#but like i still have just a bit left in the jug (not enough for like anything and i'll probably just drink it straight from the jug)

[windwardstar]

part of the problem with hating having to go shopping is that my brain is also always "there's food at home" and "there's still stuff in the cupboards/freezer I can make, I'm not out of food" and meanwhile the only things in my fridge are the condiments.

i really gotta go grocery shopping but like... i can still scrounge up food in my cupboards

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

You know that feeling when you want to make a good impression and eveything you do feels low-key humiliating

Or when you're just perpetually mortified about every word that leaves your mouth by default regardless of what's happening or who you're talking to like I am—

ANYWAY HERE'S SOME HEADCANONS ABOUT THE BOYS BEING EMBARASSED OR SOMETHING—

Oooh Nooooo

Zoro, Sanji, Shanks, Mihawk, Buggy x Reader

Needless pointless fluff with the tiniest bit of hurt-comfort or something

Live-action or anime/manga canon, either or both

I don't think there are any TWs?

Sorry for wasting all of our time with this silliness

Anyway here's some Nu.

Zoro

He just pushes himself much too hard sometimes.

Sitting down and "taking a nap" after training, when he's clearly well beyond his limit.

Or rather "passing out from utter exhaustion with his swords unsheathed across his lap."

It could have ended a lot worse than a rogue wave washing across the deck and a gash on his arm.

Grumbling about how he's fine and doesn't need any help the whole time you're wrapping bandages around his arm and chiding him.

Going silent and tense for a moment when you wrap him in a tight hug and softly ask him to be more careful.

No, he's not blushing, he's never blushed in his entire life, shut up

Hugging you back? What are you talking about?

Gives a little growl of annoyance, refusing to let you go for longer than he's willing to admit, and will probably say it was for your benefit if anyone asks.

Sanji

The old *whoops* with the pepper shaker.

It had already been a long day, he was just trying to wind down in the kitchen.

Trying to season a very simple, very straightforward sauce.

And the entire lid falls off of the pepper shaker, and into the pot, along with a massive pile of ground black pepper.

And he just lets out a groan of defeat, dropping to his knees and letting his forehead fall against the edge of the stove with a weak little thunk.

But no no no, you're already hurrying over to help scoop out the excess pepper, reassuring him that it'll definitely be fine.

Your rush to assist him is enough to make him smile in itself, to let out a small affectionate chuckle as he watches you grimace at the taste the ruined sauce, before you meet his eye and try to fake a smile.

Decides to repurpose the sauce in question, to get back at the idiots that loosened the pepper shaker lid in the first place.

The two of you are left snickering to yourselves while the rest of the crew fights over the nearest jug of fresh water after tasting it themselves.

Shanks

Man could probably drop a knife and sever three of his toes and still manage to laugh it off, what is "embarrassment...?"

Well, it's a little more subtle.

It's having to relearn how to use both a sword and a pen after losing half of his dominant arm.

It's laughing off how his handwriting looks like a child's now.

It's getting mildly annoyed at trying to button a shirt one-handed and simply tucking it into his belt instead.

It's refusing help with simple tasks that could be made far simpler if the stubborn idiot would just let you help already—

It's hearing him chuckle and agree when you call him a stubborn idiot for refusing any help, settling his hand in your hair and pulling you close.

The whole process is embarrassing in itself, but he's got you, and he's got his crew, and that makes it all so much easier.

Mihawk

What on earth could he possibly have to be embarrassed about?

World's Greatest Swordsman, one of the seven Warlords, with a sense of wit as devastating as his blade.

And yet, despite all his efforts to hide it, he's just a big softie.

As if it wasn't already evident from how he allowed Zoro to live after challenging him and subsequently trained him, with the convenient excuse of wanting a worthy rival.

He's going to glare at you with a sharpness that could slice clean through diamond if you suggest out loud that he did any of it out of kindness, much less fondness.

But he's also going to sigh in an irritable sort of defeat when you kiss his cheek and compliment him for finding such a perfect balance between mercy and murder.

And mumble just as irritably about how you're lucky he finds you endearing enough to keep around, begrudgingly proving your point without even realizing it.

Buggy

Lives in a perpetual state of embarrassment that he tries to mask with haughtiness and aggression.

It mostly revolves around the elephant in the room.

The very red, very round elephant in the room, attached to the very center of his face.

The one he might just slaughter anyone for mentioning in front of him.

Who nose what that could possibly be *wink-wink*nudge-nudge**stupidest-pun*

But the second you plant a kiss there and say how cute it is, in a way that makes it clear you're not condescending or taunting him about it, he's too busy blushing and sputtering over his words to remember what he was supposed to be angry about in the first place.

[vampiresbloodx]

Heya love! I absolutely adore your writing and I was wondering if your requests were still open? :)

If they are I was wondering if you would be able to do a Vanessa x Reader, where maybe she has low iron or struggles to sleep n Vanessa takes care of her, purely because they’ve both been kicking my ass a bit this week, if your not able to no worries and enjoy your day/evening 🫶🏻

a/n: raise ur hands if ur an insomniac and struggle to sleep!!!

Trigger warnings: none just fluff.

Vanessa herself is an early bird.

She's the type that wants to get a good night's sleep before she has to go to work, since with her job, sometimes she is called very early in the morning, so getting enough sleep is important to her.

When you two started officially dating, Vanessa couldn't help but notice more things about you than she did before, how you struggle to sleep at night, staying awake to get some work or study done or to simply just read, watch the TV etc.

She would always catch you up at 2am, with tired eyes, your chin resting on the palm of your hand, she knew just how much you wanted to get in bed with her and have her cuddle up to you, but for some reason, your mind wouldn't shut up.

She worries about you, a lot.

How you take care of yourself, even as to how you treat yourself, to when you push yourself to fhe limit and get a burnt out and become exhausted.

She wants nothing more than to take away all your problems and patch them up, pressing a kiss to it and taking care of them for you.

But she knows you'll need to find your own way of handling your sleep issues, though for now, Vanessa will lend a helping hand.

Because she loves you too much.

And just wants the best for you.

It was a Thursday night, she knows you've got work early tomorrow and so does she, Vanessa woke up in the middle of the night, not feeling you next to her causing her to pout as she misses your warmth, stepping out of bed and into her bunny slippers, Vanessa sighed, rubbing at her eyes, turning on the lamp.

She walked towards your office, where you sat with your head down, laptop on as she stood behind you, placing her hands on your shoulders.

"Hey" she murmured softly.

"Nessy? Why are you up? Don't you have a shift in a few hours?" You asked, looking up at her and she smiles.

"Come back to bed with me" She said, caressing your cheek with her hand.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came out here to get some work done."

She hummed, rubbing at your back, knowing you liked it when she did that, you sighed into her touch, leaning more to it.

"Just... try" she whispered.

After a brief moment of silence, she could hear you debating in your head, you finally spoke up.

"Fine" you say defeated, "only because you're too cute to deny."

She grinned.

"Sweet! I'll go make you some chamomile tea. Do we still have more of that left in the kitchen?" She asks as you watched her leave the room, a smile on your face as you hear her turn on the jug, god this is the life you've always wanted and you get to have it with her.

(Despite the poor sleeping habits.)

"Yeah, should still be some left, I'll go pick some up when we get groceries."

"Also, Mike and Abby are visiting today, Abby misses you" She smiles, seeing you step into the kitchen as you stretch out your arms.

"I think she wants to see you more" you chuckled, going up behind the blonde as you wrap your arms around her.

"She likes you too, silly" Vanessa said, once the jug was boiled and the tea made, you both made it slowly back to the bedroom, where you got into the bed first and Vanessa climbed in after you.

She presses her lips against your forehead, you smiled.

"Thanks" you said, taking a sip of your warm tea.

She raised an eyebrow at you, "for what?."

"For taking care of me."

She laughs.

"Don't apologize for something I wanted to do, regardless, I'll always take care of you. You're my other half after all, my soulmate."

"So cheesy" you teased, your face heating up as she chuckled.

"Yeah, you love it."

[mins-fins]

something — [ mahae — 엔시티. ]

where it's a usual dooming situation, your good old powder keg that'll result in chaos | now playing ☁︎

mark lee is absolutely doomed.

which, in hindsight, is completely foreseeable. it's a little irrelevant to the current motion of this overly dramatic festivity. if there's one thing your family loves, it's a good party. the guest list is packed with quite literally every patron settled in your neighborhood, ranging from the decades old family friends to the barely perched neighbors who probably only accepted the invite because it they wouldn't have to cook for the night.

and of course, they drag, they drag for so long that mark has become accustomed to staying up late on literal school nights. it was a little bit of a shocker to eight year old mark when he was allowed to tag along to one of your parents' overly excited outings with his eyes staying open past eight pm.

they throw parties for every single occasion, but this one is especially important, because you're home. your parents are anything but lazy, they decorated as if you had come back from serving for your country, in reality, you had just studied overseas for a good half a year.

communication over technology wasn't easy for them, so the moment you got back, they made sure to remind everybody of your presence. the party soon came around the corner, and now.. here we are.

it isn't as if mark didn't see you for a whole year and a half, the attachment you have is.. special, still, the whole occasion instates a feeling of longing he doesn't exactly know the specific origins of.

"are they really giving out gift cards? it's not like you enlisted or something.." mark mutters, pouring lemonade from the large glass jug into a mere cup.

"you know how they are, one year without me and they go crazy" your laughter is pretty, the small nudge you offer mark along the lines of an affectionate gesture.

"they're a little too attached aren't they?"

"normal for parents" you again share another smile with him, rolling your eyes. mark listens as you begin exchanging greetings with many familiar faces, as they again act as if you'd left forever. it was just a year.

maybe mark just doesn't get it.

he clears his throat at the lack of attention, but he can't exactly control the volume of his action, which results in you turning your head towards him. heat immediately coils along his skin, a tint of red spreading across his cheeks. he sneaks a glance peripherally, but you're already looking.

god you look enamored by him.

it's so stupid, maybe mark is just looking at it through rose tinted glasses. you're just naturally like that, the stupid fucking enraptured looks you share with everyone are just that, looks. you don't even realize the extent of your affect, mark is absolutely going crazy.

the jewelry hanging around your neck shines under the light of the barely peeking sunlight, and you straighten your posture as you sigh. "you missed me right?"

mark narrowly holds back his true words, opting for a feigned reply of stubbornness; "barely".

"sure mark" you offer your hand for him to take, and the stubborn front doesn't last for long, the intertwining of your fingers is smooth, soft, an action performed so many times that it becomes it's own trademark.

you glance down at your wrist watch, nose scrunching. "hyuck is gonna be late".

mark assumes his glare must be hidden by the fleeting euphoria of his own eyes. why talk about donghyuck when he's right here holding your hand? isn't mark enough for you?

okay, that's too much, an entitled way of thinking.

he hums instead.

your smile reaches your eyes. "okay, enough about everything else, what did you get up to while my angelic presence was absent?"

"don't be so full of yourself" mark whispers, just barely hears over the feat of childish laughter filling the outside air. "i did what i usually do, got a new job at the huang's ice cream place, made music on my laptop.."

"same hobbies?"

"same hobbies".

your laughter is laced with elation, maybe mark would actually be able to focus if you weren't so pretty. you don't even have to do anything, what kind of a person has a melodic rhythm to their laugh? one that is so pleasant it makes the recipient feel as if they now have to purposefully crack jokes?

"this new color fits you" you swipe your index finger against a single strand, removing his hand and ruffling the rest with your fingers. "and this hat is stupid".

mark frowns, but he then snickers. "chose the first thing i could find".

"green doesn't fit with the atmosphere" in the most hypocritical chess move, you place the hat atop your head, whistling as you level at your best friend with a inquiring glance. "looks better on me right?"

mark sucks his teeth in a feat that isn't genuine irritation. you lean just the slightest bit closer, and mark again takes in your close up facial features. your identical moles and the shape of your eyes, yeah, nothing's really changed, you've always been just as beautiful up close.

it'd be a good time to kiss you.

but mark can't give into his desires so blatantly, not in this huge expanse of a backyard, not while both your parents stand no more than a few feet away, not with eyes clearly burning through the back of his head.

but is it mark's fault you look so kissable?

no, he doesn't think so.

"never" mark attempts to swipe the hat back, but you avoid his hand, a muttered curse leaving his lips as yours turn upward in retaliation. there's a gleam of victory shining behind your eyes, and even with the vexation, mark finds you so.. gosh he can't even explain it. would attractive be the correct word?

"hey, let me keep it for a while okay?"

"y/n".

you shrug your shoulders as you begin walking towards the snack table, a small breath escaping mark in reply. he trails behind you with a smile concealed by his petty anger, your whistling filling the air. "it's my welcome back party!"

see? mark lee is most definitely doomed, he can barely even keep his irritation at a seemingly natural level when it comes to you. you're just too..

"hey, you know jeno's asking for you right?"

mark gets brought back to reality by your words, and he again takes your hand in a rushed moment he can't even explain himself. you pause as you stare, but you don't mention it, simply chuckle. "jeno is obsessed".

"come on, let's go".

absolutely doomed, he won't be able to recover.

lee donghyuck seems to have a much easier time.

it's the same old story, yet he has a high advantage in comparison to everyone else. charm is everything, he's learned that well enough, and he's charming to most.

he's adored by your parents, his immediate toothy grin practically put them in the palm of his hand. is it really that manipulative if it was all natural? seven year olds can't exactly manipulate the adults around them.

they love a good party, and so do his own parents. if not for opportunity to get drunk, but also so they can drag him out without receiving a no.

and the only reason they wouldn't receive a no is because you're the center of the discussion.

"oh you dyed your hair now?"

donghyuck's eyes glimmer in something he can only describe as euphoric, it's completely your fault. all your fault, who gives you the right to have such a pretty smile?

your gaze zeroes in on his black hair, and you yelp as donghyuck almost lifts you from the ground with the sheer force of his hug. "y/nie!"

if it was a usual day you'd complain about the volume of his voice, but you'll give him a pass. he starts with his onslaught of attacks, if the cheek kiss was crazy, then neck kisses can only be described as outrageous.

but those are all regular donghyuck actions, you can barely be perturbed by his uncanny proceedings at this point, knowing him for so long does that to a person. you simply him and lean back, whistling. "okay, okay, calm down hyuckie".

donghyuck simply smiles, feigned innocence behind those fierce eyes. "sorry for the lateness, i had a thing".

"oh i don't care, i missed you".

well that's just lovely.

it's a contrast to how mark sees all of it, it isn't usual for donghyuck to get tripped up by the easiest of things. you're pretty, he can admit that, but anyone with two good eyes can see that. you could look smitten by any little thing, you could stare enchanted by any person (and maybe there's one particular person donghyuck loathes in specific), those aren't anything.

but maybe it's the way you speak that has a tint appearing on his face. you've always articulated your words in a way that could make anyone beam, donghyuck wants to gatekeep them sometimes.

"aww, really, i knew it!"

you stay stuck on the strands of his hair, your index finger twirling a strand. he blinks, yet he manages to keep his composure. he can't give himself away, not while your standing so close. "both you and mark dyed your hair.."

mark. that's funny. why talk about mark when donghyuck is right here? right here for you to admire with his eyes blinking a look of fondness right at you. "oh, so you've seen mark already?"

"mark always comes early".

donghyuck doesn't care that much about mark, shouldn't it be about him now? call him self centered or whatever, but he thinks when he's in front of you, talking about mark is just.. stupid.

"enough about other things, how was portugal?"

his arm comes to link with yours, the press of your bodies together completely intentional. maybe mark will see, he hopes mark will see, donghyuck does like to think of himself as the superior one in this little competition of theirs.

you shrug as you again begin whistling, your ramble starts off with a comment about the country's scenery. donghyuck won't communicate it verbally, but he missed you too, missed your cute little giggles and the pauses in between your detailed rambles. he doesn't think of himself as doomed in the same manner as mark, no, he's the one with a real chance, isn't he?

you cut yourself off with a small laugh as you mutter something funny midway through your story, and you lightly nudge donghyuck. his eyes flitter upward, catching your own in the process.

the glow of your eyes is full of bewitchment. it should be illegal for you to stare at anyone like that, can anyone really blame donghyuck for feeling the way he feels when you stare like that? it's not unheard of to develop feelings for a childhood friend, especially when said childhood friend is so.. lovely.

lovely is the best word he can think of for this.

"are you going back next year?"

"yeah, i'm only around for the summer, i've gotten much too involved".

donghyuck's jaw clenches momentarily, but he masquerades it as uncomfortableness at the flies swirling around him. "okay then, let's make sure we spend good time together this summer".

you hum in reply, laughing at some unintelligible thought in your mind as you again stare at your friend.

donghyuck usually isn't a weak man, really, a mere smile can't render him bashful.

your eyes hold universes that he wishes to get lost in.

would it be so bad to kiss you in the moment?

he presses his own lips together, thoughts steady in his mind.

is it really donghyuck's fault you look so kissable?

absolutely not.

he almost gave in to the desire of being reckless, but his worst nightmare (hyperbole) comes rounding the corner in a feat of a few seconds.

"listen, they're too spicy, you know i don't have a good tolerance" mark's mumble stretches until he glances up and catches sight of the particular scene.

there's a hint of his eye twitching, donghyuck narrowly holds back his own giggle, it's invigorating how mark gets pissed off. he then smiles at the sight of you, even if the irritation slowly slips through. "hi donghyuck".

"mark! it's been a while hasn't it?"

it's only to get a scowl from him, the hug is simply an action he knows will get a kick, but mark can't display such vexation so clearly around you, he knows better than to ruin a party because of childish jealousy. he frowns in your direction, and you snicker, completely oblivious to his genuine turmoil.

"y/n told me he's here all summer".

"yeah i know it's just.." mark's face scrunches as he shoves donghyuck backward, though gently enough that his true animosity is hidden enough. "i was looking for you for like twenty minutes".

"well i didn't run away or anything, i just found him and i missed him so" you roll your eyes, poking donghyuck in the shoulder. mark clears his throat, and you level at him with a look of indifference.

you whistle, observing the lights your parents decided to hang up, knowing this party would go on for longer than it was supposed to. your hands settle behind your back, gaze remaining upward. "it's been a while since it was just the three of us huh?"

reminiscing about old times is the one thing you can't help but do, under the bright lights and surrounded by people you've know for.. forever just brings out something saddening in you.

mark's glare settles, but he avoids donghyuck's eyes. you blink as you stare at him, but then you shake your head. "anyway, i think my mom would be happy to know your here, come on" you nudge donghyuck forward with your shoulder, and there's barely anything behind mark's eyes as he watches the scene.

but before you walk away, you then turn back to look at him, eyebrows furrowing. "mark" you start softly, offering a pinch to donghyuck's shoulder that draws a wince. "come" you motion your head forward, basically telling mark to tag along.

and really, who is mark to disagree?

maybe the two could shut up for once, they could be civil, it's not like it's out of this world.

it's for your sake, they can save the chaotic blow for another time.

[marymary-diva17]

Guidance

tonowari x reader x ronal + sully family

Guidance was always something that was needed in ones life, when they were facing hardships. The ones who always seem to be seeking helping are teenagers and kids as they, live their daily lives. Growing up is not easy and it extreme not easy when you are navi teen trying to live up to image of parent or older siblings that praised by everyone else and you don't get the same praise as well. Over your life of adult and when you were young you had seen, that and made a promise to always help out those who seek help when needed.

y/n " I given blessing to the great mother for my life ... I give the great mother thanks for my mates and for my children" you were doing a pray hoping for some answers on some stuff, when you heard something.

????? " leave us alone "

????? " aww little kids getting scared do you need your mommies"

????? " hey leave them alone right now or else" you heard aonung voice you soon stopped what you were doing, and made your way towards the sound. To see your sons along with the tow sully boys in fight with some visiting teens from another clan.

y/n " hey" you soon made your way towards the fight and soon broke the boys apart or they pushed each other way.

y/n " what is happening here"

lo'ak " these punks were picking on kiri calling her a freak, and I came to tell them to stop they were bothering us until neteyam and your son came"

y/n " kiri is that true"

kiri " yes we tried walking away until they insult our families"

navi teen boy " well it true all your family is weird"

y/n " enough all of you no more fighting we don't need conflict among, ourselves during these times"

teens " sorry"

y/n " you boys will start showing respect to the clan guests as they are becoming one of us, because if we were like them they will do the same for us"

metekayain teens " yes ma'am"

y/n " sully family I'm sorry for the poor behavior of the reef teens I will make sure it will not happen that much"

neteyam " it okay miss we know you can't control everyone opinion on us"

y/n " now it seems like you all might wish to explain this it your fathers" the teens soon looked to see their fathers standing there, you soon looked at your sons.

y/n " I will try to clam their tempers but you might still get scolded and some punishment, when you are all done head to the healers and get first up" you soon walked away and spoke with your mate and there males, they seem to understand a bit but the teens were still a trouble a bit.

Later on that day

y/n " so let me get this straight you had sent the boys all fishing together for what reason"

tonowari " Jake sully said it will be good for them to bond and form a friendship as well"

y/n " I hope so"

tonowari " what the matter"

y/n " I think you should spend some time with the boys a bit more"

tonowari " ......."

y/n " I'm just speaking from the heart it seems like the boys have been doing their best, to proven themselves to you lately as they idolize you ma tonowari"

tonowari " you are right my love"

y/n " thank you so please give them some time with you, and it will be good for all three of you"

tonowari " sure and maybe I can help them with their fighting after what happened today they are good but could use more training"

y/n " tonowari"

tonowari " what you told me to bond with them and I will" you soon smiled at your mate knowing he is correct.

y/n “ well I hope the boys have a good time, it seems like our boys are bonding well with the sully boys that good for them”

ronal “ what good for them is good for the clan” ronal soon sat with her mates making you smile.

ronal “ I thinks this friendship will blossom good fortune for our clans”

Y/n “ yes it will” your mates had stayed with you but soon left later on in the day. You were garage some water with a jug, when you saw your two sons with neteyam and other reef boy.

y/n” welcome home children how was the fishing”

aonung “ it was wonderful mama we caught many fish”

y/n “ that wonderful but where are the others”

neteyam “ oh we spilt up two groups my brother went with some of the other boys, one of them came with us”

Navi teen boy “ y/n I’m sorry for my rude behavior toward you and the others”

y/n “ it okay young one and it seems like you all were able to become friends that’s good, we will need this friendship in our time of need” the boys smiled and nodded their heads, you soon sent them on their way to deal with the fishes with the other hunters.

later that night

y/n “ …….” you were walking around at night after getting done with some task.

????? " I'm a freak dad"

????? " no you are not baby girl" you soon heard Jake and kiri talking, the girl was very sad.

kiri " yes I'm dad"

Jake " no you are not your brothers, spider, and aonung along with rotxo stood up for you today even y/n as well"

kiri " I know but why do I feel like a freak"

y/n " you are not a freak kiri" Jake and kiri soon looked at you, as you stood there giving them a smile.

Jake " hello again y/n"

y/n " hello I didn't mean to interrupt I was on my way home when I came across you to"

Jake " it okay"

y/n " kiri you are not freak"

kiri " then why can't I be like everyone else be normal"

y/n " because you are special my child and you have an import role to play, eywa has made you this way because she had plans for you"

Kiri “ are you sure”

y/n “ yes I’m sure young lady and it good you are different, because if we were all the same it will be boring around here” kiri gave you a smile and you smile back her, Jake and kiri had noticed fish’s were swimming around your legs as well.

Jake “ y/n right my daughter you are not a freak and will never be a freak”

y/n “ those who call you a freak are foolish and blind” kiri smiles at the comforting words, but soon everything changed in a quickly second.

????? “ aww you are hurting me let me go” the trio soon turned around to see their sons dragging, a few of the other reef boys over.

????? “ let’s us go”

neteyam “ tell my dad what we over heard you saying come on tell my father”

aonung “ tell my mother as well”

spider “ tell them don’t stand there acting like you can’t speak”

Jake “ what has happened where is Lo’ak” the boys were soon placed in front of you and jake, you could tell something had happened.

y/n “ boys speak now”the boys look like they were to scared to speak and this was making matter worst.

jake “ what has happened now someone say something”

y/n “come on everyone we are going to speak with tonowari, and ronal someone go get these boys parents now” Rotox and spider nodded their heads and soon took off, together as Kiri went to go get her mom and Tuk.

minutes later

tonowari “ you boys have done something stupid and dangerous leaving a boy, who knows nothing out there alone”

ronal “ it seems like you boys had this planned for the youngest sully boy”

navi teen “ he humiliated us”

ronal “ you did this because of some fight after you we’re bullying his sister”

navi parent “ it not our sons fault they didn’t mean any harm”

neytiri “ harm they pulled s dangerous prank on my young son, and nearly did the same to my other son and nephew let not forget tonowari sons as well”

navi teen 2 “ he was supposed to be back by now we didn’t know he will be gone this long”

y/n “ we can deal with these boys and their parents later tell us, where you left him”

navi 3 “ beyond the reef past the three brother rocks”

Ronal “ you are all fools and you know aluka are out there”

neteyam “ what is that”

aonung “ a predator of the ocean….” Neteyam soon punched one of the boys soon causing chaos in the hut.

Jake “ son I know you are mad but fighting won’t solve the solution, we need to find your brother now” you soon left the hut before anyone else could take action.

y/n “ I will go find the boy”

Jake “ I will come as well I will bring some help as well”

y/n “ no it better I go now it will be for the best”

Jake “ no this that creatures you speak about it out there I don’t wish to leave you alone” you could understand where Jake was coming from, as there was already someone lost on the reef.

y/n “ Jake sully I welcome the offer but it will be best if I go alone”

Ao’nung “ mama we are coming with you” you soon looked and saw your sons along with neteyam.

tonowari “ no you three are staying here”

Jake “ yes it will be for the best”

neteyam “ we are warriors dad we have to the right to come and look for loak”

y/n “ yes you are younger warriors but the time hasn’t come for you to act now, the time will come young ones but not now”

Ao’nung “ but mama”

y/n “ no stay here the collage and your families will need you all right now”

Rotox “ yes mama”

tonowari “ are you sure about this yawne”

y/n “ I will be fine ma tonowari I know the way, and if I’m not back soon then you all can come looking for me” tonowari knew there was no winning for him, you soon called your strimwimg and soon headed off.

???? “ my father comes from the stars see up there”

y/n “ loak” you soon saw the boy standing on creature and that creature is a tulkun, a tulkun you knew so well.

loak “ y/n” you soon dismounted off your creatures and soon went towards loak and payakan.

y/n “ are you just anywhere”

Loak “ no thoes boys left me behind I think they were pranking me”

y/n “ I know your brother and my sons caught them with spider, the truth was told but they will be dealt with later on …. It seems like you have a story to tell”

loak “ yes I almost got caught by this grey shark creature and this creature saved me”

y/n” thank you so much my friend your savor is tulkun, I will tell you more later one but now we need to get home”

loak “ yes ma’am” the group and travels the rest of the rest of way home together, until the were close to the village.

???? “ loak y/n”

y/n “ we have to go now come I will bring you the rest of the way home”

loak “ thank for saving me I hope to see you again” you had taken the boy home on your creatures, soon running into Jake and another warrior as they escorted you and Loak home. Soon everyone reached the villages and got onto the docks.

Navi women “ the boy has returned”

Navi man “ the sully boys has been found”soon Jake and tonowari had came towards you and loak.

Jake “ let check you out okay nothing that bad”

y/n “ your son is brave Jake sully he stood up against a akula”

Jake “ really”

loak “ yes that I true i did escape one and made by way back here but, soon came across y/n and she brought be home”

Jake “ thank you”

tonowari “ are you okay my love”

y/n “ I’m fine” soon the rest of the who families had come over happy to see loak was okay, and that you came home as well.

y/n “ well you will be okay but will be feeling some string pain, but overall you will be fine” you were healing up loak he soon nodded his head.

loak “ yes ma’am thank you for saving me twice in one day”

y/n “ you are welcome loak but it seems like you have done great today my boy”

loak “ thank you”

y/n “ no head off on home and loak if you have questions about your new friend, I can answer them for you or you can find out on your own but remember to follow your heart”

loak “ yes ma’am but what about the boys”

y/n “ they will face a punishment after an meeting with tonowari and your father, we will see what happens later on”

loak “ yes I understand”you soon saw loak home before you went home as well, to your family that was waiting for your return happy to see you come home safe and sound. That night you were happy that everyone was home safe and sound, but you felt like something was coming a feeling that your could understand half way and couldn’t understand as well.

[rootsofdread]

I live for goofy moments with survivors mid serious matches tbh. Nuthin'better than throwing the game because some guy found a way to jump on the table!

Ace, Rebecca, Feng and Dwight with a usually ferocious killer, who's easily amused and/or distracted? They basically see red at all times, running and slashing and tearing everything apart.. untill people stop running away and start doing something unconventional for the place. They see a survivor behind the counter in the Dead Dawg Saloon? Yeah, no, it's not a hunt anymore, it's a bar night. Someone watches TV at Lery's memorial? That's their favourite thing to do now, too! And the carnival games.. Don't even get them started on carnival games. So it's mostly the matter of "who can entertain the said killer for the most time possible" instead of "who can outrun them" most times :)

🦞 uhavefuntoo

this was a fun one to write hehe!! fun fact i based the dwight one off of an experience i had in-game, i can't remember if i was playing dwight at the time but i had gone to pet maurice with two of my teammates and while we were petting him our killer, a nurse, came over and just watched us for a little bit, then left. IIRC, she massacred us, but it was funny X)

(i also tried to amuse a sadako in a similar way...i pretended to be watching one of her TVs, crouched in front of it, was pointing at it, and so she teleported through it, which got me to laugh. she also ended up killing me though lol)

Dwight Fairfield: 

For the most part, Dwight is so afraid of you that anything funny or distracting he might do is completely by accident. For example, when he was trying to hide from you on the grounds of Father Campbell’s Chapel. He ducked down by Maurice’s favorite tent, hiding slightly behind the horse hoping you wouldn’t see him. He began gently petting Maurice to calm himself down, because he swore he could feel something looming over his shoulder. The feeling kept nagging at him as he pet the animal…until he decided he should turn around, and saw you staring at him. But there was something different about your demeanor — you seemed to have calmed down. He was still petrified, of course. Especially when you moved closer and crouched down beside him. He almost bolted away, but you started petting Maurice with him. Confusing as it was, he decided…whatever keeps you from killing him. Maurice seemed happy, too.

Feng Min:

Feng has quite the penchant for messing with killers. Whether or not they ever enjoy it could be up for debate, but it doesn’t stop her from doing it, and she always has fun with you. Every time the two of you are running through the Dead Dawg Saloon, she’ll make some distance between you and her and dive behind the counter inside the saloon, and when you finally catch up to her, she pops up from behind it and announces she’s here to take your order. Seeing the immediate change in your demeanor amuses her to no end, when you suddenly stop and politely approach the counter. Typically, you two will end up playing barkeep for the rest of the match while Feng’s teammates finish generators and everything. Sometimes, other survivors will wander in and either be confused by the scene or decide to join in your games. Either way, Feng loves having fun with you like this.

Ace Visconti:

Of course, Ace is no stranger to testing his luck, especially when it comes to killers. He was testing wacky ways to lose you or direct your attention to something else long before he knew how easy it really was to distract you. He didn’t truly discover this until one day, when running from you around the carnival grounds of Father Campbell’s, he decided to stop at one of the booths. It was a milk jug ring toss game, he figured if he landed a shot, maybe it’d amuse you enough to leave him alone for now. To his surprise, you actually stopped your bloodthirsty rampage to watch him play the game, and you even took a turn after he’d thrown a few. He soon realized, after a couple rounds, was actually having fun with you. A killer…! If he would’ve known this was going to work, he would’ve done it a long time ago.

Rebecca Chambers:

Rebecca doesn’t tend to goof off during trials, not even with other survivors, especially not with a killer. Normally, she wouldn’t be particularly inclined to waste time either, but during a trial between the two of you inside Lery’s Memorial, as she was running from you she was quickly realizing she was running out of ways to keep you distracted. She noticed a television up the hallway, and as a last-ditch effort, sprinted towards it and called a time-out to watch TV together. She didn’t think it would work. But you actually stopped and lumbered towards the TV with your head cocked, and you stood next to her in front of the screen. She was still tense, but internally, she heaved a sigh of relief. Somehow, it had worked…she had gotten you to calm down and stop terrorizing everyone for a few minutes. In a way, it was nice, almost….

[hastalavistabyebye]

did i see something about tusken inspo 👀

To be fair, it's like Tatooine inspiration at large. But yes, much many ideas :D

Oh this is going to be long... *crack knuckles*

Okay so Tatooine is inspired by Tunisia which is not a secret (for the folks that don't know, the name comes from the town Tataouine and the scenes in the movies were filmed in three other Tunisian cities). Added to that is the fact that the Tuskens were inspired by the Bedouins, a nomad people of north Africa.

Now, there is an Umayyad (medieval Islamic dynasty, 661-750) farm in Jordan named Qusayr Amra :

Which gives massives Tatooine vibes.

The Umayyads (and the Abbasid dynasty right after) rules over a large territory, which extend as far as the Maghreb. So the comparison of a Jordan farm to the Tunisia cities used for star wars is understandable.

Now those geographical and chronological markers give me a well of material to get inspiration for Tatooine and the Tuskens. (I includ the Abbasids because they're in the lineage of the Umayyads and the aesthetic match what I think would suit nicely for the Tuskens.)

The ceramic cup in the middle is Umayyad. The decor comes from an antic (Roman Empire) aesthetic that is still very present in this dynasty's art. Now you could replace those vigns by something more space looking, like space oasis flora.

The Kufic inscription would be out of place for the Tuskens. Except if we look into a Kufic calligraphy that appears a bit later which is composed with little characters adorning the letters. What I propose is that the Tuskens could have a sort of writing system composed of pictograms representing their signs. They could carve those pictograms on the cliffs as well as their ceramics or weapons...

This cup is not from north Africa I give you that (like the two next objects, it's from Susa in Iran. That site is way too rich and big....), but with it being Umayyad it doesn't betray the original inspiration for Tatooine. Plus it would look really cool and that's the most important.

(The vase on the left could also look really cool in a tusken hut I think)

All of those are Abbasids. I took the left picture for the bol in the centre but that green one looks great too (I think it's jadeite or nephritis but I'm not sure).

I just think they would look super cool as Tuskens ceramics. The jug on the right is a lil favorite of mine. It's a very luxurious object (both are really) because of the glaze. The blue is obtained with cobalt from Afghanistan (if I'm not wrong, I need to check) which was not an easy thing to get (we're at the 9/10th century here). But the technique itself and the forms are still simple enough that I think it'll mix well with a space nomad tribe culture in a desert.

Now we could look into other dynasties productions and I should look back at my notes on Middle and Near East Antiquity, because there most likely has more things to dive into there.

I don't think Tuskens would use much metal or if they do, it'll be forging with scraps bought from the Jawas. To cut and grave little pendants and ornaments, spikes, that kind of things. But I sort of think the only way to forge for them would be by using their ceramic kilns (if they have any and not just tempory holes dig specially for it), that's why I didn't look into Islamic metal production. I just don't think they'll have forges with them being nomad like that. But it's still a possibility of course.

Anyway, that was a little look into the ideas I've been munching on lately.

[emmyspov]

Migraine (Haldir x Reader)

author's note: a new haldir fic coming your way! this was actually my first request! :D @oneofmanyinterests - i tried to do your idea justice and hope you and everyone else who struggles with headaches and migraines can take some comfort from this 🩷

warnings: reader in pain, mentions of throwing up and medication. let me know if i missed something! :)

word count: 1.1k

edit is mine, all pics are from pinterest :)

Your head was throbbing. Everything was too much: the noises, the lights-

Something between a whimper and a groan left your lips, alerting the elf next to you.

Haldir had come home from his most recent patrol only a few days ago and the two of you had spent every minute together, trying to make the most of it until he had to return to his duties as a marchwarden.

Carefully, he brushed his fingers down your arm. “Is it happening again, meleth?”

You nodded. It wasn’t the first time you were hit with a migraine and although they were horrible each time, having your husband at home with you helped immediately. You had come up with a routine which made the pain at least a bit more bearable and whenever Haldir had to leave, he made sure to talk to at least one of his most trusted friends or brothers to look after you in a case like this.

Immediately, the elf got up – careful not to disturb you – and closed the blinds, shutting out most of the lights.

“Would you prefer complete darkness?”

His voice was always soft when he spoke with you, but whenever he saw you in a more vulnerable state than usual, his words were even more hushed.

“Yes, please.” He blew out the lit candles around the room and heard you exhale shakily. “ Thank you, Hal.”

The pain in your voice made his heart clench in his chest. He absolutely hated to see you like, so weak and not in control at all. And there was only so much he could do which is why he would do his absolute best with the things he could help with.

After checking your shared bedchamber for strong scents and not finding anything, he quietly left the room. It soothed him a bit that he could move around without a sound so he wouldn’t add to your discomfort.

Once in the kitchen, Haldir grabbed a clean bucket in case you’d need to throw up, a big jug of water and a glass as well as some medication Elrond had brought with him during one of his more recent visits after he’d heard about your struggles. They didn’t cure the migraines, but they helped ease the pain a bit.

He quietly joined you in the bedroom again, taking in your curled up form on the bed.

“My love”, he whispered after he set down the bucket and pulled a thin blanket over you, “I brought you some water, the fluids against the pain and the ointment. Do you think you can sit up a bit? Just enough to swallow the medicine? Or at least drink some water?” An unpleased hum left your lips and Haldir knew he was asking for a lot this moment. “You can also stay like this for some more time. Can I apply the cream though?”

You slowly opened your eyes and his heart broke at the unshed tears in your eyes.

“Oh meleth, I know. I know.”

Carefully, he leaned down and pressed the gentlest kiss against your forehead. “The medicine will help a bit. Do you want me to apply it?” He knew he was repeating himself, but he needed to make sure he wouldn’t make your pain even worse.

“Yes, please.”

Carefully, the elf sat down beside you and unscrewed the lit before dipping his fingers into the juncture. When his fingers touched your forehead, you flinched.

“It hurts, Haldir.”

“I know, my starlight. You can hold my hand, here”, he whispered while he intertwined your fingers, letting you squeeze his hand.

He hurried to spread the ointment over your forehead and your temples as well as down your nose, keeping his touch always light. “Are you still with me, meleth?”

You answered by squeezing his hand and he brushed his thumb over the back of yours, not speaking another word.

The cream had to set in a bit and Haldir used the time to go back to the kitchen to prepare a cold compress and a hot water bottle.

Just a little bit later, he returned to the bed chamber, making sure to keep light and noise away from you. The only way you knew he had joined you again was by the deep connection you two shared.

“Hal”, you whispered, “can you help me sit up so I can take the medicine from Elrond?”

An affirmative hum left your husbands lips and he hurried over to your bedside, setting down the compress and the heating pad before helping you sit up. One hand was supporting your upper back while his other hand brought the little cup of medicine to your lips.

“You’re doing so well, meleth”, he whispered after you’ve swallowed everything. “Do you think you can also drink a bit of water? It’s good for you, but if you don’t feel like you can, don’t stress yourself. The fluids from Elrond will help in a bit either way.”

“I’ll try.”

“I’m so proud of you, my love.”

The elf brought the glass to your lips and you drank a few sips, immediately appreciating the fresh feeling of the water.

Before you could lay down again, Haldir put the heating pad onto the mattress where your shoulders and neck would be to help relax the muscles. He knew that migraines were not only happening in the head but affecting the whole body.

As soon as your shoulders came in contact with the warmth, a sigh left your lips and the tension between your eyebrows eased.

“Do you want me to place the ice packs on your forehead, starlight? They might dull the pain even more.”

You nodded and closed your eyes at the touch. The ellon had been right. The medicine and the water did help with the pain and the hot and ice packs were only decreasing your discomfort even further.

Meanwhile, Haldir was going through the list in his head again to make sure he didn't forget anything: he shut out the light, checked for any strong scents, made sure you took your meds, had water and cooling and heating pads on hand to help with the pain. There was nothing he had missed.

He was getting up to let you rest by yourself when you grabbed his wrist as he stood up.

“Can you stay? Please? I feel better when you’re close to me.”

A small smile took over his face. “Oh meleth, you don’t have to ask.”

Carefully, he laid down next to you and let you determine which position and how much physical contact you wanted.

Once the two of you were settled, he could see the rest of the tension leaving your body before you quietly spoke up.

“Thank you, my beloved.”

Haldir hummed. “Remember, my starlight, I will always and forever be here to help you through hard times. You’re safe with me.”

Everything-Taglist: @shadowhuntyi @asgardianhobbit98 @fizzyxcustard

Haldir-Taglist: @ellis-peace @heilith

-> if you want to be added or removed from my taglist, just shoot me a message or an ask ����

[specksizedgoddess]

A giant sluggirl at the office has taken notice of you. At first you thought she was just clumsy, almost sliding over you while you're on you ways to meetings, but you've notices she leaves an impenetrable coating of slime right outside your cubicle* right before lunch like every day. (*a small, 3" cardboard box - you did not find your job particularly fulfilling).

One day at the water cooler, she almost crushed you while installing a new jug--you spoke up, finally voicing how you felt like how she was ignoring you. Her eye-stalks leered at you, "Why would I care what a speck thinks?" she sneered. The blatant violation of HR policy, the slow realization that some of her past behaviors may have been intentional. You felt so small. "B-but!" you protested. "What do you even do here? If you dissolved in my mucus would anyone here even notice? Be real."

She knocked you into a cup when another coworker passed by and drank from it. You shouted and tried frantically to avoid being sucked down--but none of your noises were big enough to make it to the coworker. After he left, she peered down at you and chuckled. "Give me a good reason to not just end you". Strangely flustered but also desperately afraid your mouth spoke without your permission to use you as she wanted. She smiled and slid back to her cubicle, leaving you in the cup.

Upon arriving at her cubicle, you bore witness to her horribly messy workstation, the residual ooze from her coating nearly everything. She dumps you out on the desk, and mocked, "How about you keep this place spotless". Before you could get to your knees to start scrubbing with your hands, she tossed a bundle of fabric, "dress the part" She had this prepared

You put on the outfit, a parody of a business-woman and a maid with hardly any fabric, all your bits spilling out. She laughed at you and your ridiculous clothes. Humiliated, again you protested, "W-when HR finds, HR finds out--" "--Girl, I've got freckles bigger than your dick, and pores bigger than your tits, you really think you've got the guts to bring this up?" The speck had no guts.

Tuesday. You brought your meal-prep for the week. You cleaned a square foot. She took your lunches and used them as a garnish on her lunch. She laughed at your tiny, sweaty body squirming to clean off her ooze from more of the desk. She left, the floor completely covered in slime, blocking your exit. An all-nighter.

Wednesday. You're rags were stained. She refused to clean them. You were so hungry you resorted to eating the crumbs left around. When you asked for something to drink, she cocked her arm and dropped her armpit over you, glazing you in some wretched liquid. The strap that covered your left boob finally gave out. Another all-nighter.

Thursday. You were so hungry you were considering cleaning with your tongue. She told you to dance for your lunch. You almost got someone's attention, but she played it off as though she were watching something on her phone. As punishment, she glazed the 2.5 sqft you'd cleaned with a fresh coat of slime. At least the speck had something to drink. Still trapped. Another all-nighter.

Friday. When you saw her in the morning you asked for something to drink, and unconsciously opened your mouth to her armpit in the sky. She did not let you live that down. Teasing you for giving up so easily. She spat on you for your daily hydration. You danced for her, none of the original outfit remaining, when you wanted lunch instead of asking like a person with dignity might've.

A week had passed of this humiliation and she was right. No one noticed your absence. Not at the meetings, the water cooler, or lunch. You were just a toy for the mean slug girl to play with and mock. It was bad enough that you were a worthless mote, but before closing, she made you say it. She pushed you down with her finger, twice as large as your torso and a million times larger than your ego, and pinned you down, and told you to call yourself her toy. The speck acquiesced. Then she twirled her finger, rubbing the bug in placed, and asked if it liked it, if it liked being nothing but her toy. Again, the speck said yes--though this seemed to anger her.

"God, I wanted this thing to last longer," she lamented, "it's no fun when it doesn't even try to fight back" The speck lied there, unthinking--thinking was for girls with dignity after all--and waited. She threatened to get the mote fired--no, girls get fired, such a threat was meaningless for a worthless crumb. "Dance!", and the dust speck danced "Beg!", and the bug pantomimed "Cum when I bully you!", and the kinky mote began to leak "No no! This is too easy! You'd let me swallow you whole wouldn't you!", the speck stretched out its arms to welcome the oral embrace

Strangely she felt compelled to follow through, and grabbed the thing up in her jaws. Mumbling to herself, "If it was fine being eaten, why would it have offered to do anything I asked back then"

The sudden change of heart, the slow realization that some of this speck's submission may have been intentional. She felt so played, "w-wait" she gulped.

And with that, Eve smiled as she slid down into that slimey slug stomach. She may not have been able to give two week's notice, but she'd have two minute's fun down here before finally finding fulfilling work: as empty calories for a hot workplace bully.

~🐍💜

HDJDJDJFJD OH MY FUCKING GOD HUN

I COUPD READ THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN THIS IS SO FUCKING PERFECT

I GENUINELLY DONT KNOW WHAT TO ADD I WAS. HUMPING A PILLOW WHILE READING THIS- IMMEDIATELY ADDING THIS TO MY FAVORITES, THIS MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE ONE YOUVE SENT PERIOD-

Oh my GOD I need this so badly... overworked, exhausted, baggy-eyed and feeling useless to the company... all I needed was for her to show me just how useless I really was....

Finally a real job... I fucking love the idea of being too small and far too weak to even escape her cubicle if I wanted, its my new home... I exist for her, I exist to serve her- the humiliation makes me tremble, and half the times when she's gone (and often when she's not) I'm leaking like a FOUNTAIN onto her desk, imagining her comments... my body on full display for her, the least I could do- SGJDDJF GOD

I NEED THIS LEVEL OF HUMILIATION SO FUCKING BADLY OH MY GOD

I could bring up every little bit, I could fawn over this for fucking PARAGRAPHS, but I. Am gonna refrain myself... hdhdjjrd god I love this so so so SO much thank you-

... I will say that the um. freckles bigger than your dick and pores bigger than my tits part might have made me audibly squeal....

Need this so badly... I need to be a tiny thing at the mercy of an office bully... I should have known when she vandalized the "Treat Tiny Co-Workers with Respect!" posters with her ooze... GODDDDDDD

KISSING YOU YOU BRILLIANT BRILLIANT GAHCHAHCJSJD GOSH <33333

[midmorninggrey]

welcome to DADWC! how do you feel about Cal x Fenris for "his dark eyes took me in, and I wondered what they would look like if he fell in love"?

Hey, thanks for the @dadrunkwriting prompt! I felt this was the perfect excuse to write Cal Being An Idiot.

WC: ~1000

One night, all three of them ended up sitting down at the docks with a half-full bottle of rum that Isabela had swiped on their way out of The Hanged Man. Cal was the one who was supposed to be watching the bar, but she’d stolen him too. With the card game finished, Fenris had followed on his own accord. She’d ordered their boots off and they dangled their feet over the edge of the broken pier, toes kissing the black water. The sea was no cooler than the air, which was as thick and sweet as the drink.

After a time, Cal and Isabela tried stargazing through the smear of foundry smoke. The shape of a particular group of stars got them arguing, as much as they ever argued.

"Canary, do you even know what a woman looks like?"

"I just don't think that's what it is - really." 

"Fenris," Isabela drew herself up and pulled her hair away from where it had stuck on the back of her neck. "Tell us - do you see a lady of the evening?"

Cal took a long sip from the rum bottle, wondering how it happened that he was always between the two of them.

Fenris’ eyes flicked across to her.  "Only one."

“Shame. She's quite a looker up there,” Isabela shrugged and took the bottle from Cal for a last gulping drink, then put it back in his hands so she could stand.

"Now, I'm off to find someone who doesn’t need a reminder of what a woman looks like."

“Good luck,” Cal said.

"Don't get too hot under all that armor," Isabela chimed back. Through the warm haze of rum, he didn't understand why she looked at him when she was speaking to Fenris. Cal was only in his shirtsleeves. Before he could think to ask her, she tucked her boots beneath her arm and strutted down the dock and off into the dark.

They watched her go in silence. Cal handed Fenris the rum, expecting him to take it and make a quick departure himself, then lay back into the space Isabela had left behind. The rough wood felt good against his sore back and he wanted to rest a moment longer in the open air.

To his surprise, Fenris leaned back on a hand and kept his feet over the water. Outside of Hawke’s study for Fenris’ lessons, it was rare for the two to be alone together.

“I think that’s a bit of Bellitanus,” he said to fill the strange space usually full of books and chalk. “You know, the maiden. But I think she wears clothes. The Oak should be next to her – my friend told me it’s really a sign of Andriul. The goddess of the hunt.”

Fenris did nothing to acknowledge his prattling, so Cal folded his hands on his chest and said nothing more. The waves rippled beneath them.

Cal had long ago decided that denying Fenris’ looks was like denying the sun in the sky; he might as well enjoy the warmth of both from a distance. Now the sun had set and Fenris was still shining. Looking up, Cal watched the shadows play on the proud arch of his brow, along the curve of his jaw, and down the long lines of his neck. His eyes went to his mouth on the rim of the bottle, noticing the sheen of sweat on his upper lip.

"That -” Fenris interrupted Cal’s daze by pointing a finger at the sky. “- is the red jewel of Minrathous. I knew I was headed away from Tevinter when it was at my back. I had hoped that one night I would look up and it would be gone." 

Cal squinted up at the star. 

"Maybe it's watching over you."

"Not likely."

"I can't believe you made it all this way." Cal swallowed. "I mean, I can, actually."

"It was difficult." Fenris made the admission slowly. "Some days I have trouble believing it myself."

"Having to watch out for yourself all the time. It's hard." The words sound hollow and dull, like hitting a half full jug; both too much and not enough to ring true. He was surprised when Fenris’ answer was prompt.

“It’s the second rule of survival.”

“You have -” It took two tries for Cal to sit up. "You have rules?"

"Yes.” Fenris sounded annoyed, but Cal saw some satisfaction in the tilt of his chin. When Fenris passed the bottle back, he took it with both hands and a grin.

"What are they? What's the first - the most important?"

Cal hadn’t realized how close they were until Fenris turned his eyes on him. In the night, his green eyes had turned as black as the sea. The darkness made them look soft, and he wondered what it would be like if they were that way in the daylight.  

"Sorry," Cal ducked his head away to the safety of the rum bottle. There wasn't much left. "You don't have to tell me that."

They sat in silence again, longer this time. A breeze picked up across the harbor, and though it was still as hot as breath, it stung of fresh salt. Cal gave Fenris the last drink.

"My first rule of survival is to always have an extra pair of socks," he offered eventually. 

"Oh? That is mine as well."

"Really?"

Fenris looked down at his bare feet, only ever wrapped in the traditional elven style, and stretched his toes. "I like knit stockings best."

Cal let his head fall back and he laughed until he wheezed. Fenris joined him with only a smile, laughter held in the lines around his eyes, but the stars seemed a little brighter to Cal then.  

[biscuits-of-bagend]

DnDoc #8 - The Present

Part 1 Part 7

The Doctor's lips curled inwards as he tried to stop himself laughing again. To be fair, Rogue did hear himself and how he sounded. It was the silliest list of complaints he'd ever heard and it was coming out of his own mouth. He watched his wildly gesticulating arms as if he was watching someone else, someone altogether more fun than he, someone he had been before his loss, someone he had very briefly been when he played at feuding lovers on the Chuldurs' dancefloor.

   "So that's my story," Rogue said with a sigh. "Eventually I tumbled into the right shed, and here I am."

   "I'm so glad you did," said the Doctor. As he reached over to take Rogue's hand again, Rogue noticed that he was still wearing the ring, the one he'd given him during their 'proposal scene.' The feeling of stroking that ring on someone's finger again was like putting a layer of tracing paper over an old memory, or like when the sonic superimposed his ship over the wasteland. Memories of his partner were far from a wasteland, but the Doctor was not simply empty tracing paper either.

   "Lemme just…" mumbled Ruby, reaching over and yoinking the water jug off the table. As she bowed out the door she said, "I'll bring more back, but like, in a bit… Okay see ya."

   Rogue let his eyes close once more as he laughed, his tired shoulders tensing and untensing. He stretched his arms as he opened his eyes and found that the Doctor was moving the end table out the way so he could shove the futon he'd been sitting on up next to Rogue's. Then he whirled around and lay down on it, hands behind his head.

   "Ah, Rogue," he said, turning his head to face him. "And now here we are indeed... I've been journalling about you, you know."

   "Journalling?"

   "Don't laugh."

   "I wasn't!" Rogue exclaimed, though he did laugh a little now at the look on the Doctor's face. "You just don't seem like someone who stops long enough to write much down. Keep living and all that."

   "Yeah, I might have been letting it slide a bit when we last met," said the Doctor. "But it's something I learned when I was, like, very definitely Rose's uncle. I went back to it a lot after I lost you."

   "You know, I'm still a little confused that you have a niece," said Rogue. "I thought you said you lost everyone."

   "Oh I lost Rose's mother for a long time. She couldn't remember me or she would die."

   "Starting to understand why you keep on moving."

   "Exactly. But then an old face came back, there was a Meep, it was a whole thing. I'm rebuilding," said the Doctor. He sidled right up next to Rogue and pressed against him side-to-side. The Doctor's right arm overlapped with Rogue's left, hands clasped firmly.

   "I didn't mean to undermine you or anything," Rogue whispered, turning his head to look in the Doctor's eyes. "I'm glad you got to see your friend again."

   "It's okay, I know it's confusing," the Doctor whispered back. "I think, for me, even if I do manage to find people again, loss is always there like a shadow, you know, especially because of what happened with my homeworld. Even if you get something back, you know so sharply that you could lose it again."

   Rogue nodded his head ever so slightly, scared to move too much in case he shattered the moment. "I know exactly what you mean. It means you've got to be ready to experience things while they're here - people, moments…"

   He tailed off as the Doctor started to kiss him. Blissfully, he'd regained enough strength to return it properly this time. He turned onto his side, putting his right arm around the Doctor to show that he was awake enough now. He was here, not in his own head, not in the dead forest or in 1813. Here, in the present, with the man he'd completed endless fetch-quests to find.

---

Thank you so much for reading! I've retroactively titled this story as a whole 'Coming Home' and I've really enjoyed writing about Rogue's adventures. I've already been writing an adventure for him and the Doctor and Ruby to go on together and I do have a lot of ideas, but if anyone has any requests for times and places they could visit let me know :) No pressure to keep reading of course, I'm just having a great time so am going to keep going for the moment.

Next stories: DnDoc, Space Band DnDoc, A Man's a Man

@off-traveling-in-the-stars @casavanse @monster-donut (let me know at any point if you no longer wish to be tagged in each post)

[englishstrawbie]

august 26th : homemade lemonade

Carina arrives home a little after eight o’clock, her body weary after back-to-back surgeries all day. The summer heatwave they are currently experiencing didn’t help. The hospital’s infrastructure is struggling in the hot temperatures and the vents had broken down at least three times today. Carina had escaped to her Porsche in between patients just to enjoy its air conditioning. Her feet ache, her legs are tired, and all she can think about is a cool shower and falling into bed – preferably naked, with her wife.

She is immediately greeted by the overwhelming smell of lemons when she steps into the apartment and, for a moment, she wonders if Maya has been on a cleaning spree. And then she sees her wife in the kitchen, rolling out and squeezing lemon juice into a small bowl – hears her too, as she sings along with the radio, a little off key as always. She doesn’t hear Carina or the click of the front door, so Carina lingers for a while, watching her.

Maya is relaxed and happy, and Carina feels her heart swell at how carefree she is, so different from the woman shrouded in darkness who shared their bed twelve months ago. So many times these days, Carina finds herself just watching her and soaking in her happiness.

As if sensing she is being watched, Maya looks over her shoulder and smiles when she sees her wife.

“Hey,” she says cheerfully. “How was your day?”

“Hmph. Long,” Carina says, kicking off her shoes and padding into the kitchen. “What are you up to?”

She greets Maya with a kiss, then leans back against the counter to watch her work. How her wife makes squeezing lemons look sexy, she will never know.

“Making lemonade,” Maya says. “I stopped by the grocery store on my way home from the station and they had all these lemons going cheap. This heat is insane and it reminded me of when I was a kid.”

She wipes her brow with the back of her hand.

“My dad went away for a few days on a work trip, so it was just me and Mason with Mom. We had a neighbour with a lemon tree who came over with a bag full of lemons, so Mom taught us how to make lemonade. We set up a little table on the sidewalk in front of our house and sold it for twenty cents a cup.”

Her eyes glaze over as she tells her story.

“Mom said we could spend the money we made on whatever we wanted. I chose an ice-cream sundae and Mason wanted a new comic. Mom took us to the cinema afterwards. It was a Disney movie, I think. She even let us have popcorn.”

“It must have been a good day to still remember it,” Carina says, picking up on her wistful mood.

“Yeah, it was,” Maya says. “We used to make lemonade every summer after that, until my dad started coaching me.” The smile drops from her face. “Then every holiday was spent training.”

“Maya…” Carina says softly, but Maya shakes her head.

“It’s okay. Diane says it’s important to remember the good parts, I just have to learn not to let it be tainted by the other stuff.”

“That’s good advice,” Carina says.

Maya exhales, a habit she has picked up on when she is letting go of what used to haunt her.

“Okay, I think that’s enough lemon juice,” she says, pouring what she has into a jug of water and adding a cup of sugar. “You know, my mom always swears by adding a little bit of honey too.”

Maya searches the cupboards until she finds the jar she is looking for. She adds a spoonful of honey and mixes it together. Meanwhile, Carina grabs two glasses and fills them with ice. Maya pours the homemade lemonade over the top and swirls it around, then passes one glass to Carina while keeping the second for herself.

“Cheers.”

“Cin cin.”

They clink glasses and each take a sip.

“Hmm, so good,” Carina says, sighing with delight at the sensation of the cold liquid down her throat. She nods towards the pile of lemons left over. “Maybe tomorrow I can show you how to make lemon gelato?”

Maya smiles. “I’d like that.”

Carina returns her smile as she slides her hand into Maya’s.

“Come on, bella, I need a shower to wash off this day.”

She starts to pull Maya towards the bedroom.

“And you need my help with that?”

Carina smiles over her shoulder. “Not a need – a want.”

august prompts

[baddog-nobiting]

goob morning beautiful ppl, my sleep schedule got fucked up and the sun is 🌞rising🌞 this for a fic trade with @himbo-ford-pines he wrote something amazing for me and then sent me a prompt that i got carried away with hahaha

twins were getting some extra boxing practice in at the school gym. Stan was earning some extra credit on the side as his gym teacher's assistant which afforded him not only a chance to bring up his- frankly abysmal- overall GPA, but also a set of keys that granted him access to the lockers and weights room after hours of which Stan happily took full advantage. He came around almost every day of the week staying after school to clean and train, getting extra coaching on weekdays and spent weekends toning his body and sparring with Ford.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The sound of gloved hands striking sandbags echoed rhythmically around the old empty weights room. Ford took another gulp of water from his big glass jug and wiped the sweat dripping down his temple with the back of his six fingered hand. His vision was blurry without his glasses but he was standing close enough to see the form of Stan's body striking the old sandbag in front of him, hard, each hit that landed was punctuated with a hot grunt of exertion and a puff of athletic chalk in the air. Stan was just finishing up his warm up before the two would spar.

Though no longer on the school team, Ford still trained a bit alongside Stan at the behest of his father, who wanted both boys toughened up, but only on the weekends when the building was empty. He would say it was to avoid the judgmental eyes of his peers, but mostly it was so he could have Stan to himself. Seeing other guys put their filthy fucking paws on his brother unlocked something wild and territorial within him. He couldn't stand the bruises and cuts left behind by other boys; it drove him crazy with the urge to mark his territory. So on weekends when he had Stan alone to himself he took out all his rage in the ring.

The two circled each other slowly, hands up in front of their faces, a perfectly mirrored pair. Ford eyed his twin wearily, never letting his guard down. As freshman in highschool the boys were just starting to bloom, While they were still very much identical, subtle differences between the two had started to emerge and it made Ford itch in a way he didn't understand, like the thickening definition of Stanley's arms or the newly sprouted trails of dark hair that had Ford's mind wandering to empty locker rooms and underneath sinfully short pants, tracing that dark trail to-

WHAM!

Stars burst behind Ford's eyes as pain exploded in his head.

"Wake up nerd!" Stan cackles, swiping at him again.

Ford shakes his head.

'Get it together man!' he thinks to himself. He barely dodges the next hit, hearing the rush of air fly past the spot his head had just been. He braces and takes a sharp jab to his abdomen. Stan's fists are heavy and even though he is holding back, it rattles Ford. He can't get a shot in so he backs up trying to get some space to catch his breath but Stan's eyes are twinkling like stars underneath his mop of brown hair and Ford can't seem to get enough air.

Stan is crowding him again, taunting him with fake outs and swift feetwork. Stanley is boasting with his body and that's when Ford strikes, bopping the smirk right off Stanley's smug face into an adorable pout.

Stan is adorable with his cheeks puffed out all red and sweaty from exertion and his furrowed brow and deep frown was so funny Ford couldn't help the wave of affection that overwhelmed him. Ford barks with laughter and crowds in on Stan, shoving his gloved hands against Stan's head, laughing as his brother struggled to fight him off. His heart is pounding, his breathing hard, They are a tangle of limbs and Ford is pressing his head against Stan's chest, trying to shove Stan against the ropes behind him, unable to get a grip on him because of the slickness of sweat soaked skin against leather gloves. They are both laughing and Ford's head is a little fuzzy from getting clocked earlier, not to mention the usual blurriness of not wearing his glasses, and his senses come to him in waves. He smells warm leather gloves and rubber soles squeaking against old wood, sweat and testosterone, musky and hot, cut through by a tingling freshness of green soap. He feels the rumble of Stan's throaty laughter vibrate through him, the feeling of their bodies slick with sweat slide smoothly against one another and they grapple each other like like river otters. It's hot and wet and Stan's body is firm underneath him and Ford wants to touch, wants to taste. He's hard and wanting and he can feel Stan is too.

He kisses Stan and pins him against the rope with his hips, a steady deep pressure keeping Stan bucking against him while Ford unbuckled his gloves freeing himself but keeping Stan restricted. He shoves Stan down so his legs can splay open, his back a right angle and his arms hanging from one of the ropes exposing the lush twin meadows of dark hair in the valley of Stan's armpits. He falls in between Stan's splayed legs and leans in to kiss Stan, who opened his mouth expectantly, only to- at the last second- swerve down, licking a long line up Stanley's armpit. Stanley shrieked and wrapped his legs tightly against Ford's butt, pulling their hips together with delicious pressure.

"What the fuck was that Sixer??" Stanley squealed.

"I'm sorry Lee," Ford replied, "you just smelled so tasty I needed to know if you tasted just as good."

Stanley flushed at the compliment and after a beat asked shyly, "So... am I tasty?"

Ford eyes his little brother who looked so unsure, his fingers tapping together at the tips, and grinned.

"Delicious."

Ford dives back down licking Stan's pits, practically making out with them. Everytime Stan tries to put an arm down Ford grabs his wrist and hoists it up like a sail continuing to kiss and lick and suck one after the other until Stanley is thrusting against him, a whimpering mess.

Finally he relents and lets Stanley's arms drop to his sides. Ford redirects his attention to Stan's perky little pink nipples, pinching and pulling them; watching then harden into pink gumdrops, reminding him of the sweet jelly beans he loves to eat.

He sits back for a second to take him and his brother out of each other's athletic shorts, their stiff dicks already sticky with precum and sweat and he grabs the both of them between his two hands, coating each other with their shared fluids and starts jerking them both off. His 12 fingers encase the both of them in his large warm embrace and he can hear Stanley crying from pleasure. He is close enough that when he opens his eyes (he doesnt remember closing them) he can see Stan, eyes bright and glistening with unshed tears, face red, mouth agape, his lips plump and glossy.

Ford has never seen anything so beautiful.

He dips down and captures Stan in a deep kiss and feels his brother explode in his hands, the pulsing heat as he is coated in his brother's seed.

Stan falls back against the ropes completely undone, breathing hard, eyes glassy and unfocused.

Ford stands up, his knees wobbly and coats his dick in his brother's cum, licking off the salty excess that remained, and presses his slicked up dick between the slit of Stan's srm pit and slowly fucks the makeshift pussy, The combination of slick skin and delicious rough friction of Stan's pit hair make Ford moan, his balls tighten ready to blow. He pulls out from his brother's warm cavern and pumps himself hard and fast, his cum exploding over Stan's face marking what is rightfully his, claiming his stake on Stan for anyone to see. But luckily no one does.

[theboywithburninghands]

Part 2 of my standalone Funnybunny piece. Less angsty, more fun, still pretty heavy. I love it. Hope you will too. T/W: Mentions of drugs and alcohol, self-hatred

“You’re going to be okay, right?”

Pomni looked up at Jax. The two of them hadn’t said a word to each other since leaving his room. Thunder boomed and churned. 

“Yeah,” was Jax’s paltry reply. Pomni swallowed, from nerves and from her enduring thirst. She couldn’t chew on her gloves due to one gripping Jax’s hand and the other the lighter. She chewed on her lower lip instead. 

“You… don’t have to stay for very long. I told you I’m dogwater at social stuff, so I won’t force you to do too much. Okay?” 

“Okay,” Jax replied.

Pomni felt frustration stir in her belly. One-word answers were the bane of her existence. For the life of her, she couldn’t tell what someone was feeling if they only said “yeah” or “nah” or “fine.” Was Jax angry with her? Tired? Ashamed? Some awkward fusion of all three? …Well. That would have to be put on hold. She released Jax’s hand, the rabbit tucking his hand back into his pocket, and opened the door to Ragatha’s bedroom. 

“ Pomni! And-And Jax, you’re back! Is everything okay?”

Ragatha hurried over to Pomni, stepping carefully over her blankets and pillows. She had evidently been trying to make a blanket fort in near-total darkness, without much success. 

“Yeah. We talked.” Pomni said. 

“More like screamed.” came a dry and annoyed voice. Zooble was resting on Ragatha’s empty bed. “We could hear you from all the way down the hall. I think the only thing louder than you was the storm.”

There was a faint burble of thunder. Apparently it agreed.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to scare you guys. I just…”

“Don’t worry, Pomni. You brought light with you.” 

Kinger ignited the wick of a long, white candle using the lighter in Pomni’s hand. He stared at the flame it created intently for a moment, before he stuck it on an old fashioned brass chamberstick, the kind with a finger loop you always saw people in silk pajamas use to look around their dark manor in old movies. He cupped the flame and brought it over to some of the candles that had fallen on the floor, setting the chamberstick down on Ragatha’s hutch so he could plate the other candles.

“You should thank Jax. He had a change of heart even before I yelled at him.” Pomni said with a nervous chuckle. 

Jax blew a raspberry through his lips and went over to help Kinger light the other candles. Pomni chewed on her glove. 

“Thank you for bringing the lighter back, Jax…” Gangle said softly. She clutched a stuffed zebra for security. “I-I don’t do so well in the dark…” 

“Whatever.” Jax replied without turning around. 

“I think that’s Jaxenese for ‘you’re welcome.’” Ragatha said with a smirk. 

“Say, why is this candle blue?” Kinger asked, holding up a squat, already lit powder-blue one in a glass jar. 

“Oh, that’s one of my scented ones. Blue citrus, it’s really nice. Leave it going for a bit.” Ragatha delicately took the candle and placed it on her table.

In time, the performers eventually had all the candles going, safely burning on sticks, sconces or small glass plates to keep any wax from dripping onto the floor. Kinger went and retrieved his camping stove, which thankfully had enough white gas left in it to get started. Ragatha filled her tea kettle with a gallon jug of drinking water she kept stowed away under her bed, setting it gingerly on the camping stove. She set about putting ginseng tea bags in her white china cups, handing them to everyone on saucers as a plume of steam began to issue from the kettle. The room smelled pleasantly of orange. 

“I know it’s a little cliché, but I love tea. Especially with my secret ingredient.” 

“Booze?” Zooble asked. Pomni couldn’t help but snort. Ragatha chuckled as well. 

“No, no. I don’t really have a name for it. At least not yet.” Ragatha went over to a small fridge that resembled a toy chest. 

“Shrooms? That’d be awesome.” Zooble sighed. Gangle stifled a giggle this time.

“Zooble, stop it.” Ragatha tisked with a hand on her hip. “You would not wanna do magic mushrooms in the middle of a blackout, trust me.”

“She’s right…” Gangle agreed. Zooble shot her a suspicious look just as Ragatha retrieved a small thermos from the fridge, shutting the door quickly to not let the cold out.

“Alright, everyone bring me your cups.” Ragatha said, taking the kettle off of Kinger’s stove with a pink and white checkered potholder. Thunder rumbled. 

Everyone gathered around Ragatha’s table as she poured hot water into their cups, the water turning deep amber as it mixed with the hot tea leaves. She bobbed the string in everyone’s cups to let out some additional flavor before discarding the hot wet bags and opening her thermos. She retrieved an elegantly patterned silver spoon from her tea set and stirred the contents of the thermos. After a moment she scooped out a heaping spoonful of what looked like purple clotted cream, dolloping it into her own cup and stirring until the tea was a pleasant, dull lavender color. She put a significantly smaller amount into every other cup, humming tunelessly. She smiled and held up her own cup after finishing. 

“Hope you enjoy! Drink it slow to savor the taste.” Ragatha gently blew away the steam drifting from her own cup and took a sip, sighing in contentment. 

Pomni blew on hers as well and sampled the tea. Whatever Ragatha’s secret ingredient was, it contained a lot of sugar and cream. It was almost like drinking a slice of birthday cake, but with a flutter of herbs she didn’t recognize. Not bad at all, but a little too rich to have more than one cup. 

“Mmm!~ This is so good!” Gangle cried. Zooble, on the other hand, spluttered.

 “Oh jeez…” they said in between coughs.

“Aw, you don’t like it?” Ragatha asked, smiling politely yet with a twinge of disappointment. 

“No it’s- it’s good it’s-” Zooble hacked and coughed. “I just wasn’t expecting like… A blast in the face from the sugar cannon. I- ahem, usually take my coffee black or my tea plain…”

“Oh man, that’s hardcore, Zooble.” Pomni said. “I at least need a little sugar in mine…”

“I’m with Pompom. It’s almost like plain coffee tastes bad.” Jax said. He sipped from his cup and looked down at it with a slightly crinkled face. “Yeah, this is like, crazy sweet though.” 

“Well you aren’t spraying it across the room, so I’ll take that as a win.” Ragatha replied, smiling proudly. 

Kinger finished his entire cup in a few gulps, holding it out to Ragatha. “More please.”

“Woah! Easy there, Kinger!” Ragatha held out a hand to slow him down. “I’m glad you like it but you’re gonna burn your throat. Plus this is ginseng, so it’ll give you energy.”  

“Oh, that actually makes a lot of sense. You stay peppy by consuming truckloads of caffeine.” Jax tapped his cup for reference. 

Ragatha giggled. “Caffeine does help. But counting your blessings and staying positive every day helps even more.” 

“Yyyyyyyeah, I’ll stick with the caffeine thanks.” Jax took a sip of his tea, squinting his eyes a bit at the sweetness. 

Pomni smiled. He was getting back to his old self. If he kept his humor to light-hearted ribbing, he was pleasant. Charming, even. She sipped her tea.

After everyone had finished, Gangle, Kinger and Ragatha going back for a second cup, Ragatha taught them the basics of making a blanket fort. While Pomni normally wouldn’t have been interested, not having any sort of caffeine or similar stimulant in months had caught up to her; her head was humming and she needed something to do. She listened to all of Ragatha’s instructions carefully, and went to get her blanket from her room along with the others. Kinger accompanied Gangle to her bedroom, the ribbon girl still paranoid about the dark even with a candle to light her way.

Jax proved himself useful at tying the blankets together. It seemed that in addition to making him a skilled lockpicker, his nimble fingers allowed him to make pretty complicated knots on his first or second try. He hardly required any instruction on how to tie them either. Maybe it was the ginseng helping him focus, Pomni wondered to herself. 

Soon, their fort was complete. It was a little on the cramped side, especially when it was filled up with pillows,  but all six of them could fit if they packed together like sardines. Pomni, cautious of having to squeeze up alongside people, opted for a seat at the end, Jax on her left and the fort’s exit on her right. She didn’t mind being close to Jax… 

“Well, this is great! I feel snug as a bug in here!” Ragatha declared. 

“It’s nice enough.” Zooble admitted. “Beats whatever stupid-@$$ thing Caine had planned.”

“When do you guys think he’s coming back? He’s not gonna be mad is he?” Pomni asked. 

“He doesn’t really get mad very much. He tries to keep the kid-friendly persona up all the time, so he can’t be too threatening, y’know?” Jax said. From how close they were sitting, Pomni could feel the vibrations of his voice on her left arm. 

“Besides, I think he’ll be proud we managed to have a little adventure together even with the electricity not working properly.” Ragatha added. 

“I just wish there was a way to bring light into our fort…” Gangle sighed. “I know it’s not safe to bring candles in here, but it’s so dark…”

Thunder sounded out from beyond the blankets, still quite loud but not nearly as frequent and quaking as before. 

“Hey, you know it’s funny you say that?” Jax said. He took a moment to reach into the pocket of his overalls and retrieve a small, tube-shaped item. There was a click and a cone of light shone from one end of the tube, causing everyone to squint.

“Jax, is that a flashlight..?” Ragatha asked, shielding her eye with one hand.

“You had a flashlight on you this whole time and didn’t tell us?!” Zooble groused. 

“Hey, I forgot I had it until I got back into my room. Why do you think I was so willing to give Jingles my lighter?” Jax tousled Pomni’s coxcomb hat, shaking the bells in it. “Besides, I was waiting for a moment like this-”

Jax held the lit end of the flashlight under his chin, turning his face into an eerie black and white silhouette with shaded eyes. 

“-to tell you guys a little story.”

Gangle let out the same sustained whine she did when the power first went out. 

“Jax, come on, no ghost stories.” Ragatha held out her hand in a “halt” motion. 

“Aw, whaaat?” Jax took the light off of his face. “You’re kidding, it’s an essential slumber party activity. Unless we were gonna sit around and talk about boys.”

“I’d rather we do that…” Gangle admitted, holding her stuffed zebra a little closer. 

“Real boys, Gangle. Not anime boys.” Jax drawled. “Come on, just one story. I promise I’ll go easy on you.” 

“I wouldn’t mind hearing it.” Kinger said.

“Sure, whatever.” Zooble grunted.

“Noooooo…” Gangle mewled, squeezing her zebra with all her strength.

Pomni smiled a bit. “Gangle, I think he really means it this time. You promise you won’t scare us too bad, Jax?” 

“Well I can’t promise-”

He paused for a second.

“Yeah, I promise.” 

“...Okay.” Gangle sighed. Ragatha reached a hand over to hold one of her ribbons, which she gladly accepted.

“Eeexcellent…” Jax held the light under his chin, giving a huge, jack-o-lantern grin. “Then let’s get started.”

The rabbit cleared his throat. 

“There once was a 10-year-old boy, we’ll call him Paul, that lived near a pretty big set of woods. It was meant to be cleared for more houses, but there was some sort of issue with zoning or maybe the HOA, you know how these things go. Paul’s house was right next to it, and since the city wasn’t doin’ anything with it, he decided to explore it. “Now Paul loved it out there. Even though it was only a wedge of land a little less than a mile long, he had the whole place mapped out. He knew where every fallen tree to balance on was, he knew where every gully was so he never fell into ‘em, he knew where all his favorite hidden clearings and funny looking bushes were. 

“But, like any 10-year-old, he would forget stuff out there sometimes. Nothin’ too bad at first, he’d forget a comic book out there, then find it again a few days later with spots of mold on it, or maybe he’d bring his lunchbox out there with some snacks and forget it, so his mom would have to wash it when he finally found it on a stump or something. “Now there was one Saturday, in April, where he went out in the morning to play. He had his jacket on since the mornings could still be a little bit chilly in the early spring. But, as the sun got higher in the sky, the day got warmer. So, he took his jacket off and hung it on a branch. 

“Not long after he did that though, his mom called him inside to do his weekend chores before he went over to a friend’s house, and he went running back home, leaving his jacket, forgotten, on the branch.”

There was a rumble of thunder, Jax’s smile only growing wider with a dark chuckle.

“So, he goes to his friend’s house, comes home, does his homework, plays some video games, and goes to bed. He’s got church tomorrow morning after all, he can’t stay up too late, and he’s tired. He had a busy day. So, he lays down in bed and falls asleep within minutes. 

“One o’clock in the morning. Paul wakes up and has to go to the bathroom. On his way back though, he hears a noise. He looks down the stairs to see that the front door is creaking open. No one locked their doors around here, it was a safe neighborhood. He figures it might be his parents back from some kind of get-together with their friends. But what comes inside…

“Oh, it isn’t his parents.” Jax let out another grim chuckle, Ragatha squeezing Gangle’s ribbon a little bit tighter.

“What shuffles into the house is a good eight feet tall with long, scarecrow-like limbs, covered in mud and leaves from the woods, piercing bright yellow eyes peering out from filthy, bug ridden hair. It tracks mud on the hardwood floor with every step it takes, leaving behind three toed footprints. It looks up the stairs, and it sees Paul! 

“Paul runs for his bedroom, but he can hear the creature snarl through a clotted throat and fall onto all fours, loping up the stairs far, FAR faster than Paul could run. Paul skids to a stop in front of his door, seeing the creature’s horrible eyes leering at him from the top of the stairs. He runs inside his room and tries to slam the door shut, but a hand tipped with three dirty talons catches the edge of the door before he can shut it. “It’s so much bigger and stronger than he is, and it throws the door open, slamming it hard against his bedroom wall. It has to stoop to fit into his bedroom, never once taking those awful, piercing eyes off of him. Paul falls onto the floor and covers his eyes, waiting for the teeth to clamp down on his head or those horrible claws to tear him limb from limb! “The creature reaches onto its back, pulling something off of its body. A weapon to stab him with or- “A jacket. The creature dropped Paul’s filthy jacket onto the bedroom floor with a wet flop.  

“‘Quit leavin’ your stuff on my property, stupid.’ it grunts, before turning and bowing out the door, down the steps and into the night.”

Everyone was quiet for a second before Ragatha started laughing. Gangle joined in, then Pomni did as well. Jax handed the flashlight over to Gangle and relaxed, putting his hands behind his head. 

“That was a good story, Jax! I liked it a lot better than the one about the babysitter.” Ragatha said. 

“Or the one about the dog…” Gangle said. She seemed to have surprised herself with how hard she had laughed, as she hiccuped soon after. 

“Hey now, this story has a moral,” Jax said from his reclining position. “What, respect nature? Don’t leave important stuff behind?” Zooble asked, barely interested. 

“Nah. Don’t be a ten-year-old.”  Again, there was a ripple of somewhat awkward laughter amongst the performers. They weren’t used to Jax making jokes that weren’t… cruel. Snarky as hell, sure, but these were… actually pretty funny. It was… nice to have him around. 

Pomni touched his leg. He opened one eye and glanced down at her glove, then back up at the jester. Even in the dim light, her blush was noticeable. “So what do we do now? Anyone got anything they want to talk about..?” Ragatha asked. “I dunno. I’d say we could nap, but I’m still a little wired from your tea. What else do you do at a slumber party?” Pomni scratched her cheek. “I could teach you guys how to make paper stars! Or maybe we could-”

There was a great swoosh of movement as the top blanket was yanked off of their fort. “HELLO EVERYONE! GLAD TO SEE YOU’RE DOING WELL!” Caine held the blanket in one hand and his cane in the other, hovering above the group and giving off his own light. Everyone jolted, Pomni pressing herself against Jax. Jax instinctively put a hand around her. “Well, we were …” Jax drawled. “What do you want, Caine?”

“The lights are still off… no luck fixing whatever needs fixing..?” Zooble asked. “Also, that’s my blanket.” 

“APOLOGIES, ZOOBLE! HERE YOU GO!” Caine hurled the blanket at Zooble like a cannonball, knocking them into their pillows with a shocked and incensed “OW.” 

“Caine, what’s-” Pomni noticed she was in Jax’s arms. “Uh… I um…” 

Jax looked down and smirked proudly. 

“EXCELLENT QUESTION POMNI! BUBBLE AND I HAVE BEEN HARD AT WORK TRYING TO FIX OUR LITTLE POWER ISSUE! ISN’T THAT RIGHT, BUBBLE?!”

Bubble emerged from within Caine’s hat, wearing a construction helmet and glowing. 

“We haven’t been able to fix anything!” he declared proudly.

Caine just about fell out of the air in shock, quickly righting himself. “Bubble! They’re not supposed to know that!” he whispered harshly. 

“Oh. I guess they do now huh?” Bubble replied. Caine swiftly popped him, his helmet falling out of the air and into Kinger’s lap.

“Ooh! A gift from the gods!” he declared, immediately putting it on. 

“You guys haven’t found the issue yet..? Is there anything we can do to help?” Ragatha asked.

“We? I ain’t helping.” Zooble declared. 

“I’m with Zoob. I’m pretty comfortable in this little tent. With my stuffed animal.” Jax said, patting Pomni on the arm. Pomni felt like she might explode.

“I APPRECIATE THE OFFER RAGATHA, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THE ISSUE IS FOR RINGMASTER AND RINGMASTER ASSOCIATED ASSOCIATES ONLY!” 

“Well… what is the issue then?” Gangle asked. 

“WELL YOU SEE-”

Caine then regurgitated an enormous dump of information, enough to fill up three pages front and back. But his voice was sped up so quickly that it all flew by in a matter of about 30 seconds. 

“-BUT THAT’S THE SHORT VERSION!” 

“So… it’s gonna take a while to fix, then.” Pomni said. She was admittedly a bit happy they wouldn’t be thrown into another adventure right then and there. She was comfortable right where she was… right there next to Jax, sharing his warmth. His fur was fine yet plush, incredibly soft like that of a microfiber blanket.

“How did it happen anyway? Were you messing with the weather again?” Zooble asked.

“I PLEAD THE FIFTH!”

“Caine, don’t take this the wrong way, but… you look… tired?” Ragatha asked. 

“HA! DON’T BE RIDICULOUS! I’M THE RINGMASTER! IT’S MY JOB TO KEEP YOU ALL ENTERTAINED FOR-”

There was a deafening clap of thunder that stopped Caine’s spiel in its tracks. He looked up at the ceiling and then hung his head.

“I’m very tired.”

Ragatha smiled and got to her feet, stepping out of the now roofless blanket fort and over to the camping stove sitting on her table. She got the stove started after a few attempts, refilling her tea-kettle. The others watched her, exchanging looks. 

“Whatcha doing there, Rags?” Jax inquired uneasily.

“Caine said he was tired, didn’t he? He could use a cup of tea.” Ragatha replied, putting the kettle onto the burner. 

“Can Caine even eat or drink..? I don’t know if-ACK!”

Pomni was bonked on the head by an object that  fell from above. As it rigidly fell to the mass of cushions with a polite plop, its form became clear in the beam of the flashlight. 

“Caine dropped his… uh, cane!” Gangle whispered, putting a ribbon to her mouth in surprise.

The six performers looked up at the ringmaster. He hovered in the same spot, head still bowed. A sound emitted from his teeth, a mixture of a Dial-up computer’s startup sound and faint snoring. 

“Oh my God, he’s out cold!” Zooble said incredulously. They stood and tapped one of Caine’s feet experimentally. Not even a twitch. A huge grin spread across Jax’s face. “Let’s put his hand in warm water!” He scrambled to his feet, only for Pomni to grab one of his ankles on his way out of the fort, causing him to fall onto the floor, one leg still stuck in the fort. “Let’s not.” she retorted flatly. “Man, you suck.” Jax said, putting his chin on his knuckles in petulant disappointment. 

“Guys, we should let him sleep,” Ragatha said, dropping a tea bag into one of her China cups. “I think if he gets the rest he needs, he’ll be able to fix all this. At least give him until his tea is ready.” The other performers obliged, some more reluctant than others. Jax climbed back into the tent beside Pomni. They chatted quietly for a few minutes, occasionally glancing up to check on Caine, who remained suspended in the air like an unused marionette. Ragatha soon approached with a cup of her purple tea on a saucer. 

“Anyone want to do the honors?” she asked, looking up at Caine with an amused smile. 

“I’m on it.” Jax said, picking up a pillow. He squinted one eye to help his aim and lobbed it at Caine. The cushion bounced off Caine’s teeth, landing back on the floor anticlimactically. 

A few seconds of silence and then Caine slowly raised his head as a start-up jingle played. He blinked rapidly and looked around. “GADZOOKS! HOW LONG WAS I OUT?!” he cried.

“Couple hours.” Jax replied. This earned him a whap with a pillow from Pomni. 

“He’s kidding, you were sleeping for about twenty minutes,” Ragatha said. “But you needed it. Do you feel any better?” Caine scratched where his chin might have been. “HMM, LET ME SEE…” 

He put his hands on his hips, staring off into nothing. His eyes gradually drifted in opposite directions. “Uh…” Pomni began. “YES! I FEEL MUCH BETTER! ALL I NEEDED WAS A GOOD HARD RESET! DON’T YOU WORRY, MY LITTLE SUPERSTARS, YOU CAN REST EASY KNOWING THAT I’LL HAVE THIS STORM ISSUE FIXED WITHIN THE HOUR!”

“That’s great! But, you know? It was a fun little adventure on its own, I think.” Ragatha said. “FANTASTIC NEWS! THAT JUST MEANS I’LL HAVE TO WORK EVEN HARDER TO SURPRISE YOU ALL WITH TOMORROW’S ADVENTURE, WON’T I?!” 

Everyone winced. 

“WELL, I BETTER GET BACK TO IT! SEE YOU ALL ON A SUNNIER DAY!” Caine declared, picking up his cane from the pillows and twirling it around with theatrical flourish. 

“Oh, did you want your tea first?” Ragatha held up the steaming cup for Caine to see. “GOSH RAGATHA, I ALMOST FORGOT! THANK YOU, DEAR!” Caine hovered down and took the teacup with his free hand, pinky out.

“Be careful, Caine, it’s a little-” Ragatha’s smile melted when she saw Caine chug the entire thing in one go, tossing the teacup over his shoulder, where it shattered on the floor with a tinkly smash. 

“...hot. A-Are you okay?” 

Steam issued from Caine’s mouth, his tongue significantly more raw and red. Tears pooled in his eyes. “THE PAIN ITH ALMOTHT EUPHORIC, RAGATHA!” he lisped, pointing at the ragdoll. He then disappeared in a loud pop of confetti, a distant howl of pain audible within a rumble of thunder. 

After cleaning up the bits of broken china, Ragatha put Zooble’s blanket back over top of their fort and climbed back inside. The performers spent the next hour or so chatting about this and that. About 20 minutes was devoted to an argument over whether milk or dark chocolate was superior, Kinger rattled off an encyclopedic list of the insects he had in his collection, and Jax introduced everyone to the concept of “The Game.” It was agreed Kinger had the best chance of winning The Game given his iffy memory. 

Pomni was in the middle of reciting Pi, and was on the forty-first digit (6) when the lights weakly flashed on, turned off, then bloomed to full brightness. 

“Yaaay! We’ve got power!” Ragatha cried joyfully. 

“Aw, too bad. I was curious about the rest of Pi.” Jax drawled. Pomni blushed and nudged him on the shoulder. 

The performers took a moment to help Ragatha snuff out all of her candles and put away all the sticks and dishes they were placed on. They carefully dismantled their fort, everyone holding their respective blanket and pillows. “Thanks for stopping by, you guys. I know I said it was a slumber party, but it’s only… uh…” Ragatha checked a pocket watch she had in her dress. “1:52 PM. So I guess it doesn’t technically doesn’t qualify…”

��Hey, don’t sweat it doll,” Zooble said. “I had a nice time. Doesn’t happen very often, you know?” 

“Mmm-hmm. I would have spent the whole day hiding in bed without you.” Gangle added. She still had Ragatha’s stuffed zebra under one ribbon, the doll said she could borrow it.

“You guys, come on…” Ragatha waved a hand, her cheeks pink. “It’s no big deal, really.” 

“Give yourself some credit, Ragatha. You did the most today.” Pomni insisted with a faint smile. 

Ragatha laughed off the compliments. Even if she was being humble, it was clear just how much the praise meant to her from her luminous blush. The performers parted ways, going to their rooms to make their beds and, for some, promptly lay back down in them. Pomni rubbed her eyes as she smoothed out her comforter. That ginseng was really carrying her, and now that the last of it had passed through her brain, she was left with the combined fatigue of too little sleep and emotional overexertion. A nap would really hit the spot right now, and the dim light from the leftover storm, now not much more than a drizzle and occasional thunder, was an open invitation for her to close her heavy eyelids. Only… there was one thing she needed to take care of first.

She swallowed, feeling a spark of anxiety in her belly, but decided to bite the bullet and go for it. She crossed the hallway to Jax’s room and knocked on his door. “Jax..?” she called, too quietly to be heard. Her anxiety had a nasty habit of forcing her voice into a mumble. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to try again, only for the door to open. Jax looked down at her and gave her a smile. “...Hey.” “Hi…” she replied with a timid little wave. “Can I come in..?” Jax moved aside to let the jester into his room. Through his window, she could see the sky was still covered in a patchy mix of white and gray clouds, puddles dotting the grounds just about everywhere. Jax closed the door and locked it. “...I’m sorry I yelled at you.” Pomni said. She put the thumb of one of her gloves in her teeth and chewed on it. “You were being an @$$, but I was out of line too.”

Jax went over to the window and looked outside. Pomni moved her teeth from her thumb to her pointer finger. “...I do still think that… You wouldn’t hate yourself as much if you weren’t-” 

“Spare me.” 

Pomni looked up. Jax was still smiling, but it wasn’t nearly as wide as before. “You’re right. You don’t have to hurt yourself coming up with a whole big speech.” Jax said, turning to look at Pomni. She averted eye contact, looking out the window instead. 

“...I won’t. But…” Pomni bit particularly hard on the tip of her glove. “You… really don’t remember?” 

Jax shook his head. “Nope. It just… exists. The feeling that I’m nothing. Worse than nothing-”

“Less than a person.” Pomni finished.  “Below zero.” 

“Yup.” Jax said. “No cure for something with no cause.” 

Jax felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso. Pomni rested her head against his side, looking out the window with him.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to make it hurt a little less.” 

Jax felt an ache in his throat. He put a hand on Pomni’s back. She didn’t flinch.

The two of them looked out the window like that for a while. Jax eventually led her over to his bed, helping her climb in and pulling the covers back.

“I figured you were tired too.” he said. 

“God, am I ever. I feel so heavy…” Pomni sighed.

Jax tossed the covers over her. He scooted up beside her on the bed, and she immediately slid up beside him, resting her cheek on his chest. His denim overalls were warm. “I had a good time with you today…” Pomni said. “Can… Can I kiss you?”

Jax was quiet for a moment. He looked down at the jester. She met his eyes. He leaned down and their lips met. It wasn’t a long kiss, or even a very good one. Pomni was off-center by a few centimeters and ended up kissing his bottom lip only, and the awkward angle made it so Jax had to crane his neck to get any reach at all. And yet, the electricity between their lips easily dwarfed any thunderstorm.

[meracydia-miqo]

FFXIVWrite 2024 - Day 28: Deleterious

pre-heavensward; spoilers for end of arr

———

Q’lhani sat outside, hugging her knees to her chest as she stared blankly into the snow. A few flakes landed on her bare skin, freezing to the touch, but she ignored it. If she were to become encased in ice much like that of Shiva, she wasn’t convinced she’d be missing out on much.

It was inevitable that the very city who’d once pretended to welcome her and celebrate her would turn on her as soon as she’s not doing exactly as she’s told. Forcing her to escape through the sewers, watch as everyone else who’d once welcomed her up and abandoned her down there, to ‘escape’ and ‘stay alive.’

The scions probably just wanted nothing to do with her. Like everybody else. So what would it matter if she froze to ice in the mountains of Coerthas?

She heard a small mheeeh as a karakul came over to her, soon followed by another. Its thin tail twitched as it looked at her, before turning around and running off somewhere. Not even the karakul like me, she thought bitterly.

But the first one remained. As if unconcerned, it walked up to her, reaching to try and grab a tiny, frost-bitten stem that clung to the rock, munching away at it.

Q’lhani only watched. Its soot black wool was close enough she could touch it, feel its warmth in the endless Coerthan winter, but such a thing was beyond anything she would deserve.

A few moments later, it turned around, satisfied, stepping around her as if looking for another shoot to snack on.

“There you are, my friend!”

The karakul looked up at the loud voice and quickly fled, prompting Q’lhani to glance up to see Haurchefant approaching, waving his hand from a few yalms down the slope. Q’lhani bit her lip to hold back an instinctive smile, quickly turning her head.

“You’ll catch cold if you stay out here too long! Pray, come back inside. I will have a warm jug of hot cocoa prepared for you post-haste.”

Why do you even care..? He was always like this. They barely even knew each other, but he was so insistent on helping, she didn’t know how to take it.

When Q’lhani neglected to do as much as lift her head, still staring off into the distance, trying to find where the karakul had ran off to, she heard the crunch of snow as Haurchefant approached. Without a word, he crouched down to sit beside her, and she only shrunk further into herself.

“Were you making friends with the karakuls? Delightful creatures, they are. I am always quite pleased to see them, prancing about outside Camp Dragonhead.”

Q’lhani looked at him out of the corner of her eye, but only frowned. “Why are you here?”

Haurchefant’s eyes widened. “To look for you, of course! What sort of person would I be if I left my friend out here alone to freeze in the cold?”

Everybody else did, she thought to herself. Why should he be any different? Her family didn’t care about her. Her captors had been even worse. All of Ul’dah, which previously celebrated her achievements and invited her to fancy gatherings had gone up in arms and framed her for murder. The scions had all left her behind. Nobody cared about her, so why should she care about herself?

“But why, though. Why do you care?” She asked, but then shivered, as a frigid breeze swept through the valley, bringing a new flurry of snowflakes to land on her. She clenched her eyes shut, hugging her legs closer to her body.

“You’re shivering! Come, let’s get you inside.” Haurchefant put a hand on her shoulder, trying to gently coax her back up to her feet. Q’lhani resisted, for a moment, trying to squirm away back into the snow that sought to envelop her. She leaned to one side, but it only prompted Haurchefant to reach around to catch her in his other arm. She frowned, and finding no other way to escape short of active harm, reluctantly climbed to her feet.

As if afraid of her escaping, or perhaps just to keep her warm from the cold, Haurchefant hugged her flush against the side of his body, one arm wrapped snuggly around her. Q’lhani suddenly felt tiny, pressed up against his much taller frame.

She could only stare at her feet as he slowly guided her back to the intercessory. She couldn’t bring herself to look up. Didn’t want to see the faces of people as they watched her being brought back like some cold, lost child.

Even if it was true.

Q’lhani silently thanked the Twelve, if any of them even cared, that nobody else was there when they made it back to the room. She didn’t say anything as Haurchefant pulled out a chair for her to sit in, and she felt even more like a child. Maybe it would convince him not to care, if she kept up this way. That she’s clearly not worth the time; find some other person to go solve your problems and leave her alone.

But Haurchefant stopped at nothing. She still didn’t say anything when he drooped a warm blanket around her, rubbing her arms gently from over the soft blanket, trying to warm her up. She only stared when he presented her with a boiling mug of the sweet, warm liquid he seemed to so love.

None of it made any sense to her. Even when she was with the scions, she hadn’t had this. It had always felt that little bit distant, professional, like work and not like the family some of them wanted it to be. It didn’t feel real. Shouldn’t be real. And yet Haurchefant wouldn’t even leave her side.

Why do you care so much..?

Q’lhani was afraid she would cry.

[bramble-mouse]

Can you tell me a little bit about each oc you have? (A little bit is up to you)

-🐭

Yeah, sure! Frio and Trish, I think, are probably my most documented OCs since I've got some chapters on them out via 'The Faery Doctor'. Basically, a pair of cinnamon rolls put together that will make your teeth hurt cos they are so SWEET. They often bond over a mutual love of botany, baking and knitting. 6 Revna of the Deep Woods is a horrible little witch in a pact with a mysterious, horrible eldritch entity and she lives in the woods. She's...she's very wierd. But like, kind of fun to talk to? I love Revna. She loves bones and collects them. She also has a crow familiar named Craw. She has no memory of her life before the woods, with all of it having seemingly been wiped clean. Revna has a beautiful singing voice, no social graces and has been known to start dancing if she's bored with what you're saying. Or maybe it's just to stim? There's no understanding much about Revna. Revna is essentially asexual. Aine needs more written pieces posted about her because I love her very much. She's everyone's surrogate mom, a storm giantess and basically that really cool university prof that basically just makes pizza day your final rather than giving you an arbitrary exam. She's a bit of a hectic bachelor type and her office is a complete mess of papers and books. Aine has insatiable curiosity, zero regard for the xenophobic policies of her people towards sharing storm giant magical techniques with outsiders and loves galivanting incognito on the surface via an enchanted ring that makes her not so giant (she still is like seven frickin feet tall in her 'small' form). She loves to take on new students and has a soft spot for underdogs and misunderstood folk. Eoin and Eden are my arch demon twins. Eoin is prudish, serious and uptight while Eden is kind of a big goof ball despite playing the 'sexy, dommy mommy' exterior for her summoners/contracters so she can eat their souls. In reality, Eden is the type to lay around in her PJs all day, drink milk straight out of the jug and snort when she laughs. She's honestly pretty friendly and chill if she isn't hunting you for food. Eoin kind of just wants to be left to his own devices and tends not to eat enough. Eden gets on his ass about this a lot since she worries about her brother. Hell's not exactly a friendly place if someone is vulnerable, especially as an archdemon. She winds up scaring off other demons looking to mess with him when Eoin's weaker. They are both collaborating on an alternate food source to doing the do since Eoin's functionally sex-repulsed. So far, Revna's wierd energy has been one of the better options? They have an arrangement where Revna summons him, they chill for a while and he basically just feeds off her ambient energy until she needs to take a nap. Eden things Revna's rad af and she gets Eoin out of the house and fed so like...that's a big win in her books.

These are my main guys, but I might do a follow up with some of my others later! :D Thanks for the ask.