#everything they look up about a woman they dislike is only to use as “proof” she isn't one

[feydrives]

it's all "i love women's sports!" until the woman competing is not conventionally attractive

[indras-wife]

Hi ! I love your blog and your headcanons. Thank you so much for giving us some good Indra content!❤️❤️❤️❤️

I really loved the Indra and the Uchihas waking up in a female body scenarios that you wrote earlier. Those were hilarious !

I was wondering if you could write a scenario where Indra and the Uchihas get bodyswapped with their s/o. I'm curious what their reaction would be- (especially when seeing their s/o maneuvering their body 😂)

Have a nice day ! 💞

Another day and another beautiful request about Uchihas from cute Anon🥹💖Thank you for cute words and for reading my writings. Yall give me so much motivation😭💖💖And I will keep writing about Indra till I die of old age😭💖💖

This time more stuff will be unleashed in this request so hope you are ready cuties💖I decided to add Obito too as a small bonus~ The more the merrier as they say😉🌙💕

Warning: Mature Content, mentions of Self Harm,

Indra

Whoever is making this man go through this will pay for sure. Not only he had to deal with the humiliation of becoming a woman and his family seeing it, but now he found himself in his s/o’s body early in the morning. What is this damn sorcery?

As much as he LOVES his body, he has lots of things to do in his body. And whats worse, he had an important council meeting that morning so he was very worried on how that would happen. His s/o is a smart woman for sure, but there are many things she doesnt know and he cannot have his reputation tarnished.

Busy in his thoughts, he decided to walk around the house, since his s/o lives alone. This allowed him to not be worried about someone seeing him and speaking. His s/o was a very chatty person, while he generally dislikes having conversations, be it long or short. He walked outside, admiring the beautiful sunrise but something grabbed his attention at the corner of his eyes. His s/o’s laundry…more specifically her panties that she hanged to dry

Indra loves his s/o’s style as it suits her perfectly. She goes for the aesthetic pink and nude colours, which make her features be more appealing to the eye. Her undergarments are the same: pink or nude, sometimes even black but not always. Seeing her clothes and remembering that he is in her body, he smirked slightly at the brilliant idea in his head.

He went back to her room and stood in front of a mirror. He has already seen her body many times, it was nothing new for him, but for some reason he had this big urge to inspect her body that was now his(hopefully temporary). The beautiful pastel pink colored robe was slowly untied, revealing her body underneath is. This caught Indra by surprise because he never thought he s/o was sleeping naked. He recommended it few times to her, but she absolutely refused to hear him. Maybe she decided to see what Indra meant by saying her to sleep naked, just to see the benefits of it.

Not focusing too much on the nakedness under the robe, Indra wasted no time in touching the blessed body he was in. Her boobs felt somehow softer when he touched them, and every small detail on her body that he somehow did not notice was right in front of him. His favourite marks of her body were the mole on her boob and her birthmark on her belly, both of which he loved seeing every time.

“I have some stretch marks…I am so ugly..” Indra remembered his s/o complaining about those marks, reaching to touch them on her inner thighs. Those marks made her very self-conscious of her appearance, not wishing to expose herself to him. But Indra loved those marks more than anything. He believes that stretch marks are just a proof that you are healthy. Contrary to his girlfriend’s belief, who thinks stretch marks are result of her gaining weight, Indra believes that stretch marks are result of her being in her final phase of maturity.

The more he looked and touched, the more he wanted to keep going. His mind was replaying their late nights love-making in the forest, how pure and sweet everything was. He started to feel warm and tingly especially between his legs. Is this what she feels…? His hand moved to his new body’s clit, fingers already skill fully playing with it. He always wondered what she felt when his fingers were inside her or when he was rubbing her, and now seemed he had the chance to feel what she felt. Of course, he would also use this playtime to understand her body better and give her the pleasure she deserves. As skillfull as he was, Indra believed there’s always place for improvement.

Madara

Soft pillows and his s/o’s scent all around him when he was waking up. One thing Madara loved the most was how sweet she smelled and now he could smell her as if she was right…there. Wait… He quickly opened his eyes realising that he didnt spend the night at his lover’s room so…why did the bed smell like her? No intimacy happened last night too…He quickly got up and…ah there was the catch. He could smell her scent because he was in her body… “Damn it..!” he said angrily, looking at him weirdly. He did not want to believe that this was actually him, that he for some unexpected way is in his s/o’s body.

This sort of adventure is not in his calendar. He was tired of the previous experience, but this is new level that he both hates and loves. Madara does not speak about this often but being next to his s/o is an undying desire. He made a wish last night to be closer to her, and maybe the heavens decided to do what he asked…? But they did it the wrong way. Seeing how the house was still asleep, he decided to dress up and leave the house as soon as possible. His destination? Of course the Uchiha compound, to see if his s/o is in his body or no.

His s/o, being more feminine, did not have many choices of pants and shirts as her closet was filled with beautiful kimonos and obis. But he had no time and no desire to look as beautiful as his s/o, so he grabbed whatever he could and ran out of the house. Of course, he stumbled into another issues as he could not be fast in this body or jump on the trees, since his s/o’s body is pretty fragile. So he had to walk as fats as his legs could carry him.

He went to the compound, entering it from the secret passage Izuna and his use often. Luckily for them no one discovered it yet so they could still use it. He went upstairs to his room quietly, opening the door fast and walking in.

“ Y/n, if you have my body we need to …” his words slowly died in his mouth from the scene in front of him. He saw himself laying on the futon, eyes closed and his cock in his hand. S/o, who undoubtedly was in his body, was enjoying herself..maybe even too much…She was so gone in pleasure that him entering the room and speaking did not startle her.

Madara, who was more than intrigued at this, stood by the door, watching his girlfriend enjoy his body. He could not blame her for pleasuring herself, after all its only natural that a body switch makes one intrigued to understand the new body they are in. Every touch feels foreign and new and one thing leads to another.

“Enjoying yourself I see…” he spoke, making Y/n stop her pleasurable activity. She did not notice how he or…she herself came in the room, but she was glad Madara was there. She knew what was waiting, seeing the fire in his eyes. “Yes..I am…Join me love…”she spoke, her voice full of desire.

She did not need to say anything else, as Madara was already taking his clothes off, throwing them on the floor without care and walking to her. Having his body switched was not a very desirable thing for him, but he was not against having this happen to him often. It gave him the chance to see and experience things differently now. He gained the knowledge of what sex felt for his s/o, how her body reacted to every touch and how different the feeling are for her.

Nevertheless, he decided to stop thinking about ways to switch their bodies back, as now he had another thing to take care of: his horny girlfriend.

Izuna

Out of everything that has happened to them, Izuna was not waiting for his body to be taken over by s/o. He had the opportunity of becoming female, but his body being switched with his girlfriend….was out of his imagination. He knew every part, every inch of her body so having her body as his own for some days was not as exciting as he thought.

But his genius brain came up with a very romantic idea. He grabbed a piece of paper and feather pen, dipped it in ink and started writing. He was sure that his idea now would uplift his girlfriend who has been little moody lately because of a small weight gain. Izuna knew how fixated she is on her weight, thanks to her family members who continuously remind her of every small weight change.

His girlfriend has been going through this abusive diet changes as long as he remembers: she would starve herself, eating only once in a day. This also impacted her self-esteem, as with every insulting comment from her family members made her feel unworthy and ugly. She even tried breaking up with Izuna once, claiming he deserved someone more beautiful than her, but Izuna stopped her, reassuring her that she is the most beautiful for him.

After spending a good hour or two on writing, he folded the piece of paper, put it in his kimono sleeve and exited the house. He was able to master his girlfriend’s way of responding to her family so when they asked him where he was going, a short and god explanation followed: “Going for a walk, It helps me lose weight”

He walked gracefully, not wanting to tarnish his girlfriend’s reputation as one of the most beautiful women out there. He was getting more comfortable in her body the more he walked, which he loved to experience. His woman was a truly blessed one when it came to her curves as she was curvy in all the right places. As he walked and reached the compound, he noticed her standing, in his body of course.

They quickly excused themselves and went to a more private room, to talk and discuss about their future doings regarding their situation. Izuna, who did not care much about switching their bodies back, took the piece of paper out of his kimono.

“My love…listen to me okay. It is sad we have this situation at our hands, but there’s something more important I am willing to tell you. I know how long you struggle with you self-image, how much you think that the toxic nonsense your parents told you is true. But its not. This switching of our bodies allowed me to do what I longed to do so long, which is prove that you are perfect. Here, take it and read this. Its for you” he said smiling. His girlfriend looked at him all puzzled, unable to form any sentence. She was in his body, but she could not help feeling nervous, a trait that Izuna does not seem to possess.

She took the paper, opened and started reading it slowly. Izuna took his time praising her and mentioning how beautiful and just amazing she is, how her body is gorgeous and does not require any change, how she should not listen to whatever her parents have to say, because as his future wife, she is perfect. Reading all of this brought tears to her face, a sense of happiness and fulfilment. They both hugged each other, his girlfriend thanking him for such words and reassurance. This was of course only the small percentage of what Izuna could do. However, as small as this gesture was, he was happy that he made his girlfriend happier.

Obito

Obito and his girlfriend do not know each other that much as others. They met each other on a mission, with Obito nearly killing her. To his own surprise, he decided not to and let her go. Soon he found Y/n following him around like a cat. He did not like it at first, but slowly came to terms with it.

Their relationship took years to bloom, starting with friendship. They had had rough pasts, both of them experiencing many traumatising events which made them close their hearts to the world. However, with small talks here and there, they opened up, talking about themselves and their goals.

Obito was usually busy with running errands behind shadows for Akatsuki, while his girlfriend was doing missions entrusted to her by Obito. They loved working together because not many words were exchanged yet they understood each other even from one glance: a rare type of connection.

This connection would prove to get only stronger when one day they woke up in each other’s bodies. A terrifying experience to say the least, considering they both had different activities for the day and could not do them without being in their bodies. While they both were trying to find a way to return to their original bodies, Obito on his end decided to slow down that thought because of some marks he noticed all over his switched body

The marks were obviously self-harm ones, which faded now and only the scars remained. He never noticed them before. In fact, he never even thought Y/n harmed herself. She was a very closed person and he simply did not care to ask. A stupid decision from his side he thinks. Upon looking into his body more, he saw more marks on her legs. These were fresh for sure, as they were still bloody.

Seeing those scars over her body made Obito sad. Why was she doing this to herself..? Why didnt he ever notice anything? Why he never asked her any questions about her pain as she was doing to him, He was treating her like a therapist, talking about his issues only. A selfish move by him for sure he thought. He had to talk to her, about maybe everything he felt which was anger, sadness and disappointment.

After a day, when Y/n finally figured out how to use Obito’s teleportation, was able to locate him and teleport her body to him. To her happiness he was where she last was: her hideout which was a small cave in the deep forest. Her legs took her to him when she suddenly stopped. He was sitting on the ground, eyes closed and head leaning on the wall. His fingers were tracing the scars of his arm, something that Y/n did not want to expose to him.

“Why didn’t you tell me about your..self-desturction habit Y/n” he spoke. Taking off the mask she was wearing, she walked to him. “I did not want to burden you with my problems Obito. You already had…enough to worry about. My struggles are mine only. Also I stopped doing that so there is no reason to tell you” she spoke. Of course she was not fooling him with her lie, because she knew he saw the new cuts too.

“Liar. You keep cutting yourself..you did NOT stop. Just why didnt you tell me damn it…”he arose to his feet. Of course in her body he wasnt as tall as she was now, but his energy was dominating even in that short body. She knew that she had no way out, so her only resolve was telling him about the reasons she started self harming. It was because of her abusive childhood. As a war orphan, she grew up in the streets which were full of evil people, looking to take advantage of anyone they met. She became a victim of those people, who took her with them, teaching her the skills she knew now. Of course, they were not nice and were abusive towards her, beating her and even one of them sexually abusing her for years. Self harm was her way out of the mental and emotional pain she was feeling, turning them to physical one.

Obito was hearing her talk, feeling guilty with each second for never caring to ask her about herself, about why she was always wearing outfits that covered her arms and legs completely even when it was too hot outside. He felt stupid even. When Y/n finished talking, he couldnt think of ong anything else but hugging her and saying sorry for being ignorant to her pain. He never thought that he would feel sympathy for someone, but his heart ached for that woman. They both were similar in experiencing so much pain and for becoming the damaged adults they were.

After Y/n’s stories, the two became much closer and shared more detail about them. They felt that the compant the other person was providing was comforting and making them feel human again. A feeling they both longed to experience. Obito now swore to himself to be there for her always and to look after her, hoping to help her escape the constant self harming attempts. The tragic experience brought them closer and closer, resulting in the petals of love blooming between them. Obito found a new reason to live on and Y/n found someone who would be for her always. They did not even think about their bodies. All that mattered was that they are together.

[elainsgirl]

Why would Sarah put Gwyn in the extra chapter, I'm sorry but it seems strange to me and the truth is it does lend itself to confusion with the issue of shipping

Hey anon 🫶

Remember in acofas, during one of Cassian’s povs - Emerie was introduced? The woman whose store Cassian brought out because he knew she was having a hard time? That simple interaction caused doubt in Nessian. People theorised Nessian was too simple and Mass was going to make Cass x Emerie endgame, having Nesta paired off with someone else. Or they hated Nesta so much, wanted better for Cassian therefore shipped Cassian x Emerie. All this ofc happened on a much smaller scale then Gwynriel - but it still happened. But the interesting thing to note is - this discussion got people talking about ACOSF and all the possibilities & theories that can happen.

Sjm followed the same pattern here. She introduces another fmc in a males bonus to create some doubt, why? It gets people theorising and talking a lot more about the next book - the more people talk about the next book and the series = more popular it becomes = more it sells. Its a marketing tool. Sjm isn’t actually going to introduce an entire new Li for Azriel in a limited bonus. Or set up the next couple within a few pages of a bonus that 1) not everyone has read or access too 2) none of gwynriels bonus scenes were mentioned in ACOSF further proofing how irrelevant they are.

But why has Gwynriel become so huge? 1. People hate elain much more then Nesta was hated, they don’t want Azriel to be with a “plant” like Elain, so the second a more interesting fmc comes along - Azriel is shipped with her regardless if he or the fmc are interested in each other. 2. People don’t like or want to accept the clicheness of elriel & how their story will lay out due to dislike of the NC/IC

3. Simple. Gwynriels cannot differentiate between the musical imagery surrounding Gwyn - who is a singer & the musical imagery surrounding Sjms mates, they view it as the same when its not.

If Azriel genuinely had any romantic thoughts towards Gwyn - Then I’d agree w you and understand why people ship them. If the bonus had been used to show us readers, elriels’ incompatiblity by having them argue as an example - and THEN elriel seperated- only for Az to meet gwyn and their scenes had a romantic undertone - Once again I’d agree as to why it’s logical for G and A to be shipped. The bonus did none of that. Not even the necklace - a symbol of romance - was passed onto Gwyn therefore even going off that, elains and azriels’ love story isn’t over.

Another thing: If that bonus was to show us, “Hey! Look at Gwyn and Az! They’re the new couple” within ACOSF, we would have been shown a change in gwynriels dynamic to a potentially romantic one as well as Mass would have mentioned or included a variation of gwynriel in the bonus within acosf - for example, Gwyn wearing the necklace. Az/Gwyn mentioning their late night session, Azriel’s shadows interacting with Gwyn. We got absolutely nothing.

In the end anon, there’s two important things to remember: Elriel were left on a miscommunication trope, they are currently seperated due to an outside force, not themselves. Sjm does not end her couples this way. Therefore elriel hve not ended and considering the fact Mass confirmed its one couple the focus of one book - that eliminates gwynriel as Sjm would have to:

. Solve the miscommunication between elriel

. Flesh their relationship out, break them up

. Make gwynriel happen

Thats focusing on two couples.

The second thing to remember- isolate the shadows, magic and everything else - JUST looking at the way Gwyn and Az interact- is it romantic? Imo it isn’t. Ive had far more interesting conversations with random strangers then G and A had.

For me, it makes no sense why people ship Gwynriel as the bonus does not do them any favours. Azriel having explicit thoughts about elain, questioning his beliefs for her- mass paralleling Az wondering if the cauldron was wrong to Feyre doing it, leaving elriel on a miscommunication and an almost kiss like many of her couples is not undermined by ONE shadow dancing with gwyns BREATH.

The only line to me that makes me understand why people aren’t sure of elriel and can see gwynriel happening is the whole “something sparked in his chest at the image of gwyns smile” - but like this isn’t enough to make me believe in gwynriel personally.

[heartfucksmouth]

so my mil def overheard my meltdown yesterday and she's been quiet and meek and I can tell she had been emotional. before she left for work this morning she mentioned it and said if she can do anything to help me be happy living here she'll do it. but like... you wont?? how you act 99% of the time makes me unhappy and uncomfortable and like I'm being judged??

my mom said maybe it's good bc she needs the reminder... but it's exhausting bc my mil needs a reminder every 2 months to stop being a miserable asshole bc she's insecure af (and super trashy conservative White Woman) and it's not my goddamn job to be her mirror or her life coach or whatever the fuck this is

I don't *want* to dislike her, I don't want the stereotypical shitty mil relationship, I don't want to be uncooperative or hard to live with, but I also can't deny the feeling she gives me in my gut. Shea a fucking asshole and she doesn't even know it (or denies it bc she can't confront herself) and like. if she's spent 50 years this way, I'm not holding my breath that she'll change.

she's everything I despise.

she's racist, sexist, ableist, hypocritical, she's inauthentic always, fragile af, she lives her life in fear and speaks incredibly confidently about things she knows nothing about,

shes a hoarder of toilet paper among other things, shes a terrible cook and thinks salting food will give you a heart attack and she cooks meat while it isnt completely thawed so its dry af, she complains about everything and does nothing to change it,

shes self employed and has no financial plan for retirement besides relying on her husband (and son?). she charges us ridiculous rent so we'll never save up and leave, she yells and swears at her dog for doing dog things and uses intimidation to make him behave, she refuses to clean her house "unless someone pays" bc shes a house cleaner for other people,

she moves my shit and we essentially dont have evidence that we exist in the house except in our room (me and myles would have to bring our shower stuff into the bathroom every time until i bought a shower caddy and hung it up without asking), she once threw away myles toothbrush bc she "was sick of looking at it," if anything is wrong or broken or missing its ALWAYS myles fault, she expects myles to bring in the groceries every day even if its one bag,

she'll do all the dishes but leave aidans bottles for me to do, she insists aidan will die if he doesnt wear socks, she sits him in front of the tv and leaves him there, she lets him cry and tells him hes fine while refusing to pick him up to comfort him, she only knows how to make him fall asleep with a bottle and once hes asleep she puts him down, but she's pro-life and tried to use Aidan being born as further proof supporting her belief ..

she's a Trump supporter. STILL. I should have just lead with that. I could go on for a while longer but I'm exhausted.

idk. idk what to do. I'm just going the way I did with my dad and trying to feel nothing for her. I get that she's human and flawed and has her own shit and she's fucked up and insecure but like. I don't care? I don't want to cater to it or live with it or expose my child to it. I feel guilt for it, but I'm not going sacrifice myself to make others comfortable anymore.

I really hate this.

[vilandel]

Silver Cats & Black Roses

Chapter 15 – Determination

A/N Luck and two Blue Roses are already aware of Yami and Charlotte being in a relationship 💙 Meanwhile, Nozel can't help but daydream about Vanessa, making the Silver Eagles worrying about his health 💜 Shall I mention that this chapter was one of my favorites to write?

Ao3 link

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“I think I need more of that.”

“Shut up, Yami.”

The captain of the Black Bulls just let out a loud laugh at the tired protest of the beautiful woman lying beside him. Honestly, he was tired too, so there was no way he had enough reason to make fun of her. At least, not too much.

No wonder actually that they were both still tired, the sun only started to rise and they didn’t had a lot of sleep last night.

Well, Yami took Charlotte three times last night, which was the reason why they were still tired when they woke up. To be fair, if his body and more importantly her body, wouldn’t have been exhausted after three times, he would have taken her at least one more time.

Yami couldn’t help but smile as the memories of last night started to dance in his mind. Okay, it hadn’t been the plan to actually sleep with his Prickly Queen, but he would rather stop to drink booze before he would regret it. Damn, that was the best night in his life.

If he had known how wonderful it would feel to have Charlotte in his arms, to love and make love to her, he would have given up on his pride a long time ago.

Gosh, he really had been stupid and dense all this time. Kaiser had been right, Charlotte actually loved him back. This woman had proven him enough last night.

Yami turned his head to look at the woman he loved. Charlotte lied on her belly, eyes closed, head lying on one arm, the hair undone except the cute little braid, naked and the blanket only covering down her knees. Which was good, so he could look at her sexy butt.

He put a hand on that specific body part and laughed as he heard Charlotte groan. It sounded frustrated and flustered at the same time. What a woman.

“Must you always be so vulgar even in your gestures?”

“Don’t act like you dislike my vulgarity, woman. You more than appreciated last night, each time I took ya. Besides, there is honestly nothing I haven’t seen already during our night together.”

“Yami!”

She was protesting, but he could hear the smile in her voice.

Honestly, who would have thought that Charlotte Roselei, captain of the Blue Roses and the woman with the coldest behaviour he knew, would actually take the initiative and gave herself to him, body and soul?

Yami thought he had known her well for years and yet, Prickly Queen always managed to still surprise him. Her Ki was still so unique and practically impossible for him to read, but Yami didn’t care anymore. He was in love with her and this was probably the reason why her Ki wasn’t easy for him to understand.

“Yami…”

“Hm?”

“I… I love you.”

“I know.”

“Seriously, that’s all you have to say to me after everything?”

Yami laughed at her reaction. “I know you love me and you said it yesterday, I’m more a man of action and I think I show you more than enough what you are to me. This is enough for yours truly. Although, I wouldn’t mind to give you another proof.”

“You… You brute,” Charlotte laughed, trying to look falsely offended.

“Your brute, please use the right word, my Prickly Queen.”

Charlotte blushed, making her cheeks look like rubies. At least, Yami assumed that the colour was the shade of those kind of gems, as he never seen rubies in his life.

“Well, I don’t know what I expected from you, Yami. But you haven’t changed your personality and that is actually a relief, so don’t get me wrong,” Charlotte said as she sat up on her side of the bed. But as soon as she tried to stand, she fell back on the mattress, groaning.

“You seem a bit wabbly on your feet, Prickly Queen. Quite the unusual sight, actually, don’t tell me I was too harsh last night,” Yami laughed. Dang it, he haven’t been in such a pure good mood for way too long.

“Not that much, even though we did it three times,” Charlotte mumbled. “It’s more that… well… it was my first time…”

Yami stopped laughing abruptly.

Wait… that was her first time?

Shit…

Yami immediately took the blankets, eying them carefully before throwing them away to inspect the mattress.

If he had knew that, he would have at least tried to hold back, to be soft as much as he could manage. And maybe he wouldn’t have taken her from behind on their second turn. Charlotte was a strong woman, but this doesn’t mean that he would hurt her, even unintentionally. She meant too much for him for that.

Thankfully, he found no trace of blood on the blankets or on the mattress. Either he actually did hold back on instinct… or Charlotte was also the strong woman he knew on this particular domain.

Okay, could he stop loving her more and more for a moment? He started to felt overwhelmed by all this new open emotions.

“I wouldn’t have thought that it was your first time, Prickly Queen.”

“And how so?”

“You were taking initiative. You didn’t blush in offense like a prude old girl and well… I honestly don’t know how to explain it, ya were just that amazing.”

“Would you stop teasing me?”

“Hey, that wasn’t teasing this time, ya truly were amazing!”

Charlotte blushed again, turning her head away. And still, Yami had time to see  the little happy smile on her lips. Yep, she really wasn’t prude, that was just the normal old Charlotte he knew and love.

It was somehow weird. He discovered many sides of her only lately, especially during their common investigation and even more during their night. But all those sides of Prickly Queen seemed so familiar, as if he already knew them.

How could he knew already things he just discovered.

Charlotte turned back to him, giving up on standing on her feet for now, bringing her legs back to her and putting her arms around them, while her head lied on her knees and she looked at him in the softest smile he ever saw.

That wasn’t a sexy position, more like a cute one and it was enough for him to get all thirsty for her again.

Did she even realize what effect she had on him?

“Will you cuddle? Or is this not badass enough for you, captain I-Surpass-My-Limits?”

Yami laughed loudly. She wasn’t the best teaser as she was a newbie on that domain, but her attempts were actually pretty good. At least, he loved them.

“You know that I have a reputation to hold. But who gives a fuck, you’re the only one I wanna show my softer side.”

“You have a softer side?”

“Just come here and enjoy your privilege, woman.”

Charlotte chuckled – why the hell did he never realized how lovely that sound was – and practically half lied down on his chest, while Yami put an arm around her, the other one behind his head.

It was peaceful. Really peaceful…

Yami used to make fun at those kind of fluffy things, to make fun at corny shit like that. Maybe it will still don’t change, knowing him. But he didn’t find it ridiculous anymore right now. He also never would have thought that Charlotte would be so hopelessly and deeply in love with him and he was still having a hard time to believe it. But still, there she was, in his arms and despite her still complicated Ki, Yami could tell how happy she was.

He slowly started to understand Finral, when he was almost singing a hymn about how beautiful the quiet, peaceful moments were he shared with his wife. There was no way Yami would ever admit it, but having Charlotte in his arms and just enjoying the moment together, it was indeed precious. Maybe Finral became smarter in romance shit now that he was married to the love of his life.

It was like being a bubble, as if it was just the two of them. As if nothing else was important, as if the world outside was far away.

Yami sighed deeply. He kinda wished that it would be like that forever or at least for very long.

And he hoped that he wouldn’t have the urge to take a dump soon. For the first time, this perspective would clearly piss him off.

“Yami…” Charlotte whispered after a while.

“Hm?”

“What will come next?”

That was a good question, actually. A damn good question and clearly something they needed to discuss one time or another. Yami might not care that much about nobles and all their shitty complication in their status, but it wasn’t like he didn’t catch up on a thing or two. Especially during all those time he spend with his Prickly Queen.

And Charlotte was actually the reason why he started to care more about the world of nobility. He wasn’t that dumb, he knew that she was one of the best matches by noble standards and she had mentioned here and there that her family were planning to marry her off to a douche.

That thought of course didn’t sit well with him. In fact, it was pissing him off just as much like when Asta had been set on trial as a scapegoat – another proof about how important his Prickly Queen was for him. He just couldn’t handle the simple thought of Charlotte being chained into a loveless marriage to an asshole who would just see her as a trophy or as a tool for his own goal. Heck, HIS Prickly Queen deserved far better than that! Charlotte Roselei, captain of the Blue Rose squad was the most amazing woman she knew and even though he still had no idea how nobility worked behind the scenes or what would happen in the future, Yami was already decided to not give her up without a fight.

But he didn’t want to think about all those details and hurdles right now. In this very moment, everything was so far away and peaceful, he didn’t want to spoil this new sweetness. And he didn’t want Charlotte to lose her mind about it right now. Yami knew very well how she was when she was stressed and stress was undoubtedly the last thing she needed right, after what she had to deal with after Spade.

“Prickly Queen, let’s just say that for now, those will be future Yami and future Charlotte’s problems.”

“Haha, very funny. You do realize that sooner later future Yami will be present Yami and the same applies to future Charlotte. It’s not something we can just continue to ignore until it’s too late.”

“You worry too much.”

“You relax too much.”

“Yeah, true. But trust me, Prickly Queen, it’s not like I don’t give a fuck what all those noble bootlickers would think about us. Okay, I don’t really care about their opinions. But I know that it won’t be easy and this I care about. Because you’re worth it to me.”

“Yami, I…”

She was clearly flustered, having no idea what to say and Yami would lie if he would say that it didn’t meant the world to him. He put his other arm around her, holding her closer.

“We’ll deal with it, I promise you that. But I just wanna enjoy the moment right now, it’s the best way to spend my time.”

“Okay. But still… Would you agree to keep our, well… to keep a secret what’s between us? Even from our squads? Just to have some more time in peace. I know my girls and I know the members of your squad, it won’t be calm once they find out about us. Especially Luck.”

“Oh yeah, that’s the best idea. I don’t want to deal with ups and downs right now. Now, can I have a kiss or something more?”

“Kiss is enough for now, I’m still exhausted from the three times you took me.”

Yami laughed deeply before Charlotte shifted a bit and to put her lips on his. Yami gave in to the kiss, enjoying her unique and rosy taste. Despite being softer than what he was used to give and get, the kiss still felt full of passion and burnt in his body just as much as the wild kisses from last night.

They continue to make out for a while. Minutes or an hour, maybe more? Yami couldn’t tell and honestly, he didn’t care about it. Nothing seemed more important to him right now than the beautiful woman in his arms.

Both lost all notion of time, almost as if time itself decided to stop for a while, just to give them more moments together.

That is, until there was a knock on the door, pushing them back into the normal timeline.

“Captain Charlotte,” Pulis voice came from behind the door, sounding slightly mischievous. “Most of us will have breakfast soon and we decided to make a common breakfast all together in your little brothers honour, since he’s our guest. Would you like to join us? We can ask captain Yami what he wants, since he’s here as well.”

The last sentence made the lovers jump apart in shock.

Wait, how…

Charlotte jumped from the bed with a squeak, her legs suddenly not all wobbly anymore and she somehow gathered a bathrobe while jumping around and yelling “Wait, Puli!” or something like that.

Yami just groaned as he himself got up and tried to gather some of his clothes from around the bedroom. No, they weren’t in the same place, he had to grab each one from another corner of the bedroom and to wabble to each piece of clothing like a dumb dude with a hangover who somehow got drunk again.

Did he throw his clothes at different corners or was it Prickly Queen? Yami couldn’t recall and both were highly possible, given how thirsty Charlotte was, especially for her first time.

And why the heck didn’t focus on that except on the fact that it was more than probable that the Blue Rose knights already known that he and Prickly Queen slept together?

Oh. Oh! OH!

“Fuck.”

Now Yami didn’t wabble, he run across the room, trying to at least put his pants on while finding himself in a rare situation of panic.

This was bad, this was really bad.

How much did Prickly Queens girlies know? And more importantly how much did they hear?  Yami didn’t gave a fuck last night that the Blue Roses might or might not came to hear him fucking their captain and now this was coming back to bite him in the ass.

Damn it, he and Charlotte did just talk that they wanted to wait before telling their respective squads about their still very young relationship. Just to have some peace, was that too much to ask?

Not to mention that those fricking Blue Roses were always high on gossiping and even worse, Luck was present…

Oh fuck!

Luck was present. Luck was present! One of his own brats! And even worse, Luck happens to be the brat who is also Prickly Queens long lost found little brother! Not to mention that Luck was already very overprotective over his big sis and for some reason, especially when Yami himself was involved.

Wait… Does this mean than Luck already knew about Prickly Queens feeling for him? How did he even found out about it before his own captain? Yami couldn’t believe that he had been so dense about Charlotte that even one of his dumber brats knew about this obvious secret. Who else of the Black Bulls knew about this as well, then?

While Yami just stood there, thinking about problems that should have been future Yami’s problems, Charlotte actually managed to get her royal blue bathrobe on and opened the door. He felt her Ki tense for a second, before she actually sighed deeply, frustrated and relieved at the same time.

“Puli, this is NOT funny!”

“I apologize captain Charlotte, especially for having plopped your happy bubble. But you know, Luck, Églantine and I really had done our most to keep this spicy little secret safe from the others, especially Sol and we agreed that we should better warn you.”

Wait! Does this mean that the whole Blue Rose squad didn’t know after all?

But before Yami could join Charlotte at the bedroom door, some kind of blonde lightning bold made him fall right back on the bed.

“Can we fight, captain? Can we fight? Since you’re here, can we fight?”

“For fuck’s sake, Luck, we are NOT fighting in your big sis’ bedroom, have some decency!”

“But you had a beddance with her, captain Yami and as her brother, I can’t let that pass, you know. Gauche told me that.”

Damnit Gauche, why did gave Luck some lessons about being a good brother? And where did he learned such a word like beddance? Did that word even exist? If Vanessa started again to invent some words, he would put her on Astas cleaning duty for the next ten years!

“Luck, please, I did consent and actually, it was in fact me who took the initiative,” Charlotte immediately protested. She was blushing a lot – to be fair, which older sibling would want to admit their sex stories to their younger brothers and sisters – but her voice was still firm. Damn, not losing her authority while embarrassed? No wonder she became such a strong woman.

“But big sis, he hadn’t realized you’re head over heels for him for ten years, I still have some beat up to do with him, please!”

“Luck!”

Woah, that long, huh?

Wait, THAT LONG! Ten fucking years? Prickly Queen had feelings for him for ten damn years and he hadn’t realized it all this time?

Yami groaned, closing his eyes. He would never hear the end of it.

Could he please get back into the nice bubble from before with Charlotte? Gosh, how mushy did he became to actually wish for something as corny as that?

“Don’t worry, captain Charlotte, you and captain Yami don’t need to came down for breakfast with the whole squad. As you see, Puli, Luck and I brought you something you can eat here.”

Eat? Now that sounded like a good idea. Not as much as going back to the corny bubble, but still a good one.

Yami opened his eyes to see to whom that third voice belonged. A Blue Rose, of course, not older than twenty at most he’d say, with big turquoise coloured eyes and azure blue corkscrew curls. Typical noble hairstyle, he’d say, although he couldn’t tell if those curls were styled or actually natural.

Corkscrew put a silver tray with lots of food and some things to drink as well on a table, before turning towards him. Yami immediately frowned, trying to determine if this Blue Rose was hostile or not.

But Corkscrew just smiled at him and put a hand in front of him. “I’ve already heard about you, of course. But still, I’m happy to finally make your acquaintance properly, captain Yami. I’m Églantine Évantail and as you could guess, I’m a Blue Rose.”

“Um, nice to meet you,” Yami just mumbled, shaking her hand. Églantine Évantail, huh? Such a typical noble name, why were those always so elegantly complicated and difficult to learn by heart? He would call her Corkscrew still, it worked with her hair.

Évantail did she say? Wasn’t this also the family name of that old noble fart that tried to court Charlotte in this restaurant weeks ago? When she told him about her long lost sibling? Well, Corkscrew had the same eye colour as that Reggie guy or whatever his name was. Who could forgot people with turquoise shade in their eyeballs?

But unlike Reggie, Corkscrew’s eye colour wasn’t dull and from her Ki, she seemed like a genuinely nice girl.

“Ah, here’s the man of the hour,” Puli laughed, one of the rare Blue Roses Yami already knew. Actually, maybe he needed to learn about the whole squad than just that nice fatty and that earthy amazon that was fangirling over Prickly Queen. The Blue Roses meant so much to Charlotte, he was only fair that he should get to learn her girls.

But this was something for future Yami.

“It’s really a good thing that you finally got a grip on herself, captain Charlotte waited very long for you,” Puli continued, Yami couldn’t define if she was subtly warning him or she was just very happy. “You should be happy that it was just us three who woke up that night and heard you busy being busy. If it would have been Sol, Wainsley or Galgaria, goodness, the whole kingdom and even the three others would know about you right now. Maybe the far away land of the Sun as well.”

Puli, Luck and Corkscrew laughed as if it was some kind of joke, but Yami and Charlotte were more embarrassed. The thought that not only Clover but also Heart, Diamond and Spade would know about them… That was actually kinda scary.

After a while, Charlotte coughed a bit. “I’m grateful to the three of you for keeping the secret. You might understand very well that Yami and I would… like to be in secrecy for a while. You know… The nobles, everything… So, can we count on you three to guard our secret until we’re ready to make our relationship open.”

“Of course, captain Charlotte, you can’t count on us.”

“Hey, I know first-hand how my house has their eyes on you, so don’t worry, you have my support.”

“That’s mean I know something Magna doesn’t? That is actually cool, I have your back, big sis! Just a question, will I be soon an uncle?”

Puli and Corkscrew laughed, while Charlotte blushed heavily. As well as Yami.

“Geez, you brat, do you wanna die so badly? Just because we’re fucking doesn’t mean we intend to make babies already!”

“That’s right, we’re… we’re not even married!”

“Well, not being married doesn’t stop from making babies, you know,” Corkscrew replied, before actually bursting into laughter again.

“Églantine is right, but yes, it is way too soon to talk about babies,” Puli chuckled, before actually passing through the door. “We’ll leave you alone for now, sorry for having bursting in. Captain Charlotte, captain Yami, we see you later. Do you come, little Lucky? You can have breakfast with Églantine and me, if you want.”

“Hell yeah!”

Luck gave Yami one last punch and hugged Charlotte before jumping after Puli and Corkscrew, leaving his sister and his captain alone again.

Once the door was closed again, both lovers sighed deeply in relief.

“Well, that went better than expected,” Charlotte muttered as she came back to him on the bed, literally falling on the mattress.

“You really think so, Prickly Queen? Our secret is out in the open.”

“But it’s not our two whole squad who are aware. Just my brother and two of my knights. And we can trust them to keep the secret until the time is ready. Puli knows better than anyone how I feel about the whole situation, Églantine will always help me against my unwanted suitors, especially coming from her family and Luck is just happy about us, of course he’ll keep the secret.”

“He still tried to beat me up every time, especially when I’m close to you.”

“He’s just protective of me, that’s all. I think that’s what brothers do usually.”

“What a pain in the ass. I actually have question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Is Corkscrew-“

“Cork- Yami, please, her name is Églantine!”

“- related to Reggie or something? The one who bothered us at that restaurant weeks ago.”

“Actually, yes. I think it’s her great-uncle or something like that. House Évantail have one of the most complicated family tree in the whole kingdom. But don’t worry, Églantine is one of the rare nice Évantails out there.”

“Is she also the one with the bastard sister she wishes to know better?”

“Yes, that’s her.”

“Okay, then. Well, she’s a nice gurl in that case.”

They went silent again. Not awkwardly, it was like the comfortable silence of their bubble was coming back.

Yami was honestly relieved about that. But if he could fill the silence with moans and groans and cries of pleasure again, it would be even better.

“Shall he have breakfast?”

“Later, Prickly Queen. For now, I’m hungry for something else…”

He didn’t wait for her answer as he rolled over her, already getting rid of his pants and her bathrobe.

Charlotte wasn’t even surprised by his actions, on the contrary, she seemed quite appealed. Damn, how much could he love this woman?

Yami pulled her in a very deep and passionate kiss, barely noticing how he entered her again, making love for her already for the fourth time.

♣♣♣

“Are you sure he’s not dying or something? Or at least sick?” one of his junior knights, Aurelius Or, asked quietly, sounding almost like panicking.

“Trust me, kiddo, he it was that, he won’t be there working in the first place,” Julia Ambrosia, the oldest Silver Eagle in his squad, replied, sounding really amused by the whole situation.

“He’s not working right now, Granny. Captain Nozel seems more like… dreamy, somehow,” Alysanne Dragonstone replied.

“Yes, but that’s Nozel Silva, captain of the Silver Eagles and Head of house Silva we’re talking about, he was never dreamy before, so why now.” This panicking voice belonged to Nils Ragus.

“Well, there can be a start for everything, even for captain Nozel,” Curtis Warren said, although he sounded quite unsure about his own statement.

“So, there is something wrong with him?” Aurelius asked again, almost panicking even more.

“I wouldn’t say something is wrong with him, but something is definitely happening to him lately,” Simon Vivaldi said.

“Not even lately, I think something changed within him since he came back from Spade.”

“Alysanne is right,” Rob Vitesse replied, sounding as if he just joined the group. “There was a change with him since the return from Spade, but it was only more obvious since two months and especially since a few days.”

“Good observation, young man.”

“I’m not that young anymore, Granny.”

Julia had a cackling laugh. “Compared to my old age, you’re all young. But let this old and weak lady knight tell you this still.”

“Old and weak?” six voices asked quietly, knowing better than to argue with Julia Ambrosia.

“Well, you hatchlings, I can’t be entirely sure. But from my long experience as a knight and in gossip as well as in observation, I firmly believe that captain Nozel is in love.”

Silence.

“In love?”

“No need to look so shocked, you hatchlings, it happens even to the best of us. And if captain Nozel comes even halfway after his late mother on that matter, he is even deeply in love. Come on, you can trust the frail old lady I am.”

“Well, it would definitely explain his attitude lately,” Alysanne said thoughtfully. “It’s just… You have to admit that it’s difficult to imagine captain Nozel of all people being in love.”

“Especially since he’s so stuck on his duty, more than anyone else I know,” Nils added.

“You know, silver hatchlings, even the most disciplinary people like captain Nozel can be fed up at some point. And trust me, given how most nobles and royals treat him behind closed doors, even some of our good for nothing squadmates, he has every excuse to finally screw them.”

The other six only nodded at Julia’s little speech. Aurelius, Alysanne, Nils, Simon, Rob, Curtis and Julia were all nobles, but each of them belonged into the rare category of Being A Knight Before A Noble and who also didn’t appreciated the common attitude of nobility in general.

“But who would captain Nozel be in love with?” Aurelius asked naively. “Do you think it could be captain Dorothy Unsworth? She is always so familiar with him.”

Alysanne immediately shook her head. “The captain of the Coral Peacocks is always familiar with practically everyone. And according to my friend Gisela who is a Coral Peacock, captain Dorothy might be interested in the love stories of others, but not into having a love life herself.”

“Oh, then what about captain Fuegoleon Vermillion?”

This made Simon laugh. “Goodness, Aurelius, you’re really green still. Don’t you know that captain Fuegoleon is courting and maybe even properly dating a member from his own squad, Lital Lys? It’s practically an open secret at this point.”

“Not to mention that captain Nozel knows this two colleagues very well for long years already,” Julia added. “If he was in love with one of them, he would have that kind of dreamy attitude LONG before the raid in Spade. No, it’s most certainly someone he met afterwards or at least getting to know better.”

“But who could captain Nozel be in love with?” Nils asked quietly.

“That is a good question, he is not of the most easy people to read,” Curtis said with a shrug.

“Not to mention that he’s like vice-captain Agatha when it comes to his private life,” Alysanne added. “A closed book with three locks and four other locks for each one of them, just to be safe. We should think twice or even trice before considering investigating about his secret lover.”

“Ah, but doesn’t stop us for at least speculating, silver hatchling,” Julia cackled.

Nozel could hear them very well while he was more or less discussing some reports with his vice-captain. In fact, she did most of the talking and while he was well aware on every word that came out of her mouth, Nozel couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander away.

Those last two days – or was it three, he couldn’t tell – he spent with Vanessa had been the sweetest and happiest he ever knew since the death of his mother. In fact, he had been in such a dreamy state that real life felt at best like a harsh slap in the face.

First, the investigations about the thievery acts in the Common Realm all ended to be dead ends and he knew that even the Wizard King was starting to be fed up with this affair. But honestly, Nozel could live with that.

Then his most wannabe knights, also known as those who never got the job done, leaving their squadmates to overwork themselves, were making a fuss. Lucinda Sandler already asked six times in the row of two days for a maternal leave, despite not being pregnant. Nebra made her a visit last week and confirmed what every Silver Eagle already suspected. Linus Gem had the audacity to demand a raise of his salary, despite never coming to the Headquarters when it wasn’t pay day. Samuel Évantail became more and more a pain to the whole squad by refusing orders at best and attacking his squadmates in rage over stars he never got and deserved at worst.

And that was just three knights, but Lucinda, Linus and Samuel were pretty good examples of every Silver Eagle who were just knights by title and not by work.

But this was also something Nozel could deal with.

No, the most difficult task he got today sadly had nothing to do with the Silver Eagles. It has to do with his so-called duty of an arranged marriage.

As if the urge of nobles to marry off into royalty and to marry off in general wasn’t already such a pain since the war with Spade was over. But these last few days, many nobles houses, be it from high, medium or low nobility, seemed to have the very specific goal to marry some of their members into house Silva. And for some reason, he became their principal target.

Nozel wasn’t stupid. It was more than probable that his father was behind this. To make him yield or to make his life miserable or maybe even to just mock him, he didn’t know. It didn’t matter anyway. Lac Silva always got what he wanted in the past and he always knew exactly what to do and who to use, to manipulate to obtain what he wanted. Nozel didn’t know what his father said to the nobles to make them believe he was the most eligible candidate to marry right now. His ways were diverse and Nozel didn’t believe he wanted to know them.

He hated it, he hated so much. It reminded him of all those years he denied himself any kind of happiness, just thinking about following his duty so that his siblings would be free. Now looking back at those time, Nozel find himself so pathetic. Being with Vanessa gave him a sweet happiness he was now clinging on.

Being away from her, like in this moment, wasn’t doing him so much good. When Vanessa was with him, in his arms, it was so easy for Nozel to forget their rather complicated situation, their different status and worse, how most people of this society of prejudice would view their relationship. Love wasn’t important in their eyes, it has nothing to do with marriage, it was an inconvenience when potential alliances between noble or royal families were considered.

And Lac Silva was practically the embodiment of this mantra.

Nozel knew more than anyone how his world was. He was swimming or more like trying to not drown in this sea since his mother died and all he saw for years were horizons with nowhere to land.

Until Vanessa…

When she wasn’t with him, Nozel wondered sometimes if there was a future for both of them, for their relationship. He knew how royalty was like a golden cage and he refused to put her in any cage. There was something about her, about how free she was, that just make it not right to put her in a cage, literally or not. Nozel couldn’t do that to Vanessa, he loved her so deeply.

When she wasn’t with him, Nozel wondered if Vanessa would be better off and happier without him…

But he refused to give in to those doubts. He always done that for years and where did it brought him? It might be selfish, but he refused to give up on her, at least not without a fight. Giving up on Vanessa… and Nozel was certain it would kill him one way or another.

He wanted to be with her so much right now. Everything seemed so simpler in her presence, it was so easier to forget their situation, to not overthink and to not worry. He couldn’t stop doing this alone yet, he still needed her.

Nozel sighed silently. Was this what Fuegoleon felt when he was with Lital Lys? Was it what his poor mother to have with his father?

He was tired. It had been a while since he overworked himself like that, even forgetting to have dinner. For a long time, this had been always how he followed his duty, as a captain and as a royal Head of House. But then Vanessa came into his life and now, Nozel found this kind working day really despicable.

If only nobles would be more cooperative, knights or no knights.

“I think this is all for today, captain Nozel,” Agatha said, getting him out of his thoughts.

Nozel just looked at her, her eyes in the colour of old parchment and her ink blue hair as always hold together in two low braids. Agatha Austen had become a Silver Eagle around the same time as himself and was now his vice-captain for as long as he was captain himself. There weren’t many people he could really trust but thankfully, Agatha was one of them.

Nozel sometimes wondered if he should tell Agatha about Vanessa. His vice-captain was someone quiet and very understanding. But at the same time, she was also as private as him and his relationship with Vanessa was still very young, so Nozel didn’t know if he should tell Agatha already.

But if he wanted a future with Vanessa, no matter how still blurry and unsure it was right now, he would need allies. And this was a subject that was still unknown land for him. Having people willing to help him of all people. Was that even possible?

“Um, captain?”

Agatha was looking at him, frowning. Oh. Of course. She was still waiting for an answer from him.

“Thank you, Agatha. This will be enough for today. Will send this reports to the Wizard King first thing the next morning. You can go home now, it’s rather late.”

“Good night, captain.”

Very late indeed. He was exhausted. Nozel had decided to sleep at the Headquarters for this night. That hadn’t happened since very long. Would he still be able to properly spend time with Vanessa tonight? He had written her, to tell her he was drowning in work and that he might won’t be able to come back to the palace.

But all Vanessa did was calling him – thank goodness at a time when he was alone in his office – ask him were his usual room was at the Silver Eagles base and telling him she would be waiting for him.

It was a bit of a risk, meeting at the Silver Eagle’s base, given that some of his knights were either on night shift or had their chambers here.

But Nozel didn’t care. The perspective of seeing Vanessa was the first wonderful thing to look forward to this day.

Agatha left, but Nozel stood where he was, looking out of the window. But he didn’t see the already dark sky, the last lingering small lights of the sun, the first stars, the whole landscape.

All he saw was Vanessa…

He closed his eyes, smiling at all those memories with her. How she talked with him about everything that could came to their mind. Her naked body under him or on top of him. Her gorgeous smile, her hugs, all those kisses they shared…

A soft, happy smile escaped his lips.

“Oh, shoot!”

Nozel turned around, realizing he wasn’t alone, as the seven Eagles were still there. Aurelius, Alysanne, Rob, Curtis, Simon and Nils all froze when he lied his eyes on them. Julia wasn’t frozen, she was way too old to be intimidated by him, but she still looked at him as if he cut his braid or something.

Did his cold mask work so little lately? Probably, otherwise they wouldn’t be gossiping about him and his so secret love life.

And for the first time in life, not only did Nozel Silva not care at all about his own knights gossiping about him, he was even rather amused by it.

Vanessa must have bewitched him by how wonderful she was, he saw no other reason for that.

What would mother say if she saw him like that?

“Does anyone of you have to take night shift today?”

The words fell of his mouth before he could even think about them. A question any normal Magic Knight captain would ask almost automatically.

And still, his voice seemed so much softer than usual when he asked this question.

“No, captain.”

“Good. You can go home now or back to your chambers in this base. Good night.”

His voice was still soft. And the eyes of his knights were still frozen and shocked.

Nozel passed them by and couldn’t help but put a hand on Aurelius’ head. He heard the gasps and still, he smiled. Now it was already enough to think just of Vanessa to be at ease again, not worrying anymore.

She made a better person out of him. Did she even realized that?

He went away, walking through the halls he had known for years since he became a Silver Eagle. He reached the night quarters pretty soon.

But Nozels own room was a bit apart from the rest of the chambers. Of course it was. He had free choices of rooms when he joined the squad and the grieving, chained boy he was back then had to choose a chamber that was not only away from the rest, making him even more lonely, but also the same chamber his mother had when she was a knight and later captain of the Silver Eagles.

Different from his room back in the Silva palace, smaller but more cosy, green tapestries with simple gold yellow embroidery, an atmosphere as like his mother never really died…

This was his room when he slept at the Silver Eagles base. He never shared it with anyone. Not even his siblings, it was just too painful. But today, he wasn’t alone in this room that keep his guilt and loss alive, despite all the cosiness.

He wasn’t alone.

“Hey there, handsome eagle. You took your time, I was so lonely while waiting,” Vanessa greeted him as he entered the bedroom.

She smiled brightly while she put something on the table. Nozels eyes widened as he recognized the smell of roasted duck.

“You…”

“Yep, I brought you something to eat. Knowing you, you certainly haven’t eaten yet. Come on, jumping a meal because of too much work is never a good idea. I asked Charmy to prepare your favourite meal, I think you deserve it.”

“I… thank you.”

“You’re welcome, stud. Now, come eat.”

He knew that tone. When Vanessa used it, there was no option to decline, he learned that pretty quickly. According to her, some of her squadmates still haven’t got the lesson and that made him laugh.

So, Nozel sat down and started eating his roasted duck, while Vanessa stood behind him, making sure that he was eating and hugging him at the same time.

It was strange, somehow. Everything right now seemed so domestic, so calm and serene. Was this normal for a relationship, especially still a young one?

Nozel never asked himself how domestic life would feel like. Such a bliss was not required when nobles and royals married, only the alliances mattered. He remembered how his mother tried to have some domestic bliss with his father, only to have that hope shattered every time until she gave up.

If this was how domestic bliss should felt like, then he definitely wouldn’t mind having it.

Nozel was finishing the dessert Vanessa brought as well, a slice of orange cheesecake, while she took a proper look at the chambers.

“This is a very cosy room. And a very unusual style for you, I have to say.”

“It was already like this when I took it. It belonged to my mother.”

“Oh, I see.”

Her voice was always so soft, so full of compassion when they talked about Acier Silva. Sometimes, Vanessa asked questions about his mother out of curiosity and the more he told stories, the more his pain seemed to soothe.

Maybe he needed that from the start.

Nozel remembered that Vanessa mentioned she never had a nice bond with her own mother and still, she was never envious when they talked about his memories of Acier. Was it possible to be this kindhearted?

Vanessa took a framed picture in her hands and Nozel blushed as he realized which one it was.

“Oh my gosh, Nozel, is that you? Aw, you were such a cute little boy, look at those chubby cheeks. And you already had such a serious look, so adorable.”

Since when where serious glances adorable?

Nozel finished his cheesecake and walked up to her, hugging her from behind. A hint of sad nostalgia pierced his heart as he looked at the small painting. His mother smiled, not much older than twenty, while a two or three year Nozel was in her arms.

“Your mother was really a beautiful woman.”

“She was. Noelle got really lucky to get most of her looks from her.”

“Don’t be so harsh on yourself, you’re one of the most handsome people in the kingdom. And you got a few looks from your mother as well.”

“Oh, really?”

“First off, you got her eye colour, I love that metallic shade of purple, it’s so unique. And the smile. Noelle has a very different smile than this, but when you’re happy, you smile just like this as well.”

Nozel scoffed, but her words touched him very much. He couldn’t recall that anyone ever pointed out the similarities he had with his mother. Being the only one of his siblings who was perfect mix of his parents, he never got that.

But Vanessa was doing it. Because she seemed to see all the smaller details most people would ignore.

He hugged her more tightly, diving his face in her rosewood curls. The scent of rosewater filled his nose.

Was it too much to ask to have this in his life, in his still blurry future? Was it bad to wish to do the most simple things with her, like…

“Can I brush your hair?”

“Oh my, handsome eagle, I know no one else who has such simple wishes. Well, except maybe Gordon and Finral in a way.”

They both sat down on the canopy bed, Nozel took his brush and started to entangle her beautiful curls. It was such a soothing task to do. He vaguely remembered doing this to Nebra once when she was four or five years old and his sister had seemed to hate it, preferring to have mother brush her hair.

But Vanessa seemed to love what he was doing.

When he was finished, Vanessa turned around, smiling so softly at him that Nozel forgot everything around him for a second.

“Alright, now it’s my turn, captain eagle.”

She started to undo his braid. A habit she took just yesterday, but she seemed to love to undo his braid and then later, braiding his bangs again. Nozel let her do it and even came to enjoy each time she touched his hair, no matter if it was to play with it or to try something.

Vanessa took her time to brush his hair, she clearly enjoyed gliding her fingers through it, along the brush. But when she finished, she dived both her hands fully in his thick hair and started to give him a scalp massage.

Nozel didn’t except this gesture and at first, he had no idea how to feel about it. But it was so relaxing he stopped caring about it very soon.

“Just enjoy it, honey. I know you had a hard day today and you deserve to finally relax for this evening.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

By the heavens above, he loved this woman even more each day. Was this even possible? Well, for him it certainly was and he just wished he could find a way to properly show it to her, as she deserved it.

“I want this for the rest of my life.”

He hadn’t meant to tell those words aloud, but his mouth rebelled, like always when Vanessa was with him, actually.

“Me too, Nozel. Me too.”

They both stared at each other, full of emotion but also full of understanding. Vanessa wasn’t stupid, she was also pretty much aware of the situation they were in and even though she had a carefree attitude, she understood more than most people would probably gave her credit for. And yet, they loved each other.

Nozel sighed as he pulled her into a deep kiss. He didn’t want to keep his relationship with Vanessa secret. When he was with her, he wanted to show her to the world, to show everyone what a wonderful woman she was and how lucky he felt to love her so deeply.

For now, it wasn’t possible. But despite all his worries when she wasn’t with him and the burden he still carried with him, Nozel found herself more and more determined to fight for her. The future was blurry and he didn’t know yet what Vanessa wanted for later in her life. But she always told him to stop worrying from time to time and enjoy the presence more often and right now, it seemed like the best thing to do.

Their kiss deepened, became hotter and both of them knew what would come.

It didn’t took too long until they got rid of their clothes. Like every time, they lost every sense of time and place, only knowing each other, only loving each other.

As their bodies were completely intertwined in their lovemaking and Nozel kissed Vanessa again with all the passion he could manage, one certitude became clear to his mind.

He was too far gone already, as he knew he would not hesitate to give up his royal status to be with Vanessa.

For once since long, Nozel felt completely free.

[sublimepenguinpeach-blog]

Title It must be nice to be a Grisha. Chapter 1

Nikolai is not introduced in this chapter just to warn you.

She was tired of this… the fold, the darkling (no matter how attractive he is, men who believe that it’s okay to force themselves onto someone even if they say no … all of it. The only thing good that came out of all of this was meeting and becoming friends with Alina Starkov who she met in the Keramzin orphanage. Both my parents were killed by the darkling since they were one of the few people who had the guts to attempt to go through it. There’s no physical proof that they’re are dead but it’s quite obvious they are because I know that they would have came back for me and the likelihood of them not being killed by volcra (the darkling’s beasts that he put there to ensure that no one could ever go back to their old homes). The woman who ran the orphanage didn’t hold a high opinion of me at least that’s what I gathered when she repeatedly called me weird/eccentric with disdain clear in her voice and told one of the other adults saying “you need to watch out for that girl, she’s not like the others.”

flashback to the year, 2005

I remember the day so clearly as if it was only yesterday. I arrived at the orphanage at the age of 5. All of the other orphans gathered together outside to see who was the new unfortunate soul that would have to stay there but they soon lost interest when they noticed that I was shy and had a hard time meeting their eyes as they continued to ask me various questions like “how did your parents die, why are you refusing to look at us in the eye, and are you usually like this?” The only one who never treated me like I was nothing was Alina. Instead one day, she had just came up to me and just talked to me about her old home, including her parents, and the things she knows are happening outside of Keramzin after overhearing one of the adults quietly talk about it or rather thinking that they were talking quietly.

“We must be friends!” You’re about the only person I can talk to about this stuff with besides Mal.”

I nervously laughed at that and agreed with the shake of the hand but she moved my hand away and instead hugged me which was an odd gesture I thought because the only people who ever hugged me at the time were my parents. Alina let go after a minute realizing my uncomfortableness and then rambled on to talk about the next thing that was on her mind. I have a feeling that before coming here, she didn’t get to talk to very many people who were her age unlike me where I always had to attempt to interact with people who were my age because my mom wanted me to improve my social skills and she thought that the best way to do that was drop me off at this daycare every day while she saved lives. My dad and I weren’t close like my mom and I. We frequently fought over everything. Sometimes these fights weren’t so bad just some yelling coming from the both of us mainly him at first. The worst fights were when he would bring up my insecurities which worsened them and he would also say that I was an ungrateful child etc. There were some good moments but I remember more of the bad moments than the good. My mom had told me repeatedly that my dad did love me but I just couldn’t see that since all he would do is criticize me and make fun of my insecurities which makes it seem like he really dislikes me. The last day I saw my dad was a few before leaving with my mother to try to get our old home back. He told me to be good and that they would be back as soon as they can. He kissed my forehead and went out of the door with my mom. My mom briefly turned back her head to look at me and for a brief second I thought I saw tears forming.

A few months after arriving, these men came to evaluate each of us to see if we were Grisha which I suppose I will never know if I am or not because before they called my name, Alina grabbed my hand and ran. “Why are we running?” Are the men really that bad?” I mean they sure at doing very good in the look department, I will tell you that.”

“Y/N, that’s not why we are running. The reason we are running is because I don’t want to be tested.” Alina sighed and stopped running to catch her breath. “Is it because you’re Grisha?” “You know I am sure it’s not a bad thing to be Grisha in fact I bet it’s really cool being a Grisha since you got to have a specific power that you can use whenever you want and the greatest thing about it is that there are others like you who have the same power as you.”

“I am sorry for rambling but you know me, talk first and ask questions later actually scratch that it’s the complete opposite.” “Ask questions first then talk incessantly.”

Y/N, I am afraid that I could be Grisha even the possibility of being one scares me. “Do you know how hated Grisha are by most of the world especially here?!” She runs her fingers through her hair and gently grabs ahold of both of my shoulders. “We must escape because I fear that it won’t just be me who will be taken away but also you because it’s just as likely for you to have powers too.”

A hearty laugh escaped from her mouth. “Oh god, why are you laughing, what did I say now.”

Don’t worry Alina, you didn’t say anything wrong but I do find it funny that you think that there is a huge chance of both of us being Grisha because at the end of the day, I believe that they had it all wrong. You are special, you’re the one people need to keep a watch on and you will be the only person who comes out of here who will you know be something. I just have this feeling that you will, don’t ask me why because frankly I can’t think of a solid answer for that at the moment.”

Alina laughed at that. “Okay then, let’s go back and get this over with. She once again grabs my hand and we are heading back to the direction of the orphanage. Little did Y/N know that she was right, Alina was special.

She’s the sun summoner..

To be continued

[megashadowdragon]

Notice how, in "The Lost Fable", whilst Ozma eventually came clean to Salem about the secret he'd been hiding from her (the nature and purpose of his resurrection), there's nothing throughout the Origins Episode to suggest that Salem ever came clean to Ozma about the secret she'd been hiding (that she was directly responsible for provoking the Gods into eradicating the rest of the original human race). It's entirely possible that across all his lives, Ozpin didn't know Salem's secret (not for certain at least) until Jinn showed it to him and Team RWBY during this episode's present-day setting. Think about that: during this episode, as if re-viewing the worst mistakes and losses of his long life in one sitting wasn't bad enough, Ozpin has also just watched conclusive and excruciatingly-detailed proof that the woman he loved is responsible for ending the world as he originally knew it and breaking the current world for millennia, and that all of this started because he died. Is it any wonder he was in the state that he was at the start of the next episode and reacted so badly to Qrow's rejection?! This also makes one feel even more that Qrow and Team RWBY were much harsher on Ozpin than he deserved in that moment.

According to Word of God, Ironwood's Semblance, Mettle, gives him the conviction to make whatever sacrifices he needs to achieve his goals. Semblances almost always stop working when the owner's Aura breaks, so after Winter defeated him, he saw Salem holding the item he'd sacrificed scores of innocent lives to protect without his Semblance. My God, What Have I Done? probably doesn't even begin to describe what he felt in that moment.

During the Initiation into Beacon, Yang uses her gauntlets to prolong her flight. At first it appears that she is just having fun but considering how she wanted Ruby to team up with someone else, so she can mature a bit, maybe she was ensuring that Ruby won't be able to reach her before running into someone else. Her looking for Ruby later was likely just to make sure her little sister was alright, along with seeing who ended up as Ruby's partner. At the very end of "Players and Pieces", Ozpin appoints Jaune as leader of Team JNPR, to his surprise while Pyrrha grins. Obviously she's proud of him, but there might be another element at work as well: as we later learn, Pyrrha rather dislikes being put on a pedestal, even as she does the best she can with it. As a result, Pyrrha could've been relieved that she wasn't made leader... because it's the kind of position that could've reinforced said pedestal, with the team looking to her to make decisions, among other things. Jaune's potential is foreshadowed very early on; aside from being the one of his group to have a plan and get everyone to follow (as the Awesome page notes) he manages to block a blow from the Deathstalker with his shield. This isn't much, until you remember he only just unlocked his Aura, had none of the physical conditioning the other recruits had, and yet was able to tank a blow from a large and powerful Grimm for a key period of time without falling. He does, in fact, earn his way into Beacon.

The Herbalist's insistent questioning of what Team RWBY are and demanding specifics all come from his role as an herbalist, a medicine man. When it comes to medicine, the dosage is everything; too much medicine is poison and too little medicine is ineffective. For the denizens of the Ever Ater, their roles in life is as integral to them as their vital organs. To make the proper dosage of medicine for the growgurt parfait, the Herbalist needs to know exactly who and what is taking his medicine. Asking what they are is like asking what their blood type is, any allergies they have, etc..

The Curious Cat's outright angry reaction while dispelling the Mushroom Samba created by the Herbalist makes more sense in context now that we know more about Alyx. It was after Alyx met the Herbalist, and likely had the same spell cast on her to speak with her inner self, that she became distrustful enough to poison Jaune and trick the Cat out of her promise to them. The Cat knew the Herbalist was responsible for Alyx's change and feared the same thing happening to Team RWBY.

Ruby and Jaune finally reach Meltdown status, but end up being horrifyingly toxic after spending years of subconsciously bottling up their feelings. You'd think a team of trained soldiers would notice all the signs of an impending mental breakdown - until you realize that Grimm-infested Remnant never needed to refine that skill. Every time a huntress started losing their grip, the stress would literally attract Grimm to their location, meaning other teammates could easily determine how bad the stress gauge was based on how aggroed the Grimm were. And if someone got angry enough to murder something, there'd be an endless slew of monsters to vent (or die to). Everyone on Remnant has exchanged their training in emotional awareness with monster-detecting awareness. Ruby and Jaune could only have this level of uninterrupted Meltdown here, on a whole different planet, which doesn't immediately react to their angst with 'karmic' monster attacks.

@kob131

[stiltonbasket]

OMG Stilton, now I'm thirsty for a peek of Lan Wangji reaction when he knows he has a son!

“May I hold him?” is the first thing Lan Wangji asks, after he and Wei Ying are left alone together with A-Yuan.

A-Yuan, his son. His son with Wei Ying, a child conceived from mutual devotion and nurtured by Lan Wangji’s beloved until he was ready to enter the world.

He never even dreamed such a child could exist, and now the proof of his love for Wei Ying is here, sleepily drinking a bottle of milk in Wei Ying’s arms, and Lan Wangji adores them both so deeply that it feels as if he could die from it.

“Sure, if you like. I don’t see why not,” Wei Ying answers, with a feeble shadow of his old smile playing across his face. “He’s not as delicate as he looks, you know. Little babies are supposed to be too weak to hold their heads up, but Yuanyuan...”

“Mn. He is strong,” Lan Wangji says. “Like his A-Niang.”

Wei Ying laughs, a true laugh this time, and transfers A-Yuan into Lan Wangji’s lap. The baby makes a soft sound of complaint, wriggling in his little nest of blankets; and then he looks up, and meets Lan Wangji’s eyes.

Lan Wangji bursts into tears.

“Hello, A-Yuan,” he croaks, wonderstruck by the soft baby scent clinging to his son’s fluffy hair. “Sweetheart, hello. I’m your father.”

“Lan Zhan, he knows you,” Wei Ying gasps, when A-Yuan pushes his bottle away and snuggles into Lan Wangji’s side. “He didn’t even take to Jiang Cheng this well, and Jiang Cheng...”

But whatever quality Jiang Wanyin might have that makes him attractive to babies, Lan Wangji is his father. He delights in the knowledge like a child, examining every tiny finger and toe before asking Wei Ying to tell him all about the baby’s habits, and what he likes and dislikes, and everything Wei Ying has already planned for their son’s future.

“May I be a part of it?” Lan Wangji says humbly. He would have knelt and begged his beloved to accept him, as either his partner or A-Yuan’s father or both; but he would disturb his son if he moves now, so all Lan Wangji can do is ask, and pray that his own change of heart has not come too late.

Wei Ying has been cold to him ever since they were reunited, most likely because Lan Wangji was so often cold to him at the Cloud Recesses, or because he left Wei Ying at Mount Muxi without a word of comfort. But now they have a child, a newborn baby that needs them both, and Lan Wangji must care for his mingding zhiren and their son. He needs to, as he needs water to drink and air to breathe—they are his, both of them, and he cannot bear to leave them now that he knows the truth.

“Please,” he entreats, reaching out to hold Wei Ying’s hand. “I will do anything you wish, be anything you wish, only—only permit me to stand by you, and help you raise our little one. Please.”

Wei Ying stares at him, his beautiful mouth falling open in surprise.

“Why?” he wonders, patting A-Yuan’s small kicking feet. “You’re young, and you’ll probably want to get married someday. Won’t your wife mind not being the mother to your first child, Lan Zhan?”

Lan Wangji frowns. “Wife? I will never wed any woman. I will never so much as look at a woman, if that is what you meant. But A-Yuan is here, and you are here, and...”

He looks up at Wei Ying, overwhelmed, and nearly succumbs to the impulse to cling to his zhiyin and cry.

“I want us to be a family. A whole family,” he whispers at last. “Wei Ying, we are at war, and so much—there is no certainty that either of us will live through it. But we have a son, and he is the most precious thing I have ever beheld. And you are dearer to me than I know how to say, just yet. I could spend the rest of my life at your side, aiding you in all things and helping you bring up A-Yuan, and die without a single regret as long as you both were well. Please.”

Please accept me, he wants to say. Wei Ying, please love me as I love you.

Has he lost Wei Ying already? Did Wei Ying love him once, perhaps, and decide that he would be better off loving someone else?

“Am I too late?” Lan Wangji says numbly. “If I have displeased you, then I...Wei Ying, I will do anything to atone for it, anything at all—!”

“No! No, nothing of the sort,” wheezes Wei Ying. “You, ah. You sounded as if you wanted to be more than A-Yuan’s father, you know, and it surprised me! You’re too serious, Lan Zhan. Of course you can be his father, if you want to.”

“I do want to,” Lan Wangji persists. “But I want to be more to you than that.”

All he receives for his pains is another uncomprehending stare. “I want you,” he clarifies. “I wish to be wedded to you properly, and claim A-Yuan as my son by you before the entire jianghu.”

“You want to marry me because of A-Yuan? Aiyah, Lan Zhan, isn’t that going a little too far?”

Lan Wangji shakes his head.

“Not only because of him,” he confesses. “In truth, I...I would kneel to you now and ask for your hand even without A-Yuan, Wei Ying—”

Suddenly, A-Yuan bursts into tears. He works his tiny fists into Lan Wangji’s robes, wailing so loudly that he brings Xichen and Chifeng-zun running back into the room; and when Wei Ying leaves to calm the baby down and give him a bath, Lan Wangji knows enough to realize that his proposal has been rejected.

But he is certain that it was not due to any lack of feeling on Wei Ying’s part, or fear that he might try to part Wei Ying from A-Yuan.

Wei Ying is hiding something from him, something that might reasonably prevent their marriage, and Lan Wangji has no idea what it could be.

[thornedrose44]

Prompt: “I can’t do this. Just leave me alone.”

Read on AO3

"Goodnight, Kara." Lena said from across the room when she finally managed to catch Kara's eye.

It was the first time they had made eye contact since Kara had welcomed her inside at the start of the night. Kara startled at the sudden sight of Lena, waving farewell as she stepped quietly towards the door, but made no move to follow after her and when the door swung quietly shut behind her Lena knew things would never be the same.

It was Kara's birthday party (her Earth birthday party to those that happened to be in the know, which to Lena's un-surprise was a rather considerable group all things considered). Kara had invited her, further proof of the strength of their newly reaffirmed friendship. Lena had been grateful for the invite, appreciating it as the sign that they were back on the right track, and accepted it without hesitation.

She had then proceeded to spend hours upon hours thinking of the perfect gift for Kara, excitement and anticipation building in her stomach.

It would be her first proper night out in months after being thrown back into her role as CEO and dealing with all the negative press following Lex’s downfall and upcoming conviction. Her working hours had reached an excess that she had never achieved before. The blowback onto her in the form of hatred for the Luthors was even greater than last time as well, despite her crucial role in taking Lex down. She was still deemed guilty by association especially since she had been working closely with Lex for a long time before revelations about his villainy became apparent.

The news were critiquing her every move, slandering her every chance they got and rallying the masses to a fervour - she was now facing at least one assassination attempt every week.

Regardless of all that, Lena had one salvation, one light of hope that she clung onto. Her friendship with Kara. It was growing again. They were spending time together. Relearning one another or learning about each for the first time in Lena's case. The conversation was finally less stilted and the trust was back.

But there was still something missing, something stopping them from returning to exactly where they were before.

Lena, as the months ticked by, realised that they were no longer as physically close as they once were. Hugs were rare. Gentle touches of the hands were swiftly snatched back to prevent lingering. Even extended eye contact was fleeting.

Lena at first thought the problem was that she had hurt Kara so badly that the woman who sometimes communicated solely through physical affection no longer wanted to be touched by Lena. That broke something in Lena. That Kara, even though she was trying to be kind, friendly and forgiving to Lena, was not comfortable with any sort of physical contact between them, drove Lena into a drunken stupor of college-level proportions.

Once the alcohol was out of her system and she had suitably recovered from her hangover, Lena had allowed the scientist within her to take over.

No more assumptions.

She would gather evidence, make an hypothesis and work towards a solution.

If she wanted Kara back in her life properly - cuddles on the sofa and lengthy hugs a necessity of that - Lena would put the effort in.

So she observed… and what she observed was this…

Pink cheeks and bashful expressions whenever their gazes met.

A thick swallow and faltering breath whenever their hands brushed.

Deep sighs and fingers digging fleetingly into her back as if on the edge of pulling her closer whenever they embraced.

Dark eyes and teeth biting into a bottom lip whenever Lena stretched or moved her hair away from her neck.

Attraction, affection and interest .

Lena didn’t believe the results of her evidence; she re-ran the tests over and over again trying to work out if she had just interacted with Kara on an odd day, if she just happened to be thinking about something (someone) else at the same time but… it kept happening over and over again.

If it had been anyone else, Lena wouldn’t have doubted what she was seeing but… but.. This was Kara.

Kara, who she had been in love with since she had walked into her office with her cousin.

Kara, who had never picked up on or reacted to her flirts.

Kara, who had broken her heart with lies.

Kara, who meant so much to her.

Kara, who she had only just gotten back.

Was it worth the risk?

Fear had blinded her, of that she had no doubt, but was it keeping her safe from the hurtful truth of Kara not wanting to touch her anymore or from the potential happiness that Kara returned her feelings but was too sweet or shy to put herself in a position that would make Lena uncomfortable.

Lena decided to take a chance - just this once because even if she was wrong about Kara not feeling the same, she had to believe that Kara was incapable of being cruel to her if she misread it. They promised each other honesty and Lena intended to show it.

It was why she needed to buy the perfect present, something that hinted that Kara’s feelings (if Lena was right) were returned. And just a week before the party, she knew exactly what the perfect present would be.

She wrapped it personally (normally Jess would wrap any gifts she had to send out), wanting to go the extra mile. It wasn’t perfectly done, a bit messy in places and the sellotape was excessive but she had done it herself which she knew Kara would appreciate more than professional gift wrapping.

Lena, however, realised that she had made a mistake the second she arrived at Kara's.

Knew she had misread… everything …

Because Kara… Kara couldn't stand to be near her for longer than it took to say hello, accept the present and then disappear off.

Lena hadn’t expected to be with Kara for all of the party; it was Kara's party and loads of her friends were in attendance, all of whom wanted to spend it with Kara. Who wouldn't?

It's just… Lena…

Lena didn't have anyone else.

It was made abundantly clear to Lena within the first thirty seconds that she was not welcome. Alex gave her a gruff nod from across the room before turning her back to her - she still didn't trust her and Lena had prioritised winning Kara back over the last few months above everything else. Brainy and Nia smiled at her but they were deep in conversation with CatCo employees all of whom were practically snarling at Lena (clearly not Luthor fans). James was here as well and dear God did he give her such a blazing look of hatred Lena was surprised she didn't burst into flames under its ferocity. (They hadn’t dated in this rewritten universe, much to Lena’s pleasure, though his original dislike for her was clearly a mainstay of every universe).

So… Lena grabbed a drink and stood in the corner as Kara moved seamlessly between her various groups of friends and colleagues, never once sparing Lena even a glance. The majority of her movements were accompanied by William Dey, who repeatedly tried to sling an arm around Kara's shoulder - the only joy Lena got from the evening was watching Kara repeatedly squirm out from under his touch.

She held out for two hours, sipping three beers and glancing intermittently at her phone as she stayed in her corner, hoping that Kara would come over for just five minutes.

Five minutes with Kara wasn't too much to ask for, was it?

Five mere minutes with Kara would have made the whole night worth it, made the glares and malevolent whispers sent her way worth it.

It was at the two hour mark that Lena accepted the truth.

Kara wasn't going to come over to talk to her.

Kara hadn't been pulling away from her due to a sudden realisation of feelings and attraction.

Kara hadn't expected her to accept the invite. Hadn't wanted her to accept.

Kara was ashamed of her, that was why she pulled away, why she didn't acknowledge her.

Lena couldn't really blame her but that didn't mean she had to stay and take it. So gathering what was left of her dignity, she shuffled towards the door, caught Kara's eye, waved and slipped outside… though, not before retrieving the present she had brought for Kara… it would have revealed far too much and Lena didn't need to deal with that on top of everything else.

Lena returned to her office for no other reason that she still had some good liquor stored there - Kara had encouraged her a couple of months ago to cut back on her drinking and she couldn’t deny the baby blue puppy dog eyes. She staggered into her office, chucking the present she had spent hours creating onto the sofa - she would buy Kara some random meaningless gift like a nice scarf or jumper tomorrow instead - and poured herself a full tumbler before flipping open her laptop and getting to work. She lost herself in designs and business plans as she made her way through the bottle.

She used to sit and brood when she drank but Sam had made her promise she wouldn’t do that anymore, hazel eyes filled with concern at where Lena’s mind wandered when unoccupied and fuelled by alcohol. Whilst Lena was in a pretty bleak space, she refused to hurt her last (and only) friend by breaking the one promise she had made to her.

It must have been two am when Lena heard a familiar thud from the balcony followed by a gentle knock that could only belong to one person.

“Kara, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Lena called out, not bothering to lift her gaze away from her laptop screen - she wasn't sure whether the sight of Kara would evoke tears or fury and she wished to give Kara neither.

“Hey… I just wanted… I was…" Kara stammered out; Lena didn't need to see her to know that she was fidgeting with the edge of her cape as she tiptoed nervously closer. "You know… flying around and saw the light on and figured I would check in on you, see how you were doing…”

“I’m fine. Just working.” Lena replied brusquely taking a sip of her whiskey.

“And drinking…” Kara muttered, her tone more worried than disapproving but Lena took offense regardless.

“Yes. It’s a Saturday night, cut me some slack.” Lena snapped back, defiantly swallowing what was left in her glass before slamming it down onto her desk.

The loud clack as it connected with the surface was followed by a heavy, almost suffocating silence.

“You left early.” Kara whispered into the unnatural stillness, shattering the fraudulent focus Lena had on her computer screen with those three words. Kara didn't sound confused or upset, just painfully neutral as if to emotionally step back from the situation so that she could garner some emotional truth from the CEO instead.

Well, Lena was done with that, done with giving more of herself than Kara wanted so she took a deep, calming breath and allowed her painstakingly crafted mask to slip into place.

“I wasn’t the first to leave.” Lena pointed out calmly, finally turning to look at Kara, certain she could keep her voice and face blank. It was then that she saw how… small Kara looked, which was never a word Lena would have used to describe Kara in full Supergirl regalia in the entire time she had known her. Kara looked defeated and lost, a tremble to her lip and very being that she tried to hide behind a shy smile.

“Well… I didn’t get a chance to talk to you…” Kara replied, ducking her head meekly as she admitted. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Lena pursed her lips at that, “I was there for over two hours, Kara. You could have come over whenever you wanted. It wasn’t like I was occupied.”

“Yeah… what was that about?” Kara laughed, rubbing the back of her neck, trying far too hard to make her tone light as if even the idea of Lena being without company was an entirely absurd concept.

The high-pitch to Kara's laugh and the unfamiliar tension around her eyes revealed to Lena that Kara knew exactly why Lena had been standing all alone that evening.

“I’m a Luthor, Kara." Lena replied sharply, not interested in trying to smooth over the harsh truths like Kara was always so keen to do when it suited her. "No one wanted me there and they all made that very clear.”

“I wanted you there.” Kara replied so soft and earnest that Lena nearly believed her.

“I highly doubt that.” Lena scoffed derisively.

“I did.” Kara insisted, eyes desperate and pleading.

Lena merely shook her head, turning back to face her computer, “If you say so…”

“Lena, I-”

“Kara… I can’t…” Lena muttered, her voice cracking in the exact way she didn’t want it to. “I can’t do this. Just leave me alone.” Lena requested, hating how it verged on begging.

“What?” Kara murmured in shock.

“I can’t just… pretend that I’m not hurt or upset.” Lena confessed, fingers curling into fists on her desk, eyes slamming shut to lock in the tears. “I just need… time to get over it and accept what we are. So until then… please just leave me alone.”

“I hurt you.” Kara repeated, her voice broken and raw .

“Kara, I didn’t…” Lena shook her head angrily, she didn’t want to do this, didn’t want to inflict herself on Kara who had tried so hard to be her friend. “It's your birthday, Kara.” Lena sighed sadly, “You get to spend it anyway you like with whomever you like.”

“I wanted to spend it with you.” Kara breathed, and Lena could hear the sharp inhales between each word that revealed that Kara was crying.

“Kara, you don’t need to…” Lena assured, with a wave of her hand, eyes focused on her lap, “let’s just leave it, okay?”

“No…” Kara gasped, and suddenly Lena felt a trembling hand connect with her own tightly curled fists, “wait… what did you mean ‘get over it’ and ‘accept what we are’?”

Lena sucked in a sharp breath at the question, biting down harshly on her bottom lip.

“Lena?” Kara pressed.

“Fuck it, fine.” Lena snapped, yanking her hands away from Kara’s infinitely soft touch and shoving herself out of her chair before storming away from Kara, desperate for space. “I thought you liked me.”

“I do-” Kara began, taking a tentative step after her.

“No, Kara.” Lena yelled, spinning back to face Kara, with a twisted snarl of total self-loathing. “Liked me.” Lena stressed, before throwing her hands up into the air as it all just boiled out of her, “God, I sound like a teenager. I thought you liked me. I thought you were touching me less because you were attracted to me. But then… I go to your party and you don’t… it was like you were ashamed of me, I sat in that fucking corner for two hours as everyone wished - out loud, I should say - that I would go. I sat in that fucking corner in the hope that you would speak to me for five minutes. For just five minutes. Because that… that would have made it all worth it. But you could barely look at me. And I realised you didn’t - don’t - like me… you’re ashamed of me, but you’re too kind to abandon me. Too noble and generous but even you have your limits. Of course, you didn’t want to spend your birthday talking to me. Of course you didn’t.”

Lena wanted to punch a wall, wanted to down the rest of her whiskey, wanted to do literally anything than be here in this moment watching the horror-struck expression on Kara’s face grow and grow with every word, watch Kara’s body tremble and shake with each harsh sweeping gesture.

“Lena, no… you…” Kara sobbed, striding towards her with fingers twitching at her sides, “you have got the complete wrong end of the stick. Actually, you’re right but also really wrong. And…” Kara swiped aggressively at the tears rolling down her cheeks as she approached Lena, stopping when the raven-haired woman flinched at their sudden closeness. “I screwed up but-”

“No. You don’t need to do this.” Lena cut in, holding a hand up to stop Kara, wanting Kara to know that her guilt was unnecessary and that she could finally be free of Lena.

“Lena, I’m so-”

“You don’t need to apologise.” Lena insisted, taking a deep breath to rein back in her swirl of her emotions. She could do this. She could let Kara go. “You were trying to be kind but you shouldn’t… god, if I make you that miserable, that uncomfortable, you shouldn’t have to force yourself to interact with me.”

“LENA!” Kara bellowed, stamping her foot to the ground and lifting her chin to reveal a determined expression.

Lena blinked in shock at the sudden volume and intensity; falling obediently quiet.

Kara placed her hands on her hips, took a deep breath, looked Lena straight in the eye with earnest, beseeching blue and declared, “I want to kiss you right now because that would be the big sweeping action that would prove to you that I mean what I’m about to say next but… you’ve been drinking… heavily from the looks of things.” Kara shot a displeased pout at the nearly empty bottle of whiskey as if it was all the bottle’s fault for Lena’s current state of inebriation and not the youngest Luthor’s unhealthy coping mechanisms. Kara turned back to face a stunned Lena, with a fond smile, “And I really want our first kiss to be one you remember and one you can fully consent to. So, you’re just going to have to believe me… please, please believe me when I say… I’m in love with you and I fucked up massively tonight. Really, really fucked up.”

“You never swear.” Lena murmured quietly, and it probably wasn’t what she should have been focusing on but her brain was currently stuck like a record scratch unable to fully comprehend what Kara had just told her; and the swear was just the cherry on top of an entire sundae of confusing and out-of-the-blue revelations.

“Which shows how much I believe that I fucked up.” Kara replied with a helpless shrug.

“But-”

“You were the only person I wanted to spend my birthday with.” Kara confessed, “Well, Alex at some point as well. But you mostly. Alex planned the party and I couldn’t…” Kara huffed out a frustrated breath and rolled her eyes, “she did this whole thing and I didn’t want to turn around and say I didn’t want it. That all I really wanted was a quiet night watching films with you because…” Kara sighed, “because then she’d know… To make it more bearable I invited you but there were so many other people, and I will be honest… I don’t even like half of them. Alex, just invited everyone I was friends on facebook with which is not a good barometer of friendship.”

Lena cleared her throat, none of it making sense, “Then why-”

“Did I ignore you?” Kara guessed with a painful wince.

“Yeah…” Lena muttered, wrapping her arms protectively around herself.

“Because… because I knew, or at least I thought I knew, that you hadn’t noticed how I felt about you.” Kara explained inching just that little bit closer towards Lena, attempting to bring them within touching distance of one another. “And I knew it was only a miracle that you hadn’t until now because…” Kara smiled a lopsided, rueful and self-deprecating smile, “Lena, I am not subtle. Not at all. And I knew… I knew if I interacted with you at the party… everyone else would be able to tell in an instant how I felt.”

Lena exhaled slow and deep, arms tightening their hold around herself, “And you didn’t want them knowing you liked me?”

“Love. Not like.” Kara corrected, patient yet firm, “Love. And no, I didn’t.”

Lena nodded once in understanding, letting out a hollow laugh, “I get it. I wouldn’t want anyone to know I loved me either.”

“Lena… no… no… you…” Kara rushed to explain, finally stepping close enough to reach out and place her hands gently on Lena’s curled biceps. Lena couldn’t help how she instinctively shifted closer, wanting to increase contact with Kara after being denied it for so long. “I didn’t want anyone knowing before you.” Kara admitted.

And that… that snapped something back into place for Lena.

Made the doubts screaming inside her head quieten down just enough to think… maybe…

Because… it was being last that had broken them the first time. Being the only one not to know and now…

“I didn’t want Stacy, who used to cheat off me in exams in college to know how I felt about you before you did.” Kara said, thumbs moving back and forth against the bare skin of Lena’s arms causing a swathe of goosebumps to rise like a wave in the wake of Kara’s every touch. “They didn’t deserve that. They didn’t deserve…” Kara’s jaw clenched, eyes darkening as she studied Lena’s face, “I was trying to protect you from them. They said horrible things about you and you should know, the minute after you left, I kicked everyone who so much as looked at you funny out. It was just me, Nia, Brainy and Kelly left… Alex, as well, but we had a rather heated argument before she was allowed to stay.” Kara bowed her head in shame, “I should have kicked them all out immediately but-”

“Then they would have known.” Lena finished for her.

“I had this whole thing planned.” Kara breathed out, her hands gradually shifting away from Lena’s arms around to her back, surrounding Lena in a loose hold, Kara’s eyes flickering over Lena’s face and body rapidly searching for even the slightest sign that Lena was uncomfortable with their contact. “Once everyone left, I had set-up the roof with lights and cushions and… I was going to tell you how I felt. I just had to make it through the birthday party from hell and I was trying so hard to keep to the plan. To not spoil it. To keep it a secret so that it could just be ours but... I…” Kara’s eyes slid shut and she inhaled a shuddering breath filled with pain. “I hurt you. And there is nothing I can say to make you forgive me, but I do… I do love you so much. And I will never, ever be ashamed of you.” Kara blinked her eyes back open and leaned forward to place a kiss on Lena’s forehead. “I just wanted it to be ours and not theirs. I didn’t want to share. You’re the only thing in my life that… I didn’t want to share.”

“Open your present.” Lena demanded, stepping out of Kara’s loving embrace.

“Lena-” Kara whimpered, pained at the sudden loss of closeness.

“Open your present, Kara.” Lena repeated, jerking her chin towards the sofa where the roughly wrapped present lay.

“I… okay…” Kara replied, watching Lena closely as she tried to make sense of Lena’s clear request. Kara walked cautiously over to the couch, picking up the gift with gentle hands. “Did you wrap it yourself?” Kara asked, her entire expression brightening as she stared down at the crooked, over sellotaped wrapping.

Lena harrumphed at the question, pursing her lips.

“You did, didn’t you?” Kara teased.

“The present isn’t the piss poor wrapping.” Lena replied with an exaggerated roll of her eyes that had the corners of Kara’s lips quirking even further upwards.

“Lena Luthor wrapped my present herself…", Kara whistled in awe, blue eyes twinkling with true delight for the first time that day, "what better gift is there?”

“Open it and you might find one.” Lena said, heart leaping into her throat as Kara’s deft fingers found a line of wrapping paper she could tuck them under.

The sound of paper ripping was deafening in the stillness; all Lena could do was watch and wait.

The paper fell away leaving behind a small black box, Kara shot Lena a hesitant look and it wasn’t until Lena nodded for her to continue that Kara clicked it open.

There was a pause.

A heavy, endless pause in which Lena couldn’t bring herself to even breathe.

“What is-” Kara began before cutting off immediately as she lifted up the beautiful bracelet made of nth metal and inscribed with ‘stronger together’ in Lena’s own cursive handwriting in both english and kryptonian.

The bracelet shined under the lights in Lena’s office, but in Lena’s opinion, Kara’s eyes shined impossibly brighter.  

“You’re in love with me.” Kara whispered, seeing the present for everything Lena had hoped it would convey.

“Yes.” Lena confirmed because there was no hiding it now.

With trembling fingers Kara clasped the bracelet onto her wrist, long fingers tracing the words delicately inscribed with no small amount of wonder. Finally, she turned around and stared at Lena with so much sheer love that the youngest Luthor felt overwhelmed and like her heart might burst right out of her chest in its desire to be in Kara’s possession

Clearing her throat and clasping her hands behind her back, Lena gathered her courage and asked, “If I promise you I’ll remember it and that I am fully consenting… will you kiss me now?”

Kara was in front of her in the literal blink of the eye, hands reaching out to cup Lena’s cheeks as Lena’s hands moved to rest on Kara’s hips gently encouraging their bodies closer with a light tug.

“There is nothing I want more.” Kara assured with the widest grin that Lena had ever seen and couldn’t help but return.

Their first kiss could barely count as a kiss.

Their smiles were too wide to allow for it, but Lena wouldn’t change it even slightly. They pressed their smiles against one another, teeth knocking together and noses brushing.

It may not have been a successful kiss but it was tender and filled with so much joy that Lena wouldn’t describe it as anything less than perfect.  

Their second kiss was an actual kiss, lips slotting together, tongues seeking each other out and teeth tugging whimpers and moans from one another in an endless cycle.

Their second kiss turned into a third, a fourth, a fifth.

They kissed until the sun rose.

Kissed until their lips ached and any remaining doubts Lena may have had were pushed back into the shadows by the light of Kara’s smile and blue eyes.

[dreamingsnowflake2013]

They are so freaking domestic and married and functional the whole time I can’t!!! They bicker and banter with ease of two people who feel secure and confident around each other and know each other’s boundaries and limits and don’t need to worry about offending the other person or the conversation turning antagonistic which allows them this sort of brutal honesty, at times, and frank criticism.

Issei gets the edamame shell husband treatment and he literally can’t believe it Hayame did that to him right in front of his salad when it already helped to ruin her previous relationship. It seems Hayame didn’t understand his lesson about the difference between the edamame shell and skin, well, she was in the middle of confronting her cheating ex so I suppose she was otherwise engaged.

Though, poor Issei doesn’t know the depth of Hayame’s culinary disability until he discovers her special lemon and cereal gyoza! HA! I admire that he doubles down on his criticism and even if he tries to back pedal, he simply can’t make himself lie to her even to please her when it’s so awful.

Unlike her ex-husband, he doesn’t put on a fake smile and swallows it so he wouldn’t hurt Hayame’s feelings but actually tells her it sucks bigly, showing that not only won’t he ever lie to her or keep secrets from her, he won’t feed her white lies to avoid conflict either. You almost never see portrayed in Asian dramas how these little mundane details can lead to a complete failure of a relationship once they pile up. Quite the opposite, they often depict swallowing food that makes you puke as something romantic and a proof of love without giving any thought to the fact whether the person can manage that for the rest of their life, considering it’s suggested most of the OTPs live happily ever after. The issue shows that Hayame and Issei are already more than one step further regarding the growth and functionality of their relationship than she ever came with Masahiro, illustrating their suitability. It’s not about a relationship being conflict-free, it’s about confronting the problems, argue about them even though it’s exhausting and uncomfortable and solve them through communication and misucommunication, not about hushing the issues up and staying silent about them in order to avoid arguments.

The drama might be called Promise Cinderella but it has been turning the Cinderella stereotypes on their head since episode 1. One of them is Hayame not fitting the bill of a girl who is amazing at cooking, sewing, reading, embroidering, polite conversation, dancing and generally being more princess-like than all the princesses and noblewomen, even though her mother died in her childhood and she couldn’t have taught her all those things, neither could her father, nor the mice or the other animals she spent all her whole time with. Let’s face it, Cinderella has always been the fairytale counterpart of Richardson’s Pamela and Hayame - divorced, almost thirty, penniless and jobless - is the modern real-life version of an orphaned abused virgin fallen on hard times. 

On the other hand, while Hayame might share Cinderella’s origin story of her mother dying at an early age, this sad event tragically affects her whole life in a much more realistic and darker way. Her father falls into a depression and becomes neglectful and she has to grow up overnight, having to learn everything by herself as she is left with no one to teach her, guide her and defend her so she ends up turning into a fiercely independent tomboy who is a self-taught cook and, as such, her cooking, well, sucks. She is literally the farthest thing from a Mary Sue ever. 

Then, Issei may be a modern version of a prince but while young, he has been taught since an early age and has a very unconventional unique upbringing in a modern world - he is the one who excels at cooking (because he had someone who actually taught him), can tie kimonos, knows the proper etiquette, can arrange flowers and knows their language and meaning. 

You would expect all those things from a woman, not a man; however, he is not only educated and good at them, he has a natural talent for them. In this way, the drama re-invents the Cinderella story, gives it a new original meaning and a breath of fresh air. 

Thus, you can see all these details in which Hayame’s relationship with Issei differs from her marriage - they are left to live together alone in what is basically a simulated marriage, but she doesn’t end up in the traditional role of a woman and housewife whose purpose is to provide dinner/food for her husband who comes back from work. She used to work back then, too, even if only part time. Now, it’s her who works full-time while Issei works part-time but despite it they share the cooking and he, fittingly, ends up being the better cook, completely changing up the dynamic of the traditional roles both in the original fairytale and male/female relationships in general.

Except for a brief denial stage caused by his confused feelings, Issei has always been honest with Hayame, sometimes brutally so, be it regarding the major issues or mundane everyday things like her cooking skills. 

He treats her the way she wants her to treat him, and, as a result, he rightfully expects the same honesty and consideration in return from her. He doesn’t want any lies or secrets between them, he wants a conversation not a deafening silence, regardless whether they are lovers or friends. 

He wants honesty and equality and instead, Hayame is trying to dismiss him as a child again in an attempt to avoid the problem because it’s uncomfortable and she doesn’t want to have a messy argument or worry him. She should have known by now that that’s exactly the attitude which led to the failure of her marriage. Not that they are an excuse or justification for cheating, but Masahiro raised some good points about the things he disliked about her and it’s time Hayame learns from her past mistakes.

Marriage/romantic relationship is not a one-person show, the point of it being you are not alone to deal with your problems, some burdens should be shared and if not, the other person feels left out because their partner keeps secrets from them which then leaves many opportunities for misunderstandings and creates a rift that keeps growing between the couple. Hayame’s greatest strengths - her self-reliance and independence - which allowed her to survive on her own so far become her greatest weaknesses and drag her down now. 

Issei immediately realizes Hayame has been putting a mask around him, trying to make herself look cheerful and happy, he can see through it right away as she can never fool him because he knows her so well and, frankly, she couldn’t pretend even if her life depended on it just like him. She fails to notice that this sort of consideration and selflessness are a double-edged sword. 

It’s both apt and ironic she tries to dismiss him as a child because her stubborness, discomfort and avoidance maker HER appear like a child and Issei the one 10 years older with his patience, calm and and persistence on discussing and solving the whole issue. This time it’s him who calls her out on her bullshit and childishness.

Issei notices everything about Hayame, including her mood swings which also refer to the mixed signals she’s been sending him, and how could he not when he always watches her so searchingly as if he were trying to look inside her soul, trying to spot every quiver of her lashes and nervous press of her lips. 

Thus, he can sense and predict what she plans to do because he can read her like an open book after watching her so closely for so long but also because he’s been there where Hayame is right now - he had been running away for the past 10 years before he met her and she saved him by making him realize he had been fucking up his life that way, therfore he gets angry seeing her repeating his mistakes. 

Moreover, he is scared shitless he may one day wake up and end up like Seigo, abandoned by her, not even left with a direction where to look at her, because she thinks she is not good enough and fears she might drag him down and mess up his life.

Despite it all, Issei doesn’t think about himself first, he thinks about Hayame and what it is she truly wants. She feels so lost and conflicted, fretting and completely panicking and he pretty much tells her ‘fuck the world and other people! You are the only person who matters! Think about yourself first and do what you truly wish to do even if it makes them hate you.’ And from the hopeful way she looks at him, it’s exactly what she needs to hear and wants to truly do but lacks the courage to go through with it just yet. 

Finally, THIS SHOT on the sofa! It pretty much says ‘married, in the middle of marital crisis and before a huge life-changing conversation’!

[editoress]

the gay pirate flag show~, legend of zelda, unsounded, suitor armor, star wars + pick your poison

From this most dangerous ask prompt. Salt for each under the cut. Half thoughtful attention to my favorite medias and half proof that I'm simply contrary.

Our Flag Means Death

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

Sadly, fandom has largely trashed my appreciation for Steddyhands (the ot3, you know). When I first saw it, I was instantly intrigued! They looked so happy; I wanted to know more! But the majority of what I found at the time was 'perfectly healthy Ed/Stede where they have to housetrain that awful Izzy,' and that was such a turn-off. I have found just enough good content since that I don't immediately scroll past the stuff, but it remains dire out here.

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

It's the deadly combo of the way people make Izzy out to be the very devil with the way they make BLACKBEARD out to be an uwu sad boy who can't help his own actions. This comes as a package deal more often than not, and I can't stand any of it. Can't they just be a couple of homicidal assholes?

Legend of Zelda

16. If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

This Hylia and Demise stuff? Would be gonzo. Wind Waker probably had one of the best, most heartbreaking approaches to the cycle, and I want to keep canon along those lines. Less ancient spirits manifesting as people to duke out their cosmic battle. More people born into roles they struggle to understand and resist. Zelda as a smart woman who questions her own destiny. Ganondorf as a Gerudo, in a way where that context informs his actions, not where he's just some incarnated demon disguised as a Gerudo.

Unsounded

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

DUANE ADELIER FUCKS. HE FUCKED THEN AND HE FUCKS NOW. AND I WOULD FUCK HIM

11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

Probably all of them. Cope just makes baller characters that I love to see, excepting the occasional 2D hate-target like Starfish. In particular: people can't wrap their minds around Bastion's mad scientist morality, but the fact is he's fantastic both as a character and as an entertaining, badass drama queen; and several people got nasty at Leysa for remarrying, but she ALWAYS has my full support. She's always done what makes sense for her, and she is full of love.

Suitor Armor

7. Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?

Honestly? The protagonist is on thin ice. And it's not because she's a bad character; I'm having a great time writing Lucia in my ongoing fic. It's the protagonist bias in the story. We get so few scenes away from her, because only what Lucia does matters, yet she does so little. It's a slow court romance story. Not a lot of plot. Which is fine, but it means following one person around gets boring, and giving a single person all the narrative weight in a fantasy court setting is a weird move. Most of all, I'm getting impatient with the way the narrative supports everything she does as absolutely correct, no consequences to be found.

23. Unpopular character you love?

The villain, of course! Every single time he shows up, I think of the line, "Have you thanked a villain for your plot today?" He's fun. He has style. But most importantly, he's carrying the plot on his back and I'm grateful for some juicy conflict in between the scenes of pining. A lot of fans hate him because they think a cartoon guy should be judged on real life morality. You've seen the type of fan

Star Wars

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

I never hated Reylo, but fandom definitely cannonballed me from casually liking it to actively, deeply enjoying it. 99% of my dash became utterly obnoxious whining about how Reylo, the basic baby's first enemies-to-lovers, was scandalously abusive, etc. Out of annoyance, I really dug into the themes and AUs, and I super enjoyed myself!

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

If I ever meet Dave Filoni and His Cronis, they will all pay for the pacifist Mandalore arc.

[ibijau]

Concubine nhs pt10 / on AO3

Lan Qiren was predictably satisfied that next morning to learn that his nephew was finally willing to let him start looking for a young woman who would become empress. He had been pressing for it even before Lan Xichen met Nie Huaisang, and it had since become one of their few causes for arguments. This change of opinion pleased him so well that Lan Xichen felt a fresh new layer of guilt adding up to what was already plaguing him.

“I’m glad that boy can make you behave, where I can’t,” Lan Qiren said after being fed a lie. “I suppose I should have expected it. He’s smart, when he bothers.” To this Lan Xichen replied with a puzzled look, so his uncle explained. “I’ve been sending him books to study, and he sends notes saying what he thought of them. His understanding is usually shallow on most subjects, but he makes interesting observations sometimes. A good teacher might make something of him.”

That was something that Nie Huaisang had mentioned. Or at least, he had said that Lan Qiren was sending him books, blaming those less frivolous volumes he had in the little house on the emperor’s uncle. The way he’d spoken about it seemed to imply that he was not reading them, and he certainly never said anything about writing his own commentary on them.

It upset Lan Xichen to think that his uncle might have known Nie Huaisang better than he did.

He wondered if there was anyone who didn't know Nie Huaisang better than he did.

“If shufu thinks so, then he’s welcome to see if Huaisang might be interested in being taught,” Lan Xichen said, keeping his tone polite and distant. “Once I am married, I fear I might have less time to devote to him. Studying would provide him with something to do.”

And perhaps Nie Mingjue would hate Lan Xichen a little less in the future if his brother was given a chance for education. Perhaps that could still be saved. If Lan Qiren was the one to find him a teacher, it would certainly be a good one. Nothing but the best would do for an imperial concubine, and Lan Qiren had very high standards.

“I’ll see what can be arranged,” Lan Qiren promised. “I might visit him myself if I have time. I’ve missed having a student, and I’m curious about that boy. Even Wangji seems to think well of him, I can't continue ignoring him eternally.”

Lan Xichen smiled with as much joy as he could fake. He would have to warn Nie Huaisang then. His uncle was not prone to gossip, but he might become upset at Lord Nie for having used his son in such a manner, and Lan Xichen did not wish to see that friendship compromised. Not only that, but he did not want to be scolded for having behaved like a fool. He was ashamed enough about everything that had happened without his uncle lecturing him about it.

Having dealt with that matter, Lan Xichen went on with his day, not without some difficulty. He found it hard to focus on councils, or the people to whom he granted audiences. Every problem was important, and deserved his full attention, but his mind was elsewhere, and only through great effort did he manage to do his duty. Only a bad emperor would let private business distract him from his empire, he'd always been told, and yet there he was.

It took just as much effort to get ready to go to the little house that evening. Lan Xichen had prepared some reports he needed to read, hoping to somehow turn the time spent in that house into something productive. That plan crumbled when he opened the door only to be greeted by Nie Huaisang, dressed in his finest clothes, wearing too much jewellery, smiling at him as if nothing had happened.

“You’re home!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed, springing from the sofa where he’d been sitting and running toward Lan Xichen who only escaped his concubine’s embrace by holding up a hand and pushing him away.

“What are you doing?” Lan Xichen snarled.

Nie Huaisang stumbled, his smile wavering. He stared at Lan Xichen for a moment, eyes wide and terrified, before quickly lowering his gaze as he bowed deeply.

“His highness said he would continue visiting,” Nie Huaisang mumbled. “This humble one thought his highness would wish… that I should…”

“No!” Lan Xichen exclaimed, so embarrassed it made him nauseous.

He still wanted Nie Huaisang, still loved him. He couldn’t help it, not even when he now knew that the person he loved wasn’t real. But as much as he’d been desperate the day before for any sign that Nie Huaisang might wish to continue his comedy, now that it was truly happening, the thought of it was appalling. It was bad enough that he’d unknowingly taken advantage in the past, but to still kiss Nie Huaisang and take him to bed while fully aware that the other man did not want him back would have been criminal.

He’d made a mistake in taking what was only offered under duress. He would not make another mistake in continuing to take advantage.

“We’re not doing that anymore,” Lan Xichen said, prompting Nie Huaisang to raise his eyes and throw him a confused look. “I’ve told you, I’m only continuing to come here to avoid giving the impression that your family fell out of favour. I’m not… I won’t ask that of you again. You can be safe on that regard at least!”

That reassurance did not have the intended effect, and Nie Huaisang only looked more distressed. Perhaps now that the initial shock of being discovered had passed, he was worried about what his father would say when he heard about that failure, and truly hoped to mend what had broken. Lan Xichen felt angry, but sorry too. Maybe when the war was over, he would find a way to free Nie Huaisang from his current position without sending him back to face his father.

Maybe Lan Qiren had the right idea, about finding him a teacher. If Nie Huaisang could pass the exams and enter the administration, his father might find it harder to punish him.

“In the future, when I come here, just continue on as if you were alone,” Lan Xichen ordered. “I will do the same. You don’t need to dress up like this, either. Just keep on what you’d normally wear.”

“Yes, your highness.”

Lan Xichen opened his mouth, ready to say there was no need to be using his title, only to quickly change his mind. Much as that new proof of the distance between them pained him, it would be worse to be addressed in a familiar manner. This was safer.

“Let’s eat,” Lan Xichen decided. “Then I will work for a while and sleep. You’ll take the bed,” he added after a moment of reflection. “I’ll take the sofa.”

“Your highness should take the bed,” Nie Huaisang protested. “It would be more suitable.”

“The sofa is fine.”

Nie Huaisang hesitated, and bowed even deeper. “His highness is tall, and the sofa is not long enough for him to lay down comfortably. This humble one is shorter, and has fallen asleep there many times without issues.”

It was reasonable, but Lan Xichen disliked the idea of sending Nie Huaisang to sleep on the sofa while keeping the bed to himself. It would feel like taking advantage again.

“You take the bed,” he insisted. “I might not even sleep at all anyway. I have a lot of work.”

Nie Huaisang looked unconvinced. He pouted, as if ready to say something about Lan Xichen’s stubbornness, as he did sometimes. But remembering he didn’t have to pretend to care anymore, he just lowered his eyes and gave up on the matter.

The evening, after that, went on quietly and awkwardly. They ate without a word, Lan Xichen having to fight several times the impulse to put in Nie Huaisang’s bowl some vegetables he knew the other man liked, or to ask him about his day. That heavy silence between them was hard to handle and yet necessary, or so Lan Xichen tried to convince himself. When they were done, the table was freed and cleaned to Lan Xichen could work, while Nie Huaisang grabbed a book and took refuge on the bed. It was the same military treaty as the previous day. Lan Xichen couldn’t help being upset about that for some reason, though he tried to focus on the reports he’d brought.

Tried, and failed.

"Shufu has told me he'd like to come see you," Lan Xichen announced after a while, when he found himself glancing at Nie Huaisang again and their eyes met. "He is interested in talking to you about the books he's made you read. I would appreciate if you kept our current situation from him." 

"Of course, your highness,” Nie Huaisang replied, curling up a little tighter in his corner of the bed.

"He also spoke of finding you a teacher. If that's something you'd like, tell him. We have to start planning for your future after the war." 

"Yes, your highness." 

Lan Xichen frowned, wanting to ask what Nie Huaisang wanted, but refrained from it. Lan Qiren would be told, and he was the one who could organise those things. Having warned Nie Huaisang, the rest was out of Lan Xichen's hands. 

For a good while longer, Lan Xichen continued reading. He took notes as long as he could, until tiredness made that impossible. Then he laid down on the sofa, forced to fold his body in a rather uncomfortable position as he continued reading. 

After those last few days, even a bad position was not enough to keep Lan Xichen awake through the night. Without noticing he fell asleep, and only woke up a little before dawn. His aching back was what woke him, but the first thing he really noticed was that someone had wrapped a heavy blanket around him while he slept. 

There could be no doubt that it was Nie Huaisang’s doing. Aside from the two of them, nobody would have dared to enter the little house at night. Servants had been instructed quite strictly from the start to wait until morning to pick up empty dishes, unless ordered otherwise. But as to why Nie Huaisang would do such a thing, Lan Xichen couldn't be sure. 

It might have been nothing more than duty, and the need for every subject to care for their emperor. Or perhaps it was merely the force of habit, after three years of living together. Or else, if Lan Xichen allowed himself a moment of weakness, he could pretend that Nie Huaisang did care for him, not as an emperor but as a person.

A pleasant illusion to have in the vanishing darkness, but which could not be lingered on as morning light lazily inundated the little house. 

Lan Xichen got up from the sofa, and stretched as best as he could when he wouldn't let go of that blanket. Out of habit, he turned his attention to the bed, where Nie Huaisang was sleeping deeply. Just like Lan Xichen, he must have fallen asleep by accident: his candle had entirely consumed itself, and his book laid open on the mattress, not far from his hand. 

It wasn't an unfamiliar scene. Nie Huaisang would sometimes stay awake later than was reasonable, reading about poetry or devouring a novel. What Lan Xichen would do then, what he did again that morning, was to pick up the discarded book, placing something in it to keep the page. He would then make sure Nie Huaisang was warm enough, which he did that time by giving back the blanket offered to him during the night. And then, because Nie Huaisang always looked so sweet and peaceful in sleep, he would… 

Lan Xichen froze above Nie Huaisang, having stopped just before his lips could touch the other man's. He remained that way a moment, hardly daring to breathe as the realisation of what he had almost done hit him. Then, as if struck by an invisible force, he quickly stumbled back, nearly tripping on the hem of his robe in his haste to put distance between himself and the sleeping young man. 

Habit was a powerful thing, Lan Xichen thought as he hurried to make himself presentable so he could leave that cursed house. 

He would have to be more careful in the future.

[cantteachanoldguardnewquotes]

A "Scandal."

Read on AO3

Summary: A lady accuses Nicky of cheating on Joe and Joe thinks they're an idiot.

"Oh, hello." 

Joe grit his teeth just for a moment before turning around with a pleasant smile. "Hi there, Nora." 

"I didn't think you would still be here. Waiting for me?" She winked at him. 

"The boss just wanted me to finish filling out these papers for him, that's all."

"Hmmm, pity." She said trying to be coy.  "It's so late, let me get some dinner for us and we can finish our paper work together." 

It took a lot for Joe not to make a face. "That's alright. Nicky will have food warming for me when I get home." He emphasized the words Nicky and home just a bit. 

"Oh come on, it's my treat." 

He shrugged an apology. "Maybe another time." 

"Well, I hope your leftovers are... Satisfying." She turned on her heel and walked away quickly. 

Joe waited until she was gone and then turned around with an exaggerated eye roll that no one could see. This job had been going on for way to long, and he was sick of it. He went back to his "paperwork" that the boss had definitely not told him to do and continued scanning the files for anything incriminating. They had it on good authority that the head of this company had kidnapped a girl but they still couldn't prove it. He had broken into the bosses office cause he didn't think anyone was still here and brought the papers back to his cubicle. Of course Nora would still be here, she probably sensed his presence and came running. This job wouldn't be nearly as irksome if it wasn't for her. 

He finished looking through the files and then very carefully replaced them in his bosses office. They hadn't been any help but it was worth a shot. 

He texted Nicky he was on his way home, drove to the the little apartment they were renting, and trudged inside. 

Just like he knew he would, Nicky, had dinner warm and waiting, the predictability of it made Joe smile and instead of sitting at the table like Nicky directed him too, he made a bee line for Nicky. 

Nicky laughed at the bear hug Joe gave him, squeezing Joe just as tight as Joe was holding him.

"What's got you in such a clingy mood, hmm?" Nicky teased when Joe didn't let go of him when he usually would have. 

"You're cooking is so much better than takeout." 

Nicky pulled back enough to look at Joe in confusion. "Thank you?" 

"And I knew you would have something waiting for me." 

"Of course, I told you this morning I would make dinner and keep it warm for you." Nicky said still confused. 

"Thank you, my love. I really couldn't ask for more." He kissed Nicky, gently, moving his hands to cradle his neck. "I love you." He said when he pulled back.

"I love you too." Nicky said as he ran his hand through Joe's curls. "But you must be starving. Sit and we can eat." 

Joe glanced at the clock. "You haven't eaten? You didn't have to wait for me, it's late." 

Nicky smiled. "I wanted to." 

Nicky had made a chicken and rice dish and it smelled heavenly. It tasted just as heavenly Joe thought after taking his first bite. 

"What's on your mind?" Nicky asked after they had eaten in silence for a while. 

"That woman, Nora, asked me to eat with her after work again. I swear she has a sixth sense for when I'm by myself, she finds me every time. I don't think I've ever had to turn someone down this many times." 

Nicky smirked. "You're to charming for your own good." 

Joe absently rubbed his ring with his thumb. "I told her you would have food at home for me and she implied it would be terrible leftovers." 

Nicky chuckled "So, the first thing you did when you walked in was compliment it even before you ate any of it." 

"Your cooking is always good." Joe took a large bite, almost like he was trying to prove his words, making Nicky laugh.

"She's bothering you that much?" Nicky said his smile replaced with a look of concern. 

"She's just annoying. The first job in forever where I get to tell people I'm a married man and somehow I'm stuck with the most persistent suiter in years." 

None of this would bother Joe nearly as much if she hadn't met Nicky and still made advances. Joe couldn't decide if he was more insulted that she deemed Nicky an unfit partner or if she thought they weren't going to last. 

"I'm sure we'll be finished soon." Nicky said sympathetically, he'd had his own run ins with this woman since he and Joe were working in the same place. She had taken an instant disliking to him even before she knew they were together. It was certainly making everything harder but she was one of the higher ups and they both needed to be nice to her. 

Joe sighed. "You're right, of course, but it's frustrating." 

"Maybe this will help cheer you up." Nicky stood up and opened the freezer, pulling out Joe's favorite flavor of gelato. 

Joe's eyes lit up and he grinned ear to ear.

Nicky was predictable but he knew how to make a small surprise count. 

******

Joe was taking his lunch break outside on the grass, tucked behind some bushes so it would be difficult to spot him from the parking lot or main entrance. If he had to suffer another lunch break where Nora ate with him, saying anything to drag conversation out of him, he was going to lose it. He was very happily reading on his phone, when he heard someone approaching. 

"It's such a beautiful day I thought I'd eat outside too. I guess great minds think alike." Nora smiled down at him. She didn't even ask just sat down and made herself comfortable. 

"Hello, Nora." Joe said, trying to decide if he should just keep reading and ignore her or not. Ultimately politeness won and he put away his phone, but he started eating a little faster. 

"Why were you eating all alone? If you had asked I would have joined you sooner."

"I like the quiet sometimes." Joe said.

She pursed her lips. "How dreadfully boring." She tilted her head to the side just a bit. "Why doesn't that Nicky fellow ever eat with you? You said the two of you know each other didn't you? Why don't I ever see you together?"

Joe bristled at her tone, like she was dismissing Nicky, like he wasn't the most important person in Joe's world. "My husband." He emphasized the word just a bit. "Works in the warehouse part of the company and takes his lunches earlier because he gets here earlier."

"Oh you did say you two were married didn't you? Silly me, must have slipped my mind." She shook her head in an 'I'm such an airhead' kind of way. "How long have you been together?"

"Almost a millennia." Joe deadpans sarcastically.

She rolls her eyes. "Oh come on. I bet you can't even remember how long you two have been together. Guys never can."

If only she knew. "We've been married twelve years."

"You've been tied down for that long? What a tragedy to get married so young." 

Before Joe can respond she leans in far closer than Joe is comfortable with and places her hand on his knee. "If you ever want to have a little fun just let me know." She slowly walked her hand up his thigh. "Surely, you must want to change things up sometimes." 

Joe ground his teeth together, knocked her hand off of him, and stood quickly. "I would never be unfaithful to my husband." He started gathering up his things. "And I would ask you to not forget that." He quickly walked back into the building trying to hide his anger from the people he passed, wishing for the millionth time he could end this job and put the whole thing behind him.

******

A few days passed and it was Nicky who found the evidence they needed to incriminate the boss. He had broken into the guys house and was able to send Copley some files he'd had saved on his home computer. 

They were waiting for Copley to get back with them, keeping their covers and going about their lives like everything was normal, waiting for the all clear to pull out. 

"Joe, I need you to come with me to my office." Nora said, he hadn't heard her approach and her voice startled him a little. 

As he followed her there, he worried she might have discovered what he and Nicky were really there for, but knew it was more likely she's just using whatever she wants to tell him as an excuse to get them alone. 

Once inside Nora closed the door to her office and gestured for him to sit. Instead of sitting in her chair behind the desk she took the one next to him. 

Joe frowned ever so slightly. This wasn't going to be about work he found himself thinking. 

"Joe I... I hate to be the one to tell you this but... "She stammered out the words like she was about to tell him someone had died. "But I believe Nicky is having an affair."

Her eyes were filled with pity, as she said this, but Joe couldn't help but compare it to a child trying to get another kid in trouble. There was nothing sincere about the look, despite her best efforts to make him believe otherwise.

Joe didn't bother hiding the fact he didn't believe the nonsense she was saying. He crossed his arms and looked at her in an 'oh really' kind of way.

She raised her chin a little, indignant at his response. "I have proof." 

Joe had to swallow a laugh, but he couldn't quite keep all the amusement off his face. Whatever "proof" she had was gonna be good.

She pulled out her phone and brought up a picture for him to look at. 

He took the phone to get a better look.

When he saw who was in the picture, Joe really couldn't hold back and he barked out a laugh. It was a picture of Nicky, and he was giving Nile a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "That's your proof?" 

Andy and Nile had been working on locating the girl and they all had decided to keep their distance from each other for a while. They had located the girl and had gotten her out safely just a day before this was taken. Nicky had mentioned running into Nile yesterday and he couldn't resist a quick hello since they had pretty much everything they needed.

"I wouldn't know what else to call it." She told him, miffed at his response. 

Joe laughed again. "Nora, that's his sister. His adopted younger sister. He told me he ran into her yesterday and they talked for a while." 

Nora's face went red. "Well, then, I'm glad you have nothing to worry about." 

"No, I don't, not with Nicky, but what I am concerned about is, were you following my husband? Or did you hire someone to do it for you?" He quickly deleted the picture and swiped left and right to make sure there weren't more.

"I... of course not! I was just passing through when I saw the two of them and thought you'd want to know. Guess it's the last time I do you any favors." She looked angry and Joe knew she was mad he had turned the question of who was in the wrong on her so fast.

"Yeah ok. I think we're done here." He stood up to go, and he felt his phone buzz. He had a feeling he knew who it was and paused to check.

It was Nicky. All clear we're leaving now. Copley has everything he needed. The text said.

Joe paused his hand resting on the door knob. "You can consider this mine and Nicky's resignation. We won't be back tomorrow or any other day."

"You can't do that you didn't give the company a two weeks notice!" Nora spluttered in disbelief. "You wouldn't quit just because I tried to help you out would you?"

"I would and I am." He opened the door and started walking.

"Thanks for the terrible experience. It's been a displeasure." He said over his shoulder.

Joe walked out of there as fast as he could and didn't bother collecting his things, it wasn't anything important.

He texted back ok, where are we meeting? Once outside.

Nicky called him immediately.

"How far are you from fifth and elm?" Nicky asked.

"About a fifteen minute walk. I'm just leaving the office."

"Ok, Andy has a car. We'll pick you up at the corner of third and elm."

"Great see you soon."

He climbed into the backseat where Nicky was sitting and squeezed in close to him.

Nile was in the front and Andy was driving.

Joe busted out laughing once they were driving and settled. "Nile I'd appreciate it if you would stop flirting with my husband in public." He said, his voice light and teasing.

Nile looked back at him and couldn't help but return his smile even though she had no idea what he was talking about. "What?"

"This lady accused Nicky of having an affair and she showed me a picture of the two of you together, hugging and kissing." He laughed again at how ridiculous the whole thing was.

"Wait what? Nora was following me?" Nicky asked, surprised, he knew immediately that Joe couldn't be talking about anyone else.

"I think it was mostly coincidence. It doesn't matter she won't be bothering us again."

"Wow, Nicky, the two of us will have to be more careful in the future if we want to make this relationship work." Nile teased.

"Yeah, I didn't realize Joe has eyes and ears everywhere on me." Nicky gently tugged on one of Joe's curls.

"Oh, you know I'm always watching you babe." Joe leaned in and kissed him, his heart soared as Nicky tangled his hand in Joe's hair holding him close.

Andy gasped in fake shock. "Right in front of you Nile? How could he!" She said highly amused by the whole situation.

"You wound me Nicky." Nile put the back of her hand on her forehead and fell back in her seat, pretending to faint.

Nicky tisked his tongue at her. "So dramatic."

They all laughed and Nicky and Nile's "affair" became a new running joke between them.

[stellocchia]

hey, do you have some advice? i'm not really a niki apologist but i feel the intense urge to defend her pov. i dunno if its because of previous exp in their fandoms that just endlessly shit on girl characters or not or if its because i'm a girl who dislikes seeing a girl character's pov about her feelings and thoughts being used the way they are by the community. on both sides ofc because honestly i'm sick of both and idk what to do.

Well, I'm not really the biggest expert on c!Niki's character to be honest, but I do completely get where your frustration comes from. C!Niki from my understanding of her truly does get misunderstood A LOT and this latest debate is proof of it.

About her character:

Like, are there parts of her character I don't particularly like and think were badly executed? Yes. Honestly season 2 as a whole was a trainwreak for her character. Like, I understand that she was not acting rationally and that she's one of the characters who fell for c!Dream's propaganda during it (ending up convinced that Tommy was the source of all problems), but she was basically irrelevant that whole season. Beginning of season 3 isn't necessarily better. The team rocket arc mostly work because it showcases c!Niki's mentality and way of thinking quite well, but the resulotion of it felt way too abrupt and unearned to be honest.

THAT SAID, I don't think she's a bad character per se. I think that if you look at her narrative it's mostly consistent (except for the one problem I pointed out) and it works with the bigger narrative as well. It's an interesting show of the importance of attachments showing what happens when you loose them without getting rid of them yourself. She's honestly what c!Techno could have been if he was complex enough to be called a character: choosing to lash out with violence and choosing revenge actually making you miserable which fits in with the overarching message of the smp.

And now we get to my biggest crux when it comes to her character: how the fandom treats her.

The fervent apologist problem:

All the people who were supporting her for burning the L'Mantree or who were clamoring for her to kill c!Tommy or c!Wilbur actually completely misread her character and often only boil her down to her gender and nothing more. "She's cool and right in trying to kill a traumatized teen that never did anything wrong to her because she's a woman and that means she's a girlboss" type of mentality.

That's honestly such a disservice to her actual character, it's embarassing. C!Niki as a character is someone who has lived through a dictatorship and a war, she's someone who's opinions and words honestly never mattered (similarly to Fundy) and who chose kindness anyway. She chose to build the Secret City because she cared and wanted to help... but that didn't work out because it wouldn't be the smp if it did. She isolated herself from others burying herself in her work and slowly loosing her connections which made her feel even more abandoned which caused her to lash out. She's a tragic character and (crappy Syndicate connection aside) she's written well enough as one. She's not there to be people's Empowered Female Character that can do now wrong because she's barely a character, her gender is NOT what's important about her.

There is also the thing that a lot of people are uncomfortable with which is the tendency of the fandom to try and pit extremely traumatized characters against each other as if that would solve anything ever and as if that would serve any purpouse aside from sending a very bad message. They do it with c!Tubbo and c!Tommy, constantly trying to make their friendship out to be this horribly unhealthy thing when it's not and they're doing it now with c!Niki and c!Wilbur and it's uncomfortable.

c!Niki is her own character, stop making her story about c!Wilbur:

Now the diametrically opposite problem which I've seen a ton of possibly because I follow a ton of c!Wilbur apologists is people making her story about c!Wilbur.

I've seen this even more after the last stream which honestly said nothing about c!Wilbur. The whole stream was about c!Niki and HER view of the world, the way SHE thinks and the way SHE copes with trauma. C!Wilbur was the focus of her anger only in name because truly the focus was an unholy amalgamation of everything bad that ever happened to her. It wasn't good characterization for c!Wilbur because it wasn't supposed to be. And YET most of the analysis on that stream that I've seen was about HIM. About how none of what she says should matter for our perception of his character, about the fact that he did care, about: "but look at everything he did for her", about the fact that he too is hurt and spiraling about everything BUT HER.

And I get it really, it's annoying to see your favourite character get mischaracterized and see so many people advocate someone else hurting them or killing them (though with c!Tommy being my fave I'm a bit desensitized to it by now. It's really an everyday occurence for us), it's worrying and annoying and I get that. But this stream was not about him and they made it about him. They made it so c!Niki anjoyers have to sift through a shitton of drama just so they can maybe find something on the stream that's about HER and that honestly sucks. Heck, the closest I could find to it was people condescedingly going "punching c!Wilbur would not help c!Niki heal" and I'm just here like: "yeah no shit Sherlock! Can we talk about how she casually mentioned throwing herself off her own buildings and starving herself now? Because that's FAR more interesting honestly".

I think the biggest problem here is people on both sides not understanding that, while c!Niki's story seems to heavily involve c!Wilbur in name that's not actually the case, especially since her story far outlasted his. Her problems won't be all solved by punching him NOR by talking to him and solving their issues because that means assuming that her problems are, in fact, all originated from him. They aren't. They could go back to be friends and nothing would be resolved (and that's without even considering that c!Wilbur is not someone healthy to have around at the moment) because c!Niki's problems come from her tendency to isolate herself and slowly but surely chip away at her own systems of support. Basically she needs therapy and to possibly re-establish her connections to people who aren't, you know, extremely violent war criminals with no capacity for introspection.

[egotheplanet]

One Soul (Din Djarin x Reader)

Summary: Finally married, Din can remove his helmet to show his face to Y/N. (Based on this post by me)

Word Count: 3.2k

Part Two

The sound of their heartbeats resonate almost as loud as the crowd cheering around them. Despite the horrendous purge dwindling their numbers and forcing them into hiding, this joyous unity of two souls is reason for applause and celebration by the Mandalorians.

A wedding ceremony between the famous Mandalorian, Din Djarin and his new bride, Y/N. They’re beyond famous in these parts and others for their skill and close relationship. A noble foe against any who try them.

Their hands clasp together tight as they run side by side down the tunnel. The sides of it are lined shoulder to shoulder with Mandalorians.

Behind his helmet, Din smiles. A real genuine smile that he couldn’t control, not that he wanted to. Happy moments like this are fleeting but he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to relish this while it lasted.

Up ahead lay the ship, prepped with gifts and money alike for their post-ceremony vacation. They’re finally going to spend quality time together without needing a job or worrying about the other while being separated.

Y/N nearly trips up on her ceremonial dress as she struggles to keep up with her new husband.

‘He’s my husband..’ She thinks to herself and feels her heart swell as the sudden realization hits her.

He glances down, her glossy eyes and adoring features shining back at herself in the reflection of his helmet.

He notices her trip, and stops walking all together to bend and help her gather up the dress in his arms.

“You okay? Are you getting overwhelmed?” His concerned voice barely registers over the clapping.

“I’m alright, your legs are just a bit long.” She teases and tries not to blush at his close proximity to her hips.

“I’m sorry, I’ll slow down for you.” He rises once again with the flowing train in his arms.

He keeps his word and slows his pace. And it doesn’t go unappreciated by Y/N.

With her legs in view now, including her garter belt, it opens up for some hollers from the raunchier and more confident men.

“Congrats Djarin, what a catch!”

“That belt won’t be the only thing coming off tonight!” This particular call warrants a larger response from the Mandalorians in the tunnel than the previous one. They cheer and high five one another at the apparent inside-joke.

Y/N felt confused but didn’t say anything, continuing to keep up with Din.

“I can’t believe we’re actually married.” His voice modulator doesn’t mask his happiness.

“I know what you mean, time really flies when you’re having fun.” Her smile is wide as she reaches up to squeeze his bicep in reassurance.

Finally, they break the end of the tunnel. Light floods in and she shields her eyes for a moment before becoming accustomed once again.

There, just ahead, their ship waits alongside the rest of their shared life.

They both exchange a sigh of relief and continue to the ship. Climbing aboard and closing the ramp, the air inside is stunningly silent in comparison to the outside.

The Mandalorians boots stomp against the floor and ladder as he climbs up to start the ship.

The lack of windows below deck offer privacy to Y/N. She begins unzipping and dropping clothes, sashes and any other ceremonial garb.

The mandalorian leans back in his pilots seat to glance through the hole to steal a look at his almost naked new bride.

“I know you’re watching me and not taking off.” She shoots up at him as she pulls her gray working shirt over her head. It’s a nice change of pace from the lacy pinching dress.

“I can multitask.” He smirks, not that she could see but could hear it in his voice. Leaning forward again he flips a few more switches. “Taking off. Hold onto something for a few seconds.”

Doing as she’s advised, she leans against the ladder and grips onto it. The ship jerks and sways as it lifts into the air.

They have a long way to go before they make their destination. A honeymoon fit for a couple of bounty hunters is a place that’s remote, sunny and cheap.

Y/N didn’t care where they went, so long as they were together. If Din had his way, they wouldn’t even take a vacation. They’d go on a bounty as celebration of their nuptials.

‘The man is as married to his work as he is to me now.’ She laughed to herself as she thought about how stubborn her husband is.

She continues to laugh to herself as she reminisces all their previous talks about what they thought married life would be like. Y/N climbs the ladder to sit in the passenger seat beside Din.

She calls it the co-pilots seat even though she doesn’t need to pilot anything. Din glances over at her to acknowledge her presence beside him.

“What’s so funny?” He asks.

“Do you remember that time those Jawas took my engagement ring and tried to make you buy it back? And you said..” she clicks her teeth trying to remember. “What was it you said?”

He clearly doesn’t love the memory as much as her. She finds it hilarious and loved the little creatures whereas Din found them bitter little pestilences. He’s got to admit just a little though, this memory was one of the better ones to look back on.

“I said ‘Dank Farrik! I already bought the damn thing. I’ll scorch any little womp-rat that tries to make me buy it again.’ And they handed it back along with some of the ships landing gear that I never even noticed they had taken.” His voice was annoyed at first by the memory but quickly turned amused at his own heroics.

“You’re probably a household name in the Jawa-sphere. You terrorize those poor little things.”

“They’re thieves!” He says exasperated.

She just responds with more laughter and patting his shoulder.

“Okay, okay relax. They aren’t gonna get you out here, don’t worry.” She teases lovingly.

There’s a comfortable silence as he continues to flip switches, steering expertly while she watches him navigate the empty air ahead.

“You were quick to change out of your dress.” He quips, knowing how much she disliked such a fluffy gown.

“It was heavy and I kept tripping on it! You got to wear your beskar which you’re used to. I prefer my cargo pants and long sleeved shirt thank you.” She crossed her arms and leaned back into her chair.

The Mandalorian from the tunnel who said ‘That belt won’t be the only thing coming off tonight!’ returns to her memory.

“Hey, Din?”

He mumbles a ‘hmm?’

“What did that guy mean when he said ‘That belt won’t be the only thing coming off tonight’? That’s just, like, a sex thing? Right?” Her voice was curious and she tried to maintain a tone of nonchalance. But she could tell it was more of an insiders-league thing— and she wanted in.

He tensed up slightly, weighing the options of lying or telling the truth. He quickly came to the decision of telling the truth. Din didn’t want to start off a lifetime of happiness with lies. Even for something as important to him as this.

He stayed silent for a few moments as he flipped switches and transitioned the ship into autopilot. After successfully doing so, he swiveled his chair around to look at her fully. As fully as he could through a helmet, that is.

His gloved hands came out to take in her smaller unclothed ones.

She laughs slightly, nerves bleeding through it.

“Is everything alright..?” She raises an eyebrow at his sudden excess attention.

“Since we’re married now.. it means we’re connected. Two souls in one.” He starts softly. “This means that I can take my helmet off when I’m around you. In a private area when it’s just you and I, I won’t have to wear my helmet.”

Her jaw drops and she takes a deep breath to steady herself.

“You’re serious? You’re gonna take your helmet off for me?” Her voice is growing more excited by the second and she can’t help it. This triggers rapidly growing anxiety in the beskar adorned man.

Having the knowledge her husband, who she’s known for years but never ever truly seen, is going to take off his helmet so she can properly meet him is exciting. It’s incredible! It’s unbelievable! It’s—

“I will. But.. Not yet. I’m not ready.” His voice is monotone and she can’t read any emotion whatsoever.

‘He’s too good at that.’ She thinks as her happiness melts and drips through the airlock into space.

“You’re not.. ready for me to see you?” She can’t hide her sadness.

“It’s not that I.. I’m just not ready.” His tone is regretful and guilty.

Those are the last things she ever wants to hear him express. Regret and guilt.

“No.. Hey, don’t be that way. It’s alright. You can have as much time as you need. I’ll still be your wife tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that too.” Her soft hands squeeze his. She could barely feel the callouses beneath the gloves.

He can’t believe he got to marry this woman before someone else. The armorer was right, he is lucky.

“Can I ask.. Why? Why you don’t feel ready?” Her voice is gentle and she doesn’t sound like she’s prying for an answer.

“I’m worried you won’t like what you see.” His voice is almost rough as he struggles to keep emotion out of it. “That you’ll regret our ceremony and want to leave me.”

Her blood runs cold and her heart skips four beats.

“Honey.. Why would you ever think that?” Her hand reaches up to cup his cheek. Well.. the cheek of the helmet at least.

Din shakes his head as if to say ‘I don’t know.’

“I would never leave you. I love you. The ceremony was proof of that. And I’ll continue to prove it to you every day for the rest of our lives until you see. Until you’re ready to share this part of yourself with me, Din.” Her smile comes back and her hand travels down to lovingly squeeze his shoulder.

He didn’t think his heart could swell any more than it was now.

He was too close to crying to let out a response. Din didn’t want to worry her or upset her any further than he thought he had. So instead of thanking her or nodding, he turned his chair around and resumed the controls. He didn’t want to cry or even choke up in front of her and look weak.

Y/N sat there in confusion for a second before realizing he was shutting her out to collect his thoughts.

Din wasn’t the type to say whatever came to his mind. He was calculating and constantly weighing all his options to get the desired outcome.

“Right.. Well.” She stood and dusted her lap off. “If you need me or want to spend some time with your wife, I’ll be in the living area resting. Join me if you like.” She makes her way to the ladder and starts climbing down. Just before she makes it out of the cockpit she says; “Or don’t.”

Dropping down to the flooring, she feels guilty for being short with him.

Both parties feeling guilty in their own way, they curse the self induced silence surrounding them.

She walks to the bed and kicks off her shoes before climbing beneath the covers and hugging Dins pillow.

They never got to sleep beside one another, as someone was always needed on controls or to watch a bounty. The very few times they did, he wore the helmet and slept very stiff. She doubts he slept at all when they were together.

She wondered if he ever slept without the helmet on. Surely he had to? At least once with her up above on the controls. He had to trust her at least that much.. right?

Y/N was a faithful companion who never betrayed his trust nor would she. She would never try to steal a glance or take off his helmet.

At the same time, she almost felt as though she deserved to see him. The man she fell in love with and married. The least she was owed was his face.

But just as quickly as she thought of that, she pushed it from her mind.

She didn’t fall in love with him to see him without the armor. She fell in love with him because he’s a generous, rugged and maybe even a little dirty smelling space cowboy.

He loved her with no end. The second he met her, he knew he was going to be stuck with a bright eyed, stubborn, maybe even a little over talkative hunter by the name of Y/N. She worked her way onto his ship and into his heart.

Cheesy but true.

He wouldn’t deny it even back then. He fell in love with her almost immediately. Her sharp shooting alone saved his life.

And maybe even gave him a semi but that he would never admit to her.

He knows by now she’s fallen asleep. Almost three hours have passed where he’s mindlessly steering toward their honeymoon and his brain has been stirring with abstraction.

She doesn’t snore.. that much. But he can tell the difference in her breathing now. Hearing someones sleep patterns after a few years trains you to tell the difference between resting and dead asleep.

He feels himself exhaustedly set the ship on autopilot once more.

He barely registers his body moving and going down the ladder towards the living space.

He feels numb as he removes the beskar, save for the helmet which remains on his head.

His shoes are neatly put away and his gloves rest on a smooth surface.

He relishes the soft bedding against his fingers as his wife subconsciously moves closer to him.

He smiles to himself as he looks down at her.

‘Enough room on this bed for a mudhorn and she still spreads out as much as possible.’ He lovingly brushes hair out of her eyes.

She rustles slightly and his heart tenses. He knows what he’s about to do for her. How huge it is.

He knows she could never truly grasp the severity of showing another soul your face for the first time in decades. But he also knew he could never hold something like that against her. Besides, she wasn’t another soul now. Because of their ceremony, they were one.

One soul between the both of them because they’re connected.

His voice is gentle but urgent.

“Hey, wake up. I need you to wake up for me, Y/N.”

She lets out a deep breath and sucks another in just as deep while she comes to terms with being awake.

Her arms stretch and flex as she wiggles slightly, her shirt riding up her abdomen.

‘What a sight for sore eyes.’ He thinks as his eyes drink her body in.

“Wh-What’s going on? Is everything okay?” She’s confused and adorable when she’s half asleep.

“Everything’s fine. I just..” he takes a breath and caresses her face with the back of his knuckles.

He can’t believe she’s so soft and beautiful in this lighting. He should to watch her sleep more often.

‘That’s kind of creepy so maybe not.’ His internal monologue warns.

“I’m ready.” His voice is strong and smooth. He is confident and honest and sitting up even straighter than before. “I’m ready to take off my helmet for you.”

She darts up in bed quickly. If Mando hadn’t jumped with her, she would have surely bumped her head against the helmet.

“Are you sure? This is a big deal, Din. I want you to be positive.” She grips his shirt with one hand while the other holds his hand.

He nodded and sat up straight, his legs comfortably resting beneath him.

“I’m sure.” He sighs out in anticipation.

She sits up along with him, mirroring his posture in front of him with her legs folded beneath her. Face to helmet.

‘Soon to be face to face.’ She thinks to herself.

His hands reach up to the helmet. It hisses and clicks in response to his actions.

“Wait wait wait wait waitwaitwait—“ Her voice startles him and he jolts slightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Let me close my eyes so when I open them, you’re ready.” She closes her eyes and her hands rest atop the shut lids. Double measures.

He smiles slightly at the sense of her nerves.

‘Mine dissolve just as hers appear.’

The room is tense and they’re sure they can hear one another’s hearts beating erratically.

He lifts the helmet upward and off of his head. The Mandalorians eyes adjust to the light as he sits the helmet beside her lap.

Her chest shudders as she feels the cold from the helmet seep through her pants and onto her flesh.

He lets out a nervous sigh and chuckle.

Her heart leaps at hearing him breathe without the modulator.

‘Dins helmet really is off.’ Her brain, heart and soul are doing backflips at the realization.

“Okay. I’m ready, you can open your eyes now.” His hands come up to pull hers away from her eyes.

He’s suddenly nervous again. Her eyes remain closed. He pushes the nerves deep down. The only thing keeping him going now is the knowledge that she loves him unconditionally and will continue to do so after this.

Her lashes flutter apart slowly and his heart stops as her irises dart around his features. Her face is incredibly hard to read as she takes it all in.

“Din..” her voice is wavering and he can tell tears are close to follow.

“Is everything okay?”

Suddenly he’s pushed onto his back as she lays on top of him. They’re chest to chest as she plants soft, wet kisses all over his face and neck.

His cheeks, his eyelids, his forehead, and his nose especially! The corners of his lips, jawline, ears, and chin.

“Din you’re beautiful.”

He looks at her through his peripheral vision and whenever she comes into focus, laughing softly in disbelief.

“Are.. Are you joking?” His voice is nervous but hopeful.

Her arms hug around his neck and his hands grip her waist, holding on tight because he thinks he’s dreaming.

“I’m not joking! You don’t know how gorgeous you are? You’re like a statue. You should be a statue.” The kisses don’t cease but they slow down. Her adoration permeates through every kiss into his skin. His surprisingly soft skin.

“You still want to be married to me?”

“If I could double marry you Din, believe me, I would.”

A smile erupts onto his face and her eyes completely pool up at the sight.

“Even your smile could start a war.” Her hand brushes through his hair.

“A war? Wouldn’t that be bad?”

“The war is to win you.” The kisses have finally stopped but she’s laying with her cheek pressed up against his. “Obviously I would win so it’s fine.”

He’s relishing it. The feeling of her face being smushed against his. He never knew something could be so soft. He never wants to put on his helmet again. If he had known being married to such a creature was this amazing, he would have done it the second he met her.

He pushes her back up for a second, their eyes locking. He looks into her eyes intensely.

“What’s with that look, weirdo-“

He cuts her off with their first real kiss. No helmets, no blindfolds, nothing in their way. She melts instantly into his arms and he rolls over so he’s on top of her. They spend the next hour breaking in the bed and consecrating their marriage.

What a way to start their lives together.

[petri808]

We’ll Take Back Heaven a Nalu Yakuza Au

1 | 2

—

The moment Lucy left the room, Natsu simply turned and gave a silent look to his lieutenant Gray who nodded back in acknowledgment and left with one of the men. He sat back in his chair, fingers steepled below his chin in thought. Could it really be one of his own men? Some of the lower level guys didn’t always follow the rules, but it was rare for them to utterly disregard them! Oh! That really pissed him off, because they knew better then to test Natsu’s patience. There’s a damn good reason he was able to create such a lucrative gang in the heart of Tokyo when so many others would kill for it. By the age of 21, his father retired and left the position of Oyabun leader to Natsu. But, Natsu wasn’t satisfied with the old way of doing things. This was the 21st century and times must change.

It was well known that the Yakuza traversed a dangerous underworld full of illegalities. Drugs, prostitution, gambling, shake downs and extortion, theft, or in other words the seedier side of society. So that is where Natsu focused his attention. Some of the very first of the changes were to reign in unauthorized violence or any crimes that utilized it. Such a move sent a utter shockwave through the order and those that refused to let go of the old ways were swiftly eliminated to instill an image of power and fear that Natsu Dragneel was not to be messed with. His logic behind the move was simple. Do not do anything that brings attention to the gang and attacking someone on the street for a few yen is a quick way for the authorities to show up. So, in a way, Natsu was lucky it happened to be one of Lucy’s employees and not a random person, because they would have immediately called the police. Though it also brought up another question. Were there other crimes he just hadn’t heard of yet?

“Well, she’s still as feisty as ever, gihi.” Gajeel broke the silence of the room when he returned. “Could’ve cut the sexual tension with a sword.”

Natsu crossed his arms in feigned annoyance. If it were any other underling, they would have received a harsher response, but Gajeel was one of his oldest and trusted friends. “Pfft. I don’t know what you’re talking about. She’s a rival, that’s it. You know that.”

“Mmhmm.” Gajeel snickered. “So, now what?”

“Gray started working on finding who it was. I want you to call your contacts at police and see if they’ve had any reports of recent robberies in the area, and if there were, any details we can use to figure out who it might be.”

“Can do boss. Anything else?”

“You think it could one of our own?”

Gajeel looked up for a couple of minutes as if he were running their personnel through his mind. Finally, he rubbed his chin. “There’s a couple of newbies, a bit young and dumb that might be stupid enough to break the rules. I’ll call my contacts first before helping Gray press the men for info. Someone’s gotta know something.”

“Good. You do that and let me know as soon as you get a lead. I want this dealt with as quickly as possible.”

“Gotcha.”

Between Natsu’s two lieutenants and their best men, they interviewed all of the most likely suspects. Gajeel’s police informant let him know that there were a couple other robberies that sounded similar a few blocks away from where Lucy’s employee and client had been accosted. He also learned those two victims gave a similar description of the robber. With the new information, along with other snitches, they narrowed it down within a few days to a low-level street guy in the organization. But unlike Gajeel’s initial hunch, it wasn’t one of the newbies. Instead, the male had been with them for a couple of years now and never caused any problems. In fact, the guy fashioned himself as a smooth talking ladies’ man who supposedly disliked violence. So, it was a bit surprising it was one of the ones they’d least expected.

Gajeel and his men found the man named Bora Prominence laying low at his girlfriend’s apartment after he’d heard the gang was looking for him. Not the smartest move. The woman gave him up without a fight, fearing the Yakuza more than her boyfriend. So, once she’d let them inside, they quickly found Bora hiding in the bathroom and dragged him out.

“It wasn’t me!” Bora screamed as the men beat him to the floor. “You got no proof I did shit!”

Gajeel planted his foot into the small of the man’s back and held him down. “Two of the witnesses saw the tattoo on your face. That’s enough evidence for us.” He growled. “You knew the code and what would happen if you broke it, so stop being a bitch.”

But Bora continued to resist the four men, pushing off the floor with his arms unsuccessfully against Gajeel’s massive weight or fending off kicks from the others. They pummeled him with fists and kicks over and over until one clear blow finally knocked him unconscious long enough to be tied up. Despite a heavy beating bad enough to leave him bruised and bloodied, he continued to scream about his innocence. Back at headquarters, they dragged him into Natsu’s office with hands bound behind his back and forced him onto his knees.

The room held Natsu sitting at his desk, along with both lieutenants, four of their men keeping Bora restrained, and lastly Lucy with the victim to Natsu’s right side. He had contacted her as soon as he knew the suspect was being brought in. And thought they were pretty certain of guilt, the woman’s immediate reaction when they’d brought Bora in of cringing back and moving closer to her boss spoke volumes.

“Is that him?” Natsu questioned to gain a verbal confirmation.

“Y-Yeah,” the woman squeaked out. “He’s the one who pushed me down and robbed us.”

Natsu’s eyes stayed narrowed and glaring at Bora as he addressed the women. “Thank you, that’ll be all. Heartfilia you both can leave now I’ll handle things from here.”

“You’re a doll,” Lucy giggled and gave Natsu a quick teasing peck on the cheek before ushering her employee away. They’d done what they needed to do, now it was his job to finish it.

“Tch, so that’s what this is all about.” Bora sneered, spitting out a clot of blood. “Cause that bitch got you all worked up over a measly few bucks?”

“Watch it!” Natsu roared. “It ain’t a good idea to piss me off anymore then I already am!” There was a fire burning behind Natsu’s stare because when he looked at this man Bora, he doesn’t see the crimes themselves, but the disobedient threat he posed to their organization. How dare this selfish ignorant punk threaten everything they’ve worked hard to build! And to accuse him of weakness in doing Lucy’s bidding just sealed the man’s fate.

Bora snapped back defiantly, though the crack in his tone gave away the fear brewing beneath. “What does it matter, I know what awaits me.”

“You’re right.” Natsu relaxed back into his chair once he sensed the man’s inevitable compliance. “You knew the consequences for crossing me. What does it matter if my rival is also benefiting in this way? Because I know there are other victims. Dumbass, how do you think we linked you to all this? Those other victims reported it to the police! Which is exactly why I have the rules I have in place! You put all of us in jeopardy by pulling this kind of stupid low level bullshit!”

“Pfft, you act like we’re saints. If the cops really wanted to, they’d look into the other illegal shit we do regardless.”

“No, it’s you who fails to recognize there is a hierarchy to the kinds of crimes that bring heat on us. Drugs? Prostitution? The cops don’t care as much, but assault? Robbing people, murders, now those are things they will pay attention to, and I will not tolerate it!” Natsu sat forward with a malevolent grin. “Welcome to the modern Yakuza.”

Drugs and prostitution were a part of the gangs dealings, but the bigger scheme was in shaking down the local business owners for protection money. Thing is, Natsu’s gang actually did the protection part causing crimes in that area for customers or businesses to drop down to nearly zero. So, while the business owners weren’t thrilled to cut a portion of their profits, they also appreciated not having to worry about security. That and because of the gangs connections, they had pipelines of cheaper priced products which helped to keep their costs down. This more symbiotic relationship is why they didn’t go to the authorities and why the gang could hold such a control over the area. Making sure the areas streets were protected from violent crime is a testament to the gangs power and would insure that these businesses stayed compliant.

“Tch.” Bora retorted. “You’re just young and dumb. Eventually you’ll realize there’s a reason why things were done a certain way in the old days.”

“Maybe, maybe not, but your days of worrying about it are over.” Natsu motioned to Gajeel. “I’m done. Get him out of my face.”

Gajeel then motioned to his men to haul Bora to his feet and drag him away to an unknown destination never to be seen from again. Cliche as it may sound, even in killing off a problem like Bora, Natsu’s gang didn’t follow tradition. Bora would be held as a prisoner until his wounds healed then his death made to look like just another suicide statistic. In the seven years that Natsu has reigned, not one murder had been laid at their doorstep and he intended to keep it that way.

Now that the Bora business was over, Natsu closed his eyes and fully relaxed into his chair with a sigh. He didn’t exactly enjoy playing the tough guy bit and only did it out of necessity. This was a life his father groomed him for since birth, but he’d love nothing more than to just settle down with a wife and start a family of his own. Not that he couldn’t already do so, but that required finding the right woman to settle down with and no one other than his old flame has ever evoked I’m him more than a passing glance.

He didn’t know how long he’d been relaxing when there was a knock on his office door. “Yeah? Come in.”

“Sorry to disturb you,” the man spoke as he quietly entered the room. Invel Yura was Natsu’s Saiko-kamon, the top advisor and managed the administrative side of the organization. “I wanted to go over your schedule for tomorrow in case I need to make any changes.”

“It’s fine.” Natsu gestured to the chair fronting the desk. Invel had been the advisor to his father for the last few years of his tenure and he fully trusted the man’s diligence.

Invel sat down and opened up a calendar. “Tomorrow morning, we have a new shipment of prescription drugs coming in as well as some ecstasy, so you’ll need to appoint someone to oversee inventory processing.”

“Hmm, who should I have work on this?” Natsu asked for Invel’s opinion.

“Might I suggest Rajeel Ramal? He’s gruff but meticulous and has done a good job so far.”

“Is that so? Then that’s fine, let him continue. What’s next?”

“Okay,” Invel scribbled the orders in his book. “Next, the only other thing you have is a party to attend with one of our high end clients.”

“Which one?”

“The son of Yuuji Katsunuma of Katsunuma industries.”

“Ah yes, the one we supply with cocaine. Such a spoiled brat, but he spends a lot with us.”

Invel chuckled. “That’s the one. It starts at 8pm.”

“Okay. Thank you, Invel. Is that all for now?”

“Yes. If anything, else comes up I will let you know.”

“I’m sure you will. Oh. Have an appropriate suit pressed and ready for me for the occasion.”

“Very well, sir. Is there anything else you need from me?”

“No. You may go.”

Invel nodded and returned to his own office. He made a few typical phone calls such as to Natsu’s house staff regarding an evening outfit and the transporters bringing the morning inventory to make sure everything was on schedule. Aside from the Bora issue, the going’s-on of business continued as normal. The final call he placed before he’d leave for lunch was to Rajeel of a simple a five word instruction. Nothing more needed to be said, knowing that his associate would understand. Invel sat back in his chair with a smile. “It’s almost too easy…”