#but i heard last year its sooooo boring

[mspeevee]

I signed up for garden centre duty at me work and I saw only like 3 other people signed up so they'll prolly be forced to let me work it, very excited...

[janetbrown711]

Why Am I Like This?

Mikey gets really bored one day and decides to play with Raph's shiny new toy, despite being told several times not to, and breaks it.

Raph does not take this well.

Ao3 Link

Mikey was bored.

And not just regular, every day bored, nonono. This boredom was the mind-numbing and annoying type– the type that left you paralyzed and unable to think of anything to do, but Mikey had to do something.

He could practice with his nunchucks, but ever since he was downgraded to foam instead of wood, it just felt like a joke. Sure, he liked whirling it around, but Master Splinter always said this was supposed to be for self-defense, not fun, so playing around was strictly forbidden.

He could just reread his comics again, but while Splinter had gone for a scavenge recently, he didn’t bring Mikey anything of interest, other than those finger skateboard things. He’d already played with that thing to death, so that was also a total “no-go”.

Now, he could try and hang out with Leo or Raph or Donnie, but Donnie was busy trying to find a way to recharge lightbulbs, Leo was watching the second season of Space Heroes for the bajillionth time, and Raph was doing one-on-one practice with Splinter, so that wasn’t happening.

Mikey groaned, flopping his head into his pillow for the billionth time. “If only Leo liked a different, cooler show,” he sighed dramatically, before sitting up.

On the topic of “different” and “cooler”, Raph had been given a super special super cool still-in-box action figure of Aspara-Gus from Fantastic Four Food Groups. Mikey would’ve totally claimed it for himself, but he hadn’t heard Splinter call for him until Leo knocked on his door. From what the box claimed, it was supposed to light up and say up to six catchphrases! Mikey had been sooooo jealous, but Raph said he couldn’t play with it.

Wait– no. What he specifically said was, “Mikey, if you touch my Aspara-Gus, I’ll turn you into a pulp.” Classic Raph.

But– like… it wasn’t like he’d know. He was busy training with Master Splinter! Plus, he heard Raph open it up earlier, so it was practically begging to be played with!

Mikey grinned, hopping off his bed and bolting to Raph’s room, before opening his door all ninja-like and finding the bright green action figure sitting right on his bed next to a broken red car toy that was missing two doors.

Mikey practically had stars in his eyes as he admired the nearly mint condition of the doll, with its see-through green sparkly plastic and smooth edges. He giggled with excitement before pressing the little green button on its side.

“Eat your vegetables, kids!”

Mikey’s face felt flat and he tried again.

“You’re no match for the power of vitamin K!”

“Man, why does Raph even like that stupid comic,” Mikey muttered and gave it one last try.

“It’s Aspara-Gus to the res–” the phrase was cut off by a sudden, ear-piercing shriek.

“ACK!” Mikey immediately covered his ears, before getting the idea to try and smother it with Raph’s pillow. That it didn’t work well enough, the sound still splitting his skull. Out of desperation and panic, he sat on top of the pillow, which finally muted it enough so the pain stopped.

“Whew, that’s a relief,” Mikey wiped off non-existent sweat from his forehead. The ten-year-old continued sitting on the pillow until the faint ringing finally stopped, and he got off, picking up the figure again and–

Uh oh.

Apparently, sitting on pillows over action figures could cause their arms to break off. Who knew?

“Well… at least the toy was busted anyway…?” Mikey laughed nervously. He knew that totally wasn't gonna be good enough for Raph, though, and he'd totally flip when he found out.

“Okay, well– maybe I can fix it! Yeah! I just gotta pop that bad boy back on; it’ll be good as new,” Mikey picked up the action figure and arm and tried reconnecting the broken pieces, but alas, it wasn’t a simple “pop off”. Instead, the hinge had cracked into two and without both pieces being together and stable, there was no point attempting to reattach it.

Shin splints, he was totally screwed.

“Yeah, yeah, be right there, Leo,” Mikey heard Raph call from not too far, causing him to panic and hide the evidence under his brother’s pillow before booking into his room where he caught his breath. Once that was all in control, he put on his coolest, most calm-est and collected-est face he could manage and walked super, duper casually to the pit and sat next to Leo, catching only a casual and cool glance at Raph.

“Oh hey, Mikey! Whatcha been up to,” His eldest brother smiled.

“Ohhh, you knowww,” Mikey tried to wave him off, fidgeting with his knee pads anxiously.

“Oh, well, I was just waiting for Raph to start the new episode of Space Heroes, since it's his favorite and all,” Leo gave him a weird glance before turning back to the TV. “It’s the one where the Dr. Mindstrong goes back to his home planet and meets up with his–”

Leo rambled on for a little bit, which Mikey usually liked listening to, but right now he was way too on edge. He just kept glancing back to the hallway to their bedrooms and waiting for his inevitable doom.

“–smiles! He actually does! But Raph just likes it for the fight scene at the end, I dunno. What do you think?” Leo asked Mikey, who quickly tried to act like he had been paying attention.

“My favorite episode is still the one where the dude grows a beard and the vampires,” Mikey decided to say.

Leo laughed. “That’s my favorite too.”

“What can I say? I have imbeccable taste,” Mikey grinned nice and wide.

“It’s impeccable, Mikey,” Leo laughed more, which Mikey joined in to cover the fact he said that by mistake.

However, the laughter couldn’t last long, as there was a ground-shaking slam and angry stomping into the living-area as Raphael–

Oh frick–

“MIKEY!!!” Raph shouted, face almost as red as his mask.

“Eep! Save me, Leo!” Mikey jumped and ducked behind his eldest brother.

“Wha–? Raph, what did Mikey do?” Leo looked around all confused.

“Oh, I’ll tell you what the little punk did,” Raph growled, only getting closer and closer. “He broke my brand new Aspara-Gus!!!”

Leo gasped, turning to his brother. “You– you didn’t actually…?”

“I-it was an accident, I swear! I-I was just–” Mikey tried to defend himself, but didn’t get a chance as Raph practically tackled him and the two started wrestling.

“It was brand new, Mikey! Right outta the box and I told you–I told you you weren’t allowed to touch it!” Raph shouted at him, despite being inches away.

“It was already broken, man! I-It made a high-pitched screechy noise– I was trying to fix it!” Mikey pleaded tearfully, trying to kick his brother off of him, landing a hit right in the plastron that winded him.

Mikey would’ve scuttled away, but Raph managed to grip his arm tight and twisted it until Mikey was on his knees begging for him to stop.

“I always tell you not to touch my stuff! And you always do! Are you deaf or just a stupid, dumb little idiot?!” Raph growled and twisted tighter.

“I’m sorry, okay?! I-I didn’t mean to–! I just–”

“GOD– you just always do this! You’re just– you’re just so stupid and annoying and useless– why do we even keep you around when all you do is break our stuff–”

“Yame!” the commanding voice of Master Splinter rang from the dojo, and Raph instantly let go of Mikey’s arm, though kicked his shell and he fell completely to the ground. “What is the meaning of this?!”

“Mikey broke the brand new Aspara-Gus action figure you got me! And I specifically told ‘im he couldn’t play with it!” Raph accused.

“Michelangelo, is this true?” Splinter looked at him, eyebrows all down and serious like.

“I-I– I didn't mean to–”

“He never listens to me or anyone, Master Splinter! I told him not to! He's such a screw-up!” Raph interrupted him.

“Raphael– a word,” Splinter narrowed his eyes on his elder brother.

“What?! Me?! But it was Mikey wh–!”

“No ‘but's. Now.” He ordered, and Raph stormed angrily back into the dojo.

However, Splinter wasn’t finished, and gave Mikey a look too.

“We will talk later, Michelangelo,” He sighed heavily and followed the steps of his furious child.

Mikey knew he was already crying, but he wanted to cry even more now.

“Mikey… why did you break his Aspara-Gus?” Leo asked.

“I didn't mean to! I-I don't wanna be a screw-up! I-I don't wanna be me!” Mikey shouted.

Leo winced. “Mikey, you aren't a screw-up.”

“Yeah, you just don't know how to listen,” Donnie piped up near his “lab”.

“Donnie,” Leo whisper-yelled and gave the purple turtle a look.

“What?! I'm just trying to–”

“Yeah, well, just let me–”

“You're always the one to–”

“Well, maybe if you were actually ni–”

Mikey couldn't stand all this fighting. He needed to get out here– and not to his room; Splinter or Leo would find him there, and they'd tell him he messed up, and blah blah blah he was a big stupid screw up– which he already knew! He just– he didn't need to hear it. He didn't need any of this–

If he wanted to get away unnoticed, he needed to go now.

Mikey glanced around, seeing Leo and Donnie still arguing, and no sign of Raph and Splinter leaving the dojo any time soon. And so, using all the super quiet super ninja skills he knew, he made his way to the water and lowered himself down until he was completely and silently submerged. Calmly and carefully, Mikey fought the urge to cry even underwater, and swam far, far, far, far away.

So far away, in fact, that when Mikey finally emerged for air, he realized he didn't have a clue where he was.

“This is fine, this is a-okay,” Mikey told himself, finally pulling himself out of the water and onto the cold concrete path. He rolled onto his shell, exhaustion suddenly hitting him all at once.

“This… This is super fine. I wanted air, and now I’m getting it,” He sniffled a little, a dull pain in his chest growing sharper.

Raph thinks he’s useless. And annoying. And a screw-up.

Mikey doesn’t mean to. He loves his brothers and dad! He doesn’t mean to always be so distracted or impulsive or whatever. He swore he tried. He tried so, so, so hard to be good.

But he wasn’t. Again, and again, and again, Mikey wasn’t good. He broke things. He went too far. He didn’t pay attention. He didn’t listen.

His brothers could do all those with ease, even Raph. That had to mean something, right?

Of course it did. It meant Michelangelo was bad. He wasn’t really trying his best to be good because if he were, then he’d be good already. It wasn’t hard for his brothers, but it was hard for Mikey because Mikey was bad.

The tears were quick to return as Mikey picked himself up and started walking further into unknown parts of the sewers. He didn’t care if he was getting lost, he deserved it. He was a bad kid, just like Raph said, and they’d be better off without him.

They’d be better off without him.

.o0o.

Raph was angry.

He sat on his knees in the dojo, filled with rage, hot and heavy in his face and chest. It made his breathing heavy and fists curl in his lap as his head just swirled and swirled and swirled until–

“Raphael. I understand Michelangelo made you very upset by breaking your toy, and I’m very sorry that happened, but calling your brother a ‘screw-up’ will not go back and fix things,” Splinter said as he kneeled right in front of him.

Raph’s fists tightened. “I-I– it was brand new, Master Splinter– We never get new things a-and I just– I was so excited,” he confessed, his voice wavering.

Splinter smiled sadly. “I know, my son, I know. I am sorry I cannot provide such things more often, and I’m sorry Michelangelo broke it. I’m sure he feels absolutely terrible about it.”

A lump formed in Raph’s throat as he kept his eyes low and focused on his father’s knees. “But– he just– he doesn’t stop, a-and– and it just– it makes me so mad…”

Splinter nodded slowly. “Your anger is understandable, my son. Nobody likes to have their things destroyed, but that is not an excuse to make your brother feel worthless.”

Raph sniffled. “I– I didn’t… I didn’t actually mean to– I just– I get so mad,” he whispered, tears beginning to stream down his face right before he felt Master Splinter take him into his arms and hold him close.

“I know you are not a mean boy, Raphael. You have a very good heart that gets blinded by very strong and powerful emotions,” Splinter assured, wiping some of his tears away.

“I just– I-I can’t fight it– it’s like I can’t stop myself, I just– I want to hurt him, I want to hurt him so bad,” Raph wept into his father’s sleeve.

“But you don’t now, do you?” Splinter asked.

Raph shook his head. “I don’ wan’ him to hate me…”

His father laughed a little. “Michelangelo doesn’t hate you– I don't even believe he can. You know, you two have much more in common than you think.”

“But I can hate him. I-I can hate him a lot– does that make me bad?” Raph sniffled again.

“You don’t actually hate him, Raphael. If you did, you would not feel remorse for your actions,” His father assured, rubbing soothing circles on Raph’s shell.

Raph didn’t know what to say, looking back at the ground and resting his head on his father’s shoulder.

“Anger is an emotion that occurs in all living creatures, even myself. You are not wrong for feeling upset that something precious to you was harmed, but there are more productive ways to problem-solve than breaking your brother’s arm,” Splinter chuckled a little.

“... Like what?” Raph ventured to ask.

“Well… there is always breathing and meditation–”

“But it’s so boringgggg,” Raph interrupted.

Splinter laughed. “I know it is hard, but allowing yourself to feel and understand your emotions can help you rid yourself of all this confusion in your young mind,” he stroked the top of Raph’s head for emphasis.

“I-I guess…” Raph looked at his hands.

“Or perhaps you can try going to your room to separate yourself from the situation until you feel more in control of yourself. You could do things like draw or read comics or even scream into a pillow until you feel all better,” Splinter then suggested, which didn’t sound too bad, all things considered.

“I guess I can try that,” Raph shrugged a little, smiling a little when he heard his dad sigh a bit in relief.

“You are a good son, Raphael...”

“Thank you, Master Splinter,” Raph said, still not quite looking at him.

“... Which is why I know that you’ll apologize to Michelangelo as soon as possible, no?” Splinter asked, and Raph tensed a bit.

“I– yeah… I should…” he bit his lip and Splinter hugged him a little tighter before setting him down.

“Good,” He smiled at Raph softly, which Raph managed to return before they both stood and went to the dojo doors, where Splinter opened to find Leo and Donnie arguing about something by themselves.

“Leonardo, Donatello– where is Michelangelo?” Splinter looked left and right as he stepped out in the living space.

Leo stopped arguing and looked around. “I– wasn’t he right here?” he asked Donnie.

“I thought so?” His purple brother shrugged.

The confusion made a knot tie in Raph’s stomach, especially when he saw how it made Splinter’s eyebrows grow close and wrinkly before he shook his head.

“Perhaps he has just gone to rest in his room. I’ll go check on him,” Splinter patted Raph’s head before speed walking to the bedrooms.

Raph could feel his brother’s eyes, the second Splinter was gone, which only made the knot tighten. “You got a problem?”

Donnie backed up. “Me? No. We just– umm…”

Leo wasn’t as much of a scaredy-cat, though, looking at Raph and asking, “Are you okay?”

Raph rolled his eyes. “M’fine, it was just a stupid toy.”

“Of your favorite comic book character,” Donnie pointed out.

“Yeah…” Raph kicked the ground a bit. “But I– I went too far, like always…”

Leo smiled a little. “I’m sure Mikey’ll forgive you.”

Raph stayed quiet.

Splinter came back in not too long, looking around frantically as his eyebrows just got more and more scrunched together with worry.

“Master Splinter?” Leo spoke up. “What’s wrong?”

“I–” Their father stopped himself, taking a deep breath. “Is there anywhere around the lair your brother could possibly be hiding?”

Leo, Donnie and Raph all looked at each other nervously.

Donnie was the first to suggest, “Maybe he’s in the bathroom?”

Splinter shook his head. “I’ve already checked there. Anywhere else?”

Leo bit his cheek. “Maybe under his bed?”

Their father shook his head again.

Donnie suddenly snapped his fingers. “He likes hiding in the kitchen cupboards sometimes!”

Splinter sighed heavily. “I’m afraid I have already checked there as well.”

The knot in Raph’s stomach tightened. “S-so he’s…?”

“I will go out to find him. You three stay here. I will be back soon,” Splinter decided, finally stepping down into the pit, where they hugged him tight.

“Is Mikey gonna be okay, Master Splinter?” Leo asked.

“Of course, my son,” Splinter assured, patting the eldest brother’s head, but Raph could tell he was lying by the tension in his hands.

The hug broke, and the turtles watched as Splinter went to the turnstiles, but stopped right before he would’ve disappeared into the endless tunnel systems.

“I will be back soon, my sons, do not worry. Stay safe,” He smiled at each of them (especially Raph) before he turned and disappeared into the darkness.

Leo and Donnie both hesitated, but sat back on the couch, meanwhile Raph couldn’t help but pace around the pit.

“Why would Mikey just run off like that? He’s never done that before,” Leo looked at Donnie.

“I don’t know, it’s really not like him. He's always been so afraid of the outside, it doesn't make sense,” Donnie shrugged, but Raph just rolled his eyes.

���You two have got to stop pretending this isn’t allmy fault,” He snipped, and both brother’s eyes turned to him.

Leo stood. “Raph–”

“Stop!!!” Raph shouted. “I hurt him! Because of a stupid toy! And called him useless and a screw-up a-and–” Raph internally cursed himself as he felt tears start to form in the corners of his eyes once more.

“Splinter will find him, Raph. It’ll be okay,” Leo smiled and tried placing a hand on his shoulder, but Raph brushed it off.

“I'm gonna go look for ‘im,” He announced, making his way to the water entrance.

“Raaaaaaph, Master Splinter said we need to stay here,” Donnie whined, looking around nervously.

Raph huffed and rolled his eyes. “Think of it this way: Master Splinter is going north, and I'm going south. One of us'll find him eventually.”

“You're leaving out east and west,” Donnie looked unconvinced.

“Whatever. If you two wanna do that, be my guest. I'm going out,” Raph went to jump, but Leo suddenly grabbed his arm.

“Raph, Splinter doesn't need us running away right now,” Leo pleaded, and Raph snagged his arm away.

“Stay here then, for all I care. We'll see who really finds Mikey,” He glared before diving in and swimming away.

.o0o.

Mikey was cold.

Of course, he usually was after swimming around and stuff, but there were also a lot more grates outside the lair than inside.

He wished he could reach them. That he could stick his fingers through and feel the fresh night– or catch a cigarette butt, more likely.

Then again, who needed to reach for cigarette butts when they could just fall on your head?

Mikey had dusted off five butts before he just decided to keep moving past the grates.

Probably the smartest thing he did all day.

Mikey sighed and hugged his arms. He had no idea where he was anymore, and there was still a voice in his head telling how stupid he was for getting himself lost, but he was just so tired of it. He already knew he was an idiot, no need for reminders.

Besides, it was his goal, right? He wanted to run away so he'd stop ruining everything for his brothers and Splinter.

He was a screw-up. This plan probably wouldn't work, and he'd get his dad worried to death about him because he was a stupid crybaby.

… He wished he could go back. He didn't actually want to run away. He missed his brothers– he missed his Papa– he was so, so cold.

The answer for the chilly temperature suddenly appeared when after Mikey rounded a corner, he saw a massive stormwater outlet that–

Woah…

A bitter, cold breeze stung through, but Mikey didn't care, approaching the view of the sparkling lights of the city off of… a river? The ocean? Whatever it was, it was a lot of water and Mikey was mesmerized. Trees were also visible, though most were missing their leaves since it was late November. Mikey didn't mind that, though, as it was still one of the prettiest things he had ever seen.

He didn't deserve such a pretty thing. He'd probably ruin it somehow. Maybe he'd blurt something out, and it would make all the animals scared or angry, and then they'd try to attack him. Or maybe a human would find him, and then he'd get experimented on, like in alien comics.

Mikey's head ached, and so despite his want to leave, he decided to sit there and rest awhile.

He got roughly five seconds of peace before his stomach growled painfully.

“Man, all that swimming really got me hungry, eh?” He joked to no one, hoping it would make it hurt less.

It didn't.

The ten-year-old closed his eyes, trying not to imagine how worried Splinter would be and the lecture he’d get for being all stupid and impulsive despite being told many, many times to just use his stupid head.

Another gust of cold wind blew by, causing Mikey to shudder. He wished he had a blanket or something with him, but then again it would’ve gotten totally soaked, and he would’ve ruined a perfectly nice blanket that Master Splinter worked so hard to get for them.

He would do just about anything in the world to swap brains with Donnie, or Leo, or even Raph.

His brothers were the coolest people in the world, even if they could be a bit mean. Leo was so nice and always picked up any moves Splinter taught the fastest. Donnie was super good at math and stuff and was always working on super sciencey stuff that had Mikey convinced he should win an award or something. And sure, Raph had his anger issues, but he could fight the best out of all four of them, and Mikey wished he could be half as cool as him.

But he wasn’t. He was just stupid, annoying, useless, little screw-up Mikey who couldn’t listen or sit still or focus or remember anything.

… He wasn’t surprised when he noticed himself crying.

He opened his eyes again, surprised to find a beetle crawling up one of the pipes of the outlet.

“Hi, Mr. Beetle. I’m Michelangelo,” he joked, holding out a finger that the bug didn’t climb onto.

“Ah, you don’t wanna be my friend? It’s okay, I wouldn’t be my friend either,” He smiled as he felt tears start to rush.

“S-see– I’m a big jerk. I break my brother’s toys, a-and I don’t sit still or stop makin’ annoying noises, even when they ask all nicely,” the ten-year-old wiped his eyes and sniffled. “Master Splinter says it isn’t my fault– b-but I know he’s just being nice. Raph’s right, I’m just a big screw-up and a jerk, too.”

The beetle twitched its wings a little, making Mikey laugh a little again.

“I’m probably annoying you right now, too. I bet you got a family nearby, and I’m keeping you away from ‘em. M’sorry, Mr. Beetle,” Mikey’s lower lip trembled as his stomach rumbled yet again.

“Say, you– uh… wouldn’t have some food on you, would you?” he joked, but the beetle flew away, causing the boy to break into sobs.

“M’so sorry, Raph,” he whispered to himself, hugging his knees to his chest. “I don’t mean to be bad. I just can’t stop. I know I’m a failure, I just– I wanna be good so bad, but I can’t, I just can’t.”

He let himself break into sobs as more wind rushed by, causing Mikey to instinctively curl tighter as he felt himself start to shut down into sleep– which was weird because it wouldn’t be bedtime for three more hours.

Maybe it was just all the crying like a baby he was doing. He was weak like that.

“M’sorry I don’t listen, Papa– I really wanted to, b-but I can’t– I’m not good like them. I know you tried– m’so, so sorry,” He sobbed further, fully leaning into the circle so he faced the bars.

The sky looked so pretty as snowflakes began to fall, making Mikey feel like he was almost in a snow globe.

Mikey took a long breath, feeling sleep slowly but surely overcome him as all he could focus on was the glittering skylights, his hunger, and how he already missed his family more than anything.

“I’ll go back soon, I just gotta–” Mikey yawned– “take a little nap first…”

Mikey yawned, curling tighter as with this rush of air he fell into a deep, deep, deep sleep.

.o0o.

Raph was getting nervous.

Looking for Mikey was harder than he had expected, but his guilt kept him moving on despite the ever-growing feeling he was starting to get lost…

“You owe Mikey to find him, Raph. Just keep moving,” He told himself just as bits and pieces of a sandwich that had been dropped fell on his head.

“Man, I hate being in the sewers alone,” Raph muttered, wiping the mayo-soaked lettuce bits and a tomato off his head while also avoiding stepping on a broken phone and what looked like a (thankfully) squashed cockroach. Of course, this was entirely his own fault, but this was a good thing; he was taking responsibility for his actions, just like Master Splinter always told him he should. And he was!

Sure, it was also against Splinter’s direct instructions not to leave their lair, but it was also following his instructions to apologize to Mikey as soon as possible! Yes, yes, truly the most flawless logic turtle-kind had ever known.

Raph was just glad Donnie wasn’t here to rub that in.

The boy walked for what felt like forever, when he noticed a sudden temperature drop that had him shuddering and rubbing his arms.

“Jeez– someone got an evil snow cone machine going wild?” He grumbled, referencing one of his comics.

As he got closer, he realized he could hear wind blowing fiercely from what had to be more than just the regular sewer grate. As he turned the corner, he could see that yep, it was a stormwater outlet and–

“MIKEY-!” Raph cried, rushing to his brother’s side, startled to find him asleep.

“Mikey?! Mikey, wake up! What’s wrong with you?” Raph asked, panicking more and more by the second.

“Ughhh… Raph?” Mikey mumbled, barely cracking an eye open.

“Why are you so tired? You hate bedtime!” Raph pointed out, before shaking his head. “Sorry, I’m not– Look, I came here to say–”

“M’tired… talk soon,” Mikey clicked his tongue weakly before his eyes closed again.

“What?! Mikey, you jerk wad! I was apologizing!” Raph growled and shook his brother, but it did nothing to wake him.

Alarms triggered in his head as he tried shaking his brother again, but nothing happened.

“M-Mikey…? Mikey, you’re okay, right?” Raph looked around for any signs of danger or trouble, but couldn’t find anything other than the picturesque night sky and snowfall.

“Woah…” Raph momentarily forgot his panic to admire it, since Master Splinter not only said they were super banned from going outside, but they were double banned from snow because they could accidentally trigger hibern–

Oh no.

“Shoot– Mikey! You know we’re not allowed to–” Raph kicked himself mentally as he realized he was already falling through on his promise. “Look– you’re gonna be okay, okay, Mikey? I just gotta– um…” Raph looked around for anything that would be remotely warm but was just met with moss covered walls, and was it just him or were there suddenly a lot more bugs around here than there were before?

However, he figured just getting his brother away from the drain would get him warmer, and so stood up and tried slinking Mikey on his back as much as possible.

“It’s okay Mikey, I’ll get you back safe and warm in the lair, I promise,” Raph bit his cheek as he struggled readjusting his brother on his shell before starting to walk off.

It certainly wasn’t easy though. While Raph was older and a little bigger, it wasn't enough to make this a breeze. Plus, Mikey wasn’t even trying to support himself since he was all tired and stuff. To make up for it, Raph had to take big, long steps that didn’t always mesh well with the algae, garbage and bug-covered sewers.

However, he promptly halted when he finally reached the remnants of that sandwich that got dropped on his head, which now had a humongous pile of cockroaches on it.

“Gross gross gross gross–” Raph gagged, taking a frantic step back and almost dropping Mikey in the process. He looked around nervously to see if there was some other way he could get to the lair, but that rapidly proved itself to be a waste, as more and more disgusting pests were gathering by the second, and no amount of will power summoned an alternate path.

“M-Master Splinter? Can you hear me?” Raph called, desperate to get out of here already.

He looked at the bugs again and took another instinctive step back. “D-Dad, I really, really hate bugs, I don’t wanna do this,” he felt tears threaten to fall, which just made him more angry at himself. He was trying to save Mikey from accidentally falling asleep for the next three months, he did not need to be acting like a baby!

“Okay, Raph, y-you got this– you can save Mikey, I believe in you,” He told himself, taking a careful and calculated step forward, and a wave of nausea hit that made him want to turn and puke.

But he couldn't! He was a turtle on a mission here! He couldn’t get sick on Mikey now– especially because the drain wasn't too far and that grate was channeling pretty strong winds– If Raph stayed for too long then he’d get all sleepy too and Master Splinter would be double disappointed.

“Alright, guess I’ll just…” Raph mentally prepared himself, stepping one foot at a time at a very slow pace– until the fourth step, where he definitely stepped on a bug, and he completely froze. His instincts were completely useless as he felt two more try to crawl on his leg, causing him to instantly book it as fast as he could.

“Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew–” He kept whispering to himself before he suddenly slipped on the mossy floor and he and Mikey fell into the sewer water.

He completely lost all contact with his brother as he fumbled around in the current, and it took a solid minute before he could get his head clear and broke for the surface.

“MIKEY!” He called, looking around for his brother, but not finding him.

He dove back underwater with urgency and found his little brother beginning to sink. With a grunt of determination, Raph swam with all his might to grab his arms and drag his still cold body to the surface.

“R-Raph?” Mikey croaked between coughs.

“MIKEY!” Raph hugged his brother tight. “Mikey, it’s okay! We’ll be back home soon, I promise,” he assured, and Mikey chuckled weakly.

“You really do care, you big sap,” His little brother smiled weakly.

“Shut up or I'll let you drown,” Raph tried acting tough again, but Mikey's exhaustion made him hard to threaten. “Whatever. Just wrap your arms around my neck, I’ll swim us both home,” Raph grunted, and Mikey thankfully did as he was told.

It took a frustratingly long time to get back to the lair– so long that Mikey had already fallen back asleep by the time Raph recognized his surroundings. It made him nervous, but Raph wasn't going to crack now that he was so close.

“Alright, Mikey, just under here real quick,” Raph glanced at the wall that mostly separated their lair from the sewer system before dunking his brother under and quickly pulling him up on the other side with minimal bonking.

“We made it, Mikey! C’mon– we gotta tell Leo and Donnie so we can–” Raph looked up and found Splinter standing right at the edge of the pool, with Leo and Donnie standing nervously behind him.

“H-hi dad,” Raph looked down at his murky reflection.

“Raphael, I specifically told you–” Splinter was about to reprimand, but his eyes landed on Mikey and worry immediately overrode his anger.

“Bring him over,” Splinter ordered Raph, and of course he obeyed. He watched as Splinter took his youngest brother in his arms and set him down on the couch, placing an ear on his chest.

“His heart is slow. Raphael, what happened? Was there a fight? Was he injured at all?” His father asked. Raph shook his head, getting out of the water and joining Leo and Donnie as spectators.

Splinter frowned, placing a hand on Mikey’s forehead and flinching. “Donatello, warm up a heat pack from your lab.”

“Hai, sensei,” Donnie said, and he was gone in a flash.

Leo looked at Donnie for only a moment before his eyes went right back to Mikey. “Is he gonna be okay, dad?”

Splinter nodded slowly. “He should be okay, he’s just a little cold, is all.”

“Oh! I can get him his blanket!” Leo immediately offered.

“Good idea, Leonardo,” Splinter approved, and before he knew it, Leo was gone too, leaving Raph alone with his dad.

Raph’s heart was pounding in his chest, as he was pretty sure Splinter knew just as well as he did this was all his fault, and he wondered what kind of grounding he’d get this time.

His anxiety certainly wasn’t helped when Splinter suddenly asked, “How did this happen, Raphael?”

Raph gulped. “I found ‘im by a stormwater drain, asleep. I think he was watching the snow or something and just kinda passed out, so...”

“I see,” his father replied, stroking Mikey’s head and taking off his soaked orange mask. “I should have known he would have gone to the water; he’s always been so afraid of subway cars,” he laughed a little sadly.

“It’s not your fault, dad, it’s–” Raph frowned as Leo ran in with the blanket.

“Found it, Master Splinter!” Leo called before handing it to their father all nice and folded.

“Thank you, Leonardo,” Splinter nodded in approval before unfolding it and draping it on the still-napping Mikey.

“Is there anything else I can do?” Leo asked in that eager way he always did.

“No, we do not want to overwhelm him or his body. We just want enough to wake him up at his own pace,” Splinter explained, and Leo nodded, taking a step back to join Raph.

A moment after that, Donnie emerged too with the practically steaming bag of dry rice, which Splinter thanked him too before placing it on his forehead.

“There. That should do it for now,” Splinter nodded to himself, stroking Mikey’s left arm a bit before finally allowing himself to sit on the couch next to him.

Nobody said anything for a while, most everyone’s eyes focused on Mikey except Raph, who kept watching his father. He was waiting to receive his scolding for running away and almost getting Mikey knocked out for months. However, the more he stared, the more it seemed like it wasn't going to happen, and after a couple minutes, Raph couldn’t take it anymore.

“Master Splinter, I’m real sorry I ran away, but I knew it was all my fault– I mean, you know how much I hurt him and his arm– so it was totally my fault! I had to make it right, and I knew that if I didn’t find him, you would, so I figured it really wouldn’t hurt! Plus, you told me I needed to apologize to him as soon as possible, so technically I wasn’t really disobeying you– but I know I really was, and–”

“Raphael,” Splinter cut off his rambles with a soft look. “I am not mad at you. If anything, I am relieved you found him because if it were not for you, I do not think his condition would be fixed so easily.”

“You don’t… know that, though,” Raph kicked the ground.

Donnie raised an eyebrow. “Of course he knows that. Hibernation takes several hours to fully take hold in a turtle, and if Master Splinter had spent all night looking for Mikey he would have certainly been too late and Mikey would spend the next several months practically asleep.”

“Donnie!” Leo punched his arm.

“What? It’s just science!” Donnie defended his rather blunt word choice.

“It’s alright, Leonardo, Donatello is correct,” Their father assured, looking again at Raph. “What you did was very risky, and not something I want to become a habit… but you did very well, Raphael.”

“Not really, Master Splinter. When we ran into a ton of cockroaches, I totally freaked out and dropped Mikey into the water,” Raph confessed and Donnie laughed a little, getting him a quick glare that shut him right up.

“Ahh, but don’t you see? When faced between your fears or bringing your brother to safety, you chose very bravely,” Splinter placed a hand on Raph’s shoulder.

“Thank you, sensei,” Raph bowed and Splinter chuckled and stroked the top of his head a little.

Right then there was a little cough, followed by a groan, followed by a– “Raph? Papa? What’s goin’ on?” from Mikey.

“You are back home, my son,” Splinter quickly turned his attention to his youngest, holding his hand. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired n’ warm,” Mikey yawned.

Splinter smiled a little. “Of course. It is rather late, after all, so the four of you should go to bed.”

“Aww man, but I just slept a bunch,” Mikey whined.

“You need to gather your strength, my son. Do not worry, I will carry you to bed this one time,” Splinter teased Mikey a little since he was always asking to be carried. It seemed to work since Mikey immediately stopped protesting, and he was whisked away.

“You had Master Splinter really worried, you know,” Leo spoke up.

Raph rolled his eyes. “You heard him, I did something right for once.”

“You know what I mean, Raph. If you wanted to find him yourself, you should’ve at least tried to tell him before you left,” Leo crossed his arms.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. If you ever get lost in the sewers, I won’t come looking for you,” Raph pushed Leo away and headed to his room, hearing Leo sigh dramatically and choosing to ignore it as the door slammed closed behind him.

His broken action figure was still on his bed, but instead of angering Raph, it just made him feel… disappointed. Sure, it was partly due to the fact he had been so excited about it just earlier today, but now it was more like he was disappointed how angry he’d gotten. It was just some cheap plastic with a broken voice box, after all. It wasn’t worth making Mikey run away and almost freeze himself into hibernation.

Besides, he’d definitely still play with it. Sure, he would now be missing an arm, but most everyone’s toys were broken in some capacity, so maybe now the other toys wouldn’t get jealous. Not that toys could get jealous, but– whatever. Raph was exhausted.

And so, Raph set his newly broken Aspara-Gus up on the shelf, alongside his much older broken red car, and flopped onto his bed to try and think about sleep.

.o0o.

Mikey was as snug as a bug in a rug after his father tucked him nice and tight into his bed, making him feel like the specialist and also the stupidest kid in the whole world.

“Papa… I’m sorry I ran away. I wasn’t thinkin’, which I know I do a lot,” he looked away as Splinter checked his temperature with a thermometer.

“Don’t worry, Michelangelo, I am just grateful you are alright,” Splinter smiled kinda sadly.

“Still… I didn’t wanna scare you, I just– I always mess up, a-and I really don’t mean to! I try to stop, I really do, Papa, but I just can’t,” Mikey confessed, face red with shame.

The thermometer beeped, but Splinter didn’t even look at it before setting it aside and removing the heat pack from his forehead.

“You are a good son and brother, Michelangelo. Your weaknesses do not erasure your kind smile or your cuddly disposition or your humor. We are all very grateful you are a part of this family, and everyone– including Raphael– missed you terribly in your absence,” Splinter stroked Mikey’s cheek with his thumb.

“I know, but I still break things and don’t listen and stuff, which is still bad of me,” Mikey looked away.

“But that does not make you bad, Michelangelo,” Splinter said with certainty. “Everyone in this sewer has flaws– even myself.”

“Even you?” Mikey gawked.

Splinter chuckled and nodded. “I am not always the most rational mind and can be swift to punishment, but that does not mean I am cruel and unjust. It just means I have something to be aware of and work on.”

“Oooh… cool,” Mikey smiled a little at the thought of him and his papa having something in common.

Splinter laughed more. “It is getting late, my son. Be sure to rest up.”

The rat was going to go, but Mikey grabbed his hand. “Do you have to goooooooooo?” He asked, putting on his best puppy dog eyes.

Splinter hummed happily and kissed his son’s head. “Maybe tomorrow night. I suspect someone else will want to talk to you tonight.”

“Who?” Mikey tilted his head.

“You’ll see,” Splinter patted his shoulder before turning out his light, causing Mikey’s glow-in-the-dark stars to shine. “Sweet dreams, Michelangelo.”

“G’night Papa!” Mikey gave a wide grin before Splinter nodded and closed the door.

Man, Mikey really was tired. But also not. He certainly wasn’t as tired as he’d felt by the stormwater drain, but all that swimming and walking and being all toasty definitely was doing a number on him.

However, before he could decide if he wanted to fall asleep or not, there was a knock at his door.

“Uh… come in?” Mikey said, unsure of who it could be, and startled when he saw it was Raph.

“Hi…” His older brother looked at the ground before he stepped in and closed the door behind him.

There was an awkward moment whether neither brother really knew what to say or how to say it. Instead, they both just looked around Mikey's disaster of a room, avoiding eye contact.

After a bit of this, Raph decided to break the silence with a, “I’m sorry I made you run away, Mikey. And for calling you a screw-up, and useless, and a punk, and a stupid, dumb idiot.”

Mikey laughed a little. “It’s okay, Raph. I already know I am.”

“No! You’re not useless! I said that just because I was mad,” Raph sat on Mikey’s bed urgently. “You’re like– the funniest brother and you give good hugs, which is nice when you want ‘em. That's totally useful!”

Mikey looked away. “You don’t gotta say that to me, Raph. I know I’m the weakest and the least patient and most distracted or whatever, I just gotta deal with it.”

“You know I’d save you if you ran away again, right? And that I– I don’t mean to always hurt you, right?” Raph asked, nervously picking at his nails.

“Aww, you big softie,” Mikey teased a little, and Raph rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah– I’m apologizing here, so do you wanna accept it or not?” He scoffed.

“I’m sorry I broke your toy, Raph. It started making this really loud noise and I panicked,” Mikey explained himself first.

Raph scoffed a bit. “Figures something had to be wrong with it… but still, I shouldn’t have hurt you like that.”

“I shouldn’t’ve broken your toy and run away, so I accept your apology,” Mikey gave his brother a crooked smile. “You accept mine?”

Raph laughed a little. “Yeah, you big baby,” he punched his brother’s arm a little, making Mikey laugh.

“Thanks for saving my life too, by the way. I could kinda hear you and I know it was pretty scary, so… yeah, thanks. You aren’t as angry as you think you are,” Mikey placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

Raph seemed a little shook by this, but he eventually just chuckled and shook his head. “Wasn’t a hard decision. Without you, this place is a total dump.”

“Still. Thanks,” Mikey tried to get through his thick skull.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Raph tried to keep playing it off, shaking Mikey’s arm off of him. Raph started to go, but Mikey grabbed his hand on impulse.

“Uh… yeah?” Raph looked at him confused, and Mikey cursed himself a bit.

“Sorry–! I just– um…” Mikey let go and started fidgeting with his blanket. “I was just wondering if you’d wanna– you know… sleepover?”

His elder brother paused, clearly debating it, making Mikey instantly feel bad.

“You don’t have to, though! It was a stupid idea, I mean– we aren’t five anymore, so you can say n–”

“Sure, why not?” Raph shrugged all nonchalantly, and Mikey felt relief flood his body.

“Cool!” Mikey beamed, scooting aside to make room for his older brother, whom he immediately cuddled against the moment he was settled.

“Jeez, Mikey– you ever heard of personal space?” Raph quipped, but Mikey knew he didn’t mean it. If he had, he would’ve pushed him away or moved off the bed.

But nope, Raph stayed right next to Mikey for the entire night, and Mikey wouldn’t have had it any other way.

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #229

Where do you see your ex in 5 years? I am not comfortable answering this for any ex. I don't know these people anymore, and people change. I shouldn't be theorizing about their futures.

Does your last ex have a job? I don't know.

Would you be interested in starting your own business? I want to be a freelance photographer, so...

Do you find guys with facial piercings attractive? I tend to find piercings attractive, but this doesn't guarantee that I'm going to be attracted to a pierced man.

Have you ever gone snorkeling or scuba diving? If yes, what’s the coolest thing you’ve seen? No.

What’s your favorite filling in chocolates? More chocolate, peanut butter, or caramel.

What, in your opinion, is the most disgusting part of the human body? I actually hate how genitals look, either kind.

Do you have slim or chubby fingers? Slim. It's about the only slim thing about me.

Have you done anything lately that you instantly felt was a mistake? Uh, maybe? But not of importance large enough for me to actually remember it.

Pencils: mechanical or traditional? Mechanical for sure.

Are you into anyone right now? Tell me about them? Use this space to say something to them. Well, Girt, obviously. I feel like I talk about him enough for readers to have a general gist of him, he's insanely introverted but loyal as FUCK to people he values, and he's the funniest fucking person I've ever met. He's my best friend in the world and I hope he never doubts how much I value him as not just a boyfriend, but friend.

Do you cook and/or bake? What is your specialty? I don't. It's funny though, I recently got into a chef's YouTube channel and also like another, and I like watching their stuff, even though I'm not interested in cooking or baking myself. I WISH I was.

Have you ever felt trapped in a relationship? A friendship, yes. That's how I felt towards the end of Sara's and my friendship. Like, we'd split apart so many times, I didn't wanna fucking do it again. It never went well.

Are you attracted to any nationality more than others? Nope.

Do feet creep you out? They don't creep me out, I just don't like them and think they're gross.

Do you have a sexual fantasy? What is it? yeah I'm not sharing that stuff lmfao

Do you like the band Satyricon? I've never heard this name in my life.

Is it wicked hard for you to sleep when its hot in your room? I CAN'T sleep if I'm hot. I literally have two fans in my room.

What is your favorite thing to do with your best friend? Chatting/being silly together and playing video games.

Are you easily offended? No. Few things actually offend me.

Have you ever acted as tour guide for friends/relatives from out of town? lol no, this place sucks and there's nothing TO show, there's no need.

Do you feel bored with your life? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am agonizingly bored by my fucking life, I could rant about this for hours, it's unreal how bored I am by the life I exist in.

What's the most weight you've ever gained from a medication? Like, 100 pounds. I wish I was fucking kidding. Thanks, Abilify <3

How old were you the first time you encountered God? The concept of "God" was forced on me from birth (literally, I was baptized), sooooo... I guess you can't truly "encounter" something that you finally understand doesn't exist, though.

Are you married? No.

What was the best date you've ever been on? A double-date to an arcade.

Do you feel free to post how you feel on Facebook? I very rarely post about my personal life because I feel like no one cares and I'm just being annoying. I just share memes n shit.

Which stereotype do you fit the most? Geek and goth at heart, I guess. I don't really dress it though, I'm too lazy and poor for that.

Who were your favorite celebrities as a child? Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin.

Did you go to prom? I went to two: his senior and my senior.

If you could rewind time ten years, would you? No.

What is the last song you played on repeat? fuckin "Diggy Diggy Hole" by Wind Rose lmfao

Do you own a CD player? Not anymore.

Do you think you could handle a job in the medical field? Why or why not? No. It would depress me, more than anything.

Would you rather edit photos on your phone or computer? Computer. I have Lightroom on both devices, but computer is easier and more precise with the mouse.

What is one electronic device you own that you have not used in a long time? Nintendo DS.

When was the last time you wore a dress or a skirt? Not since a Halloween photoshoot I did with my friend.

What is your favorite thing about Instagram? I dunno, really. I just enjoy it. I do feel like I'm less likely to see shit I don't want to, like dumbfuck right-wing shit I didn't ask for on Facebook.

What is the first thing you think of when you see the rainbow emoji? 🌈? the gays stealing the rainbow from god ✌️

Do you prefer to play chess or checkers? Checkers, idk how to play chess.

If you had to go an entire week without using any technology, what do you think you would spend most of your time doing instead? Reading, sleeping, writing, drawing. I'd be miserable, though.

Would you rather travel to Asia or France? Somewhere in Asia.

Did you have a New Year’s kiss? No, we weren't in each other's presence that night. You'd be hard-pressed to find a night I stay up 'til midnight anyway.

Are there any words that you cannot pronounce or that you pronounce incorrectly? I say "breakfast" funny. I put a "t" after the "k" and I can't fix it.

How much older than you was the oldest person you have dated/had a relationship with? Juan was somewhere around five years older than me, give or take a year. It was problematic though because of my age.

Have you recently accomplished anything that you are proud of yourself for? I am very proud of myself for making the conscious decision to really start changing how I think and treat myself. It hasn't been "meh I'll try," I'm DOING it.

Are you still friends with any of your exes? Do you still communicate with any of them at all? Nope, nope.

What is your opinion on people who shop at Sephora for makeup as opposed to buying makeup from the drugstore? I don't give a shit????????????

Is marijuana legal for “recreational use” where you live? Also what is your opinion on the recent legalization of marijuana in certain states? It is not legal, but my psychiatrist shared that it's looking like NC will make it legal in the foreseeable future (Mom shared we really want to try edibles for me). I wish it was legal everywhere.

Do you live on your own or with your parents/a roommate? Do you think you’d like to live alone? I still live with my mother. I NEVER want to live alone, I would be FUCK-ING miserable. My depression and isolatory behaviors would eat me alive.

How often would you say you use Microsoft Word? Never, I use WordPad. You have to pay for Microsoft Word.

After doing your laundry do you leave it in your basket for a couple days, then put it away? Ugh it can stay in the basket for days upon days upon days.

When you do a puzzle do you find all the edges first? Of course, unless I incidentally find a match of interior pieces.

When you’re in the car and you eat something with a wrapper, do you throw the wrapper out of the window? Do this and I wish you death

List 5 things that have happened in the last 7 days. (They can be anything at all, anything that’s happened involving you, or your family, friends, partner.) 1.) I've been playing the remake of Resident Evil 4 2.) My younger sister got a dog 3.) I went to Girt's house 4.) I finished another book in the Warriors series 5.) I drew!!!!

If you found out your ex had a new partner, would you be upset? There is no ex where I would care if they had a new partner.

Have you ever had sex in someone else’s bed/bedroom? I've done sexual things we shouldn't have done in someone else's bedroom.

Have you ever had sex on your bedroom floor? How about your living room floor? Again, just sexual things. But not since I was a teenager, you could NOT lure my fat and achy ass onto the floor anymore lmfao

When you kiss someone, do you like to play with their hair? I do it, so I suppose yes.

Why did you hug the last person you hugged? The kids were leaving.

Do you regret sleeping with anyone? No.

Did anyone comfort you the last time you cried? What was your reason for crying? My mom, yes. I've just been stressed out and dealing with anxiety issues.

What if you had a baby with the last person you kissed? I’d get an abortion, we can't be doing that.

Is there anyone that likes you, other than the person you love/like/are with? I doubt it.

Who is the 9th contact in your phone? Have you ever hugged/kissed that person? That's my little sister, I've certainly hugged her and maybe kissed her cheek when we were younger.

How did you feel when you woke up today? What was the first thing you thought about? I was annoyed, the kids came in being loud and I hadn't slept very well. Pretty sure I cursed lmao.

Do you still tell your parents that you love them? Of course.

Random fact about the person you love/like? He's back in college for business management-type stuff. I always forget the exact name of his major. He's VERY nearly done, he just had to drop out when his dad died.

[1eos]

hey miss queen how are you?! been out of tumblr/socials in general and really missed your takes! hope everything’s going well!! 💓 could you say what’s has been your favorite music from this year? i feel like kpop was sooooo dry this year, have you liked anything at all?

omg hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii <3 yeah kpop has been boring as fuck this year i can't think of any release that's blown me away. music in general tho? we've had some hits. ive been lovingggg glorillas album like its a genuine no skip album from front to back. and spotify put me onto this album called crying room by robyn l and its been in my heavy rotations ever since i discovered it. another no skip. doechiis run of singles earlier this year were all immaculate. particularly rocket, alter ego, and nissan altima. i need to relisten to her album again bc i wasnt feeling it first time but i heard slide on social media and its actually so fun and catchy. flo's new album was really good. in my bag...a banger and then soft ft chloe x halle is thee sexiest song of the year.

oh wait i lied there was three kpop releases i ended up loving this year. ttyl by loosemble.......obsessed w that song its now my #1 after work jam. and its divisive but i love strategy by twice? megan ate. jihyo ate. we she we ate. oh and ofc for my last spot....its piano man. for the 3rd year in a row bc leo do nawt gaf abt releasing on a set schedule

[crazylittlejester]

HI JES!! I come baring some adventures as it's my last full day in the UK :((

just gonna explain some fun things that I can remember lmao

for example, on saturday I went to a gigantic party for my moms cousins wedding anniversary (the whole reason I even went to the UK in the first place) and it was FUN!!!!!! I dressed up, I got to dance and I got to absolutely raid the photobooth spot, like the amount of photos I took with my family and cousins and whatever were insane... I was genuinely having the time of my life

another small adventure I went on was exploring the christmas market in town!!! it's sooo awesome there, but there are SOOOOO MANY BARS. and such pretty christmas lights, oh my god you would've lost your mind at how bright it was and it was practically pitch black outside by then LMAO they also had a bunch of rides ANDD I got to try a tornado potato!!!! (spoiler, it was fucking delicious)

ANYWAYS as for today, I got to go around more of the town with my mom and we went to visit an art gallery!! it was so awesome, we went to an exhibit about bricks. bricks. (we left to head to a pub with my dad and brother after and they started laughing when I mentioned that to them) oh and, small bonus detail, I got a pair of new shoes!!!!! im so joyus

I hope this isn't too much of a ramble, I'm honestly sad to be going back home since the flight is gonna be so early and I'm gonna be tired and bored 😭😭😭😭

I AM WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST THOUGH!!! I've missed you :((

stay as awesome as ever and make sure to take care of yourself dude!! ily and appreciate you <3 /p

SO SORRY FOR ANSWERING THIS LATE, i hope you last day was fun and that you’ve had time to rest!!!

THAT SOUNDS SO AWESOME!! I’m glad you had fun!! big parties with family must be very cool :)

OOOOOOOOOOH nice!! i have never heard of a tornado potato but im glad it was good >:) lights are always so pretty that mustve been fun to see

ART GALLERY NICE!!! AND SLAY TO THE NEW SHOES THATS AWESOME!!! me and my 5 year old converse held together by a hope a dream and a prayer will die together because they fit so perfect and im scared no other shoe will 😔

its not too much of a ramble at all!! i love hearin’ from ya and I’m so glad you had a fun trip :)

I’VE MISSED YOU TOO ily /p make sure you’re takin’ care of yourself as well :)

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Most-Listened of January 2024

[last month]

Yeah, winter officially hit this month. Half of December was too Finals to be winter, and the other half was me reflecting on the year in music (so lots of 2023's most hard-hitting songs, which weren't exactly cozy winter music!). But in January, the snowy-gray-won't-leave-the-house mood actually hit--and I think it shows in this list (prepare yourself for LOTS of gloomy folk)! There were so many exciting releases this month, though, even though I couldn't muster up all that much energy about them--I'm really excited to see how the Sleater-Kinney, G-IDLE & Andrea Santiago albums will age!

1 . Boy's a liar Pt.2 -- PinkPantheress, Ice Spice

Yeah I sooooo get it now!! Like I don't fully get the lyrics, but it's so charming that I don't care! It's peak girl-next-door sweetness :)

2. BDH - Acústica Versión -- Bely Basarte

The first time I heard this, I wrote down: "Now THIS is how you do layered harmonies, cowards." I stand by my assessment—this is proof that acoustic tracks aren't boring, at least not when you give them a soundscape as beautiful as this one!

3. Tanta adrenalina -- Bely Basarte

This reminds me of the summer I was obsessed with Chung Ha's "California Dream"—even in January, I need some light, fluffy house in my life! (And yes, you can see that my Bely Basarte phase has kept going strong from last month!!)

4. Big Black Car -- Gregory Alan Isakov

I am a sad boy <3 (HOPE WAS A LETTER I NEVER COULD SEND !!!!)

5. Lost On You -- LP

I've been watching Loudermilk this month, and when I heard this song in the end credits of an episode, I instantly went to find it online. It's so wonderfully desolate, especially with those vocals... and the soft jingling of the guitar... *happy arm wave*

6. Southern Star -- Gregory Alan Isakov

Can’t stop singing this one—the melody is pure magic!

7. When the Party's Over -- Faux Paz

I like the original version better, but I'll never get tired of Faux Paz, either!

8. Ungrateful -- Megan Thee Stallion, Key Glock

Saw @shyreol post about this, and I'm so glad I decided to check it out (thank you for sharing)!! I'm absolutely obsessed with the hook—instant comfort song!

9. The Healing Game -- Van Morrison

Loudermilk part 2. This one hasn't even been played in the show yet, as far as I know, it just gets quoted by one of the characters—and deservingly, because these lyrics hit HARD. (And now I can cross 'liking a new Van Morrison song' off my music bucket list for the year—thanks, Loudermilk!)

10. Lalalala -- Stray Kids

This one has lost most of its appeal after a few weeks of listening, but it was very good noise to keep me sensory-happy during some rough weeks (and that ‘lalalalala’ hook is still great)! We'll see how it ages, I guess!

11. The Fall -- Gregory Alan Isakov

Speaking of Stray Kids, Isakov's lower register in this song is GLORIOUS.

12. Soldier, Poet, King -- The Oh Hellos

Believe it or not, I hadn’t heard of this one before December! It’s so good tho :)

13. What's Love -- Empress Of, MUNA

This sounds like the best parts of nighttime—it’s a little more muted than most synthpop these days, but it manages to stand out with just how ethereal it is! The production really just gets more beautiful with every listen—okay, maybe I just have a thing for vocoders…

14. La isla de Lesbos -- Javiera Mena

I don't really remember listening to this one in the past month? But I'm not mad about it being here—it's a classic in my book, because I can never say no to sparkly house music!

15. Smiley -- Yena, Bibi

An instant shot of energy, every time!! So glad I finally added Yena to my stan list, her music soooo deserves it!

Five-Star Songs This Month:

Ungrateful -- Megan Thee Stallion, Key Glock

Hell -- Sleater-Kinney (i mentioned how excited i was about this album right?? i love the texture of this song i love how it go grrrrr i love the line “hell is just a place that / we can’t seem to live without” !! i have a very good feeling about this one helping me get through the year SCREEEEEE)

BDH - Acústica Versión — Bely Basarte

Certainty -- Big Thief (this is what love is to me btw like i realized this month that i don’t think any other song has captured it better so here we are) (YOU LAY BESIDE ME / SLEEPING ON A PLANE / IN THE FUUUUUTUREEEEEEEE)

Was I Just Another One -- Gregory Alan Isakov (i listened to this allll the time in 2020, but i ended up developing a new appreciation for its atmosphere this month like good god i’m in awe GLOOMY FOLK GLOOMY FOLK IT IS A WASTELAND IT IS IMMACULATE EEEEEE !!)

[binniesthighs]

ANON THIS WAS SO FUN.  Oh my gosh thank you so much for requesting this 😭

bites like bittersweet | reader x minho | 

Pairing: self insert, gender neutral reader x lee minho 

Genre: that good good smut 

Tags: aphrodisiac au, switch!minho, switch!reader, mentions of food, oral (m recieving), unprotected sex (stay safe!), degredation, pet names, dirty talk, accidental exhibitionism 

Word count: 2.4k

“are you kidding me? I can’t believe that you actually spent money on this!! aren’t you just a tiny bit embarrassed?” 

“what? I thought that it would be fun to try!” 

“if this is your way of seducing me, I hate to tell you, but it isn’t going to work.” 

minho threw the chocolate bars back down on the coffee table. he was right;  they looked fake and you knew it. the giant logo on the front stared up at you and your skeptical friend. it was an obscenely large kiss mark with different icons of couples fucking for each flavor. you really should have had better judgement. right in front of you was $36 dollars that you would never be getting back. 

“and you had to get all the flavors?” 

your defeated arms rang themselves above your head. “what?? I wasn’t going to pass up mint, salted caramel and...what’s this called...yeah, cherri amore!” 

“and why is it again that you’re asking me to try these--” minho snatched up the flavor Salted Caramelicious in Milk Chocolate to read the label.  “--proven aphrodisiac and libido boosters?” 

“I dunno!! you were the only one around I guess...?” 

minho flicked up one of his eyebrows in his suspicion. “really? that’s why? I don’t believe you. you’re trying to get in my pants aren’t you?!” 

“no! Why the hell would I want to get in your pants?” 

“hmmm...dare I bring up the locker room incident from a couple summers ago?” sly as ever, minho punched your arm lightly. “i bet that you’ve been dreaming about it ever since then.” 

“-have not!! you’re ridiculous.” you gifted him a punch back, but this one wasn’t nearly as joking. 

minho rubbed at his arm with a dramatic little “ow” on his lips. 

“I’m bored, you don’t have anything else to do, it’s probably a scam and I don’t feel like wasting my $36.” 

for a moment, minho pondered in silence as you dished him out your best puppy-dog eyes. in all your years of friendship, there was nothing that did him in better than the way you could make your eyes glisten. “that should be illegal” he would gripe. 

“Pleeeese?? ~I know that you like mint chocolate~” you waved the bar gratuitously in front of his nose. 

“fine.” he clawed it from your grasp. “i’m sure that it’s gonna be shitty chocolate anyway.” minho’s fingers hastily tore at the little foil edges and wrappings then cracked it in his hand. 

you teased him, “should I get us some wine to go with this chocolate?” 

minho scoffed and popped a couple chunks in his mouth. “fuck, this is so waxy. I hate you for this.” 

~💋~ 

to your right, your wall clock ticked on as late as it was into the night. you hadn’t expected yourself to get so sleepy, but you and minho had made up the couch into your usual mess of pillows and blankets that would often accompany movie nights. after a while, the two of you had decided to just let netflix autoplay each episode, not really caring that you weren’t quite watching anymore. 

“--you feeling anything?” you asked minho for the hundredth time. 

“...no; its same answer from the last fifty times that you asked me. like I said, it’s a scam. you were swindled. just admit it.” 

“...I don’t think I’m feeling anything either.” 

“we ate the shitty chocolate, and that was that.” minho huffed. “god, you owe me big time.” 

“isn’t it supposed to take a second to kick in...? isn’t that how these things work?” 

“hell if I know.” 

your friend sighed out the same unimpressed sigh he had been repeating for the last 45 minutes or so. he sat up a little straighter upon his realization. 

“wait...so you’re saying that you want me to get turned on???” 

“ah-no!!! don’t misunderstand!! it’s not that I want you to get turned on, i just want to know if it’s a scam or not. you know...for science?” 

“for science? since when was science a part of all this?” 

“i-it always was!” 

“let’s just...finish watching this episode or two and then you’re leaving, got it?

you nodded, “got it!” 

around your shoulder, minho snaked his arm to rest it gently, leaning you into him just a little. this place had always been your favorite spot. nuzzled into him like this, you could nearly hear his heartbeat in his chest. with the tv droning and the muffled “boom-boom” of his heart, you were drawn to sleep with ease, however, as you drifted, there was something different about the pace in which his heart would usually beat close to you. 

~💋~

at first, you were woken by the sound of explosions. in the time that minho had promised, “this episode or two,” netflix had already made it’s way to playing a movie. strangely enough, minho hadn’t bothered changing it; it was his least favorite kind: the kind with car chases and missiles and the end of the world. 

secondly, you were awoken by his voice, urgent and shallow. 

“hey. hey. get up. y/n, get your heavy-ass head off me.” 

“wha-what is it? what time is it? what is this?” you rubbed your blurry vision away with your palms. 

“I...” minho choked down a thick gulp. “I-I think that I’m feeling...something...” 

“what?!” your head snapped to look him in his terrified widened eyes. normally he would make fun of the rat’s nest on your head, but this time, his eyes remained unmoving. 

mortified, minho uttered out again, “I feel...something...” 

“something what? spit it out!!” 

“don’t you dare look but...oh god...” your friend choked in an inhale. 

he didn’t need to finish his sentence before your eyes had drifted down to where the spiderman themed blanket covered his lap. sure enough, he tented the fabric in the most obvious way. 

“shit-this is so embarrassing.” minho steadied his breaths then winced “it kinda...hurts.” 

this time, your eyes widened. “hurts?” 

“yeah it does, okay???? don’t fucking rub it in.” 

you found yourself getting defensive, “well what the hell do we do now???” 

“I don’t know!!!” minho yelled into the dark room incredulously. 

“can’t you just...I don’t know...jerk it away??? ” 

“right here???” 

“NO like in the bathroom or something I mean!!!” 

“greaaat, you broke my dick!! and you’re being of no help at all!” 

“well what would you have be do then huh? suck it off for ya right here and now?? would that be sooooo helpful to you??”

in your frustration, you tore spiderman off of his lap, then there it was: in its full glory. 

yes, the locker room incident had lingered on your mind from time to time but.. you certainly didn’t remember it looking like that. 

in your whole life, you never would have guessed that the thought, “thank-you-god for-blessing-us-with-the-invention of-grey-sweatpants” would grace your stream of consciousness but...here you were. 

“m-minho...I-I think that it’s effecting me too.” your eyes ogled his member: lusciously thick and long, practically fighting the pants that kept it in. it bulged in his pants gorgeously and he had even wet himself a little from his leaking pre-cum.

“Huh!?” 

“wow.” you marveled. 

you really don’t know why you had done it, but suddenly the entire room felt much hotter, and taking off your shirt made much more sense so, you did.

“what the hell are you doing?!” minho attempted to pull up a blanket to cover your chest. 

“does it really hurt?” something must have possessed you: your voice had dropped several octaves and you felt yourself breathing out the words with air. 

as soon as he had heard your voice change, it was like he was enchanted. “A-a little. ‘feels really...trapped.” minho ate up the way that your eyes raked over his hard-on. 

“oooh does it?” you used your index and ring finger to walk your hand over to his thigh where you then grabbed at him in starving handfuls. his muscles felt so beautiful in your hands. 

minho whimpered out the whiniest, most desperate little sound that he could manage as his closed eyelids fluttered. there was no way in this world that you could ever imagine him making such a noise, especially from your touch. 

yeah, you might have dreamt about it a couple times or more. 

your hand tranced the outline of his dick on his pants. 

“oh-shit--” minho keened under your touch, jerking his body viciously. 

“god, you’re fucking gorgeous when you’re hard.” the words left your lips unapologetically and by seeing the way that minho practically melted from the compliment, you felt your whole body swell with that same aching pain. 

“--tou-touch--” 

your hand gave minho’s cock one good hard squeeze and he grunted out so loudly that you were fearful it could have been heard from the next apartment over. shaky breaths trembled from his lips and he rutted into your hand. 

“‘hurts so, so bad.” 

you almost missed it, but single tears fell from both of his eyes. 

“what do you want me to do about it?” 

exasperated, minho threw his head into the crook of your neck, panting, “an-anything. but--I-want your mouth. please...” 

“of course.” you cooed, then snuck your hand under the elastic of his pants, getting another squeeze in. his eyes had glared at your lips long enough, so you decided to grant them their wish. you practically threw your whole weight into him, knocking both of your balances away as you rushed your lips into his. both of your mouths were hot and insatiable: your sloppy kisses were an utter mess: and you had never used so much tongue before in your life. wet kissing sounds filled the space between you both and tangled up with your shameless moans. 

in your own pants, the situation wasn’t much different, but your desire to utterly destroy your needy friend was overwhelming and you could ignore it for a couple seconds more. 

minho rose his hips for you pull his briefs and pants off, then sat back down to display his cock, red, veiny and dripping. your mouth salivated just thinking about how amazing it would feel in your mouth. 

your friend didn’t give you much time to think before he had pulled your head nearer to him, then tapped his tip on your lips. 

“shouldn’t I tease you first? whatever happened to foreplay?” you licked his length up and down. 

“just--I don't care about that, I’m ready now,--fucking--please, please, I’m begging you to take me in your mouth. 

“~ahhhh~ you’re so cute when you beg.” 

minho’s full length was nearly too much for you to handle, but regardless, you swallowed him down using every ounce of your skill. the way that he moaned for you sounded so pathetic and needy, but he only pushed your head down farther. 

“my little cockslut” minho gasped, “taking me in so good with that pretty mouth of yours...you’re so amazing, it’s so...mmph...just like...I always dreamed it would be...” 

he threw his head back to guffaw at himself. “I can’t believe that this is happening.”

“quit talking and let me hear more of those pretty moans of yours.” you demanded of him, switching to jerk him up and down with your hand. your own saliva coated each and every one of your fingers.  

“gonna...make me cum!” minho’s fingers dug into the edge of the sofa. “can-can I?” 

“no.” you answered with a devilish smile. “you’re not gonna let me have any fun?” 

“sorry, sorry...what do you want from me now?” 

you continued jerking him once you had crept your lips up his body, kissing up his chest and stomach. your thumb played with his slit, eliciting even more pre-cum to come dripping out of his adorable tip. you reached his mouth where you let him get a taste. 

just as before, the sofa started feeling too stuffy and warm for you, so your frazzled brain searched the room for the next best place, and there really was only one other. 

“come with me,” you circled minho in your arms, pulling you both down to carpeted floor, taking a couple blankets with you as they tied in your limbs. “fuck me into the ground minho.” 

a fire lit behind minho’s soft brown eyes that you had never seen, and soon he had ridded you of all of your own clothes. 

“oh kitten, there's nothing that I would love to do to you more.” 

for mere moments, yours and minho’s bodies lingered, pressed flush against each other as both of your hips grinded together seeking some kind of relief and your mouths searched for hungry answers. 

“be a good boy for me minho,” you whispered into him, “fuck me so hard I’m dizzy, hmm?” 

“if you insist...” minho buried his head into your neck to bite into the skin, no doubt leaving marks for you later. 

everything reached a certain symphonic climax once he guided himself into your entrance which was nearly twitching to be filled by him. his length and girth stretched you out perfectly, and soon you knew it wouldn’t take too much for him to show you all the stars in the galaxy behind your eyelids. 

he thrust into you with feral sounding grunts, and your back burned a little against the carpet under you. 

“don’t-don’t stop...mmm--” 

body ablaze, the beginnings of your orgasm start to build in your core, begging for more and more. deep inside you, minho grazed your euphoric spot and you moaned out his name with reckless abandon. 

“say it louder for me baby.” your friend would greedily command, adoring the way that his name would bounce off the walls. 

“I’m close, god, minho--” 

ding-ding-ding! 

had you not been cumming with a searing white heat with minho jerking himself wildly over your stomach, you would have seen chan open the door, pretending to sneak his way in. 

“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?” chan threw his arms over his eyes. “...AND IN THE OPEN LIVING ROOM???” 

“ch-chan?” minho threw the blankets over both of your gasping bodies, still recovering from your orgasms of seconds ago. 

“ I...oh my god.” chan shielded his eyes the whole walk to his room. 

“I’m sorry!!” Minho called after him, eyes then falling to his white painting on your stomach. “hmm. that looks kinda nice.” 

~💋~

later, when you would be cleaning up, chan would discover your litter of half eaten bars of chocolate, then would turn them over to laugh in your face: 

“uhhhh guys...you know that those are a placebo right?” 

[elizabethemerald]

Fall Anniversary at the Soltryce Academy

Caleb walked into his classroom at the Soltryce Academy with the immediate instinct that something was wrong. He had been teaching Transmutation theory and application in this same class room for the past twenty years, so anything that seemed different set off alarms in his head. 

He mentally checked the wards on the class room and found them intact. There were a few students in their seats, a few more filtering into the lecture hall, by the second. None of them seemed alarmed. Whatever was different today did not appear to be an immediate threat. 

Still just to be safe he subtly cast Detect Magic as he set his bag down and took off his coat. Immediately a few points were highlighted in his mind. Of course his own magical items, the amber around his neck and the amulet beside it, the ring on his finger, the chalk he had enchanted to help him lecture. Nothing off there. 

There were a few points of magic around the rest of the room, each quickly analyzed and dismissed. Transmutation magic on a small pile of coins near the wall, a low level student’s practice project. Abjuration magic in the wards along the walls. Divination magic in a button, another spying device Astrid had tried to sneak into his class room to keep him from teaching against the school’s policies. 

It was the illusion spells that caught his attention. A few of the students were covered in the same, linked illusion. Their appearance normal enough to blend in, but also entirely too normal for a real student. And there, a student he didn’t recognize even with his keen mind, covered in an illusion spell. Several other magical objects of varying power, hidden under the spell. The Vestige appeared to be within its pocket dimension, so at least they hadn’t brought a weapon onto campus. 

After setting down his things and greeting his class he squeezed past a few of the students to grab Astrid’s enchanted button. He quickly dispelled it and slipped it into an envelope to return to her later. As he returned to the front he gave the cat sitting on his desk a brief scratch. 

“Hello Jester.” He said. Of course he didn’t need Detect Magic telling him of the cat’s aura of Transmutation to know his friend. She was bright blue after all and staring at him far more smugly than even a magic fey cat would. 

“Now class, I know we were discussing transmutation principles as applied to effecting the elements around you, but I am afraid that lesson will have to be postponed. It would seem that it is the anniversary of the Mighty Nein getting together and they have decided to invite themselves to my class.”

There was a muttering around the class room as the students looked at each other, before one of them near the front stood up, the illusion dropping off her form as she did so. 

“I told you he wouldn’t fall for it!” Veth said in her high voice, She looked mostly unchanged from when they first brought her back to her proper body. A few more laugh lines, but nothing more to show the passing two decades. “Lebby, is an amazing wizard, he wouldn’t fall for something simple like that. You students better appreciate the skill of your teacher.”

Caleb smiled fondly as Veth walked up to the front to give him a hug. Interspersed through the seats a few more illusion spells dropped. A half elven man walked up from the front row and kissed him on the cheek. Essek’s own illusion lasting even as he dismissed the Seeming on Kingsley and Yasha. 

“How did they rope you into this?” Caleb whispered to Essek. 

“Oh you know I can’t resist a practical joke.” Essek maintained his deadpan delivery for only a few seconds before a small smile graced his lips. Caleb knew quite well that Essek looked as ageless as ever, under his illusion. His elven blood would keep him looking much the same for the next few centuries. Caleb returned the kiss, to the muttering of his students. They weren’t ever a 100% sure who Caleb’s rotating cast of elven boyfriends were, and Caleb was more than happy to keep them in the dark. 

“Well you can’t fault us for trying!” Kingsley said. They were wearing a scandalously low cut shirt, a pair of plain black pants, and a pair of thigh high boots. His purple hair was fading to a less vibrant shade just a bit near his ears and he had a larger collection of scars, as one would expect from years of piracy and being a bloodhunter. They were also wearing their sword much to Caleb’s disapproval, which was apparently not magical. 

“You can’t expect me to hide this glorious look without magic though can you?” He said, sliding his hands down to his hips then back up his torso. Then he grabbed Caleb’s chin and kissed him full on the mouth, with tongue for several seconds, while his students lost their collective minds. Caleb smiled against Kingsley’s lips right before the tiefling stepped back. He was sure the rumor mill of the school would go wild about that for a few weeks. He wished he could see the look on Master Beck’s face when the news came across her desk. “Here’s to another twenty years, magic man.”

Yasha and Caduceus walked up next, each giving Caleb a tight hug. These two showed their age the least of the non elven members of the Nine. Cad could have been just stepping out of the temple doors in the Blooming Grove, saying that he had only three cups, if it weren’t for the increased presence of lichens and mosses of all kinds on his clothes and armor. Caleb was fairly certain there was an actual bird’s nest in his pink hair. Yasha of course looked as badass and muscular as she had when they first found her. Her hair was completely white, done up in an ornate braid. Home life seemed to suit her well, she looked genuinely happy and relaxed like she certainly hadn’t when they had first gotten together. 

Fjord’s spell dropped as well. The half orc’s hair had large stripes of gray in it, he had crows feet at the corners of his eyes, and his salt and pepper beard had significantly more salt to it now. He still looked good, life at sea, despite its hardships, keeping him fit. He laughed at something over Caleb’s shoulder as he approached and he found himself lifted bodily into the air by a pair of muscular blue arms. 

Jester having dropped her polymorph spun him around briefly in the hug before setting him back on his feet. She would never fail to look divine. Her horns now curling in on themselves, almost like her mother’s had when they first met her. Her hair is pulled back into a pony tail, poofing out behind her head from the salt air. Her sailing days were certainly not hurting her in anyway. Her smile was still just as wide, her eyes just as sharp, and her arms just as strong, if not more so. 

“Happy anniversary Caleb! Twenty years ago you were a stinky wizard. Now you are here teaching!” Jester’s happiness in her voice carried to every corner of the lecture hall. 

“What happened to our plan of drinks in Nicodranas this evening?”

“I just couldn’t wait Cay-leb.” She pouted. “Fjord and I got into port early, and I was so bored.”

Caleb smiled at her, then looked around at the rest of the Nein, pretending to count. 

“We appear to be one short. Where is my sister? Couldn’t drag her away from the Cobalt training pit? Or did she get lost in a book like some kind of nerd?” Caleb said with a smirk.

“Mother fucker!” 

He looked up towards the voice above him, just in time to watch Beauregard drop from the ceiling, to land on his desk with a perfect three point landing. She hopped off the desk and punched his arm, before also grabbing him in a tight hug. 

“I am not a nerd, Widogast!” She snapped, a wide grin on her face. 

“Beauregard, please do not land on my desk. It was a gift and I don’t think it could bare too many impacts like that.” He stopped to look up at the vaulted ceilings of the class room. “Also, how did you get up there?”

If she had been invisible she would have tripped the wards on the class room. And if she had gone in the brief break between classes one of the early students would have noticed her and caused a stir. 

Beau took her turn to smirk. 

“I have been waiting up there for four hours so we could surprise you. It’s surprisingly comfortable. I could have gone another couple of hours without breaking a sweat.” She paused to flex, causing several students, and Yasha to blush at her muscles. 

Beauregard’s monk training meant that she looked like she hadn’t aged a day since Aeor. And she could still easily out fight everyone else in the room if she wanted to. She was also the one member of the Nein that Caleb saw the most frequently. Their work to root out corruption among the Cerberus Assembly, and other bodies of power in the Empire often kept them up together late into the night, until Yasha would intervene and throw her wife over her shoulder to carry her to bed. 

“Can I finish the lesson, or should we depart immediately?” Caleb asked, already guessing the answer. 

“Cayyyllleeeb.” Jester groaned, pulling at her face. “I’m sooooo bored. I want to drink and party already!”

Caleb turned back to his class of students. He was sure most of them had heard rumors about Professor Widogast and the wild adventures he got up to with the Mighty Nein back when they first got together. He wasn’t sure how much they actually believed, but he was sure that even the most widely blown out of proportion tale didn’t even begin to cover the truth of what they had done together. 

“In honor of the anniversary of this group of arschlochs finding each other, consider this to be a free day. Keep up on your readings, and if you have any questions I will be at my regular office hours tomorrow morning.” 

The students immediately started buzzing as they stood and packed. No doubt during tomorrow’s class he would have to field a whole host of questions about the Nein, and that was just the way he liked it. The day after the anniversary was the one day he would talk about what his family had done. As the class filtered out, with many a lingering glance thrown at the colorful group at the front, Caleb turned to Essek, setting the envelope with Astrid’s button in it on the table top to deal with later. 

“Would you like to teleport us to the beach, or shall I?”

Essek put up both hands. 

“I already used my spell slots getting us all back together again. You can bring us to the coast.” Essek said, his smile a mix between smug and fond. 

Caleb rolled his eyes before pulling him into a soft kiss. Then he turned to address the rest of the Nein. The family he had made for himself. 

“Are we ready?” After a series of nods, he pulled an ancient clay turtle from his pocket and gave it a squeeze. “Then let’s go!”

And they were off, to a night of drinks and celebration and stories told, and memories shared. And of course many toasts, “To another twenty years.”

[virghogh]

NCT Dream Birth Charts x Hexaco Results Analysis pt. 1

recently NCT Dream were on a new reality show called Mental Training Camp where they are doing a variety of activities and all of their behavior and interactions are being analyzed by professional psychologists.

ofc my virgo sun mercury ass was thrilled and I had their birth charts pulled up the whole time to cross reference.

I wanted to share some of my personal thoughts on how the 2 might connect!

part 1 // part 2 // part 3

**key: in the hexaco charts the blue represents the Dreamies, the orange is an average result of 300 college students who took the same test**

Mark - “Workaholic Leader”

✨leo sun // aries moon // cancer mercury // virgo venus // scorpio mars✨

they described him as a workaholic leader but quickly added that if he’s not now, he has potential to be in the future, although it seemed they all agreed he has workaholic spirit now 

this immediately made sense to me when you look at his chart i mean he’s being driven by a fire sun and moon and a scorpio mars (used to be ruled by mars) and virgo venus both of which are signs that have strong work ethics

the reason I like that they mentioned he could grow into it is because he’s still young and I agree that his placements could become more serious about work and life as he gets older, I think his leo sun/aries moon combo gives him very youthful energy but they’re still very driven signs

mark agreed that even throughout his trainee years when he was still very young, he was always practicing and was always called a workaholic. I see this in the intense drive, work ethic and perfectionism of virgo and scorpio but shining through with the warmth of his sun and moon

lets talk about this hexaco chart, what sticks out the most is Mark’s level of conscientiousness! (its so high like what even-) Conscientious people are careful, precise, detail oriented and in general care about doing their tasks well. I think this is directly connected to his scorpio mars! I always say that no matter what is in a chart, having a scorpio in big 6 will always have a strong influence and with a virgo venus, even though venus is considered a love planet it is also our value system, how we discern what is worthy and unworthy for us, and having virgo there makes him very practical. (as I mentioned though I think all of his placements together reflect a very driven person) (I also think mark is lucky to have a fire moon because if he had a water or earth I think his obsession and perfectionism of scorpio and virgo would make him d*pressed or too hard on himself) 

his virgo venus could even be why when they did the bag check they saw he’s quite “frugal” or practical and minimalist in the things he carries around. When you think about Venus, I mentioned it’s our values it’s also our aesthetics and it rules Taurus a materialistic sign, having virgo there gives me the impression of someone who is practical with their belongings, as we saw. 

We’ll see later in the post that there are a few Hexaco charts that I felt were a little unexpected but Marks imo was sooo spot on with his placements. With a fire sun and moon he’s very warm and open and has firey emotions. he’s not afraid to show them or be reactive and responsive (emotionality)! I think his honesty-humility reflects this too, he’s not too overly or underly honest, he’s just straightforward what you see is what you get and he answers in such a way too. His emotionality reflects the cancer mercury, the rashness of aries moon, and sensitivity of scorpio mars. 

tdlr; the human embodiment of driven, focused and hard working when it comes to his craft, but he loves to have fun in his outside life, and is practical in his inside life <3 his hexaco and birth chart align nicely

Jeno - “A scholar who gets hurt easily”

✨taurus sun // sagittarius moon // aries mercury // aries venus // taurus mars✨

so right off the bat I’m very curious where the scholar part comes in ?? They didn’t really reference it again in that way but I’m assuming they mean he’s very diplomatic? Defcon rephrased it as “you get miffed but well-mannered” 

a recurring comment was that he gets annoyed easily but doesn’t show it, I thought that was really funny because I feel like it reflects his aries influence well; being a little hot-headed but he has the patience of his taurus sun and mars to filter it :’) 

they talked a lot about how he gets hurt easily and mark even shared a cute lil story that practically had me on the floor because i just think it shows his taurus sooooo much I’d really love to have his house placements one day I’m really curious where his taurus is

if you didn’t see the episode basically mark said one time Jeno was passing some seniors in a building and said hi but they didn’t say hi back ): and just ignored him. Mark said Jeno was really hurt by that and went on about it for a long time saying stuff like “I’m sure they saw me” )): but he never expressed/acted on that hurt. taurus is represented by the bull so they do have a fierce side to them but imo i think taurus can be a really gentle/relaxed sign too; taurus mars is a slow to be angry slow to react placement, and one of the things taurus is well-known for is being fixed, stubborn, holding grudges which explains why that moment hurt and he held on to it. Jeno even agreed he tends to hold in a lot of his feelings and remembers little things that hurt him for a long time!

speaking of his taurus... they had a whole baseball analogy for the group saying that Jeno is a strong catcher, you can have a good pitcher but without a strong catcher the team would fall apart. They also mentioned a lot about Jeno not being in the spotlight, he doesn’t stand out, but he silently strengthens the team. And if that isn’t the most taurus description you’ve ever heard.,,,

I’ve been talking about his taurus a lot but at one point they said Jeno has a strong perfectionist side but he’s also very flexible and it’s difficult to have both. I personally see this a lot in his Sag moon (mutable) in contrast to his taurus placements (fixed). Sag moon to me always seem happy go lucky, if emotions come they go quickly too, mutable gives him that flexibility because they just like when things can change freely. It’s ruled by jupiter and I feel a common theme with sag in big 6 is it’s easy for people to be drawn to their jupiter qualities. They give the same freedom they crave, they can be very easy going and positive. Similar to mark, I also think it helps Jeno to have this moon sign over another! 

as for the hexaco, I’ll be honest the level of introvertness/shyness was a little surprising from an astrology stand point. When we see Jeno in all the NCT content I feel like it’s obvious he is on the shy side but if I was looking at only his chart, I don’t think I was expect it to be to the extent of the hexaco chart! (plss i need his birth time) in the same thread, his emotionality is really low and I can’t say I’m surprised from an astrology view😅 it’s not that he’s not compassionate or anything because he does care a lot about not upsetting people, but as we saw he is not very reactive and receptive emotionally ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  his openness is low too which fits what we’ve talked about above about his lack of reaction/expression of emotions, I feel like sag moons also don’t dwell especially with no water placements. 

The honesty and humility makes a lot of sense to me because i feel like taurus, aries and sag(!) are very righteous signs too! They care about integrity, they certainly might have their own idea of what is truth,.. but whatever it is, they believe in it! 

last note I want to make is on the whole “jeno isn’t funny” bit since they mentioned it. He said it hurt his ego when they first started the joke but it’s been going on for so long that I think he adapted to being able to take it as just that, a joke! It’s also funny to me that it started in the first place because earth signs are often called boring (it’s okay I’m an earth sign too lol) and I also have sag influence and I know people find me quite funny but I never try to be funny and it usually comes after my earth walls are down with close friends. 

tdlr; doesn’t ask or need spot light, gets annoyed easily but it doesn’t last, when something does hurt he remembers, slow or unlikely to be reactive and responsive, positive, comfort creature, loyal🥺

Chenle - “Friendly Guardian”

✨Sagittarius sun // Aquarius moon // scorpio mercury // scorpio venus // aquarius mars✨

there is something about chenle’s personality that I’ve always loved, he comes off as very warm, care-free, curious, friendly, caring. I like the personality title they gave him because I think it sums him up well. The members had all laughed when they saw it and enthusiastically agreed.  I also love his hexaco chart and think it reflects him really well, with most of it being just outside of the average :’) as far as how it reflects his birth chart, let’s get into it

I do want to disclaim that Chenle was born on the sag/scorpio cusp and to be a sag he would have had to be born after 3pm (!) but I think we would all agree he’s definitely a sagittarius sun anyways

Before this show when I watch nct dream content it always fascinated me how easy going chenle was in chaotic situations, he never seems too demanding or controlling, and sometimes i wondered if he was holding back for the cameras and was actually really frustrated but based off the hexaco it seems like he is actually just that agreeable, from looking at just his chart I don’t know if I would have guessed his agreeableness was that far. I know sag suns can be very easy going and aquarius is a more chilled sign but he has 2 aquarius and 2 scorpio placements they’re both fixed signs and quite like to be in control😅 (can we get a birth time pls) 

One argument could be the combination of sag sun with aquarius moon, since we have to look at all of it together. it does give me the impression of someone more easy-going possibly because there is the comfort of confidence! I feel like sag sun/aqua moon + mars would give someone a high opinion of themself (go chenle). this combination could create someone who is easy going because they don’t dwell and aren’t emotionally fueled nor do they fret over people that are. I’d say easy-going or maybe even just cool headed? He’s always laughing things off too, showing he doesn’t take himself too seriously! 

Speaking of taking things seriously, I think we can see this in the conscientious part of the hexaco, it was the lowest and I think it can be explained by what I mentioned above. It’s not that he isn’t driven or doesn’t work hard, he’s a full time idol they all work hard but I think it represents that work isn’t the focus of his life but rather people, connection, community, and just being happy is? 

they talked about how Chenle is the type of person that you meet and already feel like you’re friends. He could be the youngest in the room and talk down to you and you wouldn’t even think twice. This is huuuuge aquarius energy! I remember one of the first things I learned about aquarius was that they make friends everywhere. They talk to a stranger on the street for directions and next thing you know they’re “friends”

I also want to add that they mention he’s friendly but he gives off “big brother vibes” i feel like we’ve all seen that in other nct content too and would agree. This is interesting to me because sag and aquarius is not the same kind of friendliness as we see with marks leo sun aries moon. Leo and aries are “younger” signs, whereas aquas and sagittarius are towards the end of the signs, they’re considered “mature” signs which I feel contributes to chenle’s “big brother” energy. He has that aqua/sag energy where he seems really sure of himself, and wise and people look up to that.

I want to talk about his scorpio placements real quick because even though I just made a case for how open and easy-going he is, I’m still confused about how the scorpio fits into all of this. scorpio isn’t known to be one to be super open, agreeable or extroverted. I personally see his scorpio come out a lot in his realtionships. you can tell he cares deeply for his members and yes his aqua makes him get along with everyone but I feel like with the dream members we see that scorpio possessiveness and jealousy come out more. Lastly, I do want to add a little mystery to this, although his openness is high and it’s clear he is a very authentic person,,.. I definitely would not call him an open book👀

Chenle wasn’t able to be in the recording of this show unfortunately so all we got was a brief description of his hexaco chart and we won’t get any further analyses ): 

although I do agree that his hexaco chart reflects how he comes off in shows, I don’t think it completely reflects his chart so I’m going to say the house placements would help create a better picture! 

tdlr; fun and realtionships are a priority, he’s comfortable and confident in himself and people are drawn to that, v friendly😌but he has secrets👀

feedback, thoughts and clarifying questions are always welcome!

[uas-fics]

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

Read on AO3

Title: How to Train A Champion and Keep Your Reputation Intact

Summary: Piers doesn’t want to coach Leon, but the last thing Piers needs is for everyone to know a cool punk like him used to perform in Pokemon Contests! If it means keeping his reputation intact, he’ll begrudgingly teach this ray of sunlight what he knows.

Fandom: Pokemon Sword and Shield

Ships: LeonxPiers | dnnz

Rating: T

Contest Warnings: N/A

Chapter 1: The Early Morning Visitor

----

Of the people Piers expected to be sitting across his kitchen table at eight in the morning, the former champion was not one of them. Leon wasn't even in the top ten, yet here he was, twiddling his thumbs behind a cup of tea with a peppy expression on his face.

Piers was barely a human being this early, yet Leon seemed to have the same energy as a particularly bushy-tailed skwovet.

"You have a nice kitchen," Leon commented, more to fill the silence than an actual compliment.

Piers glanced at the pile of take-out containers on the counter then the singular shoe that hadn't made it to his room with its partner the night before. His kitchen was nothing spectacular, and it didn't need to be. His home was a place to crash or bring a date, not some fancy townhouse. With only he and Marnie there, why should he bother fancying the place up?

"What do you want, Leon?" Piers took a sip of his tea.

Leon wrapped his fingers around his cup but didn't move to drink. If Leon would have preferred coffee, he could have said something before Piers poured him a cup. It'd be a waste to pour it down the drain.

"Well, it's a little silly, but I could use your help with something," Leon explained.

Piers narrowed his eyes.

Leon was the chairman of the Pokemon League. Piers gave his gym over to Marnie after the last Champion tournament. What could he want Piers to help with at this point? The only connection he had with the League was Marnie.

Unless...

"I swear if you're goin' to pull the same shit as Rose did and try to get me to make Marnie move the gym—"

"No, no, nothing like that!" Leon raised his hands, palms facing out. "It has nothing at all to do with Spikemuth or the gym."

"Then what does it have to do with?" Piers leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Uh, well, alright," Leon didn't meet his eyes, "it's about a rumor."

Piers' frown deepened. He always had rumors about him floating about. It came with his persona.

"I heard Piers beat a man to a pulp because he spilled his drink on him." or "I heard Piers took three girls back to his home and made them leave before the sun was even up." or he was a dealer of rare hallucinogenic flowers or that he used his pokemon to break into Rose's office and peed in a potted plant behind his desk.

There was rarely any truth to the rumors. He didn't care to squash them. He was a dark-type trainer, having everyone thinking he was a bigger badass than he already was could not hurt his reputation.

"C'mon, mate, aren't you a little old to be listenin' to rumors?" Piers cocked an eyebrow.

"It's not a bad rumor.”

"What's the rumor then?"

"Ah, well, I heard," He paused to clear his throat, "that you, ah, that you competed in pokemon contests when you were younger—and that you won."

Piers barely kept his face deadpan.

Where had Leon heard that? Those contests happened just before posting on the internet boomed, so it wasn't like the contests were live-streamed and archived. The only video that he knew existed of his contest days hid in a box in the back of a closet. Marnie captured it when she could barely see over the railings at the stadiums. Even then, the video quality was terrible and Marnie kept moving the camera around. He looked like a black and white blob in them.

He forced himself to calm down. He could easily deny this rumor. No one would believe he, Piers, former Spikemuth gym leader, head of Team Yell, the fierce trainer of powerful dark-types, would ever compete in a pokemon contest.

"Where did you hear that?" Piers reached for his tea just to have something in his hands.

What credibility did this rumor spreader have? Probably none. Denying this would be easy.

"Oh, I heard your sister mention it."

Piers nearly dropped his cup.

Shit.

He could not deny this, not without putting Marnie's credibility on the line. She was still a new gym leader. The last thing she needed was the chairman thinking she was a gossip.

He hissed out a breath. "Oh, did she?"

"Yeah, she was talking to Opal while Bede filled out some papers," Leon told him. "She said she remembered you used to be good at pokemon contests. That's why I'm here."

"So what?" Piers spat. "It isn't illegal, now is it?"

Why couldn't this have been about Malamar scaring passers-by on Route 7 when he was bored? Why could this have been about the rave Piers helped throw in an abandoned mine last month? Why could it have been about pissing in the potted plant? Why couldn't this have been about anything else?!

Leon frowned. "Of course not—"

"Then why are you askin' me about it?"

"Because I wanted your help to win one."

Piers' mouth gaped. Did he hear that right? Leon, the former champion, one of the strongest pokemon trainers in all of Galar, wanted to enter a pokemon contest.

He stuck a finger in his ear and twisted it.

"Sorry, say that again. I must have somethin' in my ear. I didn't just hear you ask for help in a pokemon contest."

"That is what I asked." Leon beamed. "There is one in Ballonlea in two weeks and I want to enter, but I don't know the first thing about them. If you know, you could help me—if you want to, that is."

"Why?" Piers held back from pinching himself. How was this not a dream? Maybe he was messing with hallucinogenic flowers after all.

Reaching into his pocket, Leon took out a folded piece of lavender paper. He laid it flat on the table, smoothing it with the side of his hand, before pushing it over. The faint scent of roses wafted from it.

"All are invited to the first Bellonlea Pokemon Contest!" It read in a flowing, elegant font. "Coordinators of all ages and skill levels are invited to the Bellonlea Stadium to participate in a Pokemon Contest. Please contact the Bellonlean Ladies' Society for more details and how to enter."

"Was this ‘ppose to explain somethin'?" Piers pushed the flyer back. "Why do you want to win a contest?"

"That prize, of course!" Leon took his phone from his pocket. He scrolled a moment then turned the screen to Piers.

A picture of a red and white hat with a black logo stared back. It honestly looked like something an overly-excited ten-year-old would win from a cereal box drawing.

"It's a hat." Piers peered over the top of the phone to look at the hat Leon already had on.

"It's not just a hat. It's a limited edition!" Leon pulled his phone back. "I had one when I was a little kid, but I lost it to an angry corvisquire. The first place in the beginner contest wins it."

"And you can't just, you know, buy one for yourself?" He rolled his hand. "I know you have sponsorships out your ass." Piers looked down pointedly at his Spikemuth Chamber of Commerce shirt for emphasis.

Leon shrugged. "What fun is that?"

Piers downed half his drink in one go. The burn on his throat reassured him he wasn't dreaming.

"Piers?" Leon leaned over the table, his face alight with a smile. "Can't I talk you into helping me out? Please? I promise to owe you one after this."

Piers groaned. What choice did he have? He couldn't deny it without hurting Marnie's reputation. Their reputation used to be the only valuable he and Marnie had to their names, besides each other. Lying to Leon to save his own skin was not an option.

"Yeah, yeah, alright." Piers raised his hands in defeat. "Fine. I'll do it, but," he held a finger up in Leon's face, "you have to swear on your life that you won't tell a soul about it. I don't need anyone thinkin’ I ever put any of my pokemon in a frilly suit or made them dance around like pretty ballerinas or some shit."

Leon nearly jumped across the table. He put his hands on Piers' shoulders and squeezed a little too hard.

"Thanks a million for this!" He hopped up. "Where should we train? I think I understand the rules, but maybe we should go over the rules first? Or outfit—"

"Tomorrow." Piers cut him off. "We'll start tomorrow."

Leon's face fell like a growlithe that just had his bone taken from him. Piers held his sad gaze. Marnie's morpoko did the same pout when she wanted something, and Piers knew better than to give in.

If Leon still wanted to learn how to be a coordinator, he had to prove himself first. A day would be enough time for Piers to think up obstacles to make Leon forget about the silly notion. Contests, despite the stereotype, were hard work. While beginner contests weren't all that complicated, Piers didn't mind sprinkling in some of the more difficult to grasp bits from the higher tiers. With any luck that would confuse Leon right out of the idea and out of Piers' life.

Leon took a breath. He pulled his hands from Piers and squared his shoulders.

"I'll meet you back here at eight sharp tomorrow and then we can get started."

"No. You'll meet me outside Spikemuth at noon."

"Oh, well, alright. It'll be a champ—" Leon caught himself from using his old catchphrase. "It'll be a fun time."

"That's one way to think of it," Piers muttered, feeling less and less enthused at the arrangement by the second.

----

True to his word, Leon stood outside the front gate of Spikemuth at noon on the dot. He perked up when he saw Piers and jumped in front of him.

"Good afternoon, Teacher Piers."

He winked.

Piers wrinkled his nose.

"Call me that again, and I'm callin' this off."

Leon laughed nervously. "Sorry." He whistled. "Sooooo, what should I learn first? How to use music? Or pose? I'm already pretty good at that."

"How about the rules?"

Piers waved him to follow down the road towards the Spikemuth Tunnel. People were less likely to eavesdrop on them if they walked.

"Alright, rules. I know there are two rounds, and each trainer uses only one pokemon."

"Coordinator," Piers corrected sharply.

He promised to teach, but he didn't promise to be entirely pleasant while doing it.

"Yeah. There are two rounds. The first round is the Performance Stage. You show off your pokemon's appeal with a choreographed set of moves. The judges will assign points based on how well the performance fits into particular categories."

Piers began to ramble on about the different move categories as if the contest in Bellonlea would be so complicated. Beginner contests weren't judged by the five categories individually like higher-ranked contests.

Back when Galar still had a contest circuit, the people in beginner contests were kids with weak pokemon that might only know two or three moves. A performance with a cool move first and a cute move next wouldn't be judged as harshly as the first rank contest would.

However, Leon didn't need to know that. If he thought that the category system was complicated and—in Piers' humble opinion—limited and stupid, maybe he would back out.

"And that's all there is to the appeals rules." Piers looked at Leon, expecting him to be confused and dejected at the long-winded explanation, but instead found him holding onto every word.

"Well, that doesn't seem too hard." He nodded. "It's just putting on a show in a time limit with your partner. Easy."

"We'll see how easy you think it is when you're doing it." Piers stood under a shade tree. "The next round is the harder one. It's the battle round."

"Battle? I thought contests were for show, not for fighting."

Piers cackled at the genuine confusion on Leon's face. Of course, he would think that. That silly stereotype about contests never seemed to die, did it? Coordinators didn't just train their pokemon to teach them new moves. Their partner had to be strong to last the battles against one another. Even though Piers was a gym leader when he did contests, he still struggled against the stronger opponents.

He idly grabbed a lower branch and bent it down. If he didn’t slouch, Piers was tall enough that he could just about reach into the pokemon nest a few branches up with relative ease.

"You would think that, wouldn't you?" He opened his hand.

The branch whipped up and hit the branch the nest was on. The skwovet in the nest jumped with a squeak. Its sudden movement knocked a sitrus berry over the side.

"In the second round, two coordinators battle to remove points from the opponent, usin' moves that fall into the contest categories." He snatched the sitrus berry out of the air.

The skwovet glared at Piers. Piers smirked at it before wiping the berry on his shirt. The pokemon chattered and hurried higher into the tree.

Leon frowned at Piers' interaction with the skwovet. Piers met his gaze, daring him to comment on it.

Leon cleared his throat. "That wasn't necessary."

"It was an accident."

Leon pursed his lips in doubt but didn't argue. Instead, he said, "So it's a battle, but it's an entertaining battle. I can do that."

Around a bite of berry, Piers shrugged, "It's a five-minute battle, but the point of the battle isn't to knock out your opponent with the first move. No one needs to faint. It's to show that your pokemon is better than theirs."

Piers half-expected Leon to go on about how no pokemon was better than another, instead, Leon stroked his chin in thought. Maybe Leon realized that a contest wouldn't be as fun as he thought and wanted to give up on the idea.

The branches above shook and the skwovet chattered. A leppa berry slammed into the ground near Piers' boot. The skwovet, arm loaded with unripe leppa berries, held up another. It threw it. Piers took a step to the side.

"Nice try," he mocked. The skwovet's fur bristled. It tossed down the rest of its armful and missed every time. With a huff, it stomped back towards its nest to rustle through its hoard.

"Alright. I think I can handle this," Leon said, moving into Piers' personal space and lifting his arm over Piers' head, "with your help."

Grinning, he stepped back then opened his fist to present an oran berry. The skwovet cried out in frustration. Piers rubbed the top of his head. He glanced up at the wild pokemon once more before walking away from the tree, with Leon in tow. It was best not to test his luck anymore. The skwovet might use a move on him and the last thing he wanted was to spend the night picking slobbery bullet seeds out of his hair.

The skwovet angrily chattered but seemed to give up. It hurried down the tree to gather its berries. Leon crouched to roll the oran berry over. The skwovet eyed him but snatched the berry up to shove into its cheeks anyway.

Piers raised an eyebrow. Maybe this training wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

----

The training area outside Spikemuth wasn't much, just a patch of barren earth that trainers from Spikemuth would come to battle when they didn't feel like using the gym. Currently, the only souls there were Piers and Leon. Since Marnie took over as gym leader, the younger trainers of the city moved their training back to the gym.

"They didn't want to come when you were the gym leader. They think you're scary," Marnie had explained. "Dunno why though. You're about as scary as a teddisuara."

Piers crossed his arms. "Do you know which pokemon you're goin' use? These are Hoenn rules, so you can only use one."

Leon tapped the pokeballs at his belt. "I'm not sure. I didn't think I could go in with Charizard, so I didn't bring him with me."

"Why not Charizard?"

"Everyone knows what my Charizard looks like," Leon explained. "And I don't think I can pretend not to be me if I use him."

Piers' brows furrowed. What in the world was he talking about?

Upon seeing Piers' expression, Leon chuckled to himself.

"I guess I forgot to tell you." He put his hands on his hips and set his feet a shoulder-width apart. "I'm going to do this contest in disguise."

The hope Piers just acquired vanished.

"You're what?"

"I'm going in disguise," He repeated. "I was the champion, and now I'm chairman. That would give me an unfair advantage, don't you think?"

Piers pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course, Leon would want to win on a level playing field. The Bellonean Ladies' Society would probably just give him the stupid hat if he promised to simply show up and bring more attention to the event. If he did that, Piers could have stayed at home and lazed about, but, noooo, Leon had to win his silly hat fair and square.

"How do you plan to do that?"

"Well, I hoped you could help me with that, too." Leon pointed to his face. "I've seen your stage makeup, and you're talented. I bet you could make me look like a different person."

Piers hated that he couldn't argue with that. Not long after he decided to follow his dream of being a punk star, one of the gym trainers offered to teach him the basics of cosmetics. Once he had the basics down, it only took a year of using his pokemon, friends, and Marnie as test subjects for him to perfect his art.

He could easily make Leon's face look different enough: soften his cheekbones, maybe a few freckles, pull his bangs back, color contacts, and glasses...Leon would look good in glasses, even if it meant hiding his natural eye color...

Piers shook his head. He hadn't agreed to anything but training for the contest. He was not giving Leon a makeover like they were preteens at a slumber party.

Leon pursed his lips. "It would be pointless if I won because of who I am. That wouldn't be fair to the other train—coordinators."

"No. Figure that out yourself."

Leon sighed, his shoulders slumped. He muttered under his breath, something Piers couldn't make out. Finally, he straightened and shrugged.

"You know, I have to approve the budgets for each gym provided by the league," he lifted one finger and wagged it as he continued, "and wouldn't it be nice if Spikemuth got a little extra in their budget so their new gym leader could fix up her gym stadium? I know the Spikemuth Chamber of Commerce can't always give too much to the gym, and it needs a few repairs."

Piers' mouth fell a gape. Did Leon just try to bribe him through his sister? He had to admit, he was impressed. It wasn't the best bribery offer he'd ever been given, but considering whom the offer came from and what Marnie would get in return, he decided to give in.

"Make sure the gym gets enough to replace the crumplin’ stadium walls, and I'll do it." Piers stuck out his hand.

Leon took the offered hand in his and shook once. "I knew you'd have a change of heart."

Piers yanked his hand back. "Change of heart my ass. Just send out your pokemon."

With a nod, Leon let out each of his pokemon in turn: Aegislash, Haxorus, Dragapult, Mr. Rime, Seismatoad, then Rhyperior. True to his word, he hadn't brought his ace pokemon with him. Like a well-oiled machine, they quickly lined up and turned their full attention to their trainer.

Pride rolled off Leon as he gazed at his team. Up until last year, this team was undefeated. Leon kept them at their best and even Piers could call that admirable.

"Alright everyone, listen here." Leon clapped his hands as if any of them didn't have their eyes on him. "Remember how I said we were going to enter a contest? Well, only one of you can enter it with me."

Leon's Mr. Rime leaned on his cane and Aegislash shifted his shield, though the other pokemon didn't react one way or another to the news.

"Contests aren't like normal battling. They're a performance." Leon gestured to Piers. "Piers is going to help pick the best one of you for the contest."

Piers snorted. "Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm not assessin' your team."

Leon's hand dropped to his side. He tilted his head.

"You're not?"

"No."

Piers took out the only pokeball he had on him. With a flick of the wrist, he released his own contest partner. The stench of rotten eggs filled the air. Everyone but Piers jerked back to cover their noses.

Skuntank shook himself out. He stretched his front paws forward then pulled the rest of his body up like a cat in a sunbeam. Piers crouched down and patted his partner between the ears.

"Skuntank here won nearly every contest he entered," Piers explained. "He knows more about them than even I do, I'd say. Even keeps track of the Sinnoh contests online. If anyone can give this team a proper assessment, it'll be him."

Skuntank lifted his head proudly then stomped forward. He stalked up, down, and around the line, eyeing each pokemon. He stopped in front of Haxorus, narrowed his eyes, and rumbled. Haxorus shuffled nervously. She looked to her team members then back at Skuntank. Siesmatoad shrugged, and Dragapult looked away.

Satisfied, Skuntank trotted back to Piers. He took a breath and stated something to the pokemon, loud and clear.

The other pokemon were taken aback. They muttered amongst themselves, all except Mr. Rime and Aegislash. With his chest puffed out, Mr. Rime strode forward. A moment later, Aegislash floated next to him. The rest of the team remained still.

"That's the two to choose from," Piers said. To the other members of Leon's team, he continued, "You can go over there. Take a rest why don't you?" He jabbed his thumb towards the grass at the side of the training area.

Without missing a beat, Dragapult floated away, soon followed by Siesmatoad, Haxorus, and Rhyperior.

Leon gasped. "That's amazing. How does Skuntank know?"

It wasn't as if Skuntank could smell contest talent on Mr. Rime and Aegislash. It just so happened that when Skuntank asked, Mr. Rime and Aegislash wanted to enter a contest. The rest weren't interested.

Ignoring Leon's question, Piers asked, "How do you want to decide between these two."

Leon blinked. "Isn't that what Skuntank is here for?"

With a thump, Skuntank flopped to the ground, paws under his chin, and shut his eyes.

"He's filled his quota." Piers said. "This is your job, Mr. Chairman."

Leon stroked his chin. He crouched down between his pokemon. Mr. Rime tapped his feet and spun his cane. Leon lifted his eyebrows at the impromptu performance. Not to be outdone, Aegislash held his shield up and spun it on the end of his arm. He tossed the shield then expertly caught it.

Mr. Rime danced backward. He spun in a circle, holding his cane up to the sky. From the tip of the cane, snow flurried around him, glittering like tiny diamonds.

Aegislash, upon seeing Leon's dazzled expression at Mr. Rime's performance, clanged his shield and blade together. With his trainer's attention back on him, Aegislash whipped his arm out. The shield rolled out on its side into the middle of the battle area. In the blink of an eye, Aegislash descended into his shadow. Using shadow sleek, he hurried in front of the shield.

Aegislash burst from the ground, large and dark. He whipped the shield up. the sun glinted off the polished metal. Contrasted against Aegislash's dark form, the shining shield appeared like a bright star in the night sky.

Leon's mouth fell a gape. "Wow, I didn't know you could do that, Aegislash."

Aegislash returned to his normal appearance and smugly shurgged. Mr. Rime stomped his foot in frustration. He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled for Leon to look at him. Once again, his cane spun. Around him, aurous panes of light screen appeared then frosted over. Mr. Rime stopped and raised his arms. The light screen panes shot up and burst like fireworks.

Aegislash bristled. His grip on his shield tightened and his single eye narrowed. Mr. Rime sneered at him as Leon carefully picked up the frozen light screen fragments to examine.

Piers clapped his hands once. "Don't you lot make this a battle." To Leon, he ordered, "You need to pick one."

Leon stood. "But they're both really talented."

From behind them, Skuntank snorted. Aegislash and Mr. Rime turned their glares from each other to the dark-type.

Piers agreed with Leon, even if his pokemon didn't, but leaving those two to keep one-upping each other wouldn't end well. Leon had to pick a partner for the contest, even if it would hurt someone's feelings.

Leon thought on his choice then slumped forward with a sigh. He rummaged in his pocket and held up a coin.

"I can't decide," he admitted. "Heads for Mr. Rime and tails for Aegislash."

He flicked the coin into the air. Like the oran berry before, he caught it from the air. With a hard smack that made the top of Pier's hand hurt, Leon slapped it on the top of his hand. Aegislash and Mr. Rime stood tense as Leon slowly lifted his hand.

"Heads."

Mr. Rime jumped up with joy. Aegislash dropped his shield to the ground with a thud. Leon reached out to comfort him, but Aegislash waved him away. Dragging his shield through the dirt, he trudged towards the other pokemon.

Skuntank lumbered back to his feet. He intercepted Aegislash. Skuntank rumbled at Aegislash. He silently mulled over what Skuntank said then lifted his shield from the ground.

In a voice like clashing metal, Aegislash yelled at Mr. Rime. Mr. Rime stumbled in his tap dancing, looking shocked at what his teammate said. Skuntank cackled, slapping the ground with his paw. With his mood improved considerably, Aegislash led Skuntank away to join the other pokemon.

----

Mr. Rime was a showman. Even with the occasional heckle from Skuntank, he and Leon managed to cobble together the start of an alright appeal round. After Piers finally admitted that the move categories meant shit all for the beginner contests, Leon decided to make use of what Mr. Rime already presented: sparkling snow and unique uses of psychic power.

Piers, for his part, offered critique when he saw a move that might be too showy or too dull, but mostly left Leon to his own devices. After all, Leon was the one entering, not him.

A thunderbolt tore through an icy column, shattering it. A glow of psychic power protected some of the ice from the heat. When the mist cleared, what remained was the carving of the Champion's logo.

Leon pumped his fist. "There we go!"

Skuntank muttered something to Aegislash, who replied in agreement. Though he hadn't been as loud in his criticism as Skuntank, Aegislash made snide remarks for every misstep.

Piers had more fun watching Skuntank and Aegislash than Leon and Mr. Rime, honestly.

As the heat both from the thunderbolts and the day wore on, Piers was thankful he choose to sit under the shade instead of directly interact with Leon.

Though on the field, he would have had a better view.

Every time Leon raised his shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow, Piers turned his attention towards him. Rehain once mentioned Leon weight trained and exercised to stay as fit as his team, and Piers could tell. He stared at the well-formed muscles usually hidden under Leon’s shirt several times before finally being caught.

“Is something wrong? Is this too much?” Leon gestured to Mr. Rime’s newest ice sculpture.

Piers made up a suggestion to save himself the embarrassment.

“It’s fine, but you’re rushin’. Slow down, if you know how to do that,” Piers replied, turning his head to hide his pink cheeks against his shoulder.

“Oh, alright.” Leon nodded. “Mr. Rime, take a few more seconds before calling down the thunderbolt!”

Stuntank chuckled and Piers sent him a glare.

“Shut up,” he hissed, earning another laugh from Stuntank.

Something pulled at Piers' sleeve. One of Dragapult's dreepy chewed on his jacket. When Piers acknowledged it, it flew in a circle trying to get him to play with it. It went to nip at the end of one of his ponytails.

Dragapult sighed and wrapped his tail around the dreepy to pull it back. He gave Piers an apologetic look.

The rest of Leon's team wasn't doing much better. They were bored out of their minds.

Siesmatoad ripped a clump of grass from the ground and tossed it in her mouth. Rhyperior and Haxorus took turns stabbing leaves through their horns or tusks, seeing who could make the biggest hole without tearing the leaf in half.

Before Leon and Mr. Rime could start again, Piers called, "That's enough for today."

He stood and put his hands on his lower back to stretch. Skuntank grumbled but got to his paws.

"Well, if you say so." Leon came over to the crowd of pokemon with Mr. Rime. "Everyone ready?"

Seismatoad spat out the grass clump, nearly hitting Rhyperior's foot. Dragapult cooed and the rest of his dreepy hoard hurried out of the tall grass. Aegislash refused to look at Mr. Rime, instead of staying close to Stuntank. Haxorus bent forward and pressed the button on her pokeball with her mouth scythe, returning herself.

When Leon took out Aegislash's ball, Piers put a hand on his wrist.

"Before you return him, can I ask you a favor?"

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Aegislash and Skuntank seem to be havin' fun together. Do you think Aegislash could come back with me for tonight?" Piers asked. Skuntank stamped a foot and wheezed in approval.

Leon lowered Aegislash's pokeball. He bent down so he looked Aegislash in his singular eye.

"Do you want to have a slumber party with Skuntank at Spikemuth?" He spoke like a parent to a child. Mr. Rime snickered. Stuntank kicked sand at him with a short growl.

Piers pulled the bill of Leon's hat down over his eyes.

"Aegislash is probably older than both of us combined," he reminded. "Don't call it a slumber party."

Leon pushed his hat up and wrinkled his brow. Realization crossed his face.

"Ah." He asked Aegislash, "Do you want to have a date with Skuntank at Spikemuth?"

Piers went to pull Leon's hat clean off, but Aegislash took hold of the bill and pulled until it completely covered Leon's face with the bill touching his chin. He rolled his eye and shrugged towards Skuntank. Skuntank snickered and shook his head back in reply.

Leon laughed, taking the hat into his lap. "I'm joking. I'm joking. Sorry." He put a hand on Aegislash's shoulder. "Really, if you want to hang out with Skuntank for the night, you can." He smiled sincerely.

Aegislash paused, eyed his trainer, then seemed to sigh. He took the hat from Leon's hands and set it on his head. He patted his head, like a parent pacifying a child. Aegislash floated by him towards Skuntank.

-----

“Listen up.”

Piers whistled to the crowd of dark-type pokemon around the Spikemuth stadium. All heads turned towards him and the two pokemon by his side.

“This is Aegislash. He’s part of Chairman Leon’s team.” Piers nodded to Aegislash. “He’s visitin' for the night, so don’t be an asshole.”

He sent a pointed look at Malamar, who crossed his tentacles. Malamar only recently got out of trouble for scaring people around Spikemuth. Neither he nor Marnie needed Aegislash going back to Leon traumatized from Malamar's pranks.

The gym pokemon muttered and mumbled to themselves, eyeing Aegislash suspiciously.

Going well so far.

No one jumped to attack or called out an obscenity towards the new pokemon. Already it was going better when Raihan brought his pokemon over to play while he and Piers visited. Not one sucker punch to the back.

Marnie’s Grimsnarl picked up the toy ball and held it protectively. Both scrafty scooted to shield their tower of cards. Obstagoon took his nose out of a bag of crisps for a moment before shoving it right back in. Liepard yawned, purposely exposing her fangs, before laying her head on Toxicroak’s lap. Toxitricity peeked an eye open from his corner then continued strumming his chest. Morpeko jumped off the stage and scurried over to Aegislash and Skuntank.

She greeted them. Skuntank wheezed to her as Aegislash lifted his shield in a hello. Morpeko spoke with Aegislash a moment before turning to the rest of the pokemon. She took a deep breath and shouted to them her approval.

Malamar snorted but uncrossed his tentacles. Grimsnarl slowly took the ball back out. Neither scrafty moved from their hard work. Toxitricity waved idly. Liepard and Toxicroak and Obstagoon didn’t acknowledge the announcement, the former two napping and the latter still stuffing his maw.

Skuntank jerked his head towards Toxitricity's corner of the gym. Aegislash and Morpeko followed after. Grimsnarl and Malamar watched them closely.

Marnie took a bite of her hamburger. Around it, she asked, “Is that really Leon’s aegislash?”

Piers open the bag from Bob’s Your Uncle to dig out his order. “He is. He and Leon’s Mr. Rime got into a fight, and Aegislash wanted to be away.”

“So Leon asked you?” She swallowed.

Piers thought on his feet. “Dark and ghost types are pretty close when you get down to it. Born of night and the deepness of the soul and all that.”

“Shouldn’t he have asked Allister?”

Piers took a bite of his burger and slowly chewed. He swallowed and said, “Kid must have been busy. He’s still got school to go— just like you.” Piers smirked, leaning over. “And how’s that school work going, little sis?”

Marnie blushed. She huffed, snatched the bag from Piers, then marched to the stage at the other end of the stadium.

Even being a gym leader, Marnie still had to go to school like every other kid her age. Since she was still learning to juggle gym leader duties and school, Marnie fell behind in her classes and had to take extra lessons.

Piers had been the same when he took over the gym, but he usually skipped after-school lessons. She complained about the lessons often, and Piers offered an understanding ear.

He wasn’t above using this information against her, though.

With long strides, he followed his sister. He overtook her quickly. Holding his burger between his teeth, Piers hopped onto the stage and sat, his toes brushing the ground. Marnie walked up the steps to sit near him. She purposefully set the bag with their food on the side farthest away from Piers. He leaned across her to fish his chips out of the bag.

They sat in companionable silence, watching the pokemon as they ate their fast food.

When Marnie’s scrafty turned to open another pack of cards for their tower, Malamar raised a tentacle glowing in psychic power. With both scrafty backs to it, a card from the middle of the tower pulled itself out.

Piers’ scrafty gasped and tried to hold the wobbling tower together, but only managed to save the top two cards from falling. As the scrafty started to argue, Grimsnarl went to the wooden crate next to the stage. She sat her ball inside and began to dig through the pokemon toys until she found another ball. This ball was worn and patched up. She wandered over to Malamar to talk.

Skuntank, Toxtricity, and Aegislash lounged against one of the crumbling stadium walls as Morpeko chewed on a berry. They made friendly conversation until Grimsnarl and Malamar came over. Grimsnarl raised her ball.

Skuntank shrugged and spoke to Aegislash. Malamar sneered at Aegislash. Aegislash rolled his eye and pushed himself up. Skuntank slowly lumbered to his feet. Toxtricity shook his head. Morpeko tossed her berry up and caught it in her mouth before standing as well.

Piers nudged Marnie and pointed at the pokemon as they walked to the middle of the stadium.

Grimsnarl tossed the ball and hit it to Skuntank. Skuntank bopped it with his head. The ball dropped towards Aegislash. Aegislash raised an arm to hit it, but Malamar’s tentacle shot out and smacked the ball up. Aegislash snapped something at Malamar, who ignored him.

Piers chuckled to himself as the game of hot potato continued. Every time the ball neared Aegislash, Malamar or Grimsnarl made sure to hit it before he could. Of course, they were testing him. Being on the former champion’s team wasn’t enough to prove Aegislash worthy, even with Stuntank and Morpeko's approval.

Soon Aegislash had enough. When Malamar went to hit the ball for himself, Aegislash shadow sleeked behind him. He burst from the ground and slapped the ball towards Grimsnarl. The attack on her friend took Grimsnarl by surprise. She stumbled back trying to hit the ball but missed. For the first time since the game started, the ball bounced against the floor.

Skuntank cackled. Morpeko chased after the ball. Malamar stared at Aegislash, who held his ground.

Marnie started to push off the stage to break up the fight, but Piers put a hand out to stop her.

After a few tense heartbeats, Malamar coughed a laugh. He covered his beak and shook his head. Grimsnarl took the ball back from Morpeko. Seeing the newfound respect for Aegislash from Malamar, she went back over to the box to switch the worn, old ball, for a nicer ball with a pink and cream polka-dot pattern.

Marnie let out a breath. Piers tossed a chip in his mouth.

He knew things would work out well. Like his trainer, Aegislash was endearing in his determination.

He wondered what Leon was doing while the Spikemuth pokemon played. As late as it was, he was probably home, or maybe he was training with Mr. Rime for the contest. Piers could almost see him now working with Mr. Rime to pose in time with some pop song.

Leon worked hard for what he wanted. It's no wonder he became champ so young and held the title for nearly a decade. If Piers had that kind of drive, he wouldn’t have left Spikemuth fall into disrepair as he did.

He bet he could ask Leon to help him fix up Spikemuth, and not just the gym. The outside walls needed the myriad of penises and breasts painted over. He could do it, but it would be better with some company, particularly with company that had the energy of a sugar-high puppy. Enjoying the outside air, just talking and working—That would be fun. Piers would be willing to wake up early for that.

Piers reached into his chip container absentmindedly but found nothing but salt. He jerked out of his thoughts to see his last two chips disappear—one into Morpeko’s mouth and one into Marnie’s.

“The hell?” He held his hands out towards the empty container.

“Do you have a new girlfriend?” She asked bluntly.

Piers choked on his tongue. “What?” He shook his head. “No! Why would you think that?”

“A boyfriend? A non-binary friend?”

“No,” Piers assured. “I don’t have anyone.”

“Huh.” Marnie scratched Morpeko behind the ears. “You had that look on your face.”

“Look?” Piers’ stomach clenched as he asked, “What look?”

“That look.” Marnie pulled her pokemon to her lap. “The one you get before Morpeko and me find some gushy love song folded up on the living room floor. It happens every time.”

Piers’ ears grew hot. Twice, Marnie found his secret love songs twice. For that reason, he didn’t even write them on scrap paper anymore but in a nondescript notebook in his dresser drawer—which he hadn’t pulled out since he broke up with an ex gym trainer more than a year ago.

Morpeko stuck her tongue out in disgust at finding another love song. She clambered over Marnie’s arms to the chips container. Morpeko licked her paw, dabbed it in the leftover salt, and cleaned her paw before hopping off the stage to rejoin the game.

“I don’t have a look like that.”

“Yes, you do,” Marnie replied in a sing-song voice. “You get this far away look on your face and a little, tiny smile like you’re thinkin' of somethin’ soft. I only see it when you’re datin’ someone or,” her eyes widen in realization, “you gotta crush.”

Piers’ stomach unclenched and fell to his boots.

“You’ve got a crush, dotcha?” His little sister pried. “Who is it? Do they like you back? Can they like you back? Are they a trainer? What’s their pokemon team? Do you see them often?”

Piers' head spun, blurring the rest of Marnie’s inquiries.

No way. He was too old for crushes, for one thing. For two, if Marnie’s theory held any water, then his ‘crush’ would be Leon.

That wasn’t possible.

Sure, he admired Leon’s strength and his determination. His kindness towards pokemon and others was sweet if a little goody-two-shoes. He was much more clever than he first appeared. His athletic frame stole Piers' attention and he wouldn't mind leaning up against that strength-trained chest.

Oh. Arceus. No.

Piers’ face reddened as he cataloged his thoughts. He did have a crush. He had a crush on Leon. Leon was the Chairman of the League. Not only that, he was and still is the poster child for preppy, sporty trainers everywhere. Leon was the goal children were taught to chase if they wanted to compete.

Only the trainers from Team Yell ever wanted to be anything like Piers, a badass who sang to his own song, not the one society dictated.

Sponsors flocked to Leon like mothim to a flame for his perfect public persona.

Only the Spikemuth Chamber of Commerce ever sponsored Piers, and that’s only because they always sponsored the gym leader.

Leon was the light that the world idolized.

He was the darkness that fought back to prove to those that the shadows were protective and safe for people like him. He was a fierce dark-type trainer. He sang punk rock. He had a band of miscreants who would follow his every order.

He could not have a crush on Leon.

Yet, he did.

What if people found out? Arceus, if news got around he wanted some of Leon’s finely toned ass—

“Piers?” Marnie poked his cheek.

He jumped, losing his balance and tumbling off the stage.

At the thud of his fall, the pokemon stopped their game. Obstagoon tossed his crisps bag aside to barrel towards his trainer. He skidded to his knees, dramatically throwing his claws up and crying out as if Piers fell off a ten-story building.

Marnie hopped down. Crouching, she asked, “Did you break your face?”

Piers groaned loudly. “Dark void, open up and swallow me. I no longer want to live in this cruel world that would play my heart like a harp string and snap it with its sick, twisted irony.”

Once Piers went on with his dramatic monologue, the pokemon returned to their games, confident Piers was fine. Obstagoon patted the back of Piers’ head reassuringly.

Marnie crouched next to him. “Is the person you have a crush on that bad? Are they married or,” she lowered her voice, “old?”

“We’re the same age.” Piers didn’t lift his head from the ground. “He’s single as far as I know.”

Marnie poked his cheek. “So what’s the matter? Are you too scared to ask him out?”

“No. It’s worse than that.” Piers crawled into Obstagoon’s lap and leaned his back against the warm, somewhat smelly, fur. Obstagoon wrapped him in a hug. He’d seen his trainer confused and in a pansexual punk panic before. Piers needed all the comfort Obstagoon could give him.

Marnie tucked her legs under her and waited expectantly for Piers to clarify.

He sighed, slumping farther down Obstagoon’s lap. Obstagoon’s arm fur tickled his nose as he buried his face in it.

“I can’t ask him out,” Piers muttered. “He’s my opposite.”

“Opposite?” Marnie echoed.

“Opposite,” Piers repeated. He paused, then said, “I’m punk. He does ballet. What more can I say?”

Her brows furrowed. She opened her mouth, then shut it, opened, shut, then tilted her head with one eyebrow raised.

"He dances?”

Piers rolled his head away. “You kids have no culture.” He sighed. “He’s the kind of person every kid wants to be like. I’m the kind of person kids stop comin’ to community gyms to train because of.”

Marnie hit her fist into her palm. “Oh, I get it. You don’t want to drag down his rep ‘cause people think you’re a lazy delinquent.”

“Hey!” Piers bolted up, right into Obstagoon’s hanging tongue. He wiped the slobber off his forehead with his forearm. He jabbed a finger at Marnie.

“It’s the other way around. He’d pull mine up from a mysterious, cool rebel rocker.”

He cringed at himself. Out loud it sounded childish. What was he, a schoolboy?

Piers flopped back against Obstagoon, grabbed Obstagoon’s arm, and dropped it over his face.

“Suffocate me. Please. I need to die to escape this torment.”

With a humph, Marnie wrapped her arms around Obstagoon’s thick forearm and lifted. She looked down at her brother with a frown.

“That’s it?” She shook her head. “That’s sad.”

“You’re a kid. You don’t understand.” Piers countered, trying to pull Obstagoon’s arm back over his face.

Marnie wrinkled her nose and tugged against Piers’ attempts.

“I am not.” She dug her feet into the ground. “It is sad. If you’re a ‘mysterious, cool, rebel rocker,’ why should you care what anyone thinks?”

Piers dropped his hands to his lap.

Without the opposing force against her, Marnie fell backward, still clinging to Obstagoon’s arm. Instead of letting her fall, Obstagoon lifted his arm, leaving her hanging off the ground. He carefully lowered her, but she kept his arm pressed against her chest.

Piers pushed himself up to his feet. He patted the back of his shirt, throwing black and white fur into the air. Without a word, he headed to the stage and picked up the trash from their food.

“Piers?” Marnie hugged Obstagoon’s arm to her chest. “Are you ok? I didn’t break you, did I?”

Piers turned. “Yeah. Just fine.” He walked back, bag in hand. A smile spread across his face as he reached up and ruffled her hair.

“You’re right. I was being the opposite of cool.” He admitted, prying her hands off Obstagoon's arm. “Thanks for reminding me.”

Marnie was right. He was the cool, fierce master of dark-type pokemon. He became one of the strongest trainers in all of Galar without resorting to Dynamax in a pinch.

Why the hell should he give a flying ratata’s ass about what other people think about who he wants to make out with?

He still didn’t want people knowing about his contest days. The stereotype of elitist snob coordinators still hung too closely to contests. The attraction could excuse Leon, but he didn't have a good enough excuse for dressing skuntank in a tophat and glittery, purple bow tie when he was still a stunky yet. Maybe if the contest scene grew a little, he could try again, but until then best keeping that particular secret under wraps.

Marnie shrugged, aloof. “It’s whatever. Someone needs to help you keep your head spun the right way around. I'm the only one qualified for it.”

“What would I do without you?” Piers chuckled.

“Die, probably,” Marnie replied. “So can you ask this guy out? Does he like you at all?”

Piers shrugged.

He didn’t know if Leon liked men. As far as he could remember, Leon never dated anyone of any gender. Leon had always been laser-focused on training and being the strongest trainer in Galar.

But if he did like men, would he be interested in Piers? He didn't know, but given how much time they’d be spending together training for the contest, maybe he could figure it out.

Marnie, her ponytails somewhat righted, asked, “If you need help, Gloria and me could—”

“I’d rather step on a pincurchin,” Piers cut her off, crushed the paper bag into a ball, and tossed it to the side. It bounced and went right through Scrafty's new card tower.

"Sorry," he apologized.

Scrarfy sobbed and slumped back. Marnie’s scrafty looked towards him then sighed. She walked around and helped him pick up the cards, their friendship restored.

“I’ll tell you if I find out anything.” He pointed at the hot potato game still ongoing with his thumb. “Right now, though, you and me don’t need boys when we can play with the best pokemon in the Galar region, though.” To Grimsnarl, he shouted, "Oi, toss it to me!"

Marnie giggled as Piers took her wrist and led her towards the game.

----

AN: Shout out to my friend Sara for the help with this! You da best!!! ^-^)/ Next chapter should be next week? I'll probably post to A03 first though if you want less of a wait.

Also feel free to follow my art blog @uas-art if you enjoyed the chapter art.

[entamewitchlulu]

My Top Anime of 2021

I watched a decent amount of anime this year! Let me tell you which ones were the best!

It’s all under the cut because of gifs and length lol

Quick honorable mentions to Urasekai Picnic and So I’m a Spider, So What?

They were both, for the most part, fun rides, but suffered from really disjointed writing and some extremely bad cgi lol.

Now onto the actual top ten!

10. Fairy Ranmaru

No I can’t believe this got onto my top ten either. This is a wild magical boy show about fairies who have to collect, like, love energy or something, for reasons. The plot is thinner than a sheet of paper and the show is mostly fanservice for dudes in skimpy clothing with sculpted abs.

I will be the first to admit that I do not think any of the boys are attractive. I tend to like anime boys but these boys are not pretty when they become fairies imo lol. So why is this on my top ten??

Uh. It was funny. And fun. And it took itself seriously which I feel like magical boy shows need to do more. Also it was a little gay which I can appreciate even if it is for fanservice!

9. Healin Good Precure

This is actually my first modern precure?? I’ve watched the original and it’s Max Heart sequel, and I’ve been trying to keep up with Troppre, but this was the first Precure I actually sat down and watched while it was airing.

I think that unfortunately COVID took a lot out of its production, leaving some of the ending with a lot to be desired and some really boring filler near the end where they should have been ramping up lot tension, and I feel like there were other intentions with some of the story threads that got changed, but overall I really enjoyed myself. I liked the premise, I liked the characters, and I had fun. I’m still Team Justice for Daruizen tho ;w;

8. Moriarty the Patriot season 2

I wanted this show to be so much higher on the list. Unfortunately, it was adapting some of my least favorite arcs from the manga, decided to skip my favorite Sherliam scene, and ended with a really underwhelming conclusion. I’ll be honest when I say, though, that I don’t think the show could have ended much differently, as I feel like the narrative’s take on what a revolution really requires was...shallow at best. Still, it was still gorgeously animated, and had some really incredible Sherlock and Moriarty moments that stick with me, so it was worth the time spent.

7. The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent

I keep saying I don’t like isekai, and then I keep enjoying it. This is a really cute, mostly slice of life isekai about a businesswoman summoned to another world to be the legendary Saint. However, another girl was also summoned, and they all decide they like her better! So Sei goes off to work in an apothecary, hoping no one notices just how powerful her magic is so she doesn’t get involved.

This is really simple and slow and gentle for an isekai, but Sei is really lovable and I relate to her “i don’t really want to get involved in all this political shenanigans...i just want to make Potions” attitude. Plus, the romance?? Sooooo good and cute. Cannot believe I don’t get to see them kiss. I finally ship a canon het couple and y’all won’t let me see them kiss??? unacceptable.

6. Nomad: Megalo Box 2

When I heard that Megalo Box was getting a sequel I was like really?? it doesn’t need one!! it ended perfectly!! but then it ended up being amazing??

It was really sad to see Joe cut off from his friends and his found family because of his guilt, but as we get to watch him grow once again, I realized that this story really was more necessary than I thought. The happily ever after of before couldn’t always last forever, and Joe and his team aren’t necessarily primed for tragedy once they thought everything was okay. Getting to see everyone grown up and dealing with their new lives, in the fallout of losing someone important, was so well done. And of course, the sound design of this show is always amazing. Great tunes and amazing fight scenes.

5. Pretty Boy Detective Club

I did not expect this to rank so high lol. I can’t even really tell you what this show is about...it’s about a bunch of grade school kids playing detective, but specifically PRETTY BOY detective. They ostensibly solve mysteries, but mostly they just talk about things that I feel lik ordinary eleven year olds would not talk about with some really pretty animation. But idk! It was well made, and the characters were a lot of fun.

4. Shadows House

I cannot fucking wait for the sequel to this. This is a beautifully animated and eerie story about a family of faceless Shadows, who employ Living Dolls to act as their servants and their “faces” to show their otherwise inscrutable expressions. The Living Doll Emilico has just woken up and been assigned to Lady Kate, whom she is desperate to please. But Kate seems to have far more on her mind.

The worldbuilding of this story is so subtle and fascinating, and as the mysteries of Shadows House unfold and the relationship between Kate and Emilico progresses, you only grow more and more invested. I want more soooooon!

3. Fruits Basket: The Final

Fruits Basket was one of my first ever manga, and it still holds a very special place in my heart. Finally getting to see these last arcs animated was a young me’s dream come true, as we get to see the finale of everyone’s character arcs, the final breaking of the curse, and the long awaited culmination of Tohru and Kyo’s relationship as they can finally hold each other for real. I was a little nervous about this adaptation, but they did the series so much justice, making it honestly the way I would recommend you experience the series, even over the manga. I will admit my bias lays with the wrap up of Akito as a character, and the story did not disappoint in showing her as the multilayered person she is with all the gravity she and the people around her deserve. The animation is stunning, the music incredible, and again: if you want to experience Fruits Basket, watch the rebooted anime. It’s the best way.

2. The Worlds Ends With You

I was all sorts of nervous about this anime coming out, because historically, video game anime are not the greatest. But holy hells did they deliver. TWEWY already has a really solid style, artistically, musically, and narratively, and the anime brought it’s A-Game in depicting that. It translated the art style so effectively while also making it able to be animated, and I absolutely love the way it looks. The fight scenes are so good, too!! They’re so fluid, and I love the touch of the pin flashing over the screen before it activates, seamlessly showing the game’s battle system without taking too much time away from the story. Voice acting is superb, music is superb, and the story that was so good in the game was so excellently adapted, without any feeling of rush or crunch. 

1. Zombieland Saga: Revenge

And my top anime of the year has to go to Zombieland Saga’s incredible sequel. Sequels are always so contentious, it’s so easy to get them wrong, especially when they’re highly anticipated. But the girls of Franchouchou delivered as always. Their new music is great, costumes and stage direction incredible as always, and getting to see each of their stories continue, balancing each member so perfectly, was such a delight. If you haven’t seen ZLS yet, where have you been?? Go support our zombie idols!

[hunnyuwu]

Wish You Were Here || Mark Lee

premise: was this just another phone call for the two of you?

genre: fluff, romance, crappy midnight induced drabble lol i should go to sleep

pairing: idol! mark x friend! reader

wc: 1k

____________

“Yes, Mark?”

“What a way to greet your best friend.”

“Correction, you’re merely a side hoe of mine.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“W-Wait no! I was joking Mork Lee, please don’t hang up!”

Mark chuckled lightly to himself, plopping down onto the living room sofa in his dorms. It was abnormally quiet tonight, and he was extremely bored, so he decided to give a certain someone a call. A special someone, to him at least.

“Why haven’t you called me lately, Y/N?” Mark teased you with a silly smile blossoming over his thin lips at the thought of your flustered face. While he was mostly joking, he couldn’t help that he was losing you more and more each and every day. He couldn’t let that happen, even if he had to carve more time out of his day for you.

“Hmm, let me think about it. Well, you literally do every single thing in the universe every single day in your life while remaining gorgeous enough for millions of girls and boys to pine for every day... Simply put, I am just respecting that you are literally in a million kpop groups. Besides, shouldn’t you be sleeping or something right now?”

“It’s not even midnight, Y/N. And millions of girls don’t pine for me.” Mark deadpanned, embarrassment coursing through his body. He potato rolled onto his back, resting his achilles onto the arms of the plush couch. 

He sighed, growing painfully aware of the chilly, empty atmosphere surrounding him. At times like this, he would do anything to have you near him, the mere company of your soul warming up the frosty emptiness he felt at most times.

“Ugh, do you even hear yourself? You are literally gorgeous, Mark. Do I make myself clear, Son?”

Mark rolled his eyes to the galaxy and back. 

“You don’t make sense, Y/N.”

“Good, that means you are still humble. I respect that.”

Mark simply exhaled in vain, forgetting how draining it was to talk to you sometimes.

“Sooooo, have you gotten yourself a kpop girlfriend yet?” You drawled out on the other end. Mark could just imagine you puckering your lips like you always did when you felt slightly awkward. He felt his heart rate spike slightly at the thought of this topic with you.

No, because I am waiting for you, Idiot.

“Of course not, Y/N! I would’ve told you by now, and you know that.”

“Hmmm, okay fair enough, but someone like you not at least in the ‘it’s complicated’ stage means only two things. You are just emotionally unavailable to anyone on this earth, or-”

“Or maybe I’m trying to get someone in particular.”

Silence.

Was that the wrong thing to say?

Mark bit down onto his lip nervously, his knuckles turning into a ghostly white from squeezing his android closely to his ear.

“Oh my god, I knew you liked Mina! That girl you emceed with for awhile!”

Mark froze into the fabric of the couch, jaw dropping at the sheer audacity. Chills rippled over his skin with an icy sensation, tutting loudly at you. That was definitely NOT what he was expecting.

“No wait, Y/N-”

“Ohh, then it may be Koeun? Y’all were close back in the day. How is she by the way?”

“Wait, Y/N, it’s-”

“Oh, right! It’s definitely-”

“It’s you, Y/N! I am waiting for you!”

“Oh, wait... wait what?”

Marrk heard you stumble over your array of words, causing him to grow more anxious with every incoherent blubber you murmured. Mark could clearly envision the way you processed his unfiltered statement. He himself was even in a stage of shock. Years of his one sided romance bursting out of his soul like a weakened dam.

Did he just ruin his relationship with you?

“Wait, forget what I said, Y/N.” Mark muttered, disheartened by your sudden disappearance. He couldn’t bare to lose you due to such a dumb slip up.

“Me?” He heard you faintly whisper. He couldn’t determine whether you were absolutely disgusted or slightly considering the idea, but he didn’t like the way this was going for him.

“Mark...”

Mark gulped, slowly configuring his thoughts, formulating the damage control within his hormonal tornado of a mind.

“Mark, answer me.”

“I-I...” Mark’s cheeks flushed with sheer horror, shaken by your deadly serious tone. How does he even answer you now? He messed up years of sweet moments and relentless loyalty just because his heart couldn’t take its caged loneliness anymore.

“Well, since you’re not going to respond, I-I’ll talk. I’m not sure if it’s what you meant by what you said earlier, but uh, if it is, I really like you too. So, um, yeah. Sleep well!”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Mark blinked slowly, jaw clenched so tightly that he thought he was seconds from shattering his teeth.

“I knew Y/N liked you, fool.”

Mark yelped from shock, throwing his cellphone across the room from muscle reflex. He shot his head to look at Yuta, smirking at him from the entryway, arms crossed over his chest in pure triumph.

“Oh, don’t look at me dumbly like that. Anyways, come to my room. We are going to plan out your first date, so pick up your stupid Android and get moving.”

With one last cheeky wink, Yuta left as soon as he came.

Mark stared blankly into the empty void of space, trying his not to think of you, because if he did, he knew his heart would explode into fireworks.

“Y/N likes me...” He mumbled dumbly, his chest constricting into a painful knot.

He raised his shaking palm to rest over his ascending heart,

“God, I wish you were here, Y/N.”

~~~

I’m so sorry this was nastily written goodbye lolz

[vyvesvi]

updated top albums list + recommended tracks from each bc im bored lol

*tentatively* in order

unnatural - wjsn | recommended songs: all of them (especially unnatural, supermoon, and yalla) except for rewind | skips: just rewind bc ballad /// im not sure what style to call this album but they really made such a smash, its crazy that it came out so early in the year and no gg is touching it (album wise). literally the only complaints i have are the obligatory ballad (that they always do bc they can all sing lmfao), the album cover/title (dont love the cover design and i dont love when the album name is the tt name, except in certain circumstances (a full album (especially where the title isnt necessarily from the title track) like montero) or when it's a single album (the inverse of this being rsq's prequel which couldve just been called colorfull since that was the only damn song 😐)). i also was disappointed with the outfits for last dance but that's peripheral.

timeabout, - yukika | recommended songs: insomnia & secret | skips: none /// okay to keep it very real im genuinely scared that she'll never surpass soul lady. i love, and i mean LOVE timeabout, but soul lady was on another plane of existence. like she could've held that album a little bit

the other side of the moon - gwsn | recommended songs: like it hot, starry night, i cant breathe | skips: i sing, depending on my mood /// i dont have much commentary tbh,this is just a very solid mini idk. id like to see a fusion of i cant breathe/tweaks/after the bloom/burn, maybe on their next mini. i love their brighter stuff but maybe a darker concept next (halloween cb pls pls pls)

montero - lil nas x | lowkey too soon for me to pick recommended songs but i'll say montero, scoop, lost in the citadel, sun goes down, and am i dreaming for now. will update! | skips: none /// i cant say that this is this year's sawayama bc sawayama was kinda more like a collection of really strong singles? whereas i feel like these songs shine as an album. i dont even know what to say except that im soooo surprised and impressed because i didnt know that this is the type of music he made???? like he raps but theres a lot of singing? not like belting but definitely not rapping. its kinda...alt ish? in some places? if i had to use ine genre to describe the whole album id probably say alt pop? idk but whatever it is it's definitely working

hide & seek - purple kiss | recommended songs: zombie & so why (tbh all of them) | 2am and zzzz depend on my mood but theyre def not full skips /// no bad song on the album this is crazy....i might rerank since i just listened to it for the first time but as of now idk, its good im just super impressed. ponzona wasnt for me but this cb theyre really doing all the things, lovr tht for them

produced by: [myself] - onlyoneof | recommended songs: coy & night flight | question mark depends on my mood /// im still mad at them (read: 8d) sooooo...idk. i can’t really listen to their music rn. but this mini is still good

play game: holiday - weeekly | recommended songs: check it out, weekend, holiday party | i like memories of summer rain and la luna but it depends on my mood /// very cohesive mini, def their best overall imo! not much to say, but i hope jiyoon gets well soon TTTT

enchant - orbit | recommended songs: gokurakuchouka & never gonna get away but also all of them except flor lunar | skips: flor lunar is nice but boring /// i need kpoppies to get into it im tired of being here alone cmon y’all

set - woodz | recommended songs: feel like | skips: none /// i prefer his bright tracks but this mini was solid as usual. where is the full album tho seungyoun hmmm????

guess who - itzy | recommended songs: sorry not sorry, tennis (0:0), kidding me | skips: in the morning, occasionally wild wild west /// i remember being very surprised that i liked this album, especially given that i dont like mitm. not anything groundbreaking but still solid. i think the naming of tennis (0:0) was really clever

intersection: trace - bae173 | recommended songs: green light, loved you | skips: none (sometimes the intro tho) /// honestly their music is really good??? mbk just hasn’t promoted them well, i feel like they make it a little hard to stan...i really appreciate that they’re not doing the stereotypical hard bg concept thing

lilac - iu | recommended songs: coin, flu, ah puh, troll | skips: honestly id have to relisten, some of the songs a lil boring but idr them at the moment

hello future - nct dream | recommended songs: hello future, life is still going on | skips: idr tbh, probably hot sauce though //// was very surprised that i liked this album, but the outro of hello future really got me after a few listens so i had to check it out. very decent!

killa - mirae | recommended songs: killa, sweet dreams, 1 thing | skips: none really but all of the bsides are a little mid tbh /// i will be 1000% honest in saying that the three reasons this allbum made this list are 1.) killa (the tt), 2.) none of the songs are bad, 3.) lien’s vocals. something about lien....he really just sells whatever song he’s on. his belting >>>>>>>>>>>. he makes their music very enjoyable to listen to, next in that department would be junhyuk. based on their most recent cb, siyoung and khael also contribute a lot as well. shame that the rest of the cb album kinda does nothing for me idk. random but i would really like a gg to cover higher and/or killa

& - loona | recommended songs: ur, ptt | skips: a different night, dance on my own /// these r my girls but this is not their best. ur is wonderful though, and ptt is addicting somehow. wow and be honest are fine but really not their best. i like wow’s choreo tho! 

albums im excited to listen to (no particular order):

last year was weird volume 3, tkay maidza (i’ve already listened to a bunch of it but i need to sit and just listen to the whole thing)

troubled paradise, slayyter (same as above, but i didn’t even realize it came out this year, i thought it was old for some reason lol)

jo1, challenger (every song of theirs i hear i like pretty much so i need to take an organized look at them lmfao)

jo1, stranger (same as above)

only lovers left, woodz (duhhh its woodz. not out yet but im excited! i do prefer his brighter concepts and this def isn’t that. he says its not gonna be like what he’s done before but the title and concept photo that’s out rn is giving lift up)

the book of us: negentropy - chaos swallowed up in love, day6 (the title kinda bored me but we’ll see. also sungjin’s gone so.....................we’ll see.)

ancient dreams in a modern land, marina (i barely got past venus fly trap because its soooooo good. i’ve listened to a little after that but the songs i heard didn’t really compare. i have to give it a shot tho)

the chaos chapter: fight or escape, txt (i liked the blue hour mini so i need to give them a chance i suppose)

333, tinashe (i just feel like i should idk)

honorable mentions (no particular order):

blue hour, txt - discovered this year, came out last year. retroactively makes the 2020 albums list bc whew the market research that went into that thing paid off

hula hoop/ starseed ~kakusei~, loona (why tf does the album not have a name) - duhhh loona + synths = a smash. in fact like i said when it dropped i dont even wanna call them loona anymore. this is kongetsu no shoujo!!! this isn’t on my top albums list because im counting as two songs and my limit is 3. i might add it anyways lmfao. we’ll see

ugly beauty, jolin tsai - discovered this year, came out in 2018. i just really like jolin tsai idk. i had only heard that album w play and i’m not yours, both are iconic but the production quality sounds...low? like its older but ik they’re not *that* old. either way, ugly beauty does everything i wanted it to - dramatic, vocals, rapping, boa vibes...jolin tsai is a queen what can i say

also, there are of course a ton of singles that i love as well, this is albums only though lmfao. i have no idea if i could even attempt to organize the singles lol

[neoniverse]

heal me. | chapter III

disclaimer: this series is a work of fiction. any businesses, events or incidents are products of my wide imagination. all of the character’s personality does not reflect and has nothing to do in real life.

warnings: smut, angst, usage of strong language, mentions of death, alcohol & drugs, cheating issues and lots of flashbacks (read each chapter carefully)

pairings: jung jaehyun x reader

a/n: i want to thank y’all for sending me messages regarding this series, i’m so overwhelmed with the support i’m receiving. :( heal me is ending in four more chapters so the next update might take long to write again for i will write the last chapters longer than the usual. again, thank you sooooo much :’( 

song association: storm - ruelle

« CHAPTER II / CHAPTER IV »

“You’re taking my heart, by storm

I’m lost in your love.”

The cold breeze of the whole fancy floor embraced a minimal exposed skin of my shoulder, allowing me to fix my white fur shawl to its place. I make my way down the carpeted hallway, knees quivering, and my heart in my throat thumping an unusual differing beat.

I am going to have a dinner with Taeyong Lee, and I don’t even like eating dinner—not to a place like this. But he kept on insisting earlier so I had to accept his offer.

“Bonsoir. Réservation pour Lee,” Taeyong pleasingly said to the lady in the desk, her hair was styled in a neat bun.

“Par ici, Monsieur.”

Another woman escorted us to a private room. Everything inside the restaurant shimmers, screams elegance, and luxuriance. I feel like a mere outsider, knowing that the man walking casually beside me is known to be really well off.

When we arrived at the dining room, the plates were already set. As if it forethought that there will be two people dining in. Taeyong pulled the chair so I could sit. He sat in front of me afterwards.

“So, are you Jaehyun’s girlfriend or ex-girlfriend?”

Taeyong randomly asked before putting the spoon inside his mouth. Just as I was about to swallow, he drifted his dark brown eyes to mine—making me choke on the food.

He forthwith poured water on the tall drinking glass; I immediately drank from it, hand over the chest.

He smirked. “Sorry. Based on your reaction, I really think you’re damn indeed my brother’s girlfriend.”

I shook my head miserably and smiled. Taeyong is softer and light to talk to than his brother. Though he immensely intimidates my soul; those dark stares, brow raise and playful grin is really something.

“What made you jump to that?” I asked him while my eyes were on the utensils I’m holding.

He went silent for a moment, giving me his infamous stare. I gave him back a look and felt my face heated so bad.

“Oh—holy shit,” He cursed softly. “You’re the one from Johnny’s house party two years ago!”

I tried to hide my smile but then, failed. Taeyong put his utensils down to hold his chin, as if enthralling.

“May I also ask now?”

He leaned back. “Yeah, sure. As what you are allowed to do so, gorgeous.”

I remained silent for a couple of seconds, thinking of the question that has been bothering me since the day I met him.

“If Jaehyun is your brother, how come you’re not a Jung?”

His brow shot up and fixes me with his dark stare. Oh, God. Did I, in any way, offend him? His mouth quirks up, and he stares quietly. If I tell you I was terrified, I do mean it.

“I—I didn’t mean to uhm, nevermind. You don’t need to ans-”

“Well, he’s my half-brother,” His lips curls in a wry smile then continues. “Father introduced him to me when we were eight. And I know what you’re thinking. I don’t hate him, Y/N. Jaehyun being my half-bro, and hating him for that is just so shallow and childish. But of course, I did hate him when we were little ones but he ended up becoming my best friend.”

I felt bad.

“I’m sorry for asking such an insensitive question,” I muttered.

Taeyong slightly shook his head sideways and proceeded to eat. He even joked about something that made me laugh. After the fancy dinner, he drove me back to the hotel I was staying at, and apparently, he was also staying there.

“When will you go back to Korea?” He asked before sitting on the solo sofa inside my hotel room. I insisted him to stay for a while.

“The day after next,” I sighed. “I have plenty of works to do.” I answered and dropped my white fur shawl on the edge of the bed.

“There is something about you that keeps me intrigued, Y/N.” He squinted his eyes that made me chuckle.

I shot my brow up. “Yeah? What is it?”

“Are you really a human or some type of goddess that walked to this planet?” He says, like a curious kid.

“That’s a secret for me.”

“Ah, whatever. I’ll go ahead now. Might be ruining your supposed beauty rest already.” He shrugged and stood up.

“Taeyong.”

“Hm?”

“Thank you, so much, for tonight. I really had so much fun.”

“Pleasure’s all mine, gorgeous. Have a good night.”

He smiled widely and winked before walking out of the room. The day after next, I went back home. Johnny fetched me from the airport and welcomed me with piles of paperwork.

“And here are the papers from Mrs. Han’s office. God, she annoyed me for the whole two days you were gone!” He continously rants. “She even told me, ‘Why did you left my poor Y/N alone”, when I’m not even fucking invited!”

 I let out a laugh. “Well, Mr. Johnny, it’s because Mrs. Han treats me like Sodam. You know how much she misses her,” I smirked. “Besides, be thankful that she didn’t make you fly to Paris just for updates about me.”

“Hm, yeah. Really thankful,” He rolled his eyes.

“By the way, I heard you went out with Taeyong.”

I froze on my swivel chair. Did someone saw us and mistakenly thought we were out on a date?

“Nope,” He answered, as if he read my mind. “Someone just told me.”

“Ah, yes,” I glanced at him. “I accidentally bumped into him when I was about to leave the event. He just compensated.”

I went silent, thinking of who could possibly saw us that night.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep it as a secret.” He winked playfully.

I glared at him. He raised his hands—as if he committed. He probably thinks there’s something going on between me and Taeyong. I let out an exasperated sigh and before finishing the paperwork. Much for a productive day.

After Taeyong’s appearance on the site three weeks ago, I never saw Jaehyun again. Perhaps he’s also taking his distance from me. Which is something I should be least cared about. Until the following days turned into weeks then turned into months. April ended like a blink of an eye.

“Hey, you seem to be so occupied,” Rosé removed her hard hat and sat beside me. “What’s bothering you?”

I looked at her. I don’t even know what’s keeping me off. Maybe because time flies so fast.

“I really don’t know, Rosie. Something’s just bothering me lately.” I softly smiled. “It’s already October.”

She patted the top of my head and did a short storytelling of her embarrassing moments when she was still in college. She was full on energy and talkative. I listened to her jokes but I still felt like floating and tired.

“Let’s go out for drinks tonight,” She squealed. ”My treat, I swear!”

She pulled me to the near mall after work. Whenever I’m about to pay, she just hands me the paper bag and shows her black card. I wasn’t even dumbfounded about it. She came from a wealthy family, after all.

After the short shopping, we decided to go home and just meet at the club. I called Johnny to join us but he said he has to be somewhere else. While Seolhee, all I know is she’s in Chicago for a short leave.

The blasting music from the club was already heard from the parking. I took a quick glance to the rear-view mirror before going out of my BMW. I decided to wear a black lace bralette, short fitted leather skirt, and a pair of black opyum sandals from YSL.

“Holy shit, Y/N!” Rosé stood up when she saw me walking towards the reserved table. She gave me a kiss on the cheek. “You look bomb, babe, just so you know.”

I laughed. “And we both know you’re the head-turner here.”

She poured vodka in the shot glasses and gave me one. I tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

“Cheers!”

I was about to tale the shot when someone snatched the glass from my hand. My eyes widen up when I saw Taeyong straightly drank it. He placed the glass back to the marble table, making a noise.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Taeyong greeted. He’s wearing oversized stripped long sleeves, two buttons are unbuttoned, and his hair was dyed with color green. Which I find hideous.

I smiled and tapped the space beside me. 

Rosé cleared her throat and stood up. “I’m leaving you two alone, I’ll look for my boyfriend.”

I nodded then turned to Taeyong. “What brought you here? It’s been months since I last saw you,” I asked before taking a new shot of vodka. “Your new hair color is so fucking hideous, by the way.”

His brows furrowed then he pulled his hair down to look at his hair. “You’re such a bully, y’know.” He put his elbow to the table and rested his chin to his hand.

“And I’m not a loner,” He joked. “Come with me, I’ll bring you to our table.”

We went to the VIP floor of the club, and as we walk, he was greeted by different people, most of them are socialites or models. Taeyong swiftly placed his hand on my waist that I didn’t even notice at first.

“Meet my dumb folks,” He softly tightened his hold that made me look at him but he just winked.

Winking is his signature move.

The table was filled with five boys, one of them was familiar to me and one girl. I glanced at his friends until I saw Jaehyun in the middle, staring at me. Down to Taeyong’s hand on my waist. His jaw clenched and he looked away. The girl beside him placed her hand to his thigh.

“Y/N, this is Yuta, Lucas,” Taeyong said, looking at the two guys who were laughing on the left. They stopped when they heard their name.

I gulped nervously when I felt Jaehyun’s bored eyes at me again. My hands was trembling and it was probably obvious but they didn’t seem to notice it when I took their hands.

“Oh, right. Taeyong-hyung’s babe,” Lucas said as he took my hand and shook it. He pressed his hand.

“Doubt that,” I answered. Taeyong chuckled and guided me to sit beside the familiar guy. “He has plenty of ‘babe’ for me to add in and join the crowd.” I continued, and gazed to Jaehyun.

God, he makes me so fucking nervous.

“The two on your right are Doyoung and Mark,” He continued. “Mark is Johnny’s cousin.” He motioned to the two guys beside me.

I gave them a smile. “Yeah, I know Mark. Johnny introduced him to me before.”

“Don’t drink too much if you don’t want to make things you will surely regret tomorrow morning,” Taeyong whispered, making me chuckle. He just smirked.

Jaehyun suddenly stood up and left the table. His jaw clenched when he looked at me then he went downstairs. I excused myself for bathroom break but I just followed him.

I realized we were already outside, at the parking lot. He approached a grey Aston Martin. Even if the area was a bit dark, I can still see his ears turn red.

“Hey, Jaehyun,” I grabbed his arm.

“Fuck!” He hissed, pulling his arm back. “What is it, this fucking time, huh?”

I bit my lower lip. “Let’s just talk, please.”

He scoffed sarcastically before releasing his hand to the car handle. I gazed down.

“Why are you being like this? Are you drunk?” I said softly.

“Are you for real, asking me why am I acting out like this? You left me and you came back again,” He pushed his hair back in frustration. “Bullshit!”

I looked at him with disbelief. “I left because I had reasons, and I never wanted to be back. It was you who keeps on wanting me near you!”

“Then run away.” He looked at me with a mocking smirk. “Run fucking away. I’m so tired and done of this shit, anyway.”

My throat felt dry. I couldn’t talk. I wanted to slap him across the cheek but somehow, I just can’t. He let out a frustrated groan before kicking his car door that made me flinch. Tears are starting to form at the corner of my eyes.

“Run away from me, Y/N. Run until you’re far and unreachable for me to follow.” His jaw clenched, for God knows how many times already and shook his head.

“Why do you want me to be far from you then?” A fresh hot tear fell from my left eye.

“Because I’m so tired of the chase. I’m so tired of running for you,” His voice broke. “I tried to forget you, I tried to remove you out of my system. God knows what my fucking limit is, baby, and there’s nothing more painful to that.”

He entered his car and stayed inside. While I was left dumbfounded, someone pulled me. My traitor tears started falling—no one was even able to stop it.

Taeyong, being the great savior that he is, ended up driving me back to my condominium. He remained silent whilst I muffled my sobs inside his car. When we got inside my unit, he told me to get a nice warm shower before sleeping. He even got himself the cotton pads and makeup remover on my vanity just to remove the remaining makeup on my face.

“I will leave once you’ve fallen asleep,” He said while putting the damped cotton to my face.

I just stared at him with desolation. My heart weighed down with sadness, causing my eyes to burn with tears. He cupped my face and wiped the shed tears away.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this,” I remained my eyes to his. “But thank you, Taeyong. I’m really thankful.”

He just gave me a soft pat on top of my head as a response that made my heart thump hard. I slowly closed my eyes, begging for the darkness to fill and enclose me in.

February 9, five years ago.

Johnny’s 20th birthday bash was definitely boring—or atleast for you because you feel like you don’t belong there. Johnny is a really famous guy ever since you met him when you were freshmen. Most of his friends are either models or socialites. As you feel the boredom reaching out, you left the ballroom to go to the hotel’s rooftop to wind up and inhale fresh air. At first, you thought you were alone.

A tall guy was standing near the edge, hands inside the pockets of his black jeans, eyes gazing the view of city lights. You crossed your arms over your chest before walking towards the man. But he just remained his eyes to the busy Seoul.

Minute has passed and no one even dared to speak. You were about to leave when the unknown man finally had the guts to talk.

“Would you mind me telling a story?” He said, his back was still facing you.

You don’t know what pulled your shit together into joining and listening to him. But you decided to stay because you didn’t want to go back downstairs and act as if you’re sociable.

“My father, he got fucking mad at me just for a petty reason,” He smiled. “I left the home I thought I would claim as my own. I feel useless just because for a fucking small mistake. I hate him so much. He cheated twice, now he’s doing it again. A fucking manipulative cheater—something I will never do or even try to be.”

“You also got daddy issues. Nice.” You scoffed. He locked gazes with you. “I’m Y/N.”

He laughed and a set of deep dimples appeared. “Mhm, your name suits you well. The name’s Jaehyun Jung.”

An hour has passed without the both of you knowing. You both shared shitty stories that happened to your lives while admiring the city lights and night sky. Things like this bored you to hell before, so it was very unlikely of you.

“And you know what’s shittier than that? My father—my own father abandoned us. I have like, zero knowledge to that man.”

“Holy fuck, we’re so fucking broken,” Jaehyun scoffed sarcastically.

“I don’t feel broken, though,” You looked at him. “Did my fucked up life story atleast, helped you forget what happened to you?”

“Pretty much, yeah. Now I’m thinking if you’re some angel sent from above to heal me for a moment.”

“Allow me to heal you further, then.” You gave him a small smile.

The night was so young, and you never thought a mere stranger would also help you forget your own problems. You already knew it from the very start.

You were the reason why he wanted to be loved by people and you—to heal him as he also heal the wound of your poisonous past.

[skittles1229]

Old Expectations Die Hard (Dashie x Reader Fanfic)

Chapter One: Weird Circumstances

You know your life is complicated when the friend you always complain to says "you never have a dull moment do you?" I sigh as the weight of the world seems to make it impossible to breath. You see recently things have been rough. I lost my job and my fiance all in the same day, that itself was an unbelievable story. I was so upset and strung out on thoughts of what to do that once i got home early from work i didn't notice the extra car in the driveway. i stepped into my home and my own floors felt as if they'd given way when i saw the guy i thought i'd be spending my life with in bed, with my sister... my sister and i hadn't been on good terms for a while and for a good reason! The drugs she took either made her unreliable and selfish or crazy and murderous. He, of course, pulled the its not what you think, id never hurt you, it was a mistake, and honestly i could write a book out of the excuses i heard in the time of two minutes but maybe another time. Needless to say i left. I never thought about going back and to be honest my sister looked more hurt then i was. I took a job in California a few weeks ago and moved in with my friend (BFF Name). They always seemed to know what to say and honestly i truly believe They  knew me better then i know myself. 

California gave me the biggest culture shock I've ever had. I came from Mississippi, the bible belt and the most rural part of the world. California was sooooo different then what i was use to. The weather is awesome. There's lots of jobs for technical people, at least until you're 45 and then you're considered ancient and you can't possibly know anything when some 23-year old out of Stanford tells you that they know it all. (a little bit of sarcasm there) It's a great place to start a new company, money is available as is talent. The risk of starting a company is lower since you can always find a new job The politics are insane, if you aren't towing the progressive party line you should just STFU. If you even once say that Trump has done something positive, or that Obama did something negative prepare for the wrath. Read the stuff behind the recently filed lawsuit against google for a taste of what it's like. Seriously, don't say a word. The state if structurally bankrupt, although the finances look good because so much stuff is off of the balance sheet. The public pension liability dwarfs the "good" part of the budget, and some day it is coming home to roost. Watch out when it does. The cost of living is absurd, really absurd. I'm not talking just a place to live but gas, electricity, haircuts, milk, pizza, you name it. The traffic is absurd too. (can you tell i like the word absurd) The public transit, although usually on time, is a mess. People are pigs, they throw trash everywhere, the cars are overcrowded almost all the time. 

I've got to say, from how much it sounds like i hate California, i actually don't.  Mainly because its so far away from my original family, leaving really helped me start to grow up and feel like maybe i was getting a hold of my life again. Only problem has been getting to my new job on time. I work as a barista and a waitress at a brunch place a good minute away from the apartment. The money is good, otherwise i wouldn't waste my time with the commute everyday. i keep being late to work because i still haven't adjusted to how terrible traffic is and so my boss was "nice" enough to switch me to the later shifts. The hours are long and boring because my shift starts in the middle of rush hour to the slowest hours at the end of the day meaning you have to find things to keep yourself busy with. the only good thing is, we can wear pretty much anything we want as long as its black. all i wear is dark colors so i didn't have to spend any extra money on a uniform and i didn't have to wear the same thing everyday. Today i decided i wear a v-neck shirt that with an emperor waist (body forming) with black skinny jeans and my regular converse. i decided against driving to work and decided it would be far smarter to catch a bus to the nearest destination. My (hair color) hair was done is a fishtail messy braid, i always liked this style because it made me look like i had a head full of hair when in reality i thought i was going bald. 

My personality was a little odd, you see some days i felt like the beautiful nerd who has no confidence and wants to hide away in a hole. other days i feel like a model from Victoria secrets, of course those are the days i get the most tips. today was honestly a mutual day, where id rather be at home in my bed asleep, or listening to music. The bus finally stopped a block away from my job and i sighed obviously not wanting to go into work. surprisingly there wasn't nearly  as many cars as there usually is around this time but i wasn't complaining. i walk in to see that most of the downstairs was empty but whoever was upstairs definitely had a loud mouth. i walk to the back in order to clock in and i bump into melany ( the girl im shifting with). "wow you actually got here on time! Maybe the boss's mood will cheer up." i huffed a little. "yea, i dont know why i thought id need a car in California, say whats with the low level of customers? its NEVER this slow." she looked at me in disdain, "some guys reserved the entire upstairs and we had to make this huge table out of all our tables up there, glad im not gonna be the one fixing it later." i rolled my eyes, i hated when a huge family came in and they just had to move everything around because little johnny wants the sit next to suzzie and suzzie HAS to sit by her parents bc she likes to throw her food on the floor, all fake names but a real situation ive been in before. "well have they at least been fed so that i only have to clean up after them?" she shook her head while hanging up her apron. "nope, they've only ordered their drinks and they are getting those onto trays now." so today was gonna be like every other day. "guess i better go help them take those upstairs then, have a good rest of your day." i walk away and slip on my apron, grabbed one of the trays of drinks while another waiter grabbed the rest of the drinks. Once i got upstairs, that's when i met him...

Chapter Two: Last Will and Testament

          He was sitting on the far end of the long table of people laughing and joking. everyone seemed to be loud and all had their own inside jokes. This guy, he stuck out. i changed my attention to the task at hand, finishing this shift. i hated when people moved all the tables and seating around. all the waiters and waitresses have to go back behind them and look at the layout of the floor to put them all back exactly as they were before. it was a struggle and because of this nobody actually wanted that job so usually the manager gives it to her least favorite workers and i happened to be one. "who all had coke?" nobody answered me so one of the men bellowed out the same line and somehow was able to get a show of hands. i walked around handing  out drinks, catching the lingering smell of strong liquor. i could tell by the end of tonight they would all be wasted and loud. please, just don't make more of a mess then you have to, i thought to myself. i had one drink left on my tray, "sweet tea?" the guy i saw before at the end of the table waved his hand and i dreaded going over there, i always seem to make a fool of myself when it matters. 

     i make my way slowly down the table with the tray under my arm and the tea in my hand. i lean over to sit his drink on the table.."here's your t-" *CRASH* while joking with one of his friends his elbow crashes into my hand sending the tea flying all over me and the cup crashing to the floor, thank god i wore black. he turned around and looked more horrified then i did. "i'm sorry! i'm so sorry!" his voice was deeper then i imagined it'd be. "no, it my fault i'm sorry ill get you a new one." i turned away to hide my embarrassment and walked away really just trying to get away from the situation. i could tell from the silence behind me that all eyes were on me. i ran to the back where the lockers were for the service. i went to the bathroom and stripped the sticky clothes off throwing them aside. i sat on the toilet  trying to catch my breath, my social anxiety had struck me  hard. a feeling of worthlessness and dread fell over me like a blanket. after the past few months i've had just one day without something terrible happening would mean the world to me. i heard a knock on the door, it was melany, she walked in with a towel from the kitchen. "hey, i heard what happen upstairs are you ok?" i covered my breast trying keep myself as unexposed as possible. "oh yea im fine, im just cold, and sticky, and... covered in tea." melany and i made eye contact and both laughed just to lift the dread in the air. "let me guess, all the guys are getting a kick out of watching me fumble again huh?" i said a little less concerned and more annoyed. she rolled her eyes "they are boys, they get a kick out of picking their own nose. we both slid to the floor beside each other, she hands me the damp towel. i get most of the sticky off as possible, throwing my hair up to make it look less clumped together by the sugar. "i have an extra black t shirt in my locker but i don't know how it will fit you. your breast are at least a size larger then mine." i shrugged my shoulders, "who cares ill make do. thanks for your help melany." she smiled her weird anime girl smile and ran to get the shirt from her locker.

     ill have to admit, she was right about the size thing. it was far to small around the chest area but the rest fit fine. after the incident my boss stuck me down stairs wiping tables and sweeping the floor, i dont mind though because i get to experience the day coming to an end with a beautiful sunset over California. i secretly kept the the window to watch as the sun fell from the sky. the sky seemed to burn and darken while the clouds began to glow with the last bit of sunlight left. the sky filled up with burning Burgundy and faded orange and yellows, the tallest buildings seemed to reach for the skyline as if it were a sunflower moving to the last drip of sunlight. moving here had been hard, and this had become one of the things i looked forwards to. living in the apartment with my friend was nice, buts its not the same as coming home to someone you use to lay with every night. sleeping alone seemed so much colder and emptier then i remembered from childhood. my mother would be so disappointed in the way i turned out, in the places id gone and the decision to spend my life with someone who was most obviously the wrong one. she would have told me to slow down and to take my time, that growing up wasn't everything. she would have said love isn't something you just wake up and have, its something you make. i wasn't anywhere close to where i thought id be by now, and i could see that. it tears at my heart everyday, not being able to see her or any of my family. sometimes it felt as if they'd all died in the fire that night. 

     i suddenly heard a boom of voices making their way down the stairs, i hadn't realized how close to closing time it had become. all of them walk out stumbling and laughing at their own jokes, seems they all got a good bit of drinking in, all except one. The guy i ran into on accident seemed as sober as ever, designated driver i think, he was much taller now. he seemed muscular but in such a fitting way for his body. his teeth sparkle because their so white, his smile complimented him best. his high cheekbones made his chocolate brown eyes his best feature. His skin was glowing with a sweet honey hue and before i could notice that i was staring he turned his head. his eyes met mind before i could think twice and that's when i felt the heat rise to my cheeks. weather it be from embarrassment or silly school girl shyness i didn't know . i turned my face away but it was too late, i turned my face a little just to catch a glimpse of him before he made his way out of the door and that's when i noticed his cheeks had gone from a burnt caramel to a rosy color. i felt my body shiver at the thought that maybe, just maybe he found me as attractive as i found him. i shook the thought from head realizing they had began locking the place down. as i helped close up shop and wash dishes i couldn't help but to let my mine wander to all different kinds of thoughts, funny thing was they always fell back to him and his rosy  cheeks. i couldn't help but smile as i felt my heart race at the thought of him, even though id made a fool of myself today i was glad i hadn't ruined my chances. Even if he'd never get with me or i wouldn't ever see him again, i'd still take it as a compliment that he even looked my way. 

     before long we were all outside laughing and talking about today. The manager locked the doors and said his goodbyes. i turn to walk towards the bus station when i see a man standing aside awkwardly between the restaurant and the parking lot. suddenly my eyes adjusted and once they did, the joyousness butterflies came back and the blush suddenly reappeared on my cheeks..

There are lots more chapter after this if you are interested you can find them here

https://my.w.tt/sosFRmianbb

[thegreatpikminzx789]

Yggdrasil’s Nexus: Prologue - Chapter 8 (Etrian Odyssey Nexus Fanfiction)

Wattpad|A03

Summary: Three of the five guilds of Koreys arrive at their designated guildhouse, getting a proper look around the place. That, and the highlander spends a bit of time with his family as they look around the place.

Previous Chapter|Next Chapter (Not available yet) Lynus (Mentioned) @theshatteredrose​

There they were. Sitting on the porch of the guild house, waiting for a single sign of their guild members to arrive in the distance. Accompanied only by the sounds of the wind, and the chatter of people off in the distance, their voices carried by the wind.

Korey and Lola were recently ditched by Dezi to get his guild members, but they sat in front of the guild house, waiting for the elderly War Magus to return, or to see if the other guild members would arrive. Minutes have passed since the War Magus left, and there hasn't been a sign of Hilda, or any of the members of Korey's guild. The Highlander had to stretch his arms from leaning against the wall too long, sighing as he took a chair from underneath the nearby table and sat next to Lola.

"I know I'm usually patient, but maybe I should've sent you back to see how the others are doing... Waiting sucks." Korey complained, adjusting his hair so that it doesn't get in his eye.

The Yggdroid beside him  lets out a discontent sigh, with the only thing preoccupying her was one of her shurikens, tracing her metallic fingers on the tabletop before letting go of the shuriken. "I'm sick of waiting... I wanna see the guild house already!" Lola grunts, sitting back on her chair as she leaned her head back to look up at the sky.

Korey has never seen Lola this impatient since that incident back in Armoroad... It was a tough situation for her to go through, and even then, just seeing her bored out of her mind really makes one wish they'd regret their decision of being a robot. Not that he'd find comfort in not being able to sleep or eat, but it was weird to think back to how Yggdroids worked, even before he entered the labyrinth in Armoroad.

The Highlander lets out a sigh, knowing that whatever he might say may irk Lola a bit. "I know, Lola, I know," Korey began, pondering mid-sentence on what he wanted to say next. "I really wanna see my parents again..."

Lola turned her head to face Korey, her attention all on him. "Your...parents?" Lola inquired, finding interest in the sudden subject of Korey's parents. To her, it was something to pass the time with, but in doing so, she gets to know a bit more about her guild leader. A win-win situation for both participants, really.

"They live in Iorys, the place we're heading to next." Korey explained as simple as he can put it into words. He took a couple of seconds afterward pondering to himself, before looking away from Lola, though he couldn't, for the life of him, recollect if they were doing well before his disappearance. Although last he knew, they were alive and well since having married Hilda and having kids, so it wasn't far off to assume they're still waiting for his return...

Sure, it probably worried them, but whatever happened afterward probably wasn't too heartbreaking for them... Then again, Korey kept doubting himself, so he wasn't sure what happened that night in Iorys. With a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down, he, too, tried to distract himself with scrolling through his journal entries from his recent journey in Tharsis.

"If...I must be honest," Lola commented after a short while, prompting the Highlander to stop and look back at Lola. "I...don't know much about Iorys, or the surrounding lands. Would you explain what it looks like?" She asked, her voice sounding as innocent as a child.

It was strange to hear such a request from Lola, especially when he just recovered from his amnesia. Was it even worth a shot trying to remember the land he grew up in...? The Highlander seemed to hesitate for what felt like forever, with the Yggdroid waiting oh-so-patiently for an answer.

"Well," Korey sighed, closing his journal and putting an arm on it to make sure the wind doesn't blow the book open. "I know that in Arcania, we had two moons. Not sure why or how we can see two moons from that particular part of the Earth, but we did never get an answer to that in the end..." He began, recollecting the strange twin moons the inhabitants of Arcania saw every night.

The Highlander took a quick glance at Lola, seeing her surprised that two moons existed, before seeing her shake off her surprised face. "That's sooooo strange! Did the ocean tides changed due to its influence? Was the gravity any different?!" Lola questioned, throwing Korey back in surprise.

"Whoa, calm down Lola," He exclaimed, telling her to quiet down, eventually responding to her questions after she stopped. "There were mythical rumors about the water reacting differently, but whoever made that rumor back then was likely only doing it for the hell of it."

Lola seemed a bit disappointed hearing what Korey had said. "There was a gravity changing device somewhere in Iorys' labyrinth, but that didn't really involve the moons... Apart from that, nobody really knows why we were only able to see two moons." Korey stopped himself, as if to self-reflect on what he had just spoken aloud.

For all he knew, it probably could've been another planet and the inhabitants of Arcania just labeled it as a moon; no one really knows for sure. Perhaps, if they had found one, a record from the people one thousand years ago; those from the Yggdrasil Project, to discern whether or not the second moon was a planet or not. They were far from Etria, however, and the Midgard Library probably didn't hold such a meaningless record as no such details exist, but perhaps an answer will never be found.

Even so, he was starting to remember key parts about his own homeland... Seemed like part of the pieces of his memories were starting to return to him, little by little. It wasn't much, but that was just enough for Korey; no need for an overwhelming swarm of memories--they'll come back to him when he gets his bearings in the environment he once grew up in.

"I see," Lola groaned, leaning back on her chair. "I had heard countless rumors from people on board the Maginia that Ms. Keiko, Revlis, and Ion were all alien-looking to them." She confessed, taking the shuriken off the table and putting it back in her bag of shurikens.

...He didn't know what to say. Were people really assuming that of his land's species that thrived in Arcania...? Korey almost felt assaulted with how the other humans treated them. Much like Visil was to the Forest Folk, and the Vessels to the humans, understanding sure makes things incredibly difficult for peace to strive anywhere in the world.

If anything...that potentially included his wife, who was a vastly different species than him or any of the inhabitants of Arcania. And they lived somewhere above Iorys' Yggdrasil before that Star Devourer came in and killed every last one of her kind, sans the one Arken that left their Yggdrasil after defeating the bloody monster. Korey couldn't stand for such backtalk behind his, or his wife's back. It was...bringing back terrible memories from when Hilda revealed herself to the general public on accident one day...

"M-Mr. Korey...? Are you...okay?" Lola spoke up, seeing Korey's fist clenched and hearing him growl under his breath. But not before that same expression shifted to one of a conflicted man who has no idea what to do; the same face the Yggdroid has seen at least several times before.

The Highlander heard faint voices that echoed of the confusion and anger about Hilda's Arken appearance. Though they bothered him then, it was something only he himself was quite aware of so well. A long, distant memory that felt so...wrong to bear witness to. Yet, he clung to that memory ever since...

His clenched hand loosened as he noticed the Yggdroid looking at him like a young girl wondering if her dad was alright. He placed a hand on her shoulder, reassuringly.

"I'm fine--just a distant memory, that's all," Korey began. "I can't really blame the other explorers for thinking that the Therian, Celestrian, and Brouni for being different; after all, Hilda came from an alien race who had a faction living near the planet we live on, and everyone in Iorys grew to enjoy her true form in time." He continued, taking a few short breaths afterward as if trying not to linger on the past.

After all, whose to say that the Forest Folk and the Vessels and Sentinels would be alien-like to the people in Iorys? Most of the races he has met has never met face-to-face, so imagining many of these races is quite an opportunity; yet somewhere deep in his heart, he had hoped that the near extinction of the Arken hadn't weighed so hard on him and his wife. Perhaps they could've learned more about being on Earth, growing to accept living life here instead of the stars above...

Alas, that would be a memory no one would be able to build, nor comprehend. That is all on Hilda, now...if she hadn't met Korey and the others...whose to say what would've happened then if she found out the news...

"Sir Korey!"

A familiar voice made the Highlander snap back to reality, seeing a purple-haired Sovereign approach him, along with a man who seemed like he was ready to lie down on the couch whenever possible, and a girl with pink hair and red glasses--her face almost deadpan in its entirety sans for a smile on her face after seeing the brown haired highlander.

"Nice to see you again." Chloe hummed as the highlander stood up and gave the little War Magus a fist bump, looking over at Arianna and Bertrand, the former of the two giving him a smile and a wave.

"Feels like forever since we last met," Bertrand sighed, putting his hand on his hip as he took a glance at the highlander. "Hell, you even gotten your memory back, right behind our backs. Aren't you a sneaky one?"

Korey chuckled nervously. "H-Hey, it's not my fault that I managed to lose my memories in the first place." He started, almost sounding like it was entirely his fault in the matter...if he could ever recall what had happened in the first place that got him into this position.

"Oh relax, will ya? We're just glad you finally managed to remember who you were in the first place." Another voice rang from behind Bertrand as the Protector moved aside as a familiar red haired Protector, a blonde Alchemist, the Fafnir Knight himself, a black haired Survivalist, and Simon and Frederica, the later two were walking slightly ahead of the trio. Seems like Arianna, Chloe and Bertrand just had a headstart when it came to meeting up with him.

The highlander's excitement could barely be contained, slowly but surely being reunited with his guildmates. It was like Christmas all over again, only with more family reunions--something Ayako definitely would blurt out if he was here right now. The group met up with the others not too long after Raquna shook Korey's hand with a gleaming smile on her face.

"Glad to see you again!" Raquna chirped, hardly noticing the Alchemist standing next to her. "Yeah, man--it's been boring without you around..." Arthur concurred, feeling a pat on his shoulder from Simon.

Korey couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing Arthur's enthusiasm on having him again. "I'm so glad to see you all again; it has been quite a while since we last spoke in person." The brown haired highlander hummed, seeing Fafnir and Flavio's reassuring smiles.

"We figured we'd come here first, since everyone else is taking a while to pack all their belongings. And we'd probably be there all day if we just waited for everyone..." Flavio spoke up, explaining why he and Simon's group wend ahead first from everyone else.

"I can't blame them, honestly; some of them had been there longer than we have." Lola concurred. "By my calculations, those of the Therian, Brouni, Celestrian--and by extension, other humans Korey proclaims as Earthlains, have only been here for at least two and a half months." She added, mostly educating a guess as to when Korey's first guild had been on here.

The highlander could only imagine what it must've been hard to leave Iorys like that, with the possibility of him returning home and his guild is off elsewhere searching for him... Though thankfully, the situation never came to pass all thanks to a coincedential run-in with his own son. Who knows what fate would've had in store if things went differently...

"Some of us weren't there as long as your original guild was; but we're glad you're still kicking strong; else we'd be searching for nothing." Fafnir added. Frederica glanced towards the guildhouse, taking a few steps towards it.

"Is this to be the guild house we're staying in?" She inquired, changing the subject to the large building itself.

A nod from Korey seemed to get the message across to the millenium girl. "Unfortunately, our original tour guide decided to dump the responsibility of the tour on me, so without any knowledge on what the inside looks like, I'm not sure what condition this guildhouse is in right now." Korey added, feeling like Dezi still should've at least waited until he did the tour once instead of just following Korey's suggestion that he just so happened to say at the time.

And waiting for everyone was starting to be a bore, even if it only had felt like mere minutes.

"Then I suppose the next choice is simple; we check it out so that the others will have the time to do so themselves." Simon suggested, approaching the door and opening it, before the others walked in behind him. Korey grabbed his journal on the table and placed it back into his backpack, taking it with him as he followed everyone else.

The announcement the highlander wished to make wouldn't take long, and if perchance he got to remembering it around dinnertime, that would be a most opportune moment to speak of it. After all, he'll need to prepare his speech for it--he was never good at improvising on the spot.

Walking into the guildhouse, the interior seemed quite fancy, almost akin to the building the Outland Count resided in. Soft rugs greeted his feet as he grazed it with his hand, a chandelier hanging high above the entrance where the group stood, and a couple of flowers to liven up the decor. The highlander could tell they were real plants upon closer inspection, seeing the soil beneath the bushy green leaves, along with a water bucket for those who wish to water the plants.

"Well, I'll give them this; whoever owned this last certainly made it well kept." Bertrand commented, glancing at the occasional shiny object in the entrance. "Don't quite get the fancy decor, though."

Simon walked near the plants, before observing the shiny objects Bertrand was looking at earlier. "It would seem like whoever owned this must have been a noble of sorts." The medic educated his best guess.

"I don't think Seyfried or Gutrune would have already decorated the place before us." Lola spoke aloud, trying to look around the corners of the side hallways for any sign of the people she mentioned. Korey followed her glance in the hallways, but didn't find anything else that'd support her theory. Besides, they surely would've been here before them, long past when Korey and Lola would've noticed them already.

"Well, I'm gonna check upstairs!" Arthur suddenly announced, as Simon tried to stop him. The Alchemist dashed past Korey, who wasn't expecting him to dash up towards the staircase, a groan from the gray haired medic soon following after the boy left everyone's vision. What was he going to do with him...?

"I'll keep an eye on him if you want me to." Bertrand offered, but the Medic seemed to dismiss his generous offer.  "I appreciate the offer, but I prefer to keep an eye on him myself." Simon responded, before glancing over at the others.

"If I spot the rooms where we can place our belongings in, I'll let everyone know. I'm sure they're almost always are on the second floor of these guildhouses." He added, soon following Arthur upstairs in an effort to keep an eye on him. It's almost like nothing's changed between those two.

"I guess if no one's gonna mind, I suppose we might as well check out the remaining floors." Raquna hummed, as she, Frederica, and Lola went up to the top floor of the guildhouse. After little encouraging from Chloe to check for a kitchen, Bertrand and Chloe soon searched the first floor for the room in question, leaving the Fafnir Knight and Flavio with Korey on the first floor.

With the upper floors currently being looked over, the three of them look around the first floor some more, exploring one of the hallways Lola peeked at. "So, how have you fared in your travels?" Fafnir inquired, wishing to stir conversation as they looked through the guildhouse.

"Honestly, it's a mixed bag. Some good, some bad," Korey began, trying to ignore his hair trying to cover his eyes. "Considering I've reunited with my family, and that my memory is slowly returning to me, I'd say the explorations up to this point was well worth it." Fafnir patted Korey's back upon him finishing that sentence, like he's proud to make an impact on the memories he made with them.

"Well, that's great news, bud! You managed to reach your goal, despite everything else happening taking a higher priority along the way." Flavio hummed, seeing the highlander starting to gaze partially at the ground, slightly embarassed at the compliment.

The conversation seemed to halt there for a time, as they reached a garden-like area, with a fountain in the middle. It seemed moreso for outside conversations and another eating area, seeing a few tables placed outside near the kitchen area. Stepping outside, Korey took a look around, taking a deep breath as he took out the lapis necklace Lynus gave him minutes earlier.

Lynus had told him not to worry too much, but even with that in mind, there's no stopping the highlander's mind from drifting towards wanting to find those memories. But he knew that being slow and patient has helped him so far with reuniting with his family; what's to stop those lost bits of memory to come back to him like that?

Flavio and Fafnir couldn't help but notice the highlander taking a moment to reflect on something. The survivalist made the move to get his attention, walking over to him and patting him on the shoulder. "Look, I don't know what else is going through your mind right now, but for what I know, you're reunited with your family and your friends; people that you've longed to be with for a very long time. Just don't bother with the past memories for now, and focus on spending time with your family and friends--and who knows, maybe those memories will come back quicker without a second thought." Flavio spoke, reassuring the highlander and smiling the biggiest grin on his face.

"Alright, Flavio; you made your point clear." Korey replied, placing the necklace back out of sight, but still around his neck. "I made it to my ultimate goal in the end; I suppose I do owe myself some time to spend with my family and friends after all that I've been through." He continued, hearing Flavio hum upon seeing the highlander renewed with determination.

"Thanks for cheering me up, Flavio. This recovery from my amnesia is so going to be worth it, but for now, I'll take whatever I can get at this point." The highlander finished, starting to make his way inside.

"Going back outside to wait for the others?" Fafnir inquired, the highlander nodding in response. "I don't like having to wait, but somebody's gotta do it. Feel free to continue looking around; I'll explore more of it myself later." Korey replied.

Seeing Fafnir nod and motion for him to go on, the highlander walked back to the front of the guildhouse, leaving the Fafnir Knight and the survivalist in the garden. Korey doubted the people of Iorys are going to recall the person who took him away from Iorys, but that wasn't a concern to him for now. If fate decites that such an encounter to happen, then he'll gladly accept the encounter without hesitation.

Maybe at some point he could ask some of his guild members to ask around while they're in Iorys. He's going to be focused on reuniting with his parents soon after they land, so having some people look around for him definitely is going to help, even if they may not find anything. After all; he was never alone throughout his journey--his friends are there for him, and he's there for them, no matter what happens. And that's just what they do; they help each other out.

...............................................................................................

Sitting back at the table on the porch, a few people have been going pass the guildhouse, not paying any heed to the highlander and moreso focusing on their own task at hand. There wasn't that many explorers out and about, since they wanted to be safe from the comfort of their home. Clouds passing by above the Maginia, one has to wonder how far the wait between each famous city was... It felt like an eternity, yet the thought of arriving home after being gone for so long was ever approaching like a finish line.

The highlander sighs as he places a hand on his cheek, tapping on the tabletop to pass some time, occasionally looking up and around to see if his guild members were here. "My parents must have been worried sick about me the moment they heard about my disappearance..." He sighed, thinking aloud to himself on how his parents must've feel to have their son vanish mysteriously.

"Surely they must not have had a moment's rest to find some answers about how I vanished... Or maybe they had confidence that Hilda and the others would find me--even my sister, too." If they did put their faith in the latter, it certainly worked out for them. Though surely once they depart for Lemuria, he's sure they'd be worried about his safety again; despite being proud of him for being an explorer in their footsteps...

Perhaps he could invite them onboard? There's bound to be a spare room, and it'd give them a sense of how far he had come just to try and reunite with his loved ones and his friends again. Although he probably wasn't thinking of the consequences, it certainly would beat having his parents worry for days on end with communications being way too far to even potentially reach them. Oh yeah, the idea definitely would stick around for some time. He would just have to find the right time to speak up about it-

"Hey man, you should stop looking at the clouds, you look like you're on cloud nine!"

Ayako's voice broke his concentration, seeing the black and yellow haired Pugilist grin at the highlander, with the rest of the Lux Guild coming behind him. "Ayako not good at making jokes." Ion argued, hardly finding the line the pugilist said moments ago to; in any amount of words, provoke laughter in the Celestrian's eyes.

The pugilist flinched upon hearing that remark. "Heeeey, I was trying, Ion, gimme a break..." He groaned, acting all innoncent like he was trying to prove a point.

Korey couldn't help but laugh a little, glancing over to see the rest of the Lux Guild approach the guildhouse. Karim and Shreya were walking beside Hilda, who was sure to keep a hold of their hands as Revlis, the white haired Necromancer floating behind her, carried the Arken's belongings. From the looks of it, almost every guild member of the Lux Guild seemed to have some luggage to ensure their belongings and clothes weren't a total pain to carry from the inn to the guildhouse. Which was good; because hardly anyone enjoys continuous back and forth trips from one place to another.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting." Kyo sighed, stretching her arms after putting down her luggage beside her. "Having to get everyone from the Lux Guild sorted took a bit longer than anticipated..." Hilda chimed in.

Korey kept a relaxed smile on his face, reassuring the Celestrian and Arken before him that it was all fine. "So, what's the progress on the others, if I may ask?" He inquired, waiting for anyone to answer his question.

Nio walked up front after nobody else seemed to want to speak up. "Well, that Deep City king and black haired Shogun went off to gather your Armoroad guild in its entirety. Meanwhile, that forest-lady-Hibiki, Riaels, and Akakio went off to see if they could get some supplies for the guildhouses' armory room before they meet up with members of the Orphelia guild." He reported, concluding without any further remarks.

"All right," Korey hummed. "I appreciate the heads up, Nio." The oni silently recieved the highlander's praise, hardly making a big fuss about it.

"Ooooh, fancy looking airship!" Charon's voice rang, getting the guild's attention as the male harbinger glanced at the airship before him. "From this point on, it shall be called the Light That Burns the-"

"No, we're not going with that name Charon." The highlander quickly intervened, stopping the harbinger as he groaned and turned to face his guildleader. "Oh come on! Are you telling me it already has a name?!" Charon questioned, soon seeing the highlander nod in response, before Charon himself groaned in defeat.

Atsuko couldn't help but laugh. "You have no idea how long he has been wanting to name that airship," He began. "Even your Tharsis guild kept telling him that it already has a name, yet he stops them before they can even tell him what it is."

"It's like he's not even trying like he did when he was a mercenary." Takara followed up, as the black haired Dragoon sighed in disappointment. "Hey, I tried to the best of my ability!" Chargon argued, almost ready to clash against the Dragoon in retaliation, though Nio quickly stopped the harbinger before it came to the worst outcome.

The floating Therian Necromancer, Shizuka, glanced at the building, seeing the many windows that adorned the upper floors. "I presume this is the place in which we'll be staying in?" She inquired.

"Yep, it is indeed," Korey answered. "Coincidentally, its across from a guild I'm familiar with, so I could introduce some of you guys to them later." The highlander added, pointing over to the guildhouse that Lynus' guild resided in.

"That might take an eternity, lad." Photina, the dark skinned Pugilist sighed aloud. "N-No worries, it's not like it's right now, Photina," Korey replied, stuttering a bit over his words. "There's always off days to meet them, and perhaps in the labyrinth of Lemuria."

Because it's not like occasionally passing by another guild didn't exist... As far as Korey knew, he ran into guilds in the labyrinths while almost rarely seeing them outside of town due to their schedules. So whether or not they'd do so by themselves or not is totally up to them--he wasn't gonna stop them.

"Right, well I suppose we might as well find ourselves some rooms to put our belongings in." A blue haired Masurao named Keith declared, boldly stepping past the highlander and entered the guildhouse, rushing immediately towards the stairs. Soon enough, everyone else started flooding in, while a green haired Dragoon waited until everyone else was inside.

"Sheez, no need to rush, people," Hiroki chuckled, grabbing his bag and looked at the highlander. "Korey... It's nice to have you back in our lives." The Dragoon hummed, seeing Korey smile before heading inside where the other members of the Iorys' famed Lux Guild went to.

While all that happened, Hilda happened to take a glance back behind her, spotting a boy with long white hair with a single strand of purple hair. Though she wasn't able to hear the boy gasp in surprise upon being seen, she did see him quickly hide in the crowd of people. Was he...spying on the guild? Or did he simply want to look from afar?

"What are you looking at, honey?" Korey's voice broke the near trance-like state the Arken found herself in trying to wonder who the boy she witnessed was, as she turned to her husband swiftly in response. "O-Oh, my apologies, dear." She replied, grabbing her bag and urged the kids to follow them inside.

As Korey closed the door, he caught a glance at Simon who took several steps away from the stairs. "Ah, Korey, there you are." The medic hummed, approaching the highlander and his family.

"As I suspected, the upper floors seem to have a ton of rooms, seeming to house at least fifteen rooms for a total of sixty." Simon continued, giving them a result of what he had found during the time that passed. "So unless there's any other couples or people who wish to accompany those they feel close to, we'd be near the full capacity for sixty explorers." He concluded, closing the blinds beside him before stray sunlight reflected off of anything from the wandering people outside and through the window and blindsighting him through the glasses.

Korey placed his hand on his waist as he hummed in relief, knowing there's enough room in the guildhouse. "Thanks, Simon. I'll assume you'll relay this news to everyone else once they arrive?" The highlander inquired.

"For everyone's sake, yes." Simon sighed, groaning as he placed his hand on his head, keeping it there for a bit before continuing on. "I had to stop your first guild from having to freely choose rooms at first since there'd be a whole ton of arguments going on that can be heard all the way down here if it got too loud. So why don't you take a break and get settled in?"

From the way Simon suggested that, he seemed like he needed a place to stay away from loud noises for a while. And really, Korey couldn't blame him for needing it. "I appreciate the offer, but if everyone was here, that'd be a different story." Korey responded, seeing Simon raise an eyebrow for several seconds before he sighed.

"Very well, if that's how it's going to be," Simon inhaled, taking a deep breath before exhaling. "I suppose you'll need someone to stand outside with. So just head back out when you're finished unpacking." He finished, moving pass the highlander and his family and leaving the building to the front porch.

With that, the Arken woman looked around part of the first floor, her husband and children right behind her. Seeing as she didn't seem to be in a rush to claim a room for him and their children, Korey didn't want to come off as rude to imply that they should pick a room. Hell, any amount of time he can make up with for being gone for so long, the better. There's always another day if they simply wished to be with friends for a day or two.

And that's just good enough for him, as understanding as Hilda can be. They wandered a bit through the halls and she briefly stopped to admire the garden behind the guildhouse for a time. Even though he had just been here before, Korey couldn't help but see himself spending some time with Hilda out in the garden, looking at the fountain before them, or even just looking at the sky from the safety of the Maginia.

Seeing Karim and Shreya run about the place like they're young certainly was starting to bring memories back to the highlander. "Not gonna lie, I could get used to this." Hilda hummed, seeing Shreya and Karim chase each other. Korey stepped towards the Arken woman, stopping beside her as they watched their children try and play tag around the fountain.

"Honestly...it feels like another home, now that I'm back here with you." Korey chirped, hearing his wife giggle with joy. "Couldn't have said it any better myself, dear." She hummed, grasping her left hand with her husband's right hand, intertwining her fingers with his as they glanced at each other with warm smiles on their faces.

It took only several seconds before the married couple took a few seconds out of their day to give each other a kiss on the lips. Each second that had passed in that kiss was like rekindling a long since unlit flame within the highlander's heart, even when it had been so long since he had this in his life. They separated from their kiss and simply held each other's hand, staring ever so into the other's eyes.

"If I can be grateful for one thing," Hilda began, breaking the silence that was going on between her and Korey. "Is that I'm glad you met with such kind people who helped you on your way back to us. Without them, I'm sure our lives would've been..." She stopped for a moment, almost as if she didn't want to finish that sentence so it could linger in her head.

Korey wrapped his arms around Hilda as she glanced up to meet his azure eyes. "Painful, wouldn't it?" He suggested, seeing more of the hesitation on Hilda's face as she nodded slowly, before leaning her head on his chest.

"I'm...glad the worst case scenario didn't occur." Hilda sighed, staying close to Korey for a while, hearing his heartbeat and just focused on that sound alone. With her husband by her side once more, she didn't need to feel stressed about worrying about his well being. Korey knew that he had to check in with his other guildmates soon, but he didn't care if he lost track of time just being by his family.

........................................

"...May I say something, Hilda?" Korey spoke up, as Hilda urged Shreya and Karim to head inside. "What's on your mind, dear? Certainly not trying to figure out your disappearance, still..." The least Hilda hoped was that he wasn't thinking too much about the cause of his disappearance--they just had a discussion about that a while ago.

"No, it's not that," He quickly reassured, as he began making his way towards the stairs with his wife and children following behind. "I'm just...glad I got to meet all these people. Despite the circumstances we've met each other in, and despite all the hardships and trials we got to do, and treasures to find..."

He paused for a moment as he waited for his family to catch up to him on the first floor. "I feel like I've become a hero to other people. And I'm...not sure how I'd feel if I were to undertake that class--or rather, responsibility of a hero." Korey finished his train of thought, seeing Hilda think to herself for a few seconds.

"Well, what can I say? Your a hero to those you meet, dear." She beamed, almost as if it was natural for her to do--despite not being able to do so in front of her husband for the last two years. "Heck, I'm sure if you asked Miriam, I'm sure she can teach you how her skills work." She added, as Korey kept that knowledge in the back of his mind.

After finishing that discussion, Korey and Hilda picked a room near the stairs, with Karim an Shreya being in the room next to them. They aren't explorers, but it's better to have them nearby since going up and down the stairs to get them probably would be rather tiring. Placing her bag on the table in the most right hand side of the room, Hilda began to unpack her belongings as Korey did the same.

As they did, Korey took a couple of glances around the room, seeing that the bed was at least a king size bed. It wasn't a usual size for a guild member's bed, though there's a possibility that whoever had this guild house before probably chose it for reasons he could only assume were likely because they had a significant other. So they just so happened to pick the master bedroom out of the sixty rooms to choose from.

Not like he was gonna complain if it wasn't the master bedroom. He was likely missing the feeling of resting in his own master bedroom in Iorys. They put their clothes in separate chest drawers, and placed their weapons somewhere safe within the small closet beside the desk. The closet feels like it would hold two people within it, but it has plenty of space within it for anything else should they find in Lemuria.

"All right, that should do it for now." Korey hummed once they finished settling in. "I'll head back out and get the remaining guildmembers in the guild house, then I suppose we'll wait until we reach Iorys." He explained to Hilda what was likely to be the rest of the plan for today.

"I'll go help the kids unpack in the meanwhile." She added, knowing they'll need help with how much stuff they packed. "Ok Hilda. I'll be back soon." Korey replied, as he and Hilda quickly exchanged a kiss on the lips before they both left the room and headed to their destinations, with the highlander heading downstairs and the Arken woman to the door on her left, where Karim and Shreya are in.