#for class appropriate food

[souridealist]

FFxivwrite day 7: 'morsel'

[Elilona&Alphinaud, Elilona&Scions, Estinien/Alphinaud].

--

“Does it seem to you,” Alphinaud asks, “that Elilona keeps trying to feed people?”

“Hm?” Estinien lifts his face from Alphinaud’s hair, blinking sleepily. The aetheryte journey from Radz-at-Han takes a great deal of aether, even from him, and their bed is a warm soporific nest in a Garlean cold. “It’s a refugee camp. Of course she sent something.”

“Even she could hardly cook enough alone to feed us all.” He pauses. “She’d try, wouldn’t she? If we asked her to.”

“Most likely.” Estinien squeezes Alphinaud’s shoulder, gentle in the dark. “She’s doing well, I think. She looks… well.”

“Right, she’s heading out to you quite often, isn’t she?” Only Elilona could take an aetheryte from Gridania to Thavnair and back as if it’s no more effort than crossing a city.

“I think Nidhana’s teaching her how to… do something,” Estinien says. That’s actually quite encouraging — Elilona does better when she’s working with her hands — but Alphinaud does have a point here, brought to mind by the heap of sykon cookies that Estinien brought with him.

“It isn’t only us she tries to feed,” he says. “Urianger says that when he and Thancred were in Gridania they could barely move for peach tarts and lemon muffins, and she keeps sending Tataru and Cid these mixes for Thavnairian chai. Don’t tell me she didn’t send you with something for Y’shtola too.”

“More cookies,” Estinien admits. “And she kept trying to feed me these pumpkin things. I thought maybe someone grew too many pumpkins.” He pauses. “I think that terrifying woman at the Baldesion Annex mentioned they got sent a bundle of things, too.”

“When did you even talk to Krile?” Alphinaud shakes his head. “Ah, well, that’s good to know.” Doubly so since asking G’raha about Elilona seems unkind, just now. “I’m sure she’s sent Lyse something, too, and I believe I heard she was sending something to her friends in Ishgard.”

“Well, it hardly seems you needed to ask me anything,” Estinien says, laughing against Alphinaud’s cheek. “So, what, are you afraid she’s going to give it all up and become an official culinarian? Does Alisiae think you’re being a fool?”

“She doesn’t, actually,” Alphinaud says, not without smugness. It fades quickly, and he buries a sigh in Estinien’s chest. “I just… I hope she’s all right. I worry about her.” Such simple sentences, to hold every ledge he’s watched her stand at. He’s dragged her back from too many of them. “You didn’t see her, after Ysayle…”

“I know.” His arms are a brief, tight pressure around Alphinaud’s ribs, a silent apology for silence and lost time. “We’ll keep an eye on her. For now she’s happy enough.”

***

Alphinaud gets a chance to ask Elilona eventually, when he and Alisiae catch a few days to slip away and visit. Elilona’s house is rich with the smells of sugar and carrots, and she has flour dusted across her apron and perilla oil on the blunt bridge of her nose. She blinks at him once, twice, and then laughs.

“I guess I am cooking a lot, huh?” she says. “It’s been so long since I had anywhere enough to cook in, is all. Five or six years now, I think? Since before I came to Gridania, even. So it’s nice, to be able to do this again.”

Alphinaud’s mouth goes thick with the taste of regret, there and gone. There’s so much he regrets about those first days, with the primals on one side and the Garleans on the other and Elilona driven before them all. What an arrogant, blindered fool he was. So many things that so many of them should have said, and should have asked.

Elilona is smiling here and now, though, as she looks around the gentle colors of the home she has at last. Alphinaud swallows hard and steps forward to hug her as tight as he can, his arms only half reaching around her ribcage and his face buried against her ribs. She hugs him back without a question, her hands gentle on his shoulders. He is almost certainly going to come away with a flour-dusting of his own.

Funny, isn’t it, how these things go.

[canichangemyblogname]

The man campaigned on this. He literally campaigned on raising the price of gasoline, the price of groceries, and worsening inflation as well as the current cost of living crisis and housing crisis. He campaigned on taxing us. He campaigned on these tariffs. And people still voted for him, assuming he was going to be “good” for the economy and the cost of goods.

[dcxdpdabbles]

Can we have more crazy antics of Oldest Batkid Danny!?

In particular order, here are ten things Danny "The Mence" Fenton-Wayne has done after being adopted by Bruce when his parents sold him to a lab:

1. Danny once flooded Wayne Manor before he found out Bruce and Batman were the same person. He thought Batman was a vampire and the running water would stop him. If they all drowned in the process, they at least would not suffer being vampire food.

2. Alfred has a rule that every Wayne needs to work part-time to be humble and appropriate working class. Danny created his own business of leading people on ghost tours and made SURE they always saw one. He purposely pointed at people in school after word got around and whispered, "The spirits want you." Everyone freaked.

3. Dick made ONE comment of people being mean to him in school for being raised in the circus. Danny cut the power in Gotham Academy and released laughing clowns animatronics waving chainsaws into the hallways. They were programmed to avoid "Fellow Circus folk" painting Dick as a hero when he walked his terrified classmates out .

4. During a live interview, Danny twisted the questions on the host, who was attempting to make Bruce look like a bad Father. He then painted Bruce as someone showing severe signs of depression (overly drinking, too many smiles, giving people too many gifts, vanishing from the public eye, and searching for comfort in someone's arm) and then making the host cry by psycho-analyzing him.

5. Organized a protest for affordable housing and kept kicking the gas grenades back at the cops when they were called on him. It took seven people to get him into a cop car in handcuffs, and he was hissing the entire time. When Bruce attempted to bail him out, Danny moved the funds to get the innocent people out and refused to get out of the cell until the cop who punched him cried.

6. He shaved Clark's head because he couldn't scare him with a knife. Clark was more impressed that he did it without him waking up. He left oniomous messages written in what Clark thinks is blood on his walls, saying, "Stay away from my Dad. Keep it in your pants."

7. Armed with a clipboard, Danny habitually throws people out of Bruce's galas. He doesn't even explain himself; he just pops up, points at someone, and shakes his head. A security team swarms the person and tosses them out before they can get a word in. Bruce did not hire that security team. (Danny throws out people flirting with Bruce)

8. He was accused of being Batman or working with him once. He responded with a smile and a gentle, "If I were Batman, I wouldn't have let any of them live." Everyone agreed there was no possible way he wouldn't go for the kill if he had the chance and never questioned him again about it.

9. He Got the words "Peace was never an option" tattooed on his back by a Crime Alley tattoo parlor. Bruce had to then bail him out again when Danny fought off a gang who attempted to mug him as he was leaving the alley with his new tattoo. He had proof it was self-defense and spent the entire news coverage gushing about the tattoo artist's skills instead of the mugging.

10. Every time Bruce brought a new kid after Dick to the house, they were under the impression Danny was a violent, unreasonable person. They were shocked to learn he's the most in touch with his emotions, regularly does self-improvement, keeps up with his therapy, and is so soft with them; he is the walking embodiment of Doting Big Brother. In his hero persona, he is just as gentle and fondly looked upon by the masses. It took them a moment to realize that Danny had copied Bruce's idea of keeping his hero and civilian ID separate. The only difference is that his Hero version is the Brucie, and his Civilian version Is the Batman.

[deikshen]

Shen Qingqiu may know a lot about PIDW, monsters, the plot and papapa plot devices, but, traditional ancient music? Are they seriously going to ask him to learn all those old songs in addition to trying to save his ass from a horrible death?

So, in guqin classes with his students, Shen Qingqiu decides that it is not bad to teach them adaptations of modern music. Nothing crazy. Popular stuff, something classic Queen like exaggerations. He doesn't sing in English, but the music has this magnetic thing that can make a few of his disciples hum along, and it feels like they know the lyrics. Shen Qingqiu enjoys it very much.

Luo Binghe is the only one who actually hears him sing it. With English lyrics included. Of course, Luo Binghe has no idea what it means, but that doesn't mean he can't imitate it! So he's singing softly while washing some robes, enjoying Shizun's musical gift to him, when he hears someone stumble.

That someone turns out to be Shang Qinghua, the An Ding Peak Lord, who stands up from the ground with wide eyes. Luo Binghe interrupts his song, looking at him in confusion, when Shang-shishu... run at him?!

"Bro" Shang-shishu says, in a casual and unpleasant manner, with an expression on his face that Luo Binghe had never seen before, "What the fuck. What the fuck. Queen? Somebody to love? Are you kidding me? How did you get the Protagonist!?"

... and Shang Qinghua begins to speak.

Luo Binghe is sixteen years old, and at this point in his life, he is intelligent, manipulative, and able to handle the situations around him with cunning. So, he manages to keep a conversation going with Shang Qinghua by repeating strange words that he doesn't understand the meaning of, letting the man talk and say things like, Transmigrator? System? Username? How many years has he been there? How did he get the "Scum Villain" to treat him well? Is he preparing for the "Endless Abyss"? Since apparently, that thing, System, had told him that it was an "inescapable plot"...

Luo Binghe is evasive. He says he's been there since he was a baby, which turns out to be an appropriate answer. Bit by bit, he says he doesn't have many memories, which Shang Qinghua seems to understand? He says that some memories settle when he reaches adulthood? That this happened to him. He was twenty when he was really able to manage "both lives" in one coherent thing.

Luo Binghe listens, humming in all the right places, being elusive and evasive but Shang Qinghua doesn't even seem to suspect anything. He insists that he should prepare for the Endless Abyss and promises to get him some weapons and talismans that he can hide. He tells him that he hopes "His King" won't make such a fuss without so many monsters.

Finally, the evening falls, Shang Qinghua begs him to please keep seeing each other to talk, he is tired of being alone.

Luo Binghe looks at the wet clothes. He finishes washing and leaves with many things on his mind.

Shang Qinghua recognized him as a "Transmigrator", whatever that was, from the song. The song his Shizun had taught him. He had asked him how long he had been here. At first, the question hadn't made much sense, but looking back, recalling Shizun's complete change in temperament and personality... Luo Binghe can get an idea of how long Shizun has been there.

Besides, what was all that about "Protagonist"? Luo Binghe is not an epic hero blessed by the gods, and he doesn't have the abilities to be classified as one. Or does he?

That night, he makes an impeccable dinner. He makes sure to present all of Shizun's favorite foods, favorite tea, and favorite scented candles. A treat for the senses. When he sees his Shizun start eating, he just smiles sweetly before:

"Shizun, this humble disciple has a question about the future."

"Mnh, this Master listens."

"Why must this disciple fall into the Endless Abyss as an inevitable plot? Is there no way the System will allow this disciple to stay with his Shizun, or is this an unavoidable fate because this humble one is the Protagonist?"

The chopsticks fall from Shizun's hand. The expression on his face is one of the deepest horror.

"Binghe, what...?"

And his Shizun looks in all directions. He seems to be searching for something that isn't there. The "System", perhaps? Whatever that is, Binghe has never seen or felt it. And, at that moment, his Shizun doesn't seem to see it either. Or, he sees it, but what he sees seems not to be a response of cosmic horror. What he sees makes his Shizun's countenance turn peaceful. After terror and tension, his shoulders relax.

"First, Binghe has to tell me where he got all that... information" begins his Shizun. Binghe nods quickly; he won't have any problems with exposing Shang-shishu if necessary. He has no loyalty to him, not like he does to his Shizun. "Very good. Binghe, sit next to me and pour us some more tea. This is going to be a long conversation."

And it definitely was.

[tealvenetianmask]

Stolas's Subtle Growth in Sinsmas (Social Class Edition)

I sat down to write a post about Stolas's bitchy, out of touch reactions to "normal" hellborn society. I was going to praise the show for allowing him to struggle to adjust, to be imperfect and disoriented and repeatedly put his foot in his mouth without realizing it. And yeah, I stand by that. These moments are funny and in character and just fantastic (have a run-down below). But that's not the point of this post.

Something else about Stolas's behavior struck me as I grabbed screenshots. And it's that despite coming off at times as super insensitive about "poor" life, Stolas is really trying to make things easy for Blitz, so much that he's willing to be very uncomfortable. The meds are . . . arguably an example, but that's complicated (mental illness stigma might play a role too?), so instead let's look at Stolas's initial reaction to being uncomfortable with the food that Blitz prepared.

His reaction is disgust, BUT he really tries to eat the food and make the best of it.

He doesn't start listing off the fancy foods he's used to until Blitz outright asks. And yes, his list is kind of ridiculous, but it's his reality, and when he asks for rats, he's uncomfortable about making a direct request.

Then, when Blitz offers to go hunt rats in the alley for him, he's appropriately grateful. Even more, this is entirely Blitz's suggestion. Stolas doesn't ask him to go get him different food. He's willing to eat something "off-putting" even if it makes him very uncomfortable.

Stolas goes along with Blitz for every errand, and then goes to work with him because Blitz asks him to, even though he's exhausted, out of his element, off his meds, and missing his daughter.

He also answers the phone at I.M.P while crying because Blitz wants him to.

We even see him empathizing with Blitz's perspective AND DEFENDING HIM when the horrible Karen client insults I.M.P.

It gives, "ugh, they have to deal with people like you," and it had me cheering.

This is all to say that Stolas WAS marinating on some valuable lessons about social class while our boys were apart, whether consciously or not.

He's used to having his needs met and routines followed by a staff, but he's making an active effort not to treat Blitz like one of his butler imps, and is trying to keep from being a burden. Arguably to a fault, if his choice to not bring up the meds to Blitz has to do with this.

Owl boi is trying so hard! And that makes Blitz's easy compassion more understandable too. He's not just indebted because Stolas saved his life. He's not just trying to win over the guy he loves who he pushed away. He also doesn't see Stolas's behavior regarding the social class stuff as very insulting. He sees Stolas trying to adjust but struggling hard. Of course he's going to do everything he can to help and keep his snark to a minimum.

[cheesus-doodles]

A Twist in the Tale

Leona Kingscholar

Masterlist

‎

well that took a lot longer than I expected...glad for this to be done to completion though! merry christmas and happy holidays everybody, I hope you have a good time <3

Piercing, half-lidded green eyes watched you from across the bustling cafeteria, lion ears occasionally twitching as Leona picked up on your ongoing conservation with Ace. “....urgh I can’t believe there’s so much!” The red-haired whined, ruffling his hair in dismay as he dropped onto the table. “Crewel is a monster, I swear.”

“There is quite a bit,” came your rather sympathetic answer, unnecessarily kind if you asked Leona. “It will definitely take a while.”

On any other regular day, you, Grim and those two annoying Heartslabyul flies that you hung around were hardly worth his attention, let alone being eavesdropped on - mundane, brainless chatter that actively lowered his IQ with every passing minute. Crewel’s class wasn’t particularly difficult, not by a long stretch. Yet here he was. Clearly, today was as far from a regular day as possible. 

Because there had always been something off about you, Leona mused to himself, his tail whipping from side to side, observing with as much discretion as a predator stalking its prey as you took another bite from your sandwich, covering your full mouth with your free hand in an attempted politeness when Deuce’s crass remark had you chuckle. He had known as much since orientation, when you failed to be sorted by the Dark Mirror - there was just something fundamentally different about your smell compared to everyone else that couldn’t simply be chalked up to otherworldliness.

It’s just that he never bothered. You had been just another nobody, hardly worth his notice or time to investigate.

Up until his overblot incident, of course.

‎‎

A steaming plate of hamburger steak clankering down onto the table in front of Leona was enough to startle him out of his train of thoughts. “Leona, why ya glaring like they owe you money?” Ruggie quipped, thumbing in your general direction as he fell into the seat with a sigh, lazily lounging across and occupying the entire bench - not that anyone else dared to share. “Wait, do they actually owe you money?”

Despite it being well past peak-lunch hour, the cafeteria was still rather packed with students milling about, the cacophony of noises from loud and hushed conversations alike only adding to the growing headache Leona felt starting to pound from the depths of his mind. Far from his ideal environment of a quiet, peaceful area where he could nap undisturbed, the constant din was one of many reasons the Sunset Savannah’s second prince avoided this wretched place as much as going home.

And the rest of his dorm certainly took note of his unusual appearance in such a public area, whispering among themselves even as they kept a respectful distance, picking a careful semi-circle around the table where Leona and Ruggie sat - easy enough to ignore, really. They knew better than to prod where they weren’t welcomed, if not risk learning the hard way that their housewarden was lazy, not weak. 

Leona picked up his fork, stabbing it into the minced patty rather viciously, tearing his gaze away from you and down to the plate. The food looked especially unappetizing today. “He smells different.” The words slipped from his lips before the lion beastman could stop it, surprising both himself and Ruggie in the process, the sandy-brown haired boy whipping his head up to stare at him in disbelief. Right before said hyena thought it appropriate to dramatically turn to look at you, immediately earning him the prince’s ire.  There was no denying who Leona was referring to, but why did he have to be so obvious about it?

You, fortunately, did not notice. 

”The Ramshackle prefect?” Ruggie wondered aloud, nose tweaking, before turning back to face his housewarden. “I suppose so, given he’s from another world and all. What about it? If they don’t owe you money then it doesn’t really matter what they smell like.” A pause, the gears clearly turning behind the other’s blue-gray eyes, before he leaned forward, a cheeky grin plastered on his face, eyebrows wriggling. “Unless…”

He should have guessed where this was going. “Forget it.” 

“Come on Leona, I ain’t a blabber.”

“If you keep flapping your lips Ruggie, you’re about to find ‘em sewn shut.”

The hyena beastman simply smiled knowingly even as he threw his arms up in defeat, instead turning his attention to his feast of sandwiches.

Rubbing his forehead in annoyance, the rough texture of the glove dragging across his skin did not help in the slightest with his headache. Why was he bothering with this again? Whatever he could learn surely wasn’t going to be worth this amount of irritation.

But two weeks on from having you thrusted straight to the centre of his life and much to his dismay, Leona finds himself unable to get you out of his head, well after you seemed to have moved on rather easily. It’s not that he liked you (perish the thought). He just had to find out, Leona assured himself, and then he could put this whole fascination behind him and move on with his godforsaken life. He needed to know what made you different.

‎

He watched you stand, your empty tray in one hand, the other waving to the group. His ears stood up instantly, his attention returning to you. Were you going somewhere?

“... be heading out to the town, do you guys want anything?”

Town? A quick think, and he understands. Memorizing your group’s class schedule wasn’t difficult, and as a non-mage, you wouldn’t be able to attend any of the usual classes that your friends would have that involved magic. The first year Heartslabyuls were having flying class next, which meant that you weren’t attending. 

“Again?” Grim whined, slouching to rest his head on the table top. “How come you always get to go and have fun without me?”

Chuckling softly as you held your history textbooks to your chest, you shrugged. “I’m just going to pick up some supplies since I have a bit of free time.”

It seemed Ruggie had joined in on the eavesdropping. “Planning to follow him?” Said shameless hyena smirked, propping his two hands behind his head, though that move made him wince slightly; seems like Ruggie hadn’t yet fully recovered from the whole Spelldrive incident just yet. Serves him right though.

Leona scoffed, standing from the bench. He wasn’t hungry anymore. “I need a nap.” Stalking wasn’t quite his thing, and you weren’t going anywhere anytime soon, given how your way home was literally dependent on that dirtbag of a school principal. He’ll solve this nagging puzzle at his own leisure. 

A look of alarm washed over Ruggie’s face. “Wait, Leona! Can I have your plate if you’re not eating it?”

‎

His opportunity came sooner than expected.

The sky above Savanaclaw Dorm had turned dark an hour ago, the moon hanging above the darkened desert illuminating the swirling sand blown along by a gentle breeze. Outside his closed room door, the dorm was still lively with activity, students mulling about the corridors discussing the recently past final exams and Spelldrive tournament or gathering by the waterfall in the lounge to enjoy some peace and quiet. 

Leona, however, was locked away inside his room, his brain still annoyingly fixated on you. He hadn’t been able to follow you out to town from NRC yesterday, not without having to answer some very uncomfortable questions about his motive. Tapping one nail rhythmically on the hard wood top of his desk, the second Sunset Savannah prince continued to think and brainstorm - not mull about like some lost little lover, mind you - all the possibilities to the mystery that was you. He had a few theories, a few ideas, but none of them fully made sense with all the information he currently had. 

Letting out a sigh, the man leaned back, running one hand through his mob of brown hair. He had to be missing something somewhere, a piece of the puzzle. Right then, as if on cue, as if there was some divinity out there who had decided to shine down on him, lion ears picked out an unusual stir of disgruntlement emulating from outside. Leona tried to ignore it, as he always does, but the commotion refused to die down even after a few minutes. So with great reluctance, he stood from his chair.

It was your begrudgingly familiar smell wafting through the otherwise still air that his sensitive nose instantly picked up the moment Leona opened his room door, quickly followed by your mob of hair amidst the rest of the beastmen that he spotted as he made his way over to the lounge. Well well well. “Of all the places to find you in,” he drawled out, his tail flickering behind him as the room fell silent, the murmurs quickly dying out in his presence. “Savanaclaw ain’t no place for herbivores.”

You scratched the back of your head awkwardly. This clearly wasn’t your first choice.

Jack stepped forward, almost as if to shield you from the housewarden’s line of sight with his larger stature. “Leona, they-”

“We got kicked out of Ramshackle!” Grim wailed out, clutching onto your leg, the purple anemone sticking out grey fur a dead giveaway to the lead up to this conundrum.

“Not a chance,” Leona drawled out, crossing his arms even as his mind whirled behind those half-lidded green eyes. This was it: his chance.

You had always lived alone - or rather with Grim, though the fiery racoon hardly counted as a proper roommate - at Ramshackle Dorm since your arrival in Twisted Wonderland. Out of reach from him and any potential other students that Leona could have intimidated for information. But now, it seems you made a deal with that cephalo-punk Azul Ashengrottel, and Jack had delivered you directly to him like a good little puppy, unknowingly helping you straight right into his grasp.

The white-haired beastman blinked. “You didn’t even pause before answering…”

“No pets allowed in the dorm,” the Sunset Savannah prince shrugged. “They shed all over the place.” He hadn’t quite figured out where he could put you up temporarily (three days was more than enough for him to solve his little vexing puzzle, hell he’ll take one day and hopefully kick the two of you out by tomorrow evening). 

Leona couldn’t roll over so easily, no matter how much the pit in his gut yearned for it. He had to at least put up a decent fight in front of his dorm’s students, and most of all, Ruggie. He’ll never live this down otherwise.

‎

Okay, so perhaps you sharing his room wasn’t ideal, nor was it really part of his spontaneous plan. But what was done was done. It’s temporary anyway.

Your footsteps, light as a fae’s, were easy enough to pick up against the otherwise silent dorm. Picking your way carefully through the dark room, you made your way out, the room door clicking shut behind you and blocking out the little light that poured in momentarily from the dim corridor. If you had been the slightest bit more observant, you might have noticed Leona’s green eyes sliding open to watch you, lion ears twitching as they followed the ambient sound of your rustling clothes. 

It was the middle of the night, way past his usual bedtime - and it should be way past yours as well. Grim was fast asleep on the spare bedding at the foot of his bed. Very telling that you didn’t take your little minion with you.

Waiting for a few more seconds, the lion beastman carelessly tossed off his blankets, following you out of his room. And your telltale smell led him past closed doors and loud snores that echoing down empty hallways, straight towards the bathroom. 

Interesting. Time to find out what you were hiding.

‎

‎

You hummed a light tune under your breath, allowing the warm water to run over your body. You had expected Savanaclaw Dorm to be different from what you were used to, with the sneakpeek you’ve gotten before the Spelldrive tournament hinting that it was different enough from the life you knew back at Ramshackle, but you had to admit to yourself you hadn’t expected it to be this different. Imagine your surprise upon realizing that there was only one communal bathroom - and only learning that fact as you entered. You hoped no one noticed how fast you turned and left.

Shaking your head, you focused on rinsing off the shampoo from your hair, the stall walls though open at the back at least giving some privacy from the side. The water splashing down onto the tile from the showerhead echoed through the otherwise empty room; exactly as you had planned. It was only at this time of night that you would be able to get any semblance of privacy, and you silently pledged to yourself to never take Ramshackle Dorm’s silence for granted again.

You scrubbed down, trying to shake the thought of losing Ramshackle to Azul out of your head. You would do everything to make sure that didn’t happen, and you weren’t going to forgive Grim, Ace or Deuce that easily for all this mess they got you in.

Lost in the what-ifs, you failed to notice the patter of footsteps entering the shower room, right up till a deep voice piped up from behind you.

“So that’s why you don’t smell like the others.”

You froze.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still, the water cascading down your body and your very obviously female chest. You didn’t know what to do, didn’t dare to breathe, racing to think.

Fuck.

In a snap, you screamed, picking up the nearest object and hurling it straight at the intruder without looking, your other hand immediately reaching for the towel you had hung over the stall wall. The shampoo bottle was narrowly dodged, bouncing off the wall behind him and clanking to the floor. “W-what the fuck- get out!” You squeezed your eyes shut, your face beet red as you grabbed another bottle, throwing it with all the strength you had. Someone saw you. Some guy’s seen you. You should have been more careful, maybe you shouldn’t have showered at all, maybe you have-

“Shut it!” One large hand was quickly slapped over your mouth, the other grabbing your hand and stopping you from flinging your third munition. “Do you want the entire dorm to wake? Just breathe, dammit.”

You shook off his hand, moving to secure your towel around you before you took a deep breath, looking up to see who had walked in on you. 

Leona Kingscholar, the Savanaclaw Housewarden himself, looking mighty amused at the revelation that you were, in fact, of the opposite gender. A red-faced lady in the house of men.

“Does that crow know?”

“Crowley? Of course he does,” you snapped, clutching the towel wrapped around you tightly. “Now can you get out?”

The lion beastman only leaned onto the stall door, crossing his arms. “So how have you been hiding that all this time?” He drawled, pointing at your chest with his chin. You picked up another bottle threateningly, and Leona immediately raised both hands in surrender, taking a step back and behind the stall door.

“Peace,” he drawled. “I’m just here for answers.”

“And I’m here to bathe,” you barked back. “Chest binding is what I do, now out.”

The chuckle as the second prince strolled out reverberated through the still bathroom. You groaned, sinking to a squat and hiding your face in your hands. You were never going to live this down now, were you?

[poutysprouty]

Best Friend!Gojo

He inherited an empire built on power, wealth, and success, but you were always his crown—his greatest treasure. From the moment you became friends, he knew you were the only thing that made it all worth it. Nothing meant anything to him without you by his side. — In which reader has been Gojo's other half since high school.

warnings: Tooth rotting fluff. Gojo is now, and always has been, a menace.

a/n: Loosely inspired by all of the Nerdjo & College JJK AU's I've been seeing and consuming like they're the last food I'll ever eat in my life. I have ideas for some Sukuna ones next <3

Best Friend!Gojo who you’ve known since high school. Appropriately nicknamed “The Chaos Twins”, the two of you were always feeding off each other’s energy, causing trouble just because you could. 

Best Friend!Gojo who was the de-facto ringleader of your little duo, but everyone knew that you were the true mastermind—and the only one who could knock him down a peg when needed. Much to Geto and Nanami’s eternal suffering.

Best Friend!Gojo who realized in Junior year that he had a little crush on you. Watching you giggle, eyes alight with mischief as he helped you set up a prank for Yaga, he suddenly saw you in a different light—beautiful, brilliant, and so effortlessly you. Perfect for him in every way.

Best Friend!Gojo who felt his heart drop out of his ass when, in Senior year, you listed the colleges you were applying to, not a single one matching the Ivy League he had already been accepted into. The same one his father and grandfather had attended, the one he had assumed you’d be right there with him at.

Best Friend!Gojo who quite literally dropped to his knees and hugged your legs, dramatically begging you to apply to his school, only for you to sigh and murmur, “I won’t get in even if I tried.” It was one of the few times he’d ever heard you sound defeated, your fingers brushing through his hair like you already knew the outcome.

Best Friend!Gojo who refused to accept that, who convinced you to apply anyway, helping you with the entire process, flashing that smug grin and saying, “It doesn’t hurt to try.”

Best Friend!Gojo who was the first person you told when the acceptance letter arrived, who pulled you into the tightest hug, grinning like a fool, promising to take you out to celebrate.

Best Friend!Gojo who had a stupid, lovedrunk smile on his face, watching you scarf down fries in the passenger seat of his expensive sports car in the parking lot of some random fast food place that you loved, utterly satisfied while half-listening to you ramble on and on about how excited you were, because he’d made sure to pull some strings to make sure you got in, no matter what. Your place was beside him, always.

Best Friend!Gojo who made it his mission to be in all your classes in college, flashing that smug grin as he slid into the seat next to you like it was his birthright. In his mind, it was.

Best Friend!Gojo who was in your dorm more often than he was in his own, to the point you suggested the two of you look into student housing off campus together once you were eligible.

Best Friend!Gojo who dragged you to every party, claiming it was networking while you side-eyed him over your drink.

Best Friend!Gojo who had plenty of girls fawning over him, ready to do whatever he asked, but he only had eyes for you. And any time the two of you separated and another guy came up to chat with you? He was always reappearing by your side, as if he could sense some terrible disturbance in the world, scaring the poor guy off with a steely glare you had never seen him use on anybody else.

Best Friend!Gojo who helped you cram for exams, bribing you with your favorite snacks, only to fall asleep on your notes while you actually studied.

Best Friend!Gojo who, one late night in your dorm, finally blurted out, “I like you. Like, like you.” His usual confidence wavered just slightly, eyes searching yours for any hint of rejection.

Best Friend!Gojo who barely had a second to process before you smacked his arm, exasperated. “It took you long enough!”

Best Friend!Gojo who blinked, then laughed, bright and unfiltered, pulling you in by the waist and kissing you like he should have years ago.

Best Friend!Gojo who spent the rest of college by your side, making sure everyone knew exactly who you belonged to.

Best Friend!Gojo who swore up and down that you had to graduate together, refusing to let you slack off or fall behind—not that you would have anyway. He made it his personal mission to match your efforts, pushing himself just as hard as he pushed you.

Best Friend!Gojo who grinned ear to ear when your names were called, the two of you standing at the very top of your class, like he always knew you would.

Best Friend!Gojo who, the moment he got his diploma, grabbed you right there on stage, dipping you dramatically before crashing his lips against yours in front of everyone. The crowd went wild. The professors sighed. 

Best Friend!Gojo who only pulled away to smirk and say, “Had to make it official, sweets.” As if it weren't already official enough.

Best Friend!Gojo who, two years after college, dragged you on a spontaneous trip to Santorini, claiming he just needed a break from corporate nonsense; but you had a feeling something was up.

Best Friend!Gojo who, at sunset, stood with you on the beach overlooking the sea, fidgeting with something in his pocket, uncharacteristically quiet for once.

Best Friend!Gojo who suddenly dropped to one knee, pulling out a ring that sparkled almost as much as his eyes did when he looked at you.

Best Friend!Gojo who grinned up at you and said, “Took me long enough, huh?”

Best Friend!Gojo who barely got a chance to hear your answer before you tackled him into the sand, kissing him breathlessly, murmuring “About damn time.”

Best Friend!Gojo who planned the most extravagant wedding imaginable—but the only part that mattered to him was you, standing at the altar, saying yes.

Best Friend!Gojo who dipped you just like he did at graduation, kissing you like the world was watching.

Best Friend!Gojo who, years later, would still introduced you as “my wife” with the biggest, cockiest grin, like he had won the ultimate prize. And to him, he had.

Best Friend!Gojo who, only 3 years after he married you, sat at the head of his father’s company, grinning like he owned the world—because, well, he practically did.

Best Friend!Gojo who made damn sure you were right there with him, offering you a top position without hesitation. None of it mattered to him without you.

Best Friend!Gojo who strolled into your office, hands in his pockets, tilting his head as he smirked. “Told you we’d rule the world together.”

[lowkeyerror]

Help With The Curriculum pt3

Agatha Harkness x Reader

Word Count: 3.1k

Notes: Smut, Strap-on sex, throat fucking with strap, cunnulingus, dirty talk, one failed attempt of face slapping, dacryphilia, praise, degradation, let me know if I forgot something, kind of fluff end, professor!Agatha Professor!Reader

Summary: Agatha gets rewarded for the way she behaved for you earlier today. It's everything that both of you could want and maybe more.

An: Your honor its filth. Can't believe a month ago I was questioning if I'd ever write smut again... now we at 3 in a row. Also, Chat tell me how we feel about face slapping for next time... 🫣

Previous part | Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Something about class seems to drag on after the encounters you had today. You were lucky that it was only a review day otherwise you were pretty sure you’d be fucking up the new material.

When your last class is over, you walk out with the students. You send out a quick email saying that there would be no office hours today on the way to your car.

As soon as you get home you begin cleaning up. You aren't necessarily a junkie individual, things just get cluttered sometimes. It takes no time to turn the clutter into a cleaned and presentable space.

You decide to cook for the two of you. You aren’t sure if it’d be before or after the sex but you knew that you’d be starving at some point. You shower and change into something more appropriate for the home, the suit starting to feel out of place now that you're alone.

The only remnant of your workday is the strap-on that you opt to keep for Agatha’s sake. She seemed to be just dripping at the thought of you wearing it.

It's nothing super fancy when you’re in the kitchen. You feel that pasta is good enough and pairing it with a nice wine will make it appear better than it really is.

You’re nearly done when the doorbell rings. You wipe your hands on your apron and head to the door. As expected, Agatha stands on your front porch.

“Well don’t you look good enough to eat,” she playfully teases, noticing the apron you’re sporting.

“All part of the plan,” you say letting her in.

“Whatever it is smells like heaven,” she replies, as the aroma hits her.

You get a little shy at her praise, “It’s almost done. I figured we’d get hungry at some point. So it made sense to have something ready.”

Agatha follows you to the kitchen and watches you silently as you finish up the meal. You can feel her eyes watching your every movement almost as if she would miss something if she blinked.

“Ok, food’s ready, but this is your reward so, tell me; are we having dinner first or do we need to work up our appetite?”

“The food can wait, I need you now.”

You make simple actions of taking your apron off and washing your hands. You follow them up by grabbing Agatha’s hand and leading her to your bedroom.

Once in the room you drop her hand, leaving her standing in the middle of the room. You continue on, until you’re sitting on the bed. Your legs are spread wide just like in her lecture. The palms of your hands are face down on the bed and your head is cocked to the side a little.

“So, what kind of reward did you have in mind, Ags? You want the control? You want me to be in control? I want to give you everything you need,” you keep eye contact with her as you speak.

Her eyes drop to scale your body, “Do you remember some of things you told me Friday or was your head to fuzzy from having my fingers inside of you?”

You smile slyly, “Remind me, professor.”

She takes a few steps closer to you, “I recall there was something about me riding you.”

She doesn’t hesitate to climb on to your waist. Agatha flips her hair to one side. Your hands come up to hold her in place.

“You want to start there?” You lick your lips as you peer up to her.

“Could you last, if we started there baby?” She rests her forehead against yours.

Your breath hitches as it mingles with hers, “Yes professor.”

You try to close the gap to kiss her, but Agatha moves back. Her eyes twinkle at the confusion on your face.

“Beg for me,” Agatha says.

Internally you want to challenge her, but you also recognize that you put the ball in her court. This is her reward and if she wants to be dominant, you’d let her. You saw some shades of it on Friday, but you wonder just how dominant she could be. Especially having dealt with someone like Rio. The potential of it all excited you.

“Professor please, I need to kiss you. To feel you. Your lips on my lips, your skin on my skin. I need to see you ride me, please,” your eyes are hooded as you speak to her.

Agatha surges forward placing her lips against yours. Her pace is teasing, it gets your heart rate up fairly quickly. It’s as if she’s slowly devouring you. Her tongue slips into your mouth and you suck on it, enthralled with the sensation.

Your hands climb under her shirt unable to resist the need to feel her skin properly. It’s more familiar than the first time and you move more certainly. You expect meet the fabric of her bra, but you gasp lightly into the kiss when you realize she’s not wearing one.

The palms of your hands are tentative as they massage her breast. Her back arches and she moans deeply into your mouth. This kiss breaks just enough for you both to slide your shirts off. The space doesn’t last long before she’s pulling you back to her lips.

You follow her lead as the kiss becomes sloppier as you both begin to fight for air. The moans become guttural, nearly primal as there is an unwillingness to part.

“I don’t ever want your hands to stop touching me,” Agatha breathes out as she begins pushing your back flat onto the bed.

Her hands are steady as she pulls your pants down your legs. You don’t take your eyes off of her when the strap springs free. She’s hovering over you before you can reply to her.

You can see strings of her glory hanging from her cunt. The sight is mouthwatering, you want her to sit on your face, but she has different plans. She swipes through her folds, gathering her wetness before rubbing it on the cock.

“Please,” you feel yourself becoming needier by the second.

She smirks as she sinks down onto you. The weight of her in your lap, the newly added pressure against your clit, the friction you were getting from the harness. It’s all just so fucking hot.

Agatha’s hands dig into your abdomen as she gets acclimated with the feeling of you inside of her. Her eyes are closed and her head is thrown back. You are mesmerized just by watching the cock disappear into her. The small sheen that began to highlight her forehead was getting to you.

Your hands rest somewhere on her lower back threatening to grab her ass and push her all the way down.

Slowly, she begins to rise up and drop back down into your lap. The movements are torturous at first. You could feel yourself getting a little restless. Yet, you waited patiently for Agatha to find her bearings.

“Fuck, you fill me up so good baby,” she whines out as her movements begin to speed up.

“Let me make you feel good, professor,” you state with a plea in your voice.

Her eyes lock onto yours and she nods, “Fuck me “

That’s all it takes for your hands to travel down to her ass and squeeze firmly. You keep her in place and start snapping your hips up to bury yourself inside of her. Your movements start off tame, but you soon find yourself unable to hold back.

You start fucking her quickly and just like in your fantasy. She reaches out to steady herself by grabbing your shoulders. Her nails dig into your skin, but it’s all a blur as the sound of your skin hitting takes precedent in the room. The only other sound is Agatha’s creamy pussy, damn near gushing all over the fake cock.

“You were so good for me in class, professor. Taking what I gave you, with hardly any complaints. If I would’ve pulled this out in class, we’d both would’ve canceling all courses for the day. I wanted to see you open up for me on that desk more than anything. I thought about it all day.”

You keep up the speed, stamina not being an issue for you. Nothing would be stopping you from making Agatha feel good.

“I need, more-"

Your body reacts faster than your brain and you grab a fistful of her hair. You wrap it around your knuckles, pulling her down while simultaneously sitting up. You smash your lips against her’s harshly. Right when you’re both getting lost in movement you yank her hair away from you. You place hot opened mouth kisses on her neck, bucking the best that you can.

Her nails claw at your back as the new position pushes the dildo further into her. Your teeth sink into her collarbone. She’s taken aback as you pick her up. You carry her over to a bedroom wall and place her back against it. Her legs instinctively wrap around your body.

“Fuck yourself on my cock,” your head rests on the wall next to her.

She follows your orders with loud whine. She’s close, you can tell by her erratic movements. You begin whispering in her ear.

“I can almost feel your walls clenching against me, ready to milk this cock as if it were real. I’m surprised it’s still in you, professor. I bet they could hear your wet cunt from down the street. So eager to be fucked out hmm? Got tired of taming brats, needed someone to give you what you need for once.”

Her arms try to pull you closer, but you’re as close as you can be to her, “Fuck yes, yes, I needed to be fucked out. Needed your cock inside me. Can I cum, please? I need to-”

“You can cum whenever you want baby, it’s a reward.”

She cums hard, moaning huskily in your ear. You help her slowly ride it out. Her head slumps against your shoulder.

“You done, love?” You ask her softly.

You feel her shake her head ‘no' against your shoulder.

You laugh a bit, “Can you stand?”

Wordless she removes the toy from inside of her, then carefully unhooks her legs from around you. Her legs shake as her feet touch the floor. You keep your hands on her in case her legs do give up.

“Gagging on you until I get teary eyed,” with much effort she lifts her head to meet your eyes.

“You think you can handle that?” You ask her, not in a condescending way, but with genuine care.

She answers you by moving to kneel on your floor. Her hands sit on the back of your thighs. She looks up at you through her eyelashes.

“I want it,” Agatha bounces on her heels.

“You can have it baby. You tap me once to let me know you’re ok and twice if we need to stop, alright?”

Agatha nods eagerly. You smile at her, grabbing her hair once again. You take a moment to appreciate the imagery in front of you.

“Fuck, I wish you could see how you look for me. I’ll get a mirror so you can see how you look when I fuck you. Open your mouth for me pretty girl.”

She obeys and you push the toy into her mouth. Her lips suction around it, and she begins to bob her head the length the attachment.

You’re becoming addicted to the image alone. Knowing that just a few minutes ago the toy had been inside of her, it was coated in her essence; and now it’s down her throat. You let out a low hum of approval at the thought of her tasting herself.

You reposition her a bit so you can plant your hands against the wall, to get some leverage. She opens her mouth wider anticipating what is going to happen next.

You make a few testing strokes, figuring out just how deep you could go into Agatha’s throat. She could take it pretty good, you made a mental note to get something a little bigger for next time.

“Eyes on me, I want to see you cry,” you say to her, before thrusting into her mouth.

Per your orders she maintains eye contact with you. You hold both sides of her head, guiding her roughly. Hearing the sounds coming from her throat, turned you on even more. The gagging, the sound of toy hitting her throat, the gargling of her spit. Drool was beginning to fall down her chin.

“You like it when I use your throat?” You ask her, she taps the back of your thigh to answer. “Good, me too.”

She moves one of her hands from the back of her thighs to hold one yours that was against her face. You look at her curiously. She moves the hand and then places it back on her face.

“You want me to slap you?”

She put the hand back under your thigh and taps once. Your eyes roll back at the thought.

“You’re such a fucking dirty whore,” you say, pushing her head down to your crotch and holding it there.

She gags, but you keep her there for a few seconds. When you let go, she comes fully off of the toy and that’s when you slap her lightly. Not in a harsh way, but teasingly.

Instead of pulling her up, you get on your knees too. You look into her teary eyes before lightly gripping her chin.

“You’re so pretty when you cry for me Agatha,” your thumb pulls at her bottom lip for a split second before you place your lips on hers. You can taste her through the kiss, evoking a raw moan from you.

You can feel her undoing your harness as you kiss. When it’s off, her fingers walk down your abdomen and go straight for your clit. It was swollen and sensitive due to all of the friction.

You whimper into her mouth as her fingers circle your clit.

“Lay down,” she whispers against your lips.

You follow her instructions, she climbs on top of you. Her face is aligned with your pussy, while her’s was in your face.

“If your tongue touches my cunt, I might just explode,” you tell her truthfully.

It’s finally her turn to laugh tonight, “I look forward to it.”

She submerges her face into your cunt. Your back arches off of the floor, placing your face right into her pussy. You wrap your arms securely over her ass. Your tongues swipes through her folds mercilessly. Not a care in the world as your nose inhales her intoxicating aroma.

The only thing pulling you out of your focus is the pleasure you feel from Agatha. You can tell she’s teasing you with her broad, deliberately relaxed licks. It’s when she latches onto your clit that you begin to crumble.

You try to form a coherent sentence, but you fail. Instead you let out labored breaths against Agatha’s pussy. She increases the force that she sucks your clit with, causing you to do the same to her. Both of you cum, within a minute or two of each other.

Her name the only thing falling from her lips. You don’t know how many times it tumbles out of your mouth. It’s the only word you can seem to remember. She places tiny kisses on your cunt and the sides of your thighs.

You turn her around so that you can kiss her again. This kiss much more innocent than any that you had shared that night. You wipe at the tear stains on her cheeks. She laughs at the quick contrast in your behavior.

“Agatha,” still the only word you can manage to say.

She smirks, “You’re adorable.”

You look away from before mumbling, “I fucked your brains out.”

Her nails scratch softly against the middle of your chest. She kisses your collarbone, “And I loved it. I do wish you’d have slapped me a little harder.”

“Hey I compromised, I didn’t know you were going to ask me to do that,” You defended your actions.

“No face-slapping?” Agatha asks not judging.

You shake your head, “It’s not something I’m used to, didn’t want to hurt you. If you like it, I want to learn how to do it safely.”

Agatha kisses your cheek, “You’re something else, sweetheart.”

You sit in silence for a few minutes. After you get yourself to your feet, you help Agatha.

“So, shower, food, and cuddles?”

She smiles softly, “Like last time.”

You nod kissing the top of her head, “If it ain’t broke, no need to fix it.”

After your shower, you find yourselves eating plates of pasta, on your couch. You scroll through Netflix trying to find something to watch. You settle on Arcane.

“I didn’t expect you to mention Rio, if I’m being honest. Jealousy is kind of hot on you,” Agatha looks at you.

“I’m not jealous,” you refute.

She quirks an eyebrow, “Oh really?”

You cross your arms over your chest, “She’s just a brat. We will straighten her out.”

“We?”

You nod curtly, “I could tell by your tone that you wanted her earlier.”

“She was all over you,” Agatha gets defensive this time.

“And I bet you liked the way it looked,” you toss back at her.

She sighs, “Rio, is so infuriating. She likes games, the chase, being broken, she gets off on it. It can drive you crazy in a good way and a bad way.”

You scoot closer to her, “Don’t worry, brat tamer of the year is on the case.”

She laughs, “Fine, but whatever happens… I like what we have. More than just the sex. I like these parts, the tv, the sharing meals, the cuddling. I know we’re moving at super gay speed, but I just thought I’d let you know it’s just more than physical for me.”

You let your head fall on her shoulder, “Me too.”

Now it’s her kissing the top of your head. Her arm wraps around you, pulling you flush against her. You let of a sigh of content, comfortable with Agatha.

Things were moving fast, but for some reason it felt well-paced. The chemistry between you and Agatha felt oddly familiar. The nerves were almost nowhere to be found. It was as if you had casually come across a missing piece of you. For some reason the fiery, disobedient, irritating presences of Rio Vidal pulled you a similar way. Maybe, she was another piece to the puzzle, something that you’d figure out in time.

Next part

[serpentface]

Miniature dog and khait effigies for a Wardi funeral. These are clay figurines that have been painted and decorated with great care by a skilled artist. Both include real hairs from the individual animals they have been modeled after. The dog is collared, showing that it is a loyal pet rather than a lowly feral scrounger. The khait is fully bridled and ready to carry the deceased in their journey.

---

It is believed that the souls of the deceased, once freed of their bodies, undergo a month-long journey to reach rebirth in the lunar lands. This journey is full of perils. It begins in the realm of the earth where the soul is naked and vulnerable and traveling through complete darkness. Evil spirits dwell within this realm and may try to capture the soul or lead them astray, and the way is twisting and obscured in shadows. Even after escaping this darkness, the soul still must travel an arduous and winding path through the realm of the sky in order to reach their destination.

A khait and a dog are traditionally offered as funerary goods (in addition to food, water, wine, clothing, weapons, and other needs) to assist the soul in their travels- the khait will ease their passage in their long journey and carry them swiftly, and the dog will navigate through earthly darkness and dense cloud by scent, and protect the soul from harm.

Ideally, one of the deceased's own living khait and hunting/guard dogs will be killed at the funeral (typically the most beloved of their animals, as who would be better company than that?) so that they can have familiar and loyal helpers in their lonely journey. However, there are tremendous class barriers to ownership and disposability of a khait, and well-bred working dogs (while significantly more accessible) aren't ubiquitously available, and many people do not consider captured feral dogs to be a worthy replacement. As such, funerals with full animal offerings tend to be limited to higher status individuals.

Everyday people still need protection on their journeys, and animal effigies can be appropriate replacements for the real thing. These effigies are usually designed with great specificity to represent known individual animals that have already died (often including the animal's actual hair, as seen here). The soul of the represented animal will recognize the effigy as its body, and can be called into the icon so that it may accompany the deceased. These effigies (along with any other necessary grave goods) will be placed onto the pyre and burned along with the body so that the traveling soul will be sent off with everything they need.

Some folk traditions have semi-legendary local animal spirits who will be represented instead of a personally familiar animal. This often develops around a small community 'sharing' one historically extant animal for their funeral effigies as a matter of practicality, developing a sense of attachment to this animal as an aspect of shared identity, and adding layers of legend to the animal's story with the passage of time.

For example, a very popular legendary guide in the northeastern rural parts of Ephennos is Chisnops-Inreña (which very closely translates to 'Orange Son Of A Bitch'), a legendary livestock guardian dog. The animal was said to have been the biggest, meanest, ugliest motherfucker around, but was an unshakably loyal and fierce guardian, as noble as a dog (not the noblest of animals by any means) can possibly be. He is said to have fought off everything from jackals to lions to cattle thieves in his day, and died protecting his herdsman master from an infamous man-eating king hyena, only succumbing to his own wounds when the great beast lay dead. His spirit was later used as a guide in his master's funeral, and local legend states that the same spirit has been seen following herdsmen and their cattle ever since, as not even death could keep him from his duties. Such a dog would make an excellent guide and protector in the journey to the afterlife, and effigies of him are favored in the funerals of northeastern Ephenni pastoralists.

A lovingly crafted Orange Son Of A Bitch

[professorsnape394]

Day 10: Dream Come True

Pairing: Severus Snape x ex-student

Rating: 🥵 ?

Prompt: Dream

Summary: Severus reunites with an old student of his and she is determined to live out her teenage dream.

A/N: Loved writing this one!! Hope ya'll have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

Warnings: ex-student and teacher hooking up.

Word Count: 3170

Credits to Gif Creator

Severus had always loathed Lucius Malfoy’s elaborate parties. He threw them multiple times a year, celebrating every possible occasion, and Severus almost always declined the invitation. While he would know most people in attendance, Snape wasn’t one to socialise and a party was his idea of literal hell. However, given that Lucius was the closest thing Severus had to a friend, he made a point to show face at one event each year; often staying for no longer than an hour or so and spending most of the time hauled up in the kitchen alone. Which is where he happened to find himself tonight.

Having already circulated the crowds earlier in the evening, Severus was simply buying time before he made his goodbyes and returned home to the peace of Spinner’s end. The drinks and food were set out on a banquet table in the drawing room of the manor, meaning he often had the kitchen entirely to himself to drink bottle after bottle of FireWhiskey alone.

This evening seemed to be following the same suit as usual, until his tranquillity was disturbed by the entrance of a familiar young woman and her absolutely foul mouth.

“Fucking disgusting shit. Who the fuck does he think I am. And why the hell is it blue?” She muttered to herself, staring deeply at the electric looking cocktail in her hand. She made a direct bee line for the sink and dumped the entire contents of her glass down the drain.

Severus couldn’t help but let out a small scoff of approval at the girl’s words. He, of course, recognised her from her time as a student at Hogwarts. Not only had he been the Head of her House, and Potion’s Master, he often found himself telling her off for her bad language at the risk losing points from the other professors. Severus himself didn’t mind it so much, in fact he found it rather amusing, which must explain why he was no where near as irritated as he usually would be by the disturbance.

“Professor Snape?”

The girl stopped in her tracks, eyeing the Potion’s Master appreciatively. Her tone had dropped to an almost sultry timbre.

Severus remembered now why he always seemed to be giving the girl into trouble. This particular young woman had not been nearly as discreet with her girlhood crush as she may have expected. It had been obvious to him that she acted out in his classes simply to get a rise out of him, and best-case scenario she would earn a detention, prolonging their time together. The latter Severus did not indulge, the last thing he needed was a hormonal teenager making heart eyes at him from across the classroom.

From the way she looked at him now, the young witch had yet to grow out of her school-girl crush. Feeling the effects of the sheet amount of alcohol he had consumed; Severus couldn’t resist raking his eyes over the woman’s figure in return. She was after all, no longer his student.  

While her bad habits still remained, her appearance had changed a lot in a few short years. Her hair was longer now, darker too; she wore it down as she always had, allowing it to flow down her back like a waterfall of obsidian waves. Her previously baby face had been replaced by much sharper features; high cheek bones and a defined jaw line, lips that sat in a permanent perfect pout, painted a deep shade of red that only enticed him further. The dress she wore, tight and black, displayed her curves from ever possible angle, the lowcut neckline drawing his eyes to the exposed swell of her breasts.

“Miss Y/L/N.” He stated simply, not allowing his voice to betray his less than appropriate thoughts.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” She sauntered toward him, swaying her hips with each step.

It wasn’t lost on her that her old professor had just been checking her out, in fact she welcomed it. Since her crush on him first developed in her fifth year, she had long since dreamed of running into him again after she graduated. It pleased her to know that now they were reunited, he seemed to appreciate her just as much as she did him.

“I could say the same for you.” He raised a single eyebrow at her, his eyes never leaving her body as she approached.

“Not sure why.” She shrugged, settling against the kitchen island opposite him. “I’ve been at every party this year. Draco keeps inviting me.”

“As his date?” The simple question drew a wide smile from Y/N.

Was Severus Snape jealous?

“I assume so. But if he keeps making me drinks that look like the result of a chemical reaction, he doesn’t stand a chance.”

Severus scoffed again, amused by her words.

Y/N watched as took a long sip of his whiskey, draining the remainder of his glass.

“What are you drinking?”

“FireWhiskey.” He said plainly.

“Mind if I join you?”

Severus glanced at the woman out the corner of his eye as she came to lean on the cabinet next time him.

“Be my guest. However, this is the last of this bottle.” He said, as he filled his glass. “I’m sure there’s more in the next room, if you feel like re-joining the party.”

“Not particularly.” She huffed, folding her arms over her chest only to further accentuate her breasts. “Draco’s been fallowing me around like a lost puppy all night, I could really use a break.”

“And if I asked you to leave?” He tested, pining her with a stern gaze.

“I’d say tough. You don’t own this space, I have just a much right to be here as you do.” She never had yielded to his dominance.

“Well then.” He outstretched his arm to her, offering up his renewed glass of whiskey. “You might as well enjoy yourself while you’re here.”

Y/N accepted with a smile and a wink. Severus remained stoic, attempting to seem unfazed by her gesture. Y/N always knew Severus would be a tough nut to crack if this day came. But after years of dealing with a pining Draco, she could use the challenge.

“Why are you hauled up in here anyway? Avoiding someone?”

“Everyone.”

Severus couldn’t peel his eyes away from her mouth as she drank form his glass, her crimson lips staining the rim of the crystal. He felt his pulse quicken when her tongue darted out to collect any remnants of the amber liquid from her lips.

“Everyone?” She looked at him inquisitively, returning the glass to him. “Then why come at all if all you’re going to do is hide away in here the whole night.”

“Lucius is a friend. The least I can do is show face, but beyond I have no interest in attending these infernal events. So, I simply wait it out in here until such time as it is appropriate to leave.”

“Does it never occur to you that had you to actually venture out into the crowds, you might meet someone to help pass the time. A woman perhaps?”

Severus laughed into his glass, being careful to avoid the spot her mouth had just been. He knew this was her way of testing him, unfortunately he couldn’t help but fall for her bait; hook, line and sinker.

“I have no interest in any of the woman beyond that door.” His eyes finally met hers, their intense gazes boring into one another. A challenge to make the first move.  

“What about those within this room, professor.” Y/N dared to venture.

That final word shook Severus back to reality; the sudden realisation that he was entering dangerous territory with a former student had him eager to make a swift exit.

“I think that may be my queue to go.” He set his now empty glass back on the counter.

“Wait. Stay for one more.” She pleaded, gripping his bicep in one last desperate attempt. It worked, Severus hesitated at her touch.

“It may have escaped your notice, Miss Y/L/N, but not only is the bottle finished, but so too is my glass. There is no ‘one more’.”

“I know where Lucius keeps his private stash. Draco and I would break into it all the time when we were younger.”

Despite his brain telling him it was time to go, Snape couldn’t resist the appeal of the young woman in front of him; her doe like eyes begging him to stay. It was obvious she was just as enticed by him as he was of her. And the fact remained; she was no longer his student. Still, it seemed wrong somehow.

“That would explain all those parties in the Slytherin common room I was forced to disband.” Severus raised a questioning brow.

“Guilty.” She smirked.

“You know those were the bane of my life. Dealing with drunk and hungover underage students wasn’t exactly how I planned to spend my weekends.”

“Just be grateful I was smart enough to avoid you, I can be quite the handful when I’m drunk.”

Severus didn’t know when she had gotten close to him again, but he wasn’t opposed to the way her hand rested on his chest as she fidgeted with the button of his robes.

“Show me.” He swallowed, nodding down to her.

Y/N led Severus through a door in the kitchen, to a wine cellar in the basement. In the corner of the room stood a solitary shelf of finely-aged whiskey, worth more than two teenagers could have even comprehended.

Snape watched on as the woman struggled to reach the top shelf where the best whiskey was kept. He made no attempt to look away when the hem of her dress began to slowly rise over the curve of her ass. He no longer felt so guilty checking her out down here in the dark.

“Clever girl.” Severus purred when Y/N handed him a dusty bottle for him to inspect. “These are what you stole?”

Y/N bit her lip and looked down guiltily.

“I don’t think we realised how expensive they were at the time. We just wanted to have a bit of fun.”

“Mmm. You always were trouble.” He eyed her once more.

“Still am.” She winked again.

Y/N led Severus back to the kitchen, leaving no trace of them behind besides the empty space on he shelf she had no intention of filling.

Despite the kitchen being full of glass and crystal ware, Severus opted to pour another singular glass for the two of them to share.

Y/N watched on fervently as Severus brought the glass to his lips, this time placing his mouth directly over where her lips had been. God, how she wished to know what his lips felt like on her, what he tasted like.

“Good?” She continued to look up at him, practically drooling now.

“Delicious.”

Y/N watched in awe as her ex-professor absent-mindedly run his tongue along a small part of the glass.

Without thought, Y/N brought a thumb to his mouth, brushing the pad gently across his bottom lip.

“Lipstick.” She explained. “Can’t have you leaving here looking like that, people will talk.”

“And what, exactly, will people say.” Severus closer to the young witch, his inhibitions slowly fading which each gulp of alcohol.

“They’d think you were with a woman.” She started, her voice now barely a whisper. “Of course, they wouldn’t know who at first. But seeing that colour on your lips, they’d begin to speculate. And when they saw me follow you out of here… We’ll they’d put two and two together, and jump to a whole lot of conclusions.”

“What sort of conclusions?” He passed the whiskey to her, allowing him to move closer still, their bodies close enough to touch.

“All kinds of things. The most obvious being that we kissed, but their minds wouldn’t stop there. Two people, alone in the kitchen at a party, we could have been up to anything in here.” With every word she spoke she drew Severus in closer, her lips calling to him like a siren to a sailor. “They’d assume we kissed. Maybe, we made out. But ultimately, they’re going to think we had sex. A teacher and his ex-student. How scandalous. There would be rumours about us; what we did in here. They’d say I seduced you with my body. They’d say you got me drunk. They’d say we fucked right here in the Malfoy’s kitchen, all while Draco searched the party for his supposed date.”

The mention of Draco began to boil Severus’ blood, he wasn’t oblivious to how close the pair were and he knew, if given the chance, Draco would have Y/N for his own. He wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Then let’s give them a reason to talk.” Severus stated firmly.

With his permission, Y/N threw herself at Severus. Her lips crashing to his hungrily. Like a starving hyena finally eating after being denied it’s prey for so long.

Practically throwing the whiskey glass aside, Y/N wrapped her arms around Severus’ neck, pulling her body closer to his. Severus felt his way around her; one hand coming to rest on the side of her face, the other gripping her rear possessively. The two became deaf to the world around them. Passion taking over as they devoured the other breathlessly.

Letting himself get carried away in the moment, it never occurred to Severus to move to a less public location. All sense of propriety gone with the taste of her lips.

Gripping her by her thighs, Severus lifted Y/N onto one of the kitchen cabinets, positioning himself between her open legs. Feeling the hardness of his cock at her core, Y/N let out a strangled moan.

Severus broke for breath, kissing his way down her exposed neck and chest, occasionally nipping at her pale white skin. Seconds before Snape was about to rip off the woman’s dress and fuck her in the middle of the kitchen island, footsteps and voices grew louder as they approached.

“Have you checked the kitchen, Draco? She can’t have gone far.”

“Not yet father, I’m just about to look.”

“Shit.”

“Fuck.” The pair swore in unison.

Y/N quickly jumped from her spot on the counter, making sure to right any clothing that may have gone awry. Severus let out a frustrated snarl at being torn away from Y/N.

“I’m going to kill that di-“

“Y/N?” Draco called out upon entering the room.

Neither Snape nor Y/N made an attempt to move away from the other.

“There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Sorry Draco.” Y/N replied through gritted teeth. “I ran into Professor Snape. We we’re just catching up.”

“I see.” The younger Malfoy eyed them suspiciously. “My father is about to make an announcement,  he wants everyone to gather in the drawing room.”

“Of course.” She smiled falsely, making to meet Draco by the door.

“Here.” Severus stopped her, clenching his jaw and handing over the almost full glass of whiskey. “You’ll need it.”

“Thank you.” She grinned, lingering when his hand brushed against hers.

The three of them exited the kitchen and made their way through the manor; Severus taking a different route from the others, letting himself get lost in the crowd.

As soon as he was out of her sight, Y/N started to panic that she had missed her shot at the one thing she had been dreaming about since she was 15 years old. Draco had interrupted what was easily the hottest make out session of her life and now there seemed to be no chance of her and Snape actually finishing what they had started.

“What were you and Snape doing in the kitchen for so long?” Draco finally broke the awkward silence that had developed.

“Hmm. Oh, we we’re just having a drink together and chatted about all those times you and I pissed him off with our parties in the common room.”

“What are you drinking? What happened to the one I gave you?” He didn’t even seem to be listening to a word she was saying.

“Erm… I finished it. Sev- Snape poured me a glass of his whiskey.”

“That’s unusually kind of him.” Draco’s intense stare burned a hole in the side of her face.

“I suppose.” She shrugged. “I guess he just likes me.”

Draco didn’t get the chance to object before his father’s voice echoed through the room.

Zoning out after Lucius thanked everyone for coming, Y/N immediately began scanning the crowd for her beloved professor.

Having no luck even after the party commenced, Y/N downed the remains of her drink and followed Draco as he led her into the hall for a more private conversation. Backing her against the wall, Y/N had no way to escape the agony she was about to endure, knowing exactly where this conversation was headed.

“Y/N.” He began with a deep breath. “As you know, we’ve been best friends since our first day at Hogwarts. Our families have been intwined since before either of us were even born. We’ve had our fair share of fun together; both as friends and otherwise.” He hinted towards the few drunken nights where they had casually hooked up. It had meant nothing to Y/N, clearly Draco did not feel the same way.

“This year I have felt our relationship has evolved past friendship, and I think it may be time we take the next step. I like you, Y/N. I want you to become my girlfriend, officially.”

“Draco…” She sighed. They had been over this before, she wasn’t interested in being anything other than friends, he just couldn’t take the hint.  

Before she had a chance to break the bad news to him a shadow fell over the pair; Severus Snape towered behind Draco, slapping a large hand on his suited shoulder.

“I’m afraid, Mr Malfoy, I do not believe Y/N is interested in pursuing a relationship with you.”

“Professor Snape.” Draco puffed his chest out, trying hard to hide the look of intimidation evident on his face. “With all due respect I don’t think this has anything to do with you.”

Severus moved the boy aside with ease, positioning himself between his two former students.

“I suggest you leave now, Malfoy, before your feelings get hurt.”

Severus did not warn him again. Instead, he took the opportunity to take Y/N in his arms and pick up exactly where they left off.

“Oh, thank god.” Y/N gasped, clutching at him desperately.

Just as passionately as before, Y/N captured Severus’ mouth with her own, pulling him in by his robes until their bodies were backed up against the wall.

“Want to get out of here?” Severus mumbled against her mouth.

“Fuck yes.”

Ignoring a dumbfounded Draco, the Potions Master and his former student made their way out of Malfoy Manor unable to keep their hands off one another.

Y/N’s dream was finally about to come true.

[aninipanin1]

GALA

Notes: Just wanted a little drama with a mix of reader being a silent diva yuhhh, A Noel Noa centric piece hehehe hope yall enjoy! PS: YES, this fic is a bit inspired by Cinderella RAHHH

"Hmm, that dress looks better than the first one. It matches your personality well." Anri said, her eyes looking at your phone screen where the photo of your dress was displayed. You nodded your head, taking into consideration Anri's opinion. You did like that specific dress personally, too, so you were happy that it fit you, at least in Anri's eyes.

"Yeah, I'll just buy this one then. It's actually on sale so I knew I had to get one of these for the Gala. Eepecially since my parents would definitely disown me if I do not wear anything proper, at least by their standards." Sighing, you pressed the order button on the app, shoulders sagging a bit. Your family was invited in a gala held by the company your parents worked in. Due to their high position, your whole family was invited, including your fraternal twin sister.

It's been a while since you met up with your whole family due to the Blue Lock project, but also because you did not have the best relationship with them, especially your parents.

"You know you can always not go, right? Especially since (S/n) is there. Geez, I still wonder why you put up with her. Nobody liked her in our class instead of the boys who just wanted to have a chance with her."

Anri sighed, remembering her college days where she shared a class with your sister. And needless to say, her arrogance in the subject which she almost failed at always pissed her off. It was really surprising as to how someone so...down to earth as you was related to someone like that girl.

You gave her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry about that. She's just like that because of our parents, I swear. And well, she's still my sister. I can't just abandon her like that, Anri."

The woman sighed and shrugging her shoulders.

"It's your choice, Y/n. But, personally, I would definitely cut her off. She's too toxic, especially for you, since we both know how she treats you even if you're older than her."

The conversation ended there as you both were thrust into silence, eating your food away on the cafeteria for both your breaktime when your phone vibrated. It was a text from your mother.

Mother:

Oh, and bring a date with you. Surely, as my eldest, you have at least a love interest and even better, a boyfriend by now. Make sure he's dressed appropriately, too.

"WHAT?!" You burst out, causing Anri to also spill the water in her mouth in shock of your outburst.

"Geez girl! Warn me next tim-...WHAT?!" She screeched too, as she read the text that you forced on her face.

"The gala is happening next week! How am I going to find a date so soon!? I...I don't even know any guys who can be a date." Sulking, you placed your head hopelessly on the table. Your mother thought wrong about you, just because your sister can pull guys does not mean you had the same charm and ability as well!

"Tell me, Anri-san! How will I charm a guy into at least agreeing to be my date for the night! Hmm, I wanna ask (S/n) so bad how she does it..."

Anri can only sweardrop at your words. Really? After all that you went through, you still think you are not charming enough to make a guy pay attention to you when you literally has world class players on their knees, just waiting for you to pay attention to them?

But then again, the lack of emotional connection you had with your parents as well as the absence of love from them may have messed up your perception of all types of love, even romantic love. And now, that made Anri a little sympathetic about your situation.

"Don't worry! I'm sure you'll find a guy who'd be okay with it soon enough-"

She comforted you until her eyes stopped on a familiar man who also entered the cafeteria, the white hair, and the tall build familliar to everyone in the facility, and probably the world, Noel Noa.

It was, after all, a few minutes after 1 p.m., and many of the staff and coaches took their lunches. Noa was one of the latest to do so since he was trying to come up with a better team to start in the next match of the NEL.

Anri knew that this maybe the only way to get you to solve your problem while also helping the guys to finally get over themselves and confess to you.

'I'm so sorry, Ego-san! But you all are legit slowpokes and I can't see her being stressed about this!'

"Why not ask one of the coaches to be your date?" Anri exclaimed, a little louder to make sure that the coach who was busy picking his food on the machine heard. You did not seem to notice Noa, as you tilted your head at her.

"Eh, I don't wanna disturb them, Anri-san! They're already busy enough around here. And the gal of me to show up with someone so famous like them! Besides, the gala is until 12 midnight, and they have training for the next day-"

"What about us coaches, Ms. Y/n?"

You let out a shocked 'eh,' before turning your head to see the Noel Noa, sitting on the table beside yours and Anri's. He was wearing his usual calm and collected face, but it was evident in his eyes that he was curious as to why you were quite distressed.

"Oh, its nothing, Noa-san...!"

"She needs a date on this gala, and she can't find one. She wanted to know if you guys would be fine with going with her." Anri said, trying her best to hide the mischievous grin on her face, and she succeeded to a degree, but the look on her eyes shout that she was plotting something.

"Eh? Anri-san! You don't have to answer that, Noa-sa-"

"I'm fine with it." He said with a straight face, making the nervous and embarrassed look on your face vanish replaced by one of disbelief and shock.

"Huh?"

"I'm fine with it. Just tell me when and what I should wear." He said, trying his best to remain passive, to keep his composure. Deep inside though, he felt happy. Finally! It was his turn to be with you.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Thank you so much, Noa-san! I promise I will pay you back for this!!" You exclaimed excitedly, hugging the tall man out of pure glee and emotion, which made him become even more frozen in his place.

Luckily for him, you could not see the redness that starts to form around his neck, a moment of vulnerability and change from his usual no-nonsense personality. But, what he did not remember was Anri was still there, with her having a mischievous smirk as she watched the number 1 striker in the world blow a fuse just because of a hug.

'Oh, the power you have over these football nerds, Y/n...'

"Eh, where are you going, Noa-san?"

Some of the Bastard Munchen players were a little confused to see their master exit his office, but instead of doning his usual track suit that the facility provided, is garbed in a black and gold suit that complimented his features and build.

It was not the first time the striker wore formal attire (being invited into many famous events over the years, and the pictures of him attending are all over the internet) however, it was still a little weird to see him wear a formal attire in a sport setting.

The man's usual cold eyes turned to them, but there was a hidden twinkle in them. An emotion the players cannot decipher, and thankfully, they did not have to do that themselves as he answered their question.

"Y/n's parents have a gala in their workplace where her attendance is a must. And well, she needed a partner to go with her which is where I come in."

He adjusted the sleeve of the suit, not seeing the wide and open mouths of the players. Especially Isagi and Kurona, Yukimiya and Hiori meanwhile, just smirked at the unfolding scenes.

They are definitely telling the other stratums about this in hopes it reaches the other masters. For what? For the drama, of course.

"You? She could have chosen better..." Kaiser rolled his eyes. In his mind, the master was too serious and intimidating to be standing to someone like you, who in his eyes was like a twinkling star, gracung upon everyone with your warm light, yet not enough to blind or outshine them.

And he thinks all these idiotic masters do not deserve a woman like you. Yes, especially the man he wants to go against. After all, why would he wish upon someone who he thinks is not good enough for you? The person that he feels is the closest he got from a parental figure.

Even if the man is almost perfect, it was still a no. He has to be perfect in Michael Kaiser's eyes before he lifts his cold and domineering glare upon them.

But Noa was far from bothered, ignoring the boys' words, and was more focused on fixing his looks. He was not a man who cared about his looks, but he would be meeting your family along with the fact that he had to show the world that he was mlre than worthy being with you (my man forgot hes the number 1 striker in the world)

He looked down at his watch, squinting his eyes a bit to read the time.

8:48 pm

'Hmm, I wonder how she's doing now...'

"Stop moving for God's sake!"

"I'm trying...! But it hurts..." You said with animated tears as you squirmed in your seat while Anri helped you with styling your hair. You both were in Anri's office as she offered to help you style up for the night. Helping you with your more than tangled and messy hair due to the days of not caring for it properly, having to run around the facility to do endless chores, it was even a luxury to put it in a decent updo.

And well, Anri was less than gentle with how she's treating your scalp like it was a barbie doll that had no pain receptors.

"I'm almost done! And...there! What do you think?"

She spun you around the mirror to show you her masterpiece, and you were not going to lie, it was beautiful. Your hair shimmered due to the few products she put in your hair, but the main event was the braids that frame your head, almost like it was its own tiara with a few flower clips on it to make it even more sophisticated yet ethereal. (Decide your own hairstyle around this based off your hairtype:)

Your hair was for once a bit bouncy and not so tangled to the touch that it felt like you were arguing with your own strands, ready to rip it off from your head.

"Wow, from all the pulling you did, it came out really pretty!" You exclaimed excitedly, not believing that the girl in the mirror was you. Anri rolled her eyes at this.

"Told you. Never disturb a magician when she's working her magic. Now let's start with that makeup and change that tracksuit into your dress."

The makeup was really light, just enough to compliment your facial features and make it pop more (because you are lazy when removing makeup and pretty privilege does that to you, reader;), and well, it was not a surprise to see you already yawning at the boring procedure Anri was going through to fix your makeup.

"Geez, have you no like feminine bone to atleast have some sort of...reflex to atleast know the basics of makeup?" She asked jokingly, as she curled your eyelashes only for you to blink your eye uncontrollably.

"Um, I think I do. But its not like I don't wanna put makeup. Its just that, growing up, I was not allowed to." You said which made Anri confused.

"Really? But from what I can see from your sister's social media, she looks to be really good at it, even from her very old posts thatbwould pop up in her timeline."

"Yeah, well she is my family's treasure. She can do whatever she wanted or get what she wished for, I didn't really have any of that luxury growing up. I was the older sister, so of course I have to give up what I want to her if ever she wanted it. And that also included...my freedom to express myself, I guess."

Your voice grow even more quiet as you opened up about your past. It was thr first time ever that you did, atleast to Anri. But, knowing you, she is not surprised. You were always the people pleaser, always so ready to help others even if you cannot anymore. Even if you cannot carry the pressure anymore, you still would if somebody asked you.

Now, it made sense. You act this way because your parents conditioned you to be like that whilst spoiling your younger twin sister. The unfair treatment and lack of freedom you may have experienced molding you into what you are today.

A person who rarely cares about herself has trouble expressing your true self below that kind and caring nature, and does not believe that the people around her can truly love her for who she is.

And that hurted Anri. She loved you. You two have become the bestest of friends, almost sisters ever since this project started, and she hates how lowly you think of yourself, yet look at everyone else, even those who do not deserve it, highly.

You call everyone worthy of care and kindness, yet you were never kind to yourself. And now, she knows the root causes of this.

But, there was hope. There are people everywhere, even just in this facility alone that loves you dearly. The Blue Lockers, who view you like you are their older sister. Heck, even the foreign players like Kaiser and Lorenzo, and the rest started to view you as such too.

Then, of course, there are those you met who love you differently, viewing you in a different light. And Anri hoped that one day, the love of those people will change your mind about this thinking.

'Zwip!'

"There! All done...Oh my!" Anri cheered, her once dim expression brightening once she saw you in the beautiful silvery blue dress that sparkled under the light of the room. You had matching jewellery accompanying it too, but the dress really did make you look like a living princess as it hugged your figure, the skirt billowing to the ground elegantly as if it wanted to match your own elegant movements.

"Huh...it looks really good..."

"Why are you surprised?" Anri said, raising her eyebrow.

"Nothing...just...this is the first time I ever get to pick my own dress. My parents are always the one who buy our dresses for us, and well, I don't exactly get...a flattering one." You said meekly, Anri can only frown at that.

"But your sister's is?"

"I mean...I guess? But she's already pretty and charismatic...she can make an entire room focus only on her!" You happily complimented, just as Anri was about to add into your claim, your phone's alarm rang, telling you that it was already 9:00 pm.

"It's time..." you said nervously, as you put on the pair of clear heels before walking to the door, not forgetting to thank and say goodbye to Anri.

"Your taste in suits is so boring." Chris Prince commented towards Noa, who ignored him, causing the English coach to get pissed off.

"Why are you even wearing that?" Snuffy incquired curiously, rolling his eyes at Lavinho and Prince, who only questioned the man's style, failing to ask important questions. When Noa heard the question, however, he could not help but feel a little proud and smug, the ends of his mouth twitching slightly in a cold and unnoticeable smirk.

"Y/n is going to be participating in a gala tonight, but she needed a date. So, she asked me to be her date and partner for the night."

Crickets.

Well, until the information finally processed in their minds, and needless to say, the three other masters were less than happy.

"WHAT?! You, of all people?!" Lavinho exclaimed as he approached Noa, like he was ready to fight or debate him over the fact that did not deserve to be your date on that said gala.

"My poor Y/n, she doesn't deserve a man like you. I bet she'll be oh so bored in that gala." Prince said, not pretending to hide the fact that he was indeed jealous, as veins portruded in his forehead and neck about the fact that you went with his main rival instead of him.

Meanwhile, Snuffy remained quiet. However the fake smile, dead look in his eyes, and the portruding veins in his neck and clenched fist was enough of a story to tell. He was more than pissed off at what he is hearing.

With the green-face of jealousy leering at the three coaches, Noa knew he had a one up at that time. And needless to say, the faces the others pull made his ego boost up even more.

But, it reached its peak once you entered the cafeteria, all dolled up for the night in your dress. You greeted all of them so sweetly, not even noticing the effect you had on the four professional players. Noa felt proud that he got to be the one who would be with you for the night. That you chose him over the other three (he was just lucky that he was the one in the cafe at the right time, but we don't mention that).

"Umm Good Evening, sorry to interrupt..." You bashfully said noticing that the four masters were talking to each other, thinking that they were discussing something related to the Neo-Egoist League (they weren't).

"It's nothing. Let us get going, Ms. Y/N..." Noa said, dismissing the rest and taking your hand to guide you outside the cafeteria. He did not want you to get distracted by the others, wanting to look at your beauty by himself.

By the time the other three managed to find themselves catching their breaths, you were already waving goodbye as Noa tugged you to the exit of the facility to head to the gala.

"Wha- hey!"

"Tsk, that selfish robot."

Oh...

That's the only word that is repeated in your mind the moment you both arrive in the venue. Now, there were only a few people outside of the venue, and most of them were waiting to sign up to enter.

But, the amounts of stares and whispers that were already felt and heard the moment THE Noel Noa stepped out of the taxi and sweetly helped you out of the car was definitely palpable.

How can you forget that you literally invited the number 1 striker in the world to be your date in a company gala?

You turned so embarrassed and flushed at the attention, not used to it, unlike Noa, who remained as passive and emotionless like he always was, used to the attention someone of his popularity always experienced.

"I'm so sorry for all this trouble, Noa-sa-"

"Why are you apologising, Ms. Y/n?"

You were taken aback at the question, gulping before stating your reasons.

"The attention must be really uncomfortable...and I know you already have a lot on your plate due to your fame and all, and for me to add into it by inviting you here must be making it worse." But he just shrugged, offering his hand for you to take and for him to lead you.

"It's nothing. I agreed to it knowing what the consequences are, so you have nothing to apologize since I made the choice to say yes. Now, shall we get going?"

Blinking at the reason, you gave him a genuine smile before accepting his outstretched hand and headed for you to sign up.

Just as expected, you had the privilege of having a VIP entrance slot along with your plus one, due to your mother and father being one of the top executives of the company. But, as you signed up, a crowd formed around Noa, who looked quite annoyed at the attention he received before he sighed.

Leaning to whisper in your ear, he did not care for the gasps and whispers of a supposed relationship you two may have.

"Go in first without me, I'll deal with the crowd, and I don't want to inconvenience yourself any further. I'll find you inside."

At first, you tried to argue, wanting to help but looking at how he handled himself in front of a crowd compared to how you did, you knew that staying would just make it worse, so you just nodded with an understanding smile and sent him with a cheerful thumbs up before entering the place alone for now.

The venue was beautiful. The ballroom was quite larger than all the previous venues these events were held in. The chandeliers looked magical, mixing in with the gold and cream the whole place was decorated in. Classical music played and echoed through the whole place as well as small chatters from the people already inside. Speaking of the people, there were definitely hundreds of them already inside, some looked to be journalists too, as the camera flashes can be seen here and there.

You felt like a child in the middle of the huge crowd, a bit overwhelmed but at the same time excited. Mainly because of the food that you can already smell being prepared by the chefs and other staff in the venue. You were also quite happy that what you initially thought of being overdressed was proven wrong due to the many bedazzled dresses and suits that grazed the floor, and even better than your measly jewelry, were real minerals like diamonds, emeralds the size of a thumb was around the necks of the women or dangled from their ears.

It was a gala of opulence, a place where the rich people tried to outdo themselves, to compete with their fellow rich friends to become the star of the show.

"Well, well. If it isn't my lovely older sister grazing us with her...presence."

You turned around, already feeling dread at the notion of seeing her again. There she was, her hair in an elegant bun, wearing a bedazzled pink dress that hugged her beautiful features well, elegant black heels, opulent ruby necklace and diamond earrings only befitting someone of her stature.

Your younger twin sister (S/n) was the definition of elegance and power. The dream of every parent, just like yours. The moment she graduated in business school, she immediately entered the same company your parents worked in and rose the ranks quickly, now standing as a president of the company's media branch.

Yes, you had to admit, you were always jealous of her growing up. Being the smarter and prettier twin, since you both were fraternal twins, your features and every characteristic were different. She was always better than you, the bright sunlight to your measly starly twinkle.

But, nevertheless, you tried to be the best big sister that you can. Supporting her even if you felt jealous, and for a while, you two were close when you were kids. But as she grew up, she realized she was the favourite and something changed in her, turning around to try and destroy your life always. Probably because you were older, and she thought that you would inherit everything your parents had if she didn't try to be better and bring you down.

So she simultaneously did that. Better herself and brought you to your lowest. And the sisterly bond vanished.

You loved her, you did. But there was no way you would be fixing a relationship you did not break. You were kind, not a saint.

"Hi (S/n), how are you? It's been so long, huh?"

"I guess it has been. Everything has been better for me. Work has been hard but rewarding, though I doubt I can say the same with your...babysitter duties?" She smirked at first, then sneered at the thought of your job.

She, along with your parents never failed to bring down your role as a manager for a football facility the moment they heard of it. Sure, it got better when Blue Lock TV picked up ratings and was popular all over the world, but you were still viewed lowly. After all, you were not a player or its director or head, just a lowly manager/babysitter of the players, why is that important in their minds? In fact, it brought embarrassment to the family.

You always tried not to let it affect you, but it does hurt to be brought down a peg just because you did what you loved. But, you being you, you just smiled, not wanting an argument to form.

However, as if your day could not have gotten worse, your parents arrived along with a man you recognized for two reasons: he is a popular actor and model in Japan, and he was also dating your sister. You don't know much, but last time you heard from them, he already proposed to her which you were more than happy for her.

Just because you didn't like your family, does not mean you'll be a bitter Betty. No, you would not stoop low like that. Being raised in a toxic environment made you polish and garb a thick skin, after all.

Your mother immediately scrunched her nose at your appearance while your father just looked at you boredly and coldly as he always does.

"Mother, Father-"

"I told you to wear something that would not embarass our family. And what do you do? Wear this childish costume? Preposterous." Your mother sneered, squinting at the cheap fabric. After all, they did not give you any budget to buy a good one and so, you bought one out of your own money.

"This is why you aren't to be trusted with yourself, Y/n. This dress is unfit of someone in the L/n lineage." Your father said with a straight face, shaking his head. Meanwhile, your sister just snickered in the arms of her quiet fiance who did not want to get involved in the family mess.

You just nodded at their supposed advice, too tired of the day to even argue and embarass yourself infront of so many people.

'Tune them out, Y/n...like you always do, remember?'

"And to add to the mess you are, you do not have a partner with you? I specifically told you to bring one. We cannot afford to have our eldest daughter of all people to be gossiped about her future of being barren and alone." Your father continued and your mother seemed to realize the lack of partner beside you, and she became even angrier.

"Wait, I have one tonight, father. He just excused himself-"

"How many years have you used that excuse on us, young lady? Do not lie to us about your imaginary date for the night. You disappoint us with your fashion, we let it slide. But, not showing up with a partner? This is outrageous!"

"Mother, relax. I am sure there is a valid explanation for this. After all, Y/n over here is busy with her career of babysitting to even care about herself. Perhaps that lack of self-care is the reason why men rarely approach her." Your sister comforted your mother who was red in the face. Hearing this, your mother's anger turned into cold rage.

"I suppose. You have disappointed me and your father as usual, Y/n. And you question why me and your father did not pay for your college education in that foolish sports medicinal course? Because of this. You are irresponsible, and you lack anything noteworthy to you. Adding to that, you cannot even do the bare minimum of find a somewhat successful man and give us grandkids that can hopefully not get your genes and provide our family something to be prided by." Your mother sighed, her words breaking your heart. You heard of these words before, but it hurt nonetheless. But as if, the wound was not painful enough, your father decided to rub more salt unto the wounds.

"You are the eldest, Y/n. I already lowered my expectations on you the moment you talked soblate compared to your sister as an infant. Yet, you still wreck my already lowered standards. I gave the expectations of the eldest to your younger sister, who carried them gracefully and smartly, and that load made her better. I thought lowering the load on you would atleast make you a bearable daughter. Starting from now, if you do not have atleast a man to introduce to us of good name, then I would have no choice but to marry you off to the first man that offers to me."

Your eyes widened so big at this, like your worse nightmare was happening. Knowing your parents, they were serious about this. And you didnt want to be shackled in a loveless marriage just to produce kids that you cannot love fully because they were not out of real love. And besides, you were not ready for marriage yet.

"But father-"

"That's final."

"Finally, father. I am so tired of carrying everything in this family. Thank you for putting this...leech to use." Your sister sneered, liking the shock and blurry look in your eyes from unfallen tears. They were like snipers, hitting you in where they knew you were weak quietly. Even literally, as the rest of the gala participants were happily mingling, due to the fact you and your family were in a corner as they told you what they thought of you as privately as one can get in a ballroom.

But as if some sort of deity or god saw your struggle, you were saved by a hand touching yours as well as the silence of the whole ballroom. But the most telling and almost hilarious display of reaction was that of your family.

Your mother's eyes were wide as well as her mouth. Your father tried to maintain his composed expression, but you can see the shock in them, too. But, the most entertaining expression was that of your sister who had the perfect mix of angerr and shock in her face.

But, you wondered, why was everyone wondered. Well, that was until you looked up to find who held your hand, and it was Noel Noa.

The whole episode with your family made you forget the fact that your date for the night was a famed striker all over the world. Everyone knew his name and face, even if they did not know football well.

"I'm sorry for the interruption, but I am afraid she looked to be uncomfortable, so as her date, it is my responsibility to take her away from anything that may inconvenience or irritate her." He said in his usual cold and almost apathetical tone, if it was not for the fact that he held your hand and back quite intimately, a fact you did not notice because you were too tired from the mental beating from your family.

"O-of course...Mr. Noa, there is...no...problem with that." Your mother said, putting up her friendly and professional smile she uses when talking to those she knew was superior to her.

Your father stayed silent, but his usual cold, hard gaze softened. Of course, your parents were social climbers, so seeing a man of Noa's status and fame definitely humbled them.

Before anything, Noa guided you into the garden of the place and sat you down on the edge of the fountain.

"Sorry about the drama...Noa-san."

"Again, you don't have to apologise. You have to stop apologising for things out of your control and are not your fault." He said sighing, watching the beautiful colors of the water's reflection. You followed his gaze, as the water showed your face.

The face thay you hated all your life. Recognizing how it was not as pretty as your sister's face. That your sister seemed to have inherited the good traits of your parents while you get their least attractive ones (atleast in your parents' opinions and words), how you wished your eyes were the same shape as your sister's, or the way your nose looked, or even the size of your face. Everything.

You thought you moved on from the self-incarceration. But, the words they said to you made you revive the heartbreak you felt growing up as an insecured teen, a feeling that your parents and sister fueled even more, making you struggle with even the thought that you were deserving of attention and love growing up.

Then a drop fell unto the water's surface, then two, then three, until you were softly sobbing and hiccuping under the moonlit sky and the drowning sounds of the fountain.

Until you felt a soft yet calloused hand wipe a stray tear from your face. Realising that you were crying in front of Noa, you tried to turn your face away and hide it.

But, his reflex and pull were stronger and made you stay facing him. Pulling out a handkerchief, he softly wiped away all the stray tears that fell on your face as he finally spoke.

"You're an angel for the amount of patience you have with your family. I arrived there a few seconds before I stepped in, and from what I heard, I can just imagine what they have been telling you before I arrived. Or even way before that."

"Yeah...I'm used to it. But, that doesn't mean it hurted less, you know? It felt like...all the years of emotional and mental solitude and abuse came back. It played like a movie..."

He stayed quiet for a few seconds, just nodding his head at that. Truthfully, he was given a heads up about your family by Anri, and he was so thankful that she did. He thought it could not be that bad until he heard the hurtful words they told you as well as the preposition of them marrying you off to some guy that asked them first.

Like you were worth nothing.

Which just does not make sense to him. You deserved a man who would be willing to go through hell and back just for your hand in marriage, not some random man who just had to ask and would already get to be the one to see you in a white dress and veil.

But, that night, was definitely the night he knew that his feelings for you was more than attraction now. The first moment he saw your beauty and intelligence in the field, he knew he was interested in you.

But now that he got a deeper look into who you really were as a person, that you were kind, patient, and coolheaded enough to not burst in flames in front of your parents made him love and admire you for your strength even more.

He was a man who thought the saying "Kindness is strength," was foolish. Absolutely unethical. Sure, revenge is not always the best course of action, but getting back at the person can sometimes scare them off from doing the bad things they do again and again, so it is logical to a tee.

But, you gave him a new perspective. That maybe being the bigger person at times of extreme mistreatment leads to the more logical outcome. After all, it was not really you who embarassed themselves in front of the world's best striker that night, right?

By the time you managed to fix yourself and go back to the gala, the small program started. It was not that long, but as you sat beside him in the table where your family was assigned in, you both definitely noticed the new personality your parents immediately had.

Your mother approached him with a smile, sometimes lightly scolding you to fix your posture or your smile, but she was less brutal and she even used the loving mother tone she uses to your sister only.

Your father, on the other hand, was more discreet with his agenda. Asking him questions about himself and his relationship with you.

The two of them saw this as the first time you were being a good daughter. To be able to attract a man of his fame and status was a win in their eyes. They loved the attention that Noa brought to their table, the eyes of everyone, even the ones from the CEO's family was on Noa's.

You tried your best to tell your parents you both were not together, that he was just kind enough to be with you for the night. But, they did not relent. They want you to end up with him not because they want you to be happy, but because they just want the attention and power that having their daughter be the one Noa was dating.

But other than you both, your sister also noticed the attention on you and him and that pissed her off. Not used to not having the attention on her, she was muttering curses under her breath. Wondering how her ugly and incompetent elder sister attracted the number 1 striker in the world. Truthfully, she did not even love her fiance, wanting only his wealth and fame. So she thought that all the people's attention would only be at her's, but then her sister had to ruin it. Bringing a man who is known not just in the country, but in the whole world.

'She doesn't deserve him!' That was all that ran in her brain, to the point she even started to ignore her own fiance, in hopes that maybe, if she tried to act impressive enough, she would get the striker's attention away from you to paying attention to her instead.

'She did say they were just friends, and she doesn't look like she likes him like that. So, it'll be easy.'

Well, it was more of a struggle than she thought when the whole night Noa stuck to your side. With your sister's eyes being more susceptive to romance than yours, she can see the look in the striker's eyes when he looks at you or would do anything for you like getting your food for you, or even kneeling on the ground just to fix the ribbon that tied around your heels.

It was a one-sided love, where you were oblivious. A displacement that was disadvantageous to what she wanted to do.

As the night passed, you both were lucky enough not to be bothered too much, even if almost everyone at the party had some hidden agenda in getting close with him for business of sorts, it was definitely a fun time compared to the other times you attended their company's gala.

When you arrived back in the facility, before Noa can walk you to your room, Anri was already there and dragged you to her own room and helped you get out of your hair, make up and dress while urging you to tell her the juicy details of the night.

"It was a little embarrassing how much my parents wanted me to end up with him, probably just to widen their power of some sorts. And I felt so bad for Noa-san having to deal with (S/n) trying to flirt with him. Hmm, what do you think I should gift him for all his help tonight, Anri-san?"

Anri gave you some ideas while deep down, she laughed evilly at the reactions of your family, especially that of your sister. Of course, that was the reason she set you and Noa up for this as well, for you to unintentionally flex that your job was not for the faint, and that you were not the ugly sheep of the family.

'If only her sister knows it isn't just the number 1 striker after her at all. Ooh the drama that would be bring!'

No additional times for this one I'm afraid because this fic became TOO LONG THAN I EXPECTED LMAO. I don't even like Noel Noa that much yet this happened...I cooked too much I'm afraid chat. But anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this and yes I AM FEELING A LOT BETTER. This is also a bit of a character explanation for why I made Adult!Manager the way she is (like how she acts and all) so yeahhh, to all who relates to this YOU ARE ENOUGH AND LOVEABLE Dont let anyone tell you otherwise, mwah!

Blue Lock is WRITTEN by Kaneshiro Muneyuki and ILLUSTRATED by Nomura Yusuke. All credits to the both of them.

[ms-demeanor]

Completely 100% agree with the posts on CAM stuff, but... what's the verdict on vitamins? I take kid's multivitamins and B12 gummies because my body can't absorb nutrients very well and I figure a boost can't help. But do they actually do anything? or is it just a placebo?

Ideally speaking, you should be getting most of your vitamins and minerals through the food you eat.

Most people don't need the doses present in multivitamins if they are getting a balanced and varied diet.

THAT SAID,

If you know you are deficient in anything you should talk to your doctor about appropriate supplementation

AND

If you are someone who has malabsorption issues as the result of a chronic illness or past injury/treatment that changed your digestive system, YOU may know more about what nutrients you're lacking than your GP does so you may need to get tested for things that other, more "standard" patients don't and you may need to very loudly advocate for yourself.

AND, all of that said

Many people do NOT get varied and balanced diets and multivitamins may be beneficial for them, and the standard vitamin doses in multivitamins are moderate enough that you are very unlikely to experience any kind of *harm* from taking a multivitamin BUT you need to be very cautious about combining vitamins with a multivitamin to make sure that you're not going over the tolerable upper limit of any one vitamin because you CAN make yourself very sick if you're getting too much of some vitamins, especially fat soluble vitamins.

For most people, a daily dose of vitamin C is unnecessary and they will excrete the excess that their body doesn't use and taking a vitamin C tablet on top of taking a multivitamin on top of eating a diet rich in foods with vitamin C is overkill and a waste of money.

However, since I am someone who has had scurvy as a result of malabsorption due to my celiac disease, I take a multivitamin and I make a lot of smoothies.

I have also been treated for anemia, folate deficiency, and a vitamin D deficiency.

There are absolutely conditions where improper absorption of nutrients means that taking a multivitamin is a major part of treatment and symptom management. Multivitamins can be a very important part of a treatment regimen for people who need them. It's just that most people don't really need them - not only do most people get a lot of what they need from food, a lot of food is enriched with vitamins and minerals.

HOWEVER. If you not only have a malabsorption issue, you ALSO can't eat those enriched foods (often grains - wheat is enriched in the US so most people here get their folate from sandwiches and cereal, not from spinach), you probably will benefit from a multivitamin containing vitamins and minerals you may be missing from your diet. BUT, even then, you probably don't need as much as comes in most adult multivitamins - you take a child's dose, and for me, I need folate and that's in prenatal vitamins so I take half a prenatal vitamin a day because the dose recommended to pregnant people is much more than what you need on average, but you should talk to your doctor and make sure that you are regularly being monitored for nutrient deficiencies and are taking the appropriate dose of whatever you are taking, which will change throughout the course of your life due to aging and also due to your condition.

So hopefully that's enough caveats to say "talk to your doctor; vitamins can be an unnecessary waste of money but for some people they're the primary treatment of an illness and if you fall into that second category you've got to make sure you're getting the correct treatment."

I stumbled face first into four different, major nutrient deficiencies that my doctor didn't anticipate because I have a relatively uncommon chronic condition and people (even doctors) aren't often well-educated about nutrition; that is the entire reason I ended up taking college nutrition classes and the reason I continue to pursue nutrition education. This is genuinely complicated and will depend on the individual, and I'm not a medical professional and this isn't medical advice, but it sounds like a daily children's multivitamin is probably not wasted on you.

BUT ALSO: If you are just in a "my body doesn't absorb nutrients well" kind of state and you don't know what that might mean in terms of SPECIFIC deficiencies, you should ask your doctor if there is a nutrition screening blood panel they can order for you.

The folic acid deficiency SUCKED. It's not the kind of thing that gets treated with a normal multivitamin, and it also needed to be specifically screened for - it isn't on a standard blood panel.

Malnutrition is not to be fucked around with. If you're not sure, ask your doctor.

[theocddiaries]

Sonic: There's someone at school who's making Tails' life miserable. Shadow: What happened? Sonic: I don't know; he won't tell me. But he's more anxious than I've seen him in a long time. Can you take him to class today, please? Shadow: Why me??? Sonic: Because if I go, I'll lose it. You know me. I don't want to make it worse for him. Shadow: Yeah, you’re right. When that kid's involved, you can’t control yourself… Sonic: Exactly. So, you take him to school today? Shadow: But the kid hates me. Sonic: Please, Shads, it’s just dropping him off and leaving. It’s not that hard. --- Tails: I’m late for class. Shadow: …I know. I can read the time. Tails: Doesn’t look like it, because I’m late for class. Shadow [takes a slow breath]: Alright, I’m sorry, okay? Tails: At least you could write me an excuse. That’s what Sonic does. Shadow: Then you should’ve asked him before I had to drag you out of the house before we would be even more late. Principal: Well, look who’s late. Are you his brother? Tails: Ew, no. Shadow: No, no-- Principal: Honestly, I’m not surprised you’re denying it. Shadow: No, I'm no denying anything, he's really not-- Principal: I’d deny it too, seeing how the kid turned out. All he does is disrupt class and waste his classmates’ time. But what can you expect from a child who was basically feral until he was four? I imagine he’s driving you crazy at home too. [grabs Tails by the hand]: Off to class now-- Shadow [steps in front of them, blocking the way]: No, no. Excuse me, what did you just say about the kid? You know what, instead of going to class, why don’t we go see the principal and get their opinion on your teaching methods? Tails [whispers]: She is the principal. Shadow: Oh… Well, then I’ll say it to your face. Do you think it’s appropriate to insult your students? He’s just a kid. If your self-esteem is so low that you’re personally offended by him being smarter than you and everyone else in this dump of a building, then go to therapy. Don’t give him a complex. The reason we’re late is because you’ve got him so terrified and anxious that he barely wants to come here anymore. Got it? Shadow [grabs Tails by the hand and pulls him close, then picks him up]: And just so you know, if this kid wants to be an aerospace engineer, a mechanical physicist, or invent a whole new career, he’ll do it. Because my brother has the brains for that and more. [walks to the door]. Tails: You know what I want to be when I grow up??? Shadow: Of course I do; you talk about it all the time. Tails: And you called me your brother? Shadow: …Do you want to talk about that or go get some ice cream? Tails: Ice cream. [A while later, they return home] Sonic: Why are you back so early? Tails: Shadow got into it with the principal. Sonic: What? Shadow: I’ll explain later… If the school doesn’t call you to explain first. Sonic: What happened??? Tails: We left after Shadow told her off and left her speechless. It was awesome. [tugs on Sonic’s arm to bring him down to his level]: Can you date Shadow forever, please?? Shadow: That depends on how he takes the fact that I got you kicked out of school. Sonic: You got kicked out?? Tails: In his defense, we walked out. Sonic: Okay, um… Hey, why don’t you go check on the food in the kitchen, and you’ll tell me about it later? Tails [nods and leaves] Sonic [smirking]: So I’m the one who can’t keep it together when the kid’s involved? Shadow: …Shut up.

Part 1

[sunarryn]

DP X Marvel #9

It was supposed to be a normal Tuesday. Well, as normal as it got when you were the ghost king of a supernatural hell dimension that casually brushed shoulders with every known reality in the multiverse. Danny Fenton, age 19, high school graduate, part-time fast food cashier, full-time eldritch entity, had long since learned that “normal” was a concept best left to sitcoms and people who didn’t accidentally blow up space-time during puberty.

And yet, even with the sheer absurdity of his afterlife-afterlife job description, Danny had not signed up for this.

Somehow—somehow—when he officially accepted the Crown of Fire and Frost and Bones and Whatever, the Infinite Realms had offered him a dowry. Not money. Not knowledge. Not a magical vacuum to clean the endless ghost slime dripping from the ceiling. No. It gave him the Infinity Stones.

Not knockoff ones. Not replicas. Not the “Earth-199999” post-snap pebbles Thanos crushed into ghost glitter. The original Infinity Stones. And now he wore them.

Not in a gauntlet. Because, quote, “That’s been done, and frankly, gauche,” according to the Reality Stone, which had rewritten itself into a choker necklace that constantly tried to re-style his outfit into something out of a Victoria’s Secret Angel runway. Today, it had settled on a see-through green silk robe with ghost fire embroidery, and Danny had to physically fight it to let him wear jeans. He won. Barely.

The Power Stone, a chunky magenta ring on his left thumb, liked to hum. Not dramatically or ominously, no. It hummed “Barbie Girl” during tense conversations. It buzzed like a vibrator when Danny was trying to intimidate enemy ghosts. It yodeled during peace treaties. Vlad Masters once tried to monologue at him and the stone responded with a chorus of flatulent noises at full volume. Danny hadn’t stopped laughing for ten minutes. Vlad has refused to visit the castle since.

The Time Stone dangled from a chain bracelet on his right wrist. Sometimes it glowed. Sometimes it whispered. Sometimes it sounded exactly like Clockwork and said stuff like, “Oh, I wouldn’t eat that sandwich, Daniel. You’ll get food poisoning in three hours and twenty-two minutes. It won’t kill you, but the diarrhea will haunt you.” It also had a deeply annoying habit of flashing forward into the future and spoiling every plot twist in the books he was reading. Danny tried to switch to manga, but the damn thing kept spoiling those too.

The Space Stone was an earring. A single, glowing, cerulean stud in his left lobe. It gave him migraines. Not just regular migraines. Cosmic, black-hole-level migraines that bent reality around him. Once, while sneezing mid-headache, he created a baby star in his bedroom. Another time, it opened a portal in the ceiling of his shower mid-rinse and sucked him naked into a Skrull pirate ship orbiting Saturn. He beat them with a loofah and threatened to scrub their insides out unless they sent him back. They now call him “Emperor Cleans-the-Flesh.”

Then there was the Soul Stone. It had attitude. It was a sulky little thing, disguised as a glowing orange knuckle ring he wore on his middle finger, which felt very appropriate. It didn’t talk much, but when it did, it sounded like a sad Tumblr user from 2013. Constantly making vague threats like, “What if I just… killed everyone you loved… just to feel something.” Danny once told it to go touch grass and it responded by manifesting a field of sentient grass that sang MCR lyrics at full blast. Sam loved it. Tucker was traumatized. Jazz refuses to discuss it.

And the Mind Stone.

God.

The Mind Stone.

A dainty gold earring that hung from his right ear and gave the impression of class. It had developed a voice that was part Morgan Freeman, part drunk Hannibal Lecter, and it spoke in Jazz’s cadence. So, essentially: it psychoanalyzed Danny nonstop with the world-weary patience of an overachieving older sibling with access to the DSM-5 and a deep, personal vendetta.

“Ah, yes. Classic deflection, Daniel. You’re not mad at the Time Stone for spoiling your anime. You’re mad at yourself for never learning to regulate your own expectations. Also, you are projecting unresolved paternal trauma onto that sandwich. Seek therapy.”

“I can’t seek therapy, I’m the Ghost King!”

“That’s exactly what someone with a savior complex and intimacy issues would say.”

Every time he thought it was quiet, it whispered new insults into his subconscious. Once, in the middle of a UN meeting about ghost-human diplomacy, it started narrating his intrusive thoughts. Danny had to teleport out before he screamed about his fear of turning into his dad mid-poop.

Now, normally? He could live with it. Ish. He’d learned to tune them out, like roommates you couldn’t evict because they were the literal embodiment of creation. But then SHIELD, or what was left of it, showed up.

Apparently, the multiverse was cracking. Again. Something-something-Kang, something-something-fracture points. Wong came in first, looked at Danny floating sideways in a gravity-less realm throne room while eating hot Cheetos, and just sighed like a man who knew he was underpaid.

“You’re the new anchor of the multiverse.”

Danny blinked. “I’m the what?”

“The stones chose you. Probably because you’re already tethered to the Infinite Realms. You’re their new keeper. Like… janitor of reality.”

“I didn’t ask to be the multiverse’s janitor.”

“Too bad. Put on pants. You’re meeting the Avengers.”

Spoiler: he did not put on pants. Reality Stone put him in tight leather shorts. Tony Stark showed up mid-briefing, took one look at Danny, and said, “Are we summoning ghosts or attending Coachella?”

“I am literally containing the building blocks of existence inside my earlobes, old man.”

Tony raised a brow. “Sassy.”

Steve Rogers had a panic attack. Bruce Banner tried to talk quantum containment strategy, but the Mind Stone insulted his PhD and called him “Emotionally repressed Dr. Jekyll.” Wanda Maximoff muttered something in Sokovian about chaos recognizing chaos. Peter Parker asked for a selfie. Thor offered to arm wrestle. The Space Stone teleported his arm off mid-match. Thor thought it was hilarious.

Then came Loki.

“Oh,” the trickster said, slinking into the realm uninvited. “You’re the one they gave the toys to.”

Danny narrowed his eyes. “Do not call them toys.”

The Soul Stone hissed. The Mind Stone said, “He has severe middle child energy. Classic narcissist. Avoid eye contact.”

Loki smiled wider. “I like you.”

“I hate you already.”

And then Deadpool showed up.

No one invited him. No one wanted him. He just… wandered in through a swirling green portal, wearing bunny slippers, sipping a Ghost Zone smoothie, and immediately licked the Time Stone.

“MMM. Tastes like trauma and Chrono-Cinnamon. Delicious.”

Danny screamed. Deadpool winked.

The next few weeks were a blur of chaos. Danny accidentally rebooted a dead star, causing an entire Kree fleet to bow to him as their sun god. The Reality Stone made his socks sentient. The Mind Stone helped him file ghostly taxes, then charged him emotional interest. Doctor Strange tried to exorcise the stones. Danny coughed up an entire timeline onto the Sanctum’s carpet. Wong still hasn’t forgiven him.

At one point, the Power Stone got bored and vaporized a celestial. Danny was grounded by the Living Tribunal for three days and had to sit in a corner of conceptual space thinking about what he did.

“Why me?” Danny whined to no one in particular.

“Because,” the Mind Stone whispered gently. “You are chronically self-sacrificing, catastrophically powerful, and an absolute sucker for lost causes. Also, you taste like ectoplasm and cinnamon toast. Reality finds that comforting.”

Danny covered his face with his hands. “I’m going to scream.”

“Do it,” the Soul Stone said. “Scream into the void. Feed me.”

“I hate you.”

“We love you, Daniel,” Time Stone whispered ominously.

“No you don’t!”

But they kind of did. In their own horrible, unholy, unhinged way.

And Danny? Danny was starting to get used to it.

He wore godhood like a teenager wears a secondhand hoodie—awkwardly, chaotically, and with a deep sense of “please don’t ask me to take responsibility for this.” But deep down, across realms and dimensions and timelines, Danny Phantom was no longer just a boy with ghost powers. He was the Keeper of Infinity, the King of the In-Between, and possibly the most dangerously unqualified celestial babysitter the multiverse had ever known.

God help them all.

[yuri-is-online]

And in With the New (Scarabia, Pomefiore, Ignihyde, and Diasomnia x Yuu)

"Look I would get rid of this thing if I could afford a new sweatshirt." You drag the offensive article of clothing over your head completely missing the spark of curiosity and mischief in your companion's eye. "I've got a lot of bad memories associated with this."

"If it's that uncomfortable we can go look for a replacement instead of-"

"Oh no not like that, it's super comfy. I just don't like it because it technically belongs to my ex."

notes: they/them used for Yuu, their ex is implied to be kind of a shit person, other dorms can be found here (x) Ortho is somewhat included in Idia's part but does not have one of his own.

Kalim- "Do you have any other things from your world?"

Kalim has expressed a desire for you to see as much of Twisted Wonderland as possible, and he stands by that, but it would really suck if the only physical connection you had to your home was something that brought up painful memories. Your past relationship isn't something that makes him jealous, just concerned since it clearly causes you distress. He can wait to get you more appropriate clothing until after he makes sure you're ok. If the sweatshirt really is the only thing you have from home, he'll be asking if there are any foods you remember or activities you liked to do with the people you actually cared about that the two of you can recreate in Twisted Wonderland. That way you won't have to feel the need to hold onto something painful and he gets to make you happy.

Jamil- "Then why didn't you get rid of it before you came here?"

On the one hand he does feel a bit second rate at the thought of you holding onto something form an ex, but his primary concern is the implication that your financial straights have always been this... dire. He definitely wants to know about your previous relationship so he can judge them for how much better he is, but once he notices that the memories are a bit on the traumatic side he stops pushing and feels just the slightest bit guilty. But really, if it's something that hurts you to hold onto then why do it? You aren't him, you don't need to do that, people love you and want to take care of you, him included. He's not going to just give you his hoodie, he would literally die of embarrassment, but he does get you a sweatshirt. If for no other reason than to keep him from staring holes into your back now that he knows where the other one came from.

Vil- "It doesn't suit you at all."

If his treatment of Epel is anything to go by, Vil is not above spending money on something he considers to be a pet project. Not that this... friendship is one of those, nor is he particularly jealous of some no name extra who was too blind to beg on their hands and knees to get back in your good graces. Not that he needs to do that you understand; as arrogant as Vil has a reputation for being, he is one of the people who has been more genuine when expressing concern and gratitude for you. His comment isn't meant to be a slight, clothing that makes you feel bad about yourself is failing to do its job as fashion, and as a world class super model that is unacceptable. In other words get in the car looser we're going shopping.

Rook- "Ah, I thought it was something like that."

Is it bad if he says he meant he hoped it was something like that? Not that he was rooting for your ex to be a bad person, he would never wish a subpar lover on you. But when he saw the tattered edges of your sweatshirt and how it clashed with the things you bought for yourself, he hoped that maybe someone in your world hadn't wanted your hands to be cold. If that's not the case, then if you are ok with letting it go as a lover of romance who is he to deny you your freedom? Granted tossing roses onto a fire while you burn an ugly sweatshirt is both very extra and very Rook but hey. He's having fun and you've got a new jacket.

Epel- "Afford shamford I could'a just made ya one!"

Offering their sweetheart their hoodie is something manly tall guys get to do and Epel has really really REALLY. Been looking forward to getting to that point in his relationship with you. He wants to feel like a real man, like your real man to be specific. The thought of some other piece of shit getting to do that first and treating you like a used dish rag pisses him off. Best believe he is huffing and puffing his way back to Grandma Felmier's boot camp with a mission to do you one and your ex two better by knitting you a pullover to go with your uniform. Everything that comes from Harveston is a top quality product prefect, better than whatever you left behind he guarantees it.

Idia- "So this is that kind of route huh..."

Of course you had a partner back in your world, if he can see your good points then a normie absolutely could. That doesn't make you less appealing, it just makes him feel all that more convinced he doesn't have a chance. He's halfway through whipping out his tablet to excuse himself when Ortho asks what you meant by "shitty memories" and they both get blindsided by just how much vitriol you have for a person whose clothing you technically kept on you. And suddenly he's back in business because there are few things that unite Idia with someone faster than a good old fashion bitch fest. Sure, his insults are weirdly possessive of you, but if he had any doubts about your feelings for this person he doesn't now! He's never heard you talk about anyone like this before and he finds it so attractive he almost forgets to short circuit when Ortho convinces you to try on his hoodie. Almost.

Malleus- "..."

Sometimes he feels like a broken record, constantly marveling at how little fear you have of him, but really child of man, you have no fear. Malleus has very little in the way of emotional intelligence, so he doesn't fully understand that what he is feeling is jealousy he just knows the thought of you with someone else's clothes hurts. Unfortunately for you both, in addition to not being emotionally intelligent he also isn't with the times and there is a non zero percent chance he will be bringing you a cloak and be genuinely confused when you don't immediately replace your old hide for his. (Lilia takes responsibility for that, he was making a joke honest.) Oh? The point was it's supposed to be something he wore so you can feel closer to him when he's gone? Well why didn't you say so child of man, he is more than willing to offer you a scale- what do you mean you can't wear that either?

Lilia- "Oh? Are you asking for one of mine?"

Shame has not been a word in Lilia's vocabulary since long before you showed up prefect. He always buys oversized clothing because of how cute the long sleeves look on him, but oh they would be so much cuter on you prefect, don't you want to see? Oh and while the two of you are at it, why don't you let him paint your nails and do your eye shadow. He's never had one of those slumber party things you humans do, you should make a night of this so you can both get a new experience out of this. He can have a slumber party and you can be the center of someone's world. Also what do you mean you're supposed to summon the devil at these things, he's already here.

Silver- "Would you like one of mine?"

Lilia raised a very good boy who thinks nothing of offering the shirt off his back to save someone in distress. Silver isn't a jealous person by nature, he's more concerned with making sure you are safe and taken care of than he is making sure you don't still have feelings for your ex. Above all else, Silver wants to be a safe space for you to come home to at the end of the day, like a proper knight in shining armor. Though he does have to admit, you look really nice in Diasomnia colors, they're really close to Briar Valley's so if you decide to come and visit he's assures you that you will fit right in. He's sure his father would be very happy to play host. Maybe too happy.

Sebek- "HOW UTTERLY DISGRACEFUL."

You think he's upset at you but he's not, that's made painfully clear with the rant he starts to go on about proper courtship procedure. Offering clothing to someone is supposed to be a sign of high affection, nay eternal devotion! And it suddenly becomes clear to you that Sebek has somehow managed to confuse the concept of a stolen hoodie and a knight's favor. He seems to have managed to convince himself, in the span of two seconds, that you are wearing this not because it is one of your only pieces of clothing, but because your ex convinced you that they're the only one who could love you which IS NOT TRUE. YOU UNDERSTAND HUMAN? DO YOU UNDERSTAAAAAAAAND?

[schemmentisimpasours]

Simping for Schemmenti

THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

-

Summary: Melissa has been pining after you all school year and after a much needed push to finally tell you.

Next Chapter

Masterlist

-

It was the last day of school, a half day, that Janine had turned into one last employee outing. At first, everyone was resistant until you offered up your sister’s pool while she was away on vacation. Once you had promised Ava it was in a nice neighborhood and yes she was a real doctor that she had agreed as long as she could bring her ring light. Janine and Gregory had readily agreed when they looked up how hot it would be. Barb only hesitated until she was promised cocktails. Jacob promised to bring a volleyball for water sports. It was only Melissa that needed convincing.

“Mel, come on you don’t want to spend one last day together before we all separate for the summer?” You asked leaning to pluck a piece of chocolate croissant off her plate.

Everyone else would have gotten their hand slapped (even Barb) but you had a special claim over Melissa’s food. You always had a special place with Melissa since you started working at Abbott at the beginning of the year, when you had proved yourself as a more than adequate 3rd grade teacher in her opinion and pulled a knife from underneath your skirt to defend a child from a hostile dad breaking a restraining order. However, that was a story to be explained more fully for a different day. 

  You seemed to have fit in easily with everyone at Abbott. Being Ava’s friend since childhood she gave you shit constantly but you had a nerdy side that appealed to both Jacob and Janine. Gregory and you had become close over his love of gardening and how you were more than willing to follow his directions on how to care for it while he was gone. Even Mr. Johnson appreciated your extra help in fixing things that seemed to go wrong around the school. Barb had loved you when you came in mumbling the hints for the crossword under your breath one morning, and she finally had someone to do them with. 

Now you stared at Melissa and the woman tried to put up another protest before Barb gave her a sharp kick to the shin. She kicked back before replying, “Of course as long as I get to cook the snacks. I don’t trust any of y’all with food.”

A huge smile spread across your face, “Great, I will go finish the details and text y’all the address.”

When the bell rang and the teachers made their way to classrooms, Melissa pulled Barb to the side, “I’m going to have a bruise because of you. What the hell was that for?

“Because you were about to say no to one final day with Y/N. You still haven’t told her about your feelings and you really want to go the whole summer without seeing her,” Barb retorted.

“Maybe they will go away this summer.”

Barbra’s friend let out a hearty laugh, “I have watched you try to get over this crush ever since you eye banged her over the knife fight. I am not going to watch you sulk all summer because she isn’t around to pester you with nonsense questions. Now tell me why you didn’t want to go.”

Melissa groaned, pushing her glasses up, “Because the thought of Y/N in a swimsuit of any kind makes me have all sorts of not school appropriate thoughts.”

“Good thing we won’t be in school,” Barb laughed before heading into her classroom.

Melissa shook her head before making her way to her own class. On the way, she peeked into your room. You were sitting on the top of your desk, legs spread in your blue jeans with your burgundy converse swinging back and forth, showing how short you actually were. It made her smile the way you were so comfortable in your classroom.

Melissa could have stood there staring at you all day but a child grabbed her hand, “Mrs. Schemmenti we are waiting for you.”

—----

The final day of school came and soon everyone was sprawled out by the pool. You had your face in a book toes dipped into the water. A loose red Abbot Elementary shirt was rolled up and tucked into your swim suit top showing off your black biker shorts. You had intentions of getting into the water at some point but little did you know that plan that your coworkers had put together. Sick of you and Melissa flirting with each other but never making a move it was Barb you had called together the group. And Ava who had enforced fear upon Janine to actually keep the secret. 

“Y/N what book you reading?” Janine asked leaning over. 

You went to show her the cover but she snatched it from you and Ava rushed in behind you and pushed you in. You fell into the pool popping back up quickly but not before you were entirely soaked. You whipped your head towards Ava and Janine who were laughing.

“Ava, I expected this from you. But Janine. I thought you were above this,” You said before whipping your wet t-shirt at both of them.

“We wanted you to get into the pool and actually enjoy the event that you planned,” Ava smirked.

“You getting in then?”

“Girl you know I just got my nails down,” She said holding them up to reflect the blue and green sparkles, “I couldn’t get..”

She stopped mid sentence as your shorts hit her square in the face, “You nasty Y/N, I never asked for you to be dropping drawers for me. We all know you got a crush on someone else in the school.”

“Ava!” You screamed and then sank under the water trying to compose yourself. You jumped up quickly off the edge and pulled Ava back into the water with you. 

You both landed with a splash, but came up both laughing. Janine jumped in after you and soon the three of you were hounding the boys to let you play volleyball with them. 

While all of this transpired, Barb was watching Melissa intently. Melissa’s eyes had been on you the whole party, to the point she could have told you how far you had gotten in your book Legendborn. When you had thrown your shirt at Ava, exposing your purple bikini top she had taken an audible gulp. Then when you had tackled Ava to the pool and the couple of moments your barely covered ass had been showing Barbra could have sworn that Melissa’s face had started to sweat.

“You are going to bore a hole in that poor girl’s head,” Barb said, shaking Melissa.

“There relationship is so odd,” Melissa said, avoiding Barbara’s comment, “Ava is a completely different person around her. Happier.. Less cliques.”

“Y/N brings out the best in people. Including you,” Barb smiles, “However if you don’t tell her your feelings soon I may have to scream it like Ada just did.”

“So you did hear that?” Melissa said finally flipping her eyes off you, “Who do you think she was talking about.”

“You! You bumbling idiot,” Barb muttered.

Before Melissa could respond, you were calling her name. She looked over and you and swore under her breath. You were perched up boobs on the pools edge your hair falling in wet droplets around you. 

“So what do you say Mel, you coming to join us so we can beat the boys,” You said, breaking her out of her silence.

“Boys and Janine!” 

“Yes and Janine,” You rolled your eyes, “Come on we bet tickets to the next Eagles came that my sister got at work.”

“For the Eagles I will do anything,” Melissa smiled quickly shedding of her pool cover and jumping in the pool. 

Barb smiled from the sidelines, winking to Ava their plan was working. 

With Barb roped into being the referee the heated game of volleyball lasted about an hour with your team coming out victorious. You turned around and gave Ada a huge high five before turning to Melissa. You raised your arms but instead, Melissa pulled you in close, placing a kiss to your lips. 

It took your breath away to feel her pressed up against you, hands wrapped into your hair. The kiss was timid at first until you reciprocated the kiss and then all bets were off.  You wrapped your arms tight around her until the cheering started. 

The kiss was broken leaving you breathless and you looked at your coworkers all letting out loud whoops. Your face turned a bright red but Melissa still kept her arms around you in a hug.

“What ya looking at you pervs?” Melissa barked, making everyone laugh and lightening your embarrassment.

“Two people who finally got over themselves and decided to reveal their feelings for each other,” Ava laughed, “Now get a room or something. We don’t need Barb to have to go to confessional over y’all fucking in the pool.”

You and Melissa flipped her off simultaneously, making you laugh again. This woman, with her red hair plastered around the curves of the face you had spent hours memorizing. Blue eyes sparkled down at you and you knew that you could get lost into them forever. 

“What do you say Y/N, me and you on a real date tomorrow night. I’ll cook you dinner and the whole nine yards.” 

You grinned giving her another small kiss, “Sounds wonderful.”

The rest of the day Melissa kept close by placing small kisses on whatever exposed skin she could find. She held your hand while talking to Barbra and made you a plate of food before making sure that you sat down at the table next to her. 

“Yo Red!” Ava yelled, sliding into the seat next to you, “You understand she was my girl first, right. I still get first dibs on where we sit at lunch.”

“Yeah whatever Ava,” Melissa said before kissing your cheek, “We all know you don’t like sharing.”

“Neither do you,” Ava retorted, “Yet Y/N is the only one you let steal your food every day.”

You paused with a piece of Melissa’s cannoli in your grasp, “Not even Barb.”

“No hun, I left that pleasure for you only.”

“Fuck,” You whispered, “Really should have seen the signs.”

Melissa laughed squeezing your hand, “And I should have had the balls to tell you sooner.”