#feels nice to not straighten my hair for a cosplay

[obiwhat]

some more mustang cosplay pics - jacket off this time ;)

[gravid-transluna]

Commission for @birthedstars, I adored this prompt!

Melanie, a popular cosplayer, has been keeping pregnancy a secret from social media and her fans. It's con season and she is currently at the final one before she is due to give birth along with her non-cosplaying friend Lea. As she's taking photos with her fans, she feels a trickle in her pants and a pain stronger than any she's had before hit her belly. It's a week before she's due; panicked and struggling to keep her composure, Melanie has to rely on Lea to shoo away people begging for photos and conversation. Melanie doesn't want an audience for this, but as each contraction passes it becomes less likely. Lea either needs to get her out of the convention center or find a secluded spot for her friend. If she doesn't, this baby is going to come out in a room filled with hundreds…

Cons, Cosplay and Crowning

words: 3158

content: clothing birth, inconvenient birth, birth denial, fpreg

Melanie had told herself that this would be her last convention before the baby arrived. Giga-con was one of the largest cons in the country. Packed from floor to ceiling with fans, cosplayers, collectors, artists, photographers; lines out the door, every booth crowded, a sea of vibrant anime-hair… It was a sight to behold, and something Melanie had no intention of missing, pregnancy or not. She had quite a few fans as well. Enough to have a pretty constant stream of attention focused on the booth where she sold autographs and photos and voice recordings.

A minor detail: her fans didn’t know that she was nine months pregnant, due in a week. Her baby bump had remained small throughout her pregnancy, allowing her to hide it fairly well, relying on cosplays involving belts or flowy skirts and dresses. Her various social media accounts mentioned nothing about a coming baby, only her next convention dates and wig ratings.

“You’re seriously doing Zero Two for your last con before the baby?” Lea, her friend, had asked Melanie. This character, a mech pilot, wore a skintight suit.

“It’ll be okay,” Melanie said, patting the tight curve of her abdomen. It was smooth, and only nude it was obvious that there was a stretch to her skin that could only be from a swollen womb. “People notice the cosplay, not the person behind it. Besides! This is the biggest con we’ve ever done. I want to do something that’ll steal the show!”

Lea sighed. “Just don’t be walking around too much. And let me know if I need to yell at some fans. I know you’re too nice for that.”

Melanie had smiled. “What would I do without you?”

“Whatever. Here,” walking over to Melanie, who was busy struggling with her suit in the mirror. “Let me zip you up.”

This was a week ago. The night before the con she’d been experiencing Braxton Hicks, small irregular spasms in her back and belly. When she woke up in the hotel, padding to the full-length mirror in the bathroom, she couldn’t help but gasp. Her belly had dropped overnight, the head of her baby nestled deep in her hips now. When she placed her hand under the taut surface, she could feel the weight, low. As she watched the mirror, the muscles around her womb clamped in a fiery band. She winced, doubling over.

Is this… a contraction?

“Mmn,” she moaned quietly under her breath, cupping her small bump. Lea yawned and rolled over in bed. Sleepily she lifted her head. “Mel? You okay?”

“Um.” Melanie straightened as her belly relaxed. “I’m not sure, but I think I just had a contraction.”

“Jesus, Mel!” Lea was awake now, trotting over to the bathroom. “Wow, your belly. It looks lower. Should we head to the hospital?”

“No!” Melanie shook her head. “No way. We dropped so much on these tickets, they’re non-refundable, you know. Besides, that was my first contraction. Labor can take days.”

Lea hesitated. “Are you sure you’re even gonna fit into that suit now? It was a challenge before your belly looked like, well, that.”

“It’s a stretchy material,” Melanie assured her, and sure enough, it fit—barely.

They waited in line at the center and got checked in, and by the time they set up the booth, Melanie had been enduring constant regular contractions. They wrung her womb, squeezed the breath from her lungs. The baby’s head was ramming against her cervix with nearly unbearable force, and soon she couldn’t keep sitting at their booth, gritting her teeth behind a smile for her fans, hand trembling as she signed autograph after autograph. She was getting nervous now. The convention closed at eight, and it was barely two. She and Lea hadn’t even had a snack yet. All she could think about was the baby in her belly, the movements, even more forceful as her belly shrank and squeezed her restless child on all sides. No, she had to stand and pace. The pressure was too bad to be sitting, it felt almost as if she was seated on a bowling ball, lodged between her legs.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lea knit her brows. Sweat beaded on Melanie’s forehead and her cheeks were red with exertion, but she could blame those things on an overheated scalp and too much powdered blush.

“Fine!” Melanie chirped, a little out of breath. “Just feeling very, very pregnant.”

Lea looked apprehensive. “Not long now.”

“Long enough,” Melanie said. “Hey, let’s walk around for a bit.” She painstakingly climbed to her feet as Lea assisted. Standing, the pressure was so much worse, and she had to resist a low groan.

“We’ll be back later,” Lea told the people lingering around the booth. “Hey—c’mon people, give her some space.”

Already overwhelmed with the sensations in her body, the pain and pressure and urgency she’d been ignoring for so long, fighting her way through the press of bodies was downright dizzying. She was sorely regretting the body suit now. She was streaming sweat, blinking it out of her eyes, and yet the suit didn’t permit the slightest bit of room or air, practically boiling her alive. The hot pleather irritated the skin of her stomach, taut and sensitive, broiling with her impatient baby. Worse, the pleather rubbing against her tender, pregnancy-swollen nipples sent shivers coursing down her spine. The stimulation wasn’t exactly slowing her labor.

Lea, her knight in shining armor, led her through the crowds to the nearest restroom. Suddenly their path was interrupted by a troupe of Mandalorian cosplayers, and one of them passed between Lea and Melanie, breaking their grip. Suddenly, Melanie was alone and couldn’t spot Lea anywhere, couldn’t even spot the restrooms anymore.

A contraction was coming on, a strong one. The pressure was nearly buckling her legs. “Oh no….” Melanie said under her breath. 

Then her body clenched violently. A low mooing noise was drawn from her throat, nearly unrecognizable from her usual pitch. The constant murmur of the crowd was enough to drown her sounds out, but she could scarcely believe they were coming from her in the first place. Teased pink strands of hair fell into her face, disguising her strained features. All people noticed was a Zero Two standing strangely wide-legged in the aisle, with an odd curve to her midsection.

The pressure surged and Melanie gasped. Instinctively she widened her stance even more. The pain clasped her, then suddenly— a release.

“Oh, god,” Melanie moaned as fluids trickled down the seams of her body suit. The contraction faded, leaving her thoughts racing. Those are my waters. Shit! Shit!

“Mel! There you are!” Lea’s face appeared from the crowd. Melanie looked at her, clasping her round bump, and Lea noticed her stricken expression.

“What is it?” She leaned in and cupped Melanie’s cheek. “Hey, what happened? Who do I need to kill?”

“No,” Melanie said breathlessly, closing her eyes under Lea’s touch. “I think—I think my water just broke.”

Lea’s eyes widened but before she could say anything they were interrupted.

“Excuse me?” A younger teenager brandishing an iPhone. “Could I get a picture? I love Zero Two.”

Melanie plastered a smile on her face and smiled before Lea had the chance to shoo the girl away. She just couldn’t say no to fans. The girl’s friend backed up to get the shot, and as Melanie posed, she felt another contraction brewing in her stomach. She could tell it was a bad one. Without the cushioning of her waters, the skull of her baby drove mercilessly down through her cervix, the pressure mounting by the minute. Hold the pose, she told herself, panting through it. Hold the pose, legs shaking, sweat pouring from under her arms, she couldn’t believe that the girl didn’t notice her violent trembling, didn’t notice the way her thighs spread and her knees bent slightly….

Fuck, she almost wanted to push.

Snap! The girl’s friend trotted back to them, smiling. “Thank you so much!”

Melanie’s smile was slipping. She tried to answer, and instead let out an acknowledging grunt. The contraction was releasing her now but she could barely remain standing with the immense pressure of the head dipping into her birth canal.

The girls receded back into the crowd, and Melanie heard Lea’s voice in her ear. Her hand went to her back, steadying. “You okay?”

“The baby’s trying to come,” Melanie whimpered back. “I can feel it.”

“Shit, Mel!” Lea hissed. “I told you!”

“Just—please, get me out of here.”

“Alright,” Lea breathed. “Okay.” Trying to look casual, Lea scanned the convention hall for exits. Even if they were to make it outside, Melanie thought, what then? Squat down and pop her baby out on the sidewalk? In the summer heat? No, they needed somewhere private, away from all the eyes and cameras. 

Heat flashes. She was shivering, legs swaying. The mass filling her canal was nauseating and the pressure was almost enough to collapse her. Lea yanked her shoulder suddenly and Melanie was jolted back into reality. “Restrooms! This way!”

The main hall had become quickly congested since they took the photo, and they were forced to double back and pick their way around the edges. Along the way Melanie suffered another contraction that had her stopping to brace herself against the wall. The pressure was blinding. It was as though the baby was filling every part of her, slowly, an all-encompassing descending fullness that was impossible to ignore or stave off.

“I gotta push,” she gasped to Lea before grunting and bending her knees.

“No! No way! We’re so close.”

“I’m trying not to…. Oh, god.” She tried to resist the urge. Her body was demanding that she bear down.

Some passerby called over to them. “Hey, is she okay?”

Lea sprang up. “Oh yeah, perfectly fine,” and Melanie recognized the nervous lie. “Just some cramping, you guys had better avoid that sushi truck outside.”

Would Zero Two just give up like this? Lose control so easily? Melanie shook her head. No, she wouldn’t, and neither would Melanie. With an almost superhuman effort, Melanie took her palms from the wall and straightened and tried to pinch her thighs as close together as they would go. The fullness peaked, stretching her wide from within. “Fuck!” She felt tears forming in her eyes.

She leaned heavily against Lea, blinking the tears from her eyes as she glanced up. “Oh no…. mm, the line is that long?!”

People were lined against the wall and crouched by outlets, plugged into phones as they waited. She couldn’t wait that long. Her body was already utterly fatigued from fighting her most primal feminine instincts. She couldn’t imagine undergoing even one more contraction without giving in to the need to birth.

She spun Lea and held her shoulders, trying to convey the impossibility of such a task. “Lea, please, there’s no way in hell I can last that long. Mmgh, it’s coming, I’m gonna have to push, I can’t not push.”

Lea raised a hand to cup Melanie’s cheek, her touch light and tender. “Oh, Mel. Just hold on to me, all right?”

They took their places in the abysmally long line, Melanie fling, bowlegged, and clinging onto Lea for support. When another contraction struck it arrived with violence, and immediately every other thought deserted Melanie’s head except for the need to push. She buried her face into Lea’s shoulder, hanging onto her for dear life, and planted her feet wide. Then she PUSHED, with a long, breathless groan.

“I’m pushinggg-mmmgh,” she sobbed in Lea’s ear as she bore down.

Lea rubbed the small of Melanie’s back in soothing circles. “It’s okay. I’m here.”

Every push shoved the baby further down, filling her birth canal more and more with its immense mass, and she couldn’t stop the descent, couldn’t even keep her thighs together any more, her legs permanently spread in preparation for the coming baby. Contractions wracked her belly; her womb clenched and seethed. With each one she was forced to stop and squat and bear down as subtly and silently as she could manage. It was all she could do to stop from releasing guttural roars as she pushed.

Twenty people down. Ten. Five. They were almost to the restrooms now, leaning against a vending machine near the doors. Unfortunately, Melanie just couldn’t hold it back. She and Lea had their back to the others, pretending to examine the vending machine for snacks when in reality, Melanie had both hands braced against the glass, pushing with all she had. Her powerful internal muscles thrust the baby down, and her tight groan sharpened the head shoved through her hips and began to fill her vagina. She fumbled between her legs with one hand, crying out at the sensation, and felt the slightest bulge in the leather at her crotch. The head was so close to emerging, the fullness was nearly unbearable, and it had her panting, open-mouthed, lolling her head even after the contraction had ended.

“Oh god, Mel,” Lea whispered, half in horror, half in awe. “I can see it! It’s starting to come out!”

“Can’t—” Melanie gasped. “Not, guh! I-it can’t come out yet!”

“Excuse me,” Someone behind them in line said. “I think the woman’s bathroom is free now.”

Lea ushered Melanie from her position against the machine; she could barely walk now, stuck at nearly a half-squat, toddling into the bathroom with the head trapped between her legs.

As Lea closed the door and flipped the lock, Melanie had already clamped her hands against her thighs and dropped into a deep squat, grunting the baby deeper into her bottom. The fabric at her crotch strained even more, and she could feel her lips distending outward, tautly enveloping the head but beginning to open. Her most intimate part, now being unrecognizably stretched. The burn had her panting in tiny, whimpering grunts, trying to hold back but failing altogether.

“Ohhhh,” she moaned. “OH. It burns, Lea! I’m giving birth, it’s coming, oh fuck, that HURTS.”

She doubled over with vigor, utterly consumed with pushing, with the desperate, overwhelming need to get this baby out of her. Her body suit stretched more and more, and the damp tent between her thighs grew until her lips were parted in a tight, fiery circle around the head, finally reaching full crown.

“Ah!” She gasped, and then Lea was by her side, cupping her face, murmuring into her ear how well she was doing, telling her, “I need to take this off, okay? Baby needs to come.”

“Yes, please, get it off!” Melanie pleaded. She wasn’t Zero Two anymore, wasn’t anyone right now except a birthing mother, giving into her natural instincts.

Lea circled around to her back, parting the pink hair of her wig to locate the zipper at her neck. She fiddled with it, struggling to fit it into the teeth. “C’mon, stupid thing!”

The next contraction was quickly taking hold. “Hurry!” Even as Melanie said this she was already settling into her squat again, readying herself to birth. 

The crown in her bodysuit was unforgiving, the fullness and pressure driving her nearly to her breaking point. She just needed the head out, then she could focus on getting the suit down. “I gotta push again!”

“Just—wait,” Lea commanded her, fingers scrabbling with the zipper. “Ugh, I knew it’d be too tight for you.”

Melanie was panting, shaking her head back and forth, trying to escape the pressure and urge to push. Then she suddenly growled, mind going blank, stars spiraling behind her eyelids as she squeezed them shut and bore down. The head shunted forward, only to meet the sudden resistance of the unyielding leather. Stretched to its limit, it wouldn’t permit the head to move any further out of her. She was stuck at a full-crown.

“Lea!” She shrieked. “Get it down!”

“Trying,” Lea muttered. “Hold on—got it!” The bodysuit parted down Melanie’s back, exposing her smooth, slick skin. She reached the end of the zipper, just above Melanie’s rear. “Mel, hon, you’re gonna have to step out.”

“No,” Melanie was already shaking her head. Every part of her was trembling. ”No fucking way.”

“The baby can’t come until you let it,” Lea said, stepping close and wrapping her arms around Melanie’s convulsing pregnant stomach.

“Mmgh,” Melanie moaned, and raised one leg from the suit draped around her waist, feeling her vaginal walls twitch and pulse around the head splitting her apart.

“One leg out, that’s it!”

Melanie shook loose her other pant leg, feeling her thighs brush the dripping head, then fell back against Lea, moaning, and then pushed with all her might. Her lips slipped around the head, then she shuddered as fluids spurted from her opening and it popped free.

“Oh my,” Lea said, reaching down between Melanie’s legs to hold it. “Oh, Mel, you did it…. you’re almost there.”

Mel couldn’t speak, could barely remember to breathe. She’d come here this morning to dress up, have fun, and meet fans. Now there was a baby coming out of her. Get it together, she told herself as she moaned uncontrollably, tossing her head as the shoulders rotated. Get it together and PUSH!

One more push, shoulders spreading her wide, opening throbbing around them, then— a rush; the baby slipped out into Lea’s waiting hands. Melanie sagged to the bathroom floor and Lea lowered with her, holding her in her arms. Melanie looked up at her as she took her baby and held it to her leaking chest. Her anime bangs were matted to her forehead, face flushed even behind her false blush, eye makeup stained and running. Lea smiled at her and she smiled back tiredly.

“You were beautiful,” Lea said.

Melanie glanced down to her chest. “I wonder what baby’s first cosplay will be.”

[darlingofvalyria]

❝I have these two great friends called Birth and Control.❞

part 06 | it's called a love bug, lovebug

chapter summary:

[ Sunday dinners are actually made for confessions. As Alicent braves it with a wine and a blush, you brave it too. With a boy and a view. ]

[ 2,963 ] [ series masterlist ] |best friend's brother!aemond targaryen x f!reader, ft. cregan stark x f!reader & aemond targaryen x alys rivers,

contains— angst - hurt/minimal comfort(?) - no kings, no martyrs, no betas.

a/n— alexa play it's all coming back to me now by celine dion. it might read a little stilted, i struggled a bit with this chapter as i wrote it in different times. ps. i didn't translate aemond's valyrian with intention. hope it still works? comment, reblog & like at will, mwa ♡

You had never heard of a more reverbrating sound than Helaena's smack to a poor, traumatised Daeron. "You toe licking, armpit looking, ugly garbage can!" Healeana shrieked, promptly dragging her youngest brother further away as you and Aemond scurried deeper into the safety of the darkness and shame, folded defensively onto one another, laughing your asses off.

"Oh my god," you exhale. "I am never going leaving this maze. I am going to live here, eating brambles and shit, and die here. Leave me now and prevail, Aemond. I will be fine. I'll haunt you in two to three business days."

Aemond chuckles from below you, unseen from your gaze, the mesmerised adoration he held as he can still feel his lips tingling from your desperation, still feel the curves of your body, the soft skin— he clears his throat, holding you steady by your hips before moving around until he's hovering over you as you adjusted your dress, eyes fluttering his with pressed lips trying not to laugh.

"I have a feeling dinner is ready."

"I also have a feeling your mother and grandfather knew exactly what we were doing minutes before and I fear I'd rather die here than face that."

He laughs, offering his hand and you take it regardless. "Then my mother would be glad. She didn't exactly feel the new bliss of couples between us."

You scoff. "Only because you treated me like you were cosplaying a Frost Giant." At his raised eyebrow and choked, surprised laugh, you blush. "Oh, get off with it. Your sister really likes the idea of Jotun!Loki and I am not one to kinkshame."

He strangles a laugh, peeling stray twigs from your hair. "I wouldn't dare assume. Let's go eat."

You tighten your hold on his hand, worry crescent on your forehead that Aemond straightens. "And talk?" As good as that felt, as perfect as puzzles sliding in together, you were past the age where burrowing it deep with the good parts and ignoring the pressing talks that need to be addressed.

And Aemond deserved better than that at least.

"Okay." He nods, swallowing. "Later, please."

"Okay." You try and reassure him with a smile and that seems to appease him, if a little.

Once Aegon had made five jokes concerning Daeron's loud rant— he was promptly shut up by his sister smacking him in the back of the head as soon as their mother was fretting in the kitchen and their grandfather's phone pinging for his attention, spoon on his mouth that might have been a medical nightmare — dinner went smoothly.

Daeron had successfully refused to look at your general direction, or his brother, or both since you sat together, churlish in giggles, in chatter and light arguments. Aemond kept taking the nicely marinated baby potatoes on his plate to yours once you finished up your own, and exchanged it with shuffling green beans to his plate because he loves them— it's nice.

It's more than nice. It's everything you could hope for when you think about dinner with your boyfriend's family. It's a softened thought that brews to yearning. You want this. You want be sat next to Aemond like this again, making jokes, piling food onto each other's plate, ribbing with his brother until he blushed then standing up against him when it got too far— seeing the smile he sends your way, endearing, loving, and for a moment, for this one realised moment built on lies and chuckle-fuckery ease, you let yourself indulge.

You joke about spoon feeding him dessert and blush as he envelops his soft lips over the spoon, Daeron and Aegon mimicking gags while Alicent is blushing, unable to stop a girlish giggle, a sound so surprised to her own person that she hiccups.

You are with him and you give yourself strength to break his heart.

Dinner finishes off with a lazy flick, Alicent and his father descending into business talks that usually included Aemond and though you tell him you can go hang out with Helaena— Daeron and Aegon deciding on playing The Last of Us in the game room because Aegon said he needed a good cry but also to shoot things — Aemond who had taken your hand sometime ago and has been brushing his thumb over your knuckles in a soothing gesture, implores you with a look.

You swallow and give a nod, trying for another smile that fails, noticing the moment Aemond sees it fail, his brow curling, lips pursing but doesn't say anything.

As he moves to lead, he pauses, turning back to you. "Where—?"

"Your room?"

Just as he nods, Alicent's soft and embarrassed, "Keep the door open, please," pulls you both to a blushing stop.

Otto— and Helaena rifling through ice cream in the kitchen — crow simultaneous, "Alicent," and "Mom!" as Alicent raises both her hands, the wine in her right sloshing. Though she is pink-cheeked, she maintains eye contact with her son while Aemond is struggling.

"I know you're old and smart enough, young man, and you are such a lovely girl," Alicent says to you, "and I would no doubt adore the grandchildren you will provide me—"

"Oh my gods," you stifle your giggles as Aemond makes a discordant sound in the back of his throat, like a cat hacking a saw. Otto is laughing into his wine while Helaena is making gagging noises in the background.

"— but I hope to have them when Aemond's at least graduated, so that he can provide well for you." Alicent nods, blinking. You can tell that the wine is catching up to her. "He's a good boy so I'm sure he'll do right by you. But I at least want you both to be married, of course, I would prefer if Aegon or Helaena got married first but—"

"— and that's my cue to stage left, folks," Helaena says, making a face as she grabs the entire tub of cookies and cream. "If anyone needs me, I'm in my room trying to find a husband so my baby brother can get married, gods forbid he carries on with bastards from his beautiful girlfriend— whomst, by the way, is my best friend, dunno how we're forgetting my credit in all of this."

Aemond shakes his head. "They're not sleeping here, mom, and providing you grandchildren is not in my agenda." He tugs your hand, smirking as he pulls you close only to whisper playfully, "Not tonight at least."

You shiver, laughing under your breath. "I dunno if you know this, but I have these two great friends called Birth and Control."

He breaks into a laugh and that, at least, eases the tension until you round up in his room, trying to give Helaena a meaningful look but you don't think she understands it with how she salutes you with her spoon, winking audaciously.

"Here." Aemond flicks the light on and his childhood bedroom brings a smile to your face. It's cerebral, the faint blue of his textured wallpaper, the perfectly lined books, even the framed achievements. But there's also the Oasis poster, the little figurines that you know is part of some Old Valyrian battle replica he collected when he was younger, even his old fencing gear and an exact photo of it alongside his club master, his grandfather, and family friend, Criston Cole.

"It's been a while since I've been here," you tease lightly. "It's kind of funny of your mom to think I'd be the first hot girl to christen your childhood bed."

He hums, turning away as he closes the door. When he turns back, he's rolled back his bottom lip between his teeth as he looks at you with sincerity.

"It wouldn't be much of a competition to beat. You were the first hot girl I'd ever got inside my room."

"Ahh. Right. Teasing you before your growth spurt was the highlight of my week."

Aemond let out an aggressive sigh as you laugh. "I was a senior in high school when I met you, riña, this is getting ridiculous. Borderline paedophilic since I had you moaning an hour ago."

You heave, slapping his arm. "Okay, stop, you made it weird now. Gross. Eugh."

"Promise you'll stop now?"

"Fine, I promise."

An awkwardness settles before Aemond nods at the double French doors. "Wanna talk on the patio? You've always liked my room's view than Lae's."

"Yeah," you grin.  "'Cos you got the only view of the lake."

"You can barely see it with the trees. And this darkness." Reason out all he wants, but he opens the door for you, and the cool air is crisp and nice against your warm skin.

You hold out on the ledge, squinting your eyes so you can see peeks of luminous bounce of the calm lake between dark sways of forest. Once in a while, it glitters and glimmers, making itself known.

"It isn't fully true though."

"What is?" Aemond fixes his elbows, warmth pressed against yours as he stares at a fixed point of nowhere. But you can feel his tension, feel his questions he's trying to be patient to keep in. You're glad for it. Grateful. Because it gives you enough courage to confess.

"I hung out in your room because I liked hanging out with you," you admit. "Teasing you was the highlight of my day."

"Gee. Thanks."

"I was more surprised you kept letting me hang out with you when I did nothing but annoy you."

"Why do you think that is, ñuha riña?" he asks softly.

"Because you're sweet?"

The way he's looking at you... it makes you breatheless. Especially when he moves to turn fully toward you, taking you by your elbows, and you close your eyes when he leans in expecting his mouth on you, your heart dancing in the palm of his hand because it feels so, so easy to trust Aemond with it, instead he presses his lips underneath your eye, nuzzling against your nose. It shatters and remakes your heart, making you hold onto his shirt for some semblance of comfort.

"Because I've always liked you," he whispers against your skin as if it's his best kept secret. "Because I'm weak when it comes to you. Because you," he breathes against your mouth, taking your bottom lip between his teeth and giving it a tug, "make it easy to want you."

A weak laugh escapes your lips and his mouth follows the sound as if he wants to swallow it, but you press a palm to his chest. He growls.

"Easy there, tiger, that didn't sound much like a compliment."

He pulls back, holding your face. "Sorry, shit, I didn't mean— I'm not good at this. I meant... you're unattainable. Not just as Helaena's best friend but... you're cool, you're fucking gorgeous and incredibly hilarious."

"Ñuha jorrāelagon." He breathes care into the word. The word is lost on me and I force my brain to pocket it like a love letter so I can search it up. "I never thought I could be here, touching you like this." Without warning, he moulds his lips to yours in a harsh, deep kiss. It's quick but it leaves you breathless, his voice coming up ragged. "Kiss you like this. It feels like I'm in a dream and I'm struggling to let go of it. So a while ago... after..."

You nod, pressing your forehead against his, unable to look at him in the eye. You focus on touching him, your hands sliding down, making him shiver when you go underneath his shirt, skating his side until you warm your cool fingers with his spine.

"That's the thing, Aemy," you whisper. "In your head, by your words, I'm always a version to you."

 He calls your name, leaning back and you're forced to see the confusion on his face.

"Helaena's best friend. Past that, an unattainable crush. Now a fake girlfriend. Someone you use to get Alys' attention, and who better than the unattainable crush? It's a pedestal, Aemy."

"It's not like that, that was a bad, convoluted—"

"But it's the truth, it's how I feel. And though that sucks, I understand." You take his hands as you step back and he's frowning harder, the lines deepen and his jaw is tight. "I knew what I was getting into, you know? But things change because I've changed."

 "It's Cregan, isn't it?" he snarls, tugging his hands away.

"Oh, you jealous idiot, it's you! We've gone over this, you incredible dumbass!"

"Me? How the hell is this about—"

"— because I love you!" you shout. Then stop, inhale. Blink. Aemond copies it. It's almost hilarious. "Or I know I can be."

He works his jaw, turning away. "I don't understand."

"Okay, here it is." You inhale. "Just listen and breathe for a second, okay? Okay? Don't turn away from me." You pull him back by his chin, smiling faintly at the pout you form. "Say you understand."

He sighs, taking your hand. "Yes, I understand."

"I can't compete with someone you've loved for so long," you start softly, staring at your conjoined hands wondering if this is the last time you'll get to hold him like this. "Without you showing you can love me for more than that. I can't compete with your own ideal happy ending if I'm not part of it. I won't. I refuse." Your smile is wry, it's heartbreak and it's strings. You wish you had the energy to scream, to act like a brat and demand his heart, his promises in gold-ink and pink-veined hue. It's what your heart wants.

But you're of big age. You've seen love in its spaces, how it takes root in people, how it affects the world around you.

And you know you cannot love him if he does not make the effort to love you in the same way.

Your heart is in your throat but the words come out anyway. "Because I love you, Aemy. And I know I can fight for you. I can fight for what we have. I can wake up tomorrow and choose to love you with the same degree, if not fiercer, if I could. And I could do that again and again. That's how love works. You have to wake up tomorrow, see me, and choose to love me all over again."

You smile gently, sadly. "I can't allow myself to be loved in halves. I've done that before, I'm not doing it again. Not even for you."

You bring yourself on your tip toes— damn tall, beautiful rat bastard — and brush your lips on the corner of his. His eye closed. "I'm not going to pressure you for an answer. Alys was... Alys is a big part of what you know is love, and I respect that. I understand that it'll be hard, but I need to know if you're willing to let go of it for me. Because I can promise you I can love you. But I won't. Not without assurance that you can try for me."

"What are you asking me?" he asks softly, straightening. There's a hard line going into his body, like a dutiful student given an assignment.

"I'm asking you to think if you can see past the little statue you've made of me. See me breathing. Alive, just like this." You press a hand to his face and retrieve it back before he can hold it. He shots you a look of betrayal. "I'm going home with Hel. You know how to message me, okay? Bye, dōna zaldrīzes."sweet dragon.

His eye flick upward, shock and heartbreak and confusion moulds and twists into such a beautiful blue, mouth agape trying to find words he can't find— and you smile wryly, turning away and leaving.

You get to Helaena's door quick, knocking soon after.

"Hmph!"

 "You're either getting choked by a robber or masturbating, and really Hel, I need you to make two grunts to tell me the former so I can bust down the door because I don't want to see you bust a—"

The door swings wide, Helaena's face in a comical irritation.

"That is so fucked up, I hope you know— hey, hey." Her irritation sweeps into a frown as you fail to contain your watery eyes. "What happened? What's wrong? What did Aemond do? Oh, that little twerp—"

"— it's not him, it's not him, chill, I just wanna go home, yeah? Get our cakes and go, please?"

Hel's frown deepens, eyes darting back to Aemond's door.

"Please, Helaena," you beg. "I'll tell you when we get home. I'll make us special drinks."

She takes your hand, determination wound tight with concern. "Sure thing, babe. Let's go."

When you make your hasty departure to her grandfather of all of them, Alicent already in bed and the other boys still in the gaming room, cakes in hand, you tow over Helaena's baby blue buggy— she leans over at you with a hand on the ignition, whispering as if she was afraid, "You— are you meeting Cregan tonight? After, I mean." Her eyes widen. "I'm not judging, I'd never—"

"No, no, I understand. You'd never judge me for that, I know. But no. Just you and me tonight."

She smiles softly. It's not like Aemond's but they don't look that apart that it still stings. "Love you."

"Love you too, lovebug."

Loving Helaena isn't hard.

Just as you know loving Aemond wouldn't be, despite it all. But it isn't you that has issues that needs handling, and you've put everything in his court now.

And yet you can't deny your hope.

TAGGED: @snowprincesa1 @gemini-mama @fan-goddess @snh96 @valeskafics @opheliaas-stuff @tempo-rary-fix @fantasticpeaceharmony @diannnnsss @iamavailablesstuff @spinachtz @at-a-rax-ia @bespinnn @tsujifreya @moonlightfoxx @kemillyfreitas @joyouart @bananzaa @honey-on-mars @alexa4040 @cinnamonbambii @wintrr13 @wxb-slingrr @astroswift @queenofshinigamis @helaenaluvr @kaetastic @jxdgodfrey @laniii-on-your-left @watercolorskyy @microwaveallthedemons @kazuyatokue @herfantastyworldd @averyyreads @urmomsgirlfriend1 @bellstwd @jiminie-08 @ttkttt @nockerin @backyardfolklore @random-ocity @hc-geralt-23 @vendettasblog @cicaspair418 @malynn @anehkael @schadenfreude-and-sarcasm @honey132

[bmbochangetales]

Yo! Could you play the theme for the 90’s X-Men cartoon? I’m putting together a cosplay of my boyfriend’s favourite X-gal “Rogue” as a surprise birthday gift, but I don’t really know superhero comic stuff at all and I could use all the inspiration I can get…

"Well, my lovely listeners, maybe we can all learn a thing or two about love. The 90's X-Men for a super sweet Rogue trying to surprise her lover. I can help with that"

You could do this. Google told you that this was the right costume. Your boyfriend was a bit of a comic book nerd. He never pushed anything on you, but you know what he liked. He always loved Rogue from X-Men. For his birthday, you thought it was the best surprise for a fun night.

Your costume kind of looked a bit cheap but it would have to do. The music blared in the background as you straightened out the pieces. He should be there at any moment. You decided to do a bit of research while you waited.

Rogue's mutant ability is to absorb memories, powers, personality traits, physical talents, and strength. That could be cool to have you thought as you scrolled. You ended up on the page of a cosplayer. She was so stunning in her much nicer and sexier version. You clicked on the picture to make it larger.

Suddenly your costume was replaced by hers. This was a fluke. A dream. This couldn't happen. You clicked another picture noticing her hair looking like the comic book characters. Another click to get a better look. It loaded and then white hair slipped into your face.

This was insane. You decided to really test it. You picked a cosplayer who had a great pair of tits. If this was real, you would get a gorgeous shape, if not, at least you looked at a nice pair. You took a deep breath to click the picture for a closer look. You feel your chest give a push out. You stared down at them. Perfectly round and perky.

You smiled as you got an idea to test. You could be a bit shy when it came to trying new things in the bedroom. You searched for a Rogue porn clip. You clicked it and began watching. Suddenly you knew exactly how to move and stroke his cock. Your mouth puckered into the perfect blow job shape. You had a confident air about you.

The slam of the car door pulled you away. You rushed downstairs waiting to surprise your man. He was in for a night of enjoying your new abilities.

[femmmie]

You asked and you shall receive lol

Damien feeling self conscious and Anthony showing him how beautiful and sexy he is

ooooh I love this. I hope you like what I did with this prompt!

I'm yours

The doorbell rang.

Damien scuttled to get his coat, his bag and his keys. He kissed his cats goodnight and opened the door.

"Oh, but this isn't fair..." went through Damien's head. It was like his entire world was spinning. He couldn't compare to THAT!

read on ao3

"Antonio! I'm so stoked you're coming with to Quadcon! Do you wanna travel alone or shall I pick u up? My jeep is already packed w all my gear haha! Please lmk?"

Anthony smiled at the text. Damien was so into cosplay and took gaming so seriously, it was cute. Really cute. Anthony smiled widely while closing his eyes. A bridal fantasy played in his mind; him and Damien walking through an adoring crowd of lesser larp-ers, all cheering and clapping.

It was close to midnight and Anthony was still scrolling through Instagram in his bed.

"Yes, your jeep will do just fine, thanks!"

He couldn't believe he got to go with Damien, and only Damien. He was so bad at group interactions. But one-on-one, they'd have so much fun, and bond more than they already had. Hopefully Damien would like him.

Damien was so interesting to Anthony. He was like this dark prince, with a vast body of knowledge he didn't flaunt about with. But sometimes he'd say something implying pools of wisdom Anthony couldn't wait to jump into with him.

Anthony really hoped Damien would like him! And not think he was soo extreme or something. He knew he could be a bit 'much'. But as much as he tried to temper his intense personality, however many therapy sessions he booked... he couldn't help it.

Anthony also knew that Damien had something of a 'manual' so he hoped that they could trade off their quirks and come away somewhat even.

"Oh, Damien..." Anthony thought before he fell asleep.

~

Damien looked in the mirror. His simple looking but actually intricately and carefully made white vest fit him. Maybe, maybe it was a tad tight around the waist. But around his neck it was nice and loose, and the stings were neatly strung through the holes, but not 'too' neatly. His white silver hair styled to look messy, his dark roots matching the dark circles under his eyes.

He was Astarion.

The doorbell rang.

Damien scuttled to get his coat, his bag and his keys. He kissed his cats goodnight and opened the door.

Clive stood there. "Oh, but this isn't fair..." went through Damien's head. It was like his entire world was spinning. He couldn't compare to THAT!

"Hey, you look great! But, are you okay, Damien?"

Clive, or a somehow hotter version of Clive was looking at him with slight concern. How was this possible? Anthony had straightened his hair into a shiny Anime style. The leather pants FIT him, like they were made for his legs and his legs alone. The tattered cloak looked so well constructed... Anthony looked out of this world beautiful. The kind of beautiful that makes you sick, that makes you want to vanish, that makes you want to get away from it but you can't because you're mesmerized.

"You look so fucking hot, Anthony."

Anthony giggled. Thank god, that snapped Damien out of it.

"Why thanks, you look hot yourself!" Anthony was lucky he was so bad at fake-flirting. His pathetic swagger and negative charisma made up for his insanely good looks.

"Well, I guess Astarion's the side-kick tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't compare to you, look at yourself! It's like you're the brand name and I'm the Dollar Store rip-off version."

"What? What are you talking about, look at your hot open vest, like the vampire vibes are strong, man! Women can't resist a good vampire."

"Let's be honest though, they won't even look at me if I walk next to you. I'm not attractive like you. Let's just get to my car."

~

Anthony kept giving Damien side-glances on their way to the convention. It made him even more self-conscious. He had to refuel so he stopped the car at an otherwise abandoned gas station. Anthony kept looking at him, but didn't say anything.

Damien quickly got out and took a deep breath. As long as Anthony didn't speak, Damien was beyond attracted to him. He even got goosebumps. Or was that the cool night breeze? He paid the machine and wanted to get back into his car, but saw Anthony wasn't inside anymore.

Damien turned around, and there Anthony stood, much closer than Damien was used to or comfortable with. But he was exhilarated by it now. Anthony's black eyes had a red glow to them, even though it was probably Damien's car lights. His red shirt somehow showing his abs. And now Anthony's hands grazed Damien's waist.

It was exactly the area Damien worried about. His belly, he didn't have abs like Anthony. But Anthony rubbed him up and down, massaging with his thumbs. They both parted their lips and Damien whimpered something- but whatever it was, we will never know because Anthony locked him into a kiss.

Damien took a step back but Anthony took one forward. They bumped into Damien's jeep and Anthony grabbed Damien's wrists and pushed them against the metal.

"Don't you ever dare to tell me that you're not attractive, Damien," he growled. Then he licked Damien's neck and bit, rough and hard, and Damien moaned just a bit loud. Luckily, nobody was there.

Anthony pushed his leg between Damien's legs, forcing Damien to reveal he had a hard-on. He smirked and pulled Damien's hand down to his crotch. Anthony was hard too.

Were they really doing this?

"So, do you want to fuck me?" Anthony asked, panting, right next to Damien's elf-shaped ears.

Damien didn't give an answer but grabbed Anthony's slender torso and pushed him against the car instead. He had him pinned with his back to him now. Anthony laughed. "That's more like it! Take control, Damien!"

Damien unbuckled his and Anthony's pants, and massaged Anthony's ass. "Yeah, that feels so good, Damien! Now, fuck me!"

Damien's pre-cum acted as lube and he slid into Anthony, thrusting into him, and it really worked. He felt more secure, more sure of his own looks.

"Whose are you?" He asked Anthony.

"Yours, Damien! I'm - argh - I'm yours!"

The jeep wobbled as they kept pushing against it. But Damien didn't notice. He only noticed Anthony. He reveled in the experience of Anthony - THIS closely, just his straightened dark hair and his muscled arms in sight, zooming into a blurred vision each thrust. It was something Damien had never thought he'd do. He couldn't believe he was here with Anthony and Anthony alone.

"I'm gonna cum, oh god!"

Both Anthony and Damien were panting. Damien exited him and he turned around. His face as aggravatingly pretty as ever. They kissed, tenderly.

Damien's semen had dripped out of Anthony's ass, all over their costumes. They cleaned it up with some spare cloths Damien had in the back of the jeep. They got back into the car.

"That... that was... incredible?"

"Yeah, it was. I didn't know you wanted me like that."

"I have, ever since we met. I have tried to keep away from you a bit. Keep a distance. Because it would be too obvious I'm down bad for you, Anthony."

"You're so hot, Damien, so handsome. It felt so good giving in to you."

"Are you ready to go to the con?"

"Yeah, I am. Let's go."

Damien looked at Anthony with a new found love. When he wasn't acting, and was totally himself, he was such a sweet soul. Ugh. Hot AND kind. But Damien didn't feel self-conscious anymore. "That hottie over there? Mine!" Damien smiled.

[larissaloki]

Snapshot of the Future?

This is a gift for my cumplane giftee @letyepetyelepetye I hope you enjoy this I'm sorry its a bit short! I really enjoyed writing again for the first time in 4 years! I’m enonah in the server incase you are wondering!  Maybe next time, I should just grow out my hair… Shen Yuan internally groused as he flips back a strand of hair that’s fallen in-front of his face for the one thousandth time today. Trying to inspect a hand-crafted model that one stall owner was promoting, this person was proudly portraying that you can send in custom designs as well; for a price of course; and you would have your very own oc model. Many displayed samples were of the D&D variety, but Shen Yuan was currently thinking up many au designs for his favourite danmei characters. I wonder if I can make a strawberry shortcake design for Binghe or Shang Qinghua? Snorting to himself, Shen Yuan doesn’t notice someone walking up to stand next to him, going on tip toes to peer over his shoulder at the colourful display. “Whoa! That bow looks epic, oh man I wish I had one like for my final fantasy 14 character… I would look kickass as my bard!” Nearly dropping his bag that held his yu-gi-oh! Inspired cookies, Shen Yuan scowls, head whipping to the side ready to give the person behind, loudly shouting in his ear, a piece of his mind. “That’s my ear you- what….what the fuck are you meant to be?” His scathing tone quickly dissolved into one of pure confusion, behind him is a guy who is on the shorter side wearing what is clearly a cosplay, and a hand made one as well, but Shen Yuan could not make out what specific character it was. The cosplay was a warm orange and cream like palette, on the shoulders there were cloud like patterns and a jade token attached to the waist. The robes did look pretty, they made the guy look soft and plain but in a way that didn’t make him seem to be boring. His hair was messily brought up into a half bun, clearly his own hair and not a wig like Shen Yuan’s. but over the top of the robes, was a cape that had a thick fur lining, the cape itself was a white with barely see-able icy blue snowflakes on it and patterns that you could only really see when trying and up close. It was clearly beautifully made, but the mistakes on the embroidery here and there told Shen Yuan that it was hand made and not machine made. It was truly an impressive cosplay and a lot of care when into it. But who was it?! The stranger, during the time that Shen Yuan was looking him over, gave him a quick look as well, before grinning widely, an odd spark of self-satisfaction and pride could be seen. “Let me guess, Shen Qingqiu? Nice cosplay…is that a dog motif on your belt?” Frowning in confusion, the cute stranger pointed at Shen Yuan’s belt, the other hand resting on his hip which was holding a bag, not caring that it smacked against a table. Cringing, Shen Yuan looked down at his belt that indeed had motifs of BingPup, a gift from his sister who helped him make this cosplay. She was practicing to become a clothes designer and practically jumped at the chance to make her brothers gifts in the form of clothing when she could. Shen Yuan himself had adored the cute design, but the strangers comment made him feel a bit self-conscious about it. “It’s a small joke about a character from a book I like, Luo Binghe reminds me of a cute puppy so my sister helped me make it” Trying to keep his voice even, Shen Yuan channels his older brother’s confidence, but a small insecure wobble could still be heard. The Stranger having the social que awareness of nothing, only hummed as he turns his head one way and another, apparently not realising how increasingly flustered Shen Yuan was becoming. “Can you stop staring?!” “Oh! Sorry! It’s just really adorable” Laughing awkwardly, the stranger itched the side of his nose, straightening back up, giving Shen Yuan a lopsided grin. “But seriously, are you meant to be Shen Qingqiu? The detail is great, where did you get it? I didn’t hear about any merchandise new deals…” the last part was mumbled to the point that Shen Yuan couldn’t fully hear it, still focused on the compliment part. Preening, Shen Yuan finds himself straightening up a bit, a smug look creeping onto his face. “Thanks, my sister helped me with the finer details, it is Shen Qingqiu’s cosplay, I thought I could pull it off” Snapping out a fan that he got when he signed up for behind-the-scenes content, designed officially but the book creator as well. There where only so many of them and Shen Yuan had one, one of his proudest possessions. The look of pure surprise on the strangers’ face was well worth getting it just for this moment alone, Shen Yuan felt his lips curl up, pleased as the stranger’s eyes went impossibly wide. “You even brought that?! Damn…” “So, you now know who I’m cosplaying as, who are you may I ask?”  Shen Yuan idly fans himself; the convention was packed full of people, the air was getting stuffy after being inside for so long. Blinking, the stranger tears his eyes away from the fan finally, pulling his mind from whatever thoughts he was having. “Oh! I’m actually Shang Qinghua from the same book, just er, adapted to something a bit of a personal fantasy…” the cosplayers cheeks heat up with an adorable blush that made Shen Yuan’s fingers itch with the need to pinch them, but held back. “Huh, I didn’t realise it was PIDW” frowning, Shen Yuan kicked himself for somehow not realising, after being told, he could see all the small tells as to which character this was. The fact that it was adapted was the only comfort for his PIDW loving brain for not recongising it sooner. “It’s beautiful, the cape is very pretty” Face lighting up like a Christmas tree, the cute stranger positively beamed at him in delight, “You like it?! I was so unsure how it would look…” Yeah, Shen Yuan could understand that he had taken the same gamble with his belt himself after all. “Oh, I’m Shang Qinghua by the way, it’s great to see another fan and cosplayer of my work!” I’m sure he meant his favourite work; idiot’s mouth runs faster than his brain it seems. Laughing under his breath a bit, Shen Yuan inclines his head in greeting, “I’m Shen Yuan, are you really named the same as the character…?” Shen Yuan found it hard to believe but it would also make sense, it was probably similar as to how Shen Yuan feels the need to cosplay Shen Qingqiu because they share the same name. Nervously chuckling, Shang Qinghua nods sheepishly, toeing the ground as if embarrassed, well the character Shang Qinghua was pretty shady… “It is my actual name yeah, er, you can call me by a nickname if you like?” Shaking his head, Shen Yuan declines the offer, calling him by a nickname so soon feels bit to personal for being basically strangers. “Great!” Cheering up, Shang Qinghua’s entire body seems to bounce with joy, Shen Yuan could not help but find it endearing how his entire body seemed to project his moods so clearly. It was like watching a hamster, adorable and sweet. Anyone would think the same if they were me, its not gay to think a guy is cute! Nodding to himself, Shen Yuan adjusts his bags carefully before turning to look at Shang Qinghua again. “Have you seen many other PIDW cosplayers?” Pouting, Shang Qinghua shakes his head, crossing his arms ignoring how his bag again fly’s around, giving Shen Yuan a low key heart attack. How could he be so careless?! “Nah, you are the first one, honestly a bit sad by that but that just means we look extra amazing!” Grinning confidently, Shang Qinghua proudly exclaims, a beat later he jolts as an idea comes to him and he’s grabbing onto Shen Yuan’s arm excitedly, tugging on it causing Shen Yuan to stumble. For a small guy, he sure has one hell of a hidden strength, is this the power of adorableness? “Let’s go take pictures! Come on it will be fuuuuun! Please it’s not often I meet a real-life actual fan of PIDW!” A small whine can be heard as Shang Qinghua somehow magically summons up tears into his eyes and gives Shen Yuan the most pitiable puppy eyes he has ever seen. Groaning as he rubs his shoulder, Shen Yuan sighs, finding him unable to look away from the cute sight. “Fine! I will do a couple with you, but only a few got it? And you better send me a copy of them all…” Cheering, Shang Qinghua finally let’s go of his captive, fist pumping the air. Thinking himself free, Shen Yuan makes sure that he has all his things, and barely manages to pick up one back that he had placed on the ground, before his hand is grabbed and he finds himself being dragged through the crowd. It takes them a few good minutes to get outside, but the duo manages it with Shang Qinghua leading the way through, the small man managing to find all the gaps and squeezing them through in no time. “Oh oh oh oh oh, where should we start? Oooh that tree could make for a great backdrop for you- oh no, that area over there is practically perfect! Let’s go, hurry!” Barely having time to properly look around, Shen Yuan soon finds himself dragged over to a small section of the grounds that has some trees and even some bamboo planted along with some other flowering bushes and a small stream. “Put your bags to the side while I set up my camera, ok?” Shang Qinghua is setting up a small phone stand and the timer on his camera, his bags already thrown carelessly to the side as the eccentric hamster mutters to himself. Bewildered, Shen Yuan takes a moment to collect himself and carefully place his bags to the side. Making sure that his cookies don’t get ruined. “Ok that’s set, get your fan maybe and let’s strike a few poses together, maybe one of us walking through the bamboo? Hmm what else…” And this is how, Shen Yuan, spoilt son of his family, ends up being directed and fussed over to take many many different shots. It was actually surprisingly fun much to his surprise. Many shots ended up ruined because they would burst out laughing or falling over, such as when Shang Qinghua thought it would be a good idea to jump on the small stones in the shallow stream and ended up knee deep into it instead. Shen Yuan had so much that, he couldn’t remember every having smiled or laughed this much at one time for years. Being so sick so often to the point that he was bed ridden for months at a time, it felt so good to be laughing with someone again, to be enjoying his time instead of finding ways to cope with being inside and lonely. It felt…nice to have someone enjoy his company as well, it felt so good to have someone excitedly look at the photo’s they take and plan the next few. As if spending time with Shen Yuan was actually fun and not something to be over as soon as possible or that he has to be treated like spun glass. Shang Qinghua treats him like a normal person, yes Shen Yuan is going to be exhausted and aching something terrible tomorrow, but all he can think is- Shang Qinghua has a sweet smile. His dimples are just so cute when he laughs, completely in a platonic way of course! Its’ not like he has a crush on Shang Qinghua at all, any sane person would find him so utterly cute! You try and find someone who would disagree! “Fuck, the time is already 4pm, the convention closes in an hour, we really spent a long time out here huh? Say you coming to tomorrow as well or just today? Sorry if you had wanted to do other things…” Shen Yuan was surprised to see the time and sure enough, when he checked his phone, it glared 4:01pm back at him. Damn, he had actually wanted to get everything done today and meet a guy, because he knows he will be in bed tomorrow. However, looking at Shang Qinghua’s dejected and apologetic look, remembering all the fun they had, Shen Yuan couldn’t bring himself to be angry. “I wasn’t planning on coming tomorrow, but if I can I may come in, I wanted to meet an actor my sister likes for an autograph, think we have enough time to see a few stalls before closing?” “Sure! Many people should have left now so we should be able to zip around!” Relief bleeding through Shang Qinghua’s body that his new friend wasn’t mad, they quickly gather their things before heading back inside. True to Shang Qinghua’s word, many people had already filtered out and left the place much more empty that it had been previously. A blessing for Shen Yuan who could already feel his limbs and joints screaming at him for doing so much. Biting back a hiss as he moves out of the way of some transformer cosplay, Shen Yuan follows close behind Shang Qinghua. “Hey bro, give me your email and ill send the pictures over to you while you take a look at the stalls?” “Sure, my personal one is infinitecucumber@gmail.com” Pausing visibly, Shang Qinghua simply raises an eyebrow at him as Shen Yuan blushes hotly in embarrassment. “What? It was all that came to mind at the time and its for personal use only! Don’t give me that look I bet yours is no better” “Actu- yeah ok mine is no better” Laughing, Shang Qinghua happily hums as he starts to attach the picture folder to Shen Yuan’s email to send to him. While he does that, Shen Yuan eyes some cute looking rabbit, cat and panda plushies, debating which to get his older brother as a gag gift for Christmas, maybe he should get the chicken one… “Ok that’s sent! That should be all the pictures bro! Say, in the future would you like to do this again? It was really fun and I would to- ow ow ow! What the heck bro!? why you- S-Stop it!!” “Your email- your airplane?!” “er…yeah? H-hey ow! Not the nose!” “you stupid trash writer! After this you are coming back with me while I soak in a bath because my everything hurt’s and you are going to listen to everything I have to say about your stupid trash book!” “oh…hey you are peerle-“ “yes yes yes I am shush!” Grinning despite the red mark on his forehead from a vicious fan whack, Shang Qinghua just coos at Shen Yuan who politely pays for the plush from a mildly concerned shop keeper. “Awwwww! You are my biggest fan, you know I love reading your comments whenever I feel down at home writing, they really make me feel bet-“ “You read them and don’t reply?!” “Yeah because I hope that maybe, if I don’t you will keep commenting- put that fan away! Wait, I’m coming back with you? Does this mean dinner at yours?”   Huffing, Shen Yuan grumbles as he puts his fan away and starts walking towards the exit, body hurting too much to warrant staying now. “Yes, I want noodles if I’m going to have to put up with you” “Oh sweet! Wait, are you ok..?” “It’s fine, this happens often, aa week of rest and I will be fine-“ “A week?!” Shang Qinghua squeaks out in shock as they walk, “ and you wanted to come in tomorrow as well?! Bro you should stay home!” “I can’t, I need to get that signature, I promised my sister, plus I wanted to look around…” Looking at Shen Yuan in understanding Shang Qinghua couldn’t help but feel bad again for earlier. “Hmmm, wait, think we have enough time to make a new cosplay? If you wanted to cosplay tomorrow? Wait, do you have a wheelchair?” Sceptical, Shen Yuan nods, he had a wheelchair, but he hates using it because it makes me feel so hopeless when he does. “Sweet! Ok think we can magic up a throne like cosplay around your wheelchair and make you look like Thranduil?”

[sproutsgcrden]

sentinel of naruhata | chapter two

mr. nice guy

warnings: graphic descriptions of violence, one short scene implying sexual harassment (non-graphic), manga spoilers for my hero academia: vigilantes

word count: 3383

previous chapter | masterlist | read on ao3 | next chapter

want to be tagged? send me an ask and let me know!

If someone had told Koichi that he would get jumped, well, he may have believed them. That’s not too uncommon, especially around Naruhata. And it really wouldn’t be odd if it happened to him specifically. He just had that kind of luck. However, if they had also mentioned that a nine-year old would jump in and save him, he’d be a bit skeptical.

He honestly didn’t know if he quite believed what he had witnessed. One moment he was about to get hit by a guy he had managed to piss off earlier in the day, and the next some kid had shown up seemingly out of nowhere, threatening to steal his attacker’s quirk. Koichi didn’t think that was possible. Sure, there had been copying quirks, and erasure quirks were rare, but a quirk that allowed a person to take another quirk? That didn’t seem right, at least, it didn’t seem too entirely possible. A quirk is an integral, unique part of each individual- there’s no way somebody can take that, right? He could be wrong, it wasn’t like he was studying quirk theory.

As soon as the kid hightailed it out of the store with his strange assortment of items, Koichi knew he’d been in for it. He had already been late to work today because of the whole fiasco from earlier. He didn’t mean to run into Spiky Dude- it had just happened! Yeah, maybe he shouldn’t have been using his quirk in public, but he was running late! And then, of course, Spiky Dude just had to show up at the same convenience store Koichi worked at, and had to rough him up on the same day he was late. His manager was already absolutely pissed, and Koichi really didn’t want to stick around any longer than he had to in fear of a lecture, or something worse.

Luckily for him, he was nearing the end of his shift by the time Spiky Dude had entered the store, and the kid had helped him waste a lot of time due to the insane amount of items he was purchasing. All he had to do was clock out and sneak out of the door, which should be fairly easy. After punching out on the system and closing the register, Koichi grabbed his bag and began to get ready to leave.

“Haimiwari.” Koichi closed his eyes in disappointment, sighing before turning around with a fake grin.

“What can I do for you, sir?”

The angry tapping of the shoe really should have been enough warning, in hindsight.

------

The streets of Naruhata were busy for the late hour, not too unusual but it was something that Koichi didn’t want to bother with after the night he had. Of course that stunt had gotten him fired. Perfect. It wasn’t like it was his fault! He was the victim in all of this! What, did his boss really think that he wanted to get dragged into an alleyway and get beat up? Koichi grunted as he walked around a slow-placed couple. He would have to find another job and fast. Rent was coming up, and he still had payments due on his tuition. His left hand adjusted the strap of his backpack while his right passed over his face. This was too stressful to think about right now.

There was something he knew he could to help take his mind off of things for a while. Koichi’s eyes narrowed in determined concentration. Yeah, tonight was a good night for that.

------

The wind rushed through Izuku’s loose hair, tousling it beyond fixing. It felt wonderful, racing across the rooftops of an unknown city in the dead of the night. He was barely let out of his room and the training hall on good days- he could never hope to leave the confines of Kurogiri’s watchful eye. Which, unfortunately, meant that it was a rare opportunity to go outside… ever.

Izuku let out a harsh giggle, letting it echo in the air with a wide smile. He had never felt so free.

Slowing to catch his breath, Izuku pulled a wrinkled, old notebook out of his bag. Skimming through the pages, he stopped on the last entry he made. When researching Eraserhead, it wasn’t that hard to find out that the underground hero mainly patrolled in the Narahata Ward. However, it was a bit more difficult to find out specific times and locations of his daily patrols. He assumed that it changed quite frequently due to Eraserhead’s cryptid-like nature, but it was still frustrating to not know exactly where to find the hero. Especially since he wasn’t aware how much time he had before Tomura caught on to where he was.

However, Izuku did have a few locations that seemed to be promising. Most of them were hidden back alley’s, which made perfect sense. A majority of petty crimes took place during the day- they were a beacon to spotlight heroes, those who lived off the praise and popularity from civilians. But the nasty, evil villains? Oh, Izuku knew from experience that the worst of the worst were always found in the dead of night. Underground heroes always had to be on their toes, and it spoke volumes to Eraserhead’s vigilance that he’s remained pretty much untouchable and unnoticeable to those who wished ill intent.

Pulling up the map on his outdated phone, he inputted the first location he had written in his notebook. The specific alley was only about three blocks away. With a manic grin, Izuku pulled up the hood of his jacket and let Enhance swim through his veins once more.

------

The discs of air underneath Koichi’s palms lit up with a familiar burst of light, making the nineteen gleefully chuckle. The feeling of his signature All Might hoodie snugged tight over his torso provided him with an unexplainable comfort, as did the plain black mask covering the lower half of his face.

Koichi was inexplicably known for his plain nature at college (save for the rumors that said he was some creep that tried to lure girls into abandoned buildings. He really was just trying to make friends!), so it wasn’t like anyone would expect him to be the vigilante that ran around Naruhata at night.

Well, he supposed the word “vigilante” was a bit of an exaggeration. It wasn’t like he sought out and fought criminals, he just used his quirk to get around a bit faster and help out the common man. Koichi lost out on his chance of being a hero a long time ago, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t help people when he had a bit of free time. As Mr. Nice Guy, he was able to get a glimpse of what he had dreamed about being his entire life.

Koichi zoomed through the lit up streets of Naruhata, providing directions to the lost, helping find missing items, and picking up bits of random trash. Everytime he received a “thank you” his eyes lit up- it was nice to be appreciated sometimes. The chorus of grateful civilians echoed within his mind as he continued to do good deeds throughout the night. After a few hours, he found himself moseying down a side road in hopes of heading home.

“All that do-gooding sure does make a guy thirsty.” He slipped down his mask, mumbling mostly to himself as he readjusted the straps of his bag.

A water bottle was thrust in front of him, followed by a peppy voice. “Here ya go!”

Koichi took the water bottle without thanking, shouting a quick “thank you” to whoever handed him the drink. And then, once he realized what had just happened, immediately did a double-take. Wide eyes looked over to the side of the road, only to see a young girl with pink, puffy pigtails staring at him with a bemused smirk.

“Pop Step?!” Koichi straightened his posture. “What are you doing here?!”

Ignoring his question, she began to walk out in front of him, hands stuffed in the pockets of her jacket. “So… you’re the guy picking up trash around town?” Her hand went to frame her cheek in wonder. “What’s your name again? Cockroach Guy?”

Wide, admiring eyes became downtrodden in an instant, an annoyed glare taking their place. “It’s Nice Guy!”

“Whatever! You’re the one who alerted me to the fuzz during my show, right? I wanted to say thanks, somehow!”

Koichi was the one who let her know the police were coming when she was performing her illegal street show earlier in the day. He didn’t care much for her music, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see her get arrested. Either way, he wasn’t sure why that provided an excuse to essentially stalk him. “So, you’ve been tailing me all day, huh?”

“Yup! I saw you almost get pummeled by those customers while you were working at that convenience store! I probably wouldn’t have stepped in either way, but wow! You were lucky when that little kid showed up, huh? Gotta admit, Cockroach Guy, that was pretty lame!”

“I don’t do well with violence, okay!” Koichi felt his eye twitch in annoyance; it was probably time to get out of this conversation before he lost his temper.

Pop Step’s face twisted with confusion. “Isn’t that dweeby hoodie supposed to be an All Might cosplay? And yet, you suck at fighting? That totally makes sense…”

“Sure, I look up to the guy. I wanna be useful to society however I can, just like he is! It’s got nothing to do with fighting! And the hoodie isn’t dweeby! It’s cool!”

“However you can?” Pop Step giggled, using her quirk to jump ust high enough to appear a little taller than Koichi. “So you know your place, at least!”

Koichi clenched his teeth in frustration, stepping around Pop Step to try and speed around her. “Stop getting hung up on the details! Knowing your place is important! If you keep playing at being some sort of pop idol, the cops will catch you sooner than later.”

Pop’s face scrunched up with a flash of anger, and if Koichi hadn’t had the night he had, he may have even been terrified. “Hey! I’m not ‘playing’ at anything! I’m the real deal!” She sped up, stopping in front of him as she pointed a perfectly manicured finger in his face. “You’ll just have to keep an eye out for the police! Also, I’ll need you to usher in my fans, set up the venues, and sell some merchandise!”

“Are you pissed off or hiring me for a job?!”

“Don’t you need one? Wouldn’t be surprised if you got fired after what happened!” Pop didn’t even take a moment to notice Koichi’s crestfallen glance towards the wall. “Anyways! If anyone can help me, it’s you- Know Your Place Guy!”

“Ugh. It’s Nice Guy!”

“Oh whatever!” Pop Step turned away from Koichi in order to run further down the alley, sparing him a glance backwards as she made her getaway. “I went through all of this trouble to express some gratitude… I didn’t think it’d be such a big deal, asking a ‘Nice Guy’ like you to do a little work to help a girl out!”

Koichi, good mood effectively ruined once again, went to bite back with a response. That was, until a familiar group popped into his view. He flinched as he saw Pop Step run straight into the leader, none other than the Spiky Dude who threatened to pummel Koichi into the ground just hours before. He could do nothing but stare as the group cornered Pop Step up against the wall, no doubt making her uncomfortable. Probably much more so than he was when he was in her position.

Now, if Koichi were a hero, this is when he would pull out all of the stops. He would crouch low to the ground, speeding to the men terrorizing the young girl and knocking them all on their asses. He would make sure he sped Pop Step to a safe location before coming back to make sure those bozos got arrested like they deserved. But, Koichi wasn’t a hero. And he would never be one. What could he do? His quirk was essentially useless in a fight. The only thing he was good at was running away.

But didn’t he have a duty to try and help? After all, if he couldn’t find the strength to help a young girl in this kind of situation, how could he try to help anyone else? With shaky legs and a determined glint in his eyes, Koichi bent low to the ground. The familiar pulse of his quirk activating below him provided little comfort, but he knew he had to push through this fear and go.

Mask pulled up, Koichi flew against the dirty pavement, locking eyes onto one of Spiky Dude’s lackeys. Now, if he could just get by unnoticed this time, he could knock this guy off his game and get Pop out of there. But of course, things never go Koichi’s way. That’s his luck.

The man caught him, large physique towering over him. The small tuft of flame acting as his hair cast an eerie shadow against the ground. “Well, well, well… look who we have here! Hey, boss! It’s the cockroach from earlier!” Still holding onto the back of Koichi’s hoodie, the large criminal threw him against the wall.

The pain of his head hitting against the rough edges of brick didn’t compare to the spikes slashing against his cheek.

“That annoying brat ain’t here to save you this time.” Spiky Dude’s eyes seem to glow in the dark night, and Koichi couldn’t ignore the sinister feeling pooling in his gut. “You ain’t getting away with just a small beating this time. I’m going to crush you. And I’m gonna enjoy it.”

The spiky criminal stalked closer to him; Koichi’s eyes immediately latched onto the blood dripping from the thick barbs protruding from the knuckles of his enemy. Shit. Shit. What could he do?! He really was going to die. Koichi shut his eyes in gruesome anticipation, hoping that at least Pop Step was using this opportunity to get away. A rush of air flew past his nose, and he blinked slowly. Looking up, Koichi locked eyes with Spiky Dude. The skewers had vanished from his knuckles, and the same, pale look of absolute petrification the criminal wore earlier in the night was on his face once more.

“Didn’t I tell you I wasn’t going to warn you next time?” The familiar voice of the kid that had stepped in during Koichi’s earlier encounter with this group echoed through the street, venom and animosity clear as day in his tone. Even Koichi shrunk into himself in fear. His wandering eyes latched onto a figure leaning down from the rooftop above, All Might hoodie bright against the black of night.

“I was looking for Eraserhead, but maybe I can do his job for him tonight and knock you fucker’s out.” Holy shit, what was up with this kid?

Koichi had noticed earlier that the kid had bright green eyes, but they seemed almost electrified, bright green sparks lighting off in his pupils as his glare deepened. He jumped off the roof, floating just above the ground before he hit it at full speed. His hand was held out, and Koichi glanced at the numerous scars stretching against the palored skin.

While Spiky Dude was distracted, Koichi took the opportunity to get back on his hands and feet, and forced himself to crash into the lizard looking man that was still holding onto Pop Step. She used the momentum from Koichi along with her quirk to jump out of the way and out of the alley. In his happiness of the fact that Pop was able to make a getaway, he wasn’t able to stop his momentum. Koichi ended up crashing straight into the other wall, the force of it knocking out the criminal he held tight in his grip.

“There’s no need for that!” A deep, grudd voice echoed from the other side of the street, and before anyone could react, a large fist connected straight into Spiky Dude’s nose. “The name’s Knuckleduster. And it’s my job to take out the trash like you.” Koichi barely even blinked, and the next moment the other tone was conked out right beside the leader.

What the fuck was happening?!

------

Izuku sighed in relief as he felt the rubber band snap against the quirk he held in his grasp, sending it back to its original owner as some random old man knocked him out. He didn’t want to steal a quirk, but that dude really wasn’t going to give him any choice. Luckily some geezer showed up before he could make good on his threat. He watched the man with a careful stare, seeing as he checked each of the criminal’s tongues before standing back up. His red sneakers crunched against the pavement as he lowered himself back to the ground; he walked towards the cashier he met earlier and held his hand out for him to take.

The man sitting across from him scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner, choosing to take Izuku’s hand in order to get back up. “Uh, suppose that’s twice you’ve saved me, huh kid? We really have to stop meeting like this.”

Izuku chuckled, nodding his head in agreement. A cough sounded behind the two of them, and they both turned around to find the old man staring straight into their souls. Knuckleduster’s bandana covered his entire head, including the top half of his face, only leaving holes to see out of. His black trench coat was grimy, not to mention ripped on the hemlines. Everything about this screamed “homeless old man”, even down to the gritty way the man seemed to fight.

Izuku couldn’t help but think the man seemed familiar.

“You take quirks or something, kid?” The man’s eyes narrowed, his already gruff voice deepened.

“No! I don’t take quirks! I was just playing a bluff, really!” Technically, Izuku wasn’t lying. He hadn’t ever willingly taken a quirk before. “I have an erasure quirk! That’s why I’ve been looking for Eraserhead. I’m hoping he’s willing to train me.” Now, there’s the lie.

“Hmph.” Knuckleduster’s eyes stayed on Izuku a little while longer, tense silence following before he shrugged it off. “You both show promise. Gotta admit, when I heard about Naruhata’s newest vigilante, I wasn’t expecting him to have a sidekick.”

Both Izuku and Koichi stared at him in shock, making the old man laugh. It was a hearty laugh, scratchy and sarcastic. “People are gonna make that sort of assumption when you’ve got two kids helping fight crime in the exact same hoodie.” The two boys flushed, causing Koichi to shake his head.

“We just met today.”

“So? Doesn’t mean the two of ya don’t work well together. I almost didn’t need to come down here. If it weren’t for the threat of Trigger I probably wouldn’t have. Don’t know if it’s luck or not, but these thugs didn’t have a trace of the drug on ‘em.”

“Trigger?” Izuku knew what he was talking about. His father was one of the main benefactors of the production and distribution of the drug. Or well, he was before he got forced into a coma. He had originally thought the distribution would slow after the underworld had found out about All for One’s current medical status, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

Knuckleduster waved it away. “I can explain that later. After you two accept my offer.”

Koichi paled, backing away from the crazy old man. “What offer?”

A sinister grin formed its way onto Knuckleduster’s face, making the duo in front of him back away even further. “Let me teach you kids what it takes to do hero work, and how great it feels to pound some villains!”

Koichi thought this man was absolutely insane and would only lead him to more trouble.

Izuku thought that he had enough training from the villains themselves.

They met each other’s gaze before turning back to Knuckleduster.

“We refuse your offer.”

[hueswrites]

hq kinktober [day1] tendou

main hq kinktober list

hq kinktober [day1] tendou satori/cosplay

includes: a bit of story, some angsty broody stuff on reader's part, cosplay (obviously), fingering and female receiving oral sex

wordcount: 4,827

ok this turned out to be more fluff and actual sort of plot than smut. i just started writing at 12:30am and kept going until 6 in the morning. this is the result. if you were looking forward to straight up smut on this first prompt, i'm sorry but THIS IS NOT IT LMAO.

i absolutely adore tendou and the perspective i gave him on life in this. stay quirky, my friends. (as kenma would say... stay interesting, shouyo)

Being Satori was hard. It was unfortunate, exhausting, and just plain miserable - that's what his junior high school classmates wanted him to believe, at least.

In his early years of school, Satori Tendou was teased for his awkward, gangly appearance and unusual mannerisms. His attempts to interact with his peers were often shunned due to the offbeat semblance he exuded, which left most of the other kids feeling unsettled.

His mother, equally peculiar in her own way, urged Satori to make the most of his eccentricities. "Think about the characters you like from the manga you read. Would you want to keep reading the story if all the characters were the same?"

Satori shook his head, already concluding the point his mother was trying to make. "I get what you're saying, Mom," he grinned from ear to ear, a smile the width of his perfectly straight cherry red bangs, and pushed himself away from the kitchen table. He plopped down onto the wooden floorboard with exuberance. "Life is boring when everyone's the same. Who wants to live a boring life?" He padded over to his room and jumped onto his bed, going back to the first page of this week's issue of Jump. The warm, tingly feeling of adventure took over as he reread the newest chapters of his favorite series for the thirteenth time that week.

A decade later, Satori found himself living in France, where he stood out more than ever before. Not only did he need to learn how to adapt to the country's unfamiliar customs, he also had to learn how to speak its language: the language of love. He found his self-appointed tutor in the bookstore he frequented once he felt comfortable navigating the streets of Paris, which happened to be the same bookstore you browsed when you had a little bit of money to spend.

There you stood alongside him in the graphic novel section, your form hidden under an oversized hoodie, brows scrunched together in what appeared to be deep concentration. You were extremely aware of his presence looming over you, and it created a feeling of unease that sunk into your bones. You braved a glance up at his face, and he quickly turned his head back to stare at the row of the slice-of-life series that lined the very top shelf before him.

Tall, you thought to yourself. That's a very tall man.

You shuffled away from him just a bit, browsing the very bare section of "how-to-draw manga" guides that you knew were second rate to how real manga artists crafted their work.

Moments later, a silvery voice spilled into your consciousness and caught your attention. "Hmm, if only Matsuo-chan realized Hibari's feelings for her in the very beginning..." You can't help but look back up at the lanky man next to you, listening as he changed his speech from French to Japanese. "Then perhaps sweet misery would've never crushed their poor, little hearts." He turned his head to look down at you, heavy lids lowered over brilliantly crimson irises. A cheeky upward curve lifted his thinly shaped lips, and your heart skipped a beat.

Your mind went blank, rendering you speechless.

"I saw the Todai button on your bag," he said, voice now light and cheerful.

You blinked once, twice, then looked down at your messenger bag decorated with various pins from the clubs you took part of in college back in your home country of Japan. Your body relaxed, and a breathy laugh escaped your lips. "Yeah, Tokyo University. Are you from Japan?"

"Yes! Came here from Sendai. How's my French?" He beamed a child-like smile.

You produced your most sarcastic chuckle, turning to lean a shoulder onto the bookshelf so you could face him. "It's kind of terrible."

He mocked a look of despair and dropped his head in feigned embarrassment. You noticed how the pale skin of his cheeks turned a faint shade of red, and you wondered how someone could go from intimidating to adorable in a matter of seconds. Then his eyes snapped back to you, and a toothy grin spread across his face. "Wanna be my tutor?"

Your cheeks flushed pink, and your breath came to a halt again.

"I'm not sure I'm qualified to do something like that," you said, pushing yourself away from the shelf to stand square.

He hummed and straightened his posture, shifting his eyes away from yours, down to your shoes, then back up to your face. "Why not?" The look on his face expressed genuine curiosity.

You decided to pretend you didn't notice his blatant evaluation of your physical form just now.

"I've only been here for a year. I can speak enough French to get by, but I'm not sure I can teach someone else how to speak it."

"So little faith in yourself, little miss."

You furrow your brows at the nickname.

He whipped out a volume of a manga you recently started reading and held it up to you. "You have a pin of this on your bag, too," he said with a wiggle of his sparse eyebrows. "How about you try and get me to start reading this subpar manga by making me read it out loud in French?"

You gave him a look of piqued interest. The possibility of roping someone into reading your favorite series was tempting.

Then he continued, "And we can get yakitori and beer while you teach me?"

The hue of red on your face extends to your forehead.

"You've got pins of beer and yakitori on your bag, too."

A few weeks later, you and Satori were on your sixth date seated across from each other at a cat café in downtown Paris. It took the first three dates (he'd somehow coerced you into) for you to realize that the strange man was just that - strange, but harmless. The one friend you'd managed to make in your year in France introduced you to some very attractive and very gregarious men that you just couldn't see yourself with. Your friend's idea of fun was clubbing and bar hopping through the streets of Paris, and that was unsurprisingly the same kind of fun those men preferred as well.

To you, fun was something much more personal and intimate. Your past experience with relationships lead you to believe that you are meant to be on your own - that there is nobody in this world that will appreciate your oddities and make you as happy as you can make yourself.

Your interests lied in worlds of fiction and fantasy - games, books, movies, and manga, which you learned Satori was just as passionate about as you. Not surprising. He seemed to fit the socially awkward, emotionally inept stereotype you knew most men fit into that also liked anime. He asked too many questions, didn't understand when his questions push personal boundaries, and just wouldn't. Shut. Up.  

He did smell nice. You gave him that.

"So little turtle-in-her-shell, do you ever go to conventions?"

You paused your chewing of the last bit of coffee cake you ordered. "Turtle in her shell?"

That carmine, wide eyed gaze of his remained fixed on your face. "You wear that big hoodie all the time like a turtle in a shell."

"It's comfortable," you state. “And yes, I go to conventions.”

Nearly a minute of silence passed between the two of you, and if it weren't for the chatter of others seated around you and the clinking of cups and plates, you'd have really retracted into your "shell" of a sweater.

So you changed the subject, deciding to ask a question that stepped a hair outside of your comfort zone to a man you weren't quite sure about yet.

"Were you just trying to get my attention with that whole "be my tutor" spiel?" You asked following a sip of your iced cappuccino. A little calico feline had chosen you as its scratching post, kneading its nails into the fabric of your jeans. You ignored the little stings of pain for the sake of the cat's enjoyment.

Satori multitasked between feeding himself scoops of his chocolate parfait and playing with the lashing paws of the black cat that sat on the table between you. "Hey now," he said, lightly squeezing the cat's tail before quickly retreating his hand away to avoid the tiny beast's teeth. "I wouldn't know all the different ways to say "I need to take a dump" in French if it weren't for your tutoring thus far, little miss.”

"That's a weird nickname you have for me." The cat on your lap suddenly hopped to the ground, skirting across the ground to the human it suddenly deemed more worthy of its attention than you. You frowned, the action wounding your cold, bitter heart.

"You wouldn't remember me if I called you by just your name, would you?" He used a straw to slurp up the remaining concoction of sugar at the bottom of his cup.

"Do you even remember my real name, Satori?"

He pushed the now empty cup aside and ruffled the black cat's ears with his fingers. It hissed and gave a quick swat of its paw to his hands, then jumped off the table and scurried away.

"I never forget the names of all the cute girls I get to add to my harem," he said with a smirk, his cheeks rising to meet the crinkled corners of his eyes.

You gave him a lopsided glare. "You're kidding, right?"

Satori laughed - a lilted giggle that sent a shiver straight down to your gut, and then his expression darkened and his eyes captured yours in a binding stare. "Would you like to come over and see for yourself?" The way his voice rumbled an octave lower than you've ever heard had you squeezing your hands into nervous balls of tension above your knees.

You frowned. You genuinely couldn't tell if he was being serious. If you hadn't known how much wit and jest the man exuded in nearly every one of his actions, you wouldn't put it past him to be a basement dwelling, serial stalking NEET that kidnapped girls and made them dress up to suit his twisted fantasies. The thought had you questioning every single thing he's said to you so far. He had your number, he knew where you liked to eat, where you liked to drink, and he even knew where you worked. Was this guy like the others?

Suddenly his laughter burst through the air, the sound so boisterous it made you flinch.

"You look so petrified! Are you that gullible to believe everything I say?"

You grit your teeth and grabbed the paper wrapper from his straw to chuck it at his face. "That was so not cool!" You huffed, getting your wallet out to leave a tip on the table.

His laughter continued to tumble through the café, disrupting conversations from nearby customers only for them to direct their attention towards you. You rose to your feet and hurried towards the exit. You absolutely hate being the center of attention!

Satori followed you and matched your stride easily, one of his steps covering three of yours. He stood unbearably close, and if he didn't smell as sweet as the parfait he just ate, you would've shoved him away,

"___-chan," he sang, and you realized it was the first time he said your name. You allowed yourself to relax just a little and slowed your steps. A brief moment of silence settled between the two of you, and he used that moment to gauge your current state of emotional wellbeing.

"___-chan," he said again, this time demanding your attention.

You remained silent. Satori had picked up on so many of your habits in the past few weeks of talking to you and observing your actions that he understood your silence as your cue for, "Go on, I'm listening."

"I'm sorry for upsetting you," he said, bending at his waist so he could meet your line of sight, continuing to stroll alongside you. He must've noticed the creases under your eyes disappear as your tension eased away because that smug little smirk returned to his face. You glanced at him out of the corner of your eye, turning your head to look at him just slightly. A shade of pink colored your cheeks when you met his gaze - his wide, inquisitive eyes studying you with childlike innocence.

You looked forward.

He chuckled and stood up straight, sliding his hands into his jean pockets. "Adorable," he said aloud, further deepening your blush.

You steeled yourself and regained your composure. "Which way do we go?"

Satori hummed. "What do you mean?" he said, bending down again to look at your face. Why must he always have to stare like that when he speaks?

"Aren't we going to your place?"

He grinned. "Really?"

You threw a glare his way. "I'll change my mind if we don't start heading there right now."

Satori grimaced. "___-chan does not cool down so easily after bursting into flames," he mumbled, and you ignored the comment. He sighed. "This way, little miss," he took your hand and pulled you along, bounding across the street as the pedestrian crosswalk countdown hit zero. Your hand wrapped around his, holding on tight to keep up.

You couldn't help but laugh at the stupid sound effects he made as he continued to leap from the street onto the sidewalk, giving you no choice but to run and jump over the curb with him.

Your self-conceived belief that you are all you'll ever have and all you'll ever need to be happy now faced a challenger. This strange person - this bizarre character - punched a hole through the wall you've put so much effort to build on your own.

Satori's twenty-seventh birthday came just after your one year anniversary of the strange... relationship... you managed to maintain despite your ongoing struggle against the warped, pessimistic reality you believed about relationships through years of self-doubt. Slowly but steadily the glass case you built around yourself chipped away due to Satori's freakish ability to see beyond your façade and understand your feelings.

You learned about the bullying he faced in his childhood, and how his mother and high school volleyball team helped him accept the fact that life will always have real jerks with nothing nice to say to test your tenacity. He created a routine of reminding you that you can choose whether or not you let those nasty words bring you down or give you motivation to build your self worth.

Life is more fun when things are a little out of the ordinary. Who wants to be the same as everyone else? These are words you considered when you felt down.

For Satori's birthday, you wanted to do something different, something unique that he would remember about you if you ever went your separate ways.

Since the beginning, you noticed Satori had a thing for cute girls in cosplay. When you told him about your own cosplay projects and showed him pictures, his whole demeanor changed. He became shy - something hardly anyone had ever seen in his usually indiscreet personality.

One thing that helped you feel a little more confident in yourself and your relationship was your experience in physical intimacy. From what you gathered in the little bit of discussion you've had with Satori on the topic, he seemed to have far less experience than you. It was cute how his face went bright red when you managed to pry the details of his past encounters out from the tiny little box of insecurities he still held within. Perhaps it was your turn to bring something out of the wicked Guess Monster (you thought it was a cheesy name but he really took pride in the title whenever he reminisced on his youth at Shiratorizawa Academy) that he kept so carefully hidden away.

"Why are you so shy about this?" You asked the first time you had sex.

Suddenly, the creepy, unwavering eye contact he managed to hold with anyone he came face to face with vanished from the list of unsettling and seemingly unashamed habits and mannerisms that made Satori Tendou so uniquely... Satori.

"The one thing I still have trouble with is..." he looked down at where your naked bodies connected on the plush mattress he swore really was worth the $2,000 he spent. (I don't mean to diss your profession, but do you really make enough money as a chocolatier to afford a bed that expensive?) you asked, immediately regretting having asked the question when a gloomy grey cloud appeared over his head).

"Fucking?" You said, giving him a cocky little smirk.

He buried his face in the crook of your neck with a groan.

"I know you get turned on by cute cosplays of your favorite anime girls."

"...and cute actresses," he muttered, now stuffing his face between your breasts.

That's when you decided to shake things up.

Satori's weekends were usually occupied by work at the sweets factory. He was in the process of getting promoted to a position that freed up his weekends, but it wasn't happening anytime soon.

It was just your luck that his birthday fell on a Saturday this year, your only day off on the weekends. You left your cosplays and wigs back in Japan, boxed up in the bedroom you grew up in. While Satori was slaving away at work, you went shopping. You managed to find a decent sewing machine and plenty of fabric at a (pricey) thrift store on the other side of town. The wigs you looked at were ridiculously expensive - definitely for the high end fashion scene of Paris, not for nerdy cosplayers.

Once you returned to his apartment, you spread all of your findings across his bed and bedroom floor.

A maid's skirt that you will definitely chop up to be anything but modest.

A coreset you honestly weren't sure would fit your little love handles and tummy that lost its tone after all the dessert dates Satori insisted were good for "self care."

Cute devil horns with a pointed tail to match.

Knee high stockings and garters he mentioned as being one of the sexiest things a woman could wear.

And a simple leather collar to put around your neck... with the option to hook a leash.

You looked at the spread before you and wondered how such a quiet, reserved person such as yourself could be so... kinky.

You checked the time on your phone. You had three hours to put something together.

9:43pm Satori:

i'm leaving! boss said he'd let me leave 27 minutes early to celebrate the 27 years of my blessed existence on this planet

@( o･ꎴ･)@

9:44pm

that's all he did for your birthday? and wtf is that emoji

9:44pm Satori:

it's supposed to be a monkey but now that i look it really doesn't look like one. be home soooooon!! ＼(^o^)／ he gave me a $1000 bonus too #stacked

9:45pm

omg you are so lame! come straight to your room for your present :)

9:45pm Satori: (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖) ohooOoOOo??

9:46pm stop sending faces and just get your skinny butt over here

9:46pm Satori:

┏( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)┛┏( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)┛┏( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)┛

You heard the front door open, followed by the thump of Satori's shoes hitting the wall. The sound of the lock sliding into place once he closed the door sent a little shiver up your spine.

You sat on his bed, back against the headboard, legs crossed in front of you. You fixed your little devil horns, made sure the tail was pulled out from underneath your butt, and pushed the coreset up to give your cleavage a boost.

Inhale. Exhale.

You'd never dressed up for something like this before, and you had no idea how Satori would react. You imagined he would immediately pass out with a nosebleed.

His footsteps neared his room, and you heard him in his chipper, sing-song voice. "What is my little ___-chan up to, hmm?"  

Once he reached the doorway, his eyes landed on you, and his entire body froze. His jaw went slack, looking like a fool with his mouth wide open in dumbstruck awe at the sight before him.

You gave him your most innocent smile, spreading your legs open just a hair. "Come eat up your dessert, Satori~" you said with a tone so sultry it turned his bones into mush.

Satori's shoulders slumped, and he ran a hand through his matted hair in exasperation. His rusty red locks had grown longer than when you first met him - curling behind his ears and covering his forehead. "Baby..." he said, walking into the room, towards the bed. "Baby, baby, baby," he repeated in English, his favorite language to express excitement. He crawled onto the bed, stopping just before you to sit and cross his legs while he looked you over.

Your skirt was cut so short he could almost see the sweet spot between your legs. The garter straps hugged the meat of your thighs and hooked onto the thigh high stockings that fit the muscle of your calves.

Those pointy little horns sat just a little bit lopsided on your head. That slim, pointed tail traced back to your rear, and the collar around that gorgeous neck of yours drew his eyes down to your barely contained cleavage.

"Baby," he said again, almost a whisper. He leaned forward onto his knees to hover over your body and cradled your face between his hands. Hungry crimson eyes gazed right through you, a shade darker than you've ever seen before. "I'm the luckiest man in the world," he said, then pressed the softest, most gentle kiss to your lips.

Your heart fluttered, hands coming up to thread your fingers into his hair. "Happy birthday," you murmured, bringing him back down for another kiss.

The kiss quickly went from gentle to fervent, his hands slipping up your calves over the stockings, over the garters and up to your thighs, rounding out over your ass. He gave your fleshy cheeks a squeeze and broke the kiss, going straight to your neck, kissing every bit of your exposed skin.

You spread your legs more, asking him to come closer, and he did. Your hands slipped underneath his shirt, lifting it above his ribcage, up to his shoulders. He barely moved back to remove the shirt completely before pressing his lips back to the skin over your collarbones, giving you gentle nips with his teeth.

This was the Satori you wanted in bed.

He sighed into your chest, going down to kiss the swell of your breasts. "My little devil," he said, sucking on the skin right above the coreset. "You're so sexy," he bit down a little bit harder, eliciting a hiss through your teeth. "So beautiful," a kiss over the bite, moving to your other breast. "So irresistible," both of his hands came up underneath your ass to lift you up off of the bed and into his lap. You yelped, forgetting his lithe frame could muster so much strength. He placed you in his lap, leaning forward to run his tongue across your lips and into your mouth once you opened up for him.

"Take your pants off," you mumbled, pulling at the waistband.

"I don't wanna stop kissing you," he whined, hands running up along your waist and over your back to press you up against his chest. At that moment you wished you could feel the warmth of his skin, if it weren't for the coreset.

"How are you gonna fuck me if you don't take them off?"

"Mmmfgh," he groaned, a funny sound that only Satori could make without killing the mood.

He pulled away, then quickly leaned forward to steal another kiss, and pulled away again. You crawled off his lap and sat back, watching him rise to his knees to shimmy pants down his hips. He sat back on his butt and kicked them off then crawled back to you, caging you between his arms and legs.

You pushed him away and gave him a devious smirk. "If I knew dressing up like this would flip your switch, I would've done it a long time ago."

He returned your grin with a wicked gleam of his own, eyelids drooping down to look at you with his most perverted leer. "Achievement unlocked?"

You slapped your hand over his face, pushing him away with a laugh. Spreading your legs again, you drew his attention down to your skirt and flipped it up over your stomach to show him your bare cunt.

He groaned, a mix of a whine and a curse, before diving down to attach his mouth straight to your dampened folds. He licked and sucked, pressing the flat of his tongue against your clit before sucking on the little bud, repeating the motion over and over until you started to writhe.

"I-" you began, letting out a huff of a breath, "would tell you to slow down," your hand flew up to grip onto his hair tightly once he pushed a finger inside you. "But it's your night," you huffed again, a strangled moan leaving your throat. "Go wild, Satori."

He removed his mouth and went straight from one finger to three, rubbing the pads of his fingers up against the walls of your core stretching you out and looking up at you with glossy, hazy eyes. "Best dessert I've ever had," he groaned, watching you tilt your head back, chest heaving as your body started to tremble. He went back down to lap at your folds, replacing his fingers with the muscle of his tongue, pushing it deep into your little hole.

"Fuck, Satori, I'm already close," you sighed, rocking your hips up against his mouth. He pulled away again. "I want you for breakfast," he pushed his fingers back inside your cunt, now sloppy with the slick of his saliva and your arousal. He gave a bruising kiss to the inside of your thigh, "And I want you for lunch," a kiss to your other thigh, "And dinner," he groaned, feeling you clench around his digits, pumping harder, faster - long, nimble fingers reaching the very depth of your core.

Those little horns started to slide off your head as you tossed your head forward and back, watching him work between your legs and thrashing back against the headboard whenever he hit your sweet spot.

You lifted your hips off the bed, urging your body to the peak of pleasure. Your voice kept going, encouraging him to go faster, harder, sighing, panting, moaning.

And just like that, every muscle in your body tightened, and a gush of liquid splashed out over his fingers and onto his tongue, his nose, and his chin. Your moans turned into brief, choked sobs as your orgasm rocked your body. You gripped your fist into his hair, so tight you ended up bringing his body forward.

"God," you groaned out load, dropping yourself back down to the bed, your body now spent. He kissed the spot under your navel, over your belly button, back up to your chest, your neck, and your chin. You felt the tips of his fingers slip underneath one of the stockings and pull up and away, letting it snap back down against your skin. You giggled, bringing him up for a slick, sloppy kiss.

You both remained as you were, his forehead now resting against yours, eyes closed, soft pants easing back to controlled breaths. Your left arm slung over the back of his neck, and your right remained tangled into his messy locks, the pads of your fingers giving a gentle massage to his scalp.

"How do you feel?" you asked, too tired to open your eyes.

"Hmmm," he hummed, not quite coherent enough to give a substantial response.

Suddenly, both of his arms wrapped around your waist, and he flipped himself over so that you were on top, straddling his waist. His back rested flat against the bed, that mischievous look once again casting a wicked shadow over his face. He glanced over to where the little devil horns fell onto the bed and placed them back where they belong atop your head.

"I feel like I'm just a peasant, sentenced to be one of hell's slaves for all eternity."

You grin, catching onto his narrative. "Such an unfortunate fate. You were once a hero, but were corrupted by the temptation of  lust."

Satori grinned, a toothy, mischievous grin, and his eyes narrowed maliciously. "Now I'm cursed with the inability to ever be satisfied..." He breathed a laugh. "We're so fucking weird," he murmured, "Sounding like Team Rocket..."

You leaned down to give him a kiss. "Weird, normal. Whatever. As long as we're having fun, right?"

[dadzawa-adopt-dabi]

Secret Baby ch 21

Kiyoko is sick for 3 days. It’s a stressful few days for Dabi. Checking her fever and timing when he can give her another dose of fever reducer. It stresses him out to the point of exhaustion, Kiyoko reacts to his anxiety and distress by crying harder and refusing to settle. Kiyoko finally calms down for longer than a couple hours when her fever finally breaks a few days later. Letting Dabi sleep for what he guesses to be a solid 10 hours. 

Shigaraki calls once as Kiyoko’s fever is peaking and she’s wailing in discomfort. Dabi sends him to voicemail and follows up with a short text about now not being a good time. Shigraki calls twice more afterwards so Dabi ends up silencing his phone. Later that night once he has Kiyoko tucked into her nest and is cleaning up he calls back. 

“Why the hell didn’t you answer me earlier?” Shigaraki’s voice rasps through the phone. Demanding and Dabi can’t help but think of his boss as childish. He had sent a text and promised to call back later in his defense, what kind of person expected you to drop everything when they called anyways? “Are you doing dishes or something? I thought you were going to call back when you weren’t doing anything.”

“I couldn’t come to the phone. Personal issues. I’m free to talk now, you’re just going to have to ignore the background noise Creep.” It feels weird letting his voice become deeper and rougher at home. Kiyoko is safe in her nest and asleep but he still feels nervous letting his something he uses for work into his home.

“Fine. There’s a meeting tomorrow, meeting the rest of the League mostly and stay for dinner this time.” Shigraki huffs after a moment of silence. He expects to be obeyed but doesn't hang up either, waiting for Dabi to agree.

“I can’t stay for some weird Villain dinner.” Dabi pauses. This is a larger group, he knows he has to play nice. At least he has to work with everyone enough that he doesn't get discarded. 

“Make it lunch so we’re not wasting time with shit. I’ve only got so much free time so you're just going to have to deal Boss.” Dabi shut off the faucet and stood up straight, cracking his spine and making him release a tired sigh. He didn’t have the energy for this, his family wouldn’t free himself though. He wanted to introduce Kiyoko to her aunt and uncles. He wants Rei to know she has a grandchild, wants her to move on and heal from all that enji has done to them. He wants to try with her at least, maybe with enji out of the picture things will be different between them. 

Shigaraki is silent on the other end of the line for a few minutes. The sound of some games' special effects coming through the line is the only thing that lets Dabi know that the call itself isn’t an issue.

“Well creep? You're going to have to give me more notice than this if you want us to work together. I don’t have a lot of time to myself already. I'm banking on you and this League you’ve started being worth it.” Dabi snags his baby monitor off the counter and steps outside to light up a cigarette. 

“Just show up crispy bastard. I’ll let everyone know and we’ll set up meeting times ahead now.” Shigaraki sniped at him but it was nicer than it could have been. “I hadn’t expected anyone who had other shit I guess.” Shigaraki hung up rudely, it would have been annoying but Dabi just rolled his eyes and put out his smoke. This better be worth it.

The next morning passes in a blur as he hauls his exhausted ass around the apartment. Kiyoko is bright eyed and happy again as she crawls around after him. Dabi moves from room to room cleaning and scenting as he goes. He leaves several windows open as he leaves, airing out the apartment. He’s had hardly any sleep and he’s relieved he set everything out the night before. The sitter had demanded an upcharge due to short notice but hopefully this is going to be the only time. Kiyoko hardly cries as he drops her off and the bus is on time for once, resulting in him being a few minutes earlier than he had expected.

There’s a green lump next to the door that he absent mindedly pats as he comes in the door and he uses it to steady himself as he kicks his boots clean of muck.  It gives an offended squawk making him jump. He mentally groans as he realizes what he’s done. The ‘green lump’ stands up and faces him with his arms crossed.

“Did you seriously just pet me? What the fuck dude?” The lizard guy confronts him, Dabi would take him seriously if he wasn't in a Stain cosplay. The guy is built and he has a large sword made of knives on his back. He smells of irritated beta and strangely enough coffee.

“I just saw a lump and didn’t realize it was a person. Sorry.” Dabi pulls his hand out of his pocket in case the guy decides to take his mistake out on him.

“I’m a person not a piece of furniture.” The guy scowls and his lips pull back to expose human looking teeth. “Whatever, don’t do it again. I’m Spinner.”

“You can call me Dabi.” The blue eyed omega nods at him but doesn't take the offered hand. He realizes he’s going to have to tell at least someone his name at some point. The rest of his history will have to come out as well but he wants to stay Dabi as long as he can.

Spinner gives him a sideways look but lets it slide. It figures he would, seeing as he also introduced himself with a Villain moniker rather than his actual name. Shigaraki is one of the only people who have wanted a legal name, at least the rest of his group won’t be following that pattern.

“Dabi! You finally came back! No one will let me drink their blood but It’s okay because I saw someone cute yesterday!” Toga comes around the corner and inserts herself into his space. Dabi listens to her ramble as he goes into the next room. Her hair is coming out of the buns on top of her head but her clothes look cleaner than when he last saw her.

“Toga, You left your cup in the kitchen.” A alpha woman with sunglasses perched on top of her red hair nearly runs into them as Toga leads him past the bar to what must be the kitchen. She smells strongly of alpha mixed with citrus. It’s bright and comforting in some odd way Dabi has never experienced before but it's not unpleasant.

Toga grabs the cup as she holds it out and slurps the red liquid in it. It's enclosed and she’s drinking it through a straw but Dabi’s still pretty sure it's blood.

“Who’s the goth hon?” She tilts her head at Dabi and has blocked the doorway to the kitchen. Large shoulders blocking the view and Dabi straightens up to look her in the eyes.

“Currently going by Dabi.” He puts a hand on Toga’s shoulder in case he has to pull her back again like when they met Shigaraki. “You going to let us pass and let me finish getting introduced?”

“You can call me big sis Magne.” She moves back and lets them into the room. “No last name there for you?”

“I’ll tell you when I have to. No family name for you either Magne?” Dabi lets Toga shrug him off and gives Magne another once over. It doesn't seem to be a touchy subject for her at least.

“Not one I use, legally it's stuck with my dead name still. Magne is what I go by and I just added Big sis for my villain moniker.” Whatever test she was giving him he seems to have passed. He was asking about the family name to poke around back at her. Instead he seems to have set the alpha at ease.

“Nah, Don’t like them much and the feeling is mutual.” she smirks at him and he can’t help but give a small smile back. He can already tell that she’s going to one of his favorites and she has a calming presence.

Toga gives another loud slurp, making so much noise due to how thick the liquid must be. She seems happy though so Dabi shoves the thought that it's gross to the back of his head.

At the table there’s a guy in a full body suit and mask, all monochrome colors, sitting at the table. Tea and books come with his light beta scent and Dabi is seriously starting to question why all these strangers smell so nice to him. Maybe it’s because he knows he will be with them for a while and his brain is trying to trick him into letting the arrangement be more permanent.

“Hey! Glad you got here safe! It’s about time you showed up, are you going to introduce yourself?” He speaks in two voices and Dabi is confused for a moment on which one he means until Toga holds up a finger to him. First voice then he guesses.

“Dabi. Nice enough to be here I guess.” He sits down across from him and the guy perks up.

“I’m Twice, Girans friend! Jin bubaigawara.” He holds out his hand and looks so hopeful that Dabi can’t help but shake it. This is the guy Giran had sent to check out the League?

“Nice to meet you I guess Jin.” He sits down, as a man in a bright orange coat walks in. Guess he wasn’t the last to arrive as he’d assumed. Then again some of the members seem to have taken up Kuroguri on the off to live here.

“Young Sir, you must be the last new member Shigaraki had been saying we would meet today.” He gives Dabi a bow and tips his tophat as Dabi blinks in surprise. The theatrical man pulls a bottle of sake and cups out of thin air.  He’s wearing scent blockers like Dabi, keeping his secondary gender to himself. “I’m Sako Atsuhiro. Mr.Compress works as well if you prefer to keep things professional.”

Mr.Compress cracks the seal on the bottle loudly before he pours, It’s been forever since Dabi let himself drink. First he was pregnant and then occasionally breast feeding and then he was just too busy to relax and unwind with a stiff drink. Compress had even made a show of breaking the seal, knowing they all didn’t trust each other yet. Dabi takes the glass with no intention of actually drinking it but finds himself relaxing and taking small sips. Mr. Compress shows off magic tricks and Twice is his interactive audience.

Kuroguri glides into the dining area right before Shigaraki and Spinner enter , Mr. Compress pulls out a chair for him and Dabi hides his grin behind his sake cup. Lunch passes quickly with a lot of questions aimed at everyone. Most of them Dabi declines to answer. He’s never planned to work with a group this long. Still he figures his usual rule of thumb, the less they know the better, will work just fine. Shigaraki who gets visibly upset and starts scratching respects it when he pasess on things such as a favorite food or game. Anything he can stomach and He dosen’t even have time for an idle game currently.

Kuroguri is asking him if he has any family if he’s got any collateral these people can use against him when the first call comes through the line. Dabi shoots up and can his normally iron hard face mask slipping. Showing hints of instinctual panic at Kiyoko’s sitters ringtone. He blames it on the unfinished cup of sake, not nearly enough to affect him, instead of the warm comfortable atmosphere. It’s nothing, just an alert that the kids are going outside.

The next text is asking if Kiyoko’s feathers can be vacuumed up. Dabi scowls as he types furiously into his phone to leave his daughters feathers on her back, before another one arrives and it's a picture of the soft down surrounding Kiyoko. The black haired omega frowns, yeah he can see how that would be an issue for someone else. He types back a short response that it's fine. Then lets his leg bounce off in anxiety as his phone chimes several more times. Some of the members are looking at him strangely and it just makes it worse. He checks his phone again as he wonders if he locked the door on his way in. Of course he did, he never forgets, but that’s for his own house and he has the urge to check for the base.

“Everything alright Dabi?” Shigaraki asks him with an odd tone to his voice. Dabi brushes it off as Shigaraki’s possessive streak coming out as the crusty asshole tries to sneak a peek at his phone like some sort of kid.

It's the fourth time Dabi has ducked out to take a phone call. Kiyoko is crying and controlling some of her feathers to annoy her sitter or entertain the other kids. When they were vacuumed up Kiyoko had become hysterical. Her sitter wants him to come get her as soon as possible again and Dabi wishes he could fault her for it. He sighs, resigning himself to excusing himself now. He twists one of his many rings decorating his fingers as he walks back in. The picture of apologetic.

Shigaraki tries not to be annoyed but Dabi won’t answer even the most basic questions about himself and he keeps leaving the meeting. Claiming it's urgent with his face drawn tight as he tries to pretend at being nonchalant.

Toga has been the only one able to get close enough to hear what's so urgent he has to keep leaving. Kuroguri could but he keepst telling him to let Dabi come to him in his own time. 

“I have to go.” Dabi storms back inside the dining area tapping his phone against his palm repeatedly.

Shigaraki hisses at him but at a kick under the table from Kuroguri he waves Dabi off. He thinks it's shady of Dabi to be looking at his phone all evening and suddenly have to dip but he also trusts Kuroguris judgement implicitly.

Does he have a spy in the League already?

@ruelukas22 @mostladylikeladythateverladied @i-like-to-shruggy @xxsnowchildxx @drxgonstone

[joy1579]

RFA discovers MC is secretly a neko girl (mc hides that she has cat ears and a tail as well as some catlike tendencies)

so these things just keep getting longer and maybe I should change them to like legit-ly written scenarios but I’m lazy and this one was already formatted this way so, yeah sorry guys. 

oh also I have a master list now. I try to update it every time I post something! Master list

Jumin

Elated. F***ing loves you. You give him opinions on all the cat related businesses.

-        The first time he saw you he knew you were the one for him

-        You were dressed so nicely in an ankle length skirt and sun hat

-        Elizabeth the 3rd was curious about you from the start

-        He had never seen her so interested in a stranger before

-        As you stayed with him though he noticed some strange things

-        He never saw you without some sort of head covering even though you didn’t seem to enjoy wearing them

-        You also knew what Elizabeth the 3rd needed before she even mewed. As though you could tell what she wanted from the smallest flick of her tail

-        One day he came home to you curled up on the floor near the window and part of him panicked

-        He rushed to check on you but stopped short the second he saw you hat half off

-        A tan cat ear twitched slightly in some unknown dream as your chest your rose slowly with your breath

-        He cursed his ever so slightly shaking hand as he reached to stroke behind that cute ear

-        He would never admit to the flutter in his heart as you mewled softly at his touch before stretching lazily

-        You yawned and looked around as you woke slowly

-        The second you saw him though you jumped back

-        He saw you relax a bit once your eye’s met his

-        But he motioned to the top of his head, a smirking just a bit and you lifted your hand to mirror his movment

-        That’s when you felt your ears free and exposed. You start to panic all over again and in a second his arms are around you

-        “MC it’s okay calm down” he says lowly

-        “no no its, it’s not, Jumin you can’t say anything okay! Not to anyone! I don’t know what will happen if this gets out but, it won’t be good. you know that right? This is a secret.” You said shaking in his arms

-        he squeezes you tighter and you feel his lips against the top of your head

-        “your secret is safe with me. You are safe with me.” He whispers into your hair as though those words were all that mattered in the world.

-        For you, they were.

-        The next moment you were hugging him back and purring thankfully as you nuzzled into his chest “Thank you Jumin”

-        The next time he came home you wore shorts and went hatless. You looked so much more comfortable since your ears and tail could move freely

-        All his hugs include ear scratches that make you purr and close your eyes happily

-        You squeeze your way into his lap when you want attention and he doesn’t think he’s ever been happier.

Yoosung

shook. Legit worried because do you need a vet or a doctor. Doubles down on his studies just in case.

-        You tell him after the RFA party You knew, KNEW he was the one so you had to tell him.

-        As the rest of the RFA is cleaning up you offer to drive Yoosung back to the hospital

-        At a stoplight on the way you tell him and show him your ears

-        He passes out. You panic and floor it to the hospital

-        They assure you he’s fine but you stay until he wakes up

-        “MC I had the weirdest dream.” He tells you. You try not to laugh as he talks about how you had the cutest cat ears he had ever seen.

-        You lift your hat up just enough for him to get a peak of one of your ears and wink at him

-        His heart rate jumps and you start to think maybe you shouldn’t be teasing him when he’s in such fragile condition

-        But the way he splutters and turns red is way too cute so you lean down to kiss his lips

-        “this, this isn’t real.” He says “this is too good to be real” you laugh and assure him you’ll be here until he wakes up again.

-        He holds your hand as the pain meds pull him into sleep while he mutters about what a funny dream this was.

-        The next week is comprised of you teasing him with sneak glances of your ears or tail only when he’s sleep addled or just a little buzzed on pain meds

-        You have to admit the constant praise of how cute, soft, and pretty your ears and tail are is, nice. Since most people never saw them it was nice to hear what he thought of them.

-        Even if he was still convinced it was just his imagination

-        Then he was sent home and you decided to REALLY tell him what was going on

-        “is this cuz of all my dreams MC? I didn’t think you’d take it this far!” you sigh and take his hand to feel your ear twitch

-        You have never seen him so red he’s gone beyond his normal panicked spluttering and into silence

-        You’re actually starting to worry now because he’s been standing there silently doing his best impression of a goldfish for a while now

-        “Yoosung?” you ask tail flicking anxiously

-        “it’s real?” he manages as his fingers begin to slowly scratch at your ear

-        You’re a little distracted by his scratching but you try to explain anyway

-        “you can’t, um you can’t tell anyone though okay Yoosung.”

-        “huh why” he asked looking at your ears in awe bringing another hand up absently to pet your hair

-        But the petting was getting really distracting now and you had to stop the urge to purr though you couldn’t help your instinct to nuzzle your head into his hands

-        “I don’t” you really were trying to focus here but people didn’t scratch your ears often since they were always hidden “people won’t” you lost your train of thought again as his fingers curled under your ear to stoke through your hair again

-        You jerked away immediately glaring at him ready to scold him for distracting you

-        But when you met his eyes you could practically see stars in his eye’s

-        “MC did you just purr? Because I was petting you?” he asked looking happier than you’d ever seen anyone look in your life

-        You shake your head before chuckling at him “you’re lucky I love you”

Saeyoung

so many questions. Tests what cat traits you have. Cat puns. Understands your secrecy.

-        You had no medical history. That was weird.

-        Home birth, home school, home job. home EVERYTHING.

-        Your record was sparse to say the least. So he checked you out on the apartment CCTV

-        Even your clothes seemed to hide you away. So of course he was curious

-        He dug deeper, found your social media and while he enjoyed learning about your interest’s and he certainly enjoyed the memes you posted it didn’t give him anymore solid info to go off of.

-        So he kept checking the CCTV to learn more and then he saw you in your pajamas he was embarrassed and started to look away. He may be a hacker but even he had limits. But then he saw them

-        Cat ears and a tail how cute he didn’t know you liked cosplay you hadn’t mentioned it on social media

-        But how did you make them move like that. he had to know so next time you two met in the chat he asked

-        He’s confused and watching you scramble on the CCTV to cover your ears and tail

-        you exited the chat right away and called seven

-        “seven you can’t tell anyone. I swear this is really bad! You shouldn’t know about this. What the hell were you thinking spying on me like that.”

-        He sobers up hearing your panic and anger

-        After a moment of calming you down and promising he’ll straighten things out on the messenger he hangs up

-        Then things happened and he was there. answered the door and locked eyes with him

-        He hadn’t meant to ask but before he could stop himself the words had tumbled out of his mouth

-        “Can I see your ears” and his face was red because he was supposed to have better self-control he knew this was a sensitive topic for you

-        But you nodded and once the door was shut you slipped you hat from you head

-        Saeyoung’s hand was immediately reaching out but he stopped short at the sight of your clenched shut eyes as though you were ready to be hit.

-        He could recognize that face anywhere, braced and ready to take whatever blow was coming

-        “sorry I should have asked may I touch them”

-        You nodded sharply still tense but he saw you unclench your jaw and flex your finger out of there tight fist

-        His fingers gently skimmed across you left ear and moved behind it to scratch there the way he knew cats enjoyed and you purred before you could stop yourself

-        Your hands shot up to cover your mouth and your face burned

-        Saeyoungs eyes where wide and you could see his blush clear as day

-        Then his arms where around you and you were pulled tight against his chest

-        After that he made it his mission to see just how catlike you were

-        He tried lasers, no effect unless you were really drunk Cat nip, you liked the scent but no more than anyone else might like the smell of flowers. He was too afraid to test the whole cats land on their feet thing but just judging by you balance he assumed you could probably do that.

-        When you felt down he called you kitty cutie and pet your head. He loved you.

Zen

wants to make it work. Lays off dissing Elizabeth. Really doesn’t want to tell Jumin why though.

-        You tried not to fall for him, tried to push him away

-        He was allergic to cats, he was allergic to you

-        The first time you went to meet him you took precautions

-        You showered twice as long, brushed your hair ears and tail extra so you wouldn’t lose a single strand

-        You tied your hair in a tight band and hid it in your hat with your ears you even tucked you tail away in the shorts you wore under your long skirt

-        But he was still sneezing like crazy

-        You felt awful, and you were sure this relationship would never work.

-        So you told him

-        You tried not to cry, you didn’t want to make it harder on him, and you tended to sound like a mewling kitten

-        Then you saw the hurt in his eyes and he wanted a reason and he was holding your hand and you could hear the hurt in his voice

-        And you were crying. The second you started you knew the jig was up his eyes where wide now and he was pulling your free hand away from your face

-        “MC how did you make that sound?”

-        You shook your head and removed you hat to show him

-        “are those? Are those real?” your ears folded downwards mournfully in response giving him his answer even as you nodded “and this is why we can’t see each other?”

-        “I tried to make it easier! I brushed my ears and, and” you took a shuddering halting breath “I tried so hard”

-        He took a deep breath and pulled you into his arms “we can figure something out”

-        “I can’t do that to you your miserable look even your face is swelling!” you cried

-        The next time you saw him at the RFA party you kept him at an arm’s length. You had taken all the precautions but you knew it wasn’t enough so you kept your distance

-        Every time Zen approached you, you made an excuse to dart away

-        Until he cornered you

-        “don’t avoid me” he said sternly “if you don’t want to see me that fine but don’t avoid me because you think you’re not worth me sneezing”

-        You were blinking back tears you would not cry again you told yourself

-        “I don’t want to hurt you”

-        “I’ll buy medicine, we’ll get air-filters, there’s even shots I could get. I love you. Allergies can’t change that”

-        Slowly you two found what worked. He saw an allergy specialist once a month, you had filters in every room, you showered twice a day and brushed yourself morning and night.

-        He even signed up for an experimental new treatment that was doing winders for him

-        The first time you nuzzled your head into his neck and purred his name he knew he made the right decision

-        No amount of pain in the world would make him give up that moment

-        He still claimed not to be a cat person saying you were the only exception

-        And you had to admit you were okay with that

Jaehee

confused but calm. Asks you how you keep fur off your clothes. Learns, slowly to be okay with the stray hair here and there.

-        You tell her the day before the café opens

-        She’s pretty sure this is a prank by seven but then you show her your ears (it’s easier than trying to free your tail from your long skirt without flashing her)

-        She was quiet, then she stood and began to walk away. You honestly started to panic.

-        She did hate watching Elizabeth after all you had thought it was only because of the extra work and cleaning

-        But maybe she had some other reason for hating cats

-        “Jaehee?” you called shakily “I, I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner but I thought, well I thought it wouldn’t be this big a deal. I know you like things neat and tidy and sometimes fur messes that up but I promise I can clean up after myself. I know all the secrets and I’ll take responsibility for the extra cleaning. I, I really like you.”

-        By this you were fighting desperately not to cry

-        Then she turned around with two cups of coffees

-        “MC I’m not mad. I just need some time to figure this out” she said strolling over to set one of the cups in front of you

-        “I suppose we won’t need hairnets for your ears since you keep them in your hat.”

-        You smiled at her. You knew this was her way of accepting you.

-        She took a sip of her coffee and you couldn’t help yourself. You reached across the small table and took her free hand in yours

-        “well to be honest I’ve given it some thought and maybe I could learn to make latte art? they could be catpuccino’s” you joked and to your delight she chuckled

-        “You’ve spent too much time with seven, but that is a good idea”

-        As time goes by she becomes more and more comfortable with your cat characteristic.

-        You won’t admit she finds your cat naps in the sun to be cute, but she’s got a folder on her phone dedicated to pictures of them

-        She admires how carful you are with Zens allergies and is thankful you’re so understanding.

-        You hum while you make the cat latte art and she thinks it’s cute that you sound like a cat when you do (she thinks it also might boost sales but that’s just a guess)

-        She secretly revels in the fact that as much as Jumin loves cats you chose her and sided with her in the messenger

-        She asks if you can talk to cats. You think it’s because she has a few choice words to share with Elizabeth the 3rd

-        You explain that while you can understand cats more than most people it’s not like talking to people it’s more like reading body language and tone

-        She shakes her head and mumbles “yeah that makes sense, it’s just a cat after all”

-        You give Elizabeth a bit of the cold shoulder anyway

-        As you two grow closer she starts to absently pet you while you watch Zen DVD’s

-        When you start to purr she’s so surprised she misses her favorite scene

-        She’s so flustered as she rewinds you can’t help but giggle and kiss her on the cheek

-        Which absolutely does not help her calm down at all

[transcendence-au]

r!Pacifica tricks Dipper into running a booth at a TwinCon. He comes across an r!Mabel and an r!Henry who meet at his booth. (Also, brownie points if it’s a Mizcor booth)They both talk about how much they love Alcor and want to date him, and Dipper helps them realize that the traits they’re projecting onto ‘Alcor’ are actually traits they can find in each other. SO WOODZAR HAS BLOSSOMED IN THE PLACE OF MIZCOR

Mod F got really excited about this and ended up writing a thing! (Here it is on AO3 too)

===

Dipper looked toward the entrance of the convention center, at the large banner proudly proclaiming “WELCOME TO TWINCON 2896″, and slammed his head face-first onto the table.

Damn Aubrey. Damn her to the deepest pits of the Nightmare Realm for making him run a booth at TwinCon. He couldn’t believe he’d let himself get taken in by her evil tricks and wily ways; couldn’t believe he made a bet with her and lost. That was the last time he trusted Pacifica’s soul. And he totally meant it this time! Way more than the last eight times Aubrey had tricked him. He definitely wasn’t going to immediately go back to being friends with her. This was the last straw.

A loud creak announced the opening of the main con doors, and the room was quickly filled with a flurry of excitement. Dipper picked his head off the table with a sigh and prepared himself for a long day of peddling garbage. He considered how he must look – a sad demon sitting under a sign reading “MICOR MEMORABILIA” and surrounded by perverse figurines, body pillows, and graphic novels.

And then his curiosity got the better of him. He conjured a mirror in his hand and immediately noticed his top hat was askew, so he reached up to straighten it out. Perfect. He actually looked pretty good that day if he did say so himself. His hair was fluffy, his suit was pressed, his teeth looked sharp. Nice and presentable. He was so busy making faces in the mirror that he almost forgot he was at a convention, until -

“Excuse me, sir?”

“Ack!” Dipper yelped in surprise, his hat shooting high into the air. Despite this, he didn’t take his eyes off the mirror. “What do you want?”

“I hope I didn’t frighten you! You’ve got some lovely merch here. I was just wondering how much this comic would cost.”

“Check the price tag,” he responded gruffly.

“I- I tried, but it doesn’t look like there is one.”

Groaning, Dipper flicked his eyes away from his own beautiful reflection so he could see exactly what depraved nonsense the voice wanted to purchase, and -

Mizar smiled sweetly back at him.

The mirror shattered in his hand. Oh no. Oh no no no no no. This wasn’t happening. Why was she here? What was going on?

“I’ve heard about this series before,” he suddenly realized Mizar was saying, “but I never had the chance to check it out before. It’s a coffee shop AU, right? It’s so inspiring that fans can take the framework of Twin Souls and make even more beautiful stories based off of it.”

Dipper’s head was too filled with buzzing to really make much sense of what she was saying. All he could think about was how his sister’s soul was apparently a fan of the worst book series in the universe. It didn’t even seem like she was doing it as a gag like Mabel did – the girl in front of him was radiating nothing but enthusiasm and sincerity in her aura.

“Oh, I’ve read that!” another voice piped in. “It’s dope as fuck, although the first volume’s got a bit of a Woodzar focus. But if you can power through that, it’s high key Micor there on out.”

Okay okay okay. He could do something about this. Maybe he’d take Mizar aside and have a talk with her about why being a Twin Souls fan was a sin of the highest calibre. Dipper tore his eyes away from her for a moment to tell the newcomer to go away, but no sooner did he get a good look at them than he felt all the air kicked out of his imaginary lungs.

“Don’t get me wrong, man,” Henry’s soul continued, a sly look on her face. “Woodzar is a fine ship. There’s a lot of good Woodzar fic out there and I don’t fault anyone for writing it. But if we’re gonna be honest with ourselves, it’s pretty obvious that Alcor and Mizar belong together. Their romantic chemistry is off the goddamn charts. Remember when they finally kissed in the first novel? Oh, fuckin’ heart palpitations, man.”

The blood drained from Dipper’s face. What in the world was happening? Why were Mizar and Henry both Twinners? What was the universe punishing him for this time??

“I know, right?” Mizar replied with a giggle. “My name’s Minty, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”

Henry’s soul grinned back. “Halley. Nice to meet you too. I knew coming to this con would be a good idea – it’s the perfect place to find like minded people.”

“What about you?” Minty asked, and it took Dipper a minute – so embroidered was he in querying his omniscience to see exactly what traumatizing thing had happened to Minty and Halley that made them turn out this way – to realize that she was talking to him.

“I, uh, I’m… not a… Micor is bad,” he said finally.

Halley frowned. “What, don’t you love Alcor too? You’re running a booth at TwinCon and your cosplay is on-point! That suit must’ve been expensive, and the wings look almost real!”

Puffs of steam shot out from Dipper’s ears and he flared his wings. “It’s not a cosplay, I just look like this! And I’ll have you know that I would’ve never in a million years gone to a TwinCon if my friend Aubrey hadn’t pretended to be really bad at hula hooping and then made a bet with me that she could beat me in a hula hoop contest and then absolutely kicked my ass into the stratosphere with her nutty good hooping! Graggh!” He slammed his forehead into the table again.

“Awwww,” Minty cooed. “Stage fright is the worst. I know I sure was nervous the first time I went to a con in full cosplay. That was awful nice of your friend to convince you to go anyway!”

Dipper’s head shot up and he stared slack-jawed at the two of them just as Halley nodded. “You’ve got this man, you know? Like I said, your outfit kicks ass. And hey, thanks for opening up to us. That can’t have been easy.”

“B- but I- you WHAT-” Dipper stammered.

Minty squeaked and clapped her hands together. “Yeah! I feel like I’ve made some great friends at this con already.”

“I’m- n- no you’re WILDLY mistaken- this isn’t-”

Both Halley and Minty turned their backs to the increasingly flustered demon and leaned against the stall, looking off into the rest of the hall with pensive expressions. “Friends are nice,” Halley murmured, “but what I wouldn’t give to meet Alcor at this convention. He’s everything I want in a partner. And then I wouldn’t be so lonely anymore.”

Minty put her hand on Halley’s shoulder. “I know what you mean! He’s so confident and protective. Loyal to a fault. If Alcor was here, I’d ask him on a date!”

“What makes you think Alcor wants to date any of you humans?” Dipper grumbled. “Or anyone at all?”

“Don’t be such a pessimist, man!” Halley responded. She patted Dipper on the back, surprising him into coughing out a little cloud of yellow sparkles. “Alcor is real and he’s out there. As long as there’s the smallest spark of hope that he might love me back, I’ll follow him to the ends of the Earth!”

Minty slapped her forehead, startling Dipper out of the silent terror written all over his face. “Oh, duh! He’s cosplaying as Alcor because he’s here to find his Miiiizar! That’s why he’s not interested in Alcor’s love! I connected the dots!”

“No, you haven’t connected anything!” Dipper tried to cut in, terror returning in full force because the situation was spiralling rapidly out of control, but Minty kept going.

“Ah, if only I was Mizar,” she trilled as Dipper watched her soul dance traitorously in her chest. “Then it’d only be a matter of time before Alcor came to ask me out. We’d go to the coffee shop he works at and someone would cover his shift. I’d get a hot chocolate; he, an iced latte.” She sat on the table, sending a set of Mizar action figures toppling over onto Dipper’s lap. “I’d tell him all about how art school’s going and he’d confide in me some dark secrets about how the 2801 moon landing was faked because giant aliens were playing golf with the planets and accidentally knocked the moon into a black hole. And then, finally, he’d give me a dainty kiss on the cheek, and I’d make a little squeaky noise, yknow, and he’d blush and ask me if it was alright for him to do that, and then I’d say I’d rather you kiss me on the lips instead. And then -”

“Okay, I think I’ve heard enough of your fanfiction!” Dipper shouted, cheeks going completely scarlet, claws making deep gashes in the table from how tightly he was gripping it. “I didn’t- I’ve never- No one needed to hear that, it’s- I feel lightheaded.”

“I know what you mean, man,” Halley spoke up, an obvious wobble to her tone. Dipper and Minty looked up to see her staring off into the distance, eyes red and puffy, hands crossed over her heart. “I’m feeling it too. That was so beautiful, Minty, you sure as hell have got a way with words. And yknow, I- I work in a coffee shop, actually. I’d totally take Alcor there. We’d talk and laugh – damn, he’s gotta just have the most heartwarming laugh in the world – and I’d straight up offer right there on the spot to be his Mizar. I wanna protect the world, but I also wanna protect him, I know he’s got a sensitive side, I just know it. I’d chew steel for him.”

No no no no. This had to stop. Mind racing, Dipper struggled to find something they’d said to latch onto. “Hey, uh, Minty!” he interrupted. “You like coffee shops, right? Halley… works in one! You should go there with her. Instead of being here.”

“That’s a great idea!” Minty squealed. “We should all meet up for coffee after the convention!”

“No!” Dipper blurted. “I meant, you two should go. Together. Without me.” All he got in return was blank stares. He ran his hand through his bangs nervously. “Listen, Minty, Alcor doesn’t work at a coffee shop, because no one in the country will hire him. His claws make awful screeching noises on the mugs, and also he’s a demon. But Halley does work at a coffee shop. Maybe… there’s something there?”

Minty and Halley traded glances. “I don’t understand,” the former finally said.

Dipper facepalmed. “Okay. How about… Halley, you want to protect Alcor. That’s ridiculous, he doesn’t need protecting, he has so much magic. But Minty goes to art school, she probably needs someone to, I dunno, support her during tight deadlines. That’s like… mental health protection.”

Minty shrugged. “I guess that sounds nice…”

“And, uh, Minty, you want someone who’s loyal, which sounds to me like what you really need is a dog, not a romantic partner, and I’m not- Alcor is not a dog. Also, again, he’s a demon, he’s only loyal to himself. But if you’re really set on getting that kind of loyalty and trust from a sentient creature, well, Halley’s offered to chew steel for love.”

“Hey man, don’t put words in my mouth, I said I’d chew steel for Alcor,” Halley countered, putting her hands on her hips and staring Dipper down. After a moment, though, she looked back at Minty, who had a starstruck look on her face, and drew back. “I- I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like you Minty. I just don’t want to be alone anymore. How can I trust someone other than Alcor not to get tired of me?”

“Kinda toxic, but also big mood,” Dipper muttered. “Trust isn’t something you can or even should have for people you don’t know. Not just for romance – in any kind of relationship, trust is something you build up through getting to know someone. I should know; there’ve been so many times when I made the mistake of trusting someone – say, not to snuggle body pillows with half naked pictures of me on them – without even knowing them, just because of my preconceived notions about who those people are. Relationships are always a risk, but they’re worth it when they work out. You’ll miss out if you’re too afraid to take that risk.”

He beamed at them, extremely proud of his little speech he’d managed to pull together. Minty and Halley stared back, mouths agape, probably blown away by his emotional maturity.

Then they launched themselves at each other and started furiously making out.

“Oh my stars!” Dipper yelled, recoiling from the mass of flailing limbs. “You literally just met each other! Go get a coffee or something first, holy shit!”

They broke apart, faces red but grinning. “Wow,” Minty breathed.

“Yeah. Wow,” Halley echoed. “Um, would you maybe want to walk around the convention with me? And maybe go get some coffee together afterward? I do work at a coffee shop nearby.”

Minty squealed again and grabbed Halley’s hands. “That sounds wonderful!”

“Yo, dude,” Halley said to Dipper, who was clutching his chest and hyperventilating. “Thanks for the advice. You’ve got some dope emotional maturity. Your friends are lucky to know you.”

Dipper, still trying to calm down, opened his mouth to make some words and only managed to emit a weak gurgle. He settled for giving them a nod.

The two of them started to walk away, but Minty paused and turned back. “Oh wait. We never got your name.”

“I’m Alcor the Dreambender,” Dipper grunted without a second’s pause. “Go away.”

Halley laughed. “Sure you are. You’re really committed to the character, I love it! Maybe we’ll see you around.”

Dipper gave them a strangled half-smile and waved them off, to which they finally made their departure. Finally alone, he collapsed onto the table out of exhaustion. He was relieved that he’d managed to turn Mabel and Henry’s souls away from being Micor shippers, but after a few minutes of lying there the reality of what he’d just done started to sink in.

“Oh stars, I just shipped my sister and her husband,” he moaned. “What is my life. Please, universe, let me get through the rest of the day without anything else happening. Please.”

Naturally, someone immediately started talking to him. “Yo, sleeping guy, wake up.”

“Whatever it is, please just use the credit card swiper and move on,” he responded.

“Dude, what swiper. Help me out.”

With a groan, Dipper picked his head up, and then he froze, his every hair standing on end like a terrified cat.

“This body pillow rocks,” Soos’s soul said, hugging one of the models that had both Alcor and Mizar on it, half naked and blushing. “You gotta hook me up.”

“Ohhhh, I have that pillow! You won’t regret it!” came another voice, and Dipper looked over to see Melody’s soul walking up to the table. “You’ve got good taste. Micor forever, am I right? Bro, there’s some really good smutfic I could recommend you if you’re interested.”

Dipper slid out of his chair and curled up into a ball under the table. “Damn you Aubrey,” he whispered. “I’ll fucking get you back for making me do this.”

(As it turned out, giving Aubrey a dream about being stuck at a convention where everyone was attracted to her did not adequately “get back” at her, and it was a full week before she stopped laughing about it.)

[rock-speaks]

OKAY OKAY RANDOM HEADCANON TIME!!!

Louie

- autistic with ADHD overlap

- Inattentive

- the longest he’s slept for was 25 hours

- Deep as hell sleeper takes him at least and hour or two to come to full control

- Has 0 filter will literally say whatever comes to his mind regardless of how mean it may be or how crazy it might sound

- Talks to himself a crazy amount

- Louie has a banging TikTok where he just flexes and makes fun of Scrooge

- Louie has a huge social media presence in general he keeps it on the down low nobody knows about it and Louie would like to keep it that way

- Louie is a picky eater but eats all the time constantly snacking if the pantry is empty it was probably Louies doing

- He probably watches shitty movies and claims it’s too make fun of them but he really just likes them

- Probably really good at impressions his favorite person too make fun of is Huey

- Definitely needs therapy

- Secretly a big sap for romance those cliche movies where lovers embrace in the rain? Louies weakness

- Him and Lena are definitely super close not as close as Lena is too Webby but they’re still besties

- Prank king

- Sometimes just too “see what will happen” he tells people fake facts they almost always believe him (except for Huey) because why would they not? He has no idea why he does this but he hasn’t shown any signs of stopping

- Whenever he’s alone with Scrooge he says oddly cryptic and strange things no body knows why, sometimes not even Louie

- I imagine all the nephews have really curly hair Louies the only one who doesn’t straighten his hair

- Excellent judge of character

- Wise ass

Huey

- autistic!!!

- Will bring up the fact that he’s the oldest sibling in conversations that have nothing to do with it

- He’s probably a big saver and is definitely a person who has a penny collection

- Big collector!!! I swear he probably uses one of Scrooge’s unused rooms too keep foliage and rocks that he found

- He’s definitely got great posture

- Huey will randomly bring up a random memory if it somehow resurfaces to his mind no one knows how he remembers half this stuff and sometimes he brings up stuff they’d wish he’d forgotten

- Has definitely never said anything he didn’t mean

- Never says “I promise” if he knows he can’t do it

- Huey really just wants to be good at everything he tries so when he isn’t he just kinda gives up on it

- So obviously Huey isn’t a “practice makes perfect” kind of kid he’s more the “if it’s not right the first time scrap it and never try again”

- Huey probably holds himself to such a high standard and puts so much stress on himself to always be perfect

- Loyalty to the fuckin end

- Him and Lena get into “fights” all the time Lena is constantly trying to fuck with Huey and he’s just not here for it (yet another reason why her and Louie make such an insufferable team)

- Bad at video games

- Definitely takes the most after Donald in the sense that he’s so fucking rage full and I mean full Donald rage like fists flying in the air shouting with a red face type angry

- Needs fucking therapy and definitely has anxiety

- Has a bad sense of humor and laughs at everything part of the reason Dewey and Louie think they’re so funny

- Only has his one iPad and really only uses it for planning and other nerd stuff

- All fruits are Hueys favorite fruits but his favorites are blue berries

- Has a celebrity crush on Gizmoduck

Dewey

- This was pretty much confirmed murder on killmotor hill but he’s bisexual

- Long Huey shows up in his nightmares

- Always the first to start a pillow fight

- Has abandonment issues needs therapy

- Secretly listens to punk music and only Donald knows and he couldn’t be more proud (I wrote this before Louies eleven came out!! Lmao canon!!!)

- Loves to draw even though he probably sucks at it

- Dewey is totally the kid that will literally do anything for validation jump off the roof too seem cool? He’d do it in a heart beat

- Pretends not too care but he totally does

- Dewey is ADHD personalized never stops moving never stops talking something is seriously wrong when he’s quiet

- This is technically canon but he’s so petty

- Dewey is the type of guy who would NEVER ask for directions no matter how lost

- Speaking of he was probably the triplet to get lost the most

- Dewey loves robots like loves loves LOVES robots his dream is to learn to code and learn mechanics and build one him and Huey and him used to do those little “build your own robot kits” when they were younger

- Dewey has like 50 different dream jobs

- Launchpad has turned him into a hardcore darkwing duck fan

- THEATER KID

- Sort of forces himself to be an extrovert

Webby

- Webby loves to draw

- Has definitely cosplayed

- Knows about Louies secret social media accounts but he doesn’t need to know that

- You’re trying to keep something from Webby? What a joke

- Webby knows pretty much every ancient language

- Webby doesn’t know what a joke is and takes everything literally

- Definitely writes fan fictions

- Autistic

- Stims with her whole body excited jumping and screaming constantly

- Probably orally fixated out everything in her mouth

- Sometimes forgets things she literally just did or said often she asks “wait what did I just say?”

- Favorite movie? Men in black for sure

- Has always secretly wanted to be in a play

- If Scrooge says anything nice to her she thinks about it weeks after even if it’s something as small as “thank you”

- Feels really bad for glomgold and just really wants him to be happy

- Webby is cuddle central doesn’t matter when or where or who

- It kind of bothers her that Lena seems to always take Louies side

- HATES CONFRONTATION will console a friend in a heart beat but never NEVER EVER wants to fight

- Bad with social cues due to her ASD luckily she has the triplets and Lena and Violet to help her out in bad situations

- If no one stops her will talk about one thing for hours Lena always lets her

- Probably knows how to play like a shit ton of instruments

- Really likes cooking but she sucks at it Scrooge ate her cooking once to make her happy but promptly through it up when she left

- Was definitely a lego kid

Lena

- If any elderly woman tries to touch her she flips due to magicas abuse good thing she’s got two gay dads now

- Loves Violet so much and thanks her every night before bed

- After extensive therapy that was suggested by Violet had the rest of her friends she’s able to look at her own shadow again even if sometimes it really freaks her out

- Lena is a lesbian 100% open about it

- Wishes she were a vampire and definitely reads those dumb vampire/werewolf stories

- Really likes that she’s taller than all her friends uses that against her Huey fucking hates her for it

- Her favorite crime is arson

- Because she’s a rebellious teen her and officer M’ma have had a few run ins

- Shes probably never actually been to Paris but rather said that to impress Webby

- Lenas the type of emo to cover her face in every picture of her

- Has always cut her hair herself and when her friends talk about wanting to cut their hair she does it for them trying to convince them to let her dye it the whole time

- Lenas is responsible for most of the graffiti in duckburg

- Loves Launchpad she thinks it’s really fun to tell him stuff that isn’t true and he’s cool when she tells him she was just joking

- Has always secretly wanted to be a florist

- Loves licorice

- Magica probably didn’t intend for her to have a personality or a life at all really so Lena definitely picked the name herself

- Magicas not really controlling her nightmares anymore but she’s still very much in them they’ve gotten better but they still happen every so often

- Sometimes if she’s sitting on the couch and someone’s sitting right in front of her she kicks them in the head not hard but enough to bother them

- Probably can’t read

- She probably doesn’t have an official birthday so she doesn’t really understand the celebration of one one day Webby the triplets and Violet surprised her with a birthday

Violet

- in my head Duckula and Von goosewing will always be her parents

- Violets favorite thing to research is definitely trees

- Weak ass immune system probably gets sick all the time

- Definitely dresses however see feels on her off days she throws people off when she shows up ripped jeans and leather jackets

- Her biggest pet peeve is when anyone does anything loud

- Violet has been teaching things that Lena wasn’t taught since she never got a traditional education

- Violet is still a hard core skeptic despite having a sister made of shadows and a father who is a vampire

- Her hair is always a frizzy mess so she chooses never to do anything with it and just keeps it in a bun

- Really doesn’t get any memes ever

- Violet is probably a very low key germaphobe

- Pokemon is her favorite game and she knows all the originals and is a pro at all the games

-Huey and her do that thing we’re neither of you are fighting but rather both talking loudly that makes people think “oh it’s getting pretty heated over there”

[patchwork-panda]

If A Moment Is All We Are 14/?

AO3 link: HERE

“Kyou-chan...”

Kirako’s eyebrows knitted together in concern.

“Kyou-chan!”

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair as the sound of Kirako’s voice roused me from my half-sleep. My neck creaked audibly as I rotated my head just enough to look her in the eye and she took a hasty step back the moment my face came into view.

“A-Are you okay, Kyou-chan?”

I didn’t answer. Even after downing my third packet of instant coffee mix, I was still too tired to talk. Following the incident with Kunikida’s notebook yesterday, I’d spent a good chunk of the afternoon sitting at my kitchen table and staring at my phone. The image of “page fifty-three” remained there on full display until my battery was almost drained and I was forced to get up and prepare dinner.

I’d expected the list to be pretty extensive, but nothing of this magnitude. In total, there were no less than fifty-eight traits Kunikida found attractive enough to deem “ideal” in a partner match, including height preference (a methodically calculated range was given), personality traits, even blood type. My head was spinning by the time I’d finished skimming the page.

There was no way I, or any other human woman for that matter, would be able to match every single one of these requirements. It was simply too much.

I’d decided to go back to binge-reading manga over a cup of hot ramen to de-stress and had just about put aside the matter of what to do about “page fifty-three” when my phone pinged again.

Once again, I’d received an unwanted text message from Dazai. And once again, it was an image attachment. I had just made the decision to delete it without looking at it when my phone pinged several more times, causing me to open one of the attachments by mistake. If “page fifty-three” wasn’t already bad enough, I was soon made aware of the existences of “pages fifty-four through fifty-seven,” which contained a comprehensive plan (complete with locations!) for first dates, getting engaged, an actual timeline of the relationship before marriage... there was even a list of strategies for how to deal with in-laws and a small selection of potential baby names. By the time I got through it all, I wasn’t sure if I was intimidated or actually impressed.

What should I do?

To use the information I’d been given felt completely wrong— reading through Kunikida’s notebook alone was an invasion of privacy. However, not taking advantage of this when I was developing a crush on the man felt patently stupid. Either way, my chances of getting a good night’s sleep were completely ruined and once again I had only Dazai to blame.

Dazai...

“So, does that mean I still have a chance?” he’d asked.

I frowned as I thought back to that last thumbs-up he’d thrown out.

Why was Dazai doing this? Was he actually trying to “help” me as he put it, so that I could have a shot at getting Kunikida to like me? Because he cared about me?

But that didn’t make any sense. He wasn’t that kind of person... If he really wanted a chance with me, he would sabotage me instead. That’s who Dazai Osamu really was, that perverted son of a bitch...

I could tell by the way Kirako was looking at me that I had massive bags under my eyes but I was too exhausted to care. So, I let my cheek stay squished against the table and didn’t bother to lift up my head even though I knew that I was definitely scaring her.

“Kirako-san...”

I smiled and Kirako visibly twitched.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. How can I help you?”

“Uh... well, I know you just finished a big case recently, but...”

She gingerly laid a thin folder on my desk.

“We need you to go with Ranpo-san on a case.”

I looked at it.

“Already?”

Kirako nodded and I watched as she carefully slid my own sketchbook towards me, a thick graphite pencil rolling slightly on top of the faux-leather cover.

“Could you please come with me?”

Slowly, and with a considerable amount of effort, I picked myself up and followed her to the desk in the far corner, my bones cracking loudly as I moved. We stopped at the table closest to the window, where I’d once spied an ID badge depicting a skinny man with spiky black hair wearing a brown tweed cap low over his eyes, a man who I could only describe as a Sherlock Holmes cosplay enthusiast.

Today, however, the seat was occupied by an enormous mound of empty cardboard snack boxes, the mess of brightly colored packaging looking like the aftermath of my old self going through a months’ worth of snacks. Kirako leaned in and gave the pile a soft poke.

“Ranpo-san? Excuse me, Ranpo-san?”

There was a muffled groan and at once the entire pile shifted. I stumbled back as the empty packages cascaded to the ground in a sweet-smelling waterfall and gawked beside a disturbingly calm Kirako as the dark-haired cosplayer was revealed. As I watched him lift his head from his desk, I got the disturbing feeling that this scene was a familiar one at the Armed Detective Agency. The man straightened up in his seat and stretched his limbs, yawning widely as he did so. One bright green eye slowly opened up and focused on me.

“Hm?”

The green-eyed man squinted at me and reached into his pocket for a pair of thick black spectacles.

“Who are you?”

“Ranpo-san,” Kirako explained gently, “This is Kusunoki Kyou. She’s the new recruit who just passed her Entrance Exam. She’ll be going with you on your newest assignment.”

He looked from me to Kirako and put his head down on his desk.

“I don’t feel like it. I just got back from Hokkaido, Haruno-san. Cut me a break, will you?”

Kirako turned to me with a soft smile.

“This is Edogawa Ranpo. As you can tell, he can be in very high demand, even outside of Yokohama. Ranpo-san is the best detective we have and the main reason we can even call ourselves a detective agency. Even the police frequently come to him for help, like today, for example.”

She waved the folder in the air.

“The police can wait,” Edogawa whined. “I’m tired.”

“Ranpo-san,” Kirako whispered, her voice taking on an urgent, conspiratorial tone. “Kyou-chan here loves sweets as much as you do. In fact, she’s good friends with a local convenience store manager. As a thank you for helping them out, Kyou-chan gets a free box of Kit-Kats whenever a new flavor is released—”

Edogawa perked up in an instant.

“Welcome, new recruit!” he shouted, suddenly bounding out of his chair and all but exploding out of the pile of trash. “You are standing in the presence of the Great Detective, Edogawa Ranpo! There is no case that I can’t solve and no truth that escapes the scrutiny of my eyes! Let’s take a look at you, shall we?”

With a flick of his wrist, he placed his glasses on.

“Special Ability: Ultra Deduction!”

“Ability?!” I exclaimed, taking a step back. “Wait, what are you doing?!”

“Too late!” Edogawa declared, “It’s already working!”

I froze, clutching my notebook to my chest as he slowly looked me up and down through those thick square frames, analyzing every square inch of my being and making me feel like I was being fed through a scanner. It didn’t feel quite as gross as when Dazai had been staring at my butt yesterday but it was still uncomfortable.

“Hmm... Interesting...”

Edogawa took the glasses off.

“You’re an Ability User, aren’t you?”

My jaw dropped.

“What the—?! How did you—??”

Completely ignoring me, he turned to Kirako with a pout.

“I don’t need any cheat codes, Haruno-san. I can solve this case on my own.”

I stared at him.

Cheat codes?

“We know that, Ranpo-san,” Kirako reassured him. “But the fact of it is, Atsushi-kun can’t take you today. He’s still out with Dazai-san (Which god do I pray to so that I don’t have to think about that man one more time today, I thought to myself) and there’s no one else who can take you to the site...”

“Oh, good point.”

Edogawa put his glasses away.

“Very well. Nice to meet you, Kusunoki-kun. Shall we go?”

He was already halfway to the door by the time I found my voice again.

“Eh? Right now??”

“Well, of course, there’s a case to be solved and Kit-Kats to be collected,” Edogawa replied, his hand on the doorknob. “As for your questions, I’ll explain on the way there. Now are you coming or not?”

Kirako gave me an encouraging look and inclined her head towards the door, where Edogawa was staring at me expectantly, or at least appeared to be (I wasn’t entirely sure if his eyes were open or not). When I looked back at my desk, I realized that the seats next to mine were empty—neither Dazai and Kunikida had come in this morning and both were out on jobs. If I left now, there was a good chance I wouldn’t be back for the rest of the day and then I wouldn’t have to have any of the awkward conversations that were sure to follow after yesterday’s fiasco...

I looked back at Kirako and took the file from her.

“Let me go get my stuff.”

***

Kirako had mentioned that Edogawa was really bad with directions. What she should have said was that “The Great Detective” was completely unable to function in normal society once he got outside.

How was it that a grown man (and a Yokohama native no less!) had literally no idea how to use the public transit system? I’d laughed when Edogawa had acted like he didn’t understand how the turnstiles worked, thinking it was all some kind of joke. Unfortunately, I realized the joke was on me the instant the ticket agent rushed out and began desperately trying to free Edogawa from the metal arms, where the man’s poncho had inexplicably gotten stuck. If that wasn’t bad enough, he couldn’t figure out which line to stand in on the escalator, nearly discarded his ticket with the candy wrapper in his pocket and would have walked right onto the departures track if I hadn’t noticed and quickly grabbed him by the arm before disaster struck.

All in all though, it was still better than staying at the Agency and waiting for Dazai to show up with his knowing grin. Or worse, having to look Kunikida in the face after he’d seen me all tangled up with Dazai yesterday...

I let my head roll back in my seat and sighed.

As Edogawa and I swayed back and forth in our shiny plastic chairs, on the train at long last, I tried to push all thoughts of Dazai, Kunikida and the notebook away and instead focused my attention on my sleepy seat-mate. How had Edogawa figured out I was an Ability User with just one glance? Was he just that good a detective, as Kirako said he was? Or maybe it really did have something to do with his glasses.

I stared suspiciously at Edogawa as he napped beside me, his arms crossed behind his head and one corner of his thick black spectacles poking out of his vest. To my annoyance, Edogawa had refused to put them on unless he was deducing something (“Are you kidding me? The glasses are special, Kusunoki-kun, I can’t just put them on whenever!”), leading me to think his navigational problems might be due in part to severe astigmatism. That and a stubborn refusal to read and follow directions.

Noticing my eyes on him at last, Edogawa shifted slightly in his seat and addressed me.

“Something on your mind, Kusunoki-kun?”

“Not really...”

“Hmm? I wonder...”

He took a small, green lollipop out of his pocket, unwrapped it and stuck it in his mouth.

“You’re not thinking about how I was able to deduce you were an Ability User?”

I stiffened, then sighed. Apparently Dazai wasn’t the only one I’d have a hard time fooling.

“Okay, I was,” I admitted, mentally kicking myself for thinking about Dazai again, “But is it really a good idea to talk about it here?”

I gestured around the train car.

“I thought President Fukuzawa asked us not to talk about my Ability in public? What if the Port Mafia’s still looking for me and they overhear...?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” Edogawa said, shifting the lollipop from one side of his mouth to the other. His teeth clicked against the candy as he spoke. “For one, this car’s completely empty and I seriously doubt it’s bugged. No reason to, you know? For another, the Port Mafia’s probably not looking for you right now. If they were...”

He bit down on his lollipop and a resounding crack echoed throughout the car.

“You’d be sitting in a torture chamber somewhere instead of here with me right now.”

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

“G-good point.”

“So you can relax,” he said, crunching loudly on the rest of his candy, seemingly oblivious to how relaxed I wasn’t now that he’d brought up the Port Mafia. “In any case, I do want to find out more about your Ability before we get to where we’re going so why don’t we talk about it?”

I nodded. But when I opened my mouth to speak, Edogawa raised his hand to stop me.

“Oh, sorry. I meant why don’t I tell you everything I know first and then you can fill in the rest?”

He grinned.

“Wouldn’t want the new recruit thinking Ultra Deduction is some mere parlor trick, now would we? Think of this as the first of many lessons, Kusunoki-kun! The Great Detective, Edogawa Ranpo will be your teacher today!”

As he whipped the glasses back out of his coat and stuck them on his face, I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew that this was technically my second big case at the Agency, making this the second of “many lessons.” As it stood, the person who had first taught me something important while we were on a job together was Kunikida...

Tucking the tips of my fingers below my ribbon, I touched my hand to my chest, where that familiar warmth began creeping back in as I pictured the bespectacled detective. I felt an odd sense of comfort when I thought about him, about his rigid, yet highly dependable nature. He was consistent, respectable, stable, a pillar of strength both literal and metaphorical that anyone in the Agency could rely on and yet somehow patient and kind when he needed to be.

And it didn’t exactly hurt that he was tall, blonde and gorgeous...

I was too tired to notice if he had come in or not this morning, probably forgot to say hello if he had, but if he was gone by the time I’d noticed his absences then he had to be out on an early morning case. Not surprising, given that he was a senior member and so reliable. But I did hope he was able to get enough rest last night and hadn’t lost any sleep over that fiasco with his notebook like I had...

“Kusunoki-kuuun...”

Edogawa snapped his fingers at me and I jolted up in my seat.

“Are you even paying attention?” he grumbled, “I was about to reveal exactly how I figured out you were an Ability User.”

“I’m paying attention!” I exclaimed, flushing in embarrassment as Edogawa stared doubtfully at me.

“Good,” he huffed, “Because the big reveal just isn’t as dramatic the second time you do it. Now then, let me tell you a little about my Ability first.”

He tapped on the corner of his glasses and continued.

“When I put these on, my Ultra Deduction activates, letting me see the truth behind any and all mysteries. It only took a second to figure out your status as an Ability User and a fledgling detective and here’s why. Let’s start with the most obvious.”

I nodded and scooted closer to listen. I was still pretty convinced Edogawa needed those glasses to see more than anything else but now I knew better than to interrupt him when he was clearly excited to show off.

“It’s pretty clear you aren’t one of the office clerks,” he said, gesturing to my clothes. “Because you aren’t dressed like one. You might be around the same age as Haruno-san and the others, but if you’re not wearing that gray skirt and vest, then you’re someone who’s meant to leave the office on official jobs.”

“Right...”

“On that note, Haruno-san wanted you to show me around. That’s something that only trainee detectives like Atsushi-kun are asked to do. And trainee detectives can only get in by taking the Entrance Exam. And the Entrance Exam...”

“Is only given to Ability Users who want to join the Agency,” I slowly pieced together, my eyes widening as the dots connected at last.

Edogawa grinned.

“Very good! As for how your Ability activates...”

He pointed at me.

“It has to be through touch. You have a tendency to hide your hands. When you can’t do that, you hold yourself at a physical distance from others, meaning you’re afraid to get too close to them, even someone like Haruno-san, who you seem to know well (she calls you Kyou-chan after all). We don’t live in a country where it’s common to greet others through things like handshakes or physical touch but you seem to take it much further than that. You’re definitely not a germaphobe judging by the condition of your workstation (I cringed) so I can only conclude that you avoid touching people to prevent activation of your Ability. Now, let’s talk about what your Ability actually is...”

Edogawa paused for dramatic effect and I leaned forward, not wanting to miss a single word. Despite gaining control over my Ability just over a week ago, I still didn’t completely understand the full limits of what I could do, even though I had just used my powers to solve my first case. If Edogawa had been right about everything so far, perhaps he could unlock the truth behind my visions...!

As I waited patiently for him to keep going, Edogawa blinked at me. Finally, he took off his glasses and said, “Uh, actually, Kusunoki-kun, this is the part where you tell me what your Ability does.”

I must’ve looked every bit as disappointed as I felt because Edogawa suddenly scowled and crossed his arms.

“Hey, hey! I’m a detective, not a wizard! I said I needed you to fill in the rest didn’t I? Before you start doubting my Ability, I’m going to deduce one last thing for you.”

Once again, he jabbed his finger at me, his bright green eyes narrowed to slits and his mouth stretched wide in a confident grin.

“Whatever your Ability is, it’s something you wish you didn’t have. You’ve seen things, haven’t you, Kusunoki-kun? You don’t have that air of innocence about you like certain other members of our civilian staff. If I’m going to be honest, I’d say the look in your eyes reminds me a little of Dazai-san when he first started here...”

I stiffened as Edogawa put his hand down, my eyes glued to the black frames once again sticking out of his pocket.

No. Impossible...

The image of the ghoul reappeared in my mind’s eye and I gripped my hands tightly to stop them from shaking. Had Edogawa somehow seen the hollow look in my eyes when he’d put those glasses on?

Just then, we passed into a tunnel.

One by one, the lights embedded into the ceiling above us flickered to life, casting the entire train in a vaguely chartreuse sheen as we passed through the darkness. There was a sickly green hue to Edogawa’s skin and as I looked away from him, I found myself slowly turning to the windows, with the sound of the train roaring loudly in my ears...

...where I saw a pale, fearful-looking young woman, with short dark hair and large burgundy eyes. There were no bloody tears and no bottomless pupils staring back at me from the darkened glass.

Just the ordinary reflection of a normal girl.

Suppressing a shudder, I turned away from the window and slumped back against the plastic seats.

“Edogawa-san...?”

He perked up.

“You’ve been right about everything else so far but you’re wrong about one thing.”

I felt my features twist into a disapproving scowl.

“I’m not like Dazai.”

I fell silent as Edogawa studied me, his gaze lingering forebodingly on my eyes.

“If you say so, Kusunoki-kun,” he said slowly. “If you say so...”

He fished another lollipop out of his pocket, a cherry-red one, and offered it to me.

“Here. Some brain fuel for the case. I believe Haruno-san said you liked sweets too.”

As I took the piece of candy from him, Edogawa smiled.

“And please, call me Ranpo. Everyone does. Tell me more about your Ability.”

***

“Woah...”

Edogawa turned and shot me a curious look as I paused at the street corner, gawking at our destination up ahead.

“First time seeing a burned building, Kusunoki-kun?”

I shook my head no and kept moving, jogging a little to catch up with Edogawa as he continued on towards the site. I’d seen burned structures before, just not anything quite like this.

Just ahead of us on the next street over were the charred, blackened remains of what used to be a small two-story home. The entire thing had been reduced to nothing more than ash and badly burned support beams and from a distance, it looked less like a real house and more like a charcoal outline someone had scrawled over the street. As we approached, I spotted several distinct bands of vivid yellow police tape stretched across the base of the building. There were a few officers scattered throughout the site, probably stationed there to keep civilians away and as we got closer, one of them, a tall, graying man in a blue blazer, looked up from his clipboard and waved to Edogawa.

“Edogawa-san! You’re here early.”

“Early?” I exclaimed, quickly turning from him to Edogawa in shock.

After we’d left the train station, “The Great Detective” had wandered off yet again and this time, he’d managed to actually get on a bus... going back in the direction we’d just come from! I’d spent so much time chasing him down and trying to get him to this badly burned house that I would’ve considered it a miracle if we’d made it before noon today. As Edogawa and the man in the blazer chatted away, I couldn’t help wondering what Kunikida would have to say about this once he’d read my report.

So much for thinking I could impress him by being punctual...

As I glanced down at my phone, wincing slightly when I saw the time, it suddenly rang in my hand.

I jumped, almost dropping the thing in my rush to press the answer button. I knew I was being paranoid but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Kunikida had somehow figured out I’d messed up already and had suddenly decided to call and check in on me.

“H-hello?” I ventured, praying I would magically think of the perfect excuse and escape the inevitable lecture that was sure to come.

“Kusunoki-kun! You actually picked up!” a very familiar voice chirped, sounding pleasantly surprised.

My relief at the call not being from Kunikida vanished as quickly as it appeared.

“Dazai-san...”

I sighed and put my hand over my face.

“What’s going on? Why are you calling me while I’m in the middle of a case?”

“Oh, so that’s where you went.”

Dazai’s voice was fuzzy with static.

“I just wanted to see if you got the rest of my texts last night.”

I grew quiet, trying to figure out if it would be better to lie to him or just hang up when Dazai suddenly snorted and said, “I’m kidding. I know you got them. You’re trying to think of some way to trick me, aren’t you?”

“I am not!” I shouted into the receiver, flushing scarlet when Dazai started laughing.

“There’s no need to sound so embarrassed! I think it’s cute that you’re trying so hard. But anyway, Kusunoki-kun, I need to tell you something—”

“Kusunoki-kuuuun!”

Edogawa was calling out to me from the front of the house, where he was standing next to the graying detective, waving his arm in the air.

“Come here! I need to introduce you to the person leading the case!”

“I’ll be right there!” I shouted back.

Turned back to the receiver, glaring at it as if I were glaring at Dazai himself, I all but crushed the phone in my hand as I spat out my response.

“Not now!”

I snapped my phone shut and shoved it back into my bag.

“This is Hatta Shotarou,” Edogawa said, gesturing to the man in the blazer as I hurried to join them. “He’s the one who requested my help today.”

“Nice to meet you.”

I bowed.

“I’m Kusunoki Kyou. I’ll be assisting Edogawa—I mean, Ranpo-san today.”

“Pleased to meet you, Kusunoki-kun.” Detective Hatta smiled. “I’d like to commend you for getting Edogawa-san here so quickly. We weren’t expecting you for at least another thirty minutes.”

My smile suddenly felt stiff.

“You what?”

“We’ve gotten so used to Edogawa-san getting lost and coming late that we’ve gotten into the habit of giving the Agency an extra hour to bring him to the appointed location,” Hatta elaborated as my smile went from being stiff to twitchy. “You’re doing pretty well for your first time assisting him. Now then, please come with me. We should get you both down to the basement before the press shows up.”

“The basement?” I repeated, surprised. “There’s a basement?”

Hatta nodded.

“Maybe I should be calling it a storage cellar instead. I know it’s rather unusual to have one, especially in a place like Yokohama, but the Ito’s had a small side business. They make their own pickles—been doing so for the past twenty years, from what we’ve found—and when their business grew, they had a cellar installed underneath the house.”

He took us around the side of the house and to the back, where I saw what looked like two blackened squares embedded into the scorched ground, next to a pile of burned trash. It was a pair of wooden doors, both badly burned, but not so much that I couldn’t make out the sets of handprints amidst the ash and soot. Two thin diagonal lines of police tape stretched from the corners in a giant “X,” and on the ground in front of the two doors was a broken lock and chain.

“Did someone break in?” I asked, pointing to the lock.

Hatta shook his head.

“We did that when we checked the basement and I’m glad we did.”

His mouth set into a firm line.

“We found a body down there.”

I froze.

“What?”

“A body inside a cellar that was locked from the outside?” Edogawa grinned. “Classic.”

“Who are they? How did they get in? What were they even doing there?” I sputtered as Edogawa’s hand descended upon my shoulder.

“That’s why we’re here,” he said, smirking. “Or rather...”

He flicked out his glasses.

“That’s why I’m here. Open the doors, Hatta-san.”

As if summoned by his words, a sudden gust of wind rushed through the site. Edogawa’s brown cape and pastel tie flapped madly in the wind and I pushed my hands over my skirt to keep it from flipping up.

“Special Ability: Ultra Deduction.”

He slowly settled the glasses on his nose and at once, his emerald-green eyes sharpened, rapidly flicking about the scene as he took in every piece of information he could find. When he turned to me, his smile was nothing short of victorious.

“Come on, Kusunoki-kun. The game is afoot.”

[clockwork-wonderland404]

Hearts

If you would like to read it on AO3, here ya go:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/25578580 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So It’s Lance’s birthday today and I’m so proud of the fandom that we keep celabrating this precious boy’s special day even after the show ended! He deserves love and much better what the show gave him. 

Keep creating ya’ll, all of you are doing fantastic, keeping the fandom alive and I’m so happy to be part of it! Every single little creator is precious and even if your art/writing/cosplay doesn’t have many notes, you still made a few people’s day a little brighter and that’s amazing! Keep doing you! <3

And Happy Birthday, Lance, sweetheart!

Now let’s get into the fanfic, which is what everyone came for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today was supposed to be special. Yet the whole day went down like nothing was out of the ordinary. Every corner Lance turned, he was waiting for his team to jump out and yell 'Surprise', but every single time, he was disappointed. It seemed they just simply forgot and that's just how it is.

'Understandable,' Lance thought to himself as he walked to the control room that night for their usual briefing with the Blade of Marmora. 'We are in a space war after all, who would remember a birthday?' This was the only time the team could get in contact with Keith since he decided to leave.

That guy was Lance's only hope. Maybe, just maybe, he remembers today is somehow special. Maybe he could remind the others without Lance having to say it  himself. He would most likely let it go since he wouldn't want to come off as too self centered.

His head hung low as he stayed in the background of the call. He didn't chime in with snarky comments to Keith as he usually would, even after Keith threw him a tease. After a while of waiting for Keith to say something about his birthday, he gave up. He wasn't much needed in this portion of the call anyway, so he excused himself.

He wandered the halls and rooms of the castle with his gaze solely focused on the ground. The echoes of his footsteps were the only sound he heard until there was a loud bang coming from one of the rooms. He jumped backwards with a shriek, staring at the door in case some weird monster decides to come through it. The castle was haunted once, there was no reason it couldn't happen again.

One.

Two.

Three seconds passed in silence, Lance's breath was caught in his throat, he was scared to make a sound.

Nothing happened.

He gulped and let out a soft sigh, taking a step closer to the door. His attempts not to scream failed as there was another bang. He was panicked out of his mind before he remembered they had someone else at the castle.

"Is this the... Yes! The cell.." Lance mumbled when he recognized the room. Okay, yes, it was most likely Prince Lotor who made the sound. Okay, but what the hell could he be doing that would be so loud? He had to find out in case it was something dangerous.

He took one deep breath before placing his hand on the scanner to open the door. He found himself a long pathway away from the cell that contained their prisoner. He winced as another bang sounded, Lotor tried to use his own body to break through, but needless to say, it wasn't working.

"Cool your jets, buddy," Lance spoke up as he walked over to the cell. He didn't have any weapons on himself. Not that Lotor has to know that, right?

"Ah, the blue paladin, what a nice surprise," The prince spoke after he straightened himself and dusted off his clothes, like he wasn't just banging himself against the cell wall. "And what do I owe your visit?"

Lance couldn't let his panic show, but inside, he was freaking out. 'Yes, Lance, why are you here in the first place? Now you gotta come up with an excuse this smart ass would believe,' he thought before he cleared his throat and straightened himself as well. "I was sent to investigate the noise. Yes, totally, that's why I'm here!"

"You did your job then. Well done," Lotor replied in a sarcastic tone as his eyes studied the paladin in front of him. He knew he was lying, of course, so he wanted to figure out what he really was doing here. His gaze stopped on his eyes, there was something sad about them. "Are you perhaps lonely?"

"What? No no no no no, no way!" Lance replied in a panicked tone, but then he just let out a defeated sigh. " Like you care,"

Lotor cocked his head to the side and folded his arms across his chest. "Maybe I do. Tell me about it. I have nothing better to do," he replied. He had to admit, he was quite lonely as well. He hoped they could share a talk that could make both of them feel better.

Lance saw no reason to protest and just plopped himself down onto the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest as he leaned his back against the cell door. "Today's a special day..." he mumbled, his eyes wandering to the ceiling. "This is the first time I spend a day like this away from my family... My home... I miss them. If only there was someone who at least remembered!" The last sentence made his fist clench, but he released a second later and sighed. "Sure, I mean, I get that we are in war and stuff, but we shouldn't neglect each other, you know?.. We're supposed to be a team,"

Lotor slowly followed Lance's example and sat down, his back against his, only a cell wall separating the two. He didn't think he would care for the paladin, but his heart spoke otherwise. For once, he listened to it and hoped he wouldn't regret doing so. "I know how it feels.. Feeling like you're betrayed by your team, I mean. How it feels to be alone, like no one is there to listen to you.. Like you matter a little less than everyone else.. Believe it or not, Lance, I understand," he spoke softly with no heat in his voice, only comfort.

"Yeah.. I guess we have more in common than we thought, huh?" Lance asked with a kind of forced-sounding chuckle before something stood out to him. "Wait, I thought you don't know my name," he mumbled.

"I know everyone's name. Other than Princess Allura, I didn't feel like anyone else deserves my respect enough to use them. You proved me wrong," Lotor glanced over, looking at Lance's back and hoped he would turn around to see him.

"It's my birthday today... At home, we always had a party, with music, dancing and having fun. I miss those times," Lance mumbled and slowly turned to lean his side against the cell wall so he could look at the prince on the other side.

Lotor did the same thing, his head resting against the same spot Lance's did. For once in his life, he didn't feel so alone. He never had anyone who would care for him. Maybe that could change. Maybe Lance was the person he needed. His heart told him to give him a chance and he listened once again. "I cannot provide you with a party, but I can give you a dance," he said, but realized a few seconds later how suspicious this might sound. "I understand it sounds like I'm trying to use you to get out of here, but... All I want is to give you a dance,"

Lance wanted to doubt him. He wanted to say no and leave, but his heart was pulling him towards Lotor. He had the gut feeling that he can trust him. It might be wrong, might be not, but it was worth a shot. "Fine," he mumbled and stood up. "Allura's gonna kill me.." he whispered before he opened the cell. "I won't let you out of this room and I'm locking you back when we're done!" he said. Empty threats.

Lotor smiled and took a step closer. "May I?" he asked in a soft whisper before he let his hands rest on Lance's hips.

The boy's jaw dropped right then and there. "Wait, hold on! We're gonna slow dance?" he asked with a deep blush creeping onto his cheeks. He hesitated only a moment though before he wrapped his arms loosely around Lotor's neck.

"Is there a problem with that? I know we do not have music, but this is the least I can offer," Lotor let his thumb stroke his hip a little, his eyes locked onto his.

Lance couldn't move his gaze. They were lost in the beauty of the soft purple universe that were stuck in Lotor's eyes. "No.. No problem," he whispered. His breath hitched the second Lotor started to lead. There was no music, but the two were dancing to the rhythm of their hearts that synched up to form a beautiful melody only the two of them could hear.

It was something special. When both their hearts were tired of dancing, they slowly stilled, but their embrace around each other didn't loosen. Lotor let his forehead gently rest against Lance's as he whispered. "Happy birthday.. It's getting late. Would you like to rest?"

Lance only let out a small hum of agreement. For once in his life, he had nothing to say. This moment was perfect without any words. It felt right.

Lotor sat on the ground, lowering Lance down with himself. He let his back rest against a wall while he let Lance rest against him, his head on his chest to listen to the soft beat of his heart. He hesitated a moment before he let a gentle hand run through his hair, then let his head rest on top of it. "Is this comfortable?"

Once again, a soft hum and Lance's closing eyes were enough of a reply. Seeing him so calm in his arms relaxed Lotor as well. Neither of them cared what tomorrow will bring if the team finds them like this. They couldn't let something like that ruin this while the two slowly drifted to sleep, Lotor the sanctuary while Lance is the anchor.

Two hearts beat as one that night and will beat like that for the future to come. It was right.

[umikawa]

Premiere

Pairing; Ty Simpkins x Actress! Reader

Warnings: 2918 words skssk

A/n: I may have taken this too far. but as requested by @alisa-mg and a promise myself here is this headcanon turned to a one-shot!

You sighed as the bath released the knots in your back, the warm water making you sleepy. Post-production relaxation always feels different than regular relaxation. You frowned as you watched the bubbly water drain as you stood above it with a towel around your body. You dried yourself off, putting on undergarments and lotion before pulling on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt on. You walked into the apartment living room, waiting for your boyfriend to come back. You scrolled through your Instagram answering a couple of dm’s from fans who said you were their inspiration.  The door unlocked and swung open revealing an out of breath Ty who had a dress bag in his arms. He tossed it at your face, the hangar hitting the top of your head.

“Sorry,” he breathed out. “The premiere is today and I need you to go with me.”

Your eyes widened as you stood up, holding the dress bag. “Are you serious! What time is it?”

He checked his watch, looking back up to you. “It’s in an hour.”

You screamed as you ran up to the bathroom, hearing him yell out an apology. You started heating up your curling wand and unzipped the dress. Throwing it on, you got scared because the waistband was too small and it showed way too much cleavage for your liking. After tugging it off you ran into your room, seeing Ty pacing in the living room. You looked through your fancy clothes before grabbing a white pantsuit and finding a lacy white top to put under. You scrambled back into the bathroom, the wand heated up. You put your clothes on and did your makeup, a simple natural look with some highlighter here and there. As you started curling your hair, the thirty-minute timer you put on went off.

“Only half an hour left, totally got this.” You said to yourself as you parted your hair and curled the strands into loose waves.

Fifteen minutes passed and you were on the last strand of hair. Letting it fall, you sprayed hairspray on it, praying that it would keep together the whole night. You sprayed a bit of perfume and walked out to your bedroom, grabbing a necklace and bracelet putting them on before grabbing your heels.

You walked into the living room, slapping your hands against your sides. “Well, the dress didn’t fit so I had to improvise.” Ty walked up to you and went down on his knees, bowing down to you, embracing his dorky side.

“You look hot.” He said as he got up.

You smiled sweetly at him, putting on your shoes. “Thank you, now please get your ass in the car.”

He did as you said, walking out of the apartment door. You locked it, waving to your neighbor who saw you.

“You look, gorgeous dear.” The old woman said, watering her plants while looking at you.

“Thank you, Mrs. Beckham. Might I say, you are working those polka-dots.” She chuckled and waved to you as you went down the steps to the garage. Ty was leaning on the limo, which he didn’t really want but the Russos insisted, looking at his watch before looking up to see you.

He opened the door, bowing slightly, “M'lady.” You kissed his cheek, making him grin. Once you were in, he ran to the other side, climbing in next to you and nodding to the driver.

“Wait, is Paul Rudd going to be there?” You asked turning your head to him.

He nodded slowly, taking a sip of water. “You must have a huge crush on him.” He said as he looked down into his water bottle.

Your eyes faltered when he said that, “Hey,” you said as you brushed a strand of hair from his face making him look at you. “You’re the one for me.” He grinned at you, pressing a kiss to your cheek. “And besides, that’s technically illegal and he’s married.”

Ty nodded his head to the side, taking another sip of water. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“Exactly. Now shush.” You smiled at him as he put his hand under your chin to kiss you. When you separated You smiled up at him, “Did I ever tell you that you look great in suits?”

He nodded his head, “Every time I wear them yeah.”

You smiled, “Good.” You kissed his lips one more time and wiped them with your thumb. “You got lipstick on them now.”

He leaned his head to the side as he saw the venue, dozens of people lined up in barriers. “Well someone’s going to ask if we’re dating you know that.” You nodded your head, there have been rumors about you two dating and even some photos of what looks like you two kissing.

“Then it’s fine,” you said swiping his hair to the side. “I’d let the whole world know I was dating such an amazing guy.” He pecked your lips once more, wiping his lips to see a faint color of red on his thumb. He looked out the window seeing people in formal wear and cosplay outfits walking hurriedly to the barricades.

“Is it bad that I’m nervous?” He asked, rubbing his palms on his pants.

You shook your head and crossed your legs. “No, it’s typical to be nervous in any situation with cameras. You got this.” The chauffeur tapped on the door, signaling he was about to open it. He opened it and Ty stepped out as you scooted towards the door. Ty held his hand out for you and you climbed out of the car, straightening yourself out. Someone screamed your name and you looked over to see a girl around your age jumping up and down while recording. You waved towards her and she waved back smiling widely. “I’m gonna go say Hi to her.” You told him and he nodded, slowly following behind.

You walked over to her, “Hi!” She said something you just couldn’t figure out what she said exactly. “What’s your name?”

“My names R/n! Can I just say you are a really great actress and I can’t wait for chapter 3!”

You smiled and put your hands over your chest. “Aw thank you!” You gave her a quick hug and looked back to her. “What’s your Instagram?”

She squealed and calmed herself, “It’s sebsebseb, don’t ask why it just is.”

You typed it in and held your hand out for her to shake, “No it’s okay. I’ll check it out later! It was nice meeting you!” You turned back to Ty who had a small smile and hooked his arm with yours. You two walked to where they were doing interviews and was stopped by one.

“Hey! We’re here with Ty Simpkins. Ty, what was it like to see these films progress throughout the years?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets as you stood there watching with yours in your pockets. “It was really cool, you know? Since I first saw Iron man and then was cast in the third one it all just felt like a dream. And I find it really cool that all of the films lead up to this one.”

The interviewer smiled at his answer and cast their eyes to you, “Well, we see you aren’t alone tonight. There have been rumors going around that you two are dating, anything you want to share?” You looked at Ty with a slight smile on your face as he stared back at you for a second.

“As a matter of fact,” he began, grabbing a hold of your waist and hand, dipping you down and pressing his lips to yours as your hand coiled around his neck for support. He pulled away smiling at you, lifting you up as you cleared your throat and held onto him. “We are.”

Someone wolf whistled from beside you and when you and Ty looked, you’re heart dropped.

“Hey, kids. Being bold I see? I like it.” Robert said as he hugged you and Ty’s shoulders. Susan came over to you to hug you which you gladly returned and greeted her. He kissed yours and Ty’s cheek before leaving to go somewhere else. The interviewers excused you two and you sat at a table since Ty needed to use the bathroom. You grabbed your phone, going onto Instagram immediately getting bombarded with screenshots of Ty’s stunt. You liked your favorite ones and you stumbled upon a video. You smiled as you watched it, sharing it on your story and tagging Ty.

‘Y'all it’s confirmed Ty and Y/n are dating! They’re so precious!!!!!’

’That was fast lol, love that. Thanks!’

’OOp nfjaofahfun THANKS.’

You chuckled at their response and looked up from your phone seeing Ty walking towards you.

“What’s this hm?” He says as he wraps his arms around you.

You looked up at him with playful eyes, “It’s an edit of us obviously.” He smiles as he kisses you and it’s the sweetest thing. His soft lips that always taste of strawberries connect with yours in a never-ending sea of love.

“We get it your in love!” Someone yelled out, making you pull away from him. You stared in the direction of the voice and saw Paul Rudd walking towards you.

“Babe,” you said as you smacked his arm. “Dude he’s coming over here!” you whisper-yelled to him.

“Did you just call me dude?”

He’s finally in front of you and you let out a squeal as you shake his hand. Ty rolls his eyes at you before smiling. “Hi, oh my god you’re Paul Rudd oh my god.”

He chuckled setting his arm at his side. He pointed at you and his face twisted into a confused expression. “Yeah, Where have I seen you before?” You stared at Ty for a second before looking back at Paul who had his mouth agape. “You’re John Wicks, daughter!” he yelled making you laugh. You nodded your head as he pulled you into a hug. “Ah tell me, does anything happen to you in the next one?”

You don’t want to hurt him.

“Sorry I can’t say. You’ll just have to watch and find out.” He pouted, his shoulders slumping.

“That always means something bad will happen, oh no.” You chuckled as he waved goodbye and went to the snack table. You looked to your left and you see Scarlett making her way over to you.

Your eyes widened as you held Ty’s hand, “Is she coming over here?” He looked up and nodded his head. “Oh god.”

“Hi, I’ve always wanted to meet you! You’re so great in the movies.” She says to you.

You let out a small laugh, “Thank you. I’ve always wanted to meet you too.”

She smiled as she looked down at your entwined hands, “Saw what you two did, it was pretty cute. Pretty sure I saw Evans and Mackie fanboying over it.” You and Ty let out laughs as she said that. “Well I have to go now, it was nice talking with you.” She hugged your shoulders before walking away.

You sat silently staring into space. Ty nudged you when you were too silent. “Babe?” he said, nudging you again. “Y/n, You okay?”

You held his arms and grinned, “Babe I just met my idols!”

He smiled at you and swept your hair behind your ear. He kissed your cheek and grabbed your hand. “Come on, I think I have to go on stage with everyone.” You followed him into the cinema, holding his hand tightly so you wouldn’t lose him.

You let go of his hand right when he was about to step on stage with the other cast members and the production crew. “I’ll wait right here.” He smiled at you before walking onto the stage. You heard someone scream his name and chuckled to yourself. You stood there for maybe ten minutes before they all walked off the opposite side of the stage, you felt someone bump into you and saw Ty with a sly smile on his face. You slapped his chest taking his hand in yours and walk to the back of the theater where an after-party for the production crew, actors, and their guest was being held.

You stay next to Ty for the first half of the party. He told you he was going to go talk to Anthony, Sebastian, and Evans, so you had to find someone to sit with. You scanned over the crowd of people when your eyes fell on Lexi who was sitting with her mom. You walked over to her, putting your hand on the chair. “Can I sit here?” She smiled up at you and nodded her head, offering you a juice box. You gladly took it, taking a sip of it.

“Are you Ty’s girlfriend?” She asked in a sweet voice. You nodded your head, taking another sip. “You guys are really cute.” You thanked her, and she smiled back. “I’m gonna sing you a song.” You smiled as she sang the intro of ‘Hooked on a Feeling’ “Hooked on a feeling, ba ba ba bum, I’m high on believing, That you’re in love with me.” She trailed off, as you grinned at her.

Ty was looking from afar, a drink in his hand as Anthony trailed off about Sebastian’s couch. He wasn’t paying attention to him, only looking towards you and smiling at your expression as Lexi sang to you. Anthony smacked him on the back, taking him out of his trance. He followed his line of sight to see you sitting with Lexi.

“Staring at your girl I see.” Anthony teased. Ty chuckled shaking his head at him.

“When I saw her in John Wick, lemme tell you I was so scared.” Sebastian said, taking a sip of his drink.

Chris nodded his head, tipping his drink towards him. “Yeah, she looks terrifying in the films. But like seeing her right now she’s a precious angel.” Ty gave him the side eye before turning back to you.

“You think she’s the one?” Anthony asked him. Ty looked at him with wide eyes, almost spitting out his drink.

“Oh come on Mackie they’re only seventeen.” Chris said furrowing his eyebrows.

“So? I knew Sheletta was the one on the second date.” He defended.

The three men bickered and Ty just listened occasionally taking sips from his drink and sneaking glances towards you. After thirty minutes of them bickering and moving to sit, people slowly started to leave. Ty came over to you, whispering into your ear,

“Wanna leave now?”

You looked towards his pleading eyes and got up. “Okay. Thanks for letting me sit with you, Lexi.”

She smiled up at you and stood up to hug you, You bent down and felt her small arms wrap around your neck. “Bye, Y/n. Bye Ty.” He waved to her as he held your hand.

“God I cannot wait to get home.” He groaned.

You rolled your eyes and kicked your leg up, “You’re telling me, heels are such a pain. At the Parabellum premiere, I don’t care I’m wearing sneakers.” You said. “But Johnny’s gonna make me wear the brand name, expensive ones.”

“Like the Burberry ones he showed me?” You nodded your head, getting into the car.

“Looking good is such a pain in the ass. I can’t wait to change and wipe all of this off.” He chuckled at your expression, wrapping his arm around your shoulder.

The drive was mostly silent, Ty occasionally taking pictures or videos of you, uploading them onto his Instagram story. When you got to the apartment you said thank you to the driver, Jeffery and bid him good-bye. “Ah, home sweet home.” Ty chuckled at you before shutting the door and grabbing your waist and kissing you. You let out a noise of surprise and wrapped your arms around his neck.

“I love you.” He said as he pulled away.

Your eyes softened, brushing his hair away from his face. “I love you too. Is everything alright?”

He nodded and cast his eyes to the ground. “Yeah, I just- They were talking about how bad I got it for you and it got me thinking about our future.”

You gave him a soft smile as you led him to the couch. “What about our future?”

“Marriage.” He answered staring down at his hands.

“Hey,” You grabbed his hands, his eyes going to yours. “We’re still young. We’ve got plenty of time to figure out everything. But marriage is a few years away if you want it.”

He kissed you quickly before picking you up and walking towards the bedroom. You changed in the bathroom, while he changed in the bedroom. As you wiped off your makeup you remembered to look at R/n profile. You smiled at her bio 'Met Y/n L/n on April 23, 2019!!!!’ You sent her a quick message before putting your hair in a ponytail and walking out to the bedroom. You lay in the bed with the sheets over you as you waited for Ty to come out of the bathroom.

When he did he slid next to you, pulling you close to him. “Chris Evans is scared of Rosalyn.”

You turned over to face him, “Are you serious?”

He nodded his head, “So is Sebastian.”

You giggled into his chest, “I don’t believe this.”

“Well, believe it, sweetheart, cause it’s true.” He smiled, tucking you two under the blanket. “Goodnight babe.”

You kissed his chest, Tucking your head in it. “Goodnight Ty.”

[xxforsaken-angelxx]

=> A Friendly Secret Visit.

chimericarchitect Howdy! I wanted to ask about the rods and how that was coming along.

xxforsaken-angelxx aww shit yeah i got them i just slipped on messagin you

chimericarchitect Neat! So, let me know whenever it is clear for me to come and get them and I'll do that.

xxforsaken-angelxx gotcha > You'll send her a time for later today, after your shift is over.

chimericarchitect > Presumably he will send updated coordinates since it's a ship in space and you will, at the time allotted, go there to pick up the rods. It'll be great.

xxforsaken-angelxx > He will, and she'll be teleported straight to his block.

> Or at least part of his block. It visibly looks like a study, with floor to ceiling shelves on the two walls without doors that are loaded with jars of herbs, crystals, bones, and basically any other magical trinket that gets used in his kind of trade. That and what's probably a fairly narrow curation of books, most of them looking old or otherwise well loved.

> You're at your desk nestled in there, in front of an oddly old looking computer. You're dressed in full goffik attire, with the boots and the long coat and the whole nine yards.

chimericarchitect > Saness might like what she knows of Grinmaww, she might think he seems a pretty decent troll, but that doesn't change the fact that he is an unknown. She is dressed accordingly, in what she used to consider 'cool adventurer attire,' something good to tussle in or go for an impromptu roam. It consists of a sturdy white vest over long dark sleeves, equally white boots over flexible black pants, an overly vibrant neckerchief, and a wallet chain on her hip that definitely doesn't connect to a wallet. With her sunglasses up in her stark-white dandelion puff of curling hair, useless but available, Saness looks like a starry-eyed kid dressed up as a cosplay biker.

> She arrives in a blossoming yellow-green light, accompanied by the sound of something stretching sharp, the hollow bell-tone echo of a rubber band snapping, an unnaturally compressed static twang. It's only a fall of a few inches to the floor of the ship, boots tmp-ing with the weight of her existence as the glow recedes as rapidly and efficiently as it had appeared. With her face fully exposed, it can be noted on a glance that her hair grows in this shade. That, or she spends way too much time dying her eyebrows and lashes.

> Immediately Saness looks to Grinmaww, the full attention of 5' 10" of dimension-hopping globetrotter drawn right to him by some force unknown. There is a sort of reckless energy to the way she carries herself, careless of her color, focused intently and intensely on the only other troll in the room. It lingers for a heavy second, gears turning behind her eyes, before scattering nearly as immediately under the force of her own curiosity and whimsy, the dopey little 'o' of her mouth and the perplexed pinch of her brow turning to a wowed smile while the slightly flighty hands-out posture of her arms falls to her sides as she straightens. Her eyes gleam when they catch light, a reflective plate of lime snapping here and there over all of the fascinating and colorful doodads filling the walls of this space.

> "My dude, you are absolutely killing this aesthetic."

> She defaults to common Alternian, for all purposes friendly and easygoing in tone, if a little bright with excitement.

xxforsaken-angelxx > That cracks him up immediately, after those few seconds of regarding each other in silence. His face is...oddly stretchy, the skin pulls a little farther than most people when he smiles.

> Which is why he doesn't, when he rises out of his office chair to full 6'5" stature. It's not exactly an Ampora Resting Bitch Face, his eyes stay friendly, but there's all the signs of someone who keeps their expressions trained.

"Well shit, mission fuckin' accomplished then. I'm diggin' your whole look too, though. Y'look cute."

> And how dare she, frankly? Meeting someone from a whole other universe was supposed to be a big deal, both from a mental and security standpoint, but here she was waltzing up with the aura of a box of novelty rubber ducks. It's hard to be all serious at that, bah.

chimericarchitect > Cute, huh? Saness grins a little wider, something easy and lopsided. She's being very loose with her expressions, leaning heavily into what charisma she possesses over her own stranger-danger default; there has not been one single Eridan in the history of fish-or-otherwise bastards that she has ever gotten along with, but in counter she has a great and hopeful fondness for Makaras and clowns in general. All she has to do is be her charming self and *surely* things will work out. Surely. So far so good, right?

"Well shit, mission fuckin' accomplished!" she intones in quick mimicry, momentarily affecting his cant and general tone of bearing. That too falls away, dripping from one instant to the next with the pulse of a rabbit. A flourish places her splayed fingertips over her chest, the goofish mockery of a stuffy tilt to her chin. "Saness Casper Psuede, The Mischief, at your service and pleased to finally meet you, Grinmaww!"

> She is, perhaps, a bit much at full-tilt, hyped to be here and make a solid first impression. Ideally, Grinmaww will like her as much as she hopes to like him. That's the plan. The scheme. The big cannoli. *Maybe* this critically informal introduction will entice him into relaxing as well. A girl can dream.

xxforsaken-angelxx > Hearing his drawl coming out of her makes him laugh again, and he instinctively tries to go for a handshake. Just a casual one. Business casual.  

"Man, you're somethin', arentcha? And somethin' that should use Mischief more often, that's a good one."

> Truth be told, he was already fond of her. Being in the position he was, he tended to like people who had a different view of the world, and Saness kept fitting that to a T. Even discounting her inherent otherworldly-ness, she was people smart in a way he couldn't manage, and just...had a certain way of things. Maybe a way that clashed with his way sometimes. But it was an interesting way, and an interesting clash.

> Sure being the leader of a big ass ship also put him in that same zone of inner stranger wariness, but y'know. So far so good!

"Nice to finally meet you too."

chimericarchitect > The Dreaded Handshake, As The Prophecy Foretold. With how sharp she keeps her claws these nights the best she can do to cover up is to wear fingerless gloves, but that is inconducive to the possibility of reacting to danger, and she anticipated that the ever-present threat of engaging in polite society might rear itself anyway. Thus, a counter arrangement has been prepared in advance: completely naturally, despite her lack of hand cover, as if this was the response expected of her, Saness reaches past Grinmaww's outstretched palm and clasps his covered forearm. A bracing, friendly gesture!

> It's loose enough an action that she doesn't have time to react to new information, or to accommodate the unexpected. From this close, she can feel her hair standing on end, a fresh tingle across the nape of her neck. This isn't Chill Boss Aura, the weight of his presence more intense with proximity, but rather something else entirely. Something otherworldly. The trouble with keeping her features emotionally available and reactive is that, they are, in fact, emotionally available and reactive. Her eye scrunches slightly and her smile ticks one degree toward uncomfortable on the matching side.

> Braced like this, she gives his arm the single handshake pump of proper business, albeit a fraction of a second delayed.

> Quick, say something.

"Ah, yeah, you think so? I thought it was kinda, heh, on the nose. If somebody were to roll up and introduce themself with the title of 'Mischief' you'd have certain expectations, I'd think."

xxforsaken-angelxx > Eridan isn't oblivious enough to miss her sudden awkwardness, but it's also not like he knows his own aura, or any other reason Saness might avoid handshakes. In his mind he just went too formal, like a dumbass. He goes a touch sheepish when she goes a touch awkward, and flicks his hair and plays it cool when she lets go.

> The third eye he draws in his paint wasn't peeking through his bangs until now.

"I mean, sure. But that kind of expectation would probably get you some friends around somewhere like here. Mischief and clowns go together, right?"

> Hopefully, at least?

chimericarchitect > Once released she gives him a conspiratorial smile, waggles a finger, and says, "Those mischievous clowns," in that fake-cursing sort of tone, meant to confirm his assertion.

> Now that she's aware of an otherworldly presence, she is Aware of it. It's kind of just all over the place, isn't it? And her new friend appears to be the epicenter...

> From this point out, her attention is going to be partially split. Whatever it is, it doesn't *feel* directly threatening, but it's definitely unlike the clown deities she's met. It's... not quite familiar. Grinmaww's angels? But it doesn't feel like the angels she's known either, not... quite... Perhaps they aren't angels at all. That's the unsettling part. People and things that identify as other things can have a lot of reasons for doing so. Half the angels she's met weren't so nice anyhow...

> Most of the time she keeps her attention politely fixed on Grinmaww, but it slips through him or past him here and there, occasionally flitting elsewhere in the room. Saness cannot help but be wary in the back of her mind.

> Uncultured, she points right at his face.

"In every timeline I've visited or heard of, face paint holds a lot of personal significance to the clowns who wear it." Her arm drops to her side and she rocks on her toes in a gentle and harmless fidget. "Is it too personal to tell me about? I'm curious."

xxforsaken-angelxx > There's those in the church that don't believe that *any* of the entities are who they say they are. Some believe they're all more of a subconscious figment than anything else- not nonexistant, per se, but a form to let the troll mind comprehend something uncomprehendable. Eridan does believe in his angels, but he's not... unfamiliar, with the idea that they might not be so straightforward.

> He doesn't know that's what's on her mind, but *they* do. They can sense her attention. They know she can feel them. And they...want to play nice, actually. Yes they're everywhere, yes they have him in their grasp, but does that have to feel so bad? They can at least try to be a bit more friend shaped.  

> Meanwhile, their host gets thrown by that question. Not in a defensive way, just in a purely off-guard one.

"Uh, no, it's not, it's-" He gestures, aimlessly. "It's not actually *that* big of a thing? For us? Like it's real fuckin' important, don't get me wrong, but it's not like- it's not *sacred.* It's fashion."

> He shoved his hands in his pocket, and gave his jacket a bit of a flounce.

"I uh...picked mine when I was pretty young. The whole painted on smile and the tears and the secret eye. It's all kinda obvious. But I still like the vibe. Still me and such."

chimericarchitect > Saness can... kind of feel them, the attention of Grinmaww's angels in response to her awareness. She can detect the things they broadcast most blatantly, the more gentle way they coil, the intentional friendliness. Perhaps an act like that would put a more paranoid troll on higher alert, but where most people have a healthy level of mistrust for the unknown, developed or instinctual, Saness has stubbornly hoarded olive branches to clumsily brandish at anything that exists. If they want to be friendly, then by the stars, Saness is going to give them her reckless trust and put her faith where her mouth is.

> Understanding that the angels are at least *similarly* aware of her the way she is aware of them, Saness begins working through the process of lowering her mental hackles, just as intentionally relaxing as they intentionally displayed peace. She loves being cool and playing nice, well and truly.

> It helps that Grinmaww is so cute. Look at him, fumbling and fluffing his feather. Normally she would giggle at him, laughter comes so easily to her, but with her focus split, all she does is smile fondly. It feels safe enough to relax around him, and they all vibe together as a unit, so... Yeah. Everything is cool and she is pleased to make more than one acquaintance. Yep. That's what she's rolling with.

"So, dedication to fashion is really important, but being a clown is not an organized religion beyond being purple and... being goth..." The last part is said almost like a question. "Would you be in trouble if you didn't wear paint, if it isn't sacred? What about like, partial coverage? In public and stuff. Oh, and, um, the whole... distinction thing. Goth is more elegant? Than punk? Or like, grunge, or emo. Are you supposed to dedicate yourself to YOUR aesthetic or is there a dress code? Is 'goth' an important word? Does equating it to other aesthetics come across as rude?"

> Special Move: One Thousand Needling Questions no Jutso.

xxforsaken-angelxx "You don't get in *trouble* for not wearing the paint, no. Like, most people around here wouldn't want to be out an' about without it or nothin', but just in the way anybody else who wears a lotta makeup wouldn't. Partial coverage's fine, too. I know this one chick who does a pattern with half her face, 's'cool as hell. And there is absolutely not a dress code beyond legal modesty and safety regulations, I almost can't believe you gotta ask that."

> He says it with fondness, as he leans up against his desk. He could talk about this stuff forever, he just had to settle into the rhythm of it. His gods seemed to enjoy it too, maybe, almost curling up beside him once he got on a roll.

"Self expression is important to us. It's an inherent part of our magic. We're all brought together around a school of thought with magic that's about experimentation and what you feel, so, like. If you're callin' up the damned with scryin' bones, why the fuck *shouldn't* you wear a full black velvet cloak, y'know? Why not wear it out to get a sandwich every night, if that's what makes you happy?"

"So comparin' us to punk or whatever else is rude just 'cause it's not us. We have an ideology, and punk has a totally different ideology, an' none of us really want to be lumped together when it doesn't stand for the same thing."

chimericarchitect "Then... what is the goth clown ideology? Under that umbrella of self-expression and exploration... are there pretty pastel clowns, peppy and chipper, or clowns that... essentially aren't goth? That sounds really kind of cool though, being encouraged to pursue happiness in the empire. Are there purplebloods that aren't clowns, or is it kind of mandatory?"

> Saness is slowing down a touch, pretty sincerely fascinated by this topic. Culture in general is wildly engrossing, but she has a particular passion for the heavy familial nature of mirthful society.

> She follows his lead, to a degree, crossing her arms and resting her weight unbalanced on one leg, hip cocked out just slightly to accommodate. Very laid-back. One foot taps, keeping time with the pace of her thoughts.

"And, I mean, I *assume* it's just purplebloods and not other colors that join the faith in your society, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Doctrines and ideologies tend to conceptually elude me, but I do so love to hear about them."

xxforsaken-angelxx "Just purplebloods, but it's not mandatory, no. Most of us end up here anyways, but there's plenty that don't. And..."

> There's a pause as he chews on his words a bit. He's had to explain something to this effect several times before, and every time it's a little different. A little closer to what someone who's Grand Highblood might say.

"We think that belief is the most important part of magic. The rituals you do and the entities you work with are just...methods. What makes it *work* is what you feel. And if you *know* that, then you can take your belief and apply it on purpose to somethin' workin' to your advantage. So we just... believe in doin' what personally works for you. Celebratin' what personally works for you. There's no reason you can't be cheery and also goth, or be some pastel fuck and also goth. We're only gonna question you if *you* don't think you're doin' it right. You have to believe you are. Genuinely."

chimericarchitect > Saness inclines her head, an inquisitive pinch to her brow. It's not fully intentional, but she keeps mentally checking in on the spectral presence surrounding Grinmaww, akin to curious little 'are you still there' pokes while he talks.

"That's what goth is? Celebrating the self?"

> Her expression smooths away and she straightens with a soft laugh.

"I mean, heh, wow." She waves a hand, gesturing over his whole him.

xxforsaken-angelxx "I have no idea what you're talking about," he says, playfully shaking his head.

> The angels are also very there. They're Always there. Or at least, some of them are. Sometimes there's more, sometimes there's less, but there's always *something*.

> They tend to poke back, too. It's fun having friends.

chimericarchitect > She shakes her head, still smiling.

"Alright, so, next question. I think I saw the answer before on tumblr maybe, but I don't remember it at the moment. Can you always sense your angels?"

> Yeah she came here with a purpose, but Saness has never been very business-oriented. She hasn't been here long enough for the recycled air to bother her, she's barely been here long enough to appreciate the fact that she's in space. Vacuums and stable pressurized ships aren't as easy to replicate, she's kind of lucky not to be experiencing some kind of reaction to the environment. The thought is starting to creep into her head, the idea that there could be so much more to see.

> Somewhere in the bowels of this contraption, Hydromatic dangles in some kind of torture stasis.

xxforsaken-angelxx > Somewhere, Hydromatic is at their station, filing through dozens of simultaneous requests and trying to scrape up the spare seconds to fantasize about their matesprit. Piers is somewhere as well, possibly finishing his shift.

> And the ship is just generally bustling with life. It was a massive place, filled with a town's worth of purplebloods. Each one had their own magic, their own loud style, their own gods...

"Pretty much always, yeah. Sometimes I get distracted, but they're always there."

chimericarchitect "Does it still get lonely sometimes, even if you're never alone? How old were you when you like, met them? And, um..."

> Saness glances toward the door and lets her continuation hang in the air for a moment, not quite stilling so much as slowing her idle animation. There's a lot to consider, all the mystery and intrigue just beyond, but she knows full well she'd never be allowed to pass through. Not in a thousand sweeps. What would she even do? Act like a lost tourist and get Grinmaww into trouble?

> She slides her focus back into the room, back onto her host and off of stray thoughts of the fantastical. Her hands go into her pockets and she gestures toward him with a shrug of her shoulder.

"Are the subjects of everyone else's devotion so present as yours? Can you sense or otherwise detect them yourself?"

xxforsaken-angelxx "I'm not the lonely type. But I met 'em when I was like...five-ish? Which is young, for us. I had more resources than most wrigs would've, an' I just...had a strong pull, I guess."

> A strong pull and a florid imagination. His eyes follow hers before he can get too wrapped up in thinking about his old hive life, though. If it were anybody else, he'd be glad to show her around the ship. There were constant visitors on the Hydromatic, so one more wouldn't be terribly out of place.

> As long as they were like, actual Imperial citizens with travel paperwork. And not of a blood color that didn't exist here. So unfortunately that wasn't happening, even if they both wished it would.

"...I don't think everybody's are. Kinda depends. But magic just has a vibe, I can feel that usually."

chimericarchitect > ...Huh. What if he's picking up magic vibes off of her? Wicked undid those... locks or whatever, and she did attend a single quarter of lessons at the magic college, even if she was pretty much fully incompetent with her abilities. She would think, 'nah, they're totally different things probably,' but here she is and she can sense his angels, so... maybe not? But maybe it's like, a warlock thing, rather than strictly a magic thing. She doesn't have a magic sugardaddy hovering around her twenty-four seven for him to detect. Or even like. Sugardaddy La Croix. Residual sugardaddy. Hint of having been near a sugardaddy that might have side-eyed her once.

"Well, the angels seem really pleasant and friendly, and if that says anything about you then, heh." Even with all of her training Saness's face is soft, tender cheeks squishing firm when she smiles. It doesn't stretch like Grinmaww's or Ringleader's. "How old do clowns normally take on a patron?"

xxforsaken-angelxx > The magic here *was* different from magic elsewhere, but mostly in how certain the clowns were of its mechanics. Magic was considered an action, a movement of energy. It wasn't something just sitting around in people willy nilly, in their minds. Without something actively magical lying around, there was nothing he was attuned to sense.

> His face softened a little at her compliment, and a small "Aww" slipped out before he could think it through.

"It uh, depends though. Six is when most people really start socializin' online, and that's a big factor for decidin' to participate in the faith. So seven-ish is the most common for gettin' serious with contactin' things, as far as I know."

chimericarchitect > A little 'o,' either of interest or surprise, anoints her.

"Did you meet them before you met any other clowns or joined the faith then?"

xxforsaken-angelxx > His eyebrows raise a little.

"Before I met any other clowns, yeah. But I was pretty set on being involved since I could read what I had about it."

chimericarchitect "Did I ask something strange? Sorry."

> Saness tries to play it cool, another pretty flash of a somewhat sheepish smile, but she is a weenie and the lift of Grinmaww's eyebrows causes her to fret a secret amount.

xxforsaken-angelxx > He tries to look reassuring. Or as reassuring as a much taller goth clown can.

"Nah. Just haven't had anybody ask that. Nobody really asks an heir how they started, y'know?"

chimericarchitect > It works, she's as easily reassured as she is unsettled. Intent is always WAY more important than appearances to little ol' Saness. She tilts her head, birdlike. Why *wouldn't* anyone ask?

"Well... How *did* you start?"

xxforsaken-angelxx > Eridan stews on that for a second, digging through his memories of his old swamp hive for the answer he was looking for. Then, when he found it, he very seriously said:

"Clown grubby books."

chimericarchitect > Her mouth opens, and then it closes. She considers this. Raises a finger. Opens her mouth again with the sound of an H turning to a W, then closes it again. A hum. The finger lowers.

xxforsaken-angelxx > He watches her flounder, and provides nothing. There's a smile in his eyes. Specifically a :o)

chimericarchitect > It ends with her giggling, one arm crossing her front to rub at the other. Her general demeanor has an air of vulnerability at the shift, gentle and earnest in both the way she speaks and the way she looks at him, smiling soft as a peach. Saness's eyes still gleam to an unnatural degree, the ever-present predator, but she's about as scary as a snail covered in dew drops.

"Sorry, that sounds really cute Grinmaww... Were they pop-up books? I hope you had a pop-up book, I have a little collection of those, I think they're very charming..."

xxforsaken-angelxx > He ends up laughing back at her, crossing his arms and actually smiling a little. She's so cute? She's so cute. Why does everything happen so much.

"Of course they were pop-up books. Like just one of 'em but what kinda church would we be if the grubby book wasn't a pop-up one. That'd be bullshit."

chimericarchitect > Her smile widens eagerly, the rubbing arm stopping in more the fashion of a half-formed self-hug.

"I wish I could read them. Obviously it inspired little you? You're here and all, and you seem happy to."

xxforsaken-angelxx "I sure am. Love this place, always have."

> He glances at one of his bookshelves in particular, scanning for a particular spot and then stammering.

"I uh- I still have the pop-up one. Like just a newer copy, lying around. You could, uh...I'd let you borrow it, for as long as you have the tubes, if you want. It's not like it has anything too secret."

chimericarchitect > Saness covers her mouth when she starts laughing this time, both hands. It lasts a good moment, eyes scrunched up with a fond sort of mirth once more. She's been charmed, how dare he. Like really, how dare he. This isn't the troll she made this trip to make friends with!

> And yet, she can't say she minds the direction this is going. Not one bit. What a good place this must be with leadership like this.

> She lowers her hands to rib-height, curled into loose and amicable fists.

"Really?" She pauses to nibble her lower lip, literally biting back another short string of giggles. "If you don't mind, I'd very much like that. Really."

xxforsaken-angelxx > Phththhghbhbhb, goes the clown. There's indignant hand waving and everything. He's trying to be NICE and she has the AUDACITY to like. Handle it in a playful friendly way. Rude.

"I don't mind at all, just lemme fuckin-"

> He strides over to the bookshelf in question, pulling out the thick little book from the spot it's been tucked away in, among serious magical tomes.

> The cover has a generic looking purpleblood wriggler, notably un-goth. They're curled up against a sheeplike lusus in a cool-toned forest scene, watching a glittery butterfly float overhead. A gold whimsical font proclaims that "Magic is Everywhere!"

> He shows her this for a second, then places it next to the other things she came here for.

chimericarchitect > Look at this guy. What a guy! A guy who keeps a copy of his wrigglerhood  pop-up book in his block! A guy that would lend it to a near-stranger with a smile! A guy that bends and breaks the rules to do whatever is best or most interesting! A guy that doesn't get annoyed when he makes other people laugh! A guy with a really impressive propeller hand dance!

"What, you aren't going to flip through it with me? Don't you want to take a trip down memory lane with your new friend~?"

> Saness flounces along in Grinmaww's wake, leaning around him to rappa-tap a dance of her claws on the cover before he can fully rid himself of the book. She no longer minds the increased density of his aura by proximity, having decided that yes, they are friends now. It's a mostly-sincere question carried on a teasing tone that leaves him room to turn her down without anything getting awkward; he can brush her off as playing or he can take her seriously and crack open the book, and neither answer would be wrong.

xxforsaken-angelxx > Her hands get lightly swatted away. Bap, bap bap. It's kind of fortunate that he has a boyfriend now and everything, otherwise he'd still be terribly unused to people just...approaching him.

"Look, if I'm gonna give this thing to my 'new friend~'," he says, mimicking her badly, "Then I want you to enjoy this the proper way, which is all curled up at hive or whatever. It's the cozy kind of wriggler book. Don't at me."

chimericarchitect > Saness accepts her defeat with wiggly fingers, politely stepping back out of the range of his personal space. She is a self-satisfied creature.

"Cozy wriggler book, you've got it."

> She stuffs her mitts back into her pockets (all better, no touchy) and resumes rocking from heel to toe, watching Grinmaww with interest.

"I have so many more questions for you, but like, I realize this wasn't supposed to be a social visit and you are a very busy troll." Gotta check in. Gotta give him an out.

xxforsaken-angelxx > He settles back into leaning up against his desk, all casual like. But clearly with his feathers playfully ruffled. If it weren't for the paint there'd probably be a bit of a blush...which Saness might can guess anyways, with how much time she spends with clowns.

"Nah, I don't mind. Once I'm off work it's not like there's anything I'm supposed to be doin'."

> That and he's really enjoying her company. But he can't just like, say those words out loud, right?

chimericarchitect > That's enough of an invitation for her! Beaming, Saness makes an invisible 'desk' out of her psi and leans back against it, copying him like the silliest roly-poly.

"Great! You're even cooler than I'd hoped, I like talking to you."

> Apparently she can just say whatever the fuck she wants, unabashed while in her element. A single clap!

"Tell me about your lusus!"

xxforsaken-angelxx > There's clear amusement in her parroting, but also...a lack of questioning how the fuck she's doing that. Miming is a pretty common skill around here, after all.

"A goat? But like, a fish goat. An angler fish goat. Real big fucker that'd go around the swamp eating basically anything."

> There was a bit of disdain in his voice. It's fairly obvious that he didn't have a *great* opinion of his goat figure.  

"Think I gotta pass that one back at you, though. What was your lusus like?"

chimericarchitect "Uh, well..."

> She would be more phased by having bonked so clumsily into the Makara-standard experience of bad wriggler-lusus relations, but Grinmaww just asked a bit of a tricky question. It's obvious that Saness has to really consider how to answer this; for a moment she even looks off to the side, brow pinched.

"I don't really remember my lusus. I had a guardian, and she was a troll."

> The "sort of" that follows is said lower. How does one smoothly segway into 'I have amnesia and also the troll that looked after me when I came-to was actually some kind of life-force golem'? The answer is, you don't. You just don't.

xxforsaken-angelxx > Obviously there's curiosity that arises from that 'sort of.' Like, sort of a troll or sort of a guardian? It's an easy follow-up, and one he doesn't take. Instead, he gives her a somewhat sympathetic look.  

"You don't gotta talk about it if you don't want to."

> It's said both sincerely and flatly. He's not effected by whatever emotions she has around the subject, but is okay with them. No judgement, but lots of instinctual professionalism.

chimericarchitect "R-right..."

> The flat tone doesn't feel like it fits with the sympathetic look. Saness does not thrive in professional or formal environments, and even the gentle stiffness is enough for her to trip and flounder over. What is she *supposed* to say? Is this one of those secret codeword things people do when they like someone and want to be polite, but don't actually want to hear what they have to say?

> And besides... *Does* she want to talk about it? It's reflex to say 'no she doesn't,' and that coupled with the above is enough to sway her decision.

"I don't believe I ever got around to asking. Are limebloods extinct in this timeline?"

xxforsaken-angelxx > He *would* be interested, but he's not... supposed to be. Being a boss has it's tolls, one of them happening to be that he has a firm habit of not prying too hard. Any piece of extra information is something that can trip up the works of Imperial bureaucracy.

> So she takes her out and he lets it be, moving on to answering her next question as if nothing happened.

"Yeah, they are. Though the real dock against you is the fact that you don't have paperwork for existin' here. Like, you could go all hemo-anon or whatever an not stand out, but not havin' a travel record would get you in trouble real quick."

chimericarchitect > She's quick to focus on this new topic, grasping at it a bit like a life raft. It was one little hiccup, everything is fiiiiine.

"Really? Travel record? ...I implanted an identity to assume on an Earth once so that I could open a bank account and a few other things, but like, I imagine something like that might be a bit more difficult in this timeline. Earth is just... Not very savvy. Then again, on a standard Alternia, there are LOTS of available identities to assume, trolls die super constantly on the ground..."

> Grim thoughts are grim, and Saness makes a face. This line of thought isn't pleasant, and she isn't neutral about it, no matter how plainly she likes to talk about it.

"Who even checks for those? Everyone I pass in the hall? Do you have to confirm your I.D. at every doorway?"

xxforsaken-angelxx > Eridan points up towards the ceiling and gestures around.

"Cameras. There aren't any in here, but they're pretty much everywhere else. Anyone out of place would get spotted immediately, an' then you'd get flagged down for some questions."

> There's an attempt to not make the word "questions" in that sound ominous. An attempt. But the eyes of the Hydromatic were in fact everywhere.

chimericarchitect "Oh, so the 'travel records' are digital, and Hydromatic can identify people and locate aforementioned records on the spot, and if something doesn't line up, then yadda yadda? Or do you mean, Hydromatic would send security after me or whoever else walked mysteriously out of a closet because they're just *that aware* of every single familiar face and *that aware* of who has gone where? Because, I've got-"

> Saness grabs for her wallet chain, pulling the end of it out of her back pocket. It's definitely still not attached to a wallet; it's attached to a retro sylladex!

"I've got..."

> Operating this thing is not efficient. She's still flipping through it... There's a reason technology moved on without this little pocket-lunk.

"I've got this amulet, it was a gift. A disguise amulet..."

> Fwip fwip fwip... She just wants to show him a neat trick, man... Why does this have to be so har-AHA!!

> With a declaration of triumph, she retrieves a very simple locket on a very simple chain, proudly holding it aloft and grinning mischief at Grinmaww.

xxforsaken-angelxx > He just...lets her. He's the one with an even more old-fashioned looking computer sitting behind him. But he has no idea what exactly a 'disguise amulet' implies. Like, it *feels* magic, but there's a lot of extents that thing could go to. Instead, he just answers her questions.

"It's like a facial recognition system, just with an actual pair of eyes as a step in the process. If you're authorized to be on board here, and also to be in whatever rooms you're goin' in, then everything's fine, mostly."

chimericarchitect > Saness nods along, but she only half-cares about the answer to her question. It's not like she's going to be skulking about on the ship.

"Okay, so, check this out. Do you have any printed photos? Small ones, or ones you don't mind being folded? Magazine cutouts count, it'd just be cooler if it's someone that you recognize from this timeline rather than whoever I have in my pocket."

xxforsaken-angelxx "Uh-"

> Now it's his turn to awkwardly fumble around for something. He turns to start going through his desk drawer, pushing around this and that. There was a lot in the damn things. A few pipes, art supplies, spare papers, weed...

> Eventually he found a photo tucked away amongst it all, and handed it over.

> It's a picture that was only able to print halfway for some reason or another, leaving only one person in the image. Said person is Nymede, the Hydromatic's lead IT specialist. She was in an open shoulder top and hot pants and fishnets, with big fuzzy legwarmers. Her face was half obscured by a gas mask, and she had bright purple and fuchsia hair extensions.

> She was...probably in the helmsblock, or near it, there was biowire visible behind her, but there was no sign of Hydromatic themselves.

chimericarchitect > Is it void nonsense? A lack of ink? Some sort of printer malfunction? A certain helm being fussy about their picture being taken and purposely botching the job? The world may never know, and further, the world is unconcerned. Saness accepts the photo and gleefully pops open the locket. There was already a photo inside - one of Saness that has been color-edited to have black hair and ordinary teal eyes - that she hastily replaces with the photo of this very Fashion(tm) clown person. She gives it a playful jostle once it's closed away.

"Now, hang on, this is the cool part-"

> The moment she slips the locket over her head, Saness is no longer standing in the room. Instead, in every physically perceivable way, Nymede has replaced her. Eeach visible detail is accurate to the picture, and Saness-as-Nymede gives a little twirl.

"Tadaaa...!"

> It doesn't alter her voice, unfortunately, and Saness still sounds like herself. She moves like herself too, despite whatever change in height there may be, fluffy legwarmers flouncing realistically to match.

xxforsaken-angelxx "Wow what the fuck."

> That was. Perhaps less enthused sounding than he intended, and he cracks up the second after that leaves his mouth.

"Man, what the *fuck*-"

>  It is perhaps somewhat alarming to see a perfect clone of your friend, even if you think it's fucking hilarious. Boy is it realistic, though. He saw Nymede just tonight, and he wouldn't have thought twice if she'd been able to mimic her voice. Scary, but incredibly impressive!

chimericarchitect "Isn't it neat? It's basically a hologram. The projection is magic and it has the most basic of shells to give an amount of resistance when touched, but if you pressed against it you would sink through until you touched me. When used to mimic smaller things, the parts that hang out turn completely invisible, but can still knock into things if you aren't careful."

> While she talks Saness is wafting Nymede's arm back and forth, looking it over herself. She has back some of the same energy she came in with, the excitable quickness to the way she carries her borrowed form bleeding into how quickly she talks.

> She pauses only a moment, snapping her attention from Nymede's arm to Grinmaww's face. There's more she wants to say and show him, but she's not the type to sprint on ahead without someone.

xxforsaken-angelxx > He's following along, mostly, the way someone tends to when they're fascinated by something they don't *really* understand. Holograms were a thing in common use here, hard light was something he understood in theory, using magic to create tech-like results was...imaginable, at least?

> Which amounted as far as it being conceivable, and him having no idea how the fuck something like that would actually be made. Miracles, man.

"Neat is a real fuckin' understatement for that."

chimericarchitect > She chuckles and goes to remove the locket, zooping back to her regular appearance with a sideways flicker as soon as the chain is off her neck.

"You can even disguise things as people, or people as things, or things as other things..."

> Saness looks around the room for an easy target that doesn't look like something personal or sensitive, something she could feasibly loop the chain around.

"...and you can keep the chain on the object you want to disguise while keeping the locket somewhere else, it will continue to function so long as neither are destroyed..."

xxforsaken-angelxx > There are, frankly, a lot of Things in this room, so there's a lot of potential targets. There's several large quartz samples of different colors that could easily have the locket wrapped around, or some of his jars of common herbs like rosemary and thyme. Or for something even safer looking, she could nab a big black candle.

> That last part is what really surprised him, though. The parts could work separately? The locket didn't have to be on the chain? It wasn't just the locket that did the thing? How the FUCK did this thing WORK?

chimericarchitect > Badda-boom, she slips the locket off of the chain and wraps the pretty metal in a loose cascade over an unsuspecting candle. Nymede appears where it was, but nearly completely physically static. If the candle was lit, she'll be wobbling her head around in a way that could be considered eerie, mimicking the flames with the limitations of hair and a neck.

> What's more, a candle is much smaller than a person, and... the projection seems to shiver and warp a lot like it is strained, glitching in a way that Nymede *definitely should not be moving* in. Saness seems to find these wild distortions and unnatural behaviors to be entirely hilarious, pointing up at her and giving the whole thing a very good laugh.

xxforsaken-angelxx > It was not lit, just sitting around waiting for use. But that only mitigated the weirdness of this somewhat. Like, here was one of his best friends, in lifelike form, magically superimposed over a candle when she really shouldn't be. The whole thing wibbled around with the uncanniness of a wax figure and the function of spaghetti code.  

> He also thought it was fucking hilarious, and laughed with her.

chimericarchitect > They'll likely spend a moment in shared laughter before Saness reaches into the illusion to fumble around and remove the chain. As before, Nymede stretches sideways and zlorps out of existence.

> Saness is still a bit breathy with laughter when she speaks.

"See, that's... I can be anyone, or anything, except maybe - pppbb - a candle, or a spoon, haha!"

xxforsaken-angelxx "That's fuckin' mindbogglin' to me. But impressive as long as you're not tryin' to dodge the guards with bobblehead candle clowns."

> He shakes his head, still giggling a bit. What a time to be alive and in charge of this joint.  

"I've been doin' magic for a long ass time an' I've never gotten to see shit like that.

chimericarchitect > A bit more laughter and apparently show-and-tell is over, because Saness is putting her magic tool back into her sylladex - but she courteously remembers to take out the picture and offer it back toward Grinmaww on an open palm.

"The multiverse is a vast place and... I guess I've seen a lot of things!"

> Actually, it was talking to Pierce before that really put it into perspective. She's a veteran of mystery...

xxforsaken-angelxx > The picture gets placed back roughly where it was before, in one of his desk drawers. Possibly not even the same desk drawer? There are only so many things that can be in his goth mind at one time.

"Guess so," he says. "And guess I haven't seen much at all."

> Which was solely exciting to him, really. There was nothing he loved more than learning about the way everything flowed along in the universe. All a vast *multi*verse meant was he never had to stop.

chimericarchitect > Prrp! Saness proceeds to brush herself down for reasons unknown, satisfied with his response. There is a threshold here that needs to be respected, and unlike some of her friends, she's going to try and reel it in before crossing it.

"There are a lot of things I could show you, but I think maybe that's enough for a first meeting. I may not be the most vibrant or interesting tour guide, but I am a willing and attentive one!"

xxforsaken-angelxx > There's a small scoff at that second part, immediately.

"You're plenty vibrant. I do think we're good on the touring for now though, yeah."

> His hand creeps a little towards the collection of things he's supposed to be passing along to her. It's that business instinct again.

chimericarchitect > That was? A compliment? Yeah, no, it's cool. It's COOL. She sure hopes it's a compliment and not some sign that she overwhelmed him though, but if it is then man, it sure does sound like Grinmaww is completely clueless, he should meet her friends, *they're* the vibrant ones... And probably also very literally insane.

> She doesn't fuss when he moves them toward the end of their visit, quirky in her lopsided-smile sort of way. Saness rocks on her toes with her hands jammed deep into her pockets. She'll wait politely for him to gather himself up and bring this meeting to a close; it is his place, after all. Grinmaww is the floor master.

xxforsaken-angelxx > The look he gives her seems to support the compliment theory... But a moment later he's distracted. No objection, time to give her the things. The picture book first, and then the two psychic tube-y things. They're neatly labeled with label machine stickers, one from Pierce and one from Grinmaww.

> They actually came out pretty distinct looking. Both of the glow bits are lit a similar shade of purple, but Grinmaww's is...actually a good bit fainter. He's never really had any other chances to compare himself, though, so it doesn't even strike him as odd. Pierce is just good at shit like this, obviously.

chimericarchitect > Her hands are freed from her pockets! In order! To accept a darling pop-up book! And the actual tools she came for!

"Thanks so much for being such a good sport. I'll get the bracers and your cozy grubby book back to you as soon as I've finished!"

> They disappear from her palms, slorped up by her sylladex like so much loose spaghetti.

"It will take me a little longer than normal to complete these though, as I'm uh, a little bit preoccupied back at hive."

xxforsaken-angelxx > He shrugs, and...smiles just a little. Why must she be so goddamn pleasant all the time always.

"That's fine. Ain't like there's any rush anyways. Just get 'em back when you can."

> There's a moment of realization on his face when he remembers that she's just going to like...zap out of herself out of here. And not use a door. Which means that normal farewell dialogue cues weren't going to happen.

"It was uh, real nice seein' you an' all man."

chimericarchitect > Saness wouldn't know a normal dialogue cue if it bit her full on the bulge, farewell or otherwise.

"Somenight we'll have to figure out how to swap tours for realsies!"

> Rather than saying goodbye or returning the compliment like a civilized or well-adjusted troll, she gives her new friend a big smile and an even bigger dwarpy salute, turning on her heel for dramatic effect as the crackly light consumes her once more.

> Just like that, she is gone.