#first time I heard Wild Hunt I was mesmerized

[giganotus]

There's a band called Dzivia that does mostly folk music in belarusian. I really like his most recent EP where he plays with a noir style jazz.

I actually do know Dzivia! My favorite tracks are Wild Hunt, Ascension, and Bones Under the Moss

[mitsua]

HELLOO!! I love your writing style sm I just had to requesttt😭😭💖 Can you do angsty middleschool!Izuku x Popular!Fem!Reader? Like reader is literally so popular because of intelligence, her quirk, whatnot. A lot of suitors but she still chose to date that quirkless, squirming boy 😭‼️ Lots of people start to mean-eye Izuku cause what did you do to get a girl like her?? what?? So Izuku starts to distance himself but reader is so clingy and whenever he distances himself, reader only gets more bothersome and attached to him so he "snaps" to make reader distance herself cause he's afraid that her reputation will drop because of him. This was before he met all might btw!! What would be the aftermath?

Thank you so much for saying that you precious story!!! I'm so glad you requested too!! Such a thrilling and angsty idea, I love it! Hope I fulfill your expectations!

Your true feelings

Warnings: bullies, mentions of self-depricating thoughts, low self-steem, crying, shouting, fighting (verbally), if I missed any please let me know!

Genre: angst Series: Boku No Hero Academia

Pairing: Izuku Midoriya × FEM! Y/N Words' count: 2.91k

Izuku liked you, he really did. He'd made it clear the day he decided to dump on you all about how he felt about you and since that moment on you've started a romantic relation. One that he couldn't be happier with.

You were simply everything he didn't even know he was searching for—you were cheerful, smart, strong, you were almost everything—he loved it, he loved you.

By simply being yourself with a bit more of carefulness towards him you've managed to make him fall harder for you every time.

You ask how he's doing every morning just as you enter the classroom and see him there, you make sure no one else can hear when he wants to talk about his struggles, you prepare his lunch sometimes too—with you, he can talk so easily about his interests he forgets about everything going around you two and gets mesmerized by your beauty and voice.

Alas, everyone else can see you too and get jelous over the fact Izuku Midoriya—the 'good for nothing nerd' of the class—has somehow a relation with you, and as the rebellious and wild teenagers they all are—they make sure he gets their message of leaving you.

"She deserves much better," "maybe she just agreed to go out with you out of pity," "I'm sure as this year's done, she'll be done with you too."

Those are some of the comments he can hear around him when you're not in the same room as him.

It first started with a couple of confused and disgusted looks from your classmates when you grabbed his hand to take him to lunch or gave him some pecks on his cheeks.

Then the rumour of you two being a thing got confirmed when the first mean bully just so happened to unleash his resentment on him infront of you—whom decided to stood up for the both of you and told them to let you be.

After this ordeal, it was as if all your fans made a silent pact of only teasing him when you're not close. Be it when he goes or comes out of the bathrooms, when you've got to go a bit earlier than usual, whenever they catch him alone.

Izuku didn't want to bother you, he ended up crying by himself at his house each time someone told him how undeserving of you he was, how stupid of him to have fallen in love with the most astounding girl of the school was, lots of hatred filled comments and comparisons.

They started to leave those rude remarks written in his belongings. Locker, backpack, notebooks... they were hunting him to get to you.

There was a breaking point in the poor boy's heart once he saw one of his bullies confess to you at the school's front after classes when you were supposed to go to his house and spend time together.

Of course you told off the guy but as Izuku's rage started to get to the surface, he heard the bully talk bad about him as a person and as a partner.

He froze, you were on the verge of tears as you caught on what he was trying to do—disuade you from loving your one and only—and even if it didn't make your mind change as the tormentor wanted to, it did affect Izuku.

He had gotten to your side and as fast as possible and caught your wrist with his hand, running out of the scene with tears in both of your eyes.

"Thank you for getting me out of that Iz-oh, Izuku, are you ok?" You asked worriedly as you gasped for air when you arrived to a park near your house.

"It's-It's nothing, just that seeing you want to cry made me want to cry too and I tried to move as fast as possible to help you..." he replied, giving you a forced smile. While his body had stopped moving at such fast speed, his mind couldn't seem to do it.

He was nervous to what were you thinking about him right now. He was almost sure you hadn't heard a single bad comment about him than that time you ended up exposing your relation to the whole school, now that the dude had dared to speak up what no one wanted to with you close, he thought he'd lost you. 'What if those observations only served as a reason to break up with him?' 'Did you believe that guy at all?' 'Would you still want to be with someone like him?' 'What were people thinking about you seeing you with a guy like him?'

"Well I really appreciate it, I don't know what that fella was thinking when telling me all that but now that we're finally hereee... do you want to go to the swings?" You suggested with no more glassy eyes and a grin on your face.

"Yeah, that'd be great."

"Did you hear what he did yesterday?" "Yes! I never thought someone would really declare to her knowing she is dating him..." "Just what did she saw in him again?"

The classroom was now full aware of the love declaration you received the day before and were going mad about it prior to classes.

Izuku was going mad about it too. He liked you... he really did. 'But why was his love waning now? Was he seriously going to let people's comments get to him and end things with you?'

"Good morning Izu!" You greeted, smiling ever so brightly just at him and carressing his cheek like you'd always do. "How are you?"

He could only hum in response, not really looking at your eyes, instead staring at his hands that were placed in his desk. He needed time to think about this new insecurities of him without bothering you with all of it and worrying you.

"Uhm, do you want to talk about it at lunch maybe? We can go to our secret spot at the rooftop-oh! Before I forget to tell you, I got you lunch today! I've discovered this new recipe you'd want to try out!"

As you spoke ever so joyous Izuku could only think about how all of their classmates statements were true. You were so much for him, you cared for him more than anyone—besides his mom—had ever done and he didn't seem to be able to do the same for you—hell, even if he wanted to protect you from some danger all he could do is run away with you, he had no quirk either.

You've told him many times that you would never discriminate or think less of him for that, but after yesterday's encounter with that stupid guy and his desire of flying him out of the world's ozone layer, he was not sure about it anymore.

Everything seemed to tell him in one way or another that you were not made for each other, that you'd find better in anyone but him.

Izuku loved you... he really did, and for this he found his heart aching when he didn't meet with you in lunch to speak as you'd usually do. Even if he knew you'd still let him choose to speak right then and there or not, he couldn't bring himself to look at you in the eyes.

You'd gotten worried once your second period of classes started and he could feel your glances at the classroom from your seat to his.

It was difficult to, but he'd also managed to get out of school without you. You tried to follow after him but as you caught a glimpse of his eyes by far and he recognized yours too, he turned as quick as he could to run, then a couple of friends started to approach you and left you with no space nor words to go with him.

Was he avoiding you now?

You liked Izuku, you really did, that's why you couldn't bring yourself to sleep last night since you sent worried messages to him only to get no reply. Opting to just stay up before even your alarm went off, you started preparing food for the two of you. You'd cook your boyfriend's favorite today to cheer him up!

"Hi Izuku! Here! Better put it inside your backpack for you to not forget to eat today!" You showed him a bowl-shapped container and carefully placed it inside his things to then start chatting normally with him. "Soo, how are you today?"

Izuku could not comprehend 'how were you so kind to him? Even when he felt he was being mean to you? Why?' He now wanted to let you see what others had been saying about him all along but you left no room to budge. You were always by his side even after some days of not replying to your text messages or usual videocalls, he'd also flinch back as you tried to reach for his usual morning cheeks kiss in class and excuse himself after school since he suddenly had some other stuff to do.

You loved him, you really did, that's why your heart and mind told you maybe he needed some time or space to think about what had happened when that random guy confessed to you—because it's been since that day that he's gotten a 'little' colder towards you.

It didn't matter, you could give him some days to order whatever was on his mind and come back when he was feeling better. Though it's never been your way of sorting things out with him—you researched online and found out it could be a helpful way to get better as a couple.

So after giving him a week and a half to be reach out when he felt ready to—as you'd clarified via message to him and being left on sentvyour heart broke when there was still no signal of him coming back to you.

'No, don't think negatively now, maybe he just needs me to start up again! There's no problem with that since he's always been shy!' You thought as you came closer to your classroom, an uncomfortable feeling started growing in the pit of your stomach.

"Hello Izuk-" You went to embrace him as your body missed so much his warmth as you hugged him but froze in shock seeing his disturbed eyes after he'd flinched back once again from your touch.

"I'm-I'm sorry, maybe my voice was too loud, haha, soo, how are you? Do you feel better now?" You questioned keeping in mind your voice and opting to take one of his hands on yours, smiling kindly to hopefully demonstrate you weren't being distant because he had done something wrong.

"I'm sorry too, uhm, I-I'm doing better I guess." He said coldly, still not looking at you.

"Maybe you'd like to talk about this lat-" The ring went off and everyone gathered in their seats to start class, as you went to end your sentence, you noticed Izuku had simply taken out his notebook as a dismissing action.

Lunch time arrived and as you didn't find Izuku anywhere in the cafeteria, you thought of going to the rooftop as he'd most likely be there by himself—that's where you'd seen him go to these past days you haven't spent time with him by these hours.

You closed the door behind you and let out a relieved sigh watching him there—sitting down close to where the bars were—so calmly, oblivious to his inner turmoil.

"Hello again!" You spoke softly, smiling tenderly as he heard you and turned to look at you.

"I don't think it's a good time to speak Y/N," he'd finally spoken, but certainly those were not the words you were expecting to leave his lips after a week and a half from not talking to each other.

"I, I came to see how are you doing! I've been so worried this days!" You decided to brush it off as he'd done with your salutation.

"I thought you've finally given up on me." He said ever so softly you first thought you hadn't heard him right. 'You couldn't have, had you?'

"Wha-What? What are you talking about? You know I like you Izuku-I would never do tha-" "don't, please don't continue. I've told you it's not a good time to speak."

"Then could you tell me when will it be?" You asked truly curious and a bit hurt from his way of cutting you off.

"I don't think there would be another time..." "Hey, I'm sure you don't mean that-" "WHAT IF I REALLY DO?!" He cried out.

"Y/N, NO ONE WANTS US TO BE TOGETHER! SHOULD WE REALLY BE THEN?!"

Spilling tears after tears, forest-like green eyes missing their light among all the tall and thorny-full trees were begging for something even he could still not decipher what it was.

"I WANT TO BE WITH YOU, EVERYONE ELSE BE DAMNED FOR ALL I CARE!" You could not help your voice, after hearing him scream you screamed back wishing he'd get your message and be done with all this.

"I-sorry, I want to be with you, Izuku, Izuku Midoriya, I like you, I-I love you, not them." You confessed on the verge of tears, getting closer to take his hands on yours, craving for reassurance that he didn't want neither of this too.

"Then... I don't like you."

He uttered. Shattering your heart and breaking whatever was keeping you together. 'Did he really mean it?' 'Have I done something wrong?' 'Maybe all this time I thought he was the one who needed time to think and change something but actually I was the one who needed to change.'

Your mind ran thousands of miles per hour with all the bad thoughts you were trying so hard to erase. With Izuku by your side it was always much easier but now he'd been the one provoking them.

You liked Izuku... you really did, that's why you felt as if time had suddenly been frozen and you could only stare into those darkened, green eyes. 'When did they lose their spark? Why?'

You loved Izuku... you really did, that's why your heart even while being in so much pain couldn't bare to let your mind think about a life without him.

'Anyone but him.' But for him it seemed to be 'anyone but you.'

"Izu-No, you can't be serious, right? I-It's all their fault!" "Stop it Y/N, I think this has gone for too long now." He balled his fists at his side and went past you to get to the exit door.

"Please tell me you're lying..." you sounded so defeated. Izuku could only take so much and it was undeniable he wouldn't ressist hearing you nor seeing you cry because of him.

"Izuku, what did I do wrong..." you begged for answers most likely to yourself thinking he had already left you alone.

"It's not your fault," between sobs he pleaded, "don't blame yourself."

"It's not yours either, so then why?..." you implored to him, havig already fallen to your knees holding your tearful face with your hands.

"I-..." he'd fallen speechless, his mind echoing your question making him realize what he's been missing all this time.

Clarity. As simple as that.

He's read thousands of books and heard one to many stories were the main character would lack a certain thing and even if it seemed so absurd at the moment how much impact it could have on them once they got it back—Izuku could now understand how they all felt.

His thoughts had all been scrambled ever since that damned day someone confessed to you with no light to help him see the truth behind it all—behind all those jelousy-filled remarks from your classmates—he liked you, he really did. He loved you, heck, he adored you.

'Why did a random person's words have to be relevant to any of you?' 'Why did they get the right to decide who he is with and likes?' 'He had control over his own life, not any of them.'

As if he was holding his breath for days, he hurriedly went to your side, kneeling next to you and cried out apologies, "I'm sorry-I'm so-so sorry, I wasn't thinking clearly, I didn't think how you'd feel when I said that and for that and everything I've been putting you through I'm sorry."

"I love you Izuku, I really do." You shared after a few moments of silence, catching him by surprise when you side hugged him and looked at his matching red-puffy eyes.

"I love you too." He'd ultimately admitted, reciprocating your feelings and looking in that brightness only his eyes could hold and cast light upon yours as well—that, even if you were recognized as one of the most cheerful people on your school and such, you knew you'd be none of that without Izuku in your life ever again.

Oh, how love does wonders, doesn't it?

"Well, let's go and give a fuck about everyone's opinion now!" You encouraged as you caught Izuku to stand up and go back to class.

"Eh?!" He got surprised by your sudden cursing but quickly his eyes softened as he found the deep meaning of your words and nodded his head. "Yes, let's go."

All writings' rights reserved © 2024 Mitsua. (Credit to the respective owners of the picture and tagged anime character.) ⌇ my navigation!

[robinette-green]

Murder's Doll

[Ao3 link]

Summary:

a small child forced to live on the streets is abducted by Eclipse and raised to be sold off as a pawn.

the first year of MC's life they live with Eclipse's charges, Sun and Moon and are tutored mercilessly until they are finally sent off to boarding school.

after finishing school, MC is married off to an abusive husband but is eventually saved by Sun and Moon.

From then on she’s treated like a treasure.

3753 words

Notes:

she/her pronouns

TW: -blood -bullying -domestic violence -body mutilation

My parents died when I was 5 or 6. 

Time hasn't meant much to me in a long time, and a lot is hazy about my past. 

I still remember living on the cold streets in the months after their death, keeping hidden and begging for scraps. 

I remember the day a tall man dressed in black stopped to look at my tiny form, huddled on a doorstep in the fading light of evening.

I hadn't had a choice when he bent down and scooped me up, taking me away from the streets to a new kind of hell. Too weak and cold to kick or scream, and even if I had fought, I wouldn't have been able to escape. 

The man's name was Eclipse. He took me to his home and had his staff wash and dress me in fine clothing. I was fed a delicious meal and allowed to sleep in a soft bed. It was like a dream. An angel had come and saved me. 

It wasn't until the next morning that things turned for the worse. 

Eclipse presented me to his charges explaining that I would live with them until I left for boarding school. 

This was news to me. Eclipse hadn't bothered to tell me anything about what he had planned, and never once did he ever explain things to me. 

The charges were Sun and Moon, children Eclipse were looking over and teaching. They were only a little older than me at 10, but they were from wealthy families. 

Sun Starr was a ginger while Moon Altalune had silver hair. Both were gorgeous, with flawless skin and incident faces. Both tortured me throughout my entire stay in that manor house. 

Spiders in my bed, traps set in the yard, shoves down the stairs, chili pepper in my food, holding me down to cut my hair, and so much more. 

On top of that, Eclipse would take their side in any conflict. Nothing I could do would ever please him. 

I spent most of my time trying to stay out of the way, but the boys would hunt me down and make me 'play' with them. 

I would be forced to go into town with them and carry their bags, buying treats so I would be forced to watch them eat them. They would have me watch them dissect rodents while I cried for the poor critter. Sometimes Sun would get a wild hair and force me to play dress up with him, laughing at me as he did. 

Fun for them… not for me.  

Through the blur of fear and anxiety, one day before I was shipped off for schooling stands out clearly in my memory. 

Sun and Moon had dragged me into town for some 'fun .'The boys were walking a few steps ahead of me, chatting away without a care in the world, when a window display caught my attention. I slowed to a stop without the boys noticing, staring up at the glass flowers. They were so delicately crafted, each looking almost real. 

So mesmerized was I that I didn't notice the group of kids that came up behind me. 

I was shoved to the ground, dropping everything I had been holding, scraping my hand and knees as I smacked down onto the cobblestones. 

"Look, it's the celestial's dog! Do you think you're a noble like the rest of us, doggie?" The lead boy laughed, kicking me hard in the side and making me cry out. 

"Let's make sure the doggie knows their place!"

The children laughed as they kicked and threw stones at me, keeping me down. I curled up as tight as possible, attempting to protect my soft bits. Tears streamed down my cheeks as one kid lifted his foot to stomp on my head, but suddenly he was gone. Something had slammed into him, taking him down. 

The pommelling stopped, the kids backing away, but I didn't look up until I heard the screaming. Sun had the lead boy pinned to the ground and was punching him senseless.

"No one can make her cry but us! She's ours!!" Sun shouted as the other boy's nose broke, squirting blood. 

Slowly I sat up, watching numbly as one of my tormentors defended me but flinched when Moon rested a hand on my shoulder. He didn't say anything as he knelt down and blotted at my face was a handkerchief. I studied his face with big nervous eyes, waiting for some kind of backlash for dropping everything or for lagging behind, maybe even receiving blame for the commotion, but it didn't come. 

"What were you looking at?" Moon asked, his voice soft for once, but I only shook my head. He'd use it against me like always. Maybe buying a glass flower to shatter it in front of me. 

Moon glanced up at the storefront that'd caught my attention and studied the display for a moment but didn't comment.

"There! They won't bother you ever again!" Sun chirped, standing proudly before Moon and me, hands on his hips. There was blood spattered all over him, and I decidedly kept my eyes away from the boy Sun had been beating. 

"You're ours, so we have to protect you!" Sun added, leaning down towards me and grinning. 

From that day until the day I was sent away, Sun and Moon doted on me. It made me unbelievably nervous. 

They gave me flowers and sweets, played much gentler games with me and Sun took every opportunity to call me pretty. 

The sudden shift was terrifying. Every second of every day, I expected some kind of trap to be sprung on me. I peered around corners and flinched at loud noises, waiting for the horrid trick to take place. 

They must want me to let my guard down so they could torment me in some new way. In my mind, there was no other rational explanation. 

If there had been a trick, it didn't have time to play out. 

A month after the boys' attitudes towards me changed, Eclipse had the few possessions I owned packed up, and I was shipped off to a different kind of hell known as school. 

Sun threw an absolute maelstrom of a fit as I was being loaded into the carriage while Moon looked on, his face dark with his own rage. Neither wanted me to leave, but nothing would change Eclipse's mind. I needed proper schooling for what he had planned for me, so I needed to go. 

I was bullied in school, but after what Sun and Moon had put me through, it was nothing I couldn't handle. Keeping my head down and doing as well as possible in my studies, I hoped to earn Eclipse's favor, hoping that when I was finally free of this place, my future would be a good one. Maybe my life could be like the one I'd dreamed of that first night in that soft bed. 

It was not to be. 

Once I finished schooling, I was immediately married off to an influential businessman that Eclipse wanted to have ties with. 

This was yet another hell I had been dropped into. 

Every night my husband would come home drunk, and I would spend the next morning tending to new cuts and bruises from the previous night's beating. 

Sometimes I would see Sun and Moon in town. It had been almost 15 years since I'd seen them, and they had aged into stunning young men. They would stroll through town with gorgeous ladies on their arms, laughing and smiling, looking as though they didn't have a care in the world. 

They wouldn't remember me. They wouldn't have a reason to. 

And I wasn't sure I wanted them to. They had been horrid to me while we had lived together. 

Maybe… 

Maybe I hoped that they would save me? They had both been adamant that I belonged to them and the last month I had lived with them, they had treated me so… kindly. 

Maybe, when I lay broken on the floor in the manor house that was my current prison, I hoped Sun would appear again to take down my attacker, and Moon would gently dab blood from my face. 

Maybe I hoped that I could experience kindness again. 

Things got so much worse before I finally saw a break in the horrid existence that had been my life thus far. 

I was wandering through town on one of my daily excursions. My husband wanted me to spend time out of the house so people would see me whole and well, part of the charade that he treats me kindly. 

Truthfully I also wanted to spend time out of the house. Away from the cold dread I felt between those walls and away from the eyes of the servants as they watched my every move. 

I had found myself standing before a shop window, looking in at the lovely little glass flowers and wishing for the hundredth time that my life could be different when a voice spoke in my ear. 

"You look so melancholic, Sweets." 

Ice shot through my veins as I whipped around to look up at the man behind me. It was Moon, the sly grin that had been on his lips dropping to a frown as he looked into my scared eyes. 

"And still so timid. What has you so scared, turtle dove?" 

He remembers me? I had assumed he had long forgotten who I was. He'd never paid me a second glance when we'd crossed paths in the street before, so I had assumed I was nothing but another passerby to him. Why was he speaking to me now? 

I had opened my mouth to lie, to pretend everything was alright at home, as I had been trained to do, when Moon moved. 

Before I could react, Moon had taken a step closer, pinning me to the wall, and pulled at the collar of my dress, revealing my skin and the dark purple bruises underneath. 

He was so close I could smell lavender on his clothes. 

"Sweets, how did you get these? Don't lie. I'll be very upset if you lie to me." 

My trembling fingers closed lightly around the wrist of the hand on my collar. Eyes on the ground to my side, I whispered.

"He wouldn't like it if I told you." 

Not a lie. I didn't want my husband to be especially angry with me, but I didn't want to lie to Moon either. 

Save me? 

"What do we have here! Oh, Dewdrop!" Sun had come up behind his partner and gave me a dazzling smile when he caught sight of me. He recognized me too. 

"Sun." That was all Moon needed to say to draw Sun's attention to the bruising, still visible as Moon kept a hand on my neck. The smile dropped immediately, fingers reaching out to lightly graze over the discolored skin on my collarbone. 

I could feel a light trimmer through Sun's fingers, and when I glanced up, I could see the blind rage in Sun's eyes, hiding behind a tight smile. 

"Is everything alright here?" 

Moon and Sun were suddenly a step away, as though they had not just been studying the bruises on my upper body, and I found myself anxious at the space between us. 

Some good samaritan had come to ensure I was not being harassed by the men who'd been pinning me to a shop front. We were still on a main street, not very inconspicuous. 

"Y-yes, we're alright," I said quickly, covering for Sun and Moon without fully knowing why. 

The man eyed us momentarily with an odd look before conceding and leaving us be. 

I felt nauseous. 

Did I recognize him? Did he recognize me??

"Darling thing." 

I looked up at Sun's smiling face, the anger seeming to have vanished. 

"It was so good to see you, but we'll have to part ways for now." 

They were… leaving? Just like that? A lump formed in my throat. Moments ago, they were asking about the bruises, angry and upset, so why??

Had I really put so much hope in them saving me? Why would I think they would? Why would I have ever thought they would care? 

My eyes were firmly on the ground as I did all I could to hold myself together, my body shaking slightly. 

"Alright," I whispered. I would not cry. I would not. 

We parted ways, my trek back to the manor house a long one, and when I reached it, my husband was waiting for me. 

The man who had seen me with Sun and Moon had been a family friend. I was called horrible names, my hair was pulled, I was hit and kicked, things were thrown at me, and at the end of it all, I was locked in the cellar. 

Blood oozed from a cut on my forehead, and one of my eyes was swelling closed from a punch to my cheek. Fat wet tears rolled freely down my face as I sat against a wall, staring blankly into the pitch-black around me. 

No one was coming to save me. 

No one cared about the girl that was once a gutter rat. 

I was just a pawn to be disposed of. 

I don't know how long I was down there, sitting in the dark. I may have fallen asleep at some point, but I couldn't be sure. I didn't know if my eyes were open or closed. Part of me had started to assume that I would be left down here to die, and that same part of me was relieved that I would be left in peace and that everything would be over soon. 

But then the door opened, and light filtered down the stairs. 

Footsteps made their way calmly down to me, and when I looked up I found Sun and Moon standing there. 

A small sob escaped me, I couldn't stop it, and Sun was crouching down to wrap his arms around me, lifting me up into a bridal hold. 

My arms wrapped securely around his neck, and I hid my face against him, body wracked with sobs as I was cradled in a firm embrace. 

"There there, we've got you," Sun said calmly, running a hand on my back. 

He smelt of oranges and honeysuckle… and something else… something metallic. 

"You're ours, so we'll always protect you," Sun said softly, lips pressed to my hair. 

"We're sorry it took us so long to save you, Sweets," Moon added, his fingers trailing along my arms.

I was instructed to keep my eyes closed as we left the manor, so I kept my face hidden against Sun, eyes squeezed shut. 

I knew what that metallic smell was, and as I was carried up the cellar stairs, it got stronger and stronger. 

The walls must be painted with blood.

There was a carriage waiting outside for us, and when we settled inside, Sun let me keep my arms around his neck, placing me in his lap. 

Moon sat next to us, and once the carriage was moving, he gently took hold of my chin and turned my face towards him so he could blot at the cut on my forehead with a handkerchief. 

I felt numb inside as I let Moon tend to my wounds. Never in a million years had I thought my childhood tormentors would save me, but here I was, safe in Sun's arms with Moon dabbing at my cut. 

They told me that they wanted to get me as soon as I had finished school, but Eclipse had convinced them that marrying me off would be better for me… though only barely. 

They'd been keeping tabs on me, wanting to ensure I was healthy and safe. It wasn't until recently that they'd noticed how unhappy I was and thought to check-in. 

I guess it makes sense that they wouldn't notice that I was unhappy right away. Not only had I never smiled around these two, neither were good at reading people's emotions… or at least, that's how it had been when we were children. 

The whole ride to their home, I sat with my head resting against Sun's shoulder, staring numbly into space as he held me close. 

All my emotions had shut down. 

I had been taken away from the man I was sold off to, but now I was in the hands of two men who might torture me for fun. This is what I had wanted, but this could end up being another horrible situation. 

Finally closing my eyes and relaxing into Sun, I decided that at least this would be the lesser of two evils. I would rather live in fear of a nasty trick than in fear of my life. 

I was taken to an elegant home with a vast garden. The maids were kind and gentle, helping me to bathe and change, bandaging my wounds, and outing ointment on my bruises. I had dinner with Sun and Moon but ate very little of the delicious meal. 

Even though I was quiet and unresponsive, Sun and Moon chattered away with each other and at me, unbothered by my numb state and keeping me included in the conversation. I managed to give short quiet replies when things needed a response, but otherwise, I looked blankly at my plate. 

Over the next few days, they let me acclimatize to the new environment, staying close and keeping an eye on me but letting me wander aimlessly. Slowly, I started to relax and actually explore. 

This is when the boys started to stick to me like glue whenever they were in the house and… I didn't mind it. 

Sun was quick to point out things in the house and garden that he thought would interest me. He'd pull small gifts from seemingly thin air and present them to me with a grin that could light up a room. 

Moon would have me sit with him in the library, reading stories to me from his favorite books or books he thought I'd like. He'd also set up tea parties in the garden and fed me sweets that were more delicious than anything I'd ever had before. 

I was nervous and hesitant to trust them, but I slowly opened up to them. One of them was almost always by my side, and they were kind and gentle. I would startle at loud noises, and some movements or actions would cause me to flinch or cower back, but I started to smile…

 I started to feel… happy. 

As the days went on, both men began to hold me close whenever they could. They would come up behind me, wrap their arms around me, or run their fingers through my hair or against my cheek. Sweet, tender touches and cuddling. 

I let them. 

Their embraces made me feel anxious but… also safe. 

Even after I accidentally stumbled on their dark secret, I still felt safest in their arms. 

From day one, I was told to never go into the basement. That was the one place I was not allowed to go, and I had no want to go down there. I had no reason to… 

Sometimes, one of the boys would vanish for a day or two. They seemed to take turns leaving to accomplish whatever task it was that took them away. I didn't think much about it until the day I came down to breakfast to find both men gone. 

I'd been living with the two for a little over a year at this point and I had become accustomed to their presence. Never before had both had to leave.

The house seemed so big and empty without them, even with the servants scurrying about. I could chat with the maids if I felt lonely, but they didn't make me feel safe like Sun and Moon did. 

All day I was nervous, fiddling with my fingers, pressing my nails into my palm, and glancing over my shoulder. Every sound made me twitch, made my heart jump into my throat. 

Were they back? 

I tried to fill my day with things to take my mind off their absence, but nothing seemed to work. Books couldn't hold my attention,

Wandering through the garden left me alone with my thoughts, and when I tried to sketch, I found I was drawing their faces. 

Sun and Moon were gone for three days and when they finally came back I was told by the house butler that they should not be disturbed. 

I was crestfallen. They'd returned, but I couldn't see them? Did they not want to see me? Had I done something wrong? 

I tried not to let myself spiral, tried to keep to myself and leave them be, but… I had a scare. 

They hadn't meant to scare me, I was jumpy at the best of times, but one of the servants dropped a vase on their foot and couldn't stop the angry shout that it resulted in. 

My brain sent me back to my time with my husband, the beatings and the anger, and my body reacted. I was in an utter panic, breath coming in small gasps and my body trembling. 

I needed Sun and Moon. 

I knew where they would be. They were in the one place I had been forbidden to go. The door wasn't locked, and I was through it and down a few steps before I hesitated. 

It was a fleeting feeling. A slight fear that coming down here and disrupting them would result in anger. But even in my childhood Sun and Moon had never gotten angry with me.  

Down the dimly lit steps and around a corner, I found myself in a long hallway lined with doors. A door hadn't been fully closed at the end, and a warm light leaked into the hall. 

Without a second thought, I trotted to the door and peered inside. 

A metallic smell hit me. 

Sun was standing at a metal table with his back to me.

Something… 

There was something on the table. 

Is that a body? 

Were those... limbs hanging from the ceiling? 

A warm hand slid over my eyes, an arm wrapped around my waist, and I was pulled back into a solid chest. 

"Turtle dove, you know you're not allowed down here," murmured Moon's soothing tones into my ear. 

[reblogging4thewin]

Did you mean it?

Rating: T | 1.4k words | Destiel

For @banshee1013 for the Profound Bond Server Exchange.

Things suddenly click for Cas; so he goes to confront Dean and find out the truth. Sparks fly.

Taking place after Tombstone, this is a soft and sweet, if not a bit intense, confrontation, love confession, and first kiss(es). I hope you like the vibes (and the little references)!

-

“Dean?”  Cas strode purposefully down the hallway of the bunker, heading towards Dean’s room.  He’d been sitting at the kitchen table as he does many nights, surfing the web and thinking about some things, when suddenly everything seemed to fall into place - like pieces of a puzzle that he’d just needed to rotate slightly to the left to put together.  In the back of his mind, he worried it could just be a wild hunch or wishful thinking, but there was only one way to be sure.

“Dean?”  He knocked on the bedroom door.  It was a good thing that Sam had gone to help Jody with a hunt, and taken Jack with him, because Cas did not have the presence of mind to keep his voice down at 3am while faced with such a shocking revelation.

Groggily, Dean opened his bedroom door to find Cas standing there in the hallway, a fierce look of urgency in his eyes.

The intensity woke Dean up a bit.  “Cas, is something wrong?”

“Did you mean it?”

Keep reading under the cut or on AO3

Dean just looked confused.  “Mean what?”

Cas stepped forward and Dean stepped back into his room to let him in.

“That you’d hold hands with me and drive off of a cliff like Thelma and Louise.”  Cas took another step forward as the meaning of this confrontation slowly registered on Dean’s face.  “That you’d rather have me, cursed or not.”  Another step; Cas continued to advance towards Dean as he spoke.  “That any amount of time I’d been gone was ‘too damn long.’”

Dean had backed up most of the way across the room, his mouth opening and shutting wordlessly in his best impression of a beached fish.  He put his hand on the nightstand next to him to brace himself.  Cas’ expression was determined and wide-eyed.  Dean wasn’t afraid of Cas - it’s Cas.  He was, however, afraid of what either of them might say next.

-

“Cas…”  Dean took a deep breath and let it out slowly, looking down towards the fuzzy slippers on his feet.  Cas tilted his head as his eyes shined with concern.  Dean continued.  “Yes I meant it; of course I meant it.”

Cas was quiet for a moment, and Dean started to tense up even more, until Cas responded in the softest voice Dean had ever heard him use.  “Did…did that mean…does that mean?”

Dean’s breath stuttered as he slowly looked back up at Cas.  “I love you, Cas.  I…”

Now it was Cas’ turn for his breath to catch in his throat.  “When you said you needed me-”

“I meant it in every way.”  Dean had been bracing himself for the worst, but the look of wonder on Cas’ face was mesmerizing and relieved him of his lingering doubts of how Cas would react.

“Dean,” Cas closed the distance between them, and Dean did not back away when Cas wrapped his arms around him and gently pulled him into the most tender kiss he’d ever had in his life.

“I love you too.  I think I always have.  I just didn’t know early on that that’s what it was.”  Cas raised a hand to Dean’s cheek and wiped away a stray tear.  “By the time I did know, I thought you didn’t feel the same way.”

“I did, Cas.  I do.”  Another tear rolled down Dean’s cheek.  “I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.”

Cas shook his head and smiled.  “It didn’t.  You’ve been saying it all this time and I just didn’t realize it.  You were saying it in ways that I didn’t understand.  We’ve always been moving on to the next disaster, and I never stopped to reconsider all of the different ways you’ve shown your love.  I hadn’t dared to believe you meant it that way.”

“I was scared.”  Dean sucked in a breath.  “I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid of what you’d say.  So I told you in ways that you might not understand - but I always hoped you would.”  He shook his head.  “I was a coward back then.  It was a selfish and shitty thing to do.”

“No, it’s not, and no you weren’t.”  Cas slid his hand under Dean’s chin and gently lifted his face so that he could look him in the eyes.  “You are the bravest, most loving, most selfless human being that I have ever known.”

“Cas” was all Dean could choke out before they locked lips again.  Cas surged forward and Dean stepped back - not to get away from him, but with him - going the last couple of steps until Cas had Dean pinned up against the wall.

-

Melting in Cas’ arms and lips, Dean felt like he could disappear into the brick and into this moment.  He also felt like he might hyperventilate from how he’d wanted this for so long and now it was finally happening.  When their lips eventually parted, all Dean could do was gasp lightly for air.  He smiled and licked his lips as he had done many times over the years with Cas - but this time, Cas was doing it too.  Not only that, but Cas was glowing softly.  It wasn’t the blinding, blue-white glow that was hard to look at.  It was a soft glow around his edges which made Dean’s breath hitch in awe.

Cas smiled softly, though he had a determined and devious spark in his eyes which just made Dean feel even more overwhelmed in the very best way.  It was so intense that he could hardly stand it, but he never wanted it to stop.  “Dean, you need to breathe.  Come on, take a deep breath.”  Cas raised his hand, palm up and held it there for a moment.  “And let it out slowly.”

“I…”  Dean was a bit less breathless but still quite speechless.  “I didn’t expect this to turn into a guided meditation.”  He smirked a bit, and Cas rolled his eyes, but he was smirking too.

-

Cas gripped him tight and raised his arms over his head, holding him gently but firmly in place by his hands.  Having Cas this close up against him, Dean remembered what Cas had said that demon once told him - except now they really were “joined at the everything.”

Cas nuzzled against his cheek as Dean got more anxious to kiss Cas again.  He tilted his head back and Cas continued nuzzling down the length of Dean’s throat and then up the other side to his other cheek.

Dean tried to speak, but all he could manage was a gasp.  That’s when Cas smiled and lunged for his mouth.  Dean was blissfully lost in the sensations of Cas everywhere, but just managed to notice the pulsating buzz of the lamp on the nightstand next to them.  The bulb hadn’t burst, but it was surging each time that Cas intensified their efforts to occupy the same space.

Cas may not have understood Dean’s expressions of love throughout the years at the time that he’d said them, might not have realized that they were romantic; but, it was clear that Cas had been listening and paying attention to what Dean wanted, and what he needed.

Gently, Cas pulled back just far enough to kiss Dean on the forehead.  Against the wall, leaned slightly with his legs on either side of Cas, for once Cas seemed slightly taller.  But as always, Cas’ presence was larger than life.  Cas was also mesmerized by Dean, lost in the awe and love in his eyes.  They lowered their hands and wrapped their arms around each other.

-

“I’ve wanted to do this for so long.  I just never thought this was something I could have.  Us.”  Cas’ tearful smile would have been heartbreaking to Dean in any other context.

“And I never thought I could have you.  That you would stay.”  The tear tracks had mingled on both of their cheeks, and Dean’s eyes were just as wet as Cas’.  He was just as beautiful to Cas as he had always been.

Dean smiled.  “We’re just a couple of dumbasses, huh?”

“I prefer cautious, humble…selfless maybe.”  Cas smiled wryly.  “Less dumb, less ass.”

Dean took a step forward to get them away from the wall.  As much as enjoyed being pinned, memory foam would be a lot more comfortable than brick.  “Well less dumb is one thing I can get behind.”

Their bubbly laughter echoed down the hall of the bunker.  They had a rift to open to another world and a nephilim to raise.  But, having closed the rift between them, they were happy to have each other; and whatever challenges may lie ahead, they could prepare to face them together.

[funtimebunnyblog]

Always remember Pillarmen-lovers and followers alike, no matter what you like to wear or what you like to put on your body; you are absolutely stunning! 😍😍😍 You rock those tattoos, piercings, whatever you wear; wear them with your head held high! 😇🥰😘 Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

The Pillarmen with a Female s/o with tattoos (who also gets unwanted comments about them)...

(Under the cut for length!)

Kars:

• At first, Kars doesn't quite understand the exact appeal of tattoos.

• Sure, some of them admittedly looked nice and they were art in their own respect, but they were also known to be quite painful for Humans not to mention they were something very permanent to put on the body...

• He doesn't really understand why someone would go out of their way to get something so gaudy imprinted on their skin.

• You'll have to forgive him because when you're first getting to know him as he openly looks down on you for having some of your own; especially since you're a Woman.

• He states that you should treat your body like a temple and not "graffiti" it with something so "manish" and "distasteful" which you of course simply shrug off.

• You've heard this enough times to not care.

• However, after you give him some time and he's heard any stories you happen to have behind your tats or perhaps once he sees how truly harmless it all is, he comes around.

• Kars comes to realize that they're just another piece of what made you "you" and he supposed that you could be into far worse things than just simple pictures drawn on your skin...

• Besides... he has to admit you look very beautiful with them.

• From that moment on, if anyone happens to say anything negative about your ink, he puts haters and nay-sayers alike in their place.

• "You know, it's not very ladylike to have tattoos." You could feel the sneer of the Woman behind you as she let her poisonous words drip off her tongue but you didn't turn around.

• This wasn't the first time this happened and it was better to pretend you didn't hear.

• Kars, on the other hand, didn't miss a beat. "It's also not very ladylike to make bitchy comments but it appears that would just be your whole personality." He commented, cocking an eyebrow at the now gawking Woman from over his shoulder.

• You couldn't contain the snort of laughter that burst forth, Kars smiled softly as you clung to his arm with a wheeze. The offending Woman didn't make anymore comments.

• Kars was sure that if he could open his mind to see the beauty of tattoos and learn to accept them, others should do the same.

Esidisi:

• Hands down, Esidisi absolutely ADORES your tattoos!

• He thinks they're a beautiful form of art to display on the body and that they are something definitely to be admired.

• Most especially since they're on you!

• Even from the first time you two met, he wanted to see every single one you had and hear any stories you happened to have behind them.

• Even if the stories happened to go along the lines of "I got really drunk with some friends and--"

• For quite a while he's wanted to get tattoos of his own but never really found the time, not to mention something worthwhile to get.

• Millennium ago, tattoos were in fact quite time consuming to get done (they required not only a steady hand but the patience of a Saint as well) and he couldn't waste much time when on the hunt for the Aja afterall.

• However, once introduced to the modern tattooing art and with lots of time to spare, you were what inspired him to step up and finally get a few of his own done!

• What he really wants is to get his arms covered in intricate patterns and pictures.

• In fact, Esidisi is the kind of person to want to get a matching tattoo with you or at least one with your name somewhere on his body.

• Of course, he does not stand for anyone saying anything hurtful or negative about your own tats.

• "Hey!" The yelling of the guy calling out to you from his truck as you walked down the street instinctively made you freeze for only half-a-second. "I'd fuck you if you didn't have so many tattoos, bitch!"

• His words made an ickyness swirl up from your gut to your throat. Though disgusted, you kept your face carefully neutral and tried to keep walking.

• Those kinds of deragatory comments just weren't worth the effort of fighting back.

• Esidisi, however, wasn't one to stand back and let someone disrespect you like that.

• "Yeah? And maybe somebody would actually fuck you if you had some, dickhead!" He called back, grinning as the guys mouth immediately snapped shut.

• The Pillarman's quick clap-back was enough to make a huge smile stretch across your face; only fueled by the massive hand wrapping around yours as you both kept walking.

• With Esidisi around, you would never have to waste time or energy on derogatory comments ever again.

Wamuu:

• Wamuu had only seen these "tattoos" a handful of times in his life.

• He was well aware of the art and the practice took to create them but never had them done on himself or seen the action up close.

• The very few times he had seen tattoos on someone, it was for battle purposes.

• Most often worn by great Warriors who had fought many fights and had them done to commemorate victories won or even lives lost.

• Upon meeting you and spotting your ink, Wamuu was immediately under the impression that you were a Female Warrior (a rarity) and wanted to know everything about the tapestry of "victories" on your skin.

• "This tattoo, what is its symbolism? Was this to commemorate a fight? Battle, perhaps?" He questioned, a calloused finger poking you softly in your flesh as he spoke.

• You could only blink stupidly, not quite sure what he was going on about. "Wamuu... that's Hello Kitty."

• When you explain to him that your tattoos hold no great "symbolism" or "battle tributes" it takes a while for him to wrap his head around it.

• People nowadays did this... for fun? Simply "because"? Sometimes they did it to show love or appreciation to something?

• It was a strange phenomenon but he eventually finds himself nodding his head in understanding.

• If anything, even if it isn't for a Warriors devices, he finds all tattoos unique and something to behold.

• He even starts thinking about getting one of his own simply "for fun".

• What he still doesn't understand is why there are so many people who were so closed minded concerning these things, especially towards Women like yourself.

• He doesn't appreciate it when people are rude or disrespectful to the things you like; this being no exception.

• "Ugh! You should really cover those up!" You turned your head to find another Woman pointing accusingly at one of your tattoos, an ugly scowl etched into her face. "I shouldn't have to see something so distasteful!"

• You opened your mouth, prepared to tell her to mind her business and keep going about your own when suddenly Wamuu appeared right behind her. The massive man sternly pulled a bag right over her head, completely covering her face.

• "If you do not like the look of them, then perhaps you should simply cover your eyes, Human!" He growled, leaving the rude lady to try and pull the bag off her head as he took your hand and proudly walked off with you.

• Now if only everyone could live that philosophy, life would truly be peaceful for you. Until then, you were just happy you had Wamuu to spread those words of wisdom for you.

Santana:

• Upon first meeting you, your tattoos intrigued Santana more than anything.

• He had never really seen anything of the like before encountering you.

• At first, he thought that they were simply a born pigmentation to your skin. Perhaps you were a different kind of Human alltogether? Did this hold some sort of direct link to your kind attracting a Mate?

• If the latter by chance, he had to say it was working.

• You couldn't help but laugh, watching as he traced his fingers along the shapes and pictures of your ink; he was absolutely mesmerized by the artwork stretching across the canvas of your skin.

• This was definitely MUCH more preferable than someone looking down their nose at you for having them.

• However, once you explained to him that you had them physically drawn onto your skin with ink and needles it only intrigued him more.

• He wanted to know everything about these "tattoos" including just how they were done and why exactly some people took time to get them.

• This resulted you dragging him along to a tattoo parlor so he could watch and learn first hand; which then lead to Santana getting his first tattoo shortly after on his thigh.

• "Aww, now what's a pretty girl like you doing with something so ugly like that on her skin?" The lady behind the counter who was ringing up your items smiled almost sickeningly sweet as she spoke, making you only want to roll your eyes even more.

• Oh boy, here it comes. You just couldn't walk to the store to get a bag of chips and a drink without someone making a comment, could you?

• "You know, not a lot of men like those on a pretty girl, sweetie." She continued, as if unable to see you had no interest in what she had to say what-so-ever. "Maybe you should think about that if you ever want to find someone decent, hmm?"

• Santana's wild head of hair appeared out from behind the chip rack as she spoke, lips twisting as his eyebrows narrowed. He approached the counter with a huff, snatching the bag from it as he full on glared at the cashier.

• His eyes fell onto your bare skin, to the lovely shapes and colours that sparked all these unwanted comments. "Her skin is beautiful." He said, before his eyes fell onto the cashiers bare skin, his lips only pushing further downwards. "Your skin is boring, primitive."

• The look on the cashiers face after he said that only made your snacks taste even sweeter as you sat cuddled into the Pillarmans side back at Home.

[stylistiquements]

There was the silence and there were the stars | Corpse husband x reader -Among Us AU

Among us AU : There was something. Something in the silence and the harsh coldness -that only space was capable of- that turned your brain into a sarcastic and bored mess. Maybe that’s why you found yourself so interested by any sabotage pulled on the crewmates, maybe that’s what made him so interesting to witness. He was different from the rest of you. Different to an extend you were about to understand.

❚ Word count : 4.2k ❚ Warning : A bit angsty but you will get that fluffity fluff and touch starve feeling you require I promise ; swearing ❚ Note : there will be no mention of death or killing as it is basically a real life Among us, just some shenanigans. Y/C : your/color

A/N : This little thing was inspired by -⭐️ anon. It was a fun thing to write even though it took me way too long because I asked my brain “sir may I pls have the focus capacity I need” and brain said no (: so yeah, this is litteraly just me ranting n complaining about space. This is a bit angsty but as what if is way too happy for me that was a nice opportunity. I hope you won’t mind and appreciate it anyway. As always just let me know. As it’s my first time writing like a one shot thingy I’m really curious to know. Also it’s supposed to be proofread but if you find any mistake just take ur glasses off. Thanks. Enjoy the wild ride. 

You met him again. He was fixing wires while you were downloading some files on the computer. Difficulties happened regularly around here; various oddities that occurred from time to time, sometimes a few times a day. It would go from doors closing mysteriously to no electricity, you never knew which one it would be. Those inconveniences used to draw a smile on your lips, a grin you tried your best to hide from everyone else. The sound of the urging siren resounded in your head like a call, reviving the last spared spark left in your brain. At this point, you were pretty sure it was one of your crewmates’ doing, too many coincidences for any other options to be left. You didn’t mind though. The game started months ago but still amused you to this day. 

He never let a word escape his mouth. To your awareness, no one knew anything about him, no one had ever heard the sound of his voice which you could only dare to imagine since the two of you met. It felt silly, you fabricated this voice inside your head, a half-finished melody you played to keep your mind busy. It would have sounded just as an old piano would. So slightly out of tune that maybe, if you didn’t care enough or wished for it not to be true, you wouldn’t even notice. 

You called him black. It resonated with the color of his suit and the darkness that emanated from his soul. Not that he looked like a mischievous character, but rather like someone who would have been gnawed by life for years. A shade that reminded you of the bittersweet feeling 4 AM forced you to taste. Describing that presentiment was a challenge you couldn’t take. It was one of those things that had to be felt, not narrated. 

Shit.

He caught you staring again. How could you look any other way? There was something with him that appealed to you, that pulled your eyes toward his direction every time. Probably only a peak of unwarranted curiosity you couldn’t really be blamed for, probably the oh-so mysterious aura that floated so carelessly around him. He always had this way of sneaking in and out, just as if he was nothing but his own shadow. 

Yet, being near him was easy. Silence only felt comfortable when he was in your surroundings. The whole world stopped existing -and it had in fact since the first day you two met.

He had dark charcoal hair which fell so perfectly in curly strands around the two horns that crowned over his head. Paired with two ruby hued eyes, he truly was a sight for sore eyes. A wicked and breathtaking beauty, so unique it gave you the impression that he wasn’t even human. 

He used to hop in a vent after finishing his tasks. As if his true home was there; a secret hideout for him and him only. You didn’t even know it was a thing before you watched it with your own eyes. Who wouldn’t blame him. If you could have escaped that warmth deprived place too, even for 5 minutes, you would have. 

That’s why you never asked any question about it nor tried to investigate further. Being stuck in space was only a kid’s fantasy, nothing a fully conscious adult would inflict to themselves. Which, in itself, was pretty much self-explanatory about everyone’s mental condition in here.

It was also a pre-established rule, no questions. No one ever expressed it out loud, but you would have to be a fool not to guess it. Every crewmate grew accustomed to the deadly silence only space had to offer. A giant timeless hole where nothing really happened. With nothing but the smell of technology and the constant purr of engines as the only distractions left. See, living in a spaceship was no ordinary lifestyle : days and nights melted into each other until it became nothing but a groundless concept. The crewmates perceived it as comforting for some reason. You used to shrug it off, no questions. How unethical would you be to disturb their peace? 

If you had to be honest, you would probably say that you felt bad for Black. Nothing like pity, but being alone in this stark and brutal silence for this long must have been pretty life-consuming. That’s why, even though it made your cheeks and the tip of your ears flame up in a raw and unforgivable tint of pink, you always kept looking into his eyes for one more second after he noticed you. Just to be sure he knew that he wasn’t alone in this shit hole. You stared into the depth of those ruby eyes, hunting for silent answers to questions you weren’t even sure of in the first place. He never quivered, only stood motionless until his task was completed. Just locking the eye contact. After that, he always ran away as silently as he existed. Leaving your head disturbingly empty. 

Every single time. 

Something changed one day. You were about to prepare some test samples when it happened. He jumped off a vent and you followed his movements from the corner of your eyes, too distracted to remember about the task that was assigned to you. He ran to the door and proceeded to shut it. Within the last second, the one that always lasted hours, he put an index in front of his mouth. Silently asking for you not to say a word. And before the steel door could obstruct your vision completely, you noticed a smile on his lips. A smile that made the whole spaceship turn inside out, draining the blood out of your body in a painstaking, almost sore way. There you stood, intoxicated by stupefaction and trapped as a cat. 

Black mutated you into a self-depreciating joke : in here, you were only interestied in the impostor. The only one who made your day a little better was the one giving nightmares to the others. 

It was him, from the beginning. It was him and he smiled. A grin that twinkled maliciously from his lips to his eyes, wounding your heart in an insoluble way. It made every prejudice you had about him crumble : he was no longer that miserable existence you sensed he was but a quiescent sun that could radiate all around him once unleashed into the world. How did he do that? How could he be both the tunnel and the light at the end of it?

When red came to the rescue, she described you with a glare. She judged you in the not-so-pleasant way. You could always count on those glares to know their opinions about you. Because their judgment would have to be expressed one way or another. She thought you looked suspicious, with your half poured concoction into a hand and the rest of it in the other, just staring blankly into the void. You wouldn’t blame her for that. 

It stuck with you for days, filling your empty mind with the sight of a smile that could no longer be experienced. The scene shamelessly repeated itself in your mind until it became nothing but a progression of disassembled images, forcing you to taste the astonishment over and over again. The problem was, you hadn’t seen him for days. And, even though you wanted to know what happened, you couldn’t ask. That was the rule. 

What would you say anyway ? Black is the imposter and I watched him close medbay’s door ? Yeah, I don’t think so. You should have stopped him in the first place -and you would have if you weren’t just mesmerized.

So, you took each day -or night … or piece of time, whatever you wanted to call it since it was no longer existent- with composure. Forcing yourself to do any task with a meticulousness that didn’t look like you. Just to make sure your brain was busy enough not to think about it or him. Being trapped in a place and being trapped in your own mind are two different wrestles, yet in here those two intertwined perfectly. Just like the rest of it, it didn’t even make any sense : the guy smiled at you for ten seconds and here you were, an absolute clutter of questions and recollection. You were probably just too bored and he, as always, was the perfect distraction. That must have been it, right?

You walked in admin. Your heart skipped a beat before your eyes could process who stood in front of them. 

Look what the cat dragged in. 

His hair twirled flawlessly above his face, almost hiding a grimace that indicated so transparently his mind. You leaned against the door frame and crossed your arms, unabashedly watching him as he swiped his card frantically while sighting heavily every time that “bip” of failure rang. 

Eventually, he looked at you with an expression you couldn’t quite read. You tried anyway, staring at him as if he was some sort of work of art that needed to be decrypted. From the way his chest moved heavily under the pressure of the irritation to the way his glowing eyes witnessed you. This expression on his face gave him a funny look, a scowl which made the laugh that tickled your throat hard to hold back. 

“Y-you have to do it slower. Otherwise, it won’t work” you stuttered. “I guess it’s harder since …” 

You walked to him carefully, so carefully you forgot your words. Just as if he was a wild animal who could run away if scared. Making sure no step would fall out of line. He was so close, so close, maybe if you tried to catch him this time he would stop running away. 

“Since it’s not my job, right ? Is that what you were about to say ?” he asked with a low voice, a voice you would have never dared to picture for him. Not the broken tone you pictured but a melody so sweet and so unique it felt like it was made just for your ears to enjoy, taunting you to dive into his mind.

“Do you need help” ? 

“I- hum- You’re not supposed to help me, you know ?” he stuttered, visibly amused, judging by the way his eyes wrinkled under his smile. 

“Are you gonna lock me in the room once again ?” He shook his head as a chuckle escaped from his lips. “Then who cares” you finally breathed.  

Your fingers brushed against his warm skin as you grabbed the card. You tried to appear unbothered, hoping so intensely for the swipe to be a first try success. That way, maybe he wouldn’t notice the way you breathed heavily under the weight of your pounding heart. But those red eyes piercing through the depth of your soul were hardly bearable for those like you who suffered from unbeknownst afflictions. 

You grew aware of his every move, the way those eyes fell on you, the perfume that emanated from his skin, the sound of his slow yet noticeable respiration.

You gave him his card back and he captured your fingers in the palm of his hand, making it impossible for you to escape his grip. Hiding those blushing cheeks from a sight that seemed to see everything was a defiance only the proudest people would be capable of. It wasn’t your case, but you counted on preserving the last sane cells left in your body. 

“Your secret is safe with me.” You whispered, avoiding any eye contact.

“I know that.”

 A simple answer that would never be enough to satisfy you. Yet, before you could review the best option of an answer, he left. Just as he always did, he walked away silently -still this time it seemed to last an eternity- while you just stood there inertly as you watched his black silhouette disappear into the endless gray hallways. 

You finally caught the breath you had been holding this whole time. Leaning over, you observed your reflection into the screen of the digital tablet as you rubbed your hands together, hoping for that strange spike of electricity that ran through your fingers to fade away quickly. A mess.

“There you are, Corpse” green said as he sat cross-legged in black’s secret place “I’ve been looking for you.”

Corpse was the name green chose for Black, feeling like it would be the most suitable image for the one who always worked in the shadow. Not the most refined nickname, yet black ironically related to that. Silent as a Corpse, he thought. A level of sarcasm that amused him and which probably led to him immediately falling in love with it. 

Corpse observed the little sprout on the top of Green’s head. It floated lightly and followed his every move. What a little freak. Just a thing deprived of any sort of self consciousness, out of this world just like he felt he was. Corpse remained fixated on it, hoping he could get as self-aware as it was. The last impromptu reunion he had with you was nothing he had planned, nothing that should have happened. He wouldn’t exactly call it a mistake and still, he had no one else but him to blame.

“Did something happened with y/c ? You seem a little flustered.” Green asked, pulling Corpse out of his overflowed mind. 

“I don’t know, I think I kinda fucked up.” He replied with a shrug. “I’ve been spotted.”

“Was it really a mistake ?”

Green was the only one who was granted with the privilege of learning how to understand Corpse. Because, deep inside, they grew up to be the same kind : the kind that didn’t belong here. Two sides of the same coin. 

Green’s social intelligence, on the other hand, Black didn’t like it that much. Thanks to that guy, he would be able to work comfortably in the darkness, where no one could see him, but it also meant that he saw clearly what was going through Corpse’s mind. Actually, it didn’t take him too long. 

What was the surprise when he realized it was you who lived rent-free in his thoughts? See, in Corpse’s eyes you were different from the others : too conscious about the reality that happened before yours eyes. It made you interesting to observe. What a delightful sight it was to watch you rolling your eyes in your crewmates’ face, to notice the serious look you had when you were focused on a task, the way your eyes sparkled every time a new sabotage was made. He wouldn’t track you, yet he would never resist a peek once your paths crossed. It happened often, more than you actually realized.

Yet, Corpse was no fool. You and him never belonged together. You were destined to a bright destiny and he was the obscurity. That’s why he was more than careful not to get too close, not to see his bare mind get burnt under the exposition of those peculiar feelings in the pit of his stomach. 

That’s why his previous reaction made no sense to him. But what could he say? You took him aback when those words were directed at him. You made his short-circuited brain unable to be sensible anymore. He just wanted to know what your touch would feel like under his fingers. Why was his skin blazing with electricity now ?

Corpse swallowed it all. From the blossoming feeling inside his body and mind to the warmth and the softness of your skin. He couldn’t feel that way. “I’m not really sure.” he finally said, as honest as he could be with himself. 

He would spend his next few days planning with Green, cornering you to a small part of his brain. You couldn’t be there, you had no right to be. The game was progressing faster than they anticipated it. It made him thrilled, accepting the challenge no one but the two of them could bear. 

However, a new unwanted seed grew into his mind. The idea that, maybe, you were only by his side in this game. That, maybe he would never be able to witness your existence in the real world.

“Have you ever noticed how weird the stars look sometimes ?” Corpse asked as he joined navigation. You jumped and your mind turned into a scattered place stuck between a task you battled to achieve and the proximity left between the two of you. Your heart beat in rhythm with his echoing, never ending footsteps. Still you had, indeed, noticed. “It’s like they’re not even real” you answered with a smile that made your voice higher. A melodic lift that betrayed your intention of ever finishing your job. 

When you finally looked at him, his lips moved into a satisfied curve. Shivers tickled your arms and your neck. Maybe because he was just standing so perfectly still in front of the glass window. So perfectly still that, among all those celestial bodies, he appeared to be the most beautiful one.  “Mind keeping me company for a bit?” Your mouth betrayed you when the question escaped your grip. But Corpse snorted faintly and shook his head.

“From all the people in here you want to spend time with me ? That’s probably not your wisest decision.” He said as he tried to muffle a high pitch laugh with a hand that covered his mouth.

See, that’s the words he had been afraid of since the first time he saw you. The words he would have to turn into derision since he knew he would have no strength to refuse. Yet, you stood there with those glimmering eyes and those eyebrows that arched in a strange manner, cutting every single inch of air out of his lungs. Even if he wanted to say no -and he should- he wouldn’t have been able to.

It was never meant to happen, not judging by your two so hostily opposed nature. Fuck that shit. Who cared about that speech when you were here and you were so beautiful?

You moved closer to him, a strenuous and slow tense that shouldn’t be disregarded. You’ve had seen the same scenery for months yet never it made you feel the same way as you did at that very moment. Because those balls of lights floating into the void shimmered in his ruby hued iris just as a dozen of fireflies would. He made your world a little blurry, narrowed to his presence at your side.

“You forgave me really easily the last time we met.” He noticed. “That’s a little sus if you asked me.”

“Well, what can I say ? You’re the only distraction I have left, so I’m not really in the position to hold grudges.” You shrugged sarcastically. 

“You’re really funny, I have to concede that” he said as his smile made its way to his eyes. 

Your brutally honest words intertwined with his chuckles and crewmates never heard the spaceship as lively as that time. That time when you got to discover who Corpse really was. A man who hid his blooming existence behind a silence.

“Why did you stay silent this whole time ?” You dared to ask before the silence fell upon the two of you, a silence that maybe you wouldn’t be able to endure this time.

“Because I never wanted to lie”

“I- ...hum- there’s really nothing I could say against that, right ?”

With every grin, every chuckle, every abrupt eye contact, your proximity kept embedding his mind a little deeper until you stole the stars’ show completely. It’s no good, you held his breath hostage when he realized he could feel the warmth stemming out of your skin. So tempted to get closer and witness it with further clearness. 

Thus, he lifted a hand that starved connection. He tried to close the gap between your two touches so prudently, so discreetly that you didn’t even notice. A touch, that would go beyond his movement, more like a proof he needed to make sure someone like you really existed in a shithole like this.  

He was so close. 

Yet, the alarm rang before he could embrace the object of his desire. “Better check that out quickly” you said with a sigh. Somehow, it felt peculiar just knowing that, this time, you were the one running away. A sense of some sort of joke played by space. As if space hadn’t done enough. When Green cut the communication, he couldn’t realize -If only he knew the double meaning of that sabotage. Ah, the irony of it all. 

“I’ll see you soon” Corpse informed you, more of a promise than a farewell and he stayed there long enough, staring numbly at his hand.

You ran until the communication room, holding this bittersweet feeling on the tip of your tongue. You tried to swallow it and almost found yourself praying that no one would arrive before you could. This way, maybe your fugue would make more sense. 

Blue was already sitting on the floor, trying to find the good frequencies. “I’m already on it.” she said on a plain, monotone voice. Of course, she fucking would be. 

Now what was left to do ? Corpse was probably already gone and-and the silence … the silence had returned. A dead, cold, cruel silence. It tested out your nerves, built up some pressure down your throat that made keeping your composure barely possible. Corpse slipped between your fingers again. The game was no longer a funny and pleasant diversion from the plain, austere daily life you had. You grew tired of that cat and mouse game. You just wanted him.

After going back to the oh-so empty navigation room, you completed your tasks. And you were finally done. You wandered around for hours, days -who knows-, searching for a purpose. 

The game was coming to an end, you could feel it. Something in the air changed, it became dryer than ever. Unbearable on your skin that ached for something you couldn’t apprehend. The crewmates were agitated, everyone kept running around day and night just to make sure the last tasks would be completed as soon as possible. New difficulties were triggered almost as soon as the last ones ended. Chaos. 

Just as if he wasn’t ready to end the game so soon, as if he didn’t want to get the hell out of this place as much as you did. From time to time, you almost found yourself eager to ignore the alarm. Taunting him one last time by neglecting his call. 

Maybe that way he would show up, maybe that way he would stay with you. Yeah, maybe that way he would stop being nothing but an ephemeral being that almost made you wonder if you finally gave up on your mind to the silence. Because at that moment he only felt like a chimera your brain created to protect you. Because you were just so fucking bored.  

You gave up on that idea, turning on the CCTV as you sighed. Just to see more colorful suits running around, trying to hold their shit together for what appeared to be the ultimate hour. Despite all the sabotages, it seemed like your number made your strength. You imagined Corpse’s face, probably piqued. A dark frown covering his pretty eyes. It made your lips twitch for a second. Who knew it would end this way ? Definitely not you. 

Yet that amused smile faded away when you heard the familiar sound of the door closing, locking you in yet another time. You rolled your eyes and turned around, unprepared to witness who locked themselves with you. His body laid against the door, guarding it as his chest moved frenetically under the weight of his rushing breath. 

“This is the end” he whispered frantically under his breath. He doesn’t look as worried as you thought he would, but it didn’t matter. You moved impulsively toward him, never stopping until he snaked a hand around your waist and slipped the other one in your back. That way, this time, there were no escape. 

He let his head rest in the hollow of your neck, soaking the divine and comforting warmth you had to offer. His warm breath on your skin sent shivers through your body which responded by squeezing him a little tighter, holding him as close to your heart as humanly possible. You could feel his, beating so fast.

“This is the end.” His whisper grounded on your skin. 

He lifted his head to dive into your eyes with the same sweet smile you offered him. The one which expressed the happiness, the relievment it felt to embrace him. 

“If it were for you, I would do it all over again.” You said, pressing your forehead against his, sharing a breath as you closed your eyes. One last attempt to memorize everything about him. You sensed his smile, so wide you didn’t even have to look at it to see. He left a trail of kisses on your cheeks and your hand wandered in his hair as a faint gasp escaped your lips.

Corpse looked back at you. And then, as his thumb drew light circles on your cheek. With glowing eyes that translated all the adoration he felt for you, he whispered “Maybe it was just meant to be”. And then, he closed the distance between the two of you, brushing your lips softly at first before capturing them completely once he was sure you felt the same way as he did. A kiss that tasted like 4AM and home. 

“I’ll find my way back to you, my love. I’ll find you in the real world.” He promised.

[cierrabiscuits]

Koutaro Bokuto x Fem Reader: Eligible Bachelor

 Summary: Some of the MSBY team are scheduled at a charity event and are auctioned off for dates, you being the manager go with them. The team is well aware of your crush on Bokuto and put a plan in motion. What’s the worst that can happen. 

 Words: 5.1K

 Warnings: Angst if squint, happy ending, MSBY 4 being sold as dates for Charity.

 Authors Note: Hello! This is my first time posting a fic so go easy on me, I hope you all enjoy it and get a good laugh out of it like I did! This is part of a collab with @ambershaydeoffical! Please support all the talented writes who participated. 

Update: I made a route for Sakusa! Find that here

Update: I made a route for Atsumu! Finda that here

Story

“Alrighty boys are you ready to go on in?” You said staring at the four well dressed men  behind you.

 “No, and I want to go home.” Sakusa adjusted his black facemask. He wasn’t keen on coming to this event whatsoever.

 “Sakusa I know, but I really need you! Besides what would you be doing anyway? It's Valentine's day and you're as single as single gets. Live a little. Maybe you will find your Mrs.Clean tonight! Ya never know!” You said as he rolled his eyes and scoffed.

 “Omi-Omi don't be that way. Our lovely manager here worked hard to get us this opportunity, and it's benefiting a charity you scrooge.” Atsumu smacked Sakusa’s back.”I think your just upset because you know all the ladies are going to bid on me.” The blond setter smirked at the very pissed Sakusa who just glared at him.

 “NOoO It's going to be me who gets all the bids. I still have my tan from Brazil and I’m alot cooler than all of you.” Hinata piped up, proudly adjusting his tie that had little volleyballs on it. 

 “Well if we don’t get our asses in that building, aint none of y’all getting any bids, besides I’m freezing to death,” You said rubbing your arms. The dress you wore done little to protect you from the cold night. 

 “Take this please, I don’t want to freeze to death. I like you warm and alive.” Bokuto, who's been oddly quiet, spoke up wrapping his grey tux jacket around your shoulders leaving him in his blue button up. You could smell his cologne on the jacket, you could drown in this and wouldn't complain. Your cheeks ran hot and you managed to let out a “thank you” through chattering teeth.

 “Okay let’s get going.” You said wrapping the jacket tighter around you as the boys followed you like baby ducks. Bokuto walked up beside you while the two boys bickered over who would have the most bids in the back, Sakusa wanted no part in it and stayed to himself. You look at Bokuto  who seemed nervous. You decided to hype him up a bit before he went into emo mode. “Bokuto you are going to have some gorgeous high profile women coming after you tonight, I’m jealous of them.” You didn't lie, you had the biggest crush on Bo, ever since you took the job as the MSBY manager. You never have a frown on your face next to him- until now. You knew he’d have a woman, that's not you, by his side tonight. You’d bid on him until your bank went in the negative but you don’t get paid like the women at this event do.

 “You wait and see, I’ll have the most beautiful one by time the night is out.” Bokuto said, smiling at you. You felt a pang of sadness creep on you, if he only knew. 

 The warm air of the ballroom felt nice against your cool body. You gave Bokuto his jacket back, you secretly wished you could keep it forever. You took in your surroundings, the ball room was filled with women in designer dresses and you could see the small stage in the middle of the room. 

 “Guys I have to find the event coordinator and see what time you guys need to get on stage. Please be on your best behavior, there are cameras everywhere. Atsumu keep the drinking to a minimum, Shoyo for the love of God go to the bathroom now, Omi keep these fools in line and you better be nice to people and last but never the least Bokuto, If you dance please be careful, I don’t want to take you to the ER again because you hit the Cha cha slide too hard. And with that I’m out. I’m counting on you guys.” You said giving them a thumbs up as you got lost into the sea of people to hunt the event coordinator. 

~

 “Thank you so much Y/N! Everyone is looking forward to the auction. We have some models and a couple pop stars who will be in the line up as well as a few volunteers . I want your boys to go at the end, as they say ‘always save the best for last’.” The coordinator spoke over the bustling crowd. She went over the rules and where they needed to go and what time to line up. You soaked in all the information the bubbly coordinator was giving you. “I have to go let the rest of the people know the game plan. Please have your guys here and lined up in half an hour. Thank you again!” And with that she disappeared into the crowd. Now here came the hard part.

You scanned the large ballroom to find your heathens. Sakusa would be the easiest to find because he is most likely on one of the four corners in the building. Hinata was most likely with Bokuto, and Atsumu was a wild card, he could be at the bar, maybe even on the dance floor trying to impress girls with his dance moves(That suck by the way). You recall the time you found him passed out in a bush drunk off ass at a gala last year. You make up a game plan, you would get Bo and Hinata first, then find a hopefully sober Tsumu and lastly get Sakusa (you figured it best not to drag him around the ballroom) You spot Bokuto’s tall figure next to a snack bar, and as you figured Hinata was with him. They were both stuffing their mouths with meat kebabs and other foods like wild animals, they sure love to eat you thought. 

 “Bokuto,Hinata, they are getting ready to line everyone up, wait for me over there.” You said pointing towards an area that was not  too terribly crowded.

 “HEY HEY HEY Y/N try one of these things, they are so freakin good.” He shoved a cake pop in front of your face. You took it from the gray haired boy.

 “Thank you Bo, but we really need to go.” You took a bite from the cake pop. “Wow that is really good.” You said finishing it in one bite. You heard some snickers from a group of girls, they made a smug comment about you eating it all at once. You normally would throw hands but you had an image to uphold. You shouldn't let it bother you but it did.

 “Hey don’t let that bother you, besides I like a girl that can eat.” Bokuto said, patting your head. He is literally the human version of sunshine. 

 “Thanks Bo. But really we need to get the move on, I still have to hunt Tsumu down. Can you and Hinata wait for me over there.” You said pointing to the area again.

 “Roger that.” They said unison. 

  “I’ll be right back.” You said going back into the crowd. You checked the dancefloor first and he wasn't there(You were relieved he was not.). You made your way to the bar and found him surrounded by women who were mesmerized by his thick accent. You waved him down and he nodded and turned his attention back to the group he had attracted.

 “It looks like It's time fer’ me to go, make sure you all bid for me. I’ll be a waitin’” He said getting up and following you. The women he had been entertaining giggled as he walked away.

 “Look at you being a player. I didn’t expect that from a man who yells at girls when they cheer for him.” You leaned into him so he could hear you over the crowd.

 “I’m just tryin’ to raise some money, it's strictly business. My heart belongs to volleyball for the most part.”He said winking at you. He truly is just a fool in love with the sport. 

You led Atsumu to the group and went to retrieve poor  Sakusa. You looked around for a few minutes and felt a tug at the back of your shirt. You turn around and see Sakusa towering over you. 

 “This is new, I’m used to finding you sulking in a corner.” You said staring into his black eyes. 

 “I watched you gather everyone up, I figured I would come on over to make it easier for you.” He began to walk towards the rest of the group.

 “I guess being 6’4 has its perks huh Omi? You're like a watchtower.” You said looking up at the tall spiker.

 “Yeah, guess so.”He said playing with one of his dark curls.

~~

 “Okay we have everyone, so you guys are going last, I’ll leave who goes first to you guys. Now let's go get lined up.” You lead them to the stage and let them line up. Atsumu insisted on going first, Hinata would go after him, then Sakusa and lastly Bokuto. 

 “You owe me some umeboshi after this.” Sakusa said, taking his mask off and putting it in the pocket of his tux.

 “Sure thing. I'll even throw in a thing of nice smelling hand sanitizer for the trouble.” You crossed your arms and smirked at him.

 “I’ll hold you to that.” He said, filing behind Hinata.

 You looked at Bokuto who appeared to be a nervous wreck. He had a small layer of sweat on his forehead and his hands were shaking slightly. “Hey it's going to be okay, I’ll be right here.” You said pulling out your handkerchief and dabbing the sweat off his forehead. “You're amazing and dare I say you're the best looking one.” You said making him blush.

 “Ummm HEY.” Atsumu said glaring at you, obviously butt hurt from your comment. Sakusa was unamused and took it upon himself to kick Atsumu. That gave you the opportunity to turn your attention back to the nervous male beside you. Before you could comfort him the loud speaker cut you off.

 “Ladies and gentleman, would you please give your attention to the center stage, the date auction will begin momentarily.” The coordinator announced causing everyone to tense up a bit.

 “Come on guys loosen up a bit, I’m going to be in the front taking pictures for our instagram page. So show off a little! Show them you are proud to be a part of such an awesome volleyball team!” You hyped them up one last team. “With that being said I want a group picture so bring it in guys.” You said pulling the camera and ushering the athletes into the frame. “Say cheese.” Atsumu wrapped his arm around Sakusa who didn’t have the chance to push him off, Bokuto gave Hinata bunny ears. It was a chaotic photo, but It caught their true essence. 

 “I want a picture with you before you go Y/N. Pleaseee.” Bokuto gave you puppy dogs eyes and you couldn't deny him.

 “Sure Bo. Atsumu here.” You handed him the camera and got beside Bokuto. He wrapped an arm around your waist and held you close to him. You could feel his muscles through the tux that fit just a little too good. 

 “Aww you look like a cute couple.” Atsumu teased as he brought the camera up to snap a picture. You couldn't make a comeback as embarrassment washed over you. You looked up at Bokuto who had a blush adorning his handsome face.

 “Y/N I’m going to do something, don’t get mad.” Bokuto said, picking you up bridal style before you could even protest.

 “That’s what I’m talking about!” Atsumu said, snapping more pictures. 

 “Bokuto put me down, I'm heavy!” You shriked  gripping onto his tux.

 “No you're not. I could carry you around all night like this if you wanted me to!” He smiled down at you! You felt your face light up like a Christmas tree. No matter how big or small you were, Bokuto always made you feel like a princess. 

 “As much as I’d love you to, we gotta get this ball rolling.” You said as he gently placed you back on your feet. “I’ll be taking that.” You said snatching the camera from Atsumu who was smirking. He seemed to be hiding something from the way he was acting. He is definitely sus you thought. You waved the boys goodbye and made you way to the front of the crowd. You got the camera ready as the spotlight of the stage flickered on. 

 “Thank you all for coming out tonight! We hope you are ready to see the heartthrobs we have lined up for you!!” The announcer said setting the tone. “Valentine's day is all about love and being with one another. So if your single, ladies, pull those yen out and let’s get to business!” The crowd cheered and applauded as the auction began.

You didn’t pay much attention to the men coming on stage, your only worry was the last 4. You scrolled through the camera to see the pictures Atsumu took of you and Bokuto. Bokuto had such a wide smile on his face in the pictures, your smile was just as big, even though your face was full of panic in the one where he effortlessly picked you up. You’re pulled from your day dream when you heard the announcer’s voice.

 “We have some special guests tonight from the MSBY volleyball team! We’ll start first with Miya Atsumu!” The announcer said as Atsumu walked on the stage like he owned it. He flipped his hair and looked at the group of women he serenaded earlier and blew them a kiss. You got lucky and snapped a picture of it, he may be annoying as hell but he knows how to get women. He had about ten women fighting over him, his bids kept going up and up. After a cutthroat battle he was sold for roughly  200,000 yen. He smirked and walked off the stage. You couldn’t help but chuckled to yourself, he’d be one of a kind if he didn’t have a twin. 

 “Up next we have Hinata Shoyo!” She said as the tangerine headed boy shly walked on stage. He looked confident for the most part and he thankfully went to the bathroom before this. He had on one of his classic charming but cute smiles. You could hear girls behind you talk about how cute he was. His skin was glowing under the spotlight thanks to the Brazilian sun. His bids went up high, he ended up being sold for 120,000 yen. He waved at the audience and bounced off the stage.

 “Let’s welcome our next bachelor who just so happens to be the tallest one tonight, Sakusa Kiyoomi!” You watched on edge as Sakusa walked out, he didn’t seem nervous but he wasn’t all that interested either, he stood in the middle of the stage like a statue. To make matters worse he wasn’t smiling. You grabbed his attention for a moment and smiled as wide as you could and pointed at your face, you felt like one of the psychotic moms from toddlers and tiaras but you had to do something or he wasn't going to get any bids. You mouthed the words “Smile please” at him and he finally took the hint. He had an awkward but cute smile on his face finally. You relaxed a little and resumed taking pictures. His bids began to go up and quick. Sakusa looked at the exit of the stage and smirked at someone and turned his attention back to the crowd. You could only guess he was looking at Atsumu who was probably pissed at how high Sakusa’s bids were. Sakusa was sold for a whopping 500,000 yen. You know Tsumu’s ego was damaged beyond repair right now. Sakusa bowed and left the stage. 

 “Now let’s end this night right! We have one more contest so let’s welcome Bokuto Koutarou to the stage!” You felt your heart drop and the announcer said his name. You had to watch someone you loved dearly be bid off to some rich girl who would probably steal him away. You tried to knock away negative thoughts but you couldn’t help it. He looked sinfully good when he walked on stage. What nervousness he felt was gone and now it’s nothing but his overwhelming confidence. He carefully watched one specific area of the crowd. You snapped pictures of him (a lot of them being for your personal collection) as he walked around the stage flexing and showing off. His eyes met yours a lot and he seemed to be smirking at you. But his attention always went back to the one area of the crowd. You heard his bids go up, one particular girl was bidding for him like her life depended on having him. Her voice came from the direction he kept starting at. He looked nervous when anyone but her called out a bid. You began to get ate up with pure jealousy, you wish you could take him off the stage and run away with him right then and there. The bids kept going up and up and the girl that kept bidding on him got him for 150,000 yen. He looked ecstatic. He looked at you and smiled before he went off stage. Your heart dropped and you wanted to leave, but you still have work to do. 

 “That concludes the auction tonight! If you won you can meet up with your bachelor over here on the left.” The announcer pointed towards the group of men. You made your way to find the guys so you can take more pictures and let them know where you’ll be when they get done.

 “You guys did awesome!” You said running up to them. They gave you a soft smile. You notice Bokuto was MIA. “Umm guys, where is Bo?” They hesitated for a second but your conversation was cut short as the boys dates for the evening came up.

 “Sakusa was it?” A well dressed man walked up to the tall volleyball player. You noticed a small girl clutching his dress shirt. She couldn’t be any older than 8. “This is my daughter, she wanted someone to dance with her but in all honesty I’m trying to make some business deals while I’m here, keep her company for me.” The man patted his shoulder and slipped some extra money in Sakusa’s shirt pocket, leaving him slacked jawed. 

  “All the umeboshi your heart desires, a big box of the nice face masks you like, and whatever else you want, just please be nice to this poor girl. She looks sad.” You whispered into Omi’s ear trying to persuade him a little more.

 “I didn’t come here to babysit, but I guess I can.” He said low enough that the girl couldn’t hear. Omi peered down at the small girl, she actually had moles on her face kinda like he does but on the opposite side.

 “Umm hi.” She said looking up at the tall man. She seemed nervous. You nugged Omi in the side to get him to say anything.

 “When was the last time you washed your hands?” He asked the girl and you could have choked him. The girl giggled at his statement.

 “I wash my hands all the time! Look my mom even bought me this!” She pulled out a small key chain with a rabbit on it, attached was a small bottle of hand sanitizer. “Would you like some?” She said opening the cap. Sakusa held his hand as the small girl poured some into his hands and she gave herself some as well.

 “Good.” Sakusa said, pulling his mask from his pocket to put it back on. The little girl grabbed his hand and dragged him to the dance floor. You knew this was way out of his comfort zone, but he was still doing it. 

 “Omg your hair is so cute! Can I touch it?” You whipped your head around to see a young bubbly girl talking to Hinata. 

 “Umm s—s sure.” He said nervously as the girl ran and hand through his hair. You couldn’t help but laugh a little. The poor baby seemed so embarrassed. The dance floor was filled with couples and the girl dragged Hinata to the dance floor before he could even get her name. You turned to Atsumu who looked like he had seen a ghost.

 “Young man I’m getting my money's worth tonight so let's go dance.” An old lady who you thought resemble Baba Yaga from spirited away stood in front of poor Atsumu. 

 “Yes ma’am.” He said, forcing a smile.  He looked at you pleasing eyes that screamed “please save me Y/N”. You shook your head at him.

 “Pay attention to me boy, I paid good money for you.” The old lady said whacking Atsumu with the cane she carried.

 “Yes ma’am, sorry ma’am.” He said walking with the old woman to the dance floor. You had to turn your head and laugh, between Sakusa getting stuck babysitting a kid and Atsumu being stuck with a senior citizen after talking all that smack, it was priceless. You guess them ladies Atsumu talked to must not have liked him that much.

You searched around for Bokuto to make sure he got his date for the night, you were also curious who she was and how pretty she was. You felt that jealousy creep back on you. This was going to be a long night. You finally spot Bokuto talking to a drop dead beautiful girl, she looked familiar but you couldn’t quite place her. She and Bokuto seemed to be having a good time, she was laughing at something he had said. Your heart shattered. You look back up to see Bo making eye contact with you. All you could do was smile and get lost in the crowd before he could see the stray tear falling down your cheek. You needed to get outside for a bit, you felt like you were suffocating. You fought the crowd and finally made your way to the exit. You pushed the metal door open. The cold night felt good against your hot skin. You walked down a path in front of the building and tried to collect yourself. 

 “Another year alone and single.” You blurted out to yourself. You find a small bench and decide to sit down for a bit. The night sky brought a sort of comfort to you. The stars twinkled and the moon casted a peaceful light. The cold was getting to you but you were afraid to go back in. You mentally couldn’t handle it. 

 “PARKOUR.” You felt your soul leave your body as you saw a shadow jump over the bench you were sitting on. You flinched back ready to fight off the attacker only to be met with Bokuto standing in front.

 “BO you scared me to death!” You said inhaling a deep breath and clutching your chest.

 “I’m sorry my parkour was so awesome it scared you.” He said, taking his jacket off and draping it yet again around your cold body. Your nose flooded again with the scent of his cologne. It’s calmed you down in a bittersweet way. “But angel what are you doing out here, you’ll get sick if you're not careful.” He kneeled down a bit and pulled the jacket around your cold body more. 

 “I could ask you the same things Mr. Parkour, you have a beautiful woman in there waiting on you, so stop wasting your time on me.” You said trying to hold it together.

 “Well I’m more concerned with the real beautiful one sitting right in front of me.” He said grabbing your shaking hands. Your eyes went wide with what he said.

 “Bo I’m confused?” You said looking into his golden eyes.

 “Well that woman you saw me with is not really my date, yes she did bid on me, but she was never my real date. She is actually the guy who owns our gym's daughter! She agreed to bid on me, but in return she wanted a date with Atsumu’s brother and he agreed to do it! The team helped me do this so I could be with you tonight, but I guess it didn’t go as smoothly as I planned. I’m sorry I made you sad.” Bokuto sat beside you on the bench,

 “Bokuto are you low key confessing to me?” You looked over at him and he smiled and shook his head. 

 “Yes and let me do this properly.” He cleared his throat and held his hand out for you to grab, which you gladly accepted. “Y/N please let me be your date tonight and from here on out please!”  

 “So like boyfriend and girlfriend Bo?” You said wanting to make sure you got the message right.

 “Yes Y/N, please be my girlfriend. All that flexin on the stage was for you baby!” He stood up and flexed again making you laugh. “But in all seriousness, I freakin love you. So what do you say Y/N?” 

 “Yes. I would love nothing mo-“ Bokuto cut you off by lifting your body into his strong arms. You giggled as he swung you both in circles. He slowed down and seen you finally smile again

 “Now that’s a pretty sight, you're not going to be sad on my watch anymore. Now we better get back inside before we freeze to death!” Bokuto wrapped an arm around your shoulder as you two began to walk back. “Wait I have something for you!” He dug through his pockets and pulled out a small jewelry box and handed it to you. You opened it and there was a necklace with a small owl charm and a “B” charm next to it.

 “Bo this is so cute! Can you help me put it on!” You said handing him the necklace. He struggled to get it on but finally got it. The silver was cold on your skin, but you didn’t mind at all.

 “Omi actually helped me pick it out, believe it or not. He said if I would have went alone I would have got something stupid.” Bokuto said, sliding the jewelry box back into his coat pocket. You hate to admit it but Sakusa going was probably a good thing. 

 “Bo I really love it, thank you.” You said leaving up and kissing his cheek. “Now let’s go back, I’ve got to check in on everyone.” You walked into the ballroom with your arm hooked around Bokuto’s bicep. 

You scanned the room to see if you could find any of the guys and the only one you could see was Hinata laughing with his date. They seemed to be hitting it off pretty good. “Bokuto let’s go get something to drink.” You both walked towards the bar, you see that girl who bid on Bokuto sitting next to Osamu. They both seemed to be having a good time.

 “Thank you again! The planned worked Y/N is my girlfriend now!” Bokuto walked up to them and showed you off. 

 “I’m so glad!” The girl said, clasping her hands together. “You are a cute couple.” 

 “Speaking of a cute couple.” Osamu chimed in and pointed towards his brother Atsumu who was being dragged around by that old lady. “I may have given her some free Onigiri vouchers and a few hundred yen to bid on him.” The twin laughed at his brother's despair. 

 “Your evil, but I like it.” The girl said as they clinked their drinks together. 

 “You guys enjoy it, we still have to hunt for Omi.” You bowed and clung back on to Bokuto. 

After circulating the ballroom a few times you finally find Sakusa and the little girl sitting at a table. Sakusa looked dead tired and the little girl was stuffing her face with cake

 “Omi you look like a tired dad.” Bokuto said bursting out laughing at his teammate. 

 “I see your plan worked.” Sakusa said, looking at the necklace through tired eyes. 

 “Yes it did now this cutie is all mine.” Bokuto said peppering your cheek with kisses.

 “How disgusting, when you grow up don’t date idiots like him.” Sakusa looked at the child who just nodded her head. It was hilarious to see Omi so out of his element. “That was directed at you Bokuto not Y/N.” 

 “Omi, he is a idiot but he is my idiot.” You patted Bokuto's back. 

 “Omi-Omi let’s go dance some more. I like this song.” The little girl tugged on his jacket. 

 “Fine.” Omi sighed and followed her dance floor.

 “Now that we know everyone (for the most part) is okay let’s dance!” You said leading Bokuto to the dance floor.

 You danced to every single song and Bo didn’t break anything when the cha cha slide came on. He swung you around all night without a care in the world. 

 “Let’s end the night with something nice and slow.” The Dj said putting on (Insert your favorite slow song)

  “May I have this dance pretty girl?” Bokuto asked, holding his hand out to pull you closer to him.

 “The Macarena may have wore me out, but I guess I have enough wind in me for one last song.” You teased wrapping your arms around his neck. He pressed a kiss to your forehead and began to slowly dance you around the room. 

 You see that little girl struggling to keep up with Omi’s big steps as he attempted to dance with her, he was at least trying you thought. Hinata was slow dancing with his date of the night, they both seemed comfortable and content with each other. Atsumu was still with that granny but he seemed to have accepted defeat as he danced around with her. Osamu danced with the gym owner's daughter and made it a mission to kick his brother when they got close enough, he even messed him up enough to cause the old to hit him with the cane again. You felt Bokuto's grip tighten and he dipped you down enough to finally kiss you on the lips. He pulled away and brought you back up to continue dancing. 

“ I love you Y/N.” Bokuto spoke softly in your ear. 

 “I love you too.” You said as the song faded out.

   “And one more thing Y/N” Bokuto said, leaning down to whisper in your ear. “I told you I would have the most beautiful girl here.”

Fin

[ceilingfrogs]

Wild Goose Chase

SangChengMonth2020

Day 4 : Urban Fantasy

on ao3

“Remind me again why we’re hunting an angry goose?”

“It’s not a goose,” Nie Huaisang said, exasperated. He’d already told Jiang Cheng that three times.

“It looks like a goose.”

“It breathes fire.”

“So it’s an exotic goose.”

Nie Huaisang ignored him and stomped off farther into the forest. Jiang Cheng followed.

Jiang Cheng knew it wasn’t a goose. Nie Huaisang knew Jiang Cheng knew it wasn’t a goose. Nie Huaisang also knew Jiang Cheng kept calling it a goose to get a rise out of him. It was working.

The Vegavis ignis did admittedly share an awful lot of similarities with geese but Nie Huaisang wouldn’t admit that to Jiang Cheng on pain of death.

The bird was rare, exceedingly rare, on-the-brink-of-extinction rare, and when Nie Huaisang had heard that there had been sightings of this bird in the area, a female one no less, he had to see if he could catch it.

He already had a male one in captivity; the poor thing had hurt its wing not long ago and still couldn’t fly properly.

Catching a female meant the possibility of a breeding program and eggs and babies and the Vegavis ignis no longer being on the endangered species list.

It also meant Nie Huaisang could rub his exploit in his fellow ornithologists’ faces and watch in glee as his colleagues pretended to be thrilled for him and not at all jealous.

Therefore, in the names of animal conservation and spite, Nie Huasaing had grabbed his binoculars, a flame proof net Wei Wuxian had kindly created for him and had dragged Jiang Cheng into the forest with him to catch a fire-breathing bird.

Jiang Cheng was essential to the plan; Nie Huaisang could deal with birds. He was great with birds, but he wasn’t sure how well he would face up against the fire-breathing part. Which was why Jiang Cheng was there; Jiang Cheng was an amazing cultivator, good enough for the both of them. Jaing Cheng would deal with the fire.

* * *

“How exactly are we meant to find your goose?”

“It’s not a goose. It is a legendary bird so incredible and powerful that, until recently, scientists thought it was a myth. Stop calling it a goose,” Nie Huaisang repeated, indignation stronger than ever, “And it was sighted near the center of the forest.”

“So we’re just going to wander around in the forest until we find this legendary goose?” Jiang Cheng asked, and Nie Huaisang didn’t throttle him because Jiang Cheng was willingly helping him.

“Exactly,” Nie Huaisang said, still without throttling Jiang Cheng.

* * *

“Couldn't you have asked one of your ornithologist friends to help out?” Jiang Cheng asked after their second hour walking around in circles in the forest, looking for any trace of the elusive bird.

“Not really, they're not exactly... martial,” Nie Huasiang replies.

In all honesty, the few colleagues who also happened to be cultivators were mostly weaker than Nie Huaisang which was saying something, and the fewer who were strong enough to not die within the first few minutes of a confrontation with the not-goose were also well-informed enough to know just how aggressive the not-geese were and would have refused to help.

Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, was definitely strong enough to not die and to not let Nie Huaisang die either. There was also the advantage of Jiang Cheng having been completely ignorant of the bird’s more blood-thristy tendencies and therefore less likely to outright refuse.

* * *

Eventually, they did find the bird. Or more precisely, it found them.

They had had no idea of its presence until Jiang Cheng, with some weird cultivation instincts that Nie Huaisang would never have (much to Nie Mingjue’s consternation), sensed danger and jumped to the side dragging Nie Huaisang with him, successfully avoiding burning hot flames that had been headed straight for them; Nie Huaisang knew it had been a good idea to bring Jiang Cheng along.

* * *

It took them three hours to catch the not-goose. Three hours of chasing and being chased in return. Three hours of Jiang Cheng trying to trap the bird into the net as Nie Huaisang stood on the side-lines giving constructive criticism (Nie Huaisang had tried to help at first but after his hair had been singed one too many times, Jiang Cheng had ordered him to stay away).

Jiang Cheng had looked beautiful — he always looked beautiful — but he had been especially mesmerizing as he elegantly avoided the bird’s attacks, dancing around the flames. Nie Huaisang hadn’t looked away from the battle for a second, memorizing the scene so that he could later recreate that beauty on canvas.

There had been so much fire lighting up the scene, Nie Huaisang was amazed that none of their eyebrows had been burnt off during the struggle.

* * *

Later when they were in the car with the bird safely trapped in the fireproof net, glaring murderously at the two of them, and driving back to Nie Huaisang’s where a very large fireproof enclosure was waiting for its new guest (and where hopefully lots of babies would be made), Jiang Cheng spoke up.

“How exactly did you get Nie Mingjue to agree to let you go on this hunt without him?” He asked which was a fair question; Nie Mingjue was known to be very protective.

“I told him you’d be there.” Nie Huaisang said. Because Jiang Cheng would always protect him, would jump in front of literal flames to protect him as had been proven today.

Also, Nie Mingjue had helped him catch the male bird earlier this year. Nie Mingjue had been less lucky than them that day and had had to sacrifice one of his eyebrows to the flames in order to catch the male. And he had somehow found out that the female Vegavis ignis were far more aggressive than the males. Nie Mingjue had therefore decided to let Jiang Cheng deal with the matter.

Nie Huaisang didn’t tell Jiang Cheng that second part.

[commander-isekai]

Commander Isekai - commander from an another world

A/N:

Hi all! This my tongue-in-cheek fic about a commander, who’s actually a human player from the real world, and who now lives through the game, but armed with previous knowledge about it. They aren’t happy just to follow along a story, so things will get different quickly enough. Hence their name is commander Kai, as a pun from the isekai genre. I’ve been inspired by similar fics done about other games, and I thought gw2 could be a fun one too.

Chapter One:

The Second Awakening or how I found myself in a video game world

Sometimes, all you can remember is falling. It was the only sensation I could comprehend. The world around me was a blurry, like a messy watercolor painting. If there were any noises, I couldn't hear them. I just fell.

A painfully bright light drilled into my eyes.

I woke up with a great thump, as I landed into a large pile of dry leaves. They managed to soften my landing to a degree, but I was aching from all over, like if I had rolled downhill like a cheese in a cheese-wheeling competition, determined to win the first place no matter how crumbly my state would be at the finish line.

"This fucking sucks.." I groaned, tossing my arm out and trying to find my glasses, or my phone, but only grasped more leaves. I hoped I hadn’t broken either one during my fall.

"Are you alright, Valiant?" I heard a concerned voice ask, "the awakening can be sometimes rough, but you'll find your bearings soon enough."

Oh no, had I fallen asleep outside? I had a bad habit of dozing off, but the embarrassment of sleeping outside and this kind person having to wake me up made me wish I could knock myself out permanently rather than face them.

"Yeah yeah, I'm sorry about this, just give me a minute..." I tried to form coherent sentences while pushing my hair away, but my hand gathered only more leaves? and no hair??

I pulled my hand in front of my face and yelped in surprise when I saw that it was bright lavender, a color that my regular human hands should not be, and that I was grasping purple and pink ferns instead of my regular colored human hair.

"Wh-what the hell is going on?" I looked at myself and the person helping me, and only then I realized they weren't human either, but a pea-green person who seemed to be made out of plant material and flowers. Behind them, I could see a shimmering lake and a small village, with more denizens similar to them and me.

As I gasped upon the scene, the two braincells inside my skull finally hit a nerve and made the connection that I had been missing:

A) Somehow, I was in Caledon Forest. Like, the starting zone in Guild Wars 2, an MMO I used to play lot back in the day until I got too busy with my life and other video games.

B) Also somehow, I wasn't a human anymore. I was a walking, talking, internally-panicking sylvari.

C) Last but not least, I could see everything clearly without glasses. This fact stressed me out the most. Had my vision somehow been fixed when I fell? I did like my old glasses, and really hoped they were in one piece somewhere.

"Are you feeling enough well to stand?" the sylvari that must be a mender asked me, offering a hand that I gladly took as I wobbled onto my feet like a newborn calf.

“I think I am?” I answered hesitantly, not certain if I’d stay upright after she’d let go of me.

" I am mender Lorean. What's your name?" the sylvari asked me.

" Um, Kai" I said, as the first name in my mind was the name of my commander character, "short of Cainneach, but just Kai is fine."

It didn't feel right to introduce myself with my given human name, as it was definitely not a sylvari name, and that would have revealed me being something else than your regular baby sprout. I really wasn't married to that name anyway, so Kai came out naturally. I had already used Kai as a all-around nickname, so I settled into it like putting on a new, yet surprisingly comfortable shirt.

"Alright, Valiant Kai", seeing as I could hold on my own against the gravity, Lorean let go of my hand, and explained: "Now, it can take some time to get used to the world outside the Dream. You shouldn't wander off too far from the Grove, at least not until you're experienced enough. You should find anything you need inside the city, and the mentors will help you along. Caithe also asked me to tell you that she wants to speak with you, when you are ready."

The mender that helped me did not seem to comment on my errantic behaviour - they must have seen a wild variety of saplings in their time.

"Wait, why do you keep calling me a valiant?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around what I could remember about Caithe. The total sum was not much - an assassin with a troubled past: a guild of heroes that basically cut ties after a failed dragon killing quest and ex-girlfriend who's in the lead of the bad Nightmare sylvari. That'd be a lot for anyone.

"Caithe told me, about how you joined forces with her to defeat the a large nightmare beast in the Dream. That must be a sign of a great Wyld Hunt", Lorean explained, and asked curiously: "don't you remember the Dream?"

Oh right. The Dream, or the tutorial part with the big dragon monster. I somehow completely skipped that in this new, 4D-supported version of Tyria. At least I did not remember experiencing anything resembling fighting a giant dragon to death, not after waking up here. I had an inkling that telling so would only raise more questions, and I had plenty of those myself.

  "Oh yes, it's all coming back to me", I lied with a practiced straight face, "I must have just hit my head hard when I awoke, that's all.  I'll be on my way now, thanks!" 

I waved and nearly dashed to an exit before Lorean could respond. They were being just nice, sure, but I needed a moment for myself with no one else right now, or I would explode on the spot.

'''

Not far from the village, but enough far that no one would hopefully bother me, I made my way to the large pond, to really take in all the changes.

"Oh no, the fireflies are actually that big", I grimaced when I saw a group of the flying creatures gather around one of the light-giving plants, "That's going to take some time getting used to."

I sat down next to the water's edge, and I could finally take a look at my new features. They were nothing like what I'd been used to - instead of soft skin, my face was hard, bark-like texture. My hair was like plant's leaf, yet sturdier - it hurt when I tried to pull it. My form was different too, almost like I had had a second puberty without knowing it - my limbs were taller than what I had been used to, and I felt my presentation was more masculine than what it had been when I was human.

The more I sat and contemplated my situation, everything around me seemed to make no sense. I was stuck in an unfamiliar body, in the role of the main character of a video game, and while I did not remember every detail of what happened in the story, I knew it wouldn't take long for things to get hairy. Why I was here? Why did I look like this?  No matter how I tried to rationalize it, I had no answers, and I was only left with piling up frustration, and tears began to form in the corners of my eyes.

“Hey, are you alright?” A new voice dragged me out of my depths. It belonged to a blue sylvari with a mushroom-capped head, and whose leaf-like outfit seemed to grow naturally as a part of their body.

“I don’t know, it’s just - a lot of stuff to process. The whole awakening, and everything”, I told them as honestly as I could.

“You seemed to be a little more lost than the other sprouts - and I do not mean that in a judgmental way”, the sylvari said and hold out something: “here, take this, it will help.”

“Oh, thank you”, I accepted the carved bowl that seemed to be made out of a giant nut, and the gentle smell of pumpkin soup overwhelmed me. Gods, I realized only now how starved I felt, like I had not eaten properly for days.

“I don’t have any money, or gold-” I tried to say, but the other sylvari cut in quickly:

“Do not worry about it! I hope you have a pleasant evening!” 

The sylvari took off, and I was too mesmerized by their kindness towards a random stranger like me that it did not even occur to me to ask their name. The soup, still warm in my hands was a temptation too great to resist, and I wasted no time devouring it.

Maybe this world isn’t too bad after all, if people are gifting food freely to others like that, I thought to myself, earlier anguish almost completely forgotten.

[taeyongdoyoung]

summary: the forest is your only escape from the everyday troubles with your family until you find danger lurking behind the trees. or rather, danger finds you. your fateful encounter with the vampire ravn leaves you wishing for a different life. you strike an unexpected deal with the stranger that will soon turn into something more…

pairing: vampire!ravn x reader

genre: vampire!au, romance, humour, fluff, light angst

warnings: incessant flirting, these idiots can’t help themselves, af- 🤢 i can’t even say it 🤢 af-fection

word count: 2k 

part one 🌙 part two 🌙 part three 🌙 part four 🌙 part six 🌙 part seven 🌙 part eight 🌙 part nine 🌙 part ten🌙 part eleven 🌙 part twelve  🌙 epilogue

After your journey to London, you became more open around Ravn. It was way easier to talk to him about anything, to share your worries and wishes freely. And you were beyond grateful that he was so willing to listen and to accept you for who you were. 

The next time you desired to go out for a walk, you didn’t need to be subtle about it or lie about how you were truly feeling. Because you knew that Ravn had your best interest at heart and he would do anything to make you happy. You secretly hoped he would realize the one thing that was missing. You weren’t ready to be honest about that yet. But maybe one day…

“Shall we go to the forest?” you suggested casually.

“Of course,” Ravn responded eagerly and pulled you close immediately so that he could use his super speed and get you there faster. You didn’t fight him, because despite the initial shock, you had become used to his abilities. It wasn’t scary for you, even though he told you on multiple occasions not to trust him blindly. Excitement was the only emotion you felt when you were in his arms.

Once you ended up in the forest, you were surprised to find out it was a corner of it you had never explored on your own. You looked up at Ravn in confusion.

“Where are we?”

“Don’t worry,” he replied with a confident smirk. “You won’t get lost. Not when I’m around.”

You smiled despite yourself and followed him happily. You had no idea where he was taking you but you trusted his words.

“I used to hunt here,” Ravn told you. “Before…”

You could hear the unspoken you he had in mind. He had predominantly hunted wild animals before he met you. You didn’t know how that made you feel. Special? As if you were the chosen one.

“Are you going to hunt now?” you asked curiously.

Ravn laughed and shook his head.

“Why? Are you self-conscious about it?” you teased him relentlessly.

“That’s not it. It’s hard enough for me to control myself when drinking from you. I don’t…want you to see me kill another creature.”

“Are you afraid I’ll start seeing you differently?” you guessed correctly.

Ravn looked away in shame and said nothing. But the silence was answer enough. You decided to drop it, because he seemed uncomfortable talking about it and you didn’t want to further torment his already wounded heart.

“We’re here,” he suddenly came to a halt and you were faced with a small lake that was glowing in colour because of the sunlight. Ravn squatted next to it and placed his pale hand inside the water. You stared at him, mesmerized as the glow transferred onto his skin, the sun making it shine like diamonds. He looked back at you, awaiting your reaction.

“You’re…so beautiful,” you whispered, without even realizing what you were saying.

Ravn frowned.

“You’re not scared of me?” he seemed genuinely confused by how calm you appeared.

“Should I be?” you played along.

“I am the fastest being in the world. I could snap your neck in half with one finger. I’m not…human,” he said the last word somewhat regretfully.

“I don’t care,” you reassured him. “I know you won’t hurt me.”

Ravn pulled his hand out of the water and swiftly got up, making a couple of large steps further away from you.

“You don’t know that,” he chuckled ironically. “You don’t know anything about me.”

You shook your head, disagreeing with him.

“I know you’re good at heart,” you chased him, hating the distance between the two of you. “I know you put others’ needs first,” you kept talking, as you approached him. “I know you’ve shown me more kindness, more humanity than any human in my life. And I care for you deeply, Ravn.”

He simply stared at you unable to move, his face was overwhelmed with emotion that felt so unfamiliar and yet so natural to him. For the first time since he became a vampire, Ravn felt terrified. Not for himself.

“You’re crazy,” he scoffed, hoping to avoid the necessity to face the reality. “Any sane person would run from me.”

“Maybe I’m insane, then,” you chuckled, not at all taking offence because of his harsh words.

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t,” Ravn once again amazed you with his Shakespeare knowledge.

And as easily as he had distanced himself from you, he was back to being his usual self. He grabbed you by surprise and started running. Vertically. Defying the laws of gravity, one second you were safely walking on the ground and the next, he was climbing a tree with your arms wrapped tightly around his back. If you hadn’t been too busy holding your breath, you would probably scream. Soon enough, the two of you were sitting on a very tall branch, surrounded by countless trees. Everything felt so surreal from such a viewpoint.

“You have to be kidding me,” you murmured as you took in the world around you. You hid your face in his chest, feeling a bit dizzy from the height.

“I won’t drop you, I promise,” Ravn giggled softly in your ear as you clutched his shirt tightly.

“I know you won’t,” you said. “But I might die from a heart attack if you keep doing this.”

“I’m sorry?” he offered but didn’t sound apologetic at all.

“Tis fine. I just…don’t know how to thank you for showing me your marvellous world.”

Ravn seemed genuinely surprised by your reaction. He felt like he should be the one thanking you.

“You not being afraid of me and granting me with the gift of spending your limited time with me is gratitude enough.”

“How about the gift of my delicious blood?” you joked, earning another gentle chuckle out of him.

“An added bonus,” Ravn smiled. “Tell me…what are you thinking right now?”

You were in fact wondering how he’d react if you kissed him. Would he push you from the tree in disgust? Would he kiss you back? He was so good at guarding his emotions that it was impossible for you to read him. You, on the other hand, felt like an open book, always telling him what you wished and him granting all your wishes. As if he was a genie and not a vampire…

“I was wondering the same thing. About your thoughts,” you admitted. A half-truth but a truth, nonetheless.

“What else?”

“Will you tell me if I tell you?” you bargained cleverly.

“I promise.”

“I was hoping I’d stop being so afraid.”

When you spotted a hint of hurt on his beautiful features, you quickly corrected yourself, hoping Ravn wouldn’t misunderstand.

“I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid of losing you.”

When he heard you say that, Ravn could no longer restrain himself. He leaned in so that your foreheads bumped quietly against one another. He looked into your eyes, as if asking for permission. You had no idea what he was planning to do. You just stared at him in return, waiting, aching for the same thing. Ravn leaned in closer in an excruciatingly slow manner. When he finally kissed you, you felt like you had yearned for eternity. In his case, that wasn’t far from the truth. He gently caressed your cheek with his hand, while the other one was still supporting you from falling from that ridiculously tall tree. You were still clutching his shirt tightly, your fear of heights far stronger than any potential fear of vampires. Ravn was very careful when kissing you, a bit too cautious than you would have preferred, because he didn’t want his fangs to accidentally pierce your tongue. It would be quite unfortunate to allow such a misfortune to happen. You were so soft and fragile, so warm and helpless. Or so, he thought. When he pulled away from the kiss, your lips desperately chased his, eager for more. Once you’d gotten a taste of him, you could only imagine if this was how he felt about your blood, no wonder it was so difficult to control his urges.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Ravn said determinedly, dissipating your previous worries. “I’ll stay by your side for as long as you want.”

“What were you thinking about?” you asked, remembering your conversation prior to the kiss.

“I was thinking about kissing you,” Ravn admitted openly.

“And then, you did,” you smiled, still giddy from the experience.

“I did,” he confirmed, laughing, the sound sending a gentle breeze of air in your direction.

“I was hoping you would,” you confessed shyly and squeezed his hand.

“You were?” Ravn was amazed.

“I was. And I’m glad you did.”

Ravn pulled you closer and stroked your hair carefully.

“I feel…so happy right now,” he told you.

“I feel…like I’m about to pass out,” you responded.

Ravn looked at you in concern and soon enough, he realized you were probably exaggerating the gravity of the situation.

“From the height?” he guessed.

“I think the kiss was largely responsible,” you joked.

Ravn’s anxious expression quickly turned into a relieved one.

“So I’m entirely to blame for your light-headedness?”

“Mhmm,” you feigned a frown. “You should take better care of your snack.”

“Tsk tsk,” Ravn shook his head. “My poor meal, disregarded so cruelly. What should I feed you, then? Hm?”

“I have a sudden craving for more kisses,” you smirked eagerly.

“I thought you said the kiss was responsible for your dizziness?” Ravn eyed you suspiciously, calling you out on your contradictions.

“Perhaps the poison is the antidote,” you said cleverly.

Ravn discovered he couldn’t argue with that logic and gave in to your wishes, kissing you once more.

🌙🌙🌙

Back on the ground, you asked Ravn if he could refrain from using his super speed on the way back to his castle. When he wanted to know why, you told him the truth. Sometimes you needed to be alone with your thoughts and for as long as you could remember, the forest had been your safe place. Nothing was going to change that. He responded that he understood your needs and was willing to show you the way back.

“You’re not mad at me, right?” you had to be certain he was okay with this and softly held his hand as the two of you walked at a normal (which for him, meant slow) pace.

“I’m never mad at you,” Ravn reassured you. “Just worried you’d be alone in the forest.”

“I can take care of myself,” you said proudly.

“Sure, you can,” he laughed sarcastically and squeezed your hand tightly as if to disprove you.

“In most circumstances,” you added and jumped up excitedly. Then, you playfully bit the corner of his ear.

“You’re incredible,” Ravn murmured in disbelief.

“Look who’s talking,” you complimented him in return.

“Just…promise me you’ll be careful, okay? And don’t go too far away. Please?”

You smiled, sincerely touched that he was so worried about your well-being.

“I promise. What could possibly happen? I get eaten by a wolf?” you joked absent-mindedly and you didn’t even notice Ravn became even paler than usual. He flinched as if you’d struck a nerve. When he didn’t say anything else, you finally realized something was wrong, because he was being uncharacteristically quiet.

“Ravn? Are you okay?”

“It’s nothing,” he shook his head. “You won’t get eaten by anyone but me.”

Ravn decided that humour was the only solution.

“It would be my honour,” you bowed most dramatically.

“You shouldn’t be so willing,��� Ravn reprimanded you. “If I weren’t such a gentleman, I might take advantage of you.”

“If you hadn’t bragged about it, I might have let you,” you swirled around smugly.

“I blew my shot, didn’t I?” he pouted woefully.

“I don’t know,” you further teased him. “I might reconsider.”

“I am sensing there’s a condition.”

“There always is.”

“You’re lucky you’re so unbelievably delicious I would do pretty much anything for you.”

“Ah, yes, my irresistible blood type. Keep telling yourself that’s the real reason you’re after me.”

Ravn was not amused by your incessant teasing so he forcefully pulled you towards him, as if to remind you who’s in charge.

“I didn’t know snacks were so talkative.”

You gulped nervously and blinked at him, feigning innocence.

“Shut me up, then,” you were really asking for it.

Ravn didn’t need to be asked twice.

To be continued…

[estrxlar]

The Ghost Of You

21 - Unwanted Inconvenience

I've changed the band name from "Xannys" to "Grimlace". I am extremely sorry for making you all suffer through having such an awful band name in the past.

I cannot stress this enough, please vote for my chapters! And I love every comment I get so much!! It makes my day seeing the number of comments I get:)

This chapters songs:

Retreat! - Crumb

Sponge Won't Soak - Wild Moccasins

Dark Red - Steve Lacy

- Y. L. Perspective

"Uhm...Suga?" Tanaka's voice is heard to our left, waking both me Koshi up from our very long nap. "We're here you know."

His awkward tone alone was enough to send us both jumping out of our seats, fearful that the entire team had waited for us to get up. But thankfully, it was just Daichi and Tanaka standing above us.

Both Koshi and I look at each other in unison. "Sorry..." he manages to mumble while leaving the seat. I follow him shortly after, leaving the van empty.

Was I sorry? No. The nap against Koshi was five stars. I hadn't ever had such a comfortable car ride in my entire life until I rested on him. Besides, he was my boyfriend. Why would I be sorry for something silly like that?

What I was sorry about was that we almost got noticed by Eclair. The entire team knew about Koshi and me, except for her. I didn't know much about her and from what I perceived of her she didn't seem like a drama starter. She would most likely cry and yell and forget about it when she went back to France in a couple of days.

We had thought everyone would be tired after such a long car ride. But not Hinata. He admired the structure of the big building, yelling, "Wow! I've never been to a training camp before! This feels so cool!"

"It's just a training camp," Kageyama remarked, yet Hinata stands unfazed.

The team entered the building, all of us observing its basic beige architecture and decor. Everyone gathered around Takeda to ask which rooms they were assigned to. As for Kiyoko, Eclair, and I—we had asked him beforehand to get a head start.

All three of us manage to sneak off from the crowd and hunt down our room number: #613. Although I wasn't very comfortable around Eclair, I didn't feel uneasy to be sleeping in the same room as her. It only meant I couldn't update Kiyoko on my relationship with Sugawara.

Once we'd found our designated room, I unfolded the tiny key and stick it into the lock, hearing a click not soon after I turn it.

When I had opened the door, I wasn't entirely dissatisfied. There were two bunk beds on each side of the room, all four mattresses covered in floral printed sheets with nightstands next to them. The curtains had the same pattern as the sheets, falling over a large square window.

Overall, it was a nice room. Way nicer than the previous motels and hotel rooms that my band had stayed in during concerts and such. All stank of marijuana and alcohol.

Eclair's brackets make a 'jingle!' sound while she squealed, "it's lovely!" The girl runs up to one of the bottom bunks and places her bag there, collapsing onto the mattress. "I'm so thankful to be spending my last few days in Japan here!"

Kiyoko nods gently, her too putting her luggage on the opposite bunk bed. Assuming she wouldn't mind it, I threw my bag on the bunk above her. It would most likely be easier to communicate with her if I shared a bed with her.

"Yes, it's very nice," I say, smiling merely at the blonde girl.

Kiyoko began to unpack her toiletries into the small drawer attached to the bunk bed. I hopped down from the top bed and did the same, observing the carvings that the drawers had. Names, dates, and funny remarks were scratched out in the middle of it, lots of them left from previous sports or art students that came to this building for a camp of some kind. All were either hilarious, inappropriate, or gentle. But in all, they made me smile.

"So you're in a band, Y/n?"

In my eyes widen in fear. Nobody from the team other than Sugawara, Daichi, and Kiyoko knew that I was in a band. So how did the girl find out?

Hesitantly turning my head, I nod, making out an awkward smile across my face. "Uhh, yeah. How'd you know?"

She sits up confidently and chuckles. "I was taking a glance at your Instagram. You seem to go on a lot of trips around the world!"

I wasn't very used to being confronted about my band. And besides that, being acknowledged she was looking through my Instagram was stressful. If she knew about my band, was it possible she knew about Koshi and me?

"Yeah, I travel now and then." Proceeding to unpack my things as if it was no issue to be questioned, I place my pairs of shoes under the bed.

No matter how uncomfortable I attempted to make my tone, she kept on going. "Oh...that sounds like fun! You must have so many fans. Your voice is great too. I wonder why you've never told them team about Grimlace!"

"Hm, I like to keep my life outside of volleyball private..." I say. "Could you please not tell anybody else?"

My question sure was quiet but clear to her. It would determine whether or not Eclair was a bitch or genuinely a nice girl.

Thankfully, she nods lightly, messing with her nails. "Of course not."

Suddenly, the conversation is put to the side by a knock on our door, sending Eclair, hushed Kiyoko, and me to flinch.

Kiyoko puts a hand on her chest, sighing in relief that the tension was interrupted. "Come in," she tells the person on the other side of the door.

Two boys are revealed; Nishinoya and Tanaka walk in, already dressed down in their "sleep clothes", which consisted of a white t-shirt and shorts. Could I talk any mess about their outfits? Nope! I was planning on wearing the same thing.

The buzzcut bow flutters his eyes at the sight of Kiyoko brushing her hair and quickly grows flustered. "L-ladies! Dinner is on the table." He spoke loud in nervousness. "Do you guys like your room?"

"Tanaka, we've been in here less than ten minutes. I'm surprised you're already gotten dressed!" Kiyoko speaks in a sweet tone that seems to mesmerize him. She finished up brushing the ends of her hair and dusts her hands off on her sweat pants, before looking towards the other two girls in the room: Eclair and I.

We nod and drop what we were doing to exit the room with her. If the odds were in my favor, Eclair wouldn't continue interrogating me during dinner. If so, she would soon find out about Koshi and me from one of the men that walked behind us, flustered they'd

Not soon after leaving, we arrive in the mess hall, where the volleyball club was spread around filling their plates and emptying them into their tummies.

The two boys leave our side to continue eating and we help ourselves to some plates. Today they served simple rice, roasted vegetables, and chicken. Nothing special, nothing utterly disgusting. As I'm picking up my food, I look over to the lunch table that the boys were scattered upon, keeping an eye out for any gray-haired men.

There he sat next to Daichi, eating small portions of the rice left in his bowl. 'Does Eclair's being here mean I'm not allowed to sit next to my boyfriend during dinner?' I think internally, finishing filling my plate.

Kiyoko helps herself to sit right next to Daichi, fitting in with the rest of the third years that sat on the bench next to the second years Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita. Across from them were the first years and the terrible two: Tanaka and Noya.

I stood uncomfortably at the end of the wooden table, looking over it to see if there were any empty seats I could eat in. All that looked back at me were eyes of curiosity and confusion.

It only took a few seconds of staring until someone was nice enough to mention my standing there.

"Y/n! Why don't you take my spot? I'm just about done anyway," Daichi tells me while he got up from the bench with the now empty tray. I look at Daichi, then Koshi, then to Eclair who was now walking towards the lunch table.

I of course didn't want her to take my spot, so I nod and bow politely, before switching places with Sawamura. He pays my shoulder gently, whispering, "you're welcome!"

Kiyoko and Koshi both smile at me, scooting over the slightest to make room for me. I say my thanks for my food and began picking at my rice, listening in on the boy's conversation.

"And then I spent my time practicing on the girls' team since I didn't have anyone else to practice with me. It sure felt like I was a part of their club!" Hinata told us, Eclair sitting down next to him, beginning to eat her food as well. "What about you guys? Did you guys have any rough stories before getting into volleyball?"

Tanaka cuts the air with his pointer finger, motioning for us to pause any conversation until he was done chewing. "I used to be a mega introvert before attending Karasuno!"

"Yup, Ryunosuke was just like Kageyama but worse," Nishinoya commented.

I raise a brow at the mention of that. Tanaka—a boy at the edge of having a breakdown?! I couldn't speak for myself. I too was a short-tempered girl towards the beginning of high school.

Kageyama scoffs, rolling his eyes at the mention of his name. "I'm not that bad, you know." We all knew that was a lie. As much as he denied it, Tobio struggled with his anger issues.

Eclair raises her hand slightly, swallowing a lump of rice. "Don't sweat it Kags, everyone has their embarrassing issues. For instance: I used to be such an obsessive girl in my first year. I'm sure I was a nuisance to many of the people in the volleyball club. Always talking in class and being a ditz was my specialty!"

"What about you, Y/n? Have you ever been involved in volleyball, or is this your first time being a part of a volleyball club?" Nishinoya asks me. At first, I thought of shaking my head and replying with a no, as if my memory of middle school had disappeared from my mind.

After thinking about what to reply with for a second or two, I nod my head slightly. "Hm...in junior high I was on the girls' volleyball team, but I was more of a bench warmer. I only joined the team to be closer to my friends, that's all."

"Aren't you friends with the captain of Seijoh 

boys volleyball club? You know, since you went to middle school with him?"

I look up to the girl who assumed such ridiculous things, Eclair. There she sat with her chopsticks in hand, lips parting slightly. It was crystal clear that she was trying to dig out my history and force me to tell the volleyball club about my personal life further than what I was comfortable with.

Knowing that I was uneasy, Koshi lays his hand gently onto my knee under the table, squeezing it ever so slightly. My heart beats in its cage, anxious at how many ways this conversation could go if I had said the wrong thing.

"...is that true?" Asahi asks, looking at his fellow teammates to observe their reactions. All of them looked just the same: betrayed.

"Eclair, it's best not to assume things about people you barely know," Koshi tells the girl in a monotone voice, making it obvious that he knew her intentions.

'Well, this got awkward fast.'

"It's okay. Uhm— I'm not friends with any members of Aoba Johsai's volleyball members. Where did you hear that?" I ask, setting down my utensils and clasping my hands together. Surely her reasoning has to be good if it meant ruining my very new relationships with most of the boys at the table.

Most of them sigh after my question, placing hands in their chests. "I thought you were a traitor for a second, Y/n! Eclair, you scared us half to death!" Noya whines.

The girl blinks a few times, shrugging. "I'm terribly sorry! I heard it from a girl that goes to Aoba Johsai, she says that Oikawa never stops talking about Y/n! She only knew by looking up your name and finding out she went to Karasuno."

"Seems you have a crush on Y/n, Eclair. You're almost addicted to looking into her past." Kiyoko suddenly made a remark, smirking as she drank a sip of her water.

The girl grows flustered very quickly, blushing. "No! Sorry, Y/n. I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I'm only interested in what it's like to live without many boundaries. My father never lets me lay a finger on anything that could potentially ruin his vision of what his daughter should be," an innocent look is spread across her face as she says so.

"Aw, I'm sorry to hear that Eclair." Yamaguchi makes a sweet comment, ignorant that she was guilt-tripping. I'd never pictured her to be such a manipulative girl yet calm and poised at once.

She nods, continuing to eat her food.

Though it was her fault entirely, Eclair was saddened that what was supposed to be an enjoying dinner turned out to be silent and awkward. I was growing extremely tired of her passive-aggressive attitude towards me, but losing sight of why I came to this training camp was not an option. I don't care how badly Eclair could hurt my feelings, I won't let it get to me.

-

Thank you so much for reading this chapter!! I know it's been so late since I've updated. Pls forgive me! I've just now started school again so things are keeping me from writing. Love you all as always,

- estrxlar

[drabbles-of-writing]

Can We Keep Him? (pt 2)

This is part of my Uncursed AU

AO3

Masterpost

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

If there was one thing Eda hated most, it was boiling rain.

She could tell by the storm clouds gathering one was on the way. However, she currently had a possible buyer looking over what she had to offer that day. So she impatiently tapped her fingers on the table as she watched the witch hm and haw over every little thing she had.

A boom of thunder snapped her patience.

“Do you want anything?” Eda snapped.

The witch lifted his head and blinked at her, dumbfounded.

“Oh, no, I was just browsing.” He said cheerfully. “I spent all my snails earlier.”

Eda stared at the witch, her left eye twitching as her nails dug into the table.

“Then move along!” She shouted.

“Alright, alright! Jeez,” The witch grumbled, raising his hands and backing off. “Kids these days, I swear.” He mumbled as he hurried along down the marketplace.

Eda didn’t bother to retort. She frantically began gathering up her items in the table cloth. She picked up anything that had fallen and attempted to tear down her sign proudly stating; Human Collectibles!

She had nearly gotten the whole thing down before she heard something sizzle.

Eda whirled her head around. And sure enough, the first drops of boiling rain were beginning to fall.

Eda looked around frantically, spotting a stand that, thank the Titan, had a stone over it. She regrettably ditched the bag of human objects before diving for the shelter, wincing when she felt the drops of rain graze her right leg.

Eda crawled up underneath the shelter, pulling her leg close as she hissed out a string of curses. Thankfully, the burn on her leg wasn’t all that bad. Though it’d definitely bug her for the rest of the day. She considered using her magic to heal it, but decided against it. Using magic on such a small thing wasn't worth the effort.

“Sorry, Lilith,” Eda sighed, peering up at the cloud-filled sky. “Looks like I’m gonna be late again.”

She leaned back against one of the posts holding up the empty stand, settling in for a long, boring wait.

Until a yelp caught her attention.

,

Eda turned her head, looking back out to the open path in the marketplace. Off on the opposite side was an empty clay pot turned over. Beside that pot was a very familiar small plastic crown.

The pot lifted slightly and a black paw darted out, trying to grab at the crown before a drop of rain landed on it. Whoever was in the pot squeaked and instantly retreated their paw.

Only a few seconds later, the paw darted out again.

“Is that…?” Eda squinted her eyes.

Droplets of rain splashed onto the crown. It sizzled and hissed as the boiling temperatures of the water immediately ate away at the crown, bringing it down to a half-circle.

“No!” The pot lifted up higher, revealing the face of the self-proclaimed King of Demons, his face full of horror. “My crown! My beautiful, beautiful crown!” He wailed, once again nearly getting nicked by the rain and drawing his paw back into the safety of the pot.

“Hey, I know you!” Eda called. “Demon Lord, or, whatever your name was.”

The demon lifted his head, spotting Eda and perking up.

“Oh, hey witch lady!” The demon greeted. “You got any more crowns?” He asked hopefully.

Eda gave the demon a deadpan stare before pointing over at her abandoned bag of goods, which was now nearly completely eaten through.

“...oh,” The demon deflated.

“What are you doing out here?” Eda asked. “Everyone knows to get somewhere safe before a rainstorm!”

“Well--I--” The demon faltered for a moment before angrily fluffing up his tail. “Then why are you out here?” He retorted.

“Someone was ‘browsing’ my items when I thought they were gonna buy something,” Eda sighed, knocking her head back against the pole she was leaning on. “Apparently he didn’t think the oncoming wrath of boiling rain wasn’t something to be concerned about.”

“Personally, I think not boiling alive is worth more than a profit.” The demon said, dropping the pot back over his head before standing up, wearing it like a long hat that went down to his legs.

“You’re a demon, you don’t need money.” Eda snorted, watching the demon walk around in the open under the pot for a minute before skittering over towards her.

“...what are you doing?”

“It’s getting hot under here!” The demon said, hurrying underneath her shelter before ditching the pot and kicking it away. “This is a much more adequate roof for the King of Demons.” He nodded in satisfaction.

“Don’t you have, like, an owner?” Eda raised a brow. She reached out and grabbed his large gold tag.

“The King of Demons belongs to no one!” The demon snapped, tugging back and brushing himself off. “I am my own demon!”

“What’s with the collar then?” Eda questioned.

“I…” The demon blinked before looking down at his collar and fiddling with the tag. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Eda said disbelievingly. “How can you not know why you have a collar?”

“I just don’t know!” The demon snapped back. “But I like it!” He said, sitting down and crossing his arms angrily.

“...alright then.” Eda said, turning to look out at the rain.

When she had first met the demon, she had assumed he had been someones escaped pet, due to the collar. It would also easily explain the inflated ego and delusions. People spoil their pets all the time.

But if he didn’t belong to anyone…

“If I may ask, since we’re clearly going to be here for a while,” Eda said, glancing over at the demon. “Does the so-called ‘King of Demons’ have a name?”

“A mortal like you couldn’t bear to know the true name of the King of Demons!” The demon said, raising his head snootily.

Eda gave him a deadpan stare for a few moments.

“How about I just call you King?” She tried.

“That…” The demon frowned and thought for a moment. “That name will suffice.” He decided with a nod.

“Nice to formally meet, King.” Eda said with a bit of a smile, holding out her hand. “I’m Eda.”

“Eda...I can work with that.” King said, taking her hand and shaking it.

“Sorry about the crown,” Eda said, pulling her hand back and looking over at the pieces of scrap that were once some plastic toy. “I could probably find another one.”

“You would...find the King of Demons another crown?” King asked excitedly, tail wagging.

“Only because I feel bad,” Eda said, crossing her arms, though her smile only grew. “And you’ll have to pay me this time.”

King gestured to himself before holding his paws out at his sides.

“Do I look like I have money?”

“Then how about this,” Eda said, thinking on her feet. “In payment, you have to find stuff for me to sell.”

“Like...scavenging?” King tilted his head.

“Sort of,” Eda said.

She dug in her wild mane of hair before pulling out a small dark brown key with a yellow eye on it and showed it off to the demon.

“A while ago, I found this key to the human realm.” She explained. “It’s where I get all my items. Although, recently, it’s getting harder for me to steal stuff from their metal bins without getting caught.”

“Oooh. So you wish to enlist the help of the mighty ruler of demons, eh?” King realized excitedly. “Fear not! For I accept this offer. In exchange for a crown, I will hunt down the greatest human artifacts the Boiling Isles has ever seen!” He said, standing up and posing proudly.

“Thanks, King.” Eda chuckled, tucking the key back into her hair. “Hope you’re a good tracker, though. I don’t set up shop in the same place two days in a row.”

“Pssh, how hard can it be?” King waved his paw. “I just have to look for the loudest witch in the market.”

“Wha--says you!” Eda scoffed. “You’re the loudest demon I’ve ever met! I’m genuinely surprised I haven’t met you yet.”

“Yes, well, I’ve decided to grace this side of the Isles with my presence.” King said. “You’re welcome.”

“Gee, thanks.” Eda shook her head before reaching over and ruffling the fur that connected to his skull by his cheek.

King let out a weird ‘weh’ like noise and struggled for a moment, batting at her hand with his paws.

Which, now that Eda got a better look at them, really didn’t look too good.

Demons had tougher skin than witches, so a few droplets of boiling water wouldn’t cause severe harm. And yet, the way his skin was twisted and discolored from the burns he’d received made Eda's own chest twist.

“Doesn’t this hurt?” Eda asked, drawing her hands back and gently placing one of his wrists in her open palm.

“Eh, I’ve had worse.” King shrugged. “The King of Demons needs no sympathy.” He said, turning his nose away.

Eda frowned, worried about what ‘worse’ such a small demon like King could be referring to.

Her eyes drew to his broken horn.

She decided not to ask and pulled him a bit closer.

“Could I at least try to heal it?” She asked.

Eda had never been good at healing magic. Her best had always been defense and offense, not sitting on the sidelines and tending to the wounded. Lilith had more knowledge in that aspect, thanks to the Emperor’s Coven.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try, would it?

“I...suppose,” King said, sounding suspicious. “Just be careful. I don’t want to chip a claw,” He said, this time sounding like he was partially joking.

“I won’t,” Eda promised before turning back to his paw.

A faint yellow glow came from her left hand and she brought it closer to King’s paw, eyes squinted in concentration as she gently pressed a finger to his burns.

King winced as though expecting to be hurt, though he didn’t pull his paw away.

Slowly, Eda ghosted her finger over the burns, smiling as she saw his previously gnarly skin untwisting and fitting back up.

“There we go,” Eda said, bringing her hand back. She couldn’t heal it up all the way, but now it was practically invisible unless you looked for it.

“Whoa,” King turned over his paw, mesmerized. “Do the other one, do the other one!” He chanted gleefully, sticking out his other slightly less-burned paw.

“Alright, hang on, hang on.” Eda chuckled, concentrating as she drew her glowing finger over the burns, bringing it to about the same state as his first paw.

“That should heal up on its own, now.” She said, letting him admire and study his freshly healed paws.

“Thanks...uh,” King squinted. “What was your name again?”

“Eda,” The young witch sighed. “It was Eda.”

“Right, Eda! Thanks. I'll remember next time.” King promised, holding his paws close.

Eda smiled at the demon. What had happened to him to make him so astonished that a witch would help him, she didn’t want to know.

But she did know that right then, she wasn’t going to be quite as alone out here as she thought.

“Anytime, King.”

[gilbirda]

Eternal. Chapter 2

Elizabeth was a very old vampire, used to changes and tragedies, used to adapt to the evolving world. When one night she searches for a distraction she finds someone as lost as she is, a human man that sparks an interest in her. But will that be enough? Would she risk involving him in her ageless world?

Go to First || << Previous chapter  || Next chapter >>

Chapter 2: When life gives you lemons

When they arrived at his apartment building, William was shivering from the cold and rubbing his hands together to keep some of the heat and Elizabeth adjusted her newly acquired coat to make it look like the freezing air of that november night affected her like any other human. The conversation continued almost one-sided through the nice walk, the boy talking about more vampire culture, his life, his friends, and the latest trends in technology. She listened to every word, partly because it has been a while since the last time someone dared to talk so much to her without fear or distrust in their eyes, partly to focus on something else than the blood calling to her. So far she was resisting pretty good. It may be her new record.

The elevator ride was long and quiet, William shuffling uncomfortably with his keys, making the blood go faster and making the vampire beside him restless. She needed something and she needed it fast.

As they went up the few remaining floors, she forcefully grabbed his dark blonde head with a bit too much force and crashed her lips against his. A surprised gasp escaped his lips, but he answered nonetheless with equal enthusiasm, seemingly expecting them to kiss sometime in the night. So she wasn’t the first one he brought to his apartment, she thought, used to luring people in one night stands to suck their blood. But something very deep inside of her kind of expected him to be different. She was tired of this society of hit and run, that the charm in seduction was gone and that the old ways of courting existed only in cheesy historical books.

She liked seduction, she enjoyed the courting, bantering and the gifts and the pampering. It was sad that she couldn’t do that anymore. But, hey, at least this method guaranteed a fast way to find food, she reflected while biting, no fangs involved, the lower lip of this man who was going to be her victim tonight.

The sound of the elevator brought her out of her musings, reminding her that she was supposed to get into his bed before getting to the juicy part. Elizabeth couldn’t help it, he was really involved in this.

“We should go…” the boy said, a clear blush in his cheeks but managed to keep his cool. Yep, he was used to this, but didn’t seem like the type who went to bars to find a one night girl. This was different, this was fresh. Just what Elizabeth wanted.

“Yeah,” she smiled, encouraging him to take the lead. Men always felt more at ease if they led, that was something that, while she could comprehend, didn’t like.

They walked in silence to the end of the hallway and she barely admired the fine decorations, too raptured by the sweet and warm scent of the blood inside this human, calling her and tempting her, almost making her break her personal rules in hunting. Finally, he opened the door and let her in first, reminding her of the old days when men threw at her feet to gain her praise.

“Maybe you’d want to be more comfortable?” His voice snapped her out of her long lost memories and Elizabeth looked at his smiling face while he pointed at a chair in the big table in the equally enormous living room. The decoration was pretty simple and neat, almost something you could see in a magazine, void of personality; but still she could sense it wasn’t made in any cheap materials. Woah. He must be rich. Jackpot, she could even get some cash, as rich boys didn’t usually miss a few hundred dollars. Even if they went to the police about it, since they couldn’t remember her, she wasn’t ever caught stealing.

It was weird. He didn’t strike her as a typical rich boy in the club, so why wasn’t he wearing expensive clothes and passing his time in a more exclusive party center than that vampire theme place? He was such a mystery, one she wanted to solve. It was a shame that he wouldn’t remember her in the morning.

“Yeah,” she finally said, shedding her big coat with a seductive look. He gulped and did the same. “Now, show me where this bedroom of yours is, darling” she winked, smiling at the perspective of finally having her meal. She was sohungry.

“Come with me,” he took her hand and pulled her gently to a corridor she didn’t see at first. His heart was running wild in his chest but he still kept his cool, something she found kinda cute, and was glad to have the luck to find a nice boy for feeding. At least this wasn’t making her even more stressed. An obnoxious rich daddy’s boy was the least she needed right now.

He then opened a door to what she assumed was his room, neither saying a word while deep in thought, and got inside. Elizabeth tore her eyes from her victim from tonight only to find her in front of… herself. Well, not her, but a really big poster of “Carmilla, the Vampire Queen”, a movie she clearly remembered was released some years back, when this wave of vampire-mania was starting to take shape. In the poster, a really pretty actress, who was an actual hungarian woman, for once they got something right, was dressed in fine clothes that reminded her of her youth, with heavy makeup to make her paler than was humanly possible, red lipstick and everything.

She liked that movie. It was badly made in a lot of things, but at least they honored the legend of the Bloody Countess really well.

“Elizabeth?” the young man called her, actually making her jump. What a fail. If she wanted to impress him this wasn’t the way.

“Oh, sorry, I was admiring this nice poster you have here.”

“Oh yeah, Carmilla! It was a nice movie, but really poorly made in my opinion. At least they got some things right from the legend.”

She turned away from the poster and was going to say something, but the words died on her throat. She barely registered that the room was almost as big as the entire living room, but that wasn’t what enraptured her attention, no; what really rendered her speechless was the giant collection of vampire material all over his room. Books, posters, original costumes, storybooks from animated adaptations, manga, anime, props from movies that were older than William. Anything and everything you could think of about vampires, he had it.

“Yeah, I had accumulated a lot of trash, as my friends call it,” he said nervously, trying not to see her in the eyes, ashamed.

“I… see…” she said, her mouth wide open. She knew about vampire enthusiasts, people who believed that vampires were real and lived their lives hoping to be one, hoping to catch one. She knew vampires that had found some of them, eaten them or kept them after all. She didn’t like them. They took the thing of vampires way too far and Elizabeth considered it an insult. The “vampire-maniacs” only focused on the blood drinking part, taking it to the sexual field, something she could not share. “You like vampires, I assume.”

“Well, yes. I have always liked vampires. It’s silly, isn’t it?” he smiled, finally making eye contact. Elizabeth was too shocked to see the sad tinge on his hazel eyes, as if he was waiting for her to run away.

“Why?” she said, breathing deeply. Her thirst was still there and it was almost impossible to ignore anymore. But she wanted to know if he was like those people she only heard stories of. Why did she want to hear it from him? She wasn’t sure. It was almost like she wanted to get rid of the guilt of erasing the memory of someone so kind.

“Well…” she waited for it, for the fixation on blood-feeding, “I always found it mesmerizing, you know? Living forever, with the power and means to see and do whatever they wanted. When I was a kid I wanted to be able to do what I wanted, travel where I wanted to go,” he approached an original set of fangs from Nosferatu, as it was labeled, his back to the very real vampire in the room. Her eyes shined red with hunger and Elizabeth prepared to jump for it. “But,” he added, “what I was interested in when I grew up, and I still do, is the irony in it. It fascinates me. What would it be like to live forever, watching the world change without you? Being able to see it evolve, but while being unchanged? Dunno, it seems kinda sad. But I haven't met any vampire so I can’t ask.” he laughed a bit, a humorless laugh, and Elizabeth froze in her place. His words resonated deep inside her chest, in a place that few had ever reached, and that scared her.

Who the hell was this man? And how could he voice her very own thoughts with so much ease? Part of her wanted to kill him, as her instincts always guided her, while the other part was sad that she was going to make him forget her anyway.

It is a shame that he won’t remember me.

Her own thoughts stopped her this time. It was the third time she thought that tonight and it made her realise that she didn’t want to erase this boy’s mind about her. She wanted to keep talking to him, see him again, maybe even be friends. She had found humans like this before, different people ahead of their own times with different mindset from the ones of their generations; people who really wanted to look ahead in the future and find their own path. She enjoyed talking to them.

And this boy, William, who she initially considered a little more than a snack, had made an impression on her. She had to admit, it was rare. And the vampire didn’t eat such interesting people.

So she did the best thing she could do in this situation. She fled through the window.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Weird, “Grooming and Dominance”

This week I am going to ask you guys for some more ideas. I know I haven't done this in a while, but I want to write more of what you guys want to read. So if you have a favorite topic and style in which you prefer it written, just tell me and I’ll see what I can do :)

The cameras viewfinder is clouded by dark grey steel, the tiny grains that run through the metal slowly inch past as the camera wobbles sideways and into a better position. A sliver of light appears, and then the camera focuses in on an image. Half of the camera’s view is still obstructed by the corner, but the other half can see. Around the door frame, through the room, and into another door, the camera watches.

“Today I will be talking all about human grooming rituals. Primarily used as a status symbol for social hierarchy and to attract a mate, humans are known to be the only species that choose a mate based on these grooming standards rather than the physical health of the prospective mate in question.” The camera zooms in a little further focusing on the tall powerful back of a human. In the glittering ambient light of the room, the muscles on its bare back churn and roll as taut cords below the skin, the same muscles that allowed the human to stand as a bipedal. Though the human’s head is turned away, its face was reflects back into the light of the camera. As the camera zooms in, the human tilts its large head to the side using one large paw to, with surprising delicacy, drag a strange device down the side of its face cutting a trail of bare skin through the strange foamy substance.

“For those of you who don’t know,” Comes the whispered voice, “This is Vir, my favorite human, he is male and current alpha of this human pack. Now, as I can attest as the human’s medical officer, he is in top physical health for a human male, and well within perfect mating age. Current human mating viability lasts anywhere from age 11 to 50, of course human pack practices generally tend to forbid mating below the age of 18. When I say viability, I mean only the ability to bare offspring, and not the morality of doing so.” The human runs the strange device down the side of his face again, “By all accounts this particular human would be a perfect genetic candidate to pass on offspring, however, as far as I am aware, he has never participated in ANY mating related rituals known to humans.” The camera leans out a little further form the wall, “This confuses me, and I am beginning to wonder if there aren’t other extraneous factors that have caused this.” He sneaks a little closer, and the human seems to remain unaware of his presence, “This particular grooming practice is an interesting one. Male and female humans can generally be identified by their ability to grow hair on their faces, the human male can and the human female cannot. Now in certain instances, human males use this facial hair as a dominance symbol to other males, a similarity you might find with wild Glorg Beasts and their horns. The larger the “beard” as one might call it the more masculine the human.”

The human lifts his chin and drags the object down his neck, “However, this is not always the case. In fact many high status human males do not use beards to signify their masculinity. Generally in absence of a beard you may find a male using his social status, or his nest and territory as a symbol of masculinity. This human has social status to show his dominance and so removes the beard to maintain the visual. He will operate in this practice every day to fill the correct part.” The human finishes leaning down to the basin of water to cup a glittering pool within his large claw-tipped hands, “Many human males and females, including this one participate in hunting practices to strengthen their body. Very few humans are able to maintain this particular pattern of musculature.” The human turns around shaking water from his face droplets breaking to fall in all directions. His sides rise and fall with the powerful pull of the massive bellows supplying oxygen to his blood. The camera focuses on this movement, as the humans head swivels on a thick muscular neck above a wide chest. The sheer power of the human made his body appear bulging and thick compared too many other species.

As he turns his eyes fall on Krill immediately locking into place like a precision targeting system. The body immediately tenses and the head lowers chin covering the soft neck. The human’s hypermobile face twists, and the line of hair above its single eye raises. The strange growling and grumbling begins as the human stalks closer.

“You will be aware by now that the human is attempting to dominate me for moving in on his territory. You see I am violating normal human practices, and now he must let me know of that. See how he stands a little taller, stretches out his muscles, human males present like this often especially when shirtless. It is a very primitive domination technique that humans often don’t realize they are doing.”

The human pauses noticeably slouching. He chirps something at the camera.

“See I have successfully out dominated him in his territory. Sometimes when a human is more physically imposing than you, it is often prudent to outsmart them. Confusing them will give you the upper hand.”

As he speaks the humans eyes widen a little, the line of hair above the eye rises higher. The head tilts slowly to the side then froze before suddenly lunging towards the camera. The image rattles violently from side to side spinning and tilting until the camera turns to view the original narrator. The small figure is well below the human’s eye-line and scuttles after swiping for the camera it cannot reach.

The strange human barking begins in earnest zooming in on the Dr. as it backs away.

The Dr. swipes for the camera, “Of course now he knows that, he is INTENT on proving his dominance over me. Human males LOVE to use their height as a source of dominance to shorter species, and also shorter humans, just watch. If you ever see a human with an object over their head trying to keep it out of reach from other humans, you know what they are doing it for. It is very much a dominance tactic.”

***

The screen slowly winks on from blackness and The Dr.’s face can be seen. His voice is very low, “I have spent much of my time around the male of the human species, but now that I am working with Dr. Katie on a regular basis, I have found that female human grooming rituals can be FAR more extensive.” He turns the camera around and movies quietly into the medical bay. The room is empty, but a sound can be heard just barely through the speakers. It is mesmerizing absolutely hypnotic in nature, like a thousand Windwisps in unison. The sound rises and then falls and then spins tracing patterns through sound, “Can you hear her? Both male and female humans are capable of producing these sounds, however I find the female humans to be most pleasant since their vocal range spends more time within our appropriate range of hearing.”

He turns the corner slowly zooming in on the female human. It’s honestly quite difficult to tell the difference between the male and the female. She is a tad smaller and slimmer than her male counterpart, but her body still churns with powerful human muscles emphasizing her powerful graceful movement as she sways back and forth in time with her own haunting voice. Her long dark fur waves around her shoulders, and the light that plays over it. “The human female can spend anywhere from no time to almost two hours preening themselves. The female dominance structure is not so dissimilar to males. They use body strength and social status to get where they want to be, but often human females compete by way of competitive face painting. First, like the male, the female will attempt to whiten their teeth. They do this at least twice a day with flavored paste doused in chemicals, healthy straight teeth indicate both genetic health and physical wealth. After than she will attempt to make her skin look clearer, also an indication of physical health.” He zooms in on the human as she shimmies back and forth in some strange hypnotic dance. In one hand she is holding a strange cylindrical object using it as a microphone as she makes her strange and beautiful singing noises, “The primitive human brain recognizes facial gender based on tonal theory, and can you really blame them as if human males and females weren’t already impossible to tell apart. The male tends to have a single-tone face with the lips and the eyes appearing the same shade as the surrounding skin. Human females on the other hand have slightly darkened lips and surrounding eyes she will darken both her lips and her eyes in order to heighten these features all by using strange pastes and sticks.”

The human female opens her mouth wide after pressing her lips together showing a line of sharp white teeth glistening with moisture.

“Both male and female humans use their head-fur for attraction purposes some wear it short and others wear it long. Human hair is also an indication of physical health, which is why many female humans groom it so religiously and so regularly. Humans tend to prefer soft, shiny hair when it is long. She will attempt to use that heated rod to curl the strands making the hair look bigger. The more pretty fur you have, the better.” He steps a bit closer, “The most important part for a human female? The eyes. There are theories out there that the human eye is a window to what is known as the soul. Now, personally I think the theory is a whole load of waffle. But some say that the human, as we understand it, is only the pupae form of a human, and that the more powerful essence of a human resides inside like a cocoon. When the human ‘dies’ it is not actually death but some sort of evolution to the next stage of life. Some say that human highlight the eyes because it is the only place where you can see this powerful being hidden.” He snorts and begins to laugh, “Of course that is a complete load of it.” More chuckling, “Humans don’t just wait for this fur to grow. If they want longer fur, they will actually attach fake or donated fur to their own. In fact, there is a market out there simply for fur where humans cell and buy it. The claws of the hands are also points of notice. Both human females and males have each of their claws manicured to a specific size and shape, and will often put clear or colored gels on top to preserve the claw and make them stand out.”

He steps even closer, but as he does, the camera shakes suddenly. Something clatters to the floor with a loud bang. The human is on its feet immediately spinning in a tight circle so fast it is almost hard to catch. Her large, dark eyes are narrowed, her chin is lowered. Her entire body is taught muscle ready to pounce one foot one way and one foot another. In one hand she brandishes the hot cylinder. Her teeth are barred.

However, when she sees rill her body relaxes and she tilts her head to the side in that strange way that humans have. She shows her teeth again and chirps something.

“See, the human female is much less territorial than the male. If the lips are pulled back and the head is lowered, showing the teeth is not good, like you saw at first, but with wide eyes and a lifted chin it is a good thing. This particular human is a healthy female specimen 32 years old 128 pounds, almost sixty pounds less than the male.” The humans head tilts even further and she hoots at him from where she stands.

“She is very curious, just like the alpha, but since we share this space, she is likely to be much less territorial.” The human moves forward setting her object down at the table as she does. Her eyes are wide and curious as she approaches the camera. The noises she makes are higher than the male human’s but in the same general cadence.

“Let’s see what she does.”

A deeper grumble emanates from behind the camera, and the Dr. Turns to find the alpha standing in the doorway, “The alpha is here likely to make sure I am staying in my place like I should in the human pack. If I cause trouble it is his job to appropriately discipline me.” The human walks around in a wide circle coming to stand next to the female human.

He chirps something at her and she responds back. “Look at how the humans never stand facing each other directly. Directly facing another human is an invitation to fight or a challenge, they always stand at a 45 degree angle from each other.” The humans glance down at their feet. “See how he has stopped trying to dominate me now that he is in my territory. You will also notice that, even though he is the alpha he will not try to dominate her. Generally he only tends to do that to his subordinates if they are doing something wrong. He is also not a particularly dominating human.”

The two humans glance at each other communicating with their strange body movements. He tilts his chin in Krill’s direction, and she raises her head in acknowledgement.

“See the bodily communication they are using, they are trying to communicate without letting me know what they are planning. “ The female human began to move forward. The Dr. Backs away.

His camera is once again taken from him, and the humans park themselves on one of the medical benches camera pointing at Krill as they chirp back and forth animatedly.

Krill sighs as they continue to chirp, “Getting two sociable humans together often results in this playful behavior. But I probably won’t get my camera back for a while.”

 Unadded Translation

Is this your new hobby now, Krill spying on people when they’re half naked?

What? No, I wasn’t trying to dominate you. Where the hell did that come from?

This big ugly insect is Krill, you probably think he’s being clever, but he’s really just being a massive ass. I have recently become aware that assery isn’t the natural state of their species.

 Krill what are you doing here. Are you filming me?

Talking about my weight now are we?

There you are Krill, I’ve been looking for you.

Morning Dr. Katie, he isn’t bothering you is he?

No, not really but he is being sort of silly. Talking about us like we’re animals at the zoo

Hello this is Commander Vir and Dr. Katie, bringing you live footage of a Vrul in its natural habitat. See how it scuttles across the floor like that raising its arms, that’s the universal signal for. I am small short and weak and I can’t get my camera back on my own without help. The Vrul are supposed to be very smart, but we are pretty sure this one comes damaged. Very terrible brain trauma at birth, quite crazy.

If you are looking for more stories in this sort of style, I have one right here for you :) 

https://starr-fall-knight-rise.tumblr.com/post/184927962095/humans-are-space-orcs-my-humans

[kickstillkickin]

Klance Month 2020 Day 3 - Thunderpike

"That was a close one," Block sighed, collapsing into a heap on the ground.

Shiro and Valayun nodded their agreement, both a little worse for wear but mostly alright. Meklavar, who needed to lean on their axe for support, glared at their remaining party member. "Maybe it wouldn't have been so close if someone had some self-control!"

Pike flinched, his tail lashing out in expression of his discomfort. "You know, I really feel like I'm being called out-"

"You are!" the dwarf screeched. "One mention of the words coin, crystal, or money, and you charge right in without thinking. I'm putting you in time-out."

Pike put his hands on his hips. "Yeah, okay, whatever. You're, like, two feet tall."

The elf and paladin exchanged a look of equal parts exasperation and exhaustion. Shiro stepped forward, putting himself between the arguing party members. "We should focus on finding supplies and a place to rest. Fighting with each other isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Fine," Pike and Meklavar muttered at the same time.

Block hoisted himself to his feet and dusted off his robes. "If memory serves, there's a village a little way's that direction," he pointed with his staff.

"Then we should go that direction," Valayun suggested. "I hope there's a market. I'm almost out of arrows.

The party began walking that direction. "No problemo if there isn't one. I'll just steal some supplies for everyone," Pike bragged.

"What a great way to make everyone in town hate us," Meklavar grumbled.

"Hey," Pike protested, appearing suddenly at the dwarf's side. "Name one time me stealing got us in trouble." The entire party started talking all at once, each bringing up a separate occasion on which his stealing had screwed them over. "Okay, I get it, I said name one time. Geez."

Shiro gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "We didn't mean it like that, Pike."

"Right," Valayun agreed. "We were merely joking around."

"Of course you guys were," Pike replied flatly, shoulders sagging. His ear twitched. Immediately, he snapped to attention and stopped walking. "Did you guys hear that?"

"What, the two seconds of sweet, peaceful silence before you opened your mouth again?" Meklavar shot back.

Pike growled his displeasure. Everyone else stopped walking and looked at him over their shoulders. "I'm serious. I just heard something."

"Probably just an animal," Shiro assured the party.

Block began biting at his fingernails, looking every which way in a panic. "Or a monster!"

"Or it's nothing," the dwarf insisted. "You hear things all the time. It's because you've got ears."

Pike gave up. "Fine. But if we get mugged, or maimed, or murdered-"

"Look out!" A new voice ordered.

A mysterious figure appeared out of the shadows, and it was running right for them. All any of them could make out was a slim build and a long braid, tossed around behind them. The five of them--except for Pike, who was obviously mesmerized by the mysterious stranger--cast their eyes about for signs of a threat. Just as they did, a pack of wild apes came charging at them from the surrounding trees.

Everyone drew their weapons, though Valayun complained about not having enough arrows. The apes weren't very powerful, but having a distracted party member did a lot to hurt their chances. The stranger felled a few beasts then, upon realizing that Pike was out of order at the moment, launched himself at the ape nearest the thief.

Another moment, and the party was once again safe. Before anyone else could open their mouths, however, Pike sidled right up to the stranger.

. . . . .

"I roll to seduce," Lance said immediately. Pidge clamped her hand down over his 20-sided die. "Do not." "You're not even DM-ing this campaign," he complained. "The young lad is correct," Coran agreed, fiddling with his mustache. "But I believe Pidge speaks for the party when she voices her concerns over your bard-like behavior, my boy." Lance gasped. "I'll have you know that Pike frequently employs flirtations as a means of-" "I roll to trip his sorry ass," Pidge interrupted.

. . . . .

Meklavar tripped the flirtatious thief before he could say anything stupid.

"Who are you?" Shiro asked, stepping in as party leader.

The stranger turned to face them. For the first time, everyone got a good look at him. It was a half-elf ranger with dark clothing, a drawn sword, and a sheathed dagger. Distrusting eyes studied the lot of them, flicking from one person to the next. Discerning threats. Picking apart weaknesses.

"I'm just passing through," he said mysteriously.

"Yeah, we gathered that," Pike huffed. "What's your name, genius?"

"And what are you doing in these woods by yourself?" Meklavar piped up.

Block nodded his agreement. "Yes, exactly what I was thinking. These woods are dangerous, man!"

"My animal companion has been taken from me," the stranger answered. "I heard rumors that the culprit is a wizard named Oklarth."

"What a coincidence," Valayun commented. "We're hunting down Oklarth as well!"

The stranger cocked an eyebrow. "Why are you after him?"

"A family heirloom was taken from my village," Meklavar explained. "Supposedly Oklarth has taken it."

"I have an idea! Why don't you come with us?" Block invited. "You know what they say, the more the merrier, right?"

"I've never worked with others before," he admitted, unsure.

Shiro offered a reassuring smile. "If you come with us, the chances of recovering your animal are a lot better than if you're by yourself."

"I suppose that's true." After another moment of deliberation, the mysterious stranger nodded. "I'll join you."

Pike sighed. "Finally, we've reached a consensus. Can we get your name now?"

"Thunderstorm Midnight," he introduced.

. . . . .

"Wait a minute, hold up," Lance sputtered. "U-turn. That's your name?"

Keith bristled. "Yes."

"Guys," Shiro chided. "You're getting side-tracked."

. . . . .

"Well, Thunderstorm," Pike said with some bite, "would you happen to know if there's a village nearby? We need to resupply before we take on... well, anybody."

The ranger nodded again. "There's a town just a few minutes' travel from here."

"Lead the way," Meklavar invited.

True to Thunderstorm's word, they arrived in a quaint little town within minutes. The party compared notes and decided to split up. Valayun and Shiro headed toward the market to replenish their weapons. Meklavar and Block went off in search of food, potions, and anything else interesting. Pike and Thunderstorm? Stuck together searching for information on Oklarth, seeing as Pike was a thief and Thunderstorm was incredibly intimidating.

"This is stupid," Pike complained, kicking at the dirt road. "Where are we even supposed to start looking for dirt on Oklarth?"

"Oklarth?" a passing townsperson asked. "That's the wizard that cursed my family."

The two of them exchanged a look, then turned their attention back to the ancient woman in front of them. "What else do you know about him?"

"Why, the rotten thing is holed up in that there mountain," she replied, pointing with a trembling, wrinkly finger. "Last I heard, his lair was at the very top of it."

The old woman waddled away, grumbling to herself. Pike shrugged. "That was easy."

"We should keep asking around and see if there's anything else to learn about him," Thunderstorm suggested.

"Pshh, no way," he scoffed. "He lives at the top of that mountain. Sounds like all the info there is to me."

Thunderstorm scowled. "What if it isn't? We could be walking into some kind of trap!"

"And that's why we have me," Pike said, pointing to himself. "To deactivate the traps."

The pair of them continued to bicker as they wandered through town. Eventually, they met up with the rest of the party. Pike relayed the bit of information they'd learned.

"That isn't very specific," Valayun commented.

Thunderstorm sent a pointed look in a certain assassin's direction. "Gee, I wish somebody had thought to gather more information."

"Oh, bite me," Pike shot back.

Shiro physically placed himself between the two of them. "Enough. We have no idea what's in that mountain. We should spend our energy coming up with a plan instead of arguing."

"I say let 'em argue," Meklavar muttered. "Maybe they'll annoy the enemy to death."

"Meklavar," Block scolded.

Valayun face-palmed. Shiro looked a little bit like he wished he'd just minded his own business the day he ran into a certain dwarf and cleric in that tavern. Meklavar seemed two seconds from a blown fuse and Block was the most distressed he'd ever been in his life. (And that was saying something). Thunderstorm and Pike? They were having a glaring contest. It was exactly like a staring contest, but twice as petty and half as productive.

Pike gave in first. "Fine. What's the plan, Shiro?"

"We can assume this will turn out a lot like our first opponent," he began.

"Pike messing up included?"

The thief scoffed. "Pike messing up not included. That was a one-time thing. It happened once. Uno. Just one time."

The entire party took a giant breath to contradict him, again, when Thunderstorm reappeared. No one had noticed him missing. "There's supposedly a secret passage that leads right to the heart of Oklarth's lair. It's protected by some kind of ancient riddle, but it's that or an entire mountain of monsters. Are any of you good with puzzles?"

All hands pointed toward Meklavar. The dwarf dusted off their gloved fingernails and studied them, though there was no way they could see them. "I've had my experience with them."

Thunderstorm wasn't in on the joke. "Right. That's what I asked."

"Well, how do we know your secret passage isn't a trap?" Pike questioned immediately.

"I thought you were here to deactivate the traps," Thunderstorm countered.

"Yeah, well, what if we run into Oklarth while we're looking for it?" he insisted. "Or it's even more heavily guarded than his dungeon?"

"I know a cloaking spell. If one of you could lend me a few things, I can muffle our footsteps," Thunderstorm said patiently. "Assuming you can keep your big mouth shut."

Pike's jaw fell open. "That is slander! You haven't even known us a day and-"

"Thunderstorm's idea sounds great," Meklavar interrupted. "Let's vote on it."

Shiro seized the opportunity for diplomacy. "Perfect. Everyone in favor going straight up the mountain?" Pike gave a certain half-elf the stink eye as he raised his hand. Block tentatively raised his own hand. "And those for looking into this secret passage?" The remaining party members raised their hands. "Sorry guys. It's four to two."

"For the record, my official opinion is that Thunderstorm is wrong no matter what," Pike grumbled.

"Come on, buddy," Block said, patting his back as the party began walking toward the woods once more. "Not worth arguing about."

They stumbled through the woods for only a few minutes before their newest member stopped them. "The villager I spoke said the path started beyond those dead trees." They followed his finger and noted the especially creepy leafless husks, with threatening symbols carved into it. "I'm going to cast my spell now. It will only work for so long, so we can't afford any distractions or delays." Pike turned his nose up the other direction when the half-elf sent a pointed look toward him.

Another fifteen or so minutes, and the trees started to thin out. The party spilled into a clearing just as Thunderstorm warned them his spell would be wearing off soon. In the center was a large stone, with strange rune-like characters shifting around and jumping over another. Some faded in and out. Others glowed blue. They could all feel the ancient magic in it. Eventually, the writing translated itself into the common tongue.

"I am the beginning of the end, the end of every place. I am the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space. What am I?" Meklavar read aloud. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

Shiro stroked his chin in thought. "It's a very vexing riddle, indeed. Perhaps we should meditate on the answer?"

"Bo-ring," Pike complained, dusting off a nearby rock and taking a seat. He slumped forward onto his knees, resting his chin in his hand. "Shortstack, what's your best guess?"

"Gee, I sure would like some peace and quiet to figure it out," the dwarf shot back.

Valayun looked deep in thought for a moment. "I've got it! It's a circle." The group looked at her. "What?"

"No offense," Block said, "but maybe we should leave the riddles to Meklavar."

"It's a good guess," she protested, a little put-out.

"Circles don't have an end," Meklavar pointed out. "That's why they're circles."

Valayun deflated even more. "I suppose you're right."

"You're awful quiet, Thunderstorm," Pike crowed.

"Because I'm thinking," he snapped.

"Guys," Shiro warned. This time, it didn't even have any heart in it. His poor, tired soul just wanted some rest.

"Maybe it's death?" Meklavar mused aloud.

Block thought about it for a moment and nodded along. "That sounds like it could be it!"

"I don't know-"

Pike's protest when unheeded. The rest of the party seemed content with Meklavar's guess.

"So, what? Do I just talk to it?" the dwarf asked uncertainly.

"Worth a shot."

Meklavar took a step toward the stone. Taking a deep breath, they spoke as loudly and clearly as they could, "The answer is death."

They all waited with bated breath. Nothing happened for a few seconds. But then, the writing turned back into runes and glowed an angry red.

"Uh oh," Meklavar mumbled.

"I don't think that-"

Whatever Shiro had been about to say was cut off when the ground disappeared beneath their feet. The six of them were free-falling in pitch black. The ground closed back up above their heads. There was a lot of screaming. The chasm turned into a slope, and the free fall turned into a somewhat gentle descent. The stone under them was smooth, like they weren't the first party this had happened to. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they collided with the ground in varying degrees of pain. No light appeared to aid their vision. Valayun cast a familiar spell, and an arrow from her newly-replenished quiver lit up the darkness.

"I don't think that was the right answer," Shiro finished solemnly.

"You think?" Pike huffed. "It was- Oh my gods, what was that?"

"Again, Pike, the ears," Meklavar exploded. "None of us have very good hearing. You have to answer your own stupid question."

Thunderstorm stood and brushed off his pants. "That sounded like a bug," he commented. "A big one, too."

"How big?" Block asked, already shaking.

"Like, I didn't even know that's what bugs sounded like big," Pike answered as he suddenly appeared behind Shiro's shoulder, a bit pale. "It's like clicking. Or chattering. Ugh." He shuddered when he heard it again.

"It's getting closer," Thunderstorm warned.

Valayun held the arrow higher, but the cavern was too large for it to do very much. "I can't see anything."

"Trust me, that's a good thing," Thunderstorm assured her.

Just as he said it, the room erupted with light. Torches lining the walls blazed into existence. Rapidly adjusting to the new setting, the party realized that they were standing in some kind of arena. The ceiling arced high above them, made of solid stone. In the center of the room, not that far from them, was a giant pill bug. Which didn't sound like a very menacing monster, except that it was twice as tall as them and had too many eyes. Half a dozen giant feelers longer than Shiro's arm (longer than his sword, probably) moved wildly through the air, touching the ground on occasion. It's mouth was huge. Definitely the perfect size to devour even the bulky, broad-shouldered cleric of the party.

"Uh oh," Maklavar said again.

A dozen miniature pill bugs burrowed out from underground, each about the same size as the average person. Block took the opportunity to dive behind Shiro as well. "Don't let them eat me."

"Valayun, Block, and Pike, take out the little guys. Meklavar and Thunderstorm, help me with the big one."

"Right," they all agreed at once.

They took their respective positions and charged the bugs.

Pike darted back and forth between them, disappearing again as soon as he paused to slash at a bug. He quickly discovered their thick armor made it more than a little difficult to deal any damage with a passing blow. He successfully distracted the few bugs that showed any interest in the other half of their party. They had their hands full. Valayun dutifully aimed for chinks in their armor, arrow after arrow disappearing into leg joints and frothy mouths. Block called for her to look out, and she darted away just in time to dodge a bug that had rolled up and charged her. The cleric used spells until his mana ran out, but they had little effect on that thick armor. In the end, he resorted to swatting at them with his staff.

Meklavar, too short to reach much else, took to smashing the giant bug's legs. Thunderstorm climbed on top of it and ran up and down its back, jamming his sword between its armor plates. Shiro distracted it's face, crossing swords with those giant feelers. The half-elf was knocked to the ground when the giant bug rolled itself up and took a trip around the arena.

"This isn't working," Thunderstorm yelled over the noise.

"We need a plan," Valayun agreed.

"And fast," Block wailed, running from a charging pill bug.

Pike dove out the way as another smaller bug rolled past him. Except the bug hit a rock and got some air time. It landed with enough force to pry the coil open. Dazed, the bug's (disgusting) legs splayed in the air, desperate to flip over. Seeing his chance, he darted over and cut a huge gash down its stomach.

"Guys, their stomachs are soft!" Pike announced.

"Secret!" Block cast with the last of his mana.

. . . . .

The six of them abandoned Coran at the table and huddled in the hallway to discuss their plans. The DM sat up straighter in his seat and peered over at the group.

"No cheating," Pidge accused.

Coran huffed and twiddled with his mustache until they nodded and returned to the table. "I hate it when you use that spell."

"Tough luck," Lance said with a grin.

. . . . .

"Secret received," the party said in unison.

Shiro and Meklavar continued to distract the large bug. Thunderstorm joined the efforts to get rid of the mini-mes. Block and Valayun paired up to trick the bugs onto their back, with Block acting as bait and Valayun lining their bellies with arrows. Between Thunderstorm's skill with a sword and Pike's knack for reappearing in opportune places, they made quite the team. The thief lured the bugs over a rock, where a certian ranger was waiting to gut them like a fish. In record time, they'd dispatched all the little pill bugs.

"Now the big one," Shiro said. "Charge!"

It was a great deal more difficult to get the larger bug to roll up again. It had already seen what they did to its smaller companions. But Pike was nothing if not skilled at eliciting annoyance. He poked and prodded and jabbed until that bug was good and angry. But right when it was time to get out of the way, he tripped over a protruding rock. The giant bug rolled itself into a circle and started coming his way. Just as Pike was about to become part of the floor, Thunderstorm darted forward and pulled him to safety. The bug rolled right into their their trap, accidentally crashing into the wall.  Valayun fired an explosive arrow. Meklavar pounded its guts into good. It was Shiro who delivered the killing blow in the end. The bug let out one last monstrous screech before lying still.

Thunderstorm stood and dusted himself off. Again. Then, he offered a hand to Pike. "Good job out there."

"Right," Pike said by way of agreement, taking his hand. He waited for the insult as Thunderstorm helped pull him up.

"We make a pretty good team."

"Right," he said again, though surely his cheeks were a little red.

Meklavar let out a whoop. "We did it! That was awesome."

"No thanks to you," Thunderstorm commented flatly. "I thought you were supposed to be good with riddles."

"Death was a perfectly plausible answer," the dwarf protested. "I-"

Pike, shaking himself to clear his head, appeared next to Meklavar. He leaned gingerly onto their helmet. "Except that the answer was the letter e?" Meklavar shoved him off, but the rest of the party just and stared. "What? Beginning of the end? End of every place? Eternity, time, and space? They all start or end with e."

No sooner had he said it, the wall crumbled away to reveal a tunnel, lit with the same torches from the arena. Shiro gave Pike a pat on the shoulder. "Good job figuring it out."

"I'll have you know I have the brains, brawns, and the beauty," Pike purred, swiping his hair back.

Thunderstorm and Meklavar groaned in unison.

"Let's see where that tunnel leads before it closes again," Valayun suggested.

"Or before any more bugs show up," Block agreed.

The party started walking toward the tunnel entrance. Just as they were about to step inside, a gust of wind blew at them, carrying the echo of evil laughter.

. . . . .

"Well, I think that's enough for one day," Coran announced.

The whole table moaned and groaned and protested. "Really? But that was such a big cliffhanger!" Pidge cried.

"We have been here for hours," Shiro pointed out.

"Come on," Hunk soothed. "We still have some programming to do before Rover's done."

Pidge huffed and put on a pouty face. "Okay..." The two grabbed their things and showed themselves out of the apartment.

Shiro stood and stretched. "That was a really good session, Coran. The last bit had me on the edge of my seat."

"Why thank you, lad," he chortled. "All in a day's work for a Dungeon Master as skilled and prestigious as myself."

Allura rolled her eyes. "I have a few projects to finish before the work week starts. I'll be seeing you all next Saturday." She collected her bags and left as well.

Without a word, Keith rose from his seat and practically fell onto the couch. Lance started picking up empty snack bowls and putting them into the sink. He helped Coran pack away his DM supplies, careful to avert his eyes from personal notes written in margins so as not to spoil the campaign. He sent Coran off, and Shiro left a few minutes later. Letting out a happy little sigh, he stretched his arms above his head and plopped himself on the couch next to Keith.

"No," came the muffled protest, buried beneath pillows.

"Oh, are you still pouting, big baby boo?" Lance asked with mock concern. Keith removed a pillow to glare at him. "Seriously, babe, you're still mad?"

Keith shot into a sitting position. "Am I still mad?" he demanded. "Am I still mad? You assholes played D&D without me! Yes, I'm still mad. I had to make a whole new character because you guys accidentally triggered the apocalypse and started over!"

"In our defense, you were on study abroad," Lance tried to say, only to be smothered by a pillow halfway through.

"You shut your mouth," Keith huffed. "Play D&D without me again, and you'll have to play your character through a Ouija board."

"Yes, dear."

[needtherapy]

A Time And Place For Us (pt 2)

(Since Tumblr is being a jerk about outside links, I’m going to try it this way. It’s also on AO3 if you want to read it there.)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 (Explicit) / Part 4

It’s Xichen’s birthday, and what a coincidence, the Qinghe Nie sect leader is taking a tour that just happens to take him to Cloud Recesses.

Unsurprisingly, it’s an exciting few days.

In this story you will find: Mingjue breaking things; Sword fighting; Xichen’s issues; Mingjue’s birth name; Embarrassed younger brothers; Monsters; Birthday presents; Kissing...and more

A follow-up to Mingjue Falls and Xichen Remembers. 

Chapter 5: Xichen

Xichen thought he had given up being angry at his father years ago, but by the time lunch was over, he was seething.

First, Qingheng-Jun had made them wait, even shufu, standing outside like unwanted penitents. When he had finally admitted his family to Hanshi, he had silently surveyed Mingjue like a man considering purchasing a horse and finding it wanting. Xichen had half expected him to pry open Mingjue’s mouth to count his teeth.

And then he had insulted the entire Qinghe Nie sect. 

“Do the Qinghe Nie still refuse to cultivate music? I always have thought that was a wasted opportunity,” Qingheng-Jun had said with a long-suffering sigh. “But perhaps it is too much to expect the noble arts as well,” he finished, with a glance at Baxia’s hilt.

Xichen would have sworn that Baxia glowed red at this comment, but Mingjue did not seem offended, affably agreeing that indeed, his sect did not have a tradition of music like Gusu Lan.

Of course, there were the usual comments. Qingheng-Jun was concerned that the younger disciples were growing unruly without a firm enough hand to guide them. He admonished Xichen for being too gentle with them and exhorted him to take care disciplining the next generation of students before they ran wild all over Gusu. A part of Xichen wanted to tell him to do it himself. He didn’t bother. There was no point.

But the worst part, in Xichen’s mind, was that his father had entirely ignored Wangji beyond a nod of acknowledgement. Granted, Wangji may not have had much to say, but it would not have hurt to ask. What are you reading, what have you learned to play, where have you traveled this month. Such simple questions, never voiced.

Even Mingjue had been more subdued than usual, eyes flicking between Xichen’s blank face and Wangji’s stony one every time he had carefully answered one of Qingheng-Jun’s questions.

The ordeal finally ended. The moment they were out of Hanshi, Xichen put his hand on Wangji’s shoulder until his brother looked him in the eyes. He wanted to say, I’m sorry, there’s no excuse, he’s always been this way, you are perfect as you are, it doesn’t matter what he thinks, but Xichen knew it would embarrass Wangji. So he just smiled, and Wangji’s tight, angry jaw softened slightly before he walked away. And that was the best they could do.

Mingjue was still beside him. It was an overwhelming relief. When Xichen looked at him, he was looking at Xichen, worry clouding his handsome features.

Xichen smiled wanly.

“Your parents loved you.” 

He tried not to let the words sound like an accusation. But in the few times they had met, Xichen had been mesmerized by the obviously glowing pride of the former Nie zongzhu and the casual affection both of his sons seemed to take for granted. 

“I am not sure either of mine did. They certainly did not love each other. But at least I am the oldest, so my father acknowledges my presence, my...accomplishments.” Xichen laughed bitterly. “I do not know how to change his disregard of Wangji.”

The jagged edges of his anger were fading into sadness, and he nearly stepped forward, wanting to be held and comforted. He knew Mingjue would, heedless of consequence, so Xichen stopped himself to protect them both. Shaking off the last echoes of the hurt his father always seemed to know how to find, Xichen managed a smile. 

“Come with me, Chifeng-Zun. We can visit the library.” 

He didn’t miss the furrow in Mingjue’s brow, but thankfully, he did not press Xichen further.

Xichen loved the Cloud Recesses library, with its smell of paper, ink, and leather. He loved the forbidden library even more, but he was not going to go back to his father to ask permission to show it to an outsider. He contented himself with giving Mingjue a tour of their visible collection. Touching the elegant scrolls and books of poetry did much to soothe his spirit.

Xichen pulled a dusty scroll tube from the shelf and took it to a table.

“I do not think you will be interested in our rare musical texts, Chifeng-Zun, but this is an illustrated history of the dao,” Xichen said as he carefully unrolled the paper, anchoring it on either end. 

He was pleased to see Mingjue’s face light up, so he went to find other works on sword cultivation and fighting techniques.

They spent several hours looking at books. Xichen laughed when Mingjue used a long calligraphy brush to practice some of the unfamiliar dao movements, rather than risk Baxia in the library. 

And if Mingjue occasionally brushed Xichen’s hand or tucked a stray piece of hair behind Xichen’s ear, there was no one around to notice.

Even so, Xichen was surprised when Mingjue cupped his cheek with a furtive look. 

“There are gifts from Qinghe Nie to present at dinner this evening. I regret that I need to leave you to gather them.”

Xichen was growing tired of maintaining decorum. He leaned into Mingjue’s hand and turned his face to kiss the palm.

The sound that came from Mingjue was somewhere between a whimper and a moan, and emboldened, Xichen gently nibbled the tip of Mingjue’s thumb. 

“Gods, Xichen.” Mingjue’s voice was hoarse, and he leaned forward. “If you wanted me to ravish you on the library floor, you only had to ask.”

At that moment, Xichen could not remember any of the 3012 rules that governed the Gusu Lan sect disciples, much less a single one of the 346 rules that dealt with virtue. He just wanted to be kissed.

Xichen didn’t hear the library door open, but he heard the sound of a throat being cleared meaningfully. Both Xichen and Mingjue whirled around to look into the wide, amused eyes of one of the Gusu Lan doctors. Unfortunately, as Mingjue turned, Baxia somehow caught the edge of a low bookcase behind him and flipped it on its side, books and scrolls crashing to the ground. They all froze for a moment, and Xichen thought he heard Mingjue mutter his sword’s name as though he was scolding a naughty child.

The woman rushed forward to help them right the table and books.

“My apologies for disturbing you, Zewu-Jun,” she said as they finished, and Xichen wanted to flee her twinkling eyes.

“Thank you shijie,” he said instead. “We were just leaving.”

“At least I didn't break the bookcase,” Mingjue remarked ruefully when they got outside. “I am afraid the Lan zongzhu is going to eventually bar me from Cloud Recesses.”

“If he does,” Xichen said with a lopsided grin, “The next one will let you back in.”

Chapter 6: Mingjue

Mingjue had set his fifteen-year-old brother on the task of helping him pick host and birthday gifts for this visit. Huaisang did many exasperating things, but he was unfailingly good at gifts.

For the host gift, Huaisang found a craftsman who created wooden plants carved with talismans. When activated with the smallest touch of power, the plants would flower. Huaisang said that everyone knew Lan-xiansheng cultivated orchids, so he had the craftsman create a cluster of stems and wide flat leaves carved with talismans that would make pale blue orchids appear. Mingjue was doubtful, but Huaisang said the fact that it was not a natural color was what made it special.

Huaisang had been right. It was not obvious approval, but when Mingjue demonstrated the slow bloom of petals, the side of Lan-xiansheng’s mouth twitched. He examined the sculpture for several moments while stroking his beard before eventually sending it away with a servant.

The birthday gift had taken more effort. Huaisang had suggested daggers, instruments, books, art, and nothing had seemed right. Finally, Huaisang had stormed into Mingjue’s office and set a wood and silver frog on his desk.

Mingjue had picked it up curiously. “What is it?”

In answer, Huaisang had hummed the first few notes of a popular tavern song. To Mingjue’s amusement, the frog hummed them back. Or at least, the tune from the frog’s open mouth had been very similar to the sounds Huaisang had made.

“It’s an Echo talisman,” Huaisang had explained. “It’s carved into the metal here, see?” 

He’d pointed into the frog’s silver mouth.

 “Each one can only hold a few notes, but I think three would make an interesting and somewhat useful gift for a musician. And you leave in two days, da-ge.”

It was a good point, and Mingjue had told Huaisang to make sure it was beautiful and elegant. Huaisang had just rolled his eyes.

The finished gift Mingjue presented to Xichen was a sculpted wood and metal lotus, with the three frogs seated on the single leaf. Mingjue whistled at the frogs to show off their trick. The shining light in Xichen’s eyes was worth the embarrassment of butchering music in public. 

Xichen played the start of a song on his xiao, and the frogs sang back to him, far more beautifully than either Mingjue or Huaisang had managed. He immediately understood how many notes each frog could manage and adjusted the music so the frogs were a complementary chorus to the xiao’s tune.

Mingjue reminded himself to generously reward Huaisang for his help. Maybe he’d like another fan. Or, considering Xichen’s smile, two fans.

Gusu Lan had made the night hunt an open competition. They would start in the town of Caiyi and there would be no formal boundaries. Unlike the larger-sect night hunts, there would only be a few teams from Gusu Lan and Qinghe Nie. Teams from other sects, clans, and rogue cultivators would be able to compete for the prize. Mingjue suspected this generosity had been Xichen’s idea. 

Mingjue had chosen to partner with Nie Huiji, a distant cousin and the captain of the group he had brought. Huiji was a short man, but utterly fearless and a skilled archer. Mingjue would, of course, have preferred to be paired with Xichen, but the Twin Jades of Gusu would be a team. After the bout with Lan-er-gongzi the day before, Mingjue had serious doubts about his chance of winning, but if he had to lose to anyone, he wouldn’t mind if it was the Twin Jades.

Still. He had no intention of losing.

It started well. Huiji was an excellent tracker. The two of them quickly killed a possessed boar that was an odd shade of green. He grinned at his cousin over the top of the beast’s body, and Huiji rolled his eyes in amusement.

They found a few restless spirits wandering freely and one resentful ghost buried deep in a man’s body. Mingjue preferred the straightforward business of eliminating evil things with his dao, but he wasn’t incapable of shifting the power of his golden core to quell restless souls. The possessed man proved harder to suppress, but they managed to force the spirit out and destroy it.

And then it started to rain. It was never as much fun to night hunt in the rain.

They slogged through eradicating a flock of zhu owls, disturbing with their human-like hands and features. Mingjue especially hated monsters with human faces and was sorry so many of them had gotten away.

Only a few miles from Caiyi, Huiji caught wind of a nest of jueyuan. Literally. Even Mingjue could smell the stink of them long before they found their nest hidden in a cave on the side of a hill. They surprised the group, and Mingjue killed most of them before they could even react, but some of the abhorrent ape creatures tried to flee through the thick trees.

Mingjue had no doubt Huiji would shoot down any escapers, so he checked their lair to make sure there were no human victims. He found evidence of women they had taken in the past. Ribbons. Bits of pastel fabric. A hair comb. He closed his eyes against the horror he knew the women must have suffered, channeling his rage away, through his core and into Baxia, who welcomed it with open arms.

They wanted to kill something.

When he came out of the cave, Huiji gave him a sidelong look, eyebrows raised, but Mingjue ignored the implied question.

“Keep hunting,” he growled, and Huiji nodded.

They found a fuchong by the water. Mingjue cleaved the head of the giant snake from its body in a single strike before it could shoot any of its poisonous needles at them. It was not enough.

There were ghosts to dissipate at the foot of a huge tree. Mingjue and Huiji were able to release their spirits, and that, at least, was satisfying in a different way. But it did not calm the blood pounding in his ears.

Time passed with no targets in sight, and Mingjue’s impatience was growing wings. Huiji suddenly stopped him with a raised hand. He pointed north, further up the mountain, and made the signs for “large” and “two.” The wind and rain were howling in gusts around him, but Mingjue sharpened his senses and smiled grimly when he heard the distant sound of two sets of feet breaking through the underbrush. They might get a decent fight after all.

Mingjue marked Huiji with a location talisman, just to be safe, and they split up, Mingjue circling east and Huiji cutting west. Keeping the sound to his left, Mingjue climbed to the top of an outcropping of rocks near where he expected the monsters to pass. He was not disappointed.

The demons were sickly shades of yellow and grey that offended his eyes. They moved with a lurching gait that was swifter than their tall, bulky bodies should have been. Mingjue made note of their visible strengths: plated skin, sharp teeth in huge mouths, spiked tails, clawed back feet, and hands that curved like a pair of sickles. He did not like the look of the fat yellow spines that covered the creatures’ arms and wondered if they were venomous.

Below him, the demons turned to sniff the air and look around. Mingjue froze. He was downwind of them, but he had no idea what other senses they might have. The larger of the two demons opened its mouth and roared, and Mingjue realized that the sound he had thought was the howling wind was actually the call of this demon. The smaller, darker demon responded in a different tone that made the hair on the back of Mingjue’s neck stand up.

It was a risk, but he reached out with his golden core to find Huiji on the other side of the location talisman, the beat of his heart only a few meters away. Baxia trembled on his back as soon as he touched her hilt. He silently drew the dao and waited for the demons to move past him. They would know he was there as soon as he was upwind of them, and he wanted to be ready.

He dropped from the rock, swinging his saber at the dark grey demon’s spine, but the beast turned just in time and Baxia cut into the evil thing’s shoulder, severing its arm. It screamed in fury and turned on Mingjue, tail lashing through the air. An arrow erupted from its eye followed by a second in its neck, but the demon was not deterred. It slashed at Mingjue with its sharp hands, and Mingjue felt the air part next to his cheek as the creature shot one of its spines at him. He smelled a hint of brimstone and grimaced. Definitely venom.

He bellowed at Huiji, “Don’t let them shoot you,” before Baxia was moving again, this time defending Mingjue against the other, larger demon, who had leaped in front of him. Mingjue was aware that Huiji had moved behind him, sword in hand, because the dark grey demon was no longer attacking him.

Not only were the demons’ hands shaped like blades, they were as hard as his dao, and the demon he was fighting was strong enough to block every strike. But the beast was slower than he was, and Mingjue had no doubt he could evade its attacks until it faltered. Baxia sang as they fought together, and her joy in the fight filled him with elation.

Mingjue had not killed every demon and monster he had ever gone to fight, but he had so rarely made mistakes in battle that he didn’t react quickly enough when his foot slipped on a wet rock and he fell. He should have kept his eyes on the danger. He should have lifted Baxia to protect his chest. He should have rolled to the side. Instead, he was stunned for the infinitely long fraction of a second the demon took to scream in triumph and bring its bladed hand down toward Mingjue’s chest. He didn’t even have time to brace for the pain.

A flash of blue light struck the demon squarely in the chest, knocking it backward with a heavy grunt, and only then did Mingjue react, rolling to the side and lifting Baxia. Before he could leap forward with a killing blow, Xichen was there, Shuoyue extending to pierce the beast through its mouth and up into its head. It sagged and fell, dead before it hit the ground.

Their eyes met, and Mingjue grinned at the savage look on Xichen’s face. He turned to help Huiji when he heard a sound that turned his blood to ice.

A soft grunt and the impact of a body against a tree.

He could not turn fast enough.

He could not run fast enough.

He whirled, falling on his hands as he scrambled up the hill to where Xichen was laying by the trunk of the pine tree he had hit when the demon Huiji was fighting had shot one of its strange spines at him. Xichen’s eyes were closed and Mingjue could see the long shaft protruding from Xichen’s shoulder. 

“Xichen,” he screamed, skidding to his knees next to his love. “Xichen, gods, no, no, no.”

Mingjue touched Xichen’s face fearfully, afraid to hurt him, more afraid he was beyond pain. He choked back a sob when Xichen opened his eyes.

“That hurt,” Xichen murmured, lips curving into a wry smile, and Mingjue sat heavily on the ground, all the air leaving his lungs at once.

Xichen turned his head to peer at the spine sticking out of the tree trunk, but the smile faded when he looked more closely at the tears streaming down Mingjue’s face. 

“Shi-ge, I’m fine. It didn’t hit me. It’s just stuck in my robes.”

Using the edge of his sleeve, Xichen pulled the spine out of the tree and tossed it to the side. “See?” 

He showed Mingjue the hole in his robe.

It took Mingjue’s heart a moment to resume beating, and when it did, he grabbed Xichen’s face and kissed him hard. Xichen hesitated for a moment before he reached his arms around Mingjue and leaned into the kiss, not stopping Mingjue’s hands from moving across his shoulders and arms, still checking to ensure he truly was safe.

“Zongzhu,” a soft voice interrupted. “The demons are both dead.” “I don’t care,” Mingjue retorted, and the feel of Xichen’s laugh made his hands shake.

“Zongzhu.” Huiji’s tone was more insistent. “Lan-er-gongzi was instrumental in assisting me with the kill.”

Oh.

Mingjue reluctantly released Xichen and stood, extending a hand to help Xichen up. He brushed wet pine needles and dirt off his clothes to avoid turning around as long as possible. When he did, Lan-er-gongzi was staring at him, head tipped slightly to the side with what Mingjue hoped was more of a thoughtful expression than a censorious one.

“Time is nearly up, xiongzhang,” he said to Xichen, his deep voice more neutral than Mingjue had expected. “We should return to Caiyi.” 

With that, Lan-er-gongzi turned and walked away, not looking back to see if Xichen followed him. Huiji winked at Mingjue and trailed off after the boy.

“I think they may have noticed,” Xichen whispered, the laughter still in his voice.

Mingjue still felt like there were needles under his skin. He ran his hands over his wet hair dejectedly. 

“Xichen, I’m sorry. I wanted him to like me, but I know how your family feels about…” he waved vaguely, not sure of the right word. “Virtue.”

Xichen patted his arm consolingly. “Shi-ge, he is my brother. Believe me, if he disliked you, he would not have left.”

That made sense, actually, and it cheered Mingjue.

“Besides,” Xichen said, pulling Mingjue’s arms around him and snuggling closer when Mingjue tightened the embrace. “I like you. And we have at least five minutes before we have to catch up.”

Chapter 7: Xichen

Xichen made the most of those few minutes in the rain, tipping his head back to be kissed and reveling in the feeling of being loved.

He hadn’t been afraid he was going to die, but Mingjue’s reaction had shaken him nonetheless. Besides his brother, he realized, who would be heartbroken if the demon’s shot had been a little more accurate? Not his father. His uncle was fond of him, but he suspected shufu would immediately turn his attention to shaping Wangji into the next sect leader. The future of Gusu Lan was what mattered most to him, and Xichen really couldn’t fault him for that. 

But he never had to question what Mingjue felt, good or bad, and the certainty of being cared for was more precious than anything he could have asked for.

The boom of fireworks announcing the end of the night hunt was unwelcome, but Xichen drew away from Mingjue anyway. They would be missed soon and the last thing he wanted was a search party.

He took Mingjue’s hand and pulled, leading him down the path. 

“When I let go, it will only be because I do not want anyone to think I had to help you win,” he teased as they walked together, and Mingjue burst into laughter.

“I’m sure I didn’t win. Your team stole my last two kills, Zewu-Jun. What kind of example are the Twin Jades of Gusu setting for the country?”

As it turned out when they got back to Caiyi, neither of them was correct. They had tied. Xichen shot Mingjue an apologetic look, but Mingjue just shook his head.

“You saved me from the consequences of a mistake, Zewu-Jun. I happily cede the kill. And,” he added with a flash of dimples. “Since it is your birthday, you may have the reward, as well.”

A chorus of best wishes and birthday salutations went up from around the crowd, and Xichen gave Mingjue a dirty look. He hated being the center of attention like this, and he knew he was blushing. To his horror, many of the cultivators pulled bottles of alcohol from their sleeves and packs and raised them to toast him. He sneaked a glance at his family. Shufu looked mildly annoyed, but did not stop them, and Wangji had an unusually unreadable expression on his face. Mingjue was just trying not to laugh.

“Thank you,” Xichen finally thought to say, when it became clear they would not stop until he said something. “It would be my pleasure to distribute the reward among all the teams. For my birthday,” he added. 

When they cheered, he flushed, wanting desperately to be allowed to get back to Cloud Recesses.

There was only one thing he wanted to do on his birthday.

Go to Chapter 8 (explicit)

Note: The last monsters are dao lao gui (刀劳鬼)