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fandoms-in-law · 11 months ago

Text

Different Lives

Summary: Prince Steve is being forced to go to camp by the king in an attempt to make him learn his duties. Eddie has been talked into going to camp by his band. What happens when their camp places are reversed.

Authors Note: I think this is the longest fic I've written in one day for a while. My brain is tired and you're lucky I didn't just write out conversations with no tags or indications over who was speaking cause that's how todays started off being. I could've left the camp leaders the same as in the film, yes, but Jason being trapped in the same way clive was in the film was just too funny to miss

/\/\

Steve had always expected that going to summer camp would be fun. In all the films and stories it was a reward or adventure for the kids, a good thing in the views of all children. As his mother explained going to Camp Royalty it definitely didn't sound like a good thing.“We just think this will be good for you Steve.”

“Don't coddle the boy, Alison. This camp will give you the skills to take to work and you will have to impress the people you work under because I'm not helping you more than that. This is your last chance to prove you are worthy of your title.” King Richard of course made it sound even worse than his mother had done and the only reason Steve wasn't arguing over going more was that he hoped being away from his parents he could actually make it enjoyable.

“Yes Mother and Father. I understand. I'm not going to disgrace the kingdom at summer camp.” The promise was one he'd recited a hundred times at least, practically every time he went anywhere he had to reassure them and usually still managed to fail in some way that never got explained.

“You better not.”

/\/\

It was kind of amusing to watch Gareth try to find an argument that would work. In all honesty that was the main reason Eddie wasn't already agreeing to going to Camp Rock.

“Eddie, we need a break man. Let's just try this Camp Rock and see what it's like, make friends with some new musicians.” Gareth complained. It was definitely the truth, even Eddie was feeling worn down and as if they needed more friends into music than the four of them.

Still he pointed at the calendar, and the other reason he wasn't accepting the idea immediately. Every time they changed plans and had to reschedule anything they pushed that onto him, claiming it was the front man's job to do, rather than one of theirs, or even Seymore's as their agent. “We've already booked tour dates for that week. Do you want to be in charge of rescheduling it all?!

Jeff snatched the calendar from his hands and replaced it with multiple envelopes that were clearly fan mail from the doodles on some of them. “I'll do it. Hell I bet some of our fans would thank us. There've been a few fan letters that ask if we're okay or mention how stressed our recent albums have seen.”

“Fine, fine. Guess I'm overruled. Just book the camp tickets. I'll be there.” The pout and crossed arms was easy to do, and Eddie hoped enough to get him some more leeway in what he took part in at camp.

/\/\

Steve could manage this. In fact it was better than anything he'd hoped would happen because at Camp Rock there was no Princess Nancy or her brother ready to let their parents and by connection his own anything he did that she didn't agree with. As soon as Barb offered to let him stay instead of fighting for a transfer unless Camp Royalty requested it he jumped at the choice but now he had to find a place with the Camp Rock kids and the two ladies entering the room he'd been directed to stay in.

“They're allowing mixed gender rooming now? Who are you? And why are you dressed so... so like a prat?” The first woman was immediately in his face, looking him up and down and clearly judging him.

“I'm Steve, a prince apparently caught in a system mix up which swapped my camp around.” It definitely wasn't the time to bow, or kiss her hand, but he hold his hand out to shake as he introduced himself.

While his hand was taken it was used to spin him around and carry on watching his expression. “You know what the normal people in your kingdom live like?” she asked.

“Planning to find out after camp. The King has dictated that I get a job and I'm going to do everything I can to ensure it's not one he decides. But before we carry on talking might I know the names of the lovely ladies I'm addressing?” The explanation was probably too much to share, but it at least seemed to pass whatever judgement had been directed at him

“I'm Robin, Vickie is the one still hovering in the doorway. Do you know when you have to go and save some tragic princess? Also why can't the princess be the one to save you?” Laughing at the questions was easy. Steve had heard that a lot of working people, even up to the Lords and Ladies that sometimes visited believed the fairytales were actually true.

Now he shallowly bowed, marking Robin his equal if she knew anything about bowing etiquette. “Delighted to make your acquaintance. Also, those are myths and I think the media prefer to twist any story so the man is the hero. It's annoying. Princess Nancy is far more likely to save someone than I or the commoner she's recently made the acquaintance of.” The formalities felt stilted but necessary, especially given how unusual and uncomfortable he was to realise he was indeed staying in the same room as these girls. It was a situation he'd always been warned against allowing to happen.

“Dingus, we're going to have to get those manners dropped and quick. Come gossip. Vickie, get over here and join in.” Robin used the hand she'd never dropped to drag him over to one of the beds, hand waving rapidly to beckon Vickie over.

/\/\

So far Eddie thought Lady Chrissy was pretty cool but Jason was definitely a social climbing creep to some degree. He also wondered if he could convince Gareth to book there next trip to camp to be for Camp Royalty to deliberately cause chaos here. The other campers his age had all turned away from him or iced him out of their conversations when they weren't acting too good to look where they're going and frankly Eddie would be calling them out on it if he wasn't definitely outnumbered.

Now there was another possible issue considering the room he'd been directed two had quite definitely got two children already settled as if it was their own room. Eddie might not have been to camp before but he was pretty sure they usually separated the kids and teens by age range.

“Are you sure Will is going to DM for us when we get back? Nancy only just introduced you two.” At least that sounded like the kids didn't think they were above having some normal fun.

The second kid rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, “Lucas, the Byers have been close advisors to our family for generations. They're one of our connections to our people. If Will has said he'll DM and help teach us DnD then he will.”

“Or I could. You know, when Jason told me I could stay here, I wasn't expecting to be rooming with children.” Eddie offered, alerting the pair to his presence and shaking his head at their momentary frowns over his different style to everyone else in the camp. At least they were quickly replaced by curiosity from the second kid and a serious nod from the first, seemingly called Lucas.

Lucas was the one to reply also, “It's a ridiculous supervision thing they brought in last year. Apparently if a King requests that their child learns more responsibility while at camp they're asked to supervise some of the younger campers. You however do not seem royal.”

He couldn't resist looking down at himself and circling as if to find out where the suit all the other men were wearing was before grinning, “Because I'm not. There's been a system mix-up with Camp Rock. I'm Eddie, and you are?”

“Prince Lucas and this is Prince Michael. I assume you have headphones even if you weren't informed that whichever prince you've swapped places with was acting as a kid supervisor.” Lucas countered, and Eddie definitely understood that it was as much from an assumption that Eddie would want to play his music as well as that they wouldn't be changing anything on how they behaved at camp for him.

Michael however was staring at him with the unmistakable gaze of a fan and darted to his bedside table to grab a magazine with Corroded Coffin on the cover. “You're Eddie Munson! Will you sign my magazine? Can you teach me how to play guitar? Have you ever smashed a guitar on stage? I saw it in a movie once and it looked like so much fun. Call me Mike”

“Was going to say yes, but if you're wanting to try smashing a guitar lets stick with no. Nobody gets to hurt my sweetheart.” Eddie was very quick to pick his guitar case back up and move away from Mike, smile definitely forced as he refused the request.

/\/\

“Oi! Princey! Where the hell is Eddie?” The call made Steve pause and turn from where he'd been following Robin to the dance class. Vickie was meeting them there after stopping in wardrobe for a bit.

He knew it was him being called to but had to frown at the question, trying to remember if he'd met an Eddie yet. “Who's Eddie? I'm not sure I've met an-”

The man who'd yelled was already coming closer, followed by two other guys. “The guy who is actually meant to be at this camp. Why'd you swap places with him?”

“The guy from the dock?” He guessed, remembering the person who'd bumped into him definitely had a style similar to the group he was talking to, “I think that might have been the name the doorman for Camp Royalty was calling when I was trying to get on the right ship to come to camp.”

One of the other men looked sceptical, looking Steve up and down as if he'd be able to spot a lie. “You mean you had nothing to do with this and are just as confused over why your here as Eddie definitely has over being there?”

“Guess so. I'm Steve, who are you three?” He shrugged, then held his hand out to shake, this time having it properly shook. At least Robin's reaction was a thing only she seemed to do.

“Jeff, Gareth and Grant, three quarters of Corroded Coffin since apparently our singer and lead guitar is at the wrong camp.” Jeff gestured to who he was introducing and stepped back so Gareth and grant could also shake his hand.

Since they still didn't seem entirely happy, Steve soon stepped back again, “I feel like you want me to apologise for a mistake the camps made.”

“Ah – Um, you have a point there. We're just a bit annoyed since this was meant to be a trip for us all to relax.” Gareth seemed to want to protest before nodding at his point.

A cough coming from behind him made Steve glance over his shoulder to see Robin waiting for him to follow her again. “Okay, well... Robin and Vicky have convinced me to tag along to some of the activities so I'll probably see you later?”

“Later Princey” Gareth called, turning to wherever they'd been going before again.

/\/\

Eddie had struggled to believe the unicorns were really. He'd doubted half of the things included as activities could actually be necessary for royalty to learn, but this, seeing sceptre training actually including magic was what finally made him comment on it to the kids he was basically trailing around camp. “The sceptre thing isn't just a legend? That could make for some awesome stage effects.”

“Exactly! Erica has been trying to argue that her friends should get them too but for some reason the world's countries agreed to keep this magic hoarded for the royal families.” Lucas nodded rapidly. Mike had wandered over to one of the older kids when she waved and was yet to return. Lucas didn't seem concerned by it and so far every interaction Eddie had had with the teens closer to his age had been negative at best.

“Can I try yours?” He asked with a cheeky grin.

“No you can't. The way you've latched onto the kids you're meant to supervise is unnerving some of us. What are you doing here still?” And there was Mike back again, just behind the princess pushing Eddie's hand down as if he'd have taken it from Lucas without permission.

Eddie met her gaze directly, gesturing around them. “Waiting for Lady Chrissy to get Camp Rock to transfer me mostly. Who are you and why get angry when you and all the other royals our age have scorned me to the point these two are the only half decent people here?”

“Princess Nancy. We weren't scorning you.” She seemed so certain of her words that Eddie could hold his scoff back.

Lucas looked like he would have scoffed too if he hadn't been trained differently already. “You really were, Princess Nancy. Everyone has been scowling at him, and scoffing anytime he shows his passions for music and storytelling. You keep lecturing Mike and I about not judging those who aren't in the royal life but have been doing just that ever since Eddie ended up at our camp. Are we only meant to accept the Princess Wheeler approved commoners?” He stated, clearly referring to connections that Eddie only had vague ideas about based on things Mike and Lucas had already said around him.

“Lucas, that's not true. I'm just trying to look out for you.” Nancy's tone suddenly gentled but her actions were still speaking more than loudly enough for Eddie and Lucas

“Then you should have spent time with us, with Eddie over the last 2 days, not just glared before coming over with accusations.” Lucas stated, before handing Eddie his sceptre. “This is how we do the rainbow display.” He began instructing, clearly ending the conversation with Nancy by turning his back to her.

/\/\

Eddie had tried. He had tried to get involved and join in, especially since the competition had been announced and Lady Chrissy had seemed so delighted by his singing during one of their small conversations about failing to transfer him to the correct camp. The issue was it seemed that none of the royals involved in the acapella choir was prepared to actually accept that he knew how to sing.

Eddie hadn't meant to storm away and he was sure that once he calmed down he'd go right back to keeping an eye on the last half decent royals present But for now he was walking and smiling at how much he could relate to the song he could hear.

“That's a great song.” The words left him without thinking, and it was only when the song broke of that he realised the singer was someone walking around the lake similar to himself.

“Sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone to be out here.” The singer said, one hand coming up to adjust his hair.

Eddie nodded, understanding exactly what he meant, “I know what that's like. Getting so lost in music is wonderful, especially when you're upset. Why do I recognise you?”

“Are you the man from the dock? Just before I was called for the wrong boat?” He asked in reply, squinting a little as if that would help his memory.

“And I got on the wrong boat cause Jason was yelling my name. I'm Eddie.” The agreement came easily, now smiling and holding his hand out.

It was taken and shook easily. “I'm Steve, and yeah, your band told me. Gareth apparently thought you swapped with me as a prank until I explained the mix-up.”

“Bet he wasn't the nicest before getting told that. He's only confrontational when annoyed or worried and my disappearance probably had him feeling both.” He laughed, already having imagined their reactions since he realised a prince must have ended up at Camp Rock.

Steve smiled back easily, “It wasn't so bad and we got it cleared up fairly quickly. Why are you out here?”

“A Princess Nancy has decided I'm, I don't know, grooming her brother or something. Did you know your parents had you set to be supervision for a couple of camp kids?” Eddie stated, smirking a little when Steve clearly recognised the name.

The reply confirmed that connection, with a small roll of his eyes. “No, but I can believe that. Was it Dustin or Lucas rooming with Michael? I never got told if all three were allowed to go this year.”

“Lucas. They're pretty great kids, especially with how hostile the rest of them are.” Eddie couldn't help but grin. Looking after the pair was reminding him of his days before quitting school to focus on his band when he'd try to look out for younger kids who didn't fit in.

“Royals don't much like change. It's scary if something disturbs their views of superiority over the people they rule.” Steve offered a commiserating smile.

“That explains why I'm sending them insane then.” Eddie's replying grin was full of mischief. He thought that going back to camp knowing there was at least one prince he could get along with would make getting the rest to question their views more worthwhile.

/\/\

“Metal is what we're best at.” The argument didn't seem to have a point to Steve but Grant was repeating the comment for the third time since a few of them had mentioned feeling unhappy with their song choice.

Robin was shaking her head, pulling out a board and starting to right pros and cons columns out. “It's a niche. The royals aren't going to go for it and we need the song to be liked if we're going to win.”

“Steve literally just said it was a good song.” Gareth pointed out as if that would convince her to let them stick with the Corroded Coffin song

Vickie immediately stepped up to back Robin's argument for changing songs saying, “And you started this practise claiming his songwriting was metal even if the song itself wasn't in that style. Why can't we sing one of his?”

“Robin, we're the ones who know how to rock a concert or have you forgotten how big our band actually is?” Gareth stated, gesturing between the three band members.

“Yet you're learning along with the rest of us.” Vickie stated.

Robin quickly added onto that with, “Experience does not mean you know this camp or Camp Royalty's tastes to win the competition and I'm not throwing it just because you want to play a metal song that's not even a camp original.”

“Steve, do you want us to use one of your songs for the competition?” Jeff finally sighed, looking over to him and making him blink at apparently being given the power to choose what they played.

“If you think it could help you win then sure?” He replied, uncertain if this was some sort of test, “Which one though? I've not had the chance to play much of them before.”

“Which makes it even more impressive how metal they are. The one from this morning was pretty great actually.”

“Everyone okay with that being our song choice?” Vickie asked, looking around the room.

“Agreed.” was chorused back to her.

/\/\

Eddie had actually been getting into the song. It was fun even if he'd had to fight to get them to change and only managed with with Lady Chrissy's intervention. If they wanted to win the competition then he'd do his best to help.

Unfortunately that didn't seem to be how any of the rest of the choir was taking it, proven by Nancy coming over to him when they took a short break. “Mike and Lucas aren't here, you can stop showing off now.”

“Two things: 1st Lady Chrissy literally asked us to highlight my voice in our entry.” He began, getting a goblet of water that he'd insisted be provided if they were to practise outside for hours. “2nd It's not showing off, it's showmanship which is necessary when performing. You're the one desperate to win but if you want me to just mimic you, then I shall.”

Princess Nancy scowled, folding her arms and visibly settling in for what she wanted to be a one sided argument. Eddie copied the gesture and waited for her to speak.“That's entirely not what I meant.”

“That's entirely not what I meant.” He recited the words back in the most dead inside voice he could achieve.

“I'm just saying we work as an ensemble, don't you know how to work with other people.” She scowled, a finger coming up to gesture before she caught herself.

“I'm just saying we work as an ensemble, don't you know how to work with other people.” He intoned, maintaining near perfect stillness, even as he watched Lucas and Mike come over to them.

Mike was already snickering when he asked, “Why is Eddie coping everything you say?”

“Just what have you been lecturing him about this time?” Lucas was quick to correct the question, knowing it would be a reaction to something.

Eddie relaxed into his normal posture again. “Oh just that I've been showing off and taking over. Maybe she'd be happier if I just got out of here.” As he said the words he suddenly thought that was a great idea.

“Eddie? You're joking about that, right? Eddie?” Mike sounded uncertain, gaze following as Eddie just grinned, turning and walking away, ignoring the attempt to call after him.

He was just close enough to hear when Lucas replied, “I don't think he was joking about it.”

/\/\

For saying this was Camp Royalty and should definitely have some decent security, Eddie found none as he headed into Lady Chrissy's office and dialled the number for the bands agent, impatiently listening to it ring. “Come on, Seymore, pick up.”

“Hey, Metal is here to stay, but I am out! Leave a message-” Getting the voicemail recording was soon overshadowed by hearing Jason coming through, talking aloud to himself.

“Camp Royalty has got this in the bag! Poor Barbara Holland, what are you going to do when you have to close your camp and leave? Don't care! Why Lady Christine, of course I'm not the most intelligent man in the world, top 5% maybe.” Jason singing love songs to himself as he left the office was an image that would stick with him. Now Eddie wasn't one to judge anyone's music taste, but he would judge the type of simping that Jason seemed to do every time Lady Chrissy did anything.

/\/\

“You two up to invade Camp Rock and snatch Prince Steve to plan to save both camps?” Eddie announced as soon as he was back in his room, getting a visibly fretting Lucas and Mike spinning to stare and run over to him as if checking he was actually there.

Mike's expression twisted with distaste a moment later, at a guess when everything Eddie had said registered, “Steve was meant to be our supervision? I am so glad this mix up happened. Hang on, what's going on with the camps?”

“Prince Steve is nice. Just because Nancy was just as judgemental towards him as she's been to Eddie this week doesn't mean you need to complain about him for all eternity. Focusing on the issue though, we'll help.” Lucas shook his head, admonishing his friend slightly before refocusing, “What's going on?”

“I didn't hear all the details but there's some kind of bet which means whoever loses this competition has to close down.” Eddie gave the shortest explanation he could, already sure he'd be repeating it all night and trying to herd his sheep out of the door.

Thankfully they easily went, only glancing at him to know the way to walk, “Let's go then.”

/\/\

“Eddie, Twerps, What's going on?” Steve barely glanced at the kids before focusing on Eddie, concerned.

Once again Eddie decided to avoid giving a full explanation to them, his mind still trying to plot the evening the way he would a D&D game, “Nothing good. You said the rest of Corroded Coffin is in Camp Rocks band? Can you take me to them so we explain this just once.”

“Sure. We've got a rehearsal soon anyway.” Steve nodded behind him, only smirking as the kids and Eddie dodged behind and around things to try and stay hidden as they followed him.

/\/\

“Eddie Munson!” Everyone waiting in their practise room gasped, hands going to their faces to enhance the drama of the moment.

Steve looked them all over unimpressed before saying, “Why are you acting surprised? Gareth, Jeff and Grant have all been practising with us from the start. Wait, why are you three acting surprised too?”

“Felt like it. What's going on that you only sneak into the right camp now?” Gareth shrugged, straightening and looking Eddie's expression over as if it would tell him everything about what was happening.

/\/\

All of them were exhausted. They'd rehearsed late into the night, straight after about a million arguments because Princess Nancy and the other royals weren't ready to just trust, in their words, a washed up wannabe rockstar and a couple of kids barely trained in the royal life.

And then to perform with as much energy and in the moment adaptions as the merging of their two groups took left Eddie impressed they were all still standing at the end of their performance. It really made the show unpredictable and difficult to be unable to perform all together even once before the actual show.

He was only just following the argument going on between Lady Chrissy and Barbara Holland, and really wished he could believe it wasn't a scheme entirely motivated by Lady Chrissy wanting to shut down Camp Rock.

Steve nudged his arm as he twisted his sceptre to point at the floor under the feet of their camp leaders, making Eddie realise they'd stopped atop one of the platforms. He hoped Steve had also included something to prevent them from just walking out of that area and back onto the stage to carry their argument on. “Bold move.”

“Honestly, I can cope with the music but their arguing would give me a migraine.” Steve muttered back, frowning at Jason's appearance on stage.

“I'm pretty good at head massages if that'll help.” Eddie offered quietly, leaning into his space and finally letting himself flirt a little. Here on the stage, with Mike and Lucas in the audience and his band all around him he finally felt safe enough to do so, even if the royals that were only just beginning to accept he wasn't horrible could be watching.

Steve wrapped an arm around his waist, whispering, “I bet we could both do with a few massages after this is all over. Want to visit my kingdom before you get back to your tour?”

“I think I can schedule that in.” He agreed, turning at the collective noise of disappointment to see Jason now gloating on the stage. “But I guess we didn't manage to save the camps even with you shutting Chrissy away.”

With a sigh, Steve pointed his sceptre back at the area Barbara and Chrissy were shut in so he definitely had ensured they'd remain there.

Nobody was expecting the pair to be cuddling, pecking at each others lips as they were raised back to stage height.

“I'd say that might be hope for us yet.” Steve smiled, distracting himself and Eddie by pulling the other into a kiss a little deeper than the ones their camp leaders had been sharing.

The distraction was broken once again, this time by Jason screaming “I BRIBED A JUDGE FOR YOU!”

There were at least 3 glows of sceptres being activated in the vague direction of Jason, enough that Eddie doubted he'd manage to escape the stage platforms for at least a day without help.

#stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #steddie #nancy wheeler negative #mike wheeler #lucas sinclair #barbie rock 'n' royals #background Barb/Chrissy #background appearances of Chrissy Barbara and Jason

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another-clive-blog · 1 year ago

Note

so how’s clive doing after getting shot with the time freeze gun. even better question how’s claire doing after all that went down

Ahahah, about that-

Short fic under the cut ? No trigger warning, the fic may be a bit short than I usually make them o:

"Undo it. Right now." Claire commanded, pointing an accusing finger at Dimitri.

Dimitri narrowed his eyes. "You heard him. He wants to hurt people."

"You are hurting people !" She said, and how come none of them had any self-awareness at all ? How many times would she have to repeat this basic fact to them ?! "And what you are planning is going to hurt even more people !"

"The end goal is to save people," Dimitri replied, and of course this was his point of view. Of course this was his sole goal, because it really did justify the means he was using. He was going to experiment on Clive and mess with the very laws of nature- but that was okay, because it was all to help someone whose only wish was for Dimitri to not do any of this.

Claire was not having this conversation again, if she could even call this a conversation. She glanced at Clive, at this shell of him forever frozen in fear, before making her choice.

When Dimitri saw her approaching, he looked wary, raising his gun on instinct. He wouldn't shoot- Claire knew he wouldn't.

The gun buzzed as he pointed it at her. "What are you doing ?" He spoke in a low voice, body strained and eyes staring at her.

"I'm leaving," Claire simply replied.

Dimitri lowered his gun in surprise, but when she passed him and headed towards the actual exit of the tower, he threatened her with his weapon once more."Leaving ? But you're living in this tower, everything is here- where are you going !"

Claire tried not to think about the very few belongings she was leaving behind. About Clive's frozen body and what atrocities were awaiting him.

She tried not to think about the stark contrast between the Dimitri she knew and the man who was considering shooting her.

"You need help, Dimitri, and I know just the person." And with that, she started running.

She was right to do so, because Dimitri fired his gun.

He missed her, although Claire couldn't say if it was deliberate or not. She wouldn't stick around to find out though : as soon as she was out of the door, she ran down the stairs, hurrying before Dimitri sent his men. She knew he would give them orders to bring her back, just like she knew that he would immediately try to keep her from going to the one place she had to go.

The clock shop.

Claire didn't want to involve Hershel in this, didn't even want to see him again if she were to leave immediately : she knew that he would be heartbroken, and she herself wasn't ready to see the full extent of what she was denied. It was better for them both to not meet again.

Unfortunately, they couldn't even choose this simple thing.

It's not like she didn't know other people : heck, she was certainly the best person to try and bring Dimitri back to his senses. However, with how unstable he was right now, she couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't freeze her too- and if he did, she needed to make sure someone was there to pick up her work. Someone competent, understanding, logical- someone who could outwit Dimitri.

And suddenly, it didn't matter how many people she knew, because only one was fit for the job.

She remembered that Dimitri and Clive had made Hershel a part of their initial plan. Dimitri had been reluctant, but Clive had seemed truly enthusiastic. He wanted to meet the professor, to be the first one to interact with him.

He would've loved this turn of events.

She ran faster, hoping that Clive couldn't feel any pain in his state.

-_-_-_-

Not that many feelings or that many Clives, but we are at a turning point of the story after all =) Plus I have a Clive sci-fi AU ask coming up !!

#Basically Claire still has to make sacrifices and she has ENOUGH #She just wants a normal life why does she constantly have to be the adult the hero the savior ?#Dimitri is just like. Evil clueless. He's just stupid lol #clive dove #dimitri allen #claire foley #professor layton and the unwound future #professor layton and the lost future #My writing #Ask

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rosh1d · 7 months ago

Text

“ you’re looking a bit worse for wear, love. ” venus slips the man’s jacket off, doing him the courtesy of hanging it a short distance away. she returns with a drink, some sort of whiskey or rum, which is set directly in front of him. “ you’re not going to be able to save anyone if you don’t take some time to relax. ” leaning in, she kisses him on the cheek, brushes his hair out of his face to admire his scar. “ consider it, okay? ” ^^

Such tenderness is unforeseen in a beast's sharpened claw, a unique display of affection towards one's own kind perhaps more human in nature than those who call themselves as such by masking cruelty as the mercy of a loving heart. He had experienced a similar claim first-hand, torn away from his homeland and forced to become a slave for empire at the raw age of fifteen, bearing scars that spoke of man's ambition towards the greater good, when in all the wars he had witnessed had only stained his soul with thick black tar, similarly corrupt with blind rage &. desire for vengeance. Long had he feared the monster within mourns the better half taken without asking when it awoken in its place. He can no longer deny his fire, the truth he escaped from so desperately through cowardice ; he's more beast than a man, but it's a realization that brings no comfort when aware of the atrocities he's capable of. &. while his world is full of dismay and misfortune, it's not entirely void of true kindness, those he had vowed to protect at the cost of his very life, to create a world where they can live on their own terms instead of wishing for a peaceful death before their time. He bears inward struggles as a reminder to strengthen his resolve, broad shoulders carrying the weight of the world, refusing to falter under it's intensity. It's times as these when he's made aware of the strain, as well as the fact that he's no longer alone in facing those hardships.

He's stiff, justly so, finding her care a little foreign in his world. She, although a woman of many secrets, had a strange openness so easily inviting. Noire had become another refuge for the outlaws, a hiding place for his kind until safe passage can be provided to the Hideaway, and Venus herself had been more than useful in obtaining sensitive information when required. Clive's visit was one of many to hear the leastest news in person, so caught up in his own world to take heed of his own carelessness regarding his well being. Raven locks dripping from fresh rain, the hood of his cloak hardly enough to shield him from the storm. She allows herself the liberty to take the damp thing away, he doesn't fight It, but merely stands there in clear awareness of the dirt and blood that stained his face and clothes, [ travelling such a long distance from the deadlands was never free of its own troubles. ] Porcelain skin is stained with the evidence of his adventures, yet she maintains a lax attitude, hardly bothered as she presses a quick kiss against the scarred skin of his cheek.

❛❛ I will bear that in mind, I thank you for your concern, my lady. ❜❜ he takes the hand that caressed his cheek within his own, a gentle squeeze of gratitude is offered along with the touch of something tender in his expression, there was very little that had him smiling, he's thankful. The outlaw sighs in apparent defeat, Venus was armed this time, he couldn't refuse her courtesy. ❛❛ I suppose a moment's rest won't do any harm, you're too kind. ❜❜

@dvouer // he likes you ur allowed

#dvouer #◇.⠀⠀⠀letters⠀⠀⠀⎯⎯⎯⠀⠀⠀⠀(⠀answered !⠀)#// SCREAMING #// I LOVE THESE TWO KIWIIIIIIII

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regallibellbright · 10 months ago

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Honestly I think I'd hate Arthur Cantabella less if they'd simply removed the whole "Yeah no this is a government-condoned psychological experiment" aspect.

TESTING WHAT?! No, genuinely, what? Using the contaminated groundwater/weirdass Silver Fainting Allergy and/or the flower ink as a drug? Because uh, if that's the case, then I'm pretty sure using them both in conjunction contaminates your results.

Is it something about mob mentality? In-groups and out-groups with the elaborate tech crew made of convicted witches and victims maintaining the whole illusion? In that case, I think the fact that you're drugging and gaslighting the entire experiment group is also contaminating the results.

Also the whole fantasy setting is probably a confounding variable for Something.

Okay sure parents could consent to taking part in this experiment for their children, but uh, I'm pretty sure some of these kids were born AFTER the experiment began. Given the aforementioned Large Amounts of Drugging From Multiple Origins going on here, I have some concerns!

No seriously. Please. PL vs PW writers. Give me the grant proposal Arthur Cantabella submitted to get anyone to fund this project. I know it's Bill fucking Hawks, but even he's got limits! I don't see how he benefits from half this shit even if he wants to use the other half (I assume the drugs.) Why is he paying for the rest? There's a reason why Clive is established as being a lone schemer with obscene amounts of money who's keeping all his scientists in the dark and/or coerced to keep building, and it's so that we don't have anyone there questioning why he's building an elaborate fake town populated by actors in addition to his Underground Vengeance Mecha!

The fact that you somehow managed to get this cleared as a psychological experiment establishes that you know the field of psychology exists. Why in the name of all that is holy did you think building an elaborate fake fantasy town with an elaborate magic system which you make real through the power of drugging people, knocking the ENTIRE TOWN out every time a spell is used, changing things around them to simulate "magic" using the most ridiculous Renn Faire stage crew ever, and manipulating the clocks so no one's aware time is passing, with a system that prosecutes witches and burns them so that they can join the Renn Faire Stage Crew along with their victims, and positioning yourself as the all-powerful Storyteller who writes their reality into being would be a better solution than therapy?

Honestly I'd respect "I had a god complex, lol" more. Especially for that last one, but like. In general. Descole's out there living his worst life, he KNOWS he's an asshole supervillain agent of chaos, and I respect this because he has clearly CHOSEN to be Like This. You do you, man. Ditto for Don Paolo but like, less effectively.

This is not how any of this works.

Okay, setting... ALL OF THAT aside, you're doing this because your and your best friend's young daughters are understandably incredibly traumatized because they wanted to ring the bell early and the Weirdass Groundwater-Induced "Allergy" That Makes You Faint When You Hear Silver Ringing caused them and everyone else to pass out, and as everyone in the square below was having a fire festival, this caused a massive tragic conflagration. Okay. Yeah, this is bad. (I have. MANY questions about how this bell was made, excavated, and mounted in the square without anyone ever ringing it and realizing something had happened, but we're going to gloss over those for now, it's Professor Layton and I would otherwise be all over this incredible bullshit. It's great up until it asks us to think THIS was ever a remotely reasonable idea.) One of your daughters is all but catatonic because a story you told her earlier has convinced her she either is or will be taken by The Great Witch Bezella. Sure. (You suck.) Why the FUCK is your solution based on the other one unpersoning herself to her best friend and doing all the work to make the magic real? Yeah, sure, she agreed to it. SHE'S LIKE EIGHT TO TEN. HER BEST FRIEND THINKS SHE'S AN AWFUL MONSTER AND WON'T REACT OTHERWISE. OF COURSE Eve's gonna help, but that doesn't mean you should put the entire burden on her! She is ALSO horribly traumatized to the point of repressing what happened. Get her help too. The fact that the game seems to put their actions on remotely even footing when one of them has been treated like shit since she was TEN and one of them was an adult who PURPOSEFULLY AND INTENTIONALLY set up a system that would put her in this shitty situation means that yeah, no, they fundamentally are not. Of course her decisionmaking is misguided and terrible! She's a twenty-year-old who's been horribly mistreated for more than half her life! HER DAD JUST COMMITTED SUICIDE OUT OF GUILT FOR HIS ACTIONS IN SETTING UP THIS SYSTEM.

No one's going to hold them responsible for the deaths. This was a sequence of events so thoroughly unforeseeable that literally no one could have predicted it. It won't even reflect poorly on you and Belduke, because you two somehow managed to find the bell, excavate it, and mount it without ever ringing it and realizing it knocked you out and you all had an environmentally-induced silver "allergy" and at that point this goes into "acts of a cruel and malicious Writer-God" territory.

Also it was totally predictable that this elaborate system of misogyny would not actually help Espella in the long term as she instead repressed her memories and further internalized the whole witches = evil thing so that when those memories inevitably came back she would be in EVEN WORSE shape, this is why you should have gotten an actual psychologist who could have told you this whole thing was a terrible plan to write your grant.

No like does he drug all his requests to whoever he reports to (it has to be directly to the person signing checks) in the mind-control ink? This is my only explanation here.

Why. In God's name why. Did you not. Simply. DESTROY THE FUCKING BELL TOWER. You have a crane here! What possessed ANYONE to think just covering it up with Vantablack and gaslighting so people couldn't see it was a reasonable solution to the Trauma Tower? (There may be an explanation for this, it has been ten years, but this man's problem solving has been established to be so poor I award him no points.)

And if you were going to do this, why didn't you tell Newton? Or was it just that the lightning strike burning up the Vantablack was itself a reminder to him that you can't repress the past away and he was suddenly aware of how overwhelmingly POINTLESS all this suffering was? (Edit: I think it was this. No but seriously you could’ve just taken a fucking wrecking ball to that thing while you were rebuilding the town.)

Seriously why the fuck did Newton Belduke go along with letting you use his traumatized daughter like this? What the hell, man. What an asshole.

Also. Your problem was that you had two severely traumatized little girls (even if you only acknowledged one of them was traumatized.) Your solution was... to traumatize a shitload more young girls?

TO THE POINT WHERE AT LEAST ONE OF THEM ATTEMPTED SUICIDE?!

And then your best friend actually committed suicide?!

Like. Seriously. If these are the actions of a single, seriously traumatized person, the fact that you are making Literally The Worst And Most Inexplicable Decisions Ever Which Make The Problem Worse For Literally Everyone Involved is more... well, conceivable. I buy a traumatized eighteen-year-old with an obscene amount of money building an elaborate fake London that is allegedly London ten years in the future, hiring actors to populate it, kidnapping scientists, making them build an Underground Vengeance Mecha to destroy the city, and then kidnapping the Prime Minister who is the source of that trauma and hooking the engine of the mecha up to his heart. And then roping in the one guy who could conceivably solve the whole problem and stop him and Clive would let it. It's a bad idea on EVERY conceivable level, don't get me wrong, on an UNPRECEDENTEDLY terrible scale, but it's a bad idea in which it is very clear no one at any point has asked the person what the fuck they think they're doing here, what they are trying to accomplish, and why they are doing so with this objectively absurd method. Because they have not let anyone in close enough to key them to The Full Absurd Terribleness. It's either this or become Batman.

But Arthur? Apparently his decisions have been vetted by OTHER PEOPLE, and this just boggles my mind. I refuse to believe this. I refuse to believe NO ONE went "have we considered this is like eight hundred terrible ideas bundled up into The Worst Idea Ever?" And I refuse to believe he's anything but a massive asshole when his plan had so many awful consequences for literally everyone BUT himself!

Like, don't get me wrong. There are SO MANY examples of unethical experimentation on human subjects in the real world, psychological and otherwise. But most of them are not this incredibly convoluted, implicitly expensive, and we all generally recognize these days that they were bad.

Also, none of them were enacted as an elaborate setup to (incompetently) handle the trauma of the experimenter's daughter after he told her if she was bad a scary evil witch would possess her and then she and her friend accidentally enacted a tragedy whose scale and fundamental absurdity rival the Boston Molasses Flood, but without corporate greed. There were solutions to this that were so much easier, less convoluted, less EXPENSIVE, and less harmful to... well, everyone else involved, except Arthur Cantabella.

#drugging #gaslighting #attempted suicide #suicide #psychological experiments #unethical science #mass death #pl vs pw spoilers #pl spoilers #going to try to avoid maintagging here inasmuch as I can because uh. Yeah. Preeeeetty critical.#the thing is I genuinely LOVED like 90% of this game. Adored it. Had a blast RIGHT up until the reveal.#and then the reveal and the ways it's handwaved just kill it for me even though I usually enjoy Layton Plot Twist Bullshit #(the Underground Vengeance Mecha is my favorite thing ever. Unironically. It's delightful.)#because it's like... multiple people vetted this terrible idea in-universe? Why the fuck?!#and we DWELL on the consequences in a way we rarely do for most Layton Bullshit and see that oh THEY ARE /BAD/.#(I'm pretty sure it's established Jean's still a teenager. She was under Belduke's care /for five years./)#meanwhile the game only BARELY seems to recognize that this dude is in fact the Actual Villain Of The Game. Like. Eve's justified.#but she's still given more of the Sympathetic But Misguided Layton Antagonist treatment whereas he's MAINLY 'sympathetic but misguided.'#which... no. just. no. You're an adult and you had options and you were in a position to choose them. Why was THIS your choice?#again I respect Descole so much more for being like 'well I'm gonna make myself Everyone Else's Problem but mostly Layton's.'#own that you're terrible. Embrace it. Laugh as you seek your revenge on the entire world.

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sampirism · 1 year ago

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ok this has been in my drafts long enough lets set this bird free

FF16 critical, FF16 spoilers, obligatory "I didn't hate the game" disclaimer

I don't write often, especially critical writing, but I can't contain my feelings. Part 1 of ??? with this post focusing on Jill. any character related to my favorite summon deserves better (we stan shiva ... we live laugh love shiva... though ffx is still my fav design by far !! <3)

I can't tell if she falls flat and has little to no personality, or if she gets so little screen time and is largely overshadowed by other characters... but I'm having trouble coming up with words to describe her other than "polite"! We see real anger in her maybe twice? It's maybe not great if I can describe minor characters' personalities in more words.

Being enslaved and abused for 13 years, you'd think she would be. um. Less well-adjusted as she is? and I'm not saying that because I believe everyone processes trauma in the same way (they don't), but because when you actually go to the Iron Kingdom, she gives you a speech on how she "stopped feeling things" in order to process what she was forced to do. But we only see how her enslavement affected her once, really, and it's her rage in speaking to the leader of the Iron Kingdom or whoever he was. I felt like there was fundamentally no difference between the personalities of child!Jill and adult!Jill, when thirteen years of slavery and forced killing maybe seems like it would have an impact on someone.

At least she gets to kill her main abuser herself. At the rate her and Benedikta had been treated by the writing, I fully expected Clive to do it for her!

Ultimately, I feel any possible personality was thrown in the garbage because she is LOVE INTEREST. She is... sanitized. Jill is here to Support Clive. She must be NICE. She can wield a sword and magic (literally a Shiva dominant), but never as effectively as any of the males! We save this girl THREE. TIMES. Once, at the beginning, when we're there to kill her but oops we actually know her so we're going to grab her instead-- that's fine. Second, when somehow the world's Biggest Man sneaks up on her and has a knife to her throat? It seems cheap and I think we could have gotten to killing Kupka without throwing Jill into the Damsel in Distress role again.

When we're fighting Bahamut, Clive and Joshua turn into their respective Eikons... and what the fuck is Jill doing? Is she just standing there watching with Anabella? You're Shiva, girl, are you just enjoying the show? From a narrative standpoint, it's supposed to be about Clive and Joshua reuniting as brothers and doing their Steven Universe Fusion so fine okay whatever but it is hilarious to think she is just STANDING THERE. At least she expresses anger at Anabella and threatens her with a weapon. At least.

She does PROTECT Clive, twice, as Shiva. Once in the Iron Kingdom, to stop Lava from Lava-ing, and when she gets kidnapped for the Third Time, creating an ice wall to stop Odin from chasing Clive. It cuts to black and I'm not upset that she lost to Odin because he's megastrong ATP, but because this is now the third time we have to rescue this girl.

Bro. There's this one scene in the penultimate main quest chapter where enemies basically are dying in one swoop to each person, turning into aether, and I was so in tune to the way these characters were being written that I clocked this very easily. But Jill. JILL STOPS AN ENEMY WITH HER RAPIER, BUT IT NOTABLY DOESN'T DIE. IT FALLS DOWN BUT GETS BACK UP TO BE STABBED BY CLIVE A MINUTE LATER. JILL???

Despite being a Dominant of Shiva, I feel like we are just constantly reminded of how she is not as strong or powerful as the rest of the male cast. And inevitably, because this is the core gameplay mechanic, she gives up part of her power to empower Clive. I can sort of take solace in the fact that she wasn't fridged for it? But the whole scene where she gives it to him, I don't even know if either character completely understood why they felt he needed her Eikon???

I would perhaps be less irritated about this if Jill had any perceivable personality flaws, or if she was more visibly angry/upset at the literal god awful miserable world they live in. At least.... she didn't die! I GUESS

#video game word salad #this is SO LONG SORRY?

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terras-diary · 1 year ago

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game review - final fantasy xvi

some context: the only thing i knew about this game was it had a medieval setting. literally did not bother to look up anything about it, i kind of got the feeling there wasn’t much out there to begin with.

the story: the world and lore of ff16 is interesting. the idea that the crystals were bad and causing environmental problems, even though in the short term they helped society so much, you could tell it was a comparison to our world. similar to the whole environmental overlords and their private pinkerton army which was final fantasy 7. but how the story and game progression actually played out? well that’s kind of a different story.

it was much longer than it needed to be. after each story mission you always had to backtrack to our hideout, just to watch a cutscene to lead to another story mission. the plot never really picked up, it was always stilted and held back by the fact you never felt like you did much. you could all but guarantee that whatever you did would be met with, ‘let’s go back to the hideout.’ i just always got the feeling of we were in the first fetch-quest part of the story before it was suppose to pick up, but it just never did.

it would have flowed so much better if you could just cut out the middle man hideaway cutscenes, like just keep going!! why do we keep traveling halfway across the globe just to turn back!! keep moving forward!!!

the characters: the two main characters (i contest jill being a main character, even if the ffwiki says otherwise, btw) were so bland. clive was just some guy, and jill was just there. pretty much every other characters whether good, bad, or neutral outshined these two wet blankets. i will admit they had their moments. for jill in particular when she killed that priest. this isn’t a dig on the voice acting, i actually thought it was okay, but just how those two are written... ugh....

clive was just noctis if he wasn’t a twink and didn’t have his iphone. he had black hair, was a prince, had a dog companion, and had antagonist induced headaches.

don’t even get me started on their ‘romance’. good lord. they were just together because clive was a man and jill was a woman. remember how i said i knew nothing about this game? yeah for like the first four hours of this game i thought they were siblings. it didn’t help they looked exactly the same. (on that note, i thought benedicta was anabella pretty much until her history with cid came to light.)

speaking of anabella, literally what was her problem. she is the most cartoonishly evil villain i have ever seen in a piece of media that wants to be taken seriously and have a dark/gritty vibe to it. genuinely, why was she like that. i wanted her and benedikta to play a larger part but they never really did. i find the women of this game were severely undermined larger parts which i think they could have fulfilled. (the misogyny......)

another thing about jill, though: she is practically written out of the story after having sex with clive and giving him shiva!!!! what the fuck! she was practically demoted to a npc. and there was a sidequest to cheer her up because even the writers knew they threw her to the wayside after putting out! in the above paragraph i wrote the misogyny halfly joking but the more i think about it i am very serious.

ultima, oh ultima. you had buttholes for eyes and gaping holes for ears. when he was a mysterious character, i enjoyed the mystique, but after a while it just kind of wore off. the mystique i am interested in is leviathan the lost. that was a cool concept, i was wondering why some more common final fantasy summons did not make the cut. guess they are just lost eikons.

my favorite character: barnabas, the mega dilf. he was hot as fuck, i cannot tell a lie. his accent was hot as shit too. i love crazy men. and that other white haired motherfucker was his got damn horse.

the battling: like it was okay, half the time i pressed R1 to defend it never worked. i guess i just couldn’t time it right. it was still pretty easy though. i played on the action focused version and the only time i really got game over were during the eikon fights and when i tried my hand at the s rank hunts.

the eikon fights, wow. some of the highest highs and lowest lows of this game. the beginning fights were pretty interesting, all the good things about them culminated in the hugo kupka fight. that was the best fight of this game, full stop. it was somehow cinematicly choreographed while still having some stakes that required you to actually try to beat it. i’ve never had more fun in a modern game’s fight than this battle. the subsequent bahamut and odin fight, well.... uhh..... they were definitely battles.

this is kind of fits in the under characterization as well but, there is no dialogue when you are on the field between clive and any of the npc party members. it is absolute silence, i forgot who was in my party half the time because they were mute.

side quests: i did all the side quests that popped up and all the hunts bar the s ranks (because i thought i may be under leveled.) there were a lot. it was definitely a chore. a lot of characterization for secondary characters were found in the side quests that i thought should have made it to the main scenario, but whatever. by the end i was sick and tired of it, such a fucking slog.

other odds and ends: i liked walking around the map and finding all the little places, that felt rewarding. but the treasures you would find were absolutely useless. you’d get an abundance of crafting materials, yet there were so few recipes you’d learn (which most were single use creations i.e. armor and weapons) that you were left with an overabundance of useless shit. maybe it picks up in the post game? i haven’t really played the postgame much, maybe it changes. at least for the main scenario, completely and utterly useless.

overall: well, it wasn’t the worst final fantasy (8 and 12, i am looking at you two.) all modern games pale in comparison to their predecessors of the 1990s and 2000s. i will always believe this i think. ff16 is definitely better than other modern games i’ve played. but the hay day of the final fantasy franchise where a game could be enjoyed by anyone while also not really having any glaring problems is over. the final objectively great final fantasy was 10. i enjoyed 13 and 15, but they just aren't as good. the same can be said for final fantasy 16. it was alright.

ok, i think that’s all i have to say right now. maybe i’ll think of more later.

#game review

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fearsome-series · 1 year ago

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BOOK ONE | BOOK TWO | [BOOK THREE]

SEVEN EYES WITHOUT A FACE

Gef squirmed in Laura’s pocket; she ran after the vision, the vision of…

“Laura!” Eliza yelled.

Laura stopped. “It showed me my mom,” Laura cried. “I know where it’s going. It’s going after her.”

“Laura, I…” Eliza looked down at Malphas’ body.

WE’LL COME BACK FOR HIM, Manuel scribbled down. I’M SORRY.

“I…” Eliza ran her hands over her face, and left the dead raven sprawled on concrete.

***

Eliza held onto Clive’s hand as they maneuvered around the children, families, students of Halloween. The one day where strangers looked at them with admiration, not confusion or fear; four people had already complimented their costumes, and one even recognized Eliza as the chupacabra.

A girl came up to them. She asked Eliza what dinosaur she was, before her parents ushered her away, nodding briefly at the couple.

“That brings the dinosaur count to two.” Eliza said.

“Aye…” Clive had seemed occupied all night.

“Isn’t it nice to be out?” Eliza asked.

“Aye. The one day a year I can be me.” Clive answered.

“It’s better than nothing.”

“It is nothing.” Clive snapped. “I’m not me to them. I’m a mask.”

“I know, but...are you okay?”

“No. No, I’m not okay.”

“What’s wrong?” Eliza asked.

“You know that bloke on Picnic Point?”

“I try to forget.”

Clive paused, leaning against the stone wall of the church. “You know how we thought he looked familiar? I found out why. Saw him on the news. Some touchin’ story about how he’s some big humanitarian. Helpin’ out the sick and needy with all his money. The man who screamed at us for existing. Who made us so afraid we stayed inside for months.”

“He’s one asshole.” Eliza said.

“Is he? Back in England, those kids who beat me up...I’d seen ‘em before. That very day. I was down on the pier, out at the little theme park right beside. And they were out with their families. Out smilin’, and having a grand old time.”

“...two assholes.”

“They’ll accept monsters before they accept us. I…” Clive stopped. Rubbed his forehead. “I’m sorry.”

“...yeah.”

“Happy Halloween.” Clive said.

“Happy Halloween!”

They carried on. Eliza had seven more compliments; the dinosaur tally finished at four. As they returned home, Clive led her to the top of Bascom Hill; they sat on a stone bench by a statue of Abraham Lincoln, and looked out over the city.

“Y’know,” Clive said. “I heard that it’s good luck to sit on Abe’s lap.”

“After you graduate.”

“Aye. Gotta wait for my degree.”

“What’s your major?” Eliza asked jokingly.

Clive mocked an American accent. “Tossing around the old pigskin. Having a few brewskis.”

“Oh, I’m majoring in Canadian Italian-language literature studies, myself…” Was that a real thing? Was that a joke? She didn’t know…

Eliza watched as Clive clambered up to the top of the statue and sat awkwardly on Lincoln’s lap, legs dangling off the side. Eliza quickly took out her phone.

“No!” Clive said.

Eliza snapped the photo. “Sorry, Ratboy.”

“Now you have to get up here.”

“Is it cold?”

“It’s bloody cold, yes.”

Eliza took her turn atop the statue, and then they went inside. Eliza and Clive went out onto the balcony; the sun set in a blaze of orange and yellow.

“Uh, I wanted to...I wanted to say that it’d be a lot harder without you. I...I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He put an arm around her shoulders. She snapped a selfie. They were happy.

***

Manuel and Eliza followed Laura: but the question was finding their way once they were inside the large convention center. The meeting was in one of the lower rooms, Laura knew…

“How do we get in?” Eliza asked.

She tried the front door. It opened. “Alright. Inside.”

Laura led the way deep inside the corridors. The door behind them clanked open, and over her shoulder she saw the Archer, starting his hunt; ahead of them, there was chanting in an unknown language, an ancient language.

They found the ghost further down the hallway, floating in an alcove; they quickly ducked in another. Underneath, a crowd of people waited. One of them, Laura knew, was her mother.

A limb stretched through the glass and tapped a woman, a man, one person after another; a waiter, a speaker on the stage, and -

It found Heather, sitting blithely at a table. She talked with a colleague, and laughed, unaware of the ghostly tendril wrapped around her neck, drawing tighter…

“No!” Laura screamed, and she dove out of the alcove and -

Hit the floor.

Tripped by Eliza.

***

“Why?” Laura said.

“Laura, I...I don’t want it to hurt anyone.”

She didn’t want it to hurt anyone with a chance at a real life. Anyone who had something to live for.

What happens if I help, Eliza wondered? The people she saved would hate her. She remembered that man in the park, who had been so kind. She wished that when she thought of how outsiders reacted to her, his image would pop up in her mind. But it didn’t.

It was the men who threatened them. The men who could do what he wanted.

For all that she feared the people down there, she wouldn’t let them hurt her. This was the easiest way to save them. It had to be her. Laura was too young.

Eliza didn’t want to die...if she was about to die. But she would for them.

“You can’t!” Laura said.

It stretched out its tendrils, and it carried Eliza to her fate.

Manuel looked back from the edge of the hallway, looking her right in the eyes, wide and pleading…

***

No! No, no, no!

Laura remembered the world inside the ghost. She couldn’t let Eliza be trapped there. She couldn’t let anyone be trapped there. There had to be another way.

She lunged, this time managing to grab onto the ghost’s victim. She pulled hard. Kept pulling. Against the ghost’s tight grip, her body screamed out in pain. She tried to keep pulling, even as it pulled her along with Eliza.

She gave a final yank. Eliza broke free, and fell onto the ground. Laura let go.

...and was carried up herself.

“Eliza!”

“Laura!”

Laura felt herself drawn into the portal. Into a world without warmth or light. Washed out blues and whites dominated. An endless flat plain, with flakes falling from a gray sky; they could be snow, or ash. All around her, people lost in their own worlds: prisoners in a cell, hunters in the woods, and many now too faded to recognize as human.

***

Her eyes locked on what was only the outline of a person. Dark lines suggested a human form, but all that remained were two dark eyes.

They snapped open. Stared right at her.

That person is still alive. They’re all still alive. I’m trapped here. I’m really trapped here, Laura thought. No, no-

“H-hello? Can you help us?” Jainaba; Laura saw her, and the burgundy hoodie, one of the few things to still possess color. Laura ran over and hugged her.

“Oh - it’s you, oh -”

“Laura?” It was Bezoar. He, too, had not faded. They moved towards her: Bezoar, Jainaba, and another man…

“You know her?”

“She tried to help me earlier.”

“Are...are you here to save us?” Jainaba asked Laura.

“I...I…” She couldn’t make herself tell them the truth. “I…”

She felt something else trying to speak. All around her, the other prisoners of the void swiveled in one direction, and began to speak in unison.

“Caro, al-fin, sukuul fe…”

“No! I-I-c-carooo, al-fen…” Bezoar and Jainaba trembled. Tried to resist. But they, too, became part of the chorus.

Laura felt the song crawling through her mind. Up her throat, like an insect with too many legs. She almost retched. She stepped back from the others, trying to push the feeling back down, trying to make it go away.

“C-Caro!” Laura sang. “Al-Fen, sukuul fe!”

“Caro, al-fen, sukuul fe!” The ghost triumphantly raised its limbs. “Ro fen fe!”

Eliza heard the chorus. Hundreds of voices, singing with him. She heard Bezoar. She heard Jainaba.

She heard Laura.

Eliza inched back onto her feet, her legs unsteady. She took a step towards the ghost. At her feet was the last of the wisps: the dying man, still crawling. Eliza ignored her aching legs and jumped on a desk. She bared her fangs. And she leapt.

She buried her claws in the ghost’s side. Her claws heated, and her scales burned, but she held on. She pulled herself up to its neck and bit deep. Wrenched back the ghost’s head. It moaned in pain. Its hands reached for its chest.

She swung her other hand over, racing for the void. She swiped desperately at the hands, hoping her claws connected, trying to keep them from trapping Laura forever. Her hand closed over one hand, pulled…

“Cabra?” Clive asked, lying on the floor, his body thin, ragged, his clothes tattered rags.

“C…Clive?” Eliza said, pulling back her claws.

“I was on my way back and it…it took me,” he cried. “Forgive me.”

“O…of course I forgive you,” she said. “I need to rescue everyone else…”

“No, please,” he sobbed. “They’re-!” A tendril grabbed him, started to pull him back inside.

“Clive!” Eliza cried, reaching out for his hand, grasping at it, latching on, being pulled…

***

Manuel watched as the tendril wrapped around Eliza, pulled her inside. No, no, no… He hyperventilated, stood fixed in place; he turned around, and saw -

An archer, an ax wound in his side, notching an arrow.

Manuel looked towards the ghost, and to him, and to Eliza, grasping at air, screaming a name he didn’t know.

The archer pulled back. Prepared to shoot the arrow.

Manuel looked back at the ghost. It wasn’t trying to avoid the arrow - it wasn’t fighting back! If it was hit now…that’s what it wanted! Manuel stepped towards the archer. Stepped in front of the bow. The archer tried to step aside, but Manuel matched him, kept blocking him, kept blocking him until the moment was right…

***

Clive screamed and turned to dust, and beneath Eliza, the ghost started to shift, started to warp and bubble. She dug her claw in deeper, reached inside…

***

“Sukuul f-f-fe…”

The chorus’ song was broken. Laura doubled over in pain; a stabbing in her chest and neck. All the other unwilling singers collapsed in shared agony. They screamed. She screamed with them.

A hand touched her shoulder. Claws nicked her neck. She looked at the scaly hand, attached to a spectral shape, a form fading into the void. Eliza’s voice came from the void: “Laura!”

Laura reached for the hand. Brushed past it. But then she reconsidered. She reached out for Bezoar, and nodded. Bezoar took her hand, and then took the Jainaba’s, who took that of the other man: her Professor, apparently. She held on so tightly her hand hurt. And then she grabbed Eliza’s hand.

“Uh, cop lady, are you in here?” Laura yelled. The cop showed herself from within the crowd, but stayed there. “Give us your hand!”

The cop shook her head, clutched her hands to it.

“This is your last chance!” Jainaba yelled.

The cop trembled, stepped back -

Eliza started to pull -

- the cop reached out her hand and -

***

Eliza pulled. A cascade of bodies threw Eliza against the floor. She crawled onto her knees.

The ghost screamed, and charged for them, spinning its tendrils wildly, trying to grab onto anything. Eliza looked at the people pulled from its void. Laura, Bezoar, Jainaba, another man, and…the cop. All unconscious. She could make out the shape of Gef in Laura’s pocket.

The ghost moaned and barreled towards its prey. Eliza leapt in front of them, tired hands slashing what they could.

Manuel swiftly ducked. The archer aimed, and fired the arrow. He looked down at Manuel, gave a slow nod, and broke up into smoke.

The arrow hit the ghost’s chest in a flash of blue, spectral fire. The ghost let out a moan, deep and mournful, and then the ghost began to die.

The portal in the ghost’s chest flashed black. It began to expand, growing outward and consuming what it touched. The hands went first: dissolving into dust, and floating into the void. They did not come back. The void grew as it consumed limbs, flesh and even the ribs that contained it.

“Caro...caro al-fin...al…” The face sang, with fewer voices every second. Soon, only one remained. A deep, growling voice that now quaked with emotion. “...al…”

And then the face became dust, and all was destroyed by the void. A dark shape burst from it, its featureless body broken up when a gap formed near the top. A mouth.

It screamed. A shrill, alien scream, with a metallic ringing to it.

Eliza dragged the unconscious people back to a safe distance, anticipating the void growing out towards them. But it slowed. Retracted. Faded into a small cloud of embers, which flickered out quietly.

And then the ghost was gone.

And down below, the din of the fundraiser carried on.

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entertainment · 4 years ago

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Entertainment Spotlight: Jordan Claire Robbins, The Umbrella Academy

If you’re a fan of The Umbrella Academy, you probably recognize Jordan Claire Robbins, who stars as Grace/Mom along with Ellen Page, Colm Feore, and Tom Hopper. Jordan's other tv credits include Netflix's Anon opposite Amanda Seyfried and Clive Owen, Supernatural, Man Seeking Woman, and SyFy's 12 Monkeys. Before she set her sights on acting, Jordan had a successful career in modeling. When she's not on our screens, she enjoys singing and playing the piano. Jordan hails from Bermuda and currently resides in Vancouver. She took a few minutes to chat with us about The Umbrella Academy, funny moments on set, and more. Check it out:

Despite the creepy Stepford Wife vibes, on balance, Grace has been a better parent than her maker. What is it that drew you to the role?

I love that there is more to Grace than meets the eye. The writers did a brilliant job of revealing Grace’s depth as the first season went on, while also constantly making you wonder what she was capable of – she’s such an enigmatic character. There were all these beautiful flashback scenes where she was the perfect mother figure she was programmed to be, but also moments when you see a dissonance of sorts when she can’t protect the children from pain inflicted by their father figure. And when the story starts off she’s a shadow of what she once was. She’s lost under this faulty programming and she has so much to fight against to find her own voice. Then when she is given another chance at life she’s this different version of herself, one that makes her own choices and has agency for once. It certainly kept me on my toes, getting to play these different versions of her and also finding a balance between perfectly programmed AI and a hidden humanity, a consciousness I believe she developed over her years with the children. I also really loved how Grace’s story, while being very distinctly non-human, mirrors the life women led not that long ago. I did a lot of research (one of which was Stepford Wives!) to have a better understanding of the template Grace was built in as a 1950’s housewife, and was just so struck by how trapped they were in the gender role of being the perfect wife and mother, to never push back against what society expected of them. There were so many obstacles to them feeling free and empowered, just like Grace. Her inability to leave the house, and totally losing the identity and purpose she was programmed to have when the kids left, felt like such a beautiful, heartbreaking parallel to what so many women have struggled with through history and I loved being able to tell that story.

You've successfully made the leap from modeling to acting. Do you think your experience as a model has helped you in your career change/expansion?

I think the more experience you have in life, the better an actor you can be. Modeling definitely gave me lots of practice getting comfortable being in front of the camera, not taking rejection personally, and being a part of telling a story. Modeling feels very collaborative, the same way acting is, and I think my years of physically transforming to contribute one part of a bigger picture at shoots really helped me understand the creative process that goes into every day on a film set. The biggest challenge for me coming from modeling to acting has been learning to embrace my imperfections, and be okay with letting the camera see them which felt very vulnerable and uncomfortable at first. In modeling there’s a ton of pressure to be this and that, essentially to be flawless, but playing a human being onscreen requires the opposite. Humans are complicated and messy, and the more you can embrace the unattractive parts of yourself the more depth there is to draw from.

In your free time, you like to sing and play the piano. If The Umbrella Academy were a musical, what would Grace's big number be?

Ooh, great question, music is such a huge part of the show, so a musical episode would have been amazing! I listened to a ton of music from the 40s and 50s to get into character, and in my audition tape for Grace I hummed Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ - it’s a funny coincidence because the moon ended up being such a huge theme in Season One. I think it’s perfect for her since it’s so romantic and classy, and because she was always longing for her children, for an escape from being under Hargreeves’ eye so the lyrics are fitting.

If you could play any other character in the show, who would you choose, and why?

I think Klaus would be a blast to play, he’s so free with no boundaries or self consciousness whatsoever, but he’s also tortured from a lifetime of numbing his pain. Recognizing that I would not be a good casting choice for Klaus (and since I can’t picture anyone playing Klaus besides Robert) I think it also would’ve also been fun to play Cha-Cha, with her dry sense of humor and all of those great stunts. Plus I love Cameron and would love the chance to have scenes with him!

Can you tell us about any funny fails/stories that happened on set?

There’s a scene in episode 3 of season one when Allison and Luther are questioning Grace while she cooks them breakfast. I was supposed to cook eggs and bacon, plate the food into smiley faces, and then bring the plates over to them while avoiding their questions. But I’m not a great multitasker when food is involved and it was the last scene up on a very long day of shooting, so I somehow plated them two really sad looking frown faces. The camera was on me through the middle of them and when they got the giggles it was near impossible to stay in character. For the rest of the night the three of us had a hard time keeping it together – it actually turned out to be one of my favorite scenes, probably because we had so much fun shooting it!

What advice would you give to young people looking to get into modeling and/or acting?

I would say to make sure you stay connected to your sense of self. Neither are particularly easy industries, and it can be hard not to take rejection to heart, but the most important thing is being really grounded in yourself and what makes you happy. There really is no way to do any of this “right” and the most successful people are always the ones who own who they are because that’s the most endearing quality, so if you keep honoring yourself you can’t go wrong. Other than that, be a “yes” person when it comes to taking opportunities to learn and grow! The more you push fear aside and make it your goal to get out of your comfort zone, the further you will go and greater your work will be. The world needs more brave voices to share their stories.

Who do you look up to as an actor?

Jordan Peele is so incredibly talented, he’s obviously a master at comedy and he’s making such original, intelligent projects that look at social issues like racism in a way that’s never been done before. I would love to work with him one day. I’m also really taken with Phoebe Waller-Bridge – I love the boldness she brings to her work. Fleabag is so beautiful, raw, hilarious, and Killing Eve is brilliant, we need more strong female driven stories and she has such a unique voice. And I have always looked up to Helen Mirren. She radiates this strength and classiness while also being so playful and irreverent - and she makes aging sexy in an industry where women can feel so much pressure to stay young.

Thanks for taking the time, Jordan! Season two of The Umbrella Academy is now streaming on Netflix.

#entertainment spotlight #the umbrella academy #netflix #jordan claire robbins

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xlucian-hell-cat90x · 3 years ago

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Whiterun

Kisara gasps as Ren and Lucien lead her through the gates into the bustling city of Whiterun. She stops at the little bridge and pulls the hood closer to her face, watching all the people go about their day in the walls of the city. The guards patrol the city as the children run past them playing and laughing.

She smiles softly at the sight before her. "Never been in a city before?" Ren asks softly, breaking her trance. "No. I live in the woods." She sighs, feeling a little overwhelmed and homesick. "Come on let's head toward Jorvaskr. I'm sure we can get some answers from my friends there." Ren says, walking ahead of her and Lucien.

Kisara stops at the giant tree in the middle of the Wind Distract. She stares at the tree. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Lucien asks, quietly, standing beside her. "Yes. She is." Kisara says, walking over to the tree. She lays a gentle hand on the tree.

She feels a rush of wind around her as she hears the whispering of the wind through the branches of the trees. She smiles softly as she hears Kyne's peaceful song. Ren turns around at the bottom of the stairs at Jorvaskr when he realizes there is no one behind him.

He stares in amazement as the wind picks up around Kisara. He hears footsteps and looks at the top of the stairs to see a familiar small female much like Kisara appear from Jorvaskr. "Ah, Ren. Good to see you again." She smiles. "You as well, Luna." He smiles, then frowns when he sees Bear behind her. "See you still got that big ogre following you." He teases.

She joins him at the bottom of the stairs. "Yeah. He's the best companion a woman like me could ask for. When he's not being over protective." Luna smiles. Bear just growls in response. Lucien and Kisara make their to Ren's side.

"I see you still got Lucien with you. Who's this?" Luna asks, intrigued. Kisara hides behind Ren. Lucien places a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. They are friends of ours." He assures her. "This is Kisara. We are on our way to see Euroland about getting her some armor. Then later placing an order with Ysolda to get her some clothes that better fit her." Ren explains rather emotionless.

Luna looks him over. "You look exhausted, Ren. When's the last time you've rested?" She asks, worried. "A couple of days ago. Joys of being a hero. You never get to rest." He smiles. "Well, I have some armor and clothes she can have. So if you wanna go put her an order for weapons, I can take care of the rest. Bear, go get my satchel from my horse and meet me at The Bannered Mare." Luna demands in an authoritative tone. He nods and walks off toward the gate.

She walks around Ren and takes a closer look at the woman. Removing the hood, she gasps. "Your eyes looks like Ren's but your hair is beautiful. I love the fiery red." She gushes. She grabs Kisara's hand pulls her away from Ren and smiles happily. She moves her hair.

"You're a halfling too." She says. Kisara just nods, unsure what to think of the woman in front of her. "Are you two brother and sister?" She spews out. "I don't think so?" Kisara says, sounding confused. "That's part of the reason why I'm back in Whiterun. I need to speak Rayne." Ren explains.

"She's not here. She left earlier to investigate the an abandon prison. Something about a man being held captive by the Thalmor." Luna explains. Ren groans and rubs his face under the hood. "Great. We'll are going to need a place to stay." He grumbles. Luna smiles. "Come on. I have a place outside the city, near Loreius farm. You can rest there." Luna smiles, pulling Kisara down the stairs. "I'll meet you at the stables." Ren says. Luna just waves.

He walks up the stairs. He sees Farkas and Vilkas training outside. "Vilkas, can you give Rayne a message for me?" Ren asks, looking at the twins. "I suppose." He says. Lucien pulls a quill and parchment from his bag, handing it to Ren. Ren writes a quick letter briefly explaining the last two days.

He hands it to Vilkas. "Tell her to meet us at the manor near Loreius farm." He says, handing Vilkas the letter. "I will. Anything else?" He asks, in his usual hateful tone. Ren pulls a sack of gold and hands it to him. "Have someone deliver the some weapons there too." He says, walking toward the stairs leading to Euroland's forge.

After placing an order for a bow, two daggers and three big orders of arrows. He paid Euroland well for all of it. Meeting Luna and Kisara at the stables, he got on his horse as Lucien summoned Clive. Luna gets on a solid white horse as Bear gets on a dark brown on. Kisara smiles softly.

Kisara whistles loudly and a black deer runs through the grass and stops her side. She smiles softly as the deer lays his head on her shoulder. "Oh, Auri. I've missed you too." She smiles as she pets him. He licks the side of her face. "We've got to go." She whispers. Auri kneels down and Kisara gets on his back.

"A fucking deer?" Bear says for the first time. "Ren, what is she? The only people that ride deer and elk are Forsworn. Please tell me she's not a a Forsworn." Luna says, worried. "Can we talk about this when we get to the manor?" Ren asks. "I suppose. Let's go." Luna says, taking off. Everyone follows her.

Arriving at the manor, everyone dismounted their steeds and Luna led them around the side of the home to an area where they could sit and talk. Luna leads Kisara in the house as everyone else takes seats around a fire pit.

Luna returns moments later. She sits down on the cushions below Bear. "So explain, Ren." She demands in a serious tone. He sighs as he removes the hood and lets his hair fall loosely around his shoulders. He begins explaining the last two days, leaving out the part where Kisara might be a Dragonborn too.

Luna just nods taking everything in. She remains silent for a moment, processing every little detail. She knew that Ren was Dragonborn. She knew the moment she helped with the Nordic ruin outside Morthal. "So she is Forsworn? Why isn't she wearing the armor?" Bear asks, curiously.

Ren goes to open his mouth to respond but falls silent when she steps out of the house. "Because I was forced to leave my tribe." Kisara says sadly, looking at the ground as she plays with the fabric of the dress.

Lucien blushes taking in her beauty, as she takes a seat between him and Ren. He places a gentle hand on hers. "Why were you kicked from the tribe?" Luna asks. "Because a dragon attacked. When we killed it, I absorbed its power." She explained. Luna's eyes widened. "Wait. What? I thought there was only one Dragonborn. How can she absorb it's power too?" Bear asked confused.

"What's a Dragonborn?" Kisara asked, confused as Bear. She looks between Lucien and Ren for answers. "I am a Dragonborn. By slaying dragons. I can absorb their soul and use it to learn shouts or words of power." Ren explains. "So that means I'm a Dragonborn too? So I'm not cursed." Kisara sighs.

"No. Just means that you will fight dragons and protect people. Also means that we will have to visit the Greybeards too." Lucien says, thoughtfully. Ren nods in agreement. "But that will have to wait a few days." A familiar voice says from the side of the house. Everyone looks that way as a tall, curvy woman appears.

The silver haired woman stood before them with a man with a tattoo over his right eye. "Good to see you, Ren, Luna and Lucien." She smiles. "You as well, Rayne." Ren stands and goes and hugs the woman. She was a couple inches shorter than him.

The man behind her growled. "Easy there, big guy. This is my nephew. Ren, this is Kaidan. Kaidan, this is Ren, Lucien, Luna, and Bear. I don't know the small elven woman. But she looks like Zevran and Kira, so I'm assuming that's their daughter." She smile, as she walks over and looks closely at the woman.

"What?" Ren says, shocked. "So my mother actually was Kira?" Kisara asked confused. "Yes, your father was the famous thief/assassin, Zevran. Ren, your parents were never killed by the Thalmor. Your father and your mother separated after you were born. Realizing that their children were twin halflings meant for something great. They decided to keep you two apart so the Thalmor wouldn't try to kill you. Zevran meet another woman in the Imperial City, who was related to your best friend there. They fell in love.

"Kisara, your mother returned to her tribe where she raised you. They did this to you all safe. Ren, does she know your real name?" Rayne asks. He shakes his head no. "Well, you should tell her. Also, your father is alive. He is currently in Riften. Kisara, dear, I'm gonna call you Kia for short. Your mother is safe. She left the tribe and joined Cael's tribe. I know you remember him." Rayne explains.

"How do you know all this?" Lucien asks. "As the head of my family and being the Harbinger. I have to know this stuff." She says, in confident tone. "What happened to Kodlak?" Luna asks. That was her uncle after all. "He was killed by the Silverhand." Rayne admits sadly. She hugs Luna. "I'm sorry, dear." She says. "It's alright. I'll have to write mother and inform her." Luna says, softly. "I already wrote her and told her everything." Rayne states.

Luna just looks at the older Nord woman. "Thank you." She smiles weakly. "You are welcome. Kodlak would not want you to be bad. He would want you to celebrate." Rayne smiles softly at the small Imperial woman. "Kaidan, how would you like to celebrate a death and the reunion of lost siblings?" She asks the man, that stood at her side in silence.

"I could go for a drink or two." He says. The group traveled back to Whiterun in the company of Rayne and her new companion, Kaidan, who didn't really talk much. Upon returning to Whiterun that night, Rayne informed the Companions that would have the next couple of days off in celebration of a reunion siblings.

#skyrim #lucien flavius #dragonborn #skyrim oc #skyrim companions #kaidan 2

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anotherspnfanfic · 5 years ago

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Better Now

Gif source

A/N: this is my first Nurse!Dean AU and I’m really happy with how it turned out. I hope y’all enjoy it.

Word count: 2688

~~~~

She walked into the clinic and headed to the front desk to check in. She glanced around as she sat in a waiting room chair, glad it wasn’t too busy today.

A few minutes later, she saw her favorite nurse appear in the doorway to the donation area. He was wearing dark green scrubs that made his eyes stand out more than usual. He glanced at the clipboard in his hand before looking up. His eyes locked with hers instantly. He lifted his arm and curled his finger with a beckoning gesture.

“Hey, you,” she greeted as she made her way over to him.

“Hey, sweetheart. How have you been?” His eyes sparkled as he smiled.

“Pretty good. Work has been keeping me busy.” They walked over to one of the donation chairs and she sat down, quickly making herself comfortable. “What about you?”

“Better now.” He winked at her before turning to grab the thermometer off the nearby counter.

She chuckled and shook her head. “Are you going to ask me out yet, Winchester?”

He wrote down her temperature on the clipboard and grabbed the sphygmomanometer next. “You know I could get in trouble for that.” He glanced up at her through his long lashes as he wrapped the cuff around her arm.

“Are you going to tell your boss?” She paused and thought for a moment. “Actually, Crowley loves me, maybe more than you. I’m sure he’d be happy for us. Or— I can keep a secret. I won’t tell him if you don’t.”

He was quiet as he removed his stethoscope from around his neck and placed the earpieces in his ears and the diaphragm beside the cuff at her elbow. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he focused on her blood pressure reading.

“You can keep a secret, huh?” he asked as he removed the cuff and wrote the number down. She nodded. “It has been awhile since I’ve been to a movie. Didn’t you mention one you wanted to see that’s coming out this weekend?”

“No, it is an old movie coming back to theaters for a couple showings. Inside Man with Clive Owen and Denzel Washington.”

“I think I’ve seen that. Once, a few years ago. With Jodie Foster, too?” She nodded. He promptly finished his required vitals and hemoglobin level checks. He recorded all the numbers before preparing for the blood draw. “Would you like to see it with me? And maybe get dinner, too?”

She thought for a moment. “Hmm, I’ll have to check my schedule.”

“Seriously?” He rolled his eyes. “You’re all set. I’ll be back in a few to unhook you. ‘Check your schedule’ while I’m gone, ya goof.”

She laughed as he left and then relaxed into the chair. She spent the next several minutes scrolling through her various social media feeds to pass the time.

About ten minutes later, Dean walked back into the room. He removed the IV line and bandaged her arm. As he finished, he asked, “So how does that schedule look?”

“Looks like I have plans on Saturday night. Pick me up at six?” She pulled a small, folded paper out of her pocket and handed it to him.

“You came prepared,” he said, laughing as he saw her address and phone number neatly written out. “Alright, you’re all done. Give me a minute and I’ll go grab you some juice and your favorite cookies.”

“Okay, but I have to pee. So I’ll be right back.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Uh, 1: over-sharing, and B: can you follow the rules for once and just sit still for five minutes?”

“Why start now?” She stood and took one step towards the door before she was hit with a wave of dizziness. She closed her eyes tightly to try and clear it. She felt his hands wrap firmly around her shoulders as she began to sway.

“Whoa. Okay, let’s sit back down.” He helped her back into the chair. “What was that? You’re always up wandering as soon as you finish a donation. I’ve never seen you get even a little light-headed.”

“Well, I am now.” She glanced at Dean before closing her eyes again. “Wow, this really sucks.”

“Hey, Cas, can you grab me some juice, please?” he asked one of the other nurses. He gently lifted her hand and ran an alcohol swab across one fingertip. “Little pinch, sweetheart.”

“What’re you doing?” She cracked one eye open to watch him.

“I am checking your blood sugar.”

“Why? Isn’t this dizziness thing pretty normal around here?” She raised an eyebrow as she spoke.

“In general, sure. But it isn’t normal for you. So I’m probably just overly cautious, sue me.” The meter in his hand beeped. “It is low. Have you eaten anything?”

She started to nod slowly before she thought about it a moment. “Actually, no. I overslept and forgot to get breakfast. Then I got busy at work and just never remembered to grab something.”

Cas walked back over to them and handed her the juice. “Anything else I can grab for you?” he asked.

“No, this is all. Thanks, Cas,” she said. He smiled at her before turning to walk away.

“Are you in a hurry to get back to work?” Dean asked once they were alone again.

“No. Not really in a hurry to move at the moment. But I have a pretty open-ended lunch break on donation days.”

“Drink your juice, it’ll help.” He took the juice box from her and popped the straw in it for her. “What do you say we make that movie our second date, and we go get you some food now? Preferably some protein.”

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Umm, aren’t you working?”

“Umm, no. What gave you that impression?” He laughed at his own joke. “It’s about time for my lunch break.”

“Okay, on one condition.”

“Name it.”

She finished the juice with an unnecessary slurp. “We go somewhere still serving breakfast. I have a need for some bacon.”

His smile grew impossibly bigger. “Who could say no to that? I know just the place.” Within a few minutes, they were walking out to the parking lot. She turned towards her car and he grabbed her hand to pull her back. “How about I drive?”

“Works for me.” She gawked at him as he opened the passenger door of the Impala that she had seen in the parking lot countless times before. She ran her hand across the dash in awe as she got in. “This is yours?” she asked as he got settled in the driver's seat. He nodded. “I should have known.”

“This is Baby. I inherited her from my dad,” he shared proudly. He shifted into reverse and backed out of his parking spot.

“She is beautiful,” she said. Dean pulled out onto the road and then into a small diner parking lot about a block over. “You realize we could have just walked here?”

He gave her an unimpressed look. “You just nearly fell over taking one step, and you think I was going to let you walk a block?” She opened her mouth to argue before closing it quickly as she realized he had a point. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

They got out of the Impala and she linked her arm with his as they walked inside. She led them to an empty corner booth. Dean waited for her to sit before scooting in across from her.

The waitress made her way over. “Hey, Dean. The usual today?”

“Hi, Ellen.” He smiled fondly. ”Uh, no actually. We’re thinking breakfast for lunch today.”

“Alright. Can I get you something to drink while you decide?”

“Can I get some apple juice, please?” she asked.

“And I will take a coffee,” Dean added. “Thanks, Ellen.”

“I have a really important question.” She kept her eyes on the menu and tried to keep her face neutral.

He set his menu down to give her his full attention. “Shoot.”

“Do I want waffles, pancakes, or French toast?” She smiled.

“Ooh, tough choices. How about we get all three and share?”

“Mr. Winchester, has anyone ever told you that you’re a genius?” She closed the menu and set it at the end of the table just as Ellen returned with their drinks.

“You guys ready?” Ellen asked. She set the juice and coffee on the table with two glasses of water.

“I think so,” Dean started. “Can we get pancakes, waffles, and French toast?”

“Sure thing.”

“And two sides of bacon.” Dean added. He turned back toward her. “Anything else?”

“Uhh, some scrambled eggs, please.” She hesitated momentarily. “And a side of fries.”

“I’ll get that put in for you.” Ellen turned and walked back into the kitchen.

She looked back at Dean and caught him trying to suppress a smile. “What? I’m starving.”

“Nothing. I like a girl that can eat.” His tongue peeked out to wet his lips as he chuckled.

“Well, then you won’t be disappointed. I’m actually not sure two sides of bacon will be enough.”

Dean laughed. “We can order more if we need to.”

They shared stories and laughed as they waited for the food. Dean glanced down at his watch then reached toward her. “Let me see your arm.”

She reached her left arm across the table.

He rolled his eyes and gently shoved her arm back. “The other one.”

She laughed at herself. “Right.” She gave him the correct arm and he removed the pressure bandage. “I forgot that was there. I do that a lot actually.”

“I don’t know how. That thing is uncomfortable.”

She shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I guess, maybe, I’m just used to it.”

“You do donate as often as possible. You have it down to a science.”

“It’s more of a carefully crafted and color-coded calendar,” she corrected.

He smiled as he lifted his mug and sipped the coffee. “Can I ask, is there a reason why?”

“You mean why do I donate so much?”

He nodded.

“Uh, well, I was in an accident when I was a teenager. I almost died; a transfusion saved my life.” Her lip curled up slightly. “I guess it’s that old ‘someone saves your life, you owe them the rest of yours’ thing. Plus, it’s a really easy way to help a lot of people.”

“Did you know you’re kind of amazing?”

She glanced down towards the table, trying to hide the blush she felt rising. “I am not,” she deflected, never having been good at receiving compliments. She was saved by Ellen reappearing with a tray.

A moment later, the table was full of food. “Anything else right now?” Ellen asked.

“I think we are set. Thanks, Ellen.” Dean smiled kindly at her as she turned to walk away.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “Oh, my God. It smells amazing.” She grabbed a piece of bacon and ate it quickly. She couldn’t stop the hum of satisfaction that followed.

Dean followed suit and quickly finished off his own strip of bacon. “I can feel my little brother rolling his eyes at us right now with all this junk.”

“He doesn’t like breakfast food?” she asked. She covered her mouth slightly as she spoke through a mouthful of food.

Dean shook his head. “He does, but not this much. He is a health nut. He would rather have a boring, egg-white omelette.”

Disgust crossed her face quickly. “That is not breakfast. If you ask me, that barely counts as food.”

“I completely agree.” He took a big bite of the waffles. “What are your favorite places for dinner?”

“Diner food is pretty good any time of the day.” She finished off the scrambled eggs and took a bite of the French toast.

“I meant nicer places. First date kind of places.”

She narrowed her eyes, “I thought you said this was the first date.”

“Fine, second date places.” He rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know. What if I want to see what you pick out all on your own?” She smirked and stole a bite of the waffles that were in front of him. “Just don’t take any suggestions from your health-nut brother.”

“I have never taken dating advice from Sammy and I promise not to start now.” He reached across the table to steal a fry from her.

The conversation slowed as they continued their meal. They were nearly finished when Ellen brought over drink refills.

“Looks like everything was terrible,” Ellen joked as she collected a few of the empty plates. “Anything else I can get for you guys?”

Dean quickly swallowed his mouthful of food and glanced across the table. “You got room for dessert? They have the best pie.”

“I think I absolutely need some pie,” she replied. She turned to Ellen. “Apple? Pretty please.”

“And pecan for me, please.”

“Sure thing. I’ll be right back.” Ellen disappeared into the kitchen once more. She returned moments later with the two slices of pie.

Dean immediately took a huge bite. The moan that followed was nearly obscene. She couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m going to take a wild guess here. Pie is your favorite dessert?”

“It is in the top three foods in general,” he explained, blatantly mumbling through a full mouth. “What is your favorite dessert?”

She considered his question. “I am way too indecisive to pick one. Pie is awesome. Ice cream is way up there. But, if I had to pick just one right this second… I think I have to go with cake.”

Dean looked genuinely offended. “Cake? Over pie? How dare you.” He took another large bite. “I guess I can let it slide. It just means more for me.”

“I never said I wouldn’t eat it. I don’t know how that means more for you.” She took a small bite of her own pie and watched as Dean practically inhaled the rest of his.

He winked as he reached across the table to steal a forkful of her pie. “Because it does.”

“Hey! That’s mine, thief.” She giggled, despite her best effort not to.

“I’m just helping. Unfortunately, I have to get back to work soon.”

She sighed and pulled her pie closer. “I can finish fast enough on my own.” She took a gigantic bite. A small piece of apple clung to her lip.

Dean burst out laughing. He doubled over, leaning against the table as he laughed with his whole body. As the laughter subsided, he reached over to wipe the stray filling from her lip. “Alright, just don’t choke on it.”

She pushed her plate over to him when only one small bite remained. He beamed as he finished it off for her. “Back to work for us?” she asked.

He nodded slowly and pulled out his wallet. He tossed some cash on the table as he stood and offered his hand to help her up. “We probably should.”

They pulled into the clinic parking lot and got out of the car. They both stood behind the Impala for a moment to say goodbye.

“I guess I will see you on Saturday.” She smiled and turned to head towards her car. Just as he had when he suggested he drive, he gently grabbed her hand to pull her back.

He placed his other hand gently on her cheek as his eyes fell momentarily to her lips. His eyes locked with hers again before he leaned in and kissed her softly. He pulled away after only a few seconds, leaving her wanting more. He smirked at the hint of a pout that flashed across her face.

“Yes, Saturday at six.” He pulled her into a hug before finally heading back into work.

She couldn’t stop smiling as she made her way back to her office. As she parked, her phone dinged with a new message. “Have a good afternoon, sweetheart. Can’t wait to see you Saturday,” she read.

She knew it was going to be a long couple days waiting for Saturday to roll around.

Tags: @muchamusedaboutnothing @deanwasscaredbyacat @babypieandwhiskey @luci-in-trenchcoats

#supernatural #au!dean x reader #dean winchester x reader #dean x ofc #spn fanfic #nurse dean #nurse!Dean #supernatural au #dean winchester #fluff

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wizardessheart-sideb · 4 years ago

Photo

Image ID: A chapter image done in the style of Wizardess Heart. A large, off-white imagine with a guy on it. He’s wearing a dark gray uniform. There’s a lavender bar over him that reads “Tsukasa Kuze.” The rest of the text reads “Main Story” and “Chapter 2: On the Very First Day” /End ID]

Chapter summary: It's my first day of classes and things are harder than I thought they'd be. And now something strange happens with Tsukasa...

The shrill ringing of my alarm woke me up and immediately my stomach was rolling. The strong smell of bacon and something sweet was strong in my room. If anything, it made my nausea worse. I didn’t even open my eyes as I turned my alarm clock off. Did I really have to get out of bed? Couldn’t I just sleep a little longer?

Five more minutes wouldn’t hurt…I plucked the clock from my nightstand and just as I was about to reset it, there was loud knocking on my door.

“Time to wake up! If you keep sleeping, you’ll miss breakfast!” Isabelle’s voice shouted from the other side. Ugh… With my stomach feeling so gross, maybe that’d be for the best. Would I be able to keep anything down right now, anyway?

“Okay, thanks, Isabelle!” I replied as cheerfully as I could given how little sleep I’d gotten. I groaned as I got out of bed. I hadn’t even done anything yet and I already felt dead tired. Somehow, I stumbled through getting dressed and ready for the day.

When I stepped out of my dorm room, the smell of breakfast just intensified. The door to our kitchen was open and as soon as she caught sight of me, Isabelle waved me in.

“Oh, there you are! We were wondering when you’d get up,” Aika greeted me. She was seated at the table, blonde hair tucked into a neat bun and make up done. How did she have energy for that? It felt so early, even though I knew it wasn’t.

“Your food’s gonna get cold,” Dorian spoke up. He was standing at a counter, pouring batter into a fancy-looking waffle maker.

“You made me breakfast?”

“Of course he did,” Isabelle said. “He cooks all our meals.”

“He’s totally the daddy of our dorm suite,” Aika added.

“How dare you make me go through the five stages of grief this early in the morning,” Isabelle hissed. Aika just shrugged, taking a sip of her cocoa.

“What? I’m not wrong,” she commented nonchalantly. “Also it’s like, eight in the evening.”

“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!”

Unsure of what to say, I just grabbed the plate of food Dorian brusquely shoved towards me and sat down across from Isabelle, who now had her head down on the table. Dorian sighed and grabbed his own plate, sitting across from Aika. I cut into the fluffy omelet and cheese started spilling out. Dang, Dorian’s really making some fancy stuff.

“So, are you nervous?” Isabelle asked me, sitting up, chin resting on her hands.

“Oh, um… yeah, a little,” I told her.

“You’ll be fine. Your class has some total sweethearts,” she reassured me. That’s a relief. I already knew Tsukasa was a classmate, and if everyone was like him, I’d be able to make friends fast.

“You mean there’s four decent people out of fifteen in their class,” Dorian muttered under his breath. My stomach had slowly stopped feeling sick, but thanks to that quip, the nausea was back. There’s only four nice people in my class?

“I mean, that’s better than none!” Isabelle said hurriedly. She pouted before smiling at me. “Ugh, whatever. Anyway, you’re going to be fine. Your class is small and as long as you stick to the nice ones, you’ll be fine. You have Tsukasa, but you also have Hiro and Clive and you’ll love them.”

“Fandamilia is also very nice but jeez, she’s so energetic when she’s not drunk,” Dorian added. Aika glared at him, fixing her posture to be pin-straight.

“Dorian, are you trying to start a fight at the breakfast table?!” Her voice was harsh. Cold. She nervously glanced over to Isabelle, who had a similar look of fury on her face like Aika had had moments ago. “Isabelle, ignore him.”

“Don’t befriend Fandamilia,” Isabelle commanded.

“Our newbie can befriend who they want. Fandamilia is nice and even though she has her faults, she still deserves to have friends,” Dorian argued heatedly.

“Uh…” How was I supposed to react to this? It’s not like I knew Fandamilia and could say anything to support Isabelle or Dorian. There was no other choice but to just sit there and watch the scenario implode before my eyes.

“Isabelle doesn’t get along with Fandamilia anymore,” Aika whispered to me. But that didn’t really do anything to clear this up. Why didn’t they get along? Why were they friends in the first place? Why do I need to avoid Fandamilia? Dorian sighed and sat his teacup down onto the table a bit too forcefully, some tea sloshing over the side.

“Look, befriend her or don’t. Make the choice for yourself and not because Isabelle told you to,” he told me. His eyes were burning and I couldn’t do anything but sit there and wither under the pressure. Isabelle just rolled her eyes.

“I’m just trying to save them some heartache. It sucks when you befriend someone and then they try to justify some jerk’s terrible behavior,” she said. Oh. I guess that explains a little more. But I still wish I could get the full picture.

“I don’t like him either, but Fandamilia needs friends that aren’t Zeus,” Dorian said. “How do you expect her to grow if she doesn’t make more friends?”

“I don’t think you can even call them friends. He doesn’t really acknowledge her,” Aika lamented. She sighed, stirring her cocoa. “She should just summon herself a boyfriend like I did.”

“What?” Did I hear that right? No, there’s no way I heard that right.

“Oh, a gender-reversed take on the ‘hur dur my wife’s a demon’ boomer joke. Classy. Innovative. Straights can keep their rights now,” Isabelle retorted.

“Oh my God, shut up. If I can’t be the cute one, I have to be the funny one,” Aika replied, just as fiery. Dorian just pouted at Isabelle.

“I can’t believe you’d call me or Aika straight. I might be dating Aika but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a nice, tall man willing to destroy this -”

“I HATE THIS FAMILY!” Aika shrieked. Dorian just snickered instead of finishing his sentence, but it’s not like I didn’t know what he was going to say. Part of me wanted to say, “let him speak,” but I don’t know if I can really joke around with them like that yet.

There was a knock on the wall and when I turned around in my seat, I saw Tsukasa sheepishly standing there. Everyone straightened up a bit.

“Oh, hey, Tsukasa. Care to join us?” Isabelle asked, starting to get up. But Tsukasa just shook his head and Isabelle plopped back down into her chair.

“No, thank you,” he told her before turning to face me. “I came to see if you were ready to head to class.”

“Me?!” It made my heart flutter a little bit, as strange as it was.

“Oh, really now…” Dorian commented, voice low. Aika reached over and lightly smacked Dorian’s arm at his mischievous tone. Something about it made me flustered and I started looking around wildly for my bag.

“Oh, um, give me a moment to do dishes,” I said. I started to stand up, but Dorian snapped and in an instant, my dishes floated into the sink.

“I take care of the dishes. Don’t worry about it,” he said, flashing me a smile.

“Are you sure?” I didn’t want to just let him do all the work, especially since he made breakfast.

“This is how it always is,” Aika told me. “Don’t let us keep you.”

“If you say so…” I grabbed my bag before joining Tsukasa. We fell in step with each other as we made our way to the classrooms.

“How did you sleep this morning?” he asked.

“I was out. The trip yesterday was more exhausting than I realized,” I laughed. Part of me wondered if I should bring up last night. He wasn’t really having a good time, but if he came to get me, then he must be feeling a bit better. And besides, maybe it wasn’t my place to pry into his life. “It’s weird how tiring travel is.”

“I know, right?” he said, a large smile on his face. “When my brother and I moved here, we were both so exhausted from the trip that we slept for a full day once we got to our inn.”

“You moved here?”

“Yeah. My brother and I lived in Hinomoto all our lives, but we moved to Gedonelune four years ago. It was right after my fourteenth birthday.”

“Oh, that’s exciting. Do you like it here?” I’d lived in Reitz my whole life. I didn’t really know much about Hinomoto other than it was an archipelago east of us. That was it, basically.

“I do. Hinomoto was really nice and I wouldn’t mind moving back, but I really like Gedonelune and I’m glad Azusa had us move.” That must be his brother. “We used to live in the imperial court and while it was nice living in luxury, I’m not a huge fan of having so many rules. I think some rules are necessary, but there were some that were just dumb.”

As Tsukasa told me about his life living among royalty, we got to campus. The hallways were full of students just milling around and it was the same inside our classroom. There were already some students in their seats, reading or sketching absentmindedly or just staring off into space. No one acknowledged us when we came in and no one said a word as Tsukasa lead me to the front row and sat down. I took the seat next to him, to the right of a girl with a big, green ponytail full of curls and in front of a guy with black hair with bleached ends. I quickly got my things out of my bag. I wanted to ask him how difficult classes were, but it’s not like I could now. What if someone overheard and made fun of me? The girl next to me didn’t seem like she’d notice since she was fidgeting with some paper, but the guy behind me had bad vibes radiating from him.

The bell abruptly rang and the remaining students filed in quickly. The girl next to me slumped a bit and put her paper away, taking out a notebook. The nerves in my stomach started to act up as more people came inside. This was really happening. My very first day of classes at Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy! I just hoped I could keep up with everyone else. Prefect Nox walked into the classroom, a smile on his face. Okay, this wasn’t bad at all! I had Tsukasa here with me and I had Prefect Nox teaching my first class!

“Okay, everyone here? Good. Let’s get started.” Nox leaned against the podium, eyes lazily scanning the classroom. We locked eyes and his grin widened. “Although, I guess I should introduce our new student.”

“Oh!” I shot up out of my chair, waving nervously to the rest of the class. Apathetic eyes met mine, if they looked up at all. Tsukasa was the only one who greeted me with a smile. That melted some of my nervousness away. “Hi, I’m the new transfer student!” I gave them my name. “Let’s, uh, let’s do our best to get along.”

“Sounds fake, but whatever,” someone spoke up. I couldn’t tell who it was. The rest of the class snickered and I sunk back into my seat. I glanced over to Tsukasa, but he was glaring at another student.

“That was rude.” Yikes, what that really Tsukasa talking back?! Sure, I didn’t know him well, but for him to sound so angry and ready to throw down was disconcerting, to say the least.

“Hey, let’s not get into a fight, okay?” Nox spoke up quickly. “Let’s just let it go and start class.” He just plowed on, telling us to open our books. I reached out and tapped Tsukasa’s shoulder, leaning in towards him.

“Thank you,” I whispered. He smiled.

“Don’t mention it.” I’m so lucky to have Tsukasa in my class. But now I see what Dorian was talking about. People seem like they can be really snide here.

“All right, today we’re working on defensive magic,” Nox announced. “I know it doesn’t seem as cool as offensive magic, but if you can’t use defensive magic, you’re as good as dead in a fight. We’ll be going elemental shields today, specifically water. Can someone tell me what you’d call water when casting a spell?” Everyone’s eyes dropped to the ground, trying to avoid Prefect Nox’s eyes. “Fandamilia?”

“Uh… Aqua?” The girl with green curls answered, uncertain.

“Correct. Keep up the hard work, Millie.” She beamed. So that’s Fandamilia. She didn’t look at all like I imagined. She didn’t look at all like the mean girls from movies. “For today’s class, you’ll have to create a shield large enough to protect yourself and your partner. I’ll fire attacks at you and let’s hope your shields are strong enough. Get in pairs and then get in horizontal line from that wall to this one.”

My stomach knotted itself. The shield didn’t sound bad enough, but Prefect Nox testing it? That was what worried me. I looked around me, looking for a partner.

“Tsukasa? Do you want to partner up?” I asked him.

“I’d love to.” Again, he gave me one of those lovely warm smiles. Even though I was nervous about the assignment, seeing him smile settled my nerves. “Um… Would you like me to go first?”

“Oh, um, no, I can go first if you like,” I replied.

“All right. That’s fine with me.” I just nodded. We got in line and Prefect Nox, of course, went to the end closest to us. I could throw up then and there. I stared at the textbook, hoping that somehow, it’d help me conjure the shield easier. Student after student had success and my nausea got worse and worse. Prefect Nox arrived to us and I took a deep, shaky breath.

“O water, protect us from harm! Suctum aqua!” I waved my hand a large shield of still water appeared. I… I did it?! I’d never tried this spell before. Thank goodness it worked.

“That’s a great size,” Nox commented. “But let’s see if it’ll hold up. Sagitta aqua!” Several arrows of water easily pierced my shield and splashed into me. I coughed, letting the water drip out of my mouth. My shield dissipated. “Your shield looked a little thin. Next time, make it a little thicker and maybe try getting the water to swirl. That should help deflect some attacks,” he told me.

“Thank you.” I’m the first person in class to fail… I can’t cry. I’m not going to be the first person to fail AND the person who cried in class on their first day.

“水! (Mizu!)” Tsukasa quickly drew symbols into the air and a shield appeared. It was much smaller than anyone else's and Prefect Nox frowned.

“I think it needs to be bigger, but I’ll go ahead and attack. Sagitta aqua.” Again, water arrows went flying to Tsukasa. He lifted his shield but as soon as the arrows hit it, the whole thing broke and sprayed water on not just him, but me and the girl on his other side.

“I’m sorry, you two,” he said. He pulled out a handkerchief and gave it to me.

“Next time, make your shield bigger and keep it together. A shield that breaks means you’re going to get some serious injuries,” Nox critiqued.

“Thank you.” Prefect Nox went over to Lyza and I saw Tsukasa’s shoulders slump ever so slightly. As awful as it was, part of me was relieved I wasn’t the only one that failed. But at the same time, I felt bad that Tsukasa had failed too. I put my hand on his bony shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. He turned to me and mirrored me, putting his hand on my shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Maybe we were going to be okay. A few more minutes passed and Prefect Nox reached the end of the line.

“All right, those were all good first tries,” Nox announced. “Let’s do this again and keep in mind my constructive criticism.” I almost gagged. Again?! We have to do this all over again?!

We didn’t improve much and by the time we were back in our seats, I was ready to take a nap. Who knew classes would be so exhausting?

“Good work today, guys. Here’s today’s results,” Nox said. He snapped his fingers and a large list appeared on the blackboard. My stomach dropped to the floor as I read the names and realize what it was. It was our names and our scores for the day. I kept reading and saw mine and Tsukasa’s names at the bottom of the list with only a few points each. Some kids were cheering, others gloating about how well they did. I just wanted to disappear into thin air.

“Are you okay?” Tsukasa’s gentle voice was in my ear, his hand on my shoulder.

“No. Why are our scores up on the board?”

“It’s like that for every class. It’s supposed to motivate us, but I think it’s kind of terrible.”

“No kidding.”

The rest of my classes didn’t go that well and by the time the final bell rung, I was ready to go back to my room and die in peace. Everyone was pretty quick to leave the classroom as I sluggishly put my stuff away.

“Hey. Are you okay?” Tsukasa inquired. I just sighed.

“Yeah, I guess. I didn’t know things were going to be so intense here,” I replied.

“I know what you mean. These classes are hard and on top of that, they make it like a competition.”

“I don’t see how this makes anyone motivated.”

“Everyone here is kind of competitive. Well, most everyone.” Somehow, that didn’t make things better. “If you’re worried about your grades, how about we go study together?” Tsukasa suggested. I didn’t know how much he could help me, but it’d be nice to suffer with someone else.

“Sure. We can go study for a while.” Wallowing in self-pity will have to wait. After all, I guess I do have to study hard so I’d be accepted as an official student.

The halls were already cleared of students, but in the distance I could hear faint chatter coming from near the entrance of campus. Hm. I wonder what that is? Tsukasa lead me down the hall and to two large wooden doors.

“I’m sure there will be some study rooms open for us,” Tsukasa said as he held the door open for me.

The library was massive. Shelves lined the walls and were standing proudly on the floor like soldiers, lined up perfectly and precisely. Tables were shoved into any space they could find that was out of the way of traffic. Tsukasa lead me through the stacks and to the back wall. Several doors lined the walls. Next to them were windows looking in to empty rooms. Again, Tsukasa opened a door and motioned for me to go in.

“Thank you.” What a gentleman. It was a cozy little room. There was a blackboard in addition to the table and chairs. Tsukasa took the seat across from me and started pulling his textbooks out.

“So, what do you want to study?” he asked.

“Uh…” “Everything” would be a bad answer, wouldn’t it? “Gosh, I don’t know… Is there anything you want to work on?”

“I don’t have a preference,” he responded. Great. More pressure. I know he was probably trying to be polite, but I had no idea what to do.

“Um… Man, I really don’t know. I feel like I have to work on everything,” I sighed, leaning back in my chair, arms crossed.

“We can study whatever you need to. I’ve got all night.”

“I don’t want you to ignore what you need to do for me, though. My failures shouldn’t cost you anything.”

“Hey, don’t say that.” He leaned in closer to me. “I’m not sacrificing what I need to do. We’re working together on things we both need. This is a two-way street.” Something about his words reassured me. It sounded so mature and certain. Well, maybe mature wasn’t the right word. Perhaps authoritative was a better term. He looked so strong in that moment. But in a second, he quickly looked away. “Sorry, was that weird? My brother says it all the time so I thought it would be comforting…”

“Pft… Haha!” The switch from confident to shy struck me as funny. But at the same time, it was so sweet he’d try comforting me when we hardly knew each other.

“It was comforting. Thank you, Tsukasa. I really appreciate it,” I told him. We shared smiles. All of a sudden, the crescent moon brooch on his cloak start to glow.

“What’s with your brooch?” he asked. Huh?

“Is mine glowing too?!” I asked.

“Wait, mine’s glowing?!”

We looked to our brooches and saw them glowing brighter and brighter until the light seemed to shoot out of the brooches. Sparkles mixed it the air and exploded like a firework, beautiful and fleeting.

“That’s pretty, but… What is that?” I asked him. He shrugged.

“Were you trying to cast something?”

“No. Were you?”

“No.” Then what was it? “I know sometimes if you sing well enough, magic crystals can form in the air. Maybe this is something like that? With friendship?” Friendship… Does he see me as a friend? … I suppose I see him as a friend…

“I… I guess it is.” Something about this situation felt so odd. It didn’t feel threatening or something, or bad, but still. I wondered what that magic was all about. Even as Tsukasa and I shared a smile over our new friend status, I still couldn’t help but wonder what had happened.

#tsukasa kuze #shall we date wizardess heart #wizardess heart fan route #tsukasa kuze: kind spirit

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