#does he get to age with Miri?

[krys-loves-otome]

OC Brain Rots #2: Miri, Magical Ancestry, and Mortality

Welcome back to OC Brain Rots, where I go off about an OC of mine and whatever it is that caused them to tickle my brain at the moment.

For this brain rot, I'm gonna be focusing on my Obey Me MC Miri since it's Nightbringer's one year anniversary (Happy Devil Day, Obey Me: Nightbringer, congrats), so it's a timely occasion to talk about her. Spoilers ahead, of course, as I'm gonna be going in depth about her ancestry (about Lilith and her history) and on a little more somber topic about her aging, since I've thinking about it ever since a light-hearted chat came up in game.

For basic info about Miri and my other dating sim OCs, check out the intro post here! For the previous brain rot post involving Abby and Thea and some of the events of Ikevamp's interlude, check here!

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For context, this line of thinking began with a chat with Luke and a dream he had of escorting Miri through town. He was older and taller and all those things he wants to be to impress her and be a cool angel and all that. They then make plans to make the escorting adventure happen for reals, as their current selves and they both had a good, cute, sweet time.

Then this sparked my brain into thinking of how aging works in this universe, especially with supernatural beings vs humans.

For Luke to be adult-sized, how long would that take? Do angels start as babies that mature eventually? I feel like I've seen a post before about how angels were created, not born like humans are. Maybe their appearance changes once they go up in rank? Or maturity is just a lot slower as they are (technically speaking) immortal?

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, when Luke gets older, so does everyone else, including Miri, our sorcerer with angel ancestors.

Technically.

Lilith had been reborn as a human, likely retaining some of her angel powers innately according to OG Lesson 16 (though not as powerful as when she was a full on angel), so I'm thinking that some of the longevity that angels have likely stayed some as well, making her lifespan longer than that of normal, non-magical humans. How many more years? Game doesn't specify, but I like to think that means Lilith's line had longer lifespans than most normal humans. 100s probably weren't a problem for Lilith to reach. Maybe even a bit longer? And this is also considering there isn't any other magical interference in her life.

Fast-forward a few generations and we get to Miri, a once ordinary human thrust into Devildom to take part in the Student Exchange Program at RAD. She gets her first rush of power when she makes her first pact with Mammon. As she gains more pacts, she gains more power. Around the time she's getting Asmo's pact, Solomon had lent her some of his power so she use it for a mission so she could earn Asmo's pact on her own. She uses this borrowed power to help Mammon, Levi, Beel, and herself escape Henry 1.0 by summoning Asmo and drawing out his power to charm Henry.

Asmo comments later that though she was on borrowed power, Miri drew out a lot more power out of him than Solomon had ever done and that was interesting, so he agreed to the pact after failing in her initial task because he was impressed by her innate power.

Her power grows so much in later lessons, it threatened the balance of magic between the three worlds. Solomon suggests she cut her pacts with the brothers, but she refuses to separate from the brothers. She eventually gains Lucifer's Ring of Light that dampens her power to a more manageable level. Solomon then takes her on as an apprentice so she can learn to use her power more effectively.

All this to say, Miri isn't your average human anymore (though she never really was, even from the start because of her ancestor Lilith).  So, her lifespan has likely been affected because of the influx of magical energy that human Lilith most likely didn't have. How much it has affected her remains to be seen.

So, if she hadn't had this magical boost from Lilith, the brothers, and whatever else comes along to affect her, she probably wouldn't live to see grown up Luke and he wouldn't be able to escort her through town like he wants to. Miri as of now? There's a chance for it now! Could she reach Solomon's age because of her power? At what age will she start getting wrinkles and grey streaks in her hair? 200s? 300s? Who knows!

Now the image of Old Lady Miri being escorted through town by Luke isn't such a sad image to me anymore. How before all the powers she gained, it would look like a young boy escorting an elderly woman through town, excitedly talking back and forth about baking and puzzles, to now leading to the image of the cool, older angel Luke that's taller and stronger escorting an older Miri with maybe some grey streaks in her hair but is still youthful in her eyes, excited for a day in town and all the things he wants to show her, both still talking excitedly about baking and puzzles.

And that's about it for this brain rot. Hope you guys enjoyed this little thought experiment and I hope to see you for the next brain rot session!

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Buddy Daddies - Episode 7 - Thought Post - Side Rei

Oh, Rei...OTL

This episode was an eye opener for him. But, I also think it did a good job of highlighting how this isn’t just Rei “being lazy” and not contributing enough, but also about Rei just not knowing how to do these things. 

When he opens the fridge, he doesn’t even know which stuff in there is the food. And this is because of his upbringing, not necessarily because he was rich, but because he was brought up to kill and that was it. Skills pertaining to his ability to kill were the only thing his father and family focused on, so that was all he learned. 

If you don’t teach a child how to do something (whether physically or emotionally), how can we expect them to know how to do it as an adult? That’s the issue facing Rei here. That’s not to say that he is completely blameless here or that he hasn’t put in any effort. He has, but a lot of the things he does right tend to be more accidental and where he is largely putting in some effort (like playing games with her) is a bit misguided. Making sure she stays protected from people who can harm her is an area he has gotten extremely good at though.

But, let’s look at some of the things that I think Rei accidentally gets right with Miri. By being, on a life skills and emotional development level, in a similar place as Miri, he ends up accidentally being really good at allowing Miri to guide him at times. For example, in this week’s episode we have this moment:

Rei is in front of her closet, looks at her, and askes, “What do you need to take?” He’s asking about her things for daycare. Miri is then able to point to the sheet of paper that tells him everything he needs (a little checklist). This is a good thing to do with children around Miri’s age from time to time, since it can not only work as a good confidence booster for them, but also let the parent or teacher know that the child understands aspects of their daily routine.

Of course, it isn’t good for a parent or teacher to rely on this. Why? Because the child is still a child and still learning and will sometimes make mistakes, like Miri does when she says to Rei, “Don’t I have daycare today?” And then this mistake is what ultimately leads to Miri developing a cold and fever later on in the episode, because she wasn’t wearing proper clothes and Rei was riding too fast, thus making it even colder and wetter.

But, we’ll get back to that in a bit.

The rest of this I will put under a Read More due to length.

We also see that Rei views Miri on pretty equal footing in many ways. Here are two examples of this: 

The first is when Miri asks to play Morio Kart with Rei and he tells her “no,” because she gets upset when she loses. This indicates that he doesn’t go easy on her, which is a good thing. Allowing children to lose at games is a good thing. The not so good thing though, is that she gets upset when she loses and Rei doesn’t help her through that (because he, himself, doesn’t know how to handle emotions like that). So, instead, he basically just parent-locks the game away from her. That doesn’t help her learn, that just ends up punishing her, in a way, for not being able to understand how to express her upset. Of course, that isn’t Rei’s intentions.

The second example of this is the scene when Miri and Rei are eating the dinner Kazuki made:

He doesn’t force her to eat the food (and neither does Kazuki in the end, actually), but he also goes down to her level in not showing proper acknowledgement of the hard work Kazuki put into making the meal. We saw this earlier in the episode too:

After a meal they have earlier in the episode, Miri says a proper “Thanks for the food,” in Japanese ごちそうさまでした (gouchisousamadeshita). The subs have Rei say, “Same.” And that is an excellent translation (really, kudos to the sub and dub translators for Buddy Daddies, because the translations have been so good in general!). Basically, Rei just ends up parroting off of Miri in this scene by saying the tail end of the full, proper saying. He just says でした (deshita). 

Up until this week’s episode, Rei was able to skate by on not having these skills, because Kazuki would just do all this stuff for him, and there were no real consequences or level of accountability for his actions. The closest was Episode 5, but that ended up working out okay.

In this week’s episode, Miri does end up being all right, but she isn’t completely safe from harm. Because of Rei’s lack of life skills, Miri ends up getting very sick. This ends up scaring Rei shitless.

The scene of him going around, opening all the draws and seeing absolutely nothing he could use to help Miri. The closest thing being medicine that are for adults only (another great detail that highlight how both Kazuki and Rei are still learning how to make their household accommodating for a child). Is a great way to show just how panicked and worried he was, since I’m sure everyone has had a similar experience to this one, when looking for something very important you need - and just not finding it.

Eventually, Rei realizes he needs to take her to a doctor and that he needs to seek outside help right away to make sure she gets better. And that is a great thing about this week’s episode. Kazuki and Rei’s storylines are kept separate for the most part, because the episode highlights how getting help outside of your partner is necessary sometimes (and is far healthier). Before, they were being co-dependent and that was taking a toll on them (Rei with a lack of skills, and Kazuki with being able to keep locking away his emotions and not allowing himsef to move on because he could focus all his time and energy on caring for Miri and Rei). 

In the end, they both find the right person in their extended family and community to help them in just the right way that they need. Kyutaro for Rei (not Kazuki he wasn’t the right fit), and Karin for Kazuki.

Before Rei brings Miri to Kyutaro though, he has the realization of:

“I can’t do anything.”

And that is very, very important. This was his wake-up call that he if he wants to make sure no harm comes to Miri, then he needs to step up his game and put effort into learning these skills. Because yes, he is an adult who wasn’t taught these things, but he is also an adult who is responsible for a child - a whole other life. And I think that finally sunk in for Rei this episode.

When Kazuki gets home he sees that the apartment is a mess and at first thinks that it is just because Rei and Miri are both not good at household chores, so that is just the expected outcome. But then he sees this in Miri’s room:

Miri sleeping in her bed with Rei sleeping right beside her, his hand covering hers. She has a wet washcloth on her forehead, a glass of water on the bedside table, an opened medicine packet from the pharmacist, and a thermometer is sitting in arms reach. Everything that should be there, is, and Rei made sure Miri took the medicine and got the sleep that she needed. 

In the end, he was able to make sure Miri got everything she needed in this situation. He took care of her. 

Finally, the episode ends with Rei (with what seemed to be implied the help of Miri) making Kazuki French toast.

It isn’t the best. It’s burnt and seems like it may have been oversaturated as well, so it likely doesn’t taste the best either. But Rei and Miri tried. They put love and effort into that. And Rei looks very nervous and eager at the same time. He wants to know how he did:

His shoulders are tense, his eyebrows furrowed, and he leans forward. This is a great step in the right direction and reminds me of how people often say that children want to be helpful. Rei’s never really been given the chance to be helpful before now, but not that he has that experience, it seems like he wants to try and actually be helpful. 

So let’s hope that we see him doing just that! I want future episodes to carry this character growth over, just like they’ve carried plot points over before (such as their issue with going over their budget in Episode 4 leading to money issues in Episode 5). I have trust in the writers and directors that they will though. Otherwise, it would make this episode a moot one. Here’s to Rei Papa continuing to learn and grow and do his best! <3

[leoruby-draws]

I did a whole bunch of drawings for Jason's team two weeks back, so now its time to concentrate on Steph's team! Here we've got 4 new characters for her team, with a couple extra tomorrow as well. Lets go into to them, one by one.

First up is the lantern for the group, more specifically a Violet Lantern apprentice aka Miri Riam! Her reasons for coming to earth is unknown at the moment but they seem to have some connection to Carol Ferris. Carol's also a Violet Lantern and Hal's(Green Lantern) on-and-off girlfriend and occasional antagonist. Perhaps Miri was sent to become Carol's apprentice? I've got more info on whats happening there, but thats for later.

As for why Miri was chosen for the group, I knew I wanted some kind of Lantern for the team, but couldn't find a green lantern that was both in Steph's age group and have fun interactions with them. But then I thought, does it have to be a green lantern? I had a red lantern for Jason's group after all. I looked around and found Miri! I don't know her exact age but I knew she was a young adult, so I'm just gonna have her be around Steph's age group.

The Violet Lanterns Corps are very ...enthusiastic about the power of love and Miri's no exception. She wants everyone to know the joy of Love, she's honestly kinda annoying about it. I remember this one GL issue where she was destroying a city just to get Kyle and Soranik to resolve their love troubles. That pretty much became the basis for how I'm writing Miri's personality. Like I said above, I'll get more into Miri at a later time.

Next is Maxine Hunkel aka Cyclone, granddaughter of Ma Hunkel aka the golden age Red Tornado! I already posted a drawing of her a while back, I thought she'd make a fun fit for the team. She's has such high energy and so much enthusiasm I couldn't help but find her utterly endearing. I think at a later point she'll end up joining the JSA but for now she's just having fun with this team.

Btw I thought that maybe her grandmother, Ma Hunkel, could fit a similar role that the other Red Tornado did for Young Justice, helping out a young hero team. Just a way to emphasize how Steph and Tim's teams can serve as foils to each other.

Next up is the archer of the group, Mia Dearden aka Speedy II. Tho she should probably have a different name due to Roy still being Speedy atm. Maybe Speedette? Ehhh, gotta workshop that.

Anyways here's Mia and Steph meeting as civilians, with Mia showing off her bow. Mia seems to be in some sort of school uniform, perhaps Oliver is sponsoring her to go to a fancy academy? Her backstory is similar to canon, with Oliver saving her from bad people. I'm not sure if her story should be exactly the same as canon, since Mia is 10 but terrible things like that do happen in real life to young children. But I don't know if a goofy au like mine is the best place to show that. But for now lets just say Mia is currently trying to heal and become a hero like Green Arrow.

I imagine Steph and Mia get along really well, they just get each other in a lot of ways. Steph can see Mia might be hurting inside and wants to cheer her up, hopefully with all of Mia's new friends she can.

Last up is Jaime Reyes aka Blue Beetle III. Unfortunately I haven't drawn him all that much so no individual drawing for him, tho I do like him.

As for why Jaime, I remember liking him in the YJ cartoon and found him pretty likeable in the comics as well. But I've always like the spiderman hero archetype anyways, which Jaime fits really well (I mean, it was done on purpose). Static and Sideways also fit the archetype and are in the team as well. Arguably you can say add Steph to this too, probably more than Tim in my personal opinion.

Another reason I wanted to add Jaime is that he and Steph almost became teammates in canon, in a failed Young Justice project. What could have been huh. Third reason is more silly tho, if Barbara and Ted Kord start to date in this au, imagine how grossed out Steph and Jaime will be lmao.

So there's four new teammates for the team, but! I've got a couple extra for tomorrow! And later on I hope to finally post some more doodles of these characters (some of them are real old, more than a year old). Especially Miri, she turned out to be such a fun character, and I've always liked the all the lantern corps. Here's a bonus doodle of them btw (with bonus unmasked Sideways):

So many new members, well, hope you liked all that!

[suzukiblu]

I wanted to write something self-indulgent and decided to use that power to also make @miri-tiazan happy by adding to the wet nurse omegaverse. ❤️

"A wet nurse, Father, really?" Damian asks, looking unimpressed. The League of Assassins isn't much for hired wet nurses, Bruce knows–not even loyal servants, but especially not unknown outsiders. If a pup isn't getting nursed by a worthy packmate, then that pup isn't particularly valued or expected to grow up to be of much use to either Ra's or the League. Or grow up at all, in most cases.

And Damian has been dubious about Lor since the day he showed up, unsurprisingly, but also seems to have lumped him in under the same reaction he'd probably have had to Jon having gotten a new pet, so it could be worse, really. Damian typically likes pets, for one thing, so the idea of Lor being nursed by a servant has been less than ideal to him. Bruce will take that over Damian hating the pup any day.

"We did talk about it at breakfast," he reminds him. Damian looks no less unimpressed.

"Yes, and I assumed you would come to your senses and summon Todd back to the manor," he retorts disdainfully. "Not employ the first poorly-dressed stray you picked up off the street simply for lack of the last one you did."

"He's dressed fine, Damian," Tim says, scowling at him.

"Just don't diss the jacket, brat," Carl says with an easy shrug, otherwise ignoring Damian and just peering at Jon curiously. Bruce doesn't comment on the obvious transgression of an unrelated omega insulting one of his pups, given that said pup started it and also he doesn't expect Carl to have traditional pack manners at this point anyway. "Did you want some?"

"Huh?" Jon says, blinking at him.

"Like a snack or whatever," Carl clarifies, adjusting his grip on Lor. "Kiddo's drunk me pretty dry, but I think he's about done for now, so like, if you want any . . ."

Right, Bruce thinks, just barely raising an eyebrow as Travers looks speechlessly mortified. Well, further total lack of pack manners in Carl proven. He didn't even ask Clark before offering that.

"Oh," Jon says, looking a little flustered and not looking at Clark. "Um–but you're here for Chris."

"Yeah, so?" Carl says with a shrug. "I get milked up real quick, I'll have plenty more for him later. Not like I've got anyone else to feed right now anyway, they cleared my whole client list for this."

Bruce narrows his eyes. A client list? How much milk is Carl producing, to have a full list of clients? There's no way an omega his age who isn't on lactation stimulants should have enough milk for multiple clients.

Unless he very, very recently lost a full litter, anyway. That's the only reason Bruce can think of that he'd have that much milk.

Hell. And the agency just sent him out this soon?

Well, it would explain Carl claiming to be disinterested in pups and preferring to pump over doing direct nursing, but also explain the immediate triggering of a feral bond like that when actually directly faced with a distressed pup in need of something he had to offer. And Jon is Lor's brother now, so it's not a surprise that Carl would offer him his milk too. He's got to be sensing some of Lor's developing pack bonds, even a step removed from them; he's probably getting some attachment spillover.

Good sign for how Lor's new bonds are settling in, at least, Bruce supposes.

"Um . . ." Jon says, and keeps not looking at Clark. Bruce carefully doesn't think about exactly how long it's been since the kid had to go cold-turkey weaning on omega milk, mostly because of the circumstances around said weaning.

And Clark . . .

Clark's jaw tightens, just briefly, and then he smiles.

"It's alright if you'd like to, Jon," he says reassuringly, and Jon is a perceptive enough kid to look uncertain about the validity of that statement, but also clearly does want to at least try Carl's milk. Which, well, he did mention Carl smelling good to him. That's probably a good sign too, really, since Jon's got Kryptonian blood himself. Bodes well for Lor's tolerance for Carl's milk if the only other available Kryptonian pup likes the scent of it, hopefully.

But also, Bruce does know the last time Jon nursed it was from Clark, and it didn't end well.

[skeletonpunching]

Buddy Daddies Animedia February 2023 magazine article

No target they set their sights on ever gets away! Through a curious series of events, two assassin buddies find themselves taking in a 4-year-old girl. Kazuki is a softhearted caretaker, and Rei's "on" and "off" modes are like night and day. They live together and look after the innocent 4-year-old Miri; it's a rough ride, but it'll all work out somehow... or will it?

The original anime Buddy Daddies, a collaboration between P.A. Works and Nitroplus, has finally begun. In this series, you can enjoy the action scenes of the assassin duo dealing with their work, and the domestic comedy of the new fathers and the bubbly Miri. Kazuki and Rei are brimming with charm, both in their facades and their hidden depths; they're sure to get you right in the heart! This issue, we bring you an interview with Aniplex producer Toba Yosuke, with some hints about how to recover our hearts from this duo.

[Translator’s note: This covers similar ground to the earlier producer interview with Toba, but includes a few fun bonus tidbits. It’s also Valentine's-themed, so it seemed appropriate to post now. I hope you enjoy.]

These two dangerous assassins never let their prey escape - here's how you take them down at all costs!

Kurusu Kazuki (VA: Toyonaga Toshiyuki)

A yang-type man with caretaker instincts

An assassin. Has strong communication skills, and is mostly in charge of gathering intel and setting up the plan for execution. Lives with Rei, and looks after his daily needs.

The irresistible smile of a charmer?!

The lovely thing about Kazuki: He just can't leave a human disaster alone! He's a very family-oriented maternal type

Toba: "Kazuki is very family-oriented; he's the so-called maternal type. The reason why he started living together with Rei is that he saw the complete shambles of Rei's lifestyle, went, 'This won't do!' and started fussing over him. He's a great cook, and good at cleaning and laundry too, and on top of that, he just can't rest unless he gets it all done right. He also tends to be a bit of a busybody. Though all of that goes away when he's on the job…"

Personal Data: Kurusu Kazuki

Age: 28 years old

Occupation: Assassin

Special Skills: Interpersonal communication. Good at cooking and cleaning too!

To get him to care about you, lay bare your most hopeless side!

Kazuki takes excellent care of Rei, who does nothing at home other than play games. If you show off some sloppy or no-good tendencies, perhaps you could rouse some nurturing feelings in the heart of this instinctive caretaker?!

Suwa Rei (VA: Uchiyama Koki)

A taciturn man of contrasts

An assassin. A man of few words and fewer expressions. The elite assassin training he received has endowed him with outstanding physical ability, and he's at the top of the field in combat and marksmanship.

Behaves like two completely different people on the job and off it?!

His keen gaze lands a one-hit KO on the target ⭐

The lovely thing about Rei: The swoon-worthy, stark contrast between his ON (assassin) and OFF (personal) modes?

Toba: "Rei... when Rei is on the job, he's a cool assassin who coldly gets the mission done without a flicker of expression. But outside of work, he's a guy who just doesn't want to do anything, so he does absolutely nothing at home. (laughs) When he's out and about, he dresses in a sharp suit and has his hair swept up, but as soon as he gets home, he sits around in baggy loungewear and unkempt hair, and just spends all his time playing games. I think that on/off contrast makes for quite an adorable gap."

Personal Data: Suwa Rei

Age: 25 years old

Occupation: Assassin

Special Skills: Absolutely top-notch shooting!

Weaknesses: Housework. Just totally hopeless...

A truly broad heart is needed to fully embrace Rei and his total lack of life skills...?

Rei carries out his assassin work flawlessly, and is a dead loss when it comes to regular life. He tends to be overly indifferent to himself and others, so you may need to be very tolerant in gently accepting him and offering your patient support...

Unasaka Miri (VA: Kino Hina)

A little girl living with Kazuki and Rei

An affectionate, innocent young girl, who gets caught up in a gunfight while searching for her father. She is rescued by Kazuki, and so they begin living together.

A question for Producer Toba! Valentine's Q&A

Q: How do you think Kazuki, Rei, and Miri would spend Valentine's Day?

Toba: I think Kazuki would make incredibly delicious chocolate confections. The whole table is covered with everything from cakes to parfaits to chocolate fondue to ganache... He also has 95% cocoa chocolate for himself, but I think he prepares much sweeter chocolate full of milk, for Miri. He should really be the receiving party in the first place, but he ends up making everything to give to Miri. Then Miri gives him a little chocolate she bought from some supermarket or conbini, and Kazuki is so happy he bursts into tears. (laughs)

Interview with the Love Guru: Producer Toba Yosuke

We wanted to depict the changes in a contrasting assassin duo

Interviewer: How exactly was the theme of "Buddy Daddies" decided?

Toba: We were discussing potential themes for an original anime with P.A. Works, and the producer Tsuji-san suggested, "Maybe something about parenting a 4 or 5-year-old?" Tsuji-san himself was right in the middle of working hard to raise a child, and so he wanted to reflect those ideas in an anime. And then it occurred to us that we could get a lot of comedy out of a story where someone who absolutely isn't cut out for parenting has to struggle to raise a child. In that case, who should we saddle with parenting? We thought it over, and the direct opposite of "raising children" is "killing people". So how about an assassin? And then it clicked into place. The only issue was that a child who is 4 or 5 years old is still at an age where they "can't act freely on their own" - so how would they be taken in by the assassin? We were stumped for a while because of that. That's when I discussed it with Shimokura-san (Shimokura Vio) from Nitroplus, and he suggested, "What about making it an assassin duo? Say the two of them pick up the child during a fight - I think a setup like that has potential." Upon hearing him say this, I thought, "That's it!" A family with no blood ties, and two men raising a child - a story like this would truly embody our modern times and their diversifying values. It felt like a perfect fit to me. I thought, "This could really go somewhere!" And so we went ahead with production.

Interviewer: Was there anything you paid particular attention to when depicting them?

Toba: I think we stuck quite closely to the fundamental premise of "two polar opposites are paired up as assassins, but once they take in a child, their lives begin to change". Kazuki is an assassin but has plenty of warm human emotion, and Rei knows nothing other than killing people in cold blood. How will these two men change because of a child? We wanted to depict that very carefully.

Interviewer: Was any part of the production process especially memorable?

Toba: The cast was decided by audition, but honestly, Toyonaga-san and Uchiyama-san are so perfect that I have to wonder if Kazuki and Rei were already written with them in mind. (laughs) Toyonaga-san gives off this sense of "warmth, but when he wants to play his cards close to his chest, he keeps them very close - but he also has a free and uninhibited side to him", and that's a breathtakingly perfect fit for Kazuki. As for Rei, we were already saying "Rei is very Uchiyama-san, huh (laughs)" from pretty early on in the production process. The recording sessions blew me away - you could really feel how well their characters mapped on to Kazuki and Rei.

Interviewer: Please give a message to our readers about what they can expect from here on.

Toba: Before Miri shows up, Kazuki and Rei are essentially living without any thoughts of the future. Given their line of work, they have no idea when they might die; they live like they could die at any moment, and they're fine with that. But once they have Miri - a child they need to protect and raise - their life rapidly changes. Is that good news or bad news for them? And what will their changes mean for the people around them? I hope you'll observe these "changes" for yourself.

[bbfeelings]

I couldn’t stop thinking about small waist pretty face so I wrote a silly little thing inspired by @hubbydaddies’ post. Happy BD Friday!

Edit: a completed version of this fic, Small Waist, Pretty Face can be found here!

After another easy, victorious, and unsurprisingly boring round, Rei checked his phone. 1:28 am. He took a drink of beer and joined another game. The phone on his lap suddenly started vibrating and startled him. Rei killed the game and held up the phone. It could only be one person. There was one person in this world who’d call him.

Kazuki wants to FaceTime.

Rei took off the headphone and carefully pressed the answer button.

What he did not expect was to see Carol’s face.

“Rei-chan—! Took you long enough to pick up!” She whined.

“Um…uh, sorry?”

“He picked up!” Carol announced cheerily, shoving the phone in front of Kazuki.

“Hey, Rei, hehe,” his drunk face was stupidly stupid. “My bad…I had one too many!” His foolish grin under the neon lights was stupidly stupid. Rei rolled his eyes.

”I’m coming home now!”

“Just don’t wake Miri up when you do.”

“Okie-dok, Rei-chan—” The video went blurry then dark; he must’ve dropped his phone. Idiot. Rei sighed. His partner had a tendency to be extra loud and obnoxious when intoxicated. Not that he’d ever awoken Miri with his drunken shenanigans. But still.

An unfamiliar face appeared on the screen. Rei only knew of Carol and Dorothy. “It’s fine! It didn’t break!” She said, and a cheering crowd of girls could be heard from the background. “So this is Rei-chan? He’s so cute!” She exclaimed, “Kazu-san, you never told me he’s this cute!”

Girls swarmed in front of the camera, squealing and giggling, “What a cutie!” “This is the pretty face you go home to? Kazu-san, you sly dog—” “Rei-chan, Rei-chan! Tell us what Kazu-san is like at home!” Rei felt his face go hot. What the hell? “Aww, he’s blushing! We’re embarrassing him! How adorable!” “Don’t worry, we don’t touch Kazu-san! He’s all yours!” The girls laughed.

What the hell?

—

2:07 am

“Rei—the door won’t open,” Kazuki whined over the phone. He’d finally made it back to the apartment building, but he was long gone. Rei sighed as the elevator arrived at the building lobby, “Coming.”

Upon seeing Rei, Kazuki happily draped himself over Rei’s slimmer frame, crying about forgetting how keys work. He smelled of booze and some tacky cheap perfume that made Rei’s nose itch. He cursed under his breath. Seriously. 28 years of age, acting like a hot fucking mess. Kazuki started humming off-key and mumbling some lyrics to himself as they exited the elevator on their floor.

Five minutes later, Rei was standing in the bathroom door, watching Kazuki puking his guts out. Between the dry heaving and whimpering, Rei’d hand him a tissue. He didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy toward his miserable partner. Why does he like drinking himself into oblivion? Getting a bit tipsy, sure, but Rei absolutely hated the feeling of being wasted.

Kazuki crawled into the shower. Rei passed him his toothbrush and toothpaste and left the bathroom. He then returned with a fresh towel, hung it on the door before closing it.

—

2:46 am

Rei made some cup noodles. Kazuki came out and stumbled across the living room with the towel around his waist. The steam coming from the bathroom told Rei that Kazuki took a boiling hot shower, if his red as a cooked lobster body didn’t give it away. He watched Kazuki dropping himself onto the couch and curling up. Rei scowled.

“Oi,” he said as he chewed, “sleep in your own room.” Kazuki retaliated with inaction and started humming and mumbling again. Rei couldn’t risk letting him fall asleep on the couch like that. The bathroom was damp and nasty, and no way he was going to sleep there tonight.

“Get up,” he towered over Kazuki, who was making noises like a complaining 4 year old would. “You’re gonna get a cold.”

—

3:11 am

Kazuki finally got up and made it into his room, but not without Rei basically dragging his ass. “Clothes,” he said. Kazuki obediently reached into the dresser. Rei’s job here was done; he wanted to finish his cup noodles, which was probably soggy and cold by now.

Kazuki turned around and muttered something sing-song-y in Rei's direction as he was about to close the bedroom door.

“…small waist…”

“What?”

“You.” Kazuki pointed.

“What about me?”

Half clothed, Kazuki waltzed over and took Rei for a dance as he hummed; Rei was too tired for this shit. They stumbled around the room. Kazuki’s eyes were half closed and hazy, “…big boobies…small waist…”

Rei snickered. What the hell?

“Wait, no,” Kazuki frowned as if he was thinking hard, if he could even think at all with that soupy brain.

“Small waist…pretty face.” Kazuki resumed his drunken shenanigans. Quickly losing his patience, Rei maneuvered out of Kazuki’s grasp. “You’re gonna wake Miri.”

He pointed again, “That’s you.” Kazuki fixed his gaze on Rei, “Small waist, pretty face.”

Rei felt this utter embarrassment in the form of increasing heart rate and a full body goosebumps followed by a shudder.

While Rei was momentarily immobilized by the sheer humiliation, Kazuki seized the opportunity, launched himself at Rei, gently grabbed hold of him again. He planted a quick but clumsy kiss right on Rei’s lips, inevitably knocking his own teeth on his.

They fell into bed and Kazuki took no time to cling onto Rei, snuggled in while letting out a satisfied sigh.

Rei went blank.

What the hell?

[dr-demi-bee]

Hello hello! Can I ask your wedding tag for 4 & 16? ♡♡

Ahhh!! Thank you friend! I *adored* thinking about this 🥰🥰🥰 Incoming lore dump :D I think a lot about what the culture of Miri's pack in the High Forest would be like as wild lythari elves with little contact with outsiders. Lythari, I imagine, don't necessarily have 'weddings' as we consider it. As a small tribal people, the grand, opulent ceremonies we think of for weddings likely wouldn't make sense. It would, however, make sense to celebrate the pack growing - either by gaining a new member or by the potential for cubs to be sired (most lythari are *born*, rather than turned).

What Forgotten Realms lore does confirm (across all resources) about lythari is that they have a sacred mating ritual wherein a consenting non-lythari partner (if an elf) is bitten by their lythari partner and the lycanthropy is passed to them. (It only works for elves, so no werewolf Gale, sorry).

The lore suggests that the partner also gains a permanent mark that resembles a wolf bite. So I like to imagine that lythari pairs would still bite one another to gift this mark and signify their mating bond (like a wedding ring)! As Halsin says, “The wolf mates for life. The bear, however, roams free.” This all leads me to believe that lythari are known (at least by wood elves from the HF) to be monogamous, and this mark would signify their permanent bond to their partner. I imagine the pack holds a celebration of the couple bonding - and that the *mating ritual* itself is quite an affair for the pair (a la the wedding night/honeymoon wink wink). So for this answer, *pre-ceremony* is what precedes the mating ritual portion. All this to say:

I imagine that Miri and Gale would have two different 'weddings'. One more traditional, in Waterdhavian style, for Gale and the Dekarios clan. The other, a sacred mating bond ritual, for Miri and the Adahlen'i lythari. (fun fact, Adahlen'i is based on the Dalish 'adahlen', for 'forest', and an -i suffix, after Latin, to mean 'of the'.)

Anywho- On to the answers! :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Pre-Ceremony Events - Are there any special events, ceremonies, rituals, or preparations the couple must do before the wedding day? Ritual cleansing, asking a parent for the character's hand, mehndi/henna painting, little pre-ceremony games or challenges, etc?

Gale's traditional wedding: This stuff has been tumbling around my brain for ages - and instead of blithering on about usual wedding pre-ceremony traditions like a rehearsal dinner or not seeing each other before hand... I want to talk about rings. There is a canon Waterdeep tradition (shared here) where each person will have a ring crafted, which will then be split in half and fused together to make a matching pair of 'union' rings to be worn on the middle finger. These rings are worn around the neck until the wedding ceremony when they are exchanged. So I have been obsessed with the idea that Miri and Gale would both get rings crafted to match one another's eyes (you know, like those cute af trends of couples making matching bracelets or getting matching nail polish). Wearing their respective bands around their neck would become a symbol of the other's loving gaze. And then once they are split and fused, they would each have a ring to remind one another of the profound tenderness and love they see in one another's eyes. (excuse me I'm not crying, you are) For Miri - I think she would choose something like this, a dark metal inlaid with a beautiful wood like mahogany that shines with rich shades of brown and changes in the sun. Maybe with an added stone that looks like the aurora from when they first confessed. Extra points if she retrieved the wood herself from somewhere special.

For Gale - Ohhh, our grand gesture beloved. Gale would go out of his way to find the exact perfect gemstone or metal to match the greens of Miri's eyes. He would put hours into researching the quality of the stone and how to find the best one and the best quality, that would have the right durability for Miri's rough and tumble lifestyle. And it would have to be the perfect color because he would be staring absent mindedly at his own ring so often he would know whether it was right or not. And it would have to be significant somehow, and on and on... And no silver, of course. I picture something like jade or malachite (emeralds are way too soft).

Miri's lythari mating ritual: This celebration would be smaller, more intimate (but no less raucous). The ceremony would be held in the High Forest, near where Miri was born (a way of symbolizing the circle of life in Nature).

I imagine the celebration would include an exchanging of vows by the to-be-bonded pair. A commitment before the pack and their goddess, Mielikki. (Cute shit like "You are my mate - I am bonded to you for eternity, and I shall never leave your side. I shall love you, guard you, and keep you, for all of your days. Our bond is sacred, and I shall worship and praise you through this life, and into the afterlife.") Pack members receive their tattoos as a sacred coming-of-age ritual - and I like to imagine that a non-lythari partner is painted with a temporary version of their mate-to-be's tattoos prior to the ceremony. Perhaps by a trusted loved one, or by their beloved. From there the celebration would be very typical of most cultures - food, drink, song, and dance. Revelry for hours. Perhaps there is a hunt before hand to ensure there is plentiful meat, and there are bottles of pack-brewed wines and meads and ciders flowing freely into the evening.

At some point during the revelry the pair themselves will quietly slip away from the gathering - Miri will take Gale to some secluded space she used to hold dear - and then they will begin their mating ritual in earnest. ;) The revelry, meanwhile, continues until the wee hours - celebrating the couple coming together (and maybe the chance for cubs- someday.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16. Wedding Party - Are there bridesmaids, groomsmen, attendants, special witnesses? Are they dressed a certain way or positioned in a special spot? In both cases: I imagine they would invite all of their friends - the near and dear companions able to make it (perhaps with some assistance from Withers, a la the epilogue party). And you can bet Miri would find a way to involve their fuzzier companions, too - Tara, Lupus, Corvus, Scratch, even their Owlbear. Gale's traditional wedding: I am a big ol' sentimental softie and I cannot picture these two blorbos getting married without having their companions serving as their wedding party. Standing beside them as they declare their love in front of officiant, guests, and pantheon. Groomsmen: Astarion, Wyll, Halsin. Bridesmaids: Karlach, Lae'zel, Shadowheart. Officiant: Either Jaheira, Withers, or perhaps another. But I expect it would probably be a secular at least agnostic ceremony. Scratch and Lupus can be flower-girl equivalents. Corvus can fly in the rings. Gale implies a few times throughout the game that he was part of Waterdeep's high society (attending soirees, owning a tower in the city) - undoubtedly true, as he was an archmage. So I imagine, given Waterdeep nobles are considered 'heavy handed spenders', that their traditional wedding would be a bit on the *larger*, more lavish side. As such the dress code would be at minimum semi-formal, if not formal outright - the wedding party would be dressed accordingly. (See any number of excruciatingly beautiful clothing mods people have created for examples of appropriate shiny silks, fancy embroideries, opulent colors and divine tailoring...)

Miri's lythari mating ritual: For this smaller ceremony, I do not think there would be a bridal party, per say. But I do think they would want their companions to be there to bear witness and to celebrate with them. Everything in the High Forest is centered around survival, and thus practicality is the name of the game for attire. Lythari do not wear fine fabrics and prefer their own hand-crafted leathers and furs, accessorized with feathers and beautiful hand carved bone and stone pieces. I would expect anyone participating to dress similarly - and to be barefoot. I could see a tribal ceremony including an exchanging of vows, perhaps beneath an ancient tree to bear sacred witness. Furthermore, there are several other sacred rituals in Miri's pack specifically that involve clerics of Mielikki, if not Mielikki herself. So I imagine a cleric would be present to bless their union. I would not be surprised if Miri would ask Halsin if he would participate somehow as a former archdruid and servant of Silvanus.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anyway, hope you like this brain dump of syrupy sweet wedding head canons 🥰🥰🥰🥰🤎💚

[fexalted]

watching tos for the first time since like, roughly 2012/13-ish? i don't remember what year it was, or why i only got thru most of season 1 before stopping

it's been fun to refresh my swiss cheesed memory with this tho so here's a semi-liveblog of the first 10 eps that i watched over the past couple weeks

1x01 - the man trap

things i remembered beforehand:

salt monster

"plum" uwu

that gay little run and crawl jim does when he's taking cover (it fills me with such delight)

things i did not remember:

how many people died, good god man it's only the first episode

1x02 - charlie x

things i remembered:

jim's bright red exercise pants

that stupid fucking face charlie makes when he uses his powers

not liking this ep at all when i first watched it, possibly due to me being around the same age as charlie at the time

additional thoughts: i enjoyed it more this time and felt more sympathetic for charlie. poor kid needed some parents, and also, like, a hug

1x03 - where no man has gone before

things i remembered:

bones isn't in it :'( (bored) (sad) (missing my bestie)

"James R Kirk"

that post i saw on here recently about how their contacts were made of glass

the only thing i could think about while watching:

their contacts

were made

of GLASS

(yes i understand this was how contacts were made back then. still freaked out by the concept of people putting glass in their eyes on purpose)

1x04 - the naked time

things i remembered:

sweat disease

sulu fencing

oh kathleen

"ONE-MORE-TIME!!"

"love mankind"

spock breakdown (extremely uncomfortable to watch)

bones casually ripping jim's shirt sleeve to jab him in the arm (extremely hilarious every time i think about it)

did not remember:

anything about them almost crashing into a planet lol

jim's little monologue when he gets infected (lmao)

time warp???

additional thoughts: hey remember when they reused this plot in tng and tasha and data fucked (<- literally the only thing i can remember about it) ((edit from future fex: i rewatched that ep. it was wild. tos did it better tho))

1x05 - the enemy within

things i remembered:

unicorn dog :)

evil kirk and poor little meow meow kirk

"I'M CAPTAIN KIRK!!!"

things not remembered:

dog dies :(

evil kirk's killer eyeliner

additional thoughts: say what you will about shatner / his acting but this ep is Peak shatner performance and a lot of fun to watch. he put his whole pussy into it, as the kids say these days

1x06 - mudd's women

things remembered:

could not forget harry mudd if i tried

the women are color coded like the powerpuff girls lol

they're also like, on some kind of drug that keeps them looking young or something

cool costumes tho

i don't have much to say about this one lol, harry's a fun character but the rest of the ep wasn't super interesting to me. did finally learn how to pronounce "ophiuchus" tho so i'll thank it for that

1x07 - what are little girls made of

things remembered:

is this the penis rock episode (it is)

uhhh i think kirk gets put into some kind of spinny machine that makes androids (he does)

more cool costumes (debatable)

things i find funny:

the number of planets we've encountered so far that are populated by like. 2-4 people

the way ruk (the big guy) just picks up and throws kirk like he weighs nothing

so much buildup with kirk and the penis rock and he doesn't even get to hit ruk over the head with it smh

also not a funny moment but i liked the way kirk was able to get a message to spock thru the android kirk, v clever

wait i just realized bones wasn't in this ep either. deducting 1/4 of a star from my mental rating bc i missed him (but apparently not that much)

1x08 - miri

remembered:

planet of children (bc everyone else died of terminal puberty)

"no blah blah blah!"

bones tests his newly discovered, untested cure on himself, in true mad scientist fashion (also spones moment <3)

saw this ep on a "what's your fave 'bad' episode" poll here recently and i can't remember if i thought it was good or bad when i first watched it lol

forgot:

another earth?? there's just a second, identical earth floating around out there?? and (of course) they don't mention it at all for the rest of the episode

300 year old children

oh these kids are so much more annoying than i remembered, however i may just be biased bc i don't like kids shfkshfk

1x09 - dagger of the mind

remember:

absolutely nothing! oh boy!

thoughts:

wow this ep is fucked up!

okay actually i don't think i've seen this one at all before?

usually there'll be moments that jog my memory but the only thing even slightly familiar to me was kirk going "helen don't go!" while in the neutralizer chair, but i could've just seen a clip/gif of it before

i remember skipping episodes in season 1 (i was impatient and wanted to get to city on the edge of forever) but i thought i'd at least made it to halfway thru the season before skipping any

anyway did i mention this ep is fucked up? (star trek really does love to drop an absolutely haunting 50 minutes of television on you and then never address it again, i understand this now. roll credits!)

1x10 - the corbomite maneuver

remember:

uhh

there's a thing out there

it's in the way

preventing them from boldly going, even

looks like an old windows screensaver

i might've skipped this ep too now that i think about it

thoughts:

cute mckirk moment in sickbay :3

i love that this cube has its own theme music whenever its on screen

oh shit it's the sequel to cube: orb

jesus christ that's a big orb

man they really said "okay we've got 3 music tracks and we're gonna get our money's worth out of them"

i gotta say this ep slaps tbh—WAIT HE'S A BABY???

LITTLE BABY MAN

LMAOOOOO

honestly great episode tho i'll stand by that

[msafk]

Episode 8 of Buddy Daddies has ruined me. I thought the Zoo Episode ruined me when Rei first smiled, but the fact he was so stunned that Miri and Kazuki celebrated his birthday.

Did Rei offer up the information of when his birthday was? Did he even celebrate his birthday as a child? Was it more of a coming of age for his father and the organization?

For Rei to be called home on his birthday because he was getting too comfortable in the “peasant world”. His father didn’t even acknowledge him, but we knew that from when he said address me as “boss”, because he raised an assassin instead of a child. His father showed him no respect but said he learned manners from that “peasant” Kazuki.

His dad told him he had his fun and that it was time to come home to the organization. That he was getting rusty and it was to blame Kazuki.

Rei stood up for Kazuki. Rei quickly pointed out it wasn’t him.

Rei does have things worth fighting for. Rei can find love, he can find happiness. He is allowed to find that happiness. And I’m so glad he’s slowly starting to realize that he deserve good things.

[mrsbsmooth]

Looking for my chaptered fics? Click here Want to sort by character? Click here

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[himebushou]

I need to share this because I have literally Galaxy Brain'd; stay with me —

Kurusu Kazuki:

A young man from a poor background

Ends up working for The Organisation and getting into 'bad business'

Regarded as being bad at his job

Good at applying bandages

Sometimes wears disguises

Things start to shift after he begins working with his partner, Rei

Life changes completely after becoming part of a trio (family)

Associated with the colour red.

Does this remind you of anyone?

Why of course! Kazuki's background is strikingly similar to that of Jessie's from Team Rocket!

Jessie:

Grew up in a foster home

Was so poor that, as a child, sometimes all she had to eat was snow

Now enjoys the finer things in life

Went to nursing school (where she became good at applying bandages)

Joined Team Rocket — an organisation that changed her prospects

Is regarded as being very bad at her job by her boss, Giovanni

Wears a lot of disguises

Developed an unbreakable bond with James and Meowth

Originally had red hair.

Let's continue!

Suwa Rei:

Grew up in a wealthy household

Under a lot of pressure to meet the family's expectations

Left the family home

Regarded as being sloppy in his work by his boss, Suwa Shigeki

May or may not have had a pet dog (in any case, we see Rei with a dog in Ep. 3)

Initially disliked his partner, Kazuki

Life changed completely after becoming part of a trio (family)

Associated with the colour blue.

Does this bring anyone in particular to mind?

Naturally! Rei's background is shockingly similar to that of James from Team Rocket!

James:

Grew up in a wealthy household

Was under a lot of pressure to meet the family's expectations (was engaged from a young age)

Ran away from home, leaving behind his beloved dog, a Growlithe

Regarded as being sloppy in his work by his boss, Giovanni

Initially didn't get on with Jessie

Life changed completely after forming a trio with Jessie and Meowth

Has blue hair.

What's more...

Even the similarities between Suwa Shigeki and Giovanni are notable — both are known as 'The Boss' and, when they first appear on-screen, they're cast in a lot of shadow.

But let's look at both trios as a whole. If we compare Kazuki, Rei and Miri with Jessie, James and Meowth, can we see any similarities?

Well...

Finally, I have one more flabbergasting piece of evidence!

Kurusu Kazuki even dresses like a Team Rocket Grunt!

Conclusion?

Forget comparisons to other anime — Buddy Daddies is truly inspired by Pokémon!

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Buddy Daddies - Episode 12 -SPOILERS! Family? - Let’s Talk About That Photo Scene!

A lot of people found this moment a bit odd. Kazuki and Rei look at each other (faces seeming a bit frowny) and Rei asks, “Family?” This question does seem a bit odd doesn’t. After all, they’ve been a family for 10 years, Rei even told his father that he wanted to become a true family with Kazuki and Miri, so why this response to a photo?

Well, let’s rewind a bit! Right before this moment we have this:

Miri standing in the middle of Kazuki and Rei and a little in front of them. This is their usual picture setup:

In Episode 9 for her Field Day Gold Medal Win:

In Episode 12 for her Daycare Christmas Party:

In Episode 12 (Bulletin Board) for her Junior High School Graduation:

This is their family photo setup and dynamic for pictures. And as Miri has gotten older, they’ve also placed a bit more distance between themselves and her. This makes sense. They are Miri’s papas, yes, but they are still papas and she is still an awkward pre-teen girl in junior high school. So, there may have been times when she felt she wanted a bit more space between them all. Also, as children age in Japan, skinship - physical affection - tends to lessen as well. So, as she got bigger and they didn’t need to hold her as close anymore, the distance in their photos got bigger.

So, in more recent years it seems like they may have gotten used to standing a bit farther apart from themselves and Miri in family photos. So, Miri’s insistence that they need to scoot together more, and Kazuki just being like, “It’s fine like this.” And then her insistence that it isn’t, then kind of makes the two of them look at each other. They are a bit confused now, because it has gone against what they’ve gotten used to.

Rei also tends to express his thoughts, especially if he is confused or uncertain about something, in more limited ways (single words, parroting, etc.). So, him questioning Miri, himself, and Kazuki here when it comes to what they consistute as “family” in regards to taking photos together just comes out as:

“Family?”

Then Kazuki acts like his usual self and goes all in:

And this is the result of their new family photo set up:

At least, for Miri’s high school years and as long as she is using a selfie stick, lol. But, much like everything else in the show, there is a focus here on change. As Miri enters different stages of her life, their family, it’s dynamic, and even how they do things like take photos and pose - all of that will continue changing, with Kazuki and Rei smiling right there beside her.

Before, Kazuki and Rei were on either sides of her - protecting her. But she is teenager now. She has more independence and won’t need that same level of protection and looking after. So we see her off on her own a bit, while Kazuki and Rei finally connect on a physical touch level that they’ve never done before.

Like, that’s practically a hug (and Miri looks quite pleased about that, lol). It’s almost like another development for Kazuki and Rei too, another level for them to move on to and get used to (obviously, Rei isn’t quite used to it yet, he tends to take a bit more time to adjust). It’s fun to think about how their family photos will grow and change as Miri ages, if she gets any significant others herself, has any kids, etc. There structure and dynamic will just keeping evolving and changing. 

The full version of SHOCK plays during this whole 10 years later sequence, and the lyrics really do match up with this. 

“Let’s live our lives, loving and being loved.”

[mischievouslittlecreature]

The Winters Family

Right, so. I do intend to make proper versions of these similar to what I did with Lucy here, but I thought it would be good to just put these out there so you all can have a general idea of what her family looks like. They aren't featured a ton in Love Me Where I'm Most Ruined, but will have much bigger roles in The Hunger Games!AU and Modern!AU I've got planned.

Genevieve Winters

Lucy's mother. A Romani woman originally from Wales. Once spunky and wild, Genny has had her spirit abused and broken by her husband over the years, but loves her children fiercely.

Faceclaim: Olivia Cooke

Victor Winters

Lucy's father. An Englishman originally from Yorkshire. Extremely devout, traditional, and particularly cruel towards women.

Faceclaim: Nikolaj Coster Waldau

Theodore "Teddy" Winters

Yes I am aware of the irony of making Tom Glynn Carney the son of Olivia Cooke but shush okay it was good casting for a reason. Lucy's younger brother, closest to her in age. Mischievous, fun loving, actual bisexual disaster, lives to cause his father grey hairs and lovingly torment his big sister. Besties with Tommy once he and Lucy start dating.

Faceclaim: Tom Glynn Carney

This picture is so modern!Teddy I could cry 🥹.

Elliot Winters

Lucy's second younger brother. An asshole. Follows closely in his father's footsteps. The one Lucy gets along with the least, and the most likely to bully her when they were kids.

Faceclaim: Domhall Gleeson

Patrick "Ricky" Winters

Lucy's third younger brother. Sensitive, a music lover, and people pleaser. Like Elliot, he often does what his father says and emulates his behavior, but this is more out of a desire to please him in order to avoid further abuse than it is genuine maliciousness like Elliot.

Faceclaim: Ross Lynch

William "Wills" Winters

Lucy's youngest brother. The baby of the family, who everyone adores. Very kind, quite sassy and playful when gets older. Smol. Must be protected.

Faceclaim: Thomas Brodie Sangster

Miriam "Miri" Lovell

Lucy's aunt and Genevieve's older sister. Tough, spunky, and resourceful.

Faceclaim: Madeline Brewer

Mercy Lovell

Lucy's cousin. A Romani woman who lives with her mother, Miri and kin in the mountains. Chaotic. Tough as nails. Helped teach Lucy to ride horses bareback, shoot, and fight when she would visit them in the summers when they were kids.

Faceclaim: Samantha Cormier

Matthew Sutton

Lucy's former fiancé and rapist. Became friends with her father while they were in the war together. Possessive, cruel, and petulant.

Faceclaim: Alexander Skarsgard

[giggly-squiggily]

Ok so we talk about how Kazuki likes to start tickle fights, but have we ever considered that Miri is a big instigator for them too??? Like, I can totally see her (age 9 or so) sneaking behind her Papas in the kitchen and pinching at their sides and ribs, making it seem like they’re doing it to each other! 🤣 And then when they find out it was her, they get all the revenge tickles on their little girl 🥰 (she doesn’t learn her lesson and keeps doing this though heeheehee 😈)

Headcanons To Dabbles: Officially CLOSED!

Oh my god this is so freaking CUTE! *sobs* I've gotcha covered, friend! (Snuck in some extra Lee!Rei at the end because I could :D)

“Eh! Kazuki-” Rei jumped, nearly cutting his fingers off when he felt his side prodded. “Watch it- I’m chopping here.”

“Huh? I didn’t do anything?” The blonde replied, brows furrowing.

“You poked me.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Whatever just- stay over there.” Rei glared, returning to his vegetables.

Kazuki resisted the urge to curse as he worked the rice cooker, mildly irritated. Why would he poke Rei and lie about it? Sure, he might have a bad habit of doing it upfront, but subtly-

“AH!” Rice scattered from his measuring cup when fingers pressed into his belly. Twisting around, he glared at Rei. “Dude!”

“What?” Rei asked, irritated now.

“Why did you tickle me?”

“I didn’t!”

“Well it wasn’t you, who the hell-” A pause. Rei and Kazuki looked at eachother.

Then, without another word, they slowly turned towards the sitting space, eyes falling on Miri. She sat by with a happy smile on her face, watching the little dog characters squeal and laugh on TV. A picture of innocent peace.

One that hid a sinister prankster.

“Miri.” Kazuki walked over, taking a seat to her left. “Whatcha doing?”

“Watching TV, Papa!” She answered, eyes never leaving the screen.

“You were sitting here the entire time?” Rei asked, sitting on her other side.

“Yes, Papa.”

“Miri…” Kazuki shared a look with Rei over her head, shooting up signals behind her back. “You know, your ears turn red when you lie.”

“What?” Her hands automatically came up.

“Gotcha!” Kazuki grabbed her, pulling the small girl in his lap while Rei tickled her belly and sides. “Silly little Miri, thinking she can play a prank on her papas!”

“Ahehahahhahhahha! Gehahhahahhahaha! Pahahhahhapahhahahahhas! Pleahhahahahahahse!” She squealed, smile wide and happy. “It tiihihihihihihickles!”

“Does it now?” Rei asked, barely fighting down a chuckle at Miri’s hiccupy snorts. Pulling his hands away, he and Kazuki nodded, satisfied. “That’s what happens when you try to tickle your Papas. Learned your lesson?”

Miri nodded, giggling still. Standing on the couch, she lunged at Rei, trying to tickle him back. “Tickle war! Help me Papa Kazuki!”

“No! Nohoohohoho, don’t you dahhahahhre!” Rei snickered, sinking back into the couch. “Kahahahazuki hehehehelp!”

“Well- I need to cook. Good luck Rei.” Kazuki laughed, returning to the kitchen and leaving his little family to play.

[skeletonpunching]

Buddy Daddies director interview

Interview with Asai Yoshiyuki (director)

Interviewer: Director Asai, how did you first get involved with "Buddy Daddies"?

Asai: At first, I had the idea that it was a "parenting story", but when I got to meet the scriptwriting team and read the plot, I found out for the first time that it was a "buddy story". (laughs) And so I wondered what sort of worldview I wanted to have for this "buddy story" - if it was going to include parenting elements, I figured it might be better to go for something a bit more comedic. From there, together with the rest of the production staff, I developed the characters' personalities, the overall worldview, and so on.

Interviewer: I hear that you had very clear images of Kurusu Kazuki and Suwa Rei, right from the start…?

Asai: I spent ages pondering Kazuki and Rei as characters - what sort of thoughts they'd have, how they'd talk and behave. That's how fascinating I felt they were as characters. So, rather than my image of them being fixed from the beginning, I'd say that I kept randomly fantasising about how Kazuki and Rei's story might unfold, and figuring out how that might tie in to the plot… I guess. They're in the assassin line of work, and at the same time, they're raising a child - so how can I make that enjoyable for the audience? I thought about that a lot.

Interviewer: Did you have any specific suggestions for the design process?

Asai: Kazuki and Rei's appearances were developed through discussion with the character designer, Enami Katsumi-san, but I also drew a rough sketch of my own early on, just for fun. I wanted to go for the vibe of a contrasting duo, so the sketch was along those lines. I requested a design from Enami-san based on that. As for how much of it carried over to the final version - honestly, at this point I don't remember my own sketch. (laughs)

Interviewer: Was there anything you paid special attention to in portraying a "buddy story"?

Asai: Personally, I think in a "buddy story", it's important for the two people to have a finely calculated balance of contrasting aspects and complementary aspects. For example, they may clash verbally, but they have little gestures which are perfectly in tune - it's great to show that sort of thing. And besides, this series "Buddy Daddies" focuses a lot on how the roles of the duo change going forward, as they "play happy families" with (Unasaka) Miri. How does the Kazuki-and-Rei duo grow through meeting Miri? It was important to keep that in mind while depicting the two of them.

Interviewer: This series contains contrasting elements of hard-boiled stories and sitcoms - was it difficult to maintain that balance?

Asai: That was incredibly tough. They're cool assassins, but the fact is that they're still criminals. At first, I struggled with how to handle such a worldview, where guys like that would end up raising a child, even just by chance. The fact that they deal with matters of life and death, versus the slapstick comedy of Miri jerking them around - I feel like I had to fret over that and make up my mind again with each episode. You could say it's a worldview where "anything goes", but I wanted to be conscious of the significance of "life and death", and to not make light of human deaths too much. Otherwise, the parenting thing also gets a lot less convincing. So I drew a line for myself.

Interviewer: Amidst all of this work, was there anything you personally got hung up on?

Asai: When producing animation, I essentially place a lot of weight on the characters' expressions. This time, I especially wanted Rei to have distinct "on" and "off" modes - he's "on" when he's being an assassin, but when he's "off", he's just a shut-in lazing around at home. So it was vital to have those differences in his expressions and gestures. And there was also the question of how to portray Kazuki's subtle expressions whenever he's tenderly doting on Miri. We had to be careful with that during the storyboarding process. How do Kazuki and Rei's expressions change during their family roleplay? I really enjoyed myself, coming up with the depiction of their emotional states.

Interviewer: Speaking of Kazuki and Rei, what do you think is appealing and interesting about them?

Asai: They're an assassin duo that first start out as simple roommates, but after a child is added to the mix, they basically get cast in the roles of mother and father - and as the story progresses from there, their relationship becomes more than just a duo. I think that's what's interesting about them. Since we always wanted the series to have comedic elements, we made Rei and Kazuki quite clear-cut yin and yang character types, but in fact, the yang-type character has a deep inner darkness, and the yin-type character has all sorts of problems. Ultimately, both of them are outlaws, so we also wanted to bring out the charm of this duo when they're being uncouth and slinging insults at each other. I found myself surprisingly fond of these characters, so I'd love if the audience looks at them and goes, "What the hell, are you two a married couple?!"

Interviewer: Toyonaga Toshiyuki-san, who plays Kazuki, and Uchiyama Koki-san, who plays Rei, are both perfect casting. Were your impressions of the characters enhanced by the cast's performances?

Asai: For sure. After the casting was decided, the instant I heard the first words of the recording session, I thought, "So Kazuki's that sort of person," and "So Rei's that sort of guy." It reconstructed my internal conception of the characters. I produced the animation materials with a thought process of "give them such-and-such expression; have them talk like this", so in that sense, the cast members were a huge help. I really got the feeling that these characters were being made to grow and develop in various ways.

Interviewer: Miri is the key to this story. How was she developed?

Asai: It was a process of trial and error - both with whether to make her a shy girl or a lively one, and with her appearance. I figured that if she was going to be brought up by those two, it'd be better for her to be a lively girl, but after Enami-san's character design came in, that was when I could really see what direction I wanted to take this character in. That was all due to how incredibly powerful Enami-san's design was. But Enami-san went through countless attempts before settling on Miri's final design - that ended up taking the longest. We'd decided on "a 4-year-old girl", but we tried all sorts of different things for her hairstyle, the look in her eyes, and so on. We really spent ages coming up with that.

Interviewer: And what about the performance of Kino Hina-san, who plays Miri?

Asai: When it came to Miri, we requested that Kino-san not speak in the usual style of anime child characters - we wanted a performance that was a little more true to life. During the audition, we ran through a number of different styles, and in the end we asked Kino-san to read the lines in her own voice, without trying for a child's voice. Somehow, that came closest to my impression of Miri. We didn't use that exact same voice in the show itself, but when playing a pure and innocent character who believes firmly and with zero doubt that two hitmen are her dads, that's the level of expressiveness you need - or else it won't be convincing at all. Kino-san was a real help in that way.

Interviewer: Please tell us what you think are the selling points of this series "Buddy Daddies".

Asai: Speaking as director, I'd love if the audience can fully take in the entire series, but simply put, I'd like you to pay attention to the characters of Kazuki and Rei. If you observe their little gestures and behaviour, I think you'll find a lot to love about these characters, no matter how things play out. If you're amused by these two men who aren't cut out for parenting at all, that would make me very happy as a director.

Interviewer: Finally, please give a message to everyone who is anticipating this series.

Asai: Miri is going to get even cuter going forward. As the story progresses, there'll be more of Kazuki and Rei and Miri acting as a trio, but there are still some mysteries about Miri, so please watch how she gets Kazuki and Rei wrapped around her finger from now on. I hope you'll enjoy seeing how our one and only heroine, Miri, manifests her cuteness.

[bbfeelings]

Day 3 of Kazuki Week 2023: daycare/night out. A full version of my brain rot of @hubbydaddies's post where Kazuki drunk sang about Rei's tiny waist. -> You can also read on AO3.

Small Waist, Pretty Face

mlm KazuRei. Drunken first Kiss. Mutual pinning. Fluff and humor.

Summary: Drunk Kazuki involved Rei in his shenanigans. Troubled, Rei turned to people around them for advice.

After another victorious and unsurprisingly boring round, Rei took a drink of beer, then joined another game like it was muscle memory. He checked his phone. 1:28 am. The sudden vibration startled him; Rei exited the game. It could only be one person. There was only one person in this world who’d call him. 

Kazuki wants to video chat.

Rei took off the headphone and hesitantly pressed the answer button.

What he did not expect was to see Carol’s face. “Rei-chan—! Took you long enough to pick up!” She whined. 

“Um…uh, sorry?”

“He picked up!” Carol said cheerily, shoving the phone in front of Kazuki.

“Hey, Rei, hehe,” his drunk face under the neon lights was stupidly stupid. “My bad…I had one too many!” His foolish grin was stupidly stupid. Rei rolled his eyes. 

”I’m coming home now!”

“Just don’t be so loud when you do.”

“Okie-dok, Rei-chan—” The video went blurry then dark. He must’ve dropped his phone. Idiot. Serves you right. Rei leaned his head back and exhaled audibly. Kazuki had an obnoxious, rowdy tendency when intoxicated. Not that he’d ever awoken Miri with his drunken shenanigans. But still.

An unfamiliar face appeared on the screen; Rei only knew of Carol and Dorothy. “It’s fine! It didn’t break!” She announced, and a cheering choir of girls could be heard in the background. “So this is Rei-chan? He’s so cute!” She exclaimed, “Kazu-san, you never told me he’s this cute!” 

Girls swarmed in front of the camera, squealing and giggling, “What a cutie!” “This is the pretty face you go home to? Kazu-san, you sly dog—” “Rei-chan, Rei-chan! Tell us what Kazu-san is like at home!” Rei felt his face go hot. What the hell? “Aww, he’s blushing! We’re embarrassing him! How adorable!” “Don’t worry, we don’t touch Kazu-san! He’s all yours!” The girls laughed.

What the hell?

────

2:07 am

“Rei—the door won’t open,” Kazuki whined over the phone. He’d finally made it back to the apartment building, but he was long gone. Rei sighed as the elevator arrived at the building lobby, “Coming.”

Upon seeing Rei, Kazuki happily draped himself over Rei’s slimmer frame, crying about forgetting how keys work. He smelled of booze and some tacky cheap perfume that made Rei’s nose itch. He cursed under his breath. Seriously. 28 years of age, behaving like a fucking hot mess. As they exited the elevator on their floor, Kazuki started humming off-key and mumbling some lyrics to himself.

Five minutes later, Rei was standing at the bathroom door, watching Kazuki puking his guts out. Between the dry heaving and whimpering, Rei’d hand him a tissue. He didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy toward his miserable roommate. Why does he like drinking himself into oblivion? Getting a bit tipsy, sure, but Rei absolutely hated the feeling of being wasted. 

At the very least, a blacked-out drunk Kazuki still practiced personal hygiene. He crawled into the shower; Rei passed him his toothbrush and toothpaste. He grabbed a fresh towel and hung it on the door before closing it.

────

2:46 am

Rei made some cup noodles. Kazuki came out and stumbled across the living room with the towel around his waist. The steam coming from the bathroom told Rei that Kazuki took a boiling hot shower if his red-as-a-cooked-lobster body didn’t give it away. Traces of minty tea tree scent of his shampoo lingered; somehow, Rei always thought it smelled like mint chocolate. Kazuki dropped himself onto the couch and curled up. Rei pinched his brows.

“Oi,” he said as he chewed, “sleep in your own room.” Kazuki retaliated with inaction and started humming and mumbling again. Rei couldn’t risk letting him fall asleep on the couch like that. The bathroom was damp and nasty; no way he was going to sleep in there tonight. 

“Get up,” he towered over Kazuki, who was making noises like a complaining 4-year-old would. “You’re gonna get a cold.”

────

3:11 am

Kazuki finally made it into his room, but not without Rei basically dragging his ass. “Clothes,” he ordered; Kazuki reached into the dresser obediently. Rei figured his job here was done. He wanted to finish his cup noodles, which were probably soggy and cold by now. 

As Rei was about to close the bedroom door, Kazuki turned around and muttered something sing-song-y.

“…small waist…”

“What?”

“You.” Kazuki pointed. 

“What about me?”

Half clothed, Kazuki waltzed over and took Rei for a dance as he hummed. They stumbled around the room if it could be called dancing. Rei was too tired for this shit. Kazuki’s eyes were half closed and hazy, “…big boobies…small waist…”

Rei snickered. What the hell?

“Wait, no,” Kazuki halted all actions and frowned as if he was thinking hard—if he could even think with that soupy brain. 

“Small waist…pretty face.” Kazuki figured out his drunken logic and resumed his shenanigans. 

Quickly losing his patience, Rei maneuvered out of Kazuki’s grasp. “You’re gonna wake Miri.” 

He pointed again, “That’s you,” Kazuki said with a smug grin, “Small waist, pretty face.”

The four words hit Rei like a tsunami of utter embarrassment. Devastated by the increased heart rate and full-body goosebumps followed by a shudder, he was blank. 

While Rei was momentarily immobilized by the sheer humiliation, Kazuki seized the opportunity, launched himself at Rei, and gently grabbed hold of that small waist he wouldn’t shut up about. Then he planted a quick and clumsy kiss right on Rei’s gaping lips, knocking his own teeth on his. 

They toppled over and fell into bed. Kazuki clung to Rei and snuggled in. His hand crept up to cup that pretty face of Rei’s as he let out a satisfied sigh.

Rei’s eyes widened. 

What the hell?

────

Days went on as usual. For Kazuki, at least. 

Trapped under an arm and a leg that night, Rei didn’t dare move a finger until the lousy drunk began snoring. He sneaked downstairs and curled up on the couch, with a mind so loud and noisy that he was wide awake until daybreak. 

“Papa, what are we eating?” Miri’s relentless poking forced Rei to get up at around 9:30 am. Lethargic and hungry (he didn’t get to finish his late-night cup noodles,) he dragged his feet into the kitchen and poured themselves some new cereal Miri insisted on buying the other day. They sat at the table. His head was spinning and his body felt heavy; this sensation was akin to a hangover.

The door upstairs creaked open, giving Rei a heart attack. He could hear Kazuki’s footsteps and the loud groans. He started to panic, which was totally unbecoming of one of the organization’s top assassins. Rei had three seconds to hide, yet he wasted that precious time sweating bullets holding a spoon. Pathetic. 

“Good morning, Miri and—“ Kazuki paused, and so did Rei’s heart. Kazuki stretched audibly. “Good morning, Rei.”

“Papa is so late!”

“Hehe, my bad. Went to bed late.” Kazuki stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. “Hmm? Did I make cup noodles and didn’t finish last night?” 

Rei stared at his bowl of rainbow cereal, thinking he might be dying of anxiety. “…no, that was me.”

“Then clean it up, man. I don’t want to get bugs in here,” Kazuki nagged. 

“Like unicorn stag beetles?” The daycare had a field day at a museum and Miri had since been obsessed with various shiny cool bugs. 

“No, Miri, no… the gross ones. Like roaches.” 

“Lame.”

“Language, young lady.”

“But lame isn’t a bad word! Taiga-kun said so.”

“Well, Taiga-kun isn’t your papa. Or Anna-sensei.”

“Anna-chan said **** is a bad word,” Miri muttered under her breath.

Rei wasn’t sure of anything anymore. 

────

Of course, Kazuki didn’t remember shit, nor did he have a hangover. 

“Just a bit tired. Why do you ask?”

Rei swallowed nervously. “You threw up last night.”

“I did? Shit, man. Did you have to deal with it?”

“You threw up in the toilet.”

Kazuki scrunched his nose, “Sorry you had to see that.”

That was the least of what I had to see, “I’ve seen worse.”

The blonde man groaned and put his face into his hands. “Please. Don’t. I don’t want to remember that.”

“You don’t even remember shit.”

────

It had been a week since.

Since what? That dipshit was drunk out of his mind, making up some songs about big boobs, small waist, and pretty face. He said Rei was the last two things, kissed him on the mouth, then promptly fell asleep on top of him. 

What the hell even happened. It all felt like a fever dream. Rei couldn’t get himself to act like himself. Kazuki had blacked out, so he went about as if nothing had happened. Rei couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, they didn’t have to talk about anything or pretend to be normal; on the other, he had to pretend to be normal. 

Everything that wouldn’t cause Rei to bat an eyelash became weird.

Kazuki walking down the stairs in the morning.

Kazuki returning home after walking Miri to daycare. 

Kazuki complaining about the cold (it was not that cold.)

Kazuki’s wordless pat on his shoulder while he watered the plants. 

Kazuki folding his boxers (well, clothes, but particularly boxers) neatly. 

Kazuki’s hands when he picked up Miri.

Kazuki handing him his preferred furikake at dinner. 

Kazuki nagging him about the pile of wood ear mushrooms he picked out.

Kazuki’s hair, still wet after a shower. 

Kazuki’s pink sweatshirt. “Millennial pink,” he said. 

Kazuki saying good night. To Miri.

Kazuki laughing at his epic in-game death that happened immediately after he sat down next to him with two beers in hand. 

Kazuki leaving a light in the kitchen on when he plays games past midnight; not too dim and not too bright. 

Kazuki’s presence. 

Kazuki. 

Kazuki’s very existence. 

What the hell is going on?

────

After waving Miri goodbye at the daycare front gate on a cold, rainy day, Rei made a detour. 

“Please help me, Kyuutarou-san.”

“You scared me for a second, Rei-kun,” Kyu said as he prepared a hot milk tea for an unlikely visitor. “Given that Miri-chan had a fever last time you came to me like this.”

“Sorry.”

“So what is it this time, if she was fine?”

Rei started at the cup. It had a delicate, curvy handle. It had the same curly pattern on the side, too. It was emerald green and rich mahogany—

“Rei?”

He looked up, fixing his gaze on the shelves behind Kyu. He swallowed. 

“How is… Kazuki?”

“Why are you asking me? You two live together.”

Shit. “Uh, um, was he weird when he came here last week?”

“No?” Kyu was getting frustrated with this roundabout nonsense. “What is this about? Shoot. I don’t have all day.”

Rei felt like he was going to explode. He was filled with thoughts but no words. No words at all. He fidgeted on the bar stool while Kyu habitually polished an already spotless glass. 

“If you’re not gonna—“

“Okay, okay,” it’s spilling. Rei’s face was all scrunched up. Pretty face. 

“Kazuki kissed me.”

A brief silence followed the crisp sound of glass shattering; it slipped out of Kyu’s usually steady hands. 

“…alright. And what do you need help with?” Kyu said with a deadpan. 

“The glass…” Rei got up from his seat, only for Kyu to stop him with a show of hand. He sat back down as ordered. 

“I, uh, don’t know what to do,” Rei said to the cup of milk tea that had gone lukewarm. 

Never in Kyu’s criminal career had he thought that a fellow associate would come to him for personal advice. He took off the glasses and rubbed on the bridge of his nose. 

“Are you fine with it?” He asked. 

“Huh?”

“I said are you fine with it.” He is flustered. My word. Kyu thought to himself. 

“I mean, we’re partners—work partners. And there’s Miri. We take care of Miri, together. I don’t know. Is this fine? But, like, he was drunk. And he doesn’t remember. This is really weird. I don’t know…” Rei took a sharp breath, “Is this okay?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Kyu leaned back against the shelves, arms crossed. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Rei wanted to come up with an answer, but it was all just white noise in his head. 

“It didn’t feel, um, wrong. I guess.”

“Then there you have it.”

“But it feels really weird—“

“Drink your tea now. I have work at 10.”

“He also said I’m small waist—“

“You’re pushing it. Out. Now.” Kyu took away the untouched tea and dumped it in the sink. “The weird part, you’d have to figure it out. The two of you.” Kyu said to Rei before shutting the door of Yadorigi. 

────

9:37 pm

Rei figured working out and watching something might clear his head—or occupy his mind.

Kazuki came out of the bathroom with just a towel around his waist. “Rei, you’re acting weird,” He glared. “Why did you go up and stay in your room this morning?”

And whose fault is it? Rei narrowed his eyes. “Nothing.”

“Eh, whatever.” He shrugged and resumed busily typing on his phone. Rei glanced over. It’s either the moms in Miri’s class or the girls at Fairy Lips. 

“Alrighty! Going out later.” Kazuki tossed the phone on the couch and sat down in front of the TV. “Tsk. I just showered.”

“Huh?”

“I said I’m going out.”

“…with who?”

“Dorothy. Why?”

“Nothing.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

The sound from the TV filled the otherwise awkward silence. The ice skater jumped but fell on landing. He then picked up the pace and nailed the remaining jumps flawlessly. He stood in the center of the rink, arm stretched in the glory, eyes searching for his coach in the crowd. 

And he found him. 

Kazuki gasped as the tender-eyed coach tackled the skater and both fell onto the ice. “They so just kissed. They totally kissed. No?” Kazuki turned around, eager to confirm with Rei what he’d just seen. 

“I’m going.” Rei released his hands and straightened his torso; his skin was dewy with sweat. It took Kazuki a few seconds to realize what he had just heard. 

“Wait. What?”

“I’m going out, too.”

He almost couldn’t recognize this man. 

────

“Then I said,” Kazuki slammed down the beer stein and wheezed, “Girl, what if you float in the ocean because of your fake boobs!” Dorothy cackled and punched Kazuki’s bicep. “So that’s why she was talking about taking them out!” Rei sat and watched the two in hysterics, wondering if it was a mistake tagging along. 

But he had to know. 

“Okay, okay, whew.” Kazuki fanned himself, “All that laughing almost made me piss myself.”

“Gross. Go.” Dorothy jokingly slapped Kazuki’s behind as he stood up. 

“Hey! Hands off the private property.” He turned his head with a dopey grin. Dorothy giggled and shooed him away. 

“Sorry about that, Rei-kun. We were just talking about one of the girls.” Dorothy took a drink of water, “She’s retiring and moving to Okinawa to get married.”

Rei nodded politely, then down the beer he’d been clutching. “Dorothy-san…”

“Dorothy. Dorothy is fine. Don’t san me, makes me feel old,” she chuckled, chin resting on her hand. Rei had no idea how old she was. He couldn’t tell. 

“So, Dorothy.” He cleared his throat, “had Kazuki, uh, ever said anything about me?” 

“Oh, hun, he wouldn’t shut up about you,” Dorothy looked at Rei’s rather serious face, “My, he still hasn't done it, huh?” 

“Done what?”

“I thought that you came along tonight because—“ Dorothy paused, narrowing her eyes, studying Rei’s face as if he was a rare and fascinating specimen. “You two are some very funny people, you know that?”

“Eh?”

Dorothy flashed a knowing smile and leaned in. “I’m just going to tell you. I’d be doing that idiot a favor, anyway.” She gestured at Rei to huddle closer and put one hand next to her mouth. “He adores you.”

────

2:03 am

“Dude, you were pounding it! What the hell?” Kazuki laughed, “Who were you trying to impress?” They were walking home, slowly, with Rei’s arm over Kazuki’s shoulder, and Kazuki’s arm around Rei. 

Rei pouted, eyes closed. “Nobody.” 

“And you got along so well with Dorothy! I mean, you’ve met before, but it’s not like—Hey! Keep those legs moving.”

Rei felt fuzzy and warm. He felt safe walking with his eyes closed. It all made sense now. 

2:35 am

Kazuki made his drunk roommate brush his teeth and change clothes before he collapsed on the couch. Too lazy to take another shower, Kazuki retreated into his bedroom. 

Then a knock on the door followed by it cracking open. It was Rei, wrapped in his blanket. 

“What’s up?” Kazuki asked. 

And somehow Rei took it as an invitation; he promptly waltzed in and climbed in bed next to him. 

“Hey, what the hell?”

“I’m sleeping here.”

“Huh?”

“I’m sleeping here tonight.” Rei burrowed in. 

How was Kazuki to say no to this face? He stared at Rei for a while, then settled back in bed. Only now he lay wide awake. After a bit of toss and turn, Kazuki glanced over; he could just make out Rei’s sharp features under the brightness of a full moon seeping through the blinds. He could hear him breathing, even and calm. 

“Pain in the ass,” he whispered, pulling the blanket to cover Rei’s shoulder. He remembered bits and pieces of the night when they had a going away party at Fairy Lips. There was a stupidly catchy song stuck in his head. He remembered dropping his phone, the hot shower, and Rei’s stunned face. 

In his fuzzy memory, Rei’s face was dangerously close. So close that he would’ve brushed his lips against his it if he’d stretched his neck just a little. Kazuki hoped that he didn’t. But he also wished he did. 

A petty face, under the moonlight. So hazy yet so clear. 

Some cold toes brushed against his ankle. Kazuki held onto that thought and carefully hooked his leg around Rei’s. Kazuki moved closer, and gently wrapped an arm around Rei’s slim waist, bringing their warm bodies closer together. 

Kazuki rested his eyes. 

Ah. What the hell. 

[The End]

Thank you for reading! This was so much fun for me to write!

Check out my other Buddy Daddies fics in the pinned post, if you'd like!