#fun fact: I only knew about her birthday cake because I had a lesson about it a few years ago

[nanamisflowerfield]

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It was a big day, well at least for Idia. After all it was his crush’s birthday! Scared and excited, he tried to prepare a gift for his beloved crush in secret.

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@teashopwritingzz I know I don’t have to do it, but I really really really wanted to give at least one small present to you! Because you totally deserve it!🥺❤️ Happy belated Birthday! I know that yesterday was your birthday, but I wasn‘t online yesterday due the post+ demonstration! D: I still hope that you had a wonderful day yesterday and today and the whole week! Stay safe and healthy too!!

Idia took a deep breath, staring at the list of gift ideas that you might like, but a small voice back in his head kept telling him, that you would never like any of those gifts. “I’m sure that (Y/N) (L/N) will like it!” His younger brother always said, but the tall dorm leader of Ignihyde was still pouting at his thoughts. If you would reject any of those, you would also reject his feelings. It would be like a critical hit, getting it from the most greatest SSR character ever. “If you are still unsure, you can watch them. Maybe you will figure out what (Y/N) (L/N) will like.” Ortho advised his big bro, who glanced over his shoulder to the only person he might listen to at this very important situation. “Maybe you are right…” Idia’s gaze wandered from his brother to the list he had on his phone. Headphones, phonecases, games, books and more were listed on it, but would you liked them?

“Owww! My paw!” Grim cursed the ground, after he fell down from the bed, being accidentally pushed down by you. “Sorry, Grim.” Apologizing by petting him on the head and promising to give him a can of tuna later, he halfheartly accepted your apology, walking with you to school for another mayhap exciting school day. “I will only accept it, because it’s your birthday.” The cat-like friend of yours, fummed, watching the Heartslabyul duo walk into your direction to greet you and wish you a happy birthday. “Trey-senpai even baked a cake.” Deuce told you, getting elbowed by Ace, who groaned at him that the birthday party should be a surprise, only to spoil it himself. “A surprise party…? I’m probably not invited…” Idia watched the screen, his eyes never leaving you, hopeful to get any informations of what you might wish for, while his fingers tipped on his keyboard, coding something he always had on mind.

As you wrote on paper everything important professor Crewel told the class, Ace drummed with his finger on the table, while Grim was half sleeping next to you and Deuce tried his best to be a perfect student. “Hey, can you read the list of invited students later on? Did we invite every friend of yours?” Deuce whispered to you, getting harsh words of the professor for interrupting the lesson. But every time Crewel watched away, you read all names of your friends on it, only noticing that one name was missing. The person you wanted to see not only through screen. Idia Shroud. But maybe he couldn’t come over or doesn’t want to for being such a shy and yet adorable being.

Surprisingly the day went on like every other day. You laughed, had fun, talked to your friends and went to the Heartslabyul garden, while wearing shiny bright white clothes to show the whole school that it was indeed your birthday, like many other students had to wear on theirs. It was a bit embarrassing to talk with plenty of students about your birthday, but it still made you happy nonetheless, even when you still hoped to talk on specific student of NRC on this very day. But he didn’t came, so maybe you should get your little present from him by visiting Idia. “That’s a great party, guys. Thank you all so much, but I will be gone for a short time.” You smiled at your friends, watching them having fun, eating delicious food and talking to each other.

Idia yelped as he heard a knock on the door. Wasn’t everyone gone and having fun right now? Who was knocking on the door? Arguing with Ortho with mere stares, the younger Shroud walked to the door, opening it to your delight and Idia’s dismay, as he stared at the door opening more and more and then- oh no, by the great seven, was it truly you?! You were supposed to be at your party, having the time of your life with your dear friends and not be here! Why were you here?!

Like a good child, Ortho greeted you, standing next to the door to give you some space to walk through the door to Idia’s room. While you were smiling at the Shroud brothers, Idia was sitting on his chair, turning around to hide his blushing face that got warmer by every second you stood there and talked to Ortho. The tips of his hair and ears were dusted cheek and he was sure, that some might compare to him to fresh cherries!

“Sorry to disturb you-“ You started, getting interrupted by Ortho, who dragged you into the room, telling you that you would never disturb any of those two. “Oh… Uhm… Alright.” With the same smile that Idia fell for, your eyes stared at his back. Oh, how much you had wishes to hold the introverted boy in your embrace, pat him and give him the love and affection he deserved. “I-I-It’s… alright…” Idia sputtered and stuttered, trying to avoid your gaze in fear that you might tease him for having a crush on you. He just couldn’t help himself. You were such a lovely person. So nice, helpful and that smile. He could babble around, what a great person you were in his boring shut-in life. That you were like the light in his dark life. A total ultra super duper rare card in the gacha games he keeps playing, being frustrated that he couldn’t get those cards, but at least could look at them on photos. “Am I creepy…?” Idia mumbled to himself, forgetting your presence for a second until you asked him to repeat it, after not able to hear it. “N-Nothing!”

Fortunately or mayhap even unfortunately, Ortho knew of Idia’s feelings and how much he had took a liking towards you, which is why he had asked you, why you were in the Ignihyde dorm. “Oh… I wanted to get my present.” The blue-haired tall student turned around, nearly shrieking in fear that you figured out, that he wanted to give you a gift as well like plenty of your friends, who unfortunately had gifted you many presents he had listed a couple weeks ago. “My present would be… to spend more time with you, Idia.” Your gaze wandered to the ground as your cheeks got warmer by your mere words and wish you had, not realizing that Idia’s face was mirroring yours at the same time your words had left your mouth.

That was a gift that he would love to give you every day as long as you wanted to have him by his side. His mouth opened slightly, wanting to talk, before you had asked him what he was programming right now as you took a look at the codes, ignoring the fact that a humming Ortho left the room, so he might not disturb you two love birds. “A g-game… I’m trying to make a small game I had in mind for quite some time.” He answered, staring at it once again.

“Have you finished it already?“ The bluehead nodded. “May I play it?” Mumbling a few words here and there, Idia hoped that his hair hide his flustered face, but he nonetheless let you sit next to him and play his selfmade game, even though he feared that you would reach the end of it and find out about his big secret he never wanted to reveal to you.

“Another level up. Great!~” You cheered, playing the rpg of Idia’s even though your friends might miss you during your birthday party. You should get back, but you couldn’t stop playing the game, after all you has nearly reach the endboss! “Is that a giant cat? He reminds me of Grim.” You chuckled, trying to defeat the endboss with the spells of the protagonist named Hadia. It was a cute game.

The plot of it was like plenty of other rpgs. The protagonist Hadia, a royal guy fell in love with Readi, a sweet princess who got kidnapped by the evil cat-monster Grimopy. Grimopy tried to be the strongest wizard and king and had plenty of henchmen like Dice and Acepo, which were quite strong enemies. Hadia had to train a lot and even gained the help of different wizards like Lio, a sleepy lion, Otto, a cute robot. Then there were Ralice, Tri, Phone-Addicted Rabbit, who still had no name, because Idia couldn’t find a good fitting name for the character. Marteus, Kala, Azure and many other characters and all of them reminded you of your friends. That meant that Hadis was probably Idia and the lovely princess Readi was… you. “Cute game.” You whispered to yourself, using the last spell to defeat the boss, watching the end scene of the rpg.

Hadis was rushing through the castle until he found his beloved princess. When he leaned down to kiss her awake with the kiss of true love, she woke up and they confessed their loves, swearing to each other to be together forever until they lives will end.

“I think I have a new ship.” You giggled, pointing at the protagonists, while you looked at Idia, the blushing mess. “I’m really glad that they are together. They are perfect and cute together. So sweet. I hope that my Hadis likes me as much as he does…” You commented, shutting his computer down, while Idia clenched his fists, knowing that you finally know about his feelings. “Come. We have to go to a party, Idia.” You smiled at the marveled dorm leader. “P-Party?!” Faster than he could expect it, you grabbed his hand in yours, pulling him away from his room towards the garden of the Heartslabyul dorm. “Oh, I like you too, my Hadis.” - “I-I like you too… my Readi.” With the other hand of his, he tried to hide his red face as you chuckled at him, happy that you finally can call him yours.

[midgardianweasley]

Hey! Can I get a George Weasley fluff where you’re baking a cake, and he ends up joining and throwing some batter at you, and it ultimately ends in a food fight. Then he kisses the batter off your lips. Please and thank you <3

Of course! Here you go love, I hope you like it <33

Aprons and Kitchens

George Weasley x fem!reader

Summary: George claims he’s going to help Y/N bake a cake for his mothers birthday, but, chaos follows him wherever he goes.

Word Count: 1187 words

Warnings: fluffier than cotton balls - consider yourself warned

Message/ask if you want to be added to taglist! <3 

Today was the day. It was my mother in law’s birthday, Molly Weasley. Ever since dating her son, George Weasley, she’s taken me in like I'm one of her own and has always made me feel so welcome at the burrow. She has been like a second mother to me over the years and because of that, I’d said that I want to be the one to make her birthday cake, as a way to express my appreciation of the love and support she’s not only shown me, but George and I as a couple. I’d just finished laying out all of the ingredients i’d needed, flour, eggs, milk, all of the initial basics and the equipment i needed. I’d decided to wake up relatively early to get a head start, expecting to be working on it myself, until I started icing that is, knowing George liked to steal some when he thinks I'm not looking. I’m pleasantly surprised when I feel two arms wrap around my waist from behind and a soft whisper in my ear, slightly raspy from just having woken up.

“Guess who”

“Hmm” I muttered, practically hearing the smirk on his face.

“Fred?” I gasped, but before I could begin to turn around to see the shocked look on his face, one that I knew was there waiting for me, I felt his fingers dig into my sides and begin to tickle me, sending me into an inescapable laughing fit. If laughing was a workout, this man would’ve given me an eight pack by now.

“Okay okay okay stop” I yelped between laughs “I learned my lesson! I’m sorry!”

“You have to say the magic word, and I’ll stop”

“Pleeeease?” I looked up at him with big puppy dog eyes

“Well, it was actually ‘Georgeisthebesthusbandintheentireworld’” He quickly spoke, “But i’ll make an exception seeing as you said it so nicely.”

A blush crept onto my face as I quickly turned back around, looking over the recipe once more to ensure I knew what I was doing when out of the corner of my eye, I saw George grab two aprons that had been given to us as a wedding gift by Fred, they were a light blue colour with ‘Mr’ on one and ‘Mrs’ on the other in Black cursive writing. He put my apron on first, pulling my hair out of where it had been tucked under the neck string, and tied the string at my waist in a loose bow before tugging his one on. “Okay, where do we start?”

~TImeskip~

Things had been going well so far, we worked in a comfortable silence, with the occasional comment or question murmured between the both of us. It was perfectly peaceful, until I felt George poke my arm, leaving a little circular mark of flour on my arm. I’d decided to pretend I hadn’t noticed, hoping that it would be left at a poke. This hope soon faded when I then felt, not a poke, but a full handprint landed on my arm, leaving whatever flour that didn’t fall to the floor, on my arm again.

“George! We need to finish this cake for your mum's birthday, it needs to be perfect!” Playfully shoving him, expecting him to take it even just a little bit seriously, but, this is George Weasley, his middle name may as well be ‘mischief’. This point was clearly shown to me when I then felt a handful of flour thrown towards me and hit my face. I attempted to look annoyed, but failed the second I turned round and saw his cheeky grin looking mighty proud of himself, it was impossible to hide my smile when looking at his.

“You know I’m literally holding an egg, right?” I smirk, but before I could get a chance to follow through with my threat, I felt the other side of my face receive a healthy handful of flour.

“Okay, you asked for it, it’s on.” I smacked the egg onto his chest, yolk covering the ‘R’ on his apron. Not having a chance to laugh at the fact that he now had an apron appearing to barely have an ‘M’ left on it, I ran and ducked behind the counter and the brown stools that were tucked away underneath. Thankfully, i’d managed to grab a bag of sugar on my route to escape the wrath of George in ‘food fight’ mode, grabbing a big handful of the grains and throwing them in his general direction. Thinking I was safe where I was hiding, was a big mistake, when I suddenly felt a wooden spoonful worth of batter splat onto my head, ultimately running down the sides and leaving a less than pleasant feeling on my scalp. He’s totally in for it now.

After a lot of laughing, throwing, poking, slapping, and basically making the biggest mess a pair can make, we eventually called a truce, realising that we would eventually need to clean it up, and although we could use magic, we sometimes liked washing and drying up together. Walking towards me, George held his hand out and we shook on it, agreeing that upon looking at the mess and the now severe lack of eggs, we’d need to stop before we end up not having enough to bake Molly’s cake, something I was not letting happen in a million years.

“You’ve made such a mess George Weasley!”

“Says the one with batter on her face, Y/N Weasley!”

Moving my hand to both sides of my face, I wiped them over, hoping to rid myself of the attack of batter I'd faced.

“Did I get it?”

“Almost, just missed a spot on your cheek.” He smiled, looking in awe of me attempting to blindly clean my face, ultimately making it worse, covering it with sugar, but I’m sure it was fun watching me try, for the second time.

“How about now?”

“Here, let me get it” Shutting my eyes, expecting to feel his thumb rub off where i’d missed, I felt a pair of lips gently press against mine, his tongue softly pressing against my lips, but before I could deepen the kiss, he pulls away, licking his lips in the process.

“There we go, all gone!” He winked

“You told me it was my cheek!” I exclaimed, although, I wasn’t really complaining

“Maybe I just wanted an excuse to kiss my gorgeous wife”

Smiling, I lean up, hovering my lips just above his, muttering so quietly that I’m surprised he’d heard me

“Bubble war for round two?”

He pulled my body closer to his, stroking my hips, lips still not touching, but I could still feel his breath clashing with mine.

“Merlin, I love you” was all I heard before I felt his lips back on mine, the only thought on my mind while pulling away being that, I was glad we’d started on this cake early.

Taglist: @horrorxweasley @dracofknmalfoy @gaycatlord-stuff

[sparklyaxolotlstudent]

Tikki’s blessing

Because I had already made a “Plagg’s revenge” kind of fic, and Tikki deserves to do some justice herself, I wrote this.

Personally, I think Tikki is more vicious when she wants to punish someone.

-

“I can’t believe that brat!” Marinette left herself fall into her fainting couch and grabbed a pillow, screaming into it.

Tikki went out of her purse, already knowing what had happened. The class was organizing the same annual bake sale they always did, but thanks to Lila’s manipulations, Marinette had ended up with almost four times as much work as before, and half the price to boot. “Because you’re  a nice person, aren’t you, Marinette?”

At least her parents had agreed already, and some of her classmates had actually agreed to help her too, but still, what was done was done.  

Tikki has had enough of Lila too.

She knew some lies were a necessary evil in everyday life, but that bratty girl was taking it too far. She couldn’t remember anything she had said that was truth. She wasn’t even sure that the liar’s name was “Lila Rossi”, or that she was Italian.

Tikki wanted to do something about it, but by the looks of things, her current holder, Marinette Dupain-Cheng seemed to think otherwise, probably because Plagg’s current kitten advised her to not rock the boat and the take the high road, otherwise, Marinette could have exposed Lila a long time ago as Ladybug, or as herself, and prevent a lot of headaches.

Being a teenager was stressful. Being the savior of Paris was even more stressful, so Tikki didn’t like this lying liar who lies adding even more stress to Marinette.

Many people had called Tikki a “Goddess of Creation” or a “Creation Spirit” or even a “Creation Fairy”. She was none of those things. She didn’t “use” creation. She is creation itself, and unlike Plagg, she had control over what she could create, and a good intuition about creating useful things.  She wasn’t Life, however, as other people usually said, but it was close enough.

And the thing is, She is Creation of All Things, and all things include havoc and retribution.

So she decided to bless Lila. And by “bless”, she meant she was going to give Lila some of her own creation powers. She wasn’t crazy, of course giving Lila even the tiniest fraction of her powers was risky, but she could revoke the blessing at any time, and she could also put some failsafe in the bless itself.

So after she was sure that Marinette was asleep, she put her plan in motion. Tikki really hated to work without telling Marinette first, and really hated herself for it, but she was pretty sure her holder would veto her idea, as she had to admit it was a bit cruel and devious, but still, that brat needed to learn a lesson about lying. She sighed deeply, finding her resolve, and flying outside the house, going through the window.

She didn’t know exactly where Lila’s house was, but she had a vague idea for how she had heard the liar speaking. She hoped at least that was true.

Jackpot.

She finally found Lila’s house, some hours before sunrise, and found the liar’s room easily.  

Tikki smiled in a sad kind of way. Lila didn’t look different from any other girl from this point of view. Her house was nice; her room was filled with anything a teen would want.  She really couldn’t put her finger on why this girl needed to lie so much. But regardless, she had taken her decision and was going to bless this bratty kid, no matter what.

She puckered up the things that passed for lips on a Kwami and kissed Lila on the forehead. She hadn’t blessed anyone like that in a long time, so the tiny kiss shinning for a second came as a bit of a surprise. It had been so long… She sighed satisfied, and hoped against hope that this brat would learn her lesson. Heh, at least she would get to have some fun.

She shrugged and left for home. Thank herself she didn’t actually need to sleep. She’ll just ask Marinette for some breakfast cookies to get energy for the day.

The next day (Or already, for Tikki), it was Nino’s birthday, and Marinette decided to surprise him with a box of éclairs(which were Nino’s favorite) to share with the class to celebrate him. Only the freshest ingredients (As Always), the creamiest cream, and she even took the time to color the chocolate in green and blue, Nino’s favorite colors.

Everyone was happy with the treat that Marinette was offering, but before they could even bite into it, Lila… of course Lila had claimed to be lactose intolerant, throwing herself a pity party about how she wouldn’t be able to taste the oh so delicious éclairs that Marinette had made!

And she didn’t want to prevent everyone from eating the delicious treats just because she wouldn’t be able to partake in the festivities. She knew her public, and of course everyone else felt guilty and immediately reassured her that if they couldn’t get them, then no one would, much to Nino and Marinette’s disappointment. Everyone returned the éclairs to Marinette.

And Alya, good and sweet Alya, decided to buy Nino a vegan cake so that Lila could enjoy with everyone! Despite the fact that Nino didn’t like those kind of cakes, but it was for Lila’s sake!

And Alya, good, sweet, naïve Alya, got everyone to chip in some money for the cake. Lila of course took the chance for another low blow to Marinette, commenting how it was a shame that the Dupain-Cheng Bakery didn’t carry vegan option for people with allergies like her (Never mind that she claimed to be intolerant, not allergic). Marinette was quick to point out that they did made vegan option upon request. And again, Lila commented it was a shame that they weren’t ready to pick up.  

Marinette gave the whole box of untouched éclairs to Nino so he could enjoy them later, which he greatly appreciated and thanked her for them. They  were taken aback when Alya asked for her to give some money for Nino’s cake, and Lila of course took this as an opportunity to stir more trouble, she claimed to be broke because she gave all her money to some charity, otherwise she would gladly give it to the cause. Everyone was whispering about how selfless Lila was, but Nino, bless his heart, showed everyone his box of éclairs, the ones they had rejected, and kindly reminded everyone that Marinette had already given him a gift. Lila tried to say that having a bakery, the éclairs were no problem to her, but Nino very politely told her that he’d rather have the éclairs than some nasty vegan cake with fake milk. Alya got mad at Nino for being so rude to Lila, and cancelled the whole cake thing off, returning the money to everyone. She didn’t talk to Nino for the rest of the day.

Later that day, during lunch hour, Lila noticed that she actually didn’t have any money on her, but she figured she had forgotten it at home, and guilt tripped Alya into paying for her lunch, which she gladly did. She didn’t expect that Lila would get the most expensive item on the menu, seafood with garlic sauce.

And then she had to run to the bathroom after drinking her chocolate milk, which curiously, no one reminded her that she was actually lactose intolerant, but she figured she had gotten something bad in her lunch. Probably the expensive seafood she had made Alya buy for her. Then again, it was probably because she mixed chocolate milk with seafood.

Tikki snickered inside Marinette’s purse when she heard what happened to Lila (And that Alya had to run after her). Her blessing was working.

Next was during P.E. class, where Lila told Mr. D'Argencourt that she was having “feminine issues” having bad cramps and other related issues and would be unable to do the exercises. She had to run to the bathroom again when her period actually started, bad cramps included. Alya again accompanied her suffering friend.

Tikki smiled to herself after learning of this. Her blessing would allow Lila to create things about herself, so when she claimed to be lactose intolerant, she became just that. When she claimed to be broke, her money actually disappeared. She had claimed to be on her period, and now she was.

She wasn’t dumb, she knew that sooner or later Lila would claim something good about herself, but she also knew that if there was something Lila loved more than gaining attention due to her many talents and connections, she also love to play victim to get out of showing those fake talents and connections, so anything good she said about herself would immediately be negated by something bad she said about herself. And even if she didn’t play victim, Tikki thought it would be a nice trade-off if she used an actual talent (gained through magic, but still) to impress other people, instead of her usual lies.

She also know that although the brat wasn’t a master manipulator like Marinette thought, she also wasn’t particularly dumb, and would eventually realize she was under a spell and would try to take advantage of it. And the failsafe would act at that moment, revoking the blessing.

It could last a day, a month, or all of Lila’s life, but Tikki was in no rush, after all, she was Creation, and she was eternal.

[wrenhyperfixates]

Party Favors

Pairing: Loki x reader Summary: Loki comes to the rescue when your nephews’ birthday party is on the brink of disaster. Warnings: some curse words and implied smut; fluff

Disclaimer: Gif not mine

“No! Don’t run there. It’s slippery.”

“Hang on, the bathroom’s right inside.”

“There’s going to be cake later, and you don’t want to get a tummy ache.”

Gosh, kids were tiring. You’d promised your sister, Katie, that you’d help out at your nephews’ birthday party. It was a sticky summer afternoon, but the heat did nothing to slow down the thirty-something kids running around the backyard. Between neighbors, classmates, and camp friends, the birthday boys had quite the guest list. Your sister and brother-in-law were both chaperoning the party, along with some other parents, but you were still outnumbered. Even if you weren’t, kids in large groups seem to have a penchant for trouble. It sure didn’t help that they were all at the age where chaos seemed like average fun.

Spotting the twins, you decided to take a few photos for your sister, who was busy running around to make sure everything was running smoothly. “Hey, Timmy. Hey, Tommy. How’re my favorite nephews today?” you said after snapping a few shots.

“But Auntie (y/n),” Timmy started, “we’re your only nephews.”

“Yeah, and we’re eight now,” Tommy continued for his brother. “You can’t trick us anymore.”

“We’re big boys now,” they finished together.

“I guess you are,” you replied, laughing. “Not too big for the bouncy house, I hope.”

“Of course not, Auntie. Bye!” they shouted, running towards the inflatable castle.

You walked over to the boys’ father, Lucas, and helped him check all the Slip 'N Slides and water balloon supplies. Just when you thought you might get through the day without any disasters, your sister came running up to you and Lucas.

“The clown just cancelled. There was a huge traffic jam and he can’t make it in time,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper.

“That’s all right,” Lucas said. “I’ve been saving some grade-A dad jokes for a situation like this.”

Both you and Katie groaned, eliciting a hurt scoff from her husband. And then a genius idea hit you.  

“Wait a minute, guys. I literally work with superheroes.”

A few years ago, you’d scored a position at Stark Industries and, though you’d never worked in the field, often helped the team from the lab. You’d even played a large role in designing Tony’s latest suit.

“Could you really get one of them to come? I mean, aren’t they busy?” your sister asked.

Truth be told, you weren’t sure that they were free, but they definitely owed you a favor. You’d saved their butts more times than you could count. It was, at very least, worth a try. You found the quietest place you could, then called Tony. Then Thor. Then Steve. Then Nat. None of them picked up. In a desperate last attempt, you phoned the Tower hoping someone would pick up. F.R.I.D.A.Y. answered and confirmed the presence of one Avenger in the Tower. You immediately asked her to put them on, not bothering to check who it was.

“Hi. I have an urgent matter and need to call in a favor.”

“And since when do I owe you one?” a smooth baritone came from the other end of the line.

Shit, you thought, of all the people in the Tower it had to be him. You and Loki got along well enough, but you weren’t friends, per se. The two of you constantly kept up a witty banter that was often flirtatious. The others teased you about it, and you were sure they placed bets on which one of you would ask the other out first. That, of course, was stupid, as Loki obviously did not feel that way about you. And how you felt? Well, it was best not to dwell on it.

“Oh, hi Loki. Sorry, you weren’t who I was expecting. Where’s everyone else?”

“Out at the movies. They should be back in half an hour, if your urgent matter can wait that long.” You let out a frustrated groan, which prompted him to say, “Well, that’s certainly not how I imagined getting that sound out of you.”

You were thankful he wasn’t there to see you blush. You didn’t know if you could wait that long for the rest of the Avengers. That didn’t even include the time it would take for them to actually arrive. You were about to hang up and tell Katie she better try to find a replacement clown or magician when you got your second great idea that afternoon.

“Loki,” you said, “I’m sending you my location. Just come over as fast as you can. I’ll explain when you get here.”

Then you hung up before he could respond. You raced to the front of the house to wait but were nervous that he wouldn’t show. You didn’t have long to worry, though, because he suddenly materialized, making you jump a little. Sometimes you forgot that he could teleport.

“Your savior is here,” he declared, striking a dramatic pose.

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. “Yeah, yeah. My hero,” you said before explaining the situation to him.

“Well, I’m afraid I’m not very popular with the masses, (y/n). I think you’d be better off waiting for one of the others.”

You couldn’t help but notice how he tried to hide the sadness behind those words. Before he could leave, you protested, “Kids may love superheroes, but you know what they love even more? Magicians!”

He raised a skeptical eyebrow at that. “I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion. Besides, I don’t much appreciate being reduced to a mere magician.” He stopped for a second to tap his chin as if deep in thought, before continuing, “But, I suppose if you ask nicely, I might consider it.”

You made your best puppy dog eyes and stuck out your lower lip while giving him a pouty please. He considered you for a moment before responding.

“Very well,” he said. “I will save you this time. Just remember that you owe me. In fact, I’ve already got just the thing in mind.”

The devilish grin he gave you with that last part caused an involuntary shiver to run down your spine. He noticed but decided not to push his luck. Besides, he genuinely found it cute. In fact, he found everything about you cute. However, he refused to acknowledge the way his heart beat faster when you took his hand to lead him into the house. As you were walking, he conjured a classic magician outfit for himself. Though, he opted to have green accents instead of the traditional red. When you turned back around to face him, you couldn’t stop the girlish giggle that escaped your lips.

“Like what you see, darling?” he asked, striking a pose.

“Oh, fuck off.”

Despite your harsh response, you were blushing. As much as you were loath to admit it, he was rather dashing in the suit and top hat. You felt a sudden rush of nervousness as you introduced him to Katie and Lucas. You could see on their faces that they were trying to figure out where they knew Loki from. The second they connected the dots, their faces fell, but the reassuring smile you gave them must have worked since they started gathering the kids for the show. In all honesty, you hadn’t thought about their reaction to his being there. Or the other parents’ reaction, for that matter. It was hard to remember that the world was still clinging to the madman he’d been at the battle of New York when you knew he was just a witty prankster. Actually, he did a lot of good for the world. To you, he was just Loki.

You offered him a grateful smile as he stepped up in front of the kids and introduced himself as Loki the Magnificent. For as reluctant as he was in agreeing to this, he was putting on quite a show for them. It was a good thing, too, considering how brutally honest kids could be. You let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding when it became apparent how enraptured all the children were with his act. He even brought Timmy and Tommy onstage to assist him with a few tricks. You made sure to take tons of pictures, partly for your sister, but mainly to tease Loki with later.

Once he finished his last trick, the kids were seated at various tables and the cake was brought out. You wanted to run up to Loki and thank him, but you had to help distribute the cake. After double checking that all the kids got a slice, you brought a piece to Loki.

“Hey, you were great up there. And I guess you really saved my ass,” you said, mumbling the last part.

“It was my pleasure. Believe it or not, I had fun.”

He raised a bit of cake on his fork in a sort of salute to you. You fully expected him to leave once he finished eating, but, to your surprise, he stayed even after all the guests had gone. You two were cleaning up the junk in the backyard when you found yourself thanking him again.

“Really,” you said, “I don’t know what we would have done without you.”

“Well mortal, let this be a lesson on how superior I am and-”

His sentence was cut short by you dumping a bucket of water down his back. You were laughing so hard that you didn’t notice him get one of his own to return the favor. You shrieked in delight as he started hurling leftover water balloons at you. You ran away from him, but his aim was impeccable. Pretty soon, you were drenched. Though you were able to seize some ammunition of your own, you were no match for the god.

“Okay, okay,” you shouted to him, bent over, trying to catch your breath. “Truce.”

“No way,” he replied, running up behind you and grabbing you by the waist. Lifting you into the air and spinning, he said, “I’m claiming this as a victory!”

Your laughter was making such a racket that Katie came to see what was going on. Through giggles, you apologized to her, but she just waved you off. Seeing as you and Loki were both sopping wet, she thanked you for all your help and sent you home to dry off. You wondered why she didn’t let you stay there to do so, but the smirk on her face answered that. Rolling your eyes at her, you said goodbye and then shouted farewells to Lucas and your nephews, who were inside.

You and Loki made your way to your car in a peaceful silence. You offered him a ride, but he insisted on teleporting you home instead. Only problem was, he brought you straight to his bedroom, not your home. You gave him a quizzical look that demanded he explain himself.

“Don’t forget, little one. You owe me a favor.”

“Oh yeah? Bring it on.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After their movie ended, the Avengers tried to return your calls. You never did pick up. They didn’t have to wonder why for long, though. The sounds coming from a certain bedroom answered that question perfectly.

[since0202]

Chapter 3

Grace had stacked as many advanced classes to her course load as she could. Mostly, she did it to make it up to her mom and show her she could be the studious kid she once knew. 

Bella had gotten Grace settled into her AP European History course and moved off to English, Edward’s hand on her lower back. He had given me a good morning and a smile and then stayed in contemplative silence as Bella gave her the low down about navigating Forks High. 

Bella seemed incredibly comfortable in her new home of Forks even though she had only attended this school a couple months longer than Grace. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Edward was always by her side, a clear guiding rod through the chaos of high school. Grace suddenly felt cold. 

After the bell rang, Grace gathered her things methodically and headed to the door. Bella turned the corner, Edward in tow beside her, when she looked over. Grace gave a small wave and Bella smiled back. They looped arms and Bella tugged her along down the hall. 

“What’s next?” Bella asked, bumping her with her shoulder. 

“AP Chem.” Grace said matter of factly without having to pull her schedule from her pocket. “With Edward, if I’m not mistaken,” she peered around Bella and met Edwards cool gaze. 

“Indeed. With Mr. Hurmshore.” He smiled down at Bella and carried the smile to Grace. It was starting to look a little more natural. 

Grace took this as a good sign and when Bella stopped her at the door for AP Chem. 

“Okay, you two. Have fun,” she tripped over the word ‘fun’ and her mouth pulled up on side as she stifled a laugh. Grace rolled her eyes and turned into the classroom, leaving Edward and Bella to say their lovey goodbye. 

She handed the teacher her slip and was guided to an empty lab table. When Edward walked in the room, he bee lined it for her. Grace raised her eyebrows in surprise--she didn’t expect him to willingly take a seat next to her given her cool reception these past couple of months. He pulled out a notebook and flipped to an open page lazily and turned his head to meet her eyes. 

“Here we go.” he smiled. 

Grace was surprised how quickly the class passed by. She was invested in the lesson, but tried to make small talk with Edward. She loved Bella and knew Edward was a significant part of her life. She wanted to know that part too. Her small talk seemed to be working. Edward was carrying on polite conversation with her and never tried to look away or grimace or pull his lips back over his teeth unconsciously. 

They talked about Oklahoma and her friends there, how she was liking Forks so far, and what she thought of sharing a room with Bella. 

“She’s a pretty deep sleeper,” Grace laughed. “She talks in her sleep, too. It’s kind of great.” 

Edward smiled and jotted down a reaction from their lab experiment nodding his head, “I’ve heard that, actually.” 

“Oh?” 

“Yeah, she told me one time that it woke her mother up when they were on a road trip together. Scared her half to death.” 

“Oh,” Grace let out a chuckle, “Makes sense.” 

By the time they exited the class together, they were laughing at a shared joke. Bella was elated as they walked to lunch together at their new found friendship. 

Bella introduced her to her group of friends—Angela, Ben, Jessica, Mike—and they fell into step. Grace always had an effortless ability to mesh well in a group. Her broad, bright smile, and warm welcoming demeanor always drew people in. She was able to read faces and body language in a way that allowed her to lean into their likes and avoid their dislikes. By the end of lunch, her and Angela Weber had exchanged numbers to talk at length about a book they were both reading and Jessica was trying to recruit her for the volleyball team. 

-----

The morning of Bella’s birthday was extraordinarily foggy. Grace couldn’t sleep and sat in the early morning hours on her bed looking out the large bay window waiting for the sun to rise. She picked at the bracelet that lay on her wrist, a constant comfort for her. 

When Bella finally stirred at quarter past seven, Grace bounded over to her bed and bounced over top of her. “Happy BIRTHDAY!” she yelled, throwing her hands up in the air and shimmying her upper body. “You’re eighteen, you’re eighteen, you’re eighteen today, hey hey hey!” she lilted in no particular tune. 

Bella grinned and turned her head back into her pillow. “Okay okay okay. Thank yooou. It’s my birthday, thank you.” 

“Wow, eighteen. You don’t look a day older than seventeen.” Grace laughed and paused for the bad joke to sink in. 

“Ha ha.” Bella pushed herself up, sending Grace toppling into the space next to her. 

“Hey! Watch it. That’s not how you treat someone who has a birthday gift for you.” 

“Oh no, you didn’t. Grace! I told you, no-”

“No gifts. Yeah yeah, I got it. No one cares and I guarantee everyone got you a gift.” Grace smiled unapologetically at Bella, “Get over it, dude.”

Bella’s mouth hung open, speechless. 

“Anyway,” Grace rolled her eyes and dipped a hand under Bella’s bed to produce a small wrapped square. 

“You hid it under my bed?” 

“Work smarter, they always say,” Grace shrugged. 

Bella took the gift with a genuine smile and gently pulled the paper away to reveal a warm auburn colored leather journal that was stamped with the landscape of a mossy covered cliff face and dotted beach along the Washington coast. It looked not unlike La Push beach. 

“This is great. Thanks Gracie. I was actually hoping for something like this.” Bella flipped through the hand cut pages and gave Grace a reassuring look. 

Just then a knock sounded on the door and Charlie pushed it open with more gifts in his hands. 

“Haaaappy birthday,” he said gently. 

“Told yah,” Grace said. 

----------

Bella was a resistant birthday girl, but went along with the wants of others nonetheless. Alice had invited Bella to the Cullen home that night for a birthday dinner after handing her a perfectly wrapped green and black velvet gift. Grace had been back at her locker grabbing a few things, but Bella had told her afterwards. 

“Is that okay? I know you and Charlie wanted to take me to the diner.” Bella looked at Grace almost with a pleading look. 

“Of course! We’ll do it Friday night instead. No big.” Grace hadn’t had much interaction with most of the Cullens. They had kept their distance from her even though her and Edward were becoming fast friends. 

Grace hadn’t really thought much of it, but it felt like a clear line was being drawn. Maybe she was reading too much into it. 

As Bella waved from the passenger side of Edward’s car in her green dress before heading off to the Cullen’s for her party, Grace couldn’t help but feel a sinking weight settle in her. She shook her head to try and clear the feeling and plopped herself on the couch next to Charlie. She pulled a tangle of threads before her and set to the meticulous task of practicing the intricate braiding she once knew as a child.

 The TV hummed in front of her and she tucked her feet under her grey baggy sweatpants, pushing loose strands of hair away from her face that had fallen from her low hanging ponytail. She readjusted the green flannel button up and brushed some loose crumbs from her black tank top. Charlie’s hand loosely grasped a beer hanging of the side of his recliner. Every now and then Grace glanced up at the gentle glow of the TV. The quiet that hung between her and Charlie was calming. It made sense then that she didn’t realize when she had fallen asleep and woke to the click of the front door. 

Charlie’s snores emanated softly from his recliner. 

“Bells?” Grace whispered leaning up to look over the back of the couch toward the front door. 

Bella either didn’t hear her or chose not to answer her as she climbed the stairs toward their room. When Grace picked herself up off the couch and reached the bottom of the steps, she saw light filtering under the closed bathroom door at the top of the landing. Grace quietly climbed the stairs and let a gentle knock on the bathroom door. 

“Bella? You okay?” 

“Yeah, fine. Just getting changed” Bella’s small voice was almost covered by the sound of running tap water. 

“Okay.” Grace looked at the door with worry and went to climb into bed. She was dozing off by the time Bella made her way into the room--she tiptoed in and tried to make as little noise as possible, hoping not to wake Grace most likely and talk about the evening. 

The next day was worse. 

Grace donned her raincoat and shuffled out the door, only to be confronted by Bella standing on the steps looking out at the street. 

“You okay? Where’s Edward?” Usually Edward would pick up Bella and Grace would take the truck in. Sometimes they all rode together, but Grace appreciated the time alone to think in the truck on her way to school. 

“I’m not sure.” Bella’s voice was dull and her eyes searched the street. 

“Come on, let’s get in the truck, it’s cold.” Grace ushered Bella into the truck and looked down the street one last time before climbing in the driverside. 

“Did something happen last night?” Grace asked as she turned on the engine and brought her mittened hands to her face to warm up. Bella was staring out the windshield, her eyes far away for a moment. 

“N-no. I mean, I cut myself cutting the cake last night” Bella touched her upper arm gingerly and trailed off. “Let’s go, it’s fine.” She said with more resolve. Grace nodded and they glided off down the rain slicked roads that were threatening to turn to ice. 

The school day filled Grace with worry. Mostly because in between classes, Bella drifted further and further away from herself. The far away look in her eyes deepened and it seemed like she was shuttering. Grace was able to pull her from her reveries momentarily each time but she could see a small panic rising in Bella. 

When they got home, Edward was waiting on the lawn, his hands shoved in his pockets and head down. He seemed to be wearing the same outfit as the night before. Grace looked over to Bella who was frozen in place for a moment. She gave Bella a look. 

“It’s okay, I’m going to go talk to him. Don’t wait up.” Bella pushed out of the truck and Grace waited while she crossed the lawn to him, stopping a little short. Edward made eye contact with Grace, a look of confirmation or acknowledgement, before nodding toward the forest. Grace could clearly make out the word “walk” from his lips. Bella nodded, looked over her shoulder at Grace and gave a weak smile before traipsing into the woods after Edward. 

Grace started for a second, she almost followed them. The pit in her stomach grew again and she had to catch her breath. She wanted to call out ‘Wait!’ but the sound never came. She sat in the truck, cold, eyes focused on the darkened space where they had disappeared through the trees until her teeth chattered so hard she had to retreat into the house. 

Her stomach flipped as she closed the door and fell back against it. 

As night drew in, Grace paced the living room floor, raincoat still on, waiting. How long would she wait to go after her? There was no way they could still be in the woods, it had started raining, sleeting almost. They’d be freezing. But Bella would have come back home if they had finished talking. 

Anxiety raced through Grace. Then, she heard Charlie’s cruiser pull up the drive and she stopped pacing for a moment. She tried to calm her body, but when Charlie crossed the threshold, he took one look at her face and the worry was clear. 

“What’s wrong?” He looked alarmed around the room. “Where’s Bella?” 

Of course he knew. 

-----

Grace was sitting on the porch with her head in her hands as the collection of volunteers rushed around the lawn. Harry Clearwater was the first to arrive, assuring Charlie that he’d sent a local party out into the woods to begin looking for Bella. Charlie had grilled Grace about which way Bella had left into the woods and confirmed at least ten times that it was Edward she left with. 

After she had confirmed loudly for the tenth time, Charlie had made a small involuntary noise. 

Now, as rain misted Grace’s hair and the crackle of the police radio echoed across the front lawn, she was kicking herself for not going after her. For not stopping her when she felt that feeling in her stomach. This night couldn’t get any worse. 

“We’re going to find her Charlie.” Billy Black’s voice reached too close. Her head shot up and she stood too quickly, blood rushing quickly from her head. She wobbled slightly on the step which caught Billy’s eye and he nodded, a stern almost unforgiving look on his face. Jacob stood close by. “You said you saw her go into the woods last, for sure?” Billy confirmed. 

“Grace did, she said he was there after they got back from school and Bella left with him through that small path clearing.” Charlie’s head was bent over the map of the woods. Grace tried to take a step down, but stumbled, her head still swimming. She couldn’t feel the bottoms of her feet. 

“Jake. Stay with her will you?” Billy nodded his head toward Grace and Jacob jogged the short distance across the lawn to meet her. She cleared the bottom step just as he came up on her and stood next to her. 

“Are you okay?” Jake asked. 

“Yeah, sorry just woozy.” 

“K, well stay next to me. I don’t want to get in trouble when you fall and smack your head on the pavement.” He grinned and placed his hand under her elbow guiding her over to sit in the bed of the truck. He wrapped his arm around her waist and gently hoisted her up onto the lowered truck bed door. She didn’t protest, but was surprised when he hopped up next to her and pulled her raincoat hood gently up over her head. 

“Thanks.” Grace said weakly. 

“No problem.” he breathed out looking around. “How long has she been gone for?” he asked nonchalantly, as if Bella was just off running an errand. 

“A solid 8 hours. She left immediately after we got home from school,” Grace recited as she clutched the side of the truck. 

“That dude she’s dating kind of creeps me out. He doesn’t seem right,” Grace tilted her head to look at him and he quickly corrected himself saying, “For her I mean. Like he just doesn’t seem like her type.”

“Oh?” Grace raised an eyebrow, a little annoyed. “And who is her type?” 

Jake moved a little uneasy. His long dark hair swayed in front of his face, a curtain separating them. She had the undeniable urge to reach out and run her fingers through it. She could smell that familiar warm wood smell emanating from him that she for so long associated with home. 

She didn’t realize how long she had been staring, zoning out and not quite hearing Jake’s explanation of exactly who Bella’s type was until he looked over at her, 

“What are you staring at?” He said a little taken off guard. 

“Oh, sorry. Nothing, just lost in thought. I’m having trouble staying here with all this going on. What were you saying?” Grace tried to regain some normalcy in her movements and keep her eyes focused on the ground, her hands, anything to keep from staring at Jacob Black any longer. She heard him chuckle just then and turned to look at him. How calming and odd it was that Jacob, during this insane moment of chaos, could be so at ease, asking questions, so sure that nothing could be wrong or at the very least give off the vibe that nothing was wrong. 

“What?” Grace asked. 

“It reminds me of that time when we were little and my mom took us to that children’s center right off the rez. You somehow snuck away when she was checking us in. You were supposed to be holding my hand, but you got distracted, got this far away look in your eye and wandered off. When they found you down by that small creek behind the center, you said you had trouble staying put.” He laughed a little. “Do you remember that?” 

Familiar warmth rushed through Grace. While she didn’t remember that moment, she remembered that feeling. Letting go of his hand and slipping away. 

“My mom was so mad,” Grace shook her head smiling. “Why’d you let me let go of you?” 

Jake sighed, “I don’t know,” he stated simply. “Lesson learned.” he bumped his shoulder against hers and Grace let out a sigh of relief. All of the tension had left her body during their conversation. 

“Charlie!” A call came from the south side of the trees on the opposite edge of where Bella had disappeared through. Grace and Jake’s heads snapped around and they hurried over  behind Charlie who was hustling toward Sam Uley. 

“She’s alright,” Sam declared, holding a lifeless looking Bella in his arms. Charlie immediately went to grab her from him. 

Grace left out a soft whimper of relief and her left hand moved of its own accord to grip Jacob’s forearm and steady herself. 

“She’s alright,” Jake said quietly and pulled her in into a tight hug. Grace nodded her head in his chest, gripping onto his shoulders, tears stinging her eyes. 

She’s alright. 

[memoriashell]

first impressions ( are they pointless if fate has already decided? )

Characters /  Pairing: Fukawa Touko/Naegi Komaru, ( implied ) Syo / Komaru

crossposted on ao3

Notes: day 7 of @tokomaruweek​!! soulmate prompt.

sorry if i manage to absolutely fuck up posting this one i'm half awake rn.

i appreciate how unrealistic and improbably soulmate aus are. anyways i knew i wanted to play with this idea as soon as i saw the prompt. i think that bodyswap au has interesting potential. the bodyswap soulmate au in the specific sense that you’d theoretically get to see the kind of hardships your fated might be going through but that’s not really the angle i took on it here but i mean do any of us want komaru to face abuse and bullying? no. i cannot comit to that. someone else can do that i am going to live here angst free anyways in case it isn't obvious the basis premises around this is that once you come of age, you swap bodies with your soulmate. HONESTLY not sure how a body swap au would work w/ a did person but considering that every alter / identity is considered their own person, i figured that it would simply just swap w/ the host, meaning any alters would be left behind. i do think it'd be an interesting concept to play with, maybe?

tw for trauma / abuse ( /ive parents )

Summary:  most circumstances to figure out the identity of your soulmate are pretty unfortunate, but she thinks this one might take the proverbial cake in some regard.

For most people, this would be the kind of momentous occasion that people would count down to. For Touko, it catches her completely off guard because she hardly registers the fact that her birthday is coming up until the day it happens.

‘It’ being the day she comes of age and is supposed to find out who her soulmate is.

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t think about this kind of stuff on occasion. It was kind of a given, with her entire shtick of being a romance author. But quite frankly, she tries to forget it, because really? Soulmates? For someone like her? Not likely.

Who would want to be stuck with someone like her? Best not to get her hopes up too much, and stick to unrequited crushes on people she knows she’s probably not destined for.

The sound of an unfamiliar alarm is what wakes her up— Touko doesn’t really process anything more than trying to turn it off and laying down for a few minutes. And then realizes her body doesn’t quite feel right. Empty. Something’s missing and it’s too quiet and it all feels horribly wrong. And then opening her eyes and realizing she can see perfectly fine without her glasses.

Oh. Oh no. No no no no no.

She hops out of bed and spots a phone ( thank christ ) and confirms her fears. Right. It’s her birthday. Thank god she doesn’t need to know a passcode to figure out that information. Well, nothing she can do about that. Time to sleep off today, so she can go back to living her life normally, soulmate-free.

Or well, that is what she plans to do, until a picture frame catches her attention from the corner of her eye, and— oh. Oh no? Oh no. She absolutely recognizes one of the two people in the picture. She presumes the girl is the one whose body she’s currently inhabits ( nothing particularly special to note there, plain as plain can be ). The boy— she loathes that nonchalant, easygoing expression— the boy she recognizes as her classmate. One Makoto Naegi.

God, it’d be just her luck, huh. Speaking of which—

“Komaru!” Ah, so that’s her name. She hears a shout from downstairs, followed by footsteps. “You’re going to be late!”

Shit. Shit shit shit shit.

In a panic, she sprints to dive back under the covers and pretends to be asleep still. Maybe she’ll get off without much of a punishment that way? Definitely less than the realization that she’d been awake and not getting ready for...school, presumably. She has no clue what this girl is usually like, but hopes that it isn’t painfully obvious what is going on here.

“Komaru?” The voice is closer this time, the sound of the door opening follows close behind. While she panics over the thought of what to do asides from pretending like she’s asleep, Touko misses the sound of footsteps approaching and flinches when the covers are tugged away from her head. She doesn’t mean to let out a whimper of fear when a hand comes down on her forehead, teeth clenched, not that the sound is interpreted as fear. “Are you feeling all right, dear? You’re not feverish, but you are a little sweaty...”

It takes her a moment to recognize the tone of this woman’s voice is one of concern, an incredibly foreign concept for her to expect from any parent ( she’s presuming this is the mother ). It certainly was never one she’d expected to hear from her own mothers, squeezing her eyes shut as if to ignore the truth. “N-No...” It’s not a lie, at least— all of this makes her feel sick to her stomach.

( It leaves an awful taste in her mouth, knowing the love that she is being shown here is just an illusion; not meant for her at all. And yet Touko wants something that she has never had. What an awful child she is )

“Why don’t you take it easy for today, then? If you feel no better later, you can start taking medicine.” She manages to utter a thank you, whatever will get her with no repercussions and left alone again, and there is a hand gently stroking back her hair before she is alone again.

Once ‘her’ mother leaves, she locks the door and buries herself under the blankets, so she can sleep and forget about today ever happening.

In comparison, Komaru Naegi finds herself having a much less than pleasant awakening. In that she doesn’t know what wakes her up, just that she is suddenly, forcibly awakened and in a room she doesn’t recognize.

Weird. Is she dreaming? It kind of feels that way, because she has no control over the body she currently resides in, marching over to the desk and reaches into the draw for...a pair of scissors? Really, really sharp scissors, but a pair of scissors nonetheless.

It’s not a dream. Get out. They hiss at her, scissors pointed at her— themselves? Oh boy. Uh.

“I don’t think I can do that.” She says aloud; wincing. “I don’t— I don’t know what’s going on...?”

Ugh. You think I know any better? ( Yes! Yes she does!! ) It’s totally bullshit that this is my wake-up call after ages, and she’s not even awake and instead I’m stuck with you? Ah. Shit, hold on a second how long has it been. They reach for the calendar, and she feels her face frown. Aw, it hasn’t been that long? She really forgot her own birthday coming up? Some heads up would’ve been nice instead of just waking up to this fucking mess. The voice continues to complain.

“Um...” She hates to interrupt, but she’s still pretty confused. “What do you mean? Who are you?”

You’re expecting me to just give that up without knowing your own name? Or do you not care?

“Sorry!” And she is, given that she’d kind of gotten ahead of herself. “Komaru. Komaru Naegi. But just Komaru is fine!”

Ah— Naegi? What are the odds— Dekomaru it is!

“What? That’s not my name at all!” Komaru completely manages to miss the faint recognition, huffing a pout. “And I told you, so answer my questions!”

Syo. And what I mean is that now I’m stuck explaining this shit— did you seriously not pay attention to any of that or are you that dumb? Geeze, listen to me this time. Okay, so we can have a lesson on proper terms and all that shit another time, long and short of it is that we share this body— miss gloomy and I. It’s technically her coming of age birthday today, which is why you’re here instead of her.

“Oh, okay.” Komaru nods along in agreeably, before her mind catches up and process the implications of what she’s been told. “Wait, you mean I— she— this is my soulmate?!” Her voice cracks as it pitches, hands quick to clasp out of her mouth, a little worriedly.

Yeah, obviously. And don’t worry, the rooms are soundproof. Otherwise, I would’ve already told you to stop replying out loud. People would think that’s weird. They sound amused, reaching back towards the table and fumbles around for a moment before raising something up into the field of their view.

This is a student ID card, which provides her with several helpful bits of information— none of which Komaru chooses to fixate on. “...Hope’s Peak?” What were the chances of that?

Focus, idiot. Do you have any idea of what this means?

Komaru beams, an expression that might have been frightening for anyone else to see on this face. “It means I can be a Hope’s Peak student for today!”

No. Ouch, that’s probably the most cold they’ve sounded so far. Which is saying a lot, considering how they’d greeted her. Well, maybe. I know she really wouldn’t like it if you went around in our body. She doesn’t like it when I force control over our body either, but if it’s you then she probably won’t care. Personally, I don’t give two fucks— I can give you tips on acting more like her if you want.

Komaru makes a face. “I’m bad at acting. Am I really that different?”

Given that you don’t shut up, yes. That’s not a bad thing. They add on when they seem to sense the indignation rising in her. You really want to go around like normal today?

“Please?” She begs in what is sure to not be the last time that Syo enables her in doing something she probably shouldn’t do.

Okay! You’re more fun to have to share with than madam morose. This is way more chaotic. If things go wrong, I’ll help you cover up.

Komaru thinks that’s supposed to be a compliment. Or flattery? Either way, she enthusiastically takes to observing her appearance in the mirror for a good several minutes— more than several, but who’s keeping track? Syo. Syo is— before they point out they’ll be late for class and still haven’t had breakfast. But Komaru really only registers late and class and grabs her bag and rushes out into the hall, only to realize she didn’t really know where she was supposed to be going.

Syo sighs at her and directs her in the right direction of their locker and then their class while Komaru considers what’s the best way to seem cool if she can’t technically be herself. And also try not to nervously overthink things. That is also a thing she tries to avoid.

You know it’s weird that we’re going to class early, right?

“It’s fine...!” She grumbles. I can’t help but be excited, okay? It’s not everyday I get to pretend to be attended one of the most prestigious schools in the country.

Uh huh. Okay. I don’t think it’s really ‘cool’ to be this early to class, but.. Syo snickers at her, and she pouts before opting to ignore them, gathering her nerves before ( with more confidence than the actual Touko Fukawa would ever muster ) pushing the door open and stepping inside the classroom.

And then the whole act cool plan falls apart because while Komaru had registered the, we’re at Hope’s Peak Academy, she had failed to consider the whole, this is the school my brother goes to, I might run into my brother dilemma that she is immediately forced to acknowledge in a very graceful manner.

( And by gracefully she means she very embarrassingly screams at Makoto and Syo cackles at her, and she learns a very important lesson on why she should not trust Syo so easily )

Unfortunately for Touko, her body refuses to sleep much, which means she is wide awake when someone tries to come into the room just after four. Clearly not giving up, a knock soon follows, and, “Fukawa-san? Can you let us in?”

And then the sound of her own voice, way too cheery for her own liking. “No one else is home right now, so you don’t need to worry about it. Please? I really want to meet you! Uhm, properly.” Silence follows, since Touko makes no attempt to acknowledge that- if she pretends to sleep, then they’ve got to give up eventually. Even if she can only run away for so long, given that Makoto will probably just confront her tomorrow if she doesn’t. “Uh, Syo-san says they’ll take matters into their own hands if you don’t...? I’m not really sure what that means, but...” Makoto makes a panicked noise and god damn it Syo. She hadn’t counted on Syo working against her as well. Should she have expected that from them? Eh.

( It might speak more about the other girl, if she’d managed to get something like Syo’s...approval? That doesn’t seem quite right, and feels weird to think about either way )

“Give me a moment.” She calls, just to make sure Syo doesn’t go ahead and try and start picking the lock or break a window or something else that’s drastic and unnecessary. Takes a deep breath as she pulls herself out of bed, doesn’t bother double-checking if she seems too presentable and trudges over to unlock the door.

No sooner than she does so, the door swings open cautiously— Touko manages to sidestep out of the way before she needs to worry about being hit by it. She can feel the other’s gaze focus in on her almost immediately, but she very pointedly decides to not meet her gaze, mostly because it feels weird to be looking at herself, and looks at the same bookcase she has been staring at for the past four hours straight.

( Manga. She hates it. Of course, she would be stuck with someone that loves something that she practically loathes. She also hates the fact that she’d also been so bored that she’d almost considered reading it )

The only thing she chooses to acknowledge is the fact that her hair is down and not braided, really could she not have put forth even that much effort— and that while having her in front of her now is much different from what she might have thought it to be, she really has no idea of what to think of her.

And then the other seems to decide that enough is enough and holds her hands in hers very excitedly. She can only guess what Syo makes of all this. Schadenfreude, probably. She doesn’t actually say anything to her, just giggles to herself ( she’s not sure if she’s trying to be creepy, or if that laughter is directed at something Syo is saying ).

“Stop that...It’s w-w-weird to see my face doing that.” She gnaws on her lip— is this what everyone else saw all day? That’s awful.

As if reading her mind ( and certainly not the atmosphere of room ), Makoto helpfully chimes in, “Give her a break, she’s done a pretty good job trying to not attract any unwanted attention.”

“They made me skip class.” She pouts, crossing her arms. “Syo even said that they’d take the blame for it, but no, I had to skip out.”

“You screamed at me and scared Fujisaki-san? I was more relieved that Ishimaru-kun was willing to get you excused for the day.” Oh good, at least she can count on having reliable notes and not misplaced homework like with some people ( Syo ).

“It wasn’t that bad, Makoto, you’re making it seem worse than it was—”

“Because screaming like that could come off as good somehow?” He butts in.

“— and what’s done is done, so with that said, let’s eat!” She raises a bag that she’d failed t notice earlier. “I know it’s a little weird, but it’s still your birthday, so we can at least celebrate, right? I even asked Syo what you’d prefer the most while we were at the bakery.” That kind of disgustingly desperate face is all too fitting and completely foreign on her face, and Touko scowls at her.

It’s also a very foreign thought to actually be celebrating her birthday for once, and with a practical stranger nonetheless.

“Actually, I have a call I’m supposed to make. So I’ll be waiting downstairs, Komaru— we do have to get back at a reasonable time, so I’ll come back up if you’re staying too long, okay?” Makoto flees in the most inelegant way possible, fittingly.

Traitor, she wants to yell at him. She’s not quite being left alone here, because Syo is clearly present, but it’s not the same. She still feels a sense of betrayal here on all sides nonetheless.

“Touko-chan! Come sit with me!” Not that she gets any say in this, dragged along by her hand into following. She considers telling her off because when did she say that she was allowed to call her that? But bites her tongue for the moment because she’s still a little startled about the ease at which she has accepted all of...this, given the fact that she’s currently got Syo co-fronting. She suspects that they have arbitrarily elected to not acknowledge the elephant in the room which is very annoying to her, but she’s not really given a chance to acknowledge that either since a plate is shoved into her hands.

Fruit tart. So she’s not lying about the fact that Syo has taken a liking to her, apparently.

( No she’s not jealous over her own apparent soulmate. Why on earth would she envy that? )

“Fukawa-san?” Pale lavender eyes peer up at her, lips pursed in a small pout. “I know this isn’t the most ideal situation, and..I don’t expect you to warm up to me right away. But I’d like it if we could meet again sometime, as ourselves.”

Touko gives her a long look, scrutinizing, and then looks away. “I’ll think about it.”

“Okay!” She’s quick to agree like she’d said yes; humming happily with a fork in her mouth ( which would be cuter if she didn't have to look at her own ugly face ).

[villca]

* RICARDO HOYOS, CIS MAN + HE/HIM | you know CHASER ‘CHASE’ VILLCA, right? they’re TWENTY-THREE, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, ONE YEAR? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to TRUTH by ALEX EBERT like, a million times this year, which makes sense, ‘cause they’ve got that whole COWER OF A DOG AROUND FIREWORKS, FULL BODY FLINCH OF A HELD HAND & CAKED MUD IN THE KNOTS OF THEIR HOODIE’S DRAWSTRINGS thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is NOVEMBER 10TH, so they’re a SCORPIO, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( tasha, 22, est, she/her)

hullo!! my name is tasha and i Hope Everyone is Doing Well During these Unprecedented and Uncertain Times n also having a happy ny x my second lockdown quarantine fixation of choice was degrassi n it shows FJGHK anyways b4 i go back to binging more (it’s all on youtube?? iconic??) here r the deets on my boi! i look forward to plotting w all of u :~) my discord is tasha#3566 pls feel free 2 add me!! tw for cults and brief mentions of violence/neglect/abuse. 

backstory !

was raised in a traveling commune, which bounced between state parks and forests. all intense survivalists but also...not, like obvs can’t have sustained agriculture traveling from park to park, so the group’s leaders would often detour alone to pick up supplies every now and then. 

but a horrible place to grow up, not that he knew that ‘cos it’s the only life he’s ever known. was just a pretty violent / toxic atmosphere with a hyper survival of the fittest mentality, a lot of sparring that would go too far, not nearly enough resources for the weather conditions, or anyone with actual medical training for when anyone got sick or injured - all under the guise of self sufficiency.  

also very poorly homeschooled, chase barely knows how to read, and stories/info was often read to them or recited by memory. 

at eighteen he’s given more responsibility, gets to go on supply runs. goes to like, cvs, for the first time. hates it FJHG, really just has no desire to explore more of the world even though he knows for sure it’s out there now. his ‘family’ are thrilled about this - knowing they basically have him for life.

trains and mentors the younger members, unwittingly encourages violence, sort of pushing them to their limits because for the group it’s less about winning and more about being able to survive - endurance and being able to endure is so wrapped up in reverence which he mistakes for love. 

when he’s twenty the whole commune gets busted, apparently they had been secretly under investigation for a while. his parents were in the commune too but never make that distinction known so the cops tell him and he’s like ok and ? just like, doesn’t know that that’s meant to mean anything.

goes to jail directly to jail does not pass go ... takes a bit to go to trial, but he ends up serving two years. and that’s what you missed on glee ! currently living with his grandparents at lilac ridge, which is weird. they feel very much like strangers. also on parole still, f in the chat.

personality !

hates it here, feels like shit just wants to go vibe in the woods again. is a lot more quiet than he used to be, truly flopping like a fish out of water.

always saying the wrong thing then getting frustrated at himself bc humiliating ! and if no one respects him, ‘cos he knows nothing about anything anymore then how can anyone ever love him ! this thought depresses him - finds it super hard to make friends ! doesn’t understand any pop culture references.

can be a bit rude, a wee bit hostile, physically aggressive, immature. just doesn’t think before he speaks smh. won’t admit when he’s wrong either will just be like, ya that’s what i meant. 

competitive as heck ! catch him trying to out chin-up the person next to him at the outdoor gym down at the beach. loves games too, but not like board games, think he’s only ever played cards anyways ... but like, duck duck goose. 

for all the survivalist training, not even that street smart (and not book smart at all). like ya he can identify types of mushrooms and wipe his ass with a leaf in a pinch but i mean he doesn’t need to do that now rip. 

easily influenced but pretends he isn’t, his grandparents were like chaser ? that’s no name. we’ll call you chase. and he was all like whatevs ... but now he introduces himself to people as chase.

fun facts !

other song choice for app was cop car by mitski, but chase doesn’t listen to music. or particularly like it, but he’s had to get used to his grandparent’s excessive radio use.

has dimples, very cute when he smiles. this is a fact and i personally find it very fun.

will eat anything. tho his fave food is honey on toast the cottagecore girlies are quaking !

favourite story is jack and the beanstalk which he still thinks was made up by the commune. doesn’t know it’s an actual book/tale bc they’d always recount it by memory.

everyone called him chaser because he was good at chasing people FGHJ, king of tag !

begrudgingly saving up for a phone, doesn’t see the point of it but apparently it’s imperative for his “ future life prospects ” ???

wanted connections !

really feels out of the loop with everything like he’ll never be caught up but, someone give him a pop culture 101 lesson ! 

someone to get him into music, film, art etc ... 

makeover montage ? rly do imagine him with the worst style !

someone who gets him out of his shell a lil, makes him has fun, takes him to a party or the arcade, endless possibilities truly. 

a future roommate, he simply does not have the funds to move out yet... but imagine...if they let him stay with them for free KFGH or let him crash whenever. honestly probably the worst housemate, just pacing at all hours, leaving the fridge door open. 

alternatively people who either know his grandparents ( who i imagine as a muriel and eustace FGJKH ) or live in lilac ridge ! 

people he gets in fights with...grew up where violence was a first resort unforch so the moment things get heated he’s throwing hands. or like, him asking who do you need me to beat up to someone sad over an ex or smth and actually meaning it...

co-workers ( where he works tba ).

and all the usual jazz, friends, enemies, hook-ups, unrequited crushes.

also stuff specific to the locations could be rly cool !

[mcheang]

Happy birthday Lila

I’ve noticed that when Adrien and Marinette celebrated their birthdays, it was never during school.

Chloe would never celebrate her birthday with the commoners. She just invites Adrien and Sabrina for a special spa vacation. (As a model, Adrien needs to have a flawless face and even a manicure)

But what happens when Lila’s birthday comes around?

Marinette for sure wouldn’t attend. The whole class knows she doesn’t like the girl.

As a result, it is peaceably agreed that Marinette can skip the surprise party planning the rest of the class is partaking in.

Alya suggests they inform Mrs Rossi as well.

Rose was the one who proposed they hold the party on Juleka’s family boat after Lila talked about how fun Prince Ali’s yacht party was.

Adrien asked where Marinette was, and was informed she would be skipping the party so as to avoid any unnecessary discomfort.

Feeling bad for Marinette and not wanting to spend time with Lila any more than necessary, Adrien volunteers to spend time with Marinette so she won’t be lonely. The girls gleefully support this. Nino shrugs it off. Lila wouldn’t be too crushed, she told him herself she doesn’t like Adrien that way.

On Lila’s birthday, the class wishes her a happy birthday. Lila had earlier informed them that her Mother has planned a big surprise for her, apparently she is going to La Jules Verne.

The class had internally hid their winces. Sheesh Mrs Rossi, you didn’t have to raise Lila’s expectations. Their planned party food would be good, but not that good.

Lila was indeed told she would be spending the day with her mum, but assumes it will be just a normal fancy dinner.

Adrien wishes her a happy birthday. He had helped to plan her birthday but he hid the fact that he would be spending his own day with Marinette, deciding not to trust Lila with any information like he had done in telling her about Kagami.

Mrs Rossi blindfolds her Daughter and leads her to the boat.

Lila feigns glee but is internally panicking. Why oh why did they plan her a surprise party. She hates surprises, they leave her so unprepared.

Lila asks if her Mother will be staying and Mrs Rossi confirms that she cleared out her whole evening for her baby girl.

Rose excitedly adds, “And she can tell us all about your trip to Achu.”

Before Mrs Rossi could voice her confusion, Lila pounced on the nearest distraction she could find: a very cute guitarist with blue hair. “Oh, you must be Juleka’s Brother! Your Sister has told me how talented you are at reading music.”

Luka gave a small polite smile. He did not like this girl. Her melody was a discordant mess! But a party was a party.

Her own Mother was scanning the crowd. “And where is young Adrien? I would love to meet my daughter’s Boyfriend.”

Nino coughed out soda.

The girls gaped at either Rossi.

Luka knew he wouldn’t like the following conversation.

Alya was the one who finally spoke up, eyeing Lila warily. “Adrien is seeing the latest Jumanji movie with Marinette.... I didn’t know you 2 were dating.”

And I clearly don’t believe it, was what she didn’t need to add, but was heavily implied.

Lila laughed nervously. “I may have exaggerated my glamourous school life to my Mother. I don’t always have a good time at every school I’m enrolled in.”

Mrs Rossi nods, and rubs Lila’s cheek. “Oh, Ma Bella, you didn’t have to lie to me. I always want to know how you are. You don’t have to pretend to be strong.”

Rose fidgets nervously then hurried to change the subject because the air was getting awkward. “I know, how about Mrs Rossi tells us about your trip to Achu.”

Lila quickly demurred. “No, I want to hear your band play. I haven’t had the chance to see you perform live!”

Rose squealed and hurried the wary band to the stage. Nobody missed Mrs Rossi’s confusion.

As Lila hurried her Mother to the stage, she cast a silent pleading look to her to play along, out of sight of the others.

Guessing that Lila tried to make herself look good, Mrs Rossi sighed and nodded.

Kitty Section did play well. But Lila couldn’t really enjoy the party. She could sense her class’ unease, her Mother’s disappointment, and she was irked that Adrien chose to skip her party to go on a date with Marinette! But she can stew on that later. Right now she had her reputation to save.

The main problem was her mother’s lack of information of Achu. She may be a diplomat but even she can’t remember all worldwide country customs and dignitaries!

As the band played, only innocent Rose believed in Lila. Alya was really tempted to check the internet but refrained out of politeness to the band.

Nino personally felt betrayed. Lila lied to him, didn’t she?

When the band finished, and it was time to light the cake, Lila made a wish that she would survive this party. (She really should have been more specific. Of course no one would murder her at her own party).

While they ate the cake, Rose persisted that Mrs Rossi tell them about their time planning fundraisers with Prince Ali.

Lila silently blessed Rose for giving enough information.

Mrs Rossi gave a delicate cough. “Well, planning royal fundraisers is actually harder than your average fundraiser. The bigger an event, the more there is to plan. But I must say that Prince Ali is the most caring and responsible man I have ever met.”

And here Mrs Rossi made her first unwitting mistake. She assumed that the fundraising Prince was grown up, not a boy who should be in school.

Rose looked confused by her phrasing before assuming Mrs Rossi saw Ali as a boy older than his years, and thus a man.

The class was more skeptical.

“Oh, but I’m sure Lila was amazing at it. To think that she could juggle fundraising, sightseeing, catching up with our lessons and homework!”

At the second sentence, it was Mrs Rossi’s turn to choke. She could excuse Lila’s lie about working with her, but that bit about school work began to raise suspicions in her mind.

If Lila lied about her school life, could she have lied about the akuma attacks too?

But why? Was she so nervous at school? That can’t be it. Her class seemed so friendly when they called her to plan the party.

Mrs Rossi has not been blind to their suspicion, and now gave her own Daughter a stink eye.

Lila tried for the innocent look. At this point, Lila only prayed she could still salvage her truancy.

Thankfully, it was still her birthday. They would be polite for her sake. Once the party was over however, all bets were off.

It was the most awkward party Lila had ever been to. None of her classmates except Rose would talk to her. Even her own Mother couldn’t face her.

Goodbyes were curt and tense.

Lila couldn’t hope to attract an akuma with only her dread, let alone with her Mother keeping a close eye on her now.

Alya began to work on Lila’s claims, starting with why Marinette believed Lila was lying. Marinette was currently with Adrien and he gave the OK. Marinette admits she saw Lila throw a book aside and Ladybug confronting her. (She phrases it as if it was by chance. Adrien thanks her for saving him from homeschooling and is furious with Lila)

Juleka asks Rose to question Ali about Lila. Rose naively agreed, thinking Juleka meant to remind Ali it was Lila’s birthday. Oh poor Rose. What a shock she received.

Kim was asked by Alya to look up Lila’s ailments.

The next day at school, the class were seething with rage or just plain hurt. Even Marinette wasn’t smiling because of the negative atmosphere. On the bright side, her date with Adrien had been perfect!

Adrien had finished explaining his reasoning for not calling out on Lila to the class - that she attracted an akuma when he calmly chided her - until Marinette pointed out the akuma was originally meant for her when she felt left out by her class for seating arrangement and Lila’s threat (which is a whole lot more believable than Lila getting Akuma angry from a simple request to be honest)

Adrien is excused and is now out for Lila’s blood.

It is a twist. For once, Marinette was early. Alya dragged her out of bed for an emergency class meeting about Lila. The latter arrived as late as she could to delay the confrontation.

After convincing her Mother that she just felt pressured to make a good impression on her class, that she wanted to assure her Mother she had made friends, and that the Achu lie had taken place years ago, Mrs Rossi agreed to forgive Lila but forced her to attend school and to apologize to her class for lying to them. Yeah right!

Lila spent all night preparing an excuse. She could excuse her mother’s expressions and choking as unprepared for such interest in her job. But the main root of their suspicion came from her lie about Adrien. She knew the girls were fiercely defensive and supportive of Adrienette (gag her already). She could say that her Mother had been worrying about her finding a stable boyfriend, and Lila had mentioned Adrien before knowing about Marinette’s crush on him.

Lila crossed her fingers to find confusion and mild suspicion. She found anger and betrayal instead. Alya and Adrien looked especially hateful at her.

Oh crap.

Lila decided to take the lead before the class could. “I know why you’re all upset, but I can explain!”

She gave her excuses.

The class did not look appeased.

Rose finally burst into tears. “You’re lying. You’re lying! I spoke to Ali last night. He never heard of you before!”

Lila had to stop herself from retreating. “He’s a busy prince. He can’t remember every one of his associates.”

“You aren’t even friends with Ladybug. Adrien told us about it!” Ok, so now Alya was lying. But she didn’t want Lila to target Marinette anymore.

Nino blurted out, “You stole my man Adrien’s book and threw it in the trash!” Ok, how did he even know that? Did Ladybug catch her in the act before confronting her. Ugh, Alya must have gotten an interview beforehand.

Adrien’s cheeks were flushed and he glowered at her. “And you threatened Marinette.”

Lila glared at said girl. Marinette only looked at Lila in pity. How dare she? Then she quickly changed to a scared face and began tearing up. “Me? She’s the one who threw a napkin at me!”

“Yes,” Alix said sarcastically, “a soft napkin that can apparently blind a boy with glasses.”

Max pushed those glasses up. “We will avoid mentioning that moment please.” It will forever be a source of embarrassment to him. How could he have been so gullible?

Kim crossed his arms. “Speaking of that napkin incident, how do we know your ear and wrist were ever injured?”

Lila gasped. “Of course I was. Why would I lie about that?”

Mylene wasn’t impressed with Lila’s show. “Gee, maybe it was so we would buy and carry your lunch?”

“Or so you could sit next to Adrien?” Nathaniel muttered.

“You can’t prove I was faking,” Lila pointed out. “My wrist sprain has healed and my tinnitus was cured long ago.”

Chloe scoffed. “Like it’s that hard to check on your medical records and doctors’ notes.” Well... not hard for her.

Alya straightened. “And we actually have witnesses this time.”

Adrien nodded. “I was actually there when Ladybug came over, remember Lila?”

Of course she remembered. That was the most humiliating moment of her life.

“And if I recall correctly, your wrist was fine when you admitted you lied to me.” Marinette was so relieved the truth was out.

Sensing her “I was honest” route wasn’t working out, Lila switched tactics.

“Alright,” she wailed. “I admit I’m a big liar.”

The class waited, not sure whether to believe her this time.

“I only wanted to make friends. I had heard so much about your accomplishments and was afraid you all would look down on me.”

Adrien wasn’t falling for it. “If you wanted to make friends so badly, why threaten Marinette.”

“I was scared she would take you all away from me. I didn’t mean it!”

Adrien’s face didn’t soften. He remembered Lila’s grudge against Ladybug. “Stealing my book?”

“It was a mistake! Anyone can make mistakes right?”

Marinette admitted this was true. She stole phones, but at least she returned them! She felt herself softening just a tiny bit.

Ivan growled; “serving you lunch?!”

“I forgot my lunch money.”

Juleka mused, “that still doesn’t explain why you were absent.”

“Can you blame me? I had been akumatized. I was embarrassed.”

Sabrina levelled a look at the liar. “It’s still truancy, Lila.”

“Yes, it is,” came a new voice. The class turned to see their frowning teacher finally cross the threshold.

Late as Lila had been, Caline had come to the class soon after but had decided to stay in the shadows to eavesdrop. No one knew how much she had heard.

“Young lady,” she said sternly to Lila, “go to the Principal’s office. I think it’s time we called your Mother to discuss your absence at school, bullying and how long you’ve had your ailments.”

As Lila meekly followed her teacher, Ms Bustier added to Marinette, “Oh, Marinette, you’re in charge. The rest of you can revise pages 65 to 79. I have a feeling I may take a while.

I’ll let you imagine what the class did when the pair left.

When Ms Bustier returned, Lila was absent. Ms Bustier refused to divulge what had happened.

Like that was going to stop Chloe. She asked the principal what had happened to Lila, and told Sabrina and Adrien, who told Alya who told everybody else.

Mrs Rossi came down from work and was astonished and hurt that her baby girl was so wicked and deceitful.

Lila was currently suspended, would not return to the class since she wouldn’t be welcome, and would repeat the grade. She should have been expelled but apparently the principal bought her sob story about how her threat to Marinette wasn’t real and that she just wanted to make friends. Mrs Rossi was skeptical but didn’t want her Daughter expelled. However she had her own punishment, Lila was grounded. She would have no allowance.

It was official. Lila had the worst birthday ever.

On the bright side, she got presents on the boat, even Adrien had given her one.

Lila stifled a yell when she saw Adrien post an Instagram photo of himself and Marinette at Disneyland. He wanted to thank her for returning his book and to comfort her after Lila’s long ago threat.

What surprises is me is that I could actually see the class forgiving Lila with her latest excuses. Except Adrien. He can’t forget her role in Oniichan. But then Caline came along and had to be the responsible adult. She can excuse bullying all she likes, but she can’t excuse truancy, forged documents and an angry model with a large fan base furious about Marinette’s treatment.

[wildegreenlight]

Ready to Believe

A/N: What better reason to come out of semi-retirement than the Birthday of our lovely ginger knight, our passionate sassy king, Ron Weasley!! This little plot bunny came to me earlier in the week and (apparently there are miracles in this world), I was able to finish it in time!! 

Thanks to the fantabulous @trademarkblue for helping me polish this little nugget! As I told you earlier, the only thing I value more than your fic expertise is your friendship! Thanks as always to @callieskye for cheering me on and always being willing to read my ramblings! Love you both!!

If there is real magic out there, this may actually motivate me to finish my other WIPs!! (Not sure if anyone is “ready to believe” that!)

March 1, 1995

Even as the sentence was forming in his mind, before he opened his mouth to give it breath, he told himself to stop, to change the subject, to stuff his face with cake and move on. But it was his birthday, and if you can’t have a little fun on your birthday, then what’s the point?

“For someone so smart you sure can be thick sometimes, you know that?” 

And just like that, they were in the middle of a row. To be perfectly honest, he wasn’t exactly sure how it had started. Ok, maybe he had an idea; it had been only a matter of time. Since their big blow up at Christmas, they had settled into an uncharacteristic period of peace. One that couldn’t hold forever.

“Thick? Because I don’t believe in some silly, childish…” she was waving her hands in that way that meant she was just warming up. 

“ ‘snot silly or childish- it happens to be very real magic.”

“It happens to be absurd.” 

Ron knew he should probably just let it go. There wasn’t any real chance that he would change her mind, or even if he did, she certainly would never admit it. 

“You are the only person I know, the only person I could ever think of, that could attend an actual SCHOOL OF MAGIC and not believe in magic.”

“Of course I believe in REAL magic: spells and potions and charms, but wishes, birthday or otherwise, are not real- they don’t work!”

“They are and they do.” 

As he leaned back on the opposite end of the sofa from her, hands behind his head, he wondered if there was any way that she could be enjoying this as much as he was. Maybe it was weird. It’s not like he enjoyed real fighting:not like the mess with the rat last year or how he was such an ass to Harry over the bleeding Goblet of Fuckedupedness. But this? This was like chess. Anticipating her moves, countering with his own. 

“Well if that’s the case,” the twinkle in her eye made it obvious that she thought she had the winning move, “ why doesn’t everyone just wish for a fortune on their birthday?”

Well played, but not quite good enough.

“Doesn’t work like that.”

“Because it doesn’t work at all.”

“Does too, but there’s rules.” Hermione was smart, probably the smartest person he knew when it came to books, but she didn’t now loads of things about the Magical world because, well some things just aren’t written down. He knew it irritated her, and he had learned to not call her out on it, especially in front of other people. That was another thing about Hermione, she seemed real cocky about her abilities, but she was always secretly worried that she was an outsider.

“Such as?”

“First off, it can’t be a “thing” - like no brooms or galleons or toys.  And no wishing for more wishes,” he ignored her exaggerated eye roll, ”or combining a bunch of stuff into one. You get one a year and only on your birthday.”

“And let me guess: you can’t tell anyone what your wish is or it won’t come true?”

“ ‘Course you can’t tell, that would ruin it.”

“Anything else? Or have you thoroughly enlightened me?”

“Just that you really have to want it,” he turned toward her then to add emphasis to his point, “like REALLY want it.”

“Obviously. And so there’s no way for you to really prove it to me because you, very conveniently,” she turned to face him challengingly,  “can’t tell me about what your wish is.”

So there it was. She needed proof, but the only proof he could give her would negate the very thing he was trying to prove. It was rare, but in rows, just like in chess, when you aren’t checked, and you have no more legal moves, you end up with a draw.  It wasn’t quite as satisfying as a straight-out win, but he suddenly knew how to make it even better. 

“No one can prove to you what you’re not ready to believe.”

@@@@@@@

March 1, 1997

“Can anyone tell me what this is?”

Slughorn made a flourish and the slightly petulant students crowded forward. Ron stared into the cauldron- its surface was shiny and swirly like one the giant lollies at Honeydukes. It looked so similar in fact, that he was surprised that its fragrance was anything but sugary.  To be honest, the scent was hard to describe , but more than familiar. There was a woodish smell like the worn lines of a broomstick after a fly, or the tickle of dusty shavings in his Dad’s shed. And that? That was a warm, wool smell-like a Christmas jumper-one that’s been worn- with a hint of almond shampoo and a bit of ink stain on the sleeve…

Bloody hell!! He knew that smell! It was the old jumper that he’d let Hermione use last year! She’d argued with him at first, but he knew she was just as cold as she was stubborn, so he made her take it. When she’d returned it the next day, he’d lied to himself about being too lazy to clean it - lied to himself about the sudden broom-drop feeling in his gut when he imagined it wrapped around her, covering her; it was almost like he was wrapped around her. He’d lied to himself about how much he loved keeping it in his trunk, relishing how its smell seeped into the rest of his clothes. He’d lied to himself about so many things. Why had it taken him so long to see the truth?

“Oh Ron, no one can prove to you what you aren’t ready to believe,” Hermione touched his shoulder gently, offering him a sad little smile before walking past him out of the classroom.

He turned to follow her, but the whole scene disappeared. There was nothing but darkness. He tried to call for her through the blue-black void, but for some reason he couldn't make a sound. Suddenly he felt like he was choking; he couldn’t catch his breath. Panic. Heart. Pounding. Panic. Flailing. Falling. Panic. He had to get to her, had to tell her, before it was too late

His back hit the ground, hard, dislodging what felt like a bludger from his throat. It was still dark and he had no idea where he might be, yet all he could think of was how to find her. 

Whispers. Faint. Far away. Harry? Slughorn? Had he fainted in the middle of the lesson? Had the cauldron been poisonous? 

Hermione had been close to it-was she safe? Where was she? Why had she walked away? 

Wait...it wasn’t like that. The swirly potion was...months ago. She had...he had...cocked it all up. If he found her, would she listen to him? Would she even look at him?  

Too late. Too late. Too late.

Whispers. Again. Louder. Closer. Harry? Was that...it couldn’t be... Hermione? He had to get to her somehow. It just couldn’t be too late, he wouldn’t let it be.

He tried again to call to her, and this time his desperate plea found a way, crawling through his throat on rusty spurs.

“Er-my-nee” 

@@@

The light was so dim, that for a few confused minutes he wasn’t entirely sure that he had woken up. As his eyes adjusted a bit, he was able to put together the fact that he was lying, more like sitting to be honest, in a hospital wing bed. His head hurt too much to try and piece together the series of events that had ended with him in such a position, but he was curious as to how hurt he actually was.  

Afraid to move too much, Ron risked turning his sore neck gingerly to the right ok, my head’s still attached and to the left what is that? Better yet, who is that? Someone was currently resting their head on the side of his bed. Someone’s curls were in such a state that they were practically spilling into his lap. He didn’t need an OWL in Divination to figure out who it was, but he just couldn’t believe what he saw. Maybe I’m still out.

Truth be told, ever since Christmas he’d been having increasingly vivid dreams about Hermione. It was not unusual for him to wake up in his four-poster sweaty, confused, and disappointed. He reached his hand out and gently brushed his fingers through her disheveled mane. She sure felt real. He inhaled deeply: almonds, wool, ink. He was so relieved he could’ve cried! 

Quite suddenly she jerked her head up from the mattress and he took his hand away like a toddler caught with his hand in the biscuits. He was sure he must look a fright, but, despite the fact that her eyes were as wild as her curls and her face was blotchy with tears, she was the most beautiful sight he could imagine. 

“Hey,” he cringed at his voice, apparently I’ve been gargling with nails. 

“You’re...you’re awake.” A brilliant smile danced across her face, but quickly disappeared, leaving her expression apprehensive.  

“Think so.”

“Oh..sorry. Did I wake you? I shouldn’t...I should go...sorry,” she scrambled to her feet. 

Sorry?! No! He couldn’t, wouldn’t let her go, not now!

“Wait!” He reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Please, don’t go...I...I want you to stay.”

“You do?”

“ ‘Course I do.” 

How could she doubt that? Oh, yeah...why shouldn’t she doubt it...doubt me? 

“Alright, I’ll stay...for a bit. I just don’t want to keep you from resting. Are you sure you’re ok? Do you need anything?” 

Just you...probably too soon to say that, right? 

“Some water would be great.” 

She immediately began to fill a glass from the pitcher on his bedside table.  

“And.” he added, noticing the flush that began to show in her cheeks as she turned back to him, “maybe you could tell me…”

“Tell you what?”

If you’re as nervous as I am.

“What happened?” As he took the glass of water from her, their fingers brushed together. He held his breath, urging the moment to linger. 

“You were...poisoned; Harry saved you,” her voice broke and she pulled her hand away to wipe at her eyes. “Do you remember anything?” 

“Not much...I think it’s my birthday...or was...not sure how long I was out.”

“I think it still is, technically.” 

“Ok...well, that’s good”

“Sorry.”

“For?”

“I didn’t get you anything,” she sat down again, looking very tired and very sad.

“Didn’t really expect you to,” he swallowed the last of the water and tried to steady his resolve, “I know I’ve been a real prat...and I want you to know that I...well..I shouldn’t have been.”

“No...it was me...I’ve been horrid to you and I...well I...and then you almost,” she was crying in earnest now and it didn’t make him feel vindicated like he had imagined it might, it just made him want to comfort her.

“We were both not so great...but that doesn’t mean we can’t fix it, yeah?” 

She smiled a tentative little smile that made his heart clinch in a way that was probably not entirely good for his current medical  condition.  

“Yeah...that sounds good.”

He knew that he owed her more, owed himself more, but it wasn’t time yet. Maybe he was a coward; he didn’t want to push his luck, not when he had her here, actually looking at him and talking to him and seemingly glad to do so. For now he would have to be satisfied with old patterns: smooth it over with a little humor.

“Brilliant! Now if you tell me you have some  biscuits on ya, it will be a perfect birthday after all!” 

She laughed and shook her head God I’ve missed that sound! 

“If only I had a cake,  you would still have,” she glanced at the clock, “three minutes to make your birthday wish.”

“Cake would be nice, but I already made my wish this morning.”

“Really?”

“Yup.” Before I even opened my gifts...been planning it for weeks. 

“I know it’s crazy of me to ask, but what did you wish for?” As she leaned closer, he was intoxicated by her: the way the dim light twinkled in her eyes, the way her hair looked like a frizzy halo. 

“Hermione! You know that is entirely against the rules!” 

“Of course, how silly of me!”  And that eye roll...how have I lived without that?  “Can I at least ask if it came true?”

“Yes.” Definitely got my wish.  

“Yes, I can ask, or yes, it came true?”  

She had to know, didn’t she? It always seemed to him that he had been beyond obvious, but the last few months had made him think otherwise. There was only one thing he had wanted, and he had gotten it.  Not quite how he had pictured it this morning, but wishes could be funny like that. 

“It so came true,” he tried to communicate every bit of what he could not say in the look they shared. “I know I may not be able to prove it to you...yet, but I will.”

“If I’m ready to believe?” 

“It’s alright...I can believe enough for both of us until then.” 

[if-found-return-to-gusu]

Happy Birthday to Me Pt 9

I slapped my face a couple of times and shook it hard to clear myself up.  When we went back to join the others we found that they had already cut the cake and had started to eat it. A-Yuan was demanding everyone eat some.

“It’s so yummy!!” he said happily. And then he looked over and saw me coming back and scrambled over to me as fast as he could with a piece of cake. 

“Xian-Ge! You have to!” he said, offering a forkful of the cake to me. I crouched down and gobbled up the bite with a loud “OMN” sound, making him giggle.

As I knew it would be, the cake was the most delicious cake ever created.

“Lan Zhan, you have to taste this!” I said, offering him a bit off the same fork. I barely finished my sentence before he’d taken the bite, not even bothering to take the fork out of my hands.

And then as I was considering the fact that I’d accidentally created a cliche ‘indirect kiss’ situation, the asshole had to go and lick his lips in the sexiest display I have ever seen in my life. 

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

I managed to smile at him as he nodded his approval at me. I REALLY hope he hasn’t noticed how much I was blushing that day. Ugh. I’m a mess. 

I took Lan Zhan’s hand after that and decided we should officially rejoin the party. Walking turned into challenge mode as it often did when A-Yuan was around, because he grabbed onto my jeans as I walked. 

I’ve had more than one close call with that kid in regards to almost kicking him in the damn face. Ugh.

I stood a bit behind Lan Zhan to hopefully hide how red and gross my eyes were from all that crying. Fortunately everyone was further distracted by SangSang asking for the first brave soul to go up to sing. 

Unwilling to stop touching Lan Zhan, I pulled on his shoulders a bit so I could rest my chin on them. I pressed my cheek against his neck and asked him what he was going to sing. 

He shrugged, which was weird with my head on his shoulders but I was not to be dislodged. This close I could feel the heat coming off his poor red ears. 

I decided NOT to remind him that this was HIS idea. XD

Surprisingly enough, it was DaGe who stomped up on stage first. Never would have pegged him as the musical type!

He further shocked and wowed the crowd by not only singing something from Frank Sinatra, or at least something that sounds like him ( I have no idea what singer sings what. Don’t AT me!) but singing it WELL! He’s got this really deep like slightly raspy kind of voice when he sings. It sounded so GOOD! Talk about a tough act to follow! Fuck I thought karaoke was supposed to be for people BAD at singing!

His song ended up competing against uproarious cheers and whoops, led by Lan Xichen and the kids who easily out-shouted us. (For such a quiet man, Lan Xichen has some PIPES when he wants to be loud!)

A-Ling and A-Yuan somehow ended up on the little podium with him so that they could cheer and dance around him. I can’t imagine they cared either way for the song, but they definitely enjoyed the excuse to scream. Clearly amused, DaGe knelt down to sing TO them, much to their delight. I couldn’t help but laugh as Wen Ning even joined in, pulling the kids a bit further away for safety and twirling in a circle with them in some fun made up dance. 

The song finally ended with a flourish and a bow and much more screaming. When he looked up he seemed to lock eyes with Lan Zhan who immediately looked ready to just book it. He looked even more prepared to bolt when SangSang joined his brother on the stage. 

And just like those creepy twins from The Shining, they asked Lan Zhan to sing with them. 

And not just sing

Oh no.

They asked him to sing Celine Dion with them. 

I may or may not have secretly taken a picture on my phone that I will cherish forever. Just sayin.

He didn’t move at all until Lan Xichen practically shoved him up there. He looked at me for help, but I wasn’t gonna pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity. No way in Hell! So I help his brother push.  Just to seal the deal I used his own words against me. The ones from when I was sick. 

“Do it for me!”

I know I’m an asshole but how could I not?

I didn’t know his spine COULD bend that much. He slumped forward onto the stage, looking utterly defeated. 

Honestly I felt so bad about it I was about to go up and pull him back, but I was too late. The song had started. 

Turns out it wasn’t a Celine Dion song. 

It was THE Celine Dion song. 

Titanic theme BBY!

DaGe draped his arm over Lan Zhan’s shoulders, probably to keep him from running, as Nie Huaisang started off the song with as much over the top passion and drama as is demanded by law for that song. He said something to him but I couldn’t hear it over SangSang’s lovely crooning. 

And then it was  Nie Duet. For once I actually could believe they were brothers! Their shit-eating grins were identical as they pingponged poor Lan Zhan between them with their nudging, trying to get him to sing too. 

Eventually he gave in and between the three of them they made the most amazing, wonderful show I’ve ever seen. Lan Zhan even got into it eventually as he and SangSang practically screamed gracelessly into the microphones.

Amazingly enough, it was DaGe who managed to hit all the high notes. Did he have fucking lessons or something? How??????

I don’t think I’ve ever come CLOSE to seeing Lan Zhan acting that… SILLY before! Oh. He ended up looking like he was having SO much fun. It was so wonderful. I wish he could have that much fun every day of his life!

He looked a bit meek again after the song ended so I hugged him tight after he got off stage. Meanwhile his older brother was pushing his way ON to the stage. Apparently it was his turn now. 

I was trying not to laugh again, afraid he’d think I was making fun of him like he clearly thought before. I didn’t do a great job of it because he told me to go ahead and laugh. “I know it’s lame.”

Oh that got me going, though not in the guffaws that threatened earlier. I chuckled at him for being adorable and told him it wasn’t lame at all. I told him I was just happy to see him acting so damn silly and that I’d love to see it again. 

He pulled back to look at me and I could only start laughing again. A real in the gut laugh. It was good. So good. It was like it cleared up the last of the sobbing I’d done earlier. I felt so much better. 

“That song though,” I said, not able to resist teasing him as I put my head on his shoulder again. “I was NOT expecting that one. Celine Dion? Really??”

And then he pinched my side. Probably trying to tickle me. It did a little but that’s a dangerous game to play when the tickler themselves is QUITE ticklish and the ticklee KNOWS it. 

I pinched him back in the exact same way he pinched me and he lept back so fast it was like a cat jumping out of a bath! And even better, he stumbled RIGHT into the peacock. (brief heart attack because the peacock had at some point stolen A-Lian from her mother, but my precious niece was perfectly fine. ) 

He gave Lan Zhan a LOOK like his patience was seriously being tested, but sighed in the end and offered him A-Lian in what looked very much like a peace offering than anything else. 

“At least you’ll be more careful with her, I hope,” he said in the most threatening tone I think I’ve ever heard from a bird. 

And then Lan Zhan proved he had no qualms with stooping to the lowest of lows by using my beloved niece as a SHIELD while calling for a truce! He held her up so she was standing on his lap and her face covered his and he wiggled her arms all adorable.

And A-Lian just gave me those doe eyes that she learned from her mother and collaborated with him!

So I did the only thing I could do. I shuffled closer, bracing one hand against Lan Zhan’s neck, and tickled my traitor niece instead. She squealed and squirmed, her face turning cherry pink! 

When MianMian and Qin Su started singing some spice girls or destiny’s child or some song or other, A-Lian started to wiggle to it even though I’d stopped tickling her. 

“You like that music?” I heard Lan Zhan say as he took her by the hands to help her keep her balance as he wiggled along with her. He sounded so warm and happy. 

But then I made a mistake. I looked at Lan Zhan again. And oh that FUCKING FEELING came back. 

No! I’m good with being an uncle! I don’t need more! 

My life is a MESS. I can’t even take care of myself! How am I supposed to think about…

But then if he was with me… 

NO!

He’s NOT with me! This is just idle fantasy and I SHOULDN’T be daydreaming about it! YOU KNOW BETTER WEI YING.

Besides even if that were… a thing. It’s kinda putting the cart before the horse. 

One step at a time. If we ever do actually make it past step one THEN we can start thinking of… what would that be. Step 15?????????????????????????????????????????

UGH.

He was looking at her with such a tender expression. It made my heart squeeze with want so hard it almost hurt. 

I grabbed a glass of wine and downed it to help keep my mind away from such dangerous fantasies. 

“I didn’t know you were so good with kids,” I said once the burn of the alcohol had settled in my stomach. 

“I didn’t know either,” Lan Zhan said. Do Lans not have kids? I suppose he’s probably spent most of his time with his brother, and he doesn’t have kids so maybe that makes sense. 

“Maybe A-Lian is just that good with adults,” he continued after a thoughtful pause, making me snicker.  I leaned in to kiss my niece’s chubby (and admittedly kinda sticky) cheek and she giggled, making my heart squeeze again. 

Then she made grabby hands at me to pick her up! ;dklsjf;saj I must have done something right because she doesn’t ask for me very often! So naturally I scooped her up immediately. Lan Zhan seemed unwilling to give her up, not that I blame him, and held her a little longer even though she was secured in my arms already. 

Eventually he did let go though, saying he was going to get more cake. I made A-Lian wave at him as he got up and asked him to bring me a slice of the cocai--cake too. 

[xsecretblastsx]

1x10 - High Society

Finally I’ve reach a double digit episode, and what an episode, I feel this is where I really start questioning characters decisions, but I also love drama so, withouth more preamble, here’s the recap. Again it got insanely long.

Thoughts I had while watching the episode:

I love “comin home baby”, so right there this show is making me so happy.

I’ve actually paused the episode to see the date of the debutante ball a.k.a Cotillion 

I love Blair’s red tigh outfit, also where did that guy Prince Theodore came from?

Chuck’s proud face when Nate mentions how happier Blair seems lately, and also, dude really you don’t miss your girlfriend haha

Honestly I feel this scene with all these parallel conversations about Cotillion is great, right up my alley.

All the subtle drama in that rehearsal, the secret glances, Chuck and Nate keeping their eyes on Blair all the time, this is the kind of content I’m here for. 

I would  like to know why everyone is in their preppy uniforms and then there’s Kati and Is who look like they’re part of Flashdance

Lilly rolling her eyes the moment she sees CeCe, and then really enjoying Cece’s mortification when she realizes Dan is a Humphrey. I love Lilly.

And from Cece’s horrified face we go to hottest PG-13 make out ever. For real though I love this scene, they both look so good and so into it, and they’re so deliciously flirty and their chemistry is out of the charts. Great choice in music too.

I don’t know who is more frustrating by Nate interrupting Chuck or myself.

Chuck’s little smile when Blair says to Nate they should  move on, only to be whipped out in the next minute

Two things about the heart pin: that was an incredibly smart move on Nate’s part, and if you had any doubt Blair Waldorf is such a hopeless romantic.

Cece such a manipulator, it’s unbelievable. Imagine if Serena was more like her family...

Nate’s tux fitting deserves an honorable mention just for the fact that Blair’s actually wearing jeans. Also he kind of deserves she’s lowkey ignoring him

I mean, Dan is so annoying, like yeah I get his point Cotillion is such an elitist unnecessary event, but the way he goes about it gets on my nerves.

Hello Carter. I actually don’t mind him this episode. 

Out of all the seasons I feel like Season 1 is the one where it’s weirder for the final reveal of who gossip girl is, right now it makes the guy really look like a sociopath, with all the stuff he pretends not to know.

Oh Nate! This scene is so fun, like Chuck is so done with the conversation and then “you guys are still pretty close aren’t you?” Dude you have no idea. And the Cherry on the cake “Could you find out who she’s seeing? - Me” he told you Nate, he told you.

Cece’s words to Dan are cruel, but it is the crux of their relationship,, right until the very end and he deals with it in the worst way possible, and why in his mind, every issue in their relationship is always Serena’s fault. Ugh.

Between Dan and Carter, yeah she should have ended with Carter, too bad Cece’s word weren’t profetic.

I wish we had a clearer view of Blair’s outfit in that scene she’s talking with that New York Times guy, because I think it’s purple, and I wish we had seen her using that color a bit more.

Chuck is so jealous and Blair’s like yeah whatever as if. But a jealous Chuck is scheming Chuck. 

I love Rufus, you go Dan (just for this one time)

I’ve always felt Serena’s look for Cotillion was a lot of gold, not in a good way, but right now? I’m kind of feeling it. And she looks gorgeous. 

I mean I think there was probably a better way to say that Grandma Cece is evil, but still I’m not sure it would have matter Serena didn’t want to listen, she never does actually now that I think of it, the end of S3 comes to mind.

Blair has the funniest lines “I’m gonna go Naomi Campbell on you” Is so sad though that we got to see so little of that Erickson Beamon necklace, it’s lovely.

“Hey Beatiful” oh the things one notices when one no longer hates Carter and VanderBaizen is your second Serena ship.

Lily and Cece’s faces at Serena’s presentation stament are to die for.

The pretty little liars song! But since I haven’t watch that show, this one is going to remain a Gossip Girl song for me.

Seeing Cece and Lily at Cotillion makes me think that Blair’s parents are the worst, it’s their daughter debut and none of them could be bothered to attend the event

It didn’t remember this was the first time they mentioned the Santorini incident, less of all in the way Carter tells it, I thought this was first mentioned in S2, 

Not exactly a fan of Lily’s scene with Dan, because yes I agree at this point for the most part Dan is a good influence, but she almost makes it look like Serenas change is thanks to Dan, and that’s not the case. She had decided to change even before she met him.

Also this is feeding Dan’s ego and his belief that he’s the best thing to happen to his girlfriends. 

Oh Chuck finding out than when it comes to Blair scheming is not an easy feat,  and to think this in only the first time this is going to happen.

Poor Chuck, that hurt. Nate’s wink adding salt to his wounds ouch.

That phone between Ruflus and Lily, yes you shouldn’t have let her go!!!

Oh how I used to like that last scene between Dan and Serena.

Seeing that scene of Cece taking her pills made me think of S5, and that’s probably the episode I hate the most in the whole show.

Blair and Nate finally get to it, but seriously Blair doing it with Nate while wearing the necklace Chuck gave you, is tasteless. Also compared to a certain scene at the start of the episode, this looks a bit dull..

Chuck running away, also him looking at the news paper where Blair is happily smiling with some guy, reminded me again of S5. 

Ending this episode with “Apologize” was so 2007, remember how popular this song was?

This was a really packed episode. It introduces us to Cece, and gaves a bit more insight into Rufus and Lily’s history. We have Jenny picking the UES over her family, she’s changing. A dash of Van der Baizen, and our first glimpse to their shared past. Dan and Serena having another clash of worlds, that ends with Lily finally acepting Dan for real; and finally the end of Chuck and Blair 1.0 and the star of Nate and Blair 2.0.

While interesting Jenny’s and Rufly bits this episode, they’re a small part of the episode, Jenny’s in particular feels like a setting up of events to come and as such I feel I have not much to say about it right now. So this episode Dan and Serena had to deal with quite an opponent: Grandma Cece.

Cece while manipulative did raised some interesting points, mainly how out of place Dan feels in the UES, all those things she mentioned are things that Dan resents about the UES, and he may be brushing it up aside for now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t linger and fester in his mind. And then we have Serena who for some reason (which i can’t help but feel is related to Dan) has decided to ditch Cotillion, the even that according to Lily she wanted to attend since she was much younger, and sure people change, Serena is proof of that but in this case I feel her not going is in part to annoyed her mother but also to prove Dan she’s the girl he thhinks she is, i know I may be projecting my dislike of Dan and Derena on this, but it just feels like that to me, and it’s a troubling aspect of their relationship. Also when Dan mentioned to Serena about Cece’s ploy, she doesn’t believe him, doesn’t want to hear it at first, and I just feel for her because sadly is not the first time she’s going to have to accept that her family is not who she think they were.

Last but not least there’s Chuck and Blair. So their secret fling lasted only a month, since the beginning it took Chuck much less effort to embrace the situation, for all his playboys ways the morning after their first time... he wanted them to get breakfast, and it took him Nate messing up again for him to convince Blair of giving them another chance. So when Nate shows interest in Blair, this is Chuck’s worst nightmare come to life, Blair had her whole life with Nate planned out since she was a little girl, she only gave up on that dream when it was clear Nate wanted no part of it, and sure Chuck knows the potential they have, he lowkey always knew, and that’s why he falls so fast, because subconciously he was halfway there since foreve, but it’s very hard to compete with years of Nate, Nate Nate, in Blairs head. So he panics, he gets jealous... and he plots. And it backfires horribly. And for the first time in his life he gets his heart broken.

I don’t judge Blair on this one though because well she knows Chuck, he has an agenda always, and him being Chuck Bass it never occurs to her that he may be realy into her beyond just sex, to her all they being doing is fooling around, she tells Chuck that he needs to learned to behave for them to move to something more, and Chuck behaving is an eufemism of so many things: trust,knowing that she matters to him enough, that he cares. And that’s a big step and it’s a conversation that needed to happen.. and then it doesn’t. Thanks Nate. But really having Nate finally wanting her, and then Chuck seemingly only caring for himself and his own amusement is not suprise she picks Nate. 

I do feel for Chuck because when he gets desperate he doesn’t think properly at all,  he knows Blair, how smart she is and that she’s a good at him at plotting and manipulation,and yet he fails to take that into account, like this episode, he wants Nate to cause a scene to shatter Blair’s image of Nate, because she tells him he would never, so it’s not hard for Blair to see that Nate only caused one because Chuck manipulated into it, it’s transparent. And this is a lesson that sadly he’s not going to learn anytime soon. 

Random bits I would like to mention: ( a bit surprised I got so many for this episode)

So Blair’s birthday is the 15th of november, this means Chuck and Blair version 1.0 lasted a month. Common knowledge I suppose, but I’ve read fanfics where the timeline is much shorter. 

A bit of personal trivia: I love the song “you’re a wolf” (the one playing when Chuck and Blair are making out) and last year was kind of weird for me and I had like a thousand mood changes so anyway, so there was one week I started listening to this song, and I just couldn’t stop re playing it, just so out of nowhere, I played it so much, it ended up being my most played song last year according to Spotify. 

I remember when the type of purse Jenny has was on fashion, and it was cool because it got to the point that street markets they were sold really cheap because they made them out or recycled materials

Chuck tells to Nate that “like the book says she’s just not that into you” and it made think that this was so long ago that there was only the book, the movie wasn’t out yet, wow.. 

I wonder what would have happened if she hadn’t fight with Dan, because then Carter wouldn’t have been at Cotillion, and then the drama between Chuc, Blair and Nate could have ended up in a completely different way.

The Palace does likes like a good place to have the Cotillion, not sure that would have been the case in real life, but here it fits nicely.

Irrelevant but apparently Kati and Is do everything together at such an extent they were scorted by two guys that I guess were brothers because they had the same last name.

You won’t believe but The Pierces have a 2020 version of Secret, it came out on my new releases list on Spotify last week.

[gallantgautier]

That Gautier Family Meta That No One Asked For

I’ve been thinking about the Gautier Family on and off for the last few weeks. Dribs and drabs of little details that slowly but surely have been coming together into something cohesive. Today I wanted to spend some time collecting all of those headcanons together to give myself a nice little piece to refer back to, and maybe some fun reading for others. As always, I welcome any and all questions!

Margave Gullan Adán Gautier

Naming Inspirations

“Gullan”

as a boys' name is of Old Norse derivation, and the meaning of the name Gullan is "battler, warrior". Gullan is an alternate form of Gunnar (Old Norse): from Old Norse gunnr "strife". Going with Rai’s Headcanon that the Fraldarius territory is loosely based upon Norway (albeit only geographically,) I looked to Scandinavian names for Sylvain’s father, as well as keeping similar “ahn” sounds at the end of the name. (It’s worth noting that “Sylvain’s” name in localisation fits better due to the inspirations for his name. However, in other languages his name is actually pronounced more like Sil-vahn. Just a fun tidbit)

 Another reason for my name choice comes from; “The surname Gullan was first found in East Lothian, where they held a family seat on the English/Scottish border. After the Norman Conquest of England many of Duke William's rebellious Barons moved north. The border became a convenient but turbulent no-man's land where the persecuted Many were given land by King Malcolm Canmore and later by King David of Scotland. Some were native Scots. In the 16th century they became known as the 'unruly clans'. The name was first recorded in Scotland in Gullen in the parish of Dirleton in East Lothian.”

“Adán”

Quite simply, the Spanish form of Adam. As I mentioned briefly in another post of Sylvain’s middle name being that of a biblical figure and translated into its Spanish form, Gullan’s follows that trend.

 Personality

On the surface, Gullan is a seemingly cold man who never says more than is necessary. Each and every one of his words has purpose and motive, and he is not the type to lay praise on thick unless it’s either warranted, or strategic.

His purpose is to defend the border, a task he takes so seriously that his devotion to it can often come across as boastful. There are likely those who believe he ‘showcases’ the worth of his house, ever eager to ‘prove House Gautier’s usefulness.’ And indeed, Gullan is happy to allow that attitude to continue rather than spend time attempting to change minds that can instead be spent ensuring his troops are ever ready for another assault from Sreng.

Much like his youngest son, Gullan has a tendency to put up a front, to be as unshakable as the border defences. While this serves his purpose well at official business, war councils and formal functions, it does hurt his ability to be a father. This trait runs so deeply that he always put his duty before his family, which extends to ensuring his son can take up the mantle after him, and thus his reliance on his family Crest. (See “Crest of Gautier, Lance of Ruin and other details” further below.)

 Margravine Eloise Ambre Gautier

Naming Inspirations

I didn’t think too deeply about choosing this name. I just like it. Sue me.

Personality/details of note

Eloise is a person of striking contrast to her husband. She is softly spoken, warm and kind-hearted. That said, in regard to her family and the expectations placed upon them, she often finds her hands tied in what she can actually do for her children. She would have loved nothing more than to coddle them but knew that would only harm them in the long run.

Eloise’s health has never been the greatest, little energy and of low appetite. Pregnancy and childbirth were great ordeals for her, which is why they stopped having children after Sylvain. A family that places such importance on passing on their Crest wouldn’t reasonably – I believe – stop at only one.

 Miklan Anschutz Gautier

Naming Inspirations

“Miklan”

Sadly, after much googling, I can’t find anything. This appears to just be a case of “let’s make a name similar to yet distinct from his brother” style of name choice.

“Anschutz”

Not to copy paste some previous things I talked about but “North German (Anschütz): occupational name for someone whose job was to keep a dam or pool filled with water (German anschützen ‘to fill up’), especially a dam above a water channel serving a mill or mine.” TL;DR: He’s a placeholder.

Personality/details of note

Long story short, Miklan was a monster before he got his hands upon the Lance of Ruin.

Short story lengthened; Miklan is a jealous, entitled person without much in the way of a moral compass. There is only one reason he hates his brother, the fact that Sylvain has a Crest and he does not. Children of noble families are tested upon birth to see if they bare one, at least, that’s what Sylvain tells us. It’s possible that only his family does this, and he believes all families are like that, or that some or many families do that, but not all. Still, it’s reasonable to believe that at least House Gautier tests their children for Crest Inheritance at birth.

What kind of person hates a baby? Enough to want them dead and even attempt to kill them himself? Someone who lacks a moral compass.

On that same train of thought, Miklan was disinherited (not disowned) only three years prior to the events of the game. This means that, while he would never be the head of House, he was still in line to inherit something. Perhaps not lands and prestige, but he would have been able to live comfortably. He would have this regardless of being Crestless, and yet, the fact that he wouldn’t have everything is enough to drive him to multiple attempts to murder his brother. It’s difficult to think that this man has any redeeming qualities, considering that fact.

 Sylvain Jose Gautier

Information regarding the origins of Sylvain’s name and its meanings are all over both the wiki and this blog, as is the case with aspects of his personality, so I’m not going to get too into detail about those. Instead, I’m just going to list some fun tibits about his early life.

As a very young child, Sylvain was actually very shy, he was often found hiding behind his mother’s skirts. He didn’t like the way people would look at him, though at the time he didn’t understand it was because of his Crest. It was largely Glenn’s encouragement that got him out of his shell.

 For a long time, he didn’t really know how food worked. That is, he thought all you had to do was place the ingredients in a bowl, put it in the oven, and five minutes later, out comes food. The kitchen staff once caught him trying to place a glass bowl full of flour, too much sugar, an entire stick of butter and three whole eggs (yes, whole, 100% intact) into the oven. He wanted to make a cake for his mother’s birthday.

As seen in Etude and Learning the Melody, Sylvain took piano lessons as a child and had no small amount of talent for it. He gave it up though, believing his family’s encouragement came only from a place of wanting him to have whatever he wants on account of his Crest and not from a place of love.

 Crest of Gautier and the Lance of Ruin

The Crest

Crests are often seen as a status symbol in Fódlan, and it would be reasonable to think that House Gautier is of the same opinion. This is an attitude that Gullan perpetrates in order to secure a successful marriage for his son to pass on his Crest. In truth, however, the importance of the Crest of Gautier is solely to ensure that the Lance of Ruin can continue to be wielded.

Lance of Ruin

Heroes Relics are weapons of incredible power, and the Lance has been used to defend the border with Sreng. The reliance on the weapon to do the task stems from how the Lance has likely become a symbol of ruin to the Srengi people. In fact, the question has been asked; “Why is it that all the Relics have actual names like Areadbhar and Failnaught, and yet only two are Sword of the Creator and Lance of Ruin?” While I cannot speak for the Sword, I believe that the Lance once had a name that was slowly lost to time, gaining its new moniker some years after the formation of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus when it was brought to bear against Sreng.

[waltzofthewifi]

Kota Chapter 34: Gifts and Presences

Table of Contents | Beginning

"Think about it," Alix said. "You said that you can use your phone without worrying about monsters because your sister's friend fixed it somehow. Well, who do we know that is intelligent enough to do that, who owns technology that you've used without attracting monsters?"

"Max?" Lacy asked. "What does that have to do with Kim?"

"If Kim was a demigod, who would he tell first?" Alix questioned. "Max."

"But he's above the claiming age," Lacy argued. "If he's a Greek demigod, then why hasn't he been at camp?"

There were exceptions to the rule - an over-protective family, like what Alya has, or some weird prophecy thing, like what happened to Piper and Leo. But if Kim theoretically already knew he was a demigod, then they wouldn't apply.

"Who said anything about being a Greek demigod?" Alix said. "There are plenty of pantheons he could be a part of."

"Yeah, but I don't think they have the same problem," Lacy said.

"Maybe not. But with the way Max researches, he might have stumbled upon the idea anyways."

"You have a point," Lacy said. "But it doesn't seem like enough proof to me."

"I also know that he never met his dad," Alix said. "But that his dad is alive."

"That's true for lots of people," Lacy reasoned.

"I'm just saying, it adds up," Alix argued.

Lacy glanced back at Kim, who was joking with Rose and Juleka. He did remind her of some of the kids at camp - but that didn't mean anything.

"We could always just ask him," Alix said.

"True," Lacy agreed. "But not today. When he's in a better mood."

Someone tapped on Lacy's window, and she opened it see Ladybug waiting for her, box in hand.

"Is it my turn?" Lacy asked as she let Ladybug in.

Ladybug nodded. "You understand the responsibility behind having your miraculous permanently?"

Lacy nodded, rocking up onto her toes in excitement.

Ladybug handed her the box, and Lacy opened it up.

"Finally!" Orikko said, zooming out. "It's been so long since I've been outside for more than just an akuma."

"I'll make sure to give you the grand tour," Lacy responded. "Ooh, can I transform just to go running on rooftops?"

"Yes!" Orikko said.

"As long as it doesn't interfere with your other responsibilities," Ladybug answered. "Chat Noir and I are going on patrol, would you like to join?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, suit up."

.

Patrolling was awesome.

Kota had never been able to run so fast. The cold air against her face was rejuvenating. And Paris looked so pretty at night from the rooftops.

She followed Chat Noir on his usual patrol path. He was willing to indulge in Kota's want to go fast, and to climb things for no reason than just to climb them. In fact, he was enjoying himself just as much as she was.

They met up with Ladybug, followed by Pegasus, on the Eiffel Tower. The view was beautiful, and while the rest of the superheroes talked, Kota just stared out onto the city.

She could get used to this.

.

Fu had not been exaggerating about Orikko.

Right at sunrise the next day, he opened his mouth and screamed.

Lacy threw a pillow at him to shut him up.

"You're going to wake my parents," she hissed.

"Sorry," Orikko said, in a way that made her think he was going to do the same exact thing tomorrow.

Lacy readjusted her pillows with the intent to go back to sleep.

"Well, get up!" Orikko said. "The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and you have things to do!"

Lacy groaned. "It's too early."

"It's dawn," Orikko said. "And you have the miraculous of dawn. This is your time of day!"

Lacy intended on ignoring him, but she did feel strangely awake, and Ladybug said she could transform if it didn't interfere with her responsibilities.

"Okay," Lacy repented. "You feel up to transforming?"

"Always," Orikko said.

"Great. Orikko, sun up!"

.

Lacy arrived at class grinning.

Going out as Kota was fun. Plus, she had had time to eat a good breakfast and finish up a homework assignment that wasn't due until tomorrow. Waking up early felt nice.

"You okay?" Alix asked. "You never look this awake this early."

"Yeah, just slept good last night," Lacy replied.

She wasn't that early anyways. The other two chronic over sleepers - Adrien and Marinette - had already arrived. Adrien and Nino were watching something on Nino's phone, and Marinette was having an intense discussion with Alya and Mylene.

Kim leaned forward from his desk. "You still up for our bet Friday, Lace?"

"Oh, I'm ready," Lacy replied.

"I calculate a ninety percent chance that Kim will win," Max said.

Alix snickered. "Yeah right."

"Kim will win what?"

Lacy startled, not having seen Marinette approach their desk.

"Win against Lacy in a rock climbing race," Kim said.

Marinette looked Lacy over, and then Kim.

"Okay, I want to see that," she decided.

"I'm always up for seeing Kim lose a bet," Chloe added.

"Okay, one, I'm not going to lose," Kim replied. "And two, why does everyone want me to lose?"

"If you're willing to buy your own tickets, then I'm fine with you tagging along," Alix said.

"Ooh, maybe Alya can video it?" Lacy said.

"You're very confident," Max noted.

Lacy shrugged. "Just thought it would be cool to have it recorded."

"I'll ask her," Marinette said. "Anyways, I had something else I wanted to ask you girls about. It's Kagami's birthday tonight, and we managed to convince her mom to let her stay at my place as a birthday celebration. Now, her mom thinks it's just us two, but we're actually planning another mass sleepover."

"I'm in," Lacy said.

"Same," Alix said.

"Chloe?" Marinette asked.

Chloe spluttered. "You want me to come?"

"The more the merrier!" Marinette replied. "As long as you think you can behave yourself."

"Well, I can't stay the night," Chloe said. "But I might pop in to say hello and bring a gift."

"Oh, Kagami said no presents," Marinette replied. "But I'm sure she'd appreciate a card or something. Sabrina?"

"Oh, I can't," Sabrina replied. "Family obligations. Tell her I said happy birthday for me!"

"I will!" Marinette replied. "See you there!"

.

Lacy was surprised to see her dad already home from work when she got home.

"I'm taking Elisabeth out on a surprise date," he explained.

"Aww," Lacy cooed.

"You're good for dinner?" Her dad asked. "I know you texted me about the sleepover."

"I'm heading over as soon as I pack my stuff," Lacy said. "It's at Marinette's, so we'll be good for food."

"Just remember, it's a school day tomorrow," her dad said.

"I'll be back before school," Lacy said.

Her dad raised an eyebrow.

"I tried a new alarm clock this morning," Lacy said. "Worked like a charm."

"That's good."

Speaking of her alarm clock, she needed some way of making sure Orikko wouldn't start screaming at tonight's sleepover.

"If I bring a small pillow, can you scream into that?" Lacy asked when she reached her bedroom. "To not wake any of the other girls?"

"I'm a rooster, I'm not screaming into a pillow," Orikko argued. "I'll just find some small secluded room to scream in."

"Okay, but don't wake anyone else up," Lacy stressed.

"Yeah, yeah, you aren't my first chick with a secret identity," Orikko said. "I'm very subtle when I need to be."

Lacy doubted it, but she guessed she'd find out in the morning.

.

Rose, Juleka, Mylene, Alya, Marinette, Lacy, and Alix all made the sleepover. Chloe arrived mid-dinner, and agreed to stay for dessert.

After dinner, Marinette's parents brought out a huge cake, and Lacy brought out her camera.

Kagami looked overwhelmed. "No one's ever baked me a cake before."

"Any friend of Marinette's is worthy of Dupain-Cheng cake," Marinette's dad said.

"Make a wish!" Marinette said.

"Huh?"

"You're suppose to make a wish," Marinette said. "Before blowing the candles out."

"But you can't tell us what it is," Rose added. "Or else it won't come true!"

"Okay." Kagami closed her eyes and blew the candles out.

Lacy snapped a photo.

Everyone got a slice of cake, and they abandoned the dinner table to gather around the living room.

"You know, I've been thinking of joining an exercise class," Marinette said. "Any suggestions?"

"You could take a dance class with me," Mylene said.

"Or you could take archery lessons with me," Kagami added. "It's not as aerobic, but it takes lots of muscle strength and focus."

"I could teach you to roller skate," Alix added.

"Ooh, I know," Alya said. "Nora's making me take this self-defense seminar next weekend. You totally should come with!"

"That actually sounds like a great idea," Mylene said. "I might see if I could come."

"I think it's a great idea for all of us," Kagami agreed. "I'll see if I can convince my mother to let me come."

"Let's do it," Marinette said.

.

Marinette woke that morning to the distant sound of someone screaming.

It was faint, and muffled, and no one seemed to stir at the sound, but Marinette didn't want to ignore it if someone was in trouble.

She slowly stood up and started tiptoeing to the stairs.

"Marinette? What are you doing up?"

Marinette turned to see Lacy sitting up.

Oh, right. Lacy had Orikko with her, and Orikko screamed in the morning. In fact, it was miracle that it sounded so muffled, and the only reason it woke Marinette up was that she hadn't trained herself to sleep through akumas.

"Bathroom," Marinette lied.

"Oh, okay." Lacy didn't sound convinced, being a walking lie detector, but she had never been one to push. "I think I'm going for a run."

"This early?" Marinette questioned.

"Yeah, it helps me focus during school, I think."

"Okay, just be careful."

Marinette went upstairs just long enough to make her cover story seem realistic, before heading back down stairs.

She prodded Alya awake.

"I just saw a hero run by," Marinette whispered. "Want to go hero hunting?"

"Do I ever?"

.

"Guess who just got an interview with the newest hero?" Alya announced, waving her phone around.

"Kota?" Kim asked. "Or the mouse one?"

"Kota," Alya confirmed. "I caught her while she was out patrolling this morning."

The class all crowded around the phone. Lacy peaked over Alix's shoulder, curious as how she looked on camera.

Alya pressed play, but the video was instantly interrupted with a phone call.

"It's from Nathaniel," Alya said.

"Nath?" Alix asked. "But he hates calling people."

Alya answered and put it on speaker.

"What's up?"

"We're trapped in an akuma attack."

Next Chapter

[bookworlders]

the wedding date - ch. 9

percabeth fake dating!au based on The Wedding Date movie

part 1 | FFnet | ao3

masterpost

The wine was flowing.

If the rehearsal dinner gave any indication of what the ceremony was going to be like the next day, it was sure to be lavish. Piper’s mother and father, supermodel Aphrodite Love and actor Tristan McLean, were paying for the ceremony. Zeus Grace, Jason’s father and host of the rehearsal dinner, had obviously not wished to be upstaged. Zeus had hired an upscale party company to completely transform the front lawn of the Big House into some kind of fairytale winery, much to Chiron’s protest.

Every post on the wrap-around porch was wrapped in twinkling lights. The porch itself had been transformed into an altar for the rehearsal ceremony. Picnic tables laden with white table clothes, succulents, and lanterns littered the front lawn for the dinner. The parents of the bride and groom greeted the wedding party as they arrived: Tristan and Zeus shaking everyone's hands and Beryl Grace and Aphrodite shooting each other reproachful scowls — they had worn the same dress.

Percy sat with Will and Calypso as their dates rehearsed walking down the aisle. Jason’s annoying cousin, Octavian, was officiating. Percy caught Annabeth’s eye from where she stood at Piper’s side on the porch. He made faces at her until he saw her smile crack. He grinned at how cute she looked, trying to stifle her laughter. Reyna, standing directly behind Jason, noticed and followed Annabeth’s line of sight, she shot daggers at him.

When he was sure Reyna wasn’t looking anymore, Percy winked at Annabeth and motioned to her neck. She blushed.

After dance lessons, Percy and Annabeth had fooled around in their cabin before getting ready for the rehearsal dinner. Annabeth had even more hickeys on her neck to conceal after that afternoon, especially with the low-cut neckline of her lavender rehearsal dinner dress. Percy didn’t exactly know where they stood with their agreement, but he knew he was having fun with Annabeth regardless of all the lines and boundaries they had crossed by being intimate..

“You are not allowed to look at me tomorrow!” Annabeth said, punching him in the shoulder after they finished rehearsing the ceremony. Percy pulled back her chair for her as they sat down at the head table with the wedding party.

“I agree,” Reyna replied, but Percy had a feeling she was not joking at all.

The food was amazing, but the wine was better. Percy was in bliss, chowing down and refilling Annabeth’s wine glass as the parents all made their rounds of speeches. Dessert was served just as Tristan McLean concluded a monologue from one of his 90s chick flick movies that he was dedicating to Piper. The dessert was vanilla cake with blueberries.

Percy’s eyes lit up and he attacked the cake with his fork, “Heck yes!”

Annabeth grinned at his enthusiasm as she adjusted the napkin on her lap, “What is it with you and blue food?” She ate a piece, it was really delicious.

“It’s a thing between me and my mom,” Percy spoke through mouthfuls. “I asked for a blue birthday cake when I was little, and my old stepdad was being an ass, ‘Blue food doesn’t exist!’” Percy stabbed a blueberry on his fork, dark juice staining the white china. “After that, my mom made an extra effort to make me blue food like pancakes or bringing home all the blue candy from when she worked at a sweet shop.”

Annabeth reached out and brushed icing away from the corner of his mouth, “Your mom sounds great.”

Percy looked at her, smiling, “She is.”

Annabeth broke away from Percy’s gaze. Her face started to feel hot. She stood, “I’m gonna go grab some water, do you want some?” Her feet were taking her to the beverage table before Percy could respond.

Annabeth filled a glass with ice and water and downed it. She refilled it once more, gulping it down. She had felt the words I’d like to meet her about to escape her lips right then. She had to be more careful or she was going to fall into this façade. This arrangement was just for this one weekend. She was never going to meet Sally Jackson.

“Annabeth! Hello, dear.”

She turned, “Aphrodite, hello.” Piper’s mom reached by her to fill her glass with ice. She managed to make the casual, rustic dinner outside of the Big House look like the backdrop of a photoshoot. Annabeth thought, she was too beautiful, too perfect.

“How was the food?” Aphrodite asked, gazing at her as she sipped her water. She had the same kaleidoscope eyes Piper had, but whereas Piper’s gaze was warm and comforting, Annabeth could barely look her mother in the eye.

“It was great. Nice speeches too.”

Aphrodite smiled, her lipstick unsmudged by her glass, “It’s nice to see you sitting over there with your date.”

Annabeth’s stomach dropped, she already hated where this conversation was going yet she just nodded and smiled.

“You’re such a pretty girl,” Aphrodite continued, “You’d never have thought with a face like that that you’d have such trouble in the love department. Well, then I saw how you are about work and your little job. I’m so happy that you finally found love! It feels so much better than drawing some buildings, doesn’t it?”

Annabeth’s jaw tensed, “Yes.” After years of friendship with Piper, she learned it was best not to argue with her mother.

“Your career may be what makes you happy, but love is what you needed.”

“Right, Aphrodite,” Annabeth muttered through gritted teeth, she gripped her glass and walked back over to the table.

She was fuming when she sat down.

“Whoa, whoa,” Percy asked, cautiously, seeing her tensed shoulders, “What did I do now?”

Annabeth crossed her arms. “Not you,” she spat, “Piper’s mother ugh. She had some commentary about my personal life again.” Annabeth hated, hated, hated conversations with Piper’s mother because they always ended like that. A successful career and love are not mutually exclusive.

However, in Annabeth’s case, it had been. Luke had left her because she chose her job.

Percy took her hand, “Hey, come on, forget her, let’s dance.”

The wine had loosened Annabeth enough to actually join Percy on the makeshift dance floor, and the mandatory shots for the bridal party got her to let Percy twirl her into the middle of the dance circle.

Michael Bublé’s “Sway” came on next, and Percy and Annabeth made for Will and Nico as they salsa-ed into the middle.

Annabeth’s left hand rested lightly on Percy's shoulder as they swayed on the outskirts of the dance floor. As the sun went down, fireflies began to twinkle on the lawn.

“Is this even real?” Annabeth muttered, her gaze following a lightning bug, “How did we get here?”

Percy chuckled, twirling her, “Not sure.”

“For real, how did you become an actor, Percy?”

Percy shrugged as Bublé transitioned to Sinantra, “I never wanted to be an actor when I was younger, I just wanted to swim. Competitive swimming led to scholarships. I was undeclared and Grover was my freshman roommate and he did tech for the theater department. I hung around him and other theater majors who ended up casting me in their studio shows for fun. When I needed to declare a major, the only thing I had enough credits in was theater.”

“I’ve never met anyone who was an actor who didn’t want to be.”

“I like it, I really do. I don’t want to be famous or anything, though. There are enough acting gigs in New York and connections from college to keep me busy and employed until the next thing.”

“What’s the next thing?”

“I like acting, but not forever. I might go back to school, maybe a masters? I have a little sister, Estelle, so I want to stay New York.”

“How old is she?”

“She’s only nine, she’s my half-sister from stepdad, Paul. I want to be there as she grows up so I would never leave New York.”

“That’s what we all said.”

“Hm?”

Annabeth’s expression fell, “We all said we’d never leave New York. I’m the only one left. We all went to camp up here, and I remember we all talked about how we’d move to the city together. We all did at first, but eventually everyone moved to New Rome out in California.”

“Yuck,” Percy joked, “Imagine leaving the greatest city in the world for California.”

“I don’t know, what’s New York given me? Rent I can barely keep up with and my only friends now are my roommate’s.”

“Not true. Look at you, only 25-years-old and the most successful architect I’ve ever met.”

“You meet a lot of architects?” Annabeth grinned.

“No, but I know you designed that new building on Lexington Avenue.”

Annabeth’s heart warmed at the fact that he remembered the building she was proudest of designing.

“Why did you want to be an architect?”

Annabeth paused, they weren’t dancing as much as just swaying in place with the music now. She thought about it, “I wanted to build something permanent. Everyone in my life is always leaving and moving, but buildings will be there pretty much forever. Camp is the only home I’ve ever known.

“I moved around a lot with my mom and my dad and step family and my cousins in Boston. I finally asked my dad to send me to boarding school just so I at least knew where I would be for the next four years no matter where he moved. Boarding school and camp. Even my friends, Piper and all of them moved back to New Rome. I’m just tired of people leaving.”

Annabeth’s last thought hung in the air between them. Percy brushed a strand of hair out of her face. The song changed into an upbeat pop track.

“Oh gods, here she comes,” Annabeth muttered.

“Who?”

“Annabeth! Well, this must be the first time you’ve ever gotten on the dance floor, isn’t it?” Aphrodite said, walking over to the couple. She eyed Percy and grinned, her perfectly white teeth glinting, “And I finally get to meet your date.”

“Er, Percy, this is Piper’s mom, Aphrodite. Aphrodite, this is my, uh, boyfriend, Percy Jackson.”

Percy held out his hand, “Nice to meet you, Mrs. McLean.” Aphrodite held her out like she expected Percy to kiss it. He awkwardly shook it.

“Oh, please, call me Aphrodite. Piper’s father and I are not married.”

“Oh sorry-”

“You know, I’ve always had a knack for couples, and you two simply look perfect together. Seeing you in this particular setting. Annabeth, I’m sure you’re just itching to walk down the aisle after last year-”

“Mom! There you are,” Piper called, walking over to them with Jason in tow, “Um, Dad is telling Jason’s parents how you guys met, you better get over there-”

“Tristan knows I hate the way he tells that story, he tripped me on the red carpet…” Aphrodite muttered, stalking over to the parents’ table.

“Sorry about my mother, Percy,” Piper nudged his arm, “But, hey! You survived a conversation with her at a wedding so you’ll survive any holiday with us now.”

Percy shrugged, “I’ve dealt with worse.”

“Speaking of which,” Jason said, “You really got along well with all of us this weekend, it’s like you’ve been part of our little family this whole time.”

“Wow, thanks, man. That means a lot.” Annabeth gripped Percy’s arm tighter.

“Good, because we need a favor. Dakota’s flight is delayed in Ohio, he’s going to try to drive up tonight to make it in time for the reception tomorrow, but would you fill in tomorrow during the ceremony for him? You can walk Annabeth down the aisle and Nico can walk with Drew.”

“Oh, yeah, sure. I’d be honored,” Percy said, somewhat surprised.

“Oh, gods,” Piper said, glancing over to their parents along with other partygoers since the volume of their conversation was escalating, “We better go deal with that.”

“Hey,” Percy, nudging Annabeth who had been strangely silent during the conversation, “You okay?”

“I just need another drink. Make that two. But hey, I guess you’re entitled to the free bar now that you’re part of the wedding party.”

Percy threw his arm around her shoulders, “Coming right up, milady.” He steered her to the bar.

Annabeth was drunk. So drunk that if Percy let go of her waist, she’d probably fall right over. Good thing Annabeth had no intention of letting go of Percy any time soon.

She was all over him, and she wasn’t the only one to notice. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were crowded around the beverage table as Leo called for another round of wedding party shots. Annabeth threw her glass back confidently, aware of Luke watching her. He’d been staring at her all night. Of course, Annabeth stared right back at Luke as she looped her arms around Percy’s neck. Luke grimaced and stalked away.

A song Leo had requested came on and they all dispersed back to the dancefloor. Annabeth, in no shape to dance, dragged Percy back to their table.

“You are doing fantastic!” Annabeth said, grinning, her nose inches away from Percy’s face.

“Thanks?”

“Did you see Luke’s face? He looks like he wants to just about die. You must really look into me. Oh, gods, they all love you, especially Piper. When I tell them, it’ll break their hearts.”

“Tell them what?”

“That we broke up.”

“What?”

“Yeah, we’ll eventually have to fake break up, but we shouldn’t drag this on any longer than we have to. We can’t fake date forever or we’ll have to fake engaged, then get fake married and have a fake wedding. I’ll probably wait until they’re back from their honeymoon to tell them we broke up. I don’t know, I’ll say I got too busy at work.” Annabeth mulled over, her eyes getting glassy.

“Uh, yeah. Right...that would be believable. You choosing work over me.”

Was that a dig at her? Annabeth’s brain was too foggy for her to comprehend. She reached for her glass of wine. However, her depth perception was quite off and she knocked the glass directly into Percy’s lap. He yelped as the red liquid seeped into his slacks.

“Oh, Percy! I’m so sorry!” Annabeth jumped up and grabbed a napkin off the table and began furiously rubbing Percy’s crotch.

“I got it, I got it!” Percy protested, trying to stop her assault on his pants.

“Let me help you-”

“Annabeth, stop,” People took her wrists, struggling to pry her hands off of him and bumping into his drink spilled on Annabeth’s shoes.

“Look what you did, you’re such a Seaweed Brain! Just let me help you!”

“Look at what I did, look what you did, Wise Girl!”

Annabeth dropped the napkins, crossing her arms. Percy sighed, looking down at his now ruby stained trousers.

“What the hell is going on over here? Lover’s tiff already?” Thalia asked, sauntering over to the couple.

Percy panicked, his arm immediately went around her waist to pull Annabeth into his lap to hide the stain, “Of course not, just, uh, talking you know.”

Thalia laughed, “Relax, Percy, accidents happen. Annabeth gets clumsy when she’s drunk.”

“Hey!”

Annabeth moved back to her own seat, “I do not.”

Percy rose, grabbing a napkin to hide the stain, I’m just going to run back to the cabin and change. I’ll be right back, okay?” Percy kissed her on the forehead before walking away, whether for show in front of Thalia or habit, Annabeth had no idea.

“You guys are too cute,” Thalia said.

Annabeth smiled tightly, if anyone was going to see through this ruse, it was going to be Thalia.

“Come get another drink with me, Annie.”

At the beverage table, Thalia got a glass of wine, but Annabeth opted for water.

“Annabeth, I need to tell you something.”

Percy made sure not to lose his balance on the steep path back to the Big House from the cabins. He had a fresh pair of pants on, and was eager to get back to the party.

“Hey!”

Percy turned to see Luke Castellan trekking up the hill to meet him, “Oh, you.”

Luke stalked right up to him, “Listen, dude. I don’t know who the fuck you are-”

“Whoa, Luke, chill out,” Percy could smell the alcohol radiating off of him, giving him flashbacks to his childhood apartment locked up with his terrible first stepdad, Gabe, “You’re drunk.”

“Don’t tell me what the fuck I am. I don’t know who you are-”

“I’m Annabeth’s boyfriend-”

“Clearly, she just brought you here to make me jealous. Are you from work? You’re just some bitch architect at her firm, aren’t you?”

“Listen, Luke. I’m not doing this-”

“I’m sure she seems like she’s super into you, but she’s not over me yet.”

Percy glowered, “Fuck off, Luke. Get out of here. Sleep this off.”

Luke glared, downing the rest of his drink and stalking away.

“What is it, Thals? Is something wrong?” The two had walked over to a grove of tears to talk, further away from the rehearsal dinner.

Thalia looked like she was about to cry. Annabeth had never seen her cry.

“I’m in love with Luke.”

Annabeth blinked, she definitely just had a stroke. From the heat or from the alcohol, but, “What?”

“Annabeth, I’m in love with Luke. I’ve been in love with Luke. Since we were all younger. The whole time you guys were dating, it broke my heart every fucking day.”

“Thalia, I...I don’t know what to say.”

“I know it’s awful because we’re best friends. The three of us were best friends. It didn’t even make me happy when you guys broke up last year because I knew you were still so in love with him. Every time we talked on the phone when I moved to New Rome, I knew you weren’t over the engagement yet.”

“I-”

“But now, I see you with Percy and you’re so happy and we love Percy. Luke and I are so much closer now in New Rome, and I like him. Maybe you can finally get over Luke and-”

“I’m paying him.”

“What?”

“I’m paying him. Percy. I paid him to come here to make Luke jealous. He’s not my boyfriend.”

[loyalflutist]

The Importance of Education (F!Byleth x Edelgard - NSFW)

Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: N/A Words: 7,698 Summary: Edelgard must learn everything around her in order to become an efficient emperor for the Adrestian Empire. However, what she didn’t know was just how inexperienced she is in the form of passionate lovemaking.

A/N: It’s been 6 years since I’ve last sinned. Have fun with this! I feel like my age is slowly catching up to me since I’m having even more difficulty writing in this genre compared to my 17-year-old self back then.

--

Education is important to a person’s growth. Without it, a person’s growth is stunted. Types of conversations would be limited. Actions would lack variety. The next generation would lose plenty of opportunities and lessons. Lacking education could easily lead to ostracization from the community. The consequences are fatal. However, a human’s brain is unable to store countless information. It isn’t a supercomputer. A supercomputer wouldn’t even be able to store limitless data into its system either.

That means it’s okay to not know everything, right? Dimitri, Claude, and even her professor, Byleth, admits that there was nothing wrong with this.

“Edelgard, even I don’t know everything. My family has ruled over the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus without worldly knowledge. I am certain I can follow after their footsteps.”

“Nothin’ wrong with not being the all-knowing-goddess, right? Sometimes it’s better to be ignorant. Knowing too much could lead to your downfall…”

“Edelgard, there’s so much to learn in this world. As a professor, even I don’t know everything. I don’t even think I’m a good professor— Oh, you flatter me. I’m glad you think otherwise. Still, I learn alongside my students. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, okay?”

For Edelgard, this is unacceptable. She must allow her brain to absorb all that it could. For the Adrestian Empire future emperor, a single detail not known could very well lead her nation into demise. The 18-year-old was like a sponge. Various tactical plans and ideas were tested in chess duels. Subjects ranging from complex physics in the field of magic to survival skills needed for the wilderness are mastered. Extracurricular activities such as the art of being a seamstress and singing in a choir are sought after. Interactions with Byleth’s colleagues and volunteer positions (such as being a weekly chef at the monastery’s kitchen) expanded her social network.

Edelgard snagged at every single piece of knowledge like a hungry beast.

She would become an emperor.

She would reclaim what her father had lost.

She would lead a fulfilling life with her lover, Byleth.

Yes… Knowledge was especially crucial for their relationship.

It was a dinner during the time of her birthday that led to the planted seed. Edelgard had not hoped for much. Actually— she foresaw that there would be no results! They had spent countless hours together, but none dare led to a relationship beyond platonic. A student and a professor. A noble and a commoner. A princess and a mercenary. The only thing they had in common was their status as warriors on the battlefield. Otherwise, they were never on equal footing.

Edelgard wanted to close the gap. The birthday date was the most opportune of time to confess her amorous sins to the very person she fell for. A small cake dashed with whip creams and decorated with strawberries sat between the two. Had it not been for the cup of sweet herbal tea found in the mountains, Edelgard would have lost so much of the confident composure. The tremors in her delivery, the rapid heartbeat, the occasional twitch from her eye, the chewing of her lower lip, and the gnawing fear were evident.

“I love you, Byleth.”

Dread overcame her thoughts as the older female no older than by three years hardly reacted. There was no flushing of the cheeks, there was no change to the respiration rate, there were no subtle movements… She simply stared back at the recently-turned 18-year-old. Edelgard had balled the hands on her lap into fists. How humorous. Was her professor disgusted with her? Same-sex relationships were not uncommon, but that does not mean everyone agreed to it. It just wasn’t their preference.

The girl remembered her palms becoming clammy. Edelgard felt her mouth go dry as that particular reason crossed through her mind.

What if Byleth wasn’t into girls?

“I love you too, Edelgard.”

But it never came to that. Byleth embraced Edelgard’s forward nature and never once shamed the young lady of her sexuality. The unfolding scene almost felt like it came out of a left field. Yes, to an extent. Byleth had never once expressed romantic feelings to any of her students or colleagues. Not even Sylvain or Dorothea could rattle the ex-mercenary with their flirtatious personality. To respond with a smile, a tinge of pink discoloration upon her cheeks, and the sudden hug was not how her professor would have acted!

What Edelgard had forgotten was Byleth’s true nature. Despite the facts that a concrete slab has more expression than Byleth in her waking hours, underneath the stoic demeanor is that of a young woman who wishes to be with others. The mercenary life and community that she used to surround herself with thickened the outer shell. Making allies was easy. Making friends was not.

Edelgard had noticed how much time the instructor met with Jeralt and Manuela during days off after Byleth’s explanation.

“I didn’t know how to approach you.”

She was, in a way, emotionally stunted. Expressing them was difficult as she was used to concealing them as a mercenary. That stunt came to erode and was replaced with growth during the first two months at the monastery. The cheeky personality that everyone has come to adore bore fruit. What Byleth was not prepared for was the concept of love. Yes, she loves her father. However, the older male would always remark to his colleagues and curious students from all three Houses about the lack of physical affection she showcased to him.

“Love is a foreign concept to her,” he shook his head after Edelgard had approached him one day. “I can tell how she is feeling, but only because I’m her father. I could only hope she meets someone special like my wife to help break her out of her shell.”

Edelgard had no way knowing that that special person was none other than herself… and she would have never known had she not initiated.

They shook hands on a deal. The two made a promise to keep their relationship a secret until Edelgard graduated. Both did not want to be at the center of gossips, especially in the case tension arises between the three nations and church. Comically, Byleth and Edelgard were unable to pry the hands from the rest of the Black Eagles as their curious nature were too much to handle. Not that the Black Eagles weren’t supportive, of course. They cheered on for the two and sealed their lips about the private affair to the rest of the students and staffs. Even Hubert gave the green light… once he had given Byleth a long, brother-like lecture on dating Edelgard in private.

“If I ever see, hear, or sense Edelgard in distress because of you, I will have no choice but to remove you.”

How brotherly of him!

Nevertheless, nothing could prepare her for a very green relationship with her professor. Textbooks held little to no knowledge about love. In lieu of it, fairytales and wondrous legends substituted the dense material. It’s unfortunate that the ones she’s heard of never went beyond a kiss… Not that Edelgard even knew that you could do something more intimate than share a pleasant peck on the lips. It was only recently that she decided to pursue this new concept thanks to the encouragement from Ferdinand and Dorothea.

“So long as Hubert doesn’t hear about this, then you’re totally fine!” Dorothea chirped when the three ate lunch together. The fashionable commoner tucked a stray brown hair behind her ear as she sipped on her juice. “Still, I can’t believe that you didn’t know about THIS.”

“It’s a shame my rival is so oblivious about it,” Ferdinand shut his eyes and shook his head, a hand rested on his temple. “My Edelgard won’t be able to get married and have kids!”

Edelgard’s brow twitched.

“How entertaining for you to speak like I am not present,” she stared at the male. “I am also not yours, Ferdinand. I have—”

“Teach,” he finished. His eyes opened and a playful grin ran across his lips. “Yeah yeah, we got the message.”

“If you had known, I prefer you focus that energy on finding someone special yourself.”

“Relax~ I will. No promises that it’ll just be as scandalous as yours with Teach~”

“Ferdinand! Why must you make everything a competition between us both?”

Before the two nobles were able to launch into verbal warfare, Dorothea immediately interfered with a long and theatrical “okay!” It’s astonishing that no one else in the cafeteria turned their heads towards the noisy trio’s direction.

“Goodness, both of you, please have some class!” the young lady scolded. It was something of a sight to see someone in her social standing act this way. It almost feels like the role was temporarily reversed… Dorothea shifted her focus onto Edelgard and raised an index finger up like an older sister. “Edelgard, I recommend that the best time to attack is during the evening.”

“I can’t do it now?”

“Unless you’re a rabbit in heat, I suggest you do this privately with the professor. I’m sure you don’t want anyone to hear you both.”

And so Edelgard heeded to their advice after one last review of her battle plan with Ferdinand and Dorothea. She admits, there were three moments in her life where she felt the jitters. The first was the inevitable fate of becoming an emperor for the Adrestian Empire. The second was the dangerous practical lessons against bandits and rebels of the monastery. The third is facing Byleth with an outlandish request. Edelgard felt the palms of her hands moistened. She placed them on her lap and did her best to wipe the sweats away, only to no avail.

Should she back away from the plan? The rubbing of her palms increased its pace. No… That wouldn’t be right. All that hard work of owing her shameful romantic inexperience to Dorothea and Ferdinand cost dearly. Edelgard’s hands slowed down to a stop. Maybe she should delay this. But how long can she push it back?

The sun eventually began to set on a Friday evening as she pondered long and hard. Time was running extremely short. Edelgard needs to decide her next course of action right here, right now. As for her professor, the young lady in her early 20s had just finished preparation for tomorrow. This upcoming weekend consisted of the usual field trips to train for Saturday and a day off for Sunday. It was the usual schedule as a teacher.

‘ Why am I always out on the field, but the other professors aren’t? ‘

Correction: it was the usual schedule as a teacher for Byleth exclusively. Because she was a professional mercenary alongside her father in the past, it made her an ideal model to guide the future prince and princess of their nation compared to other educators. Though Manuela and Hanneman were in charge of the Blue Lions and Golden Deers, they weren’t frequently chosen to handle sensitive missions and tasks ordered by the archbishop herself. It was always “Byleth this” and “Byleth that.”

Byleth loves to teach her students. She really does. She may have various hiccups in her teaching methods, and she is eccentric due to her lack of knowledge in social normality, but she cares for her students. Though it doesn’t hurt to have a break for a bit… right? The other professors were cycled through in a way to spread their workload for Saturday. Why can’t she have that same treatment? She can get tired too!

A weary sigh. The instructor adjusted her hold on the notebook. At least there’s Sunday to look forward to… Byleth let a small smile crack through her frustration. She continued through the empty field and into a hidden narrow passage as a short-cut, her mind set on spending this luxurious day off with fishing on a Sunday.

An imaginary thought bubble floated above her head, a poorly doodled version of Byleth smiling with a fishing rod in one hand and a fish in another. Oh, how she misses this peaceful hobby. Maybe she should invite Edelgard out too.

That seems to have brightened her dull features. The thought bubble began to include the poorly drawn noble shuffling next to the teacher. Edelgard also held a fishing rod in one hand and a smaller fish in another. Just like Byleth, she too was grinning from ear to ear.

‘ Let’s do just that. ‘

She nodded to herself.

“Aren’t you lovesick.” The familiar voice of Sothis pierced through Byleth’s eardrums. As if by magic, Sothis appeared out of thin air and floated beside the walking teacher. The young girl crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “You’ve changed since you and Edelgard hooked up.”

It has always intrigued Sothis of Byleth’s and Edelgard’s relationship. Although the green-haired care more for the professor whom she has always watched since the time of birth, she cannot help but find more questions than answers. The concept of love is complex. Not everyone views it the same way as the next person. When Byleth struggled with her emotional attachments towards Edelgard before the confession, Sothis had always comforted her. She knew it was not in her place to tell the young woman what was right and what was wrong. All she could do was lend a listening ear.

Just what exactly drew Byleth to Edelgard, and what drew Edelgard to Byleth? The two had opened up to each other during the birthday date, but Sothis excused herself to sleep out of respect. Now she feels a tinge of regret for the missed opportunity. Not that it mattered much in the end. Whatever sweet nectar they poured together taught her host to express more of her emotions. She was even able to chuckle and laugh! It was a huge improvement from the teasing smirk that glossed over her lips for a split second.

Sothis let out a sigh. “Frankly, I’m in awe that you are able to keep your relationship under the rug.”

Byleth shot a glance at the floating woman. “I think it’s best no one outside of the Black Eagles know about this,” she murmured. “I won’t know what to do.”

“Feel free to use a bit of my power to get out of it if you’re ever in a pinch. It’s meant for battle, but I’ll make it an exception this time around.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Sothis sure acts like a mother to Byleth. Then again, she’s been with the professor since who-knows-when. At birth? After birth? When she became a teenager? No one knew the answer, especially from Byleth herself.

Now out of the short-cut route, the teal-haired spotted her bedroom. Unlike her father and other professors, her sudden transfer into the educational institution gave Rhea and Seteth little room to prepare a private office. The best they could do was squeeze her into a spare commoner room on the dormitory’s first floor. It was small, but warm and cozy at least. The last thing Byleth needed was to share rooms with an unfamiliar face on the first day.

She stood in front of the locked door and fumbled for the key in her pockets. Since it was a Friday evening, many students and staffs all congregate in the cafeteria for today’s special menu, prayed to the Goddess Seiros at the church, and visited the marketplace. The remaining few were either sneaking outside of the monastery’s safety net for a little adventure of their own or practicing in the training arena with Catherine or Shamir. That meant all dormitory floors were completely empty, save it for Byleth.

As Sothis watched Byleth unlock the door, the instructor went back into a blissful, vivid imagination of fishing with Edelgard. Now the scrawled image of the teacher and student sat next to each other on the wooden platform, their fishing rods out and ready for an exciting session.

‘ I hope we can catch a big fish to cook and eat. ‘

“Byleth.”

The daydreaming sequence came to a screeching halt. Byleth tumbled backward from tripping on her own feet and let out a faint yelp. Sothis couldn’t catch her host. The transparent arms aren’t exactly used for catching anything physical! Luckily, Edelgard was there to catch her. Just like a noble figure in various stories, the shorter female had swooped in, Byleth landed into the shorter’s chest face-first, and Edelgard’s arms wrapped around the older woman.

“Are you alright, Professor?”

Byleth blinked in Edelgard’s embrace. A flash of heat trickled into her cheeks.

“You startled me!”

“I apologize for my carelessness. I did not mean to scare you like that.”

“That’s okay.”

The two parted—Temporarily, that is. Byleth was about to reach out, touch Edelgard’s face, and lean in for a small smooch. It was their usual way of greeting each other when no one was around. Since Edelgard had also saved her from the doom of falling, she would express gratitude too. Instead, she was greeted with her back against the dormitory building’s wall near her room, nose centimeters away from her girlfriend’s, and her girlfriend’s hands planted near her head. Since the future lord is shorter than Byleth, from the distant, it looked like Edelgard was bullying the educator. For Byleth, she thinks otherwise!

Edelgard became rough! She’s taking dominance! Just what in the world is going on?!

Their breaths tickled each other’s skin. Edelgard’s expression remained firm. Byleth’s features deepened its shade of red. Beads of sweat begin to form on the teacher’s skin. She gulped. Soon, she felt the corner of her lips quiver. If there was ever a moment when the usually stoic woman would melt into a puddle of mess, it would be whenever Edelgard becomes intimate.

“El? What… do you think you’re… doing?”

“Wall slam.”

Byleth’s eyes nearly boggled out of its sockets.

“…excuse me?”

“This is a wall slam.”

Oh goodness, what is Edelgard trying to achieve here?! Byleth knew what a wall slam too, by the way! The professor isn’t THAT dense! Byleth felt her breath hitch as the young lady leaned forward. She braced for a kiss… only for the student to near her ear. Then, with a tinkly whisper,

“I want to have sex with you.”

“…”

Did she… just…

No, that can’t be it.

“…”

…she said it, didn’t she?

Byleth felt her entire body freeze up. The heat was already unbearable from their proximity, and the ex-mercenary’s hand loosened. A notebook fell onto the cold slab underneath their feet with a faint thud. Other than the item, the air became still and the silence filled it. Byleth heard her heartbeat thumping. It was slow but abnormally loud to the point it reached her eardrums. She’s never been this shook in her life. Not even in the heat of battle, littered with death-defying injuries and mental fatigue had ever shaken her to this extent! She shakily exhaled. Their eyes stared into each other once Edelgard separated from her ear.

“Did you… just say you want to have sex with me?” she blinked. “That’s what I heard… or think I heard, right?”

“Do you doubt me, Byleth?” Edelgard tilted her head. “Your silly expression says otherwise.”

She wasn’t wrong. The Adrestian Empire’s princess hit a bullseye instead. Granted, the teacher had fantasies about doing it with Edelgard, but never really initiated it. Two things had held her back: if Edelgard was ready and if there was ever a time to do it. Having their first time be a quickie would be a real buzzkill. The older female gathered scraps of her logical processes to formulate a rare, squeaky response.

“It doesn’t hurt to double-check.”

It’s no good. Byleth can’t seem to tear her gaze away from Edelgard’s. Those eyes that smolder with intensity, the way the noble angled her body towards the other, the double entendre questions that follow afterward, Byleth is powerless against the empowered female. If anything, their roles are clearly reversed. Another dry swallow came from the teal-haired. That was Edelgard’s cue to affectionately kiss her teacher. Abrupt, but it was much needed. Their eyes closed momentarily at the moment. Another tender kiss on the lips. Simple, but it always seems to draw upon pleasure.

When they parted with bated breaths, Byleth embraced her lover once the other lowered her arms. The instructor buried her face into Edelgard’s shoulder. She deeply inhaled the subtle flowery fragrance. It was not long until she nuzzled into her school’s dark uniform.

“Are you sure about this?” she quietly murmured. “I don’t want you to feel rushed.”

If anything, it would kill Byleth if Edelgard was under the impression that this was a must. Patience is a part of a relationship. She could always wait until Edelgard was ready. Besides, they’re at the midst of growing tensions within this continent. The girls’ love affair could always be in the back burner. The youngster squeezed her girlfriend in response.

“I wanted this, Byleth. If anything, it was my decision.”

There’s nothing wrong with forgetting about the war, even if it’s just for one night.

“Hubert would never allow this though,” Edelgard grumbled. “If he catches us, I don’t think he’ll ever let me out of his sight ever again.”

“Let’s not get caught then.”

When they entered into Byleth’s bedroom, the youngest did not hesitate to lock the door from behind. The room was lit with a nearby lantern. Decorations hung about in the room of the good memories Byleth’s made during her time as a mercenary and as a mentor. Stacks of books and scrolls were tucked in the corner. The desk hosting a personal journal and calendar for the school year. By coincidence, the room upheld an amorous vibe. The professor had to pat herself on the back for keeping the room this way most of the time. It would be awkward if it were a preference to chaos.

Byleth was just able to toss her notebook onto the desk’s surface when she felt a rough tug. The role reversal continued as Edelgard shoved her lover down onto the tidied mattress. Hands by her head, Byleth’s covered chest rose and fell with each breath. The ex-mercenary was opened to the noble. The princess climbed on top of Byleth like a sly cat.

It was clear who was dominant at this moment. Byleth cracked a brief smile in admiration of the brave young lady. The first step into bypassing the boundary and it would be Edelgard who leads. Though there was one little thing Edelgard had forgotten to disclose... and it became prominent when their staring session lasted longer than five seconds.

“El?” she breathed. “Have I lost you to my beautiful eyes?”

“Perhaps.”

But nothing was advancing. The two were fixated in their current position. Not a single inch had budged, and not a single disturbance was felt. She allowed a couple more second tick by from the nearby wall clock.

Still no progress.

Byleth raised an eyebrow.

“Um… Edelgard—”

“Professor, I don’t know what to do next.”

…oh. So, it appears that it slipped from Edelgard’s mind on how inexperienced she is. Ferdinand and Dorothea may have taught her the ropes of getting their professor heated and riled up, but they obviously left out the more explicit contents from their explanations. A shade of red, albeit from embarrassment, discolored the noble’s cheeks. Byleth readjusted her posture so she was able to cup Edelgard’s face. The movement caught the leader of Black Eagles off guard. Then, the educator squished her cheeks.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?” she chuckled. “Tell me the truth, El. The reason you want to have sex is that you want to learn more about it, am I wrong?”

Edelgard’s facial features twisted into a mix of shame and timidity. Her eyes began to shift around as she mumbled, “Yes.” And what better way to learn about it than with someone you love? Besides, her classmates told her that it was the next step in bonding together. Edelgard clearly wants their relationship to strengthen without it becoming stale.

“Good girl.” Byleth immediately nuzzled with her girlfriend’s nose. They made brief contact with their foreheads before the teacher slid her hands down to the female’s side. Edelgard let out a yelp once their positions flipped. Now on her back, the youngster’s respiration rate picked up knowing what will happen next. Her professor straddled the noble and began to shed her thick overcoat. “You chose the right teacher.”

Frankly, Byleth had never done this with someone. That doesn’t mean she hadn’t witnessed it being done.

It was accidental. She swears upon the Goddess of Sieros that it was purely an accident. The mercenaries never had roots and were always camping and sleeping outdoors. There was barely any sort of privacy, yet kids were being reproduced in her father’s group. Clearly, the members demonstrated intercourses at the quiet times during nightfall. The majority of the mercenaries were at least courteous enough to step away from the camp so their loud moans and groans weren’t heard. Unfortunately, the minority did it right at the premise. Byleth had seen it all from beginning to end as a teenager.

Traumatizing as it may be, at least she’s gained valuable knowledge. Now it was time to put it to use with someone she deeply cares for.

The older woman had now rid of all her armors and stylistic leggings, leaving her left with a white undershirt and wear. Observing Edelgard, she placed both hands on the female’s abdomen.

“How do you feel?”

“Excited… but also scared,” the noble breathed.

“Scared?”

“I’ve never done it and I’ve never heard about this till today.”

“Huh. How did you learn about it?”

“Ferdinand and Dorothea.”

Byleth blinked. “Why am I not surprised.”

“You aren’t?”

“Ferdinand is always a gentleman who tried his best to woo the ladies. Kind of shocked that he still hasn’t found anyone—well, aside from you, that is. Dorothea is always flirting with everyone, so that was predictable.”

“You know them all too well.”

“It’s my job to know my students,” she shrugged. The professor leaned down and proceeded to undo Edelgard’s top attire piece by piece. As her fingers worked on the buttons, Byleth’s eyes twinkled. “That means I get to know more about you too.”

Edelgard felt beads of sweat fly out of her head.

“Byleth, please go easy on me…”

“I will.” Now that the buttons are off, the ex-mercenary gave a quick peck on the girl’s nose. “Let me know if it’s too much for you. I can stop at any time for you.”

“Okay.”

Once Edelgard nodded, the teal-haired started with the first step. A kiss is in order. They may have smooched many times, but none of them rivaled this one. It started off as something simple. Their lips captured one another. Eventually, Byleth’s tongue began to poke, prod, and suck at the sealed sensitive body part. Edelgard’s eyes widened and her lips instinctively parted for a groan. This newly-form entranceway easily allowed the mentor to slip her tongue in. Accompanied by the hand motions of slowly feeling and brushing the student’s concealed chest, sides, stomach, and arms, this eased Edelgard into a world full of bliss.

“Mm…”

They parted. Hot, fast breaths tickled their noses as their eyes were fixated on one another. Then, they resumed where they left off, their tongues tangled and tasting each other. Faint moans came from Edelgard as she realized just how good it felt. It was nothing like she’s ever experienced in her lifetime! For Byleth, she was somewhat in awe of how she’s making the princess tingle from her touches. Edelgard would groan into her mouth as she pressed onward. No wonder why the mercenaries were always trying to hook up with one another outside of battle. This felt amazing.

“I… I never knew you can kiss this way,” Edelgard panted in-between. “Byleth, please teach me more.”

The professor felt an inner switch click on. It was rare for the rising lord to plead. Byleth felt a strange desire to hasten through the lessons and go straight for the main course. However, she internally squeezed the animalistic cravings to a minimum and planted a peck on the student’s lips with a smile.

“I’ll teach you everything, El.”

The second step, the neck. Byleth leaned in to plant soft, fluttering kisses upon the exposed skin. Edelgard felt the heat rise from her head and crawl down to her core. It was different from receiving it on the lips. Although it was not as sensitive as the pink flesh, their current circumstances intensified her sense of touch. She gasped when her teacher gently sucked on areas where she pressed her lips. It was ticklish. The student immediately grabbed ahold of Byleth’s arms and curled her fingers inward, her body slightly squirming.

“Sensitive, aren’t you?” Byleth breathed upon the bare skin.

Edelgard intentionally tightened her hold on the dominant figure. Between her groans, she mewled, “S-Stop asking me those—ah, those questions.”

Byleth’s eyes darkened like a predator. “You’re too cute.”

The next step was one of the sensitive parts of a human’s body. As they were females, their size was far bigger than those from their male counterparts. Byleth’s hands slowly spread apart the upper uniform as she continued to occupy the girl’s neck, allowing the bountiful, now-bare breasts to bare themselves into this world.

She distanced herself to get the full view of Edelgard’s upper body. The pair are so pure and in pristine shape. Not a single battle scar tattooed themselves on the girl’s skin. (Excluding a surgical operation near her ribcage and arms. Those scars had mostly faded.) Compared to the instructor’s battle-worn body, Edelgard was the definition of perfection. Byleth let the word “beautiful” slip from her mouth. This caused the beet red noble to cross her covered arms almost instantly.

“Do we really need to include this in the curriculum?”

Byleth laughed quietly and gently urged Edelgard’s arms apart. It took some time, but the merciful strength conveyed its message successfully. The white-haired exposed herself once more to her teacher with quivering lips. Edelgard had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next as her teacher continued to shed her top attire. She resisted the temptation to flee half-naked from the bedroom.

“Ah!”

Her breath got caught in her throat. The aristocratic female was startled by her lover’s hands’ contact with her breasts. Though they’ve touched each other before when tending to their wounds or bathing, none of them were meant for reasons far more intimate. Edelgard nearly slapped those naughty hands away. The female fisted the bedsheets in lieu of it. Byleth proceeded to massage the mounds with great care as if she were making pottery. She encompassed the pair and gave it a squeeze. A moan escaped from Edelgard. The instructor’s thumbs soon toyed with the hardened tips, rubbing them with her index. Another moan crackled out from her girlfriend. Seems like the mentor is doing something right. Pleased, Byleth continued to pour affection into them as the noble squirmed underneath. Had it not been for the professor’s straddling, she would have been bucked off the mattress!

Hickeys were carefully littered amongst the royal’s neck, the tortuous pleasant waves continued to assault the young lady. Edelgard’s fists tightened its hold on the crumpled bedsheets as Byleth’s adventurous hands twitched and toyed the sensitive tip of her breasts. Another blissful wave washed in while her mind narrowly focused on the electric touches. She jerked from the ministrations as it grew rougher. Whimpers and ragged panting disrupted the perfect imagery everyone envisioned from the noble. Words won’t ever accurately describe this burning desire to moan every passing second.

One hand was eventually removed. Although it should’ve eased the intensity, it was, instead, substituted with Byleth’s mouth.

“Hnngh!?”

Byleth swirled her tongue around it and gave it the occasional suck. Such a foreign object that circulates around the tip of the prized area, this drove the younger girl crazy. Edelgard squeezed her eyes shut and stifled a much louder groan. Any lingering fear that possessed the student now eroded away. These touches sent chilling sensations that shortly transformed into sweet, burning euphoria.

The spare hand massaged the supple mound one last time before it casually left the premise. Byleth had another goal in mind as it trailed downward. It tickled Edelgard in midst of her sexual high. Her fingertips brushed upon the hems of Edelgard’s skirt. That snapped the royal’s eyelids open as her professor raised her head. Their eyes locked with each other. One was breathing as though she ran a marathon, one was breathing as though she had completed a meditation.

“Edelgard… how are you feeling?”

“Spare me the questions, Professor,” the princess scoffed lightly. “You know I can’t answer that.”

“That’s okay. Your body told me everything.”

“You—”

Edelgard wanted to grab her teacher’s cheeks and pull on them. It wasn’t a very regal way of handling the cheeky attitude of Byleth, but the girl was already flustered enough in her current state, she needn’t any more of it. The ex-mercenary bit the bottom of her lip as she glanced at the skirt. She lifted herself up from straddling Edelgard and clung to the edges of the clothing.

“I’m going to take these off.”

“…okay…”

She didn’t sound sure. There wasn’t any resistant… So that means Edelgard gave the green light. Still, the flushed girl’s expression held a mixture of other emotions. Byleth smirked as she slowly pulled down the piece of article. Pop quiz time.

“As your professor, let me give you a pop quiz.”

“Byleth, really?”

“You’ve asked to be taught.”

“I didn’t mean it THAT way!”

Edelgard shifted her legs as the skirt bypassed her knees. Though her cheeks are flamed, the white-haired felt the tension in her core slightly loosen. She frowned and felt irritated. This was going to kill their mood. Luckily, Byleth isn’t so oblivious as to leave her lover sexually frustrated. The teacher has seen it happen one too many times with her old mercenary allies.

A flick of her wrist chucked the dark skirt out of the way. Now working on the red tights, Byleth presented the question.

“How are babies made?”

“…I’ve always thought the Goddess Sieros bestowed them to the parents.”

“Who told you that?”

“Rhea.”

“Urk…”

That was awkward. Dorothea and Ferdinand could at least help their teacher out by explaining this to Edelgard! Or rather, the blame should be entirely placed on Rhea. Who in Fodlan would use the goddess to explain this natural phenomenon? Sure, the archbishop is a holy maiden that should not be tainted. But wasn’t the main point of the Officer’s Academy was to also teach students the reality of the world? An imaginary bead of sweat ran down the side of her face as she finally took off everything except the undergarment. Byleth gave a little huff.

“That’s wrong. This…” Byleth placed her finger on Edelgard’s exposed stomach. With an index finger, she slowly dragged its tip all the way till it hit the white barrier. It was somewhat moist on the single layer that protects the most treasured part of a woman’s body. The noble jolted and gasped as Byleth gently rubbed the wet fabric with a single finger. “This is how babies are made.”

Edelgard scrambled after a response. Any kind of response, really, to hide the squeaks and inconsiderably loud pants that emitted from her direction. It was a mind-boggling experience. How could a single finger tapping and rubbing lightly spark so much pleasure? It was like firecrackers! A long groan resonated from her throat when Byleth vertically swiped the slender finger at a lazy pace.

“Byleth— Hah…"

It was getting out of hand. The younger girl knew that body wanted this. This body wanted to embrace the spicy touches and feel her teacher’s touches to its fullest extent. As much as Edelgard wished to stay dignified in the middle of intercourse, her desperate expression and wiggling body says otherwise.

“I-It feels good,” she whispered.

Byleth’s eyes blackened once more as she had both hands pull the last lower garment out of the way. Just like the skirt, it was flung to the floor. She then leaned forward and closed in on Edelgard’s ear. Sweet nectar dripped from her faint words. Edelgard shuddered in response.

“I’ll make sure you feel even better, El.”

There was no hesitation in her next action. Using the same index finger that had pressed against the white underwear, Byleth copied her original move set on the bare flesh. The slender finger continued to swipe up and down, left and right with flicks. Unbearable gratification of such delicious feelings shot up from that one spot all the way to Edelgard’s brain in flashes. Edelgard struggled to keep her voice down as her body squirmed. This caused Byleth to drape an arm over one of the legs to keep her girlfriend from launching her to the opposite side of the room. Of course, this was to make sure she has plenty of space to work on the sensitive folds.

“Byleth— Agh!”

Nothing was stopping the pleasure train from crashing in. Soon, it was getting difficult for the young lady to keep her respiration rate consistent. Edelgard’s heart was pounding wildly against her chest. She feared that she might overheat from the session! Alas, that was not the case as she had enough willpower to stay conscious from the sudden spike in euphoria. A cry left Edelgard’s mouth when Byleth’s thumb pressed against the clit. She applied pressure at the nub a few times in successions before resting it between her index and thumb.

A pause. Byleth glanced upward. Past the naturally spread legs, the partially clothed Edelgard trembled. The student’s chest rose and fell at a fast pace, back still laid upon the soft furniture. Edelgard’s gaze was jumbled as she could hardly think. This small break won’t last forever, though. They were in the middle of the course.

“This is the most sensitive part of a woman’s body,” she explained and pinched the clit. That elicits another outcry from Edelgard. Byleth kneaded it between her fingertips as if it were a small ball, causing the poor noble to jerk her hips upward. Byleth grunted. The professor applied extra force into her arm in order to keep the legs from sending her to Brigid. “Y-You see, when we are in our mother’s womb, both male and female don't have noticeable sex during development.”

Not that Edelgard was paying any attention to the lecture. The sensation was powerful and overwhelming. If a man derives extreme pleasure from his testicle, then for a woman, it would be their clitoris. (As Byleth elaborates in the background, it’s an underdeveloped version of a male’s testicle.) It was building up. The strange, alienated bubble that kept on producing tiny fireworks within her core increased its intensity.

“Nnngh—! Byleth!”

“…so as you can see, it’s something to keep in mind.”

“Byleth!”

How could her girlfriend still be chatting away while she’s pleasuring her?! Edelgard would like to have a word with her professor, but she was too bothered to care. All forms of her sanity were thrown right out the window when Byleth slowed her rubdown. The teal-haired woman faintly smiled at the frustrated Adrestian Empire’s princess. Oh, how much she loves Edelgard. Just hearing her scream out her name is music to her ears.

“I’m surprised you’re all riled up from my fingers. There are other ways to make you feel good too.”

“What are you— Hey, w-wait! Don’t go down there— AH!”

This was a first for the ex-mercenary, but she decided to tackle it head-first. The fingers were replaced with something drastically different. A strong, but small, muscular muscle had just brushed its rough surfaces against Edelgard’s most prized area of her body. This made the noble twitch and shake from the new texture. Euphoria coursed through her vein as blood pooled into the fleshed. The noble immediately reached down to hold onto her older girlfriend’s head. Byleth was seen to have both of her hands strongly grip against the thighs of the other female, her face buried at the blooming flower. A couple of licks were given before Byleth paused once again. Edelgard hitched her shoulders at the hot breath in the private sector.

“The mercenaries weren’t wrong… it tastes interesting.”

“BYLETH!”

What is wrong with this woman? Her socialization skills really need some improvements, especially with bedroom talks. Had it been someone else other than Edelgard, they would likely have left Byleth a long time ago! Despite the strange wordings and phrases slipped past the professor’s lips, the teal-haired ignored her girlfriend.

‘ …what do I do next? ‘

Throughout the entire session, it was a lot of work for Byleth. She may have enjoyed it just like Edelgard, but it was her first time too. Memories of the mercenaries work on each other, male or female, threw suggestions into the air. She had to pick and choose what was most appropriate for their current situation. Besides, Byleth didn’t want to sour their first make-out session.

‘ I’ll finish this. ‘

The relentless assaults resumed as she secured her hold on Edelgard’s legs, her fingers digging into the thighs. Byleth indulged once more into tasting the girl’s wet folds. Her tongue ran against the exterior surface in all sorts of direction, a little sloppy in terms of techniques. That matter not to Edelgard. Edelgard right now was battling against the embarrassing noise that proudly proclaimed how pleasant Byleth’s tongue was on her right now. The fireworks were gradually becoming larger and the sparks jolted at an even interval from the sex organ to her core. Her fingers tangled with teal locks as her back arched here and there.

When Byleth buried her tongue into the moist entranceway, Edelgard harshly squeezed her girlfriend’s head.

“A-AH! Haa— Haah! B-Byleth! Oh, Byleth— AH!”

Each thrust that came from the boneless body party went as deep as it physically could. Edelgard repeatedly forced her instructor’s face into the private region. She was intoxicated by pleasure, and she allowed raw instincts to dominant her reasoning. For Byleth, she did her best not to suffocate in Edelgard’s nether region. She responded by pushing against the thighs in order to gain better access. The woman then licked the inside of her walls like a drunken sailor. Edelgard’s bodily fluids were leaking out in preparation for the ultimate climax, the young lady shaking uncontrollably similarly to her moans.

A short-lived scream was heard from the shorter female whenever Byleth’s tongue wiggled and curved either upward or downward. Hearing her girlfriend’s cries turned on the older woman. Though she had never masturbated before, that thought did cross through her mind for a split second. Nonetheless, she shook it off and paid her upmost attention to Edelgard. She expelled her bliss by aggressively tackling the sensitive nub like a suckling.

“H—Haaah! Byleth— I… I can’t— Hah! I can’t hold it— HAH!”

It was driving Edelgard past insanity. Byleth’s tongue and mouth showering love upon her lower region between the legs was all that occupied the student’s mind. Nothing more, nothing less. She breathed rapidly as if she were in a marathon, and the young female arched her back once more. Byleth knew that she was about to be shoved over the edge of the cliff. Who better to do it than the teacher herself? She removed her tongue from the core and focused her entire attention on the clitoris. Enveloping her lips around the small nub, she gave it a few, strong sucking as if she wanted to drain the girl.

“Byleth—! I-I’m— A-AH!”

The fireworks gave a barrage of explosions as the student immediately sat up, curled forward, and trapped Byleth between her legs and partially dressed upper body. Her entire body stiffened as it bore through the explosive sensuality. The professor kept marching forward with the assaults in hopes of dragging her girlfriend’s Cloud Nine experience as long as possible. When Edelgard released her hold and plopped back onto the mattress, Byleth raised her head and felt her body vibrated from the impact. Although she was out of breath from the laborious efforts, that was nothing compared to the white-haired.

Byleth crawled over to the side of Edelgard, faced her, and laid down. As they tried to refuel their lungs with the necessary oxygen, the professor reached out to place a hand on the girl’s chest. It was beating wildly like a horse.

“Are… Are you okay?”

Edelgard wasn’t able to quip in until her breathing slowed down to a reasonable interval. She swallowed and turned her head over to Byleth. She blinked and… smiled.

“I’m more than okay, Byleth.” There was another pause before she added an additional remark. “If anything… I should thank you for teaching me about sex.”

A chuckle emitted from the professor. “Believe it or not, this was my first time.”

“Really? I am honored to be your first. However, you seem experienced enough to have done it with someone else.”

“Back when I was a mercenary, I’ve picked up some of these tips and tricks.”

“…so you’ve watched a couple go at it.”

“It was an accident.”

“Sure, it was. Sure.”

The two then fell into silence, their eyes interlocked with each other. Byleth then leaned in to place a gentle kiss like that of a swan on Edelgard’s lips.

“If you’re up for another lesson, I’m always free for you, El.”

“Since you’ve brought up that offer…” Before the 21-year-old could open her mouth, she found herself straddled by the royal figure. Edelgard began to strip the rest of her upper attire and proclaimed, “I think it’s time I show you what I’ve learned today.”

Meanwhile, Sothis peered from outside of the bedroom's door, her eyebrows raised higher than the ceiling.

"They're STILL at it?! I just woke up from my nap while they had their fun! Guess it's time to sleep again..."

[bevioletskies]

across the universe [2/8]

summary: Peter, the son of the Chancellor, has lived among the stars for the first ten years of his life. Gamora, the future Commander of Terra, has lived on the ground for the first ten years of hers. Though it’s finally time for the last survivors of the so-called apocalypse to return to Earth, they might not be prepared for what’s waiting for them. But when Peter and Gamora meet and find their worlds irreversibly tangled together, titles, obligations, and the impending war may be the very last thing on their minds.

a/n: The premise of this fic is very loosely based off of The 100, the television show more so than the book series. However, no previous knowledge is required, as I only used the basic concept and language, and none of the storylines or characters arcs from the show.

Fic title is from the song Across The Universe by The Beatles. Prologue can be found here. Warning for injuries, blood, and bad parenting.

word count: 11.4k | ao3 | tag

Gamora felt as if she looked a bit strange to anyone who happened to be nearby - hopefully, nobody - sitting under a tree, tapping one foot impatiently as she sharpened her favorite blade. Logically, she knew it would be safer to hide at the top of the tree in case she came across the wrong clan, but there was a sort of nervous energy pulsating through her that needed to be expended, different to the kind of energy she felt during a training session (or a real fight).

While she waited, her mind wandered to earlier in the morning when she was at breakfast with Nebula. It was hard to look at her sometimes, to see the pieces of her that were no longer her, the pieces that glinted in the sunlight and echoed with a metallic clang when struck. To their father, a broken leg meant a replaced one, an offhand complaint about being unable to hear something meant a complete overhaul of her sensory system. To him, a lost fight meant everything. Gamora looked down to her own arm, watched the silver twist and turn underneath her skin like new veins. They still burned sometimes.

“Gamora?”

She quickly drew her arm behind her back and looked up to see Peter standing there, a boyish grin on his face. He was dressed differently than when she saw him three weeks ago, his hair longer and curling slightly over his shining eyes. The most notable thing, however, was the glow of his hands, and in his cupped palms was a crudely-made rubber ball. “Hapotei.”

He blinked. “Sorry?”

“Happy birthday,” she sighed; she could’ve sworn she’d taught him that last time after they agreed to meet on his eleventh birthday. They’d been meeting in secret for six months now, starting off as her simply teaching him some basics of the language and the planet, then quickly developing into tentative, but hopeful friendship. She also conveniently left out the fact that she was a daughter of Thanos. In all fairness, he spoke fondly of his mother and sister but didn’t speak of his father, either, and they left it at that. She knew it was risky for both of them to be spending time together, but she found herself genuinely enjoying his company, found that she felt just a little bit less like their great and terrible world was waiting for her to lead the way. He was the only person in her life who didn’t know her predetermined fate.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she got to her feet and went to join him, stashing her blade as she did. “I think it’s weird that your people remember what day they were born.”

“I think it sucks that your people don’t,” he shot back, though not unkindly. “But c’mon, isn’t this cool? Made it myself!” He held out his hands, proud. She poked the ball gingerly, leaving a permanent fingerprint on its surface. “Okay, so it’s not the best thing ever - ”

“It’s...better,” she said slowly, thinking back to the time he’d presented her with what looked like an approximation of a deflated balloon. She had asked him about the light the second time they met since she never got the chance during their first encounter, and ever since then, he’d been far too eager to bring deformed creations along with him. “You’re getting better.” Her eyes flickered upwards to his shoulders, taking in the shiny red leather. “Your jacket...it smells new.”

“You can smell - yeah, okay,” Peter chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a birthday present from Yondu. Oh, and my mom gave me this!” He unhooked something from the belt loop of his jeans and held it out to her, some rectangular device that looked positively ancient compared to all the technology they both had access to. She carefully took it, turning it over in her hands as if it would magically explain itself. “It’s called a Walkman. Plays music.”

“My people don’t have music,” Gamora said. Peter looked scandalized. “What do you do with it?”

“Do? Nothin’. You listen to it. Or you can dance.” He shrugged.

“My people don’t dance,” she retorted, sullen.

“No birthdays, no dancin’...your people really don’t know how to have fun,” Peter grinned. “You gotta dance with me sometime.”

Gamora looked at him dubiously. “...no.”

He only laughed, bright and notably cheerful, even for him, and ambled on down the slope toward the stream, gesturing for her to follow. She huffed impatiently - honestly, she gave him one orienteering lesson and suddenly he was acting like he was the expert - but followed him regardless.

The weather was idyllic, far nicer than it had any right to be. Last night had been another night of war, the kind that raged on until sunrise, when blood seemed brighter and bolder and ridden with guilt. Thanos and Ego had been attacking each other from afar, still having never met in person, and every day it seemed like there was at least another name or two or ten that both sides were left to mourn. Gamora had grown numb to it; Peter had not, holding his breath every time his father had another announcement to make. It was something they never talked about.

“I don’t wanna learn nothin’ new today. Let’s just...sit.” Peter plopped down unceremoniously beside the stream, his legs sprawled out across the pebbles, not caring for the way the water trickled between them, dampening the underside of his jeans.

“If it’s your birthday, how did you get away from your family? Don’t they want to spend time with you?” Gamora asked, sitting neatly beside him. She drew her knees into her chest, away from the water.

“Parents are working, sister’s with her friends. They didn’t even see me leave,” he said, shrugging. “Mom said she’s gonna make me a cake later.”

“Your mother sounds so perfect whenever you talk about her,” she said wistfully. Peter perked up.

“You wanna meet her?”

Gamora was startled by the question. It had never crossed her mind that she and Peter could exist outside of the space they’d created for themselves. She knew she certainly didn’t want Peter to get anywhere near her world, still remembering the awful way he’d looked at her when she mercy-killed one of her soldiers on the night they met. She didn’t want him to look at her like that ever again.

“Maybe,” she hummed, hoping she sounded more nonchalant than she felt. The idea of a parent who loved their children was not something she’d ever entertained. There were plenty of loving families within Sanctuary’s walls, sure, but it was mostly parents adoring the children who were strong enough to become warriors, and disregarding those who weren’t. Her mind went to Drax again, how he used to sit by himself at meals until Gamora (and a reluctant Nebula) decided to join him. Losing his parents so young had done him no favors in so many unfortunate and unforeseeable ways.

“Then come back with me.” Gamora had been so lost in her own thoughts, she nearly forgot what Peter was talking about. “You can have cake and meet my family! Or I guess, my mom and my sister.”

“Not your father?” she asked.

“Everyone says he’s not a ‘family man’,” he said dismissively. “Y’know, whatever that means.”

“I don’t,” she said, frowning. “Does he work a lot? You make him sound like a very important person.”

“He’s...uh...yeah, you could say that,” Peter hedged, refusing to meet her eyes. Gamora’s frown deepened.

“Is he part of your army?” she persisted. “Like a general? A captain?”

“Like...he’s kind of…” He scratched at a non-existent itch on the back of his hand, his gaze now fully cast downward into his own lap. “...the Chancellor.”

Gamora shot to her feet, her mind racing with possibilities, her heart beating with betrayal. Already, she could feel tears burning hot in her eyes, taunting her for letting trust overtake instinct. “Your father is the one killing my people?!”

“Your people started it,” Peter mumbled petulantly, cowering, though he knew it was only going to make things worse. “My mom and all them others, they just wanted their planet back. I don’t see why we gotta die for it.”

“I can’t - ” Gamora exhaled, resting one hand on her stomach, fingers splayed outward, willing herself to calm down. “There are orphans, Peter. Children who don’t have parents because your father wanted it that way.”

“You think we don’t got that, too?” His voice was rapidly rising; fists balled up in his lap. He didn’t want to give Gamora the satisfaction of knowing she’d angered him; Meredith had told him too many times before that he needed to be better with his temperament. “Everyone...everyone’s got dead people. ‘Cos of my dad, and...what’s his name again?”

“Thanos.” Gamora swallowed. “My father.”

Now it was Peter’s turn to have his blood run cold, to have his mouth fall open in a rather comical manner, though neither of them were laughing. “You gotta be kiddin’.” When she shook her head, he also got to his feet, shaking off the damp bits of grass that had stuck to his clothes. “Some birthday I’m having.” With that, he turned and ran off, ignoring Gamora calling after him, a voice he’d been so thrilled to hear when he first arrived, a voice that now made him feel vaguely ill.

“Peter, please!” Gamora shouted, even after he was long gone, and she groaned in frustration, collapsing back down onto the ground, not caring when her boots struck the water and splashed the hems of her pants. It amazed her how terrible everything had become so quickly, how awfully serendipitous it was that the one Skaikru she’d befriended was her equivalent in the worst possible way. She wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them back into her chest.

Inhale, exhale, she told herself, trying to think of all the breathing exercises she’d been taught, the rules that had been drilled in her head. She could almost hear Thanos’s voice, paradoxically dull and menacing at the same time: “Your anger doesn’t feed you, daughter, it starves you. What you need is focus. You are a plangona, the future heda. Do not waste your breath on those who don’t deserve it.” Her eyes slid closed, her breath evening out, gentle. In. Out. In. Out.

In her peace, Gamora never saw the unfamiliar hands that reached out for her.

Peter returned to New Arkardia not too long after he left, his face and fists still burning with anger. He was instantly waved through the gates upon his arrival, weaving through the crowd of people who either reached out to greet him with far too much enthusiasm or looked at him with far too much derision.

He reached his house a few minutes later, a happy medium between his father’s lust for luxury and his mother’s desire for normalcy, built a mere two days after they landed on Earth. Peter had to admit, as much as he despised Ego’s over-the-top approach to just about everything, the New Arkadia settlement was something to be proud of. It was a small, self-contained town, with dirt roads winding and snaking along between the trees, houses and community buildings nestled along the way, running alongside the river. They had a steady stream of food and supplies, all the adults had settled back into the jobs they had on the original Ark, and the children had mostly adjusted to their newfound freedom, the ability to take in fresh air after a long day in the classroom. However, no one strayed too far from their territory, knowing that the other factions were still hunting them, waiting to chase them right off the earth.

“Peter, is that you?” Meredith called from the living room when he opened the front door. “Where’ve you been runnin’ off to, baby?”

“Followin’ Yondu around,” he lied easily, kicking off his shoes. He went to join her, still awed at the fact they had more than one couch, bookshelves that went all the way to the ceiling, thick pile rugs and quilted blankets and a crackling fireplace. It was a bit like the bigger apartment they’d had when he and Mantis were younger before Ego shuffled them off to their smaller place in favor of investing in their return to Earth, full of quiet luxuries he didn’t realize he’d missed so much.

“That’s odd, because I just left my graveyard shift at the medical center and Yondu was there, checkin’ up on that guard of his who got speared last night.” Meredith clicked her tongue to punctuate her point, though her eyes never left the book she was reading. “Don’t lie to me, Peter. You’ve been sneaking out on us, and as your mother, I have the right to know who, where, and why.”

Peter hesitated. “I made a friend.”

“What’s their name?” she pressed, flipping the page.

“Don’t matter,” he grouched. “We got into a fight. That’s why I came back.”

Meredith finally set her book aside, sweeping Peter up in her arms. “Oh, baby, I’m sorry. I’m sure things’ll smooth over eventually. They must be special if you wanted to spend your birthday with them. How far were you?”

“Outside the gates,” he mumbled into her shoulder. She instantly released him.

“Peter,” she exclaimed, the growl in her voice causing him to recoil. “Do you think your daddy made all them rules just because he can? Do you think I’m stitchin’ up wounds, day and night, because our guards just got a little clumsy?”

“I’m sorry, Mom.” He sank further into the couch cushions, ashamed. “I just...wanted to get closer to the river. The forest gets kinda boring after a while.”

“You only go outside the gates if you’ve got Yondu with you, you hear me?” She cupped his chin, tilting his head upward so his eyes could meet hers. “You promise me that.”

Peter muttered another apology, then curled into her side again, soothed by her warmth and her perfume. He didn’t want to think about how things had gone so wrong an hour ago, all the things he thought he understood about Gamora and their newfound friendship now soured by their respective truths. Of course, a part of him still wanted to see her again, but he had a feeling it wasn’t meant to be.

Gamora woke to a dull throbbing in her temples and an ache in her side. She pushed herself up into a seated position, taking stock of her surroundings, and her heart lurched in the realization that she was somewhere entirely unfamiliar. At most, she could tell she was in an underground cellar, with old-fashioned metal bars and sturdy stone walls, none of the advanced technology that Thanos used for the prisons on Sanctuary. An opposing faction, then. Can’t be Azgeda, she thought dizzily, prodding herself for broken bones, sprained joints and pulled muscles. They don’t take people alive.

It wasn’t long before two soldiers came thundering down the steps, leering at her from the cellar door. “Heda,” one of them said mockingly, threading his spear between the bars so he could prod her in the shoulder. He pressed deeply enough to draw just the tiniest bit of blood. “Did you sleep well?”

“Let me go - ” She banged her fists against the bars with a snarl. “I command you, shilkru. Let. Me. Go.”

“You are in no position to make demands. You are not our leader, wanheda is,” the other said; his voice was colder, more monotonous. “What business does he have, choosing a child as his successor?”

“Why do you care? You don’t follow him anyway,” Gamora retorted.

“It matters when we all live here, heda. It matters when your decisions could wipe out this planet, again. What is it about you that makes you so special?”

She faltered. Thanos always told her she was stronger, cleverer, fiercer than the others, but she didn’t feel that way. His army had children who were far more ruthless, and she could only imagine what the younglings of the rival factions were like. For people who had arrived here with some of the most sophisticated technology and weaponry in the entire galaxy, they’d all resorted to savagery far too quickly. “Let me go,” she repeated, gritting her teeth. “You won’t get what you want like this.”

“There must be something about you that wanheda prefers over his adult ‘children’,” the first one continued, tapping the spear against the bars, enjoying the way Gamora shivered with every rattle it made. “And if it means we should hold you here until he listens to our demands, so be it.”

“What could you want that you don’t have?” she asked. “I thought Boudalankru took most of our supplies during the first Conclave.”

The soldiers exchanged glances. “How did you know - ”

“You wear stones around your neck and waists, your cellars are made of stone,” she pointed out. “Who else would you be?” She felt an odd sense of satisfaction at their defeated expressions, though there was no time for celebration. “Wanheda will not come for me. He will not listen to you. So kill me, or let me go.”

The stone-faced one stepped even closer, pressing his face against the bars. She could smell his breath; he was close enough to see the sweat forming on her brow. “What did you say?”

“I said…” Gamora’s voice cracked as she reached out, trembling, to grip the head of his spear and pull it right underneath her chin, its tip pressing into the underside of her jaw. “...kill me, or let me go.”

The other soldier put his hand on his companion’s shoulder, tugging him back in warning. “Koken hainofi...tsa bants.”

“Heda, nou hainofi.” She shoved the spear back through the bars and into the soldier’s chest. Though her breath was still coming in short, her palms bloody and her knees buckling beneath her, she couldn’t help but smile as the two of them sprinted up the steps, a large wooden door hastily slamming shut behind them. “Bushhadas,” she muttered. She then turned to look at the cellar, how bare it was, how there was nothing she could to do to free herself. Well, she thought, rolling her jacket sleeves up, not yet.

Two days came and went, and Peter was still restless over what had happened on his birthday. The rest of the night had actually been kind of nice - they had an intimate family dinner at their house, with Yondu and Kraglin dropping by for cake. Even his father had been less moody than usual, though it was mostly because he’d been boasting about his recent “victory” over the Grounders, as the Arkadians had taken to calling them. Afterward, though, Peter moped around in his room, unable to concentrate on his studies or even his usual bouts of self-appointed mischief.

Then, on a miraculously quiet evening in which there were no deaths, no injuries, no war chants or cries to be heard, Peter and Mantis were doing their homework in the living room when she suddenly sat up. Her antennae glowered, casting an eerie light across her face. “Someone is at the gates.”

Ego, who was sitting opposite them, poring over his blueprints for a recreation center, shot to his feet. “Grounder?”

“I think...it is a Grounder child,” Mantis mused. Peter froze.

“Meredith!” Ego called while he pulled on his coat, not bothering to wait for her answer. “There’s an intruder at the gates, watch the children!”

“Dad, wait - ”

“No, Peter, you stay here. Be safe,” Ego insisted, sharply patting them both on the cheeks before sweeping out the front door. Meredith emerged from her private study and came down the stairs moments later.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“There is a Grounder child at the gates,” Mantis repeated. “They are by themselves.”

“Oh, poor darling. Must’ve gotten lost,” Meredith murmured, resting a hand over her heart. “I’m sure your daddy’s gonna help ‘em get right back home - ”

“He didn’t say that,” Peter interrupted. “He said ‘intruder’, not ‘kid’.”

“Peter, you know that don’t mean anything,” Meredith scolded lightly, gesturing for them both to settle back down. “Finish your homework now, you’ve got that big presentation tomorrow.”

Reluctantly, they followed suit, sinking back into the couch and picking up their books again. Meredith briefly went upstairs to grab her stack of patient records and bring them back down with her so she could stay close by, though her eyes flickered to the door every few minutes, tapping her foot against the back of her opposite ankle in restlessness.

Not ten minutes went by before the door burst open and Ego stumbled in, practically tripping over his own feet, breathless. “I need all of you to come with me. Now.”

It didn’t take long for them to reach the gates, Peter’s mind and heart racing the entire time. Mantis reached for him and squeezed his hand. At first, he thought it was for herself, that maybe she was worried or scared, until he felt the tension in his body slowly ease its way out. Her breath hitched briefly, followed by a shaky exhale. He turned to smile at her in silent gratitude.

The four of them made their way to the top of the watchtower, joining the two guards who were eyeing something apprehensively on the other side of the gate. Peter had to squint to make sense of what he was seeing, the darkness of the forest swallowing up everything from sight. Then, a silhouette of a child came into focus, short and lanky, but clearly trying to stand tall, to look bigger than they really were. His heart sank when he realized this particular child had no hair.

“She’s been talkin’ that nonsense Grounder talk since she got here,” Ego muttered, his eyes full of hunger. “At first, I thought she was just a distraction for the guards, but then I heard a single word, just one word that I recognized.”

“Ai ste lufa Petr kom Skaikru au,” she called. Her voice was monotonous, dull. “Ai laik Nebula kom Trikru, strisis kom Gamora.”

“Peter? Any idea what she’s saying?” Ego asked urgently.

He hesitated. Mantis, noticing the tremble in his mouth, stood on her toes to peer over the railing, straining her neck to get a better look. “She is desperate.” Meredith made a soft noise of sympathy, reaching to gently pull Mantis back in before she could fall.

“Ai laik Petr kom Skaikru. Weron laik Gamora?” All three of them turned to look at Peter, astonished. Before they could ask the dozens of questions on their mind, Yondu came thundering up the steps, stopping to briefly growl at the guard who stood post at the bottom of the tower and dared remind him of the watchtower’s weight capacity, and shoved his way to Peter’s side.

“You know this kid?” Yondu demanded, gripping Peter’s arm. “You been talkin’ to Grounders?”

“You!” Everyone jumped at Nebula’s sudden language switch, turning back to look at her in time to see her scoff derisively at Peter in a way that made him shrink into himself. “You are my sister’s friend?”

“Not really,” he said, hating the way his voice shook, hating the way everyone’s eyes were fixated on him - not just his family’s, not just Yondu’s, but all the Arkadians who had gathered near the gates, watching the spectacle of the Chancellor’s child, of all people, speaking the Grounder language. “She’s not talkin’ to me no more.”

“She is missing.” Peter’s blood ran cold. “She never came home after she left camp to see you.”

“Did she...did she tell you about me?”

Nebula smirked; it was the first expression she’d made that wasn’t entirely neutral. Somehow, it was even more unsettling. The fact she was quite casually staring down the guards who stood directly opposite her, pointing guns at her head, didn’t help matters, either. “She keeps a box under her bed with these odd...things in it. When she didn’t come home, I went looking for clues in her room and found it, with the word ‘Petr’ written on the lid. There is no Petr in Trikru.” Peter’s face reddened, both out of embarrassment and delight.

“Peter, what is going on here?” Ego said lowly, reaching around Meredith to grab Peter. Before he could, Yondu stepped sideways to block him, holding up his hands defensively. “Captain, step away from my son.”

“You let your boy be, Chancellor, clearly they got a lot to talk about,” Yondu countered, half-bowing his head out of respect, though it only seemed to infuriate Ego further. “And boys, can you stop pointin’ your weapons at the kid already? You’re makin’ me nervous!” The guards slowly lowered their guns, exchanging shameful looks amongst themselves. Nebula seemed unbothered either way.

“We were yelling at each other a bunch, and then I guess I just...left her there,” Peter said, turning back to Nebula, his heart sinking. “Do you think that maybe...someone took her? Like one of the other clans?”

Her chin tilted downward, casting her gaze to her feet. “Maybe,” she repeated, her voice hollow. Then, shaking herself, she turned to leave.

“Wait,” Peter called. She paused mid-step. “I can show you where we were, maybe it’ll help you find her.”

“No, you are not to leave Arkadia,” Ego interrupted firmly, finally managing to step around Yondu and make a literal attempt to shake some sense into Peter, his fingers digging welts his shoulders. “Can’t you see, Peter? This is a trap! Their men are waiting for you on the other side of the ridge.”

“But Dad, if somethin’ happened to her, it’s all my fault,” Peter protested. “I shoulda stayed - ”

“And whoever took that girl would’ve taken you, too. You think they’re looking to make the distinction?” Ego growled. “No, you’re coming straight home with us. Let Yondu’s guards take care of the little actress down there.”

“Ego,” Meredith warned. “Don’t you go after that girl. She’s just lookin’ for her sister, she’s not here to play tricks.”

“This is the first day in months that we’ve had no attacks, and suddenly she shows up, you think that’s a coincidence?” Ego snapped, gesturing wildly in Nebula’s direction. Still, she remained unmoved, arms folded across her chest and tapping her foot like they were mildly inconveniencing her. “You take the kids home, Meredith. Right now.”

“If I may, Chancellor, I think your missus has a point,” Yondu said, clearing his throat. “Now, you know me, I can smell a rat a mile away, and I don’t smell nothing right now. Let me take your boy to help ‘er, and he’ll be safe with me.”

Peter turned to Meredith with wide eyes. “You said I could only go outside the gates when I’m with Yondu, remember?”

She couldn’t help but chuckle, bending down to meet him at eye level, running her fingers through his hair, stopping to cup his chin. “I did, didn’t I? What kind of mother would I be if I went back on my word, hmm?”

“Still the best kind,” Peter said simply, smiling. Meredith laughed, kissing his cheek before straightening up. She then turned to Yondu, her expression hardening somewhat.

“You don’t go any farther than where he was with his friend. After that, you let her people, her sister, find her. You come straight home, you hear me?” Meredith ordered. Peter nodded eagerly while Ego let out a resounding protest that fell on deaf ears. “Now you two go and help bring her home.”

Peter could still hear his parents whisper-shouting urgently at each other as he and Yondu passed through the gates, could still picture Mantis’s tiny but brave face as she stood between them, wondering silently if taking their emotions would do her more harm than good. He reached out to grab Yondu’s arm, knowing he’d be embarrassed if he attempted to grab his hand. “Thanks, Yondu,” he said, grinning up at him. “It’s real nice of you to stick up for me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I just don’t want no dead kids on my conscience,” Yondu grumbled. “Let’s go talk to her before she gets any ideas. I don’t like the funny way she’s looking at my boys.”

When they reached Nebula, Peter immediately noticed that, like Gamora, she was shorter than her demeanor made her seem. Even so, she was even more intimidating than her sister with her inky eyes, hardset mouth, and bits of metal seemingly dispersed all throughout her body - pieces in her skull, her neck, what he could see of her hands through her fingerless gloves. Peter had seen the occasional new glints of silver in Gamora’s face every now and then, but he was never sure if it was okay to ask. Looking at Nebula, he was certain it wouldn’t have been.

“You got some nerve comin’ all the way out here by yourself,” Yondu commented brazenly by way of greeting, his eyes flickering briefly behind her to check for any signs of movement in the forest beyond. “Your parents know you’re here?”

“We have a man who thinks he is our father,” Nebula said; that seemed to shut Yondu right up. “If you’re lying, Petr kom Skaikru, I will kill you.”

Peter swallowed. “Cool.”

It was a brief fifteen-minute walk to the tree where Peter and Gamora liked to meet, far from the battles and the bases, away from prying eyes. He thought about how he approached her just two days ago, excited to see her and talk to her and ask her all sorts of questions about what her life was like. He thought about how Ego was probably right - whoever took Gamora would have taken him, too. He shuddered.

“Tracks.” Nebula walked slowly beside the tread marks along the riverbank, taking a few steps back and then forward again, trying to judge the direction they’d come from and where they’d gone. “No extra footprints, no animal prints.”

“So maybe she just got lost?” Peter suggested, feeling rather silly. Nebula lifted her head to glare at him.

“No,” she said coolly. “Stealth ships don’t make any sound and only leave one set of tracks. There is only one clan who stole them from Father - Boudalankru.”

“Bow-dah-what?” Yondu repeated dubiously.

“You’ve been useful, Petr,” Nebula said, sounding about as surprised as Peter felt. “Now leave.”

“Wait, are you really gonna look for Gamora all by yourself?” Peter asked. “That don’t sound safe.”

“Nothing is,” Nebula said blithely. “Most of wanheda’s army was sent to look for her in Azgeda and Sangedakru. It will be too late by the time they get to Boudalankru. It has to be me.”

“I wanna help,” Peter volunteered. Nebula looked at him incredulously, though before she could say anything, Yondu grabbed him by the wrist and unceremoniously yanked him aside.

“Hey, I promised your mama I’d take you straight home,” Yondu reminded him. “I know you feel bad ‘bout your little friend, but there ain’t nothing we can do. We don’t know nothing about this boh-dal - ”

“Boudalankru,” Peter repeated, remembering the time Gamora had tried and failed (on his part, that is) to teach him all the clan names. It seemed so long ago. “There’s gotta be something I can do, Yondu. Please?”

“No,” Yondu said firmly. “We’re goin’ home and you’re goin’ straight to bed, or your mama’s gonna skin me alive.”

Gamora’s palms were scraped raw, her fingernails broken, her skin cracked. She’d torn a strip of fabric from the bottom of her shirt, then ripped it in two and wrapped it around her hands to suppress the bleeding. Her throat burned from the lack of water, her stomach ached from the lack of food. It had been at least a day since she was taken, and the guards had refused to relieve her of any of her discomforts for her insolence. Now, she was sat cross-legged on the floor of the dirty, damp cellar, contemplating her next move.

Think, Gamora, think, she muttered inaudibly, running her hands over the length of her body for the thousandth time, checking to see if they’d somehow left something sharp on her person, and somehow she hadn’t noticed until now. Then her thumb snagged on the zipper of her jacket, and oh, she thought, there it is. With a quick jostle and a sharp yank, she broke the zipper head clean off its teeth.

She crawled toward the cellar door, then flattened herself against the ground so she was eye level with its bottom hinges, silently assessing the size of its screws. Grimacing, she got back to her feet and began pacing the length of her tiny confinement, running her fingers along its stone walls. She startled a little when she felt a sharp pinprick on the pad of her finger, enough to draw blood. Gamora stepped closer to examine the spot in question, how invisible it was, even to her enhanced eyes, then lifted the tiny zipper head to its surface. Slowly, but surely, she began to file away at its edges.

Long, arduous minutes went by as her shaking fingers moved back and forth, sometimes catching her skin instead of the metal, sometimes slipping from her hand and clattering to the floor. Once she was satisfied with her handiwork, she knelt back down and slotted the sharpened metal into the slot of the screw, turning it ever so slightly. She stretched upwards to reach the top hinges, too, straining with every last bit of strength she had. She stepped back, taking a moment to let her breathing slow to something that wasn’t threatening to swallow her up. You will not die in here.

Gamora stepped forward and rattled the bars. “Chek ai au, bushhadas!” she hollered. “Ai laik yu heda!”

It took less than a minute for the guards to return. “You’re a noisy little thing, aren’t you?”

She merely glared at them. “I’m hungry,” she said, her tone that of an impatient child.

The soldiers exchanged glances, then laughed. “We already told you, you are in no place to make demands, heda,” one of them sneered. He pushed his spear between the bars like he’d done earlier, its end hovering mere inches from her nose. “Why don’t you tell your father we have demands to make of him?”

“He is not my father,” she growled. With that, she gripped the head of the spear and yanked it towards her, jolting it right out of the soldier’s hands so it hit the cellar bars with a loud clang. Using her momentum, she then shoved forward, both her hands braced on either end of the spear, and the door collapsed onto both guards, the hinges shrieking precariously as it fell. They both cried out in shock, their hands scrabbling desperately to get a grip on her somewhere - her hair, her wrists, anything they could use for leverage - but she had them pinned down, the door weighing heavy on their bodies. “If you have demands, you tell them to me.”

The only noise that escaped either of them was an awful, guttural choking sound, sputtering and spitting as the metal bars and the spear laid perfectly across their necks. Gamora got to her feet, pausing to stare at them, swallowing down the acid burning in her throat. They will live, she thought urgently, her heart racing. You didn’t kill them. Not this time.

She sprinted up the stairs, finding herself in a small entryway that seemed to branch off into a whole series of stairways that led to other cells. There, she found her utility belt and weapons tossed aside, and she quickly gathered them up and slipped them back on her person, staying alert to the sights and sounds nearby. When she was ready, she took a deep breath, then pushed her way out of the prison entirely. She was greeted by the blindingly bright sun and the sound of a dozen soldiers’ war cries descending upon her.

“Can’t believe you talked to me into this nonsense,” Yondu grumbled. He, Peter, and Nebula were hidden just outside the vicinity of the guardsmen quarters, where the vehicles were stored. While the Grounders used all manner of technology, as old-fashioned as horses and as high-brow as cloaked ships, the Arkadians kept close to their base, and therefore never needed much more than a few ships and a fleet of armored cars, courtesy of Ego’s limitless powers. “If we don’t die out there, we gonna be dead when we get back. Your daddy’s gonna spear me like an Orloni, then he’s gonna whoop your ass into shape ‘til you’re his age.”

“Do you people ever shut up?” Nebula hissed before Peter could protest. “Why are we hiding from your men?”

“Some of my men are more loyal to the Chancellor than their captain,” Yondu said begrudgingly. “Now get in there ‘fore they see us.”

Their initial take-off was a bit of a tumble since Yondu hadn’t flown since they arrived on Earth - it certainly didn’t help that Peter was trying to push all the buttons on the console in a futile attempt to make himself useful - but then they were airborne, heartbeats pounding rapidly in their ears as they watched the ground get further and further away. Nebula shoved Peter out of the co-pilot’s seat to assist Yondu, grumbling under her breath about his poor steering. Peter then situated himself in the passenger’s seat directly behind her, peering over her shoulder.

“You know how to fly a ship?” he asked, awed.

“Yes,” she replied shortly, though she almost sounded proud of herself.

“Does Gamora?”

Nebula huffed. “How did a goufa like you become friends with my sister?”

“By being awesome,” Peter grinned, leaning back into his chair.

Now it was Yondu’s turn to snort. “Alright, buckle up, kids, I ain’t responsible for you two flyin’ out the window if you don’t.”

Meanwhile, back in New Arkadia, Mantis was curled up by the large bay window at the front of their living room, her face and hands pressed against the glass. She watched as the telltale lights of the underside of Yondu’s ship soar up into the night sky, then peel off into the darkness. “Baby, I thought I told you to go to bed.”

She let out a startled squeak, turning to see Meredith standing in the doorway, her arms folded across her chest. “Sorry, Mama,” she mumbled. “It is just...Peter is not back yet.”

“Your daddy already sent some guards to go looking for ‘em. Nothing we can do not but wait and hope for the best,” Meredith said soothingly, moving to sit beside Mantis by the window. She reached over to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, smiling when Mantis nuzzled affectionately against her hand. “You want me to tuck you in tonight, maybe read you a book and take your mind off things?”

“I do not think I can sleep,” Mantis admitted. “My stomach hurts.”

“I know you’re worried,” Meredith nodded, clicking her tongue sympathetically. “I won’t pretend I’m not worried, too. I know you can see right through me. But we have to take comfort in the fact that Peter isn’t alone. This isn’t like that night, okay? This isn’t like when he ran off trying to protect us.”

Mantis shuddered in memory of that fateful night, the night where the Grounders made themselves known to the Arkadians, storming their camp and chanting their war chants, crying their war cries. The night where Peter was there one moment and gone the next, leaving nothing but a trail of light behind him. He had returned with a sort of haggard look in his eyes that no one ever expected to see on a child. He’d collapsed into Meredith’s arms, mumbling about how tired he was, reached out for Mantis’s hand so he could squeeze, so he could know she was still there for him to look for. In that moment, Mantis felt everything he felt - shock, guilt, disgust, and oddly enough, the tiniest glimpse of hope. Now, she wondered if that was the night he met Gamora, if she was the one who helped him feel just a little bit less like that night was the worst night of everyone’s lives.

“Mantis?” She shook herself out of her thoughts to see Meredith staring at her, brow furrowed in concern. “I asked if you wanted some tea for your stomach. I don’t want you on any medication of any sort unless you really need it.”

“Yes, please.” Mantis turned back to the window while Meredith went into the kitchen, silently pleading for the lights to come back, to bring her brother back so she would know he was safe. She closed her eyes, antennae glowing faintly, trying to see if she could detect Peter above all the noise of the thoughts and heartbeats of their people.

“Mantis?”

She turned again, only to find herself looking up into Ego’s face. “Mama is making me tea before I sleep,” she said before he could ask. “My stomach hurts.”

“Worried about Peter, huh?” Ego sat in Meredith’s place, clapping her on the shoulder. “Well, you heard me back there. I made it very clear to your mother that letting him go off wasn’t a good idea, but unfortunately, she’s about as stubborn as I am. We all are. So let’s just hope Yondu makes good on his word because I’m certainly going to have a few for him if they come back.”

“If?” Mantis repeated.

Ego’s face softened. “I meant ‘when’,” he said quietly.

“And what about everything else that is out there? Those bad men who took that girl’s sister?” she asked.

“That’s what I'm trying to protect you from. All of you,” he insisted. “Because they aren’t men. They’re animals, trying to keep people like your mother from getting their planet back, from taking back what’s theirs. And I’ll be honest, I don’t like that Peter decided to be friends with one of them. Not one bit.”

“But she is a child, like him and me,” Mantis said defensively. “She needs friends, too. Maybe she does not have any.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Ego said, chuckling derisively. “They may inhabit a planet of humans, but there is no humanity left in them.” He got to his feet as if to leave, only to stop when he saw Meredith approach them both, holding two steeping hot mugs of tea. “Meredith.”

“Ego,” she replied. “I thought you went to bed.”

“It’s hard to, when our son is out there, possibly dying or dead. I’ll be surprised if any of us get any sleep tonight.” His voice was low, dark; he didn’t wait to hear Meredith’s response, turning and sweeping up the stairs to their shared bedroom without a backwards glance. She stared after him for a moment, then carefully rearranged her expression into something that resembled a smile and rejoined Mantis by the window.

“Sorry, baby,” she murmured after they’d taken their first few sips. “I keep tellin’ myself not to fight with your daddy in front of you, but we both got tempers we ain’t proud of.”

“I am used to it,” Mantis shrugged.

Meredith shook her head adamantly. “No, Mantis, don’t get used to it. It’s not healthy, for us or for you and Peter.”

“I am trying to listen for him, but it is so hard.” Mantis pressed her palm against the glass once more. “I can only hear our people. They think about him.”

“Don’t let those powers of yours take over your life, baby,” Meredith urged, reaching to gently pry Mantis away from the window and pull her against her chest, Mantis’s head resting over Meredith’s heart. “What you need is to drink your tea, go to bed, and when you wake up, Peter will be home. I swear it.”

“Can you stay with me?”

Meredith’s heart simultaneously broke and swelled at the same time, pulsating so sharply she was sure Mantis heard it. “Of course, baby. Always.”

It was pitch-black by the time they reached Boudalankru territory, but Peter was still wide awake, perhaps a little too wide awake. He’d spent the last half hour of their trip trying to formulate a plan for how to find and rescue Gamora, and was promptly shut down by Nebula every single time.

“Leave it to me, Petr kom Skaikru,” she insisted, twirling one of the many blades she had on her utility belt, something that reminded him too much of Gamora. “Stay here and don’t get in my way.”

“Finally, something we can agree on,” Yondu commented as he brought the ship down to land.

Peter followed Yondu and Nebula off the ship despite their protests, looking around in awe at their surroundings. Boudalankru was more modern than its name implied; Yondu and Peter had expected old-fashioned stone huts and gravel paths, but instead were met with a micro-city juxtaposed against the impossibly tall trees that masked the horizon. Modern buildings made of limestone and glass were lined up in a too-straight line along the paved concrete roads, small passenger ships were parked neatly beside them. Metal signs were embedded with what looked like Kree language, and seemingly brand-new lampposts flickered overhead as they continued walking down the barren streets. The most jarring thing of all was just that - there was not a single person to be found.

“Are we in a horror movie or somethin’?” Peter whispered uneasily. “I don’t hear or see nobody.”

Yondu let out a low whistle, prompting his yaka arrow to shoot out of its pouch and hover by his temples. He gestured for both of them to get behind him, but Nebula ignored him in favor of walking up to the nearest building and pressing her face against the glass, peering inside for any sort of indication that they hadn’t just stumbled across a ghost town. Peter hesitated, then ducked into Yondu’s side, though he kept one hand extended, letting it glow faintly to lead the way while they continued on, the street lights getting dimmer the further they went.

The minutes dragged on forever, Peter’s heart beating so rapidly he thought it would collapse, until they finally heard something - suddenly a lot of something, the sounds of victorious shouts in alarming numbers. Yondu sprinted in the direction of the noise, the children following closely at his heel, and found themselves in proximity to what appeared to be an outdoor in-ground arena, the kind with endless rows of seats and blinding floodlights, filled to the brim with every last member of Boudalankru. The three of them quickly made their way to the edge, pushing their way to the front of the crowd, and looked down, astonished at what they saw.

In the middle of the whole spectacle was Gamora, blood streaked across her face, her torso, her everywhere (Peter was starting to become more accustomed to seeing her with blood than without, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing), thrusting her short blade above her head in the clear universal sign of victory. Lying at her feet was a boy who looked no more than sixteen, panting and heaving and wounded by more than just his pride. Around them, the crowd stomped their feet, clapped their hands, chanted: he-da, he-da, he-da…

“Yo laik ai kru,” Gamora shouted, her voice amplified by the device that was wrapped tight around her neck. “Ai laik yu heda!” Everyone roared back with vigor. Nebula recoiled.

“What the…” Peter turned to look at Nebula, speechless. “What’s goin’ on?”

“She called for a Conclave,” Nebula murmured. “And she won. As she always does.”

“She don’t look like she needs our help,” Yondu said, sounding half-impressed, half-terrified. “But alrigh’, let’s go get ‘er.”

They continued to shove their way through the throng of people, though Peter and Nebula soon found themselves constantly getting knocked aside due to their obvious height disadvantage, clinging onto the tails of Yondu’s coat before they could lose sight of him. Eventually, Peter’s impatience got the best of him, and he simultaneously let out a frustrated shout and a blast of light, startling everyone within a fifty-foot radius. They managed to sprint the rest of the way down to the arena ring without trouble after that.

“Sister!” Nebula shouted. She didn’t wait for Peter and Yondu, instead vaulting herself over the electric fence perimeter like it was nothing. Gamora’s eyes lit up with a different sort of elation upon hearing Nebula’s voice, and she ran to embrace her, much to Nebula’s chagrin.

“Nebula!” Gamora burrowed her face in Nebula’s neck. “It’s so good to see you, sister.”

“Do not - ” Nebula wrestled out of Gamora’s grip and shoved her back; she was now covered in blood, too. “You’ve been gone for two days, and suddenly you rule Boudalankru?”

“Something Father has never done before,” Gamora said gleefully, her face shining. “Do you think he will be proud?”

“Is that why you did this? Is that why you hurt their champion?” Nebula looked over Gamora’s shoulder to the boy, still crumpled on the ground, now being tended to by his people’s doctors. He blinked blearily up at them in a daze, though one of his eyes was swollen shut.

Gamora faltered, the light in her eyes starting to dim. “It was either a Conclave or my death, Nebula. I chose to survive.”

“Of course,” Nebula said hollowly. She nodded behind her. “Your lukot is here.”

“My - oh.” Gamora finally seemed to notice Peter standing there with his mouth hanging open, now that he could see her up close, see the story of her battle written out on her clothes, her skin, her face. “Petr...what are you doing here?”

“Nebula found me and told me you were gone, and I wanted to help.” He stepped forward, shooting her a strained, but hopeful smile. “I feel real bad about all that stuff we said to each other. Your people are just as important as mine, and maybe...maybe if your dad and my dad talked, all of this could just...stop. I don’t wanna fight anymore. Me and you, and my people and your people.”

“You don’t know our father,” Gamora sighed, though she looked relieved to see him regardless. “He does not want peace. He will not talk. He didn’t even look for me.”

“That’s not true,” Nebula interjected. “Father sent nearly his whole army looking out for his beloved heda.” Gamora narrowed her eyes at Nebula’s tone, though she decided not to comment on it. Instead, she glanced up at Yondu, who was stood firmly over Peter, staring down at her in mild perplexion.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“Captain Yondu Udonta of New Arkadia, and Quill’s chaperone,” Yondu replied gruffly. “And you are the scariest little thing I’ve ever seen.”

Her entire expression shifted into something far more childlike, and Yondu found himself regretting his choice of words. “I do not want to be scary,” Gamora said, hastily trying to wipe the blood off her face; it only rubbed it in further. “I just wanted to survive.”

“Well, you did just that.” Yondu tried not to look at the Boudalankru boy, tried not to listen to the way he cried out when the doctors lifted him onto a stretcher, cursing heda to the heavens. “Let’s go ‘fore these boo-doll folk get any ideas about looking into me n’ Quill.”

“Boudalankru,” all three children said in unison. Yondu threw his hands up in defeat and motioned for them to follow.

Getting back to the ship was easy enough despite Yondu’s apprehension, with the crowd parting like the sea for Gamora, letting her and the others pass through. When he asked her about it, about the Conclave and the little things she and Peter had said about her father, she had a strange, far-away look in her eyes and merely said, “You still don’t know much about life around here.”

“An’ I’m guessing you won’t tell me,” Yondu had replied, getting an affirmative nod in return.

The walk back would’ve been silent if not for Peter’s incessant chatter, pestering both girls with questions until Gamora silenced him with a single glare. Once they were on board, though, she quietly took a seat beside him, gratefully accepting the medical kit when he set it down on her lap. He wordlessly began to help her dress the wounds she couldn’t quite reach while Yondu and Nebula sat at the controls, getting them back in the air.

“Thank you,” she murmured, craning her neck to watch as he placed the last bandage over the puncture wound in the small of her back. “And...I feel bad about what I said, too. I’m sorry. I’m not good with...words, I suppose.”

“You talk way more like a grownup than I do,” Peter countered.

“I mean like...how I say things, not what I’m saying,” Gamora explained carefully. Her face fell again, remembering what Yondu had said to her. “Do I scare you?”

“I guess...a little bit,” he admitted. “I don’t wanna lie to you anymore, so...yeah, a little bit. But that don’t change the fact that you’re my friend, and I want you to be my friend. Not just ‘cos you’re teaching me Trig and stuff, but ‘cos I like hanging out with you.”

“Ai lukot,” she said, smiling tentatively. “My friend.”

Peter smiled back, taking her less-bandaged hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Ai lukot,” he repeated.

“Father is calling for us.”

Gamora shot to her feet, instantly letting go of Peter’s hand. “What?”

Nebula held up her communicator, her mouth set in an even harder line than usual. “Maw heard of the Boudalankru Conclave and sent spies to find you, and now he knows you’re not alone. Father wants to meet with us...all of us.”

“Oh, you gotta be kiddin’ me,” Yondu groaned. “This is already the longest damn night of my life, can’t I jus’ drop you two off and take Quill home?”

“If you don’t do what Father wants, he will kill all of your people, just like that.” Gamora snapped her fingers. Peter shivered.

“Is he gonna hurt us?” he asked, dreading the answer.

“If he is in the mood,” Nebula replied bluntly, scratching at the now-dried blood on the front of her jacket. Peter wasn’t proud of the whimper that escaped his throat.

An hour later, Gamora stirred, not realizing she had even fallen asleep in the first place, startled to find she had dozed off on Peter’s shoulder. All four of them had been restless the whole way, a tense silence filling the entire cabin, none of them daring to speak about what was ahead or what was already behind them. Even Peter had been too anxious to ask, because as much as he wanted to pester Gamora with a hundred questions about Thanos, he had the feeling that no answer would ease his worries.

They touched down outside of Sanctuary; the first thing Peter was thrown by was the sheer size of the ship, far outweighing the Ark, stretching far above the fences that were meant to contain it. The front gates were also similar to New Arkadia’s settlement, with watchtower guards waving them in, though their armor only reminded Peter of the night he and Gamora met and the young, dying soldier who looked a little bit too much like Kraglin. “Monin hou, heda!” one of them called.

“‘Welcome back, Commander’,” Gamora murmured in Peter’s ear. He watched in astonishment as every last person they passed bowed their head in her direction, muttering words of respect under their breaths.

“You’re the commander?” Peter asked, agape. “What about - ”

“He is wanheda, the commander of death. I am heda, to be wanheda someday.” She bit her lip so hard she drew blood. “Only some factions listen to Father and his generals. Boudalankru was one of our biggest enemies.”

“And now what, they like you or somethin’? I still dunno what happened back there,” he admitted.

Gamora smiled ruefully. “Neither do I.”

They were accompanied by two guardsmen through a winding series of hallways, though Gamora and Nebula seemed to know exactly where they were going. Peter could see Gamora was itching to reach for Nebula and take her hand, but Nebula had flattened her palms against her thighs in a very militant-like posture, her footsteps even heavier than Yondu’s. He took a moment to look around, amazed and horrified at how different Sanctuary looked from Boudalankru. It was far less friendly-looking than the original Ark, with wide corridors and tall ceilings, all dark and hollow and intimidatingly massive.

Finally, they reached a huge set of double doors; stationed in front were two alien beings who seemed impossibly tall, wielding weapons that stood higher than the top of Peter’s head. Unlike the other Grounders, neither bowed upon their approach. “Corvus, Proxima,” Gamora said tightly. “Is your army back?”

Proxima’s lip curled into a sneer. “We’ve called off the search for our precious heda, yes. And Father has heard of your victory in Boudalankru.”

“I had no choice.” Gamora glanced down at her hands, fiddling with the gauze wrapped around her left thumb, causing its exposed end to fray. “Their champion still lives.”

“Then it is not much of a victory after all,” Corvus drawled, keeping his head straight forward, refusing to look at her. He and Proxima stepped aside, allowing the guardsmen to open the doors, a rush of ice-cold air hitting all four of them in the face before they entered the throne room.

Like seemingly everywhere else in Sanctuary, it was dark and damp and unfriendly, devoid of anything that could make it feel remotely welcoming. There was a single long platform that led to the center of the room, where two thrones sat side-by-side. One was significantly shorter and unoccupied, and it made Gamora shudder when she saw it. She only ever sat in it once per year, on her birthday, a time when wanheda liked to remind everyone who his successor was and what she was capable of. The other throne was concealed in the shadows, but there was no doubt as to who was sat upon it.

Yondu and Peter stared dumbfoundedly at the impossibly large man as he got to his feet, turning so his back was to them, casting a darkness down the length of the platform and across their faces. “I’ve been told of your call for a Conclave, Gamora. Bold of you, considering they are only meant for the most dire of situations, for a threat to your title.” His voice rumbled, bouncing off every surface, shaking everyone’s ankles and knees from the vibrations in the floor.

“They were going to kill me to weaken you,” Gamora said evenly, bowing her head out of respect despite him not looking her way.

“And your first Conclave was to be when you turned fourteen,” he continued, ignoring her. “You could have died tonight, little one.”

“But I did not.” She tilted her face back up, held her chin higher; Nebula’s entire upper body seemed to slouch in contrast. Peter and Yondu still weren’t sure what to do with themselves, glancing around helplessly, but neither sister made any attempt to guide them.

“No, you did not.” There was a hint of a smile on Thanos’s face as he finally turned around, the full effect of his vastness overwhelming Peter, who took a few steps back, heart pounding rapidly in his ears. Though he wore simple armor, it was his face that caught them by surprise; the violently purple eyes narrowing in their direction, the mottled constellation of battle scars covering every inch of his skin, the sneer of a man who had looked upon gods and found himself wholly unimpressed. “This is the boy you’ve been meeting in secret? Petr kom Skaikru?”

“Yes,” Gamora murmured. “Ai lukot.”

“How did you meet my daughter, Petr?” Thanos demanded. “And how did you come by her in Boudalankru today?”

“I - uh - um.” Peter cleared his throat, fiddling with his thumbs in a failed attempt to stop his hands from shaking. Thanos looked bored already. “My camp was attacked by your army. I ran away so they would chase me, and that’s when I met - ”

“Why would they chase you?” Thanos interrupted. Maw and Cull, who were stood at the foot of his throne, turned to look at Peter, to really look at him, Maw’s gaze flickering up and down with clear distaste in his otherwise soulless eyes. Thanos gestured to the guards stationed by the doors, and they opened them for Proxima and Corvus to step inside, both of them lifting their weapons so they were pointed directly at Peter’s back. It sent a short, but clear message - impress me or die.

Peter inhaled sharply, then held out his hands, forming a glowing orb of light no larger than a piece of fruit. Then it grew bigger, big enough that it dwarfed his own head, obscuring his face from everyone else, causing Proxima and Corvus to stumble back, blindsided. He then pulled one hand away from the other, splitting the orb in two. The one in his right hand morphed into a light dagger, the other into something he had never been able to do before - a flower, fresh and vibrant and the exact same shade of red as Gamora’s hair. He turned toward her, holding them both out for her to take. Astonished, she wordlessly accepted them both, her heart thumping in concern when she noticed the wetness in his eyes from his concentrated effort.

He looked back to Thanos. His voice shook when he spoke again. “Once I stopped running, I was real lost. That’s when I met Gamora. I asked her to help me find my way back.”

Thanos sank into his throne, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. “And today?”

“Nebula came to New Arkadia to find me ‘cos Gamora was missing. I took her to where I saw her last, an’ then we went to Boudalankru together. The Conclave was over by the time we got there.” Thanos nodded slowly, his brow raising in surprise at Peter’s somewhat-correct Trigedasleng pronunciation. He then waved for the Black Order generals to leave the room so only he, his daughters, Peter, and Yondu remained.

“You have strength, Petr kom Skaikru, and abilities I have never seen before in my countless years of crossing the galaxy,” Thanos commented. “You are no mere human, are you?”

Yondu, who had been mostly petrified (not that he would ever admit to it) throughout the entire encounter, finally moved silently to warn Peter, to stop him before he gave it away, but - “I’m half-Celestial.”

“You are the son of the man who is calling for the death of my people?”

“And you’re the one callin’ for the death of ours,” Peter retorted suddenly, clenching his glowing fists. Gamora let out a startled noise, barely noticing the way Nebula clutched at her arm automatically to brace herself for his retaliation.

Thanos merely chuckled, albeit in a very sinister way, and leaned back. “I like this one, daughter. He is too naive to know what to fear and too vulnerable to know how not to trust. Yet, he holds the powers of the universe in his hands.”

She stepped forward. “Father, I - ”

“You want this war to end, don’t you, Petr?” Thanos asked, silencing Gamora with a single raise of his hand. “You want to grow up in a world where you know nothing but full bellies and clear skies.”

“Don’t everyone?” Peter slowly unfurled his fingers, though they still remained alight. “Then no one’s gotta die for no reason.”

“And if there was a reason?” Thanos cocked his head to one side, seemingly staring right through him. “What then?”

“I - ” Peter faltered. “I guess...well, people die ‘cos of reasons, right? Like, when they get sick or hurt or just...old. That don’t mean it has to happen. It just does. And war makes it happen faster. Makes it happen to kids like me. Even if we don’t die, our parents do. My mom is a medic, and she has to tell families all the time that people didn’t make it. I don’t want no one to have to tell her that I didn’t make it, or someone to tell me that she didn’t. I want my mom to see me grow up. And...I think you wanna see your daughters grow up, too. You sent a whole army lookin’ for Gamora ‘cos you wanna see her become your heda. There won’t be no heda or Chancellor or nothing if everyone is dead.”

Thanos hummed, contemplating; Gamora and Nebula sucked in their breaths. “When you return to your father tonight, you tell him I will make peace with your people under these terms: we cease all fighting immediately, and neither of us are to pick up a weapon again for six months. Consider it a show of good faith. Then we meet in Polis to discuss the future of this planet and what is to become of those who live on it.”

Gamora made no attempt to hide her astonishment, glancing rapidly back and forth between Nebula and Peter with wide eyes. Even Yondu looked stunned despite being largely unfamiliar with what was happening, realizing the gravity of Thanos’s offer, the levity of its generosity. “I will,” Peter said, the light dimming entirely from his hands. “Um, thank you.”

“You thank me too early,” Thanos drawled, smirking. “My last condition is that you will not speak to my daughter until we convene in Polis. I can only imagine what sort of insights and intelligence she has shared with you in your time together. I will not let it happen again. The potential resumption of your companionship will be determined in my discussions with your father.”

“Wanheda, I never said anything - ”

“You keep interrupting me, little one, but I assure you, I will speak with you another time. Know your place,” he growled. “Now leave, and do not let me see or hear of you until then.” Peter shot Gamora one last pleading look before he and Yondu were promptly ushered out of the room by Corvus and Proxima, caught one last glimpse of her before they were taken back to their ship and told to never return. “Gamora, leave us.”

“I...thought you wanted to speak with me,” she said quietly.

“I did not mean now,” Thanos said, instead directing his attention toward Nebula. “I have words for this one first.”

Gamora’s legs felt heavy as she made the walk back toward the doors, trying desperately to shut out the continuing conversation behind her. “I have returned your heda, Father, something the gonakru could not do - ”

“You do not speak ill of those under my command, Nebula. In fact, you should not speak at all.”

Gamora was numb by the time Maw escorted her back to her quarters, thanks to what seemed like a never-ending night, barely listening to his non-stop chatter about “that funny-looking Skaikru child” or her “bushhada of a sister”. She felt like she only just managed to make her way through the motions as she bathed, finding it impossible to get all the blood out of everything, changed into her sleepclothes, and approached her bed. How she wished she had the chance to finish her conversation with Peter, all the conversations they’d been having since they met, about how her world worked, what it meant to be heda, what his agreement with Thanos really meant.

Instead, she knelt on the floor to pull out the box from beneath her mattress, setting it down and opening it to reveal all of Peter’s little misshapen gifts, still in their imperfect perfect condition. She put both the dagger and flower inside, surprised to find the latter hadn’t wilted in the hour that had passed since its creation, wondering if it was Peter’s doing. Smiling faintly, she put the box back in its place and turned off the light. As she climbed into bed and under her sheets, she had a feeling she wasn’t going to be sleeping tonight. Not when she could hear Nebula’s screams clear across Sanctuary.

a/n: Hey all, it's been a minute - sorry this chapter is so incredibly late, my semester had been going terribly and I barely had time to do much of anything outside of school. When I did have time for fic writing, I indulged in a little Scott/Hope (here and here if you're interested) since it was a lot lighter and less plot-heavy than this fic, but I promise I haven't abandoned this!

I know there's a lot of world-building going on right now but the next chapter will be more about character relationships - there hasn't been a ton of focus on Drax, and Rocket and Groot haven't even shown up yet, so that will get rectified soon. Also, I hope y'all enjoy Endgame when you get a chance to see it! I'll be going on vacation two days after it comes out so I'll be late to the post-movie fic party, but I'm very likely going to be posting at least three (I'm thinking Peter/Gamora, Scott/Hope, and Carol/Valkyrie, because yes) one-shots. In the meantime, thank you so much for reading, likes and reblogs would be much appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed :)

Trigedasleng translations: plangona - warrior woman / shilkru - guard / goufa - child Koken hainofi...tsa bants. - Crazy princess...let's go. / Heda, nou hainofi. Bushhadas. - Commander, not princess. Cowards. Ai ste lufa Petr kom Skaikru au. Ai laik Nebula kom Trikru, strisis kom Gamora. - I am looking for Peter of the Sky People. I am Nebula of the Forest Clan, little sister of Gamora. / Ai laik Petr kom Skaikru. Weron laik Gamora? - I am Peter of the Sky People. Where is Gamora? Chek ai au, bushhadas! Ai laik yu heda! - Look at me, cowards! I am your commander! / Yo laik ai kru, ai laik yu heda! - You are my people, I am your commander!