#can't really tag this with black and white since it's green i suppose...

[yourneighbortoasty]

an augmented woman stays behind on earth for custodial purposes after the planet is made uninhabitable for most humans. technically, this is incomplete because I didn't have the energy to depict that.

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[bingbongsupremacy]

Pt. 2

Pairing: Father! Eddie Munson x reader

Warnings: I have never been on a tour bus. I've done a bit of research so I have an idea of what they look like. The bus portions might not be completely accurate, especially since they're supposed to be from the 1980-90's. Sorry if it's not 100% accurate. Also swearing.

Series Summary: Years ago you and Eddie used to be friends. After you graduated, you two fell out of contact. After years of not speaking to each other, Eddie offers you a job you can't resist; be a nanny for his little girl.

Part Summary: It's time to start your new job; nannying for the child of a rock star.

*Not Proof Read*

Tag List: @maskofmirrors @saucypeanuttt @hugdealer

Pt.1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3

******

Was this a good idea?

I stare up at the large bus looming over me. It casts a shadow over my body, leaving me feeling cold.

Can I handle this? I've never been away from Hawkins for longer than a few months. What if something goes wrong? What if I get fired?

" You can come in, ya know. " Eddie's voice startles me.

I look over at the previously empty door frame. Eddie's chest and head peek past the shiny black door frame. His style hasn't changed a bit. Still the same old Eddie.

Or is it?

" I promise we don't bite. " Eddie's voice is playful. It's comforting. Familiar.

" I hope. I'm really not interested in getting rabies anytime soon. " I joke back, trying to shake off the uneasiness. Eddie wouldn't hurt me. Not with his kid on board. Plus, I grew up with the other guys. They might look scary but I could beat their asses if it really came down to it.

Eddie's laugh is exactly the same. Warm and smooth, something that's so easy to listen to and get lost in. Something you want to hear over and over again.

Eddie moves out of the way so I can get onto the bus. " I was worried you got lost. Sorry I couldn't pick you up today. Rose decided it was the perfect day to get get marker on every possible portion of her skin. "

I let out a small laugh at the sight of Eddie's slightly frustrated sigh. " Oh no. "

He cracks a small smile. " Don't worry, I was able to get it all off. She's slightly less green now. I hope it wasn't too stressful getting here. "

As he talks Eddie leads me towards the back of the bus.

This place if fucking huge. I mean, they are global rockstars. Why wouldn't it be?

I had no idea a bus could hold this much stuff. It's basically a mini apartment. Everything looks brand new. The leather couches are glossy and luxurious, something I definitely couldn't afford on my own.

" It wasn't that bad. It's kinda hard to miss a huge bus in the middle of Hawkins. I mean, we don't get much action down here. But you know that, duh. You lived. " I don't know why I feel so awkward. So nervous. It's the new environment, it has to be. I'll get used to it.

We pass a few rows of what I assume are bunks. Clothes are scattered along the floor and partially hanging out of a few of the bunks. This is definitely where Gareth, Doug and Jeff sleep.

" This is the boy's area. " My suspicions confirmed. " Fuck. " Eddie mutters, nearly tripping over a hidden pile of magazines. " I told them to clean this shit up earlier. Obviously they don't listen. " Eddie reaches down and snags one of the partially open magazines off of the ground.

A nearly naked woman holding an open notebook to cover her chest stares back up at him.

" I'm gonna have to talk to him about this. Jeff can't just have this shit lying around in the open when Rosie's on the bus. " Eddie chucks the magazine into one of the bunks, shaking his head in disapproval.

We finally get to the last section of the bus, a separated room. " I just wanted to let you know about a few of the rules I have for Rosie. " He pulls a small slip of paper out of his black ripped jeans. " I didn't know if I should make a list. I've never really had a nanny before. I figured it's better safe than sorry. " His eyes scan over the ripped white sheet in his hands. The back has streaks of green and blue, something I'm guessing is curtesy of Rose.

" I really want to try to get her to bed at 8. 8:30 at most. I've been a bit lax about it the past few days since we're trying to adjust to the whole tour bus thing, but I read that structure's like really important for a kid so I'm trying to do that. As much as I can I mean. It's a little difficult on tour. " He lets out a small tired laugh. The past few days have definitely taken a toll on him.

" I get that. I'll do my best to get her to bed on time. " I reassure him, hoping to take some of the stress off of his plate.

" Thanks. " His eyes meet mine. " That'd really help me out a ton. I'm trying to keep cursing away from Rose. So please no curse words around her. "

" Oh my, Gareth, Doug, and Jeff not swearing? That's a first for sure. " I say in slight disbelief. I never thought I'd see the day.

Eddie chuckles. " It's a struggle. They slip up sometimes. I do too. It's hard not to, but I really don't want Rose to end up being that kid who curses in every sentence in class. At least not until high school. " Eddie hands the small slip of paper to me. " She's not allowed to have any photos taken of her. I understand that's going to be hard with the fuck-sorry, freaking paparazzi, but just maybe try to cover her face or something if they manage to find us or see her. People know what she looks like so if something does manage to get taken, I'm not going to flip out. I just don't feel comfortable with her face being everywhere on anything. "

I nod. " I completely understand. I wouldn't want my kid's pictures out there like that. I'll do what I can. "

" Thanks. Alright, I think that's really it right now. If something comes up I'll let you know. " Eddie opens the door and immediately a small head pokes out from one of the curtains blocking what I'm guessing are the beds. " This is the bunk room where everyone sleeps.

" You! " Rose squeaks, pointing a small finger at me. She jumps out of the bottom bunk she's on before launching herself in our direction. The small bunny from before is still tightly clutched under her arm, this time it's got a plastic pink necklace around it's neck and a bright purple bow squishing the two ears together. " Hi. " She grins up at me.

Faded green lines cover the tops of her hands. She's dressed in a small princess-like outfit, a stark contrast in color to the mostly dark bus.

Like her, her bunk is covered by a princess themed curtain, the only curtain that's a color other than black.

I smile down at the small girl. " Hey, Rose. How are you today? " I ask, bending slightly to meet her eye level.

" Good! I-I have a tea party wif- wif daddy and den we ated cookies! " She exclaims. " Daddy leted (Let) me play wif his gui-guigar (guitar) today too! "

Eddie chuckles, ruffling the wild curls of the little girl. " It's guitar, baby. "

" That's what I said! " She sasses, her face crinkling into an annoyed pout.

Eddie rolls his eyes. " This child. "

" I wonder where she gets that from. " I tease the man.

He places a hand on his heart. " Well, I have no idea. Couldn't be me. It hurt you'd assume I'm the dramatic one. " He pouts dramatically. His pout is nearly identical to the mini him standing inches away from us.

There's no way in hell someone could think they're not related. From the attitude to the hair, the genetics stand strong.

" This is your bunk. It's right above Rosie's. Your shelves are right here. " He pulls out three shelves on the right side of the bunks. " And this is your closet. " He gestures to the taller portion up top. " I'm right across from Rosie and usually the bunk up top is used for storage unless we have an extra guest or something. " Eddie leans back against his bunk. " It's a little tight in here but it's only temporary. We'll be outta here in a day or so and on our way to Texas. "

I pull open the curtain that hides my bed. A small fully made bed sits on the other side. A portable lamp sits neatly tucked in the top corner by a fluffed-out pillow. It's tight but there's still enough room to move around a bit. " Are we flying? " I ask curiously. I assumed that at some point or another, we'd be flying. That's something that's made me a bit anxious. I've never been on a plane before.

" Yeah-Whoa! " Eddie lets out a surprised gasp.

Rose giggles as she clings to her father's tattoo-covered arms. He's upgraded from the small stick n pokes to a few larger pieces. " Daddy I jumpted good. "

Eddie pulls Rose up to his chest, tightly hugging her while playfully swinging her around. " Yah you did kiddo. " He says with amusement in his tone. His gaze returns back to me. " I bought you tickets for all of the flights and rooms at the hotels we're staying at so everything is covered. "

" Thank you. " I smile at the guy.

He's changed. He seems...calmer. Less reckless than the kid I knew years ago. Having Rose' has probably changed that. He's mature now.

" Of course, you're doing me a huge favor. " He gently sets his kid back onto the ground. " By the way, if you need anything, please let me know. I can get it for you. Or let our assistant Gina know. She's got one of my cards too. "

" I feel like I'm getting more out of this than you are. " I say softly. " You're giving me so much. I feel bad for taking all of your money. "

Eddie shakes his head, his curles flying out. " You don't need to feel bad for anything. I promise. You're gonna help me out so much. I was stressing so bad trying to find someone to help with Rose. I was so worried I wouldn't find someone in time. I'm just giving you the resources to help you guys live comfortably. And you're not spending all of my money. I promise you. I wouldn't be doing all of this if I couldn't afford to. " Eddie says honestly.

" Thanks Ed. " I send him a small smile.

A part of me still feels a little bad but the other part is so excited. I've never done anything like this before. I can't wait to see what happens.

" The guys will be back from the gas station anytime soon and then we'll hit the road. It's probably best if you get all of your stuff put away so you're not flying around back here when we take off. " Eddie reaches into Rose' bunk where she's retreated back into. She lets out a loud squeal as she's pulled into the light by her father, her hands gripping tightly onto two small dolls.

" Daddy! "

Eddie chuckles at her frustrated shout. " I'm going to take this one on a walk to get her jitters out so she doesn't destroy the bus while we're on the road. " Eddie tickles Rose' tummy. " Isn't that right, baby? You're full of energy, aren't ya? Aren't ya? " His voice switches into a baby voice as he pulls his face close to his daughters.

She lets out a loud belly laugh. " No! Daddy Stop! " She shouts in between giggles.

Eddie sets Rose on his hip, careful not to bump her into anything. " We'll be back. " He says before leading her back to the enterence of the bus.

I watch as they walk away, a smile on my face.

This is going to be interesting.

[toastingpencils37]

Just a collection of various Ninjargon translations from DR S1E1 so I can keep them all in one place.

Also, just a warning, some of the shots on this post have pretty bad quality so that you can't see what's on the signs, but I'm using a different screen for the actual translations that I can't really just screenshot.

The wall painting right below the garage thing:

Fresh Fo-

I'm assuming the "Fo-" part is supposed to have a "od" after it, spelling out Food, given the Fresh.

And then the banner thing to the right of Sora:

J4- PK-

Less likely real words, given the letter placement and the numbers. So probably either some sort of store advertisement/sign or just some random tag sign of some graffiti artist.

(Had to get two shots of these signs in order to be able to translate everything in the second shot)

The Green sign with the Dragon on the building:

Dragon House

The orange sign with the bowl right next to it:

Fresh

Again, likely food. Especially since right below it there's a menu

The menu below the orange sign:

Specials Fish.......Fcs Soup.........vfd Chicken........Yjr Noodles........Fcs

There may be some mistranslations with some of the red letters on the menu, as they were hard to figure out.

The string banner below the Specials menu:

68392047

Yeah I have no idea what that means. Because I don't think it's a set number of sorts because a) too long for a regular set and b) i don't think there was a polybag thing for this either, even like a LEGO City one.

Also, this menu and string banner appear at least four more times in the episode, with the string banner sometimes being blue rather than red.

For this shot I'm actually just going to translate the neon pink sign, because I can't get enough focus on the smaller things such as the papers taped up to tell what I'm looking at.

Also the cut off large blue "S" in the planter is part of a much larger sign that appears earlier, spelling "Crossroads"

Neon pink sign:

Forward

Only translating the white paper in this shot, which have some pretty bad handwriting (and i'm pretty sure a couple of the letters might be actual English or just nonexistent Ninjargon letters as well)

White paper:

**a*** am*fg mf** a*** fhl 5****

I was going to translate the blue paper as well, but one close look at it, I decided it's not worth it and that I don't have enough brain power for this shit.

The Specials chalkboard and the blue string banner right next to the green fish sign says exactly the same thing as the previous Specials sign and string banner, so I'm not translating that.

Purple vertical lamppost sign with an arrow pointed to the right:

Somewhere

Thank you street sign that really cleared things up /s

The blue sign:

2828

Probably supposed to be an address sign, but like many of the signs around the Crossroads, it pops up multiple times on different buildings. So who truly knows.

The box shown between Arin and Sora:

It appears to be flipped upside down, so if flipped the right way, it should spell:

Kgbdy

Also translating the poster because it surprisingly has some interesting stuff:

Mechmaster Mechma Reward Track Pie

The second line is cut off on the poster design itself, so that "Mechma" is the whole thing it says. Also not sure if the pie is something actually involved as a reward for winning the race, or if the people on the actual Ninjago team making the poster just decided to put it on for another reason, possibly even foreshadowing of what'll happen in the next scene.

Sign of cat:

Deals

This sign also pops up quite a bit in this episode.

The orange sign right behind Sora:

Sale

I noticed it appear once more towards the end of the race as well.

Sora's Mech:

SA-Mark

Orange sign above Frohicky:

Mec- Mast-

Obviously it's supposed to spell out "Mech Master" but it's cut off

Yellow letters below the black screen above Frohicky:

Register

The front of the mech:

Fast

The arm:

So

There's also a brown mech shown earlier that appears to have this also written on it, but another mech in front of it cuts it off so you can only see the "Fa" and the dash part of the "S"

Kreel's Mech:

Speed

The blue, black, and yellow graffiti:

Htja

The orange/brown shop sign to the left of Riyu:

It's the same as the one behind Sora, but now we can see that below the "Sale", there is also some Ninjargon.

So the full translation is:

Sale 98

Then the yellow sign with the red dragon to the right of Riyu:

Great deals

The graffiti with the fish:

Pux4

Of the graffiti, this tag makes the most sense word wise.

This same graffiti also popped up earlier on the race track, but I couldn't make out some of the letters there, so I put this one with the more clear letters instead.

Also, I think the "x" is an "x". Only letter that really seems to fit that shape.

Graffiti with shuriken star:

Dfg

Graffiti with hamburger:

Tddhfj

However it appears to be mirrored so it should actually spell:

Jfhddt

And then the little piece of graffiti in the bottom left corner:

....cy

Which is all we see of the graffiti there.

So, that's it for translating stuff from episode 1. And yeah, for quite a bit of the stuff, it's just gibberish.

[auxiliarydetective]

no analysis for Sonoko’s outfit? (what are the sword names btw?)

Oooooh you got me. I'm actually glad that people enjoy my outfit analyses, even to the point where they're asking for them. Really warms my heart <3

SO: Sonoko outfit analysis. Also gonna describe parts you can't see because other stuff is in the way.

First of all, her hair is dyed. I don't think you can really see it but her eyebrows are brown, so that's kinda supposed to be a hint that her hair isn't naturally green.

She also has a lot more scars than you can see in the picture. Let me actually give you a full view of her body, hang on...

Almost all of those scars she got in fights, whether that be training or serious fights. The scars you can see beneath her collar are claw marks.

For her clothes, I originally wanted to give her a Justice Coat to show her Marine officer status, but then I realized that the coat would just get in the way, so I decided against it. Instead, I put the epaulettes of her coat directly onto her shirt. That means she has more mobility too - practical for fighting. As for the color of the epaulettes, I spent what felt like hours looking at the coats of different Marines to figure out if there was any rhyme or reason to the colors of their epaulettes. You would think that they would correspond to rank in some way. But they don't so...

Generally, in its color scheme, I wanted Sonoko's outfit to resemble Zoro's main outfit from the animanga, so we have a white shirt and black pants and boots. If you make the shirt an actual dress shirt, that even fits into the Marine uniform scheme, so that's a big plus!

The belt is made of leather and has a section going down at the left side to hold her swords.

The blue sword is named "Komugi no Ha", which translates to "wheat blade". Y'know, like a blade of grass. You can see the wheat motive on the bottom part of the sheath. This is the sword she has carried since leaving Shimotsuki Village and she has a similar attachment to it as Zoro has to the Wado Ichimonji - though her attachment to the Komugi no Ha isn't nearly as strong.

The other sword is named "Koi no Oyogi", which means "swimming koi". I took inspiration from koi colorings and patterns for this sword and gave the blade a wave pattern to match.

Finally, you might be able to tell that, in comparison to her black pants, her boots look kind of worn-out and grey instead of being a pristine black. This will become significant later in her story...

Thanks for asking!

I expect you to be back for the next few posts if you like these rambles :)

Taglist: @starcrossedjedis @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene @bravelittleflower @box-of-bats - let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!

Also tagging: @supermarine-silvally

[d0enti]

HxH—“True love stories never have endings.”

➵Summary:Aladdin Leorio x reader

➵Warning:mention of stealing and death

➵A/N:An Aladdin au, the idea isn't mine it was a request sended through private message, just incase I won't tag the person if they reveal themselves then they will, anyway enjoy

You and Leorio have known each other since forever, whenever someone asked you for your best childhood memory Leorio was always there, even though you both were poor you always tried to learn money fairly you didn't want to steal anything and sell it for money it was cruel in your opinion, and Leorio hated the idea too especially since the reason you both were really close is because his mother died of a sickness and his father lost everything when a thief broke in, and eventually for that reason he and his father went bankrupt and your parents took them in, with that said you always tried to make Leorio happy playing with him or giving him some education you were aware of for example in medicine or stuff like that, which was very helpful especially since getting injured in Agrabah wasn't that hard and knowing how to bandage injuries was a very important knowledge especially around an area where theft is popular, but even then you family eventually suffered through theft and became street rates but even then Leorio and his father didn't leave you and your family to rot and tried to help, both you and Leorio started walking around offering knowledge to people so you can get some money at least for some fruits.

Eventually for mysterious reasons you and Leorio were separated, nobody knows why or when but both Leorio and his father suddenly disappeared, and you would be a liar if you said you're not disappointed, but if something happened and they had to leave you couldn't be mad really

୨⎯ "Years later" ⎯୧

You were officially an adult and because of that you started working, as an assistant to a food seller he paid you decently,but in reality the only reason you agreed to that job was because you wanted to open a public library so everyone could learn and get a bigger knowledge, you even offered some kids to help them learn some stuff, but during a random day you learned that some prince was coming to Agrabah, you weren't that surprised I mean you heard that the princess is looking for a suttor or more of her father is, so a prince coming to Agrabah wasn't a huge surprise for you, while working you heard that the prince was Amir, you honestly were curious why people were talking about him so much and not about others?

"Excuse me, but I heard you talking about prince Amir and I wanted to know more about him and why are people talking about him?"

"oh you didn't hear?"

"hear what?"

"Prince Amir supposing isn't here for the princess but for a normal citizen"

"is that so? But why?"

"it's only a rumor but someone said that he heard that someone wants to open a public library"

"and what's with that?"

"nobody really knows, and nobody knows that person too"

"ah I see well thanks for answering goodbye"

How the heck does that prince know about that?! Nobody knows about it except you and your parents! Leorio didn't even know, now that you think about it what happened to Leorio makes you worry it's been a few years,there's no way that he is...dead is there? No he can't be you sure of it!

You were about to walk away before you heard a boyish boy voice screaming you turned around and were surprised by a parade, on it you saw two boys wearing outfits you think a genie would wear if it was real, one had black hair with green tips and hazel brown eyes he has his hair down and his outfit colour theme was green,gold and black as for the other one he had white spiky hair and blue eyes he had a similar outfit to the first except his outfit colour scheme was blue,sliver and white, the more you looked at them you sure there are around 12-14 who hired little kids?

Before you could question it every more the black haired boy spoke

"Hello people of Agrabah, today me and my co-worker would like to introduce you to the one and only magnificent prince Amir!"

You were planning to leave not wanting to get yourself into that parade stuff, but before you turn around you saw a guy around your age who was wearing a white prince like attire and was wearing a turban on his head with purple gems on it and genuinely had a purple-white theme, was that prince Amir? Honestly he looked idiotic but then again who are you to speak? Your job will start soon so it's better you leave before your boss fires you, honestly you boss is an asshole with half of the things you do but what can you do life isn't that easy honestly it's shitty.

Well that doesn't matter, you should start heading back to work if you won't your goal will go even further away than it already is,when you finally arrived it only was a few hours before you saw the prince again with his little helpers, the green one looked happy and exited while the other one looked like he didn't want to be there which you honestly understood working for spoiled people might not be the greatest, you only worked with one and that was the king honestly you wouldn't be surprised if his daughter wanted him dead, then the green boy came running towards you with the other one trying to stop him

"excuse me, how much do those fruits cost?"

"hm? Oh they cost 5$"

"only 5$? Well then I would like to get 4 of those"

"alright that be 20$"

The boy paid you with the correct amount and took the fruits before giving one to you

"huh? Why are you giving one to me?"

" you look hungry so I want you to eat something, plus it's so warm out you probably thirsty too"

"ah it's not that big of a de-"

"Killua go get them some water"

"yes you highness"

"heh?! There's no need, yes I'm thirsty and all that but you don't need to spend your money on me"

"it's fine really, plus working while being thirsty isn't a good idea"

"true, I guess"

"ah by the way, by any chance do you know someone who wants to open a public library here?"

"a public library...uh no I don't"

"are you sure you seem sweaty?"

"it's very hot out, that's why"

"you sure? I'm not th-"

"I'm back with the water"

"ah that's great, here drink some"

"thank you truly, actually a question why are you looking for that person?"

"that would be because our princely is interested in them"

"Killua shut it"

"am I wrong?"

"not really, it's just I'm looking for someone else and I'm sure they are the same person"

"hm? And who would that person be? Maybe I know them"

"uh well"

"by any chance do you know someone by the name of [Y/N] [L/N]?"

"hm? Is that the person you are looking for?"

"no just a name I heard somewhere, and I want to see how this person looks"

"ah well that would be me"

Without your knowledge the so-called prince Amir blushed a little, looking at the beauty before him that being you, honestly he felt bad knowing he's lying to you about his identity he's quite literally committing a crime something you hated back then, and probably still do but Leorio didn't want to disappoint you especially since he's about to commit another crime for you

Before he could say something Gon signed Killua to start moving,and Gon waved you goodbye, well those 3 were odd...and that's exactly why you think royalty is stupid...most of the time at least when you meet the princess she wasn't that bad but HER servant holy shit that woman scared you how does princess Bisky deal with Palm as her servant or you should say right hand woman, if you were princess Bisky you would probably run off too, wait why did you say run off too... Oh shit was that princess Bisky running a few minutes ago away from the guards?! Well honestly that is not a surprise for you drama always happens in the streets literally but now you do wonder what was prince Amir planning He acted a bit odd? You don't know why but his behaviour seems off, almost as if he's hiding something from everyone except his servants, but if you are correct what is he planning? Is he planning to help the public library to be open? Or to get married to princess Bisky? Or maybe he's here to conquer Agrabah? Wait why are you imagining scenarios like this? Why do you even care about what prince Amir wants, honestly if he did want to conquer Agrabah you should warn everyone if that will indeed happen...wait but how are you sure it's that? Hmmm I mean you could spy on him but then again that white haired boy has a bad vibe he probably will kill you if you dare to spy on prince Amir, plus you can't really do that if you have work, you truly want the community to have a public library if you won't work hard it will never happen, you doing this for the community and the children so they won't have to worry about being tricked by someone with higher knowledge.

୨⎯ "With Prince Amir/Leorio" ⎯୧

"What was that?!"

"what? I only helped you find her and I did didn't I?"

"yes but still she could have found you suspicious"

"so that person is your childhood friend?"

"yes they are"

"and also the one who wants to open the public library?"

"most likely yes"

"well that's certainly a mess, firstly you wanted to marry princess Bisky for money but now you want to pretend that you want to marry her to steal from her and help your friend"

"you have been stuck in that lamp for more then 1000 years, you don't know much about the life outside of it"

"...he has a good point Killua"

"I guess he does, anyway how are we going to go about that?"

"what do you mean by that?"

"I mean half of Agrabah heard that you are here for the mysterious person who wants to open a public library, if you suddenly be like oh yeah I'm here to marry princess Bisky people are going to suspect you"

"it will work out somehow"

"you seem to be quite interested in them aren't you Leorio?"

"of course I am, after all they are smart and fun and-"

"pretty?"

"beautiful/handsome, they got these eyes that just- and this hair and their smile"

"well seems like someone is hooked in love"

"maybe I am, who knows"

"well then it seems like we should put your plan into work, I heard princess Bisky ran off so you should find her and try to be-friend her"

"not court her?"

"probably not after all our princely currently is crushing on his childhood friend"

" oh yeah you're right, so befriending would be the better option"

"so let's get this all planned already, Leorio you will be-friend princess Bisky she has to trust you enough to invite you into the place and tell you where she keeps the money when you find out where you will have to tell us so we can take them and keep them safe, what's also important is you can't act like you have feelings for her"

"that's a great plan but how am I supposed to be-friend her?"

"how about, find out where she is bump into her 'accidentally' and promise her you won't tell anybody where she is, she's out to trust you after that"

Gon wasn't wrong if Leorio did show Bisky he's not her enemy and that he doesn't mind that she ran off for freedom she will definitely respect him, but there comes a little situation and that would be you, Leorio knows you are not that big of an idiot so you will definitely catch him, so he would need to have you trust him as prince Amir either that or tell you the true and obviously he will chose for you to trust prince Amir, after all he quite literally went missing and you probably mad at him I mean who wouldn't especially if you knew the reason, currently what the most important is befriending princess Bisky

After a few minutes of planning Leorio went where he heard princess Bisky was last seen, surprise surprise it was not so far from where you were before he could go further he heard yelling

"get back here thief!"

When Leorio looked it was you running towards someone running away with a bag full of fruits, and well the man didn't look and ran to Leorio and bumped into him, before Leorio could react he saw you grab the man by his collar and pulled him towards the stall forcing him to put the fruits back and then gave him a glare to leave if he knew what is good for him, when you finally calmed down you walked up to Leorio and helped him up

"I'm truly sorry your highness, I didn't mean for that to happen"

"it's alright really"

"ah I should get going if you are searching for the princess she's up there in that tower"

"Wait why did you tell me where she is?"

"it's only fair I do as an apology"

"ah then thank you very much, have a nice day"

Leorio left and started walking towards the tower, he couldn't help but smile at your kindness, holy crap how much he loves you

Eventually he arrived at the tower and saw princess Bisky smiling ear to ear

"so it's you who's planning to steal my money huh?"

"wha- what do you mean princess"

"I mean what I said, you like that person down there and you also know about her dream"

"...how did you?"

"I have eyes everywhere, what's most important is I gladly help you out only if"

"if?"

"you find me a replacement for a husband because the one my father wants me to marry is a psychopath"

"how am I supposed to do that?"

"Those genies of yours, ask them for help"

"wait how di- oh right I almost forgot"

"...but sure I do it"

"great anyway I go and convince my father to send your friend some money, if I'm being truthful you should tell her the truth"

Bisky ran off towards the palace happy about the fact she just created a new couple, and just how Bisky recommended Leorio started walking towards you scared to reveal the truth

"oh prince Amir is th-"

"I'm not prince Amir"

"huh?"

"guess you don't recognise me?"

Leorio then took off his turban and put on his glasses

"Leorio..."

"been a while haven't it"

Before Leorio could say anything you hugged him

"for god sake where have you been! I been so damn worried everyone was worried you just suddenly went poof and-"

"Alright Alright calm down take a deep breath,I will explain everything"

When you calmed down Leorio explained to you how some king forced him to look for a lamp with two genies but Leorio didn't find it and was locked in a cave, but luckily food was there and drinks too at this point he also mentions how the king did the same to his father and years later he found it and made 2 wishes 1.to leave the cave 2.to become a prince and that he has one last wish left and he also mentioned the plan he had before, which caused you to hit him in the head(or face) but after getting hit Leorio just promised to never try to commit a crime if he will you have the full permission to hit him as hard as you can.

After that Leorio called Killua and Gon that were his genies and asked them for help with the Bisky situation, eventually they found a perfect person and matched them with Leorio wishing for those two to become humans, with the help of Bisky you opened a public library where you and Leorio worked with Princess Bisky support, and with the permission of Killua and Gon you adopted them both and eventually got married, and lived you happily ever after

[honouredsatoru]

JJK Characters x You on a date

notes : I tried including Gojo's love for Digimon since I also grew up watching Digimon and loving the anime with all of my heart, also because Gojo's seiyuu, both Japanese and English versions, voiced for characters in Digimon, so I wanna pay homage to the both of them. other than that, I also included my love for arts and history, something I tried to incorporate into my writing, just to make it like.. lilith's style, ya know?

extra notes : also I wrote megumi for Elli, just because haha.

warnings : slight cussing. not proofread lol. other than that, none. 100% fluff!

characters : gojo satoru, fushiguro megumi, kugisaki nobara, nanami kento, itadori yuji.

Gojo Satoru - Arcades, vintage shops, especially collectors, especially Digimon, comic book/manga stores.

[Your name]! [Your name!]! Look, look! It's the Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 series! All 9 of them! Let's get in!"

"Ahh hold on. Towu! We're supposed to visit the cat cafe, you promised that you would go with me and take pictures with the cat hairband on! And I'm starving!"

You jokingly scowled at him, tapping your Doc Martens feet on the ground, arms folding.

"Fucking adorable. Let me see if I can tease her more, hah." A smirk soon appeared on this blue-eyed darling of yours.

"Let me get the manga and I promise, I'll go to this cat cafe with you, baby. Hm?"

"Oh alright."

"I love you, sweetheart. I know how much you wanted to go there but the manga. I- ahaaaa"

He started pouting as he kept pointing in the direction of the Digimon manga by the window. You quickly opened your camera, taking pictures of him sulking, emitting a soft giggle that actually made his heart squeezed with joy.

He presses his lips against your forehead, thumb circling your cheek, gently squishing them before opening the door, yanking you into the comic book store with him. You vowed to hide the comic books once he goes on a mission. After all, he made you wait a month before the two of you finally get to go to this cafe you always wanted to visit.

"Baby, I can read what you're thinking. Your face shows it too. Hehe. Watch me hide your panties."

Taking in a few gulps of air to deepen your breath, you opened your eyes, to meet the love of your life's own eyes, snickering at you, his large hands on the crown of your head before ruffling your already messy hair. There is no way you can stay mad at this man, as childish as he is, you know he loves you and deep down? He knows you love him too.

Itadori Yuji - Thrift stores, internet cafes to play online games with you, cinemas.

"Candy! [Your name] love! Don't! Make! Me! Ahhh cover up for me! I am gonna lose! I am gonna-"

He turns around to face you with soft eyes, his eyebrows slightly droopy before looking back at the computer, taking in the seconds in his head to register the fact that he lost in his mission with you in Inferno.

"Awww sorry babe. I mean.. you just started playing CSGO, so tell me, why- again- damn it- you wanna- AH. Damn it! Throw the fucking grenade! I mean why you wanna play this game, you need more practice- FUCK YOU."

Gentle chuckles were heard, emitted from his throat, his soft, peach toned lips landed on your cheek repeatedly as he rubbed soothing circles around your back.

"Breathe, bunny baby. You're so feisty whenever you start having online matches. Breathe. I love you, and I don't want you to get your blood pressure rising because of these dumbos, hm?"

Your lips curl into a faint and appreciative smile, nodding while your eyes are glued to the screen, ignoring the fading laughs and snickers from the people acknowledging your mini rage.

"I love you too. If I win, I'm getting us boba and chicken nuggets. So let me fight them, okie?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Megumi - Museums, art galleries, photo exhibitions, aesthetic cafes.

"Oh Gumi bear, look at that! That is the Raft of Medusa, it was done by Thèodore Géricault, he himself interviewed two survivors from the shipwreck."

He looks over your eyes that shine with excitement and pure happiness.

"Art"

Was what he thought every time he laid his sight onto you. God knows that he falls in love with you every single time he is blessed with your presence. Resting his arm around your waist, pulling you closer, inhaling the scent of mixed berries and wild roses, he swore he heard his heartbeat increasing every two seconds in a span of one minute.

"Oh really? What do you think this painting is all about?"

Glancing at him before returning to the painting, you puffed your cheeks, pressing your lips together with your index finger curled on your chin and your thumb under it.

"Lord, she is so cute whenever she does that. Can I kiss her? Should I? No wait, she's trying to tell me her own interpretation of this painting. To me. Oh wow. I'm gonna kiss her... later. I can't interrupt her." That is all he could think of. You. He is deeply, madly, beautifully in love with you.

"In my opinion, it tells me the ways of how men, or human beings, seek out in order to survive. When we are at the brink of desperation, insanity, happiness, greed, lust, desire, wrath, grief, don't we all do things unimaginable to help us go through the day? They even resolved to cannibalism. I think even I would commit to that if I was in an extremely dire situation."

You looked at him, a wide smile on your face, emitting a soft giggle that entered his right ear and stayed within the chambers of his mind. He closed the spaces between the both of you, sealing his lips onto yours, with the intention of making this very moment last a little longer heavy within his heart.

"Art."

Was what you thought of him.

Nanami Kento - Theatres, historical museums, fine dining restaurants.

You squealed, lightly clapping your hands as you ran to a block of marble, your foot tapping against the floor. He chuckles, hands in his pocket, taking fast strides towards you.

"Namnam! Look look! That's the Parthenon Sculptures! It was founded in hm... Athens, yes! If I am not mistaken, around 438 to 432 BC. These sculptures decorated the insides of the Parthenon, it is a temple located at the fortress of the Athenian Acropolis. It is said that this temple was built to appreciate and worship the Goddess Athena, she was the deity worship in Athens. Also, ah ah! Did you know that the word parthénos means "maiden", "girl" or ‘virgin"? And I-"

You look at him, your magnificent lover wearing a dark brown trench coat, with ecru brown trousers and a black turtleneck tucked in, his neck layered with white gold necklaces. Your hand unconsciously scratches your sideburns, giggling at the side of his stoic expression, eyes piercing yours beneath that yellow-green glasses he constantly has on his chiseled face.

"Oh... I am sorry... I didn't mean to bore you. I was just so excited because you know me! I love anything that is related to ancient greek history and mythology. I can't seem to get enough of it and it is absolut-

"I'm not bored, [your name]. I was just paying attention to every single word that pretty lips of yours uttered. It's magnificent that you knew all of this. It shows just how smart, curious, bright your mind and soul is. And darling?"

"Huh?"

"I am lucky to be blessed with someone like you. With Gojo constantly following me, there is no way I can read the books I bought for myself. However, having you around, breaking the ice with your random history tib bits, I feel like I am reading the pages, savouring each word, alphabet, sentence, thus expanding my quest and love for knowledge."

You looked down. Normally, you're not the type to tear up this easily but seeing how this man, this angel of a man, appreciates the little things you loved and adored, you can't help but let the waterworks out. You lifted your head up to meet his gaze, the tip of your nose slightly stuffy. You grabbed his arms, clinging onto him, the difference of height and size makes it sweet to the eyes of strangers surrounding you both.

"Oh Namnam. Thank you so much. This means the world to me. Shall we... go and see the best of Ramesses the Great? I've loads to tell you!"

Nobara - Shopping malls, ferry rides, beach dates, parks with cherry blossoms.

"Baby... tell me, have you ever seen anything as joyous as the ocean?"

You two stood by the seashore, fingers intertwined, your head resting on her shoulders, the sound of the seas splashing against the rocks and the warmth around your foot, it tingled but it feels good at the same time.

"I don't want this moment to end, [your name]."

"Why is that, pretty one?"

A faint sigh leaves her lips, you feeling her body loosen up.

"I just.. school is sort of stressful so my time spent with you liberates me from the pressure, fatigue, and image of curses embedded in my brain. Walking with you... through this airy womb of skies and clouds, don't you know it makes me happy?"

You leaned closer, pressing a soft peck on her cheeks, earning yourself a pair of scarlet cheeks with a gorgeous smile from the one next to you. You turned yourself to face her, hands on her shoulders, bringing her body closer to yours.

"Whenever and wherever you need me, I will be there. I might not be perfect, but I am gonna do my best to be the one you can always count on."

You pressed a kiss on her left cheek.

"I love you."

A kiss on her right cheek.

"I love you."

A kiss to the lips of the woman whom you shared your entire universe with.

"To the moon and back, I love you, Kugisaki Nobara."

The end.

tags : @tojisveryown @sookyshima @megumifushi @sixeyesgojo @sirthisisa-wendys @sasso-oda @fushigurocockslut @nkogneatho @kotarousgf @noritoshiikamo

[bill-y]

𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐑𝐄

Peeta mellark x male reader

We all know who Katniss Everdeen is, but what if Primrose hadn’t been chosen but another boy from another unfortunate family? YOUR family.

Info: This is basically a reader insert and I’ve changed a few rules, not ground breaking though. The reader is a bit bland for now but I plan for his actions to be different. Because he has different moral grounds from Katniss and such. Would appreciate feedback! FEEL FREE TO POINT OUT TYPOS. GRAMMARLY SOMETIMES DOESN’T DO MY DYSLEXIC ASS JUSTICE

Part one: Over there, buddy

Part two:You’re here right now. :)

Part three: Click here, pepperoni salami.

Wattpad account: L0calxDumbass

I separated with Gale and Katniss for a while, telling them I needed air. I sighed, leaping from branch to branch in the thicket of trees. Bread, not just bread, baker's bread. If I'm lucky I could get just enough squirrels for the baker, he had a taste for it but his wife was much of a witch, so he only buys it when she's not around.

I remembered how she found me stealing some burnt bread from the trashcan. I looked at her with wide eyes, frozen, I thought I was going to die, stealing was punishable for death, after all. But she just let me go, screaming about her frustration of Seams picking through her trash.

I got bread that day either way.

I landed on a sturdy branch, spotting a squirrel on the tree adjacent to me; it was quite huge, I'm sure he'd love this. Let's just hope the witch isn't home by the time I give this to him.

I crouched down, still as a statue as I watched the squirrel run up and down the tree. I pulled out the thin, glistening dagger, unwrapping its course, leather bindings, which became a makeshift thin rope. I felt my eyes unconsciously widen,  watching the squirrel's movements.

My arm aimed, then with a simple flick, the dagger whistled through the air. The small creature was then pinned to the bark of the tree through its eyes. The dagger's blade was thin enough to not damage anything when aimed right.

I pulled on the rope, the blade coming back, dragging the animal carcass with it. A small smile tugged on my face, I can get bread.

Kunal was surely panicking, he was the type to worry about the smallest of things. He once stepped on a cat's tail, Buttercup, Primrose's cat and he bawled, nobody could calm him down. Until he was offered food, that is.

I chuckled at the memory, slowly pulling the blade off the head of the squirrel. I held it in my hands victoriously, a grin on my face. I whistled a small 3 tone song, the chirping mocking birds falling silent before they imitated the tone.

After meeting up, we went back home, passing by the Hob. It was sort of a black market, where coals are transported directly to trains. I disliked it here, the amount of coal dust always bothered me, so when I come here I tend to cover my nose.

We managed to trade six of the fish for good bread, the other two for some salt. The lady who sells soup, the one that always glares at me because I've insulted her soup on multiple occasions, Greasy Sae: took half the greens we gathered, along with the dead dog meat that she calls "beef".

That's why I hate her soups, though it's not like I have much of an option, we can't afford luxury here. Unlike those obnoxious, entitled, privileged people in the Capitol. My jaw clenched at the mere thought of those scums.

We finish our business on the market, so we went to the mayor's house, who was particularly fond of strawberries. We knocked on the back door, his daughter, Madge opening it for us.

She's in Katniss and I's year sits beside us at almost every event because we don't really have groups of friends. For being the mayor's daughter you'd expect her to be an entitled brat or maybe a snob, but she was alright, she kept to herself.

I like that, I hate noisy people, They'll scare away the game, that and I've never really liked loud noises. I still remember the explosions in the mines, it was traumatizing, even though my father didn't meet death there. I really wished he had.

Madge didn't wear her usual attire, instead, she wore an expensive white dress, her blonde hair up with a pink ribbon. Reaping clothes. I felt my face scrunch up, that day was supposed to be a form of celebration. It's more of a way for the capitol to show who's in control.

We were being punished for the crimes of the people who failed, disguised as some form of celebration. It's disgusting.

"Pretty dress," Gale complimented. Madge shoots him a look, trying to see if it's genuine or if he was just being ironic. It was a pretty dress, but it was a waste.

She smiled, "Well, if I'm going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don't I?"

I clenched my jaw, "But you won't be going to the Capitol," I said coolly, my voice monotone. My eyes landed on a small, circular pin on her dress. Real gold. The testament to the fact that she probably won't be chosen. "You probably have five entries, compared to us, that's a blessing."

"That's not her fault," Katniss said. Madge looked slightly hurt, probably because I've never really spoken my thoughts to her, I try my best to be polite when she engages a conversation with me.

"I know," I responded plainly. Madge smiled towards me, though it was clear it wasn't exactly genuine. She then handed the money for the berries. She looked towards Katniss "Good luck, Katniss"

"You too," She responded.

We walked toward the Seam, I can't help but feel angry. Her? Going to the Capitol? What a joke. When you're twelve your name gets put in the pile once, thirteen twice then so on. Up until your eighteen, where your name is entered seven times.

But the thing is, the rich have an advantage. You can enter your name willingly in the pile when you're starving in exchange for some tesserae. I had been doing this since I was twelve, having entered my name 3 times, for my mother, brother and myself.  Every year following suite, it has always been like this.

Now at the age of 16, I've entered my name twenty times, same with Katniss. Gale was in even greater danger, with a number of forty-two.

And she'll be the tribute this year? It can happen but it's deadly slim. I knew Gale felt the same way, listening to him rant about tesserae in the woods with Katniss was enough confirmation, along with the fact that I join in on the rants. Always end it with a promise to destroy the Capitol, somehow.

But what good does that do us?

Gale, Katniss and I divide our spoils, though it wasn't really the evenest distribution.  Gale got more, understandably since he has more mouths to feed.

"See you guys in the square," Katniss said, Gale nodded, "Wear something pretty," he joked.

I decided to stop by the bakery, by then the witch should be home but I took my chances. There was Mr Mellark, sitting outside, watching the pigs. He saw me from the corner of his eye, he grinned. "Greyback!' he called.

"Mr Mellark, still up for some squirrel?" I ask, holding the fat one up. He nodded, "You're lucky my wife isn't here, yet. Hold on, I'll get the bread for Kunal," he said, rushing inside.

I walked to the backdoor of the bakery so that he wouldn't trouble himself that much. I waited awkwardly outside, looking at a small bird fluttering about. I whistled, holding my finger out.

The bird landed on my finger, making me smile. From the corner of my eye, I saw a boy, blonde, stocky. Could probably kill me, if I'm being honest. Even though I was fast, I wasn't strong.

Soon enough, the bird flew away with the arrival of the baker, with a loaf of sweet, savoury bread, hot from the oven. "Here you go, Greyback."

I nodded, handing him the squirrel. "Oh!" he hummed, "Have you met my son, Peeta?" he asked, a smile on his face, "You're in the same year, yes?"

I didn't know what to say. Sure, I know him but I don't know that well him that well. My eyes travelled to the boy, who simply waved and briskly walked away. "I don't think so," I answered.

"I better be going, Mr Mellark. Nal needs his favourite bread after all," I said, flashing a small smile before I left. A small pit of dread boiled in my stomach, something bad is going to happen.

But then again, it's Reaping day, nothing good ever happens.

Word count: 1.3k

Tags:

@nin3s

:)))

[meenah-chan]

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

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

To Thine Own Self Be True

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

5.47k words

Genre: flangst

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Shut up, you otaku!"

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

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

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

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

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

"R–Really..?"

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

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

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

"W–Wha... Where does... who loves—"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I'm used to eating by myself."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"...None of your business."

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

What a keen observant. Y/N thought.

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

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

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

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

Really, what a frightening observant.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"..."

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

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

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

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

Since then, there was Asmodeus, everywhere!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And they...finally snapped.

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

On their hands...

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

And the doors were completely closed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"...I wanna go home."

"Why? Do you hate this place?"

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

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

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

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

"Brother... But why?"

"I want you to realize your own self."

"..."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I think you already know the answer."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"It was our fault." Leviathan followed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Masterlist

[heresathreebee]

A Halo of Holly

Marcus Moreno X Black!reader (1940s AU)

Summary: you can’t help falling in love with your neighbor who happens to be a fellow single parent (and unbeknownst to you, a superhero, too). 

Masterlist Part 2

Word Count: 1.3k words

Warning(s): rated T (for now), barely edited (no beta but myself), fluffy Christmas stuff, transatlantic speech, you’ve got your son’s dad’s last name despite never having married him, mild language, inappropriate thoughts

December 19th marks the beginnings of the Christmas season for most families in Holly's Grove. As the menorah's came down from some of the apartment windows, wreaths and lights went up, the holiday decorations turned white and red and green in celebration of that special time at the end of the year. The residents of Holly cleaned out their chimneys, dusted their boots of snow just outside the front door, and tuned into whatever channel was playing It's A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street on the television set. 

Except for you, of course. 

Your rooms were decorated just the way you liked it, all except for the lights and the tree. You sat on the floor inspecting each and every bulb on the string for the faulty wire while Billie Holiday's Christmas specials played on the gramophone. The wood from the fire was finally dry enough to light and the warmth eked its way slowly through to your bones. 

"Damn things," you cursed. 

You dropped the lights in a huff and leaned forward. You've got two options, girl, you thought. Buy some new ones or get some help. But who could you call for help with a broken light at a time like this? 

~

Across the delightfully inviting alley, Marcus Moreno let his daughter adjust the television settings. Missy groaned as her favorite movie came to an end, but perked up when yet another toy commercial came on. He chuckled as she pointed excitedly at the screen, and he tried to pretend to be too busy making dinner. That's when a knock came at the door. 

Dumm dum-duh-dum dumm. 

Missy stood on the couch cushions, but her father waved her down to sit. "I'll get it." 

He opened the door. A rush of freezing cold air and the gentle swinging wood revealed his (second) favorite face: yours. Wrapped in nothing protective except a scarf and shivering in your boots. 

"Come in, come in!" He waved you inside and shut the door, mindful of his daughter with her head turned like an owl's. "Well, you must be frozen solid!" 

You laughed despite your chattering teeth. "I suppose I didn't think to grab a coat since you were so close, but on the way, why it felt like I walked a mile to get here." 

"Silly thing," he chided. His hands rubbed up and down your bare arms, coaxing his warmth into you. Your shivering only worsened and you had half a mind to drag him closer and wrap him into a hug. Almost. "What did you walk through all that snow in next to nothing for?" 

Oh I'd love to see you in next to nothing. "Oh just this." 

You pulled the lights around from behind your back and put your head down in embarrassment. "I plugged it in and the whole thing won't light. They worked just fine last year, but I can't find the busted part…" 

"Let me take a look." The way Mr. Moreno's face turned hard as rock as he focused on something never failed to make your toes curl in your shoes. "Why don't you sit down and get comfortable. Missy? Stir that pot for me, will you?" 

Your embarrassment came clawing up your back again. "Oh I'm so sorry, if I'd've known I was interrupting your dinner, I would have waited until tomorrow!" 

"Nonsense," Mr. Moreno waved it off and took the lights to his work bench, "we both know Dave isn't going to let you put anything else up after tonight." 

You harrumphed onto the couch knowing he was right. Dave was running the homeowner's association since his wife was sick, and in a lot of ways he was worse than she was. All decorations had to be put up by the 20th or they wouldn't be allowed to go up at all. He had always hated that the Peabody's seemed to acquire something new and shiny every night until Christmas and now he had the authority to do something about it. 

"For a Christmas lover, he sure can be a grinch about the details," you said, and preened at Missy's merry giggle. 

You felt strange sitting there in that house. Missy was one of your students, her father never missed a parent-teacher conference, and yet you felt you knew more about them after you had realized you were neighbors. Perhaps one day, this place might feel like a second home. The Morenos’ certainly seemed to want you to feel that way. 

"Sauce is ready!," Missy called. 

Mr. Moreno stood up from his desk and dropped his tools, taking the pot off the stove top and shooing his daughter away with a conspiratorial whisper. The little angel bounced towards you, leaning in a little too close and asking if you'd like to have dinner with them. 

"Oh," you start to protest, "oh no, dear that wouldn't be…" wouldn't be what? Appropriate? You were already in their house asking for free repairs. An unmarried woman in a man's house. The rumor mill was already churning so why try to save face now? "Oh, alright then." 

The first bite of the Moreno's dish nearly had you swooning to the floor. You slap a hand over your mouth just in case you start drooling. It's an explosion of flavors and it's so warm sliding down your throat. You can even feel a tear or two prick up in your eyes. 

"Oh Mr. Moreno, this is wonderful," you praised the man who tried to bury his head and hide his blush. 

"It'd be nothing without the help of my second chef," he motioned to Missy. "She knows all the herbs and spices for a good sauce and she stirs like a champion." 

Little Missy beamed like a star. And how could she not with praise so readily given. You purposefully take one forkful at a time to pace yourself and enjoy the meal and the company. After helping clean up in the kitchen, Mr. Moreno comes back to you with your lights. He plugs the cord into the outlet and…

"Voila!" 

Golden white light fills the space between you and you cheer. "Which one was it? Where was the line broken?" 

"Here," he points to the wire between the sixth and seventh bulb. He sees the frustration from earlier mar your happy face and he bends down to get you to meet his eyes. "It's one light in a hundred, I missed it once or twice when I was looking at it, too." 

You take the string from him (neatly coiled for easy carry unlike when you had brought it to him earlier) and planted a lightning quick kiss on his jaw. "Thank you, Mr. Moreno, you're a real Johnny-on-the-spot." 

He shifted his feet and seemed pleased with himself. "You can call me Marcus. It's only fitting since we live so close and all. And, you know, you are Missy's favorite teacher." 

"It's true," the girl yelled from the countertop. Her father picked her up and set her on her feet to start getting ready for bed. "Goodnight, Mrs. Jones!" 

"Goodnight, dear!" 

You're back in your home as quickly as you can be, Mr. Moreno hot on your trail to make sure you get in safe. He offers to help you put up the lights, but you decline firmly. You can see Mrs. Aldridge looking at you from out of her window and you know exactly what she'll tell people if she sees him come through your door. 

"I really must thank you again Mr. Moreno," you say, "I'd be at it all night just to get these things right." 

"It's no trouble at all," he says, and then, boldly, with a cautious but telling smirk, he calls you by your name. 

Your breath catches in your throat and you smile. "Goodnight, Marcus." 

Author’s Note: do you want to be tagged in future pedro pascal fics of mine? let me know in the comments! 

[miqojak]

Layers Upon Layers

one: outside layer

[Name:] "Jak." [Hair Style & colour:] "Black and orange. I wear it pulled back and braided." [Eye Color:] "Gold and jade green." [Height:]  "Fuck if I know exactly. Under five fulms." (4'9") [Style:] "Depends on the day. Maybe the hour. Leather and mini-skirts are always a good bet, though. Sometimes a nice suit, sometimes my bike gear, sometimes a little something more form-fitting, elegant and gilded - 'desert chic', I suppose." [Best Physical Feature:] "Definitely my ass...though my legs cut it close, on that one. What do you think?"

two: inner layer

[Fears:] "You ask that and actually expect people to tell you?" (Small/enclosed spaces with no readily available exit, levin, Garleans, people getting too close to her/seeing who she really is) [Guilty Pleasure:] "People feel guilty for what they like? Who's going to judge me, the sheep who can't come up with a single original thought of their own, and feel guilty if they do?" [Biggest Pet Peeve:]  "Biggest...that's tough, actually. Probably blithe optimism, or naivete. People too ignorant, or unwilling to ask questions and look deeper - or those simply unwilling to face hard truths. There can never be any growth if you aren't honest with yourself, after all. Unmotivated slackers. If you have no goals, why are you wasting this star's air?" [Ambition for the Future:] "To be feared and respected in equal measure. I've been pushed around for a long time, and now it's my turn."

three: thoughts

[First Thought When Waking Up:] "Probably...my to-do list for the day? That or wondering what the weather is like, and whether or not I'll be going on my usual morning run or be stuck working out indoors. That or 'Huh, they haven't killed us all yet.'" [What You Think About the Most:] "What my next step is in life - how I want to pursue that power I'm after without compromising who I am...and how the fuck I ended up with someone who actually cares about me in my life while distinctly trying to avoid that type of thing...and why he stuck around. I wonder about the 'why' a lot." [What You Think About Before Bed:] "Depends on the day, and what's happened, and if I'm headed there alone. If I'm not alone, it's probably something to the effect of 'I still can't believe he wants to be here/wants me to be here'. And whether or not I'm alone...there's always the nagging, ugly reminder that Garlemald's towers sit hunched in the sky, ready to end everything for everyone - predator and prey alike. It could be the last night for any of us." [Your Best Quality Is:] "My ass. But other than that...well, I'm honest, and my loyalty can't be bought. I'm not a good person, but I have my own...'code', in a sense, I guess."

four: what’s better

[Single or Group Dates?] "Group dates sound like a punishment. I can barely stand the slack-jawed idiots around me as it is. Though undoubtedly the punishment would be upon the others, considering who my date would be, and the fact that we'd probably spend the time verbally destroying the other couple." [To be Loved or to be Respected?] "Respected. Love without respect is horrifying. I've been there, I've suffered it, and I'm still recovering. But I still...don't know that I believe in love. At least not how most people do, I guess. Love makes people do stupid shit when they believe in it. Respect doesn't. Respect can stand alone, without needing love. Respect has to be earned. There's no claims of 'respect at first sight.' But like I said...love without respect is...ugly. Scary, even." [Beauty or Brains?] "Both, or no deal. Brains are essential, but I can't have a walking pile of dogshit on my arm, now can I?" [Cats or Dogs?] "Neither, I don't do pets - animals are food. But...I suppose I'd say dogs, though you'd probably incorrectly assume cats, based on the fact that I resemble one. But...there's been more 'canines' in my life in the last year or two than I care to recall."

four: do you…

[Lie?] "No. Not unless the situation is dire - my morals don't matter if my life is on the line. Survival comes first always." [Believe in Yourself?] "Much more than I used to. I've accomplished, and survived, more than most could even begin to imagine." [Believe in Love?]  "Not...really? Maybe? Though I'll admit that for all my vehement denial in the past, someone has made me re-examine my emotions in the last half a year or so. I don't think I believe in the sort of 'love' that the general public believes in. I had someone force his fairy tale romance down my throat and do me a lot of harm both physical and mental with those ideals, as he forced me to be someone I wasn't. If adhering to what society expects of love is all that someone cares about - hitting the expected gestures as told in fairy tales? That's about as real as a fever dream. I don't like the word 'love'. Not what it's come to be associated with, and what's expected of you along with it." [Want Someone?] "For the first time in my life...yes. Not that I don't 'have' him as much as I can claim such, but when he's not around, I find that I want him to be. So...yes?"

six: have you ever…

[Been on Stage?] "No? I mean, my organization does run a jazz club, and it's been various theaters before that, and I've...sat on the stage, basked in the spotlight of an empty theater? I prefer to be...less in the actual spotlight, however." [Done Drugs?] "I've only been clean and sober for...maybe a year now? So yeah. I've...done a lot of drugs." [Changed Yourself to Fit In Somewhere?] "I've been a con-artist to put food on the table, but I don't believe in changing who you are to 'fit in.' If you don't fit in...you don't fit in. You are who you are. Being anything else is a lie, and does you a disservice. It's also a pathetic cry for attention - for the other bleating sheep to accept you into their herd. I won't debase myself to 'fit in' with my lessers."

seven: favorite

[Favorite Color:] "Black, white, gold, and red. I don't have just one." [Favorite Food:] "Once more, I don't have just one. I like red meat, I like seafood, and I enjoy rolanberries quite a bit. Of late, I think my current favorite snack is takoyaki though - this fried dough ball with octopus inside...just thinking about it makes my mouth water." [Favorite Game:] "Breaking and entering."

eight: age

[When Your Next Birthday Will Be:] "No idea." [How Old Will You Be?] "No clue. I'm...twenty and four summers, roughly...give or take a couple." [Age You Lost Your Virginity:] "Care to lose yours to one of my knives, here?" [Does Age Matter?]  "Should it? I suppose I'd be a bit baffled to see an old geezer with a hot young thing, but even so...who cares? I haven't exactly had a lot of lovers, but I don't think I ever asked any of them their age. So long as people stay the fuck away from kids, it's a non-issue in my opinion."

nine: in a partner

[Best Personality:] "An unflinching realist who not only faces the truth, but deals it out themselves. Ambition, and the ability to be honest with themselves about who they are." [Best Eye Colour:]  "Who gives a shit? If I find them worthwhile, I'll like their eyes, I assure you." [Best Hair Colour:] "Who's out here checking people off a list because their hair is the wrong color? I mean, after some shit I went through, I might not want to ever see another red-head again, but realistically...who gives a single fuck? I think you're asking the wrong questions here. People often do - too busy dwelling on lust at first sight." [Best Thing to do With a Partner:] "Murder? Crime in general? ...Or a hot bath."

ten: finish the sentence

[I Love…] ...I just told you I don't do love. But...I do love the sun." [I Feel…] everything at once, or nothing at all, it seems." [I Hide…] who I am." [I Miss…] my family." [I Wish…] ...wishes are for simpletons. Actions achieve what you want." Thanks for the tag: @eligos-venator @placesyoucallhome @bek-sc @sundered-souls (I think I found you all who tagged me!)

I am late to this party! Tag yourselves if you want to do it, so I can read your stuff! I feel like most folks have done it, and I'm too brain-dead atm to root around in the bowels of Tumblr to see who hasn't, since I'm many days late! XD

[farahs-babe]

Always, I’ll Care

Fandom: The Wayhaven Chronicles

Pairing: Ava du Mortain x Detective (Elijah Robinson)

Word Count: 1675 words

Warning: None, its just fluff 

Author’s note: So this is my first time writing for TWC fandom and gosh I’m nervous lol. Here is to hoping it shows up in the tags🤞 I hope y’all like it ❤

Title Inspiration: Always, I’ll Care by Jeremy Zucker

Ava sat in the empty common room, the night shrouding around her like a cloak.

A lone night lamp was turned on in the corner of the room, which cast against the sharp and rigid lines of her body accentuating the tense muscles and the constant flexing of her arm as she clenched and unclenched her fingers around the pen in her hand.

The others had shortly retreated to their room after the detective had bid good night. She could hear their steady breaths and that helped a bit with the growing anxiety which gnawed away at her slowly and steadily, like rust eating away at iron.

After 900 years of existence, you would think that nothing could bother Ava so much it made her stay awake into the wee hours but... It might be because of a certain blue-eyed detective.

Whenever Elijah's name crossed her mind, a flux of emotions would swirl through her. Initially, it would be an intense sense of longing which tugged at her heartstrings, followed by worry for his safety and concluded by a snort of annoyance on how easily she lets him invade his thoughts.

The entire ordeal with the pack of werewolves and the new revelation of the bounty had Ava so stressed that she had dug tracks into the common room carpet as she walked in circles before finally settling into a chair.

And Elijah being the- how could she place it delicately- the joker that he is, played it off in his usual sarcasm and jest.

But she could see.

She could see everything.

The rising panic in those soft brown eyes with a swirling green... The way his fingers threaded through his ebony black curls and tugging them, a gesture he did when he was nervous... The way he rocked on his heels... Everything.

She knows how capable he is and how determined he is, like Agent Robinson but that's the very thing that could get him killed. And the very thought of living in a world where he didn't exist...

He is more capable than you give him credit for. Mason's smoky voice from earlier, floods through her head which has her sighing.

She couldn't get herself to finish that sentence.

She leaned back on her chair and her hands went to rest behind her head, clutching her tight bun. The action caused a few strands to escape the restraints of the hairband and frame her face.

She looked out of the window to stare into the inky darkness. The sky was clear and you could see the numerous stars glittering over the treeline. Wayhaven looked so peaceful at night that you would be lulled into a sense of security. 

But everyone knows, monsters come out at night.

She let out a sigh trying to relax but her muscles bunched up in tension as she heard a familiar heartbeat and the familiar set of footsteps to the common room.

The door opened slowly and the man who had enraptured her, popped in.

"Hey, isn't it late for you?" His voice rasped, which caused the hairs on the back of her neck to rise in reaction.

She cleared her throat and sat straight up. "Well, I should be asking you that question. What are you doing up at 4 am?"

He chuckled. "Fair enough. I was having trouble sleeping. Can't get my mind to calm down."

"I can relate to that."

He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms. She could see his naked torso in the golden hue of the lamp and that made her gulp. He was not as built as Ava but he had a lithe and athletic build. The early morning runs which he goes for definitely benefit the detective. 

With a huge effort, she got her emerald eyes to meet his hazel ones.

"I know that you are a vampire with amazing strength but you seriously need to sleep."

A smile played on his lips as he ignored the jibe. He walked up to the table and leaned against it. She notices the closeness and she noticed how his heart thundered against his chest. 

"We don't need sleep to function, unlike you humans."

"C'mon Ava. Nat herself told me you haven't rested in a week. And I know the entire bounty thing is bothering you more than you admit to."

Guess I'm not the only one who can see everything.

She looked down at her pale hands resting on the wooden table. "It shouldn't have come to this. I was supposed to protect your identity- I am sorry I couldn't-"

His hand cupped her chin, gently bending her head backwards so that he could look down at her.

"I have said this before and I will say it again. It was not your fault. You don't have to be apologetic."

"Bu-"

"Shh…" He placed a finger on her lips and she could feel electric sparks and a steady blush rising to her cheeks. His fingers traced her cheek and continued, captivated by the feeling of Ava’s smooth skin. 

Thank the gods he is human and can't see in the dark.

“It was too big an information to be kept under the wraps and it was bound to be out at some time. All we can do not is do damage control.”

She nodded her head. “Yes. That is the approach we are taking.”

His hand dropped and the loss of contact pricked her heart. "Enough work talk. Come with me."

Her eyebrows knotted. "Pardon me?"

"Come with me. I know what can help you relax."

Uncertainty coloured her features but curiosity won the best of her. She stood up and followed him.

He opened the door to Ava's room and gestured her to go in first before following her in.

"So what is your genius plan Detective?" She asked, sarcasm lacing her sentence.

Elijah wordlessly sat at the edge of the bed and pointed at the space on the floor before him.

Ava cocked an eyebrow and Elijah sighed. "I am just going to give you a massage. The knots in your neck is giving me knots. You need to relax and that will help you sleep."

She stood hesitantly by the door, her instincts begging her to just turn and march out but the genuine look in those starry eyes made her want to stay.

"Ava, do you trust me?"

With my heart and life.

Ava nodded and sat down on the ground, in the space between his legs, facing the wall opposite her bed. She proceeded to take out the combat shoes she was wearing as Elijah got comfortable on the bed behind her.

"May I?" He asked as his hands reached for the tight bun.

"Yes."

Slowly untied her hair and the golden locks cascaded down, stopping a little below her shoulders. She let out a sigh of relief as she felt his fingers combing through her hair, freeing the tangled hair. He was so gentle and Ava couldn’t help but gulp at the intimacy, something she wasn’t familiar with.

She was so lost with the feeling of his fingers threading through her hair that she almost didn’t hear him. 

"Tina says that if you tie your hair so tight and keep stressing it, your hairline will recede and you will lose hair. It also gives a nasty headache."

"Well, I'm a vampire so I don't think that affects me."

Elijah hummed in agreeance as he pressed his fingertips into her scalp and massaged. Ava let out another breathy sigh, feeling her face heat up, her pulse race and goosebumps on her overly sensitive skin.

"I know the others don't apply to you but, I can literally feel your head pounding."

Well, it's for other reasons. Her subconscious snarked which had her mind overthinking again. And the closeness between the two had her senses on overdrive which didn’t help her cause.

"Ava, I can hear the gears in your head-turning... Relax. Focus on my hands." He chastised as his thumbs circled her temples, applying just the right amount on pressure. 

It took all her strength to not melt into a puddle before him.

The way I'm putty in his hand is frightening... But at the same time, it feels like home.

He proceeded to thoroughly knead through the taut muscles of her neck, his magical fingers releasing the knots of tension. 

These tender gestures took her back to the way her mother would run a comb through her hair before bedtime. Or how she would help Ava out when she returned from war.

"What are you thinking?" He asked softly, not wanting to break the peace.

"It's just... It's been a long while since someone has done something like this for me."

She didn't need to turn around to see the Cheshire grin on his face. The way his white teeth would contrast his dark skin. The way his eyes would ignite, a captivating mix of brown and green... As if moss were creeping on the rich soil.

"Well, I'm glad I could help you relive the experience."

She turned around and looked up at him, her eyes memorising his face and every minute detail. The freckles dusted on his nose, the curly hair falling against his forehead, the light stubble and his full lips. 

"Thank you, Eli. I really appreciate it."

He squeezed her shoulder and gave her a gentle smile, something he only showed her. He reached to tuck a rebel strand behind her ear. "It was my pleasure, Ava. Get some rest, okay? Supernaturals don't take it easy on you just because you are tired."

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you mocking me?"

Elijah took a faux gasp. "I would never dare to."

Her lips tilted up in a half-smile before rearranging back into an impassive mask.

"Good night Detective. See you bright and early tomorrow morning."

"Good night." He said as he stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Ava in a haze of rushing emotions, untethered thoughts and the regret of not asking him to stay back with her.

I hope you liked it and thank you for reading❤ 

Like, comment, reblog and let me know what you think ❤

Tagging: @lilyoffandoms ; @agentrebecca ; @anotherbeingsworld ; @oshen​ ; @nathanielhsewell​ ; @starrystarrytrouble​

[kaoru-takaida]

LONG Character Survey: Kaoru Takaida

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Kaoru Takaida

NICKNAME: Kaokao, Little Kaoru, Ruru

AGE: 22

BIRTHDAY: 15th Sun of the First Astral Moon (January 15th)

ETHNIC GROUP: Auri (Xaela)

NATIONALITY: Sharlayan

LANGUAGE(S): Eorzean, Ancient Sharlayan, Allagan

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Pansexual

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: ?

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Taken?

CLASS: Aether Manipulator

•Summons weapons using own Aether

•Favors Dancer Chakrams

HOMETOWN / AREA: NA

CURRENT HOMETOWN/ AREA: Mor Dhona

PROFESSION: Scion, Under-Archon

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: Black/Pale Pink

EYES: Blue (right), Green (left)

NOSE: Small button

FACE: Sharp

LIPS: Thin and full

COMPLEXION: Fair

BLEMISHES: None

SCARS: Various battle scars on her torso including a big X Shaped on her right shoulder blade

TATTOOS: *New* Eye of the Archon Tattoo on the back of her left shoulder

HEIGHT: 4'9″

WEIGHT: 125 lbs

BUILD: Short, fit, fair

FEATURES: None

ALLERGIES: Rolanberries

USUAL HAIRSTYLE: Hair pulled up in a feathered layered messy tail, bangs pointed, two strings of 3 white beads with a white feather on each end hanging from the right side of her hair

USUAL FACE LOOK: Made up subtly, darker eye shadow, pink lips

USUAL CLOTHING: Elegant yet practical clothes paired with tight black shorts (like Alisaie's) usually with knee high boots or socks, normally platform boots

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR(S): Unable to help/save loved ones, thunder, voidsent, *new* Becoming a sin eater, Vauthry, failure

ASPIRATION(S): To become an Archon and live on as an Adventurer in honor of her parents

POSITIVE TRAITS: Empathetic, compassionate, prodigious, determined, friendly, mother hen, realist

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Emotionally driven, cynical, hells bent on protecting the Leveilleur Twins, directionally challenged (constantly getting lost), disregards her well being for others

ZODIAC: Capricorn

TEMPERAMENT: Mother hen

SOUL TYPE(S): Scholar, Artist, musician

ANIMALS: Fox

VICE HABIT(S): Reading, exploring, humming, training, studying

FAITH: The Twelve

GHOSTS?: Of course

AFTERLIFE?: I hope so

REINCARNATION?: Mayhap

ALIENS?: Well, there are other stars than ours. So Aye.

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: Pardon?

ECONOMIC PREFERENCE: Stable?

SOCIO POLITICAL POSITION: Have we any need of political talk right now?

EDUCATION LEVEL: Graduation from the Studium in Sharlayan, extensive knowledge of Aether Manipulation under Krile, *new* Archon training under Master Matoya

FAMILY.

FATHER: Ryuu Takaida (deceased)

MOTHER: Sakura (Enol) Takaida (deceased)

SIBLINGS:  None that she knows of

EXTENDED FAMILY: House Leveilleur, The Takaida house being a sister house conjoined with the High House

NAME MEANING(S):  "Takaida" means "prospers"

HISTORICAL CONNECTION?:  N/A

FAVORITES.

BOOK: "A Tale Of Three Stars" by Nuille Travers, a favorite among Sharlayan children

MOVIE PLAY: "The Little Prince"

5 SONGS:

• "Born to Be Yours" by Kygo, Imagine Dragons

• "Somebody to Die For" by Hurts

• "Face My Fears" by Hikaru Utada

• "Pieces" by Red

• "Your Guardian Angel" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

DEITY: Nymeia, Thaliak

HOLIDAY: Starlight

MONTH: January/ First Astral Moon

SEASON: Spring

PLACE: The Royal Menagerie

WEATHER: Fair skies, gentle breezes, quiet winds

SOUND: Wind chimes, Shishi Odoshi Bamboo Fountain (look it up ya nerds)

SCENT(S): Cherry Blossoms, musk, and grass

TASTE(S): Matcha, Sakura, Dark Chocolate, melon

FEEL(S): Silk, soft cloth, fuzzy blankets, warm sweaters

ANIMAL(S): Dog, cat, chocobo

NUMBER: 11

COLORS: Pastel pink, red, white, black

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Singing, dancing, drawing, taking care of people, seeing what others can't see

BAD AT: Directions, thinking of herself, letting the Leveilleur Twins do as they please

TURN ONS: Generously helping, brave, funny, calm, educated, creative

TURN OFFS: Pettiness, selfishness, self serving

HOBBIES: Singing, reading, studying, drawing, exploring

TROPES: Mother hen, soft scholar

AESTHETIC TAGS: Japanese cherry blossoms, pastel pink desserts, red and pink Japanese cultures

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC(S): Hm?

ALT FC(S): I beg your pardon?

OLDER FC(S): Uh..

YOUNGER  FC(S): No clue?

VOICE CLAIM(S): Hm?

GENDERBENT FC(S): I haven't the foggiest idea

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1: IF YOU COULD WRITE YOUR CHARACTER YOUR WAY IN THEIR OWN MOVIE, WHAT WOULD IT BE CALLED, WHAT STYLE WOULD IT BE FILMED IN, AND WHAT WOULD IT BE ABOUT?:

• I guess as a well shot Asian Drama but with the Fantasy and Adventure that Final Fantasy XIV is. I wouldn't really have a name for it since FFXIV Already has several.

Q2: WHAT WOULD THEIR SOUNDTRACK / SCORE SOUND LIKE?:

• I suppose the music would change depending on where the story took us, like Final Fantasy XIV does

Q3: WHY DID YOU START WRITING THIS CHARACTER?:

• Because she wanted to share her adventures?

Q4: WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS CHARACTER?:

• At first I wanted to create ME in a Final Fantasy game. But once I learned about the lore, and role playing, Kaoru became her own person (after a hot mess of a Phantasia phase) and now she is, though she is a culmination of my aesthetic preferences.

Q5: DESCRIBE THE BIGGEST THING YOU DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR MUSE:

• Well, having grown up with Alphinaud and Alisaie, she feels like she has a need to protect them. Even when they don't need it. She's dependent on her position as a somewhat aide to the Leveilleur Twins and their family that it prevents her from fully establishing herself independently. It causes alot of issues for her and the people she's close to, including the twins.

Q6: WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN COMMON WITH YOUR MUSE?:

• The mother hen instinct I guess is something we both share. Every place I work, they call me a mom despite me being super young. I always am there to help or listen to anyone's problems. And I always try to look out for my friends and colleagues. That's something that Kaoru ended up getting from me. That and her being directionally challenged. I get lost ALL the time.

Q7: HOW DOES YOUR MUSE FEEL ABOUT YOU?:

• I feel like Kaoru would be a bit cautious around me at first, but warm up to me when I try to listen to her and help her. She likes those types of people who are willing to help others.

Q8: WHAT CHARACTERS DOES YOUR MUSE HAVE INTERESTING INTERACTIONS WITH?

• Aside from obviously the Leveilleur Twins:

- Hope Gallant: Her best friend (@louderthanthedj )

- Tius Mason: my "alt" and sometimes her boyfriend, depending on who's chronicle you're reading

- G'raha Tia: Was always a great friend of Kaoru's and even a possible romantic interest that had mutual feelings for Kaoru *new* (even now)

- Arenvald Larentius: Since his joining the Scions, she's gotten closer and closer to him and now they've got a healthy and fulfilling friendship.

Q9: WHAT GIVES YOU INSPIRATION TO WRITE YOUR MUSE?

• Basically, I think of cool story scenarios I'd love to put a FFXIV spin on featuring my character and the beautiful Hope Gallant @louderthanthedj

Q10: HOW LONG DID THIS TAKE YOU TO COMPLETE?:

A couple of days since I work a crap ton and my internet is poopy.

==========

Tagged by: @louderthanthedj

Tagging: @ranier-layarte @avwalya @rhymingteelookatme @lyllyan-weiss @scholarlostintime @fyrielle

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

a pal and a confidant

Fandom: Supergirl Rating: T Pairing(s): None Summary: Director Danvers and Supergirl might not be sisters anymore, but maybe they can be friends. A/N:This isn’t k*lex. If I see anybody tag it as such? Yer blocked.

...

Kara hisses, experimentally probing the cut for the umpteenth time only to confirm what she already knows.

Yeah. There's Kryptonite in there.

Off-brand Kryptonite. Kara would laugh if it didn't hurt to do so. Ever since the aerosol Kryptonite stunt pulled by Otis and Mercy, there's been an uptick in Green-K knock-offs. Very few have been potent enough to have any sort of discernible damage, and Kara has to admit, the look of shock on a would-be assailant's face as she shrugs off the glowing rock is pretty satisfying.

This batch, though.

She takes a deep breath, tipping her head back against the cool brick of the semi-abandoned warehouse. She experimentally narrows her eyes, trying to engage her x-ray vision. It...works? Maybe? She's dizzy; the image of the interior of the building across the way tilts and wavers out of focus. But that could just be the result of the pain.

She takes another deep breath and wonders if she should test something else, like strength or flight, but the prospect of falling several stories onto hard concrete is...very unappealing.

Maybe I can...take it out...? She steels herself, gritting her teeth as she seeks out the offending shard.

As soon as she touches it, white hot pain shoots up her side.

NOPEnopenope. She cringes, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. It's not like the Kryptonite bullet she once extracted from her arm—a single oblong object that was easy to grip and extract.

This is a weird jagged shape, lodged deep in the lower right side of her abdomen. She thinks she can probably get a decent grip on the one edge...but she might pass out before she can pull it entirely free.

And just as she wants to avoid faceplanting on concrete, she'd also like to avoid being passed out in an alleyway, with Children of Liberty and DEO Agents combing the surrounding area.

She bites back an annoyed grunt. Three weeks ago, she would've welcomed being found by the DEO retrieval team. Being safely escorted back to headquarters for some time under the solar lamps? To be treated by medical staff with actual, sterile surgical tools to extract the Kryptonite shard? Great! Perfect! Bring it on!

Now, she can't imagine being unconscious, at the mercy of Haley and her agents, for an undisclosed amount of time. Nightmarish images of waking up in a containment cell as Haley continues her witch hunt fill her mind, strengthening her resolve to steer clear of them.

Which solves the one problem, but creates another.

What is she going to do?

J'onn's office is too far, as is CatCo. She briefly considers L-Corp, but recalls the underground lab where Sam was kept, and the same sort of uneasiness that accompanied the thoughts of the DEO resurfaces. Besides. It's just as far as CatCo, back in the heart of the city.

She feels hot and nauseous. She doesn't have a lot of time here...

“—sure the scene is secure, Director Danvers, and then report back to HQ.”

“...Yes ma'am.”

Kara doesn't catch the full conversation—her ears are ringing and it's possible that the longer the Kryptonite is lodged in her side, the more her powers are affected—but it's enough to know that her sister is here, and won't be traveling back with Haley.

But she's not your sister, Kara thinks, glancing down at her uniform. Not right now, anyway. It's almost enough to make Kara reconsider. To bite the bullet, so to speak, and try to fly out to J'onn's office.

But the torn, frayed edges of the dark blue fabric—which is now closer to a deep purple—is what ultimately forces her away from the support of the brick wall, and out into the alleyway. She sways slightly, and presses a hand to the cut, not liking the pain or the unpleasant, hot stickiness on her palm.

She carefully surveys the main street, making sure to remain out of sight. There aren't as many agents as she feared—there's only a handful of them, eight at most, congregating near two nondescript black SUVs.

She spots Alex off to one side, talking to another agent. Her motorcycle is parked nearby.

A plan begins to form. A risky one, certainly, but far less risky than flying to L-Corp or handing herself over to Haley.

“Bag the rest of the evidence,” Alex is saying. The agent nods; she's essentially giving him the same instructions Haley gave her, which means she's just about ready to leave.

Kara takes a step back, and surveys the nearest building. Like most of the structures in the area, it's brick. Flat roof, two stories.

She hastily runs the numbers in her head—she won't be able to clear it, necessarily. Not in her current weakened, rapidly-de-powering state. But then, she doesn't want to clear it. She just needs a better vantage point.

This is gonna hurt, she sighs, gathering the last vestiges of her strength.

She jumps.

And just barely clears the roof line. She does land on her feet...and then almost immediately drops to her knees with a pained wheeze. Her side is on fire, and she's sure she's just buried the Kryptonite shard deeper.

She hears the motorcycle rev on the street below. Panting with effort, she forces herself to the far side of the roof, and just as she thought, Alex is leaving the scene, turning down...Cypress? Mission?

It doesn't matter—it's a street within jumping distance.

...She hopes.

Even as the world tips dangerously to one side, and something...pulls, distressingly so, in her side, Kara still takes several steps back and leaps once more, praying to Rao that she's guessed mostly right.

She lands in the middle of the darkened street. The asphalt gives a little, because she's misjudged the force, and resulting uneven surface forces her off balance. She almost pulls that aforementioned concrete faceplant.  

That, though, is the least of her concerns, as Alex barrels towards her on her bike.

The glare of the headlights is blinding; she's too weak to move. The jump took every last ounce of powers and strength she had. If Alex hits her...it's not going to be good.

She sluggishly brings up an arm to...what? Cushion the blow of a four hundred pound Ducati?

The tires screech, and the bike swerves to one side, perilously close. Kara flinches, but all she can feel is a slight back draft.

She wheezes with relief, physically sagging as the bike's engine cuts out. Kara hears Alex's helmet being tossed to one side, landing with a sharp CRACK on the pavement.

“What the hell—!” she starts to shout, but it tapers off as she gets closer to Kara.

Kara, who is currently on her knees and very nearly bent completely in half as her entire right side throbs. “Um. Sorry,” she says. “Didn't mean...to get so close...”

Alex's eyes are wide with shock and confusion. “What hap—” she starts to say, only to change her mind. “Stay here,” Alex commands, and Kara panics a little as she turns to run back to her bike and, presumably, the other agents.

“No!” Kara rasps. Alex keeps hurrying to the bike. Kara tries again, “You can't—Director Danvers!”

Her voice is firmer. Stronger. Alex stops. “I don't...” Kara pauses. Partially because she's a little breathless, and partially because she has to be careful here. She has to get Alex on her side. Kara doesn't really know what's survived, in terms of Alex's memories of Supergirl—she's not sure even J'onn knows, given how deeply entrenched they were in Alex's psyche—so it's not like she can reliably say, hey, remember that time you helped me out after that brush with Kryptonite poisoning?

It hurts to imagine Alex being ambivalent about the K-Radiation and anti-Kryptonite suit—and, more importantly, dwelling on it is unproductive.

So she thinks instead about...about the DEO, actually, and about all the irate venting Alex's been doing, lately.

“I don't trust Haley,” Kara says. “I need help...and I don't trust Haley.”

She can't see straight and she's barely conscious, but she can see the blurry shape of Alex caught between her slumped form and the bike. She's considering what Kara has said, and Kara knows she's got her.

She's feeling pretty smug about it. She's never been on the 'enemy' side of ‘the enemy of my enemy...is my friend.’ It feels kinda...badass. She smiles. Or...is she actually smiling? She can't feel her face.

“Damn it,” she can hear Alex mutter. She's vaguely aware of her arm being thrown over Alex's shoulder, and being awkwardly lifted-and-or-dragged to the motorcycle...

But then she's out.

And then she's not, when shockingly cold water is tossed on her face.

Kara sputters awake, irritated (thanks to the water) and still in pain (presumably, thanks to the Kryptonite still in her side.)

“Don't move.”

It's Alex, her voice gruff and close by. Kara blinks the water from her eyes, and turns to see her sister seated on one of the bar stools in her apartment, slightly hunched, examining her injury.

“Am I...” the words scrape over Kara's dry throat, “on—a table?” She almost says your table, but catches herself. Supergirl's not supposed to know this is Alex's apartment.

“I didn't want you bleeding on my couch,” Alex tells her. And Kara has to admit...that’s fair. “I don't have any equipment here, just basic first aid supplies.” She finally looks at Kara. Her expression is hard. “It's going to be...messy.”

Kara gives a halting nod. She understands, but. She's not looking forward to it.

Alex nods back—sharp and sure. She disappears from Kara's view, and seconds later, Kara can hear the kitchen faucet running.

Kara let's her head fall back on what is definitely Alex's dining room table. She can feel the woven table runner, functioning as a kind of makeshift pillow.

Alex eventually reappears—she's still in her DEO gear, but her magnet gloves have been swapped out with bright blue latex. A plastic box with a bright red cross on the side sits at the far end of the table.

“Will this work on you?” Kara turns her head to see a bottle of alcohol in Alex's grip. She can't read the label—everything's going a little fuzzy again.

“Uh...” She's certain she doesn't have her powers, so the answer is probably yes. But as she glances down at her side, and sees her hand resting on the table, she notices the bright green glow of Kryptonite poisoning.

Is it a good idea, to mix alcohol and Green-K?

“Yeah,” she says, ultimately deciding that she'd rather risk it, than be aware during what's about to transpire. She weakly accepts the bottle, and gets a good look at the green veins snaking down the back of her hand.

Not good.

She takes a swig, and promptly coughs it up, unprepared for the burn.

Alex rolls her eyes in annoyance.

“You're wasting a very expensive bottle of vodka,” she says. Kara squints at the label. Alex doesn't typically buy vodka...

And then it occurs to her that she bought this for Alex. A gift for being promoted to 'Director' several months back. 

(She’s not sure if she should feel grateful, that Alex is using it for this, or a little offended.) 

“Sorry,” she croaks, and does her best to keep it down the second time.

She does. She takes another prolonged gulp.

“Alright,” Alex grabs it before she can take a third, “that's enough.”

“Sorry,” she says again. “Least I didn't...waste it.”

“No,” Alex agrees, “but I needed some for this.” With very little ceremony, Alex douses Kara's side with some of the remaining liquor.

Kara's only just starting to feel the pleasant burn of the alcohol; the sting in her side is enough to make her clench her fists as she lets out a kind of pained grunt.

“It's only going to get worse,” Alex warns in a flat tone. But then, she softens, just marginally, as she explains to Kara exactly what she's going to do. Kara listens, and only manages to catch about...twenty percent?

Thirty? Twenty-four? She lets her head fall back again as she considers the numbers.

She can feel Alex poking at the cut. Kara fidgets, unconsciously tensing muscles. But her leg throbs, like it's been bruised.

“Don't move,” Alex says sternly.

“How come...my leg hurts?” Kara's words are starting to slur a little. Has she always been this sensitive to alcohol?

“...I had to bungee you to the back of my bike,” Alex admits under her breath. 

Kara blinks, and realizes that she never really considered how Alex managed to get her back here, on a motorcycle, while she was passed out.

Again, she’s not sure if she should be feeling grateful or insulted, but as she tries to imagine the scene, all she can think is that it’s...very funny.

She laughs, only to have her breath stolen away as pain flares in her side. “I said don't move.” Alex repeats, and Kara resolves to remain as still as possible.

Don't move. I can do that. I'm great at not moving...just like I'm great at stealth. Does Alex still remember that I'm really good at stealth? ...Does she know anything about Krypton?

Kara's thoughts are a jumbled mess, and she's not sure if she's out of it because of the buzz or the blood loss.

“I can't really see—it looks like—” There's a frustrated grunt. Then the scrape of the stool against hard wood. The rumble of one of the drawers in the kitchen—the junk drawer, probably, given how much rummaging follows. The drawer closes. Alex's footsteps approach. And then the soft click of a flashlight turning on, and more probing. “I think the shard's intact.”

She probably knows it blew up. Everyone knows it blew up. Does she know about the Phantom Zone?

Wait, wait. Does she know...does she remember Astra?

Of course she'd have to remember Astra. Or at least...partially remember that event...

But...Kara remembers Alex's hardened stare, back in Parthas. Her claims of Kara's invulnerability, and her denial that Kara could ever understand...could ever conceive of anything else. 

There were so many times when Kara was vulnerable. Emotionally raw, and hurting.

And Alex doesn’t remember any of that. 

Alex, who is currently saying something about pulling out a shard. Kara doesn't care, she's too busy thinking her frenzied, distressed thoughts. Everything she'd talked about with J'onn becomes far too real, as she stares at Alex's ceiling; Alex, who regards her as a complete and total stranger.

Kara feels a sudden tug. Her nerve endings seize.

And then she's out again.

When she awakens the second time, she's still on the table, but Alex's apartment is dark, and Alex is nowhere to be found.

It takes much longer to rouse herself without the aid of the cold water, but eventually, her vision steadies, and there's a distinct soreness that runs...the entire length of her body, really. But the sharp, stabbing pain of the cut and the all-over burn of the Kryptonite are both gone.

She shifts experimentally—both to test her side, and to see if maybe Alex is asleep in bed, or on the couch.

She isn't. Kara sluggishly attempts to reason on why that could be...did she go back to the DEO? Maybe...Kara vaguely remembers something about...Haley? Something about Haley...and then, of course, the impromptu game of Operation, wherein she was the poor schmuck under the knife.

Her temple throbs. Right. A game of Operation, with a side of very expensive, very potent vodka. She runs a hand over the ruined portion of her uniform, noting the presence of a bandage and again marvels at the fact that she can barely feel any pain. Alex did a really good job, all things considered.  

But there's the headache to keep in mind; without the DEO solar lamps, her powers are taking their dear, sweet time coming back.

Stupid Kryptonite, she thinks. Stupid Haley. Stupid DEO. She wonders if she's maybe a little hungover.

Long minutes tick by, and still, no Alex. Kara drums her fingers against the table top. She's not at one-hundred percent, but she has just enough energy to be a little restless.

Maybe she should just...leave.

She turns the thought over in her mind. That feels...wrong, somehow.

Wrong to Kara Danvers, she reminds herself. But maybe Supergirl should take off, before Director Danvers comes back and grouches at her some more.

Slowly, slowly, Kara leverages herself into a sitting position, with the intent of slipping out of one of the windows, and flying back to her apartment. Slowly, slowly, she turns herself around, swinging her legs off the table.

So far, so good.

...Except for the nausea that wells up in the back of her throat.

Not a big deal, she decides, as that sort of thing usually passes.

...But not this time, apparently.

Which sends her scrambling to the kitchen, ignoring as her side screams at her to stop. Mercifully, she reaches the garbage can in time, emptying the meager contents of her stomach into the bin.

Ugh. Gross.

She braces her hands on the sink, leaning over it, waiting for the feeling to pass.

And, of course, it's in the midst of this...delightful display...that Alex should suddenly reappear.

“How did you know where the trash was?”

Kara looks up, startled. She hadn't heard the front door. Alex is glaring at her, apparently back from an early morning jog, if the windbreaker and Nikes are anything to go by.

“...X-Ray vision,” Kara lies.

“So you've recovered your powers?” Alex counters, looking skeptical.

She briefly considers sticking to her story, but worries that Alex might call her bluff. Ask her to...crush a brick with her bare hands, or something.

She ducks her head sheepishly. “...It was a lucky guess, actually.” It's still a lie, but it's one that Alex appears ready to accept.

“I guess I'm grateful you found it,” she mutters. “...But get out of my kitchen.”

“...Right. Sorry,” Kara hobbles back to the table, dropping into one of the chairs—it seems like a closer, easier alternative to the table itself. “Um.” Kara doesn't know what to say; should she apologize again for trespassing in the kitchen? Ask how the jog went? “I'm...guessing...you got all the Kryptonite out?”

Alex nods, but says nothing else, refusing to elaborate.

Kara offers a flustered follow up, unprepared for the nonverbal response. “I...um,” she pauses. “...thank you.” It's the first thing that comes to mind, and it sparks a reaction in Alex. She raises her eyebrows. In...surprise? “Really. I didn't...” she breathes out sharply through her nose, “...I didn't have anywhere else to go.”

Alex narrows her eyes once more and crosses her arms, physically closing herself off from the gratitude. Kara bites back a disappointed sigh.

But after a moment, Alex shifts somewhat uncomfortably, looking at the floor. Her mouth pulls to one side, in a manner Kara immediately recognizes as 'begrudging acceptance.'

“...Well I sincerely doubt that, but. You're welcome.”

It should be sad, that that's the nicest thing her sister has said to her alter ego in weeks, but Kara's too busy beaming at this development.

There's a lengthy, awkward pause that follows. And Kara doesn't immediately catch it, as she feels fairly comfortable, seated there, in Alex's apartment, smiling like a goofball.

Alex, though, is tense, looking at her somewhat expectantly. And it's only then that Kara realizes that while it's not a problem for Kara Danvers to hang out here, Supergirl has very much overstayed her welcome.

“Oh, I—” Kara clears her throat. “I guess I should go.” She stands to leave, when a fresh wave of nausea hits.

And she must look flushed, as she desperately glances as Alex, because she's already rolling her eyes, waving her towards the kitchen.

“Go, go,” she insists, and Kara rushes back to the garbage can. “Didn't realize Supergirl was such a lightweight,” she grumbles, just loud enough for Kara to hear between gags.

It's not as bad, this time around, because there's not much left to heave up. Once she's finished, she unsteadily makes her way back to the chair, and is surprised to see that Alex has moved it closer to the window, and that her sister is in the process of opening the blinds.

“Sit,” she says simply. When Kara stares at her blankly, she huffs. “You need sunlight to recover, right? So.” She gestures towards the now-open window. “Sunlight.”

“...Thanks,” Kara says, and does as she's told. “I'll...I won't stay long, I promise. Just a few minutes to ease the nausea—”

“No, don't—Just. Sit there.” Alex holds up a hand, making a kind of 'stay put' gesture. “I don't want any more messes to clean up, you already ruined one of my tablecloths.”

“Sorry.”

“And stop apologizing, God.”

“Sor—” Alex shoots her a mercurial glare, “—okay.”

Alex sighs, and runs a hand through her short hair, before moving towards her bedroom. Kara allows her attention to drift a little, not wanting to make this any weirder for Alex, even though this totally wouldn't be weird under normal, pre-memory-wipe circumstances.

Kara silently curses Haley, eyes drifting shut as she relaxes under the soft, warm light of the early morning sunrise.

She can distantly hear Alex opening and closing drawers, cabinets. Probably getting ready for the rest of the day.

She drifts off a bit, after that, only to be shaken out of sleep by her boot vibrating.

“Wzzzt?” She pitches forward. “Wzz...oh.” It's her phone.

She starts to reach for it, wondering who would be calling her at this hour. She turns to look at the clock on Alex's mantle, startled to see Alex standing in the living room area. She's turned away, facing the TV, one hand on her hip, the other holding her phone.

Huh, that's funny, that she's on the phone too—

Kara freezes, eyeing the buzzing phone in her boot.

Alex is still turned away; she carefully extracts the device and checks the glowing screen.

ALEX CALLING.

Kara's just about to shove the phone back into her boot when Alex turns.

Kara hurriedly mimes pressing the 'answer' button, nearly dropping the phone in the process.

“Uh...hello? I mean. Ah. Hello.” She makes sure to hit the 'send to voicemail' option as discreetly as possible. “...I, uh. Right. Yes. I'll be there...shortly. To do that...thing, we agreed to...do.”

She pretends to end the call, watching as Alex does the same.

“That was, uh, a...colleague,” Kara feels like she has to really sell the ruse. “Another...superhero. We have, ah...a thing? To do, so. I...I should really go.”

Alex is clearly both unimpressed and unconvinced by the rambling, but doesn’t care enough to question her further. She just nods.

“Right,” she says, all business. “Just. If your powers don't come back right away, you'll need to change the bandage. And clean it—obviously, we were short on supplies, so it's not my best work...”

“I will. Promise,” Kara says with a smile and a nod. “Thanks again, Director Danvers.”

She moves past Alex, headed for the front door. As she does so, her sister sighs.

“I think...in light of the whole...late night, emergency surgery thing...” she says, “you can call me Alex.”

Kara has one hand on the doorknob, but she pauses, and looks back over her shoulder.

“...Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Alex says, but hurriedly adds, “In the field, though, it’s still ‘Director Danvers.’”

Kara looks at the living room rug. “So...does this mean we're friends now?”

Alex rolls her eyes again.

“Don't push it,” she says. “We're friendly. Not friends.”

Kara narrows her eyes dramatically.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Because...I mean. I'm pretty sure I remember some mutual bonding over our hatred of Haley.”

“There was no bonding, you were drunk.”

“We could make a dartboard with her photo!”

“You're feeling better, obviously. You can leave, now.”

“Seriously. I'll pay for the darts.”

And, Kara knows Alex is fighting it, but she can see her smile, even as she puts her hands on her hips and attempts to be mean.

“Who knew Supergirl was such a giant dork, geez,” she exclaims, nudging Kara aside and grabbing the door. “You're worse than my sister.”

At which point, Kara is politely, if also somewhat physically, kicked out of Alex's apartment, but she can hear her sister still snickering behind the door.

Kara smiles as she makes her way to the stairwell at the end of the hall.

“Oh yeah. Definitely friends.”

NOTES:

- I think it’s clear I know nothing about emergency medicine OR alcohol. In spite of being related to individuals who are very familiar with both. - Title from Andrew Gold’s “Thank You for Being a Friend” 

[mind-reader1]

Queen of Hearts (Ch.9)

Drake x MC (Emma Barnes)

TRR AU: What would happen if Emma loved Drake but had to marry Liam?

Catch up here

Warnings: None. Pure Fluff 

Note: If you’d like to be added to the tag list let me know! Also I love talking with you guys about the chapters and story to please don’t be afraid to tell me what you thought! :) 

Word Count:  2735

Summary: The first stop on the engagement tour is Fydelia, Madeline’s home! Will she be able to recruit her as a press secretary and Madeleine’s family’s support? Emma and Drake find a moment to themselves and she tries her best to teach him the waltz.

Chapter 9: I don’t Dance (Lee Brice)

I’ll never settle down, That’s what I always thought Yeah, I was that kind of man, Just ask anyone

I don’t dance, but here I am Spinning you around and around in circles It ain’t my style, but I don’t care I’d do anything with you anywhere Yes, you got me in the palm of your hand girl 'Cause, I don’t dance

Love’s never come my way, I’ve never been this far 'Cause you took these two left feet And waltzed away with my heart

Once he cleared the hall she went back into her room and started packing, it was the first day of the unity tour. She had just finished packing when there was a knock on the door.

“Maxwe- Bertrand?” She was surprised to see the elder Beaumont at her door. Now she was really glad that she had made Drake leave.

“I'm glad to see you're already packed and ready. Today is a very important day, it's the first stop on the unity tour.”

“Where are we going exactly?”

“Fydelia.” Emma laughed and looked at Bertrand whose expression didn't change.

“Good one, where are we really going?”

“We're going to Fydelia. It's an important stop, even more important since it's the first. It shows that you, Madeleine and Liam can put aside your differences and get along, and we're going to be recruiting Madeleine as your new press secretary.” Emma felt like she had walked into a nightmare.

Later that day in the boutique with Bertrand and Maxwell, Emma still hadn't wrapped her head around the idea.

“Of all the press secretaries in Europe, why does it have to be Madeleine?” Emma was getting desperate, she was willing to beg and grovel if it meant she didn't have to recruit Madeleine, her least favorite person in Cordonia.

“As you know Justin isn't an option because he was injured and is still in the hospital, he recommended Madeleine though. He was impressed by the way she handled the press during her brief engagement to Liam.”

“You have to admit she did manage to spin everything in a favorable manner.” Emma shot Maxwell a look, he was not helping her case. Maxwell being Maxwell however, took it in stride, he'd rather have Emma be upset with him for a few minutes than have Bertrand lecturing him about the impending doom of House Beaumont.

“If I must. I suppose it will be good to have her evil, snake charming powers working for me rather than against me.”

“Yes! The unlikely hero-villain team up against a greater threat.” Maxwell grinned.

“Exactly. She still holds much influence at court and is frankly far greater an asset than enemy.” Emma really couldn't argue with that, even if she tried it would be futile, Bertrand had made up his mind.

“This is all assuming we can convince her to help me. We never exactly had a close relationship, especially after everything that happened.”

“Precisely why you will need every advantage you can get, and why we are here.”

“A dress with the color of Madeleine and Adelaide's house. A dress as green as her envy towards you and as black as her shriveled heart.” With a flourish Maxwell pulled a dress off the rack. Emma grabbed the dress and slipped into the changing room. It was a club style dress, tight fighting so it hugged her curves but a halter, so it wouldn't slip while she was dancing. It appeared to be black with a patterned green lace over it, some of which extended past the end, just long enough to be classy. It was beautiful, as always.

“Don't forget this isn't only about Madeleine, you also must convince Adelaide to attend the wedding.” Emma brushed off Bertrand's concern.

“Adelaide won't take any convincing, if there's a party she's there.”

“Yes, but you will also need the support of Adelaide's husband, Madeleine's father which will be far more difficult.” Emma raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Adelaide is married?”

“Duke Godfrey doesn't reside in Cordonia. He spends most of his time in England at his duchy.”

“The rumors at court are that Adelaide and Godfrey don't exactly get along.” Maxwell whispered as if someone may overhear.

“Which means his attendance at your wedding will be so important and hold a lot of sway, further into this tour.”

“So, do the impossible. Sounds like a normal day at this point.”

That evening Emma approached Madeleine's estate with her friends, but she hung back as they gushed over it, not feeling in much of a party mood.

“What's on your mind Barnes?” Drake fell into step beside her.

“What do you know about Godfrey and his relationship with Adelaide?” Drake sighed.

“Not much. Married for political reasons, as far as nobles go, he's as uptight and pretentious as they come. All he cares about is titles. My least favorite kind of noble.”

“Well I guess I have my work cut out for me then.”

“If anyone can do it Barnes, it's you.” Emma reached over and squeezed his hand, releasing it before they entered the ballroom which was…surprisingly empty.

“Wow, this place is like a ghost town.”

“Father mentioned that there would be a lot turn out. Fear is still high along the nobles after the attack on the palace and more recently the video.”

“They're afraid to be seen supporting the monarchy.” Drake scowled. He hated the idea that his best friend and love of his life had to put their lives in danger while the other nobles hid like the cowards he always thought they were. Scanning the room, Emma saw Adelaide speaking with Constantine and Regina, and a man with white hair, a permanent scowl on his face who she assumed was Godfrey as he took a seat right next to Adelaide.

“You'll win then over though, you always do. It's like magic!” Maxwell inserted himself into the conversation.

“It'll be easier to talk to them alone though.” Emma noticed Madeleine on the other side of the room, clearly not interested in the party. She approached Madeleine who properly greeted her for the sake of tradition.

“You've been greeted, could you leave me alone now, for once?”

“Actually, I needed to speak to you about something, an opportunity for you.”

“I'm sure it's of no interest to me.” Madeleine tried to leave.

“I want you to be my press secretary on this upcoming tour.” Madeleine stopped and turned, a satisfied smirk on her face.

“I knew it. You've come crawling back to me, begging for help because you've dug yourself too deep into a hole. Good luck getting yourself out. I'll be sitting at the top watching.” Madeleine hissed, and this time didn't stop as she walked away from her. Emma explained what happened to her friends and they decided to take a break. While they were getting some food, Drake accidentally bumped into Neville. Emma couldn't help but roll her eyes as she approached, he was amongst her least favorite people. He droned on and on while still managing to find a way to insult them all. Drake stepped in to defend Emma, some part of her loved that Drake would defend her even if publicly she was with Liam, but another part wanted to be able to elevate Drakes status so people like Neville would leave him alone. When Neville had the audacity to compare Drake to a dog she could see him losing it, Emma almost lost control of her own temper, it took all of her will power not to.

“He's not worth it Drake.” She whispered in his ear. As much as he hated Neville, he couldn't make things more difficult for her or his best friend and so he backed off, Emma was right. Drake had a feeling that Neville would get what was coming to him, even if that day wasn't today.

“We still need his support though. We need all the nobles we can get.” Hana said. The idea that Drake would have to watch Emma get married to Liam, knowing Neville would be in the crowd to mock him made his anger spike again. He needed a moment to himself and so he made a beeline for outside, hoping he wouldn't be followed. He turned when he heard soft footsteps, relieved to see it was only Emma.

“I'm sorry, I just needed some fresh air. I couldn't let my anger get the best of me. He was right, if I do something rash it only hurts you and Liam.” Emma gave him a sympathetic smile.

“For the record, I want to punch him too.” Drake chuckled.

“I don't suppose there's a metaphorical way I could punch him.”

“Maybe if you knew what fork was for what purpose.” Drake smirked.

“Guy like him, he'd know all that stuff. I did have one idea though.” Emma raised her eyebrows at him.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, something you could help me with.”

“What would that be?”

“Don't make me say it Barnes. You know what I'm talking about.” Emma really had no idea though, she shrugged.

“Dancing. Maybe you could teach me some fancy court dances.” Emma grinned.

“The Drake Walker is asking for dancing lessons?”

“I know. Can you help me or not Barnes?” Emma smiled and grabbed Drake's hands.

“Let's start.” He led her to a secluded part of the gardens under an arch filled with twinkling lights.

“Why dancing?” Drake sighed.

“We'll be going to a lot of balls, dancing is usually involved.”

“Neville got to you. Fuck what he thinks Drake.”

“It's not just Neville. I want to do this for you! For Liam! You guys need all the support you can get, and I can't be just the commoner friend who sticks around, I need to show them that I'm an asset.”

“Drake you don't need to change. You don't need to earn their respect to be helpful. I could never ask you to change for me.” He lifted her chin gently.

“I want to Barnes.”

“I love you Drake. Despite what anyone else thinks.” Drake kissed her gently and smiled.

“Okay, where do we start?”

“What do you know?”

“You know me Barnes, I don't dance. I know the starting position and that's it.”

“Let's start there then!” Drake gently placed his hand on her waist and grabbed her other hand with his, holding it out. She put her hand on his shoulder and slowly began gliding him through box steps, as she sped up, he struggled to keep up with her. His footwork became sloppy, almost stomping on her toes. Drake sighed in frustration, breaking hold.

“This is hard. You always make it look so effortless.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“That's because I'm not stomping like I'm part of some military marching band, you need to glide. Your movements need to flow together rather than stiff, and individual.” Drake just stared at her like she was speaking another language.

“Imagine you're dancing on glasses of whiskey, every time you stomp you break a glass.” Drake gasped.

“That's a tragedy Barnes.”

“Then I guess you better learn to glide.” It only took Drake a few more steps to finally learn to glide.

“Am I good? A perfect dancer now?” Emma smiled and shook her head.

“You still need to correct your frame, you have to hold it at all times.” Emma waited for Drake to find the correct frame.

“When you hold your frame, it helps your partner react to your movements accordingly.”

“Like this?” Emma pretended to be checking over Drake's frame and snuck in for a kiss. Drake immediately broke hold, falling into the kiss before pulling away.

“That's not the next move.” Emma giggled.

“You don't know that. You said yourself you don't know anything about dancing.”

“I've been around court for years Barnes, nobles don't go around kissing each other. That was a cheap move.” She winked.

“You loved it though. Anyways, my point was that you need to be able to focus through distractions. Your partner is trusting you to lead them through the dance, especially this next step.” Emma demonstrated and explained the next step before Drake took his place with her. Drake glided forward, and Emma took a step back, spinning under Drake's arm.

“What's the last step?” Emma grinned and jumped into Drake's arms, catching him off guard. She wrapped her arms around his neck and enjoyed the quiet moment together.

“As much I love this, what's the real move?”

“A simple spin.” Drake began twirling and Emma giggled until he lost his balance and they tumbled into the bushes.

“Aah!” Drake hissed and grabbed his shoulder. Emma rolled off him and looked at him, worried.

“Drake I'm sorry! Are you okay?” He nodded and let out a deep breath.

“I'm fine.” He pulled Emma back on top of him who wasn't convinced.

“Your shoulder, Drake.” He silenced her by kissing her. Her protests immediately stopped as his tongue slipped into her mouth.

“Drake? Emma!” Maxwell's voice forced them apart just as Drake's hand began wandering up her dress.

“We've been gone too long.” She whispered. Drake sighed and helped her up.

“Right here Maxwell.” They brushed each other off and stepped out from the gardens.

“What were you doing out here?” He looked them up and down.

“I was teaching Drake to dance.” Maxwell clearly didn't buy it.

“She was Maxwell.” Everyone dropped the subject.

“Thanks Barnes. I never wanted to learn because I didn't want court to change me. You've done it all though, you're going to be queen, but you're still the New York waitress that I fell in love with. If you can do it, then so can I. For Liam, for Cordonia, for you.” He gave her a meaningful look and she returned it, walking back inside to the ball behind Maxwell.

“Lady Emma!”

“Bertrand!” She mocked his rushed tone and waited for him to explain.

“I've been looking everywhere for you. Adelaide and Godfrey are alone, you should talk to them now.” Emma made her way over to Adelaide and tried to recruit her with no luck, she also had no luck with Godfrey, but she was able to figure out why everyone was so tense. It was something at least, she needed to talk to Madeleine again though, Bertrand would be furious if she didn't recruit her.

“Any luck?” Hana asked. Emma shook her head.

“I need to talk to Madeleine again, I know what's bothering them all.”

“I think that's going to have to wait.” Emma followed Maxwell's gaze to where Neville was asking Madeleine to dance. Emma's lips curled into a smile, Liam was nowhere to been seen.

“Let's show them how it's done Drake.” He looked at her wide-eyed and shook his head. “You want to give him the courtly middle finger, this is how you do it. You've got this.” Emma grabbed his hand and dragged him on to the dance floor. Drake took one look at Neville and his demeanor changed, he deftly began guiding Emma through the steps. She looked over her shoulder and saw him scowling at them, Emma turned back to Drake and grinned.

“We're definitely getting to him.”

“Guess he can't handle a little competition.” Neville grew increasingly showy, twirling Madeleine and gliding her across the dance floor, his scowl never leaving them.

“I think he's going to do something big. Can you do a lift?” Emma looked at Drake and was genuinely concerned, she wasn't going to ask him to do something that would hurt him. He nodded and met her gaze, he could do it. As the music crested, Drake lifted Emma by her waist and spun her as she threw her arms back, he gently set her down as the music stopped.

“That was amazing Drake!” Emma wrapped her arms around him and laughed as their friends rushed over.

“I guess she really was teaching you to dance. Stop holding out on me Drake!”

“Where'd you learn to do that Drake?” Hana joined them as Neville stormed over. Again, he tried to pick a fight with Drake and the others.

“Just because you did one waltz doesn't mean you belong here with us.”

“Why are you so threatened by Drake? It it because you know that no matter what you do in your sniveling life you'll never be as good as the commoner who took a bullet for the future queen.” Emma got in Neville's face and he took a step back sneering.

“That's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard.”

“Really? Then why are you running with your tail tucked between your legs?” Neville huffed and walked off, at a loss of words.

“Thanks Barnes.” Before Emma could say anymore, she heard a commotion and turned to see what it was. Madeleine and her parents had begun arguing in raised voices.

Tag List:  @notoriouscs @sleepwalkingelite @brightpinkpeppercorn @ooo-barff-ooo @princesstopgun @choicesyouplayandmore @leelee10898@roonarific @indigo39 @skyila @speedyoperarascalparty @andy-loves-corgis @furiousherringoperatortoad @blackwidow2721 @drakewalkerfics@findingdrake @sue9659 @smritysriv

[elizabethrobertajones]

I'm not saying you agree with that TLJ article since you tagged it 'mh', but I'm very worried but this latest trend 'Your opinion is wrong because of internalized ___'. Some movies just suck? Like, I hated Ghostbusters 2 because it was bad. I was perfectly okay with having four women as main characters, but that can't be your whole idea for a movie.

I do think that article is interesting, and trying to describe what is basically a wider cultural phenomenon. I’m sure on case by case basis you could rarely boil it down to just a few specific factors and “diagnose” someone except for really obvious lifelong character types who would be in the most obvious demographic. 

Star Wars *already* got a bunch of sexist and racist backlash before TFA, so it’s already in the bracket of movies which got thrown together as the collection of SJWs are ruining our childhood movies like Mad Max, Ghostbusters, etc, so it’s also definitely not like this is a wild stab in the dark that it has pre-existing tension, although in this case the reaction is still really split. But I can see why it’s easy to examine it this way and analyse where it might make people uncomfortable, and wonder to what degree people are prepared to let go of Leading White Man formula for mega blockbusters. 

Something like Wonder Woman, people know what they’re getting into when they see it in the sense that the franchise is completely built around there being a female character in the lead role. So that stands quite alone. And it’s not like there haven’t been action movies with female leads in the past either, but the re-casting in the case of Ghostbusters, or just development of interesting female characters who aren’t beholden to a cookie cutter template/romance arc within a supposedly male-dominated franchise (Furiosa, especially) and changing up old franchises to have more diverse cast (Star Wars) or just completely flip the “male is the default” idea like Ghostbusters and Oceans 8, are deliberately challenging and in some cases - the last 2 especially - are pretty much thumbing the nose to the idea of all-male casts being unremarkable and default. Whether the movies are *good* or not (I thought Ghostbusters was about on the level of, say, a Ghostbusters movie for quality and humour, so okay basically :P) they’re culturally significant at a time when it seems both bizarre and horrifically slow and backwards that we *still* don’t have *even just getting male and female representation right, never mind race and sexuality and disability representation* (I mean for that last point - in some ways these films are already going to be regressive by the time other progressive steps are made, for example Charlize Theron wearing a green screen glove to delete her arm, instead of just hiring an actress with half an arm which is the immediately less-expensive and fiddly route to get the aesthetic…)

But idk, it’s not even like Star Wars was either perfect or extremely progressive, it just managed *not* to have 2-3 white male leads + some other people in the background, and to allow the non white male people to have such a stake in the story they could mess up and make decisions that affected the fate of the galaxy - often negatively, as this is the ESB slot of the trilogy aka where everything is supposed to go in the toilet. There was a lot they could have done better and I’m still annoyed that Maz and Phasma both got pitifully tiny roles but were basically included despite the set up of the movie being extremely restrictive to much exploration and with probably the longest time limit they thought they could allow themselves and still sound like there were any tension in the chase… 

I think it’s definitely always worth exploring whether social issues are having an impact on the reception of a film, though, because it’s a way of addressing the issues in our society, which we *know* exist, and when a film is openly critical of our society, and then people are critical back at it, guessing there may be a nervous backlash from people it made uncomfortable for too-close-to-home reasons makes sense. The critique offered by Kylo Ren to edgy white masculinity is really interesting, and I think it’s probably not hard to imagine SOME people especially who fit the profile are reacting against him, or glorifying him anyway unironically while disliking large amounts of the rest of the movie. 

One of the points that article made as well was that other generic or bad films do much better with audience reaction - in fact some truly terrible films do really well as they’re marketed to a niche audience, and that audience gobbles them up and we get the inverse, of critically panned but audience ratings pretty high.

I mean, I’m assuming if you follow me you’re a Supernatural fan and so we’re all here to gobble up the melodramatic pretty boys :P

So, idk, I think in some ways the picking apart of the film and emphasising its flaws is happening in a strange social climate, where in some ways the discomfort about the film not catering with the most “easy” empathy of a white male main character & with flawed but interesting characters in the other roles particularly prone to being criticised in society for existing anyway and that the SW revival has already had one film threatened boycott over because of Finn being a black stormtrooper on his reveal, and I doubt that feeling has just magically gone away… There comes a point where I wonder how much is basically film review concern trolling when it comes to criticising his and Rose’s arc, or the film in general. 

And how much of the film’s real flaws, plotholes etc if they existed in an easier version of the film with all 4 Chrises in the major roles would take months or years to get properly dissected by the internet while it’s basically as soon as you go back online after the movie someone’s complaining about why Canto Bight even existed.

I mean my “Hm” was “this is interesting and I think it definitely could apply to the wider cultural reaction to the movies” while obviously on a personal level if people have certain standards for films (my dad hates basically *everything* so I don’t think his reaction to TFA was categorically racist or sexist, just that he would be inclined to think pretty much anything JJ Abrams makes is garbage and whoops I never should have naively made him watch the first episode of Fringe with me :P) then if any of these movies are things you can tell would have rubbed you up the wrong way anyway, e.g. you didn’t like the original Ghostbusters that much/have found it far cringey-er on adult rewatches etc then you are absolutely allowed to have a reaction to it on a personal level which is not a sign of the sickness of our society :P 

But I think even if you don’t like the new SW film, it’s worth putting aside your critiques of it for a moment to think about this article and the wider reaction - not to make you guilted into enjoying the film, but because it’s worth at least pondering the wider social issues the film’s already definitely caught up in since like, before TFA came out, so we can’t deny that there’s at least some portion of the audience, whether the loud but small group of assholes who utterly invisibly boycotted TFA, or the wider percentage of the population who’ll be consciously or unconsciously turned off by the cast and the power given to their characters in the story, and the possibly even wider percentage who may still struggle to empathise with female characters because Hollywood has so systematically underrepresented like, what can alternately be the literal largest demographic on the planet, and presented just plain old cis women as characters whose inner lives are valuable and decisions should be respected. 

I mean since I came out the movie I’ve been swinging back and forth on “should Holdo have just told Poe her plan or was the point that this man of a much lower station is getting all up in her business demanding to know and questioning her, and I assume that was intentional so I should agree with Holdo but would this have looked just as bad if a male admiral showed up doing the same thing and they accidentally undermine her by it being a bad decision in general, or is the point that if it had been a male admiral Poe would have shut up and not let an insurrection, but I mean it’s *Poe* and I love him and I totally understand and he was made out to be more sympathetic until *after* the twist so did they WANT us to be critical of Holdo or am I just falling into a trap of not giving female characters the same room to fuck up as male characters -” and that’s BEFORE I get onto the internet and read this debate for weeks, just my confusion about this arc and what it was saying and if it was meant to say one thing or the other or if it’s a bit of bad writing (but not something so bad it would ruin the film to the point of only 50% enthusiasm like Rotten Tomatoes is giving it - like, 93% or something :P) or if it’s doing exactly what it’s supposed to by making my brain cogs go and making me feel I need to write like, a dozen female admiralty into things to allow Holdo a cultural sisterhood of good bad and ugly admirals to be her own person in instead of the only female admiral to ever stick in my head like this :P So idk. 

Hm. Basically.