#dewdrop bout to get dropped

[sodobabe]

Embarrassed (Dewdrop Ghoul) 18+ Minors DNI

A/N: This was written purely for my own enjoyment but I figured I would share it with the world. Enjoy!

Warnings: Smut. Sub Dew, Dom Aether, humiliation, cum desperation, loss of control, public sexual act, anal, fluffy Aether, Dew has soft feelings.

It is a known fact that ghouls are always horny while performing. After rituals, it is always a race of whoever can get to the bathroom the fastest to relieve their desire. Dew is the worst of them all. He gets so into the music and the friction of the guitar makes it worse. He’s usually pretty good at fighting the urge until this one fateful night.

The ritual began as the curtain dropped, Dew was hard even before he stepped on stage. Aether had been teasing him backstage and that resulted in the fire ghoul being hot and heavy as they took their spots before the crowd. Aether had told him if he was able to make it through the whole ritual without releasing his load in his pants, he would treat him to a fun night. Dew kept this thought at the front of his brain as he played through the setlist.

You got this. You are in control. Dew kept reassuring himself. There was one more song left in the set and Dew thought he would be able to power through. He was wrong. As he was shredding away during Square Hammer he felt his balls tighten. Fuck he was bout to cum right here in his pants in front of everybody. Dew wasn’t one to have a quiet orgasm either. His little body couldn’t handle the sensations all at once.

Toward the middle of the song, he lost it. His rhythm faltered, drawing Aether’s attention. He kept playing as he threw his head back and moaned into his balaclava at the sensation of the warm cum seeping through the fabric of his pants. For whatever reason, it wasn’t his usual amount of cum. It was ropes and ropes of the stick secretment coating his crotch and the back of his guitar.

Aether noticed what was happening and made his way over to the fire ghoul who was now embarrassed by what had just transpired.

“Awww, did my Dewdrop cum in his pants like a needy little slut,” Aether mumbled in Dew’s ear.

“I couldn’t help it. Feel like there’s more in there,” Dew moaned as the friction from his guitar made his cock rock hard again.

“Almost done, Dew. Meet me in the green room after final bow,” Aether instructed before making his way back over to his side of the stage.

Dew’s worst nightmare had come true. He lost control in front of thousands of fans and now was about to have to do the final bow with the stains of his cum evident to everybody in the first couple of rows.

The song ended and all of the ghouls and ghoulettes lined up with Copia for the bow. As soon as Dew came back up after the bow, he bolted for the green room, throwing shit along the way because he was angry and embarrassed with himself.

He flung the door open and threw himself down on the couch, head in his hands trying to collect his thoughts. As he calmed his breathing, Aether came in and closed the door.

“What happened, Dew? You couldn’t control your own dick on stage?” Aether mocked as he lifted Dew’s chin.

“Fuck you,” Dew spat, his anger still emanating.

”Is that what you were thinking about while your desperation got the best of you?” Aether whispered in Dew’s ear.

This made Dew’s dick even harder. He needed Aether and he needed him now.

“Aeth, please. I’ve already embarrassed myself once tonight. Please don’t make me beg for your cock to add to the humiliation,” Dew whimpered.

”Oh but that’s the fun part,” Aether said as he sat down next to the embarrassed ghoul.

Dew gave in. He needed to be fucked by the larger, older ghoul and he needed it now.

”Please, Aeth, need your cock in me so bad. Please, I’m your needy little cockwhore. Want daddy’s dick so bad,” Dew begged as he straddled Aether’s lap.

The begging was music to Aether’s ears. He moved Dew off of him and slipped his pants down, his large cock popping out.

“Take your dirty pants off and ride daddy like the good little cum slut you are,” Aether instructed.

Dew did as he was told, pulling his pants off, moaning at the wet patches gliding against his swollen cock. He straddled Aether’s lap once more. Aeth reached into his bag that was next to the couch and pulled out a bottle of lube. He used it to lube up his cock and Dew’s ass.

Aether slipped his cock into Dew’s tight ass, moaning at the pleasure of being inside his favorite ghoul. Dew wasted no time before he was bouncing on Aether’s cock, singing his praises. Aether used one free hand to support Dew’s back and the other one was stroking Dew’s cock that was rubbing against the quintessence ghoul’s belly.

”Fuck, daddy, love having your cock in my ass. Feels s’good,” Dew moaned.

”You’re such a good little slut for your daddy. You’re not allowed to cum until I do,” Aether instructed.

This would be hard for Dew as he was already close to his second orgasm of the night.

“But, daddy, I need to cum again,” Dew moaned into Aether’s ear.

“If you do, daddy isn’t going to fuck you for a week and you won’t be allowed to touch yourself either,” Aether seductively scolded.

Dew couldn’t go that long without Aether fucking him, let alone pleasuring himself so he had to control himself.

“Keep riding daddy’s cock, gonna cum in this sweet tight ass of yours,” Aether moaned as he felt his balls tighten.

Dew was able to resist the urge of spraying his cum all over Aether at the thought of Aether filling his tight hole with his warm cum.

”Fuck, Dew, I’m cumming, Oh fuck me baby,” Aether said as he thrusted his hips into Dew, releasing his seed inside of the needy fire ghoul.

“Cum for daddy, Dew baby. You’ve been a good cum slut, cum for me,” Aether moaned as he was still riding out his high in Dew’s ass.

Dew needed no further encouragement as he released his cum all over Aether’s hand and belly,

“Fuck, Aeth, fuck I’m your good little cum slut. Fuck I love you, Daddy,” Dew moaned as he fucked into Aether’s cum covered hand.

Aether was caught off guard by the three words that left the fire ghoul’s mouth.

”Dew, did you just say you love me?” Aether asked as he tucked Dew’s hair behind his ear.

”I uh, I,” Dew stuttered.

He had always had these strong feelings for Aether but always thought Aether viewed him as another ghoul to fuck.

”Yes. I love you, okay. I didn’t want you to know because I didn’t want to be rejected. I want more than just our daily fucks. I want to be yours,” Dew muttered out, now flustered from his lack of self awareness when speaking.

”Dew, hey, listen to me. I love you too. I just figured you didn’t do the dating thing because, well that’s just how I assumed you were,” Aether said as he looked the fire ghoul in the eyes.

”I usually don’t but with you, I burn for you. I need you in more ways than just this,” Dew said.

”Then you will have me in more ways than just this. Let’s be together. Let’s be boyfriends,” Aether whispered in Dew’s ear, pulling a low pur from the fire ghoul who was well spent after the fun they just had.

The two ghouls got cleaned up and made their way back to the tour bus. Aether invited Dew to sleep in his bunk with him tonight and the little ghoul didn’t hesitate once. Aether crawled in and put his back against the wall before motioning for the fire ghoul to come snuggle with him.

“I love you, Dewdrop,” Aether whispered in his ear.

”I love you, too, Aether,” Dew mumbled before quickly falling asleep.

[iomadachd]

@tooxldtorememxer asked: “shh, that’s okay, get everything out.” ( omega @ dew )

post - trauma sentence starters (accepting)

It's been days since the ritual tore him down to atoms and built him back from nothing. He can't stop screaming in pain every time he moves, but the screaming makes him choke and vomit in a vicious cycle until his voice goes.

It's been one of those days where the Quintessence helps, but only so much, and Dew is hung over the side of the bed with his head in a bucket while Omega is stroking his spine and trying to console him.

He doesn't know how the other Ghoul is doing it when they've lost Terzo and all those who had been summoned before them. He can barely focus on it for more than a second before the pain overcomes him again and his head drops forward.

"Shh, that's okay, get everything out."

Dewdrop sobs, even though the motion pulls at the burns running down the right side of his face and neck, and the salt stings the raw flesh. His back aches and his muscles scream and even his claws hurt. He feels too hot, and he can't feel the water, and everything is wrong.

He doesn't regret doing it, but he wouldn't be opposed to dying right now, either.

He's panting after the last bout subsides, voice raw and roughened from bile and smoke.

"...'Mega, just knock me out, please."

[bluemoonbeam15]

What If...

What if Pixar had added more bloopers into the end credits?

<><><><><><><><>

"It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, Princess," Hopper guided her to sit on the rock, resting a foot against it. "Now--" a few whistles interrupt him.

Axel nudges the grasshopper beside him, "Ooh," he grins, "Boss layin' it down!"

Hopper pinched the bridge of his nose, "Of all idiots," he mutters. "Can we get through this scene, please?"

"Cut!"

They get back in their original places. "Take two!"

Hopper leans down and guides Atta to sit again, "It's a bug-eat-bug-world out there, Princess--" snickers from the crowd distracts him. He deadpanned at the camera.

"Cut!" John scans over the colony, "Okay, ladies, let's keep this professional here, alright? Gang, don't encourage them."

Axel snickers, "Aw c'mon," he calls out to Hopper, "Show 'em your good side, Boss!"

"Oh my word," Hopper sighs and straightens, face flushing.

Atta holds back her laughter, "Maybe try not doing the foot thing," she suggests.

Hopper mocks her quietly, "'try not doing the foot thing'" He gets back into position.

"Take three!"

"It's a bug-eat-bug-world out there..." he stood awkwardly for a moment, debating on how to approach her differently. Eventually, he puts his hands on his hips and just stares down at her, "Princess-- no, this doesn't feel right."

"Cut!"

Atta can't help but burst out laughing, "Nevermind, just go back to the other way."

Axel snickers and calls out again, "That's how she likes it, Boss!"

"I'm gonna quit," Hopper shakes his head.

_______________________

While all the grasshoppers are in the anthill, Molt kickstarts his wings to shoot through the hole. Unfortunately, he bonks his head against the ceiling and drops to the ground, "Ow!"

"Cut! Molt, make sure you're standing beneath the hole first."

He stood up, holding his head, "Yeah, got it."

"Take two!"

Hopper stared the ants down, "You ants have a nice summer. Let's ride!" He crouched down and shot through the hole. Molt laughed and shut up as well, hitting the ceiling again and landing on his back.

"Dang it! Okay, okay! I can get it right this time, I swear!" Molt staggered onto his feet.

His brother peeked back down in the hole, "When I fly off, that's when you move under the hole, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Molt waved him off.

"Take three!"

"--Let's ride!"

Molt bit his lip a bit, waiting until Hopper vanished before side-stepping and starting his wings. As soon as he pushed off the ground, his foot slipped and he fell face-first on the ground.

Hopper peeked his head through the hole again, deadpanned, "Does he have to be in this movie?" he looked at the directors.

John pinched the bridge of his nose, "He's for comedic relief. Okay, let's just go with the first take and switch it up a bit."

"But I hit my head on that one!"

"It'll be fine, the audience will get a kick out of it."

Hopper sneered down at his brother, "So will the rest of us." Molt huffed.

________________

Flik watched the Circus Bugs convey to him that they were not, in fact, warriors. He gasped and flung the makeshift megaphone to the side, "Your Highness! The warriors have--Ah!" In his effort to crawl over the blade of grass, he slipped on the dewdrop.

"Flik!" Atta kneeled down beside him, "Oh my gosh are you okay?"

He laughed awkwardly, feet hanging over the blade, "Yeah, I'm good."

"Cut!" John rushed over, "You alright, kid?"

"No, no, no, I'm fine." Flik stood back up quickly and brushed himself off. "Can we clear this off before I do that scene?" he pointed a thumb to the dew and petals on the ground.

Francis was doubled over laughing, "No, no, keep it there! I wanna see that again!"

Flik crossed his arms, "Is my pain hilarious to you now?"

The ladybug pointed out one of the cameramen, "Send me that take, I gotta keep that!"

_________________

"I said, even Hopper's afraid of birds," Atta repeated.

Flik blinked before chastely kissing her on the cheek and zooming off, "Thank you!" He rushed to the infirmary and nearly made it to the leaf entrance, "Hopper's--" he fell through the leaves and face-planted the ground.

"Cut!"

Gypsy rushed to help him up, "Oh, sweetie, it's just not your day is it?" She glared at the others who were laughing -- or at the very least trying to contain their laughter.

The ant held up a hand, not moving from where he'd fallen, "Just...give me a moment," he mumbled through the dirt.

_______________

Hopper's eyes hardened at the three grasshopper's, "Well, how 'bout this?" He quickly reached over him to pull the tip of the dispenser off, grunting when it didn't budge. "What the?" He kept trying to pry it open but nothing happened. "What did you guys do to this thing?"

"Cut!" John set the megaphone down and inspected the container, "Alright," he turned to the gang, "Which one of you clowns glued the lid shut?"

Tuck and Roll slowly stepped away from outside the shot, hiding the glue bottle behind their backs.

______________

"You little termites!" The colony turned as Hopper rose into the air with the offering lifted above him. He opened his mouth for the next line but a few whistles and cat-calling stopped him.

One of his gang members shouted teasingly from the side, "You lift bro?"

Hopper pursed his lips and set the offering back down, "Okay, I'm not doing this scene."

"Cut! Hopper, it's in the script," John called.

"Then change the script!"

"Just get through the take, I promise it'll be the last time," John pleaded. He called out to the colony and gang, "And no distractions, ladies! Let's keep it professional here!"

_____________

Hopper wrapped his hands around Flik's neck, "I'll be back next season with more grasshoppers...but you won't."

The ant pretended to struggle a moment before clawing at Hopper's hands desperately, "Hop! Wa--" he coughed and Hopper quickly released him.

"Oh my gosh, was I actually choking you?" He watched Flik struggle for air as he doubled over.

Flik waved it off, "It's fine...just...can't breathe," he gasped out.

"Cut! Okay, let's work on that strength there, Hopper."

Hopper patted Flik on the back, looking a bit sheepish toward the crew, "I'm sorry! Can we change that scene or anything? Maybe I'll just pin him down or something?"

John looked over the script, "I don't know...the writers were pretty keen on choking. Just work on your technique, we went over this yesterday during choreography. The best way to not accidentally choke someone is..."

Hopper gave him a confused look, "To not...try and choke them--"

"No."

"Well, I don't know what you want me to say!" Hopper threw his hands up in defeat.

Flik straightened as he took in a deep breath, "Okay, I'm good now. Everything's great."

"Ready to try another take?" John called.

Flik hesitated, "Just give me a moment," he laughed breathlessly, "I almost died. Gotta process that," he smiled at Hopper.

"I'm sorry!" Hopper flared his arms out, "Your neck is like a toothpick. How can I not accidentally choke you?"

"We practiced it yesterday, Hopper!" John reminded him.

Hopper rounded on the director, "How about I practice it on you?"

"Okay!" Atta decided to step in now, "Why don't we all take five?"

[vannahfanfics]

Nothing Else Compares

Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Atlantis- The Lost Empire

Characters: Milo, Kida

Hi, guys! I wrote this for a Atlantis zine I’m trying to apply for, so I thought I’d share <3 

Milo barely registered the burning of his calves and thighs as he squatted beside the large, lily-covered pond stretching out before him. Throughout his stay in Atlantis, Milo’s physique had considerably improved thanks to frequent hiking, swimming, and climbing. Still, even the stoutest muscles would complain after being stretched for thirty minutes without rest. The dull ache was far from Milo’s mind, for he was far too captivated by the beautiful fish gliding just below the still surface of the pond. His pencil sailed over the notebook pages. He continuously sketched the gorgeous creatures and recorded the aspects of their behavior, not wishing to miss a single detail in his rapt scientific study. 

The creatures much resembled the koi fish of the surface world, but they’d evolved a little differently due to the unique mesocosm of the rich waters of the Atlantean pond. Rather than the gold, black, orange, and white variations of patterning expressed by their overworld counterparts, the fish’s scales were dynamic arrangements of sapphire blue, cerulean, white, lavender, black,  and violet. Nothing in the surface world came close to the elegant beauty of the gorgeous fish serenely circling the pond. Milo wondered if the surrounding underwater vegetation contributed to the adaptation. The seaweed rooted in the muddy bottom of the bond wasn’t any shade of green, but hued with deep purples and blues. That’s only speculation, of course… I’ll have to carefully observe their behavior to see if they utilize the seaweed for camouflage, he thought as he tapped the end of his pencil against his lips. 

As his mind trailed off following the thought, Milo finally became aware of his thigh muscles’ screaming agony. Groaning, the academic slowly eased himself down on his rump, ultimately alleviating the pressure on his lower extremities. He could swear he heard the cells audibly sigh in relief, and the pain eased back into a dull, pounding ache. He set his notebook down to massage the distressed meat of his legs while casting a glance at the surrounding area. Milo had spotted the glittering fish first, so he’d neglected to drink in the environment around their secluded little pool. 

The pond was fed by freshwater from the mountains trickling through the crevices of the smooth, rounded rocks piled on the north end of the area. Multiple streams dribbled through the tightly-packed stones to feed into the large pond, filling the air with the pleasant babbling of the water. The stone face extended out on either side of the fishpond, where thin, twisted, gnarly trees clung to the wet surfaces with a labyrinthine network of roots that bored into the rock face. Spongy, light green moss coated every inch of the rock where the tree roots didn’t permeate. White-gray lichens draped from the spindly tree branches like curtains; they ruffled in the breeze, making the trees resemble ghostly wisterias leaning over the pond. 

Milo took a few minutes to scrawl the habitat across two pages of his notebook, just in case he needed it for future reference. The forest echoed with rustles and snaps and trilling bird calls, as all forests rich with life do. Gradually, a series of small susurrations and snapping twigs peeled Milo’s attention from his observations, making him glance over his shoulder into the underbrush to see who- or what- was approaching. A bright smile alit his face as Kida’s graceful form slipped out from underneath some elephant-ear plants to pad into the clearing. 

“Oh. Here you are, Milo,” she smiled pleasantly. “I see you’ve found something new today.” Milo nodded and eagerly gestured for Kida to approach so he could regale her with his scientific observations. The white-haired woman strolled across the clearing to sink onto her knees beside him, leaning over his shoulder so she could have a clear view of the graphite-covered pages. 

“Look, look! So, this lily system-” he gestated wildly at the collection of green lily pads floated serenely across the pond surface, blooming with lavender-colored flowers. “-is an effective filtration and aeration system for the pond, which only gets limited oxygenation by the addition of the small trickles of water from the streams…” Kida listened attentively as he lectured on all his discoveries and assumptions, her bright eyes scanning the words and diagrams while considering his speech. Kida wasn’t nearly as passionate about science as Milo, but she never berated or ignored him, and often posed some theories or considerations. It was just another small thing in a great list of many that made him hopelessly in love with the Atlantean queen. 

“And, that’s as far as I’ve gotten,” he finished with a huff, snapping the book shut and smiling expectantly at her. 

“Not bad for forty-five minutes,” Kida chuckled appreciatively. With a contented sigh, she leaned back on her hands and stretched her tanned legs out to soak up the relaxed atmosphere of the secluded little ecosystem. Her blue eyes beheld the assortment of lilies floating languidly across the pond surface with untroubled tranquility. Milo drew his knees up to his chest and leaned his cheek against his forearm with an endeared smile, watching Kida survey the area. After several minutes of comfortable silence, her sky-blue eyes flickered to her peripheries, and she grinned playfully. 

“Want to go for a swim?” 

An electric pulse of excitement propagated across every nerve junction of his body. There were no insinuations or innuendos contained within Kida’s simple question; it just reminded him of one of their first times alone, when they’d dived into the lake to swim down into the hidden cavern. Who knew that such a small event would trigger such chaos and drama? Milo reminisced silently in his head, drifting off into space as he so often did. Kida chuckled amiably and snapped her fingers in front of his face to yank him back to reality. “Earth to Milo.” 

“Oh! Yes! Swimming,” he rambled as he climbed quickly to his feet. He shed his clothes between quipped phrases. Sometimes he dressed in Atlantean attire; sometimes, he wore the clothes he’d brought with him from the submarine voyage just for nostalgia. Today was a case of the latter. “In water.” He pulled his cream-colored tank top over his head. “The two of us.” He kicked off his sandals. “Together.” He shimmied out of his cargo pants and likewise flung them carelessly aside. “Great plan.” 

“Milo,” Kida laughed, daintily covering her mouth with her hand as she rose from her position, “You act as if we aren’t engaged.” A pink blush painted Milo’s cheeks, and he flashed Kida a bashful smile while rubbing at the back of his neck. Giggling, she leaned in to pat him cutely on the cheek before unwinding the shawl that covered her upper thighs. They’d been engaged for some time now, so Milo really ought to be used to Kida’s jaw-dropping gorgeousness, but his jaw refused to get the memo. As the soft blue fabric slipped from her shapely tanned legs, his mouth fell open, and his head craned back a little so his eyes could traverse the smooth curves of her body. A polite cough brought his eyes heavenward, finding Kida’s sparkling with amusement while one of her white eyebrows quirked. 

“Uhm, I, uhh… Pretty, you’re very pretty,” Milo stammered dumbly. Kida threw back her head in another bout of delighted laughter, making Milo smile sheepishly and play with the scraggly brown hairs at the base of his neck again. Kida’s arms lunged forward to grab him by the wrists, guiding his body to guide him into the pool. 

“Thank you, Milo,” she chuckled as her ankles dipped into the cold water. The lilies bumped against her calves as she waded back into the pool, coursing across the ripples with much more speed than their previous lazy gaits. The koi scattered as Kida’s feet tracked across the deep brown mud, throwing up clouds of it in the otherwise clear liquid. When Milo’s bare feet kissed the edge of the bool, his spine tingled at the cold sensation that bloomed in his toes. The feeling spread up his legs as he slipped into the pool with his fiancé to feel him with a refreshing chill. 

The deepest region of the pool only reached the height of Kida’s waist, so that is where she dropped his arms to begin running her fingers over the surface of the water, creating dozens of ripples. As her arms moved in slow, gentle arcs, something about the movement of her body made Milo’s heart thump in his chest. He must’ve gotten a strange look on his face because she snickered, “What?” 

“You’re just the most gorgeous woman that I’ve ever met.” A flush deepened her cheeks’ skin tone, making the electric-blue tattoo decorating the area under her eye seem to glow. A shy grin spread over her pretty plump lips; he could visibly see the glee bubbling up inside of her. The water sloshed as Milo closed some distance between them to grip her arms by the elbows lightly. With a playfully considerate look, Kida watched him as he slowly raised them, hand sliding down the length of her forearm to leave dewdrops of water clinging to her gorgeous tawny skin, until he brought her hands to his face. With his eyes locked on hers, Milo kissed each of the tops of her hands and then smiled salaciously. “Definitely the most gorgeous woman that I’ve ever met,” he confirmed with an appreciative nod. Kida snorted, but he could see how flustered she was by his smooth words by the red flush creeping down her neck from her face. 

“You’re in an awfully good mood,” she commented. Milo’s flirtatiousness instantly dissolved as his fragile thread of consciousness snapped. For a second, he wondered if Kida wasn’t in the mood, but that thought evaporated as she slipped forward to press her torso against his. As the soft fabric binding her bust pressed against his pectorals, Milo reflexively began to stammer; Kida silenced them with a seductive “shhhh.” Her hands detached from his to slide over his shoulders, and he shuddered as the cold water kissed his skin. Kida’s arms wound loosely around his neck so that her fingers could play with the curly hairs resting against the nape of his neck. 

“Uhhh,” Milo blinked, compulsively pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “You’re in a pretty good mood, too.” Kida laughed airily; thankfully, his dumb comments always seemed to amuse rather than aggravate her, so he was grateful for that. 

“Well, I am with the love of my life. That will put anyone in a good mood.” Milo’s face blazed crimson, and he began to sputter nonsensically. Kida snickered, gazing in his eyes for a few moments, before her eyes dropped down to the beautiful water around them. Instinctively, he glanced down as well. 

The koi-like fish had acclimated to the lovers’ presence, as they were now freely and undauntedly gliding through the seaweed waving around Milo and Kida’s legs. Occasionally, one of the foot-long fish would bump against one of their calves; the creature would wriggle as if apologizing before swiftly swimming around. Their scales glittered like gems in the crystal-clear water- pearl, amethyst, sapphire, sugilite, onyx, and zircon glinting beneath the peaceful surface. Suddenly gripped by the urge to be even closer to the fish, Milo relaxed his legs, allowing gravity to tip him backward onto his rump. Kida cried out in alarm as her body followed suit, slumping into him on their downward slant. Milo laughed animatedly as the water splashed up around them, slicking them from head to toe. 

“That wasn’t funny,” she pouted as she pushed the water-soaked strands of white hair from her face. Milo tutted apologetically and helped her tuck the large chunks of damp hair behind her ears. The fish were momentarily startled by their sudden movement, but soon grew curious; they swam forward to nip experimentally at the fabric of their clothes and their soft skin. Milo and Kida both laughed at the ticklish sensations. Milo hummed happily and drew Kida in, spreading his legs around her frame to settle her close. Kida reclined against his chest, nestling her head against the crook of his shoulder and began to trace the star-patterned tattoo adorning the other. “Milo?” 

“Hmm?” he grunted. His eyes had resumed tracing the graceful swimming patterns of the koi fish. 

“Do you regret not leaving with your friends?” They’d only been gone for a short time, almost as short as Kida and Milo’s engagement. But what did that have to do with anything? Milo looked at Kida incredulously, unsure of where the spontaneous question had come from. Kida’s face was drawn into a sad frown, and her downcast eyes bored into the groove of his neck. She continued to trace the jagged lines of his tattoos, but the motions even seemed despondent. “I just cannot help but wonder,” she admitted morosely. Milo took a moment to shove his gut reactions aside. He wanted to carefully consider Kida’s feelings to find the best words to say. After a moment of deliberating, he answered. 

“My entire life goal was finding Atlantis,” he said quietly. He craned his head back to the heavens, where he could just barely see the ever-present stone-carved effigies of the former royals floating in the sky and brimming with spiritual energy. “Coming here was the fulfillment of my life purpose. But, more than that,” he smiled and looked down at Kida. He cupped her face, drawing his thumb over her cheekbone in a purely adoring gesture, “I found my new life purpose. You, Kida. I could never, ever regret leaving all that behind, because none of it compares to what I’ve gained with you.” 

Kida’s eyes crinkled up at the corners as she smiled broadly. Her hold around him tightened desperately as she snuggled against him, ensuring every inch of them was touching. Milo inhaled happily, wrapped his arms around her in a similarly bracing embrace, and leaned down to kiss her softly. 

The fish continued to circle them, around and around, as the two young lovers cuddled one another in the crisp, cold water. Peaceful, tranquil, unbothered by the tragedies and atrocities of the surface thousands of miles above the bedrock dome… Why would Milo ever trade blessed days like this, and the beautiful woman in his arms, for anything else? Nothing else compared. 

Nothing else compared.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork​

[omoghouls]

I can’t stop thinking about that time you said Swiss would help and comfort Mountain in public washrooms when he was feeling particularly bladder shy. This thought makes me feel better when I’m sad so I hope it helps you feel a little less stressed.

Imagine the gang hanging out in a bar or restaurant or something after a ritual. They’ve all had a couple drinks and the night is winding down. Swiss has been watching Mountain closely for last couple of hours. He can tell that the earth ghoul has to go pretty bad. The way Mountain has his legs crossed, the stiff movements he makes, and the fact that he’s been withdrawn from the conversation, obviously with his mind on other things, gave away his situation long ago. But Swiss also knows that Mountain probably thinks he can make it home. He hates public washrooms so this isn’t an unusual situation for him. Swiss hates seeing his boyfriend in pain though so he comes up with a plan to help.

“Hey Aeth, did you get around to making that call to the venue about setting up for tomorrow’s practice?” Swiss asks.

“What call?” Aether replies.

“Oh the cardinal didn’t tell you? I over heard him talking about it as we were leaving today. Something about making sure we’ve got enough space to position the set properly. Ya know what, I think I remember what he was saying, I’ll just step outside for a minute and make the call now before it gets too late.” Swiss offers, glancing around the table at the others to make sure there are no protests from the group.

“Thanks,” Aether agrees, “Looks like we’re ‘bout done here anyhow. Why dontcha head out and make the call, we’ll wait for the bill and meet ya out front.”

“Sounds good.” Swiss agrees, standing up from the table.

He looks down at Mountain bouncing his legs up and down under the table, hands griping his thighs, visibly sweaty.

“Actually, why don’t you come too. Your drums take up the most space, it might be helpful to have your input.” Swiss suggests to Mountain.

Mountain is clearly uncomfortable with the idea. Just the thought of having to stand up makes his stomach drop. He grinds his hips into his seat in an effort to hold off a wave of desperation, and looks to Swiss with worry in his eyes.

“Come on I could really use your help.” Swiss urges, giving Mountain a quick pat on the shoulder, trying to reassure him that it’ll be ok. Mountain agrees reluctantly and the two head off in the direction of the doors.

Dewdrop leans in to the two remaining ghouls.

“Pff they think they’re so slick,” he scoffs, “as if it isn’t totally obvious what they’re doing.”

“What’s that?” Rain asks, brows raised.

“They just wanted some alone time to snog eachothers faces off. I swear they can’t keep their hands to themselves for 10 minutes.” They all laugh.

Outside Mountain groans as the cold evening air sends chills down his back, making his body tense and adding extra pressure to his already full bladder.

“Can we make this quick?” Mountain pleads, pressing his thighs together and bouncing in place.

“Why? Got somewhere to be?” Swiss teases, giving mountain a playful nudge.

The sudden jolt to his bladder causes him to panic, bending at the waist and pressing his hands into the front of his pants.

“Shit. Sorry.” Swiss apologizes “I know the problem, I brought you out here to fix it, not make it worse. Here.” He says, grabbing mountains hand and pulling him into an ally between two buildings.

“You go. I’ll stand lookout and take this fake phone call.”

Swiss turns and stands in the entrance to the ally, pretending to be on the phone, as Mountain does his thing behind some trash cans or something. When he comes back to meet Swiss Mountain is visibly relived. He thanks Swiss for his help and leans in to give him a kiss.

It’s at that moment that the other three walk outside. Dew elbows Aether in the side “see? Told ya.” He says, gesturing to the two ghouls lock in an embrace just a few feet away.

Aether calls out to them “Alright boys snog fest is over, let’s head home.”

----

AaaaaaaAAA omgg that is p r e s c i o u s 😭💖💖💖💖 Swiss helping Mountain out and being so kind about it??? G o o d  stuff

And omfg- Dew just instantly thinking that the two are sneaking off to makeout, rather than figuring out the real reason behind the phone call excuse? Hell y e s  (maybe the fire ghoul saw some of Mountain's fidgeting movements and took it as the earth ghoul just wanting to get back to the bus so he can wrap his lanky limbs around the multi-ghoul 😂)

But aaaaaaa just that is so good holy shit, snowflake u know you bless us with your content, right????😭💖💖💖

[nelvana]

In which a birthday is celebrated

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: In which an agreement is reached Previous: In which a present is prepared

    Impatience rarely brought a good night’s sleep. Keahi knew this well, and found herself experiencing this problem on the night before her birthday. It had been such a long time since she went and celebrated a birthday just with friends, and she found herself more excited than she could remember being in a long time.

    Because of this, she now found herself laying awake in her nest, trying to catch just that last hour of rest before dawn. She would chat with Tsuki and Edgar, but Tsuki had insisted that Keahi needed to go back to sleep, so now that pair had gone downstairs as to not become distractions to Keahi trying to go back to bed.

    Unfortunately, this wasn’t working out as planned, since the torchic still found herself wide awake with anticipation. Even now as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she found herself staring around at the few decorations that they had set up upstairs for the celebration, or peering out the nearby window to glimpse the stars still lighting up the night sky. She could hear the faint whistle of wind outside, streaming by their window that was barely open a crack for some fresh air; a request from Alex and Tsuki that had been quickly agreed upon by everyone else, at least for as long as the nights stayed warm enough for it.

    Turning over in her nest onto her belly and laying her chin on the edge of the small bed, Keahi looked over at the rest of her teammates instead. The hammock at the back of the room sagged under the combined weight of the grovyle and shiny celebi, the latter of which laid peacefully on top of the former. Alex was resting on his back, as it seemed that he always did for whatever reason, though his breathing sounded less relaxed than usual. Either a nightmare or he wasn’t actually asleep, and Keahi couldn’t decide which would be preferable at this point; Alex needed some more sleep either way.

    Closer to her was the other nest where Nelvana was sleeping. Or at least Keahi hoped. The cubone was better at hiding whether she was sleeping or not than anyone else the torchic had met. Regardless, Nelvana also lay on her back, but she was a much more restless sleeper than the rest of the team, something that Keahi could see even now with the blanket that was wrapped around the cubone from rolling around throughout the night. Now that she looked closely, she also noted that Nelvana’s headgear had been tilted in her sleep, now laying slightly askew on her head, showing another thin scar on her right cheek that Keahi had only seen a few times prior.

    Temptation pricked at the back of Keahi’s mind to see if she would be able to sleep better if she joined her partner, but she turned down the idea in favor of trying not to disturb anyone more than she may already have.

    “Keahi?”

    So much for that idea.

    “Sorry if I woke you,” Keahi immediately apologized.

    “Nah, it’s fine,” Nelvana murmured, “I’ve been awake for awhile actually.”

    “Another nightmare?”

    “Mhmm…”

    Now that she had given away that she was actually awake, Nelvana lifted a hand to scratch the fur on her chest before stretching and trying to readjust the tangled blanket on it. Keahi sat up, shaking out her sleep-ruffled feathers before blinking over at her partner again.

    “So, were we all just awake but trying to pretend not to be as to not wake up anyone else?” Alex’s voice pierced through the moment of silence.

    Keahi couldn’t help but laugh, turning to look across the room like before, “I guess so! Ceebee’s up too?”

    “Yup, I’m here!” Ceebee hummed, lifting her head up to meet Keahi’s gaze through the darkness. “Now that we know this was the case, maybe I should have checked telepathically to see who was awake earlier. Good thing Nel spoke up, huh? We would have been left here in sleepless silence until morning.”

    “Why are you two awake anyway?” Keahi asked.

    “Same as Nel for me,” Alex sighed, absentmindedly rubbing the scar that lay across his muzzle.

    “Nice, we get to be nightmare buds,” Nelvana commented with a hint of playful sarcasm to her tone.

    “Hell yeah,” Alex replied, lifting his hand to fist bump the air for a moment before dropping it to hang limply beside the hammock.

    “Alex woke me up,” Ceebee added, “kinda hard to stay asleep when the person you’re sleeping on starts kicking around.”

    Alex let out a quiet huff before sitting up, something Ceebee barely noticed in time to flutter up in the air before sitting down again to avoid being rolled over. Seeing that everyone else had sat up by now, Nelvana pushed herself up to a seated position as well, fixing her shifted headgear and then shuffling in place to angle herself so that she would be able to comfortably be able to continue the conversation with everyone here.

    “How ‘bout you, Keahi?” Ceebee asked, “what woke you up early?”

    “Impatience,” Keahi sighed, “it’s hard to sleep when you just really want the next day to start.”

    “Well, we’re all awake anyway, why not just start the day early? We could take the time to make a big breakfast at the very least,” Alex suggested, already swinging himself out of the hammock, which swung back up with only the smaller celebi left on it.

    “It is almost dawn anyway, right?” Nelvana added, peering over at the window she was facing, which happened to not be the one she was closest to.

    “Okay! I’m not going to complain about an idea like that!” Keahi chirped, swiftly hopping out of her nest. “Hey Tsuki, Edgar! Turns out that everyone else is awake, so we’re just going to get today started!” she called out down the stairs.

    “I’m hoping that they woke up on their own, and that you didn’t just wake them up to pull this off!” Tsuki’s voice came echoing back from the lower floor of the house.

    “Don’t worry, we did!” Ceebee assured her before flying downstairs to meet up with the other two.

    The remaining three didn’t take long to hurry to join their teammates, and soon they were all preparing their early morning breakfast together. Having all six of them in the kitchen sometimes got crowded, but when two of them could fly around instead of taking up floor space, and making sure that everyone had a proper job and space, the task passed along much easier than it could had they gone about this in a more chaotic way. They had never tried preparing a meal with everyone participating at once before, but everyone unanimously agreed that this was a fun challenge and a good way to start such an early morning. As usual, this large breakfast ended up being pancakes with fruit, since it was not only something that everyone knew the basics of at this point, but could also be made in bulk for the entire team to enjoy a tasty and filling meal. They probably would make it more often if it didn’t require so much time to make.

    Just past dawn was when they had completely finished up with breakfast, now hungry for the next activity of the day. While Keahi had expressed in many events that she wanted to take place during this day, she had not set up a proper schedule. To most of the team’s surprise, Keahi told them that she wanted to do a couple missions still, instead of just having a full day off.

    “I like going through dungeons with you guys and helping others!” Keahi explained, “besides, I wasn’t actually born until the afternoon, so I want to save all the really fun stuff until then!”

    “Well, it’s your day, so it’s your choice!” Nelvana responded.

    “Gosh, when was the last time we left for a mission this early? We’ve gotten up early recently, but we still usually wait to get to work. Probably when we went to fight Zapdos and rescue Shiftry, right?” Keahi commented as they walked outside, keeping her gaze on her partner. “That feels so long ago, but it wasn’t really! It’s just that so much has happened since then!”

    “Long enough ago that it was just the two of us in this house and that fighting a legendary felt like an impossible task,” Nelvana agreed, swinging her club up to rest on her shoulder. “Yeah, a lot has happened…”

    “I think we should get out in the mornings more often,” Alex said, “it’s nice and quiet out here, and you can look around for all the dewdrops.”

    “And for the sunrise,” Nelvana added.

     Alex nodded, “of course.”

    “However, from the perspective of doing our job, there are fewer missions on the board early in the morning,” Tsuki pointed out. “I am certain that in some cases, getting that extra sleep can be more important.”

    “Says the one who never sleeps,” Alex chuckled, patting Tsuki on the head and ruffling her fur.

    “Says the one who thinks we don’t notice that he never sleeps!” Edgar chimed in, “are you sure we don’t talk too loud? You’re rarely actually get any rest, and Nel isn’t far behind with that problem!”

    “Eh, we’re light sleepers, don’t worry about it. We already get a lot more sleep than we used to,” Alex replied, waving away the duskull lazily with a hand.

    “How come? It’s because of where you’re from, right? Always staying alert? Why isn’t Ceebee a light sleeper then?” Edgar continued, circling around the grovyle as he spoke.

    Ceebee giggled at the sudden endless questioning, “yes, it’s because of where we’re from. I… I found better places to sleep though, and most pokemon don’t want to go out and attack a mythical anyway, so I didn’t… have to be as alert,” she answered, her expression falling slightly as she went on.

    “Oh! That makes sense!” Edgar exclaimed, “thanks for answering my questions!”

    “You’re welcome, but you know, you don’t need to thank us each time we answer a question,” Ceebee responded patiently.

    As they all passed through Pokemon Square, they were quietly greeted by the various shop keepers up early to fix up their stands in time for opening them up for sales. Keahi received birthday wishes from each of them, Kangaskhan being the first to mention it and then starting a chain of every citizen in the vicinity adding on now that they were reminded and the timing felt right.

    The mission board outside of the Pelipper Post Office sat nearly bare. Like Tsuki had mentioned, it was hard to find much work in the early mornings. There were still a couple missions left though; an escort and an item delivery. While these were some of the least favored types of missions, it was still work. Plus, it gave promise that things were getting better for everyone. Fewer actual rescue missions just meant that fewer people were in danger.

    Team Galaxy completed the two missions that they had chosen before noon, returning to their base to enjoy the rest of their day together. Keahi mentioned that they had gotten back a bit earlier than she had expected, but that it just meant that perhaps they could get started on the celebration sooner.

    “Well, the cake isn’t completely ready yet, so I think I’ll be using some of that extra time for that,” Ceebee announced, fluttering over into the kitchen. “Tsuki, do you want to help me? I think you put away the icing anyway and I’m not entirely sure where that went.”

    “I want to help!” Edgar chimed in.

    With that, the duskull swiftly floated over to join his friend, and Tsuki calmly padded behind him.

    “What about the rest of us?” Alex questioned, glancing over at the remaining two with him.

    “There are still some balloons we could blow up! Oh! And remember the party hats we found the other day? We could bring those out!” Keahi exclaimed.

    “I left the hats upstairs, I can go get them,” Nelvana responded, taking the initiative and began climbing up the stairs.

    “Okay! Alex and I can get started on the balloons then!” Keahi chirped, directing the mentioned grovyle over to the living room area.

    Keahi tugged a bag full of colored balloons off the shelf, spilling the contents out on the floor. After some struggling with trying to hold one in her wing talons, she managed to bring one over to her beak to use, but then paused and glanced over at Alex.

    “Do you know what we need to do here?” she checked, accidentally fumbling with her balloon and dropping it on the floor again. “Ah, whoops!”

    “We’re just filling them with air, I know. It was mentioned when we first bought them,” Alex replied, “do you need help?” he added with a snicker.

    “I’m fine!” Keahi huffed, “it’s just hard to hold these at first without proper hands. I’ve done this before!”

    “Alright, if you’re sure then,” Alex shrugged, turning away from the torchic in order to hide his smirk, which he also covered up by taking one of the balloons in his mouth and beginning to blow into it.

    The two of them began trying to blow up the balloons, each experiencing some difficulties of their own. However, it wasn’t long before Nelvana returned, wearing a green and yellow spotted party hat, as well as carrying five other hats with her, most of them hanging off her left arm while two of them were held with her right hand. Leaping over the railing of the stairway, she hurried over to the pair, throwing the red and yellow starred hat at Alex, who easily caught it with a free hand, and plopping the green and blue striped one atop Keahi’s head, causing her to spit out her balloon in surprise, sending it spitting through the air as it deflated.

    “Ta-da!” Nelvana giggled, waving her hands in the air before wandering over to the kitchen for a moment to lay down the remaining hats before returning.

    “Nel! You ruined my balloon!” Keahi whined as she adjusted the hat on her head.

    “Yeah, I was waiting to see how she was supposed to tie a knot with that,” Alex added, putting his hat on his head. “Ack, these are not comfortable,” he muttered.

    “Sorry, you can get another balloon though,” Nelvana responded, sitting down with the others. “Aren’t we going to use them all anyway?”

    “Yeah, yeah!” Keahi stuck her tongue out at her partner before crawling over to where her balloon had landed and collected it.

    “Hey, Keahi, your hat looks kinda like another feather,” Alex pointed out, “if your feathers were weirdly colored and patterned, of course.”

    “And cones,” Nelvana added.

    “Of course,” Alex repeated.

    “Would your feathers all fit under that hat?” Nelvana asked, leaning over to poke the torchic’s hat.

    “I mean, they would…” Keahi replied, “wait! I’ve got a better idea! One hat for each of my larger feathers!” she suggested.

    “I’ll donate my hat to that cause,” Nelvana agreed, tugging off her hat and strapping it over one of the feathers, before helping her partner strap on her own hat onto one of the other hats.

    “Here’s your third one,” Alex said, tossing his hat back over to the other two. “It’s uncomfortable anyway.”

    Nelvana caught the tossed hat, quickly strapping it onto Keahi with the other two hats. The strings overlapped and the rims of the hats had to bend each other to all fit, but now the torchic had a party hat over each of her three large, yellow head feathers. There was a pause as Nelvana and Alex looked their work over, before Nelvana couldn’t help but laugh, and soon the rest of this trio joined in.

    “What are you three laughing about? I thought you were blowing up the balloons,” Ceebee, who had just hung her hat loosely from her neck, asked from the kitchen.

    In response, Nelvana swiftly picked up Keahi from under the wings and brought her partner over to the others, showing the torchic off proudly with all three party hats on.

    “It’s the birthday girl!” Nelvana giggled. “Here she is!”

    “Here I am!” Keahi continued, flapping her wings about.

    “Oh, that’s adorable!” Ceebee squealed, “please tell me that you’re going to keep wearing those hats like that for the rest of the day!”

    “I just might! This is kinda fun!” Keahi replied, “since we’re here, how’s the cake going?”

    “It’s going good! It’s really fun to decorate this!” Edgar exclaimed, “but no looking yet! Or else you’ll be spoiled! We want this to be a surprise!”

    “Alright, I’ve got it,” Keahi hummed, “c’mon, Nel, let’s actually get working on those balloons.”

    “Have a good time with that,” Tsuki said after setting down a bottle of frosting that she had been holding in her jaws. “But do try not to let any more of the balloons go, that noise is distracting,” she added, licking her whiskers before glancing away.

    “Oh, sorry about that. We’ll try and keep a better handle on things,” Nelvana responded, turning back with Keahi towards the living room.

    Once they got focused on their tasks, work went faster for everyone, even enough so that the trio that had been decorating the cake were able to joins the others in finishing up with the remaining balloons. And when the balloons were done being blown up and scattered around the house, they managed to find other forgotten decorations to pull out and use. There had already been some streamers and banners taped up the day before, but there was a confetti popper that had been hidden up until now that they used, after making sure everyone was ready for the bang, of course.

    Now with all the preparation was out of the way and the sun had passed its way into the afternoon, the question of lunch arose, and whether they would start actually celebrating Keahi’s birthday now or closer to the evening instead. It didn’t take long for Keahi to answer this quick dilemma, deciding to “get the party started” now rather than later.

    No one argued to this, and thus they began to prepare some food, which had been decided to be pasta and beans. Unlike breakfast, it was agreed that it would be better for just some of the team members to make this meal, those members were quickly being Ceebee and Alex, the former of which instantly volunteered with the opportunity to get to try cooking more, and the latter of which decided to join in “just because”; leaving everyone else to start up the party games, of which were mostly just some short and silly activities that Keahi and Edgar had chosen earlier.

    Cooking, games, eating, talking, games…

    Cake.

    “Where did we put the candles?” Nelvana asked, pawing through the various cupboards.

    “With the other non-food and dishes items,” Ceebee answered, adding a final frosting touch to the cake that she had just realized that she had forgotten.

    “Actually, I relocated them under the sink so that they would be easier to reach,” Tsuki inputted, “I had predicted that I would have to gather them, but I was wrong, sorry.”

    “Don’t worry about it, thanks,” Nelvana replied, crouching down to the cupboard under the sink so that she could finally find the small boxes of matches. “There we go!” she hummed to herself, approaching the cake. “Here you go, you can set them up if you want,” she told Ceebee.

    “Thank you, but you can actually set those up! Just make sure that it isn’t on top of any of the designs we’ve already set up, of course!” Ceebee chirped, fluttering away from the cake and back over to the others.

    Blinking in surprise, Nelvana stepped in front of the cake. She hadn’t actually seen it like this before now, all decorated up only for upcoming consumption. The frosting on top was a light-colored vanilla, and all lined up on the edge was a series truffle frosting. There was writing that had the simple message of “Happy Birthday Keahi!” along with the team’s “logo” messily drawn atop the cake. After taking a moment to look this over, bringing a smile to her face, Nelvana began carefully lining up the candles around the cake as well. She used up most of the candles in the small box, fifteen out of twenty to be exact, and then after looking it over once more, she turned around to face everyone else gathered by the island table.

    “Alright, I’m done… should I bring the cake over then?” Nelvana asked.

    “Yup! Bring it over here, and then you all can sing the birthday song, like I mentioned before!” Keahi chirped, bouncing excitedly on the stool she had seated herself on.

    Carefully, Nelvana grabbed the plate that the cake had been set on and brought it over to the table, setting it in front of her excited partner before sitting down in the stool beside her. None of the others had decided to sit down yet, them all either being tall enough to comfortably stand without missing out on anything, or just being able to float around.

    There was a pause after the cake was set down, and then Ceebee began singing the short song that, as Keahi had mentioned just moments before, had been taught to them a few times in the prior days. The shiny celebi had presumably sensed Keahi’s anticipation and decided to take the initiative, which no one else would complain about. The singing was awkward and quiet, but not off-pitched or janky. Afterwards, Keahi made sure to cheer and flap her wings about, letting the anxious tension that had built off quickly die off.

    “Okay, okay! So, usually we light the candles and then the goal is to blow them all out at once, but as a fire-type…” Keahi hummed, and Nelvana could already feel the fiery heat coming off the torchic. “We go the other way around.”

    With that comment, Keahi let a controlled, thin stream of flames come out of her beak; likely a compressed ember move. Carefully, she tilted her head over the cake, letting the fire follow and lick the tops of the candles. The first sweep lit most, but not all of them. With still some breath left in her, she tilted her head back the other way in an attempt to finish the job before running out of steam. She was granted success… but only for long enough to get her hopes up, where after that, one of the candles whiffed out on their own. Narrowing her eyes and letting out a huff, Keahi lit the final candle on the cake, prompting some cheering from the others.

    “You going to try blowing them all out at once too?” Nelvana asked.

    “Actually, I might. Back at home, usually someone get impatient and either shoves the birthday kid’s face into the cake early or someone ends up accidentally breathing too hard and blowing them all out again,” Keahi laughed.

    “We can provide either of those options, if you’d like,” Alex snickered, lazily propping his head up with a hand, elbow leaning on top of the table.

    “Let me try first!” Keahi snapped back, but only amusement lit up in her eyes.

    Taking in a deep breath, Keahi began blowing cooler air over the candles instead, swiftly snuffing most of them out in one sweep over them. Like when she was lighting them, there are just too many candles to go through after the first sweep, so Keahi tried again, and this time getting the rest of them out; with no fake outs.

    And then Alex shoved her face into the edge of the cake.

    “I believe there was a chant that we were supposed to do before that,” Tsuki pointed out, disguising a chuckle as a cough.

    “Yeah, but that ruins the surprise. I thought surprises were pretty important for this,” Alex shrugged with a sly smirk.

    “You just wanted to shove her face into a cake,” Ceebee responded, but she too held no sternness in her tone, despite the words that came out of her mouth.

    “Someone had to,” Alex replied, “Keahi told us; it’s tradition.”

    “I don’t remember it being tradition,” Nelvana muttered, before looking over at Keahi, who’s face was still in the cake. “Keahi! One bite!”

    “Iff r’ally goof h’ough,” Keahi said, the message muffled from her mouth still being full of the cake.

    Letting out a sigh, Nelvana grabbed onto the middle party hat that Keahi was still wearing, tugging it upwards and pulling the rest of the torchic, smiling beak and fluffy cheeks smeared in frosting, with it.

    “This cake is really good!” Keahi exclaimed, in case the first comment didn’t get through enough.

    “Strawberry cream,” Ceebee hummed, more for everyone but Keahi, seeing at the torchic already knew what it tasted like. “Kangaskhan recommended it to us, and it sounded like something that you would like!”

    “Arceus, Kangaskhan really deserves some sort of thank you gift someday for all of her help,” Keahi giggled, trying to lick the remaining food from her face.

    “She got to adopt Tsuki,” Alex joked, finally taking a seat on one of the stools.

    “Alright, alright, I’m going to cut the cake now,” Ceebee announced, lifting the plate back up easily with telekinesis and bringing it back to the counter.

    It was easy for the cake to be cut up into sixths and then distributed to the entire team, and soon everyone was chowing down on the delicious cake. Edgar was the only one who didn’t finish his slice, and seeing as he had been trying to eat a bit of everything today despite being a ghost-type that doesn’t require eating, it made sense. Though, even if he was full, he was also fully energized and was soon zooming around the base and excitedly chattering about what they would be doing next together.

    Next, as it turned out, ended up being some unexpected visitors knocking at the door.

    “It looks like our B Squadron!” Ceebee chirped, her antennae flicking back and forth with a slight psychic glow to them.

    Opening the door only confirmed this statement, as the rest of Team Galaxy stood at the doorway. Rayden was floating the closest to where the door had been when it was closed, so evidently they were the one who had knocked. Gathered around and behind them was the other four; Pearl and Bobo standing underneath the magnemite, close to the doorway, while Hiram and Baguette waited behind everyone else. Clearly, they were more well-versed in birthday traditions, and sang a little song for Keahi before pulling out a card.

    “BZT! WE DID NOT FIND ENOUGH TIME FOR INDIVIDUAL PRESENTS, SORRY. HERE IS A CARD THAT WE ALL WORKED ON THOUGH,” Rayden explained as Pearl brought out the card and handed it to the torchic.

    “Don’t worry about it!” Keahi chirped, accepting the card. “I’m glad you all decided to show up! You know, we do have some games in here, you guys could join us!” she offered.

    “Ooh! Could we?” Bobo exclaimed, glancing up at Rayden before turning back to look at the others.

    With a disappointed sigh, Hiram shook his head, “sadly, no. We picked up a longer escort mission, and are supposed to get started in five minutes. We’ll be out of the area for a few days on this,” he explained before looking down at the paras. “And you know that,” he hissed quietly.

    “Yes, sorry about that. We would love to spend more time with you all, but the client called us to let us know that this got bumped up a day, so we’re in a bit of a rush now,” Pearl added.

    “It happens!” Edgar hummed, “at least you still took the time to visit!” he continued, “good luck on the mission though!”

    “Where are you escorting this ‘mon to, anyway?” Alex questioned.

    “Ah! Just a lil’ bulbasaur who missed their herd going east! A shy fellow, they only bumped up the dates because they had written them wrong in the first place,” Baguette explained.

    “BZZ BZZ. HE DOES NOT SEEM TO LIKE FIGHTING MUCH THOUGH. THAT IS WHY HE ASKED FOR AN ESCORT. USUALLY HE HAS HIS HERD TO HELP, BUT AS BAGUETTE SAID, BULBASAUR MISSED IT. BZZ,” Rayden chimed in, “WE HAVE AGREED THAT WE ALL SHOULD HEAD OUT ON THIS ONE.”

    “Very well,” Tsuki murmured, “well, we wish you all luck out there.”

    “Yes! Good luck!” Ceebee said, “and do try to enjoy yourselves out there!”

    “Thank you, and we will,” Pearl hummed, “now, we should be off now. You all have a nice day, and happy birthday again, Keahi.”

    Giving more goodbyes and last birthday wishes, the B Squadron was off again, heading off towards Pokemon Square to pick up their client before heading off on the mission. Now, it was just the A Squadron left in the base again as if that interaction had been taken place to begin with, aside from the new card sitting with the others on top of the bookshelf.

    And with that, it was decided that the presents would be distributed next. All of them, except the one from Nelvana, had been carefully wrapped and set aside for this moment. The bracelet that Nelvana had made was too small for any box or bag, so she had decided to hide it until she had to actually give it to Keahi.

    “Oh! Can I go first? Can I?” Edgar exclaimed, clearly still bouncing on that sugar high.

    Keahi could only let out a laugh in response, “alright, go ahead.”

    Letting out an excited cheer, Edgar dove over to collect the large box that he had wrapped up. There were a couple lines where the wrapping paper didn’t quite meet up, clearly the half-blind duskull misjudging how much he needed, but otherwise it was well-done. The box rattled with the various contents as he picked it up and brought it over to Keahi, setting it down in front of her to open up.

    She paused to look it over and then smile up at Edgar, before beginning to claw it open with her wing talons. The wrapping paper fell off easily, and Keahi opened up the cardboard box to reveal all the various trinkets inside. There are much more than when Nelvana had peeked at the collection a few days ago, and she can’t help but think that moving everything to a box rather than that sack was for the best. Keahi’s beak parted open in a look of surprise, and she gingerly reached inside the box to sort through all the items.

    Unable to contain himself any longer, Edgar begins speaking again, “they’re a bunch of lucky items I found for you! Look! Nel told me that the rocks with rings around them are lucky, so I found a lot of those, and Spinda said that his nephew likes feathers, so I found some of those by the cliffs!”

    Keahi’s beak closed into a smile, “these are really nice, thanks Edgar. I think I’ll have to use some of these to help decorate the house a bit more,” she hummed, “spreading the luck around,” she mused.

    Edgar giggled cheerfully, pleased that his gift was accepted.

    Without a word, Tsuki brought her present out next. She had been unable to wrap it herself, and had enlisted Nelvana’s help to get it done, since the cubone wouldn’t be wrapping her gift anyway. It was another large box like Edgar’s, but it didn’t make any noise when moved, and when Keahi opened it up, she could see that the cooking ingredients that Tsuki had gathered for her present were neatly organized inside.

    “I still don’t know that much of cooking, but I figured you would find some use to these ingredients,” Tsuki murmured.

    “Oh! These are great! Kecleon doesn’t even sell some of these herbs; where did you find them?” Keahi exclaimed, doing her best not to disturb the orderliness in this present while still looking through all its contents.

    Tsuki only gave a knowing smile and a shrug of her shoulders in response, silently prompting the next person to present their gift.

    Ceebee took this silent prompt, heading over to where she had placed her much smaller box. It was the same box Nelvana had seen her with three days ago, and it was in the same red and orange striped wrapping paper that Alex had cut and dropped. She carefully set this in front of Keahi as well, patiently waiting for her gift to be revealed. It was swiftly opened like the others, showing the fiery red gem left inside.

    “Is this… a fire gem?” Keahi asked, almost hesitant to even touch the item.

    Ceebee nodded, “yup! One use item, boosts a fire-type move. We haven’t run into any close calls lately, but… just in case, you know? It’ll make for a real nice flamethrower, no matter where you end up using it!”

    “I’ll have to make sure to save it then,” Keahi said in awe, closing the box again and setting it aside with the two larger ones.

    After a quick glance over at Nelvana, Alex walked over to where the last of the presents that had been set out was left. Despite being just a square envelope, he had wrapped it in wrapping paper like the boxes. Ceebee had told Nelvana that Alex had thought that everything had to be wrapped, but part of Nelvana thought that he just wanted a chance to try using the wrapping paper properly. This was opened faster than the earlier gifts, only requiring a sharp slice with one of her wing talons to open up the top of the envelope, and a bit of shaking to get the TM to fall gently on the ground in front of Keahi.

    “TM94?” Keahi read aloud, “that’s rock smash!”

    “I figured we needed some more fighting-type moves in the party, especially since you will become one if you evolve,” Alex commented, “I figure a lot of torchics in your family have used that move before…?”

    Keahi nodded, “yeah! Since we can’t really learn much better until evolution, you know? I think we even had the old HM version of it until it got lost for good a few years before I hatched. This will be really handy… I’ll actually go ahead and learn it now!”

    As she had done with the last TM that she had learned, which had been flamethrower, she slammed her head down onto the disc instead of picking it up and bringing it to her forehead. Ceebee and Edgar, who had never seen this before, flinched in surprise and began worriedly checking on the torchic, but the laughter from the other three soothed any nerves from this action. The TM glowed beneath Keahi’s feathers, and then cracked.

    And then it was Nelvana’s turn. Standing up, she went over to the bookshelf where she had hidden the bracelet in between the pages of her book like a bookmark. A simple hiding spot, but one she knew that Keahi wouldn’t check if she wanted to see any presents early. This was her book, and because it was written in the human language it was rarely picked up by the half of the team that still didn’t understand that tongue. Carefully, she pulled out the braided string from its place, pausing to look it over one last time before turning back around and giving it to her partner.

    Keahi’s expression was hard to piece together at first. Of course, it takes a moment to register exactly what is being handed over, that’s a given for any item. Then, she carefully took the bracelet, carrying it between each of her wing talons and looking it over. One could almost see the gears moving in her mind as she continued studying the simple bracelet, her beak slowly parting open again with recognition and her brown eyes become filled with understanding.

    “Did you make this?” she finally asked softly, looking back up at Nelvana.

    “Yeah…” Nelvana managed to answer, crouching down beside Keahi again, tempted to give an explanation of her choice like the others but finding her voice stuck.

    Keahi’s face twisted up into a familiar wide smile, and Nelvana felt relief come crashing down onto her at the sign of approval.

    “It’s beautiful,” Keahi whispered, “it’s… it’s like what Combusken has, but it’s mine and you made it for me and you even went and found the right colors…” she continued, emotion bubbling up from inside. “Thank you.”

    There are no more gifts after that. All the cards that were given had been gone through, and no one in Pokemon Square had managed to pull off anything more than that. They threw out most of the wrapping paper, and then that was the end of presents for this birthday.

    Afterwards, there was still some time for everyone to get involved in some games before having to even think about supper. They replayed some of the better ones, but made sure to try everything that Keahi and Edgar had come up with first.

    When supper did come up, they ended up simply having some corn chips with salsa, and later a card game was brought over to play while they ate. During this, Kangaskhan visited briefly like the B Squadron had done a few hours ago. She only had a few minutes before she would need to leave for her supper and then return to the storage stand, but she was able to give some kind words and more birthday wishes before leaving the group alone with each other again.

    “I wish I knew how to make pozole,” Keahi mused, “that would have been really good.”

    “This is still pretty good!” Ceebee responded, taking another chip and dipping it into the salsa almost as if to make an example of her statement.

    “Yeah I know! But pozole is super tasty, and I really like showing you guys new dishes,” Keahi sighed, “but that’s one recipe I never managed to pick up from my mom… I guess I’ll have to wait for a couple days.”

    “…what’s happening in a couple days?” Alex questioned, raising a brow before playing one of his cards.

    Keahi blinked in surprise, and then began nervously laughing, “oh, I guess I was thinking about it so much that I forgot to actually tell you guys… I want to go visit my family again in a couple of days. Maybe celebrate my birthday there, maybe just… visit them again,” she explained.

    “Ah, that’s fair,” Alex murmured, his expression relaxing only slightly.

    “I’d just be gone for the day, I’m sure you all can handle yourselves without me,” Keahi added.

    A few more hours later, and everyone was ready to turn in for the night. It would be good to get some more rest before another more work-filled day, especially since they had all woken up so early. However, while everyone else got settled down in their own sleeping spots, Keahi curled up beside Nelvana in the cubone’s nest. This didn’t happen terribly often, but often enough that Nelvana was adjusted to suddenly getting a warm bundle of feathers shuffling under the blanket beside her.

    “Hey there,” Nelvana whispered, patting the hatless head feathers of her partner.

    “Hello!” Keahi softly chirped, nestling up closely to the cubone.

    “Would you call this a good birthday?” Nelvana asked.

    “Mhmm, I had a good time,” Keahi hummed.

    Nelvana smiled, “that’s good…” she mused, trailing off as several thoughts spun around in her mind. “You know, I’ve been thinking…”

    “About?” Keahi prompted, blinking up at Nelvana.

    “I want to do something about bringing back Gardevoir,” Nelvana sighed, “I know that we can’t do anything about it without… Shinobi, or Gengar, or whoever… but I dunno, I want to do something. I feel like there is still something we can do.”

    Keahi paused, her brows furrowing as she mulled over this information, “me too… it was Gardevoir herself that said that it wouldn’t be possible without him though, right?”

    “Yeah,” Nelvana confirmed, nodding.

    “Hm… maybe, if you really want, we can ask Ceebee to use telepathy and get in contact with Ninetales, so we can ask more about it,” Keahi suggested, “later though. We should just get some rest for now.”

    “Alrighty then, goodnight,” Nelvana murmured.

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: In which an agreement is reached Previous: In which a present is prepared

[archiveofidentityconstellations]

please tell the story

...

okay but just know that i’m being lazy and this story is 100% true but was written for my adolescent literature class. we were supposed to describe a “significant event” so this was mine. once again 100% true and written three years ago. 

Significant Event: Hobo Jump Pride

I gazed at my math workbook distastefully. I was horrible (and by horrible I mean puppies crying out for love and kicking them horrible) at math.

Biting my lip, I regarded the problem with a plea for help.

The numbers smirked up at me.

That’s it.

I slammed the book shut just in time to hear my sixteen year old brother’s request.

“Hey, Mom? Do you mind if you could drive me over to Drew’s?”

“Sure. You don’t mind, Stell, do you?”

Not. At. All.

“Nope, let’s go!” I replied too eagerly, shooting up from my seat.

My mom grabbed her keys, and we were all herded and out the door when she gasped out, “Oh, shoot! (brother’s name), we don’t have any gas!”

“I guess I could walk there.”

I guessed he could as well. I had wanted a break from math, but we still needed to pick up my younger siblings from school. It seemed a waste of gas (not to mention a little selfish) to transport my brother for a social visit.

“No, no, I’ll drive you.”

Knowing that there was zero money in her wallet, I raced up to her bedroom, where a large glass jar full of pennies sat on the floor. We used this jar as a Last Resort (aka we don’t have any more money, so all the grocery clerks have to deal with pennies). It used to be only for slurpees, but for the past year it was used for any gas we could put in our stupid, hulking suburban (which its passenger door swung open at every turn, resulting in my right arm being jacked from holding it shut while racing down the highways).

I upended the jar into my empty purse and grimly noted that there wasn’t much left. It would have to do.

It was a sunny Wednesday afternoon, mid-September, when we piled into the car. It started with a growl, and then my mother tore off with a tire screech. Her logic was that the faster she moved, the more road we would cover. I sat by the window, dreamily watching the sun’s rays reflect off the green leaves like dewdrops of gold.

Cagun.

We gave each other sidelong glances.

Caguuun.

The engine stopped as the car began to coast. It groaned.

Bang!

Then, almost as if giving up on itself, it sighed.

We sputtered to a stop, right in front of an elementary school. I surveyed it warily, dismissing it with a sniff. That was the one where the fifth graders (guessing here, but they were short and small) played in the road and flipped us off. I didn’t know fifth graders even knew how to flip someone off, let alone have such atrocious manners. I mean, road=driving. Not running back and forth with skateboards and punk-ass low pants.

A slam of the car captured my attention. My brother strode outside and made his way to the back of the car, ready to push it to the gas station. I scrambled out to help.

We had a history of bad luck with cars (actually, my biological father had a history of completely totaling them), so we knew how to push a heavy car for miles.

After some deliberating, my brother and I pressed our hands against the dusty back window.

“I’m going to try and start it,” my mom called out the window, her dark hair flapping in the wind like a snippy bird.

“Okay,” my brother replied, monotone. This stuff really bothered him. At thirteen, I was a little bummed by our lack of funds, but it was more of an exciting game show for me. Are we able to pay the rent this month? Who knows! What’s for dinner? Dollar tuna, once again! Does anyone know that we need help? Of course not! Does anyone care?

Of course not.

 We strained our arms, legs slightly buckling as we pushed the enormous lug of metal uphill. Sweat trickled down my forehead, mussing with my brown hair. I really needed to do something with it; I mean, it was waist length and regal and all, but there comes a point when long hair looks like knotted nets. And that’s just unacceptable—

Vroom!

The suburban drove away.

“What the…” my brother said as we took off running.

We both pulled up beside the roaring suburban, similar to that of racing horses. The suburban was in front. We were in front. The suburban was in front. We were in front. In unison, we realized the ridiculousness of the situation. Our legs came to a gradual stop, gazing sadly at our ride. Yet a voice, a bane of light breaking away the cobwebs of despair, called out: “Jump in!”

Was she serious?

I thought about it. It was hot (like 100 degrees hot), and I hadn’t had any water that day. Millions of possibilities flew through my head, each with a different scenario.

Then, for once in my cautious, painfully shy, and sheltered life, I threw myself into a decision: I ran.

The roar of the engine thrummed in my ears. I looked down at my flying feet. The black gravel gleamed in the sun. I looked up. The world slowed down. I was invincible. I feared nothing. I was absolutely free.

The passenger door was open, inviting me. With a quick breath, I flung myself up into the passenger seat. I turned around and shouted to my brother, “Jump!”

He sped up, then changed his mind and shook his head. Suddenly my victory did not seem as sweet as I watched him get smaller as the car drove on.

Another point of bitterness was my sudden loss of footwear.

The lost blue flip-flop sat forlornly in the road, watching us abandon it.

To end, the situation closed uneventfully enough, with filling enough gas to drop off my brother and pick up my sisters (glory!)

To this day, my jump is one of the proudest moments of my life. I always likened it to hobos jumping boxcars (which for some reason always enthralled me. Odd child alert). The significance from such a silly circumstance really rang true for me: I didn’t fail. I made a decision, and it worked! It actually worked! All my reading, studying, and observance of life did not hinder me from participating in life. I took action. I threw my fear away and took up Nike’s mantra and just did it.

I wasn’t a burden, or useless, or too anxious to be of help. I was slightly important (at least, for a moment). And it was me who was important, not my acquired knowledge or desperate wisdom, hoping that in some way, any way, I was worth it.

I suppose it was my first bout of confidence, of stepping out on my own. This event actually helped me in my adolescent future.

Maybe others had their life together. Maybe they had friends. Maybe they were popular. Maybe they weren’t poor.

But could any of them say they jumped into a moving vehicle?

Nope. Just me.

The girl who would do anything for a seat. 

 k thanks byyyyeeeeeee