. Eda and King laughed.

"She's like a small cat!" Eda chuckled. Azara frowned, as her cheeks turned red, embarrassed.

"I heard that!" she yelled out.

"Alright, new plan," Hunter smiled. "They can lead us to the Titan blood."

Lil rascal stared at Hunter for a minute before he lunged out and pulled on Hunter's strand of hair.

I'm doing Th&$ for you# #wn &ood!

"Hey! Hey! AH!" Hunter screamed and he lost his balance falling right in front of the group. He groaned as he sat up. That little sh-

"A coven scout!" Amity exclaimed. Hunter's eyes widen underneath the mask as he looked up at the group. Eda and Amity had their staffs ready and pointed at him.

"Uh, yes, I am but a humble scout and I surrender," Hunter surrendered holding his hands up. Azara's eyes widen, recognizing the voice.

"Heh, that was easy!" King smiled. Eda narrowed her eyes at the strange scout in front of them.

"Not so fast, King. Don't you recognize that annoying voice?" She asked.

"Why does everyone say that?" Hunter replied, sadly. He quickly took off, running away, trying to escape.

"Don't let him get away!" Eda shouted. Amity made some abomaton goo fly out of her flask with a wave of her finger. It shot out, wrapping around Hunter, knocking him off of his feet, and he flipped over, falling down to the ground. His mask had fallen off, as well, revealing his face. The group walked up, looking down at him.

"This is none other than-"

"Hello, Hunter!" Azara smirked.

"Wait, you know him?!" Eda asked, confused.

"Yeah, he's the guy I've been telling you guys about." Azara told them.

"Well, did you know that he's Belos right hand man?" Eda frowned. "I thought I told you to stay away from them!"

Azara smiled sheepishly, shrugging her hands.

"The golden guard!" Amity gasped. "He is a lot scrawnier than I've imagined." King laughed.

Hunter growled and glared up at them.

"Did I do it? Did I go into harpy mood?" Eda asked, excitedly, busting through a wall of ice.

"No, you just screamed "Hoot!" and ran head first into a wall of ice," King told her as he walked into the mines from the hole Era had made, along with Amity, Hunter and Azara, "It was pretty funny actually."

"You can put down your staff, I won't run," Hunter said.

"Too bad, because I don't trust you," Amity answered, still pointing her staff at him.

"Huh? This stuff is old," Eda commented the old abandoned mining equipment that was left behind, lying about near them.

"Ancient witches used to mine the veins for titan blood-" Hunter tried to explain.

"They're not listening," Azara told him.

"Go on, fire it! Maybe the adrenaline will kick in and bam! Harpy Eda!" Eda insisted. King jumped on top of the mine drill, getting ready to activate it.

"Sounds perfectly safe!"

"Wait! Don't!-" Hunter tried to warn them. But, King had already activated the drill and it unleashed a blast of magic. It barely missed Eda and started to ricochet off the walls bouncing around wildly like a ping pong ball!

"This isn't a normal cave! These walls are made from the veins of the Titan any magic that you shoot will bounce right back at you!" Hunter shouted.

"Oh, you must be fun at parties," Eda teased. She turned back to King. "Hey, King How about you use your new power to echo-locate the lake?"

"Okay!" He jumped off the drill running to the tunnel in front of them. King opened his mouth and let out a sonic blast. There was silence, then King turned around to them, shrugging his hands.

"Nothing," he replied.

"These two are definitely going to get us caught," Hunter frowned.

"Us?" There is no us! Now, keep walking," Amity said.

As they started to head deeper into the mines, walking further in, Azara stopped when she heard a voice whisper in her ear.

Azura...

Azara eyes widened and she wildly began looking around.

"Who said that?" She asked.

"Who said what?" Amity asked. The others stopped, as well seeing Azara looking around at nothing. They stared with confused looks on their faces.

"We didn't say anything, kid." Eda told her. She frowned seeing the uneasy look on Azara's face. "Is there something wrong?"

Azara shook her head. "It must have been my imagination. Let's just hurry."

"Oh hey, look! People died here." King added. Everyone gasped as they saw a couple of skeletons lying on the ground.

"Okay, this is getting too creepy. Let's just find that Titan blood and get out of here." Amity said.

"Maybe, it's the lost souls of the witches who died here in the mines?" Eda joked. "And now they're angry that their tomb is being disturbed!"

"Eda! You're not helping!" Azara shouted. "I know that I heard someone! They said Azura..."

"Azura? You mean, the the good witch Azura?" King asked and chuckled. "But, she is just some storybook fantasy. She's not real!"

"I know what I heard..." Azara replied.

"Maybe, you're crazy," Hunter sneered and commented. Azara frowned, looking at him.

"Alright, let's just keep going," Amity told them. "Hearing voices is never really a good sign. Let's just find that Titan's blood then get out."

"You know, Luz told me about her trip to Latissa, where she met someone very interesting," Eda explained as they walked further into the mines. "A beat-up blond with no magical powers. She called him and these are her words, "A bad but sad boy," She snorted as she finished and chuckled. Hunter cheeks and ears turned red, blushing, embarrassed.

"If I ever see that human again," He muttered.

"Hey, watch it!" Amity warned him as she narrow her eyes.

"At least I'm not delusional to think that I can turn into a harpy!" Hunter retorted. Eda turned around and hissed.

"Hey, come on, give it a rest, you two!" King said, although he looked amused at the fight between.

"Yeah, listen to your rat," Hunter replied.

"Whee!" King screeched angrily and jumped off of Eda, pulling on Hunter's hair.

Suddenly, Amity shushed them telling to be quiet. She motioned them to take cover and they did. Everyone saw Kikimora, along with two abomatons and two coven scouts had made their way into the mines, too.

"Why are we stopping?" Kikimora demanded. "Is it the golden guard?!"

"No, ma'am, this is a dangerous area," the captain told her. "We need to move carefully."

"Careful takes too long! My butt is on line!" Kikimora shouted. "And so help me Titan, if you ruin this, I will throw you off of the peak of the tallest knee with a smile!"

"She definitely has issues," Azara cringed.

"That poor girl is going through something," Eda commented.

"She's also blocking the path to Eclipse Lake," Amity added and pointed ahead.

"We should create a distraction," Hunter replied.

"We should create a distraction!" Eda shouted. "You kids wait for my signal!" She and king jumped over the edge, getting into place to create a plan.

"Ha, that was easy! When they're caught, you two and I can take the Titan blood for ourselves," Hunter said as he leaned against an old mining machine.

"Stop talking like we're a team!" Amity shouted.

"Why not just quit the emperor's coven and come with us?" Azara asked. Hunter's and Amity's eyes widened in shock.

"Are you kidding me?" Amity asked in disbelief. Hunter chuckled and sneered.

"That's an attempting offer, but no thanks," he replied.

"Better than being miserable." Azara commented.

"I never said anything about being miserable," Hunter frowned, looking away from her.

"But you are, aren't you?" Azara asked. "Why can't you just admit that you need help?"

"I..Don't..Need..Help," Hunter replied, coldly, as he narrowed his eyes at Azara. She sighed.

"Everyone needs help every once in awhile," Azara told him. Amity stared at the two in silence with a disbelief look on her face.

"This is crazy," Amity said, shaking her head. "I am not working with the emperor's coven just because you two have a crush on each other."

"WE DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON EACH OTHER!" Hunter and Azara yelled at the same time. The two blinked and looked at each other.

"But we might as well work together," Hunter replied. "The owl lady and her pet have nothing at stake unlike us."

"You have no idea what you're talking-" Amity's tomagatchi bleeped in her coat pocket, interrupting her. "I was going to say, you have no-" It bleeped again. Hunter and Azara stared at her, blinking and raised their eyes staring into the witch's pocket. Amity huffed and turned around, her back facing them, and pulled out the device. Azara walked closer peeking over Amity's shoulder. She saw strange emojis on the screen but couldn't understand them. She was never really any good with that kind of stuff, it was from confusing.

"Oof, that doesn't look good," Hunter replied reading over Amity's shoulder. Amity jumped as she saw Hunter and and Azara behind her. She glared at Hunter.

"Stay back!" She demanded. He stepped away as she wanted. Amity frowned, wondering what he had meant. "But, what doesn't look good?"

"Seems clear to me, come back with results or else....you can figure out the rest," he told her.

"That doesn't sound right," Azara replied. "That doesn't sound like something Luz would do."

"No, Luz wouldn't make that kind of threat." Amity agreed, shaking her head. "I'm an awesome girlfriend!"

"Has she told you that?" Hunter asked. "We have a lot in common, Blight. We both trying to show what we can bring to the table. And we can't fail cause there's nothing worse than disappointing someone who thinks you are special." he finished. Azara stared at him, silently.

Amity bit her lip and looked down, with an uncertain look on her face.

Suddenly, a blast of purple magic bounced near Kikimora and the scouts. The abomatons deployed a shield to protect them.

"Why didn't you wait for our signal?!" Eda called out as she and King, ran to catch up with Hunter, Amity and Azara, heading straight into the tunnel ahead of them to Eclipse Lake.

"We don't have time to play around! We are getting that titan blood!" Amity shouted.

As they ran, Amity's tomagachi had fallen out from her pocket and landed on the ground. Kikimora spotted it and picked it up, inspecting the device with a crazed look in her eyes.

AS the group walked down the tunnel, the cardinal palisman had been following them the entire time, unnoticed by them. Lil rascal landed on Hunter's shoulder and made a small chirp.

"Hey, find a different perch, bird," Hunter replied, shrugging his shoulder. Lil rascal flew off of him. At the end of the tunnel, everyone walked out to see some strange dried up crystallized dark blue liquid surrounding all over the room.

"Is this titan's blood?" Eda asked.

"But, Eclipse Lake is farther ahead," Amity said, confused, checking the map again.

"Who cares!? We did it!" King shouted. Eda and King began to approach it.

"STOP!" Hunter shouted. "That's fools blood. Don't touch it!"

"Oh, so you can keep it all for yourself?" Eda smirked. "Pfft! Hard pass!" She slammed the end of her staff into the crystal. It cracked and suddenly the ground began to shake beneath them, before ripping open giving away under their feet. Eda and King fell into the huge chasm below.

"No!" Amity and Azara cried out. Amity was about to hop onto her staff to go after them but Hunter stopped her.

"Wait! Take me with you!" he shouted.

"Yoo hoo! Golden guard!" The three heard Kikimora call out, getting closer to them.

"Can you at least untie me so I can escape?!" Hunter insisted. "Please, I don't want to be replaced."

"Fine!" Amity groaned. She waved her finger and released the goo from Hunter, freeing him. Hunter stretched his arm as she glanced behind her, seeing the shadows getting closer. "So, where will you go now?"

"Now..." Hunter sweeped his leg and knocked Amity and Azara off of their feet, knocking to the ground. He ran and hopped into a mine cart and wheeled off. "I get to Eclipse Lake before anyone! BYEEEE!"

"That little-!" Azara growled as she got up.

"That jerk!" Amity shouted, angry as well. Just as the two were about to get up, a spear pointed at their faces. The two girls froze as they saw Kikimora and the coven scouts in front of them.

"Would you look at this, captain?" Kikimora said "We find our little fire starter." Then she noticed Azara, and glared at her. "YOU! You will pay for blinding me!"

"Well, you shouldn't have walked so blindly to my trap," Azara scoffed. "Some coven scout leader you are."

"Silence!" Kikimora shrieked angrily. The abomatons aimed their cannons at Azara, ready to fire. Azara's widened and she gulped. She stared at the end of the cannon, glaring up at Kikimora. "But, after a deal with another little pest. Then I'll deal with YOU!" The abomatons lowered their arms. Azara felt a sudden relief rush over her as they did.

"So, the golden guard is also looking for titan's blood and he took off to Eclipse Lake," Kikimora said. "I knew it! That little snake is always making me look bad. Well, now I can get my revenge!"

"Ma'am, what about the Titan blood?" The captain asked.

"Oh, yes, I'll get that too," Kikimora replied. "This is going to be a good day!"

"What should we do with these two?" The captain asked.

"Oh, I don't care," Kikimora replied. The two abomatons transformed into carts and she rode in one, as well as the other scouts as they went after Hunter. The captain aimed her spear at Amity and Azara.

"So, did you come with anyone else or...Ugh! This is boring!" she picked up Amity and tossed her into the cavern.

"Amity!" Azara cried out. She felt the captain push her as well as she kicked Azara into the hole. Amity and Azara screamed as they fell down into the dark depths. Suddenly, several hands grabbed the two girls, catching them. Eda and King pulled them up as they hang on tightly onto Owlbert. Amity quickly grabbed onto the tomagachi, catching it, just before it fell as well.

"Guys, you're okay!" Amity said in relief.

"Just barely," Era told her. "Owlbert's knocked out so we can't fly."

"I'm just like throwing it out there, but, this would be a great time to bring out harpy Eda!" King said.

"I don't know how! I tried yelling at it, scaring it-" Everyone gasped as they saw Owlbert was starting to crack.

"Did you ever think about talking to it?" King asked.

"Ha! I-I guess I didn't, but it's a wild animal," Eda said unsure.

"You thought I was a wild animal, once," King commented.

"Okay, I'll try. Just give me a second," Eda agreed. "What?! You want to make a deal? I-I don't know if I can." Owl was beginning to crack more as a large crack appeared on it's head. "Okay, okay, I'll do it! Just change NOW!" Her eyes turned black and golden irises appeared.

"Haha! Yes!" Eda cheered as she flew out of the pit in her Harpy form, carrying Amity, King, and Azara.

"What did you promise to do?" Azara asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Eda told her.

"I can't wait to see a real life mine cart chase!" King exclaimed, excitedly.

As they reached the end of the mine tunnel, everyone had saw that Kikimora and the other scouts had gone off the rails and crashed.

"Ooh..." Everyone cringed.

"I guess mine cart chases are a lot more dangerous than videogames make them seem." King commented.

"There it is!" Amity pointed out.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Eda as she was caught by an abomaton. The captain of the coven scouts got up.

"I don't know who you freaks are, but that blood belongs to Kikimora!" she yelled. The abomaton slammed Eda to the ground with the others.

"Get to the lake!" Eda shouted, telling them to go on. "I'll take care of-" The abomaton pulled Eda away from them and slammed her into the wall.

"Eda!" King cried out in worry. Azara grabbed him and ran after Amity. The captain of the scouts threw a spear at them but Eda caught it and snapped it with her hand, breaking it in half. She turned to the captain and smirked.

"Alright owl beast, let's see what we can do!" Eda flew up high into the air and began spinning around as she corkscrew straight towards the captain.

Azara caught up to Amity and looked ahead to see a large crater of what appeared to be a pool in front of her. However, it was dried up and there was no Titan's blood. The trees that surround the pit were dried up as well as roots extended all over the area. She froze as she saw Hunter, desperately digging in the dirt.

"Don't worry, I won't pick a fight," He told them. "There's no titan blood."

"Then why are you digging?" Amity asked. Azara eyes widened as she saw Hunter turned around. His eyes looked a little off and a little crazed. Great, she was dealing with a crazy person. This guy was literally digging his own grave.

"It's simple really. Belos needs Titan's blood, to make a new portal key. Can't get to the human realm without it," Hunter explained.

"There's blood in the key?" Amity questioned. Azara's eyes widened in surprise. This trip had been for nothing! The key had Titan's blood all along...and it was the one thing that Emperor Belos needed. It can't fall into his hands!

She frowned, staring at Hunter, concerned.

"Since, I failed my last mission, I thought "Hey! A chance to make up for it!" But, I can't go back empty handed!" Hunter let out a hysterical laugh. "Not again. Long story short, this is my grave! Do you want me to make you one, too?"

"This is really bumming me out," King replied.

"That's just life, rat. Everyone has a use and if you don't-Pfft! Bye-bye! Your friend gets it!" Hunter said.

"What's he talking about?" King asked confused.

"Luz has been sending me these strange human codes. I don't understand all of them, but this one seems pretty clear," Amity explained and showed King the emojis. "Come back with results or we're done." King frowned until he saw something strange about the emoji's. He turned the device sideways and the emojis appeared to spell out words. Amity's eyes widened surprise.

"U ARE RAD," She read. "FOOLS BLOOD BAD. U OKAY. COME HOME."

Amity laughed and smiled overjoyed and happy. "Of course! This is Luz we're talking about!"

Suddenly, the three heard frantic chirping and turned their heads back to see Lil rascal trying to pull Hunter out of the hole that he had dug. He swatted the bird away from him.

"Hey, go find a better witch to be with!" He groaned, falling back into the dirt face first and shoveled some more on top of his head.

"We need to help him," Azara told King and Amity. King frowned.

"I don't think that he's your type," he replied. Azara blushed a little.

"I don't care, we still got to try and help him," she insisted. "You told me how your parents treated you. You and him have the same experiences, maybe you can get through to him." Amity nodded, understanding. She knew how he felt. This was a chance to help him. Amity and Azara walked over as they approached Hunter. Amity bent down to Hunter and Lil Rascal landed on her shoulder.

"You know, you were right. We do have a lot in common. I grew up thinking that everything was an opportunity to justify existing. But, there are people out there who won't make you feel worthless. You just got to let yourself meet them." Amity smiled and held her hand out to him.

Hunter opened his eyes and looked up at her then turned his attention towards Azara. He saw that her eyes were pleading at him to take it.

"We want to help you Hunter," she told him softly. "Come with us."

Hunter's felt his chest began to grow warm as he heart began to beat faster at the sound of her voice. It relax him, made him feel safe. Just as Hunter was about to get up, something shined in Hunter's eyes. He gasped a little and his eyes widen as he slowly got up.

"What are you?" Amity questioned before glancing down to where Hunter was looking at. The key!

Hunter lunged at her, and Amity quickly rolled out of the way. He quickly turned back towards her, with a desperate look in his eyes.

"Oh, come on!" Amity complained. "Being nice usually works for Luz!"

"Hunter, please don't do this!" Azara cried out. But, Hunter ignored her and ran towards Amity. King quickly jumped in front of her.

"Weh!" King shouted unleashing a sonic wave.

Hunter's eyes widened as it came closer. Lil rascal quickly jumped in front of him, reflecting the blast. Hunter grabbed the staff but Amity shot out some abomination too at him, wrapping around Hunter's body. Hunter struggled to get it off when suddenly he teleported out of the binding then started to teleport uncontrollably a little unleashing a yellow burst of energy.

"The staffs are weird," Hunter frowned looking at the staff. Hunter teleported again as Amity shot an abomination goo at him again to catch him. Now high in the air, Hunter aimed the staff down at them and unleashed several burst of yellow magic, and it began to bounce wildly all over the room. Azara quickly made a ice pillar as she made a spell circle with her finger just before a ball of magic hit her.

Hunter teleported next to Amity and she tried to block his attacks as he teleported wildly around her, trying to break through her shield. As he stopped in front of her, King tried to jump at him and knocked Hunter to the ground. Amity created a giant bubble with the goo encasing Hunter inside of it. She quickly got on her staff and grabbed King, heading towards Azara.

"We are leaving!" she shouted, getting ready to grab her. Azara shook her head.

"Not without Hunter!" she shouted.

"We HAVE to go! NOW!" Amity urged her, grabbing her hand. "Forget him!"

"No!" Azara argued, pulling back. "I won't turn my back on people who need my help!" Amity's eyes widened in shock.

Suddenly, the abomination cage exploded and a giant hand made out of earth smacked right into Amity, knocking her off of her staff.

"Amity!" Azara cried out trying to reach her but Hunter sent another ball of magic at her, stopping Azara in her tracks. King had managed to land safely but his horns were embedded deep in some tree's roots. Amity used her goo to make a slide and slide down to the ground landing on her feet. Then Hunter quickly appeared beside her. Amity's eyes widened.

"You really want to help then gimme that key!" Hunter shouted. He used the staff to rip the necklace off of Amity's neck and Amity quickly caught it before he could get it. She quickly made a sharp weapon and aimed it directly under Hunter's neck as he pinned her hand with his staff, glaring up at him. Hunter panted completely tired and exhausted and sweat dropping from his face.

"Listen your strong and I'm tired. If this continues, you'll probably escape. But here's the thing: we know where to find you and your human." Amity gasped. "So just, hand over the key."

"Fine," Amity said. "Just stay away from Luz." She let go of the key and Hunter took it from her.

"I appreciate it," He told her. "I, uh, mean that, too." Just before he was about to take off with Lil rascal, Azara stopped him. She stepped in front of Amity, clasping her hands together.

"Hunter, wait. Just think for a a minute," She tried to reason with him. "You don't want to do this. You know that this is not right. I know that your not happy there. You know that your not happy there. So, come with us..."

Hunter turned and stared at her for a minute, silently.

"Can you really turn your back on your own family?" Hunter asked. Azara's eyes widened. Hunter took off flying away with Lil rascal.

"Hunter! Stop!" She cried out. But, he was already gone.

"HaHa! Yes! I heard fighting!" Eda smiled as she flew in. "I'm ready to go! Where's the nerd?" She stopped when she saw everyone.

"Weeh!" King whined as he tried to pull his horns out from the tree root that he was still stuck upside down on. Amity looked like she had made the worst decision in her life. Azara was still standing where she was, frozen. Tears were slowly beginning to fall from her eyes as they run down her cheeks.

"Oh, dang it." Eda sighed.

Back at the owl house, in Luz's room, Luz gasped and suddenly shot up with a surprised look on her face. "Huh?! I feel great!" Luz exclaimed before she realized that she had mushrooms growing on her head. "I wonder if this is permanent?"

"I got to find everyone!" She yelled. She quickly got up, the mushrooms fell off from her head as she did, and she quickly ran into the hall. Luz bumped into Willow who was carrying to bowl of soup, knocking it out of her hands, along with Gus. Hooty caught it with his head. "Have the others returned?"

"Ow, ow ,ow! Just get an elixir!" Luz gasped as she heard Eda shout and ran into the living room . She saw King and Azara trying to pull on her wing go get her inside, but she was stuck at the door. "I got into harpy mode and now I can't get out."

"She also ate like nine voles on the way home?" King added.

"Hey, I had to keep up my end of the bargain," Eda said.

"Amity!" Luz ran over to her, knocking her down, and hugged her tightly. She smiled. "I'm so glad my awesome girlfriend is okay!"

"Me, too!" Amity smiled back.

"No king hug? What is this?!" King complained. "You are a swindler and a thief!"

"Come here, buddy!" Luz rushed towards him and swooped King up in her arms hugging him.

"I regret this!" King shouted. Eda leaned in closer to Amity.

"You want to break the news or should I?" she asked.

"News?" Amity asked, confused.

"The empty lake, the golden guard, losing the portal key?" Eda told her. "Today was an disaster."

"Actually, we might be okay." Amity said, as she showed Eda the Titan's blood that was stained on her glove.

"How did you get the Titan's blood?" Azara asked, surprised.

"I broke the key." Amity told her.

Nighttime was beginning to fall, and stars were shining in the sky. Hunter stared at the key in his hand as he held it in front of him. He had an unsure and confused look on his face. He felt terrible and guilty about taking the key. Then Lil rascal landed on his hand and happily chirped at him.

"Oh, hey. You stuck with me the whole time, huh, bird?" Hunter asked. Lil rascal made another happy chirp.

Orion.

Hunter's eyes widened in surprise. He had understood what Lil rascal had said! He can understand him!

"I think I understood that!" He smiled. "Is that your name? Can you say it again?"

My name is Orion, Hunter.

"Weird." Hunter chuckled. He thought it was a funny name to name a bird after a star constellation. But, it did seem to suit him. Hunter's life had been brighter since the little bird came into his life, even leading him to Azara. Hunter's eyes widen as her name came into his mind.

It didn't matter. She must hate him now. He quickly shook it off and looked back at Lil rascal.

"Can you say other things?"

Hunter continued on ahead, heading to the castle, as Lil rascal continued to chirp talking to him.

#the owl house #hunter #hunter the golden guard #kikimora #little rascal #hunter belos #emperor belos #the owl house oc #eda clawthorne #king the owl house #amity toh #Fanfiction #eclipse lake #Magic #witches #read more

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lemonietrinket · 4 years ago

Text

how 127 would react to accidentally hurting you

genre: fluff, some tiny spicier elements, but they’re so mild, attempts at humour, tiny bits of angst in some? wordcount: 5k warnings: a few instances of foul language an: none of the instances are serious, nor are they cases of emotionally hurting you, just them... being clumsy for example. gender neutral reader

~ all members below the cut ~

taeil

after sidling into the kitchen after your search for your boyfriend proved fruitless, you finally found him as the culprit for the sinfully delicious scent wafting all throughout the dorms. he didn’t notice you right away, his attentions focused on the several pans simmering before him. it was always a immense task cooking for so many kids members, so you waited for him to take a step back before announcing your presence. as soon as he heard your small ‘hi’ approaching him, he looked up with a shining smile.

“hey, love!” he greeted with a peck to your cheek.

“need any help?”

“ahh...” his head whipped to the stove top at the sound of spitting oil and he immediately picked up a spoon, “...actually, yes, the bowl by the sink can go through, i think.”

“got it,” you chirped, following his instructions though not without some wandering gazes as you passed. he was wearing a cute little apron, and as his partner, there was no real harm in admiring what it accentuated. what? you were looking respectfully...!

“cute butt.”

he hushed you with a glance at the door, leaving you to snicker.

reaching the sink you found your bowl. seeing the food inside made you almost drool, but you kept yourself together—you were nothing less than dutiful. though in that moment, you were also nothing more than a bit dumb too. figuring it was safe to hold, you went to pick up the bowl, only to drop it suddenly with a clatter with a hiss. of course it wasn’t as cool as you thought it was at all.

“love?” taeil was at your side in an instant, holding the back of the injured hand that you were staring at so intently.

“the bowl is still really hot,” you pouted. it hadn’t fallen far and the ceramic as well as the food inside were all safe. your fingers were just a bit reddened.

“here, run them under cold water,” taeil turned on the tap for you, before guiding your hand underneath the icy stream, “feel better?”

you nodded, though your eyes swept back to where the rest of the food was. “a little, but i think the eggs are going to over-boil.”

he cursed under his breath as he followed your line of sight, before meeting your gaze, “i can trust you to stay here, can’t i love?”

you rolled your eyes with a smile of your own and nodded once again.

“good,” he grinned before pecking you on the cheek and scurrying back to the stove.

“your butt is still cute.”

“shhh!”

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

johnny

there was no denying what a view the surrounding valley made, its gleaning emerald sheets cracked with narrow crevices and streams of water. you’d climbed all the way to the summit of a pile of disjointed slate just to reach a divot in the cliff side where johnny could take his photos with a better vantage. the climb, however, seemed to take nothing out of him, as he practically skipped up excitedly like a mountain goat. you on the other hand, were left quite out of breath at the steep clamber to the top. he waited for you for most of it, reaching out to help you up, but soon you waved him along. once you’d reassured him you didn’t mind him going ahead, he gave your hand a squeeze before continuing up the rest of the way. truth be told you didn’t want him to see just how much of mess you were. you really wished you’d gone to bed earlier the night before.

as soon as you reached the top, you made a beeline to the nearest big stone that you could perch on and rest your legs. johnny was already by the edge, camera raised an gazing into the distance with a bright grin on his handsome face. he could take your breath away just doing the bare minimum—it was a shame that you had already lost most of it to the climb.

slowly you regained your breath and felt the twinge in the soles of you feet ease. noting how beautiful he looked with the dramatic backdrop behind him, you snuck a photo of your own on your phone, before deciding to join him.

unfortunately, after you ambled over the uneven ground, just as you quietly came came to his side, johnny realised the strap of his camera wasted caught up with the tethers of his hoodie. and so he decided the easiest way to rectify it would to pulling his hand holding his camera abruptly to the side.

knocking you in the cheek, you yelped as soon as he made contact. head whipping across to you he sweeps you to his chest

“oh baby, i’m so sorry!” his head immediately whipped over to you, and shoving his camera round to his side, he swept you to his chest. “i’m so sorry, baby, i didn’t see you there.”

as you grumbled, he kissed your cheek carefully and ran the pads of his fingers across it. when you didn’t flinch and merely whined, he simply laughed sheepishly—thankfully it didn’t hurt too much, but there was no way you weren’t going to tease him with it as comeuppance.

“johnnyyy—how could you do such a thing!”

“i’m sorry, really i am!”

“yeah, you will be.”

“what does that mean?”

you didn’t respond.

“...yn?”

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

taeyong

having gotten all dolled up and ready for your date, taeyong offered to tie your shoelaces to save you having to readjust your outfit. obviously he was so cute and attentive you agreed. watching him carefully tie your laces with a dopey smile on your lips, you winced at how tight he pulled them. you didn’t say anything though, since you figured you’d get used to it after a bit of walking. unfortunately though it was not to be.

after leaving the house and making your way to the restaurant beneath the starlit autumn evening, your arm in his, you found yourself struggling to keep up. taeyong was a gentleman, and he’d slowed to match your pace several times. in fact he hadn’t even registered how tiny your steps were now, rambling on about his plans for his animal crossing island.

“at first i thought i was going to do a summery beach town vibe, but then i saw these really cute bricks paths online, and i realised i had to change everything to fit them—”

there was no doubt he was adorable, doe eyes glittering with the silver of the streetlights above as he glanced forward and back to you. his gaze never roamed far, he always returned to you, your cheeks, your lips. normally he could distract you from everything, the whole world moving past behind you like a dream, while you hung off his every sweet word. however, it seemed you had found the one exception.

your shoes were squeezing your feet too tight—something they never did before—and it all pointed to the laces being done up too tight. you internally grimaced every time you considered bringing it up to him, because you didn’t want to make him upset. nor could you just stop and retie them, since the street was lined with nowhere to lift your feet high yet discreet enough.eventually the inner turmoil and the ache of your feet gave way and you came to a stop.

“yn? sweetheart? are you alright?” taeyong wouldn’t even take a step further ahead, his arm slipping from yours just so he could stand before you and check you were alright.

“i think you did the laces too tight, yongie,” you admitted shyly, “i’m really sorry.”

to your surprise, he didn’t get upset one bit—or at least, not at what you expected.

“oh sweetheart, why didn’t you say?” he asked, concern etched on his features as he got down on one knee. the position shocked you too at first, though you knew he was just going to do your shoelaces again. undoing them and retying them, before glancing up at you with those big eyes that made you melt every time you met them, he checked if your shoes felt looser.

“much better,” you stuttered, watching him shyly as he stood, his signature squishy smile returning.

“i’ll always be more careful from now on, love, ok?” he stroked some hair behind your ear and kissed your nose. “ready to keep going?”

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

doyoung

it was a simple matter of neither of you checking where you were going.

on the living room side of the door, you had stood from your seat to head into the kitchen to fetch some snacks for you and taeil. friday night, because of how you and your best friend’s schedules convened, had become movie night and after babbling for nearly an hour you decided to get on with starting your film before the gamers wanted the tv.

on the other side of the door, meanwhile, doyoung was listening to jungwoo tell a story that he swore was true that happened way before they had met. the storyteller in question was perched on the stool by the island in the centre of the kitchen, leaning on his hands neatly and watching as doyoung searched for a phone charger.

“jungwoo are you sure there isn’t one by you?” he’d interjected, running a hand through his dark fluffy hair while scouring the other counter-tops once again.

“hundred percent!”

doyoung sighed. “sorry woo, i’ll be back, just going to ask johnny if i can borrow his.”

reaching the door at the same time, you had been calling over your shoulder to taeil after he asked which studio ghibli film you wanted, when the door swung open into you. you managed to swerve your body out of the way, though you weren’t as lucky with your foot.

wood met your big toe and you hissed, hopping back to rest against the arm of the nearest sofa.

“oh my god, yn!”

taking to your side in a rush with a panicked look on his face, you smiled sheepishly up at him from where you were leant against the arm of the nearest sofa. “i’m ok, doie, i promise.”

your response however didn’t stop him from fussing over you a single bit. apologies stuttering from his lips as his hands brushed across your shoulders to your fingers and up to your cheeks, you just chuckled him as you rubbed your toe gently.

“this isn’t funny yn!” he insisted while cupping your chin and stroking hair out of your face. “i didn’t know you were there and—are you ok? do you want any ice?”

you exhaled deeply, calm in the face of his frantic, searching eyes. “kim doyoung. i’m fine.”

and with that, you pressed a kiss to his nose quickly, and within seconds of his affection-caused stupor he found you already back on your feet, passing him by into the kitchen with a bump to his hip as you went. he stared speechless as you left him, to just greet jungwoo as if nothing had happened. the man in question responded sweetly as he always did, but then turned to doyoung and his smile grew too wide for his own good.

“go away jungwoo,” he mumbled, to which the younger looked offended.

“it’s not my fault you’re adorable!”

it won’t last super long, as hell pull away to check you’re ok, a hand on your back. “yn, i’m sorry i didn’t know you were there, are you alright? ”

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

yuta

“honestly, i can’t believe he even told me that. like you’d think there are just things that you would never admit to, even when drunk but—”

“he’s a solid lightweight, yuta! that much alcohol and he might as well have been a puddle; a sappy, emotional, puddle of—”

after a successful date, the two of you were walking home hand in hand when you came across a small group of kids playing football on the green near your apartment. you didn’t think much of it, until the ball rolled away from them just a few steps ahead of you. without a second thought, yuta let go of your hand to retrieve it for them, and you could already tell where this would end up going. coming to a stop with a sigh and a laugh, you watched as the events all unfurled just like how you expected.

the ball would be by his feet, he’d pull some cool little tricks that would make the kids stare up in awe, and within minutes he’d be attempting to teach them how to bounce a ball behind you your heel.

it never stopped amazing you just how he insisted on subtly showing off to you, even so far into your relationship. you always felt yourself urged to laugh and tell him he didn’t have to anymore. “you’ve already won me,” you would joke.

but you never did. guess that meant it kept working.

grinning from ear to ear at the adorable sight of yuta acting like a father, you had to bite your tongue to stop yourself from cooing when one of the eldest of the group took to him like duck to water. he’d knelt to be closer to her level, holding the ball and helping her get the angle of her foot right all while she gazed at him eagerly. the whole scenario began to spin thought in your head, second-guessing the answers you had given in a special conversation not too long ago. unfortunately, it mant you didn’t see the ball coming your way.

you had to admit when you hunched over out of reflex at the contact that the girl had a mighty kick. your shin was practically throbbing. however you were well aware of the panicked faces staring at you, frozen in gasps with hands smacked over their gawping mouths, and so you straightened as quickly as you could, playing off the ache of a bruise that was no doubt forming as yuta called out to you.

“yn, love, are you ok?!”

“y-yeah!” you cleared your throat as soon as you heard your stutter. “she’s got a strong leg that one!”

because of the soft tone yuta spoke in and the distance, you couldn’t discern what he said to the young girl who looked on the verge of tears. whatever he said however, worked, and within seconds she was wiping away her tears with a giggle. before your thoughts could trail back to where they had squirrelled your attentions away and got you in this small mess, yuta was bidding them goodbye and jogging over to you.

“i’m so sorry, love, i should’ve checked which way she was facing. are you sure you’re ok?” his arm was around your shoulders in an instant, his free hand hovering by your cheeks as if waiting to be allowed to hold them again.

“yeah, i’m alright, i think.”

his eyes seemed to brighten carefully with a playful glint, “i don’t need to carry my princess?”

you snorted, slowly easing the two of you into a slow space.

“what? you know i always will if you ask!”

you hushed him and swatted at his hand by your jaw. finally relaxing with a laugh, his arm slipped from your shoulders down to your waist where he pulled you close, and his lips planted a kiss into your hair.

“you’ll always be my princess,” he whispered gently. and in that moment you felt yourself melt. truly you didn’t need him to carry you home, but there was nothing wrong with letting him help you only a little bit right? and so you gave in, leaning into his side and resting your head on his shoulder, your eyes fluttering closed.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

jaehyun

you hadn’t been overly convinced about jaehyun’s suggestion for your holiday destination. however, now you had to admit that you were thoroughly won over. the town was so peaceful, the air so fresh, and if this gentle path was anything to go by, it felt like the gentler adventures in a ghibli movie.

lined with arching trees dripping with wisteria you were stunned by its beauty. even when you glanced away your attentions were enraptured were more colours. the hydrangeas and other bushes you couldn’t recognise, their scents lifting your spirits and mottled lilacs shifting into branches of pink and blue being truly satisfying to take in even at a distance. coming closer you could see the soft fuzzy balls of gold and onyx bumbling about the flowers, and you couldn’t help but try and take photos of the bees.

it proved harder than you expected—who knew bumble bees could be so fast when they wanted to be. noticing that you had only managed to catch blurs so far, you became acutely aware of jaehyun sneaking glances at you. again. like he always did. admiring your smile instead of the beauty around him like you always lightly chided him for. “you’ll miss out on what’s actually worthy of your attention at that moment!” you always found yourself saying, but he always shook his head and swore otherwise. you did suppose your words made you a bit of a hypocrite though—it wasn’t like you didn’t watch jaehyun too, and almost just as often as him for that matter.

shaking your head and pretending to not notice his gaze you crept even closer to the flowers, where your eyes suddenly picked up on the perfect moment encapsulated in the bud of fresh crimson. a bumble bee, fast asleep in the cradle of a flower. you felt your heart melt as you took a cautious photo, not wanting to wake the little bub. strangely you couldn’t stop yourself from making the link between it and jaehyun. the way it was curled round just reminded you of how you always found jaehyun in the morning, especially after a particularly rough day. he always made a cocoon of the duvets for the two of you—perhaps without even realising it—and he often curled up. it wasn’t what you had expected of him, but you didn’t care—playing little spoon was just as fun to you.

feeling the need to hold him again you left the small bee in peace and crept towards the man you held so close to your heart. you found his attentions turned to the canopies above rather than you, so you figured it was a prime opportunity to strike. with a back hug. you were feeling too soft.

jogging to catch up knowing full well he was probably too out of it to notice—he could get so deep in his own thoughts sometimes—you managed to get right behind him, when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

you crashed into him with an ‘oof’, and immediately jaehyun turned around to see you rubbing your nose with a pout.

“ah, sorry baby!” he chuckled simply, kissing you cheek gently in an extra apology, before scooping you round and into his arms.

you didn’t think any more of it, and merely sank into his embrace. his hugs were always so warm and you absently nuzzled your cheek into his chest. perhaps you would have worried about coming to a stop in the middle of the path, but honestly, you had more important things to worry about. like, how you were practically a ragdoll in his arms. you hoped you wouldn’t stumble when you had to walk again like last time.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

sicheng

hazy images of a peaceful corner store blinkered out like an old tv set as you were suddenly awoken with a jolt. a dull ache pooled at your hip and you grumbled as you forced your eyes open.

what you found was enough to bring a drowsy smile to your lips. you knew full well you had fallen asleep facing away from your boyfriend, but now you were much much closer, meaning both of you had shimmied towards one another throughout the night. in respect to the pain in your side, you traced your eyes down where the blankets had receded—sicheng was such a blanket thief, and with the single thin layer you both had swivelled round his legs, tonight was clearly no different—to where you spotted his hand.

loosely flung across your waist, it was cold thanks to the open window sending a breeze through your room, and clearly the culprit to your sudden awakening.

still, he looked so sweet with his face scrunched into his pillow, hair splayed like a mussed crown and soft lips in a pout. and so you opted to just move on. he was lucky he was so cute.

shifting closer to him, you entwined your leg with one of his and reached across to stroke a lock of his fringe out of his eyes. he shifted at your touch in his sleep, revealing his face from the cloth of the pillow. in the shadows of the early morning you saw his sleeping scowl soften when you ran your thumb across his cheek soothingly.

feeling satisfied, you tucked your head beneath his and held his hand by his chest, before finally giving back into sleep.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

jungwoo

bright lights shining in the face of a brilliant fading sun, faces passed you by as you strode down the sidewalk. perhaps on a normal occasion you would’ve slowed down, but there was no way you could in this situation—you were too excited. your boyfriend was home.

turning the corner and narrowly avoiding an elderly lady, as the crowds dispersed you came to a stuttered stop. the world around you faded away just like it had done the first time you had kissed, as your eyes met his. they widened in awe, brimming with a starlit sky, before he smiled, and you felt your heart stop.

you hadn’t expect to miss him so much. it was only two weeks, you had insisted to yourself for the days leading up to his tour, others have had to wait longer, you’ll be fine. you had believed it with your whole body, but as the days winded like paths in a lost forest and the pressures winded you down, the weight of his missing touch had swollen to where you could barely bear it.

and maybe you were being dramatic—you chided yourself for it as if you were—but as soon as soon as his arms were around you, you felt the tears prickle in the corner of your eyes.

“y/n, i missed you so much,” jungwoo murmured, sweet voice so soft it could have been swept away.

you rested your head upon his shoulder, where it belonged and breathed in the scent of home. everything that had plagued you before felt manageable once again.

“i wish you could have come with me, it felt so weird without you—and i bet it would have been ten times as fun! not that it wasn’t fun, just...”

you chuckled at his ramblings, gripping at his hoodie as he squeezed you tighter.

“ahh, i missed you...!” he drawled, voice playfully gritty as he pressed his cheek into your crown.

still laughing and feeling the tears long gone, you ended up tugging at his back, “woo! i—can’t... breathe!”

he pulled away with a yelp, his hands coming to rest at your cheeks instead and apologised softly over and over again, though a bright smile remained on his lips. his touch—like always—lingered, and so his fingers traced up to stroke your hair, while he leant in to plant kisses on your cheeks through your laughter.

“i missed you too,” you whispered, linking your hands behind his neck when he stilled.

he pressed his forehead to yours wordlessly, his eyes fluttering closed. it had obviously been a tough time for him too—he liked a lot of affection, so there was no doubt he was just as touch starved as you were.

of course though, your luck would inevitably run out and it did so in the form of donghyuck calling over to the two of you.

“hey lovebirds, some of us actually want to eat, you know?”

the time away had also let some of the others clearly forget some things too.

“come on, we’d better go before youngest decides to go feral,” you said.

“you think he’d do it?”

you peered up at your boyfriend with an exaggerated look of disbelief. “you have met hyuck, right?”

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

mark

“ha! nice try!”

“that was close! you gotta admit that was close!”

after your friends all decided to go camping and finally bought a tent big enough for a few extra people, you asked mark if he wanted to go too. he’d answered yes without a hesitation of course, and before you knew it the day before the trip rolled round and it was time to pack. of course, you and your boyfriend could never stay focused for more than three minutes when together, and it led to the two of you going from passing clothes to one another to neatly pack into your suitcases to just straight up lobbing socks at one another.

“is this one of your socks or mine?”

“definitely yours, i would never wear such a thing.”

“are you hating on melons?”

“watermelons cancelled, avocados superior—mark!”

it had only digressed from there. now your bedroom was littered with random socks and the odd shirt and you were taking cover behind your side of the bed. with a balled up sock in one hand, the other feeling around for more ammunition behind you, you were waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

“you’re gonna miss,” mark teased from his makeshift trench.

“oh really?” you couldn’t hide the smile that was evident in your voice. “how about this:i’m going to hit you bullseye, and you—you want to know where your sock is going to go?”

“where’s it gonna go, babe?”

“it’s going to go aaall the way over there!” you pointed to the door on the other side of the room. the only issue with that was a blur of navy suddenly shot past your hand, forcing you to retreat further behind your cover.

“ha! you missed!” you exclaimed, before twigging the silver lining. “also, thanks for the ammo.” stretching out a leg to retrieve the sock, you unfortunately found it just out of reach. you cursed.

“what’s wrong babe, too scared to face me?”

you scoffed. “what’s scary about you mark? no offence, but i feel like i’m being threatened by a cupcake.”

you had an exaggerated gasp from the other side of the bed, and took it as the prime opportunity to strike. get him while he’s still reeling. a fantastic plan.

however, in the joy of concocting what you thought was an infallible plan, you completely failed to consider your boyfriend’s frankly inhuman reactions.

and so you stood, raised your arm, and then got pink cotton in your mouth.

you sputtered, staggering back, as mark's hands flew to his lips. “oh my gosh, baby—!”

despite the dryness that quickly left your tongue as you batted it away and how startled you were at the accuracy, you fell into fits of giggles. “mark, you shit!”

he didn’t share the same sentiment however, and once he’d overcome being frozen to the spot he began to hurry to your side. “baby, i’m so sorry, are you ok? are you sure you’re alright?”

he was met with a balled up sock bouncing off his forehead.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

hyuck

the movie was nowhere near as good as you had all expected it to be, which meant it was only a matter of time before the whole dorm descended into madness. it had been jisung, oddly, that had been the first one to speak up about how ridiculous one of the characters was behaving, and it had led all the others to join the bandwagon and begin cackling at all the plot-holes—and boy were there a lot of them.

you had mostly stayed quiet simply because the way donghyuck posed his jokes and criticisms was something you could never compete with, and you would much rather listen and laugh about what he had to say rather than do so. the two of you had cozied up together beneath a blanket, but as soon as the chaos ensued he had shifted away, ripping on the film with wild hand movements and adding onto the points that jaemin proposed with a huge grin.

you watched him, only glancing over at the tv screen whenever some horrifically edgy dialogue was grumbled, as he impersonated the main protagonist—the stereotypical grisly ‘morally-grey’ hero who was really just a dick. in an instant mark’s famous high-pitch laugh lilted across the air, and you were left reeling with everyone else.

unfortunately, it was cut short. your boyfriend, forgetting your proximity, decided to continue with one of his points, dipping into genuine criticism that even you were proud of, but happened to fling his hand out in emphasis.

his knuckle whacked your arm, and though it wasn’t hard it did hurt a bit and you immediately whined, “owwww!”

as the rest of dream choked on their own laughter or waited to see if you were ok—what an angel jisung was, and as for the rest you made a mental note to kick their asses later—donghyuck’s words stopped dead in their tracks as his attentions turned solely to you, as he reflected your hurt tone.

“ahh, yn, i’m so sorry, i’m so sorry, please forgive meee.” he rubbed your arm gently before peppering your face with kisses, which was enough to get your to crack a smile once again.

“hmmm,” you pretended to think about it for a moment, “i’m not sure though... what you did was pretty—”

“ynnnnn!”

you scoffed teasingly, but pulled him into your arms nevertheless. letting him drape himself across your shoulder, you took his hand into your own and wrapped your free arm around him to pull him closer.

“i forgive you, duck,” you reassured, petting his hair when he hummed in response.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

~~~

an: this actually took me so long? like i worked on it over the span of like a week

masterlist

~ pls dont forget to offer comments on my work! they mean the world to me and really motivate me to work more :)) tysm! ~

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cheri-translates · 4 years ago

Text

[CN] Victor’s Understanding the Human World Date (Eng Translation)

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for a date which has not been released in English servers! 🍒

Phone call between Victor and Goldman before the date: here

Candlelit Night Collection: Gavin // Kiro // Lucien

Trivia regarding the name of the date:

The date is called 遍阅人间色, which is loosely translated as “reading the colours of the human world”

This could be reference to a quote from 菜根谭 (Cai Gen Tan), a book written by a Ming Dynasty scholar and philosopher Hong Zichen

The full quote is: 阅遍人情, 始知疏狂之足贵; 备尝世味,方知淡泊之为真

A possible interpretation of it is: After experiencing all the things in the world, you will realise that ordinariness is the best

[ CHAPTER ONE ]

The date begins with MC, Anna and Kiki in the office, commenting on the work of her new intern (whose name is Wei Wei)

When the intern first started, her work was of horrifying quality. However, she has improved by leaps and bounds since then

The topic shifts to MC, and they comment that under Victor’s influence, she has become much more independent

MC receives an email from Victor at around 7pm telling her to amend parts of her proposal, so she stays behind

By the time she tidies up her materials, it’s already 9pm. She hears someone entering the office - Wei Wei returned to finish her work

MC is stunned by her work ethic and tells her to Relax™

But Wei Wei looks troubled and asks:

Wei Wei: Boss, would you feel upset if you fall for someone who is very bright and out of reach?

MC: Huh?

Wei Wei: I’m such a mediocre, normal, and plain person. It’s only when I don’t sleep, don’t rest, and keep running forward that I can catch up with him.

I seem to comprehend, yet not comprehend at the same time.

Wei Wei: No matter what, I have to keep running forward!

Victor calls and says he’d pick her up

MC has a sudden realisation - Wei Wei’s fast improvement happened after her visit to LFG with MC... 👀

[ CHAPTER TWO ]

All of a sudden, Victor informs her of his agreement to be a cameo in a short film which would be shot overseas by a guy called Ronan, and that they’re flying the next day

MC wonders who exactly Film Director Ronan is for Victor to just readily accept the role, but Victor doesn’t respond

When they arrive, MC is surprised to see that Director Ronan is a tall and slim, curly-haired young foreigner

MC: Nice to meet you, Director Ronan. I’m MC.

With a cheery smile, Ronan shakes my hand.

Ronan: Hello, bride-to-be.

I turn towards Victor confusedly.

Victor: Did you not hear a single word of what we were talking about just now?

MC: Of course not! You were both talking about... wedding attires, exchanging of wine cups... I understand that, but... I’m also acting?

Perhaps I look overly lost. Victor doesn’t even say that I’m stupid, but there’s a look of resignation implied in his glance.

MC: So this is what you meant earlier when you said I should prepare... I see...

After half an hour, I finally understand the situation completely.

Ronan is a very old friend of Victor. Even though he’s young, he is a famous film director in France, and has won numerous international prizes.

He’s currently on a long vacation, and is planning to prepare a short film. In it, he will convey his attitude towards love through the use of various cultures’ wedding customs.

The first stop for collecting materials is in China.

Ronan: It’s called Devotion, and will be my first non-fiction work. I hope it can be presented in a beautiful and well-designed form to convey genuine and believable emotions.

MC states that if she has the chance, she’d also want to go to different corners of the world to film

Victor responds with his usual remarks - “are you done with your report?”

Ronan laughs softly, revealing an intrigued expression.

He walks to me and bends down, meeting my eyes and giving me a wide grin.

Ronan: MC, Victor has a lot of little secrets. If you want to know anything, I can tell you.

At that moment, I feel as though I’m standing in front of a big mine, treasures laid out before me. I have no idea where to begin digging.

Victor: Why am I unaware that I have a lot of secrets?

Ronan gives him a light sweeping glance. Then, he raises his voice.

Ronan: I can tell you that many girls want to know his phone number.

MC: Eh?

[ CHAPTER THREE ]

While the staff help with her outfit and makeup, she overhears their conversion:

Makeup artist: Is that Victor?

Costume staff: He looks even better in person than on television. No wonder he’s so popular.

Makeup artist: You like his type?

Costume staff: Difficult to say. It’s easier to be with someone who’s a little better than a regular human, or someone who’s just two points better. For someone like him, who’s akin to the stars hanging up in the sky... liking him is futile.

I mull over these words, and several images flash across my mind, finally pausing at Wei Wei’s unbending expression.

MC enters the filming location and sees Victor, who’s looking at his script.

Sensing my gaze, Victor sets down the script in his hands and walks towards me. After looking me up and down, he finally gives a positive evaluation.

Victor: Not bad.

Sensing the glances of the staff members, I touch the hair accessories in my hair. A little embarrassed, I look around for the director.

MC: [blushing] Are we filming soon? Where’s Ronan?

Ronan: Here!

Without realising it, Ronan is standing behind me, a stunned look in his eyes.

Ronan: The Chinese wedding attire is so beautiful! We’ll go with what I mentioned just now. Don’t be nervous. The two of you just need to relax a little more, and I’ll be able to capture the best shots.

They begin filming. MC feels nervous, and strikes up a conversation with Victor

MC: Victor, don’t you think we’re always pretending to get married?

I’m unsure if Victor is pretending not to hear me, but he has no reaction at all.

MC: Victor, look at the moon tonight. It’s so round!

Victor: Mm.

MC: ...

After confirming that Victor is ignoring me on purpose, I change the topic.

MC: Victor, after you left the makeup room, Ronan came over and told me a lot of your secrets!

Victor: Did he tell you that many women want my phone number?

MC: Huh? No!

Victor smiles lightly, then meets my eyes.

Victor: Continue.

MC: He told me a story about close friends.

Victor arches his brows slightly, as though he already knows what I’m about to say.

MC: I heard that when LFG first started, a director with nothing to his name came looking for an investment. He boldly promised that his work would win a grand prize. The young CEO, with his good tastes, decisively invested after seeing his work. Afterwards, this work won a grand prize, and even three international prizes. Overnight, LFG became reputable in the industry. If that’s the case, he must be a close friend of yours. Why have you never mentioned him?

Victor: We have a good relationship, so there’s nothing to bring up. Also, we haven't met in three years.

MC: Three years?!

Victor: He’s busy with a lot of things. I am too.

Victor says this in an ordinary manner, but I hear the most moving overtones.

MC: But you dropped all your work the moment he called and asked you to film?

Victor: Encounters between people are very short-lived. The next time we meet, it might not just be three years later.

His tone is light, as though he’s talking about a normal matter. Yet, it’s as though I’m seeing pages with “The End” written on them. If the page is flipped once more, the book would close completely.

I suddenly think of many people in my life. People who were once close to me - people who had walked through many seasons with me - and how they silently left at some point in time.

Sometimes, I didn’t even realise that after waving goodbye to certain people, it would be the last time I would ever see them again.

Noticing that I haven’t spoken in a while, Victor speaks in a softer voice.

Victor: What are you thinking about?

MC: There are many important people I don’t want to only share short-lived encounters with.

Victor: For example?

MC: For example, you.

I answer without thinking, and without a second of hesitation. Even Victor pauses for a while after hearing my response.

Victor: MC, do you know the meaning of Hejin wine?

[Trivia: Hejin wine is also known as “The Wedlock Wine”]

For some reason, he changes the subject. He holds up the two wine cups in front of us.

Victor: “Jin” is a kind of gourd. It tastes very bitter, and is split into two halves and added to the wine. When the bride and the groom drink it together, it becomes Hejin wine. The meaning behind it is - you and I are originally one body. Whether it’s in joy or sorrow, or bitter of sweet times, we will go through it together.

While Victor speaks, he draws closer to me, placing one of the wine cups in my hand.

Victor: On this earth, there will be one person who will drink the same cup of wine together with you, and will experience the same taste as you. Other people will leave, but he wouldn’t. If you want to wait for other people to return, he will accompany you in waiting. This is the meaning of Hejin.

The red silk and the colour of his clothes blend together. The overwhelming colour of red envelops me.

The dazzling red candles are reflected in his pupils, and within them holds my dumbfounded expression.

In this pair of eyes, I see the world’s vastest tenderness.

Victor: I promise you. I will always be with you.

[ CHAPTER THREE: Extras ]

After Ronan is more-or-less done with filming, MC just chills outside

She tells Victor how she feels sad about not taking sufficient photos of themselves in their gorgeous attire

Victor: What other photos do you want to take?

MC: I want to pictures of the palanquin, pictures of the firecrackers, and kowtowing!

[Trivia: MC is referring to traditional Chinese wedding processions]

Victor: There isn’t a palanquin, and the firecrackers have already been set off earlier. If you still want to act, there’s only the kowtowing left.

I cast a glance towards the inner hall, slightly embarrassed.

They get into position :’)

MC: A bow to the heaven and the earth--

With the heaven, the earth and the cosmos as my witness, being able to meet you among the vast sea of people is already the best encounter in my life.

MC: A bow to the parents--

The parents witness the girl, who used to fall a lot when she was younger, grow up. In the years she spent growing up, she finally found someone to entrust her entire self to.

I turn my body slowly. For a moment, I don’t know what expression to have on my face, so I lower my head.

Victor: A bow to each other. Both witnessing the rest of our lives...

Victor speaks in a deep, unhurried voice. But he stops suddenly.

The mist-like moonlight seems to cage him in a thin and light dream.

MC: What?

He leans over and whispers into my ear. Every sound is immersed in the night, dim and inviting.

The familiar aroma of wood is in his breaths, mixed together with the cooling night breeze. I wonder if I should follow my instincts and sink into it, or wake up.

Victor: I’ll tell you next time.

[ CHAPTER FOUR ]

After the filming, Ronan sends MC and Victor to the hotel to rest, but tells them not to change out of their outfits just in case he needs to re-film certain segments

MC actually has no idea when Ronan started filming, or how the film is going to turn out. She only knows that it started the moment Victor lifted up the wine cup

Ronan just told her to keep looking at Victor with fascination in her eyes

MC: Victor...

Victor: Mm?

MC: Don’t you find “Devotion”, the name Ronan gave the film, very appropriate? I once read a poem where the poet used this word to describe the adoration between lovers. It’s a... similar feeling to having faith in each other. Even though two people are already extremely intimate, the ties between a desire for the other person and feelings which are as deep as the sea... they push one forward.

Victor is making tea. After hearing my serious interpretation, he tastes my words carefully.

Victor: Not a bad insight.

MC: But...

Victor: But what?

MC: Victor, do you know that you make people feel like you’re out of reach?

Victor: What do you mean?

MC: Something like... always hanging up in the sky brightly and brilliantly, and no one can possibly pluck the stars. Or the feeling of unattainability... You’re smart, strong, and can deal with anything calmly and properly. You give the impression that nothing is too difficult for you. You’re always decisive, wise, having an opinion and having goals. Unlike me...

The more I speak, the more I feel the words don’t match what I intend to say. After struggling for a while, I decide not to continue.

I thought Victor would feel at a loss in response to my sudden lament and random conversation topic. However, his expression is unexpectedly calm.

After a short moment of silence, he lets out a light “mm”. He carries two tea cups and walks over, sitting down on the chair opposite me.

Victor: If you want to say something, say it directly. I’m listening.

I hold my chin. Steam from the two tea cups drift towards his eyebrows. Even before I start talking, I’m already unable to suppress a smile.

MC: I kind of... admit that I’m a dummy.

Victor: ...

Victor lets out a laugh. I seldom hear such bright laughter from him.

I’m unsure if he’s laughing at my display of self-awareness, or because he’s happy that I complimented him. After a pause, he lets out a light sigh.

Victor: What nonsense do you think about the entire day?

MC: It’s not ‘nonsense’, it’s...

The words are lodged at my throat halfway, and I’m unable to find an appropriate adjective even after a long time. Meeting Victor’s patient expression, I find myself at a greater loss for words.

Seeing that I’m speechless, Victor unhurriedly brings up the topic again.

Victor: MC, does Ronan make you feel like he’s out of reach?

MC: Huh?

I can’t find the main point of his words, so I simply go along with his line of thought. After thinking for a while, I shake my head.

MC: But I only just met him...

Victor: At his young age, he is already a world-renowned director. He outpaces others within the industry, and there are many people who are envious of his natural talent. He is very good in his field - even better than me.

MC: But...

Victor: Don’t you think so?

I want to refute him, but he’s actually not wrong.

In the long silence that follows, I rub my fingers against the smooth, porcelain surface of the teacup, slowly taking in the implication in his words.

I see a streak of light in the entire Milky Way.

Victor: In the future, you’ll see an even broader world, and meet even more great people. At that time, you may think that Victor is actually just an ordinary person.

MC: ...huh?

Still immersed in my thoughts, I’m unsure if I misheard.

MC: What did you just say? Victor is just an ordinary person?

In the next few seconds, I even think of the title of the next proposal - The Ordinary Victor.

Sub-title: How the legendary CEO of a huge business empire re-defines what it means to be an ordinary person.

Victor sips his tea, putting an end to the conversation

MC: Victor, do you still remember how I went to Venice to participate in a photography exhibition?

Victor: I remember. It was in September.

MC: Since young, I’ve always wanted to go to Venice because of movies and stories. So when I was booking the tickets, my whole brain was thinking about the fun things to do once I got there. But on the third day in Venice, I felt like coming back. I kept feeling that being alone overseas, so far away from you, resulted in something being missing in my happiness. It was only when the plane landed and I returned to the familiar streets that this uneasiness finally disappeared. Did you know that... when I got off the car, I smelt a strong scent of osmanthus. I dragged my suitcase looking for osmanthus trees, thinking... “I wonder if Victor knows how to bake osmanthus cakes!”

[Trivia: Osmanthus is a traditional symbol of true love and faithfulness, and is used in old wedding customs, where the bride would bring it to her new family. It also means “giving birth to noble children” 👀]

Victor lets out a laugh, relaxing his posture and leaning against the back of the chair.

Victor: Why didn’t you ask me to bake an osmanthus cake?

MC: I wanted you to see me in a different light, so I tried it myself while referring to an osmanthus cake recipe. After that... it wasn’t successful. Didn’t I make you steamed pumpkin with osmanthus? You even said it wasn’t unpalatable and that I improved!

Victor thinks for a while, as though grasping around his memory for a trivial moment. The smile which has been on his face this whole time reveals slight hesitance.

Victor: I thought you just made that dish for fun.

MC: That’s not wrong...

Victor doesn’t continue. There were many times I thought he’d definitely call me a dummy, but he didn’t.

He reaches out and interlaces our fingers together.

He holds them lightly, leaving space between his warm palm and my fingertips.

Victor: You’ve already plucked the star. Aren’t you going to hold it more tightly?

MC: Huh?

Slightly overwhelmed, I look at our interlaced fingers. Tentatively, I gather my five fingers together.

I imagine how my fingertips touch the lines on his palm. I imagine every fragment of time we spent together turning into speckles of bright light, filling up the entire world.

But Victor probably found that I was too slow.

He unfurls his five fingers, then wraps my hand tightly into his palm.

Victor: Remember - when you meet anyone, there’s no need to feel that you’re not enough. You have your own uniqueness, and it’s just as precious.

I look towards him, seeming to understand his words. I nod my head out of habit, but it’s a more serious nod than usual.

At this moment, a phone notification chime resounds in the quiet room. Victor takes up his phone and gives it a look.

Victor: Ronan says he has completed shooting today’s materials, and there aren’t any issues. We can change out of our outfits.

After she’s done changing in the bathroom, she sees the glorious sight of Victor setting the candles alight

[Trivia: On the night of traditional Chinese weddings, the newlyweds will set candles alight in front of the bed. The light of the candles are meant to symbolise a long-lasting love]

Victor: Are you done changing?

[ CHAPTER FIVE ]

While Victor changes out of his clothes, MC muses about how she can’t bear to part with the wedding attire. Ronan could only borrow it for two days, which is why Victor had to rush over

MC takes several pictures of the wedding attire on her phone from different angles

She puts on the veil, but since she can’t see properly through it, she can’t take her ideal photos

Frustrated, she’s about to throw her phone onto the sofa when someone grabs her arm

Victor: Why are you barefoot?

MC: It’s fine...

Before I finish talking, Victor lifts me up. The sudden weightlessness causes me to hurriedly wrap my arms around him.

At such a close distance, I can clearly smell the moisture on the side of his neck.

He places me onto the large bed in the room.

I reach out to remove the veil, but he stops me.

Victor: What kind of bride takes off her own veil?

I only see a patch of red in my vision. Because of this, every word entering my ears is made even clearer.

His undulating breathing and the tenderness in his dull voice enter my heart more directly than before. I find myself feeling nervous.

MC: Oh right-

Seeing me straighten up after remembering something, Victor lets out a sigh of resignation.

Victor: Aren’t you tired after a whole day of tossing about? You’re still so easily startled...

MC: I remember Ronan mentioning that his plane is leaving tomorrow too. Once he leaves, it could really be several years later till you two meet again. Do you want to change the flight to a later slot so you can send him off?

Victor: Sure.

Despite a slight pause, Victor’s answer does not contain any hesitation. His words seem to conceal a smile.

Victor: Why did you suddenly think of this?

MC: It wasn’t sudden. You’re always not saying what you mean. I was afraid you would pretend it doesn’t bother you. When it comes to important people, you have to welcome them when they arrive, and send them off when they leave. Through these interactions, the fate between you two can be sustained for longer.

Victor: Mm.

His slender and long fingers hold onto one corner of my veil. Following his movements, my vision slowly returns.

First, I see his black shirt. Then, every button on it. After that, his slightly trembling Adam’s apple, and his clean chin.

Finally, I meet his gaze, which is even deeper than the sun, moon, and stars.

MC: Victor, could you teach me how to bake an osmanthus cake when we get back? A green bean cake, jujube cake, or a peanut cake will do too.

Victor: Do you really want me to teach you, or do you just suddenly feel like eating them?

MC: Both are fine, they aren’t mutually exclusive.

Victor reaches out and gently pulls me into his arms. A familiar warmth seeps through his thin shirt. My eyes drift shut, and I press the side of my face against his scorching neck.

Actually...

To me, just the word “Victor” already holds great meaning to me.

He is the very first ray of light to appear at the beginning of the world.

He is the ray of light that appeared when God said, “let there be light.”

I grasp his hand tightly. I hold it very, very tightly. As though I will never let go.

At 3pm the next day, Ronan’s plane takes flight.

His next stop is Southeast Asia, then South Asia, then Europe, the North America...

The next time we meet, he would have explored the entire globe, taking beautiful pictures that cause people to marvel at them.

Victor: Although it was delayed by two days, the deadline for the proposal is still the same. I hope to see improvements in your third amendment by this Friday.

MC: ...

Goldman: CEO!

Goldman and Wei Wei are at the airport to fetch them

Wei Wei looks really anxious 👀

MC asks what Wei Wei is doing here, and the latter responds that there are urgent documents requiring MC’s signature

But MC remembers Anna mentioning that those documents aren’t urgent 👀

Wei Wei drops her pen accidentally, and her pearl bracelet suddenly snaps while she tries to pick it up

The pearls roll onto the ground

Before MC can step in to help, Goldman uses his file to stop the pearls from rolling away even further 👀

Wei Wei’s cheeks are red, and she stares at Goldman with a look of anticipation in her eyes.

MC: I see...

It turns out that the sky every person looks towards is different.

Encounters with people are short-lived. The stars in the universe have their own tracks, so if you lift your head and find an exceptionally bright star--

Pick up your feet and chase after him.

Don’t sleep, don’t rest, and keep running forward!

Till you can hold onto his hand, and drink a cup of bitterness and sweetness - the hundred flavours of life - together with him.

Victor, who is walking in front, stops and turns his head to look at me.

Victor: Why are you just standing there looking silly? They’re catching up soon.

I can’t help but laugh. Our gazes meet.

Perhaps the smile on my face looks silly. Victor lets out a soft sigh, turning his body towards me halfway, as though waiting for me.

I no longer hesitate, taking large strides in Victor’s direction-

And running forward!

🍒 Cheri’s thoughts 🍒

That was a somewhat awkward ending LOL

The Goldman x Wei Wei ship... T^T

Reading Victor’s Colours of Rain Date after this is highly recommended. It makes reference to this date, and also shows the other extreme - what happens if you keep pushing yourself and maintaining a strong front

#mlqc #mlqc cn #mlqc spoilers #mlqc victor #SO CUTE #SO ROMANTIC

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twinkleallnight · 4 years ago

Text

Marshmallow

(Part-8) Fight or flight

Book: The Royal Romance

Pairing: Liam x MC, Drake x ??

For previous chapters: catch up here

A/N: This fic is my submission for this week’s #WackyDrabbles. The prompt is: ‘Oh? Just once?’ and will appear in bold.

A/N 2: Thank u @ritachacha for helping out and connecting me to @queen-of-effing-everything who gave me a basic idea of the noble houses and further gave a lead and I met @lizzybeth1986 . Lizzy, your essays are amazing. You have helped me with your vast knowledge and It was an enlightening discussion. This chapter wouldn't have been without your inputs.

Music inspo: Connan Gray

Tags: @ao719 @aloneautumn @charlotteg234 @choiceskatie @cordonia-gothqueen @cordonianroyalty @daisydancer12385 @drakewalker04 @gardeningourmet @gkittylove99 @glaimtruelovealways @hopefulmoonobject @hopelessromanticmonie @iam-the-kind-and-thoughtful @idontknowwhysblog @islandcrow @jovialyouthmusic @jaxsmutsuo @kingliam2019 @lovablegranny @mrswalkers-blog @mom2000aggie @no-one-u-know @ntoraplayschoices @ritachacha @speedyoperarascalparty @shanzay44 @texaskitten30 @loudbluebirdlover @queenrileyrose @sanchita012 @theroyalheirshadowhunter @wackydrabbles @yourmajesty09

The next few days are spent busy, at the stables. After couple of days, Liam walks in, as I am tending to Brawny in the separate temporary shed, that I got made for the infected horses. I signal him to wait. I change out of my protective clothes and scrub before meeting him outside.

“Welcome back home! So, how did Lythikos treat you?” I know I am beating around the bush, when I am asking it. But I don’t want to hit him straight with the awkward question. I know he is equally in an uneasy position.

“Yes, all well.” He gives me an agonizing stare. “I had a talk with her.” He brings up the inevitable topic. “I think she did it out of desperation and jealousy.”

“It is alright Liam. She is not blind and not a child anymore. She can see where you are inclined.” I let out a sigh, “It’s difficult to read a woman’s mind. I feel sad for the manner in which we are parting ways. Part of growing up, I guess!”

Liam gives out a sigh too and then changes the subject, “Everything under control here?”

“Yes. I reached in time. There were two more horses showing similar signs. Got all three horses isolated. And vaccinated remaining ones.”

“You are good at your job. Even father seems to have blind faith in you, when it comes to vet skills.” He chuckles.

“Thank you.” I smirk thinking of king Constantine. It’s his inherent nature to always doubt and question everyone. “I have to report and update it to him later today. Let’s see what he has to say.”

Liam gives me a friendly pat, and we head to the palace for a quiet lunch together. I get a call from Max soon after we finish our meals. “It’s an emergency. I am sending you the address. Meet me in half an hour.” He sounds serious.

I drive down to the coffee shop, which he mentioned in his text. When I walk in, I find him sitting in the corner booth, his feet tapping on the floor nervously, and his blue eyes scanning the scene around, in a hope to find solution to the problem he is carrying in his mind.

“What’s wrong?” I ask settling down across the table.

“I don’t know. Bertrand doesn’t seem to be interested in giving me the whole story. He thinks I’m still his baby brother.” He rolls his eyes. “All I know is, that the crew we hired for our yacht for the Royal Regatta scheduled tomorrow, has ditched us.”

“It’s just a symbolic boat race and not an actual one with a pressure to win.” I try to lay down the facts.

“But you know Bertrand. He won’t leave any stone unturned to win it. Also, it’s king’s favourite event. He wants that Riley should bag the prize, so that she gets a chance to interact with the king. It is kind of gaining brownie points.

“Hmm." I ponder. "How many members do we need? Let’s count. You and I will be there.”

“You will do that for me?” he says, his eyes widening with a shine.

“I will. If you promise not to crack your stupid jokes during the event.” I warn him. “Who else can be roped in?”

“I don’t want to include anyone else. I don’t know what is wrong with House Beaumont and it’s difficult to explain to outsiders. So, I think just three of us. I hope we will be able to pull through. Will you be okay with that?”

“Yeah, I see no problem there. What about Bertrand?”

“ He is in a bad mood. Angry, sad, frustrated, all at the same time. He should be fine by tomorrow to give us a helping hand.”

We finish discussing all the minor details for the boat race in next hour and then walk out of the coffee shop.

The following day, at the Royal Regatta, I stand on the deck taking in the salty air.

Riley comes and stands beside me. “What are you looking at?”

“I just realised the actual count of suitors for the first time, by the number of boats, of course. I hardly know any of them. For me they are only the names I hear from the conversation with Liam. I should know at least this much, right?”

“Yes, you are his best friend and best friend should know it all.” She says it with a wink.

“Am I missing something?”

“Just that, may be, I am falling head over heels for your friend.” She grins.

“And you are revealing this to me and not him?”

“I don’t want to burden him more. He has too much to handle already. I know, being a crown prince, he cannot open up about his feelings for one particular suitor in the midst of the social season. So, I don’t want to tell him, just yet, lest he gets anxious and tries to spend more time with me. That would put him in a tricky situation.”

I sweep her in a big bear hug. “Oh, Brooks! I am so happy to know that.” I part away and look into her brown eyes, tears of happiness glinting in them. “He is so lucky to have you. That’s all he needed. Someone who understands him, his struggles, his responsibilities.”

I hug her back and whisper in her ears, “Let me give out a secret. He may also be sharing the same feelings.”

“I know.” She says gleefully looking up at me.

“Okay now let me help you enhance your knowledge about my competitors.” She rolls her eyes. “Let’s start from the right.” She points out to the boat lined up in extreme right to us.

The sight is full of colourful sails. Each of these boats have a flag representing their house. The one Riley pointed to, has a black flag with a silver owl on it.

Riley starts “That should be from the duchy of Castelsarreillan represented by Kiara Theron, the future Duchess.” Riley continues.

“Yes, the owl represents their house. Their family has intelligence and art running in their blood. Duke Theron is a very wise man and the Duchess is an artist.” I add on.

“So, you have met him?”

“Once.”

“Oh? just once?” Riley gives me a playful smile.

“Yeah.”

“Kiara is very smart, logical person and a linguist.” Riley elaborates. “Next to her should be her best friend’s boat.”

I observe purple flag with golden waves and a narwhal painted on it. “Portavira.” I blurt out.

“ I guess, it’s the only duchy with a sea port. Penelope Ebrim represents the house. Easy way to identify her is, you will find her talking about her poodles every now n then. You may like her.” She teases me. “She is an animal lover and she is sweet and kind.” She flashes that smile again.

I cut her, “Wait. Are you trying to set me up, Brooks?”

She lets out a laughter. “No, I better not. I can see where your interests lie.” She raises a knowing eyebrow at me, making me blush behind my tough skin.

“Let’s quiz you with the one with green flag.” Riley gestures at the next boat where a green flag with a pine tree on it, flutters.

“Madeliene, right?”

“Yes, the ambitious countess of Fydelia.” Riley fans out her hand. “You must be knowing all about her from Leo’s social season.” She pauses and then claps for the boat next to us. “ And that’s my dear friend Hana as our left side neighbour.”

A pink flag with purple orchids, furnishes Hana's boat. Just then, as on cue, Hana appears on the deck. “Hey there guys!” She waves out. “Time to greet the king at the harbour.”

“Lets go!” Riley jumps up excitedly.

“You proceed. I am better here, away from the crowd. I will wait for you to come back, and then we do our favourite thing together. Race!”

“As it suits you.”

“Just one question. How do you know so much in detail about all the houses in such a little time? A few months back, you didn’t even know where on earth Cordonia is,!”

Riley smiles wide, “Bertrand is my teacher, remember?” she says gazing up at the House Beaumont flag on our boat that shines with its silver sheen, a squid in the centre and the motto embroidered in blue, 'Depths to remember'.

“We didn’t talk about your friend’s, House Nevrakis, but I am sure you don’t need introduction there.” Riley speaks looking at the only boat to our left side.

I shake my head and make myself busy, untangling the wires of my earphones that I plan to put on, till Riley returns and the race begins. She shrugs her shoulder, “Bye! See you in a jiffy!”

“Bye!” I wave out to her and turn to the sea.

Before I could plug in some music, the fluttering of the Nevrakis flag catches my attention. The crimson flag has a flaming sword of steel on it. The motto shines in gold,

‘If you can breathe, you can stand.

If you can stand, you can fight.’

Just then a seagull flies high over the boat, crooning a song for the lonely sea.

I plug in my earphones and the song fills my ears and my mind,

‘Something’s gotten into you

You don’t really look at me the way you used to

And I’m hoping it ain’t true

Every single rumour that I’ve heard of you say……..

It’s time to move,

Fight or flight….

Fight or flight.’

#pixelberry #drake walker #olivia nevrakis #playchoices #the royal romance #liam x riley #olivia #trr #trr fandom #hana lee #kiara theron #twinkleallnight

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certain-as-the-sun · 4 years ago

Text

Desire

Desire: Companion piece to Hey Jealousy and Love Me Anyway. Inspired by “Desire” by Ryan Adams

Two hearts fading, like a flower And all this waiting, for the power For some answer, to this fire Sinking slowly, the waters higher Mmm, Desire Desire

So much had changed. Adam was back. Adam was sober. And she was happy. Belle was excited about the future for the first time in nearly six years. They had agreed that for the first three months of their newly reformed relationship they would not spend the night together. When they said goodnight at the end of their night they would go to their respective homes. Even Dr. Porter, their therapist, agreed that making intimacy boundaries would be in their best interests. She recommended that they treat their new relationship as if they were back in the Regency period. Belle giggled at the thought of dating at their age with a chaperone. Lumiere was more than happy to act in that role.

“Pop, you don’t have to sit directly behind us like we’re sixteen,” Adam said when they went to a movie. “You can sit a few rows back.”

Another time they were snuggled on the sofa watching TV and Cogsworth tapped Adam on the head with a flyswatter. “Break it up. Leave room for Jesus.”

Their antics annoyed Adam, but to Belle it was sweet. It also made her sad to know that her own father wasn’t there to give them grief. Maurice hadn’t always liked Adam but he did believe that the boy would one day get his head on straight. It took some time but it seemed like he had finally gotten his shit together. Maurice would be so proud of him.

Belle decided that morning that tonight was the night. Three months had passed since he came back into her life. Three months of twice a week sessions with Dr. Porter, one with Adam and one without. With Dr. Porter's help, she was able to let go of some of the deeply ingrained anger she felt towards Adam. She loved him. That was an undeniable fact. But letting him back in all the way didn't come as naturally as it had the first time. He'd left scars behind, and as much as she wanted to pretend they weren't there, she had to work through them before opening the door again. Talking with Dr. Porter had been so healing. She was ready.

There was a giddy excitement about tonight, and she had a few things to do to get ready for it.

Her first stop was to the mall. She stood in front of the small lingerie shop. Belle wore modest and practical undergarments most of the time. Nothing too flashy or fancy. The only person she wanted to see her in her skivvies hadn’t been a factor for years. Now he was back. Now she needed something that was so unlike her it would make his heart stop. Swallowing hard and taking a deep breath she stepped inside.

Unlike Victoria’s Secret and the other “trashy” lingerie shops Belle was familiar with, Madame Garderobe’s shop was filled with soft colors and vanilla. Belle browsed the racks unsure of where to start. An older woman stepped out from behind the curtain and smiled at her new customer.

“Ah cherie, welcome,” she said. “How can I help?”

“Well, um, it’s my—it’s a long story,” Belle stammered. “It’s the first time my boyfriend and I are going to be together after a long separation.”

The older woman looked Belle up and down. “I see. And what look are we going for? Seductive temptress? No. Smoldering sin? No that’s not right either.” She fussed around a display and came back with several items that Belle couldn’t name or figure out how they went on.

“Since this is your first time in a long time,” she said, a delightful French accent giving her voice a delightful air of sophistication. “He must work for his prize. Come, come.”

Without a second to process what was happening, Madame had Belle in the large dressing room. “We want to mimic the first time he saw you in this way,” Madame said, helping Belle out of her dress.

“It was a perfect moment in time,” Belle said. “Adam, he was my first. My only.”

With no secrets, no obsession This time I'm speeding, with no direction Without a reason, what is this fire? Burning slowly, my one and only Mmm, Desire Desire Desire Desire

They had been dating exclusively for nearly three months. Signs for the spring formal had been popping up for the last week. Parties and school dances had never been something on Belle’s radar. But now that she was with Adam, she thought it might not be so bad. She didn’t want to come straight out and tell him she wanted them to go to the dance. She wanted him to figure it out on his own.

It took a bit. Subtle hints from his dads. Walking past signs in the hallway she made casual conversation about the dance. About two weeks before the dance was to happen, it finally clicked.

“Hey Pop?” Adam asked Lumiere. “What’s the best way to ask Belle to the spring formal?”

“Looks like Hatter wins the pool,” Cogsworth laughed from behind his newspaper. “We have been nudging you to ask Belle for weeks.”

“Am I too late?” Adam asked.

“No, but you need to ask her soon,” Lumiere said. Then he brought Adam under his arm and whispered, “Here’s what you’re going to do.”

Adam met Belle outside the library where she spent most of her morning before classes started. He had cut six roses from Cogsworth’s garden and made them into a small bouquet with Lumiere’s help. Two red, two pink and two yellow wrapped in green florist tape and accented with a yellow ribbon.

“What are these for?” Belle asked, putting them to her nose.

“Because I’m an idiot,” he said, taking her hand. “Belle, would you do me the great honor of allowing me to escort you to the spring formal?”

Belle smiled and burst into giggles at his formal request. “It would be my pleasure, sir.”

Most girls at their school had been planning their spring formal looks since Christmas. So there wasn’t a lot to choose from at the various dress shops in town. She drove to the next town over and in a small bridal shop she found her dress. It was made of soft yellow gold silk. The bodice had a deep plunge, the modesty protected by a lace of off yellow that sat off the shoulders and down to elbow length sleeves. The skirt was full and had two layers; one to form a base and the other flounced and fluttered when she spun. A belt of hand embroidered flowers sat at her waist. It was far too grand a dress for a high school formal. But Belle loved it. It fit perfectly and wasn’t out of her price range.

The dance was held at the local country club, where several of the upper class students’ families held memberships. For an extra fee, students could arrive early to the dance and enjoy a sit down dinner and dessert before the party got started. Never a fan of fancy food like what would be served, Belle and Adam chose to eat at a local place they loved. It was owned by a friend of Hatter’s who only hired people who needed a fresh start in their lives. It wasn’t a fancy place but it was theirs.

“You look absolutely stunning,” Adam said, kissing Belle’s hand. “I’m so glad I can call you mine.”

Belle shyly smiled and looked away. No one had ever called her stunning before. People said she was very pretty, beautiful even. Before she and her father had moved to Molyneaux she had been approached by several people claiming to be talent agents and wanted to sign her to modeling contracts. She never took them up on them because one, they were likely scams and two she couldn’t bear to be away from her father.

Because of Adam’s issues, as his dads called it, they didn’t like him driving. It had taken a great deal of convincing, promising, and reassurance from Adam that he would never endanger Belle like that. For Adam, Belle meant more to him than his addiction. Cogsworth trusted his son to behave himself for the night, and allowed Adam to drive to the dance. Producing all the gentlemanly qualities that Belle’s literary romantic heroes possessed, Adam offered his arm to her when they stood up from the table. When she shivered slightly stepping out into the night air, he shrugged out of his coat and draped it over her shoulders. He opened the car door for her, assisted in making sure all of her dress was free of the door before closing it.

The Spring Formal was already in full swing by the time Adam and Belle arrived. The ballroom of the country club was decked out in blue and golds, the school colors, tables surrounded the dance floor centerpieces of yellow and white roses. The lights were low and the live band made it seem all the more magical. Adam and Belle claimed spots at a table and made their way around the room to take in everything. The Spring Formal was the last big event for the seniors before graduation. Teachers guarded the punch bowl like it was holy water. Given his reputation, Adam never went up to the bowl alone. Not that he would spike the punch. He may be an alcoholic, that didn’t mean he wanted to ruin the night for everyone else. That didn’t stop people from coming up to him asking if he brought anything.

A slow song began and Adam took Belle’s hand and they took a spot on the dance floor. Having gay dads, one who was literally a cabaret owner and professional ballroom dancer at one point in his life, Adam had learned to dance and dance well. While he was content to just stand with Belle in his arms, her head on his chest as the rose in her hair tickling his nose, he did have some moves.

Belle, a lover of old movies, was more than willing to try something more than their peers were doing. Sweeping her across the floor, careful to not collide with other members of their class, they danced. He loved the way she felt in his arms. He didn’t know when he fell in love with her but he knew he had. He loved her.

Belle kept waiting to hear her alarm go off. That this night with Adam was nothing more than a wonderful dream. He held her close to him, not wanting to let her go. He was so sure of himself, so unlike him. Adam was dear and unsure of himself most of the time. She knew what a struggle it was for him to maintain his sobriety. As they got annoyed with bumping into people, he held her close. She rested her head on his chest, easy to do as he was so tall and broad. How right this all felt.

They retreated back to their table for water and to just be with each other. Belle had never been one to venture out for school activities. She was studious and serious. Adam was her first serious relationship. She loved being with him. She knew he had a past, who didn’t. But his past was darker than any she had known. They spent hours cuddled together just talking. Adam loved having someone to talk to that wasn’t at a meeting, a therapist, his sponsor Hatter or his dads. Belle was so kind and gentle while she listened to the horror stories he had in his life. Her life was a walk in the clouds compared to his.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Adam asked, taking her hands. “I know you’d rather it just be us. We can go to the park or back to my house. The dads are at some function. We’d have the place to ourselves.”

“I’d like that,” Belle said, smiling. “Let me freshen up and I’ll be right back. Then we can go.”

Adam sat at their table watching the others when Gaston slid into the seat next to him, taking a silver flask out of his jacket pocket.

“You look like you could use a pick me up, buddy,” Gaston said, holding out the flask. “Can’t be easy with that stuck up bitch.”

“Belle’s not a bitch,” Adam said. “Don’t call her that.”

“Touchy,” Gaston laughed, taking a drink on his own. “It’s Stoli.”

“Not tonight,” Adam said watching for Belle.

“Don’t tell me you’ve gone dry again. Man, that bitch has her claws in deep.”

“I’m not going to tell you again, Gaston. Don’t talk about her like that. Belle is my girlfriend now and I won’t sit by and listen to you call her names.”

“There was a time when you were calling her all sorts of things. Talking about how you’d do it once you got her where you wanted her.” Gaston was baiting Adam now. He knew how his former friend ticked. It wouldn’t take long. “You were quite vivid.”

“That was before,” Adam said. He knew what Gaston was doing. He wouldn’t fall into it. “Belle’s different. She’s not like the other sluts we used to fuck.”

“You certainly have taken your time with this one. By now you’d have loved and left them. What are you waiting for?”

“Don’t you ever get tired of the sound of your own voice?”

“Come on man,” Gaston continued to prod. “What’s the scam?”

“There’s no scam, you dick.”

“With you, there’s always a scam. Seriously, though. You have fucked her right? A girl like that must be a nasty little freak between the sheets.” Gaston looked up and saw the golden goddess walking towards Adam.

“Oh totally,” Adam said, his voice deadpan, thick with sarcasm. “You should hear how she screams my name with every thrust. Can’t wait to hear it tonight.”

Gaston’s face fell and he started to hold back a laugh. “What is so goddamn…?” Fuck. “She’s standing right behind me?”

“This is going down as one of your best fuck ups,” Gaston exploded in laughter. Too bad there weren't more people around to hear it.

“The only thing you’ll be hearing tonight, Adam Benson is the sound of your right hand arguing with your left!” she cried, tears streaming down her face. She had never been so humiliated by anyone like that in her life. Lifting the hem of her gown she started to run, sort of, out of the ballroom.

“You asshole,” Adam scowled at his former friend. “Belle! Belle, wait!” He ran after her and caught up with her in the corridor between the ballroom and foyer. He took her elbow trying to get her to stop. “Belle, please. That wasn’t what it sounded like.”

“Don’t touch me!” she yanked her arm back, wrapping herself in a hug. “How dare you talk about me like that? What is wrong with you?”

“Belle, please. He was being an ass. I only said that to shut him up,” he stood in front of her and ran his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t mean a word of that.”

“Certainly sounded like you meant it!”

“Belle, baby, no. I can still feel the sting of the slap you rewarded me with when I got fresh.” He needed to close the gap between them. Make this right. “I would never treat you like that. You mean more to me than anything. I...I love you.”

Wiping the tears from her face. What did he just say? “You love me?”

“This wasn’t the way I planned on saying it,” Adam said, reaching for her hand. “But yes, Belle. I love you.”

The sincerity in his voice, the hope in his eyes. He really means it. He loves me. Unsure of her own feelings, she stepped closer and pressed her lips to his. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him, and she felt like she was home.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” he whispered in her ear.

He kept his arm around her waist as they walked out to the car. This wasn’t how he wanted their night to go. Why had he let Gaston get his goat like that?

“Do you want me to take you home?” he asked once they were in the car.

Belle looked out the window before answering. “No. I’m sorry I overreacted. I know you. You and Gaston used to be friends, he was trying to get to you and chose me as bait.”

He took her hand in his and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “Gaston’s an idiot. I’m just sorry you got dragged into it.”

Belle held his hand the entire drive from the country club. Is that what Adam is expecting tonight? “Adam?”

“What is it?” he answered.

“What do you expect to happen tonight? Once we reach your house?”

“Nothing that you don’t want,” Adam answered. “I love you, Belle. I would never do anything that you don’t explicitly ask for. It’s not how I roll.”

Belle wasn’t convinced. He seemed all too at ease talking the way he had with Gaston. But then her mind went to his actions. He never put his hands on her unless he asked first and she agreed. They had their boundaries and he never crossed them. She could trust him with this. She couldn’t always trust other choices he would make but being intimate with her, it felt right.

Cogsworth and Lumiere were still out when they got back to his house. He parked the car in its spot and helped Belle out of the car, making sure not to step on her dress. They came into the sitting room, as Cogsworth called it. Adam took off his suit jacket and laid it across the top of the antique Queen Anne chair. He squatted down in front of the fireplace and flipped the switch that ignited the flames, adjusting them so they were just right. With nothing more than the firelight to cast a glow on Belle in her golden gown, Adam felt his breath hitch at the sight.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered. “I still can’t believe you’re mine.”

There was a time when being called “mine” by a boy would have sent a shiver down Belle’s spine. She wasn’t raised to believe all she was worth was to belong to some man. With Adam, the way he claimed her as his, made her feel safe, protected. She could take care of herself and she could trust he’d know just when to step in.

You know me, you know my way You just can't show me, but God I'm praying That you'll find me, and that you'll see me That you'll run and never tire

She laid on the chaise lounge looking so much like the cover of a cheesy romance novel. He sat on the edge like a knight in shining armor and bent over her. “A kiss for you, milady?”

“But of course,” she smiled, playing along. She lifted her head to meet his kiss. She cupped his cheeks in her hands and deepened the kiss. Pulling him down on top of her, drinking him in. Wrapping him in her arms, they closed the gap between them. Adam rested on his elbows on either side of her, his body covering hers.

He pulled the rose from her hair when it poked him in the eye. He then disentagled the headband from her perfectly curled hair. He drew his hands down her arms, the lace tickling his palms.

“Help me out of this dress,” Belle said, breathlessly. “I want you, Adam.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He lifted her up into his arms and with a practiced ease he found the zipper of her dress and gently pulled it down. Kissing down her neck and collarbone he eased her arms out of the sleeves. They stood together and he gathered the layers of the skirt in his hands and eased it over her head to not mess up her hair too much. He laid the gown over the Queen Anne chair so it wouldn’t wrinkle.

Belle shivered, standing in front of Adam in nothing more than a long line bra, panties and her shoes. Shyly she used her arms to cover herself, stepping out of her heels and pushing them away. “Would it help, if I took off some layers too, ma cherie?”

“Immensely,” Belle answered, licking her lips. She stepped closer to him, her fingers undoing each button of his vest and then to his shirt. Each muscle of his chest stood out. Running her hands over him, she couldn’t believe he was real. Pushing his shirt off his shoulders she pressed kisses to his chest. She loved the feel of him under her fingers and the shivers he gave when she kissed him. She traced her fingers over his stomach and down to the distinct V of his hips. Her hands settled on his belt and paused.

“Baby, we don’t have to do this,” he whispered into her hair. “You can wear my shirt and we can just lie together.”

She silenced him with another kiss, undid his belt and opened his pants. “I want all of you Adam Benson.”

Their touches ignited a passion in them that has only simmered and licked at them before. He shrugged out of his shirt and vest letting them hit the floor. Then he gathered Belle into his arms, holding her close as their mouths explored each other. She drew back and moved his hands, placing them on her chest. “Touch me.”

It took some fiddling but he managed to unhook her bra and let it slip off into the pile of clothing on the floor of the sitting room. Guiding her back to the chaise lounge, he laid her down and covered her with his body, shielding her from the world. Her knees instinctively parted for him. He still had too much on. She pushed at the top of his pants. She needed him to be as bare as she was. His pants and the simple, plain black boxers came down with them, freeing his growing hardness.

He’d been with other girls before but none filled him with such passion as Belle did. The others had sparked a lust that burned out as soon as they had finished. Belle had a beauty to her that shone through. The golden gown had only enhanced that in her. But bare beneath him, her gasps of pleasure as he touched her, only intensified the feeling.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his hands on her hips. “Belle?”

“Make love to me Adam,” she whispered, guiding his hands to remove the last article of clothing she had on. “Love me.”

He slipped the underwear off. His hand traced her folds, how he loved her. Belle spread her legs more, to allow Adam to explore her at his leisure. She let a soft moan escape her lips as his fingers traced the soft skin of her most secret place. He knew he was going to be her first and he would take it nice and slow for her. Kissing her and slowly inserting a single digit inside her, he captured her small gasp with a kiss.

“Are you okay?” he asked, looking deep into her eyes. “Do you want me to stop?”

She stared up at him. “I’m okay,” her small voice said.

He played with her center for a time, loving how she clung to him, her pants and moans driving him to near madness. But it wasn’t about him. It was about her and making her feel like she was the most important person in his life, because she was.

She kissed him, his hand between her thighs bringing her to a place she had never imagined going. Her mind swam with emotion and desire. She raised her hips to meet his hand. She could happily live like this for the rest of her life. Her vision went white and she cried out with a shake and shiver she’d never been able to reach on her own.

“Oh Belle,” his voice reached her ear as she came back down. “Was that for me?”

She took a moment to recover, breathing heavily as the wave of sexual energy left her. She kissed him hard, stroking his cheek. “That was -- fantastic.”

“Are you ready for more?” Adam asked, adjusting himself over her. “We don’t have to.”

“I want to,” Belle said, her hands on his hips. “I want you.”

He entered her slowly, listening to every sound she made. He was slow and gentle, tracing the curve of her face as she stared into his eyes. Gathering her into his arms he sat back and held her in his lap as he moved inside her. It didn’t take long after the change for his face to contort as the need to release overtook him. Holding her tight to him, he came inside her. They laid together in bliss for a moment. She was the first to move. She gathered up his shirt and pulled it around herself. She padded through the house to the bathroom. Adam put his boxers back on and found a blanket for them. He laid back on the chaise lounge waiting for her to come back to him.

She splashed water on her face after cleaning herself up. The trace amount of makeup she wore washed away with the post-coital sweat. She took the rest of her hair down, letting it fall around her shoulders. His shirt, smelling so deeply of him, was three times her size. She came back into the living room and they laid together, covered in the blanket, the firelight dancing on the walls. Their breathing evened out, matching the other and they slowly fell into a rapturous sleep. And that’s how Cogsworth and Lumiere found them when they came home.

Snapping back to the present, the words of Madame brought Belle's attention to that matter at hand.

“We’ll just have to find you something as fantastic as that gown,” Madame said after Belle showed her the gown from the Spring Formal. “Gold is such a perfect color for you.”

They settled on a white satin and lace overbust corset that Madame laced for her that all Belle had to do was use the hooks in the front to put it on. A matching set of garter belt and panties, silk stockings and a gold silk robe from the 1940’s.

“When he sees this, the past will be the past,” Madame Garderobe said, boxing everything up in tissue paper.

Mmm, Desire Desire Desire Desire

#beauty and the beast #beauty and the beast fan fic #desire #companion to hey jealousy and love me anyway #inspired by music

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ohgoddard · 4 years ago

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Truth, Justice, and the Symbol of Peace.

Kyoto, Japan.

Fire.

All around him he felt the heat of the fire, the light of it bouncing in his peripherals. The flames seemed to tower above him, which was impressive given his height. High into the air, touching the tops of buildings the heat rose and masked all from his sight. The yelling was piercing through the wall of fire, screams for help as the back up heroes did their best to corral the citizens away from the encounter. The sky had turned dark and cloudy when he arrived, a hallmark of his style. First the ground shook, then the buildings fell. It was only with superspeed that he was able to save them all. They all shouted his name, called for him when there was trouble. He was…

“The symbol of peace? Please.”

All-Might stood not ten feet away from All For One. His business suit seemed immaculate as ever, his short silver hair swaying in the heat waves given off by the fire that now surrounds him. All-Might gripped his fists, his gold bracelets flexing on his arms. His red and white bodysuit had been torn, and his cape ripped to shreds, but he showed no injury.

“All for One..This is your last warning. Surrender now or feel the weight of your consequences! I am and will forever be the bastion of justice and freedom against your tyrannical desires! It is no use!”

All-Might shifted his stance, raising his fists to his face. The fire moved his long pointed bangs in its waves, and his glare could scare even the most hardened of thugs. All for One laughed. “Foolish to even suggest it, Toshinori. You will be taken care of easily, belief or not. The people do not have your back.” he made a sweeping gesture, opening the wall of fire for a reveal. Dozens of people were running away from villains, who were being fought by heroes in a vain attempt to stall while they escaped. All-Might did not move from his position, though his heart sank when the direness of the situation met him. Will I have the strength to do after all? Even if I defeat All for One, will I still be enough to fight everyone else? As the wall of flame closed again, All for One rose into the air and lifted his arms into a cackle, whirlwinds forming in his hands.

“It's become that time, Toshinori! I will finally defeat my brother, I will end One for All, and I will become what I set out to be!” With this, he pointed his open hands shot forth the powerful gusts of wind. With precision and speed, All-Might weaved to the side, wind-stepping with light force against the air, and delivered a punch into All For One’s face. He flew backwards into a crashed building, but soon shot out and landed a giant arm into the chest of All-Might, followed by headbutting him into the ground. He floated over him, using his telekinesis to lift a chunk of the ground, then throwing it on All-Might. He laughed as he kept dropping more and more pieces of debris onto the crater, throwing each down with malicious intent. After a minutes of piledriving into the ground, he stopped, heaving with breath. For a second, all was quiet. The flames crackled softly, the air did not move, the screaming had been drowned out by the earthquake levels of shaking left by All for One. Then, from the skies as if the heavens themselves sent it..

“MISSISSIPPI SMASH!”

All for One looked up in a flash but it was too late. All-Might was falling from the sky, fist extended, pushing through the dark clouds that hung over the world. It was all All for One could do to raise his defenses, but he could not raise them all. All-Might’s fist connected to All for One’s face, breaking the sound barrier. The shockwave turned buildings around them into rubble. The searing force of All-Might’s fist hitting skin had burned his skin beyond all recognition, and the pure concussive force had shattered his eye sockets and nose.

Dust flew in all directions, clearing all fires.

When it cleared, All-Might stood over All For One, fists raised, and began pummeling him. A hundred hits a minute, his body broken multiple times only to be healed the next second. Agonizing pain. The constant hits registered on the Richter scale a 2.3 earthquake, and a small tornado moved around All-Might as the friction of his punches against the air heated it against the otherwise cold front. The mind of All For One thought a mile of minute, trying to defend itself against the onslaught, until it thought of a solution. I will change the arm under myself into a spear, then in one quick movement stab him in his stomach. It will have to be quick, and it will be my only chance of escaping that gives me freedom.

Elsewhere, atop a nearby shattered building looking on, a cloud of a man in a black suit stand. In his mind, a single phrase repeated itself. I must save my master. Kurogiri watched the Symbol of Evil become more and more akin to the gravel he was being punched into, and began to develop a portal. One that would need to be quick, as he did not have much time. He would need concentration as well, or else consequences could be had. He began to focus, and as he did a portal slowly opened above All For One, unbeknownst All-Might.

All For One saw the beginnings of the portal and smirked internally, as his mouth was long since caved in by the fists of justice. He began to slowly reform his arm into a spear, then turned to shove it into All-Might’s stomach!

Or atleast, attempted to.

Back atop the ruined building where Kurogiri was making his portal, his concentration was broken by the slight tumbling of brick behind him. Then the boot to his face as Gran Torino flew into the face of Kurogiri. He fell to the floor, unconscious, but the portal still stood open! Gran Torino saw that the portal was starting to suck in the surroundings and shouted, “ALL-MIGHT! BEHIND YOU!”

All-Might turned his body, his torso narrowly missing the stab sent in by All For One. It did not matter though, as soon the force of the portal became too much for either to handle. All-Might stood his ground, refusing to be drawn into the tear in reality. However, All For One lept from the crater he had been beaten into and jeered at All-Might as he flew into the rip. “Goodbye, Symbol of Peace. My plans are not done!” As he disappeared into the portal, All-Might grimmaced. And in a split second decision…

“Toshinori! NO!” Gran Torino screamed as All-Might lept into the portal, which then closed with a shattering Snap!

Kyoto was quiet again, and all was uncertain. Where had the Symbol of Peace gone to?

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

Metropolis, Illinois.

“Clark, for the last time the answer is no! This scoop is dangerous and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Lois Lane walked down the aisles of the Daily Planet offices, the sounds of typewriters firing off like machine guns. The only woman in the room it seemed, but she commanded the respect of everyone there. What she said usually went, at least in terms of who is getting the best stories to write. Tailing behind her was a large, but doltish and a bit clumsily dressed, man whose arms were wrapped around an overburdened folder. He fixed the glasses on his face, moving the curled hair out of the way. Clark Kent was as country-boy out of water as you could get.

“Lois that's exactly why I want to come! It's dangerous and, well, i’m kinda big. I think I can scare some people off!” Lois stopped in her tracks in between the cubicles, and turned around to face Clark Kent. Clark had faced off against the most terrifying men on earth and beyond it and had felt no fear. However in that moment, fear was a real thing.

Despite the height difference of about two feet, Lois had a commanding presence. Her eyebrows raised, her lips set up in a smug way, her jet black hair flowing behind her head, it gave an air of authority.

“Smallville, are you suggesting that you can take on the thugs of Gotham? You? Clark you fell up the stairs twice when the elevator broke last week. Every time there is a monster attack you run to the bathroom, or the nearest subway station, or whatever. Nothing against you but,” she raised her arms up to Clark’s shoulders and gave it a friendly pat, '' I'm just about as protected with you as I am with Jimmy.”

The redhead himself was walking by when she said that and shot her a glare, which she rolled her eyes over.

“Besides, its been very quiet around here recently. You always complain about the events here getting in the way of your work. A good long stint of nothing is more your speed. That's why i’m going to report on the new Robin in Gotham anyways.”

Clark groaned out loud, then firmly placed his falling-apart folder on his desk. “Lois,” he said while adjusting his glasses again, “don’t go talking about the quiet! It makes me jittery!”

She laughed. “Relax, Clark. Not like anything is going to happen by my saying.”

Right after her saying that, the building shook. The lights hanging above them flickered as dust fell from the ceiling. A few startled voices peppered the crowd of reporters, and a door flew open at the end of the hallway. Out stepped Perry White, editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet. He was already shouting orders. “I WANT TEAMS OUT ASAP! WE’RE GONNA GET THIS BEFORE THE ILLINOIS TIMES! I DON'T WANT TO BE SECOND PLACE AGAIN!”

The reporters began to collect their things, all grabbing the equipment , when Lois gave a loud whistle. Removing her hand from her mouth, “Guys! Wait a minute! This could just be a domestic issue! Like a pipe burst, or a plane hit the street or whatever. While I want to get there quick shouldn’t we be orderly about this?”

“Yeah,” Clark said, already eyeing up the employee bathroom, “we should just take a breather and look out the window maybe.”

He walked over to the large curtained office window and flung it open, looking down from the high skyscraper onto the street. There was a large crater, at the center of it was a man in a suit.

“There’s a guy in a crater. This might be interesting after all, but not warranting a full mobilization”

Then, shouting from the sky and falling at incredible speeds was a mass of red and white. As he passed the window Clark stood in front of, time slowed. He saw that he was huge, massive. Taller than him. His muscles rivaled Bane, his hair outrageous, a monstrous fist raised before him, and his gaze fierce. And he was screaming. A phrase so loud it shattered the window on his descent, and filled the ears of all present.

“DELAWARE SMASH!”

Seconds later, two shockwaves hit the building. One from the fall itself, the other from the punch hitting the ground beneath them. The building shook again, and Clark saw the same in other buildings around the Daily Planet. Perry White yelled from his office, “This urgent enough for ya? Now everyone, GET OUT THERE!”

Clark turned around, shouting out. “Lois! Be care-”

“Can’t right now Smallville,” she shouted back, grabbing her coat and reporting tools, “this is a great catch and i’m getting right on it! JIMMY! WITH ME LETS GO!” She ran out the door without even looking back, redhead cameraman in tow. Clark smirked. He loved her dedication. With everyone not looking, he jumped out the window.

“Pitiful.” Another Jet stream narrowly missed All-Might, as he maneuvered through the crowd moving people out the way as best he could from the destruction. All For One was slashing buildings and hurling debris into him, and it was all he could do to stop it from hitting the civilians. A rock thrown there, a hit All-Might had to take to keep a family safe. A car here, another hit.

All For One was laughing, or atleast the best he could given the shattering of his vocal chords.

“For the Symbol of Peace, you sure are being awful destructive today. Perhaps you want to change sides?” Another shot of the winds, shaving concrete off a building and sending into the eyes of All-Might as he stopped rebar from hitting a child. “Its time for us to end this squabble, once and for all!” At this, he clapped his hands and a shockwave exploded from him. All-Might dropped to his knees, shielding the group of kids he was protecting earlier. He did not notice the building falling towards him, and when he did it was too late. Thousands of tons of concrete fell onto him, covering him and the kids in debris. The explosion was immaculate, as was the silence that followed it.

When the dust cleared, those in the streets looked up in fear at the man in the black suit and burnt face floating above the destroyed building. He cackled, and dark clouds began to surround Metropolis. “AT LAST! I have defeated my adversary! Now, all shall know my power!”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” All For One turned in an instant to see another man, clad in blue and red floating in the air. With a mighty blow of his breath, the dark clouds shot away like cotton candy in the wind. His huge arms were crossed over his chest, which was emblazoned in a bright red S. He turned into a crimson streak, racing across the air and into All For One, who went flying into collapsed rubble. As he shakily stood up, his suit now torn at the chest in the imprint of a fist slowly repairing itself, he glanced up to the skies. Through his powers he could still see, an dhw did not understand how he could have survived that.

“WHO DARES?” He raised his arms again and let loose a hardy right hook, but was deflected easily again onto his back. The sunlight cast beams around his body, the man floating above him. The voice sounded out again, in a voice that carried power. “I am the man who fights for Truth, Justice, and the American Way! And you impede on all of that right now.”

A voice calls out from the crowd, “GET HIM, SUPERMAN!” The onlookers begin to cheer.

All For One groans and he shakes his head. “Another deluded soul who believes himself to be the symbol of peace? A setback that cannot be tolerated.” He raised his hands again and lasers shot from them, grazing Superman’s shoulder as he dashed out of the way. “I can do the same thing, villain!” His eyes glowed red and out shot his own lasers, which cut a chunk of debris hanging above All For One. He dodged it, leaping for the ground next to him. Superman bolted down from his point in the air, landing a punch that was blocked at the last second by All For One. The two traded blows, dashing and trying to outmaneuver the other for what seemed like hours but was only minutes. The action captivated the audience, even the police who were trying to evacuate them.

However, All For One landed a blow that flew Superman backwards into a parked car and slumped him. The two hand traded blows so fast that it felt like days of effort between them, Superman not being prepared for this kind of fight could not keep up! The people looked on in shock as Superman was slumped against the car, making shallow breaths. They began to scream as All For One flew into the air once more. “If that is your greatest champion, then I am to be ruler certainly! Now then, attention all! You are now under the rule of ME! ALL FOR ONE!”

The crowds screamed and yelled and began running away, but soon giant rock pillars rose from the concrete. The peoples turned shocked and scared, as All For One cackled. “Now, now. You all cannot be going yet. I must make an example!” The walls started to move inwards, moving the people closer and closer. And as he kept laughing and laughing, someone from it yelled out.

“SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!”

“DO NOT WORRY!”

All For One stopped and turned his head in shock. He screamed, “NO! HOW?!”

All-Might stood atop the mountain of rubble that fell on him, the children he protected sitting at his feet unharmed. A smile was emblazoned across his face, and the sunlight shown upon him.

“WHY?! I AM HERE!”

He jumped from the rubble, fists raised, and punched All For One into the ground. While he was down, All-Might gave three punches to the rock walls he constructed, and yelled to the people within to get out. But as he was doing this, All For One stumbled to his feet and raised his arms again.

But was stopped when he felt a tapping on his shoulder. He turned around to see Superman’s fist shortly connect with his face. His body flew backwards into All-Might’s foot, which finally knocked the villain out on the ground.

The people cheered. All-Might turned to them, and struck a pose.

This is when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Superman. His arms crossed,and looking quite angry. “Ah.” All-Might said sheepishly, “where are my manners. I am All-Might. Symbol of Peace.” He extended his hand. Superman did not take it.

“I am Superman. You’re coming with me. I have some questions.”

#superhero #superhero story #superman #allmight #my hero academia #boku no academia #mha fanfiction #mha #bna #fanfiction #all-might #dc fanfic #boku no hero fanfic #bna fanfic #my hero academia fanfiction #crossover

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lizardkingeliot · 5 years ago

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Hi! I'm a huge magicians fan but Quentin's death knocked me completely for six and im still not dealing with it well. Im really inspired by your posts and positivity. How are you able to stay so positive about Queliot in the new world of season 5?

As with most things magic show related, this is a really complex answer. A big part of the healing process for me post-finale has been writing. I’ve written well over 200k words of Queliot fic since the finale, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon, because it’s the one place I can still feel entirely connected to them in spite of what’s happening in canon. But if we’re looking just at the canon of it all… idk. I wouldn’t say I feel positive about them if we’re only looking at it from a canon perspective? Mostly because I don’t believe they’re going to be bringing Quentin back in any capacity at this point. But…

I also appreciate that Eliot’s arc has had a ton of emotional depth this season. His character has been changed more than we’ve ever seen him, and while I still don’t trust the showrunners and never will, I am hopeful that they will at least not simply sweep his grief and trauma under the rug for the rest of the season. I hate that this is the story we’re getting. I hate that this didn’t end up being the show I’d hoped it would be when I first got into it, but there’s nothing that can be done to change that, and I can either accept that and walk away, or accept it and stick around to see if canon still has anything to offer. I’m choosing the latter at the moment, but I still do plan on taking this on an episode-by-episode basis for the foreseeable future.

It looks like they’re going to have Eliot have a ~thing with the Dark King, and I really thought I would hate that, but right now I’m actually very excited to see where that goes. I think it’s the sort of dynamic that is doomed, because it’s almost certainly going to be defined by deception, but I do also think they’re leaving space for something really honest between them, if we’re to believe the Dark King is being truthful about his loss that is. And even if they become something ~more down the line, it would be with an understanding that the loves of their lives are other people, so. That makes me feel a little better about the whole thing I guess?

Anyway. Not the point. Quentin’s death… will always be the very worst thing this show has ever done. It will always fucking suck and I will always hate the finale. The damage it did was very real, regardless of why it was written that way or why it was handled the way that it was after, but. I am still really emotionally attached to this show in a way that I haven’t been to a thing in a really long time. So I’ve tried to find ways to feel better about it, and to try and let their love live on the best way that I know how. The great thing about fandom is that we can transcend shitty canon decisions and transform it all into something better. I really truly do not know where I would be without fan fiction at this point. 💖

#Anonymous #i have... so many fics in the works y'all lmao #this will be one of those pairings that lives on in fanon regardless of what canon does #probably long after the show ends #anyway...#otp: proof of concept #the magicians #the magicians season 5

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spectraspecs-writes · 5 years ago

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Tatooine - Chapter 64 (Juhani, Mission)

Link to the masterpost. Chapter 63. Chapter 65.

@averruncusho @ceruleanrainblues thank you for reading you get a tag. @skelelexiunderlord thank you for support, you get a tag.

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

I sit in the med bay and wrap the kolto around the blaster burn on my hand. Nothing to do now but sit and wait, let it do what it does.

Juhani comes in. “Are you all right, Rena?” she asks, “I saw the wound on Bastila’s shoulder, and I…”

“Nah,” I say, “I’m tougher than all that. Just a blaster wound on my hand.”

“Do you need any help? I could… I could--”

“Juhani, I’m fine,” I say, smiling at him, “Thank you, but I’ve got it. I’ve suffered worse from working on wet droids.”

She releases a sigh of relief. “That is good to hear.”

“Yeah there’s nothing to do now but wait,” I say, “I would be glad of a little company.”

“I can certainly provide that,” she says.

“Can I ask you something?” I ask, “I don’t know a whole lot about you. I was wondering how you came to be a Jedi.”

She smiles modestly. “I am sure you would not find it very interesting.”

“More interesting than sitting here in silence with a kolto wrap on my hand.”

She laughs a little. “Well… It goes back a number of years,” she says, “Back on my homeworld we did not see Jedi very often, especially where I lived.”

“I’ve never been to Cathar, what’s it like?”

“It was not the homeworld of the Cathar that I lived on,” she says, “My parents had long fled from that place, and perhaps that is a story for another time. Rather it was a human hive-world I was raised on. The hind end of space.” She narrows her eyes in scorn, but she looks also a little wistful. “A pit of a world, to be sure. Where Jedi rarely tread. But we had heard of them. Well, everyone had, so that is not to be unexpected. Champions of truth. Defenders of justice. Heroes of the Republic. It was very easy for a child to be enthralled by their image, their mystique. Maybe I was one of those children.”

“Did you meet a Jedi?”

“Yes…” she says, “Yes, I did. When I saw a Jedi for the first time they lived up to everything my imagination had created them to be. I was awed… and maybe a bit enamored…”

“Enamored?”

“They were quite striking… especially the tales of their leader.” Probably Revan or Malak, if I had to guess. “From that moment on I knew that I would have to try to become a Jedi. To lift myself out of the rut I had been living in for years and to make a real difference, as the Jedi were.” She scoffs a little at herself. “The foolish delusions of a child. But THIS child made it happen! As soon as I was able I left my world and went in search of them. I found them and was accepted I had been living my dream on Dantooine for several years before you came. Although… perhaps I was not entirely ready for it… or not completely suited to the task. Otherwise I would not have fallen…

“But thanks to you I have been redeemed. Perhaps I may yet live to see that dream of mine come true.”

Kolto isn’t quite done yet. May as well keep talking. “The Jedi - I assume they were on their way to fight the Mandalorians?”

“Yes,” she says, “The Mandalorians had just invaded. Many of those Jedi perished in the fighting. But to us, they seemed invincible, especially their leader, who they talked about all the time. Paragons of light and justice, sweeping away all iniquity before them. It was like looking at gods.” She sighs again. “They were enthralling… Everyone wanted just to touch them. Some people thought it would bring them luck. Not that the peace they brought lasted very long…”

“They left.”

“They left,” she repeats, “The people grew complacent. Those who had been wronged saw their chance at revenge… and so the cycle continues. The oppressed become the new generation of oppressors. The human oppressed that is…” She scoffs. “The non-humans were never treated well in any case… We felt the brunt of both administrations.”

“Humans can be unbelievably intolerant,” I say.

“They took their frustrations and hates out on us because the people they wanted had already fled or were too well protected! But no one looks out for the injustices we suffered! Oh, no!”

She quickly tries to calm down. “I am sorry, I should not have outbursts like that.”

“It’s perfectly understandable,” I say, “Sometimes the oldest wounds take the longest to heal.”

“No, anger can lead to the dark side and I must be ever careful that I do not fall back into those ways. I… I thank you for your support. My outburst was uncalled for, but you did not lash back at me. You are a much better Jedi than I, it would seem.” She certainly puts me on quite a pedestal. “How’s your hand?”

I unwrap the kolto. The burn is little more than a scar now. “Another scar to add to my collection,” I say, and I dispose of the wrap. “I’m gonna go make sure the ship is ready to go. We’re heading to Kashyyyk next.” No, not for Griff. I just think it’s a good next trip, is all.

“Rena,” Juhani says to stop me. “I just… I am grateful and honored that you have accepted me with you. I am not used to such unbiased acceptance from one who is nearly a stranger to me. We Cathar do not make friends easily, or for long. It… it is reassuring to know that I can count on someone like you.”

I can’t find a response. “I’m glad you’re here,” I finally end up saying.

“Thank you for accepting me,” she says again.

-------

While Carth tries his best to get most of the sand out of the vents before take off, I elected to do some work on HK. I managed to uncover memories of another owner, a less-than-ethical senator from Coruscant who used HK to advance his political rank, and who died trying to stop HK from carrying out his final command - killing his adulterous wife and her partner. Seems HK enjoyed his time there. But when that was done, I figured I should do what I could to help Carth from in here. So T3 and I set to work tuning up the engine from in here.

God, I hate sand. I pull out my comlink. “Carth, I’m about to flush the vents, you ready?”

“Let me get out of the way,” he responds. A moment. “Ok, go ahead.” I press the button, and the vents turn on and start to flush.

“So you and Carth are talking again?” Quick look - Mission. She pats T3 on the head and the droid whistles gleefully.

“Hey, Mission,” I say, monitoring the vent feed. Hoping the mesh covering stops the sand from getting any deeper- it should, but if there’s any tears in it, flushing the vents won’t solve any problems.

“Can I talk to you?” she asks.

“I’ll do my best to listen.”

She leans on the wall where it curves. “I'm worried about Griff and his latest plan. I've got a bad feeling about it.”

“The Tarisian ale thing?”

“He doesn't know anything about brewing Tarisian ale,” she says, confirming what I already knew. “And now he's gotten himself mixed up with the Exchange. Sometimes Griff can be so stupid! Part of me just wants to let him get what's coming to him.”

I look at her for a second. “That sounds pretty harsh.”

“Maybe a couple broken knee-caps will do him some good!” she says, “Maybe that's the kind of jolt he needs to turn his life around!” Then she stops. “Only…” she says slowly, “... what if they do something worse? They might kill him! I don't want him to die, he doesn't deserve that. But I can't just keep supporting his crazy schemes. Someone has to teach him a lesson!”

“Mission, this isn’t a lesson you can teach him,” I say, “He has to figure it out on his own.”

“Yeah,” she says, “I guess you’re right.” She gives a resolved sigh. “I'm not going to change him,” she says, almost like it’s a mantra, “Griff is going to keep on being Griff.”

I stop the vents and get back on the comlink. “Vents are flushed. I’m going to seal them,” I say to Carth, “Make sure you open them before we jump to lightspeed next.”

“You got it,” he says.

“Maybe if we get these tach glands for him things will work out,” she says, “Or maybe he'll finally see the light and turn over a new leaf.”

“That’s optimistic of you.”

“I know it's not likely, but it's all I have to hope for.”

“Could you do me a small favor?” I ask her, “Would you let everyone know we’re heading to Kashyyyk?”

“So going from the planet of no shade to a planet with nothing but shade,” she says, and I see the humor in that. “Okay. I think it’ll make Big Z a little uneasy, though.”

“He can stay on Tatooine if he wants but I’m not sure that’s much better,” I say, “I told him we’d be going there at some point.”

“Oh, he’ll come, you don’t have to worry about that,” she says, and then she leaves.

“How’s it look on your end?” Carth says over the comlink.

“I think we’ve done all we can away from a major starport,” I say, “If we get the chance, we should give her a full cleaning, but if not she’ll be fine. Next time we’re here we should seal the vents right after landing.”

“Oh, we’re coming back here?” he says, “Fantastic.” Dripping with sarcasm.

“Yeah, I just love to torture you,” I tease, “Just imagine all the bugs you’ll have to clean off the view window when we’re done on Kashyyyk.”

“You’re a riot,” he says wryly, “Okay, I’m coming in. Let’s get going.”

#knights of the old republic #star wars #kotor #fiction #autistic artist #kotor fic #specs writes stuff #rena visz #oc #fem!revan #ls!revan #juhani #bI!revan #mission vao #carth onasi #tatooine #chapter 64

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sincerelytruly · 6 years ago

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Reasons for Why I Believe Obiyuki could be the “Romance that Cuts through Fate” referenced in the Manga:

In college, I took two amazing courses--scratch that I took one amazing course and one semi-disappointing sub-par course--Fairytales and Graphic Narratives, respectively. And until right this very minute, I believed them to be an utterly, though fascinating, waste of my time and tuition though they made me smile. Okay, it was college so they didn’t always make me smile because finals are the worst but I digress the point I am trying to make is this:

I HAVE AN EPIPHANY CONCERNING MY BELOVED SHIP OBIYUKI DUE TO MY TEACHINGS!!

So, first and foremost the birth of my epiphany came from thinking back to my class on Fairytales when we studied Snow White! (Graphic Narratives didn’t really teach me much other than how to think more critically about...Graphic Narratives, so I guess it really doesn’t deserve any cred for this post TBH, lol.)

But like I said we studied Snow White.

Not this one:

Or whatever this one was supposed to be (sorry not sorry):

But, the original one. There are two versions (maybe there are more but I forgot them if there are) of the Grimm’s version of Snow White. In the very most original version, everything pretty much happens as we all remember it minus the singing: Snow White makes Queen step-trash jealous by her beauty, Queen step-trash tries to have her killed, due to her amazing beauty Hunstman is a wuss and lets her live because he’s weak to a beautiful damsel, Snow White plays Goldilocks and breaks into a dwarven settlement, the dwarves also wuss out and take pity on her because she is pretty and can cook/clean for them, then step-trash gets angry realizing she is, in fact, alive and goes out to kill her herself. Now, this is where everything diverges from what we know. In the original version step-trash has to try several times to kill her. Once with a bodice/corset torture device that basically suffocates her until the dwarves get home and cut her out of it, twice with an evil hair comb that kills her until the dwarves pull it out of her hair, and then thrice with the age-old apple trick. The poisoned magic apple gets lodged in her throat and she becomes a stone statue for all intents and purposes, so what do the dwarves do? What any logical group of men would do with a beautiful woman who isn’t decaying but still dead in their eyes, lock her in a gorgeous crystal casket so that they can still gaze upon her beauty on the daily! From here on there are two different endings to the Snow White saga. The very, very, first one published states that the Prince comes along says, “ooooooooh pretty, let me take her home with me and put her on display” and sits around gazing at her all the time until someone in the castle gets pissed off and hits Snow White’s corpse which dislodges the apple finally and wakes her up. What an awkward way to wake up yeah? And then the poor girl gets married to the Prince--ta-da! The second version makes it a lot better ending for poor Snow White. Someone trips while hauling the casket to the palace and dislodges the apple and then the Prince sweeps Snow White off her feet and yay happy ending they get married and now the Prince doesn’t seem as creepy just staring at a dead person all day long pissing off his staff.

(Whooo that was a lot of background info, sorry, and also I know that I could also do a huge comparison post on the tales of Snow White versus our Shirayuki tale, but that is for another day!!!)

Depending on what you want to go with there are so many ways you can analyze the story of Snow White--all of them, old, less old, new, even our beloved Shirayuki’s story--but one of the things that stick out in my mind is how in every single version of Snow White she is always a trophy of some sort. The Prince is always going to get his trophy wife in the end. Even in Shirayuki’s case, if she does end up with Zen (which I’ll die if she does) she will be nothing but a trophy wife. Even though Zen is precious and certainly not a bad guy by any means, he is a Prince, therefore their relationship will not be the same as normal couples have. She won’t be allowed to be an Herbalist and tend to the sick who may infect her and kill her before she can provide an heir. And poor Zen will still be stuck behind a pile of paperwork and responsibility to his Kingdom that he dearly loves.

But, hey who knows, maybe Sorata will go against the entire universe she has built in her storytelling and let Shirayuki be wild and free and a Prince’s wife...

I think this is where “A Romance that Cuts through Fate” comes in to play. Hopefully, if you’ve made it this far in my post (bless you if you have) you’re thinking what I’m thinking. Or maybe you’re thinking I’m a lunatic.

ANYWHO, IF EVERY SINGLE SNOW WHITE ENDS UP WITH THE PRINCE THEN REALLY HOW IS ZENYUKI A ROMANCE THAT CUTS THROUGH FATE?

It's not. It absolutely is not a story of a romance that cuts through fate. In fact, there are far too many stories out there where a beautiful, nice, happy, girl gets with a Prince way beyond her social status for this to be something un-fateful. Or unheard of or whatever. Every fairytale and most romantic comedies out in the world follow the same old rhyme.

Which is why I am proposing that Obiyuki is the endgame for real.

***WARNING IF YOU’RE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH THE MANGA AND DON’T WANT SPOILED THEN YOU PROBS DON’T WANT TO READ ANY FURTHER!!!***

I feel as though since the moment Obi and Shirayuki were separated by the Bergat house situation, Shirayuki has been more aware of what Obi means to her.

Look at her reaction and even Obi says later on:

That she seemed to be concerned even for him. Now don’t get me wrong I am completely aware that Shirayuki has been plenty concerned for Obi in a platonic sort of way! I’m not a completely foolish fangirl here.

But then that happens. That is something new with Shirayuki. Never is she shown to react that way about what anyone says. Sure she blushes over her lovey-dovey stuff with Zen all the time, but that is something else.

And then that is too. She sees Obi’s reaction--possibly the first time she’s seen him this way (or at least I can’t remember another time) and there’s a look on her face that says, was he being serious maybe? YES SHIRAYUKI HE WAS DAMMIT IN HIS PLAYFUL STUPID BOY WAY YES.

And then this happens--look at that face--I don’t need to say a damn thing on that one. I mean I know she doesn’t love-love him yet (or maybe she does but doesn’t know it) but this is definitely progress, right?

And then the boys get in a tie showing off their masculinity--which I feel really does foreshadow their inevitable head-to-head. I mean ever since the festival with the play of the Knight fighting the Prince for the Princess, I’ve felt that way, but then there is their slight competition for her attention all the time and this arm wrestling and even the fight they had when Obi wanted to be her bodyguard!

These faces, well, I feel as though she is kind of realizing Obi’s worth. I don’t know how else to put it. She is obviously affected by Obi’s marriage meeting and later on when Obi is saying how he is rejecting people even though he knows he attracts people, her face is so loving! Of course that may just be because her friends are there and she is about to pledge her loyalty to everyone or whatever, but I’d like to think it still has a bit to do with what Obi is saying as his statement that he was with her during the dinner party, therefore not flirting with other girls, is in the same panel as the face she is making. Hopefully, that makes sense.

This was a big moment because again I feel as though this is foreshadowing, why else would the author do this?

Then I noticed that Shirayuki starts noticing Obi! Above she notices how his eyes have rounded recently, which to my understanding is an idea that a person is happier. (Idk my Dad has a book on Oriental health practices and whatnot and it talks about eye shape in it and basically how its a window to the state of your being/soul/chi, etc. so this is why I believe this I may be completely off base but the context seems to suggest I’m right!) However, on a side note on Obi’s part I think he is going through the motions of accepting that his fate when it comes to Shirayuki when he says, “I’m seeing more clearly.”

This looks like some flirtation to me on Shirayuki’s part, but also I find it an interesting conversation especially since in the next chapter (below panels) she talks about how she needs to be able to speak about how she wants to live in the future. And also, I feel as though the author loves giving us these panels where they’re reaching for each other but not quite willing or able to touch one another yet, its sweet torture isn’t it?

The panels above show again how she has finally taken notice of Obi and thanked him for all he has done for her. I know it’s not a declaration of love, and she probably plans on talking to Izana about living her future with Zen, but I think this is a step in the right direction because in what world is this conversation with Izana going to go well? I mean, Izana, though I believe he likes Shirayuki, is not going to change the rules for her as it comes to the Royal family. So, I think we may soon see some development in Shirayuki’s relationships with both Zen and Obi. I tend to think that she has really put some thought into how she wants to live her life now, and I also think that she is strong enough of a person now to reject anything other than what she deserves.

I also find it interesting how Obi keeps his cool when Shirayuki compliments him on his looks and then awkwardly says:

What does interesting mean, Obi?!

But anyway, that brings us up to date with the manga and my reasons for believing that the “Romance that Cuts through Fate” applies to Obiyuki NOT Zenyuki. I hope I was able to coherently share my thoughts and feelings on this and not completely bore whoever may have been strong enough to make it to the end of my rambles.

#obiyuki #obi and shirayuki #obi x shirayuki #shirayuki and obi #shirayukixobi #my OTP

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leonthecardboardunicorn · 5 years ago

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Man of Your Dreams, Chapter 1

Finally ready to get the ball rolling! This takes place after Rembrandt’s route, so spoilers abound for all three Sword of the Queen routes.

I’d like to give a special thanks to @explosiveglitterqueen and @zigackly, who have spent countless hours listening to me plot this story and offered a lot of inspiration. Couldn’t have done this without you~

In the light of the setting sun, the gardens seemed to glow. Walking through the gardens, I felt a certain tranquility.

'Is there any more beautiful place in all the world? ..Huh?'

I stopped as I came to the edge of the gardens- quite literally. When I looked down over the edge, I could see the sky beneath me. And I realized where I was- the Castle in the Sky. 'But I thought I had sealed away the Castle! What am I doing up here?'

Suddenly, I heard bickering voices. Heart racing, I ducked around the corner, peeking to look at them. Two men were strolling through the courtyard together. I recognized Willem at once, but he looked.. different. Younger. He was wearing different clothes, and his long hair only bounced around his shoulders. A cheerful looking man with long, dark hair was laughing at his side.

'This must be a dream.. or a memory,' I thought. 'Then the man with Willem must be..'

“It's twilight, not sunset. It's not sunset until the sun is-”

“Oh, right,” the cheerful man said with a grin. “But look at that! Isn't the dusk sky so pretty?”

“Now, now, Lacan, you know that's not right,” another voice chided. “That's the sunrise, not the sunset. Hasn't Willem lectured us enough on that?”

Another man walked up to them, and my heart began to race. He had long, golden blonde hair and a sweet smile. Even though the years had changed him, I knew that face. Felix.

'I've never seen him smile like that,' I thought. 'How long ago was this?'

“Ugh,” Willem groaned, “I'm not sure what bugs me more, you making that mistake or that I know full well you're just doing this to annoy me.” The pair of Dragonkin laughed, and Willem shook his head. “Perhaps I should go back to my chambers and take a nap. I might be able to have a good daydream, at least.”

Lacan stopped laughing, folding his arms. “Willem, that's not what a daydream is!” Even I couldn't help but laugh as I watched the three of them, but, at the same time, my heart was aching for them.

'They used to smile so freely..' I remembered the pain that they'd been through. How the three of them had been separated, the technology of the Dragonkin had been stolen, and Felix and Lacan had been sealed away. Even when they had been reunited, Felix had been unable to let go of his hatred- and this Castle had been sealed away once more.

In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd ever see that smile again.

“Liz! Liz! Wake up!”

I jolted up as I heard someone pounding at my door. As I got to my feet, I remembered where I was. I was in my cabin in the village, not in the Castle in the Sky.

As I opened the door, I saw it was Caesar. “Oh, thank goodness you're all right-”

I felt a chill sweep down my spine. “Did something happen?”

“We got a call from Hugo an hour ago; he said that Willem had been attacked!”

“I can't thank you enough for all of your help..”

“Don't worry about it,” Hugo said, but I heard a thread of worry in his voice.

When I entered Willem's house, Hugo was helping Willem get settled into a chair. He looked up at us, giving us a strained smile. “Oh, hello.” Despite his smile, his hand kept drifting to his side.

“We got your message, Hugo,” Caesar said as he slipped into the room. “Alfonse should be here in a few minutes, he just had to grab a few things.”

“You called them?” Willem asked. “I told you, you didn't have to do that. These injuries are nothing, I'll heal just fine-”

“It never hurts to be careful,” Hugo said.

“We're worried about you,” Mischa, who had been watching, said gently.

“Willem, who was it that attacked you?” I asked. “Were you able to apprehend them?”

“He was..” Something flickered across Willem's face before his expression smoothed out again. “I wasn't able to catch a glimpse of his face.”

“By the time I got here, the culprit was already gone,” Hugo said.

“I'm here, I'm here!” Alfonse burst through the door, coming up to Willem. “Don't worry, we'll get you all fixed up, right as rain.”

“I appreciate it..”

Caesar and I must have asked Hugo a million questions as he waited outside Willem's house, but he wasn't able to give us any solid answers, and that only made us more worried.

Hugo sighed. “They shouldn't have been able to find him this deep in the forest...”

'And who would be strong enough to attack a Dragonkin, let alone wound him?'

“Hugo?” I looked up to see that his expression had gone vacant, staring off into space. There was a certain emptiness in his eyes that sent chills down my spine. “Hugo, are you all right?”

“Three beings eternal time tore apart again and again. By war, by death- finally, by choice. The Dragon King, the One Who Slumbers, the One Who Waits.” When he spoke, his voice rang inside my head. I knew this feeling, but it had only happened once before.. “Night by night by night, then the blood of Dragons and humans come together, the powerful become powerless- and the powerful become one. Dreams become reality, the Dragon King will fall- and the Reciters will be born again."

And, just as soon as it came, he stopped, shaking his head. “I'm sorry,” he said, his voice back to normal, “what were we talking about?”

I looked over at Caesar; his expression told me that he'd heard every last word as well. “Hugo.. what was that?” He just stared at us, baffled.

I looked down to Mischa; in contrast, her expression was filled with understanding. “I think I need to call Vain.” With that, she disappeared into Hugo's house.

“Good news, Willem, you're all clear,” Alfonse said cheerily, and I let out a sigh of relief. “I'd ask that you don't push yourself for a few days, but you should be fine.”

“Thank you, Alfonse,” Willem said. Again, there was something in his expression that I couldn't read, and I pushed back the frustration.

'I'm sure it's nothing. This must've been hard for him.'

“I'm glad to hear that you're well,” a voice said, and I looked up to see Vain enter the house. “Because, if what Mischa has told me is correct, we just might need you for the crisis ahead.”

“You know what happened to Hugo?” I asked as we settled in Hugo's house. He took a seat in a chair, and Vain eyed him, kneeling before him, pressing a hand to his forehead.

“Are you all right?” he asked gently, and Hugo nodded. “It's been a while since you've had a vision,” he said quietly. “And here I thought we could get a few weeks of rest..”

“Vision?” I echoed, and Vain looked up with a sigh.

“Ever since he was little, Hugo has had the tendency to get these.. visions, particularly when there's been a big change in the timeline.”

“From what I've heard, I basically fall into a trance,” Hugo said, rubbing his forehead. “Vain and Mischa have told me about them, but I can't for the life of me remember them.”

“So then.. That first time that we met, when we were investigating the Black Robe Plague, that was one of your visions?” He gave a weak smile and nodded.

The effects from stopping Felix must have been enough.” Vain turned back to us. “Do you remember the prophecy?”

I had only heard it once, but the words were burned into my memory as though I had heard them a million times. I carefully repeated Hugo's prophecy, and Vain wrote it down. When I was done, Vain's eyes went wide. “Do you know what any of that means?”

“It's hard to say,” Vain said. “For us, this territory is almost entirely new. Although I doubt it would be hard to hazard a guess at some of those.”

I nodded. I remembered another prophecy that we had encountered. “The Dragon King.. Do you think that could be referring to Felix?”

“Most likely.” Hugo sighed.

“Is it possible that he could be the one behind the attack?” Caesar asked, but something made me stop. “It might explain why he seemed to be hesitating

“No.. I don't think so.” I remembered that night in the castle, when we had fought at Willem's side. Even when they were enemies, Felix had hesitated to fight his friend. Would he really have attacked him in such an underhanded manner? “Besides, Willem wouldn't have hidden that from us.”

“Either way, we should be on the look out for the culprit,” Hugo pointed out. “If they didn't get what they want this time, they might try again.”

“I'll talk to Headmaster Schuyler about the situation,” I said. “It would be good to set up patrols again.” Alfonse and Caesar nodded.

“I'll keep an eye out for him as well,” Hugo told us firmly. I felt a bit better knowing that we had a plan, but there was still a pit in my stomach.

'Have we stopped one threat just for another one to rise?'

It had been three days since Willem had been attacked. That night, with permission, I stayed in Liz Village again, but, no matter how late it got, I couldn't get to sleep. I tossed and turned, but my mind kept racing.

'Perhaps a walk will clear my mind..'

I slipped out of the house, heading out into the forest. As I walked, all of my worries seemed to melt away. It was hard to think about my worries walking under the moonlight-

I saw another figure standing in the flower garden. In the moonlight, I could make out a figure with pale blonde hair- and black horns. 'Who could that be?' I'd be lying if I said my heart wasn't racing. 'He's beautiful..'

The man suddenly turned to face me, and my heart caught in my throat as I realized who it was. “Felix?!”

“You're- you're the one who sealed my castle,” he said. “It appears this is just not my night..”

'I shouldn't have come out here alone- How am I going to face him?' I thought, but I raised my wand anyway.

“Stay back!” He didn't move from his place. “Are you the one who attacked Willem?”

His eyes widened. “What are you talking about?” And I lowered my wand for a moment. He sounded genuinely confused.

He was moving, but he was- wavering where he stood. And I suddenly noticed how his hand kept drifting down to his side, just as Willem had. “Are you.. injured?”

“I..” He took a step towards me, but he wavered. Just as I moved forward, he collapsed.

“Felix?” I ran to his side, kneeling beside him.

He had been my enemy for so long, and now he was injured, collapsed, before me- I couldn't just leave him there- 'What do I do?'

Rembrandt: I must say, that was a surprising encounter. Who'd think Felix would come to our village?

Hugo: I'm more concerned about these attacks. First you, now him. Who would dare to attack a Dragonkin?

Rembrandt: I mean, haven't you fought against Dragonkins numerous times?

Hugo: ...

Hugo: ..That's different. Besides, the future has changed now. I thought we could get a little rest.

Rembrandt: My apologies for causing such a stir.

Hugo: ..Just do the preview.

Rembrandt: All right. Unsure of what to do, Liz takes Felix to visit an old friend- me?!

Hugo: Next time, A Pair of Dragonkins.

Rembrandt: Looks like I need to go make some tea..

#wizardess heart #Man of Your Dreams #Felix #Felix Baker #Fanmade Route

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lonelypond · 6 years ago

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Jingle Bell Jazz, Chapter 10

Love Live, NicoMaki, 2.2K, 10/?

Summary: Maki makes a phone call, but not the right one.

Chapter 10

Eli sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by text books and papers. She’d decided to dive into the homework she hadn’t had time for, but the Bibi situation kept her tapping her pencil as she let her thoughts drift. The lack of focus was not typical. Nozomi was currently pretending her own attention was on one of Nico’s fashion magazines, but she wondered how long she had to let Eli stew before starting to pry.

Eli broke first. “Nozomi?”

“Hmmmmm?” Startled, Nozomi hummed a response.

“Why did you say Nico made Maki nervous?”

Easy question. “Because your prodigy pianist can’t take her eyes off Nico and jumps every time the singing spitfire gets near her. It’s why she has so much trouble on some songs. The closer Nico gets, the less Maki listens.”

“It wasn’t like that the night we went to her house.” Eli glanced up from her papers, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to put a name to the feel of that late night session.

Nozomi shrugged, “Maybe Maki’s not thinking as much about music now.”

“Why wouldn’t she be? What else could she be thinking about?” Eli started chewing on her eraser.

Nozomi rolled her eyes, tilting her head back so Eli could catch her teasing look but before she retorted, the phone rang and Eli got up to answer it.

“Hello? Eli speaking....oh, hi Maki....yes, but Nico’s still at work....why don’t you call her...I’m sure she wouldn’t mind...okay, I can tell....sure I can write down the details...yes, I’ll make sure she gets them...as soon as I see her…okay, I’ll call her,” Eli laughed as Maki’s volume increased, “I promise... Get some sleep, Maki. Don’t worry so much.” Eli depressed the switch arms, then dialed a number, waiting for an answer. “Hi, Dani? Is Nico there? Sure, I’ll wait....Hi, Nico, Maki called me. No, I don’t know why she didn’t call you...she sounded busy?...Anyway, that concert thing is at her house at noon...yes, at her house...it’s big enough...ask her Nico, I don’t know...okay, be careful coming home.” Eli hung up the receiver, humming a song Nozomi didn’t recognize, but something had obviously amused her.

“Eli-chi?”

Eli’s grin was smug and Nozomi wondered why. Then Eli crossed to the couch, vaulted over the side, and landed next to Nozomi.

“Forget I asked that thing before.” Mischief practically made Eli bounce.

Nozomi leaned her head on Eli’s shoulder, “What did Maki say that you found so enlightening?”

“It was more a tone…”

“A tone,” Nozomi teased.

Eli nodded seriously, “As a musician and educator, I am attuned to nuance in vocal performance and young Miss Nishikino has a classic case of Nico Nico need.”

Nozomi snorted at the word choice, “How do you know that?”

Eli shrugged, “Voice a little tight, shaky, obviously nervy when mentioning Nico’s name, frequently interrupting herself while demanding three times that I deliver her message to Nico as soon as humanly possible but unwilling to actually call Nico.”

“But can she be cured?” Nozomi slid closer.

Eli ran her fingers through Nozomi’s hair, “The real question is does Nico know?”

“Nico’s only seeing Tsubasa and Europe right now.” Nozomi couldn’t help the sigh.

“I know.” Eli hugged her girlfriend tighter, “Sometimes it’s not so easy.”

Tired of talking about Nico, Nozomi snickered and swerved. “I’m glad you were.”

“Hey!” Eli’s blue eyes narrowed at a smirking Nozomi.

“Well…” Nozomi ran her fingers down Eli’s neck, watching the blonde shiver. “Weren’t you?”

“Nozomi....” Eli might have been attempting a complaint but Nozomi’s insistent lips ended that.

###

The Club was bustling, friendly, happy people enjoying the holiday season. Nico bounced between favorite customers, sharing stories about their families, getting nice end of the year bonus tips from regulars she hadn’t seen before Christmas. The kind of night that made the rest of them better, building camaraderie with her co workers and the faces she’d see regularly on her shifts. It was pleasant, easy almost.

In a lull, Nico stared at herself in the mirror behind the bar. She looked more tired than she would have liked. With a sigh, she adjusted the ribbons holding her hair in pigtails, flashing back to Maki’s face, so close, so....Nico wasn’t sure she could put words to the expression on the younger girl’s face, it was a blend of vulnerability, hope, disappointment, and...there had been a certain determined fervor that wasn’t anger, that had dominated as Maki accused Nico of waffling. Was Nico waffling? And why did the temp pianist care about Nico’s choices so much?

“Nico?”

Nico came out of her fugue, “What is it, Dani?”

“You have a phone call and Viv wants to know if you’ve decided when your last day will be.”

Ignoring practical concerns, Nico took the phone, surprised to hear Eli’s voice. “Hi Eli..Maki called you? Why didn’t she call me? Nico said she was heading to work...Of course, she’s too busy to listen to Nico or call her...her house?...Yeah, Nico only saw part of the first floor, but...hey, why didn’t Maki call Nico, she knows the Ace of Rose’s number, she called here before...Nico knows, that’s not your problem..." Nico sighed. "I’ll see you later Eli. Thanks for calling.”

Nico hung up the phone. Why hadn’t Maki called just called her. They’d spent hours together in the car, multiple rehearsals, practically falling asleep on the couch together, shared a milkshake. They’d talked about family, music, future plans, weather...why hadn’t Maki just picked up the phone when Eli had reminded her Nico was at work? Phone calls were easy. Was Maki worried that Nico was mad? Was Maki mad at Nico?

“Hey, Dani, can someone take over my tables? Nico has a problem to solve.”

###

Maki had almost stopped shaking. When she’d gotten home, picking up the phone to call Nico to give her the details about tomorrow’s charity performance had been difficult. And then Eli had answered and said Nico was at work. Which Maki had forgotten. But that one phone call had taken all her willpower so she’d just left the message with Eli and hung up, ignoring the saxophonist’s suggestion Maki call Nico at work. So giving Nico the details had happened, and Nico would show up and hear an actual smooth performance. If Maki could produce an actual smooth performance. Which was still questionable. Maki sat across the room from her piano, glaring at it. Once, they had been on the same team. She lifted her hands, flexing her fingers, unable to visualize them on the keys. Instead, Maki was lost in the night before, her mind looping through the moment when she’d held Nico’s coat for her, fingers tingling as she closed it around the smaller woman, her attention captured by the sweep of Nico’s neck where it met her shoulders, the straight line of her posture, the midnight silkiness of the hair cascading down to her back. Maki had frozen for a breath, the party bustling outside a bubble with the two of them alone, caught by a mood she’d never felt, a possibility she had just begun to imagine, almost offering Nico her arm when the songbird buttoned her coat at the throat. But before she could do that, Nico had slid her arm through Maki’s with a daredevil gleam in her eye, “Let’s get out of here, Maki.”

Maki was existing in that moment...no piano, no future, no past, just Nico and...a sense that there, by Nico’s side, that was right, that was possibility, that was where Maki might find a place. But Nico wanted something else. And Maki could give her Europe, first class, even, but not an already celebrated band to front.

Maki frowned at her hands again. Right now, she couldn’t even give Nico a reliable rhythm. That had to change. Focus on the music only. No more possibilities. Just be what Nico needed right now. Maki stood, time to put on Ella Fitzgerald’s “Wishing You A Swinging Christmas” on the turntable and play her way through. And then practice the Chopin and the Ellington for tomorrow. Maki tugged at her hair, at some point sleep would win, but it wouldn’t be tonight.

###

Shivering and stomping her feet, Nico rang the mansion doorbell. The wind was cutting through her tights. She’d taken a cab, but she still only had her work uniform on underneath her peacoat. Nico rang again, pumping her fingers. Maki was probably hunched over her piano, trying to figure out the music herself, but what she really needed was to have Nico there to help her unlock it. Maki'd just called Eli less than an hour ago, surely she wouldn’t be asleep yet. When they’d had rehearsal over here, they’d been up working for hours yet.

The door opened and Nico started to say “You just can’t leave Nico messages, Maki, you actually have to…” when a woman not as tall as Maki and with long brown hair stepped into view. The cheekbones and age gave Nico a hint that she might be looking at Maki’s mother.

“Can I help you?” Confusion.

Nico pulled out her smoothest, most charming tone, “Nico is sorry if she woke you, but I needed to see Maki and I didn’t realize you might be back from Maine.”

“Nico?” No recognition, not yet suspicion.

“Nico Yazawa...Maki joined our trio, Bibi, temporarily. She drove me to Troy for Christmas.” Nico wrapped her arms around herself to so Maki’s mom would get the “Nico is cold” cue, “Is Maki here?”

Maki’s mother smiled, “Oh, you’re the singer. Maki’s been…”

“Mama? Did something happen to Papa?” Maki sounded worried, Nico thought, as the redhead came around the corner in her pajamas and bathrobe. She stopped, staring, as soon as she spotted Nico, “Nico? What... why are you here...is something the matter?”

Her mother looked from Maki to Nico as Nico gave up hinting, stepping inside as Maki hurried forward. The door closing behind her, Nico strode up to Maki, “You can’t just call Eli and leave Nico a message. You had Nico’s number.”

“I left the message, you got the message.” Maki pushed to bravery “I didn’t do anything wrong”

“You didn’t do anything right either.” Nico’s hands were on her hips, head cocked aggressively at Maki.

“I forgot you were at work.” It was an almost apology, but that wasn’t what Nico had taken a cab here for.

Nico pressed. “Why didn’t you call me when Eli told you?”

Maki shoved her hands in her bathrobe pockets and glanced away.

Maki’s mother decided to step away from the increasingly tense atmosphere. “Can I get you girls some coffee...or a snack?”

Nico kept her eyes locked on Maki while replying. “Yes, please. Nico left work without dinner.”

“Come into the kitchen when you’re ready.” Maki’s mother was through the archway.

“Okay, Mama.” Maki nodded at her mother, then glanced briefly at Nico and pouted, arms crossed. “You’re disturbingly early. I'm practicing. The recital’s tomorrow, you know.”

Nico rolled her eyes. “Thanks. But as we figured out before, Nico got that message.” Nico stepped closer to Maki, hand gentle on the fidgety redhead’s arm, “Why couldn’t you just call Nico yourself?”

Maki scrubbed fingers through her hair, biting her lip for extra proof of nerves, “I didn’t mean anything...I just...I’m not good on the phone.”

Relieved that Maki wasn’t still...mad, Nico squeezed before letting go, “Call Nico anyway. It’d be nice to hear your voice.”

Maki blushed; Nico continued, raising her hand to her chin, the better to exude wisdom, “Nico has been thinking about your problem…’

“My problem?” Indignant curiosity. So very Maki, Nico realized.

“Nico makes you nervous, right….” Nico sounded serious, but there was a hint of a tease.

Maki caught herself before she stuttered out several “No’s” to prove Nico’s point, pulling down the cuff of her robe instead.

“So if you get used to Nico, your performance will improve, right.” Nico was practically vibrating. How did she have this much energy this late and on no dinner, Maki wondered.

Maki knew she was looking more doubtful than thoughtful but Nico chose to ignore any nuance.

“So if we spend more time working together, Maki’s play will get so good, Tsubasa will beg her to join the band too…”

“I don’t want to…” A point Maki could be firm about.

Nico shrugged, nonchalantly, “It’s an example of what COULD happen.”

Maki decided to shift the discussion, almost afraid of the answer. “How are you planning to get me ‘used to Nico’?”

“I sit, scoot next to you, you play, I sing, easy peasy.” Nico announced, bumping Maki with her hip.

“No.” Maki jumped two steps away.

“Why not?” Nico batted her long eyelashes, corner of her lip curved invitingly, Maki her sole focus.

Maki licked her lip, trying to think of a way to talk Nico out of being here, at nearly midnight, in her work uniform, demanding Maki share a piano bench. While that picture was stalling Maki’s thoughts, Nico pounced, sliding her arm through Maki’s and pulling the taller woman down the hall, “But right now, Nico needs a snack.”

And Maki needed a minute. At the minimum. But Nico was a whirlwind, rushing them into her latest plan. But the thought of Nico, sweet and musky, voice tart, twisty and tender, next to her, welcome, warm, tantalizing, was clamping Maki’s lips together, preventing any protests. Treasonous thoughts, Maki realized, conjoined with the remembered comfort of a sleepy Nico curled against her side. Coffee would be essential. Keeping up with Nico when rested was challenging enough.

A/N: February has been a month so far, but I'm happy with how this chapter turned out. Still not sure exactly how long this will take 'til we have achieved harmony, but I hope you're enjoying the ride.Take care! Comments and cheer welcome.

#NicoMaki #Jazz #Jingle Bell Jazz #Love Live #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #NozoEli #Ayase Eli #Tojo Nozomi #music #fanfic #holiday #Christmas #etc

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