#but i may just shorten it back to the normal seven days like the other ship weeks | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

hunflowers · 4 years ago

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Golden

Word Count: 15.3k

Requested? I don’t remember, but you always can here :)

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A/N: Lord, have mercy SHE’S FINALLY HERE!!!!! My baby Golden is finally out to the public and can I just say how fucking relieved I am to post it. I love her, I hope you do too <3 little warning: there are mentions of panic attacks in here, and a heart condition (that i did my best to research on) so if you’re uncomfortable, pls don’t read.

special thanks to my soul baby @stylesloveclub for being my biggest support system with this, she’s dedicated to you <3

for anyone reading this, please reblog! it really helps us writers out. okay onward friends!!! lemme know how i did and if you like it *nose boops*

Water. The ocean. Waves. The tide.

Symbolic of life, birth. Can be used to wash away even the most troubling of sins.

O’ahu, Hawaii, home to some of the best surfing destinations in the state, in the country, in the world. Also home to one of the best surfers in the state, in the country, in the world.

Y/N didn’t coin herself that. Not that she’s complaining about it, but she doesn’t surf for the title. She surfs for the freedom. She feels the most alive when her toes dig into the sand as she runs towards the warm, salt oblivion, her novelty yellow and blue surfboard tucked under her arm.

Her whole life she had been surrounded by water. When she was a baby, she always wanted a bath. When she was a toddler, she always wanted to stay in the kiddie pool. And then she got into surfing, and well, the rest is history so-to-speak. Her parents never got themselves involved in the sport professionally but more as a recreational activity. And it was even how they met, so really there was no stopping surfing from flowing through Y/N’s blood.

Her backyard was the ocean, so growing up, it was really the only thing for her to do. It’s what all the kids were doing, and Y/N was no different. She met her best friends on the beach when they were five years old, practicing the basics of surfing, like getting up on the board and finding their balance with the Earth.

Kalani and AJ, two of the best surfers Y/N will ever meet, and two of the purest souls to ever grace her life. They’re madly in love with one another. Have been for as long as they’ve been friends -- so coming up on sixteen years. Y/N is in awe of their relationship, she really is, but being a third-wheel isn’t exactly something she signed up for. Though, she kind of expected it when growing up.

They tried countless times to set her up with someone, but time and time again their matchmaking skills have failed, and Y/N is tired of them pitying her. No, she may not be in a long term relationship, but she hardly has time for a relationship anyway. Especially with competitions coming up, she needs to keep herself focused on surfing rather than some boy who will probably end up breaking her heart.

Well, that was her intention anyway.

October 27th, the first day of the best months out of the year.

And it started just the same as every other year. Y/N woke up at the crack of dawn and threw on her lucky white bathing suit before throwing an apple down her throat. Her surfboard was perched up against the back patio railing, and she swiftly tucked it under her arm as she made her way down the shore, being greeted by the luminescent sun that was swarming the sea in a shade of tangerine and lemon.

Jogging knee deep into water, Y/N sunk her hand just below the surface, swaying it back and forth, taking a deep breath as she felt the cool texture swarm her body. Exhaling slowly, she threw herself down onto her board, paddling onward into the great unknown. The familiar sound of the crashing waves causing her to flinch for a brief moment before comforting her ears as she watches the restless ocean ahead of her, a smile washing over her face as she could basically see her future ahead of her.

Today marks qualifying day, and obviously if she marks as qualified, she moves forward to the Vans Triple Crown. She’s been training all year, her body practically a prune with how much she’s been in the water. But, a minute can’t go to waste, so up until the very last second where she has to head to the north shore, she’s gonna remain in the water and build her intuition with how the day is going to go.

Last year, Y/N had to cut her time short when she was hospitalized the night before the first competition. So, she was all more determined to win the championship that is rightfully hers. Well, in the women’s division at least. Last year was ripped from her right when it was under her nose and she refuses to have a repeat of it.

After her hospitalization, everyone was convinced she’d never return to the water. Despite the ocean being her second home, everyone figured she would turn away -- avoid the embarrassment last year brought upon her. But, it only made her stronger and more determined to prove everyone wrong. No matter how frightening it really was.

Her first wave of the day had her coasting along smoothly, starting her out easy as waves progressively got bigger with the tide. When she got out into the water, the sun had just broken past the horizon line, yet by the time she left, the sun was nearly at its peak in the sky. Her skin felt raw, yet her body was running on adrenaline as she scoffed down the lunch her mom had made her before they banded into the family van and headed to Sunset Beach on the north shore.

Y/N’s heart raced in her chest, her leg bouncing subconsciously but furiously as she watched the landscape pass her by through the window. Her typically calming music wasn’t even working as she ran through multiple scenarios in her mind of what could go wrong today and how her day, her week, month, even year could be ruined.

Once outside of the van and on the beach, her parents pulled her close into a tight, warm hug, whispering words of encouragement in her ears, knowing just how important this was for her. Surfing and competitions had always been important to Y/N, but following last year’s downfall, this day was going to make or break whatever is left of her both physically and emotionally.

“Y/N!” she heard her name being called from the distance, the three of them immediately letting go of one another as they exchanged sheepish smiles.

“Y/N!” Was called out again, causing her to turn around and see Kalani running straight for the three of them, waving her arms in a drastic manner to gain her best friend’s attention. “Oh my -- I ran so fast, wow, I need to calm down,” Kalani breathed out, closing Y/N into a firm embrace.

“Save your energy for the waves, babe,” Y/N laughed, wrapping her own arms around Kalani’s frame. The two of them were never inseparable, it was kind of like they were actually glued to the hip together ever since they were children. And a lot of people were surprised they remained best friends through the years, what with both of them always competing in the same surfing competitions battling for the first place spot. And they knew this could be a strain on their relationship, but they decided ever since they were seven years old that they weren’t going to let surfing get between them. No matter what, they were always proud of each other for everything they’ve accomplished and are each other’s number one fans.

Thing is, Y/N tends to snag that first place spot a lot of the time, and Kalani always just misses her, earning her the second spot, right beneath her. But, Kalani has grown to accept that Y/N is better at the sport, and that’s nothing for her to be ashamed of. She’s managed to get a few of her own first place wins, and in her eyes, that’s good enough. She can’t live her life being jealous of her best friend because that’s not healthy, and anyway, surfing is much more Y/N’s livelihood than it is her own, so she’s fine with being second best -- despite what others may think.

Tugging her board off the top of the car, Y/N tucked it beneath her arm as she walked hand-in-hand with Kalani to wherever her family had set up camp on the beach. “Where’s AJ?” Y/N wondered, as she looked out into the water and saw no one out in it.

“The boys are starting soon, so he’s with Nav,” Kalani said, finally stopping in front of her parents and younger brother, and AJ’s older brother.

“Y/N!” They greeted, getting up from their chairs to kiss the girl on the cheek before greeting her parents. “It’s so great to see you back here,” Kalani’s mom smiled, pinching Y/N’s cheek before plopping herself back down under the sun.

They all began to catch up with one another since it’s been awhile they’ve all gotten together, all of them falling into old habits as if it hadn’t been months since they were last together. Y/N tried to engage in as much conversation as possible, but her mind tended to wander off as the guys started lining up in the water and making their way out. Her throat dried up and her palms were sweating -- and not from the heat -- as her nerves kicked in. Her memory began to cloud her vision as she stood abruptly and quickly walked away from the group, her heart picking up again.

Her breaths shortened as her mind blurred, and all she wanted was to curl up on her bed and calm her mind. She felt someone’s hand on her back, and immediately she could tell it was her father by the smell of his cologne. Once she was far enough from people, Y/N could feel tears well in her eyes as short images flashed across her eyes, cutting each inhale of breath in half -- which caused her to panic even more as she couldn’t breathe properly.

Last year ruined her, and she absolutely despises that this is considered her normal day-to-day routine now, her body shaking with fear as she feels herself collapsing from the inside, out. “Y/N, honey, can you hear me?” She thinks she hears her father say, but is undetermined with the intense white noise that’s swarming her ear drums.

“Count with me, c’mon, backwards from ten.”

But, all her mind could focus on was her body sinking lower and lower beneath the surface of water.

“Ten… Gotta count, c’mon you can do it, nine.”

“Eight,” she murmured, reaching out to grasp her dad’s shirt tight in her fist, just to make sure that he was really in front of her. She needs to be reminded that last year is her past, and that no matter how forward it is in her mind, it’s not her present anymore and she’s not drowning. “Seven.”

He took her hands and held them to his chest, “Six, keep going.”

“Fi-” she gulps, swallowing the lump in her throat, “..five.”

She makes it all the way down to zero, her body visibly relaxing and mentally as she hesitantly looks around to see no one watching the little event. “Do you want to go home?”

Y/N looks up to her father, shaking her head in response as she sniffles her nose and brushes away the one stray tear that has cascaded down her cheek. “No… I can do this.”

He cocks his head to the side and purses his lips, slowly nodding his head. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he turns them back in the direction, walking with her slowly as she continues to gather herself. “You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone, Y/N. Everyone knows you’re an amazing surfer.”

“I think I just need to prove it to myself,” she stated, dragging her feet through the sand like a child so it slowed their arrival time back with the group. She can only imagine that her mom had informed everyone already of what was happening, and the last thing she wants is their sorry eyes and pathetic spouts of pity that she knows she’ll wish they just kept to themselves.

Y/N knows she’s broken. She’s not the same girl everyone knew this time last year, but she doesn’t need to be reminded of it every time she steps into a room. What happened last year was serious and she understands that people are worried; But all she wants is for everyone to forget about it. Including herself. She thinks the thing that’s causing her the most trepidation now -- rather than in the morning or all year long -- is the fact she’s now back in front of a crowd again, eyes trained on her like hawks watching prey, waiting for something awful to happen again.

The only thing missing is the popcorn as they watch this free entertainment.

When they finally came back to everyone, Y/N noticed the guys had started paddling out. Everyone was talking amongst themselves, dismissing her presence as she sat herself down back in the sand, and a breath of relief escaped her lips. The tension was there, but everyone ignored it for her sake, and Y/N couldn’t be more grateful.

“Go, AJ!” Kalani cheered, pumping her fist and shouting a few hoots and hollers afterward. Dom, AJ’s brother, let out a few ear screeching whistles, the kind with the fingers in the mouth, joining in on rooting for his brother.

Watching the guys out there solidified to Y/N how real this really is, and soon her veins were pumping with excitement again instead of dread as she cheered on her best friend. He was going to qualify, they all were and they knew that, but it's always fun to get excited about the possibility of moving forward and winning the titles and earning the trophies.

All the other faces that surfed alongside AJ were mostly familiar, their names ringing bells as the announcers spoke of them, but there was one that Y/N hadn’t ever heard before. It’s the same cycle of people every year, yet this guy was fresh. And the only reason she’s curious as to who he is, is because he’s good. Like, really good.

Kalani can’t exactly remember if she’s heard of him either, shrugging to Y/N’s wonderment, “I don’t know. Maybe AJ knows.” His pink surfboard and pink wet shirt stuck out as he was a sight for sore eyes, and Y/N grew a little resentment towards him as he pulled out a few advanced maneuvers, gaining everyone’s undivided attention that used to be on AJ.

“Who is that?” Y/N’s mother questioned, looking around to see that no one knew the answer.

He was a mystery yet he radiated this vibrant energy as the guys finished their rounds, walking off with grace in his step as he laughed at something Nav -- one of the three’s friends -- had said. The girls bid their goodbyes to their families as they headed over to where the guys were before their rounds. AJ immediately came running over to them, hugging Y/N and Kalani simultaneously before giving his girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips. “You did great,” Kalani smiled, keeping her arms wrapped around his center.

“Alright, not in front of me,” Y/N grimaced, looking away from them. Immediately her eyes landed on the new surfer, still talking to Nav, and she was quick to turn back to AJ to ask who he is. “Hey, who’s the new guy?”

Looking over his shoulder, AJ saw who she was talking about before realization dawned on him. “Oh, that’s Harry. He’s from England. A really nice guy, I bet you’d like him,” he winked, causing Y/N to look at him with squinted eyes and pursed lips.

Kalani nudged his side, giving him a weird look. “What? I’m just saying.”

Then, speak of the Devil, Nav and this Harry guy came walking over, joining the three as they stood around waiting for the announcement that the girls could head out. Y/N wasn’t exactly paying attention to her surroundings as she continued to calm herself down for the impending near future. It wasn’t until Harry had stood in front of her, that she was knocked out of her own thoughts.

She looked up at him, making eye contact and briefly getting her breath caught in her throat. When he was far away, it was hard to make out his facial features or what he exactly looked like. But being right in front of him, she was merely astonished at his beauty, but more so his green eyes that reflected the perfect amount of sunlight. His wet, brunette hair rested against his forehead and seemed to be drying a bit curly.

His head tilted slightly, an amused smirk inching up his face as he watched her reaction. Something tells her he’s used to this kind of reaction. “M’Harry.”

His hand came between the two of them, waiting for her to grasp it in a firm grip. Y/N was hesitant at first but finally took his hand and shook it gently while greeting herself before dropping her hand back down to her side. “Y/N.”

This is insanely awkward. Especially because her friends are just watching the exchange silently, as if they weren’t allowed to speak while the two introduced themselves.

Harry has heard of Y/N. It’s hard for anyone involved in the surfing business to not have heard of her. Aside from the jarring news from last year, she’s an excellent surfer and her name is always spreading around like wildfire. She’s part of the reason Harry decided to delve more into the professional surfing world, because he’s been itching to meet her.

Y/N is attractive, anyone with eyes knows that, but Harry wanted to meet her only because of her expansive skills in the water. Standing in front of her, he can’t deny her undying beauty -- and if he weren’t such a gentleman he’d probably be trying to woo her this very instant. But, her looks aren’t what draws him to her, and he decides to not think with his dick for once.

Before he gets the chance to say something else to her, they get notified that the girls should start heading out for their rounds. Y/N and Kalani grab their boards and tuck them under their arms before bidding their goodbyes to the boys and scurrying off to join the rest of the girls.

“Whipped already?” Nav jokes, wrapping his arm around Harry’s shoulders and leading them to the sand where they’ll watch.

Y/N steps her toes into the water, basking in the cool feeling wrapping around her toes and surging up her body. She rolls her neck feeling it crack softly before rolling her shoulders back and taking in her umpteenth deep breath of the day. Her and Kalani looked at each other, nodding with smiles on their faces before they walked deeper in the shallow water until it reached the middle of their thighs before dropping their boards down and paddling out.

At the sight of a small wave heading toward her, Y/N dipped herself beneath the water just to wet her hair. It felt refreshing again to feel the salt coax her skin for the second time that day, as if it never left. When she greeted the air again, she could immediately feel the rays of the sun bouncing off of her skin, illuminating her in a heavenly glow, like the star she is. The spotlight is on her as she aims herself for the peak of the impending wave, nabbing the first ride of the girls’ round.

Back on the beach, her mom’s fingers were crossed, her dad’s breath was caught in his lungs, and Harry’s eyes were fixated on her figure as she jumped up on the belly of her board. Her legs kept her balance against the rough matter below her. Due to the steep wall of the wave, Y/N had to act quick and rational in order to keep control, and started off with an off-the-lip, which kept her parallel with the wave before she moved herself down and carved herself back into the energy zone.

Because it was a smaller wave, she could only go on for so long before she tipped herself off the board and fell down into the water. Everyone waited with bated breaths and kept their eyes on the area she sunk beneath the blue, before sighing in relief to see her head pop back up. Harry could see the joy wipe over everyone’s faces, replacing the worry that was once there as they hugged one another. He could tell Y/N has such a good support system, and it only urges him more to want to be a part of her life.

Of this life.

❊ ❊

“You guys did so good! We’re so proud,” Y/N’s mom gushed as she pulled her into a warm embrace -- a hug that holds more meaning than just being proud. Her mom was relieved. Grateful. Happy. She’s able to hold her daughter one more time, and that’s all she could ask for. “It’s going to be a good year for all you kids.”

Y/N felt like she was on cloud nine. She was elated, overjoyed, ecstatic, riding such a good high. Her comeback couldn’t have gone any better and she’s just so, so happy. Arriving at the beach she was nervous and anxious and was two seconds away from caving to her fears and running away. Now, as she walks arm-in-arm with her best friend away from the water for the night, she’s laughing a genuine laugh and her veins are currently pumping excitement rather than nerves.

AJ locked his arm over her shoulders, the three of them linked just like they always are as they head towards Y/N’s family van. But, instead of like other times, this time they have a tag-a-long trailing behind them. It’s sort of like a tradition where after every competition, all of the families join together and head to dinner at their usual restaurant. Nav couldn’t come because he had his own family matters to attend to but Harry was more than willing to accept the offer. He says he came to Hawaii alone and that he had nothing better to do, but his intense stare on Y/N when he accepted the offer says that’s not the only reason he was so quick to join.

It was also part of the tradition that they ride together in the van, 1) because it was the most spacious vehicle where they were able to ride together and 2) because Y/N’s parents are pretty fun to be around. They blasted the best music and made the best jokes, causing not one dull car ride. When they filed in, AJ and Kalani pushed themselves to the back seat, leaving Y/N and Harry to sit in the separate middle row chairs.

“Oh! Harry, I’m sorry, I forgot to ask. Does your family want to join us? They’re more than welcome to,” Y/N’s mom looked over her shoulder in the passenger seat.

He cleared his throat, looking up from his phone and sitting up a bit in his seat, an uncomfortable look on his face. “M’here alone, actually.”

Before anyone could ask any questions, AJ clapped Harry’s shoulder, saying, “We’re your temporary family now, man.” Despite being competitors, it seems the two of them really hit it off and AJ genuinely meant what he said about being Harry’s family. Though, everyone knows the main reason he said it was to diminish the rising tension.

“Thanks, mate,” Harry returned, fist bumping AJ. And during the little exchange, Harry caught eyes with Y/N, catching her eyes wandering around his profile and facial features, causing her to look away quickly and look out the window as if the view was something spectacular. She could hear him snicker quietly, and just when she thinks the coast is clear, she slyly looks back at him just to find out he’s already staring at her.

They really love staring at one another apparently.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Y/N and Harry were pushed to the back of the group -- not really by choice but somehow it ended up that way -- and neither of them really made any moves to break the silence between them. Y/N because she was nervous, and Harry because he wanted her to be the first to speak. And it just so happened that when they were sat at a table, they were left with the last two remaining chairs that also happened to be right next to each other. Y/N couldn’t figure out if they were doing this on purpose or it was by coincidence, but she can tell Harry doesn’t mind.

She’s not one to be nervous around guys, but there’s something about Harry and how he is so blatantly interested in her that makes her wary of talking to him. Kalani sat across the table from her, and when they made eye contact, they had a silent conversation about how Y/N should grow the balls and actually talk to him. Of course Y/N refused, which earned her a kick to the shin in retaliation, which then caused her to let out a yelp of pain and made everyone look at her confused and worried.

“Sorry, hit my knee on the table,” she brushed it off, glaring at her best friend the moment everyone turned away and continued with their own conversations.

Being as slick as possible, Kalani directed her eyes to Harry when he wasn’t looking so Y/N could see her, before turning to AJ and talking to him about something completely irrelevant. Again, Y/N and Harry were stuck in this silence. She’s not exactly sure why she can’t just start a conversation, but he’s kind of intimidating and she’s afraid of embarrassing herself, especially in front of her family.

Pursing her lips and looking down to her lap, Y/N finally turned to give Harry her attention, noticing how he was staring into space, looking completely lost in this foreign setting. “So, uh, where exactly are you from?”

Harry was quick to turn his head to Y/N, waiting and waiting and waiting for the moment she would say something. “A small town in Cheshire. Northwest of London, if that helps.”

“That’s a pretty far trip to take alone,” she nods, licking her bottom lip before gently biting down on it. As much as she thinks of herself as an independent person, she’s also an extreme homebody and could never imagine going anywhere without anyone by her side, whether it be family or friends.

He merely shrugs in response, “M’better off alone.”

Y/N cocked her head to the side while looking at him, letting his words sizzle inside her mind as she tries to overanalyze him in the mere hours she’s known him. She turned her gaze down to her hands that were intertwined in her lap, mulling over her next words to say. She doesn’t know him, but she knows the feeling of being alone. And being alone, no matter how appealing it could sound, never works out in the end. People aren’t meant to live alone. It goes against the natural order of life, and just hearing him say he prefers being alone breaks her heart just the tiniest bit. “No one’s better off alone. Everyone needs someone eventually.”

Little does she know, is that she is his someone. Or, at least that’s what Harry’s hoping. He thinks he’s crazy for being so enthralled by someone so suddenly and so strongly, but Harry’s always been one to trust his gut. His plushie but toned gut was screaming at him that this girl is just meant to be in his life. Maybe meant to be his, but he won’t push his luck. “Guess we’ll have to wait an’ see.”

They both smiled softly at one another, a small blush creeping up Y/N’s cheeks for the umpteenth time that day. “I guess we will.”

❊ ❊

It had been a little over two weeks since qualification day. Her days hadn’t changed much in regards to her schedule; Waking up at the ass crack of dawn and heading straight into the water and staying in practically until the sun was set. But, there was one slight shift in her day, and that was the now familiar face of Harry popping in everyday, either physically or in her mind.

It was safe to say Harry was quickly adapting to the three friends, merging with them seamlessly; As if he had been part of this little group since he was a child. It’s not like any of them minded, especially AJ because he was happy to get another guy around. Their friend Nav wasn’t exactly a permanent part of their little group because he belonged to everyone and no one, but Harry stuck around them like glue and AJ was so grateful.

Y/N’s grateful because now she isn’t a third-wheel.

Harry and her aren’t exactly buddy-buddy, but it definitely helps having someone else around for movie night so Y/N isn’t stuck watching her best friend’s all cuddled up together and hearing the occasional kiss they would share.

Though, Harry has made it known time and time again that he really wants to be buddy-buddy with her. And Y/N’s not exactly sure why she won’t give him what he wants, but for some reason she loses all comprehensive skills and becomes a blubbering, nervous mess around Harry whenever he brings up his interest in her. So, she’s successfully avoided all buddy-buddy conversations with him by bringing up mundane things instead. Like, why she decided to paint her nails blue, or why she absolutely despises white socks.

She thought she was doing a pretty skillful job too. But, after the first two times she avoided giving a yes or no answer to going on a date with him, Harry purposely would ask her just to hear what other obscure distractions she could come up with. He loved hearing Y/N talk, and without her knowing, he was getting to know her piece by piece, inch by inch, and he was loving it.

Though, a guy’s ego can only take so many rejections before he gives up completely. And just when he was ready to call it quits and accept that she wasn’t interested in him like he was her, the unexpected happened.

Y/N agreed to a date.

Well, kind of.

It was time for the Hawaiian Pro. The official first event of the Vans Triple Crown. It was taking place at Ali’i Beach Park in Hale’iwa, one of the most intense surfing spots filled with waves of many different faces. Of course, this is when Y/N’s nerves really started to kick in. Qualification day isn’t anywhere near as filled with people as the actual events are, and her nerves have seemed to kick it into high gear. It doesn’t help that the Hawaiian Pro is when her life changed a year ago. She could hear people whispering about her, wondering if she’s going to wipe out again or if this time she’ll stay under the water. Her mind was already frenzied enough, but nothing completes the cycle like a panic attack and the embarrassment of many on-goers witnessing said panic attack.

She almost backed out. How is she meant to be the best when her body is afraid of taking its final breath? The tide was high and the waves showed no mercy. How is she meant to challenge that? How is she meant to control the water beneath her when she can’t even control her own thoughts?

It was getting to be too much for her. This entire time leading up to the Triple Crown she’s denied her fear and her anxiety, telling herself she’ll get over it. She’s been doing good all year, so what makes now any different? But it is very different. The calm atmosphere of her backyard is no match for the rambunctious setting of the Triple Crown. And she’s a fool for thinking differently.

So, she was panicking.

Y/N couldn’t even get up from her seat in her parent’s van because she was so shaky. Her father held her close, easing her back to reality and away from her tortuous mind. Of course, he offered to drive them back home and away from the competition, telling her again that she didn’t have to prove herself to anyone. But, she declined again. Because she needed to prove it to herself. She’s stronger than her mind lets on, and she needs to make sure she knows that.

When she slid off her board and sank her toes back into the warm sand after a very successful first round, landing her in the lead spot, she was finally able to breathe again.

People congratulated her on her comeback, astonished to see her doing better than ever before. Her parents embraced her with love and elation, so beyond happy to see her laughing and smiling and enjoying herself now that she’s progressing forward. Kalani of course is her number one supporter, practically jumping on her and screaming in her ear about how happy she is for her best friend.

Everyone was making their rounds hugging Y/N, and then it was Harry’s turn. They didn’t exactly embrace like the rest of them had, but he threw his arm over her shoulders and pulled her to his side, squeezing her to him softly before looking down at her and saying, “Absolutely wicked, love. Gotta teach me some of y’fancy moves.”

“You sure? They’re really only meant for the pros,” she teased, biting at her bottom lip to conceal her laughter as he scoffed.

“”Ey, no one likes a narcissist,” he shoved her shoulder softly, rolling his eyes as her laughter rang through his ears. “But, whaddya say? M’gonna need a good teacher if I wanna make it to the big leagues.”

Y/N simply shrugs without really thinking much into it, “Sure.” Her mind didn’t exactly process what she had agreed to until later that night, before she dozed off into her temporary slumber. Her eyes shot open and her body sat upright as an over dramatic gasp was inhaled into her lungs. Her mind had been all over the place with the competition that she didn’t realize that she had agreed to being alone with Harry for the first time since they'd met. Immediately she texted and called Kalani, to which she got laughed at in return.

“Kalani, this isn’t a laughing matter!”

A few miles away, Harry was snuggled into his bedsheets, a bright smile stretched across his face as he reveled in the idea that he finally was going to be alone with Y/N since the first time they’d met. His heart was jumping and his stomach was fluttering as he envisioned her pretty face behind his eyelids before he drifted off into his dream with her.

“It so is! C’mon, Y/N, what have you got to lose? You have the same interests, he’s funny, he’s hot, and he clearly is into you. Enjoy something outside of surfing for once.”

Enjoy something outside of surfing for once.

That’s the thought that stuck in her mind, lingering around as she finally fell asleep, and then when she woke up, and when she was eating breakfast; And doing her chores; And hanging out with Kalani; And eating dinner; And then falling asleep again. Y/N didn’t even realize she had spent so much of her past year focusing on her career and health that she hasn’t done much of anything else.

She’s so grateful to be alive, but she’s hardly given herself the chance to live again.

Before her accident, she was always up for adventure and was always the life of any party. After her accident, she hasn’t even been to a party. She hasn’t been in a relationship in years, she hasn’t gone on a date in a long time, and she can’t even remember the last time she’s had sex or kissed a guy. She’s been so focused on her redemption, that she can’t remember the last time she was genuinely happy.

Going on this date, but also not a date -- but also clearly a date -- with Harry just may provide her with that. And she owes it to herself, to her past self, that her accident isn’t going to shape her life anymore.

Plus, she really enjoys Harry’s company. And even if she doesn’t show it so bluntly like him, she really likes him too.

The next day, Y/N and Kalani had gone out shopping, enjoying a nice girls day out. They had bought a few new varieties of swimsuits (as if they didn’t have enough) and a few other types of clothes, got some lunch, and even found time to watch a movie. And they did all of this right up until the moment Y/N decided it was time to text Harry.

She wasn’t sure how to go about this, because she’s never really asked anyone on a date before, or followed up with plans (?) about a date. Kalani kept urging her to just rip the bandaid off and to get it over with, saying something along the lines of, “You’re not getting any younger. Plus, I think he’d slip right off his board at the sight of you in that new yellow suit you got.” It was just a simple bikini, but it showcased the majority of her skin that essentially left little to the imagination.

But, the thing is, whenever Y/N gets into the water around people, she can’t help but cover her torso with a wet-shirt, insecure of the imperfections that lined her skin. It’s rare she can bear to look at her skin, so she only assumes no one else would want to either. So, she’s not so sure he’ll fall off his board at the sight of her, but the thought is nice.

Y/N pulled out her phone and hovered over his contact for a good amount of time before Kalani grew impatient and snatched the phone from her friend’s hand. They wrestled around with each other to try and gain custody of the phone, but finally in the end Y/N was able to hold her phone tight in her hands before declaring, “Okay! Okay! I’m texting, I’m going.”

Kalani peaked over Y/N’s shoulder as she watched her type the allusive message to Harry, a proud smile carving over her lips as she watched her break down a barrier she had subconsciously put up. It isn’t by any means important to be in a relationship or to have a boyfriend, but Kalani knows deep down that Y/N was wishing to have that special connection only a relationship could provide -- a connection outside of the realm of friendships.

“There,” Y/N huffed, shoving the screen of her phone in her best friend’s face.

hii, if you’re still up to learn from a true professional, I’m available tonight :)

It wasn’t even ten seconds later that she got a reply.

Shit, I’ll be your best student, babe. I know a perfect spot, I’ll be at yours in an hour.

It was kind of amusing to Y/N that he said he knows a perfect spot, as if she hadn’t been living on this island all her life and practically knows it like that back of her hand. But, that miniscule thought was pushed to the very depths of her mind as panic coursed through her as she realized what she was getting herself into. She’s going on a date, not a date, but also a date with Harry, and a small hour wasn’t enough time to gain her composure.

Fuck.

❊ ❊

It’s no surprise to Y/N when Harry shows up to her house a minute early. She’s half convinced that he had been waiting outside of her house for the past fifteen minutes until he finally stepped up on to the porch of her house, knocking rapidly on the door. It wasn’t an emergent knock that caused some sort of panic, but it was a frantic knock that screamed ‘let’s get the show on the road.’

When she opened the door, both of their breaths were robbed from their lungs. Y/N essentially looked like she always did but something about her glowed differently to Harry; maybe it was because she’s his for the night. For his eyes only. Just him and her. He was awestruck.

Harry essentially looked like he always did but something about him radiated differently to Y/N. The same little smirk was nestled in its usual spot, but this one held a different meaning. It looked the same, but maybe it was different because it was just her and him tonight. He’s hers for the night. For her eyes only. Y/N was nervous.

Y/N left her board out on her porch so she wouldn’t have to walk around back when he got here, but she was silently wishing she didn’t so she’d get just a couple more seconds to get herself together. She just kept chanting, “It’s not a date!” in her head, in hopes it would make her feel better.

It didn’t.

Harry saw her board and tucked it under his left arm as he threw his right one over her shoulders guiding her his mode of transportation. It also wasn’t a surprise to Y/N to see Harry rolling up in a light yellow Jeep; the top down and the doors off, typical of any surfer dude, no matter where they originate.

“Her name’s Betty,” he smiled, walking around the back and giving her a quick tap on her rear end before stepping up to straddle Y/N’s board safely and securely.

Sliding through the empty passenger door to take her seat, Y/N was greeted by a familiar smell, a smell she could only associate with Harry. And even if she could never admit it, she loved it a lot. It was mouth-watering and intoxicating, and simply put, it was Harry. Even with the open atmosphere of the car, it was still drenched in this specific smell, and Y/N can’t help but giggle at the image of Harry spritzing whatever cologne into the car before arriving at her house.

A few moments later, Harry slid into the driver side, placing the sunglasses that were sitting on the dash over his eyes, shoving the key into the ignition and starting them on their journey to whatever beach he had envisioned. On the ride there, over the course of a few right turns and lefts and different exits on the highway, Y/N surprisingly had no idea where they were going. Did she think maybe he was gonna murder her? A bit. But, she felt comfortable around Harry. So, she felt it in her gut that she was going to come out alive from this… event.

When they got to the beach, it was about thirty minutes from Y/N’s house, and she had no idea where they were. They had to walk a short path to meet sand and ocean, but once they made it past the clearing, Y/N was in awe of the site ahead of her. People could think that seeing the ocean every day ruins the peaceful and magical aura surrounding it. But, Y/N never gets sick of greeting it. The sun was beginning to set, and the water was glowing with a yellow-pink hue by the horizon that blended into a bright blue by the shore. The cliff sides around them guarded the little alcove, feeding into the tranquil atmosphere.

“How did you find this place?” Y/N wondered as she kicked off her sandals, and shimmied her shorts down her legs before kicking them over her sandals. The yellow bottom of her bikini was visible, and she turned her head just as Harry took a large gulp at the sight of her in front of him; Just for him. Her blue wet-shirt stayed on though.

It piqued Harry’s interest as to why she never took off her shirt. He understood for the competitions, but even when it was just a casual outing, just him and her, or them and their friends, she always kept it on. It wasn’t his place to ask, but he wished she would’ve broken this barrier down just this once. Just for him. “Tha’s a secret for me to know and you to maybe find out.”

Y/N let out a giggle - why? she didn’t know - and turned her attention back to the boy that brought her here, her eyes nearly popping out of her head as she caught Harry taking off his white t-shirt, now only clad in his little pink shorts next to his little pink board. His skin looked extra dewy, and his tattoos seemed to glint under the setting sun. Before she could devour him with her eyes, she picked up her board and took it with her, running down to the water and shouting, “C’mon slow-poke, gotta get in the water before the sun sets!”

It wasn’t a surprise to Y/N that this didn’t keep on track of a teaching lesson. Harry doesn’t need to be taught, he’s amazing on his own. He pulled off his own tricks that Y/N didn’t even know the name of, and she was asking him to let her in on his little secrets. He locked his lips in return, throwing the imaginary key somewhere over his shoulder, “Y’think I’m g’na tell you? I’m far too narcissistic to let you beat me at my own game.”

“Who said I’m gonna beat you?”

“Have you met you?”

There’s a reason Y/N’s name circulates throughout people’s brains, why her name is common in any Hawaiian household, why Harry was itching to meet her. She’s good at what she does. Insanely good that it’s kind of concerning. Not everyone can come back from a life-altering experience, but Y/N took those stereotypes and crushed them beneath the tail of her infamous yellow surfboard. She reveled in the doubts and came back stronger than ever. Of course she would beat him at his own game. She’s the only one who could.

There wasn’t any telling how long they had been riding wave after wave, in the water with no one else but just each other. But, the sun almost halfway past the horizon line was a good giveaway. They were probably nearing the two hour mark, and they knew they couldn’t stay out here all night, but Jesus, how they wished they could. Y/N wasn’t expecting to be so content, thinking this would be some strange, awkward, uncomfortable time they would want to forget about the moment they left each other’s sides.

It’s the opposite.

Just for him. Just for her.

They both laid on their boards, limbs sprawled out and dangling into the water as their bodies shut down in exhaustion. Y/N can’t remember the last time she went so long without taking at least a ten minute break. Her body was most definitely not used to it as she felt her back mold into her little yellow board, accepting the relaxation. When she finally opened her eyes back up, she turned her head to the side, admiring Harry’s profile as his arms were pulled over his head, the skin of his torso being stretched, which also stretched the ink that adorned him.

Y/N got lost in the mirage that is Harry, that she didn’t even realize he had turned his head and caught her ogling. It wasn’t until he cleared his throat that her eyes snapped to his, heat traveling up through her body and rushing to her cheeks. “M’eyes are up here, love.”

“Uh- right. Yeah, I know.”

“Cool. Hey d’y’wanna play twenty questions?” He asked, sitting up to straddle his board and paddling himself around so he was facing her.

Y/N squinted her eyes, “Are we children?”

“I mean, I guess not. Doesn’t stop my five year old humor though,” he smiled, kicking his foot up to splash her with an inkling of water as his childlike, petty comeback. “You ask first.”

Y/N pushed her hand through the water to spray him in an ounce of sea salt before turning her head back to the sky, contemplating her first question. “Mm… favorite color?” She already knew the answer.

“And you asked me if we’re children? C’mon, darling, know you wanna know more than tha’. Pink. What was your first impression of me?” He wiggled his eyebrows, even though she couldn’t see his face. This has been one of those things that’s been nagging at the back of his mind ever since they first met. Their first encounter wasn’t awkward per-se, but the fleeting moment of introduction wasn’t exactly one worth remembering either. But, Harry was always going to remember it. And depending on Y/N’s answer, he hopes she will too.

At this, she turned her head back to Harry, hand covering her eyes as the sun glared at them over the reflective water. It was a sight to behold, seeing Harry glow in the golden hour light. “Intimidating. But, also unique,” she began, moving to sit herself up and paddle her board around so she was now facing him. “You remind me of a singular cloud in an otherwise clear sky. You’re not meant to be there, yet you’re not out of place.”

Harry sat for a moment, staring. Completely in awe. Head over heels. Never would’ve guessed those words to be the ones tumbling from her lips. It was the way she didn’t hesitate in her sentence, as if those words had been formulated a while ago and just now was she able to spew it from her wordbank. Just for him. “Fuck, that was beautiful. Your turn.”

“Do you really think you’re better off alone?”

Harry pursed his lips, looking off into the distance for a brief moment before shrugging, “I do. But, I don’t. If it comes down to going back to my family and friends from home or being alone, I’ll choose being alone.” And he wanted to sprinkle in the little bonus that he doesn’t feel alone when he’s around her, but something tells him that’ll just turn her away. “What’re you so afraid of?”

It’s a brash question Y/N wasn’t expecting to be thrown at her so suddenly. She has a mix of answers, and there’s a specific one flashing in her mind like a bright, neon yellow sign, but she’s not certain how comfortable she is with telling him yet. Though, she notices that whatever question she could throw his way, he’d answer it truthfully, not scared of opening himself up, just for her. She wants to be brave like that, and maybe she can be, but she’s not sure how.

It comes as a surprise to her when she does say, “I’m scared of going through everything that happened last year all over again. Everyone’s afraid of dying, or at least most people are, but experiencing death… there’s really no coming back from that. ”

“Experiencing it?” He looks at her wide-eyed.

“What, you haven’t heard of what happened last year?” She looks at him, eyebrows scrunched.

“Only know you had some accident. No offense, but I didn’t really bother myself with reading the fine print,” he shrugs, running his pruney fingers through his salted hair. He didn’t know if he wanted to read it, especially not with the sudden news that apparently this very alive, lively girl in front of him… died? He doesn’t think he could stomach reading about that.

Y/N hasn’t met a single person who hasn’t heard about what happened to her. Or at least the details of it. In reality she doubts anyone outside of Hawaii knows of her existence, but in her world it was the biggest news to affect the state in a while -- aside from, like, actual serious matters, her accident was up there on the news.

She evades his second question though, not wanting to cough up the traumatic details of her past; not yet at least. “Well, it’s my turn anyway. Why surfing?”

“I could just look it up, but I get it; you’ll tell me when you’re ready,” he gave her a playful look, pursing his lips while giving her a pointed stare. “It’s different. England isn’t known for surfing. It’s known for rain and football. But, with every possible detail of m’life, I wanted to make sure I was different. My dad wanted me to become a professional footy player, so I said no. M’mum wanted me to go and get a degree and a real job. I didn’t want that. So, I turned to surfing,” he swung his arms around, gesturing to the vast sea and the board below him.

“Plus, it’s given me an excuse to leave home and come here. And y’know, so I could meet you.”

Y/N felt a small blush creep up her skin again, her eyes shooting down to her lap and her feet that were distorted under the water. Harry’s infatuation with the girl isn’t a secret, but anytime he purposely makes it known, it’s like a little secret that she’s unsure if she’s supposed to know or not. “Meet me?”

Harry kicked his foot up again so water would splash at her. “Uh-uh, my turn,” he laughed, shaking his head. He knew she thought she was slick at the way she bit her lip, containing her laughter. If she wants to play by the rules of the nonsensical game, then so will he. “Sunrise or sunset?”

“Sunset. Favorite song?” She wanted to reel back from the serious talk for a moment.

“Too many to choose from. Favorite movie?” He wanted to know every nitty-gritty detail about her.

She pondered for a moment, “Mamma Mia.”

“No shit! Me too!” His mouth dropped in shock, his hand flying up to his chest.

“Really?”

“No,” he shook his head, immediately blocking the massive splash he sensed coming.

Y/N rolled her eyes, huffing at him whilst crossing her arms over her torso, “Are you always so insufferable?”

“S’my middle name, babe. You hungry?” He laid himself down on his board on his belly, paddling himself to face the beach, ready to make a head start for the beach. Y/N hummed a response, following in suit and settling her stomach against the belly of the board and pushing herself to land. “Cool, let’s go get something to eat then I’ll take you home.”

Y/N’s legs felt weak, yet appreciative back on the sand. It felt like she was walking on Jell-O as she went to pick up her towel and clothes. Looking down to her shirt, she knew it was out of the question to let him see her take it off. And she could turn her back so he wouldn’t see her front -- whether or not it’s clad in a bikini top -- but even then her heart raced at the thought. She held her t-shirt in her hands and thought it over for a moment before blurting, “Could you turn around please?”

Harry looked up from checking his phone quickly, tilting his head in confusion before looking down to the shirt in her hands. The dots are connected and the bright neon pink sign in his head is telling him to listen to her, and not to question it. So, he doesn’t. Just for her. It’s still unbeknownst to Harry why she never takes her shirt off, but he knows better than to think with his dick, and accepts her wishes, turning his back to her.

Y/N lets out a small breath of relief, grateful he didn’t question her on it. She’s quick to rip off her shirt and pat dry her wet skin before hastily throwing on her dry one, giving Harry the OK to turn back around.

“Sorry, I just… I’m not comfortable with anyone seeing my, uh, my scar,” she mumbles, nervously moving her hair from one shoulder over to the other. Harry shrugs in response, picking his board up from the ground and wrapping his arm around her shoulder as they began their walk back to his car.

“You don’ have to explain yourself to me, babe,” he smiled down at her, squeezing her to his side softly.

Y/N looked up at him, and she’s sure that if she could see herself right now, her eyes would be twinkling in delight, with adoration. Just for him. “Thank you.”

They didn’t say anything else for a few minutes, walking the distance to his lonesome Jeep in peace. The silence gave Y/N time to think and to mull over all of the gushy feelings she was feeling inside about the guy beside her. She had no reason not to like him, realizing it was only fear that was pushing her away. But, this night displayed a soft side to Harry that she fell head over heels for. His smooth, easy-going approach to life, mixed in with respect for her, and a hint of witty humor was enough to tell her how she truly feels about him. And she’s scared, not because she’s afraid, but because she’s not.

Y/N can find herself easily opening up to Harry quicker than she has anyone else because she trusts him. She can just tell he’s got nothing to hide, so in-turn she wants to be the same. She doesn’t want to cower away, but revel in happiness. Because she deserves it.

Harry quickly secured the boards back into their previous spots before sliding into the driver side and whisking them away from their little getaway. The wind swept through their hair and chilled their still slightly wet skin, causing goosebumps to trail up Y/N’s arm as chills raked through her body. This time around in the car they both were more laid back, not singing along to the songs playing on the radio but rather just listening and taking in the blissful atmosphere they’ve created.

There’s been one question dancing across her mind though ever since he brought up the little game of twenty questions. It was the first one to pop up in her mind when she was thinking of something juicy to ask. She didn’t want to ask it though, in fear of what his answer would be. But, now she’s not afraid. She’s curious though.

“Is this a date?” She queried, turning the volume of the radio down a bit so he could hear her and vice versa.

Harry glanced at her through his peripheral, one eyebrow cocking up on his forehead, “Is the sky blue?”

“I mean, right now it’s like orange-blue,” she retorted, looking at the newly sun-ridden sky that blended shades of orange into the usual night blue.

“Brainiac. There’s your answer. It’s however you want to look at it,” he digressed, reaching over to pat her thigh - in more of a friendly manner rather than sensual.

She appreciated his answer, absolutely adoring the fact that he wasn’t putting pressure on her about anything. It was hard to comprehend just how nice he truly is, and how someone could be so perfect. She couldn’t see a flaw in his looks or his personality or his morals, and all she could wonder was how someone like him could possibly like someone like her. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you, Harry.”

He side glanced at her again, this time raising both of his eyebrows in puzzlement, “I’ll take tha’ as a good thing?”

“It’s good. It’s… it’s a good thing.”

❊ ❊

The two of them had discussed where they wanted to go, neither of them wanting to decide and going back and forth with one another, saying, “No, you decide,” “No you.”

Y/N was never good at decisions, especially mundane ones like where to eat. She always lets Kalani decide because she could eat anything, and it’s her friend that’s the picky one. But, Harry is the same way. Whatever is put in front of him, he could probably eat (except for pickles, he absolutely hates pickles).

They settled for pizza. And it was going to be Harry’s first time trying a slice of Hawaiian.

Y/N hates Hawaiian slices, finding the sweetness of the pineapple and the savor of the ham unsettling atop her pizza. It sends her taste buds into shock and her mind into a meltdown. But, she insisted he try it, because how could someone be in Hawaii and not try its state-named slice?

They sat at their little table in the corner of the restaurant that was alongside a window, giggling to themselves as they played a little game of eye-spy, waiting for their food. For some odd reason, Harry was really good at this game, always picking the hardest of objects to point out, always stumping a frustrated Y/N.

“You’re cheating.”

“How the fuck am I cheating?”

“Dunno, you just are.”

And in retaliation to her accusation, Harry pointed to her shirt, stating she got a little soda on it, causing her to look down to her chest and see nothing but finger as he flicked her nose. “Too easy. Sore loser.”

Y/N huffed, sticking her tongue out at him. The playful banter between them was the best part of their days lately. Before Y/N even realized her feelings for Harry, she always looked forward to what they would bicker about -- in a friendly matter of course. Now, she constitutes that to just wanting to see him because she really enjoys his company, and him.

It’s been a long time since she’s felt this way about anyone, and she’s sort of glad she gets to feel this way about Harry. He’s an enigma, but a good one. She’s totally transfixed by him and she never wants this euphoria to end. He radiates this bright and bubbly energy that lifts her mood whenever she’s around him, and she’s afraid of losing that. But, she chooses not to dwell on the what-if, instead completely basking in the present and his gooey aura of happiness.

When the food finally came out, they both were quick to stuff their faces, their stomachs practically turning inside-out from how hungry they were. It came to no surprise to Harry that he was absolutely in love with this Hawaiian slice, already looking forward to ordering two more.

Y/N looked at him a tad worried. He was scoffing down three slices as if there were no tomorrow, all within a matter of two minutes. She was slightly worried he was going to reach over and take her dinner, because that’s how hungry he seemed to be. But, he should know better than to get between Y/N and her food. Like the one time he tried to take some of her fries, to which she punched him in the shoulder and then took them back.

“Hey, y’gonna eat that?” He points to her not yet touched slice of pizza, earning a glare that could kill in response. “Cool, you are, just making sure. Can’t let precious food go t’waste. It’s my turn for a question right?”

Y/N thinks back for a second to determine if he’s right or not, remembering she did ask a question last. She nodded her head before biting into her little piece of heaven.

“Was it hard getting back in the water?”

She brought her napkin up to her mouth to wipe away the drop of sauce she felt on her cheek, mulling over her answer. “Kinda. I knew I had to eventually because it’s all I know, it was just a matter of when. My parents were terrified, and I mean I was too but I can’t let that dictate my future. I love surfing and nothing is going to take that away from me.”

Not even something as horrifying as death could take her away from her true love. Not until she’s truly six-feet under, riding silver waves in the silver palace.

“Do you think you’re going to stay here? In Hawaii?” Y/N wondered, taking a sip of her Coke.

“Got nowhere else to be,” he shrugged, mindlessly tapping his fingers on the table in an arrhythmic pattern. “Home is where the heart is, right? Well, think mine’s here right now.” Across from her. Just for her.

Home is where the heart is.

“Does it count if my heart isn’t mine?”

Last year, Y/N was going about her day like she always did. She was fine, in tip-top shape just like she had been for the past twenty years of her life. The bright sun was out and shining over all of the surfers and onlookers, and it seemed just like every other regular day. She was paddling out into the water, and the perfect, golden first wave was approaching her. She pushed herself up onto her feet, balancing her body, in tune with the wave, executing a nearly perfect opener. Then, she felt her chest tighten and her body suddenly felt weak. Breathing rapidly grew difficult, causing her to instantly panic. She fell off her board, plummeting into the water, trying to gasp for air but choking on the sea that swimmed down her throat.

Feeling herself sink as her chest was on fire was the last she remembered. The baby blue sky blended into black and that was it. Her life was over.

Kalani was the one who went in after her, screaming for help as her best friend was blue in the face and not moving.

Y/N suffered a heart attack. Apparently, she had a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, that went unnoticed all her life. On this day, her heart had thickened extensively, making it difficult to pump blood to the rest of her body. The strain on her heart caused it to give out, right when she was feeling the high of riding a solid wave. She was pronounced dead for a total of forty-five seconds before EMT could revive her. Supposedly she’s lucky to be alive, because if not treated basically instantly, there’s a slim chance of survival. But, she was able to stick it out until the hospital.

Her heart was in brutal shape, so she was sent to the top of a donor waiting list. Y/N and her family are forever grateful for the team of doctors and nurses that stuck by her side, knowing she wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. Or her sheer luck.

Y/N felt a little crazy for feeling so comfortable spilling all of this information so suddenly to Harry, but at the same time she didn’t. And the best part about it is that none of it seems to freak Harry out. Nothing about who she is or how she is scares him. And that’s what makes her feel so comfortable. “My scar, it’s from a heart transplant. I had a heart condition all my life apparently. Then suddenly one day, it couldn’t handle it anymore, so it gave out. A girl named Shauna’s heart is keeping me alive right now.”

Harry didn’t blink for a whole minute.

He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, trying to come up with something, anything to say to the girl across from him. But, he had nothing. He didn’t know what to say.

His silence was a little concerning to Y/N, making her wish she could just be swallowed whole by the ground below her. Was it too soon to drop the HT bomb? He was bound to find out eventually, and she figured it was best to rip the bandaid off on her own time rather than someone else telling him or him looking it up on Google.

She’s kicking herself over it.

Harry cleared his throat, taking a sip of his water before licking his lips and leaning back in his chair. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Y/N merely shrugged, “Don’t be. Shit happens. Who knows, if it never happened we may not be here now.”

Harry raised his eyebrows, his signature small smirk back on his face in its usual spot. He raised his glass, leaning it forward a bit toward her, stating, “Cheers to that, babe.” She raised her own glass and clinked it against his, a smile on her lips as she sucked up the remaining bit of her soda through her straw. She’s happy he didn’t turn and run away.

Cheers to that, babe.

By the time they both filled their guts to the point of feeling overstuffed, mindlessly chatting and spending time together, it was already past ten o’clock. The time had passed them by like it was nothing, but they weren’t necessarily complaining. The older couple next to them were though. Y/N had to pull Harry out of the restaurant before he bit the woman’s head off for how rude she was. That’s when they knew it was time to skedaddle.

Then they just drove around for another hour before Harry figured it was time to bring her home, much to his dismay. But, when her head lolled against the passenger seat headrest and her eyes would softly shut in exhaustion. He wanted desperately to reach over and tuck the loose strand of hair that fell out of her ponytail, behind her ear. He wanted to reach over and place his hand on her thigh as they drove down the highway, softly squeezing her skin before teasingly inching up towards her hidden gem.

Is it too soon to be in love?

It was like a slap in the face when Harry parked in front of her house. Reality stuck its nose into their little wonderland bubble, and unfortunately, they couldn’t push it back out.

Harry hopped out of his seat, unfastening her board from the trunk and tucking it under his arm as they walked side-by-side to her front door. He gently placed it down where he had initially found it earlier on, tucking his lips into his mouth as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

“I uh… I guess this is it. I had a really ni-”

“I’ve got one more question before you leave me,” he interrupted her little speech, stepping impossibly closer to her, barricading her between him and the banister on her porch. It wasn’t hard to notice the long stares at her shiny lips that glinted in the dull yellow glow of the light by the door. He purposely took extra time to rake over the features of her face before finally meeting her eyes.

Y/N swallowed nothing but air as she softly bit at her bottom lip, “Yeah?”

She already knew his question.

“Can I kiss you?”

He already knew her answer.

Y/N slyly looked at him, bringing her hands up, a bit hesitant to rest on his shoulders. “I thought this wasn’t a date.”

“Sky’s blue.” Y/N looks up at the sky and notices it’s dark blue hue, twinkling stars layers on top, surrounding the fullest, brightest moon. It was a beautiful sky, perfect to share a first kiss under.

He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers as his hands came up to her hips. Her eyes fluttered shut, waiting for the climactic moment to overcome them, the air of the night chilling up her spine.

But, then she felt fiery, red hot as their lips locked together in a soft kiss. It was as soft as they felt towards one another. This giddy, slow paced, admiring kiss that had their insides melting but their hearts pounding. This kiss is exactly how Y/N images Harry. A pale yellow that’s not harsh on the eyes, that resonates happiness. Harry imagines it as a hot pink, one that takes his breath away and captures his mind.

It wasn’t long before it turned heated, Harry’s tongue sweeping into her mouth, and one of his hands travelling further south to grab hold of the flesh of her behind. Y/N let out a soft moan into his mouth as her hands tangled into his mound of curls, tugging softly on his roots.

Then the disturbing image of either one of her parents opening the front door at any moment flashed across her eyes, causing her to pull back, kissing his bottom lip softly before trailing her thumb over the swollen skin and opening her eyes to look into his gaudy, green ones.

The sounds of their breaths mingled together as tired smiles adorned their faces, little giggles leaving each of their mouths as they basked in what just happened. All Harry could think was, ‘It’s about damn time.’ All Y/N could think was, ‘Why did I ever push him away?’

“My turn,” she spoke after a few moments, standing up straighter and fixing her shirt around her body. “Pick me up tomorrow?”

A wide, shit-eating grin spread out across Harry’s face as he ran his hand through his mangled curls. “Sunrise. If y’not in this exact spot in the morning, m’knocking the door down and dragging you out by y’hair.” He hopped down off the porch, completely skipping the steps as the adrenaline of their first kiss kicked into his system.

“Sunrise,” she agreed.

He hopped back into the driver’s side of his Jeep, throwing his hand up in a goodbye wave as he sped away, already counting down the seconds until he would see his golden ray of bright and bubbly sunshine again. He’s not so sure if he’ll be able to fall asleep.

Y/N didn’t have that same problem. The moment she landed on her bed, her eyes shut faster than the speed of light, her last conscious thought being of Harry. Her smile never leaving her face.

❊ ❊

Meeting at sunrise had become part of their routine. Not always to surf, but just to be together. Sometimes they surfed at their little alcove, other times they would watch the sun from her backyard, snuggled up in blankets on the beach. Or, they would surf, get breakfast, then fall back asleep in his bed until a more decent hour of morning.

But, their day always began at sunrise. It would be the equivalent to say that it also ended at sunset, but sunset was always too soon to part ways.

This wasn’t an everyday occurrence, mostly at random. Except for Sundays. Sundays are specifically their day, as per request of Harry. How could he be in love with a girl that coined yellow as her color, that had a smile as bright as the huge burning star, that claimed golden hour was prime sun time, and not deem Sunday as their day? He didn’t put any second thought into it.

Despite their sort of fast paced first date, they’ve been taking things slow, truly getting used to the feel of one another over the course of the next couple of months. It wasn’t until a month later that Harry popped the question, officially making Y/N his forever buddy-buddy. Well, not necessarily forever, but they both know it’s basically forever.

Harry never wants to be alone again.

It wasn’t until the night after they became official that Y/N finally took her shirt off in front of him. She was going through one of her episodes, and Harry was the only one around who could help her. He managed to calm her down and bring her inside her house - that was empty because her parents had gone out for the night - and get her to the bathroom so she could take a shower.

Initially, he was going to let her get in by herself, knowing her boundaries in regards to her body and not seeing it. But, when he saw how worn down she looked, he whispered words of reassurance in her ear, asking her permission to help get her in the shower. He wasn’t thinking with his dick, he just wanted to help the girl that didn’t know how to help herself.

Y/N looked him in the eyes, nibbling softly on her bottom lip before averting her attention to her chest for a few moments. She trusts him, and if they’re bound to work out, she needs him to be comfortable with seeing all aspects of her both mentally and physically. Which includes her scar.

So, she nods her head in agreement.

She lifted her arms and allowed him to remove her shirt, immediately feeling self-conscious. She couldn’t look him in the eyes as she stepped out of her shorts and underwear, going into the shower to avoid any lingering stares. Harry was quick to follow behind her, shutting the curtain after him. That’s when Y/N turned around and completely broke down, the tears that have been building behind her eyes finally pouring out. Harry wrapped her in his arms, letting her cry her eyes out for however long she needed.

When she stopped, Harry washed her hair, washed her body, washed away her bad thoughts, then washed himself as fast as he could so he could get her into her bed for the night. She snuggled up to his side, enjoying the warmness of his body that contrasted her cool ones.

That night when her parents came home, they spotted Harry’s Jeep in front of their house. Though when the house was eerily quiet, and found the door to her bedroom slightly ajar, they peeked inside and saw the two of them fast asleep. Parents usually would get angry at the sight of their child in bed with someone of a different gender, but not Y/N’s parents.

Over the last two months, they saw their daughter break back out of her shell, slowly returning to her former self, and all because of Harry. They saw how happy she became whenever he was around, or they’d overheard happy she was when just talking about him to Kalani. How could they ever get angry at the fact that Y/N was happy?

With the blossoming of their relationship taking place at the same time as the Vans Triple Crown, word got around fast and soon enough they were the star couple leading the ranks in their respective divisions. The world -- or really the surfing world, because no one really pays attention to professional surfers, was in awe of them. They were the hype of the news, of the town, of the state. Rightfully so, because they’re awfully cute.

It came as no surprise to everyone when the two were crowned the champions. The press went wild with this one, stating there was some scam happening behind the scenes, because what were the odds that this new star couple could both win? Or, how could Harry, a newbie, shoot his way up to the top in just one year? Or, how could Y/N dominate with her physical ailments?

There wasn’t a hoax and there wasn’t any cheating. They both were just that good.

The day of the final competition, they may have worked just a little harder to land the championship title. Harry had picked Y/N up and they traveled to their secret hideaway bright and early in the morning. After being out at a party the night before, the two were in no shape to get in the water already, opting to snooze under the shade of a cliff on the beach for a little while.

They didn’t sleep for very long before they got wrapped up in one another, indulging in a morning session of intimate love. They slept for maybe an hour before Y/N was ready to get her swim on, but Harry was the biggest sack of lazy mush that morning. He didn’t want to get up for nothing. He was laying down on his surfboard, completely comfortable under the shade. Y/N tried tugging on his arms to get him up, but he wouldn’t budge, a half-sleepy and dazed smile on his lips.

At one point he tugged her back, causing her to land on his lap, legs straddling his hips as her face crashed into his chest. His arms wrapped around her back, securing him to her as he said, “See? Isn’t this so much better than physical activity?”

“C’mon tubby, we got shit to do,” Y/N giggled, but Harry just held onto her tighter and nuzzled his cheek to the top of her head.

He hummed, “S’comfortable here.”

Y/N didn’t know what else to do, so the only maneuver left was bribery. Harry’s no different than any guy in the sense that once sex is brought into the mix, his ears perk up and his dick stiffens. So, Y/N was going to use that to her advantage. “If you get up, you can fuck me all night tonight.”

Harry was quick to sit up, her still in his lap, eyes squinted in suspicion. Y/N bit her lip to refrain from laughing, but she was mentally patting herself on the back. His hands shifted down her back to grab onto the flash of her behind, pulling her center closer to his and building up a bit of friction. “How about right now and tonight?”

“I can’t be exhausted for today, H,” Y/N rolled her eyes, moving to get herself off his lap, but he kept her grounded.

“You don’t ‘ave to get in the water now. You’ve practiced, you’re prepared, you got this. The championship is practically in your hands already,” he disclosed, peppering kisses up the side of her neck, a few across her jawline, and then landing on her lips.

Even if that may be true, she doesn’t want that to stop her from putting effort and time into winning. “Harry…” she started, getting lost in the feel of his lips suckling a lovebite right in the crook of her neck, her most sweet spot. He lifted his hips up slightly, pushing against her heat, eliciting the smallest moan from her mouth.

“Bet y’soaking your suit. Can I see?”

They only have a limited amount of time before they need to get to the Northshore at Ehukai Beach Park for the competition. It was about a forty-five minute drive alone. But, Harry’s lips and fingers were way too persuasive, so Y/N nodded her head.

“Good girl.”

He lifted her up so her back was now against the belly of his pink board, her legs immediately wrapped around his broad shoulders as he placed a chaste kiss to her clothed core. She whined as he hooked his fingers into her bikini bottoms, dragging them tortuously slow down her legs. His eyes immediately attracted themselves to her glistening slit, her wetness practically inviting him in. “So fucking pretty, baby.”

Harry’s hands pushed her legs as far apart as they would go, licking a fat stripe up from her little hole to her sensitive clit. Y/N threw her head back as he focused his attention on her clit, swirling his tongue around the little bud before sucking it into his mouth. She was a whimpering mess, but that earned her a smack on the ass and a first warning from Harry.

“No one’s around. Let me hear you loud and clear,” he gave her a pointed look, keeping their eye contact as he went a little further south, pushing the tip of his tongue into her cunt. Y/N tried closing her legs around his head but Harry just pushed them open further, keeping a firm grip on her thighs that were bound to leave bruises. Bruises just for her.

Her jaw fell slack, moans tumbling past her pink lips louder and louder. Her nails dug into his shoulders, most likely leaving scratches he’ll find later when they’re stinging in the shower. Just for him.

Y/N was growing restless as he inserted his middle and ring finger inside of her, pushing and pulling them at an intense pace that caused her toes to curl in the sand by his hips. When he managed to push his index finger in alongside the other two, Y/N began to see stars at the stretch of her walls.

“So tight f’me. Imagine it was my cock instead. Would feel so good and full, but you’d be too exhausted for later, hm?” He cooed, letting her adjust to the extra digit inside of her before fucking her harder and faster than before. He kissed up her tummy that was visible from under her shirt before landing his forehead against hers.

His free hand grabbed a hold of her jaw, making her face him which caused her eyes to open up quickly, locking eye contact with one another. “S’a shame. M’so hard, like a fucking rock. But you’ll be too tired.”

Teasingly, Y/N nodded her head in agreement, earning a hard glare from her lover. At this, he stopped the movement of his fingers, slowly pulling them out of her. Y/N’s mouth opened wide, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion as Harry sucked his fingers past his lips, indulging in her sweetness that tasted like a little sliver of heaven.

“Wh-wha…?”

“Close y’mouth, Y/N. Gonna catch flies,” he smirked, reaching over for her bikini bottoms and sliding them back up her legs until they were nestled against her soaking wet, throbbing pussy. “Said it y’self. Can’t be exhausted for the finale today, gotta be quick on your feet and coasting the gnarliest waves. C’mon slow poke, gotta get some practice in.”

So, Y/N was pissed off to say the least. And because of this, she was extra determined to push herself as far as she could to come out on top today. Harry on the other hand, well he was just mad that he had an insane hard-on that his own girlfriend didn’t want to tend to. He should’ve expected his little stunt wouldn’t go over nicely, but the look on her face when he stopped was absolutely priceless.

When it was announced that Y/N and Harry had won in their divisions everyone was beyond elated at the news, cheers and hugs and kisses spread all around the group. Though when it was their turn to congratulate each other, they looked at each other, small smiles on their faces before they turned to make conversation with someone else. That didn’t stop them from reaching for one another though, slyly interlocking their hands together.

They were whisked away quickly for pictures, holding their trophies high in the air, the biggest smiles on their faces. Y/N’s parents were cheering them on, more specifically her because they were so proud she was able to take her life back. Y/N could cry at the sight of her mother being a blubbering mess, and her dad’s admiration sparkling across his eyes. Though, with the support of her family, Y/N’s mind couldn’t help but wonder about Harry’s family, and how they couldn’t support their son with what he loved.

With this, Y/N squeezed his hand harder, and despite the cameras around them, she leaned up on her tiptoes and placed a kiss to his lips, the clicks of the cameras and the chatter of the crowd increasing. But, neither of them cared as they looked at one another, full of love.

Because that’s what this was. Love.

It didn’t matter that they had only met a little over three months ago, only dating for two months. They were in love. And that’s all that mattered.

Going out to dinner that night, they hardly left each other’s sides. They were being that obnoxious clingy couple that no one likes being around, but they didn’t care. Because they both knew they were in love. An unspoken love that didn’t have to be announced because the whole world knew, and so did they.

“Cheers to the love birds! And for the love of God, could you stop looking at each other like that,” AJ gagged, causing everyone to laugh before they clinked glasses.

When they left the restaurant, Harry and Y/N hopped into Betty, driving around for a little while before they decided to stay at his for the night. It was when the wind was blowing in her hair again, the moon shining above them and shining through her hair, his hand gently on her thigh, squeezing softly in contrast to that morning, that Harry truly felt it. This love that he has for this girl. Love that’s meant just for her. Her, and only her.

This gushy feeling was put on hold for a little while though the moment they walked through the door of his apartment. Y/N was bent over the arm of his living room couch, her one leg bent and on the armrest beside her while the other was trying its best to keep her steady on the ground. Harry’s fist was wrapped up in her hair, proving to make it more difficult for her to keep her balance. Though she wouldn’t want it any other way.

“What’s the matter, babe? You said I could fuck you all night.” Harry’s hot breath coated the shell of her ear, “Y’tired?”

She gasped at a particularly hard thrust that felt like it had hit against her cervix, trying to get the word No out in between her moans and whimpers.

“Hope not. Had me aching all day for your tiny cunt. M’gonna need a few hours to really appreciate it.” She could feel his menacing smirk against her skin as he again thrusted so far deep inside of her, her one leg gave out. If it wasn’t for Harry holding her up, she would’ve fell right over, too weak to even try and get back up.

They went twice on the couch before Harry helped her get to the shower, where they did it again. And then when they finally cleaned themselves, they got into bed, where they did it again, but this one could be classified under love-making. It was slow and sensual and sweet, just like them. Harry paid extra attention to her scar, trailing down the tissue with soft kisses as they softly climaxed together.

It was a little past midnight at this point, and they were both extremely tired. Y/N was on the brink of dozing off into dreamland before Harry interrupted her exhaustion.

“We never finished our game of twenty questions, did we?” He murmured, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Y/N lazily opened her eyes, shaking her head, “Don’t believe so.”

“Think it’s my turn,” he hummed. “Do you love me?”

There was silence for a brief couple of seconds, making Harry think Y/N had dozed off before answering his question. But, Y/N just needed those seconds to collect her mushed thoughts inside of her mushy brain before giving him a coherent and valid response.

“Yeah. I do.”

Harry smiled, probably the biggest he’s ever smiled, leaning down and taking hold of her face and smashing their lips together in a ceremonious kiss.

“Sick. Ditto, Sunshine.”

#it would mean so much if you tell me what you thought #harry styles one shot #harry styles au #harry styles imagine #harry styles blurb #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles smut #harry styles fluff #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles writing #harry styles #one direction fanfiction

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meenah-chan · 4 years ago

Text

Requested by: @zimelu-eloni-nova-lycan (hope you see this since I can't tag you ಥ‿ಥ)

My apologies in advance if Malleus is OOC. Other than wanting to play TW and doing a bit of research of him, I know nothing 😂 I never thought of taking requests coz I'm a slow writer but it was quite interesting so I did it anyways. (And took daaays to finish 😂)

To Thine Own Self Be True

An OM! Brothers x GN! Dark Fae MC (slight OM! X Twisted Wonderland crossover)

5.47k words

Genre: flangst

Trigger warnings: self harm, violence, self depreciation? (cringe jk) Read at your own discretion.

"You're an incomplete puzzle... I hope you find your missing pieces." And thus, they were sent to someplace they didn't know...

They... have always been alone. But Y/N is not lonely. They have Malleus, a powerful yet caring brother. They have their grandmother, that even as busy as she is, tries to show her love as much as possible.

They are the only one they need. As long as they have them, they needn't anything else. Or atleast they think so.

"As a part of royal family, you have to broaden your horizon." But they think otherwise.

Before Malleus' departure for Night Raven College, he left Y/N a word, "You're an incomplete puzzle, Y/N. I hope you find your missing pieces." and that was months ago, and they were still confused by it.

Incomplete puzzle... It doesn't feel like they are. They are content of what they have. They capable of doing most tasks perfectly. They fulfill their responsibilities impeccably. It's not like they can't live on their own either. Having no friends and acquaintances but they're two family members is also fine. They don't need any more. No one who could stand their presence anyways.

The intimidating dark energy far more destructive than a fae possessed, in which Y/N could never control. Those menacing, sharp green eyes. Their skin as pale as the dead corpse, and lips charred black. But most of all, those pair of disgustingly sharp, black horns that keeps on growing back no matter how hard they try to get rid of it.

Y/N is the epitome of fear. They knew it more than anyone. If they were to be reckoned that way, it is better to maintain distance from everyone.

But I should fulfill my duty, atleast. They thought, fortifying their resolve as they stood before the future King of Devildom and his butler. "Welcome to Devildom, Y/N Draconia."

"It's an honor to be of your acquaintance, Prince Diavolo." Placing a palm on their chest, Y/N bowed.

As per the two Kingdom's agreement, they were to live in a safe place different from a lavish lifestyle they have been used to inside their gold plated walls. And thus they were led by the Future king's shadow, Barbatos, to their new home. The House of Lamentation.

House of Lamentation. What a gloomy and dreadful place, befitting a sinister being like me. they scoff.

But the sight the dark fae witnessed within that walls was not within their expectations.

"Beel! Don't eat the my wallet! H–Hey, I said let go! My goldie'll snap! B–Belphie, help me!" A white-haired man is pulling a leather wallet from the teeth of a bulky orange-haired one.

"Smells chicken mushroom oil." While the orange head kept their teeth sunk into the wallet almost ripped into two. "It's just a drop, stop going crazy over it!"

"Belphie, wake up! You promised you'll help me with clearing dungeons today! The raid will start anytime now!!" A violet haired male violently shakes an asleep man in blue but the man is far from dazed at all.

"Hrmm... Five more minutes—" "We have no more time!! I can't play with a missing player!"

A feminine faced guy appeared right in front of them, instantly invading their comfort zone and kept locking eyes with them. "Ohh? Who is this with you Barbatos? Ahh, The one moving in! You're quite early, darling. Ignore those bunch in the back and play with me?"

"Behave, you fools!!" A booming voice reverberates and in an instant, the rowdy bunch is silenced. "Such a disgrace..."

Except for one, who didn't make any ruckus until that very moment.

A bucket came flitting up in the air and in the next second, all of its contents all poured on the man who controlled the ruckus a while ago.

"SAAAAATAN!!" It was an utter chaos. This place far from the gloomy place they have in their imagination. It is filled with rabid demons that could obliterate them were they to join forces, and now Y/N have to adjust in this new environment.

"I see it's not a great time to introduce myself." Said Y/N, yet the only one who probably heard them is the butler beside them. "If you'll excuse me, I would like to know where my room is."

"As you wish, your Excellency. Allow me to lead you the way." The butler responded to them. They left the common room, where the rowdy ones moments ago, were trying to suppress the supposedly-most decent of the seven, from destroying the mansion.

Y/N usually do not receive a normal greetings on the events they've been into or more like, forced to come by either their grandmother or by Malleus. It could be the fairies either— gives them space with no one dare shorten the distance; reluctantly greet them before leaving them as fast as they could or; flat out ignore them.

Yet so far, the experience I have today is by all odds, the most insulting way I have ever been greeted. Y/N clasps their trembling hands as they sat on the bed.

I wish this will end sooner. This will be a hell for me...

Almost everyday is a crazy, eventful day. Far different than their everyday life in the Valley of Thorns, their homeland. First impression doesn't really matter to Y/N, but for some reason, they couldn't stand them since day 1. Sure, they haven't done anymore distasteful things like the rude way of welcoming them. Still, the members of the family are crazily weird in their own ways. And they hate it.

Lucifer is the eldest of the brothers. The one who leads the brothers and manage everything in place.

"As your family have wished, you were to live differently than you have thus far. So I won't exempt you with the cooking and housework."

"As a part of Royal family, I expect great things from you. I won't tolerate screw ups."

"Remember to complete your tasks. I am assigned by Diavolo to take care of you, so I will check on your activities throughout your stay here." He is an ass. A bossy and dominating dictator who think he could order a royalty like them.

But one time, when they entered his study, they saw a scene they never thought they'll ever perceive.

*Tak* A fountain pen falling from his gripless hand.

He was splayed on his desk filled with tall stacks of paper, out cold. Y/N didn't know they would witness such vulnerable side of such condescending demon.

So they chose to put off their business for tomorrow, placing his coat over him and letting him rest.

But the event didn't occur only once. Atleast twice a week of exact time before midnight, he's always been unconscious on his desk. That's when Y/N realized: he is not strict and short tempered for no reason.

As the eldest, he took it to himself to be the father figure to the brothers, all while perfectly doing his job as Diavolo's right-hand man. He fulfills his job with perfection. But perfection doesn't come without hardwork nor sacrifices. For the sake of his great responsibility he sacrifice himself, working so hard until he drop on his desk.

With thoughts of him made Y/N ponder over something.

Does having a father feels like having a Lucifer in my life? Maybe it is, they never knew since they never remember their's. He isn't as bad as they thought he were if they think it that way. That is praiseworthy, as they think so themself and deserve some respect.

No more stern expressions whenever speaking to him. Being more compliant if his instruction is reasonable. Thanking him even for a simple thing he does for them.

Soon, they noticed he doesn't nitpick them either and praise them for every job well done. The dark fae may still be annoyed with him but that's not a bad outcome at all.

And then there's Mammon, the second eldest, who is supposed to assist the eldest.

"Ye're a royalty right? So ye're loaded. I'm in a pinch right now so let me borrow from you." He leans on their shoulder, with his smug grin.

"Don't listen to that fool. It's past 200 years and he still haven't paid his debts to me yet."

"Shut up, you otaku!"

Behind violet-haired appears the black haired demon. "MAMMON..."

"EEK— W–Wait!! Lucifer, this is not wha–ACK—!!" Mammon is a scum. A rude demon who could care less of his words and language. Trouble is where he is. Even so, in his tough exterior, Y/N took note of a soft side.

Y/N saw him one time, poking at the mopping otaku demon outside his room. "Yo Levi. What you doin' there?"

"Just let me be... I lose my raid last time because I couldn't play... Now I can't even bear looking at my PC... No one would want to play to a no-show gamer like me..."

"Hmm... Then, it can't be helped. C'mon, your big brother Mammon will play with you!"

"R–Really..?"

"Yeah, Yeah. Let's play to your heart's content" He pulled him up and push him inside his room.

Consoling a sad brother, lending a helping hand when they need it. He may not look like it, but Mammon is also taking good care of his brothers. All the emotional support Lucifer fails to give his brothers, Mammon provides.

So before Mammon entered the room, the dark fae decided to tap his shoulder, earning his attention. "You really love your brothers."

"W–Wha... Where does... who loves—"

"That's really admirable." They promptly reach out a bottle of a jet-black faerie dust only they could concoct. Mammon gingerly took it from them and scanned the inside. "That may help you settle some of your debts. Then..." After giving the bottle, they went on their way.

"AAAAHHHH!! THIS IS ULTRA RARE!" As expected to a man who could appraise goods.

They remember Malleus from his caring side, they couldn't help but smile and commend the yellow demon. I miss my brother...

Leviathan on the other hand, has a different case. He is the third-born of that household. A timid person... At first glance, atleast.

They just can't understand him. He spoke in language they couldn't wrap their head around like, "LOL! ROFLMAO!", "Tss, normie..."

It is tolerable, at least. What they can't tolerate is the fact that,

"UUWAAH!! MY RURI-CHAN LIMITED EDITION COBALT PIN AND FIGURINE IS HERE!!" He is, by far, the loudest. His sudden and unexpected outbursts kept on triggering every jumpy cells in their system.

Leviathan is too hyped he seemed to enter his own dimension. He skipped through the corridor, he sung a Ruri-whatever song that is, until, "Ahh—" he made a misstep in the stairs, a few steps away from them.

Y/N dashed and caught them barely in time, with firm hold between his shoulder blades and another to his package, which should be flying right now but was pressed secured to his chest.

"You should be more careful or you'll hurt yourself. Your treasured package almost fell." They sighed.

"... An angel has descended." He stared at them in awe. As he move his hand to the box, he touched their hand. That's when their position fianally sinks in to him. His face flared beet red and in a few seconds blew a fuse, passing out right on the spot.

"... What a troublesome demon..." With no other choice but to bring him themself, he carried the unconscious Leviathan up to their room. After opening the door, what welcomed them is a messy room.

No, not messy. The room is filled with items and materials of all sorts. Tons of CDs, figurines and posters on shelves and walls. Stuff toys and pillows of all shapes and sizes. Hanged intricate costumes and clothes, which in just a glance, they knew is made with effort. Even pins, threads and needle atop a... Sewing machine? Did he made all of this?

Y/N took another glance on the other side of the room. There he saw three monitors with various programs registered. A game, video editor and a Photoshop... I wonder what else can this man do?

Is this what they call a hobby? Such passion and dedication in pursuit of doing what he loves... An unfamiliar feeling for this dark fae.

They... can't really understand this man. Not at all... But I can now see him in another light, I guess...

The one who sought Y/N first were Beelzebub, the sixth-born. A bulky, tall demon who loves to eat. They were having a snack on the balcony when the older twin sniffs his way in. Such action that freaked the dark fae out internally, considering the sight they witnessed when they first moved in. The fact that they saw a few times 'accidentally' eating inedible things doesn't helped at all either.

"I followed the smell from the kitchen. Your cake smells delicious!" The drooling giant stood by them, and they couldn't take another sip from their tea.

"Hmm... Help yourself." Or you may help yourself with my flesh if I didn't satisfy your hunger.

"Really?!" He sat oposite to them and within minutes, all the plates on the table were wiped clean. "That was delicious!... Ahh that's right. Y/N, why aren't you eating with us during meals?"

"I'm used to eating by myself."

"But why? Eating with someone make the food taste better." Y/N doubt that'll be the case if that someone is him, who could definitely eat them if his appetite cries its needs.

Beelzebub touched his chin, thinking. "Hmm... How about I eat with you during snacks time? I'll bring food you'll definitely like!"

"Ah—" And they lost their timing. His eyes sparkles like stars and the pure happiness in his voice made it impossible for them to refuse. They wouldn't know what he could do were they to decline what he desire.

Since then he would appear without fail during Y/N's snack time, sharing both of their food with each other.

They tried to slowly end such dangerous activity yet, the enthusiasm in his eyes whenever he eat held them back. In the end, Y/N conceded, increasing their baked goods everyday to sate the needs of the ball of sunshine before them– who could bring warmth or burn them. As a response he will also eat it all like it's his first time eating their goods.

He is a man of few words yet, also quite easy to read, especially when eating the sweets they made themself. A straight forward person who means just as he say.

He would even sometimes bring his other twin, who will eat a few bites before snoozing.

"Beel really likes you, you know..." They glanced from their teacup to the youngest, seating beside them as the gobbling twin is busy with his food.

Belphegor stares in an ever-drowsy eyes. He is the man they least interacted with. How can they? Whenever they see him, he is always asleep. And it's not like Y/N is interested in communicating with him or anyone at all. "He even does his research for everything he brings you here. I don't know if you knew, but he really want to convince you to eat meals with everyone."

"...Ehh? Why? We're not even..." Y/N raised an eyebrow.

"Because he loves everything you make. He wants to talk to you ever since the first time you cook, but you're too antisocial to even eat with us."

"Says the demon who is always sleeping whenever I see him." Y/N snorts before taking a bite from the cupcake Beel brought. Hmm... this is good...

"...You, are you getting enough sleep?" Belphegor peers at their face.

"...None of your business."

"Whatever..." He frowns before burrying his face on his pillow.

What a keen observant. Y/N thought.

They've also been observing him since the first day. They share a lot of classes together and the dark fae knew, he is someone who rarely attend his classes, and whenever he does, he is always asleep. They also never saw him hold a book, much more read it. Yet, when they have exams, he finishes halfway the alloted time, almost the same time as them and sleeps after. The worst thing is that he could pass them easily.

He... is a dormant monstrosity. They conclude as they unlock the door to their room the day after. But before they do so, they noticed something.

Beside the door is an unfamiliar paper bag and inside... is a pillow, a bit caved it to the top center—similar to the one they use back to their home to be able to sleep well. It also comes with a note:

'The caneles and the stew is passable. You can throw away the pillow if you don't want it. Just know that it took me a great deal of effort to buy that.'

Really, what a frightening observant.

And there is Satan, the fourth-born, a pretty decent guy who craves for nothing but knowledge. If Y/N may say, he is the one they spend the most time with, though it's not that much.

"What are you reading?" Voicing not a word, they faced him the book cover.

"L’intelletto e Il Cuore... Hmm, that's a good choice." With at least 3 meters away from him, and few to no words exchange between them inside the library, it's not really that much.

He is a rational and intelligent man who respects personal space. Though, from time to time he would snicker eerily between the silence they have, holding either a cursed or homicide book. Creepy.

"What did you say...? The books you borrowed from me... Fell in the river? And it was washed away...?" And when he is angry, all his rationality is thrown out of the window.

"I–I will replace it I promise–" Pleads the peach-haired demon, kneeling before him.

"Replace, you say...? Didn't you know they were a Century membership gift to me from the Bibliomagicus Guild? Do you think that's replaceable...? Ha... Haha...HAHAHAHA!! THEN WHY DON'T YOU REPLACE THEM WITH YOUR WORTHLESS LIFE, HUH?!"

His wrath makes Y/N tremble, like all the bookshelves and books present in the library. Right, the books, the bookshelves. He'll destroy everything if this continues.

"Somnus Enim a Dum." So in a snap they cast a spell, amplified by their own dark pixie dust, and render him unconscious.

"Y/N!" That night he showed up in the library, frantically and still disheveled clothes and hair.

"Thank you. I don't know what would've happen if you're not there. And I also apologize you get to see that side of me." It's the first time they ever saw him smile without looking at the book. A smile similar to their brother.

"You're weird. You got so angry because of books that you'll ruin all the other irreplaceable books here."

"..."

"Don't mind it. I'd feel bad if the books are ruined."

"...Right." He chuckled, brushing his hair with his fingers and fixing his clothes to place. He then picked up the book he's reading, pulling the other sofa to sit beside them.

Now that's annoying. Nevertheless they let him. For they're a mere guest.

The fifth-born, Asmodeus, is not a problem back then. Having only a few occasional invitations for salon and parties, they could decline politely. But after the book incident, everything about his approach changes.

Since then, there was Asmodeus, everywhere!

In the classroom, in the library, in the music room, in the planetarium, in the balcony, in the bed, even the bathroom! He won't give them a break!

"Y/N~ I noticed you're always with Satan in the library. Are you getting along well? Beel too, you always bake and eat with him. That's so unfair! And you invite Belphie without me? Don't tell me you already like one of them?"

"If you'll choose one of us, shouldn't you choose me, the most beautiful demon of them all? I swear I can love you thousandfold than any of them, but... of course you can only be my second~~"

"What's with you and Lucifer? You always went to him every night. Is it a nightly endeavor? Hey~? Y/N, don't ignore me~!" He is a complete chatterbox. A motormouthed demon who don't know when to shut up.

But being with him comes with a few merits. Despite not looking like it, Asmodeus is a real gentleman. He maybe not as keen as Belphegor's capability to observe, but Asmodeus is an attentive and thoughtful demon. He does his everything to provide every small help he could give to them.

Whilst not needing help, it's much better than him being a clingy, dead weight. Y/N tries to look at the bright side.

"But this is tiring..." Y/N sighed, closing the book they are holding.

"Are you tired of reading? C'mon, let's go out and breathe fresh air!" I'm tired of you, you idiot.

"If you want to go out, you can go." The dark fae massaged their temple. It's been throbbing from time to time after that incident with Satan and Asmodeus bugged them.

"No! You've always been cooping yourself here or your room since coming here. You have to go out from time to time or you'll wither away!"

"You're so noisy Asmo. Y/N said they don't want to go." Asmodeus pout at Satan sitting beside Y/N, before pulling the dark fae out of the library and House of Lamentation.

"I'm telling you, I don't need this." Asmodeus holds 5 hangers of clothes, pondering which one fit them best.

"But~ It's such a waste for a beautiful person like you if you don't try dolling yourself up..." They stare at Asmodeus as if he just said the most ridiculous thing he could ever say.

"Don't tell me..." Asmodeus stared at them in disbelief, gasping dramatically like he always does,t "Y/N, YOU'RE GORGEOUS! DON'T EVER THINK YOU'RE NOT! YOU'RE A DROP DEAD BEAUTY AND—" They covered his lips before he could even shout louder in such a public place.

He then pulled their hands off after a few moments. "And look! A bit of blush suits you! And black lipstick—" Y/N let him dressed them up— in exchange of shutting up. He chose meticulously, accenting every parts that they consider an abomination. A dizzying position they were in.

But the real deal has yet to come. What's worse than being bothered by a bug? More bugs...

"Asmo, are you nuts! You're hogging them all to yourself!" Mammon barged in their room as Asmo is applying makeup to them who gave up on him for a while now.

"Y/N couldn't come to our snack time because of you." Beel and Belphegor followed close behind, clearly unamused of Asmo's action.

"I haven't even got a chance to introduce them to the wonders of anime and games!" So do is Leviathan.

"They prefer reading in the library more, right Y/N?" Satan rest his back on the door frame, crossed arms.

"Excuse me? If I may say, Satan, Beel and Belphie are the one who took their time more than I!"

"YOU—" And their greatest fear since living in Devildom occurs. All hell broke loose. An all out brawl of the short tempered demons before them with all the six brothers, a thread away from transforming and blasting everything they touch. No... That's not it. Without transforming, they're already smashing everything into pieces.

The dressers. The desk. The chairs and mirrors. Everything but the bed they are sitting on.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE!" The last and the strongest of the brothers made his appearance, yelling in his most intimidating voice.

And they...finally snapped.

"Each and everyone of you... GET. OUT!!!" Such horror reflected on their eyes, with their whole being trembling uncontrollably. Tears poured down one after another. All of the emotions the brothers have never seen them make all spilled before them. As if a predator threatened to the end of their life.

On their hands...

were horns severed from their own head. The seven demons were so taken aback their bodies moved on their own to comply to Y/N's order... or more like, plead.

And the doors were completely closed.

They never left their ransacked room. They wouldn't open their doors to anything. No food, gifts nor even apologies. All but the brothers' words received a single response: "Malleus... I want my brother."

Hence the brothers and future king have no choice but to call him as soon as possible, or they will perish inside such place, alone like they've always been.

"Thank you for taking good care of my sibling. I hope you will continue so in the future."

"We also hoped we could. Yet considering the circumstances, I doubt they would want to stay here a second longer."

"Let—" but before Malleus could even finished his sentence, Y/N came flying down on him.

The distressed fae buried their face in their safe haven's chest. He then proceed carrying them in his arms, assuring them they are safe.

Lucifer led them to the music room, giving them privacy in their conversation.

"You've become so light, Y/N. And what happened to your horns?"

"...I wanna go home."

"Why? Do you hate this place?"

"I'm scared of them since the first day."

"That's understandable... But is that all?" Y/N stare at him in disbelief, while Malleus smiling softly at them.

"...Then what else... should I feel? I know I'm a monster... But that doesn't mean I could live with such monstrous demons! I'm just a monster with a weak heart!"

"Then you can blame it all on me. I'm the one who chose this place for you after all." All words were blown off Y/N's mind. The furrow between their eyebrows disappears as their face relaxes.

"Brother... But why?"

"I want you to realize your own self."

"..."

"Now answer me. You said you're scared of them, but do you hate them? Do you want to leave this place so badly? Is that really everything you've felt in this place?"

"Of course! I... I..." Y/N already knew the answer to his question, way before he even asked.

"They were annoying, noisy and self-centered bunch who does things as they pleased. They keep dragging me on their antics, I never had a peace of mind... I hated it, I despise it. I..." They bit their lips.

"I felt so frustrated! Why do they look so lively and happy despite being so unruly? They're always on each others neck yet they were having fun? Why?! And hobbies? How can they have such thing? I have nothing of sort! I just wake up day after day, desperately searching for something and fill this empty void inside me!"

"I fulfill my responsibilities without fail, on what cause? I have no purpose! Seeing that demons made me feel so miserable with my existence!"

They looked on their lap, holding back the tears on verge of falling. "What do they have that I don't? They're also the strongest, incredibly so that even I shook when they unleash their power! So why aren't they isolated like I am? How can they live a normal life unlike me?!"

"I think you already know the answer."

"...Because... They rely on each other. I never relied on anyone nor let anyone rely on me..." Malleus' smile widens when they hit the nail on the head.

"You're a strong person, Y/N. You won't even depend on us, not until today. You're capable of anything. You're just afraid of any more rejection, of being left behind." He paused and lift their face to meet his eyes, "Diavolo and others explained to me what happened. They said the incident frightened you. Yet knowing you, I doubt it is fear. Will you tell me why you blew off?"

"...I was overwhelmed. They were fighting over me. It never happened to me before so don't know what to feel. The attention was too much that I hated it. And I don't know how to respond to them..."

"So you brushed them off and isolated yourself." They nod weakly.

"And you snapped your horns to show them you're not who they think you are; to scare them off."

"Something like that..." Malleus smiled at them as he pet their head. "See? It's not bad being honest to yourself. Do you still want to leave, now that you let it all off your chest?"

Y/N shooked their head. "I want to stay."

"My Y/N is amazing... To surpass all the beings who estranged them. You're all grown up now." He held them in his arms, Y/N nuzzling onto his chest.

"Come on, they've been waiting for you for the longest time. You know what to do, right?"

"Yes." They left the room, Y/N clinging to him like never before. As childish as it seems, Malleus knew they grew a lot in just a few months of living in Devildom. It is indeed a great decision to choose the brothers to take care of them. They were no longer the incomplete puzzle he saw before he left for his studies.

"Y–Y/N..." Waiting in the common room are the seven brothers with Diavolo and Barbatos.

"W–We understand if you really want to l–leave." Mammon looked down as he clenched his fist.

"It was our fault." Leviathan followed.

"We've been insensitive, pressuring you despite knowing you're not accustomed interacting with a lot of people." Satan said with a serious frown.

"We even destroyed your belongings." Asmodeus glanced away, holding onto Satan's jacket.

"We'll make it up to you in any form."

"Y/N, sorry." Belphegor and Beel voiced respectively.

"It was due to my negligence you have to experience such incident. I also want to apologize." Lucifer held his palm to his chest for a slight bow.

"N–No!" Y/N strongly shook their head, "I should be the one to apologize! I'm so sorry!!" before bowing deeply.

"Y/N!? No, please raise your head—" Diavolo held Lucifer's shoulder to stop him like Malleus cued to let his sibling continue.

"It was all my fault! I've been a coward all this time. I was wrong for trying to push you all away when you don't mean harm. It was all my fault for venting all my frustrations to you. Please, if you would still allow it, I want to stay a bit longer."

"Y/N you are more than welcome here so please raise your head now. We don't deserve your apologies." Satan was the first one who walked towards them to raise their head.

"Y/N?!!" But as he did so, a crying Y/N appears in the brothers' view.

"This is the first time I will ever ask someone but," they sob and sniff, "will you guys be my friends?"

"Y–Yes, so please stop crying!" As conflicted as the brothers are, being asked such question that could hinder their future plans with them, they were forced to agree to their wish instantly.

Let's leave it for another day... The same phrase runs in the thoughts of the brothers, a very rare occurence to happen once in a millenium.

With Asmodeus' lead—he, Mammon, Leviathan, and Beel wrapped their arms around them to console the crying faerie. Lucifer, Satan and Belphegor stood a feet away from them, watching the five in the middle.

As things calms down, they decided to sit on the same dinner table for the very first time. Food were served by Barbatos, who prepares who knows when. He could actually have predicted such outcome for all they know.

The place were so warm, and lively. "This tastes wonderful." That's an understatement. The food have the richest taste than everything Y/N ate in their entire life. "You're right, Beel. Food were best eaten with someone." Beel have them a toothy grin. "I'm glad you get me."

After the meal, Y/N fell asleep on the spot. "Hehe, they're so carefree now." Belphegor played with their fringe. They didn't woke them up and instead carry them in a new room, letting them have the deep sleep they couldn't have for days.

"Congratulations, for being Y/N's first friends. I'll leave them in your care." Malleus bid his farewell to everyone, not bothering of waiting for Y/N to wake up. "I also hope this incident will be the last one."

"Yes, we won't let such thing happen again, and ensure a comfortable life for Y/N throughout their stay here." Diavolo answers in stead of everyone. The brothers are not in the shape to reply as they absorb Malleus' first sentence.

First friend. Such a bitter-sweet word. Whether the word stings them or not, it doesn't matter. It won't stop the brothers from trying to achieve the same goal as subtle as possible.

And so, a not-so-obvious scramble goes on.

This took longer than I expect 🤣😂 In all honesty, it was quite challenging, making a blatant All Brothers x MC. I also don't have a plot and flow until I actually wrote it sksksk dunno if that's a good or bad thing 😂🤣 and this was the longest one I wrote for the past half a year.

Masterlist

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gelfbog · 4 years ago

Text

headcanons for the gelfling clans accents !!

As someone who is really interested in languages and linguistics, one thing I always wish AOR did was give all the clans different accents. So, I decided I would do it myself! I’ve basically been researching different (mainland) UK accents and I’ve put an accent to each clan. This is based a lot on my own headcanons, but I’ve taken into account different information we’ve gotten about gelfling accents and languages, as well as the geographical placing of the clan’s settlements, and their clans status and culture. I’ve linked videos with each clan to give you an auditory idea of what I think they would sound like. All under the cut!!

(!! disclaimer !! : I am Irish, not from the UK, so I’m sorry if my description of/videos I have chosen to display any of the accents are inaccurate. I’ve tried my best not to generalize with the accents too much, but I know that a lot of accents change from town to town, so unfortunately I have given just a broad umbrella description of some accents. I’m sorry if I get anything wrong!!!)

Vapra - Queen’s English/Received Pronunciation

I think the Vapra are the only clan to have been canonically distinguished as having a particular accent, but maybe I’m wrong. It’s mentioned a lot in the books about how the Vapra have a very distinct accent, SkekSa even noticing Tae speaking with one, when she was taken over by Tavra. Their accent is “distinct and noticeable” according to the Songs of the Seven Gelfling Clans, and is similar to the Skeksis accent. I think that maybe the normal gelfling of Ha’rar speak with a type of Received Pronunciation, whereas the aristocrats, and the Royal family themselves, would speak Queen’s English. It would make sense that the Vapra would speak in Received Pronunciation, an accent associated with privilege and education, as they are known for.....well, privilege and education. Each word is articulated very clearly, and it is a sharp, almost cold accent - which suits their climate nicely. It is often thought as the “proper” way to speak, and those gelfling who speak with this accent automatically present themselves as a higher class, although other clans may just associate the accent with snobby-ness. Naturally, the Vapra coming from the capital city of Ha’rar, the seat of the All- Maudra, I think Queen’s English is very fitting.

Here are some videos of people speaking Queen’s English/Received Pronunciation!

Old RP

Received Pronunciation (RP)

R.P. ACCENT (REAL EXAMPLE)

Received Pronunciation Dialect Breakdown

Upper-class Accent Examples

Stonewood - Brummy (Birmingham Accent)

I was between Cockney and Brummy for the Stonewood, as I think both accents suit the wood-dwelling clan. However, I think Brummie is better suited, as Birmingham is is situated in the central midlands of England - like how Stone-in-the-wood is “the hearth of the Skarith Land”. The Brummy accent is quite nasally, due to the amount of industry that used to be in the city. Industry is something the Stonewood are known for, with their weapons, tools and instruments their blacksmiths create being well-renowned and sought after across Thra. The accent is sort-of a mix of a southern and northern English accent, which I think this suits the Stonewood well, in terms of their clan status. As much as they are a rough, warrior and battle focused clan, they are of a very high standing, second to only the Vapra. Therefore, the mix comes from Vapra/Skeksis influence, and then their own woodland charm. Although other clans may see the Stonewood accent as brash and arrogant, the warrior clan is proud of their dialect, and don’t try to hide it!

Here are some videos of people speaking with a Brummy accent!

A Brummie Accent

Birmingham "Brummie" Accent (Female) AccentBase File #41

NO F*CKING FIGHTING - Peaky Blinders S03E01

Alison Hammond's Funniest Moments | This Morning

Birmingham: Reputation vs Reality Part 1 @ 2:50 - 5:44

Spriton - Yorkshire Accent (South, West and East)

I have a good bit to back up my headcanon here. The Spriton are a widespread clan, about 1/3 of them living outside of Sami Thicket, some families living over a days journey from the main village. For this reason, I think the different Yorkshire accents suit them very well. Since the Spriton live all over the Spriton Plains, some nearer to Stone-in-the-Wood, some nearer to the Swamp of Sog, and some even living at the edge of the Dark Wood (rip kylans parents), it would make sense that they all have variations of a similar accent. I imagine that it can be hard for other clans to tell each of the different Spriton dialects apart, but the Spriton themselves can hear a clear difference in the voice between someone who was born in Sami Thicket, and someone who was born on the outskirts of the plains. You can see, as we move further south down the Skarith Land, the presence of the posh Ha’rar accent, is slipping away, with different vowels sounds and timbre, even different grammar. The Yorkshire accent often omits words and letters to make speaking faster, which is a practical way of speaking for the busy farmers and soldiers of the Spriton Plains.

Here are some videos of people speaking with Yorkshire accents!

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOOuqHMY-_tXV8t9mcQt4PtF8S3s577NI

School Of British Accents – YORKSHIRE

interview with millen eve - true yorkshire accent!

South : Louis Tomlinson Gets Quizzed On Yorkshire Slang

West : Zayn Malik Sounds Off on Fashion, Fame, and the Meaning Behind His Home Studio | Vogue

East : Best of Jenny and Lee on Gogglebox

Drenchen - Edinburgh Accent

Now, this is a headcanon I will fight for. I will eternally feel that we were ROBBED of the Drenchen having a Scottish accent. I was deciding which Scottish accent would suit them best, and I finally landed on an Edinburgh accent. As much as I think that my favourite swamp dwellers would have a strong accent, I don’t think it’s overly realistic. While they are isolated from the other clans, which would naturally cause them to speak differently to them, I don’t think they are isolated enough to have a drastically contrasting accent. Therefore, I thought that the Edinburgh accent, said to be softer and less intense than other Scottish dialects, would be perfect. They still have a similar tone to the rest of the clans, but their soggy lilt is unique, and is still noticeably different of a timbre to the other clans of the Skarith Land. I also presume that their gills would have some sort of influence on their intonation, another reason I chose the Edinburgh accent, which comes almost from the back of the throat - closer to the gills!

Here are some videos of people speaking with an Edinburgh accent!

Outlander | The Many Scottish Accents | STARZ @ 1:25 - 2:05

Shirley Manson's Guide To Swearing

Sean Connery 1971: The BBC Interview HD

12 Times Professor McGonagall Was a Boss Ass Witch

Ewan McGregor on being recognised as Obi-Wan | The Graham Norton Show - BBC

Sifa - West Country

I think this is a pretty obvious accent to assign to the Sifa, as it’s the origin of the traditional “pirate” accent. They have a distinctive way to say their “r”s , and it can sometimes be a harsh sounding accent, suiting the sometimes dangerous lifestyle of the rogue clan. However, the rounded vowels and somewhat cozy feeling you get from the intonation of the West Country accent, shows the mythical and peaceful side of the Sifa. I headcanon that it’s uncommon for a gelfling to have a truly Sifan accent, due to the influence of other gelflings with other dialects that join the Sifa, therefore with most Sifa ending up with an amalgamation of gelfling accents. However, with families that have sailed with the Sifa for generations, the accent is still very much alive. For those gelfling who run away to the Silver Sea for a while, they always return home with a subtle sea-faring twang.

Here are some videos of people speaking with a West Country accent!

Learn Hagrid's British Accent (HARRY POTTER) | West Country Accent

Learn how to do the West Country accent - Sound like Hagrid from Harry Potter.

Harry Potter - Best of Hagrid

School Of British Accents – WEST COUNTRY

LOTR The Two Towers - The Tales That Really Mattered...

Dousan - Lancastrian English

It took me a while to decide which accent would be best for the Dousan. I wanted an accent that didn’t draw out many sounds, and was spoken quickly, as the Dousan try to preserve as much moisture in the desert air as they can. After looking through hours of footage of different English dialect videos, I decided on the Lancastrian accent. They have shorter vowels than other dialects, and also shorten a lot of words to make them quicker to say. I thought this was perfect for the Dousan, a clan which avoids speaking for long, if they can. It is quite a unique accent, especially in terms of grammar, which makes sense, as the Dousan rarely socialize with other clans, meaning they would not pick up other slang or pronunciation. The Dousan use the Language of Silence, a type of sign language, which is sometimes used in unison with audible speaking. I thought that the unique Lancastrian grammar went well with this, as in The Songs of the Seven Gelfling Clans, it says that “more was being communicated when both hands and tongues worked together”. Perhaps the reason the Dousan grammar is created to be much shorter and quicker to say, is because the Language of Silence allows the Dousan to communicate in full, meaning there is no need to speak with long sentences? Either way, I think the accent is a perfect fit for the nomadic clan.

Here are some links and videos of people speaking with a Lancastrian Accent!

Lancastrian English: Dialectable Episode 4.

Listen to accent of Lancashire England

Lancashire Dialect Poem - Northern English Accent

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOOuqHMY-_tVnuxrODGw0BEdZlC9RNHcw

https://www.mykp.co.uk/learn-lancastrian-accent/ (this breaks down what I mean about the shorter grammar)

Grottan - South Wales Accent

Deet’s tendency to sing often made me think that the South Wales accent would be perfect. It is a naturally sing-songy type of accent, with a musical intonation. This is because the South Welsh accent is heavily influenced by the Welsh Language. I thought that because the Grottan have been isolated from other Gelfling, and rarely go “topside”, they would have very little impact on their dialect from the Skeksis, something their sister clan, the Vapra, have been hugely influenced by. This led me to think that perhaps the Grottan accent would have a lot more in common with the old-gelfling language, giving it that sing-songy and particular lilt. Like the Dousan, the Grottan have their own language, Finger-talk, which is incredibly difficult to learn for non-Grottan gelfling. Maybe the reason it is so difficult, is because of, again, the influence of old-gelfling, something the other clans have slightly lost a connection to. But perhaps, the Grottan accent may also play a part in why it is so difficult for daylighters to learn this peculiar language. As the accent has such musical intonation, with lots of high and low sounds in it’s speaking, perhaps finger-talk is based more on these high and low sounds, and less on the actual words themselves, which is why Grottan find it so easy to learn, as these high and lows are built into their accent regardless. Nevertheless, the South Wales accent is one of my favourites, and it perfectly fits the peaceful and secluded Grottan.

Here are some videos of people speaking with a South Wales accent!

Newport (Casnewydd), Gwent, South Wales, Welsh Accent (Female) Accentbase File #144

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6x7uaw

School Of British Accents – WELSH ENGLISH

Elis James Bad B&B Experience | Alan Davies As Yet Untitled | Dave

https://www.thevoicecafe.net/learn-Welsh-accent-online.htm

And that’s all! I was really surprised by the amount of people that were interested in me making this post, so I hope I haven’t disappointed anyone! I’d love to know what you guys headcanon the gelfling clans to sound like, and whether you think my headcanons or accurate or not. Again, I’m sorry if I got anything wrong about the accents, or generalized too much. I’m linking a few more videos which go through all of these accents, with more examples of people speaking with them, all well as some linguistics background to the dialects. I’ve also linked the Survey of English Dialects, where you can find lots of clips of all these different accents I have mentioned. Thank you so much for reading all of this, I really appreciate it!!

Survey of English Dialects - Accents and dialects

20 British Accents in 1 Video

One Woman, 17 British Accents - Anglophenia Ep 5

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forgcdstrength · 4 years ago

Text

Cordelia “Cory” Chavez

“I AM A LOST BOY FROM NEVERLAND, PROBABLY HANGING OUT WITH PETER PAN.”

NAME: Cordelia Anne Chavez

AGE: 17

PARENTS: John and Lucy Chavez

DOB: May 3, 1813

PLACE OF BIRTH: Jamaica

ORIENTATION: biromantic homosexual

HOGWARTS HOUSE: Slytherin

FACECLAIM: Jessica Sula

Biography:

Cordelia Chavez was born in 1813, in Jamaica, to an African mother and a Jamaican father. Born a slave on a sugar plantation, her first years were horribly difficult. Her life became better – and worse, in ways – when she was sold away from her mother and onto a European tobacco plantation at seven years old. By the time she was seventeen, she’d been put to work as a kitchen slave in a London pub.

For a girl who’d lived first surrounded by sugar fields, and then tobacco fields, spending her days peeling potatoes in a dark, dank cellar was the epitome of torture. So, she ran away… but she was caught, and brought back. Beaten badly, she was left for dead in the same cellar she’d tried to escape – much to the horror of he young boy who had been put in her position during her absence.

Fading in and out of consciousness, she awoke once to the muffled screams of her unwilling roommate, and to a black cloud in the form of a man standing over them both. The figure grabbed the boy, and Cordelia barely managed to take hold of the boy too before the figure began to fly with both of them tow, clutching desperately at one another so that they wouldn’t fall. Fatigued and in agony, she passed out the moment she was on land again.

When she woke once more, she was surrounded by a pack of dirty, wild-looking boys – and the boy she had arrived with was among them.

“You’re a girl,” a redhead announced with an upturned nose. “My shadow has made a mistake; you need to go back to where you came from.”

But the other boys argued for her, curious about this new specimen who had been dropped into their world, and even the boy known as Peter Pan caved under the momentary, childish threat of mutiny from his Lost Boys.

Cordelia became one of them, and that new life fit her better than living in a kitchen ever had. The Lost Boys drew out the buried, wildest parts of her, and she’d never felt so free. Peter shortened her name to a more masculine “Cory,” and no one really cared to mention that she was a girl ever again. She was a Lost Boy, just like any of the others, and that was that.

Verses:

A New Normal: (OUAT) Life continued practically unchanged on Neverland for 200 years, until Peter Pan himself was convinced to return to the “real” world – the world of time, the town of Storybrooke – with the Lost Boys in tow. Once the ship docked in Storybrooke, the Lost Boys were split up, going alone or in pairs into “adoptive families,” while the rest were put up in Granny’s rooms – leaving Granny to become the mistress of an impromptu boys’ home. Though she would’ve much rather gone with the bulk of her mates to Granny’s, officially Cordelia was placed with a family, without any of the other Lost Boys at her side. Unofficially, she did her best to avoid her new “family,” and practically lived at Granny’s regardless. She had followed Peter and her mates here, and with him dead and the Lost Boys all but scattered, Storybrooke holds very little appeal… but once again she feels trapped with nowhere to go, and though she’s trying in her own way, she’s not sure how to be happy in this little town in Maine.

Lost on Another Island: (Descendants) Neverland was raided as the villains were first rounded up and sent to the Isle of the Lost. All the children on Neverland were classified as “evil,” and sent to the Isle. Because of that, Cordelia spent her young adult years trapped in a dirty, claustrophobic cityscape, hating the crown as much as the next Isle-dweller. And what’s worse is that, unless something changes, even by the time people are slowly being allowed to leave the Isle, she’s too old to qualify, and so she still feels like she’s ran out of options and is doomed to live out her life on the Isle of the Lost.

The Beginning of Everything: (Pan) Blackbeard’s pirates (instead of Pan’s shadow) stole Cordelia away to Neverland and the mines, and while she’s perfectly aware of the fact that she’s only exchanged one form of slavery for another, it’s still better here. The food is better and plenteous on Neverland, and she’s made friends with some of the boys, and the supervisor lets her slip away during their scant downtime so that she can go and visit with a few of the natives she’s stumbled upon and made friends with. They teach her their songs and dances, and she teaches some of them the sounds and dances she remembers from her mother and the plantations. Living in Neverland is hard under Blackbeard – and when the time comes, she is curious to see exactly what becomes of the rebellion of the newest Lost Boy, Peter – but she has more room in her life for dancing and music and comradery then she ever has before. She’s free enough, and so she’s happy… enough.

First Star to the Right: (Disney’s Peter Pan) If she’s being honest, Cory doesn’t see the point of bringing the Darlings to Neverland, but there was once a time when someone had talked Peter into bringing her along with them to Neverland. He didn’t have to; he chose to, and so she pays him back by keeping her thoughts to herself now. She can see where the boys might want a mother, but she doesn’t, and Wendy really is – in her eyes – more trouble then she’s worth. But for the duration of the Darlings’ stay, she does her best to simply stay away from the other girl. It’s not as if Wendy’s going to last long in Neverland, in any case.

Road Less Traveled: any other AU threads

AUs:

Ever Ever After: (Fairytale) wild girl who lives in the woods with her gang of fellow runaways

Borrowed Babies: (Foster Care) foster daughter taken off the streets

I Solemnly Swear That I’m Up To No Good: (Harry Potter) Slytherin fourth-year

There Was an Idea: (MCU) homeless Inhuman with the power of geokinesis (the ability to manipulate/control earth)

All That Gleams and Glitters: (Modern) foster child taken off the streets

Alternatively 1902: (Victorian) rebellious servant girl

Grow Up With the Land: (Wild West) taken off of the orphan train to be a worker at a farm

Forward To Victory: (World War II) a member of the French Resistance

Starter Call

#muses #(bio; cory chavez) i am a lost girl

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lxme-xss-imxgines · 5 years ago

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Entwined

Prompt: A long time ago, long before modern civilization, there were eight souls bound together. Seven of these eight were born immortal, and they passed along their gift to their loved one. Not long after she was hunted by both mortal and immortal for being a living atrocity. Her current body perished, and they could only hope to one day meet her reincarnation.

Pairing: OT7 x reader

Word count: 1.6k

Warnings: Death, swearing, cliche’s

Intro 1 2 3

A/n: ugh even though there is some plot in this, not much happens. Still mostly a filler for clearing up some confusion. and its not as long as id like. Please leave me constructive criticism if you can:))))) let me know if yall would like to see more!!!

taglist: @thefirewasfriendly @rosita7703 @herosvillians87 @part-time-patronus

________

The initial shock of the flood of memories entering Y/n’s brain has worn off, and her feelings have muted slightly. She sighs as she looks at herself in the bathroom mirror, feelings all her old emotions fighting with her not-existent ones.

Heat rushes to her cheeks, tinging them pink as she suddenly feels embarrassed with how forward she was with them earlier. Yes, she may have known them for many a lifetime, but she has known them none in this one. Despite all her resurfaced memories, it does nothing to make her feel completely comfortable and at ease.

Do they expect her to keep acting as she did when she first woke? She shook her head, they couldn’t expect that much of her. Right?

A sudden knock snaps her out of her thoughts, her head turning to face the door.

“Are you okay, princess? You been in there for a minute,” Hoseok’s bright voice projects through the door.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Hobi! I’ll be out in a minute,” seeming satisfied with your answer, you hear his feet pad away from the doorway along with a small ‘okay’.

A question still not quite answered loops through her mind. Why were those men so adamant on finding them? I know that they’re a gang, but my understanding according to my memories is that currently there was peace among the mafia families at the moment . . . maybe not anymore?

When Y/n appears in front of the boys again, she already feels apprehensive just taking in their loving gazes. She knows she came on too strong when she woke up from her memory flood, but she didn’t mean to. I hope they can underst-

“Are you feeling alright, y/n?” the question rolls off Yoongi’s tongue, and for some reason earns a glare from Namjoon.

“Yoongi. Quit reading her emotions,” he snaps.

“I’m not doing it on purpose, Joon. She’s projecting them. She wants us to know what she’s feeling . . . “ Yoongi and Y/n share a glance, and she nods in order to give him unspoken approval to announce her current state of feelings. “Y/n is nervous. She doesn’t want us to think that everything has suddenly gone back to normal because of the way she showed us affection for a short time after she awoke from her memory flood. Am I correct?”

Y/n giggles,”I remembered that you’re an empath . . . but I wasn’t aware of how much you have honed in your emotional readings in order to determine the circumstances of a situation,” the room goes silent for a moment, Y/n’s speech jarring them slightly. “Ah, I spoke as if I was out of a Dickinson novel again, didn’t I? Ah, it happened again!”

“It’s alright, silly girl. It makes us feel at home,” Hoseok beams.

Her eyebrows furrow,”You all have powers, hm? You all are the children of vampires . . . and witches. Blessing you all with powers most vampires lack. There’s something else . . . I can’t quite put my finger on.”

“Quit working your brain so hard, love. You’ll remember when you remember,” Jimin smiles.

“Well, why can’t you just tell me? I mean, you know exactly what I’m trying to get at. At least Namjoon does,” her head tilts toward him. “He can see inside my mind. So why the hesitance to inform me?”

“Because you never believe us until you actually go through it,” Tae states and rolls his eyes. Why does he have an attitude all of the sudden? Did I do something?

“Tae. You’re making her worry. Drop your act, will you?” Yoongi sneers. “We’re all impatient. No reason to take it out on her.”

He shrinks back,”Sorry, love.”

“It’s okay. I just would prefer knowing because it does in fact have something to do with me, personally . . . like a puzzle piece. Like once I know this one fact, maybe along with some smaller details, everything will click into place.” Y/n shakes her head. “Nevermind that. Lingering on it won’t do. So, Namjoon is a telepath with stronger bias toward reading minds, unlike Hobi, who can blanket someone’s vision and make them see whatever he wants . . . “

They just nod, urging you to continue. They all know that exercises like this helps you to retain your memories.

“Yoongs is an empath, which is why he puts on such a cold front . . . but he always lets me go to him when I’m sad so he can take the burden off of me,” Yoongi’s cheeks warm up, and he ignores looks from the boys. “Jinnie, you’re our healer, a very good one at that. Jiminie . . . you can kill someone with a single touch, if you wanted to. I know you prefer not to use it though, it makes you feel icky.”

Jimin nods in agreement, thinking of the grim feeling that fills him when his touch drags the soul out of a living person’s body.

“Tae-tae, you bring pain or numbness to any being at will. And Kookie . . . oh. You still haven’t developed yours. However, I am optimistic that you will in this lifetime,” Y/n says with a small smile.

She then inhales deeply, then lets out a long breath.

“Sit down, will you, love?” Yoongi mumbles. “I can feel your weariness.”

Y/n nods, sitting down between Yoongi and Jimin. She feels an instant feeling of calm wash over her, and she silently thanks the man to her left.

“You guys have something important going on with the other mafia families, right?” y/n tilts her head, and the boys look at her in confusion.

“Why are you concerning yourself with mafia business?” Tae states bluntly, leaving Y/n taken aback, but she quickly regains composure.

“Ta-” Namjoon tries to interject, but her mouth has already begun to move.

“Oh, maybe because whatever you boys have gotten yourselves into this time has lead to a rather angry, gun waving vampire to clamp his teeth onto my neck, leading to severe blood loss and probably a perpetual fear of stepping into the very club that you own again.”

Silence falls once again, along with Y/n’s composure. I didn’t really mean to come off so harsh, but Taehyung needs a reality check for whatever reason. So I gave him one.

Don’t feel bad, baby girl. He deserved it, Namjoon’s voice quiet in the back of your head.

To everyone’s surprise, an apology spills out of Taehyung’s mouth,”I’m sorry. This happens every time. It’s hard for me to adjust to your presence when you return . . . like my mind can’t accept the fact that you’re back. Like it’s scared to.”

“I get it, Tae. But if I recall correctly, I had a heavy hand in our mafia business in my previous life. I think we’re all very aware of my capabilities when it comes to handling our current problems.”

“Y/n. You may be you, but you’re not ready to dive back in as heavy as you were in before,” Jin hesitates to elaborate, as it’s a very painful memory for them. “Especially when . . . “

“Yes, I know. It led to my death. I remember it like it was yesterday, when vampire hunters were first starting to emerge. If only we had known,” she releases a deep sigh. She almost regrets bringing it up. Y/n knows well that all of them blame every single one of her deaths on themselves. “None of my deaths were ever any of your faults. You guys know that, right?”

“We always have this argument, so let me shorten it. None of us will every stop blaming ourselves for letting you die,” Jungkook speaks for the first time in awhile,”So don’t try and convince us of anything else. Won’t work.”

Y/n scrunches her nose,”Maybe your power is stubborness.”

Jungkook makes a face at her and she giggles, causing a domino effect of laughter to fill the room.

_____________

“So this cult of vampires believes that if they consume any of your blood, that they will suddenly be able to gain supernatural powers because of the witch DNA all of you contain?” Y/n clarifies. Everyone nods. “I mean, I guess I can see why they would think that. But I doubt they have any scientific backing to it. You drink vampire blood and then die, you come back as a vampire. But they have no idea whether or not the witch DNA is even contained in the blood that you have in your bodies. It truly sounds like a conspiracy.”

“The logic doesn’t matter to them. If there’s even a chance that they could become as powerful as Vampire-Witch hybrids, they will take the chance. Or die trying,” Tae snorts at Namjoon’s sentence.

“And die they will,” he elaborates. “But we need to be careful. If they find out -” Jungkook suddenly smacks him in the arm, cutting off whatever he was going to reveal.

Y/n tenses.

“Well, it’s too late now. You guys know she doesn’t like secrets,” Yoongi says from beside her.

“Sorry, Yoongi. I know it must be frustrating to feel my emotions all the time. I know I project them, I don’t mean to,” she sends a small smile.

He just chuckles,”I like feeling your emotions, even the bad ones. It makes me feel close to you.”

Y/n shakes her head,”Alright. What are you guys not telling me?”

“Nothing you don’t already know, princess,” Taehyung responds. “It has to do with when you turn.”

She tries to remember for a moment, she really does. But it’s like there a roadblock. And they all know what will remove it, but it’s too soon. Much too soon.

#yoongi x reader #taehyung x reader #namjoon x reader #seokjin x reader #hoseok x reader #jimin x reader #jungkook x reader #bts x reader #ot7 x reader #bts

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 6 years ago

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Humans are Space Orcs: The Marathon

From the Intergalactic Journal of Mechanics and Biology

They say that a single human once ran for 80 hours 44 minutes without stopping to sleep. He covered a distance of 350m (360km) during that time. At a relative speed of less than 5 miles an hour, the speed pales in comparison to other apex predators of their planet. The spotted cheetah can run up to 76 miles per hour, but can only sustain that for approximately 1,500 feet. The best bread and trained horses of their planet may be able to run 100 miles in a day, but many who attempt this feat never finish.

Despite its relative speed, the human can sustain a relative pace of four miles an hour four a little over three earth solar cycles without rest (keep in mind that this is not an examination of average ability).

Once thought to be the most endurance evolved species in the galaxy, the Rundi can run for an hour at the speed of fifteen miles per hour, but in a long distance race with a human, they find themselves slowly outmatched.

First, they outpace the human easily, they grow slowly tired, they fall to a slow walking speed, they try to maintain, but their body overheats. Eventually the steady footsteps of the approaching human converge and then pass ahead to recede into the distance.

Compared to most creatures, the human has a few advantages. Bipedal in nature, they can carry objects with them as they run like water and food, the arches in their feet act as shocks and springs to decrease shock. The feet are oriented straight ahead and their toes are shortened to decrease the mechanical work of the foot. Spring-like tendons and ligaments aid them as they run. A narrow waist that can pivot allows for the swimming of arms during running action. A heightened sense of balance and movement keeps them on a straight course and allows their head to remain steady as they go. About 20 miles of energy can be stored in the muscles themselves. Additionally, one of the largest muscles in the body, the gluteus maximus is not engaged during a brisk walk but during a run. But the biggest factor, is their ability to cool through sweat.

As far as we know, humans, and some of their earthly counterparts, are the only creatures in the universe that excrete water to catalyze cooling.

They were going to die.

The sun would come up, and burn them to death and they were going to die.

Krill never thought that his life would end this way. Surrounded by the strange Humans on a class A death planet waiting for the star to rise over the horizon and melt them to a crisp.

Even the humans standing in the desert sand around him looked subdued. Usually, during near death situations, they were relatively chipper, but this was different. They knew they were going to die.

Captain Vir gave a sigh, “Knew we shouldn’t have trusted that little scab.” He muttered looking up towards the sky where the troop transport had vanished carrying with it their merchandise and its conniving Tesraki pilot probably laughing gleefully to himself about the stupidly of the trustingly naive humans.

The darkness was so profound out in the desert at night, though the stars overhead were particularly striking.

Krill, the captain asked, “How far are we from the sanctuary.”

A few quick calculations in his head and Krill felt himself sink towards the sand. This was hopeless, and the planet’s magnetic field made their communications ability almost nonexistent.

“How far?” The captain prodded

“40 Units.”

“In miles please, America still hasn’t switched to the metric system.”

A quick calculation

“25 miles.”

A sudden shift in the group, and he looked up to find a confusing sight. The humans looked almost hopeful glancing around at each other.

The captain grinned, “That’s great news.”

Krill stared at him in disbelief, “25 MILES captain. And only seven hours before the sun comes up. We have no chance.”

A bark of laughter escaped the humans.

A cheer rose up.

What was happening?

“Anyone here ever run a Marathon?” The captain asked

The human’s cheering died down and there was a pause.

The captain frowned, “Anyone want to run for their first time?” He questioned

Silence.

Krill stared on in confusion, “I’m sorry, what is a Marathon.”

“It’s sort of this tradition we have. Supposedly after the final battle between the Athenians and the Persians, an Athenian soldier ran 25 miles back to Athens to tell of the victory before he died.”

Krill blinked in horror, “A tradition.”

“Yeah, they hold them all the time back home.”

“So a few of you just give up your lives to run a race.”

Laughter shook the sand around him.

“No, thousands of people come to participate, and no one usually dies. Most people are up and walking after about an hour or two if not directly after.”

Krill stared at the humans in a mixture of awe.

The captain rubbed the back of his neck, “I suppose I could do it.

“Yeah send the one eyed one leg cripple to run for our lives.” One of the humans commented sarcastically

“I could go.” Another volunteered

The captain shook his head, “I may have one leg, but that just means I can’t feel pain in it. Not to mention I used to run when I was younger.”

“Used to being the key point there.” Someone muttered

“I heard that.” The captain snapped though there was less malice in his voice than one might have supposed.

Krill sometimes did wonder about that. In most species cultures, the crippled were weeded out in order to preserve the race, but these humans were odd. Losing a limb seemed to have the opposite effect, and if you could function with a missing limb, the humans were even more impressed.

He wondered if it wasn’t some sort of primitive form of dominance. The more scars you had the more fights you had survived, which made you the strongest.

The captain dropped his bag to the ground and began pulling off his jacket. Krill shook his head, “Captain, it is too cold out.”

The captain shook his head, “I’ll warm up.” Krill stared on in confused fascination as the man proceeded to strip off his outer layer until he stood in nothing but his undershorts and socks.

The other humans laughed and cat called back to their normal oblivious selves.

Did they not understand how dead they were? They were alone waiting for sunrise on a class A death planet. This was no time to be laughing at partial nudity.

The captain struck some sort of pose earing jeers before motioning to one of the other men, “Your shoes.”

“But captain, I.”

“Shoes, lieutenant, I am not running 26 miles in combat boots.

Reluctantly the other man gave up his shoes and handed them to the other man.

The group grew quiet, and began pulling out supplies putting together a small bag of water and food.

The captain stood on the outskirts of the group stretching his flesh leg before checking the functioning of the robotic one. Both seemed to be working seamlessly.

His teeth shattered, and he began hopping around in a circle.

The man really had gone mad.

The lieutenant with the missing shoes approached him from the side, “You better hurry captain. I set a watch for you. You should have Seven hours to make it, but it will get hotter as the sun approaches.” The Captain nodded, and with a sort of surreal optimism, he began his run letting off a whoop into the night as if he was challenging he sun itself.

Humans were reckless like that. They believed they could beat anything.

It was an almost beautiful thing to watch as the human grew smaller and smaller against the horizon. His footing was sure and seamless despite his injury. As a medic, Krill could almost see the cords of muscle contracting and lengthening under the skin. Despite its awkward appearance, the human really was graceful when in his element.

***

He wasn’t’ thinking that four hours later when the sky began to lighten. It was barely perceptible but he could feel it, and he could feel the heat of the approaching sun already beginning to warm him. The humans could feel it too, and they began taking off their jackets looking towards the horizon where their doom was fast approaching.

The jokes were sparser now as were the smiles. He could sense the tension on them as hormones in the air. Adrenaline…. The scent of the poison made him ill, and he had no idea how the humans survived straight injections of it into their system.

The sky grew brighter. The heat was at around 70 degrees now.

The humans appeared comfortable, and so was he, but anything above 75 and he would begin to wilt. The humans told him they could withstand temperatures up to 100+ degrees for short periods, and not very comfortably.

He could tell when the heat increased because he felt his body shutting down.

In an act of reckless and pointless kindness, the humans used the rest of their remaining water to cool him. Not like it would matter. They were dead anyway.

Hour five rolled by, and he was sure they were dead…. He was fading quickly as the heat grew to around 80 degrees. The humans frantically fanned him from all sides. In a sort of delirious haze he felt a sense of attachment to these strange creatures who had taken him in despite the divide between species.

That’s when they heard the sounds of the engines.

Looking up into the sky they caught sight of the transport fast approaching, and a great cheer rose into the air. He couldn’t believe it.

It took a few minutes at 90 degrees before the ship landed, and he was quickly carried inside by a mass of cheering humans, door shutting behind them with a screech.

He was enveloped in cool bliss. Enough to finally lift his head and look around annoyed that the humans seemed relatively fine despite sheen of sweat and a few headaches, and of course…. The captain.

He sat hunched under a reflective emergency blanket with an ice pack to his head. His prosthetic leg was gone and his other foot was a mass of blisters. His upper legs were a mass of raw skin where friction had rubbed it away, but he was grinning.

He must have seen the awed look on Krill’s face for he gave a wink, “Told you, easy. We humans do it all the time.”

Krill shook his head in amazement and fascination. They really were indestructible.

Of course, he may not have thought that later on if he had watched the captain limp piteously back to his room, squeal like a girl when the shower water touched his chafed skin all before flopping into bed to sleep a continuous thirteen hours.

That part would be conspicuously missing from the story. A story that told of a one-legged one-eyed human who ran 26 miles in almost no clothes during heat ranging from 40-90 degrees on a class A death planet under six hours all to save his crew.

#humans are space orcs #humans are weird #earth is space australia

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captainkippen · 6 years ago

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A History of Two • A Reddie Fic

Eddie Kaspbrak's first crush came in middle school. It was on his best (and only) friend, Big Bill Denbrough. Bill was the kind of boy who made everyone he spoke to feel special - a leader right down to his bones. He could have any friends he wanted in the whole world even with his stutter, that much Eddie was certain of, yet he still chose to hang around with the short asthmatic kid he'd met in the park when they were five. This was a mystery to Eddie who was not blind to the fact he wasn't exactly the coolest kid around.

He was on the smaller side size-wise. His mother, liked to call him 'delicate' while everybody else called him 'scrawny'. When he went outside he would be laden down with an aspirator and a fanny pack of medical supplies, and God help him if he came back with so much as a scratch on him or his mother would haul him down to the emergency room in a second. This had had the rather depressing effect of making Eddie a target for bullies.

At school, older boys would laugh and call Eddie names, they'd shove him around and sneer at him, often asking Bill if it got annoying having his little boyfriend following him around like a lovesick puppy all the time. Bill never laughed along with them. He never defended himself either - never yelled "I'm not gay!" or put deliberate space between himself and Eddie even though they both knew he'd have an easier time of it if he did - something which Eddie was eternally grateful for. Instead he'd flip those boys the bird then turn to Eddie and joke "Don't worry, I know you could do much better than me."

Eddie would smile back and roll his eyes, pushing down on the urge to blurt out how wrong he thought Bill was about that.

So for several years, it was just the two of them. Eddie would show Bill how to fix his bike the way he wanted all the while trying not to get oil on his pants so his mother wouldn't yell at him, and in return Bill would tell him stories as they worked. Bill's stories were wonderful - filled with adventure and friendship, dashing knights and beautiful maidens. Listening to them made Eddie's heart swell. Once on his birthday, Bill had gifted him a book of those same stories written down and Eddie could've sworn his heart would burst from joy. He wondered if he would ever stop loving Bill Denbrough.

The answer was yes and no because love changes, fluidly switching between romantic and platonic as it pleases with no concern for the heart to which it is attached. Eddie would grow to love Big Bill Denbrough as a brother while the romance in his heart fell to another.

Richie Tozier was nothing like Bill and he was even less like Eddie. He was a loud brash boy with coke-bottle glasses that made his eyes look almost comically wide. He met Bill in sixth grade who in turn introduced him to Eddie, much to Eddie's own dismay. In class he would often mouth off to teachers in a fashion that suggested he couldn't really help himself. This irked Eddie, but what irked him even more was the way that Richie would call him cute and laugh at his own jokes all the while telling him to lighten up when Eddie scowled. Sometimes he would pinch his cheeks or shorten his name to Eds, and even though Eddie did not believe in violence it would often end in him threatening to punch Richie.

So yes, Richie had the most annoying habit of grinding Eddie's gears like it was his full-time job. Consequently, Eddie spent several mornings complaining to Bill asking why they had to hang out with such a jerk, to which Bill would reply by saying Richie was cool when you got to know him. Eddie had his doubts.

Until...

"Hey, runt! You can't run from us!"

It's a good thing Eddie is so fast because it's the only reason he's managing to escape the wrath of Henry Bowers and his gang of miscreants right now. His legs carry him forward without him even thinking about it. All his focus is pointed towards getting away and surviving the afternoon.

It's a hot summer day, so hot that hazy little heat waves emanate from the surface of the sidewalks. When Eddie had left the house this morning he'd intended to head down to the Barrens, he and Bill's preferred place to play, thinking maybe the two of them (and probably Bill's kid brother George too) could play swords with some of the sticks they'd found last time. This was not to be the case though, as he learned when he knocked at the Denbrough's door. Bill and George had gone with their father to buy tools from the hardware store. Eddie didn't feel like waiting around for them to get back - Mrs Denbrough had offered a glass of milk but she always looked at him with such pity for reasons he didn't really understand and it made him uncomfortable. So he had politely declined and wandered off into town in search of something to do.

Unfortunately for him, Bowers and his gang had been looking for something to do too. As soon as they spotted him it became apparent that knocking him around would be amusement enough. Eddie had had enough sense to start sprinting.

He would have escaped entirely if it were not somebody stepping out of the corner shop door as he flies by it. The resulting collision is an epic mess of limbs and surprised shouts. When Eddie looks up he finds Richie staring back at him.

"Where's the fire, Eds?" He asks, then he spots Bowers coming towards them and his eyes widen. Quickly he's tugging Eddie up and they're running once again.

It seems hopeless. Pain shoots up Eddie's ankle and he thinks 'Oh God, another trip to the emergency room.' They're never going to get away. The gang is gaining on them now, all cruel laughter and insults, but then-

Richie kicks a dustbin backwards as they pass, he kicks it hard, and it goes flying into Bower's. There's a noise of pained rage but it's enough of a distraction for them to finally get away. The clanging and the yelling is joined by adult voices asking what the hell is going on out here, and when Eddie and Richie turn the corner they're free.

They head for Richie's house, he explains his parents aren't home, and when they get there Richie's fingers are tender as they wrap Eddie's ankle in ice.

"Gotta be more careful, Guv'na! Or 'em damn rascals 'll getcha!" He says with a cheerful smile as he pays Eddie's knee. It's what he calls his 'British Constable voice', which Eddie usually hates but this time it draws a laugh out of him.

It was in that moment that Eddie realised Richie's teasing words were not deliberate attempts to get a rise out of him but rather his own special, and slightly irritating, brand of affection. That was the first time he knew for sure that they had become real friends.

By eighth grade Eddie and Richie were no longer allowed to sit next to one another in class. In fact, they were often put on opposite sides of the room. In all honesty, this was through no fault of Eddie's. It was Richie who was unable to keep his mouth shut, and it was not Eddie's fault that the boy had a certain talent for making laughter bubble up inside him exploding in an unwanted burst of giggles. Richie remained unable to keep his mouth shut whether he was next to Eddie or not, but at least when they were apart he had less incentive to crack jokes every five seconds.

They may have been able to separate them in a classroom, but the teachers at Derry Middle School had no place preventing laughter on the playground and so it became normal for Eddie to watch the clock in class counting down the minutes until one became three for lunchtime. He, Richie and Bill would throw themselves down under the large oak tree on the playing field and share torn off pieces of sandwiches while pouring over the latest issues of their favourite comic books.

Eddie's mother did not like Richie. He was too loud for her aging ears and he had a tendency to knock things over by accident while gesturing. The Kaspbrak house was filled with many a delicate antique, or at least what Mrs. Kaspbrak liked to think of as antiques, and several had met their doom as a result of Richie's flailing limbs. Despite this, she was helpless to stop him from visiting because by that point Eddie and Richie had become EddieAndRichie, attached at the hip and seen everywhere together or not at all, and so she was forced to accept that desperately hiding her precious china when she heard footsteps coming up the porch was a tedious forever part of their lives.

Their group expanded from three to five and then on to seven when they hit high school. First to join them was Stan Uris, a neat bookish boy whom Bill had met through bird watching. He had a sneaky wit about him and enjoyed going on runs with Eddie in the morning. On group outings he began bringing along his friend Mike Hanlon, who up until recently had been home schooled. Mike gave the best advice and saw more reason than his friends, often getting them out of trouble. Eddie was grateful for his friendship.

Then along came Beverly Marsh and Ben Hanscom, two other regular victims of Bowers gang boredom. Beverly was fiesty and unafraid - she and Richie got along like a house on fire. Eddie was never sure which he felt for her more: envy or admiration. Probably the second one. He hoped it was the second one. Ben was sweet and spent many afternoons in Bill's garage with them building all sorts of strange structures. He looked at Bev like she was the sun and he would paint the skies for her. Eddie wondered if he realised she looked at him the same way or he was too blinded by his own low self-esteem to realise.

The group became his lifeline; the Loser's Club they called themselves. For the seven of them, weekends were filled with visits to the Aladdin, the local movie theatre, and picnics down at the Barrens. They would start campfires and have Bill tell stories. Richie would butt in with his terrible impressions and Ben would laugh so hard he got a stitch. Everything felt right when they were all together.

At some point during that time, though Eddie couldn't pinpoint exactly when, they had knit together and become a family of sorts. He loved them wholly and completely, and he knew they loved him back in a similar fashion. It was a blinding sort of unquestionable love, which is probably why it took so long for Eddie to realise what he felt for Richie was different for what he felt for the others.

It was in twelfth grade that Eddie Kaspbrak finally realised he was in love with Richie Tozier, and it hit him like a ton of bricks.

#reddie #it (2017)#it stephen king #not am #i don't know whether to continue this or not

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brunhiddensmusings · 6 years ago

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avada kedavra is dumb

i know many a time ive critisized harry potter, and for the most part i try to keep it indirect as i understand that its a very important part of many peoples childhood and the bulk of the problems are sub-par writing based but this one is mechanicahal as well as sub-par writing and the last few days its really stuck in my craw so i want to not just complain why its bad but also pitch ways to improve it or replace it with better options many of you may have heard the argument that avada kedavra is basically handing any and all wizards who want to cast it a gun, with infinite bullets and no real restrictions. thats pretty on point, you cast gun, and by handing wizards a gun you then remove any reason a ‘badguy’ wizard would cast literally anything else ever, and by making it accessable to 12 year olds you really do establish ‘anyone can cast this infinite times’ and even have a scene where someone rapid fire casts it seven times because they keep missing now as someone who cares about writing, well designed worldbuilding, setting balance, and has experience with magic systems in better written content this just really sticks out as a hundred or so ways to improve on this option 1, nerfing. render the spell limited - single most obvious one, dont allow 12 year olds to cast it. not ‘allow’ as in ‘forbidden’ because that stops nothing in this setting. say its too complex, too draining, chance of catastrophic failure is too high, and just takes up too much raw power untill you hit college age not middleschool age - to cast it you must have a fairly uncommon material component that is consumed in the casting, for example a specially prepared vulture feather, you are unlikely to have more then a few of them on your person, theyre expensive, and some wizard equivalent of stores keeping a record of who just bought thirty vulture feathers if the cops start asking around - to cast it you need an ILLEGAL material component, like the finger bone of a dead human, possibly specifically a human who was murdered or was a murderer. very not sold in stores, youd have to grab a shovel and go find one, and if you are found in possession of one you are brought before the wizard police and thrown in a more sane version of wizard jail (the wizard justice system is pretty badly run) for at least a year for possession of a spell component only used to kill - to cast it actively shortens your life, by at least one year, possibly as much as five years. you feel it like a hammer or a wraith’s grasp - to cast it drains your lifeforce. casting it once makes you feel like a zombie was fondling your whole body and you are winded, casting it again will probably leave you prone on the ground unless you rest for a day or three first - to cast it makes your arm numb and tingly, technically you could cast it again but high failure/miss chance as your casting arm is near-useless as well as hindering any OTHER spellcasting for fifteen minutes to a half hour - casting it without severely damaging yourself requires you to have studied for at least two or three years under a death wizard teacher and undergone a harrowing and hazardous initiation ceremony... seriously why wasnt this one used, you even had a cabal of asshole wizards, give them a POINT option 2, adding other, better options for wizards who are in combat, evil or good, that also add variety to writing and world building beyond ‘i cast gun’ - throw a glass flask of water on the ground as you cast this spell, the water inside grows to a volume of about 50 gallons and animates, able to slam or grasp a target - tingle, the targets whole body spazms like they just hit their funnybone, rendering them unable to escape, cast spells, or in any way defend themselves for roughly a full minute. only severe concentration allows you to even keep walking - throw a spool of thread as you cast a spell that makes the thread grow to be the thickness of rope you would normally see at a hardware store marketed for mooring boats, the caster must concentrate to command the rope what to do such as ensnare legs, tie down a person, create a safety net, construct a rope bridge, a hasty tripwire at ankle or neck height, rescue someone who fell off a boat, or setup a crude hoist- if you arent a succer for non-combat uses of combat based spells why are you even working with a magic setting - suck the air out of a three foot sphere, originally used to snuff large and dangerous fires it can also be targeted on someones head/chest to force them to gasp from lack of breath. normal casters can only stun, not kill, the five seconds of effect will leave someone on their knees for nearly a minute to recover. a seriously overpowered wizard can kill you airbender style like this - temporarily turn the floor to soft, wet mud untill the targets feet are stuck, then harden it back. possibly limit to ‘only natural dirt/stone’ - spell that shrinks targets clothes, also strengthens them, to restrict movement. it strenghtens because if the clothes ripped they wouldnt do much to stop someone from running or swinging their arms - spell that does nothing but instantly lock targets shoes flat to the floor - sleep. seriously you could very easily have so much use from jsut ‘power word sleep’ that puts someone out for an hour - spell that forces someone to do a silly dance, perhaps the macarena (imply this is a very old spell from the byzantine era, the actual maccarena is a weird coincidence) again rendering them unable to run or cast spells - spell that causes your target to be unaffected by gravity, they float there helplessly a foot off the ground unable to do anything. duration of spell when not dismissed is about a week - spell that causes target to have debilitating cramps making almost anything difficult gee, look how many combat based spells you could use instead of ‘i cast gun’ that your ‘badguys’ can use to harass the ‘good guys’ and that the protagonists can use to defeat the villians without, you know, just handing 12 year olds ‘power word kill’ and assuming they have 15 level 9 spell slots. many of these have much more flavor, many of them have much more situational use and quick thinking options to defend against, many of them might fit the tone you are going for better then fire bolts, death rays, or ‘turn opponent into a pig’..... okay adding ‘turn opponent into small animal’ to the list seriously, i have beef with a setting that says ‘theres so many crazy things we can do with magic’ and then kneecapping themselves with ‘wizards only know four spells theyll ever use outside of class’

#harry potter #magic #worldbuilding

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thegrandsolarminimum · 5 years ago

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Warm Worries...Farmers Race Against The Clock For Needed Growing-Degree Days

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/Vv7OVB

Warm Worries...Farmers Race Against The Clock For Needed Growing-Degree Days

Check out Ice Age Farmers GDD Calculator HERE.

Farmers Race Against The Clock For Needed Growing-Degree Days

BY RANDY DOCKENDORF

When it comes to fall harvest, many area farmers are hoping things heat up.

This year’s crop has become a race against the clock to overcome a slow start to the planting season. As a result, many crops are lagging in the number of growing-degree days (GDDs) needed for maturity.

Now, farmers are hoping their fields receive an above-normal amount of heat units for this time of year, according to Dennis Todey with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

That’s particularly true for corn, said Todey, a former South Dakota state climatologist.

“The importance this year is that corn needs a certain amount of GDDs to reach maturity. Because of the late planting, we needed additional heat along the way to ‘catch up,’” he told the Press & Dakotan.

“September is a mixed message depending on the time period of the outlook. Right now, the next couple weeks look warmer than average.”

Hope remains for both corn and beans, Todey said. “Both crops are in decent condition, given the year. They’re just late,” he added.

While calculating GDDs follows a complex formula, the basic idea remains the same, he added.

“GDDs are a way of taking maximum and minimum temperature measurements on a daily basis and creating a value that, accumulated over time, relates to the growth of crops,” he said.

“Corn is the most directly related because you can pretty well assess how far along corn is during the year compared to the number of total GDDs needed. You can also use GDDs to track certain insects.”

The problems began last year with heavy rains in the fall and heavy snow in the winter. Those issues were compounded by a March bomb cyclone that dumped several inches of rainfall over a wide region within a few hours.

The continued heavy rains through spring and summer delayed or prevented planting for many producers, particularly in southeast South Dakota.

Fields remained flooded and roads were impassable because of the continued standing water and mud. Many farmers were blocked from entering or even reaching their fields, let alone working them.

“South Dakota was one of the largest locations with prevented planting this year,” Todey said.

The Yankton region set an all-time precipitation mark dating back 124 years of recorded data, according to South Dakota state climatologist Laura Edwards.

Southeastern South Dakota set a new precipitation record for the 12-month period of September to August, according to data released Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The region received 37.42 inches compared to the long-term average of 23.46 inches, Edwards said.

“This has been a very wet year, no doubt about that,” she said.

In terms of precipitation, Nebraska recently saw a record-setting month, according to state climatologist Martha Shulski.

“August 2019 ranks as the wettest on record (since 1895) for Nebraska. This was driven by heavy rains in the central portion of the state,” she said. “(Year to date), we are third wettest.”

Northeast Nebraska fared better in terms of getting a crop into the ground. However, portions of northern Knox County were hit by a late summer hailstorm that wiped out a number of fields.

Because of this year’s adverse conditions, farmers need a number of factors to fall their way — including a rapid number of GDDs, Todey said.

This year’s problems became compounded in August when areas didn’t receive the full “dog days” of summer, or last blast of heat, Todey said.

“We’ve actually lost more ground over the last 30 days with some below-average temperatures,” he said. “Corn can shorten the amount of GDDs it needs a little, but we need warm temperatures now and as late a freeze as possible.”

Earlier in the season, crops needed timely rains for developing the root systems, but that’s no longer the case, Todey said.

“At this point, root systems are developed,” he said. “Warm weather to push the crop is what is needed. Crops should have the moisture they need to finish. Dry down is most important now.”

However, the Yankton region has seen continued rainfall. The wet weather isn’t helping the situation, Todey said.

“If conditions were dry, crops would probably start running out of moisture and start drying down. That’s not the case anywhere in South Dakota this year,” he said.

“Crops will also take some time to dry down after freezing. Producers should be ready for a long fall waiting. The wet soils could make the situation even worse in keeping people out of fields. There may be crops that need to wait for harvest until the ground freezes.”

Both southeast South Dakota and northeast Nebraska trended cooler during the past week, according to the High Plains Regional Climate Center (HPRCC).

High temperature readings at some points only reached 70 degrees or cooler, but temperatures bounced back into the mid-80s and even higher, the center added in its weekly report.

The HPRCC report shows southeast South Dakota has varied from the average for both temperature and precipitation, Edwards said.

She noted the last 120 days — which captures most of the growing season — showed rainfall of 150 percent of normal for parts of the Yankton region.

“For temperature, it has overall been cooler than average, but there have been some warmer periods mixed in as well,” she added.

The one-two punch has affected the GDDs, Edwards said.

“As far as corn GDD goes, what I see from some spot checking in the area is that anything planted mid-April to mid-May is behind average on accumulated GDD,” she said.

“Depending on where you are, this could be 50 to 150 or more GDD behind. For anything planted around June 1, accumulated GDD are about on the long-term average, but then your likelihood of reaching maturity before frost/freeze also depends if you changed maturity to account for a shorter growing season.”

The mercury readings have remained a mixed bag, Edwards said.

“For temperature, it has overall been cooler than average, but there have been some warmer periods mixed in as well,” she said. “This region has been below average for much of the year, but not record cold.”

An active weather pattern appears on the horizon, Edwards said.

“The forecast for the coming weeks show a wet pattern to start, that will likely transition to a drier pattern about 1.5 to two weeks from now,” she said. “The next seven days could bring 1.5 inches or more of rain to most of the state. The outlook for 3-4 weeks from now, which is September 21 to October 4, is indicating a drier pattern over the Northern Plains and Midwest states.”

The region needs as late a freeze as possible, Todey said.

“Right now, we don’t see any indications of an early freeze,” he said. “Typically, we would be concerned around the end of September as the first times to start really being concerned for that hard freeze. But the average date is into October, depending on the location. And the trend in first fall freeze is toward later. That would be good news.”

The dates and types of frost or freeze play a major role in the outcome of a particular crop, Todey said.

“Some horticultural crops can be damaged (with temperatures) in the mid- to low 30s. Row crops can usually handle below 32 (degrees) for a period of time,” he said.

“Once we fall to 28 (degrees) or below, the crop is probably done for the year. Crops that are stressed can sometimes be damaged at higher temperatures.”

Edwards also doesn’t see an early frost this year for southeast South Dakota.

“Given the outlook and likely transition to a warmer-than-usual pattern at the end of September, I think we will see an average or later killing frost this year. Every day counts (during) this fall, and warmer-than-average days are even better,” she said.

“Also in our favor for an average or later frost are two other factors: our long-term trend is towards later frost/freeze in the fall; and we have high humidity in the environment.

“Typically we see early frost/freeze during drought years when the air is drier and cools down faster at night. We’ve had some cool nights, but the humidity has been high, which makes it hard to get a rapid drop in temperatures.”

The average killing frost of 28 degrees can vary, and the Yankton region benefits in that regard.

“Early October is typical for much of our region, but maybe middle of October in parts of the southeast and south central South Dakota,” she added.

The National Weather Service (NWS) forecast for Yankton region calls for possible heavy rain through tonight (Wednesday). The area could see more than 2 inches in many locations.

The Thursday forecast calls for a slight chance of thunderstorms, with the chance returning Saturday.

The temperature forecast calls for the mid-80s today, dropping to the low to mid-70s Thursday and Friday before rising to the lower 80s Saturday.

Follow @RDockendorf on Twitter.

#GSM News Stream

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the-stick-scribblers · 6 years ago

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The Womb

Crime is up five hundred percent since the Academy opened The Womb.

Twenty years ago, some newish academics who were still in their first century and therefore still hopeful, published a groundbreaking study on crime. They said the problem was simple: people committed crimes because somewhere in their past or current reality, they lacked security and love. Becoming a criminal was simply a call for help, too late. That part wasn't groundbreaking, but it bore repeating (and repeating, and repeating - hit the boring nail on the head, they did). Here's the important bit: they then asked what would happen if criminals could return to their childhoods and start from scratch, supported by the state? The ultimate rehabilitation program?

Instead of prisons, they imagined a system of homes with specially trained and vetted "parents" to provide love; instead of cells, there would be small rooms they called nurseries filled with safely approved enrichment toys and lots of soft things for squeezing; there would still be community service opportunities and classes and career preparation, but capital punishment was firmly nixed.

It hinged on some pretty wild de-aging technology, but once they'd made the proposal it was only a couple of years before the tech caught up and then it was all hands-on deck "for the future of all children" and other such meaningless shit. There were some modifications - the cells are simply called rooms instead of nurseries, for example - but when they rolled out The Womb it was pretty much as presented.

Let's say you commit a crime. It's a little one, like maybe you didn't pay a traffic ticket, or some dick egged your apartment and you told them where they could shove it in front of the wrong soccer mom. The judge says hey, okay, that wasn't very good. But it was probably just a little lesson you forgot to learn along the way that led you to your Mistake, so you're sentenced to be de-aged a year and you're given a counselor who's supposed to help guide you onto a better path this time around.

But let's say the crime is bigger. You threw a major party and then drove drunk and high on heroin and ran over someone's dog. You commit armed robbery. Someone got seriously hurt, repeatedly. A guidance counselor for a year isn't going to cut it, so that's when the jury steps in and tries to figure out where your life went wrong. Was it at sixteen the first time you shoplifted and got away with it? At ten, when your teacher told you your work would never be any good? At eight, when your mom started working three jobs because she was suddenly raising you alone? And then you get zapped back to the pivotal age and placed in The Womb so you can be Reborn.

Somehow in all their planning the academics and the politicians forgot to bank on the allure of avoiding all those five hundred-year-old wrinkles and arthritis for a couple hundred extra years. Most people when they hit four hundred rob a bank at fake-gunpoint. That's the biggest crime that's least likely to get them killed rather than de-aged. That, or they get involved in some sort of tax fraud scheme. What's losing access to a couple million when you're going to die soon anyway? A second chance at life has got to be worth at least that.

The worst offenders get de-aged all the way back to babies, but that doesn't happen very often. It can seriously shorten your life if you end up a repeat offender, and anyway raising babies is more resource-intensive than the other kids. You have to kill a whole lot of people in a whole lot of lives to make it worth the parents' time.

The years you de-age get borrowed off the end of your life. As long as you avoid any more Mistakes, you get those years back and get to live out your original life span in full, with the bonus of a second childhood thrown in. But if you make another Mistake, you lose them forever, and have to live with it. That's how come I've only got two years left to take over the world.

I have been twelve years-old seven times. The last time I was Reborn, I'd made it all the way to age three hundred and fifty before I made another Mistake.

"You gonna eat that?"

We Reborn may have to use our manners, but for some reason the Womb Workers are exempt.

I sit up straight, elbows off the table, and look at my pudding. "My spoon is dirty."

They pick up the spoon, squint at it, rub it on their apron, then return it to the table. "You going to eat that now?"

The pudding looks delicious, actually, full of real chocolate shavings and cherry jam and cream liquor. If I let myself look at it any longer, I might cave. So I look at the Worker instead. They look like they could use some prune juice.

"This spoon is dirty. I would like a new spoon."

The Worker opens their mouth, probably to tell me where I can shove the spoon, when Ren interrupts in a tiny voice, "You've got to say please."

This is Ren's second time Reborn. She's six years old now. When she was twenty-one she was sent back for planting an eco-bomb, and for again stealing an entire corporate farm when she was ninety. She's got an impressive file; we could be a good team eventually. I like her. But, regretfully, I no longer have the time.

"Please," I say, and smile real sweet.

The Worker takes the spoon from my hand with a measured precision that means they would much rather stab me with it, and give a little bow.

"Tell Jeremy he needs to pay more attention; the spoon was dirty!" I holler after them after they've passed into the kitchen, to everyone else at the table's disapproval.

Because this is my seventh time in The Womb, I've been placed in a high-security house, with experienced Grandparents rather than normal Parents and bars on all the windows under the cheerful blue and yellow curtains. I've also only got five siblings rather than the usual nine; Ren is the littlest, and Matthew is the oldest at seventeen. The rest of us hover around the dining room table in the throws of those terrible years right on the cusp of puberty, and we've all got the lanky self-awareness to match. Really, the jury should have forgiven me the second they realized my pivotal moment was at twelve, or at least written me off as a lost cause. What preteen doesn't want to take over the world? How was living through that desire again and again supposed to make me desire it any less? But we've established the establishment isn't very smart about the details of redemption. They just want to Save the Children, or at least look enough like they are to appeal to the constituents a couple times a year. Statistics to the contrary are handily swept aside as anti-love.

Everyone here has taken a wood chipper to someone else's moral fabric, most more than once. Even the Grandparents have been Reborn once each, although they won't tell me how come. Just that it's part of the job requirement, so they can relate to where we're at on our journeys or something disgustingly syrupy like that. I'll miss them the least.

The Womb Worker reappears at my left elbow. Another little bow, definitely sarcastic this time, and then they hold out a silvered fork. "Jeremy says all the spoons are dirty, but he offered an extra fork. The pudding is thick; this should serve just as well."

Finally. I accept the fork and dig in with an admirably restrained glee, I think. The pudding tastes sweeter knowing that it will be my last meal in this place.

Jeremy is old hat, been with the place since it opened basically, and is the only Worker authorized to visit every Home because he's worked his way up from day cook to Head of the Households. The first time I met him (on accident, during a poorly planned slip during my first sentence, involving a new bouquet of flowers every day until the home was buried in chrysanthemums and little baby's daisies and Womb Workers had to come and confiscate them all) he told me about his First Home, in Libya. It's taboo to talk about First Homes, not because it's illegal or anything or even really frowned upon. It just makes people sad. But Jeremy smiled as he told me about the fried dates and bsisa, the ironic wetlands and sprawling steppes and the big sky full of birds over everything all the time, the migrations. About the little lizards, the way they sashayed when he chased them down the streets. He made me forget almost everything and believe I'd grown up in Libya too. I volunteered for kitchen duty every night after in hopes he'd be that night's cook.

He climbed the ladder and I followed behind him to each new role, begging for stories about Libya, and about The Womb too, since he knows everything there is to know about it. Including, of course, how to get out. It wasn't hard to bribe him. Just two more rebirths of a little bit of smiling, a little bit of begging, and I've now had six life cycles to practice my hand at money laundering. Jeremy is four hundred and ninety-five this year. It's time for him to bail.

The pudding is gone too soon, and I lick my lips and immediately wish I had some Vasoline. They’re dry, and they sting. "I'm not feeling well. May I please be excused?"

Ren's tiny face looks doubtful and a couple of the other kids look intrigued, but Grandnanna is a warm, benevolent rock. "Do you need me to grab a basket?"

"I don't think so. I think I just need to lie down."

"Let me feel your head."

"It's my stomach," I protest, but go to her nonetheless. I'm up from the table, which means I'm almost in the clear.

She puts the back of her hand against my forehead and cheeks, then turns to rattle in the credenza behind her seat at the head of the table. "Richard, can you grab me the thermometer please? I forgot I moved it to the study when that cough went around last month."

"I'm kind of dizzy. I just want to lie down." I cross my arms and hunch my shoulders and do my best to turn excitement into flush agitation. Grandnanna (what a laugh; she's younger than me by a century, at least) purses her lips.

Then she steps back, and sighs. Good for her – she’s learned how to pick her battles. Probably why she’s still only been reborn once. "Grab a clean towel from the cupboard on your way up."

I finished my part of our plan this morning - digging out each of the security features in the home and bypassing them with a wire or a code I custom-wrote before my latest de-age debacle. The bars are just a formality now. But that's the most I could do on my own. It was up to Jeremy to arrange the rest - reaching out to my old contacts, setting up the weekend lecture series, making sure the Grandparents are out, finding a Sitter with enough moral ambiguity to agree to pack their overnight stuff in over-large luggage and to not ask questions. It was a lot of work, and he hasn’t said it but he’s going to negotiate for a better cut once we're free and clear. At least fifty percent. That's a cliché, but it’s fine. I can do those too. Not everyone makes it to five hundred. There won't be any questions when he’s never heard from again.

The corridor to my room is lined with photos doctored to look original, of the seven of us in this home, and each door has an initial painted in well-meaning green that comes off as military in the dim light. I dutifully grab a towel from the closet and go to my room, draping the towel over my pillow and curling up under the fluffy comforter. Once I bust out there will be no niceties, at least for a couple of months. Definitely no pudding. I close my eyes and sink into the bed. I dream myself a feast.

~D.E. Scevers

#amwriting #writing #creative writing #short story #flash fic #danzer writes

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sassylavellen · 6 years ago

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“Extremely detailed character sheet template”

original post here

Character Chart

Character’s full name: Evelyn Lavellan (Rutherford) Reason or meaning of name: “desired” Character’s nickname: Evie (common), Ev (Holli, Moira), “Sassy” (Varric) Reason for nickname: Shortened from Evelyn, Varric’s nickname based on her personality. Birth date: 3rd of Guardian (February 3rd)

Physical appearance

Age: (at the time of Inquisition) 27 How old does he/she appear: 22 Weight: 125 lbs (most of it muscle, she’ll have you know) Height: 6ft 2in (188 cm) Body build: tall and slinder Shape of face: pointed Eye color: hazel Glasses or contacts: none Skin tone: pale, but heavily freckled. Distinguishing marks: scar on her forehead above her left eye, vallaslin on her face. Predominant features: large eyes, large ears, and long nose Hair color: Auburn Type of hair: wavy Hairstyle: Various, starts with her hair long and wild, then large messy bun, then gets it cut to shoulder-length, then in ponytail when it starts growing back out, then finally braided up. Voice: loud, thick Starkhaven accent Overall attractiveness: Again, somewhat objective but I’d say Evelyn is a 8.5/10. I mean... those muscles tho Physical disabilities: none Usual fashion of dress: whatever. She’s not known for having consistant or relevant fashions. Favorite outfit: a sleeveless top and leather trousers Jewelry or accessories: Not normally.

Personality

Good personality traits: Caring, determined, selfless Bad personality traits: impatient, can be aggressive if pushed. Mood character is most often in: "what is my life” Sense of humor: a VERY sharp sense of humor, she is famous for her wit Character’s greatest joy in life: her friends Character’s greatest fear: heights Why?: It makes her legs hurt. Also she’s fallen off cliffs a few times. What single event would most throw this character’s life into complete turmoil? I mean, the conclave exploding changed her life forever. Character is most at ease when: After a mission, relaxing and recovering from an adventure. Most ill at ease when: when put in situations where she has to be completely serious Enraged when: Facing discrimination Depressed or sad when: Thinking of her friends who didn’t live through the events of Inquisition. Priorities: Saving the world. No big deal. Life philosophy: Life’s too short not to enjoy it along the way. If granted one wish, it would be: To have a re-do on her childhood. Why? She had a rough relationship with her father, and even though she doesn’t regret running away from her clan, she does feel guilty that she wasn’t a better daughter. Character’s soft spot: whisky Is this soft spot obvious to others? Not usually. Greatest strength: physical strength Greatest vulnerability or weakness: subtlety Biggest regret: Lots of little things. Minor regret: Living in Kirkwall that one time Biggest accomplishment: Defeating Corypheus Minor accomplishment: Saving the Trevelyan siblings and their family name. (that’s in my fic I’m writing) Past failures he/she would be embarrassed to have people know about: She messed up a pretty important job once when she was working as a merc in Kirkwall. Why? She messed up pretty royally. Character’s darkest secret: She may be an elf, but there is a part of her deep down that hates being an elf. Does anyone else know? It was more obvious in her youth.

Goals

Drives and motivations: To fix the world. Immediate goals: Probably to go to bed. She hasn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in ages. Long term goals: She doesn’t know anymore, she doesn’t plan that far ahead. How the character plans to accomplish these goals: Again, not much of a planner. How other characters will be affected: She would do her best to make sure other people are affected in the best ways.

Past

Hometown: In a forest in Starkhaven Type of childhood: Very rough, she had a very rocky relationship with her father. Pets: None First memory: building mud castles with another child in her clan. Most important childhood memory: Teaching Moira to walk Why: Her sister is the most important person to her Childhood hero: There was a human named Fredrick Glenn that rescued her from dwarven slavers when she was seven years old. Dream job: A warrior defending her clan (a dream she herself later hated) Education: Mainly self-taught Religion: She was mostly non-religious growing up Finances: Always one coin away from starving

Present

Current location: Skyhold Currently living with: Her husband Cullen Pets: Cullen’s mabari named Thane Religion: Andrastian Occupation: Full Time Mother Finances: Rich

Family

Mother: Neera Relationship with her: Decently close Father: Revan’nain Relationship with him: Extremely rough Siblings: Ezra and Moira Relationship with them: Strained with Ezra, close with Moira Spouse: Cullen Rutherford Relationship with him/her: In many respects, they are the opposites of one another, but they are somehow perfect for one another. Children: Cullen Jr and Holli Relationship with them: She’s the cool mom Other important family members: By the end of Inquisition, she only had Moira left. Moira married Stephen Trevelyan and they had four children, and Evelyn is also the cool aunt.

Favorites

Color: Purple Least favorite color: orange Music: anything upbeat Food: apples Literature: She’s not much of a reader. She more or else had to teach herself to read and it was very difficult for her. Form of entertainment: anything humor related Expressions: “It wasn’t me. Okay, yeah it was me but... I didn’t mean it” Mode of transportation: horseback riding Most prized possession: Her sword, Cullen’s coin

Habits

Hobbies: Making others laugh Plays a musical instrument? Violin and lute Plays a sport? Is fencing a sport? How he/she would spend a rainy day: Doin’ whatever she wants. It’s just rain. Spending habits: Once she became Inquisitor and had money to spend, she started shopping a little frivolously Smokes: No Drinks: Casually. Other drugs: none What does he/she do too much of? tell the same jokes because she still thinks they’re funny. What does he/she do too little of? sleep Extremely skilled at: Swordplay Extremely unskilled at: writing Nervous tics: her ears twitch and she clears her throat often when uneasy. Usual body posture: She is very muscular and isn’t afraid to stand in such a way to make you notice. Mannerisms: She isn’t super expressive with her movements but she has a very expressive face. Peculiarities: Scratching her leg

Traits

Optimist or pessimist? She’s a little cynical. Introvert or extrovert? extrovert Daredevil or cautious? A little of both Logical or emotional? definitely emotional Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? A little of both Prefers working or relaxing? Relaxing Confident or unsure of himself/herself? confident Animal lover? yes

Self-perception

How he/she feels about himself/herself: She always pushes herself to be better One word the character would use to describe self: Brash One paragraph description of how the character would describe self: I became who I am because I had to make myself who I am. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you can’t laugh at anyone else. What does the character consider his/her best personality trait? Her wit What does the character consider his/her worst personality trait? Her temper What does the character consider his/her best physical characteristic? She’d be blunt about it... she’d say her ass. What does the character consider his/her worst physical characteristic? Her large pointy ears How does the character think others perceive him/her: Before being Inquisitor, she would try to hide her elven features because no one would take her seriously. What would the character most like to change about himself/herself: Not so much anymore, but she would have loved to have been anything other than an elf.

Relationships with others

Opinion of other people in general: She used to believe the world was out to get her, but as she grew older and became Inquisitor, she started to learn to trust others. Does the character hide his/her true opinions and emotions from others It depends on who she’s with. Person character most hates: Solas. She takes betrayal VERY seriously. Best friend(s): Lace Harding, Dorian, Stephen, Varric, Sera, Cassandra Love interest(s): Only Cullen Person character goes to for advice: She has several friends she will go to for advice, the more obvious ones being Cullen, Leliana, and Josephine, but she will aslo go to Cassandra, Vivienne, Varric, and (betrayed her) Solas for advice Person character feels responsible for or takes care of: Moira Person character feels shy or awkward around: She did have a little bit of hero-worship for The Champion of Kirkwall Person character openly admires: Cullen, Leliana, Cassandra Person character secretly admires: Sera Most important person in character’s life before story starts: Herself After story starts: Moira

found here

#Dragon Age #My OCs #Evelyn Lavellan

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paleorecipecookbook · 6 years ago

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Ancestral Health: What It Is and How It Can Help You

We’re living in a time of incredible innovation and advancement, yet we’re sicker and more overweight than ever before. And unfortunately, there’s every indication that, based on projected statistics, many people will never get healthy and stay that way.

Some days it seems as if there’s no solution for our health woes, not to mention the pain and suffering caused by the financial burdens of chronic illness. But I can assure you that that’s far from the case and that we can break this cycle.

It’s possible to halt and even reverse the current disease epidemic—using a strategy we have access to right now. It isn’t a brand-new drug, device, or surgical procedure. The solution is ancestral health. By following the blueprint for healthy living that our hunter–gatherer ancestors laid out for us so long ago, we can stave off the long list of uniquely modern chronic conditions, stay naturally lean and fit, and age gracefully.

Chronic disease has reached epidemic levels, and modern medicine can’t seem to halt its progression. Find out how ancestral health—moving, eating, and living more like our ancestors did—can stem the rising tide of chronic illness. #paleo #healthylifestyle #chriskresser

Chronic Disease Is Common, But It Isn’t Normal

Chances are that either someone close to you has a chronic disease or you’re dealing with one yourself, if not both of these scenarios. Chronic illness is so prevalent now that it’s almost impossible to imagine life without it: six in 10 U.S. adults have a chronic disease, while four in 10 suffer with two or more chronic conditions. (1)

Nearly six million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s. (2)

More than 100 million Americans have either prediabetes or diabetes. (3)

Some 50 million people in this country have an autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto’s, rheumatoid arthritis, or multiple sclerosis. (4)

Worldwide, an estimated 2.2 billion people are either overweight or obese; among the most populous countries, the highest prevalence of obesity can be found, you guessed it, here in the States. (5, 6)

One-third of Americans suffer from high blood pressure, with some statistics suggesting that hypertension may actually affect half of all U.S. adults. (7, 8, 9)

Yet throughout most of our species’ enduring existence, humans did live largely free of these illnesses that today shorten our lifespan and make us miserable. Chronic disease may be our “new normal,” but it definitely isn’t our “normal normal.”

Paleontological and archaeological findings have confirmed this, but perhaps the best evidence is the fact that remaining hunter–gatherer societies—who live as closely as possible to the way our Paleolithic ancestors did hundreds of thousands of years ago—don’t generally suffer from the most common chronic conditions.

One study of the Tsimané people in Bolivia found that they have a prevalence of atherosclerosis 80 percent lower than ours in the United States and that nine in 10 Tsimané adults aged 40 to 94 have completely clean arteries and no risk of heart disease. Researchers also found that the average 80-year-old Tsimané male has the same vascular age as an American in his mid-50s. (10) Studies of the Hadza of Tanzania reveal that less than 2 percent of Hadzan adults qualify as overweight. And type 2 diabetes is so rare among these and other contemporary hunter–gatherer populations that few reports looking into its prevalence even exist. (11)

Mismatch: Why Your Health Is So Different From Your Ancestors’ Health

So what happened? How did the majority of us go from being naturally inclined toward health to being seemingly guaranteed at least one debilitating diagnosis?

In a word: mismatch—between our genes (hardwired genetic programming), our physiology, and our biology on the one hand and the modern environment we’re living in on the other.

All organisms are adapted to survive and thrive in a particular environment. When that environment changes faster than the organism can adapt, mismatch occurs. This is a fundamental principle of evolutionary biology, and it applies to humans as much as it applies to any other organism in nature.

Our environment is almost unrecognizable from that of our ancestors, and we aren’t eating, moving, or resting like the hunter–gatherers that we still are, biologically. We know from hard evidence that this mismatch—pitting environment against biology—is the primary driver of chronic disease.

Some of the starkest examples of this include studies and observations of existing 21st century hunter–gatherers reporting that when they leave their villages and trade their traditional ways for a Western lifestyle, they develop diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular complications. (12, 13)

Back in Balance: The Basics of an Ancestral Lifestyle

It’s clear: the fastest way to recover your natural health is to return to a way of eating and living that more closely matches what your genes and biology are designed for. I’ve written and talked extensively about this approach online, in my books, and on my podcast, but here’s a broad overview to set you on the path, right now, to reclaiming your vitality through ancestral health.

Eat Real, Nourishing, High-Quality Foods

We know, without a doubt, that our Paleolithic ancestors ate animal products. Indeed, most researchers believe that consuming meat and fish is what led to our larger brains and smaller guts compared to other primates. (14, 15, 16) Though no ancestral population following a completely vegetarian or vegan diet has ever been discovered, it’s evident that hunter–gatherers did also enjoy plant foods, such as starchy root vegetables. (17)

Some traditional cultures also consumed grains and legumes. But those who did went to great lengths to break down the natural nutrient inhibitors these foods contain; these methods included soaking, sprouting, fermenting, and leavening.

We also know, without a doubt, that hunter–gatherers did not consume refined sugar, flour, and seed oils, or what I call “the three horsemen of the apocalypse” because they promote overeating and inflammation, which is at the root of all modern disease. To my mind, the introduction of industrial food processing has had the most detrimental effect on our health of any other factor in the last few hundred years—and possibly in the entire history of humankind.

In addition to the harmful presence of refined sugars, flour, and seed oils, processed foods also deliver high levels of chemical additives and preservatives. Some of these ingredients have known negative effects, from leaky gut and autoimmune disease to stroke and kidney damage, while the effects of others are still unknown. (18, 19, 20)

Here’s your ancestral diet action plan:

Bypass bags and boxes. Of course, not all foods that come in bags and boxes are harmful, so this isn’t meant to be taken literally. It’s just a helpful guideline to steer you toward real food (see below). Butter is often packaged in a box, and frozen vegetables (and some fresh) come in plastic bags. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat butter and vegetables. But in general, if you follow this precept, you’ll minimize your intake of health-damaging flour, sugar and other sweeteners, industrial seed oils, and other processed and refined ingredients.

Base your diet on real, whole, nutrient-dense foods like meat, organ meat, fish and shellfish, eggs, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices, and starchy plants like potatoes and sweet potatoes, along with healthy fats to aid in nutrient absorption.

Exercise caution with grains and legumes. If you choose to eat these foods, it’s best to soak them prior to cooking to maximize nutrient bioavailability.

Focus on quality over quantity. Choose local and organic produce and pasture-raised animal products or wild-caught fish whenever possible, which most closely mimic the foods available to our ancestors via hunting and foraging.

Sit Less and Move (Much) More—Sometimes Intensely

Movement played a major role in daily life for hunter–gatherers. After all, they spent the majority of their time, well, hunting and gathering. They had to exert themselves, and often quite strenuously, to survive: our ancestors sprinted, jogged, climbed, carried, and jumped intermittently throughout the day, on top of walking an average of six miles and running one-half to one mile per day. (21)

In other words, they didn’t sit all day like so many of us do. We spend endless hours working at computers, watching TV, and commuting by car. In fact, the typical U.S. adult is now sedentary for about 60 percent of his or her waking life and sits for an average of six or seven hours every day. (22, 23) Sitting has been called the new smoking, and for good reason: it’s linked to heart disease, insulin resistance, cancer, and the list goes on. What’s more, research has found these same negative health outcomes in those who exercise but still spend the majority of their day seated.

Your ancestral movement action plan:

Stand up. It’s the simplest way to sit less. I recommend standing for half of your day.

Talk a walk. Actually, take lots of walks and regularly engage in other low-intensity activities. Consider walking or bicycling to work, doing your own household chores, and finding a hobby like gardening that, quite literally, moves you. If you can build a daily walk into your workday—parking further away from your office, walking during your lunch break, or walking with your child or a pet after work or dinner—it becomes a habit that’s easy to keep.

Push yourself occasionally throughout the week with bouts of more intense exercise; just don’t overdo it. I recommend a protocol established by my friend and colleague Dan Pardi.

Sleep More and Stress Less

I’m sure if I asked you to conjure up an image of a hunter–gatherer, he or she wouldn’t be lounging lazily on a sofa. Although they were almost always on the move, these people relaxed, too. Our ancestors alternated strenuous and demanding days of physical activity with days of rest, an instinctual response that protected them from injury and fatigue.

Our modern lifestyle is a stark mismatch in this regard. We live in a culture that values productivity and activity above all else and is almost scornful of rest and relaxation. “Resting” for many people means browsing the internet or engaging with some other kind of sleep-sapping, artificial light-emitting electronic device that is anything but restful for the brain and the body. We’ve not only forgotten the value of rest—we’ve forgotten how to do it.

Thus, we’re stressed out. Constantly. Our ancestors experienced stress when fleeing a predator or out on a hunt. But, as I shared above, they punctuated these stressful times with moments of calm. We simply aren’t built for chronic stress, as evidenced by the immense amount of research illustrating that it wreaks total havoc on our bodies.

Your ancestral action plan for R&R:

Sleep soundly, and for seven to eight hours a night. You can’t be healthy without adequate sleep. Period. Check out my steps for beating insomnia and adopting good sleep hygiene.

Manage your stress. There’s no way to completely remove stress from your life, but you can avoid unnecessary stress by learning to say no to projects or commitments you can’t handle, staying away from people who get your blood boiling, and turning off the news (or at least limiting your exposure to it), as examples. To mitigate the harmful effects of the stressors you can’t avoid, try relaxation practices and techniques such as meditation, yoga, and calm breathing.

Prioritize pleasure. Listening to music, playing with your pets, laughing with friends, and spending time outdoors all can help you cultivate more pleasure in your life, and pleasure is the antidote to chronic stress.

Now I’m interested to hear your thoughts. Is your lifestyle in line with that of our ancestors? What changes can you make to your habits to get more in tune with your hunter–gatherer heritage? Comment below and let me know!

The post Ancestral Health: What It Is and How It Can Help You appeared first on Chris Kresser.

Source: http://chriskresser.com February 21, 2019 at 05:57PM

#paleo #recipe #food #delicious #healthy #yum #diet

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faketextstuff · 6 years ago

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The Arrangement Pt6

Summary:: You’ve never imagined yourself being a sugar baby but because of some playful friends and a stroke of luck, you find yourself with a man who is apparently willing to give you the moon and stars. The only problem is, no strings attached. Don’t catch feelings, don’t fall for a man who thinks money can solve all your issues and doesn’t want commitment.

Warnings: Very brief sexual content, if you squint you’ll see it. Eventual smut. Slow burn!!!!!

Pairing: Yoongi x Reader

A/N: Sorry this part took me forever to crank out! It was much longer but it wouldn’t post I had to shorten it! SORRY FOR ANY TYPOS! I DID THIS ON MY PHONE!

You were amazed at the size of Yoongi's penthouse! He had saved you from a traumatic day at work by just showing up and giving you a shoulder to cry and vent on, now he was showing you how large and amazing his penthouse was! It was a total of four bedrooms and three full bathrooms. Three of the four bedrooms had a huge king sized bed, full walk-in closets and the bathrooms each came equipped with a jet tub and shower. Half of the penthouse didnt looked lived it, it looked like something you'd see in a magazine. The only sign that this flat had someone living in it, were the dishes that were in the sink and the couch that looked beyond worn out. There were a few work files on the coffee table next to a cold cup of coffee. Clearly Yoongi brought his work home with him.

As he lead you through the flat, you noticed a large single door at the end of the hall, the door was a glass down but the glass was frosted over making it impossible to see in side. You also noticed the small keypad that replaced the normal lock and door knob. "What room is that?" You asked giving his hand, that was held firmly in yours, a gentle tug.

Yoongi paused his tour and glanced to the door. "That's my private studio. I'm the only one with the code and that's the only room that's off limits to you." He explained briefly before giving your hand another tug as he lead you away from the mysterious studio door towards the last room on the tour. "This is the master bedroom, normally I'd say this is where you would be sleeping. But since we're not physical, this is my room. You'll take the room right across the hall." He smirked over at you before releasing your hand and pushing open the large doors.

Your jaw instantly dropped when you stepped foot into the room. It was massive! It was a modern day mansion. All the furniture and decor was silver and black. The bed was a large king size that sat on a low black frame. The headboard was black and looked to be made of some kind of smooth metal or steel. The sheets were fluffy and white. It looked as if you could drown in all the comfy pillows that lined across the headboard. There was a large flat screen mounted on the wall right across from the bed and under the TV sat a black dresser with silver hardware. The room as utterly beautiful. "You live here in this huge flat alone?" You asked glancing over at Yoongi.

He simply shrugged his shoulders and headed towards the double sized walk-in closet, disappearing momentarily only to return with a oversized button down shirt. "No, lately Jimin, our I.T. guy has been staying over. He recently bought a house and is just waiting for everything to be final before he moves. Normally it's just him here. I work a lot and sometimes sleep in my office."

You frowned at the thought of him staying alone in that cold office sleeping on a hard leather couch. You took the shirt from his hand and gave a tilt of your head. "You should really sleep in your bed. You'd get more rest that way."

"Maybe I find it lonely." He shot back with a smirk, taking a step closer to you.

You bit your lip to hold back your own smirk. Clearly he loved teasing you so you had to give back a little teasing of your own. You didnt always want to be a blushing mess when he was around. You wanted to show that you could give it back as good as he could. "You mean you'd sleep in your bed if I was with you?"

"Babygirl, if you were in my bed, I'd get even less sleep than I do now." He teased with a chuckle, his long fingers going up to grip a piece of your wine stained hair. "However if you wanted to edit the contract..." he hummed in thought, closing the gap between you, his body millimeters from yours.

"Seven days, Yoongi." You muttered under your breath.

Yoongi's expression hardened for a moment as his body tensed. "That only means I have seven days to win you over. On the eighth day..." he trailed off, giving the strand of hair in his hands a gentle tug.

"What happens on the eighth day?" You already knew where his mind was leading but a.part of you needed to hear him say it, to actually hear what his intentions were with you after the contract was up.

"That day is a surprise." He smirked before pulling back. "Go get a shower, Taehyung will be here in about thirty minutes to take you shopping."

Your eyes went wide, "T-Taehyung? Kim Taehyung? The designer?"

Yoongi chuckled at your response and nodded, "He works for me. He's a close personal friend of mine. Plus he loves dressing people up so he's gonna love you, you cute little dress up doll, you." Yoongi playfully reached up and pinched your cheek.

You winced and batted his hand away. "Hands off the face." You hissed in a teasing manner.

"Oh? Where else would you like my hands then?" Yoongi smirked taking a step forward so his body was pressed close to yours, his hands circling around to press against your lower back.

Unable to suppress the gasp that fell from your lips, you stumbled forward at the sudden contact, your hands landing against his chest. "I...uh..." you breathed out looking up at him through the strands of sticky hair that hung in your face. He was wearing a smug expression as he watched you become so red faced and flustered by just being in his arms.

"Babygirl, are you going to be able to resist me for seven days?" He asked cockily. Your gaze locked on to his and you couldn't even respond. You knew he was just teasing and messing around with you, but being so close, feeling his chest rising and falling under your finger tips, smelling his cologne, his warm breath fanning your face, it was all too much and you suddenly got an urge. You wanted to kiss him. Maybe it was the playfulness of his words, or the fact it had been years since you had any physical contact, you just wanted to taste his lips. Your eyes traveled down to his lips for a quick moment.

He watched your eyes and at that moment, it was as if he could read your mind. He knew what you wanted because it was what he wanted. He wasn't sure what it was about you that had him so intrigued but he was. Maybe it was your stubborn streak, maybe it was the fact that you needed his help now more than ever, or maybe it was because you were just a normal woman. Normal in the best way. You were real while all the other women he had were high maintenance. No matter what it was, he wanted to kiss you, he wanted to protect you, you make you his. Although he could never give you love, because he vowed never to fall in love, he could give you physical and material pleasures. That would be enough right?

"Ahem.." a voice came from the door way causing both of you to jump back away from each other with shocked faces. Your eyes fell to the door and the intruder that just interrupted your intimate moment. He was a young man with dyed blonde hair, he had an almost angelic like appearance but the way his lips curled up into a mischievous smirk as he leaned against the wooden door frame, made him seem much more darker. "Am I interrupting anything?" He asked with a chuckle.

"No." Yoongi said cooly as he smoothed out his suit coat. "What are you doing here Jimin?" So this was Jimin, the I.T. guy.

Jimin shrugged causally and pushed himself off the door frame. "I heard Miss Y/L/N was in the building and since you neglected to bring her to the IT department I decided to come find you." Jimin then turned and looked at you, bowing his head. "I'm Jimin and if you don't mind, miss, may I see your phone? I need to install some software that will allow you to access door codes in case you misplace your keycard."

Yoongi glanced between you and Jimin before butting into the conversation. "Its a simple installation, it'll take maybe three minutes. He can do it while you shower."

You watched between Jimin and Yoongi as they explained the installation and slowly nodded your head. Normally you'd be up in arms about someone installing a strange program on your phone, but you had read something about this in the contract. The fine print. "Uh, sure." You reached into your pants pocket and pulled out your small phone, handing it over to Jimin. You saw his brow raise as he looked down on the old outdated phone. "I'm sorry, I know it's not the newest model." Your face flushed from embarrassment, your eyes falling helplessly to the ground.

"It's fine," Yoongi spoke up, sensing your embarrassment. He wrapped a protective arm around you, much like he did in the car, and pressed a light kiss to your temple. A simple action that made your stomach do cartwheels. "Besides, Jimin, we can upgrade her phone for her cant we?"

"Oh no, you dont have too..." You started but Jimin was quick to cut you off.

"Of course, I have several company phones that aren't being used. I can transfer the data no problem." He nodded quickly before rushing out of the room, your small phone still in his grasp.

"W-Wait! My phone works just fine." You called after Jimin, Yoongi just let out a breathy chuckle and held you a little bit tighter.

"Consider this your first gift from me, Babygirl." He grinned before pulling himself away from you. "Now, shower and put on this shirt, Tae will be here shortly. I'll probably be gone by the time you get out. I have a meeting but I'll see you I a few hours. Here..." He paused while pulling his wallet from his suit pocket. He fished out a silver credit card and thrust it into your hand. "Use this to buy you something pretty to wear. Tae will try to put you in something flashy but only buy what makes you feel beautiful." He smiled at your shocked expression as you looked down at the credit card, noticing it had your name on the front.

"Its in my name?" You asked in shock.

"Of course. That way you can use it anywhere. I have a budget set up for you, Eleven K a week. Is that enough?"

Your jaw might as well hit the marble floor at his words. Your eyes so wide they might just pop out. "Eleven thousand dollars a week?!"

"Is that not enough for you? You greedy thing." He huffed, clearly teasing you, his eyes were dancing in amusement as he watched your shocked expression.

"No! It's too much! There's no way I could spend that much money in a week."

Chuckling, he reached up to stroke your cheek affectionately, "Babygirl, that was a low ball budget. I was gonna up it each month if you stayed on after a week."

"That's....that's crazy, Yoongi. Eleven thousand is...that's a lot of money!"

"Is it? I wouldn't know." He shrugged off your comment as if it was nothing before pulling back. "I have to go, have fun shopping and I'll see you back here tonight. I have a fun evening planned." With that he turned around and sauntered right out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

As you stood there still in shock, eyeballing the credit card, you quickly dropped it to the dresser top as if it had burned your hand. You weren't sure how women could spend that much money a week and still sleep at night. It was ridiculous!

Shaking your head you quickly rushed into the bathroom and began looking around. It was massive and beautiful like the rest of this flat. There was a large jacuzzi tub that was clearly made for two people up against the wall, it was facing a large glass window that looked over the entire city. You suddenly felt exposed just thinking about shedding your clothes in this open space with such a large window that over looked the whole bathroom. Luckily since the sun was out, it was near impossible for anyone to see in so that out your mind at ease.

Down from the tub, you saw a large glass shower with a bench in it. The showerhead was large and hung right over the middle of the shower and was large enough it would still get you even if you sat on the bench. You scoffed noticing it was also built for two people. Clearly Yoongi liked having people close even in the shower, despite what he said about sex being far and in between.

You noticed the shower was stocked with not only his products but products for women, expensive products that you had seen in stores but never dared to buy.

Taking a shaky breath you walked towards the shower, reaching in to turn the large stainless steel knob. Your hand fell under the water falling and you smiled feeling the water warm up as it fell. You wasted no time in stripping off your uniform and jumping in the shower. You were desperate to get the dried on wine off your skin and out of your hair.

You took a deep breath as the water ran through your hair and down your body, you could faintly smell Yoongi's shower products lingering from his shower this morning. The smell oddly soothed you and unable to stop yourself you reached for his shampoo, not the one for women. A part of you didnt want to use a product that another women left behind and truth be told, his scent relaxed you. So if you were going shopping with Kim Taehyung, you wanted to feel as relaxed as possible

Your shower took much longer than you anticipated so now you were rushing to get ready, you slipped on the button down shirt, Yoongi gave you and slipped back on your pants from work. You quickly towel dried your hair before venturing out into the living area of the flat to see if Jimin was still there with your phone.

As you turned the corner, you saw Jimin sitting on the sofa, typing away on his laptop. You just stood there awkwardly not wanting to interrupt him. The look on his face made it clear he was busy, so busy you thought he didnt even see you enter the room, at least until his soft voice spoke up and startled you. "I'm finished with your phone, miss." He called not even glancing up.

You jumped and nodded, making your way over to the love seat across from the couch. "You can call me Y/N if you like. Miss seems too formal." You muttered sitting on the edge of the couch.

Jimin chuckled and glanced up over the top of his computer towards you. "It's just a habit. Normally the women Yoongi dates are so uptight that they get offended if you call their name."

Your nose crinkled in disgust at the thought of someone getting mad about not being referred to as Miss. "Well I'm not that kind of girl."

"Clearly." Jimin muttered before closing his laptop and glancing up at you. "You're not the kind of girl Yoongi goes for, I was kinda shocked when I saw you for the first time." He confessed, a look of dread washing over you at his words. Did he mean that as a compliment or an insult? He was quick to speak again when he saw the look of worry on your face. "That's a good thing though. I think someone different is what Yoongi needs in his life. Just be careful with him." His cheerful expression quickly turned to a serious one.

"What do you mean?" You asked with an arched brow.

"Yoongi is a very private person, but he's also very passionate. His work is his passion. He's had fall out with his former girl friends that wanted to be first in his life, not second or third."

"I dont want to come between him or his work. Truth be told I dont even know why I'm here. I dont fit in with this lifestyle and I feel like im constantly in shock with how extravagant his life seems to be. I dont fit in here so I don't know why he wants me." You muttered, yours eyes drifting down to your hands as they fiddled nervously in your lap.

Jimin smiled watching you, "I think it's because you dont fit in that makes him want you. What's the saying? We're all looking for something different from what we have? My old mentor used to tell me that when I'd start looking for new jobs or jump from date to date. Maybe that's why he's taking a chance on you? You're that something different he needs? Plus Namjoon gave you a thumbs up. He never gives anyone a thumbs up so feel special." Jimin shrugged as the doors to the flat opened up behind the both of you. Jimin leaned forward and tossed a newer Samsung Galaxy phone into your hands. "There's your new company phone. All your numbers and photos have been transferred over. I've put my number in there too so if you have any questions call. Namjoon's number is in there as per his request. Taehyung's number is in there as per Yoongi's request. I heard you already met Hobi so his number was added just in case of emergencies. The doctor Yoongi wants you to see is added in there. You'll need to call him tonight and set up an appointment, his name is Jin. Plus, this number is important, if you're ever in trouble and need someone to help you, like if someone is following you, or you feel threatened, call the number named Jungkook. He's Yoongi's personal bodyguard and after today with Caroline, Yoongi wanted to make sure you were safe and had access to protection." Jimin explained in a quick breath.

The sudden blast of information made your head spin! So many new numbers, you just hoped you could remember them all. "Jin for appointment, Jungkook for protection. Got it." You muttered, clutching the phone as if it were precious, to your chest.

"Jiminie-ah!!!!" A deep voice called out from the door. You spun around to see a very smiley man you automatically knew as Kim Taehyung come bouncing happily into the room and tossed his arms around Jimin from behind.

Jimin let it a grunt and began to desperately try go wiggle away from the younger man. "Let me go!" He whined, crawling his away towards the other end of the couch.

"But I've missed you!' Taehyung chuckled before releasing Jimin suddenly, causing the blonde haired male to jerk forward. "Anyway I heard you boring our new friend with your phone crap. I had to rescue her." Taehyung smirked over at you, causing you to giggle.

"Crap?! This is important business!" Jimin huffed angrily and he stood ho and grabbed up his lap top.

"Blah blah," Taehyung mocked him playfully before getting up and making his way over to you, bowing slightly. "I'm Kim Taehyung and Yoongi said you'd be my shopping buddy for the day? I heard you also like Gucci?"

You stood up and returned his bow politely. "I'm L/N, Y/F/N. I'm glad to meet you, um...yes I do like Gucci but I've never been to a Gucci store before."

Taehyung gasped as if you had just publicly offended him. "Well then. That will be our first stop." Tae grinned before offering you his arm which you hesitated before taking. "Jimin, I'm stealing your friend. I have orders to take her shopping."

Jimin muttered under his breath before giving a wave of his hand. "Yeah, yeah...bye!"

You smiled at the playfulness between Taehyung and Jimin but you also couldn't help but bubble with excitement at the thought of finally getting to see your favorite brand of clothing up close! Especially with a famous fashion designer like Kim Taehyung! Maybe being a sugarbaby wasn't gonna be so bad?

#bts fanfic #bts fanfction #sugadaddy fic #bts smut #bts scenarios #bts angst #bts suga x reader

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jaythesaltybastard · 6 years ago

Text

Fallen Streaks of Red

GABENATH GIFT EXCHANGE GIFT FOR @auroralynne

Nathalie Sancoeur, for all the pristine smartness and beautiful form that she is, considers herself an idiot in that moment of time. She’d been enraged; she’d been rebellious; she’d been heartbroken.

An Akuma never came, but a blade did.

Nathalie cuts her hair

Pls note that this is absolute trash and my italics/bold stuff didn’t transfer over.

Nathalie had been staring at herself in the mirror for a long while. It could have been moments. It could have been decades. She did not care to know.

Clots of dark hair lay swirling around her, a splash of red fisted in her right hand on the bathroom counter, in her left was a knife.

She promised herself she would never cut again, not after Michael had caught her nearly twenty years ago.

And yet…

She had acted on spite, with no emotions but confusion and rage, heartbreak coursing through her veins like a wildfire.

She had been prepared to end it all, but stopped.

Michael’s blue eyes had flashed through her eyes. Not his thirty-one-year-old eyes, but the ones of a seven year old checking on his crying thirteen-year-old sister.

She had promised. Nathalie could never break a promise to her brother.

And so, she cut her hair. Chopped it off like it was the thing that would stop Gabriel’s damned obsession.

Gabriel.

Nathalie’s already-white knuckles turned a shade lighter as her fist tightened. She had not cried since she was fifteen, she would not cry now.

With a shout, she whirled around, throwing the knife full force at the wall.

Glass shattered as the knife went home.

The fragments of the clear, sharp material glistened in the dim light, but Nathalie’s attention was drawn to the frame, still hanging from the wall.

It was a picture of her and Gabriel shortly after he had started his business, six years prior to him meeting Emilie. Nathalie had been his best friend, still was.

She looked back at her mirror.

Her hair was a mess. Cut just above her shoulders, lopsided, strands beginning to cross and tangle. Nathalie sighed.

She undressed swiftly, turning on the water of her shower and stepping in before it had a chance to change temperature. The frigid water caused her to bite her lip, goosebumps trailing down her arms. It did not last long.

Two seconds later, the water was scalding hot. Nathalie gasped, first instinct to move away from it. She did not. Her feet remained planted to the tub as the water burned her shoulder, quivers running through her. She bit her lip as she moved, turning to face the water so to wash away her makeup. She winced as the harsh heat travelled down her face, barely daring to move. Her hands were frozen at her side for a moment longer before she raised them, collecting a small amount of soap and getting a rag wet. She placed the soap onto the rag and lifted it to her face, scrubbing away the makeup harshly. She had no doubt her face would be slightly red.

After she was positive that all remains of the makeup were gone, she grabbed her shampoo, squirting some into her hand. She paused after only a moment. She wouldn’t need nearly as much as she used to.

After scrubbing her hair clean for far longer than she normally would have, even when she had longer hair, she moved to the rest of her body.

After she finished, she turned the water off and reached out from behind the curtain, grabbing a towel and pulling it into the tub. She dried her hair as best she could before stepping out.

Nathalie paused as she looked at herself in the mirror. She bit her tongue, lips curling into a scowl.

She glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table, sighing as it was only eight o’clock.

She glared at her reflection once more before turning and exiting her bathroom.

She sifted through her closet, finding an old, too-big t-shirt from when she’d met Jonathan “Jagged” Stone back in Iycée, the print nearly impossible to find these days.

She allowed herself a small smile at the memory.

She walked her her drawers, pulling on a pair of loose-fitting underwear and throwing on some sweatpants while she was at it.

After cleaning up the glass, she wondered back to her living room, pulling out her personal phone and dialling up a number.

He answered after two rings. “Hey, Nat. It’s a little late to be calling, isn’t it?”

“Hey, Mikey. Remember that chinese place we used to love to go to?” Nathalie asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Can you grab some takeout from there and come to my apartment?”

“What’s wrong?” His voice betrayed concern.

Nathalie sighed. “I just want to see you,” she half-lied weakly.

A pause from the other end. “Be there in twenty.”

~~~

Roughly twenty minutes later, the door opened and the smell of chinese takeout filled the room.

The moment Michael set his stuff down, he had embraced Nathalie. They stood like they for a few seconds, before Michael pulled back and examined Nathalie’s wrists. Seeing nothing, his fingers trailed over the ends of her newly shortened hair.

“Oh, Nat,” he breathed, embracing her once more. He was less than an inch taller than her, so Nathalie found it easy to sag against him, burying her head into the crook of his neck like she always did when she needed comfort.

“I brought terrible horror movies,” he whispered, Nathalie tried to hid her amusement, but a ‘tch’ escaped her, setting her off. She laughed, Michael joining in a moment later.

~~~

“This movie is terrible,” Nathalie snorted, curled into her huge, fluffy recliner while Michael stretched out on the couch.

“I know right?” Michael laughed, taking another bite of his noodles. “They had literally no chemistry at all.”

Nathalie chuckled.

They sat in silence for a few minutes as the movies credits finally rolled by.

“I can fix your hair, you know. Uncle Sam used to keep me in the barber shop and I asked him to teach me once.”

“How old were you?”

“12.”

“And you’re, what? 32 now?”

“31, actually.”

Nathalie gave a disbelieving scoff, rolling her eyes.

Nearly a half hour later, she was tracing her fingers over the ends of her now shorter-than-before hair. It reached just below her chin, tickling her ears lightly.

“Reminds me of when you were twenty.”

Nathalie smiled. “It does, doesn’t it?”

“Are you going to go back to work?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Michael didn’t press further.

“Want to watch the sequel?”

Against her will, a smile bloomed on Nathalie’s face.

“I’d love to.”

~~~

Later that night, Nathalie awoke to the feeling of something breathing below her. She opened her eyes slowly, squinting as she tried to focus them.

Michael’s face, although nearly consumed in shadows, was unmistakable despite the darkness. She pulled herself up, careful to avoid waking him.

She padded into her kitchen, silently pulling a glass from the cabinet and grabbing some form of alcohol from her rack next to the fridge. After quietly pouring herself a glass, she took a quick drink, grimacing as the strong tang of her Spirytus Rektyfikowany hit her throat. This stuff could knock out 200 pound, fully grown men, and here Nathalie was, in all her 87 pound glory, drinking it like it was water.

Weaklings, she thought, nearly snorting. She had thirty years of tolerance, so of course she had an unfair advantage. Maybe she could drink some and get Gabriel to try it. That would be a show.

After finishing her, admittedly small, glass, she put the whiskey back, opting for something a little weaker. She’d always had a soft spot for brandy.

Once she finished two glasses of that, she put it back, not wanting to get too tipsy. She was already buzzed. Glancing at her watch, she read 2:47 and wondered what to do next.

She could always get an early start on the day, though her alarm wasn’t supposed to go off until 4. She had decided to go back to work as the second movie came to an end the night before. She would not let Gabriel get the better of her. Besides, she needed something to do for the day. Boredom never bode well with her.

And then there was also Adrien, she’d never leave him alone in that house.

So, she decided she’d shower, get dressed, maybe scroll through her private social media a bit. What? She may work for Gabriel but that doesn’t mean she can’t have a social life.

By the time she’d finished showering, Michael was awake and making breakfast.

“Mornin’,” he greeted, Nathalie raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not used to people cooking for me, feels a little weird.”

“We’ve got to get some meat on them bones, you’re like, what? 90 pounds?”

“87, actually.”

“Even worse. Eat,” he ordered, setting a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her. Nathalie rolled her eyes but picked up her fork and stabbed a couple of pieces.

They ate happily for thirty minutes, chatting about whatnot and complaining about the recent weather.

Nathalie’s alarm went off in her bedroom, and she stood, moving to turn it off. Once returning, she saw Michael doing the dishes and moved to help him.

“No, I’ve got it,” he said. “You go ahead and finish getting ready.” Nodding in appreciation, Nathalie went back to the bathroom. After brushing her teeth, she wondered what to do with her hair. After a good ten minutes of messing around with it, she settled for just pinning the right portion to her head so it would stay out of her face.

She went back to the living room, dressed in her usual work suit.

“I, personally, think the short hair suits you,” Michael complimented. Nathalie gave him a small smile.

“Thanks, Mikey.”

“No problem, Nat.”

~~~

The initial response to her shorter hair had been hilarious. Adrien had glanced up at her, saying a quick hello before returning his gaze to his phone. She counted exactly six seconds before his green eyes had snapped back to her, mouth agape.

She almost smirked. Almost.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked flatly, raising one of her eyebrows smoothly.

“I just… your hair,” he said, blinking.

“What about it?”

“It’s shorter.”

“You don’t say,” she quipped sarcastically.

There was silence for a short moment.

“What will father think?”

Nathalie just barely kept herself from tensing. Shit. “I doubt he’ll care.”

Adrien shrugged. “Whatever you say. You know him better than I do.”

Nathalie figured the younger Agreste was referring to her and Gabriel’s past friendship, but still felt a pang of anger in her stomach, yesterday’s argument fresh in her mind.

“You should be heading off to school soon. None of your activities are until after five so feel free to do whatever you like until then.”

Adrien perked at the notion that he’d be free for almost an hour after school ended. “Thank you, Nathalie.”

“Get going.”

The moment he was gone, Nathalie walked to Gabriel’s office, knocking swiftly once to let him know it was her and only her. She did not wait for a response as she opened the door, stepping inside. Gabriel kept his eyes trained on the screen before him

“I’m a little surprised you came back,” he stated calmly. Nathalie tried to decide whether or not she wanted to answer.

“I as well.” She sat down, booting up her computer.

She could feel his eyes on her, but she did not look.

“Nathalie.”

“Yes, sir?”

“What have you done to your hair?”

“It’s shorter, obviously I cut it,” she replied smoothly. She knew he wouldn’t care that she was being sarcastic, maybe a little rude. He knew she could yeet him out the window if she so desired.

“I know that. I meant why.”

Nathalie sighed, sending him a glare she’d only dare show to her worst enemies.

“Oh my god, Nathalie, stop. Please, you know that look gives me the chills.”

Nathalie felt a spark of triumph, but she did not let it show.

Gabriel let it go.

For a while.

After another two hours, they were getting ready for a conference when Gabriel stood behind her, his fingers running through her hair. She tensed, fighting to keep a grip on her coffee as a quiet gasp escaped her. She forgot how much she loved it when people played with her hair.

“I see you still like it,” Gabriel purred in her ear. She turned, her chest nearly brushing his.

“I do. Is there a reason you care?” she asked.

“Remember back in collège when I played with it and you pretended to hate it?” Nathalie bit her lip. She did remember. “We both know that was bullshit.”

Her phone buzzed, and she held back a sigh of relief. “Come on, the meeting starts in five minutes.”

She could see Gabriel’s disappointment. As good as he was at hiding emotions, Nathalie could see right through anything he threw at her.

The conference was boring, Gabriel wasn’t even paying attention. Half of the people there weren’t paying attention. Thinking quickly, she picked up her phone.

“Hello, you’ve reached Agreste Fashion, Nathalie Sancoeur speaking.”

Silence.

“Is it important?”

The rest of the board were looking at her, she kept the act up.

Widening her eyes only slightly, she asked, “What do you mean ‘Adrien sprained his ankle’?”

A few seconds of silence. She sighed. “Of course. I’ll be there to pick him up in twenty minutes.” Making sure the screen was viewable to no one but herself, she ‘hung up’.

“Sir-”

“I heard you. Terribly sorry, but I must see to my son.”

“Understandable, Gabriel. We’ll continue without you.”

Gabriel nodded, standing and following Nathalie out the door. He turned to her. “Good thinking.”

Nathalie shrugged. “It was obvious which way the discussion was heading. I saw no point in staying.”

He was in front of her. He was close, very close. He was leaning down. Nathalie did not move.

He first kissed her jaw, feather light, then her cheek, then the corner of her mouth. Before he continued, he paused.

“Short hair looks exquisitely good on you, you know,” he murmured, running a hand through her hair. Nathalie’s breath hitched. “Do you want this?” he asked. Did she want this? She didn’t know.

Her body apparently did, because she moved, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him to her.

Their lips met, soft at first, but slowly becoming more fervent.

“Sir-” she gasped when he kissed her neck.

“Yes?” he purred.

She forced herself to push him away. “Not here. Not now. Literally any other time but now.”

“Maybe in an hour? At the mansion?”

Maybe never, she thought. “No. I have to meet Michael then.”

“Michael?” His brows furrowed together.

“My brother. I’m going out with him and his husband in a bit.”

“Husband?”

“Gay people exist, sir.”

Gabriel hummed. “Perhaps I can indulge you later, Miss Sancoeur.” He pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek. Then he was upright and fixing his hair. Nathalie followed in suit.

~~~

True to her word, Nathalie left within the hour, heading to a nice coffee joint where she’d be meeting Michael and David.

David was a handsome, tall black man with kind brown eyes and a drop-dead smile. Nathalie wouldn’t admit it aloud, but she’d had a crush on him before he and Michael got together.

“Nathalie!” David smiled, waving her over.

“Hey, David!” Nathalie smiled, hugging him. Michael was grinning beside her.

“It’s been too long! Tell me, can I kick Gabriel’s ass now?” David asked, chuckled when Nathalie smacked him lightly. “I’ll take that as a no. I saw you in TV the other day, I wasn’t sure if it was actually you.”

“How so?” Nathalie asked, crossing her arms and giving him a pointed look.

“You were so...” He motioned with his arms as he search for the right word. “Dead? Emotionless? Not the Nathalie so know.”

Nathalie shrugged. “Work has always been stressful. I have to depart my soul for the day to keep it from getting sucked out by Gabriel.”

“What about the kid, the blonde one. You said his name was Adrien?” Michael cut in.

“He survives only because he’s naturally a ball of sunshine,” Nathalie said plainly, her expression dead serious.

Michael and David shared a look.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to yeet him?” David asked in a soft, comforting tone. Nathalie let out a laugh.

“As tempted as I am to say yes, I’m afraid I can’t have the authorities after you,” she grinned.

An hour later, Nathalie and the two men were walking along the street when a loud explosion was heard. Screams followed a moment later, and Nathalie cursed.

“Guys!” David shouted. “We need to go!”

Nathalie nodded following them.

“Nathalie, come on!” Michael called. Nathalie grit her teeth.

“Fuck it,” she hissed, ditching her heels and racing to catch up.

They had just turned into an alley when Nathalie stepped a piece of glass.

She cried out, gritting her teeth and grunting with the effort to stay quiet.

“Nat,” Michael gasped, leading her to the wall and helping her sit. “David, you’re a doctor, you think you can help?”

David shook his head. “The best thing to do would be to let Ladybug and Chat Noir defeat the Akuma and let the lucky charm heal it. If I pull the glass out, the blood with flow free and we won’t have anything to stop it.”

Nathalie took a deep breath, focusing on the sounds of fighting. “At this rate it shouldn’t be long. It’s just a little pain, I’ll survive a few minutes.”

David sighed and nodded while Michael kept watch for flying cars.

A little over fifteen minutes passed, then the familiar glowing ladybugs whooshed by and Nathalie felt the pain, which has dulled significantly, vanish. Nothing but a dull throb remained, and Nathalie notes that her heels were back too.

She stood up, brushing herself off and giving the two men a smile. “I’d better head back to work. Maybe we can actually hang out next week?”

David hugged her and said, “Yeah, text me a time and a date and we’ll be there.”

Michael joined in on the hug. “Yup.”

~~~

The moment Nathalie arrived at this the mansion, she went to Gabriel’s office, opening the door without knocking and making her way to his desk.

“I should punch you, you know,” she said icily.

Gabriel actually looked up. “And why is that?”

“Because of your Akuma, my foot was stabbed with a piece of glass. Believe me, had it been Michael or David, you would be bruising right now.”

Gabriel stared at her coolly. He stood slowly, circling around the desk smoothly. Nathalie fought the urge to step away from him.

His hand lifted and he began to stroke her hair. Nathalie heart thundered in her ears and her breathing stilled. Gabriel leveled his gaze with hers.

“If I apologized for the Akuma and for the argument, would you let an old dog have his fun?”

“Maybe if you stop,” Nathalie breathed, “that old dog could have all the fun he wanted.”

That made Gabriel pause. She could see the desire hidden in his eyes, and knew she’d won.

Gabriel gave her a wicked grin. “You have yourself a deal, Miss Sancoeur.”

Nathalie knew it would not be easy, but maybe, just maybe, she could get him to move in and let go.

She hoped to god she could.

#nathalie sancoeur #gabriel agreste #michael sancoeur-jackson #david jackson #adrien agreste #gabenath #gabenath gift exchange #myfic #my fic #trash fic

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