#figuring out when to schedule these to post is a nightmare it’s not that I want tons of notes I just want the people who might like seeing

[candycryptids]

Was doing Endwalker Hildibrand with my favorite guy and made an off-hand remark that Tuesday and Brandihild should kiss. It’s only the gentlemanly thing to do. And Tuesday can relate to being a kinda-not-quite Clone that has crazy amounts of calculating power. ….. and I wanted them to kiss.

Shaders are Kore's [Lay Here] and [It Felt So Real] + also Ixora's [Have I Always Loved You] AND I used [This Pose] Cut for some..... Hm... Brandihild had... He was…. Troublesome to pose.... [CW: Face Horror]

It’s wonderful that I was given two hands so I could make art.

I can’t say with certainty if this is truly crack or if it’s a whirlwind romance, destined to end in a tragic sacrifice. Like his first romance. He must have a type. Or a curse. Someone cast Esuna on this poor guy. Also HUGE love to the guy who made the pose I used it only took some nudgy adjustments. Also, for some reason Brandihild hates Ktisis. Can’t figure why, but he behaved when I used Anamnesis, so thank you to them too uvu I would’ve never achieved my silly flight of fancy otherwise.

Also please consider this my rent lowering gunshots fired or something. I have never been serious in my whole life and I’m not about to start now uvu; I’m out for a good time, not a long time

[littlejuicebox]

Astarion talks in his sleep.

Pairing: Astarion x GN!Reader/Tav (Shadowheart is our lovely supporting role though.) Summary/Setting: 6 months post BG3, "good/spawn" Astarion ending, all fluff Rating/Warnings: PG / Very mild if any game spoilers but nothing related to major content or scenes Word Count: 900+ Notes: Inspired by this post here!

-----

Astarion talks in his sleep. It’s something you’ve never mentioned to him, because it’s mostly when he’s having a nightmare about Cazador or some other horrid trauma from his past. You'd quickly determined it not worth bringing up, for fear of embarrassing him. Plus, if you were being honest, part of you found it rather endearing... especially the lighter drabble that would escape his lips. Delighted giggles, little purrs... it could be overwhelmingly adorable, on occasion.

In fact, the first time you ever heard him say he loved you was in his sleep. Then you'd waited weeks… anxiously, impatiently, unbearably for the revelation to come out while he was awake, under his own terms.

But tonight, the talking and tossing isn't cute. The vampire writhing in bed disturbs you, and your eyes flutter open, catching the smallest glimpse of daylight between the thick, tightly drawn curtains and shuttered windows of your bedchamber. You'd just fallen asleep, and you'd be lying if you said you weren't the slightest bit annoyed.

You idly try to figure out the date. Adjusting your schedule to the night life was… difficult; you often lost track of dates nowadays. But somehow you manage to remember that it's been nearly six months since you all saved Baldur's Gate; six months since Astarion had been returned to a creature of the shadows. Six months you've been in the house provided by the city as you two adjust to whatever normalcy you are able to conjure up and figure out your next steps. You were a strong proponent for the Underdark; Astarion was not quite sold.

At first you think the silver-haired elf's tossing and turning is a night terror… it’s been nearly two weeks since the last one. He’s overdue. You ready yourself to pop out of bed and grab your calming herbs to steep a quick sleeping draught. But then you hear him, soft and garbled, laced with thick strings of sleep.

“Will you marry me?”

You turn to stare stupidly at the elf, eyes piercing through the blackness of your room; his face is obscured, you cannot tell if he’s awake. “…what did you say?”

Silence. A long, unbearable stretch of silence where your heart is pounding into your throat, practically rattling around your chest cavity at the sudden shock. And then he’s snoring again, and you’re left with your brow furrowed and robe half pulled onto your shoulder. Well, so much for your sleep.

You meander down the hall to the kitchen, where Shadowheart has several jars and plants strewn across the table. She’s practically taken over the kitchen since Gale left, not that you particularly mind, since she’s also taken over the cooking.

“Aren’t you supposed to be asleep right now?” She asks, spotting you out of the corner of her eye, not lifting her focus from the mortar and pestle in her hand.

“You won’t believe what Astarion just said in his sleep.” You murmur in dazed response, walking over to the cabinets and rummaging through the contents. You grab an old kettle and fill it with water, turning to look at the cleric.

“Gods, what was it? I’m quite thankful to be out of the camp... his night terrors woke all of us up at one point or another. It's no wonder you’re struggling with the schedule adjustment.”

“He said, ‘Will you marry me?’” You respond, almost giggling at how silly that sounds in retrospect, as you place the kettle on the stove.

Shadowheart pauses. One, two, three beats of silence. “Shit… well, I guess the cat is out of the bag now.” She murmurs with a shrug, before returning to grinding her herbs.

“Wh-what?!”

“Oh, come off, don’t be daft! You had to expect it would be coming sooner or later. Gods, your love is almost sickening… it was sickening, having to hear it all the time... once again, so thankful for the separation of these walls.”

You are frozen, your hand still holding onto the kettle as you appraise your friend. Shadowheart is right. You knew a proposal would come sooner or later… you just figured it would be much later. Astarion was still struggling; more often than not you woke to him in tears or in the throes of a sleeping fit. Countless calming elixirs and teas had been drawn up by you and Shadowheart in the last six months. Truly, you hadn’t thought he was thinking that deeply about it... you hadn't been, if at all. Gods, you two still didn't even know where you were headed after leaving this city-supplied house... the lease was up in a few weeks' time.

“I guess… well, I suppose I didn’t think he was ready.” You sigh, lighting the stove and sitting across the table, watching the cleric as she works.

“Oh, trust me, he’s ready. And he's certain. Perhaps not about anything else... but definitely about this. He's been writing to Gale for weeks trying to source a particular ring." Shadowheart responds, now pouring the contents of her grinder into pouches. "Just promise you'll act like it's a surprise when the time comes... he's been talking about it for a while. He's put a lot of thought into things."

"When will it be?"

Shadowheart laughs, the edges of her eyes crinkling as she flicks her gaze toward the ceiling. She’s now cinching the sachets and sorting them all into a nearby basket. "Now that I'm not telling you. I've already given away too much."

You try for a few more minutes to pry the information from your friend, but she remains tight-lipped. You even threaten her with detect thoughts, though you both know you'd never go through with it. Finally, a whistle from the kettle beckons you back to the stovetop, and the conversation is halted as you ready your tea and aim to go back to bed. You might not know when your love is going to pop the question, but you do know that when the time comes, your answer will be a resounding yes.

Click here for Part 2

[tsorrow]

persona 5 headcanons i have because this game makes me insane (affectionate)

Ren and Akechi are both insomniacs

Ren develops a HUGE phobia of needles post interrogation. he pretty much has to stop helping Takemi with her research because of it. doctors visits are a nightmare and he can’t even explain why

Ryuji’s knee would occasionally give out in Palaces. he would try and tough it out until they got to a safe room. once Futaba joined the team, she figured out pretty damn quick what was going on and ushered them to a safe room whenever it happened. Ryuji never put the dots together.

Ren and Ryuji have asked Yusuke to make fake IDs for them.

follow up: Sojiro would be a “i’d rather you drink in the house” type of dad, but he isn’t with Ren purely because it would be a violation of his probation (not like PT shenanigans weren’t but you get the picture)

After Shiho’s attempt, Ann started checking in on everyone’s mental health a lot more often. no one really noticed except for Ryuji (since he’s known her the longest) but he didn’t mention it.

Ryuji and Akechi had a long conversation about Featherman ONCE (mostly cause Akechi was insanely sleep-deprived at the time). it was the closest the two ever got to bonding and they never mentioned it again

Iwai was weirdly relieved when he figured out Ren was a Phantom Thief because before that, he could not for the LIFE of him figure out why a 16 year old boy wanted THIS MANY model guns. did it make much more sense? no. but at least it was a better reason than other criminal activity (as if Iwai didn’t accidentally pull Ren into yakuza business but shhhh)

for a while, Futaba and Ren were effectively fighting for custody over Mona. They eventually settled on a schedule Mona did not follow, much to both parties dismay

Makoto bakes and is really good at it. she’s the designated baker for everyone’s birthday

Haru will frequently mention something she’s done that seems benign to her, only to be met with stares of disbelief from everyone else (she forgets she’s rich)

follow up: Haru will also say the most batshit thing in the sweetest voice that throws EVERYONE off.

double follow up: she’s the only Phantom Thief Akechi is even close to genuinely afraid of (scary Haru my beloved 🫶)

when Futaba got access to Akechi’s phone, she would occasionally just fuck with small settings for funsies. it caused Akechi so much distress at such a bad time

Futaba also has a backup of Ren and Akechi’s text messages to use as blackmail later.

[brucewaynehater101]

I remember this one shot where tim & bruce swaps bodies while bruce is as batman in some jla meeting. Tim just continues it perfectly.

This is the body swap au, btw

Anyways, would Tim do a good job as Batman?. I think if Tim sees the swap as something brief he would do his best. (But we all make them swap long enough to Tim having enough time for long term plans) so if Tim gaslights himself into believing they would swap back after some weeks, he would do better. He thinks he can do better as a way to show he can be Batman without being a evil one(he's fighting the gun Batman allegations).

Still, it would be funny that in his "I'm gonna fix Bruce's life while am here plan".

Tim acts less as a classic moody batman while in the atalaya. Gives more and kind advice. He talks with Superman about his situation with Kon. He helps Flash with his eating schedule. He helps Arthur with whatever is going on in Atlantis. He shuts off all of the surveillance on Bruce's coworkers, just to mess with Bruce.

He just avoids Martian tho.

Then, it's been a month since the swap. They don't seem to find any way back. Tim cannot lie to himself anymore and the Batman duties are becoming way too much.

Then Bruce dies in Tim's body.

Tim never wanted to be Batman, neither to be like Bruce. But he messed Tim up. Tim never wanted to be like Bruce Wayne. And now he is living his nightmare, every day since Bruce death, Tim has to wake up and avoid his reflection. Tim never wanted to be like Bruce Wayne and now everyone call him the wrong name. Bruce died and Tim does what he does best, he sacrifices. He ditchs his identity any hope of being Tim Drake, so Batman can rise once again.

.

.

(The last paragraph is a little darker end of the version of this au where Bruce dies in Tim's body. I happily would read some of your ideas where none of them dies tho. There's just so many aspects os this au we can develop more, also we need more bruce pov of this).

Here is the post being referenced!

[I'm sorry to say that 90% of Bruce POV's are just gonna be him suffering.... I can try, though. Put up a valiant effort]

Let's really pack in that angst, shall we?

For this AU, Tim has been compared to Bruce so many fucking times.

At first, despite his shaky relationship with the grieving man, he took it as a compliment. He was like his hero Batman!

It started with Alfred fondly tutting over Tim's capacity to neglect self care duties and his shared interests. The older man would sarcastically ask Tim if he was following Bruce's footsteps of being a loner who sits in his basement all day (just teasing and joking and slight reprimanding).

Then there were the heroes that remarked on Robin's uncanny ability to do the batglare or translate Bruce's grunts.

When Steph and Tim got into arguments (and Tim was being a grade A asshole), Steph would compare Tim's emotional incapability and distrust with Batman's.

Dick, in the heat of the moment, has yelled at Tim to stop acting like Bruce (they got ice cream afterwards as an apology).

Jason has tsked and grumbled and shouted about Tim being molded into Bruce's shape/image.

Even Babs has made a comment or two.

While they didn't mean to hurt Tim (unless they were fighting [for which they would both usually make up and apologize]), it caused a small dig and insecurity to Tim's own self-image.

He wanted Bruce to be proud of him.

Tim wanted to be nothing like Bruce.

Then you add on the 16th birthday, Bruce's shit with Steph, how Bruce treats his other kids, other canon events, gun Batman, and Tim losing the rose-colored glasses of childhood?

Yeah. Tim doesn't want to be Bruce.

It seems fitting, after stealing Robin, that he'd get stuck under the name of the man he grew to see as a warning.

It figures that his choice in saving Batman lead to Tim's loss of self.

[Hmm... I can do another post chatting about Bruce or no one dying if you would like.... Or someone else dying before the truth comes out :)]

[hopepetal]

Hi! It's been a while, hasn't it?

@applestruda, @periwinklemoonlight, and I have been working on arc three of the boatem knights au for quite a while now. We hope you enjoy it :)

At the moment, the second chapter is not ready for posting, so it won't be out for a while.

Boatem Knights AU fic masterlist

Read on AO3!

Reblogs and comments are much appreciated :)

His nightmares hadn’t gone away.

Feathers rustling in the wind, Grian gazed up toward the night sky. Sighing heavily, he glanced back toward Pearl’s tent. She had offered for him to join her many times– avians were highly sociable after all, and often slept in the same nest– but he’d refused. He wouldn’t want to wake her up as well.

It didn’t make sense. 

Dreams of a desert, of cold silver skin, of red eyes and names and flowers and blood. And every day they’d gotten worse. More vivid.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t something Grian had the energy to figure out right now. He needed sleep.

He stood up and walked back to his own tent, and settled down for what would be another restless night.

And he hadn’t woken up the next day. 

Or the day after that. 

Or the day after that. 

The first day Grian slept through, Pearl hadn’t been too worried. With how bad her brother’s insomnia could get, it wasn’t a rare occurrence for him to not get enough sleep during the night and then make up for it during the day. She’d checked in on him, of course, and smiled softly at the sight of him curled up in his blankets, wings resting on either side of him as he smushed his face into the pillow. 

“He probably just had a rough night,” she mentioned to the others during lunch, “I wouldn’t bother him.”

Mumbo looked up, frowning slightly. “Hasn’t he mentioned having nightmares for a while now? Maybe that’s what’s been keeping him up.”

Pearl nodded, wings fluttering anxiously behind her. “Yeah. The last few months have been rough on him.”

“I think it’s from all the building we have to do,” Scar piped up. “Trying to finish the lodge has been a nightmare.”

“We’re almost done!” Pearl argued, optimistic as ever. “Just a little more, then we’re all set!”

Mumbo slumped back in his seat, letting out a soft huff. “Can’t we just leave it as is? I think it’s perfectly well done.” 

Scar raised an eyebrow, leaning back with a smirk. “I think you just don’t like building, mister.”

Mumbo rolled his eyes, though he was unable to hold back a grin. “Well, it’s certainly not my favorite activity. I’d much rather be–”

“–working on your redstone, we know.” Impulse chuckled, shaking his head. “Unless you want to be buried in snow by the time winter comes around, we probably shouldn’t be calling the lodge ‘perfectly well done’.”

Mumbo grumbled a little at that, much to the amusement of the others. “Look, I’ll do my tasks and everything, but I’m not happy about it!” 

Pearl laughed, leaning against the table. “You gotta weigh your options, mate. Either build the lodge now, or be wet and freezing during the winter. Which one would you prefer?”

“Well, when you put it that way…”

The knights quickly finished lunch after that, making small talk as they cleaned and put away the dishes. The leftovers from lunch were stored away for later, placed in the shed they had built a while back so that the wild animals wouldn’t be able to get into their food.

“Same duties as earlier?” Impulse asked Pearl as they all made their way to the half-finished lodge. 

Pearl nodded, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “I don’t see why we would change them. I’ll take on Grian’s duties on top of mine, though I can’t promise I’ll be as fast.”

“Good thing we’re so ahead of schedule, then!” Scar piped up. “It’s a lot easier to focus on one thing instead of a whole bunch of tiny tasks.”

Pearl laughed, her wings fluttering in amusement. “That, and we’re all insanely fast builders. Who would’ve thought?”

Impulse grinned. “Well, I’m just naturally good at everything I do, so I’m not surprised.”

Laughing and joking, the four went about completing their tasks. The sounds of construction filled the air, conversation occasionally popping up alongside it. As the day progressed, it began to get hotter and hotter, construction slowing down as it did so.

Finally, the sun began to set, and their long day of work was called to an end by Mumbo. It was just routine at this point– the knights would work until the sun began to set and then they’d all gather at the west end of camp to watch the sun go down. Mumbo was always the quickest to put away his tools, and today was no different. Impulse and Scar went to join him, while Pearl slipped off to go check on her brother. Just as she had expected, he had barely moved from his sleeping position, only shifted slightly in a likely effort to get more comfortable. She pulled up one of the ottomans, settling down next to his bed. 

Reaching out, Pearl gently brushed some hair out of her brother's warm face, smiling slightly. “Heyyy, Griba,” she murmured, softly so that she wouldn't startle him if he wasn't fully asleep, “you doing alright, mate? You've been asleep all day.” No response. He must've been really out of it. “Well, I brought some food and fresh water. It’ll be on the side table for when you wake up– you must be pretty hungry.” She sighed softly, leaning back. “Well, I’m exhausted. I’ll see you tomorrow, Griba. I love you.” 

Standing, Pearl quietly left the tent and joined the other knights to watch the sun finish setting. She settled down next to Scar, leaning against him with a sigh. The grass was soft against her skin as she sat and tried to relax, breathing in the fresh air and exhaling the anxiety that was building in her chest. Her whole body ached from the exertion of a day spent building, and the cool night air that brushed against her skin and wove through her hair was a welcome relief from the end of summer heat. 

Scar glanced over at Pearl, giving her his signature crooked smile. “How’s our sleeping friend holding up?” he asked.

Pearl sighed softly, closing her eyes briefly. “Still sleepin’ the day away,” she answered. “I dropped off some food and water in case he wakes up and needs something. I'm glad he’s getting rest, though. I think I’m gonna keep him from helping us work on the lodge for a bit, though. It can’t be good for him to be exhausted and pushing himself like that.”

“Agreed.” Impulse stretched before running a hand through his hair, carefully avoiding his horns. “It’s hard work we’re doing here, man. Kinda wish Skizz could’ve stayed a little longer to help out, but I guess a man’s gotta do his job.”

“And Tango’s been busy,” Scar added, “apparently he's workin’ on a super secret fly-ification project, whatever that means.”

“Sounds terrifying,” Pearl laughed, Impulse nodding along in agreement. Mumbo’s attention seemed to have been caught by that, and he perked up.

“A project? Do you think he’d let me take a look? I know he had mentioned a few things about combining redstone and engineering and really, it was quite fascinating and we had a truly intriguing discussion on…” Mumbo trailed off, noticing how Pearl and Scar were just staring at him. “...well, Impulse gets me!” he flusteredly got out, and the others began to laugh. 

Impulse smiled, chuckling. The light from the setting sun reflected off his piercings, causing them to shine when they caught the light. “That I do, buddy. That I do.”

Mumbo blinked. “Well. Alright, then.”

Pearl stood as the sun finally dipped below the horizon, stretching her wings as the shadows began to grow over the land. “I don’t know about you, but I am absolutely exhausted. I’m heading off to bed. Good night!” She spread her wings and took off, flying low over the ground until she reached her tent. She landed softly, ducking into her tent and changing into her night clothes– soft blue pajamas with stars and little crescent moons. 

Sleep called her name, and Pearl felt the weight of exhaustion pulling her down. She climbed into bed, settling on her stomach and wrapping her arms around the soft pillow. She’d just barely closed her eyes before sleep descended like a soft blanket, and she drifted into unconsciousness.

Grian didn’t wake up the next day. 

When Pearl woke, her limbs still somewhat sore from the day before, she went to check in on Grian before she started her morning chores. He wasn’t up, which meant he hadn’t woken up during the night and stayed up until dawn (again). Pearl was still a little concerned nonetheless, and rushed through her morning chores so that she could go check on Grian. 

When she peeked into his tent, her worry increased at the fact that he hadn’t touched his food or water, and had barely moved from the sleeping position she’d last seen him in. “Griba?” she called softly, “Griba, hey. Are you up?” Upon receiving no answer, she carefully crept forward and placed a gentle hand against his head. 

Oh, no.

Grian had a fever. 

“Griba.” She gently shook him. “Griba. Grian. Grian. Wake up.” Her voice became more frantic as her brother continued to be unresponsive, anxiety spiking in her chest as she tried to wake him. “Please. Don’t do this. Don’t do this, Grian. Please.” 

Still, nothing. 

Pearl’s gaze went to the side table, and she stumbled over, grabbing the pen and some blank paper that had been sitting there. Quickly, she wrote down a message to Cub, trying to keep her hands from shaking as she did so. 

Cub,

I’ve been sending quite a few letters lately and I hate to bother you once more, but Grian is sick. He isn’t waking up, and he slept all through yesterday as well. When I checked on him this morning, he was burning up. I’ve tried waking him up, but he hasn’t even responded. 

Please come as soon as you can. 

Pearl

She began folding the paper as she ducked out Grian’s tent, almost running into Scar as she did so. “Ah! Oh, mate, careful!” 

Scar laughed softly, pressing his hands to his chest. “You scared me, Pearl!” he retorted, taking a moment to calm himself down. He caught sight of the paper in Pearl's hands. “Sending another letter, are we?” he asked. “More moth mail?”

Pearl, despite the anxiety she was currently feeling, had to smile. Rolling her eyes, she responded, “We’re not calling it moth mail, Scar.” She closed her eyes and breathed out, pushing her magic into the paper. It took the form of a moth, glowing with enchantments, and flew off. She was quiet for a moment with Scar as they watched it fly off, before sighing. “Grian’s sick,” she told him, “and he’s not waking up. I was just sending a letter to Cub to ask him to come up and check on him.”

Scar frowned, humming thoughtfully. “And this isn’t just Grian being Grian?” he asked, but Pearl shook her head. 

“He’s not waking up, and he’s running a fever. Which, if he was even responding a tiny bit, would be fine, but he’s not even– it’s like he can’t hear me at all. Normally he’d at least have woken up a little and smacked me away or something, but…” Pearl shook her head. “Nothing. He was just… sleeping.” 

“Should we let the other two know?” Scar asked, gesturing with his head over to where Impulse and Mumbo were. They were working on the lodge once more– Mumbo, struggling to walk with the heavy materials and Impulse, carrying as much as he could and encouraging Mumbo on with a smile and kind words. 

Pearl nodded, already starting to walk toward them. “Absolutely. C’mon, mate!” 

Scar jogged over until he was walking by Pearl's side. “Hey! Mister Mumbo Jumbo! Impulse! Hey!” he shouted, waving his arms over his head. “Over here!”

Pearl laughed, shaking her head slightly. “Scar, no need to shout. They’re right there.” Her wings fluttered anxiously behind her as they approached Mumbo and Impulse. “Hey, you two.”

Impulse set down the logs he had been carrying, and Mumbo did the same before collapsing into the grass. “Heya Pearl,” Impulse greeted, “what’s up?”

“Not good news, unfortunately.” The mood sombered up as soon as those words left Pearl's mouth. “Grian’s sick, and he’s not waking up. I sent a message to Cub, but I’m gonna run to the village real quick to grab some general medicine and such. I meant to get some on the next trip, but…” She trailed off. “Clearly, we need them now.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Impulse offered, to which Pearl shook her head. 

“I’ll be flying. It’s faster that way.” Pearl glanced over at Scar, who had joined Mumbo in the grass. “Can you three keep watch over Griba and the camp while I’m gone? Oh, and keep an eye out for a response to the letter I sent to Cub– it’ll be coming back as an enchanted moth, you know what they look like. I don’t think he’ll be sending you a response this quick, but better alert than caught sleeping.” She coughed slightly. “Uh. Excuse the irony of that wording. It’s just a phrase.”

Impulse nodded. “Don’t worry about a thing, Pearl. We’ve got things handled here. Go and get the medicine.”

Scar stood, helping Mumbo up as well. “Yeah! We’ll stop working on the lodge for a bit while this whole thing is goin’ on. Grian’s more important than a building, anyway.”

Pearl heaved a sigh of relief, smiling softly. “Oh, thank you all. This means a lot.” She stretched, spreading her wings and fluttering them slightly before relaxing. “Right. I’ll be off then. Stay out of trouble, ya hear?”

Scar saluted. “Aye aye!” 

With that, Pearl took off, flying over the camp and toward the village. Worry settled uneasily in her stomach, squeezing her chest as she tried to not spiral into an anxiety attack. It would not be good to do that while flying, she figured. 

Grian would be fine. Grian would be– he was fine, he was just sick and once he got rest everything would go back to normal. They’d continue building the lodge and get it done before winter and then they’d move on to their next adventure. 

Yeah.

Everything was going to be fine. 

In a house surrounded by much more greenery than the canyon that it sat in, Cub was working on a very dangerous project. 

Well, it wasn’t dangerous– as long as he took proper care when he was around it and made sure to wear protective gear, of course. A mask fit snugly over his mouth and nose, and he wore elbow long gloves with his lab coat sleeves tucked into them to make sure there was zero possibility of the subject of his experiment touching his skin. 

Holding up the blue-green mold (sculk, the book had called it) up to the light with a pair of tweezers, Cub squinted. It appeared to almost have a sort of heartbeat, he noticed, as it pulsed rhythmically. It might’ve grossed some out, but it made Cub grin. This was so exciting. He had only heard of sculk before, from ancient books and harrowed miners who had narrowly escaped death. To be able to study it like this, up close… it was a dream come true.

Cub jotted down some more notes with one hand, holding up the sculk with his other hand. His attention divided, focus solely locked in on the things he was writing, it was no wonder he got startled by the enchanted paper moth that landed on his desk. He dropped the tweezers with a loud swear, the sculk landing in his lap. No matter– he simply picked it back up with his gloved hands and put it back into its container, sealing it away. He then carefully unfolded the moth, recognizing instantly Pearl's handwriting. 

He frowned as he read the letter, before sighing heavily. “I really can’t leave them alone for five minutes, can I?” Glancing back down at his desk, Cub bit his lip, weighing his options in his head. He really had to finish this current experiment in a certain time frame, and Grian was a healthy man (and a Watcher, besides!). He’d be fine if he had to wait for a little while longer. 

He went and wrote a response on the back of the letter Pearl had sent, chuckling slightly at how his handwriting compared to Pearl’s. 

Pearl,

I’ll be there as soon as I finish up what I was doing. I assume it’ll take me quite some time, so I’ll head out early tomorrow morning. Keep an eye on Grian, give him some medicine and try to get some fluids into him. 

Don’t panic. Remember what I’ve been telling you in our letters– take a deep breath, calm yourself, and try not to let your thoughts spiral. You’re doing a great job. 

Cub

He carefully folded the paper back up, watching as the magic Pearl imbued into it activated, and the moth sprang to life before fluttering off in the direction it came from. Cub’s sharp eyesight caught the moment it burst into purple sparks of magic and sped off into the distance– “moth mail” always fascinated him. It was clearly a concept Pearl had either made up or been taught, and he’d have to ask her some more questions about it later. 

But for now, the sculk called his name. 

It took a little longer than expected to finish up the experiment, but Cub always stayed true to his word. The next day, he woke up with the gray light of dawn and gathered his things, taking care to lock his door before leaving. 

The sun began to rise as Cub started down the familiar path to the camp.

You know how this story goes, by now. 

Grian didn’t wake up the next day. 

Pearl did her best to follow the advice in Cub’s letter– give Grian fluids, take deep breaths, try not to spiral, try not to spiral, try not to–

She was fine. She was fine. 

…which was why she ended up breaking down into tears when Scar asked her how she was feeling, and felt his arms wrap around her and pull her close. “I’m– I’m sorry, I just–” She gasped for air, squeezing her eyes shut tight as hot tears cooled on her skin. Her hands were trembling as she wrung them together, trying to lean into Scar’s calming presence. 

Scar gently shushed her, carefully patting her back between her wings as he tried to soothe her. “It’s a stressful situation, Pearl,” he murmured, his voice quiet and comforting. “It’s okay to be scared. Did you wanna send a letter to Jimmy or something? I’m sure he would be more than willing to come on up for a little bit to help out.” As he spoke, he pulled away from the hug and summoned Jellie, setting the furry blue familiar on Pearl’s lap. “Pet the Jellie. You’ll feel better.”

Pearl smiled weakly through her tears, beginning to gently stroke Jellie’s fur. She felt the tension begin to leave her body as Jellie started purring, her breathing evening out as the cat curled up on her lap. “No… no, Jimmy worries more than I do, I don’t think it would be good to stress him out over this… because it’ll be fine. It’s going to be fine.”

Scar nodded. “Right you are, Pearl. It’s gonna be just fine. G’s just taking a big ol’ nap right now, sleepin’ off that nasty fever of his. Give him a little longer and he’ll be just like new. Cub will help him out and then he’ll get rid of that darn sickness in no time!”

Mumbo, who was sitting nearby, leaned forward. “Scar is right, you know. This isn’t the first time one of us has come down with a nasty illness of some sort. Grian just needs a little care and rest, I’m sure!”

Pearl nodded, taking in deep breaths as she continued to idly pet Jellie, wiping stray tears from her face. “Thanks, Scar. Mumbo. I needed that.”

Scar smiled reassuringly, giving her a thumbs up. “No problem, Pearl.”

Mumbo simply nodded, smiling. “Of course, mate.”

It wasn’t long after that Cub finally walked out of Grian’s tent, his expression kept carefully neutral. “Hey, you three. Pearl, could I speak with you?”

Pearl nodded, anxiety spiking once more as she prepared herself for whatever Cub was about to tell her. “Yeah. Of course. Scar, do you mind…?” She gestured toward Grian’s tent with a slight nod, standing up from where she had been sitting next to Scar in the grass and handing him Jellie.

Scar jumped up as well, brushing off his pants before taking Jellie and quietly dismissing his familiar. “Of course, my dear Pearl! I’ll keep a close eye on G.” Scar ducked into Grian's tent, going to take a seat on the ottoman that had remained pulled up next to Grian’s bed. He settled himself down, letting out a soft sigh and leaning forward. 

There was a moment of silence. 

“Y’know, G, this isn’t funny anymore.” Scar swallowed dryly, licking his cracked lips. “I’m all for pranks and stuff, but this is going too far. Pearl’s upset, Mumbo is worried, Impulse is trying to keep the other two calm, and I’m…” He shook his head. “C’mon, G. Please.” His voice cracked on the last word. “Please.” 

No response. Of course. Grian was asleep, why would he respond? 

“I mean, really. It's like you’ve been cursed or something,” he weakly joked, before the thought really hit him. Could Grian have been…?

Scar closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shifted into his vex form. 

The smell of magic, powerful and wrong, was so strong Scar nearly gagged. He stumbled back, eyes widening as he realized that the magic was coming from Grian, wrapping around his body and curling around his throat. 

Slowly, hesitantly, Scar approached Grian and knelt by the bed. Reaching out, he carefully opened one of Grian’s eyes with his hand. 

Purple. 

Grian’s eyes were glowing purple. 

Scar felt the magic suddenly recede, drawing into Grian like the water being pulled back into the sea. With a sharp inhale, he stumbled back, shifting out of his vex form as he burst out from the tent. “Guys!” he yelled, “guys, something's wrong with–!”

Grian’s magic exploded outwards.

Pearl screamed, lunging forward as she shifted into her Watcher form, wrapping her arms around the only person close enough for her to protect– Mumbo. The two fell to the ground, surrounded by a translucent magic shield that glowed in blue and silver hues. All around them, purple magic swirled and raged like a storm, and all they were able to do was watch as Impulse and Scar collapsed. 

Cub was pushed to his knees, vex form flickering as his own shield began to crack around him. The magic howled in a screeching voice, swirling around Cub’s shield in an attempt to break through and take him as well. 

“Pearl–!” Mumbo cried out, clinging to her tightly. He was pressed against the ground and could hardly see past Pearl, but what he could see terrified him. Pearl’s shield was beginning to give under the incessant pushing of Grian’s out of control magic, and there was nothing he could do but watch.

Pearl bit out a sob, holding Mumbo close. The strain of fighting against her brother’s magic had her gasping, grabbing for any and all energy she had to pour into the shield around her and Mumbo. Raising her head, guilt and fear filled her chest as she caught sight of Impulse and Scar, limp on the ground. She could only pray that they were okay. That they were alive. 

The magic like raging wind reached a peak, screaming so loud Pearl’s sensitive ears ached. And just like that, it was over.

Pearl, Cub, and Mumbo were the only ones awake when their shields came down.

All across the realm, Grian’s magic reached out and pulled others into a deep sleep. A king and his hand, alongside his best soldier. A huntsman. A time wizard, armorer, and a friend of the nearby innkeep. A man who guided others through the mountains. An avian, netherborn, and a man who sold flowers. 

One by one, they were surrounded by purple magic, angry and screaming and wanting. And one by one, they all fell asleep. 

Grian woke up to impossibly familiar faces and one objective: survive. 

He pushed himself up from the ground, shaking his head slightly to clear the fuzz as he looked around at the gathered group. “Welcome to Third Life,” he greeted in a voice that wasn’t quite his own, with words he wasn’t sure how he knew. “You all have three lives. Once you lose your last life, you are out.”

Confusion and concern echoed from those around him, and Grian raised his voice. “When you are on your last life– your red life– you will become hostile. All previous alliances will be broken.”

A deep breath.

“Good luck.”

[fluffybutt-7]

Okay so (long update ahead)

A while back I posted about figuring out my “fatboy future”. My new job had not been working out, and I wanted to get myself in a position where I could be happier/have a better work-life-balance and get fat as fuck. Originally, I was planning on working from home and doing pizza delivery on the side to make ends meet and… well, free pizza. 🤤🐷 I didn’t end up getting the work from home job, and had to keep searching a bit.

I’m really excited to share that this week I started working at a local vet clinic, and am still delivering pizza part time. The clinic is very inclusive and will be an incredible place to work in regards to prioritizing my mental health. I’ll also be sitting my big butt at a desk again:3 Delivering pizza has been honestly kinda fun so far, and I feel stuffed to the gills in pizza 😅🙈🤤🐷

This whole transition has been a financial nightmare and I’m honestly barely hanging on. So the next couple of months are going to be really hard as my full time job has me starting out part time while I train, but once I’m all settled… I’ll have a consistent schedule, I’ll be able to get by financially, and honestly am starting to live out what feels like a gainer fantasy 🙈🤤 I had half a pizza during my shift last night and then took another whole one home… and still had my other munchies. 🥴

Things are gonna be getting better, like really really better. I feel better mentally than I have in a really long time. I feel excited about life, I feel like myself again, I’m making music and art again, I… I’m so excited for this next chapter. 🥰 I even have some clothes to grow into!! 😍

Thank you all for sticking around, truly. When I made this blog, I didn’t know how much of a rollercoaster the following years would be, and you guys have stuck around and made me feel loved, supported, and safe thought it all. I love you all so tremendously. Yes, even when I take a month to respond. I’m so sorry 🤣🙈💖

Anyway. I love you, and I’m gonna get back to eating and loving being fat and getting fatter. 🥰

Yours Truly,

Fluff

[faeiri-tft]

PLEASE do the toontown online rant i want it so badly

this post kinda got away from me, and by "got away from me" i mean this 3000 word toontown rant is Part One. there will be a Part Two to this later in which i actually talk about the fanservers i wanted to talk about. anyway let's go

toontown online (tto) was a children's mostly-turn-based subscription MMO released in 2003. after a few years of obviously being on life support, disney gave a one-month notice that tto (and several other games) would be closing on september 19th, 2013. on the same day the game closed, the fan-run server toontown rewritten (ttr) was announced (with multiple other fanservers/fangames/reimaginings being established since), and is a few months away from outliving the original game

see, one thing about tto that allowed fanservers to crop up so quickly and easily was that it had, um, interesting choices. very interesting choices. like, "kids could use a code injector to turn their backyards into giant mashed-together nightmarescapes"-level choices

(loose video description: a rabbit toon running around a chaotic mismash of rooms, obstacles, and npcs that Should Not Be There. audio caption: Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life".)

but ok let's talk about the actual game first.

toontown online (tto)

the game starts with you creating your player character - you can pick from eventually-9 species, a couple body types, and 2 dozen preset colors. the gender code is a spaghetti nightmare but you won't learn this until the fanservers come about so don't worry about it. you're then taken to the Toontorial, which explains maybe 20% of the game's mechanics before setting you loose into the main game

the toontorial also gives you the basic "plot", such as it is: Toontown is suddenly* under attack by a bunch of boring businessrobots called the Cogs. their goal is to turn toontown into a dreary gray featureless corporate hell; their business activities are so boring that they're physically painful to be around. luckily, they can't take a joke, so the toons have figured out how to defeat them: by playing pranks on them until they laugh so hard they Explode

*originally, the game installer had a little animation giving a backstory for the Cogs' creation. this was never referenced in game, removed pretty quickly, and i think even the devs kinda forgot it existed

that's...pretty much the whole story! in that context, your toon progresses through all of toontown, helping some mostly-pretty-interchangeable shopkeepers, reclaiming buildings from the cogs, eating ice cream, etc. occasionally, the cogs would Come Up With New Tricks (read: major content update) and the toons would Find A Way To Fight Back (read: same major content update). that was the closest thing to Plot, unless you count "the devs scheduled a bunch of invasions of high-tier cogs right before the game's closure". but...i doubt most the kids really expected a Plot. mickey mouse was there

the gameplay:

the Free Account

there were two...pretty different approaches to playing toontown online. when the game launched, there was a 3-day free trial to the entire game, after which you got kicked entirely until you subscribed. at some point, this was changed so that the first area, Toontown Central (TTC), was Always Free - you could do all of that area's quests/"taskline" and limited activities, indefinitely, and in theory this would make you beg your parents for the rest of the game

i have no idea if this actually got more subscriptions or not. from what i can tell it just spawned more warrior cats

(source)

there were. a Lot of warrior cats. there were some other social activities, too, such as Fashion Shows (with your limited range of clothes) and Begging Subscribed Players To Summon Cog Buildings To TTC and Getting Chat Banned. ...however, as one of the subscription kids i didn't really interact with this side of the game, so i'm not the best person to talk about it

2. the Paid Account

mmm look at those crisp clear graphics. hell yes

a subscription account gave you access to this whole map, along with all these areas' tasklines. to progress through the game, you must complete a variety of "ToonTasks" for the Toon Resistance (it's called that. their catchphrase is "Toons of the World, Unite!". you were giving disney money for this). these reward you by increasing your max health (your "Laff Points"), slowly unlocking more combat options, and sending you to different, higher-difficulty areas of toontown

some of these tasks were...longer than others. generally, though, they all boiled down to: "just go fight some cogs"

combat:

(source)

toontown battles are turn-based: the players use their attacks ("gags") first, and then any surviving cogs attack you with, usually, office equipment and puns thereof (unless the cog is e.g. a Loan Shark, in which case they can just fucking bite you). if you defeat a cog, it explodes; if the cog defeats you, you "go sad" and are sent back to the safety of the playground, lose your gag inventory, and can't leave until you heal.

early on, most your battles are 1v1, but later on almost everything is a multiplayer 4-ish-v-4.

an...interesting feature here in the game's early days was that you could only Type Your Own Words to someone who shared their "friend code" with you IRL. otherwise, you had to use this thing:

(source)

you had a set list of phrases you could string together, which generally covered most the things you wanted to say. but it could get frustrating when you wanted to have a real conversation with your toontown friends! so...as the source above mentions, people obviously found ways around the system. turns out that if you let players move objects around their houses, they will use that to Draw Letters and pass their friend code along regardless

eventually - before the warrior cats, of course - disney presumably realized this system was pretty goofy (🥁) , so the game got a real chat, albeit one that functioned on a very strict whitelist. my favorite is that it didn't let you type numbers, however you could just say won too tree for hive etc. like. disney i really don't know what to tell you. anyway

(isn't he charming)

cogs come in levels 1-12, with levels displayed above their heads, and as you'd expect their damage output and HP increase with their level. however, the game doesn't...actually show you cog HP? instead they have a little colored light on their chest that fades from green to red until they explode. you see numbers on all the damage you do, and you see your own HP/laff, but never the cogs'. also lategame cogs are Too Tall For You To See Their Level once they line up for battle (which isn't actually that bad but it's funny). there's a formula for HP per level, but it's never mentioned in-game. i guess someone can teach it to you but then you have to watch them type "a level tin cog has won tree too health" and is that really worth it

(as you can tell i just…don't get this. "my kid is practicing arithmetic with toontown!" - marketing angle expressly denied by god. the stealth edutainment was right there)

anyway! in theory, you have seven base combat options ("gag tracks"), which combine in a variety of ways:

toon-up, which restores your teammates' health;

trap, which does guaranteed high damage but only if someone uses lure;

lure, which stuns the cogs for a few turns and is the only way to make trap work

sound, which does low damage to every cog;

throw, which does medium-high-ish damage to one cog; multiple throws combined give percentage combo damage, and hitting a lured cog will also add percentage "knockback damage";

squirt, which is exactly like throw but less damage;

and drop, which does high damage but cannot hit lured cogs, and has low accuracy unless you hit the cog with something else first

each gag track has 6 levels, which you unlock by using that gag track a bunch. you can't carry as many of the high levels with you - i mean, putting one piano in your backpack makes perfect sense, but two is just silly, right

a few years into the game's lifespan, level 7s were added - these were huge AOE that you could regain with every 500 track EXP. there was also something called "organic gags" to promote the please-log-in-every-day gardening system

every player starts with throw and squirt, and throughout the game you slowly unlock four more gag tracks. your choices are permanent: once you have your six tracks, you're locked out of the seventh forever.

in theory, all of this opens up a huge variety of combat options!

in practice, the battle strategy looks something like this:

use sound

as mentioned, almost all of lategame will be 4v4 battles, which means sound will almost always outdamage everything on earth. you don't even need four foghorns (the highest normal sound gag) to break 200 AOE damage, and the highest health a cog EVER has is 200*. and two of the boss battles can reward you with gag restocks and heals that you can use mid-battle with no consequences (other than having to grind for those rewards a bunch). and failing THAT, you can just...ration your foghorns and take 2 turns to clear a set of cogs, interspersed with healing.

(*okay there was something called "v2.0 cogs" but they were...strange, and we just used sound anyway)

sure, once level 7s were added you could use those occasionally. and you could fall back on lure+throw if you didn't want to use your sound restocks. but even then, for most of tto's existence there was something called the "knockback bug" which. well. just look at it

(link for transcript. it's tvtropes sorry)

if you are a target-audience eight-year-old this translates to "lure + throw will only do enough damage if the cogs Feel like it." like it's really just insult to injury at this point. this was the result of One misplaced variable and was not fixed until the game closed

in the tto era, if you didn't have sound, you were kinda doomed to be kicked out of every fight forever

(bonus fun fact: there were Four entire battle themes and they were 40-second midi loops. let me out)

the bosses:

each of the four cog departments has a Boss Cog. to face off against them, you have to assemble a cog disguise and collect enough merits/stock options/whatever to be allowed into the boss's office.

(pictured: your convincing disguise)

when you enter, your disguise pops off due to Reasons, and you have to fight through...a bunch of waves of normal cogs. it's basically a really long normal battle. once the minions are dealt with, you have to, inexplicably, do a live-action battle against the boss themself:

(loose video description: four toons defeating the CFO by using magnet cranes to hit him in the face with safes for 32 seconds.)

the live-action rounds aren't supposed to go this quickly, but it's still...kinda strange? certain reoccurring game areas require Parkour, but there are no battles like this outside of the Four bosses. the CFO's room is the only place you see these cranes and they have A Lot Going On. the other 3 bosses have their own unique weird mechanics. before the first boss was added we neither had nor needed the ability to Jump. it's just weird

once you've defeated the boss, you're given a reward of varying usefulness (the best/most unbalanced reward type is Unites, which are a free heal or gag restock you can do inside or outside of battle. essentially lategame toons can simply choose not to die. riv2u etc.)

and, um. then you get some more merits/stock options/whatever and do it again. and again. and again. and again. and agai

the grind:

so the thing is that tto was a subscription mmo. every addition to the game had to be measured, above all, in terms of "how can we best get kids to beg their parents to give us money." this especially shows in the suit grind:

(source/source)

you have to defeat each boss 78 times in order to get all their laff points - and as you proceed, you have to defeat an increasing amount of cogs to even be allowed into the boss (although once you max you get in for free).

by far the easiest way is to run through the designated HQ facilities - basically, cog fights interspersed with some platforming or minigames. you only collect your merits/whatever at the Very End of the facility. the only way to increase what a facility gives you is if your last battle ends during an "invasion" - a timed period where One Specific Cog replaces all street cogs, usually summoned with boss rewards.

the sellbot HQ grind isn't so bad. bossbot HQ - the endest-game HQ - frequently requires you to do an hour-long facility and on six separate occasions you have to do seven of them. if the invasion ends before your final battle, you have to sit around until someone summons another. if you lose your internet connection because it's 2008, or if your parents make you come to dinner, or if hacking or the game's general bugginess cause a server reset because you're probably in the busiest district for the invasion bonus, you have spent that Entire Hour On Nothing. the CEO (bossbot cog boss) probably also takes an hour because you and your fellow players are 10

this shit, combined with laff points locked behind gardening (time-gated), racing and golfing (multiplayer minigames with absurd requirements), and fishing (RNG-based with some fish being absurdly rare. i watched my mom fish for one every day for a month), meant that maxing a toon took Years, if you managed it ever.

it wasn't, um. it wasn't good

ok so what else is wrong with this game:

i had "aged out of the game" (lol) by the early '10s, so i'm not the best person to do a writeup of the hacking/scripting situation of those days. that said, what i'm going to do is give you a few examples, and i want you to just...look at them

(source)

(source). early '10s youtube was funny i'm trying to decide if i miss it

(source). fun thing to note here is that other players had collision, so a swarm of t-posing toons could just barricade the gag shop if they wanted to

(video description: toon who has Replaced His Head Model With An Anime Logo throwing thousands of jellybeans at everyone) (cw mild flashing just in case? and also the feather headband accessory)

i should note that the Bring Me To Life vid i started with was client-side, meaning only the player could see their technicolor hellscape. this guy's face was server-side. i do Not Think you should be able to do that

(video description: a player demonstrating use of a bot to get into the nutty river district, followed by other players using it to go to different game areas)

the above video was posted on august 17th, 2013. if you don't want to watch an Unregistered Hypercam 3 recording at about 5 frames per second, what's going on here is:

the player goes to a specific location and says a specific speedchat phrase.

a bot toon teleports to their location and provides some prompts on how to use it

the player tells the bot, via speedchat, to teleport to the (currently closed from the outside) busiest district so the player can follow

these "taxi toons" were server-sided, persisted across server resets, were made by a future fanserver dev, had younger kids referring to them as a "glitch" as if this were something that could Accidentally Happen, and stayed functional until the game closed

like...a lot of the "hacking" was just baby's first script download. this one - afaict also created by the laughing man head guy - is like...the fact that after years of no substantial game updates, someone effectively programmed their own "QOL feature" (note: not actually good for the poor mid-00s server being turned into a clown car) into a silly disney MMO and it just fucking sat there for a year is just. it's just.

i don't know what this is. this is not Playing The Game Toontown Online. this is nothing. this is everything. there are comments from 2013 on some of these videos saying stuff like "hackers killed toontown", but your game cannot have this happen if it is not already dying

and, like...it was. i'm not sure how many moderators there were by this point, but at the very end of tto, the number of active devs was One. the original devteam recently brought this up at the 20th anniversary celebration: devs just...slowly started getting pulled from the game, one at a time. there were a few updates after bossbot HQ - Field Offices, which i've basically never heard anything good about in their tto form ever; the Silly Meter, a yearly event...thing whose main function was to add unskippable dancing-inanimate-object cutscenes to your street battles; Parties, which...yknow parties were okay actually. i accept parties. but they weren't exactly a Major Game Update like the ones that had come before. in 2011 we gained the ability to Wear Hats. in 2012 the test server got some actual QOL updates that never made it to the main game; the final test server update was some maintenance in february, and then nothing for 18 months. disney was not providing enough resources to address the scripting because disney was not providing enough resources to address toontown. imagine being the last dev standing on an MMO that was older than some of its players, was losing its business model to mobile gaming, and spent most of its life falling apart at the seams. just imagine it, for a second

it couldn't have kept going, not like this.

on august 20, 2013, the closing announcement came: we had a month left of toontown online. the test server shut immediately; subscription refunds went out, and the game became actually F2P for the month; the part of the announcement that went like "we're shifting our focus to other games!" made a bunch of twelve-year-olds hate club penguin as if club penguin wouldn't also close in a few years; all the holiday events went off at once; and...

there wasn't a "thanks for playing!" popup. everyone online just got kicked, all at once. it was finally over

hey wait.

[ridreamir]

If you're still taking requests, could I ask for some general HCs for Kieran and maybe Drayton that take place at bb academy? If not feel free to ignore this :)

A/N: Hey! Yeah of course! I'm struggling to write the Kieran fic because I think I'm way in over my head (I'm freezin' up lol the pressure to figure it out is getting to me) so I guess I can take a break and write some headcanons instead!

I'll write for 'em both, but it's post-DLC, I hope you don't mind! Potential spoilers ahead!

These ones are a little silly in retrospect! I did em fast too, so I hope they're not too bad :p

Kieran's secretly your top fan. Not that you notice because there's no way he'd let you catch him, but he's literally dropped what he was doing to run to the entrance of the academy because your name was announced over the intercom. If you're having a match he'll actually full speed sprint to through the school just to be there, but any time you look over he instinctively hides, flush with embarrassment. You don't come and visit him in his dorm room often since you're on such different schedules, but he's had to flip over his pinboard and hide his piles of notes because they're all about you and trying to understand your strategies and, well, other things... His sister won't stop bugging him about it 'bein' weird', but she knows he's flat obsessed with trying to figure you out! The league club has a social media that posts all of your recent matches, and he's had to beg Carmine to show him how to use the phone app because he's new to having a smart phone and Arceus does he have to watch every single one. He didn't even want a phone until now, but he can't believe he's been missing out all this time. No wonder everyone has one of these things! She was reluctant, but it's Kiki after all... It should be fine, right? Well... that was before all the pinboards and sticky note nonsense that looks straight out of a detective movie or something. He's the type to not like posts because he's scared of what you might think, but accidentally hit the heart button on a match from like a month ago. He definitely drops his phone on his face and panics, trying to undo it as fast as he can. Little does he realize that it's actually Lacey who's in charge of the social media account and not you, and also that she can see who's the most active on the page.

She thinks it's cute, and since she loves cute things, she's letting it be for now. She's always giggling and hiding her smile when he pops into the clubroom to check and see if you're there. Most of the time though he ends up running off before he can say hi because he doesn't want to talk to Drayton.

Since he's gotten the phone he hasn't stopped checking it and he smiles like an idiot any time he thinks he's alone. (News flash, he's really bad at hiding what he's doing. Like he could be in the middle of the cafeteria where everyone sees him watching your battles back to back like they're a tv series.) The only reason nobody really thinks much of it is because you're practically a celebrity and not even just in the Academy but, like, big time. And Kieran is probably one of the only people to not know because he's been so chronically offline. You act so low-key, talking to someone like him like he's just, just another person that it's shocking news to find out that the whole world has probably heard your name by now! As in, his (best?) friend!! (Friend??) It gets kind of annoying now how people follow you around asking to take photos with you like you're some kind of, of tourist attraction and not a person! But there's only one thing that's worse, and it's-

"Hey bud, ready to battle?" Drayton! Kieran's... Kieran's... worst nightmare!! Drayton's gotten really buddy-buddy with you over the time that Kieran and Carmine were on break, and he's not happy about it. Unfortunately for him, Drayton's all too aware of Kieran's contempt and loves to push his buttons. As if calling him "Ex-Champ" all the time wasn't enough, you've been helping him with his homework and sparring together every day! What he wouldn't do for you to spend that much time with him...

And it grinds his gears how often Drayton nudges you or ruffles your hair like you're some sort of pet, though you never see the way their pupils shrink at the sight of each other. Kieran here, hiding behind whatever he can to stay out of sight and Drayton who knows that he's there and makes direct eye contact with him. It's infuriating the way his smile quirks just a little when he catches Kieran spying.

As if he's saying look all you want, look at what you can't have.

And Kieran takes that as a challenge.

[globalrebrand]

The Marriage of Music and Alchemy: Chapter Three

Warnings: None!

A/N: Posting from AO3.

~Cater helps out his underclassmen, and you receive an unlikely visitor.

3.8K words

Chapter I | Chapter II | Chapter III | Chapter IV

Cater never had reason to visit Octavinelle, and he quite liked it that way. Honestly, any sophomore ambitious enough to take the house warden position after their first year was generally a nightmare to deal with, Riddle included, so Cater just opted to mind his business and stick to his leisurely hobbies of skateboarding, music, and gossip. He loved it even more when gossip evolved into (harmless) meddling. 

In the short few weeks of the semester, it seemed his underclassmen had come to know him quite well. A harebrained scheme to get two professors together was exactly the distraction he wanted to over-invest copious amounts of time into.  

While he was kind of upset, it was you…the absolutely smoking new music teacher, he could be the bigger person just this once and let Crewel have you. Admittedly, Cater had many fantasies about being seduced by and or seducing you during one of his cello music lessons, but even after so many of his smooth attempts at flirting, it seemed you weren't taking the hint or maybe just insisting on a professional boundary. Lame.  It's a total bummer but also a sign to move on. 

And besides, if you and Crewel did hit it off and he knocked you up, seeing you as a milf would be more than enough of a reward for his efforts. Cater keeps all of this in mind as he heads to the Monstro lounge after class to make a pact with Azul. Ugh, boo…

The lounge doesn't open for dinner service until 5:00, so hopefully, Octavinelle isn't bustling with students, and the tweels are preoccupied with prepping for the evening rush. 

But as Cater strolls into the purple watery depths of Azul's office, he finds no such luck. It's obvious he and Floyd are engaged in some futile argument. Yet, ever the businessman, Azul's formerly irritated expression morphs into something much more disingenuous but, at the very least, more pleasant. 

"Cater! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Azul opens his arms in welcome, standing from his seat at his oversized leather desk chair. 

Cater offers a bright smile and casual wave, preparing for the performance of a lifetime and momentarily questioning again why he agreed to help out his underclassmen. Maybe he was too much of a shameless gossip if it led him to Azul's desk, and perhaps it was time to seek help. But Cater supposes in for a penny in for a pound. 

"I have a bit of a tough ask." Cater demurrs. 

"I assure my dear senior nothing is too challenging…with the right price." Azul can't help but add the last point. 

"You're too shameless," Floyd rolls his eyes. 

"I need you to figure out Crewel's weekly schedule."

Azul scoffs with an incredulous raised brow as if to say, 'Is that it?'

"Easy. Consider it done~" Azul says without hesitation before being promptly interrupted by Cater's groan.

"Not finished….I need Crewel's schedule about his goings-on on Sage's Isle when he's not on campus." Cater winces at how insane of an ask that is, but Azul is nothing if not boundariless for the right exchange. 

Azul pauses, unsure if he heard correctly. Cater can see the gears in his head turning as he processes before eloquently barking:

" What ?!" 

"Why are you trying to figure out Professor Beakfish's schedule? Kinda weird." Floyd interjects. 

" Classified . Can you do it or not?" Cater could see Azul running over the feasibility of this request while staring off into a distant corner and running the numbers. Seconds later, after a 'tsk' and shrug of his shoulders, Azul presents the deal. 

"Fine. Sign away your signature spell for two months." 

"Two months?!!? Two weeks!" Cater rebuts. "I don't care about it that much-"

"You're essentially asking to stalk our Professor, which I have no problems with, of course." Azul raises his hands in a placating gesture before adding,  "Your business is my business, and you know I keep things confidential. However, let's be clear: this is a crime."

Cater rolls his eyes. "I would say light surveillance and certainly not malicious."

"We're taking on a serious risk by doing this for you. There needs to be meaningful collateral." Azul insists. 

"Oh man, could you imagine Prof. Beakfish's face if he found out what we're doing? He'd probably be lividdddd."  Cater sighs. He knows this tag teaming is a part of Azul's brand of dealmaking and is largely just an act. He can walk away…but he came all this way. He might as well finish what he started. 

"One month." Cater relents.

"Deal ." Azul smiles sinisterly. 

"Whatever, you need to get the full schedule by this time next week. 

"Of course! It will be done."

Cater reluctantly shakes on the agreement, and with a flourish, Azul presents his notorious golden contract. 

"The froshes owe me big time." He mutters under his breath. Cater will probably just get Acedeuce to do whatever work he has to do around the dorm for a month. And the Prefect has it hard enough managing Grim. He'll let them be.

Cater promptly leaves the office and will share the good news with the freshman at their weekly check-in tonight. He just hopes Azul will come through. 

As he watches Cater retreat from his office, Azul is only slightly worried he's bitten off more than he can chew. He begins formulating a cadre of plans while drumming his fingers anxiously on the desk. The tweels are certainly expert sneaks, but Professor Crewel is incredibly keen. Deceiving him might actually be a nigh impossible task. Floyd was right. If they were to get caught, it would be a severe offense. 

"I'm kind of excited. What if we find out some horrible secret about Prof. Beakfish?"

"Ugh…well? No. Crewel seems like a poor choice of target for blackmail." Azul says mindlessly.

"Wow, no one said anything about blackmailing Azul. You're one twisted guy, you know?" Floyd flashes a toothy grin and is obviously teasing, but the task ahead of them has him a bit more unsettled than he'd like to admit. Azul waves a dismissive hand.

"Just go get Jade." Azul barks before adding, "We don't have a second to spare."

Floyd leisurely saunters out of the room. "Whatever you say~"

*            *           *

You must have been doing something right as a Professor because (not to toot your own horn too much, but…) your students seemed to be obsessed with you if it wasn't the ramshackle Prefect coming in nearly every morning to sit next to you at the Piano bench, asking about your daily habits and weekend plans. It was Deuce Spade helping you put away the music stands after class ended and before club activities started. Sometimes, the Prefect and Deuce would come together after class, energizing the music room, much like today. Between those two and how your homeroom students absolutely dote on you, you didn't have to guess that you'd already become a fan favorite. 

As you sat at your desk, reviewing music theory quizzes, you and your students chatted casually about all manner of subjects, but their topics always turned rather personal. Not that you minded and not that their lines of inquiry were ever inappropriate. You found their interest in you rather sweet, if at times odd.   

"Professor, how long have you been living in Foothill Town?" The Prefect poses the question nonchalantly, continuing to sort books on the carpet near your desk.

"Since July," You answer casually, "us teachers have to return to school early to prepare for your arrival. I moved in over the summer."

So you haven't been here much longer than us Professor." Deuce observes. 

"I certainly haven't," You concede.

"Vil would call you a spudling, too." Deuce adds, and you let out a laugh.

"I'd like to see him try." You scoff, but the sound is light and airy.

"Foothill town is really beautiful, but it's so small. Have you had a hard time making friends on the island?" The Prefect changes the topic. 

You consider the question thoughtfully. It has been a change since moving from Fairest City, which was home to millions of people. The place you had largely grown up since you started your music education after moving from the Land of Dawning when you were eight. You left all of your friends behind to get a new start; of course, they were a phone call away and, most conveniently, a weekend mirror trip, but that didn't mean that you shouldn't start building community on this little island. There were a few hundred thousand people living on Sages Isle, and while it was certainly still early days, you had a few potential connections you could see crystalizing into friendship.

"Not really, I'm friends with a few women in my yoga and pilates classes, and the other faculty members are quite kind to me." 

"Oooh? Which faculty members do you get along with?" The Prefect inquiries coyly/

"Or not get along with?" Deuce amends.

"Oh, I won't answer any leading questions; I like all my co-workers just fine." You demur. 

Deuce and the Prefect pouted at your answer as if it wasn't quite the one they wanted to hear. 

"Which area do you live in? I haven't gotten off campus much, but it's a really beautiful island." 

"Oh, it certainly is. I have a little house by the coast with a little yard. I've recently renovated it; when I first purchased it, it was nothing short of a hovel." 

"You like to garden?" Deuce chimes in, crossing the room with two collapsed stands in each hand.

"Oh, I have no natural talent for it, but I would love to start one. I am an avid cook, so homegrown produce would be amazing. Though my dogs might try to eat the vegetables before I can get to them?"

"You should ask Professor Crewel for help! He manages the gardens here on campus and he always help me with planting and cultivating." Deuce offers. 

"Yes!" the Prefect seconds enthusiastically. "And he loves dogs. I think he has some."

"Oh, he definitely does. Two, Apollo and Achilles." You correct without hesitation.

"Those are exactly the types of names Professor Crewel would pick for his dogs." Deuce crinkles his nose in distaste.

"Aren't they? I've only known him a short time, but he's horribly predictable sometimes." You chuckle to yourself, and despite the sharpness of the words, there is not a hint of malice in your tone, if anything, perhaps a bit of appreciation.  

"Do you two get along? You seem like you would have a lot in common." You pause at Deuce's question. Your smile doesn't leave your face, but your eyes narrow skeptically.

"What makes you say that?" You question, curious about such a supposition.

"Nothing, you two just have the same type of humor when you teach." The Prefect is quick to clarify, not without throwing a disapproving glare in Deuce's direction. 

"Really?" you ask, raising a thoughtful finger to your chin, adding, "I suppose Crewel is quite humorous-" but your words are interrupted by a man who stumbles noisily into your classroom, pushing the door so hard that the knob clangs raucously against the wooden paneling. 

A lush bouquet of flowers obscures his face and most of his torso, only leaving a pair of unsteady legs with crisply pressed slacks visible.  You don't know who this man is or what he could want, but his outburst has clearly startled your students. The Prefect stops tidying the choral books on the carpet in front of your desk and leaps to their feet defensively, holding a book, while Deuce holds a music stand with both hands, raising it over his shoulder much akin to a batting stance.  You had no idea where the children learned such attuned fighting reactions, but you move to stand between them and the approaching stranger. 

"A little help," he calls. The man doesn't look to be much of a threat, so you immediately rush to pick up his flowers, and your eyes meet warm hazel ones, widened and struck they look at you with soft admiration.

"Uh, excuse my manners, these are for you." He hoists the flowers into your hands, now leaving you engulfed in foliage. You sense the Prefect come to your side as they guide you by the elbow to your desk. 

"Oh, whatever for?" You call behind the blooms, you're not sure you have any admirers at present who would gift you such a lush bouquet for no particular reason. 

"I should introduce myself. My name is Clifford. I'm the musicology Professor at RSA."

"Nice to meet you," You throw your name over your shoulder as you place the flowers on your desk. "That still doesn't quite explain the florals." The Prefect stands close to your side and casts a nasty glance towards Mr. Rogerson. You get a better look at him, too, but you can't quite understand the seeming contempt your students have developed for him. 

He seems like a normal man, quite tall and rather gangly. His tan trousers don't quite meet his ankles, and expose garishly bright socks.

"Ah well, I was on notoriously bad terms with the former musicology instructor here, and admittedly, I am a bit of a fan of your work." Oh? That was a bit of a surprise. Of course, you were a well-known musician in the classical music world, but outside of major metropoles, it wasn't common for you to be recognized. People didn't tend to be very fanatical about classical musicians. 

"When I heard you were hired, I knew I needed to do whatever it took to get in your good graces," Rogerson says earnestly, gesturing to the flowers.  

"Well then, you're off to a perfect start." You smile, stroking soft petals. "I love dahlias. I perfect the black ones, though." You thumb the cloying pink petals with appreciation, but the Prefect is convinced there's an almost imperceptible disgust in your eyes at the saccharine color. 

"Noted for next time." The young man grins at your seeming appreciation for his gift. 

You point to Deuce and the Prefect, introducing them.

"These are my students. They were just helping me tidy my room after class. As you can see, I'm already quite a popular instructor." You tease, walking back over to Rogerson and clasping your hands in front of you. 

"I completely understand. If you were my teacher, I'd never even want to graduate, erm so sorry, that was a bit much." Rogerson has managed to fluster himself and you truly take in his appearance, his has dark blond hair and pale complexion, his accent is like Crewels, meaning he is more than likely from the Queendom of Roses. 

You chuckle coyly, more than used to these types of confessions but seldom from people who weren't old enough to be your parents. You spare a glance at your students, both of whom are glowering at the new face in the room, Deuce in particular, trying to look as intimidating as possible. 

"Darlings, why don't you run along to your club activities so Mr. Rogerson and I can have a chat?" At that, Deuce and the Prefect exchange concerned glances and very, very slowly begin to back up their belongings. You scoff at their petulance but carry on with your conversation. 

This is bad. The Prefect thinks, is this just how you are, or are you actually flirting? Well, whatever it is, it has Rogerson all in a tizzy. 

"I'm truly honored that you would make time for me, but afraid I can't stay and chat. I only came to deliver these flowers, but perhaps we could meet tomorrow evening. I know this cafe in town stays open late, so could I meet you after classes?" Rogerson proposes, a slight bit of apprehension in his tone. Fear of rejection, it seems. You are inclined to accept his invitation, but as you go to nod an acceptance, the Prefect is quick to interject. 

"Professor, isn't there a meeting tomorrow for cultural fair planning that you'll have to attend after classes? "

"Ah, you're right! I'm sorry. I'll have to decline the invitation. Perhaps another-"

"Well, not to be too insistent," Rogerson interrupts, "but if you're not opposed to an even later meeting, we could go for a drink. You're new in town, right? I'd be happy to show you the best spots.”

"How indecent!" The Prefect remarks, aghast, and hand on their chest. They were nearly out the door, but Rogerson's invitation has caused them and Deuce to dart back through the door. 

"Are you propositioning our Professor!" They accuse, feigning indignity.

"Excuse me? I would never, I just think-" The RSA professor is already stumbling over his words in embarrassment, but Deuce and the Prefect don't let up. 

"Yeah!" Deuce adds. "That's totally out of line! You came all this way to ask our teacher on a date?"

Rogerson starts to stammer when your students so confidently accuse him of indecency, but you quickly come to his rescue. 

"I will see you two tomorrow. Rest well, darlings." You dismiss your students for the second time as warmly as possible and wait for them to filter out of the room at the most leisurely pace you'd only thought Leona capable of. "Thank you for your help today." You call once they've finally departed.

"Sorry about them." You gently place a hand on Rogerson's forearm in consolation, but another presence enters the room.

"I didn't take you for this much of cad. Rogerson, it doesn't suit you." As if on cue, Crewel steps onto the scene. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice the Prefect's shoulders droop with a sigh as they depart the room. 

But more importantly, you swear you feel the temperature in the room drop, the tension between the two men recalling a decade of animosity.

"Ah, quite. That was always your game if I recall from our school days." Rogerson replies without skipping a beat. His focus is now entirely on Crewel and his apparent former classmate, if context clues are anything to go by. Your fellow colleague steps further into the room and takes up a place at your side.

"I don't," Crewel replies coolly. "I take it you were just about to head out? The door is that way." Divus is always so shameless, but there is no excuse for blatant discourtesy…even if there's a history you're not quite privy to, Rogerson has been nothing but kind, and as a frequent recipient of extravagant bouquets, this one certainly had to cost 30,000 thurmarks at least. 

"Professor Crewel, that is hardly a way to treat guests." You chastise lightly, with a disapproving frown.

"I'll walk you out, Mr. Rogerson." You insist, linking your arm with Rogerson's as you attempt to guide him to the door. You spare your colleague a glance, and while the reaction is ever so minimal, you swear that Crewel deflates a bit at your gesture.' That won't do,' you think to yourself.

"You don't have to." Rogerson weakly protests, eyes flicking between your arm in his and your warm, pretty smile in apparent disbelief, but it's apparent that he's delighted by the prospect of taking a long private walk to the school's distant entrance.

"It's the least I could do after the flowers." You reply as you head out of the music room, but not before turning to address Crewel who came and awfully long way to visit you from the alchemy room. 

"Professor Crewel, I'll meet you in your room once I'm finished."

Crewel instantly perks up, his brow slightly raised. You only reply with a playfully nonchalant look. As you two share a cheeky glance—an unspoken understanding passes between you. 

"Of course, Professor." Crewel smiles before departing, passing his old peer and only offering a much less warm acknowledgment, "Rogerson."

You turn back to the man who most certainly got more than he bargained for when he came all the way to hand-deliver these flowers if you can tell anything from flushed cheeks. 

*            *           *   

Crewel has only three ancient rivals. One, of course, is Professor Trein he and that stuffy old man have never gotten along, the other is…going to be a bit complicated if he wants a future with you, but the third is most certainly that stuck-up prick Clifford Rogerson.

Rogerson was a student at RSA, perhaps a year older than Divus, although Crewel would have to say he's aged quite poorly in comparison. 

And while the optics of their contempt for each other might not cast Crewel in the best light, he was almost certainly the instigator of past conflicts, Divus thought that they had come to an tacit agreement to stay in their respective territories on Sage's Isle, but for whatever reason, namely you, Rogerson has decided to break this treaty. 

But perhaps Rogerson's greatest offense is the mere thought that a woman as urbane, beautiful, and talented as you would ever have anything to do with a pallid husk like him. Certainly, you recognized Rogerson's attentions to what they were. Just the obsequious obsession of a musician, not with not even a tenth of your talent. Perhaps the way mortals bow to gods might be an apt metaphor for the leagues that Rogerson is beneath you. Crewel sits with his feet on his desk, eyes scanning passively over the courtyard as he drums his twirls his pen in contemplation.

You knock at the door before entering. 

"Professor Crewel?" You call softly.

"Professor Bellamy, as expected, you are a woman of your word." Crewel, takes his feet off his desk, leaning forward to greet you with a small grin. 

"Of course. My apologies for not coming sooner; I was occupied with you, dear old classmate." Your tone is dripping with sarcasm as you lean against the doorway. 

"Ah, yes, he didn't speak of me, did he?"

"No, not really." You assure Crewel.

"Coward." He hisses.

The vigor of your laugh takes you by surprise.

"Never mind him." You encourage walking closer to Crewel's desk. "I thought, well hoped, maybe you came because you wanted to give me another ride home." 

Crewel scans your smile and finds the corners of his lips rising to match.

"There isn't any rain, dear Professor."

"I know, but it is awfully chilly." 

"A bit presumptuous, but I can be accommodating. We'll have to hurry before that meddling Professor Trein catches us."

"I can keep a secret." You wink at him, and for the first time in quite a while, Crewel feels himself blush.

"In truth, I came because I was looking for Spade. He needed to make up a failed exam."

"Oops. I'm sorry to have kept him." You apologize sheepishly.

"He'll just have to do it tomorrow." Crewel isn't too bothered about it, Spade will simply have to make it up later.

"Can I trust you won't hold him hostage, tidying away music stands?"

"Hostage! I'll have you know the students come to me."

"Ah yes, you're already quite the favorite, aren't you?"

"Your words, not mine..." You shrug. "Now, are you going to give me a ride home or not?" You quip sassily.

"You know," Crewel begins, "not many people who talk to me like that have lived to tell the tale."

"Well, I'm not 'many people' am I?" You smile, now at the door, with your jacket in hand.

No, he supposes you're not.

Series Masterlist

[yikesmary]

all fics are fluff unless stated otherwise. this will be constantly updated as i post a fic.

buy me a kofi?

REQUESTS: open / closed

taglist is now closed!

updated: nov 8th, 2024

choi seungcheol / s.coups

series: ↪ fake dating roommates one two three four — summary: in which choi seungcheol becomes your roommate and fake boyfriend in one fell swoop. and you still don’t know how it happened.

one shots: ↪  pregnancy cravings — summary: where being pregnant comes with its struggles, and one of them just so happens to be the random pregnancy cravings. so, in the middle of the night, you try to sneak out and go to the convenience store nearby and buy something to satisfy your craving. however, your husband wakes up and insists to accompany you—even if he’s barely awake.  

↪ finally   — summary: in a last-ditch effort to study before your big final exam, you barricade yourself in your apartment in order to study as much as you can. on the day of your last exam, your boyfriend, seungcheol, finally sees you and comes with gifts.

↪ boyfriend duties — summary: after a night out with your friends, your boyfriend, seungcheol tries to take care of a drunk you. as he is helping you get ready for bed, you start mumbling about an interesting topic

↪ untitled (ANGST) — summary: the only thing I can tell you without giving out any spoilers: I am truly sorry for what I've done

↪ ruined birthday surprise — summary: in which you try your hardest to surprise cheol.

↪ options — summary: where cheol tries his best to make sure your pregnancy cravings are satisfied—by buying what seems to be the whole convenience store

yoon jeonghan none for now

hong jisoo / joshua ↪ clockwork (ANGST) — summary: where it wasn’t supposed to be like this. but it did.

wen junhui / jun none for now

kwon soonyoung / hoshi ↪ savior — summary: where you save soonyoung from a horrible, wild beast. spoiler: it's a spider

jeon wonwoo ↪ book boyfriend — summary: who needs a fictional boyfriend when your real boyfriend was even better than the movies?

↪  cat dad — summary: whenever you go to your boyfriend, wonwoo's, house, his cat mimi. and he's totally not jealous because of this.

↪ bedtime routine — summary:  where you loved times like these with your boyfriend, wonwoo.

↪ marriage — summary: where wonwoo’s nightmare is coming true. (contrary to the title, this one shot is lighthearted)

↪ birthday surprise — summary:  where you and nari try to make breakfast and a cake before wonwoo wakes up… if only your daughter knew what the word “surprise” meant.

↪ moving on (ft. mingyu) — summary: in which giving up on kim mingyu seems to be the only solution, and jeon wonwoo is right there to help you out.

lee jihoon / woozi none for now

lee seokmin / dk none for now

kim mingyu ↪ puppy parents — summary: where your golden retriever has the tendency to bring you things she has an interest in— sticks, frisbees that obviously don’t belong to you, and even the occasional bird. but this time, your dog brings… a man? and not just any man, only the most beautiful man you’ve ever met. maybe your dog is onto something…

↪ husband duties — summary: where mingyu is the best support system for your pregnancy.

↪ drunk giant —  summary: in which you have to figure out how to transfer your drunk boyfriend to the bedroom without causing major bodily harm. and he’s not making it easy for you.

↪ shave —  summary: with your boyfriend’s comeback approaching, mingyu asks you to help with shaving.

↪ (not) a date night —  summary: sometimes it was hard dating an idol because of their busy schedules. after missing a date and being mia, mingyu tries to make it up to you.

↪ moving on (ft. wonwoo) — summary: in which giving up on kim mingyu seems to be the only solution, and jeon wonwoo is right there to help you out.

↪ hypnotized — summary: where you've got seventeen's mingyu hypnotized, and he doesn't mind it one bit.

xu minghao ↪ artblock — summary: trying to finish a commission, you find yourself stuck in what to paint. thankfully your boyfriend knows exactly what to do in order to help you get your inspiration back.

boo seungkwan none for now

hansol vernon chwe / vernon none for now

lee chan / dino none for now

[bengiyo]

The Trainee Ep 3 Stray Thoughts

Last week, we learned that Jane is curt because he's the primary person trying to solve difficult scheduling issues inflicted upon them by management that can't say no to clients. Ryan considered quitting for the entire episode, but was eventually shored up by Jane praising him for finding an extra, and then not berating him for getting scammed. After solving the problems of the day, Jane pointed out that Ryan is a good supporter. I am feeling less keen on Pie for throwing Ryan under the bus.

This is a fairly reasonable nightmare to have.

Damn, and Ryan was trying to get back to it. This is the beginning of a no good very bad day.

Ep 3: The Grown Up Battlefield

Wow, our first BL moment, and it's on Jane teaching Ryan something.

Damn, Ryan, failed step one. Don't let the extras roam around.

Ryan, come on. You can't figure out how to silence or turn off your phone?

I can feel Pie building to cause problems again.

Big fan of Jane telling off that extra for disrespecting the work and Ryan.

Oh, Pie, you gotta work on bonding with your crew.

Bah Mee also needed to be told off.

Pie wtf. Managing the extras is not your job. Why would you tell her she could leave?

Mhmm. There it is. I see you being silent, Pie.

Excellent work, Ryan.

I feel a little bad for Pie. Dealing with strong personalities in stressful situations is a skill you have to develop.

Wow, I love Jane so much. He knows who fucked up and still shielded them from the client's ire because he knows it'll change nothing.

Jane is so valid about taking licks so that others can go home.

Was not expecting a Saving Private Ryan (1998) reference in my BL today.

I like ending on Ryan listening to his sister complain. He did the same earlier when he listened to Pie.

I really love this show. I like that we're following a series of projects, and I like going from the blow up last week on setting up the shoot to the drama of completing the shoot. Looks like we'll see with post production issues next week. I continue to be impressed with the way Jane conducts himself. He recognized how inexperienced Ryan is and is slowing down a little and supporting him in his own way. I'm excited about next week.

[infin1ty-garden]

HOT BLOODED

ೃ⁀➷ summary: figure skating au! after a falling out you and lando have to perform a routine together and old feelings start to come back ೃ⁀➷ pairing: lando norris x fem! reader ೃ⁀➷ warnings: none ೃ⁀➷ word count: 565 ೃ⁀➷ author note: a little rushed bc i had writers block in the middle of writing this

masterlist.

How could this have happened? For the exhibition gala of the European championship you and Lando have been scheduled to perform. It wasn't secret that you and Lando don't get along. The public is aware that there had been a falling out between the pair, as it's uncommon for pair's to split up, but what actually happened stayed behind closed doors. Even your coach isn't exactly sure what happened.

In 2019 is when the split happened, you also decided to change coaches and your new partner became Carlos Sainz, which you later found out was one of Lando's close friends. Carlos promised that whatever happened between you two, wouldn't affect his skating.

carlossainz55 has posted!

liked by y/n_l/n, charles_leclerc and 45,341 others

carlossainz55 It is an honour to announce that I'll be working with the amazing y/n l/n. I hope we see gold in the near future.

You two worked perfectly together like you'd been training since you'd been born but now you were being asked to skate with Lando for the first time in four years. It's for the fans. The choreographer showing you the elements to the dance.

His touches were overwhelming and brought back memories you would rather forget. But they were intoxicating. "I bet he doesn't make you feel the way I do." His face was inches away from yours. You could have kissed him.

Then the voice of your choreographer brought you back to this reality, a reality where you and him could never happen.

Lando shouldn't feel jealous of Carlos especially now. He fucked up and he had to live with the consequences even if that ment seen you with another partner. His body felt like it was on fire and an uncomfortable feeling in his chest wasn't going away.

It was like someone was punching him over and over again. Yet he couldn't look away. The way Carlos looked at you like he'd ravage you if he had the chance. He wanted to wipe that look off of his face. Once you got off the ice and your score was counted.

Placed second. The podium made everything feel like a nightmare. His hands around you. The crowd cheering you and him on. It didn't matter that he was one of the winners when he was touching you. This isn't healthy or sane to think about someone like that.

Lando felt like an obsessed psycho. That's why he pushed these emotions down. Everything is fine. He's just overreacting. These feelings don't exist. He tried to convince himself that Lando was on the ice with you. His hands around you as you waited for the music to start.

In wildly different costumes then the ones in the competition. The cheers of the crowd disappeared as the only thing he could focus on was you....and the music. His body is perfectly in sync with yours. The same affection he had for you started to come back. Warming his chest and setting his cheeks ablaze.

He has been telling himself for the longest time that they don't exist. It's been easier than facing the possibility of you not having the same love for him. Before he could ponder any longer the song ended. The world came back into focus as the crowd cheered.

Leaving the space illuminated by reflectors like a spell broken.

Thanks for reading!

[unformula1]

i’ll never forget you (LS2 x OP81)

the voices get stronger. w/c: 787 day 22 of LOSCAR POSTS until we get a LOSCAR PODIUM (series masterlist) masterlist part 2 of "changed"

It all came crashing down, falling apart at the seams. Thunder came rumbling and the dark days settled in.

Logan can’t believe it, everything doesn’t make sense. He wants to convince himself he’s in a nightmare and he’d wake up for everything to be okay again. He wants to go back to where everything was alright and it all made sense for him.

How did him and Oscar go from deep late night talks to one-sided stolen glances? Logan can’t believe how much things have changed and he doesn’t want to believe things have changed this much.

He wants it all to go back to normal and for Oscar to smile at him again.

-----

Logan sits down in his driver’s room, leaning against the hard walls. It’s just him and his thoughts. They’re haunting, to say the least.

He racks his brain trying to figure out where it all went wrong and what he did wrong for Oscar to not even acknowledge him.

“Hi.” Logan says, raising his hand slightly to wave.

“Hello Logan.” Oscar says as he pats Logan on the shoulder, “How have you been?”

“Alright. I saw your lap time, was pretty good, huh.” Logan says, trying to sound less awkward.

“Yea,” Oscar says as he chuckles slightly, “I saw your driving style today, I see you tried something different yea?”

“Mhm…” 

Logan is about to continue before Lando slots himself into their conversation.

“Hi fellas!” Lando says energetically.

“Hey Lando.” Oscar says as Lando sets himself in between Logan and Oscar.

Oscar eventually turns his focus to Lando which effectively cuts Logan off from the conversation.

Logan subtly excuses himself and slides back to Alex’s side since it’s pretty much the only way he won’t be excluded at this point.

Right…

He hates remembering that moment. The crystal clear, shiny, diamond-like memory that resurfaces every single time he feels left out. 

Because he isn’t the first choice when it comes to Oscar, he isn’t anymore. Sure he used to be the first choice but not anymore, he got replaced quickly with someone even better, with someone Logan couldn’t even be half of.

Lando Norris.

He doesn’t hate Lando, he can’t but it stings hard every single time he remembers Oscar choosing Lando over him.

Logan: are you free tomorrow night or something? for our monthly meetup :) Oscar: mate i’m sorry lando and i have something up Logan: oh it’s okay Oscar: we can schedule something next month alright Logan: okay

It strikes like a dagger to the chest, twisting with every second moving forward.

Logan sits on the bench in his drivers room, fiddling with his shirt before picking up his phone and opening Instagram. 

And as if he couldn’t have any good moments, the first video that pops up is a McLaren video. Specifically the McLaren video he saw Oscar and Lando filming.

He reloads the page instantly and closes the app.

His hands clutch tightly onto his phone as he feels his stomach tie itself into a knot. 

He doesn’t know what consumes him but something makes him open his messages and scroll down to Oscar’s contact. He glances at it for a few seconds before clicking onto it.

The last message was aeons ago. He doesn’t know what he intends to do with this but he stares at it blankly.

His fingers hover over the keyboard, but he doesn’t type anything. 

He scrolls up, all the way up to their old messages. Their happier days.

His phone lags slightly from loading all the messages but he eventually gets to those days where they messages hourly, updating each other on the most irrelevant things that happened to them.

He never thought it would end.

But here he was, crying in his driver’s room reminiscing about those days.

A tear drops onto his phone screen and he wipes it off quickly but it leaves a stain. A stain on the phone screen, a stain over the words “never” in the text message “I’ll never forget you”

I’ll forget you.

It’s like the universe’s largest sign thrown onto Logan’s face.

He can’t do this any longer. He breaks out into sobs. He hates his life right now.

He sends a punch into the bench’s cushions and cries even more.

The voices in his head repeat how he’s a failure, an outcast, a disappointment. They replay flashbacks of Logan and Oscar’s relationship falling apart, like a sick horror film on repeat. They shout endlessly into Logan’s ears about how he messed up and it’s his fault.

There’s a reason Oscar doesn’t talk to you anymore.

Everyone hates you to their guts, everyone.

You are a disappointment.

People don’t like you.

You’re an outcast.

Failure.

[lovewisegirl06]

ANDREIL HEADCANONS FOR THE SOUL:

- Neil doesn't like sweets (Canon fact) but he was willing to take baking classes in order to gift Andrew some chocolate cookies for his birthday (Among other things he learned how to prepare) If the foxes notice him walking funny the next day, Andrew's death stare kept them at bay.

- Andrew knows Neil's schedule and makes sure to remind him to take something with him to eat between breaks. Sometimes he makes small sandwiches and Neil dies inside every time he finds one in his bag.

-Neil leaves post it notes in the fridge when he goes out for a run and Andrew keeps them inside a small box (He also keeps there the receipts from every book Neil has gifted him and of the places they have gone to different dates.)

- When Neil has a nightmare and can't go back to sleep, Andrew tells him about the new book or series he's been paying attention to lately. As they get better with touching and casual PDA, Andrew lets Neil rest his head on his chest and curls his fingers through those red curls until Neil falls asleep again. (Somewhere down the line, this starts happening even when the nightmares are gone.)

- Once, Andrew took a class where he learned how to profile criminals. Neil helped him with all his assignments because damn is he good at figuring people out.

- Sometimes, when Andrew wants to mess with Neil before a game, he leans in and whispers in Russian "The amount of times you score tonight, it's the amount of times I'll let you score when we're alone" at first Neil doesn't get it, but later when they are...celebrating...well, while he's catching his breath and his tights are trembling and he's panting like he ran a marathon and Andrew asks him if he can give him a fourth one...How can he say no? (Kevin and later on Robin learned to make themselves scarce when Neil is determine to at least score five times during a game)

- When Andrew graduates and they are doing long distance, they make sure to call each other every night to talk or simply hear each other breathe. It's the only times Neil keeps his phone fully charged.

- Andrew once tells Neil how there was a cat on one of his foster homes and how much he liked the cat, especially since once that furball scratched and fought when his foster father entered his bedroom one night. Neil mentions how they should get one when they are living together after graduation and can't understand why Andrew kisses him with so much desperation (It's the fact he said When instead of If. But Andrew won't tell him that)

- During Halloween of Neil's second year, Allison wanted to win a bet and convinced Neil to dress up as a bunny (I'm talking about shorts with high tights and bunny ears, with drawn moustaches and everything) Andrew kept quiet the entire time at Eden's and Neil through something bad had happened. Later that night, when he was riding Andrew in their room at Columbia and he heard the "That's it, keep doing that bunny" he understood it was anything but bad. (And if the pet name stuck, it's between them and them only) (Oh my God, maybe I'll write a one shot about this? Should I?)

- Sometimes Neil lets out words in the different languages he knows because he can't remember the English word (Things we bilinguals know can happen) Andrew refuses to tell him the correct word and it's one of the few times something akin to a smile appears on his face.

-Andrew allows Neil to fight his own battles, especially regarding Jack. But after Neil punched the guy, Andrew made sure to carefully explained him what would happen if he ever made another comment towards Neil's appearance.

- Neil leaves scratches down Andrew's back when they're having sex. The first time it happened and he was about to apologize, Andrew pounded into him so hard he saw stars. Andrew won't say it, but he finds the tiny marks something interesting to look at after they're done (Plus, Neil only does it when he's about to come, so it's a great tell tale if he wants to edge him for a while. Scientific purposes)

[lanitalay]

Before I Say Goodnight

Chapter 7

a/n Hiiiii, new chapter yay. Last post I got a request for a tag list, let me know if you're interested in something like that! Also, I'm going to try to keep up the writing schedule I have now so you can expect new chapters every 2-3 days.

word count: 2.5k

Warnings: mentions of a knife and throw up

Other chapters

Hot, humid breath fans the back of your neck as someone or something holds you tight. You struggle against the restraint to no avail. Whatever is holding you has canines that nick and poke at the back of your head. You stiffen as you feel hot liquid rolling down your back, unsure if it's sweat or blood. You’re being pushed and dragged by this monster. It’s a familiar forest, a universe away. Claws press into your hips and you cry out as you feel them press through skin and scrape against bone. You wake mid gasp. Nightmare. That was just a nightmare. It had been a while since you thought of that forest. It was a trap. You had no proof but also no doubt. The lack of light seeping through the curtains let you know it is way too early to start your day. So you focus on breathing hoping sleep takes over soon. 

When you went to breakfast the next morning you were relieved to find the dining room empty. After last night you didn’t know how to interact with Azriel, having told him things that not even your closest friends from home know. So you eat in silence and try to forget about last night, the nightmare and the dread that threatened to spill over whenever you were undistracted for longer than fifteen minutes. 

When you walked into the library Gwyn approached you immediately “Y/n! I’m so glad you are back, yesterday we found something and waiting to tell you has been tortuous” blood drains from your face and you swear your heart stops for a few beats. “What do you mean?” She walks over to a table with at least twenty books sprawled across it. “There is this book that talks about opening portals with a series of symbols, they are extremely intricate and the portal working depends on making the symbols perfectly but it’s totally doable. Then in this book there is a description of different realms that have been accessed by these portals. So, in theory we would just need to figure out which symbols lead to your realm” she finishes and looks at you with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen on a face. “I… that’s incredible Gwyn, thank you”. You are terrified to get excited about the news. If it doesn’t work… But if it does then that means a way home. “Don’t thank us yet, we still have to figure out the combinations for your realm but I think it should be done by the end of the week”. Jesus, that’s soon. You spend the rest of the day in a daze, fetching books, picturing your life back home and coming up with explanations for your absence. 

By the time dinner rolls around you are starved. “Oh, hi” Azriel half smiles at you “hello, y/n”. You sit in your usual seat across from him, “I’m starving”, fill your plate and begin eating. “How was your day?” You pause your chewing and look at his eyes for the first time since last night “oh, it was alright” you take a sip of water “Gwyn told me that they found something on portals, I could be going home in a few days”. Telling Azriel you’re leaving was hard, goodbye suddenly on the horizon. He takes a few beats to reply “are you happy to be going back?” Right now, you are regretting everything you told him last night. You take a bite and nod. He continues, trying to fill the silence “I’m not surprised Gwyn found a solution so fast. She’s one of the most talented researchers in the library” you nod again. It was true, Gwyn was brilliant, but you didn't appreciate the jealousy that flashed through your chest. That’s something to unpack later. “How was your day?” He looks a little surprised by the question, having accepted that you weren’t in the mood for conversation “it was… productive. Training was good and I got word from one of the spies on the Continent”. You never know what to say when Azriel talks about his position as Spymaster, he didn’t offer details and you didn’t want to pry. You had a feeling that asking too many questions would make you seem suspicious and since you depend on the mercy of the Night Court for food and shelter you thought minding your business was the prudent thing to do. “I haven’t seen Mor in a while, what’s she up to?” His shoulders relax a bit “she’s in the Court of Nightmares for a few days”. Right. The Court of Dreams and Court of Nightmares dichotomy. “And Cassian?” you try to hide the little smirk that will give away your plan to annoy him. “He’s in Windhaven until tomorrow”. He’s so serious. “And Elain?” “Probably at the River House” “And Lucien?” “Somewhere in the human lands, maybe the Spring Court” “and Amren?” “I actually haven’t seen her since last week”. “What about Eris?” He stills. “How do you know Eris?”. His face hardened at the mention of the heir of Autumn. “He came to talk to Lucien at the Manor, I thought I had mentioned it” “you didn’t”. Pivoting, you ask “Nesta?” He runs his hand through his hair “uhm, tonight is girls night so she’s with Gwyn and Emerie getting drunk and gossiping”. That sounds fun. “You know, I meant what I said about teaching you how to use a knife. I could teach you a few self defense techniques before you go” your mind goes to the knife you’re still keeping in your boot “I’d really appreciate that, Azriel. I’m so tired of being easy prey, I wanna be able to put up a fight”. “Great, meet me here at dawn” he gets up “sleep well” and walks away. Dawn? 

You’re tired, but there's too much on your mind. So after dinner you find yourself  at the library where Nesta keeps all of her romances. “I swear Cassian steals my novels and uses the smut as inspiration” their three distinct laughters fill the room. You chuckle as Emerie goes to pour herself wine but Nesta snatches the bottle before and pours a glass for herself. “Do you mind if I crash your girls night?” the Valkyries look at you, not having noticed your presence and you hear an excited “eeek” as Gwyn tackles you. “Beautiful y/n of course you can join us! Here, have some wine” she hands you a glass that’s full to the brim and you take a few healthy sips “we were gossiping about the boys”. Nesta raises her eyebrows “y/n, be careful with that wine, it’s not meant for humans” you gulp. “Oh god, what’s gonna happen to me?” Nesta laughs “nothing, it’s just really strong. Anyway, he thinks I don't notice but last night he basically played out the bath scene from that novel we read last week” all of you giggle “lucky girl” Emerie teases. “What about you, y/n? Any good gossip to share with the group?” You sip the wine, already feeling light headed “not really”. Nesta’s eyes glitter with something you can’t quite place as she says “has anything happened with Azriel?” she wiggles her brows and you choke. Seeing her this playful is unusual and the idea about you and Azriel is so absurd “no, he’s just been a friend” “I’m sure he wants to be more than that…” you shake your head, sipping more wine. “Not even one kiss?” Emerie asks “not even a hug” she frowns “bummer”. You feel pressured to tell them something interesting so you say “you didn’t hear it from me, but I think there’s something going on with Vassa and Jurian”. The hours fly by between the wine, the stories and the speculating. It is almost dawn when you knock on Azriel’s door. 

“Y/n?” his sleep laced voice echoes in the hallway.  You hiccup “Azriel there is no way I can train with you”. “You joined girls night” he states “you spied on us?” He crosses his arms across his chest “it’s my job”. “You are just nosy,” he yawns, “can I help you with something?” “I’ve been keeping a secret,” you whisper. The dim hallway conceals the way his face pales at your confession “what do you mean?” You look around, double checking nobody else is here and step closer to him. He’s tall, much taller than you so you grab his shirt and he leans forward to meet you at eye level. He’s pale and stiff as a board as you move your face closer to his, until your lips are just about to touch his ears and in the softest voice he’s ever heard say “I think it was a trap”. He pulls away slightly to look at your face, maybe you’re messing with him. But the worry pouring from your eyes lets him know you are not joking. “I think whoever opened the portal used me to test it out”. He’s wide awake now and your eyes are droopy. “Why do you think that?” You yawn and rub your eyes. “I need to get to bed” he grabs your forearm and asks again “y/n, why do you think that?” Your eyes are basically closing themselves and you mumble “cause, there were no sounds and-” another yawn cuts you off. Azriel straightens up and leads you to your room, he’ll ask more questions tomorrow. He pulls the covers from your bed and you collapse on top of all the decorative pillows. Azriel places the covers over you and lets you sleep. 

You feel the pounding in your head before you even open your eyes. After a few minutes you open your eyes and close them again. A couple of more minutes you open them again. It takes a moment to build up the courage to move to a sitting position. Once you do, your gut flips and you bolt to the bathing room, emptying the contents of your stomach. Cold sweat coats your forehead and your back. You sigh, defeated. Slowly, you splash your face with cold water and return to your bed but stop when you see something on your bedside table.  A note, a smokey looking beverage, bread and butter. You pick up the note and admire the precise calligraphy “Drink this tonic for your hangover. The lesson has been moved to after lunch. Meet me on the terrace. Bring the knife. Azriel”. You don’t really remember your conversation from last night but you guess you were drunk enough that Azriel figured you would not be getting up for the lesson. You take a few bites of the bread and sip the concoction and gag at the foul taste. Then, you collapse on the bed, having a few more hours to sleep before your lesson.  

You feel much better when you wake up the second time, managing to tie your hair with a ribbon and putting on your old leggings, a fleece tunic and your boots. When you walk onto the terrace you shiver. The wind lets you know that Autumn has fully set in. “Good morning” the shadow singer greets with a teasing smirk. “Thank you for the provisions” you approach him, rubbing your arms for warmth “maybe we could have the lesson in an ice box, it would be less windy”. “You have to be prepared for the elements, y/n. Where’s the knife?” You pull it from your boot “right here” and wave it around, pretending to attack him. “So, the first thing to know is to not wave it around like that” he’s serious now. I hate when he gets all monotone. “Let’s start by seeing what you would do if you were immobilized”. Fast as lightning he lunges towards you and grabs you, pinning both arms to your sides. You shriek, not expecting that “Azriel this is ridiculous” he doesn’t let up “didn't Lucien drag you across an entire forest while you tried to get away?” You huff “that’s not fair, I would have gotten free but he knocked me against a tree”. “You were too slow, you have to learn to react on instinct. Now, try to get away” you swear he gripped you even tighter. You begin to thrash, trying to headbutt him, biting, scratching, pinching, screaming, but nothing works. Until you begin to kick your legs wildly and knee his groin. He groans and his hold on you falters for a second. You bring your hands to his chest and push him away while ducking. It’s messy but you get away. Until a calloused hand grabs your shoulder and your back meets his chest again only this time there's a blade pressed to your neck. “And then you’re dead” you roll your eyes “I think I did a great job” he lets you go and you immediately miss his warmth “I think we have a lot of work to do”. You stay on the terrace until nightfall and by the end of the lesson you are able to use the knife, more or less.  

You’re walking towards the dining room when Azriel asks “do you remember what you told me last night?” Oh god what did I say? “No, things got hazy half way through Gwyn’s story about some ribbon cutting ceremony… or something to that effect”. He stops walking and lowers his voice “you told me you think the portal was a trap, is that true?” Your throat goes dry and you nod. “I’m sorry I woke you up for that, it’s just a thought I had” he insists “why?” You let out a breath and explain your reasoning. The dead air, the lack of life around the circle, the mist that caged you in and the feeling of being watched. He nods, taking all of it in. You feel embarrassed. He probably thinks I’m crazy. “I’ll contact my spies to see if they’ve seen anything recently” you appreciate it, you really do but you can’t go down this spiral again “can we talk about this tomorrow? I’m starving”. You reach the dining room and are greeted by the smell of food and Nesta and Cassians conversation. “Y/n! Glad to see you on two feet, Nesta was worried you died after last night” you roll your eyes and sit down. “How did you feel today?” Nesta asked “I threw up when I woke up but Azriel left me a drink that helped with the hangover” you pretend you don’t notice Nesta’s raised brows. 

The following morning you return to the library and see Gwyn writing notes in a notebook. “Hi Gwyn”. “Oh, hi y/n.” she doesn’t look up “I’m copying the symbols we think might lead to your realm. If you’d like we can try it out right now, we just need to find an open space and some paint”  A few minutes later she finishes and frowns when she sees your expression “what’s wrong?” “Do you think this could actually work?” She looks unsure “maybe”.

[clown-friend-gt]

Exploration

(1.5k words)

I'm breaking my posting schedule to post this, because I wrote it today and I'm excited to share it. I told myself I wouldn't be posting any more bits of this story out of order, but we haven't had anything with just Trevor and Addie for a while, so I figured, why not.

This takes place in what will be the second book, where Trevor and Addie are navigating their individual careers as superheroes. This one takes place about a year before "Nightmares," where Trevor is 20 and Addie is 19.

************************************************************************

Addie awoke before Trevor one Sunday morning, her first day off in a while. Pinned gently between his hand and his bare chest, she was practically stuck until he woke up. It was a cozy place to be trapped, nice and warm from his body heat. She snuggled into his chest and rode the waves of his breathing.

She laid there for several minutes, but she wasn’t falling back to sleep any time soon. She was starting to get bored just laying there, so she made up her mind to free herself. Before she did, though, she rolled over to face his thumb, which lay against her. She planted a quick kiss on the pad of his thumb.

Then she began to try and wiggle herself out from beneath his hand. With no small amount of struggling, she was able to get her top half free, but her legs were still pinned down. She sat up and began to try and lift his hand. Eventually, straining with the effort, she was able to lift the edge of his hand enough to pull her legs from underneath.

She took a moment to catch her breath. Then she noticed him patting around the spot where she’d been a second ago, as if trying to locate her. She scooched away from his hand, in case he found her and grabbed her again. Trevor was always respectful of her boundaries while he was awake, but she’d noticed that in his sleep he could be a little careless.

When he couldn’t find her again, his hand stopped its mindless searching and curled into a loose fist. She reached over and gave it a little pat.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come back in a minute,” she said, though she could tell from his relaxed breathing that he was still asleep.

She got to her feet as best as she could, though the ground beneath her was squishy and shifted with each step. After a few wobbly steps, she lost her balance and fell face-first onto his pec. She peeled herself off the slightly sticky surface of his skin and propped herself up. Judging by the look on his face, he remained undisturbed.

She gave up on walking for the time being and switched to a crawl to get around. Her current goal was to make it to his other hand, which rested palm up next to his head. She crawled over to his shoulder and got back to her feet to walk across his bicep. It was a little firmer beneath her but was still a bit tricky to walk on.

Balancing on his forearm like a balance beam, she soon made her way to his palm. She’d been held in this palm many times, but she hardly ever took the time to examine it closely. She bent over to do so now.

Every tiny little detail, every line, every crease was magnified on the hand which was bigger now than she was. She traced her fingers over them in awe. She was no palm reader, but she wondered what she would be able to see in the lines of his palm if she was.

She focused on the long line beneath the last three fingers of his hand. It was deep and bold towards the beginning, but then became jagged and faded towards the middle. It deepened again towards the end but was split into two different branches. Addie was intensely curious about what that could mean. Maybe she’d have to get a book on the subject.

Trevor’s fingers began to twitch in response to her touch. She took that as her sign to move on before she roused him from his sleep by accident. She slid off the side of his palm closest to his head.

His head was turned to face her. Despite her roaming, his eyes were still shut, and his breathing was slow. The warm air he breathed out rushed past her. She felt her face flush slightly in response.

She knelt down by his lips, running her hand over them to feel the plush surface for herself. They were dry and chapped. She leaned in close to plant a kiss upon them. His lips parted slightly, the only warning she got before his tongue poked out to wet his dry lips. She leaned away in time to avoid him accidentally licking her face, but the hand she still had planted on his lips was not so lucky.

“Gross, babe,” she muttered, pulling her hand back and wiping it on the leg of her pants in mock disgust.

Then she walked away from his lips to plant a kiss on his forehead instead.

As Trevor slowly came to, the first thing he noticed was that the little weight on his chest was missing. Without opening his eyes, he began feeling around for Addie, but she was nowhere to be found. He huffed slightly in disappointment.

Then he felt a gentle touch on his eyelid. He opened his eyes carefully and spotted Addie leaning away from his left eye, where she’d just planted a soft kiss. She smiled softly as his eyes came into focus on her. He grinned sleepily in response.

“There you are,” he rumbled.

He lifted the hand behind her and pulled her close, pressing his lips to her stomach. She squirmed slightly at the sensation, but didn’t pull away.

“Good morning to you too,” she giggled, patting the bridge of his nose. He pulled back to give her some space.

“I’m just happy you’re still here,” he said, his eyes crossing to stare at her. “Don’t you have to go on patrol soon?”

She shook her head. “Nope! I’m off-duty today.”

His lips curled into an impish smile. “Good,” he said, then closed his eyes and pulled her back to his lips.

He kissed her over and over again on the stomach, knowing she was extra ticklish there. He kept pecking her playfully until she was laughing and begging him to stop. Finally, he relinquished his grip enough to let her escape, and she darted away.

She took a moment to wipe the tears of laughter from her eyes and catch her breath. He laid his hand where it had been before, and she took a seat on its edge.

“So, what have you been up to this whole time?” he asked her.

She gave him a mischievous look in return, and for a second, he waited for her to try and get her revenge for his earlier attack of affection.

“Oh, you know,” she said with mock casualty. “Exploring.”

He frowned slightly, a little confused. Exploring, as in the warehouse around them? There wasn’t much to see, as far as he was concerned. Just some chairs propped up in one corner, and his shirt and his jacket lying in a pile in another.

“Well then,” he said, propping his free arm underneath his head and shutting his eyes again to get a bit more sleep. “Don’t let me stop you.”

He felt her slide out of his hand and walk away. He moved his other arm to his side and rolled his head to face the ceiling in an attempt to get more comfortable. Then he felt something clambering over his arm.

He tilted his head up slightly to see Addie crawl across his arm, slide down the other side, and start to climb up his torso. He rolled his eyes and chuckled, watching with amusement as she flailed her feet and pulled herself upwards. He moved his hand beneath her just in case.

“So that’s what you meant by ‘exploring,’” he laughed.

His laughter shook Addie from where she’d been clinging, and she fell down into his waiting hand. She shot him a look of irritation, but it quickly shifted back to playfulness. He lifted her up and deposited her on his chest, which is where he assumed she’d been heading.

He laid his head back down and waited for her to lay back down herself. But she got back to her feet and began walking down his chest, apparently not finished in her exploration. Her bare feet tickled his skin where she walked, but he did his best to keep still for her sake.

That was until she reached his stomach. Then he couldn’t resist messing with her a little. He pushed his stomach out slightly, just enough to cause her to trip. She fell onto her hands and knees, and he snickered to himself.

He expected some kind of retaliation, but it never came. Instead she kept pressing her hands into his belly, like a cat kneading contentedly with its claws.

“So soft…” he heard her whisper. His face heated up slightly.

He flexed his abs in response. “Is not,” he pretended to whine.

She laughed and swatted him on the stomach. “That’s cheating.”

He relaxed his stomach again and laughed along with her. His laughter shook her in place, and if she wasn’t already on her hands and knees, she might have fallen again.

Then their laughter was interrupted by a loud growl. Trevor’s face flushed fully as his stomach rumbled hungrily.

“Alright, that’s enough,” he said, snatching her up from his stomach. Addie only laughed harder. Eventually, he couldn’t help but join in again soon after.